a minor technicality

The shorter, greater challenge

neil — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:05:41 +0000

Bear with me while I pop back in time a handful of years to when I messed around with stand-up comedy.

For the first few years as an aspiring stand-up comic, one must tread the rocky paths of the open spots. These are the 5 minute - or if you are lucky 10 - slots that most smaller comedy clubs make available to new comics honing their techniques.

The open spot routine goes as follows:

Travel for 2-3 hours to the venue
Hang around for 1-2 hours waiting for your spot
Spend 5 minutes in front of a disinterested audience who paid to see ‘real’ comics
Hope the club promoter saw enough promise in you to give you another spot in a few months
Go home and re-consider any gags that did not generate a laugh

That may seem rather cynical view, but that is the process when reduced down to its core. It is genuinely much more fun that it sounds, however. These open spots are best handled by packing them with quick-fire gags and quips; fire stuff into the mic, then get the heck off. I found the minimal audience interaction very uninspiring.

So I moved into running a couple of (very) small clubs and acting as compere. The compere spends several time slots working with that night’s audience, warming them up, cooling them down, and generally creating each appropriate segue from the previous to the next act. Most importantly, there is an evolving relationship over the period of the show.

I’m getting to the point, thank you for hanging in there…

I experience a similar problem in the difference between writing a short story compared to writing a novel. But this is not centred around the act of concise writing.

I want to get to know them

Stories are about people - at least I believe mine are, regardless of their respective settings. There’s little more satisfying than learning about the characters one places into a story, understanding their nuances, discovering their quirks, ’seeing’ them play out their lives.

The short story simply does not have the space or the time for such luxuries and that is where my challenge lies. These are interesting, nay fascinating people (they must be as I am including them in my story!).

The dead end of death

This problem is particularly acute in a series of short stories I am writing and planning which will form a collection entitled “Six Deaths” - the title is something of a giveaway - and as you might guess, each character has but a brief sojourn within the pages. And there lies my personal challenge when writing shorts: I want to know these individuals, get under their skins, understand who they really are before… well, let’s just say before they up and leave.

I find writing short stories about the characters that inhabit Edwardian London in the TableRappers book(s), so very much easier and satisfying because I know them such that I do not feel I am missing out on learning about them as individuals.

It feels so utterly disrespectful to create a character for the sake of merely a few thousand words. Perhaps I just need to grow some thicker skin and be a little more ruthless with my characters. Hmm… Six Deaths, how more ruthless can one be..?

Tags: write to write, Writing

GoDaddy .co.uk domain registration code September 2008

neil — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 21:17:16 +0000

I have mentioned some new GoDaddy coupon codes were about to arrive, and here they are!

Valid from right now through to September 26th, the cheapest .co.uk domain names available at a mere £2.70 (that’s cheaper than a pint around here!)
Coupon code: MTECH4 ---- A posting from neildixon.com

Valid from right now through to September 26th,a whopping 25% off your GoDaddy order when you spend a minimum of $100 / £50
Coupon code: MTECH25

And one final code that is non-expiring, giving you a .com domain name for £3.50 £3.75
Coupon code: MTECH35

These codes are used at the GoDaddy.com checkout. Just pop them into the appropriate box in the checkout form and they will be applied - you’ll clearly see the discount when the page refreshes. Use any of these coupon codes as many times as you need them!

For a dead easy way to use these codes, just click the appropriate one above and it will be automatically applied to your shopping cart.

Domain purchases may be subject to a small ICANN fee ($0.20)

Tags: code, GoDaddy, registration, uk

Minority censorship rules

neil — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 10:28:31 +0000

How many complaints regarding a book would a publisher require to justify editing and reprinting what some may regard as an offensive word? 5,000? 500? How about just one…

Dame Jaqueline Wilson’s My Sister Jodie, a book aimed at the 9 to 11 age group, has sold around 28,000 copies since its release in March this year. After a single complaint about the use of the “twat” in two instances, retailer Adsa pulled the book from its shelves and as a result, publisher Random House has decided to edit the word to “twit” in reprinted versions.

Anne Dixon (no relation) discovered the word when she purchased the book from her local Asda as a gift for her niece. She emailed the author and when she did not get a response (there is no information about how long she waited for a response from one of the top children’s authors around), she complained to Asda who immediately removed all copies from their shelves.

This is not about censorship, it’s about retail muscle

Asda - part of Walmart - have achieved around 23,000 of the total sales of this book. That is a lot of lost sales and so Random House buckled under that potential income drop. From a business viewpoint, I can almost empathise, but as an author it would horrify me.

However, this does not detract from the most important factor: all it took was a single person making a complaint. That is a very slippery path to hyper-sensitive, minority-influenced censorship. But there’s a twist…

Is this just a publicity stunt?

My natural, British cynicism surfaces with any story like this. What goes unmentioned in most accounts appears at the end of this Daily Mail version of the story:

However, the [Asda] spokesman said that Asda had since reviewed the matter and would continue stocking My Sister Jodie in all its UK outlets.

A severe knee-jerk reaction followed by a u-turn. I will leave you to make up your own mind on that call.

Tags: write to write, Writing

Persistent Spirit Chapter 26

neil — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 07:28:39 +0000

TABLE RAPPERS - PERSISTENT SPIRIT ---- A posting from neildixon.com

CHAPTER 26

Merrick faces Keynes and confronts him over the previous night’s seance. But Keynes has other, far more deadly, ideas.

Story running time: 21 minutes

Available from TableRappers.com or here:

Download audio file (persistentspirit-123659-08-24-2008.mp3)

If you have a podcast or a website, please play the audio promo and promote Persistent Spirit. Send me your promo and I will play it in return. TableRappers audio promos

Tags: audiobook, Persistent Spirit, Table Rappers

A walk along the Wye

neil — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 20:26:39 +0000


			A selection of shots captured on a walk along the River Wye today. The four mile walk took us around five hours, with walking frequently interspersed with photo sessions of what we discovered on the route. This selection is the pick from 122 photos and videos taken on the walk. That’s less than half of what jEN took! ---- A posting from neildixon.com My favourite from the day has to be the dramatic angles surrounding the moorhen (above). Each image here links to a larger one on flickr.

Tags: Photography, walk

All a matter of timing (and too little of it)

neil — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 19:41:22 +0000

I wrote on my personal blog about how work - that's the bit that actually pays the rent right now - overshadows pretty much everything else, including the creative writing. When writing has to be squeezed-in to available hours, it can be tough to summon up the inspiration.

The day-to-day demands of working in the UK but with colleagues based in San Francisco, presents challenges to available time. With work heating up for me at around the time it should be winding down each day (early evening), and the potential for it to extend well past a sensible bedtime, the only controlled and contained time span to write appears first thing in the morning. But there's a problem... I cannot write in the mornings! I was lucky enough to have time for a lunch with the entertainingly cranky John Dvorak while in San Francisco a few weeks ago. We chatted about writing. He, like nearly all the writers with whom he is acquainted, writes better in the mornings "before all the crap of the day has taken hold". I, on the other hand, rarely find the juices flowing until darkness has set in and there's a distinct chance that the day is not going to throw me another twelve curve balls. There's a psychological security in that knowledge, you see.

Before it becomes a full-time prospect

It's my first novel. Like any fledgling writer, the chance of earning a living wage from such projects is marginally better than winning the National Lottery. Four of five books under my belt and there's a chance of that dream, but for now writing must find its place amongst everything else. So how on earth do I switch into becoming a morning writer? I am one of those slow-wakers: up to an hour of numb-brain, zombie-shuffle during which breakfast, some BBC news, and the necessary ablutions seem to occur without any real effort or conscious intent. Eventually, there I am at my desk tip-tapping my login ready for the morning's mundane tasks. Creative writing is far from my mind. When it's dark and the work day is done, my mind comes alive, creatively. Characters speak up and scenes play themselves out so that I have to type twice as fast to keep up. When all the gears are properly lubricated, 800-1000 quite acceptable words in an evening session is not unheard of. In the morning, I am lucky to find a coherent sentence any more creative than an email or a blog post. I do not believe in insurmountable obstacles, and have discovered way to dramatically increase the chances of triggering creativity when it becomes necessary. Although a method for morning writing still eludes me, I'm looking forward to solving this particular problem. Tags: write to write, Writing

It’s all about learning to not work

neil — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 11:05:35 +0000

Where work is concerned, I am pretty self disciplined to get on with it and get things done (ADD-related issues aside). It’s a good thing, this self discipline. But if permitted too much free reign, it completely skews the work-life balance.

Old habits ---- A posting from neildixon.com

Getting going in the morning is easy: do everything I can to physically start work before 9 a.m. That sets me up for the day.

The problem comes when one’s colleagues are, for the most part, based in San Francisco - 8 hours behind. Just when my mind is thinking that the day should be winding down from around 5pm, is just the time when theirs is starting. Emails flood in. Calls, conferences, meetings start. Amongst these I need to slot in a little down-time for dinner (there’s little worse for the concentration than a grumbling tum). Then back to the desk to deal with urgent requests. The result? A working day that lasts from pre 9 a.m., to frequently post 10 p.m.

Filling the time

The old adage that work expands to fill the available time is utterly true. With the expectation of that kicking into a high gear in the early evening, my days have slipped into the lower-gears, resulting in what could be squeezed into an 8 hour day, expanding into 10-12 hours. Everything other than work gets stuffed to one side, people are neglected, and the simple pleasures in life slip onto the fateful “someday” list.

It’s a year of action, so let’s have some

So here we have what looks remarkably like another excuse for active change this year. From this week I have properly shifted my working day, which now begins at 11 a.m., and aims to end around 7 p.m. I have much less control of the end time, but complete control over the start, which gives me a couple of hours (at least) in the morning to insert whatever non work tasks need doing. In addition, time out is actively scheduled in advance, so that it has a better chance of sticking.

Can I stick with it and break the years of self-programming forcing me to start work before 9 a.m.? Time only will tell and it’s only the third day of the new regime. I did find myself answering work emails early this morning, having sent two before noticing the autopilot and immediately closing down mail. It’s daft, the people I am responding to are asleep and are not likely to see the emails for another 8 hours! Messages of encouragement welcomed…

Tags: ADD, life, people, sleep, work

GoDaddy in the UK?

neil — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:04:37 +0000

GoDaddy recently formally set themselves up in Canada and started offering the .ca domain through their service. Are they likely to do something similar for the UK?

We’re a pretty decent sized market over here, I’m sure, and with no language/translation issues, the UK is an ideal frontier. ---- A posting from neildixon.com

GoDaddy currently has around 25% of the global market share (based on number of domains). Their US market share is much higher and likely doesn’t have enough breathing space for any more significant growth for GoDaddy - but the rest of the world clearly does. The UK does not have any language barriers, and so is an ideal target to reach the many potential customers outside the core internet space here, who have no idea of who GoDaddy is.

Is GoDaddy going UK?

This is not the same issue as with Canada. They did not, until establishing a business base there, handle .ca registrations. GoDaddy already handle registrations for all the main UK TLDs (Top Level Domains). What they should be looking for in the UK is greater awareness beyond the initial core customer base who already use them - and yes, I am a customer, having almost all my domains with GoDaddy.

I don’t want t make this an “I predict” post, but GoDaddy could soon be increasing their presence in the UK market.

Coupon codes

Much of the online viral nature of GoDaddy’s promotion is through the use of coupon codes that enable customers to save anything from 10% to 25% (sometimes more for brief periods) on either general or specific domain or service purchases.

How about creating special discount codes for .co.uk domains? I am sure that would significantly help generate increased business from UK customers, though to gain traction, the code would have to undercut the current lowest standard price for a .co.uk (which the last time I looked was £2.79).

GoDaddy girl for the UK?

Go to GoDaddy.com and you are likely to see the face (and leathers) of Danica Patrick, IndyCar race driver and currently the most prominent of the sports celebrity promotion team. Of course, in the UK , we have little appreciation of who Danica is, so I wonder if there might be a new selection of “GoDaddy girls” for the UK.

Who would you vote for the face of GoDaddy.co.uk?

Tags: code, discount, domains, GoDaddy, promotion, uk

Persistent Spirit Chapter 25

neil — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 15:38:59 +0000

TABLE RAPPERS - PERSISTENT SPIRIT ---- A posting from neildixon.com

CHAPTER 25

Keynes finds himself face to face with the threat of Nathaniel at the seance. The following day, Merrick is looking for a confrontation.

Story running time 19 minutes

Available from TableRappers.com or here:

Download audio file (persistentspirit-121854-08-10-2008.mp3)

If you have a podcast or a website, please play the audio promo and promote Persistent Spirit. Send me your promo and I will play it in return. TableRappers audio promos

Tags: audiobook, Persistent Spirit, Table Rappers

Process, process, and more writing process

neil — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 20:44:04 +0000

There has been a fair amount of discussion in this household this week about our personal processes in writing. Novels do not write themselves, and are a vast undertaking. So how would you get from scribbled inspiration to 100,000 words worthy of someone taking the time to read?

How you would achieve this, I have no idea. How I am - well on the way to - achieving this is what this post is about. Some of this may work for you, or not. ---- A posting from neildixon.com

The first draft is crap - deal with it

That reality was one of the toughest ideas to overcome - understanding that it is just fine to write a first draft that you would only consider using as lavatory paper (and then only in secret just in case anyone gets even a glimpse of the text). No one will read the first draft. With my first draft, not even me! I’ll get to why in just a moment, but first another important step: I stopped editing.

Once I came to terms with the prospect of writing rubbish I began to be far more productive, but very soon fell back into the pit of over eager editing and the resulting snail’s pace in progress because I was editing too much too early.

A pen and a Moleskine

I learned writing by hand prevented editing beyond a scribbled-out paragraph or two and a scrawled note in some nearby free space. I calculated that my handwriting would squeeze around 90,000 words into a standard Moleskine lined notebook (spend money on a decent quality notebook so you are less inclined to actually use it as toilet paper later).

This process brought me to a first draft in a couple of months. The pages filled, the story unfolded, and I found myself rapidly heading to the start of the second draft.

I kept the pace of the writing moving forward as consistently as possible. When something blocked that momentum or where some scene or action could not be worked through at that point, I simply wrote “stuff happens here to get them to the station” or similar. Can’t deal with it now? Then move on and deal with it later - you’re going to have to re-write it all anyway!

Engagement

Writing by hand seemed to have the additional benefit of embedding the text deeper into memory, to the extent that, while writing the second draft, I rarely have to reference the notebook. This is good because I do not have the neatest handwriting, particularly when ideas are in full flow.

More of the right tools

The second draft had to be transferred into some electronic form. Having as much love for Microsoft Word as a Marmite encrusted stick of celery, it took some time and exploration to discover Scrivener. This tool does what I need it to, doesn’t try to teach me how to write, doesn’t get in the way when I want to write, and has just the right level of organisation and customisability to tailor it to my needs, while ensuring I do not lose endless hours messing with too many needless settings. It’s not perfect, but it’s just right for me.

I do not use post-its or cards stuck to cork boards to play with the story, but I frequently use my large whiteboard for brainstorming plot points and working through the odd character crisis. Whiteboards are essential.

The serialised audiobook

Now this stage is likely not for everyone, but starting early 2008 I committed myself to releasing the second draft of the novel as a weekly 20 minute audio book. This established a predictable regime of writing around 3,500 words per week and structuring the work to ensure the story is continually developing in order to keep the audience’s attention. It means not only I am imposing a deadline, but so are those who email me in anticipation of the next episode.

The process also forced me to read the text aloud, frequently bringing to light issues with the text, grammar errors, plot problems, and particularly highlighting poor dialogue, which could be immediately fixed. Being the second draft, the audio version is not perfect by any means, but the benefits of this part of my process far outweighs concerns over an uncorrected error here and there.

Vacations, sickness and work trips aside, this has kept me on track. It is not without its stress, of course, as I am adding several hours each week in recording, editing, mixing and publishing the audio files, plus online promotion and building an audience. I currently have well over 90,000 words under my belt. Without this self imposed routine, I am convinced this book would not be as far along as it is right now.

What’s next?

A third draft will be necessary, as will having a trusted friend or two reading the text and providing constructive criticism. The text must be edited to improve pace and flow in some areas, of that I am already aware. And certain (and irritating to me) aspects of my natural and imperfect writing style have to be polished.

There’s a lot more work to be done and since that is in the future I do not feel able to discuss a process that I have not yet personally applied - so more on this subject in other posts.

I am looking forward to starting on the second book in the series, with the knowledge and experience of the first behind me. I may find a slightly different process, or an identical one. Processes are always subject to change, but one thing of which I am absolutely certain is that its first draft will be hand written in a spanking new Moleskine.

Tags: audience, audiobook, dialogue, Inspiration, Moleskine, process, scrivener, story, Writing

Trying out Wordpress on the iPhone

neil — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 07:26:36 +0000

An update fo a Wordpress app for the iPhone was released this week offering the ability to create blog posts directly, without using a web browser. The initial release a couple of weeks ago did not work for me, so I thought I would take this update for a spin.

Aside from acclimatising to typing on the device itself, which takes a little time to discover the technique of not trying to be overly accurate, creating a post is sttaightforfward and the app seems to be logically arranged. I was surprised to see support for adding tags to posts, something that is usually missing from remote blogging clients. No support for custom fields as yet, which is why this post is not accompanied by a signiture image as are other recent entries here. ---- A posting from neildixon.com

No wysiwyg editor - to be expected, I suppose - but there is photo integration either via the camera’s saved images, those synced from your computer, or by simply taking a new image from within the Wordpress app itself.

The only immediate limitation I see is the inability to insert images into the body of the post, as attached photos seem to be simply added to the end of the text.

Posting the completed entry is a little odd in that one merely changes it’s status from ‘local draft’ to ‘published’. An action that feels rather less satisfying than a single publish button.

It is early days and I expect it to be updated at a reasonably pace,
But as this post suggests, it is definitely a useful and usable blogging tool.

Tags: gadget, iphone, Wordpress

eMusic catalogue reaches over 4 million tracks

neil — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 20:14:35 +0000

eMusic this week announced their online music catalogue has just reached 4 million tracks!

Now affiliated with 40,000 record labels, and recently having shifted its service into a more web 2.0 social network environment, it seems eMusic is going from strength to strength. David Pakman, eMusic President and CEO said: ---- A posting from neildixon.com

eMusic is redefining digital music retail for the 21st century with new features that make it easier than ever to discover new music. More and more labels are recognizing that eMusic is always working to help them increase sales of their catalogues, including songs that don’t sell on other services.

eMusic is one of the leading players offering DRM-free mp3 music downloads, which are fully compatible with any device capable of playing a standard mp3 music file.

In association with this blog, you can have a good look around the service with a completely free eMusic trial. The no obligation, two week trial gives you the chance to download up to 35 music tracks, to keep whatever you decide. You’ll need a credit card to sign up to verify your identity, but it will not be charged unless you decide to continue after the initial 14 day free trial.

Tags: download, DRM-free, eMusic, mp3

It’s only for the X-philes

neil — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 08:03:16 +0000

Despite concerns of dozing off with jet-lag gnawing at my heels, I went to see the new X-files movie with a positive and hopeful frame of mind.

The movie, just as with the first installment, has been criticized as being little more than a long TV episode. Really, I thought, what else can you expect from a movie version of a TV series? ---- A posting from neildixon.com

I Want To Believe is not merely like a TV episode, it is a TV episode. Here’s how to make it: take a standard TV episode length plot (and not a particularly great one at that) and forcibly inject an irrelevant sub-plot - that smacks of a very personal moral agenda and creates an imbalance between the two main characters’ individual conflicts - and you might have something long enough to be classed a feature film (it just will not be a very good one).

Flooded with implausible and often confusing leaps in the story - enough on one occasion for me to believe I had actually dropped off to sleep and missed something critical - the dialogue is awash with extended, plot-irrelevant conversation while critical information receives the briefest of mentions as though unimportant. And don’t get me started on the level of bitterness poured out by Scully (driven by another agenda point, I think). I could spend far too many words about specific issues this plot and script has, but I’ll not offer any spoilers just in case you are planning to see it.

This film is a missed opportunity to reawaken the slumbering passions of a still dedicated cult audience and I suspect has slaughtered any hope of a third movie. Even if the budget was not up to creating something spectacular, there’s no excuse for poor storytelling. Loyal fans of the X-Files deserve better.

Tags: dialogue, Movies, plot

Is there a viable, no-brainer method of SEO keyword selection?

neil — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 15:24:20 +0000

One of the toughest and often ambiguous aspects of SEO/SEM (Search Engine Optimisation / Marketing) is the selection of search keyword targets. Though a “no-brainer” method may be a pipe dream, I am convinced a definable methodology is possible.

Over the past few weeks I have been exploring a definable system of defining SEO keyword selection beyond a rather fuzzy assessment of potential and into the realms of specific and measurable criteria. When discussing keyword selection, I am frequently being asked for a clear-cut, absolute process. This is a short discussion on competition criteria for keyword selection - but for now, includes no specific tips or techniques. ---- A posting from neildixon.com

Search keyword selection appears on the surface to be a straightforward process: select
those that have high search volume but low competition. What clouds this process is our definition of what constitutes “competition”.

The question of optimisation

Google measures a number of criteria in determining a web page’s returned position for a particular search term. Understanding such criteria and ensuring a web page fulfills as much as possible, by whatever means, is what SEO is all about.

When you perform a search on Google, you will discover how many other sites are competing for visibility for that search term - and this can be a pretty big number. But are you truly competing against all of them?

The top pages returned on a search are those that Google has determined best fit their criteria. SEO is an active process of enhancing the criteria therefore it is logical to assume that you are competing against only those pages that have been - intentionally or inadvertently - optimised.

SO I bet you are asking, how one might determine the number of sites that are optimised - i.e. are true competition.

intitle and inanchor

Here’s the theory: optimising a web page often includes using target keywords in the page title and also frequently in clickable hyperlinks within that page. One might think therefore, that if we ask Google to return only pages that include the search term in the page title and in hyperlinks, we might more accurately determine the number of optimised pages.

Theory is nice, but the reality is a gross inaccuracy with what Google returns for such searches. A little digging into the actual pages returned by intitle: and inanchor: filtered search demonstrates how unreliable this really is.

Broad search vs exact search

Perform your Google search with the term surrounded by quotes, and you will generally see a much smaller number of competing web pages than a normal, broad search. Look at broad results and exact results side by side, and you get some insight into the competitive space. I believe the closer the exact search count is to the broad search count, the higher level of competition for that term.

PPC (Adwords) competition

Here’s an additional thought: if people are prepared to pay real money to have their names show up for a search terms - sometimes a great deal of money per click-through - then that term is certainly competitive (this notion came out of a recent meeting with an SEO guru). Should we, therefore, take the number and level of competition for Adwords placement into account when assessing the competitive landscape of a keyword?

As an additional criteria it seems to make sense, but the nature of those paying advertisers must also be taken into account. For example, are they corporates vying for brand-names, or are they your direct online competitors. Each presents a greater or lesser challenge.

Conclusion

I warned you are the beginning that there were no specific answers in this post and despite weeks of exploring ideas, I am nowhere near providing a definitive solution.

A no-brainer solution might be little more than a pipe-dream, but I still believe there may be a definable means of at least help in narrowing the field of potentially profitable keywords to those that are most worthy of further exploration.

Social bookmarking - is there a point to all those little icons?

neil — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 02:56:11 +0000

I once thought they were a great addition to a website, now I’m not so sure.

Social bookmarking is a concept involving individuals sharing their favourite web pages in some form of central, public list or database. It is a great way to promote site you like, and a great way to find sites you may not have come across any other way. ---- A posting from neildixon.com

To encourage adding sites and posts to these services (such as the adorably minimalist del.icio.us), I, like many, added “convenient” buttons to individual posts:

Did they increase the amount of blog pages I’ve had added to social linking sites?

Not noticeably. And here’s the reason: everyone has their favourite social linking site(s) and they are unlikely to try another. Myself, I use del.icio.us and Stumbleupon. As a user of these services, I am all geared up mentally (supported by browser buttons, etc) to add pages to them whenever I feel the urge. I do not need to be reminded of them by a clutter of little icons which I see so often that I am blanking out like an adultfinder banner ad.

Dedicated users of social bookmarking services actively use them. The rest use them so minimally that I feel a row of little icons or popup links is unlikely to suddenly spur them into action.

Have you found icon reminders about social linking services useful?

Tags: blogging, clutter, noise, social linking, social networking

a minor technicality

The shorter, greater challenge

Bear with me while I pop back in time a handful of years to when I messed around with stand-up comedy.

Related posts

GoDaddy .co.uk domain registration code September 2008

I have mentioned some new GoDaddy coupon codes were about to arrive, and here they are!

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Minority censorship rules

How many complaints regarding a book would a publisher require to justify editing and reprinting what some may regard as an offensive word? 5,000? 500? How about just one…

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Persistent Spirit Chapter 26

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A walk along the Wye

A selection of shots captured on a walk along the River Wye today.

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All a matter of timing (and too little of it)

I wrote on my personal blog about how work - that's the bit that actually pays the rent right now - overshadows pretty much everything else, including the creative writing. When writing has to be squeezed-in to available hours, it can be tough to summon up the inspiration.

Before it becomes a full-time prospect

Related posts

It’s all about learning to not work

Where work is concerned, I am pretty self disciplined to get on with it and get things done (ADD-related issues aside). It’s a good thing, this self discipline. But if permitted too much free reign, it completely skews the work-life balance.

Related posts

GoDaddy in the UK?

GoDaddy recently formally set themselves up in Canada and started offering the .ca domain through their service. Are they likely to do something similar for the UK?

Is GoDaddy going UK?

Coupon codes

GoDaddy girl for the UK?

Related posts

Persistent Spirit Chapter 25

Related posts

Process, process, and more writing process

There has been a fair amount of discussion in this household this week about our personal processes in writing. Novels do not write themselves, and are a vast undertaking. So how would you get from scribbled inspiration to 100,000 words worthy of someone taking the time to read?

The first draft is crap - deal with it

A pen and a Moleskine

Engagement

More of the right tools

The serialised audiobook

What’s next?

Related posts

Trying out Wordpress on the iPhone

An update fo a Wordpress app for the iPhone was released this week offering the ability to create blog posts directly, without using a web browser. The initial release a couple of weeks ago did not work for me, so I thought I would take this update for a spin.

Related posts

eMusic catalogue reaches over 4 million tracks

eMusic this week announced their online music catalogue has just reached 4 million tracks!

Related posts

It’s only for the X-philes

Despite concerns of dozing off with jet-lag gnawing at my heels, I went to see the new X-files movie with a positive and hopeful frame of mind.

Related posts

Is there a viable, no-brainer method of SEO keyword selection?

One of the toughest and often ambiguous aspects of SEO/SEM (Search Engine Optimisation / Marketing) is the selection of search keyword targets. Though a “no-brainer” method may be a pipe dream, I am convinced a definable methodology is possible.

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Social bookmarking - is there a point to all those little icons?

I once thought they were a great addition to a website, now I’m not so sure.

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