Here I am at the edge

Hello Australia For some time, I've had online friends in Australia . One was a police serjeant in Queensland who praised my Pat Canella series for its authentic feel. I have another - a lady - who works in New South Wales  and is an excellent writer in her right ( Dawn Millen ). My blog until last night never had much following in the land of the kangaroo. But all that has changed in the blink of an eye, I have had a few sales in Australia but not many.

A writing retreat Writing last night's post, The Vagrant Journalist abroad   brought to mind the era of the great writers, and how they would sit on the Paris sidewalks and talk as they wrote. It was a hard time for many of the generation known as The Lost Generation ; they'd come through a war and lost close friends, you can't blame them for living in the moment.

Will book 3 be finished? This week I opened the files to edit book 3 in my award-winning series. My first thought was "Am I wasting my time again?"  Neither of the previous books has sold in four years, and I have over 40 pages of edits to do - not counting continuing the story - if I go ahead, for what?

Hunter S. Thompson The term The Vagrant Journalist was coined by writer Hunter S. Thonpson during his time in Puerto Rico  as he, liked others, waited for his big break; it was a turmultous time in the area with riots and coups in most countries, and the rise of Papa Doc in Haiti . My virtual travels these days include India  as the main port of call thanks to many films and shows from there being on Netflix . The lady shown here is Dimple Kapadia  showing again that you can maintain your beauty and be mature.

Temple Meads station closed  As of an hour ago, the mainline link from  London  to South Wales was closed as  Temple Meads  station in Bristol is flooding with rain from  Storm Angus .   The problem is caused because in Old English - Mead means - land by a river and Temple Meads is in a basin.  I don't know where the trains will be diverted to, the area to the North of  Gloucester  is always flooded as far up the country as  Worcester , and across to  Evesham .  To the south of  Weston-Super-Mare , the problem is the opposite as the  Somerset Levels  are peat bogs.

My spreading readership The good thing about my Google blog   is that it doesn't only show my most read posts, but where they get read. Yesterday's newest readers came from the Republic of Slovakia . To people who are not sure - that included me - the Slovak Republic until 1997 was the Southern part of Czechoslovakia.  I am not surprised that my blog is getting read in Slovakia, one of the reasons is for many years I have had a solid following from states that used to be in the Eastern Bloc . I have been asked about this following many times as some interviewers cannot understand why I have this following. To me, there is no puzzle, and the answer is easy. I find it simpler to write characters like Harry Palmer  than James Bond . I feel an affinity with the old Soviet countries - I'm not a Communist - I visited Russia when I was in school, and the trip left an indelible mark on my soul. I never had a lot of money, so the world of the underdog...

The Reading area As my e-books   aren't selling, and I have about 20 years to live, if my genealogy runs true. I thought I'd reopen the page   The Reading Area   with some stories for  FREE . Even when the e-books were selling, they never brought much money in, other than  Forgestriker .