A Tangled Web

My latest novel A Tangled Web has just been published in e-reader format and is available through the usual outlets.
Amazon have generously given the first two and a half chapters as an introduction for potential readers. The intro
misses out paragraph breaks and has enlarged indentation but the text is normalised on an e-reader.

The book is competitively priced at $4.50 and £2.99 inclusive of VAT.
For further information simply Google A Tangled Web : Emil Miller


As the Lit Net forum was the inspiration for the novel, I hope some of you will decide to read and comment on it.

Excellent. Found it. Going to zip it across and start reading it tomorrow sometime, good stuff.

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Originally Posted by Neely

Excellent. Found it. Going to zip it across and start reading it tomorrow sometime, good stuff.

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Thanks Neely. That's the great thing about a literary forum, it enables people who know writing to give feedback that's more reliable than that of the general reader.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy it although it's not as serious as Pro Bono Publico and is intended to be funny despite the ultimate tragedy of the protagonist.

I started reading it. It's pretty good so far.

It seems odd, though, that someone would have found forgotten manuscripts rather than an electronic copy these days, but who knows.

Congratulations, Emil!

I haven't read it (yet), YesNo, but I would personally try to have a backup paper copy of anything I wrote.

Maybe a backup paper copy is a good idea. I don't write much, but figure a copy on a hard drive or cloud storage is adequate.

The book is entertaining, Emil. I wondered why Wakefield didn't change at least the titles on the manuscripts, but that is the kind of guy he is.

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Originally Posted by YesNo

I started reading it. It's pretty good so far.

It seems odd, though, that someone would have found forgotten manuscripts rather than an electronic copy these days, but who knows.

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Glad you are enjoying it. It should be remembered that it is set in the 1970s before electronic copies were effectively possible.

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Originally Posted by YesNo

Maybe a backup paper copy is a good idea. I don't write much, but figure a copy on a hard drive or cloud storage is adequate.

The book is entertaining, Emil. I wondered why Wakefield didn't change at least the titles on the manuscripts, but that is the kind of guy he is.

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Although being a long-time bibliophile, he couldn't write anything of substance and Jerome Wakefield knew he couldn't match those already in existence.

I'm about 2/3 through it. I see now the novel is set in the 70's. They probably couldn't spell "computer" in those days so I can see why there was a manuscript.

Wakefield's no dummy even though he can't write well enough to change the titles. Nice scenes with Mia. I am beginning to see why you support the right to bear arms.

I finished it and enjoyed it, Emil. Congratulations. I can barely get a few thousand words together. I am impressed when someone can.

Congrats, Emil! And Good Luck! :)

I've started reading it this afternoon, just finished chapter two, very good and well written Emil, congratulations. I will be continuing it later on.

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Originally Posted by qimissung

Congratulations, Emil!

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Thanks, I hope you find time to read and comment on it.

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Originally Posted by YesNo

I finished it and enjoyed it, Emil. Congratulations. I can barely get a few thousand words together. I am impressed when someone can.

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Thanks for reading it. I try to keep a certain lucidity in my writing, especially in this case where the plot, as the title suggests, is intricate with a surprise twist to the story. I don't believe in overloading a story with subsidiary characters and sub-plots simply to increase the number of pages. The fact that you were able to read and enjoy it within a couple of days confirms me in my intention to write stories that are not heavy to the point of being tedious.

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Originally Posted by mona amon

Congrats, Emil! And Good Luck! :)

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Thanks, we already have one satisfied reader in YesNo and his comments are appreciated. If you are able to download the novel, I would be interested to read your opinion as with others who may be inclined to read it.

Congratulations on getting another publication under your belt!

Congratulations Emil.

I have a Nook reader myself (Barnes & Noble). I made a quick search through B&N website and don't see it there.
However, it looks like you're set up through Amazon (Kindle). My wife has a new Kindle, so I'll see about getting her to purchase it.

Looking forward to reading it.

Emil before I check it up and congratulations by the way :)
why 'A Tangled Web' as a title?
Web here can be both spider type or computer right? Is that a play on both meanings?

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[QUOTE=Neely;1207289]I've started reading it this afternoon, just finished chapter two, very good and well written Emil, congratulations. I will be continuing it later on.[/QUOTE

I hope you enjoy the rest of it. If it appears well written it may be on account of its extensive revision.

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Originally Posted by Lokasenna

Congratulations on getting another publication under your belt!

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Thanks, I hope you will find time to read and comment on it even though it's rather different to your usual reading matter.

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Originally Posted by Gilliatt Gurgle

Congratulations Emil.

I have a Nook reader myself (Barnes & Noble). I made a quick search through B&N website and don't see it there.
However, it looks like you're set up through Amazon (Kindle). My wife has a new Kindle, so I'll see about getting her to purchase it.

Looking forward to reading it.

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Thanks Gilliatt. I don't know why Nook wasn't included by the publisher but it's also available through Kobo for some reason.
I seem to recall your attempting Faulkner on one occasion and, despite its elements of tragedy, I think you will find that A Tangled Web is
somewhat lighter fare than Faulkner's turgid 'corncobby chronicles'. :smilewinkgrin:

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Originally Posted by cacian

Emil before I check it up and congratulations by the way :)
why 'A Tangled Web' as a title?
Web here can be both spider type or computer right? Is that a play on both meanings?

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Thank you. The title is taken from Sir Walter Scott's poem 'Marmion' and, although the first sentence of A Tangled Web indicates that it may have
become a cliché, it does describe the interplay of characters and situations that that moves the story towards its untoward conclusion.
It has nothing to do with computer web sites as the story is set during the 1970s at a time before computers came into general use.

Yep I'm now on chapter 6, it makes for very enjoyable fluent reading, it's very good. I even continued reading this over the current book I am very much into Constable on the Hill - the series of books responsible for the brilliant Heartbeat, so to choose to read yours over that means it must be good. I also find myself chuckling at moments where perhaps the author comes through a little, for example with the generic pop music inclusion on the Desert Island Disks or the criticism of cheap Hollywood adaptations etc, etc. I will be reading a few chapters each day.

Have you any plans for another book?

I was going to get it, but I have a Nook.

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Originally Posted by Neely

Yep I'm now on chapter 6, it makes for very enjoyable fluent reading, it's very good. I even continued reading this over the current book I am very much into Constable on the Hill - the series of books responsible for the brilliant Heartbeat, so to choose to read yours over that means it must be good. I also find myself chuckling at moments where perhaps the author comes through a little, for example with the generic pop music inclusion on the Desert Island Disks or the criticism of cheap Hollywood adaptations etc, etc. I will be reading a few chapters each day.

Have you any plans for another book?

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Actually, A Tangled Web is my third book; the second having been written for a lady who didn't like my first on account of its narrative form.
It is yet to be published but is very different to A Tangled Web and heavily based on my own experiences in Germany and the time
I spent working for the Foreign Office and Ministry of Defence. I hate the phrase 'psychological thriller' but that's what it is. Although one agent
I sent it to said it was well written he nevertheless refused to take it. C'est la vie.

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Originally Posted by qimissung

I was going to get it, but I have a Nook.

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I'm really sorry that you can't access the book, because I would have been interested in your opinion. I don't know why Shieldcrest didn't include
Barnes and Noble's e-reader in its publishing links. I will enquire why they chose to ignore a major component of the e-reader market.

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Actually, A Tangled Web is my third book; the second having been written for a lady who didn't like my first on account of its narrative form.
It is yet to be published but is very different to A Tangled Web and heavily based on my own experiences in Germany and the time
I spent working for the Foreign Office and Ministry of Defence. I hate the phrase 'psychological thriller' but that's what it is. Although one agent
I sent it to said it was well written he nevertheless refused to take it. C'est la vie.

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'Psychological thriller.' Yes I thought to myself that there is something of the Mr Ripley in this Wakefield character earlier in this book too - I am fond of Ripley. I'm on chapter 11, my bath went cold reading it earlier, very enjoyable, love the Italian setting and finding myself wanting a decent coffee or red wine/cold beer after reading it (went for the cold beer).

Yes I thought it was your third book as I remembered something of another book besides Pro Bono but I thought that was before it. Yes Pro Bono was 'harder' to read in terms of narrative style but that suited the message and voice of that particular book. You felt frustrated by the narrative form at times in Pro Bono which suited the message again. This book flows more easily than Pro Bono and is suited to a wider audience, especially with the fast twisting plot - it reads as a very good popular novel. This is not to criticise Pro Bono, just the two are clearly very different. The way dialogue is handled in A Tangled Web is excellent and pushes the book along rapidly.

Good news, I think. I did a little investigating on the web. I thought I might get a Kobo if I could find one for cheap. Unfortunately, no, but in the course of my investigation, I remembered I could get either a kindle or kobo app for my Android phone. So I looked at my phone, and lo and behold, there was the kindle app. So I logged in and I am now the proud owner of a kindle.

Hmm, what should my first purchase be?

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Actually, A Tangled Web is my third book; the second having been written for a lady who didn't like my first on account of its narrative form.
It is yet to be published but is very different to A Tangled Web and heavily based on my own experiences in Germany and the time
I spent working for the Foreign Office and Ministry of Defence. I hate the phrase 'psychological thriller' but that's what it is. Although one agent
I sent it to said it was well written he nevertheless refused to take it. C'est la vie.

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What a lucky lady that was.
I thought you were 17. How old when you worked for the foreign office? Sorry I hope you do no mind me asking. :)
Oh I thank you for the explanation. I will check Marmion as it goes. I have not read it yet.

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Originally Posted by Neely

'Psychological thriller.' Yes I thought to myself that there is something of the Mr Ripley in this Wakefield character earlier in this book too - I am fond of Ripley. I'm on chapter 11, my bath went cold reading it earlier, very enjoyable, love the Italian setting and finding myself wanting a decent coffee or red wine/cold beer after reading it (went for the cold beer).

Yes I thought it was your third book as I remembered something of another book besides Pro Bono but I thought that was before it. Yes Pro Bono was 'harder' to read in terms of narrative style but that suited the message and voice of that particular book. You felt frustrated by the narrative form at times in Pro Bono which suited the message again. This book flows more easily than Pro Bono and is suited to a wider audience, especially with the fast twisting plot - it reads as a very good popular novel. This is not to criticise Pro Bono, just the two are clearly very different. The way dialogue is handled in A Tangled Web is excellent and pushes the book along rapidly.

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Yes, Pro Bono Publico is a very different book both in style and content and took a long time to write due to the research required, Kobo actually market it under History, Social & Cultural Studies, and Political Science, whereas ATW is, as you point out, more like a popular novel and is aimed at a wider readership. I remember going for long walks and wrestling with the problem of reconciling the fictional elements with the actual political personalities and events that formed the basis of Pro Bono but with ATW I simply sat at the computer and typed it out before making the many revisions it needed.
I haven't read the Ripley book so any similarity is just coincidence but I imagine the ending would be quite different.
I don't know whether to publish the second book and I'm currently thinking about writing one with a merchant banking background but I'm not entirely au fait with the mechanics of institutional financing and it would require a some research into what is a rather arcane business .Anyhow, I would be interested in your final verdict on ATW.

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Originally Posted by qimissung

Good news, I think. I did a little investigating on the web. I thought I might get a Kobo if I could find one for cheap. Unfortunately, no, but in the course of my investigation, I remembered I could get either a kindle or kobo app for my Android phone. So I looked at my phone, and lo and behold, there was the kindle app. So I logged in and I am now the proud owner of a kindle.

Hmm, what should my first purchase be?

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That's interesting. I'm not into the various gadgets and attachments that go with mobile phones but if you are able to download a Kindle based book
via a Kindle application, there's a little book by Emil Miller that has just been published that is, I'm told, quite good.
It's possible that such an application may be the reason why the publisher didn't find it necessary to include Nook for direct downloading.

I got it, and I'm on chapter 4. It's very easily readable, Emil, so you might be onto a nice little moneymaker there. I remember reading about this one girl who loved to write fantasy, but kept trying to write more conventional novels. Her boyfriend finally convinced her to do what she loved and she's apparently now kind of a bestselling author in the world of ebooks.

Well, I'd forgotten my phone had the kindle app because I'd decided at the time not to use it, being firmly against ebooks. Nook needs to push their way into the market, where there are phones that come with their app. All of them have apps you can download. Anyway, all I had to do was sign into Amazon, and click on a few buttons, and voila, I was reading your book.

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Originally Posted by qimissung

I got it, and I'm on chapter 4. It's very easily readable, Emil, so you might be onto a nice little moneymaker there. I remember reading about this one girl who loved to write fantasy, but kept trying to write more conventional novels. Her boyfriend finally convinced her to do what she loved and she's apparently now kind of a bestselling author in the world of ebooks.

Well, I'd forgotten my phone had the kindle app because I'd decided at the time not to use it, being firmly against ebooks. Nook needs to push their way into the market, where there are phones that come with their app. All of them have apps you can download. Anyway, all I had to do was sign into Amazon, and click on a few buttons, and voila, I was reading your book.

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I'm very pleased that you managed to get hold of A Tangled Web and look forward to your comments on it. I know it sounds unlikely but I really didn't write it to make money. My main object in writing it was because I had a lot of fun in doing so and also to be read by people who read for pleasure and/or instruction rather than simply to kill time.
Anyhow, I hope you find it as diverting to read as I did in writing it.

Just finished the book and very much enjoyed it throughout, well done.

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Originally Posted by Neely

Just finished the book and very much enjoyed it throughout, well done.

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Thanks for reading it. I hope you enjoyed the comedic aspects and didn't take personally those that satirise the pop music business. After some years, I have been re-reading my second novel, with a view to getting it published by the same publisher, and find it to be much darker with a plot that is even more layered than A Tangled Web. As I have mentioned, the action takes place mainly in Germany and England but the background to the story is one of post-war psychological disorientation.
If I decide to publish, it will be similarly submitted for comments from members of the forum.

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Originally Posted by Emil Miller

Thanks for reading it. I hope you enjoyed the comedic aspects and didn't take personally those that satirise the pop music business. After some years, I have been re-reading my second novel, with a view to getting it published by the same publisher, and find it to be much darker with a plot that is even more layered than A Tangled Web. As I have mentioned, the action takes place mainly in Germany and England but the background to the story is one of post-war psychological disorientation.
If I decide to publish, it will be similarly submitted for comments from members of the forum.

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Excellent. No I enjoyed the humour as well. Thought the novel started out quite dark and tense (Ripleyesque - you should read The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith) then shifted to include satire/humour, then of course ended sharply.

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Originally Posted by Neely

Excellent. No I enjoyed the humour as well. Thought the novel started out quite dark and tense (Ripleyesque - you should read The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith) then shifted to include satire/humour, then of course ended sharply.

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Yes I like surprise endings and so far each of my books has one. Even the one I'm contemplating writing has one although, unlike its predecessors, it will be a happy one.

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Thanks for starting this thread Emil, it is a great topic for discussion.
Funny thing, I had purchased several bamboo back scratchers this past Christmas as gift for family members.

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:lol: If you can prise Mrs Gurgle's Kindle away from her, I'd be more interested in your views on A Tangled Web.

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Originally Posted by Emil Miller

:lol: If you can prise Mrs Gurgle's Kindle away from her, I'd be more interested in your views on A Tangled Web.

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Now this is strange!
I was planning to jump on here briefly to give you an update without seeing your last post above.
Perfect timing.
Anyhow, I was mistaken in my earlier post, Santa gave Mrs. Gurgle a NOOK. It was my son who received the new Kindle.
It will be a little more of a challange borrowing an electronic gadget from a teenager than it is from the wife.

Nevertheless, I shall revail somehow.
I will attempt this weekend.

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Originally Posted by Gilliatt Gurgle

Now this is strange!
I was planning to jump on here briefly to give you an update without seeing your last post above.
Perfect timing.
Anyhow, I was mistaken in my earlier post, Santa gave Mrs. Gurgle a NOOK. It was my son who received the new Kindle.
It will be a little more of a challenge borrowing an electronic gadget from a teenager than it is from the wife.

Nevertheless, I shall revail somehow.
I will attempt this weekend.

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Cheers, if you think the Americans get sent up outrageously at the beginning of the book, just wait until you read about the British.
Anyhow, I hope you manage to read it and I will really look forward to an honest appraisal. Without feedback any writer is dead in the water.

I'm trying to get Mrs Neely to read it. Usually she point blank refuses to read anything that I read, apart from A Christie, so it will be a difficult task but she has expressed an interest as she has currently run out of horrendous material. However, I fully expect her to maybe read one chapter before dashing off and buying her usual 'chick flick' trash. Her last book was All the Single Ladies - enough said.

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Originally Posted by Emil Miller

Cheers, if you think the Americans get sent up outrageously at the beginning of the book, just wait until you read about the British.
Anyhow, I hope you manage to read it and I will really look forward to an honest appraisal. Without feedback any writer is dead in the water.

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Remember, the Republic comes first, followed by my allegience to America.
Good news, I now have it thanks to Qimmisung's approach. I purchased a Kindle app for my phone then purchased through Amazon and downloaded to phone.

It's perhaps too late already. Gone to get my wallet from the top of the fridge (going for a beer) and there is a book entitled 'Pedigree Mum' with a horrendous front cover.

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Originally Posted by Gilliatt Gurgle

Remember, the Republic comes first, followed by my allegience to America.
Good news, I now have it thanks to Qimmisung's approach. I purchased a Kindle app for my phone then purchased through Amazon and downloaded to phone.

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That is good news, I'm not au fait with how one reads something from a mobile phone but I hope you enjoy it nevertheless.

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Originally Posted by Neely

It's perhaps too late already. Gone to get my wallet from the top of the fridge (going for a beer) and there is a book entitled 'Pedigree Mum' with a horrendous front cover.

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Some time ago there was a thread about Mills and Boon with hilarious examples and this was one I posted due to the Tarzan character's Hooray Henry hair style. I hope you don't find that one on top of the fridge or you will need something stronger than beer to recover.

http://imageshack.us/a/img835/4941/millsboon.jpg

Ha, ha yes I remember the thread, some classic stuff there.

Mrs Neely has taken A Tangled Web to bed to read, though I am telling you after one or two chapters it will be cast aside in favour Take Me, Break Me Pedigree Mum. I have seen it happen too many times. Never mind, each to their own as the modern cliché has it.

[QUOTE=Neely;1209805]I'm trying to get Mrs Neely to read it. Usually she point blank refuses to read anything that I read, apart from A Christie, so it will be a difficult task but she has expressed an interest as she has currently run out of horrendous material. QUOTE]

Unusually for me I have just watched A Christie's 'Nemesis', where the assorted suspects are on a tour of a country house.The tour guide actually addresses them with: "The ninth Lord Forrester was known for his extravagant balls." It always pays to revise.