Sunday 29 May 2011

SampleSunday - The Docks Chapter 1

The Docks by VH Folland

This Sunday, my sample is Chapter One of "The Docks". After all the changes -a new cover, new layout and new price - I'm also adding a Coupon code valid this weekend to download the whole ebook for free.

Get the full book on Smashwords Here
Coupon Code: AB96D (Free - 100% discount, Valid until 30th May)


(Also available on Amazon, but Amazon does not offer the coupon discount)



Chapter 1 of the Docks


Bob had told me we were going to sink the ship, but what he hadn't mentioned was that it wouldn't be empty when we did it. My jaw dropped in horror as I saw the arm, smashing out the cabin window, black against the flames behind it as it fumbled for the door handle on the outside to escape the inferno. Fumbled at the door that Bob had blocked.


"Good night's work, eh?" As he clapped me on the shoulder, I looked at him, wordless. "Hey, don't look like that. A few corpses always helps them think it was an accident."


"Bob, I — Insurance is one thing, but this —" I choked, staring out of the office window, down towards the ship. In front of me the hand was still reaching, the arm flailing, but more weakly. I could see the first tongues of flame licking down the sleeve.


"What?" He looked at me scornfully. "Don't go soft on me now. Remember, you're in this up to your neck." He turned his back to look at the ship and smiled. He was still smiling when the crowbar hit him, his skull shattering like an egg and he went down. To make sure, I hit him again and from the shape of his head I knew he wouldn't be getting up. He should have remembered what I'd done time for when he recruited me.


The boat was still burning, and I knew I had to get across there. I ran out of the dockers' office where we had met, metal burning my hands as I slid down the ladder towards the quayside. The explosives would scuttle her in ten minutes unless they could be removed, placed carefully to look like an explosion as the fuel tanks overheated. With the gangway removed — Bob had said to prevent casualties, now I knew he had lied — getting on board would be difficult. I swung myself onto one of the huge docking chains, pulling myself up. Slick, oil-soaked, the climb was difficult. Twice I slipped, saw my legs dangling over the dark gap between the ship and the quayside where the sea boiled and churned, and then I was against the side of the ship, the raised hull too far above to climb. Locking my legs around the chain I released my grip, fumbling for the grappling hook I had used to get on board earlier. One quick cast and it was over the side, hooked on something. I tugged it as hard as I dared and it moved. Slack pulled in in coils until suddenly the line caught and held. I couldn't see what it was caught on, but it held against my tugs, and carefully, reluctantly I put my weight on it, climbing up until I was standing on the chain. It held. No more delays.


Hand over hand I could climb the rope easily, the knots giving me all the purchase I needed. Seconds later I was swinging my legs over the side, and then as I came to my feet, running for the door. Now I was close enough to hear the screams, feel the heat that was beginning to seep through the deck. No time to check the time. I kept running, ducking under the window, feeling the heat of flames on my back and yanking away the fire axe Bob had used to block the door. It came open, and suddenly I was bowled aside as people piled out, desperately escaping the flames. As I came to my feet I was pushed over again, and hands tore at me. For a moment I thought I was being mobbed, and then as I was pulled away across the deck I could see feet kicking at the charred remains of my rucksack.


By the side of the ship, I could see crewmen staring at the missing gangway. Others were trying to find something to replace it. Two more had grabbed fire extinguishers and were heading back passed me towards the blaze. Staggering from exertion, I grabbed one.


"Guy in the dock office. With a gun. Said he'd scuttle the ship in five minutes. Bombs." I was gasping, sweating in the heat. It was all true, but covered in oil, clothes charred, a total stranger, I couldn't have looked a less believable witness. The man stared for a moment, then yelled to the crew. Fortunately letting them out must have given me some credibility, as they abandoned efforts to extinguish the blaze and turned to escape.


A splash over the side indicated a crewman taking a sensible option. Others began to follow. In four minutes this ship was sinking. Anyone close in the water would be pulled under. The rest would be swimming in a sea covered by burning fuel.


A shout came from the end of the deck where a crewman had found my abandoned grapple, still trailing over the side. Hauling it up from the tangle of cables where it had caught precariously he was making it fast to the fixings on board and all I could think was there was no god-damn time. I ran back towards the flames. No one tried to stop me; intent on the rope I don't think they even noticed.


The crew knew the layout of the ship backwards. I knew something they didn't: the location of the fires. I ran across the deck to the front cargo hold, lifted the inspection hatch that covered the ladder. Sitting on the edge, I swung round, arms on the ladders side, feet to the edges, and began to slide. With a hiss of pain I knew something was wrong even as I started to move, the metal slick in my agonised grasp, but halfway down a ladder it is difficult to stop.


My legs jarred across the deck, but I was staring stupidly at my hands. The gloves I'd worn had been light, to allow dexterity and stop fingerprints, not for climbing anchor chains and sliding down ladders. My palms were shredded. I shook myself. No time for this. No time to think, just act. I ran, staggering as the ship lurched, and prayed I still had time.


Defusing a bomb, is a complex and dangerous task, unless it's one you built yourself. A quick careful look to make sure Bob hadn't tampered, grip the metal box in the right place and open it, fourth wire from the left, pull, and pray. Nothing, but then since I hadn't needed a countdown I hadn't added one. If I'd pulled the wrong wire I wouldn't be here to worry about it.


I picked it up, blood slick on the surface, and ran back. I didn't trust Bob not to have set his own "insurance" and I wanted off this boat, with evidence of my culpability over the side. Back in the hold, snatching at the ladder, I let go with a cry of shock.


Trying to grip the heated metal in torn, painful, hands wasn't going to happen. It wasn't a case of forcing myself through the pain, my fingers simply could not close with enough strength to pull me up with both hands, far less one-handed. I stared for a moment, torn between dropping the device here and trying to climb with arms looped behind the ladder, or struggling up with it and risking a jolt that might trigger it. Either way, I knew I'd never make it.


The coils of rope hit my shoulder and trailed past, unwinding onto the floor. As I looked up a crewman was gesturing, shouting something I couldn't hear through the full respirator mask that covered his head. His gestures were clear enough. Quickly I wound the rope round my waist, wrapping my forearm in it. If I fell I'd be in trouble, but I wanted out of here. The crewman vanished, and I felt the rope tighten, but I lifted only slowly. What was wrong with them? At this rate we'd still be here when the ship sunk. I crabbed sideways, getting my feet on the ladder's rungs and began to walk upwards, using the rope purely to replace the grip of my damaged hands. Suddenly the climbing became much faster as, with most of the weight off, the crewman could keep the rope taut, providing the support I'd needed. At the top, I leaned forward, over the ladder, and suddenly the crewman had gripped my shoulders and back, heaving me over the edge and onto the deck.


I didn't stop to thank him, tottering towards the side of the ship that faced open water. With as much strength as I could exert I threw the bomb. The metal slipped in my fingers, slick with blood, flying off at an odd angle. Luckily there was nothing to hit out there but water. The box made a satisfying splash, and sank. The majority of the device was an incendiary meant to trigger fuel fumes after a small charge punched a hole in the metal of the tank. As long as it wasn't hard against anything when it blew, I wasn't too concerned about it. Bomb already forgotten, I turned to try to get off the ship.


There was a sudden thunder and the ship lurched. Flung violently against the dockside, the cargo ship's deck slanted sharply and my feet went from under me. A wave of water splashed across the deck, taking my breath away with cold and shock as it hit, and leaving me scrambling to get upright on the now-slick surface.


Somehow the damn thing had gone off. I shoved away the list of possible causes running through my head — Bob's tampering, defective materials, a fall-back — and focused on the now. The bomb had gone off when it shouldn't, and now I didn't know what the hell was going to happen next. I had to get off this ship.


Staggering on the yawing, pitching deck I headed towards the dockside lights, looking round urgently for a way down. Crewman clustered against the side, clinging to rails and ropes, obviously doing the same thing. I headed for my grappling hook by the anchor — they had to have it secure by now — only to have my arm caught as the ship lurched again, sending me into a group of crewman. I swore at them, trying to jerk my arm free on reflex before what they were saying penetrated and I looked down between ship and dockside where the water churned. Falling into that would be a quick and painful death. Hustled by the crowd I tried to clutch the rail, but my hand slipped leaving a slick red smear across the white paint. Only the pressure of the crowd was keeping me standing, and it was moving, pushing towards a goal I could not see. I had no choice but to go with it until I saw — Thank God!


Somehow they'd got the gangplank fixed, held loosely by chains that jerked and rattled as the ship tossed in the crazy waves that filled the harbour. Crewmen were tumbling across it, skidding and slipping to the safety of the deck. Suddenly I had a goal, and began pushing as urgently as any of them.


Helped by a shove, I was on the gangway, even as the ship yawed upwards and the surface tilted steeply. I found myself falling, painfully grating my arm against the wire mesh that was all that stopped me falling from the narrow walkway. It tumbled me down the way faster than I could have walked it, arriving at the bottom in a bruised and bloody heap. As the gangplank fell away with the reverse roll of the ship, even as it registered that I was on the dock, safe, I was being pulled away to get other crewmen out. Finally clear of the ship, I stopped to take stock.


A body in the office, a bomb in the bay, and both linked to me. I was in trouble.




--End of Chapter One--

Harry's in more trouble than he knows, and he knows he's in a lot.

Read the full book at:Smashwords
Get the ebook free with Coupon Code: AB96D

Amazon:(For non-Smashwords users, the book can be got from Amazon for Kindle. However Amazon does not accept coupons).

Friday 27 May 2011

The Docks - an update

Before I get back to "The Docks" here's a quick update on what I am currently working on. The sequel to "The Docks" is now at 6,000 words and a completed outline, so it is due out later this year. I have another novel at 60,000 but the research for that one is taking a lot of my time. Now on to the important news.

"The Docks" has just been updated on Smashwords. There are a few changes:
  • New cover, provided by Razzle Dazzle design. It's more gripping and definitely more relevant to the book that the original.
  • New text file - mainly to add the copyright notice for the new cover.
  • Sampling has changed slightly. This is a personal choice because, I'll admit, I wanted to end it on a cliffhanger.
And finally price. The book is now set at 99 cents. My last blog post mentioned a few of the issues that "Reader Sets Price" was creating, so to resolve these the book now has a $0.99 cents price tag.

This also means I can generate coupons, so here's the first, valid to 30th May:
To get "The Docks" free, use coupon: AB96D

The Docks
Ebook Price: $0.99 (17,497 words)
Type: Fiction
Author: V.H. Folland
Released: May 14th, 2011

Harry's on the hook for murder...
A career criminal's crisis of conscience lands him on the hook for a kiling he admits. Murder, manslaughter or self-defence? When he and his solicitor match wits with the police there is more than his freedom at stake.

Monday 23 May 2011

"Reader sets price" - pros and cons

I was using "Reader sets price" for "The Docks". On review, I don't think this is working and will be switching to 99c fairly shortly.

The "Reader sets price option" seems to restrict your audience without providing many advantages. The first issue is that most offers on Smashwords rely on coupons, which can't be generated for books using "Reader sets Price". At the same time, you can't link "Reader sets price" books to the free ebook directories and users still need a Smashwords account to download it while free books can be accessed by anyone. Some Smashwords readers I spoke to skip over books with this payment type because trying to work out how much to pay is an extra step between them and the book.

If there was a tip jar option on the author page, I'd just make the book free and link back to it. As it is, I'll standardise it as 99c, and then liberally distribute coupons.

The other issue is that I have seen a cover that would fit "The Docks" very well. It actually shows a scene from the book (by complete co-incidence) and was done by a professional cover artist. It is a lot better than the one it curently has. The downside? As it's been premade it's part of the artist's portfolio already so there's every chance people will have seen it. To be honest, that doesn't seem like such a downside, compared to having a better cover.

Friday 20 May 2011

DailyCheapReads spotlight on Fire Season

Fire Season has been highlighted as a Supercheap read (99p until the end of May) as part of the British author month. Read the article here:
You may be wondering why I post every time Fire Season gets a mention somewhere. For me at least, it's the equivalent of the proud parent waving graduation photos. One day I am sure I will be so jaded that I stop mentioning every reference my books get. For now, however, I fully intend to celebrate them! Especially considering how lucky it is to get this type of feature for a debut novel, on a blog as popular as DailyCheapReads. For US readers, it should be on the US Daily Cheap Reads site later today.

Now, if you will excuse me, I am off to celebrate, tweet, forum-post and generally shout this from the rooftops.

Monday 16 May 2011

Another Fire Season review

A quick review from A Robbins Book Review blog. It's short but sweet:

"It takes a while for the drama to start but once you get to it the story is a wonderful amazing read. This is a recommended read by me and I will be on the lookout for more."
Read Review

Not much else to update, although "The Docks" will hopefully be coming to Kindle soon. It's already available on Smashwords, under "Reader sets price" option so you can download it free if you like. Once this goes into the premium catalogue I'll need to set a fixed price (probably a huge $0.99) , but for now, enjoy the discount option.

Sunday 15 May 2011

SampleSunday - The Docks

A sample from "The Docks", the novella I've been working on. Rather than another sample from Fire Season or Arrival, for this week's Sample Sunday, I thought I'd try something new. With the help of my publisher, The Docks is now available on Smashwords. I'm trialling the "reader chooses" method, so readers can pay what they like or download it for free, while it will be Smashwords minimum of $0.99 on all other channels.


Sample: The Docks

Bob had told me we were going to sink the ship, but what he hadn't mentioned was that it wouldn't be empty when we did it. My jaw dropped in horror as I saw the arm, smashing out the cabin window, black against the flames behind it as it fumbled for the door handle on the outside to escape the inferno. Fumbled at the door that Bob had blocked.


"Good night's work, eh?" As he clapped me on the shoulder, I looked at him, wordless. "Hey, don't look like that. A few corpses always helps them think it was an accident."


"Bob, I — Insurance is one thing, but this —" I choked, staring out of the office window, down towards the ship. In front of me the hand was still reaching, the arm flailing, but more weakly. I could see the first tongues of flame licking down the sleeve.


"What?" He looked at me scornfully. "Don't go soft on me now. Remember, you're in this up to your neck." He turned his back to look at the ship and smiled. He was still smiling when the crowbar hit him, his skull shattering like an egg and he went down. To make sure, I hit him again and from the shape of his head I knew he wouldn't be getting up. He should have remembered what I'd done time for when he recruited me.


The boat was still burning, and I knew I had to get across there. I ran out of the dockers' office where we had met, metal burning my hands as I slid down the ladder towards the quayside. The explosives would scuttle her in ten minutes unless they could be removed, placed carefully to look like an explosion as the fuel tanks overheated. With the gangway removed — Bob had said to prevent casualties, now I knew he had lied — getting on board would be difficult. I swung myself onto one of the huge docking chains, pulling myself up. Slick, oil-soaked, the climb was difficult. Twice I slipped, saw my legs dangling over the dark gap between the ship and the quayside where the sea boiled and churned, and then I was against the side of the ship, the raised hull too far above to climb. Locking my legs around the chain I released my grip, fumbling for the grappling hook I had used to get on board earlier. One quick cast and it was over the side, hooked on something. I tugged it as hard as I dared and it moved. Slack pulled in in coils until suddenly the line caught and held. I couldn't see what it was caught on, but it held against my tugs, and carefully, reluctantly I put my weight on it, climbing up until I was standing on the chain. It held. No more delays.


Hand over hand I could climb the rope easily, the knots giving me all the purchase I needed. Seconds later I was swinging my legs over the side, and then as I came to my feet, running for the door. Now I was close enough to hear the screams, feel the heat that was beginning to seep through the deck. No time to check the time. I kept running, ducking under the window, feeling the heat of flames on my back and yanking away the fire axe Bob had used to block the door.


The full novella is on Smashwords:

(All my books can be viewed on my author page: VH Folland on Smashwords)

Wednesday 11 May 2011

A new short story, and thoughts on releasing works

If you've been following me on Twitter, you've probably noticed I've been working on a new short story.

It is complete, although the final draft is closer to a novella at just under 20,000 words. The edited version I got back has a few changes, but not many which is a good sign. The real problem is deciding on a title. My working titles are not good, but luckily publishers tend to change the name before release.

Now there's the question of how to release it. The short story I had planned could have been sold to a magazine, but there's less demand for 20,000 words. (For other short story writers, Duotrope is a useful resource about open markets).

I could release it as a e-book myself. I've had some interesting experiences with e-books: My books on Smashwords (both Arrival and other titles as work-for-hire or under pseudonyms) regularly pull over two thousand downloads in a matter of months. Feedbooks gives slightly less. On Amazon's own site my publisher's sales figures for Fire Season are rather less impressive, even though it's only been out for a month. Part of the problem seems to be Amazon's regional divisions, e.g. using my account I can't see what price my book is in the US, far less "gift" Kindle copies to reviewers as many request.

To complicate matters, the royalties that most markets pay for this type of fiction are low. Effectively I'm chosing between a publication credit and a new audience, and income, and while I'd love to write for the art I do have bills to pay. If you've been following the blog, you'll know I had to make a similar choice this time last year.

At the moment, I'm leaning towards Smashwords, just because it's where I have the most readers. However, I still have to decide on a new title, because if I release it myself I don't have a publisher to come up with something better.

"Tuesday_idea" is not a great release title after all.

Friday 6 May 2011

General updates

"Thanks to the expertly voiced narration, the author's story-telling gifts are strongly in evidence, particularly in his masterly evocation of time, place and events that will haunt readers long after the book has been put to rest." Bookpleasures (Read Review).

Fire Season has picked up another review on Amazon.com from Norman Goldman, editor of Bookpleasures and an Amazon Vine reviewer.

The short story I am working on is now nearly complete, although it appears to have changed genre halfway through. The beta-readers says it's a great crime drama. As that isn't a genre I read or am familiar with, I have no idea what conventions I am trampling all over. I just hope it's an entertaining story.

The Kindle version of Fire Season will be 99p until the end of May. Similar discounts are available on Amazon.com and .de.

The real problem is that promoting Fire Season has left me without the time I need to research the other two novels I have half-finished. I wish it were possible to hire someone to play the author in public and do the promotional bit, and let me get back to writing!

Sunday 1 May 2011

SampleSunday - Arrival

Go to sample

I was going to post a bit of my new story, but unfortunately it has gone from a planned 1,500 words to a novella and I'm still writing it. This means it hasn't been edited yet, and I'd rather not inflict my unedited work on an audience.

Here's a snippet from Arrival, a free short story on Smashwords. The full story can be read (or downloaded as an ebook) from Smashwords
.

Sample


"I lost the auction." Jim slung the kitbag down and slumped in a chair. Shaking his head, Jake stepped across and closed the door Jim had left swinging behind him.

"Just as well. What would you have done if you'd won?" he asked, and Jim stared at the floor.

"I dunno. I'd have worked something out. I hate to think of her in the hands of strangers."

"And it took you a week to tell me?" Jake sounded unimpressed.

"I didn’t think it would take that long to get home. Didn’t want to talk about it." Jim wasn’t being quite honest; he didn’t even want to think about. Jake raised an eyebrow.

"Were you even close?"

"Not a chance. She went for more than my entire backpay."

"Just as well. I don’t know what you were doing bidding in the first place. Why didn’t you try to buy something less life-changing, like a house?” Jake was utterly unsympathetic, and Jim scowled at him.

"Just sentiment, I guess. I need a drink." Since he was nearer, Jake grabbed two beers from the fridge and sat down, tossing one to his maudlin brother.

"Shouldn’t you wait until you’re out of uniform for that?"

"Who’s going to care?" Jim cracked the top of the beer and downed a swig, staring moodily at the floor. Jake chuckled, and his brother looked up and glared. He held his hands up in a soothing gesture.

"Jim, seriously, looking at this from the point of view of a rational person and not an obsessive pilot, what the hell would you do with a defunct nuclear bomber?"


(Read the full story)