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Notes

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Launch day: from bottom of the pile to bestseller in the mountaineering category

Yesterday was, I’m glad to say, an unqualified success. Even though it was a Sunday and therefore relatively quiet on the social networks, the ball got rolling pretty quickly and an overwhelming number of people spread the word. I’m lucky to have a lot of friends from my

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My book is now available on Amazon Kindle

The 21st of October has dawned sunny and crisp (happy Trafalgar Day, by the way) and The Only Genuine Jones is finally ready to download! You can find it here on the Amazon Kindle store. If you enjoy the book and want to support me, I’d appreciate any and

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The countdown is almost over

It’s been quite a week. Since last Friday, I have written an article on vintage mountaineering equipment for UKC, corresponded with a number of individuals who have emailed me with offers of help and best wishes (including some that may yield useful fruit later on), and watched the visitor

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Some ambience and atmosphere to get you in the mood for the book launch

The north face of the Eiger, glimpsed through stormclouds from Grindelwald, September 2010 Followers of my Facebook page have privy to a fair bit of content that never made it to the main blog, notably a gallery of photos that showcase the main settings for The Only Genuine Jones. However,

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New article published on UKClimbing.com

Constructing my 19th century style ice axe in 2010 An article of mine has today been published on the UKClimbing.com website. It’s entitled “Inside the Tweeds of a Victorian Gentleman Climber”, and is a brief discussion of my experiments in vintage climbing gear and techniques. In the article

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The writer’s notebook(s)

Notebooks are about feel, mood, and introspection–not utility. Before I begin this post celebrating notebooks, I have a confession to make: I hardly ever use them. I write historical fiction set in the 19th century and love the aesthetics of that era, but am also a self-confessed computer geek.

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The final sprint

By this time next week, the final version of The Only Genuine Jones will be live on the Kindle store. I will allow myself 24 hours to download a copy myself and do a final check-through for formatting errors or any other problems that may have slipped the net. On

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The 21st draws closer!

I’ve been a little quiet on the blog and Facebook page recently, for which I apologise (although I think I’ve been making up for it with a stream of chatter on Twitter!) The truth of the matter is that, as publication date draws closer, I find that my

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The stories will never come to an end: a celebration of humanity in the mountains

The upper cliff of Stob Coire nan Lochan. Without human context, to a human observer it is meaningless. As I read through The Only Genuine Jones for the final time and make my peace with the text before it goes live on the Kindle store, I have learned something from

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Historical climbing re-enactment on Countryfile

Image from the BBC: http://goo.gl/SfQPe BBC1’s Countryfile is a programme that often covers topics related to mountaineering and the outdoors, but last night’s episode was particularly good and featured many locations and themes relevant to my novels. The episode focused on the Lochaber region of