Michael Parker's Ramblings

 

Living in Hope

Well, I made the bold statement on my last blog post that I wanted to get back in the game, which meant the beginning of research, promotion, marketing and living in hope. I promoted my Marcus Blake mystery thriller, No Time to Die, and have achieved the magnificent result of two sales this month. I had to pause my ad on BookBub because I managed to spend $47 without even a sniff. Amazon, who simply refuse to take your money has cost me about $12. Not exactly pulling up any trees, am I? But I can at least say one thing: the title of my book has been on everyone’s lips this last week. All I need people to do is to think “Book” instead of “Film”.

I started fleshing out a Marcus Blake thriller. This will be No. 4 in the ‘series’. This one is set in Wyoming. Why Wyoming, you ask? I thought I might just as well jump on the bandwagon and write a ‘Jack Reacher’ type novel. Heaven knows my other books aren’t attracting any attention. My highest ranked book is at about 1.2 million on Amazon, while my lowest is at about 2.3 million. I have to say that being out of the game for well over a year is probably the reason I’ve sunk so low. So if I am to admit I have no scruples: Jack Reacher it will be. I have the makings of a plot, which my sister-in-law Carol, thought was “brilliant” when I explained it all to her while we were on holiday. All I have to do is get to work. I did have a look at my Pulp fiction sequel to Hunted (17000 words already written), but in the end,  Marcus Blake triumphed.

I went on a five day coach trip last week to Yorkshire. Went with my late wife’s brother, David, and his wife, Carol. It was a bit of a disaster. Never made it to York, which was the whole point of the trip. Our ‘optional’ York visit was cancelled because not enough people wanted to go, and that meant the coach driver wasn’t allowed to take those of us did want to go. I won’t go into detail about the holiday itself because I don’t want to depress you all.

 On a brighter note, my sister-in-law introduced me to the joys of Spotify, and I am now building up a couple of playlists. I also purchased a Bose Bluetooth speaker so I can listen to my music or the radio wherever I am around the house. Talk about modern man: hey, I’m almost there!

 As my life settles down to a sense of normality again, I hope to make positive inroads into writing and finishing that Marcus Blake thriller. My research into Wyoming has already uncovered some interesting and useable facts, but I still have a long way to go. Hopefully I’ll be able to report some progress on my next blog in about four weeks’ time.

 

Wish me luck!