'HYPKNOWLOGY'

Hypknowlogy [hip-nol-uh-jee]

• 
  
  adjective

1. 
   
   The passive delivery of seemingly complicated theories and issues in a way that is subtle enough to appeal to the higher self, whilst disarming the egocentric nature of the lower. 
   
2. The subtle infusion of knowledge and facts through a manner that does not directly infringe on the autonomy of the recipient.
3. 
   
   The agreeable subliminal expanding of awareness, that causes one to question and seek the answers to one's own equation.

Hypknowlogy is the title of the compilation of my first trilogy: 'The Mouth of Babes', 'Let Sleeping Gods Lie' and 'Heaven's War: The Gods Awakened'. The idea to put it together in one volume came from my usual teachers, books I've read and readers I have spoken to. I discovered Octavia E. Butler late in life and didn't read any of her books until a year or so after having completed my first novel. I was recommended to her books in the Patternist series by a friend who advised that I would love her writing and that there seemed to be similarities in our stories. The thing is, at the time I started searching for her books, they were not as readily available in the UK. I think there has been a bit of a revival now, because I can find her titles on Amazon.co.uk, back then, they were only listed on the US site.

I finally came across a couple of her books in the library, newly ordered in. 'Kindred' and 'Wild Seed' I believe. The latter was a compilation of the Patternist series all bound in one book and that alone blew my mind! Two years later I had people telling me, 'I wish I could read all your books back to back', 'I'm going to ask my son/daughter/mother/father to buy me your books for xmas'. At the time of hearing the first comment, I was still in the process of editing my final book, so I didn't think much on it. However when I heard the second comment, I thought about xmas sales and the potential that comes with it. What would be more likely? Someone purchasing one book as a gift, or three separate ones? Then of course, I remembered 'Wild Seed' and how I loved being able to read four sequential novels back to back. Well I am my own publisher, so what's to stop me from doing exactly the same with my trilogy? Plus I have to admit I was envious of how Philip Pullman's trilogy had one overall name it was known by; 'His Dark Materials'. I wanted my trilogy to be known overall by one name, the way how was to compile it. Using this method, I could get the best of all worlds and so could potential customers.

One book and one overall name for my trilogy, that would only be sold online (unless book retailers chose to pay the cost of printing them up and holding them in stock). Buying each book individually offline at a cost of £36 or all in one online at the cost of £27. You do the math and think up all the other benefits that as a publisher this holds for both myself and my readers. Authors and self-publishers, we gotta start thinking bigger and finding ways to reduce on our outgoing costs. Think smart, work smart.

You have now been introduced to a simple concept that falls under the theory of 'HYPKNOWLOGY'.

HYPKNOWLOGY is due for release on November 6th 2010 and will be available on my site: TosinCoker.com Advance purchases can also be made on Amazon.

Let It Burn

A friend of mine keeps saying, "you wrote 3 books in one year!" and I told him, no I haven't, I wrote my first book at the end of 2007. What he was refering to was how long it took me to write each book. The Mouth of Babes took me 3 months of non-stop day and night writing. The second Let Sleeping Gods Lie, took me about 18months to complete, but mainly because for about 12 of those months I didn't write at all. My life had become busy with moving home, entering into a relationship, having one of my children start high school and working as a computer technician. In total I spent 6 months actually writing, and the rest of my time pretending that I had forgotten I was supposed to be. The times I didn't write I compensated by working on the building up of my brand name and making it so that when my name was keyed into google, I'd come out on top. The final book, Heaven's War: The Gods Awakened, took me 3 months again because I spent about a month dawdling. I'm happy to report that the consensus is that my writing has been evolving and improving with every release, yay!

True enough, in terms of how my friend calculated it, I wrote 3 novels in one year. That's uh, actually kinda cool I guess. All this time I thought I was taking too long! Since having completed my latest book, the question that has been on my mind is, what the hell am I gonna do now that the trilogy is finished? Simple, carry on writing! I'm not sure what yet, but since this long lost passion was re-ignited, all I know is I've gotta let it burn.