Old & New

Sad start to the weekend; we had to go to a funeral. The chap was a relatively new member of our church. I had just got to know him. His wife, Jess spoke to me about four weeks ago and asked if she could buy one of my books for her husband to read. I gave her HELL’S GATE. I don’t even know if he had a chance to read it because he was quite ill before he went into hospital. I’m sure Jess will let me know when she gets some semblance of normality back into her life.
I knuckled down as promised and got stuck into my manuscript. But today we have friends coming over (in about one hour!) and because of the funeral and getting things ready for our guests, I’m afraid there’s no time to spend on my writing.
I’ve been asked to give a talk about e-books on local, English language television out here in Spain next month. I expect they think I’m an expert on Kindle and Nook, etc., but in truth I only know what I know by owning a Kindle and formatting a document for my own books. That’s hard work too! But with the help of a preloaded Q & A from the studio, I should be OK.
If any of you have had a look at my web page lately, my son has updated it to include my latest book, THE BOY FROM BERLIN. He has told me that later in the year (?) he will update the website and make it more ‘swish’. Its great having a family member who is a lot cleverer than yourself and who does these things for no payment.
Tomorrow is the end of the year and the time to think about resolutions. I never make them. Been around too long to believe that I can change habits of a lifetime simply by resolving not to do something I’ve been doing a long time. But, I tell a lie: I always make a resolution to make a million pounds. Haven’t done it yet, but I keep trying.
So, Happy New Year to all my readers and I do hope you keep those resolutions you so earnestly and honestly make.

Christmas & Friends

Well, Christmas is over for another year, your guests have gone home, there’s a lot of tidying up/cleaning to do in the house before you can get back into the routines that you are so used to. Our friends went back home this morning. They came up from Andalucia on Christmas Eve with their little dog. We’ve known them for about fourteen years. Met them out here on the Costa Blanca when they lived just round the corner from us. The husband had a tragedy in his life which he never talks about (this is his second marriage by the way): his daughter and her son were murdered about fifteen years ago. It happened in America and was on all the main TV channels. His son-in-law shot them on one of the big bridges across a busy water-way. The police had closed the bridge off and were trying desperately to persuade the man to release his wife and son. But he wouldn’t listen and shot them. I didn’t know my friend then, but do remember seeing the tragedy unfolding on TV in UK. For a few years after that, my friend would find a church on the anniversary of his daughter and son’s death and sit quietly. I’ve no idea what went through his mind during those moments of quiet and solitude. He doesn’t do it now. Perhaps he has come to terms with it and doesn’t need to find comfort in the church.
So what now? For me I have promised myself that I will knuckle down with my writing and set a target for finishing my next book. I will also try to promote my paperbacks and Kindle books, and see if I can make sense of the amazon sales rankings. My books have been going up and down on the Amazon graph like a fiddler’s elbow. One day I’m somewhere near the bottom, and the next I’ve shot up about 100,000 places. There are peaks and troughs on my charts like spikes on Neptune’s trident. Am I selling well? I’ve no idea because I can’t access my true sales figures; that is done for me by Acclaimed Books. I get an update about every two months, so for now I have to be content with Amazon’s fairy land figures.
So, no more now, lots to do and already it’s past mid-day. See you soon…..

Nearly Christmas

Just a couple of days to go and Christmas will be upon us. I enjoy this time of the year like most people, and I get a kick out of seeing my wife, Pat open her presents. I’m sure she feels the same when she sees me acting like a young kid as I open mine. But it’s more about what we give or receive, it’s about remembering the reason we celebrate our Lord’s birthday. It’s probably also the only time of the year when governments let their guard slip and they show a hint of Christian heart and allow the public to indulge their joy at the annual festivities without the politically correct brigade interfering. No doubt the ‘diminutive functionaries’ in our town halls would stop it all if they had their way. My wife and I have been to three carol services and know of several others that have been celebrated locally here in Spain. And to cap it all, the sun’s shining.
I ordered a couple of my paperbacks today (Roselli’s Gold) from Amazon. Well, from the Book Depository as a matter of fact. But I can’t understand their pricing policy. I paid less by ordering from the Book Depository through Amazon’s web page than I would have paid had I ordered direct from the BD. If I had ordered from Amazon, the books would have cost me 70% more for each copy to cover p&p. Doesn’t make sense: Amazon is willingly pricing itself out of the market this way, and the BD is competing against itself and allowing its profit margin to be cut by using Amazon as a selling place.
Like most of us I presume, we (me and Pat) are now at the point where we are totting up whether or not we have bought enough food and drink to see us through a weekend. There’s probably enough in the cupboard to last until the New Year and that’s without the amount of food our guests for Christmas will bring with them when they arrive on Saturday. And for good measure we are eating out on Saturday. So all that remains for me is to wish all my readers (?) a happy Christmas. Don’t eat too much. Make sure you have a copy of one of my books to read and I’ll be back here sometime next week.

Good and not so Good

The weekend got off to a good start for me and Pat. Last Friday we went along to our local shopping centre (mall) in Torrevieja. It’s called Habañeras. Our church members were singing carols there at mid-day. It was chilly, but we managed to raise some money for the homeless in the town. Saturday afternoon we were round at our neighbours’ place swapping Christmas presents because they are off to UK this week. During the evening, for those who watch UK TV we watched the final of Strictly Come Dancing. It isn’t a TV programme that I watch normally, but I gave it a shot and it wasn’t so bad. Pat was happy because her favourite, Harry won the competition.
Yesterday, Sunday we had our carol service at church which was followed by Christmas lunch over at Ché’s restaurant in Villa Martin. Christmas crackers and party hats. There was about eighty of us there and we all had a good time.
But now I have to come to the ‘not so good’ part: our cat! We had to take him back to the vet this morning for his final check. There’s nothing wrong with him now but he still disgraced himself the moment I got him into the car. He needed a good wash when we got him back to the house. And you know how much cats like water! Anyway, it’s finished. No more trips to the vet unless something unexpected happens.
Despite all the distractions that go on in my life, I still find myself writing short scenarios for my next book in my head. Any time throughout the day I can be caught with my mind elsewhere because I’ve latched on to something that I can use. I have a digital voice recorder on my desk, and it’s handy if something comes into my head during the day. I record my thought and get it on to paper later. Sometimes though I come up with a good idea but I’m nowhere near my recorder. And when I am, I’ve forgotten what it was that came into my head. But then I suppose most writers are like that.
Today I have to get on with house maintenance and then maybe, just maybe I’ll put some more work into my MS. Oh, and I might have a tickle at the keyboard; the musical kind. See you later.

Cats!

How can a cat interfere with your best laid plans? We had to take ours to the vet earlier on in the week. Trouble is; our cat doesn’t like travelling. Ten minutes in the cat box and he’s having a bad day. He moans all the way to the vet, empties his bowels and stomach and doesn’t shut up. Then, when he has had all the TLC he can get from the hands of the specialist, and pills and potions to make him better, he continues to moan all the way home. And just when you think he really did empty himself on the way to the surgery, he lets you know that you’re mistaken and he has saved some for the return journey. It just so happens that my grand-daughter travelled up to Scotland from London by train during the week with TWO cats in separate boxes and had no trouble at all. I’d like to wring my cat’s neck, but my wife loves him, so he’s safe. We’ve had him over twelve years, so maybe it’s his age.
But while all this was happening I wanted to get back to my latest book and read it. It’s like I’ve said elsewhere; I’m like a kid with a new toy when my books arrive. There’s nothing quite like handling a brand new, hardback book fresh from the publisher with your own name on it. I read and enjoyed the book (THE BOY FROM BERLIN) even though I’ve read through it a dozen times with the creation, re-writing, editing, proof reading etc., etc. My wife is going to read it now, and she’s my greatest critic. But she loves me and I’m sure she won’t be too harsh on me; she has the cat’s livelihood to think of! See you next week.

Great Day Today

Great day today; my books turned up. I finally have THE BOY FROM BERLIN in my hands. It’s my latest hardback novel and my eighth so far. I get so excited when the courier turns up with the package. I’m like a kid with a new toy. I know there are some authors who can’t bear to look at their own, published work, but me? I can’t wait to open the parcel and start reading. That’s what I wanted to do today, but I had to help Pat put the Christmas decorations up. She could tell I was champing at the bit, wanting to get to my brand new book. Naturally I have other things to do like walking the dog, writing up my blog, eating, breathing, sleeping etc., but right now I just want to read. I’ve read the story that many times it’s a wonder I am still excited. But there’s something about opening a book, flicking through the pages, seeing your name and your work in print, knowing that people have laboured simply to get it out to the reading public. They believe in you, and show that belief by the end product you hold in your hands. It’s not self-published. It’s not Kindle or another e-reader. This is a bone fide novel published by a reputable London publisher of long standing. Great stuff. Have a look at it on my website. If you’re in UK it’s available at a generous discount from www.halebooks.com if ordered before December 30th. Go on; you know you want to.

Unexpected Changes

Just when things seemed to be ticking along nicely, one of our friends was rushed into hospital after suffering a mild stroke. Tony has been married to Liz for over fifty years. Liz has Multiple Sclerosis and Tony is her carer. Then this happens: Tony collapses. Their neighbours all rallied round and eventually the immediate emergency was dealt with. That was three days ago. Today, Tony is sitting up in bed looking almost normal. Pat and I went in to see him and came home relieved to know that he will almost certainly have a full recovery. He needs to so he can continue looking after Liz. The church has been praying for him and so have me and Pat. We thank God for his recovery.
This morning we had a church house group at our house. It’s usually held at Liz and Tony’s house. One of the women who had never been to our home before was sitting in her chair looking at the small row of my books taking pride of place on the unit in our lounge. After a while she said, ‘Who is Michael Parker?’ I said, ‘That’s me.’ She did a kind of double take and for a while was lost for words. I told her I was a real, live author. I must admit I got a kick out of that. Naturally I would liked to have talked about me and my books (what writer doesn’t?), but we weren’t gathered here to talk about me.
My self-publishing group, Acclaimed Books (not my publishers) have an interesting offer on our website at www.acclaimedbooks.com under the heading ‘NEWS’. It’s a free gift available until the 15th of this month. Well worth taking a look.
I’m beginning to make a change in direction with my latest manuscript. I am now convinced that I will be re-writing it all once the New Year is upon us. I’ve changed the main character, introduced another feminine interest and considered an element of computer hacking as a kind of ‘tasty morsel’ in the story. I feel that I’m edging towards a complete synopsis that will finally encourage me to get my head down and put pen to paper. Still a long way to go though but my experience tells me that I will get there. Whether it will be good enough for my publisher is a different story. We’ll see. Wish me luck!

Enforced Block

My manuscript is taking a back seat now, seeing as it’s that time of the year when we turn our thoughts to other things. Getting the family Christmas cards written out and posted is just one of the many jobs that interfere with serious writing time. Having got the family’s cards away in the post, I now have to set about writing cards out for our friends in UK. After that it will be our local friends and neighbours here in Spain. Then the present buying. Not too difficult because our grandchildren are taken care of by cheque (those who are not working), which lightens the load a little. Our immediate friends are always a challenge because it’s a case of ‘what can you get for people who have everything?’ They might dispute that of course. And finally the main present: something for my wife. What was it I was saying about someone who has everything? She wants a body cream that will make her skin look fifty years younger, but miracles are not in ready supply at the moment. And all this interferes with my writing time, but all for a good cause.
My paperback, ROSELLI’S GOLD is now available on Amazon.co.uk and in Kindle format. Hopefully my own promotion and that of the Acclaimed Books website will help drive traffic to my page giving me a big, big smile over Christmas as my sales figures reach ever upwards. Dreaming again, see? But what else can a writer do but put his work out there in the public domain and hope the buying public are buying. Wish me luck!

Goodread Giveaway

Yesterday I gave away three copies of my latest Amazon POD novel, ROSELLI’S GOLD. I also gave away three best sellers as an added gift to the winners of my Goodreads Giveaway competition. By purchasing a best-selling novel with Roselli’s Gold, I was indulging in slipstream marketing. It’s not a 100% guaranteed approach to promoting and selling my books, but it helps when potential readers searching through the Amazon list see that someone has purchased my book alongside a best seller. It is supposed to encourage them to have a look at what my book offers. Because the three winners were all from the USA, it gave me the added advantage of not having to pay postage, so my promotion costs were reduced. And I will get the royalties from the three copies I gave away, which reduces the cost even further.
Well, December is back and we are only three weeks or so away from Christmas, and it’s
time to think of buying something for my wife Pat. She says she would like silk pyjamas, but the trouble with buying an item of clothing (or make-up) for her is a problem in itself; how will I know what suits her when she is always telling me that I have no idea of colours, fashion etc. Am I the only man who doesn’t have a clue? No doubt I’ll think of something and she’ll love it, even if it finds its way into the back of the wardrobe, never to see the light of day again.
This morning at our Housegroup meeting, we filled the time with Christmas carols and food! Couple of our members are going back to UK for a few months, so we thought we would have the Christmas celebration early. I can’t understand why they are going back to UK for the winter and leaving the Spanish sunshine behind. No doubt they have their reasons.
Nothing else to say now, except that I will be interviewing the best-selling crime writer, Peter James later on this month for publication on the Acclaimed Books website. I’m looking forward to that. Keep an eye out for it. I’ll give everyone plenty of warning. Hasta la Vista!