You used to be a stranger, now you are mine

Status Report 2022-03-21

Hope you aren’t one of the gazillion people who seem to have caught Covid in the last week. I’ve managed to keep myself away from the bug so far (touch wood), expect maybe getting it in December 2019 in London (yeah yeah, I know, but the symptoms were a perfect match).

Anyway, here’s this week’s music, which features bonus Hoff:

There aren’t many bands that can claim to feature David Hasselhoff in character on a music video. Maybe there’s a Journey or Pet Shop Boys tune from the 80s with Michael Knight in KITT.

This is one of my very favourite songs. The Best of New Order (1994) has such a fantastic first four tracks, at least as strong as Pet Sounds or Strangeways Here We Come. Hope you enjoy it and the uber cheesiness of the video.

Last week

Okay, so I managed another chunk of Dodds 5. Up to about 80% of the first draft. It’s a bit sketchy in some places that I’ll fill in when I edit it, but I’m way ahead of the curve on it, which is a nice feeling. Once I’ve done the first draft, I’ll put it up on preorder. Cautious of having too many on at the same time, but hey ho.

I’ve actually enjoyed doing it. There was a scene I wrote that made me smile and another that gave me a bit insight into two characters, in a way I hadn’t thought about in years.

Lots of data analysis and ads stuff. It seems to be taking up a lot of my time just now, but needs must. Managing to sell quite a lot of Fenchurch 1 at £1.99 instead of just 99p, thanks to the new cover and some new cover copy (which is much closer to the first edition, interestingly enough) helping conversions. Spending way too much on it, so I’ll spend some time this week optimising things and see if I can maintain that.

This week

Hoping to finish Dodds 5 first draft, then I’ll set it aside for a week or so while I rework a few other things, but that’s for next week.

Definitely becoming aware that my work life has been out of balance. I’ve spent way too much time writing and not enough on the business/marketing side of things. Bit of a trial by fire just now, but I realised that despite selling over a million books, I don’t really know how to sell books. By that, I mean in a reliable and consistent way. And to be in complete control of it.

Bessi had another weekend away at her grandparents, who spoiled her a little bit. She’s definitely of the opinion that all sofas belong to her. A few incidents where we encountered dogs, even little chihuahua-types terrify her. I had her on Carnoustie beach at low tide yesterday and she was running around, with me passing the lead from hand to hand (much easier than a 24kg kettle bell, I assure you). So I think she’s doing her “spinning” thing, which is how she self-soothes.

Sorry it’s a short one this week, but I’m pretty much flat out. Hope you have a good week and avoid the bug.

Cheers,
Ed