Christmas

So that time of year is amongst us again. Love it or hate it there are serious consequences to this celebration. Do you know that suicide rates go up at Christmas? People suffer more depression at Christmas and this is the time of year that loneliness takes a much more leading role in people's lives. I am lucky to have a family as most of us are, but there are people who through no fault of their own do not have that luxury. Relationship break ups always seem harder to cope with when the neighbours are having fun and when the 'happy' programmes are on TV. Laughter can be heard in the streets from office parties and family get-togethers. The curtains don't block out the loneliness.

Sometimes we need to spare a thought and just keep an eye on the people who are around us all the time who's lives exist side by side with our own but yet we have no interaction with them. It's supposed to be a time for caring and sharing but how many of us actually do?

I will be working, writing, cooking, baking and cleaning, pretty much like I do most weeks

My next book is well under way and hopefully over the festive period I will be able to give it some time and crack on with it. It's around summer time in the book that I am writing at the moment so I will try and enjoy the sun a bit whilst I have the heating on and will be digging out my scarf.

Have a wonderful time people and keep an eye out for the lonely ones.

Keep reading and I'll keep writing.

Andy

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Andrew-Milner/e/B00CDA8MWI/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1417681805&sr=8-1
 

Our futures and fears

If I could go back twenty years I wonder if I would have seen myself in the place where I stand today. My life was going down a straight path there were no corners, no roundabouts, no junctions, just a plain old straight road. It's funny how we come away from that straight road sometimes without planning to. We do however we find a way, whether it be through mucky fields or going the wrong way down a one-way street we will come back onto the road to our future. It is maybe not the same one as before, but it's a road going generally in the right direction.

My third book Card School has now been released and as I approach my next project I imagine where I want to be in the future. I want to be happy and successful, don't we all? I enjoy writing books in the knowledge that people read them; that people will read about my characters and get to know them and that the things that happen in my books will be understood and accepted.

A boarding school is not always the first choice for parents or children but Michael Dawson did not have the luxury of choice. At ten years of age he had to deal with the loss of both parents who had been abroad on a church mission. He never had the chance to say goodbye only see you later. He believed when they went, they would return, but they didn't. Not only having to contend with the biggest loss known to a child he was thrust into the full time guardianship of his uncaring Auntie who he had been staying with but only until his parents came back. Now they were not coming back his future had to be decided. Learning that he can only trust himself, and faced with a dark secret in the boarding school where he is placed, he sets out to unravel the answers and find questions to fit. He has no intention of getting too close but ends up being in the direct firing line. When all hope is lost, the person he expects least of all to be there comes to the rescue, but is it all too little too late?.

Michael is a ten year old boy who loses his parents in a car accident whilst they are abroad. He didn't say goodbye, he thought he would see them again so said "see you later." All too often people are taken from us without a chance for us to say goodbye. We should remember this when we fall out with people over silly things and remember - Never go to bed on an argument.

So as people read my new book CARD SCHOOL I will be writing my next book safe in the knowledge that soon my characters will be alive in someone's living room.

I'll keep writing if you keep reading.

http://www.andrewmilnerbooks.com

 

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Card-School-Andrew-Milner/dp/1326022989/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416475735&sr=8-1&keywords=card+school+andrew+milner

Fact Or Fiction, It's All The Same, Isn't It?

Sometimes real life and fiction are not that far apart. When I write about a character I get to know them, they become a real person with thoughts and feelings and interact with the other characters. They live, they feel, they work, they have success and failures and on top of all of those they suffer hurt.

 I am the person that inflicts that hurt on them. I am their creator. I give them the thoughts, memories, things to say and do, I like the characters that I create and I want you to like them too.

 When my characters get hurt, whether it is physical or emotional hurt, it is me that inflicts that hurt on them. I do it without a thought and there's no come back. They just accept their fate and get on with it. Sometimes by the end of the book the pain has been forgotten and they come out on top.

 In real life, we inflict hurt on each other and sometimes it's not intentional. We have things to say which may come out wrong.

Even if it is you who hurts someone else you still experience some sort of hurt yet your feelings are not considered because we tend to sympathise more with the victim.

Usually we hit out at others because we are hurting ourselves, maybe in a different way but hurting all the same. 

 
I try and analyse people the same way that I do with my characters because I spend a lot of time with them. I also put myself in the spotlight a bit too often and analyse myself way too much under interrogation. A nice quiet and peaceful life seems so easy to achieve, yet we have the ability to destroy others people's feelings all too easily.

 My aim when I write a book is to give enjoyment, to draw people close and share my thoughts with them and for them to spend a part of their life in my world. I don't put myself on a pedestal by any stretch nor do I compare myself with God in any shape, way or form, but I am a creator. I give life and I take it away. I make people happy and sad, I hurt people and I heal them. In real life I am a mere person living in the world created by a far better author than I am.

Come and share my thoughts and live with them for a short time.

Keep reading and I will keep writing.

http://www.andrewmilnerbooks.com

 

JUST DOING MY BEST

Where to take my ideas is the question asked by me. I sometimes find it hard to think of myself as a writer as I just think of myself as me. I don't particularly think I'm clever and I don't particularly think I have a talent. I like to tell a story and I like those stories to come from my own imagination. I love it when people say they like reading them and I try to take on board any criticism offered. Authors say that you should write a book for the reader and not for yourself which I find hard because you might not want to read the stuff that I want to and vice-versa, however I hope we like the same stuff as I want to please and satisfy the people who read my books.

I have started to do something today never attempted before. I have started writing a script of A FAR REACHING DREAM. I believe that this along with its sequel would make a really good TV drama (yes I know I am biased therefore maybe my opinion probably doesn't count) and the people at the TV companies won't read a book and say "Yeh it's good," however they will read a script. This is my mission alongside writing my next book. No pressure then. !!

Anyway enough ramblings, my third book will hopefully be out in October for which the title will be revealed shortly, and I hope that it is good enough for you the reader as I know you like a good read.

I hope one day that you will watch a good TV drama and say, "I have read the book."

Keep on reading and I'll keep on writing.

http://www.andrewmilnerbooks.com

Andy

Getting into character

I am half way through editing my third book which will be out in about eight weeks hopefully but my attention has already been diverted to the next one. It's funny how your thoughts change when you take on a new character. Firstly in A FAR REACHING DREAM my main character Kate Arlen was a mid-20s business minded woman, intelligent and strong yet maybe a bit insecure when it came to love. Maybe this is what drove her to the arms of her boyfriend's brother and her best friend. I'll let you make your own mind up on that.

In THE HIDDEN PATH HOME which is a sequel to A Far Reaching Dream, the main character is Pete PHILLIPS. Fresh from a trip which he never expected to come back from he has to start rebuilding his life from scratch. At first he is a private person not sharing his free time with anyone until he meets Sam who replaces the love that he lost. Fairly quickly he falls in love and has a future, yet the past holds him back.

In book three who's title will be revealed shortly,  the main character is a child, thrust onto an uncaring family member. Scared and alone and he is thrown into an uncaring world where he can only rely on himself.

And now, I am having a complete change of everything and my brain and my writing imagination have already taken on another dimension. It's hard of course I won't pretend it's not, but I am really excited about the challenge that I have set myself for my next project. I will look forward to keeping my blog updated with the trials and tribulations that I will no doubt face on this journey.

I'll keep writing if you keep reading and together we'll make a dream team.

http://www.andrewmilnerbooks.com

 

 

How it all started.

During my youth I always made up stories.. I was going to be a famous rock star and I would write newspaper articles about myself and the world of rock and roll in which I lived. The actresses that I would date and the relationships I would have. I was in a few rock bands in my youth playing guitar and doing vocals, never as good as I maybe thought but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Once my kids started to come along I didn't have time for it and hung up my guitar and stopped writing songs. I remember one night sat at the computer and I started typing away.

It looked as though she was looking straight at him through the mirror, but that couldn’t be possible although it didn’t stop him moving out of the way. He felt uneasy, spooked almost and had slightly moved to one side. He watched her as she brushed her hair. She had had the same bedtime routine since he had met her. He remembered the very first night that he had slept at her house and how he had waited for her to finish her bedtime beauty treatments before she even thought about getting into bed. - (A Far Reaching Dream by Andrew Milner published January 2013)

I had no idea what I was doing or where the story was going but I typed the words that came into my head as though someone was dictating to me. Many months later I had a story before me. I read it, changed it, let a few friends read it and put it away in a drawer. Years later I found it after several house moves and I read it again. I enjoyed it and was slightly surprised that I had written it thinking that someone like me could not write a book.

I always loved English at school and my teacher Mrs. Lees for some reason made a huge impact on me and that is where my love of story writing came from. I would love for her to read a copy of my books now as I  give her a lot of credit for giving me the interest.

They say that everyone has a book in them somewhere, maybe I'm lucky (or greedy), I've had three with no.4 just finished and in the process of editing.

I love writing and take great joy from people enjoying my books and the worlds created in my mind. Long may it continue.

If you keep reading, I'll keep writing.

Andy

http://www.andrewmilnerbooks.com

 

 

 

 

PEOPLE

A funny title you may think and I agree it is. We are all people of one kind or another and we all like different things, we do different things and we react differently to all sorts of things. We have different memories and we even remember differently the events that we have shared with other people. We see things differently and describe things differently, yet we are all people. Surely, there are only so many things that you can do with 2 eyes, 2 ears a nose and a mouth and yet we all look different.

Recently I have been thinking about why we meet people and what impact they have on our lives. I am a big believer in 'things happen for a reason' and 'people come into our lives for a particular reason' and it may not always be the reason that we think.
I believe the answers are sometimes not obvious or even that we don't have them but we have to trust our instincts because without a book to guide us through life our instincts are all we have. We know what is best for us personally. A certain person may come into your life, mix it all up and go, leaving you wondering what the hell happened there.? Maybe one day the answer will become apparent, but stop looking for it, it will make itself known if we are meant to know. Dust yourself off, give the instincts a clean and set off again.

Life is like writing a book, you start with a blank piece of paper. You decide what you want and where you want to go and with whom you will do these things. Speaking from experience of writing my books, you quite happily carry on writing away building up your book which has become your life and then suddenly something is not right. This is the point that you must deal with it, because if you carry on thinking you will eventually get back on track you may not. If it isn't right. Stop and change it. This is your instinct telling you it is not right.

Characters come and go in my books and if they no longer serve a purpose it is time to get rid but they have played a part in the book getting to where it is going and the same thing applies in our lives. When someone leaves your life, they have played their part in getting you to where you are, whether a good place or bad, but it all makes you the person you have become. The characters in the books alive or dead have all played some part in the end of the book.

The people who are in your life right now, are meant to be there.

Keep reading - Andy

http://www.andrewmilnerbooks.com

Keep going

I have been thinking recently, just who do I write books for and Why.? I have to confess I do enjoy writing. I like turning ideas in my head into journeys on paper that people read. However, would I continue to write if nobody read my books?. I suppose I probably would yes. In the same way that someone writes a diary, I feel the need to write my stories. It's almost like a compulsion to do it. I would stop short of calling it an addiction because I don't have to do it all the time but I can't leave it too long. I can't tell you how proud I feel of my work when someone enjoys it, and not just the polite 'yeh it's really good' I mean the one that you can tell really likes it as they discuss it with you. When I wrote my first book A FAR REACHING DREAM, I wrote it for myself. I had finished writing songs for the bands that I had been part of and needed some sort of stimulation to keep the juices flowing, so the answer to the question in that case is I wrote the first book for myself. The second one THE HIDDEN PATH HOME was written due to a lady called Carol who said you should write the next bit for A FAR REACHING DREAM so that was written for the reader. Now that I have other books in the pipeline I think I write for me as much as the reader because I enjoy it. The whole concept of my mind coming to a page which the reader then takes into their mind...It's fascinating. I love it. But I love the people more who take the time to read my books and actually part with their money in order to do so...That is the biggest compliment of all for which I am eternally grateful. Thankyou http://www.andrewmilnerbooks.com

Soldier on and keep smiling

Well there's me thinking the hardest part of writing a book is thinking of the title. Well actually it is, however my third book is proving to be something of a challenge too.
When I started out I had a rough chapter guide of what I wanted to happen and a few character ideas then I started writing. And I continued writing. Last week I looked at the chapter outline which looks nothing like the draft of the book. I will have to reign myself in and try and mould the two together. It's hard though because what you want to happen and the place where the characters and the book take you are very different, but I guess rather than just writing, I should listen too.
I will in due time announce the title of the book, but I gotta have some secrets guys !!!!

Perspective

We all seem to get bogged down in things, things which sometimes in the grand scheme aren't that important. We have aches and pains and headaches and general feelings of being unwell, coughs, colds and can't be bothered syndrome. I get annoyed when I experience one of my many writing blocks and figuratively speaking bang my head against a brick wall. How much worse must it be for the real poorly people, the ones who have awful things to live with, conditions that cannot be controlled, diseases that spread and ultimately kill but all things that affect their day to day lives and stop them doing what I take for granted.

As I continue to write another chapter of my third book and bash my head against the metaphorical wall when things don't flow, I remind myself, it can always be worse. I have my health and my brain works perfectly normal (in most cases), and I work full time, I have my house and my kids. Count the blessings time I think...

Anyway, back to my writing... think on people !!

Broadening my horizons

I have ventured into unknown territory recently by writing my first children's book. I will not give the title out yet or the subject but it has started its journey to the agent so my fingers are crossed on this. I think writing for children is harder than writing for adults due to the lower range of vocabulary that is available to you and people who know me will confirm that my adult vocabulary isn't all that varied lol... I have been told by a friend who knows more about children's books than I do ( I've only had a couple of kids, she has 30 every day) that it is good so I hope that she is right on this one. I will no doubt include any response from the agent in a future blog so will keep you updated. Meanwhile, if you're bored, have a read of my website lol.
www.andrewmilnerbooks.com

I'm only the writer !!

How strange it is that a book has it's own ideas. When I started planning my third book, I jotted down a few notes added a few ideas and thought of a character or two. 

The book as I write it is taking me to places I didn't want it to go and as hard as I have tried to steer it in the way I want it to go I am losing. I have now decided to let it take me... Oh dear, anything could happen !!!

Few weeks in

Well it's been a couple of weeks since THE HIDDEN PATH HOME became available. Early reviews seem good. Although I have only had two books published, it's always a bit of an anti-climax once the book is finished, edited and published as there is an empty space where the book was in your head. The hard reality is then what to do next. The thought of writing another book fills me with dread as it means you have to go back to thinking of an idea and then start adding the outer layers to build up the story before creating the inner layers which becomes the substance and the pull to the reader. However writing books is what writers do and the process has started again. I am now working on my third book which is not connected in any way to the first two other than having the same person at the head of the creative process...That is me obviously lol... And so the circle starts again....!!!

THE HIDDEN PATH HOME - Available

Finally my second book is out there on the market which I'm extremely happy about. This is a sequel to A FAR REACHING DREAM. Initially I wasn't going to do a sequel because it limits people who will buy it to the ones who read the first one, however I have to confess, I'm glad that I did.
It is available on Amazon along with A FAR REACHING DREAM. Think you need to read the first one though first !!

THOUGHTS OF HOW TO PROCEED

Sometimes it's a fine line between what I want as an author and what I believe people want to read. I try and let the book lead me as I think it seems more natural and less forced that way. There is a natural direction for a story but the characters also have their own take on it. The author is like a director of a film. Try to see it from all angles and decide on the best one.
My third book is under way and I'm hearing voices already. Lol.

THE HIDDEN PATH HOME

A few copies have been sold and it's a nice feeling to know people are reading the words that came from my head, although slightly worrying too as people will realise what actually goes on in my head.

www.andrewmilnerbooks.com

All new

I've not done a blog before so I have no idea where this will go. Think this is what is called learning on the job. I wrote a book a while ago called 'A Far Reaching Dream' which was published last year. I have now finished the sequel called 'The Hidden Path Home' which will be out soon. This blog will be about my writing.

A Far Reaching Dream

A Far Reaching Dream was published January 2013. It is available on amazon, lulu.com and www.andrewmilnerbooks.com.

Kate Arlen is a beautiful young woman who has the whole of her life before her. She had been with her boyfriend for a number of years but tragically he, Pete Phillips, died in a car accident on the same night that Kate had confessed a secret to him. Kate tries hard to get on with her life but is held back because after a period of time Pete finds a way to enter her dreams, and it's whilst in one of her dreams she realises that Pete is trying to kill her, or so she thinks. Through another dream she finds out a family secret, something that comes back to help her later. Kate starts to find life a struggle and goes to see her Doctor. He recommends that she go to stay in a psychiatric hospital for a while just 'to rest'. It is whilst staying in the hospital that she meets someone who, unbeknown to her, helps unravel all the answers. One of the answers she finds through the family secret, but it's not that easy. There's still time for things to go wrong.