Hi folks, glad you have found me but sorry I may be away for a while as I have to get my blog and goodreads onto the new computer.
Everything else seems to work. Give me time and I’ll come back keener than ever. The new book should be on amazon before June but I still have to work out how to give them the ebook. I’ll do that on the new laptop, which, so far, has no printer!
Not a holiday with a computer, a holiday from the computer as I am getting my laptop upgraded. Maybe then I’ll not get people ringing up saying I have a virus. Don’t worry – I didn’t react as required. This seems a good time as the new book is ready for the launch in June and I don’t have anything else on the go at the moment.
Whether I can cope with windows ten when I didn’t understand vista or my mobile phone is another matter. If I go quiet for a while you’ll know why.Next job will be to get the ebook out. That will have to be on the new laptop. I need lessons! J.
Copies of ‘A Lesson for the Teacher’ have now arrived and I am trying to think where to send review copies. This will be a harder task than usual because I have been writing for a select audience in this locality and I began to know what they liked. Now I have written something completely different, for a different readership and need to access people with particular interests, primarily schoolteachers who were young in the 1960’s. As most of them will have retired I can’t even find them through work related channels.
If I think of the newspapers and magazines that I read, there are very few. Maybe I am being too restrictive and anyone who likes chick-lit will enjoy a ‘vintage’ story? I’m just afraid my usual readers will be surprised by the slightly warmer temperature of this latest romance!
Our heroine has accepted a dinner date at the home of an older man she has recently met.
I was nervous about Saturday night. Still, it was my opportunity to show how trendy I could be. I had a pink polo necked top that I liked – and if I teamed that with a short black skirt I’d feel about as fashionable as I could get.
I searched through my record collection for tunes Nigel might like, Adam Faith, Bert Weedon, Cliff Richard, Dusty Springfield – everything seemed so upbeat. I needed something slower, more romantic, like ‘Moon River.’ I hummed it to myself as I backcombed my hair. Maybe I should bleach it, I thought, or at least, get highlights.
This week I need to get a new laptop but choosing the right one is proving tricky. I really wanted one that wasn’t too heavy to carry around but the lighter they are the more expensive they are. Then I have to decide how much memory I want and if I need a long battery life. I don’t at the moment but I can envisage a time when I might.I don’t need to split the top off to make a tablet and I don’t think I want a touch screen. I just want something to write on and if I can skype and surf a little that would be fine. There’s no writing getting done at present but I do have a recording session this week and a talk to a WI group on Wednesday. That’s busy enough for the moment. The invitations for the book launch in June are ready but we won’t distribute them until May. As soon as it is printed I’ll mail some off for reviews. I might even post a taster! J.
My poor old Vista laptop is so slow it nearly stops. I could boil a kettle and make tea while it is finding something. In fact I often turn it on and read the paper for five or ten minutes.So I’m on the hunt for a new one and things have changed so much in ten years I’m lost in the choices. Do I want a camera? Do I need 4GB or 8GB ? Do I want a wireless mouse? How heavy should it be? Which side are the ports? Do I want Windows10?
I am studying the options and setting out to visit the appropriate stores but for someone who just writes stories and emails they all offer so much that I don’t need. Still, I’ll soon be dragged kicking and screaming into the modern world and will buy an idiot’s guide to help me learn what I need to know.
Things are getting exciting now as it gets nearer to the date of publication for “A Lesson for the Teacher.” Not only are the Sea Scribes giving readings at the WOW festival in May but three of us are having a joint book launch at the Swallows Return where I launched “Never Run Away.” We are already designing invitations and making lists of people to invite.
This time I can’t rely on the setting being in Worthing as the new book is set all over the South, Greenford, Ealing, Bucks, Essex, Brixham, Shoreham and Gillingham all feature at some point in the story. My problem is I have to target retired teachers and if they are anything like me they don’t read women’s magazines, where I would normally advertise as it is a romance.
Still, I do have a few ideas. I’ll let you know if they work!
Saturday’s workshops at the Mockingbird cafe had few takers but turned out to be interesting for many reasons. The venue has great potential, with both easy sofas and tables for meals. To be surrounded by art and artifacts makes for a sympathetic ambiance and the meals, once they arrived, were beautifully presented and tasty.
Wendy’s workshop on memories produced some thoughtful work from a number of people and all our books were on display and for sale. By the time lunch was over we had fewer customers but I did a little workshop on designing a bookmark that might encourage our group to think more about marketing.
We are doing readings at the WOW festival at the end of May and planning a joint book launch in June. More information will be forthcoming when we know the venue.
My second talk of the eight I have booked for this year to local WI groups and it turned out to be a most interesting evening.
Not only were they arranged in tables of four, instead of in rows, but after I had done my bit they had a ‘mix up’ game where each person had a playing card and had to find the other three with the same number and introduce themselves. As there were two new members this was especially appropriate and great fun.
Saturday I will have more books to sell as I am doing a workshop with the rest of the Sea Scribes at the Mockingbird Cafe which, so far, does not have a shop sign so I hope people can find it. There are plenty of posters and we have told the press.
juliecround 