Author's Notes

If you are reading this first blog for my newly created (yep, a work in progress at the moment) website, then thank you! I have realised since taking up the writer’s pen in earnest, at the tender age of, let’s call it late fifties, while entering a semi-retirement stage of life, that being an author can be quite a lonely existence. Not in a horrible Billy No Mates sort of way, but in the sense that for much of the time I live in a parallel universe, outside the norm of simple human interaction.

On one hand, there is my current adult book project, Cornerstone Chronicles, which fills my head with Anglican Church levities, holy relics and Midsomer Murders style plotting: and then there is Copter Duck; in summary, Animal Farm meets Chicken Run -  as I have been told on several occasions by early reviewers. To be honest, this is like having chalk and cheese in the brain, adult narratives and young reader storylines mixed together simultaneously, a splurge of imagination that at times can bring madness to the surface. My suffering wife attests to this phenomenon. Writeritis is a term Diana has used on occasion.

So, where to focus a supporting Blog? Which theme or themes to explore? And more importantly, does it matter in the grand scheme of things? Perhaps not, for who am I to push a scrambled collection of author ramblings onto others? Then it hit me. A small eureka moment that often happens after a strong café latte.

Many books have standard sections, a dedication, a preface, a foreword, and perhaps a prologue. Each serving a distinct purpose. However, if you wish to delve deeper into the author’s writing processes, or explore further exposition of the text itself, then some books include a section often referred to as author’s notes. Here, the author is seeking to explain decisions he or she has made in the story, maybe providing some background context, maybe an attempt to justify or rationalise character, plot and even ending.

 I like the way ‘author’s notes’ can take on a personal tone, reaching out to the reader, sharing the very essence as to why the book had to be written in the first place. In other words, a thank you for sharing this journey with me sentiment. This then will be the focus of my blog. A ‘let me share my writing journey with you’ sort of angle, exploring the whys and wherefores, the how this came to be, and the why was this in, and why was this left out.

So where did the idea of Copter Duck come from? My son Daniel is used to the origins story, so should not be embarrassed if shared once again. As a two year old, Daniel enjoyed his bath-time. He loved to play with a plastic helicopter – does anyone remember the Weebles! Here it is, next to the equally impressive plane!

As in the photo, Daniel’s was yellow, but instead of a Weebles’ pilot sitting at the controls, he substituted in a small plastic, yellow duck. Swooping above the water, battling sea monsters and other made up enemies, Copter Duck was born.

Over the years, the bath-time adventures turned into longer quests for heroic justice, and I started to note down ideas for a full farm-focused yarn. When Daniel was seven, I wrote what is now referred to as the ‘poem’ version; The Tales of Copter Duck. Twenty-nine (yes, that’s 29) four line stanzas of rhyming verse. In my next Author’s Notes I will self-critique this work of wonder! Somehow, after several attempts, this version can actually still be found online. God Bless Amazon. God Bless Jeska Carey for the illustrations at the time.  If you want to take a sneak-peek, then here is the link. Paul Martis? All will be revealed.

The Tales of Copter Duck eBook : Martis, Paul: Amazon.co.uk: Books