Pen To Paper.

stagstag Posts: 2,083MI6 Agent
I noticed that a few AJB members are aspiring or indeed published authors - mostly utilising the opportunity to exercise their creativity via the medium of amazon & other e book publishing platforms.

I thought it may be beneficial if those interested or already engaged could huddle together in this dark corner to chat about e publishing & the writing process in general.
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Comments

  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent
    Great idea Stag -{ I think many of us feel we have a book inside us, although
    sadly not the discipline to stick at it. :#
    "I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
  • The Domino EffectThe Domino Effect Posts: 3,631MI6 Agent
    Great idea Stag -{ I think many of us feel we have a book inside us, although
    sadly not the discipline to stick at it. :#

    A laxative should do the trick nicely, TP.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Western Mass, USAPosts: 9,061MI6 Agent
    I have a book inside me. The surgeons will be taking it out soon though. :s
    Dalton & Connery rule. Brozz was cool.
    #1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent
    Just wait until the first TP Rowling hits the shelves ! ;)
    "I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
  • LoeffelholzLoeffelholz The United States, With LovePosts: 8,988Quartermasters
    Awesome! An off-topic thread where insults and arguing are less likely! {[]
    Check out my Amazon author page! Mark Loeffelholz
    "I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
    "Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 36,053Chief of Staff
    :)) :)) :))
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent
    :))
    I think you may have just set a challenge :))
    "I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
  • stagstag Posts: 2,083MI6 Agent
    Awesome! An off-topic thread where insults and arguing are less likely! {[]

    Don't tempt fate!
  • LoeffelholzLoeffelholz The United States, With LovePosts: 8,988Quartermasters
    stag wrote:
    Awesome! An off-topic thread where insults and arguing are less likely! {[]

    Don't tempt fate!

    I stand corrected :o
    Check out my Amazon author page! Mark Loeffelholz
    "I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
    "Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
  • stagstag Posts: 2,083MI6 Agent
    stag wrote:
    Awesome! An off-topic thread where insults and arguing are less likely! {[]

    Don't tempt fate!

    I stand corrected :o

    You just never know who's going to turn up with a sharpened pencil at the the ready!
  • stagstag Posts: 2,083MI6 Agent
    I am interested in hearing more about Oscar Jade & how he came about. I must confess that although I am preparing to publish my own novel on amazon I do not yet own a Kindle! Being stuck firmly in the first half of the 20th century I also do not possess the means or the inclination to purchase things from the far side of the ether via the medium of electronic money transfer trickery. I did read the reviews on the amazon site & the book sounds good.
  • LoeffelholzLoeffelholz The United States, With LovePosts: 8,988Quartermasters
    stag wrote:
    I am interested in hearing more about Oscar Jade & how he came about. I must confess that although I am preparing to publish my own novel on amazon I do not yet own a Kindle! Being stuck firmly in the first half of the 20th century I also do not possess the means or the inclination to purchase things from the far side of the ether via the medium of electronic money transfer trickery. I did read the reviews on the amazon site & the book sounds good.

    Just for the record...the book is also available in analog (paperback :007) ), although I understand it's a much bigger pricetag... ;)

    It's a long story, and dates back to when I was writing motion picture screenplays, and in fact came pretty close (in 2008) to selling a script about WWI aviators to a fairly big producer (bits of my script ended up getting nicked, and wound up in the film Flyboys, but that's an entirely different story). Bottom line, I was having a great deal of frustration in finding any success at all.

    My father, who in 2009 or so was in failing health, told me one afternoon that I should write a book - an old-fashioned private eye story, like what Mickey Spillane did (he was a huge Spillane fan), and that's where the idea of Oscar Jade began to germinate. I planned it to be a series from the outset, and decided to set it in Miami Beach in the early 1940s (my dad was born in Florida, and lived in a town just south of Miami during this time). Oscar Jade was to live above a beachfront bar & grill in Miami Beach, have a mysterious past, and be a working private investigator. Miami Beach was a boom-town then, thanks to the war and an influx of humanity as a lot of military training went on there, so it seemed a logical place where stories could spawn organically.

    Then, I decided to give Jade one club foot. My brother was born with severely club feet, and has since been able (thanks to fifteen major corrective surgeries) to live a normal life as a working actor in LA (he has a speaking part in the third Transformers movie, haha!)...but I wanted Jade to be a man in chronic pain who manages to overcome a great many things...and in fact be someone who might be underestimated by his enemies :v

    My influences are Raymond Chandler, Mickey Spillane and Dashiell Hammett - Hammett, because his novel The Maltese Falcom is the purest example of 'third-person remote' point-of-view I have ever seen. Unlike Chandler's Philip Marlowe and Spillane's Mike Hammer, my Oscar Jade is written in third-person, rather than first-person, which is by far the most common style in the hard-boiled private eye subgenre. In addition, I decided that Jade's thoughts would be observable to about the extent that Fleming made James Bond's thoughts observable...so it can be clearly stated that Ian Fleming is a primary influence as well: Jade is more escapist than Marlowe, Hammer and Spade. My formula includes more violence, particularly in the third act...and in addition, like the Bond films begin with a gunbarrel sequence, my Jade novels will always begin with a date stamp. Blood & Ashes opens with this header: "Miami Beach, Florida - December 9th, 1941." In this way, I will strictly control when my stories take place, and control the pace of my protagonist's aging. Hopefully, if I live long enough, I will write his swan song B-)

    My father has since passed away, but he lived long enough to hold a copy of my book in his hands, dedicated to him: "For Tom Loeffelholz, my father...without whom there would be no Oscar Jade." It was a very nice moment.

    I'm about 40,000 words into the 2nd Jade novel, Storm Maker (which has been delayed due to life crises, a couple of spec screenplay projects (script doctoring others' work, adapting a friend's novel into a first draft script, etc)...and will continue to plod along.

    Thanks for creating this thread, and I shall endeavor to be present as much as possible, answering questions and providing input as we move along.

    Cheers -{
    Check out my Amazon author page! Mark Loeffelholz
    "I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
    "Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 36,053Chief of Staff
    Wonderful post, Loeffs.
  • stagstag Posts: 2,083MI6 Agent
    Great post! Thank you Loeffelholz. Although my own interest in writing can be traced back to my childhood & I have always written short stories for my own amusement, it fell by the wayside as the years rolled by. It wasn't until I joined AJB that I picked up the baton once more to do a spot of fan fiction. One of the fan fiction stories mutated into a full blown novel (actually it stands at about 130 pages so I'm not sure if it is a novel or novella) featuring my own character Harry Flynn. Interestingly enough & because of my interest in WW2 history it is set in the same time period as the Oscar Jade book.
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,699MI6 Agent
    stag wrote:
    stag wrote:

    Don't tempt fate!

    I stand corrected :o

    You just never know who's going to turn up with a sharpened pencil at the the ready!

    The title of the thread is most likely wrong. Surely you ment 'finger to keyboard' :p
  • Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,644MI6 Agent
    edited February 2016
    What about non-fiction writing?

    Has anyone got any tips on that?

    Non-fiction is the only type of writing I attempt these days and since 2005 I have been writing articles of various aspects of Bondology that I collect together at my research project The Bondologist Blog.

    Any advise on styles of writing non-fiction articles would be most appreciated. :) -{
    "The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
  • LoeffelholzLoeffelholz The United States, With LovePosts: 8,988Quartermasters
    Number24 wrote:
    The title of the thread is most likely wrong. Surely you ment 'finger to keyboard' :p

    Actually, probably 40%+ of my work starts out as ballpoint pen on paper...I always keep 3 sheets of blank paper folded in my shirt pocket at work. I write when I can, and transcribe later B-)
    Check out my Amazon author page! Mark Loeffelholz
    "I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
    "Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
  • stagstag Posts: 2,083MI6 Agent
    Number24 wrote:
    The title of the thread is most likely wrong. Surely you ment 'finger to keyboard' :p

    Actually, probably 40%+ of my work starts out as ballpoint pen on paper...I always keep 3 sheets of blank paper folded in my shirt pocket at work. I write when I can, and transcribe later B-)

    I use a flip ring binder type note pad & ballpoint for all ideas before committing to keyboard.
  • stagstag Posts: 2,083MI6 Agent
    What about non-fiction writing?

    Has anyone got any tips on that?

    Non-fiction is the only type of writing I attempt these days and since 2005 I have been writing articles of various aspects of Bondology that I collect together at my research project The Bondologist Blog.

    Any advise on styles of writing non-fiction articles would be most appreciated. :) -{

    As far as I'm concerned all writing is welcomed. I guess we can all agree that the only thing we should bar is politics! (Or can we?!?!) :))
  • LoeffelholzLoeffelholz The United States, With LovePosts: 8,988Quartermasters
    stag wrote:
    What about non-fiction writing?

    Has anyone got any tips on that?

    Non-fiction is the only type of writing I attempt these days and since 2005 I have been writing articles of various aspects of Bondology that I collect together at my research project The Bondologist Blog.

    Any advise on styles of writing non-fiction articles would be most appreciated. :) -{

    As far as I'm concerned all writing is welcomed. I guess we can all agree that the only thing we should bar is politics! (Or can we?!?!) :))

    Please...let's? -{ Although, to be honest, I've done my share of political satire...would probably get me burnt at the stake with much of this crowd 8-)
    Check out my Amazon author page! Mark Loeffelholz
    "I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
    "Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
  • asioasio Melbourne, AustraliaPosts: 546MI6 Agent
    Great thread!
    My comic book work pales in comparison to that produced by Loeffelholz so I'll make a quick comment before we go back to the main discussion: my method is 90% pen to paper - written briefs per page, then the script writing, then I create a more detailed character design (on paper), then the actual page artwork (illustrations then inkwork), then it's scanned onto the PC for editing.
    I used to have A4 paper and post it notes all over the house, finally my wife allowed me to segregate a section of the house for my hobby / 2nd job, so now "the mess" is confined. :))
    Drawn Out Dad.
    Independent, one-shot comic books from the outskirts of Melbourne, Australia.
    twitter.com/DrawnOutDad
  • CoolHandBondCoolHandBond Mactan IslandPosts: 6,030MI6 Agent
    I'm in my third year of "retirement" and my ambition was to write a continuing series of books. Where as I thought I would have plenty of time on my hands the opposite is true and I am more busy than ever with overseeing my wife's business ventures and volunteer work at a help centre. None the less I will put some time aside at some point to try and achieve a dream. Good luck to stag and co with their books and I look forward to reading them.
    Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
  • stagstag Posts: 2,083MI6 Agent
    I'm in my third year of "retirement" and my ambition was to write a continuing series of books. Where as I thought I would have plenty of time on my hands the opposite is true and I am more busy than ever with overseeing my wife's business ventures and volunteer work at a help centre. None the less I will put some time aside at some point to try and achieve a dream. Good luck to stag and co with their books and I look forward to reading them.

    I feel your pain! -{ I retired in 2010 with every intention of taking it easy yet my own voluntary work has become almost a full time job in itself. This is the very reason why my own project is taking so long. I only got back into the notion of writing after joining AJB but have only been able to devote time to it in fits & starts.

    I hope after the wait that my own book is worth the read!
  • stagstag Posts: 2,083MI6 Agent
    asio wrote:
    Great thread!
    My comic book work pales in comparison to that produced by Loeffelholz so I'll make a quick comment before we go back to the main discussion: my method is 90% pen to paper - written briefs per page, then the script writing, then I create a more detailed character design (on paper), then the actual page artwork (illustrations then inkwork), then it's scanned onto the PC for editing.
    I used to have A4 paper and post it notes all over the house, finally my wife allowed me to segregate a section of the house for my hobby / 2nd job, so now "the mess" is confined. :))

    Have you posted any of your work on AJB? If so I've missed it.
  • asioasio Melbourne, AustraliaPosts: 546MI6 Agent
    stag wrote:
    asio wrote:
    Great thread!
    My comic book work pales in comparison to that produced by Loeffelholz so I'll make a quick comment before we go back to the main discussion: my method is 90% pen to paper - written briefs per page, then the script writing, then I create a more detailed character design (on paper), then the actual page artwork (illustrations then inkwork), then it's scanned onto the PC for editing.
    I used to have A4 paper and post it notes all over the house, finally my wife allowed me to segregate a section of the house for my hobby / 2nd job, so now "the mess" is confined. :))

    Have you posted any of your work on AJB? If so I've missed it.

    No, I only recently returned to AJB after a self-imposed exile for 8 years (got married, had kids. Still married, still have kids) so I haven't posted about my comic books.
    I work alongside my twin brother to create the books. We both write and illustrate, so each book is different. One thing we do differently from "the big boys" is each book is a one-off story, and we tell stories across different themes such as action, fantasy, bad science, humour, etc. I'm currently working on a book about soccer (another love of mine) which should be available in April.
    My signature does have a link to our Twitter page, so you can see some of our work there.
    Drawn Out Dad.
    Independent, one-shot comic books from the outskirts of Melbourne, Australia.
    twitter.com/DrawnOutDad
  • stagstag Posts: 2,083MI6 Agent
    A Milestone has been achieved! I'm often bamboozled by all the electronic trickery surrounding computers yet after some searching on the net & much trial & error I am pleased to announce that I have finally figured out how to prepare my book for amazon! I can now not only create a workable table of contents but also hyperlink (chest puffed out as I type). I know that this won't be a big deal to most of you but given my lack of understanding of such protocols I am pleased with my progress. Using an early draft copy of my book as a test bed, apart from TOC & hyperlinking, I converted it to PDF to make sure that the features worked in that form.

    The only thing which remains is to carry out a final read through in order to place chapters/subchapters where I want them & I should be good to go.

    BTW I use open office. It's a good programme.
  • stagstag Posts: 2,083MI6 Agent
    asio wrote:
    stag wrote:
    asio wrote:
    Great thread!
    My comic book work pales in comparison to that produced by Loeffelholz so I'll make a quick comment before we go back to the main discussion: my method is 90% pen to paper - written briefs per page, then the script writing, then I create a more detailed character design (on paper), then the actual page artwork (illustrations then inkwork), then it's scanned onto the PC for editing.
    I used to have A4 paper and post it notes all over the house, finally my wife allowed me to segregate a section of the house for my hobby / 2nd job, so now "the mess" is confined. :))

    Have you posted any of your work on AJB? If so I've missed it.

    No, I only recently returned to AJB after a self-imposed exile for 8 years (got married, had kids. Still married, still have kids) so I haven't posted about my comic books.
    I work alongside my twin brother to create the books. We both write and illustrate, so each book is different. One thing we do differently from "the big boys" is each book is a one-off story, and we tell stories across different themes such as action, fantasy, bad science, humour, etc. I'm currently working on a book about soccer (another love of mine) which should be available in April.
    My signature does have a link to our Twitter page, so you can see some of our work there.

    Unfortunately I'm not on twitter so hope you may post a couple of examples of your work as it sounds good.
  • Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,644MI6 Agent
    stag wrote:
    A Milestone has been achieved! I'm often bamboozled by all the electronic trickery surrounding computers yet after some searching on the net & much trial & error I am pleased to announce that I have finally figured out how to prepare my book for amazon! I can now not only create a workable table of contents but also hyperlink (chest puffed out as I type). I know that this won't be a big deal to most of you but given my lack of understanding of such protocols I am pleased with my progress. Using an early draft copy of my book as a test bed, apart from TOC & hyperlinking, I converted it to PDF to make sure that the features worked in that form.

    The only thing which remains is to carry out a final read through in order to place chapters/subchapters where I want them & I should be good to go.

    BTW I use open office. It's a good programme.

    Congratulations, stag! I wish you all the best. I too don't know anything about that stuff so you're certainly not alone in that regard! :) -{
    "The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
  • stagstag Posts: 2,083MI6 Agent
    stag wrote:
    A Milestone has been achieved! I'm often bamboozled by all the electronic trickery surrounding computers yet after some searching on the net & much trial & error I am pleased to announce that I have finally figured out how to prepare my book for amazon! I can now not only create a workable table of contents but also hyperlink (chest puffed out as I type). I know that this won't be a big deal to most of you but given my lack of understanding of such protocols I am pleased with my progress. Using an early draft copy of my book as a test bed, apart from TOC & hyperlinking, I converted it to PDF to make sure that the features worked in that form.

    The only thing which remains is to carry out a final read through in order to place chapters/subchapters where I want them & I should be good to go.

    BTW I use open office. It's a good programme.

    Congratulations, stag! I wish you all the best. I too don't know anything about that stuff so you're certainly not alone in that regard! :) -{

    Thanks. I know I keep saying it but I am going to knuckle down in an attempt to complete the project - it was the uncertainty of the technical side of matters surrounding the e publishing process which was holding me back as much as my own time constraints. I have been scratching my head over the whole TOC/hyperlinking business for some weeks as - for me at least - it is like attempting to crack the enigma code.
  • stagstag Posts: 2,083MI6 Agent
    Lightbulb moment! Although I haven't been writing (the book is finished anyway - though I guess I will add here & there on the final format read through) I have actually been at work on the thing, just in a different context.
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