A Boost ... and some Caution

This has been an interesting month in many ways. For a part of it I have been in Belgrade, attending a conference at which I was a speaker. It is always good to know that your expertise is still current, still in demand, and still of use to someone. These cultural trips are always a rich source of ideas for books, articles and stories, and this one was no exception. Serbia is a fascinating place, and the culture equally so. Ergo; I have a number of character sketches, some history to play with a few new ideas to kick around for a storyline.

I returned home to some very good news though, and I hope it is a sign of things developing in the right direction. The publisher of A Baltic Affair, IndieGo Publishing, had sent me the latest payment for Royalties covering June to July from Kindle, Nook and another outlet. OK, so the figure is only a three figure one, but it is almost four times the previous largest number and surprised even the publisher. Now I'm keeping my fingers crossed this is going to keep building. It will make my tax declaration next year worthwhile if it does.

Other news is that the "Hollywood Treatment" of Out of Time is evidently attracting interest, but here I have to be careful. I'm under a lot of pressure to put up a large amount of money (which I would have to borrow) to pay a professional Script Writer to develop the 'Treatment' for an interested party. Much as I want to see my story in film/video/etc., I just haven't got the kind of money they are looking for. On top of that, I am advised by a movie 'insider' that the interested party is the one who should be paying me for the right to develop it - not the other way round.

It's great that someone is this interested. It would be great to see my work turned into a movie (I could even live with a tax problem from it!), but there is risk taking, and there is risk taking. Neither my wife nor my bank see this as sensible. Any suggestions anyone?

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