What am I doing wednesday. The one million word challenge

The disaster theme my life seems to have developed continues unabated. To the extent, in fact, that I can no longer write about it. This morning a letter warning us that our driving licences were almost due for renewal was enough to leave me a quivering mess, such is my emotional state. So enough of that, for now writing needs to be a diversion, not a cathartic exercise.

First I must mention that for a while there will be no more paperback editions for my books, I hope that I have resolved the formatting issues that I had, at least to an acceptable extent, for Chalice and Pilgrim but I am not happy enough with the process to try more. For the foreseeable future, I will concentrate on kindle editions. The Book of Medicinal Herbs is still due to be published for kindle on December 4th. I have sent the files to two friends to check for formatting problems so I hope that it's ok. More about that nearer the time.

I am well underway with the first draft of Mass Murder which is the follow-up to  Death of a Pilgrim. Once again Richard Harris is pulled out of retirement. This time to investigate the murders of four English speaking priests on the Camino de Santiago. He is now a wheelchair user which he is certain will prevent him from leading his team of investigators. His friend and now his boss Miguel Lopez is equally certain that a mobility issue is not really a hindrance for this kind of police work. Things get complicated when a new victim is found, with a personal link to Miguel.

The story is shaping up well and I hope that I can do the issues that come up justice. I am a fairly inexperienced writer to be taking on some of the themes that I plan to introduce. It is because  I am aware of this that I have spent some of my time looking into what makes an author, over and above the technical definition.

Some people think it is to do with accolades, major literary prizes and such. Some think it's about being signed up with a prestigious publishing house others thinks it's about achieving a certain level of income. To be honest, I would be happy with any of the above. One thing that was quoted over and over again, in different places, attributed to at least three different well-known authors was a variation on the theme that you have have to have written one million words to call yourself an Author. Some said it was published words some left it at words, sometimes blogs and short stories were counted sometimes not. So this is my new challenge

The One Million Word Challenge.

I am counting blogs and stories that are published or about to be, but nothing else, so writing a shopping list or minutes for a meeting won't count. Every blog from now on will have an update to the total, I can't wait to see how long it takes to get there. Some of the totals will be estimates but I have rounded down rather than up in all cases.

So the number of words is currently at.

155,524

 So I had better get writing...

Today is my Birthday, it’s almost the weekend and the sun is shining.

Today is my Birthday, it’s almost the weekend and the sun is shining. Most of that sentence is true the rest is just wishful thinking.

I am pleased to say that I received a number of presents, not least of which, is a sink plunger.

It did come wrapped in paper with a bow so it was definitely a present. There is not much else to say is there. I can’t claim to be disappointed, because it’s quite outside my realm of expectation. Perhaps it’s a magic sink plunger and the secret portal to a better life. I have yet to discover it’s secrets. At the moment it looks remarkably like the cheap plastic kind so beloved of Chinese bazaars and pound shops. Here is a photo and a promise that I will let you know if it develops the much hoped for magical qualities.

To celebrate the day, I have made 'The Book Of Herbal Medicine' available for pre-order. It is the second book in the Treasure of Saint Bee series.

The setting is a second-hand book shop. I just love those places, the dusty, damp papery smell of old books. The endless shelves of wonder and delight. I especially like the kind with armchairs in odd corners and coffee, and rooms that go on forever. Writing the book was easy just because I was describing something that I would love to have done in another life. It will be available to buy in early December by which time the paperback should also be ready.

Find it here in the USA. The UK. Spain

The Silver Chalice is also on special offer in the UK and America 99p or 99c respectively. It will be that price few a day’s before it creeps up to its normal price.

Find it here in the USA. UK

I am off now to make a shopping list. I also received two cookbooks for my birthday, my favourite presents by far. I want to cook a weekend recipe from each book so a couple of hours slowly checking out all the possibilities is the next task on today’s list, so much hard work.

Have a nice weekend.