THE UNRAVELLING by Thorne Moore #guestpost #giveaway

unravelling

The Unravelling

by

Thorne Moore

 

unravelling

Genre: Domestic noir

Release Date: 21 July 2016

Publisher: Honno Press

From the Top Ten Bestselling Author of A Time for Silence

The Unravelling

When they were ten everybody wanted to be Serena’s friend, to find themselves one of the inner circle. But doing so meant proving your worth, and doing that often had consequences it’s not nice to think about – not even thirty-five years later.

Karen Rothwell is randomly reminded of an incident in her childhood which just as suddenly becomes an obsession. It takes her on a journey into a land of secrets and lies; it means finding that gang of girls from Marsh Green Junior School and most importantly of all finding Serena Whinn.

 Praise for Thorne Moore’s novels

‘A true page turner’– www.gwales.com

‘The most chilling part of Thorne Moore’s skill is the way that she represents evil’ – Helen Tozer, sideline jelly

BUY LINKS

HONNO PRESS

AMAZON UK

AMAZON US

 BOOK DEPOSITORY

WORDERY

**********

Things I learned when writing this book

I learned that I have the potential to be a really bad driver. I think I am a moderately good driver (I am too modest to put it higher than that), but my main character, Karen Rothwell, is bad. The sort of driver who’d make you slam on the brakes and take the next turn onto a different route. I found it extraordinarily easy to get inside her head and perceive such obstacles as roundabouts and motorway junctions as problems best approached with the eyes shut. So easy that I worry I might be tempted to do so, just for the hell of it.

I learned that I am old. You know old people say “I can remember everything that happened fifty years ago, but I can’t remember what I had for breakfast today.” That is me, with this book. My main character, Karen Rothwell, is my age, because I thought that would make it easier, getting the details of her childhood right. In 1965, she’s ten, going on 11, in the fourth year of junior school, just as I was. It isn’t a date I dared mess with, because a few years later, everything would have been different. This was before 1967, before Sgt Pepper, before beads and kaftans and women’s lib. The Beatles may have been a big thing, but they were still in nice smart suits.

1965 was really the tail end of the 1950s. Children hadn’t yet been liberated into jeans and T-shirts. Little girls wore cotton frocks and ankle socks in summer, long socks, kilts and cardies in winter. Little boys wore pullovers and short trousers. Everyone had scabby knees. We had little bottles of milk at school playtime and cabbage for dinner. People lived in council houses and travelled on buses. They shopped at local butchers and greengrocers and made phone calls in red phone boxes, remembering to push Button A. You could get a decent bar of chocolate for 3d, and swings were set in concrete that could break your nose, and made of proper solid wood that could knock your teeth out. None of this health and safety nonsense.

We walked to school every morning. I’m not sure even the teachers bothered to drive, although one did have a bubble car. My routes, and there were several, led through an estate that was in transition. Among the streets of council houses, prefabs were coming down to make way for tower blocks because nobody had yet realised that the British don’t do high-rise living. A motorway was being built alongside the school playing field. Underneath it all was the ghost of what had been there just a decade or two before: farmhouses and fields and woods and streams. A few massive trees lingered. There was a huge wild cherry which stood opposite my house, until continuous lopping away to make room for buses made it give up the ghost. Roads were named after farms that no longer existed. Brooks, reduced to drainage ditches, appeared and disappeared among the houses. And there was a lane, one of my routes home, unpaved, muddy and overhung with trees, just wide enough for the horse and cart that would once have used it.

Karen’s flashbacks, in the book, refer to that era and I could conjure up every detail of it, with no trouble at all. It’s all in my DNA. But much of the action is also set at the turn of this century, the Millennium or thereabouts, and that is only 16 years ago, so I should be able to remember it as well, if not better, than the 1960s, but I couldn’t. I had to research it. It’s not the events of the time that evade me. They are easy enough to recall. It’s the technology. We have the internet now. We had it then too, of course. Our houses rang with weird sci-fi dialling tones as we plugged our modems into our phone lines and waited to see if the thing would ever connect. On our new and improved Windows 98, we hastily searched for what we wanted on Yahoo, and God help us if our chosen site had pictures, because they would take forever to load, and we were worried about the phone bill. And we’d better be quick because someone else wanted to use the phone.

Not that we had that much to look at, when we were connected. There was a site called Amazon, which sold books, just books, and a new search engine had appeared, called Google, but Facebook and Twitter were not yet even gleams in the milkman’s eye. Not much point in relying on the internet until broadband was introduced. That was in 2000 but it was several years before it really caught on. Since when, it has become so essential, many of us can’t imagine life without it.

Like mobile phones. Of course people had mobile phones in 2000. Some of them, anyway, and they were no longer the huge bricks flaunted by the yuppies of the 80s. They were smaller bricks, and unless you were young and frivolous, you kept them switched off, for emergencies, for fear of running the batteries down. If you were of a certain age, (over 20) you would quiver hopelessly at the thought of texting.

Books, in 2000, came in two formats. Hardback and paperback.

Sat Navs? If you wanted to get from A to B you consulted your AA Atlas.

It can come as a shock to realise how much our personal worlds have changed in less than 20 years. It was only as I wrote The Unravelling, that I fully appreciated it. Must be getting old.

At least I do still remember what I had for breakfast this morning. Yoghurt. Or was that yesterday?

I learned that sometimes I need someone to say yes very loudly, straight at me, in order to drown out the voice in my head that keeps saying no, no, no, no. I began writing The Unravelling about 30 years ago. And stopped. I began it again about 20 years ago and stopped again. And 15 and 12 and 10 and 8. I think I have one of those early drafts still on an Amstrad word processor disc, no longer readable. An early draft of the first two or three chapters, that is, because each time I started, even though I knew who the characters would be and where they should be going, I just came to a full stop and moved on to something completely different. Then the editor of my last book asked me if I were working on anything else. I mentioned the idea of The Unravelling. She said good! Write it. So I did.

**********

ABOUT THORNE MOORE

unravelling

Thorne Moore was born in Luton but has lived in in the back of beyond in north Pembrokeshire for 32 years. She has degrees in History and Law, worked in a library and ran a family restaurant as well as a miniature furniture craft business, which is still in Production, but she now concentrates on writing psychological crime mysteries.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thorne.moore.7

Twitter: @ThorneMoore

Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6562052.Thorne_Moore

Blog: http://thornemoore.blogspot.co.uk/

Website: thornemoore.co.uk

**********

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Cover Reveal ~ WORTH FORGIVING by Janet K. Brown

Worth Forgiving

by

Janet K. Brown

 

Second in the Wharton Rock Worth Series

Prejudice and mistrust hinders an ex-con, drug addict’s new beginning. Could it be she’s not Worth Forgiving?

The state of Texas releases from prison Katie Smith. Full of optimism, she sets out to get a job, rent her own place, and make a home for her eight-year-old daughter, but Katie gave away her daughter three years ago. She could use a friend, but her past choices threaten to doom her to continued failure.

Larry Pullman graduated from seminary with high marks, but the fact that he has no wife makes finding a preaching job almost impossible. It doesn’t help that running from God as a teenager gave him a past that he can’t undo. All he needs is an ex-con, drug addict messing up his life, but then why did God lead him to her? Or did He?

Isn’t it enough that Lacey Chandler gave her sister’s daughter a home? Does that mean she has to clean up Katie’s messes forever?

worth forgiving

About Janet K. Brown

janet k brown

Janet K. Brown lives in Wichita Falls, Texas with her husband, Charles.

Worth Forgiving, an inspirational women’s fiction, is the second in her Wharton Rock series. Her only non-fiction is Divine Dining: 365 Devotions to Guide You to Healthier Weight and Abundant Wellness.

Worth Forgiving marks Brown’s fourth book. Who knew she had a penchant for teens and ghosts? She released her debut novel, an inspirational young adult, Victoria and the Ghost, in July, 2012.

Janet and her husband love to travel with their RV, work in their church, and visit their three daughters, two sons-in-law and three perfect grandchildren.

Janet teaches workshops on writing, weight loss, and the historical settings of her teen books. The author uses her platform of recovering compulsive overeater to weave stories of hope for addiction, compulsion, or impossible situations.

Find her at:

website:  http://www.janetkbrown.com
on Twitter: @janetkbrowntx
and on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Janet-K-Brown-Author/143915285641707

If you like the book, please consider leaving a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or even word of mouth. It’s the best compliment you can give an author.

 

NEW ENGLAND DREAMS by Pia Fenton #guestpost #excerpt #giveaway

New England

New England Dreams

by

Pia Fenton

 

New England

Genre:  YA contemporary romance (US high school setting, UK heroine)

Release Date:  25th July 2016

Book 4 of the Northbrooke High series (can be read as a standalone)

When opposites attract, can dreams come true?

Staying in New England for a few months is just what Sienna Randall needs after all the family problems she’s been dealing with at home in London. Romance is the last thing she’s expecting, so it’s a total surprise when she ends up kissing a guy she meets on the flight.

Kyle Everett is Sienna’s complete opposite –  he’s clean-cut and preppy, she has piercings and pink dreads. But he can’t resist making out with her. He is, after all, Northbrooke High’s number one player. Except Sienna’s different from other girls. He’s definitely expecting to see her again – until they’re separated by irate airline officials before he can get her number.

Then fate throws them together once more, but when Sienna turns up in Kyle’s home room, neither admits to having met before. The chemistry between them is still there though – should they let it have free rein or should the attraction stay in their dreams?

EXTRACT

Kyle smiled and changed the subject. ‘You got any more piercings then? You know, hidden ones?’ He wiggled his eyebrows at her and it looked so stupid she couldn’t help but smile back.

‘None of your business,’ she told him.

‘Oh, so you do? Now I’m curious.’

‘I do not. And even if I did, I wouldn’t show you.’

‘Oh, yeah? Hmm. So tell me, how does it feel to kiss with snake bites?’ He was suddenly staring at her mouth intently and Sienna felt a shiver run through her. God, but he was hot. Seriously hot. And he was so close. She was very tempted to just reach over and grab him.

And why not? No one would ever know.

She shook herself mentally, but some devil made her smile again. She looked up at him from under her lashes, the way she’d seen other girls do when they were flirting. She’d never managed it because she was too shy, but for some reason, she had no trouble doing it now. ‘You tell me,’ she said, the challenge clear in her voice.

His eyes opened wide and he drew in a sharp breath. Then he grinned. ‘Okay, you’re on.’

The next thing she knew, he had bent his head slightly to the side and captured her mouth with his in a long, slow kiss that almost melted her bones. He ran his tongue over the snake bites, nipping at one playfully, then kissed her again, properly, deeply. When he stopped he brought up a hand to cup her cheek. ‘I like it,’ he whispered. ‘A lot.’

So did Sienna, but she didn’t get a chance to reply, because he started kissing her again and this time he didn’t stop. Which was just as well, since she didn’t want him to. In fact, she didn’t come to her senses until some air steward pulled Kyle off her and she realised with flaming cheeks they’d ended up lying across all four middle seats, making out thirty thousand feet up in the sky.

‘What the hell do you think you’re doing?’ the crewman hissed, looking from one to the other.

Sienna wondered the same thing. She must have lost her mind.

BUY LINKS

AMAZON UK

AMAZON US

**********

Have you ever …

… done something really crazy?  And then wondered afterwards what on earth you were thinking and if you’d lost your mind?  That’s what the heroine of my new YA book, New England Dreams, does.  She’s on her way to the US for some time out from family problems, when she happens to be sitting next to this really hot guy her own age.  They have zero in common – he’s clean-cut, she’s grungy with piercings – but there is plenty of attraction between them so she ends up making out with him.  And then wondering what the heck she’s done when the airline staff aren’t too happy about it!

I think we all do crazy things sometimes – being impulsive is human nature after all.  We don’t all think before we act.  And although we try to repress it, the temptation to try something just once, or to just say ‘to hell with it, I’m going for it’ is often impossible to resist.  I’m no exception and here are some of the idiotic and/or impulsive things I’ve done so far in my life:-

  • Ridden on back of a motorcycle with a guy who was driving at over 200 km/hr (that’s about 125 mph in English terms) – although it was exhilarating, I did start to get a bit scared towards the end before he listened to me and started slowing down!
  • Dived off a pier into shallow water – yeah, this was probably THE stupidest thing I’ve ever done. I didn’t check how deep the water was, just assumed that because it was the end of a pier there would be lots, but actually I was lucky I didn’t break my neck!  Ended up with a scraped nose and forehead, which made me seriously think I have a guardian angel (and I didn’t believe in those before that)
  • Tried taking snuff – the Swedish variety, which is like a huge wad of tobacco you stick inside your upper lip.   Makes you feel really sick and dizzy.  So never doing that again!
  • Tried smoking a cigar – ditto! (How can people seriously enjoy that??)
  • Kissed a stranger on an airplane – yes, confession time, that plot line came from a real life experience, but sadly for me I never saw the guy again although he did write to me twice (as he lived in Alaska and I lived in Sweden at the time, there wasn’t much chance of long-term romance)
  • Locked someone else’s door so they couldn’t get into their own house – I was only five, and was in someone’s house with my mum, and for some reason decided to lock the front door which meant the husband couldn’t get in. He stood outside shouting at me (no one else heard him or the bell) and I was too scared to open the door LOL – got told off royally when my mum found out
  • Bribed a friend’s brother to take me to prom – desperate times call for desperate measures, right? Not my finest moment, but hey, I got to go to the prom and we had fun
  • Jumped off the 10 metre diving board – I consider this crazy even though I know lots of people do it, but for someone like me who is terrified of heights, it was tantamount to insane. I had to do it for a swimming diploma I was doing, without the jump everything else I’d done would be null and void, so I did but … never again, I’m telling you!  Never!
  • Broken my little toe (the same one) twice in one week – not so much crazy as careless perhaps? But although I am a klutz, I think this counts as too stupid for words, even for me
  • Touched a hot iron to see how much it hurt – uhm, yeah, what can I say – I was, like, four years old maybe? And a bit too curious for my own good …

Okay, so those are my confessions – how about yours?  What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?  I’d love to know!

ABOUT PIA FENTON

New England
‘Promote Me!’ portrait

Pia Fenton (who also writes as Christina Courtenay) is a chocoholic and confirmed couch potato, allergic to exercise of any kind (except maybe swimming). Although born in England, she has a Swedish mother and was brought up in Sweden so she was a bit of a mixed up kid. When she was a teenager, she moved with her family to Japan. From there she had the opportunity to travel in the Far East and other parts of the world, which was great fun. She also got to go to an American high school in Tokyo, together with kids of 138 other nationalities, and had the best time of her life!
Pia loves: reading and writing (YA obviously, but also anything historical, time slip and paranormal), dogs, genealogy, listening to rock music and doing various craft projects very badly. (It’s the trying that counts, right?)
Pia’s first YA novel New England Rocks (published by Choc Lit, Aug 2013) was short listed for The Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Award for Best Romantic Young Adult novel 2014. She’s also won some awards for her adult historical books.

Pia Fenton (who also writes as Christina Courtenay) is a chocoholic and confirmed couch potato, allergic to exercise of any kind (except maybe swimming).  Although born in England, she has a Swedish mother and was brought up in Sweden so she was a bit of a mixed up kid. When she was a teenager, she moved with her family to Japan.  From there she had the opportunity to travel in the Far East and other parts of the world, which was great fun.  She also got to go to an American high school in Tokyo, together with kids of 138 other nationalities, and had the best time of her life!

Pia loves:  reading and writing (YA obviously, but also anything historical, time slip and paranormal), dogs, genealogy, listening to rock music and doing various craft projects very badly.  (It’s the trying that counts, right?)

Pia’s first YA novel New England Rocks (published by Choc Lit, Aug 2013) was short listed for The Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Award for Best Romantic Young Adult novel 2014.  She’s also won some awards for her adult historical books.

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/christinacourtenayauthor/

Twitter:   https://twitter.com/PiaCCourtenay

group twitter https://twitter.com/paisleypiranhas )

Goodreads Author Page:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4112359.Christina_Courtenay

Instagram:  paisleypiranha

Blogs:   http://christinacourtenay.com/?page_id=278

              https://paisleypiranha.wordpress.com/

Websites: http://christinacourtenay.com/

                  https://sites.google.com/site/paisleypiranha/

Pinterest: https://uk.pinterest.com/piacourtenay/

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Happy Bagpipe Appreciation Day!

Hail that quintessential Scottish instrument

The Bagpipes

bagpipe appreciation

There’s nothing like the skirl of the bagpipes to make a person a bit weepy. For me, I love the sound – others don’t share my feelings. Go figure. Some liken the sound to a cat having its tail rocked on.

When at war, the pipers went ahead of the troops. Were they trying to take advantage of their enemies whilst they were incapacitated by the music coming from the bagpipes? Who wouldn’t be intimidated by the sight of an army marching towards them playing songs to motivate their troops?

Still, watching the massed bands at the Highland Games or the pipe bands in the local parades makes me yearn for Scotland and brings a tear to my eye.

Traditional pipe music? Alternative pipe music? How about the Red Hot Chilli Pipers? Yes, that’s correct. It’s not a typo. Here they are playing We Will Rock You.

 

And how about a little Smoke on the Water and Thunderstruck to really get you into the spirit of Bagpipe Appreciation Day. Sorry about the advert at the beginning of this one…

 

Check out this link to McCallum Bagpipes.

Or watch this video on YouTube to see how bagpipes are made.

Bagpipes – love ’em or hate ’em? Leave a comment for or against this musical instrument.

Coming this Saturday – July 23rd – Christmas in July!

July 23rd

The Prescott Farmers’ and Crafters’ Market

holds their annual

Christmas in July

on Saturday, July 23rd, 2016

I’ve got the Christmassy stuff I plan on taking to decorate my market stall all in one place so it can go in the car when we load up Friday night. After all, the event is called Christmas in July.

I just checked The Weather Network and they’re calling for sunny and 28C! We’ll cross our fingers that it doesn’t change between now and then. I’ll be taking many sneaky peeks to keep updated.

Having been rained on after getting set up, I’ve come up with some very creative ways to keep my stock – and me – dry. We’ve even gone so far as to waterproof the canopy. But let’s not think that way. Positive thoughts and prayers to the sun gods.

I usually post a recap at the end of each month with my market results but with this being a special event, I’ll post after it, too.

Cheers, m’dears! If you live close to Prescott, ON come on down to the market on Saturday morning.

A JERSEY BOMBSHELL by Georgina Troy #giveaway

jersey

A Jersey Bombshell

by

Georgina Troy

 

jersey

Genre: Chicklit

Release Date: 17 June 2016

Publisher: Accent Press

Book 4 of The Jersey Scene series (can be read as a standalone)

Gabriel has returned to the island of Jersey after ten years abroad to help his aging showbiz parents revive their failing Art Deco hotel. This proves to be something of a challenge, especially as his singer father and actress mother are more concerned with staying in the limelight than keeping track of the cash-flow. Gabriel isn’t going anywhere fast …

Meanwhile, he’s stunned to find that the hotel’s new receptionist is the girl he fell in love with years earlier in Vietnam, and someone who is tied to Jersey is the last thing she needs …

ADD TO GOODREADS

BUY LINKS

AMAZON UK

AMAZON US

ABOUT GEORGINA TROY

JERSEY

Georgina Troy lives in Jersey, an island fifteen miles off the coast of France. She’s a hopeless romantic and enjoys spending time day-dreaming about heroes on one of the nearby beaches with her three rescue dogs. When Georgina realised that no one else was writing books about the beautiful wind-swept beaches and intriguing inhabitants of her island home, she decided she had to provide some.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GeorginaTroyAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/georginatroy

Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7224225.Georgina_Troy

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deborahcarr9/

Google+ https://plus.google.com/u/1/107875573365392188870/posts

LinkedIn: https://je.linkedin.com/in/deborah-carr-2b086015

Blog: http://georginatroy.blogspot.com/

Website: http://www.georginatroy.co.uk/

GIVEAWAY

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I NEED A DOCTOR by Janey Travis #CoverReveal

janey

I Need a Doctor

by

Janey Travis

janey

Genre: Romantic Comedy

Release Date: 15th July 2016

Publisher: Thornhill Print

Beauty and fame… a blessing or a curse?

Story synopsis: Loveless fashion model Nola Nichols thinks being beautiful is a curse; that is until she is cursed and her looks begin to fade just a week before the most important photo shoot of her career. In her attempts to get un-cursed, she finds herself taking part in a rather unconventional funeral, reveals one or two unrests in her own past, and falls madly in love with a doctor. Erm… that would be a witch doctor, right…?

BUY LINKS

AMAZON UK

AMAZON US

KOBO

iBOOKS

SMASHWORDS

The Book will be available at the Pre-Order Price
Amazon – Kobo – iBooks, etc.
The special price is 99p or $1.40.

What the Readers say:

“Just the right sprinkling of romance and humour.” Brook Cottage Books

“A very enjoyable and clever plot. Different, fresh and enjoyable.” Jenny in Neverland

“I couldn’t help but like Nola even though at times she is a proper diva.” Comet Babe’s Books

“I love all the quirky characters in the story and just the pure madness and fun of it all!” Books4U

“A nice balance of humour, sweet romance, morals and a spooky side!” The Little Reader Library

“A Five Star Read – I really enjoyed the light-hearted tone.”  Love Reading Love Books

janey

ABOUT JANEY TRAVIS

janey

Janey Travis is currently travelling around the world chasing the sun while blogging, tweeting, writing fun-to-read novels and travel magazine features. Look out for her new light-hearted romantic comedy novel I Need a Doctor. You can catch up with her on Twitter: @janey_travis on Facebook: janeytravisbooks.

Janey also writes bestselling romantic adventure fiction as Janice Horton. Find out more at www.janicehorton.co.uk

Author Links:

Janey Travis on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/janeytravisbooks

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/janey_travis

Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30623638-i-need-a-doctor

Website: (still under construction)

www.janeytravis.co.uk

janey travis

For just a few hours on Saturday 2nd July (morning for US and afternoon for UK) I’m hosting a fun to attend FB Party Event to celebrate my latest rom-com book Pre-Release ‘I Need A Doctor’. It is SIMPLE and FUN to take part – just POST up a picture of your favourite doctor onto the Event Page. Is is Dr Who? Dr George? Dr Dre? or Dr John (Utila folk might choose him!) I’ll be posting too and every guest poster will be entered into a book GIVEAWAY raffle. You can also enter by tweeting your Doctor pic on Twitter using the hashtag ‪#‎INeedADoctor‬. Join the party now by clicking ‘Going’ or ‘Interested’ now or just turn up on the day. All are invited! #INeedADoctor This is the Event Page link:
 
 
Love, Janey xx

BABY’S GOT BLUE EYES by L M Krier #guestpost #giveaway

blue eyes

Baby’s Got Blue Eyes

by

L M Krier

blue eyes

Genre: Crime thriller > serial killer

Release Date: Feb 2015

Someone is dumping bodies on DI Ted Darling’s patch and he’s not happy. Ted’s a good solid copper, in an old-fashioned way, with an excellent clear-up rate. He’s not at all like your average cop and has his own unique way of dealing with any prejudice his differences bring him. No heavy drinking, no failed marriage, just a steady, long-term relationship. He and his partner have cats, not kids.

But this serial killer seems to be running effortless rings round Ted and his team. Every promising lead just takes them up another frustrating blind alley.

Then it starts to get personal …

BUY LINK

http://hyperurl.co/kbmj37

**********

Not every writer knows this

Let me begin by saying I can’t tell you how to write. We all do it differently. It would be presumptuous, and wrong, of me to suggest that my way is better than yours. Instead I’d like to share a few practical tips I’ve learnt over the years which have proved useful. Things not everyone knows, specially when they are just getting going in writing.

I started out in the Dark Ages, before computers, training as a journalist in the early 1970s, when everything was on typewriters. If you were lucky, you might have an electric one, although I’ve worked in offices where they were all manual and even, on one small local newspaper, one where journalists had to provide their own typing machine.

When the millennium came around, I decided to retrain as a copywriter/copy editor and that meant also coming to grips with computers for the first time in my life, strange though that may sound.

You all save everything, right?

I thought newspaper deadlines were punishing until I encountered the wonderful world of advertising. As a freelance copywriter, a typical conversation with a client may go something like this:

Client: We need copy for a new catalogue. X patches of X words each. You’ll have the brief by end of play Monday, we need the copy by Friday.

Me: (Picking myself up off the floor having fainted at the impossibility of it) It’s a bit tight, but I’ll be happy to do it for you (mentally doubling the bill). But I must have the brief on Monday.

Monday: No brief, lots of promises. Repeat daily until way past my bedtime on Thursday, when the brief finally arrives. Needless to say, the deadline is still end of play Friday. I do it, because I’m a masochist like that. They don’t like it. They want more ‘blah, blah and blah’ (none of which was in the original brief).

They graciously extend the deadline to Monday. I do it again. They don’t like it. And a couple of times more. Then we get to the bit which is relevant to you as a writer, believe me. After long consideration, they preferred the first version after all. Let’s go with that.

So, here we come to the nub. Did I save the first version, and if so, where the heck is it?

Save everything. Always. Everywhere.

Back in the paper days, a writer would pen something, hate it, screw it up and throw it away. Of course, in time, that would be the version they would decide was the best to date, now lost forever. Now we’ve largely gone paperless, you can save everything you write, and you should do. It’s a valuable learning experience.

Whenever I start a new book (I’ve now written and published nine and jointly written two others) I first create a new folder with the working title. I try to write at least a chapter a day and I save each one as a separate file within that folder. The title will be either the chapter number, if I already know where it’s going to fit in, or a keyword or two, ‘First victim’, ‘Second post-mortem,’ ‘Kick-trick’ (that’s a little peculiarity of my detective). I save everything starting with a date and, because I write a lot, I use the format YY/MM/DD. Every time I make changes, I save again with the current date, and I always begin each writing day by reading and editing what I wrote the day before.

Once I have a few chapters, I start a new file, ‘First draft’, and start to collate them there. From then on, I make all changes on this document, so the individual chapters are still there for me to go back to, should I need to.

Then I save everything. Obsessively. Repeatedly. To USB stick. To external hard drive. Emailed to myself. And to Dropbox. Dropbox is wonderful. You can set it up so that everything you write is automatically saved there without you having to do anything. That way, in theory, you never lose anything you’ve sweated blood to produce.

My house is set up so that, in the event of a fire, even half asleep, I can grab dogs, car keys and external hard drive as I rush out of the front door. My writing is about the only part of my life which is remotely tidy and organised. It’s a method I hope you may find useful.

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ABOUT L M KRIER

blue eyes

Retired journalist, freelance copywriter and copy editor Lesley Tither writes under various pen names for different genres. Already well known for travel memoirs as Tottie Limejuice, Lesley also writes crime fiction under the name L M Krier.

Lesley’s first crime thriller, ‘Baby’s Got Blue Eyes’, was published in February 2015, followed by ‘Two Little Boys’ in June 2015. Books 3 and 4 in the DI Ted Darling series, ‘When I’m Old and Grey’ and ‘Shut Up and Drive’ are now available and Book 5 in the series will appear later in 2016.

“Sell the Pig” is the first in a series of travel memoirs describing how Lesley, writing as Tottie Limejuice, decided to make the move from the UK to France to start a new life, taking with her an 89-year-old mother suffering from vascular dementia. The story continues in three further books, ‘Is That Billinge Lump?’, ‘Mother, Was It Worth It?’ and ‘Biff the Useless Mention’. A fifth book in the ‘Sell the Pig’ series is scheduled for release later in 2016.

Her first children’s fiction book, writing as L M Kay, will be published later in 2016. ‘The Dog with the Golden Eyes’ is an exciting children’s crime thriller.

Lesley also writes under the collective pen name of Jilli Lime-Holt, together with authors Jill Pennington and Janet Holt. Their first joint book, Take Three Birds, was published in December 2014.

Lesley is a former journalist, working as both a criminal court and coroner’s court reporter. She also worked as a case tracker for the Crown Prosecution Service, and for a firm investigating irregularities in offshore finance. Her other jobs have included owning and running a holiday riding centre and acting as a ‘charity mugger’, lying in wait to sign up shoppers for a wildlife charity.

Lesley’s interests centre around nature and wildlife and encompass dogs, wild camping and organic gardening. She lives in the Auvergne region of Central France and holds dual French/British nationality. Her current dogs are two rescued border collies.

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/LMKrier/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/tottielimejuice

Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13476159.L_M_Krier

Blog: http://tottielimejuice.com/category/latest-news/

Website: http://tottielimejuice.com/

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