Archive for February 2014
Guest Post - Gilli Allan
Brook Cottage Books is thrilled to welcome the lovely Gilli Allan to the blog with a fab guest post. Thanks so much Gilli.
Hello
JB- thanks for having me. I am here
to talk about my book FLY OR FALL, but before I do, there are two more exciting
bits of news I’d like to mention.
I
was lucky enough to have my story, Holiday Romance, accepted for inclusion in
the RNA anthology, Truly, Madly, Deeply, launched on 21 February.
My story is also available in the slimmed
down (and cheaper) e-edition, which I share with Catherine King, Anna Louise
Lucia and Rosie Dean - Truly Madly
Deeply - Part 9. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Truly-Madly-Deeply-Part-Catherine-ebook/dp/B00I5R06MW/
You may have heard something about
the forthcoming Vikings-Life and Legend
exhibition at the British Museum, which opens on March 6. My son, Tom Williams,
is project curator.
Early last year Tom decided he
would like to write a children’s adventure story to coincide with the opening
of the exhibition and he asked me if I would illustrate it. (At this point I
should mention that before I started writing seriously, my career was as an
illustrator in advertising.) Tom’s book idea
was then put to British Museum Press. It
took them a while to think about it, but at the beginning of September we had
their agreement in principle. We produced a sample illustrated chapter... and
the rest is history. Now on sale from the British Museum and all the usual online
outlets -
The
Tale of King Harald - The
Last Viking Adventure
“An
illustrated adventure telling the story of King Harald “Hardrada” Sigurdsson,
the last king of the Vikings. Based on a
true story, Harald’s adventure takes him from a frightened teenager to wealthy
and powerful warrior and finally, to a ruthless and tyrannical king, whose ambition
leads him to a futile, yet glorious death at the battle of Stamford Bridge in
1066. In this exciting and action-packed story, Harald journeys across the
world from Scandinavia to Russia, Byzantium, Sicily, Turkey, Palestine and
finally England. Travelling overland and by sea he gathers wealth, recognition
and power, and along the way meets a range of famous and flamboyant historical
figures including Cnut the Great, Prince Jaroslav of Kiev, the Empress Zoe and
King Harold of England.”
And
finally - FLY OR FALL. I spent
several months in the summer last year preparing this book for publication onto
Kindle. No sooner had I clicked publish,
than King Harald “Hardrada” Sigurdsson, and all his adventures, evicted
everything else from my mind. As a result
Fly of Fall had a very quiet entry
into the world. Now, however, I have just completed the print publication of
this book. I don’t believe it is available quite yet, so I can only provide the
link to the e-book, but it will only be a matter of days before the paperback
is also available on Amazon. So I am making a bit more noise about it now.
FLY OR FALL
Nell
admits that she doesn’t like change. Married young and kept at home by twin
babies and an invalid mother, and dependent on her husband Trevor’s wages, her
life has been limited. But when
circumstances change for the better and her husband wants to move away from
London, the ground seems to shift beneath her feet. She is gripped by an
inexplicable foreboding.
Now
in her early thirties, Nell feels cast adrift, far from her friends and all
that is familiar. Trevor is no longer the man she married, and their teenage
twins, Jonathan and Juliet, are grumpy and difficult. The new house is
unwelcoming and needs modernisation and she’s thrust into a continuing chaos of
rubble and renovation. The women she
gets to know - Katherine and Felicity - seem frivolous and hedonistic. They
wrongly assume that she’s ‘one of them’, someone who will delight in the
knowledge that Patrick, one of the builders working on her house, is a
notorious womaniser. At first grateful that he doesn’t make a pass at her, Nell
begins to feel resentful that Pat finds her unattractive.
Nell
takes a bar job at the local sports club, but she distances herself from the
overheated atmosphere of flirtation and gossip.
She’s not that kind of woman, but....
She can’t help being influenced by her new friends’ attitude of casual
infidelity. Secretly Nell begins to fantasise about romantic adventures. When
she’s pursued by a beautiful and enigmatic young man, whose name she thinks is
Angel, she is tempted. Before she can boast about her conquest to another
friend, the quirky, new-age Elizabeth, her world falls apart. The presentiment
of disaster, felt as a tremor at the start of the story, rumbles into a full
blown earthquake, delivering shock after shock.
When the dust settles nothing is as it seemed, not even the life she
left behind in London. The unlikely love
which has blossomed from the wreckage is doomed and she is forced to confront the
hair’s breadth between wishful thinking, self-deception and lies, when shocking
truths about friends (old and new), her husband, both her teenage twins and
even herself, are exposed.
Fly
or Fall follows the dismantling of all of Nell’s certainties, her preconceptions
and her moral code. By its conclusion,
everything has altered for the ‘woman who dislikes change’, but has Nell been
broken or has she transformed herself?
From March 12-15 the Kindle version of Fly or Fall is on a 99p
Countdown.
Guest Post - Robert K Swisher Jnr
Brook Cottage Books is thrilled to welcome the extremely interesting Robert K Swisher to the blog. Robert has had a fascinating writing journey and I think when you read his guest post you will agree. Thanks to Robert for taking the time to write the post.........
I started writing in 1967 after discharging from the army. I
served in Vietnam as a radio operator in the 23rd Infantry. Lost and
with no set direction I started writing poetry. Over several years I
placed hundreds of poems to literary journals and a book of my poetry -
Touch ME IF YOU LOVE ME - was published. It is no longer in print. I
then started writing short stories and placed many in literary journals.
During this time to feed myself I worked on ranches in New Mexico -
literary journals pay in copies - if you are lucky you also get a dollar
- still true to this day. After short stories I started writing a
novel and did freelance articles for outdoor fishing magazines. It took
me several years to finish the novel - titled - THE LAND - it is the
story of a certain section of land in the west and a story of four
groups of people that lived on it - Indians, Spaniards, Mexicans, to the
cowboys. While sending it out to publishers I started working on
another one.
THE LAND was rejected 400 times, during which I wrote
three other novels, also rejected. A small press picked up THE LAND and
it was reviewed by Publishers Weekly, Best Sellers, Library Journal,
and many others. It was also turned into a audio book for the blind.
With the success of THE LAND fourteen of my novels have been
traditionally published - eight of these are still in print and three
have been turned into e books. All of my novels revolve around people's
need for love. Over the past several years I have turned indie and
released a four book mystery series - Bob Roosevelt and his Snide
Guardian Angel - Roosevelt is trying to find the love of his life and
his center while all his Guardian Angel wants is to have a good time.
He thinks Roosevelt is boring and is trying his best to become the
guardian angel for a rock star. There are four books in the series - A
BUCKET FULL OF LIES, TROUT FISHING FOR BODIES, DOUBLE BOGEY MURDER, and,
FROGS DON'T CROAK IN THE WINTER - they are funny, snide, and a little
off center. So far A BUCKET FULL OF LIES has received many good
reviews. I also released a funny golf book - CONVERSATIONS WITH THE
GOLF GOD.
All of my earlier work is serious and I changed directions
for awhile. Over the past several years I have written three novels -
HOPE - the story of an old folks home and how the residents learn how to
fly. THE LONELY COWBOY - the story of an old cowboy riding around a
ranch and telling his life story to his horse, and, HOW BRIDGE MCCOY
LEARNED HOW TO SAY I LOVE YOU - the story of a man that walks two steps
forward and then one backward, hates change, vows he will never fall in
love, but when he does whenever he tries to tell the lady he loves her
he starts to choke and can't get the words out. I plan on releasing
these this year. HOPE has recently been edited and the other two are
off to the editor. I am also working on a novel titled Vent that is a
reader participation book. I did not go to college but I have taught a
college class called THE REALITIES OF WRITING. With all my years in the
game I have seen it all, bad contracts, good contracts, thieves, and on
and on. You may think tell don't show is new, sorry, but I have seen
books both ways. Getting published has never been easy but indie
publishing has opened many doors. I can say I made a lot of mistakes
when I went indie but I am slowly learning the process. I have only
done my books through KDP, no paper copies. Amazon has the biggest
market share and if one hits I can sign a book deal. I have also never
written for the market and only written what comes into my head - it is a
choice a writer has to make.
During my writing career I have held over
200 jobs, normally working long enough to have enough money to write
until I need another job. If I have any advice to young writers it is
simply do it, don't be afraid, any review is a good review, when you are
done with one book go on to another, and schedule your time where you
write more than you promote - remember it all ends up the same, the
grave is always only one step away. Here is the link to my author page
if you would like to check out my novels. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Robert-K-Swisher-Jr/296768763702474?ref=hl
I
am also on author central and Goodreads. I wish you all the best with
your writing. If you want to contact me with a question merely message
me I will get back to you. Once again, the best.
Robert K. Swisher Jr.
You can find Robert's books HERE
Review - Dead Gone by Luca Veste
“The young girl you have found isn’t the
first experiment I’ve carried out. She won’t be the last.”
In Liverpool, a series of horrible, grisly and downright gory murders have been taking place. All have been based on unethical psychological experiments. The one thing that links them all.............The university. DI David Murphy has been tasked with bringing the killer to justice. But, DI Murphy has a past that continues to haunt him and make him the ridicule of his colleagues. All, except DS Laura Rossi who continues to put her faith in him, hopeful that as a team they can track down the killer.
Dead Gone is the type of book that I love. It is full of twists and turns that will have you guessing right up until the very end. Every couple of chapters I kept thinking I knew who the serial killer was. And then I didn't. And then I did again! Its that type of book. The descriptions of the murders are graphic but not overly so. The premise behind the book is very good and really interesting. I love books that give a glimpse into the mind of a killer. This is an excellently written book and I would highly recommend it if you are a fan of psychological thrillers. It will have you on the edge of your seat from the first page!
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Tempus Blog Tour - Guest Post - Holly Lauren
How to get a book published.
Now that my first published novel is out
and about (the most terrifying and awesome feeling ever), folks are getting
curious.
How
long did it take you to write it? (1 year to write,
1 year to edit)
Where
did you get the idea? (A dream)
Where
did you find the time? (Time isn’t change on the
ground that you find, you make time)
Does
it come in large print? (Not yet, Grandmother, but
you’ll be the first to know)
But the main question people want to know,
and one that I wanted to know before I had this opportunity, is how in the
world does a person go about getting a book published.
My
Story:
2006: I wrote a book. It was
terrible. I queried it and got rejected.
2008: I wrote a book. It was slightly less terrible. I queried it and got
rejected.
2010: I wrote a book. It was bearable. I queried it, got a little
interest, but no representation.
2011: I wrote TEMPUS. I queried it, got a little interest, but no
representation. Something in me KNEW this book was worth fighting for. So in …
2012: I spent a year re-dreaming TEMPUS. I sent out manuscripts to people
I trusted for feedback. I got a critique partner. I edited, cut down, edited,
cut down.
2013: I queried TEMPUS again. This time, Kitty Bullard reached out to me
and asked if I’d like her wonderful publishing house, GMTA, to publish TEMPUS.
I was in bed. I pressed my face into the pillow and screamed for joy.
2014:
TEMPUS was released .
Quick
Tips:
-Tailor
your queries so you’re sending agents/publishers ONLY what they ask for.
Agents almost always list what they’re
currently looking for in their profiles. Do you fit in their niche? Do they
already represent someone like you? Do your research and mention these things
specifically. I queried about 25
agents/publishers with TEMPUS, but I knew that each of them were looking for
something like it, and believed I added to or complimented their current list.
-Join
a good database like Writer’s Market to keep yourself up-to-date on trends and
current marketplace needs.
This is also where you can get connected to
agents, publishers, and other writers. I got nearly all my agent profiles off
this page.
-Read
good books to sharpen your usage and mind.
I learned a ton from reading books like
WARM BODIES (Isaac Marion), The DIVERGENT Series (Veronica Roth), and THE
MORTAL INSTRUMENTS Series (Cassandra Clare). These people have “made it” so to
speak, so watching what they do teaches you what gets published.
-And, most of all, keep writing, keep writing, keep writing.
If I had given up after my first book, that
would have been it. Rejection is hard. But I made myself a promise: I would
keep writing until someone published my book. I was just crazy enough to
believe it. And if you’re a writer, my guess is that you’re a little crazy,
too. J
If you’ve been published before, I’d love
to hear about your journey.
Available
Now
Chapel Ryan isn't crazy. At least,
that's what she's been trying to convince herself of for most of her life. But
after being hallucination-free for three years, Chapel finds herself facedown
on her English classroom’s gritty linoleum floor. When she looks up, everyone
around her is suspended in animation. Mouths hang open mid-yawn, feet hover
mid-cross, Ms. Freeman’s arm flexes mid-sentence diagram. It's another
hallucination. Or, is it?
Chapel prepares to tear herself back to reality when
something happens. Something that has never happened before in any of her
hallucinations--someone moves. And not just any someone—it’s the new guy with a
scar over his lip and a reputation as black as his perfectly styled hair. And
all of the sudden Chapel's white-knuckle grip on her life has slipped, and with
it, her assurance that what she's experiencing isn't real.
●
Genre:
New Adult Fantasy
● One
Sentence Description: After she learns the true nature of
her hallucinations, high school senior Chapel Ryan must decide who she can
trust in a world where the rules of genetics do not apply
●
Available
here: Amazon & Barnes & Nobles
Holly Lauren
Holly was born and raised in a small town in North Georgia.
The third of four children, Holly grew up telling stories to get herself out
of—and her siblings into—trouble. When she was eight years old, she penned her
first publication: a newspaper called Sunny Dayz News. While she didn’t sell
any actual copies, her sympathetic grandmother did peruse through the edition
at least once.
When Holly isn’t dreaming up new plotlines for her next book,
she enjoys breakfasting at Picnic Café in Dahlonega, Georgia with her
(handsome) husband and their two (adorable) daughters.
NEWSFLASH!!!!!
Want a copy of the book Tempus by Holly Lauren? Leave a comment with your email address or email me (brookbooks@hotmail.co.uk) your email address and I will pick 5 winners! Yes 5! Competition closes midnight 26th February!
