The anthology is done

So It's finally here. I managed to get my anthology into a kindle format that works and doesn't leave too many orphaned lines. This was a lot more difficult than with the novel but hopefully I've succeeded. I'm really excited about publishing the anthology. It is me warts and all and I hope it will be enjoyable and thought provoking.

Below is another sample from the collection. Now I just have to get the paperback ready. Well that's the rest of the bank holiday sorted.

The beauty that dazzles

 

The beauty that dazzles, beholders

and draws them all into the light.

Will fade as the evening approaches,

and dusk brings on cold winter's night.

The perfectly nurtured, strong features.

Will all only last, for so long

and with the dawn of new morning.

Her sparkle and shine will be gone.

For the beauty she has, runs no deeper,

and under her skin it's not there.

If you look past the eyes of deep water.

The weakness is there, in her stare.

For true beauty and strength aren't created,

by make-up or hours at the gym.

The look and the shape that's most treasured,

can only be found, deep within.

 

So with My poetry book almost ready for publication I thought I would post another sample to wet the appetite 

 Wrap my heart in cotton wool.

   Wrap my heart in cotton wool.

   Protect it from a crashing fall.

   Pad it heavily with doubt,

   To stop the love from spilling out.

   Slow it's beating to a crawl,

   So I can't feel the hurt at all.

   The butterfly’s that inside dwell,

   Their fluttering please try to quell.

   For every time I hear you speak,

   My legs and heart and brain go weak.

   Then the pain each time they break

   Is more than just one man can take.

   For love is love but heartbreak stay,

   no passing years can take away,

   The sense of loss when I'm alone.

   And I can't call you on the phone.

   So wrap my heart in woolen fleece

   To offer softness warmth and peace.

Greetings Cards with attitude

Its all getting very close now.

 

Greetings cards with attitude is almost ready to publish.

I've selected the 80 plus poems and by this weekend I should have it nice and ship shape.

Its actually been an interesting exercise. After the formatting of my novel Prisoners families dolls and judgements back in October I thought it would be quite straight forward but I wasn't allowing for the thorny issue of Orphaned lines which is the inevitable consequence of Poetry.

 

Anyway I've got to crack on but just wanted to give you a little taster of the type of things I write with a poem from the People and places section. It is simply called: The Careless Potter and I will try to rotate other samples on my website below

 

http://www.sbmann.webspace.virginmedia.com/    

 

The Careless Potter

Rough cut clay, unshaped by man,

Waits in a slab, for turntable to turn.

The pedal depresses and your world,

takes a spin.

I should not have tried to, shape you.

The clean lines of, the wires cut.

Lost against fingers, and roughness of touch.

Ideas lacking, in true style or,

jurisdiction.

I should not have tried to, shape you

Beauty one moment, was sitting right there.

Its simplicity, clearly defined.

Then a palm placed, to harshly,

without any care.

I should not have tried to shape you.

The fight to, reclaim you now lost

The clay far to weary, all freshness had gone

I should have just watched while you,

So gently spun.

But I had to try and shape you.

So spin now and never slow down

Spin till the right hands, come passing your way.

Hands will surround and your,

form will appear.

But don’t ever let them shape you.

my favourite review

4.0 out of 5 stars PFDJ's - impressive debut from SB Mann, January 29, 2014 By Jeff Perkins - See all my reviews Amazon Verified Purchase This review is from: Prisoners,Families,Dolls and Judgements (Paperback) This is the debut novel from SB Mann and lets hope there's more to come. The story is intriguing and uncomfortable at the same time. Be prepared to love some of the characters and despise others. Either way you'll be moved to have an opinion and that's surely all we want from a new writer? I read this book in two sittings and had more people ask me about it than anything else I've read in the last year. As a debut novel, I would challenge you to find a more original piece of writing.

Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award

Here Is the first draft of my pitch for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel award. “Prisoners, Families, Dolls and Judgements” is one man’s search for Judgement, beyond that offered by a court, a judge or popular opinion. Holding her breath and a pink photo album, Katy placed her hat on her head and just jumped, whilst her dad lay on the ground and blankly stared up at his daughter’s increasingly frustrated expression. In the exercise yard at HMP Cirencester, Solomon frantically paced around searching for his friend Graham, who all the time lay peacefully in his cell, entangled in the torn up green bed sheets. Graham knew that he has done wrong, accepting this from almost the moment it happened, but just how much damaged did he really do and were others not also in some way partly responsible? Solomon’s book about the dolls had offered the opportunity to find out, but even now as he lay breathless in his smoke filled cell, he didn’t know what this knowledge had actually achieved or if his actions recently had made it all worse. Maybe he would find out soon. Caroline avoided all the anger, confusion and despair in the way she had always done, by not moving or offering any opinion whatsoever. At least on this occasion she had an excuse, although it could be argued that yet again she had taken the easy option. One of the early reviewers of Prisoners, families, dolls and judgements summed up well what I was trying to achieve. “The story is intriguing and uncomfortable at the same time. Be prepared to love some of the characters and despise others. Either way you'll be moved to have an opinion and that's surely all we want from a new writer? As a debut novel, I would challenge you to find a more original piece of writing.” Any comments or thoughts gratefully received

Interview with Me

Interview with the author

Q I know that this is your first published novel but have you written anything that hasn't been published previously?

A this is actually my third attempt at writing a novel but the first I have successfully completed.

Q what happened to the first two?

A in short I didn't finish them.

Q why what happened?

A there were two different reasons really. The first book one misplaced word was a bit too complicated for the skills that I had at the time. It was all about perception and I was trying to give make the reader question some of their own thought processes. With a big game changer at the end. If I can explain by reminding people of what they thought at the end of the sixth sense then without spoiling, I wanted to similarly say " I never said that, you just thought I did" added to that as with prisoners I had a parallel story. In the end it all got a bit preachy. I like the idea of challenging perceptions and I have tried to bring some of those themes into this novel, but they are I hope a bit subtler.

Q so what happened to the second book?

A that was actually the complete opposite. I started it with the intention of learning skills to help me go back to project one better prepared. It was a nice simple quest called "take one pass it on" , straight forward; not too many complication, a to b, with a kind of love story thrown in. The trouble was half way through I realised I was pretty bored writing it. I certainly didn't love it or feel attached to it. It was just something I was doing. It wasn't that it was terrible or anything and the characters certainly took on their own identity. So one day I just stopped, put it in a drawer and prisoners was born.

Q so why do you think you finished this and not the previous attempts?

A I guess it was just that the story grabbed me. It was a happy medium with enough complexity to keep me interested but simple enough to avoid getting lost. I hope that the readers will find this works for them as well . The fact that my beta readers finished it so quickly gave me confidence that it worked. Ironically "take one pass it on" and "prisonersfdj" were supposed to help me revisit "one miss place word" but I think the reverse happened. My first two attempts actually helped me with the third. I learnt so much about the whole process; from research, through characterisation, plot and generally organising my thought processes. So that when it came down to the writing of "prisonersfdj" I finished it in virtually no time at all . Everything was so clear and the bits that weren't just came as I started to write. The most important piece of information that I think I have ever read on the subject said "just write" don't get hung up on getting it perfect but keep a momentum and a flow. I'm not sure I could write anything that took years, if I was reading a book and it was taking me that long I would suggest quite rightly that it hadn't captivated my imagination. I don't see why writing should be any more I will post the second half of the interview tomorrow

I'm such a wimp

It should be easy to promote something you believe in; shouldn't it. You just print out some flyers and hand them out, what can be so hard about that. Argh but I'm clever I am only going to target Kindle readers or at least this weekend I am. So you just go up to them on the tube or the train and say

"sorry to interrupt. I dont know what sort of thing that you normally read, but my novel is available for free this weekend, you might be interested to have a look"

then you hand them one of your well designed postcards and move on to the next. Easy peasey , lemon squeasey. Yeah right. In two nights of commuting I have handed out precisely 1 card and approached one other person who politely declined my postcard. Somehow the targeting thing just makes it all a little too personal, which of course it is. I have chosen you, specifically you now I feel self conscious. if I just stood at the entrance and handed out a card to everybody maybe it would be easier. I would be expecting that a lot of people would say no thanks or just ignore my out stretched hand of literary enlightenment, but when I try to target people the possibility of rejection becomes more of a personal judgement on my decision making.

"You thought I might like your book , why would I do that; its rubbish, you're rubbish, I hate you, now leave me alone creepy man."

Ironically 10 years ago I sold accident insurance door to door, cold calling. Rejection became part of the game and you got used to it, well actually I never got used to it, but I did it anyway. I believed in the product that I was selling but on the other hand I didn't really care if other people didn't, it was no skin off my nose. This whole novel writing thing has become intensely personal. I want people to like it . I want people to like me. If they don't like the book which I have put so much of myself into then perhaps they don't like me either. In the words of Bill Shankly

"its not a matter of life and death , its more important than that"

Well to me it is. Where's the rescue remedy or the Gin