KDP All Stars and an oak mushroom

Firstly, many thanks to my UK readers: with over 155,000 KENP pages read in July, Amazon decided I was worth a discretionary “KDP All Stars” bonus. These bonuses are given for “KDP Select e-books that delight readers”, and mine was awarded for Aftermath (88,000 pages read in that total above). It’s really very nice indeed that so many UK readers have been, a-hem, so delighted with the new release Thank you, all.

It’s also inspired me to be a touch contrary. The usual strategy with a now-completed seven-book series would be to make the first book dirt-cheap or even free, to entice readers into buying the whole series. I won’t do that because I don’t think it’s fair on all the readers who’ve paid the full price for Onslaught. So, I’ve decided to leave the last book in the series permanently at the introductory price of USD 2.99, because if a reader stays/has stayed with the first six books and wants to find out how it all ends, then they deserve a bonus.

In the meantime, I’ve kept a promise I made to myself a few years ago that, when I finished The Repulse Chronicles, I would have a crack at wood carving. After several weeks of whittling with hand tools and grinding with a rotary tool, I’ve managed to make something that doesn’t look a complete mess. The mushroom started as this piece of firewood:

And here it is with a fresh coat of stain, and then among the flowers in the garden. This is a fun hobby that is also challenging, so this blog might very well morph into a wood carving blog. Stay safe, peeps and thanks for reading