Saturday, 16 August 2025
Time Travellers – Guess the Year #6
Births:
Cielo Bublé (daughter of Michael Bublé and Luisana Lopilato), ?? (son of Tom Hiddleston and Zawe Ashton), Ilaria Baldwin (daughter of Alec and Hilaria Baldwin), August Cage (daughter of Nicolas Cage and Riko Shibata)
Marriages:
Ewan McGregor and Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Britney Spears and Sam Asghari, Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck
Deaths:
Queen Elizabeth II(96), Olivia Newton-John(74), Ray Liotta(68), Christine McVie(79), Meatloaf(75), Dennis Waterman(74), Angela Landsbury(97), Leslie Phillips(98), Sidney Poitier(95) Irene Cara(63)
Saturday, 9 August 2025
Time Travellers – Guess the Year #5
Famous Hatches, Matches and Dispatches from this year
Births: Lily-Rose Depp, Sabrina Carpenter, Brooklyn Beckham, Bailee Madison & Madison Bailey Kiernan Shipka, Morgan Turner
Marriages: Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe, David Arquette and Courteney Cox, Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Gladys Portugues, David Beckham and Victoria Adams, Helen Hunt and Hank Azaria, Fatboy Slim and Zoë Ball
Deaths: Ernie Wise(74), Oliver Reed(61), Dusty Springfield(60) & Curtis Mayfield(57)
Saturday, 2 August 2025
My Top Thirteen Epic Songs
A Magnum Opus.
I’d intended to call these “Opus” songs, but after a lively debate with my better half, decided on epic instead.
To my mind, these are the exact definition of a magnus opus – “a large and important work of art, music, or literature, especially one regarded as the best work of an artist composer, or writer.” The first one of those, for me, was Keith West’s awesome “Excerpt From a Teenage Opera” in 1967, ending poignantly with a bunch of kids singing:
“Grocer Jack, Grocer Jack, is it true what Mummy said, you won't come back? Oh no, no.”
After that, there were a bunch of standout songs, all the way to Queen’s unashamedly operatic offering in 1975 – which most people would have as their number one. But for me there were a couple which are more personal to me for one reason or another.
This post will be a work in progress as I remember more and more I can’t leave off the list.
1. Blue Oyster Cult – Don’t Fear the Reaper 1978
2. Disturbed – Sound of Silence 2015
3. Whitesnake – Still of the Night 1987
4. Thin Lizzie – Still in Love with You 1974
5. Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody 1975
6. Billy Joel – Scenes from an Italian Restaurant 1977
7. John Miles - Music 1976
8. Richard Harris – MacArthur Park 1968
9. ELO – Mr Blue Sky 1978
10. Ultravox – Vienna 1981
11. Slade – How Does it Feel? 1975
12. Styx – A.D. 1928/Rocking the Paradise 1981
13. Carpenters – Goodbye to Love 1972
Interesting that 8 of them were from my favourite decade – the 70s. And only one from this millenium!
As ever, I had so many, so here’s another bunch:
Journey – Change for the Better 2008
Spandau Ballet – Through the Barricades 1986
David Bowie – As the World Falls Down 1986
City Boy – Ambition 1979
Manfred Man’s Earth Band – Joybringer 1973
Meatloaf – Paradise by the Dashboard Light 1977
My Chemical Romance – Welcome to the Black Parade 2006
Foo Fighters – Everlong 1997
Wings – Live and Let Die 1973
Python Lee Jackson – In a Broken Dream 1972
Richard Marx – Hazard 1991
Hollies – Air that I Breathe 1974
Sad Café –Every Day Hurts 1979
Beach Boys – Good Vibrations 1966
Rush – Spirit of Radio 1980
Peter Gabriel & Kate Bush Don’t Give Up 1986
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich – Legend Of Xanadu 1968
Keith West – Excerpt From a Teenage Opera 1967
Freddie Mercury & Montserrat Caballe – Barcelona 1987
Bee Gees – New York Mining Disaster 1941 1967
Saturday, 26 July 2025
Time Travellers – Guess the Year #4
Famous Hatches, Matches and Dispatches from this year
Births:
Emma Stone, Vanessa Hudgens, Rupert Grint, Rose McIver, Adele, Rhianna & Jessie J
Marriages:
Mike Tyson and Robin Givens, Mick Fleetwood and Sara Recor, Burt Reynolds and Loni Anderson, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, Jonathan Frakes and Genie Francis, Michael J. Fox and Tracy Pollan, Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis
Deaths:
Roy Orbison (52), Andy Gibb (30), Kenneth Williams (62), Trevor Howard (75) & Roy Kinnear(54)
Saturday, 19 July 2025
Time Travellers – Guess the Year #3
Famous Hatches, Matches and Dispatches from this year
Births:
Adam Sandler, Helena Bonham Carter, Halle Berry, John Cusack, Kiefer Sutherland, David Schwimmer, Rick Astley, Salma Hayek, Janet Jackson, Jon Favreau, Eric Cantona, Mike Tyson, & Gordon Ramsay
Marriages:
George Harrison and Patti Boyd, Sophia Loren and Carlo Ponti, Frank Sinatra and Mia Farrow, Brigitte Bardot and Gunter Sachs, Dolly Parton and Carl Dean
Deaths:
Walt Disney(65), Montgomery Clift(46), Evelyn Waugh (63), Johnny Kidd(31) & Buster Keaton(71)
Saturday, 12 July 2025
Guess who's 40 on Sunday 13th July?
If you listen to radio/watch TV in the UK, you can't be unaware that this Sunday marks the 40th anniversary of a rather special day back in 1985.
Where were you when Mr Geldorf was letting loose his potty mouth all over the BBC? If you listen to Greatest Hits Radio (home of Ken Bruce and Simon Mayo), you'll know they're playing all the original recordings from 12 noon on the 13th. Enjoy.
Saturday, 5 July 2025
Time Travellers - Guess the year #2
Famous Hatches, Matches and Dispatches from this year:
Births:
Rowan Atkinson, Bruce Willis, Kevin Costner, Kelsey Grammer, Billy Bob Thornton, Bruno Tonioli, Olga Korbut, Simon Rattle and Yo-Yo Ma
Marriages:
Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, Gregory Peck and Veronique Passani, Rock Hudson and Phyllis Gates, Clark Gable and Kay Spreckles, Michael Caine and Patricia Haines
Deaths:
Albert Einstein (76), James Dean (24), Alexander Fleming (74), Charlie Parker (35)
While researching, I noticed some fun coincidences among people born that year, must have been something in the water.
Inventors: Bill Gates (Microsoft), Steve Jobs (Apple) & Tim Berners-Lee (World Wide Web)
Musicians: Eddie Van Halen (Van Halen), Angus Young (AC/DC), Billy Idol (Generation X)
Actresses in Sci-Fi series: Kate Mulgrew (Captain Katherine Janeway), Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi), Mira Furlan (Ambassador Delenn), Whoopi Goldberg (Guinan) – can you guess the odd one out?
Saturday, 28 June 2025
Time Travellers - guess the year #1
Famous Hatches, Matches and Dispatches from this year:
Births
Liv Tyler, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Tom Hardy, Orlando Bloom, Michael Fassbender, Chris Martin, Richard Ayoade & Shakira
Marriages
David Cassidy and Kay Lenz, Brian May and Chrissie May, Marvin Gaye and Janis Hunter,
Bruce Boxleitner and Kathryn Holcomb, Chris De Burgh and Diane Davison,
Graham Nash and Susan Sennett, Donald Trump and Ivana Zelníčková
Deaths
Elvis Presley(42), Charlie Chaplin(88), Bing Crosby(74) & Marc Bolan (30)
Saturday, 21 June 2025
Solstice Greetings – Happy Midsummer
The sun reflecting off the white side door had a buttery creaminess to it, reminding me of how special the sunrise is at that time of year.
I only joined the throng at Stonehenge once and was most disappointed by the lack of respect of the lumpenproletariat as they swarmed all over the stones and left their detritus behind. And it was cloudy! This year’s figure mentions 25 thousand – my idea of hell. I much prefer the celebration at Avebury – much smaller and more spiritual, although plenty of entertainment with drummers and fire-poi dancers.
It’s been a while since I did the epic drive – these days the spirit is willing, but you know the rest. I keep promising myself to do Glastonbury Tor one year – we’ll see.
Saturday, 14 June 2025
Celebrating Fathers
A little more digging brough up some interesting facts, like the fact it’s a secular celebration, unlike Mother’s Day, which in Britain stems from Mothering Sunday in the Christian liturgical calendar. Having said that, In some European Catholic countries, Father’s Day has been celebrated on 19 March (St Joseph’s Day) since the Middle Ages in honour Joseph of Nazareth, the husband of the Virgin Mary and the legal father of Jesus.
The one in June celebrated in the UK is a relatively modern tradition, adopted from the United States. where the first unofficial Father’s day was held on 19 June 1910. It was introduced by Sonora Smart Dodd from Arkansas, who wanted to honour her widowed father’s dedication to raising six children after his wife died in childbirth. In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson issued the first presidential proclamation honouring fathers, designating the third Sunday in June as Father's Day. From there, it was made a permanent national holiday by President Richard Nixon in 1972.The idea spread internationally, and by the 1970s, it became popular in the UK. Many people celebrate with cards, gifts and homemade school projects. The day often starts with children preparing breakfast in bed, followed later by a family meal. Dad is treated like royalty and not allowed to lift a finger – not even to make a cup of tea.
Other countries have their own traditions, including:
In Germany, Father's Day – Vatertag - (also known as Männertag gentlemen's day/boys’ day out) is celebrated on Ascension Day - the Thursday forty days after Easter. One tradition involves young and older males taking parts in hiking tours. They take small wagons filled with beer and Hausmannkost - simple, hearty dishes prepared at home. Alternatively, they ride beer-bikes, but the general idea is plenty of fun, beer and no responsibility.
First promoted In France by the manufacturer of cigarette lighters “Flaminaire” in Bretagne (1946 to 1969) known for inventing the first gas cigarette lighter, who had the brilliant idea to boost his sales by pushing the then little known holiday. At the time, smoking was a sign of masculinity and virility and a cigarette lighter was the perfect gift choice. Officially recognised in 1952 (on the third Sunday in June), dads and father figures got nominated for a national prize by the social services of each town hall or mayor's office.
In Paraguay, Father's Day is celebrated with a traditional banquet of Paraguayan food like chipa (cheese-flavoured rolls), mbeju (starch cake) and sopa paraguaya (similar to corn bread).
In Thailand, Father's Day takes place on 5 December, (birthday of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej). Traditionally, Thais would celebrate by giving their father figures a canna flower, although this is not as popular anymore. They also wear yellow and light candles to show respect for the late king, who was seen as the "father of the nation".
In Japan, traditional gifts for Father's Day include sake (Japanese rice wine), shochu (Japanese liquor), gourmet food and various sweets.
Saturday, 7 June 2025
My Cover Designers 3 - Getcovers
Then I heard Keith A Pearson, a phenomenal Time Travel author on Ken Bruce's Popmaster, and it was a defining moment. After reading a stack of stories by Keith and Adam Eccles, I was inspired, and abandoned my retro chick-lit series.
I had the idea of a bunch of 30-something nerds - like a British version of Big Bang Theory. But I couldn't just do a straight Time-Travel adventure - my fascination with Dungeons and Dragons, meant I did a genre mash-up - given the growing interest in series like Big Bang, Stranger things and even iZombie, I hoped I'd be onto a winner.
As ever, I'd left it far too late to ask anyone, so I had a go myself, based on the general lad-lit covers format of plain background (left). Pitiful, eh? Then someone mentioned Getcovers, and they did a phenomenal job in just under a week (right). Talk about a transformation! |
I managed to squeeze books 1 and 2 in before the end of 2022 - which was a tough target, as I didn't start Just in Time until November, but thanks to NaNoWriMo, I wrote it in a month. Two years later, I pubbed the sixth book, and here are the glorious covers. Didn't they do well?
I cannot recommend this Ukrainian outfit enough.
Every dealing I’ve had with them has been an enjoyable experience thanks to the friendly, helpful project managers, and the designers have taken on board every note and quickly tweaked the cover to my satisfaction.
I was so impressed, I got them to redo the Calamity Chicks covers. The differences between my covers and theirs are subtle, but they have a huge impact.
Saturday, 31 May 2025
Eurovision Winners – Part 3
Although it's only been a year since I last saw it, as ever, there were one or two wee scenes which caught me unawares. I hadn't really clocked quite how many previous contestants bought into the idea.
There were a whole bunch of cameos from actual Eurovision winners including:
- Salvador Sobral, the Portuguese singer who won the contest in 2017 with “Amar Pelos Dois,” who appears briefly as a street performer in Scotland.
- John Lundvik, who kicks off the song-a-long, is a Swedish pop singer who placed fifth in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv with the song “Too Late for Love.”
- Anna Odobescu represented Moldova in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest, where she performed “Stay.”
- Bilal Hassani represented France in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest, with the song “Roi.” He made it to the finals, ultimately placing 16th.
- Loreen is a Swedish pop singer who won the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan, with her song “Euphoria.”
- Jessy Matador represented France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 in Oslo with “Allez Ola Olé,” which placed 12th.
- Alexander Rybak is a Belarusian Norwegian singer and violinist who has represented Norway in two separate Eurovision Song Contests. In 2009, he won the contest with “Fairytale,” which features some very energetic violin playing, and In 2018, Rybak returned with “That’s How You Write a Song,” which placed 15th.
- Jamala is a Ukrainian singer who won the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with “1944,” a song about Stalin and Beria’s deportation of the Crimean Tartars.
- Elina Nechayeva represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018, placing eighth with “La Forza.”
- Conchita Wurst, the stage persona of Austrian singer Thomas Neuwirth, won the contest in 2014 with “Rise Like a Phoenix.”
- Israeli singer Netta Barzilai won the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal, with “Toy.”
As promised, here’s the second lot of winners, from 1956-1989.
Year | Country | Song | Performer |
1956 | Switzerland | "Refrain " | Lys Assia |
1957 | Netherlands | "Net als toen" | Corry Brokken |
1958 | France | "Dors, mon amour" | André Claveau |
1959 | Netherlands | "Een beetje" | Teddy Scholten |
1960 | France | "Tom Pillibi" | Jacqueline Boyer |
1961 | Luxembourg | "Nous les amoureux" | Jean-Claude Pascal |
1962 | France | "Un premier amour" | Isabelle Aubret |
1963 | Denmark | "Dansevise" | Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann |
1964 | Italy | "Non ho l'età" | Gigliola Cinquetti |
1965 | Luxembourg | "Poupée de cire, poupée de son" | France Gall |
1966 | Austria | "Merci, Chérie" | Udo Jürgens |
1967 | United Kingdom | "Puppet on a String" | Sandie Shaw |
1968 | Spain | "La La La" | Massiel |
1969 | Spain | "Vivo cantando" | Salomé |
United Kingdom | "Boom Bang-a-Bang" | Lulu | |
Netherlands | "De troubadour" | Lenny Kuhr | |
France | "Un jour, un enfant" | Frida Boccara | |
1970 | Ireland | "All Kinds of Everything"" | Dana |
1971 | Monaco | "Un banc, un arbre, | une rue"Séverine |
1972 | Luxembourg | "Après toi" | Vicky Leandros |
1973 | Luxembourg | "Tu te reconnaîtras" | Anne-Marie David |
1974 | Sweden | "Waterloo" | ABBA |
1975 | Netherlands | "Ding-a-dong" | Teach-In |
1976 | United Kingdom | "Save Your Kisses for Me" | Brotherhood of Man |
1977 | France | "L'Oiseau et l'Enfant" | Marie Myriam |
1978 | Israel | "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" | Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta |
1979 | Israel | "Hallelujah" | Milk and Honey |
1980 | Ireland | "What's Another Year" | Johnny Logan |
1981 | United Kingdom | "Making Your Mind Up" | Bucks Fizz |
1982 | Germany | "Ein bißchen Frieden" | Nicole |
1983 | Luxembourg | "Si la vie est cadeau" | Corinne Hermès |
1984 | Sweden | "Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley | "Herreys |
1985 | Norway | "La det swinge" | Bobbysocks! |
1986 | Belgium | "J'aime la vie" | Sandra Kim |
1987 | Ireland | "Hold Me Now" | Johnny Logan |
1988 | Switzerland | "Ne partez pas sans moi" | Céline Dion |
1989 | Yugoslavia | "Rock Me" | Riva |
A few fun facts and figures:
The performer and the songwriter(s) of the winning song only receive a medal or a trophy, while its participating broadcaster is invited to host the following year's contest. Since 2008, the performer has been awarded a handmade trophy of sandblasted glass in the shape of a 1950s microphone, while the songwriter(s) and the broadcaster receive smaller versions of the trophy.
Ireland and Sweden have won seven times, more than any other country. Ireland also won the contest for three consecutive years (1992, 1993, and 1994), the only country to ever do so. Three countries have won twice in a row: Spain (1968 and 1969), Luxembourg (1972 and 1973) and Israel (1978 and 1979). Serbia is the only country to win with its debut entry (in 2007).[b] By contrast, Portugal holds the record for waiting the longest to achieve their first win, doing so in 2017; 53 years after their first appearance in the contest. Two people have won more than once as a performer: Ireland's Johnny Logan, who performed "What's Another Year" in 1980 and "Hold Me Now" in 1987, and Sweden's Loreen, who performed "Euphoria" in 2012 and "Tattoo" in 2023.
The United Kingdom has finished second sixteen times at Eurovision (most recently in 2022), more than any other country. France has finished third and fourth eight times at Eurovision (most recently respectively in 1981 and in 2024), and Sweden has finished fifth nine times at Eurovision (most recently in 2019). The country with the most top three places that has never won the contest is Malta, having finished second in 2002 and 2005 and third in 1992 and 1998. Another island nation, Iceland, has also finished second twice, in 1999 and 2009.
With Portugal achieving its first win in 2017, Malta now also holds the record for longest wait for a first win, having first entered the contest in 1971 (although Cyprus has more winless appearances, with 36 since debuting in 1981, due to Malta taking a break from 1976 through 1990). Spain holds the current record for longest drought by a winning country, having last won in 1969. They are followed by France (1977) and Belgium (1986).
Saturday, 24 May 2025
Eurovision winners - part 2

The keen-eyed among you will wonder where part 1 is - it was actually posted a couple of years ago - you can check it out here. But because I use these posts to search for stuff, I'm gonna do the most recent ones first from 1990-2025 and the next post will do 1956-1989. So here they are:
Year | Country | Song | Performer |
1990 | Italy | "Insieme: 1992" | Toto Cutugno |
1991 | Sweden | "Fångad av en stormvind" | Carola |
1992 | Ireland | "Why Me?" | Linda Martin |
1993 | Ireland | "In Your Eyes" | Niamh Kavanagh |
1994 | Ireland | "Rock 'n' Roll Kids" | Paul Harrington & Charlie McGettigan |
1995 | Norway | "Nocturne" | Secret Garden |
1996 | Ireland | "The Voice" | Eimear Quinn |
1997 | United Kingdom | "Love Shine a Light" | Katrina and the Waves |
1998 | Israel | "Diva" | Dana International |
1999 | Sweden | "Take Me to Your Heaven" | Charlotte Nilsson |
2000 | Denmark | "Fly on the Wings of Love" | Olsen Brothers |
2001 | Estonia | "Everybody" | Tanel Padar, Dave Benton and 2XL |
2002 | Latvia | "I Wanna" | Marie N |
2003 | Turkey | "Everyway That I Can" | Sertab Erener |
2004 | Ukraine | "Wild Dances" | Ruslana |
2005 | Greece | "My Number One" | Helena Paparizou |
2006 | Finland | "Hard Rock Hallelujah" | Lordi |
2007 | Serbia | "Molitva" | Marija Šerifović |
2008 | Russia | "Believe" | Dima Bilan |
2009 | Norway | "Fairytale" | Alexander Rybak |
2010 | Germany | "Satellite" | Lena |
2011 | Azerbaijan | "Running Scared" | Ell and Nikki |
2012 | Sweden | "Euphoria" | Loreen |
2013 | Denmark | "Only Teardrops" | Emmelie de Forest |
2014 | Austria | "Rise Like a Phoenix" | Conchita Wurst |
2015 | Sweden | "Heroes" | Måns Zelmerlöw |
2016 | Ukraine | "1944" | Jamala |
2017 | Portugal | "Amar pelos dois" | Salvador Sobral |
2018 | Israel | "Toy" | Netta |
2019 | Netherlands | "Arcade" | Duncan Laurence |
2020 | Contest cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | ||
2021 | Italy | "Zitti e buoni" | Måneskin |
2022 | Ukraine | "Stefania" | Kalush Orchestra |
2023 | Sweden | "Tattoo" | Loreen |
2024 | Switzerland | "The Code" | Nemo |
2025 | Austria | "Wasted Love" | JJ |
A few fun facts and figures:
Relatively few winners of the Eurovision Song Contest have gone on to achieve major success in the music industry. The most notable winners who have gone on to become international stars are ABBA, who won the contest for Sweden in 1974 with their song "Waterloo", and Céline Dion, who won for Switzerland in 1988 with the song "Ne partez pas sans moi". More recently, Duncan Laurence, who won for the Netherlands in 2019 with "Arcade", experienced worldwide streaming success with the song as a sleeper hit throughout 2020 and 2021, with the song becoming the most streamed Eurovision song on Spotify. While Måneskin, winners for Italy in 2021 with "Zitti e buoni", subsequently achieved worldwide popularity in the months following their victory.
Changes to the voting system, including a steady growth in the number of countries participating and voting, means that the points earned are not comparable across the decades. "Amar pelos dois" by Salvador Sobral holds the record of the highest number of points in the contest's history, earning 758 points in 2017. "Fairytale" by Alexander Rybak holds the largest margin of victory in absolute points, a 169-point cushion over second place in 2009. "Non ho l'età" by Gigliola Cinquetti holds the record for largest victory by percentage, scoring almost three times as many as second place (49 points compared with 17 by the runner-up) in the 1964 contest. The lowest winning score is the 18 points (of the 160 total votes cast by 16 countries) scored by each of the four winning countries in 1969.
Under the voting system used from 1975 until 2015, in which each country gives maximum points to its first place choice, "Euphoria" by Loreen won the 2012 contest with the most ever first place votes earned, receiving first place votes from 18 of 41 countries (excluding themselves). The 1976 winner, "Save Your Kisses for Me" by Brotherhood of Man, holds the record of the highest average score per participating country, with an average of 9.65 points received per country. The 2011 winner, "Running Scared" by Ell and Nikki, holds the lowest average score for a winning song under that system, receiving 5.14 points per country.
Saturday, 17 May 2025
My Cover Designers 2 – Icy Sedgwick
The first cover was a prequel to the Hengist series, which I’d always envisioned writing at some point, and she created this truly unique cover using a photo I took of a yule log and matching with the concept of the parchment background and single object foreground. Senna’s story captured people’s imagination, and several readers wanted to know more of what happened before the start, so Nature’s Tribe ended up being 4-books instead of the three I’d imagined.
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Interspersed with these two were the YA books I wrote many years before Hengist, and the Bryant Rockwell covers are cleverly done with lots of symbolism in the colour and background to the roses.
Next I collected together a bunch of my very first short stories, weaving a narrative around them featuring and extremely sassy 30-something Lexie. These were way more adult – my version of 50 Shades of Gray, so I published them under my pseudonym, Ro Green. Also as Ro, I pubbed 3 juke-box Musical books, based on stories suggested by some of my favourite bands, Journey and City Boy.
The multi-talented Icy has many more strings to her bow (including a fabulous podcast), and I thoroughly recommend you check out her books here.
Saturday, 10 May 2025
My Cover Designers 1 – Anthony and Rebecca
Back in 2009 when I looked into getting my first book published, I came across an outfit called AuthorHouse, and drove down to Milton Keynes for a presentation, which resulted in my signing up for a publishing package costing a humungous £675.
Not my finest hour – suffice to say I learnt a very expensive lesson.
Only good thing to come out of the publication of Subterfuge on 22 May 2009 was the cover. They took my mockup and made it look amazing.
Anthony Askew
The following year, I discovered I could create books with Lulu at no cost, and I’d taken some photos I wanted to use for the covers of the first 3 hengist books, so I got Anthony to turn them into covers. Unfortunately, I had little idea of the young adult market, and my daughter reckoned they looked more like the covers on text books. She was so right.But I did have fun getting a lad in my tutor group to come in and pose as Reagan at my kitchen table with a bunch of witchy artefacts.
Turns out he was a proper drama brat (son of an actor) and he and Steph ended up in the school production of Dracula Spectacular.
For the book tour of Archer and Rory, Anthony also created these fabulous posters (above), the third one of which resulted in the second set of Hengist book covers (below).
And he also created the most amazing book trailer for Archer.
But then he set off on his travels so I needed to find someone new.
Rebecca Stirling
One of my author buddies put me in touch with the amazing Rebecca, and she created fabulous covers for my 1st two standalones as Ro Green, followed by the re-release of Subterfuge as Fox Among Wolves, which turned into a trilogy – due to reader demand!!!Then she came up with a fabulous concept to re-brand the Hengist stories, which turned into 5-book series.
Oh, and did I mention she's also a brilliant author? Writing beautifully-crafted fantasy, (mostly shifters) as Keri Armstrong. Check out her books here.
Unfortunately, as often happens with us creative types, Rebecca took on too much, so she had to give up the cover designs, but I still count her among my friends - she's the one who came up with my nickname JRo!
Thankfully, another fabulous female stepped in to fill the breech. More next week.
Saturday, 3 May 2025
My Audiobook Adventures
Back in January this year, I got a message from a chap offering a sample of him and a talented female. They were very good but, yet again, the voices weren’t quite right.
Imagine my surprise when I was invited to take part in a beta trial of Amazon’s new “Virtual Voice” initiative. Having been very impressed with the narrators on Office 365’s Word program, I was more than prepared to give it a go.
Three weeks later, I’m nearly finished the second run through of Time and Time Again, and let me tell you, it’s been an adventure.
To be continued very soon ...
Saturday, 26 April 2025
My Instagram Adventures
On Sophia’s advice, I trawled through dozens of authors websites looking at the type of content they provided, and picked up a few tips along the way. Most of February was spent creating book trailers for each of the six books in my latest series, a genre mash up of time travel and dungeons and Dragons, set in a UK version of The Big Bang theory, with several nerdy 30 somethings.
The first Time Doctors book, Time and Time Again, takes us on a journey back to the early 2020s reminding of some of the miseries in surviving a global plague. Lest we forget.
Because this is yet another brand new genre for me, I'm right back to scratch in terms of marketing, despite selling thousands in each of my mediaeval, magical and military series. And several hundreds more in my young adult and coming of age series. I'm not even going to talk about my very own 50 Shades series because basically I never promoted that one too much because it didn't sit so well with the type of books I like to read.
Hence the foray into an entirely new type of marketing with all the frustrations and heartache of a (massively) steep learning curve. One of the more eye-catching tools for hooking in potential readers is the book trope graphic, so this was my next project. Apparently, they really work, because all of a sudden I’m getting half a dozen messages every day from “influencers.” |
The first one I engaged with happily took my money (all $74 of it) to post a review which suddenly had 12.7k likes in a matter of hours, then not a single one since. She even had the brass neck to ask for a tip!
All's well that end's well - with Paypal's help, I got a full refund.