By pure accident, I've managed to track down Lee Sharpe. He's doing a World Cup blog on Yahoo. I have of course emailed him and asked if he ever got a copy of my book via Simon Clifford. It'll be interesting to see if I get a response.

A few other celebs are on my hit-list. Currently Dave Gorman is the only one to reply and I've sent him a book on the off chance he has the time to read it.

Might have to go to the printers this afternoon as I'm still waiting for the proof of the revised 12 months. The cover PDF file is too big to email apparently!

Sweden match today ... haven't seen any Swedish flags flapping in the Scottish breeze yet but I'm sure it's only a matter of time. Will be watching the match more keenly than normal as my little cousin won a trip to the game and will be a mascot for England. She gets to line up for England in a match against the Swedish mascots before kick-off. I just hope she gets to walk on the pitch with any player other than Owen Hargreaves who's been rumoured to be in the starting line-up.

Anyways ... the reason for the blog. I had a very weird dream last night. I was on a runaway train to Norwich (no idea why but may have been subliminly Alan Partirdge-esque) and there was nobody in my carraige other than Jimmy Tarbuck, Bernie Clifton and the woman from Coronation St (played Mrs Popoff in Rentaghost). None of them would read/review my book which is maybe an omen as I thought dreams were supposed to mean the opposite ... so maybe I should hunt them down and ask them the question!

I've also asked the local newsagent (I go in every day for fags, milk and the like) if they would stock my book but their English isn't too good and I think they thought I wanted to buy the copy i'd brought in with me or know whether they stocked anything similar i could read. I left with just me fags and milk!

Things not going so well at the moment. I've emailed a few branches of Ottaker's and only my local one in Falkirk has responded although they haven't agreed to stock it as of yet. No word either from the head buyer at Ottacker's ... or Paul Daniels ... or the Sydney Bridge climb (in search of Todd from Neighbours).

I have another couple of ideas in mind though ... I refuse to be beaten that easily ... and my mate James has agreed to do leaflet drops in Ripon. He's nice like that!

As for the decorating ...

1) I picked up a new cheap and cheerful bathroom suite on Friday only to have to take the sink back on Saturday as it only had a hole for one tap when I'd ordered two.

2) Although having rung the couriers to make sure my consignment of taps and shower and towel rail were being delivered ... they never turned up.

3) The new fireplace arrived from Argos ... only to find the back panel was pre-cut for a fire whereas we want to make a feature out of it.

On a completely different tangent, I feel I want to get off my chest ... being an England fan in Scotland ain't much fun. I'm saying no more than that!

I shall finish on a positive though. The re-vamped 12 months is now edited into the new format and will be emailed to the printers in the morning. That way, if bookshops DO decide to stock my books I won't have a spanking shiny WORLDS APART sat next to a wafer thin 12 MONTHS with miniscule print. They'll be two bloody great spankers and no mistake.

Good times!

For the largest book festival in the world which just happens to be on my doorstep, you'd have thought the Edinburgh scene would have been more accomodating to new authors. Apparently not. I've been politely emailed to say it's by invitation only. Yet another avenue well and truly concreted up.
Inspired by someone who reviewed my book, I have now taken on the task of tracking down Kristian Schmidt (Todd from Neighbours) to see if he would be kind enough to review Worlds Apart. For those of you who have read the book, you will understand why this is relevent and not just some random act of stalking. For those of you who have asked, yes I have met him in real life and he's a very funny guy ... a dry sense of humour which I feel was shackled by the Neighbours scriptwriters. In the words of Mr T ... CRAZY FOOLS!

Following my recognition of the weekend's TV schedule, I can begin to understand why reviewing/helping with my book becomes low on the priority list.

Paul Daniels (& Debbie) have clearly been very busy readying themselves for celebrity X-factor. Having been voted out on the first night however, maybe he'll now have time to read Worlds Apart.

Meanwhile, Robbie Williams is hoping to raise £1 million smackers from the England vs The rest of the World charity football match. 72,000 people turned up to Old Trafford to watch the likes of Maradona, Zola, Paul Gascoigne ... and Alistair Campbell. No wonder UNICEF aren't overly interested in endorsing a book by a writer nobody has heard of. What DOES annoy me however is what CAN be done with a relatively small donation. We were repeatedly told £5 would supply mozzy nets lasting 8 years, or feed an entire village for a week. Every little helps apparently! Unless you're a self-published author, in which case ... you can keep your stinking money!

The latest edition of 12 months is just about ready to go to the printers.
Sent an email to the organisers of the Edinburgh Book Festival to see if/how I can get involved. Although only in the very early stages, I'm considering putting a sample of my latest idea for a book on the website. If I do, and if you read it ... let me know what you think.

Still no word from Mr Daniels although there's a possibility that author Deric Longden may review a copy of 12 Months.

This is more of an experiment than anything. I'm not sure my life is interesting enough ...

a) to write about on a regular basis
b) people would actually want to read it

As it stands at the moment, 12 Months is still to be re-vamped, overhauled and sent to the printers. Until I get around to getting it finalised, I can't approach High Street shops because they're going to want both books (hopefully). I've sent a copy of Worlds Apart to the head buyer of Ottacker's in Salisbury in the hope I can get on their 'approved list' and have also asked Paul Daniels (again!) if he would review my book. No word as yet!

2nd overseas book order today (I don't count Enrique in Venezuala because he didn't pay for it). This one's going to Western Australia, last one went to the East coast.

In the meantime, 12 months will have to wait ... I'm about to beat the fireplace out!

Om Shanti!