Signposts For Country Living came out and 200 advance copies have been sold to the US, so busy trying to find freelance outlets over there. With all the cut-backs we've also had to reduce the number of issues of The New Writer to four a year, although we've double the number of pages for each issue. Frantically busy but not too busy to enjoy the glorious summer we've had. Plenty of ideas in the pipeline for the autumn ... not to mention new puppies in for training.

Here is the news ...

Just completed a series of fiction workshops for a local writers' group and it was good to get back into the swing of things again. If I miss anything about being in the UK, it's my regular trip to Caerleon for the Writers' Summer School but who knows, with four books under contract in the past twelve months, I may get another invitation!

Delay on the publication of Signposts For Country Living, which was due out in May. The problem with not being in control of the production is that it becoms awfully freustrating when things go wrong. However, been promised they'll be ready in a couple of weeks ... so will have to keep the champagne on ice until then.

Signposts For Country Living

We've been working on this book through the winter months and it will shortly be available from the Good Life Press from May. It was an idea we'd been kicking around for a couple of years - combining our joint experiences of integrating into rural communities in England, Wales and Ireland. It had been 'sitting in a draw' for quite a while and was scheduled for the recycle bin when we came across the submission guidelines for a rural publisher. They liked the practical advice tempered with humour and snapped it up. The moral behind this story is: Never junk anything because you never know when it will become a saleable item!

2010 Update: better late than never

Since September I've been working on a variety of projects, one of the most important being the 100th issue of The New Writer, that came out in January. I've also given my first talk to a writers' group since moving to Ireland. It must have gone down well because I've been invited to host a workshop in a couple of months time. I must admit I miss my trips to Caerleon but I'm still recommending it as the best event available to both newcomers and old hands at the writing game.

I've also been working on two new titles in the MB&S genre, which will be published later this year by O-Books, under a pseudonym. The proofs and the book cover for the first have been approved and it's been an interesting excise to see how much the new publisher's working system differs from the old. O-Books conducts all its business on-line and I must admit that it's taken quiet a bit of getting used to. By the time the second book is due for proofing, I'll have become used to it.

Because the greyhound business has slowed down during the last year, Garrett and I have kept ourselves busy by writing Signposts For Country Living for the Good Life Press, which is scheduled for publication in May. The idea had been kicking around for some time but as soon as the contract was signed, we managed to complete the text in about three months. My Daddy always said that when one door closes, another opens, and although we're not doing the work with the greyhounds, completing and selling three full-length books in a year isn't bad going!