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Monday, April 30, 2012

Red tape book

Just read a `Little black book of red tape` by Ian Vince, got it for £1. Well, it wasn`t even worth £1. Although it had examples of red tape, they`ve all been heard before, and the writing style is...nothing. Dull, `want-to-put-it-down` kinda book, which had so much potential! My `Bethlehem Fiasco` has much better examples AND written well. So, with an inflated head, I sent an e-mail to Orion Books (who don`t accept submissions without an agent), with a submission...ha...it won`t work, but no harm in trying :-)
Why am I submitting an already published book? Because publishers can distribute my books in shops, and I can`t, only on the internet :-( The number of people who`ve said "I`ll buy it when it gets in the shops" is massive.

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Time to write

One big thing about writing is finding the time.
Somehow I found the time to write my 1st two books, I dunno how...late nights, 5 minutes here, a few minutes there. This time, with my 3rd book, there`s a little time, but not the `right` time...the wrong mood, wrong place, wrong company. It`s much more difficult this time. Right at this moment, I`m sitting in a room which smells like a dog...doesn`t get me in the `mood` to write...maybe I can write a bit about dogs.

Saturday, April 28, 2012

A balloon in my head

Thank you all, this blog has now been viewed more than 500 times :-)

Not being able to have the time to sit down and write out the 3rd book is like having a balloon in my head, it keeps expanding and the pressure becomes greater. When will it pop? When will I sit down? When will I have the time to `get into` the book and write, write, write? At least the first small part of `Rage of Atlantis` has been seen by 9 people so far...join them...http://jottify.com/works/the-rage-of-atlantis/
I have 1 minute! Now, where are my notes? Damn it!

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Egyptian wood? Why?

A few readers have asked why. What is wrong with Egyptian wood? Why is it a running theme throughout 'Bethlehem Fiasco' (like the camels - oh yes)? There are many ways to look at it...and it's not much about wood, really.
1. Connection to 'Norwegian Wood' by the Beatles (Egyptian Wood / Norwegian Wood...work it out...there's a 'dig' at a certain type of person at the end)
2. ...which brings us to women, and discrimination in those parts of the world...
3. ...which brings us to the weakness in men, using 'tradition' to control the women, with their 'weak' 'wood'...
5...which links us back to the novel 'Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami.
4. And finally, much less serious than the rest,...when we were at Primary school, in History lessons, we learnt about Egypt...stones, sand, hieroglyphes, papyrus, but wood...no wood. They even made boats out of reed. So, for a carpenter to move to Egypt...
Just a note, really. You can look at things on the surface, or go a little deeper...I did. But hey, just read it, and hopefully you'll enjoy it :-)
Still working on the 3rd...slowly........

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Dr. Seuss

Every so often, I go back to Dr. Seuss's books, and every time they keep getting better. When I was a kid, I was mesmerised by the drawings, loved them, I guess they 'warped' me. Later I liked the rhymes and still loved the drawings. Now I'm having fun reading them aloud to my youngest who loves them. There's so much rhyme and tone in them. And the artwork is still mindblowing, in a weird kinda 50s/60s way. I recommend ANY one of 'em!

3rd book beginning - reactions

It's strange, earlier jottify.com said there had been 10 views of my beginning, now it says 2, and when I log out it says 1. I think something's going on...Anyway, there are a couple of comments, but nothing much yet. The dolphin angle seems to be getting bigger for me, I must do some research...interesting....
People are still complimenting the 1st 2 books, though...no sales...there's news of a Hungarian translation soon...maybe...if an agreement can be made...so you Hungarians, watch this space! (oh, you have :-) thanks)

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

3rd book start

Well, here are the first parts of 'The Rage of Atlantis' (3rd book). Still working on it, but I'd luv to know what ya think.   http://jottify.com/works/the-rage-of-atlantis/
The Pitch: 
"Will a selfish plan for immortality destroy the human race? Or will there be light ‘beyond’ the end of the tunnel?
High-Chief of Security Kang Dee, who just happens to be a dolphin, investigates the latest in a long line of terrorist attacks by the ‘unseen’ against Atlantis, the utopian gem of the physical universe, and finds more than she could have ever imagined."
The absurdity of a dolphin as a main character balances the adsurdity of the real politics. There doesn't seem to be many 'camel' jokes, this absurdity balance is the humour, the pitifully pathetic situation of it all...

There's quite a few of ya now...

Hello everyone...there's quite a handful of ya now, not many, but enough to have a party!
If you wanna just jot me a line saying "Hi", and where you're from, that'll be great...http://www.djc.yolasite.com/contact-dani-j-caile.ph.Ask me a question, that'll make a change, maybe even INTERVIEW me...
Going to put the first 5000 words of the 3rd book on jottify soon, I seem to have a few more nice comments there ATM...http://jottify.com/writer/cailed/. There's also a nice 18th/19th century Gothic short story there, check it out! http://jottify.com/works/the-prophecy-18th-century-gothic/

Monday, April 23, 2012

New version / old version

Had a quick look at 'Man by a tree', in terms of making the beginning more 'Da Vinci'-reader-friendly. Yes, I could do it...do I want to? In my mind, the book 'is' the book, other than the 0.2% amount of typos left in the book (I'm sure there are still some). But I'll have a go, call it 'Man by tree - revisited'.
The 3rd book...new facts keep coming to incorporate into the plot, it's hard to keep up with it all...:-)

New version??

I finally got a comment about 'Man by a tree' which wasn't really to my liking, saying the beginning wasn't structured well, and too many heads are used. But that's the point of the book, really. The 2nd book is a 'wham bamm, thank you, ma'am', whereas the 1st is a book you have to delve into first, walking through the forest which is life until something 'cracks'. Yes, this isn't reader-friendly, but I wanted to write books which made  people think. Apparently that's not so good, to make your readers think.
Perhaps I'll make a 'Man by a tree' - the 'Wham Bamm' version...just a bit of cutting and reshuffling....:-)

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Money maker

Writing is a money maker? Well, no. Unless a writer gets a publisher and is marketed strongly, very strongly, then, no, there's no money in writing. Only pleasure :-) In my writing I've made 1/200th of my normal salary. I won't give up my day job - or my night job :-)

3rd book...different

This 3rd book is different. Of course, there's the usual feeling of humour throughout, but there's so much more. Based on facts from 3 political powers, including a dolphin as the main character, it's going to be...different, I guess, with the absurd and WTF attitude running throughout. Just had to do a massive rewrite through the book so far, and I'm only up to 4,500 words! I have no idea what kind of monster it will be when it 'grows up'. I know where it's going, but the way will be tricky and hard to keep on the straight and narrow. I don't know about anyone else, but I'll be happy if I can get it all down without going nuts!

Friday, April 20, 2012

What have you got to do?

I've written 2 books. Writing a 3rd. They say something about our time. Some people have read them. All who've read them say they're great.
BUT...Editors,agents and online magazines ignore them. Does anyone have a contact? Anywhere?
I gave an acquaintance permission to translate the first few parts of both books, and now 'they', as it turned into a team, want to do the whole translation...for a price, of course. This is correct, but I have no money.
I am not a publisher, I write as a hobby, as a way of stress-release and to stop me going crazy in this...world, and self-published my books for those who wish to read something other than Brown, Grisham, etc,etc. What do I say? I'd love my books to be translated into the language of my host country, I'm sure I could market them better here in Hungary than sitting at my computer trying to tell the world!

Thursday, April 19, 2012

From a seed...

Have a 'seed' of an idea, think about it, grow the main 'trunk', then while 'being inspired' or 'doing nothing' or doing not-doing', find a 'branch', maybe some 'leaves', and write them down. Pretty soon you have a 'tree', which you put in a cover and show to the world. "Look at this tree, ain't it nice."
Only time is against me. Oh, and little flying hobgoblins...don't you see them?

Success...what is it?

I would like to say that my books are successful in terms of sales, but being self-published, it's difficult to publicise and persuade people to even have a read. I'm getting to triple figures...slowly. But is it all about sales? For the people I owe money to, I guess so. For me, well...I'm very happy that whoever has read even a small part says they're very good/fantastic/great,etc...(see my website for the comments on 'Man by a tree' - http://www.djc.yolasite.com/comments-about-man-by-a-tree.php).
It's strange that my 2nd is getting even better reception than the 1st, but no one wants to write any reviews or comments anywhere...perhaps it's the 'mud sticks' attitude.
Anyway, still dawdling with the 3rd book, working out little things here and there, wondering just what exactly am I trying to say. It's wonderful how if you just 'have a go', something happens. Then something else happens. I could just be sitting down, watching TV, but no. I'm trying to write, to say something to the reader, to give another view, to expand the box. Isn't that what it's all about? 42 is just as good an answer, though.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Inspiration again...mood

Don't know why, but I was down today. And then I wrote about 1500 words. This 3rd book is tricky, so many things to work out, little plot holes to fill. But nothing is impossible, there's a great story waiting to get out - all based on 'true' events, of course - well, a spin on them :-) Have about 3500 words, I might put them on jottify.com, see if anyone bites. Authonomy.com needs 10k+...next week, probably.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

ebooks!!

My books are now available in a lot of places in ebook form, it might be fun to keep up with it all, but probably not. They're in Amazon Kindle (co.uk), Smashwords.com and Goodreads.com. Exposure is what I need. I know I've written good books, surely someone will want to read them. The 1st is basically about Hope, Ambition, the 2nd is about Religion, belief, and the 3rd (still writing) is about politics and power. Well, that's just one way to look at them. They can be seen in a lot of ways. The 1st is about death or life, the 2nd is about Jesus and that rotten Judas, and the 3rd is about...okay, no other way to see THAT one. All of them sardonic, quirky, funny as in hehe rather than haha, and with no bad words, with respect for their topics.
If you can't get a book, at least tell people about it, maybe they can get one for ya :-)

Monday, April 16, 2012

Double bladed post

Children are the future...voters. Educate your children the right way...the way of the right. Give them what they want...no, don't need to change that one, that one is already done. Many many people still think that education is 'education', what can change? It's only a place to learn things...no. As you should all know, it's the foundation of politics, right from the nursery and up. So the third book includes education :-)
Inspiration - I have a 'seed' of an idea, I think about it, grow the main 'trunk' of the story, then while listening to music or watching the world go by on the metro or tram, I have a 'branch', maybe some 'leaves', and write them down. Pretty soon I have a 'tree', which I put in a cover and show to the world. "Look at this tree, ain't it nice."

Kindle Editions

Finally decided to put my 2 books on Amazon Kindle. I set the price lower than it shows, so I don't know what's going on there. They're also in the 'KDP Select' system, which is like some kind of library...I think.

Man by a tree
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=man+by+a+tree+dani+j+caile&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Aman+by+a+tree+dani+j+caile&ajr=0
The Bethlehem Fiasco
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=bethlehem+fiasco+dani+j+caile

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Writing - who for? Editors?

I've just received some constructive criticism on my introduction from a few authonomy.com members, and one of them rewrote it, taking out what he considered to be unnecessary. It looked good, stripped to the bone, but it got me thinking. Who am I doing this all for? Am I writing to satisfy the needs of an agent / editor looking for a fast buck and publish my books? Am I writing for myself, my friends and aquaintances?  Am I writing to make money? Am I writing for the pleasure of writing? The dream is to be published and make money. The reality is to have fun and spread it around. But I looked at the stripped-down version of my writing, and that isn't me. What's the point of writing a book which isn't me? Taking out bits like "the crowds of fancy-free flag waving freaks" and things like "with blood reaching his black buckled boots", never to be seen again. That's just not me. That's a machine. That guy can be a machine. I'll be me.

Writing has begun...

The first 1000 words of the 3rd book have slipped out, and it's...different from the 1st and 2nd books. I can see the humour, but so far, it's closer to the 1st than the 2nd, in that there are less one-liners. And definitely no jokes about camels. I guess 'political' humour comes out another way...actually, what's written scares me. Where will it go? Well, I know the main plots, but the interactions are what's interesting..."It's not where you go, it's how you get there"...all that kinda stuff. I think the 'usual' crowd of hobgoblins and angels will add some of my typical humour. These Atlantians are too serious and utopian. But that's the funny bit...???...satire is the word, yes.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

3rd book coming soon

My 3rd book is coming. I've thrashed it all out in my head and found the main plot, sub-plots, characters and their motives, it's still only in my head. It'll take some time to put it all down, get it all sorted, but this'll be another good 'un, filled with secrets, bad apples and scapegoats. All with the usual droll wit of my first 2.
I had a problem putting it together, I had a title first, 'The Rage of Atlantis', from my 2nd book, but I couldn't feel where the rage was, all I knew was that there was a battle at the end because of it. Now it's all sorted :-) It feels great, just hope I have time to write it before...

'Man by a tree' - the 1st 30-50 pages

I've got some reviews up about my 1st book, 'Man by a tree', and they mention that the first few pages are tricky, fantastic but tricky, but after that, it's a cruise, it's fun, fun, fun! This book is, I won't say so different from anything else you've ever read, but comes from a different angle, it's like a landlover who's just jumped into the sea from a cliff. You're walking along, comfortable (or not), then you see the book, you open it's pages (and jump) SPLASH. It's takes you some time to acclimatise to the feeling and confusion of being immersed in the book (sea), but after a while, you get used to it, start to enjoy it, and finally you're zooming along with the story (swimming around). You can dive in and look deeper (hidden meanings) or just read ( swim around on the surface). The 2nd book 'The Bethlehem Fiasco', is rather like the SECOND time you jump in, you know what it's like, and just enjoy it :-) The 3rd, well, that's more serious, still fun, but now you're a veteran, you're trying to look for something more...one of the main characters will be a female dolphin, get that!

The Da Vinci, sorry, Leonardo Code

Just finished a draft of a 30+ page thesis about Dan Brown, mainly based on 'The Da Vinci Code'. Oh, can the guy write! (no). But you have to give it to him, he can SELL. He found a way with pseudo-intelligent words and puzzles, and 'oh-so-curious-but-not-so-true' facts to attract readers, and found the mass market's area of reading interest. 80+ million sales can't be wrong. I'd just like a TINY proportion of that. Please. Maybe my 3rd book will be influenced in the Dan Brown direction...maybe, but hopefully written better. I can't seem to read one page of 'The Da Vinci Code' (which should be called 'Leonardo's Code') without going all sicky and slimy inside, the words he uses in combination with each other (get me a bag)...I can see his point, but...

Friday, April 13, 2012

You don't need a PhD to write

Too damn right - you don't need a PhD to do a lot of things, yet everywhere you go they expect a piece of paper which 'proves' you have a brain. A piece of paper given to you by other people who had been given the same paper some years before. A piece of paper which tells other people that you 'know' something about something - which is a lie because most people cheat - oh yes they do. I went to a Philosophy exam the other year, about 50 people in the room. The teacher received a text on his phone (yeah, right), and left the room for a few minutes. The room exploded with opened books, piles of paper and cheat lists appearing from all places. Where was I? A piece of paper which...you get the gist. Continuation of a corrupt system.
Frank Zappa says it all in 'Dummy Up'.- "the college-degree is stuffed with absolutely nothing at all, you get . . . you get nothing with your college-degree . . ."
I've learnt a lot from college so far, and when I finally get that paper which represents my work, maybe I'll have a different viewpoint.

Also, just watched a bit of an 'academic' discussion on Shakespeare (Shaky-baby, the greatest friend to all writers, the greatest source of inspiration to all - in my opinion), can't wait to watch more. Though when that'll happen...Iambic pentameter, lovely. I'll have two, please, with an egg on the side.

Friday feeling

Hello France and Thailand! Statistics tell me where people view, but not who views. That would be interesting.
My wife is reading my 2nd book 'Bethlehem Fiasco'. She loved the 1st 'Man by a tree', and she said about the 2nd that "I'm sure there are some people who would be entertained by this"...I guess the dark humour is catching...hopefully. maybe she should start writing too.
Met a man on the Metro yesterday who spoke AT me for half and hour.
Met a Japanese businessman on the Metro today who stood right in front of me, even though there was plenty of space in the carriage. I guess he was missing the crowds.
Met a man on the tram...actually, no, I didn't. It was empty. Old joke: "You're not a tram driver." 'Oh yes I am.' "Okay, then turn left here."

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Need inspiration?

Everyone says music inspires you to do wonderful things. Well, just found out what helps me write a book...concept albums! Stories in their own right, really. Just take the mood, and off ya go! When I was writing 'Man by a tree', I was listening to 'The Raven' by the Stranglers, not really a concept album, but the album clings together in a dark, sinister way. For my 2nd, 'Bethlehem Fiasco', well, I wrote it so fast there was no time to listen to anything! It's just a bundle of fun, created from the buzz of the 1st. The 3rd...well, I have time to ponder, what with lots of things to do which are more important. Found a concept album which will help bring out 'The Rage of Atlantis'. Just wrote a cracking first line. The album's 14 years old, that's all I'm saying :-)

1st reviews on Amazon!

Yesterday I received my first reviews, for BOTH books on Amazon. It was a great feeling to finally have someone's opinion on that website. I've received a few on Goodreads, but Amazon is a store, it's important. It was an important step.
My request is that if anyone can put a review on ANYWHERE after reading one (or both) of my books, then please do! Reviews can only help people know what's inside those covers...mmmm...so long as they're GOOD reviews, guys and gals :-) And they should be, I've only received good comments so far...

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Productive time...advice

Well, this is the last day of a 6 day holiday here in Hungary, and I haven't been very productive on the writing side. Done many family things, been quite ill with the amount of food that 'had' to be consumed, but writing...completed two essays for pedagogy, but nothing much else in terms of 'fun' writing. Working on the screenplay for 'Bethlehem Fiasco', you never know, you might see a cartoon or movie or play about it in the future. Will work on 'Man by a tree' screenplay later, plus the 3rd book, which is looking complicated...plus my thesis, plus exams...Oh, advice?...do what you can. Write a little every day, throw it away the next :-)

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Sales & Self publishing

Well, I wouldn't say it was going well, but there are people out there in the world with their own printed copies of 'Man by a tree' and 'The Bethlehem Fiasco'. Self-publishing without bookshop distribution and any marketing is difficult. Once I can get a review somewhere, anywhere, then things might pick up. As it is, I celebrate EVERY  sale, eat something 'special', watch a video, have a drink, try something new. Went to Aquaworld the other day, did 5 Kamikaze slides, for example. Ate a huge bowl of cornflakes last night. Someone, somewhere out on the surface of this planet is now waiting for their copy...:-)

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Writing - advice 2 - Action & Dialogue

Here's advice number 2: Action! Visual the book. Can you see the things you describe happening? Can you see the movie of your book? If not, then try again. And dialogue, the all important dialogue. I've read many books where the description and action were fantastic, only to be let down with unrealistic dialogue which no one would ever say, or dialogue which was just 'info dump', perhaps the worst misdemeanor in writing. The 'info dump'...where the writer tells the reader something WITHOUT including them in the process of exploration! The reader sleeps...

3rd book look

Book look...some people have commented on how my books look. They say they look too much like 'high literature'. Well, the 1st is green, with a picture of trees, the book is rather like being lost in a forest and you try to find your way through the trees. The 2nd is sandy coloured, with a picture of a barren desert, as the book is rather like walking through a hot empty place alone, frightened to turn the next page. And the 3rd, well, it's blue...
http://www.djc.yolasite.com/future-projects-by-dani-j-caile.php

My 3rd book...the beginnings

Well, it's starting to rattle around in my head now, though it'll be a while before I write it.
The main character is a dolphin, it's set in Atlantis, and is based on the anti-democracy found in my host country, Hungary. If anyone has any interesting true stories about the present regime, please contact me either here or at my website (http://www.djc.yolasite.com/contact-dani-j-caile.php). I don't want to miss out any juicy bits - though I have a few.

Writing - how? Advice 1

I've noticed the posts I write anything about writing seem to get more views, so I'll try to 'keep off' politics, cars and fancy women :-)
So, writing. Is it advice anyone wants?
Advice number 1. Find a  voice.
Since I was old enough to put pen to paper I've tried my hand at writing, but nothing seemed serious enough. A few years ago, I really had a go at writing but again I found that, as hard as I tried to write seriously, it just wasn't happening. Then it clicked. It's fiction. Just write, forget serious. Write with the knowledge in your head and it just pours out. You don't need to write exactly how your experiences happened, just take a piece here, a piece there, and you have a story. If you can ignore the hobgoblins, etc, all of the 1st book is my life. The bits in the 2nd book that aren't from the Bible are also from my life. Yes, the border 'that's not you' thing really happened. Yes, driving down a newly built motorway not opened yet did happen. Yes, opening an enormous energy portal while my body died did happ...okay, so that one didn't :-). Oh, and the serious bit? I completely forgot about it. The seriousness in my writing is below the superficial fun/fiction/story. And it's there, believe me.

Friday, April 6, 2012

Authonomy.com, the Lowdown

I've been a part of authonomy.com since December 2011, and initially it seemed like a great site, until I realised its flaws. Ranks and ratings can be manipulated with a little 'cheating' or with no care for the quality of literature you back. Clone books zoom up the ranking as they already have a reader base on the site, and are able to collect backers easier than strange, wacky books such as mine. Saying that, I did reach rank 81 with my 1st, getting stuck behind the 'block' of dead wood waiting for the Editor's Desk. And the comments you receive are homogeneous and rarely different, as the site is only used by a bunch of would-be-authors looking for backers by being over-friendly and using flattery to gain some ground.
Where are da readers at? Goodreads is okay. Jottify could be better.

The thing about writing...

...is that I love it. I can't read much nowadays, it all seems the same to me, all clones or mixed clones of other work. Pointless to read, with nothing to learn. So I wondered just what it was like to write. I wrote. 2 books have come out of my head, and a 3rd is growing. They have layers, too - so I've heard - well, I planned it that way. How deep do you like to read? I love alliteration, too. I must be nuts.

Marketing going well?

Finally sent out my last few books from my 2nd order. Now I have no copies, so I'm waiting for some people to ask for signed copies so I can order some more. Self-publishing is difficult. Not only do you need to write good books, you also have to market them. But not much is happening, other than one or two people who want copies.
How can someone be heard in a globalised world like this? I thought making a website (http://www.djc.yolasite.com/), creating a blog, putting some quizzes on facebook, creating some 'phoney' fb publishing events would create some attention. They did, but not much. 725 people have tried my 'Grim Reaper' quiz, but only 4 have tried the Jesus one. Few friends replied to the events. Two online magazines got back to me about a review, and then went quiet. Twitter only goes out to those who are following...very few. Where can you go to tell the world?? I'm definitely not in this for the money, I worked out I'm making 150 Ft per book, which is about 50 pence. Someone mentioned 'audio book', but who would read it...
Other than this, I'm proud I wrote my books, and that some people have read them. As for those who didn't read them or didn't give the books a few seconds at least, well, you're missing out...

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Working too hard?

One of my tutors mentioned I was pushing myself too hard. So I started working harder. Now I'm working on 2 small essays, my 20 page thesis, started one screenplay for ScriptFrenzy, will do the other afterwards, I'm collecting ideas for my 3rd book, AND, of course, working. Mmm, still doesn't feel enough. Top marks for my Psychology essay, Yippee!

1st sells the 2nd

Hello Russia! (you really should comment, I'd love to know who you are)
I finally handed a copy of my 1st book over to a colleague, after waiting for it to arrive from the printers, only for him to message me the next day saying could he have a copy of the 2nd. I guess he liked the 1st one! Met him today and I was happy to hear some positive feedback from the book. He suggested an Audio book as a promotional tool...it's an idea. Just who would do it??? Any suggestions, anyone?