Projects.

Way back in December 2022 I mentioned that I had started a time consuming project that didn't leave much time for my rants here on this blog.  In fact, there were really two of them that progressed side by side and claimed my time in varying degrees as each one stuttered onwards.  And then poor old Tilly's sudden sickness came into the mix too.

I'm sure that none of you actually care what these two projects were, but what the hell, I'll tell you anyway.  Firstly we are building an extension to the back of our house.  You know the type of thing, an open plan kitchen/dining/living area, and the much needed utility room that suddenly becomes necessary as a result, because who wants to listen to the washing machine drowning out the telly when you are trying to watch a movie?  After some substantial changes to the plans, (why do architects never listen when you give them a budget?), and a lot of time spent talking to builders, we eventually found one we could afford without having to sell our kidneys, arms, legs and souls, and the extension is progressing well, (no thanks to the absolutely rubbish weather we are having this summer).

Number two project is somewhat different.  One of the blogs listed in the sidebar here is Underdogs Bite Upwards.  It so happens that the owner of this blog who goes by the acronym Legiron, also publishes books, and he specialises in first time authors.  He is also a retired microbiologist, and sometimes publishes articles based on his knowledge in this area.  He got me thinking about what damage someone like him could do if they got really, really disillusioned with the current state of the world, so I wrote a book about it.  Think of it like Legiron's evil twin, mixed in with a few obscure truths and conspiracy theories and you get the general idea.  There are also one or two very obscure references in there should anyone who reads it be nerdy enough to find them.

From the advice given on his book publishing site, I have kept it short, since as Legiron helpfully points out few first time authors sell more than a few hundred books, so keeping publishing costs down is important.  I would like to exceed this, but who knows?  Marketing any book is the difficult part I am told.

Still, important, and very well formed stories like HG Wells, 'War of the Worlds', is only 192 pages, 'The Time Machine' has only 89, and 'The Invisible Man' has a mere 164.  So it is possible to tell a damned fine tale in less than 500 pages.  I just hope that my writing can be half as good as HG's.

Legiron is currently editing out my major blemishes and contradictions, but hopefully a decently polished book will appear in due course.  You never know, by the time he finishes with it, it might even be good!  

Watch this space.