I watched La La Land for the first time over Christmas, sitting down with some of my family post-roast. Musicals aren't really my jam and the opening scene dancing on cars did little to allay those fears. But once Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling properly come into play, I found myself immersed. Written and directed by Damien Chazelle, it explores the quiet obsession of two people trying to work out what it really means to “make it” with Hollywood as the perfect backdrop. It also shines a lens on...
18 days ago • 1 min read
Liv & I have been working our way through a handful of festive films this December, and one of them was Red One. I wasn’t expecting much. Big-budget action (and Christmas) films can have a habit of deploying deeply unoriginal storytelling. Instantly forgettable. But this one surprised me. It turned out to be a little Christmas cracker. Part of that comes down to the casting. Dwayne Johnson stars as Callum Drift, Santa’s head of security, with a sharp sincerity that helps ground the sillier...
25 days ago • 1 min read
I put several things on hold to get the last book over the line. One of them was this newsletter. But over the line it now is.Blood in the Green is available to buy 🎉The aim was always to publish the whole trilogy in 2025. And by hook or by crook, with a lot of big thank yous, we made it.I did a little post on social media on Monday but I know a percentage of you don't frequent it much (if at all) these days, so I wanted to share here too. On the evening of the release, I was hit by a nasty...
29 days ago • 1 min read
That's how many more books I've sold in the last 7 days compared to the past 7 months The Monkey State has been out in the wild.Now, 'sold' is a misnomer as around 95% were free copies as part of the promo I've been rabbiting on about recently. It's taken the total tally for both books to 3,019 - with a heavy ebook and US reader skew now. Maths isn't my strong point. There's a reason I write. What I can see clearly though is it's 2,350 more people with a copy of the monkeys in their hands (or...
5 months ago • 2 min read
Evening,I hope you're having a good week so far. I'm fresh back from the Romanian mountains and, as promised, I wanted to let you know that The Monkey State and In Search of Maya ebooks are currently available for free and 99p respectively until around midnight on Saturday.You can pick them up by clicking on the banana below.>>> Now, as a special offer for subscribing to these rambles—If you send me a screenshot of both books next to each other on the Kindle app, along with your address, I'll...
5 months ago • 1 min read
I was recently chatting with a colleague at work about HBO's plan to adapt Harry Potter into a TV series. It's a bold vision to create a series for each of the 7 books, spread over a decade. My friend went on to claim, 'Original stories are dead!' I had to admit, he had a point... Between endless sequels, reboots, and “reimaginings,” it can feel like the spark of fresh, original storytelling has truly dimmed. But there are exceptions. New explorations of existing story worlds are not without...
5 months ago • 2 min read
I was told from the start that books don't sell themselves. That whatever effort you put into crafting the story, you'd need to double that with your marketing. Like most first time authors I probably paid lip service to this. Nodding along. Reading up on the topic, without acting. Thinking I'll work that out when the time comes... That time does come. The monkeys have done pretty well—from a standing start—with 649 units processed and 9,000+ page reads since 20 Jan this year. Yet, it's still...
6 months ago • 4 min read
Today's email is for those of you interested in a few self-publishing stats.A little rainforest treat shared only with this curious crew. "How's it going with the book(s)?" This tends to be the first thing people ask. My usual answer of, 'It's going okay', tends to be more based on the mood I'm in when you ask and that doesn't really cut the mustard. So grab a banana and let's take a closer look... Sales/UnitsThe Monkey State - 571In Search of Maya - 42Kindle Unlimited Page ReadsThe Monkey...
6 months ago • 2 min read
Morning, So, this one was certainly a struggle, an adventure, and a classic late scramble... all rolled into one. But I'm pleased to say that Book 2: In Search of Maya is now available on Amazon. Thanks to those of you who've already jumped in (before I even put up a post!) And cheers to those who popped a review live for Book 1 last week. I was shooting for 50 and reached 49, with an average of 4.9.There’s some poetic beauty in that. Now what is Book 2 about? Well, of course, you can check...
7 months ago • 1 min read