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| latest happenings | ||
| 10 Jul 2007 | Publish and be reviewed! Blimey, has it really been so long? I'd better catch you up. Ironically, the short story referred to below (12 Jan), actually finally got published shortly afterwards, in the 17 Feb issue of MyWeekly. Also, an article I wrote for The Self Publishing Magazine will appear in the August issue. More excitingly (more me). A new review of The Turning has appeared on SFReader, which is certainly my best to date, and has provided additional impetus with regard to my next book. Select snippets below, which are not even taken out of context! "Newell has built one very complex plot and he reveals each layer like a master, as if he's been doing this for decades" / "Newell is friggin' hilarious and a great humor writer." - C. Dennis Moore |
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| 22 Jan 2007 | Movie reviews Just a quickie to say that I've uploaded the movie reviews I've been compiling on the office Wiki at work. They are for films as I see them on the big screen. Which reminds me, Hot Fuzz is released on Feb 14th. This movie comes from the superlative Wright/Pegg combo that brought us Shaun of the Dead and Spaced. And it is filmed in my home town. I highly recommend you checking it out. |
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| 12 Jan 2007 | Research and short stories Happy new year everyone! Hope you all had a good break. Since my last note I have be heavily researching for my next novel, involving purchasing many out-of-print books from dodgy characters on ebay. I hope you appreciate the effort I put in for you. The research covers a number of domains, the revealing of which may give away too much, so I shall be keeping details close to my chest for now. In other writing news, I decided to put a short story of mine up here. Finally, apologies to Amygdala - you know who you are - I have finally replied to your message! Well done so far with the puzzle. |
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| 21 Nov 2006 | Part II Boy, is it November already? Where did all those months go? Did you miss me? (You may email or send money in confirmation). So, for those who are interested (you weirdos), what has been happening? In truth, Ive been on a little hiatus recently, to get some other aspects of my life in order. It took a while but I finally failed, so Im back almost. With regard to The Turning Im am still awaiting a couple of reviews. When theyre all in Ill put them up. Otherwise the only next step is to hold on shhh (write another book). I had to be careful saying that in case I overheard myself. Id give myself such a hard time for even considering putting myself through that pain again. No, I love it really. Anyway, heres your mission, should you wish to accept it before your sunglasses explode. Id like you to name the characters. So, if you have any ideas, please email me. |
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| 25 Aug 2006 | Fabulous prizes to be won? You've read the book? Now try the puzzle. In fact, even if you haven't read the book, try the puzzle. A very special prize is to be announced shortly, for anyone that manages to solve it. |
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| 30 July 2006 | Long live the GenrePlex™ Whilst work is continuing in earnest in review-hunting and distribution, I recently felt the urge to flex some creative muscles - this time of the more technical nature. This was aided by me not being allowed to flex my inner-thigh muscle due to an incident on the football pitch. So during this period of physical inactivity I decided to implement an idea I had a short while ago. It has been Christened the GenrePlex™ and you can find out all about it here. Apologies for my ropey software engineering skills. It's a work in progress. I won't give up the day job. (That's funny to some people, trust me). |
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| 16 July 2006 | Book Launched The book is officially launched! An inaugural signing took place in Starbucks, Wells, last night. I've thrown a few pages together here (which I hope to tidy up shortly). For those that aren't going to make it that far, then the important bit follows: Many thanks to: - Everyone that came along. I really appreciate it - especially those that travelled a long way. - Gillian and the Starbucks crew for their excellent hosting and for supporting me in general. - Sam and all the usual suspects who helped in arranging it. - And special thanks is reserved for Stacie who clearly instilled in me an essence of true American bravado in convincing me to do this in the first place, and so without whom it would never have taken place. Thanks gurl. When I've improved my skills in web-technologies I hope to make this site more collaborative in general. However, for now please feel free to leave a comment on the message board. |
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| 16 June 2006 | Pile of old Turning Well, a big pile of brown boxes suggests that the book has now been printed. I've spent a great deal of this week shoving books into jiffy bags for those that were kind enough to pre-order copies. Some of the poor little fellows without a home will shortly be appearing on the shelves of Ottakar's in Wells. Hopefully, Messrs Pratchett and Banks will make a little room for them on the 3for2 podium. Only one month now til the official launch in Starbucks. |
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| 28 May 2006 | Radio Goo Goo I made my first stab at a public appearance today, albeit only on local radio. If you want a laugh check it out here. Promise I'll do better next time. | 
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| 5 May 2006 | Final Draft The final draft of the cover and content was dispatched by courier to the printers today. By 'dispatched by courier' I mean that I cycled to the Post Office with a jiffy bag down my shorts (I lack the appropriate package couriering apparatus it would seem). Anyway, I should receive a proof of the book this week, which will be the first actual real-world instantiation of the book. I should be excited - but I'm terrified. |
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| 4 May 2006 | Launch Party/Signing @ Starbucks I am very pleased to announce that to mark the launch of The Turning there will be a Party/Signing hosted by Starbucks in Wells, Somerset. This will be held on July 15th from around 6.30pm. It's an open door event, so all are welcome. There will be a band and coffee tasting as well as me and a pile of books. I hope you can make it. More details will follow shortly here. |
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| 30 March 2006 | Back in Blighty So, for the last 8 months I've been 'working on other projects in California'. Sounds good, I know, but it isn't nearly as glamorous as I'd like to pretend. (Though, I'm sure next time I visit, it will be for a meeting with Miramax). You'll be pleased to hear that LA bid me farewell with torrential downpours and that London welcomed me with ... torrential downpours . So, I'm feeling loved by the weather gods right now. But enough of my complaining. Two things on the book front. Firstly, you can now find the book on Amazon.co.uk, for those of you who prefer a little anonymity with you purchases. Secondly, the nitty-gritty of creating an actual papery thing begins next week at the printers - in a preliminary fashion at least. Besides that Ive been working on miscellaneous promotional things. |
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| 4 February 2006 | Virnation Puzzle Launched It's just a baby right now, but it's alive. Virnation is a virtual community featured in The Turning, and it serves as the theme for a fiendishly tricky puzzle to accompany the book. Find out more here |
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| 23 January 2006 | Over the last few weeks much work has continued on this website. You'll notice that there's a blog page now. Figuring that most sane people wouldn't be interested in what I ate for breakfast that day, this blog will be more of a sounding board for any thoughts and opinions that I feel the need to share. Additionally, work has been started on a site to accompany the launch of The Turning. More to come soon. | |
| 3 January 2006 | Much excitement in The Turning residence today as the book received its very own ISBN in the post. For anyone that's weird enough to be interested it is: ISBN 978-0-9552245-0-8. Those same people might also notice that it's in the new ISBN-13 format due to come into force shortly. Whilst those folk merrily trot off following that suspicious link into the exciting world of ISO, let me tell the rest of you that it was kind of sunny today in San Diego and I'm drinking beer. Take care. |
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| 1 January 2006 | I thought this would be an apt time to make my first entry, as hopefully this will be the year that my first novel is published. So, news to date: First things first, as you can see, the website it now unofficially launched. Unofficial in the sense that although exists no one knows of its existence. The book itself is abandoned ... I mean finished. Well, finished in that the words are in roughly the right order. But there's still a long way to go before they exist in a format suitable for resting coffee cups on or propping up table legs. However, preliminary typsetting has been completed, and a second round of proof-reading is underway. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, a suitable printer is being searched for. This, obviously, is fairly crucial to the process. I'll keep you posted. And finally, for now, I can let you know that the first draft of the cover design is complete as you can see here. |
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