Roland Ladley's Blog, page 11

Fixed a brake light …

Yesterday we finished off at the lovely site (£12 a night inc EHU) south of Hickling Broad. We’d had a fab time, including a 26-mile cycle into Caister, a couple of runs and another almost 30-mile cycle around the Broad. We did the Broads once when the kids were v young – on one of those small pleasure craft. C hated it and, as a result, we’d steered clear of boat holidays since then. The problem was it was mid-summer and we couldn’t find anywhere sensible to moor … once having to drop anchor in the middle of a lake. That episode put paid to any ideas I’ve ever had of living on a narrowboat. Such is life.

very few opportunities to get onto the Broads by bike

What was interesting about the cycle was, whereas all those years ago we couldn’t find anywhere to land, this time we couldn’t find anywhere (other than the odd marina) to get at the Broads; certainly not on a bike. Doubtless there were plenty of footpaths we could have used, but we were five hours in the saddle. I sense this is purposeful. Most of the land seems privately owned and everyone wants to shepherd the grockels to areas where they can ask them for money. It’s the way of the world, I guess. Nonetheless, we had a fab cycle and, after a picnic at the visitors’ centre, we got back in time for tea and medals.

on one of many cycle rides we had a lovely stint riding along the sands for a mile

Getting off our pitch wasn’t without drama. We’d been given hard standing, but the rest of the site was very damp. As a result I had to stick to a quite narrow route and, with a small gap to get off site, I grounded Doris on her habitation step. The step survived without a problem but, frustratingly, I did take off a small bit of fairing above the step. It should be simple enough to glue back on, but it’s never fun giving Doris a bit of a bashing.

long walk on the Broads

After a walk around another Broad, yesterday we stayed overnight with cousin Sandra and her husband Steve. We don’t have a close wider family, certainly on my side. My father was in the army and we never really had a home. Keeping in touch, therefore, was always a struggle. But we had seen S&S early on in our travels and, what with a number of family issues with both of our parents, we thought a meet up would be a great idea. It was. Steve is a very competent and successful builder and is always fascinating to talk to. Sandra does the business’s books and, until two years ago, had been a senior school biology teacher. Now, close to retirement, she’s a busy mother and grandmother. Anyhow, it was a lovely evening (thanks S&S) and we all promised to keep in touch more regularly.

our latest windy spot

And now we mid-Norfolk on another lovely site (£15 inc EHU). The storms keep coming and going. We’ve both been for blustery runs, I’ve done some more editing of book 8 and it looks like I’ve sold three copies of Unsuspecting Hero, two in Italy – which I don’t understand. I’m having to guess that the marketing is doing it’s business? Who knows. Just now I took apart Doris’s rear left light cluster – the brake light wasn’t working. I had exactly the same problem on the right side a couple of years ago which led to all sorts of unnecessary pain. Anyhow, the bulb wasn’t broken and I scrubbed the points clean and all was well.

We’re here for a couple of days. On Wednesday we’re off to meet up with old army pals, Phil and Denise. Then mum. Then Mary. And, after a week and a wedding, we’re hoping to be skiing in Chatel. Fingers crossed.

Stay safe everyone.

using our internet booster to grab a BT hotspot

Heading east then south

In the end the site south of Wells-next-the-Sea wasn’t such a bargain. We got a text from the owner the following morning that the price per night was £20, not £15 which, even with the increase in electricity prices, doesn’t add up when you consider that we were in a bumpy field with the basics, none of which were well presented. So we moved, heading east. We stopped for breakfast in Morrisons in Cromer where my proofreader, Julia, lives. I tweeted her and five minutes later she was sat down with us drinking coffee. How good was that? Julia has covered the last four of my books and she’s as good as it gets, so it was fab to finally meet up with her. After which we found a site east of Caister (£12 a night including EHU, which was much more like it) and headed there. It is fab. An acre of flat, grass lawn, surrounded by trees. And everything is well presented. It’s so good we’ve decided to stay until Saturday.

met up with Julia

Yesterday, still buffeted by the latest storm, we cycled to Caister via Winterton-on-Sea, where we sat and had our picnic overlooking glorious sands. As is our magnetism, we had one lady with her dog chat to us, and then one of the local councillors (with his dog) came and asked us why we were sitting with the town’s two lions (two pedestal-raised, carved lions on a gate which leads to the sea. We had a bit of a history lesson and then, bless him, we were given the town’s latest newsletter (he appeared to have a couple in his pocket) before he wished us well. The cycle back to Doris was blooming windy and we needed power, but it wasn’t an issue … did I tell you how good our bikes are?

windier than it looks

Today we’ve run. And now I’m editing book 8 whilst keeping an eye on my Amazon Ads. There is a glimmer of hope here. I’m not going to bore you with the details, but – for completeness – I’ve spent $1.10 on ads in the US and sold one book ($2.99), which gives a profit is $2.20. That’s a plus. And my click to sales ratio there is 5:1, which is a good return (I’ve had 5,500 impressions, but it’s the clicks which are important). I’m running similar ads in the UK and have spent £1.10 on adds, but no sales, with a click to sales ratio of 6:0. It’s early days and I am constantly updating old ads and introducing new ones. I’m hopeful. I think that’s the best I can say.

our latest site … fab

And our routine is holding out. We’re still managing run/walk (or cycle) day in, day out. We’ve just finished dry January and had a cider each last night, which neither of us really enjoyed. And, with our shared 110 GB of data with Tesco and Vodafone, we’re continuing to binge watch our series after supper. We’ve just finished Part One of Season Four of Ozark (on Netflix). It stopped abruptly after seven episodes … only to discover that Netflix have made a part two of the series. Apparently it’s ‘out soon’. It is, for me, fabulous telly. It’s like watching the box strapped to an ejector seat with a fidgety monkey’s finger poised over the red button. Jeopardy on steroids. Fab.

You’ll have noticed, I’ve avoided politics recently. I can’t do it. I find where we are as a country miserable, and without a glimmer of hope to look forward to. Brexit is not delivering anything (and not in my lifetime, as far as I can see) and the current leader and cabinet are the worst I can remember. So nothing is likely to change. Isn’t that depressing? Sorry, but that’s how I feel. So, nothing political from me for a while.

an alfresco haircut

Stay safe everyone. There are numerous accounts of fully vaccinated people catching covid three times, and many catching it twice. That makes a mockery of herd immunity, doesn’t it? And I know of at least one public prep school which is closed due to the disease … because it can. So be safe. Interestingly, as C was shopping in Lidl yesterday, I quietly checked everyone entering and leaving the shop. There were probably 30, all told. Only one wasn’t wearing a mask. That tells its own story.

Take me back to Lincolnshire

It was a bit like old times. We almost made it to four wild/free camping spots on the bounce. First we stayed on a fabulous elevated car park with far reaching views out across The Wash. We had run from our campsite earlier so just southeast of Butterwick we put our feet up and enjoyed the views. We then drove via Boston (which, by the way, has the largest church in England with a spire which almost touches God – you can see it from everywhere) to Frampton Marsh RSPB, where we parked up in a big, open car park. We then walked for miles and miles – C with her eyes pressed firmly against her binos looking at the masses of birds – before remaining resolutely steadfast for the night, at no cost. Finally, after a run along the seawall, and having picked up some LPG and a dip into Spalding for some lunch, we stayed for a third night where the River Nene enters The Wash. It was another fabulous spot overlooking the river. We were loving Lincolnshire – it was just like being back in France where 9 times out of 10 you can find a free spot or cheap Aire in a magnificent location.

spot one spot two spot three

We should have known our luck wouldn’t last. Our route was taking us clockwise around the East Anglian coast, and once we’d crossed from Lincolnshire into Norfolk everything changed. For a start the roads got narrower, bendier and had more hedgerows. And it got very busy. Sure, it was a lovely sunny Sunday afternoon, but it’s blooming January, not July. The coast road was packed with people. Hundreds of them. Hunstanton, which is a popular north Norfolk coastal town, was doing its best to mimic Blackpool in August. It was a little bit crazy and not the best environment for a 7.5 metre, 4.5 tonne motorhome. And, and this didn’t help, nearly all of the car parks had a height barrier. The Brits really don’t like us motorhomers.

love it v lucky with the weather

Anyhow, we managed to park up (illegally) at Snettisham RSPB and had a lovely walk along the beach front before finding a very muddy car park by the sea for lunch. Once we’d decided that we would stay in Norfolk and not rush back to steady Lincolnshire, we found a small site (£15) in a field a mile or so from Wells-next-the-Sea. And now, with Storm Corrie on its way, we are warm and toast in the middle of nowhere. Perfect … and not so bad after all.

Doris with her mates in the middle of nowhere

For the record C has a sore throat (not covid, we think) and my chest is still sore where I fell over running last week. Clearly as you get older you just don’t bounce or mend so quickly.

The good news is that I have started the major edit of book 8 (no working title yet). It needs a lot of work, but that’s what I do.

Stay safe all of you.

It’s a bit chilly …

We haven’t got far. We left the Lincoln site on Monday and drove three quarters of an hour east and ended up in another pond-side campsite outside Skegness. It was, and still is, cold. A pocket of refrigerated air is trapped between the hard ground and a blanket of low cloud. We booked in, sorted out our lives and then put on our walking garb and trotted off to Gunby Hall, a NT property which was closed, but has footpaths running through it … so we could take a sneak view.

another site, another pond

It was three and a bit miles there and the same back. The good news about Lincolnshire is that it is all, pretty much, flat. So, leaving aside the cold, it was a straightforward walk. And a lovely one. It’s very rural here, with big skies and little traffic. And the house was a doll’s house writ large (if you’ve visited the more famous Ashdown House in Wiltshire, then you’ll know what I mean). We had a gander at the outside and, still cold, we trogged back.

Tuesday was run day. Cold run day. But not as cold as the following cycle into Skegness. Which, with the added chill factor of riding into a wall of freezing air, was the coldest I’ve been since I left the services. C wore two pairs of gloves and when we got to Tescos to get some provs she bought a pair of rubber gloves to shield herself from the wind chill. Skegness was exactly as you’d expect. Low rent, lots of (closed for the winter) amusement arcades, bars casinos and restaurants/chippies – one of which was open. We had done our usual thing and made a packed lunch, but close to hypothermia we thought we deserved a bag of chips. So, sat outside by the beach, we ate our lunch supplemented by a bag of warm chips. Don’t tell me I don’t know how to show a woman a good time. 

i quite like Skeggie

Thankfully the cycle back was shorter. And Doris is fabulously warm when you stick the heating on.

colder than it looks

Today we cycled again. Mrs Sun was with us now and whilst it was still cold, it was warmer, especially if you caught her rays. This time we visited a NT Baptist chapel, which was designed to look like a barn in the middle of a field because the congregation were persecuted. And then we cycled to a blooming big dyke where, picnic on hand, we sat in the chilly sunshine and thanked our lucky stars that we can still do this. 

chapel disguised as a barn

It has been, pretty much, back to business. I love the uncomplicated life that Doris affords us. Everything is on a much smaller scale. I know we only live in a tiny house, but Doris reduces that further. It means that the distractions of everyday living are reduced … and you get a much better opportunity to enjoy the now. I know it’s not everyone’s cuppa and, I guess, some people will continue to think that I, and therefore C, are running away from everything. And that may be the case. But it suits us.

Insofar as books, I’m really into the Amazon Ads. I have a good number running in the US and the UK … and have spent just over £1, with one possible sale. There is still a great deal to do, but I’m on it. 

On the move again tomorrow. Heading south. Boston, I think (not Massachusetts). Stay safe everyone. The  numbers are still very high.    

We’re off

our first site … Doris looking distinctly grubby

We made it away, thankfully. It was touch and go at one point as my tooth fell into a spiral of hurt and I had to go back to the dentist. In short it needs to come out. I’ve been referred to the NHS where a guy with a big pair of pliers and no empathy will tug it out, their knees resting on my shoulders. In the meantime a series of antibiotics have cleared the infection (how clever is that?) and I am pain free … for now. To add insult to actual injury I went out for a run on Friday morning, just before we headed off in Doris, and I fell over – again – I seem to manage it every couple of months. The last time was at Christmas where my foot thought it was finding a concrete path covered in leaves but, in the end, found the path’s edge, and I went over. Then it was a twisted ankle. This time I bruised my ribs. Nothing broken, but I could do without the pain. (I can report, two days later I am feeling a little less battered, but still sore. I’m on the mend.)

oooo, lovely Pam and Steve

We took a very slow drive to Lincoln to see old nursing pals of C’s, Pam and her husband Steve. They’ve moved up from Sandhurst and now have a lovely, big, new house in a scenic Lincolnshire village. We stayed overnight and managed a smashing early morning walk in fabulously crisp weather. And, after breakfast, we then made it to a small pond-side campsite where we have quickly settled into our routine. The only Doris thing to report is that she seems very slow to start, first thing. I thought I’d sorted the vehicle battery issues out when I replaced the domestic batteries with Li-Ion ones, which constantly charge the vehicle battery. I’m now unconvinced. There is clearly work to do here. I will get it sorted.

I’m still very much into the whole marketing piece. I’m using Amazon ads in both the US and UK, and have about 10 running in both places. The cost is free – you only pay when a punter clicks through to a book page. Out of over 2,000 ‘impressions’ I’ve had three clicks, at the cost of around 70p. Have I sold anything? Well, I think I have – just one, which would make me in profit (if you ignore my time). The course finished with how to ‘scale up’ the ads, so you get more clicks for the number of impressions. And I am working on that. In the end I think we’re talking months rather than days. It is all pretty scientific and clearly very data driven. Right up my street.

The other good news is that we’re on for skiing in mid-February. The French are allowing tourists in and the property we use is definitely available. As you know the skis are waxed and edged … and that could well be an issue. The first time I did it, we got off the lift and the skis stuck to the snow and wouldn’t budge. Frustrated we were very close to getting back on the bubble, heading off the mountain and getting the professionals to do it. But we persevered and, after a very short run, the skis were fabulous. They don’t tell you that in the Janet and John book of ski maintenance.

We’re off to Skegness tomorrow. I know, I know. But don’t be a snob. I’m pretty sure it’s going to be great. From there we’re heading south, following the coast and should be at mum’s by the end of next week.

Stay safe. There are still plenty of stories of triple-jabbed folk getting really poorly with the disease. But it does seem that the numbers are coming down … at last.

Not gone anywhere yet

not happy …

We have, unfortunately, not yet pushed off in Doris. I started getting a sore tooth a couple of days ago and this morning it was pretty unbearable to chew on. My mouth has had more work done on it than an elderly model’s face, so I’m never surprised when something else falls off or breaks. This time it’s a bottom molar (I’ve only got a couple of originals) and it didn’t make any sense to head off when we have a friendly dentist a short walk away. That’s what I thought. I phoned through this morning to be told that I (and then C) were no longer registered – because we hadn’t attended – and they weren’t taking any new NHS patients. Oh dear. Typically, though, and I have done this before, I’d phoned our old dentist in Wells. Twenty minutes later and I had established that our local dentist still loved us and I got an emergency appointment for this afternoon. Half an hour in the chair and I’m sorted (I think), but with some more work to do in March. It is so good to have these people close to.

Doris is packed, by the way, as we were heading off this afternoon to an old friend of C’s in Lincolnshire. In the end we’ve delayed it and we should be leaving a cloud of unburnt diesel behind tomorrow sometime. The good news is she passed her MoT on Monday with no advisories and, all-in-all, she looks in good shape. We now have 62,000 miles on the clock. For a 12 year old van, I think that’s good. What with covid, we’ve only done a couple of thousand miles a year for the last couple. Hopefully we will add to that this year.

packing up Doris

I have just finished my Amazon Ads course and I don’t regret it. I currently have 15 ads running in the US and 4 in the UK. The metrics are complicated, but in short I have spent the grand total of $0.26 and failed to sell a book. (That’s much better than spending $26 and not selling a book.) But I do need to increase the ‘clicks’ (and, hence, spend) so I can work out whether or not Unsuspecting Hero is saleable on inspection on the Amazon landing page. I think it must be … I just need to get people there. That’s my job for the next 6 weeks or so. The good news is that I like this. It’s the sort of marketing I can manage. It’s about numbers, which is so much better than the faux engagement which a lot of writers put themselves through on places like Facebook, day-in, day-out. I’m best when I’m not talking to people. I’m sure you agree.

The other major event in our lives was a surprise. We got one of those door-to-door salespeople round last night. She was the second one in recent months telling us her company could fit cavity wall insulation for nothing. I was sceptical, to say the least, but she must have caught me feeling vulnerable and, lo and behold, a decent engineer type bloke arrived on our doorstep at 8.30 this morning. He was youngish, but brilliant, and he drilled some holes in our walls and stuck a camera in. Sure enough we have empty cavities … which need filling – there’s a tooth thing going on here. He then did an EPC inspection and, an hour and a half later, he was on his way with a clear ambition that because we are an all-electric terraced house, the government will pay for the insulation. I have not handed over any bank details and seem very inclined to believe him. How good is that?

Doris in for her MoT

Finally … what of His Borisness? Well, it’s going to happen, isn’t it? The young engineer this morning said he thought the man was a joke and needed to go now – which impressed me further. There are too many important things going on … we really don’t need a self-serving idiot in charge, do we?

Anyhow. Stay safe everyone.

Well, that’s interesting

So, I’m 3 out of 5 days through the Amazon Ad course. For those of you who don’t know, if you sell on Amazon the company allows you to advertise with them. In short you design an ad and they present it to Amazon searchers depending on a number of choices you make, how much you’re prepared to pay and the state of their algorithms. It’s complex (hence I’ve only tried it a couple of times and got it badly wrong both times) and does need a course to help you iron out the best approach. Interestingly the biggest thing I’ve learnt is that this is about getting a sale, not about the book itself. Clearly people buy books without reading them, otherwise what’s the point? Some people will go on recommendations, but a lot search through Amazon, like the cover and the back page blurb, and press ‘buy’. Arguably you could write 500 pages on nonsense and have a decent cover and blurb and you’d sell books … although it wouldn’t be long before your reviews told the story. But the mindset is key: once you’ve got a book, it’s about selling. My first book, Unsuspecting Hero, which now has a new cover and 70-odd, 5-star reviews looks primed to sell. All I need to do is get the ads right, in front of the right people and pay Amazon enough money, but not too much, to make a profit.

Mmmmmm

I have two more days on this (free) course and then I can opt for a longer and much more in depth course, for which you pay. Those of you who know me won’t be surprised that I’m going to run with the free course, on which I have already learnt an awful lot, and see how it goes. I’m also going to read a number of other articles on the whole process as I go along to see if I can refine my work. There are a lot of options, a huge amount of information, and risk and opportunity. I’ve given myself until the end of May to see if I can make this work. Hopefully by then I’ll be turning a profit. We’ll see. [And, for those of you reading this who are in the same position as me, Amazon Ads, unlike Facebook Ads, are free until a punter clicks through to your Amazon sales page. FB charge you for each impression, even if there is no follow through. I’m not saying Amazon is better, especially as FB allow you to design some really impressive ads whereas Amazon is a tiny fingernail impression. But at least you can swamp the market with Amazon without the need of a mortgage.]

And Jen and I are making progress on the covers for books 2 and 3, Fuelling the Fire and The Innocence of Trust. There’s work to be done on both and C and I are up with them later today for lunch and some work. I’d hope we’d have new covers on both books by the end of the week. Thanks Jen!

draft Fuelling the Fire love this …

We’re fine. The weather is making all the difference, isn’t it? Assuming Doris passes her MOT we should be away on Wednesday for a couple of weeks (in that time I intend to start the edit of book 8). And, yesterday, I took the skis out of the garage and edged and waxed them. Due to covid they haven’t been out for a couple of years and were in a state. Indeed, we were going to buy new ones this year but, having done the maths, we’re going to leave it for another year. Anyhow, an hour and a half later and they were back in shape. We both like our skis and, assuming I haven’t ruined them, they’ll certainly be good enough for another season.

skis!

C’s been fretting about the hotels we’ve booked for a wedding trip to Italy in the summer. We’re going with Mary and want to make it nice. But, as always, there’s a cost … and getting that balance right, with only images and a few reviews to go on, is a struggle. It’ll be interesting to report how our expectations have or have not been met in June. Hopefully it’ll all be fine.

And we’re still walking and running. I have to take my hat off to C. Having run pretty much four times a week since I was 14, putting my kit on and getting out there is not an issue for me – although I really am feeling my age, now. C, on the other hand, has to really psyche herself up. And that takes effort and time. But she does it anyway. Good on her (he says in an as unpatronising tone as he can muster).

Stay safe everyone. If, like we were a few days ago, you’re feeling rubbish, put your walking garb on a enjoy the rain-free days. And, as always, stay safe. A good friend of ours has just got covid. She’s got a chesty cough and is feeling rough. Fingers crossed from us, Mikki.

Some good news?

The less said about His Boriness the better, I feel. Hopefully this is the beginning of the end and we can find someone with integrity to take over. Frankly I don’t give a damn. I just want this poop show to be over. We’ve all had enough of his chancing, his lies, his smirks, his not-so-personal life, his inability to show real contrition and, let’s face it, his lack of competence. Rishi Sunak appears to be the only cabinet minister who might seem to have a soul. And wasn’t it funny that he wasn’t in the House yesterday for PMQs? Apparently he was in the West Country (didn’t see him). I know we don’t get a say into who leads us outside a GE (not sure I agree with that), but it’s possible that Rishi’s skin colour might be too much for the Conservative Party … I’m only saying.

oooo, Mexican Train

The good news is we seemed to have lifted ourselves out of the early January hole. A trip to Mary’s, Mrs Sun lifting her skirt above her ankles, and the best news ever – that France is lifting their tourist ban – means that Chatel might well be on the cards. And it’s this ‘look forward’ which has been keeping us going. Doris goes in for her MoT on Monday and then we hope to pack her up and push off someone eastward for a couple of weeks, ending up with mum and then back to Mary’s. We have a much-delayed wedding to attend in mid-Feb and then, hopefully, it’s ski time. Wouldn’t that be fab? We would hope to do some admin and then put Doris on a Bay of Biscay ferry and spend a month or so in Spain, back in time for a wedding in Italy (which we will fly to with Mary) before Henry is back with us in June. It could be a packed schedule, but I don’t take this virus lightly. Whilst we pretty much think it’s all over less actually catching the disease and having a short case of the flu, there is plenty of evidence that with over 350 deaths a day still (come on, that’s a mad and v sad figure, isn’t it?) and new variants very likely to mutate and join the chorus, we’re not through this yet by any stretch of the imagination.

But we have to hope? And I won’t add what I think about this government’s ability to handle the crisis …

we popped in to see C’s sister, Annie

I’m still working hard on the books. I have reformatted all of the paperbacks … and am really please with that. Jen and I are working on the covers, I have stepped up my social media interaction (no sales yet from that) and I have, today, started my Amazon Ads course. It’s a free (how does that work?) 5-day online course which tells you how to get the best from Amazon Ads. Day one is pretty much complete and, I have to say, it’s very professional and very helpful. I am surprised. I briefly tried Amazon Ads before (with no luck) and now, only one day in, I can see why. I’ll tell you more as the course continues. So far, though, so good.

Other than that, I’ve not much to add. We’re still running and, and this was C’s idea, we’re on dry January. Frankly I could do without alcohol completely for ever, and that’s maybe where we end up. I’ll support C in whatever she wants to do. Again, this is work in progress.

covers, covers

Stay safe everyone. I read a lot on Twitter about people I’ve been following, triple-jabbed, who have got the disease and are suffering badly with it. None of us want that …

At last. Mrs Sun!

We were searching flights to Tenerife yesterday, the weather was so poor. I know I harped on about this last time but, come on! A thick blanket of cloud and a cold wind has triggered both C and I. She asked me to tell you that she’s really not happy and if she doesn’t get some sun soon there’s going to be trouble. Thankfully today we woke to Mrs Sun. Ok, she’s wearing a tights and a muffler, but she’s up and about and doing her best. We also woke to a broken storage heater in the kitchen (the one we always use) which was frustrating. I took the heater apart – they are very industrial – and couldn’t find a problem. I then took off the wall socket so I could attach a plug and try the heater out not on the Economy 7 circuit, and found the problem. The live and earth leads on the supply had arced. There was a lot of burnt wire covering and melted Bakelite, which would have been a fire risk. I checked the fuse – each Economy 7 output has its own – and that was gone, which was a relief. Anyhow, a quick trip to B&Q and it’s sorted. I also bought a dehumidifier for the kitchen to reduce the winter damp (which, to be fair to us, we do work hard on … just not hard enough).

worse than it looks

The thing is we are not normally here. In fact, until covid, we would be away all of October and November, in Doris, down in the south of France. We’d do Christmas and then drive to Chatel in January for three weeks skiing. By the time we get back in February we would have missed the darkest months … and be preparing for a Spring trip somewhere warm, like Croatia.

It’s not all been bad, however. The early darkness has allowed us to watch some really decent TV and I’ll put my film critic hat on now. If you’re after good ‘ordinary folk bring down rich and entitled people/firms’, along the lines of Erin Brockovitch, then look no further than Netflix’s Dopesick, which is a fabulous series. The BBC’s A Very British Scandal is in the same mould, but 100 years earlier. This series tells a story whilst also highlighting the issues of the entitled rich and the power of men. Netflix’s Don’t Look Up is brilliant – in short politicians and the media telling us what to believe in the face of oncoming tragedy. Some have panned it as it tries to be hugely thought provoking and funny at the same time. I think it manages both really well. We’re now onto Netflix’s Stay Close which is not as good as the original Harry Coben series, Safe, which was great. Oh, and we watched Cumberbatch in Prime’s The Power of the Dog – a western exploring hardship, a moneyed family and sexuality. It’s worth a watch, but quite slow.

And that’s it from me on the TV front.

Jetlag …

Politically, of course, it’s all a mess. As the US passes through the 6th January anniversary, you have to ask yourself how the country is ever going to recover from its schisms within. We, thankfully, seem to have a bed of sensible people in this country, albeit currently led by … and here we go again … a bunch of entitled people. Sure we have some fringe elements on the left and right but, overall, I do hope normal service will resume soon. I can see us heading back into the EU’s customs’ union (or similar) in the next five years as the benefits of Brexit don’t materialise and we find ourselves on the fringe of world events as our economy falters badly. Hopefully by then we’ll have somebody sensible in power – I’m not really bothered about the colour of their cloth, I just want someone in charge who has integrity and wants the country to be its best. Some form of centrist progressive alliance would be good. Fingers crossed.

And us next? Well I’ve started my marketing work. It’s very early days, and I’ll keep you informed. In terms of travel, in the end we didn’t go to mum’s. She was adamant that she didn’t want us to drive, and I couldn’t force her hand. We will pop and see her next month some time. We’re off to Mary’s tomorrow and then, once Doris has passed her MOT, we’re going away. Where exactly is an open decision, and it’s weather dependent. Probably in Doris …

Anyhow. Stay safe. We’re not through this yet and I’d hate you to be unwell.

Got started …

Have we had the dullest Christmas (in terms of weather) on record? It has been awful and for those of us who love the sun and, it’s probably fair to say, suffer a little from SAD, it’s hardly helping. Life is so much better with Mrs Sun kicking around. She was out this morning (cold and crisp) when we drove to Steven’s dad’s house in Lichfield to pick up B, S and H, and take them to Birmingham airport. By the time we’d dropped them off, it was cloudy and bleak again. We came back via Currys where, having ummed and ahhed about getting a new Chromebook and/or a second hand laptop, I ordered an ASUS Chromebook which, via their business section, was £50 cheaper than anywhere else. It is amazing what £200 can buy you nowadays. Let’s hope it’s as good as the reviews.

nice Bentley

The last couple of days with Bex, Steven and Henry were just as chaotic and exhausting as the previous, but I still love the little chap. We all watched No Time To Die, which we bought from Prime. Is it any good? Yes. Is it sensational? I’m not sure it is. But it was a great way to spend a couple of hours, even if at the start we were working hard to put Henry to bed.

What now? Well I have begun, as I said I would, the process of becoming a marketeer for my books. I still have book eight in the series to edit … and that needs to be out in the summer, but I have started as I mean to go on. First, the metadata for the series and the individual books. These are the keywords, classification and book descriptions. I have had a go before but, having read up on how to make the best of the whole lot, I have hopefully improved the books’ discoverability. In short metadata = search engine optimisation. In the end I have sorted everything but only updated Unsuspecting Hero. Why just one? Well, I have the covers to do on all of the others and the paperbacks to compress. I will update each whole book in one go when everything is ready. The aim is to have this finished by the end of January. I think that’s a stretch with Jen’s availability, but I have to have a target.

metadata (12 pages of it)

Then I’m starting the Amazon ads course on Monday, which lasts for 10 days. It’s free so I have no idea whether or not I’m going to learn anything. Amazon ads (and maybe Facebook ads) might be the big thing when it comes to marketing, but I am also going to try a number of smaller tries. Local book clubs, a book fair, getting books into my local library, some independent Bristol book shops … etc. At the same time I need to be much more active on social media, and I am going to work hard on that with a daily schedule of interaction. I’d hope to start all of that on 1 February, but in many ways I don’t want to do much until I have the books sorted (covers, compressed paperbacks and metadata). One, I think, will follow the other. It’s all part of the plan.

And I’m going to keep my eyes open for other opportunities. Like local radio, etc. And I do need to think of a separate strategy for promoting the audiobook. I think that’s a different set of tools. The good news is that I can get on with that as a singleton project as there is no particular link between the two formats. I’m going to look at that over the weekend and get that started.

So, it’s all go. As for wider stuff, we’ve decided to pop and see mum on Sunday and then onto Mary’s for Monday/Tuesday. Doris goes in for her MoT the following Monday and, hopefully, we’ll look to take her away for a week or so. We both need a proper break. Having Henry (and Bex and Steven) is a delight, but you couldn’t call it a break. And whilst that goes on we’re keeping an eye on the Alps and their availability. Somehow or other we’re pretty determined to put on a pair of skis this season. Fingers crossed.

I don’t know who’s more tired?

Keep safe everyone. And let’s all pray to the weather gods. Hopefully we might see a change soon.