After the hiatus last month, welcome back to a slightly different offering. I do have some regular news on the state of life here in Tipperary but a lot of my concerns at the moment have been centred around the awful state of publishing. I expect most of you know I have been an author for some time and had four crime novels commercially published by Impress Books (The Alex Hastings series). In late 2019 Impress was sold to a new publishing house led by a man who was supposedly experienced and ready to move the imprint forward. Alas, this was not the case. There were endless delays in publishing, very poor sales and many things promised did not materialize. In 2022 the new owners entered administration and then the fun began.
Publishing has always been a minefield and relies on mutual trust. Imagine how shocked I was to discover the administrator was claiming the copyright to my books! Now, writers are normally fairly retiring creatures but this time a dozen of us got together (virtually), researched the law and read through our contracts in minute detail. There was a frantic search for paperwork and then a virtual meeting with the administrators as we all reasserted our rights and demanded the contracts be upheld. We stood to lose our (already minimal) royalties as well as any film or broadcast rights as well as the books themselves. They weren’t going to publish us – okay, but they were NOT having the rights to our work. We won, the only bright light in the bleak landscape.
I had another edited manuscript ready to go that had been languishing in the vault of the new publisher for two years. I still have it. It is always very hard (impossible now) to get another publisher to take an existing series. I had a number of meetings with agents before all this. They were all very positive about my writing but results were disappointing. One wanted to move the series from the 1980s to 2010 (a very different probation service by then and the Levels have changed beyond recognition). Another, faced with “Puppy Brain”, said she’d not even read the submission as it was about a dog and she was worried the dog might die. And don’t get me started on celebrity “authors”. There are a few notable exceptions but many of them employ a ghost writer and use their name to sell. Just look at the Christmas lists…
The final nail in my enthusiasm for writing – or at least for publishing – came a few months ago. One of my fellow Impress authors, Tracey Warr, posted she had discovered her books were on a free download site and had been used to train AI programs by Microsoft. I looked it up and found mine too had been stolen. They are on at least two other sites. Later I will go through as many sites as I can find when I’m feeling stronger but at the moment I’m wondering what to do. I had intended to self-publish using ebooks but these are hoovered up immediately by the AI ‘bots. I can’t even reissue my existing books in safety. Am I angry? Yes. Very.
Publishing in all forms seems to be in terminal decline. Only the very rich or the very famous will be able to publish and protect their work. With AI already churning out middle of the road, poorly written pap a writer is left feeling fairly helpless. So – rant over. That is the state of publishing today.
Now on to the happier bits of the last month. We had a lovely visit from our friend Helen in April. She needed some time and space to work on her PhD. We were happy to offer a quiet room with desk, food whenever she was hungry and an attentive ear for her ideas. It was a most enjoyable week despite the weather. It has been both unseasonably cold and unseasonably warm over the last month. We had rain for 10 days and the grass and weeds shot up unchecked. When we tried to use the mower we found the cutters had dropped and it took some time to work out how to lift them safely. By then the grass was almost too high for our machine so we have been creeping over the growth and clearing the blades as best we can. We are awaiting a proper service so don’t want to risk doing any more damage.
Last year we got some apples, amazingly, but lost every single raspberry in one night. We are determined to get some for ourselves this year. On a trip to Woodies (the Irish B&Q) Jacqui spotted some brightly coloured windmills. We got four, fixed them into stakes and set then in the raspberry bed. I’m hoping they will be enough of a deterrent this time round. I don’t want to net the bushes or trees as this often traps and kills the birds. If only they could understand the concept of sharing! The honeysuckle we planted too late last year has beaten all the odds. It is growing and flowering in Betsy’s Corner, adding more colour and scent to the side of the house.
The cool weather produced some different views in the wood, especially in the morning. I was checking the trees when I noticed the mist still lying on part of the path. It shimmered like a ghost path, with an animal track down the middle. As soon as the warm weather arrived we left the back door open so the dogs could go out as they wished. Hearing some furious barking I went to investigate one afternoon and found a baby bird inside the back porch. Most people think it’s a young robin. Let me know if you disagree! It flew off through an open window, hurling abuse at us as it went. Jacqui maintains it was a starling, the rudest of birds.
Speaking of barking dogs, they sometimes sit in the window and shout, perhaps at nothing. Then last week we spotted the tuxedo cat sitting on the gate pillar, enjoying the sun and flicking its tail at the window. What with the cats teasing them and the blackbirds twerking backwards and forwards I’m surprised the poor dogs are not hoarse with shouting.
So there we are. We have lots to do and much to think about. I don’t know how I ever had time to work before I retired.
Thank you for reading. I’m sorry about missing the last episode but things just suddenly hit me hard. Here’s to a much better few weeks for us all.
Jennie.