Wow! Where does the time go? I can’t believe a month has passed since I last mused and pondered.
I’m currently sitting typing with my feet hanging out of the window, trying to catch a breeze while the country basks in 30°C+ temperatures. Now, I appreciate that to some of my readers in more far-flung climes, 30°C is merely lukewarm and you don’t begin to break a sweat until you hit at least 45°C but I am Scottish! I grew up in Glasgow! Anything over 10°C sees me cracking open the factor 50! My skin is so pale, Dulux use it on their colour chart – it’s marked up as ‘Even Whiter than Brilliant White’! So, when the big yellow orb in the sky decides to come out to play, and the rest of the population is running around disrobing at breakneck speed, you will find little old me rocking in the darkest corner, mumbling, ‘Make it go away!’
I, very simply, cannot cope with hot weather. Or, maybe I should say, I can’t cope with the people who don’t get that this would be a most EXCELLENT time to try out the concept of deodorant. I can’t cope with the plethora of bonfires that appear in the area where I live. Hanging out the washing is like a game of Russian Roulette – will it or won’t it come back in stinking of manky black smoke. There is also the issue of the neighbours who believe their music is SO fantastic, everyone within a three-mile radius also needs to listen to it. The worst thing, however, over and above these irritants, is the claggy, muggy heat that makes sleeping at night almost an impossibility. I am unable to enjoy any cool night breeze because I can’t leave the bedroom window open. Moggy Towers has a flat roof extension underneath the bedroom window which makes for a great escape route in the event of a fire but also allows easy access to anyone wishing to gain entry by a means other than the front door. Knowing my luck, it would NOT be the Milk Tray man! So, I continue to suffer and I keep praying that, with this being the UK, we should get a break soon and I can look forward to a nice, big, thunderstorm! That said, the forecast this evening gave no indication of rain anytime soon and Mr Mogs compounded my misery further by informing me that another eight heatwaves have been predicted! It has to be said that you really can go off some people!
Well, now that I have been very ‘British’ and had a moan about the weather, I suppose I should give you an update on what else has occurred this month. The biggest challenge was taking on Amazon and their war on the readers who like to leave reviews. This is an issue which has been rumbling along for several months but went off like an atom bomb three weeks ago when Amazon, in their less-than-infinite wisdom, decided to wipe thousands of reviews off their site and left hundreds of authors, book bloggers and reviewers both angry and upset in equal measure. Despite a deluge of emails, all the early signs were that Amazon were not budging on their stance that every reviewer they’d removed was biased, dodgy and untrustworthy! Charming eh? In fact, it wasn’t until the story was picked up by the large, on-line, website ‘The Bookseller’ that we finally began to see things change – ‘Amazon comes under fire removing reviews’ .
Suddenly, we were being told it was a ‘technical glitch’ – oh yeah! – and, shortly after this, we began to see reviews, and reviewing rights, returned. I was among the lucky ones whose reviews were returned quite quickly. Some people are still fighting for theirs. But we will not give up until all the reviewers in our group have received full reinstatement of both reviews and rights. Amazon needs to realise that the little people they’re treading upon become giants when we group together and fight as one.
I guess I should also mention that my second novel was released this month. Yup! I have foisted another 116k word missive upon the poor, unsuspecting, citizens of the world! ‘An Artisan Lovestyle’ hit the cyber bookshelves today! Due to the above Amazon debacle, I have decided to expand the sites I distribute on and can now be found loitering between the aisles of KOBO, iBookstore and Smashwords. There are some nice, advance reviews on Goodreads if you fancy a nosy – An Artisan Lovestyle; Goodread Reviews.
On the 9th of July, I am back out on the cyber-highway when my blog-tour commences. Thirty stops, three a day over ten days! Wow! There will be a few reviews – good ones I hope! – some interviews and a three-part story covering the early years of Sukie and Elsa’s life-long friendship.
Keep a daily eye on my website to find out my locations and the links to read the latest news.
I will also be doing my second ‘Author LIVE’ in the Facebook group ‘The Fiction Cafe Book Club’ on Sunday 15th July. If you want to pop in for a peek, a special ‘Guest Pass’ link will be posted nearer the time.
Finally, lastly, but not leastly, you’ll be delighted to know that I have started writing missive number 3! Sorry but I’m afraid the torture continues. There will be more! LOL!
The first four chapters are written so there’s no getting out of it now. The anticipated release date is March / April 2019! Now there’s something to look forward to.
Till the next time, stay cool!
Big hugs
Kiltie
xx