Greetings from my attic in the Blue Mountains surrounded by fire!
Many of you would have heard about the bushfire crisis on the east coast of Australia. More than a hundred fires are currently raging and many are huge, and out of control. Unfortunately, the stunning Blue Mountains World Heritage National Park is well known for its bushfires, but there can be little doubt that climate change is definitely playing a big part and making things worse. To give you an idea, here are some pictures taken recently not far from where I live.
The situation is critical as the whole of Australia is suffering one of the worst droughts in decades and we have strict water restrictions in place at the moment. Frankly, I don’t know how we are going to keep our garden alive and get it through these desperate times.
All of us living up here in the Blue Mountains are doing what we can to help, and are anxiously monitoring the situation. I am a volunteer in our Community Fire Unit fighting the fires. Australia has one of the largest volunteer firefighting forces in the world, which is a reflection of the real danger we live in. We have been called up and are standing by … Difficult times indeed!
Book Launch
On a much brighter note, I would now like to turn to the recent launch of The Curious Case of the Missing Head – book 5 in the Jack Rogan Mysteries series – which was formally released worldwide on 26 November.
I am pleased to tell you that the book launch has surpassed all expectations, and this was largely due to the wonderful participation and support of my Book Launch Team. I am very fortunate to have dedicated team members like you scattered around the world from Iceland to Argentina, who took to social media with great enthusiasm to ‘spread the word’ about the new book. This splendid effort resulted in unprecedented pre-orders which in turn propelled the book to number one in the Amazon Hot New Releases and Best Sellers categories even before it was formally released to the public at large! An outstanding result indeed.
