David W. Robinson's Blog: Always Writing, page 50

Every Nook and Sony

Talk about e-readers and everyone immediately thinks, ‘Kindle’. Fair enough. Amazon’s series of Kindles are the market leader and more than any other company, Amazon has done much to free authors from the stranglehold of the large publishing houses and bring reading to experience to millions who may never have bought a book.

(Yes, I know it’s also given platform to those who can barely write a Christmas card, which in turn has done a great deal of damage to the many, fine indie authors out there. None of that is germane to this piece.)

The Kindle, however, is not the be all and end all. Latest figures from the trade press indicate that Amazon has about 60% of the e-book market what about the other 40%? Are they to be denied the delights and puzzles of the STAC Mysteries? Can they not steep themselves in the edge-of-the-seat suspense of The Handshaker pursuit?

Of course they can. As a self-publisher, I ensured that my works were available across all channels (including PDF for those with the patience to read on a computer). Crooked Cat Books has exactly the same policy.

So, too, apparently do Barnes & Noble whose Nook reader has proved a worthy opponent of the Kindle in the USA. They have now launched their e-reader in the UK.

No point asking me to go into tech specs. What I know about this things would fill a postage stamp… all right, half a postage stamp.

What I do know is that you can now download the STAC Mysteries and titles like The Handshaker onto this device in the UK. And when I checked up, all the titles are there.

The Filey Connection, The I-Spy Murders, A Halloween Homicide, A Murder for Christmas are all there on Nook UK. All you have to do is search for the title.

The same is true of other e-readers, like the Sony. You may have to search around a little, but they’re all there.

And if you don’t feel like searching, you still have two other options.

First there’s the Crooked Cat online store where you can download the ebooks in MOBI (Kindle) (EPUB (Nook) or PDF.

And finally, there is Smashwords, where you can download in all formats.

And let’s not forget, there’s still Amazon for those who have the Kindle or want the paperback.

So don’t let your choice of media restrict you. It’s all out there, just waiting for you.

We Wish You A Merry Christmas

For God’s sake it’s not even the start of November and here we are talking about Christmas.

But I do have an excuse because tomorrow, Wednesday (coincidentally Halloween) sees the re-release of A Murder for Christmas by Crooked Cat Books.

It’s the last of the STAC Mysteries that I had on my self-published list, removed a few weeks ago, now ready for the official launch of the Christmas season in Great Britain.

In fact, the official launch of the Christmas season in Great Britain happened in June when some of our town centre shops started shifting the barbecues and garden furniture to make way for the winter goodies.

Back to the plot.

A Murder for Christmas is released on Wednesday in all formats: EPUB, MOBI and PDF with iTunes etc to follow as soon as it ships through the Smashwords system.

It’s also released in paperback. I’ve had my advance copy already and trust me, the quality is superb. The writing’s not bad, either. I particularly like the way all those little dots appear over the letters i and j.

A Murder for Christmas was a hallmark in the STAC series. It represented maturity from shorts stories to novellas, to full length novels.

There’s something else, too.

I’ve been prattling on about The Filey Connection and the price reduction to 77p. Pricing, of course, is a matter for Crooked Cat Books, not me, but now they’ve decided that the whole series, with the exception of The Filey Connection which will remain at 77p, will cost £1.99 per title.

How’s that for a deal? You could buy the whole lot for less than the price of decent packet of cigarettes, and trust me, the STAC Mysteries will do you far more good than tobacco.

Christmas will be here before you know it, and it’s that time when we buy extra special gifts for the important people in our lives. I have. I’ve bought myself a new power drill.

So if you’re looking for a stocking-filler other than a leg (male or female dependent on your proclivities) why not pick up an extra present for the mystery-loving special ones in your life?

***

A Murder for Christmas from Crooked Cat Books is released tomorrow October 31st, 2012 available from:

Amazon UK (Kindle)

Amazon Worldwide (Kindle)

Smashwords (all e-formats)

And in paperback from

Amazon UK

Amazon Worldwide

 

Nanowrimo? Me?

You may have noticed that I’ve been AWOL for a day or three. On the other hand, you may have been thinking, “Thank God for a bit of peace and quiet.”

Fact is I’ve been attending to routine domestic matters. My wife had minor surgery t’other day and I’ve been nursing her. As a non-qualified medic, my bedside manner leaves much to be desired. When did you last hear a proper nurse say, “Are you shifting your fat idle arse out of that pit or what?”

Nevertheless, because this surgical wound, small though it be, is on the back of her head, it’s my job to ensure it stays clean and free from infection until she has the stitches removed next Monday. After that, she’s on her own.

Nursing duties aside, I haven’t been entirely idle, and I picked up a snippet on the internet a couple of days ago to the effect that Smashwords are doing their bit in aid of Nanowrimo this year. For those who don’t Nanowrimo is short for National Novel Writing Month.

It takes place every November, and the idea is that you start work on the first and finish on the 30th, and in that time you have to write 50,000 words, submit it to Nanowrimo and you get a round of applause. You used to get a certificate, too, but I’m not sure if they still do that.

I’ve always been a supporter of Nanowrimo but I’ve never yet taken part because for someone like me, the target is a bit limiting. Anyone who follows my blog will know that in July this year, I actually produced a novel in a week: 60,000 words in seven days. All right, so that was a one-off challenge, but my normal productivity is between 15,000 and 20,000 words per week; way ahead of the minimum criteria for Nanowrimo. I simply do not need the motivation.

This year, however, Smashwords are helping out with the prospect of posting and updating your WIP on their site. That’s whole different bottle of antiseptic cleanser, and it’s tempting because it may just help raise my visibility a little.

I haven’t yet made the decision. I have a plot roughed out, and in keeping with the Nanowrimo rules, I haven’t written one word of it. On the downside, I’m deep into the fleshing out and completion of July’s novel in a week.

I have one week to make the decision and I’ll let you know.

In the meantime, if you’re writer or even a reader, check out Nanowrimo and the Smashwords involvement.

 

The Feel of a Paperback

I’ve been at this game for a good few years now. Unkind souls often ask if I’ve been doing it that long, how come I’m still turning out commercial crap, but I ignore them.

These days e-books dominate, and it’s quite pleasing when you see one of your covers appear online. But there’s nothing quite like holding a paperback in your hand and thinking, I wrote that. Fortunately for me, Crooked Cat Books, aware of the magnetism the paperback still has for many readers, issue both e-books in all formats and paperback.

Today, I received my advance copy of A Murder for Christmas, and here it is with its bedfellows from the STAC Mysteries and its cousin, Voices, written under my startlingly original pseudonym, David Robinson (as opposed to David W Robinson who turns out the STAC Mysteries).

I don’t own any bookends. The wife commandeered them all as garden ornaments. So I had to dream up a couple, and as you can see, they are supported by Yorrick on the right and Darth Vader on the left. Trouble is, old Vader wasn’t quite tall enough to hold the books up, so I had to stand him on a copy of the Collins Pocketbook of the Night Sky. Well, Vader worked in outer space, didn’t he?

And now, those of you who are quite shy should look away because here is the full-frontal view.

The little nick taken out of the cabinet upon which they’re rested was my fault. The wife threw the iron at me and I ducked.

With the exception of A Murder for Christmas**, you can find all the books in Kindle format at Amazon UK and Amazon Worldwide where you’ll also find links for the paperbacks.

If you want e-books, but don’t want the kindle, you can find them all again at:

Crooked Cat Books (David W Robinson & the STAC Mysteries)

Crooked Cat Books (David Robinson & Voices)

EPUB, MOBI & PDF only

And in all formats including iTunes at:

Smashwords

** A Murder for Christmas released 31st October. Paperback can be pre-ordered.

The Next Big Thing

What is the working title of your book? The Deep Secret.

Where did the idea come from for the book? It’s the sequel to The Handshaker, a novel I wrote some years ago, and which I self published last year.

What genre does your book fall under? Crime and thriller, hard boiled. It pulls no punches and is quite a departure from STAC Mysteries like The Filey Connection.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? Anthony Howell who played Milner in Foyles War, would be perfect as Croft, and Angela Griffin, formerly of Coronation Street and Casualty, would make a wonderful Millie.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? It can’t be done in one sentence, but here it is as short as possible. Serial rapist and killer, Gerald Burke, also known as The Handshaker, escapes from prison. Alex Croft, the hypnotist who helped capture him, is called into assist in his recapture. Burke wants Croft to decipher the puzzle of The Deep Secret contained in a handwritten manuscript written by The Great Zepelli, master hypnotist and coincidentally, Burke’s long-dead father. The murders will not stop until Croft delivers.

 

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? Does that mean self published or published? I have no need of agents. The majority of my work is placed with an independent publisher, Crooked Cat Books, and they have agreed, in principle, to look at it. A part of the deal, if it goes ahead, will be the transfer of publishing rights of The Handshaker from me to Crooked Cat. The Handshaker will be issued by Crooked Cat early in 2013 and The Deep Secret will follow in the spring. Both novels will be published in all e-formats and paperback.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? One week. It was a blog meme which I set up as a challenge. Write a novel in a week. In seven days, I turned out the first draft of 60,000 words. That was in July this year.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? Considering the subject matter, the abuse of hypnosis, I cannot find anything like these tales, but I suppose they could be compared to any hard-boiled, gritty and graphic crime thriller.

Who or what inspired you to write this book? A little known, true series of events, which took place in Heidelberg, Germany, between 1927 and 1934. The Heidelberg Case, as it is known, detailed the systematic sexual abuse of a woman by a criminal hypnotist, and it underscores the claim that is possible to hypnotise and subsequently control a subject with their consent or even their knowledge.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? Set in 2012, the book uses flashbacks to span the years from the failed Munich Beer Hall Putsch in 1923, to the imprisonment in the UK of a criminal hypnotist in 1979, and the subsequent search for the secret of his mastery; The Deep Secret. Within the pages is a puzzle which leads to The Deep Secret, and which Croft and Millie must decipher. The tale is sexually graphic, without being erotic, and contains scenes of strong language and violence. It is not suitable for minors. Women were the most avid readers of the original tale, The Handshaker.

***

The Handshaker is available from:

Amazon UK (Kindle)

Amazon Worldwide (Kindle)

Smashwords (All formats)

The Deep Secret will be published in the spring of 2013

Michela O’Brien asked me to pick this up, and I was supposed to find five other bloggers willing to tackle The Next Big Thing, but I couldn’t find a single one. However, any bloggers reading this you’re perfectly at liberty to have a go.

The Crooked Cat Newsletter

Writing the books is only half the battle, you know. Selling them is a much tougher proposition.

It’s slightly better with a publisher than working on your own, but in this day and age of expanding opportunities for writers, even publishers can struggle to make their voice heard.

Regular readers will be aware that I’ve signed up with Crooked Cat Publishing. New-ish they may be, but their standards are high, meaning I’m mixing with some top notch authors, and Crooked Cat are not short on ideas when it comes to getting the name out there.

One such is the Crooked Cat Newsletter. Actually, it was my idea, but as usual I did nothing with it. That’s about par for the course for me. If I got paid for ideas, I’d be a rich man, but I don’t, therefore, I’m skint.

A month or so back, Steph Patterson asked me if I’d be prepared to put the newsletter together, and I said, “Yes.” Well, there was no football that weekend.

I had experience. In putting publications together, as well as watching weekend football. So after a few weeks of bouncing bits and pieces, rough drafts, back and forth, we finally got it finished yesterday, and you can now download it to read at your leisure.

It’s chocabloc with all sorts of goodies, including an interview with Tom Gillespie, author of the thriller, Painting By Numbers, and Sarah Louse Smith, whose first novel is due out in January. You’ll get an insight into how people like to spend Halloween, and there’s a snippet from my STAC Mystery, A Halloween Homicide.

Best of all, it’s free.

So go on. Treat yourself to a free read from the Crooked Cat website and click on the link for the October issue.

A Murder for Christmas

Themed stories were never really my thing. That was before I began writing the STAC Mysteries. Last year I put out a Halloween title, and followed it with a Christmas novel. A Halloween Homicide did fairly well, and recently, publication passed to Crooked Cat Books.

A Murder for Christmas, on the other hand, is my third bestseller, close behind the original A Death at the Seaside novella, and The Handshaker. Released in the run up to Christmas 2011, it outsold all my other titles in that final month of the year.

Well, now, A Murder for Christmas has also passed to Crooked Cat Books for publication. For those who query this, it’s simple logistics. What is the point of a series if one half is published by Crooked Cat and the rest by me? Much easier for the buying public to have them all under one roof.

As a consequence, the current edition of A Murder for Christmas will be withdrawn from all point of sale from Monday 15th October. This gives us a week or two to clear all sources, including those fed by the Smashwords Premium Distribution Catalogue, before the title is re-issued under the Crooked Cat imprint.

And here’s a brace of bonuses. Not only does it get republished, but it gets a new cover, as below. I was never really happy with the old one. It was blurred and smudgy. This is more concise and spells out the Christmas message just as effectively.

And the other bonus? It also sees the light of day in paperback. Can’t tell you precisely when that will happen, but it will be in plenty of time for Santa to get it in his sack. The e-book will be re-released on October 31st.

So if you’re looking for an extra present for someone who enjoys mysteries, particularly those marinated in the spirit of Christmas, then watch out for the announcements over the coming weeks.

***

Not read any of the STAC Mysteries? With the release of A Murder for Christmas, there will be four on sale, and you can sample the series for just 77p, the Kindle price of the very first STAC Mystery, The Filey Connection. A full length mystery novel for less than the price of a loaf of bread. Can’t say fairer than that, can I?

Michela’s Next Big Thing

The thing I love about the web is the way you can develop friendships all over the world. Michela O’Brien is one such friend. An Italian/Irish lady, possibly the Stone Roses greatest ever fan, she’s a fellow author who publishes with Crooked Cat.

Her first novel, Playing on Cotton Clouds, a contemporary slice-of-life tale spanning three decades, was released in April of this year to rave reviews, and her second, Summer of Love, is due in January 2013.

The paperback of POCC is due out soon, and in the meantime, Michela continues to work on the next book while brightening up many a dull day with details of her travels, following her idols.

And now she’s taken part in a blog meme, The Next Big Thing.

The principle is simple. The blogger answers ten questions concerning his/her next project. I always say it’s never too early to start publicising a book, and Michela has asked if I’ll pick up The Next Big Thing, next week. Never one to refuse a lady, I’ve said yes. So that gives you something to look forward to next Wednesday, doesn’t it?

For now, nip over to Michela’s blog, and take a look at her Next Big Thing.

Escapology: the Novelist’s art?

I lead a quite ordinary life. I sit at the back of a large living room tapping away on my keyboard, occasionally looking out on the sun/rain. When the weather permits, I dabble in the garden, and no matter what the weather, I take the dog for several walks every day. Now and then I jump in the car and flit down to the supermarket to pick up trivia like food and essentials like tobacco. Of an evening, I watch old movies or comedies on TV, and I try to take a couple of holidays a year. It’s a very ordinary life. Better than some people have it, worse than others.

It’s also  humdrum.

It changes when I’m working on a novel. Suddenly, I’m transported from the tedium of Northeast Manchester to investigating complex murder mysteries in Lincoln, Scarborough, Chester or York. I’m catapulted into a world of sci-fi horror taking place in the wilds of Northumberland, or pitching my wits against a vicious serial rapist and killer.

I was reminded of this yesterday. On the phone, sorting out my car insurance for another year, haggling to get the bill down to some less like the Space Shuttle and more like a Ford Ka, I was interrupted by the arrival of a parcel containing my copy of Voices in paperback.

The moment I’d finished with the insurance company (we managed to get the bill down to the QE2) I opened the parcel and began reading.

In minutes, trivia like insuring my car had drifted into the background and I was back there, fighting the demons with Chris Deacon, battling for his sanity, waging a one-man war to prevent the Voices inheriting the world.

And inevitably, I was reminded of those dark days in January, 2009, when I wrote the first draft. Back then, as now, I had this ordinary, boring life, supplemented with a busted ankle. Back then, I was snowbound and housebound and if the only thing standing between Chris Deacon and his sanity was his determination, the only thing standing between me and my sanity, was Chris Deacon.

I have to wonder. Is it just me, or is this kind of escapology built into all novelists?

***

Published by Crooked Cat Books, Voices is available for download from:

Amazon UK (Kindle)

Amazon Worldwide (Kindle)

Smashwords (all formats)

Crooked Cat Books (EPUB, MOBI, PDF)

And in paperback from Amazon UK and Amazon Worldwide

Note: In some cases, you may see the book written by David Shaw. We recently changed the author name to my real name to avoid complications, and some sites take time to catch up.

Catharsis and The STAC Mysteries

The STAC Mysteries continue to take up the greater part of my working hours, and for once I’m not moaning over it. Instead, it’s become a channel for my own troubles.

For example, last week, the missus and I returned from the holiday from hell. Everything that could go wrong went wrong, with one or two other unexpected disasters thrown in; things we thought couldn’t happen, but which did.

For the sixth STAC novel, working title My Deadly Valentine, Joe is going away for a week in Majorca, where we just went, and guess how much he’s going to suffer. He’ll lose his mobile phone, he’ll sit and watch thunderstorms turning night into day, he’ll find himself on the holiday complex designed for kids, and when he gets home, he’ll need a couple of teeth pulling.

But when he gets home, he’ll also find himself a suspect in a murder inquiry, and at least that didn’t happen to me.

It’s catharsis, y’see. Venting my frustrations on my characters. I did the same thing with The I-Spy Murders, spelling out my antipathy for reality TV by having one of the participants murdered, and in A Halloween Homicide, I expressed my irritation with politicians by making one look a complete berk before bumping him off. Given Joe’s outspoken grumpiness, and the strand of humour running through the STAC Mysteries, it gives me a different angle on the things that annoy me.

There’s is an inverse perspective to this. In The Filey Connection, I was able to spell out my love of Filey and Scarborough through the eyes of Joe, Sheila and Brenda, I used my hometown, Leeds, as a basis for A Murder for Christmas (transferring to Crooked Cat on October 31st) and in the forthcoming title, Murder at the Murder Mystery Weekend (release date 23rd November) Joe will be as awestruck by Lincoln Cathedral as I was.

There’s nothing new in it, either. Chris Deacon, hero of my novel Voices, had to suffer my deafness and broken ankle. Somewhere in the text, he also describes his boss as a glorified usher. I’ve worked for a few like that.

So be careful the next time you cut me up at the traffic lights. You could end up as Joe’s next investigation.

***

You can now ease your way into the STAC Mysteries at less cost. Download The Filey Connection to your Kindle for only 77p. Get it while it’s hot and cheap.