Spreading the word - Ben Hatch

I'm delighted to host another of my twitter followers today, Ben Hatch is here with his new book, Are We Nearly There Yet? (which is a moan anyone with kids has definitely heard at least a hundred times while driving!) Ben is @BenHatch on twitter.

Here's some stuff about him...

Ben Hatch was born in London and grew up here and in Manchester and Buckinghamshire. His latest bestseller, Are We Nearly There Yet? 8000 Misguided Miles Round Britain in a Vauxhall Astra has been praised by John Cleese ("Ben Hatch makes me laugh"), Mumsnet ("I laughed outloud and cried") and the Daily Mail ("An absolutely wonderful book") although, unfortunately, not by his wife Dinah ("I do NOT drive like Mr Magoo, you bastard!") His first comic novel, The Lawnmower Celebrity, based loosely on his time as a chicken sandwich station monitor at Darlington McDonalds, was named one of the Radio 4's eight books of the year in 2000. The International Gooseberry about a hapless backpacker with a huge ungovernable toenail was published in 2001 and described as "hysterical and surprisingly sad" by the Daily Express. Ben Hatch was on the long-list of Granta's 2003 list of the most promising 20 young authors in the UK. In association with his wife Dinah, Ben has also written guidebooks for Frommer's. The guidebooks are a mixture of helpful and humorous tips on holidaying with children, quirky reviews of attractions, and incendiary arguments with his wife about, among other things, what is the best type of owl.

He's currently flying high on the Amazon bestseller ranking - Go Ben! with what appears to be a cracking read, just perfect as a Christmas present!

The book blurb says...

If you think writing a guidebook is easy, think again! 'A family's 8,000 miles round Britain in a Vauxhall Astra' they were bored, broke, burned out and turning 40, so when Ben and Dinah saw the advert looking for a husband and wife team with young kids to write a guidebook about family travel around Britain, they jumped at the chance. With naive visions of staring moodily across Coniston Water and savouring Cornish pasties, they embark on a mad-cap five-month trip with daughter Phoebe, four, and son Charlie, two, embracing the freedom of the open road with a spirit of discovery and an industrial supply of baby wipes.

Ben's book is available via Amazon.co.uk here

From Amazon.com here

(These are links to the paperbacks, but its also available at amazon for kindle)

And to finish, here's a lovely pic of him with his children.

Thanks for being here today, Ben, and best wishes for lots of lovely sales!

Update...

So, I've been quiet again recently, because I'm working on another story, and have almost finished it ready to sub to a publisher. Target end November, so I anticipate being reasonably absent from twitter, blog etc until I'm happy with it. And then, it's into December - which for me is always a rather crazy month, dashing around trying to get things done in time for Christmas.

Do pop in on Friday, when I am featuring another of my twitter followers, Ben Hatch, and we can find out all about his latest book - Are We Nearly There Yet? (which is John Cleese's favourite), and sounds just the thing to giggle over for Christmas!

Spreading the word - Laura Wilkinson

The second in my series of books by my twitter followers, is from Laura Wilkinson, whose twitter handle is @ScorpioScribble. A dip into Laura's amazon author page reveals...

Laura Wilkinson grew up in Wales and now lives in a never-to-be-chic area of Brighton. Recently, she's worked as a freelance writer, an editor and a copywriter.

She has been a finalist and shortlisted in a number of competitions including: the New Writer, Cinnamon Press, the Virginia Prize and Brit Writers' Award 2010. She has published short stories in magazines, an anthology, and digital media like Ether Books.
BloodMining is Laura's debut novel. Yvonne Roberts, award winning journalist and author describes it as: 'Lean, lyrical, topical and emotionally gripping. This book is about the issues that we care about most - with a twist. Read it and pass on the word!' In between raising two young boys and working Laura is completing her second novel. Read some of her work, and find out more about her here: http://laura-wilkinson.co.uk/

BloodMining sounds really compelling, and has a rash of rave reviews on Amazon.co.uk already - so here's some more about it...

Genre: Literary/General

Megan Evens appears to have it all: brains, beauty, a successful career. But deep down she is lonely and rootless. Pregnant, craving love but unable to trust after the destructive affair with her baby’s father, she returns to the security of her birthplace in Wales. When Megan’s son is later diagnosed with a terminal condition, a degenerative, hereditary disease, everything she believed to be true about her origins is thrown into question. To save her son Megan must unearth the truth; she must excavate family history and memory. Enlisting the help of former colleague Jack North, a man with a secret of his own, Megan embarks on a journey of self discovery and into the heart of what it means to be a parent.


BloodMining is available as a paperback as well as for the Kindle.
You can buy it here in paperback for the UK
Or here for the Kindle in the UK

Or here for paperback via Amazon.com
Or here for the Kindle via Amazon.com.

All the best with your novel, Laura!

So....November!

Well I spent October polishing my M&B sub manuscript, and did no promo at all. I also raised the price of Bound to Love to 2.99.

As a result - I had a wonderfully creative month. But my sales suffered as a result, so I will have to strive to do better! First off, I've dropped Bound to Love in price to its usual 99c, which people seem to like buying it for.

And I'm half way through another book I'm loving writing, so I'm concentrating on that for November, while waiting for a cover, copy edits and a release date for Love On The Vine.

I'm NTAI the full I sent off last week, because stressing about it won't make any emails come at me any quicker.

And finally, I'm feeling a lovely, warm feeling in my heart regions at this review just in from Turning the Pages for my first book, Catch Me A Catch. Thank you, Lindsay!

Request for the full!

I've been quiet during October. Mostly because I received an email at the beginning of October that rattled my timbers and left me quaking.
*Drumroll* for the first time ever, I received a request for the full from Mills & Boon!
SQUEE! That ear splitting sound was me being delighted, and terrified in equal measure!
Challenging Andie has now been polished to within an inch of its life, and this afternoon winged its way to Richmond.

Here's hoping....

Spreading the word - Jo Carroll

I send out a tweet this month, inviting my twitter follower sto come on over to my blog and tell me about their books. In true tweet spirit, I wanted to know more, and to share the information with everyone, to help get the word about my followers books out there!

So here's the first one - drumroll - Jo Carroll, and details of her book, Over the Hill and Far Away.

Over the Hill and Far Away - One Grown-up Gap Year, by Jo Carroll

There must be something between the retirement party and buying a zimmer frame. JO CARROLL decided this was the time to revive her teenage dreams and go round the world. So she packed her rucksack, a round-the-world ticket, and a notebook. Not prepared, then, for being marooned on a beach in Australia with the tide rising and nothing but cliffs behind her; nor negotiating with a gunman who wanted to marry her in Lucknow. Let’s not think about the snakes and leeches in the jungles of Malaysia.

But could anything have prepared her for the drama that brought her home? Nor the kindness of strangers who kept her safe at that moment when she was least able to do it for herself.

Jo's book is available now on Amazon, here's the UK link
And also at Amazon.com here

You can find out more at her blog - which is here
And she's @jomcarroll on twitter!

Congratulations on your launch, Jo! And I wish you lots and lots of great reviews and sales!

Bligetastic

I'm writing. And this is seeping through my earphones as I do...

Thought I'd share.

Isn't Mary J fantastic?