Busy Time at the old MPP

Well I think I am now finally recovered from Bridge Week.  There is a lot happening at Master Point Press.  We are planning for the ABTA meeting in the summer where Ray gives his annual talk on books for teachers.  This year we will be talking about a terrific book called Bells and Whistles which is an intermediate book.  There was a need for a well done modern intermediate book.     I will be part of the team presenting the MPP ABTA Teacher of the Year award.  I am looking forward to that.  I know it will be emotional and the winner will be wonderful.  I have seen the finalists and all of them deserve to win.  This year we will be more prepared to take pictures.  Maybe we should take a video.  We will be hosting a breakfast to honor all of the nominees during the ABTA meeting.

We have four books going off to press in the next day or two.  Besides the Rodwell files, there is a bridge mystery called Deadly Endplay, a Pemberton Bridge Club mystery by Ken Alan.  Ken will be known around here as the man who taught us how to care for and select tomatoes.  He is an expert tomato gardener.  Ray thinks the book is very good and it is on my list to read.  He said the bridge newspaper columns in the book were particularly fun and that the mystery was good too.  Besides that we have another terrific book for students called Take All Your Chances 2 by Eddie Kantar and a themed collection of bridge columns from Paul Thurston, he who promises (but doesn’t deliver) to write 2/1 Advanced.

Getting books off to press means creating ebooks, sending out review copies, uploading PDF’s, updating Amazon and so on.  It is a busy time but rewarding.  We still get excited when a box of each new book arrives at the office.

Then there are many book signings planned for the Summer Nationals.  Sally is busy planning and organizing them.  We will be delivering thousands of books to the organizers and celebrating Master Point Press day and there is a Ray and Linda event as well.  We have many visitors during the Summer Nationals including Mark Horton.  Afterwards we are taking Mark and my grandson Cassidy to Gettysburg and to Washington and to the highlight of the visit – a Manchester United preseason game (we have jersey ready for all the Lees).

There is a lot of behind the scenes work too as Luise and John Goold have revamped the infrastructure of all of our websites.  Luise is working on a plan to update the joint ABTA/Master Point Press teaching bridge website.  We are getting ready to discuss it with the teachers at the ABTA meeting.  We also are working on more and better ways to make ebooks available to readers.

I got a new Ipod Nano and loaded it up with my favorite songs.  The sun is warm and my lilac is glorious so it is time to walk and enjoy spring listening to my favorite upbeat walking songs.

A lot of people took the time to send me emails and give me encouragement.  I want to thank all of them for that.  As I look back on all the time I have spent playing bridge (and not playing bridge), writing, teaching and so on, I have no regrets.  As Edith Piaf sang so beautifully; Non, je ne regrette rien.

Oops, I forgot to mention that Luise, Ray, Colin and I have just started playing a game (read time sink) called Rift.   And I have to say it has amazing graphics and is a lot of fun (too bad).