Fancy reading my new book on Wattpad?

Evening all,

Short one tonight. First off, Chelsea looking like they might have a finger or two on the premier league title. Liverpool realistically need to win every remaining game and still need Chelsea to slip up. Huge ask. But of course it's Liverpool so we dare to believe.

Anyway, the book signing approaches at pace so I've been editing the paperback today. Very nearly there. If you want to know more about it, meet me and have a free cake, then I'll see you at the Headway Hotel on the 29th.

If crime thrillers written by blokes aren't you're bag, then how about fantasy written by a woman? Frion Farrell will be my companion on the day, reading from her debut novel and generally making sure all goes well.

Finally, Wattpad. I've just added another 3000 word chunk of my upcoming novel FEAR to Wattpad for you read for free. If you've not been to the site before, the first two chunks are there too. Hope you enjoy, it's nothing like any of my other books. I'm diverse like that.

Right, that's it for tonight. No more writing, promo or anything. I will now be drinking ale and watching films and dabbling on the Xbox until the small hours.

Did you know it's World Book Day?

Evening gang,

Chances are, if you've got kids you know all about it because they went to school dressed as characters from books today.

There's no downside to it, anything that gets kids into books and reading has got to be good. One really good aspect is that the kids get a book token to redeem against one of the World Book Day books.

In a shameless effort to piggy back on this idea, I'm offering free copies of one of my books. The 24 Hour Jazz Café is currently available for free over at Story Cartel. If you leave a review you might also win a $10 Amazon gift card which you could redeem on books!! You see what I did there?

So, free book. That's the deal.

In other news Frion Farrell and I have had our first planning meeting for our upcoming book signing event. It will take place between 10 and 12 on Saturday 29th March at the Headway Hotel on Morecambe promenade. We're going to be reading from our books, talking about them and how we used Morecambe and the surrounding area as the setting. We will also answer any questions you might have.

It's a free event and we're even throwing in coffee and cake in the hope people will feel obligated to buy a book or two. Spread the word. We're having a banner, posters, the lot. When the design is ready to go to the printers I'll upload it here as well. Woo!

Can we start to dream now?

Evening gang,

I ask this question just as Liverpool score their second goal. A goal which will likely see them jump to second in the Premier League, just four points behind Chelsea. There are ten games left to play, Chelsea have to visit Anfield. But Liverpool lack depth of squad, have no experience of winning the league, Chelsea have all of the above.

So, in terms of the league, I'm not quite allowing myself to believe, yet that Liverpool can win the title. Champions League spot? Nailed on now. Just keep ticking off the games, and we'll see. But God it's exciting.

In other sports news. Federer, remember him? My favourite tennis player, bit old now? Well he beat Djokovic to get to the final in Dubai and then, this afternoon, he won that final. Big stuff indeed.

Which brings me to my writing. I've started more aggressive promotion this year, backing myself by spending money on promotion. I think I've done as much as I can for free with Facebook, Twitter, this blog etc. If I want to sell a lot of books, especially in America, I need to outlay some cash.

My first effort, a very cheap Kindleboards promo, was crap. 1 sale, not worth the effort. So, the new plan is to build reviews, as many as I can. This will open up other promo options that rely on volume of reviews. Story Cartel seems popular and seems to deliver. It's also pretty cheap just in case it doesn't work.

Bottom line, for $30 dollars they offer my book for free, those who want a copy have to leave an email address so I can contact them (with more promo stuff) and, if they leave a review, they get entered into a prize draw to get a $10 Amazon gift card. Fingers crossed. I've started with The 24 Hour Jazz Café. If it works, I'll add my other books.

I've also got in excess of 56,000 words of the next book written so that's a bonus. I'll be lobbing that online shortly.

Anyway, I'd best get back to the football. Spread the word, free book, Story Cartel.

Do you want a Free copy of my book?

Hopefully the answer is yes. As part of a promotion I'm running at Story Cartel, you can have a free copy of my very tidy crime thriller The 24 Hour Jazz Cafe. The deal? You review it. The incentive? American readers are entered into a prize draw to win one of three $10 amazon gift cards. Woo!! Here's the link...

http://storycartel.com/books/914/the-24-hour-jazz-cafe/

The aim of this is to increase reviews of the book which will enable me to promote the bookin other ways, all with a view to increasing sales. So crack on. It's free!!

http://storycartel.com/books/914/the-24-hour-jazz-cafe/

Do you pay for promotion?

Short answer...in this case yes.
Also a short post as I'm doing this via my mobile.

I've paid for my new book to be listed on the bargain books bit of Kindleboards today, Monday Feb 24th. Ballroom, Bars and Seawater Baths will appear on their Facebook, Twitter and Blog. As ever, tell everyone. Here are links.

http://kboards.blogspot.com/

https://www.facebook.com/kboards.com

http://twitter.com/kboards1

Wish me luck.

Are you brave enough to make big decisions?

Afternoon gang,

I've been doing a lot of pondering recently, hence the question posed above. As ever there's plenty going on but each thing is getting sorted in typical fashion. Face stuff head on and roll over it. We've been outlaying cash like we've been robbed so far this year. Vets bills, the roof, luxury set of Le Creuset pans which I admit we could have lived without but they are smart. It all adds up but it's all sorted.

Performance at work is okay, good enough that they've just extended my contract again until the summer. I've also got a job interview to work locally too which is giving me even more options. Less money, but enough money, and less travel.

I'm doing a book signing at the end of March and on the face of it, all is well.

And yet....

The bottom line is I'd rather work less and write more. A chap I know online, we're Facebook and Goodreads friends, called Stuart, is a writer. He sells lots more than me, but then he does seem to try a bit harder than me too in that he writes every night. He's so keen on the idea of making a living from writing that he's actively applying for lower paid jobs which will allow him more time to write. He's basically backing his own talent and drive to succeed. I admire him for it as it's something I've talked a lot about and never dared to do. It gets harder with each passing year as I earn more money and, on the face of it, have more to lose. But that little voice keeps whispering in my head, every day, you're a writer. It's all you want to do. So why are we sitting in this meeting talking about project x?

I'm regarded as decisive. I manage people, projects, I'm in charge of stuff, I sort stuff out. But when it comes to this I dance round it, have done for years. It is, I suspect, the source of all my frustration. But, here's the flipside, while I stay at work full time I get to moan about lack of time to write etc, while having plenty of cash and a very comfy life. But if I did quit, write full time, then it would come down to luck, talent etc. I'd have no excuse if I didn't succeed and then what would I do? It's a grim thought because I've never really failed at anything and I'm 37. I don't think I'd take it well.

And so we carry on. Work on Monday...

In other news, I've uploaded a cheeky promo video to YouTube for you to look at. Nothing spectacular. I just did it as a test to see how hard it was to do. If it generates traffic I'll doubtless make more use of it as a promo tool in the future. It's just a slideshow set to music at the moment but might be worth developing. I'm not short of ideas.

The paperback has been delayed for no other reason than I am unable to finish the cover because the Createspace website is currently not working. As soon as it's fixed I'll get it done, ten minute job. Book is re-formatted and re-edited and better than ever.

The paid for promo will be out on Monday. It's via Kindleboards with a view to lifting my American sales. I'll be pointing you towards it on the day.

Right, I brew time, hour on the Xbox and one eye on the football scores. Tonight and tomorrow, bit of writing (yay) on the new book FEAR. It's totally different to my other books, but awesome.

The reviews are in!

Okay, so I've opened with a lie. It's a review, singular. But it's a really good review. It's for my new book Ballroom, Bars and Seawater Baths and, as ever, I've pasted it in below to save you the effort of going to find it. Needless to say, it was accompanied by 5 stars on Amazon.

"This book is the sequel to The 24 Hour Jazz Café and again features Mitch and Rupert, the two childhood friends who now own the café. Mitch has some psychic abilities and is called in to help the local police, specifically Jane Harper, in her search for the murderer of a local man. Mitch, however, is out of contact. Even his best friends Rupert can't get in touch.

This story weaves gang rivalries and family feuds into a gripping plot. The main characters become real; Mitch the larger than life and slightly off-the-wall man affected by his childhood and his unusual abilities and Rupert, the man still grieving eighteen months after the death of his beloved Emily, the woman they both loved. A great sequel!"

So, bottom line, if you're reading this blog but haven't bought my book, what on earth is it that's stopping you parting with your cash? It's keenly priced, good review, ace title, tidy cover, tight plot. Go on, be brave, read my book. Be part of the gang.