Listen. Time Passes. Listen

The winds of change are blowing this evening. The actual wind I hear is the farthest fringes of the monster hurricane Sandy, which even at 500 miles distance is making its presence felt.

The 'winds of change', on the other hand, have been making their presence felt for some time. At work I have seen some long-standing colleagues leave, and soon another will be departing - the editor.

Nothing stays the same forever. As the years have flown I've witnessed good people move through the 'in-and-out door' of my life. There's always some sadness when they leave, particularly now that I've experienced enough of life to know that most will now be gone from my life and exist only as memories.

I've looked back on the past 30 years through old photographs and been reminded of the many friends, colleagues and acquaintances that have brightened my days but now exist only as faces in old pictures or recollections from passed chapters in my life.

It serves as a reminder that today's joys and tribulations will one day be another past chapter to look back on. Many of the friends and colleagues I know now will join the faces shining in my mind's eye once in a while on dusky evenings as I sit and recall life's journey.

Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans. Appreciate those who are in your life this moment. Appreciate what your life is today, in all its intricate details and nuances, for these will one day be the days you yearn to revisit and re-experience.

Listen. Time passes. Listen.

Positive comments to book

A month has almost passed since the Lennon Bermuda book was launched and the reaction has been very encouraging. In the first few days I received positive comments in person and through phone calls and e-mails from people telling me how they had enjoyed reading the 120-page story.

The gentle manner in which it was written, and the descriptive Bermuda passages all helped. One of the island commentators said she was struck particularly by the many references to people and places on the island - a rarity for Bermuda to have a book so deeply focused on itself.

Now the work begins to spread the book far and wide. It is already available online, but the prohibitive shipping costs for anyone outside the USA is a stumbling block (at least one potential reader in Japan is waiting instead for it to be more readily available with lower postage attached).

Preparations are underway for a UK launch in early 2013, while I am doing my bit to seek out a publishing/marketing outlet with a greater global reach. I've no doubt that the potential interest in the book - and the CD box set version - could add up to many tens of thousands of people if we can get the word out through the right channels.

At the same time as all this I am focusing on my own future writing projects, which immediately involve wrapping up Dolphin Girl and then doing an outline treatment for a new novel.