Is it better to admit defeat?

Evening gang,

Been awhile - again. Looks like that's going to be the way of things from now, there just aren't the hours in the day.

On the plus side I've finished the new edition of The 24 Hour Jazz Café. Just the new cover to work on and then I'll launch it. Woo etc.

Struggling a bit with the editing of FEAR but only because it's quite a complex plot and I need to concentrate and I exist in a state of permanent weariness. I will, as ever, stick at it. But since I've got one eye on doing some submissions in the next month or two I might throw what time I do have at my new book, the third jazz café novel, and see how that pans out.

Side projects starting to take shape. Had a meeting with financial advisor and it turns out we have a few options regarding finance for Project Slumlord (which is the fun name we've chosen for our Buy To Let adventure). 1st step is to talk to bank on Monday and then hopefully we can crack on. One thing I have learned is that I won't be using Ratcliffe and Bibby to manage any future properties. Frig useless. It will be July on Tuesday and I am yet to receive last month's rent. I emailed them last week, no reply, rang them Thursday only to be promised someone would call me back. It's now Saturday night and nothing. So to recap - R&B estates. Crap. Feel free to show this to them, it might get them to pull their finger out. Bear in mind I am paying them for this awesome service, as well as covering the mortgagee myself since I'm not getting the rent. Good job I've got pots of cash!

Speaking of which, had tidy Birthday. Pressies from wife on way, spent the day shopping in Manchester where we did some damage. Wife got a Mulberry bag though so it's all smiles. Also got a couple of cards from work which I always find a bit odd, as well as a pressie.

Dog's driving me mental, wildly time consuming. But of course that could be fixed by working less hours - hence my drive to get Project Slumlord off the ground.

Finally, how awesome is the World Cup? One of best ones in my lifetime. Wimbledon also shaping up nicely with Federer playing great so far.

Tomorrow's plan - get a Rug Doctor to clean carpets. Dog related grime. Then wife related mooching.
It's her birthday on Monday so we're going to empty a flash bottle of champagne tomorrow night and try not to be grumpy.

Did I mention I was invited to go talk to a local writing group? I went a few weeks ago. They were all essentially concerned with how they could get their work published. I was very patient but the simple answer is to look on the internet and put in vast amounts of hours like I do. Can't see many of them putting in 18 hour days every day just to get a book out though. Bless.

Which leads me to the title of this blog. I have been pondering making these books my last ones, at least for the foreseeable future. I struggle to find time to write and when I do I'm rarely happy with the results and that's before I promote it, do this blog etc. Since plan A (quit work) isn't feasible, then the only way to have more free time is not to write. I can become another one of the millions of retired folk who then decide to be writers. Then again, I could shoot myself.

Still, Old Ma Sinclair didn't raise quitters. She raised over confident, mouthy alcoholics so we shall see. I've got two finished books to play with which will see me to the end of this year. After that....* shrugs and finishes brew*

Until next time...

Editing the new book, US Open Golf and Ralph

Morning gang!

It’s been an age since I posted on here but I am delighted that so many folk are still checking out my musings. Almost 7500 views now from all over the world. Many thanks to each and every one of you, even the strange Eastern European ones which I’m sure are hacker/virus/dodgy porn referral sites.

Anyway, you find me in something of a state of flux. I’ve done very little writing wise for some time now although sales are okay and I’m still doing a bit of promo. Work has been taking up a bit of time, mainly the wife’s work in fairness but there you go. Plus most weekends recently have involved cruising up and down the country looking at puppy litters.

But I am now off work for 2 weeks. I don’t think I’ve had 2 weeks off in summer at all in the time I’ve worked in the NHS. In fairness a lot of that was because I worked with some fairly needy people who just had to have summer off every year without fail. Not missing them much I can tell you.

So what’s the plan while I’m off you might well be wondering? If you’re not wondering perhaps you’re reading the wrong blog. Well, I’m going to blog more, do more promo and this afternoon I shall be editing the sequel to The 24 Hour Jazz Café. Hurrah cried fan of the book. Believe it or not I have actually had messages from people asking about a sequel to this book so they should be delighted.

The rest of my time will be taken up looking after the latest addition to the gang here at HB Towers. Regular readers can’t fail to have noticed I may have mentioned Ralph once or twice. Well he’s here and, huge bias aside, he’s pretty awesome. Okay then, here's a photo.

Right, I’m going to crack because Wimbledon starts next week so my time will be dictated by When Roger Federer is on court. It just remains to say well done to Justin Rose for winning the US Open last night, well worth staying up for.

Another agent submission

Morning gang,

I've only gone and done it again. Fresh from submitting a chunk of the Jazz Cafe to Simon Trewin in mid June, last night I sent the same package to Carole Blake at Blake Friedmann.

Twitter is once again responsible. I found Carole via Simon's follower list and, of course, recognised her name from past rejections and because her agency is a big one. So I followed her on Twitter and she's pretty prolific. I then found myself repsonding to a tweet and, shocker, she replied. Nothing major, just a comment on something someone else had said. I replied to that and she replied again.

That started me thinking I might as well send something in and, after pondering it all day yesterday I finally sent off the submission last night via email. Then I went to bed...

I awoke this morning to a read receipt from Carole at about 8:30. I know I know, it is likely either an automatic response or one of the staff, either way it's keen to get a response on a Sunday. Of course, much like the submission I sent to Simon Trewin, I will now think about little else for the next fortnight. Hopefully this will be the last time I submit because I always feel miserable afterwards.

Right, I'm writing for a couple of hours before the Wimbledon final. I suspect this one might have the highest viewing figures since the early 80's when Borg was about. Murray vs Federer. History made either way. Readers of this blog know who I want to win but I hope it's a classic.

New Paperback out now!

Afternoon folks,

This is a note worthy post simply because it is being written from my garden. It's hot and sunny, the flowers look great and, knowing the British weather, this might be the only chance I get to do this.

The other news is that my book All the fun of the Fair landed on my mat this morning. That's right, if you don't or won't do Kindle, you can now buy it in paperback. It's slightly smaller, in terms of measurements, than my previous two books, but in terms of word count it's the longest.

It's also the revised version based on reviews and feedback from the Kindle version. I've toned down the language a bit and restructured the chapters leading up to the ending. Either way the reviews are all super and the feedback positive. I'm also particularly proud of the cover. Although it's in no way linked to the book, the house where a number of the characters live (Westminster Road in Morecambe) is real and features in the new Mitch and Rupert book. It is also adjacent to Albert Road where the BBC has set it's new Turn Back Time series. So if you want to get a visual idea of where the book is set, watch the programme.

Anyway, here are the links for the two main Amazon sites:

All the fun of the Fair AMAZON.COM

All the fun of the Fair AMAZON.CO.UK

Right, I'm going to wander inside and keep one eye on tennis. The last bit of good news is that I have started work on the new Mitch and Rupert book again after a few weeks off.

Until next time...

PS Roger Federer in Wimbledon final tomorrow for record 8th time. I know I'm supposed to want Andy Murray to win and if he's the best player tomorrow then full marks to him. But I'd rather Roger won. There I said it! He's the best player there's ever been in my humble opinion and to win tomorrow would be a huge achievement in terms of the history of the game. 7 titles, back to World number 1 and finally breaking Sampras's record for weeks at number 1. Immense.