Steven A. McKay's Blog, page 39
November 12, 2015
Friar Tuck and the Christmas Devil out today, Friday 13th November!
That’s right, today, Friday the 13th, sees the publication of my new novella Friar Tuck and the Christmas Devil, which includes a foreword by Phil Rose who played Tuck in 80’s TV show Robin of Sherwood!
You can buy it for just 99p UK, $1.49 USA, and it’s also available as a paperback and from Audible. As with all my books, if you buy the paperback you get the Kindle version FREE and if you buy another format you get the Audible version much cheaper so treat yourself – or your friends and family – to a nice story for the winter celebrations! If you’re still not sure, check out some of the reviews on Goodreads from the people who were sent advance copies.
Click here to buy your copy – getBook.at/FTXD
To celebrate the release I’m going to be giving away signed copies of my books over the weekend. All I ask is you spread the word on social media. Share this post on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest or wherever else you can, and email me to let me know you’ve done it at stormwatch1977@hotmail.com
I’ll draw names from the hat at random and I’ve a big pile of books to give away so…Folks on my mailing list will have other chances to win more so if you haven’t signed up yet, click here!
Normally only a small number of people enter my giveaways so you’ll be in with a great chance of winning. Please don’t be shy! Share and tell!
I will even be giving away a couple of copies of Knight of the Cross with it’s brand new artwork so hit that Facebook share button…
Shiny new cover art!
November 10, 2015
New cover art for Knight of the Cross
For some time now I’ve not been happy with the cover for my first novella, Knight of the Cross. It was my own design, pretty much, and I loved it at first, but it’s started to look kinda dated or something to me so I asked my cover designers to modify it somewhat, check it out.
The hooded figure in the background was their idea – I just wanted it plain black but I like that sinister hood now, it adds interest, I think.
This will be on the Kindle, paperback and Audible versions. Looking forward to seeing it on a paperback – it will work well!
Let me know what you think. I much prefer this to the original but my wife says the old one was better. Can’t win really!
Dagon is coming…
Don’t forget too, Friar Tuck and the Christmas Devil is available to pre-order now and will be published this Friday, November 13th! Go here for it – getBook.at/FTXD
AND, the Rise of the Wolf audiobook is out now from Audible, head over there and treat yourself…
November 8, 2015
Steven A McKay: Friar Tuck and the Christmas Devil (review)
Nice review from Parmenion Books here!
Originally posted on parmenionbooks:
Author bio from his own web site
My name is Steven A. McKay and I’m a writer from Old Kilpatrick, near Glasgow in Scotland, heavily influenced by the likes of Bernard Cornwell, Douglas Jackson, Simon Scarrow, Ben Kane et al.
My first book, Wolf’s Head, is set in medieval England and is a fast-paced, violent retelling of the Robin Hood legends. I think my take on the theme is quite different to anything that’s been done before. It hit the number 1 spot in the UK “War” chart, reached the overall Kindle top 20 bestsellers list and is available on Kindle and paperback from Amazon here: http://smarturl.it/2636 . The sequel, The Wolf and the Raven was also a “War” chart number 1 as well as hitting the top spot in the US “Medieval” chart.
The third book Rise of the Wolf is out now and, as I write this, at number…
View original 596 more words
November 3, 2015
Friar Tuck and the Christmas Devil by Steven A. McKay
Another new review for Friar Tuck and the Christmas Devil, this time from the Hoover Book Reviews blog. 5 stars!
Originally posted on Historical Fiction reviews:
Friar Tuck is hiding under an assumed name having run afoul of a powerful member of the church hierarchy and finds himself living in a small village that is being plagued by visits from demons and devils. The author has given us and Tuck a mystery to solve; one that has the good Friar utilizing all of his skills, both mental and physical to rid the village of the cloven-hoofed, horned devil. The tale is well told with a steady pace, action aplenty, and a deeper look into the character of Tuck. Couple that with a fine Christmas feast and you have a 5 star winner.
November 2, 2015
Friar Tuck and the Christmas Devil audiobook PRE-ORDER up now.
The Kindle and paperback versions have been up for a couple of weeks, and now the audiobook is available to pre-order from Audible. Includes a foreword written AND read by Phil Rose from Robin of Sherwood, you don’t want to miss this, it’s the perfect thing to listen to in the festive period!
UK:
USA
October 28, 2015
Friar Tuck and the Christmas Devil by Steven A. McKay – Review
“a perfect mix of violence and kindness to warm the heart.” I’ll take that!
Originally posted on David's Book Blurg:
Title – Friar Tuck and the Christmas Devil
Author – Steven A. McKay
Genre – Historical Fiction/Short Stories
Length – 70 Pages
Publication – 13th November 2015
My Rating – 5/5 Stars
Synopsis
Holly and ivy decorate the houses while voices are raised in song, but the Christmas cheer is tempered by terror this festive season, as demons haunt a small English village.
Strange thefts; cloven hoof-prints in the snow; a house burned to the ground.
Something evil stalks the icy streets of Brandesburton and former mercenary Tuck must find out what, before it’s too late.
As he sets out to solve the mystery the friar prays his faith will protect him. His faith AND his great quarterstaff, for he knows full well – the Devil makes no deals…
This brand new novella from the best-selling author of the Forest Lord series will delight and entertain historical fiction fans looking to escape the…
View original 318 more words
October 24, 2015
GIVEAWAY – Friar Tuck and the Christmas Devil on Goodreads
I’m giving away two signed copies of the new novella on Goodreads
https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/159602-friar-tuck-and-the-christmas-devil
Click HERE to preorder – getBook.at/FTXD
October 22, 2015
PRE-ORDER for Friar Tuck and the Christmas Devil up now!
PRE-ORDER is up for Friar Tuck and the Christmas Devil!
UK – just 99p –
USA – $1.49 I believe –
You can also pre-order the paperback and there will be an Audible/iTunes version available soon too!
October 18, 2015
Q&A with my narrator Nick Ellsworth – James Bond and more!
Rise of the Wolf is out NOW from Audible, so hopefully you haven’t used your monthly credit yet. It should also be available on iTunes soon. And that’s not all – Friar Tuck and the Christmas Devil is also available to pre-order from Audible, you’ll be able to listen to it on November 13th!
To celebrate, here’s a Q&A I did with my excellent narrator, Nick Ellsworth. Enjoy!
Collaborating with someone on a project has to work in more than just the obvious ways. Anyone that’s ever been in a band will know it doesn’t matter how good your music sounds if you just don’t get on with the other musicians!
I’d heard some horror stories when I first started looking for a narrator to produce Wolf’s Head so I was very pleased to find Nick Ellsworth. Someone who not only sounded great but completed the project quickly with very little input needed from me. He’s since produced all of my books (five so far) and has been a pleasure to work with each and every time. If you’re looking for someone to read your novel, check him out on the ACX website, but first, read this…
You’re a busy man – can you list your resume in terms of acting/voice-over work?
As an actor I’ve worked for the RoyalShakespeare Company, The Royal Court, Hampstead Theatre and various theatres up and down the country. I’ve done some TV stuff including a recent episode of The US series, ‘Bones”. As a young actor I had small parts in the movies, “The Spy Who Loved Me’ and ‘Force Ten From Navarone’.
What was your favourite job, ever?
Probably playing a despicable villain in a play called, ‘Heaven and Hell’.
What’s it like doing voice-over work compared to TV or film? Is there much difference?
Voice over work can be much more concentrated as the scripts tend to be much shorter than performing in TV or film, but voicing a TV commercial for example, you can spend up to an hour just working on a few words and getting it exactly how the client wants it.
When I’m writing a book I have a file with a list of characters and what they look like, height, hair colour, etc. Do you have similar audio files, with snippets of each voice you do for characters, so they’re consistent?
No, but if a character comes up again later on in a book or a later book in the same series, I’ll refer back to previous voice files to refresh my memory, regarding the voice I used.
Speaking of your accents – are you a Yorkshireman? You do a very convincing version of that one, almost as if it’s natural, which is, obviously, perfect for my books. One listener told me she thought your Yorkshire accent was sexy!
Well, I was born and brought up in N. Wales, but my family on my mother’s side are from the Manchester area, so I grew up around people with strong northern accents.
FT&XD
You’ve produced all of my books now, including the Xmas novella. Which did you enjoy narrating the most?
I’ve enjoyed reading all of them, but the last one, the Friar Tuck novella, I thought was totally captivating with its blend of religion, folk-lore, courage, humour and adventure. All set around the magical time of Christmas!
Who would you choose to narrate a book you’d written?
I really like Peter Firth’s voice, who was one of the leads in the spy series, ‘Spooks’. I think he has a great reading voice.
Of course you HAVE written books – my own daughter read one or two of them even before we started working together. Tell us a bit about them.
I’ve written picture books for very young children and short stories for older children. I’ve also written an anthology of bible stories and a re-telling of famous fairytales. You can find most of them on my Amazon homepage.
What future projects do you have lined up (until my final Forest Lord novel needs your talents)?
I’ve written a comedy series for radio which I’m trying to sell and have a booking for a radio commercial for the ‘Most Haunted’ TV series and am presenting an awards ceremony for the Heathrow Academy. Most excitingly, at the beginning of November I’m heading off to the US for 7 weeks. I’ll be visiting friends in LA and San Francisco, playing a little poker in Vegas, then shooting off to Washington DC to spend Christmas with my brother and his wife. Should be fun! (providing I don’t lose too much at the poker tables!)
Thanks for doing this interview, enjoy your Christmas!
You can contact Nick via his website
October 16, 2015
Friar Tuck paperback proofs are here…
…I hope you signed up for my mailing list already, cos I offered a chance to win the last one of these EXCLUSIVELY to the people signed up there.
They look great, and the audio version is almost ready to go too so look out for the pre-order on all formats mid-Novemeber!
