Life gets busier

10 February 2017

I began editing my paperback, The Boy From Berlin, which arrived a couple of days ago. It’s amazing how many small things leap out at you as you go through the text. I’m a little over halfway through now, and expect to have it finished over the weekend. I made a small change to the cover, nothing major, and hope to be well pleased with the overall result. I sent my subscribers a link to the opening prologue, which you can see at http://bit.ly/2E14ByV. It only takes a couple of minutes to read. I’m looking at this as almost a new book, even though it has been available on-line for about six years. Once I receive the letter from my publisher handing back the rights, I can “relaunch”.

I took a leap in the dark with my current WIP. I had written some scenes that I intended to bring into the story much later, but because of the dilemma I faced in which way to take the story, I was forced to bring these scenes forward. Who’s doing the forcing, I wonder? My characters?

My BookBub ads are not doing too well. I hoped that I could push my African title, Hell’s Gate with Wilbur Smith as the ‘Keyword’ author. I also tried Bernard Cornwell, but that was even worse. So this morning I dropped the price to £0.99, and will create a new ad at that price, but will stay with Wilbur Smith and find another author I can use on a parallel ad.

Earlier this week I created a banner using Vistaprint in readiness for the UK Southern Bookshow at Worthing, March 4^th. (www.uksouthernbookshow.co.ukUK Southern Book Show) It has been “dispatched”, but hasn’t arrived yet. Hopefully it will be here today. I just wonder if my creativity is more of an illusion than a fact. No doubt I’ll find that out soon. Well, well, the postman has just delivered the banner and also the letter from my publisher. I’m pleased with the banner and, naturally, delighted I now have the rights to my book. My publisher still has the ebook rights to my romance, Past Imperfect, but I know I can’t get those until the end of the year.

Last Monday the Chindi group enjoyed an on-line meeting. We use ‘Zoom’ which gives us fifty minutes free air time. We can see each other on screen (well, some of us), but there’s no countdown clock; only for the person chairing the meeting. You can be in full flow when ‘Zap!’ you’re off line. But it’s good to talk and bounce ideas off each other.

During the week I began my course at the local gymnasium. Phew! Didn’t do so well, but I begin in earnest next week. I had a pneumonia jab too. I didn’t know they existed until about a year ago. This was my first one. I’ve had no reaction at all. Tuppence went to the vet for her weigh-in. She’s coming down but has about two hundred grams to lose yet (she’s only a small dog) before the vet is happy. And us!

I took Pat in for a cataract operation yesterday. Traffic was a problem: we arrived at the hospital at 12.45, which was her appointment time. She went in for the small op about three hours later. Thankfully these cataract ops are done quickly, so we were out about forty five minutes later.

Next thing on the agenda for me is editing my book, creating a new ad for BB and finally getting it all uploaded. Then I can sit back and watch the sales figures escalate! Ha-Ha. Wish me luck.