David W. Robinson's Blog: Always Writing, page 32

That’s Another One Launched

STAC’s Christmas Crackers was officially launched yesterday with a minimum of fuss. It didn’t need any great shouting. It was already at #1 in its cosy crime category on Amazon, and at something like #350 in the overall rankings.

It’s no secret that I don’t care for launch days. They’re long and tiring and I’m obliged to sit at the computer for hours on end on the offchance that someone stops by. Yesterday, it was just over fifteen hours.

Not that I just sat there, of course. While waiting for input from the passers-by, I kept myself busy preparing a short trailer for the book. I’m using brand new software and still learning my way round it, so it’s a bit clunky, but you can take a look at it right here.

Christmas Crackers is the last release of the year for me, but it’s not the last one for Crooked Cat. There’s a string of new books coming up this side of Christmas from my fellow authors, starting with Nik Morton’s Spanish Eye, this Friday. You can read what Nik has to say about this on my other blog.

Beyond that, there are titles from Carol Hedges, Carol Maginn, Lisa Dyer, Nancy Jardine, and two I’m particularly looking forward in my category (crime) Catriona King and Frances di Plino, both of whom I’ll be talking to next month.

In the meantime, I’ve other work to be getting on with, only a part of which is STAC #11. But don’t hold your breath on that one. It’s likely to be the spring before you see it.

We Are Top of the Charts

Crooked Cat celebrated its second birthday two days ago, on November 21st. I’m proud to say I was (I believe) the third author to sign up with them. I’ve known Steph and Laurence Patterson a few years, and I knew it was the smart move. The success of my STAC Mysteries has vindicated the decision.

But now, we’ve surpassed our wildest dreams with two books topping their charts on Amazon UK.

First there’s my own Christmas Crackers, the tenth STAC Mystery. It’s been on sale a few days now and I’ve watched it climb steadily through the ranks until, at 7:30 this morning it sat at 725 overall, and at NUMBER ONE in its category, Cosy Crime.

This is even more surprising when you realise that the book is not officially released until next Tuesday, November 26th.

Yesterday, however, saw the release of Leap of Faith, first in a YA series by my good friend and fellow Crooked Cat author, Richard Hardie. Never let it be said that Richard and his teen ’tecs let the grass grow under their feet. Right now, this fantastic tale is at NUMBER ONE in two separate charts and NUMBER TWO in a third.

More power to your elbow, Richard.

There’s more news yet.

For the last week or two, I’ve been in conversation with another friend, yet another Crooked Cat author, Nik Morton. We rattled on about everything (writing related that is), and that conversation is now live here.

It’s in two parts. The first part, live is timed to coincide with the release of Christmas Crackers. The second part, will appear next Weds/Thurs in time to coincide with the release of Nik’s next title, Spanish Eye ( Kindle link is not yet available for this title).

I’m currently reading Nik’s last Crooked Cat title. Blood of the Dragon Trees and you have my assurance that it is a riveting read. Nik has a wonderful way with words that draw you into the heart of the action/situation.

This conversation is the first of a series. It will be followed early in December by a similar natter with Catriona King, then my old friend Frances di Plino, and others to be announced in the New Year.

They are not simply the usual interviews. They are two-way conversations, which my guests raising as many points as they are answering as we discuss the writing and marketing processes, and I hope you’ll find them as interesting as I did.

So a busy time of it here, and the promise of an exciting yuletide to come.

Reviews and Reviews

A busy day for reviews yesterday.

I never ask for them. People read my work and if they’re so inclined they review. And good or bad, I don’t respond to them other than to say the odd “thanks” usually on Facebook. As long as it’s not personal, I believe readers are perfectly entitled to their opinion and they’re welcome to express it. I do.

That said, it’s nice when you get a good review, and I had two yesterday.

The Deep Secret took its third review and it was another five-star from a lady who said it was just as enthralling as The Handshaker. Thank you, Cathie Hinchliffe. You can read what Cathie and others have to say about the book HERE.

While that was appearing on Amazon, fellow author Nik Morton was busy blogging on The Filey Connection, the very first STAC Mystery.

It’s worrying when a fellow professional looks at your work. Not that authors are particularly unkind. They know the value of constructive criticism. But they look at your titles on several levels, and you just know they’re going to pull you for that misused semicolon on page 137.

Writer, editor and illustrator, the author of 20 books, Nik is a man who knows what he’s taking about, and he’s unstinting in his praise for The Filey Connection, comparing it to the work of Simon Brett.

You can read what Nik says about The Filey Connection HERE.

Nik is the author of Blood of the Dragon Trees, a remarkable novel, and one with an unusual slant. It appealed to me immediately because it’s set on the island of Tenerife, and the missus and I have had a long love affair with the Canary Islands.

When I’m through, I shall, of course, review it (whilst keeping a careful eye out for misused semicolons). In the meantime, Nik and I both have releases next week, and in the run up to them, I’ll be putting up an extended conversation between us. It won’t be on this blog, but there’ll be more news on that at the weekend.

Early Release

We’re into the final six weeks of the year and the push for Christmas is on. Truth be told, it’s been on since the end of August when our local shops began stocking Christmas cards and decorations.

Not to be outdone, the tenth STAC Mystery, Christmas Crackers, is due out on November 26th. Thanks to complications with the way Amazon work it’s already on sale. More than that, it’s currently ranked about 4,500 in the overall Amazon charts, and the last time I looked it stood at #64 in the crime, thrillers & mystery/British Detectives Top100.

It’s not the first time this has happened. Costa del Murder was at #3 in that same chart the day before it was officially released. There’s very little Crooked Cat can do about it. We’ve seen it take days for a book to appear on the Amazon site, so when you’re planning a release you have to ensure that the title is uploaded well in advance. Where Christmas Crackers and Costa del Murder are concerned, it took Amazon only a matter of hours.

Christmas Crackers is a collection of mysteries, and it’s unusual in that Joe is not the centre of attention in all the tales. Sheila and Brenda have their moments of glory, too. In the following excerpt, the girls are talking to author Donna Corley.

***

The three women were sat off to one side of the St Hilda Suite, a room which harked back to a more genteel era. Potted plants lined the walls, intricate, wrought iron tables, all painted white, filled the perimeter of the hall, leaving a large space for dancing, and there were posters all over the hotel advertising tea dances.

“Joe’s not the only one,” Brenda insisted. “We’ve had our moments, haven’t we, Sheila?”

Her best friend chuckled. “True enough. We’re not just pretty faces. Brenda, tell her about that business at the bank.”

Brenda blushed. “Oh, that wasn’t me. I rang Joe, and he told me what to look for.”

“Yes, but you were the one who solved it,” Sheila insisted.

“It wasn’t hard to figure out,” Brenda admitted. “Not like the Rotterdam Ferry or the one you were involved with, Sheila.”

Donna placed her recorder in the centre of the table again. “Come on, Brenda. Tell me what happened.”

“Well, it was a long time ago. Not long after my husband passed away.” Brenda licked her lips and warmed to her story. “Back then, Gemma, Joe’s niece, was a detective constable and I think it was one of the earliest cases she worked on. I often wonder if I had a hand in her fast rise to sergeant.” She sighed, wistfully. “Listen to me. I’m waffling. I spent most of my working life in the bank on the High Street. After Colin died I decided it was time for a change, which is how come I ended up working for Joe. But that first year, I received an invitation to the bank’s Christmas party, on the 23rd, and I thought it would be a chance to catch up with old friends and colleagues.”

***

What happened when Brenda went to the party at the bank? You’ll have to read Christmas Crackers to find out.

Christmas Crackers, STAC Mystery #10, is published by Crooked Cat Books, officially released in all e-formats and in paperback on November 26th.

Fed Up Friday

Question: what do you do when you’re 25,000 words in and you suddenly realise the entire plot is nonsense.

There are two possible answers:

1) Turn it into a comedy.

2) Scrap it and start again.

Unfortunately, the rules of comedy mean that it still has to make sense, and it doesn’t. Besides, it’s not intended as a comedy, so I’m left with option 2; scrap it.

After the launch of The Deep Secret and the completion of STAC’s Christmas Crackers, I set to work on the next case for Felix Croft and Millie Matthews, and that’s where the problems soon manifested.

It’s irritating. I’ve spent the last seven days working on this (no I am not doing nano, I always work at that speed) but try as I might, I cannot make this thing make sense, and at eight o’clock this morning, I finally worked out why. It’s two separate novels and I’m trying to make them fit into one, and because they’re so different, it’ll never work. It’s like wearing your frilly shirt and bow tie and dinner jacket, with a pair of denim shorts and flip-flops. True there are people who might do that, but it doesn’t make them style gurus, and there are no doubt writers who would cobble the two together, but it doesn’t make them novelists.

So while my good friend Maureen Vincent-Northam is busy drilling through plates, and my old mate Trevor Forest is running Magic Molly through her 4th adventure I’m back at the drawing board, working on what will be Croft and Millie’s third outing… if I can make it make sense.

Friday? I’m fed up

 

Christmas Crackers

Halloween and Guy Fawkes night are out of the way, the decks are cleared, the missus is on the ready line, shopping list, credit card, knuckledusters prepared for the coming battles… yes, it’s Christmas and it’s right round the corner.

And it’s not just Her Indoors preparing for the festivities: so are the gang at the Sanford 3rd Age Club, and you can join our three sleuths, Joe, Sheila and Brenda, from November 26th in…

Christmas Crackers

We don’t have any links yet. Paperbacks can take some time to find their way onto the various sites, and the e-book will not be uploaded until nearer the release date. But as usual there will be a huge party on Facebook, and everyone is most welcome.

Christmas Crackers marks a small departure from the usual STAC format. Some months ago, I announced that the tenth STAC Mystery would be Death in Distribution, but I ran into problems with that title and by the time I had them sorted, it was too late to make the deadline. Once that became obvious, I concentrated on Christmas Crackers, which consists of five short tales all wrapped up in a ‘live’ case.

Death in Distribution will now appear next spring and in the meantime, I hope Christmas Crackers will provide you with an entertaining distraction over the festive period.

You’ve seen the cover, so in order to get official pre-launch publicity under way, let’s have a little snippet from the10th STAC Mystery, Christmas Crackers.

The following excerpt is taken from the opening chapter. Joe, Sheila and Brenda have just arrived at the Headland Hotel in Whitby, for the North Coast Crime Writers’ Annual Awards, where they have been greeted by Rowena Armitage. Having checked in, Rowena is showing them to their rooms.

***

“Now, Joe,” Rowena said as they ambled from reception, “You are our guest of honour and you will be presenting the premier award. The North Coast Crime Writers’ novel of the year award. I’m not supposed to tell anyone who the winner is, so I’ll have to swear you to great secrecy. It’s…”

Rowena trailed off as a tall, striking brunette entered the hotel and swept towards them, her faux mink coat flouncing in her wake. She was followed by a smartly dressed forty-something man, dragging two huge suitcases.

“Ah. Rowena. I hope you’ve reserved the best room for me. If not, I’m afraid I shall be leaving immediately.”

Joe took an instant dislike to her. “She asked me to vacate it, but I said no, so it looks like we’re sharing. You’re not expensive, are you?”

The calculated insult astonished his two friends and Rowena, but the brunette took it in her stride. “Trust me, little man, if I was selling it, you couldn’t afford me.” She swept on past them to reception.

The man smiled apologetically. “Sorry about that. What Arabella wants, Arabella gets.”

“Really?” Joe asked. “What Arabella needs is a kick up the khyber. And if you don’t have the bottle, refer her to me. I will.”

***

Will Arabella get what she wants? Will she get what she needs? You’ll have to wait to find out.

Christmas Crackers, STAC Mystery #10 is published by Crooked Cat Books on November 26th and will be available in all e-formats and paperback. There is a launch party on Facebook, to which everyone is welcome.

Get It While It’s Hot and Cheap.

It’s exactly one week since The Deep Secret, sequel to The Handshaker, was released, and the launch price was set at 99p. Come on, a full-length novel for less than the cost of the bus far from my home to Oldham. Is that a deal or is it a deal?

But today is your last chance. As of midnight tonight (or thereabouts) it moves to its full price of … I don’t know yet. I’m waiting for confirmation. Whatever it is, it’ll be a lot more expensive than now, but, naturally, it will still be an absolute bargain, and I bet it’ll still be cheaper than a cup of coffee.

But if you want to have a few coppers, then you have to move now.

And talking of The Deep Secret, it took its second review yesterday from Jeff Gardiner. It’s another five stars, and Jeff marked it up on pace and characterisation. ‘You are guaranteed many days of thrilling reading’ is how he sums it up.

And in other news, we have a potential release date for STAC’s Christmas Crackers. This year’s festive release will happen on Tuesday November 26th… at least that’s the plan at this moment, but stay tuned for more news as it happens.

First Review

We’re having one of those days. The big storm missed us northerners yesterday, but we’re getting the tail end of it today it in the shape of icy winds and rain. We then learned that for some reason best known to herself, Her Indoors threw her dentures in the dustbin. Accidentally, of course. We found out ten minutes after the bin wagon had collected the week’s rubbish. Au revoir dentures, adieu a few hundred quid for new ones.

Still it’s not all bad news. The Deep Secret got its first review today.

When we talk about customer reviews, we tend to think of Amazon and Goodreads, but they’re not the be-all and end-all.

The Deep Secret was released last Friday and put up a creditable performance in the Amazon UK hard-boiled crime chart. As usual, after that first rush, it’s settled down, but it’s still waiting for its first review on Amazon. That’s fair comment. At getting on for 94,000 words, it’s not the kind of book you read in one sitting.

Never let it be said, however, that Jane Bwye allows such trivia stop her. I’m guesting today on her blog and I was pleasantly surprised to find that Jane had not only read the book in two marathon sittings, but had also left a review of The Deep Secret on the next page.

I’m quite circumspect when it comes to reviews. They’re nice when you get a good one, not so nice when you get a bad one. I never solicit them, and I do prefer them to be honest. Once again, I can’t fault Jane for that. Her review of The Handshaker, the prequel to The Deep Secret, was quite candid: she found the opening scenes revolting, and said so. More power to your elbow, dear lady.

Does it upset me when people say things like that? No. Some authors, I know, get quite angry, frustrated, tearful or depressed when they read such reviews, but I’m not one of them. Instead, I think of all the books I’ve read, music I’ve listened to and movies I’ve seen, and I ask myself how many have I openly panned as rubbish? Quite a lot, I suspect. When I do so, I’m expressing my opinion and when a reviewer comes along and pastes one of my books, they’re doing exactly the same. Who was it that said, “I don’t agree with one word you’re saying, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”? That’s how I feel about reviews. They may be irritating, but so long as they’re not personal, everyone is entitled to their say.

***

The Deep Secret is published by Crooked Cat and available for download in all e-book formats from Amazon, Smashwords and Crooked Cat Books, and in paperback from Amazon.

Click here to read Jane Bwye’s review of The Deep Secret.

Jane Bwye’s Breath of Africa is published by Crooked Cat and available for download in all e-book formats from Amazon, Smashwords and Crooked Cat Books, and in paperback from Amazon.

The Witching Hour Draws Near

 

It’s a wet October Monday and the UK is being battered by a major storm… according to the weather forecasters. I’ve seen nothing of it. It’s barely breezy enough to rattle the wind chimes, and although it’s raining there’s nothing new about that. It rains most of the time where I live.

It’s been another busy week, with the release of The Deep Secret, and now Halloween is only three days away. Fitting, perhaps, that A Halloween Homicide, STAC Mystery #3, should take a major review from one of Amazon’s top 30 reviewers.

A Halloween Homicide was written almost two years ago, and I self-published it for about a year before handing it over to Crooked Cat as part of the present series.

Was it a deliberate attempt to cash in on the popularity of Halloween? Not really. It was more case that Halloween fitted the concept of old gits taking weekends away, and where better for spooks than the fine old city of York? Chuck in a fancy dress party, a ghost hunt, a robbery and couple of murders and its perfect territory for master sleuth Joe Murray and his sidekicks, Sheila and Brenda.

I have to confess, it was never one of my favourites, but it seems to be popular with those people who matter: i.e. the readers. Like most of the STAC Mysteries, it doesn’t take many reviews because I never solicit them, but A Halloween Homicide has consistently gained 4- and 5-star critiques.

This latest one is more in-depth than the others and quite complimentary.

David Robinson has written a most enjoyable whodunit that will keep the reader guessing exactly what happened on that witching night. Full of surprises. Excellent entertainment.

ACB of Swansea, I thank you, and I hope you enjoy more of the STAC Mysteries.

The STAC series is not the only one in the news. Last Friday, after a couple of weeks of increased promotion, The Deep Secret finally saw the light of day.

The sequel to The Handshaker, taking the story a stage further, it’s no cosy whodunit, and I was pleased to see that it crashed into the top 100 of Amazon UK’s Crime, Thriller & Mystery/Hard Boiled chart, and stayed there for most of Saturday before beginning to slip.

First flush after release? We’ll see, but it’s gratifying and encourages me to consider producing more of the Croft/Millie novels.

But don’t hold your breath. They’re more detailed than cosy crimes and they take a lot longer to write.

That’s Monday morning out of the way. I’m back at the coal face with a Christmas title to finish. Wherever you are, have a great week, and keep smiling. It makes people wonder what you’ve been up to.

The Handshaker’s Reign of Terror Continues

Today sees the release of The Deep Secret, the long-awaited sequel to The Handshaker.

Like the original, the book contains graphic scenes of sex and violence, and throughout, it has a nagging puzzle which hypnotist Felix Croft must solve.

There’s a bit of me in Croft. He’s fabulously wealthy and I’m flat broke. He’s tall and fit and has a magnetic appeal which draws in women. I’m short, fat, and I have a propensity for plain speaking which drives away everyone, including women. You can see he’s practically a mirror image of me.

We both like puzzles. I love crosswords, sudokus and logic problems, which is probably why I chose to write whodunits. The Handshaker was littered with anagrams which Croft had to crack.

The Deep Secret has its share of puzzles, but they’re not anagrams… well not all are anagrams.

I’ll not say anything more about it. You’ll have to read the book if you want to tackle the puzzles.

It’s available now from many sources and because it’s a launch, you can get The Deep Secret for just 99p.  With The Handshaker priced at 98p, it means you can get both for less than two quid. . You can download the e-book from:

Amazon (Kindle)

Smashwords (all formats)

Crooked Cat Books (MOBI, EPUB, PDF)

You can also purchase the paperback from Amazon and other online stores, and you should be able to order it from your High Street bookstore by quoting one of the following ISBNs:

978-1909841239

1909841234

In the meantime, there’s a launch event on Facebook, which is going on all day and to which everyone is welcome.