My first book | Page 2 | Fab forum

Sorry, only just checked back here after being away for a while. The book's been on hold since I lost my friend and colleague in a road accident at the start of the month. I haven't really had the energy to sit down and write/research Beatles stuff.

I've got quite some way to go, but I'll post news when I have it. There are various threads I'm trying to get to the bottom of, but real life keeps getting in the way (day job, small child etc).

OK, this thread deserves an update. I've been working on the book since the new year, squeezing in bits and pieces here and there. I've just had two days off work, and another one free tomorrow, and I've really made some headway.

I've spent the last few months gathering material, but now I'm starting to give the book some shape. I'm focusing on one particular chapter at the moment – it's kind of central to the whole thing, and when it's complete the rest should be a lot easier to finish. But in honesty I'm finding longform writing HARD – I've been an online journalist for the last 13 or so years, and can turn around 600 words without breaking sweat, but a 20,000 word chapter? That's a whole different ball game (it's not just a case of writing more; it all has to be carefully structured and hang together logically). It's also quite hard to fit writing a book around a day job and child-care duties (Ted's doing fine, if anyone's wondering), as well as bits and pieces of site maintenance.

The plan is still to self publish, in print and ebook formats. I'll reveal the subject when it's approaching completion. I might post an extract when I can, but in the meantime I'll disappear again and keep working. Thanks for keeping the forum working, and sorry I don't drop by so much nowadays.