Getting my ducks in a row

26^th. October 2019

Pat’s situation cheers me up one minute and lets me down the next. We had a trip to the neurologist last Tuesday for a consultation. It means Pat will be referred to a memory clinic for some kind of rehabilitation. She also has an appointment for a head scan in a couple of weeks. But we were back at the doctors the following day because her water infection returned, so she’s on antibiotics again. And this morning I had to take her for a flu jab. She didn’t want to go, but what do you do? We sought advice from the cancer nurse before making the appointment though. She isn’t getting much sleep at the moment, which means I’m not, but that’s the way it is.

On to other things now. My book sales are creeping up. Haven’t hit the big time by any means, but the graph is showing signs of early growth. One factor is the jump in page reads on KU. My title, No Time to Die (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07WFQMQV4) has reached 773 page reads this month. This gives me something of a problem: I decided to take the book out of KU once it’s 90 days were up on November 11^th, but those kind of figures for me are bloody good. So I guess I have no option but to extend the KU for another 90 days. What I am going to do though is advertise the book in USA on Amazon Ads. At the moment it’s the UK ad that is encouraging sales and page reads. I’m also thinking of advertising on BookBub again (not the featured deal), because that seems to bring sales in on D2D. Just got to watch the pennies though. The beauty of AMS is that it’s reluctant to take your money from you unless you’re attracting positive clicks, which is a step closer to selling a book. Oh, and I sold three paperbacks this month: three more than I sell in a year I think. Must be doing something right then.

And because I’m picking up a bit on-line, and people are viewing my FB page and my profile on LinkedIn, I thought I ought to tidy up my website. Not being technically proficient in that area, I set about it a couple of days ago with some smart idea of how I was going to blow everyone away with my phenomenally brilliant web page. Well, it’s back to the drawing board and a careful reconsideration of exactly how I should go about this. So, I’m lining all my ducks up in a row and creating new 3D images of my jackets, which I will put on my main page with links direct to the sales pages. With luck, my ‘subtle’ changes will encourage potential readers to click on the books once they’ve landed on my website and go on to buy!

I watched a SPF podcast last night (I watched it on my laptop. This means I can be in the room with Pat). It was a writer called Amanda Lee. What a phenomenal woman! She writes 9000 words a day and has written almost 200 books in the last eight years. She turns out one book a month and has an eleven book series in the pipeline. She reads about five books a week as well as editing her own material. She also writes under another name as well as her own. Just watching the interview left me shaking my head. What kind of life is that? Good luck to her if she’s happy. She’s certainly successful and must have a huge fan base. If only, eh? But I don’t think I would welcome success if that was the kind of sacrifice needed. Careful what you wish for. Oh, and talking of wishing: wish me luck!

Don't rain on my parade

20^th. October 2019.

Something of a mixed bag week for me. Pat’s condition has improved, but only marginally. She had a heart monitor fitted on Monday, which I returned on Friday. There were no dramas and no need to fill in a report. I have now started helping her to complete one puzzle a day from a quiz book for Seven year olds and above (I’m 78, so I qualify). It’s to help Pat’s brain get the stimulation it needs, and is a recommended therapy from different specialists. We are still waiting for an appointment with the neurologist. I phoned the hospital but they weren’t helpful. I’ll phone again tomorrow: plague the life out of them.

On the book front, my week exploded with a smashing article in the Daily Express about my latest book, No Time to Die (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07WFQMQV4). It appeared quicker than I expected. I thought it was well conceived and brought a lot of attention too, including 479 reactions (to date) on the SPF Facebook group. It was also picked up by BBC Radio Sussex. Their web crawlers flagged it. They contacted me that day and I had a short interview on their breakfast show the following day. So, a lot of excitement in my book world.

I have finally managed to get accounts with Amazon Advertising in UK and Germany. It’s early days yet for the UK ad, and I don’t really expect much from the German ad. I put The Eagle’s Covenant (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00LZRKJ4O) up for that. The book is set in Germany and I was able to research German police procedures etc., courtesy of the German Embassy in London, when I wrote the book. It’s a gripping thriller and ticks all the boxes, including a completely unexpected twist at the end. I just hope the German nation suddenly become English language aficionados and buy the book. We’ll see. For the other sites, my book sales and KU read throughs are creeping up a little. Not too much.

Going back to the 479 reactions on my FB post: one guy criticised the journalism, said he was an “ex journo” himself. No matter how many people enjoy your moment in the spotlight, there’s always someone who wants to rain on your parade, isn’t there? Tosser!

Another great family week too. Our grandson Sam spoke to us on Facetime during the week. We weren’t able to get to his wedding last month for obvious reasons, so it was nice of him to get in touch and have a natter. On Friday, our number 2 son came over with his daughter, Gemma and great grandson, Orin. And yesterday, Saturday, our number one son, Vincent came down from Norfolk with our grand-daughter, Sarah for the day. I even managed to get out down the pub with Vince for an hour and have a couple of pints. Haven’t done that for almost a year now. It was good therapy.

I have to accept now that my writing time must be limited because of the need to spend more time with Pat. It’s only fair for her that I don’t spend most of my free time stuck on my computer in my room. We don’t know how much time we’ll have together, and I pray to God that Pat will come through this and we can enjoy more years in the autumn of our lives. We’re looking forward to our 60^th. wedding anniversary in January and I have to believe we’ll make it. So, limited progress now and a fresh look maybe in the New Year. Wish us luck!

There's rubbish in there too.

October 12^th. 2019

It’s been a fairly normal week with Pat, if I can call it normal. No dramas. Took her to the dentist on Tuesday for a scale and polish, and on Wednesday a trip to the doctor to talk about her blood pressure pill, which he told her to stop taking. It’s to see if she can get rid of the persistent cough she has. This was suggested by the haematologist. We’re now waiting for an appointment to see the neurologist. And on Monday Pat will be fitted with a heart monitor. Yesterday was a good day for her because our grand-daughter, Gemma came over with our great grandson, Orin. Gemma thought it might give me an opportunity to have some “me” time. Well, it hammered down in rain so I used the time to take some rubbish down the tip. Life never gets dull, do it?

On the book front I’m not pulling up any trees with my book sales, despite now advertising on Amazon.co.uk. It’s taken Amazon an inordinately long time to bring this about, but a lot of indie authors will be setting up accounts to start ads in this country. I have to admit that, despite saying I have given up the idea of writing for the foreseeable future, I did look at my sequel to HUNTED and added another thousand words. I have even come up with an idea, pretty spectacular too, to move the story arc up into a higher level. But — there’s always a but — I still need to knuckle down and get on the Amazon Ads course I signed up to with Bryan Cohen. This will need time, careful study and a great deal of head scratching. Goodness knows how I’m going to crack it; I can only hope I will see that light at the end of the tunnel pretty soon.

My reading now, having given up on Lesley Thomson, is a crime thriller by Mia Sheridan: Where the Blame Lies. I picked it at random out of Amazon’s top 100 crime novels. So far it looks worth all the five stars and good reviews it has received. My trouble though is that I am fairly slow reader because of all the other stuff that creeps in. Last night I watched an appalling England side get beat by the Czech Republic at football. I would have done better with my time either writing or reading rather than watching rubbish.

Talking of reviews; I received a lovely 4 star review for Hell’s Gate this week. You can make up your own mind. “A Good book. Very enjoyable. See author’s blurb for details.”

I still have a smile on my face though because David Pilditch of the Daily Express has emailed me to say he’s reading my book No Time to Die, he’s enjoying it and hopes to get something in the paper next week. I’m keeping my fingers crossed although I do know that some unexpected, dramatic news could wipe me off the pages of the National Press. Like (for my UK readers) a spat between two WAGS (footballer’s wives) over who snitched on who and passed it on to the Sun newspaper. Took up about three pages in the Daily Mail!

I got my car back much to my relief. Walked in with the key to my loan car and walked out with my car keys: no payment, just a ‘thank you very much, sorry about the delay sir’. I love this KIA seven year warranty.

Next up for me is really much of the same thing. I’ll be emailing my subscribers about the fourth book in my back-list, The Eagle’s Covenant. Hopefully they’ll go out and buy it droves. Will they? Wish me luck!

Is there a silver lining in there somewhere?

October 5^th. 2019

Saw the haematologist last Monday and he decided to suspend Pat’s chemo for another seven weeks so they can deal with her memory loss. He was happy with the blood test and X-Ray results which suggested that the cancer is fairly benign at the moment. That doesn’t mean it’s in remission, although we would like to think that, but it’s safe enough for a short referral to the neurological department. He said Pat’s ‘mini stroke’ should now be considered a ‘stroke’, which is why the suspension of treatment and referral can go ahead. We have a GP appointment on Wednesday for her because she needs a change with one of her tablets and a progress report for the benefit of the GP. Physically, Pat’s isn’t too bad, but could do with some weight on. I’m working on that!

On the book front, I find I’m the one to whom the term ‘flat lining’ could be applied: metaphorically speaking of course. I have given up the idea of writing anything for now and am trying (TRYING) to concentrate on learning more about the mysteries of Amazon advertising. It all looks good on paper and when the expert is explaining how to crack it, but a whole lot different when it comes to the bottom line of sales figures etc.  But despite all that, I do have a smile on my face because of a phone call I received during the week.

Last month, our number three son, John, wrote to the Sun newspaper and the Daily Express about my latest book, NoTime to Die. He was intrigued by the fact I happened to pick on the title of the next James Bond movie just a week before the film title was released. He received a reply from David Pilditch of the Express asking about me. He was intrigued too and called me during the week. We were on the phone for over an hour. He was really interested in me and my books, particularly my latest. We had a laugh about me suing the film company or them suing me. I reminded him that titles are not copyright, but it did give us both something to chuckle about. He asked if he could get a photo of me with the book and said he would send a photographer down to do that. I posted him a copy of the paperback the next day and now I can only wait and see what happens next. To use the old cliché about being ‘long in the tooth’, and many others I could think about, I know nothing might come of this, so I won’t get too excited; I might not even hear from Mr. Pilditch again, but it brought a smile to my face. And my boy John can dream of a bigger inheritance for a while.

The book promotion I was involved in this week resulted in the sale of two books. That’s probably two more of that title I would have sold. My efforts on Amazon ads have resulted in the sale of three books, which makes it a bit pointless really. But I know there are pretty good results from the right targeting etc., so I will continue to tweak and live in hope.

Nothing to do with books, but a look at how the car company, KIA, deal with their clients. My car went in for a service four weeks ago where they discovered an oil leak. The part was placed on order, which took two weeks. Took the car in, hoping to have it back within twenty four hours, but got a call to say they had the wrong oil seal. One week later I’m told that they can’t get the right oil seal so have decided to fit a new gearbox! Wow! A new oil seal would cost about £20, but a new gearbox? Not that I’m complaining, at least they are honouring KIA’s seven year warranty. Thank goodness. Perhaps I should let them handle my book problems. Wish me luck!