Thursday 16 June 2011

The Buddha and the Big Bad Wolf cover



          I finished editing the scan of Are You Boys Cyclists a few days ago, so it'll be up on Kindle in a week or so. It's a long time since I read it and I wasn't looking forward to it, but I actually quite enjoyed it. It's a true account of my time as an amateur boxer and it is a memoir of writing books and plays, if a somewhat jaundiced one. The rest of the book is made up of graphic sex and I'd find it difficult to recommend to anyone under eighty. At one point in the book it says it's like a combination of Henry Miller, Charles Bukowski and Kurt Vonnegut, but some of it is funny. If you don't mind a lot of bad language and plenty of sexual depravity, you might like it.
          I got a £1000 advance from Serpent's Tail for that novel and used it to go on a hapless Buddhist pilgrimage to India and Nepal. It didn't quite turn out to be the pilgrimage I was hoping for!! I'll write more about these books when they are uploaded by the consigliere, who will be a wee bit busy with family matters for a week or so.
          Anyway, my wonderful daughter has come up with these covers. I fancied the top one, but I've been told that the writing isn't as clear on it. We'll probably go with the blue one.
          Are You Boys Cyclists, The Buddha and The Big Bad Wolf and TheBlissBook are written in a similar style and as a group I do like them. They are all semi-autobiographical (like Alma Mater) and all of them have something to say about being a writer.
          Alma Mater hasn't made a sale yet, but In The Land Of The Demon Masters made it's first sale today or yesterday. Remote Control hasn't made a sale yet, but I was contacted yesterday by a publisher about it. I'm not expecting that to come to anything, but it was good that someone even noticed it since I haven't done anything to market them except mention them on a couple of discussion threads.

5 comments:

  1. WRT the covers - 1 and 3 give the impression that the book is about mountaineering or desert travel. Cover 2 has attractive colours.

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  2. £1000 advance! I want one LOL

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  3. Shirley! The Roddy above is a very nice man with a lovely temper who is going to show me how to get you on my blog roll. I'm afraid all I ever saw was the advance. I've been given three advances in my life and never saw a bean more! Still, it was a great holiday!
    Roddy! I liked the middle one, but everybody else liked the top one. I'm a democrat. But there aren't any mountains in 1 or 3! I liked 2 because books about India are much loved in this country. John McKenzie

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  4. As a paying customer of the Cyclist book, I'd normally complain about the lack of depravity on page one, but it may get better. Albert. PS The cover alone is worth the price.

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  5. Well done, Albert! You're probably the second person to buy it. If you like it, stick a review in!!

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