August 2025

1st: I did my 4th video interview, this time with psychological suspense writer Julia Stone. With the holiday season upon us, market and craft fair work looked like being unproductive, so I concentrated on video interviews. Julia’s interview can be seen here: https://youtu.be/WnT0o2YN2Sk

2nd: I caught up with friends at the Brentwood writer’s circle. It was through the BWC that I was invited to lunch at the House of Lords last year.

8th: I received the release date for the fourth and final instalment in the Astrid series. It will be published on the 10th of October 2025.

10th: My birthday, I won’t say how old I am, just that age is a number, old is a choice. My son bought me a 3D printer, so that is going to occupy my time while I get over the horrendous bout of writer’s block that is afflicting me right now – four novels started, not enough in the way of ideas to complete them.

15th: Video interview with 14 year-old Austin Macauley author Niki Palaj (pronounced Palay) who is the son of my friend and fellow AM author Carley-Ann Osborn. Niki answered questions about his debut novel ‘Mages and Dragos’, see the interview here: https://youtu.be/KY9h0dh_gxs

In the afternoon I interviewed Mark Butterworth. Mark is an author of historical fiction. See the interview here: https://youtu.be/adjq0rczFO4

17th: Carley, Aki and I were at the artisan market in Tiptree, Essex. Many thanks go to my friend and fellow AM author Aki Mckenzi for organising our participation in it. A glorious day, sunny but not too hot and there were plenty of people attending. Conversations were had and books were sold.

21st: My 7th video interview, this time with Sam Scott, author children’s and YA novels. Here she is discussing her inspirations for her latest novel, ‘The No So Fairy Tale’: https://youtu.be/RcIEOWI71XU

23rd: Video interview with Gemma O’Donoghue where we discussed her debut novel ‘In The Company Of Shadows’, an intriguing soft Sci-Fi story. See the interview here: https://youtu.be/_qhT9Y1x3mQ

26th: I played acoustic live for the first time in 35 years at an open mic night at a local club, the evening went well, no gaffs, appreciative comments, and my fingers survived.

30th: Once again Carley and I were back at Braintree artisan market. With it still being in the holiday season, we didn’t have high expectations for the day, but results were reasonable, with sales made and interesting people met. However, unbelievably loud Elvis impersonator outside the venue made conversations difficult.

31st: With any luck I’ve broken through the writer’s block that I’ve had for the past six months. I suddenly had inspirations for the Steampunk themed novel that I started a year ago, and I’ve bashed out ideas for a Star Trek Voyager fan fiction story that’s been in my head for years.

Once again, all of this was fitted in around my work making and repairing equipment for sound companies.

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