Now, go to the corner and don’t say another word until you’ve washed your mouth out

Suzanne Lenglen – a true champion

I see the world of tennis has decided to shoot itself in the foot. Again.

Some of the knuckle-draggers have lurched out of the locker room to demean the women’s game (this from a tournament CEO, in charge of promoting an event!) and complain about equal prize money (as if Novak Djokovic is short of a few bob.)

All of which flies around the world’s newspapers, websites and TV screens in the form of bad publicity. And no, that’s not a good thing. There are some professions where there truly is no such thing as bad publicity – rock or rap star, perhaps. Fiction writer for sure – those idiots need all the attention they can get. But tennis? Not so much.

All of this damages the game – and the irony is that tennis is the sport above all others where this argument should long ago have been put out with the garbage.

Because tennis, like no other sport, can boast of women champions, taken seriously, playing on the same stage as men going back not just decades but centuries. Literally. There are Wimbledon female champions up on the boards of the All England Club dating from the 1800s.

There are courts all around the world named after historic, revered women champions. Suzanne Lenglen, for example, who finished playing in 1926.

1926.

Still remembered, honoured, revered. A champion.

Are there golf clubs where the female winners are respected in this way? In most clubs, they’re still not allowed in the bar. Can football or cricket, rugby, athletics or any other sport claim to have champions the likes of Lenglen?

When we think of the true greats of the modern game, we don’t just talk about Federer and Nadal. I’d put Navratilova above all of them. And you could make a case for Graf and King and many others. And, of course, Serena. Great players, great ambassadors for the game, global celebrities.

This is unique. No other sport comes close. Many have introduced women’s codes in recent decades, which is to be supported and applauded, but they are all Johnny-come-latelys compared to tennis.

Only the Olympics treats women’s competitions as equal in the same kind of way. (A gold medal is a gold medal). Tennis, the Olympics. Not bad company to keep. Tennis should be shouting this from the rooftops. This should be the core of the marketing campaigns. Why are the slams so special? It’s not just history or five sets. It’s because both halves of the game come together for the big event. The women are there alongside the men. That’s what makes it the great spectacle. Gives it glamour. No other sport can offer anything like it.

This is, I will say it again, unique. A very strong selling point.

So what does tennis do? It shoots itself in the foot. Again.

The people who run and play the game, the ones who carp and complain about the women and their equal prize money, they need to get out of their executive lounges and their protected players areas and take a walk around the grounds sometime – especially at the slams. What they will see is men and women, in roughly equal numbers, side by side, and very often hand in hand. Courting couples. Married couples. Families. Father and mothers bringing their sons and daughters. And they can do so because there is plenty for all to see. And parents who truly love their daughters want to encourage them to go far in life and follow their dreams. Seeing women compete on an equal stage and footing is a phenomenal example for young girls to be shown.

No one involved in professional tennis should underestimate the importance of the women’s game. It is what makes the sport special. It could even be argued that it makes it more important than just another game because it sets an example which could help to improve our societies. Equality is essential, for all.

When male players whinge about how they are losing out because women get equal prize money, they lose sight of the bigger picture. A rising tide lifts all boats. If you want more prize money, promote the whole sport. Build tennis. Stop turning people away by spouting attitudes that belong in prehistory.

And these sexist comments do damage the game. Not only its reputation but visitors numbers too. Viewing figures. If the daughters and mothers turn away and don’t want to watch the sexist pigs compete, then the fathers could still bring their sons. But they’re more likely to take them fishing or to the football. The whole point of the tennis was that it was a family thing. Everyone likes that sport. Or they did, before you started insulting and demeaning half the human race.

You want to know how to improve tennis? Add more tournaments featuring both the men and women. Simple as that. I could go on, elaborate at length (I know, you guessed that much…) but for once there really is no need. Bring the two halves of the game closer together. Promote equality. There, your development plan for the next decade. Thank me later. Pay me now.

So, tennis, get a grip, get a life, join the 21st century. And if you want to develop your sport and win more fans, stop talking down half of your audience. Tell the multi-millionaires to stop whining about prize money percentages. (Really, that’s not a good look!) Start, instead, to promote your unique selling point. That’s men and women, taken seriously, equal. No other sport can come close. None will ever match the history. Women could play grand slam tennis before they could vote. You want to turn the clock back on that? If you do, then it’s time to get your head out of the gym locker and go learn about life, yourself and the world around you.

Tennis – you’re better than that. Show a little class.

Oh, and remember, when you insult, degrade and demean women, it’s your wives, girlfriends, mothers, grandmothers, daughters and granddaughters you are talking about. Is that really what you think of them?

If you’re out looking for new writers, new fiction or new types of story telling then… there are a million and one places you could start. It’s overwhelming, in fact, because the sheer volume of books being released these days is staggering.

One of the best ways to seek out new fiction, however, is the Kindle Scout program – where you can read the opening of a novel and decide whether it’s something you would like to continue – and if so, vote for it.

If you’re a van of vampires, or zombies, or vampires and zombies taking on each other with some live humans thrown in as an appetiser, all in a dystopian setting, then check out ‘Operation Compliance‘ by Bridget Esk. There’s a 5,000 opening excerpt available right now on the Kindle Scout site – with a chance to upvote the book if it’s something you’d like to read. (Hint: nominating a book costs you nothing, and you’ll be helping out a writer. You could also get a free copy once it’s published).

And, of course, my own novel ‘Monster Hunters of the Undermire‘ is also on Kindle Scout at the moment. If you have the time to check it out, and maybe even nominate if you like what you see, it would be hugely appreciated.

If you have a moment to spare (and it really will only take a moment) you could help out a struggling writer by visiting the Kindle Scout entry page for my latest novel – Monster Hunters of the Undermire.

All visits to the page will help push the book towards the ‘hot and trending’ category. So even if you don’t nominate the novel, just a simple click will boost it’s chances.

If you do care to nominate the book, then all you’ll need is an Amazon account. And if the book is eventually published, you’ll get a free copy.

If you’re not familiar with Kindle Scout, here’s the low-down:

Kindle Scout is reader-powered publishing for new, never-before-published books. It’s a place where readers help decide if a book gets published. Selected books will be published by Kindle Press …

The reason I’m considering this route for the novel is to draw on some of Amazon’s not inconsiderable marketing clout.

At this point I really should tell you much more about the book in question. But hey, there’s a 5,000 word excerpt over on the Kindle Scout page for Monster Hunters of the Undermire, so what more do you need?

Speech recognition has come a long way. I should know. Back in 2001 or so I bought speech recognition software and a headset, hoping to do away with typing all together and simply dictate my writing. That didn’t work out well because the technology was in its infancy. The transcriptions were garbled and barely usable – and it took far longer to clean them up than it would to have typed it in the first place.

So, I took the sensible step (one I should have done decades earlier) and taught myself to touch type.

However, there are still plenty of times when I wish there was a quick and easy way to transcribe conversations into text. I suspect many writers feel the same way: they may produce podcasts and want to provide a transcription; or may interview people to gain opinions and information for a book and don’t want to spend hours typing it up.

It’s not only professional writers who can benefit of course. Anyone who uses the internet much these days may come into situations where they’d benefit from a text version of some spoken audio.

If you need frequently need professional standard transcriptions, then it probably makes sense to pay up for a dedicated service or software. However, for more modest requirements, the free and easy way to transcribe audio is to convert it to a .wav file, and then run it through IBM’s free to use Watson service. [continue reading…]

The covers for my three Koriba books (prehistoric fiction) and for the speculative fiction novel Lost In Thought have all been tweaked / remade. Changes have been made on Amazon and will roll out to other venues soon. Click through to view them. [continue reading…]

There hasn’t been much news on releases and publications for a while – and that’s because I’ve been busy writing, writing, writing. And then doing some editing. And some more writing.

This does, however, mean that I now have three novels ‘in the bag’ with several more planned or about to be started. Or something like that.

So, to summarise:

‘Monster Hunters of the Undermire’ is ready to go. It’s an action adventure fantasy set in a mysterious celtic ‘otherworld.’ No dates as yet, nothing finalised. I’m checking out a few options and considering entering it into the Kindle Scout programme. This is a kind of ‘reality TV’ style, readers decide what gets published scheme which I haven’t used before – but it looks interesting. (The main benefit is getting published by Amazon itself – with all its insane marketing power).

‘The Capgras Report’ – The first two novels in a series of mystery / thrillers are now written. The first, ‘Torn Pages’ is fully edited and may be published soonish. The second, ‘Cold Monsters’, is still in first draft stage – so is many months away from being ready. The series itself will be called ‘The Capgras Report’.

Site news – This site is overdue for a revamp and some TLC. It’s likely to change to a static home page soon, with, fingers crossed, more regular updates. I’m working on some interesting ideas for regular content, but don’t want to say more until the plans are more advanced.

Cartoon by Gary Larson of The Far Side

• Write more
• Read more
• Edit more
• Publish more
• Market more
• Engage more
• Learn more
• Think more
• Create more
• Say more…
• STOP more…
• Stop and smell the roses now and then.

‘Pouring Liquid Gold’ by Dan Brown on Flickr.

Why don’t people walk away from danger? Or from conflict, stress, arguments, pressure, bad jobs, lousy marriages, ungrateful children, abusive partners?

Why don’t people move out of bad neighbourhoods, or get the heck away from war zones?

For many reasons. There are ties that bind us to people, places, organisations and situations. You don’t abandon friends and family lightly. You stay through a sense of loyalty, duty, familiarity, laziness – or something as powerful as love. People will walk into horrific danger and face death rather than betray an ideal, break a promise or let down colleagues.

You might stay in a job you hate through fear of poverty or unemployment or because one week without the pay check would hurt those you care for.

“Characters caught in a crucible won’t declare a truce and quit. They’re in it till the end.”

You and I may love our homes, but if an earthquake was coming, or a volcano was due to erupt or a nuclear plant was about to blow up, we would would doubtless up and move. Yet it’s not hard to imagine a person so bonded to a landscape or sense of place that they would rather die than ever leave. What a character that person would make for a story… [continue reading…]

Do you like books? Do you like free stuff? Then check out the invitation below. It’s a chance to expand your reading list and discover some great independent writers and authors at no expense. The deal is simple: read a book and write a review.

Here’s the official invite:

Awesome Indies Books invites you to join our Read to Review program. If you sign up, once a month we will email you details of the Awesome Indies approved books that are up for review. You then have two weeks to let us know if you’d like to read any of them. The author will then send you the book in whatever file suits your ereader.

In return for this free read, you agree to:

Post a review on the Awesome Indies Book site, Amazon, and on one other review site (eg your blog, B&N, Kobo, or Goodreads) within two months of receiving of the book.
The review should be a minimum of 100 words and include the following at the end: I received this book free from Awesome Indies Books in return for an honest review.
When completed, email the administrator the links to your review on the three sites. If for some reason you didn’t finish the book or don’t feel you can review it for any other reason, then please let us know why. If after two months you don’t leave a review and we don’t hear from you, we will remove you from the reviewers list.
All the books you’ll be offered have already passed Awesome Indies approval—that means they’re good. Though you may not like a book, we can guarantee they’ll be well-written and edited.

There’s nothing to lose – because if one month you’re not taken by any of the books, you simply don’t respond. No pressure, no commitment, but great new books available to you in return for a review. You can sign up here.

I can thoroughly recommend the Awesome Indies site and the books it promotes. (Disclaimer: they’ve been kind enough to review several of my books and given glowing recommendations to them, so I’m a little bit biased). Even if you don’t want to write reviews yourself, it’s a great site for discovering new fiction.