Looking at fact from fiction

July 30th. 2017 I made another small step forward in my WIP: managed to write up a ‘mystery’ flight into the Negev desert. Now I don’t know what to do or where to go with this. It isn’t too bad a problem because although I now have to figure out how to resolve it; if I can do that, the reader will probably think I’m really clever. I know of one author, Helen Macinnes, when asked how she managed to get her characters out of the impossible situations they got themselves into, she said she put them there so had to figure a way out. She was a best-selling crime writer who died over thirty years ago. I did some work on my website, trying to improve the way I present some of the pages. I’ve redesigned a couple that are hidden from the main menu, hopefully making it easier for those who visit my site. Although my rate of progress with this is quite slow, I do hope eventually to have something a little more professional looking. I’ve been looking into Facebook advertising again. I have a promotion coming up during August and need to support it with other social media efforts. I will also look at EReaderNewsToday (ENT), plus others that have been recommended to defray the cost. My book sales have just about flat-lined this month. I’m hoping it’s because readers are spending more time out of doors at BBQs, at the beach, on holiday and other such pursuits where there isn’t much time, or the desire, to be stuck in a book. I just hope August proves to be different, which means I’ll have to be a “glass half-full” optimist. Earlier this week we went to see the film, Dunkirk. Enjoyed it immensely. Bit noisy though, and with hearing aids it practically blew my ears off. When I think of what those men and women had to put up with, it makes my problem with book sales and marketing pale into insignificance. I also watched the film, American Sniper, on Amazon last night. If you haven’t seen the film, and know nothing about the sniper Chris Kyle, I suggest you Google it first before you watch it. I thought it was fiction until I saw the caption as the credits rolled. Yesterday we travelled up to Baldock, north of London to pick up a friend of ours. She will be staying with us for a week. The traffic was horrendous, and while I was crawling along the motorways etc., I thought about the government’s plan to ban all petrol and diesel cars from the roads by 2040. Something tells me that the government are talking themselves into an impossible position which they will have to sort out just like my fictionalised plane trip into the Negev desert. Wish them luck!