Hello, campers!

Nine months is a long time to be absent from a blog. A pregnant pause indeed!

Though, in my flimsy defence, I've always been crap at keeping a diary. Diaries are things that other people impose on me.

Anyways: what's up, Rik?

Well, thank you for asking, dear reader. The most important what's up that I need to report is that I am still actively seeking employment. I did manage to get a job last October - seasonal work that took me through to January - though, truth be told, I ended up a lot poorer from the experience. Since then, I average 5-6 job applications a week, and get responses on them maybe 2-3 times a month. I've had 3 job interviews in 6 months.

This may interest you: one employment agent came back with the feedback: 'your online portfolio is a little underwhelming'. Huh? But any feedback is good feedback, so I decided to do something about it. Over three months I developed an entire JavaScript library from scratch. I use it to draw stuff on websites using a canvas element. It's good stuff. I've even overcome my loathing of Twitter to tweet about it! (I currently have 12 followers - ain'tcha just proud of me?)

What I haven't got from all this intense coding activity is ... a job.

Whatever. Here it is. Enjoy!

Vreski Wards website redesign

In my ever-more-desperate attempts to garner a job offer, I've been redesigning bits of my website, to act as a portfolio of what I can do.

The latest update is to the Vreski Wards pages. I originally coded this playful little site as a Facebook App, specifically for promoting my first Novel.

This recode is far more ambitious, as I'm using it as a demonstration both of my coding skills (the code includes jQuery, raphael.js and moment.js tidbits) and my ability to build a fairly pleasing user front-end.

Vreski wards website
Vreski wards facebook app
Vreski wards facebook community page

jQuery gets more fantastic the more it matures. There's AJAX stuff hidden within the slidey pages and snazzy tags magic - who knew that AJAX could be made so simple to code up, huh?

And Raphael makes web graphics do-able - which is a godsend for me as I've never been able to play nicely with flash.

As to the Vreski Wards themselves? It's nice to have finally finished all the text snippets (including 90 sprite descriptions). The new site is finished, and polished, and a vast improvement on the old site. I'm proud to have it as part of my portfolio.

It's a bit of fun - feel free to enjoy it. (And buy my book!)

All quiet on the quiet front?

Indeed no. I wish it were quieter but, since the last post, I have:

- almost completed all of my crimbotide shopping, and put up decorations and stuff
- got my teeth fixed, and a new pair of glasses
- struggled manfully through a bout of manflu (which wasn't swineflu)
- started learning about how to write stage plays for my OU creative writing course
- submitted lots of applications for lots of jobs

But the most important bits of news are that I have started investigating the possibilities of becoming self-employed, because I have been signing on for 6 months now and it's becoming obvious that there's no Rik-shaped jobs out there (I'm either overqualified or lacking a degree) ... more news on this as and when it develops.

And, most exciting of all, I'm reworking my second novel - SpinTrap. This is taking what I've done before, massively improving the writing and generally getting it back on track (I've discovered the plot! Huzzah!). The work to date can be viewed on Authonomy; comments, crits and feedback are all very generously welcomed.

At the crossroads: decision time

As you both know, I have been writing a book. I started writing the book before I took the redundancy money and ran away from the civil service, and I have continued writing the book since then. Over the past year I have been touting the book around agents and publishers, looking for someone to legitimise my wastrel pastime by agreeing to publish and promote my tome. It has certainly been a learning experience, and not only in futility.

Unfortunately, all good things come to an end; as the redundancy money runs out I find myself having to review my goals and reassess what I want to achieve from my endeavours.

And what I most want out of life is for people to read - and enjoy - my book.

Things that don't seem so important to me at this point in time include:

• Recognition - it's the book that's important, not me


• Acclamation - while a small bucket of kudos from fellow writers would be nice, it isn't the keystone of my desires


• Wealth - being able to support my wastrel existence on the back of book sales was (and still is) a nice dream, but was never likely to unfold into a new reality for me

The timescales of getting a book published annoy me. The book publishing industry is built on one of the strangest commercial models I've ever come across - acceptance of the product, its further development, deployment and promotion: it's all a barrel of wierdness, I tell you. The pricing and return strategies are a whole different planet of surreality!

Add to the mix a good dose of disruptive innovations such as the eBook phenomenon and new retail strategies such as the Agency model all the publishing blogs are chattering about ...

I've come to a decision. Over the next few weeks I'm going to self-publish - sorry, independently publish my book, The Gods in the Jungle. This is not me quitting on my original aims; rather I'm adapting to evolving circumstances and realigning my hopes and desires for the book.

I'm not alone: look at what John Wideman's doing.

So, over the next few weeks I'll be finalising the book for publication in hardback format via lulu.com - and only available for purchase from lulu.com, because I don't see why I need to double the retail cost of the book just so Amazon can offer 50% discounts on it; I'll also be providing eBook versions for sale through Smashwords because, as Nathan says, it's the future, innit.

Also, I'll be updating the Kalieda Encyclopaedia section on the Vreski Society, as that is where the story takes place, and additionally developing a brand new section of the Rikweb to give the book it's own home page - with all the information that would otherwise have to be stuffed into appendices and the like (which would drive up the cost of the book).

After that I might dabble in a little promotion work, but my main priority will be to get on with finishing my other two (or three) books - with a goal of publishing them before the end of the year. Oh, and finding paid employment I suppose. Gotta keep up with the calorie intake else nothing's gonna happen.


(With thanks to Reb for helping to clarify things for me).

On reporting the book submission process

I've just come across a blog post by the Doyenne of Blogging Agents Janet Reid, explaining why it is not a good idea for budding authors to publicise their rejections on their blogs. The post was made just as I jetted off on my holidays, hence my lack of speed on noticing it.

Ms Reid makes some excellent points; this is advice that really should be followed by anyone seriously interested in being published.

And yet ... and yet ...

Yes, I am very seriously interested in having my book published. I think The Gods in the Jungle had good commercial potential and could (with a touch of luck and a twitch of inspired viral marketing) make some money for all who choose to hitch their wagons to it.

But I'm not going to stop reporting on my submission process on this here blog. First, because it is An Adventure, and thus blog-worthy news. Second, because I'm exploring what sort of service an unpublished author can expect to receive from the various slushpiles our work gets submitted to. And third, because a little feedback and a link to the agent's web presence never harms no-one - especially when the agencies concerned take that feedback for what it is: one person's opinion.

If this upsets some agents, then I have to wonder whether they care more for their business, or whether it really is all about their public persona's ego.

As to doubting whether an agent can trust a writer who seemingly blogs about things that they ought to stay quiet about, you'll both notice that I've made no further reference to the Jobhunting post I published here a month back. Why not? Because when I sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement, I stick to it. Rigidly. Even if I didn't land the job. Similarly, there have been many, many times when I've read the news and felt the urge to post anecdotes concerning various policies (and politicians) from my days of working in the Civil Service. But I've resisted the temptation, because I believe such anecdotes belong in a personal diary, not a blog.

It's called "being professional when it comes to work".

Normal services shall resume shortly ....

Jobhunting

Looks like the redundancy money will be running out quicker than I had hoped. Which means that I'm starting the process of looking for work. Though I won't have to look to hard this side of crimbotide. Bastard bankers and politicians ruining the economy.

Anyways, the CV is loaded onto the Guardian Jobs website (at least I think it is - they're sending me links to jobs they think I'll be interested in). This time next year I'll probably be comfortable in the shackles chaining me to the office workstation, and resigned to the daily commute.

In the meantime, I still have the luxury of applying for jobs that are a little more off the wall. I'm currently pulling together a submission for a work contract in a creative area rarely trod by others; the competition looks stiff, but you never know. The rewards, should I win the contract, will be modest - though there may be a credit involved too, my name appearing in the listings somewhere alongside Best Boy, Dolly Grip, and Assistant Teamaker to the Executive Producer's Chauffeur. More I cannot say: merely to bid for the contract I've had to sign papers promising to mention or discuss nothing (beyond what is already public knowledge) about the work or the employers. What I can say is that this opportunity excites me far, far more than any of the posting adverts the Guardian is ever likely to send my way.