More experienced now!

It’s been months since my first steps as a blogger – it was March and now it’s practically August! So much has happened since then. Do read the News and Events section on my website to find out what’s been going on since March. And of course the Lammas newsletter is due out next week (which I really must get on with). I didn’t keep up with this blog because we started the Stonewylde Forum and I thought that would be enough. But although that started off very well, everyone’s been quiet lately, including me. And blogs are such fun anyway.

I’ve been surfing the Internet the last few days reading all sorts of blogs in the UK and USA. It started when I googled Stonewylde and saw how many entries there are – loads! Then I realised many of them were references found in blogs, and an exciting batch all spawned by an article in the Associated Press in the USA. This story had been run by almost 60 different newspapers and radio stations in the USA – it was a list of authors and books most likely to be “the next Harry Potter”. Me and Stonewylde were fourth on the list!! I was flabberghasted – partly because I wondered how on earth they’d heard of me over there, and partly because I really don’t want a tag like that. It makes you sound like you’re jumping on the bandwagon, or making a poor imitation copy of something that was unique. I like to think of Stonewylde as being generic phentermine manufacturers completely different from anything else. Having said that, the article was certainly good publicity! We’ve had enquiries about film rights, and loads of hits on the website from the USA.

Mr B has just reminded me I need to be up early tomorrow and it’s nearly two in the morning now. I’m off to Glastonbury tomorrow – can’t wait as I love it there. I need to visit the shops that stock Stonewylde and make sure they’re still doing so. Unlike Waterstones and the big guys, the little shops don’t always have automated re-ordering systems and I think Stonewylde has been selling really well in Glastonbury. Well that stands to reason I suppose! And it’s good to meet up with book shops who stock the series – without their support and enthusiasm, I wouldn’t sell nearly as much and they always give me a warm welcome.

I’m also seeing Pete Gotto who runs Counter Culture, the book distributor. Pete is a great guy who’s supported me from the beginning, and sells lots of my books to all sorts of alternative outlets and shops. Luckily it’s forecast for bright weather tomorrow – it’s a long drive if the weather’s bad. I hope I get time to climb up the Tor! Last time I was there was Hallowe’en (Samhain) 2002 I think – certainly before I started writing Stonewylde. I’m looking forward to standing on the top in the sunshine and looking out across that wonderful view.