Feeling grumpy

After the initial flush of Book Lab 5, I’m back to normal. Had a couple of comments from members of the SPF Facebook group saying how they enjoyed the video. One guy said I had balls of steel to go through the process, which I can assure you is not true, but it does make you feel rather exposed. I’ve rewritten the prologue and uploaded the new file and blurb. It remains to be seen if that will have any effect. I have two BB ads running with two different authors as targets — Robert Harris and Jeffery Archer. Needless to say there are no results. Tomorrow I will change those two; see what happens. I also started a short campaign on AMS but, surprise, surprise, the campaign doesn’t appear on my AMS account dashboard even though I had an acknowledgement from Amazon confirming the ad. I contacted them and was told to sign out of my account and sign in again, then my ad would be seen. But that didn’t work so it’s back to Amazon. I wouldn’t mind if this was my first attempt, but I’ve been using AMS ads for some time.

I got stuck into my WIP this week and made reasonable progress. Trouble is, I keep coming up with small changes that mean I have to go back in the story and drop something in. It’s fine doing that so long as you remember to reveal all this at the end. I got interrupted at one stage, and when I got back to the computer, I had the beginning of a paragraph in front of me and couldn’t remember what I was about to write.

Some of you who read my blog will know that I published a romance, Past Imperfect. I haven’t sold any but it’s not for the want of trying. I decided to ask the question on Facebook about selling a romance as a thriller writer. I got the usual advice; all of which I’d tried, so in the end I contacted some book reviewers who blog regularly. I sent off five emails and received two replies. One said she had something like 900 books on her BTR list (!!), so couldn’t accept mine. Another blogger had a very definite review policy for which I didn’t qualify. She sent a very nice email suggesting I send the book though (no ebooks) and she would try to fit me in. Hopefully she’ll open the book when it arrives, just as a quick check, and won’t be able to put it down. That would be good, eh? I’ve got about another 25 bloggers to contact, which I’ll do as and when.

My week has also revolved around appointments for me and my two girls: Pat and Tuppence. The dog needed an annual check on Monday; I needed a hearing check on Thursday and Pat had to see the doc on Friday. The major event though was a call from the specialist at the hospital to say Pat’s PET scan showed little had changed since the last one except that her tumour had grown. It seems now that the next step is to have the thing removed. They still don’t know what cancer she has and believe this might help. It looks like another trip to St. Georges in London. Pat’s very unhappy about that, but it’s something we have to deal with. We should know when by Monday or Tuesday.

I have to admit that as I struggle to come to terms with Pat’s condition and trying to find the time to write (I’m basically Pat’s carer), and also seeing the feeble results in my book world, I think of giving it up (my writing). No doubt people will say I have to keep going, but alongside Pat’s struggle, I can see less and less value in it; the determination is difficult to find. Hopefully we’ll turn the corner. Wish me luck!

Time now to fill the gaps

At last the Book Lab 5 video has been released by SPF. The subject matter is my book, The Boy from Berlin. It’s two hours long and I appear on the last twenty minutes. The three professionals do a pretty good job of analysing my blurb, the jacket and my intro, and leave me with the task of implementing their suggestions and getting more sales. You can find it on You Tube, and if you don’t want to see what the professionals have to say, you can see my reaction to it all at about 1:40 into the two hour tape. The link is https://youtu.be/KskP9KyQaoA. This really is a major event in my indie career because I was chosen for the Book Lab by Mark Dawson, one of Amazon’s top writers, and someone who is well known in the industry and connects with influential people in the indie book world. It’s up to me now to make something of the recommendations and promote the book. In the next few days I will re-write the prologue and use the blurb provided by Bryan Cohen before uploading the revised version. I can’t change the book jacket until July time because Stuart Bache can’t fit me in before then. It will be after that when I might see some positive results from these changes.

I did manage to get some work done on my WIP, despite a couple of major interruptions during the week. I am getting close to seeing the final run in and, hopefully, will be ready to do a complete edit by the end of the month. But even though I’ve been digging away at the WIP, I have also been ruminating on my next pulp fiction thriller. I have been laying the ground for a plot line which sees my main character deep inside Russia, a thousand miles from Moscow and entirely on his own — no support from UK. Pat asked me what I meant by “Pulp fiction”. I had to say it was a phrase coined years ago which alluded to books that were turned out largely by ghost writers writing for a major publishing house. Whether that’s true or not, I don’t know, but for me, pulp fiction means ignoring the facts and piling up the thrills, just to excite the reader. When I published HUNTED (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07P9MQYCK), I had no illusions about the quality of the book, but I had two brilliant comments about it and one five star review (from a stranger): something I didn’t expect.

Another improvement in my book world is a steadily increasing list of subscribers. This is almost certainly down to the fact that readers are downloading my magnet book The Devil’s Trinity. I’m not a fan of free books, but needs must when the devil drives (no, that’s not a pun). This means I will have to ‘engage’ with these new people and try to interest them in something once a month in a newsletter; something I do not normally do. It’s tricky to know what to put in it when there’s nothing to offer, other than the contents of my regular blog. But subscribers usually want more books I presume, rather than a chatty diatribe from the author.

The interruptions that came during the week were both medical. Pat was called in for a PET scan — twenty four hours’ notice, which was good. So on Wednesday we were tied up at the hospital for some time. The following day, Thursday, I had three teeth out. This was a referral by my dentist to specialist. I have to say that there is no finesse in extracting teeth; no cosy, state of the art pulling: it’s brute force and a lot of work getting them out. And the teeth never come out in one piece either. Thank goodness for anaesthetics, but I still felt like I been smacked in the jaw with a shovel. I will need dentures, but have to wait three months for those. So, not only have I been subjected to forensic analysis as a Lab Rat, I have also been subjected to another expert and forced to eat my food like a rabbit! Some good will come of all this, I’m sure. Wish me luck!

Head scratching time

I was hoping to let you have the Book Lab link today, but unfortunately James Blatch hasn’t sent it. He scheduled it for yesterday but he’s been on a cycling holiday in Mallorca, so I guess that’s the reason for the delay. Never mind; I should have it next week.

I met up with fellow CHINDI author, Paul Asling during the week. He is about to launch his second crime novel and wanted a couple of pointers. I have to admit that Paul could have given me some because his first London crime thriller, Love you till I die, has sold really well. Why not check it out? https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07757CZZ5. With 25 x five star reviews, it must be good. I read it last year as a beta reader for Paul, so I can vouch for its quality. And staying on the topic of quality writers, I want to bring another of our CHINDI group to you: Carol Thomas. Carol is our Chindi Author of the Week. She is a very talented writer and produces quality work. You can read about Carol and her latest book at https://angelapetchsblogsite.wordpress.com/2019/04/26/chatting-with-carol-thomas-again/

I am making progress with my WIP. I keep adding scenes that are moving the story closer to the denouement. I know I will have a problem rearranging the scenes and changing the plot line a little, but that’s the life of a writer. If I make significant headway, I could see it finished in four weeks. I’ll probably ask for some beta readers for this because I’m not sure my wife will be able to do her usual, and read through the MS for me. I’m sure she’ll try though.

I am currently reading The Dry by Jane Harper. It’s a debut crime thriller and has received excellent reviews. I am about a third of the way through and enjoying the book, but I don’t find myself rushing back to it, as good as it is. This is more than I can say about He said, She said by Erin Kelly. This is the book that Jennie Nash used to compare my prologue on Book Lab. My book, The Boy from Berlin, had 23 reviews, while Erin Kelly’s had 1600. Both books were released on Amazon at the same time. I really struggled with it and finally gave up less than half-way through. I tried, believe me, but it was like wading through treacle. I decided it must be me; 1600 people can’t be wrong.

On the domestic front, Pat’s problem is still defeating the specialists. Her consultant phoned during the week to say the X-ray and blood tests she had before Easter had failed to produce an answer. The next step is a PET scan. This should help them because they’ll be able to compare it to the PET scan Pat had in January. This time the radiologists will be looking at it and hoping to come up with an answer. Meanwhile we are trying to build Pat’s strength up by letting her do a little more around the house and garden. Already this week she has prepared three hanging baskets after a lengthy visit to our local garden centre. We stopped for lunch of course. Today we took the dog down to the beach and braved the high winds. It took a lot out of her, and she was quite knackered by the time we got back to the car, but at least she’s getting stronger.

Next on the agenda for me is a trip to the dentist next week: I have to have three teeth taken out. Not looking forward to it. Wish me luck!