When did I become part of the previous generation?
Sometimes life catches us by surprise. Announcing a free seminar on self-publishing
We all grow older. Every twelve-month period adds one year to the counter. It is such a slow process that we do not feel it when it happens. We realise it only when something or somebody reminds us. I am not referring to aches and pains, or the inability to live as we used to decades ago. It is more the memories of the world we used to take for granted, and now it has disappeared so long ago that certain gestures, concepts, or phrases have lost their meaning or require explanation.
Does anyone under the age of 40 recognise the gesture we used to make to say ‘call me’? I don’t think so because it mimicked using a rotary phone.
A few days ago, I was reading a post on Facebook about the memory of 30-hour journeys between London and Australia. Half the comments were about current flights with one stop. London-Singapore-Sydney is the norm at the moment; in one or two years, it will be possible to do it non-stop. Few people thought of the past. I recall when planes could not carry enough fuel to fly non-stop from London to Singapore, Hong Kong, or Tokyo. The journey to Australia lasted thirty hours, as there were at least two stops, with some flights having three or four, which is now unthinkable.
I have decided to keep my Substack free. However, if you decide to support my work, you can ‘buy me a coffee’ a one-off tip by clicking on this link, or you could buy one of my books (the Amazon link is in the caption of the image at the end of this post) or keep reading my posts, it is entirely up to you.
I used to look in awe at my grandfathers, who remembered the first time a plane landed in their cities (Bologna and Venice, in Italy) and lived to fly on a four-engine jet to another continent. Well, I remember flying long-haul on a propeller plane, and many years later, I flew in a double-decker, four-engine jet capable of flying non-stop to Singapore from London. A few years ago, I wrote about my memories of flying Pan Am in my twenties and thirties in an Italian forum for aviation nerds. The comments were all about how they wished they could have lived in those days. People were looking at me the way I used to look at my grandfathers, metaphorically speaking.
I still have an active mind. I love to read, but I dislike the idea of spending every day of my life sitting in an armchair, reading or listening to music, waiting for the time to go to bed. Doing it for a week or two is excellent (it’s called a holiday), and doing it for a couple of hours is also great (it’s called relaxing). However, I’d hate to do it every day of my life. I need to be active; writing is a form of activity.
My mind still thinks I am 35, my body thinks I have lost my mind. The world around me views me as an old man, and I often feel invisible. Still, my stubborn streak and my still-curious mind push me forward. I am stubborn; I am not done. I’ll find a way to convince my body that I haven’t lost my mind. Growing older is not a party, but it is preferable to the alternative.
Choosing a cover as an author-publisher,
Imagine you are in a book shop browsing books. A title or a cover catches your attention. You need to have a cover that catches a reader’s attention in an actual bookshop, in a website or in an advert. Cover and title are the business card of your book.
I am now at the final stage of finalising the ‘business card’ (i.e. the cover) for my next book. Which one do you like?
Please let me know
Free zoom seminar: Is self publishing for you?
A free 45 minutes seminar on Sunday May 31st, at 7pm BST, 2pm Eastern, 11am Pacific, 8pm continental Europe: Is self-publishing for you?
Please e-mail meettheauthor@stagni.net if your are interested. Zoom details will follow, maximum 10 participants (next seminar, Sunday June 28th)
I have decided to keep my Substack free. However, if you decide to support my work, you can ‘buy me a coffee’ a one-off tip by clicking on this link, or you could buy one of my books (the link is in the caption of the last image below) or keep reading my posts, it is entirely up to you.
N.B. I was not aware that Booklinker required registration. I thought it was a universal link for my books. Please accept my apologies. I hope to find another universal linker that does not require registration.
