Happy Halloween - All Hallows Read!

I know, I've been terrible at posting on this blog for the past few months for one reason or another. If I wasn't currently burying my head trying to write my next book I would have had a little seasonal ghost story to share on this. But alas, it was not to be.

However just want to post this video of the great, all knowing, all wise, Neil Gaiman talking about the wonderful idea of All Hallows Read! I think this is a fantastic concept! Anything to get more people reading.

Which on that note, just want to say thank you to everybody who has bought The Unseen Chronicles of Amelia Black so far and even enjoyed it!

So yes, go pass on scary books, horror books, gory books, even pass on my book this All Hallows Read!

Take it away Neil...

George Moore 1949 - 2011: A tribute to a good man, and a better father.

Family portrait by the wonderful, the marvellous, Gillian Reid.

If you've been following me on Twitter or Facebook as of late, you may have noticed how hard things have been for my family. If you haven't then I regret to say that my dad, George Moore passed away in the early hours of last Friday, August 12th.

In the build up to the service - which was sincerely beautiful - we had been fretting over finding a fitting passage, without being asked, I went away and wrote something from the heart, something I felt summed up my dad as a person for those who knew him and for those who didn't have the pleasure. Something fun and light hearted. He would've frowned had been otherwise.

It seemed to go down a storm, but only because of my wonderful big sister Katy's magnificent delivery. Unlike this feckin eejit and my extremely wise and all knowing older brother Patrick (I mean that with zero sarcasm), both my amazing sisters, Katy and Hannah are fantastic public speakers and I know deep down I couldn't have delivered this poem with such cheer and such bounce to get a rare round of applause at a funeral. That's real talent.

So my gift to all who have shown such amazing support to my family over this difficult time, is to share this genuinely personal piece of writing which I intend to hold close to my heart for all time.

Whatever may come after it, know that this is my proudest moment as a writer:

He wore glasses, rarely goggles.

His iconic phrase was surely, “the mind boggles.”

He was a father, a brother,

A Morris Minor loving punter.

He once owned an Audi, a Merc, and a Porsche.

Some of my friends would say, he even had ‘the force.’

He was a tinker, some ways a tailor,

He loved movies with soldiers and spies.

He loved museums, mainly the Ulster,

Chasing his children round Botanic would probably leave him in a fluster.

When he married a beautiful woman called, Shirley,

Kids called Patrick, Katy, Andrew and Hannah were to follow shortly.

He’d drink a fine wine, a port, a shandy, cite off one of his speeches,

And once all is said and done he’d shout: “We’ll fight them on the beaches!”

Music you say? Beware, you’ll be there all day,

Though with such wonderful company I know you’ll be glad you stayed.

So I ask you to join me, in these friendships we’ve forged,

To celebrate the life of a man called, George.

The Unseen Chronicles of Amelia Black

Finally! Over the last year and a half I've spent a lot of my free time crafting this story, The Unseen Chronicles of Amelia Black. And after all is said and done, here it is finally for your own personal enjoyment!

Price: £2.30 on Amazon.co.uk | $3.78 on Amazon.com | EUR2.99 on Amazon.de

If you buy it and enjoy it then, well I'll frankly never be able to truly thank you for it. Though I would appreciate if you were able to spread the word of my book, the character and her magical adventure. All devoted readers of the blog for the past two and a half years, now I ask of you to write a review for me.

Sincerely,

Andrew (A.G.R. Moore)

The Synopsis:

Amelia Black is a kind, curious and wonderful soul. Like her dear mother and father, who were equally kind, curious and wonderful, she was a keen explorer of the unknown. When her parents vanish without a trace, she finds herself swept into another universe. An Unseen Universe.

In the Unseen Universe, Amelia discovers a power within herself, which will change her life forever. Under the watchful eye of her faithful butler and lifelong friend, Julius E. Dawson and an ill-tempered pixie (just don’t call him a fairy) named Sid, watch as the extraordinary girl ventures into a magical universe full of pure goodness and unrivalled darkness.

Revelations of her past lie with a mysterious King of the Unseen Light, while her destiny may lead her to what lurks in The Dark.

Front cover and a release date! Exciting times.

Isn't it pretty?

The book will be released next week, Friday August 12th 2011! How exciting, right? Right!

Few details still to be ironed out in the formatting department, but generally everything is ready to go.

Title: The Unseen Chronicles of Amelia Black

Price: £2/$3.20*

Available on: Amazon's Kindle Market and Smashwords.com

Don't have a kindle? Kindle apps available for free: HERE

Hardcopy version? Coming soon for a very limited time. Watch this space.

*U.S. price not confirmed, relevant to current exchange rates.

New illustration preview - fly my pretty!

"The King ushered his honoured guests into the beautiful royal courtyard, where docked the most magnificent airship ever conceived."

I know, I know, I've been saying this a lot over the past month, but I mean it this time! It's really not long now until the book is ready to launch. I'm so excited, terrified and hyper just thinking about it. Thank you all for your patience.

Two ladies I'll be thanking again and again over the next while is Gillian for her wonderful illustrations - once again, see above, below, right, but not left! And Laura Gray for the countless hours of her own time put into editing and cleaning the whole thing up. Both have helped make this reality, and I doubt I'll ever be able to truly repay them for it.

IT'S COMING

No Kindle? No Problem!

IDEAL SCENARIO ::

So come the end of the month, and The Unseen Chronicles of Amelia Black will hopefully be available on Amazon's Kindle site for your reading pleasure. I've managed to convince you to part with those two pounds. Excellent. Your kindness will never be forgotten.

HANG ON ::

Eh, one problem. You don't own a Kindle e-reader and quite rightly don't want to break out at least £111 for one. That's okay, I completely understand. Nor should you! Obviously if you're well versed in this area you'll already know this, but might as well explain here and now that there's alternative ways you can read this book come the end of July, start of August!

THE ALTERNATIVES ::

Thankfully if you own the following, you'll have absolutely no problem reading my book - I hope. Amazon have smartly developed Kindle reading applications on the following platforms, for FREE!! ::

• IPHONE/IPOD TOUCH
• WINDOWS OS
• APPLE MAC OS
• IPAD
• ANDROID PHONES
• WINDOWS 7 PHONES

If you're visiting this blog then you're most likely visiting it on those aforementioned platforms. Unless you're visiting it on a Blackberry. Then I'm sorry about that.

For more information visit Amazon's own website here :: http://amzn.to/oC8MAg

The Unseen Chronicles of Amelia Black Synopsis

Any frequent visitors of Gillian's blog will have undoubtedly seen this teaser image already, but here it is again!

The release date still hasn't been 100% decided upon, but felt it was time to release the official synopsis for The Unseen Chronicles of Amelia Black!

Amelia Black is a kind, curious and wonderful soul. Like her dear mother and father, who were equally kind, curious and wonderful, she was a keen explorer of the unknown. When her parents vanish without a trace, she finds herself swept into another universe. An Unseen Universe.

In the Unseen Universe, Amelia discovers a power within herself, which will change her life forever. Under the watchful eye of her faithful butler and lifelong friend, Julius E. Dawson and an ill-tempered pixie (just don’t call him a fairy) named Sid, watch as the extraordinary girl ventures into a magical universe full of pure goodness and unrivalled darkness.

Revelations of her past lie with a mysterious King of the Unseen Light, while her destiny may lead her to what lurks in The Dark.

Something Wicked This Way Comes - Another teaser!

Who is this evil monstrosity?! All will be revealed soon...

IT LURKS IN THE DARK

Teaser images!

Here's a devilishly sneaky teaser at the first three illustrations from The Unseen Chronicles of Amelia Black, courtesy of my dearest creative partner, Gillian Reid! I've personally been truly blown away and overwhelmed at what I've seen so far. If you scroll down to the next one you'll see a dodgy photograph of the top one as present on the Kindle, however I'll leave showing the high-res versions for now.

Spread the word! It's all getting very exciting!

{A.G.R Moore}

I believe in Amelia Black....

This photo, taken from my desk, makes me smile every time I see it.

I've already posted this image on Facebook and Twitter to such amazing support and such a positive response - thank you all - so thought it was a good idea to use it as a post it here too - still not sure what I'm using this blog for yet. This illustration above of my novel's heroine, Amelia Black, brought to you and I by the amazing Gillian Reid, is the first you'll see when you open the book at the first chapter. The feeling I got when I saw this on my own Kindle for the first time, was a truly special moment for me. If I could find the words I would place them here. This got me thinking about something. I apologise now for the the amount of sentimental nonsense this might sound to most readers...

This character, this little girl, this magical soul was created out of thin air. Out of some place in the back of my mind one November evening back in 2009 and now I can't believe I'm on the verge of sharing her adventure with you all. Maybe it's naive optimism, but I'm starting to let myself get excited about it.

She exists because of this book, she exists because of Gill's illustrations.

I hope from next month she will exist because of each and every one of you who reads this book, and enjoys it.

I BELIEVE IN AMELIA BLACK. WILL YOU?

Sincerely,

{A.G.R. Moore.}

The Unseen Chronicles of Amelia Black is coming! July 2011!

"Amelia was a kind, curious and wonderful soul."

Hello! Welcome to my new site! Now most of you lovely people coming here for the first time probably know about my main blog, my first love, theFILMblog - which will still run for a long time to come, all being well - well this new home is to help me promote my other pieces of writing, journalism and general observations on my travels.

For the past year and a half I've been working hard writing my first ever novel, a dark children's fantasy story - inspired by my love for the works of Neil Gaiman, Roald Dahl and Lemony Snicket, only not nearly as good - called, The Unseen Chronicles of Amelia Black under the guise of A.G.R. Moore. Not counting a couple of final edits and the final illustrations by the wonderful Gillian Reid, I'm nearly ready to release it upon the world, in eBook form on Amazon, early July 2011.

Over the next few weeks I'll start letting out bits and pieces of the plot, but for now I thought I would present the heroine of my story, Amelia Black herself! All artwork is owned by Gillian Reid, check out her amazing blog and portfolio right now, because she rocks! Well, go on! It's right here.

Test

Hello! Yes, this is my new blog to promote a book I'm releasing in the summer titled, The Unseen Chronicles of Amelia Black. If you like the works of Neil Gaiman, Roald Dahl and Lemony Snicket you might like this, or think it's a blatant rip off, which is fair enough.