What did you do today?

Evening folks,

Regular readers will know I often wander off topic so tonight I'm going to start right on topic and see where we end up.

Today I got up at 11:30AM. I ambled downstairs, flicked on the kettle, made a brew and then switched on the laptop. I cracked on with the editing on my book, working title The Trust, and it went really rather well.

Just as an aside (here we go, off topic alert!) I'm almost halfway through the second draft and still hopeful the book will be available before Christmas. You might recall it's a book from my back catalogue (2006 or there abouts). I'd anticipated tidying it up and publishing it before returning to my main project which was editing the newly written follow up to The 24 Hour Jazz Cafe. But The Trust has developed into much more than I'd imagined. The plot is strong and the themes are still very topical, to the extent that I was reading a relevant piece in todays edition of the i newspaper.

So, in short, I'm taking my time on the editing until it's just right. If this means publishing after Christmas then so be it. It's a winner though and I'll start revealing plot details in coming weeks.

Anyway, let's return to the topic. After an hour or so of editing the phone rings. It's the wife. She's out and about doing stuff and wants to know if I want to go out for lunch. Neeldess to say I do. So she picks me up and we mooch into town, have a very pleasant lunch at Sun Street Cafe (where I perused the i newspaper mentioned earlier). After this we picked up her oldest niece and went to watch Silver Linings Playbook at the local cinema.

I was expecting very little, although I like Bradley Cooper a lot. But the film is actually very good, well cast, pretty well written and both Cooper and the female lead Jennifer Lawrence are very good in their portryals of folk with mental issues. Sadly the cost for three of us with one popcorn was £27!!! Madness.

My evening consisted of roast chicken for tea, an episode of The Hour and now I'm blogging about it all.

Now to meander off topic again. The Stones gig on Thurday night was epic! Wildly expensive but they really know how to put on a show. That said, Bruce Springsteen has announced UK dates next year. He is known for playing at least three hours, has a stellar back catalogue. Ticket price £55-68. The Stones? £250. Hmm.

Tomorrow's plan? More editing before the drudgery of the day job on Monday. There was something else I was going to mention but I've lost my thread.

Last of all, I'm not getting any joy reader wise from Wattpad. I might well stick something else on there but to be honest I think I might let it go. We shall see.

Until then...

Book editing and The Rolling Stones

Evening gang,

How's things? It seems that where I live is about the only place in the country not to be flooded. The down side of that is I have no excuse not to go to work. But I am counting the days now, and todays number is 23.

Anyway, regular readers will know that I was aiming to have two new books out for Christmas. Tonight's announcement is...that's not going to happen. I know, I know, you're all upset. But fear not. It's something to look forward to in the new year.

Both books are written it's the editing that's taking the time. I'm about half way through the second draft of what is currently called The Trust. It's one from the back catalogue but it's better than I remembered and as I've started playing with it the story has developed further and I've started tweaking character relationships and moving scenes to - hopefully - make it all better. Anyway, the word count currently stands at 83,500. I reckon it might end up around 85,000 by the time I'm done which is a bit more than I usually average but there's a lot going on in this book.

I'm planning on taking a couple of days away from the editing to launch a revised version of my short story The Storyteller in time for Christmas. It's a little bit of money for old rope but I'd be daft not to promote my festive book at this time of year.

I'll also be taking a couple of days off to dash down to London to see The Rolling Stones at the O2 on Thusday night. Unless you've been on the moon you'll be aware that they did a triumphant show last weekend at the O2 featuring original member Bill Wyman and later member Mick Taylor. The reviews have been superb, especially for Mick Jagger. Yes, the ticker prices are ludicrous (we paid £250 a ticket plus hotel plus travel!!) but sometimes, just sometimes, you have to worry about the money another day. I'll be having a quiet Christmas as a result of this concert but it'll be worth it.

Anyway, I'm currently battling some sort of cold so I'm going to edit another few pages then slump on the couch with a brew and watch tele.

PS Sales are slow this month because I'lve not done any promo so if you could spread the word for me. Thanks