Back in Harness

We’ve just arrived back from a very enjoyable trip to UK, happy now that we have chosen an area we want to go back to when we finally return to the UK later this year. It will be Pagham: about six miles south of Chichester in West Sussex. It’s an area we are familiar with, and close to family. Not too close though. We can’t do anything until my specialist at the hospital gives me the good news about my treatment, but now at least we can talk more positively about where we’ll be living and know that we are both happy with the idea. While we were home we were able to see our eldest son’s new house and enormous garden (half an acre). The work he and his wife have done in the ten months or so they have lived there is nothing less than inspirational. Vince works away from home all week, and Jackie works full time, but they have managed to turn and overgrown jungle into something to delight the heart of all gardeners. And it isn’t finished yet!

We also spent a long weekend with two friends of ours who moved back to UK after seventeen years in Spain. They live in a park home at Ruskington, near Sleaford. It was a nice relaxing weekend and not having seen them for about eight or nine months, it gave us a good opportunity to catch up.

I hadn’t planned to spend any time on the PC while away, except to check e-mails etc., which is why my blog is well behind. I have thought about my next book of which you have all seen the prologue now. Any bright ideas out there about where I might go with it? I intend throwing myself into this project now that I have a lengthy road ahead of me, but my target is to have the book complete within six months. And one thing I must make sure of is that there are no mistakes or typos in it. The eagle eyed among you (my wife included) will have spotted the mistake in my last blog entry. Despite reading through carefully before publishing, I managed to say that “I am now 100% fit”, whereas I should have said, “I am NOT 100% fit”. Its amazing how one letter can make a world of difference: something all writers should be aware of when they are reading through their proofs. I can say that because I’ve been there and got the T shirt.

I am also hoping to have my revamped website up and running fairly soon, but it involves a little more web design before I can unleash it upon the unsuspecting public. More care too on how I promote and market my books is part of the plan for the immediate future. I will also be re-publishing my novels. It’s all part of the plan to take control of my own affairs. Once again I will have to convince myself that the titles are typo free. This means proof reading again before they go to print on Amazon. Some of you might question this, but I recently read HELL’S GATE and found some mistakes: nothing to spoil the story but enough to make me shake my head in despair. Proof reading, you see: most important. Wish me luck.