Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts

Tuesday 5 March 2024

Revamp An Existing Layout


Revamp An Existing Layout this month becomes the 6th and final instalment in my Philden Model Railway Presents series of books.


It is an amazing experience to wrap up a series of books that stretches back 4 years, and the exhilaration of having clear space ahead of me while planning my next career move is almost intoxicating!

While working full-time on these books over the past 2 years will go down as one of my all-time highlights of my writing career, completing the final book has been akin to a musician wrapping up their final show on a tour. You take a moment to celebrate the milestone... and then head back into the studio to start working on your next album. Which is exactly how 2024 has started for me.

The untouched celebratory book launch platter! Prior to being devoured and photoshopped into the image at the top.

Case in point is my customary book launch platter to celebrate the books release. In the days after the wine and cheese had disappeared, I was able to teleport my table into the swanky surrounds of a waterside restaurant, which truth be told was just a bit of clever Photoshopping. However, when you're studying and immersed in a new creative field away from writing, things like this somehow make their way into each and every creative corner of your mind. A fusion of creative ideas if you like.

So, while I now leave behind a successful series of model railway how-to books, for the time being at least, my mind is already planning new projects, based around new ideas, with the end goal to cost-up which ideas will prove the most profitable to pursue. While I've loved every minute of writing about my favourite hobby and procuring the photos necessary to produce a series of books, it has come at a cost, measured of course in time and money. The two things in life that no-one ever seems to possess at the same time.

With my project of revamping my own HO scale shelf layout now complete, my model train hobby can now return to being an escape from the everyday. It resulted in a great book! Six great books to be honest, and the kind of books I wished I had read years ago when starting out in the hobby. If you've ever been interested in one of the world's favourite pastimes, then I know you are going to love these books.

Revamp An Existing Layout is available now and joins the other titles in my model railway stable. The book is available through the links below...

   

Tuesday 12 December 2023

AMRM Feature Book Review

The December issue of Australian Model Railway Magazine features a review of my two latest model railway themed books. Model Railway Weathered Wonders and Model Railway Backdrop Basics were both given a glowing review in Australia's premier model railway magazine when describing the helpful methods outlined within the pages of my highly popular how-to books.


News broke to me by way of a friend, who phoned me while I was on holidays recently with my wife Denise. At the time we were driving south to Victoria's Great Ocean Road, so it was a nice surprise to pull off the highway and walk into a newsagency in Goulburn, New South Wales, to find a pile of almost 20 copies prominently displayed. Being a long time reader, I still prefer to buy my copies of AMRM from my local newsagency back in Brisbane as a way of keeping the hobby visible on the magazine rack.

 

My 5 Philden Model Railway books have proven to be popular, both online and through hobby shops in Australia. However, plans to have a 6th title available early in 2024 have been delayed somewhat due to my decision to return to full-time study in 2024. As such, the next instalment will now likely follow in late 2024. Meanwhile, you can still grab a copy of any of my titles through the links found on my Books page.

Friday 13 October 2023

2023 BRMA Brisbane Convention


One of the absolute highlights so far in my journey as an Author, was accepting the keynote speaker position for the 2023 British Railway Modellers Convention of Australia, which just so happened to be held in my home city of Brisbane, Australia.


The combination of my books and modelling skills were on display for all to see.

Held at the Pacific Hotel in Spring Hill, Brisbane over the weekend of 22nd to 24th September 2023, the annual convention was a coming together of British Railway Modellers from across Australia. The weekend of presentations, demonstrations, layout tours and a visit to the Brisbane Tramway Museum kicked off with a Mini Expo held in the convention room overlooking the Roma Street Parklands and Railway Station.

I was kept busy signing copies of my railway and model train books over the weekend...

...and was stationed beside UK model producer John Wiffen (right) from Scalescenes.

Preparing my 40 minute keynote address took the best part of a week to prepare. It wasn't an easy task to condense my 40 year journey from being a young lad with a OO scale Flying Scotsman train set, to becoming the Author of 22 books into just 40 minutes. However, I did manage to contain myself to running only a few minutes over, including sharing the story of how I was almost hit by the Flying Scotsman on its' 1988-89 visit to Australia, back when I had hair like MacGyver as seen in the image below...

Yes, that's me in 1989, avoiding the throngs of people to pose for a photo infront of a slow-moving Flying Scotsman during its Australian Tour.

There has been a lot to ponder in my lifelong journey as a writer.

Along with meeting some extraordinary modellers from around the country and enjoying a full programme of interesting presentations, it was rewarding to be recognised for my contribution to the hobby in the form of my Philden Model Railway presents range of books. I received plenty of encouraging words from the many eager readers who waited patiently for me to sign copies of my books, including more than one person who has started building a layout based solely on my Build a Bookshelf Layout book.

I paused long enough to record this image from Saturday night's Gala Awards Dinner.

Apparently it is a convention tradition for the Keynote Speaker to present the trophies for the National model building and photography awards. As the role came with a seat at the five star Gala Dinner attended by a crowd of over 80 people on the Saturday night, how could I refuse? I must thank the BRMA Queensland Representative, John Rostron for the extraordinary lengths he went to in assisting me with setting up on the day, running a fantastic 3 day convention and offering the Keynote Speaker position to me in the first place. Next year the BRMA will meet to do it all again, only this time in Melbourne, and John... you can now have a well-earned rest and simply attend next year's event for the fun of it.

And my parting view looking over Brisbane, Australia, as I left on the Saturday night.

Having now had a year where I released 3 books, exhibited my own model railway at 2 different exhibitions and delivered a succesful presentation at a model railway convention, I topped-off September by becoming a Poppy for the first-time to a lovely little Grandaughter named Zailee... 2023 has been a big year. Now as the dust settles on the BRMA Convention and I prepare to sit down to write the 6th and final instalment of my Philden Model Railway Presents series, I can look forward to a much-needed holiday in a little over a month's time.

Next year is looking like it will deliver a new creative project for me to head into. So until then, I'm going to take the high from last month's convention, and harness that energy into writing the next Philden book. Until next time...

Saturday 9 September 2023

Weathered Wonders Video Review



Here's yet another great review of one of my books, courtesy of Will James and his Australian Model Railway News YouTube channel. The August 2023 edition also features an up close look at one of my weathered model railway items, of which I weathered more than 180 individual models throughout the course of writing and producing this epic little masterpiece.


With the first print run already sold-out, September is proving to be a busy month of restocking the hobby shops that carry my books around Australia. The run-on effect of sales of my previous titles has been a pleasant surprise too!

A huge thanks to Will James for his continued promotion, and if you haven't already visited the WillJamesRailways website, be sure to click on the link to explore some of his railway related merchandise and links to some of the many Australian model railway videos he has produced.

Model Railway Weathered Wonders is available now online through the following retailers

    

Monday 31 July 2023

2023 AGMRC Book Appearance

After making a rare book appearance last year at a model train club open day on Brisbane's northside, this year I ventured south of the river to the All Gauge Model Railway Club's sale day held at the Belmont Shooting Complex on Sunday 30th July.


What is dubbed as Queensland's largest model railway table sale always draws a crowd, and I've been coming to these events in search of a bargain from as far back as the mid 1990's. Aside from standing on the opposite side of the table this time, hawking my latest book Model Railway Weathered Wonders along with my other 4 Philden Model Railway titles, very little has changed over the years.

All 5 of my Philden Model Railway books...

Buy-and-sell days are normally a hit-and-miss affair at the best of times, depending on how many modellers are clearing out collections ahead of building new projects, or dare I say it... friends or family are there to help sell-off a deceased estate. Money changes hands at a frantic pace all morning long, as punters scrounge through collections of second hand models, books and DVD's and seem to enjoy haggling over a $5 item in the hope of fetching a bargain. For an author such as myself, it becomes even more hit-and-miss given that I am essentially selling a new book alongside tables full of second hand ones. In 2022 it was a huge success for me. But 2023... no so much.

Was that quite possibly my final stand-alone book appearance?

Occasions such as this have become a bit of a rarity for myself since my days of touring Australia's east coast as an aspiring author. Along with this year's huge All Gauge MRC July sale day, I had already committed to hosting a book stand at this year's British Railway Modellers of Australia Convention being held in my home city of Brisbane over the weekend of the 22nd to 24th September. Given that I will shortly sit down to write my 23rd and final book, I dare say there won't be another event such as this for me again. Conventions aside, it's just not a conducive environment for an author to be amongst.

Still, the morning doubled as a social outing, an excuse for a chat with people who follow the Philden Model Railway blog, and a chance to see what items of interest I could fossick through amongst the tables. It was equal parts nostalgic... and a little sad, knowing items that were once of great value could be found in various states of repair for a few bucks. Who knows? Maybe one day my own books will be sitting there on a table alongside a box set of Michael Portillo's Great British Railway Journey DVD's with a $5 price tag on it. That's how it goes right?

I only hope I'm not around to see it!

Thursday 27 July 2023

Model Railway Weathered Wonders



Model Railway Weathered Wonders this month becomes my 22nd book release in a career that now spans back to 2006. The book explains how to turn a shiny new, out-of-the-box railway model, into a decrepit weather beaten wonder. With stock soon to hit the shelves of Australia's leading hobby stores, I couldn't let the occassion pass me by without once more laying out the obligatory launch platter on our table, and posing my latest book beside an array of wine and cheese!


My 5th Philden Model Railway book is out now!

That means there is now only one more book to follow! Having already explained back in May when announcing the release of Model Railway Backdrop Basics that 2023 will be my last, I'm equal parts thrilled and struggling to get through the final tasks I've set myself for the remainder of the year. I have a model railway club book appearance, two model train show weekends, a keynote speaker role at the 2023 BRMA Convention... and a final book to write, all before the middle of November!

While I take a few weeks break inbetween books to head into my airbrushing studio in the garage to weather up another batch of model trains, it seems I'm more excited about planning a road trip with my wife at the end of it all. I'm looking forward to a big August-September-October as I finish Phillip Overton's story in 2023 with a 23rd and final book, and step into a new phase of life.

Hopefully my work will remain as a lasting legacy to a man, a writer and his love of model railways, for years to come. Model Railway Weathered Wonders is out now, and available through the links above and on my books page. Inside you'll find all the tips and secrets into how to transform your models into a nicely weathered wonder!

Available now!



Monday 3 July 2023

Backdrop Basics Video Review


Once again, another great review has come my way for my latest book Model Railway Backdrop Basics over on Will James' Australian Model Railway News, June 2023 edition, (click the image frame above to play). The Will James Railways YouTube channel has steadily become a staple to most Australian modeller's viewing habits, and the half hour show at the beginning of each month gives an indepth wrap-up of what's happening in the world of model trains Down Under.



If you aren't already aware, there's a book giveaway competition running on his website over at willjamesrailways.com along with some great photos and merchandise to browse through. As explained, copies of Model Railway Backdrop Basics will arrive in stores across Australia in July, so keep an eye out for it at your favourite hobby shop, or you can order the book directly from the publisher at the link below.



Friday 26 May 2023

Model Railway Backdrop Basics


What a year 2023 is turning out to be! Hot on the heels of February's bestselling release of Model Railway Scenery Secrets, comes my 21st book release, Model Railway Backdrop Basics. And in a year where I'm at the top of my game there will be two more to follow to conclude my Philden Model Railway series of how-to books before the curtains close on the year, and my career...


My 4th Philden Model Railway book is out now!

The excitement of my first book release back in 2007 seems like such a long time ago. Yet it seems poignant to reminisce upon at this particular time. That's because somewhere over the course of this year I've been able to gain a sense of where my writing has come from, when it might end, and the book, or books, with which I'd like to bow out with. So in making the big announcement that Model Railway Backdrop Basics becomes the fourth instalment in my Philden Model Railway Presents series of how-to books, I'd also like to announce that two more of my model railway books will follow during 2023, before I call it a day.

Having just enjoyed my first full year of writing full-time, it has taken a few months of reflecting on this weird, crazy journey called life, to realise that I have actually achieved all of the goals I set out to as a writer. With my model railway books twice becoming bestselling titles on my publishing platform, having had one of my books Award-Nominated back in 2014 and now reaching the milestone of celebrating a 21st book release... I can honestly say that none of that has had any bearing or meaning upon either my life or those around me. How's that for being brutally honest?

While they're all nice little achievements to say that you've ticked off as a writer, it's only by gauging the success that follows that you know if you're kidding yourself in thinking that you can take this any further. In releasing my 4th model railway how-to book, Model Railway Backdrop Basics, it seems I've created a monster. It's taken decades of experience, and years of my life to write and 100% independently produce, publish and distribute my own brand of railway books. Compared to the royalties I once received from my novels through a small publisher, my series of books are by far more profitable and I've been enjoying writing about a hobby that I love. Yet I've reached the point where I've had enough. How is that possible?

Quite simply, I feel I've reached the end of the line with the areas of expertise I feel confident writing about, and the amount of material I have at my disposal to use for my own photography and examples within their pages. To build another model railway layout to create more content for future books is financially counter-productive to the success it would bring, and logistically impossible given that my wife and I enjoy our inner-city apartment lifestyle, albeit with limited space for things such as train sets. Then there is the success of the books themselves. My first of which required an outlay of a few thousand dollars to print and distribute to ensure there were copies on the shelves of the country's best hobby shops. Fast forward to my latest release, and the outlay is now three to four times the cost given their popularity and the need to re-stock the sold-out earlier titles. From there the costs only snowball at a rate greater than my financial return does.

Not only that, but it's killing my hobby time in the process. So with two book ideas I feel I simply must write, I'm entering the next 6 months in much the same way as Michael Jordan did in his final season with the Chicago Bulls. It's The Last Dance all over again, only with model trains. Two more books will see me reach 23 book releases in the year '23. That's Jordan's number 23 that he made famous, and a number which I feel is as good as any to saunter off into the sunset.

Writing has been a huge part of my life. But so too has my model train hobby. Fusing the two together often leads to one overpowering the other, and everyone I've spoken to within the industry either reaps a financial reward at the expense of their hobby time, or makes a loss trying to monetize their hobby interests. By finishing on a high with two final books, I'm not only allowing my hobby to return to being a hobby, but I'll set myself up with a small income stream for years to come.

Beyond that? Who knows. I feel that I gave it my all to become a full-time writer, but having finally reached that goal it was kind of like a 'meh' moment. I'm now more excited by what lays waiting on the other side of it all. If there were any writing projects to emerge in the future years... it wouldn't be under the moniker of Phillip Overton. I'd only be interested in something completely left-field, off-track and unexpected. So it would be fair to say that it would involve writing under a psuedonym, and as it stands that's not today's problem.

So today I tuck into the traditional celebratory book launch platter at the top, before heading off for a weekend with my wife Denise to celebrate another book milestone. Come Moday however, The Last Dance begins, as I get straight back to writing the next book. There's two more books to write, and only six months to do so. This is The Last Dance. Time to make it count.

Model Railway Backdrop Basics is available now direct through Blurb.com.au, and watch for it to appear in leading hobby stores from July onwards.

 

Saturday 25 March 2023

Scenery Secrets Video Review


Who caught another fantastic book review for one of my model railway books on the latest episode of Australian Model Railway News this month?


Once again, one of my books was given a glowing review on Will James's popular YouTube channel, with Model Railway Scenery Secrets again featured as a prize giveaway for viewers and subscribers to his channel. As someone who can vouch for loving free giveaways, be sure to watch, subscribe and enter by the end of March 2023 for a chance to win a copy, and be sure to check out Will James Railways website to enjoy looking at the hundreds of great railway photos and merchandise he has on offer.

Tuesday 21 February 2023

Model Railway Scenery Secrets

Celebrating my 20th release


Reaching book release Number 20 with Model Railway Scenery Secrets.

After months of waiting since I finished writing this book late last year, this week marks the official launch of Model Railway Scenery Secrets, a book which also happens to be my 20th book release! While I'll save the ins-and-outs of what the book contains for my model railway readers over on Philden Model Railway, I thought I'd share a little about what it means to reach this milestone and how difficult it has been to get here. Those who are thinking that writing a book such as this is easy, are going to be left disappointed.


This is my 3rd Philden Model Railway Presents release.

"Isn't it just a book about model trains? What could possibly be so hard about writing that?"


Well, to answer that question; the writing. Forget for a moment that the examples I've used within the book have taken hundreds of hours to create. Forget that a hobby such as model railways can devour thousands of dollars at a time on building a project layout. And forget that photography can be difficult whilst juggling a camera, lighting and a delicate model in order to capture the one photo that emphasises the point you are trying to make in the book. It's the writing. Trying to get the idea out of your head and onto a page in a manner which readers can understand and be able to follow on their quest to become better modellers. The writing in a book such as this has to hold up to a weight of scrutiny far greater than any fantasy character or scenario that I've created in the past in any of my novels. People are going to invest their time, and their money into trusting that you know what you're talking about.

Getting here, (to book release number 20), has been far more difficult than writing my first novel back in 2006. It's the process of building a career, coming to rely on your craft as a main source of income, and pushing the doubts aside that take a greater toll on the mind than the task of simply sitting down to write a book. Instead of getting easier as you go, it actually becomes harder to keep going. Keeping the passion alive and the ideas coming is the easy part. My list of new book ideas keeps growing to the point where I don't know if I'll ever get to write them all, and my passion comes from only choosing the projects that excite me the most. But all that other stuff?

It's been a long grind to get here for someone who started writing his first novel at the age of 16. School writing awards followed until... just like that the novel was lost. Not misplaced, but rather the result of some unpleasant years spent being raised under a strict Jehovah's Witnesses upbringing, where people took umbrage to my book collection and burnt the lot one day while I was at school. Including the novel I was writing and a lot of my other short stories and poetry. Despite some poems surviving and one even being published in a national poetry magazine a few years later, it scarred me for a long time. To the point where I didn't pick up another book for close to a decade. What may or may not have become of that first novel is now irrelevant, and I've since found it easier to accept that people have the ability to be horrible at times, rather than trying to understand why.

Instead, after leaving home a year after leaving school when I met my now wife, I took to writing her lovely poems and raising a young family of our own in Queensland. It wasn't until a shoulder injury that required three months off work in 2006 that I told my wife I was finally going to write that novel I was always said I was going to. Although it wasn't the same story I was fumbling my way through when I was 16, as a 34 year-old father of two, there was a whole lot more life experience for me to draw upon. The Long Way Home was published in 2007, and despite being out-of-print for many years now, remains the book I am proudest of.

Fast forward to book Number 20, Model Railway Scenery Secrets... it couldn't be any more different to my first if I tried! Creating a miniature railway that evokes happy memories of raising our two great kids (whom are both now married), and holidays where Dad would always stop to photograph a train or railway station, led to a blog, which in turn led to a book. Now here I am at 50, with a bad knee, a once successful small cleaning business now behind me and opportunities to do anything other than write appearing only like a mirage in the desert. I am thankful I wrote that novel 17 years ago, and that life, and my hobby, has led me to a place where I can be happy at what I'm doing.

You'd think 20 books should be a milestone where people finally take you seriously. Instead, I still get asked how much money I make? Will I one day get a proper job? Do I pay tax? Or the classic assumption that I just stay home all day. It seems that writing is just one of those professions where people have no barriers in asking whatever they want to know. After producing 20 books it is the one thing that still bugs me.

Writing, when you take into account the path I have shared above, is a hard slog. To get to 20 book releases deserves to be acknowledged, along with the moments that have defined and tested me along the way. Sure, all writers face rejection, but I stopped collecting my rejection letters from publishers as though they were validation points years ago. So as my new book debuts on my publishing platform's bestselling list, it's about time I do the same with people's opinions.

So here's to 20 books! I'll give myself another week to promote it before diving into writing the next instalment. As for my first novel, I think it's time the world sees it back in print. Maybe 2023 is the year to do so. What do you think?

Cheers!

Tuesday 8 November 2022

2022 RMCQ Book Appearance

Set up early for my first book appearance in 9 years!

It's been a long time between drinks. So much so that Sunday November 6, 2022 was my first public book appearance in 9 years. After drawing the curtains closed on promoting my novels back in October 2013, here I was 9 years later promoting my latest model railway book at the Railway Modellers Club of Queensland Open Day in Brendale, Brisbane.


An inside look at the Railway Modellers Club of Queensland's huge layout!

The RMCQ's clubrooms in the northern suburbs of Brisbane hosts a great setup for model train buffs, with both N scale and HO scale layouts along with an impressive outdoor G scale garden layout. After concentrating on self-producing my own railway and model railway books in the years that have followed my four novels, I felt it was time to take to the tracks with making a one-off public appearance to promote my books in person. A model train Open Day and Buy and Sell is a great opportunity to meet people in person, talk about my books and what I'm working on next, plus have a general browse at what is a veritable treasure trove for bargain hunters.

The day was such a success, that I'm already thinking of doing it again next year!

Unlike my previous regular visits to model railway buy and sell days, this time I was on the other side of the table, selling and not buying. Along with a huge display of my books, I also took this as an opportunity to clean-out my wardrobe of any unwanted models, and some of my weathered models which I detail and sell alongside my books on my eBay store. In what was a pleasant surprise, I easily made twice as much in sales of my own books as I did the few models I had for sale on the day.

The members of the RMCQ are a wonderful group of people, and made me feel welcome on the day. I've come to know a few of the members personally over the years of being involved in the hobby, and the club's membership form is still sitting at the bottom of my desk tray waiting for the day where I actually have the time to do something like join a club. With a successful day behind me, and another book in the production stage, you can rest assured that I will do another such open day book sale in 2023!

Friday 21 October 2022

Yesterday sounds rather nostalgic

Yesterday sounds rather nostalgic... launch platter for book release number 19.


Well how good is this? Not just the tasty launch platter that is in store for a small gathering for the launch of my latest book tonight, but the fact that Yesterday sounds rather nostalgic becomes my 19th book release! But read on... there's an even bigger twist to this story!


This book is my definitive collection of poetry.


35 years after first having a poem published in a small newspaper in rural Victoria, I set about collating a collection of my best contemporary poems to date. Instead, what transpired was a story within a collection of poetry that as the back cover depicts best, is poignant in its nostalgic depiction of the future, and delivers a raw, observational retrospect that dances between the lines of a journey from adulthood to the other side of parenthood. As such, the book cuts a swathe through more than three decades of my life, ending in a culmination of new poems that leave a punctuation mark on a period of my life that I'll never get to live again. It is a book that I am immensely proud of, and one which culminated in producing my first short film.


Premiere October 21st, 2022 on YouTube.


I still return to the poem as a voice. It has been the one constant in my writing since winning my high school's writing awards back in 1987-88-89. Now here I am 35 years later, and I'm discovering a new voice. Once again through the medium of poetry. The spoken word. Visualised, and brought to life in a different medium that I hadn't stopped to consider until wondering just how I could get this book heard of.


The short film is based around the poem We'll still make do, which itself is a feature of the book. The hefty 8 minute long poem is just 1of 42 poems featured inside the book, and was recorded in one take before being subjected to a 2 week long video editing process to visually bring the story to life. Both the book and the film are something I hope I will one day be remembered by. Like any project I throw myself into, there was once more a lot of learning required to be able to say that I'll enjoy watching the premiere tonight alongside a small crowd, knowing I oversaw the entire production myself. From writing, to editing, book layout, cover design, voice over and video editing.


It's been one giant project. One that was made even more complicated this month by the passing of my father. The final visits and funeral that followed have really impacted my view on the time we are given in this crazy dance called life. Losing a parent removes part of that buffer that stands between here and the end. It has awoken the realisation that this time I have, is all I've got. Although the book had already been completed, working on a video project that was punctuated by hospital visits and funerals led to the idea to record the voiceover in one take.


You only get one take in life, and the poem We'll still make do is a reflection on life, from meeting your partner through to raising a family and watching as your children grow and go their own way. It's a period that for my wife and I, we'll not get to live through again. I'm fortunate. We're both fortunate really, to have made do through the circumstances that life throws at each of us. That's what this poem/short film is all about. The celebration of seeing our children attempt the same things that we are only now realising we've already achieved.


I do hope you enjoy the short film, or long visual poem. Whatever you want to call it is fine. I'm already planning a follow-up. Wherever you are, just be sure to enjoy the moment you are in. Sometimes in the rush of life we don't realise how good things really are until they're over.


The book is now available to buy or download through



Tuesday 11 October 2022

Trackside Tips Video Review

Australian Model Railway News September 2022

A huge thanks to Will James for the wonderful book review in the September edition of Australian Model Railway News of my latest offering Model Railway Trackside Tips. If you haven't already, please watch the above show on YouTube to see my book featured in the opening minutes. Plus keep watching to the end for news on a free giveaway of a copy of not only my new book, but also one of Will's own signature beanies! You can view all of Will James's railway adventures, photos and signature products over on his website Will James Railways.

Friday 30 September 2022

Model Railway Trackside Tips

My new book Model Railway Trackside Tips becomes my 18th release!


Releasing my 18th book has been somewhat of a surprise. If I'm honest and cast my mind back to 2012 when my 3rd novel Last Wish of Summer was released in the United States, I would have been happy just to have seen my fourth novel make it to a release date! Yet here I am a decade later, officially announcing the release of my second model railway how-to book which joins the stable alongside my other 12 railway books.


A book on all you need to know about detailing model train track!


Writing under the label of my own Philden Model Railway Presents banner, there's nothing more daunting than self-publishing something that hasn't been attempted in this country before, which is writing a model railway instructional book for the Australian market. There have been plenty of successful model train publications over the decades from large publishers in the United States and the United Kingdom, but with the Australian model railway market being a small one, no-one to the best of my knowledge has ever published a book that speaks to the ordinary Aussie modeller. Finally, there is a book where I don't have to stop and convert 5/32" inch into millimetres when reading how to build a model railway project, and it has my name on the cover!


After the success of my first such book, Build a Bookshelf Layout (released late 2021), I felt I had an anchor book to fashion a series of task-orientated books around. Model Railway Trackside Tips is, as the title suggests, all about how to lay model railway track that looks great and runs reliably. If you'd like the model railway version of my book launch announcement in all its' technical glory, you can find it here on my popular Philden Model Railway blog. For this post, I'd like to share just a little of what the book means to me from a writer's point-of-view.


Writing is hard. Well... easy in theory, difficult in its' execution and marketing.


My model train hobby took a back seat between 2006-2013 while I concentrated on establishing myself as a novelist and writing my first four novels. It had to, simply because as a husband and father of two teenagers, there's only so many hours in a week. Later when we moved out of our family home and into a smaller appartment, I sold off my collection and told myself I could always build another display layout once I had established myself as a full-time writer.


Despite trying hard to promote my books and continue to work on the next novel, the moment never came. However, during those years we did have some of the best holidays as a family while watching our children grow and finish school. When I was finally finished with the idea of being a novelist, I took a few days break to clear my head, and set off on my own to ride The Sunlander train from Brisbane to Cairns and back in the months before it was retired. I came back, had an idea to write a window seat guide about it, and produced my first eBook on Smashwords which went on to be nominated for the 2015 Global eBook Awards. I wrote four such guide books in the years that followed, all while starting a small cleaning business on the Sunshine Coast alongside my wife Denise simply by using my spare time wisely. I went on to produce a total of 12 railway books and this marks my 13th railway-related book.


More importantly, as one child had already spread her wings and left home, by 2015 I had once more afforded myself the time and money required to build a small model railway layout in our apartment. The small bookshelf layout called Philden (Phill and Denise combined into the one name, the same as we would use for our local cleaning business), spawned its own blog, Philden Model Railway, appeared at 8 different model railway exhibitions and on the cover of a model railway magazine, before becoming the subject for Build a Bookshelf Layout. The idea was simply to preserve all the articles I had posted on my blog, after I discovered one night that a hacker had taken over my blog and was redirecting all of my links to questionable Eastern European websites. So as you can see, great ideas often come from the ashes of trying.


So party hats on everyone. I know this isn't a book release that will rival James Patterson for sales. But as I officially release this, the book is already a sucess due to all the advance sales and hobby shops across Australia who are stocking it in large numbers. Success is really what you want it to be. For me, its being able to look back on the amazing things my wife and I have got to enjoy while raising our kids, the holidays we all had together, the places we visited and the dots on maps inbetween that I detoured to as a Dad, simply to photograph a train or an abandoned railway station. That's the work I am most proud of.


I now have some prized model trains that are the envy of other modellers in the hobby, a new bigger shelf layout that is almost complete and takes pride of place in our new apartment, and a new life alongside my wife of 30 years Denise as empty-nesters back in Brisbane. Somehow in some crazy messed-up way, between my airbrushing skills detailing miniature railway models, and writing model railway how-to books, I've actually been working as a full-time writer/modeller for the past few months without realising it. It's probably a bigger accomplishment than the book itself!


So please, take a moment to preview the book through the links in the right hand column of this blog, and even if model trains aren't your thing, I'll have a special announcement to follow next month. Yes, another new book is ready to be released shortly, and one that is not railway related!


Cheers for now!

Phill O

Thursday 3 February 2022

Bookshelf Layout Video Review

Australian Model Railway News January 2022


Huge thanks go out to Will James for covering my latest release Build a Bookshelf Layout in the January 2022 edition of his popular YouTube Show Australian Model Railway News. With almost 3,500 subscribers, his show which opens with a review of my book was seen by over 2,000 viewers in the first 24 hours! If you haven't seen Will's show before, then watch the YouTube clip above to see why its so popular.

Monday 3 January 2022

Build A Bookshelf Layout

Another New Year... and another new book project!


It's hard to believe another year has gone past. It's 2022 and the world is still showing no signs of recovery from a Global Pandemic such as COVID. Perhaps it is timely that my latest book, and my first ever Arts & Crafts non-fiction book, takes root from my personal hobby that has kept me occupied through periods of lockdowns and restrictions here in Australia. It's also a hobby that I can now boast having over 40 years experience with. Welcome to my world of model trains, and my new book Build A Bookshelf Layout.



In the midst of a busy Christmas Holiday Down Under, the courier dropped my box of advance release copies of the new book at my door on Christmas Eve. But with Christmas, a short camping trip, New Years Eve, our Wedding Anniversary and my wife's 50th Birthday all condensed into 11 days of celebrations, I think I can be excused from making any announcement until now.


So, armed with a small platter of olives, cheeses and sun-dried tomatoes, and an absolutely exquisite bottle of Chandon bubbly courtesy of my niece Eleisha, I thinks its a safe time to set my next book project loose into the world.


Five years in the making, this 72 page colour instructional book is a great starting place for newcomers and old-head model railroaders alike to read before constructing their next model railway project layout. A good finish begins at the start, and I've often found that overseas books offer little beyond a trackplan and some diagrams that leave you floundering to work out why your finished layout doesn't resemble the masterpiece shown on the cover. This book is the opposite! Its' hands-on, step-by-step approach is designed to fast-track your skills and enjoyment, without learning what works, and what doesn't, the hard way!

There's over 40 years experience laid-out inside, more than 70 photos and enough informative text that will talk you through what you need to consider on the way to constructing an enjoyable small model railway layout. The book covers the planning process, benchwork construction, painting and layout presentation, lighting and basic track laying skills that all result in a rewarding model railway experince.

Two more books covering scenery secrets and trackside tips will also be available in 2022. Build a Bookshelf Layout is to the best of my knowledge, the first Australian model railway how-to book to hit the market.

Books are also available to download as eBooks direct through Blurb or the Apple store.

   

While my model railway hobby can now boast gracing the cover of Australian Model Railway Magazine and appearing in 8 different model train exhibitions Down Under, seeing my handiwork now spawning a short series of books brings me the uppermost delight. The models and modelling examples you see on the cover of Build A Bookshelf Layout have now all moved on, replaced with a new and bigger project that is taking shape above my desk. Its a hobby that is continually evolving, and one that has now rendered the instructional books of the 1970's that I read as a young child obsolete.

So here's to the next generation of modellers. May this book serve you well as an example of how to fast-track your modelling skills and get a lifetime of enjoyment out of the world's greatest hobby.

Cheers,
Phill O