Out With The Old, In With The New.

End of year blog 2025

Today is the last day of 2025; time to reflect, to look back, and to look forward. My year has been a mixture of highs and lows, although I prefer to think of the latter as ‘not so high’. There are two significant highs, one of which was my trip to Atlanta to help celebrate our 5^th Great grandson, Elliott’s first birthday. The other was a long weekend in Prague to help our Grandson, Adam, celebrate his 40^th birthday. Both events were helped by the addition of several members of the Parker family. In Atlanta, they came from Australia, Canada, and England. In Prague, the same crowd turned up plus others from Scotland and, of course, England. It isn’t necessary to name them all, but in Atlanta, there were five of us to help swell the numbers, and in Prague, there were twelve of us. Brilliant. My trip to Atlanta included a ball game — Baseball at the home of the Atlanta Braves. I thoroughly enjoyed it but didn’t have a clue what was going on; not that it mattered.

The Prague visit in December was an eye-opener. I’ve told people that the place was like a Netflix Christmas RomCom; there were Christmas decorations everywhere. I stayed in an upmarket Airbnb with my family and the baby, Elliott. I did a lot of walking, had some tram rides, and a River Cruise. And the weather was sublime. All in all, a lovely time.

The ‘not so highs’ were really all about my health. It seemed to go downhill after my Atlanta trip. It could have been my age or the fact that my lifestyle changed considerably for a couple of weeks, enough to knock me for six. But what the hell, I recovered. It took time, but I got there. Until Prague! It’s almost de rigeur these days that airline travel will come with some kind of bug, and that’s what happened to me. It took two consecutive courses of antibiotics to get rid of my chest infection. But I am back to normal now. Well, my kind of normal.

The run-up to Christmas was very busy and, I have to admit, made me a bit downbeat at times. But that’s all because of my age and lengthy recovery periods. Now that it has passed, I can look ahead to some unhurried routine stuff (after taking down the decorations and tidying up!).

In my world of books, I achieved a few high points, which put a huge smile on my face. My WW2 story, Shadow Over Paris, started taking off once I advertised it on Facebook in March. It reached the top 10 in Historical French Fiction and managed to creep high up into the top 100 of Historical Fiction. And to finish the year off, Amazon chose to promote it for the whole of December in America and Canada at no cost to me. That will finish today, as will my own promotion for the UK.

Another high in my book world was finishing the Sequel: Shadow Over Paris – Beyond Midnight. It has been out for two months now and is picking up sales and page reads, chasing its big brother up the charts.

But then comes a ‘Not so high’ — I’ve decided to give up writing. I made the decision after publishing the Sequel because I found it such hard work that I wondered if I would ever get to the end. And now I seem to have run out of steam and inclination. I realise that I will never achieve what the majority of writers aspire to, and that is best seller status. I know that if I were to achieve that, a lot of people would want a piece of me, want me to do a speaking event and book signings etc, which would mean travel. Interviews? Expectations? It isn’t difficult to imagine, but at my age (I’m 84), that isn’t what I want. I might have done twenty years ago, but not now; I just need a quiet life. (But we’ll see).

So, what’s to come for Michael Parker next year? There are two significant events: Taryn in America is expecting and due to have her baby in April. That will be our sixth great-grandchild. I’m planning to go to Atlanta in July for Elliott’s second birthday and to see the baby. I’m not concerned about how tiring it will be; I just want to be there. And the other significant event for me is our Grandson, Adam, and his fiancée, Agata’s, wedding in August. Agata has asked me to walk her down the aisle, which I will be honoured to do. I’ve got to keep fit for that — no health issues.

I will be planning some kind of advertising for my WW2 books in 2026, but I will need to keep a close eye on the cost. My campaigns this year saw me running at a small loss each week while the campaigns were running, but the aim was to push the books and my name. The result meant that once the campaigns had finished, the books, including some of my other titles, managed to garner sales and page reads, leaving me in profit for the year and putting a big smile on my face.

So, that’s my offering for what has passed and what might come. And you never know, I might even become a best-selling author. Really?. Wish me luck!

Happy New Year to all of you, even those who have given me one-star reviews (at least you bought my book!). See you in 2026.

                                                                                                                   Michael Parker

Highs and Lows of my November

How quickly time flies. Here we are, just four weeks from Christmas, and it’s time to get the decorations out, write and post the Christmas cards, and come up with what and how you want to spend the time. But this blog post isn’t about my plans, but how I’ve got through the four weeks of November, and whether I’m on the road to becoming a best-selling author. That last part is a given: there’s no way I’ll hit those heady heights, but I will keep trying.

I had the misfortune to be scammed (Catfished?) by a crooked publicist. It was very skilfully done over several weeks, leading me to think I was being helped along the way to achieving those dreams most authors have. It was quite by chance that I cottoned on and managed to extricate myself from their clutches. I use the plural here because I believe it was not the work of one person. The result of being caught is that you feel violated, and it brings home the fact that these people are very good at what they do. I think I can promise myself that it won’t happen again.

The highlight of the month was the publication of the sequel to my WW2 novel, Shadow Over Paris. The title of the sequel is Shadow Over Paris — Beyond Midnight. I published the book on the 12^th, one year and a day after the Shadow Over Paris. I have just posted a campaign on Facebook, so it’s early days to say whether the sequel will be as successful as the first. So far, I’ve sold sixteen copies and notched up just over 4000 page reads, so at least readers are catching on. Shadow Over Paris sold 1200 copies and notched up 800,000 page reads, so it looks like the sequel has got some catching up to do.

Although I said that was the highlight of the month, there was another, and that was Amazon (KDP) getting in touch with me to say I had been successful in the draw for a book promotion, and they will be promoting Shadow Over Paris during December. The price will be $1.99 in Canada and the United States. Amazon will run the promotion, and it won’t cost me a penny.

When I check how well my books sales are selling, KDP provides all the information very clearly and easily accessible. It gives me the opportunity to see a snapshot of everything. One thing that surprised me when looking at November’s sales figures, the third highest country for the book was India. I never would have expected that. The wise gurus will tell me to advertise more, specifically in India, to capitalise on that market. It would make sense, but it would probably cost me more in advertising than I would earn through sales. I still have to concentrate on the UK and the United States, though. But it has crossed my mind to push my Emma Carney Romances. It’s a huge market, but one in which it would be unlikely for me to make much of an impact.

I have no plans to write anymore; I think I’ve reached the end of the road in that respect. I know you can say, “Never say never”, but I just cannot see any way in which I would be inspired. It occurred to me that those readers who wanted me to write a sequel would want me to write a third book, so I would have a Trilogy of WW2 stories. Well, the truth is, I already have a trilogy — Shadow of the Wolf is set in 1943, so that makes a trilogy, although not in the proper sense, I have to admit.

So, what now for Michael Parker? Next weekend I will be in Prague to help my grandson, Adam, celebrate his 40^th birthday. He doesn’t live there, but that’s where the family are going for the birthday bash, and they are coming from England, Scotland, Canada, USA and Australia. Should be fun. Then Christmas to look forward to. I hope all you who read this blog post will have a happy, enjoyable Christmas, with much to look forward to in the New Year. I plan to.

Wish me luck!

On a Wing and a Prayer

Writing a monthly blog post isn’t something I look forward to each month because it is probably the least productive of anything I do that’s connected with the written word. If I had thousands of ardent fans who hung on my every word, it would be different, but the truth is, it’s only family and friends, maybe some neighbours, who actually read my blog. But it is what it is, so I press on and try to deliver something meaningful and interesting.

Looking back through my diary, there are the usual suspects: walking the dog, hoovering, washing, making the bed, etc. Going to church, attending an Alpha Course, which is something for new and non-Christians, really, but something I thought I needed to help me get to know a few more people. I did meet someone, not on the course, but in a roundabout way, because of it. She was someone Pat and I knew from our earlier years here on Mill Farm. She came round for tea, and we were able to chat about the ups and downs we’d been through.  After listening to her, I told her she had a story to tell (a good one), but she was reluctant to consider it.

Which brings me, conveniently, to the written word. I completed the sequel to my WW2 story, Shadow Over Paris, and sent the manuscript to my son, John, after going through it myself. John did a great job, almost like a professional, and sent back his observations and complaints. I dealt with them and posted it on Amazon for a Proof Copy. This came, which I went through with a red pen. Once I was satisfied (will I ever be?), I ordered a book jacket from Nat at the Booktypsetters.com. I posted the final edit and am now waiting for another Proof Copy, which I expect to receive in a few days; time. The title is Shadow Over Paris – Beyond Midnight.

Writing the sequel was not something I can honestly say I enjoyed doing. And that bothered me because I felt I wouldn’t be able to tell the story and achieve the success I had with the first book. Time will tell, of course; all it needs is for me to spend money on promotion and marketing (more of that later).

I did make an effort to get myself known on TikTok. I posted a few videos of me at the piano, playing a tune and talking about my book, hoping that the video would go viral and I would sell thousands of books. I’m still waiting…

So, what about Promotion and Marketing? Well, I can tell you that a good P&M expert, one who isn’t out to scam or con you, would set you back about $4000 (£3500) for their services (no, they don’t come cheap). I promoted my book, first on Amazon Ads, and sold about six or seven books. Then I tried Facebook. Overall cost to me? For six months, I lost roughly £20 a week (not a fortune). I spent $2500 on FB and earned $2000 in royalties. I sold just over 1000 books (Shadow Over Paris) and had over 700,000 page reads. For me, that was a success. I stopped advertising because the ad was running out of steam. But I hadn’t given up, which is where Lila Rose comes in. No, she isn’t a character in my next novel; Lila is a book publicist, and boy, have we tussled over the last six weeks.

Lila found me in the usual way and contacted me. I immediately told her no thanks, and that was it, as far as I was concerned. But she persisted and always answered the questions I put to her. I did some research and even spoke to three New York Times best-selling authors with whom Lila had worked. Eventually, I agreed to part with my money, but in dribs and drabs. I’m still with Lila and may end up with egg on my face, but if Lila is all she claims to be, I could be looking at a profitable association with a professional marketing expert. All I can do is keep my fingers crossed and hope my investment proves worthwhile.

Of course, there is another way if your are Reece Witherspoon. She wanted to write a thriller, so she thought, why not give Harlan Coben a ring? So she did. And she had interviews alongside Harlan Coben on BBC News, Radio 2, Virgin radio, and no doubt half of America. Now she is a New York Times best-selling author. So that’s how you do it — ring Harlan Coben. I think I’ll follow Reece Witherspoon’s advice and kick Lila into touch. 

Wish me luck!                                                                     Michael Parker