This has been a good week for me both on the book and domestic fronts. The Kitchen fitter turned up as planned, my book promotion went out on BookBub, and on Friday I celebrated my 75th. birthday. The kitchen fitter completed the job in one day, and my promotion exceeded all my expectations. So now we have an upgraded kitchen, new tiles, work tops, cooker and hob etc. and I have a smile on my face because I have sold over 3000 books. And I’m still selling. That’s one of the great things about a successful promotion; there’s always a ‘tail’, and sales continue for some time. I’m currently averaging about forty books a day, which is a whole lot better than my usual average of about one or two. My Amazon rankings reached 302, which is quite a contrast to 200,000. The book I promoted was Roselli’s Gold. It only had sixteen reviews, which I thought would not make it attractive enough for BookBub, but as a consequence of the sales it reached No1 in two categories and No.2 in another. And now my other books are selling. I know this will slow down and eventually I’ll return to the low sales and rankings I’m used to, but I need to build on this and get back to more promotions.

For my birthday, I took Pat out to Dell Quay, a small marina in Chichester Harbour. The pub there is very popular, and we enjoyed a meal overlooking the small boats, watched a few people cockling, and a couple of canoeists negotiating the channels.

Yesterday, Saturday, I held my ‘Book Talk’ in the local Arts & Crafts Gift shop. Fifteen people turned up. I put a limit of twenty on the talk because of the room size, so fifteen was just about right; no-one was cramped and had plenty of room. I used an aide memoire that I had prepared so I didn’t wander off track. The point of the talk was to encourage those people who want to write, but haven’t yet made the step. It’s good to be able to talk from a position of experience, having been through the highs and lows of the book world. I was pleased with the response I had afterwards, and even managed to sell a few books — always a bonus. The event was recorded by an author friend of mine, Dan Jones, and will be on YouTube soon. I’ll provide the link in my next blog, and will be posting it on my website.

So what’s next on the horizon for me and my expanding horizons? Well, I have started my next thriller and have written about 7000 words, so that’s something to crack on with. Next week seems fairly clear, so I may be able to get on and add a few more words. One thing that may put a temporary stop to it is a dog. Yes, Pat wants a dog. She’s been searching the adverts, hoping to spot the right dog, right price and right locality. We may end up having to drive a fair distance if she finds the one she believes is the right one. She wants a cockapoo. That will mean more “walkies” for me no doubt. Can’t be too bad; at least it will help get me fit. Wish me luck!