The Time Bubble

2024 marks the beginning of a new era in The Time Bubble world. A new era that began back in 1980. Apologies if that doesn't make sense, but that's time travel for you. The most recent Time Bubble book (Gone to the Rapture) was released in October and was very well received (4.6-star average on Amazon from 139 reviews). I was most pleased with how it turned out and consider it to be one of the best in the series yet. It proved that I can still come up with fresh concepts, even after fourteen books in the series. However, there is something that has been bugging me for some time. I feel that The Time Bubble series has become too long. Before everyone gasps in horror, in fear that I'm not going to write any more, don't panic! (as fans of The Hitchhiker's Guide might say). No, what I mean is that I feel having fourteen books in one long series makes it rather unwieldy. It leads to a situation where I can write one of my best works, like Gone to the Rapture, yet it'...

 Every store you shop in, every product you buy is a brand. The biggest brands are recognisable the world over, from the red and white of Coca Cola to the golden arches of McDonald's. Any professional business needs clear and consistent branding, and books are no different. When I started writing my Time Bubble books in 2014, I had no inkling that seven years later I would have eleven of them on the market. When I started, I had no great marketing plan - I was learning on the job. I realised early on that I needed my covers to match, so I had the hourglass on the first few, but over time, I deviated away from that. There was nothing wrong with my old covers - they served their purpose, but I realised over the past year that I needed to upgrade them. Some of them were looking a little tired, and dare I say, even a little gloomy, so I got together with my cover artist and we came up with a plan to relaunch the range with a bright, shiny new selection of colours. My idea was straightf...

During this whole self-publishing process I've done a lot of soul-searching about what is the best way to go. The traditional route, finding a publisher in the UK and getting things done locally. Or the global approach, via the giant of Amazon - which love them or hate them, are here to stay. I chose the second route. I would liked to have done a mix of the two, but it just didn't make sense for me. There are many reasons for this - but ultimately it came down to what was best for me as a writer and how I envisage the marketplace going in the future. Let's backtrack a little here and look at some other markets. I've talked many times on this blog about the relentless march of progress and how one must adapt or die. In a blog post I wrote back in September 2011 entitled  Weighty Matters  I picked out five retail chains I felt would find themselves in trouble over the next couple of years. Of those five, four have either bit the dust or have been, or are in receiver...

So, as they queue outside the doors of the Kindle store in Bicester awaiting the midnight release of The Time Bubble, here on my blog I have secured you an exclusive interview with myself to tell you all about it: Q: So, The Time Bubble. What’s this all about then? A: It’s a story set in a small market town near Oxford about two boys who discover a time portal inside a railway tunnel. Q: That sounds like Bicester? Is it Bicester? A: It’s no more Bicester than Candleford was Bicester in Lark Rise to Candleford. It’s an unnamed town somewhere in the South Midlands on the route of the new HS2 line. There are some scenes set in Oxford, though, which should look good when the movie comes out. Q: So it’s a time travel book then. Hasn't that subject been done to death? A: Well you might think so. But I've come up with a concept that I'm pretty sure has never been done before. Q: What’s that exactly? A: The basic premise is about a bubble in time which people t...

As a new author I found it quite daunting when first venturing into the realm of selling Kindle books. How would I get noticed? How would I get reviews? And many other questions. Coming in as a complete novice with my first book almost a year ago I certainly made a few mistakes. But I've learnt a lot since then, both from experience and reading as much as I could from other writers in the form of blogs, message boards, and simply by talking to them. Quite early on, I realised there were two hurdles to overcome. It was hard to make sales without any reviews. And it's hard to get reviews if no-one has bought your book. It is all very well putting a book on to Amazon and hoping people will buy it, but this is not the equivalent of having it on display in the front window of Waterstones. In fact you have about as much chance of it being spotted as you'd have in Waterstones if they agreed to stock it, took one copy and then hid it behind the cistern in the staff toilets. W...

"The best things in life are free - but you can save them for the birds and bees" So sang "M" on her 1979 hit single. Presumably she was talking about sex here, quite racy for 1979. But to be fair, whoever coined the phrase "There's no such thing as a free lunch" had it right. Let's be honest. Everything has a hidden cost. Since we were talking about sex, I may as well continue on that subject. As this is normally a "family blog" you might have to look away now if you are under, say 15. As you know I like to find mathematical solutions for explaining everything, and sex is no different. To prove my point that sex is not free, you do have to in fact be a parent, it kinds of falls down if you aren't but bear with me. I worked out that you can work out exactly how much sex has cost you if you are a parent, by following this simple formula. The first bit is easy. Write down how many kids you have got. Most people should be able to...

Hi everyone. Well, it appears that my blog has brought me to the attention of the wider world. My friend Jo Jo has been joking with me that I'm now a celeb, well hardly. So how did I come to be on Nick Ferrrari's show this morning on LBC? Well it was indeed down to the blog. A few months ago I wrote a piece entitled DIY Dentistry, about how I took my own tooth out due to being fed up with paying excessive dentist fees and also being about to go on holiday and not want to go with the risk of serious toothache whilst away. Lo and behold, the Express, much maligned by me in the past in this blog, ran a story yesterday about this exact same subject. Researchers for Nick's show googled DIY Dentistry and up popped my blog. They rang me up and the net result was that there I was at 8:30 this morning, telling millions of people across London my tooth removal story. Sadly I did not get a chance to plug my book, but even so, it just goes to show the power of the internet. Jus...

What a beautiful morning and perfect for the children's May Day celebrations. A complete contrast to last year when the entire thing was flooded out and had to be cancelled. It was several weeks before it could take place. The children will be having a procession from the school to the church carrying little posies of flowers. Ollie will be pleased as his are all yellow. This was a great example of recycling, as they were the remainder of a bunch of flowers that I bought for Claire last week for our wedding anniversary which were still OK, so we cut them up and made a little bunch. I think that is alright, isn't it? Well Claire seemed somewhat perturbed that I wanted to cut up her anniversary flowers at first, but as I pointed out they'd be thrown away in another 2 or 3 days anyway. Waste not want not. Besides I couldn't be arsed to go out again last night and buy any more. I'm almost out of cash this week as it is thanks to the chiropractor fees, and £18 for Jami...

Hello all, Been off the radar for a couple of days, as yesterday I had the misfortune to do my back in. I guess it was probably my own fault - not unexpectedly everyone's said about posture and lifting and such like. Fact is - despite not being in the best shape in the world and having had various health issues, up until now I have been OK on the back front. Which is just as well when you consider that I am lugging heavy speakers and such like around for a living. I'm pretty active anyway - running around after the kids, shopping, housework and all the rest of it actually keeps you pretty fit. Yes I can see you Dogger, Dave and others guffawing away thinking about my famous shape and cheese ball and cured meat diet, but really I am not that bad for a man of my age. And how good a shape are any of us meant to be in at 43? There's no professional sportsmen or women still around at that age. OK maybe in more sedentary sports such as golf and such like, you might get the ...