OK I know this isn't a proper blog, it's just a history of The Catalytic Programme and how I got to this stage with the novel and what my plans are for the future. You never know there might be something useful that helps you with your writing career. Also I've listed some of the books I've enjoyed reading in the past, you might like to try them yourself and I've written some of my thoughts about living and life in this twenty first century.

The idea for The Catalytic Programme came to me a long time ago. It came about because I don't like banks. I think a lot of people will agree with that statement considering the state of the World's economy as a result of banking’s foolishness and greed. You used to go and sit with your bank manager discuss your finances or perhaps a loan and if he considered you to be a safe bet then all was fine. Then computers took over and the personal touch disappeared. Then the banks changed the computer parameters and we find ourselves in the present financial mess. But enough, The Catalytic Programme isn't about banking per se, it's about an ordinary man who, because he is a banker, becomes involved when the system is manipulated for nefarious reasons.

The story is set in the unspecified recent past but to give you a clue, Concorde was still flying which isn’t so long ago. The action is world wide and features many plots and twists which lead our hero to think he is being constantly betrayed.

Under the Eagle by Simon Scarrow

My rating: 5 of 5 stars An excellent book, I've read up to book 6 of the "Eagle" series and can thoroughly recommend them. There's a fair bit of Roman history plus a good yarn




I wrote the first half of the novel a few years ago and just left it sitting on the shelf. Sandra picked it up and encouraged me to get the work finished. I read it through and realised why I had stopped writing, it was in the middle of one chapter that I just couldn’t pull together. It took me a couple of weeks to get that chapter completed and then the rest of the book just flowed. So if you are writing and you get “writers block” for want of another name just keep plugging away, you’ll get through it eventually.

The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum

My rating: 3 of 5 stars I read most of Robert Ludlums early works and the Bourne Novels were by far the best. I really enjoy this style of complicated novel with secretive groups trying to change the order of things. His later works however have become tedious and unrealistic, too far fetched, his heros conveniently knowing obscure languages and having marvelous skills that get them out of impossible situations.


I finished The Catalytic Programme towards the end of 2007 and have spent some considerable time editing the work to try and get it perfect for the viewing public, no easy task. The next eighteen months were spent approaching literary agents and publishers with the manuscript trying to generate some interest. I now think I know every reason a publishing professional can give to reject your work. There was everything from "it's not quite what we are looking for" to "I liked your work but didn't love it". Now these people must get through an awful lot of manuscripts so I recognise that they are looking out for what they would consider to be the next best seller, but it is hard to take and it would be easy for despair to set in. However, at the back of my mind were the comments from all the people who had read the draft copy and all said the same The Catalytic Programme was good enough to be published and some added that it was a lot better than some of the books from established authors. I’ll add that there was some criticism which I took on board.

When The Bough Breaks by Jonathan Kellerman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars Jonathan Kellerman certainly puts a good story together with believable characters and a plot you can believe in. I look forward to reading more of his work in the future.



I then considered self-publishing which every opionion seemed to believe was a fool's game. Another name is vanity publishing which kind of gives the game away. I looked this up on the internet and have got to say the prices are prohibitive. Just getting your book into print could cost of £450.00 and any add-ons like marketing, posters, advertising etc could quickly bring the costs into the thousands. Not something I wanted to get involved in.


The Runaway Jury by John Grisham

My rating: 5 of 5 stars John Grisham usually writes books about the legal system in the USA, but always with a twist. If you like a court room drama John Grisham is the author for you. I've read a lot of his work and would highly recommend his books. View all my reviews >>




I heard from somewhere about a website called Worthy of Publishing (Look for it in my Links page). Here I could upload some of the chapters of my book so a broader spectrum of readers could view it. Again the comments were good but nothing further happened. Then someone told me about another website Authonomy. This was an off shoot of Harper Collins one of the UK’s biggest publishing houses. It was similar to Worthy of Publishing but much bigger with a lot more going on and there was the promise that some of the top titles as selected by the Authonomy viewers and management would be published through Harper Collins. I uploaded some chapters from The Catalytic Programme and then found out that you needed to spend a lot of time online taking part in the Authonomy forum to get your book noticed, time I didn’t have. It was interesting though in the early days of my Authonomy involvement when I did take part in the forums. My book has a prologue, opinion was very divided about whether books should have a prologue or not, a huge debate took place on this subject. I don’t do vast descriptions of the characters in my book, just a broad outline. I believe the reader will have enough imagination to picture what the character looks like. Personally unless it is vital to the story I can’t see how a description of what someone is wearing as being relevant, unless it is to pad the book out a bit. Again there was a huge discussion on this subject in the Authonomy forum. Some people I found out do like a full description of their characters. So if you put ten people together you’ll get ten different opinions. I listened, considered and then went my own way with a few modifications.

Through Authonomy I then heard about Createspace and their unique opportunity for unpublished authors. A chance to see your book in print with no up front fees and most importantly, because Createspace is part of Amazon.com, your book will go on sale to the general public via the Amazon.com website, the world’s biggest on-line retailer. This was a chance not to be missed.

I'll carry on with more of the story another day.