Hoping for a lot of luck

Pat’s situation is getting slowly worse. Small drops each day, and little to inspire any hope. Talking to others who have found themselves in this situation simply confirms the direction her illness is taking her, but not the longevity; it could be a few months or maybe a few years. I find my levels of frustration are only matched by my feelings of guilt when I get annoyed with her, because I know that none of this is her fault. You learn a lot about yourself in a situation like this: levels of patience; fortitude; mental strength; physical strength. Fortunately, Pat is sleeping a lot better, but to counter that blessing, she isn’t eating and is refusing to take her pills. It’s difficult.

Looking at the marginally brighter side of life, I can now watch the ‘footie’ on TV. I hadn’t planned to watch so much, but I’m afraid that’s another of my weaknesses. And it interferes with my reading time too. Currently I’m reading my Chindi colleague Paul Asling’s crime thriller Wars in West London. You can see it at https://www.amazon.co.uk/CARTERS-WARS-WEST-LONDON-ebook/dp/B08BVWS9RJ.

And on the subject of Chindi authors, I would like to introduce you to Isabella Muir whose latest crime novel, Crossing the Line was published today. You can learn more of Isabella and her history, her previous literary work, and where her new genre is taking her with this link: https://www.isabellamuir.com. I think Isabella will probably be joining the ranks of best-seller fairly soon.

My ambitious attempt at creating a different kind of campaign on Amazon has resulted in precisely zero sales so far. Ironically, my recently started campaign on Book Bub ads had given me two sales. The Amazon ad was constructed using the advice of ex Amazon marketing professional, Jane Margot, while the BB ad was constructed simply and wholly by ‘yours truly’. I don’t blame anyone for my failures, but I couldn’t help smiling to myself when I saw on Bryan Cohen’s Ad school (of which I am an alumni) that he currently had over 1300 ads running. Now I know why I’m not selling! (Yes, that’s right: 1300!)

I’ve been coming up with some terrific opening scenes for my latest WIP. This was the one I started four week ago with the plan to knock out 60,000 words by the end of July. So far I’ve written 1200 words. I managed to produce an opening in which two mysteries need to be solved. One at the beginning of the chapter, and the other at the end: all separated by 1200 words. And I haven’t a clue what the mysteries are. It makes it fun writing something like that providing I can come up with an answer, but at my present rate of progress, it’s unlikely.

So, today is July 4^th. Independence Day. Our American friends will need to be extremely careful about their Independence Day celebrations if what I understand about their pandemic figures is correct. And likewise we British have to be careful too because the Press are dubbing this day as our Independence Day. We can all go to the pub! I usually finish my blog post asking you all to wish me luck, but today I think we ALL need a huge chunk of it. Stay home and stay safe.