Some Hall Green enthusiasts may have always pronounced Veloce, as in Veloce Publishing, like the first part of the name Velocette, That's how I used to read it until they started paying me obscene amounts of money (obscenely small, that is) and I heard how they answered the phone. They say 'Vel-oh-chay,' which whilst not suiting the thundering Birminum singles, does have a sing-song Kenneth Williams note to it, being as wot it's the word for speed in the land of Chianti and Spaghetti Carabinieri.
Anyway, Veloce have been prodding me for years to get off my ample arse and finish something, which I've found easy to resist. However, a few years ago God started prodding me by way of a dose of Parkinson's which I found slightly harder to ignore. Anyone who saw me at Angus's place last year, trembling like a jelly on the bonnet of a 2CV, may have thought I'd been supping from the Letchworth liquor cabinet (12 yearold Typhoo a specialty), or just been given an invoice by the Bearded Squadron Leader, but no. And to anyone who saw my right hand restlessly stuffed down my Levi's side pocket, apparently 'stock-taking', no it wasn't that either...
They asked if maybe I could start with an engine book. I said I'd been giving away my best snippets for free on forums so nobody would buy it. I think I heard muffled sobs but it could have been someone softly banging their head against a cublcle divider. Not sure if that would be the type between desks or between porcelain bowls, but he cheered up when I said I had a killer marketing idea...
I said that since sustainability and recycling are all the rage, we could either print it in one long paragraph on a roll of soft twin-ply, or if he wanted a proper book why not make each page slightly wider than the last so people could use it as a wheel chock? Not sure if he was impressed but he said he'd sort out the printing and I should stick to what I'm good at. So I said fine, I'm a gold medal prospect at the Procrastinator Olympics,so call me next year, or the year after. Then he promised money and got my attention.
Writers are, by and large, not rich people. If I told you that six books, including some translated into French and German, do not earn me enough per year to buy four Pirellis for my 20 year old XJ8, you'll get the picture. Advances? Dream on! I should think full-timers like Nigel Thorley and Paul Skilleter with 40-50 years of published work and editing do OK, but Joe Egg writing for his peers is not in it for the dosh, believe me. Just thought I'd get that out there in case any cynics were thinking this is rampant commercialism. It is, but it is doomed to fail on that score. I made more in a day of medical writing than I expect to make per year out of this little adventure.
Anyway, target is to finish it by this summer and it might be in the shops for next Christmas? Dunno, but something like that I'd imagine. By announcing it here I HAVE to finish it now, so now I've bin and gone and dunnit. It won't be aimed at total beginners but you won't have to be an Angus or Rory either, and remember, even if it's crap you can always use it behind a tyre instead of the handbrake.
"Chocks away!"
and now have found a fhc xk 140 
