Hello All,
It’s been a long time since you heard from me – probably about a year. Consequently, I’ve decided to improve my communications with the passing of 2020, but you won’t hear from me more frequently than monthly, so relax. In future emails I’ll include an anecdote from my past, things that may be interesting and have happened to me but probably not to you, as well as a sentence on the progress of the latest book.
Confession: I’m not good at social media. I’m a media sloth.
I look at Facebook, but unless there’s something on it from a person I know or group I belong to, it’s not worth my time. Twitter – well the name says it all, doesn’t it? The meaningless chatter of birds at dawn (politicians included).
In spite of these sour comments, I did set up a Facebook page for CA Sole Author, but I last posted on that some 13 months ago! I’m going to try and improve, because they (the experts) say your author platform and visibility grows with exposure, and that’s important if you don’t want anyone to forget you exist. The page has photos which relate to episodes in my books, so it’s not too bad an effort.
I’d love to claim my new novel is ready for publication, but sadly all it’s ready for is a brutal attack by professional editors. First up is a structural editor, a lady who will tackle it in January 2021. She will probably tell me to rewrite the whole thing which I will refuse to do, because I’m fed up with it now. I’ll go ahead to inflict yet another mediocre work of art on unsuspecting readers. However, if she’s not too cruel and it only needs minimal work, it will go for a copy edit where missing commas and typos will be corrected. Meanwhile I’m looking for a cover designer. These good folk are all super-busy, so the exercise will take some time. Publication in x months.
I’m stuck for a title. I don’t normally suffer from so-called ‘writer’s block’. I find a walk, a night’s sleep or anything to take my mind off the subject allows my brain to work something out quite quickly. But with this title, I’m stuck. It’s name at the moment is Thirty-Four, but I’m not convinced that’s the best, and it could change. I’ll see what the editor has to say. On the other hand, Thirty-Four is eternal, so it could suit. You’ll have to read it to see what that means. A subsequent email will divulge a few secrets of the story – I’ll be in touch.
I’ll keep you updated at the various stages of editing. In the mean time, I hope everyone has a far better year ahead of them in 2021 and keeps well and free of the dreaded virus.