Busy Thursday

Thursday was mad busy.

I picked up Alan Gandy from Santa Cruz at 8:15 and drove him to Barlovento to start his walk. then, since I was so close, I called in on my friends at Franceses. I couldn't stay all that long, though, because I had to be back in Los Cancajos at 12:30 and things to do on the way.

First, I called in at the Palma Romantica hotel in Barlovento, where they kindly agreed to put up a poster for my book. Then I called in at Iriarte printers in Los Sauces to collect my new business cards - some starlight guide cards, and my new cards for Dragon Tree Publishing (designed by Eco-geek.net, and classy as usual)

It's the first time I've used this printers, and I was a bit worried about finding the place, parking, and collecting the cards in the 20 minutes I could spare, but actually it only took five minutes, so I got to Los Cancajos a little early.

It was a doctor's appointment. The IAC (Canarian Astrophysics Institute) want all their tour guides to be checked out for working at altitude. It was irritating, but I can see their point. Luckily it didn't take too long, and the doctor pronounced me fit, although he recommended getting more exercise (which I sorta knew, but I suppose the prodding was needed.)

So I got home in time to cook lunch and take my son show shopping.  This is not simple because he has size 47 feet (size 13 in English money).  I also picked up hair dye, and made myself look professional in time for my first English class at El Alisio.  Since it was the first one, we gave the students tea, which meant that I had to sort out the tea, tea pot, cups, etc in good time.

I'm happy to say that the class went well. And as soon as we'd packed up, I went into Santa Cruz for the presentation of a book (they're still celebrating World Book Day) and a retelling of local legends by Antonio Gonzalez which was really good.

I got home again after 10 pm.

So it's not surprising that I was tired and unproductive all Friday.

Alan Gandy's charity walk

Alan Gandy is walking the length of all seven Canary Islands for charity, and he's currently on La Palma. Yesterday he walked from Santa Cruz to Fuencaliente, and today he's walking from Barlovento to Santa Cruz (the photo is of Alan leaving Barlovento). All procedes to two charities, Niños del Tercer Mundo – a charity based on the island which funds projects in the third world, and the Rose Road Association – based in the UK, who provide services to severely disabled children and their families. You can read more on Alan's blog  and Facebook page. If you're impressed, you can donate here.

Been There, Done That

Well, now I have my own publishing house, Dragon Tree Publishing.

Of course that sounds ridiculously grand. I had a fun conversation with my son where I said that calling Dragon Tree Publishing my own publishing house sounded ridiculously grand.  He suggested "publishing hut" and I suggested "publishing bedsit". We went through "publishing cave" and "publishing tent" before settling on "publishing shoe-box". And as any Monty Python fan will tell you, that makes me lucky. I wanted to mark the occasion. Electronic publishing - been there, done that and got the T shirt. The T shirts were designed by Eco-Geek.net and printed by LaPalmaGalpa

This is so nice.

El Alisio, the cultural magazine for La Palma has an article about my book  here and Hank Quense has one here.

Meanwhile Janice Clark gave my book five stars on Amazon.
"This collection has something for everyone and a story to fit every mood, from the poignant tale of the last dragon (The Dodo Dragon) to the zaniness of Jose's AI appliances (The Appliance of Science), who plunk him down in the middle of the sardines's funeral procession--a Canary Islands carnival tradition.

Crosby, a British expat living on the Canary Island of La Palma, also draws on local color for a unique alien contact story (Zuggy Zu and the Humans) which offers some insights as to what *really* goes on in the observatories.

There's plenty of drama in the time travel story, "Scream Quietly", as well as in "Breathing Space"--an asteroid mining disaster in which a desperate mother finds a new use for the freezer. I won't hint at the ending of "Infant Colic" but it might make you shudder. Sprinkled liberally in between are a delightful assortment of "Feghoots"--short-short stories featuring elaborate and atrocious puns."

I feel I'm off to a good start.

"The Dodo Dragon and Other Stories" is on sale

Nine quirky SF stories by Sheila Crosby to entertain you.

On sale April 23rd 2012, and available for Kindle, iPad, Mac and PCs.

Cover painting by Merche Martin Morillo

Layout by Eco-geek

This book currently has 4.5 stars on Amazon.com where it costs just $3.54, but it's slightly cheaper (2.59€) direct from Dragon Tree Publishing, which also offers other electronic formats.

If you have any problems with this book, please leave a comment. 

If you like it, please tell as many people as possible!