Inspiration, humour, mystery and thrills.
My interview on The Authors Show, in which we discuss my inspirational book Just Keep Climbing, is now live.
The interview is available on major podcast platforms like Spotify, Pandora, IHeart Radio, Amazon Music, and others.
Alternatively, you can just listen to it here.
It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything, mostly because I’ve been working on my inspirational book, Just Keep Climbing: Inspirational Stories for Overcoming Challenges and Living Life. It’s nearing completion and I’m very proud of the outcome. Eight people generously shared their inspirational stories with me and I can’t thank them enough.
So, where is it? Well, here’s part of it.
Here’s what’s going to happen. The cover will be revealed in a few days on July 31. In the meantime, take a guess at what’s under the shaded area based on the title.
The e-book goes on presale August 1. Then, on September 9, Just Keep Climbing will be launched to the world. I can’t wait to share it with you.
This is a departure for sure from my mystery and thriller titles but since everyone needs a little inspiration from time to time, I thought Jake Scott could take a little break. He’ll be back in the spring.
In the meantime, watch for the presale of Just Keep Climbing, grab your copy (to be delivered September 9) and read some amazing stories.
My new mystery novel, Searching for Truth, is coming soon. Here’s a hint of what’s coming. Keep watching for updates.
It’s been awhile since I’ve posted much and, while it is not an excuse, the reason is that I have been working on a new mystery featuring a brand new character named Jake Scott.
I have been wrestling with ideas about the best way to introduce Jake to my amazing readers. He’s not your ordinary hero. In fact, in his mind he’s not a hero at all. He’s a bored and lonely former reporter, having lost his wife to an aneurysm, his job to technology and his daughter to a boyfriend in another city.
There are many steps to go through before the book is published, so it will be a few months before you will be able to read it. But, as part of the process, Advance Reader Copies (ARCs) have been sent to a handful of readers for early feedback. The first comments arrived yesterday from Cathy S. who blogs under Cath N’ Kindle Book Reviews.
Cathy has captured the essence of Jake Scott perfectly, so there is no better way to introduce him to you than through her words. Take it away, Cathy.
“Having enjoyed my first encounter with this author (The Burden of Darkness), it was with great enthusiasm that I dived into this book, and what a joy. I was promised a new protagonist (Jake Scott), and he couldn’t be more different than The Burden of Darkness’s Marcia Kane.
Jake Scott is feeling his way around recent widowerhood and retirement. The highlight of his week: Saturday morning coffee with a motley crew: three men and Constable Danielle Perez. As a former investigative journalist, Jake is just the chap to help Danielle look into a double murder from three years previously. The pandemic has delayed so many things, not least the legal process, and it’s taken a long time for the main suspect to be convicted. But Danielle isn’t convinced the right man is in prison. With just a grumpy cat for company and little motivation in his newfound, reluctant singledom, Jake takes up the offer to help.
I really enjoyed this. Jake makes a refreshingly different hero. He’s not young and handsomely six-packed. He’s a bit of a Luddite, a technophobe, but there’s a steadfastness and sincerity about him. And quietly smart. It’s rather lovely witnessing his emergence from his cocoon of grief and loneliness after the tragic loss of his beloved wife. The attractive Dani and her stereotypically monosyllabic, grumpy teenager are quite the tonic. But little do the three of them know what serious danger will befall them by wanting to put right a wrong.
Extremely well composed and observed, this is really edge-of-your-seat, hold-your-breath writing and compelling right to the very end. I consider myself quite a good guesser of whodunnits, but Mr F had me well stumped.
Jake (and Dani) have a sequel in them, I know it. I certainly hope it.”
We’re getting closer to the launch of my new book, The Burden of Darkness, so I thought it was time to reveal the cover and blurb. Here they are! Watch for the presale of the book to start soon.
Nathan Harris is in the fight of his life. Tormented by flashbacks, it’s all the former FBI Agent can do to get through a day, let alone focus on his marriage to Marcie Kane. Counseling helps but is it enough to help him regain some semblance of normalcy? After already losing so much, he desperately needs a win. What he doesn’t need is a sadistic monster targeting innocent people, including someone close to him.
Owen Strand has nothing to lose. Handed a death sentence by his physician, sued by his partner and fired from his job, he’s spiraling out of control and out for blood. Armed with a list of everyone who has ever wronged him, he travels around North America, picking off his enemies one by one.
Nathan and Owen are on opposite sides of a bridge in the most significant battles of their lives. Only one can emerge successful, but both stand to lose far more than they may have to give.
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?
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.
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.
My new book, Remote Access, which is scheduled for release this spring, is my 5th 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.