The pope, Liverpool and writing. It's all religion.

Evening gang.

A generally positive start to the week has been kicked off course by Liverpool's dismal home defeat to West Brom which has just finished.

Indeed it's been a day of surprises. Earlier in the day the Pope resigned. Sky News has had folk stationed at the Vatican all day and that's been quite nice since I've been there. Still, it's a hell of a job and not one I can imagine many would relish.

Which brings me to that other form of religion. Football. Specifically Liverpool, in the opinion of many the most famous club on the planet. Every bloody time we dare to believe the corner has been turned we go and get turned over by a lesser team at Anfield. I'll be off to bed in a bad mood now. Very frustrating and yet you can't help but be drawn back to watch the next game.

So, to end on a positive. Sales of the new book are going well. In fact sales in the last week have been good, though I have been motivated to do some promotion for a change since I'm not writing at the moment. As ever, thanks to everyone who has parted with their cash and I hope you enjoy the stories.

By the way, just as an aside, if you haven't seen House of Cards on Netflix I recommend you dive in. It stars Kevin Spacey and it's utterly brilliant. I was up until 3AM last night/this morning watching it. Top drawer.

Right, time for another ale and then bed.

How long does it take to write a book?

Evening folks,

Italy was awesome thanks for asking. I'd recommend seeing more than one city in a trip as you get a great opportunity to compare and contrast different places. Venice is lovely but so different to Rome. Also, despite what everyone had told us, the wife and I both preferred Rome, although we would definitely return to both places. By the way, the pic below is the view of the grand canal from one of our windows. Needless to say one of the better rooms I've stayed in.

I'd also recommend the cross Europe sleeper as an option if you can afford it and don't like flying. It's a fun experience although not exactly the height of luxury. I've attached a couple of links so you can see for yourself. Bottom line is, you get a bed, decent tea, there's a bar and you see all sorts out of the window. It was slightly surreal being in Dijon station at half ten at night, but pretty cool. Either way, we didn't sleep great but enough to arrive in Venice at breakfast time (we had breakfast on the train too), check in to our hotel (with the above view) and spend the day sight seeing.

But the point of this post is the writing. I wrote thousands of words while I was away including a 2000 word session on the train from Venice to Italy which was super. There's a lot to be said for typing away with a glass of wine while the grand canal is only a few feet away. Again, strange but very cool. I also sold plenty of books last month which was very encouraging.

So where am I up to? As of today I've written over 82,000 words of the new book and should have a completed draft tomorrow. Needless to say I'll announce something when it's done. Which brings me to the title of this post. How long does it take to write a book? Well, assuming I finish it tomorrow this book will have taken just over six months which doesn't feel like long at all.

In other news I've had some lovely reviews lately as well. Here's a few words from someone who finished reading All the fun of the Fair this week:

"Just finished All the Fun of the Fair. Gutted it ended!! Absolutely loved Alfie from the moment I met him, tania was fantastic, reminded me a lot of myself in my youth lol, and as for lee I hope he gets an incurable STD."

This person has since purchased a copy of The 24 Hour Jazz Cafe so fingers crossed they enjoy that too.

Anyway, I'm having an easy night tonight since I'm still off work and I've been writing all day. Tele and ale is the plan. Hopefully I'll have a finished novel to tell you about tomorrow along with a couple of other developments.

When in Rome...

Afternoon all,

It's raining in Rome! It was amusing as it began to drizzle watching the locals run for cover or put up their umbrellas. Meanwhile, the wife and I were happily wandering about in short sleeves as we are used to the weather in the north of England. All the illegal street traders immediately went from offering knock off bags and toys to offering umbrellas. Talk about supply and demand.

Had a wander round St Peter's today. Big old spot that and mighty impressive too. Plenty of folk had warned me about queues in Italy. So far the only waiting I've done was for the Colisseum and that was a good hour. But then it was Saturday afternoon. But we were straight into everywhere else.

I was intrigued by the majority who seemed more intent on photographing every element of the buildings while seeming to notice none of them. Even a basic google search will produce all the pictures one could ever wish to see of all the things in the Basilica for example. So I was more than happy to simply stand in the place and experience it. I'd much rather look at the sights with my own eyes than down the lense of the latest Canon camera. Still, each to their own.

Anyway, we've seen plenty of stuff on our Italian tour, both in Venice and here in Rome. I've also just about finished the first draft of the novel. The plan is to do a bit now, bit more on the plane home tomorrow and then see how the rest of the week plays out. I might even post a few holiday snaps on here if I can be bothered although I tend to take pictures of random things like the tea and cakes we had in a tea room next to the Spanish steps (British couple wandered in. Wife was grumbling. "Why pay 10 Euro for a cup of tea? There's a kettle in the room") rather than obvious attractions which you can Google for yourselves.

Right, I've got typing to do. Hopefully it will distract me from the frightening amount of money this trip has cost us. The wife's already fretting about it and we haven't even got home yet. Bless.

Until next time...