R L Royle
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Posts posted by R L Royle
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Oh wow! I hope that works out!
You'll write a book about the experience right?
Yeah, me too! It'd be amazing to feel at one with the world and discover more about the human spirit. I've got a feeling it may just change my life, which is welcome 'cause I've been wanting a change for a while.
I am writing about my travels in a journal but that's more for private use. However, the experience and knowledge I will garner from all the different cultures we'll be tasting will no doubt make for wiser writing in my future works of fiction. It'll benefit us in so many ways - I just can't wait to set off! Our house looks like a squat now because we've sold all the furniture ahead of the sale completion date, lol, but we daren't book our flights in case the sale falls through or is pushed back!
XXX
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I've experienced some weird things and every one of them could be "explained away". But to me, I know what it was.
I may know where I'm going, but I don't discount the paranormal.
Just a question.
Do you find now you've done research and are paying attention that more things come to you?
Hmmm... good question. Possibly, although I have a big wide-open mind already so I am always open to paranormal contact. I have been researching the paranormal for pleasure since I was a wee lass and have been having experiences since the same time - but I don't know whether they're connected. You've given me food for thought for there, Jen!
Usually, if there is an energy in any specific area and if I spend enough time there, I tend to experience 'something', but I've only ever had one visit from a spirit (as opposed to a ghost - they're two very different things) and if the area/property I'm in isn't full of obvious energy then I pick up nothing. I have been living in this ghost-free house for four years now and I miss the adrenalin of activity and am telling my boyfriend that I hope our next house has a presence. This is daft really, because I've said this before during quiet periods of my life, only to then reap what I sow and end up uncomfortable, scared and frozen to the spot with fear thinking: 'why did I want this again?! why! why! why!!!!'. Lol, I suppose it depends on the presence and I think, as an adult with more education now, I
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Our Kid by Billy Hopkins is a beautiful book of Billy's experience as a child growing up in Manchester during WW2. It's one of the few fiction books I've read again and again.
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It looks lovely.
I bet she got so much enjoyment of creating those seven books, and I bet she's given the other six to people of whom she holds close to her heart.
Like Child.of.God, I also love leather-bound books. I'm pretty broke at the moment but the just other week I happened upon an incense-filled shop and found two just beautiful leather-bound blank books. After admiring them, smelling them, walking away from them then being drawn back to them, I decided that not taking them home with me would turn into regret.
I am so glad I bought them that day. My boyfriend and I set off travelling Asia, Europe, America and Canada in February and we both plan on documenting our travels. Now we've got these books to write our journals in, I think we'll be inspired to document our adventures in our most artistic ways and so I feel we'll learn a lot about ourselves as well as the world, all in a totally positive frame of mind. How enlightened and optimistic I feel after purchasing these two beautiful books!
Back to J K; I
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Of course there is a spirit world. What else happens when we die? I don't see why the two can't mix and I think that sometimes they do but I have no proof of course.
Echi. I am sorry to hear about your experience but I have to say this, Schizophrenia is not a disease.
A good way I heard it described about how some people are sensitive to ghosts and spirits and others aren't, is that it's like giving two people a radio and telling them to tune into Virgin (for instance!); one might know the exact frequency its on and be able to go straight to it, and the other might have no idea and not be able to listen to the brilliant Geoff Show... it doesn't mean he's not on the air, it just means that person No.2 doesn't know where to find him.
Maybe sensitives have been back so many times that their subconscious knowledge can't help but leak through into their conscious knowledge, even though strictly they're not supposed to know... or maybe its the really sceptic people that know there's no point in searching for answers while we're alive because it'll all become clear when we die???
In one book written by a medium, she says ghosts and spirits don't get captured on camera as a rule because it'll give the game up. I hope it's never proven; the school would collapse! Maybe it is anyway... Oh God, here I go again... the reason I think technology has advanced so much is because each time we come back, we come back with knowledge from our previous lives (obviously 99.999% of the population are unaware of this knowledge, but it's there), so we're always getting smarter. The downside to this is that we
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*Hand goes uplike an eager schoolgirl!* Me! Me! I've had a few encounters! Strangely, despite the fact that I've had several ghostly experiences myself, I remain one of the most sceptical people about so-called sightings, and am always on the lookout for how the "evidence" might have been doctored or even faked outright. I can't watch programmes with people like Derek Accorah as he makes me feel sick - he comes across (at least to me) as such a charlatan! I remain doubtful that we'll ever have final proof of the existance of spririts (other than the bottled, drinkable kind), and while we only have personal experience to go on, the world at large will remain sceptical...
Got another quick question for you too:
How did you choose the name for your publiching company? And do you have any plans to take on ther authors, or will Dog Horn remain strictly personal?
Lol, well I can't blame you for having your rational thoughts. I'm exactly the same, even when something completely strange happens, I do the whole 'well it could have been this, could have been that' thing. It's only when the rational explanation becomes irrational that scepticism winds me up. Roy, the father in the book, is a complete sceptic throughout and by the time the family come to leave, it almost causes divorce because the facts are right in front of his eyes and yet he still refuses to accept them. I've had oodles of unexplainable things happen around me but only 3 that can't - simply CAN'T - be explained!
What I always find intriguing, is when something obviously strange happens and the people who you
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I've just asked Echo whether she's ever had a run-in with the supernatural, and thought I'd put the question out to the forum. What do you believe? Have you ever seen a ghost or a spirit?
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I'm also intrigued by your books! The issue of schizophrenia also hits close to home for me. My boyfriend's favorite uncle had the disease for many years after using drugs heavily when he was younger. Unfortunately, his therapy didn't work and he committed suicide a little over 6 years ago. It was a major trauma for my boyfriend. I was with him when he found out, and he's been struggling with panic disorder and anxiety ever since. His uncle had been living with his mother (BF's grandmother) whom I suspect has mental disorders of her own.
I'm also interested in your book about the haunting. I'm not sure how available your books are here in the US, but I'm hoping to get my hands on them soon!
Hi Echo,
Thanks for posting. I am sorry to hear about your bf's uncle - it's awful that he felt that ending it was the only way out. I hope your boyfriend will - in time - take something positive from it (ie. advise ppl not to use drugs!) and remember happier days from his uncle's life. I don't know what drugs his uncle was taking, but myself and a group of friends went through a stage of smoking weed very heavily but I started to become paranoid and scared of the world, and since I've stopped I've become my old self again. Doing anything to excess is a bad idea, especially substances that toy with your mind. If you
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Thanks for that Rebecca.
Did you approach any of the existing publishers before deciding to create your own?
Hi Michelle,
Unusually, no. Some people see self publishing as a last resort but it was my first choice, seen as I had been working in marketing for so long anyway. I always dreamed of coming up with my own book cover and marketing my work my way and so - following some advice - I set up Dog Horn Publishing from the off-set. It has been great fun and a brilliant way to get my foot in the door of the industry but, boy does it take some work!!! I've been eating, sleeping and dreaming Dog Horn since 2004 and I'm now looking forward to stepping down on Jan 19th (a friend is taking over and expanding it) so I can wholly concentrate on my writing. Now I've got a good record of sales and reviews with two books in print, I'm going down the major publishers route to try and get my big break. Please all keep your fingers and toes crossed for this little writer!!! Even if I don't 'make it', I'll still be writing for the rest of my life. I can't help but do so and I love it, I'd just be great to make enough money to write for a living as for now I have to pay the bills through jobs I don't like and that's not good for one's soul!
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Hi Guys,
It's me, Rebecca, the author of Lucy's Monster and Eleven Terrible Months. You may have heard that we've arranged some special offers for members of the Book Club Forum, if you would like to buy a copy of either of my books direct from my website.
The offers are:
FREE UK POSTAGE on the purchase of 1 book
UK: Buy Lucy
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Thanks Rebecca. My OH has Schizophrenia and you are right. It is definitely misunderstood. Sometimes even the professionals don't have a clue. I think even some of the people closest to OH from his past do not understand that, but I noticed it more or less straight away.
As for medication, although he is not on it anymore (he has learned to manage it himself after 20 or so years and is not as bad now anyway) he has told me a lot about what things he was on the past and has done a lot of research himself. I am not sure whether it is actually a good or bad thing.
Your book sounds great. I shall have to see if I can find the money for it one day:)
Jen, I am sorry to hear about that. It can be a terrible thing to live with.
I'm sorry to hear of your partner's problems with schizophrenia but glad that he's used mind over matter and research to help himself. The professionals themselves admit that they still have a lot to learn. Even just a short time ago as in the 70s, hospitals used to strap sufferers to a bed and give them LSD, thinking that would help! I can't tell you how shocked I was to learn that. These days, for those suffering from schizophrenia in the extreem, hospitals tend to use electric convulsive therapy as well as cognitive therapy and neuroleptic medication. It seems there is a clear divide as to whether ECT is beneficial or not, some doctors swear by it and others are against it, which I think still shows there's a long way to go.
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Gosh, that must have been terrible for her and her family. Did they find another way to help her?
Not really. Her family tried. She moved to another state that had much better mental health care. I think that's the one thing that really isn't talked about is the effect on the family of the person with the illness.
When my husband was married to her, he called the Mental Health hotline locally and they told him the only thing to help him deal with his wife's illness was individual therapy.
What he saw was that the people who live with the ill person are often frightened, resigned, abused and unable to help.
I wondered if you covered that in your book--not only the destruction of a mind, but the helplessness of those who love that person.
It
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Hi Rebecca - it's great to have you here! I see that you're very interested in the paranormal (and have some of your own personal experiences on the Dog Horn site). How has that influenced your writing?
Hi Kell!
Thank you, it's great to be on!
Oo yes, I've been interested in the paranormal for most of my life. It does indeed influence my writing, and I've been wanting to write a realistic ghost story since I was ten and first saw Amityville Horror. At that point, it was still dubbed as a true story, but even then I remember thinking 'walls bleeding?! That doesn't happen!' and pretty much every horror I watch or read frustrates me as they are either unrealistic from the off-set or descend into lunacy half way through! I wanted to write something that regular people like you or I could associate with, and i think that's what makes it so scary: it could be your family, it could be you.
My third book - which I am beginning writing once I get back from my travels - is also influenced by my belief in the paranormal, but not about ghosts or hauntings.
Thanks for your message Kell.
Take Care,
Rebecca
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Looks really great! I don't think it's available here in the U.S., though.
Hi Echo and all in the U.S
Hope you are all well over the pond!
I am the author of Eleven Terrible Months and I just wanted to let you know that you can buy it via my website and I'll post it out for you all secure and fast!
The Book Club Forum has now got a special discounted postal rate for you guys too so it won't break the bank. My web-designer is setting it up on www.doghorn.com so you can pay via paypal and that should be ready within the next 48 hours. I sign all books and my agent over there (Michele Rubin of Writer's House, NY) is hoping to catch onto a deal soon, so my name may be known over there one day and these self-published limited editions will be worth hanging onto!Thanks for all your posts and support,
R L Royle
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Gosh, that must have been terrible for her and her family. Did they find another way to help her?
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You've been in marketing for eight years and now, published your own books. My question is what promotional tools do you think work best?
Hi Jen,
Thanks for posting.
Book wise in a nut-shell; I'd say reviews, direct mail and word of mouth work best.
One thing that's really benefited me is creative marketing. For instance, in order to get a publication to pay attention to me to get a review in the first place, I send my book to the media in a quirky manner that stands out. Usually after sending it, I'll ring a national publication and say: 'just checking that you've received my book, Eleven Terrible Months,' and they'll reply: 'we get hundreds of books, erm... I don
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Hi. Welcome to the forum. Schizophrenia is a complex issue. Did you do a lot of research for Lucy's Monster?
Hi Icecream,
Pleased to speak to you.
I did indeed do a lot of research: as well as buying books and scouring the internet, I wrote to psychiatric hospitals up and down the country, spoke at length to a councillor, a social worker and a lady with schizophrenia herself. Researching schizophrenia was fascinating but the main thing I learnt was how misunderstood it is. Schizophrenia is just one word but the illness itself is different from one person to the next. Mostly people living with schizophrenia keep it under control with medication and can live their lives as normal, but in the case of my character Lucy, she denied it to herself for years and never sought help, which allowed it to eventually take her over after a particularly traumatic event. Lucy
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Hi Judy B, I apologise for this late reply and wish you and everyone reading a very Happy New Year.
Thanks so much for reading and reviewing Eleven Terrible Months!
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