Monday, December 15, 2008

Spine

Finally.

After months of paper supply problems and printing mishaps, the book is available. The waiting is over and the politely written emails to publishers (flavoured ever so slightly with a sprig of frustration) and awkward apologies to interested friends and family are now relics of the past.

In my small, grubby hands is a book whose spine bears my name. Can't help but feel a little proud. It's not that I've penned a masterpiece - the pride doesn't come from there. It's more that I've seen the thing through to its proper conclusion. In the maelstrom of holding down a full-time job whilst trying to be a full-time dad and husband, finishing a book and getting it into print seems like a triumph. Not a world-changing victory by any means, but a significant one to me.

Let's cut to the chase. If you were inclined to buy What Lies Beneath where would you go?

If you click on the link http://www.lulu.com/content/2796543 you will arrive at Lulu.com's online bazaar - specifically, my stall amongst the labyrinth of vendors all vying to sell you exotic goods. It's as simple as clicking on the Add to Cart button, and going through the sort of process familiar to anyone who has ever purchased anything online. There's a Paypal option (much like Ebay) as well as a few others like Visa.

Someone asked me the other day whether I expected to make much money out of the venture. I'll get this out of the way as it's something that seems to repeat itself like a sausage from Bunnings. I will make a few cents off each copy sold. Literally, a few cents. The price of the book as basically as low as I could make it - I want people to read it.

As I've stated before, it's a challenging book in some ways, but the happy few who have read it so far have told me that it's a rewarding read once the pieces of the puzzle start falling into place. I liken it to a difficult rock-climb. At first things seem daunting and the view is obscured by some difficult early sections, but perseverance pays off and by Chapter Six, patterns begin to emerge and the reader, like a good climber, should discover a rhythm to the way in which they traverse what lies before them.

I have a friend at work who is reading the book and she's picking up on things buried in the story that I thought would be easily missed. It's an absolute delight to hear of such discoveries (certainly worth more than a few dollars).

If anyone's reading this blog who hasn't wandered through the pages of What Lies Beneath's supporting wiki, please make a coffee, open up that tin of Christmas shortbreads and lose your way in the miasma that is http://calibansend.pbwiki.com/

After Christmas, I'll start preparing Akin to Pity (the second and final book) for its transmutation into ink and paper, but for now I think I just continue to enjoy reading Matthew Reilly's Six Sacred Stones and catching up on Season Four of Battlestar Galactica.

8 comments:

  1. Again CONGRATS!
    I love the creative flow of your post
    Rock On
    Smiles
    Lisa

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  2. Anonymous5:23 am

    Great description of your amazing climb. Found via twitter. Congratulations! I hope to one day be able to tweet that same amazing line: "My novel is now in print."

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  3. Anonymous7:43 am

    Thanks. This was what I needed to read. I'm about 100 pages away from finishing my own book and this blog made me want to finish it and get it into print.

    Well done. What's next for you?

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  4. Thanks for your comments Lisa, Tara and Robby. It's lovely to have people show interest in the novel (and the blog).

    Tara, like the quote on your blog (I had a look) I just kept on taking baby steps towards completing the story, sometimes only a paragraph a day. Good luck with yours. Please let me know when you're finished.

    Robby, with a hundred pages to go, you could be done very soon! That's brilliant.

    As for what's next, I'll be getting the second and final book in the 'Caliban's End' story ready for publishing by April. It's called 'Akin to Pity' and it's finished. I'm just cleaning it up. After that, I'll take a break, then I'm going to tackle a novella. It's called 'Angels Noir' and it's basically a crime novel set in Heaven.

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  5. Half way through and am enjoying the complexity and the layers that makes this book amazing. One of the best parts for me is the 'book chat' with the author I have each morning when I get to work. Great way to start the working day!

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  6. Anonymous11:23 am

    I just bought the book. Am looking forward to reading it.
    As Ive told Paul, I've been intending to write my own fantasy novel for the past 10 years. Seeing someone put an idea into something tangible is inspiring.
    Well done Paul.

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  7. Thanks Brent and JL,

    Perhaps my favourite aspect of having completed 'What Lies Beneath' is now chatting to people who are reading it, exploring specific aspects of plot, character, theme etc. It's very exciting to see the story through the eyes of others.

    Brent, I am realising through Twitter, emails from my wiki and comments on this blog that there are lots of people out there with stories inside them and I have nothing but encouragement for them. Start writing your tale today. With software like Scrivener, Celtx, Wordweb etc. to support writing and wikis, blogs and/or podcasts to document the creative process, it's a wonderful time to try your hand at the craft.

    Appreciate the comments.

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  8. I have now finished reading 'What Lies Beneath'..... but not really finished as the novel leaves you 'on the edge' desperate to know how this epic tale will unfold. So now for the second book! I have enjoyed reading this novel and found a freedom in the writing where the imagination has no boundaries. Each of the characters has a distinct personality and physical features and as events take place you understand their particular traits and how they perceive the world they inhabit. And this is a world that is enveloped by darkness and tormented by evil. (although there are some delightfully humorous and playful moments!) What I found fascinating about the novel is the way you are slowly and cleverly led to a sense of connectedness about what is happening in the land of Myr. I think this is achieved partly by the way the novel treats time; there is no linear passage of time, but rather there are moments and places in time that have their own connections to the past and impact on the future. It is reader who makes the connections by reading closely and remembering, because the clues are there. I think this is what makes the novel satisfying for the reader. This novel is a great read and I would highly recommend it, particularly if you enjoy fantasy as a window into our 'own world'.

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