Guten Tag

Wainwright and I are home again after a great few days in Munich.

I will reveal what we got up to in a couple of blogs. I'm not very good at history so I hadn't realised that Munich played such a key role in the rise of the Third Reich. Also, my son and I visited Dachau on the outskirts of the city and it is appropriate to divide the blogs into the serious and light hearted aspects of the trip.

Part of being a struggling writer, or in my case, a would-be writer, is the need for self-promotion. It feels so egotistic and pushy. But unless you have a large publishing house behind you it is necessary if anyone is going to actually read your words.

The BBC has a competition at the moment for people to write their story - something that has happened to them - in 1500 words or less. It can be found on the BBC website under 'My Story'. Part of the prize is to have your story published as a paperback book. According to the website, the judges are not too concerned with grammar and syntax, just damn good stories so you might want to have a bash.

I have tapped out my own story and the BBC have accepted it for publication on their website. If you want to find out a bit more about this particular middle aged gapper then go to:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mystory/stories/survival/150149/

That ends my shameless self promotion for today.

Finally, an update on Appa, the boy I am sponsoring at the orphanage near Lake Bunyoni, Uganda. Crystal at the orphanage has written to me to say:

Appa's other name is Paol. When I went to check on him at school I found he is having no school books. I let him know that you have chosen to sponsor him and we are in the process of getting school books and a large size uniform and sweater made for him...he is truly one of our proudest and happiest students because it is his first time ever in school.

I know that a few people who were with me in Africa read this blog and they have kindly expressed an interest in Appa's progress so I'll publish a few lines about his development on here every now and again. Appa is the tall boy wearing the hat on the extreme left of the above picture (click on it to enlarge).

Live long and prosper.