P.D.R. Lindsay's Blog, page 23

It seems to me that technology takes up too much time and...

It seems to me that technology takes up too much time and I'm wasting more and more precious time trying to get out of the mess technology creates. With malign and thoroughly evil intent I might add.

I'm trying to get my blog smartened up a little and of more use with an opt in email address place.

Can I do it? No way. I follow the careful instructions and yet there is always a major problem. Either step one or step two are not possible because the place I need to find isn't there.

Take this 'ad...

It's April and I missed again. It seems to me I need to g...

It's April and I missed again. It seems to me I need to give up on this blogging lark.

It's a horribly grey, overcast, coastal mists type of day and I am so depressed. 12 acres is too much on my own. The WWOOFers are great but they are kids - mainly - and not experienced workers so need supervion. The lack of a job and no money means that all those jobs that need doing are simply put away on the list to wait year after year. I've always been a 'get up and do it' person and this hanging about...

New Zealand Indie Writers' Month

March, all stops are out for March. March 27th for me actually but the whole month has been taken over by the Indies writers. It used to be New Zealand Book Month but the organisers suddenly changed it to August, leaving quite a few writers' groups and libraries with plans already underway for March. I'm launching my novel, 'Tizzie', promoting my Writer's Choice colleagues' newest novels and selling our already published books at a launch in the library. It will be fun as I'm being supported...

Well I did it again! Missed blogging. It's summer! The ni...

Well I did it again! Missed blogging. It's summer! The nights are short it's light until 10 p.m. The farm work is never ending, and that Kiwiread website and its PR is eating up time. The new novel is wanting more writing time and the characters are getting insistent. Blogging falls off the list again!

One of the things which is now cropping up and concerns my colleagues at Writer's Choice and my colleagues working for Kiwireads is this quality control of Indie books so that readers don't pay...

One year on.

It's October. And this time last year we were just launching Writer's Choice. I'm now organising a birthday party to celebrate a successful first year.

We had no idea, last year, that we could beat the gloom and doom sayers, that we could take on the role of publisher of our own books and make it work. For me in New Zealand, where literary snobbism is rife and indie publishers like us are regarded as degrading the standard of New Zealand literature overseas - that's a quote from the NZSA perso...

Ah me! This blogging lark never gets the priority I am to...

Ah me! This blogging lark never gets the priority I am told it should. Life throws up more important things, like trying to get New Zealand Indie authors somewhere to showcase their books and sell them.

The Kiwi Readers group from GoodReads have a large contingent of writers who are independently published and want sales. Tui came up with a very nice idea for linking Kiwi Indies up with the various writerly groups and trad publishing groups in New Zealand. We are busy discussing this at Linked...

It seems to me that I had better accept that once a month...

It seems to me that I had better accept that once a month is my bogging time!

I must also blog an apology to all those keen readers who won a copy of or who ordered a copy of my novel, 'Jacob's Ladder'. As a POD book it has to be ordered and then we wait for the copies to arrive. I have had the most unbelievable problems getting copies. First the cover was printed incorrectly. Couldn't send those copies out. Next I had to download a new cover as the POD people said it was the cover's fault it...

Celebrations

Yes, well, it's July! Didn't make the weekly blog again did I? I will make the effort. But right now I am trying to get my arthritic joints working so I can jump for joy.

Writer's Choice started in October 2012 and we have published three novels. In June G.J. Berger's novel 'South of Burnt Rocks, West of the Moon' won the historical fiction award at the San Diego Book Awards. We Writer's Choice members shared virtual champagne and enjoyed a virtual party. Then Sharon Robard's novel, 'A Woman...

Not Again...

Did it again! It's the 15th of May, that's one month since last I blogged. Sigh! I do try to get a weekly blog going but it's not top of the To Do list. It's more important to get proof copies read and the new novel edited with my colleagues' comments in mind.

It's been a sad week. A close friend is dying of colon cancer. One of the choir has ovarian cancer. A long established member of the congregation suddenly developed cancer, faded out in a few weeks and his funeral is tomorrow. As I've fa...

Three down and One to go.

The Novel launch was fun. Only ten people (and 4 apologies) but they listened and laughed, asked lovely intelligent questions and bought the books. I had my colleagues' books to sell as well and did so with panache! Copies of my novel hadn't arrived -publisher's hitch at their end! - so that caused much laughter and gave the newspapers scope for an unusual story. Good PR actually!

Now all I have to do is get any new found or reader notified corrections into 'Jacob's Ladder' and order more book...