Lets write a book!
They say everyone has a book in them. Having completed “Angels of the mud” I strongly believe it to be true. Furthermore, as long as one is not under any illusion that some agent or publisher, is waiting with baited breath to shove their money into it, then it can be a very enjoyable undertaking.
Of course, if you’ve become a bulimic MP, had your face plastered on TV for being able to kick a football, or even fry an egg while using the “f” word every 30 seconds, then an agent will probably be more than interested. In fact, you wont even have to write it yourself. But those books generally disappear from bookshop windows faster than they appear, and I don’t mean in sales. Just by having a celebrity’s face on the cover will create enough sales for the publisher/agent to have recovered their outlay and expected profit.
Unfortunately literary agents often seem to have no more idea of what book has the necessary ingredients to be successful, than the average reader. This has been proven time and again by the successful book that has initially been rejected. There are agents that must have kicked themselves when turning down stories like “The day of the Jackal”. And allegedly, they have.
Of course if your book turns out to be better than you expected, you can always self publish. Yes, I know, Vanity publishers! Nasty word. But I have never liked the title, and never thought it very apt. After all what does it mean? That an author is vain enough to trust putting some money behind his effort? Well isn’t that better than sending it to dozens of agents in the hope that one will realize its potential? Moreover, wouldn’t this constitute being just as vain?
But you might prefer to go the Agent or Publisher route. Why not? There is always a chance that your MS, (manuscript) will be that one in a thousand that lands in front of the very agent that is looking for just your type of story. But be sure to get it right. Too many spelling mistakes or a poor knowledge of punctuation could kill your chances. If an editor can see too much work in correcting it, he will probably bin it. Remember, most agents/publishers will want to see the first three chapters all double spaced and probably an A4 synopsis. That is if they will even look at unsolicited work at all. Still want to go there? Okay, shuffle up your three double spaced chapters and your synopsis. Put them together with another A4 stamped addressed envelope, then get it all weighed at the post office. Pop them in the post to your chosen agency. Having done this, then sit back and wait, and wait, and wait. You can expect to wait about six months, this is normal.
Let’s talk some more about self-publication. I’ve heard of writers that have used a vanity publisher and got burned. They have maybe bought a shed-full of their books from the printers, and been stuck with them. However, this is not necessarily the fact their book was a disaster. It was more likely because of their lack of drive, or knowledge of how to get the media behind them.
Remember, newspapers are not interested in selling your work. They are there to sell their paper. Make them see you and your book as an interesting column, or even better a two-page spread. Hell, I’m getting myself excited now!
Back to your book: you have just typed “The End”. You’re excited! Why not? I know I was. What now? Play it cool, stick a toe in the water before splashing out. Get your family and closest friends to read it, but don’t just accept their word, they won’t want to hurt your feelings. Gauge their reaction. How long did it take them to read it? Oh I’ve only read the first chapter, they say, but I will get round to it! This is a minus. Not a good reaction. If the book comes back quick with a “Really good, couldn’t put it down.” This is a plus. Weigh up the plusses against the minuses. And ask the readers to note mistakes, they will almost certainly see some that you’ve missed. Ask them to write them down or tick the line on the MS. It will cost a fortune to have it proof read, especially if it’s a reasonable size book. 100,000 words are not excessive.
Think about what you’d like to write, fact or fiction? If its fiction, make your job easier by picking a theme and location that you have at least some knowledge about. I remember my first attempt. It started in a place called Rogersfield, Tennessee. Hell, I’d never even been to Tennessee. I soon discovered how ridiculous a task I’d set myself. I had no idea of the value of things, how post codes worked, or zip codes, as I believe they’re called, so don’t make this mistake or you will spend hours researching. Fiction means that it doesn’t have to be true, but it does need to be credible. For instance, you cannot have a sixteen-year-old joining the FBI, if the minimum age has to be twenty-one.
Now click on that blank page and enter a world where you are God, and most of all, have fun! I certainly did when writing…
“Angels of the mud”
Angels of the mud is a historic thriller of 135,000 words. It begins in 1907. It follows the story of Nell Masters. Nell is a sixteen-year-old fatherless girl, born midst the slums and grog houses of Old Portsmouth. A place where children beg as mud larks, some, for the fun and experience, but more often for the price of a meal.
Nell becomes a seamstress, forced to be the breadwinner by a work-shy mother who has secrets of her own. Nell is a pretty girl: a quality that is soon to cause her problems with some of her fellow seamstresses. Dislike for the girl becomes something more sinister, when she falls for the bosses nephew. Scheming work associates lead Nell into a dark world of rape and murder. If the shame of an unwanted pregnancy was not enough to contend with, the hangman’s rope is now casting a shadow over her. Nell’s life has hit the bottom of a deep chasm, where events, surely, cannot get any worse; or is fate planning a rockslide? This is just the beginning. Why not don those slippers, sit back in that easy chair and come wallow with those Angels of the mud. My book can be found at www.lulu.com search word
Angels of the mud
Portsea mud larks inspire writers theme for new murder mystery.
“Angels of the mud”
Barry William Doughty’s Angels of the mud begins in 1907 with Nell Masters, the story’s most prominent character. Nell is a sixteen-year-old only child, born midst the slums and grog houses of Old Portsmouth. A place where children beg as mud larks. Some for fun, but often for the price of a meal.
Nell has a young mother who feigns ill health due to the accidental death of her husband. In forcing Nell to be the bread winner, She approaches her old boss, Ivan Boswell, a lecherous owner of a naval outfitting business. Boswell agrees to employ Nell as a seamstress. The outfitters shop, with its small upstairs factory is in Queen Street, a locality renown throughout the navy's of the world as a red-light district.
Nell is a pretty girl. She has a natural quality that to certain fellow factory girls is interpreted as arrogance. This, and an unfortunate incident on Nell’s first day at work creates a formidable enemy in one Molly Gill. The die is cast and Molly makes Nell’s working life hard and unpleasant. when the bosses nephew, Alfie, appears on the scene there is instant chemistry between he and Nell. This upsets another factory girl who is sweet on Alfie. Now Nell has two enemies. The two scheme together. They trick Nell into taking a tram ride to a false address, at that time, a dark and depraved area of Old Portsmouth. This leads Nell into a world of rape and murder. As a result, the threat of a hangman’s rope now threatens Nell. As though this were not terrible enough, a shameful unwanted pregnancy becomes a final affront. Her world has reached the depths of a chasm where events surely can not get any worse, or is fate planning a landslide.
This is just the beginning. Angels of the mud moves along at a ripping pace with more than one main character. It has a great deal of content with no room for boredom. It is a story that could quite easily have been a trilogy, hence, its 26 chapters is sectioned into three parts. Although Nell is the most prominent of its characters, other important characters come to the fore, leaving Nell, at times, fading back stage. Apart from the obvious enjoyment of a good murder mystery, more senior Pomponians are taken on a memorable journey through the streets of Portsmouth
You can see my book on 'bookfinder4u.com' or Amazon.co.uk
In my early teens it was broadly accepted that the British Bobby was the most trusted man one could approach with a problem, and that the British police force was probably the best in the world. Now in a world league of police forces I think they would struggle to make the bottom division.
I don’t know how Helen Newlove controlled her emotions. She sat next to that police spokesman after the trial, gave a brave and honest opinion of today’s inept legal system and useless policing, and not once did she try ripping the guys throat out. What self control!
The drunken thugs that murdered her husband for trying to protect his property had been frequenting the same place allegedly, and causing trouble for some time. Where were the police? Probably harassing some poor fifteen-year-old on a moped, that’s when they really shine. That, they can handle. Is it any wonder they were only offered 1.9%. I think the Home Office was trying to tell them something. However, this is another department that needs shaking up. The prisons are over flowing and they haven’t a clue as to why. Of course not, they probably haven’t got prisons on their planet. You only have to listen to these politicians to know why the country is in a mess and why knifings and shootings now happen daily. Listen to them talk about prisons. You’ll hear the words Training, Rehabilitation, Help with Drug addiction. The one word you won’t hear is the word punishment, They seem to have totally forgotten why these misfits were sent there in the first place. Why is Brown reluctant to build more prisons? I think I can understand why. It's reported to cost in the region of £300 per night to house a prisoner, so there’s your answer. It's not just the cost of building them but the fact that they would soon be full of £300 a night residents all paid for by the treasury: The tax payer. In case any politicians are listening, although I don’t think that’s a talent few of them possess, here’s the answer:
First you cure the reputation of what the word prison means. It has to mean a place to be feared, a hell that once subjected to, one would never want to return. A place of the past, when lags were made to build their own prisons. A place of hard labour. Of course you might have to lock up all the politically correct fools that ruined the country in the first place. And of course under certain circumstances, and definately in Mr Newlove’s case, a life for a life can be the only logical sentence, anything less is to insult his memory and his family.