I, like many of you, am pursuing a dream to become a respected author in my genre, and I've started my journey with a book called Noah's Ark.
A little bit of back story for you: from school, I trained as a civil engineer, working my way up the corporate chain as you are expected to do, getting thoroughly bored and downhearted by the whole experience. To try and liven my existence up, I bought a motorbike. It changed my life in more ways than one.
Mid-2009, during my commute home, a young lad decided to continue around the roundabout in the wrong lane. He swerved to avoid another car and hit me instead. I remember the heat of the flames as I was thrown through the air, and also his high-pitched wailing as he ran over to me: 'I'm sorry mate! I didn't see you!'
With a torn ACL and PCL, and a broken foot, I was unable to walk, or work. The operation I needed to get me back together was only doable by a single surgeon, and his waiting lists were long. I was disabled for four months of my life, but this gave me time to stop and asses what I was doing with myself. I had always loved books - good stories in general in fact - and so I decided that was what I was going to do with my time off.
People asked me if I got bored sitting at home all day, and, much to their amazement, my answer was always no. I loved writing, day in, day out; the hours flew by as I put finger to keyboard. I completed my first draft in those four months, and then I had to go back to work again.
That was a tough time for me, and was both mentally and physically draining. As well as being in a lot of pain all the time, the monotony of work made the hours tick, tick, tick slowly by, and the dream of being an author sunk into oblivion. I got up early, came home late, I was always tired and my manuscript lay forgotten. I had to do something.
What happened next in my life was something I don't fully believe I actually had the balls to do. Since it happened, I heard a saying (it was either in a book or in a film, I can't remember where) that goes something like: 'A career is a like an aeroplane; the longer you stay on board, the further it is to fall when you get out.' I realise now that the decision I made was the right one, even though at the time it was a foolhardy and desperate thing to do.
Another love of mine is watches. Mechanical watches. The part of me inspired to be an engineer (and sucked dry by the politics of my career) was fascinated by the beating heart of a ticking timepiece, and so when I saw a job advertised by a semi-local pre-owned watch retailer for a product copy writer, I leapt on it. Of course, the job was lower pay, had no prospects and wasn't exactly glamourous. It entailed lots of research of model numbers and finickity details, as well as lots of writing product descriptions, brand histories, emails etc. It was boring, but I was doing it: I was writing for a living. That's when things changed.
The company decided that, as part of a rebranding exercise, it wanted to create a blog, filled with news, reviews and the like. I took it on, along with a couple of other talented individuals, and together we transformed ourselves into journalists. The blog became an online magazine, which became an app (90,000 downloads and counting) and has plans on the table to become printed. It's very exciting.
But what of my book? My new-found time, and the patience and discipline I'd learned from writing copy at work, gave me a renewed vigour to complete my book. I edited it, edited it again, and it was ready. I'm going to gloss over what happened next with a publisher called That Right/Taylor Street (formally known as Night Publishing), because it wasted a year of my life promoting a book that they had convinced me was ready, when it wasn't. It has left me with plethora of reviews that highlight the need for proper editing, which will marr the book forever. Fortunately that chapter is over, and I want to send a big thanks at this point to John Jarrold for doing the necessary and helping me cut nearly 20,000 fluffy words from my book.
So, we've caught up with the present day (and I applaud you for sticking with me thus far) and with my book back under my own wing for a re-release and a new book on the way, I'm eagerly looking forward to a fulfilling future as a writer. It's something I enjoy tremendously, and I hope that enjoyment can be reflected in those who read my work, which is why I'm publishing my new book, Vessel, for free on my blog.
A little summary of my two books:
Noah's Ark is an apocalyptic thriller with a twist, combining future technology with genetically modified super-humans in a pulse-racing adventure that doesn't let go until the last breath. You can purchase it from Amazon for the princely sum of 99p/99c: http://www.amazon.com/Noahs-Ark-Andre...
Vessel, my new book, follows the crew of the International Space Station as an object appears in a tracking orbit behind them. It's a plot jam-packed with mystery, suspense, murder and love, and I am very proud of it. You can read it for free up to the latest chapter on my blog: http://andrewjamesmorgan.com
Thank you so much for reading this - I hope it was worth your time. I hope you enjoy my work, and - please - let me know what you think of it, good or bad. I'm always looking to improve.
I, like many of you, am pursuing a dream to become a respected author in my genre, and I've started my journey with a book called Noah's Ark.
A little bit of back story for you: from school, I trained as a civil engineer, working my way up the corporate chain as you are expected to do, getting thoroughly bored and downhearted by the whole experience. To try and liven my existence up, I bought a motorbike. It changed my life in more ways than one.
Mid-2009, during my commute home, a young lad decided to continue around the roundabout in the wrong lane. He swerved to avoid another car and hit me instead. I remember the heat of the flames as I was thrown through the air, and also his high-pitched wailing as he ran over to me: 'I'm sorry mate! I didn't see you!'
With a torn ACL and PCL, and a broken foot, I was unable to walk, or work. The operation I needed to get me back together was only doable by a single surgeon, and his waiting lists were long. I was disabled for four months of my life, but this gave me time to stop and asses what I was doing with myself. I had always loved books - good stories in general in fact - and so I decided that was what I was going to do with my time off.
People asked me if I got bored sitting at home all day, and, much to their amazement, my answer was always no. I loved writing, day in, day out; the hours flew by as I put finger to keyboard. I completed my first draft in those four months, and then I had to go back to work again.
That was a tough time for me, and was both mentally and physically draining. As well as being in a lot of pain all the time, the monotony of work made the hours tick, tick, tick slowly by, and the dream of being an author sunk into oblivion. I got up early, came home late, I was always tired and my manuscript lay forgotten. I had to do something.
What happened next in my life was something I don't fully believe I actually had the balls to do. Since it happened, I heard a saying (it was either in a book or in a film, I can't remember where) that goes something like: 'A career is a like an aeroplane; the longer you stay on board, the further it is to fall when you get out.' I realise now that the decision I made was the right one, even though at the time it was a foolhardy and desperate thing to do.
Another love of mine is watches. Mechanical watches. The part of me inspired to be an engineer (and sucked dry by the politics of my career) was fascinated by the beating heart of a ticking timepiece, and so when I saw a job advertised by a semi-local pre-owned watch retailer for a product copy writer, I leapt on it. Of course, the job was lower pay, had no prospects and wasn't exactly glamourous. It entailed lots of research of model numbers and finickity details, as well as lots of writing product descriptions, brand histories, emails etc. It was boring, but I was doing it: I was writing for a living. That's when things changed.
The company decided that, as part of a rebranding exercise, it wanted to create a blog, filled with news, reviews and the like. I took it on, along with a couple of other talented individuals, and together we transformed ourselves into journalists. The blog became an online magazine, which became an app (90,000 downloads and counting) and has plans on the table to become printed. It's very exciting.
But what of my book? My new-found time, and the patience and discipline I'd learned from writing copy at work, gave me a renewed vigour to complete my book. I edited it, edited it again, and it was ready. I'm going to gloss over what happened next with a publisher called That Right/Taylor Street (formally known as Night Publishing), because it wasted a year of my life promoting a book that they had convinced me was ready, when it wasn't. It has left me with plethora of reviews that highlight the need for proper editing, which will marr the book forever. Fortunately that chapter is over, and I want to send a big thanks at this point to John Jarrold for doing the necessary and helping me cut nearly 20,000 fluffy words from my book.
So, we've caught up with the present day (and I applaud you for sticking with me thus far) and with my book back under my own wing for a re-release and a new book on the way, I'm eagerly looking forward to a fulfilling future as a writer. It's something I enjoy tremendously, and I hope that enjoyment can be reflected in those who read my work, which is why I'm publishing my new book, Vessel, for free on my blog.
A little summary of my two books:
Noah's Ark is an apocalyptic thriller with a twist, combining future technology with genetically modified super-humans in a pulse-racing adventure that doesn't let go until the last breath. You can purchase it from Amazon for the princely sum of 99p/99c: http://www.amazon.com/Noahs-Ark-Andre...
Vessel, my new book, follows the crew of the International Space Station as an object appears in a tracking orbit behind them. It's a plot jam-packed with mystery, suspense, murder and love, and I am very proud of it. You can read it for free up to the latest chapter on my blog: http://andrewjamesmorgan.com
Thank you so much for reading this - I hope it was worth your time. I hope you enjoy my work, and - please - let me know what you think of it, good or bad. I'm always looking to improve.
TL;DR:
I found myself then wrote a book: http://www.amazon.com/Noahs-Ark-Andre...
Now I'm writing another one that you can read for free: http://andrewjamesmorgan.com