Blowing My Own Trumpet (via someone else)

I suspect that crowing over great reviews on Amazon is a little like ‘liking’ your own comments on Facebook, but I have to share this one with you:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not your typical vampire story!, April 11, 2013
By Tammy Maas – See all my reviews
This review is from: Autotherapy (Kindle Edition)

Sakina Murdock delivers the entire package in this book; from realistic well developed characters to scientific evidence, she makes you believe in the unthinkable. The details in this book are amazing. A little town called Cumbria, located in the UK, comes to life on the pages; you can see it, smell it and practically touch it. This book will suck you in and spit you back out, making you feel as though you are being held hostage as you quickly turn the pages wanting to see what happens next.

Love it.

Interviewed again!

So today, as anyone who gets my Twitter feed will have realised, was my interview with Johnny Worthen, venerable author and gobshite of deepest Utah. It was fun seeing the questions he was asking, but hellfire, it was hard thinking up the answers.

I wished I could have been as smart-funny as Tammy Maas, and Erin Britt but t’was not to be. I do tend to panic when someone turns the spotlight on, and I even had to go through my entire book to work out who got killed, because I couldn’t be sure I’d remembered them all. Hardly spontaneous, but still fun.

It was very nice to be asked questions and not to be interrupted halfway through the response.

Thank you Johnny!

Me

Autotherapy Launches!

Never listen to anyone! Everyone loves a party, right?!

Autotherapy’s launch party was done proud by many of my long suffering friends, family, ex-colleagues, former bosses, and general lovely riff-raff. It was such an explosion of people, old and new. Totally blew me away.

Thank you all so much.

I got chocolates, flowers, and fabulous chutney, and the chance to graffiti my book lots of times!

Lessons Learned:
1. If you’re going to stand, learn to stand up straight and tall. Otherwise fat photos are all you’re gonna get.

2. There is NO more satisfying feeling than seeing a battered copy of your book, knowing it’s been read. Nothing comes close.

3. Can’t do witty comments on purpose.

Disasters Averted
Burst out of dress just as people were starting to arrive. Bloody strap broke. Could only happen to Sakina. Not a problem. Crippling indecision had sent me to the pub with two outfits. The ‘Diva in Hot Pink’ was my first choice anyway, it’s just a tad loud for a book launch. I stood out like a belisha beacon!
And no, I’m never usually that organised. Must have been sixth sense.

Pen ran out on the first signature, so someone kindly donated a pen. Hooray for the British Red Cross canvassers and their free pens!

Person I’m Most Afraid of
My dad. Retired copper, has read it once but refused last night to speak his mind, saying he would read it again before discussing it with me. While I was writing it, I talked over bits of the story with him , and he got me in touch with a real life CSI to ask questions about processes.

But I’m terrified I might have got bits of police process wrong or made some of the characters too annoying or not real enough for him. Reportedly he was surprised that his daughter had come up with such imaginings. ‘Appalled’ was the actual word used, but the reporter is given to bandying that word around …

I am not sitting in the pub by myself. Someone else took the picture, right?!

(Image c/o Rebecca Crossley)

PARTY FLYER

I will never tire of the beautiful book cover made for me by the talented Eloise J. Knapp.

 

 

LAUNCH PARTY!!!! (Geeses Not Included)

As inspiring and hilarious as they are, and much as they love a party (and a punch up), the geeses are NOT coming to the long awaited celebration of the publication of my novel, AUTOTHERAPY. I’m hoping that a few delicious grains and some new bedding will curb their disappointment.

However, if you’re reading this, you’re in the area and you fancy a glass of wine and a catch up with me in person, you are welcome to drop in between 19:00 – 21:30 on Wednesday 19 September at the King’s Head Inn, Ravenstonedale (maps below). There’s even the opportunity to buy a book if you haven’t already done so, though trash thrillers with shades of horror isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.

Signed goes without saying… If you’ve already bought it from Amazon, please, please, bring it with you so I can sign it. I promise one day to be rich and famous (or just famous will do) so you do at least get the chance to make your money back!

this one shows it more close up – it’s not actually on the edge of the A685, but about a minute’s drive down a B road on the right if you’re driving towards Kirkby Stephen – if you find yourself forcing your car up a very steep hill, you’ve missed the turn off

this lovely spot is what you’re looking for…

Autotherapy Paperback now available on Amazon UK!

Take a minute to check out my beautiful, glossy paperback, available right now on Amazon UK! Sorry the image is so huge … I just LOVE IT!

Life Experience

A picture tells a thousand words. If that was true, they would have already put writers out of business, but luckily, pictures tell only a number of very targeted words. They don’t tell why you, personally and specifically, took a picture of something.

Two snapshots to illustrate my life experience right now:

1. Real, physical life seems to be fixed at the centre of Camp, where there is no electricity, running water, or heating. Or internet.

However, there are lambs:

Nine of the pets are in this picture. Spot the lambs! Three bad (not bad at all, bless ’em) suffolk crosses in the foreground, (clockwise from the left) Spotty, the littlest, Big Lamb and Mid Lamb; Freckle (texel cross) in the stone trough on the hay, Bunny Ears, Baa Lamb and Fuzzy behind the long trough and Lamby (white texel at the back) and then in the long grass, you can just make out Smoky, a Swarble with a white flash on his head.

2. Being able to take a photo of my own, physical, paperback book!  It’s a lovely, solid, slightly bigger than normal paperback, with very white pages and has been bound very neatly.

Notice the copy of An Unfamiliar Murder by Jane Isaacs beneath it. A rocking story with some strongly visual characters, Unfamiliar kept me guessing right up till the last chapter, something you always want in a thriller! See my review here.

 

 

Roll on Real Book!

Believe me, life is pretty busy at present. There isn’t much time for contemplation, but it strikes me that real sales of real books feels important to me. Kindle’s a great enabler for writers, but the way the pages feel under your fingertips, the crack in the spine and pages with corner folds and creases (my paperbacks have to be tough if they are to survive); these can’t be emulated by a hand held device.

I like my written word to be tangible and present. If the ink embosses the paper, all the better. I’m talking texture and smell and solidness.

The Real Book will make the dream real. At the moment, it’s all very virtual.Oops. Someone just did a review of Autotherapy and was ‘gripped’ by it. *Heart in mouth*

Fresh Out

Waiting … Waiting … The Kindle version of Autotherapy is out already and it is only a matter of weeks before the paperback will be available but I’m in danger of already having saturated the media with my cries of ‘buy me, buy me’. I know there are subtler, longer term ways of infiltrating the public, but I’m making the most of the time that I have. Which isn’t a lot.

I’m crawling over the internet like a spider spinning a web, registering with everything and posting my website in appropriate places.  Basically hoping that getting out the word to the most people possible will be the best thing for the book sales. Add in there the parameter that they need to be people who already read (so more likely to read your book), and you’ve got handy sites like Goodreads.com and Amazon but what about all those potential converts out there? Why did I write a book that was supposed to be easy to read? How many people stick their heads in a book when they’ve got some free time? Who has free time?

*And breathe*

So, new resolution: don’t panic. I can use the promotion of the book to explore social media properly, in a non-timewasting way. I need to experientially learn how to utilise Twitter as it’s most likely to be the most far-reaching word of mouth-stylee communication. Get on.

In between these minor revelations, lambing time continues, particularly featuring four little pet lambs (now named Bunny Ears, Freckle Face, Baa Lamb and Fuzzy – Himself thinks I’m soft as butter) and two large ones (Big White Lamb and Smoky).Himself is, of course, the real farmer; I’m just the helper, to feed the lambs, take ‘creep’ feed to the hospital field (Number 5 and her twins, and the two big pets) and cook the dinner.

The geese have now laid around 60 eggs since February, and still doing so. We’ve got half in an incubator in Newbiggin and half in one in my dad’s garage, (with my mum turning them) and the last few are under a determined, very bad tempered goose in a trailer.

Life goes on, so we may as well enjoy it.

(Pictures to follow, promise).

 

Autotherapy – A Thriller

Set in provincial Cumbria, Autotherapy is a dark thriller with far reaching implications. Good ideas turn bad and Death is always ready to catch the careless.

Click on the image to go to Amazon (I am so proud of it).

Published by Rainstorm Press on 17 April, 2012.