Am feeling quite chuffed! ‘Death, Deceit and Cake’ is doing well! So far, it has had 148 downloads on Kindle, and some lovely 5 star reviews. Yes, I know, I know, it is hardly in the million-seller league, but apparently it is a good initial sales rate for a first novel by a new author, and the paperback isn’t even out yet. Here is the Kindle link again for download! Reviews on Amazon are also much appreciated and very helpful. Weather has gone from scorchio to changeable – on Friday night we went to Fairllight Hall for a Pimms and Piano, attended by all, and I mean all, dahlings, of the Hastings great and the good. But I thought I’d start with this pair of baby cuties from Mallydams, where Battleaxe was this morning…
Yes, Battleaxe is very pleased with progress on the novel. See this last post to read all about it. It’s so stressful for a new author because at first you have no idea whether your work is actually any good or not – only strangers reading it can truly give objective feedback. As I get more such feedback, my confidence is increasing. I now realise that marketing and promoting is almost as much work as writing and getting the stuff ready for publication. As I said last time, if you don’t keep at it, your efforts will be lost – a tiny tussock in the vast, uncharted Amazon wilderness. Have just been trying to post an ad on Facebook. Last time I did it was in about 2019 for WI bazaars etc. Well – have you tried to do it recently? It is now so Meta-complicated I totally combusted and gave up.
This morning at Mallydams was pretty busy… think pigeons, hedgehogs, hand-feeding fish to a baby seal. That little seal may look cute but… no… When I was giving him his fish he dropped it on the floor. I went to reach down to pick it up… DON’T! shouted my fellow volunteer, seal-wrangler Keith. ‘He’ll have your hand off!’ Although some of the work at Mallydams is strenuous, yukky messy and frequently repetitive, Battleaxe finds it mindful and de-stressing. You can’t let your mind run riot when you have to concentrate on hygiene routines, not letting creatures escape, giving them the right grub. pressure-hosing, scrubbing, and then even applying the plunger to the sink in the animal kitchen. They are a great crowd of people, too.
So what of Fairlight Hall? It was the first evening of a weekend of piano-related festivities. On Friday it was dry but very nippy outside, so we were glad to get inside seats in the Recital Room. They had just got a new Steinway – it was so loud my ears nearly dropped off. Perhaps a little less use of the pedals? The star of the evening was Curtis Phil Hsu, who was the winner of last year’s Hastings Piano Competition. He has the most amazing volume of hair… I don’t know how he can even see the keys in front of him. Here he is taking his bow with an old chum of mine, Sarah Coop, just behind him. We sat with friends Jill and Nick – they brought Philosopher some veg from their allotment for his birthday, and me some flowers from the same source. Other great and good? Our MP, Helena Dollimore, Kathleen Soriano, telly personality and Interim Director of the Hastings Contemporary… and so many more…
Am up at t’Hall again tonight, for a WI evening. Sarah Kowitz is one of our members…
So pleased you are having initial success with the book. So well deserved. I sincerely hope all those who read it promote it.
I for one am looking forward to the next one with great anticipation.