Heavens, how time flies!

We have our charity number now for Words for the Wounded. We have a larger team - Penny Deacon another author who took over from me at the Yeovil Literary Prize and Matt Pain who is an extreme marathon sportsman who also writes.

The good news this weekend is that Writers' Forum will be publishing the winning entries in their magazine. Totally thrilled by this, and thanks to Carl, the editor.

Great thanks too, to Dick my husband who is in the last stages of putting together the website. What a star as it is an all singing, all dancing effort which accepts entries on line.  It would have cost far too much to get someone else to do it, and Words for the Wounded would never have happened.

We are at the stage where we are gathering up patrons: Military and arts.

And sponsors and we'll take them from anywhere.

It's just a question of plodding on, ticking off the jobs as we go.It will all work out.

We intend to launch and open for entries on November 11th for obvious reasons. We close to entries on 11th April, and winners will be announced on 6th June, the anniversary of D Day. Or that's the plan so far.

What else has been happening?

Maeve's Afternoon Delight is finished. My agent loves it, so does the editor at my old publishers but with publishers virtually closing their mid list it's a bit of a dead duck I think. We will wait until Sept/Oct and then decide what to do if I don't get a contract. I think I might just put it onto ebook myself and sell it through my website and Amazon. This is a perfectly respectable course of action these days, so all you aspiring authors out there, remember this.  Also remember that ebooks are outselling print by 20%.  This will increase and so will the independence of authors.

I will be putting the first chapter on the blog and website and if anyone want to read on then they can buy it as an ebook for very little.

I am still doing my afternoon twice a week at the charity shops but this will become less once the charity gets underway. What a brouhaha anyway. Sadly the volunteers at one of the shops have been invaded by some newbies who have formed a clique and are causing all sorts of trouble by writing and complaining about other volunteers when they have no grounds. It is worthy of a novel. Perhaps I will be the one to write it.

I am researching another novel, set back in pre-WW2 and concerning the Fascist movement in the UK. The research is chilling and fascinating. Whilst researching this I will start Lady of the Leylandii which has been stewing for ages. I love Audrey Simpkins already, bless her heart.

What about the Olympics? How great has it been. Dick and I took Mabel the five year old grandchild to BT Live in Hyde Park and the atmosphere was tremendous. We are going to watch the paralympic marathon and line the road as we have been unable to get tickets for any of the Olympics. Not to worry, the TV coverage has been great.

I have a mid summer resolution - to keep this up to date. So I'll be here again in a week.