05 Monday Aug 2013
Posted in A writers thoughts, General, Opinion
Tags
destruction, Fracking, fusion, future, geology, green, incendiary, new books, past, planet, seismic, stone
So, Fracking. Is it the incendiary for further seismic activity that will ultimately screw our planet, or is it the short term answer to our energy crisis? Answers chiseled on an tablet of stone please.
Methinks we need to solve fusion and fast.
Ken Balneaves wrote, The Greatest Gift, available at http://amzn.to/QF7RLd (US), http://amzn.to/O12kgX (UK)
09 Thursday Aug 2012
Posted in General, Published Books
Here’s another chance for a sneak preview of my science fiction adventure novel. This is Chapter 1, your feedback would be appreciated.
The Greatest Gift
He had never met his grandfather. In fact no one in the family ever talked about him until his paternal grandmother, on her deathbed, told Richard the sad details of the events that had occurred in his grandfather’s life some twenty-three years before.
With enormous pride, his grandmother quietly told that her husband Stuart had been quite an athlete when he was young, a middle distance runner. Her eyes glistened with tears as she spoke affectionately about her husband. Richard listened intently to this, all the while wondering why no one in his family had ever before discussed this with him. Very soon however, he was to learn of his family’s dark secret.
“Your grandfather was an extremely handsome man,” his grandmother whispered, smiling as she talked, “full of enthusiasm for life, which is why what happened to him, was so terribly tragic’ but he made us all promise never to talk about him from the day he left us. It was his choice, not mine,” she continued.
“I don’t understand,” Richard said, thinking that, ‘the day he left us’ was his grandmother’s way of saying, the day he had died.
“Of course, I did see him again you know” said the old woman, completely ignoring Richard’s question. “Yes, I did, several times in fact.”
Richard was confused by this but permitted her to carry on without his interruption. She spoke more of her husband saying that he had graduated from Cambridge with a first in Mathematics. Later, he had worked at Oxford University where he lectured in Cosmology achieving much acclaim at the time as an assistant to a well-known and accomplished Cosmologist. However, unbeknown to nearly everyone except his wife, many of the papers published by his mentor were in fact Stuart’s own work. This career however was relatively short lived as Stuart decided after a few years that lecturing was not for him after all. He decided this because funding for research in his chosen field was so scarce that he felt he could not do the subject justice and so he made the decision to leave. The old lady continued, telling Richard how Stuart’s ill health went undiagnosed by a number of specialists and doctors. Richard also learnt that following the brief spell of ill health, Stuart had started a business in pharmaceuticals, in 1970.
On hearing this, Richard realised that this was now his dad’s and uncle John’s business. Until then, he had never known or thought to ask how or when the business began. Richard leant across, touched his grandmother’s hand and quietly asked her, “What was wrong with grandfather?”
“No one could tell.”
“What were the symptoms then?” he persisted.
The old woman took a deep breath and explained, a tear rolling down one of the creases in her old wrinkled face just like the first rains in a dry riverbed of the Kalahari. “He sometimes had difficulty breathing and occasionally had to sit down to recover,” she said slowly. “They told him he was overdoing the fitness training.”
“What was it that actually killed him?” Richard asked rather untactfully.
“My dear, dear boy,” she said smiling, looking at him for the first time, “he’s not dead, he’s merely sleeping.” Her voice raising a note at the end of the sentence. At this Richard pulled back slightly and raised an eyebrow. He couldn’t make up his mind whether she was telling the truth or she was delusional. As if for confirmation, he glanced across the bed at his mother, who had been silent until then. She had a look of disbelief on her face, however it was not disbelief of what the old lady had said, but that she had said it at all.
“Is this true Mother?” he asked.
“Yes dear, yes it is,” she replied hesitantly, adding rather sheepishly, “but I think you should let your Grandmother rest now dear.”
Turning to the old lady, Richard’s mother said, “You rest now Irene. James and John will be here to see you by the time you wake up.”
“Why can’t I stay?” asked the young man, now eager to hear more and find out what had happened to his grandfather, the man he had never met and who was never discussed other than in guarded responses to his juvenile questions when he was younger. He now realised these questions had been parried by his parents and other family members ‘in the know’. He was not about to give up now, but before he could ask any more, his grandmother slipped into sleep. “Let’s go Richard,” whispered his mother placing her hand lightly on his back and guiding him out of the room.
They left the private side ward to take a break from their vigil. James and his brother John were away on business in Switzerland when Pen took the call from the consultant at the private clinic advising that it was likely to be a matter of hours, not days, as they had previously been told, before their mother passed away. Following the call, Richard and Pen had rushed straight to the clinic calling James en-route. James and John had booked flights immediately and were now expected to arrive at the hospital in about half an hour.
Richard and his mother had a coffee in the Visitors’ lounge before returning to the side ward where they sat with his sleeping grandmother until his father and uncle arrived. Richard’s mother desperately wanted to let her husband know what his mother had told Richard, but the opportunity did not arise as when the two men arrived they immediately walked into the side ward.
They all sat round the bed with the old lady’s sons holding a hand each, waiting for her to wake which she did, almost on cue and looked at James who instantly said, “Hello Mum, I’m here, so is John.”
“I know,” she replied weakly “you all are; your father is too”. Richard’s father looked at his wife who gave a troubled smile that told him everything. He looked at Richard who nodded and raised his mouth into a smile that didn’t reach his eyes and said, “She told me about my Grandfather. Dad, why didn’t you?”
“Not now son, not now,” he replied as he looked back towards his mother. The old lady was rambling, talking about old friends and past events as though they were happening for her at the present moment. Suddenly she strained to raise her head and looked at the back wall of the room saying, “Oh Stuart, it’s so good to see you. My, how handsome you look. It’s as though you never left.” They all looked round to see who was there, but no-one was and as they looked back the old lady drew her final breath and passed away. One of the attending doctors walked over to her bedside and checked her pulse. Finding that there wasn’t one, he bowed his head and pronounced her dead at 4:30 p.m.
After a few moments observing the old lady, Richard’s father leant over and closed her eyelids. They all sat there in silence looking at her again at peace at last after her long, and sometimes painful, battle with cancer.
Richard, whilst extremely upset at her passing, was also thinking that it was now his mother and father’s responsibility to fill in the rest of the details relating to what his grandmother had said about his grandfather, the man he never knew. One thing was for certain, he was determined to seek his grandfather out, whether or not his family approved.
The Greatest Gift, all formats available through my website http://www.balneaves.co.uk
02 Monday Jul 2012
Posted in eBooks, Forthcoming books, General, Published Books
Due to the fact that I tend only to write whilst on holiday, sometimes there are several months between my opportunities to work on my science fiction adventure novel. As such I wonder if, when the next time comes, my story will flow. But, when the time for writing does arrive, it’s as though each of my fingers has a mouth, the tongues of which are all working contemporaneously, licking the keyboard into submission, creating a tale that, on occasion, even I have not heard; it’s a fantastic experience, like no other that I have known in my lifetime of creation in other directions. That’s why I sometimes write long sentences, I get carried away [sorry, that was to my editor].
I’m now writing ‘Drifting Sands’, a time travelling adventure novel and sequel to ‘The Greatest Gift’, available in paperback or eBook/ePub through my website at, http://www.balneaves.co.uk
I’m also on Goodreads, http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14061796-the-greatest-gift
I hope you have the chance to read them.
20 Wednesday Jun 2012
Posted in eBooks, Published Books
Tags
life after death, new books, novel, preview, science fiction, thriller, time
Here’s another chance for a sneak preview of my science fiction adventure novel. This is Chapter 1, your feedback would be appreciated.
The Greatest Gift
He had never met his grandfather. In fact no one in the family ever talked about him until his paternal grandmother, on her deathbed, told Richard the sad details of the events that had occurred in his grandfather’s life some twenty-three years before.
With enormous pride, his grandmother quietly told that her husband Stuart had been quite an athlete when he was young, a middle distance runner. Her eyes glistened with tears as she spoke affectionately about her husband. Richard listened intently to this, all the while wondering why no one in his family had ever before discussed this with him. Very soon however, he was to learn of his family’s dark secret.
“Your grandfather was an extremely handsome man,” his grandmother whispered, smiling as she talked, “full of enthusiasm for life, which is why what happened to him, was so terribly tragic’ but he made us all promise never to talk about him from the day he left us. It was his choice, not mine,” she continued.
“I don’t understand,” Richard said, thinking that, ‘the day he left us’ was his grandmother’s way of saying, the day he had died.
“Of course, I did see him again you know” said the old woman, completely ignoring Richard’s question. “Yes, I did, several times in fact.”
Richard was confused by this but permitted her to carry on without his interruption. She spoke more of her husband saying that he had graduated from Cambridge with a first in Mathematics. Later, he had worked at Oxford University where he lectured in Cosmology achieving much acclaim at the time as an assistant to a well-known and accomplished Cosmologist. However, unbeknown to nearly everyone except his wife, many of the papers published by his mentor were in fact Stuart’s own work. This career however was relatively short lived as Stuart decided after a few years that lecturing was not for him after all. He decided this because funding for research in his chosen field was so scarce that he felt he could not do the subject justice and so he made the decision to leave. The old lady continued, telling Richard how Stuart’s ill health went undiagnosed by a number of specialists and doctors. Richard also learnt that following the brief spell of ill health, Stuart had started a business in pharmaceuticals, in 1970.
On hearing this, Richard realised that this was now his dad’s and uncle John’s business. Until then, he had never known or thought to ask how or when the business began. Richard leant across, touched his grandmother’s hand and quietly asked her, “What was wrong with grandfather?”
“No one could tell.”
“What were the symptoms then?” he persisted.
The old woman took a deep breath and explained, a tear rolling down one of the creases in her old wrinkled face just like the first rains in a dry riverbed of the Kalahari. “He sometimes had difficulty breathing and occasionally had to sit down to recover,” she said slowly. “They told him he was overdoing the fitness training.”
“What was it that actually killed him?” Richard asked rather untactfully.
“My dear, dear boy,” she said smiling, looking at him for the first time, “he’s not dead, he’s merely sleeping.” Her voice raising a note at the end of the sentence. At this Richard pulled back slightly and raised an eyebrow. He couldn’t make up his mind whether she was telling the truth or she was delusional. As if for confirmation, he glanced across the bed at his mother, who had been silent until then. She had a look of disbelief on her face, however it was not disbelief of what the old lady had said, but that she had said it at all.
“Is this true Mother?” he asked.
“Yes dear, yes it is,” she replied hesitantly, adding rather sheepishly, “but I think you should let your Grandmother rest now dear.”
Turning to the old lady, Richard’s mother said, “You rest now Irene. James and John will be here to see you by the time you wake up.”
“Why can’t I stay?” asked the young man, now eager to hear more and find out what had happened to his grandfather, the man he had never met and who was never discussed other than in guarded responses to his juvenile questions when he was younger. He now realised these questions had been parried by his parents and other family members ‘in the know’. He was not about to give up now, but before he could ask any more, his grandmother slipped into sleep. “Let’s go Richard,” whispered his mother placing her hand lightly on his back and guiding him out of the room.
They left the private side ward to take a break from their vigil. James and his brother John were away on business in Switzerland when Pen took the call from the consultant at the private clinic advising that it was likely to be a matter of hours, not days, as they had previously been told, before their mother passed away. Following the call, Richard and Pen had rushed straight to the clinic calling James en-route. James and John had booked flights immediately and were now expected to arrive at the hospital in about half an hour.
Richard and his mother had a coffee in the Visitors’ lounge before returning to the side ward where they sat with his sleeping grandmother until his father and uncle arrived. Richard’s mother desperately wanted to let her husband know what his mother had told Richard, but the opportunity did not arise as when the two men arrived they immediately walked into the side ward.
They all sat round the bed with the old lady’s sons holding a hand each, waiting for her to wake which she did, almost on cue and looked at James who instantly said, “Hello Mum, I’m here, so is John.”
“I know,” she replied weakly “you all are; your father is too”. Richard’s father looked at his wife who gave a troubled smile that told him everything. He looked at Richard who nodded and raised his mouth into a smile that didn’t reach his eyes and said, “She told me about my Grandfather. Dad, why didn’t you?”
“Not now son, not now,” he replied as he looked back towards his mother. The old lady was rambling, talking about old friends and past events as though they were happening for her at the present moment. Suddenly she strained to raise her head and looked at the back wall of the room saying, “Oh Stuart, it’s so good to see you. My, how handsome you look. It’s as though you never left.” They all looked round to see who was there, but no-one was and as they looked back the old lady drew her final breath and passed away. One of the attending doctors walked over to her bedside and checked her pulse. Finding that there wasn’t one, he bowed his head and pronounced her dead at 4:30 p.m.
After a few moments observing the old lady, Richard’s father leant over and closed her eyelids. They all sat there in silence looking at her again at peace at last after her long, and sometimes painful, battle with cancer.
Richard, whilst extremely upset at her passing, was also thinking that it was now his mother and father’s responsibility to fill in the rest of the details relating to what his grandmother had said about his grandfather, the man he never knew. One thing was for certain, he was determined to seek his grandfather out, whether or not his family approved.
The Greatest Gift, available from my website http://www.balneaves.co.uk
14 Saturday Apr 2012
Posted in General, Published Books
Here’s another chance for a sneak preview of my science fiction adventure novel. This is Chapter 1, your feedback would be appreciated.
The Greatest Gift
He had never met his grandfather. In fact no one in the family ever talked about him until his paternal grandmother, on her deathbed, told Richard the sad details of the events that had occurred in his grandfather’s life some twenty-three years before.
With enormous pride, his grandmother quietly told that her husband Stuart had been quite an athlete when he was young, a middle distance runner. Her eyes glistened with tears as she spoke affectionately about her husband. Richard listened intently to this, all the while wondering why no one in his family had ever before discussed this with him. Very soon however, he was to learn of his family’s dark secret.
“Your grandfather was an extremely handsome man,” his grandmother whispered, smiling as she talked, “full of enthusiasm for life, which is why what happened to him, was so terribly tragic’ but he made us all promise never to talk about him from the day he left us. It was his choice, not mine,” she continued.
“I don’t understand,” Richard said, thinking that, ‘the day he left us’ was his grandmother’s way of saying, the day he had died.
“Of course, I did see him again you know” said the old woman, completely ignoring Richard’s question. “Yes, I did, several times in fact.”
Richard was confused by this but permitted her to carry on without his interruption. She spoke more of her husband saying that he had graduated from Cambridge with a first in Mathematics. Later, he had worked at Oxford University where he lectured in Cosmology achieving much acclaim at the time as an assistant to a well-known and accomplished Cosmologist. However, unbeknown to nearly everyone except his wife, many of the papers published by his mentor were in fact Stuart’s own work. This career however was relatively short lived as Stuart decided after a few years that lecturing was not for him after all. He decided this because funding for research in his chosen field was so scarce that he felt he could not do the subject justice and so he made the decision to leave. The old lady continued, telling Richard how Stuart’s ill health went undiagnosed by a number of specialists and doctors. Richard also learnt that following the brief spell of ill health, Stuart had started a business in pharmaceuticals, in 1970.
On hearing this, Richard realised that this was now his dad’s and uncle John’s business. Until then, he had never known or thought to ask how or when the business began. Richard leant across, touched his grandmother’s hand and quietly asked her, “What was wrong with grandfather?”
“No one could tell.”
“What were the symptoms then?” he persisted.
The old woman took a deep breath and explained, a tear rolling down one of the creases in her old wrinkled face just like the first rains in a dry riverbed of the Kalahari. “He sometimes had difficulty breathing and occasionally had to sit down to recover,” she said slowly. “They told him he was overdoing the fitness training.”
“What was it that actually killed him?” Richard asked rather untactfully.
“My dear, dear boy,” she said smiling, looking at him for the first time, “he’s not dead, he’s merely sleeping.” Her voice raising a note at the end of the sentence. At this Richard pulled back slightly and raised an eyebrow. He couldn’t make up his mind whether she was telling the truth or she was delusional. As if for confirmation, he glanced across the bed at his mother, who had been silent until then. She had a look of disbelief on her face, however it was not disbelief of what the old lady had said, but that she had said it at all.
“Is this true Mother?” he asked.
“Yes dear, yes it is,” she replied hesitantly, adding rather sheepishly, “but I think you should let your Grandmother rest now dear.”
Turning to the old lady, Richard’s mother said, “You rest now Irene. James and John will be here to see you by the time you wake up.”
“Why can’t I stay?” asked the young man, now eager to hear more and find out what had happened to his grandfather, the man he had never met and who was never discussed other than in guarded responses to his juvenile questions when he was younger. He now realised these questions had been parried by his parents and other family members ‘in the know’. He was not about to give up now, but before he could ask any more, his grandmother slipped into sleep. “Let’s go Richard,” whispered his mother placing her hand lightly on his back and guiding him out of the room.
They left the private side ward to take a break from their vigil. James and his brother John were away on business in Switzerland when Pen took the call from the consultant at the private clinic advising that it was likely to be a matter of hours, not days, as they had previously been told, before their mother passed away. Following the call, Richard and Pen had rushed straight to the clinic calling James en-route. James and John had booked flights immediately and were now expected to arrive at the hospital in about half an hour.
Richard and his mother had a coffee in the Visitors’ lounge before returning to the side ward where they sat with his sleeping grandmother until his father and uncle arrived. Richard’s mother desperately wanted to let her husband know what his mother had told Richard, but the opportunity did not arise as when the two men arrived they immediately walked into the side ward.
They all sat round the bed with the old lady’s sons holding a hand each, waiting for her to wake which she did, almost on cue and looked at James who instantly said, “Hello Mum, I’m here, so is John.”
“I know,” she replied weakly “you all are; your father is too”. Richard’s father looked at his wife who gave a troubled smile that told him everything. He looked at Richard who nodded and raised his mouth into a smile that didn’t reach his eyes and said, “She told me about my Grandfather. Dad, why didn’t you?”
“Not now son, not now,” he replied as he looked back towards his mother. The old lady was rambling, talking about old friends and past events as though they were happening for her at the present moment. Suddenly she strained to raise her head and looked at the back wall of the room saying, “Oh Stuart, it’s so good to see you. My, how handsome you look. It’s as though you never left.” They all looked round to see who was there, but no-one was and as they looked back the old lady drew her final breath and passed away. One of the attending doctors walked over to her bedside and checked her pulse. Finding that there wasn’t one, he bowed his head and pronounced her dead at 4:30 p.m.
After a few moments observing the old lady, Richard’s father leant over and closed her eyelids. They all sat there in silence looking at her again at peace at last after her long, and sometimes painful, battle with cancer.
Richard, whilst extremely upset at her passing, was also thinking that it was now his mother and father’s responsibility to fill in the rest of the details relating to what his grandmother had said about his grandfather, the man he never knew. One thing was for certain, he was determined to seek his grandfather out, whether or not his family approved.
The Greatest Gift, available from my website http://www.balneaves.co.uk
01 Sunday Apr 2012
Posted in eBooks, General, Published Books
Ok, we’re electronic now, ePub now for Mac, iPad, iPhone etc. (No, I can’t imagine anyone wanting to read a book on an iPhone either).
The Greatest Gift is a science fiction adventure thriller about Time. It considers human intelligence and also tackles what happens in the after-life, with some surprise events.
To download a copy go to, http://www.firstyfish.com/ebooks/14408/The-Greatest-Gift
If you like it , please leave a review.
Kindle version available soon.
20 Tuesday Mar 2012
Posted in Published Books
Tags
I thought readers might be interested in a sneak preview of my science fiction adventure novel, so here is Chapter 1. Your feedback would be appreciated.
The Greatest Gift
He had never met his grandfather. In fact no one in the family ever talked about him until his paternal grandmother, on her deathbed, told Richard the sad details of the events that had occurred in his grandfather’s life some twenty-three years before.
With enormous pride, his grandmother quietly told that her husband Stuart had been quite an athlete when he was young, a middle distance runner. Her eyes glistened with tears as she spoke affectionately about her husband. Richard listened intently to this, all the while wondering why no one in his family had ever before discussed this with him. Very soon however, he was to learn of his family’s dark secret.
“Your grandfather was an extremely handsome man,” his grandmother whispered, smiling as she talked, “full of enthusiasm for life, which is why what happened to him, was so terribly tragic’ but he made us all promise never to talk about him from the day he left us. It was his choice, not mine,” she continued.
“I don’t understand,” Richard said, thinking that, ‘the day he left us’ was his grandmother’s way of saying, the day he had died.
“Of course, I did see him again you know” said the old woman, completely ignoring Richard’s question. “Yes, I did, several times in fact.”
Richard was confused by this but permitted her to carry on without his interruption. She spoke more of her husband saying that he had graduated from Cambridge with a first in Mathematics. Later, he had worked at Oxford University where he lectured in Cosmology achieving much acclaim at the time as an assistant to a well-known and accomplished Cosmologist. However, unbeknown to nearly everyone except his wife, many of the papers published by his mentor were in fact Stuart’s own work. This career however was relatively short lived as Stuart decided after a few years that lecturing was not for him after all. He decided this because funding for research in his chosen field was so scarce that he felt he could not do the subject justice and so he made the decision to leave. The old lady continued, telling Richard how Stuart’s ill health went undiagnosed by a number of specialists and doctors. Richard also learnt that following the brief spell of ill health, Stuart had started a business in pharmaceuticals, in 1970.
On hearing this, Richard realised that this was now his dad’s and uncle John’s business. Until then, he had never known or thought to ask how or when the business began. Richard leant across, touched his grandmother’s hand and quietly asked her, “What was wrong with grandfather?”
“No one could tell.”
“What were the symptoms then?” he persisted.
The old woman took a deep breath and explained, a tear rolling down one of the creases in her old wrinkled face just like the first rains in a dry riverbed of the Kalahari. “He sometimes had difficulty breathing and occasionally had to sit down to recover,” she said slowly. “They told him he was overdoing the fitness training.”
“What was it that actually killed him?” Richard asked rather untactfully.
“My dear, dear boy,” she said smiling, looking at him for the first time, “he’s not dead, he’s merely sleeping.” Her voice raising a note at the end of the sentence. At this Richard pulled back slightly and raised an eyebrow. He couldn’t make up his mind whether she was telling the truth or she was delusional. As if for confirmation, he glanced across the bed at his mother, who had been silent until then. She had a look of disbelief on her face, however it was not disbelief of what the old lady had said, but that she had said it at all.
“Is this true Mother?” he asked.
“Yes dear, yes it is,” she replied hesitantly, adding rather sheepishly, “but I think you should let your Grandmother rest now dear.”
Turning to the old lady, Richard’s mother said, “You rest now Irene. James and John will be here to see you by the time you wake up.”
“Why can’t I stay?” asked the young man, now eager to hear more and find out what had happened to his grandfather, the man he had never met and who was never discussed other than in guarded responses to his juvenile questions when he was younger. He now realised these questions had been parried by his parents and other family members ‘in the know’. He was not about to give up now, but before he could ask any more, his grandmother slipped into sleep. “Let’s go Richard,” whispered his mother placing her hand lightly on his back and guiding him out of the room.
They left the private side ward to take a break from their vigil. James and his brother John were away on business in Switzerland when Pen took the call from the consultant at the private clinic advising that it was likely to be a matter of hours, not days, as they had previously been told, before their mother passed away. Following the call, Richard and Pen had rushed straight to the clinic calling James en-route. James and John had booked flights immediately and were now expected to arrive at the hospital in about half an hour.
Richard and his mother had a coffee in the Visitors’ lounge before returning to the side ward where they sat with his sleeping grandmother until his father and uncle arrived. Richard’s mother desperately wanted to let her husband know what his mother had told Richard, but the opportunity did not arise as when the two men arrived they immediately walked into the side ward.
They all sat round the bed with the old lady’s sons holding a hand each, waiting for her to wake which she did, almost on cue and looked at James who instantly said, “Hello Mum, I’m here, so is John.”
“I know,” she replied weakly “you all are; your father is too”. Richard’s father looked at his wife who gave a troubled smile that told him everything. He looked at Richard who nodded and raised his mouth into a smile that didn’t reach his eyes and said, “She told me about my Grandfather. Dad, why didn’t you?”
“Not now son, not now,” he replied as he looked back towards his mother. The old lady was rambling, talking about old friends and past events as though they were happening for her at the present moment. Suddenly she strained to raise her head and looked at the back wall of the room saying, “Oh Stuart, it’s so good to see you. My, how handsome you look. It’s as though you never left.” They all looked round to see who was there, but no-one was and as they looked back the old lady drew her final breath and passed away. One of the attending doctors walked over to her bedside and checked her pulse. Finding that there wasn’t one, he bowed his head and pronounced her dead at 4:30 p.m.
After a few moments observing the old lady, Richard’s father leant over and closed her eyelids. They all sat there in silence looking at her again at peace at last after her long, and sometimes painful, battle with cancer.
Richard, whilst extremely upset at her passing, was also thinking that it was now his mother and father’s responsibility to fill in the rest of the details relating to what his grandmother had said about his grandfather, the man he never knew. One thing was for certain, he was determined to seek his grandfather out, whether or not his family approved.
The Greatest Gift, available from my website http://www.balneaves.co.uk
09 Friday Mar 2012
Posted in Forthcoming books, Published Books
Tags
They’re here, the first print run of my first book, THE GREATEST GIFT. It’s a science fiction adventure novel and now available on my website at www.balneaves.co.uk.
04 Sunday Mar 2012
Posted in Forthcoming books, Published Books
This week should see the delivery of the first batch of the final, final paperback version of my science fiction adventure, THE GREATEST GIFT. Exciting times.
However, I’m beginning to realise that what I’ve done is the easy bit, write the book. Now it’s marketing, a whole new ball-game and I don’t like games much.
I do have a few ideas however and the ebook versions will be distributed for me by the company that converted it. With the printed book though, it’s going to be a long haul as I will be spending time in bookshops and golf clubs that will allow me, as a local author, some space to promote the book.
My main concern here is, how’s that going to fit with my full time work? It was hard enough finding time to write a book in the first place, let alone time out to market aggressively. Ironic really as my book is about time.
The trials of a self-publisher eh. Or would it be so different if I were represented by a publisher? Answers on a on a £50 note please.
THE GREATEST GIFT available at http://www.balneaves.co.uk
22 Wednesday Feb 2012
Posted in Forthcoming books, Published Books
Okay, it’s done, proofed now for the fourth time. If there are any errors now, I’ll be surprised. Well, maybe a few but no more that a professionally-proofed book.
One thing I have learnt whilst friends and editors have been proofing, there’s a fair degree of disagreement regarding the structure of our language. Some are irritated by split infinitives, others by commas being used with, and. Someone else didn’t take kindly to my, occasional, long sentences. But, my greatest lesson was, not to be swayed by opinion on how to tell my story. If I allowed that, it wouldn’t be mine any more.
‘The Greatest Gift’, available in
paperback, eBook and ePub from 7th March, through my website, http://www.balneaves.co.uk
Ken Balneaves 