Not Shakespeare…

I’m happy to say that ‘Understanding God’, my new novel, has been proof-read and is ready for publication except for the cover… To me, the cover is every bit as important as the story, because if it’s the right image it will convey the story to the reader without them having to read the blurb… Hopefully I will have exciting news to report on the book cover in my next blog…

Incidentally, in one of the Facebook writing forums I’m a member of, I received a message asking me if  my book was similar to Christopher Hitchens book, ‘God is Not Great.’ I hold my hands up and confess that I had never heard of the book, but having Googled it I can state categorically. No it is not! ‘Understanding God’ is a novel, written to entertain and thrill the reader, it is not a biblical text… Although… satanic forces do feature as they try to be nasty to my hero, Wilson Small, shame on them…

Moving  on… I find it amazing the way technology has moved on and can foresee your next move, or your next purchase, the very thing that you never knew you needed. To this end, Amazon has decided what I must have next or my life will be incomplete! I stare in amazement at the adverts that Amazon have targeted me with. Adverts for things Amazon has decided, in their infinite wisdom that I absolutely cannot live without…

For me, Amazon has decided that my heart desires an electric iron! I had to Google it to see what an electric iron actually was, and what it was used for… I pointed out the blanketed adverts I was receiving to my partner, Hilda, who gave a hollow laugh and declared; “I’ve never seen one in your hands for the twenty-five years that I’ve known you…”

My point being, how on earth could Amazon come to the mistaken idea that I needed an electric iron, I’d never searched for one on their, or any other website? Then, why should I need all the lovely shades and thicknesses of the knitting wool, and the knitting needles, that regularly submerges my inbox and saturates my Facebook page? The only implements I welcome in my hands are a quill, and a knife and fork! So why blanket me with wool, needles and electric iron adverts? It’s a mystery… explanations welcomed.

The weather is absolutely beautiful here in Fife (Scotland), the sun is ‘splitting the pavements’ as they say… Alas, I’m one of those sad people who seeks shade where I can find it, looking on enviously at all the people sporting their bodies, exposing them to the searing heat of the sun. I can hear the sizzling from here, as I sit in my garret shielding my eyes from the sun as I scratch away at this parchment with my quill…

The picture at the top of the blog was taken by Hilda Beard then photoshopped by me, when I was sporting sideburns, after I featured as ‘The Boil Man’ in the feature film “Burke and Hare” which was set in Edinburgh…