Distractions, distractions

Following my holiday in Tuscany, I have found it hard to focus on The Hairy Plug Monster.  Not because I had better things to do....far from it.  Instead I have been glued to either the radio or the T.V. following the events in South Africa, for almost 3 painful weeks I have been watching the "world's best" battle it out - and to be truthful have had to endure some pretty dire stuff.

 Thankfully the Germans put me out of my misery at the weekend by inflicting a fatal blow to the hopes and dreams of the nation.  Much as I would like to rant on about the "who's, whats and whys" of the result, I am going to leave that for other much more informed bloggers to do.  Suffice to say....we were pants.

So with the need to waste my life in front of the T.V. now removed you would think I should be able to focus back on The Hairy Plug Monster and the other projects for HPM Media Ltd without any further distractions..........but again not so.

My trusty modem of many years finally keeled over and died leaving me without an Internet connection and subsequently felling like I was on the moon.  Without the Internet, I couldn't ring shops, or send emails or update the blog.  Life seemed to stop (briefly). 

Thankfully I remembered that the computer could do other things even when it wasn't talking to the rest of the world. I loaded up a music program and wrote 2 fantastic tunes in the space of two days.  It was a major breakthrough  moment because I know have enough good material to take out on the road and play live with. 

I even treated myself to a selection of blank CD's and created an 11 track album of sorts, and early reviews have been quite promising.

Without the Internet, I have also been able to reduce the distractions of Facebook, and chess which, I play on a regular basis....I did have a go at Miss Carr's Pies to see if I could get the final 8 verses but to no avail...I seem to have hit a wall with The Pot Bellied Cook and the Three Legged Dog.  ( This is slightly disturbing, because I have a literacy workshop on Thursday at Cheadle Primary School and no new material.

The Hairy Plug Monster has now been published for over a year now, and its about time I had a new book to tout around.  Perhaps more heartening is that the Gruffalo took 4 years to gain any sort of recognition...and I still agree with many of my readers that The Hairy Plug Monster is easily on the same level albeit at least 5 million sales behind.....but there is still plenty of time to catch up....

If you still haven't got a copy of The Hairy Plug Monster, you can order by visiting http://www.hairyplugmonster.com/