Not completely solitary, as the dogs are here, but am confined to the sofa…again…and not enjoying it. I’ve been ill for a couple of days and haven’t been able to do much - couldn’t read, use the computer or even watch tv but ideas kept springing to mind for one of the books I’ve been toying with. I didn’t feel up to writing them down and guess what…I can’t remember them now! Bloomin’ typical!

I’m coming to the end of my time as Featured Author at The Book Club Forum, and I’m a little sad, as I’ve really enjoyed it. It was lovely to answer people’s questions about Karma and writing in general, and also to read Samantha Grosser’s answers, as she too is a debut author - it’s always interesting to read about other writers’ experiences, and how Sam’s have differed from my own. I’ve had some more emails about the book, both through the website and Facebook. I’m always delighted to hear from those who’ve read the book (whether you enjoyed it or you didn’t) or even those who just have questions about the trials and tribulations of being a newcomer to the publishing world. I don’t bite and I always reply…unless you’re a spammer and send me ten messages a day saying, “Like this page! It is cool,” and then listing millions of links to websites. In that case, I do bite and I don’t reply, I delete!

I’m trying to decide whether to enter Karma into the Romantic Novel of the Year competition. I’m in two minds because I’m not sure Karma is really a romance novel, in the traditional sense. I’m not actually sure what it is, to be honest! All I have to do is send off four copies to the judging panel, but I’m not sure it’s worth the cost of postage if I have slim to zero chance of success. I would really, really like to enter the Melissa Nathan competition though. There’s no further news on the Award on her website, but I keep checking it.

I’m struggling to think of what to do next, in order to promote the book. It’s obvious that none of the newspapers or magazines are going to write a review, and the recent press I’ve had has concentrated on my story, rather than Paige’s! WHSmith didn’t reply to my follow-up email, nor did Waterstones in the Metrocentre - this is a pet hate of mine, as it only takes a few seconds to respond to an email, and is courteous to do so.

Going to go now, as my eyes don’t want to focus on the screen any more. They want to sleep, and I’m happy to give in to them!

This is not book-related in the slightest, but I thought you might enjoy it. If you have a photo of yourself lurking on your hard-drive, take a look at the face recognition stuff on this site and compare yourself to a celebrity. I was quite flattered to see who I matched with (but I don’t think they would be impressed to be compared to me, somehow…) Feel free to share who you looked like with me, and I might tell you who I allegedly look like!

If I was famous, I would use this company: click on ‘Portfolio’ when the website opens.

Wow! I wonder what they could do for me.

I’ve added a photo to the Embarrassing collection: feel free to laugh. I am still nowhere near using up the film on the disposable camera (despite almost taking a photo in Waterstones in Newcastle, where a single copy of Karma was nestled on a shelf in the A-Z fiction section) so you’ll have to wait a little longer for those ones, I’m afraid. Oh, and hello to Auntie Karen, who I now know reads this blog - I’ll have to be careful what I say from now on, won’t I?