Last week the Atopia Chronicles, a compilation of six novellas and books, went to #1 on Amazon sci-fi/high tech, and #6 on all of science fiction. It was only topped by the Game of Thrones juggernaut, which, as one of my readers helpfully suggested, isn’t really science fiction, so I was really at the top of all sci-fi (!)…at least for this small slice of time (a week and a half later now and it’s hanging in there, very exciting).

So, a question some people have asked is: how does it feel? Interestingly the answer is: scary. I’ve developed a rather nasty case of OCD, and find myself constantly pinging the Kindle Publishing portal for updates every fifteen minutes, fearful that the mysterious forces have pushed my book into this space will suddenly, and just as quickly as they appeared, disappear.

Luckily, I’ve become quite chummy with Hugh Howey over the past few months, so he has been acting as my support group through this. Hugh is not only one of the best writers I know, he’s also just one of the greatest all-around-nice-guys. The world seems like a better place when the good guys win from time to time.

I have something of a reserved emotional nature. As a child I grew up in Sheffield, in the UK (although my family live in North Carolina, USA, now) and I suffer from the Grand Malaise common to the Isles of repressed feelings. Apparently, the combination of wet, gray skies, oak trees and cozy pubs instills this in a population.

Or, it could have been my grandfather. He was a dentist, and in fact was once the President of the Royal Order of Surgeons of Scotland, which sounds impressive unless you happen to be a small boy in gray flannel shorts who can’t speak until spoken to, must always keep his red clip-on tie buttoned up tight and must eat peas with the fork the wrong way round, forcing this same boy to smush them onto the back of his fork while gazing longingly at his tricycle out through the flat window.

To this day I feel guilty eating peas with my fork like a shovel.

Enough about peas. I’d love to hear feedback from anyone who reads this, just ask away, anything you want!!

And, I really appreciate all the support and great reviews, thank you to everyone! You can’t imagine how nice it is to hear this feedback after two years spent in a room by myself, wondering if anyone would understand what I was trying to say!