Sprichst du Englisch, I do hope so!

Someone once told me that when a book is first published, the daily check on sales becomes an obsession. This is not because you are hoping to amass a great fortune in royalties, but that you see the sales figures as a measure of how much your baby is loved!

As all of this year's royalties from 'Twisted Tales' will be donated to Macmillan Cancer Support, it is my current preoccupation. Yesterday, I was surprised to see the greatest increase in sales to be in Europe, particularly in Germany. This is largely due to my friend and author, Dagmar Mueller, who has shared and liked so many of my posts. However, I wonder how some of the stories will stand up in translation. I am not concerned about the Gothic tales, as they will sit nicely in the German tradition, but will the Dickensian tale, 'The Dark Side of Micawber' make any sense to my European readers?

For instance, ' Dobbins glanced towards the gin shop on the corner, where he could hear his wife’s voice rising, “ I tell’s ya, ‘es gone to ‘is bank and ‘e’ll be ‘ere with the money soon. Jest give ‘us a taste …” ' might present a few challenges to 'Google Translate'.

However, it has reminded me of the value of 'sharing' and 'liking' on Facebook, particularly when a follower who is fairly new to social media asked me what I meant when I asked people to 'share'.

Apologies to the FAD (Facebook Addiction Disorder) people out there, but this is from Mr FB himself for the newbies:

To Share

Go to Twisted Tales FB page Hover over More below the Page's cover photo. Select Share. Click the dropdown menu at the top to select where you want to share the Page (ex: your Timeline, a Page you manage) Write an optional update or message. Click Post or Send How do I like a Page? Go to Twisted Tales FB page Click Like below the Page's cover photo.