Farewell 2019 and all that

As we say hooroo to 2019, I’m pleased to have returned to my novel Dragonfly Illusion, and have pushed out another couple of thousand words. Perhaps 2020 will see it finished, edited and published. I hope so. I also hope that Matt Damon will be available to take the lead role in the movie!

I set a publication date of The Postage Stamps of Aden as 7 January, but that may be delayed a bit. It took a couple of weeks to get a hard copy proof, thanks to Christmas mail delays. There were a few errors to correct, and many improvements to be made. My biggest tip for would-be self-publishers is to get a proof copy from your printer. Even a PDF you print at home isn’t the same. The unfamiliarity of an actual book makes you see it differently. It also allows you to check if your formatting and fonts are as good as you think.

My writing and publishing goals for 2020 include another philatelic title, the Postage Stamps of Australia’s dependencies. That means Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, Norfolk Island etc. I also want to do one on the British Royal family on stamps. I have an exciting project in mind relating to Ten Pound Poms and the stories of their voyages to Australia. My Dad piqued my interest there when he included some tales of our trip on the Fairsky in 1958.

Running Diaries Volume 1 will be republished, and that shouldn’t take too long. I also want to make both volumes available as e-books, which is another story, as I have to relearn how to do that. The Spice of Life will be republished as well. See my out of print page for those titles. I may even take my own Twenty Five Years memoirs and update that with the next (nearly) 40 years. Time enough for that though. It won’t be a 2020 title.

I wish everyone a superlative year.