Slowly but surely

It's just over 3 weeks since I received my copies of the book and I've sold about a sixth of my quota to date. There's a charity coffee morning launch on the 23rd September and I'm just waiting for confirmation of a launch at Waterstones in Argyle Street, Glasgow on Thursday the 17th September. All being well, my local library will be holding an author event too.

So, things seem to be moving slowly in the right direction. The book seems to be in and out of the Amazon charts like a yo yo and the bookshops still haven't got copies in yet, but hopefully it won't be long.

As for feedback, amongst the comments I've had, are:

"It's great - much better than any biography. No dull details, no cheap gossip. Captures beautifully the times, the atmosphere and most of all - Ian's personality. A book not only for those who loved and admired Ian, but for any theatre lovers. Wonderful. " - Israela Shatsky-Greenbaum

"I enjoyed it very much - he certainly was a fascinating character, and so well regarded by his fellow actors. Celia Imrie talks about the naughty glint in his eye, so I looked again at the front cover - and she's right!" - Dr Ann MacLaren

And it has prompted Doug from York, who described it as 'excellent', to buy the House of Cards Series on DVD - which delighted me, as part of the reason for writing the book, was to remind people that there' s a wealth of superb performances available to be viewed.

Now all I need is some positive national press coverage.

Almost There

Hopefully this time next week I'll be happily settled in at Swanwick and might even have sold one or two books in the Summer School bookshop.

Barring disaster, my copies should reach me towards the end of the coming week, in advance of the official publication date, 7th September, when We Could Possibly Comment - Ian Richardson Remembered becomes available in bookshops. I've already received direct orders from abroad - thanks to PayPal - and hope to dispatch them as soon as possible after my consignment arrives in Glasgow.

Flyers and bookmarks have been ordered -

In the next month and beyond, the next phase will begin - contacting newspapers and revisiting bookshops and there's already a booking with a charity organisation for a coffee morning launch in September.

It's rather fortuitous that the Yesterday Channel have been showing the House of Cards series on Saturdays.

Wouldn't it be nice if some of the other great series Ian was in Ian Richardson - IMDB could be shown again too.

I've been tagged

Thanks to my dear friend, Brian Sibley (that's him above on the right) I've been tagged with a meme based on the Alphabet. It's my first go at something like this, but here goes:-

A - Age 55 - but not for much longer.

B - Bed Size Double. I currently share it with Cuddles the Teddy Bear, Herschel the Jewish Care Bare and Elliot the Elephant.



C - Chore you Hate Paying the bills.

D - Dog's Name Candy - a lovely boxer with an unwrinkled face and long nose who was our pet when I was a child. She used to wash my brothers ears and revived my grandmother, who had diabetes, when she fainted. Candy was stolen when she was around 10 months old and we never got another dog.

E - Essential Start to Your Day Turning on the PC.

F - Favourite Colour Jade.

G - Gold or Silver I tend to wear silver more.

H - Height 5' 4 1/2" - and I'm unable to wear heels higher than an inch and a half.

I - Instruments you play Qwerty keyboard - and my own vocal instrument.

J - Job Title Freelance writer and author - currently underemployed.

K - Kids Daughter Suzanne, aged 29, who lives with me.

L - Living Arrangements A chaotic spacious 2nd floor flat - one bedroom for me, one for Suzanne and one our Chinchilla Kylie lets us rent out for the PC and 2nd television.


M - Mum's Name Sadie, nee Jacobs - she's a real trooper (I'm sure my Dad agrees).



N - Nicknames Occasionally called Shazza or Sharonski and when I call my father Pops, he calls me Dops.

O - Overnight hospital stays other than birth 6 orthopaedic ops, and about half a dozen other ops.

P - Pet Peeve People without any manners - my philosophy is 'p0liteness maketh the person'.

Q - Quote from a movie I have to share with Brian, the love of 'If you can't say nuffin nice, don't say nuffin at all' (Thumper)

"Keep close to ze candles" - Frau Blucher in Young Frankenstein (the candles were never lit)

Either "Savvie?" or "Oh Bugger!" - Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean (it's the way he says it)



I know it's not from a film, but of course I have to include 'You might very well think that... I couldn't possibly comment', and 'Dismal egalitarianism running rampant with the royal seal of approval' from House of Cards - delicious lines created by Andrew Davies and superbly delivered by Ian Richardson.



R - Right or left-handed Predominantly right-handed, but I'm fairly ambidextrous.

S - Sports Swimming and watching most sports - I used to play hockey and netball when I was at school and represented Strathclyde University at the Scottish Universities Championships in 1971/2 - there are four ladies in a team and there were four ladies at the club, so I was an automatic choice.

T - Time you wake up Your guess is as good as mine and certainly several times during the night.

U - Underwear More Bridget Jones than Grace Jones.

V - Vegetable you Dislike Does garlic count as a vegetable?

W - Ways you run late When I was in my last few years of school, at Hutchesons' Grammar, they were very strict generally, but certainly about punctuality and I always prefer to be early rather than late. Unfortunately, I don't always manage it these days - usually because I think I've got more time than I have.

X-rays you've had - Various.

Y - Yummy food you make Chicken soup and lockshen, plum sponge pudding.

Z - Zoo favourite - Animals that are cute, interesting and not too smelly.

Steady As She Goes

I entered the world of Bloggers on 12 April and somehow thought it was going to be plain sailing. After all, once you've got to grips with the basics (and have a good friend like Brian Sibley to explain how to make your links look a bit tidier and YouTube clips ready to view), all you have to do is write - whatever you want.

Not entirely true as can be gleaned from the fact that I've just deleted half a dozen paragraphs of blogging I suddenly realised wasn't going anywhere.

I remember the first time I wrote to Ian Richardson, in December 1993, saying that his acting as Francis Urquhart and Andrew Davies' scriptwriting had inspired me to return to my first love, writing.


Ian wrote back and said 'why not - after all, all writers have to do is write, whereas actors have to wait for work to come along.'


That's very true but, as Ian came to realise through getting to know me over the years, people have to want to read what you've written for you to be a successful writer and it can be an extremely difficult and frustrating career path in the same way that acting often is.


Of course that assumes that you want your writing to reach a wider audience. Many people write just for their own amusement or as a means of therapy or organising their thoughts. Letter-writing can be a wonderful means of expressing yourself and sharing your life with others. Some writers are content to share their work with fellow writers and perhaps enter competitions but have no desire to attempt to get anything published.

But, to earn your living as a writer, it's necessary to keep writing all the time and be aiming to produce something that a publisher or an editor wants.

So, although I hope my blogs will eventually reach a wider audience, I have to bear in mind the fact that 'paid' writing and all the other jobs associated with promoting it, has to take precedence.
Which brings me back to combining this Blog with a little more promotional work for We Could Possibly Comment (you'll notice I've now added my author details - another task to divert me from here).

Here's a little illustration and reminder of the explosive power of Ian's acting.