OCD Kicking in as my book Lost2bFound is published

 

The front cover of my book Lost2bFound

On Wednesday  I received an email from David over at PublishNation to inform me of the pricing for the hardcover edition of my book. David also attached a file of the finished draft.

On Thursday with nothing better to do and as I was feeling a bit ropey with this ulcerative colitis I decided to read through the final draft. Imagine my horror when within the first couple of chapters I discovered errors.

Immediately my OCD kicked in and I began getting proper stressed. What I did next was real stupid and I am still berating myself. I read all the way through my book to try and spot more errors, in which there were a few, however I didn't bloody write down where they were, what a complete tit. You see I have lost count of the number of times I have gone over my work. I think a lot of what has made things incorrect is trying to use two different computers with different operating systems, these being my Apple Mac and my dads Windows PC. 

On Friday after a restless night I decided to contact David and inform him of my mistakes. I also checked the e-book and paperback editions of my draft, and sure enough there were errors in the same places. This is a major problem as those two editions have now gone out for publication. To correct them is an additional £75 per edition, as they need to be re-published.

The errors are not huge, the thing is I know they are there. I dare say even when I correct the errors there will still be a few in there that people will spot. I have leant that writing without making the odd mistake in either punctuation or in grammar is very difficult. I couldn't afford to get a professional proofreader, I mean it would have cost me thousands.
  

Lost2bFound inside cover

 

So, what to do? Well, I went over the draft all day yesterday trying to spot errors and remember some from my previous days reading of my book. MY dad who is a legend helped me, as he could see I was having somewhat of a meltdown. One positive thing I can say is that when my dad was reading he was having the odd chuckle, so I thought "Hey I must have got some parts right, as it's making my dear old dad laugh to himself". Hopefully this is the case for other readers.

As I read through I became aware at some point  in my writing I must have tapped the "s" key on my keyboard instead of the "a", so there was a kind of incorrect and spare "s" floating around in my text. OMG! both my dad and myself were on almost all day yesterday trying to discover this mislaid "s". We eventually discovered it on page 38, chapter 4. My dad using a search believe it or not for every "s" contained within my book, just imagine how many there were in a book of over 80,000 words.

So where I am at now. Well, I can either leave the books as they are and hope anyone who purchases a copy understands this is a self-published book. As such it has been completed by a complete amateur author, and hopefully cut me some slack. Or I can pay the £150 and have the books re-published, bearing in mind I dare say there will still be some minor errors in various areas, which won't impact on the story.

I am very excited to announce... Well you will have to read further to see!

Lost2bFound - My self published book

Duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh duh!   That sound doesn't come across quite as well when typed as it did in my head Lol Maybe I should just stick with a "Ta Da".

Anyhoo I am very excited to announce the long-awaited release of the book I have been working on. It is called "Lost2bFound" and came about from an idea I had long ago when certain people said to me "Glenn you should write a book".

Now when they said that I am not sure if it was a polite way of just saying "Glenn you do waffle on a lot" and therefore mocking me, or did these people genuinely think I had an interesting tale or two to tell.

I would like to think the latter, so after visiting BBC Radio Tees for an interview in September of 2024 and mentioning my idea, with the host Gary Phillipson and Gary saying "You should do it", well I decided to start putting pen to paper, well really fingers to keyboard.

BBC Tees Gary Phillipson & me

 

 Now I am not a real writer or storyteller, the extent of my experience has been in doing my blog for the last 13 years. I have had various spells where I would attempt to write poetry, and quite recently write songs, which are quite secretive and I only practice to myself, needless to say not in the bath or shower as I would get my guitar all wet or worse still electrocute myself. To be fair I can't for the life of me multitask then go on to strum and attempt to sing at the same time.

Lost2bFound

So where to start? I found it difficult to try and tell my story, so that the reader could keep track. You see so much had gone on from way back, yet it had affected me moving forward right up to the present day. Another thing that was important to me was to be completely honest, so certain thoughts and getting them down were difficult and brought up quite a few home truths, where I had to stop and take a break to ask myself questions about my feelings. I had to also go back in time and try to recall certain events, some of which were very painful, and some which were possibly painful and embarrassing at the time, however, now I can see the funny side.

I am hoping my book will be received well and those people who do read it can take something from it. I am looking forward to the feedback I receive, both positive and believe it or not negative, as I think this is how we learn and can improve ourselves.

 

My book is available for pre-order from all good book stores or you can find it by doing a search for "Lost2bFound" on Amazon or follow this link.

Amazon - Lost2bFound 

Oh and the book will be available in ebook and hardback formats upon its release.
 

Thanks for your support

Glenn

What's been happening this week? And do I really need another bike? - Well of course I do...

Fox and AXS equipped 

I'm bored! And what do I do when I have a week’s holiday, and the weather hasn't exactly been great. Well apart from trying to help my dad out with our garden I have of course been looking at "Bike Porn".

I'm sure I have some sort of an addiction. My way of thinking was, as I have gone halfies on a new bathroom with the Ern, which dented my plans to save up for a campervan, well I may as well blow the remaining bit of savings on yet another bike. I was quite surprised my dad didn't put up much resistance. I guess after all these years he has just become accustomed to how I operate.

Of course, the dream of a campervan, and even one day that house in Scotland is still alive. I just printed out some pictures of the latest dream house, using my new printer I blogged about the other week, it's a Canon Selphy C1500, and I have to say it is a most excellent bit of kit for doing small postcard sized prints. The colours are vibrant and it's very quick. Just what I need to continue adding things to my now four dream boards, as Ern went and got me another one just the other day.

It has been a while since I mentioned how my book is going. That's right I have written a book about my journey, and I am in the process of getting it self-published, using a company called Publish Nation. So far, I have paid for an express critique and an express proof reading. I received some very positive feedback from the critique concerning my tone, and how my personality came through. Things to look at were as I expected my grammar, and punctuation. I have learned a lot over the last few months about writing and layout, punctuation and grammar. I didn't realise I was quite so bad at certain aspects. I have to say Publish Nation so far have been excellent and they even helped put me in touch with a friendly gentleman to help design the cover of my book. 

This will be part of the front cover to my book Lost2bFound

The cover of a book is apparently what can sell a book. I always had this idea in the back of my mind of how I wanted it to look, and what I would like it to represent; however, I am not sure everyone will get it. For me the reason I chose black and white for the cover, is because I wanted to convey a sense of "Darkness to Light", which kind of described my life’s journey.
Anyway I guess once it's out there, that will be that, and it will either be of interest to people or a complete fail. At the end of the day, I'm just pleased I had a go, and if nothing else I enjoyed the reflection, and some of the memories it brought back. If it receives some positive feedback well that would be a bonus.

I will post when my book is out and links to where anyone interested can get a copy. It will be released in ebook, paperback and hardback.

Next on the agenda, wor Neville, wor ickle border terrorist. He is settling in nicely and growing ever so slightly in size. He has a wonderful if somewhat mischievous character and has brought so much joy and happiness into our home, even if I am now getting up at around five in the morning every day. Nev is my constant companion. I can't go anywhere without him wanting to be by my side, this includes when I want to have a bath or shower. He will whine at the bottom of our stairs until I open the baby gate then follow me up into our bathroom, then stand on his little back legs with his front placed over the edge of the bath, watching as I get washed. Each morning, he goes ballistic when I let him out of his crate, as if he had not seen me in months, and once settled somewhat appears to smile and is keen to play.

Wor Neville

 

Okay well I guess onto this new bike I got my eye on, but before I do a little background. So the other week I went out on my Santa Cruz Heckler SL. I love the bike, the Fazua motor has taken a bit getting used to in how it works and the power delivery, however, I like the overall feel of the bike. I think the only drawback is that Fazua don't offer a larger battery or range extender, so upon my latest ride out I covered approximately thirty-four miles, and upon returning home I was on one bar of battery remaining. The Heckler feels and probably is more like a trail/enduro bike, something I knew before purchasing it, and I was happy with my decision to get it, as I intended to use the bike on rougher trails with jumps and drops and whatnot, I still do.

Scott Lumen eRide 900 TR

So on to this new bike. I started looking at bikes that were more XC orientated, in fact some months earlier I was actually thinking of getting an analogue gravel bike. Pretty much as soon as I went online, I saw a Scott Lumen. Now what drew my attention initially to this bike was the fact it looks so neat and tidy in its design. I particularly liked how the rear shock was hidden inside the frame. I then started researching weight, the motor, which is a TQ, the range, and whether a range extender could be fitted, specs and of course prices.

Scott Lumen eRide 900 TR

Following a little more research I could see I could get a Scott Lumen eRide 900 TR 2024 at a considerable discount from when new, and the only difference I could see between it and a 2025 model was the colour and the rear shock. The 2024 model having a Fox Nude 5 EVOL and the 2025 having a Fox Nude 6. I have to admit I am not entirely struck on the 2024 colour scheme, which is prism grey green, but saying that I haven’t seen one in the flesh as yet. One of the main reasons I went for this bike is the range, which certain sites have said can be as much as 100 miles with the range extender, and of course dependent on terrain and level of assist.

Love the frame and shock intergration

Scott Lumen eRide 900 TR with AXS 

Not sure of colour

Range extender fits canny neat

Very neat display

 

 

 

I didn't want another full power bike; part of the reason I opted for the 60nm Santa Cruz Heckler SL and now this lighter Scott Lumen which has a claimed weight of 16.6 kgs, and has a TQ motor offering 50 nm with a 300-watt hour battery. The range extender at 160 watts, adding an extra 44% battery capacity.

Now all I have to do is await J's Cycles to get my bike in from Scott and of course start saving up once more for more toys.