Thursday 26 June 2014

To blog or not to blog

Once again, I am beginning my post with an apology, because I have been remiss, failing to post here for a while. Here's why: Life is crazily hectic right now... I know I always use that excuse...
Yesterday I went to a Society of Authors Conference in Bristol, which was interesting and useful. It was good to catch up with a few familiar faces there: Felix Francis, Andrew Taylor, Michael Jecks, Liz Fenwick, to name just a few. I also met Luana Lewis who is joining the crime panel at Uxbridge Library tomorrow, along with Barbara Nadel and Zoe Sharp. On Saturday I'm off to Watford to sign my books at WH Smith, and Monday evening is the CWA Dagger Dinner. Add to that dinner with a group of friends tonight, and going out for a posh tea on Sunday (I'm not allowed to know where) and you will hopefully agree my excuse is anything but fatuous.
Next week we're going away for a few days before the next round of activity begins with more library talks and signings, and Harrogate Crime Festival at the end of July, The Writers Lab for two weeks in Greece, and a week in France for a Literary Festival in August, and then a two week tour of York for the launch of Race to Death in October, when I'll be signing the book at York Races! There are a lot of other events in the diary for this year, including a panel with James Runcie and Ben Aaronovitch. All the details are on my website http://leighrussell.co.uk under 'Events'.
So with all this going on, what has happened to the writing? Well, I'm pleased to tell you that I have finished the first draft of the seventh in my Geraldine Steel series, and have a cracking idea for the third Ian Peterson book. I'll be starting on that in July, once I've finished rereading and polishing the seventh Geraldine Steel manuscript, ready to go off  to The Editor.
I've not been blogging, but I haven't been idle!
In the meantime, the list of topics I want to blog (comment/rant) about is growing. The whole book industry seems to be in meltdown at the moment. No one quite knows what is going on, or where we are heading.
  • ebooks vs print books - ?
  • amazon vs physical books stores - ?
  • traditional vs self-publishing - ?
So much to say, I don't know where to begin! For now, it's back to Geraldine, in my new office...



4 comments:

Val Ewing said...

I think the wave of the future for a lot of books is going to be e books of some kind.

That said, I still like to hold a book.

Amazon? Okay I admit I use them because I can get just about anything and don't have to make a 90 mile trip to get something that can be delivered to me!

BernardL said...

I'm afraid the days of browsing book stores will end very soon. For folks craving the feel of a real book there will only be libraries.

Leigh Russell said...

I have a love-hate relationship with amazon. I think they take far too large a share of the market. They make it hard for publishers and physical bookstores to survive. But I still buy from them because they are so efficient and cheap... Thanks for commenting, Val!

Leigh Russell said...

The trouble is, if there are only libraries, producing print books will become costly, and books will become really expensive... Good to hear from you, Bernard..
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