Talisman

What you are referring to Ian is the so-called Net Book Agreement. I cannot recall exactly when it was abolished, but I know it has been pretty much downhill in terms of authors earnings since then, especially when they have no say in whether their books are discounted or not, which of course affects their royalties even more. It is just one of many reasons why self publishing is increasingly becoming the norm - for it is the only way for authors to have complete control of their own work.

I had had 3 different Kindles - a Keyboard (you can't get them anymore) which I loved and for 3 years until it fell in an Icelandic river, along with me and stopped working, a ordinary Kindle and a Paperwhite. I got the cheap Kindle mainly because I had to get a replacement quickly following the dunking in the river and didn't have a lot of money at the time. While it worked perfectly well I do prefer the Paperwhite which I bought during the Black Friday sales when they were on promotion. The Paperwhite is smaller and lighter and has a backlit screen which can be adjusted which for is brilliant. It means you can read in bed at night without disturbing others.

Good luck Anisia - I have been doing this challenge too for the past couple of years and am finding it great fun. There are loads of great books out there than I can recommend. It really depends on how you are going to do this though whether by authors country of birth of where the book is set. I find the second approach works best for me, but of course we all do things differently.

The two I am most looking forward to are: Hitman Anders and the Meaning of it all: Jonas Jonasson and of course Stiletto by Daniel O'Malley There are some also on my wish sit that I have been patiently waiting for in paperback that will be out in the first half of the year: Man I Became: Peter Verhelst The Undesired: Yrsa Sigurdardottir Quicksand: Steve Toltz The Mirror World of Melody Black: Gavin Extence The Heart of Man: Jón Kalman Stefansson (really looking forward to this one)

Death of a River Guide by Richard Flanagan.

It was an interesting but short book. I didn't know much about this period of history having not studied the subject past the age of 14, so for me it really brought it to life. I am glad that I read it. It has though been another good year of reading for me with many more countries completed, including some hard to find ones: Gibraltar, Montserrat, Marshall Islands, Tonga, Suriname, Peru, New Zealand, Andorra, Belize, Netherlands, Pitcairn Island, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Malta. Monaco, Luxembourg, Vatican City, San Marino, Austria, Gabon, Macao, Curacao, Anguilla and Turks and Caicos Islands. It doesn't look like a lot of countries compared to previous years and some have come from travel books that encompassed multiple areas. This is bound to happen I guess as I get nearer completion.

A few more countries to add the list: The Night of the Rambler by Montegue Kobbe for Anguilla The Unfortunate Potcake by Julie Thompson for Turks and Caicos Islands Mongol by Uuganaa Ramsay for Mongolia

I finished my 83rd this morning - I should be able to manage at least another 2 hopefully before the end of the year, maybe 3 if they are short ones.

So will I - I had pre ordered mine, but the date was put back so many times that I have up in the end and cancelled it.

I saw Star Wars too this afternoon and completely agree that it was brilliant. The next film I want to see is Carol.

Fly me to the Moon - Peggy Lee

This is probably one of the funniest books I have read - I look forward to seeing this.

I haven't come across that one - I will have to see if it's available on Kindle.

The one from Gabon was the best - anything by Jan-Philip Sendker is always good as well though. I finished a brilliant one from Curacao last night, this being a country that is really hard to find books from. The House of Six Doors by Patricia Siebert

I have completed a few more countries in the last few months: The Yacoubian Building by Alas al Aswany for Egypt Gabon by Marius Gabriel for Gabon Meeting the Middle East by Jason Smart for Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait and Iraq Izas Ballad by Magda Szabo for Hungary Rapid Fire Europe by Jason Smart for Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Malta, Monaco, Luxembourg, Vatican City, San Marino, Austria Whispering Shadows by Jan-Philipp Sendker for Hong Kong The Fan Tan Players by Julian Lees for Macao Hiroshima by John Hersey for Japan

I have managed to complete a few more countries in the last month: Crowds, Colours, Chaos: Travels in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh: Jason Smart Infidel: Ayaan Hirsi Ali (Netherlands/Somalia) - strongly recommend this one, as one of the best books I have read this year The Mutineer: A Romance of Pitcairn Island: Walter Jeffrey The list then continues to get shorter.

For me that is what it is all about. I don't see her as a man or a woman, but simply the person that I fell in love with, and a very special one at that. Hope you get your tiredness sorted out soon.

Thank you - we certainly do our best. It has been a nice and quiet weekend for us after all the excitement of last week with plenty of and which is just the way I like it.

Thank you Kell - and Athena. Of course I didn't realise that Iplayer is not available outside the UK, but Coran recorded all of it herself as well at home, and (with permission) has posted links on her own website, which is of course available everywhere. You can listen to them here: http://www.awayofseeing.net/corans-story I have to say though, that I hate the way I sound. Several of the staff and clients at work said they heard it on their way to work that day, and they commented on how posh I sounded !

Coran and I did our piece on BBC Surrey this morning. When we got there I was experiencing a bad case of NBBS (Nervous Belly and Bladder Syndrome), but following a nice cup of tea courtesy of one of the producers, it soon settled down. We went on air around 8.50 am and all went well. The two presenters, who have been presenting Coran's story all week were fantastic and really open, giving us plenty of time to talk and answer their questions. After they came off the air at the end of their show at 9am, they came out of the studio for a hug and a brief chat. They are keen for us both to keep in touch so that they can possibly do some more programmes in the future as this is a big topic that is only to get more topical. They were both really touched and surprised by Coran's gift of a framed copy of the original artwork for the book cover, which I don't think either of them were expecting. All in all it was a brilliant experience. If anyone is interested in having a listen, it will be on Iplayer for the next 28 days. If you scroll through to 10 minutes before the end of the show, you can hear us. The other shows for this week which also featured Coran are also on there. Again scroll through to approx 8.50am (about 10 minutes before the end of the broadcast) and you will hear it. Coran recorded them all at home as well, for a more permanent copy and has been given permission to put the links on her own website and social media. Once she has done this, I will of course share them on my own Facebook page as well for anyone who is friends with either of us on there.

Thank you - if you do get round to downloading a copy, I hope you find it interesting. The first part of Coran's interview was broadcast on BBC Radio Surrey this morning, and very good it was too. We had a great day yesterday though watching all the bikes, and I managed to get some great pictures of all the professionals, with a brilliant one of Mark Cavendish at the head of the main peloton as they came up Box Hill. I will have to go through them and put some on Facebook at some time. The Macaton course today was great as well - I am now fully versed in the more basic words and can use them to sign sentences and ask questions. Part two is to be arranged at a later date.

Thanks Athena - I don't want to try and promote it too much for her on here, as I don't want to break any rules, even though I have been a member on here for years. If anyone is interested, it is easy enough to find via mine or Corans Facebook page (I think quite a few of you are friends with at least one of us). Otherwise there are not too many authors with a name like Coran if you go onto Amazon and just search. It is rather good even if I do say so myself (I am probably biased though, seeing as I am in it). We have had a great day today though watching the Ride London, which for those outside the southeast is the largest charity fundraising bike ride in the UK. The riders (all 27,000 of them) set off from the Olympic Park at 10 minute intervals from 6am this morning - rather them than me ! The first ones came through the village of Box Hill where we live just after 8.30am and they are still coming thick and fast as I write. Some of the villagers get upset about the road closures, and in some ways it is a pain, but you can't get upset over it when it's just one day a year and they raise so much for good causes. It is also of course brilliant fun to watch - especially the male cyclists in all that tight lycra. There is a separate race for the male professionals later on this afternoon. They left The Mall at around 1.30pm and are due here a little after 5pm. We will venture up to the main road to watch them whizz by, although it tends to be a case of blink and they're gone !

Beautiful here today - 22 degrees, warm and sunny - just perfect.

Another week for me comes to an end. It has been a very long and a very tiring one - but also a very exciting one. My husband and partner Coran's book is being published tomorrow, after 10 years or more (on and off) of very hard work and is being featured all of next week on BBC Radio Surrey's breakfast show. We met the presenter of the show, Mark Carter about 3 years ago when he came to the village of Box Hill where we live to do a live broadcast as part of the Olympics. Coran must have made an impression, as when she emailed Mark a few days ago, he got straight back to her asking her to come to the studio the following day to record an interview. That interview is to be presented as a series of 'sound bites' between Monday and Thursday next week at around 8.50am. Mark has also requested, since Coran spoke about her relationship with me, that the pair of us come to the studio at 8.50 next Friday for what will hopefully be a live on air interview to round off the week. My boss has very kindly given permission for me to come in a little late that day (I am owed some time of in lieu anyway) so it's all systems go. Even though I have done live radio before with my own book which was published 9 years ago now, I am still a little nervous, as I have never actually been into the studio before (everything has always been done over the phone). I am sure we will both be fine, as Mark is a great guy, but for Coran this is fantastic. To get the BBC to help an unknown and first time author in this way doesn't happen very often at all. Next week then will certainly be an interesting one for both of us - I am doing a one day course in Macaton (sign language) on Monday as well, which I am really looking forward to and have been waiting a long time for (since I first started working here a year and half ago). We have several deaf and autistic clients at work who prefer to communicate in this way, so it will help me to communicate with them a lot better and of course it's a great skill to have.

It was chucking down yesterday but today the sun is out, and so is Coran for most of the weekend, so I am off to Portsmouth for the day.