Big Oak Trees From Little Acorns Grow

How little things can make you smile, eh? A few days ago I began to get interested in KDP/Select. I wondered if one of my Kindle books would do well or not. There were a lot of posts on the Kindle forum about this new project of Amazon’s and some of the results were staggering. The idea is that you put your e-book in Amazon’s Kindle library and allow them exclusivity. You also allow a five days period where your book can be downloaded free. The results I’ve seen on the forum suggested that there was a knock-on effect which resulted in high sales figures. I tried not to look at it from a cynical viewpoint, knowing that not everything in the garden is rosy, and there would probably be a dozen or more failures for every one good result. My next step was to persuade Pete who runs Acclaimed Books.com to put one of my Kindle novels on the Select programme. I can’t do this myself because Pete has overall control of book placement. There are six of us in the AB.c group, and I also wanted to persuade the others to give my suggestion the nod of approval. So, yesterday Pete put A COVERT WAR on the programme for me and suddenly my book has sold 27 in UK and 39 in USA overnight. When you think that my sales have been very, very poor, maybe one book a week, that’s really hot for me. So, although one swallow doesn’t make a summer, those little figures have brought a huge smile to my face. And I’m hoping they keep climbing. I’ll try and keep you posted with the results as Pete feeds them to me. Hopefully, people who download my book for free may be tempted to download my other two which are not in the programme. Time now for a reality check and to get on with some D-I-Y.

D-Day

It was disappointment day for me yesterday. I received my sales figures for most of last year from Acclaimed Books. For some reason Amazon are pretty laggard in coming up with the royalties with the consequence that I owe AB.c money rather than the other way round. There’s nothing I can do about it because I don’t have direct access to Amazon sales because I am represented by AB.c.
One little glimmer though was that Moston Author Promotions and I have come closer to reaching an agreement on how they will promote and market my Kindle novel, ROSELLI’S GOLD. If they do well for me, then it stands to reason (I hope) that this will give a knock on effect to my other books.
Played snooker Tuesday and got beat. No, I got hammered. Must have something to do with the diet me and Pat are on. I think my brain cells are shrinking as I lose weight and not letting me pot balls accurately. The diet changes on Saturday to include more vegetables etc. Just in time for my next game of snooker on Tuesday.
I heard today that two of our friends are leaving our church and attending another. They lost their 23 year old son just over a year ago to a thug who had a go at him late one evening in Glasgow. Needless to say the thug got off virtually scot free, while our friends are now serving their own life sentence.
Today I’m being interviewed by Simon Baldock on Sunshine FM. It’s about my book, THE BOY FROM BERLIN. It’s unlikely that any sales will result because of the interview, but I still have to try and promote myself. I imagine there will be a publisher over here on holiday, soaking up the sun, wondering where his next, top author was coming from when he hears the interview. Bingo! But I’m letting my writer’s imagination run away with me again.
More next week!

Busy, busy

I didn’t get to VIVA TV for my interview because it was postponed. I have a promise of a call back, but I’ll have to wait and see what transpires. I’ve had a busy week though despite the cancellation. Thursday was our 52nd. wedding anniversary. We had planned to have lunch out after the interview, but because of the change of plan, we went along to our church house group. After that we had lunch with a couple of friends. Friday brought a little drama because our cat had a problem: he kept pawing his mouth and didn’t look too grand, so we took him along to the vet. He had to be left at the surgery so they could sedate him and check out the problem. Then a trip to the doctor for my wife (an hour’s wait there). Quick lunch and a trip to see a friend of ours who has been incapacitated by tendonitis. During that visit the vet phoned to say he had pulled out an infected back tooth from the cat, and to pick him up later that evening. So, shoot back home, pick up cat and pay out a small fortune for the surgery.
Saturday I went along to the church for a Men’s Breakfast. These are always enjoyable affairs. We all had a full English, followed by a fun quiz and then a chat from one of our members about his life and how he came to the Lord. Home then for a football match on TV and then more work on the computer, checking out the typos I have been told about in my latest POD novel ROSELLI’S GOLD (and the Kindle version).
Yesterday, Sunday I was preaching at a small fellowship over at Pilar de la Horadada along the coast. I’ve been there before and they want me back in four weeks’ time, so I couldn’t have been that bad, could I? After that we had lunch with the Pastor and his wife. Two people we’ve known for a few years now.
Today I’ve been working on my corrections and also considering the proposals put to me about promoting my book, ROSELLI’S GOLD. It will be a new venture, but like all agreements, contracts call them what you will, there’s an element of nifty footwork needed before both parties will sign up to any agreement. Oh yes, and this morning I had coffee with my author buddy, Nik Morton. I gave him a copy of my latest novel, THE BOY FROM BERLIN, which he will read and review for me.
And finally, me and my wife, Pat have started a diet. Do I need it? Not really, but I know it will help Pat if I stick with it. It’s called the Dukan Diet, but the truth is we’ll probably lose a few pounds and then put it all back on again. We’ll see.

Family Events.

It was a good birthday bash. Pat enjoyed being with her close friends and dining at her favourite restaurant. I didn’t let my hip problem spoil the event either. Altogether the day went down well. Four of our friends had travelled up from Andalucía and it looks like they have gone home to snow. Meanwhile here on the Costa Blanca the sun is still managing to shine (well, almost). This week would have been the point where we begin to settle down into our routines and I can get on with overcoming writer’s block and getting words down on paper. But (there’s always a ‘but’), this morning we had to go to a funeral, which put us a bit behind. Before that my appointment with the doctor meant another diversion (I’m on pills now), and now I’ve been dealing with catching up. By the time I’ve got through with that I won’t have enough time to write (or run out of excuses, maybe). Oh yes, before all that, me and Pat contacted our grandson, Jamie in Australia to wish him a happy, fourteenth birthday. He’d been in Sydney with his dad at the New South Wales swimming championships over the weekend. Jamie’s not a bad swimmer, but he got disqualified in one of his heats for moving on the blocks. His eldest brother, Sam is one of the fastest swimmers in Australia, and is now at Austen University in Texas on a swimming scholarship. Looks like Jamie is taking after his brother. Their mother, Lisa was a County class swimmer in her youth, so it runs in the family. No Olympics for Sam this year but keep an eye out in 2016 for Sam Parker!
Thursday I have an appointment at VIVA television studios to record a programme about e-books. Then on Sunday I’m over at Pilar de Horadada where I’ll be preaching at the local, English language Christian Fellowship. Afterwards Pat and I will be having lunch with the Pastor, Eddie and his wife Nesta. So life’s a ball really. All I have to do is quit making excuses and knuckle down to my work.
I’ve contacted a literary editor today asking her if she would have my latest novel reviewed (THE BOY FROM BERLIN). Last time I contacted her I didn’t even receive a reply saying yes or no. With e-mails these days it’s so easy to say no: simply send a reply with the word NO on it. Easy. Or as the Meerkat would say: ‘Simples!’ click.
I’ve decided to change much of my latest manuscript because I have come to the conclusion that it just doesn’t sit right the way it is. I hate dumping anything I’ve written, and this will be a pain because I’ve chalked up about 20,000 words. Obviously I won’t wipe it all out, but with a change in direction and involvement of the characters changing, it amounts to much the same thing. Maybe I’ll have it finished by the end of the year. We’ll see…….
Bye for now.

Hip Hop

It has all been a bit of a mix these last few days. I have been suffering with a hip problem that can now only be resolved by a visit to the local GP and subsequently, I reckon a trip to the specialist. At the moment the problem is manageable and I’m due to see my doctor on Monday. Now I know there is never a good time or a bad time to have a medical problem, but now is not a good time. Yesterday Pat and me were at a belated Christmas lunch with friends. I was suffering and trying to enjoy myself at the same time, trying not to be a damp squib on the proceedings. I think I got away with it though. Then last night I thought I might have to go to the local hospital (A&E), rather than wait until Monday, but tomorrow, the 14th. is my wife’s 70th birthday party and we have invited a group of friends round to our favourite restaurant for lunch with us, so I’ve got to steer clear of hospitals. Four of the party are travelling up from the south, so it would have been terribly inconvenient to have me in a hospital bed while everyone else is having a bit of fun. But I’m still hanging on, and last night Pat prayed for me. This morning I’m almost eighty per cent improved (thank God), so I’ll be able limp along until the doc. makes a decision for me on Monday. I’m due for a TV interview on Thursday (our 52nd wedding anniversary) to talk about e-books. Hopefully that won’t get cancelled because of my problem.
Back on the book front; a friend of mine has told me how much she enjoyed my latest book THE BOY FROM BERLIN. I was flattered by her praises and wished it could have been aired in a national newspaper, but sadly not. I am going to have to find some way of pushing my book and getting it out into the public domain. My publisher does little of that, but I guess most authors understand that a great deal of publicity has to be self-manufactured. If any of my readers have any suggestions, please post them in the comment box. Or why not have a look at the novel on Amazon?
But for now it’s all about Pat and her 70th birthday party. I’m looking forward to that and seeing her face light up when her friends gather round the table for her and nobody else.
‘Bye for now…

Swear or Swear?

Now that the euphoria of Christmas and the New Year has died down, we can all get on with living life as normally as we can, forgetting the resolutions and the hope that this could be the year it all happens for you. I’m no different to anyone else. I like to think that maybe I’ll get some terrific news about my latest book. You know; world-wide sales, foreign language translations, film offers. My common sense and knowledge of the book world tells me that it is all wishful thinking. But hey; you never know. My immediate thoughts are now about preparing a sermon, a message which I will be preaching at a local, English language church in Pilar de Horadada, a few miles along the coast from where I live. Being an established writer should give me a head start when it comes to preparing something, but there’s always the need for research. Thankfully I’ll only be preparing a 3000 word document. If I have much more than that I will send the congregation off to sleep. But like all story tellers, we know that not everyone will like what is put before them. A lot of our great writers were Christians and used their belief in their work. C.S.Lewis and Leo Tolstoyy are two that come to mind. I don’t use my Christian belief when writing a novel, but I am aware of trying to strike a balance between outright, unnecessary profanity and pure prose. I’ve been criticised by people for this but I like to think that a good writer should be able conjure up dramatic prose without resorting to a cartload of swearing. I can at least say that there is absolutely no way I will be using sharp characterisation with profanities in my forthcoming sermon. Heaven forbid!

Kings Day

Today is ‘Kings Day’ in Spain. It is a national holiday and marks the arrival of the three kings bearing gifts. The gifts come on January 5th. Yesterday my wife and I went to a childrens’ party to celebrate the arrival of the kings. But this party was a little different because it was for families who are poor and in some cases homeless. There is a lady in our church, Karolina who opened up a small shop, twice a week for a couple of hours to hand out food and clothing to the deserving poor in Torrevieja, here on the Costa Blanca. She began this during 2010 with another woman, and within a few months had to find larger premises. Now the homeless turn up for a meal, a shower and to be shown a caring, Christian attitude by the helpers at the shop. Yesterday’s party was held in our church (Torrevieja Christian Fellowship), and was attended by about thirty families. There was a great deal of food and about a dozen, willing helpers. There was also present for each child. It was lovely to see their faces as they came forward to receive their gift from the king. There were wide eyed children, some laughing, some coy, some shy, some boisterous. There were different nationalities: Russian, Spanish, German, Moroccan. The played games and ate some of the food that had been laid out for them, but thankfully the parents gathered up what was left and took the food home. One of Karolina’s helpers told me that one family were being forced out of their home by their landlord. They had no electricity, and the mother was cooking for the six of them on a small, camping gas stove. The landlord has now cut off their water. It’s probably illegal to do this, but how do the poor complain? How do they get access to the legal processes that others seem to have access to without a problem? But it was good to see some smiling faces, even though it left me and my wife with a feeling of helplessness. But Jesus said that we would always have the poor with us. I thank God I’m rich (comparatively speaking!). Hope your New Year is filled with goodness and none of the poverty we witness almost daily on our TV screens.

New Year and all That

The days are gone when me and Pat would be out partying on New Year’s Eve, but we did manage to see the old year out and the new one in. We watched a film on TV, and shortly before midnight we switched over to Spanish TV, poured a drink and waited for the clock to chime in the New Year. Then we walked out on to our front terrace and watched the firework displays going on around the area. We have such a commanding view across the Veja Baja region that we counted at least ten different displays. Some were very close while others were like small sparklers in the distance. We kissed and wished each other a happy new year, then went indoors and got ready for bed. We could have stayed up to watch the UK celebrate on TV, but the spark had died down and bed called.
So what do we do now? We’ve made the resolutions and are now into the second day of January. The decorations are still up and will remain there until Friday, which is Kings Day here in Spain. Then all is forgotten and we can get on with 2012. As always I resolve to make a million pounds. It’s easier that way, not that I ever make it, but you never know. I look at my ‘Sales Info’ on Amazon, but only see changes that make no sense. It’s a bit of fun really. Until I get the figures from Acclaimed Books, I won’t know how well or badly I am doing.
THE BOY FROM BERLIN has been released officially three days now. I probably won’t have the book world beating a path to my door, but I live in hopes. My publisher once told me that books have a very short, shelf life (no pun intended). Six weeks and that’s about it unless you’re a top writer. It isn’t always about talent, skill, technique or something else; usually it’s about who you know and being in the right place at the right time. So I just need that little sprinkling of stardust to set me on my way. Meanwhile I’ll keep on working on my manuscript until I’ve knocked some sense into it. Happy New Year.