Trains

I wasn’t going to moan about the French being on strike. It is an unfair stereo type. Most people here on the Côte d’Azur work very hard for not much money. If you are lucky enough to work for the government, then I’m sure you don’t want to see your wages and conditions being cut. Like Cameron I’m not very interested in politics and I’m not going to start now so I took very little note of what the dispute was actually about. But the second train strike in as many months is a bloody pain in the backside!

I live in one of the most congested stretches of land in France; the Côte d’Azur is just a small strip of land squeezed between the hills and the sea. When I came to live here I thought local public transport was wonderful; clean, frequent and cheap, until I got my first job. I soon had to buy a scooter as the bus to my local place of work stopped driving at 7.30pm and we had to work till 8pm. I was surprised everyone has a car here as the train and the bus are just so cheap. Now I know, you do need a plan B. 

I hate taking the car to Monaco, with toll roads and parking it works out at about 8X the price of my rail card and as there was a strike, the roads were very congested. Mind you it is hard to stay annoyed long on the Côte d’Azur; the sun is shining, I’m able to sit and write my blog outside, surrounded by palm trees and tonight I won’t have to run down that hill to catch the 20.13 train home, instead I get to drive around the Monaco circuit like a formula one driver.

Needless to say, that book two is going to be influenced by commuting and Cameron will at some point take a train. A large part of the second book is being written on the train and in Monaco station, and I hope tomorrow we will be back to normal.

Planet money, not  a bad place to be writing your book:

Language

The world is becoming a global village. No more so than on planet money where aliens of many continents visit every day. Coming from a small country like the Netherlands you learn very early on that people within an hour’s car drive speak a different language. If you want to play with the other children on the French or German camping site, you have to learn. English and German came to me easier than French though. I do struggle daily with communication and it was a huge influence in the story line of Language in the blood. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if I could just bite someone like Cameron does and absorb the language of that person perfectly?

Wishful thinking and I don’t think I’m the only one. At work we speak combined; English, Russian, Chinese, Arabic, German, Dutch, Italian, Japanese and some very bad French. My French colleagues, who are in the minority, must cringe sometimes at the weird language we concoct to communicate with each other. The other day my colleague described a bird as an aggressive pigeon as she couldn’t think of the word for eagle. This makes Planet money a fun place too, you have a giggle and you absorb each others cultures and languages by struggling on together. It might take a bit longer than Cameron’s method but slowly, very slowly, I’m absorbing. I do now know some pleasantries in the all the above languages.

The reason it took me so long to write my first book (I’m in my 40’s) is partly due to my teachers. Like Cameron I wasn’t particularly academically gifted and I found it hard to concentrate. I did like to write stories, but my humorless teachers never gave me any feedback on my writings, I just got handed back a paper covered in red correction marks and a concerned look; why can’t this child spell? I just gave up on writing. I chose to go into vocational training at 16 and everyone agreed that making jewellery was a better outlet for my creativity.

Now with the help of a computer with a spell checker, thicker skin and a very helpful editor, I had another stab at writing. Feedback has been great so far and I just received a four star review, but I know my book isn’t a work of literature; it wasn’t meant to be, If I raise a smile I’ll be happy. Language is a way to communicate; if it does more it’s a bonus. To teachers I would like to say: don’t get your knickers in a twist, there is more to language than spelling and grammar and never let any one stop you from expressing yourself.

Different boat people

This week Cameron’s acquaintances have been in town as the Monaco yacht show was on. A small flotilla of luxury yachts have been moored outside the port, which itself was filled to capacity. This is the week when the great and the good come to planet money to pick their next boat. I have been enjoying my lunches overlooking the bay, as I’m picking out my first boat. The difference is that I’m only working on planet money and owning a yacht will probably remain a dream.

This is the problem with this place; all of a sudden your dreams become bigger. I never imagined having a boat, especially not anything over 30 meters. Now I’m having the following conversations with my colleagues:

‘Mr X just got a new yacht, he paid 5 million euro’s for it’

‘Oh, he won’t get much for that’

The other night I was walking to the station, when I spotted a Bugatti Veyron (it’s a very expensive and rare car and a petrol head’s wet dream) with the obligatory group of tourists circling around it with their cameras. I was tempted to tell them that there was another one parked around the corner in a different colour. I was in a hurry and I’m trying to stay nice. I do understand how Cameron got corrupted by planet money. It is easy to get your head turned and start seeing this world as normal. Luckily there is always the pauper train home, which now has standing room only as I have to share it with equally tired yacht show sales people on their way home to planet reality. My sore feet are still firmly on the ground. The weather has not been great and the views overlooking the port are mostly prettier, but I'd thought I better take a picture of the port being filled to capacity.

The internet

The internet, it’s a wonderful thing! To quote Cameron, after he convinced a German man he met on line to let him drink his blood. Not quite the shenanigans I get up to, but I do find myself online a lot. Gone are the days when you had to send thick paper copies of your book to agents in the hope to get published. I decided I won’t even try as I think most agents reach for the bin if they read ’Vampire.’ I do believe I have something new, quirky and lighter hearted to bring to the genre, so I went with Amazon KDP and self-published.

So that was the easy part over with. The last few weeks, whenever I’m not working, I’m on my computer; promoting, writing blogs (Like now, in Monaco station with a coffee overlooking the port!) and trailing through and replying to endless emails. KDP is great; you can see your sales, do promotions and upload another copy of your book if you spot any errors. (I hope all is well now a friend has done another proof read. Some chapter headers come up in Blue, but I’m working on understanding why that is happening)

So I know that the free promotion went well; about 53 serious bloggers and reviewers now have a copy of my book and I’m waiting excitedly what will be the result. One thing I’m a bit puzzled about; the book has taken off to an extent in Germany. I haven’t written to any German bloggers and I’m not in contact with any of my German family. A large part of the book is set in that country, so is it because of some random Googling that my book is being noticed over there? As I said: the internet is a wonderful thing!

Giving it away!

This weekend I'm giving away my book for free in the hope of it getting reviews and promotion to a wider audience. Looking at the KDP reports the take up has been good and I'll be interested to see the results in coming weeks. I have been concentrating on the blogger community and it has already resulted in one blogger promoting it as a Saturday steal on her site:
http://andreareadsandreviews.blogspot.com
What I'm slowly finding out is that writing the first book was easy. I don't want to sound flippant as I know many struggle with getting a book out there, but I was lucky.
Most of the time it felt like Cameron my main character was walking along the beach front with me, pointing out tasty dogs, attractive yachts, or telling me his life story. The second book is proving harder and not only because I have less time to write. Cameron is proving to be a rebellious vampire, going off to places I don't want him to go, but he has to do his own thing. I did eventually convince him (forcefully) to go to Monaco, which I'm enjoying greatly but Cameron less so. I think we have now agreed on a direction and the book is reaching it's conclusion. Still a lot of work to do, but the beginning, middle and end are there. As I'm promoting the first book, I'm realizing the importance of getting a second one out there fast. I mean if they like your book, they want to read more!

Boat people

Don't worry, this is not a harrowing story of unfortunate souls clinging to a leaking ship in the hope of reaching a safe shore and a better life. In Monaco, or planet money as I like to call it, boat people are the poor souls that arrive on a cruise ship, hoping to get a photo of a better life. They mostly climb ashore in Villefranche sur Mer, about half way through my train journey. They look around them bewildered holding on tightly to their maps and brochures, hoping they've gotten on the right train that will take them to Monaco. I can see the fear in their eyes as they turn to me and struggle to remember their school French. I mostly let them muddle on a bit before replying in English. I mostly see  them later in front of the casino, taking pictures of the fancy cars parked in front of it.
Shopkeepers reluctantly open their doors to them and quietly mutter under their breath as they leave;
'If you have to ask the price dear, it's obvious you can't afford it'
Every day I tell myself that planet money is not the norm, it is just a bizarre place I come to work.
One joke doing the rounds at the moment is about a french man coming to open an account with a bank on planet money.
'I would like to deposit a million euros' whispers the man.
The cashier whispers back 'that's OK sir, we take all deposits, poverty is nothing to be ashamed off.'

Hunting for reviews

On my rare day off I'm trying to promote the book. It is hard to get noticed in a world saturated by self published books. The only way to stand out on Amazon is by the amount of 5 star reviews. I don't want to rely on friends and family to write reviews. People notice these things and won't take the reviews serious. I decided that to get reviews I'd do a free promotion for 5 days. It will run from the 20th to the 24th of September. I have advertised the promotion on various blogs and I've written to a few bloggers. Fingers crossed it will have the desired result. So far reaction to the book has been very positive, so I know if I can get more people to read it, it will take off.