In this edition we : -
- reveal the winner of the Name the Newsletter competition,
- give readers a chance to download - for free - the first in a series of short stories based around Sergeant Jake Jordans’ Journal entries.
- Information on my current work in progress - what little there is, Ha...
- and, some interesting author/writers stuff.
NAME THE NEWSLETTER
Competition Results
I am pleased to award the prize for the Name The Newsletter competition to Mr N. Spence from the Isle of Wight. Signed copies of Blind Murder and Driving Dead will be winging it’s way to him, post haste.
But what of the name, I hear you ask?
Here it is: -
Now, at the moment, I am trying to build my email list of readers and those interested in crime fiction writing. It would be really good if you could send either this email or a link to it to friends, family etc. Building such a list helps my job as a writer to get information out about all the upcoming events and other stuff we authors get up when not writing.
As an independent author I am reliant on my own interaction with readers and writers. Indie authors do not have the budget for marketing that most traditional publishers do. Neither do we have celebrity status that gets our books published just because …
And regulations need you to agree to receive my emails. As none on my list have unsubscribed, then I am making an assumption that you all wish to continue to receive these missives. They’re not going to fill your inbox, I can promise you that. We all receive too many as it is. I never remember getting the postman to deliver all this mail we get electronically now. A sign of the times, I know.
If you want to feedback anything to me, then please do so.
Back in 2012, I began to write my debut novel. A story that had been rattling around my head for years. In 2014 it was independently published and in 2022, a second edition was published, (For reasons I’ll bore you with on another occasion)
One of my protagonist’s in this novel, Sergeant Jake Jordan is what I used to call a Traffic Sergeant and he is a supervisor of Family Liaison Officers, and gets himself in all sorts of trouble with CID - Major Crimes.
During the writing of the novel, a number of chapters were revised and removed, all for aesthetics, flow and character development. The chapters are stories in themselves and this first one of ‘Jordans Journals’ is about his role as an FLO. Visiting the bereaved and giving the trauma message.
This first journal will be available to download free until 30th September, then continue to be available for the princely sum of £1.50. Click the download button.
am pleased to report that I am a quarter way into my fourth novel. The third in the Jake Jordan series. It’s working title is ‘In a Field of Bones’. Jake is drafted into CID - Major Crimes, on promotion to Inspector. He picks through the bones (pun intended) discovered in a field, following an excursion into the scenery by a fast sports car driven by a drunk driver. Even I have no idea how it’s going to end — yet.
Having written a screenplay for Blind Murder, I’ve actually had a Zoom meeting with a Hollywood scriptwriter last week. Not holding out any hopes but, I’ll update next time.
I’ve also been busy training myself up in camera work, so in the near future I’ll be doing some Vlogging and podcasting as well.
And of course there is the every-present need to ‘do’ social media and website maintenance, in an effort to sell stuff.
There is quite a bit there when I think about it. Still it keeps an old man out of mischief.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Don’t go into great detail describing places and things… You don’t want descriptions that bring the action, the flow of the story, to a standstill.~Elmore Leonard