Choosing the right direction

17^th September 2016

I would like to say that I put in a good shift this week and added a few more thousand words to my WIP, but that isn’t the case and I have no excuses. Well, perhaps I do, but I’m probably kidding myself. The character I mentioned in last week’s blog who insists on dragging me away in a different direction is at it again. Perhaps I should listen to her and follow, but then I would lose the main thread of the story, which would cause me problems when it comes to re-writing the first draft and the subsequent edit. I expect a lot of writers would encourage me to change direction, while others would insist I stick to my guns and ignore her. We’ll see.

My Facebook advert seems to be attracting people. I’m not sure that I’m selling more books because of it, but from time to time my Amazon Rankings shoot up from the doldrums where they usually nestle before sinking back down again. My FB page likes and views are showing healthy increases, so I must be doing something right. I’ll let the advert run for another few days before making changes. Often it’s a simple change of audience or interests that trigger higher sales.

I received an e-mail from Ingram Spark offering a free deal for any new or existing title. I thought it would be nice to have my latest, self-published title, A Dangerous Game, published as a hardback to go with my other books. The whole process is vexing, even though I have published three titles with them. The interior file was rejected because it wasn’t PDF and the fonts were not embedded. I sorted that out and uploaded. The cover file was rejected because the image hadn’t been saved in Adobe Presets with flattened layers. I sorted that out too. Each time the message was that there were errors but they could be dealt with by IS. So where’s the next step? There isn’t one: there was no way on the page to continue the process, simply the instruction “back to files”. I had to resort to an e-mail to them. Still waiting for a reply.

Met up with a lad called Jamie Dyer of http://www.SouthWavesRadio.co.uk for a coffee and a chat about linking the CHINDI author group with the station for a series of book reads/talks. Jamie will be coming to our next meeting to discuss the project and see if it’s viable or not. Hopefully we will be able to increase our reach through the station, which is broadcast 24/7 on the internet.

On the domestic front I had my four monthly check-up with my cancer specialist and got the all-clear again. Next appointment in four months. Picked up our new car last Monday (KIA Venga auto). Smaller than my KIA Sportage, but comfortable, quiet and fun to drive. We went over to Dorset yesterday to visit our son and his wife. Took the dog and enjoyed a good day over there. Then we had to battle back along the M27, crawling for about an hour. After that we had a diversion through Chichester because of an accident on the by-pass. Too many cars on the road, that’s the trouble.

Today, Saturday, we have my brother-in-law and his wife coming over for lunch. Should be good. No writing today then. Maybe tomorrow? And will that character keep dragging me away? Hope not. Wish me luck!