A Patchy Week (Apache?)

October 22^nd. 2016

Looking at my diary for the previous seven days, it’s blank. Anyone would think I don’t do anything. I’ve managed to add about two thousand words to my WIP, but have had to interrupt the flow because of hospital appointments, a flu jab, and a trip to Specsavers. We also made a pointless journey to a garden centre to buy something they didn’t stock. We didn’t know that until we arrived. So, stayed there, had lunch and drove home. Sometimes the week is more or less pre-ordained and your plans fit together seamlessly. Other times there’s a kind of haphazard, flying by the seat of your pants period over which there is little or no control.

I received the hardback copy of A Dangerous Game from Ingram Spark. I was very pleased with the result. It cost nothing because of an offer from Ingram, but it has encouraged me to have my next book published in hardback too.

I looked at my Amazon rankings today (I do it every day), and saw a gradual rise over the last four weeks: nothing dramatic of course, but on September 22^nd. I was at 177,000. Today I have moved up to 80,000. To some people, that might look quite poor, but any struggling writer reading this will understand that the rise is always pleasing to see, and means my books are still selling. There are highs and lows during that period of course, but a rise is a rise.

The planned #lovetoread CHINDI party on the 18^th. November looks like it could be a great evening. There are some splendid raffle prizes being donated, including a bumper book hamper from Random House. All proceeds will go to Dislexia Action, a worthwhile charity. You can read more about this on our website at www.chindi-authors.co.uk

The six minute video of me reading an extract from my latest book, A Dangerous Game, has now been uploaded to my YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_pFFfhAKiw) and is also on my website www.michaelparkerbooks.com Thanks to Dan Jones, one of the CHINDI authors, for taking the time to record us all.

And who says men can’t multitask? At the moment I’m listening to SKY Sports Soccer Saturday and writing this blog. This morning, nothing to do with multi-tasking, I watched the Australian Speedway Grand Prix. It was the last one of the season which saw the American rider, Greg Hancock, crowned world champion for the fourth time. The Aussie rider, Chris Holder won the Grand Prix, which was great stuff — an Aussie winning the GP in his own country.

Next up for me? There are several things on the calendar, but hopefully I will make some solid progress on my WIP. Wish me luck!