The Power of Social Media - Paying it Forward

Today I wanted to post a short blog entry about Social Media and paying it forward.

In case you didn't realize, Blog Posts, Twitter and Facebook can (and should) lead to new and wonderful friendships. But it shouldn't end there. If you are really using social media I believe you have a responsibility to nurture and interact with your new-made friends. What do I mean by that? Well let me give you a couple of examples that have touched me recently.

A couple of weeks ago I received a really nice email from someone who had replied to my tweets from time to time, saying that my blog posts about writing had inspired them to write the book they had forever been promising themselves. They even bought my book, How To Write & Self-Publish Your First Novel, and are now busy writing away - A humbling experience.

Then just a few days ago another of my twitter followers again contacted me to tell me that my blog series on juice fasting had inspired him to take the leap himself - Again, a very humbling experience.

The point is, we should blog about things we are passionate about and we should embrace those people that engage with us. If we let our passion shine through then maybe that passion will be used for a little input into someone else's life. And that's a wonderful thing.

I embrace and enjoy all forms of social media and I will continue reaching out and being passionate for as long as I am able.

Have a great day and pay it forward!

Amazon KDP Select - Update 1 - Bleh!

So it's been nearly two weeks so far since my book, Xannu - The Prophecy, went on sale at KDP Select and was available as a FREE borrow on Kindle devices.

So far, it's a BLEH! Sales are about exactly the same as before the experiment and no one to date has 'borrowed' the book. But - experiments are needed from time to time and I'm a believer in them. SO, I'll keep going... I'll report back in another couple of weeks.

In the meantime, if you've not seen the book, take a look. I mean, FREE is still FREE!  (click on the picture to be taken to Amazon):

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 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!

Book 1 of 'The Southern Lands' saga

“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)

Raw Sprouted Hummus

For a complete change of pace today, I wanted to post my experience with the first raw sprouted hummus that I've made. The first job was to sprout some raw garbanzo beans for 2.5 days (they taste wonderful and nutty)...

Then it's time to get going...

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sprouted garbanzo beans (chick peas)
• 1 tbs tahini
• 1 lime (juice)
• 1 tbs olive oil
• cumin, garlic, salt, pepper (to taste)
• 4 sun dried tomatoes (optional)
• water as necessary (max 1/2 cup)

Method:

If you are using the sun dried tomatoes, then chop these in the food processor first. Next add the sprouted beans, tahini, spices and lime juice. Pulse on low until chopped, stopping occasionally to scrape the mixture down from the sides. Then add the olive oil and pulse more until absorbed. Finally add water, a little at a time, continuing to pulse on low, until the desired consistency is reached. Enjoy!

And here are the pictures of the yummy end product, Have a great day!

Getting in a Writing Groove

Well, it’s been over a week now since I got back to writing my second Melrose book in earnest. The early 5am writing routine has been instigated and the words are now flowing! But this time it’s been a little different.

My old routine was to make sure I had a big pot of coffee available for me when I woke up, so that I could write my daily quota as wide awake as possible. This year I have more or less given up caffeine (at least as a morning routine) and so sitting down to my writing with a large glass of water is somehow different. But, it’s working. As long as I get a good night’s sleep the night before, the brain still kicks in and the words come out. There is life after caffeine! And actually my writing has generally been more productive than previously.

Over the years I’ve come to accept that I write at somewhere between 1,200 to 1,500 words an hour when I’m writing a novel. Of course, that presumes on me knowing where I am in my plot and sleeping overnight on what I’m going to be writing the following day. But the last couple of days I’ve managed to knock out roughly 2,000 words per day in my allotted pre-breakfast timeframe. My words per hour have been nearer to 1,800. That’s 30 words per minute. I didn’t even know I could type that fast, let alone think at the same time!

I’m putting it all down to my improved healthier body and eating habits. As you already know if you’ve been following my blog, this year after doing my seven day juice fast, I have stuck rigidly to a High Raw, Mostly Vegan food regime. I feel more alive, have more energy and generally have a much more positive attitude on everything. I guess it’s also rubbed off on my writing habits too. Who knows what’s going to be possible for the rest of the year!

How about you all? How’s your writing routine, and what do you do to maintain the correct environment? Do you set yourself targets? Do you have to write at a particular time of the day? Let me know. I’ll be interested in reading your comments.

Attention All Writers - How Do You Backup Your Work?

As I was out walking the other evening, I thought to myself as always, did I turn off all the appliances at home? Did I turn off all the lights? That sort of thing. It also set me to thinking. What if there was a fire? What if I lost everything in my home? What would happen to all my draft manuscripts and the like? Have you asked yourself the same question recently?

I first tackled this subject in a blog post HERE about using DropBox as a cloud backup tool and today I want to revisit the subject. Many aspiring and established novelists rely on their computer for everything they write and would be lost without it, should something ever happen. Of course, making backups is not a new subject and so some people also make copies to an external hard drive, or a handy memory stick. Then those same people leave that backup device at home!. So, what happens if one day you lose everything in your home? Of course, probably your unfinished book would be the last of your concerns, but one day it may be. What would you do? You'd have to start all over again.

I have been backing my work up to the cloud for several years now and I'm very comfortable doing this. I use Live Mesh, Dropbox and most recently SafeSync (I'll write another comparative review in a few weeks). Whatever happens, I'm covered. If my PC should die, or my house explode, my manuscripts will live on in the cloud, ready for me to download them again (along with my photos, music, and other digital treasures). Furthermore, if I am away from home and suddenly have an idea for my book, I can log into my account and make direct changes, confident in the knowledge that those changes will be waiting for me on my home PC when I get back to it. Amazing!

So there you go, my thought for the day. How do you backup your writing? I trust you're using something other than good fortune and wishful thinking.

Today's Downloads - FREE on Amazon!

Do you want a book to read today? Would you like a FREE book to read today? Of course you would... So, why not head over to Amazon and pick up one of the following FREE downloads.



The first book is my Paul Dorset Sampler, which is a collection of samples from three of my novels. You can download it for FREE HERE!

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The second book is my first published novel, an epic Young Adult fantasy - Xannu, The Prophecy. The book retails for $0.99, but if you are an Amazon Prime member and have a Kindle you can read it for FREE! Just click THIS link.

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So, there you go. Your FREE books for today. Enjoy!

At Last A FREE Book on Amazon!

Several months ago I wrote a post complaining that Amazon wouldn't let me sell one of my books for FREE! Well, now I've managed to navigate myself around the maze that is Amazon and get one of my books priced for exactly $0.00. Check it out HERE.

Just before the end of the year I decided to create an ebook featuring samples of three of my novels and bind them together as one package. The book was called simply A Paul Dorset Sampler. I launched it on Smashwords and Amazon. On Smashwords I priced it for FREE and linked accordingly to it, but on the Amazon site I had to price it at $0.99. Very frustrating. But - I had a plan! I waited until my book became eligible for premium distribution on Smashwords and then submitted it to Barnes & Noble, Sony and several other ebook stores. Smashwords then did its magic and a couple of weeks ago my book appeared on Barnes & Noble for FREE as well! Now was the time to take action. I hurried along to my book page on Amazon and clicked the link at the bottom of the page that says tell us about a lower price. I then provided links to the Smashwords page and the Barnes & Noble page and waited. It has taken about two weeks, but today - yes today - the book is FREE!!

So, hurry over to Amazon HERE and download a copy of my FREE ebook. Enjoy it and provide me some feedback. There's hope for us all yet!

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A Paul Dorset Sampler is an introduction to three of my novels in three different genres. As you know, it can take time to find out if you like the work of a particular author and so I have decided to assemble a set of samples to three of my bestselling books and bundle them as one collection. Then, to make it even more attractive, I've made the whole thing FREE!

So, what are the samples? The book consists of samples from three books:

1. Fergus Fedderfeeny's Food Factory (Middle Grade Comical Adventure)
2. Xannu - The Prophecy (Young Adult Epic Fantasy)
3. New Blood (16+ Young Adult Urban Paranormal Thriller)

Each sample represents approximately 20% of the complete book and will enable you to get a good feel for the book before you buy the complete version. Still undecided? Look at what some of the reviewers have been saying:

"Xannu - The Prophecy is further proof that commercial publishers have no monopoly on writing talent or writing quality." (Scott - Amazon)

"New Blood is a paranormal conspiracy novel that has a wide range of appeal. There is enough romance to bring in fans of that genre, but the story is not overshadowed by sappy teenage love scenes. The relationships between the characters bring the story to life in a believable and entertaining way that everyone can enjoy." (IndieBookBlogger)

"This is paranormal at its finest...This story will have you asking for more by the time you reach the end. I, for one, cannot wait until the second book in the Melrose series comes out." (Eva's Sanctuary)

Getting Healthy, Writing and My Brain

In a slight departure from my usual posts, I thought I'd write about something a little different today. If you've been following my blog then you're probably aware that I underwent a seven day juice fast a couple of weeks ago. It was quite an experience! Since then I've been trying my best to eat as healthily as I can. I've also been trying to write more of my upcoming Melrose series. It's been an interesting experiment.

Let me explain. I was listening to a podcast a little while back that was all about the brain and how information travels back and forth across the hippocampus. It was a fascinating podcast and kept me entertained while I was having a one hour walk along the trail near where I live. Anyway, back to the plot. One of the themes of the podcast was that when we study something that is new, the brain works overtime to process it, categorize it and store it appropriately. As it processes this new information, other more usual work gets pushed to one side. It made sense. Since the beginning of the year I have struggled to get back into writing my latest book. I know what I need to write, I just haven't been able to sit down and write it. Now I understand why. My brain has been too busy processing all the information I've been researching on achieving a healthy body and how correct nutrition plays an important part in all that.

And I have been researching a lot! It's the main reason that's led me to the diet that I am now following - a high raw, mostly vegan diet. And I use the word diet carefully here. According to Wikipedia (and other sources), a diet is the sum of food consumed by a person or other organism. It's a way of life, not a food fad. Day by day I am feeling healthier, gaining more energy, feeling more awake, dropping weight and generally feeling more and more motivated. Yesterday I started writing with earnest again. My brain had finally finished emergency processing of all the information I was taking in. I am now breathing a sigh of relief, safe in the knowledge that my body is getting healthier and my writing is back on track. The first draft of Unicorns (Melrose Part Two) is scheduled to be complete by the end of February!

So there we have it. It's good to listen to our brain sometimes. When we take on a new and different project, other projects we have been working on have to take a back seat for a while. After all, just like computers, we all only have so much processing power to manage everything we throw at ourselves. Have a great day!