After the party — this and that

Well, my husband’s party went along great! Everyone got along, quizzes were hard fought, gags laughed at, speeches appreciated, food ate with alacrity, and everyone went home happy. To top it all my husband thanked me for a lovely party! What more could anyone want?

I’m still waiting to hear about my book being printed. No point in rushing it — what’s an extra week or so after six months of preparation (and that after six years of fiddling with it since it was first written!

Gladys Hobson

Magpies Nest Publishing.

I looked through Andrew O’Hara’s book, The Swan, tales of the Sacrimento Valley, again today to get an overall picture. I guess some folk would be disappointed because some of the endings are somewhat ambiguous, or not exactly ‘happy’! But they speak of life as it is, and let’s face it, life does not come in neat packages tied up with fancy ribbon!
What was special to me was the fact that we have visited that area and it brought back thoughts and feelings of the time we spent in that part of California. Our fortnight visit to the USA included my brother and his wife in San Diego (their son lives nearby but their daughter lives in Davis). Sadly, my brother died a couple of months ago, so he was not at our party last Saturday, but memories of our mutual affection and pleasant visits are ever present.

What now? Send copies of my novels for entry of the London Book Festival? Well, I have sent an e-mail asking about the box that has to be filled in called “editor’. Do all books have to be ‘edited’ by a ‘qualified’ editor — someone known to them? All my novels have been professionally appraised twice (the second time after suggested alterations or corrections) and proofread. does that qualify as edited? We shall see.
Whether to enter just one book or all three? Mmm — will USA readers appreciate my style anyway? I guess for a book to be successful it must appeal to most English speaking folk. Who knows, maybe their readers will appreciate my writing. Those who read through the slush piles here in the UK are not exactly dazzled by my ability!

(Update – My Awakening Love came in the first five, Romance genre)