Hey there,

It’s me! I’m back, and I’m still coughing!

To answer the most common questions first;

Yes, I’m still writing, and no, thankfully, I haven’t succumbed to my illness, although I’ve got to say… pneumonia is a bitch!

So, where was I when I left off in April, apart from feeling thoroughly miserable, and pretty damn sorry for myself?

Oh, yeah, I was taking antibiotics again, and at war with Hertz. (See previous post for details.)

Well, the antibiotics didn’t really work, but I have improved considerably from where I was, which isn’t saying much as I couldn’t have got much worse. It took two weeks after I got back from Florida before I was able to get back to work, and even now, seven weeks after I became ill, I’m still coughing and wheezing like a ninety year old with a sixty a day habit! I guess time will be the best healer, so until then, I just have to leave my drinks on the table so I don’t spill them every time a coughing fit starts. (By drinks, I mean tea and squash! My husband suggested whisky with honey… which I thought sounded like a strange suggestion, particularly as I don’t drink alcohol, until I realised he meant for himself to help him sleep! Apparently my coughing was keeping him awake! Grrr! Just kidding, he’s been fantastic, looking after the house, and doing the shopping and stuff I had no strength to do. I won’t say how long it took to train him so well, but obviously, my decades of perseverance have paid off! )

As for Hertz… well that’s a different story! I spent two weeks trying to get them to accept that they had altered my contract without informing me, and overcharged me for the things they had originally included in the bill.

Can someone tell me how they can agree a rental of a car, plus insurance and local fees for a price of $737, and then change the contract, removing the same insurance and fees and adding them on as an ‘extra charge’ only this time charging $880 for the insurance and fees alone, as well as the $737? The short answer is….. they can’t!

After two weeks and a ton of e-mails, they refused to have someone call me back, stopped answering my e-mails, and when I tried calling, they cut me off. Every time!

I’m guessing I’m now on their blacklist! Boo-hoo!

But did you know that if a company, large or small, treats it’s customers badly, and either breaks a contract with someone, or blatantly overcharges them from the figure they were originally quoted (or both, as happened in my case), and that person paid on their credit card, the merchant is actually in breach of their terms and conditions with Visa/MasterCard.

Oh, yes!

Credit card companies will only do business with merchants who are honest and fair, and when merchants breach those T’s and C’s, Visa/MasterCard are within their rights to recover the whole amount from the merchant, and give it back to the poor customer.

So, the woman at Hertz who refused to back down, acting like a big corporate bully, and refused to listen to me when I explained they weren’t entitled to rob me blind, can go and take a long walk off a short pier. The lovely people at Visa actually believed all the evidence I sent them, so instead of just refunding me the $880 Hertz overcharged me, Visa have given me the full amount back – over $1600. Straight out of Hertz bank account!

Go Visa!

So the moral of the story, is if you’ve been cheated and bullied by a big company, who’ve taken more money off you than they’re entitled to because they think they can, just because they’ve got your credit card number, just remember there is always someone even bigger than them, and they act for you, their customer, and they’ve got the bully’s bank details too!

Ok, so enough of the gloating. It’s not attractive at all! Teehee!

Back to the books… and specifically Book 10 (no, it still hasn’t got a name!).

My target date to complete the book was mid May, but with being so ill for around a month, understandably, that date had to be put back. However for the last two weeks, I’ve been able to get back on track and have hit a purple patch, where the words are coming really easy and the story is flowing freely.

I’m well over the 90% mark already, and if I carry on the way I’m going, and with the next four days at home with hopefully, some peace and quiet, I’m really optimistic that I’ll be done by next week. (Believe me, I had everything crossed when I just typed the words!)

My original release date was going to be July 4th, but with a month’s delay holding things up, I can’t see any way that’s going to work. But with a bit of luck, I should still be able to make it available for later in July, so as soon as I have a date, I’ll post an update.

I know it sounds like a long time between completing the book and publishing it, but the editing part is just as crucial as the writing, and these days, I try not to give my wonderful volunteer editors a ridiculously short timescale to help me get the book ready! (Unlike the 12 days at Christmas, Mrs B? Hmm? I’m still apologising for that… and !!! that! Sorry guys – private joke!)

For all of you who haven’t been following the website for a while and haven’t got the inside scoop on what Book 10 is all about, well, where have you been? Book 10 is going to be Brandon Campbell’s story. (Remember Brandon and his daughter Hayley from Impossible, with Sara and Marcus?) I’ve waited a while to give him his own book, as he was widowed just before Impossible started, so I wanted him to have a reasonable time to grieve.

Book 10 starts some seven/eight months after the end of Retribution, so we’re now almost four years since Impossible was set. Little Hayley is now nine years old, and a wonderful little girl, and it’s been great to reconnect with Sara and Marcus again. I’d genuinely forgotten how funny a character Marcus was! And so much fun to write about – just like Danny!

For all the guys in my ‘friends’ club, look out for an e-mail in the next few days, letting you know where to find a little bonus blog, and maybe even a little teaser! Old friends will already know where to find it, so the alert will just tell you when it’s there. For new friends who’ve been in touch with me recently, and have never heard of this before, don’t worry, all will be explained in the e-mail.

For everyone else,  have a wonderful holiday weekend. Let’s hope the weather is kind to us, even the ones who’ll be working right through!

I’ll be back with an update next week, and who knows, maybe even news of a book title!

Take care,

Beth

xx