Oh no! More rejection

Afternoon gang,

I'm off work today! Yay. I'm also off work on Monday! Long weekend. Yay!

Regular readers will know that I submitted an extract of my latest novel to the Ampersand agency. I was prepared for weeks of waiting and wondering. Thankfully, owing to being busy at work and their swift response, I haven't had to wait long.

In fact I received a pleasantly brief rejection email on the 5th of March. In fairness it didn't really register as I've got lots going on at the moment. But, because I don't learn and because I'm just that determined, I'm going to send the same piece to Carole Blake at Blake Friedmann. I follow her on Twitter so I know she reads the stuff she recieves and she is often quite vocal about some of the crap she receives.

In other news, for reasons unknown, sales have slumped a little this week. It's odd because I've been a bit more active on the promo front recently but things will pick up. They always do.

A highlight this week was being asked to sign a paperback copy of The Trust by a former colleague. Some have suggested said individual might be the basis of a character in the book. That's not strictly true. The character in question is based on an American chap. That said, as with all the characters in my books they are grounded in reality so draw your own conclusions when you buy a copy.

Right, that's all for now. Sandwich, haircut, painting etc etc

First review of The Trust!!

Hi gang,

My new book The Trust has received it's first review. It's a 5 * job as well which is nice. For them that can't be bothered to click the link and read it, I've pasted it in below:

I have read all of this author's books and, although most of them have been outside my usual genre of choice, I have enjoyed them all. Now this book IS my usual read so I started it knowing that it had a bit to live up to to satisfy me.
And boy did it... Once again the characters came across so real that I reckon this author does more than his fair share of people watching! The background and description are kept to the right amount, enough to support the story but not too much that they take the reader's attention away from it.
There are a few story-lines running through the book - multiple bodies unearthed, abuse in asylums, euthanasia and, if that wasn't enough, the author throws in a serial killer too. All these stories are quite major and there could have been a danger that there was too much going on in the book but the author manages very successfully to keep it balanced and juggles the stories throughout to give completely satisfactory conclusions.
I am not sure if this is stand alone or if we will be seeing Rhiannon and Tom in future books, I for one would like that very much.

What inspired The Trust?

Evening gang,

Really quick one tonight because there's Champions League on right now and The Brits on the other channel.

A few folk have speculated as to the inspiration behind some scenes in my new book, and also the inspiration for some of the characters. As I've said before, The Trust is based on real events and real people so here's some info.

First of all the places. Moorcastle asylum in the book is actually the Moor Hospital in Lancaster. If you Google it there's lot's of info but here's a link to get you going.

http://www.azubi.co.uk/Moor/Hospital.html

Whittingham Hospital also plays a part, more for it's background than a specific role in the plot. Here's more links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whittingham_Hospital

This link covers more of the alleged abuse: http://www.whittinghamhospital.co.uk/The_Inquiry.html

And some more info: http://www.jarrelook.co.uk/Urbex/Whittingham%20Asylum/Whittingham.htm

Finally here's some stuff about our serial killer:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Brudos

http://murderpedia.org/male.B/b/brudos-jerome.htm

http://crime.about.com/od/serial/a/jerry_brudos.htm

There's lots, lots more about all of this on the internet if you look for it. But having just had another look at the Jerry Brudos info I'm not sure my book is gruesome enough. Dark times.

Anyway, that's all for now. Have a look at the info, then read the book, it'll give you more perspective on the plot.

Night...