It's been a busy few weeks and summer is firmly upon us. My kids are here for four weeks from England and it seems like 2011 has already nearly flown by. So I thought I'd take a break today (before I go back to editing some more manuscript) to market a few of my existing books. I'd also like to thank the many visitors to my blog (83,000 and rising)
Xannu - The Prophecy
Book 1 of 'The Southern Lands' saga ($0.99)
For fans of Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and The Narnia Chronicles, the first installment in a thrilling epic fantasy series…
Would you wake up in a hot sweat if you lived your night’s dreams as a soldier battling un-earthly creatures, witnessing powerful magic and fighting to save your own life on a daily basis?
English schoolboy Terry West does. Frequently. After digging up some rune coins near a roman road, he has been living in another world inhabited by warlocks, seductresses, priests and prophecy. There Terry is a soldier, Teern Truthbringer, who has been tasked with finding the Xannu - 'he who will lead the people into deliverance.'
If only it wasn’t real; but it is. Very real. When it all began it was even enjoyable, but now Terry’s life is getting very complicated. Somehow he involved his best friend Joe and although it had seemed a good idea at the time, the consequences had been dire. Then there is Susan, the leggy sister of klutzy school-friend Brian. Why does she keep sending him messages?
Terry is struggling to balance the two lives he leads and every day he is losing his grip on reality just a little bit more. He’s been forced to kill enemies; his companion, the magical woman Maria, is scaring him half to death with her abilities; and his parents are on his back about his school work.
How will he balance the two lives he leads, solve two sets of problems, and understand the lessons he receives from both? Only time will tell. But time is something Terry doesn't have too much of, as everything is unfolding in ways he could never have imagined!
“Listen to the teachings of a wise man. You may not understand all he says but you will surely have nourishment for the future. Be positive and plan for success. Failure to plan is to plan for failure. Worry not at what came before but only prepare yourselves for that which is ahead.” (Pika’Al 10:1-5, The Scriptures of Al’Zaneed)
The 10 Hour Project Manager ($5.99)
"Clear, concise and valuable Project Management advice for the price of a beer (Two if you want the paperback)!"
It has long been a desire of mine to write a book on project management and I have spent most of the last fifteen years practicing the art worldwide. During that time many people have asked me for some written guidance but until now there just hasn’t been the right opportunity to do so. So here we have it.
I’ve tried to write something straightforward, told in the way I speak. I’m not a teacher and this isn’t a classroom book. It’s a series of guidelines told through stories and real life experiences that have been etched into my head over the years as I’ve traveled the world managing all sorts of projects, large and small.
I want to say a big thank you to all of you that have encouraged me with your kind words while working with me. I also want to thank all those that took time out in their careers many years ago to help me on the road to successful project management. Now it’s my turn to pass on the baton. I hope you each find a little something
that makes the purchase of this book worth the price of a beer. Cheers!
Who is this book for? Most likely you are someone who has been managing projects for a few years, in a variety of different situations. Maybe you're a consultant that wanders from project to project, or an employee that gets passed from pillar to post depending on the hot topic of the month. Either way, you're not fresh out of school and you've seen a scary thing or two happen during project implementations. What you're really looking for are some words of wisdom, or maybe a guide you can refer to as necessary, that will enable you to manage your projects more efficiently and cut down your work weeks to something more sustainable. You would ideally like to spend some quality time somewhere outside the confines of your office.
The objective of this book is to enable the reader to successfully manage most every project you will ever be given in less than ten hours a week. That’s only two hours a day! Okay, when you've stopped laughing read on. This is actually the premise of the book. I have managed successful projects in many companies, in many countries, in many cultures and in many situations. Nearly without fail I have only paid very close attention to the management of that project for about ten hours a week, over the majority of the project lifecycle. In some cases, it was even less!
What will I learn from it? This book is about the meta-rules associated with running a project. It’s about the management skills that will not only help you decide what you need to pay close attention to but also what you can safely de-prioritize. This will allow you to focus on the relevant and important items in a project. Every project is a little different, but the meta-rules are the same. By the end of this book you should have all the tools necessary to be able to successfully manage most projects in only ten hours a week (during the majority of the lifecycle). Just think what you will be able to do with all that spare time. Maybe you'll even be able to start that little money-earning side project you've always intended to get underway!
How To Write & Self-Publish Your First Novel ($2.99)
INTRODUCTION
Writing and publishing your first novel is tough. It usually takes a long time. Years for most people. It can be soul destroying too. You finally complete your manuscript; you send off samples to agents and publishers, and anxiously watch the mail for the responses. Then they come in, one at a time, rejection after rejection.
How do I know this? I’ve been there. Does this mean I was a bad writer? No, but I could have used some help in those early days. Sure, I had purchased a few books on writing and I had tried to pay attention to the advice they gave, but there were so many of them and sometimes advice seemed to conflict other advice. It was way too much to take in.
But I persevered with my writing and now I have been writing for several years and I have completed several novels and other books, and my writing is a lot better. My early novels could still do with some major re-editing (which they will be finally getting this summer), but my later works, oh wow I can spot the differences!
So, a few months ago I decided I would go the self-publishing route to getting my books out there in the big world. Things are changing in the book markets and so many people now have Kindles and Nooks and iPads and other electronic book readers. I thought to myself, why not do it myself? I know I can write; I have that confidence. Enough complete strangers have told me they like what I write, so why shouldn’t I join that list of published authors? And why should I have to wait for some agent or publisher to take a chance on an unknown author before I get published? So I did it, and now I have the story to tell and the method you can use to generate your own success.
This ebook is a series of essays solely concerned with improving your writing skills and getting your first novel successfully self-published. It is written in a way that you can keep dipping into it, and keep coming back to parts of it, time and time again. It is concise and to the point and it is written from experience; thousands of hours of experience. Every essay in this book is relevant and has a purpose. Every essay will give you pause for thought.
Can I turn you into a bestselling author? No – only you can do that. But I can set you on a path to success. I can give you clear guidelines about what not to do, and how to do things better. And I can tell you exactly how to self-publish that novel. This ebook takes your novel from the beginning and leads you along a path of self-discovery. When you have finished reading you will be Writing for Success and be someone who has a better chance than most every other wannabe author out there of becoming the next Tom Clancy, JK Rowling, Stephen King, or whoever else is your writing hero.
Good luck!
