Can it Pass Soon, Please?

Hello there. Welcome to another week of 'Will my emails to the indie-publisher's help desk result in a satisfactory resolution to all my issues, or not?' 

Isn't it a ball-ache? Making a book? Life in general? You decide. For example, this is the second blog post I wrote for today. The first was much more triumphalist in tone. I thought I'd cracked it. I thought the book had been accepted and ready for pre-order. But then I checked the draft they'd emailed me, and it wasn't. The front cover looked great. That's the upside. But inside, every page of text was cut off mid-sentence, as if the story was trying to escape the confines of the paper. Sigh. This is where we are now. Still, the woman/chatbot from the help desk is becoming a trusted friend. Onwards.

Innit  STUNNING!?!

Writing News

It's not all doom and gloom. Check this out! If you want your teen novels via a digital medium, you're in luck. Leeza McAuliffe is Branching Out is available for e-book pre-order! Woohoo!

It'll be released on 21st May. That's soon! If you're so inclined, you're more than welcome to pre-order today. Just click the link in the paragraph above. Isn't technology wonderful?! (A-hem... when it works!) Meanwhile, the paperback will be ready... some day! 

I now realise that I've not shown anyone the cover yet. HERE IT IS. Isn't it GORGEOUS. Gary, the friend of a friend who gets mithered by me every couple of years, has done it again. I love it. It's eye catching and lovely and colourful and brilliant and makes me smile whenever I see it. So that's a definite plus, isn't it?

Culture

It's been another week of seeking out distractions to shelve the stress for a bit. I'm now in the middle of series two of This Life, which I love, despite it reminding me how messed up the nineties were. I've also been flying through the books. I've boxed off Alexis Hall's Boyfriend Material, and am in the middle of the sequel, Husband Material. All good fun. 

Hard relate.

On Friday, I escaped to the cinema. I didn't especially care what I watched, I just needed to sit in the dark for a bit. Yeah, I know. Some people have real problems and all my stress is self-indulgent nonsense. Still, I wanted to lose myself in a film. I'm not sure if Glenrothan - two estranged brothers struggling to reconnect amidst a whisky distillery - managed to take me away from 'all this', but it was full of stunning Scottish scenery, so that was nice.

Food and Drink

For fans of closure, you'll be pleased to know that the era of the Mini Egg, as referenced last week, is over. There was a time when I thought it would never end, but here we are. A life lesson right there. It will ALWAYS pass. I'll continue to repeat that mantra at regular intervals while I crack on in the kitchen.

 

Pie number two

This week, I made a pie, twice. Mainly because I made too much filling the first time. Look at its rustic glory! This pie was comprised of green beans, carrots, potatoes, a tin of corned beef*, stock and basic seasoning. I bunged it in a pan and simmered for an hour or so. The resulting mush got covered in pastry, and then ta-dah! A meat and potato pie was born. It wasn't pretty but it tasted great. Both of the times.

Tuesday morning's walk.
Not bad at all.

Out and About

It's been a bumper week of life-admin. An eye test and a dentist appointment all in one week. On Thursday afternoon, after a particularly tense day, I felt the need for a random drive to... anywhere. Hitting the motorway at peak rush hour, I found myself driving into Liverpool. No idea why. With nothing much to do, I parked up, got myself a Joe and the Juice, (Go Away Doc, if you must know) then drove home. An hour and a half's round trip with my music blaring, and a carrot, apple, and ginger  juice to sort me out. What a world, eh?

On we march. Perseverance is the key. Challenges build resilience, etc etc. More next week, yeah, yeah? Cool. See you then.

Have a lovely week, folks.

*I don't eat meat. That's almost true, most of the time. What I don't like, and therefore won't do, is bite into meat that looks like meat; that looks like flesh. No ta to a steak or chicken breast, any sort of roasted meat, or much of what's on a BBQ. A mushy pie filling is an entirely different matter and my inner repulsion-meter barely registers it. FYI.