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Cynthia the Centipede

For those who have read Remote Access, you may remember a reference to Cynthia the Centipede. Here is how that came about.

While I was writing the book in 2017, we had the good fortune to spend some time in Barbados with good friends Brian and Jean. They had visited this beautiful island many times and they showed us around extensively. One day Brian introduced us to the Marizayra Sanctuary and its owner/operator Ryan. There were many amazing local birds and animals, but one that really made an impression was Cynthia the Centipede, an 11-inch behemoth that enjoyed eating mice among other things. I had never seen anything like her so she had to make a cameo appearance in Remote Access.

Sadly, Brian’s lovely wife Jean passed away in 2018, but Brian returned to Barbados this year with a signed copy of Remote Access for Ryan. This is what happened, in Brian’s words:

“I gave Ryan the book and when he read the relevant passage he got quite emotional and teared up a bit. He asked me to thank you very much, he will treasure your book.”

So, what happened to Cynthia? Brian followed up with Rashid, one of Ryan’s employees and asked about her. Brian reported the following: “He said she died about a year ago. So I enquired about the smaller one. “Cynthia ate her” he replied with a bit of a grin, “I was a few hours late feeding her one day”.

Brian added, “In a way I’m not too upset. She was a bit too close to the house for comfort!!!”

Official Release Day!

An undercover assignment goes terribly wrong!

In this exciting prequel to the Marcie Kane Thriller Collection, Nathan Harris, an FBI special agent on assignment to uncover the kingpins of a meth lab in Canada, narrowly escapes a violent explosion. The blast was no accident. But why? Did the meth organization discover his identity or did he simply become expendable? Has someone at the highest levels of the FBI exposed him?

He has a lead but who can he trust?

Nathan has never felt more alone. His relationship at home is on the rocks. His superiors may have betrayed him. He discovers a clue that will take him into the darkest recesses of the meth organization in the United States, but who can he trust? He must follow the lead to complete his assignment while trying to determine who his enemies are and from which direction they will come.

Never So Alone will appeal to fans of the Marcie Kane Thriller Collection and to anyone looking for a new author in the genre.

Never So Alone

My new novella, Never So Alone, is now available for presale on Amazon to be delivered January 23. Click here.

OR

You can download it immediately free from Net Galley here.

Enjoy the adventures of FBI Special Agent Nathan Harris (before he meets Marcie Kane in the thriller collection) as his undercover mission in Canada goes horribly wrong.

A Few Words About Publishing

My new novella, Never So Alone, which is about to be released, is my 6th books so I’ve been down the publishing road a few times. I thought I would share a few thoughts for those considering publishing a book or for others who just have some interest.

There are three  options available: traditional, self publishing and a hybrid of the two. The best option depends on your writing goals. Is it a career? A hobby? No matter what it is, it’s every author’s dream to be traditionally published by a big publishing house, have their book promoted and sit back and watch as millions of dollars in royalties roll in. There are definitely benefits, such as widespread distribution, marketing and mainstream exposure and the credibility that comes with all that. There is also a downside.

Just be aware that it’s rare that a traditional publisher will publish an unknown author and it’s almost always preceded by finding an agent and more rejection letters than you can count. IF it does happen, the reality is that unless you are a big name author or your book is the best the publisher has ever laid eyes on, your work could languish near the bottom of the pile for a long time before it sees the light of day. The publisher may pay an advance, which comes out of your royalties, and the percentage of royalties you will receive on sales is markedly lower as a result (remember the publisher wants to make money from your book). Your book may not look the same either when it is published. You may be asked to make a number of changes before it goes to print.

The second option is self publishing.  This is the easiest and quickest route to follow and the one that pays the most royalties. You need a good cover, a good book description, an editor and a quality book if you want people to keep buying. You are totally in control and because of that, you will spend a lot of time marketing your book. Your royalties are yours to keep. Marketing is a lot of work and you will lose all the benefits of traditional publishing.

A third option is hybrid publishing. With this option, you get some of the benefits of traditional publishing, including distribution and the publishing house brand on your book, which might help with mainstream promotion. You are still required to do much of the marketing.  The author shares the upfront costs with the publisher (editing, cover design, formatting). The cost to the author may or may not be as significant as self publishing. The author’s share of royalties is somewhere between self publishing and traditional. The publisher wants to recoup their share of the upfront costs plus they want to make some money on sales.

My personal experience has been with all three options to a certain extent. I’ve followed my own advice and sent out a handful of queries to agents and got a handful of rejections from those who responded.  My goals are different at this stage in my life so admittedly, I didn’t spend a lot of time on it. I published one of my books initially with a hybrid publisher and my experience was not the best. The value added by this particular publisher wasn’t apparent to me so I got my rights back and self published the book. Still, I found a hybrid publisher recently that came highly recommended and that seemed to have high quality standards. They accepted my manuscript and they spent a lot of time answering my questions. I think they would have been a good fit for me, but I was already down the road of self publishing Remote Access(the book was edited and formatting done) so the timing wasn’t right.

In the end, I have chosen the self publishing route for all my books. It fits my goals and I don’t mind the marketing aspect. For my thrillers, I’ve hired a marketing guru who has been pretty successful in promoting the e-books. I do book signings and my own promotion for my print copies.

My suggestion is to assess your goals and the pros and cons and choose the option that works best for you.  At least go into it with your eyes open. I still believe authors owe it to themselves to try to find an agent to pursue  their dream. You never know, you could have a bestseller on your hands. Check out Query Tracker as a first step to finding  an agent. If the hybrid solution is best for you, make sure you pick one that will do what they say they are going  to do. Do your due diligence. There are many vanity publishers who will publish anything for a price and do nothing for you. Avoid them! If you decide self publishing is best for you, be prepared to do your promotion and make sure your book is the best it can be.

No matter which route you choose, be proud of your published work.

Cover Reveal

The readers have spoken. Some fans of the Marcie Kane Thriller Collection were shown options for the cover of my upcoming novella featuring Nathan Harris. I’m thrilled to reveal the winning cover below.

Never So Alone takes the reader back in time before Nathan meets Marcie. He is an FBI Special Agent on an undercover assignment to find the kingpins of a meth operation. His assignment initially takes him to a small town in Manitoba, Canada where things go horribly wrong.

Stay tuned. Never So Alone will be released very soon.

NEW NOVELLA COMING!

I’m excited to announce that a new novella will be released early in 2019. For those who may not be familiar with the term, a novella is longer than a short story but shorter than a novel.

It features FBI Special Agent Nathan Harris and it’s called Never So Alone. Those who are familiar with the Marcie Kane Thriller Collection will know that Nathan is introduced in Book 2 – A Perilous Question, but this book takes place prior to that.

Here’s the blurb:

A massive explosion levels a barn near a quiet picturesque town on the Canadian prairies.  Nathan Harris, an FBI Special Agent on a joint operation with the RCMP narrowly escapes while working undercover to find the people behind an illegal drug lab. The blast is no accident. But why? Have the people he’s working with discovered his identity? Did someone at the highest level of authority betray him? His investigation points to a similar operation in the U.S., but if he follows the lead, who can he trust? Meanwhile, his relationship at home is on the rocks. He has never felt so alone. Despite the danger, the questions must be answered before he can know the truth.

Here’s the cool part:

I’m offering the first 25 people who respond to this email the opportunity to read an advance copy and participate in the cover design. 

WHAT DO I GET?

The first 25 people responding will receive in return:

  • A PDF version of the book. It should be ready in 2-3 weeks.
  • An opportunity to vote on the cover. Three options will be available for review
  • A signed copy of the published book when it’s released with an inscription of your choice.

WHAT’S THE CATCH?

There’s always a trick, right? Of course there is. Nothing is free in this world. All I would like you to do is complete an honest review of the book and post it on Amazon the week the book is published. The review can be as short or long as you like. It would be even more amazing if you could share the book on social media the week it’s published, but only if you’re comfortable doing that.

ANY OTHER TRICKS?

Well, yes, but blame it on Amazon. They have strict policies that must be adhered to, so please abide by them. The two that apply are:

  • To be allowed to review a book, you must have purchased at least $50 worth of product from Amazon at some point, and,
  • If you are a relative or close friend, you are not eligible. Even though a relative or close friend might be more critical, Amazon automatically deems you to be biased. So, relatives and close friends, you know who you are and sorry, but you’re disqualified. Oh, what the heck, if you promise to share the book on social media, I’ll send you the covers and an advance copy as well.

OKAY, I’M IN

If you’re interested, comment HERE and tell me you’re in. I’ll send the PDF and covers to vote on when they’re ready, and let you know the publication date. When you’ve posted the review, you can send me your address and I’ll forward the free signed print copy of the book.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Upcoming Signings

I’m doing the craft sale shows in the next couple of weeks. Come out and do some Christmas shopping at St Mark’s Catholic School, Manotick, Ontario  on November 10 from 10 – 4 and November  11 from 10 – 3. On November 17, I’ll be at Cairine Wilson School in Orleans, Ontario from 9 – 3 . A new one has just been added. I’ll be at the Queensway Carleton Hospital in Ottawa, Ontario. Hospital from 1 – 4

Hope  to see you there.

Work In Progress

Fans of the Marcie Kane Thriller Collection will know that FBI Agent Nathan Harris was introduced in Book 2, A Perilous Question, and shows up again in Remote Access. I’m currently working on a novella, which will predate Nathan’s introduction to Marcie.

In this new short thriller, Nathan will go undercover in an attempt to find the head of a meth ring. His work will take him to a small town in the prairies of Manitoba, Canada before he follows the trail to North Dakota.

Keep watching these pages for updates on progress and when you can expect to get your copy.