My new novel, Counterfeit!, was launched on Tuesday 19th July with a party here in Chudleigh. Befitting the setting of the book, we had African drumming, courtesy of Nii, Cletus and Poppa T, plus Rocky Road and other wonderful cakes and the odd glass or two of bubbles. It was great fun and I sold a pleasing number of copies, too.
Counterfeit! is the first in a series of thrillers set in the sometimes murky world of international pharmaceuticals, and loosely based on my thirty years working in more than fifty countries. Medicinal drugs are vital to our well-being, and it is a lucrative industry, but, unfortunately, there is even more money to be made by cheating.
Feedback on the book has been very positive, with several people saying they prefer it to Gorgito's Ice Rink as the pace is faster. So it looks like the switch from quest/romance to thrillers was a good one. At present, I have just 12 reviews on Amazon, all 4 or 5 stars.
Counterfeit! is currently available on Amazon both in paperback and as an ebook for Kindle and Kindle apps. I also have signed copies in stock for face to face sales. And over the next few weeks, I will be making the ebook available on all the other platforms, including Apple, Nook, Kobo, Scribd, 24 Symbols and Inktera.
A big thank you to those of you who have already bought Counterfeit!. I enjoyed writing it and hope you enjoy reading it. And I'm getting on well with the writing of book 2, Deception!, which should be out in May 2017. I am working with the wonderful designer, Berni Stevens on the covers for the rest of the series and hope to share those with you next time.
A Change of Image and Name...
The more observant among you might have spotted the change in image, signaled by the new photo and the different colour at the top of this email. I've been reading and thinking a lot about image and branding recently. So I showed people my previous photo (right) and the curly purple writing on my website and asked them 'what sort of books do I write?' And without fail, they replied 'romance'. And that might be appropriate for Gorgito's Ice Rink and for some of my short stories, but it certainly didn't fit with my aim to be a thriller writer.
So I got together with Lisa of A Silk Deer and had some new pictures taken. I'm also playing around with my website, and while it's still a work in progress, I would appreciate any feedback you might care to give me. Do pop over and take a look.
At the same time, I've decided to split out my non-fiction from my fiction and revert to my real name for the former. This allows me to develop separate brands and also to capitalise on the various qualifications that I worked towards over the years. So over the next few weeks, I will be relaunching The Business of Writingseries with updated content and revamped covers, authored by Dr Kate McCormick MBA. I will be setting up a separate website, online presence and newsletter, specifically targeted at writers, rather than readers in general.
Upcoming Events
I'm going to popping up all over the place, both physically and virtually, between now and the end of the year. You can always get an update on my activities on my website. But here's just some of the appearances coming up in the next few weeks (October times in BST; remainder in GMT):
In the spirit of 'if you don't ask, you won't get...' this is an appeal for any support you can give me as I continue my writing journey.
If you have read any of my books, please consider posting a review on Amazon, Goodreads or your preferred platform.. Reviews are so important to all writers, but especially those of us who are self-published.
For a taster of my writing, download my free books: Flashing on the Riviera and Out of the Shadows. Like my author page on FaceBook; follow me on Twitter; subscribe to my blog; and if you like what I write - please tell all your friends about me.
And Finally
By the time my next newsletter comes out, the holiday season may well be over, So, can I ask that when you are writing your present lists this year, please remember a book makes a wonderful present; how many readers do you buy gifts for each year? You can find links to all my books in this email or on my website.
Thanks for reading this newsletter. Any feedback would be gratefully received. You can find all my contact details below. The icons are supposed to be neatly laid out horizontally; if they've resorted themselves into a vertical stack (again!), try viewing this email in your browser.
