GOOGLE YUCKETYPOO!!!!!

Hello ya'll!

Since beginning my new role at Present Company, I am often so busy that the entire day passes me by in the blink of an eye and I am left bemused as I settle down to dinner at home in the evening! Very very occasionally, I get two minutes to check my emails or surf Google and the other day, during a very rare quiet moment, I came out of one site where I'd been trying to source linen bags for a client and idly tapped YUCKETYPOO into the search box. I nearly fell off my chair! There were pages of it, in everything from French to Japanese and who knows what all in between. If news of the book is hitting foreign book sites likes these, why aren't I earning more commission from it? I was flattered, horrified and completely astonished all at once. So then I tried Yahoo and there it was again! So it does look as if word is steadily creeping through, despite the fact that I often feel completely disconnected from it because I hear so little about what is actually happening.

As it turns out, my Google discovery co-incided almost supernaturally with the arrival of some of Ashley the Illustrator's latest offerings by email which are just brilliant. Sarah the Publisher thinks we may still have a chance of launching the second in the series this year after all which would be a huge relief. There are other things going on that I can't actually tell you about at this moment in time but I will update soon as I can. If they come off, it will be a major step forward. The good thing of course is that all this activity has fired me up again and it is my intention to make a list of schools, book shops, Beaver and Rainbow packs and local libraries by the end of this week so that I can line up some visits, talks and maybe book signings. Fingers crossed.

Watch this space.

CLEVER EDDIE ...

Does anyone remember my blog for 3rd October last year when Hubby and I returned from the beautiful Outer Hebredes? One of the characters I mentioned was our driver and tour guide Eddie with whom I'd struck up a particular friendship because we are both writers who were on the verge of having our first book published. I mention this today because, when I got home last night, Hubby was beaming at me. "There's a lovely surprise there for you," he said. "I like surprises!" I responded and looked. It took a moment but then I exclaimed in wonder, "It's Eddie's book!" And it was - a beautifully illustrated story book produced in the way of the old fashioned children's books, with the text wrapped in luscious full colour illustrations and stories and poems like the kind I had read to me as a little girl. And on the back cover is the review I wrote after Eddie showed me the draft copies back in October! There was a lovely letter with it, addressed to both Hubby and I, and the last thing he says in it is "I hope everything is going well for your book."

I am so chuffed! I didn't mention it on 3rd October but for quite a lot of the two weeks of our tour, Eddie and I spent a number of coffee stops discussing our books. I had already self-published a number of poetry books for children (copies available - just give me a call) which had sold well on a local scale, but I had never attempted anything nearly so ambitious as Eddie, and I am just so pleased that he achieved his dream! I will of course, return the favor and said him a copy of Yucketypoo because he was with me when I got a call from Sarah the Publisher to say that a women's magazine with a circulation of 75, 000 were going to run a feature on it in time for Christmas.

I think I need to circulate with more writers. We feed off one another so well and the mutual support is always there. This is one of the reasons that I love belonging to the WriteWords community - and possibly why I always get a reply from any other writers I contact from time to time.

As for Eddie and his "Grandad's Tales" - all the best to him. And if you know any children under eight who'd appreciate comfortable, old-fashioned, yet completely original bedtime stories, get in touch and I'll tell you how you can obtain a copy at the price of £5.99.

Have a good day.