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Paul Whybrow

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Jun 20, 2015
Cornwall, UK
Greetings from the British county of Cornwall, which is known as Kernow in the Cornish language. It's a mythical place, reputedly the home of Lyonesse, along with the whole King Arthur legend. I live a few miles from Tintagel, where the ruined remains of a castle, which was supposedly Arthur's refuge, brings in the tourists. The county is beautiful, but also very poor, relying on the spending of holiday-makers for much of its income.
I've lived here for twenty-five years, minus three years out in Atlanta, Georgia. I wrote magazine articles and short stories in the seventies,eighties and nineties, while earning a regular income from various respectable and more dodgy occupations - including librarian, teacher, counsellor, driver and dispatch rider on a motorcycle. Don't ask me about my worst job, as it will put you off processed food forever.
I turned to writing fiction in 2013, creating poetry, short stories, song lyrics and novellas. These were self-published online on Smashwords and Amazon. I'm a firm believer in the possibilities of e-publishing, but the biggest obstacle to success (as I'm sure many of you know) is getting readers to know about your books - the elusive process of discovery. After releasing forty-four titles, the task of uploading a book started to feel like dumping a bucket of water into a vast ocean.
In 2014 I wrote a novel, a psychological thriller set in the wilds of Cornwall. It's written in a literary style,and is more of a how-catch-em than a whodunnit. Think James Lee Burke or Michael Connelly, rather than Ross Macdonald or Lee Child. After devoting some 4,000 hours to writing my novel, I was loath to throw it away as an ebook. Reasoning that a traditional publishing deal might solve the problem of publicity and marketing, I've been chasing the monkish gatekeepers, the literary agents, for the last seven months. This has been joyless, so I'm considering going back to schmoozing on the social media and my blog to develop more of an online presence. I have stories bubbling up out of me, even in my sleep, so I'm eager to return to the creative process.
I do have one major factor in my favour when it comes to marketing my novel. Anyone in the U.K. will be aware of the success of the latest television adaptation of Winston Graham's Poldark stories. These are set in Cornwall, and are about the adventures and romances of a soldier who returns from the American War of Independence. He tries to restore his fortunes through mining, for which Cornwall is famous. Starring Aidan Turner as Ross Poldark, his bare chest has created much media and audience interest. The series has just been sold to the US network Masterpiece, which showed Downton Abbey - you have been warned! http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/poldark-snapped-up-american-network-5877230
I'm looking forward to joining the Litopia community's discussions on the forum, and have several questions to ask, as well as oodles of experience in editing, formatting and epublishing to help anyone who is feeling confused.
 
Greetings and welcome to the colony @Paul Whybrow.

Ah yes Poldark. Really popular. Shame they didn't look after the animals mind you but that's nothing to do with the books :) I love Cornwall. Not been down your way in... gosh three years now, when I brought my big mare home. That was the really hot summer too, I'm amazed the car coped with the hills! You forget how hilly Cornwall is after the gentler flatness of England.
 
Welcome to the Colony Paul! Far side of the pond, myself. Look forward to speaking more with you!
 
Not the crayons! Now hang on, isn't Cornwall part of Wales, where, excuse me, Arthur started his journey and where Camelot is. Well, what's left of it anyway. Oh, and watch out for smart ass people around here; I know a few of them. :D
 
Welcome! Cornwall is great -- my family and I are among the emmets that scuttle around Cornwall every summer, indeed we are currently planning our exeat. And I have written a cluster of short stories that are set in that great part of England; it's so atmospheric it is difficult not to write about.
 
Welcome! As a Welshman I understand some of Cornwall's challenges, but at least we now have our own 'government'. Poldark never grabbed me, but I liked the Onedin Line (that was Devon methinks, jam on before the double cream - or is it the other way around)? Sounds like you have some heavyweight experience to contribute, looking forwward to it.
 
East Anglia's flat. The Surrey Hills aren't. Nor is the Peak District. Nor is the Lake District. Nor is Devon, particularly. Etc.
Uh huh... to me surrounded by hills and mountains.... They are pretty flat in comparison. You don't realise how high up you are until you are driving back from Carlisle to Glasgow and you have that long LONG climb lol


Although I suppose it isn't more or less hilly than the other areas. Perhaps I should say "flatter middle England?"
 
Welcome, I had no idea Cornwall is the home of the legend of King Arthur..I'm hoping it's one of those facts everyone should know but no one admits to not knowing ;) ...except me of course. :D No shame no shame, I console myself.
 
I do have one major factor in my favour when it comes to marketing my novel. Anyone in the U.K. will be aware of the success of the latest television adaptation of Winston Graham's Poldark stories. These are set in Cornwall, and are about the adventures and romances of a soldier who returns from the American War of Independence. He tries to restore his fortunes through mining, for which Cornwall is famous. Starring Aidan Turner as Ross Poldark, his bare chest has created much media and audience interest. The series has just been sold to the US network Masterpiece, which showed Downton Abbey - you have been warned! http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/poldark-snapped-up-american-network-5877230
I'm looking forward to joining the Litopia community's discussions on the forum, and have several questions to ask, as well as oodles of experience in editing, formatting and epublishing to help anyone who is feeling confused.

When you mentioned an advantage I thought the chest shown was yours!! You know like a stunt double...nevermind... Ok, I'm clearly not in sync this morning...excuse me I'm getting on with rewriting my final chapter. Quite innocent I promise.:oops:
 
Hello :) Admirable writing CV. The Helford river is wonderful. Recently went to the north coast, Bude; step out of the hotel, road, canal, railway line, creek and beach, all in immediate proximity, running parallel. Like a cross section of industrial history. I can't think now, who said recently, there are places in Cornwall where the membrane between realities feels thinner. There was Jamaica Inn on the box, too, recently.
 
Welcome, I had no idea Cornwall is the home of the legend of King Arthur..I'm hoping it's one of those facts everyone should know but no one admits to not knowing ;) ...except me of course. :D No shame no shame, I console myself.
Um, you will find many disagree, Wales is the real home of King Arthur, after-all he was largely developed from earlier stories (Welsh) by Geoffrey of Monmouth (Welsh Bishop), and his first seat and castle was at Caerleon near Newport and Cardiff. Camelot was added later, by the French!
 
Um, you will find many disagree, Wales is the real home of King Arthur, after-all he was largely developed from earlier stories (Welsh) by Geoffrey of Monmouth (Welsh Bishop), and his first seat and castle was at Caerleon near Newport and Cardiff. Camelot was added later, by the French!

Oh Gwynn Bennett! ....the plot most surely curdles. o_O
 
Um, you will find many disagree, Wales is the real home of King Arthur, after-all he was largely developed from earlier stories (Welsh) by Geoffrey of Monmouth (Welsh Bishop), and his first seat and castle was at Caerleon near Newport and Cardiff. Camelot was added later, by the French!

Tintagel is the most famous claim. Mryddin may well have been from Wales. There is yet another disputed seat of Camelot....Carlisle, though it's thought Camelot was just HQ. Ygraine was of Cornwall...and whatever the case, these other places have great magic, but there's no arguing with the power of the magic in Cornwall.
 
Thank you for the welcome salutations. Bernard, you can come out from behind the sofa now, though you raise an interesting point about whether Cornwall is really a part of England. There's a strong argument that it's not, as least by the legislation over the centuries to do with borders and the constitution. Cornwall allies itself with other Celtic countries, including Ireland, Scotland, The Isle of Man, Wales and Brittany. There's similarities in the language, culture and traditions, with a certain rebelliousness that resists being a part of a sovereign state. Cornwall is largely separated from the next county over, Devon, by the mighty River Tamar - which adds to the feeling of being cut off. When Cornish people cross the county boundary, often by using the road or rail bridges over to Plymouth, they call it 'going over to England.' The bolshy nature of the county suits my temperament, which is one of the reasons that I moved here in 1990.
It's certainly more hilly here than most people appreciate, and one soon ends up with leg muscles like a mountain goat. I realised how much everything sloped in an odd way, as when I was working on a vehicle outside nuts and bolts had a tendency to run away when I put them down! Tintagel is an amazing ruin, and well worth looking at on Google Images. It does much for tourism, as do legends like The Beast of Bodmin. This is a puma-like big cat that's reputed to roam the wild moorland, attacking farmers' sheep and cattle. There's an outside chance that such foreign predators have found a way to live here, for in the 1970s a couple of pieces of legislation were brought in to control public ownership of dangerous animals, such as mountain lions, ocelots, leopards and lynxes. This meant that owners had to obtain a license and build safe enclosures for their big cats, have them humanely destroyed or donate them to zoos. Instead, some released them into the wild. The irony is, that these days there's a movement to reintroduce previously native wildlife species which were hunted out, such as beaver, lynx, wolves and bear.
Cornwall, as a place, has a raised presence in the media recently. This is largely because of Poldark, the television adaptation of Winston Graham's novels on the adventures of an ex-soldier turned miner in the nineteenth century. I understand that the first episodes of the series have just been shown on the Masterpiece network, to great acclaim. Have any of the American members of The Colony seen them, and what did they think? I had the idea that Aidan Turner, who plays Ross Poldark, would make a great James Bond. No one has mentioned him as being in the running for the role of 007, to replace Daniel Craig, but he'd be ideal as he has the youth for the producers of the franchise to get their money's worth out of him - and he's already used to baring his chest!
 
Welcome, it's nice to meet you. Whilst I am aware of the wonderful myths, legends, and some of the history of Cornwall, as I used to holiday there all the time from Staffordshire, I am also well versed on the fact it is no fable that you make the best fudge and ice cream anywhere :D.
 
Bernard, you can come out from behind the sofa now, though you raise an interesting point about whether Cornwall is really a part of England. There's a strong argument that it's not, as least by the legislation over the centuries to do with borders and the constitution. Cornwall allies itself with other Celtic countries, including Ireland, Scotland, The Isle of Man, Wales and Brittany.

**emerges from behind sofa, stretches, and looks around**

You may have seen a fascinating genetic study recently that suggested that whilst Cornwall does indeed have its own stable gene pool, it is very different from the many other Celtic regions with which it has always been linked - see attached map.

All of which pales into insignificance besides the fact that it is a beautiful county with a ton of good memories!
 

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