Storm Not Monsoon
Storm Not Monsoon
Yesterday, late afternoon, black clouds could be seen on the horizon, then a wind appeared from nowhere and suddenly the clouds were overhead emptying their contents all over us. When I say suddenly, I mean, I knew what was going to happen, but I didn’t have time to finish my half a bottle of beer.
The shopkeeper let me take refuge with her and when we ventured outside thirty minutes later, three houses had been blown down, a friend had lost his garage roof and a neighbour his whole garage. Most of the debris is probably twenty or thirty kilometres away, but somehow nobody was hurt.
The monsoon is three weeks late, so I asked whether it had started, but I was told it hadn’t. I have been here ten years but never seen anything like that before.
I’ve changed my mind about the snake I saw the other day, it was a Wall’s Bronzeback, which the book says is olive green. Confusing, isn’t it? However, it also says they are plentiful in the northeast, and that’s where I live, so that’ll do me.
The book I was supposed to start writing yesterday, I actually started a week ago, but I typed it all up yesterday and today. 18,656 words, so that’s a nice little boost in production. I’ll start chapter seven out of about twenty when I go for a beer later on, if rain doesn’t stop play.
I have been keeping book sales records for five years now, and May has been worse that April four times, including this year, but it was still 52% up on last year. Since I write several books a year, that would seem about right, so it doesn’t look to me like the book-buying public is buying much more than usual.
It was my best sales month in the USA ever though, so if books are considered luxury items, perhaps their economy is doing better too. Worst print book sales since May 2013 though, and that was my worst ever.
On the plus side, June has always beaten my May sales 🙂
All the best,
Please visit my bookshop
Podcast: Storm Not Monsoon
