Churchmouse Tales
Churchmouse Tales by Gary Moore
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Churchmouse Tales
My first book is due to be published in e-mail and print form this February. It
is entitled Churchmouse Tales. It comprises 24 humorous short stories together with
20 cartoons. Most of the stories were submitted in first draft form to The Writers'
Circle and the published version is much the same albeit with more jokes and less
grammatical errors. It will be available via Amazon, Barnes and Noble, All good
book stores and some bad ones.
How it happened
I have always had the ability to think up stories, and used to entertain everyone's
kids at parties by making up unlikely tales. Now and again someone would say “You
should write that down and send it off” I never did, and just thought that they
were being kind. About five years ago I was trying to think of a way to make a little
bit of extra money. The thought struck me that the one thing I could do in my spare
time that didn't cost me anything, and might actually bring some pennies in was
to write a book. A few days later a fully formed story came into my mind, and filled
with enthusiasm I sat down and started scribbling. Three years later I had my manuscript,
had shown it to a few friends who all liked it, and so sent it off to a couple of
agents to reject. I realised that dispute writing a novel, I knew nothing about
the art or the industry of writing and so I joined the Writer's Circle, which was
probably one of the few smart things I have ever done. Because I typed in each story
rather than patching them, I limited each posting to a maximum of 2,000 words and
so it made sense to write short stories which without realising it was what I had
been making up for kids most of my life. My writing improved, people seemed to like
them, I got noticed, and got an offer from a publisher.
Who's this Churchmouse bloke then?
I'm a middle-aged Englishman living and working in France. My real name is Gary
Moore (not the guitarist unfortunately) and by day I work as a self-employed heating
engineer. Prior to that I worked variously as a factory manager, an army officer,
and a collector of debts. I choose the name
Churchmouse as due to circumstances I found that I was practically penniless
and the phrase “poor as a churchmouse” seemed apt. Still, hey-ho, as they say: things
can only get better. Fortunately they actually appear to be doing just that!
The future
I now have to figure out how to market the first book: something that I know nothing
about and need to learn fast. To this end I will be launching a website to promote
and sell the book, and will probably be lying through my teeth to all and sundry
about how imperative it is for book-stores to sell and promote the thing. Together
with this I still need to continue my day job in order to put food on the table,
and whenever I have a spare five minutes I will continue writing the follow-up book
which will be a series of Auntie Vera stories. It's a good job that I don't watch
TV or have a packed social diary otherwise nothing would get done! It's been a hell
of a ride, and it's only just starting.
Churchmouse
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