Journal
  Anno Domini

February  2012	Recently there has been quite a bit of debate about e-books taking over from real books. The doom-mongers have been bewailing the probability that before long real books – those things with covers and paper pages – will be a thing of a past, and that Kindle, Nook, and such will take over the world. Most of us disagreed. They said that about the theatre when movies started, said it about movies when video came out. Yes, video disappeared because of the DVD – but that is the same type of technology only vastly improved. And actually, thinking about it, they said the horse would be extinct because of the car... So I was pleased to read several reports stating that more real books are being sold than ever before, and, in fact, the e-book is enhancing real books. There is a reason for this. Kindle (for instance) is great to read on a train or plane, it’s useful for those of us with poor sight because the font can be enlarged; the book you want to read is delivered instantaneously (as long as you are near wi-fi reception). On the other hand, you can’t easily flip backwards and forwards to catch up on a scene you missed, or to check on a character. You can’t see maps and genealogies very clearly – a real pain in historical fiction as they are often essential to the story. The feel, the smell, is all part of a real book reading experience. And most of all – a real book doesn’t run out of battery five pages into your next session, just as the action is getting exciting. Having to get out from under a cosy duvet to find the wretched charger – or worse still, have the screen go blank ten minutes into your several hour journey is not much fun. The only limitation with a book is enough light to see to read, and a decent size font. I like my Kindle but I love real books. ‘Nuff said I think. I am a bit concerned about my sight. I’m okay indoors, but outside my left eye blurs. My optometrist can’t discover why, as there is nothing obvious. I think it is to do with too much light hitting the retina, a bit like dazzle on a sunny day. What with that and the double vision I have because my right eye muscles have drooped – hmm I’m 60 next year, looks like I’m falling to bits already. I can sort of manage. Very much miss driving now, but not much I can do about it. I do find it difficult when out and about though. Steps and kerbs are scary because added to my disintegrating hip I am terrified of falling. I have found recently that I am getting to the point where I don’t want to go out. I can very easily see why people lose their confidence and end up staying indoors. A friend suggested I get myself a white cane. I use a cane (or walking stick as we call them here in the UK) anyway because of the aforesaid dodgy hip, so I looked on e-bay and purchased one. I’ve not plucked up courage to venture beyond the front garden gate with white cane yet, I’ll let you know how I get on. At least when I fall over now, or can’t see bus numbers etc people won’t think it’s because I’ve partaken of too much of my Jesamiah’s rum. Regular readers of my journal will be pleased to know I’ve stuck to one of the items on my list of five resolutions I mentioned last month. I won’t share which one, but I can tell you it was not number two. That has been a miserable failure. Despite cutting down on biscuits, cake, chips, I’ve put weight on. Not fair. Lovers of historical fiction who live in, or can get to London may be interested to know that details of the Historical Novel Society’s London 2012 Conference have been unveiled. I am involved as a committee member in charge of promoting self-published / indie books, so I will be doing a short talk along with Helen Hart of Silverwood Books and self-published author Richard Denning, and I am thrilled to announce that my designer Cathy Helms of Avalon Graphics is going to come to London from North Carolina to join us. I am so excited at the prospect of meeting her! I have decided to be completely extravagant and have booked a hotel in London for the conference weekend. Possibly a bit daft as I only live at the end of the Victoria Line Underground railway, but what with eyes, hips, age and general senility, I was rather dreading traveling backwards and forwards for the Friday, Saturday and Sunday – so I thought, blow it, I’ll treat myself to a London hotel. Looks like we are all going to be disrupting the chosen venue though, so the entire weekend promises to be exciting. One further thing about the difference between a real book and an e-book: an e-book doesn’t have a soul. A real book is a thing that comes alive. Here’s the proof: there is nothing like a real book. Lege feliciter (read happily).
January  2012	2012. Hopefully an exciting year. For us Londoners the Olympic Games will be a focal point, but living close to the main stadium as I do, I’m not very enthusiastic about it. The probable road chaos is not promising for us residents - still, I will be boring you with that in the Summer I expect. For now, it is New Year Resolution Time. I’m hopeless at making and keeping them so I thought I would share my 2012 goals rather than make firm resolutions that last about three days maximum. 1. Actively promote well-written, well-edited and well-produced self-published novels from good, aspiring authors. 2. Try to shed a little weight (don’t we all make that promise to ourselves?) 3. Learn something new 4. Do one of the things on my “always wanted to do” list 5. Get back to a proper routine of writing Item 1 I have already made a start by becoming the Historical Novel Society’s (HNS) Self-published Review Editor. The aim is to show writers who decide to self-publish – in any of its variant forms – that in order to be taken seriously as a writer a book has to be well-written and well produced. Anyone can write a novel, but not everyone can write a readable novel. Number one essential – get a professional editor. I’m thrilled to be on the HNS review panel; this is a good way to actively encourage worthwhile writing for self published historical fiction novels, and hopefully gain the recognition that so many independent writers need. With the London HNS Conference being planned for September 2012 the HNS will, I hope, be in high profile this year, but as a member of the planning committee I will be writing more about this event next month. Item 2 I cannot diet. When I try I put more weight on as I develop a need to comfort eat; and oh, I do so love cheese! My aim is to be practical and set reasonable, and attainable, goals. So I want to shed one stone. When I’ve lost that, I will attempt to lose another one. That, I think I can do. Its not too daunting a task. I intend to go about it by not picking at food between meals, by eating sensibly and trying to get a little more exercise. I will keep you posted about how I get on. Don’t hold your breath though! Item 3 I’m tempted to consider a new evening class or add another certificate to my somewhat erratic, and almost abandoned degree course, but I know I do not have the spare time or mental concentration to do this successfully, so I think I’ll go for something different, and something that is not involved with my writing. I would like to learn how to knit properly. We’ll see… first get some knitting needles and some wool. I knitted a scarf once. It ended up like the famous Tom Baker Dr Who extra-long scarf because I couldn't figure out how to cast off. Yes, I really am that hopeless. Item 4 There are places I have always wanted to go to but never found the time, or anyone who wanted to come with me. It’s no fun going on your own, so I end up not going. The National Gallery in London, for instance. Never been in there. Hampton Court, I was taken to as a young child – too young to appreciate it or realise what I was looking at. I want to visit some of the English Civil War battle sites. I want to travel on a boat from Southend to London – all the way up the Thames in other words. On a Thames Barge would be the ideal. What fun! Don’t know if that's possible, but I would so like to do it. I will make a list of all these places and ideas and promise myself to get to at least one of them accomplished! Item 5 I love Twitter and Facebook. Having a regular presence on those two sites is a good thing for marketing – and socialising, but not at the expense of my writing. It is, unfortunately, also a wonderful excuse for writers’ procrastination. Last year was horrendous from my writing perspective – I barely wrote anything new – with the exception of articles, blogs and so on, which are all very well but not money-earning career-wise novels! With my UK publisher going bust and therefore having to re-edit all seven of my novels so I could re-publish them (not including A Hollow Crown which remains with Random House) I had no mental capacity to spare for creating new adventures. To be honest, from August onwards I felt mentally written out. But the backlist is now in print and I feel that my writer’s batteries are recharged. Christmas and the New Year has come and gone – so it is back to regular writing. Head down, and full sail my girl! I have drawn breath and am ready to start writing new stuff – completing Ripples In the Sand being a priority. No more fiddling with unnecessary Internet activity. If you see me on Facebook too much could I ask you to remind me I said that please? I had a wonderful Christmas: my daughter cooked the most fabulous Christmas dinner and I must add that my good friend, James from Long Island, New York, stayed with us over the holiday period. Wonderful to see him and enjoy his company, but what do they teach Americans these days? He had no idea about Christmas crackers or Boxing Day. He got his own back by educating us about Thanksgiving though. I won’t mention the fact that he ate all our mince pies, got lost in London and the gin bottle emptied pretty quick… One sad note, my webmaster’s mother passed away over the Christmas period. Although Mr Webmaster is unseen and un-named his presence is very much to the fore in that he has overseen this web site, and edited my monthly journal, from the very start. I’m sure my regular readers will join me in expressing our deepest condolences. I found the quote above on Twitter. Nothing changes does it? Wishing you all all the best for 2012 Lege feliciter (read happily).