A Room to Relax - A Writer's Room

Our house is currently on the market. Last week a family came to look round and the little girl announced at once: "This is a boy's room".

Well, I'm not a boy but I invite you to have a look at a few of the objects adorning my room to see if you share her viewpoint. This is the room in which I do most of my writing. There are a few less antiques than last time, and a lot more yellow!

The Avengers Shelf - Mr Men meet Marvel!  A combination of two great franchises.
This shelf was made by my brother and has a secret compartment (currently empty, I'm afraid).
At the moment it is housing the books I have no intention of sharing!

Meet the Watcher Bears - Eight teddies dressed and equipped as the immortals
from my fantasy novels. These were clad as a gift from my youngest sister,

Growing up in Orkney no room is complete without a Jane Glue picture. We have one
in almost every room of the house. The Northern Lights were a source of magic and
mystery to me, and Dad was photographing them long before digital cameras were around.

My first piece of fan art! This is the family featured in "Beneath Black Clouds and White"
available here. This is the prequel to my first novel.

A cupboard of keepsakes

Without doubt one of my favourite books of all time! Here are D'Artagnan and
Athos (my ideal hero) - in Toby Mug form - from The Three Musketeers.

A pair of bejewelled tiger boxes - I have never seen any quite like this;
with their stands designed to look like coins and aggressive stance.
I'd love to know their provenance before I picked them up at an auction.

Inscription in a 1824 publication of Byron's conversations with Thomas Medwin.
I am left wishing my signature was as impressive as this one.

As close as I can afford to owning anything written by the man himself!
A facsimile of a letter from Byron to Hobhouse.

The Black Knight
This chap looks amazing when I turn the Tetris lamp on beside him!
This is a signed and framed engraving - also bought from the local auction!

My typewriter - still waiting for a new ribbon!

And a couple of books which stay on my desk. Great for dipping into for
inspiration, research and wit.

Every morning, from May through to August,
I am woken up by little rainbows from this.
This makes having to get up far more bearable.

A print of the Eynhallow Hoxa Tapestry. Eynhallow is an island in Orkney,
seeped in mystery and folklore. It sits in one of the most unpredictable and
perilous stretches of water in the world. The story of Thorodale was taught to us in
Primary School and has stuck with me ever since. This was a gift from another sister.

One of 500 prints of Lord Byron in Nottinghamshire. Not quite how I
imagined him to look, but a cute Boatswain and an insight into how
other people viewed the world and times of Byron.

My door signs.
V for Virginia, Team Snowman (which was the winning
partnership in our Table Football Competition two years ago - very cutthroat event!),
and a sign with my alter-ego that my brother made . 

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As the Dust Settles... The Next Stage

The evening is closing in and the dust is settling on the momentous events of the Day’s Dying Glory book launches. Last night, in Orkney, we hosted the final event and from now on it will be word of mouth, reviews, and the astoundingly eye-catching front cover which will sell my book. But what a range of events they have been!

The book to look for!

From Barton-upon-Humber, with its lavish opening - the Duckegg performances; the stunning cake – through the inspirational Library of Innerpeffray – where the sense of history through and beyond the setting of the novel was perfect – to the fun launch in Orkney – creating some of the book’s characters as the readers perceived them - each one will have a special place in my heart. But to all of you who attended any of the events: thank you! And to all of you who have encouraged and supported the book: thank you! I’ve had such positive comments from people I would never have known had it not been for this book and I am really enjoying encountering my readers.

If you’ve read the book, please review it on Amazon, Goodreads or both. I am so proud of the comments I’ve received so far, I’d love to share them with the world! Here are a couple of snippets from some of the reviews:

“It is a very good read, with a very unpredictable and gripping story line.”

“I could really identify with each of the main characters and the development of each was very well thought out. I would definitely recommend the book…”

“It is a really gripping plot as well. Part of me was expecting a run-of-the-mill romance novel but the unexpected twists and turns got my heart thumping in suspense and the book can get quite dark and gritty after a seemingly peaceful beginning.”

“To say this book is a romance is probably underselling it a little bit. In many ways, it is an adventure story: just the kind of adventures that the average person can accidentally find themselves in!”

“Loved the building of the characters and the descriptions of places and people put images in my mind of how it must have been like back then…”

They can’t all be wrong!

#ShareTheAdventure

And here are a couple of pictures from the different launches. Thanks for reading!

Duckegg Performance - Barton Book Launch

Colonel Sir James Shorefield -
Orkney Book Launch

Setting up for the Orkney Book Launch

My book and I were right at home!
- Innerpeffray Library Book Launch

The Book Launch Cake by Linda Lawcock
- Barton Book Launch

One of the Tartan At Heart
Day's Dying Glory Range

Mr Dermot - Orkney Book Launch

Arabella Tenterchilt -
Orkney Book Launch

Couldn't resist a photo-shoot!
- Library of Innerpeffray Book Launch

Book Launches - A Blog Guaranteed Not To Help

While I've been working alongside the Crowvus team to prepare for the three Book Launch events, I've read SO MANY websites about creating a good and effective launch.  I can tell you now, not one of them works entirely.

So in this Blog I intend to address some of the issues I've faced around planning my own Book Launch, with perhaps a few harsh truths thrown in.

1. Budget - Almost all lists suggest that you set your budget and stick to it.  Make sure that you stay within what you can afford.  This is a fair comment because you can bet that, as soon as you go from posting cute pictures of your dog on Facebook to posting your Crowdfunder page, most of your friends suddenly treat you like a pariah.
   "Virginia who?"
   
2. Entertainment - Clearly most people who turn up to a book launch are there to see the author.  But having an alternative - but thematic - entertainment can also be very welcome.  However, expect to be ignored by these people 50% of the time, turned down 30% of the time and gain success the other 20%.  At this point I have to pay huge thankful recognition to Duckegg Theatre Company who were the first people I asked and who have supported me from the word go:
   "You guys are amazing!
   
3. Venue - I landed on my feet here and got some real support!  Choosing somewhere that will draw in like-minded people is crucial.  It's worth looking around carefully before you choose.
   "I've always wanted to go there!"
4. Blog Tour - This is a great idea!  There are so many successful blogs around that if you write a post for them it'll be helping all involved.  Plus, for the main part, book bloggers are quite a nice bunch.
   "Blog it out!"
5. Reading - Choosing which passages from your book you want to deliver.  I have to admit that, whilst the rest of the organisation has been a nightmare, this is the part that fills me with dread.  I'm a trained teacher, and talking in front of people does not phase me.  But READING in front of them, and from something that contains heartfelt words from your own soul, is downright daunting.
   "Please don't laugh..."
   
6. Advertise - As aforementioned, social media is not always the best way to gain support, although throw it out once, twice, thrice...  Actually keep on putting it out there until people get bored of it and agree to attend the launch just to shut you up.
   "Hello? Hello, friends?"
7. Advertise - Get local press involved.  Don't email though, as that is easy to be ignored.  Give them a ring.  Or if, like me, you have an aversion to telephones get your agent/publisher/friend/random-person-you-grabbed-off-the-street to call for you.
   "Yes, you don't know me because I'm a debut author..."
8. Advertise - This is the soul destroying part where you realise that, despite your best efforts to coax, cajole or beg people to attend AND the £££s that you've spent persuading them don't seem to be getting you anywhere, you break your budget as you pay to appear on that one bus shelter you're sure will make all the difference.
   "Of course it was worth mortgaging the house three times, I'm on the billboard three miles outside town!"

And then you turn up, convinced that the only people there will be your immediate family, faithfuls of the venue and those three trusty friends who'd follow you anywhere.  And are you correct?  Well, let's wait and see!

11th April - The Ropewalk, Barton-upon-Humber

17th April - The Library of Innerpeffray, nr Crieff

6th May - St Magnus Centre, Kirkwall.

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[Thank you!]

"Christmas Pudding For The Soul"

We are currently very excited about our first publication, Day's Dying Glory, which will be published in April this year. Day's Dying Glory is an historical fiction novel set in Scotland and spanning the years 1806-1812. It is the story of three sisters who are forced to come to terms with the cruelties of loss, treason and betrayal, all whilst limited by the expectations of Society.

In conjunction with this project's Orcadian Book Launch, we are inviting secondary school pupils to take part in a competition to design a front cover for a booklet of 4 short stories that were written especially for Christmas 2016. The title, which must feature on the cover, is "Christmas Pudding for the Soul". The winner of this competition will be announced at the Day's Dying Glory Book Launch which is taking place in the St Magnus Centre on 6th May. The winner will receive a £50 One4All voucher, with small prizes for two highly commended entries.

All entries should be submitted electronically and will be judged by our authors. The deadline for entries will be midnight on Friday 7th April.

For the full list of rules head over to the Crowvus website.

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