Into the unknown

October 25th. 2019

This is an attempt to set up a Wix blog. I'm not convinced this will work. We'll see.

Don't rain on my parade

.

Something of a mixed bag week for me. Pat’s condition has improved, but only marginally. She had a heart monitor fitted on Monday, which I returned on Friday. There were no dramas and no need to fill in a report. I have now started helping her to complete one puzzle a day from a quiz book for Seven year olds and above (I’m 78, so I qualify). It’s to help Pat’s brain get the stimulation it needs, and is a recommended therapy from different specialists. We are still waiting for an appointment with the neurologist. I phoned the hospital but they weren’t helpful. I’ll phone again tomorrow: plague the life out of them.

On the book front, my week exploded with a smashing article in the Daily Express about my latest book, No Time to Die (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07WFQMQV4). It appeared quicker than I expected. I thought it was well conceived and brought a lot of attention too, including 479 reactions (to date) on the SPF Facebook group. It was also picked up by BBC Radio Sussex. Their web crawlers flagged it. They contacted me that day and I had a short interview on their breakfast show the following day. So, a lot of excitement in my book world.

I have finally managed to get accounts with Amazon Advertising in UK and Germany. It’s early days yet for the UK ad, and I don’t really expect much from the German ad. I put The Eagle’s Covenant (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00LZRKJ4O) up for that. The book is set in Germany and I was able to research German police procedures etc., courtesy of the German Embassy in London, when I wrote the book. It’s a gripping thriller and ticks all the boxes, including a completely unexpected twist at the end. I just hope the German nation suddenly become English language aficionados and buy the book. We’ll see. For the other sites, my book sales and KU read throughs are creeping up a little. Not too much.

Going back to the 479 reactions on my FB post: one guy criticised the journalism, said he was an “ex journo” himself. No matter how many people enjoy your moment in the spotlight, there’s always someone who wants to rain on your parade, isn’t there? Tosser!

Another great family week too. Our grandson Sam spoke to us on Facetime during the week. We weren’t able to get to his wedding last month for obvious reasons, so it was nice of him to get in touch and have a natter. On Friday, our number 2 son came over with his daughter, Gemma and great grandson, Orin. And yesterday, Saturday, our number one son, Vincent came down from Norfolk with our grand-daughter, Sarah for the day. I even managed to get out down the pub with Vince for an hour and have a couple of pints. Haven’t done that for almost a year now. It was good therapy.

I have to accept now that my writing time must be limited because of the need to spend more time with Pat. It’s only fair for her that I don’t spend most of my free time stuck on my computer in my room. We don’t know how much time we’ll have together, and I pray to God that Pat will come through this and we can enjoy more years in the autumn of our lives. We’re looking forward to our 60th. wedding anniversary in January and I have to believe we’ll make it. So, limited progress now and a fresh look maybe in the New Year. Wish us luck!

There's rubbish in there too.

It’s been a fairly normal week with Pat, if I can call it normal. No dramas. Took her to the dentist on Tuesday for a scale and polish, and on Wednesday a trip to the doctor to talk about her blood pressure pill, which he told her to stop taking. It’s to see if she can get rid of the persistent cough she has. This was suggested by the haematologist. We’re now waiting for an appointment to see the neurologist. And on Monday Pat will be fitted with a heart monitor. Yesterday was a good day for her because our grand-daughter, Gemma came over with our great grandson, Orin. Gemma thought it might give me an opportunity to have some “me” time. Well, it hammered down in rain so I used the time to take some rubbish down the tip. Life never gets dull, do it?

On the book front I’m not pulling up any trees with my book sales, despite now advertising on Amazon.co.uk. It’s taken Amazon an inordinately long time to bring this about, but a lot of indie authors will be setting up accounts to start ads in this country. I have to admit that, despite saying I have given up the idea of writing for the foreseeable future, I did look at my sequel to HUNTED and added another thousand words. I have even come up with an idea, pretty spectacular too, to move the story arc up into a higher level. But — there’s always a but — I still need to knuckle down and get on the Amazon Ads course I signed up to with Bryan Cohen. This will need time, careful study and a great deal of head scratching. Goodness knows how I’m going to crack it; I can only hope I will see that light at the end of the tunnel pretty soon.

My reading now, having given up on Lesley Thomson, is a crime thriller by Mia Sheridan: Where the Blame Lies. I picked it at random out of Amazon’s top 100 crime novels. So far it looks worth all the five stars and good reviews it has received. My trouble though is that I am fairly slow reader because of all the other stuff that creeps in. Last night I watched an appalling England side get beat by the Czech Republic at football. I would have done better with my time either writing or reading rather than watching rubbish.

Talking of reviews; I received a lovely 4 star review for Hell’s Gate this week. You can make up your own mind. “A Good book. Very enjoyable. See author’s blurb for details.”

I still have a smile on my face though because David Pilditch of the Daily Express has emailed me to say he’s reading my book No Time to Die, he’s enjoying it and hopes to get something in the paper next week. I’m keeping my fingers crossed although I do know that some unexpected, dramatic news could wipe me off the pages of the National Press. Like (for my UK readers) a spat between two WAGS (footballer’s wives) over who snitched on who and passed it on to the Sun newspaper. Took up about three pages in the Daily Mail!

I got my car back much to my relief. Walked in with the key to my loan car and walked out with my car keys: no payment, just a ‘thank you very much, sorry about the delay sir’. I love this KIA seven year warranty.

Next up for me is really much of the same thing. I’ll be emailing my subscribers about the fourth book in my back-list, The Eagle’s Covenant. Hopefully they’ll go out and buy it droves. Will they? Wish me luck!