The New Novel

I've just released my latest novel on Kindle. "Provocation" goes back to my Germany days and concentrates on a Cold War air policing operation. The Berlin Corridors were vital links to West Berlin and always vulnerable. For that reason, three of the four wartime powers got together every year to practice tactics to escort transport aircraft into the (now) German capital city. The fourth power had become the enemy to be protected against.

Hopefully the book gives a feel for the atmosphere of the times. Even though the main events are fictional, many of the sub plots are set in reality.

Here's a short trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKOdg7GvmVg

What Types of Books Do You Read?

I'm a member of an aviation book group on Facebook and one member recently posted the question "what type of books do you like?" It prompted a number of thoughtful responses with some people firmly in the factual camp but others seemingly happy to delve into the fiction. It made me think about my own writing.

My factual books are based on the aircraft I flew and the roles I took on. If I didn't fly it I won't write about it other than in passing. Sometimes this provokes a "sniffy" response amongst the professional writers. That's not to be lazy and avoid researching because writing about aircraft that now, sadly, sit in a museum means I constantly have to top off the memories with pictures and reference material. I pride myself on accuracy and it's a dagger to the heart when I realise I got something wrong. With E books that's easy to correct. With a printed volume it stares at you forever.

My novels are based on fact to the point that I will avoid the dramatic plot line, rather keeping it within the realm of possibility. I want someone to say at the end of the book, I think that could have happened. The settings are places I served in or flew from. The scenes in the cockpit are often based on situations I found myself in. I hope the action sequences are close to reality; or at least how events would have panned out if we had been asked to play for real. The ability to develop a plot line and the characters is fascinating and the intricacies keep me awake at night. I like to call it faction.

I won't change. I don't want to produce volumes of books on topics I know little about. I'll carry on targeting my factual work in areas where I can add to the history. The novels will give the outlet for more lateral thinking.

What books to you enjoy. The answer might not be as simple as you thought.

The Facebook Aviation Enthusiasts Book Group

One of the nice things about writing is that occasionally you stumble across something that gives a real "feel good factor". I'm fortunate enough to have come across a group of Facebook friends who share my lifetime passion for aviation and flying. The Aviation Enthusiasts Book Group is populated by friendly enthusiastic readers who share their thoughts on aviation titles across the genre.

This month is Phantom month on the Group. I'm fortunate to be able to donate a special edition signed copy of my book Phantom In Focus" as a prize for a special competition.

Join up. You may win the prize:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/359410134220076/

Book Reviews - A Siren Call?

I picked up my first negative review of my novel Maverick yesterday, a harsh analysis which earned only 3 stars and used disconcerting terms such as “filler” and “weak”, albeit balanced by a “good but.....” Looking at the reviewer’s other offerings I was in fine company. Similar works in my genre had received equally harsh criticism, although with one notable exception. There were many 3 stars but few 5 stars.

The old gnawing doubt reasserts itself. Maybe this is the true assessment of your work rather than the dozen 5 star reviews it has earned so far. The first reaction of any author is to refute the criticism and to mount a staunch defence of my “baby” but is that appropriate? Of course, the answer is no. A critic is entitled to his or her opinion. They have, after all, spent their hard earned money on the novel and are entitled to express their concerns, comments or emotions. 

Feedback is important to any author, established or aspiring. At the London Book Fair this year, the authors who presented on stage raised the topic of reviews. Even the bestselling authors cited examples of the "One Star Bashing" which spoiled their morning coffee. All commented on the buzz of that 5 star accolade which, of course, was hugely deserved (where is that smiley face when it’s needed?) Online mentors urge authors not to engage in a hostile debate to counter the criticism. Equally, ignoring a review, however unpalatable, is not the right course of action.

Reviews are lifeblood to a writer. Good reviews encourage you to continue writing and to strive for perfection. Good reviews can sell books yet, in their absence, can instil caution in a potential buyer who may not click “buy” or take the book to the checkout. Bad reviews can consign a book to the slush pile and, at the early stage, might prove fatal. To receive a good review from an established expert can be the path to the bestsellers list. Too many bad reviews may be a prelude to oblivion. Let’s say then that reviews are crucial for reader and writer alike.

As a former aviator I learned my trade the hard way. On the Squadron we followed a mission cycle. At the briefing we constructed a plan, briefed the formation on how to neutralise an opponent by employing the best tactics. In the cockpit we tried to execute the plan to perfection, returning to terra firma for tea and medals. Critically, at the debrief we analysed the objectives against successful engagements and tried to extract key learning points. This is a model which also sits well in the literary arena. Not every review will be positive. Even Tom Clancy in his epic Cold War thriller “A Hunt for Red October” failed to achieve a “Straight A”.

So the lesson for me is take in the criticism, adapt if the analysis is fair, redouble your efforts during your own editing process, look for the positives and move on.

Subjects for My Novels

I write aviation stories so choosing a subject is never an issue for me. The only question is where to set the action. Having spent nearly 50% of my time in the Air Force in the cockpit and flown over 3000 hours mostly in "fast-jets", I visited many places and flew in some unusual settings. Each phase of my career exposed me to new scenarios most of which could lead to a book.

My novels feature a fictional pilot and navigator who fly the British version of the F4 Phantom. So far they have helped  a Soviet test pilot defect to the West, tried to prevent a rogue Argentinian pilot from bombing Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands and mounted a mission to release a hostage from the clutches of Hezbollah. In the next book they will be back in West Germany taking part in an operation to maintain the integrity of the Berlin Corridor in a divided Europe.
 
I try to base the novels in fact. The scenes are real. My descriptions of Wildenrath and Stanley airfields are from my own recollections. Many of the flying sequences were real and I experienced the thrills and problems associated with low level training flying. Although the characters are fictional, they are heavily influenced by people I knew. One critic said that the strength of Andy McNab's work is that it is set in fact which makes it more believable. I hope I can go some way to emulating his skill as a storyteller. A submariner once told me that, in reading "A Hunt For Red October" he might have been on the bridge of his own submarine. Realism counts in my books.

I have many places where I served that may yet provide the plot for a new novel. After a tour at Nellis Air Force Base with the close proximity of the so called "Area 51" I'm sure I can dream up a challenge for my fictional crew. The great thing about writing is it's only limited by the imagination. Oh, and the odd year to devote to writing the book.

Defector On Sale

The audiobook is on sale and I've had the first chance to click on the audio sample online and listen. It's still a surreal experience but rewarding that it passed technical scrutiny at the first effort. I hope I didn't miss any major glitches.

Defector Cover

The story is set at RAF Wildenrath in a Cold War West Germany. When a Soviet pilot defects to the West he brings his jet fighter with him setting in train complex efforts to recover the secret prototype. Narrating the story was fun but I now understand and appreciate the skills of the professionals on TV and radio which we often take for granted. I know just how much time to set aside if I decide to follow up with an audiobook version of Maverick or Deception.

My First Audiobook

Well it's daunting but I've finished production of "Defector" as an audiobook and have just heard that it is being prepared to go on sale on Amazon ACX. I had expected some technical feedback on the quality given the challenges.

It's quite a journey and I hope the results are well received. I decided to narrate the story myself. Whilst I don't have the silky smooth voice of a professional actor, I know the story and I know how it sounds in my own head. I hope that will cover for one or two inevitable stumbles over a tricky word. It's extremely time consuming so I may take a break before I tackle my subsequent novels. Maybe a period of reflection until we see how the reviews shape up. In the meantime I'll fight off the urge to get my equity card.

I used Audacity for the recording but invested in a professional microphone. The wonderful irony was that I had many "retakes" due to aircraft flying overhead the village en route to nearby RAF Coningsby. Now if I could just have harnessed those noises at an appropriate moment it might have added to the audiobook. Am I setting a first at editing out jet noise from a book about jet fighters?

I'll apologise in advance for the price but being 11 hours long Amazon sets the price based on listening time.

"Defector". Out soon on ACX.

Audio Sample

LBF 15 Day 3

Another great day at LBF15 and sadly the last one.

Intrigued by the "What agents and publishers are looking for" discussion.

The strong advice was identify your genre and establish your "competing authors" in your genre. I had to reflect that few people write aviation thrillers any more. Bring back "Biggles"!

Is that a Catch 22?

There may be a book title in that.........

Well worth visiting and I'll be marking the dates for next year on my calendar.

LBF 15 Day 2

I spent another great day at The London Book Fair and, as always, picked up so many tips from experts within the industry.

Probably the "take away" was that celebrity sells. The turn out for Conchita Wurst and the final appluase reinforced the message. Sadly that's not a tool in my arsenal. I had to smile at the Chair person who said "How do you follow Conchita?" I bet he won't get to use that line very often.

The importance of book covers, always a source of pride, frustration, discussion and every other emotion known to human kind, re-emerged as a vital tool of the trade. Examples of good and bad covers were discussed and I still failed to get beyond the thought that it's a personal taste. The accolades for one particular cover will remain a mystery for me.

The section on social media was enlightening. As always, new terms and applications emerged from cyberspace, so eloquently described by yound enthusiastic speakers. One successful author admitted that she still only has a smattering of visitors to her blog so I felt reassured and thankful for those of you who take the time to read.

The highlight of Day 3 has already occurred before I step through the doors of Olympia. I logged on to a notice from a FB friend that "Fighters Over The Falklands", my 2nd book, has been reviewed on The Royal Air Force Association's online magazine, Air Mail. Despite all the dire warnings this week about how not to get too depressed when reviews are less than positive, I was relieved and pleased to see a positive write up. If you'd like to read it scroll down to page 39.

http://www.rafashop.com/site/images/AM_68-2-Webversion.pdf

Book reviews are a life blood and it's all the more special given that it's an RAF charity.

LBF 15 Day 1

Some outstanding presentations yesterday at LBF15. Plenty to see but author HQ was my main venue. Sponsored again by Amazon Kindle, it offered a wide variety of topics pertinent to traditional and self publishing alike.

The stand out was probably the chat on book cover design followed closely by a very enthusisatic pitch on marketing and PR. Great to hear from some really successful self publishers selling thousands of books.

More of the same today with an array of interesting topics and trade stalls.

http://www.londonbookfair.co.uk/

London Book Fair 2015

The big week for the literary scene in UK as the London Book Fair 2015 begins at Olympia.

I'm not sure Conchita Wurst's talk on her autobiography is the highest priority on my agenda.

Looking forward to the events at Author HQ

My First Novel

My first book was, actually, “Defector” which became my first novel and I began writing it when I was still flying, although by then I had transferred to the Tornado F3. My motivation was to take the reader into the cockpit to try to convey the atmosphere and experiences in words. An impossible task but one which few ex aircrew try to achieve. There are many factual aviation stories by former aircrew, often pilots, but there is a total lack of a latter-day “Biggles” character. I grew up on his exploits so why should it be too different today? Enthusiasts still flock to airshows and you will see the Spotter community taking photographs at every airfield in the country.

Set at the RAF Germany fighter base at Wildenrath in West Germany and more specifically on “Delta Dispersal” where I served on my second operational squadron, the book follows the fortunes of a Phantom crew who are pitched into the midst of a Cold War incident when a Soviet test pilot decides to defect to the West bringing the latest Su-27 “Flanker” fighter along with him. It would be remiss of me to write about the Cold War without including elements of the shady intelligence community which strive to manipulate events.

In the first chapter I wrote a description of a training sortie over the North German Plain which was typical of the many sorties I had flown. The sights and sounds returned in my mind’s eye as I bashed the keys. The plot and characters subsequently developed from a core of these flying sequences. It took two years to complete the book and with a new manuscript in hand I tried to find an agent or a publisher. After the usual raft of rejections the book simply sat on my hard drive for many years.

With two of my factual books already traditionally published I, eventually, decided to dip a toe in the water and try self-publishing. I dusted off the manuscript which had been languishing on my computer for years and gave it another harsh edit. Armed with a style guide downloaded from the internet I prepared the document for release, and put together a cover. It was a nervous time as I sent the draft for review but quickly received confirmation that it met the technical specification for Kindle. It was a struggle to find an appropriate category which highlighted to me the lack of aviation fiction on the market. Fiction/War/Military is so vague so I opted for the smaller Aviation History category where it joined my first book “Phantom In Focus” for company. Although the category was populated by principally factual works, I felt my novel had enough factual content that  a serious reader would still gain some factual satisfaction having read it. With trepidation I hit publish. The initial reviews were heartening and it sold quite well for a while. After I considered buying editorial support and admitted it openly, I received a couple of indifferent reviews which criticised a number of errors in editing style. Whether this was just coincidence or more sinister might grace the pages of a novel about the publishing world. Determined to eradicate the source of criticism I published an update fixing the minor problems and subsequent reviews were again positive. It proved to me that there are plenty of readers out there who love aeroplanes.

With the book out on Kindle and selling modestly but steadily I released it on other self publishing platforms, Lulu and Smashwords. Sales there were disappointing so I withdrew it to concentrate on Amazon Kindle Select. With the release of my subsequent novels “Defector” has hung in with sales every day.

The book was also the vehicle to try a few other projects. Createspace offers self publishers an outlet for releasing a title in paperback on a print-on-demand basis. Although the formatting requirements are more stringent, the process is similar so I released the book in paperback. Audiobooks are also a growing sector of the publishing market. The challenge of producing an audiobook version is a whole blog discussion in its own right.

For me “Defector” raises issues which I’m sure many authors face. My inspiration was probably Dale Brown with his stories set in the cockpit of a B52 bomber and his vivid descriptions in “Flight of the Old Dog” made the story stand out from the crowd. “Defector” is based on fact and contains a level of detail which many agents or publishers might want to “dumb down” for the commercial market. To do so loses the essence of life in the cockpit. I was first attracted to Tom Clancy because the story was technically accurate. A critic said of Andy McNab that the reason his fiction is so compelling is because it is based in the real world. For that reason, although “Defector” scratched the itch and allowed me to take the reader into the cockpit, my subsequent novels are still full of detail in the flying sequences.

Was self publishing the right move? I would say yes even though the publishing industry is still dismissive of self-published works. I will raise the topic of self marketing later but with limited exposure it is still possible to attract readers starved of aviation tales.

Check out the description of the book on my website. “Defector” is published by DeeGee Media and available on Kindle and in paperback.

Smashwords Interview

My interview on Smashwords:

The Phantom

I was fortunate recently to be reacquainted with two old friends in the form of the cockpit section of XV490, a McDonnell Douglas F4 Phantom FGR2 and the Phantom Mission Simulator both of which are now on display at Newark Air Museum.

XV490 was first delivered into service with No. 54 Squadron Squadron at RAF Coningsby in the ground attack role. I first flew the aircraft on my first unit, No. 56 Squadron at RAF Wattisham where it had transferred to the air defence role and again on 92 Squadron at RAF Wildenrath in Germany. It continued to follow me through my career to RAF Coningsby where it served again on No. 228 Operational Conversion Unit. The aircraft gave sterling service flying nearly 5000 hours before it was retired in 1992. 

Although it was consigned to the scrap yard, a victim of Cold War defence cuts, the forward section was rescued and has been on display at Newark Air Museum for a number of years. It was a regular to the Waddington Air Show where the owner Mike Davey opens the cockpit to visitor. Back at Newark it will again be open at the annual Cockpitfest at Newark in June 2015 when I will be able to introduce enthusiasts once again to my old “Office”.

The Phantom Mission Simulator was originally located at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire. One of two, it was known as “M1” and came into service shortly after the Phantom arrived in 1968. It is a full scale replica of the real cockpit and was used to train crews in operational scenarios but, more importantly, in emergency procedures. From the first days of training as crews converted onto the aircraft they were schooled in how to respond to failures of the aircraft systems and how to recover the aircraft safely to Terra Firma. The simulator was fitted with a motion system and the whole cockpit section moved on a tilting pedestal driven by hydraulic rams. Originally equipped with an analogue visual system the crews saw a representation of a small area around RAF Coningsby projected onto a screen in front of the cockpit. In those days a small camera flew over a modelled landscape, a far cry from modern digital projections. A section of the landscape survives. The simulator was moved to RAF Wattisham in Suffolk in 1990 where it ended its operational service before being acquired by Newark Air Museum in 1992.

 

If you would like to hear more about either my old aircraft the Phantom, the simulator, my career flying the beast or my books, two interviews by “Aircrew Interview” are posted on You Tube:

The Phantom

The Phantom Mission Simulator

How did it all start?

I flew fast jets for many years, first the F4 Phantom and then the Tornado F3. As a navigator I had the big advantage of not having to control the aeroplane so when I had a camera along for the ride, I could snap away without the ever present fear of parking the jet in a field.

My collection of photographs began the minute I stepped foot in a Phantom but, with the quality of camera that I could afford in those days, the early results were hardly classics. As my meagre salary as a Flying Officer increased a little, I could finally afford an SLR camera and things looked up. Even so, with wet film there was a two week wait between clicking the shutter and the processed pictures dropping through the letter box. From the confines of the cockpit snapping that elusive masterpiece was a challenge.

What does this have to do with writing you ask? When I hung up my flying boots, I had always promised myself that I would try to publish some of the pictures as a historical record. After approaching a few publishers and receiving the customary rejections I met a supportive commissioning editor who was embarking on a new venture with a specialist military publishing company. Perfect! Discussions made it obvious that picture books, particularly full page colour pictures books, were no longer a commercial proposition in the modern publishing world. The publisher wanted words to go with the pictures. After the shock and with the challenge set I began tapping out a chronicle of what it was like to fly the mighty Phantom. Two years and 100,000 words later the pictures had words to accompany them. "Phantom In Focus - A Navigator's Eye on Britain's Cold War Warrior was published by Fonthill Media in 2012.

You can visit my website at http://deegee-media.webnode.com/