In The Blood General - How are you getting on

[Geoff (G. Robbins) (merda constat variat altitudo)]

I always see Russell Crowe as too "Thuggish" to play JT. Crowe seems more likely to hang you from the family tree than investigate it.

[Simon (Highwayman)]

I probably didn't pay much attention. I saw him as a middle aged 'George Gently' character......

I did think he might be running around a bit too much for a man in his condition mind :)

[Vanessa (aka Dumbo)]

I find it hard to think of an American actor to play him as they seem to have 'film star' good looks or are the complete opposite. I see him as having nice but average looks that's why I went for William Petersen (Grissom) in CSI. He's got a nice face but carries a few extra pounds but it seems to suit him and he doesn't seem too 'loud' if you know what I mean.

[Steve]

For anyone interested in reading the 'outtakes' from In the Blood, I've just uploaded three cut scenes to my website - something to be going on with while I work on the rest, which should all be there within the next week or so. There are spoilers of course so beware if you've not read the book yet and intend to.

Do let me know what you think (perhaps best in my author thread) - like if you thought it was worthwhile and whether you felt it added anything to the overall experience. I've not come across this sort of thing with books before and it would be good to have your feedback.

[Kath]

Been there, done that!

[Steve]

Been there and here and done the reply. :o)

[Maureen (Mews)]

It's 4.20 am and I am at 76% (stopped briefly for a cigarette). I am desperate to find out what happens and trying to decide whether to stay up all night and finish it. Either way it's going to be a bad day tomorrow ;-)

[Lorraine]

Oh dear, I am a total mess... I went to bed last night thinking I would read another 10% or so (my usual bedtime reading amount) but I just got really drawn into the story and stayed up reading until 1.30am.
I am a total mess today due to lack of sleep, but it was so worth it. I finished the book and I thought it was excellent. I am no good at reviewing (usually me going to the end of the book and not dropping it after a few pages means I like it - no books I don't like because I just don't end up reading them), but I think Mr Steve did an excellent job of writing. Action, suspense and mystery kept me wanting to reach my book even at times when I shouldn't be (e.g. work!), I just couldn't wait to go back to it each time.
Wishing all the best to Mr Steve and Jefferson Tayte... I hope book number 2 is published very soon, I am really looking forward to it...
NB Told hubby (who's into genealogy) that he must read the book, not so keen on having to share my kindle with him though lol !

[Steve]

Crikey! I'm going to have people after me at this rate - angry husbands perhaps. A friend of my mother-in-law's said she made her husband eat take-away pizza for three days while she was reading it! Maybe I should put a frontispiece in the book with a health warning. :o)

I hope you're both feeling better now, Maureen and Lorraine, and thanks for the great feedback.

[Kath]

Steve wrote: "Crikey! I'm going to have people after me at this rate - angry husbands perhaps. i>

think how good it will look on your obit though Steve - "killed by a jealous husband" - so long as you don't explain the circumstances!

[Lorraine]

Hahaha ! Well as far as angry husbands are concerned, I am sure we can find something that makes them forget about the rest of the world (football, cars, etc) :) It's only fair :)

I wonder if Maureen did finish the book :)

[Maureen (Mews)]

Yes, I finished it at 6.30 am this morning ;-)

Of course I couldn't just go to bed then and had to come read the spoilers page on here (been desperate to look at that page since I started reading it).

Eventually went to bed at 7 am and my 22 month old woke me up just before 9 am (luckly for me he is a somewhat late sleeper in the mornings). Fortunately though his Grandparents were taking him out for a few hours today so I did manage to catch a couple more hours sleep then. But my mother was looking a bit tired herself and told me she started the book late last night (she has been working out how to use her new Kindle before she started it) and got to 18% before she had to force herself to put it down and go to sleep...lol.

[Steve]

Yes, Maureen has finished it and what a nice review I just read on Amazon. I think I'll have to tweet that last line. Thank you so much, Maureen. The reviews make all the difference. Are you on my email list for the next book?

[Lorraine]

Here's the health warning for the book then: "Linked to serious lack of sleep!" Seems to affect quite a lot of us!
Off to read Maureen's review :)

[Steve]

:o) If it's any consolation, I stayed up late some nights writing it - and had semi-sleepless nights fretting over it and how I was going to make it all work out. For your next book you'll have to pick something that will send you to sleep rather than keep you up.

Suggestions anyone?

[Maureen (Mews)]

Steve wrote: "Yes, Maureen has finished it and what a nice review I just read on Amazon. I think I'll have to tweet that last line. Thank you so much, Maureen. The reviews make all the difference. Are you on..."

Just sent an email to get added to the list. I'll take a wander over to .com later and see if I can copy my review over there.

I'll have to look you up on twitter. I've had an account for a year or so, but never posted on it, although I follow a few people of interest to me.

[Steve]

Got your email, Maureen. if you go to my website there's a 'follow me' link you can click on. You never know, I might tweet something interesting one day. Thanks in advance for .com, too.

[Maureen (Mews)]

Review now posted on .com. Not sure why I thought that would be difficult. Must be my sleep starved brain! Wonder who I have to blame for that..... ;-)

[Steve]

Plenty of time for sleep now, Maureen. Next book will be a while. :o) Thanks again. Have you read the outtakes on my web site? Not sure if you were aware of them, but there's something extra there and they
won't keep you up long, honest.

[Kath]

Anything where JT counts sheep should help. Mogodon Man (instead of Tan Man?)

[Pat ()]

What a brilliant book choice. I have just finished it and was captured from the first page. Thank you

[Steve]

You're very welcome, Pat. Glad you enjoyed it.

[Melvyn]

Well, I've finished it and what an enjoyable read it was. Although it seems to have taken me longer than normal to complete it, it's not because of the book itself - just that real life seems to have been interfering rather too much! Actually I'm probably the last here to finish it. Sorry Steve. But thank you for a great book.

[Simon (Highwayman)]

Actually Melvyn People are still buying it from this group so I expect the discussions will continue for a while.

We were very lucky to have had such a good first book!

[Melvyn]

Yes I'd agree with that - a very good start for the group. But I've forgotten who chose it in the first place...............?

[Simon (Highwayman)]

It was chosen by a very talented group member, moderator and Java programmer I believe. Allegedly, intelligent, beautiful young women find him fascinating too.

[Geoff (G. Robbins) (merda constat variat altitudo)]

And modest, don't forget modest.

My wife has now taken charge of my Kindle, so no evening reads for me. She is reading In The Blood.

[Lorraine]

Aw Geoff :(

Hubby wanted to read In the Blood too, so I pressured him into buying his own kindle, couldn't bear the thought to part with mine !

[Steve]

Glad you liked it, Melvyn. I'm getting worried now that the sequel won't live up to expectation. Seems I've given myself a hard act to follow, although I'm quietly confident. You could be my 40th Amazon review! ;o)

Geoff, it's good to share (especially In the Blood). There's talk of a new Kindle coming out soon. Maybe you should let you wife keep the old one and buy yourself the shiny new model.

Very talented indeed, Simon...

[[deleted user]]

Which reminds me Steve - don't forget that you are down in print as saying that you will buy your wife a kindle from the proceeds of your book if you sell enough! :0) Hope your sales continue to grow - word of mouth is very powerful and of course, now you are on the genealogy forum too, it's all good publicity. :0)

[Simon (Highwayman)]

In The Blood



Morning All,

It was with a bit of trepidation and some sadness that I found myself relegating this discussion to a position further down the group this morning.

I must congratulate Steve on such a successful month as our group read and thank him for being so active within the forum. We do hope you continue to hang around and as soon as your new book is ready I hope you will give us fair warning, as I'm sure we will be able to find a spot in the group reads for it.

The only consolation is that your book now holds the coveted number one spot on the group bookshelf.

Of course I'm sure the dicussions will continue about In The Blood
as I know it is still getting 1-clicked on Amazon.

Thanks again and good luck,


Simon

[Lorraine]

Yea, it's been my first book group experience ever and it's been an amazing one. Thanks to everyone who made it possible and such an enjoyable first for me :)
Best wishes to Steve and JT

[[deleted user]]

It's the first time that I have participated in a book group too! What a great book to start with!

:0)

[Kath]

Simon (Highwayman) wrote: "It was chosen by a very talented group member, moderator and Java programmer I believe. Allegedly, intelligent, beautiful young women find him fascinating too."

Well, their cats do anyway!

[Lynne (Tigger's Mum)]

Ingnite wrote: "Simon (Highwayman) wrote: "It was chosen by a very talented group member, moderator and Java programmer I believe. Allegedly, intelligent, beautiful young women find him fascinating too."

Well, ..."

You'll have to post that as a question on your next quiz Simon and we can all take guesses at who that might be;o)

[Steve]

I'd like to thank everyone for making this such an wonderful experience. Thanks to Karen (Kew) for inviting me to join and of course to Simon for selecting my book - and to everyone here for the kind words that have meant so much to me. I will be writing the sequel with all of you in mind.

Of course, I won't be going anywhere. So anyone else on the group still reading In the Blood and any future members who want to discuss anything, please do so and I'll do my very best to get back to you.

Thanks again and I'd love to do it all over again next Spring (hopefully) if you'll have me back with the new book.

[Freddiesmum]

another book group virgin here! a cracking first book Steve, well done and I am so looking forward to the next one!

[Jud]

Yes Great book :o) its my first group read as well although i've got a bit behind with the discussion thread :o\ the new posts are fairly piling up.

Thanks Steve

Thanks Simon

[Audrey (Seaholly)]

My first group read as well. Brilliant book and brilliant choice of book

[Steve]

It was mine, too. :o)

Brilliant group members...

[Lorraine]

Hubby's just finished it (his first Kindle book!)...
When he closed the case of his kindle he went "hmmm" to which I replied "Have you finished it?" and he said "Yea, it was quite good"
Now, obviously none of you know my husband, but when the thing I would get most excited about gets a dull "It's alright" from him, I think his comment is really meant as a compliment :)
I must add to it that I am not a happy bunny. Took me nearly an hour to get the little one to sleep tonight, and while I was in the bedroom trying to get him to lie down hubby was too engrossed in his book to cook dinner ! So no dinner tonight because it was too late to cook anything when I came out :(
So here's another warning to put on the book cover... Might make one forget to feed the wife lol !

[Steve]

:o) Maybe 'hubby' was getting his own back, Lorraine. ;o)

[Jud]

My friend just finished in the blood Steve, she said it took her a while to get into it, but she's terrible reads 2 words and falls asleep so thats her fault not yours, but she has been addicted to it this weekend and loved it :oD

[Steve]

That's great to hear, Jud, and thanks for spreading the word. Say, hello from me. I'm glad your friend enjoyed it. :o)

[Simon (Highwayman)]

When did we ever finish reading a paperback and have the author come along and thank us. Brilliant :)

[Steve]

If a trad publisher had picked up In the Blood, Simon, I'm sure my first couple of months sales wouldn't have been anything like as rewarding as they have been with the eBook route in terms of being able to thank people. I wouldn't have known who'd bought it for starters. I just got another 5 star review on Amazon today and I don't know who it was from or how to thank them and I want to but can't. Trad sales must all feel like that. It's great being in touch with a readership - long may it continue.

I had a conversation with my wife last night about the 'what if'. You know 'what if I get an offer from a publisher somewhere along the way?' Well, neither of us are sure we want the trad route anymore. Scary to be thinking like that, but perhaps it's the way things are going. I now have another way to reach readers and be read. And it's bloomin' great.

[Lorraine]

It's true that it makes the reading experience totally different, being so available and helpful (and nice) makes the reading experience so much more personal :)

By the way Steve, for your information lol, I am only guilty of putting the dual oven on and sticking the food in the wrong part of the oven (and realising when the timer goes off that dinner hasn't even started cooking!), I don't think I have ever forgotten to feed my husband, because that would mean forgetting to feed myself, and it's something I just cannot do lol !

[Steve]

Thanks for the flattery, Lorraine. :oD I thought maybe you'd kept your husband up late while you were finishing the book. Although some readers have said that they made their husband eat pizza for three nights - a friend of my mother-in-laws.

[Maureen (Mews)]

My mum finished your book Steve and said to tell you she really enjoyed it. Her friend has bought it for her Kindle and is now reading it too ;-)

[Steve]

That's great Maureen, thanks.

I'm having a book signing, by the way. If you and/or your mum and/or friend would like your Kindle copy of IN THE BLOOD personalised please visit KindleGraphs at http://kindlegraph.com/authors/SteveR...

I'm not sure, but you might need a Twitter account.

EDIT: You do need a twitter account.