Bossyboots

Hi, I've had a very busy January, but between writing and proofreading commitments I have managed to spend some time proofreading my first novel, Boosyboots. The story covers a few weeks in the life of Michael Riley, the manager of a pottery factory, who is forced into a midlife crisis when his wife walks out on him. However, the blurb about boosyboots is not the purpose of this post.
What I want to talk about is the use of phone numbers in fiction, so please stay with me for a minute and all will be revealed. In my novel, poor old Michael Riley, goes on a quest to find another partner and have lots of rampant sex along the way. He puts adverts in the lonely hearts column of his local paper and joins a dating agency, but he finishes up disappointed and in some dire situations.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I had to use a lot of phone numbers in the book, so that Michael could get in touch with his various dates. So where did I get them from? Well, I just made them up. I have absolutely no idea what would happen if anybody tried calling them. I thought all authors made them up; what else can you do? Well, when I was half-way through proofreading, Bossyboots, I read an article that covered the issue of phone numbers and discovered there is a proper solution.

Apparently, the use of phone numbers in fiction and on the telly has been an issue for years. Some sad people can't help but ring the numbers that appear on the telly and in books. They see 'Street Cars' phone number on the top of a taxi in Coronation Street and ring up expecting to speak to Steve McDonald or Clare Peacock. I know that can't happen now because Clare's cleared off to France. Not that I think she did it, I reckon it was somebody from the prison where Tracy was banged up, but she's too scared to come clean, so she's letting Clare take the rap. Sorry, I digress, let's get back to the plot.

Because this problem has been known about for a long time, special numbers have been made available. If you go to ofcom'w website, www.ofcom.org.uk click here and follow the links through to drama you will find a whole range of numbers that can be used when writing fiction. There are blocks of a 1000 numbers that even have an authentic area code. For instance if you want a number for Manchester, you can use area code 0161 and then pick a number anywhere from the following range 4960000-4960999. Lots of cities are covered, except of course, Stoke-on-Trent, where Bossyboots is set. I guess I'll just have to use the closest code and that's Birmingham.

That's it for this post, but if you want to find out more about me, my books or writing services, please click here.

Writing and proofreading

Hi,
This year I've decided to divide my time between writing and proofreading. I like to have a plan, even if it is very basic, because it will help me to avoid go around in circles. If there's one thing I can't abide it's going around in circles.
When it comes to planning I often recall the words of my tutor from when I was doing a Post Graduate Diploma in management studies. According to him, planning was all about the 5 Ps: Poor Planning, equals Piss Poor Performance and he was right. If ever you find yourself heading for the deep and smelly, a plan is essential. Doing nothing, or hoping for a bit of luck will usually end in disaster. In my experience, only one thing follows bad luck and that's another big dollop of the same.

So, looking at the year a head I have decide to approach it with an attack on two fronts. The author in me wants to write and publish more books, so I guess that is going to occupy a lot of my time. I am currently proofreading my novel, "Bossyboots" and hope to publish it next month. I also have a semi-autobiographical book, with the working title, "A Staffordshire Boy" that is also waiting to go through the proofreading process. Besides these two books I also have a crime novel in progress, but I've decided it would be better to stop writing that and concentrate on publishing the books I'd already written.

So, this year, my target on the writing front is to finish proofreading and publish the two books that I have already written, and if time allows it would be nice to finish writing and publish my crime novel.

Besides the writing, I will also be providing a proofreading service for others. If you've been following my posts you will know that I like doing courses and last year was no exception. I decided that because proofreading was such a bind when preparing my books for publication, that I'd do a course and learn to do it properly. Well, I started last April and completed the course a week before Christmas. I am now offering my services at special introductory prices and hope that will lead to me getting some real experience. I know that a lot of people may prefer a proofreader who already has a lot of experience, but we've all got to start somewhere. The fact that I am new will mean that I am keen to do a professional job and my clients will also get the benefit of special introductory rates. I think that proofreading and writing make very good partners and no doubt I will be busy one way or the other.

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