It is about time I updated you all on my ongoing life complications. Apologies to everyone who finds me insufferably boring.

Firstly I’m now more or less settled in to The Cottage. I’ll try to find time to do a little photo tour of the neighborhood because, like much of the UK, Trowbridge is a rather pretty little town. US persons, prepare to be dazzled by history. Of course The Cottage is too small. I don’t have room for bookcases or visitors here. But I can’t trade up until I’m sure I can afford to do so.

In addition I have been spending some time talking to immigration lawyers and appear to have found a very good one (thanks Dave!). However, it is pretty clear that there is not much that I can do in the short term. There isn’t much point in trying to take things forward unless I have a reasonable chance of getting a visa, and not just a tourist one. I’m pretty sure that even if I got a tourist visa the CBP would refuse me entry. I need better than that.

The one thing that is liable to help me is if I have an actual UK-based business that requires me to go to the US to attend science fiction conventions. It would be even better if it was something that put money into the pockets of US citizens. This is a very scary prospect, but as I have been self-employed for many years now I do at least have a vague idea of how to run a business. I also know the SF&F field very well. There are possibilities.

Nothing is actually firm as yet. I have been talking to a lot of people. Thankfully they have been very encouraging about my ideas. Some have even been enthusiastic. That makes me feel a lot better.

Of course if I do start a business of some sort it does mean that I will have much less time for fannish pursuits. This doesn’t mean I’ll be spending every hour grubbing for money for myself. Like many other people in the business, I’ll be relying on the Day Jobbe to bring in the bacon while hoping that I don’t lose too much money doing the thing that I love. The #1 priority will be to pay decent rates to the writers and artists who do work for me. Inevitably many of those people will be based in the US, and that should help me fulfill the requirements for the business visa. If, in the long term, I also manage to diversify my income stream, I shall be very happy, but I’ll settle for not bankrupting myself. I can’t afford to subsidize a business.

On the other hand, I may get to buy toys. I can see a definite advantage to having a business that requires me to buy an iPad on expenses. And now that Apple has announced they are adding exactly the features I want (bookmarks and annotations) to iBooks I’m actually keen to take the plunge. Like I said, I have no room for bookcases here.

In the meantime it is back to planning, talking to people, and pondering such things as names and web site design. If there is anyone out there who is good at logos I’d love to hear from you.

You can expect more announcements about this in the next few months. Some of you may even get phone calls and emails from me. The rest of you can sit back and tell me that I’m mad. I won’t listen; I don’t need to; I know you are right.