Catching up

Three months ago, I released my first crime novel, No Stranger to Death, as an ebook. Shortly afterwards, I brought it out as a paperback too. Not only does this mean more people can buy it, but my book will soon be available in libraries throughout the Scottish Borders. It has received some great reviews on Amazon and GoodReads and continues to feature regularly in the Kindle Top 100 Scottish Crime Fiction chart.

Other writers and bloggers have helped me spread the word about my book, offering me guest spots on their own blogs and websites. I will always be immensely grateful to them for this support and encouragement. Soon, writing these guest blogs will be finished and I can concentrate on regularly posting on this site. In the meantime, here is a further list of where you can read about me and my book.

• The brilliantly named Scottish crime-fiction blog, ‘There’s Been a Murder’ asked me some very challenging questions.
• The inspirational ‘Fab after Fifty’ website included a piece in their Fabwomen blog on the ‘bucket list’ I wrote when I hit 50. Naturally this included publishing a novel but you may be interested in some of the other tasks I set myself.
• A fellow crime-writer, Jane Isaac, invited me onto her blog 'Caffeine's not a Crime' to reveal how Scottish Borders settings influence my writing.
• Mel Sherratt is a chart-topping crime-writer on both sides of the Atlantic who kick-started her career by self-publishing. I leapt at the chance to appear in her ‘Murder They Wrote’ slot when she invited me.

Mel and I at Harrogate 2013

Finally, for those of you who have read and enjoyed No Stranger to Death, I’m happy to say that I've started in earnest on its sequel. It will be out in the summer of 2015.

Exciting times!

Hard to believe it's only been a little over a month since I published my first crime novel, No Stranger to Death, which is now available as both a paperback and an e-book from Amazon. Already so much has happened, and I've encountered (not for the first time) such incredible generosity from lots of people - many of whom I have yet to meet in real life. On publication day, 20th November, I sat at my computer unable to get up and make myself another cup of tea because the congratulations were coming in so fast from friends on Twitter and Facebook, and via email. 

And a couple of days later, this happened. 

Yes, the e-book of No Stranger to Death made number 17 in the Kindle Scottish crime fiction chart, snuggling next to a couple of Ian Rankin titles! 

Because I like to use social media with the emphasis on the 'social', I've promised myself I'll never become one of those authors who forever tweet and post annoying 'Buy my book' messages. However, one of the challenges facing authors who don't have a presence in physical bookshops is making sure potential readers can find their work online. And here again other people have helped me out. Since the publication of No Stranger to Death I've been on a blog tour, guesting on other people's websites and blogs. Here are links to some of them. You'll find out lots about me and my book from these, from why I chose to self-publish to what was my stand-out moment during 2013. And of course, if you have any burning questions to ask me yourself, please email me via the handy Contact Form on this blog.

• On Isabel Costello's Literary Sofa I explain why I decided to self-publish and how I went about it.
• Jayne Ferst, one of my first ever Twitter pals, asked me about why I chose to write a crime novel and what readers can expect from it.
• I accepted an invitation from Victoria Watson to review my 2013. It's been an exciting year for all sorts of reasons!
• A fellow crime-writer, Rebecca Bradley, asked me some searching questions about how I go about writing for her My First Draft feature.
• I even made it into my local paper, the Berwickshire News, although admittedly it was my chickens which got top billing and No Stranger to Death was only mentioned in the final paragraph.

I don't tend to make New Year resolutions but there is one thing I absolutely, definitely must do during 2014 - write the sequel to No Stranger to Death. Because now I have readers asking for it. Which is the best feeling in the world.

Happy New Year!