So you can now sign up for my newsletter! 

You:   "Why would I want to do that?" I hear you ask. 
Me:    "Well, if you do you will get free stuff (possibly, if you ask nicely)."
You:   "What free stuff are you offering?" you reply.
Me:    "The latest details on my release dates..."
You:   "Boring..."
Me:   "How about links to my up coming You Tube videos where I'll be reading out chapters of my upcoming story, The General's Son, to whet your appetite ahead of release date?"
You:   "Ooo, that sounds cool!  But what else can I have?"
Me:   "Bit greedy, but I'll let it pass, um, well, how about this?  You might get free copies of my book!  I'm planning on sending out Advance Reader Copies of The General's Son in return for early reviews when I publish on Amazon."
You:   "Awesome!  Where do I sign up?"
Me:   "Here, click this button and drop in your email address..."

Such a random collection of photos!  Well the reality is that the above selection is a pretty typical snapshot of my life, and one of the main reasons I've quit my job.  So last Friday I laid some underfloor heating in the extension we are having built (it's surprisingly easy, in case anyone else fancies having a go), last Sunday, as a serving Army Reservist, I did of course embark on the annual ritual of attending a Remembrance Sunday service, and the other picture... 

The photo on right is a pic of the place I work and the place I went after spending Sunday doing Army stuff.  This is the sight that greets me as I arrive at work for my 11 hour shift.  I kinda see it as doing a mini operational tour for four days a week - I go to work, sleep then repeat with precious little time for stuff in between.  Which for those who know little about the Army and operational tours, this is what you do on ops; as a staff officer at least.  Wake, work, sleep, repeat; seven days a week.  I suppose I at least get a few days off working for Amazon!

DIY, Army stuff and my day job (or night job as the case may be (I work nights)), then there's my two wonderful little boys, aged 4 and 6, and of course writing.  Quite a lot for anyone to squeeze in.  So I took the decision to end my short period of employment with Amazon to concentrate on my writing career and making our extension habitable.  We have only contracted the builders to do the walls and roof, the rest is up to, um, well me!  I have renovated around 15 houses in case you were wondering, and have built up plenty of DIY skills over the years to make me more than qualified.  And besides, generally, tradespeople do it wrong!

So, in three weeks time I will no longer work for Amazon, but I will still work for the Army (until I die, probably) and I'll be returning to one of my favourite pastimes of good old DIY... and of course writing!

I concede, my website says it, my Twitter feed says it, my voice says it but do I really mean it?  "What the hell is this crazy woman going on about?"  I hear you say.  Well, I'm on about that thing I said about not wanting to go down the traditional publishing route.  Well, I don't!

"So why did you enter #MoodPitch?"  I hear you ask.  (I should explain at this point, that #MoodPitch is a Twitter thing where you post a mood board of your book and a short hook and hope agents come to you.)  Well, it's because, um, well, I suppose like all of us self publishers, (or most of us at least) we love the idea of an agent snapping us up and flogging our manuscripts for a six figure advance.  But we're realists.  We know we could spend months or years querying hundreds of agents and get nowhere.  And even if we get somewhere there's no guarantee our books will find a publisher, or that they will sell.  And all the while we have to wait years for this whole process to happen.

So I decided to skip all that nonsense and take things into my own hands with my plan to self publish, to spend thousands on editing and covers and marketing in the hope that I'll at least recover my investment!  Sigh, it might work, I hope it works, I'm betting a lot of cash on the idea that my books are actually something that folk want to read.

Anyway, back to the point, so why did I enter #MoodPitch?  Because I love the idea of agents coming to me.  If that's how the conversation starts, it might just be a chat I want to have.

If you're interested, my entry is linked here below:

And it is also copied below for your viewing convenience:

Two worlds joined by an ancient wormhole, one with magic, one without. A son of a general, two princesses, two ex-army officers and a mission back to Earth they’d never expected. When magic is weak, a blade still cuts, a gun still fires and there’s always a way to win. #MoodPitch