Busywigs

April 28^th. 2018

A full week for me, one way or another. I have more or less finished messing around with my website, and now have something which I feel is more presentable and “clickable” (if that’s the right word). Monday evening I went to a talk in Chichester on “The Harrier and the Cold War” given by Group Captain Jock Heron — a must for me because of our family association with the aeroplane. Wednesday it was the cinema and “The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society”. An absolute gem of a film I thought, and although I’ve read the book, I’ve downloaded the Kindle copy and have started reading it. Thursday evening was our church AGM: never an exciting time, but needs to be done. During the week I submitted one of my titles to two different outfits: Mark Dawson’s ‘Unputdownable’ imprint, and Joffe Books (rhymes with toffee). And today I went along to see my Grand-daughter, Gemma dressed up as a Unicorn to entertain the children in the ‘Kids in the Park’ event. Oh, and I began a complete rewrite of my WIP.

Yes, my website. What I needed to achieve was something easier on the eye with an instant view of my books. On each one there is a link to sample chapters, and from there, if the reader is interested, he or she can access the book on all the on-line sites where it’s available. Took a lot of editing and teeth gnashing, but I got there in the end.

The Harrier talk was a must because I was stationed at RAF Wildenrath in Germany in the early seventies where two Harrier squadrons were based. Our boys were all young then, but eventually Terry, our No.2 son went on to become a Harrier pilot, and two of our boys, John and Stephen, worked as Harrier technicians on the same squadrons for several years.

The ‘Guernsey’ film was a must for me too. It’s the kind of book I would love to have written. Quite emotional, well acted and a real treat, particularly for authors. If you haven’t seen it, it’s worth thinking about.

Yes, AGMs are usually dull affairs, although some can be boisterous, I know, but this was a church do where we are all very civilised (on the surface). Perhaps I should write a book about it.

The Kids in the Park was held in Chichester. My grand-daughter made me wear a silly unicorn wig and took a photograph of me. It’s on Facebook already.

The reason I’ve submitted one of my titles to two different outfits is simply because students of Mark Dawson (and I am one), were invited to try their luck with his imprint. Costs will be met for those books selected, and there will only be about three or four chosen. With Joffe Books, the invitation came during an SPF podcast in which Jasper Joffe explained his vision and what he can do for Indie authors (if your book is chosen). Whoever is lucky enough to be picked up by either of these two, they will be in good hands and can expect a significant increase in sales.

Now, my WIP. Yes, I have begun again. This will be the second time I’ve done this since the beginning of the year. It currently stands at 90,000 words, but I know I was going nowhere with it, and I had to be honest with myself and admit it needs a major rethink. So, it’s back to the drawing board and, fingers crossed, I will get it finished. Wish me luck!