For the past few years I’ve been running a blog and website separately to one another, which has worked fine, although did give me some continuity in design issues and took up more time having to switch from one format to the other to make sure all the information was up to date. Bringing them both to one place was the logical solution – not only does it save me time, keeps everything looking the same, but it saves me money too. Not sure why I didn’t do this before.
I’m also setting up a newsletter as part of the make-over. The newsletters are intended to keep readers up to date with everything that is happening in my writing world, advance news, early previews and giveaways. If you’d like to sign up, please click the Sign Me Up! button below.
To kick start the newsletter, I’m going to be giving away a signed paperback of THE HALF TRUTH and a lovely ribbon bookmark to anyone who signs up between now and the end of March. One winner will be picked at random and notified via email.
I had an email from my publisher last month to say that The Half Truth had been selected for a free-to-paid promotion and was I happy for it to go ahead. I must admit, I wasn’t sure at first. I’ve never had a book in a free promotion before and I know it’s a love hate thing with some authors. However, I decided that there was no way of knowing unless I gave it a go.
The Half Truth went free for around ten days and in that time, I’m pleased to say, it did really well in the Free chart, reaching:-
#1 Romantic Suspense
#1 Women’s Fiction
#1 Crime
#4 Overall Amazon rankings
Once the excitement of that was over and the book went back to paid, how did it do? Well, it certainly had a knock-on effect with paid sales and it definitely generated more reviews, which had been slow in coming. I also found it had another positive impact on my other titles. It’s hard to measure, but I certainly saw a spike in the Amazon rankings with Closing In and my novella The French Retreat.
So, did I think it was worth it? Yes, in this instance, I’m very pleased with how it has all panned out.
Now, though, it’s back down to business and writing. I’ve started my next Falling for France novella, The French Affair, which I’m hoping to publish by the end of February. The cover is coming together nicely.
Also, my full-length novel which has been out on submission has had some encouraging interest. I can’t say anything at this stage, but I’m hoping to have news on that soon.
Just a quick post to say thank you to everyone who has bought, tweeted, shared and generally supported the launch of THE FRENCH RETREAT. It turned out to be a busy day as I also found out that THE HALF TRUTH was earmarked for a free promotion and will continue to be so until the end of the week and I received a very nice 4* review for CLOSING IN.
I’m visiting a few blogs over the next couple of weeks – if you get time, do pop along. In the meantime, I’m starting a new writing project and plotting the next book in the Falling for France series.
Click image for Amazon link
Thank you again, I really do appreciate everyone’s support.
Living in rural Cambridgeshire as a child for several years, while my parents sampled the ‘Good Life’, we had lots of pets and animals – dogs, farm cats, chickens, ferrets and a pony. But it’s the dogs in particular that deserve a mention. My eldest brother had a tendency to rescue, adopt or foster any four legged canine that needed looking after. Fortunately, we had plenty of land and outbuildings for our guests, which included, a Jack Russell, a Greyhound, an Old English Sheepdog, a Doberman and a German Pointer – although not all at the same time. My mum might have been easy going, but she would have drawn the line at that, I’m sure.
At the time, we also had our own family pet dog, Tramp, so it’s no surprise that I’ve grown up to be something of a dog lover and enjoy it when pets pop up in a novel. They can be a great tool for showing another side to the characters in a book. Despite my dog bias, it’s cats who have appeared in my last two novels. Okay, the first time in Closing In, Scruffs only had a cameo role but in that one paragraph, he allowed the reader see the not quite so nice side of one of the characters. Don’t worry, no harm came to Scruffs.
Snoozing Rascal
In The Half Truth, my heroine, Tina Bolotnikov had a pet cat called Rascal who wasn’t there to show another side to Tina, but he helped her solve a couple of mysterious happenings in the house. Rascal in the book was directly taken from a real life Rascal, belonging to my friend and Romaniac pal, Laura E. James. When I visited Laura last year, Rascal and I became firm friends so it was a natural choice for my character’s pet.
Rascal
My current WIP has a dog in it – he’s a terrier, although I haven’t made up my mind what breed of terrier, so far he’s been a Jack Russell, a Highland Terrier and an Airedale. He’s been really useful as my hero confides in him and tells him a few things that he wouldn’t necessarily want anyone else to know.
Anyway, I thought I’d share a few photos of my own pets, past and present.
My third Harper Impulse novel, The Half Truth, is released today in digital format, with the paperback on 4 June. It’s a mystery with romance and, like my previous two novels, is set mainly on the south coast of the UK, although the story does venture to London a few times.
I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Every marriage has its secrets…
Tina Bolotnikov, widowed after her husband, Sasha, is killed in a car accident, relocates back to her hometown on the south coast of the UK, to bring up her young son. Her life back in London with her adored husband is now nothing but a memory; a history to pass onto her son.
DS John Nightingale saw his partner killed in the line of duty and has made it his personal and professional quest to bring to justice the Russian gang responsible. Five years on and the killer is still free but as reports come in of Sasha Bolotnikov’s brother returning to the UK, John is tasked with tracking him down and following him to the seaside town of Littlehampton.
Tina finds herself an unwitting connection to a world she knew nothing about. She thought she knew her husband. She thought their past was the truth. But now as the investigation draws her closer to DS Nightingale, professional lines are blurred and crossed, and only he holds the key to her future.
Today, I’m delighted to welcome onto the blog, my lovely sister-in-law, Angela Rowland who did the voice over for my book trailer The Half Truth. She did an amazing job for me, the link for which is below, and I wanted to ask her more about her work.
Angie, how did you get into your line of work, acting and voice overs? Where did it all begin?
I got into professional acting, having never been to drama school or anything like it, by being spotted on the amateur stage in my 20’s . I was advised to get into voice over work, which in turn provided me with the professional contracts I needed, in order to secure my Equity membership. I then went on to get into roleplay and other acting jobs. From that I was then recommended to the Film Studies Department at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge and now work regularly with the film students on various projects.I am currently acting in 2 short films, both of which are major graduation projects. I feel very fortunate.
What did you do before your acting and voice over work?
I was a legal secretary for many years and worked my way up to a high level in that job but I always said I did not want to be chained to a desk until I retired! So to find myself working as an actress and voice artist for the last few years and for that to build so that I can say I have a career as an actress is so rewarding and I am certainly doing what I love the most as a job!
And what have you got planned in the future?
My ambition now would be to get onto Spotlight with a good show reel, so that I might be able to get an agent to try out for television and theatre work. If I could make this happen in 2015, that would be so good but in the meantime I am more than happy as things are.
Thank you so much for doing the voice over on the book trailer for me – I’m delighted with it.
Very best of luck with your show reel and Spotlight.
I’m delighted to reveal the cover for my third Harper Impulse novel, The Half Truth.
There’s also a book trailer which is narrated by my uber talented sister-in-law, Angela Rowland, who I’ll be interviewing her next month about her voice over and acting work.
The Half Truth is out on 19 March, paperback 4 June. It’s available to pre-order from Amazon now.
I have an official publication date of 19 March for my third novel, The Half Truth. The blurb has been loaded up on Amazon, by my publishers HarperImpulse and I’m just waiting for the cover to be finalised.
Publication date seems a long way off, but I expect it will come round very quickly.
Here’s the link for The Half Truth which is available to pre-order.
In the meantime, I’m busy working on my next novel, Where It All Began and my novella mystery series.
Suzanne Fortin | Sue Fortin 