UK Amazon Kindle Forum discussion

Hi everyone

I'm an advertising copywriter, living and working in the North East, who writes fiction whenever he gets a chance. Originally, I'm from the south - far south. I grew up in Durban, South Africa, and moved to the UK about ten years ago, when I was in my early twenties. My accent hasn't changed much in that time, but I do find that I'm more partial to tea and pasties than I was before. When it comes to writing, I don't have one particular genre or format that I stick to. In 2010 I won a Northern Promise award from New Writing North for a crime novel. I write short stories. I've had a few plays produced. I've collaborated on a couple of short films. All of this would explain why the two novels that I have out on Amazon Kindle are very different.

The first is a coming-of-age war novel set in Southern Africa in the late 1980s. It's called MiG-23 Broke my Heart and you'll find it here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/MiG-23-Broke-...

The second novel, released two days ago (whoop, whoop), is about a teenager from County Durham who discovers a dead body on her first day of working at a California summer camp. You'll find it here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Poison-Oak-Su...

Other than that, I'm hoping to put a few more novels and maybe a short story collection on Kindle. So watch this space. Obviously, I don't mean that literally - you are allowed to leave this page and look at other spaces. And before I bludgeon you with another bad joke, I'll say my goodbyes.

Thanks,
Andrew

Welcome to the group Andrew!

Hi Andrew !

Hi Andrew. I am planning to visit South Africa later this year. Not Durban though.

Hi Andrew,I am interested in your murder mystery but I see it is in three parts,are the other parts currently available?

Hi guys! Thanks for the replies.

Gingerlily (or Cyberlily): A shame you're not heading to my home city, but all parts of the country are lovely. Cape Town is especially recommended - I lived and worked there for a couple of years and loved it.

Philip (sarah): the other parts are available. They're all on Amazon and easy to find, I think. The reason I split the story into three is that a) it's 128,000 words long (but what I hope is an engrossing read, full of twists and turns and characters you care about, which is the kind of book I like), and b) it falls naturally into three sections.

Thanks again for reading my little intro everyone.

Can you put up links to the other parts Andrew please, it's just if I get really caught up in the story I would like instant access to the rest.I thought the first part would link the others on Amazon but that doesn't seem to be the case.Thank You.

Editted as I forgot my manners.

I will probably see Cape Town at some stage, I'll be visiting a friend who lives near Port Elizabeth. I'll say hello to the country for you anyway.

Cassidy : Hi, Andrew!
Poison Oak summer sounds interesting. I will have to check that one out. Are the other parts out yet?

Hi Philip (sarah),

Here are the links to Poison Oak Summer part one, two and three:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Poison-Oak-Su...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Poison-Oak-Su...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Poison-Summer...

I hope the story grabs you enough that you end up clicking them!

Amos, thanks for taking an interest. Have a look at the 'look inside' feature on Amazon for a sample. And the other parts are out. Check out the post above this for the links.

Thanks Andrew.Part one now on my Kindle.

And, thanks Gingerlilly (Cyberlilly), I'd appreciate you saying hello, even though I managed to go back for a sneaky holiday about a month ago. I've got family in PE. It's a great area.

Snapped up 1,2, & 3. Had a look first thing this morning but thought they might have been quite short. Now you have said they are not I'm pleased to download them thanks.

Nice one, Pat! Thanks a lot and I really hope you enjoy the story.

Finished part 1 this morning and have returned for parts 2 and 3.

I'm at 47% with Part 1. I'm not sure it's my usual thing but it's so well written and the characters, with their teenage angst and the baggage they carry in their young lives, really draw me in! I'll be having the next two parts too!

Wow, thanks Philip and Ignite! And Pat too. It's amazing to think that my book's out there and being read by real people (as opposed to, err, the other type of people).

... virtual? The Undead? Be very afraid! Just started reding it again.

Oh wow! Just finished Ch 5. You are SO good!
" .. sucked in like an unthinking planet by his tiny gravity." Excellent - and the next bit - blimey!
Go away everyone, I'm reading!

Finished Part 2. It gets better. I'm finding this absolutely gripping! I'm glad you told us about it. Starting Part 3 tonight.

Hope you enjoy Part 3 as much as the other two. This is still a novel experience for me, having people actually reading my work!

I had to reluctantly stop at 80% into book 2 but I am totally intrigued.

It gets more complicated in Book 3 Sarah. It's a bit of stunning story telling!

A novel experience.

Teehee

Haha, no pun intended.

See, he's good even when he's not trying!

Hi everyone

Two bits of exciting (well to me, at least!) news:

My novel MiG-23 Broke my Heart has just made the semi-finals of The Kindle Book Review's Best Indie Books of 2012 competition. It's a coming-of-age story set in 1980s Southern Africa and is available at http://www.amazon.co.uk/MiG-23-Broke-...

And the first part of Poison Oak Summer is free until Friday 6 July, thanks to Amazon's promotional programme. You can find it at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Poison-Oak-Su...

Cheers,
Andrew

Well done Andrew!

Just got Poison Oak Summer, thank you! Book no. 6 i've downloaded today, i need to click away from goodreads before i bankrupt myself.
It sounds like my kind of thing so looking forward to reading it.
I just moved away from County Durham last month (random and pointless fact!)

Thanks, Ignite! I think they only announce the finalists in September, so I'll have to forget about it for the moment.

And Sarah, that's an interesting fact to me! Not as interesting as the fact that you've already downloaded six books today - that's a heck of a habit. :) Hope you enjoy the book.

I've been hitting the one-click lately too Sarah. Just need time now!

PO Summer is excellent by the way!

Hi everyone, just thought I'd give you an update and tell you about my newest Kindle novel.

Clan Fraser, Once Removed is a bittersweet comedy, more bitter than sweet, about two brothers on a road trip through Scotland.



Richard is miserable. Only, he doesn’t know it. He’s a graphic designer at Newcastle upon Tyne’s hottest hot-shop and thinks the world revolves around him and his job.

But now he has to take two weeks off work because his brother Charlie is coming to visit from South Africa. Half-strangled by his umbilical cord at birth, Charlie’s a bit different. To Richard he’s an embarrassment, and the idea of a road trip to a castle that bears their family name doesn’t exactly set off fireworks.

While stopping over at a hotel in Scotland, Richard meets Dot, who works on reception and is bored enough to talk to anyone, even a self-centred designer. He falls in love. Now all he has to do is convince her that, deep down, he’s a nice person. And that means he has to get along with Charlie.

If you're a fan of the first-person present tense, and can tolerate an initially unlikeable unreliable narrator, this is one for you. I would also recommend it if you enjoy reading about ducks, trains, cars, art, design, families and forests. In fact, I would just recommend it generally. But then I would say that, wouldn't I?

The book was also short-listed for the Yeovil Literary prize.

Here's a link to the amazon.co.uk page:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Clan-Fraser-O...

And on amazon.com, you'll find it here:

http://www.amazon.com/Clan-Fraser-Onc...

In other news:

My mystery in three parts, Poison Oak Summer, is becoming fairly popular on amazon.co.uk Well, I use the qualifier 'fairly' because I have no idea how popular it is in the grand scheme of things, but I'm pretty happy that it's being downloaded and (I hope) read, as well as (I pray) enjoyed.

Here's a link to the amazon.co.uk page for part one:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Poison-Oak-Su...

Here's a link to the amazon.com page:

http://www.amazon.com/Poison-Oak-Summ...

I'm full of links today.

Also, I see that I mentioned short stories in my introductory post. Am working on a collection in a very specific format - which is all I'm prepared to say at this stage - and should have something on Kindle fairly soon (disclaimer: soon in writing terms is anything up to a year).

And that's me.

Thanks,
Andrew
AK Dawson

I would recommend Clan Fraser too and I'm not the author so I don't have to say that!

I bought it yesterday (I think).

It's lovely Sarah. Funny and rather wise. You'll love younger brother Charlie!

15% in and yep Charlie is a wee (6'4") sweetie. Their train stopped just a couple of miles from here.I do love when books mention familiar places it adds to the picture in my mind.

Glad to hear you're enjoying it, Sarah! Thanks. I remember (for some reason) trying to make sure that all the locations were real and reachable by whatever means of transport they were using at the time. I've only been up to that part of Scotland once, but I loved it.

Hi everyone,

I'm a Kindle author who in recent years has kind of slowed down. But I'm back (hi!). Although what I have isn't a book. It's a film.

Fingerface is a feature-length romantic comedy, more comedy than romance, about an ordinary guy who falls in love with his dream girl and then meets her in real life. Small in budget but big on ambition, the film is set in exotic locations around the world and features some of the finest and most convincing pirates, estate agents, cult leaders, convicts and guitar pickers ever drawn together.

It's been in a couple of festivals and last month won Best Screenplay at the Sydney Indie Film Festival.

You can find reviews for it online, but I think I'd just better post links.

Check out the trailer and watch Fingerface in glorious HD at reelhouse:
https://www.reelhouse.org/andrewdawso...

Or get the DVD at Createspace:
https://www.createspace.com/850001756

And that's all!

Please feel free to comment, say hi or tell me what you're reading/watching at the moment. I just finished reading a thriller novel called Kolymsky Heights and it was awesome.

All the best,
Andrew

Hi! Long time no see! Must check this out.
Hope you're well?

Hi Kath Yes, I'm well thanks. And good to hear from you! Are you still writing novels? And if so, how's it going?

I have more on my hard drive than I have in publication! Going well so far, though, thanks.

Hi A.K. I've just checked out your profile - you're obviously a very busy person.

I followed the createspace link and it says it requires a password, I thought you'd like to know.

Hi Anna, thanks so much for telling me. I'll have a look and see what needs to be done.

OK, Fingerface is now on Createspace sans password:

https://www.createspace.com/850001756

Sorry about that and I suppose you can tell I'm a first-time Createspace user (and rubbish at following instructions).

Sorry about that and thank you to Anna for pointing out the problem.

You're very welcome, A.K. One day I'll get around to using Createspace myself and I bet I'll mess it up somewhere along the line!

Oh, and by the way, I see you're from Durban. I visited there for a brief escape from the problems of central Africa. Some years ago now, but I loved it. Lovely place to grow up in.

Hi Anna, I'm impressed that you've been to Durban. Not many people have even heard of my home city!

I have some photos of wonderful beaches and beautiful buildings. I hope you don't get too homesick!

Hi everyone,

I've got a new book out on Amazon for Kindle, called Alien Love Story. It's about a close encounter of the romantic kind. And I would describe - not very neatly - as a YA science-fiction romance adventure novel, with a psychological twist. I also like to think it's quite funny in places. And kind of sad in others. But anyway, I'll stop writing about it, and just give you the link on Goodreads:

Alien Love Story

So check it out!

Oh, and buy it! Here's the link on amazon.co.uk:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alien-Love-S...

And if you don't want to buy it, but would like to review it, send me a message and I'll send you a .mobi file.

All the best,
Andrew

Hey! Nice to see you back. I've just bought it. Hope to read it fairly soon.