Is proving quite tricky at the moment. June and July have been extremely busy months, most of it enjoyable, most of it nothing whatever to do with writing, keeping blogs, or anything in any way connected with developing the next story. June was mainly taken up with dealing with enquiries, and then a request to develop an idea, for turning Out of Time into a movie or television series. As ever with these things, there was pressure to provide the outline idea by a deadline - and now everything has gone very quiet. Primarily this is because the executives who have to make the decisions aren't around or are focussed on other projects at the moment ...
July has seen a major 'family' event. My eldest daughter Graduated from Manchester University with a Bachelor of Science with Honours. The degree is in Trust and Estate Management and you can be sure I am very, very proud of her. Holding down a fulltime job and doing a degree of this sort part-time is a tough task. So mid-July was taken upü with attending that celebration.
This year marks the fifthieth anniversary of my finishing my school career and matriculation. So my 'Class' - those of us who have survived at any rate - are gathering to celebrate. That takes place in South Africa in October, in the city of East London. My old school, Selborne College, was founded in 1852 by a Lutheran Pastor, and renamed as Selborne Primary and College (collectively; 'The Selborne Schools') in 1907 after the then Earl of Selborne who had a major part in promoting education in the UK and in South Africa. The present Earl regularly attends major events in the life of the school and still takes an interest in it. I was very fortunate to have been able to attend this school, since my family were not that well-heeled. My paternal Grandfather had attended the school before it became Selborne, and my father and his brother attended it before WW2, so my brother and I became the third generation. I must confess that I was not one of the schools finest academioc or sporting scholars - but it did succeed in giving me a fantastic grounding from which to start my subsequent career.
Other distractions include my pair of Shelties, who are making the most of the summer in our surrounding forest and fields. Enthusiastic hunters of field mice, they are also convinced that the local deer are there to be rounded up and herded (they haven't yet succeeded in bringing them home, but they're trying!). Our neighbours have to be guarded, greeted, watched and enticed into providing treats, and, of course, I have to be reminded to take them for walks, to provide their meals at the correct times (I think they can read the clock!) and invited to regular games of football in the garden.
All in all, between the various summer activities, the Shelties and preparations for my trip to South Africa, writing is happening - slowly.
On the good side, the publisher of my books, A Baltic Affair, and The Outer Edge, IndieGo Publishing, is now preparing to release Their Lordships Request as an e-book and in paperback. I originally published this book myself, back in the days I was still learning the craft of novel writing, so it is benefitting from this overhaul and will soon be a fully professional piece of literature I can be proud of.