All my books and short stories have now been withdrawn from sale. I have decided that the edits I want to do are quite extensive so I won’t get them done by my self-imposed deadline of 17th December, and I don’t want the original version to be out there while I’m not happy with it.
Tag Archives: books
Sale on 1st Edition books
LIMITED OFFER
First Come First Served
In December, with any luck, I will have a 2nd edition of both Hidden Fire and Fire Betrayed available, ahead of publishing the third FIRE novel, Fire Awakened, in the new year. I know it’s been a while but I’m feeling more up to writing and stuff. I got the new Prologue written for Fire Betrayed this afternoon and some corrections made to the text.
Anyway, I have three of each of the first edition left from my author’s copies. Normally I sell them for £8 each but to clear stock, as it were, if you buy Hidden Fire I’ll send you Fire Betrayed for free. £8 + postage.
Email me if you want a signed copy. I take paypal payments.
Theakston’s Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year Award Shortlist Announced
This morning on the festival website.
The short list has some fabulous books, none of which I’ve read yet, unfortunately.
Belinda Bauer – Snap
Steve Cavanagh – Thirteen
Mick Herron – London Rules
Val McDermid – Broken Ground
Liam McIlvanney – The Quaker
Khurrum Rahman – East of Hounslow
I did start reading Thirteen but it was a netgalley download and not a blog tour book, so it got put to one side. I’m sure I saw a copy in the charity shop last week, so I’ll get that.
Having read the summaries on the website, I think I’m going to try to get hold of a copy of each of the books so that I can talk intelligently about them at the awards ceremony.
I forgot to mention that. Because I got my PIP back pay, I’ve booked myself a holiday to Harrogate. I’ve been to the town before but not the Crime Writing Festival. The first event I’m going to, on the Thursday evening, is the awards ceremony. I’m really looking forward to it, but fear my anxiety will make it impossible for me to speak to anyone, or that I’ll say something stupid.
As I said, I’ve been to Harrogate before so I know the train route (tickets bought and collected from the station already) and I’m getting taxi to my hotel – nothing fancy, just the Premier Inn – so I won’t get lost. I’ve got a map to get from my hotel to the Swan Inn where the festival takes place, so I won’t get lost. I made plans and got everything organised as soon as possible because it helps with my anxiety if I know what, where, when, how and why.
I have everything planned out. I have two full days of writing goodness on the Friday and Saturday, a couple of things on the Sunday morning and then all of Sunday afternoon to decompress – by which time I expect to be completely peopled out – before I make the trip home on Monday afternoon. I’m hoping to do some exploring, because I’ve never really had the chance on the few occasions I visited a former-friend in Harrogate before. There was always something planned every day, and a lot of that was sitting around watching films.
Back to the books.
I like the sound of Bauer’s Snap and McIlvanney’s The Quaker, both based on unsolved crimes. Of course, I definitely need to read McDermid’s novel, and Thirteen. East of Hounslow and London Rules aren’t my usual reading matter, but I’ll definitely give them a go. I haven’t got a clue when I’ll fit them in, since June is a busy blog tour month (six so far), but I’ll try.
And now, back to my reading.
Bye
Dissertation Update: Week 6
Some progress has been made since last week. Although I haven’t been writing much.
The dissertation supervisor now likes my villain, and the hints of a darker undertone, but is still holding out on Lucie. He said he knows I think I’m writing a stereotype but people won’t realise she’s autistic unless I do. I think we’re at stalemate on that front.
The other thing he mentioned was the landscape, it still isn’t ‘solid’ enough, and he suggested adding the texture in the passage about Lucie taking a night walk around Lincoln. I need to get back to Lincoln and walk around a bit making notes, I think.
I also need to re-write the essay for the third time. It has to be objective, I need to take the ‘I’ out of it. This could be interesting.
In other Rosie news:
I’ve submitted Hidden Fire to Inspired Quill, an independent, traditional publisher. Inspired Quill was recommended to me last September by one of their authors, at a Book Connectors meet-up.
I have book post! So much book post, because I treat myself to a stack of books once the money the county council owed me arrived. Plus, a book from Authoright, which I will be reviewing for them at some point later in the month. After I make my way through my pile of lovely books. Some of them are actually doing double duty as research for my dissertation, but still. Books! I don’t often get to buy new books, so I’m very happy.
Saturday 16th June marks the first anniversary of the publication of Hidden Fire: I will be at The Crafty Collective Open Day/Craft Fair selling copies of my books. If you’re in North East Lincolnshire, or nearby, come and support a local craft club. We have a raffle! I have donated gift packs of books and bookmarks to the raffle, and some peg bags that I made, to the club’s table. I’ll have a few of my dragons with me.
And now i have to go and collect up all the bits that have blown out of my plastics bin. It’s recycling box day; the box is rather full, and the wind is rather high.
What I’m reading today
Morning all,
I’m not feeling fantastic today, so I’m listening to the ‘Small Town Murder‘ podcast and reading Veronica Bird’s autobiography, Veronica’s Bird. Veronica was born in 1943 to a coal mining family in Barnsley. Her father was a bully, although I suspect the brain injury and alcohol abuse might not have helped.
Clever and driven, Veronica got a scholarship to a girl’s boarding school at the age of 11, but was forced out two months before she was due to take her GCSEs because her brother-in-law wanted cheap labour on his market stall. Later she joined the prison service at a time when women didn’t. I’m really looking forward to reading about her time in the prison service; reading about her abusive childhood is painful.
There will be a full review as part of a blog tour at the end of the month. I’ve got other books I should be reading but I’m really intrigued by this book.
Four day price drop
Scorching Sunday
It’s too hot!
I’ve spent most of the day hiding in my bedroom but I’ve moved around the house with the sunlight and now I’m downstairs in the sitting room reading and listening to a weird crime podcast called ‘What the Crime!’.
The book is ‘Digging in the Dark’, by Ben W. Johnson. I will be reviewing it soon.
I’ve been sleeping a lot
Yep, I over did it last week and have basically spent two days asleep. Which is why I’m awake at one in the morning writing a blog post. I’m hoping getting things written down will allow me to get some sleep tonight.
Uni update: Week ?
I haven’t done a uni update for a few weeks, have I?
Sorry about that. I changed my medication during reading week and I’m still adjusting. Since then I’ve had two days at university. In week six(?) we started talking about ghost stories; what makes a ghost story, why people read them, etc. and watched a bit of ‘Spirited Away’.
I had started my ghost story, I’d already written one but it wasn’t long enough so I’m saving it to enter in to a short story competition, probably the on-going monthly Writer’s Forum magazine competition. I’m waiting until I have some money though, because I want to pay the extra for a critique. Over the weekend, between weeks 6 and 7, I finished a second ghost story, which I hope to use as my assignment piece, because I don’t have much more in me in the way of ghost stories, not at the minute anyway.
In week 7 we talked about ghost stories we liked, and I borrowed a Dean Koontz book from my tutor. I read it in one sitting. It’s called Odd Apocalypse, and is part of a series. I don’t know if you’ve read it? I quite enjoyed it. I think I’ve tried to read it before and couldn’t get on with it but this time I could. Interesting characters and plot, and a different take on the ghost story/haunted house idea.
Other than giving each other feedback, I think we’ve pretty much finished ghost stories. Half the lesson last week was about what to do next, dissertations, getting published, that sort of thing. I told our tutor I had three complete novels and another five (at least) planned. He asked what I was doing with them. ME: Nothing, because I don’t know what to do next.
I have decided to try to enter more competitions. So far I’ve entered the ‘Writers and Artists Short Story Competition’ which was free – that was in February, and last night I entered the ‘Writer’s Forum Flash Comp 186’, which was also free because I’m a subscriber to the magazine, with a little sci-fi flash I wrote yesterday morning and left to bubble for 12 hours before I edited and sent it off. I’ve started another sci-fi short story that I’m going to enter in the ‘Writing Magazine’ competition later in the year. One of their monthly competitions had a sci-fi theme, so I’m going to try to enter that.
I’m going to enter ‘Hidden Fire’ in some ‘first chapters’ and first novel competitions, once I get my next student loan payment. The entry fees are about £15 – £30 so I’m going to have to be selective.
This week we are supposed to be sharing the first part of our ghost stories in class; since I already have mine written and it’s 3061 words I’ve shared it with my classmates already so I don’t have to read the whole thing out but can still get some feedback on it. I’m hoping to get some decent feedback, and to get more insight into what the hell I’m supposed to do next with my novels.
On Saturday I will be in Nottingham for the East Midlands Writer’s Conference. It will be a long day, as I have to catch the train at 7 a.m. and I won’t be home again until half seven in the evening, at the earliest (depending on whether I can get a lift from the station or not). I am looking forward to it, even if the thought of sitting in a room with a hundred-plus other people is uncomfortable. I have everything planned, down to which tram to get from the university to the train station in Nottingham on Saturday afternoon. The train tickets have been booked and delivered, I have my information pack printed out. I should be okay but I’m prepared. The new medication is definitely helping with the anxiety.
Also, awesome writer and course rep, Jo, has started her own book review blog. Go and see her work at https://feedmebooksblog.wordpress.com/. Also, she has a YA romance e-book out on amazon.co.uk, called ‘Hello World’, which she wrote a few years ago. It’s good, and she’s an even better writer now, so look out for more of her work.
In other news, my friend Michelle Conner released the paperback of her new novella ‘The Bound‘ yesterday and the e-book is released tomorrow.
Review: ‘South’, by Frank Owen
Published by: Corvus Books (Atlantic Books)
Publication Date: 7th July 2016
I.S.B.N.: (Paperback) 9781782399612, (Ebook) 978178239812
Price: £12.99 (Paperback)
Book received from publisher in return for an honest review.
Everything Is Better With Dragons 