As General MacArthur once said, “I have returned!”

After a long absence from blogging and doing anything novel related, I am back in business! So you can now shower yourselves with ceiling-dropped balloons and safely toss about firecrackers in celebration.

Where was Liam? You might (or might not) ask. Liam decided that after many years of living and backpacking through Europe, it was time to relocate. So now I am in Southeast Asia! Photos to follow of the new home, but here is a farewell from Europe, this one taken from one of my favourite writing cafés in Lyon, France, along the Saone River looking up towards Fourviere hill.

The Holy Diamond says farewell, or Au Revoir, to Lyon, France

So what is new in the world of writing, wine, and wandering?

Well in the world of wandering, there are new places discovered in Asia, but more about them in the future. Wine is expensive, especially compared to Europe. And writing?

Aspiring and actual writers go through a hundred or more steps. From inspiration to world fame and multi-millionaire status (or so we all hope), but with so much in between. Each step seems more difficult than the last one – and more tedious! For The Holy Diamond, I am on the difficult, hard-working, and slow progress step of “marketing”.

There are many challenges to marketing. One is keeping up the energy to do it. Another is doing it with some sort of strategy and plan, and being patient enough to follow it. When I meet people on my backpacking adventures I tell them about The Holy Diamond, and many of them look it up. But they, until recently, did not see reviews; which understandably makes them hesitant to invest the time and money into an unknown author/story.

Reviews of The Holy Diamond on Amazon.com

But finally, after several months, we have (drum roll…) THREE reviews. It’s a start, and we hope to get more soon. If you have read the novel, PLEASE post an honest review! Share your thoughts!