With Christmas falling on a Monday this year, I think most
people are going to be taking an extended break for the winter holidays. That
means that this will be the last "proper" blog post of 2017 (if these
ramblings constitute a "proper" blog post). I usually post on Friday
and next Friday everybody will be far too busy thinking about trees and mulled
wine and mince pies and Christmas pudding. At least I hope you will be. It's
been a funny old year, but if you're reading this you're still here and I hope
that you're going to be able to enjoy Christmas with your loved ones.
It's been a particularly strange year for me as an author
with six published books, none of which have been available in the UK for the
past six months. This is because I've been changing publishers, a process which
takes rather longer than I had realised. Accent (who used to publish my books)
were amazing in getting me to sit down and write and their editorial team were
great, but there have been a lot of changes there and both my editors have
moved on and the company is being restructured. It seemed like a good time for
somebody else to take responsibility for getting my books out. I have been very
lucky to get taken on by Endeavour Press. Endeavour come highly recommended by
writer friends as a new and exciting press with a lot of historical titles. I
particularly enjoy Sally Spencer’s Inspector Blackstone books, set in the
London of a few decades after Back Home.
I'm hoping that Endeavour will be able to get my books to a
larger audience. They are republishing all six novels, starting with Burke in the Land of Silver on 5 January
– so by the time you see the next blog from me, the book should be available. I
had hoped it would be on pre-order by now, but some things are not to be, so I
don’t have a buy link yet. I do have a cover, with a brooding Argentinian rider
wrapped against the weather. It could be James Burke about to set off across
the Andes, as he does in the story.
It does look vaguely familiar from our own trip where, like
Burke, we faced snow covered passes and the joys of a night at 3,000 metres
without electricity or gas. There’s not much in the way of shrub at 3,000
metres and what there is burns to ash in minutes, so it was a cold night.
I’m hoping that the final version of the cover will
highlight Paul Collard’s comment: “James Bond in breeches.” (You can just about
read it at the bottom of the page.) James Bond in breeches was pretty much what
I was aiming for, so I did appreciate that comment from an author I admire.
In celebration of my new publisher, I've got a fancy new
website. It's a work in progress at the moment, but here's a screenshot that
gives you some idea what it's going to look like:
This blog will transfer there, hopefully early in the New
Year, but don't worry – existing posts will still be available here and I'll be
sure to let you know the new address.
So here we are at the end of a busy year with a pause for
festivities after which I'll be rushing around promoting my books to an
audience who haven't had the chance to see them yet. Given that I know far more
people read this blog than have ever bought my books, I'm guessing that
includes some of you. You have a treat in store. I'll be letting you know full
details of the when, the way and the pitifully small cover price very soon. All I
can say at the moment is that come 5 January, if you check out Amazon, you
should find the e-book of Burke in the
Land of Silver. The paperback will be along soon.
Until then, have a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New
Year, with lots of great reading ahead in 2018.
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