THE END

“As much as I may resist it, I, like all of the other inhabitants of this earth, am governed by the laws of nature; I rise by the Sun and collapse  by the moon…something’s got to give”

Hello?

Are you there?

Can you hear me?

Wake up.

Can hear it?

Coming up For Air is a non fiction manuscript about relationships and why, as humans, we can be so loving yet hurtful. Research for the book took nearly two years, much of which was spent in the USA. I interviewed nearly 200 singles and couples, including members of the American military.

The rhythm of your heart, the mesmeric sound of your breath, the chatter of birds outside  your window, the chaotic mumble of traffic in the distance, and the symphony of children playing.

Wake up.

Do you feel it?   The caress of daylight on your eyelids, gently teasing them open, pulling at your consciousness and whispering… “it’s another day, wake up, it’s another day in your life.”

And what do you have planned for it? Something new? A carbon copy of the day before, or perhaps you’re planning  an  adventure, like a holiday, maybe a safari. Perhaps, there’s something else on your mind, something you’d like to share with the rest of the world, something that may change life as you know it.

Regular readers of this blog will know that most of my posts have  a common theme throughout, and that is to is to make the most of life, to make the most of our time on this earth for we know not what awaits us beyond the twisted bends of life.

I tend to practice what I preach and the nett result of this is that there are literally not enough hours in the day yet still I insist on cramming as much in as I can but even I have to know my limits.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about how I had resurrected a manuscript, Unspeakable, that I completed over 10 years ago and how I was going to form a focus group to glean feedback on the story before I embarked on the second draft.

Well, I’m happy to report that my trusty readers (a group of 9) have been busy burning the midnight oil and initial feedback is good although I won’t really know full details until I meet with the group in person and interrogate them on their experience.  The meetings are scheduled to take place this  Tuesday and Saturday. Like most  authors who have exhibited unfinished work, I’m looking forward to and dreading these sessions at the same time.  Yet I’m quite sanguine about the fact that if I want my characters (and the book) to be the best that it can be then it makes sense to enlist the help of my target audience. I know that, once these meetings are over, I’ll have some invaluable feedback to use when I embark  on the  manuscript’s second draft.

Which leads me onto my next point.

As much as I may resist it, I, like all of the other inhabitants of this earth, am governed by the laws of nature; I rise by the Sun and collapse  by the moon.  24 hours a day simply aren’t enough!

But that’s all I have to work with, and something’s got to give.

Therefore, after careful consideration, I concluded that if I really want to get manuscripts like Unspeakable and Coming Up for Air  finished then I need to dedicate some serious time to writing, which pretty much means every scrap of spare time I can muster  outside of my other commitments.

Regular readers of this blog will know that writing articles for A Different Angle is time consuming because they often require extensive research and revision.  In fact, in order to ensure that articles reach your inbox and are available first thing on a Sunday morning, I have to start drafting the article for most of Saturday and I have to get up at 05:00  Sunday morning to revise so that the posts are  published before 09:00.

I do this because, despite the obvious lack of interaction, thousands of you visit this blog on a regular basis, especially for your Sunday morning read.  Quite how humbling it is  to know just how many readers anticipate my blog posts first thing on a Sunday morning (as the majority of you hit the blog within the first hour of the article’s publication)I’m unable to articulate, and it’s this that makes what I’m about to say next even harder.

The 1st draft of Unspeakable, a supernatural thriller, was finished over 10 years ago.

This post will be the last in the series of regular Sunday morning posts. A Different Angle will continue to be http://www.thesundayblog.co.uk but it won’t be every Sunday for the foreseeable future.  I’m anticipating that articles will be scaled back to just one post per month.

The reason for this is because if I really want to complete these projects that have been outstanding for so many years, I really need to put as much spare time as I can into them.  I feel that the timing is right. I owe it to myself  and to the people who contributed on Coming up For Air, the non fiction manuscript about relationships. Over 200 men and women from all walks of life gave generously of their time to contribute to this manuscript (which is also nearly finished) and they deserve to have their stories told.

So these are the projects that I shall be devoting myself to over the next year as well as a major Casa Bella event in December, Casa Bella’s Christmas fable.  The fact that this event is just under 6 months in the making gives an idea of just how special it’s going to be, and how much planning time it’s going to need.

But fear not my trusty readers, I won’t be gone permanently. I’ll be sure to keep in touch not only with updates of my antics, the highs and lows , as well as posting new articles that you have come to know and love, well I’d miss you otherwise and I know you’ll miss me. 😉

In all, I feel the above is a good compromise; I get to stay true to my belief to make the most of life by doing different things, working on different projects, and on the thing that I love most, entertaining people through novels whilst bringing you the usual  no punches held stuff.  Who knows, once I’ve finished the ongoing projects the regular sunday morning post may well make a comeback but more about that in the future.

Casa Bella’s Christmas Fable is scheduled to take place on the 21st December 2013. The guest list, made up of 20 family members and friends, is already full.

So, there’s nothing else for me to say other than thank you so much for your ‘regular read’. You’ve made all of the effort worth it. Rest assured that I’ll make the monthly posts as ‘juicy’ as possible, and, of course, I’ll be sure to keep you updated with all the latest on my writing projects and, who knows, there may even be some excerpts!

Don’t forget,  now more than ever, if you haven’t already, it would make sense to sign up to this blog. You can do so by visiting the above email subscription box (top right hand corner) of this blog and entering your email address. Don’t worry, your email address is safe, it’s used for this blog only and not to send you pesky junk mail!  By signing  up, any new posts will be delivered directly to your inbox so you’ll be sure not to miss any.

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Remember, this may  be THE END of a regular series but it’s the START of a  whole NEW CHAPTER. 🙂

Tony