Getting my ducks in a row

Pat’s situation cheers me up one minute and lets me down the next. We had a trip to the neurologist last Tuesday for a consultation. It means Pat will be referred to a memory clinic for some kind of rehabilitation. She also has an appointment for a head scan in a couple of weeks. But we were back at the doctors the following day because her water infection returned, so she’s on antibiotics again. And this morning I had to take her for a flu jab. She didn’t want to go, but what do you do? We sought advice from the cancer nurse before making the appointment though. She isn’t getting much sleep at the moment, which means I’m not, but that’s the way it is.

On to other things now. My book sales are creeping up. Haven’t hit the big time by any means, but the graph is showing signs of early growth. One factor is the jump in page reads on KU. My title, No Time to Die (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07WFQMQV4) has reached 773 page reads this month. This gives me something of a problem: I decided to take the book out of KU once it’s 90 days were up on November 11th, but those kind of figures for me are bloody good. So I guess I have no option but to extend the KU for another 90 days. What I am going to do though is advertise the book in USA on Amazon Ads. At the moment it’s the UK ad that is encouraging sales and page reads. I’m also thinking of advertising on BookBub again (not the featured deal), because that seems to bring sales in on D2D. Just got to watch the pennies though. The beauty of AMS is that it’s reluctant to take your money from you unless you’re attracting positive clicks, which is a step closer to selling a book. Oh, and I sold three paperbacks this month: three more than I sell in a year I think. Must be doing something right then.

And because I’m picking up a bit on-line, and people are viewing my FB page and my profile on LinkedIn, I thought I ought to tidy up my website. Not being technically proficient in that area, I set about it a couple of days ago with some smart idea of how I was going to blow everyone away with my phenomenally brilliant web page. Well, it’s back to the drawing board and a careful reconsideration of exactly how I should go about this. So, I’m lining all my ducks up in a row and creating new 3D images of my jackets, which I will put on my main page with links direct to the sales pages. With luck, my ‘subtle’ changes will encourage potential readers to click on the books once they’ve landed on my website and go on to buy!

I watched a SPF podcast last night (I watched it on my laptop. This means I can be in the room with Pat). It was a writer called Amanda Lee. What a phenomenal woman! She writes 9000 words a day and has written almost 200 books in the last eight years. She turns out one book a month and has an eleven book series in the pipeline. She reads about five books a week as well as editing her own material. She also writes under another name as well as her own. Just watching the interview left me shaking my head. What kind of life is that? Good luck to her if she’s happy. She’s certainly successful and must have a huge fan base. If only, eh? But I don’t think I would welcome success if that was the kind of sacrifice needed. Careful what you wish for. Oh, and talking of wishing: wish me luck!

Into the unknown

October 25th. 2019

This is an attempt to set up a Wix blog. I'm not convinced this will work. We'll see.

Don't rain on my parade

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Something of a mixed bag week for me. Pat’s condition has improved, but only marginally. She had a heart monitor fitted on Monday, which I returned on Friday. There were no dramas and no need to fill in a report. I have now started helping her to complete one puzzle a day from a quiz book for Seven year olds and above (I’m 78, so I qualify). It’s to help Pat’s brain get the stimulation it needs, and is a recommended therapy from different specialists. We are still waiting for an appointment with the neurologist. I phoned the hospital but they weren’t helpful. I’ll phone again tomorrow: plague the life out of them.

On the book front, my week exploded with a smashing article in the Daily Express about my latest book, No Time to Die (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07WFQMQV4). It appeared quicker than I expected. I thought it was well conceived and brought a lot of attention too, including 479 reactions (to date) on the SPF Facebook group. It was also picked up by BBC Radio Sussex. Their web crawlers flagged it. They contacted me that day and I had a short interview on their breakfast show the following day. So, a lot of excitement in my book world.

I have finally managed to get accounts with Amazon Advertising in UK and Germany. It’s early days yet for the UK ad, and I don’t really expect much from the German ad. I put The Eagle’s Covenant (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00LZRKJ4O) up for that. The book is set in Germany and I was able to research German police procedures etc., courtesy of the German Embassy in London, when I wrote the book. It’s a gripping thriller and ticks all the boxes, including a completely unexpected twist at the end. I just hope the German nation suddenly become English language aficionados and buy the book. We’ll see. For the other sites, my book sales and KU read throughs are creeping up a little. Not too much.

Going back to the 479 reactions on my FB post: one guy criticised the journalism, said he was an “ex journo” himself. No matter how many people enjoy your moment in the spotlight, there’s always someone who wants to rain on your parade, isn’t there? Tosser!

Another great family week too. Our grandson Sam spoke to us on Facetime during the week. We weren’t able to get to his wedding last month for obvious reasons, so it was nice of him to get in touch and have a natter. On Friday, our number 2 son came over with his daughter, Gemma and great grandson, Orin. And yesterday, Saturday, our number one son, Vincent came down from Norfolk with our grand-daughter, Sarah for the day. I even managed to get out down the pub with Vince for an hour and have a couple of pints. Haven’t done that for almost a year now. It was good therapy.

I have to accept now that my writing time must be limited because of the need to spend more time with Pat. It’s only fair for her that I don’t spend most of my free time stuck on my computer in my room. We don’t know how much time we’ll have together, and I pray to God that Pat will come through this and we can enjoy more years in the autumn of our lives. We’re looking forward to our 60th. wedding anniversary in January and I have to believe we’ll make it. So, limited progress now and a fresh look maybe in the New Year. Wish us luck!