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Good morning from The Hoxton Holborn in central London. It’s the location for a dramatic event in Chapter 12 of ‘The Half-Life Girl’.

Central London is quite small. It’s a relatively short walk from Holborn to either Fleet Street, where my imaginary Temple Tavern stood or Billingsgate Market, next to my imaginary Turnmill Factory. Both of them appear in ‘Beyond the Shining Portals’

If you’ve read the first book in my Portals trilogy, you’ll remember that the protagonist, Jack, suffers a facial...

Good morning from Caffe Nero in Station Square, Cambridge. There’s an autumnal nip in the air. The trees in the square are still green, but it's an old, tired green which will soon give way to browns, yellows and reds.

The students have returned, and there’s a youthful buzz in the streets and cafes around the ancient university colleges.

I look down at the A4 pad, where I jot down notes in old-school style.

There’s still plenty to do before I complete ‘Now is the Time of Monsters’, but the end...

Good morning from Caffe Nero in Station Square, Cambridge, on a cool, autumnal morning. Summer blazed out in a final burst of glory on Friday. I think that’s it for this year. It’s been wonderful. I shall miss complaining about the heat.

Last Sunday’s trip to the coast passed without any major mishap. The Queen of the Road, confident as ever, drove faster along the twisting country roads than I was comfortable with.

“I drive very well now!”

And she does in her ‘Saddle the horses! We ride at...

Good morning from a warm, cloudy Caffe Nero in Station Square, Cambridge.

Last Sunday, I said I would relaunch a campaign to encourage more reviews for ‘Beyond The Shining Portals’.

That statement was completely upended on Friday.

On Thursday at 1.17 pm, an email dropped into my inbox.

Hi Charles N

Want to save $30 on a subscription to BookBub’s new website builder?

On Friday afternoon, I had a moment to read the email in full. I signed up on the authorwebsites.bookbub.com site. It all seemed...

Good morning from a cool sunny Caffe Nero in Station Square, Cambridge.

Book promotion can be a dirty business.

Mark Dawson, a self-published author, bought 400 copies of his book, The Cleaner, to boost its position on the Sunday Times bestseller list. He was motivated to do this after seeing his book at number 13 in the midweek chart. His book briefly reached number 8, but he was subsequently removed from the list after admitting to the purchase and its intent to influence the chart's...

Good morning from a hot sunny Caffe Nero in Station Square, Cambridge.

There’s classical music playing in the background. In the foreground, there’s the hiss of milk being boiled, the sharp tapping of coffee grounds being discarded, the clatter of crockery and cutlery.

As I order my Americano (with hot milk on the side), the barista asks me how I am.

“Good,” I reply. “I was imagining I was in Italy.”

“Ooh, I want to go to Italy and visit the mountains!”

“You will see them if you fly over the...

Good morning from a cool sunny Caffe Nero in Station Square, Cambridge.

I’ve had three emails from scammers this week. The content of the emails is generic. Each scammer claimed to admire my work and said that they could help me market my book. When pressed, none knew any of the titles.

Amateurish.

I suspect they will promise to get me more positive reviews. They will charge for this service. I’m guessing the result would be zero positive reviews and a lighter wallet.

‘Beyond The Shining Portals...

Good morning from Caffè Nero on a cool day with a hint of rain in the air.

Let me ask you a question: What is your worst fear?

At school, we had a boy the others called “Sparky.” I never used nicknames – in our playground ecosystem, they were shorthand for cruelty, and his was no exception. He sat in the classroom, shoulders hunched and silent. The bullies could slice him open with words; he had no snappy rejoinders. “Sparky” was meant to sting, a dig at his supposed dullness.

Yet hand him a...

Good morning from Caffe Nero on a cool, damp morning.

The schools have shut for the summer, and the students have gone home. This is the time of year when groups of pupils arrive in Cambridge with their teachers. Those who visit Caffe Nero are usually from southern Europe or China.

I include places in my writing with which I am familiar. There is a scene in the chapter ‘Cambridge Windows’ in ‘The Half-Life Girl’, where the villain, Michael Basilicus, and the two protagonists, Jack and Elektra,...

Good morning from Cafe Nero in Station Square, Cambridge, on a very warm, humid and overcast morning. It reminds me of similar mornings in Grenada in the West Indies.

The town of Grenville, on the east coast, looking out to the Atlantic Ocean, was cooler than the capital, St George's, on the Caribbean Sea.

There was a particular gap between two buildings in Grenville, which acted as a funnel for the Atlantic breeze. It was blissfully cold standing there. Furthermore, you could eat freshly-made...

Good morning!

‘Beyond The Shining Portals,’ the first book in the Portals Trilogy, is free today. The exact time it becomes free will depend on your timezone.

https://bit.ly/3Gsf3km

If all is well, and I have not spent money in vain, it is being promoted on Bargain Booksy’s newsletter.

Bargain Booksy's Fantasy / Paranormal list has 421,000 subscribers. The Fantasy / Paranormal Deal of the Day list has 912,000 subscribers.

This is just the first book promotion newsletter. It will appear in 5 more...

Last Sunday, there were 10,225 people on this email list. Today, there are 10,171. The cost of speaking my mind about Israel and Gaza was 54 unsubscribes. There were no hostile emails; in fact, the opposite was true. There were several supportive messages.

Good morning!

It’s another hot day in Cambridge. I’ve situated myself directly beneath the air conditioning system. The air conditioning belts out cold air throughout the year. In winter, you have to wear a woolly hat and a scarf to sit...

Good morning!

Midsummer’s Day, for once, lived up to expectations. It was the hottest day of the year so far. I spent it with my wife and my extended family in a boathouse on the south bank of the River Thames. A lovely day.

Many years ago, I set up a meetup group in London on a Brazilian social media app called Orkut. I didn’t realise it was Brazilian at the time. I used to organise fortnightly meetings and events. This was exciting and very new.

One evening, I was seated in an Irish pub in...

Good morning from sunny Cambridge.

‘The Half-Life Girl’ is published!

Here it is.

https://amzn.to/45PJjzJ

And that’s not all. ‘The Half-Life Girl’, ‘Beyond The Shining Portals’, and all my other books are now also audiobooks on Audible, except ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor, which is on Spotify.

Later this morning, I will book one-day slots on seven book clubs offering ‘Beyond The Shining Portals’ for free. This will be your chance to read it if you haven’t already.

Yesterday, one-day slots were...

Good morning from an overcast and showery Cambridge.

‘The Half-Life Girl’, Book Two of the ‘Portals’ trilogy, is finished!

I’m excited about Book Three! I’ve already written chapters 1-12, and I’m itching to get back to the writing. But first, there is work to be done to publish Half-Life Girl.

I’ve created 4 book covers, which I’ve uploaded to ‘The Half-Life Girl’ Facebook Group.

The Facebook Group link for ‘The Half-Life Girl’ is here.

https://bit.ly/3OUEJHC

Password: Elektra

I’m not going to...

It’s a lovely, warm morning in Station Square, Cambridge. I am in Caffe Nero, sipping green tea.

I’m on a gentle health drive. I’m phasing out dairy products. Cheese has gone. I thought I loved cheese, but I haven’t missed it at all. Next is milk, which is the big one. From tomorrow, my breakfast mug of keto chocolate stirred into hot milk will go. I will drink lemon tea.

My dietary adjustments are directed towards one goal. To reduce weight and relieve knee pain.

I never thought, after a year...

Good morning from Caffe Nero in Station Square, Cambridge.

Thanks to everyone who has joined the two Facebook Groups.

41 of 60 chapters of ‘The Half-Life Girl’ are now topped and tailed with intrigue or drama, and my target of 75,000 words has been met.

"Your mission, should you choose to accept it”, is to come up with design ideas for a front cover for ‘The Half-Life Girl’.

Here’s a reminder of what the front cover of ‘Beyond The Shining Portals’ looks like.

https://bit.ly/4cOtFWt

The central...

I am aboard a train from Cambridge to London.

I have just completed the final revision of Chapter 30, which by coincidence, describes a conversation on a train between Cambridge and London. In the book, I’ve slightly altered the London station’s name from St Pancras to St Pancross, which is what my wife calls it. And I’ve decorated the station with small leering sculptures of Pan, the ancient god of mischief, from whom we get the word panic.

I’ve spent all my spare moments in the last two...

Welcome to Caffe Nero in Station Square, Cambridge.

What a beautiful sunny day! The weather will rise to 76f/24c this afternoon. The Met Office will put out warnings. This, in England, is what we call a heatwave. Or, possibly, as we look back on today in a couple of months’ time, Summer.

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Let me tell you what I am doing with ‘The Half-Life Girl’ project. The book is written. It could be published today. The cake is baked, but I want to add a few decorative flourishes.

...

Welcome to Caffe Nero in Station Square, Cambridge.

Yesterday, I decided to complete and publish ‘The Half-Life Girl’ and ignore not having completed the planning for book three.

It may not have been Agatha Christie, but one famous crime writer said she didn’t know how her novels would end when she started writing. I am hoping my subconscious has it already worked out.

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It’s almost three weeks since I returned from China. I arrived at my front door in a wheelchair. I...