With renewed energy, I decided to build on the eBook formats of my books and now have additional settings on Amazon for Print On Demand versions in paperback. So (ta-rah!), Carte Rouge, Battle Honours and Pablo and Jackson On Tour are now available as updated editions and in both reading formats. I think that Pablo and Jackson as a graphic art novel, would benefit from being in hardback format, but at present Amazon do not offer this choice, as they wish to maintain economy and speed of print. Hopefully this might change in the near future.
After months of making the most of garden work and DIY during the Spring ‘lockdown’ and Summer release, I have at last started to move on with the next chapter of my fifth book OVDA, a travel and work memoir in the holy lands Israel and Palestine. As ever, this region is never out of the news, and I find myself forever having to weave my past experiences around present evolution, and how much ‘compare and contrast’ should I highlight? – or should I just ignore the present altogether! I am also sifting through many photographs of my airbase contract taken at the time, and if published, will the Israeli secret service come knocking on my door! What is the famous quote? ‘Publish and be damned’. Well hopefully it won’t come to that!
Going even further back in time, I continue to keep in close contact with friends Ross and Chalky, from our primary and secondary school-time together. Despite our combined ages being counted on the legs of a dozen millipedes, we can still recall the names of both boy and girl classmates in formal group photos from sixty plus years ago – so we are not that far gone just yet, and still have hair to cut after lockdown! The upshot is that as these schools are no more, the local town museum is keen to have records of the photos and pupils’ names, as they get many enquiries. Over post-lockdown rounds of drinks, we discuss the merits of our various teachers and bemoan our treasured dog-eared school reports, and their brutally honest comments of our life chances… at least for that term. Could try harder. Always daydreaming. Never buys a round.