Someone I know recently sent me a text quoting some words that she had read once, “Don’t live the same year 75 times and call it a life.” I think these are very wise words.

We can all get stuck in a certain pattern in life, creating routines, which makes us feel safe and protected. I know that everyone is different and while some people crave excitement and adventure other people are happy with a more peaceful, sedate pace of life.

Ask yourself though are you in that safe routine because that is what you want to do? Are you happy…truly happy doing the same thing day after day, seeing the same things, experiencing only that which makes you feel protected?

If the answer is no you are not truly happy, then you are merely existing, getting through each day only to face the next one with a sigh and a heavy heart. Life is one of the most precious gifts we have been given, and I think we owe it to ourselves to find a way of living it. For each person that may be different as we all have our dreams and aspirations but to be true to ourselves we have to find a way of making at least some if not all of them come true.

Think about what you do want, what you want to achieve and ask yourself how you can make that happen. These changes may not necessarily be dramatic or huge they just need to make you feel alive…live don’t exist.
Don’t make your last thoughts, “I wish I had.”

I’m going to go completely off theme today and not talk about my short story or the promotion side of things and take a look at another thing dear to my heart.

I have always at heart been a rock chick, leather and bikes. The reality is I wear textiles, hi-viz and ride a 125cc scooter (a temporary measure- over four years so far but who’s counting!).

Every day I go onto that road I have someone cut me up, not notice me (despite the sexy hi-viz) or think that I should ride at the side of the road as a cyclist. Guys my bike has an engine. On A & B roads, I can keep up with you and the flow of traffic. You have no need to rush to get in front of me or to try to bully me to the side of the road. (Stubborn as hell – I will not move!) If you meet me on a motorway with my L plates, then I can understand your desire to get past me but the truth is I am not allowed on them so you won’t see me there.

I’m riding down a side road: I leave room between the parked cars and me because if I don’t and they open their doors without looking. I’m going to wear that window as a necklace…a very unflattering one. May mean the end of me! So please stop trying to bully me across the road, slow down, maybe we can share that space.

You’re coming out of a side road; you have a give way sign. I’m coming down the main road and have priority. Look and look again…pulling out without looking is not smart and not cool. I have a son, a mum and dad, brother, sister, three nieces and a nephew, lots of extended family and friends. They all care that you are pulling out of that road without looking or thinking “Hey it’s just a bike, they don’t go fast!” Think of them if you can’t think of me.

I’m riding along the road, you are following behind me, please give me some space. If I have to brake suddenly, you may get a dent on your bumper…I may not make it!

Adverse weather conditions, it’s raining, you are dry, I’m getting wet. You have windscreen wipers, I have to wait until it is safe to wipe my visor or when I pull up at traffic lights…my visibility may be awful. It will take me longer to stop in those conditions. I will leave a bigger gap between me and the vehicle in front in case I need to brake suddenly that is because I have judged my braking distance so stop trying to bully me into going faster. The extreme wind can take me out of my lane into the next one, if I slow down its because I need to do this for my safety…don’t bully me. If you want to overtake me do it safely, give enough room, don’t skim along the side of me.

When there is traffic, I do filter. I do it slowly and safely, I know this must be frustrating for you as you sit in your warm car because you are stuck. I may be getting wet as mentioned before visibility really bad. I may be freezing cold despite all the layers and biker gear; my fingers inside my biker gloves may start to lose all sensations soon. It may be hot, the sun is beating down on me, I have my biker gear on, so I am melting. I could choose not to wear it but if I come off my bike I lose layers of skin and maybe bone so not really a choice for me. So do you really begrudge me the ability to filter through the traffic? Do you really need to move over specifically to block my way?

There are many hazards on the road that you don’t need to worry about in a car. I may slow down because I see something that may be potentially hazardous to me…is that a reason for you to get angry and tailgate me? Grit and stones dropped by the builders could take me out, a wet drain cover or white lines on the road. I am continually making decisions on what is safe for me…all, I ask, is that you consider bikers and stop bullying them. One day you might take one out…it might be me.

My brain is buzzing…there is so much to take in. It is less than a week since I published “As Dreams Are Made On.” I have set up this website, very basic at the moment with not a huge content, but it is growing. After battering my head repeatedly against a brick wall, yesterday I worked out how to configure a part of it. It is starting to look a bit more how I wanted it to; an achievement for someone with very basic knowledge in this area. I am going to give myself a huge pat on the back! I have tripled my followers on Twitter, if I could triple my sales I would be really happy…for the time being anyway! Never satisfied for long…always reaching for that next milestone…but hey that’s what life is about, isn’t it?

Next step is to set up another Facebook account, a public one…in case I get a public and to stop my friends from un-friending me as I bombard my page with personal promotion. I may well have to be the person who invents a longer day…yeah okay maybe sleep less instead. It is incredible how much time disappears in the social network stratosphere, time that was previously wasted in watching television. Added to that though are the breakfast tweets, lunchtime tweets and blogs, evening tweets, lying in bed tweets…you get the picture?

On the upside, I feel more alive than I have in a long time…though it may all catch up with me at once. I think I will need to take a short(ish) break in the Caribbean to recover at some point. 😉

I have been banging on about how much of a challenge it is to get my head around promoting my short story myself. What I discovered last night though is a set of elves in the form of friends and family coming in to help me. It makes this whole journey less lonely when you know the ones, you love, are not only rooting for you but are telling their friends about you. Some of these people have not read it yet so don’t know whether they are recommending utter drivel. Their faith in me is the most beautiful part of the process…aside from the writing…oh and the sales figures of course! No, but seriously as with all things you realise how wonderful the people around you are when you are in need of support.

When I make my first million I will remember you…may not talk to you, but I will remember you  😉

The First day of the new week, back to work, my current reality. Busy day at work but that didn’t stop me checking the progress of my sales chart on Amazon KDP and silently urging readers to bite…okay not so silent…I tweeted…and tweeted…re-tweeted and a bit more tweeting. No movement! I got home and logged on and was exceptionally pleased with the one person who bought a copy today. Fantastic…great and all that but my pretty line chart was showing an upward incline until today… the red line is drooping sadly near the baseline now.
So I guess my next challenge is how to change this state of affairs, how to re-erect a drooping line! So whilst working a 40 hour week, cooking, cleaning (okay not so much), writing, editing, writing this blog, ensuring I get to the gym, so my body doesn’t go into rapid decay….I now need to apply myself to learning a new skill. Argh! What have I done? I had better keep this short and sweet…will be back tomorrow as long as sanity allows. 🙂

Yesterday morning I made a lifelong dream come true. I don’t have a contract from a publishing house with a big fat or even small cheque, but I am now officially a published author.

I think I spent the better part of yesterday afternoon and last night checking sales… this has to stop! Once the excitement has dulled slightly I, may look once a day…yeah okay maybe twice! Seven sales yesterday and two today. I have a ranking on Amazon! I am as far removed from the top 100 as man was from the moon 100 years ago. I can’t claim to make any giant leaps for mankind, but I am exceptionally proud of my little steps.

By self-publishing, the onus is on me to promote my book to make it available to a wider audience that my Facebook and Twitter friends. This whole experience is a real learning curve, scary but thrilling at the same time.

I’ve just read my first review on Amazon…it’s quite surreal realising that my work is out there in the public domain being read, devoured, judged. I am pleased to say the reviewer, gave me five stars.

I am intrigued to know what the next step in this journey will be…

Matty Taylor: a beautiful young woman is starting out in her new life with her husband. Plagued by visions that seem all too real she seeks advice from the Gypsy at the local fair.
Donald Taylor: cannot believe his luck when Matty agrees to marry him. A methodical, down to earth, man who requires irrefutable evidence to believe in the existence of anything.
Thomas Trevelyan: Enigmatic and exciting but with an agenda of his own.
Matty is pulled from her life in the 21st Century into a frightening dream world where Thomas Trevelyan rescues her from a crowd of angry peasants and spirits her off to his secluded house in the woods.
Frightened when he cannot wake Matty from her sleep Donald has to start challenging the way he thinks in order to get her back.
If Thomas can win her heart, he will be a step closer to obtaining the ultimate prize but he has to contend with the echoes of her real life endeavouring to lure her back.
Two men lay claim to her affections but who will be the victor?

Today I took that step into the unknown and uploaded the final draft of a short story that I have been working on to Amazon Kindle for self-publishing.

Writing the story was the easy bit, it flows from you without the need for conscious thought. Then comes the hard bit. You have to read through it objectively not once but a number of times and the more you do this the harder it is. You have to study all angles: does it read well? Is it interesting? Have I used repetition? Will the reader understand what I am trying to say?

So over the last few months on this 13,000-word story I have poured both heart, mind and soul into this creation. A week ago I started the process of signing up for an Amazon Kindle self-publishing account (KDP). Again time to use the conscious part of the brain, oh dear! What to write on the blurb? How to make it stand out? Choosing a picture and the font style for the cover.

It all came together, and I finally hit the upload button. Of course, it isn’t over at this point. In the ideal world, it would sell itself. I could go back to step one with a new story and channel my creativity or maybe editorial step 2 with the other stories in various stages of completion on my flash drive.
Now comes the nail biting part. Will anyone buy, read, like it…or will it slip into the nether world of stories lost on the ether never to be read? So how do I ensure that my labour of love over the last few months doesn’t end that way?

 If you would like to read it: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00S2MRJEI?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_d_detailpage_o00_