Miniature House - for sale on ETSY

I have recently completed this miniature Celtic longhouse, to join the collection that is for sale in my online shop.   Click here to view my Etsy shop

Hand carved dragon heads and engraved stone door pillars are just some of the features on this small house. It stands about 7" tall and blends in easily to hide between the plants in the garden.

Drover's Road - Pastel on display at Art Show

I have been painting in pastels, which I have found to be a great way of painting landscapes. Here it can be seen hanging on the wall at Rosemary Hale's art group show in Derrington Village Hall over the weekend.

Miniature Celtic Creation

I have created some miniature art works, one of the first being this Celtic Cross. The work measures 15cm high by 10cm wide and is mounted on wood, which can be hung or displayed on a small easel - as this one is.

There will be more to follow soon.

Trying my hand at sculpture

I have recently been trying my hand at sculpture using copper wire as a frame and then sand mixed with PVA glue, and once the sculpture has dried decorating it with acrylic paint and glitter.

I am now working on a fantasy creature, a woolly duck - it is part finished, just got the Alpaca wool to add. I will post a picture as  soon as its completed.

Sea Cliffs Painting is finished

I have completed a new painting - Sea Cliffs 

It is a 3D picture using a combination of materials, the sea cliffs of rock and the addition of grass, lichen, feathers, fibre glass and oil paints.

For further information please visit www.iansanday.com

Painting of the week - Standing Stones

Completed a new miniature  - a triptych, mixed media using stones, sand, foliage etc on wooden mounts

It is inspired by standing stones found throughout the UK - I am fascinated by our ancient history and the stones in our landscape, the mythology that surrounds them also fires my imagination....

New miniature Diptych

I have just completed a new miniature diptych -  measuring 30cm wide and 10cm high. I have used rock and sand on a wooden base for the work, with acrylic paints.

As a lot of my work is 3D multimedia it is hard to take prints and so I am in the process of working on miniatures of the work, plus other stand alone subjects for the miniatures as well.

More details on iansanday.com or you can keep up with regular postings on Twitter @ian_sanday

Finished the 'Ferns' Picture

Finished the 'Ferns' Picture I have been working on

Put the picture into a temporary frame to see how it hangs on the wall. More details of this and other work can be found at iansanday.com

I started off with placing dried fern leaves on the canvas, then painted the whole canvas in grey acrylic. Then dripped PVA glue trails and added sand. When dry I dropped acrylic inks on and moved the canvas about to get them to run around. As the ink was still wet I added some multicoloured glitter to give it a sparkle (which you can't see very well from the picture) and then finished off the ferns with metallic green.

New Website launched

Well, it's been a while, but I have finally got my new website up and running.

Please click through to iansanday.com and have a look, I have posted all my latest art work, plus you can click through to the book page as well and see how the writing is going.

You can now find me on Twitter as well @ian_sanday

I am enjoying working on my mixed media art work, and to broaden my skills I have joined the Rosemary Hale art group in Derrington. Rosemary is a great teacher and she has been helping me develop my watercolours.

Here is a landscape from the Norfolk Broads in winter.

Space Ace and The Flying Shed has now been published as an eBook - available from Amazon on Kindle, also from Smashwords.com, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Sony etc.

It is an action packed, humorous book for children - but the adults who have read it have also enjoyed the book immensely, so it appeals to a range of readers.

It has been quite an exercise to get the manuscript ready for publication as an eBook in the different formats, but I am very happy with the result.

I am now splitting my time between marketing 'Flying Shed' and drafting out new works. A second installment of 'Space Ace' called 'Space Ace and the Roaming Romans' is on the drawing board, and the fantasy saga 'Children of Aurora' is currently being worked through.

New Exhibition

The painting 'Becalmed' (which can be viewed in previous blog) has been chosen to hang in a new art exhibition at the Wedge Gallery in Lichfield - the gallery is situated within the Lichfield Campus of South Staffordshire College and runs throughout January.

As for my writing, I am currently working on the second edition of Space Ace and The Flying Shed, which will be released simultaneously as an eBook as well as in print. It will be published through Smashwords and Amazon KDP for the eBook, and by FeedARead for the print version.

I thought converting print to eBook would be a simple exercise, but not quite as simple as one would have hoped. It is certainly worth spending the time on doing the research, but as always there is a lot of conflicting views and opinions on the subject depending on people's own personal experiences - you pays your money and you take your chances !!

Gallery Exhibition

I entered this painting called 'Beclamed' in the Staffordshire Open Art Competition run by Weston Park Gallery and I was lucky enough to have it selected to hang in the gallery for the month of August 2012, along with a selection of other amazing paintings. Unfortunately I did not win the top prize, but to be exhibited only a year after taking up a paint brush seriously is recognition in itself.

Having had my work recognised I have just completed a commission called 'Remembrance' which is a large canvass depicting a cornfield of poppies, which I am glad to say the client was very pleased with -to transfer their thoughts onto the canvass was  quite challenging and I was also extremely pleased with the results.

I am still working on a number of interesting writing projects, both for children and adult genres, which will hopefully bear fruit in the fullness of time.

I have been getting more reviews of 'Space Ace and The Flying Shed,' which is encouraging me to attempt to get it into e-book format for the Kindle - watch this space.

Creating a new Young Adult novel

Having completed a first draft, the process of creating the novel has only just begun - the hardest part is the editing process - to go through the work and take out the bits that don't work and add some bits that you hope make it read well, and also to remove any bad continuity - placing the characters where they couldn't possibly have got to in such a short space of time - the ''believability factor'.

So that's where I am now with the Young Adult book with the working title 'Spellcaster's Apprentice'

Editing can also be the fun part too - half the time I can't remember writing some of it and I surprise myself with how good things are looking, and equally how bad some things appear too.

It looks like the Amazon Kindle is taking off in a big way, so look out for 'Space Ace and The Flying Shed' on Kindle over the next few weeks.

Now into my art

'Sunset over Polzeath'

Well, if writing wasn't enough I have now taken up art - which is why I haven't added to my news feed for a while (gosh, is it February when I last posted? Doesn't time just fly away!) and why I still haven't finished my second novel. I thought I'd try one for teens this time.

They always say the second novel is the hardest and it's true, I just dilly dally around it and make excuses why I haven't got around to finishing it yet.I also make the excuse that I want to concentrate on marketing 'Flying Shed' but then I am waiting for the 'youwriteon' people to complete their new publishing service so I can get out the 2nd edition with all the typo's gone and a new cover and everything.

It's true that authors find any excuse to put off their writing, then they don't have to get it out to try and get it published, or marketed - the reason being is that then you don't have the hurt of people rejecting it or telling you how bad it is !!

Now art on the other hand - well, that's totally different - you can do anything, and call it 'art' and someone, somewhere pay money for it. Isn't that great!

I saw a half finished drawing on a huge canvas with a few splodges of emulsion in a fine art galery a couple of weeks ago with a £7500 price tag on it - wow!

There is hope for me yet folks.....

Hey, I got my first press release in the Express & Star - Cannock and Lichfield edition, of Friday 12th Feb 2010.

Head of Estates, Ian Sanday, with his first published book 'Space Ace and The Flying Shed' at South Staffordshire College, Rodbaston Campus, Penkridge.

South Staffordshire College's Head of Estates, Ian Sanday is reaching for the stars following the publication of his first novel.

Thanks to a grant from the Arts Council, Ian has been able to publish his book Space Ace and The Flying Shed,

The book is primarily aimed at the 8 to 12 years age group and features a garden shed that turns into a time machine.

It has had excellent reviews from adults who have purchased it for their children and have ended up reading it for themselves.

Manjit Ubhi, Head of Finance at South Staffordshire College, purchased a copy for her Nephew, but read it herself. "You have to read it cover to cover, I couldn't put it down. If you like the Incredibles and Spy Kids, you will enjoy this book," she said.

Ian has had short stories published before receiving a grant to publish his first novel.

The first chapter of the book can be read on http://www.iansanday.com/. Copies can be purchased through Amazon. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Space-Ace-Flying-Shed-Sanday/dp/1849231087/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266140519&sr=1-1

Ian is now working on his second novel - Space Ace and the Roaming Romans

Marketing is going well

Some good news on the marketing front - I have had an article printed about the publication of my first book in the monthly news letter at work, which has generated a good deal of interest and a number of book sales for 'Space Ace and The Flying Shed' - so thanks to all those that have recently purchased a book.

It now means that there a very few first editions left (the copy with all the deliberate mistakes) and I am hurriedly working on the revised 2nd edition, which should have a new cover and all the typo's corrected - which will mean that the limited run of the first edition (there are only 100 in print) could be worth a mint when I become a 1 million book best selling author.

In between working through editing the next book 'Space Ace and the Roaming Romans' and revising the first book, and working on a marketing plan, I have suddenly become very busy

Oh yes, a local well known national bookstore has also given me a strong indication that they will put 'Space Ace and The Flying Shed' on their shelves, so watch this space!

work in progress

Well doesn't time fly!

Roaming Romans is still a work in progress I am afraid - a new job and a new house have put me behind schedule - well, to be honest, VERY behind schedule, but there we are.

Still, I still have 'Flying Shed' to market and so I am going to put some effort into getting it 'off the ground' - sorry about the pun!

So, if you haven't purchased one yet - shame on you - go to Amazon and buy one, right now. It's a really good read, and that comment is from both young and old - I used to think people told fibs when they talked about books they 'could not put down'. But hey, now they are saying it about my little gem, and that sort of comment makes me walk 10ft tall, especially since these are from people who aren't family and friends.

So go on, go and buy one, you won't regret it - and if you buy one now, it will be worth a bob or two, because it is first edition. I am working and a 2nd edition, with some of the 'deliberate mistakes' taken out - so 1st editions could well turn out to be priceless in 10 years time.

So don't wait or in 10 years time, I will will there going "I told you so!"

Have fun

Ian

School Trip

Hi there,

Sales of 'Space Ace and The Flying Shed' are progressing steadily - mind you I had a bit of a 'to-do' with Amazon etc as they had listed both my name and the book title incorrectly - it's all OK now though, so if you want to order a first edition, there are still a few left.

I did my first school visit with the book to Church Eaton primary is Staffordshire and my thanks to Mrs Burton and Mr Winkle for inviting me in - I went to assembly to see all the kids dressed as a character from a book - they were magnificent in their costumes and then I had an hour with class 3 making monsters and talking about magic and witches and the like, before reading then the first chapter.

I then had an hour with class 4, where the kids started to design me a new book cover and I will be going back shortly to judge the winner and present them with a signed copy of the book.

I was exhausted by the end, but thrilled at the reception they gave me and the interest shown in this book and the first few chapters of 'Space Ace and The Roaming Romans', which I am working on at the moment.

I am hoping to get the book ready for the next round of publication by the YouWriteOn team, but I may not achieve the deadline - ho hum.

Still, I am looking forward to my next visit to a school, library or bookshop with 'Flying Shed.'

cheers

Ian

About to be published....

Hi there,

well, it is actually about to happen, I am about to become a published author - I had every belief it would happen and now it is, and it's all thanks to the Arts Council for England, their YouWriteOn.com website and their partnership with Legend Press.

It has been a mad 4 weeks as I have edited and proof read my first 'Space Ace' novel over and over again, and no mater how many times I read it through I found an error, or some part that didn't quite read properly etc.

And then there was the title. In its first incarnation the book was called 'I hate baked beans' which I thought was a catchy title, but didn't really tell you what the book was about, so now it's called 'Space Ace and The Flying Shed' which I thought was a pretty good title for and adventure story aimed at the 7 + market.

All I have to do now is come up with an affective marketing strategy.

Anyway, it should be available for purchase through all good on like booksellers such as Amazon and Waterstones by Christmas - so look out for it and go and buy it for a young person near you.

Cheers

Ian

FantasyCon 2008

Wow, just been blown away by a most fantastic time at FantasyCon 2008 in Nottingham run by the British Fantasy Society.

I have never attended one of these types of events before and it was both enlightening and entertaining. I met a whole new bunch of people, some like Simon R Green, who I didn't know from Adam until I started talking to him and found out that he is really big in the USA and has just made it onto the New York Times best seller list. Simon is such a friendly guy and gave me some brilliant, down to earth advice.

I attended some earth shattering seminars given by some of the Big Cheeses in the publishing world, a couple of book launches and a reading by James Barclay of his newest work.

Altogether attendance is to be highly recommended if like me you are interested in the SF&F genres and a MUST if you are writing on the subject. I will certainly be having my name down for next years event.

Now, back to my writing and finishing off the prologue for Spellcaster's Apprentice.