The fifth book in my Lou Elliott series is now underway (at last!)

Hello! Yes I know, I only ever seem to write blog entries when I want something but I really do intend to start blogging more regularly (honest!).

Anyway, I have some important news to tell you about: work is now underway on the fifth book in my Lou Elliott mystery adventure series. I know it's been a long while and many of my readers will probably have thought I'd abandoned it but it's not the case. I've just been waylaid with so many other things which have demanded my time.

But it's great to get back to the series and to pick up again with the characters and find out what they've been getting up to. Lou, Jack, David and Emily are all fine and they've been having a great summer holiday in Snowdonia where they've been camping. The parents of the Johnson children are with them this time, and wrongly supposed that they could keep their eye on them and stop them from falling into another adventure. How wrong can you be!

I am hoping that the book will come out in time for Christmas (2017) but it's possible that it may not be ready until early January. The important thing though, is that book five is on its way and it definitely won't be the last. So watch this space, I will post regular updates on this blog.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I better get back to writing it. Things are hotting up!

Tomorrow - my latest children's book is published

It's all very exciting. The fourth book in my Lou Elliott mystery adventure series will be published on Amazon tomorrow, July 4th, 2015. Trouble at Chumley Towers is supposed to go live (having been available for a month or so for advance orders) at midnight but with the time difference, I am guessing that will be 8am tomorrow Saturday here in Britain.

Perhaps appropriately for a children's book I am almost childishly counting the hours down to lift off! Well, you're never too old to be enthused about something are you, or at least you shouldn't be! I am really looking forward to giving readers another chance to catch up with Lou, Jack, David and Emily, having taken so long to come up with book four in the series.

I went badly off the boil - not only with this series but with writing in general - and also had other things which took up a lot of my time. Also, during my days in the literary wilderness, I lost touch with a number of people with whom I was corresponding via my George Chedzoy hotmail address, which got deleted by Microsoft due to inactivity. So do drop me a line, anyone who has emailed me in recent months and who has not received a reply - and for that matter, anyone else who wishes to get in touch (georgechedzoy@hotmail.co.uk)

I feel very pleased to be back into writing fiction again and looking forward to publishing my next book, which will be a fantasy adventure novella based on the characters from The Mystery of the Misty Woods. So look out for that in the not too distant future. It's already written, but needs quite a lot of editing before it will be ready.

As for the one after that - it might well be book five in the Lou Elliott series because I am so keen to keep going with those children and join them on further adventures and life experiences. I think they're a great bunch and in Trouble at Chumley Towers they enjoy getting together at Christmas with snow falling and tackling the mysterious thefts taking place from the stately home.

It's also my intention to bring out all my books in print format as well in the coming months - not everyone wants to read off an electronic screen, of course!

I hope you enjoy Trouble at Chumley Towers and I look forward to receiving some feedback on it. Remember - if you want to be among the very first to read it, it's available on Amazon for advance orders for a few more hours, before going live at about 8am tomorrow (British Summer Time).

My children's adventure novel set at Abersoch, North Wales, free on Kindle today!

Well I am sitting here on holiday at Abersoch on the Lleyn peninsula coast of North Wales enjoying glorious sunshine. I've just been down to the beach with my wife and kids and come back to find that I've had three people so far who have downloaded my book for free today.

I thought it would be a nice way to mark being back at wonderful Abersoch to have another free day for my novel, Smugglers at Whistling Sands, in Amazon's Kindle store. So PLEASE take advantage of it, go on to Amazon.co.uk, or Amazon.com and get a free copy of my children's adventure novel.

If you like it, all I would ask is that you mention it to others and - if you have time - consider leaving me a short review on my Amazon listing which will really help me as an unknown author to get known.

The book, as regular readers of this blog will know, is intended for children aged 9+ but is also intended to be perfectly readable by adults. It should appeal if you enjoy good, wholesome, mystery/adventure stories, loosely inspired by the great Enid Blyton and her Famous Five series.

Anyway, enough talking from me, I'll leave you to get a copy of your free book - just click on the Amazon links to it on the right hand side of this page - Amazon.co.uk for British readers and Amazon.com for the American site.

Do let me know how you get on!

Fantastic new review for Smugglers!

Incredibly chuffed today to receive another five-star review from Nigel Rowe, a leading figure in the Enid Blyton Society which unites fans of Enid from all over the world.

I enclose a copy of his review below:

5.0 out of 5 stars What an Adventure!, 22 Mar 2012
By Nigel Rowe - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What is this?)
This review is from: Smugglers at Whistling Sands (Kindle Edition)
What a fantastic story! As said before, shades of the great Enid Blyton here - like Enid? You'll love this book! It also cleverly shows how mobile phones and the internet don't alter the danger much - clever ways round always being able to phone the police! I loved the character development, and after a few pages I became attached to them. Really good, and I also hope for several sequels! Mind you, you've a long way to go to catch up with Enid Blyton! A great story in its own right and suitable for all ages.


Nigel has also plugged it on the Enid Blyton forums. I cannot thank him enough for his kindness in taking an interest in the book and - without any pressure from me - to have both read it and, having liked it, backed it to the extent that he has.

Once again, I am left feeling that there are a lot of good people in the world of books, and perhaps you'd expect some good eggs in the Enid Blyton Society. Nigel is definitely one and I hope to meet him and some of the others in the Society one day, which I intend to join very soon, if they'll have me.

I am aware that with Smugglers at Whistling Sands I could be accused of seeking to slightly ride on the back of Enid Blyton, although no-one has actually accused me of that. But if they did I would say this: my book is not intended as a copy but as an original work which was to some extent inspired by Enid Blyton. I think so long as one acknowledges one's debt it is ok. Enid is often derided and certainly she is not beyond criticism but the quality she managed to achieve over 600+ novels is truly the work of a genius.

When you look at her books carefully, particularly the likes of the Famous Fives and her Adventure series, you realise that for all their apparent simplicity and ease, they are the product of a very great talent. If I could be considered half as good as her, I would be happy. As for matching her output, as Nigel put in his review, I have a very long way to go to catch her up. I think that might be what you'd call an unattainable goal - even without the day job!

And I've just remembered something, here's me crowing about another good book review, I myself have a couple of reviews I need to write for books I've bought on Amazon. I must get on with it - if people are willing to take the time to review mine, I ought to review theirs - it's only fair.

If you want to buy my novel - remember that you can use the product links on right of screen

Assuming you want to buy it, that is. I shouldn't presume. But my statistics show that almost nobody uses the product links on this page to purchase my ebook, Smugglers at Whistling Sands.

Instead, people seem to feel that they have to log on to Amazon on a separate page and search for it. You don't need to do that - just simply click in the box advertising my ebook - either the one for Amazon.co.uk or the other one lower down for Amazon.com. This will take you to my Amazon listing where you'll see my book cover and book description. At this point you can choose whether to buy it or not and/or continue shopping on Amazon.

I've put a few other Amazon product links on further down to books that I think viewers of this blog might enjoy, a couple of Enid Blyton's Famous Fives; John Locke's useful advice book on how indie authors can get good sales on Kindle; the current no.1 bestseller on Kindle, Scott Mariani's The Alchemist's Secret, and my all-time favourite book, The Lord of the Rings. I've also put a link to Amazon's new, cheaper Kindle which I think is an excellent product for the price.

It is very much in my interests and all authors who sell their wares on Kindle, that people should have the proper kit to read ebooks. You don't need a Kindle, of course, you can just read an ebook on your computer with easily downloadable softwar, but I think the Kindle, particularly the excellent and more affordable new version really does take some beating.

I intend to put further product links on this blog to books which I personally recommend, in particular of independent authors whose work I am aware of and which deserves pushing.

A little more about my book based at Abersoch and the Llyn peninsula

A number of people are finding this blog from the Abersoch website www.abersoch.co.uk which is very pleasing and I'd like to give  you a quick introduction to the book and its connections to Abersoch and the Llyn or the Lleyn as many people still spell it.

Abersoch and the surrounding area is in my blood - I love the place and have been going there on holiday all my life - so for 44 years to be precise! So when I decided to write a children's adventure novel, the part of the world which has such fond memories for me seemed the obvious location.

The title makes no reference to Abersoch of course, but instead refers to Whistling Sands as in "Smugglers At Whistling Sands". The youngsters who feature in this book are on holiday at Abersoch but they do not just stay put there. Their adventure takes them to a number of places including Whistling Sands obviously but also the St Tudwal's Islands, Aberdaron and Porth Ysgo - a remote beach nearby, and the hillside above. The owners of the Vaynol Arms public house in Abersoch might be pleased (I hope) to discover that their premises features in the novel.

The action centres around the Johnson children, Jack, David and Emily (aged 12, 11 and 10 respectively) and a headstrong girl called Lou whom they meet on the beach. It is she who is the catalyst for these rather dull Johnson siblings to spread their wings a bit. And what better time to do that than when they should happen across the activities of smugglers!

I don't wish to give too much away about the plot but there is quite a lot of realism in this story, for all the fact that it is a rather post-modern children's adventure owing some of its inspiration to Enid Blyton's novels which I enjoyed a great deal as a child.The activities of the smugglers are based on real life occurences and if you do a search on Google at the point when the children do their Google search, you might well come across references to real-life smuggling which was in part the raw material for the book.

My chief hope is that my novel will appeal to youngsters and indeed adults who either have a connection to the Abersoch / Llyn peninsula area or enjoy traditional Blytonesque adventure stories. There's a bit more info on the book's Amazon listing - you can find a link to it on the right hand side of this page.

Well I better close for now because I am still trying to hack the bamboo roots out at the front of the house and pretty difficult work it is too. Oh by the way, for those of you who have been following my blog and my efforts to actually sell my book, my sales tally has now risen majestically from four to . . .  five! I don't care if that isn't very good, I'm pleased (and if I'm pleased, that's the main thing!).

Right, off to be bamboo-zled (groan).

Abersoch's top website tells the world about my book!

I'm delighted to say that www.abersoch.co.uk Abersoch's excellent no.1 website (literally no.1 - check Google) has just announced the existence of my ebook Smugglers At Whistling Sands to the world. They have done so far more effectively than I can.

Search Abersoch on Google, and this website comes up first and in its news section, you will now find a good write up on my book which is of course based at Abersoch and other locations along the Llyn peninsula. The news item contains links both to this blog and to the listing on Amazon.

I think it is a measure of how much I rate being publicsed by this site that I have given them the information about my book exclusively. I have not sought any newspaper publicity for it - I am happy to target it directly towards the two markets which really matter - the Abersoch / Llyn peninsula area and lovers of Enid Blyton's books.

I'll blog more very soon on my thoughts about targeted marketing for ebooks, but for now, I better get on with writing of a different kind - newspaper work (which is of course, what pays the bills!).

The value of building friendships for aspiring and unknown novelists

As I am now finding out, trying to make it as a novelist when no-one knows you or what you've written is a tough battle. But it should be remembered that numerous others are also treading the same path and there is so much we can all learn from each other.

You could be negative about this and see it as unwanted competition but that's not my view. To me, other wannabe novelists are friends, not enemies. I am happy to help others to get their books out there in front of the reading public and happy also to tap into their advice..

As you'll know from my recent posts, I have acquired my first buyer for my Abersoch-based ebook Smugglers At Whistling Sands. He has also given me some excellent advice - namely the importance of making one's book or extracts of it available to online reviewers, many of whom will themselves be aspiring novelists - and receiving constructive advice and criticism from the community. Furthermore, that there are more avenues to explore than just selling one's ebook on Amazon.

Someone who has often been a source of inspiration for me to further my ambitions as a novelist is Keith Robinson, who is British but now lives in America and who has recently completed a trilogy of fantasy novels in his Island of Fog series about apparently normal youngsters who develop special powers and who can transform themselves into mythical creatures.

He is also the brains behind an excellent Enid Blyton tribute website, very much underpinned by his own love of Blyton's tales. Keith also writes a regular blog http://www.unearthlytales.com which tells of the ups and downs along his own road to become a recognised author - at this stage self-published but hopeful of winning a publishing deal one day.

Following on from a reply to one of his recent posts, Keith has invited me to plug my book on his Enid Blyton website http://www.EnidBlyton.net This will undoubtedly be a big help. Keith's site is hugely popular among Enid Blyton fans and as best-selling Kindle author John Locke points out, a key element to marketing your books is to know where that market is and target it. And my book is the sort that fans of Enid Blyton may well like (if I say so myself!).

So I am feeling very heartened by the response both from Keith and from my first buyer. Making friends and chatting with lke-minded "indie" authors can be hugely helpful and very rewarding.

Hodder's modernised editions of Enid Blyton's Famous Five series

Call me a journalist! I can't believe that I have only just found out that Enid Blyton's wonderful Famous Five series has been relaunched by publishers Hodder with their language updated (and no doubt, any remaining political incorrectness excised).

This decision was taken a full year ago and hit the papers and I'm beginning to wonder which part of the moon I must have been holidaying on to have completely missed this. I loved the Famous Fives as a child, and frankly still do as an adult. They were in part the inspiration for my book, Smugglers At Whistling Sands which, you might feel, has a somewhat Blytonesque touch to it.

And yes, for sure, my dialogue is up to date and the kids calls their parents mum and dad not mother and father but then I wrote it in the 21st century. Why is it necessary to go back to books penned in the 1940s and 1950s and make such changes? Should we do the same to Dickens so that he can reach a more modern audience who perhaps struggle with the concept of a world before the motorcar was invented?

What Hodder's decision does show, however, loud and clear, is that there is still a market for the kind of wholesome, "normal" if I may use that word, children's adventure story. Personally I feel that many children's authors of today feel that such tales are hopelessly dated and old fashioned and that today's youngsters won't be interested unless some fire-breathing dragon hoves into view each chapter.

I have tried in my book to give children back the kind of adventure story that Blyton wrote for them - albeit I feel with an attempt at rather more realism than she strived for. Whether I have been successful or not is for others to judge, but that has been my aim.

Has anyone seen these new re-written Famous Five books? I would be interested in your opinion. I shall share my views when I have got hold of a couple of copies.