Month: April 2018

My 3rd book The Teleporter is released!

Lee Hall Leave a comment

Let’s face it, the internet works in weird and wonderful ways. My last two book release posts had zero views and zero likes so I could be saying anything right now, like Zuckerberg is actually one of those lizard folk, or cheese is in fact political propaganda to keep us lactose intolerant…

But for those inclined, my third book THE TELEPORTER is officially available via amazon. Click here to check it out…

This time I have written what appears to a super hero comedy on the surface but has actually turned out to be something way more than the genre it’s identified by. Although yes it is still funny (I really hope!) the story faces many different modern issues in this world we live. From low self esteem and self reflection to corruption in politics and business, this one I hope will result in giving the reader something to think about all with a healthy dose of haha! But these serious issues are never treated as a joke, that’s what makes it compelling.

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So what’s the story? 

Our main character Kurt Wiseman is serial ‘drinksmith’ (cool word huh?) and a general layabout/ graphic novelist. That is until he accidentally discovers the ability to Teleport whilst investigating his corrupt millionaire media controlling Trump… I mean boss.

What follows is a story of triumph, struggle, friendship and even mild addiction as Kurt becomes the Teleporter and looks to fight injustice, not because he should, but because he chooses to. The whole morality of good vs bad is highlighted throughout the narrative as our comedy guy fights the forces laid against him.

Above all this story is about honesty and power. In these words lay the most truth I have ever told as a writer, and as long as fiction contains some element of realism then the reader can relate. 

 

I have to take this opportunity to thank my heroic book team for helping me put this together. My editor and publisher Nicky of Satin Publishing has been truly wonderful throughout the process and always contactable when needed. Her work has enhanced my story by tenfold.

Design for Writers have provided another fantastic cover managing to set a tone I could only visualize by words and they have been brilliant throughout.

My final nod is to the loyal people who have already got themselves a copy, the following I have is small but unconditional loyal and for that I must thank you a million times. This whole deal is to prove my passion is worth pursuing and my readers do that every time without fail. Thank you. 

For people old and new who are following me and reading my stuff I must implore you to leave a review via amazon, goodreads, a blog or even Facebook (Lizardberg wont mind), and remember Selfies sell books

The Teleporter is out now! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Red Headed Book Lover: A warning to Authors

Lee Hall 48 Comments

Unfortunately we live in a world that is rife with the dishonest, and this is especially so in the Uber Democracy known as the internet. A place without any real regulation. I intend for this blog entry to act as a service first and foremost to my fellow wordsmiths who have delved into the world of publishing, independent or not, it is with great importance I come to you with this.

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I don’t see other writers as competition but as fellows where we are all trying to convince the world our words exist. And it is our responsibility to look out for one another especially when our ultimate integrity is threatened. I use the word threat because what we do takes so much work and only a select will understand what that truly means, but for everyone concerned with writing books I have to do my duty for our industry. 

So here’s the story… and subsequent investigation… 

On the evening of April 19th 2018 I received an interesting email from someone called ‘Aimee Ann’ if that is ‘her’ real name is neither here or there. But what this person said is as follows… 

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Sounds good right, I thought so, and initial ideas began to stir around my head in how I was to reply in order to sound as professional as possible, that is without sounding desperate for reviews. Because all writers need more reviews and the fact I overlooked where this person got my email from I was ready to bite her hand off for a review… 

I checked out the website, and initially I was impressed. This person is good, damn good. 

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You cant deny the About section appears to be innocent and worded in such a tactical way for nobody to call bullshit. It’s all positive and draws attention away from anyone with an ounce of suspicion, that includes me. 

Of course the whole deal is written in a way to draw a level of sympathy, truth or not, and who the hell has 4 kids and still has the time to read, review and keep a damn blog up to date? I have no kids and have barely enough time to brush my hair! 

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And so I scrolled further down her rather wordy and ever so positively innocent bio, until the ultimate red flag destroyed all perception of me believing this whole deal was genuine… 

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Red flag uno… is highlighted in pink above. No pictures personally tells me there is a hell of a lot to hide but this paragraph is very clever in delivery, it’s almost dastardly, as in evil villain dastardly. And I should know a thing or two about such characters, I’m a writer…

Look how she addresses the red flag and then diverts by involving her family and then even sub diverts by making the reader forget completely about the fact there are no photos of her by mentioning the husband and even diverts that as well. 

Next comes more diversion…

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And let me state here, there is no shame in supporting military charities, but this is just another diversion away from the real facts here. All of this is to give an author a sense of security and trust. 

And that is, red flag numero dos…

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At this point I knew the dream was over. ‘She’ charges for reviews…

When it comes to paid review services most of the time they are viewed as unethical and although some will argue that paying for reviews is marketing- I’m not here on my own patch to argue or define paid reviews. Yeah there are reputable platforms out there but in my eyes if you pay someone for anything more than their time to read your work and provide an honest opinion, well that isn’t marketing… 

And so I used the google machine for a cold slap of reality to the face.

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The Alliance of Independent Authors provided me with the above testimony.  

Yes folks that’s 75 big ones for a damn review! And so I poked around the interweb some more and found only a few people have lifted the lid on the Red Headed Book Lover’s blog. 

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As you can see this email I screen grabbed from Blank Pages Revealed is identical to the one I got! 

And so my whole premise is simply to lift the lid for future authors who type Red Headed Book Lover into google and tell them simply, it’s an unethical scam! Her reviews are substandard at best and this ‘blogger’ is taking authors for an expensive ride.

I will never reply to the email, it isn’t worth any more words. All you have to do is actually read some of her reviews; they are complete and utter trash, she clearly reads the blurb and that only. Look how she never comments on style, voice and quality of writing; that’s because she has never read a damn thing!

The problem is, there are so many authors who have fallen for this. Some have even approached me saying this isn’t a scam and I should grow up. I’m just the messenger here. Reviews are basically currency for authors, especially indie ones, and so when desperation for reviews meets opportunist, Red Headed Book Lover sits there waiting, and its wrong, so wrong.  

You should ask me instead fellow writer, yes you! I review books for nothing, check out my review section via the menu above.

I can happily say that I never fell for the SCAM that is the Red Headed Book Lover and Aimee Ann and by the power vested by me as an author and creator of worlds, you are banished by the realm of genuine writers. We pride ourselves on hard work and the money we spend to give readers an escape. We can do that without paying huge costs for reviews!

Now you have read this as an author it is your duty to reach out to others and spread the word, together we can stop scams like this, one writer at a time… Avoiding scams is also one of the many subjects in my guide book for authors like you. Consistent Creative Content is out now! Find it on Amazon and own your writing career! 

The Teleporter Exclusive Cover Reveal

Lee Hall Leave a comment

Yes,you read that title correct and considering we are days away from the arrival of literature’s newest drunk super hero I thought I should share with the official cover of The Teleporter!

But that isn’t all, because you and I both know books shouldn’t be judged by their cover alone or their blurb, so let me tell you what the Teleporter is really about…

It’s a comedy…

Okay most of you already knew that, pretty much all of my marketing efforts have centered around convincing readers this story is funny, and it is. The comedy delivered by main character Kurt Wiseman can best be described as fourth wall breaking honesty. And honesty is probably the ultimate key word that runs throughout the many themes…

Honesty, really?

Yes, really, because if there is honesty or realness clung to the concept of something fictional the whole thing becomes all the more engaging and real. Trust me when I say there is more truth in this book than anything I have ever written. 

So if this book delivers the truth via fiction, then what is it really about?

That’s a damn good question because the Teleporter isn’t ruled by genre, although it identifies as a super hero comedy and yes I’ve already mentioned that but what this book is really about you ask?

It’s about power, and the responsibility of power. 

But that isn’t all because power is never a simple thing. The Teleporter firmly glares into the face of adversity when it comes to the abuse of power. This story isn’t afraid to stand up and punch many different problems society has, right in the face. And the wonderful thing is, this book was never supposed to be that at all. Much like the age we live in has become an opportunity for people to proudly stand up against stereotype, prejudice and discrimination by just being themselves. That is indeed a world where people with power do not like, and that is what drives change for the better.

As well as power, the Teleporter wraps itself in comedic satire to tackle modern politics, media control, inclusion and even addiction. This world we live in today, the internet age, is a place where all of that matters, and that is why this story is something you should read. But after all of that, it is just a comedy.

So without futher deliberation, okay just a bit more…

I set out to write something which was a departure from my usual genre and go a little more lighthearted. What I got instead was a straight shoot into the fire of modern society and all of its wonderful problems in which this world is still figuring out. Even now I have no idea how the Teleporter will be received, I’m uncomfortable and even a little nervous. Those feelings are what drives me to be a story teller, staying out of comfort and branching towards something risky and daring. The not knowing is probably the greatest and most unique feeling a writer can have, it makes us create better stories. Ladies and gentlemen, here it is, my third book The Teleporter!

 

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The Problem with…Facebook

Lee Hall Leave a comment

There’s a hefty amount of conflict that swirls around the title of this post, simply because it goes against what may be the most powerful social force today, Facebook. A vision which initially began as a college project has recently been revealed to have a concerning sinister underbelly…

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Those of the living under a rock persuasion (and I admire you) may not know that very recently Facebook had their business exposed by the way of Cambridge Analytica, a somewhat evil sounding corporation straight out of a dystopian future looking to control the world by harvesting everyone’s private information. And the rub is, that fanatical  analogy doesn’t fall too far from the tree.

If you google ‘Cambridge Analytica’ you’ll see for yourself what they have been up to along with Facebook. And to put it basically, they accessed millions of user’s data without really telling them! Now the details are rich amongst the many news articles online but a figure which seems to echo throughout is 87 Million. That is the number of Facebook users who had their ‘information’ collected via a sneaky quiz app, you know the types that come up every now and then via the news feed.

So what type of information are we talking here? Now this is where some of the facts may differ but we are talking personal things here, such as; political beliefs, interests, friend’s information, phone call logs even if you didn’t use facebook to call, location and even private messages. There is even rumors of deleted information still being kept somewhere..

This is where the real power of Facebook is exposed, and its quite concerning to say the least how much they have on one person. So what is real problem here? 

Facebook are heavily known for being vague and having many grey areas when it comes to rules. Kind of like ‘do as I say, not as I do’. This poses the real issue here and that question is; what are Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg’s real intentions?

Having all this data gives a major company a lot of sway via the information gathered. It can even be used in a political sense, such as an election. President Barack Obama did exactly the same as Cambridge Analytica and was even perceived and viewed as clever for doing so. But it doesn’t matter what this information is being used for, it’s the fact they have it.

For what initially seems like an uber democracy, the internet over recent times has just become yet another place where the corporations have more control and again Facebook has proven this. It’s all about the money seemingly, and in these circumstances the conflicted arises from the fact there is no real alternative to Facebook.

Honest people like me have invested in Facebook for the use of not just socializing but for trying to launch a career in writing. I’ve had success as an author because of Facebook and the networking it provides. I have met people from across the globe because of this social network and built a following over time. There is so much good in what Facebook is, the world is much smaller and better connected place because of it, but…

Some of the worst things have come from the best of intentions and Facebook is staring down the barrel of conflicted users because of their conduct. Near enough Everyone I know uses Facebook and let’s put this into perspective.

Let’s say I developed a way to harvest millions of people’s personal information, all the way to level where I knew what they had for breakfast. I’m pretty sure the law wouldn’t just let that fly, you probably wouldn’t see me again. But Mark Zuckerberg was able to sit in front of US senators and talk about the idea of regulating Facebook and tell them he doesnt ‘feel’ like he has a monopoly.

It’s incredible that billionaire types get some kind of preference all because of money. I can almost guran-damn-tee Facebook will live to fight another day after this scandal passes and the problem is for people like me, is that’s the result I kind of need to continue a decent social media presence. We have no choice but to carry on. Even if millions of people delete Facebook, or a token celebrity tries to make some political deal about it, they will still stand. For as long as the internet is floating in the airwaves there is no real way to put any real lawful control across the globe for it.

So I guess for now life will continue with needless selfies, an overabundance of emojis, name tests and vague attention fishing statuses… Every now and then Facebook brings something good but that frequency is dying.

Have you deleted Facebook? Or are you like me and need to reach followers  in order to promote books. Speaking of books,

The Teleporter arrives in just a few weeks, there,will,be, booze!