Engine Punk

Where have all the good reads gone? More books are being published than ever before but it seems more difficult for me to find books I really like. It's old conundrum - I want something original but a bit like something else, an imitation of The Hobbitt or Terry Pratchett. (Yeah, I know Terry Pratchett's an imitator but in a good way with real jokes.) As a writer I am also a reader and at risk of sounding arrogant it was the lack of something worthy of my attention that often motivated to write my own stories. Nowadays it's so rare to read something original that you discover by accident and then come to re-visit. It's hard enough to find something when your looking for it. Occasionally, I've found something brilliant without really trying like The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, as translated brilliantly by Lucia Graves. That's the problem with reading. How do we find something we like without searching for ages and ultimately giving up? ...

The self–publishing seminar at Falmouth Maritime Museum on went very well. It was organised by Paul Sullivan, Business Fellow Professional Writing at University college Falmouth , and Andy Thatcher of The Writing Centre, an online Cornish writing community. We met up beforehand at the café tables outside The Shed on the plaza opposite the museum I was introduced to my fellow self–publishers Michael Moore and Paul Newman and two representatives from Lulu, Lucie Pereira and Sophie Bond. In the pre–event discussion it was clear how extensive the self–publishing revolution is becoming. Lucie had even organised a get together in Falmouth for the following night where self–publishing writers could meet up, share best practice and network. The numbers of self–publishing writers in Cornwall are well into double figures and that is just with Lulu. Add those who have already self–published and the fifty or so people in the audience that night and it all points to a huge grass roots mo...