I sat down almost an hour ago to start writing this blog post but got caught up in a merry-go-round with PayPal’s website pointing me to links that were not there. Then the help section — what do you need to know? Whatever I needed to know was nowhere in the preset questions. Then a technical help assistant who couldn’t understand my request to cancel a future payment. That’s what happens when you employ robots. I gave up. Anyone would think I’ve been trying to write a book on merry-go-rounds.
So, what have I been up to this last month? The highlights were the ‘Naming ceremony’ for our fourth great grandson, Liri, with his mum and dad, Gemma and Max; the birth of our fifth great-grandson, Elliot, to Sam and Taryn, and the fact that I cracked the 50K word length in my latest Emma Carney Romance, Dare to Dream.
Liri’s naming ceremony was a Humanist ritual performed by fellow Commune dwellers (I nearly wrote communists — oops); a fairly bizarre group of people from all walks of life, but a group who show a great deal of love for each other. Oh, there were people like me as well: the Patriarch of the family on my granddaughter, Gemma’s side.
Our fifth great-grandson, Elliot, was born about three weeks ago. I have promised myself, and Elliot’s mum and dad, that I will make every effort to be in Atlanta next year for Elliot’s first birthday. That’s really something to look forward to.
I bought myself a Smart watch because one of my boys tends to worry if I don’t answer my mobile. He probably thinks I’m lying dead on the carpet with Tuppence licking my face. With the Smart watch it will ring when he phones, so if I don’t have my mobile with me, I can at least call him back. The good thing about this watch is that I have a photo of my lovely Pat on it, which comes on each time I flick my wrist. It tells the time too. I’m not interested in any of the other zillion things it can do, so long as I have Pat’s photo and I can see the time.
I ventured out of my shell again and paid a visit to the Arun Scribes Book Group in Littlehampton. The group is the brainchild of Patricia Feinberg Stoner, an author I’ve known for a few years. We were in the now defunct Chindi Book group and did a couple of book events together. I joined Patricia’s group on Facebook first, then made it over to Littlehampton for a meet-up. Took Tuppence too because the meeting was held in a dog friendly café. It was nice to spend time with like-minded people and talk about books and the book world.
My current work-in-progress, Dare to Dream, has gone beyond the 50k word count, and for that reason I have commissioned a jacket, which has given me the impetus I need to complete the book. I hope to have it published by early October. It will be the fourth of my Emma Carney Romance titles, and it looks like I might be rolling out more, particularly as I find it so difficult to market my own titles. I’m currently promoting one of my better selling books with two campaigns on Amazon but making very little noise with what is a very good, page turning thriller: The Devil’s Trinity. I suspect that a lot of people will think it’s a Satanist book, unless they read the blurb, which will tell them exactly the opposite. I will keep trying of course, but I may find going down the Romance route could pay dividends.
I will not get much more done between now and later in August. I’m off to Lincolnshire on Friday to pick up my friend, Pauline, and bring her down here for a week’s holiday. I’ve done that for a couple of years now. I have a few dates lined up for us, which means visiting friends and relatives, all of whom are quite happy for us to bring our dogs. Pauline has a Chihuahua by the way. Hopefully the weather will be good — not too hot, not too wet. Am I expecting too much? This is England you know, and it is Summer.
I haven’t mentioned gardening, washing, ironing, walking the dog, feeding myself, falling asleep in the chair because that’s life for people who are on their own. Oh, yes, I had to buy a new laptop. It meant leaving my old one with the shop for three days. Going without the laptop was like losing an arm. I was lost! I couldn’t write, even though I have a desktop PC in the back room. I just couldn’t settle in there. Trying to write on an iPad was a pain too, so in the end I bit the bullet and filled the time with gardening, washing… No, I won’t go into that. But happily, I have my new laptop fully booted and spurred and I’m back in the land of the living.
So, now what? My next few weeks are planned out. I will probably manage a few more words for my WIP, and then a completely different couple of weeks ahead of me. Oh, another thing: I have invited some neighbours round for a ‘garden party’ one afternoon next week. It will only be singles, not couples, although I’ve asked my neighbours, Rick and Ann along because I will need some male input. There will be six widows and two widowers (including me) if they all turn up. It’s a way of getting Pauline to meet some of my neighbours who are in the same boat as us. Pat and I knew Pauline and her husband, Brian for almost thirty years. Pauling lost Brian about four years ago. Hopefully the weather will be good, and we’ll all enjoy having a laugh and a joke.
So, that’s it for this month. I hope you all have a splendid, carefree summer and can make the most of your time. Hopefully I’ll be back in September.
Michael Parker.
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