Getting off to a good start

Hi there,

I recently added the first two books in the Col Sec series, Ronin and Omega onto the smashwords.com ‘Read an E-book week’ promotion allowing them to be bought or downloaded for free during this week and so far I’ve had almost 200 book either bought or downloaded.

To say that I’m pleased would be an understatement, now I know that 200 to some authors would be chicken feed but to me it’s a start. A start that I intend to continue with the other books in the series, and I hope those of you who bought or downloaded the first two pass on any good reviews to your friends so that they can come back for the others with you.

See you soon,

Jan.

One of my Goodreads reviews

Hi there,

Area 7 by Matthew Reilly

My rating: <a href=”http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/273288015″>5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
I’m doing a re-read of this book as a warm up to Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves which has just arrived. Even though this is the second time I’ve read this book it’s just as fast paced and adrenalin fueled as the first time I read it. Mr Reilly may be criticised for his lack of character development but he certainly makes up for it in the action stakes. It’s also been said that he seems to write these books as if they’re screenplays for a big budget action movie and if that’s the case when will some enterprising movie producer pick up the rights to this series and do them justice I wonder? I don’t mind that I have to suspend belief at certain parts of the story, it delivers in my opinion, on every level for pure entertainment value. Hope the new book lives up to this standard, which I’m sure it will, here’s to many more ‘Scarecrow‘ books.
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<a href=”http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/4625592-jan-domagala”>View all my reviews</a>

See you soon,

Jan.

Free for a month

Hi there,

to try to drum up some interest in the Col Sec series and Ronin in particular I’ve made the book free for February. Here’s a link to the page on Smashwords.com

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/119052

Hope you enjoy and, as always any views, comments or opinions are welcome.

See you soon,

Jan.

Sad Farewell

Hi there,

it’s been a while since I’ve been able to post anything on here due to one thing or another, but now I’m back hopefully to post a little more regularly.

Friday 13th of January was a sad day for our family for it was when we said goodbye to our Matt. As I’d posted earlier the young man died in a tragic accident on the 29th of December. He was one of life’s purest souls, never a bad word about anyone crossed his lips, he had a joy for life that was contagious and he was not only my nephew but my friend.

In his all too short life he achieved so much and could have gone on to do a lot more had he been given the chance. He was British Champ at 12 in Shukokai karate, one of the youngest black belts in the country, he was a talented percussionist and actually won the young musician of the year for Staffordshire, something a percussionist had never done before. His band entered a talent contest on the BBC called Get your act together, a forerunner of X-Factor which they won and before he died he was helping to bring music to disadvantaged young people. Our family are trying to set up a trust fund to help continue the good work he began.

The funeral was moving and awe-inspiring to say the least. There was a procession of around 20 bikers who accompanied the hearse, which was a modified bike with the hearse actually being the sidecar. Three Police motor bikes gave a dignified escort to the procession both from the home to the church and on to the crematorium.

Eulogies were read out by his best friend and his music teacher and in the church it was literally standing room only. After the cremation we all went to a pub where a slide show of young Matt was on show at the side of the stage upon which several of his friends performed songs to celebrate his short but eventful life.

Now comes the hard part, carrying on without him.

How do you continue living when you miss someone who was so important in your life? There is only one possible answer to this question, and that is, one day at a time.

To allow grief to cripple us is not what Matt would want. He would want us to carry on and live our lives to the fullest, to do all the things we wanted to do, what we had planned to do and to celebrate being alive.

I’m no grief councillor but I will set goals for me to meet in the coming months. First of all to get over a chest infection that has plagued me since before Christmas. Secondly, to continue writing, I have Omega almost ready for publication and Discovery almost completed which are the next two books in the Col Sec series. Matt was as enthusiastic about these endeavours as myself and I hope to do him proud. We are soon to be moving house which I’m really excited, nervous about and later in the year my daughter will be getting married so all in all a truly eventful year ahead filled with promise.

If recent events have taught me anything it’s this.  If you have goals, go for them, don’t let anything hold you back. You can do whatever you set your heart on. Cherish what you have because it can all be gone soon and finally love and support your friends and family as I’m sure they will you and don’t be afraid to tell them you love them. Life is too short for regrets and if you have regrets, make them for things you’ve done and not what you haven’t.

See you soon,

Jan.

Making sense where there is none.

Hi there,

people say ‘things happen for a reason’, they also say ‘you go when it’s your time’

Well something happened yesterday that would make the sanest of us doubt the validity of those two statements.

It began like any other, normal day, my partner and I woke up and seeing as we were still on holiday, decided to have a lie in. I got up and made a cup of tea for myself and my beautiful partner and brought them back to bed where we lay reading, relaxing and enjoying our time off together. It was later than usual when we dragged ourselves out of bed. We strolled downstairs, had a bit of breakfast and received a phone call from the estate agent to tell us of an offer that a prospective buyer had made. Things were looking up, perhaps the new year would see some pleasant changes. We began to hope.

We discussed the offer and where would we live should we accept, which was something we hadn’t really talked about. The house had been on the market for so long we never thought that, in this present economic climate that we would ever receive one. We talked and talked and we actually began to make plans, which was something we hadn’t dared do for almost a year.

Then it all changed.

My phone went off while I was in the shower and by the time my partner went to get it, it had rang off and I was left with a text that simply said ‘Ring me’

I knew something was wrong the second I read it. I called her and she was crying, sobbing really and I asked, “What’s wrong?”

All she said was, “Are you sitting down?” Right then I knew it was bad news, the kind of news everyone dreads and my immediate thoughts went to our mother who is 81 years old and not in the best of health. My second thought was her partner who is in his late seventies and also not in the best of health, either of them would be the obvious choice and I could feel my world slipping away. What happened next though, took me completely by surprise and was equally shocking, possibly more so because of who was involved.

She said, “Matt’s been killed,” and I went numb. To say I was in shock would be a grave misconception, this went beyond shock. Matt was her son, my nephew and one of the nicest, kindest. most intelligent people I have had the pleasure and privilege to know, and he was 32 years old.

From what we’ve managed to glean throughout yesterday, he was on his way to work on his motor bike, he overtook a cyclist on a straight piece of road and a pheasant came into his path which he hit. He died instantly in the crash. There was no rider error, he wasn’t going too fast, it was just one of those random acts that are inexplicable.

So, do things happen for a reason, if so can anyone please explain to me, the reason why one of the best friends I ever had would have to die like that. Why would my sister have to endure the loss of her son after losing her husband of over 30 odd years, just over 2 years ago. I don’t believe for a second that it was his time to go. He had some much potential, so much to give and so much left in his life to achieve so don’t tell me it was his time.

How can someone make sense of a situation when it makes no sense? That was what all of us were struggling with along with the grief and loss of our loved one. I spent some time with my sister and her daughter and close family friends and it was a common theme of all our thoughts. What happened made absolutely no sense whatsoever.

How does someone come back from that world shattering tragedy? Simple answer, you endure.

My sister is one of the strongest people I know. She has my admiration, she is my inspiration through bad times and she has always and will always have my undying love and respect. She will endure with all the love and support of family and friends and she will go on.

When I got home last night I spoke to both my children who are grown up with families of their own and was thankful that they, with their families were fine and well. I love them very much and I don’t know if I could cope if I had to go through what my sister is going through right now.

In closing I’ll repeat something my sister said which has an undeniable truth to it. She said, “Live every day as if it’s your last, because one day it will be.”

See you soon,

Jan.

 

 

Which do you like the best?

BookCover1  

Hi there,

here’s the proposed artwork for the re-issue of my first book in the Col Sec series, hope you like it. I would certainly appreciate any of your opinions whether you think it’s an improvement or not.

Please feel free to leave any comment

see you soon

Jan.

PS

forgot to mention there is a link to the original artwork so you can compare the two and decide which you think is best. I look forward to your opinions.

Jan.

New Direction.

Hi there,

I’ve not posted for a while and it’s simply been because I have been busy with a complete re-edit of Ronin, the first book in the Col Sec series.

I recently received a review on Amazon from, who I can only describe as a disgruntled reader. It was obvious, not only to me but to a few others who read the review, that this person didn’t want to like the book from the outset and set out to destroy both it, and my attempt at writing.

Having said that, there were a few points that he made, that I planned to redress in later books. I came to a decision therefore, to make the changes at the start of the series, in the hope that it would improve it and help it to flow better.

This, of course takes time. I’ve had to devote a lot of time, not only to Ronin but to the following books, as the changes made in Ronin will obviously affect those too.

First things first though, Ronin, must be the best I can make it. I may have been lax in bringing it out without making sure that it was the best I could make it. If that was a mistake, I can promise you it is one that will not be repeated.

As writers we all strive to be the best we can. We go over and over what we write to make sure we give our best to you, our public. In this though can lie a dilemma. Where do we draw the line and say ‘ Okay this is as good as it gets’ As writers we all know that we get better as we continue to write. Experience tells us that we learn as we continue, so, I will try my best to promise that Ronin will be the best work I can deliver. The following works in the series therefore, if you follow that train of thought should get better with each consecutive book. I truly hope that is the case as I don’t want to let anyone down. If a reader does me the favour of picking up my book, the least I can do is make sure it’s the professional piece of work you, as readers, deserve.

That’s all for now folks, I will be in touch with samples of the book before it goes to the production stage to see if my efforts have been worthwhile.

See you all soon,

Jan.

Third Installment

Hi there,

I thought I’d just drop by to tell you how well things are going in the Col Sec universe.

OMEGA, the second in the series will feature Matt Hawk, a character we met and who took an integral role in the first book, RONIN. This time the lead character, Matt Hawk, an agent for Col Sec’s Intelligence Division is tasked with a mission to capture a terrorist at the start of the book. This turns into a desperate battle against an enemy who has infiltrated the deepest recesses of the Colonial Confederation. The enemy, a terrorist group known as OMEGA attacks the very heart of the Confederation on Earth in a vicious strike that devastates an entire city. The battle rages on into space then returns to Earth where Matt Hawk learns the truth about OMEGA in a final confrontation that could cripple the entire Confederation and all it stands for.

How does that sound guys, interesting enough for you to want to know more?

Well it won’t be long before it’s ready for publishing. The editing phase will be completed shortly and the artist who did the wonderful job on RONIN is hard at work on ideas for this one. I’ve seen a preliminary idea and it’s awesome, you’ll be amazed, trust me.

While all this is going on I’m hard at work on the third installment, tentatively entitled DISCOVERY, although that could change or be expanded, I haven’t quite decided just yet. This time the heroes from the first two books, both Kurt Stryder and Matt Hawk appear. A secret is revealed that, should it get out would devastate the entire galaxy. The repercussions from this could rip both the Colonial Confederation and the Elysium Alliance apart.

That’s a small taster of what’s to come people, great things I can assure you so stay around, the fun is just starting.

See you soon,

Jan.

Deadlines!

Hi there,

it’s been a while since I last posted and that’s been due to work commitments, a certain amount of social activity and working on the third book in the Col Sec series.

The second book, entitled Omega, is in the editing phase and will soon be ready for publication. I have tentatively set a deadline for publication of mid July and I hope everything will be in place so that I can fulfill that promise, although ‘promise’ is probably the wrong word as so many things can go wrong to delay that expectation, so it’s best I just say that I hope to deliver on that forecast.

Everyone concerned with the other aspects of the process is working extremely hard to get this project off the ground and on to the Amazon websites and I’m looking forward to it immensely. My expectations are high and I just hope I don’t disappoint any readers.

I’ll keep you all updated on the progress and hopefully Omega will be available to you all.

See you soon,

Jan.

Happy Easter

Hi there,

hope everyone is enjoying their easter break, I know I am. How about a change this year, for Dad anyway, instead of a chocolate egg why not get him something that will last a great deal longer? I’m talking about my new book obviously, it’s a great read with some exciting action, intrigue and enough thrills to make him sit on the edge of his seat. A real page turner, and if you don’t believe me because I may be just a tad biased, and who would blame you for thinking that right? after all, I did write it, you can check out the review here,

http://www.amazon.com/Ronin-Adventure-Mr-Jan-Domagala/dp/1453850031/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1303634198&sr=1-1

Anyway, whatever you’re doing with your free time this Easter I hope you all have a blast, be safe and I’ll see you all soon.

Jan.