I came back from picking my son up from school earlier to discover this:

Dozens of programs were open, and my audio settings had all been changed. If only I could train him to rest on the right keys to write my next novel…

Tommy

The Bologna Children’s Book Fair opens today and, for those of us who write for younger readers, this can be a nerve-wracking time. For, in Bologna, meetings are held, hands are shaken and deals are done.

My agent is out there as I write this, spreading the Scream Street word and discussing the sale of certain unsold rights. She could be sipping celebratory champagne with Spielberg right now, and I wouldn’t know until she calls or returns next week. And I know of a couple of fellow writers who are waiting for word on even bigger deals. It’s nail-biting stuff.

So, like many other children’s authors, the next few days will be spent writing, editing and plotting. Oh, and restarting my heart every time the ‘phone rings…

Tommy

I use WordPress to create this site and blog and, like may people around the world, have now upgraded to the long-awaited version 2.5

This post is a test to check that everything has updated properly, and still works!  I should be able to post a link, here.

Fingers crossed…

Tommy

I took my 18-month old son, Sam, swimming for the first time yesterday, and he took to it like…, well, like a boy who discovers he likes swimming a lot.  Not that he did that much swimming, to be fair, it was more floating in daddy’s arms.  But, considering the largest amount of water he’d ever been near previously was his bath, he splashed and kicked happily, and even put his face in the water a few times.

We’ll be going every week from now on.  I’m a very happy daddy today!

Tommy

I’ve got a new ‘phone. There it is. The Nokia N95. Lovely, isn’t it? It does everything I need it to do, and more. I can do all the normal ‘phone type stuff, plus send and receive email (very handy for when I’m away from my desk) and even write on it via a bluetooth keyboard. I’m very happy. Except…

I’m an Apple fan. I use only Mac computers (I write on a Macbook and have a Mac Mini for day to day computing type stuff – and there’s an iMac on the way, too), plus, I never go anywhere without my video iPod. I love all things Apple, and realy wanted to get an iPhone. Only, they’re not very good. Yet.

I’m sure things will improve with time. Apple have opened the operating system up to third-party software developers (a big step), but I’m going to need more than that in order to continue on my road of loyalty. (If you’re not into gadgets, you might want to switch off now!)

Bluetooth. I’m going to need to connect a bluetooth headset for when I’m driving at the very least, and I wouldn’t mind using a portable bluetooth keyboard, either.

3G. The current standard for mobile ‘phone use, yet the iPhone is still on 2G due to battery life concerns. Doesn’t affect the Nokia I’m using guys…

Battery replacement. I don’t fancy sending the thing away to Apple to replace a faulty or dead battery. I want to buy a new one and switch it myself in a few seconds.

Memory expansion. It’s possible I won’t use all of the built-in 8gb or 16gb, but I’d like the option to use and switch memory cards, please.

Multimedia messaging. If I take a photo, I’d like to be able to send it to my friends’ ‘phones, and not all of them have the capacity to receive emailed images.

Provider. I prefer the ability to choose which mobile provider I go with, rather than be tied into just one company. Where’s the element of competition that will keep prices down and offers sharp?

So, as much as I feel like I’m being unfaithful, it’s the Nokia for me. For now.

Tommy

Time for another book recommendation, and this one is long overdue.

The Jimmy Coates series by Joe Craig is an ongoing action-packed adventure featuring a main character with some very special abilities. Now, I made the mistake of picking up the fourth book first, so I know what these abilities are and how Jimmy comes to have them – but I won’t spoil it for you!

Starting with Jimmy Coates: Killer, Joe’s books are crammed with mystery, intrigue and sequences that literally leave you breathless after you’ve read them. To say these stories are page-turners is a vast understatement.

Pick up a Jimmy Coates book today. You won’t regret it.

Tommy

I watched Sky TV’s production of The Colour Of Magic last night, which I recorded over the Easter weekend – and what a fantastic adaptation it was of the first two Discworld books. David Jason was wonderful as the ever-cowardly Rincewind but, for me, Sean Astin stole the whole thing as the innocent tourist, Twoflower. There was even a cameo appearance by Terry Pratchett himself as one of the astro-zoologists.

Which leads me to this: I need to apologise to Terry Pratchett. Because I lied to him in 1994.

Allow me to explain…

I was a young(er) wannabe writer, and a big fan of the Discworld series. Of course, I was delighted when I heard that Terry Pratchett would be signing copies of his newest book, Soul Music, at my local bookshop – Waterstones in Preston. So, off I went to meet the great man and have him inscribe his name for me. Except…

When I got to the bookshop, there was a huge queue. Round the block stuff. I had vastly underestimated the number of people who would also want Terry to sign their books. Now, any normal fan would have stood in line with the people dressed as wizards and patiently waited his turn. But, I was not a normal fan…

At the time, I was considering a career in radio and so was making any number of demo tapes to send out to stations around the UK (yes, tapes – it was that long ago!) I had my recording walkman and microphone in a camera bag in the boot of my car, and an idea began to hatch…

Racing back to collect my equipment, I re-entered the bookshop with as much confidence as I could muster and claimed I was here to interview Terry Pratchett for a local radio station. Amazingly, it worked, and I was told I would be able to go in once the newspaper guy had finished.

So, for ten minutes, I subjected Terry Pratchett to the most unprepared, banal interview questions I’m sure he’s ever heard. To his credit, he was gracious, polite and even agreed to sign my copy of Soul Music when I had finished. A triumph, you might think.

But, no. I was awash with power, and proceeded to go back down to the bookshop floor in my radio reporter guise and interview people still standing in the queue I had just jumped about why they were prepared to stand in line for so long.

So, to all those fans and, most of all – to Terry Pratchett himself – my apologies. If you ever want to jump the queue at one of my signings, consider it done.

Tommy

So, the third draft of SS3: Heart of the Mummy is written and in.  I had a lot of fun with this one; the mummy character in the title is a joy to write for.

Now it’s back to work on SS5, which I can exclusively reveal will be called Skull of the Skeleton.  I have a wall full of index cards (I plot BIG!) and a million and one ideas jostling for pole position.

Who says being a writer isn’t fun?!

Tommy

Top TV comedy writer, Ken Levine, talks about when you should stop writing in his latest post. And, with credits on shows such as M*A*S*H, Cheers and Frasier, when Ken talks – it’s good to listen.

His words got me thinking about when to start writing, as well as stopping. For me, it’s my job. I have to show up every day, sit here and create, edit or rewrite words in order to put food on the table and keep a roof over my family’s heads. The fact that I do all that from an office that is really a spare bedroom and can stop any time I like to make a cup of tea does nothing to diminish the fact that this is a job. I don’t write, I don’t get paid. No waiting for the muse to show up for me – every time I head up to my office, I drag the muse with me, kicking and screaming if need be.

Now, I’m not moaning here. I absolutely love my job and realise that I’m very fortunate to be doing it, but I face a problem that every self-employed person struggles with on a daily basis – I have no boss. That might sound like a dream come true (and it can be) but it’s up to me to discipline myself, up to me to set targets and hit them, up to me to ensure the work is done on time and to an acceptable standard. The result – and this is true of every self-employed person I know, whether they write, design websites or sell cars – is that I work much, much harder than I ever did in my previous 9 to 5 jobs.

The same holds true whether you write full-time or not. If you want to write a novel or screenplay, you have to put the time in and create whether you feel like it or not. How many people do you know who’ve talked for years about that book they’re going to write? Yep, me too. The difference between us and them is that we’re sitting our asses down and doing it. Writers write, they don’t just talk about writing.

But, I hear you cry, I don’t have the time. I work all day and have to spend time with my family in the evening. Yep, so did I before I was able to quit my day job (although my family still force me to spend time with them). The truth is if you want it hard enough, you’ll make the time. You’ll give up watching some TV, going to the pub, or you’ll get up earlier than everyone else. You could write a measly 250 words a day in your lunch hour (just half the length of this post) and, at the end of a year, you’d have a 90,000 word novel in your hands. The question is, do you want it enough to sit down and do it? There’s a word for writers who do: published.

It’s a tough master, this writing bug.

Tommy

My partner, Kirsty, is kind enough to read my books aloud to me. That might sound like a terrific indulgence but, in fact, it’s a great writing tool. Hearing what I’ve written read aloud by someone else, with the inflections and tones they put into the text, can really help to show me what works and what doesn’t.

For example, I’m currently working on the third draft of SS3 and, tonight, Kirsty read it for me. There were sections I found I could improve (I make notes as she reads) and others I could pump up to make more exciting. More importantly, it made me realise how much a certain topic crops up in this book; a topic that is used a lot in the next title in the series.

So, my job tomorrow, is to change references to that topic. I have a few ideas of how to do it – and the plot already feels stronger as a result.

Oh, and there’s one really mushy scene that’s GOT to go!

Read your work out loud or, even better, have someone else do it for you. You’ll be surprised at what you’ll hear.

Tommy