Keeping to a routine: dogs, football, pelicans and other friendly subjects

I have blogged now for a month. Three things are obvious: dogs get the greatest response, friends do not have staying power, and time is the hardest constraint. I have thus resolved to do the following:

1. Write about my dog at least once a week  — and other animals too if possible

2. Tie everything I write about my dog (and other animals — see pelican below) to promoting my book in some way. This has proved hard with the pelican.

3. Abandon trying to get my friends to start the word of mouth necessary to get people I don’t know to read my book. They mean well but it’s just not happening folks

4. Start writing about football — it’s a love I share with billions of people, and some of them even read books. There are not many games during the summer so I have to keep my interest alive — and who knows, my next book might be set inside the world of football – I’ve been inside that fortress in Switzerland known as the home of FIFA and have even met Mr. Blatter — I have credentials.

Let’s see what the next month brings.

ps. This is the link to the book if anyone wants to download it. There are no pelicans in this one but it’s a great summer read — I will have to say that myself as others haven’t quite picked up on it yet! 

Why did Dan Brown get all the reviews?

Dan Brown’s new book is on most front pages of websites and papers  this week. A dissection of Dante, the struggles with writer’s block, the difficult decisions: it’s all there plus the gratuitous sniping at the deftness of the prose (or is that deafness?). INFERNO will be a bestseller. AN Wilson called it a page turner despite the language. It has lots of factoids about viruses and Italy. All to the good.

I hope the Dan Brown magic rubs off on the rest of us writing clue-filled thrillers. My sleuths, by the way, are much better looking than Robert Langdon — I would see them played by Kate Winslet (Charlie) and Gwyneth Paltrow (Lucinda) in the movie (rights available on request). Check out The Stones of Judgment on Amazon for Kindle. It’s a page turner too and the prose I hope is not without sound.

The Stones of Judgment

Another look at that great cover!