Leopold Borstinski's Blog, page 11

And so it goes

Just a quick update on my writing life in the last week.

I’ve been preparing the Casino Chiseler manuscript before I pass it to my editor to ready it for publishing, while at the same time piecing together the storyline for the next Alex Cohen book, Cuban Heel. In parallel to that, there has been the no small issue of sketching out possible series to write once Alex is over.

As mentioned before, I’m looking at a Murder Corporation assassin who will mix with the Jewish gangsters from the first half of the 20th century. And there’s also a Jake PI series featuring more of the life of the guy from The Case. I’m further ahead with Jake but think I should be writing Murder Corp first. In my head I know I don’t have to sort any of this out for another year, but my heart wants to know where I’m going. I feel conflicted (and I am aware this is a first-world problem).

Behind the scenes, I have been fighting my way through a migration to a new email sending service, a task which is yet to be completed. Over the next month, accept my apologies up front if your newsletter is delayed, vanishes or is somehow not quite right. I hope to be sorted by October, but I also hoped to be sorted by July, thus proving that hope is not all it is cracked up to be.

Leo

Ashgrove killer

Fellow author, Liam G Black has a novel out which might be of interest to you called The Case of the Ashgrove Killer. The blurb should get you hooked…

After moving to Amber Cove, and starting a new life, the detective Adam Miller tried to bury his bloody past from Ashgrove City. A city where countless women were killed by the serial killer known as “the Ashgrove Ripper.” Adam had a better life with his new girlfriend, Lisa, in Amber Cove. However, those happy and peaceful days were over the moment he received a strange letter before Lisa’s sudden disappearance. Adam knew the ripper was still out here, and he had to find Lisa before it’s too late. He traveled to Ashgrove to finally catch the Ripper and find Lisa, but a very unpleasant surprise is waiting for him there…something he could never recover from…

Fill your boots.

Awakenings Part 3 is out and about

I am pleased to announce that Awakenings Part 3 has been released and is exclusively available on my website.

As a quick reminder, this is an erotic tale of two people on vacation in New York and it costs less than a dollar.

It’s like The Girl in the Striped Bikini, but with less swimwear, if you see what I mean. Buy it and you’ll find out.

Enjoy.

Leo

Stock up on some books

A collection called Stock Up on Mystery and Crime, which should help you pick up some… mystery and crime books. Yes, I know it is a shock.

Fill your boots, anyway.

Fighting Dirty

Here’s a novel from author, Blair, Denholm called Fighting Dirty. As ever, the blurb will do my work for me…

It took only one bad choice to turn his world upside down. DI Jack Lisbon now faces his toughest dilemma – seek justice or exact vengeance. When a young boxer gets beaten half to death for throwing a fight, Jack takes a bribe to look the other way. Soon, that questionable decision comes back to haunt him and his career hangs in the balance. Jack has to make things right, the only way he knows how. Make the bad guys pay!

History Mystery Collection

Yet again, a title that says nearly everything that needs to be said, the History and Mystery collection is a set of historical fiction novels for you to read. It comprises full-length novels set in the past and are in the mystery/thriller genre.

Fill your boots.

Barnes and Noble

Those folks at Barnes and Noble, a well-known US bricks-and-mortar and online book vendor has put together a Chilling Summer Thriller set of recommendations within their Special Collection series and I am humbled to tell you they have chosen Bowery Slugger in their top 25 reads. Wow.

If you want to grab yourself a set of crime stories, it’d be a good starting point I have to say

August Crime spree

Here we are in the summer of our discontent and I thought I would offer you an opportunity to grab some freebies for your beach reading. Or not. Anyway, the collection is called August Crime Giveaway and, as ever in these situations, there are crime-based stories available for no charge and this will take place in the month of August.

I have no idea how people come up with these marketing ideas…

Fill your boots.

In the past seven days…

Here’s a quick round-up of what’s been going on in the last week.

First, as implied last week, I have finished the first draft of Casino Chiseler, book 4 in the Alex Cohen series. This means it should hit the streets around October time. It pushes forward into the 1940s as Alex moves to Las Vegas and helps Benny Siegel create the casino-hotels for which the city because famous.

Second, I have been looking at the results of the survey I pushed out last week abut whereto after Alex. Thank you to everyone who took the time to express their opinions as to what my next project(s) should be. I need to carry out a little more analysis to reach a fine conclusion but I can easily tell you know the edited highlights. There is a strong voice asking me to continue with Alex Cohen, along with calls for more Jewish gangster stories as well as follow-ups to The Case with a 1940s/50s private eye.

These voices come from different groups and I want to better understand the likelihood of generating sales off the back of heeding these calls. At the moment–and I have a year to make the decision so this is far from final–I am minded to write a couple more Alex Cohen stories to bring the total up to nine. Then I am open to developing two other series, one about a Jewish gangster from Murder Corporation as well as Jake Adkins PI. This might take a couple of years to produce if I go down this route but I am certainly going to focus my attention on these concepts.

The thing which surprised me from the survey, which I’m closing for further input, was how few of you were interested in my Eliot Ness idea, which is something that has been festering inside me for several months. In my research on Al Capone, I discovered that Ness almost lost his badge when he was found DUI after a car accident. The idea of writing a bunch of stories about a drunk Ness who has hit the skids intrigued me–but I don’t want to write into the void. Perhaps I’ll gauge reader opinion again in a few years time and if Ness is still rattling around my skull, I might test the water further down the line.

As I said before, thanks again for your thoughts and I’ll let you know what happens, but don’t hold your breath. We are talking months not weeks.

Leo

What do you think?

I am close to finishing the first draft of Casino Chiseler which means I am a little halfway through the Alex Cohen series.

This means the back of my mind is now thinking about what I am going to do in a year’s time when the series is finished.

And that’s where you can help. I have a few options in front of me and I would like to hear your opinion and I’ve set up a short survey for you to complete. This is the link to the SurveyMonkey site where there are a handful of questions for you to answer.

This isn’t a democracy, so I am not saying that I will follow what the majority of respondents say, but if you’ve been receiving this newsletter for a while, you will know that I do listen to my readers and change my writing as a result of what you say.

Here is the link again https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/XQZ92K6

Thanks in advance

Leo