Tag - Symbiosis

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Symbiosis Sale Ends Today
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6 Good Self-Published Books
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My Book Industry Ramblings
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Symbiosis Launch
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Symbiosis Countdown
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Symbiosis Blurb Reveal
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Symbiosis Front Cover Reveal
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The Books I Read This Year
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7 Books about Twins
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7 Mental Health Themed Novels

Symbiosis Sale Ends Today

Get my Psychological Thriller Symbiosis today for only 99c/99p (Usual Price: $3.99/£2.86). Available from Amazon (US & UK).

Symbiosis

Perceptive and poignant, Symbiosis explores our enduring fascination with twins and the complexities of twinship.

Identical twins Talulah and Taliah have never been apart. Viewed as curiosities by children and adults alike, they coexist in an insular world with their own secret language. But being identical doesn’t necessarily mean being equal…

Soon a series of momentous events will send Talulah and Taliah spiralling out of control, setting them on a collision course with a society that views them as two parts of a whole. Will their symbiotic relationship survive?

Symbiosis was released at the end of January.

Symbiosis

Sale ends today Tuesday April 12th.

Amazon US (99c) & Amazon UK (99p) — also available in paperback.

 

 

6 Good Self-Published Books

This week’s blog post is dedicated to 6 self-published books that I enjoyed reading. Several of these books have had some commercial success. As followers of this blog are aware I am an eclectic reader, and this is reflected in the choice of books. Click on the links to read my reviews.

 

Tollesbury Time Forever by Stuart AyrisTollesbury2

Genre: Literary Fiction

Simon Anthony, a resident of the picturesque village of Tollesbury, is an avid Beatles fan with a history of mental health issues and a dependence on alcohol. One evening an inebriated Simon staggers out of his local…(more)

 

A Gangster’s Grip by Heather BurnsideA Gangster's Grip

Genre: Crime

Rita has been living in Greece, where she has been running a restaurant with her husband Yansis. She has just returned to her hometown of Manchester for a visit. On arrival at her parents’ home she finds a surly stranger ensconced…(more)

 

Wasting Talent by Ryan LeoneWasting Talent

Genre: Transgressive

Young guitar virtuoso Damien Cantwell is a member of a band in Southern California. Damian is talented, popular and good looking, but has a drug problem. He started drinking and smoking at a tender age, and his substance abuse now consists of a dizzying array…(more)

 

Barry Braithwaite’s Last Life by A. R. LoweBarry2

Genre: General

The book is about the developing friendship between the protagonist, Alfred, and an alcoholic by the name of Barry. Barry, an electrician by trade, has been reduced to living in a skip, his days spent borrowing pound coins about town…(more)

 

The Rebel’s Sketchbook by Rupert DreyfusThe Rebel's Sketchbook

Genre: Satire/Transgressive

The Rebel’s Sketchbook is a collection of 13 first person satirical short stories. Subjects encompass capitalism, class war, drugs, viral culture, boy bands and zero hour contracts. The compilation’s motif is rebellion…(more)

 

Symbiosis by Guy PortmanSymbiosis

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Symbiosis is a personal favourite of mine. I published it last month. Identical twins Talulah and Taliah have never been apart. Viewed as curiosities by children and adults alike, they coexist in an insular world with their own secret language. But being identical doesn’t necessarily mean being equal…(Amazon link)

 

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My Book Industry Ramblings

Of late I have been devoting my weekly blog posts to my new psychological thriller, Symbiosis (released last Thursday). Click here to read the reviews. In preparation for the release of Symbiosis I conducted some book industry research, some of which I relay here. I hope you find it interesting.

Amazon6

The bestselling adult Fiction printed book of 2015 was Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee. Total units sold in 2015: 1,599,189.

Amazon’s bestselling book of 2015 was The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. It is set to become a film starring Emily Blunt later this year.

Most fortuitous current book title — Girl on a Train by Alison Waines. Lots of readers confused the title with The Girl On The Train, resulting in tens of thousands of sales for its previously unsung author.

Current bestselling self-published book — A Shade of Vampire by Bella Forrest. Yes, vampires again.

Most anticipated book of 2016 — There are many books vying for this accolade, including The Last Days of New Paris by China Miéville. This alternative history novel is destined to be a bestseller.

Most anticipated non-fiction book of 2016 — Again this is a matter of opinion. There is certainly a lot of excitement over the release this spring of Leonard: My Fifty-Year Friendship With a Remarkable Man by William Shatner. It celebrates the man behind Mr. Spock from Star Trek.

2016

Genre currently on the rise — Adult colouring-in books. I was really surprised to discover this. Did I like colouring-in when I was a child? Quite. Do I want to do colouring-in now? Not really. But lots of people do. It’s cathartic apparently. I’m considering trying one out.

Genre to look out for — Bizarro Fiction is an up-and-coming genre. Bizarro Fiction titles are indeed bizarre. Take Adolf in Wonderland for instance.

The most lucrative genres are Romance and Erotica.

And now for some industry news.

Indie authors currently make up about 20% of the book market.

Amazon borrows are growing at the expense of sales. This is not surprising when one considers that Amazon Prime is now in 38% of American households. The Kindle Owner’s Lending Library (KOLL) is certainly controversial, and some well known authors have opted out of it altogether.  Currently I am a fan. This is because KOLL was primarily responsible for lifting my 2nd novel, Necropolis, from obscurity to the lofty position (yesterday morning GMT) of No.11 in the Kindle – Dark Comedy category on Amazon.com.

 

Symbiosis Launch

I am pleased to announce that Symbiosis is now on sale.

Symbiosis

The Blurb:

Identical twins Talulah and Taliah have never been apart. Viewed as curiosities by children and adults alike, they coexist in an insular world with their own secret language. But being identical doesn’t necessarily mean being equal…

Soon a series of momentous events will send Talulah and Taliah spiralling out of control, setting them on a collision course with a society that views them as two parts of a whole. Will their symbiotic relationship survive?

Moving and laconic, with impressive attention to psychological detail…

Symbiosis

Here are 2 short extracts from Symbiosis:

A staccato burst of cryptophasia piercing the air preludes Talulah’s finger prodding Taliah repeatedly in her arm, each occurrence sending a ripple of anxiety coursing through Taliah’s body, that escalates into waves when her arm is shaken vigorously.

‘You will not regress to cryptophasias, not here!’ shouts Hunter-Thornton. The scarlet-cheeked psychiatrist views with consternation the two expressionless faces staring back at him. ‘At Hunter-Thornton Integrated Counselling Services we accept cognitive disorders in all their manifestations, but insolence we will not. You have been warned.’
‘Ugi derriii bothi baldi.’ It is Talulah who says this.

Amazon.com – paperback ($10.99) & Kindle ($3.26)

Amazon.co.uk – paperback (£6.99) & Kindle (£2.29)

Thank you.

Symbiosis Countdown

My psychological thriller, Symbiosis, is being released next Thursday (January 21st) now on sale.

Symbiosis

The blurb:

Identical twins Talulah and Taliah have never been apart. Viewed as curiosities by children and adults alike, they coexist in an insular world with their own secret language. But being identical doesn’t necessarily mean being equal…

Soon a series of momentous events will send Talulah and Taliah spiralling out of control, setting them on a collision course with a society that views them as two parts of a whole. Will their symbiotic relationship survive?

Perceptive and poignant, Symbiosis explores our enduring fascination with twins and the complexities of twinship.

Click here to enter the goodreads giveaway for a chance to win one of three autographed copies.

Symbiosis

Here are two short extracts from Symbiosis:

During dinner that evening Talulah and Taliah’s cutlery does not move in unison with one another, and when they reach for their glasses of water, they do so at different times. Their unsynchronised actions continue into dessert, with Talulah rapidly consuming her Petits-Filous yoghurt, whilst Taliah eats hers at a leisurely pace, each time her teaspoon emerges from the pot, only the front end is covered in yoghurt.

‘You will not regress to cryptophasias, not here!’ shouts Hunter-Thornton. The scarlet-cheeked psychiatrist views with consternation the two expressionless faces staring back at him. ‘At Hunter-Thornton Integrated Counselling Services we accept cognitive disorders in all their manifestations, but insolence we will not. You have been warned.’
‘Ugi derriii bothi baldi.’ It is Talulah who says this.

Symbiosis is now available for preorder from Amazon.

Amazon.com – paperback ($10.99) & Kindle ($3.38)

Amazon.co.uk – paperback (£6.99) & Kindle (£2.29)

Symbiosis Blurb Reveal

There are only 11 days to go until the release of Symbiosis (Publication Date: 21st January 2016). Symbiosis is a Psychological Thriller. It is my third novel (Charles Middleworth & Necropolis). Last week I unveiled the front cover (see below).

Symbiosis

This is the blurb:

Identical twins Talulah and Taliah have never been apart. Viewed as curiosities by children and adults alike, they coexist in an insular world with their own secret language. But being identical doesn’t necessarily mean being equal…

Soon a series of momentous events will send Talulah and Taliah spiralling out of control, setting them on a collision course with a society that views them as two parts of a whole. Will their symbiotic relationship survive?

Perceptive and poignant, Symbiosis explores our enduring fascination with twins and the complexities of twinship.

A valuable addition to the monozygotic canon…

Symbiosis demonstrates Portman’s ability to populate his worlds with peculiar yet plausible characters.

Moving and laconic, with impressive attention to psychological detail…

I am pleased to announce that Symbiosis is now available for preorder from Amazon.

Amazon.com – paperback ($10.99) & Kindle ($3.38)

Amazon.co.uk – paperback (£6.99) & Kindle (£2.29)

Click here to sign up for my newsletter.

 

Symbiosis Front Cover Reveal

Happy New Year everyone! May 2016 prove to be a prosperous year for us all.

Late this morning I spent some time perusing my 2015 Jetpack annual report. If you don’t like stats look away now.

  • This blog received over 14,000 page views in 2015.
  • Visitors came from 123 countries including Kiribati.
  • I wrote 52 blog posts (every Friday afternoon).
  • March 20th was the most popular day with 341 views.
  •  My most viewed post was 7 Famous Writers Who Died Poor.

2016 promises more of the same.

2016

As many of you know my third novel, Symbiosis, is being released later this month (21st January).

Here is some information about Symbiosis.

  • Symbiosis is a Psychological Thriller (a story which emphasises the psychology of its characters and their unstable emotional states).
  • The main characters are twin girls called Talulah and Taliah.
  • Talulah and Taliah speak to each other in a cryptophasia. A cryptophasia is a secret language developed by a set of twins, which only they understand. The word originates from the Latin crypto meaning secret and phasia meaning speech.
  • The book’s themes include mental health.
  • Symbiosis explores our enduring fascination with twins and the complexities of twinship.

And now for the first time I present Symbiosis’s front cover.

Symbiosis

I hope you like it as much as I do.

Happy New Year.

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The Books I Read This Year

Happy Christmas everyone. This week’s blog post is dedicated to the books I read in 2015. This year I have read 20 books, which is 12 less than last year. This is because I devoted a great deal of time to my 3rd novel, Symbiosis. Symbiosis is a psychological thriller about twin girls called Talulah and Taliah. I will be revealing more information about Symbiosis next week.

The following 20 books are presented in the order in which I read them. Click on the links to read my reviews.

booksnew

My Childhood by Maxim Gorky (1915) – This is a harrowing account of a turbulent and cruel childhood.

Savage Night by Jim Thompson (1953)  – A suspenseful crime novel that explores the ugly side of the human condition.

I, Robot by Isaac Asimov (1950) – A thought-provoking and at times humorous work about the evolution of technology

Chess Story by Stefan Zweig (1942)  – This psychological novella examines the delicate divide that separates genius from madness.

Confessions of an English Opium-Eater by Thomas de Quincey (1800)  – A self-indulgent, turgid, grandiloquent language-laden ordeal.

Cocaine Nights by J.G. Ballard (1996)  – A combination of crime thriller and dystopian fiction.

Heart of Darkness & Other Stories by Joseph Conrad (1899)  – Three complex, atmospheric and insightful nautical themed tales.

Rant by Chuck Palahniuk (2007) –  This challenging book employs an innovative interview format.

Alva & Irva by Edward Carey (2003) – A quaint and quirky novel whose themes include twinship and loneliness.

Cancer Ward by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1968) – The cancer ward serves as a microcosm of Soviet society.

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway (1940)  –This suspenseful but turgid text is set during the Spanish Civil War.

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (1961) – A satire whose central theme is the futility of war.

2015

The Red Pony by John Steinbeck (1932)  – A compact, atmospheric and melancholic book that offers insights into the region’s history.

Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (1925) – An innovative, intellectual, non-plot orientated work replete with pathos.

Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller (1934) – The parasitic protagonist is an American writer living in Paris.

The Day of the Locust by Nathanael West (1939) – This poignant novel is prescient in its prediction of a celebrity-obsessed society.

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (1962) – A ground-breaking and controversial book boasting an intriguing narrator.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (1884) – A satire of American southern antebellum society that parodies slavery.

A Gangster’s Grip by Heather Burnside (2015) – A  fast-moving, plot-driven crime novel set in 90s Manchester.

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1962) – (2nd reading) – The author puts a human face to the plight of the untold millions who suffered in the Soviet Union’s Gulags.

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (1877) – Currently reading.

I look forward to hearing about the books you read this year.

Necropolis

7 Books about Twins

My 3rd novel, Symbiosis, is a Psychological Thriller about identical twin girls called Talulah and Taliah. I will be revealing more soon, but for now we continue with the book theme.

As part of my research for Symbiosis I read a number of books about twins. This week’s blog post is devoted to books about/that feature twins (fiction & non fiction) – 4 of which I have read.

The following books are presented in chronological order:

 

The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder (1927)

The Bridge of San Luis Rey

Set in 18th century Peru, this novella is about a bridge that collapses, killing 5 people. The main characters include identical twins called Esteban and Manuel. The Bridge of San Luis Rey is a philosophical tale with religious undertones. Click here to read my review.

My Opinion: Average

 

Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews (1979)

Flowers in the Attic

This, the first book in the Dollanganger Series, features twins called Carrie and Cory. Flowers in the Attic is a gothic horror/family saga that has been adapted for the silver screen on 2 occasions. Over 40 million copies have been sold worldwide.

 

The Silent Twins by Marjorie Wallace (1986)

The Silent Twins 

This is the true story of June and Jennifer Gibbons, identical twins born in the UK in 1963. Their lives caught the public’s attention, and were the inspiration behind the lyrics of Tsunami by the Manic Street Preachers. Click here to read my review.

My Opinion: Quite good

 

Evil Twins by John Glatt (1999)

Evil Twins

Utilising a tabloid journalistic approach, Evil Twins is a true crime book, which is divided into 12 sections, each dedicated to a different set of ‘evil’ twins. It spawned a television series of the same name. Click here to read my review.

My Opinion: Eminently readable sensationalist tripe.

 

Alva & Irva by Edward Carey (2003) 

Alva & Irva

This unusual novel is about inseparable, identical twins called Alva and Irva. The twins, who come from a family of post office employees, reside in Entralla, a picturesque city with only 1 guidebook. Click here to read my review.

My Opinion: Quaint

 

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield (2006)

The Thirteenth Tale

One of the book’s main characters, Margaret Lea, was born a conjoined twin. Her sibling died shortly after separation. This gothic suspense novel also features another set of twins called Emmeline and Adeline March.

 

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger (2009)

Her Fearful Symmetry

Her Fearful Symmetry is a novel about American twins called Julia and Valentina, who are living in an apartment their aunt left them. The girls’ lives become entangled with that of their neighbours. It is set in and around Highgate Cemetery in London.

 

 

7 Mental Health Themed Novels

Here are 7 mental health themed books from the last 90 years:

Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (1925)

Mrs Dalloway

Set during a single day in June 1923, Mrs Dalloway’s themes include mental health. One of the main characters, Septimus Warren Smith, is a veteran of WWI, who is suffering from shell shock. Click here to read my review.

Tender Is The Night by Scott Fitzgerald (1934)

Tender Is The Night

Protagonist Dick Diver is a talented psychoanalyst, whose wife Nicole is also his patient. Scott Fitzgerald wrote Tender Is the Night when his wife Zelda was hospitalised for schizophrenia. It was his fourth and final completed novel.

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kasey (1962)

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
The book’s narrator is ‘Chief’ Bromden, a Native American psychiatric hospital patient. Other characters include Randle Patrick Murphy, who faked insanity to escape a prison sentence, and Mildred Ratched, the hospital’s draconian head nurse.

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (1963)

The Bell Jar
Protagonist Esther Greenwood’s year in the ‘bell jar’ as she describes it, culminates in her being institutionalised in a mental health facility. This erudite and humorous semi-autobiographical novel adeptly explores an emotionally disturbed mind. Click here to read my review.

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami (1987)

Norwegian Wood
Norwegian Wood sees protagonist Toru Watanabu reflecting on his college days in Tokyo. During this period Toru had established a relationship with a beautiful but emotionally troubled girl called Naoko. Naoko was to spend time in a secluded mountain sanatorium.

The Hours by Michael Cunningham (1998)

The Hours
This Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winner follows 3 generations of women who have been affected by the Virginia Woolf novel, Mrs Dalloway. The women are: Virginia Woolf herself, Mrs Brown, the wife of a WWII veteran, and the bisexual Clarissa Vaughan.

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides (2011)

The Marriage Plot
Set during the 1980s, The Marriage Plot is about 3 college friends from Brown University – Madeleine, Leonard and Mitchell. Leonard has manic depression. This is affecting his work, friendships and romantic relationships.

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Symbiosis

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