Random ramblings of an author with a bookshop...

I have an online bookshop... it's tucked away down a back alley where no one can find it.

So what is the mission...?

Well to open up that back alley of course, or at the very least, to put spot lights around the entrance and make everyone who passes want to know what's down there...

Tomorrow Tour De France goes past the end of my road, so maybe I should nip out and redirect all the signs and send the race through my bookshop... no...? not such a good idea...? well maybe not - back to the drawing board as they say. 

So now I need a drawing board to go back to... 

How long does it take to write a book...?

How long does it take to write a book? The question people love to ask, but writers hate to answer - it's enough to send your brain to mush...

For a start off, no two books are the same, some might have a clear starting point where you start to write, and keep your head down until it's finished. Others might have floated about in the imagination for months or even years before being caught and committed to print.

Some books might get shelved in favour of another, and then rise to the surface when the time is right. And then of course there's the time when technology gets in the way of what you're trying to do... you know what you want to do but just can't convince the computer to let you.

Picture books have another dimension, when the story is written, but the words have to shuffle about to make space on the page for the pictures, often throwing up new ideas and possible changes to the script...

Of course there are other times when life just seems to get in the way, and things don't get done as fast as you'd like, so when asked how long it takes to write a book, instead of being totally struck dump, or trying to waffle something as I try to remember when each book started, maybe, at the risk of sounding rude -  I should just be honest and give one of the two possible answers:

1. I have no idea
2. It takes as long as it takes 

Spreadsheets... argh!!

My brain has now gone to mush after catching up on my spreadsheets. I always say I'll keep up to date with them, but there's always something more interesting to do... I think I'll need to do a lot of daydreaming now just to reboot my creative brain... or read a book... or go for a swim... or maybe even all three.

The secret to a bestseller is to write a great book and then don't keep it a secret

The secret to a bestseller is to write a great book and then make sure you don't keep it a secret...

So today I'm shouting about my #1 bestseller But I'm Not Sleepy

It's my bestseller at almost every book signing - why?
It seems that everyone has a Lucy...

They say don't judge a book by its cover - well news flash - the cover is the first bit people see, so that's what makes them pick it up or walk on by...

The title strikes a cord - who hasn't heard those words...? And who hasn't jumped up and down on the bed instead of going to sleep in...? Most parents moan that their kids do it - a few admit that they used to too...

 Then they open the book and see the bright colour pictures,  not knowing that they started out from my kitchen table...

 First came the book, then came the sheep...
These little characters made their debut at Christmas fairs and were an instant hit, appealing to all ages.

 Soon there was a little flock of them - don't ask me to count them zzzzzzzz

So why should you buy my book?
Because it's one of those bedtime stories that you can share again and again and build those special memories with your child that last a lifetime...