Blow your kiss hello
Seing as the author himself is reluctant to post this, here is a
nice little spot to post your reviews and comments on Blow your
kiss hello, the EXTRAORDINARILY addictive book by Andrew
James.
Me, I'm halfway through... more when I finish the journey...
Me, I'm halfway through... more when I finish the journey...
90 Comments
What I wrote on my Cloud status:
I've just finished Blow Your Kiss Hello by our own Guero Davila (aka Andrew James) . Buy it. Read it. Can't say anything else right now. Too emotional.
What I wrote on facebook:
This is a brilliant book. Mind-blowing, unique, thought-provoking, edge-of-your-seat thrilling, heart-string-pulling....I've run out of cliches. Buy it. Read it. You'll never have read a book quite like it before. I'm not sure what to do with myself now that I've finished it.
And what I wrote on Amazon:
This book is like nothing I've ever read before. It's thrilling, heartbreaking, intriguing, mind-blowing. It's rock'n'roll and crime and love and guns and quantum physics. The story and the characters completely consumed me; my real life put on hold until I finished it. And now I'm at the end, I don't know what to do with myself. So much to think about and I wish I was back at the beginning. It's definitely one to read again and again.
Back in a min with a copied/pasted version of the conversation Andrew and I have been having between our walls yesterday and today...
by Skylark 1 day ago
Just finished reading. Wow. Really. WOW! I'll pop an amazon review on when I've mopped up myself off the floor.
by Andrew James 1 day ago
May I pass you a towel? And thank you. So much
by Skylark 22 hours ago
No, thank you! I've read a lot of mediocre stuff in the last few months and it was so refreshing to get immersed in something so totally different and compelling. I've posted that amazon review now - I'm MB :-) Also, I shared on facebook and one of my friends is planning to recommend to her book group and another has bought it and my sister wants the paperback for Christmas (is that likely? Wasn't sure when you intended to launch the paper version...??). They were all hooked on the premise, as was I and I was not disappointed :-)
by Andrew James 22 hours ago
Can't tell you how glad I am that you enjoyed, but more, that you get it! BYKH isn't for everyone, I know. It's quite a personal story in some ways and...and... well, just thank you again. Paperback? Next on the list to get sorted. I'll know more within a fortnight & will keep you in the loop. And book 2 is a semi-sequel. Very different, but Peel's in it. And Bassett. And Jamie (Kokomo Records) Freeman, as a main character....
by Skylark 22 hours ago
Intriguing! I wait with baited breath for no.2 :-)
by Andrew James 22 hours ago
Might take a little while. But I'll give you a quick heads up: it's (being) written as 10 short stories ("Ten Tracks") that can be read individually, or as one whole novel. I might release the first one as a teaser before Xmas...
by Skylark 1 hour ago
Even more intrigued :-)
by Andrew James 1 hour ago
by what, by what??
by Skylark 1 hour ago
By what you posted on my wall about 'Ten Tracks' - just a long pause in our conversation last night because I went to bed before reading your last comment so I've only just caught up with it. I tell you though, you've really got me with BYKH. I can't stop thinking about it - I'm a bit of a sucker for parallel universe theories, it has to be said. Going to have to read it again because I think that now I know how it all ends, that might put a different slant on how I read some of it as it goes along, IYSWIM.
by Andrew James 1 hour ago
I am sooooo pleased. The 10 tracks thing is almost certainly going to be called 'Almost Over Now' (the initial trial story for which saw an outing on this very cloud a lifetime ago). released as 10 tracks rather than ten short stories because I want it to reflect where I think ebooks are going, i.e. more like an album - buy one story, two stories, or buy the whole novel (album). I love the idea that some characters come back and take over, but not Joe, or Thea. But it's all connected. And it'll be to do with 'that place between reality and what we don't understand'
The idea of an 'album' of short stories is interesting. Is the idea that each story will be stand-alone but with common themes that tie them altogether? I'd definitely like to see more of some of the other characters, particularly Bassett. I liked him :-) I can see why Joe and Thea couldn't come back. Their story has been told. You have me totally hooked on 'The place between reality and what we don't understand'. It kind of fits with what I like writing, though my ghosts are proper dead people ghosts rather than Nearly Ghosts. But I like the idea that something like that could be real but it could be imagined and then playing around with that a bit, putting in just enough factual stuff so that by the end of the novel, you're still not 100% sure about what has happened and what has not and what to believe in. I don't want to say too much here because of spoilers but you had me guessing all the way through about the reality of the theories and how much was the manifestation of grief/longing.
You know what? I don't know either.
Skylark, darlin' - what goes around, comes around. When you're published you can bet this is going to come back to - and for - you.
Alan - I don't know either. But I do know it's a bloody amazing book or I wouldn't be putting this much effort into telling people they should read it. My own professional reputation demands I couldn't do what I'm doing if that wasn't the case.
Skylark: the stories will link together, but not obviously. Together they will form a novel. Some will be now, some will be now but from a different perspective, some will be past. The idea is that they contribute to each other, but in passing, not obviously. So for example, you think you understand Track 1, and you do, but as you go through, you get more from it through other stories that help to contextualise things.
There will be a real ghost. But does that make him/her different from everyone else? And what's real? What's imaginary? What's possible? Only the 'currently discovered'. It will still play with concepts of 'reality'. Oh, and it's a bit political, too!
Related to the ten tracks idea, my original concept for The Blackbird Effect was to write a number of independent novels with an overlapping set of characters. With a following wind, it might still happen. And just this year, when I finally got to read the wholly wonderful 'Trading Tatiana,' I discovered that one D. Alper had got to that concept before me!
Or something. This isn't what you meant by a BYKH blog, huh?! x
Egads, how long does it take to run it through Lulu?
Get on with it, boy. Your public awaits.
And nothing's new. It's all in the way you tell it! I love different books that weave between the same characters, sometimes headliners, other times bit parters...like a literary rep company. (Yes, very Bret Easton Ellis influenced)
Andrew, I can't wait to read it, I really can't. I'm first in the queue in my sleeping bag already.
And Debi, thanks for the 'when' rather than 'if' - I can but hope.... :-D
Book 2's a long way from being finished in its entirety. But it's rough-plotted. And part 1's so close to being done that it might be out pre Xmas. As will the paperback of BYKH
I'm half way through Harlan Coben's The Wood - which is my current bedtime story... Nobody tell Alan but a friend has let me borrow Fifty Shades of Grey, which I have been ploughing through during the day... (I know but it has to be done.)
And I have Blow Your Kiss Hello waiting... I may have to read it first as I don't want the stories to get confused - although it could make for an interesting review...
Whilst recommending Cloudie books - I've also read Stephen's Hawaii Five High and Wrath's Wormybrain Stinkfoot which is a compilation of 8 shorts which, although I'd already read, I enjoyed reading again!
Off to bed now....needs some zeds before its school run time again. Thanks for the chat! :-)
More than happy to do more Q & A etc. another time. I'm proud of BYKH, but more than that I'm so pleased it's finding a satisfied readership. Thea would be delighted that people are looking out for her.
EH? Are you hinting at a plot twist?!! You know, that's really not fair Mr I've-not-yet-finished-book-2! :-P
And you're welcome - I would be shouting this loud if I didn't mean it. And it just keeps developing - wonderings about theories and characters and possibilities.... this is a story I won't be forgetting.
See you when you come out of your bunker - hopefully sanity intact. I'm off to see Will Self reading from Umbrella shortly - my sanity might be stretched too, such is the size of the man's brain!
Blow Your Kiss Hello - where to begin? Simply, Andrew James has a way with words. He shapes them, pours them, bends time with them, and makes sentences do things they have no right to do. He is a master of pace, rhythm and colour, but also of space and breathing. This simply doesn't read like a first novel - it must have been waiting and maturing, like a good wine.
Blow Your Kiss Hello moves with its own rhythm, and whether at a mad surge or a gentle flow, the story never stopped drawing me on.
Ah yes, the story - I haven't mentioned that, have I? This is a book to read without preconceptions - I wouldn't dare spoil another reader's fun. My only disappointment? It ended.
Enjoying hugely and ignoring discussion above for fear of spoilers 8-)
This means that it's possible that copies will be available in time for Christmas if you don't mind dealing through me. If this possibility becomes reality and you live in London, I could deliver copies as required. If not, a small postage charge may apply, or hang on until Jan.
It's been a slower process than I"d hoped for, but I think the finished product and the distribution channels I now I have access to (Bertrams, Gardners, etc., for those in the know) will make the book as good as anything from a mainstream publisher, so ultimately worth it.
Thanks again for your support.
AJ
Congrats, Andrew. Exciting times.
Anyone want their copy(ies) signed? ;-)
Would like a signed and sentimented one please. One with something reflective of our unique perspectives written so you will be embarrassed and try to buy it back when yer famous... your book in print.... What's that like when you first see it?
Thank you all, but Prop... This might be fun"..... Perfect... write that in mine, please...
Just a thought and writing out loud here.... I remember you blogging about the technical and marketing side of things before and I was fascinated. Would you not be better served by pushing all of the above sales through amazon or something and thus creating a market presence and a bit of momentum as well as some history of recommendations?
If we all buy it direct from you, you will end up with 100% margin which is great but if your web presence shows 62 reviews and recs and only 3 sales then it would look fishy to me... I have read that momentum sells...
Just a thought. but then, of course, getting is signed would be the issue then... ~Perhaps a codicil on the recs about buying it at a book signing from you or something like that might be required.
Ponder and advise please.
Prop
As many of us are a year or so behind you in this endeavour, it would be great if you could diary or blog your progress, successes and pitfalls, (11 proofs!) for us lesser gifted. You started one a while back but this one seems to have overtaken it.
Obviously, time is an issue for you at this stage but as your marketing/publishing plans seems to me to be the closest fit with my own and probably several others' ambitions and limitations, we/I would find it useful.
Perhaps even another book 'Writing,Editing, Marketing, and Self Publishing in Today's Multimedia Bookstore...blah blah blah".
From what I have been able to establish, one book is the best advert for another one. If people like what they read, they will immediately want to buy another one by the same author. If nothing is there in the market for them to buy, then that opportunity is lost forever. With that in mind, I am hoping to get my book thing and several short anthologies all ready to go by next summer. E book and on demand paperbacks.
One problem with bringing to market all of my crap in one hit is that I will not learn from any mistakes as they will happen across the board.
Fascinating stuff
Andrew, I will have to wait and see if my wish is granted but until then can you post and let us know when it's out in paperback? Where is the blog - I'd like to read that too. And congrats - you have acomplished something quite amazing by the responses from 'the gang' on here! x
Seriously, I love paper books too but if you get a case for your Kindle then it feels a bit like a book. Except it's not so easy to flip back a couple of pages to check something. And it takes up a lot less space than 50 paperbacks.
*not really*
*no really, you are*
EINSTEIN A GO-GO
When I first started reading “Blow your kiss hello” I wondered if I was going to be getting into something over-intellectual or impenetrable. I needn’t have worried. The story kicked-in quickly and I was soon immersed in a strikingly original but highly readable book.
Like a favourite rock album, this story has a pulsating, driving beat interspersed with beautiful, other-worldly ballads. The book has that rare quality of seeming to be alive, drawing you into its world, its mysteries and its strange energy. The stylised writing – employing much repetition, playing with opposites and the rhythm of the words – may not be everyone’s shot of Jack Daniels, but this could never be described as a vanilla book. There are enough of those around already.
The portrayal of a man drawn into the deep anguish of helplessness – though not hopelessness – as he searches beyond the boundaries of the “here and now” for his missing girlfriend is excellent. The metaphysical questions raised in the story are fascinating – and spark off all manner of “what if?” questions.
My personal feeling about the historical threads in the story is that they were introduced rather too late and so distracted rather than involved, which seemed a shame, but I appreciate it’s difficult to get the structure of a multi-layered story like this right for every reader.
I don’t think it’s any secret that this book doesn’t come from one of the major publishers, and I’d like to comment on the overall quality, not just of the writing itself, but of the presentation, which in my view could put many of the “big publishers” to shame.
I would also agree about the presentation, and I love the cover painting.
If you haven't read BYKH and come across this thread – read it!
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