Jennifer Lee Thomson's Blog, page 12

How Kirsty Gets Her Kicks heads over to Shotgun Honey

Kirsty's loosely based on Rose McGowan's character Cherry Darling
I'm delighted to announce that I've just signed a deal with kick ass publisher Shotgun Honey to publish How Kirsty Gets Her Kicks.
You can read about the awesome Shotgun Honey here.
The novella introduces you to one-legged Glasgow barmaid Kirsty who goes on the run with a gangster's safe load of cash and gun after killing one of his security men with a stiletto heel to the skull.
Why should you want to read How Kirsty Gets Her Kicks?
It’s got a kick ass hero in Kirsty. She may have one leg - the other one was amputated after an accident - but she knows how to kick some serious butt.
She's loosely based on Rose McGowan's character Cherry Darling in Planet Terror and in Grindhouse.

There's an amazing cake that you jump out that features in a major scene in the book. Click here to read more on my blog about these pop up cakes.
There's enough twists and turns to bend your mind.
When will it be published?
It's not set yet, but it will be published sometime in 2018.
Stay tuned for more details.

K.I.S.S - Keep It Simple Stupid

I was working on a bit in my zombie novel Dead Bastards where certain characters need to be in a specific place at a particular time.

I've spent weeks fretting over this, picking the brains of friends and family; it's given me sleepless nights and I’m at the stage where I feel like my brain is about to explode.


Then last night I realised one thing: I was over-thinking it. 

Readers don’t need you to tell them everything. When there are blanks they’ll fill them in and they’ll probably do it even better than you could have ever written it.

Don't over-think thinks like Malcolm In The Middle's Dewey
This realisation got me thinking of one of my favourite ever moments in one of my favourite shows. In Malcolm in the Middle, the youngest brother Dewey comes up with an elaborate ploy to convince idiot brother Reece that the aliens have arrived.
Dewey - "Malcolm, in school we learned the coolest thing: there were these people that did this broadcast to convince everyone that aliens were landing. So what we do is wait for Reese to fall asleep, then we flash some lights outside his window then we go to the TV, but we'll have already made a tape..."

Malcolm – "Dewey, you're totally over-thinking this. Reese, aliens landed down the street!"

And right enough, Reece comes running into the room wearing a mask and wielding a baseball bat and shouting "it’s every man for himself." 

The Walking Dead gets real in Scotland - Dead Bastards is now 99c 99p

"Enough gore to satisfy the hungriest zombie fan."


To celebrate the return of Fear The Walking Dead, Dead Bastards is now just 0.99. That's just 99 cents or 99p. 

That's a whole lot of zombie action for less than the price of a cup of coffee. 




LINKS You can grab the book here - Amazon.comAmazon UKAmazon Canada 
Here's what one reviewer said about Dead Bastards 

Hooray, Vile City is on BookBub today 99c 99p for a limited time

I'm delighted to announce that Vile City is featuring on the awesome BookBub today. You'll be able to get the eBook in a variety of formats (for a limited time) for the discounted price of 99 cents or 99p. 






So, if you haven't read Vile City already, why not give this twisty tale of office worker Shelley Craig's fight to stay alive so she can make it home and Inspector Duncan Waddell's relentless attempt to find her, a go? 

It'll cost you less than a cup of coffee.

You might just find another crime series to enjoy. Book 2 Cannibal City and 3 Vigilante City are already written. Book 4, Romeo City is well on its way.

Vile City - coming to BookBub July 6th

I'm delighted to announce that Vile City will be listed on the awesome BookBub on Thursday July 5th. You'll be able to get the eBook in a variety of formats (for a limited time) for a discounted price.

So, if you haven't read Vile City already, why not give this twisty tale of office worker Shelley Craig's fight to stay alive so she can make it home and Inspector Duncan Waddell's relentless attempt to find her, a go? It'll cost you less than a cup of coffee.

You might just find another crime series to enjoy. Book 2 Cannibal City and 3 Vigilante City are already written. Book 4, Romeo City is well on its way.

What happens after abducted Shelley Craig wakes up in Vile City?

What happens after Shelley Craig wakes up in Vile City after she's been abducted and her boyfriend left for dead? 

Here's an extract -
When Shelley came to, her throat was raw. Water. She needed water. With one hand, she groped for the glass she always kept on the bedside table.Damn, it wasn’t there. Must have moved it. She pulled herself into a sitting position. When she moved her head it was as though a part had broken off inside. She flopped back down. What had she done last night to get into this state? She hadn’t changed out of her work clothes; she was wearing her work trousers that pinched at her calves because Stuart hadn’t noticed the ‘dry clean only’ label and they’d shrunk in the wash. Trying to dredge up the last thing she remembered made her head hurt. Her disorientation wasn’t helped by being unable to see properly because her eyes were stuck together by the glue of sleep. She must have forgotten to take her contact lenses out.Wherever she was, it wasn’t at home. She was lying too low down and the place smelt of unwashed laundry and mould. Maybe she was sleeping on some pal’s floor after one cocktail too many. That had to be it. Think, damn it, think. When some light permeated the darkness, the jolt it gave her was a bolt of electricity to her brain. Stuart. He’d been attacked. Was he okay? A sob wracked her body as she forced herself to sit up. This wasn’t the time to get hysterical. She could do that later when she was safely at home.She rubbed her eyes with her fingers, picking away the sleep until she could see clearly. She was on a bare mattress on top of a rusty old bed frame, in a strange room with torn wallpaper and flaking paint on the wall. The bed creaked whenever she moved and she wanted to tell it to shut the hell up. She didn’t want him to hear. She remembered his voice in her ear, saying he’d kill Stuart unless she cooperated. Had he hurt him? That thought made her sob.He’d know she was awake and then what would he do – rape her? She didn’t think he’d done it already. Surely, she’d be able to tell, wouldn’t she?***TO BE CONTINUED***------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Vile City is available now -Amazon UKhttps://www.amazon.co.uk/Vile-City-Detective-thrilling-turner-ebook/dp/B06XG99CLW
Waterstones https://www.waterstones.com/book/vile-city/jennifer-lee-thomson/9781910720738
Amazon .com https://www.amazon.com/Vile-City-Detective-thrilling-turner-ebook/dp/B06XG99CLW
Amazon Canadahttps://www.amazon.ca/Vile-City-Detective-thrilling-turner-ebook/dp/B06XG99CLW
Amazon Australiahttps://www.amazon.com.au/Vile-City-Detective-thrilling-turner-ebook/dp/B06XG99CLW

What happens after abducted Shelley Craig wakes up in Vile City

What happens after abducted Shelley Craig wakes up in Vile City? Here's an extract - 



When Shelley came to, her throat was raw. Water. She needed water. With one hand, she groped for the glass she always kept on the bedside table.Damn, it wasn’t there. Must have moved it. She pulled herself into a sitting position. When she moved her head it was as though a part had broken off inside. She flopped back down. What had she done last night to get into this state? She hadn’t changed out of her work clothes; she was wearing her work trousers that pinched at her calves because Stuart hadn’t noticed the ‘dry clean only’ label and they’d shrunk in the wash. Trying to dredge up the last thing she remembered made her head hurt. Her disorientation wasn’t helped by being unable to see properly because her eyes were stuck together by the glue of sleep. She must have forgotten to take her contact lenses out.Wherever she was, it wasn’t at home. She was lying too low down and the place smelt of unwashed laundry and mold. Maybe she was sleeping on some pal’s floor after one cocktail too many. That had to be it. Think, damn it, think. When some light permeated the darkness, the jolt it gave her was a bolt of electricity to her brain. Stuart. He’d been attacked. Was he okay? A sob wracked her body as she forced herself to sit up. This wasn’t the time to get hysterical. She could do that later when she was safely at home.She rubbed her eyes with her fingers, picking away the sleep until she could see clearly. She was on a bare mattress on top of a rusty old bed frame, in a strange room with torn wallpaper and flaking paint on the wall. The bed creaked whenever she moved and she wanted to tell it to shut the hell up. She didn’t want him to hear. She remembered his voice in her ear, saying he’d kill Stuart unless she cooperated. Had he hurt him? That thought made her sob.He’d know she was awake and then what would he do – rape her? She didn’t think he’d done it already. Surely, she’d be able to tell, wouldn’t she? ***TO BE CONTINUED***
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vile City is available now -
Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vile-City-Detective-thrilling-turner-ebook/dp/B06XG99CLW

Waterstones https://www.waterstones.com/book/vile-city/jennifer-lee-thomson/9781910720738
Amazon .com https://www.amazon.com/Vile-City-Detective-thrilling-turner-ebook/dp/B06XG99CLW
Amazon Canada https://www.amazon.ca/Vile-City-Detective-thrilling-turner-ebook/dp/B06XG99CLW

Amazon Australia https://www.amazon.com.au/Vile-City-Detective-thrilling-turner-ebook/dp/B06XG99CLW

Missing presumed murdered: The tragic case of Renee and Andrew MacRae

The last picture of Renee and little AndrewUsually when a child goes missing they don't have either of their parents with them. But in the case of the longest open missing persons case In Britain's history, 3-year-old son Andrew was with his mother Renee MacRae when he disappeared along with her, way back in 1976.
Renee was separated from her husband Gordon and dropped her oldest son Gordon who was 9-year-old off at her husband's in Inverness. She was meant to be going to see her sister in Kilmarnockand she was heading that way in her BMW when she was last seen.

The burning car

12 miles away that very same night, a train driver spotted a burning car in an isolated lay-by. It turned out to be Renee MacRae's car.
No trace of either her or the little boy was found. All that police found was a rug stained with blood that was tested and matched MacRae's blood type.
What happened to Renee and little Andrew?

So, how did a car carrying a mother and her child end up on fire and more importantly, where were Renee and little Andrew? Despite an intensive search no trace of either them was ever found.
The Sightings

Witnesses spotted a man dragging what looked like a dead sheep along the road where the mother and child were last spotted driving along. Renee MacRae was wearing a sheepskin coat when she was last seen.
Other witnesses saw a man with a pushchair near the quarry. Could it have been the little boy's?
The Theories

Unbeknown to her husband Renee had been having an affair with a married man called Bill MacDowell who worked for her husband. According to Renee's best friend  she'd been going to see him that night and not her sister as she claimed. What's more she confided in her friend that wee Andrew was her lover's son. This friend claimed that Renee was planning to start a new life with her lover.
If that was true, Renee never got the chance of happiness. Her little boy never got the chance to enjoy his childhood.
Whatever happened to the pair that night it seems certain that they were murdered. Will their bodies ever be found so they can rest in peace?
Some hope

The man in charge of the search, Detective Sergeant Cathcart was convinced he'd found Renee and Andrew in a quarry after removing the topsoil and being hit with the stench of what he believed to be corpses. He hired a bulldozer, but was ordered to stop digging by a senior officer because the vehicle had to go back to the contractors due to lack of money.
Over twenty years later, the quarry was dug up again but there were no sign of any bodies. Had they been removed? We'll never know.
Could the tragic pair be buried beneath this motorway?
The prime suspect

Bill MacDowell, Renee's lover was the main person of interest. At one stage he went into a police station to make a statement, but was dragged out by his wife.
Had he been about to confess? He denied any involvement in Renee and Andrew's murder.
The prevailing theory appears to be that mother and child were killed and buried under the A9 motorway that was being upgraded. If that is this case, maybe one day future roadworks will give all unearth the tragic pair.
Update - See "Suspect in MacRae case fled to US http://www.scotsman.com/news/suspect-in-macrae-case-fled-to-the-us-1-4383307

Vile City gets reviewed by Bibliophile Book Club

Thanks to Ellen for her review of Vile City on the Bibliophile Book Club blog https://bibliophilebookclub.com/2017/06/09/blog-tour-vile-city-by-jennifer-thomsonellens-review/
Here's a wee taster -
"There is a particularly repulsive character in Vile City – no spoilers but they made my skin crawl and got my hackles up.Females have a lot of strong roles of varying backgrounds and personalities; glamorous receptionist, sophisticated psychotherapist, local newspaper journalist and the latest victim Shelley Craig. It was refreshing to see this in a crime thriller although nothing (and no-one) is straight forward and I wouldn’t have known who to trust."
You'll need to read the book to find out more.
*********************************************************************************

Book Links -Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vile-City-Detective-thrilling-turner-ebook/dp/B06XG99CLW

Waterstones https://www.waterstones.com/book/vile-city/jennifer-lee-thomson/9781910720738
Amazon .com https://www.amazon.com/Vile-City-Detective-thrilling-turner-ebook/dp/B06XG99CLW
Amazon Canada https://www.amazon.ca/Vile-City-Detective-thrilling-turner-ebook/dp/B06XG99CLW
Amazon Australia https://www.amazon.com.au/Vile-City-Detective-thrilling-turner-ebook/dp/B06XG99CLW

Vile City in the news

I'm in the Daily Record newspaper talking about Vile City and what inspired me to write the crime thriller.

Id you'd like a wee read, just click on READ IT HERE below the picture to be taken to the piece on the website☺


READ IT HERE