In my last post I mentioned that I had been struggling for some time with aspects of the plot - aspects that were complex, but critical to subsequent plot structure - and that this had prevented me from writing any more of the book.
Well, I'm glad to report that after what seems like a very long time in the wilderness, I've managed, finally, to pin down those plot details, and The Watchmaker's Chain is once more a work in progress!
The Watchmaker's Chain is a contemporary mystery thriller, seasoned with a little science fiction. I started writing it in 2011, but decided to put it on ice last autumn while I worked on getting The Testing of Archie Rathbone ready for publication. I have to say that picking up the pieces like this has been much more difficult than I would have expected, and I'll certainly try to avoid having to repeat the process. I hadn't realised quite how complex and involved the various plot strands were that I'd left hanging there, so when it came to picking them up again it wasn't just a case of trying to resolve the unresolved details I referred to earlier, but also of having to remind myself of all those little complexities of interdependency that I'd already designed in - the details I'd sown as seeds earlier in the story that later on would grow into plot twists, or clues to other mysteries.
This is one aspect of writing that I find particularly challenging - not the process of designing a necessarily complex plot, but judging just how complex it really is. If you 'engineer' a complex and interwoven set of plot strands that ultimately lead the reader to what you hope will be a satisfactory conclusion, it's very difficult for you the writer to see it as the reader will - you already know the answer to every riddle you place before the reader.
The Watchmaker's Chain currently stands at around 32,000 words - that's 72 pages of A4 (if that's any more meaningful), or perhaps equivalent to around 110 pages of a 'traditional' book. I don't know how that will compare to its ultimate size, but I'd guess that I'm about a third of the way there.
If you're interested, I'm going to try to post regular updates as to how The Watchmaker's Chain progresses (along with occasional updates on the download figures for The Testing of Archie Rathbone). If you've read Thes Testing of Archie Rathbone then you'll find my second book quite different, but still, I hope, enjoyable.
Monday 24 September 2012
Monday 10 September 2012
All Change
There are a few things I'd like to share with you today:
New Look Blog
For starters (and you'll have noticed this if you've visited this blog before), I've change the look of these pages - new colour scheme and background. I know it's only superficial, but it amused me to do it! I'm not sure (now I've actually done it) why I felt the need for a revamp - it's not as though I've made a particularly good job of it, or that the new 'look' makes the content any more eye-catching or appealing - but there you go - it's done now (at least until I tire of it and decide to do another overhaul)!
Amazon Adventure Update
Then there's a brief update on the results of the last free promotion of The Testing of Archie Rathbone: A couple of days after the promotion I reported the download figures, but subsequently there were a further thirty-five downloads, and then another ten paid downloads as well. More interesting though is the effect it had on the book's ranking on Amazon. During the promotion it was shown as about nine thousandth in the free amazon kindle ebook rankings (it's highest placing so far) and only about 4th in the YA fantasy ranks. Subsequently (after returning to the paid lists) when the ten paid downloads were processed it went up to about fifteen thousand'th in the paid lists, before returning to it's pre-promotions levels gradually over the subsequent week.
In total now, The Testing of Archie rathbone has been downloaded over three hundred times. Hopefully, apart from any effect this has on rankings, this will result in more ratings on Amazon, and more reviews. Prior to the promotion there were only six pages of 'Customers who bouth this item also bought' books - now there are seventeen pages. Assuming that this means that my book will also appear on the equivalent lists for at least some of those books, it should be becoming more visible.
The Watchmaker's Chain Plot
Lastly, I'm battling with the plot for The Watchmaker's Chain. Actually, that's not quite accurate - know what is going to happen, it's just that there are some details that need to support the plot that are so complex and involved that they need more time and concentration than I've been able to give them recently. Never mind - it will happen!
New Look Blog
For starters (and you'll have noticed this if you've visited this blog before), I've change the look of these pages - new colour scheme and background. I know it's only superficial, but it amused me to do it! I'm not sure (now I've actually done it) why I felt the need for a revamp - it's not as though I've made a particularly good job of it, or that the new 'look' makes the content any more eye-catching or appealing - but there you go - it's done now (at least until I tire of it and decide to do another overhaul)!
Amazon Adventure Update
Then there's a brief update on the results of the last free promotion of The Testing of Archie Rathbone: A couple of days after the promotion I reported the download figures, but subsequently there were a further thirty-five downloads, and then another ten paid downloads as well. More interesting though is the effect it had on the book's ranking on Amazon. During the promotion it was shown as about nine thousandth in the free amazon kindle ebook rankings (it's highest placing so far) and only about 4th in the YA fantasy ranks. Subsequently (after returning to the paid lists) when the ten paid downloads were processed it went up to about fifteen thousand'th in the paid lists, before returning to it's pre-promotions levels gradually over the subsequent week.
In total now, The Testing of Archie rathbone has been downloaded over three hundred times. Hopefully, apart from any effect this has on rankings, this will result in more ratings on Amazon, and more reviews. Prior to the promotion there were only six pages of 'Customers who bouth this item also bought' books - now there are seventeen pages. Assuming that this means that my book will also appear on the equivalent lists for at least some of those books, it should be becoming more visible.
The Watchmaker's Chain Plot
Lastly, I'm battling with the plot for The Watchmaker's Chain. Actually, that's not quite accurate - know what is going to happen, it's just that there are some details that need to support the plot that are so complex and involved that they need more time and concentration than I've been able to give them recently. Never mind - it will happen!
Tuesday 4 September 2012
September Promotion Results
Two days ago The Testing of Archie Rathbone was available for twenty-four hours as a free Kindle download (a huge discount from the previous price of 77p, a price to which, regretably it has now returned).
In the prior two and a half months since publication it had been downloaded about one hundred and twenty times, the majority of which being during two earlier two-day free promotions. On Saturday 1st September it was downloaded one hundred and forty-one times (i.e. more in one day than during the previous two and a half months)!
Whilst I shan't be placing the order for the executive jet quite yet (and these figures will probably seem paltry to most of you), I count this as a success, and would like to say a heart-felt 'thank you' to anyone who took the plunge and downloaded it. I hope you read it, and enjoy it (and then, of course, tell everyone).
Saturday 1 September 2012
The Testing of Archie Rathbone
On Amazon.co.ukOn Amazon.com
My book is free to download from Amazon today (Saturday 1st September), for one day only.
Please do take advantage of this, and if you read it I'd be very grateful for any feedback and/or reviews (either directly to me or on Amazon or Goodreads).
Thankyou.
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