Wednesday, 31 July 2024
Ruins of Empire II or The Earth Swallows the Master's House
Tuesday, 30 July 2024
I need you, I don't need you and all of that jivin' around.
This time we were staying around Chelsea, an area I once worked close to and rather different from the part of New York that most tourists gravitate towards. We were staying close to the Chelsea Market and the High Line, both of which are busy yet different somehow from the Times Square vibe.
Of course the Chelsea Hotel is well-known and had rebirth recently, under new ownership.
Many well know of the folk that have stayed there: I'll list a few: Chet Baker, Nico, Tom Waits, Jim Morrison, Patti Smith, Robert Mapplethorpe, Jeff Beck,Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Iggy Pop, The Grateful Dead, Edith Piaf,Bob Marley, Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollack, Cher, Madonna, Dee Dee Ramone, Joni Mitchell, John Cale, Marianne Faithfull, Bette Midler, Stanley Kubrick, Sid Vicious. Nancy Spungen, Jimi Hendrix, Canned Heat, Pink Floyd, Alice Cooper, Janis Joplin, Dennis Hopper, Uma Thurman, Jane Fonda, Viva, Elliott Gould, Edie Sedgwick, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Mark Twain, Arthur Miller, Arthur C. Clarke, Tennesse Williams, Sam Shepherd, Jack Kerouac, Quentin Crisp, Valerie Solanas, William S. Burroughs, Gregory Corso
...to name but some.
And the immediate area has the pretty cafes like in Europe. We enjoyed lunch in Pastis, a twist on a French pavement cafe. People from the ship, natives of New York, had recommended a whole string of places to us, all within short idle.
Just around the corner is the bustle of the Chelsea Market and we're only a couple of Blocks from the Hudson River.
Oh, and did I mention that the cabs have changed? They used to be slab-like Ford Crown Victorias, but now they are nearly all Toyota SUVs or similar van creations. I could still spot the cabs from across the river which still looked traditional, but even the green suburban cabs have changed. Apparently Ford stopped making the iconic taxicab in 2011 and now there are just two left in the city.Monday, 29 July 2024
Its a helluva town
Sunday, 28 July 2024
Verrazano
Well, we finally sighted the Verrazano Bridge, which is the way into the waters around Manhattan. It was about 03:30 in the morning and from the Sat Nav to our sighting seemed like a matter of seconds. I'd expected to capture its approach, but instead got a picture already underneath the bridge.
The area of water is called The Narrows and we sailed through, at the same time scrabbling to get up on deck to watch the unfolding of the morning and the approach of New York.
Then my worst ever zoomed picture of approaching New York...
Saturday, 27 July 2024
novel moment
Another fun thing were the around 20 plus 'events' scheduled for each morning, and then another 20 for the afternoon and maybe 15 for the evening. Some were inappropriate, but I found a few session on novel writing, both as a couple of presentations and then as some workshops in a slightly secretive part of the ship.
I attended the first of the novel writing sessions, which was like a weird continuation of the sessions I attended on the South Bank in London a few weeks ago. There seemed to be more emphasis on use of writing agents in these sessions, but I was able to listen with my own opinions as the topics unfolded.
It briefly brought me back to thinking of my own revisions and republication of novels, but I mentally put that to one side because this was 'holiday time'. That and the elephant.
I'll prepare a post about all of that when I'm back on dry land.
Friday, 26 July 2024
wasn't born to follow
Thursday, 25 July 2024
Passengers
Wednesday, 24 July 2024
transatlantic
And all of the time I was aware we were travelling at 25 knots, even when we on the higher decks and the sea seemed to moe slowly below. It was as fast as the high speed catamaran we had used in Rhodes about a month ago, although I suspect were were somewhat less manoeuvrable. This average depth reached 3,600 metres or 11,000 feet as we crossed the Mid Atlantic Ridge between continents.
Tuesday, 23 July 2024
Double-hulled V shape
Monday, 22 July 2024
rocking
We certainly left Southampton with a good party-style send-off. Champagne by the pool and a band playing 'Rocking all over the world' in the sunshine. This promises to be an interesting trip.
Sunday, 21 July 2024
Queen Mary 2
Wednesday, 17 July 2024
Tuesday, 16 July 2024
This is just a test
My test novel (The Square) seems to be appearing in multiple channels now., although some are still picking up the original cover, like this German site.
However, some sites (like Apple) are rejecting the novel because I've embedded a link to the next novel, which inadvertantly bypasses Apple's ordering service.
They say:
"As a result, we cannot send this book to the following sales channel until you have corrected the matter:
Apple
The types of material at issue include:
Competitor Links: The content contains links to sales channels that are in direct competition with the chosen sales channels. Please check your book's content for any direct links to eBook retailers. Remove these links to ensure compatibility with all of your selected vendors. Typically, these links are found in the front matter or back matter of your book.
Sales channels not listed above continue to receive this material at this time."
Oh well.
Monday, 15 July 2024
Sunday, 14 July 2024
Not entirely covered
I started with Ingram for print editions of my novels. It was back in the dark age and every revision cost money.
I used an original Ingram default size and have stuck with it all along. Even when I switched some of my printed books to Amazon I retained the same formatted size for my books. Now, it looks as if I will need to revise the covers and text layouts if I want to move platforms again.
I guess I'll need to take a few deep breaths.
Saturday, 13 July 2024
Ed Adams Novels and Back Matter
As a start toward my marketing, I'm revising the Back Matter of my novels. I've never paid much attention to it, to be honest, but I guess if it tells the reader the next book in the sequence, then that can be a helpful thing. I remember being told that there needs to be three books as a minimum to create 'read-through'.
At the end of my first book ever (The Triangle), I'm now including a reference to the next book along (The Square) and even putting a picture from the cover art. Above is my original sketch, and below is the current cover art for the novel - which I now include as a page in the back of the prior novel. Then follows the 'Back Matter' which describes all my novels, and which I should be able to insert consistently into every novel, as I republish them.
I'll also consider moving some of the paperback novels to an Ed Adams storefront.
The Square
Nervous Weapons of Mass Destruction. The transport of materials across Egypt, with very unintended consequences
TRIANGLE COLLECTION
The first series. Fast paced, international thrillers featuring how Clare, Bigsy and Jake formed The Triangle.
T1 The Triangle: Dirty money? Here's how to clean it. A London crime story with international dimensions.
T2 The Square: Nervous Weapons of Mass Destruction. The transport of materials across Egypt, with very unintended consequences
T3 The Circle: The desert is no place to get lost. Deserts and missile ranges in Arizona.
T4 Cosy: Cosy Crime in Devon, Agatha and Cluedo with a modern twist.
T5 Church: Devon crime rains down: The power from the church is not what it seems.
T6 Dark: Control is power: A powerful woman seeks control.
ARCHANGEL COLLECTION
Another asset joins the Triangle in the form of Christina Nott. We need to know a little of her back-story too.
A1 Archangel : Sometimes I am necessary. Icelandic born, Russian trained agent Christina Nott.
Now we have Jake, Bigsy, Clare and Christina working together. Political thrills in corridors of power. Now introducing Brant Technologie and Raven Holdings.
A2 Raven: An eye that sees all between darkness and light. Big business gone bad. Very bad.
A3 Card Game: The power of Tarot whilst throwing oil on trouble. A story ruled by mysterious cards.
A5 Play On, Christina Nott : Money, Mayhem, Manipulation. Christina Nott, on Tour for the FSB. What a cover story. Moscow, Tokyo, Seattle with the band.
A6 Corrupt : Parliamentary corruption. Trouble at the house.
A7 Sleaze: More political intrigue, as electric automobiles are on the agenda. Politics and Gstaad. There is snow.
BIG SCIENCE
From modest science to an end for the universe
B1 Coin : Get rich quick with Cybercash-just don't get caught. Students, eh?
B2 Pulse: Sci-Fi dystopian blood management with nano-bots. Want more? Just stay away from the edge. This predicts some of the events of other novels, yet the pieces are still fragmentary knowledge shards,
B3 An Unstable System : Creating the right kind of mind. Inventing a cyclone, with unforseen side effects.
B4 Jump: Some kind of future. Forward in time, but with an ever increasing dilemma.
B5 The Watcher : We don't need no personal saviours here. A short story about the whole of time.
B6 Rage : A madman's war: Our Watchers arrive unexpectedly in Ukraine.
B7 Artificial : Where is my mind? Inside the RightMind there is an Artificial Intelligence.
B8 Luka : Can artificial intelligences fall in love. How Luka sees he interaction with a human.
BLADE’S EDGE TRILOGY
The effects of Brant’s technologies far into the future. Earth has a predicament.
E1 Edge World end climate collapse and sham discovered during magnetite mining from Ganymede
E2 Edge Blue Endgame, for Earth - unless?
E3 Edge Red : Museum Earth an artificially intelligent
MASTER COLLECTIONS
All collections of the individual novels…
C1/T4 The Ox Stunner The Triangle Trilogy - thick enough to stun an ox Triangle, Circle, Square in one heavy book. all feature Jake, Bigsy, Clare, Chuck
C2/A4 Magazine Clip First three Archangel novels
C3/A8 Ignoble Corrupt and Sleaze omnibus
C4/B7 The Dealer: Jump, Pulse and Rage Collection
C5/E4 Edge of Forever Edge Trilogy
C6/T7 Secrets: Cosy, Church and Dark Collection
C7/B9 Artificial Intelligence and Augmented Reality Guide: Brant Manual of Peacekeeping Technologies- Both of Artificial and Luka in one volume - dressed as a reference manual.
And finally, my Amazon Author page:
Please take a look and I hope you enjoy my novels!