Apologies that I haven’t updated my blog for a while. This was for reasons including the usual ME-related stuff, playing FB Scrabble, but mainly because I’d lost my log-in info and couldn’t remember how to get this sorted out!
A few of you have emailed me to ask about the situation with DA. Without going into too many details, I did hear from the MD several weeks ago. He maintained that I wasn’t entitled to the sum I believe to be correct and I believe he is unhappy that I am expressing my disappointment in a public manner. As you know, I have been patiently contacting them for well over two years now, and am not the type of person to say things that are untrue. I also maintain that every person should make their own decisions, based on the information available to them, so I would never tell people to avoid a company based purely on my experiences. Some authors DO have positive things to say about DA.
Anyhow, I responded to this email and provided evidence of sales figures, etc, and he promised to look into it for me. Electronic communication probably isn’t the best way to do things but I’m terrible on the telephone. This responsibility will be foisted (in a nice way) on to a family member, if it isn’t sorted out soon. I haven’t heard a dicky bird since!
On a sad note, and on the topic of electronic communication, I recently discovered that Jack Pickard (who hosted The Pickards web site) had passed away. We ‘met’ online when I was researching Mike Parr, prior to a radio interview. Jack reviewed my book, and attended a talk I gave at the launch of Gateshead Council’s short story contest. He was also a talented writer and a generally kind person. Unfortunately, I did not find out about his untimely passing (he was only in his mid-thirties) until a month later. That’s the trouble with social networking: when someone disappears – even those we class as friends – we may never know what became of them. The internet gives us a wide circle of friends, but can we ever truly be real friends online?