The state of the nation

Morning one and all

  I had intended to simply bore you further with comments about my brilliant book have you heard  its called Dead Men Lie.

Instead i am on a crusade. A thing I rarely become involved in but i experienced a lapse which must be exposed.

 As some of you will know my good lady wife is in hospital for a knee replacement. because of this i have witnessed the failing of those who work for this institution at first hand. What is evident immediately is that the concept while, creaking under the weight of work, is old the institution still works. The Government has poured no end of money into buildings new practices and state of the art machines but have failed to strike at the very fundamentals of the health service the staff. While most are diligent and hard working their is an underlying profusion of surely and uncaring staff which undermine everything that is being tried to update the service.  

Example:- The night after her operation the wife was approached by a nurse who obviously had lost her caring gene. She spoke as if talking to a child despite my wife being corpus mantis and articulate. Obviously this nurse had failed to read my wife's notes otherwise she would have been aware that my wife cannot have injections into her abdomen due to the major surgery she has undergone in that area. but no this nurse was adamant that "hospital protocol says this is where this injection goes so it was going to be administered."
 Protocols are written by fools for the guidance of idiots, a certain amount of flexibility has to be added to any protocol due to the very nature of a hospitals work. No two patients are the same what is good for 99, while have an adverse affect on the hundredth and that is where the caring side of a nurse must come in to care for that odd one percent of patients. If not then as now they receive undue publicity and lack of respect.

Example. My wife's surgeon( who I must say was great) said that pain relieve would be administered as and when needed.Untrue as soon as my wife was back on the ward time restrictions applied. Now i understand all about overdosing and the fact that medication is dangerous but when a patient is writhing in agony where is the compassion from the nursing staff? instead while the wife frantically rung her bell evidently the nurses were gathered at their station ignoring her calls by the way at the time she was unable to walk and in a side ward.    

Example. Now here is the doozy of this cataloug of disgrace. Last evening i was there when a doctor entered her room he didn't introduce himself simply stood and looked at the wife and the other woman patient. I actually asked him who he was. was he some perv there to spy on women.  I didn't know, obviously common decency and an introduction is something of the past. The stupidity of all this culminated when a nurse said that the wife couldn't have any more pain relieve because the hospital had no severodol. WHAT this is a major trauma unit and the pharmacy couldn't supply a morphine substitute. Instead i had to travel back home and get her supply then return with her own medication just so she could have pain relieve. You wouldn't get that sort of treatment in a third world country.

 There is far more to this saga but i sound a bore now needless to say this will be sent to the head of the hospital trust and a copy to the health minister if i do not receive some sort of apology then the papers will be my next port of call. What i would like to know does anyone else have similar stories? I bet you do. Perhaps i should write a book but of course no one would believe it if i did.
More soon D

a notification from a reader.

Morning all.

Just logged on and found this sitting among my e-mails. It would appear we have hit a chord among at least one reader I hope her views are shared by others. Anyway here it is in its entirety .

 Dear sir.

I felt I had to write to you as I have been following your debates about editing and your book on both your blog site and web site. At first I thought your comments were at best  naive at worst irrational. Of course editing is essential and couldn't understand why you even asked the question but then I began to understand what you meant and I took on a different view. You say you are a self-published author, as such you are deemed amateurish by almost the entire book industry. Surely that was the case some years ago but not anymore. Times have moved on and self-publishing is now considered an essential part of the industry.

What, I think, you mean is that the average self-publisher is directed down one of two routes. You either pay a fortune and vanity print, whereby a company will print whatever you send them be it good, bad or brilliant (not I fear too many of those) or you do as you have done find a gifted friend to edit your work and do the best you can. To enable me to see where your problems lay I purchased a copy of your book and was surprised. Why I hear you ask.

Well for many reasons firstly unlike others I thought the front cover intriguing and then self-explanatory. Who needs an explanation with a title like yours and a picture like that. Then the format, yes its needs tidying up, the justification is wrong as is the font size and the book could do with re-sizing, minor matters which can be fixed easily. The grammar and punctuation is a little awry, nothing too drastic and there are a few spelling mistakes which could do with removing. The story is magical, far better than some I have seen churned out by large publishing houses. The characters and place setting is pure heaven, I almost believed I was in Stormouth.

 So what can be done to correct these errors? From what you have stated and what I have now seen posted on your blogsite you are well on the way to achieving near perfection. You will never please everyone no matter how good you are but I believe you will have a book that will be the envy of many an author. More importantly you have engaged with your readers, both those who have purchased an older version and those who will be drawn to you for your honesty. I admire what you have stated, that you will supply a free copy of the book for a few weeks so those who feel slighted can obtain a new version. Well done not many authors would have thought like that.

For my own part I will have no hesitation in recommending this book to my friends, family and business acquaintances. I long to see your name on some prize list in the not too distant future. Your book deserves that at least, as does the author. Well done sir and best wishes.

 Mrs Terresa Kirby. South West, England        

Dead Men Lie. Our revised first chapters.

Good afternoon fellow book readers and friends. 

Some of you will notice that the chapters are gone. They have been removed for final editing the next time you see them will be in print condition.

 We are burning many a candle in an effort to bring this edition to you the readers in the cleanest form we can manage. Our fingers are rubbed raw with the exertion, while our brains are once again turned to mush. 

Anyway control yourselves while waiting for the completed manuscript, it won't take long to do sometime in November is still our target date. Until our next episode keep reading for only through reading will we discover our mistakes.

 In the meantime enjoy this view  supplied by a friend in Canada.

                      

Stormouth Rocks

Afternoon All.

  Not much happening here, awaiting more edits for the book, think the editor has taken a rather long, possibly liquid, lunch. So while I sit and wait I am in reflective mood. I am cogitating what I can do with the next book. The Smugglers Song is all but complete though I admit I have done little to it since starting this re-editing of Dead Men Lie. One  month should see it in the hands of the editor and then watch out. My friend appears to have abandoned me so the ghost writing is for the moment on the back burner hopefully we will return to it in the fullness of time.

 As an means of keeping the old brain working I have started on two new books one entitled the Lady Athena is a crime novel, something which I started many moons ago and to which I return to when the mood takes me. While the other is a story set around a town during the first war and one man's story therein. it is a bit of a heart string tugger as the hundred anniversary of the start of that war approaches. I have entitled it Suffer the Children, that will not be the final title but as most of you know I need a title before the words flow.

 Today i am researching tomorrow if the editor is still  feeling a little under the weather I will add the second chapter to this story and who knows where it will go after that? more importantly does anyone care?Is there anyone out there reading this? Oh yes there you are welcome to our Welsh friends.
 More later
D        




Monday 16th

 A day of records , firstly our website is just a year old and last night we broke through the 5000 visitor barrier well done and thank you all for visiting. More importantly we have had our first Welsh visitor greetings to whoever they are hope they return. As an added incentive, this blogsite has been viewed 3692 times in 6 months all we now need to do is release Dead Men Lie revamped and reworked and we can pat ourselves on the back.

Once again thank you all for looking at our work.
D



 Revealed in the early dawn yet another grizzly day. No hope of getting onto the plot and repairing the damage done so once Alexis is off to pre-school the computer will once again become my best friend.

So far we are making good progress with the re-write. All of the abysmal errors have been removed in the first few chapters, there has been some tweaking of the story and council has been replaced with counsel.  We are still ensconced in the colonies with Samuel Worthington but those who have read the previous editions will see a marked improvement in format, composition, grammar and throat gripping suspense (for want of a different definition.)

We are still looking for a November re-launch and no one has submitted their requirements ie food booze or entertainment. Tickets will be limited, so place your order now if you wish to be part of this exciting evening. Don't forget bring you cyber pals as well. Our re launch will take place here so keep an eye open for further news.

Until later spread the word, Dead Men Lie is coming back bigger bolder brasher and more brilliant than ever before.

D

 Hello all

 So its Saturday the weather forecaster said we would have drizzle for the morning with clearing skies in the evening. Such a pity the do not look out of their windows and examine the world for real. here in the South east corner of jolly old England we have had persistent rain since about 4am and only now has it eased its still overcast and we have a small window of opportunity before the first storm of winter hits later tonight tomorrow morning.

 At least we have done some more work of dead Men Lie, it really is beginning to rock even if i say so myself. Now we come to the thorny question of where do the page numbers go is it top middle or off center, bottom middle off center, should they be bold or italic. As for headers well that is a whole new question to which there are so many answers. it seems like you pays your money and takes your choice.

 Now the venue is booked for the re-launch the cyber champers ordered and the byte sized sausage rolls ordered but how many are attending i have limited space so book soon to avoid disappointment.

speak soon
D    


Sunday 15th

Yeah i have succeeded in pleasing my editor, she like something i did and hasn't ordered me to change it success at last.
D

A chastened Author

Good Morning.

  I am not the sort to admit to being in the wrong. It is is trait I dislike immensely but sometimes there comes a time when you have to bow to the inevitable and accept that others are correct and you have been blind for far too long. It happened occasionally while working and has occurred again recently. It began with a statement and ended in an augment. The sorry fact is Dead Men Lie has issues.   

    Our book which so many have bought and read and commented upon as being a great read is littered with errors. Why has this happened? The simple answer is human error, a little vanity perhaps and not understanding the publishing industry sufficiently. We have been told the format is wrong, the text is in the wrong font, the front cover is boring and needs jazzing up, the size is incorrect and the text still contains errors. Is it that bad?

    The simple reason for this is that Dead Men Lie has gone through numerous rewrite's and edits and in that process we have become word blind and confused, our eyes have seen what we expect to see and our brain's have turned to mush. The last is case in point where the wrong edition went to print and only now have we realised our mistake. 

    What can be done? The process has already started Dead Men Lie is back with the editing staff, they are dissecting each line each paragraph each sentence, removing the repetitions, deleting the spelling mistakes (council and counsel is down to me) and once again tightening up the story. For my part the formatting is complete, the book size has altered and other factors brought to our attention completed (is anyone else aware that in America the page number goes to the top of the page while in England we like them to be central and at the bottom of the page.) Small points but evidently such things show your amateur status. Personally I have never looked at a book that closely so long as I enjoy the story that is all that concerns me.     

Dead Men Lie then is back in the repair shop being fine tuned, it will return around November ready to be tested on the race track of life. How will we present it to you the readers? That is a question that gave me a disturbed nights sleep. Those that know me realise I detest free giveaways. I think they detract from our business commitments, while allowing huge numbers of our books to be read freely. However, as a means of redemption for our lack of professionalism Dead Men Lie will, for a limited time, be made available via Amazon Kindle free of charge. For those who bought Dead Men Lie previously this will allow you to read again a more polished version. For those who bought a hard copy I will be making other arrangements for you nearer the time. 

I believe no other author has offered this sort of apology, it will cost me money but that is a small price to pay if you my loyal readers achieve a book that is as good as we can make it. So please follow our progress here and on our website davidtprocterbooks.co.uk. I promise if you were disappointed before the new version will blow you away. We might even add a new twist somewhere.

Until later thank you for your patience

Dave       


11.09.13

Morning all

 this appears to have struck a chord for which i thank all those who took the time to reply. I must say it would appear the consensus here and on the website is one of astonishment that we have taken this line of approach. Look at it as if Dead Men Lie were a car involved in  minor dent it is back in the body shop for a few dents to be removed and a bit of a respray.

 What is surprising is that some of my facebook friends have totally ignored what i said surprisingly most come from what we must call the recognised publishing industry. is this because they don;t care or have no control over their work once its in print.

That is there problem which they should redress as for Dead Men Lie we progress well and will keep you all informed as to progress and re launch date perhaps we should have some sort of on line launch party who knows how to arrange that, i will bring the nibbles.
Until our next encounter
Dave