Ages ago, I tore out the column A Beautiful Mind by Francesca Hornak from one of the Sunday Times supplements. It was about following our instincts. To quote the article: " Caught in a dilemma, it's easy to turn to a pros and cons list, as you try to think your way to an answer. But perhaps there is a better way. 'Often the brain is telling us to 'do this, do that,' but we'd do better to tune into our emotions,' says the life coach Susie Pearl. 'Imagine you're in a meeting and you get a gut feeling about someone that you don't trust them. But you ignore it and think, 'I'm being silly.' Don't ignore it. Your instincts give you the most acute version of what's going on in your life and what will lead you to be happy.' Pearl believes that we could pre-empt many future regrets if we acted on our intuition and behaved 'irrationally' rather than obeying our rational mind. The trouble is, many of us are so used to suppressing our emotions that we are deaf to our instincts. 'If you've lost it - just practise stopping the chat in your head and notice how you feel instead,' Pearl says, 'Meditation or just sitting still and daydreaming are great ways to tune back into your intuition. And the next time you're in a quandary, if you find you're inclined one way or the other, listen and act on it. Your emotions are your best GPS.' (Instructions for Happiness and Success by Susie Pearl. happinessandsuccess.org)

This was taken at Doris last year. It was the last Doris Festival, so this year we're going to Drum Camp at the beginning of July. Cannot wait to walk and dance barefoot on grass, hear drums morning until late at night, dance, hear singing - I might, just might have a go...learn new things, take chances, so yes, will sing! And listen and watch other musicians and dancers. SO EXCITED!!!

More of the business and less of the writing

Well, the contract with Lightning Source has gone through, I've registered Erosion with them. Then went to create the book cover. Was sent the template, but haven't a clue how to make my design to fit and how to put it on the template. I have a jpeg of the cover design. Other companies had a much easier option. The instructions are clear, I think, but I don't have the computer program to create the cover. Asked for help from my contact at the company, just sent me back the instructions...guess it's not his job. Seriously thinking about going back to Createspace, the other big POD company. The reason I didn't go with them before is because they're based in America and postage takes so long...but I haven't time or the energy for all this. Think I picked the wrong time to take up forming a publishing company. My mother who needs a great deal of care stays regularly, there are so many other things going on, both daughters home for the summer, Juba gigs, relationships to work on...writing to be done. I want to concentrate on Monster Belt. Outcome: must be patient. I wasn't patient with Erosion. I was impatient and sent it to agents and publishers before it was ready. And now it's been sent out and rejected, I can't send it out again even though it's a different book in many ways. So, decision made to self publish this one. It's on Kindle. Easy. But I wanted the hard copy and an e-book version, which can be done, just not with Lightning Source maybe. Breathe. And make a cup of tea and work through the list.

Business

Waiting to hear that the contract with Lightning Source goes through. In the meantime, I'm registering a new business with HMR Customs and the Office of Trading Standards and checking exactly what I need to do. It's not a limited company, just a business. No other company as far as I can find out is registered under Parkinson & Archer. I am the sole employee and it is a very simple operation. I'm doing my utmost to get this right and work through all I need to do methodically. I have my notebook with everything logged. I've changed the real place names used in Erosion to fictitious names as it was pointed out I could be sued. Other people don't see real place names as a problem, but in my usual knee jerk reaction, I changed them. At least this way, I should be covered. Nothing detrimental is said as far as I'm concerned, a character may make an off hand remark, but it's certainly not based on fact and is purely opinion. Anyway, better to be safe on this one as has been advised. Shame, but there it is. What else? One day, I will find peace. I'm never going to be one of those people who radiates calm and serenity and a sense of being grounded. Will I ever know myself well enough to have that aura of peace and tranquillity? It's not me, but there is somewhere in between that is attainable. I won't find it in the city, I know I am not strong enough to zone out and attain that serene being, I need surroundings to aid me in this. I admit this one, I'm going to need external help. Open space, away from cars, mobiles, all the stuff. I'm going to need the computer....for now anyway. Right. On with the list.