charles barrow's writing

Quarr Abbey on the Isle of Wight. An immense and unusual brick building. A big inspiration for the Abbey where John Mann hides out after his escape from captivity, and where he finally enters the priesthood.

I love this image - The Shining Path by Kit Boyd. There is a sense of adventure and hope ingrained in it. A journey along a moonlit path, a journey into the night certainly, but not a dark night. It's evocative images like this that help me to conjure the world that John Mann walks through. I hope to post some more images that inspire me.

I'm happy to announce that I published The Stolen Days of John Mann on 9th January 2014. It is currently available at Smashwords and Barnes and Noble in an ebook format. Click on the book cover image to the right and you'll be taken to the Smashwords site where you'll be able to download the book in the format of your choice. If you enjoy my story please take a few minutes to leave a review.

I recently migrated from another blog to this one, but I liked some of the posts on that blog because they told the story of my setting out to turn a short story I'd written into an eBook. So I saved them and I've posted them below. They all appeared on my Project eBook blog between Feb - Nov 2013. Onwards and upwards.

I’ve made a decision and I’m going to stick to it. Over the last few months plans for my story have changed many times as I’ve researched how and where I could deliver a finished book. All through the writing process I’ve toyed with the idea of producing my story as a graphic novel. I’ve noticed only today that I head each section of the story with Scene numbers rather than Chapter numbers, a hangover perhaps from my scriptwriting days, or another pointer to the visual way in which I work. I’ve blogged about this previously. My interest in producing it as a graphic novel spiked recently when a friend offered an introduction to an amazing artist friend of his whose work would be a perfect fit with the story and characters. But a graphic novel would require a complete re-write because of the way dialogue and story are presented so I’ve decided against that route for the time being but don’t discount it as an option in the future. Then there is the option of Crowd Funding. ...

I just discovered Smashwords. I don't know how it escaped my notice before, but I've found it now. It looks to be a really good home for self-publishing indie authors. Rather than re-hash their philosophy I recommend you read a Q&A with Smashwords founder Mark Coker  here .  There is also a Smashwords blog  here with plenty of free downloadable resources including A Book Marketing Guide and The Secrets of eBook Publishing Success. Both are full of tips and advice on getting your eBook to Market and getting it noticed. Plenty of research and reading then to keep me busy during the increasingly chilly Autumn evenings.

My Kobo eReader has changed my reading habits. I now download books that I would never have chosen to read previously, my taste has broadened considerably but, here’s the thing, my attention span has narrowed as a result. I don’t finish many of the books I start. Is this because I have a head full of my own work and it’s taking all my processing power? Or is it because I’m acquiring books that I’m really not that interested in? Or is it a natural consequence of having an eReader that holds hundreds of titles so if one doesn’t grab me within 30 minutes of appearing on-screen I simply move onto the next, because I can. I feel bad not finishing a book that someone will have laboured over writing. Time was I’d have forced myself to finish a (print) book no matter how dull I found it, out of either politeness or reverence to the written word, I’m not sure. I suspect that eReaders promote this promiscuity. They encourage the practise of dipping in and out and moving on. Perhaps this...