Yesterday was Holy Innocents Day on La Palma, which is roughly the equivalent of April Fool's day in the UK. Since I had a headful of book translation, I couldn't think of anything to tease anyone with.
I got an idea this morning, when it's too late.
I bet I could have persuaded one or two people that the BBC's Sky At Night wanted to interview me about my book. For a few seconds, at least.
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Re-stocking
On December 10th I ordered more copies of "A Breathtaking Window on the Universe" because stocks were getting low. (What a wonderful problem to have!) The books left Seville on the 20th.
And yesterday I actually ran out of books.
So this morning I started editing the website, putting up "Temporarily out of stock" on all the relevant pages.
I'd just finished when I got a phone call. Could he come and deliver the books in 15 minutes?
Yippee!
Of course I've had to go back and re-edit all the web pages, but it was a very nice job to do and I didn't mind a bit.
And yesterday I actually ran out of books.
So this morning I started editing the website, putting up "Temporarily out of stock" on all the relevant pages.
I'd just finished when I got a phone call. Could he come and deliver the books in 15 minutes?
Yippee!
Of course I've had to go back and re-edit all the web pages, but it was a very nice job to do and I didn't mind a bit.
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Christmas
I had a really nice Christmas, thank you for asking. I hope you did too.
We had the friends-with-a-tiny-oven over again. We all ate to much and drank too much,
which was great. And at one point, I lay on the sofa and ate chocolate
while Carlos fanned me, which was bliss.
And now I have to get back to work on that translation.
We had the friends-with-a-tiny-oven over again. We all ate to much and drank too much,
which was great. And at one point, I lay on the sofa and ate chocolate
while Carlos fanned me, which was bliss.
And now I have to get back to work on that translation.
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Friday, December 21, 2012
Hobbing with the Nobs
La Palma is the first place in the world to get official recognition as a Starlight Reserve and Starlight Destination. (You can get an explanation of this at http://starisland.co.uk/649/starlight-reserve/)
It's a big deal, and people have worked hard on it. So the Cabildo held a bit of a party to celebrate, and all the Starlight guides got invited.
I went of course. Not for the speeches, but to clap, and congratulate people.
I found myself in rather posh company - not just the head of the Tourist Board, but also the President of La Palma, and the President of the Canaries, and the head of the Canarian Astrophysics Institute. The head of the observatory, and of several telescopes were there, as well as several of my Starlight Guide friends.
And to my surprise and delight, we also had really good performances by a pianist and singer, rhythmic gymnasts, and a choir. And then we had wine and nibbles, and good conversations.
People said nice things about my book. Heck, the heads of the three biggest telescopes said nice things about my book, which didn't shrink my ego any.
And then someone asked how the translation was going. Which led me onto asking these three native Spanish speakers for a couple of things I was having horrible trouble with. And then I had the pleasure of watching three prominent astronomers scratching their heads for me, and agreeing that actually they always used the English word for "override".
Which saved me a few more frustrating hours on the internet.
It's a big deal, and people have worked hard on it. So the Cabildo held a bit of a party to celebrate, and all the Starlight guides got invited.
I went of course. Not for the speeches, but to clap, and congratulate people.
I found myself in rather posh company - not just the head of the Tourist Board, but also the President of La Palma, and the President of the Canaries, and the head of the Canarian Astrophysics Institute. The head of the observatory, and of several telescopes were there, as well as several of my Starlight Guide friends.
And to my surprise and delight, we also had really good performances by a pianist and singer, rhythmic gymnasts, and a choir. And then we had wine and nibbles, and good conversations.
People said nice things about my book. Heck, the heads of the three biggest telescopes said nice things about my book, which didn't shrink my ego any.
And then someone asked how the translation was going. Which led me onto asking these three native Spanish speakers for a couple of things I was having horrible trouble with. And then I had the pleasure of watching three prominent astronomers scratching their heads for me, and agreeing that actually they always used the English word for "override".
Which saved me a few more frustrating hours on the internet.
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