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. 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

 

 

 The Intrepid Traveller (my July blog post) 

I usually write my monthly blog post early in the month, but on July 1st, I will be travelling to Atlanta in Georgia, USA. I’m going over to stay with my Grandson, Sam, and his wife, Taryn, to help celebrate their son, Elliott’s, first birthday on July 5th. Sam’s brother, Jamie, will be flying down from Vancouver with his girlfriend, Lexi, and Sam’s Mum and Dad will be over from Australia. Taryn’s family will be coming down from Michigan, so it will be quite a gathering, and I’m looking forward to it very much. I’m flying Virgin Atlantic Upper Class — something else to look forward to. 

This won’t be the first time I’ve been to the States. I’ve been a few times, but my first visit was as an eighteen-year-old in 1958. I was in the Merchant Navy working as a waiter with P&O. We did a world cruise, which incorporated a Pacific cruise before sailing through the Panama Canal for home. As a consequence of that, I got to visit Hawaii twice (not an American State at the time), Vancouver twice, plus a short stop and a five-day layover in San Fransico. There were lots of highlights, of course, and I’ll never forget being driven along a Freeway in a pink Cadillac thinking what a blast it was; here in the land of Bill Haley, Elvis Presley (he had a pink Cadillac), Buddy Holly and the Everley Brothers — the list goes on. I was a bit of a dreamer then (still am, I think). 

My highlights for this trip that I know of in advance include a visit to a Writers’ group, a fireworks display to celebrate July 4th, Elliott’s christening on the morning of his birthday, and, of course, the birthday party. I’m also scheduled to go to a baseball game, something I asked my grandson to arrange. Any game will do, I said, so long as it’s not English football. Anything after all that will be a bonus. Oh, and I’ve been promised a Hummingbird T-shirt. That’s the name of the Running Club my Grandson, Jamie, set up in Vancouver along with a couple of his mates. 

So what about my world of books? Well, my current WW2 story, Shadow Over Paris, is doing very well. It sells every day and is holding it’s own in the top 20 of Historical French fiction, so I’m well pleased. But I’m struggling to come up with a worthwhile sequel, which some readers have asked me to do. I’m just past the 40,000-word mark, which means about halfway, but I need to keep the excitement level up if it’s to emulate the success of my current book. But I am picking up sales and page reads on some of my other books, which is always good to see. It means people are noticing me and are getting curious. Being in Kindle Unlimited helps as well, and I have about eight of my books in KU. I may take the plunge and put all my books there.

 Away from all the glitz and glamour of International travel and the world of books, my domestic routines haven’t changed. I’m sure most of you are in the same place as me. The weather has been good, but not for the garden, except the weeds! The grass is brown, but my pots and hanging baskets are surviving. Life goes on despite the best practices of the international warmongers and the mendacious politicians who think we’re all senile and don’t have a clue. So, don’t worry about things over which you have no control, take life as it comes, and spread a little of your own sunshine. I hope I’m doing that with my books. Wish me luck!

 

 

 Fun, Family, and Fans

Fun, family and fans

 

How does the song go? ‘Where do I begin?’ Looking back on the month of May, there has been a lot going on in my life one way or another. I can see some significant moments as I look at my diary; always surrounded by the usual domestic chores of course. So I’ll skip those routines and talk about memorable stuff (for me, anyway).

 

VE Day was significant. There was an event on our local green area, I went along, took a chair, and, hopefully, dressed the part. One very interesting woman I met was 99 and worked as a Land Army girl when she was seventeen. I’m afraid I can’t remember her name, but it could have been Alice, or Helen, or… I often see her early mornings when I’m walking Tuppence. As we go by in the car, Alice (for now) waves. So to actually get to speak to her was a real pleasure. I was four years old when the war ended, so had nothing other than vague memories to swap with her.

 

Another really memorable day was my Saturday trip to Goodwoof. No, I haven’t spelled it wrong. Goodwoof is a two-day dog event at Goodwood. I met my son, Terry, with his wife, Claire, and one of their sons, Freddie. They had my Great-grandson, Orin, with them, who is eight years old. It was fortunate for me because they took control of Tuppence. I must say the event was brilliant. I imagine I would have enjoyed it even if I’d been on my own. I won’t go into details, but suffice to say it was worth going. If my boy wants to do the same next year, I’ll join him.

 

I had a neighbour, Pam, who is in her nineties, come over for a cup of tea and a chat. Pam is into motoring and has been an enthusiast for a good many years. It’s surprising what you learn about people when they begin to reveal something of their past. Pam loves rallies and that kind of thing, and she told me of an amazing, sponsored London to Moscow trip she did many years ago. Fascinating.

 

Another event was the monthly Arun Scribes book club meeting in Littlehampton. It isn’t always about books; often you end up talking to someone, like Pam, who has a really interesting story that has nothing to do with books. One chap I got talking to (Stanley) was in the Army and did a tour in Belize many years ago. As it happens, our son, Terry, was a Harrier pilot, and did an eighteen-month tour there. Pat and I spent a couple of weeks with him and his family in Belize; a place we would never have dreamed of visiting. So, me and Stanley had a great deal to talk about.

 

Another good day for me was when our Granddaughter, Gemma, came over with her husband, Max, and their two boys, Orin and Liri. Orin is eight, Liri is 15 months. Gemma cooked lunch for us while Max and I kept an eye on the boys. Liri liked putting his hand in Tuppence’s water bowl for some reason and kept throwing Postman Pat in there for a swim. But when I walked into the kitchen and found the dog bowl upside down, I had to get the mop out and put the bowl away. But for all the dramas and the fascination (for me) of watching Gemma and Max dealing with them, it was a pure joy to have them here. I think it might have worn Tuppence out, though. Lovely day.

 

But this blog wouldn’t be worth posting without a mention of my world of books. I uploaded my family saga, Past Imperfect, after getting the rights back from the American publisher. I had to pay for a new jacket, but it’s out there and, hopefully, it might sell. I am also preparing the love element of that saga as a pure Romance called Max and Emma. It will be published under the pseudonym (Emma Carney) I use for my Romance novels. It will be a novella, which I plan to sell at £0.99. It will mean I have five Emma Carney titles out there. But my favourite talking point (if anyone asks) is about the progress of my latest work, Shadow Over Paris. At my level, which is loosely described as a ‘bottom feeder’, the book is selling really well. But along with that are the ‘page reads’. Last month I had 99,000 page reads. It puts a big smile on my face. I am now working on a sequel to the book, which I find very difficult because I have never written a sequel before. So, that’s it so far. Four weeks from today, I’ll be in America with my family celebrating the first birthday of our fifth Great-grandson, Elliott. Wish me luck!

 

On The Up and Up.

The month of April started with a fraud alert from my bank and their decision to block my card, which meant a conversation with security; fortunately, not a robot, nor someone from a call centre halfway around the world. Once I’d established my bona fide and convinced the woman I needed my bank card unblocked, she ‘graciously’ acceded to my request. I promise you I remained calm (ish). Bring back the old days, please. 

Going through my diary is like walking along the beach with Tuppence, scrabbling around the garden on my knees doing battle with the weeds, scarifying the front lawn, and using modern miracles in cardboard boxes, promising me a lawn that would make the final in a Kew Gardens competition. But it’s all necessary, back-breaking work at times, and the only plus is that I get to speak to people who walk by and say hello. 

But it was not all work and no play for this lad; I spent a few days away (Tuppence came too). I had a long weekend in Norfolk, staying with my eldest son, Vincent, and his wife, Jackie. They like walking! So, we did a river walk in Norwich (probably my favourite city), watched a Peregrine Falcon and its mate high up on a nesting box on the spire of the cathedral — a good crowd puller too, and enjoyed a coffee sitting in the sunshine. We also managed Blickling Hall and Sheringham. I left Norfolk for Lincolnshire to visit my friend, Pauline, but popped in to see my big brother, Jim. He thinks I’m raving mad because I’m going to America in July to see our No. 5 great-grandson, Elliott (1st birthday). Jim can be a grumpy sod at times, but we’ve had a lot of laughs over the years. 

I started filling out a self-assessment tax return, but HMRC informed me I wouldn’t be able to complete it because they didn’t have all the necessary information to hand. I think they meant they were waiting for the Chancellor to make up her mind about how much more she wanted from us in taxes. 

I happen to be a lousy cook, so I thought rather than rely on ready meals all the time, I really should start learning. So, I downloaded the Mary Berry recipe for Lasagne, went to Tesco and bought all the ingredients, and then set about becoming another Mary Berry in the kitchen. No, it wasn’t a spectacular failure, which my home-cooked meals usually are. I made enough for six dinners and have since eaten them all. Marks out of ten? Five maybe, but I will go again. 

I went along to the Arun Scribes book club meeting in Littlehampton for their monthly mid-week get-together and enjoyed chatting to three people about books (what else?), always bearing in mind not to assume those people aren’t as advanced in their writing career as yours truly. It can be an eye opening experience as people reveal much about their lives and their writing, and shows what an eclectic bunch writers can be. 

I took a copy of my latest book, Shadow Over Paris, for them all to see, which is currently selling well. This brings me nicely on to the “problem” it has created for me. I think we’ve all heard the saying, “Be careful what you wish for”. Because the book has been well received, I’ve been asked if there is to be a sequel. The story is set in Paris in 1940, which means there’s a whole lot more that follows. But the problem is: I don’t write sequels. I never have. Sure, I’ve used the same character (Marcus Blake) in several books, but they have all been ‘Stand-alone’, not sequels. I published the book last November and it sold a few copies; marginally more than my usual average. I advertised it using Amazon Ads but saw no real progress. Then I advertised it on Facebook on the 22nd of March in UK and it literally took off. The ad finished after four weeks, so I advertised it in America, where it has exceeded the figures I achieved in UK. In April alone I sold 112 copies and notched up 80000 page reads. Those numbers may not be significant to some of you, but believe me, at my level, they are stratospheric. And I’m making a profit; not a lot, but it’s gratifying to know my efforts are paying off. For now! 

Which brings me to the sequel. How, after spending 15 months on SoP, and pouring all my ideas and effort into it, how can I possibly come up with a story that is different, but still the same? I have started on something, the working title is Beyond Midnight, and so far I’ve managed 9000 words. At my current rate it will take two years to complete, so I need to knuckle down and put words on paper. But I can’t do that without research, and that takes time. I do have some ideas knocking about, but I’ve never been a plotter; I’m what’s known as a ‘Pantser’. Yes, writing by the seat of my pants. But it’s what I do, so I will write and hope I can come up with something that is as good as SoP. Or even better. 

And just diverting for a while, I received a contact through my website from a woman in America who said how much she’d enjoyed my Emma Carney Romance, Dare to Dream. 

So there you have it: my grit, my graft and my gratitude for having the talent God gave me to put words on paper and bring a smile to most of my readers’ faces. In May, I’ll be looking forward to my trip to America and trying to add more compelling stuff to my sequel. Wish me luck.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Michael

 

 

 Blog post for April 1^st.            A 50/50 month 

As a Christian, I have faith that God will keep an eye on me when the going gets tough. But I think He took some time off at the beginning of the month and left me to flounder as I grappled with technology and near cardiac arrest (I’m joking about that). My Facebook account got hacked and my account was closed down after £400 had been paid out in error. It would be an understatement to say I was pee’d off and tearing my hair out — not that I have much. 

I had to call my bank and ask them to lift the block I’d put on Facebook. Simple request, eh? Have you ever had to deal with a call centre? I had to explain to the lady that I had no idea what she was saying because of her accent. Eventually, she passed me on to a chap who also had the same accent. It took almost thirty minutes to resolve the problem. It meant I could now open another FB account and post another Ad campaign. So, heart rate back to normal, and a smile on my face.

Until I decided it was time to change my Tesco Mobile phone. 

I went to the Tesco shop in Shripney and ordered a new phone with a contract extension. No problem — my phone would be delivered the following day. I took it in two days later for the changeover. The guy made a start and then told me it would take two and a half hours for the transfer to complete, which meant I had to stay within Wi-fi range of the shop. To say I wasn’t pleased would be another understatement. Why didn’t he tell me this before he started? 

By now, my birthday month was on a downward spiral. I ordered a slow cooker, thinking it might improve my cooking skills. I bought a small one (£15) and popped down to the new butcher in Pagham Parade for some lamb. I Googled the why’s and how’s for lamb stew and a slow cooker and set myself to become another Gordon Ramsey. Suffice to say I shouldn’t have bothered; the whole thing was a failure, and the cooker has ended up in what I call my Room 101. 

And if you think my month could not have gotten any worse, I picked up a speeding ticket in Chalcraft Lane where I always obey the speed limit (so I thought). Cost me £100. But there was light at the end of the tunnel, and God was stirring. It was my birthday on the 18^th (84), and over that weekend, I had visits from two of my boys, my grandson, Adam, and his partner, Agata, and plenty of cards and cake at my Church House Group meeting. 

So at last God was beginning to smile on me and giving me the nod of approval for my next foray into the world of technology and advertising. I decided to create a campaign for my WW2 story, Shadow Over Paris. What happened next is beyond belief. My book started selling and gathering Kindle page reads at, for me, a phenomenal rate. It reached number 10 in the top 20 of Historical French fiction, even leapfrogging Kate Mosse! Last night, the end of the month, it had notched up 42 orders and over 11000 page reads. And the trouble is: I don’t know what I’ve done to make this happen — my ads usually notch up a few sales, but nothing on this scale. The campaign is due to run until April 21^st, so I’m hoping it will stay strong until then when I’ll create another campaign. 

Another project I started on was to edit my short novel, Max and Emma. It’s the pure love story from my family saga, Past Imperfect, I got the rights back for that book from my American publisher, which I can republish after April 21^st. But I published Max and Emma and immediately unpublished it a couple of years ago so I had the paperback in my hand. Now I’m planning to put it out as a stand-alone Romance with a ‘spoiler alert’ inside to explain that it has been taken from the full-length novel. 

Meanwhile, I have two manuscripts with two separate publishers who will almost certainly turn me down. This is simply because of my age and the fact that my ‘career’ is behind me rather than ahead of me. It happens all the time, so I know what to expect. The two books have already been published, so I will have lost nothing. 

And despite all that has gone before me this month, I still had to walk the dog, do the washing and ironing, gardening, church, visit my Granddaughter, Gemma and her family in Brighton, go to a book club meeting in Littlehampton and grab 15 minutes in the armchair each afternoon until Tuppence wakes me up to remind me it’s time to share an apple (yes, she does, the little sod). But I mustn’t grumble; life’s okay, the sun is shining, and, thank God, we are not living in an earthquake zone. I’ll be back next month with more tales of… Whatever. Wish me luck!

                                                                                                                               Michael.

 

 

 A spanner in the works.

 

Writing a monthly blog shouldn’t be too difficult, and it’s not as if there was a deadline to meet other than a self-imposed one. My intentions were honest and sincere at the beginning of the year, but somehow, February came along and screwed up all those good intentions. I decided to revisit Facebook ads, something I hadn’t done for several months, with the intention of pushing my WW2 story, Shadow Over Paris, and capitalising on the strength of Facebook advertising. But the trouble came after I’d set up a short campaign — my account got hacked and I ended up losing it. Facebook closed it down because of a ‘Violation’ of their terms. Long story short: I had to block FB from taking money from my account until I could resolve the problem. It proved beyond impossible to do that; the recovery codes FB sent me to recover my account proved to be invalid. I Googled the question only to learn this was a common problem. I have since started a new account using a different email address but am now in the throes of rebuilding my ‘Friends’ list. 

My book sales were bouncing along at about one or two a day, and my Kindle page reads were building nicely, reaching almost 4000 during the month. I then got interested in a promotional advert for ‘Click-testing’, which, if it worked, could result in phenomenal book sales each month. The challenge was to accept that it would not be cheap — $30-$40 a day, and what promised to be a lot of work. I watched the promotional video; it was 30 minutes long and was encouraged by what and who I saw: people I’d met and others I was aware of. I was psyching myself up to bite the bullet when the Facebook fiasco started. Consequently, because the Click-testing strategy relies on FB ads, I had to give the idea up. However, I’m seriously considering diving into Click-testing but probably not until sometime into next month. 

I went to a book club meeting in Littlehampton where I met an incredibly talented and determined woman by the name of Sarah Jouault. Sarah has been competing in Ironman championships and triathlon events for twenty years. She is seventy and competed in the World Ironman Championship in New Zealand last year. Coincidentally, our Grandson, Jamie, who lives in Canada, competed in the same event. That made an immediate connection between me and Sarah. You can learn more about this extraordinary woman on her website https://jouault.uk. 

At the moment I am not writing. It’s an unusual situation for me, and one I don’t enjoy; I need to be writing. But I just can’t write anything without some kind of inspiration. I did think I would be writing a follow-up to my WW2 story, Shadow Over Paris, and even bought a couple of books to continue with the research, but unfortunately, I’ve lost the urge to write. I hope it won’t last long although I do have a project on the go.

Over three years ago my book, Past Imperfect was published by the Wild Rose Press in America. It was originally published by Robert Hale of London several years ago. The story is a family saga stretching over forty years with a modern love story paralleling the saga and finally merging in the end. I produced a paperback of the love story (not for publication) because I thought it would make a good novella. I asked WRP for the rights back, which they granted, and I will be able to publish the love story after April 21^st. Perhaps once that is out there, I might find the inspiration to write again. 

I am still advertising, but on Amazon, and although I am selling the occasional book, my page reads are building. So far this month (17 days), they have reached just over 4000. With luck, they could hit 5K by the end of the month. It’s my birthday tomorrow (I’ll be 84), so more book sales and page reads would put a beaming smile on my face. Wish me luck!

 Leading up to Christmas 

Those of you who follow my monthly blogs will know I missed last month (November). But here I am almost at the end of December and thinking back over what I’d done and what I’d achieved. This includes my domestic chores, keeping body and soul together and walking Tuppence. And, of course, there’s my world of books. But looking back to the beginning of November, I see in my diary that I went to the Travel Agent to book a flight to Atlanta in July next year to see our fifth great grandson, Elliott; and that is probably the most significant and important thing I did. I detailed in my October blog the surprise family visit I had in when I met Elliott for the first time. He was about 3 months old. I was smitten! Anyway, I plan to be with him and his Mum and Dad when they celebrate his first birthday. I’m flying Business Class having told the grandchildren the money is coming out of their inheritance. 

I completed my Historical novel, Shadow Over Paris (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DMWDMQQY), and published it on the 13^th. But I decided to try traditional publishers as well. I knew what the outcome would be because I am an author with his career behind him; whereas publishers would prefer those who have their careers ahead of them. But I submitted my manuscript to about twenty agents/publishers after gleaning the appropriate names from the Writers and Artists Year Book 2025. Needless to say I have been rejected by them. I’m not surprised. One cheeky thing I did was to contact the Shakespeare Company Bookshop in Paris. I explained the book was set in Occupied Paris in 1940, and would they like a copy? The bookshop is well known among the Parisiennes having been a favourite place of Ernest Hemmingway and his colleagues. They sell English language books by the way. Anyway, I haven’t heard from them either. C’est la vie!. 

Another significant and major event in November was the marriage of our granddaughter, Gemma, to her partner, Max. It was held in the registry office at Brighton Town Hall with a pub reception nearby. There were a lot of kids wearing Fairy Wings, including Gemma, but not while she was getting married. Naturally I enjoyed it, but not the way I used to enjoy weddings when I was a lot younger. I spent much of the time just looking on and smiling at the antics of the kids. Lovely time though. 

During the research for my book, I read a great deal about Paris under the Nazis and, of course, the bravery of those SOE agents who risked their lives during that time. I asked our grandson Adam’s partner, Agata Stasiak, if I could use her name. She is Polish and now features in the book. She was delighted. I’m glad I was able to do that because it kind of honours the part played by the Polish women who worked for the SOE and those who gave their lives. But one agent who fascinated me was Phyllis ‘Pippa’ Latour. She only revealed her part as an agent until shortly before her death in New Zealand last year. She was 102 years old. I bought her book, The Last Secret Agent, and took it with me on a short break to Eastbourne. Pippa Latour was, in my opinion, an absolutely fascinating and outstanding woman. Her book is compelling reading and an absolute revelation. I loved it. 

The trip to Eastbourne was an organised “Turkey and Tinsel” break, and mimicked the three main days of Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve. I would like to say I enjoyed it, but being on my own made things difficult; walking round the shops meant there was always an empty space beside me. I knew several of the group and was able to chat to them from time to time. My companions at the meal table were new to me, but I got on well with them. The weather wasn’t too brilliant either. 

Getting back to normality meant Christmas decorations. And as much as I tell myself I can’t be bothered because I don’t have my lovely Pat anymore, I put them up because she would want me to, and I don’t want to become that sad, lonely old man who doesn’t like Christmas, which I do of course. Mind you, I don’t go scaling ladders and trees to get my garden decorated; I rely on one of those projectors to throw a moving, Christmassy scene on my house wall. But I have a tree with flashing lights etc. and a decorated mantlepiece with lights. Oh, and Santa coming down the chimney! 

I watched the performance of Dua Lipa at the Royal Albert Hall. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but one of the reasons I wanted to see her was because of a documentary I watched over a year ago. She came across as a well-balanced, ordinary girl who has been blessed with good looks and talent, and I’ve been a closet fan of hers ever since. It will fade in time though, I guess. 

I had planned to bring my friend, Pauline down here for a couple of weeks over Christmas. We’d arranged everything, including the fact that Pauline would have to take over the kitchen for me because I’m a lousy cook and exist on mainly frozen ready meals. We had visits out planned and I would have had her here in time for my Church House Group Christmas party. But unfortunately, Pauline had a problem, which meant an appointment at the hospital. She’d been under the consultant for a while and was coping with it. Then this happened and we had to cancel.  It left me in a kind of limbo, but often life gets in the way, and we have to deal with it. I tell people that if you want to put a smile on God’s face; tell Him what your plans are. 

But back now to the books. I picked up The Nazi Officer’s Wife by Edith Hahn. The reason for that was to try and learn how other writers tell the story, whether fact or fiction, about life under the Nazis. Edith Hahn was a Jew, by the way, so you can imagine her problem. She was asked to sit as a judge at the Nuremberg War Trials (she was qualified) but refused because she said she would never be able to make a judgement without prejudice. 

My book sales are on the up as well. I’m not making huge waves, but in the world of Michael Parker books, it has put a smile on my face. I hope you have all had a lovely Christmas and I wish you all a happy New Year.

 

                                                                                                       Michael Parker