When The World Becomes Braille by Mustafa Ozalcin

September 11, 2016September 11, 20161 Comment

Helllllo readers, it’s a Monday morning but that’s no reason to despair #mondayfunday and all that. I have a fantastic guest post today from a fantastic author Mustafa Ozalcin, so let’s not waste any time. Onto the Q +A!

If you were to describe your book “When The World Becomes Braille” in only three sentences what would you say? (They don’t have to be short sentences?)

Firstly I just want say thank you for having me on My Little Book Blog….

So three sentences? Well… The book is the first part of a trilogy, where the story revolves around the at times debaucherous adventures and relationships of the central character Chris and his lifelong friends, which he recounts first hand through what he describes as a diary, even though there are no real dates mentioned. It’s a modern life drama slash comedy with spiritual and some may say paranormal undertones, but I don’t really like the term paranormal because it makes it sound “science fictiony”, which “When The World Becomes Braille” definitely isn’t, it’s very much real life. Lastly there’s a lot of sharp dialogue where the conversations are funny and touching and from the feedback I’ve received, have really resonated with people who grew up in the 80’s and 90’s.

Where did the inspiration for the book come from? Is there a story behind the book?

Like many people, I love reading. And watching movies. When we read books, we picture the scenes. When I watch a movie, if it’s good, like Goodfellas or Stand By Me or The Breakfast Club, I’ll watch it over and over again and dissect what it is that makes it great. For me, most of the time it’s the dialogue and the tone. And that’s obviously initially created in the writing, whether it’s from a script or a novel. I hate clichés but I literally (pun intended) always wanted to write “something”, even if it was just personal. And that’s how “When The World Becomes Braille” originally started out; as a personal bit of story writing. Then a friend found it and I let him read it. And he absolutely loved it. For years he would ask if I’d written the next chapters, which I hadn’t. I wrote the original draft in 1999!

Could you give an insight into your writing process?

When the mood grabs me I just write and let it flow. There are times when I don’t feel in the mood to write, like when Liverpool lose! But generally I try to remain disciplined and put something down even if I’m not feeling creative. If after a while nothing great comes to mind, I’ll stop and do something else. But more often than not it’s best to just persevere and eventually the ideas pour out. I normally write the outline plot and dialogue first and colour in the detail during the numerous edits.

Which character did you enjoy writing and evolving the most? Who’s your favorite!

I really enjoyed developing Chris. He’s a bit of a diamond in the rough and beginning to realise there’s more to life than partying, drugs and women. Without wishing to give too much away from future instalments, it’s been interesting trying to transition him from boy-man to man-man. He’s like a cross between Hugh Jackman and Hugh Grant! But my favourite has to be Omar. He’s based on someone I know, so very easy to write about. And a special mention for Rachel who is a very strong character and I can say she’s more prominent in Part 2.

Can you tell us a little about the trilogy, where it’s going?

So Part 1 (“One Night in the 90’s”) is essentially an introduction to the main characters and wider plot. Chris is trying to ignore, or maybe reject is a better word, his conscience; and that he’s receiving signs that he may not be doing the right thing or taking the right courses of action where his life, and maybe those that his actions will affect are concerned. Again, without wishing to give too much away, we live in an age where people are more and more socially aware becoming more socially responsible. Some may think I’m being naive with that comment. But regardless, I believe people generally have good souls, even though there is a lot of corporate greed. But I’m going off track. In essence the story will continue to evolve around scenes that everyday people experience in real life, that maybe they’re not fully aware of or uncomfortable accepting… and “what if?” scenarios, all on a grander scale. Peppered with the same doses of humor readers will be familiar with from Part 1.

How can readers discover more about you and you work?

I’m very active on Facebook, so my Facebook page would be a good place. I also really enjoy working on my website, ozalcin.com, which I do all of the work on myself. From time to time I like to blog about other stuff while I let ideas stew and that’s all on the website as well.

So there you have it, a fantastic book from Mustafa Ozalcin. All the links to discover more about this fantastic book are below and have a fantastic Monday readers!

Linnnnnnnks

Author Website

Author’s Twitter

Author’s Facebook

7 tips for protecting your Kindle: A Guest Post from Case Happy.

October 5, 2015October 5, 20157 Comments

If you are considering making the transition from hardback books to digital books you have a fun journey ahead of you. The Kindle provides lots of fun and is not too overwhelming to get your head around although it may feel a little different to regular paperback books. As you take the time to navigate around your new device you will soon pick up lots of tricks and tips.

To help you we have come up with seven tips for protecting your Kindle including shopping for Kindle cases, ways to protect your device and how to minimise battery usage. I asked Case Happy a Kindle cases provider for tips and they were happy to discuss in a little more detail.

SAVE THE BATTERY LIFE

New Kindle owners are often not aware that an active wireless connection can drain your battery. The majority of the time you only need to access the internet for a few minutes to download or purchase a Kindle book so turn the Wi-Fi off and only turn it on when you need it.

SHOP FOR KINDLE CASES

One of the biggest benefits of owning a Kindle is the ability to take it with you everywhere. Protect your Kindle from falls and accidental knocks with a Kindle case from Case Happy. Shopping for Kindle cases can be a lot of fun as you will quickly notice there is plenty of choice on the market. There really is something for everyone.

Did you know Kindle cases are effective at gripping surface space? Many have additional features such as an automatic on/off feature when you close and open the cover

SAMPLE BOOKS BEFORE YOU BUY THEM

It can be very easy to buy every book on the Kindle store. Unfortunately you only have so much time to read so many books. Be wiser with your choices and sample books before you commit to purchasing. If you like the sample then purchase the books you are most drawn in by.

MAKE THE FONT LARGER

If you find at bedtime when the lighting is not as bright your eyes struggling to adjust, give your eyes a rest and adjust the font size.

PUT ADEQUATE SECURITY ON YOUR KINDLE

Not only is it important to protect the exterior of your device with Kindle cases you need to put the relevant controls in place to secure the interior. A password will protect any information you have on your Kindle. Putting sufficient security in place will also reduce the chance of people looking at your content without permission to do so.

If you have children, consider putting the child lock on too.

LEARN NEW THINGS

Your Kindle gives you almost the same features as you would expect from you hardback. You can look up certain words with the built in dictionary or write notes on the side of pages. You can even highlight sections and bookmark. Don’t be overwhelmed by all these extra features, you will soon get the hand of them.

PROTECT YOUR SCREEN

A large proportion of the Kindle is made of an LCD screen and it can be very easy to damage this. We cannot stress how important Kindle cases are; they look good but they will also provide sufficient protection from falls. It can be very easy for your Kindle to fall from the side of your bed so protect it with Kindle cases.

There you have a couple of handy tips for looking after your Kindle. As always thank you to Case Happy for such a lovely little article, hope all you bookish readers enjoyed! Also, if you’re looking to invest in a new case – Case Happy have a really brilliant selection for you to take a browse through!

A Guest Post for MLBB: Thoughts about Reading Books while Writing Books

September 2, 2015September 2, 20159 Comments

Consider the obvious when an author names one of their hobbies being reading. That would make a lot of sense; in a call-and-response kind of matter. An author wouldn’t be in the profession they’re in now if they didn’t read in their spare time and any author that doesn’t read is one that ought to not be trusted.

As an author myself, I too am just as adamant about reading as I am about writing, and an activity like that doesn’t stop when I’m creating reading material myself. I still read, amidst the story that’s swirling in my own head… and it’s the balance regarding switching between two different, fictional worlds at a time that remains to be a challenge.

I’ve been a published author for a little over a year now. I released my debut novel, “A Moment’s Worth,” last year, and I’m currently in the editing stage for my second novel. I wrote the draft for the second novel in a little over six months, and during that time, I read a total of 10 books. Some of the books include: “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho, “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running” by Haruki Murakami, “Looking for Alaska” by John Green, “Ready Player One” by Ernest Cline, and “The Sun Gods” by Jay Rubin. These along with a graphic novel, a poetry collection, and a short story collection make up some of the books I’ve read during the drafting period for the second novel.

Anyone familiar with these titles knows that they’re not at all similar to one another. Sure, some of them may share similar strands, but they’re all just as different as they can get. One of them could easily be an incredibly long proverb with a plot, one of them easily falls under the historical fiction genre, one of them is a memoir, and one of them is yet another addition to the heightened dystopian genre. All the while, over on my end of the fiction sphere, without giving away my yet-to-be disclosed synopsis, I’ve been working on a novel that is more or less science/utopian fiction, with a twist of civil rights infused.

For that matter, with the material in my head and whatever material I’ve been reading have, for the most part, differed greatly, and one can imagine how mind boggling it can get when jumping between works like that. One minute I may be writing a really heavy scene for my book, the next minute I’m reading up about how two gods from Filipino folklore came together and fell in love. It’s exhausting!
Words in books, when crafted in as clever of a way possible, can be powerful, and sometimes influential; so much as to where it can deter between passing through your mind without a second thought, or manifesting itself in your mind into a whole new thought experiment. In other words, you have a choice between being influenced by the work you’re reading, or not at all.

Out of the books that I’ve read during the drafting period, there were a few that I chose for thematic purposes; in attempt to further develop ideas of my own. I did something similar while writing my first novel; where I read a heap of David Mitchell’s novels, and I let them manifest in my head and aid me in the direction I wanted to take. I always say that it’s okay to have influences and inspirations, so long as you’re not stabbing them in the back and completely ripping them off.

As for the books where I just want to read and enjoy and not mesh with the story in my head, I treat those in a different way. I treat books like those similar to how I would visit a different country; where I would respect the laws and customs there. I’m only there for a limited period of time before I’m on my way. For that matter, that’s why I’ve managed to switch between writing my novel, and then go off to read something completely different, like a fantasy tale or something. I don’t know if it’s from my nature as a bookworm that I’m able to do this, or my skills as a writer where I can simply get lost in my own world.

Either way, this is how I’m able to continue reading the books that I want to read while writing the books I want to write. It’s all about deciding which books you want to be influenced by, and which ones you simply want to “visit.” Just be sure that something is gained from the chosen path.

“Reading about journeys while on a journey is an intensely stimulating experience” –Umberto Eco

Written by Lauren Lola

Linkkkkks

Guest Post: Shannon Bradford

April 1, 2014April 18, 20149 Comments

So, a couple of weeks ago I asked you lovely bloggers if you you would like to be my guest blogger, and yesterday I received this lovely little post fro Shannon that fits perfectly! If you have a minute check out her blog at ‘www.readingwritingcreating.com’! (It’s definitely worth a look, trust me!)

When Books Betray You

I have a small secret. My husband of (almost) thirteen years is not the love of my life. No, I’m not having an affair, and I’m not pining over a lost love. Unless of course you count fictional characters as having the potential to be the one who got away.

The truth is the real love of my life is books. Not any one book in particular; I’ve had relationships with many different books. There have been more innocent crushes than I can count. There have been a few steamy loves; with action hot enough I worried about scorching the pages. I’ve fallen in love, sometimes several times in one night. I’ve even run away a few times, travelling to distant lands with people I have barely met. I’ve waged wars, and been on both the winning and the losing side. Every night, it’s a new adventure.

Long before I met my husband, before I had children, I was just a nerdy kid with her nose buried in a book. My books have been there for me, longer than almost anything else has. When everyone else is gone, I will still have my old friends, waiting for me just where I left them. They never judge me, never tell me I should lose ten pounds, never tell me what I just said was stupid, and never make me feel bad when it is years between visits to my favourite lands. They accept me for who I am, how I am. How could anything compare to the joy books have brought me?

This deep and lasting love makes it even worse when books betray me.

I’ve had friends before who say one thing to your face, and another behind your back. I’ve had girls smiling sweetly, while they try to take my job. I’m almost used to humans not being what they say they are. Everyone has an agenda, and it is amazingly easy for many people to throw someone else under the bus if it helps them get what they want.

Books are not supposed to be like that. Books are supposed to tell you a story, teach you a lesson, or take you on an adventure. I don’t require books to have a happy ending. I like it when my friends are okay when the book is over. I worry about them when the story ends; it does make me feel better to know they are all right. But when they don’t get everything they want, I can be okay with that. As long as it makes sense, I can be all right with any kind of ending.

Sometimes, though, I cannot accept the way the books ends.

I’m sure everyone has been there. Reading happily along, and suddenly, BAM. Your universe is collapsing around you. It’s the love story that ends with someone being hit by a car and dying. It’s the adventure that ends when the hero wakes up and realises it was all a dream. It’s the murder mystery that brings in a random stranger who has not been mentioned before and had no motive as the killer. It’s every clichéd over done ending that somehow makes it past editing and into the general population and every teenage couple that is deeply devoted to each other within moments of spotting each other across the cafeteria.

Every time a writer gets a little lazy, they, and by extension their book, betray the reader.

We, the readers, spend our time and money, investing in the fates of these characters. We have a right to expect quality story telling. We have a right to expect authors to put more thought into their book than in how they plan to spend the royalties. We have the right to expect our books to follow a logical progression. Even when we are surprised, we should be able to look back and say, “Yes, that is how it should have been.”

What can we do when our books betray us? Do we take to the blogs, and trash the book, the writer, the agent, the editor, the cashier at the bookstore, everyone who had any hand in bringing this book into our lives? Should I create the angriest tweet possible within 140 characters? Do we bring back the book burnings, crying into the flames, begging for the ending that should have been?

No. Of course not.

You cry, you rage, you throw the book across the room, and when you are done, you pick it up, and you forgive it. Even if the book was not there for you, you are still there for them.

Because this is true love.