Building, building

It's a whole six months since I started this new adventure. No longer a wage slave, I'm now an independent consultant with the freedom and permission to write more often.

It's not been quite how I expected it...

The consultancy work turned out to be working more or less full time for one client. Which has felt more like being a salaryman than a freelancer. The extra free time I had hoped for hasn't really materialised. I've been working long hours to get a major project finished.

But there are compensations, and I'm starting to realise that they are substantial. I now work from home, which means a settled environment, the support of the best wife in the world, an infinite supply of good coffee and my choice of music.

With one or two exceptions, I get to choose how each day goes. Consultancy work or writing? A day off or nose to the grindstone? Work on Sunday and shop on Monday?

The difficult bit has been learning how to publicise my writing. I'm naturally shy and modest, so it doesn't come naturally to promote my books. But there is little choice. I've done a tiny bit of publicity for my chess book - and it's sold nearly four times as many copies as Love, Death and Tea, which I haven't publicised at all.

So the adventure continues. No big breakthroughs, but it's progressing nicely. Building.