Faith Mortimer-author of crime, suspense, romance & action
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Guest Author David Ebsworth

24/1/2014

1 Comment

 
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Morning Peeps!

It's been some time since I featured one of my fellow authors and today, I'm pleased to introduce you to David Ebsworth.


David's writing career is similar to many other writers
; endeavouring to go the traditional route and then turning to the independent one. Reading David's bio I was pleased to discover that as well as spending part of his year away from the UK like myself he is also a keen sailor. I miss those lovely long days of sail under a glorious sky and exploring new waters! I envy you David -  perhaps it's time we dusted off the charts stored in the loft and thought about running away to sea again!

David Ebsworth is the pen name of UK writer, Dave McCall.  David grew up in Liverpool during the Sixties, and now lives in Wrexham (North Wales) with his wife, Ann. They share a love of travelling (China, Canada and the USA, South Africa) but the great passion of their life is Spain, where they now spend a fair amount of each year. David has this to say about the changes in his life.

'I was coming up to retirement in 2008 and  keen to find some new challenges. I'd come across a story that intrigued me - the tale of Bonnie Prince Charlie's support by English Jacobites, and particularly those in Manchester - and then realised that nobody had used this as the subject for  work of historical fiction. So I started writing The Jacobites' Apprentice (SilverWood Books, ISBN 978-1-78132-0090-9) and, by the end of 2010, I had just about finished, including a major re-write. It's something of a blockbuster (650 pages) but I had some very good independent reviews and was persuaded that it was good enough to warrant looking for a traditional publisher. I received the normal batch of polite (and understandable) rejections but I was appalled by the fact that most of the agents and publishers that I contacted - even though I followed thier submission guidelines closely - were simply too rude to even send an acknowledgement.

‘So I started looking at the opportunities to self-publish. It was a bit of a gamble but I liked the idea that this would be similar to starting a small business and, with help from SilverWood Books in Bristol, I managed to publish Jacobites in March 2012. By that time, I'd realised that there was considerable mythology surrounding traditional publishing - the myth, for example, that publishers pay reasonable lump sum advances to authors whose work they accept; the myth that publishers will automatically get their authors' work onto bookstore shelves; and the myth that publishers make any real effort to market their authors' books. In addition, it became clear to me that the economics for new authors almost always favour indie publishing over more traditional methods.

‘I soon developed a real interest in marketing - all the normal stuff including my own website (www.davidebsworth), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/pages/David-Ebsworth/372113212814491), Twitter (@EbsworthDavid) and Pinterest.

‘Jacobites was selling well but, meanwhile, I had started on a second novel. The Assassin's Mark (SilverWood Books, ISBN 978-1-78132-100-3) is a political thriller set towards the end of the Spanish Civil War and is based on the true but previously untold story of the battlefield tourism that rebel General Franco introduced while the conflict was still raging. Assassins was published in March 2013 and has been well received.

‘Book number three is now written too - The Kraals of Ulundi: A Novel of the Zulu War - and awaits publication, hopefully in the first half of this year, while work is progressing steadily on my fourth novel, which will tell the tale of those French women who fought on the battlefield of Waterloo.

‘I keep to a fairly strict writing routine, regardless of whether I'm in the UK or Spain. I start at 7.00 each morning and write until just after 9.00. Then I swim and think about what I've written. Next, it's off to a favourite coffee bar to make corrections and write for maybe another hour or more. The afternoons are devoted to marketing unless, of course, I manage to indulge my  other favourite eccentricity - sailing. On the one hand, it takes a level of concentraion that excludes everything else. But on longer passages, with the sails set and a fair breeze on the beam, there's nothing like it for stimulating the creative juices.’

Thank you David for letting take a look at your life and writing career - and thank you, readers for taking the time to drop by. If you're interested in any of David's books they are available on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk I have enclosed the link below to The Assassin's Mark if you're interested in reading more. Simply click on the appropriate book cover.

Other books: Jacobites' Apprentice


Thank you! Take care.

Faithx


1 Comment

Footprints in Singapore

11/1/2014

1 Comment

 
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Morning Peeps!

First - may I wish you all a Very Happy New Year. Regular followers and friends will know I've been away on holiday and this is the first time I've been with internet facilities for some weeks.

My weeks away took me to Singapore, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. I'd not visited either Burma or Indonesia before, but I remembered Malaysia and Singapore with fond memories as I had spent a large part of my childhood there.


During my stay in Singapore city, I thought it might be fun to find my old boarding school...I knew it was still standing as a friend had visited it herself about fifteen years ago. I hadn't been back since 1966! I recalled the old address, but felt a bit daunted as the school had been sited in a residential area and as you might know, Singapore city is almost all high rise buildings these days.

I needn't have worried. Despite forty-eight years having passed I found the road I was looking for AND the school! Back in my day, the building had belonged to the British Government, nowadays it is a college for Axa Insurance.

In the photograph above, you'll see the main house as it is now, and I was astounded to see that it is exactly the same as back during my schooldays. My dormitory window is the fourth (upper) from left. Although I wasn't allowed inside I did peek into the front doors under the canopied archway. There was one difference - the old panelling had been covered with white paint, and this was a shame as the panelling hid a secret behind it.

Back during world War Two, the house had been commandeered by the Japanese Army as a billet for officers. The house had been the residency for a member of the British high Commission. The story goes that two children living at the house hid behind the panelling, under the stairs, when the Japanese invaded.They were so frightened to come out of hiding after listening the carnage going on outside that they died in each others arms.

This story has stayed with me ever since I first heard it, and it was the basis for my book, The Bamboo Mirror (a collection of short stories, in which the full story is told). The Bamboo Mirror was the beginning of the Diana Rivers Mysteries, leading to The Assassins' Village and the second in the series, Children of the Plantation, which is set up country in Malaya on a rubber plantation.

So you see...all are connected by one means or another.

The second photograph shows part of the grounds. The jungle plants have been allowed to reclaim the land, and all the other buildings which I played in: a gymnasium, small theatre and netball/badminton courts have been pulled down. You can see the footprint still standing in the concrete.

My sojourn back into my past was full of nostalgic memories and I'm so pleased I made the effort. Happy times!

Thanks for dropping by.

Take care
Faithx

Faith's ebooks & paperbacks can be found on:

Amazon.com
    Amazon.co.uk    Barnes & Noble    Apple itunes    Kobo and all other Amazon sites.

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