Amazon Optimization: 2010

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Winning By the Rules- Author Phil Reinke helping the Boy Scouts of America

Contact: Ellen Green, Press Manager - PressManager@Strategic BookGroup.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Author Makes FREE Pinewood Derby Workshop Lesson Plans Available So Scouts Can Learn the Value of Winning by the Rules

December 22, 2010 - Ask any former Cub Scout to list the highpoints of their scouting experience and the one most often cited is the Pinewood Derby, a Scouting tradition more than 50 years old. As a result, grandfathers are now sharing their design, build, and race experiences from “back when they were cub scouts” with their grandsons…and every memory is a good one!

If these memories are so vivid and held by so many, don’t they also include indelible lessons that should positively impact our future leaders? That was a question asked by author Phil Reinke, when he first thought about writing the book, Pinewood-Winning by the Rules. Because he knows that with the honors that come from winning the race, there also comes the temptation to cheat.

“When my son was in the Cub Scouts, and we set out to build his racer, we were appalled to find so many people making money by selling special lubricants, machined axles and wheels and pre-built ‘guaranteed to win’ cars!” Phil shared, “It was then that we decided to find a way to beat all of the cheaters, and that is what we did! We won by the rules…in fact, 4 district championships!” That is the basis for the book…

Pinewood-Winning by the Rules stresses the importance of honesty, integrity, fair-play and sportsmanship. These are all lessons consistent with the Scouting organization. “These young men may very well grow-up to be our future leaders. If there is a set of memories from the Pinewood Derby that I want them to carry into their leadership roles, it is honesty, integrity, fair-play and sportsmanship.”

To help take the Pinewood Derby experience to that level, Phil has written and freely distributes a Workshop Lesson Plan. “This is written to help the Cub Master and Derby Workshop leaders focus on what is important…It is a work in progress,” Phil commented, “As I receive feedback from the users of it, I will write and share the revisions…” Many scout packs are using the lesson plan and the book together to make this year’s Pinewood Derby the best one ever!

The Lesson Plan is available at the following website location: http://www.winningpinewoodderbycardesigns.com

The book Pinewood-Winning by the Rules is available at the Boy Scout shops, Scouting.org, Amazon and Barnes & Noble online, as well as through the publisher’s website: http://www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/Pinewood-WinningByTheRules.html

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ABOUT: Strategic Book Group provides book publishing, book marketing, and ebook services to over 10,000 writers around the world, employing 150 people who live throughout the US and work virtually through telecommunication. Strategic Book Group is experiencing over 30% growth per year, having published approximately 3000 authors with almost 100 new releases per month. Our books are available through Ingram, the largest book distributor in the world, as well as in bookstores, through Amazon, Barnes & Noble and all online channels. Strategic Book Group attends and exhibits at the major book expositions in London, New York, China, and Germany each year.

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Saturday, December 18, 2010

Why is Amazon so important? Because people from your niche WILL find you there.

Authors of Strategic are taking over the world one blog at a time

Promoting your book on Amazon should be a no-brainer. This site is one of the largest, most well known online bookstores in the world. If you ignore your book's presence on this site you will lose sales. What most authors don't realize is that Amazon should be treated in the same manner as your would Facebook or Twitter. Amazon is a thriving social media community and it is not just readers who use this site.

Amazon is a "go-to" hub of knowledge for representatives from all ranges of industries. More often than not when publishing personnel look for a certain kind of book they use Amazon as a basis for that search. For instance one of our authors was featured in a Women's Health magazine detailing bra usage- how did they find her you may ask? Via Amazon!

Creating a well known author presence on Amazon is essential to your success.

Author Sara Howard of "Something Funny Happened on the Way to the Moon" is experiencing tremendous success with this concept right now. Her continued participation and use of Amazon chat boards and Listmanias has made her one of the most influential users on Amazon for her niche- astronomy.

Check out this email she sent us:

An Astronomy Society found me on Amazon and sent me a beautiful wall chart of the skies of our Northern Hemisphere.

I reviewed it for them and helped with some marketing. I asked how did they find me and they said that I was the

MOST active person in Astronomy on Amazon. It is my listmanias. J Oh, my!

Have a nice Christmas!

Sara, author of "Something Funny Happened on the Way to the Moon"

http://www.amazon.com/Something-Funny-Happened-Way-Moon/dp/1609110633/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1292712846&sr=1-1-spell

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Amazon is the Facebook equivelent for authors. Promoting your book on this site should be one of your top priorities.

If you have any questions about how to increase your book's Amazon presence please feel free to email me! Hope you all have a happy holiday season and a great new year!

Strategic Book Group

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ABOUT STRATEGIC BOOK GROUP

Strategic Book Group is a division of the Strategic Publishing Group, a rapidly growing publishing company that services new authors as well as helps existing authors expand their reach in the global marketplace. SBG is committed to new technology, offering traditionally printed formats as well as electronically delivered text, and has published over 2500 authors. SBG includes an innovative marketing division that is on the cutting edge of social media. For more information, visit: www.StrategicBookPublishing.com

The Strategic Book Group name, corresponding logos, taglines and other service marks identifying the Strategic Publishing Group and its services are the proprietary marks of Strategic Book Group and must be represented accordingly. Other products and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

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Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Want to know how to increase your Amazon presence? Take the lead from this author (Great Example)

Author David Lowe is doing it right. Every little bit helps. In order to increase your Amazon presence, you as an author, need to take direct measures. By this we mean soliciting traffic to your book's Amazon page. The best part is your friends and family can help! All you need to do is get them to go to your book's Amazon page, click on your reviews as helpful, and have them agree with "Tags Customers Associate With This Product".

Below see how David Lowe asked his fellow friends, family, and coworkers for their support. Way to go David. Strategic loves to see this sort of initiative!!

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Dear All,

I am conscious that all I seem to be doing is asking for favours, but I have just received an email from my publisher's marketing coach regarding help in promoting my book A Dirty Game on Amazon.co.uk. If you have a couple of spare minutes, could you click on the link below and do the following please:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dirty-Game-David-Hurst-Story/dp/1609118537/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1290392138&sr=8-1

For the paperback version -
1. click on the reviews, then click 'yes' on each review that they were helpful;
2. return to the main page and on tags, please click that you agree with the tags for 'spy stories', 'thriller', 'crime' and 'MI5';
3. click on the adverts on the page, let the screen come up and then close it, do not buy anything.

Then click on the Kindle version and repeat the process above.

It will only take a couple of minutes at most, but according to my marketing coach just 50 people doing this will make Aamzon sit up and take notice. Of course if you have not got a copy, please feel free to order one - a great idea for Christmas presents.

When the success starts, I promise you all I will book the Lifford Community Cinema (Co Donnegal) and organise one hell of a celebration as well as finding a good place in Liverpool for another do! A genuine thanks to all of you for your suppoort so far, I could not be where I am without your great support

David Lowe, Author of "A Dirty Game: A David Hurst Story"

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All you need to know about Author Sophie Boswell

Authors of Strategic are taking over the world one blog at a time

Strategic Book Group would like to introduce you to author Sophie Boswell of "The Power of Feng Shui". Sophie is a talented writer and this book takes the cake. Make sure to check out this authors book on Amazon and help her out if you can!

What YOU can do:

Please take a moment to browse the following title on Amazon. We want to help the author get as much attention as possible and YOU can help. Your clicks and votes will help this author tremendously in the long run so take a look at the reviews and vote on the ones you find helpful!

Visit the Link
Vote the reviews you like as helpful
Agree with Tags Customers Associate With This Product

http://www.amazon.com/Power-Feng-Shui-Sophie-Boswell/dp/1606933906/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1292430374&sr=8-1

Sophie lives in the Snowy Mountains in Australia, having spent twenty years in Sydney running her company which supplied hospitals, Australia wide, with a unique product. After a multinational corporation bought the business, she changed her lifestyle, became a free-spirited wanderer and lived in the US for a few years. It was in Boston, where she had time on her hands, she began writing poetry. From there she ended up in Dubai where she began writing her first book The Power of Feng Shui.

The inspiration for this book came from her husband, Zayid Bisharah, whom she met in Honolulu. It’s a love story which ensued following the change in direction of her life. This led her to living in Dubai where she viewed a world of unbelievable wealth. It also sets the stage for supernatural things to be considered seriously. A sequel Beyond Blue Hawaii will follow eventually.

Her second book Journey of the Mind is a collection of poetry and song lyrics recalling her thoughts and feelings as she travelled the world. This book was compiled in the Snowy Mountains where she observed nature through a microscope glass.

Now hooked on writing fulltime, Sophie is writing Breaking Loose: an Australian Story about her early childhood which began in a country town called Toowoomba which covers some of Australia’s history of the forties and fifties.

The other significant string to her bow is composing and songwriting. Although Sophie is a trained nursing sister, fine artist and businesswoman, her first love was music and piano playing, jazz and classics played mostly by ear and memory.

In 2001 in Hawaii, she wrote her first love song which was recorded by Hilltop Records in Hollywood. Since then she has written several more, some of which have won awards in the US and Australia. Sophie’s songwriting name is Bunty Bisharah. www.hilltoprecords.com/songwriters/buntybisharah

Sophie will soon migrate to the US where her three daughters live. Her varied and diversified life has given her a wealth of knowledge about people and how they work…

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Friday, December 10, 2010

Robin Landry the next Dr. Suess

Robin Landry is the author of "When I Dream", a collection of short poetry for children that both entertains and teaches. Her book has truly become a "hot item" over the last few months and we expect to only see continued sales from this author.

Her unique spin on poetry keeps the attention of children but at the same time teaches the important concepts we all learn along the way. Robin's book is doing increadibly well on Amazon with over 30 reviews! Way to go Mrs. Landry and we hope you the best in 2011.

Think of Robin as a cross between Dr.Suess and Shel Silverstein!

Check out these great reviews or visit Robin Landry's book on Amazon for more information: http://www.amazon.com/When-I-Dream-Robin-Landry/dp/1608605809/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Sample of Amazon Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous Illustrations, Just Like Dr. Seuss, December 10, 2010

Book Lover "Book Lover, Reviewer of All Books" (USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: When I Dream (Paperback)

What I loved about When I Dream is the gorgeous illustrations, especially the one for The Legend of Jmojer. A flaming body headed towards a planet that illustrates the intriguing myth of a people who had everything, yet "You would think that so gifted a race, could be happy with all that they had, but those wonderful people of Jomjer, couldn't help but feel sad'. As the story progresses, a morality tales unfolds. How a people who had everything, still felt the need to take from those weaker than themselves until it becomes their undoing.

Throughout the book, like a good teacher, information comes alive in rhyme and verse allowing a child to grasp complicated subjects with ease. Children of all ages would enjoy this book. Even adults can learn something, just as a previous generation did with Dr. Suess.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A children's book that combines poetry, science and imagination, October 9, 2010

Timothy B. Riley (San Antonio, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE) (TOP 10 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: When I Dream (Paperback)

Light rays; the make-up of our sun; skiing; our solar system; a graffiti tagger turned artist; the legends of Atlantis and Jmojer; all unusual subjects for a child's book of poetry, but Robin Laundry makes it work so well I couldn't wait to share it with some appropriately-aged friends. "When I Dream" is more about a child's daydreams and innate curiosity than about what they do while they snooze.

I showed this book to a couple of elementary school teacher friends of mine and they both not only loved it but were convinced that Ms. Laundry must have been (or is) a teacher herself. Their combined experience led them to suggest that this is material that 5th graders are being taught in most US schools. If you have ever been stumped while watching "Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?" you know that our 10 and 11 years old are capable of much deeper thinking than we might give them credit for. The author presents both facts and fantasy in a appealing and joyful style. The science seems to be up-to-date (the fact that Pluto is no longer considered a planet is mentioned) and although the poetry seemed to have some odd rhyming schemes to it I am sure that children will find it enjoyable.

The illustrations by Christine Bennett are charming but maybe a little amateurish, especially in their depiction of adults (such as the drawings of Galileo and the residents of Atlantis). If I had any suggestions it would be to separate the fantasy portions (like the stories of the dragon or the talking rat) from the fact based poems and to publish them as separate titles. My teacher friends plan to use my copy in their classroom would would have liked it better if it was all science or all fiction. This is a wonderful book that does not talk down to children and yet still gives them something to dream about.

DISCLAIMER: Although I was not paid for this review, I did receive the book for free from the author in the hope that I would review it. Thank you.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A choice find for educators and families alike, September 25, 2010

J. Prather (IN USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: When I Dream (Paperback)

I am not very familiar with poetry, although since I work with children and all forms of juvenile literature, I was eager to review this collection of poems as an opportunity to expand my knowledge and appreciation. I immediately recognized and appreciated the whimsical tone and flow of these poems as traits found in some of my favorite picture books. Since my tastes run more to the practical side of things rather than the lyrical, my favorites were the many entries concerning science, especially space. The author does a magnificent job of introducing basic science facts in a fun way that most kids will find very memorable. Any early elementary or preschool teacher will find much to enjoy and make good use of in these poems describing the planets, the sun (my favorite of the collection), and even the nature of the universe itself.

I couldn't do a review of this one without mentioning Little Rappin' Red from The Hood. It's a great inner city take on Red Riding Hood that is sure to have lots of feet tapping to the beat and laughing along with Red as she battles wits with not a wolf this time, but a rat. Good Stuff. I might get brave and try that one in a story time soon! I also really enjoyed The Legend of Jmojar, but being a devout novel reader, I found myself wanting more of the story!

All in all this is a great collection that will appeal to a variety of ages. Preschoolers will find much to love here, as well as many 6th graders starting algebra who will no doubt be charmed by the story of Ima Princess and her efforts to tame the algebra beast. While this book does not have quite the polish of some of the offerings currently being put forth by some of the more well known children's poets, the author's creativity shines through and makes this a very worthwhile purchase for both families and educators. Recommended.

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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Montessori Approved. A great book to read with your children! Let your imagination run wild., May 19, 2010

Emma Jones (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: When I Dream (Paperback)

This is an absolutely great book to read with your children. My daughter goes to a Montessori school and this is where I first heard about the book. The school adopted it into their teaching curriculum. When I dream is a collection of poems that are creative enough to keep the imaginations of children wondering. This book takes everyday subjects and turns them into fun creative works of art. Although the book is not all illustrations it does have quite a bit throughout which is great (my daughter loves when we turn to a page with one!). I always look for books to read with my daughter that are semi-educational, that have a good moral direction and make her mind fill with possibilities. This book does that all and then some.

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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars When I Dream--Beautiful, May 21, 2010

Sara Howard "Apollo Engineer on the Saturn V" (Tallahassee, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: When I Dream (Paperback)

Have you ever strolled down a path when it was almost dark? As you walked, the sound of beautiful music came to you. What was this? You walked to a clearing and you saw the beautiful lights. It was a carousel!

This is Robin Landry's fantastic book. The poetry and illustrations are superb. Each chapter is a book in itself. I particularly like the Terrible Dragon, space and our solar system. But there is more: Light, Radio Waves, Earth, our Sun, the planets, Mercury, Venus, the Asteroid Belt and more.
I was delighted to read that Robin is taking children to a place of magic. I just hope that their parents
encourage the study of math and astronomy.
What a wonderful, sweet book! I love the poetry. The author is really talented and I hope she keeps on writing. I read this book to my four grandchildren and they all loved it. The idea is brilliant. I love the subject. You are a lovely and exceptional lady. God Bless you and your family. I hope this book sells a million copies! This wonderful book should be in every school and library in the country.

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Apex gives author Mike Saxton 4 Stars

Apex Review of "7 Scorpions: Rebellion" by Mike Saxton

www.apexreviews.net

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7 Scorpions: Rebellion

Mike Saxton

ISBN: 9781609112868

Eloquent Books

Reviewed By Chelsea Perry

Official Apex Reviews Rating:

When a vicious malcontent known only as “Zodiac” sets off a series of flash

bombs in every major city in America, it quickly brings the shocked and terrified

nation to its knees. For his coup de grâce, Zodiac unleashes the deadly Seekers,

whose brutal brand of swift “justice” is designed to ensure instant enslavement and

the elimination of any remnants of rebellion. In the wake of all the destruction,

Vincent Black, a former vigilante and government super soldier, emerges from

self-imposed exile to thwart Zodiac’s nefarious efforts – but is it too late to save

what’s left of humanity from the deadly dictator’s fatal grasp...?

7 Scorpions: Rebellion is a riveting Sci-Fi/Action tale. Skillfully blending

vividly fashioned characters with breathtaking suspense, author Mike Saxton takes

a highly believable scenario and gives it just enough of a fantastical twist to make

it a compelling page-turner. Though the plot is anything but original, what makes

7 Scorpions: Rebellion stand out is Saxton’s thoroughly unique writing style.

With a seamless mix of humor, drama, and action, Saxton inexorably draws the

reader in to his imaginative world – in which the unfolding of horrific events

doesn’t appear to be too far away from the terroristic realities we could someday

face...

The first of what promises to be a highly entertaining trilogy, 7 Scorpions:

Rebellion is a solid debut that more than holds its own. A recommended read.

All you need to know about Author Peggy L. Headlund

Strategic Book Group would like to introduce you to author Peggy L. Headlund of the "Lilia Faith Christian's Family Legacy" series. We are extremely proud of Peggy L. Headlund and all the work she has done. To date Peggy has an exciting series of Christian Fiction suitable for Young Adults. Keep an eye our for the Lilia Faith Christian's Family Legacy as this is going to be a series you can’t put down!

Peggy H. Headlund: Lilia Faith Christian's Family Legacy

Innocence: Simplicity of Spirit

http://www.amazon.com/Innocence-Simplicity-Spirit-Peggy-Headlund/dp/1606937103/

Confidence: Reliance on the Spirit
http://www.amazon.com/Confidence-Reliance-Spirit-Christians-Family/dp/1608609391/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264728132&sr=1-1

Consequence: Importance of the Spirit

http://www.amazon.com/Consequence-Importance-Spirit-Christians-Family/dp/1609113144/

Common Sense: Listening to the Spirit

http://www.amazon.com/Common-Sense-Listening-Spirit-Christians/dp/1609765486/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1289271512&sr=1-1

Peggy grew up on a large interdependent dairy farm in Farmington, Minnesota. Everyone had his or her assigned chores to perform daily. The family of seven children relied on each other to get the work done, and there was plenty of it! God bestowed two gifts upon Peggy at a very young age: a wondrous relationship with animals, and a musicality beyond her years.

At the age of ten, her dad took her to look at a magnificent and spirited American Saddlebred horse. The owner promised that Peggy could have the horse if she could ride it! The enormous horse bucked, sidestepped, slammed on the brakes and tried to throw Peggy over his head, reared, bounced straight up in the air, and raced around the perimeter of the pasture at mustang speed! She stuck it out because she adamantly wanted to own the splendid creature. When the immense horse settled down, the owner said, “Your farm is only four miles from here, why don’t you ride him home?” She did.

Ever since Peggy was three years old, she stood next to the giant bulls and horses on their farm, and sang to them. Surprisingly, the animals didn’t hurt her. It was as if the animals and Peggy knew what each other were thinking. It unnerved her dad at the time because the relationship was a bit uncanny, but he didn’t interfere.

Nana Van Dyke, Peggy’s grandmother, was a music teacher, and a concert pianist. Her grandma began Peggy’s piano lessons at the age of three, since she showed such a strong interest in the piano. She also studied the accordion and organ. At the age of nine, the music director at the elementary school awarded Peggy her first solo for the Christmas program, and every year thereafter.

Peggy auditioned for Madame Mady, a famous German opera star, at the age of thirteen. Madame Mady felt genuinely impressed with her vocal skills, and accepted her as a student. Peggy developed into a dramatic coloratura soprano, and won her first starring role in an opera at the age of fifteen, as well as a superior grading at the Minnesota high school music contest, and a Saturday night residency at a popular nightclub in St. Paul. She recorded with the Boston Pops at the age of sixteen, and began touring the area.

Peggy studied music and business in college. After her graduation with a music degree, business degree, and a master in business, she began working for the University of Minnesota developing coursework for them in the business school. She has written hundreds of scholastic, business, and motivational books for colleges, corporations, and financial institutions. Peggy also continued to perform in operas, musicals, and nightclubs, and she still sings today.

At the suggestion of her husband, Peggy turned to fiction several years ago. Almost all the ranch and singing stories are true. She only changed the details to protect the innocent, which proves that truth is stranger than fiction! Peggy desired to write a series of books that would excite and inspire people, stories that brought current-day issues to the forefront, yet incorporated a message of faith, hope, truth, and values. Her readers range in age from young adults to senior citizens.

The series of five books are about an impetuous, talented, and fun-loving young woman, her family, and her friends. The books describe with scintillating details the adventures and emotions of the main character, Lilia. You will travel with her, laugh with her, and cry with her as she faces real-life situations. With the help of her family and friends, she learns how to deal with what life throws at her in a wise and noble manner. In turn, she helps and encourages many people to make positive changes in their lives as God's hand moves across the planet.

Strategic Book Group

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Thursday, December 9, 2010

All you need to know about Author Patrick C. Cox

Strategic Book Group would like to introduce you to author Patrick C. Cox of "The Enemy is Within!".

Check out his book on Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/Enemy-Within-Patrick-G-Cox/dp/1453575510/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_1

Patrick Who?

Patrick Cox has lived an interesting and varied life. Born in Cape Town, South Africa just after the end of WW2, he grew up in a place called East London, a small river harbour on the Eastern Cape coast – not the marginally better known city on a bigger river in the Northern Hemisphere. Educated, or so it is claimed, at the Selborne Primary and College in East London, he was introduced to sailing as a sport at an early age and still enjoys ‘messing about in boats’ when anyone will let him.

After trying a variety of potential careers, including banking, sales and administration, and even exploring ordination, he broke with family wishes – and joined the Fire Service in Port Elizabeth. In this, at least, he was following a family tradition of service. His father served in the Royal Navy, his grandfathers in the Army and even his great grandfathers in the Army or Navy. After a somewhat hesitant start though, he made this his life’s career – to quote; “It was almost a vocation, really. I just enjoyed being able to help people who really appreciated our efforts.”

He describes his career, which saw him work as a firefighter, operational officer and eventually fire safety specialist and training instructor, as “Thirty-six years of sweat, adrenalin, scary stuff, some tears, some frustrations and a whole lot of laughter.” He says, “I made some superb friends, learned a lot about life I didn’t know, some things I probably didn’t want to know – and the importance of belonging to a real team, with real people while doing something you really do enjoy doing 24/7.”

His first forays into writing were in the technical field – he is still writing textbooks and study guides – while serving as Training Officer for a major city Fire and Emergency Service in South Africa. In this capacity he wrote a number of study guides for the service’s Recruit Training Programme and for several other organizations including the Sea Cadets and the Boy Scouts. As Fire Safety Officer he was tasked with writing Regulations for Flammable Liquid Storage and a Minute on the storage of explosives in between drafting Standard Operating Procedures, Specifications and all the other technical ‘stuff’ the work demanded.

Moving to the UK to continue his career in 1988, he found himself at the Fire Service College in 1992 as an Instructor/Tutor and spent the last fourteen years of his career there. He describes this as “an opportunity to learn, to branch out in new directions and above all to share my own experience with others – and learn from theirs.” They were challenging years, but very fulfilling. Shortly after joining the College staff, his first book was published by the Institution of Fire Engineers www.ife.org.uk – a reference work titled “Marine Fire Studies.” It addresses the fire safety and fire fighting requirements for ships and is aimed at those studying for the Graduate and Membership Diplomas of the Institution. A lifelong ambition was also fulfilled in 1999 when he was awarded the degree of Bachelor of Science by the South Bank University in London and topped this in 2003 with a Master of Arts awarded by Coventry University.

His career has taken him to the Philippines, the Middle East, Iran, Australia, Indonesia, Thailand, Kazahkstan, Poland, Ghana and the US. As he says, “I never expected to do much world travel. After all you joined the Royal Navy for that – at least my father did.” It is something of joke in his family that he has visited more places in the world than his naval service father, “some of them places he spent time trying to blow up.”

The obvious question to ask someone with this background is – why take up writing? And why this mixed genre?

The answer is an intriguing one. “It is something I wanted to do when I was at school, but life had other plans. The writing I did in my ultimate career has allowed me to polish my ability in this art and I do enjoy telling a good story. The mixed genre come about because I love a good historical take – as close to the fact as possible – and I enjoy the speculative futures offered by science fiction. So, what does happen when you put some people from the past into a possible future in which many of the skills to ‘fossils’ may have, are forgotten? It’s a lot of fun exploring that on it’s own.”

The inspiration for the original story came from his grandfather, a man who was a major influence in his life. The original Henry Nelson Heron ran away at the age of fifteen, to join the Army in WW1. He and his best friend were among the casualties on the first day of the Somme battles which saw the 36^th Ulster Division almost wiped out. They survived and went on to make new lives for themselves in a newly unified South Africa. Both were men of broad knowledge – though their formal education was curtailed – and made use of their skills and knowledge in furthering their ambitions. Knowing men like these and knowing how many of the skills they had were being ‘lost’ led to the idea for his first novel. The overall story has grown from there!

The Enemy is Within! is the third book the first, “Out of Time” is now preceded by “Their Lordships Request…” which introduces “Harry” Henry Nelson-Heron as a Midshipman and Ferghal O’Connor, Boy Seaman, aboard the 74 gun ship of the line, HMS Spartan. The story is a ‘rite of passage’ for the boys, showing how they gain the skills and knowledge they will put too good use in the far future. It also introduces the people they will meet in this future they cannot even begin to imagine. Out of Time introduces them to a future life and a new set of challenges – which they meet head on in the third story – The Enemy is Within! http://www2.xlibris.com/books/webimages/wd/UK/300925/

Is the story finished? Not at all, the story has many more twists and turns to take yet.

What does Patrick Cox think is the most flattering review he has received? “Definitely the one that suggested my story was a case of ‘Asimov meets Hornblower.’ Since C S Forrester was one of my earliest favourites and Isaac Asimov has always been one of my favourite scifi authors, what greater compliment could I get?”

Asked what else he plans to write, his answer was enthusiastic. “I’ve some great ideas for purely historical stories – based on real life and real people. I’ve another I’ve based on one of my heroes, St Patrick, which I’m still polishing and hope to find a publisher for and there are plenty more adventures for Harry and Ferghal to explore.” Current projects, though, include some technical articles commissioned by a professional journal and a professional Guide to Fire and Explosion Investigation for the Institution of Fire Engineers. “I agree with Terry Pratchett – ‘Writing is the most fun you can have on your own.’ Even writing the technical stuff is fun – and a challenge to get it just right.”

Patrick has been interviewed on The Book Channel http://www.thebookchannel.tv/patrick-cox.html and has pages on Amazon https://authorcentral.amazon.com/gp/profile?ie=UTF8&%2AVersion%2A=1&%2Aentries%2A=0 and https://authorcentral.amazon.co.uk/gp/profile and on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/ . He also comments on his blog The Gray Monk’s Scriptorium www.thegraymonksscriptorium.blogspot.com on life, politics and sometimes his faith.

Speaking of ‘faith’ – he was, until he moved to live in Germany, a ‘Reader’ – a Licenced Minister, rather than an ‘ordained’ one – on the ministry team at Tewkesbury Abbey and served for four years as one of the Abbey’s Church Wardens. “One of my future projects is to try and compile a book which includes some of my best received sermons – something I do think there is room for in literature. There are a lot of very learned tracts out there, but I think I can share some of my faith with people, like myself, who don’t have degrees in Theology or Philosophy, and yet want to ‘grow’ in their understanding of their faith. Hopefully I can supply something that will help.”

Talking to him, one quickly realizes that Patrick G Cox is a man of many parts and many interests. “I’ve been lucky. I’ve had a great career, good friends, some superb teachers – and a grandfather whose interest in everything he encountered inspired me to look at things with a more open mind than perhaps I would have done in other circumstances. And some of the experiences have coloured my characters and my stories.”

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