I'm Back!

It’s embarrassing.
 
I looked at the date of my last Rendezvous Blog and was astonished to see it was more than a year since my last communication. For that I apologize. I owe readers and site visitors more frequent updates. And for 2019 I’ll be here more often.
 
First, what happened to 2018? When I last communicated with you, it was to announce that TellWell would publish my second novel “The Multima Scheme”. Naturally, I was inundated with a myriad of small details from January to March as I worked with the team from TellWell to publish the book. Thankfully, we released it on schedule in April.
 
Meanwhile, I wrote the first 30 chapters of Unrelenting Peril. Mixed into the finishing touches for one book and starting to write another, we squeezed in a trip to South America, followed by 2 months in Costa Rica. There, several family members and friends visited for a week or two at a time. I loved their company and enjoyed our sightseeing but neglected my blog.
 
Back in Canada, it was time to start promoting The Multima Scheme. For the first time, Canada’s largest book retailer was interested in working with me and we scheduled 30 personal appearances in the greater Toronto area. It was a real pleasure to meet so many new readers and sign copies of both Three Weeks Less a Day and The Multima Scheme. Books started to sell, reprinting became necessary, and I continued writing Unrelenting Peril through the remainder of the year. Meanwhile, the blog was forgotten.
 
We slipped into 2019 almost without realizing it as preparation for publishing Unrelenting Peril took over. Last week we announced that mission accomplished—one month ahead of plan—and now it’s time to work on sales of the books again.
 
As you may know, unknown authors get very little support from publishers. So, this time I decided to self-publish and take ownership of not only the rights to the book but its commercial success. For 2019, I plan to take a break from writing another novel to concentrate on sales of the existing three. I’m delighted support from Chapters-Indigo continues and grows. Already, we have 35 signing events planned in the GTA for the period April-August. I’m expecting to schedule at least that number for the following five months throughout other cities in Ontario.
 
So, in 2019 I have no excuses. There will be adequate time to share thoughts and ideas with you and I plan to do that every month, right here in the Rendevous Blog. I’ll explain some of the joys and tribulations of an author. I’ll let you know about some of the great people I encounter during my personal appearances. And I’ll probably share a thought or two about other things in our world.
 
In return, I ask only for your continued interest and support. I’m profoundly grateful for every social media ‘like’ and ‘share’, every visit to a signing event, and every recommendation about my novels to a friend, family member or neighbor. Thank you for every one!