Blah blah blah blah BLURB

I love virtually all of the tasks that come with the cap of self published indie author. Even the difficult ones. Let’s take for example my latest cover. I can honestly say in total there are at least sixty hours of work in it. Now that's a full time job, plus overtime. It was a nightmare, and I ended my relationship with it at least twice. I then came grovelling back, begging forgiveness for my flakiness, promising to do better next time. But there is one job that no matter how much I know it is there, lurking in the background, I just cannot bring myself to do it until the very, last, moment. The Blurb.

I just don't understand how I am supposed to wrap up four or five months work, a first draft, a reworking, five or six edits, and a whole bunch of other little jobs that I have long since forgotten into two hundred words. I can’t even talk about the blurb in less than that.  But yet, it has to be one of the most important elements of the book. It's the gate keeper, the words that stand between you, my reader, and the other ninety thousands words that I hope that you will love. You can read the blurb on the back of the book, or the description on the screen and very quickly say, 'no thanks, not for me.' How do I know this? Because I do it at least once a day, to other people's work.

So it is not without trepidation that I present to you the blurb for Escaping Life. You've seen the cover (loved doing that), you've watched the trailer (loved doing that one too) and now here is the final bit before I hand over the finished product to you.  The blurb (you already know how I feel. Just don't ask.)

It’s beautiful here.  It’s a beautiful place to die.

Since the accident claimed her sister’s life, Haven has been a sanctuary for Elizabeth Green.  She has finally found some of the tranquility that she thought had been lost long ago to the past.   Homicide cop Jack Fraser is running away from his miserable life too.  But when the discovery of a body on a local beach leads him directly to Elizabeth’s front door, it seems her past might not have been left behind her after all. Together they must face their demons, and in the process expose the dangerous secrets that cloud their lives before it’s too late.

Running from reality is sometimes more painful than discovering the truth.

Cover Release: Escaping Life

There can be few more exciting moments for a writer than the release of new book.  One of those moments however is the release of the artwork for the impending book release. 

Escaping life is set for release within the first week of December, and here is your first glimpse of the cover.

There is also a theatrical trailer that can be found on my website, but is also shown here.  Full details for release dates will be here within the next few days.

Signing off for a week

The fifth of November is without doubt in history one of the days that that brings back the happiest of childhood memories. As November creeps in to the cold shores of the United Kingdom, and we dig out our coats and hats and get used to the dark nights that settle in for another season many people look forward to 'Bonfire Night'. It is a historical celebration, that has now lost its original political and religious basis since the year of 1605, when Guy Fawkes was caught underneath the Houses of Parliament with enough explosives to send the then ruling King James 1st rocketing up into space. His aim? To replace the ruling monarch with a catholic head of state.

As a child I took no interest in the religious connotations. We learnt them at school and resigned the fanaticism to history, along witch hunts and the plague to the history of our sometimes dark and treacherous country. My memories are not about these facts. They are about sparklers, fireworks, and the sight of stars as we left the overpowering glow of the town.  It is about looking up to my parents and the crowds that towered above my five year old self as they gathered to stand around the roaring bonfire whilst eating hotdogs or jacket potatoes topped with chilli.

Whilst these traditions may have passed me by, and in Cyprus the thought of standing around a roaring bonfire in a thirty degrees November heat wave is less than appealing, the memory still lives on. It is these childhood memories, sensations, and traditions such as this that have inspired me since that young age into the writer that I am today. It is not without coincidence that the hospital in my self published The Loss of Deference is a cold Victorian relic that looks like the building that stood in the background of the bonfire on these special nights. This hospital now stands fully renovated into luxurious apartments after long since falling into disrepair, but the original memory stands strong.

In two days I am returning to my home town, at what in England is by far my favourite time of the year. It is cold and brisk; my cheeks will be permanently pink either from the chill of the winter or the log fire that will burn in the local pub. People will be getting ready for Christmas.  There will be long forgotten smells and sensations that remind me of many events from the past that will catch me by surprise.  I will store up these moments for the times when the writing gets hard and bring them out for inspiration.  In the difficult mid sections of my latest book there will no doubt be moments when it is hard to find the next line, the right word, or the connecting plot shift.  There is inspiration sometimes in the most mundane of things.

So my aim for England is this: keep a photo diary as a reminder for inspiration.  I love to work visually in my writing and so this may help me in difficult sections.  I will also post it here for you to see.  So this will be my last post for a week or so, but I will be back with a visual representation to share with you soon.