Iain Cameron's Blog, page 6
June 3, 2016
Undercover Police Work
Here’s a new book that will really make you think, if not make your skin crawl. Joe Carter was an uncover cop for over 30 years living with criminals, buying drugs and even setting up a lab to make 250,00 tabs of MDMA. They called it ‘mum and dad’ and sold the tabs for £5-£10 each. Good work if you can get it.
The downside of all this subterfuge was it was impossible for him to hold down normal relationships as many of the people he got to know were sent to prison as a result of his work. Perhaps an unforeseen consequence of his actions was that he was sad to see many of them being incarcerated as over time he got to know them well and counted them as friends.
Occasionally, we come across a book that gives an insight into the police, prisons or how a murder investigation is actually conducted and as a result, crime novels can be better assessed for their approach to, or lack of realism. Here is a book that will become the bible for authors wishing to cast a cop in this role as few people have done it and far less have been willing to publicise their exploits.
Undercover – A True Story by Joe Carter is available on Amazon here
May 20, 2016
Harry Potter Boosts Bloomsbury
Sales of an illustrated Harry Potter book and the latest HP colouring books have boosted profits at the Children’s Division of publisher Bloomsbury, by a staggering 133%. You may recall, JK Rowling left her agent, Christopher Little, after the publication of Harry Potter book no 7 and decided that all her Robert Galbraith books and The Casual Vacancy would be published by Sphere. Harry Potter was a publishing sensation at the time with queues of wizards and Harry Potter lookalikes camped all night outside bookshops, waiting for them to open. Some books have come close, notably Game of Thrones and the books by Jacqueline Wilson, but nothing can match the power of Harry Potter.
Now, it looks like the boy wizard’s spell will continue as this year sees the publication of the illustrated version of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, there will be fresh content in the new edition of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and the film adaptation of the book, starring Eddie Redmayne and Colin Farrell, is set for release in November.
May 12, 2016
Inappropriate Books Causing Children Mental Illness
A headteacher from a school in Gloucestershire has singled out books like Harry Potter, Game of Thrones and The Hunger Games for criticism because they are ‘damaging the brains of young children.’ Graeme Whiting, the head of The Acorn School, published a blog post on the school’s website advising parents to ban their children from reading ‘mythical and frightening texts’ that he believes contain ‘deeply insensitive and addictive material’.
Whiting, who stands for the ‘old-fashioned values of traditional literature’, wrote in The Imagination of the Child that buying ‘sensational’ books marketed at children is like ‘feeding your child with heaps of added sugar’. He is calling on parents to protect their children from ‘dark, demonic literature carefully sprinkled with ideas of magic, of control and of ghostly and frightening stories’ and expressed outrage that no licence is required to buy such books.
‘I want children to read literature that is conducive to their age and leave those mystical and frightening texts for when they can discern reality and when they have first learned to love beauty,’ Whiting said. ‘Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, The Hunger Games and Terry Pratchett, to mention only a few of the modern world’s ‘must-haves’, contain deeply insensitive and addictive material which I am certain encourages difficult behaviour in children; yet they can be bought without a special licence and can damage the sensitive subconscious brains of young children, many of whom may be added to the current statistics of mentally ill young children.’
Whiting listed his favourite authors as Wordsworth, Keats, Shelley, Dickens and Shakespeare, but didn’t acknowledge that those writers drew on supernatural and violent themes in their works. I take the view that all reading is beneficial as long as children or not frightened or shocked by what they read. Even at the age of twelve or thirteen, they are savvy enough to understand that books such as The Hunger Games and Harry Potter are fiction.
The Acorn School was founded by Graham Whiting and his wife in 1991. Pupils do not wear uniform or take state exams and earned an ‘outstanding’ rating in Ofsted’s latest report.
May 4, 2016
Love Reading – Hate eBooks?
A bargain for book lovers!
Those nice people at Amazon UK have created a special spring treat for all you book lovers. From now until the end of May, they are discounting loads of paperbacks by up to 40%.
Included in this great offer are the first two DI Angus Henderson novels – One Last Lesson, down from £6.99 to £4.19 and Driving into Darkness, down from £8.99, to £5.39.
This offer is for a LIMITED PEROD only so grab your copy today.
April 29, 2016
May Newsletter
My May newsletter has just been published. In there, you’ll find out about the changes currently taking place in crime writing and why so many celebrities are dying. It’s issued every two months and if you’d like to receive a copy, future issues and an occasional email, sign-up in the Bio section of this website.
April 27, 2016
Book Success
It’s not often this happens and when you look a few days later, it’s all changed but today I have two books in the top twenty. The top twenty of Crime Thrillers & Mystery/British Detectives to be precise, but a chart position is a chart position. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my readers. I may write the books, but without you reading them and leaving thoughtful comments on various book platforms, there would be no point. Thank you again.
March 15, 2016
Newsletter March 2016
A new book is coming! Yes, the 4th book to feature DI Angus Henderson, called Hunting for Crows, will be published 18th March 2016.When the DI hears of the drowning in Arundel of Barry Crow, former bass player in the 80s rock band, the Crazy Crows, he is intrigued. When the drummer dies, choked by a barbell in his home gym, he starts to investigate. Things don’t go as planned and in his search for the truth, Henderson comes face-to-face with not one, but two deadly opponents, both of whom want him dead.
Available from Amazon 18/03/16 – £1.99 for the Kindle edition.
Authors to Boycott Literary Festivals
From the sedate world of the literary festival, there’s talk of a storm brewing. Authors for many years have been complaining about receiving nothing, or a minimum amount to cover expenses, for speaking at various literary festivals. In addition to the low fee, some festivals also insist that any speaker signs a contract, forbidding them from speaking anywhere else for a specific time period. Some authors, such as Joanne Harris, author of Chocolat, are now saying enough is enough and they will boycott this year’s festivals. Many small festivals are charities, staffed by volunteers and parsimony goes with the territory, but others are large commercial enterprises with sponsorship from local businesses, and in my opinion, they should pay their speakers a fair and reasonable appearance fee.
The Oscars
I recently posted an article on my blog called Does Hollywood Love Authors? It’s surprising to learn that due to Hollywood’s in-built conservatism and aversion to losing money, many of the ‘big’ movies it produces are remakes of old ideas or extensions of existing ones. For proof, think Star Wars or the new version of Mary Poppins currently being planned with Emily Blunt. When directors adapt a screenplay from a book, the film is often more rounded, intelligent and better plotted than a hastily constructed screenplay, and providing it keeps faith with the original, the producers can tap into a ready-made audience.
Kindle First Programme
Heard of it? This new program offers those who sign up to the free newsletter, four e-books a month before their official print publication. You can then purchase one of these Amazon-branded titles for £0.99; Prime members can choose one for free. Amazon Publishing publicist Katie Finch said: ‘Each Kindle First pick will feature an Editor’s Note sharing why it was selected, including how the book first came to the editor’s attention.’ To find out more, click the ‘Kindle First’ tab on the Amazon home page.
School Books
Publisher’s Penguin are offering 100 out-of-copyright classics to schools for £1 each. They are being sold as a job lot of 100 books and will include Bronte, Dickens and some Chinese and Arabic books as well. The Publishing Director of Penguin Classics said: ‘It’s about the incredible importance of having books lying around, and getting away from the curriculum.’ Scholastic started a similar scheme a few months ago with 26 books. It’s worth mentioning this to your child’s teacher in case they haven’t heard, and if you would like to read one yourself, many can be downloaded free as an ebook from various websites such as www.gutenberg.org.
That’s all for now. Keep reading!
Iain
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March 9, 2016
100 Books Children Should Read
The TES (Formerly the Times Educational Supplement) recently published the top 100 fiction books all children should read before leaving primary school. I don’t think I’d read 50 books before leaving primary school and I was an avid reader, but I suspect TES don’t mean for your children to read every one but to pick from the list. Some of the books are crackers, reminding me of when I used to read to my own children, books such as: The Hobbit, The Twits and The Jolly Postman. Here is the top ten. You can find the full list at http://bit.ly/1hWkWoy
1 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
2 Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian
3 Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
4 Matilda by Roald Dahl
5 The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson
6 The Chronicles of Narnia by C S Lewis
7 The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
8 We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen
9 Dogger by Shirley Hughes
10 Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
March 7, 2016
New Book!
Exciting news – the new DI Henderson novel, Hunting for Crows, will be published 18th March 2016!
A man’s body is recovered from the swollen River Arun, drowned in a vain attempt to save his dog. The story interests DI Angus Henderson of Surrey and Sussex Police as the man was once the member of an eighties rock band. When another band member dies, exercising in his home gym, Henderson starts to investigate.
The lack of evidence doesn’t trouble the DI, but the Assistant Chief Constable takes a different view and he is thrown off the case. The ACC is forced to reverse his decision days later, when another band member is killed in a car accident, and now he demands a speedy result.
In the search for clues, Henderson forces witnesses to delve into their past, providing pleasant memories for some and opening old wounds and grievances for others.
The DI digs deeper and deeper…but then uncovers something he didn’t bargain for.
Available from Amazon 18/03/16 – £1.99 for the Kindle edition.
February 25, 2016
Is Amazon Crushing the Opposition?
According to a former Downing Street adviser, Amazon is crushing small publishers. Rohan Silva, who previously advised David Cameron and the Chancellor, George Osborne will launch a bookshop called Libreria (see pic) in London this week. He told The Daily Telegraph the Government should refer the situation to competition watchdogs.
Last month, Scott Turow, a US author who has sold hundreds of thousands of books through Amazon, said Amazon’s power was a threat to free speech ‘They are, as I have called them, the Darth Vader of the literary world,’ he said. Turow is a former US federal prosecutor and president of the US Author’s Guild.
Amazon has refused to comment, but why would they? If the competition rules in the UK allow such behaviour, they have no incentive to stop or apologise for what they are doing. It is certainly true that Amazon’s influence in the book market (and in many other industries) has been massive, but would its effect have been so profound if it not for the development of ebooks?
If this is true, then publishers and booksellers have little to crow about. They have been slow to adopt the technology and even now, some publishers do not issue an ebook version of their main titles. Amazon could claim, with some justification, that they have spawned a new branch of the publishing industry, digital publishing. This is a small but growing collection of ebook-savvy publishers without ties to big bookshops, and they are making the most of Amazon’s discount deals and using on-line marketing skills to promote their authors.
Many publishers, including the largest, behave as if ebooks are nothing but another marketing tool, used in the goal of selling more paperbacks. Instead, ebook readers at their core, are a distinct group with voracious reading habits, a habit which precludes the purchase of expensive ebooks, especially when they can pick up a perfectly good one for £2 and often for free. If publishers were to treat this group as a separate market, the savings they currently make on printing, transport and storage costs are sufficient to create a proper marketing plan, a better pricing model and a strategy for the long-term. This will hopefully stop the current trend of penalising authors who are losing sales every time ebooks are treated like paperbacks.
