Recent updates

The latest news from our projects

  • 8 Days to Go and I think We're Nearly There

    An update for Protect our NHS: One Thousand Thank Yous

    May 30 2014

    Hi, all.

    We have had a great response over the last couple of weeks and I've just had a note from someone who has promised a big pledge so we're going to make it.  But if anyone has a friend or even a friend of a friend who might, just might, pledge an amount, however small, please contact them and ask them to pledge it in the next few days.  With all that's happening in the NHS at the moment and with no one able to work out who reports to whom in the convoluted management structure they have put in place, we need this film to show the public - and remember we're all potential patients - exactly what is happening and how to fight back.  Thank you all so much for the pledges.
    Steve

  • Back to reality...

    An update for Independently publishing Solomon's Secrets

    May 26 2014

    After a lovely few days abroad it's back to reality with a bruising bump.

    Thanks to Berni and Kevfearon for pledging.

    I still have a long way to go to reach my goal and I need to switch the focus now on selling tickets to the event.

    I've been listing it on events pages but if you want to come to the event, please help make it happen by speaking to your friends and family and getting a group together to pledge and come along. It promises to be a great evening, with brilliant live music, awesome pop up theatre, delicious food and excellent wine and all for £25! Seems like a sweet deal for a night out!

    I’ve created some posters too which I’ll be putting up all over the city, check it out:

    Pst, pass it on...

    :)

     

     

  • Don't Let UKIP's Election Day Success Get You Down! Keep The Faith and Thank You For All The Pledges

    An update for Protect our NHS: One Thousand Thank Yous

    May 23 2014

    A huge thanks (one thousand thanks even!) to all those who have supported the project so far.  I've been out filming today to record the closure of yet another hospital with yet another broken promise.  Still, we're winning on some of the most important local issues - and on an election day which has seen huge gains by UKIP, which is committed to private medicine - we can be thankful for those.  Our legal case is entering the end game and I am looking forward to sharing the results with you soon.

    I don't think we're going to get to the original £5,500 target we had set so I've loaned some more of my own money to the project and convinced some TV professionals to work for free and I reckon now we can get the video shot and edited for £1,500. Fundsurfer has also offered to extend our funding campaign deadline by 14 days because we have gained considerable momentum in the last few weeks. We have raised over £1000 with 23 backers!

    Summer's big filming event is a Flash Choir (up to 100 singers) singing a specially re-written version of Ray Davies' Thank You For The Days (Thank You For The Care) outside one of Bristol's biggest hospitals on a July lunch time - just one more way of saying One Thousand Thank Yous.

    So one last push for funding please and we'll carry on with the shooting.    If you could pass the word to all your friends that this is a great way to help save the NHS, then that would really help.

  • Pies, music and other consumables

    An update for Independently publishing Solomon's Secrets

    May 15 2014

    Thanks to the new backers this week:

    David & Shirley

    Linzi

    Emma

    Linda

    Andy & Sara

    I'm almost at the halfway point of the campaign and a long way off target. If you are curious about what I plan to spend the budget on, check out the Pie Chart on the pledge page.

    I've met some great people this week, including Sally from Bristol Creatives who gave me some great tips. After talking to her I need to switch the focus now to filling the event.

    If the target isn't reached, the event can't happen…and I really want it to happen!

    Here’s why:

    I’m in discussions with a theatre producer who is now working through my books to start the wheels in motion for the pop up performances. I’m working with Byron Mondahl who has a start up theatre production company in Bristol, Bearmoon Productions. I worked with him through my day job to help him get his business off the ground and it’s a privilege to be able to support him. Plus, he’s excited about the project and really ‘gets it’.

    Here’s his website:

    http://www.bearmoonproductions.co.uk/

    It’ll be amazing to see my hero, Tom Sheridan and heroine, Sasha Blake, come to life and entertain the guests at the event.

    I also met a lovely lady called Rosa, who owns Caffe Rosa in Knowle, at an event that she was catering for. The food was amazing and we talked about different options to feed the guests, she can even provide experienced waiting staff.

    She offered to let me use the café for a preview event, so look out for that. It could be a great opportunity for a dress rehearsal for the actors.

    Here’s her Facebook page:

    https://www.facebook.com/CaffeRosa

    I have been chatting to a friend over Facebook, Tim Kerslake, about his band ‘Daggers and Waves’ and their music. Here’s a link to Soundcloud:

    https://soundcloud.com/daggers-and-waves

    ‘Ferry Light Switch’ is a favourite of mine.

    I also met Evie Woods and picked up hers and a few other CD’s from the Hydra Bookshop in Bristol. Here’s her stuff:

    https://soundcloud.com/eviewoodsband

    ‘Dust’ is a favourite. She does some beautiful acoustic stuff.

    Another of the bands I’m considering is Wolfhound

    https://soundcloud.com/wolfhoundlive

    ‘Tales of Truth and Lies’ is a favourite, also the lyrics seem really relevant to Solomon’s Secrets.

    I saw The EastPole Orchestra at The Old Bookshop (my favourite watering hole in Bristol) recently and have since met Ian the saxophonist.

    They are a fusion of Eastern European, Jazz and Folk. The Eastern European sounds are also really relevant to the books as much of the scenes are played out in Bulgaria.

    https://soundcloud.com/eastpole-orchestra

    I really like 'Shepherd’s Dance’

     

    Tell me what you think?

    Who would you like to see playing at the event?

     

    If you want to be there, or have pledged for tickets already, please tell all of your friends. Maybe you can get a group of your friends together and have a great night out?

    £25 including food, drink and entertainment!

    Thanks everyone, and pass it on…

     

  • Currently Filming...

    An update for Protect our NHS: One Thousand Thank Yous

    May 13 2014

    ... Our legal case to improve the involvement of patients and public in all aspects of the commissioning of health services in Bristol which is getting near its climax.  Watch this space for more updates.  With your help we'll be able to help stop the secrecy surrounding clinical commissioning throughout the country.  Remember it's OUR NHS.  We're not customers or clients, we're members of the public and when we get ill we're patients - and we need to know exactly what is happening to the world's greatest health care institution.

  • Thank You

    An update for Protect our NHS: One Thousand Thank Yous

    May 13 2014

    Many thanks to all those who have pledged so far.  We'll get there!!

  • Want to know more about my books? Watch the outtake video...

    An update for Independently publishing Solomon's Secrets

    May 10 2014

    I was going back through the SD card on my camera this afternoon and found a few videos that I shot when I was putting together the pitch.  Most of them were rubbish, but I did find one that I want to share with you.

    It's of me talking about the books. I explain the plots of the books in more detail - so if jacket blurbs aren't enough to persuade you to buy the book and you want more, watch this....

    eBooks are only £3 - go on, take a punt...£3 won't even buy you a decent pint these days, but it will buy you escapism and hours of literary entertainment! Bargain!

    On the video, I mention that I'm going to show images of some of the locations in Bristol where the book is set - they're not on the video, but I thought I'd share a few here:

    This is the Victoria Rooms. It is part of Bristol University and one of the first scenes in the book is of Sasha giving a presentation about an ancient manuscript at an event here.

    Below is the entrance foyer of Will Memorial Hall, also part of Bristol University. In the book, I describe it as a 'cathedral dedicated to the worship of education'. In one scene, Sasha is chased through the corridors by a hooded man that she fears was sent to kill her.

    Keep supporting me and keep telling all your friends! Thanks :)

     

     

  • Pragmatism, bright orange cider and a mention in the paper...

    An update for Independently publishing Solomon's Secrets

    May 7 2014

    I didn't expect this process to be such an emotional rollercoaster! It seemed a simple enough concept; do my sums, make a plan and tell the world - right?

    I've had a crisis of confidence over the past few days, after an initial flurry of activity it all went quiet. Like any self (dis)respecting eccentric creative type, my first instinct was to look inwardly at what I was doing wrong.

    However, after a pint of bright orange cider (Bristol Port) in one of the many great watering holes in Bristol (The Shakespeare) I’m far more pragmatic about it this evening.

    I wanted to hedge my bets when I picked a target amount and safely cover the costs of the event. Yes, I could have done what I did when I published The Bronze Box and just sold e-Books online and bought the odd print on demand book to order so I could sign them for my friends and family, but where’s the challenge in that?

    For me, this crowdfund is not so much about the money – when I cost it out, I’m unlikely to make a profit – it’s about raising awareness and about stepping outside my comfort zone.

    The reason they call it a comfort zone is because it’s something safe and familiar. We wriggle our hips into a comfortable chair and sit back to bide our time, but once in a while we need someone, or in this case, a crowd, to tug us out of that comfortable chair and make us explore the big wide world!

    I need your help to haul myself out of this chair and to get other people involved in raising the profile of independent creative talent in the city of Bristol.

    It was really motivating to see my picture in the paper today. Check out the business pages of The Bristol Post: http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Excitement-Bristol-crowdfunding-platform-launches/story-21064776-detail/story.html

    And finally, a big thank you to Sarandy for pledging - two more awesome people who will be at the event in September.

    Support a start-up crowdfund in Bristol (Fundsurfer), support an independent author, and show other creatives that their skills are worth paying for. It’s a virtuous circle, everyone’s a winner!

  • Keep backing and spread the word

    An update for Independently publishing Solomon's Secrets

    May 5 2014

    Massive thank you to Heather Stephens for being my biggest backer so far.

    Keep pledging everyone and tell all of your friends, help me realise my dreams.

    Do you like audio books?

    If I beat my target I can budget for an audio book. If you'd like to see an audio book option, encourage people to pledge!

    My plans for the next week include meeting and supporting some local bands. Can you recommned anyone that you'd like to see at the event?

    https://www.fundsurfer.com/project/independently-publishing-solomons-secrets-event

  • A big thank you!

    An update for Independently publishing Solomon's Secrets

    May 1 2014

    A big thank you to my backers so far. Geoff Bartlett, Alice Doughty, Alex Kinsman, Jamie Doughty, Betty, Matt Rogers, Derek Ahmedzai.

    Thank you all for supporting me, it really means a lot. Tell all your feirnds about it and I look forward to seeing some of you at the event in September

    Amy :)