The Music of Saint Patrick

Well, I have added yet another brand new page to my blog, The Music of Saint Patrick. This continues my drive to document in one easy to read site all aspects of Patrick the man. As with the other pages on this site Music of Saint Patrick is not complete but an evolving piece. On the new page is a link to the Patrick Warrior Saint YouTube site where I have built a collection of great Irish videos.

I will have further news on the book soon.

Christy Moore reminds me of Saint Patrick

A great song, full of emotion. The pain that is deep in Irish thought is represented in this song. The voyage is another fab song, check it out.

New Saint Patrick Pages

In the last few days I have worked on adding two brand new pages to this blog on St. Patrick. They are Saint Patrick's Day Food and The Food and Drink Saint Patrick Consumed. They are a work in progress but I believe the completed versions will add further character to my book Patrick Warrior Saint.

As to the book itself I have finally edited the book to chapter 7. I have also decided to revisit my original timetable. Perhaps it would be better to launch the book next year in January? It would then be a new book just in time for Paddy's Day. I am still undecided on this, I have pushed so hard to have the book ready, should I just pause now?

Kindle for Saint Patrick

I have received my Kindle in the post. I have really been looking forward to this cool gadget and can't wait to have my new book on Saint Patrick downloaded onto it. I will blog on my initial impressions in the next few days
Over the last week I have spent some time considering my next page topic and today I can reveal exclusively that the new topic will be about..........
The food of Saint Patrick.
Yes, I intend to detail the types of food Patrick would have eaten and also the foods Irish people eat on Saint Patricks Day. I intend to give recipes and perhaps also ask a chef to demonstrate the methods used in the time of Patrick. This will be a huge endeavor but I feel it will add context to my book Patrick Warrior Saint.

New Page Topic for Saint Patrick

Having completed my Top 5 Myths of Saint Patrick page I will now progress onto a brand new page. Blogger allows up to ten additional pages and I intend to fill all ten by St. Patrick's Day 2011. The question I am trying to answer is the following.
Should I prepare a page on Saint Patrick next? Or a page on Patrick Warrior Saint, the book?
When I started this blog I was unsure as to where it would take me, it will be a journey and I am enjoying the trip. I never thought that I would complete pages on the historical Patrick but I do find his story fascinating and I would like to document his life in a simple to understand form.
As Ireland now slips further into the depression I also feel that I must also show what is great about this land, our culture, our heritage, our never give up spirit.
This blog is becoming more than I ever envisioned and despite the complications I am happy to continue, to do my best for Ireland.

She moved through the Fair Sinead O'Connor

A fabulous version of this Irish Classic. The words are modern but the tune is ancient. You may see more Irish Videos on my YouTube Channel.

Work Pressures

Due to a heavy workload my book is a little behind schedule. It looks like I won't make my end of month deadline to complete the edit. I am disappointed at this outcome but you know what, I have got to pick myself up and drive forward.
The good news is that I have selected a front cover image for my book and I am getting it for free!! The project to date has not cost me any money as promised.
Don't forget to check out my brand new second page, Top 5 Myths Saint Patrick. A concise, yet fun look at the popular St. Patrick myths.
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Crazy version of Danny Boy by the Muppets

Great video of the Muppets doing a classic Irish Song.

Exclusive: Extract from my New Book on Saint Patrick

I hope you enjoy this exclusive first peek at my new book Patrick Warrior Saint.  A little background. In this scene Cormac, leader of the pirate raiders, is staring into the gloom. He is onboard his attack ship, Hellfire, with his band of killers.


Other than the howl of the Devil’s breath as it struck the sail and the slice of the water from the bow of the warship, no sound could be heard.



They had been fortunate. Devil’s breath had blown them across the great sea in excellent time and now as the first shafts of light tipped the horizon Cormac could see they were in a deep mist. A smile spread across his grizzled face, this was the day he had fantasised about for so long, his day of destiny.


He rose to his feet and turned slowly to face the rear of his long boat, Hellfire, an apt name for a vessel that had been blood-soaked over the years. There they were, his men, loyal to him only through fear and greed.
 
 
As I now countdown to publication, I will release more unique extracts from my book.

Discover Ireland

Great video showing Ireland from a tourist perspective.
On the technology front I am finding the Saint Patrick at blogspot address a little difficult to get used to, I may try to change it to something easier to write.

First Test of New Book

In a recent update on my book I blogged that I had a problem with elements of chapter seven. Well good news!! Chapter seven is finished. To solve my dilemma I had to bring to the foreground a character that I had not intended to fully flesh out until book two, Ciara daughter of the King.
For the first time I have had friends and family read my book. This was a very nervous time for me as it is for most authors. Would they hate it or love it? 

They love it.

They are surprised by the direction that I have taken the Saint Patrick character, some felt that the church may not be too happy with the final product. In my view this is a fictional book, my book. my character and if the story is controversial, so be it. 
I am delighted that each and every person suggested improvements to the story or structure. I may not take on their ideas but I will certainly give them all due consideration.
Editing the remainder of the book is taking longer than anticipated but I still expect to be finished by the end of August. With Luck!!!

On the tech front I have started a second page on my blog. Top 5 myths of Saint Patrick. When completed I will submit this page to sites dedicated to articles, such as Ezine.  All part of my publicity drive for Patrick Warrior Saint.

Ambush in Cork

Patrick would approve of the fight for freedom. No one should be enslaved.

New Google Tablet

Yesterday on Gizmodo I saw a new piece of technology, the Google Tablet. It looks fantastic, if it is real that is. I couldn't help but wonder how my book on Saint Patrick will look on this new device. In the last week I have ordered my own brand new e-reader, the Kindle. St. Patrick's Day next year will see my book Patrick Warrior Saint available for download on this device and I hope also on the new Google device. But how will this new technology change the face of publishing? How will it impact on the book buying public and what will happen to the large bookstores that dominate our streets?
Well I can only look at this from my point of view as a new author and a book buyer since childhood. In my view there will still be room for paper books and e-readers. New tech does not necessarily wipe out old tech. For decades the demise of the humble cinema has been predicted. First T.V would kill it, then Video, then the Internet and finally DVD. Yet cinema survives and is thriving. Large bookstores will survive but they will need to change radically in order to do so. If I can buy a book for 4.99 on Kindle why should I pay 11.99 in a chain store?

I wouldn't.

The price in the store must fall closer to the 4.99 price point or offer a different product mix.Cut out the middle man dealer, work directly with authors and drop the price. They should provide a space in store for self published authors to sell their work, perhaps local authors that would help draw crowds to the store.

The margin chain currently, all taking a piece of the pie.

Author-Agent-Publisher-Printer-Bookstore.

The future margin chain.

Author-Printer-Bookstore.

With two pieces of the chain eliminated prices in store could drop substantially.

Stores could also have a special edition of the book with an additional chapter or a different ending, all of these options are now viable in the world of publish on demand.
 
When I receive my Kindle I will of course update this blog on its abilities and how it compares to the paper version.

Saint Patrick Funny Cartoon

Good for a laugh!!

See more of my favourite videos at Saint Patrick Videos

Saint Patrick the Man

A major challenge I had to overcome in writing my story on Saint Patrick was how to portray the man. What kind of person was the man not the legend? Very early on in the process I made a decision that he would not be the caricature thet we see on St. Patricks Day. An old man, with a grey beard, wandering around blessing people. My Patrick was a young man on his return to Ireland, nineteen years old and full of the vigours of life. He was certainly not a saint at this point, instead he was a man filled with respect for Christianity and nature. But he also had a burning desire to right the terrible injustice that had been done to him. Before his very eyes his father had been brutally murdered and his mother sold into slavery. Patrick was then enslaved and left to rot on a near barren mountain, being hunted and nearly killed like an animal as tried to escape. This is a side of St. Patrick that has never been shown before and forms the core of the story in Patrick Warrior Saint.

Saint Patrick on Google

To drive traffic to Patrick Warrior Saint it is critical that the audience knows the site exists. Google is the number one search engine worldwide and it is vital that my blog achieves a high ranking. Regular updates of the site and multimedia content are two factors the Google bot takes into account when it crawls your site for ranking purposes. RSS feeds with keyword labels are highly rated by Google. Perhaps the most important items Google looks for are links, mainly back links but links out are also useful.

So what have I achieved so far?

Regular Updates 
Every Day I post on Blogger             
Multimedia                 
Video updates from YouTube where I have set up my own channel      
RSS Feeds                 
Key word labels from my site
Links out                     
Every Post has a link to a relevant site 
Back links
From relevant bulletin boards

Result?

Patrick Warrior Saint, my take on the Saint Patrick Story, is now ranked number one for these three words in Google. Try it yourself Patrick Warrior Saint. Who would have thought that a Saint Patrick Blogger site would rise so quickly? This is a good result for a site that did not exist until two weeks ago.

The Voice Reflects the Music of Saint Patrick

I have set up a new YouTube channel  for Patrick Warrior Saint hope you like it!!

Saint Patrick YouTube

As part of writing my book Patrick Warrior Saint I am trying to use the internet to reduce costs and improve communication. I have already blogged on how I have written this book at no cost and how I will publish the book for free. Now I want to write about how I plan to reach my audience through the wonders of modern communication.
Originally I had intended to set up a website for Patrick Warrior Saint and I was expecting to pay a substantial sum for a company to perform this service. However I do follow a number of blogs and I came to the realisation that I could have the same communication with a blog and they were free to set up!! Again having carried out some research on the net I decided Blogger was the best fit for me.
How do I get people to read my blog?
Well I am using a number of techniques to achieve this aim and over the next few blogs I will detail them here.
Firstly improve content as often as possible. I update my blog every day and after updating I use rss to send my posts out into the web. Feeddemon and Google Reader are two of the best sites.
I also need to make my blog multimedia rich, in my last post I added a YouTube video, this link details how to do so Blogger YouTube In the future I hope to add my own video in support of my new book on Saint Patrick.

Ireland Today

Publish for Free

I am now appraoching the point that most writers fear the most, getting their work published. As I wrote my book Patrick Warrior Saint I spent quite some time researching the next step. I could send my book to an agent and from there on to a publishing house. Without doubt I believe this is the best way to get your book distributed in bookstores.But this process may take years and in fact the author may never see their book published. I really didn't want to spend years banging my head off a brick wall begging for a break.

So I found an alternative, I have chosen to self- publish. There are many sites that allow an author to publish on demand and after investigating the top rated sites I found that createspace met my needs.  The process is straightforward, at least in theory, more information may be found here https://www.createspace.com/
As I progress I will update on how this goes.

Some Advantages:
                    I choose when my book is published not if.
                    It won't cost me any money.
                    My book will be available on Amazon for sale in my target market.
                    I will set my own price.
                    I will do a version for Kindle or iPad,the future of books.
                    I retain full rights to my work.

Some Disadvantages:
                    It won't be in my local bookstore.
                    It will sell far fewer copies than the traditional route.

So how do these disadvantages impact on my decision? Well, because I retain the rights I can sell it myself into my local book chain, many run programmes to help local authors. As regards sales levels, I am not writing this book to make money, if that happens great. My prime motivation is to have my work published, to get my reimagining of the Saint Patrick story out there.