Writing

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Exciting Publishing News!

I’m so excited about this news I have to tell you! Yesterday I had a meeting with Argentinidades, an Argentine book publishing company. I first met them in April 2018 at the huge Buenos Aires Book Fair, where I gave them a copy of Rare Steak, Red Wine, Hot Tango. They showed a lot of interest, but nothing happened after the fair.

But a few weeks ago I had an email from them, asking to meet with me to talk about the book. I have to say the meeting was hilarious, because Juan’s English was barely as good as my Spanish, which is pretty good for everyday life, but challenging for a business meeting. He kept hitting his forehead and exclaiming, “Ay, my English!”, while I did the same while muttering, “Ay, mi español!” Funny.

But the outcome is that they are going to translate the book, publish and distribute it in Spanish throughout South America! Not only that, but when I told them about the new book I’m writing about the Bares Notables, he jumped on that too.

I am adding two new chapters to the first book, as I want to make it a second edition. I need to have that finished and the manuscript of the second one finished by February, so that they can do the translation and get the books ready to promote at the 2020 Book Fair. How exciting is that?!

But there’s more! (I sound like one of those late night knife commercials!) They are kicking around a new book project about Buenos Aires, and they have invited me to be one of the authors on the team! That one hasn’t been finalized yet, so it’s fingers, toes and eyes crossed. It won’t make me rich, but it will help build my reputation as someone who writes about Argentina with love in her heart, which is what I want.

Couldn’t wait to tell you. Tonight we are doing another Bares Notables research dinner, so we will be hoisting a glass of champagne to celebrate!

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I Have a New Service Offering

As you know, this is not a commercial blog, but rather a way to keep my friends up to date on my goings on down here in Argentina. But I’m excited about my new service, and I’m posting about it here just in case you, or someone you know, might benefit from it.

In terms of my business today, I’m all about books: my books and other people’s books. I help people get their books written through editing, book coaching and ghostwriting. But there was a gap. There always seemed to be people who wanted to engage me for my book coaching, but their budget wouldn’t stretch for it. Finally, I’ve come up with something for those people.

Next Tuesday, June 25, is launch day for my new book writing club, Get Your Book Written NOW — No More Excuses!

It’s a combination of group coaching, mastermind and insider club membership. The goal is for every member to get their book written and out into the world without all the stress of having to go it alone.

If you have been wanting to write a book but just can’t get it together, this could be right for you. Please drop me a line at helen@mhwilkiebooks.com and we’ll hop on a Zoom call so that I can give you all the details and you can decide if it’s for you.

I’m excited about this, and I can’t wait to see the books that will come out of it. Perhaps yours will be one of them!

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Busy, Happy Day

I don’t quite know how yesterday got to be so busy, but it did and I enjoyed every minute.

First, I have joined a writers’ group. I’ve never done this before as I’ve never come across a group that appealed to me. But Cliff, one of my expat friends, invited me to come along and I did a couple of weeks ago. There are some talented writers there, and all very supportive of one another. It will certainly hold me to my commitment to writing my novel every day, and the opportunity to have people critique it is also helpful. I’m sure this will do good things for my writing. We meet every Wednesday.

I rushed home from that and jumped online to meet with Susan and Lois, my Butt Kickers. I kind of hogged the time, I’m afraid, but they did want to hear all about my new apartment. I told them I had looked at a red couch, but was thinking it would be more sensible to get a neutral colour and brighten it up with cushions. They pointed out that doing the sensible thing wasn’t a noticeable characteristic of mine — true — and they both voted for the red couch. I’m going to do it!

Then I was off to the movies with Venetia to see The Return of Mary Poppins. It was a fun, happy movie. There aren’t too many of those around these days, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Dick Van Dyke even made a brief appearance — even in his nineties the man can still dance!

Finally, speaking of dancing, I dashed home and had a quick bite to eat and then went out dancing tango. Lina and I went to El Obelisco, a milonga I had gone to a couple of times last year but on Fridays. I did enjoy it last night, but I think it was better on Fridays so I’m going to try that next time. The milongas are run by different organizers every night, and sometimes that means they take on a certain personality with the organizers. So the same venue can be quite different on different nights. Any way you cut it, though, I love dancing tango in Buenos Aires!

I enjoyed my busy day, but I really must try to keep better track of things and not book so much in one day. Maybe.