My editor, Chris and my agent, Sid are waiting for me when I arrive in the coffee shop. I thought I was on time but when I look at my watch I see that I’m not.

Sid looks absurdly happy to see me and it touches something in me and I hold out my hands in an exaggerated greeting. “Hey!” I say. “Dudes!”

Sid gives me a high-five while Chris nods his head and forces a smile. “Christopher,” he says.

I sit down on a wooden chair, keeping up an absurd air of frivolity. “Isn’t it a great morning? Sid, it’s good to see you, but I told you, you don’t need to come to these little meetings.”

“You’re my client. It’s my job.”

“Still, there’s no real need for you to be here.”

“I had nothing better to do,” he says, and my smile drops a little because he isn’t joking.

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Rushed into town this morning to get a shed-load of stuff which has been waiting to be bought for weeks. However, commerce is - once again - against me. I couldn't find half the stuff I wanted (deep sigh) and when I got home some of the stuff I'd actually bought was the wrong ruddy stuff (deeper sigh): it's just that the ruddy retailer had put the oil in the place where they usually put the soap and in the same packaging. So I'm no further forward. Plus I have something extra I don't need yet. And I still have to go back and get the things I really wanted at some point. Bloody hell - is it just me or do other people go haywire and get utterly stressed out when simple things don't go to plan?? I mean I could probably cope with style and finesse if World War Three broke out in Godalming (that den of crime and unrest), but I fall into a sobbing wreck when I can't find my soap ...

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Easter is here and with it a new feature at The View From Here. I'm adding a Behind The Scenes series, the first of which is with the site YouWriteOn.com.

YouWriteOn.com is a free website to help new writers develop, and to help talented writers get noticed and published. So let's kick back the virtual doors and see what lies behind the pages ....

Open up YouWriteOn.com!

And Hi to Edward Smith from the YouWriteOn.com team, thanks for giving us a backstage tour.


This looks like the the Simple Guide to getting started we're in front off, how long has YouWriteOn.com being going for Edward and who originally started it?

YouWriteOn.com began in late 2005. It was started by me, along with authors Martyn Bedford and Phil Whitaker who devised the ratings system, and the site was designed by Zarr.

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The cover artwork is now revealed!

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Hi Everyone,

Just a small update to let you know that as of now I have made it possible to accept credit cards through Paypal online through my website, Chrysalis Press. You can reach my website at www.ChrysalisPress.com. From there you can press the link beneath the book cover that says ¡§Buy this Book.¡¨ It will then redirect you to a page where you have an option of purchasing through Chrysalis Press (my company) or Amazon. Please choose whichever you are more comfortable with. I hope this adds a measure of convenience to your shopping needs.

Is everyone ready for Easter? It¡¦s just around the corner¡Xit came so fast this year! I love rabbits-they were always my favorite stuffed animal. Now I just have to figure out which children¡¦s Easter book to treat myself to this year. There are some great ones out there. Last year I chose ¡§The Golden Egg¡¨ written by A.J. Wood, and illustrated by Maggie Kneen. I really fell in love with the illustrations¡Xvery detailed and meticulous¡Xand the hologram effects they had on all the Easter eggs. It was during the time when I was trying to decide what type of special effects I would have for ¡§Laura and the Leprechauns.¡¨ If you have any Easter book favorites or suggestions, feel free to share them with me. I¡¦m always on the lookout for a good book!

Until next time, take care!

Sincerely,

Amber ļ

Hello Everyone!


And Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I hope you, your family and friends are enjoying a wonderful day of celebration and laughter together! I know my family and I will be enjoying the day with games, music and candy for the little ones . . . and there’s always plenty of festive dancing. This really is my favorite day of the year.


Yesterday I spent the day watching Irish claddagh dance exhibitions. It was exhilarating! Girls from ages 4-18 were having the time of their lives, dressed in their finest, full of smiles and dancing their hearts out. It was great!


I would also like to offer my sincere apologies to those of you who had difficulty purchasing my book through online stores over the St. Patrick’s Day season. I’m not quite sure what happened, but so that it doesn’t happen again, I have decided to start accepting credit cards through PayPal on my website at www.chrysalispress.com. So if you ever have difficulty purchasing from other online stores again, soon you will be able to order from me directly and securely. I hope this helps matters, since I will never be ‘temporarily out of stock.’


I have also made slight design updates to the Chrysalis Press website so if you haven’t been by recently, I hope you will go by and check it out. I hope it is more appealing and will make navigating around the site easier and more convenient. If you have any questions or comments I’d love to hear from you. You can always email me directly at amber@chrysalispress.com.


Until then, sending joy and cheer, to you and yours this St. Patrick’s Day!


xoxoxo.


Amber

Hi Everyone!

Well, for all of you keeping an eye out for my Bookcrossing releases I have officially released all 8 copies of Laura and the Leprechauns out into the wild. I hope they will be caught by interested readers even if people don’t have an opportunity to journal their adventures online. They have been released throughout Orange and Los Angeles County and I am sure that I will have more releases in the future. So be sure to check out bookcrossing.com and lookup “Laura and the Leprechauns” to find the book running wild nearest you! And if your lucky, it you’ll be the first to catch it!

I am also happy to say that the response to my video book trailer has been very positive. So, thank you to all of you who took the time to view it. And if you haven’t had a chance to see it yet, there’s always still time. Just check Google.com or Youtube.com for Laura and the Leprechauns and you’ll be able to see the video. I posted one on Youtube.com under amberkingston so you can learn a little more about me on my channel page. Well, that’s all for now. Take care!

Sincerely,

Amber

Still feeling fragile today, but calmer, thank the Lord. Bearing in mind I’ve had a couple of wobbly sessions recently, I’ve decided to go back on the super-powered Vitamin B pills the doctor gave me and which I stopped taking – yes, foolishly, no doubt – about a month or so ago. Lord H was quick to agree, so the poor chap has obviously been bearing the brunt of my traumas. In noble silence. Again. So I’ve taken one today and we’ll see how I go.

At work, I am keeping my head down, avoiding getting involved with anything remotely resembling a lost professor and typing up my minutes from yesterday. Not to mention feeling my way through the Marketing stuff. Ho hum ...

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Comma Press are publishing the new CWA Anthology, MO: Crimes of Practice, on 3rd April. They have a web-page under construction, where the teaser for my story is listed second:

A breakdown driver turns his roadside routine into an altogether different type of pick-up…

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I am for sure..It matters not that it's still bloody freezing..the sun always recharges my batteries..maybe I was a tree in a past life..or maybe not..I'm not great at the whole being rooted thing..



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