The Secret Lives of Bicycles

What if bicycles had lives like ours? They went to work, fell in (and out) of love, had a role within society; carried expectations, hopes and fears.
Together humans and bicycles have existed side by side and yet we are ignorant of each other. That is, until now…until this book.
The bicycles of Denmark are so much more than two wheels and a pair of handlebars. Discover the hidden truth: the secret lives of bicycles.

Amazon USA
Amazon UK

Two amazing competitions on now!

Drawing Competition: Draw a Super Spud


If you fancy a chance to win a $30 Amazon Kindle gift card prize and a signed copy of The Super Spud Trilogy, then all you have to do is enter this drawing competition.  The task: draw a Super Spud!

A Super Spud is a magical crisp packet with arms, legs and facial features.  Each flavour has a different coloured package and the flavour name is included on the packet.  You can choose to draw any flavour from the book, examples include: steak and spinach, salt and vinegar, ready salted, strawberry and cream, lemon and vanilla, blueberry and menthol mint - or perhaps a new flavour of your own!  

Literary Competition: New flavour suggestion


Prizes:  1)  a signed copy of The Super Spud Trilogy
              2) The winning flavour personality will be included as a CAMEO in the next Super Spud   book!

As you know, the personality of the Super Spud is determined by their flavour.  For this competition, I'm looking for a new flavour suggestion and what their associated personality would be.  The flavour can be anything but the personality must have some logical link back to the chemical properties/name of that flavour.  For example, in the stories steak and spinach flavour are high iron foods so the Super Spud is strong and tough, while tuna is known to have healthy omega-3 'brainfood' so these Super Spuds become very smart.

These are the flavours already used (that I can remember): ready salted, salt and vinegar, lemon and vanilla, strawberry and cream, steak and spinach, garlic, blueberry, blackcurrant, menthol mint, Caesar salad, pizza margherita, smokey bacon and spinach, king crab, king prawn, green peas.

How to enter:

This competition is hosted in collaboration with super awesome blogger Katherine on her blog:
http://beyondthehourglassbridge.blogspot.com.au/

So just head over there to enter! 

This competition will close 22nd October.

Competitions coming this week!

I'm very excited to announce that there will be two competitions launching this week both with great prizes. 

For the artists out there, whoever draws the best Super Spud will get a chance to win a $30 Amazon Kindle gift card voucher and a signed copy of The Super Spud Trilogy.

For all aspiring writers, think of a new Super Spud flavour and associated personality for a chance to win a signed copy of The Super Spud Trilogy, a critique of your work and have your flavour creation included in The Super Spuds: Book 4 due out later this year.

This competition will be hosted via Katherine's blog: http://beyondthehourglassbridge.blogspot.com.au/

There will be full entrance details once the competition is live - watch this space!

The Unknown Man

Something a bit different from the Super Spuds today.  I wrote this little story yesterday based on a hitch-hiker I saw one day in the desert. 

The Unknown Man

Hour after hour, he waited in the sun - a lone figure by the edge of the endless blacktop.  His black veil sheltered his face from the unforgiving desert sun, but there was no escape from the rising temperature: A relentless 40 degrees by 9 a.m., which quickly drained his vital bodily fluids and moral.  Kneeling, the man stared intently at the road, watching – praying – for a car to come to his aid.  After one hour, a car approached, its outline punching through the shimmering heat radiating off the tarmac, and the man stood up and stuck out his hand.  The car did not stop.  The man kept his faith and resumed kneeling, turning his body to keep the sun on his back and the wind on his face.  He had no water with him, and there was no water within a hundred miles.  At noon, the wind ceased to blow and the punishing heat began to take effect.  His lips started to crack, his mouth stopped producing saliva and his head was like a drum pounding to the beat of a slow rhythm.  

He strained his eyes to scope the surrounding area for shade, but only the unwelcoming sight of flat gravel plains rewarded his effort.  There was no vegetation in this particular location: the environment only existed to take away life, not sustain it.  It was at this moment the man began to realize that he may not survive for much longer.  The heat would take his body and the desert would take his soul.  When the next car came – if one came at all – he would walk into the road and force the car to stop, rather than rely on the generosity of a travelling stranger.  The man reflected on what the mind of the driver who failed to stop was thinking.  If I were the driver, would I have stopped?  The man smiled to himself, he would have done the same and kept on driving, it was easier – and safer – to assume the next car along would stop and help.  Leave it for someone else. 

As the sun began to set, its brightness dimmed enough to allow the man to stare at it.  It would be beautiful, the man thought, if it was not for the fact it was going to rise tomorrow and condemn him to his death.  The sun seemed to laugh at him as it disappeared below the horizon, resolute in its confidence as the ultimate giver – and taker – of life on Earth.    The wind continued to blow, pushing the sand grains against their will onwards and away.  The man stretched his legs out and drifted in and out of sleep – the severe dehydration taking its toll on the strength of his body.  It was now midnight, the unbearable heat of the day now long gone.  The ground gave up its warmth and the empty space consumed it greedily.  The contrast between day and night in the desert was stark and cruel in its conflicting nature.  The man almost wished for the sun to come back soon and warm his body again.   He knew once it did though – and it would – he would be wishing for the cold again.  The dark of the night only confirmed his loneliness: there were no car lights approaching and only the stars kept him company tonight.

International giveaway ends tomorrow so be sure to check out Goodreads to enter! 

Self-critique

I’m very grateful to all the bloggers I have contacted for their honest reviews.  Everyone has been very professional and their passion for books and their blog sites is very admirable.  I’d also like to thank the people who have won a copy of my book through a giveaway for reviewing it as well.  Just as a warning, this self-critique contains some spoilers about what happens in The Super Spud Trilogy.

Negatives :(

• I need to work on character development.  I always planned to have many characters in the book, and due to their vulnerable nature, some of them couldn’t last long.  I couldn’t make them seem invincible when the magic rules are so strict.  However, I should have realized that even with a book like mine, readers like to feel attached to a character so I probably should have kept Colin alive longer and focused a bit more on dialogue.  Colin's adventure probably is too short and I should have taken some chapters from Cougar's adventure.  Book four certainly addresses this issue and sees core characters which feature throughout the book.  Readers have also said they had trouble keeping up with the number of characters.  Paperback readers have commented that the obituary was helpful, but e-readers don’t have this ease of access to quickly flip back and forth.  So I do emphasize with any readers who may have had trouble.

• Level of violence.  In hindsight, I probably should have toned down the level of violence.  Although a lot of it is comic in nature, the use of thumbtacks, hedgehogs etc… I probably didn’t need to be so gory in my descriptions.  I didn’t want this to be a kid’s book, however, due to the references, cynical humour and my general style of writing.  I also wanted to make the evil Super Spuds as evil as possible, as evil is a strong word, so they had to be super mean.  I don’t think a writer should ever force themselves to write something that is not their natural style, but then again, it might be fun to go back and re-write it – or re-edit, at least – for children.  By this I mean no violence, more fun and a stronger sense of good morality (take out the gambling, killing humans, blowing things up…).

• The cover.  I actually liked the cover, with its creased appearance and the ‘guideline amount’ reference to Walker’s crisp packets in the bottom left.  Some people have commented it is too simple and looks like a kid’s book, which may deter potential readers.  Ideally, I’d have liked an illustrated Super Spud to be on the front but I was happy with the design and I have no regrets.  I thought my cover designer did a great job and I’ll see what I can do for the next book.

• Some people have commentated that the book is too predictable in places, which I agree with in parts.  Sometimes it was deliberately predictable, but others parts I could have worked on more.  For example, recruiting and using the generals to save the day most of the time.  But, I also had feedback that a reader never knows what is coming next, like a falling satellite blowing up a postal train.  I’ve tried to create my plots more diverse and unpredictable for book four, so we’ll see.

Right, that’s enough dissing my own book for one day!   My marketing manager will probably give me a slap on the wrist.  The reader is the number one priority though, not me, and I’ll always welcome any feedback to enable me to create a better and more enjoyable story for my audience.   Overall though the feedback has been positive, with many great four and five star reviews and it's very rewarding knowing someone has read and enjoyed your work.

Also, I will have another international giveaway on Goodreads from September 15^th to October 3^rd, so please feel free to enter for a chance to win.  Coming very soon I will also be hosting two competitions, one for the best drawn Super Spud and one for best new flavour idea.  There will be great prizes for both competitions.

The Super Spuds: Book 4

Happy summer holidays everybody!

I’ve been busy the last six weeks writing another set of Super Spud adventures and now they are finished (it still needs editing, though).  This new adventure revolves primarily around four Super Spuds: King Martin, G-Boa, Kate and General Nectarine.  

                The evil Super Spuds have all disappeared and life is great for the rest of the Super Spud world.  Their technology is advancing rapidly and their cities are safer than ever, but everything changes after a mysterious fog enshrouds the city of Mt Pleasant and its inhabitants disappear.  A new threat faces the Super Spuds and the only way to stop it is for King Martin to enlist the help of the sea salt flavours and boldly go where he has never been before:  the sea.  

I had a lot of fun writing book four.  I’ve learned a lot from the feedback from The Super Spud Trilogy, and although this new book is still packed full of wacky humour, there are less characters than in the first three books.  I hope readers will enjoy it just as much – and hopefully more – as the three previous ones.  The book starts out with King Martin journeying to China to rescue G-Boa.  After that it sees them going to Mt Hollyspud in America, meeting the U.S. President and even flying aboard Air Spud One.  New flavours in this book include the salmon flavours (very smart), mixed grill and spinach flavours, and cheeseburger flavours.  I’ll be working on the book cover design and hopefully getting it animated; I’d love for someone to draw me some Super Spuds because I cannot draw to save my life…  

I’ve got another international giveaway up on Goodreads so please feel free to enter for a chance to win a copy.  

Thanks everyone and have a nice day!