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Happy Father's Day to all our dads... wherever they might be.

Sorry, my lovelies. This is a sad post I wrote for my dad. Please feel free to scroll on by. I really won't mind. I don't want to bring you down because, after all, this is supposed to be a happy day.

But for those who of us who have lost someone close, those 'first' milestones are brutally hard. Well today happens to be one of mine: for the first time ever, I didn't get my dad a card or pressie.

I used to think Father's Day/Mothers Day and the like were nothing but money making schemes manufactured by the card companies. I dunno. Perhaps they are. But it's funny how I wish I could waste some cash now there's no longer reason to do so.

Not sure if they get FB in the afterlife, but we're thinking of you Dad/ Grandad, and we miss you. <3

For those of you who are still reading this, here's an excerpt of something I wrote for the funeral which I hope gives a glimpse of the man Dad was. Not a hero. Not an angel. He was a long way from perfect - death hasn't made him into a saint! Even so, he was ours, and we loved him.

"...Dad never gave up on life. It never grew stale for him. He was extremely attached to his life and to all the people in it - people who loved him dearly. In his final week of life, he was busily preparing his camper van for a trip he planned to make. Sadly, he never got there, but I'm sure he had a lot of fun planning for all the places he wanted to visit. 

He was a big daft bugger who never gave up or grew truly old, and his big, generous heart was as young as that of any of his grandchildren. Not many people of 72 can say that, I guess..."

Writerly Vices...

We were talking about book-sniffing over at one of my favorite FB groups earlier, and it seems I'm not the only sniffer in the village. Not by a looooong way.

Come on, 'fess up, ladies. Raise your hand if you can't resist the temptation of sticking your nose between the pages of a shiny new book.

What do you mean, you've never done it? Hah! Still deep in the denial stage, eh? O-kay! :)

Since confession is reputedly good for the soul, here's another long-standing, lesser-known vice of mine... Stationery! (Cue visual aid, aaaand cue harp music and angelic host.)

Just take a look at this picture. *sighs* The sight of all those neatly stacked notebooks makes my heart race. I have a terrible weakness for stationery stores and office suppliers. The slightest excuse and I'm through those doors faster than a rabbit down a hole. It doesn't matter how many narrow feint notebooks and black Bic pens I have, I always NEED MORE.

I like to think of myself as Smaug, but sans all the gold, jewels, and other dragon bait. Actually, no. Forget I said that.

If, like me,  you're addicted to stationery, take a look at this link, it's a veritable drool-fest.

How about you. Do you have any secret vices you want to share with the group? Preferably of the non-naked variety please! :)

Pants and Planets...

Hello campers! How's retrograding Mercury treating you all today?

Me? I'm doing great, thanks. (Then again, my entire life has been in retrograde since March, so anything's an improvement!)

Book news: the second draft of Anselm's tale (a.k.a. the book with no name!) is coming along nicely. Lots of coloring in and filling out done today, and one extremely sketchy section is now all ironed out. Oh, by the by, Anselm and Vadim had a very interesting conversation earlier on today. Most... illuminating.

*sigh*

Sometimes the state of my mental health troubles me. I mean, I'm supposed to be the author here but, even at this stage, I have absolutely no idea what's going to happen next!

What can I say? Some writers plot, others pants. As for myself, I have the great misfortune to be a true-blue, Bridget-Jones-full-knickered pantser.

Anyway, I'll leave you all with a little 'pome' I found on my newsfeed today. Enjoy! <3

Congratulations to...

 "extendedmoss8 (US)"

Random.org has spoken. As the lucky winner of last month's newsletter subscriber giveaway you've just won yourself a $25 Amazon giftcard!

Check your inbox and let me know you got it.

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I have a couple of questions for you...

Hello, lovelies. Happy Friday! :)

I arrived home today to find a negative review of 'Hemlock,' and I wanted to ask your opinion on something.

As you're probably aware, bad reviews don't tend to trouble me that much. Horses for courses, to each their own, and all that jazz. But what bothered me about this one is that the reader states he/she was enjoying the story until s/he reached that cliff-hanger ending. As a result, I've lost him/her forever. Sadly, they'll definitely never be darkening my door again.

Q: Are cliffies really such a deal breaker?

Now I was raised on 'Lord of the Rings.' It didn't bother me in the slightest that the book was published in three installments. Maybe because I didn't have to wait for my next 'fix'? (Not that I'm comparing myself in any way to the fabulous Prof' Tollers--I'm not worthy to stuff the man's pipe, let alone anything else--but the arrangement of the 'Traveler' series is much like LOTR. Multiple books = one story.)

The thing is, from the very beginning, I knew 'Traveler' was going to be a hefty book. That's the only reason I decided to break it down into more manageable chunks. Profit was NEVER a consideration. After all, when I set out, I had no idea if anyone would want to read my scribblings, so my decision definitely wasn't based on money. It was this: would anyone want to take a chance on a 1,000 page epic, penned by an unknown author? I probably wouldn't, but that's just me.

And still 'Traveler' keeps on growing. The story cannot be resolved in just one book. I can give you a 'happy for now', but that 'happily ever after' is still a long way off.

So here's my question: I've always had a disclaimer on my Amazon author page advising readers to steer clear if they hate cliffie endings. Should I place this disclaimer in the product description (in bold lettering?) instead?

What do you think? I'm listening.

Be back soon...

Keswick June 2015