Currency Blues and Other Topics

So these days I get paid in the (not so) mighty Dollar. Right now, the USD is falling against most other currencies due to the US Government shutdown. It is now below 19CZK – $1 which just a couple of months ago it was 20CZK per USD. This is not at all good news as for every 1CZK it slips, I would lose 5% of my income in CZK……. The US shutdown is costing me money…. Meanwhile, inflation here continues. In fact, everything I earn more or less is in USD compounding the issue. Even the books are mostly sold in Dollars. I had decided to go out and buy an exercise bike. One that had the heart rate program to try to lose some of the weight I appear

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I Don’t Believe You!

I went to CNN briefly this morning, glanced at the headlines and suddenly realized something. I don’t believe the stuff you write CNN or BBC or any of the other mainstream and controlled outlets. I don’t believe you Mr. Cameron, Mr. Clegg, Mr. Milliband, Mr. Obama. I don’t believe a word you all say. This is a sad development because there was a time that I did. What is published on CNN and BBC isn’t news. Its opinion. It’s spoon feeding the masses what someone wants them to believe. It doesn’t matter much what the story is it will have an angle. Its insidious and its increasingly obvious. Truth be told – and I am shocked by this myself – I would believe the Russian news service before I believed

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Beyond Family and Friends

Over 1700 people entered the Goodreads.com giveaway for The Last Observer and more than 700 have added it. Wouldn’t it be nice if 10% of those actually purchased the book? The two lucky winners were sent their copies today. One in the UK and one in the USA. Is it selling? I’m not sure. Lots of people tell me they have it or they plan to get it but the Amazon site suggests they aren’t buying it there as its not very highly ranked and few copies appear to have sold there. I guess I will see more end of next month when the publisher sends a report. It should sell. The reviews are all good to great. Its not over priced. I am just not sure how to get

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Nova Scotian Fieldwork

I was lucky enough to visit Nova Scotia three years running for 6-weeks at a time between 1981 and 1983 to do geological fieldwork there. Actually, I spent most of my time on Cape Breton Island in and around Sydney – a coal mining region as well as a little time in Joggins of which more later. I also managed to get to Montreal on one trip and Ottawa on another ostensibly to visit museums and examine specimens there. The trip in 1981 will always stay in my memory. I had to hurriedly pass my driving test in the UK to go because I would need a rental car to get around. With just 3-weeks to take off, I failed. For undue hesitation I recall! The instructor might have considered

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Just A Dream

The just over two weeks in Florida and NY now seem like a dream. If it wasn’t for the photographs I might even believe that it was a dream. But good vacations always have that dreamlike quality don’t they? Now it is back to the real world – jobs, bills, tidying and so on. Our vacation started more like a bad dream however as our daughter immediately started with a fever, stomach pain and diarrhea more or less on arrival at Disney World. Once the diarrhea turned bloody it was time to deal with US healthcare. The hospital was just outside of Disney in Celebration, FL and it was palatial – I am not surprised after being presented with the bill for around 4-hours cooped up there, one saline drip

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The Last Observer Released Early

Sod’s Law. That’s exactly what it is called. I go on vacation for 2+ weeks having been assured The Last Observer would be out on August 17th and it actually gets issued early while I am away and have no real internet access. Typical. So the book is available from a variety of online bookstores etc. in paperback form and from one or two in eBook form. I am guessing by the official release date it will be widely available in both formats. Meanwhile, it has been gathering some great reviews…. and I mean really great – my thanks to the reviewers. You can read those reviews here at the publishers site. You can buy the book at the Amazon sites amongst others – here in the USA and here

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The Dreaded Lurgy

Just about now, we should be headed down the runway of Charles De Gaulle en route for Detroit and later, Orlando. Tomorrow we had planned a morning by the pool before picking up a rental car and heading to Santa Anna Island. Dreams just dreams. Instead, we are sat at home with our 5-year old who is covered in the blisters of Chickenpox but is otherwise fine and, as usual, full of beans. We are all a bit disappointed to say the least but what will be will be. There was moment yesterday when I still believed this wasn’t chickenpox breaking out in front of our eyes. The hospital doctor soon put paid to that forlorn hope. Then there was the momentary temptation to follow the advice of many of

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Promotion and More Promotion

As I have said before I think, the average book doesn’t sell too many copies. In 2004, 950,000 titles out of the 1.2 million tracked by Nielsen Bookscan sold fewer than 99 copies. Another 200,000 sold fewer than 1,000 copies. Only 25,000 sold more than 5,000 copies. This is pretty old data but I couldn’t find anything more up to date in the 30 seconds that I tried…. It just shows you though. They say – they being my publisher – that you need to promote and promote and promote…. They do some of this work but I do the lion’s share. But, I am feeling guilty. For the next 2 and a bit weeks I will be on vacation and I won’t lift a finger on the book (collective

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The FBAR – One of the Joys of Keeping US Citizenship

I got an email reminder from my accountant this morning…. oh joy of joys, it is FBAR time. Just to remind everyone what this is it is a report required of all US citizens living abroad (commonly known as tax evading criminals). I reproduce his email below just so you can see what all is involved in that invasion of my privacy by the US Government…. The bolding is mine… The Foreign Bank Account Report, or TDF 90-22.1 is due to be received by the Department of the Treasury no later than the 30th of June, 2013. Please remember that the FBAR requires you to present information about all non-US bank accounts, brokerage accounts or life insurance/pension insurance securities accounts in which you have a > 50% financial interest, or

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The Last Observer – Getting Closer to Reality

My novel now has a full cover including the following text on the back of the book… The Last Observer is a compelling tale of magic, alternative realities, murder and conflict. An ordinary man is abruptly dragged into the middle of a violent struggle between black and white magicians who both seek to use his extraordinary powers of imagination and observation. He soon learns that reality is not at all what it seems before being called upon to play a decisive role in determining whose reality will prevail. “Dennis Wheatley brought up to date with a liberal spicing of speculation about the nature of reality, quantum physics and parallel worlds. …. Highly recommended” – Herbie Brennan, New York Times best-selling author of Whisperers: The Secret History of the Spirit World.

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