Why? why not!

I promised myself that I’d post to this blog this weekend. But, despite having lots to say, I managed not to. This is mostly due to the fact that the weekend was glorious! It was the last weekend of daylight savings, and rather that tip tap tap at my keyboard I had a picnic of French pastries on the beach, made icecream, ran and walked up and down hills, jumped off a pontoon into the April-warm sea, drank beers in the sun, ate fish and chips with mates who would not share their chips but did share their wine, and generally had a weekend of fun and frivolity.
But here I am on a Monday night, tapping away; hoping to post this sometime this evening. (Our internet is being shambolic at the moment. I think I need a new modem/wireless router.)
* There * is * always * something * . *

Friday, April 3rd – passing by the fax machine today I saw my name on a fax. I don’t usually receive faxes, ( it is not so long ago the implicit technology behind receiving and sending facsimiles mystified me – all those dots of information morphing into sound-wave immaterial data then back into something material again… too much for my brain to comprehend how that actually works in realtime). I don’t usually check the faxes, they are either orders from stores, or junk mail offering special discounts on cases of ‘manufacturer’s clearance’ items.
But this fax had my name on it. It was an order from a store. The first one I had seen.
5 copies! Five! To one small-town shop … HELL! It’s real! My name is now associated with a book, an ISBN, an RRP … a product. A transaction. A fax. Millions of little dots being fired as data into space and time because of me.

I’ve been trying to keep my distance from the sales information for Kiwi Toasties. I’m happy, for once, that I don’t have direct access to our sales monitoring system. It’s all too much to think about.
I suppose I’m in denial.

I don’t want fame and fortune, but I also don’t want failure! I know that is rarely something that one would admit. We all try and muck along pretending that we don’t give a damn about what other people think. But, essentially, I do care if I let people down.

I came up with this idea. I was thrilled when first a loved one thought it was a good idea, then my workmates thought it was a publishable idea … and then … well… then it grew into a book.
And here I am writing a blog to make sense of it all; how I ended up writing a book on the beloved, tasty and iconic toasted sandwich.

Shall I tell you how it started?

Well, maybe I should. If you are reading this then it means you have either stumbled in sideways to it, or you are actually interested. (As I say in the book, there is no accounting for taste!)
Dad, this blog is for you – I know you always thought I would write a book, and you were quite chuffed when I told you I had managed to get a publishing deal. But it took you a little while to realise I wasn’t joking, and that I was actually writing a book on toasties (of all things)! Love you Dad, thanks for your continued faith. Maybe the next book will be a Booker nominee! ha!
The next posting will relate how this all came to be... thanks for stopping by and reading my rambles.