Good evening all,

Started the day with a video chat with my niece Sophie, was lovely to catch up.

At 11am I had a video chat with my Sister Julia and my Cousin Kathleen in Australia and we had a chat for an hour and a half. Have spent most the night looking through Ancestry site with my sis.

Went for a walk this evening and other than that just editing.

Hitting publish now as it’s nearly midnight and I’ll miss the deadline for today’s post.

Stay Safe.

Good evening all,

This morning I went for a walk, heading into Hounslow (half hour each way) I was able to pick up some items from Asda that Mum and Dad wanted and some stuff I haven’t been able to get in other supermarkets. Then I jumped on my motorbike and delivered the food and washing to my parents. The roads were really busy, like a Sunday prior to lockdown.

I was in Asda during the two minute silence for VE Day and I stopped to bow my head in respect. Unfortunately many others didn’t stop, despite the announcement made over the tannoy.

I was fortunate enough to see the Red Arrows fly directly over me, but wasn’t quick enough to get my camera out.

The rest of my day was spent editing Illicit Love.

A bit of wood chopping, a chat with my neighbour and that’s about the sum of my day.

I’m now sitting in front of the television watching BBC celebrating VE Day. I’m truly humbled by the heroes of WWII both on the Front and at home. The Land Girls didn’t hesitate to pitch in for the war effort, they didn’t wait for nationals from other countries to do the work for them. There was a spirit and strength that we can learn from.

Stay safe.

❥¸.•´ Now available for PreORDER!

WANTED by R.E. Hargrave

COMING JUNE 2020

An artist seeking redemption.

A wanderer needing permanence.

And the crazy that’ll make or break them.

☆★☆

Hyde Johnson is an erotic audiobook performer. A ‘Read By’ byline is too plain, and ‘Narrated By’ still doesn’t capture what he does. His livelihood is his passion. Performance art, the air he breathes.
Which translates to a recluse who is a hot mess.
He’s not eating right, he’s drinking more, and his family’s meddling is making it harder to stay on task.
Being designated the guardian of her young niece Tina is the last thing Gypsy Hartford expected.
But when the State of South Carolina unceremoniously puts Tina in her care, Gypsy
accepts it’s time to grow up and stop floating from town to town. Where does she start when she has no degree, no real friends, and no family besides Tina?
A want ad could be the answer to both their conundrums. Or it might open a whole new can of
worms. Especially when you throw in a crazed author with an unhealthy obsession for her narrator.

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Hello All,

Thursday is shopping day for my parents and my friend’s Dad, queued to get into Tesco’s again, not for long though. I won’t bore you with the usual gripes from my trip – needless to say people still don’t get it! Enough said.

This morning after getting back I did one rep of my weights work out. Next week I’ll increase to two reps. I should reach my 10,000 step target today.

Spoke to my Director from work today and she outlined how I will return back to work, once the government have given the go ahead. I will be working three weeks a month in the hub office and one a month from home. What a lovely saving on commuting time. Should get writing/marketing time.

This afternoon I spent out in the glorious sunshine and finished the first edit of Illicit Love. I also started the second edit. When I’ve completed that I will send a copy to my Kindle and read in a different format before sending to my Beta reader Su S’ari who is also a good friend.

Other than a bit of pottering around in the house and cutting up some more wood that has been my day. Will head out at 8pm for the Clap for the NHS/Keyworkers.

Stay safe.

Good evening,

Forty-three days in and still as sane as I was before lockdown – that’s not saying much though. I’m a person who has characters talking inside my head, whispering or shouting at me to tell their story. Go figure!

I’d like to start today’s blogpost by saying thank you to the government of this country for all they’re doing. This may not prove popular and if you disagree please keep all comments civil. I don’t normally talk about politics either online or at work or with friends, I keep my own council and allow other people theirs. However, they were never going to please everyone and I truly believe they have done what they think was right. Have they been wrong? Maybe, quite possibly but who’s to know. Comparing our stats with other countries who may live in a different way isn’t a fair comparison.

I’ve seen posts of Facebook criticising our government and accusing them of reacting too slowly endangering lives. I’ve seen people saying that the Draconian steps of lockdown are taking away our civil liberties to have the freedom of movement. Well, everyone is entitled to their view, however, there is nothing more effective than death at removing civil liberties and freedom of movement. I’m not even going to go into the theories about 5G and all the others.

I guess what I’m trying to say is we will never know what was the right approach for our countries, I hope we never get the chance for us to test a different theory. But, our government made sure that the majority of employed people stayed that way and although it’s not ideal have tried to support the self-employed too. Everything they have done was of Herculean proportions and I think they have tried to do what is right, not always what is popular.

So from me, thank you.

Now onto my day!

Zoom chat with colleagues from work and a bit of an idea of what work will look like when the government start to allow us to go back. Closer to home, so maybe more time for me to spend writing and marketing. Seeing the positives.

Went for my first walk outside for the sake of exercise only. Went down to Hounslow Heath and walked around the woods, just under an hour which included a 10 minute jog. Bit harder on that terrain than the treadmill.

Editing of Illicit Love and realised that I don’t know whether one of my characters has 3, 4 or 5 kids. Might need to go back and check that. It’s actually one of the few areas I don’t have written in my notes. Hmm. Glad I spotted it before my eagle-eyed editor did.

This afternoon I watched an Amazon training webinar for marketing books, more things to consider just as my time is going to become sparser! Oh well, always a challenge.

I set up another Amazon Ad Campaign, that’s a total of thirty-nine ads in the US and one in the UK so far. Bryan Cohen would be proud of me!

More cutting up the wood from the shed. If we go back too soon I won’t get my garden finished! 🙂

Quiz night tonight with some of my colleagues. Oh dear time for me NOT to shine again. LOL
Last place 61/101! The music round screwed me over again.

Anyway I’m heading off.

Stay safe.

Good evening all,

Went to Lidl to do my weekly shop, and as I go fairly early I now avoid the crowds yay so my anxieties were held at bay and no need to contemplate murder. Tick tick.

Spent the rest of the morning identifying new keywords for ads and should be ready to set up another ad tomorrow.

Well, maybe not all the morning, I did do my 40 minutes on the treadmill, 8 minutes of which was jogging. I’ve also stuck to my calories again and I’m on course to do the 10,000 step target again today.

I’m a hop, skip and a jump away from the end of the first edit of Illicit Love. Had a little cry despite knowing what was about to happen.

More work on cutting up the wood in the garden, I also chopped down a small tree which had grown up around the side of the shed.

This lockdown is different for many people, some sadly loose their life or that of loved ones, for some they are subjected to abuse, both physical, mental and emotional. For people who crave company, this is hell as it is for people who live for their work. I’m blessed that so far, touch wood, for me it has been a great opportunity to work on my passion for writing and being alone in the house for me isn’t a problem. As much as I enjoy my job, I knew I was stuck in a rut coming home too exhausted to work on my books and then struggling to juggle housework, grocery shopping, family time and writing at the weekend – not to mention time to relax. If this has taught me anything is that I can’t go back to that way of living, I’m not sure what or how to make a change moving forward but I do need to make a plan. I don’t know what will happen when we come out of lockdown, whether or not I’ll be required to be in work or work from home until the danger is passed but either way I will have to find a way not to lose the benefits I’ve gained.

Stay safe.

Evening all,

Another lovely day spent at home. Started my healthy lifestyle today, and I’ve stuck to my calorie allowance. Had a 37 minute walk on the treadmill and 3 minute jog. Each day I hope to build on that until I’m half-marathon ready again. My knees are hurting a bit so really need to take this easy. I also done one rep of my weights, again I will increase this each week until I reach the three required reps.

Lots of editing done on Illicit Love. Searched more keywords and set another Amazon Ad, loads more to do yet but another step in the right direction. I also started reading Bryan Cohen’s How to Write a Sizzling Synopsis. This lockdown has been a great opportunity to learn for me.

I managed to pull the rest of the shed down in the garden, now need to cut the wood down and remove the rotten base.

Stay safe.

Good evening all,

I woke up to my bath a quarter full of water. I have huge problems with drainage and last night when the water wouldn’t drain away I used a bucket to pour it down the sink and during the night it came back up the bath. So spent a large part of the morning trying to unblock it. As a result I felt unmotivated and knew I needed to turn my frame of mind around. So I challenged myself. Earlier in the week I ordered a little cabinet from Wayfair for my lounge, having unpacked it and looking at the instructions I left it. Today I decided to tackle it and I’m pleased to say I nailed it. As you can see below it now has pride of place next to my sofa.

Spent some more time on my current WIP, but if I’m honest not a lot.

I was also chuffed to bits this evening to discover that someone has bought the whole of my Children from the Streets series. A fabulous end to what could have been a negative day.

Stay safe.

Good evening all,

It’s my dad’s birthday today, 83 years old and I could give him a kiss or a hug – I did, however, drop off a present on his doorstep and picked the next batch of his and Mum’s washing. As hard as it is the main priority has to be my parent’s safety and for the time being, that means not getting close and being tactile. My sister picked up the clean washing this afternoon on her way to see my Dad which will save me a journey next Tuesday. It was lovely seeing her even if we did have to keep our distance.

When I got home, I tackled the garden shed again and now only have half of it left standing. I think I may have a bee’s nest under the base, Queenie was giving me the evils.

A healthy amount of editing and my day is done.

On the subject of healthy, this has been an epic fail for me in the last few weeks and I’ve decided to start over again on Monday. Wish me luck.

Keep safe.

Good evening all,

Stayed inside the whole of today, yay! I started off lacking motivation as I’d reached a plateau over the last few days, but by pushing myself to work on editing I managed to reboot my mojo.

This afternoon I worked out my profit/loss for April after doing Amazon Ads. Both US and UK are working at a loss, but whereas the US site shows promise at 12:1, the UK one is haemorrhaging money and at a conversion rate of 55:1 is probably beyond resuscitation. I have just reduced the first three books in The Children from the Streets series so will give it another week to see whether I can make a positive upswing in sales. I have also made changes to the blurb for A Boy from the Streets and Sins of the Father. Thanks to Bryan Cohen’s course I know what I’m looking at now, even if some of it may take some figuring out, such as blurb writing. As soon as I can see evidence of a better conversion rate I will be setting up multiple ad campaigns.

I’ve attached the blurbs below and would be interested to get any feedback.

A Boy from the Streets Click here to pick up a copy of A Boy from the Streets  

The streets of Brasil are a cruel and unforgiving place to live. Only the strong or lucky survive.

Pedro dreams of being more than an orphan on the streets of Rio, but there are few opportunities for a boy who begs and steals for a living. Just staying alive is hard enough.

After overhearing that he’s adopted and has a twin brother whilst on a trip to Rio, throws him onto a path that will change his life. Determined to find his sibling, Jose runs away, but the streets of Rio are not safe for a boy used to the lap of luxury.

A twist of fate throws the brothers together and both boys struggle with conflicting emotions as they get to know each other. Pedro knows Jose will not survive the streets of Rio, and for the love of his brother, hatches a plan to save him from the life of a street urchin. Will temptation cause him to betray Jose, though, and take that life for himself?

Jose’s illusions, of the life he can now live, are shattered when Pedro tells his stories of violence and murder. Can he go back to his old life when the price to pay will be to lose his twin?

A Boy from the Streets is the heart-breaking first, family saga, novel in The Children from the Streets series.

If you like a gripping page-turner, with twists, turns, and realistic characters, who will tug at your heart-strings, you’ll love Maria Gibbs’ inspiring series.

Buy A Boy from the Streets today, to find out whether the boys survive the deception, betrayal, and hidden truths that haunt this family.

Click here to pick up a copy of A Boy from the Streets  

Sins of the Father. Click here to pick up a copy of Sins of the Father 

The streets of Rio are littered with starving orphans.  Death is around every corner.

Carlos Suarez is on a mission to rescue as many homeless children as possible. The problem is he’s never satisfied and drives himself relentlessly to open more orphanages and save more children.

Abused in his childhood, the memories from his past come back to haunt him. Can he come to terms with his past and allow himself to love and be loved for the first time?

Just as he starts to believe that there is more to life  for him than the orphanages, brutal retribution is served up as justice to those who had hurt him. Who is exacting this revenge in his name?

If Carlos’ biggest fear is realised, can he forgive or will this all mean that his future is doomed?

Sins of the Father is the second heart-breaking novel in The Children from the Streets family saga.

If you like a book that is raw with emotion, with twists, turns, and loveable characters, who will tug at your heart-strings, you’ll love Maria Gibbs’ inspiring series.

Buy Sins of the Father today, to find out whether Carlos can find real happiness. Click here to pick up a copy of Sins of the Father 

Looking forward to pushing forward over the coming days and weeks.

Stay safe.