First #booktrailer for #CozyMystery Inspector Hobbes and the Bones

Book Trailer

This morning was spent reading a few extracts of Inspector Hobbes and the Bones. This will be published tomorrow. I recorded 5 extracts, the first one is now available to give a small taster of the book and as a book trailer.

Paperback Giveaway

There is a Goodreads Giveaway for a paperback of this book. It will close on 16 January 2017 and the draw will be done automatically by Goodreads. Enter here (US and UK only)

https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/214592-inspector-hobbes-and-the-bones-cozy-mystery-comedy-crime-fantasy

The book is available in hardback, paperback, ebook and ibook. It is the 4th in the unhuman series, but can be read standalone. It is available from all major retailers online, or to order from shops.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01NA94ZFH
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NA94ZFH

The other recordings will be published once editing has been completed.

New nonsense poem

The Fatal Funeral of Uncle Ray

Here is my latest nonsense poem, The Fatal Funeral of Uncle Ray, which I hope you enjoy. I had the following lines going round and round in my head insisting on being written:

'Many folk perished, so it's said, the day
of the fatal funeral of Uncle Ray.'

I finished it (if a poem can ever be finished) last week and recorded it on Sunday, which was one of the RSPB birdwatch days. The birds seemed to know this and were out in force, singing merrily and loudly all the time. They weren't even distracted when we gave up and fed them, in the hope they would stuff their beaks and shut up. At the time of recording the noise from birds and cars didn't seem too bad but, on playback, they came over very loud. The robin was especially magnificent (I'd heard it practicing the previous week when it had been singing very quietly but it chose to really go for it as soon as we started recording). Luckily on the final recording, (the 7th - it was far too cold to do any more withouth bits dropping off) the birds weren't so close to the microphone and only one car passed. I think this final recording is ok but I can see why professionals use directional mics.

The poem had its first outing at Writers in the Brewery on Thursday 26 Jan 2012, when I also used my kindle for the first time, having just loaded The Fatal Funeral of Uncle Ray onto it. I must remember to choose a larger font next time since reading from it at home is far easier than reading with slightly odd lighting.

The same night at the Brewery, as well as some other readings of poetry and prose there was some excellent music from Keith Thompson, sometimes with Nick John (of Lyadrive) on vocals.

Let me know what you think.

Short funny rhyming poems on youtube

I've put 5 short poems onto Youtube but there will be a short break before I put up anymore. This posting gives the procedure used to create and upload the videos, so I know how I did it when I come to make the next one! I hope you find it helpful.


Shooting the video

After an unsuccessful attempt to buy a camcorder from Tesco, I found my digital camera allowed me to record a video that was long enough for my short poems and had adequate sound recording. My videos have, therefore, been recorded with a Canon IXUS 8515.

1. Choose the location to film and what you're going to wear.
2. Take a few photo stills first to check the background and to get any snaps you might want to use in the finished video.
3. Turn off any background sounds - any fans or filters (for instance in a fish tank).
4. Stabilise the camera and put it into position.
5. Once the recording has started, wait for about 3 seconds before speaking - so you can edit out any camera click at the beginning - and, for the same reason, wait for 3 seconds when you've finished before switching it off.
6. Don't speak too quickly.
7. Take the card out and transfer the files to your computer.

Make into a movie

1. In Microsoft Movie Maker, make a 'New Project'.
2. Use 'Import Media' and import your video files and any snaps you want to use that you have copied to the computer.
3. If not already selected, tick 'View' ->'Timeline'.
4. If not already selected, use the drop-down box at the top of the screen to select 'Imported media'.
5. Select the video or photo you want to use and drag it down to the timeline at the bottom and drop there. Drag and drop in all the items you want and put them in the required order. Try to make sure the actual video content starts before 14 seconds or people are likely to stop watching.
6. On the left hand side, select 'Titles and Credits'.
7. If the video has clicks at the start or end, drag the beginning or ending bar in so they are missed.
8. Select 'Starting title or ending credits', enter the text you want.
9. Choose 'Change the text font and color' to pick the color, font type and size.
10. Choose 'Change the title animation' if you want to add an effect to how the text is shown (ticker tape, flying in etc).
11. If you want to add text over the video at different points, right click the video and select 'Title on the selected clip', or use the 'Titles and Credits' option on the left. If you want to add a lot of text at different points, then at the top of the Timeline section select the + magnifying glass to expand the timeline - it then shows smaller intervals and makes it easier to match the size of the text area to the length you want it to display.
12. For each text section and for each video or photo choose any special effect (eg fade in or fade out etc) but don't use too many as they slow down the loading of the video.
13. Select the photos and the opening and closing titles on the Timeline at the bottom of the screen and drag in or out the right hand end to make the time they display shorter or longer as wanted (I think the default length is a bit too long).
14. Right click the photos or video and select 'Effects' to add any effect (don't use too many as it slows down the load time).
15. You can also add audio tracks, although I used the audio on the original recordings.
16. Play the movie at any point to check your settings.
17. When you have something you are happy with select File ->'Publish Movie'. These are the settings I used for this:

• Publish to this computer
• Next
• Enter filename and choose folder
• Next
• Best quality for playback on my computer
• Publish
• Play movie when I finish
• Finish
• Change and re-publish the movie as many times as you want, and don't forget to save it.

Make into a flash video

1. Once you have something you are happy with then you can upload the Microsoft Movie you made above to Youtube. However, if you want something that will be in a smaller file and will load and run quicker (though with reduced quality) then convert it into a flash video. I used 'Free FLV Converter' from http://www.koyotesoft.com/.
2. Open 'Free FLV Converter'.
3. Select 'Conversion to FLV'.
4. Browse and then select the movie you made above. 'Open' it.
5. Change the 'Output path' if you want to change the path or name.
6. I didn't change any other settings as the default ones were the settings recommended by Youtube already.
7. Select 'Convert'.

Load to youtube

1. Sign in to Youtube.
2. At the top of the screen, select 'Upload'.
3. Select 'Upload video', and select your .flv file.
4. While it is uploading you can change the details of the video, set the 'Privacy' to 'Private' so you can select the settings you want before you publish it. Or you can change any of these settings after it has uploaded.
5. Add a title and description.
6. Set some tags (find ones on similar videos and use similar settings as these will help people to find your video).
7. Select a category.
8. If this is the first video then you will have to wait for a thumbnail image to be available. Youtube will give you 3 to choose from, select the one you prefer.
9. Set any other settings, comments, voting, responses and location if you want to etc.
10. Run the video and check you are happy with how fast it loads.
11. Once you are happy, set 'Privacy' to 'Public'.
12. It is now available to the world (if Public) or to selected users if you use a list.

Change settings on youtube

1. You can go back and change the settings at any time by selecting 'My Videos', select the video, and 'Edit'.
2. If you have Youtube friends or subscribers then they will get an update about your video anyway, but you can also send them a note using Youtube messaging or sharing.
3. Create a 'Playlist' and add your video to it.
4. Like it and add it to your favourites.
5. Select your Channel page, make sure your channel has channel tags and is visible.
6. Select the 'Videos and Playlist' tab and select the playlist you put your video into and decide how you want all playlists to appear on your channel page and configure any other settings.

Don't forget to tell people it is there - facebook, twitter etc, and, if you have them, put a link to it on your website or facebook page (you will need to allow 'Embedding' of the video in the settings if you want to do this - though this is enabled by default).

Making a video is great fun and it only takes a few minutes to perform the above and upload it. Once it is loaded you can use Youtube->Account->Insight to see how many views you are getting and where in the world it has been seen. Amazing.

Let me know how you get on.