Bits and pieces

I was just having a look at my Kindle sales report for the month to date, to see what was the best-selling title so far. That’s best-selling out of my own collection, you understand, none of my titles is in a real bestseller list, yet. I was very pleased to see that ‘The Saddling’ is top of my list. It is, strangely, followed by ‘Village View – a year on Symi’. I say strangely as the two books could not be further apart. Mind you, there has been a bit of a rush on ‘Symi 85600’ over in the print section, so perhaps people have enjoyed that and wanted more of Symi life in book form.

While all that was going on, I have managed to get ‘Honestly‘ up on Kindle now, and it’s only $0.99p to download. (I am not sure if I need to put the ‘p’ on the end of that price, but it is a Miss P novella, so it seems appropriate.) That went live yesterday, so I will be checking in to my account again soon to see if a) anyone has bought it, b) if anyone leaves a review (in time) and c) if it boosts sales of Remotely. The links to some of these novels/books can be found in the right column over there >> or you can head to my Amazon author page to see the full collection.

That’s book news, in other bits and pieces… We are experiencing cloud as I write this (Thursday morning) and the temperature has dropped a little. Apparently, this isn’t going to last very long, and we’re not expecting rain. I was going to take a walk today (yesterday) and take some more photos, but I spent most of the night awake with a thumping pain in my foot. This started on Wednesday after our stroll up the main road, and I assumed I had pulled a muscle or something. But today my foot had swollen up and the pain increased. I am now thinking it’s a mosquito bite in just the right place to cause the swelling and thus the pain. There’s nothing nasty going on down there, but it does mean I can’t walk very far or dance around, not that I do much of either. I’ve had a similar thing before so am not unduly worried, just annoyed that I am not as mobile as usual.

Anyway, that’s my update for today. I am off to Yialos later today (Friday, do keep up) to meet a friend from way back when. We’ve not seen each other since about 1980, so that should be interesting. A lunch is in order, a visit to the house perhaps and a good old catch-up will fill my day.

Click the image to download ‘Honetsly’ from Amazon

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Carry on up the road

We took another early walk on Wednesday. This time we headed down the Kali Strata to the misnamed ‘lazy steps’ and turned right at the bottom. The main part of the walk was then back up the road to the village. It took us 35 minutes from door to door. It’s a pleasant enough walk, though there’s not much shade if you plan to do it during the day. There are benches to sit on if you want to take in the view and you do get a great view of the harbour from there. Thank you for the comments about the ‘Symphony of sound’ post the other day. Wednesday’s walk wasn’t quite in the same league sound wise as we weren’t rural.

It was visually pleasant though with the sea appearing grey and calm because the sun had not come up over the hill. A boat was gliding out, others were moored and quiet and a few people were starting to gather for the ferry which slipped in almost unnoticed (by me) later in the morning. A few cars passed us on the road, soldiers heading off to work, other people coming down to the harbour for work or the boat, and there were a few cicadas around to give us a scratchy underscore. By the time we were back in the village square, at around 6.45, someone was having breakfast at Lefteris’ kafenion. Lefteris is usually there before I go out walking and some mornings that’s at five thirty; he’s an early riser too.

And on with my day… I managed, with help (thank you Allan) to get ‘Honestly’ ready for Kindle, and the cover design should be with me any time now. This means that tomorrow or Saturday I can send up the new Remotely cover and also publish Honestly. This is a 25,000-word novella. A quick, long-short story involving Miss P and her magic and, like Remotely, is comic with a bit of a serious message buried somewhere underneath. A bit of naughtiness (think Tom Sharpe) and a bit of fun. With the new Remotely cover coming out soon it means that the print copies with the old cover will be “collectors’ items” (says he) so you may want to have one on your shelves if you haven’t already.

Other work plans continue with the exciting interruption of a screenplay to write. Unless another Miss P novella pops into my head, the next book publication should be ‘Symi, Stuff & Nonsense’ around November time.

Over here on Symi, the festival has taken off with a live band in the harbour on Tuesday complete with fireworks. There are brochures around so if you are heading this way in July, August or September, you can pick one up and see what’s going on. A lot of church events, music from rock bands to classical, talks about books and other cultural evenings will be taking place across the island. Symi may be a small rock to some, but it’s a rock that rocks.

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‘The 13^th‘ Greek Premiere

The Greek premiere of the film made entirely on Symi, ‘The 13^th‘ took place on Monday evening at the Horio sports complex. The event was introduced by the mayor who also officially opened this year’s Symi Festival. I was also asked to say a few words before the film started and I think I said what I wanted to say. Which was…

Three things: One, to thank all the 200 + backers, volunteers, businesses and locals, plus the town hall, who made the film possible. Two, to explain that the film was being shown around the world in festivals and one of the aims behind it was to bring more attention to the island as a filming location. Three, to let everyone know that it was a bit scary in places and that parents should be aware. There were quite a few younger people there who sat very quietly throughout the whole thing; I hope they weren’t too scared.

We estimate that there were around 150 to 200 people in the audience, so it was a great turn out. It’s also a good venue for films (though they might need more chairs) as there is enough room for lots of people, there are facilities nearby and, in the summer, it’s good to be able to sit outside under the stars. There was very little interference from traffic noise if any, and the whole thing went off well. Bravo the Symi Gallery Cinema organisation for putting it all together.

As you can see, the photos are not great because it was dark and a large space, but these are the best of a bad bunch from my camera.

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A Symphony of Symi Sound

I had forgotten how loud dawn could be, and I am not talking about the lovely Dawn who runs the aerobics classes. Dawn on the Pedi road is what I am talking about. I went down there yesterday morning for a walk before work and took the photos you see today. Walking through the village, I was aware of the sound of my feet as it was so quiet. There were occasional sounds of people stirring behind their doors, and a couple of dogs gave me a morning bark as I passed, but otherwise, it was very quiet. Until I came to the road.

The sparrows were waking up in the trees, having a good old chatter, the chickens were discussing their night’s sleep, and the cockerels were letting everyone know that it was time to be up and about – as they do throughout the day and into the night. The cicadas in the trees by the church were deafening in unison, and along to my right, some sheep and goats were having a good old debate. A little later these sounds died down to be replaced by the water treatment plant’s engine hum, and there was some sound from the power station, but it was nowhere nearly as loud as it used to be.

Peace returned as I turned into Pedi to be met by the sounds of the sea. There was the occasional clank from an anchor chain as other early risers prepared for the day. A cargo ship was unloading with a crane, even though the sun was not yet over the headland, and I had the impression that they were trying to work as quietly as possible. The sea lapped at the shore, and the sun rose over the hill.

That was it really, no news today, just noise. Well, beautiful noise. If you’re going to be staying at the top of the Pedi valley or nearby, remember that it is rural there and the animals are in charge. Expect the sounds of the countryside and be grateful for them – they make a change from sirens and streets, cars and the cacophony of city life.

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The 13^th Greek Premiere

Remember, if you are on Symi this evening you can see the Greek Premiere of the film ‘The 13^th‘ that was shot on Symi in 2013. It will be showing at the Horio sports centre at 21:00 tonight as part of The Symi Festival. The film has now picked up 14 or 15 laurels, awards at film festivals and has been shortlisted for two festival finales/screenings at two different festivals in India later in the year, and one in Africa, I think. The production company is waiting to hear back on several other submissions. The Symi cinema guys tell me that they have permission to show the film again, outside of the Symi Festival later in the year, and I think they will be showing it in September.

So, how was your weekend? I spent much of last week preparing ‘Honestly’ for a Kindle publication in a couple of weeks, and some of Saturday trying to work out how to convert the files and make the thing look right on Kindle. I’ve had to call in expert help as I couldn’t figure it out. Meanwhile, my designer is working on the cover, and I should be able to see that in a couple of days. If you want to read more about my writing activities, I’ve put a quick update on my other, less frequent blog here http://jamescollinsauthor.com/

We were in Yialos on Saturday having a complete day off, apart from Neil having to work at the bar in the afternoon. We picked up some varnish, a new shower mat, a new hat for me and some shopping, and then stopped for a beer at Pacho’s. A quick lunch at Meraklis (ham and cheese omelette and yemista for me – that’s stuffed tomatoes/peppers) and a taxi up the hill, a long afternoon in the square and then some time on the balcony listening to some old cabaret CDs for some reason.

The weather’s been wonderfully calm and ‘just right’ if you like it warm/hot. The fan is still going on, on my desk at seven in the morning and I tend to forget what it’s like outside. I spend all day indoors working in front of one fan or another and then if I do go out in the afternoon, I am hit by this wall of heat that I’d not noticed before. Not complaining!

A few photos from Saturday for the blog today, more to come during the week. I’ve not got much in the diary this week, an interview on Sunday to help a college student in Canada, the film showing on Monday night, a dinner invite for Saturday and a new novella to get ready and publish; standard kind of week. Whatever you are up to, have a good one, and I’ll be back tomorrow.

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