New Website. Out with the old, in with the new...

Hi all,

This is my final post on this blog. In case you've missed it, over the past few months I have completely rebranded everything to do with my books. They all have new professionally designed covers, they are available on all ebook formats and in paperback. I have branding across all my social media including Instagram, Pinterest as well as Facebook and Twitter.

I also have a brand new website which features the option to buy all my books. I hope you'll have a look and agree it's been worth the effort.

https://jamiesinclairblog.wordpress.com/

Have you missed me?

Boom! And just like that he's back. Bigger, better, stronger, even more determined than before to unleash wave after wave of literary awesomeness upon the world.

God knows who that is. Me? Nah. I'm just chillin.

Currently I'm listening to the new album by the Charlatans. On gold coloured vinyl. I have a signed copy. The album isn't released until tomorrow. Benefits of having a thoughtful wife. Buy a copy, it's very good.

And what, you might wonder, have I been doing in the three months since my last blog post? Well, mooching mainly. Much as I enjoy the blog, it doesn't actually generate anything in terms of significant book sales. Case in point, in November and December I had my highest sales of the year. My last blog post was 8th October. So, what little promo I have done has been via FB and Twitter. It keeps things ticking along with essentially zero effort.

I do have a new book finished. Yay! I've edited half of it as of today and hope to release it mid February. It's a huge departure from my usual stuff. For a start it's not a detective, crime type thriller. It doesn't feature any of my previous characters and it's entirely in the first person, Catcher in the Rye style. That's been quite the challenge.

It's a confession in essence. The story is the killer telling the reader about what happened, how it happened and the aftermath of that. We learn how that single event impacted on his life, his relationships, everything. He's not asking for sympathy, or even understanding, he just needs to tell someone because he can't live with the weight of his guilt anymore. It's powerful stuff but you'll hear more about it when it's launch time.

By the way, if you fancy reviewing it pre-release, drop me an email (or even better tweet me or get in touch via FB) and I'll add you to the list. I'll send everyone a free copy and in return you leave a bloody awesome review. I've no interest in handing out freebies only for you to say you weren't keen so if you don't like it, say nowt!

In other news, well too much has happened to fill you in on three months. Dog nearly died over Christmas but he's okay now. Cost a fortune! Swine. Me old man's been a bit under the weather too, if you can call a heart defect under the weather. Needless to say I've got that to look forward to when I'm old. Still, I plan on being wealthy so that'll help. Work's just work though the wife has joined the firm which I like.

By the way, we've got a house to rent out if anyone's near Lancaster and wants somewhere to live. Needless to say, you can see it in that rather obviously link.

Other than that, everything's the same. Liverpool seemed to have turned the corner in the league which is nice. Some unprecedented upsets in the FA Cup yesterday but that's what makes it exciting. Oh, and we're thinking of getting a fake lawn. Neither of us has any interest in grass. It's a pain to mow, get's muddy in the winter and is not remotely dog proof. We have samples on the way to look at and then it's just a case of getting it installed. We're all quite excited about that.

And that's it. Blog post complete. Nice to be back. For those of you interested in such things one of my books is going to be free tomorrow until the middle of the week. It's my crime thriller sequel, Ballroom, Bars and Seawater Baths. Links below, spread the word.

UK Kindle Version
US Kindle Version

My book is a bestseller!

Evening gang,

So, two posts in as many nights. And there you all were thinking I wasn't bothered.

Big news. Turns out I've sold a few books today. Enough to sneak into the top 100 crime books on Amazon. I was at number 92 at lunch. Fell to 96 my teatime, now I'm at number 86 and well pleased with that as an end to the day. Here's a handy screenshot.

So, spread the word. I'd like to make this last as long as possible before I fall back into the herd. Thanks to all those who have purchased a copy today and over the weekend, I do appreciate it. Needless to say I'm all set for the odd harsh review. But all my blog posts, Goodreads posts, Facebook posts and so on, make it very clear what the book is about. So if you don't want to read about women being attacked and murdered in a garage then buy another book. But that's one plot thread. And it's a true thread, as I've said many times. Besides, worse things happen every day on the news, sadly.

Anyway, if you've paid for a copy, I hope you like it. If not, shame, try one of my other books, there's something for everyone.

Right, I'd best get my head down. Busy day spending the tax payers money tomorrow.

Where have you been?

Evening gang,

Remember me? It's been 2 months since I last posted anything to this blog. Time flies when you're busy as a bloke who is busy.

First off, I notice that this blog has now attracted well over 14,000 views, visits, call it what you will. For that I'm grateful as I am prone to ramble and, lately, vanish.

Since my last post the new football season has begun and Liverpool are finding life difficult without Suarez. Meanwhile Man Utd seem to be winning while being awful. Still, early days yet. In Brendan we trust. For now.

So, what have I been up to all this time? Well, plenty, but equally I've been consciously trying less hard, putting less pressure on myself to deliver. I've ticked most of the boxes I needed to for the year so I've eased off. My job's sorted i.e. permanent. A lot less cash, but nothing I can't work with. Plus there are currently quite a few jobs out there like mine and they all pay well. I've just applied for one actually so we'll see. But I'm easy either way.

The wife is also in the job market as part of her ongoing reinvention. I'm not ashamed to say I tend to treat her as a long term investment. Had a few crap months but you stick with it and then... well, let's just say I'm starting to reap the rewards and that she's progressing nicely.

We've bought another couple of houses as part of our fledgling buy to let business and next year should see that start to deliver real profits which should be exciting. Been bloody hard work though which I'll remind people when I'm an idle millionaire and they think I fell into my cash.

We've also been on our first break since we bought our dog - 18 months ago. Only to York, but it was excellent. I went big on the hotel, as you'd expect from me, and we spent enough in 48 hours to cover a long weekend abroad. But it was superb. Hopefully, now we know we can safely leave the dog, we can get back to our old ways of trekking about all over the place.

So, where does that leave the writing then? Well, on the back burner a bit. FEAR is still ongoing and should still be out this year. But I'm not going to rush it and have tweaked it several times. But, I have entered it in the northern crime competition just to show I'm making the effort. Also, I've just finished a free giveaway for The Trust. It was downloaded 3900 times over the weekend which is no bad thing. I also made half decent royalties last month too.

Quick story. The thing that prompted the giveaway was a review I received for The 24 Hour Jazz Café while in York. It was a scathing 1 star review which basically said the book was nothing but an excuse for violent sex and murder. Now, if they'd said that about The Trust I could kind of get it. But the Jazz Café is primarily about two mates running a jazz club who accidentally get drawn into a murky world. There is one scene in the whole book where a prostitute is violently abused and left for dead. The scene is telegraphed very obviously and, because it's a book, you are free to skip past any bits you don't like. Either way, that 1 star review had a hefty impact on the overall rating of the book which, until then, had only received 4 and 5 star feedback. I hope the clown who dismissed the jazz café grabbed a free copy of The Trust. It gets nasty from page 4 and goes downhill from there.

Rant over.

In other news, my fantasy author chum Frion Farrell has her new book out at the end of this week. Her debut was a winner so keep your eyes peeled if fantasy is your bag.

Finally, we had the house decorated while we were in York. Ace to come home and find it done. We had a surveyor booked to come the same afternoon which didn't hurt. Long story short, they valued the house 40 grand over what we paid for it 5 years ago. Means nothing in terms of selling it, but means lots in terms of taking equity from it to buy houses. A very good day indeed and a wicked investment.

Right, that's it for now. I'll try to make more effort but there's lots going on. All my books still available, if you're classy buy the paperback.

Hot paperback action

Evening,

Super quick post just to say I got my copy of the new version of The 24 Hour Jazz Café in paperback today. It's really, really nice. I reckon it looks as near to professional as it's gonna get without someone like Random House doing it. New matte cover, cream pages, smaller than the original, top drawer.

I don't generally push the paperbacks but if you've got about £8 burning a hole in your pocket, spend it on my book. I've attached a handy pic below. And tell people! Saves me the bother.

Want to read extracts of my new book?

Afternoon,

Apparently there are still people in the world who don't "do" Facebook, twitter, instagram or any of the other widely accepted social media sites/apps.

For these people I maintain this blog. Interesting that these people have broadband yet don't want to be "social". You have to wonder what they're up to on the internet?

Anyway, I've added a revised opening to my upcoming first person novel FEAR to Wattpad for folk to have a read of. The link has been shared on the usual social media outlets. For everyone else, it's here.

Enjoy.

Have you been watching the commonwealth games?

Hi gang,

I have, just a bit this week because I'm off work. It's been top notch. Tonight being a case in point. Men's 800m was top drawer, 200m also really good.

I've also been to Chester today to see a mate and his wife. Always good, nice lunch, few ales, wander round, can't go wrong. Went to see the play in the park earlier in the week too. Hansel and Gretel. Very well staged, well lit, great sound etc. The actual material felt a bit light to me, lot of noise but not a lot of content, but a good spectacle none the less.

Just as an aside, I was reading a review of A Streetcar Named Desire which has just opened in London. Apparently Gillian Anderson gives a career defining performance. I was reading this at 3:30 this morning and I'd had a bit to drink, shocker! Anyway, I booked tickets to see it when they do the NT Live broadcast in September. It's only £13 a ticket and an ace way to see live theatre if you can't be arsed to take time off work to trek to London. I woke the wife up to tell her. She wasn't thrilled at the time.

Mind you, I wasn't delighted when she dragged me out of bed at half 9 this morning to go to Chester. I soon rallied once we'd stopped at the services for a brew and sausage bun. Once we walked to the lunch spot in Chester I was all set for a couple of ales.

Other news - I've been shortlisted for interview for the job I'm currently doing. I have mixed feelings about it which I won't bore you with here.

So, book news? Well, the new, shiny version of The 24 Hour Jazz Café was released yesterday. The Kindle version is available now, the paperback will be out any day - just depends how fast Amazon do their bit. What's new about it? Primarily I wanted to tweak the paperback. So the cover is now matt, the pages are now cream and it's totally reformatted so it's a hundred pages shorter. But as I was doing this I rewrote bits too. It's now about 2000 words longer, plenty of scenes have more detail and some plot points are tighter and better explained than before. As a result I decided to relaunch the kindle version too.

FEAR is progressing well, I'm not killing myself to get it done though. I'm submitting the first 3000 words of it to a competition in August, along with 3000 words of the new jazz café. Can't hurt. I've also sent an extract of the new jazz café to an agent, just for kicks. In the morning I will also be submitting the new jazz café to the Guardian book of the month competition. Again, no harm in trying.

So that's about it. Lot's going on as ever. Could live without the huge pay cut coming my way shortly but such is life. On the plus side we've just bought two more houses as part of our Buy To Let project which means we have three. Safe as houses.

Right, ale, Tele, early bed since I've only had 5 hours kip.

Was that you I saw in the paper?

Afternoon groovers,

Just a quick update for the three people on the planet who either don't buy a newspaper, use Facebook or have a Twitter account.

This week I'm in both the Lancaster Guardian and the Morecambe Visitor. Least they could do since I mention both in my books.

Anyway, it's a decent sized piece in the real paper, and not a bad article online either. I've included a link to both sites for no other reason than I can. If you're local to Morecambe and Lancaster best to buy a real copy then you can keep it.

I suspect the same article might well appear in the work newsletter tomorrow too. So no downside, unless you take offence at my light hearted comment about some of the folk who live in Morecambe. In my defence, I was likely drunk when the interview took place as it was on a work day.

http://www.lancasterguardian.co.uk/what-s-on/book-club/crime-thriller-set-in-lancaster-1-6699385

http://www.thevisitor.co.uk/what-s-on/book-club/crime-thriller-set-in-lancaster-1-6699385

Will it lead to increased sales? Shouldn't think so, but it's nice that the local press are being so supportive.

Is it better to admit defeat?

Evening gang,

Been awhile - again. Looks like that's going to be the way of things from now, there just aren't the hours in the day.

On the plus side I've finished the new edition of The 24 Hour Jazz Café. Just the new cover to work on and then I'll launch it. Woo etc.

Struggling a bit with the editing of FEAR but only because it's quite a complex plot and I need to concentrate and I exist in a state of permanent weariness. I will, as ever, stick at it. But since I've got one eye on doing some submissions in the next month or two I might throw what time I do have at my new book, the third jazz café novel, and see how that pans out.

Side projects starting to take shape. Had a meeting with financial advisor and it turns out we have a few options regarding finance for Project Slumlord (which is the fun name we've chosen for our Buy To Let adventure). 1st step is to talk to bank on Monday and then hopefully we can crack on. One thing I have learned is that I won't be using Ratcliffe and Bibby to manage any future properties. Frig useless. It will be July on Tuesday and I am yet to receive last month's rent. I emailed them last week, no reply, rang them Thursday only to be promised someone would call me back. It's now Saturday night and nothing. So to recap - R&B estates. Crap. Feel free to show this to them, it might get them to pull their finger out. Bear in mind I am paying them for this awesome service, as well as covering the mortgagee myself since I'm not getting the rent. Good job I've got pots of cash!

Speaking of which, had tidy Birthday. Pressies from wife on way, spent the day shopping in Manchester where we did some damage. Wife got a Mulberry bag though so it's all smiles. Also got a couple of cards from work which I always find a bit odd, as well as a pressie.

Dog's driving me mental, wildly time consuming. But of course that could be fixed by working less hours - hence my drive to get Project Slumlord off the ground.

Finally, how awesome is the World Cup? One of best ones in my lifetime. Wimbledon also shaping up nicely with Federer playing great so far.

Tomorrow's plan - get a Rug Doctor to clean carpets. Dog related grime. Then wife related mooching.
It's her birthday on Monday so we're going to empty a flash bottle of champagne tomorrow night and try not to be grumpy.

Did I mention I was invited to go talk to a local writing group? I went a few weeks ago. They were all essentially concerned with how they could get their work published. I was very patient but the simple answer is to look on the internet and put in vast amounts of hours like I do. Can't see many of them putting in 18 hour days every day just to get a book out though. Bless.

Which leads me to the title of this blog. I have been pondering making these books my last ones, at least for the foreseeable future. I struggle to find time to write and when I do I'm rarely happy with the results and that's before I promote it, do this blog etc. Since plan A (quit work) isn't feasible, then the only way to have more free time is not to write. I can become another one of the millions of retired folk who then decide to be writers. Then again, I could shoot myself.

Still, Old Ma Sinclair didn't raise quitters. She raised over confident, mouthy alcoholics so we shall see. I've got two finished books to play with which will see me to the end of this year. After that....* shrugs and finishes brew*

Until next time...

Bigger, better and stronger

Morning folks,

First off, apologies for the lack of activity over the last few weeks. But I've been busy.

I abandoned all promo aside from three book events I did locally which were a nice distraction and have led to other things.

So, what have I been doing?

Well, writing. In the last six weeks, almost to the day, I have written the first draft of the third jazz café novel. 86,000 words, six weeks, done. I've surprised myself but this story just wanted to be told. It's been a bit of a blur, lots of late nights, hazy days but constant typing.

Somehow, in that time, I managed to get my contract at work extended and still sell a few books. The book events went well though by Friday last week I felt pretty ill. 7 hour meting Thursday, straight out to book event, take away tea and then bed. Then meetings all day Friday, straight out to another book event, take away tea, bed. Felt like death.

But I've been asked to go and talk to the writing group at Heysham library this month, as well as a weekend event with Frion Farrell in Morecambe and also I'm in talks with the Dukes in Lancaster about an event there. So busy busy.

Meanwhile, I have another book finished. I'm going to let it sit for a while, it needs work of course but the words are there to play with now and the plot is strong.

So no plans to do anything but promo for now, then reformat some existing paperbacks, finish editing FEAR and then after that return to the draft of the new book with a view to submitting it to the Northern Crime Competition in August.

But for now, since I'm knackered and I have a meeting in Blackpool in seven hours, I'd best take an ale to bed and read for while, and then grab a few hours kip so I can drive in a straight line.

It's going well. But you have to work for it!

Is it worth investing in yourself?

Evening gang,

Regulars will know I've spent a few quid on myself this year so far in the interests of promotion and selling more books. Some have worked quite well, some have ben utter crap. But I'll be sticking at it.

I'm just having a discussion with a musician mate of mine who invests hundreds, maybe even thousands of pounds in himself in terms of mastering his music, PR etc. Compared to the few pounds I've spent it's a big deal so I'm left wondering if I should really throw money at my books, invest in some proper promo etc and see what happens. As ever my big concern is that working full time will get in the way and I won't be able to take full advantage of it.

In other news the latest book is pouring out of me. Cleared the 17,000 word mark earlier. I imagine I'll get beyond 20,000 before work on Monday and then I suspect things will slow right down again. Can't be helped. The good thing is it's taken me less than two weeks to write all that and it's pretty good. I haven't done any promo or any editing of my other book, but it's been worth it to get the new material out. I've got a pretty clear idea where the various plot threads are going, although there are always random tangents which make it fun, so hopefully I can keep plodding even while at work.

Mind you, if I'm not successful in applying for the upcoming job, or I just don't apply, I'll be back in my old job by the end of June, so I'll have all the time I need to finish the book. Silver lining to the harsh reality of the pay cut.

Anyway, if you could spread the word that my other books are still available that would be super. It's also worth mentioning that I'll be doing 3 appearances in Morecambe at the end of this month. I'll be sending the posters out shortly, so I'll post one on here when it's done. If you want a book signed, or just want to talk to me about writing, or anything else, come along.  I'll post times and venues nearer the time .

Right, quick brew break and then perhaps another hour on the novel before we start the evening session.

What do you do with time off work?

Afternoon folks,

I'm having a few days off work. Why? No reason other than I now have 10 years service in the NHS. Never imagined that would happen. As a reward they give you 4 extra days holiday so I thought why not?

So what have I done? Well I've written 2000 words of my new novel today so that's good. Other than that, stayed in bed until lunchtime, had a fried egg sandwich (epic), listened to The Stone Roses album three times and played with the dog. All better than working.

I've been avoiding the promo lately as you'll have noticed. It's just so bloody time consuming. My books are still selling, lower numbers but still selling. I'll get back on the horse over the weekend, maybe. But it's lovely to be writing again, all pretty effortless so far too.

Did everyone have a good Bank Holiday? Non UK readers don't need to answer. I did. A mate came to stay so we headed into town for the first time in forever. Much drink was taken, burritos eaten, buskers talked to, their dogs stroked, pizzas and kebabs purchased. The wife was on entertaining form and my mate and I stayed up until 4AM listening to vinyl and pondering life.

Then, the next night, we did it again. Good times. Unfortunately I have spent all but £90 of this month's wages and it's three weeks until pay day. Ho hum. As an example of how I live, the wife and I went into town for lunch. It started to rain and I was only wearing a polo shirt. So instead of turning back I simply bought a jacket. This is why I don't haver any money. Those who know me will not be surprised.

I'm not going to mention Liverpool, or what happened at Crystal Palace other than to say, we've over performed and come up short right at the very end. Hope and expectation can be very cruel but it's been a stunning season. It's a strange feeling to be top of the table with just one game to go and feel dejected and disappointed, but there we are. That's enough of that.

On the job front the firm has finally found some funds to employ me permanently. As ever there's a hurdle. The job will be advertised, I'll have to apply etc etc. The twist being if they don't pick me I'll have no choice but to sod off back to my old job because the new person will be sitting in my chair. Swine. There is also a question over how much the salary will be. I suspect not as much as I get now which might end up being a factor. Either way, I'm told that when I return to work next week the ole will be advertised. We shall see.

Right, that's all for now. All books still available so spread the word.

Why does vinyl feel different?

Evening groovers,

Big news. I have finally pulled out my finger and replaced the belt on my record player. Best money I've spent in a year, easily. The belt arrived today, I fitted it tonight and since then have spent the evening listening to utterly fabulous music on vinyl.

I started with some Van Morrison (Astral Weeks), The Band, Exile on Main Street. If you're not familiar with vinyl, or you're just young and never heard of it do yourself a favour. Save up, buy the best speakers you can afford, an amp, a turntable and some records. Then let me know what you think of Mp3 afterwards.

Don't get me wrong, I've got a networked drive filled with Mp3, wireless headphones, an SD card in my car and I download most of my music off Amazon and long since sold all my compact discs (aside from the ones with sentimental value). But tonight I've listened to records and it's inspired me, moved me, made me feel something. I actually did some writing tonight because of it. I could happily stay up all night listening to music. I might yet. It's Friday tomorrow. I'll be tired. So what?

I don't know why vinyl is different, it's been debated for decades. But it is different. Somehow more immediate. You feel more connected to the band, the song, the music. I don't know. But it's bloody powerful.

Anyway, how's things? I've not done much promo this month because I've been trying to write. The new book will hopefully be done, a draft anyway, by mid May. I've even booked a few days off week after next. Glad I did now. Days of vinyl and writing. That'll do.

I've sold 130 books this month so far which I can't grumble at since I've done sod all to push them and I've been busy as all hell with work. Plus I've got viewings booked this weekend for another property to expand the empire. God knows how I'm gonna fund that.

Busy weekend in prospect too. Out to the theatre Saturday night then drinks. Lunch out Sunday and record shopping but must, must, must be back for the football to watch Liverpool beat Chelsea and place one hand firmly on the league title for the first time in 24 years. Tears might well be shed at the end of the season. I'm big enough and happy enough to admit to it.,

I've also written a handful of pages on the third jazz café novel and I have 3 events booked at the end of May which I'll Tel you about nearer the time.

Finally, I might have mentioned this. The wife and I bought two new cars. Aside from being full of kit and super to drive, they are very, very fuel efficient. Mine is delivering almost 700 miles on a tank of fuel. For no road tax! Ace.

Right, I've got to turn the record over and get another ale.

Night.

How hard is it to get to number 1?

Evening gang.

As you hopefully know I'm running a couple of promos at the moment, centred on making a dent in the American market. As of the last screenshot I took my new book Ballroom, Bars and Seawater Baths was hovering around the top 20 in America for freebies while the Jazz Café was loitering in the top 10,000 for paid sales. It shifted 17 copies there just this afternoon which is quite the record for me.

But that begs the question, just how much effort does one have to make to grab the much coveted number 1 spot? God knows is my rather feeble answer but I'll stick at it.

Just been watching Bad Santa by the way. Awesome film. Always makes me laugh. It's Billy Bob Thornton. The man really can deliver a line and has a natural ability to do the slap stick stuff too. Love it.

Right, I'm off to promote myself on a couple of websites for half an hour and then treat myself to some Xbox and ale. First full day with the new car today. Wife took hers up the motorway to Kendal. I sat in a local car park playing with the stereo and various menus. Each to their own. I also took it for a drive along the prom, staring at the fuel consumption. I like to live right on the edge.

And then, tomorrow, it's Liverpool. I've talked enough about that lately. Suffice to say that Man City and Chelsea both won today so there's only one result that will do tomorrow. Dare to believe.

Now please download one of my books if you haven't already. The new one's free for Goodness sake.

Night

Are you brave enough to jump off the treadmill?

Morning gang,

Bit grumpy this morning since the dog woke me up barking like he'd been stabbed at half 9. I get up early all week for bloody work so I value Saturday's to simply slump in bed, stewing until lunch when I get up and slump on the couch watching football until bed time. I know, I know, I'm 37 and I should get a grip. Bottom line is, I don't want to get a grip, I want to stay in bed.

An online friend of mine, Stuart Ayris, has recently made the decision to back himself as a writer, reducing his hours etc. He has also registered himself as self employed as a writer and is hoping to make a real go of it i.e. make money from books.

It's something I think about each and every day and I'm in a better position than most to do it. Wife has a great job, my family has a few quid should I fail, we've no kids etc. Yet I've got to 37 and still work full time, quietly moaning away that I'd rather be writing. Not sure what's stopping me. Fear of failure most likely. Fear that I won't get a decent job, or any job, if I have to go back to work later. Fear that my books aren't actually good enough when I remove the excuse of working full time as a reason for why I can't spend more time polishing them.

So, for now, nothing changes. What will make the decision easier is to consistently make money. I reckon if I could make a minimum of £1000/month from book sales I could work part time. I'd have to adapt the lifestyle a little but I could manage on about £2000/month as long as the wife was working. Last month I made £350 from book sales. Not bad? But clearly not enough. In real terms that £350 covered my half of the mortgagee for the house we live in. Which still left bills, taxes, car payments, groceries, mortgagee on second property etc etc etc. So I'm as far away as Arsenal are from winning the league! Ha.

So instead of moping I'm going to try a bit harder. Right now, RIGHT THIS MINUTE by new book Ballroom, Bars and Seawater Baths is free on Kindle. So stop reading this and get to Amazon and grab a copy. Read it, review it, buy more of my books. It's time to build momentum.

Also, MORE PROMO OFFERS, the first book in the series The 24 Hour Jazz Café, is just $0.99/77p this weekend and will be listed via Book Gorilla today. So if you subscribe to them, grab your copy of my book today!!!

In other news, the dog's ear is fine. Cone is off, stitches still to dissolve but essentially he's okay. New cars are lovely. Wife is thrilled with hers. I'm well pleased with mine, really like the interior and the wealth of features. No handbrake is hard to get used to, as is the adaptive cruise control. I'm used to driving the car myself, not trusting the vehicle to do everything itself. Still, it's got a cracking stereo so I can always sit back and listen to music while it drives me about.

And finally to Liverpool. I've thought about little else all week. Another must win game tomorrow at West Ham and we stay top. 24 years folks. It's big stuff and if it happens I'm man enough to admit there might well be tears shed. Brendan has made us all believe. Now he just has to drag all of us, the team, the city, the global fanbase, over the finish line all by himself. If he does it, I suspect they'll talk about him like they talk about Shankly.

Do you want another free book? Can Liverpool win the title?

Evening gang,

Been a busy time. First off this blog has been viewed over 12,000 times. Big deal indeed.
As we reach the point where Amazon reset the sales counters for April, I can report my books have been downloaded over 4500 times this month. Of these approx. 300 are real paid for sales which had left me with royalties of well over £250 for the month. Not life changing but a big deal to me.

Of these profits and the sales, the vast, overwhelming majority of books sold is The Trust. Why? No idea. Am I pleased? What do you think?

The book signing went really well. Sold 13 books, all signed, did a reading, people clapped and stayed for the full 2 hours. On the back of it I've booked 3 more events in late May over three consecutive nights. Woo! Details to follow.

The weekend was fun. The wife and I bought two new cars. VW Golf. Quick way to spend 40 grand. Still, she's happy. Then on Sunday I went to Anfield to watch my beloved Liverpool go top of the league by demolishing Spurs. Bottom line is this. Six games to go. Win them, win the league for the first time in a quarter of a century. It's consuming me and I might well cry like a girl if it happens.

Finally, since the last promo delivered such tangible results I'm doing another. From this Friday (4th April) my new book Ballroom, Bars and Seawater Baths will be FREE for the weekend. Tell your friends, get a copy and review it.

Bed time.

Supporting local animal charities

Evening,

If you read this blog, or follow me on FB and Twitter you'll know my dog Ralph was hurt today. He's lost part of his right ear and is spending the night at the vets. The wife is beside herself and we're both missing him being here. But he's lucky because we can afford the bills and the time to look after him.

Plenty of dogs, and other animals, aren't so lucky. So for the next 7 days (at least) I'm donating all proceeds from my book sales to two charities local to where I live. Their websites are:

http://www.wolfwood.co.uk/

http://www.animalcare-lancaster.co.uk/

I do this for no other reason than I'm worried about my dog and this will make me feel better. If you'd rather not play along then just have a look at a dog charity near you and donate to them, simple as.

Either way, just so folk don't misinterpret this, I'm not going to post about it again. Either way, I'll donate what there is in the pot, and if it goes well I might just keep doing it. Whatever, have a look at the websites, your next dog might be on there waiting for you.

Ta

LIke a scene from a Scorcese movie

Afternoon gang,

So today began in perfect fashion. Stayed in bed until mid morning, full English breakfast, wife made fish pie for tea. All good.

Sales still superb for The Trust, royalties on way too and it's a decent sum too, for the first time ever.

The sun is shining so we took the dog to an off the lead walking area in nearby Heysham to let him run round. He was having a great time, playing with a few other dogs, all good. Then we got to a pond where a chap was with his dog. He warned us all that his dog wasn't friendly so I and the other dog owners started trying to get hold of our dogs. At that point I heard our dog yelp and run off. Long story short we ended up at the vets with the wife in tears. I think the photos sum it up.

Anyway, Ralph is totally fine. He wanted to keep playing with his other dog chums but as you can see there was a lot of blood. The vet has just rung to say he's come round from the operation. They've trimmed and stitched his ear and we can pick him up tomorrow. Given that it's Sunday, operation and overnight, this is going to cost a fortune. But could be worse.

Luckily this week's royalty will take a chunk out of the bill so extra thanks to everyone who has bought a copy, good timing!! Sadly I'd just got a quote for new Mercedes so I think that might have to wait until next month unless the book sales really take off.

Either way, it's been an eventful day. People do tend to steer clear of you when you're walking down the street with a dog covered in blood while you are also covered in blood.

What's the secret to successful book sales?

Morning gang,

The sun is shining here at HB Towers and the view across the bay is a reminder of why the houses here are so damned expensive. Today's' plan, after the Full English breakfast which the wife is preparing as I type this, is to take the dog for a tour of a doggy day care facility nearby. If he like it, we'll be leaving him there for a couple of days next week. If he hates, we might take him anyway.

After that, depending on the mood, we are going to test drive a couple of cars with a view to getting two new ones. We're just pondering the adult sensible option of getting two average, but well though of Fords, or chucking logic out of the window and me buying a Mercedes or an audi. The wife is being very patient as she knows I am essentially still a child and don't really understand that we might need the money for other things later on.

I want to be home by tea time because Federer is playing tennis today and you know how I like to watch Roger.

Quick blog update. As of today this blog has received 11786 views which is nice. It's only got about 33 subscribers though so there's work to be done.

As part of a project to relaunch all my paperbacks - I want them all to look the same i.e. be recognisable as my books - I have reformatted The Trust and decided to ponder a new cover, which is below. Do we like? The wife prefers the existing cover.

 Speaking of The Trust, it continues to amaze me. I woke up this morning to find it had climbed to number 14 in the crime thriller best seller chart on Amazon. If you follow me on FB and Twitter you'll be sick of the continuous and very excited posts about chart positions, accompanied by screenshots. But as I've said before, I've never sold this many copies of one book in such a short time so it's huge for me.

I've had a few days to reflect on this and decided there is no formula to it. The Trust has been available since Feb 2013. It generally sells a few copies each month as do all my books. I've done free promos before, you get a few hundred downloads, a small sales spike afterwards and then back to normal. So when I decided to do a promo for The Trust last week that's all I was expecting. But then it was downloaded over 4000 times in two days and went to number one in three countries. That was different.

Then the sales spike. Nothing in America. That's a bit different because I'd expect to see a few sales. But in the UK I did shift a few which was normal. Then a few more, and now, almost a week on the spike continues. That's not normal. I think a lot of it is down to visibility, though I'm guessing as I don't buy digital books. Since the book managed to get into the top 20 it has become more visible. Amazon display their best seller lists 20 per page. Most folk don't look beyond page 1. The people buying The Trust don't know me, and they only have the front cover and the blurb to go off before buying. But it's on the first page so that immediately tells a reader that plenty of other folk much be buying that book so it must be good, right?

I don't know. As I say this is new territory and I know enough writers to know that if we could figure out the formula for success we wouldn't all have day jobs.

As a test of this latest formula, when sales have levelled off a bit, and they will, I'm going to do a free promo for my new book Ballroom, Bars and Seawater Baths. It'll either take off or it won't.

Right, best crack on, breakfast is ready, the wife is also making a fish pie for tea!!!

How do you know when you've achieved success?

Morning all,

Staying up late tonight despite being shattered. I'm off work for a week so I intend to make the most of it. Stay up late, drink ale, watch sport, sleep until lunchtime.

Sport - Fevered is continuing his awesome 2014 with some great tennis in Miami. If it looks like he might be gonna get anywhere near winning Wimbledon I'll gladly pay foolish amounts of money to get a ticket. Foolish amounts!!

Car news. Wife and I been pondering a second car, a new car, some sort of car related purchase for a while. Finally got quote from Ford and have booked a test drive next week. But, being an idiot, I've also got a quote for a Mercedes C250 AMG Sport. We shall see.

Also, confirmed date for tenant to move into house. Apologies if I've mentioned that before, there's lots going on. April 10th!

Now, book news. Regular readers will know that, for some reason, my crime thriller The Trust is selling well. In fact as of this evening it is outselling the mighty James Patterson on Amazon. In fact, it's in the top 1000 best selling books overall on Amazon. In Crime thrillers it's at number 19 which means it's on the much desired first page of results. Check this out:

#19 in Kindle Store > Books > Crime, Thriller & Mystery > Thrillers > Crime
#35 in Kindle Store > Books > Crime, Thriller & Mystery > Mystery > Police Procedural
#40 in Books > Crime, Thrillers & Mystery > Police Procedurals
All very pleasing, even more surprising. It won't last but I'll enjoy it while it does.

Night, and thanks to everyone (and there's a lot of you) who has bought copies. If you have a paperback, bring it to the signing next week and I'll scribble on it for you.