Floundering in the dark, searching for that spark

I've been hard at work this morning trying to work through some ideas online, but like many other things it seems like I'm floundering in the dark, until finally I'll come across that spark that illuminates everything, and all becomes clear.

So... as I can't seem to find that spark today I'll talk about books... learning to read is a hurdle that we all have to get over to get to the treasures that can be found in a book. I can still remember when reading finally clicked for me, and reading became easy. For me, as I'm sure for many others, it was an Enid Blyton book that was my first book that I couldn't put down, I just couldn't get enough of the Faraway Tree.

And so everyone needs a book that grabs their imagination, and makes them want more... I believe that anyone who says they don't enjoy reading has simply not found the right book yet. That's not to say that every book I read grabs me, but when one does, I can be totally lost in a book, and people around me may have to shout to get my attention. :)

Life is a learning curve... I will overcome my last hurdle eventually - I'll rise above it and fly high - either that or I'll beat it down with a stick...

Why do I like to make life difficult for myself?

When I'm working on a book, my mind is usually racing ahead to the next project, and on this occasion I thought my next book would be straightforward, having already found a UK printer of board books... 

However when I came to put in a quote request, the fee was so high it would be barely viable for personal use, let alone to try and sell on to customers, and even at that price it was only printed on 1mm card which I doubt would be thick enough for a board book for a baby. Oh well.back to the drawing board...

Meanwhile I'm hard at work promoting Outnumbered by Cats... well, that is I've passed it on to my sales team - oh wait, I am my sales team...  and so we come back to my learning curve that I have yet to conquer, that of selling online. But all is not lost - I have a book signing at the weekend! It's so much easier to sell books face to face.

But I will overcome my last hurdle eventually - I'll rise above it and fly high - either that or I'll beat it down with a stick...  

Book signing near York - knitting needles at the ready...

I've got a book signing at the weekend - time to get the knitting needles out...

That's right, that's what I said - knitting needles - you see I just like to make things hard for myself.

Not only do I write, illustrate and self publish my books - by the end of 2013 I was looking for a gimmick to add to my table at fairs. My imagination went around in a few circles and came up with the idea of knitting sheep - the characters from my bestseller But I'm Not Sleepy. The sheep caught the imagination of young and young at heart - who wouldn't want to take home a knitted sheep after all?

I have been toying with a design for a knitted cat to link with Basil and the Flappy Thing, but so far I've only produced a knitted head which is bigger than life size,  so I'm not sure where I'm going with that one...

I've heard of an author who takes his cat to book signings, and his cat sits happily on the table next to him, but I can't see that working our for me. I think there would be a riot, especially as there will be birds of prey at the same fair as my forthcoming book signing.

OK, what' am I supposed to do with this?

My life - one long learning curve...

Exciting times... my new book Outnumbered by Cats is now listed on amazon, if only as 'unavailable' and not 'pre-order' which a mainstream publisher would have enjoyed - but hay I'm not put off, I know my book will soon be available in my own online bookshop and at book signings. And in case you're wondering, it'll be available on amazon too - if the unavailable or 2 - 4 week label doesn't put you off...

Meanwhile I'm rummaging around and trying to remember how to customise my new blog and fill it with pictures and links... if I did this sort of thing more often I'm sure it would be easy, but I do tend to spend much of my time either lost in a book or getting distracted by my cats...

Captain supervising the proof reading - and making me pause to take a photo...  and then of course I had to figure out how to get the photo from the phone to the laptop - my life, one long learning curve...

Outnumbered by cats

Newly launched today - my new blog Outnumbered by Cats where I'll be posting all things cat and kitten related...

I think my cats have got wind of their forthcoming fame in their own book Outnumbered by Cats, they've turning into little divas, making demands for constant upgrades in their dinner options - no wait, that's just cats being cats - changing their minds, with no regard to the bulk buy I recently did on their current (now no longer current) favourite food...

New book - you saw it here first!

Finally the wraps are off, the editing done and Lost in a Book is proud to present to the world:

Outnumbered by Cats

The true story of how I got outnumbered by cats - bursting with colour photos

The blurb:

I’d like to get a female kitten and let her have one litter,” I said to my stunned family when they raised the kitten topic. Not surprisingly a suitable kitten was quickly found...  and Mitzi arrived in time for Christmas, bringing her own brand of fun and chaos, and demanding friendship from our 5 year old cat Cleo.

By summer Mitzi was quite confused, she came into season and started calling shamelessly. But when a hapless tomcat answered her call, she was far from impressed; causing more than one cat flap drama, and a hole in the door where a flap used to be. 

Eventually nature took it its course and Mitzi had kittens. The first few weeks were blissfully peaceful, watching as Mitzi took care of their every need. We had a week of heartache when one of the kittens was poorly, and then not developing properly, and was destined to challenge and inspire us in ways we could not yet imagine. 

Then they grew big enough to escape their box, and the bedlam began... 

published and available from May 2014

Cat Flap season has started...

It seems that the cat flap season has started... we've already had a rat and a mouse brought in - the rat was discarded on the floor and should probably have made me jump, but I think I''m just getting used to such things now... The mouse was obviously more prized, and I had to have a chase around the house after Captain, who really wanted it for himself.

And there was me thinking that a cat flap would make life easier...

Back from my holiday - so what's next?

Just back from a wonderful Birthday weekend away with my family at Center Parcs. We went swimming every day, we were even joined in the outdoor pool by a duck... I cycled round on a quad bicycle contraption with my daughter, and generally had a lot of fun...  and now I'm feeling refreshed and ready to go again.

So what's next? Well there's a notice up on the outer ring road reminding me I've got a book signing coming up very soon, at Long Marston near York on 4th May at the Spring craft fair - there'll be books, there'll be sheep... and that's just on my table. They'll also be birds of prey and a bouncy castle...

How to stop picture edges appearing blurry when saving an adobe file to pdf

Hopefully this will help anyone else out there who is tearing their hair out, trying to get rid of the blurry edges that form around edges of pictures when saving to adobe  PDF

I've been trying to solve the problem of blurry edges around the photos on the cover of my book cover. As usual I've gone around in circles a few times before getting there, but in the end the answer was simple:

When saving my book cover as a PDF in adobe photoshop an option box came up about compression - don't let it compress at all, and the blurring will not occur. 

And there it is - my eureka moment!!