The local library

This morning Coran and I went into town to pay our poll tax, and on the way decided to go and join the local library. I thought that while I was there I would speak to them about getting my book into the library. They gave me the telephone number of their stockist to ring, which I have just done. I spoke to a very nice lady who sounded interested and asked me to email her some information on the book. She said they do prefer to buy them direct from wholesalers rather than from the author, and they have accounts with the 2 distributors that I am registered with, so that should certainly help ! It is not ultimately up to her though, but the librarians themselves. The first step though is to send her the information, so I about to do that. How exciting it will be then to see my book in the local library in a few weeks or months time. I have registred for PLR (public lending rights) so it will be another small, but nevertheless significant source of income.

Paul has been busy on my behalf

Have just got off the phone from a long conversation with Paul Ricks (Richard's publicist) who helps to promote AOL's authors. He has not been able to do much lately because he is embroiled in a rather complicated court case, where he is acting as a coordinator to help lots of disgruntled people. The case is nothing to do with AOL I hasten to add, although Richard is one of many who is being sued by this rather strange and very nasty character, a man named Graham Cook, who runs a self publishing company named Writers World. It is a long and convulated story, but basically Cook has been reported to DTI and Office of Fair Trading both here and in the US for s string of offences (well over 100 I believe), copyright infringement, taking people's money and not publishing their books etc, etc, etc. The list is endless. The internet is full of references to him if you tap in his name. A thoroughly unsavoury character by all accounts, who needs to be put a stop to once and for all.

Anyway, other than that, Paul has a friiend of his, whose name I can't now remember, reviewing the book at the moment to go in a small magazine that he publishes in London. He will send me a copy once the review is published. He will also ring Borders Head Office to try and drum up some more publicity for me, and organise talks, get them to order books etc to go into some of their other local stores - Brighton, Croydon and Wimbledon were mentioned. The other thing is that it looks like the Foyles multiple book signing is going ahead sometime in April - in the Charing Cross Road store - one of the biggest in London, and my name is definately on the list ! He will let me know then exactly when it will be, so I can pencil it into my bulging diary.

I have also just tried to ring Cygnus to jolly them up a bit and see if they are any closer to making a decision re my book, but Jackie the lady who deals with it is off until Monday (I forgot she only works part time). I am now about to find out about local newspapers in the Horsham area to see if I can drum up some free publictity for my talk there in less than 2 weeks now.

Editorial Duties

I went round to see Des this morning, current Editor of the village newsletter, and did my first three pages for the February edition - horoscopes, crossword and my very first news page as well, about last weeks storms! I must admit that I had been wondering whether I was really up to job, as I thought foolishly that I had NO editorial experience whatsoever, compared to Des who has worked in journalism all his life, but then I thought 'hang on a minute, I edited my own book, so that must mean that I know at least a thing or two'. I am now then getting really excited about this job, and really looking forward to the challenge of it all. I will have to get to know a lot of people - councillors, the national trust warden etc, but it will be great fun and a brilliant way of getting to know everyone and what is going on up here - and as I am discovering, there is a lot going on - the storms, the ongoing battle to get the council to fix our road being the most important ongoing stories.

I will have to drive down the winding road that leads to our village for the first time in the pitch black tonight, as I have to go to Horsham to meet Caroline who runs the Heart and Mind Group that I shall be doing a talk at in two weeks time. That should be fun! Hope no one comes towards me on the other side when I get to the legendary hairpins.

Borders tonight......

Exams were straightforward then today - A'level Science and Spanish - both 2 hour papers, one after the other. The 2 Spanish boys finished early though, so I was out of there by 4.15, which was nice. Then drove to our old stamping ground, New Malden, where I met Coran and on to Kingston for a Burger King (disgusting I know and full of wheat and all the things I am not supposed to eat) and then my talk !

It went well, very disappointing turnout though - 3 people plus Coran and Claire, the organiser. Not sure what happened, as they did a lovely display with signed copies etc and heaps of posters everywhere. I had damp eyes when I saw it all ! Three copies had been sold in advance though, and 2 more went tonight, which is good, plus one couple who were there (self published writers themselves) offered to swap links for our respective websites which is good. Claire will put the other books back on display anyway, and wait for them to sell, which I think they will. I signed three more copies to put on the shelf, which should help. Coran took some nice pictures of me as well standing at the table beforehand which I will put on my website, once the film is developed. Oh, and Claire let me take the posters home for prosperity as well, seeing as they don't need them. She is also happy to let me come back and do another talk in the future, which is good news.

So, what now, prepare for the next talk I guess, and ring Paul to let him know the news.... In the meantime, back to those exams, 2 more tomorrow - 9am to 10am and then again from 1pm - 2pm, with Tescos in between, unless there is of course a change of plan, which does tend to happen.....

Happy New Year to All !

Just got back then from a lovely weeks rest at Forest Mere health farm, top health farm in the UK, and very therapeautic it was too, although not without its problems. Coran was in two minds whether to still go or not, but decided to battle through. He was in two minds on Sunday, and then on the Monday as well, and in the end made the very difficult and painful decision to go home on Tuesday morning after breakfast. We were both quite upset by this decision, and lots of tears were shed, but in the end it proved to be the best thing all round, as these things usually are. It enabled both of us to have much needed time on our own, (I missed my usual autumn/iwnter visit to Lundy because of the house move), which also gave us the opportunity to re-evaluate lots of things, both as individuals and about where our relationship has been heading. Several decisions then have made, about things that we both need to do, which are being put into action as I write. Won't go into details here, as some of it is rather personal and best sometimes not to keep rehashing stuff anyway, you have to use the energy and just run with it, which is what both of us are now doing.

So, while I was away my first royalty cheque arrived. It was for the rather sad sum of £19.11 - all that for six months work! This does not really represent six months work though, but just the handful of books sold through amazon and the few book shops that I have managed to persuade to sign me up, as it were. The 20 books that Borders ordered will not be paid until the next statement in 3 months time, as they tend to buy books on 90 day terms, which means that Richard will not himself get the money until 3 months after the books have been ordered, assuming that they all sell, and Borders do not have to send some back .... Of course, I am also hoping that other branches will have ordered some by then as well, now it is on their stock inventory as a listed item.

Just before I went to Forest Mere I went into Epsom and had the great pleasure of seeing 3 copies of my book in the mind body and spirit section at Waterstones. It was a great feeling, and will have to go in each time I am passing through to keep an eye on things, now that we are nearer Epsom and will be visiting more once again. It is actually the town I was born in and where I went to school, so until I met Coran I lived there anyway. St Michaels is in the neighbouring village of Ewell, and the fact that I am such a regular and well known feature there is probably what persuadd Nick, the Manager, to stock the book in the first place.

The big news though is of course the long awaited talk at Borders tomorrow night. I am nervous but as prepared as I can be. The books have been ordered, so I don't have to worry about brnging them with me, just need to print out my notes, bring a book signing pen, some postcards and a notebook and then pray - very loudly. All I am sure though will be fine. Will no doubt be posting here again either tomorrow night or Wednesday to let you know how I got on. Think of me then, and wish me luck.

Looking Forward

Things continue to be quiet on the writing front - most people are only just going back to work after the extended Christmas/New Year break and we are still settling into the house and getting things sorted, so this is not such a bad thing. Once we are back from Forest Mere (going today for a weeks break), I shall start to get stuck back in.

The mock GCSE's start next week as well, which means more work invigilating. They offered me one day next week, which I had to decline, plus three days the following week after we get back. These are Tuesday 16th 1-2 pm and 3-5 pm, Wednesday 17th 9-10 am and 1-2pm, and Thursday 18th 9-10am and 11-12 noon. The timing for Tuesday is not brilliant as that is the night that I have my long awaited talk at Borders, but it just means I shall have to take stuff with me and drive from the college into Kingston and then home again. It will be a long day, but if I get some good sales that will more than make up for it. The exposure will be good for me, and will hopefully also help the Writers Group that I now run, which by happy coincidence manages to be the same week as the talk. I do need the money though, even if it is for only 7 hours work. The pay is not bad at £7.50 an hour, although it will take nearly an hour to get there from round here, as opposed to 15 minutes from the old house.

The talk at Horsham Heart and Mind is not long after that either, which means that I shall have to go to one of their meetings to find out where it is. I have at least conquered my fear of driving in the dark. That will be an experience, as there are several hairpin bends where there is nothing between you and a 200 foot drop to the bottom of the hill. Not too bad during the day, but scary at night, especially with someone coming in the other direction ..... I will have to do it some time though, as it is the quickest way to the main road that leads into Horsham. The next few weeks after we get back then should be exciting as things start to pick up. I am going to have a rethink about the cover as well while I am away and see if I can get any more ideas.

Finally getting settled

Well, the last time I wrote this was the night before we were due to move - or so we thought. We did not in the end get into the new house into the following day though - Thursday 14th rather than Wednesday 13th. The move itself went very well - the men - three of them were there bright and early, the new sofa was delivered and put straight on the van, and the old one taken away, and we were ready to go by a quarter to 12. The men though went for lunch first, so said there was no need for us to rush there following them. I left around 12.30 then while Coran stayed in the house tidying up and waiting for the new owners to hand over the keys etc and do the meter readings.

When I got there around 1pm, the van had not yet arrived, but the previous owners were there, so we did the meter readings and I went and sat in my car eating the wheat free rolls I had brought with me. It was then that I heard the previous owner on the phone saying there was some sort of problem. It transpired that the solicitor, in their infinite stupidity had put all the money into Coran's account instead of paying the preious owner and Haulfryn, the park owners. Under the law, when you sell a mobile home, the park owner is allowed to take a commission of up to 10 percent of the sale value. Until Haulfryn got their share, they would not sign the papers to say that we were the new owners, and we could not therefore take possession. So there was I stuck at the new house, trying to explain to three removal men why they could not unload the van, while Coran was back at the old one, trying to work out what the solicitor had done and get the money sorted out.

Unfortunately, because the funds had been transferred into a postal account rather than a branch based one, he could not do the transfers required, he also did not have the right ID on him, as it had all gone to the new house. So by 3.30 or so, when it became clear we would not be able to organise anything, he had to go and meet me at the new property. Luckily, the park owners did allow us to put the furniture into the house, but they could not allow us to stay there overnight, so we had to go and find a hotel. What really bugged me about this whole thing though was that the solicitors realised the day BEFORE we moved that they had made this mistake, but did not see fit to tell us. If they had then we would have time to sort things out and get the money transferred into the right accounts.

On top of all this though, we then found that our mobile phones did not work, as about the only network that does work up there is Vodafone. So, we had to then get new mobile phones, which cost us around £80 a piece. Then the Royal Mail did not start the redirect when they should have done. The biggest bigbear though that we were without a landline telephone, email or internet until this afternoon, and it took BT a total of 10 days to get this sorted out.

I do not know what this has all been about - but to say it has been annoying is an understatement of the grandest proportions. Still, it all came out in the end, and we are now finally beginning to settle in and actually feel like we are home. The boxes were collected yesterday, so we have our living room back, and all that now remains to be done is to giobe the place a good clean, get some bedroom curtains and organise the network cables.

On the writing front, then things are pretty much as they were before we left the old house. The last week has been spent concentrating on unpacking and getting settled in rather than worrying about writing. When I checked the emails erlier t today though no books appear to have been sold during my time offline, there was however an email from Claire at Borders asking me to confirm the date for my talk there in January, which I have done. So that, as they say is that.