Work: just another four letter word.

 

15^th. August 2020

When I worked for a living, I did a lot of twelve-hour shifts. Never liked them, but at least at the end of my shift I could go home, go to bed and relax for a while. Yesterday, Friday, my day began at around 6 am, and finished last night at 2.30 am — just over twenty hours. Looking after Pat is hard work. I did manage to get my head down but was up again at 7 am to start the shift again. There’s a lot to this ‘Full-time carer’ business. Pat’s situation isn’t good, but I have to accept it for what it is and hope I can keep her as comfortable as possible. We have a steady stream of nurses coming in. One came this afternoon and dressed Pat’s wounds, checked her physically and departed. Pat seems a little more settled at the moment. We have the positional bed in the front room, which has been an absolute boon: so much better for Pat. It’s amazing just how much support is out there, most of which is free.

Tuppence goes away tomorrow, probably for about three months or until this is all over. If Pat goes into a nursing home, I will have Tuppence back. It won’t make a great dal of difference to me in regard to how much time I have, but it will make a heap of difference to Tuppence.

In my book world, I see no changes in my sales or my expectations. Now that I don’t write, I ignore a lot of advice that comes pouring on to my PC by way of social media book groups. But one thing I do see, and understand, is that as a stand-alone writer, I have very little chance of attaining high rankings and sales in the indie world. I have even seen patronising comments about stand-alone writers as though we were some sort of interlopers in the world of series authors. I did get a smile on my face when I saw one author complaining that her book sales were down, and what on earth were Amazon up to for goodness sake? — “I’m trying to make a living as a writer!” — seemed to be the complaint as though Amazon should pull their socks up.

As I mentioned last week, I am joining 10K Readers author Mike Donald on a thriller promotion, due to begin on September 1^st. I downloaded Mike’s book, Louisiana Blood (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07WVHCL6S) so that I could have something to say when the promotion gets under way. Mike’s book is set in the USA and UK, and what struck me about this was the fact that his characters are playing out their scenes in their own language (English of course), and that he uses double speech marks, which is normal for American publications. I’ve seen authors on some the FB groups of which I’m a member, worrying themselves over the use of the American way or the British way. They’re often told to go with whatever they feel comfortable with, something which Mike Donald is doing with no hang-ups. I’m hoping I can reach a lot more readers through Mike, but I have to say that in terms of which of us is the longest in tooth, it’s me. So perhaps Mike is hoping to hang on to my coat-tails. Hope I don’t let him down. Wish me luck!

Decisions, decisions.

8^th. August 2020 

I’m sitting here eating a bowl of cornflakes wondering what the day will bring in my on-going struggle with Pat. She’s fast asleep on the settee having been up since about 4.30 (and a pit stop during the night). I just love the way she catches up on her lost sleep while I mooch around, bleary-eyed, showered, changed and wondering why I’m eating cornflakes instead of a full English to build me up. Yesterday we were expecting a nurse to come and change Pat’s dressing. I phoned at 5.45 and asked where the nurse was only to be told it had been deferred until today. I blew my top: why didn’t we get a phone call? This happened last Tuesday as well, but they managed to find a nurse quick after my mid-day call. Last night two ‘Twilight’ nurses came and changed Pat’s dressing. No doubt the day nurse will turn up today. Or maybe not.

Now, I have a BIG, BIG decision to make. Tuppence is coming home on Monday. She’s been having a wonderful time with two doggy friends, playing together, going down the beach and even going in the sea. Now, our No.2 son, Terry, has suggested that he takes Tuppence to live with him and their little dog, Saxon, until…. Well, even Terry couldn’t say ‘Until Mum dies’. Sounds awful, doesn’t it? I have to admit that it would probably be fairer to Tuppence, rather than getting under my feet, getting into trouble and not getting the exercise she needs every day. The problem of course is me: I don’t want the little blighter to go. But my heart needs to be ruled by my head in this case. My son is coming over tomorrow to talk about it and will almost certainly persuade me that it’s the right thing to do, given the circumstances.

 

Now, about my book world. We won’t even talk about my book sales. I made a decision to finish with Voracious Readers. Over the last year I’ve attracted about 300 subscribers through giving away The Devil’s Trinity. (A lot of them unsubscribed as soon as they had the book). I think I attracted a handful of reviews on Goodreads. I’ve been thinking for a while about finishing with them, but it took a new venture to persuade me. I’ve joined in a promotion being run by a 10K FB author Mike Donald. He’s new at it and wanted to give it a shot. But to achieve the email sign-ups, I had to upgrade my Book Funnel account. I did this and cancelled my VR account. Works out about the same price each year anyway. Once Mike has all his ducks lined up in a row, he’ll start the ball rolling. It will take very little of my time to support the promo although I don’t hold out much hope for it; these things never seem to work for me.  So, all I have to do is hang on to that hope and make a decision about Tuppence. Wish me luck!

With love comes hope.

1^st. August 2020

If I had to write up a detailed report of what has happened to Pat this last week, I would be able to publish it in book form such would be the number of pages. Suffice it to say we have had four visits from medical professionals, a late evening consultation with an emergency nurse, and the delivery of a contraption to help Pat get up and down: the first of several items promised, including a hospital bed. In the seven days since my last blog post, Pat has had one good day. She was so bright, I even managed to persuade her to let me take her out for a drive. This meant the ramp had to be assembled, but that didn’t prove a problem. In fact, I was so pleased with it, I gave it a second coat of paint. If Pat recovers some of her good health, I will get her out a little more often, but at the moment she is too unwell.

 

My book sales are just holding at one sale a day spread between Amazon and D2D. Total sales 31. Cost of ads? Massive! Doesn’t make sense to carry on at the rate I’m spending money. But I remain optimistic and will start another campaign on BookBub, which seems to outsell Amazon in my case, and keep an eye on targeting etc. I do have small opportunities from time to time to look at my results and figure out what kind of changes might improve my sales. What I can’t do though is spend time on videos and following explicit instructions.

 

Oh, I made a pitch to an on-line publisher too. Well, not so much a pitch, but a tongue in cheek approach that will almost certainly yield nothing. The SPF bosses, James Blatch and Mark Dawson, have set up an on-line publishing company called Fuse Books. They have one author on their books (yes, one). They have asked the members of the SPF group for crime/mystery submissions but have warned that they will only take on a couple of authors with at least 3 books in a series. My tongue in cheek submission was to offer my three Marcus Blake thrillers which were never intended as a series. A betting man wouldn’t put money on my books even getting past first post, but I live in hope.

 

A book was released on Amazon yesterday: one in which I contributed a small piece. It’s called With love, comes hope: stories & inspiration during the 2020 pandemic. It’s available here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Love-Comes-Hope-Inspiration-Pandemic-ebook/dp/B08CRWWT82, and all proceeds go to Bridge 2 international humanitarian charity based in Guernsey. Why not have a look? My piece is on page 242.

 

I made a decision this afternoon to send Tuppence away for a short period, simply to stop her leaping all over Pat, getting under our feet, barking at every Tom, Dick & Harry, and generally being a nuisance whenever the nurses or paramedics turn up. I contacted Barking Mad, a franchise dog boarding organisation I’ve used a few times, and within one hour, the agent was here having sourced a ‘host’ for Tuppence. The woman who will be looking after Tuppence has had her before. So, two hours after making the decision, Tuppence has gone and peace reigns in the house. Aahh….. Wish me luck. (Well, Tuppence really).