This week seems to be dragging in no matter how busy I am. One would think if I am extra busy then the week will fly past extra quick. But no, it just plods along lifting its head every now and then to see how far it’s got.

I’m taking part both as a competitor and as a sponsor in the upcoming Poetry Superhighway Poetry Competition. I’m offering up 1 signed copy of FRINGE FANTASTIC but also in my role as an editor, I’m pleased to say the Ranfurly Review will once again be offering a showcase interview with one of the competing poets. Click here for the  full list of sponsors.

Back to work on GREENER IS THE GRASS after the day job – a few good solid hours into the evening.

Booktrade.info mentioned Wayne Rooney’s staggering £5m deal with HarperCollins in 2006, to produce five volumes of autobiography over the course of his career (his agent said it would be “like the Star Wars series”). One of the tomes was to be a diary of the England lads’ glorious 2010 World Cup campaign in South Africa. However, with Rooney currently sunbathing in Barbados without a single goal to his name, the book has been quietly shelved. Full story at The Independent.

The Huffington Post had a fascinating article on the top 11 most surprising books ever banned. I read it over lunch yesterday and was surprised both by the number of children’s books and the appearance of the poor old dictionary among them.

Peace and out!

Just like I did last week, I decided not to go up town yesterday. By 10am it was way too hot to even consider leaving the sanctuary of the house, so I decided to get an early start on my tasks. I figured, get the crap stuff out the way and I can enjoy more of the day. So I did, and that’s how it happened.

Mind you, my tasks were made a touch more difficult due to the state of the place. There’s a big event coming up in my wife’s photography life and the preparation for it means much of the house is in turmoil. There are boxes, folders, paper, photography equipment and to-do lists everywhere. It’s a sight to behold.

The event also means I have some work to do on her website. Not a small job so I knew I would have to build in some website development time to my day and coming week. After my weekly house clean and spot of gardening to keep on top of things, I gave about three hours to it. The work will have to be spread, though—it’s too much like my day job at the moment; too techy.

I’m delighted the latest issue of the Ranfurly Review is out, published yesterday morning early doors. After all my pondering over its future and how I was going to keep managing it, I’m actually quite proud with how it turned out. I think there may have been something subliminally creative going on when I selected the final contributions I did. The front cover’s a good ‘un, too.

I made some very good progress with GATECRASH yesterday. I’m well into the second part of the story and approaching the “middle sag” but there doesn’t seem to be any sign of that in the prose. Once I’ve been through this initial familiarisation and re-draft of the manuscript, including completing the book (it has no ending!), I’ll print it off and leave it for a short time before going back for the real re-write. In between I’ll complete GREENER IS THE GRASH and get it out there. It’s so close I can smell its feet.

I also spent a fair amount of time gathering together all the market lists I have into one central list. I stripped out the vital information I need: name, URL, fiction and/or poetry, word count, paying, etc., and ran through each one to check them out. A LOT got ditched through either not being active any more or website statements like “we reserve the right not to notify authors of a rejection.” Nice. Don’t expect to receive my hard work for consideration then.

I’m pleased with the final list. What surprises me is the amount of markets I classed as being in first choice that I haven’t subbed to for a long time. That kind of proves my method wasn’t working, it was too random.

I downloaded Sonar3, a submission tracking piece of software and checked it out. It looks good so I’m going to trial it for a few weeks alongside my established spreadsheet that I’ve been using for 6 years. You load up all your markets and submissions and it alerts you and tracks your successes etc. It looks like it could be useful and a much quicker way of administering the whole process.

This Wednesday will be the first anniversary of STELLA being published. To celebrate, I’m running a competition where you can win a free signed copy of the book. You’ll have to stay tuned for information. Of course, if you can’t wait until then you could always buy a copy of Stella here. If you just want more information on the book, click here.

Right, that’s all for today. I’m off into town while it’s quiet for some coffee, pastry and a nice long read of the paper. See you on Twitter later on no doubt.

Peace out!

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A bad day in Cumbria. 12 people dead and 25 injured by a coward who went on the rampage with a gun. As soon as I heard something was happening, and at the point only 3 were dead, my mind shot back to 1996 and the Dunblane massacre.

Who’ll ever forget that day? It was a day when everyone hoped the pain that was dealt out would never be repeated. If ever there was a reason to ban all handguns this is it.

Nobody has the right to own a gun for any reason because when one innocent suffers it’s already gone too far. When it’s dozens of families it’s time to take stock. Those affected started yesterday like any other normal day until Derrick Bird decided to change their lives forever. Who gave him the right? Who gave him the right to take the cowardly way out? I’m disgusted he won’t face justice. Death was too good for him.

Can you believe this? An investigation is underway after Stevie Starr appeared on the Britain’s Got Talent (sic) TV programme after viewers complained about his act. He famously swallowed, amongst other things, a light bulb, key and padlock and a billiard ball. Apparently they were concerned that it would encourage children to try dangerous behaviour.

Of course people should be warned and children advised, but come on! What people have forgotten (and this is my point) is that the guy in question has been doing it for about 30 years. I remembered his act from when I was a child but back then he was on national TV and a bit of a hero. Everyone was talking about this amazing guy who could swallow things then regurgitate them at will. Only back then I witnessed him live goldfish and razor blades but it didn’t make me run out and start drinking the contents of the fish tank or swallowing the contents of my Dad’s shaving bag. It’s funny how in today’s nonsensical P.C. society how these things are suddenly a hazard.

A couple of thanks: Thanks Diane for the link to The Grave Tattoo review. I’ve saved it and will hold onto it until I’ve read the book. And thanks, also, to Devon for your ideas concerning submission-to-market management. I’m going to work through the (extensive) list of markets I’ve built up and start splitting them into priorities. Once you’d mentioned it, I realised there are several markets I keep returning to time and again so I’ll stick those at the top of my pile.

The winner of the signed copy of my new book, SILLY POEMS FOR WEE PEOPLE VOL.2 was Stevie Ward. The competition was only open to subscribers of my monthly newsletter, The Patter, so if you missed it you can subscribe here as well as read the latest issue. Well done Stevie, the book is on its way.

I know I said I was thinking about putting RR into hiatus but I’m having second thoughts already. Yes, it takes up a lot of time but last night while sorting out issue 10, I realised that maybe if I streamlined the process and worked in advance by two or three issues I would take the pressure off myself and be able to continue doing something I enjoy. I shall sleep on it another couple of nights.

Meanwhile issues 10 (and 11) are coming on nicely. I had to work some Day Job overtime so that was all I managed to get through last night on the writing scene.

To today then and the sun is out with an exciting weekend approaching in earnest. I’m feeling good about everything just now, which is odd because I’ve manage to hold this feeling for a good couple of months now. Viva la life.

Peace out!

The Scruffy Dog Review – SPRING ISSUE OUT NOW!!

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Today must have been one of the longest endured for time spent in the office. The morning raced by—I was so busy I didn’t have time to think—but the afternoon? The afternoon seemed to just crawl by, I’m sure I saw the second hand on my watch go backwards when I looked at it at one point.

My Ed at NotW sent me the screen shot of the review for this Sunday’s paper. I’m delighted to have made the print edition again and two weeks in a row is a big plus. The article looks great—small typo where the sub had cut a line but that was soon sorted—and so Sunday will be another good day for cutting collecting. I wonder if I can make it three weekends in a row?

We got to talking about the big Madness gig coming up in December. He’s bagged the paper an interview with the band and will be doing the review himself, but he’s also working on the breakouts for the spread for which we banged heads and I helped him with some of the Madness/ska related stuff. It also means come December I’ll have a review to sell elsewhere, just as I will with The Specials the month before (they aren’t going to do two gig reviews for the same band in one year), but I’m sure I can find a home.

Most of the other chat revolved around the pre-gig part of the day in Glasgow; where to have our traditional McMadmeet, what pub would best, etc. It’s another exciting year to be a Madness fan and it means double for me given I missed out on Madstock 5.

I spent my other time working on PAINT, my short story for a competition entry. It’s not coming out the way I intended so I stopped half way through and tried to visualise it differently, couldn’t, so stopped for the night. It might not make the deadline now but it’s a good standalone.

As I was writing that last paragraph I nearly shat a brick. My home office is on the top floor with a small window, outside of which is a very narrow ledge nowhere near much else solid. Somehow, a cat managed to get to it and when it suddenly appeared just above my eye line and gave me the fright of my life when it landed. God! My heart!

I’ll be heading off through to Glasgow shortly. I’m travelling by coach for a change, which means I can sit back and listen to some podcasts from this year’s Edinburgh Book Festival and watch as the Dear Green Place comes back into view.

The plan is to have lunch with my folks, do some catching up, listen to my old man moaning about some of the stuff on his every expanding “Grump List”, then head over to my sisters for some chat, a DVD, and maybe a little bit of food. Should be a nice day!

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I don’t know about you but yesterday seemed to drag. It was ages before the morning was out of the way, and then when the sun came out for the afternoon it only made things worse.

With the overall temperature dropping across Scotland, the heaters in work have been changed to come on in the afternoon. So there we all were with a blazing hot sun outside and all the radiators on inside.

While on my lunch I ran through the gig listings for Edinburgh and found one ideal as a possible for NotW. I ran it by my editor; “we’ll always make room for ‘em,” he said. Cushty, thought I, and my evening on press duty was arranged.

I gave THE GREEN BRIDGE a final polish over with the remainder of my lunch break. It didn’t need much at all as I’d already caught most things. Then off it went, submitted into the competition it was intended for. It’s a much better story now and I’m quite chuffed with it, so fingers crossed.

I headed home after work and after eating the remaining Marzetti in the fridge from the previous night, I got ready to head out to see Theoretical Girl. I called Sneaky Pete’s in advance so didn’t have to be there until 9pm.

I’ve got the whole getting to gigs at Sneaky Pete’s then back home down to a ‘T’ now. I leave the house get the 8pm bus to the bottom of Easter Road. There, I jump on a 35 that takes me up over London Road and onto the High Street. I get off half way up and walk down to the Cowgate, and a short walk later I’m in the club.

Because it’s small or unsigned bands that generally play there I can usually get back up to the High Street for the 9:51pm bus back to Leith. If I’m lucky I can jump a connector, otherwise I’ll be back in my home for just after ten, make a quick cup of tea, get the article written and post it all before 11pm. Lovely!

When I phoned in advance the bloke told me that the support act for Theoretical Girl had cancelled, so when I arrived the club was desolate but for the club staff and the band. I bought a whisky and floated about inside and outside—it was a nice night—and at 9pm she came on stage.

Obviously for the proper review you’ll have to buy this Sunday’s News of the World (hopefully—it’s a funny business) and the Man in the East, but I have to say that I was very impressed. Hers is a talent more should see and hear, and I fully expect to hear more from her in the future.

The audience wasn’t up to much, though. I counted 16 people including myself, of which 3 were the bar and door staff, and 3 were the band. In other words, 10 people showed up; a small group of students who popped in for a drink, one old man who bounced about embarrassingly in his rock t-shirt and leather waistcoat,  a group of middle aged women who looked oddly in place, and me.

Good gig, though, and when I got home just after 10pm I kicked into the article, most of which was tipping out of my head having been metally written an hour before. Some bands are impossibly hard to write about, but last night’s was so easy I had it down and polished within 45 minutes.

Before I go here’s some free publicity for the buys. This won’t be on the television for another couple of weeks, but you’ll like it—trust me.

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Arrived in work yesterday under grey clouds and heavy rain, to find signs at the front door indicating a critical incident was underway. The network was down and nobody could get logged in. It’s funny how lost one feels when the technology abandons us temporarily, a reminder perhaps that we used to live without it.

That said, the company I work for handles millions of pounds of other people’s money so for them it wasn’t much of a sentiment.

I had a lot to do at the day job yesterday, a lot of it surrounding prep work for today—I’m interviewing new candidates—should be interesting.

All that aside, I got through a lot of good work in the evening. I completed and submitted my guest blog article for my friend, edited a web advert for one of my web clients, worked on the interview I’m doing, wrote five new haiku for the World Haiku Competition, and submitted another short story.

I also plan on entering a fiction contest for ghost stories, so I dug out a very old tale I wrote—almost five years old as it turned out. The writing, grammar and structure was absolute bollocks (unsurprising why it never sold) so I made a good start on re-writing it from scratch. It needs a fair bit of work but I’m enjoying doing it.

It poured all day and is supposed to continue into the weekend. “A summer of two halves” the wether girl said, meaning we’ve had all the sun we are going to get. No gardening for me this weekend then!

Don’t forget to check out my first audio stream attempt – my poem Turning The Page is over on the AUDIO page.

To today, and although it will be a long one (interviewing etc.) I aim to get a lot more poetry and fiction completed. Bring it on!

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Today, I’m delighted to welcome fellow Eternal Press author and romance writer, Cate Masters, to Freedom from the Mundane.

Cate’s short stories and flash fiction has appeared at Eternal Press (2009), Wild Child Publishing (2009), Freya’s Bower (2009), Shadowfire Press (2009), The Battered Suitcase (2008), The Wild Rose Press (2008), A Long Story Short (2008), Dark Sky Magazine (2008), Cezanne’s Carrot (2008), The Harrow (2006), Flesh from Ashes (2005), Quality Women’s Fiction (2005), Phase, and The Writer’s online edition.

In 2005, Pennwriters awarded her second place in its annual Short Story contest. Her freelance articles have appeared in The Sentinel, Carlisle. A fifth novel is slowly making its way from her head onto paper. She currently lives in central Pennsylvania with her husband, three children, Benji the dog and their dictator-like cat, Chairman Maiow.

Visit her online at www.catemasters.com, www.catemasters.blogspot.com or follow her on Facebook. Also blogging occasionally at popculturedivas and The Susquehanna Writers.

Cate’s New Book: One Soul For Sale

Instead of the standard blurb at this point, here’s Cate’s awesome book trailer for her new book, available from Eternal Press now…

Interview with Cate

Hi Cate – great to have you on Freedom!

Thanks so much, Colin! Glad to be here Across the Pond with you! (Wish I could be there literally – someday, maybe…)

Please tell us a little about your new book.

I’d love to! My novella, One Soul for Sale, is one of my favourites. It’s actually a light-hearted treatment of the age-old “sell your soul” tale, though Madelyn’s motivation isn’t money. She’s an artist who wants to live the artist’s dream and spend her days creating. When she lists her soul on uBuy, two forces battle for her soul. She assumes the winning bidder plays for the Dark Side, but he’s so gorgeous, she almost doesn’t care. The end contains a few twists, and Madelyn’s a stronger person for the experience.

It’s a little unusual in that I wrote it in present tense, third person. I only know of one other story written that way – Ian McEwan’s Saturday (Soul was long completed when I learnt this). I hoped present tense would better engage readers in the action as it unfolds. Maybe that was Ian’s thinking too.

One Soul for Sale is available at Eternal Press or in print from Amazon.

Where did you find the inspiration for One Soul for Sale?

Inspiration’s a tricky thing, isn’t it? I like Neil Gaiman’s explanation of where he gets his ideas – a little shop downtown. But sometimes, when I’m lucky, stories will formulate in my head of their own accord, and it’s my job to simply write. One Soul for Sale was one of those. Probably after I read of someone attempting to sell their soul on eBay, then I applied the old ‘what if.’

Is paranormal your favourite genre to write in? Why do you like it?

I do love it. Urban fantasy more than any other, although I write across a spectrum of genres. Why? Because you’re reading about an apparently normal, everyday situation, then wham! Nothing is as it seems to be, and you’re off on a great literary ride.

How do you go about creating your plots?

I’m pretty much a pantser. I begin usually with an idea of where I want to end up. Sometimes there’s a rough outline, but very rough, so my characters have lots of room to play. They’re a bit devilish sometimes in attempts to hijack a plot, but unless the tangent gets too extreme, I usually follow. They know much better than I do.

When new characters come along, how much time do you spend “getting to know them”? Do they develop and surprise you as you write?

I flesh them out as much as possible. I like stories with quirky secondary characters with fully developed arcs of their own. It adds a nice extra layer or two to a story. Yes, sometimes they surprise me with details I wouldn’t have initially suspected.

John Irving posts the final paragraph of a novel in progress on the wall next to his desk, so even if it takes him 6 years to write it, he always something to aim for. How do you go about keeping a focus on a novel you are writing?

Oddly enough, I find that not placing complete focus on one story helps me better see the broader picture. Working on a few at a time also prevents writer’s block, because if I become stuck on one, I can switch to another story while I puzzle out what’s holding me up on the other.

What is your typical writing day like?

Before work, I’m on the computer about two hours emailing, blogging, social networking. After work, I check emails quickly, then switch to my laptop for writing (or revising, or edits). I stop long enough to make dinner, then I’m back at writing until sometimes 8 or 9 at night. On weekends, unless I’m compelled to run errands, I write as long as possible.

Do you write to music?

No, I’m very much in my head when I write. If I play any I tend to block it out anyway, otherwise I’d get too caught up in it. In addition to writing, I’m a fanatic about my music.

How much does television and movies influence your writing?

Hopefully not much. Few TV shows hold my interest and lately, I haven’t watched nearly as many new movies as I’d like.

Have you ever written yourself or a close family/friend member into a story but kept it hidden?

Never. I’m a big believer in karma, and I don’t believe in writing for revenge. What I like to use are names of those I know, or very limited character traits. It’s fun to throw in things that have special meaning to me, but never in a harmful way.

Describe your muse as though it were a person.

About 5’5”, brown hair, brown eyes. Not much to look at on the outside, but inside, she’s all effervescence and sparkling light.

How would you define success as an author? Cash, fame or recognition?

Interesting question. It’s evolved as I’ve evolved as an author. Initially, I aimed for getting published, and had some success with literary magazines and webzines. But after the stories were out there for all to see – crickets. I received zero feedback, and zero cash. So I realigned my sights for e-presses, and it’s been great to see my stories released. March of this year saw the first, so I’m just now getting in some reviews. So far, very good! Eventually, though, I would like to be able to make a living from my writing. It’s the basic writer’s dream.

If the Writing Genie could grant you a single writing wish, what would it be?

Lately, I’ve been wishing someone (a genie would be great for this) would invent a USB port to connect my head to the CPU so I could download stories in full. I’m a very visual writer, the story’s playing like a movie in my head as I go, so sometimes it’s a challenge to get all the elements on the page.

What else are you working on?

About ten other stories (give or take), with about fifty other premises jotted down that I hope to live long enough to develop. Again, across a wide spectrum of genres.

Who are your favourite authors and books?

Wow, too many to list. All-time favs include Michael Chabon, Neil Gaiman, TC Boyle, Margaret Atwood, Charles D’Ambrosio, Tom Robbins… this could take all day, so I’ll suffice to say there are hundreds of others. (Can you tell I’m no good at picking favourites?)

What are you reading now?

Stardust by Neil Gaiman, Justin Gustainis’ Black Magic Woman and Nightwatch by Sergei Lukyanenko. Reading’s a luxury right now because I’ve been writing pretty much every spare moment. My TBR list is extremely long.

Competition

Cate is going to give away a free PDF copy of One Soul for Sale to a randomly selected commenter who tells us what s/he’d be willing to sell his or her soul for! You have until this Sunday 28th when Cate will select the winner, who will be announced here on Monday 29th.

Good luck everyone, and thanks Cate for being such a fantastic guest. And don’t forget you can purchase One Soul for Sale at Eternal Press or in print from Amazon.

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Check me out today over at the blog of freelance writer, photo journalist, and long-time cyber buddy, Diane Parkin!!! I’ll be answering questions all day after what was a very different and interesting interview to do, so please check it out.

I seemed to be running late by at least 90 minutes to the rest of the world yesterday, and not once did I come close to catching up.

I had intended on being in the office by 7am, but never woke up until 8:30am. When I realised the time I bounced out of bed and logged on, because yesterday was the first day of ticket sales for this year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival.

To my utter disappointment I was unable to get through either online or over the phone, and by 9:30am I had to stop to start getting ready for work. The plan was to shower and dress in quarter of an hour, call a cab, and be in the office for 10 so I could re-start trying to get those treasured tickets I was after.

Only, the taxi never came. They sent three different cabs before one finally showed up, meaning I never made into the office until half past 10. I thought my chances were screwed by this point, but eventually, after much browser refreshing and URL typing, I finally managed to get onto the booking system.

I worked my way through my list of events, entered my card details, and hit the PAY button. Result! For the third year in a row I managed to bag tickets for every one of the events I had pulled out of the festival programme.

I never realised at the time, but all of my events are squeezed into the first 9 days of the festival. The rest of the time I have earmarked for networking, promotion, and any other events that still have tickets I may want to attend. Here’s my list of events – It’s going to be a great August!

Kate Atkinson Sat 15/08/2009 11:30 AM at: RBS MAIN THEATRE
Iain Banks Mon 17/08/2009 6:30 PM at: RBS MAIN THEATRE
Alan Bissett & Ewan Morrison Mon 17/08/2009 8:30 PM at: PEPPERS THEATRE
Ian Rankin Tue 18/08/2009 8:00 PM at: RBS MAIN THEATRE
Neil Gaiman Wed 19/08/2009 4:30 PM at: RBS MAIN THEATRE
William McIlvanney Thu 20/08/2009 3:00 PM at: RBS MAIN THEATRE
Griff Rhys Jones Fri 21/08/2009 1:30 PM at: RBS MAIN THEATRE
The Art of the Short Story Sat 22/08/2009 5:00 PM at: SCOTTISHPOWER STUDIO THEATRE
Alexander McCall Smith Sat 22/08/2009 6:30 PM at: RBS MAIN THEATRE
Irvine Welsh Sat 22/08/2009 9:30 PM at: RBS MAIN THEATRE
Will Self Sun 23/08/2009 6:30 PM at: RBS MAIN THEATRE
Quintin Jardine Sun 23/08/2009 8:00 PM at: RBS MAIN THEATRE
Frank Skinner Sun 23/08/2009 9:30 PM at: RBS MAIN THEATRE

With all my attention diverted towards book festival tickets, I forgot two vitally important things I had to do this morning.

First, I forgot to make the draw for the winner of the free copy of STELLA over at http://catemasters.blogspot.com. I did this in the evening, and am proud to say a copy of my new book will be winging its way via e-mail to Loretta Canton.

The other thing I forgot to do, which was way more embarrassing, was to send in the copy for a guest blog spot I am on today. Having had all well to write it I wanted to make sure it was as close the remit as possible, then forgot to send the damn thing in with all that was going on. It all worked out in the end, and I’m delighted to say that you can find me over at Diane Parkin’s Blog.

One thing that did come in on time was the approval of my own author web page by the kind people at Amazon. Click here to check it out.

And finally, better late then never, those cheeky little scamps, the penguins of Edinburgh Zoo, now have their very own web cam to show off to. Click here to watch the penguins in live action!

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There’s still time to win a free copy of STELLA over at Cate Masters’ blog. You have until 8pm EST to head over to http://catemasters.blogspot.com and leave a comment. In reality, I’ll be asleep at that time (1am BST) so I’ll do the draw first thing tomorrow morning.

I’ve had a great weekend. After Friday night out to see The Beat, I was up in the morning to write the newspaper review. I got it sent off but because of the timing of the gig and the Oasis and Take That dominance of the Scottish live music scene this week, it only made it to the online edition. Click here to ready the review.

Gail and I were at a 30th party last night in one of the bars in the Corn Exchange Village. We had met one of Gail’s pals first in Au Bar and sank a few pints, the highlight of the evening being the sight of women screaming and standing on chairs as a wee mouse invaded the bar. It eventually dived towards the kitchen as though it had suddenly remembered where home was. The look on the woman at the next table who had just finished her steak pie with potato wedges was priceless.

The party was your typical family & friends bash, with lots of people who didn’t know each other but a damn good buffet and not a bad pour of Guinness either. It was such a nice night outside we spent the bulk of the party out in the beer garden even after sun-down. We got home around 2am.

This morning I got a Father’s Day card from Laura – it had a pint of lager on the front (she knows me so well) – and a massive 390g bar of chocolate. Laura and I headed off for a Daddy-Daughter Day in town, not quite sure at first where we were going, but we covered a lot of ground by the end of it.

We started off in the George Street branch of Waterstone’s, where I bought my holiday reading and got Laura a book she also wanted. Then we went to my favourite coffee shop where Laura treated us both to a cappuccino, hot chocolate and pastries.

The weather was so nice we went for a walk, taking in Princes Street (or what’s left of it), The Mound, The Royal Mile, Edinburgh Castle, Victoria Street (where I found a shop that sells Jamaican Blue Mountain – you beauty!!) the Grassmarket, and then stopped off for 99’s in Princes Street Gardens by the fountain.

After some lazing about in the sun we jumped a bus to Corstorphine and had lunch in a God-awful McDonald’s, only justified to myself because Laura likes them. I felt like shit after eating my Big Mac, so I doubt I’ll ever have one of them again. Ever.

We stopped went into Pets At Home to check out the rabbits they have in, and it was the same two mini-lops they had the last time. It’s a real shame because they’re absolutely gorgeous wee bunnies. I bought some supplies for Mopsy and Pippin then we headed home.

Back at the ranch Gail made some home-made lasagne for evening dinner, which went down a storm, then I cracked open the bar of chocolate with some fresh coffee. Now that’s what I call a Father’s Day!

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There’s still time to win a free copy of STELLA over at Cate Masters’ blog. You have until tomorrow to head over to http://catemasters.blogspot.com and leave a comment.

Things were somewhat more relaxed in the office yesterday. I’m still spinning plates but made good progress with some work. I took a slightly extended lunch (for me – 20 mins) in the canteen with a copy of The Guardian and a plate of pork chow mein with peas. Very nice.

After work I headed to Hamilton’s Bar in Stockbridge for drinks with my friends Linda and fiancé Paul. Gail arrived around half past six and after some introductions we had a few more bevies. After several pints Paul abandoned his DIY plans for the evening and I talked them into joining us at the gig we were going to.

It was my first time at the HMV Picture House in Edinburgh. It’s a converted theatre, similar in design to the Academy’s a la Glasgow, Brixton et al. It’s got a great stage and atmosphere and I predict it’s going to become the premier venue for bands over and above the likes of the Corn Exchange, which is a dire live music venue.

There’s not much I can say about the support band whoever they were, but The Beat were pretty good. After a poor choice to open with Stand Down Margaret, they played all their usual and most popular tracks with a couple of newer ones thrown in.

My favourite Beat track, Too Nice To Talk To was cut short after the most awful feedback invaded the auditorium, which really pissed off Ranking Roger who had to do an impromptu sound check in front of a live audience. That aside, their act was as good as ever and it was great o see such a good turn out for them in this, the 30th anniversary of 2-Tone.

There’s been some big bands playing in Scotland this week – Oasis, Take That to name two – so space in News of the World is somewhat limited, but after penning my review earlier I spoke to the editor who told me it will likely be used in the paper’s online edition.

I’ve got a 30th birthday party tonight and some things to do around the house, and there’s a slight hangover impacting me after the Guinness I consumed last night, but I’m still hoping to find time to do some work, which they way I’m feeling, will be better than nothing.

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After Tuesday night up late working on the promotional material for STELLA, then Wednesday’s late one for a theatre visit with my wife, tiredness played a big part in my day yesterday. The day job dragged and I realised in the midst of it all that the week was dragging too. I kept thinking it was Thursday when it was only Wednesday. I hate it when that happens.

As a result, I overslept and had to call a taxi to get me in to the office on time. Bad week to sleep in as this is mine for covering the day shift so I need to be there from 8am until 5pm. The same thing happened again this morning despite getting to bed a bit earlier last night. I just seem to need a damn good sleep at the moment but 7 hours isn’t enough. I’ll just have to put it down to the energy I’m burning up at the day job and with all the excitement surrounding STELLA’s impending release.

With all that said and done, I did manage to keep the ball rolling with the things that mattered. My media kit for STELLA is now complete, which means I can start putting the blog tour together and starting the hunt for reviews and press coverage. It contains a book blurb, extract, author biography, press release, Q&A, and some lo-res images (high-res on request so people’s emails do not get held up). It’s looking rather nifty.

Tonight I’ll begin sending out formal requests for my blog tour in June. I’ve already lined up two events but no dates confirmed just yet. Stay tuned for a full schedule soon enough.

I finished polishing up my story, Shallow, and it’s now ready for going out. A rejection came in for Off the Ground so I’ve a few to turn around before the end of the week.

The June issue of my monthly newsletter, The Patter, is almost ready. I’ve just got some tweaking and polishing to do to bring it up to scratch then I can schedule it for distribution on Monday morning. Since I started Twittering about the newsletter-only competition, the number of subscribers has soared. I’m going to do a Twitter-only competition next week, also, so follow me on Twitter if you want to be involved.

For the second issue in a row I’ve had authors not responding to emails concerning their publishing contracts with the Ranfurly Review. Two authors have not sent back the contracts despite three separate attempts over several weeks to reach them. Once upon a time I would have gone searching on the Internet but not any more. If people don’t get back they get pulled and black listed.

I’m now left with two rather large holes in Issue 7 and only three days left to fill them. I’ll have to bring a couple of contributions forward, which isn’t always as easy as it sounds; the author has promoted already, the piece doesn’t fit the overall theme of the issue – could be anything.

I now have FOUR authors that I refuse to accept submissions from due to not-return of emails or contracts. It’s not like they don’t have enough time, and I just doubt how seriously they take their work. The Ranfurly may be a non-paying e-zine, but it I run it seriously and prefer to have people involved who have a genuine love of the craft than time wasters.

It’s not too late to sign up to my newsletter for the chance to win a free e-book of STELLA and some signed promo stuff. Enter your email address here and when the next newsletter comes out on 1st June you’ll have five days to get your entry in. The answer is really easy – all you have to do is watch the promotional video on my site to be in with a chance.

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Shattered. I was up late last night doing the promotional artwork for my impending Stella marketing campaign. I’ve ordered a whole bunch of juicy stuff that I will be using to promote the book from one week before it launches to the end of the Book Festival in August.

I’ve got postcards, flyers, bookmarks and cards, and for competitions and special giveaways I have a t-shirt, a key ring, a wall poster and some magnets. It took me around six hours to produce the design, resize it for each of the products and get it all ordered. But now it’s done I can move on with the next phase – the blog tour! I’m about to send out email requests but if you want to beat the bullet, drop me an email and I’ll be in touch.

So last night was pretty manic. I’m on the business end of the day shift at work so my time is limited for this week; 8am start, no breaks, half hour lunch, 5pm finish. Probably another reason why I am so tired this morning.

I did manage to complete my short story – actually it’s a flash piece – called Shallow over my lunch. It’s ready to go but I’ll probably give it one final read tomorrow.

Don’t forget you can still read my Jean Michel Jarre gig review that was published in Sunday’s News of the World A-Listed Scottish music supplement online here.

Tonight I’m going for a meal with Gail then we’re off to see the stage version of the classic Mod movie, Quadrophenia. It’s the first night of it’s week long run at the Festival Theatre in Edinburgh. I’ll write a short review for tomorrow’s blog.

It’s not too late to sign up to my newsletter for the chance to win a free e-book of STELLA and some signed promo stuff. Enter your email address here and when the next newsletter comes out on 1st June, you’ll have five days to get your entry in.

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Edinburgh is awash with blue skies as I sit down with my coffee to write this blog entry this morning. For a Monday, I’m feeling rather good about things and I think the weather looking outside my window may have something to do with it.

Being a fan of the cold and rain, or rather, not being a hater of it, it’s not to say I don’t appreciate warmth and sunshine. It gives me a lift, and it gives others a lift especially the pessimists in my life, of which there are a few. I’m a born optimist, but only to an extent.

The other reason I may be in such a good mood will undoubtedly be due to the wonderful start I made to my new book yesterday. The sequel to Stella got off to a flier, my protagonists beginning the story in sunny Sorrento where we are a year on from the first book. Life is good for them, though not without its undercurrents, but things are about to happen, making it an exciting moment to be a writer.

It’s good to be back with Stella and Randolph. They seem to have become stronger, more independent characters, and by that I mean independent from me. I get the feeling I will learn much from them as I write this, which is one reason I have not put a barrier on the word count. I’m not even thinking about it other than to make sure I hit 2,000 words each day. However long it ends up being is however many words it will need, and that in itself is such an enabling thing to say.

For the purposes of this blog and talking about the book, I’ll call it Stella 2 (can’t keep calling it the sequel to Stella), though obviously this will change. I have a feeling the title will come to me later in the writing of the story.

The first output from my work on Stella’s marketing program can be seen below in the form of one of the web banners I’ve created. As far as marketing goes, though, I still have tonnes I want to do.

I found out via my email this morning that I’ve got another gig for News of the World. The Ed confirmed I have the review for the Jean Michel Jarre gig next week in Glasgow, and he also confirmed that the Music Editor has said they’ll “find me room” whenever I write music reviews, if not in the paper, then certainly online.

On a final note, I want to thank all my new subscribers to The Patter, my monthly newsletter. I’m running the first competition for a free Stella e-book through the newsletter, and after Twittering about it I picked up 71 new subscribers, tripling my existing subscriber base. If you want to win a copy of Stella you’ll need to wait for the next competition. Why not Follow me on Twitter – I’ve a feeling something might be happening there is the next couple of weeks.

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The good thing about writing my blogs the following morning as opposed to the night before, is that I get to react faster to anything in the news that catches my eye. Even more so when a Sunday paper has held onto a juicy story to release it at the end of the week.

It appears that even the most principled among us, those of such strength and admiration among the community, will fall eventually. Sinn Fein: the voice of IRA terrorism purporting to be a political party, Socialist stand up guys, the voice of the disenchanted people. Even they, at their contradictory best, when faced with the power and money that life in Westminster affords, couldn’t help becoming at one with the machine and the temptation to rip off the public they so vehemently claim to be the true representatives of.

In today’s Sunday Telegraph, it is revealed that Sinn Fein MPs have fleeced Britain’s parliamentary system to the tune of half a million pounds (£500,000).

Despite refusing to take up their Westminster seats, five Sinn Fein MPs have rented three London properties from the same family at rates well above the market norm. Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness have jointly claimed expenses of £3,600 a month to rent a shared two-bedroom flat in north London – fair monthly rent for the flat would normally be £1,400.

I am tempted to say this is what happens when one allows terrorists to take part in politics, when really we should just have banged them up in a dark cell somewhere for the rest of their life. But I won’t because it’s simpler than that. These people are murderers, support murder and atrocity, and have done for over thirty years. Now they have “turned to politics” they have also turned to petty crime, and have actively robbed British tax payers to the tune of half a mil.

I wonder what expensive label of Brandy they chink together when they celebrate their new wealth, these days? At least it’s not an innocent child’s blood they are celebrating being spilled any longer – allegedly.

I made the best of yesterday, nobody can argue with that. Up at 6am, I had blogged, written, showered, dressed, coffeed, toasted, and was on the bus out of Leith shortly after 8am. By nine o’clock I was standing in Corstorphine waiting for PC World to open.

To while away the time I tried out my new digital camera by taking a picture of the nearby Tesco supermarket (see right side of this post). Exciting eh? In doing so it reminded me I was nearly out of Italian coffee so I went in to stock up. I also got myself some limited edition Ethiopian to try out. I tasted it later in the day and it’s lovely.

Into PC World next and I wanted to check out at close quarters these nifty Netbooks that are on the go. I’m thinking of getting one for when I’m out and about, and particularly when I’m out the country or on trains etc., which I do quite a lot. I wasn’t there to buy (can’t think of any good reason to buy a PC from PC World), I just wanted to see how these wee machines fit under my hands if I was typing into them, because writing, after all, is what they will be used for mostly.

Two different members of staff came up to ask why I was typing a copy of the Netbook specifications, terms and conditions of sale into Notepad. Fascinating sales technique, I observed.

I also had a look at the Apple counter and their rather juicy Macbooks. Devon just got one of these and I can see why. I’d only seen them on the Net but up close they are very impressive. And thin! Way out of my price ranger, though; maybe one day.

Since I was in the area I popped into the pet store and checked out their wee furries. They had some right bonny wee bunnies in, very friendly this batch too, compared to others.

It was such a lovely morning I walked back into Edinburgh (yes, from Corstorphine) and when I got back to the town stopped off in my usual coffee shop for a cappuccino and warm chocolate pastry. I read the Guardian review of books and chose my horses for the day, then headed back towards Leith via the Post Office to collect a parcel – my new Specials t-shirts were in!

It started to rain on my way back down Leith Walk so I jumped a bus and headed home, knackered, but satisfied to have gotten a full Saturday morning under my belt. It may sound pretty lame, but I do a lot of thinking and stopping to write in my notebook when I’m out and about on a Saturday. Plus I enjoy these walks, and with a decent wee camera now, hopefully I can get some good shots of Edinburgh for the blog.

I decided to devote my afternoon to marketing work for Stella, developing flyers and postcards, and other promo-related work.

My mate’s horse, Moonwalking, ran in the 5.15 at Hexham. After starting the day at 3-1 it drifted to 9-4 and then into 2-1. In the end, I declined a bet and the horse won the race. Ah well.

By the time last night came round I was shattered. I watched ten minutes of a dreadful film (Eden Log) and hit the hay.

Don’t forget, in tonight’s monthly newsletter is a competition to get your hands on a copy of Stella complete with signed goodies. You can only enter if you are a newsletter subscriber so head on over and get your name down if you want to win! www.colingalbraith.co.uk/mailinglist.html.

CHEAP AND FREE E-BOOKS!!

• Selektion – FREE!
• Brick by Brick – FREE!
• Silly Poems for Wee People Vol.1 – FREE!
• Fringe Fantastic – £3 (£5 OFF!!!)
• Poolside Poetry – £3 (£2 OFF!!!)

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