Createspace vs e-books

I am wondering after hours of trying to sort out the spacing for Walls Closing In  on a createspace template, if it is worth printing our book. Afterall, it is the digital age, and e-books seem to be the way to go these days. And Amazon seems like a perfect platform for writers to earn dollars/rands and cents or pennies and pounds, if you please. Yet, I can't seem to get the idea out of my head, that I would like to see this book, our first attempt at joining the Creative Club, in print. Nothing like feeling the pages turn with your fingers....hmmm, I just think I psyched myself up into tackling this spacing issue again.

Where it all began...Part 2

I also remember that I especially loved banging away on my dad's old typewriter (when he wasn't looking), and used to imagine what it would like to be all grown up, writing my first novel. Imagine the patience I would have had to have, and the  amount of correction fluid I would have had to use. I had never quite gotten the hang of typing like a typist...still haven't actually. Anyway, it was the feeling...I could be the next Enid Blyton or Carolyne Keene...when I grow up. That is the problem with us writers, we have vivid imaginations!

Where it all began...Part 1

I have always loved English...heck(is that even a word?), even one of my more interesting speeches in highschool was "English is a crazy language". I am pretty sure that I got the idea from my sister who got the idea from her teacher who got the idea from the Reader's Digest.
I was too clever for my own good, and recycled a speech which I am sure that the English teacher had heard before. We both went to the same school. Not the same teachers, but if there is one thing I do know: teachers talk...a lot. I guess I must have got a pretty low grade for that one.

Essay writing progressed to diary writing...dangerous stuff really...can get you into all sorts of trouble...to a few pages penned in Taiwan, the plot to some international thriller which is long lost and long forgotten I'm sure. Fastforward a few years...I entered a competition in the Metro. You had to write a mini-story via text and it got published in the paper. What a thrill to see my name in print!

Believe it or Not

Now I have seen it all...fish with fur, the lizard man, the man with crocodile teeth...believe it or not...seriously what would possess a person to do the last two is still beyond me. My trip to Ripley's Believe it or Not-London beggars belief for some of the things I have seen, or more so, that which Mr Robert Ripley saw all those years ago, and decided to preserve it for the world. His legacy lives on as you go on a journey that is a pleasant surprise at most turns.
Initially, you get to the fifth floor and after pottering around there to see some artefacts from around the world; animal freaks of nature, the biggest rocking chair I have ever sat on and a replica of a megladon jaw, amongst others!  I remember thinking how disappointly small the area was...was that it? Did we come all this way to find out that Buckingham Palace is home to forty thousand light bulbs?
 Of course, there were four levels to go, so we were bound to see more unbelievable things! On our way to the elevator, we nearly missed the opening to embark on a gallery that showed the life and times of its founder. Luckily we didn't though, because once you turn the corner, you discover a wonderful art gallery that  fascinates. The things people use to create art is amazing; sweets, tape from 1980's cassettes (remember those...I am sure I still have some lying somewhere), burnt toast, butterflies, keyboard keys, cigarette ash, and lipstick kisses transform into portraits you can recognise. There was even a bubblegum sculpture of the Fab Four...the Beatles I mean.
I especially liked the virtual wall with the virtual spray can...inspiration abounded..take a look...the beginnings of which...well that is a whole other story...

62-Gun Salute

Welcome to the world, Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana...here is your 62-gun salute! I am sure the latest addition to the Royal family was thankfully tucked quite far away so as not to go tone-deaf, but this is an age-old tradition...wish I had went now. I was just wondering why it was a 62 gun-salute, and not a 21-gun one, at the Tower of London and Hyde Park. Here is the recipe for the gun salute:  apparently 21 is basic, add another 20 because the Tower is a palace and a fort and Hyde Park is a Royal Park, and add another 21 for the City of London.

Erm...this is embarrassing...I can't recall her surname, but I am pretty sure her title would be Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana of Cambridge! I think Diana was a nice way to keep the little princess's  late grandmother's memory alive...

A Royal Night Out

I went for a preview of this movie and thoroughly enjoyed it! It was about the princesses night out on the town on V.E (Victory in Europe) day, which was a celebration to mark the end of the second world war. Hard to believe that it is almost seventy years on!
 Funny and entertaining and worth a watch. Most of the time I find when I don't see the trailer, I enjoy the movie a whole lot more! I was hoping to recognise something inside Buckingham Palace...we did that summer tour and thanks to my darling mum, got to ride a wee-bit outback.  Much to my dismay though, I remembered nothing! It was as if I had seen the centuries old decor, painted walls, grand staircase for the first time...ahh I console myself; it must have been some part of the palace that is not open to the public. This is a spoiler alert, but I have to say it. My friend cracked me up after whispering, "I didn't know they used the front entrance..."

Bug-a-boo

Okay, I shall take my OCD to the next level now...you just never know when the critters will creep up on you really, but they are affecting people pretty close to me. I was horrified about the latest saga of discovering I may be displaced from where I live due to that tiny speck of dust that could turn out to be one's worst nightmare..the humble bedbug. Thankfully...it glossed over me...I say this loftily, mostly due to my OCD tendencies...I am a bit I'd say, but not OTT. Either that or it is divine
intervention that I have escaped.
The mini vampires are not indicative of cleaniliness levels I have read...whew that is a relief...it could literally happen to anyone. Luggage is one way!  I won't become more paranoid now...I won't become more paranoid now...what I mean to say is I shouldn't become more paranoid now...I mean I come across luggage almost everyday, and doing the mad skip and dance to avoid that hurried traveller from brushing their luggage against me as they haul it onto the Picadilly line on their way to, or from, Heathrow, is exhausting. I can't exactly burn my clothes everday either. I'd need loads of bucks to buy a new outfit everyday...hmmm, that would be nice!
  Naturally prevention is better than cure, but fumigation is essential once they are in, that and throwing out everything(well within reason) and washing on 60 degrees celcius...I wanted to try 90 degrees, but the darn washing machine wouldn't allow me to go off the charts.
 I am trying to read extensively on preventive measures anyway; sprinkling crystal silica gel on the floor, cleaning products with tea tree oil...I best go and run out and get some!

Daylight Robbery...

I was wondering why my phone bill was higher than it normally should have been and discovered that Virgin was charging me for those cute emoticons I have been sending on my text messages...can you believe that??? 
Yes, I am talking about you, Mr Smiley Face, you guilty culprit, costing me 40p a pop. What the hell is mms or whatever? Apparently smart phones are supersmart, they convert smiley faces to mms'es, I think...all that techno mumbo jumbo was giving me a headache, but credit to Virgin, they refunded me the money, and advised me not to send a smiley face, via text messaging, unless it is this one!:)

Tools of the Trade

So I went one whole week without my laptop, not from some bet that I took with someone whereby I emphatically declared that I could go for a whole week without one, but because it blacked out, and I thought it was dying a slow and painful death (more painful for me than for it). Good to know IT people who know what they are doing by the way:)
I had no idea what I was in for...living without a laptop is really hard! It seems like our dependency on some technological gadget or the other is a necessity these days. I was left wondering what life was like before I had one!
 Day 1 was hard, Day 2 was even harder, but I suppose I got by because I still had access to that wonderful thing called a smartphone.  By Day 5 though, I had learnt to adapt without it --> hard, but not impossible.Truth of the matter is, I put pen to paper, but missed the clicketity clicking on the keyboard.
Glad you are back laptop and kudos to my friend who helped you get up and running again!

Social Media Malarkey

We all know that things are often easier said than done! After uploading our book a couple of times on Amazon (formatting gremlins doing their rounds like a bad cold), I was pondering what to do next. Apparently, one of the joys of self-publishing, is marketing yourself, something that just may earn me the title of‘Jill-of-all-trades-mistress-of-none.

I can no longer feign indifference to the global phenomenon of staying connected. As if trying to keep up with gizmos and gadgets isn’t bad enough, now I have to wrap my head around ‘humblebragging.’

But so the saying goes, ‘if you can’t beat em, join em!’. I will do my best to swim in the social media foray, and hope to God, it all isn’t malarkey, but maybe a little help in the right direction would be great. Should I be become a Facebooker, join the Twitterati, become a Linkedin-nite, a Googleplus-er or a Pinterest Person?

Only I...

can manage to delete my whole blog from last week.:(...just re-uploaded that!..okay maybe someday I will get the hang of this...on to my second blog before that disappears into cyberspace.

Sage Advice

Ever had the feeling that the more you find on the information highway, the less you know. Okay, that was my five seconds of philosophy.
Anyway, I have a newfound respect for writers, now more so than ever, who get to the end. Writing is as much a joy as reading. You spend endless hours concocting plots and plans and hope to bring your characters to life. And while many authors, seemingly, make it effortless, the truth of the matter is, it is hard work. But as Sam Smith sings (I luv Sam Smith by the way), “I don’t have money on my mind, money on mind…I do it for, I do it for the love…”
So we wrote a book, my co-author and I. So what, you say? What sets your book apart from others?
Well for starters, it is our achievement. And we are proud to have come this far!Whilst it will not be everyone’s cup of tea, it is an achievement nonetheless.
Challenging at times, frustrating at others, but a journey that was thoroughly enjoyable though…well, right up until the time we had to start asking ourselves a zillion questions; Do we self-publish or go the traditional route?  Traditional takes donkey’s years, and then too, you should be lucky if someone gives you the time of day. Right, so self-publish then…grand…now is it going to be Amazon or Barnes and Noble or Smashwords? Printed or e-book. Let’s try e-book for now. Amazon kindle. Are you sure? We both don’t even own kindles. No problem…you can always get the kindle app for your PC, laptop,smartphone, or tablet. Sure, no problem, I am only halfway technologically challenged anyway.
Let’s back up a bit. Should we publish at all? Yes, why not? It has only taken us four and a half years to finish. Is it grammatically correct? Have we crossed all the ‘t’s’ and dotted all the ‘i’s’?  Ran the spellcheck a couple of times. Right then, Pronti, partenza, via (I really don’t know Italian, I just latch on to random things, now and then)!
Where do we even begin? My co-author’s sage advice, “Why don’t you just Google it?”