Cleveland’s Comments (group member since Jun 22, 2009)

Cleveland’s comments from the Sequel Addicted group.

Raven wrote: "Catamorandi wrote: "I am currently reading The Screwtape Letters and Walk Two Moons, both of which are very interesting in their own way. This is especially true for The Screwtape Letters."

When you say Screwtape letters is there a chance you mean the Victorian drama called the Turn of the Screw? That has been filmed three times , I think so far.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ oıɔoɹ/rocio♥ tik tok..! wrote: "GUYS THIS GROUP IS DYING!! I CANT BELIEVE NO ONE IS STAYING ACTIVE!! DOESNT ANYONE CARE ANYMORE?"
Maybe it's because we are into the New Year resolutions and other things.

♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Rocio Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ♥ wrote: "srsly? u did an audio book?"

http://www.libcat.oxfordshire.gov.uk/...

♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Rocio Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ♥ wrote: "srsly? u did an audio book?"
Yes. I had ideas for a book but had an accident. Instead I did the audiobook. Later on I wrote the book .
The audiobook is available in the UK through the public lending library systemfor free.
For sale on the Internet:
http://www.dvdaudiobooks.com/details/...
If you haven't listened to it you are missing out.
I was thinking of writing some more stories for a new version.

Maryam_Music Lover wrote: "Cleveland wrote: "Maryam_Music Lover wrote: "I had to join again!!But Iam VERY angry with myself!!!!I deleted my account..and EVERYTHING is gone!!!!!Hey guys!!Missed you!"
Hi Maryam, welcome back...."

Thanks for that. And welcome back
Cleveland

Carly wrote: "Cleveland wrote: "Carly wrote: "Wow Cleveland! I hope I can publish my writing someday, it's my dream!"
I'm sure you can. Make it a good habit to get into.
"

Thank you :) And the £60 is just to s..."
.................................................................
Yes Carly.
You might be accepted with an e-mail but the contract(often 2 copies) arrives vial the post . The instructions are to find a solicitor who is a notary. A person trained to handle these kinds of documents. When he puts his stamp(and seal) on the document it will apply and be valid in every country in the world. I'm a UK author and have signed with more than one publisher. The £60 is a minimum charge per hour the 'notary' will bill you for.If it takes 1 hour and fifteen minutes it will be £120. Expensive. I'll say it is.
As an author I'm not happy with the way everything is loaded against the new writer.
I'd suggest submitting your work as soon as possible. It is important to get the experience. Next time you'll be that much sharper.
Good luck to us all.
Cleveland

Carly wrote: "Wow Cleveland! I hope I can publish my writing someday, it's my dream!"
I'm sure you can. Make it a good habit to get into.

Carly wrote: "Wow Cleveland! I hope I can publish my writing someday, it's my dream!"

The answer to a question I asked was £60 an hour. That is how much a writer will pay to sign an official piece of paper counter stamped by a notary. The total cost happens to be £60 because it takes only about fifteen minutes to tie up all the legal stuff.Without signing the contract your publisher will not do a thing with your book.

Carly wrote: "That's a good step, yeah I remember. Not good. I get stressed when I have writers block and it kills me, hopfully it will go away soon ((yay for cheap books!!))"


I think your writers block is in fact worry. There is a difference between worry and concern. Simply with worry the tendency is to go around in circles.The same happens with writers block. There is no progression and the more the worry the worse it gets. What is needed is something that breaks the perception of say the blank page and the written words on the page. Spend time away from the computer. In business this is essential so make it a rule to spend time away from where the writing take place.
Another solution is training. Not to write but to relax, to exercise, to read and then to write something we enjoy reading.It might be the Bible. If we enjoy reading then write a few pages out. And again . And again. After a while our hand will write on command those selected words. Keep going. Only five minutes a day and in those five minutes writing takes place. Then change the goal posts. Half the width of the page and go from narrow lines to wider lines. It starts to give the appearance that much is being written without a lot of effort.And the part in the brain is trained to accept that new feeling too.
Another way is to write a story with a friend but sticking to the recipe of Dialogue. Action then Dialogue and so on.
There are other ways to exploit too. The point is to do something.
Read the URL below and start thinking about what flash fiction you might send in.To have a challeng might get rid of writers block.
http://loquaciousplacemat.blogspot.co...

I've probably got something in the slush pile somewhere. If you are thinking of publishing the link below might throw some light on what happens with publishers.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/books...
Also anybody know how much a contract can cost to be signed by the writer? It is always the writer who pays.
Do you think it is a good thing to mention in your query letter a sequel exist to our current novel?
I aim to publish everything I've written. Do you have the same aims?
Lots of hot topics above but they do make life interesting.
Cleveland

Maryam_Music Lover wrote: "I had to join again!!But Iam VERY angry with myself!!!!I deleted my account..and EVERYTHING is gone!!!!!Hey guys!!Missed you!"
Hi Maryam, welcome back. The guy you mentioned was n't me. I never knew what ou wrote in your last message.Everything went on the blink and 'things' disappeared.As I said welcome back.
Cleveland

SiNgUrL wrote: "I'm listening to The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyon but I can't concentrate on the words. Maybe because the TV is loud outside.

Have you tried listening to audio books?
DO you find it hard? ..."
I produced an audio book that was so good it's in the UK library system with dynamic sound effects.Play it in th car and when th sirens come on everybody pulls over.
It is called 'Dragon Counry' a fantasy audio book.

deleted user wrote: "I'am sorry, but I'am deleting my account, I'am on too much, I can't promise that I won't join again, but yes I'am deleting it, I'am really sorry!And in case I already have when you see this my name..."

That's a shame you have to leave. But good luck with your writing.
Take care.

If you can dance or do martial arts without a book I guess you can walk with a book. Walk the same route over and over again. Walking speed is slow and steady. Try it in the kitchen.

"I am shivering without knowing why"

suggest instead:

I shiver yet know not why.

My usual reading position is sitting in a firm chair at a table. A comfortable chair makes me fall asleep.
(I've also tried reading while walking slowly).

I've done it. It is possible. There are reservations ,however. A book can be found to be too involved, too detailed, deeply rooted in plot and full of too many characters can be a struggle for a person to read without the ultimate distraction of a second novel.
I have read two novels at the same time. On a long journey on a bus in the morning I've started with one novel. On the way home at night I've read the second one.
It is strange your question as there is a plot involving a father from India who is proud of his daughter. He takes his friends up to her bedroom and points out she is readig 12 books at the same time. Yes there she is sat in a circle of 12 opened books reading few pages and then moving onto the next one until she is back at the start. And then so on and so forth.
There then follows questions from the father's friends about the contents of the book and clever girl know all the plots.

Best wishes.

Sounds interesting. I guess it is like a PDF of a book. Easier and cheaper to send too. Though on a site like this length might be one restriction.

SiNgUrL wrote: "Wow! Cleveland... from which books are those names? I've only started reading like about August last year. I haven't heard of the names before though thanks for sharing.

I like the names Jayna, ..."
Sebastion comes from one of the Saint Books: Sebastion Tooms is down to ST or St : The Saint Simon Templar. As is Otis Reads from another Saint book.
Other characters I've used in my book Moondust and I've drawn hem from my family History/ BIO. I've connections and connecions that put my head in a spin.Armenian, Russian , Chinnereth, Dutch and German all mixed up. Plus 2 Chinese Aunts and five Chinese cousins as well gives me a feel for the right character having the right name. My next door neighbour was, in the next village , Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond so things do get interesting. Jayna and Yente Sheng from Malasia; my uncle now dead worked for the UN and lived in Malasia, then Singapore..Elmo and Nazario from Italians on one of the islands. Paul Basques was a Columbian undercover agent, that was his made -up name . I used his name in Moondust written by me, and it worked well.In fact I used some of the character names and others I didn't mention because they sounded too ordinary.Bow, unfortunately was buried in 1796 with many other youngsters aged between 3 and 7 years old. Mortuary studies and files showed something strange had happened to their graves. That's another story but I used the variations of the names.
About books to read. One thing with suggesting books it isn't necessar to read everything by that author however good they are. How many people have read all the works of Shakespear? Far better to read a selected title and then examine it for its depth, plot and a thousand and one thing.
A good book is known by its characters.(Consider the books written by Charles Dickens. I love the characters he created. Some more than others and some I love to hate. 'Love to hate' but I'm sure you'll get the irony of hating a character that is good(enough to be bad).
Oliver Twist is an appealing book for all ages.There are films , etc so there is a lot to gain from the experience.
An outstanding writer was H.E. Bates. A must read is 'The Purple Plain.' This is a love story laced with greed, meaness of character, injustice and a relentless longing. Apart from the drama the writing is good.Watch how it flows. Again the POV dictated this be made into a film.When you write your own book bear in mind the POV.If it were made into a film what might happen? The POV consideration will sharpen you writing.
Read the 'Tell Tale Heart' by E.A. Poe for the way the stor unfolds in the 1st person Dramatic Narrative.It is focused horror and because you are into that POV it can help to enhance your work.The style is fairly old now but it's still worth the read.
Graham Greene wrote a book called 'A Burnt Out Case' which will wrestle with the way you view drama.No review of the book here but it is good. Consider as you read it what makes his style. His books have been made into many films so there has to be something there that is gold.Try and find how he places certain words together and why.
D.H. Lawrence was a skilled writer.Read any of his books but rather flick open a page somewhere and see how often he uses words that we consider we need in every paragraph.I did a check on a page at random for the word 'that' and had a surprise. He used it only once in a thousand words and where he used it no other word might do.
There is a short book about by Eileen O'Conor called 'The Invisible Worm' which is a chilling tale not for those of a nervous disposition. From a writer's aspect there are many lessons to be studied from everyday life and how every word used is counted and measured for impact.The story is ordinary and terrifying, deeply disturbing, and a book I keep on my shelf as it tells me 'how to write.' Horror is best when kept simple because that's when we, the reader are caught.And I've been caught.
Obviously there are thousands of other books out there waiting to be read.But b reading a selection for a purpose what ever you write is going to get better.Come back to me if you need more suggestions.Good reading.
Best wishes
Cleveland

Sebastion Toombs
Otis Reads
Krikor DerSinanian
Mikhail Razumovsky
Sangaku Taki
Paul Basques
Yente Sheng
Jayna Kan
Cornelius Rothchild
Elmo Nesta
Juan Brossa
Bow Cowley
Nazario Maldini