The Queen of the Mountain Kingdom is Here!

There is always something satisfying in announcing the release of a new novel. The Queen of the Mountain Kingdom is my sixth book and it still gives me a thrill. There was a time when I thought it would never see the light of day, but then everything just came together. I very happy with …

Getting Ready for the Big Launch

I am in the process of trying to market The Queen of the Mountain Kingdom. To be honest, and as I have previously mentioned, I am not a fan of this particular aspect of being an independent author. As I am still waiting to make it big, however, then there seems to be no real …

If the World were like Dubrovnik!

I did not get to make a blog post last week as I was in Dubrovnik on a family holiday. It was my second visit to the city, the first being about 3 years ago when our cruise ship called at the port. This time we got spend a little longer and very much appreciated …

The Frustrations of the Large Book Writer

At some 170,000 words The Queen of the Mountain Kingdom is a long book. I can remember when writing a 10,000-word essay at college was considered a massive undertaking; they gave us a whole year to write it! I did not set out with that intention. In fact, the only target I have when I …

This Fantasy Thing

Well, The Queen of the Mountain Kingdom (hereafter known as QMK) is almost finished. I expect to have the book published to Kindle this weekend. I will not be advertising the fact, however. My attention is going to be centred elsewhere for at least a week, other things are happening in my life, good things …

Cover by Design

As well as writing my books I also like to design the covers. I am not a trained artist, just an enthusiast. I also like messing around with photograph manipulation in a digital format. I do draw and paint as well, but I find digital to be a both quicker and less messy in the …

When Your Book is more than One Book

The Queen of the Mountain Kingdom should be finished by now, but I am still struggling to complete it. I think that I have realised the problem; it is not just one book. I do not know exactly how many books it is, to be honest, possibly three. Maybe four. I do not know. I …

Let the Dinosaurs Roar

I put Mesozoic up for audition with a view to it being turned into an audiobook. A narrator called Noah gave it a go and I have to admit that he submitted one of the best auditions that I have heard in a long time. The standard procedure is to give three pieces from the …

As Experiments Go…

This one is incomplete. To be honest I am not sure if it will ever conclude, but like most things if you never try then you will never know. The experiment was very simple, offer my book 'Mesozoic' for free for 5 days. I promoted the offer using multiple social media accounts. I did not …

Do You Fancy a Free eBook for the Summer Holidays?

Seeing as the summer holidays have arrived, even though it does not look like it here in England, I thought that I might offer you a free book to take with you on your vacation, whether that be to somewhere exotic or just in the comfort of your own home. ‘Mesozoic’ is a technological thriller …