Putting in the hard yards

15^th. February 2020

It’s been quite a week, one way or another. Pat managed to get through the middle section of her chemo where she has tummy jabs over five days. It’s always a nervy time because of past experiences, both with Pat’s chemo last year and mine in Spain. But we’re through that and looking ahead now to her consultation prior to the next session of chemo on Monday. Hopefully we’ll hear positive news and she will be allowed to continue with the treatment.

On the book front, I’ve just finished collaborating with ‘ebookorprint.com’ for the new jacket to my romance Past Imperfect. It took an exchange of 33 emails, start to finish, before the final version was agreed. You can make your own minds up about it, but I really like it. I have the new copy to hand and have ordered a few more. I’m expecting to use this company again for another jacket change later in the year. I am also contemplating a promotion campaign with them but have to dot some eyes and cross some tees before signing up. It isn’t about Amazon or Facebook ads, but something entirely different. If I go ahead, you’ll get to know all about it, whether I fail or not.

I’ve been organising a family get-together for when our youngest son Stephen and his wife come over from Australia. It will be their first visit for fifteen years. I’ve booked a local hotel for a lunchtime bash in April. There should be 21 of us all told. There will be four Vegans, five vegetarians and the rest of us meat eaters. Ever tried organising something where there are different dietary requirements? It’s a nightmare.

My current reading is a crime thriller by J.D. Kirk called The Killing Code. I saw this author on an SPF podcast. He was a ghost writer for Random House, writing comics, Sci-Fi etc. Been doing it for years and making a living out of it. Now he’s writing for himself and making a better living out of it.

Last Wednesday I watched a webinar by Stuart Grant. It was about Instagram. I managed an hour before going to bed, but will be catching up later on the video that’s has been made available to the SPF Patreon group. From all accounts, using Instagram properly is the way to success. Aren’t they all though? I will try to follow Stuart’s excellent advice though; he seems to make it work.

I have managed to get some work done on my pulp fiction thriller. The word count is up to 12000 plus. It’s still a struggle though. And of course, almost all my screen time is now on the laptop in the front room so I can be with Pat. At the moment she’s watching a film on Amazon. It’s called The Fisherman’s Friend. I watched it a couple of weeks ago. Lovely film based on a true story.

So that’s where I am now: making plans and trying to sell books, but there’s precious little of that happening. Maybe my tie up with ‘ebookorprint’ might yield something. Wish me luck!