Phaze Leap Year Giveaway

Leap Day only comes around once every four years, and Phaze is celebrating
with a special sale and Take a Leap Giveaway, with two ways to win!

All through Leap Day, 2.29.08, you can get 29% off all eBooks in our store
using the checkout code LEAP2008. When you purchase a title from the
Phaze.com catalog on Leap Day you will be eligible to win one of TWO
Phaze.com gift certificates valued at $29 each.

You can also enter the drawing by sending an e-mail to leapyear@phaze.com
with your Name, E-Mail Address, and one sentence describing the best way
to "take a leap" on this extra day.

How would spend your Leap Day: an actual "leap" with a bungee cord
attached your ankles, or a metaphorical "leap" toward an exciting new job
or romance? Let us know; we'll post the answers we like best on our blog.

All entries for the giveaway must be in by midnight, 2.29.08 to be
eligible. No purchase necessary to win!

Until then, stay Phazed and Enthused!
www.Phaze.com

Earthquake!

Oh, the horror. Oh, the devastation. Oh, the human tragedy. This morning, at around 1am, an earthquake hit the East Coast of England. Somewhere in Lincolnshire, actually. It measured 5.5, making it "Moderate" or "able to cause major damage to poorly constructed buildings over small regions. At most slight damage to well-designed buildings."

Which is pretty accurate. On the new the morning, there were terrible scenes of houses whose chimney had fallen from the roof. There were bricks in the street for god's sake! Some even landed on cars! Oh, I've never seen such horror.

Of course, I jest. Yes, it's terrible for the insurance industry who'll have to pay to make good the minor damage across a small area, and for those people whose premiums will go up as a result, but the way the media are reporting it you'd think it was the Great San Francisco quake of 1906. I mean - get a grip people, there (according to Wikipedia) around 800 of this size quakes a year. And almost 200 more powerful.

One VoxPops said "I was watching TV in the lounge when I heard a big bang and a the house started to shake. I rushed outside and other people felt it too. We thought it was an earthquake. I checked the house but it was okay. I thought it might have been a terrorist attack at first."

WHAT??? Firstly, what were you watching at 1am. There's bugger all on except for XXXHousewives. And secondly, a terrorist attack? You're in Hull. No offence to anyone from Hull, but a residential street in a small provincial town on the east coast of England at one in the morning is hardly the sort of high profile target that today's terrorists look for, is it?

It's media hype gone mad. I blame Climate Change.

As for me, did I feel it? I'll admit that I didn't. I was tucked up in bed sound asleep-until Mrs Nobbs woke me to tell me she thought the next door neighbours were going at it a bit too vigorously because the floor was shaking. I think it was a hint. I went back to sleep.

Making a fool of myself over the six nations

Here at work, we run an in-office competition to add a bit of spice to the annual Six Nations rugby tournament. What we do is predict the final outcome of the tournament table before it all kicks off, and then before each round of matches, we try and predict the scores.
Now, the first year we did this I won. And was accused of cheating since I ran the thing. The second year, I proved I wasn't cheating by finishing last. And finishing last the year after that.
This year, after two rounds of matches, I'm not last - which is nice. But the top four, at the moment, are all women. Which for an office full of so-called Rugby Experts (not me, but all the other men) this has caused no small amount of embrassement. There's another round of matches this weekend. So who know's what will happen.
I'm hoping I can get up the allotment again this weekend. I've still got half the plot to dig over. But I'd also like to find some time to do some writing. I probably won't get to do either of these things, but I live in hope.

Old Friends, new story

Am I the only one who doesn’t like texting on a mobile phone? I’ve just sent a message to a friend and it took nearly 10 mins to key in a few words. I much prefer e-mail. I do like a proper keyboard.

Anyhoo….

I saw something on the local news last night and it got me thinking. It was about a couple of friends who’d met up after a long time apart. Real sappy stuff – you know what I mean. Anyway, I figured it was time I actually paid for the sub to Friends Reunited and get in touch with some of the many, many names I recognise on there.

Now, how’s about this for a co-incidence, I get an e-mail from FR a few hours later (after I’d forgotten about buying the sub) telling me someone had sent me a message. Well blow me down with a tickling stick. And no, she hadn’t seen the same news item as she live in a different part of the country and gets different local news. It was just one of those funny things.

Anyway, I bought the sub, mailed her back and we had a bit of a e-natter. Quite cool really. I mailed a few other old friends too, but none of them have got back to me yet. I hope they will though.

On the writing front, I’ve started a new story. Well, actually, I’ve had an idea to combine a couple of older stories that I started but never got very far with. The idea isn’t bad. At least, I don’t think it is. Here’s the outline as I see it right now.

Bryan’s life is in the shitter since his wife ran off with his Australian builder. His two children, one boy and one girl, keep trying to get him to start dating again, but he considers himself too old and grumpy. His daughter is also set on finding her brother a girlfriend and sets him up on a blind date. The son cries off with a lame excuse (he later reveals he’s gay) and send dad in his place to ‘let the girl down gently – I can’t just stand her up. That’s cruel’. When dad get’s there the girl who’s supposed to show has sent her friend in her place. Strangely, Bryan and the stand in hit it off. (and have it off. Lots of times) At the same time, a new woman starts a job at Bryan’s work. She takes a shine to Bryan and they go on a date or two. Then they try and spend the night at her place only to find that her daughter is…….

Sound good? Just need a good ending. Any suggestions?

Author Questions part 2

Last week I blogged some questions I answered during an all day chat session. Here is the second lot of answers.

Can you tell us a little about how you started writing; was it something you have always wanted to do?

I started writing about ten years ago now. I was unemployed at the time and spent a lot of time online. I read a lot of the stories you get in newsgroups like a.s.s.m. and figured I could do that too. So I did. Except it wasn’t very good. About four years ago I joined a writers group called Desdmona’s Fishtank, and I learnt all about things like plot structure, conflict, grammar, style, you name it. I learnt tons. I’ve not looked back since.

Who or what has been your biggest influence as a writer?

The Guys at the Fishtank. They really are great. I owe them so much.

Your work is very popular with readers and reviewers; how does it feel to have such positive recognition for your work?

Well… My first Phaze release isn’t out until April so I can’t say if it’s popular or not. I’ve had work go down well on StoriesOnline, but I’m hardly a star there – I’m not prolific enough for that. It seems that SOL readers prefer quantity over quality. And I get hardly any feedback from Ruthie’s Club, I don’t think many people do.

Ask me this again in a year’s time and we’ll see if my Phaze work is popular or not with paying customers. If it is, I’ll answer it. If it isn’t, I’ll cry.

What do you consider to be the key elements of a great story?

Great Characters. Great conflict. Great resolution. Simple really. Oh, and great sex, if it’s a sex story. ;-)

Could you tell us a little about how you develop your characters? Who has been your favorite character to write? The most challenging?

Ahh. That’s easy. The Colonel from “Lost & Found”. He started out as a secondary character. Just an obstacle in the way of my lovers. But as I fleshed him out, he started talking to me. He told me what drove him. He’s an honorable man and a proud man, but I didn’t realize it until I got into his head. My editor says that through the various drafts of the story, he earned my respect. And she’s right. He did.

I think that these characters that start out as one thing and evolve into something else are my favorite to write – you’re never quite sure what they are going to do until they do it.

Another character I really enjoyed writing was Kelly from Reunion. I work shopped this story at the Fishtank as it was being written, and got great feedback about what people thought about this character. I knew who she was. I knew her secrets. But the reviewers didn’t. So it was great watching their reactions change as I revealed what I knew about her and as she revealed more about herself.

Please tell us about the projects you are currently working on; what can readers expect to see in the coming months?

I’ve been writing a story which has had all sorts of draft titles, but is currently called “Chloe’s Education.” It’s a long way from finished, but hopefully, it’ll be worth the effort.

April sees “Charlotte’s Secret” finally revealed. While “Lost & Found” is a July release.

Ruthie’s have accepted a story called “Extended Family” about a woman who asks her husband to ‘help out’ her twin sister. I’ve also nearly finished a forth Ladz ‘Local Lovelies’ story, and I’m sort of working on two more.

Finally, I’d like to go back at some point in the future and rewrite Reunion. I feel there is much more of this story to be told. I’d also like to finish (actually, completely re-write and then finish) “College by the Sea”. But I don’t know if I’ll ever get to these projects if new ideas keep coming to me.

Where can readers find out what's new and how can they contact you?

On my blog, marcnobbs.blogspot.com or my webby, www.marcnobbs.com or my myspace, www.myspace.com/marcnobbs

My new email a should work, but it’s not really been tested. marc@marcnobbs.com If someone wants to test it for me…..

Do you have a strict writing schedule? How do you balance your personal and writing time?

I wish. I’ve got a two year old son and he demands a lot of my attention. My wife says it’s because he loves me. But I don’t get a chance to write while he’s awake. He keeps trying to ‘help’. Trouble is, “fhgfe rag fg js” doesn’t mean an awful lot to most people.

Who or what has been the biggest influence on your work? Who or what has been your biggest support?

The guys at the Fishtank. I wouldn’t be the writer I am without them. Special shout outs should go to : Cassie Exline, Mat Twassel, Jenny Mount, H.L. Berry. All have guided me in the right direction.

Which author(s) is your favorite? And who has most influenced you work?

My favorite author would be a chap by the name of Terry Pratchett. If you’ve never heard of him, look him up. Once you get past the wizards, witches, trolls, dwarfs and other customary fantasy shit – you’ll be very pleasantly surprised.

Do you feel your writing is character driven or plot driven? How do you balance these two elements?

The best fiction is driven by character, because interesting characters drive the plot by their actions. Two characters would react differently in the same situation resulting in different plots.

For example, if I could replace Charlotte from “Charlotte’s Secret” with Beth from “Lost & Found”, then I wouldn’t have a plot for “Charlotte’s Secret”. Because Beth would never have kept the secret that Charlotte did. They are two different people, who’d have reacted differently.

It’s always about character. Always.