1 November 2015

These days we all have to be so multi-tasked. When we first came to France 10 years ago I just wanted to concentrate on creative writing. Naively I thought I'd self-publish and wait for my books to sell.  Wrong. The best writing in the world won't sell if no-one knows about it! So, when I finally achieved a book contract with Crooked Cat Publishing, I thought 'great' - now someone will do all the publicising for me, something I hadn't a clue how to do. Fast forward and I've learned that nothing is that simple. Nowadays all authors must be involved on social media.  So it was with trepidation that I approached my recent Facebook Book launch day. Because part of 3rd Degree Murder was set in my favourite decade, the '60s, I thought it would be fun to follow my character Jenny through the university story by conflating my past life with hers via old photos and fab music videos like Chuck Berry singing C'est la vie say the old folks, it goes to show you never can tell.  But, my biggest fear: would anyone actually come to the event? Would my home wifi break down on the day?  Conclusion:  the wifi worked, many people came to the event and entered my university challenge quiz, and I actually managed to do what I never thought I could:  deal with downloads on social media!  Success.  Yes, Chuck, it goes to show, you never can tell!

9 August 2015

When we came to France ten years ago, I asked the vendor lots of questions. But, the important one I missed was 'does it have fast broadband?'  TG it did. Zoom back nearly 30 years ago when my professor first brought in a brand new, sooper-dooper Apple Mac, and introduced the phrase desktop publishing onto my job description (even though I didn't have a clue what it meant.) Sleepless nights trying to work out how to use the infernal machine, staring myopically at the tiny screen. What an embarrassment when the professor you worked for knew more about how to work it than you did!  Fast forward to yesterday, here in the wilds of SW France, far away from any English tech support.  Because I had to, I overcame my apprehension and managed to:  i) create new Amazon and FB Olga Swan and Gillian Green author pages and ii) cope with the fact that my publisher informed us of the unavoidable change of FB rules that required authors to re-create their own FB new event launch pages.  How did I get on?  Take a look at:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B013IBD4PU
www.facebook.com/events/909706395761162
So, at last I understand what 'desktop publishing' means! My old, working, self would have been amazed.

14th June 2015

Living in France is often a struggle.  Some simple tips:
Mosquito bites:  if no net but lots of wild mint growing in the garden, rub exposed skin before getting into bed. Also, lie as close to a whirring fan as possible. Mosquitoes can't fly in a wind.
Dogs: Add a capful of cider vinegar to the water and a little grated garlic to their food every day. Pests will run a mile. If your dog is a chasseur and can't live without meat, try a product called Dogodor from Intermarche freezer. Cheaper and better than tins. Mix some into dry meal.
New French law re donor organs:The French will remove your organs on death unless you tell them otherwise!  And, from 2018 they won't even ask your family first. To register 'No', go to dondorganes.fr. Click on Etre donneur ou non apres sa mort. Then Comment exprimer son refus.
Renewal of EHIC health card: Tinyurl.com/renew-EHIC. Scan form, complete then email to nhsbsa.ehicenquiries@nhsbsa.nhs.uk.
IT: If email recipient has an accent in name, type address all in capitals. If you don't know their email address, go to their Facebook page, click on Messages and a tiny window will appear on the right. Your typed message will then be private just to them.
Him indoors:  No, donor organ law is not just in Ayrshire (inertia)...

24 August 2014

Tomorrow sees the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Paris. Fast-forward to today's world. What might people in the '40s have made of Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Tumblr and Google? No-one could possibly have imagined how all this technology has changed the world for individual citizens. I remember, post-war, reading futuristic comics of flying cars and supermen, but nobody foretold of how in the future ordinary people would be empowered to learn and liaise via amazing instant technology, within the reach of everyone from Alaska to Africa to China. Hillary Clinton says the internet has become the world's town square, classroom, marketplace and coffeehouse. You'd think that wars would no longer be with us, now that individuals can talk things through so easily. Back in 1916 a Frenchman called Francois Georges-Picot tried to bring order to a chaotic world by re-drawing the Ottoman empire. But now? Yet another faction has emerged, vowing to restore and extend all these lands under its supreme domination. They have all the modern benefits of i-technology to liaise and consult freely with the people, but do they? No. Ancient barbarism reigns, yet again. Where is Superman when you need him?