Surrendering – Japanese vs Cubans
There’s a particularly unlikely true story on Giles Milton’s blog today about a former US gang member who repeatedly went out alone and talked huge numbers of Japanese soldiers into surrendering in World War II. Its theme of a lone man convincing vastly superior enemies to surrender reminded me of this Telegraph obituary of John […]
Read more...A late entry
Just when I thought people had stopped searching for “what looks like a bunch of bananas but isn’t”, it happened again. Will this phrase dog me for the rest of my life?
Read more...Hello
I just wanted to say hello to Norma and Henry, the first subscribers to this blog. I’m too new to this to really understand what a subscriber is, but I’m sure it’s a Good Thing and that Norma and Henry are both splendid coves. And thank you to the 48 people who have now bought […]
Read more...Welcome, Stumbleupon people
I’ve started getting lots of hits for Labour Schmaving, which has just got onto Stumbleupon. I hadn’t heard of Stumbleupon before, but I’ve just had a look and it seems like a really good idea. Anyway, if that’s how you’ve come here, welcome. Stay and have a look around, if you have the time.
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Numbers update
Twenty-four people have now bought the Kindle version and 15 have bought the paperback. Then there have been 212 downloads of the Kindle version on the two days when I’ve offered it free. Altogether, 258 copies are at large. At least two good bloggers have picked it up and say they plan to review it. […]
Read more...Dream: the uncanny mothmen
I opened the door and there were two men in 40s-style lived-in raincoats, hats and suits. They were in the their fifties. They carried on ringing the bell after I’d opened the door, as though they planned to hold out for someone better. I asked them what they wanted and they said that I should […]
Read more...Good news and bad news
The good news is that the staff in Pret a Manger have finally learned to understand what I mean when I say ‘Bakewell’. They’ve been selling Bakewell tarts for over a year now, but – until today – whenever I asked for one the person serving me (in my Pret, they’re almost exclusively girls from South America) […]
Read more...Numbers
On the 19th of May, I launched the Kindle edition of Perpetual Astonishment with an apologetic message on Facebook. On the 1st of June, I celebrated the paperback launch with an embarrassed line on Facebook. Since then, I have sold seven paperback copies and sixteen Kindle copies. I’ve also had two of my five Kindle […]
Read more...The first review from someone I don’t know
I’ve been made ridiculously happy this afternoon by someone I don’t know giving Perpetual Astonishment a five-star review on Amazon. It has increased my determination to rate every book I like from now on: I had never realised the huge pleasure it gives. It is at least as nice as getting that Lego spaceship when […]
Read more...Free today
The Kindle edition of my book is free today (Sunday the 10th of June), so why not download it, read it, give it a five-star Amazon review, then buy copies of the paperback for your extended family, friends, workmates and acquaintances? Or just download it.
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