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 !!!