23rd August newsletter. When a signed book isn't a signed book Bentley. Eggs, and The Undead Part 3.
- Richard Haywood
- 11 hours ago
- 3 min read
Well howdy doody. How are you? Are you fine and dandy? The weather finally broke here. On the Isle of Wight it did anyway. Phew. Honestly, I know a lot of people love the sunshine and heat, and it does make things like laundry a lot easier, but I’m so relieved it’s cooled down.
I love walking with the dogs and it’s just been too hot for them. That said, we’ve had a few cooler days but it’s getting all hot again.
I’m so British. We could spend hours discussing the weather.
On a different topic. I popped into a bookshop a while back and saw a history book about the Isle of Wight. I won’t say the name of it, or who wrote it, but it was a national publication, and of course, because it features this location, it was being promoted heavily. They even had signed copies. I love history, so I duly grabbed what I thought was a signed copy. But on getting home I discovered the author had signed a sticky label that I’m guessing someone else later put into the book. And I don’t know. I kinda felt a bit cheated. Do you know what I mean? On the one hand, yes, the author’s signature is in the book, but the book isn’t signed, and it’s unlikely the author actually handled the book either. Either way, I wasn’t impressed. Especially for the extra price paid.
For note – I always sign my books ☺️
Some not great news about Bentley too. His cataract surgery was done, and he was gaining vision. It was such a joyous thing. Then about a week ago he lost all vision again. Which is super heart-breaking. This can happen apparently. But gawd, the poor poochy. He’s back in with a new specialist on the mainland on Tuesday to try and find out what’s happened. It could be a detached retina, which can normally be fixed surgically, but Bentley has other underlying eye conditions. They’re so resilient though. They just get on with it.
On a lighter note – Marcy and Scratch have laid another two eggs. The first batch didn’t fertilise, but they’d literally just been rescued. I checked these two, and one is definitely fertilised. It’s red inside, or sort of reddish with the start of veins forming.It’s mind-blowing really. That the contents of that sealed egg are creating life, and if it goes full term, at some point a heart will develop and start beating. Then lungs and organs and eyes and the rest. Don’t you find that absolutely amazing? The other egg was still new. We’ll see what happens. (They don’t lay eggs at the same time. It’s often 4 or 5 days apart.)
And also on a lighter note. The Undead Part 3 revised audio book went live on the 20th August. You can download / stream / listen on all major audio platforms, including Audible. Part 3 concludes Season One (The Undead The First Seven Days). And is a super duper awesome listen. I've had a lot of messages already from people saying how much they're loving it.
This link shows all the site links:
And lastly, because I’m on the final stretch of Mike Humber Book 3 first draft, and want to keep going with it – here is a link to a recent interview I did with Beth and Mary from The Write Club Podcast (part of Writing Magazine)
They’d just read the newly revised The First Seven Days. Beth in particular loved the book, which was a huge deal as they’re immersed in the world of literary fiction and reading some of the nation’s and the world’s best authors. I was absolutely stoked that Beth enjoyed The Undead so much. You can listen to it on YouTube, but it’s also on lots of other podcast platforms. We chit chat about all sorts.
That’s enough from me. Gotta get back to Mike Humber.
Much love! 🥰
