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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13772
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This is the book I have Kindle published.
It's taken me a while to decide to do it. Several folk here have been knd enough to pre-read it over the years. The hardest part was the design of the cover. It's not optimal. I'm interested in your opinions of the cover, what your very first impression is, not a detailed analysis.
In some territories I am allowed to create an Author Page. I've done that in UK, USA, France, Germany. Japan will follow as soon as I work their site out!!
Since I'm indulging in self promotion:
US link
UK link
Why do they keep their stores separate?
Now look, I have zero expectations that you buy it. If you have a Kindle and Amazon Prime I think you get it free. If you like it, though, please recommend it
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[Updated on: Thu, 31 January 2019 09:57]
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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You asked for opinions of the cover.
In short, it calls me in. By that I mean it reflects back to me my own inner conflict when I was a similar age to the boy on the cover and thus, it calls me to pick up the book, open it up, and discover his conflict, perhpas I will find something there that will help the younger me resolve the issues I had, or just maybe we can help each other through a difficult time.
That's my gut reaction. Beyond that the title banner across his legs bothers me. It's like it's partially hiding him from the world, which is a travesty because he needs to be seen. Does that make sense?
[Updated on: Thu, 31 January 2019 16:38]
“There's no grays, only white that's got grubby. I'm surprised you don't know that. And sin, young man, is when you treat people as things. Including yourself. That's what sin is.” - Terry Pratchett
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13772
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It does make sense, Teddy, thank you
The challenge is that the stock picture is lad in despair sitting on a suitcase. While not limited to stock pictures I have nothing of my own worth using. I decided that online purchase does not require too analytical a study, so obscured the suitcase which does not relate to the inner tale. Equally, the boy in the tale is closeted, hidden
Your analysis shows me that I have made broadly an 80% correct decision. Interestingly I seem to have sold three Kindle books! I had no expectation of selling one. I am doing this to get a physical paperback for low cost.
[Updated on: Thu, 31 January 2019 23:00]
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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I totally follow your reasoning on the title banner. I'd have probably done the same thing, faced with the same set of choices.
“There's no grays, only white that's got grubby. I'm surprised you don't know that. And sin, young man, is when you treat people as things. Including yourself. That's what sin is.” - Terry Pratchett
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American_Alex
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Toe is in the water |
Location: New York, upstate
Registered: October 2017
Messages: 98
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About the cover: Nothing on the cover says "England, mid 60's". Looks more like "California, circa 1998".
[Updated on: Thu, 31 January 2019 22:25]
"Able was I ere I saw Elba"
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13772
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"American_Alex wrote on Thu, 31 January 2019 22:25"About the cover: Nothing on the cover says "England, mid 60's". Looks more like "California, circa 1998".
--
I cannot disagree with that, though it could be boy on Welsh beach at a push. I chose the best available. I spent a long time looking. I also have an account at istockphoto, but I found nothing there either.
I was looking for:
- Boy, but not a kid
- Sadness or depression
- Ideally no facial features visible
I tried a whole slew of other stuff, but this was the best of a surprisingly limited selection. I had no preference for indoors or out. I needed off-centre, ideally left facing, displaced to the right.
Was that your first impression, or was that after thought?
[Updated on: Thu, 31 January 2019 23:10]
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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"timmy wrote on Thu, 31 January 2019 15:04"
I was looking for:
- Boy, but not a kid
- Sadness or depression
- Ideally no facial features visible
I've spent seemingly countless hours scouring the web and the stock photo sites for a story photo of exactly this same criteria. They're difficult to find in the extreme, and when you find them there's always something about them that's potentially disqualifying. It's frustrating.
“There's no grays, only white that's got grubby. I'm surprised you don't know that. And sin, young man, is when you treat people as things. Including yourself. That's what sin is.” - Terry Pratchett
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13772
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"Teddy wrote on Fri, 01 February 2019 00:38"
"timmy wrote on Thu, 31 January 2019 15:04"
I was looking for:
- Boy, but not a kid
- Sadness or depression
- Ideally no facial features visible
I've spent seemingly countless hours scouring the web and the stock photo sites for a story photo of exactly this same criteria. They're difficult to find in the extreme, and when you find them there's always something about them that's potentially disqualifying. It's frustrating.
--
Perfection is as elusive in the finding or the making of the right picture as in finding true love. Even when one finds it one has to learn to love the imperfections
[Updated on: Fri, 01 February 2019 00:53]
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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Jolyon Lewes
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Toe is in the water |
Location: SW England
Registered: September 2012
Messages: 62
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I've just bought it. The Foreword is very good. I've read sections of the story before, which Timmy has sent me and I look forward to devouring the whole book, eager to see how many similarities I can find to my own life at boarding school in the 1960s.
A comment or two about the front cover. To my eye it's too yellow. Yellow is wonderful in daffodils but it's also the colour of the quarantine flag so not a colour I favour. I'd rather the banner be in a shade of blue. The background I like - it looks sort of jaded and desolate. As for the boy, he looks a bit too modern. His pose is fine but I'm sure hair didn't start to get that long until the 1970s - unless you were a pop singer.
Jolyon
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13772
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"Jolyon Lewes wrote on Fri, 01 February 2019 09:45"I've just bought it. The Foreword is very good. I've read sections of the story before, which Timmy has sent me and I look forward to devouring the whole book, eager to see how many similarities I can find to my own life at boarding school in the 1960s.
A comment or two about the front cover. To my eye it's too yellow. Yellow is wonderful in daffodils but it's also the colour of the quarantine flag so not a colour I favour. I'd rather the banner be in a shade of blue. The background I like - it looks sort of jaded and desolate. As for the boy, he looks a bit too modern. His pose is fine but I'm sure hair didn't start to get that long until the 1970s - unless you were a pop singer.
--
You are an angel for taking a copy. Thank you.
The colour was difficult. In part it's limited by the stock photo. I favour blue too, but I could not make it work with the picture, and I could not make any other colour work.
Late 1960s, hair was lengthening. His was not untypical
[Updated on: Fri, 01 February 2019 10:42]
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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Bisexual_Guy
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Likes it here |
Location: USA Midwest
Registered: September 2015
Messages: 156
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I bought a copy over the weekend for my Kindle app on my computer.
It will probably be two or three weeks before I can read it all, because life is sometimes too busy, but I'm sure it will be interesing. I look forward to doing so.
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13772
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"Bisexual_Guy wrote on Fri, 01 February 2019 18:33"I bought a copy over the weekend for my Kindle app on my computer.
It will probably be two or three weeks before I can read it all, because life is sometimes too busy, but I'm sure it will be interesing. I look forward to doing so.
--
You are very kind. I hope it lives up to your expectations.
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13772
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Let's start with the fact that is is an obscure book from an unknown author in a minority niche. Apart from a few folk here who are interested in the niche itself, and to whom the author is known, those were all the sales I might have hoped for, but it's going better than that. I'm doing some twitter promotion in my real life account, but I only have 888 followers, very few of whom will have the slightest interest, and I've given it a punt on the site.
The Kindle Dashboard shows that 12 people have been kind, or interested, or curious enough to spend real money, albeit a small sum. It shows something else, too. There is a pool of money the Kindle Unlimited program and the Kindle Owners Lending Library pays into. It pays out based on pages read. That's pages from the Chapter 1 mark, and not the intro or foreword, and it only counts the first page read. I'm not sure how it does that since many Kindles are not connected to Amazon 100% of the time.
Folk have read 484 pages, and small royalties accrue to the author on those.
Why am I mentioning this? Well, not to crow. Getting wealthy on this is less likely than making Donald Trump the first man on the surface of the Sun. I'm mentioning it because it sets a guideline for publishing in this niche with no market awareness of the brand. I'm publishing in my real name, where I have no reputation good or ill as a writer of teenage gay coming of age material.
What it says is that Amazon's own marketing is geared to selling product. And it appears that this is a good vehicle for selling this genre of book
[Updated on: Sun, 03 February 2019 11:55]
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13772
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One of the major difficulties is publicity. My options seem to be:
- Exercise patience
- Run a PR campaign
While I am obviously interested in the concept of commercial success, I think this is a niche book that is unlikely to become a best seller, even with a huge marketing push with agencies and TV adverts. I think no film director is going to beat a path to my door for the movie rights, nor is a TV series likely. Thus, while exercising patience I am running a small PR campaign. I know of one purchase from Twitter, because the nice lady who follows me told me so. I suspect strongly that all of the others are from folk here on the forum, and from those who were curious after the last story announcement email.
So it looks as if patience will be a virtue. Unlike a more traditional tale the chapter structure is not traditional, thus it was unlikely to catch a mainstream publisher's attention, the more so because the topic is gay coming of age. So it was always going to be self publishing or web publishing. Word of mouth is the most probable, in which I include positive reviews on Amazon. But who can guarantee those?
[Updated on: Mon, 04 February 2019 01:33]
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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Mark
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Likes it here |
Location: Earth
Registered: April 2013
Messages: 279
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Well, I know that Nifty makes announcements of story publishing of this type on its main page. I don't know what the requirements are or if you're interested in advertising there, but it's something to consider.
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13772
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Good thought. I'll ask David as soon as the paperback is baked. It's in the Amazon oven at the moment
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13772
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The paperback is now out. And I have an "Author Page" though admittedly I created that. I look in all respects like a proper author
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13772
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"Mark wrote on Tue, 05 February 2019 00:41"Well, I know that Nifty makes announcements of story publishing of this type on its main page. I don't know what the requirements are or if you're interested in advertising there, but it's something to consider.
--
David has been very kind and placed it on the main landing page. Great suggestion, thank you
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13772
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"timmy wrote on Sat, 02 February 2019 19:40"Let's start with the fact that is is an obscure book from an unknown author in a minority niche. Apart from a few folk here who are interested in the niche itself, and to whom the author is known, those were all the sales I might have hoped for, but it's going better than that. I'm doing some twitter promotion in my real life account, but I only have 888 followers, very few of whom will have the slightest interest, and I've given it a punt on the site.
The Kindle Dashboard shows that 12 people have been kind, or interested, or curious enough to spend real money, albeit a small sum. It shows something else, too. There is a pool of money the Kindle Unlimited program and the Kindle Owners Lending Library pays into. It pays out based on pages read. That's pages from the Chapter 1 mark, and not the intro or foreword, and it only counts the first page read. I'm not sure how it does that since many Kindles are not connected to Amazon 100% of the time.
Folk have read 484 pages, and small royalties accrue to the author on those.
Why am I mentioning this? Well, not to crow. Getting wealthy on this is less likely than making Donald Trump the first man on the surface of the Sun. I'm mentioning it because it sets a guideline for publishing in this niche with no market awareness of the brand. I'm publishing in my real name, where I have no reputation good or ill as a writer of teenage gay coming of age material.
What it says is that Amazon's own marketing is geared to selling product. And it appears that this is a good vehicle for selling this genre of book
--
I'm enjoying this a lot. When I look at the stats it's like playing a fruit machine where I either win or get my stake back every time.
Right now I have sales in the USA, UK, Canada, and France. Not many, all Kindle, no paperbacks. I expect paperback sales to be very rare indeed
I have in addition to outright Kindle purchases readers on whom I will receive small royalties in the USA, UK, and Australia. These pages share a pool. December's pool was $23.7 Million US. I am not participating in December. January's share will be peanuts. I expect a money transfer of £2 or so! February is 'real sales' and I might have accrued so far about £20.
The thing is, the 'pages read' graphs are relatively consistent as people use Kindle Unlimited to get the book 'free' and Amazon Prime to borrow it 'free'. So it is heartening. Wealthy I will never be from this! I have gone into this for pure fun. I do have one naughty motive for a signed copy, perhaps two. And I also may donate a copy to my old school!
Those among you who are curious can have a look inside both the paperback and the Kindle on Amazon to see what on earth I am so proud of. I would like to remind you that writing it was an excellent catharsis. It helped me place my depression/obsession behind me
[Updated on: Sat, 09 February 2019 18:18]
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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"timmy wrote on Sat, 09 February 2019 10:17"
Those among you who are curious can have a look inside both the paperback and the Kindle on Amazon to see what on earth I am so proud of. I would like to remind you that writing it was an excellent catharsis. It helped me place my depression/obsession behind me
--
I wish there was a "like button" on this forum, cuz I really like this. I've found writing to be a most wonderful catharsis.
“There's no grays, only white that's got grubby. I'm surprised you don't know that. And sin, young man, is when you treat people as things. Including yourself. That's what sin is.” - Terry Pratchett
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13772
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"Teddy wrote on Sun, 10 February 2019 01:14"
"timmy wrote on Sat, 09 February 2019 10:17"
Those among you who are curious can have a look inside both the paperback and the Kindle on Amazon to see what on earth I am so proud of. I would like to remind you that writing it was an excellent catharsis. It helped me place my depression/obsession behind me
--
I wish there was a "like button" on this forum, cuz I really like this. I've found writing to be a most wonderful catharsis.
--
There kind of is. Bottom left if you scroll down, there is a tiny "Rate Topic" drop down. I am about to start a post on Writing as a Catharsis
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13772
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After 20 days and the initial small surge of interest I am unsurprised that uptake has now turned into a trickle. What I'm wondering is how to market the book. I'd appreciate thoughts, placement on other forums, good and honest revoews on Amazin from those who have enjoyed the book.
I looked at Amazon's advert program. It requires a $100 spend. That seems like a lot of money on one hand and a trivial sum on the other. I've been giving it a push with Twitter. BUt you can't just tweet "Look at MEEEEEEE!" all the time coz it pisses folk off if you do that.
This is a problem all self publishers have.
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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13th October 1965 Wednesday"How do I miss these things? Finding out I mean. Everyone else seemed to know what to do. I just missed it all."
I can so relate to this lament. It was the story of my life growing up. I don't know what the UK equivalents are for our grade levels here in the US, but from about grade 4 through the end of high school I felt this keenly. It didn't seem to matter if I was part of a group or had friends or if I was experiencing a period of aloneness. I missed out on information. I'd be in the restroom when a teacher would gather the kids and announce something, or I was off sick when our SAT's for college entrance were announced and I missed out on them becasue I didnt know so had to figure out on my own how to make up the testing. It happend all the effing time! God, I hated that! It made me feel so alone and abandoned at times.
Good book. So much I can relate to, but sooo very glad I didn't have to experience your public school system with the fagging and the seeming over the top discipline procedures all mixed up with student disciplinarians in the form of prefects. I was sent to a private christian school which turned into a private christian boarding high school for grades 9-12. That was bad enough and probably equalling out to your schooling experience to some degree. Different manifestations of the same problems.
Thanks for sharing yourself through this book.
“There's no grays, only white that's got grubby. I'm surprised you don't know that. And sin, young man, is when you treat people as things. Including yourself. That's what sin is.” - Terry Pratchett
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13772
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As far as I can tell with grades, you subtract five from one's age. In October [oopsy] 1965 I was 13, thus the grade means I subtract five years form my age, and reach 8th grade. This works properly if one is born in August, because one is then the youngest in the year or grade.
The school was odd in its application of grades, though, because it had two intake years
- Middle Fourth ~ 8th Grade, UK year 8
- Upper Fourth ~ 9th Grade, UK year 9
If you arrived as a scholarship (financial award) success you started in the Upper Fourth, thus pre-accelerated a year. Otherwise you arrived in the Middle Fourth and proceeded to the Upper Fourth a year later. Except it also had three intakes a year, September, January, and April
Fagging was actually not a hardship, though it was annoying and time consuming. Tom Brown's Schooldays this was not. We had the following tasks allocated:
- Morning milk and newspapers, take the roll to the school sergeant after it has been called out (one boy)
- Bring food to tables, and clear plates away at lunch (four tables, four boys)
- Dust the Day Room (one boy)
- Sweep the Day room (one boy)
- Dust the locker room (one boy)
- Sweep the locker room (one boy)
The rota was for each calendar week. Apart from the crates of glass third of a pint milk bottles, enough for 76 boys, which was heavy, the best was the first one. School milk was provided by the taxpayer to all school age children.
The school could have paid staff to do this, but we did that work in each of the houses, saved money which cost saving was passed to our parents, probably
Personal fagging was different. The tasks were minor. Clean Corps kit, make toast and coffee, run small errands. The fag was paid for these things.
The discipline was for all, and was rather petty, and administered by senior boys, often badly and unfairly. Boys applying the cane to other boys was something my year stamped out.
I'm glad you find the book to be worth reading. Yes, I think your private school will have been broadly equivalent with muscular Christianity unrelated to the New Testament. I was a day pupil at my school of 550 or so boys. 150 of us lived locally and were day boys. I would not have thrived as a boarder. I'd also not have met Johnny because he would have moved in differenrt circles. I'd have fallen for another boy instead.
[Updated on: Thu, 28 February 2019 12:36]
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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Mark
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Likes it here |
Location: Earth
Registered: April 2013
Messages: 279
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"timmy wrote on Wed, 27 February 2019 00:36"As far as I can tell with grades, you subtract five from one's age. In October 1865 I was 13,
--
Wow, Timmy, I didn't realize you were so old that you were born in the middle of the 19th century!
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13772
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hahahaah Nor did I. I shall go and correct that
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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"Mark wrote on Thu, 28 February 2019 04:21"
"timmy wrote on Wed, 27 February 2019 00:36"As far as I can tell with grades, you subtract five from one's age. In October 1865 I was 13,
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Wow, Timmy, I didn't realize you were so old that you were born in the middle of the 19th century!
--
Yeah, I was going to point that out but figured I'd save my impertenance for a more auspicious occasion! Perhaps I erred! 🤣
“There's no grays, only white that's got grubby. I'm surprised you don't know that. And sin, young man, is when you treat people as things. Including yourself. That's what sin is.” - Terry Pratchett
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13772
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"Teddy wrote on Thu, 28 February 2019 20:26"
"Mark wrote on Thu, 28 February 2019 04:21"
"timmy wrote on Wed, 27 February 2019 00:36"As far as I can tell with grades, you subtract five from one's age. In October 1865 I was 13,
--
Wow, Timmy, I didn't realize you were so old that you were born in the middle of the 19th century!
--
Yeah, I was going to point that out but figured I'd save my impertenance for a more auspicious occasion! Perhaps I erred! 🤣
--
Just rememebr the virtues of an old head on young shoulders!
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13772
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The thing I've been hoping for on Amazon is positive ratings and reviews. On Goodreads I have two 5 star ratings. On Amazon so far, nothing, not even inthe market, .com, where the most units (of a fairly tiny number) have been sold.
Amazon works oddly, too. Each site seems almost independent. As far as I can see, a review on (say) .co.uk does nopt appear on .com, but a review on .com appears on all other Amazon sites.
Of course, I should be used to lack of reviews, because I'm used, as are all authors here, to receiving some but not much email from readers. And the readership here is an enormous amount above the number of units I've sold.
I suppose it's vanity, really. And it was vanity publishing!
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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Tim, I actually just finished reading the Kindle version of the book around 4 AM my time. One of those nights where the shadows and the hobgoblis push in and you've got to read or go crazy. It took me all this time to read it in fits and starts. I'm a slow reader at best anyhow. It seems I have to take in each word and absorb all the aspects of its meaning before moving on to the next.
At any rate, there were so many things in this book I could relate to. I never had a counterpart to your John, but there were so many beautiful, cute, hot, or handsome boys and I crushed on them each in turn. If I did have a counterpart to John, it would have been Sidney. He was so beautiful and as his body matured it was masculine perfection; slim, muscular without being overdone, wide at the shoulder and narrow at the hips, eternally tanned skin and dark hair, but he was the kind of boy who was nice to everyone but only had one real friend. They were tied at the hips. The rest of us were there and we got on but not really friends. Recognizing that I managed to keep emotional distance, which wouldn't have happened if he'd truly allowed me into the friend category. All of my crushes came with the accompanying shame due to my evangelical raising and to societal attitudes in general.
But back to things in the book that I could palpably relate to, I so wanted to have just one sport at which I could excel so as to fit in, and never found it. Dealing with teachers who pushed me further than I was truly comfortable then refusing to provide any substantive help, even when asked. Always feeling as if there was somthing I was missing, some secret that everyone else knew and I'd not been around when the secret was revealed. Probably a list of other things as well, but those are the ones that float to the top.
I've not got into the habit of reviewing on Amazon. I tried it once quite some years back and it seemed that act resulted in a plethora of unwanted emails of all kinds in my box so have never done it again. Perhaps I'll go check out the whole review process again.
“There's no grays, only white that's got grubby. I'm surprised you don't know that. And sin, young man, is when you treat people as things. Including yourself. That's what sin is.” - Terry Pratchett
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13772
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I suspect every child growing up feels similar oddity, you know. I was lucky. I found sailing, and I'm a professional waterman today, teaching powerboating and sailing as well.
If you are in any way uncomfortable with a review, or even simply leaving a star rating, please do not get uncomfy just because I asked.
Sidney sounds a delight. I wonder what transpired between him and his real friend.
I've had nights like that, and quite often
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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"timmy wrote on Thu, 07 March 2019 11:51"Sidney sounds a delight. I wonder what transpired between him and his real friend.
He really was a delight and an all round super nice guy. It was common knowledge that he and his friend messed around with each other down at the river whilst looking at porn mags they'd found in someone's stash somewhere and stolen. I never got the impression that it was anything other than messing around. They both had various girlfriends, which is not necessarily an indicator of anything. I do know that when it came time for high school their parents separated them, sending them to different privately run schools. They both married and fathered children. His friend was killed in a motorcycle accident half a dozen years ago which is quite sad. Through Facebook I've discovered that Sidney is currently living in a very rural town here in the US.
“There's no grays, only white that's got grubby. I'm surprised you don't know that. And sin, young man, is when you treat people as things. Including yourself. That's what sin is.” - Terry Pratchett
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13772
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"Teddy wrote on Thu, 07 March 2019 19:12"
I've not got into the habit of reviewing on Amazon. I tried it once quite some years back and it seemed that act resulted in a plethora of unwanted emails of all kinds in my box so have never done it again. Perhaps I'll go check out the whole review process again.
--
I am overjoyed, truly, by your review that just appeared on Amazon. What you tell me is that the book I wrote is 'the same' as the book you read. That is what overjoys me - that I communicated the things I was feeling to you. There is no better praise than that. Thank you.
[Updated on: Sun, 10 March 2019 17:35]
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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Was happy to do it. I think I got it figured out how to prevent unwanted mail. Either that or Amazon has revised things since I last tried it. Either way, Glad you liked it and especially that your intended overall message for the book came through.
[Updated on: Mon, 11 March 2019 04:47]
“There's no grays, only white that's got grubby. I'm surprised you don't know that. And sin, young man, is when you treat people as things. Including yourself. That's what sin is.” - Terry Pratchett
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13772
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I had to remove this poem by W H Auden before publishing. There are copyright and liencimg issues. I could obviously have paid for the licence to use snippets, but it was uneconomic
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13772
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I have had another review that espouses the view that it is a boring tale.
What it shows is a kid in pain in a different time and culture working through a lengthy crisis.
Reviews are interesting because they show with precision what people feel, and that they felt it intensely enough to write it down and post it. So I thank the writer of that review, too.
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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Yeah, I went over and read that. The person seems to be seeking a story to titillate rather than to spark him/her to seek thought and deeper meaning. They seem to be a reader who's seeking superficiality, and if so, this book isn't for them.
“There's no grays, only white that's got grubby. I'm surprised you don't know that. And sin, young man, is when you treat people as things. Including yourself. That's what sin is.” - Terry Pratchett
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I commented on his review with the following:
Quote:It seems to me that it depends on what a person is seeking when reading a book. Sure, if a person is seeking something to titillate or excite, then perhaps this book is not for them.
On the other hand, if a person is seeking a window into the life of many gay teen growing up in a difficult and different time, and yes, even a different culture in many respects from that of modern day London and it's environs, then this book certainly offers that glimpse, and in spades. This book teaches and entertains in a way that sparks interest in the enquiring mind; the mind that seeks to know and understand.
“There's no grays, only white that's got grubby. I'm surprised you don't know that. And sin, young man, is when you treat people as things. Including yourself. That's what sin is.” - Terry Pratchett
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13772
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I have no real idea what they hoped for. Lives are, generally, uninteresting things, of course. It is the surrounding detail that either creates interest or fails to.
It is not a story, not in the fictional sense, in that there is no climactic event, nor was there anything in the blurb to lead anyone to an over expectation that there should be.
The cover is the cover. As with all books it is designed to make the potential reader pick it up. Amazon lets us read a goodly snippet of the inside, too, just as when we browse in a bookstore.
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13772
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I have now done the probaly foolish thing that I proimised I would do. A copy of the book was delivered to "John Bingham" by courier today, just after lunchtime.
[Updated on: Tue, 07 May 2019 14:51]
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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