I've been busy doing many things to promote the Language in the Blood series. One of these was doing a guest spot and interview on the following blog. You can read my interview on the blog and I copied my guest spot below.
Lurking musings
I mentioned in my interview that I’m not very comfortable with
self-publicising. It was about two years after publishing my first book
that I decided to put a headshot on my author page. If I can give one
piece of advice to a new writer, it’s to be conscious of your and your
book’s image. Readers want to know who you are, what you look like and
preferably what your pets look like too.
So here is a picture of Clicquot the cat, and me, reluctantly
venturing into the limelight. He was also reluctant to dress up as a
vampire bat, but mummy’s career demanded it.
Before you shout ‘animal cruelty!’ I’ll tell you that the wings and
tie only stayed on a few seconds; just long enough for the photo.
It’s my little revenge for him getting us up at 4am most mornings.
The biggest mistake I made early on is trying to do everything
myself. (Except editing, I knew I needed help there!) This is no problem
if you’re good at everything book related. If you decide to go the
self-publishing route there are so many jobs you then need to do.
Graphic designer, web-page designer, blogger, editor, marketing and
advertising expert are just a couple of skills you’ll have to learn.
I
soon realised I was out of my depth. The best decision I’ve made,
probably, is joining an independent writers’ group. This group was very
open with sharing their experiences and when I saw some of the covers my
colleagues were using I knew I had to change mine. My group recommended
several avenues and after a few emails I went with Paradox Book Covers.
If you shop and ask around you’ll find that professional is not always
expensive. People really do judge a book by its cover, so make sure
yours stands out.
I’m next hoping to tackle my website, because you’re not just a
writer, you are a brand. If your reader loves your books they want to
know more about you, so make sure you present you, the writer, in the
best light.
Amazon author page: Author.to/authorpage
Blog: http://languageintheblood.blogspot.fr/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CruftsloverAkaCameronBlair/?ref=hl
Twitter: @LitBCameronB
Webpage: http://www.cruftslover.adzl.com/
The Bio
Angela Lockwood-van der Klauw was born in the Netherlands. She
learned her trade as a jeweller and gemmologist at the Vakschool
Schoonhoven before moving to Edinburgh as an apprentice jeweller. There
she met and later married her husband Adam. Angela ran her own
jeweller’s shop in Edinburgh for ten years before she and her husband
moved to the south of France in 2011. Like her vampire character
Cameron, Angela prefers the climate there, but often thinks about the
town she left behind and its people. Cameron’s story was born in the
spring of 2013, a very wet spring during which Angela found herself
climbing the walls, frustrated that she couldn’t go out and have her
usual long walks along the seafront. Seeing his wife’s frustration, Adam
suggested ‘Why don’t you write a book?’ Angela thought about it for a
few days, then switched on her laptop and started writing Language in the Blood. Blood Ties is the second book in the series and Angela has also published a collection of short stories Something Short with her friend, Elspeth Morrison.
Writing the books was the easy part....now the struggle to let the world know they're there....
Sunday 6 March 2016
Friday 12 February 2016
Touching the Wire by Rebecca Bryn
I can't believe my last post was nearly a month ago. I've been reading but this time to help another author. This has been the best thing about publishing as an independent author; there is a wonderful community of supportive writers out there. Helping each other with promotions, book cover design and reviews. Three wonderful writers have taken the time to Beta read my next book; conversations with Tom. I've taken their advise to heart and are making the necessary changes. In turn, I did a Beta read myself.
I've also been busy with book promotion; it's a never ending job. One promotion that is coming up is a Kindle countdown deal from the 13th to the 16th of February. Blood Ties will be reduced to 99c for .com customers.
Blood Ties on Amazon.com
Of course book 1 remains free.
Touching the wire is the second book of Rebecca Bryn I've read. She's a very talented indie writer and I would recommend giving her books a try.
Touching the wire by Rebecca Bryn on Amazon
I've also been busy with book promotion; it's a never ending job. One promotion that is coming up is a Kindle countdown deal from the 13th to the 16th of February. Blood Ties will be reduced to 99c for .com customers.
Blood Ties on Amazon.com
Of course book 1 remains free.
Touching the wire is the second book of Rebecca Bryn I've read. She's a very talented indie writer and I would recommend giving her books a try.
Touching the wire by Rebecca Bryn on Amazon
Touching the wire is a story told in two parts. Part one is
narrated by Walt, a grandfather of seven year old twins Charlotte and Lucy. He
is plagued by the memories of his time as a doctor at Auschwitz. Through a
number of flashbacks we find out about his struggle to keep patients alive and
his blossoming love for a young Jewish woman; Miriam. Part two is told from the
perspective of Charlotte, his granddaughter who we catch up with several years
later. This book raises many interesting questions like; what are we willing to
sacrifice to save the ones we love and is standing by without acting the same
as giving consent? I liked the structure of the book and thought the telling of
the story through flashbacks, diary entries and present day events worked well.
The often harrowing details of camp life and medical experiments were handled
sensitively although at times graphic. Horrendous things happened at Auschwitz
and the author is justified in going into the gruesome details. We need to keep
writing about the holocaust, so that younger generations will not forget.
I liked the first part of the book very much and I got swept
up in the budding romance against all odds of Walt/Chuck and Miriam. I did have
some problems with the second part. We now have Charlotte narrating. She is a
married woman with a complicated love life. I found the change of pace, setting
and main character a little unsettling, but reading on I found myself being
captivated by Charlotte’s quest to unearth her grandfather’s secrets.
I gave this four stars.Thursday 14 January 2016
The Welcome: and other Sci-Fi stories
I love and hate Sci-fi almost in
equal measures. I don’t understand tech-
babble at the best of times, add to this warp-speed, phasors and other
futuristic tech-speak and I’m completely lost. What I do love is where the
writer’s imagination can take you. Sci-fi is a wonderful blank canvas to paint
your own colourful picture. In The Welcome: and other Sci-Fi stories, Tom
Benson and his six guest authors have used their canvas well. If Techno-babble
is used it is to quickly outline a futuristic world and to set the scene. I loved that each of the guest authors had
chosen a completely different theme and style; which makes this book a great
show case for Sci-Fi writing. This is selection of short stories that is easy
to read, with something for everyone. (Even for fans of erotica!) I gave this 5 stars.
The Welcome: and other Sci-Fi stories on AmazonMonday 11 January 2016
Updated Layout
You might have noticed that I have changed the page a little. When I initially set up the blog I was led by what other bloggers were doing. Even though I review a lot of books my blog is not a reviewers blog but a writers blog. I found as such that adverts were not appropriate and I have removed most of them. You might have also noticed a new logo to the side. If you click on it it will take you to a treasure chest full of independent books. The group has it's roots in the facebook group started by Paul Ruddock. My thanks go out to Tom Benson and Ian D Moore who have worked so hard on this website and I will hope it will put my fellow indie writers and I on the map.
Indie Author Support and Discussion
Indie Author Support and Discussion
Friday 8 January 2016
A Noble Pair of Brothers (The Underwood Mysteries Book 1) by Suzanne Downes
Firstly happy new year to you all. I can't believe it has been nearly a month since my last blog. In my defence; I've not had much time to read so it took me a while to finish this book, even though it was a cracking read. I have been busy with writing and Conversations with Tom is reaching completion. For the first time I will be using Beta readers. Three very kind fellow writers are reading the draft and will hopefully come back with some constructive criticism. I'm hoping for a release date in April. So as for resolutions. I thing I hope to achieve is to establish myself more as a brand, not an easy task as my short stories and now Conversations with Tom are so very different from the Language in the Blood books. Maybe I should release Tom under a different name? Maybe I should do a 3rd Language in the Blood book? Now the first book in the series is free and the readership is increasing this seems a logical thing to do. Lots to think about in 2016, now the review:
A Noble Pair of Brothers by Suzanne Downes on Amazon
A Noble Pair of Brothers by Suzanne Downes on Amazon
I liked this book very much. At times I felt myself
transported to a Victorian front room, snuggled up in a velvet house coat in
front of a roaring fire. Only to put my kindle down, and blink against the harsh
sunlight. (As I live in southern France.) Suzanne Downes really brought the
1820’s to life for me with her use of language and attention to period detail.
The romantic story line and how the Underwood brothers interact with women
reminded me a lot of Jane Austen. Like Ms Austen this book is witty but also
shows the plight of women in the early 1800’s; Ms Chapell, the Governess, who after
the death of her father has no option but to take a post at the tyrannical Sir
Henry Wynter household, where she is disrespected and bullied. Then there is
Charlotte Wynter, Sir Henry’s pretty, but spoiled daughter that is keen to
marry, as this will be her only escape from her alcoholic father.
The murder plot brings this book firmly into the modern era.
It had me guessing to the last and the unsavoury details surrounding the murder
are certainly not something you would find in an Austen novel. The Underwood
brothers are two very complex but also very English characters and I understood
their actions. I’m intrigued to find out where the second book takes us as
neither brother had set out to become a detective. (Yet!) I’m delighted there
are seven books in the series as I want to read more by this writer. A must
read for fans of mystery and period drama.
Friday 11 December 2015
The Branches of Time
This book was given two me by a very nice Italian author I met via twitter. He very kindly emailed me a copy of his book. I normally do my reading on a kindle, so it took me a while to commit myself to reading it on my computer. This book is showing again what range of genres there are available from Indie authors. I would also like to say that the translation on this book was nearly perfect and well edited. I rated this 4 stars:
The Branches of Time by Luca Rossi
The Branches of Time by Luca Rossi
In this book Luca Rossi has created a universe full of magic
and dark powers. On the day of a wedding virtually the entire population of the
Island Turios is wiped out by an act of dark magic, only the priestess Miril
and a couple Lil and husband Bashinoir survive. The King from the northern
lands wants them all gone as the mere fact of them living on this island means
that a barrier traps the king and his population. Things happened about 2000
years ago, separating the two populations and trapping one on an island and the
others in a cold and forbidding land. The island has been protected by two
priests, but now only Miril survives. She honours Lil but also gives her an
impossible dilemma by proposing priest hood to her. Priests are not allowed
husbands. I liked the dynamic between the three survivors on the island. Lil
becomes closer and closer to Miril, while Bashinoir is left alone and at a
loss. The story shifts about between
times and locations but I managed to keep track of the story line. Beanor is
suitably over the top as the sex crazed, cruel maniac of a king. Him and his
court provide some very raunchy story lines! It never becomes entirely clear
what events happened two thousand years ago, which left me a little frustrated
at the end of this book as I still know very little about why the two peoples
were separated, but this being part one I’m sure all will be explained in book
2. I think however, a little more explanation might have helped this universe
Mr Rossi created really come alive. I
was given a free copy by the author for an honest review. I would not mind
getting book 2, but have so far only managed to find book 1 on amazon.
Saturday 5 December 2015
Horror, History and some good laughs
Two reviews of three very different books.
The Little Book of Horrors by Lacey Lane on Amazon.com
The Little Book of Horrors by Lacey Lane on Amazon.com
I read this authors first book and knew what to expect with
this book, but I did read this book with one eye closed and snuggling into my
jumper to hide from the pages. If you’re not a fan of horrible things happening
to horrible and innocent people alike, put this book back on its virtual book
shelf and go and watch some fluffy kitten videos. If you are however a fan of
grizzly horror and not averse to some raunchy sex scenes, then put this in your
shopping basket and enjoy with the lights switched on. My favourite story was
Karma is a bitch. All three are well written, fast paced, gruesome and sexy. I rate this 4 stars.
Goin' Postal and the Creek by Rhoda D'Ettore on amazon.com
I do like the fact that this author has put together two
short books and given us, the reader value for money. On the face of it they
are not related but after reading it you get a sense of being presented with a
very American portrait. A very warm and insightful portrait by someone who
loves her country and it’s diverse people. In Goin’ Postal she relates some of
the stories (in part fictionalised to protect identities I’m sure) she
experienced while working for the institution that is the US postal service.
Not only do get a glimpse into the life of an everyday worker, but also how a
postal worker experienced going through some turbulent historical times (The
9/11 attacks) This ties it nicely to The Creek which is the local history of a
settlement on a creek from the civil war until the civil rights movement. The
second book still has it comedy moments, but is over the whole more serious and
a good example of exploring US history through the experiences of local
ordinary people. Goin’ postal was my favourite of the two as it was just such a
guilty pleasure of getting an insider view. I had no idea of the things that went
on in the postal service. Both are a good, fast paced read. I rate this 5 stars.
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