Writing for Pleasure and Profit

If I don’t mention the temperature for a while, it’s because it is still in the forty-five to forty-seven range. I have slept nearly all day today because of it, and people assure me that I am not the only one the weather is affecting like that. Writing has become a thing of the past 🙁

It is just so out of character, I am known for sleeping only four or five hours a night, which has always been a cause of concern to my wife who needs eight or nine, but likes to go to bed at nine thirty.

The sequel to ‘Tiger Lily of Bangkok’ http://tigerlilyofbangkok.com was published two weeks ago and received it’s first review today (a good one 🙂 ), which you can read on Amazon.com if you are thinking of reading it. In this volume, she is in London, and becomes incensed when she learns of the infamous ‘meat rack’ on Piccadilly Circus.

The review is here: http://www.mikishope.com/2015/05/book-review-tiger-lily-of-bangkok-in.html

I have promised to write at least one more ‘Behind The Smile’, number six, but I think I will write another Lily this year as well. People like her, but it is awkward, because their conscience tells them they shouldn’t. I like that, but then I like her too and like writing about her.

Some books are funny like that for both readers and writers, you become attached to (some of) the characters. They speak to you – quite literally in the case of many authors. A lot of writers will swear that the characters dictate the book to them. I have experienced this with all of my novels. It is a strange experience, and with Lek in BTS1, I had to cut her off with the promise of writing a sequel.

Quite a few readers have noticed that that first volume ends abruptly. The assume that it is a cliff-hanger ending, but that was not the intention, it just worked out that way. I stopped ‘Daddy’s Hobby’ at 112k words, but the series is now five times that length – 560,000 words!

On the other hand, compiling a book of short stories is not the same, because there is no personal continuity, but it is a worthwhile project and at least two contributors have never seen their work in print before, so they should get a buzz out of that and, hopefully, the impetus to carry on writing.

Thanks again to all who have submitted a story, the book is now 53% full, so you still have time to send something in.

I hope you will.

All the best,

+Owen Jones

Podcast: Writing for Pleasure and Profit