Technically Challenged

It has been something of a technical challenge for me this past few days, because modern technology strides ever further away from my aging abilities. I was reading a blog about improving your connection to the wider audience as a writer, and one of the suggestions was that I should have an e-mail subscriber list. Having just been asked by a contact on LinkedIn if I had such a list, I thought it would be a good idea to start one. Mail Chimp seemed to be the best one for me, so I joined the Mail Chimp site and began the process. That was my first mistake: I followed the instructions and wasn’t surprised to find that my efforts had fallen well short of success. I contacted Mail Chimp’s support department and was pointed in the right direction, which meant uninstalling and starting again. I am into the second stage, meaning I have achieved what I set out to do up to a point. The Mail Chimp tab has appeared but in the wrong place, so another SOS to Mail Chimp. I have received a reply which I will act on in the fullness of time. Whether I’ll ever achieve what I’m after remains to be seen. The e-mail subscribers list will be for ‘Michael Parker’s Book News’. Not that I have anything to report, but once up and running, I will keep my willing fans up to date. (There must be a couple out there).

My next technological battle was with my wife’s iPad. She couldn’t go on-line even though there was no problem with our broadband because I could go on with my laptop. My diagnosis was that it was a server fault; not her iPad. The next day the problem was still there, so I fiddled around with it to see if my technical fault finding ability could crack the problem. In the end I had to log on to Apple’s technical support department where I found the solution in their FAQ page. I had to reset the iPad and ‘forget the network’. Instructions followed produced the result I needed and my wife was able to use her iPad again. Peace reigns!

The proposed change to the book jacket for THE EAGLE’S COVENANT hasn’t materialised yet, but I know my son will come up with the goods. He’s planning to visit m in a few weeks’ time, so I guess he’ll have something before then. I’m hoping it will prove to be the turning point. Although my books sales are not fantastic, I haven’t sold one copy of that book for almost fifty days: far too long.

Readers of this blog will know that I have set aside my current manuscript to work on another project. It should be finished by the end of the month, and then hopefully I can crack on with my next novel.

I’m hoping to see the PDF galley proofs of my forthcoming book, PAST IMPERFECT soon. Once I have checked them through, the sooner the book will be available: something to look forward to.

My chemo sessions are half-way through; three more to go. Hopefully I will be given the all clear some-time in April (or before?). Wish me luck!