Monday, March 21, 2011

Job Done?

Well, "Doctor Augustus Pierre LeMesurier, Incomplete Case Histories" has been dispatched to Emma the Agent. It's a strangely empty feeling once you've finished a book, I feel that I should be doing something, but what? Well, I had the answer yesterday, we (Cadey & I) went off to a nearby hostelry and had Sunday lunch, six days shopping (in monetary terms) in one meal! Hey ho, it was a celebration.
Now the waiting begins again of course. Firstly will Emma think the book is a 'sporting proposition', will it need some re-writing or is it back to the drawing board? In any event I suppose I'm now on the lookout for new ideas. One problem with that of course is fairly soon we'll be off North, back to the warm weather (well, we are in the Southern hemisphere you see) and who knows what internet access will be like? It's an amazing tool, the internet. Whilst there's no guarantee of the accuracy of some of the information you look at (unless it's 'attributable', in which case I think you can be a bit more confident) but for getting directions to/from a location which appears in a story or taking a look at locations on Google Earth it's just the ticket!
Well, that's it for now, I may post a taster of Augustus in the next week, but I'll wait for feedback first.
PS
Why incomplete case histories you may ask, well a chap has to hope for a shot at a second book in the series, hasn't he?

Sunday, March 13, 2011

And the search continues

It's REALLY difficult to find an illustrator for 'Tim'. There are several very talented artists out there who produce really good work, but not what I (and Emma the Agent) have in mind for Tim. So, a plea.
"Anybody out there who fancies themselves as an illustrator?" I'm looking more for cartoon-type characters more than strictly accurate real-life representations of animals, and that is what is proving to be the stumbling block, which I must confess I have found surprising.
No artist myself, I realised that it wasn't simply a case of a few quick brush strokes and strange humming noises a la Rolf Harris but I didn't think the search would be this long or this difficult. Maybe something along the lines of the old 'Rupert the Bear' cartoons or even the Winnie the Pooh or Toad of Toad Hall type of illustrations? Any suggestions/samples gratefully looked at. It wouldn't be so bad but most people who have read the 'entire Tim' seem to think that the stories are a winner (including Emma the Agent!).
Hey ho! Thank God the Tsunami didn't pay a major visit down here in NZ and life aboard Troutbridge continues at it's usual serene(ish) pace. As predicted, I haven't finished the new novel yet, I was in bed for a couple of days with the 'dreaded lurghie' and am not quite 100% yet, but I'm almost there!

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Formatting, formatting, formatting

I have been taken severely to task by Emma the Agent for my (lack) of formatting expertise, but all is now well, he wrote with hope in his heart and fingers/toes/eyes/other unmentionables crossed!
Augustus's Case Histories should be finished by the middle of March (now there's a real hostage to fortune, but I didn't mention which year lol). It will be a little shorter than originally envisaged, which hopefully will allow for a follow-on book. All of the research has been done, so 'Further Case Histories' should not be too onerous a task.
No real news about the search for an illustrator for Tim EXCEPT, I'm waiting to see some ideas from an artist who lives in the North Island, here in New Zealand, I have a lead that I stumbled across here in Whangerei (North Island, NZ) and there is a 'somebody' in the UK, a friend of my daughter, who is also taking a look at the manuscript to see if she might be able to do something. Emma the Agent continues to be enthusiastic about the project and in fact she put me in touch with Trish Lacey (the artist in North Island) who she has also taken on as a budding author.
I will post a few 'chunks' of Augustus for your delight and delectation in the near future, in the meantime autumn is coming to NZ, it's a drizzly, dank sort of morning and all on Troutbridge are looking forward to heading back up to the Tropics in the not too distant future.