Doctors I Have Known
The comment I’ve heard more than any other since Dr Dan’s Casebook was published goes as follows: ‘I want Trevor Buxton as my GP’. To which I can only reply, ‘get behind me and form an orderly line.’ In my long life I have known doctors of every stripe. Brusque, impatient, hurried, dotty. The GP who…
Read MoreBack to Business
Dr Dan is now well and truly launched, on a sea of tea, Doctor’s Orders cocktails (recipe available on application) and generous goodwill. Thanks to everyone who has bought it, read it, reviewed it and is asking for more. Last Friday, aided and supported by kind friends who know how much I fear social gatherings,…
Read MoreNothing to See Here
I don’t really have anything to blog about today but there’s some new technical folderol about my website which I need to try out, to prove to my webmaestra that I’m not a total dummy. I’ve heard enough pitying sighs for one week. The young sales assistant in the phone shop was very gentle with…
Read MoreKilling People
Killing people is all in a day’s work for a novelist but it doesn’t always come easy. Sometimes it’s clear that it has to be done, though the demise of any of my creations, even a monster, can sadden me. Sometimes it’s a tussle between sentiment and plot. Plot needs to win. Readers may howl…
Read MoreMy New Profession
I hadn’t planned on taking up a new career in my 70s but there it is. I have now added ‘publisher’ to the list of hats I’ve worn in my life. Never wanted to be one, but needs must, and after many a setback and hiccup, Dr Dan’s Casebook is out tomorrow. The novel that…
Read MoreSix Days and Counting
Publication Day minus 6, and in my office (aka the kitchen table) it’s like a NASA countdown. The second batch of proofs arrived and looked fine – just as well because I’d run out of time to do much about it if they didn’t – and as some of you have pointed out, with the…
Read MoreNightmare on Self-Publishing Street
Proof copies of Dr Dan arrived a day early. The cover looked okay. Worth a tweak or two, but alright. Then I peeped inside. Aaaaarrrrgh….. it was a dog’s breakfast. Chapter breaks missing, front matter in the wrong sequence. It looked like a book assembled by a team of monkeys. So I spent the next 12…
Read MoreThe Pace Quickens
If I were a dog, this is what I’d look like today. I just learned that a) the Kindle edition of Dr Dan’s Casebook is now available for pre-order on Amazon and b) that proof copies of the paperback are on their way to me. Suddenly, this self-publishing lark seems very real. Have I actually gone…
Read MoreThe F Word
No, not that F word. I’m talking about formatting, a variety of mental torture self-publishing authors must endure in order to make their book printable or readable on a screen. Formatting is easier than it used to be (they tell me) because there are programmes one can use to bring a manuscript up to trade standards.…
Read MoreHoliday? What Holiday?
No summer lollygagging for me this year. I’m going cross-eyed learning the art of book formatting and Dr Dan’s Casebook is starting to look like an actual book. It’s very exciting. Another week or two and I should be able to reveal publication date. Meanwhile, lest all work and no play make Laurie a very…
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