Notes in the Margin #9: Never Forget (Your Loyal Customers)

I hoped I'd never write a ranty blog post, but I'm afraid I'm straying into that unfortunate territory today,

I'm upset.  Upset and disappointed.  In the overall scheme of things it's really an utterly insignificant matter and there are far worse things in the world over which I should get all worked-up about, but I'm going to share it with you because you might have experienced the same thing and feel the same as I do.

In which case we can feel upset and disappointed together.

There's a cloud hanging over me today.
[Photo: Jack Gilbert]

Evernote, the note-taking are changing their charging model. (I did say that in the overall scheme of things it wasn't that major a matter).  I've been a eager user and a evangelical fan of it for several years.  I've even mentioned that it was my note-taking app of choice in a previous NITM post.

But I received an email from them yesterday (as well as reading the news in the tech press) telling me that in 30 days Evernote will limit the number of devices on which I can install and access the app to two.  If I wish to use their apps on more than two devices after that I will have to upgrade to either their Plus Plan ($3.99 a month, or £34.99 a year), or the Premium Plan ($7.99 a month, or $69.99 a year).

This may sound like a small price to pay for what is generally regarded as possibly the best note-taking app on the market, but it's not when you consider that they're reducing the access that those on the (currently) free Basic Plan previously had.

I'm not a power user.  I don't get anywhere the 60MB monthly upload limit of the existing Basic Plan (I think my record is 8MB), but I do have Evernote on a small number of devices.  I have it on my mobile phone, two tablets (a 7" and a 10") and my laptop.  That's four devices for different kinds of use ranging from information gathering on the mobile when I'm on-the-go through review on the tablets, to organizing and referencing my notes when I'm in "office mode" when I'm back home.  I don't think that's an extortionate number of devices in the current digital climate.

Being able to access my notes across different platforms was one of the reasons I liked Evernote in the first place.  Their Cross-platform access is front-and-centre on the Basic Plan's page on Evernote's  own website. "Stay Organized across platforms" they say.  Just so long as that's only two platforms if you want to install the app (they don't mention that bit).  Users will still be able to use the web version as well as that won't count towards your two devices, but the apps are more convenient to use.

So, I'm upset and disappointed that they've decided to make something that was really easy, accessible and useful unusable (for my needs) and start charging for basic and existing features.

I understand that they're a business and they have to make money, but hamstringing existing users with device limits rather than data limits, railroading them into paying for features that have previously been free and also introducing 40% price increases on the existing plans of those who do already pay isn't the way to behave to users who helped make them the widely-known brand name and company they are now.  The numerous negative comments left by users in the tech press, on Android Play and iTunes stores, as well as Evernote's own forum is testament that they've seriously hacked-off a large number of the users they purport to value.

The Evernote logo is an elephant, because - of-course - elephants never forget.  I don't think many of their users will forget this either, or go back even if things change.  Which is a shame because it really is the best of the bunch in terms of features and usability.

The apps are great and many people will continue to use them around the world for years to come despite the limitations and price hikes.  However, I'm migrating my notes to Microsoft OneNote.  It's free and I can use it freely on all four of my devices, or more if needs be.

It's a different beast to Evernote, but it just means getting my head around a different way of recording my thoughts, ideas and other random snippets of information that I gather.  Perhaps the change of digital scenery will do my creativity good!  I may even do a post about getting the best from OneNote once I've worked out how I do that.

The moral that I shall take away from all this is that you should never hack-off your customers/readers/audience.  I'm going to remember that.

OK, rant over.  I'm sorry you had to read that, but I had to share it.  I don't feel so upset now.

There...that's better!  The cloud has lifted!
[Photo: Jack Gilbert]

Muse News #9: More Audio Beta Recording & Kiranan's Crucible Ideas

After my week away, I'm settling back into the old twin-track routine of recording the audio beta edition of 360 and brainstorming ideas for Kiranan's Crucible.

It hurts my head a little, trying to think about two different projects at the same time, but it does seem to be working.  Here are the highlights of both.

Audio Beta

[Photo: Jack Gilbert]

Progress on the audio beta continues at a steady pace.  I'm getting used to the different character voices now and I'm making mistakes far less frequently than I did when I started.  It's still not all plain sailing, but I'm getting into the rhythm of recording a couple of scenes each day and I'm enjoying it.

I'm still not sure what the neighbours think!

I'm about a third of the way through, so it looks like it's going to take a bit longer than I first expected (sorry, neighbours).  But then, I'm not rushing it.  When it's done right, it's sounding really good (even if I do say so myself...), so I think it's worth taking a bit of care to get the quality.

Kiranan's Crucible Ideas

A mountain of ideas!  Well, a mountain
to represent a mountain of ideas!
[Photo: Jack Gilbert]

The rush of ideas for the new project didn't stop when I got home from the trip to Scotland.  If anything, it's gathering pace, which is really encouraging.  I must have hit a veritable vein of creativity!

And any ideas I do have are very welcome.  I have an entire world to build and three (and maybe four) books to tell the story the stories of that world.  

The notebook is starting to fill up nicely and I don't think I can have too many ideas.  I won't use them all, but it's always better to have more than you need than have a half complete world.

So, there you go.  It's not been a majorly busy week, but it has been a week of progress.  Hopefully this week will be more of the same.

I hope you have a productive week too!  

Notes In The Margin #8: Inspiration Everywhere!

One of the lessons I learnt during my recent trip to Scotland was that even the smallest, most mundane things could provide the inspiration for my writing.

I'd expected to be inspired by the big things like the mountain vistas, the sweeping glens and the majestic waterfalls, but I was utterly surprised to find small details in the most unlikely of situations triggering my writers' sense for a good idea.

This gave me the idea of the "Lightning Tree"
which will be a totem that my intrepid
heroes will come across in their travels.
[Photo: Jack Gilbert]

Like crossing a car park and dodging through a coach party of tourists.  I've channeled the frustration that created into an idea for a scene set in a busy market where a character is trying to follow someone through the throng.

Like crossing a bridge across a wide river.  Despite being a sturdy metal bridge, the structure flexed and bounced with each step.  That set me thinking about the kinds of primitive bridges my characters would cross in their journey.  One of them may not like how the bridge moves under them, especially if the river beneath is wide and fast flowing and they can't swim.  That might add to their anxiety about what lies on the opposite bank.

Like setting down heavy bags upon finally arriving at a destination and feeling muscles complain and celebrate simultaneously.

Like a weary traveler feeling the cool, soothing relief provided by a trusty family recipe ointment when its been applied to numerous and immensely irritating insect bites.

Those are just a few examples of the ideas that struck me last week.

Then there were the not-so-mundane situations that have obvious connections to my current work in progress.

The sense of utter fear that I felt as I navigated my way along a ridiculously narrow section of mountainside path on the climb up to the waterfalls overlooking Glen Coe has been given to the naive Prince in Kiranan's Crucible.  He too will feel that gut-churning sensation as he drag his royal backside through the dirt in an attempt to stay as far away from the perilous drop as possible.

A nice spot to stop for lunch.  Such a Relief!
[Photo: Jack Gilbert]

The relief at stopping for a welcome rest and refreshment during a lengthy walk along a rocky path on a hot summer's day and the resignation at having to set off again afterwards will also feature as my characters make a daring escape into the mountains.

I could go on.  My notebook - I took an actual notebook with me on my trip because pen and paper don't need recharging via a USB cable half way up a mountain - is full of little snippets of ideas that were inspired by many moments during the course of my holiday.

But the good news is that you don't have to go on holiday to get inspiration!  It's still happening to me now that I'm back home and back in the old routine.  There was a stale and inhuman smell in the subway passage down town today.  Whenever I need to describe a foul stench, I will recall that to mind (and there will be plenty of those in medieval Kiranan).

I could go on, but you get the idea.  Inspiration can come from anywhere at any time.  People interacting, the world around us, the things that you and others do and the feelings those actions generate.  Record those sparks of awareness.  Record them all because they will help you and your writing either directly, or later with further development.

Oh, sparks of awareness.  That's given me an idea!

See, you never know when inspiration will strike...

Muse News #8: Rest Of The Holiday & Back To Reality

Well, I'm back home again after a fantastic week away in the Scottish Highlands.

This time last week I was looking forward to four more days of adventuring.  It seems like much longer and those little adventures now feel like dreams.  I won't bore you with all of the details, but I will give you the edited highlights for now (Trust me, I can bore you - I took over 1500 photos and can tell you at length about each one).

So, the edited highlights from Tuesday onwards:

Tuesday

Last year my best mate and I explored a little bit of Glen Coe, a place that is usually known for the infamous massacre of 1692. It's also a place of outstanding beauty with towering mountains that line the winding glen below.

Our amazing destination, the falls of Coire nan Lochan.
[Photo: Jack Gilbert]

The view from the falls back down to the road far below.
It's the pale line in the glen below...yeah, that far!
[Photo: Jack Gilbert] 

Last year we didn't really get a chance to walk very far up one of the craggy paths that climb the mountains, so we decided to put it front and centre of this year's itinerary.  I'm glad we did even though it meant facing my fear of heights again in order to reach a waterfall high up on the valley side.  This place and the walk up gave me plenty of inspiration (More of that in Thursday's NITM).

Wednesday

Another development of last year's trip was my second ride in a RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat). Last year I agreed to a ride up Loch Ness.  I thought if you're going to see somewhere as magical as Loch Ness, do it in a memorable way.  So we saw it from one of the fast boat tours that ply its waters.

This year, we took an equally exciting and fascinating wildlife tour around the waters of Loch Linnhe and Loch Leven.  The ride was choppier than I'd expected out on Loch Linnhe, but again really worthwhile as we saw seals, wild goats, geese, cormorants as well as the lodge in which we stayed for the week from the great loch.

I really loved it.  I want to do another boat ride next year! The question is, where?

Yours truly sporting this summer's maritime look.
[Photo: Jack Gilbert]

I have no idea what the seal on the left was trying to tell us.
I think it was giving us its seal of approval...
[Photo: Jack Gilbert]

Thursday

Another place we visited last year was the Isle of Skye.  On that occasion it pelted it down with rain all day, so we only got limited glimpses of the fantastic scenery that lines the route up to the Kyle of Lochalsh and the isle itself.

So that too made it onto the "visit again" list and to make it all the more worthwhile we dropped in on the Talisker whisky distillery for a tour while we were there.

The weather wasn't perfect, but clear enough for us to finally see the full beautiful scenery that surrounded us.

Sea and Skye.
[Photo: Jack Gilbert]

Friday

For me, Friday was the highlight of the week.  It was the day that we returned to one of the places that started my whole love affair with the West Highlands.  Glen Gour is the place in which I set part of The Wickedest War and it was on our first visit in 2014 that we first walked along part of this wonderful glen.  We walked it again last year, getting further than before on account of not stopping to take photos every twenty yards (I still took over a hundred photos the second time round).

This year we walked for just over six hours (there and back) and still didn't traverse the entire length of the glen.  However, we did discover a new delight in the form of another (small) waterfall.  Each time we've visited Glen Gour the weather has been glorious and this year was no exception.  It just adds to the attraction of the place.

It started as a name on a map and now this place is very special to me.  Don't be surprised if it doesn't end up featuring in all of my novels in one for or another!

One of many, many photos I took of Glen Gour this time round.
It's hard to choose just one.
[Photo: Jack Gilbert]

Oh, OK. Just one more photo. The falls where we had lunch.
[Photo: Jack Gilbert]

Home Again

So, that was the holiday.  I'm home again and pining for...well, not the fjords, but the lochs.  I was hoping to get the feel of what it's like to be in a more natural, less urban environment for my fantasy series, Kiranan's Crucible, and I've certainly achieved that.

Now, it's back to reality and back to turning all that inspiration into stories!

Notes In The Margin #7: No Notes Tonight

There's no NITM as such this week, I'm afraid (well, not a proper one - sorry)

I was hoping to compose something based around the subject of inspiration.  However, while I have plenty of inspiration this week, I've been lacking in time and space (not to mention internet connectvitiy) to actually form that inspiration into a coherant post.

I'll do better next week (I promise) once I'm back south.

In the meantime, here's a picture some waterfalls  (along with the walk to get to them) that provided me with lots of inspiration on Tuesday.  I'll tell you more about them next week!

Some waterfalls in Glen Coe.
[Photo: Jack Gilbert]

Muse News #7: Scottish Trip Days 1 & 2

This won't be a long post today because the internet access here is a bit unpredictable and could drop out any second!

It's the evening of my second full day here and I've already had adventures a plenty.  Here are just a few of the highlights so far.

The View Across The Loch

This is my third visit to Kentallen and the view across Loch Linnhe is one of the things that I love about this place and no number of photos will do it justice, but he's one to give you an idea.

The view across the loch from Kentallen
[Phot: Jack Gilbert]

Fifteen Minutes of Terror

NASA described the descent of the Curiosity Mars probe as "seven minutes of terror".  I had a similar experience going on the Nevis Range cable car yesterday.  There's absolutely nothing wrong with the Nevis Range cable car, it's a wonderful feat of engineering.  It's just that I have a fear of heights and by their very nature cable cars rely on being quite a way off the ground.

It was something I wanted to push myself to do and I'm incredibly pleased with myself for riding it up Aonach Mor.  The views were spectacular and well worth it.  Here's a photo of the view along with the tweet I managed to fire off to distract myself from my vertigo.

Loch Lochy and the Great Glen from Aonach Mor
[Photo: Jack Gilbert]

Loch Ness

And finally, today's exploration took us up to one of the most famous of Scotland's lochs, Loch Ness.  This was my second visit there - last year I took a fast RIB ride around it - but this time my appreciation was purely land-based.  Sadly, I didn't see the monster, but then again if I had, things could have got complicated, so it's just as well I didn't.

A small slice of Loch Ness, but no monster.
[Photo: Jack Gilbert]

So, that's two days down and there are still another four to go!  There are more adventures awaiting and I'll try to post and tweet as and when internet access allows!

Notes In The Margin #6: Location Scouting Can Be Fun! (And Sometimes Useful...)

Today, I'm busy packing for a trip to the West Highlands of Scotland (I may have mentioned this elsewhere on The Annotate-Id).

This will be the third time I'll have been to Kentallen in as many years and it's safe to say that I've fallen utterly in love with the place.  I have my best mate to thank for talking me into going in the first place.  I chose Kentallen as the setting for 360 several years ago after I'd completed the first draft and felt unhappy with the vague description of the fictitious location in which I'd set it.

The view of Loch Linnhe from Kentallen on a very sunny day!
[Photo: Jack Gilbert]

Like a character without a decent backstory, the anonymous place felt unsatisfying and shallow.  So, I made a list of the criteria the location would need to fulfill and started trawling Google Maps for suitable places around the Scottish coast.

Many happy hours of searching later Kentallen rose to the top of the list of places I'd virtually surveyed.  And so the second draft of novel saw it find its home in a fictional castle built on the shores of Loch Linnhe in Kentallen.  The novel went to my beta readers and still no-one was any the wiser that I'd made up all the descriptions of the Kentallen.

While 360 was being read, I hauled The Wickedest War from development hell and began work on a new draft of that.  Most of the action takes place in central London, a place with which I am very familiar and visit often.  Getting the details about places that I knew so well wrong was not an option. Some scenes, especially one chase along the South Bank and the nearby streets, relied on getting the geography and timing right.  I walked the route, noted the landmarks and the time it took to get between them. I also visited the other places in London that featured in the novel on fact finding visits too.

The remaining action takes place in the West Highlands.  I needed somewhere remote again - although not too remote - and the Highlands fitted the bill.  Thanks again to our friendly online map providers it didn't take long to identify a suitable location.

Then my mate asked if I planned to go to Scotland and visit those places too, just as I had with the London locations.  I made excuses and said it was too far.

We had the conversation several times over the next few months and each time I made excuses until it was suggested that we include them as part of a whistle-stop tour around Scotland.  Suddenly it seemed a really good idea!

I could happily walk for hours along this glen.
[Photo: Jack Gilbert] 

I'm really glad I agreed.  Not only did it give me a chance to correct the wildly inaccurate descriptions of the area in the earlier draft of 360, but I also got to know a lovely part of Scotland and hike through some awesome scenery, including the glen that features in The Wickedest War (seriously, the photo doesn't do it justice).

To see it on a map is one thing.  Looking up at the mountains rising either side of the river in the valley floor is a whole different matter. I've stood where my characters have stood and seen what they've seen.  I've sat on the shores of Loch Linnhe and watched the sun go down.  I've shared that experience and that moment with my characters. Hopefully, because of that my readers will share that experience too.

It's always worth checking your facts.  I can be satisfied that I did my best to get them right.  It won't always be possible, but where I can I will try to stand in my characters' shoes and see what they see.

And besides...why should the imaginary characters have all the fun?  Sometimes it's good for the writers to have adventures too!