Pulling back and stepping down

November 16^th. 2019

The caption says it all: this will be my last blog post. It isn’t a decision I’ve come to suddenly; the thought has been in my mind for a while, no doubt because of the uncertainty with Pat. We saw the haematologist last Thursday, hoping to hear she could go back on chemo, but unfortunately she isn’t well enough. There are two problems, and one needs to be tackled before they can think about chemo, so the doctor has put Pat on steroids in the hope she’ll regain the strength she needs to fight the cancer. The underlying message though was not helpful.

Spending time in front of my computer while Pat sits alone in the front room, just so I can maintain an on-line presence, seems selfish and unnecessary, so that’s one of the reasons I’m packing it in.  I stopped writing some time ago even though I still retain the desire to write, but the inclination is no longer there. I cannot see me being creative in any way for some considerable time either. At the moment I am committed to a multi campaign on Amazon ads, and will need to check in on that from time to time. Once the ads have run there course, I may not bother to put them up again.

 I started this blog about seven years ago while living in Spain. The idea was to engage with people and, hopefully, establish a kind of rapport with them. I know that my blog is read all over the world, but the number of readers never rose above about one hundred. My family and friends read my weekly posting, and I know of two ladies in America who became on-line friends after Pat and I met them on an Alaskan cruise who read it. That’s Mary Beth and Julia (in case you two are reading this). So although I know some of my readers will be disappointed, I just cannot summon up the will to compose a chatty column each weak and fill it with good news, little jokes and bonhomie.

There is really nothing else for me to say now, other than to thank all of you who have taken the time to comment on my posts, and to wish you all the happiest of Thanksgiving (for my American friends) and a Happy Christmas to all those who choose to celebrate our Christian Festival. And for those who are neither one nor the other, thanks anyway.

                                                                                                                                    Mick.

Climbing mountains

9^th. November 2019

The week began poorly for Pat, but she has made good progress now. Her situation prompted me to make two decisions which resulted in a chest X-Ray on Tuesday and then a doctor’s appointment for another problem on Thursday. She is now on a different antibiotic tablet because her infection was resistant to the earlier one prescribed. I constantly find myself in the invidious position of having to diagnose Pat’s problems and hope I get them right. I have now added a finger oxygen monitor to the paraphernalia I use to keep an eye on her. I’ll be wearing scrubs next!

On Wednesday evening I went along to the Chindi Christmas Book launch at the Swan Hotel in Arundel. You can see the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Feast-Christmas-Stories-Unwrap-Sussex-ebook/dp/B07WSGPKMP/refhttps://www.amazon.co.uk/Feast-Christmas-Stories-Unwrap-Sussex-ebook/dp/B07WSGPKMP/ref. As I mentioned in my post last week, I had agreed to take Beryl Kingston along. Beryl was our celebrity guest: an author who has sold over a million books no less. I knew Beryl had contributed a short story to the book about growing up in war-torn London, so I asked her about that and about living in the big city during the war (me too). It turns out we were both brought up within couple of miles of each other: Beryl in Tooting and me in Wandsworth. I lived in the Garret Lane which ran from Wandsworth to Tooting (about two miles away). So as you can imagine, we got on like a house on fire. Beryl is almost 90 years of age and has a tremendously strong spirit for her age. We spent the car journey talking about London and the book world, and I was also able to catch up with her during the book launch once she’d finished ‘mingling’. Quite an evening for me; not because I had the pleasure of Beryl’s company, but also to be able to indulge myself in the world of writing and talking to like-minded people. Great evening. I had a friend from church come in that evening to look after Pat, which gave me the opportunity to spend a few hours out of the house.

My reading this week is a crime novel by Neil Lancaster called Going Dark (1912946068 is the ASIN number if you like well written crime novels). Finally I have a book which I’m enjoying and not moaning about.

On the subject of Amazon book numbers (ASIN), I have just finished uploading forty campaigns to Amazon Ads, with another twenty to go. I used ASINs to search for relevant best sellers on Amazon, and from there produced numerous books through a site called Yasiv.com (free, by the way). Sometimes I would get as many as 300 connections to one ASIN. From there is was a case of jiggery-pockery and the confusing world of Excel spreadsheets to produce suitable keywords for my campaigns on Amazon. Sound confusing? You bet; it took me hours to learn how to do all this, courtesy of Bryan Cohen’s excellent AMS ads course. Twenty more campaigns to upload and I will have sixty running for a month. This is all for my book, The Boy from Berlin. If all this works, I’ll see a positive upswing in my book sales which are trickling along the flat, bottom line with an occasional spike. Do I worry? Got more than selling books to worry about. Wish me luck.

Puzzles and more puzzles

2^nd. November 2019

Bit of a bumpy ride with Pat this week. Her next appointment is twelve days away, and as much as I hate to say it; I can’t wait for her to go back on chemo. The only medication she’s on at present is a beta blocker and a blood pressure pill, so we’ve no idea what her real situation is. I try to make decisions based on Pat’s apparent condition and what she admits to. I use the BP monitor to keep an eye on her and today I bought a Finger Oxygen monitor. I’m beginning to feel like a doctor, or Quack! Her weight is stable, thank goodness, and she seems to be in good humour, except when I ask her to do some colouring pictures with me; then she acts like a truculent ten year old and won’t. But she does at least attempt the quiz book for seven year old kids. One page every morning: Sudoku, that kind of thing. But that’s for her mental state. So we’re winning there.

Back to my other world. I came to the end of my AMS advertising in USA for my book, The Boy from Berlin. Very poor results. I complained to my mentor, Bryan Cohen, who responded with a daunting challenge to put the ads back on with a new campaign that will result in sixty ads. He has given me explicit instructions on how to go about this. I must admit it makes me nervous because AMS ads can sometimes run away with you. Needs careful monitoring two or three times a day: something I have precious little time for these days.

My book sales for No Time to Die are trickling along, and the page reads are slowly climbing. I will be coming to the end of those particular ads next week, but will start again with a whole new bunch of keywords. I am slowly beginning to understand spreadsheets: something that is a helpful part of preparing an ad campaign. Made some mistakes in the process though. Two days ago I built a column of sixty ASIN numbers and began the process of copying in the relevant search results on Yasiv.com. Once I had the information I wanted, I edited the results, removing all the characters like commas, colons etc. that are not wanted as keywords. End result? I’d managed to edit my ASIN numbers too because I’d left them on the spreadsheet. I was really annoyed with myself because it took about an hour to meticulously prepare the ASIN numbers. UGH!

Next week, on Wednesday, I am going to the Chindi group’s Christmas Book launch. The book is a collection of Christmas stories pertinent to West Sussex, written by some of the group’s members, and available now. The launch party will be opened by best-selling author, Beryl Kingston, also a member of our group, so it should be a good evening. You can see the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Feast-Christmas-Stories-Unwrap-Sussex-ebook/dp/B07WSGPKMP/ref

I had a quick look at my pulp fiction WIP last night, but soon realised that I simply don’t have the inclination to spend any time on it. Probably won’t now until after Christmas. Then maybe I’ll be able to knuckle down. Wish me luck!