01 June
Sparsile Books (2)
Update: my author bio is now up in all its glory. If you should feel inclined to see it, go to Sparsile Books About. It’s possible the title of the book might change. I felt Ghosts was a bit vague, and when I mentioned it to Lesley Affrossman, she said she’d had the same thought. On top of all that Sophie Hannah (she of the new Poirot books fame) said exactly the same. So scratch that ‘possible’ from earlier in the paragraph. The title is going to change. I’m not quite sure what’s going to happen next. Cover? Contact from the editor? You can be sure that, whatever it is, I’ll be blethering on about it here.
17 May
Ghosts and Sparsile Books
Just this week, Sparsile Books, who describe themselves as ‘a small boutique publisher, specializing in literary fiction and high quality non-fiction’ who ‘want to put the art back into publishing’, have taken on Ghosts for publication. It is early days yet, but the plan is for the book to come out next year, perhaps in spring. There will be a book launch, probably in Glasgow. All invited! No doubt I will be posting much more about this (to me) exciting event. And if you can’t wait to find out something about Ghosts, you can get a bit more information by navigating through the writing tabs on this site.
03 May
Flotation Device
The Glasgow SF Writers Circle has put together a book of short stories to help covid charities. You can download a copy of the book at Flotation Device. It's a snip at £5.99, given that there are 20 stories I it (one of them mine), and over 300 pages. All moneys raised go to charity. All authors provided their stories for free. Go on... What have you got to lose?
28 April
And another one
So middle son, Michael, has just informed me they’re expecting a baby in October. That will make four grandchildren. Boy or girl, we don’t know. Son no. 1 has three boys. Perhaps it’s something in the genes. No names yet. I still think Quantum works. Quantum Cashmore. QC. Works for me! More anon... presumably in October.
23 March
On social distancing
Today Dylan fixed it so I could hear my phone’s playlist through Bluetooth headphones, and I wore them while I chopped up logs. First time I ever wore headphones. He told me that as I was cheerfully singing along to Bread, Elton John, Eagles, Bob Dylan etc, all the while equally cheerfully swinging my axe, my neighbours were socially distancing me. Can’t imagine why.
20 March
Writers’ retreat
I booked myself in on the Dream Author Writers’ Retreat, held in the rather splendid environs of the Hewenden Mill Cottages. Leading the retreat (ho, good one) was Sophie Hannah, who writes crime novels in general and the new Poirot novels in particular. You can find out what I thought of the Poirot novels somewhere in my books review blog. The retreat was quite good fun and certainly a restful break from home life. I didn’t agree with everything Sophie put forward, but I could see the points she was trying to make. She read the first three chapters of Ghosts and I am glad to say she thought they were quite good and ought to find a publishing home. We shall see. In the event, we probably only just got the retreat in before the virus shutters came down. But thanks to Sophie and all the other attendees for a pleasant break.
19 March
SfEP is dead...
... long live CIEP. Yes, The Society for Editors and Proofreaders, which had been running for some thirty years, has wound up and morphed into The Chartered Institute for Editing and Proofreading. This is a giant step. All sorts of hoops had to be jumped through, but at the end of the day we obtained a Royal Seal of approval, and turned into CIEP. The aim now is to completely change the brand, and make sure CIEP is the ‘go-to’ place for anything related to proofreading and editing. Let’s hope that happens. I wonder where the Institute will be in another thirty years?