Publication Day!

 An early post, as today is publication day for A Masquerade on the Riviera.

Always exciting and scary too. It already has a five star review, but you can never tell what readers will think. 

This one has a heavy dose of cosy crine/Agatha Christie in the mix - so if you have a thing for Egyptian curses and stolen jewelry, it is one for you. It also has its glamour quota - sunshine, posh villas, a very upmarket masked ball. And you get to spend some time on Jake's yacht, which first made its appearance in Summer in San Remo when it was the venue for his honeymoon with Cassie. The days are still a bit grey, so if you'd like to imagine floating along the coast from Monaco to Nice ...

I'm a publication day guest too on Books and Me. Many thanks to Karen for inviting me. 

Books and Me

Crime wave

 I woke up on Saturday morning to find I had a dead body on my hands. Not a statement one can share too freely without causing alarm, but we are all friends here, are we not? I'm an author - these things are normal, mostly. The corpse was somewhat unexpected, part of one of the two book ideas that I'm currently incubating. Yes, two. Why can I not get them to form an orderly queue! I knew who she was, but not where and why she got in that state. I do now, so that's fine. 

It got me thinking about the crimes I have committed with happy impunity between the covers of various books. I've mused before on our fascination with crime stories in all media, when encountering the real thing is distressing and horrible. Many writers, me included, love writing villains. There is probably something sadly wrong with my mental landscape, but it's probably too late to change it now. 

In various books I have frequently committed murder, serial and otherwise, and conspired in a few accidently deaths. There has been a lot of fraud, some kidnapping and a bit of theft. 

The new one has a rather complicated jewel theft and a handful of murders. Working out the mechanics of the theft was complicated but fun - I hope readers enjoy it!

It is less than a week now until Masquerade on the Riviera is released to the world. Currently biting my nails. I hope the world likes it. 

Update on Masquerade on the Riviera

 

It's two weeks to go now until the book finds its way into the world. It's currently on preorder and seems to be selling a few advance copies, so if you are one of the ones who has bought it, thank you. I hope you enjoy it. (And early reviews are much appreciated.) 

I see that there is now a paperback listed - this is an Amazon print on demand edition. No information at the moment as to whether there will be a regular paperback run. It will be a while, in any case, so if you prefer to read in physical rather than electronic form, you do have the chance. It's not shown yet, but once the edits were complete a copy was apparently going off for the audio edition, so I presume that will be making an appearance in due course.  

There will be a bit of a celebration on publication day, and you might see me out and about on a few blogs and newsletters. 

Talking of out and about - tickets are now on sale for the first in person Crime Cymru Festival. All sorts of crime writers, many Welsh, but not all, will be assembled in Aberystwyth at the end of next month. It promises to be a varied programme, including a dragon parade! I shall be there, introducing Masquerade on the Riviera and doing a reading. It would be lovely to see you if you fancied coming along. 

If you want to take a look at the programme and the ticket purchase, you can see it HERE

Field Trip

 The first Tuesday in the month is the meeting day for my local chapter of the Romantic Novelists' Association  - known as the Cariad Chapter. (It's a Welsh endearment - love, or darling.) We usually meet in Cardiff in one of the tea or coffee shops that also do lunch. Coffee or tea and cake, gossip, sharing news, sometimes a themed discussion or workshop is followed by lunch for those who can stay. 

Yesterday though we did something a bit different. A small group of us did a tour of the local bookshops to see what they had in the way of romantic fiction. |I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised. At one time 'romance' only mean a stand of Mills and Boon.  Not that anything is wrong with that - they are engrossing stories written by clever women and a few men. I have favourites among them, particularly in the historicals. Other romances are available however, and it was good to see some of them, quite a lot of them, in fact. 

WH Smith had a very varied selection across genres from sagas to hot romance. The Works had a big display and the staff commented  that romance was very popular. This is interesting, as the display in my local branch always seems to me to be predominantly crime and thrillers. Reflecting the taste of different shoppers? 

Waterstones was interesting as they had a couple of tables labelled romance. On one level I found it disappointing as most of the authors seemed to be American, and we do have excellent British romance authors including the winners of the RNA Awards who were announced on Monday night, who would have earned their place on the table.  But that is a quibble - romance is there, when for so long it wasn't. A lot seems to be down to Tick Tok favourites - authors from there were in evidence in all three shops, Many romance authors, especially from smaller presses, such as mine, are often e-book first or e-book only. No physical book, no presence in a bookshop. The view inside the e-reader might be quite different. Even with those caveats it was an interesting morning, finished with lunch in Waterstones upstairs cafe. 

At the moment the group is looking for a new venue as our tea shop of choice no longer opens early in the week. We have to change our day, or change our location. Wherever we end up next month there will be cake, as I will be celebrating the release of Masquerade on the Riviera on 28th March!      

A date for the diary - and a special offer.

 Advance news. I am going to be one of the authors in attendance at a big event in Cardiff in November. 

The Indie Love signing will be happening at City Hall on 18th November. 

Lots of indie romance authors with all sorts of styles and degrees of heat will be assembling to meet readers and sign and sell books. 

I will be one of them and I'd love to see you there. 

Tickets are on sale now through Eventbright and there is a special St David's day discount from today until 5th March. Entry is £22.15 but if you use the special code there is 25% off. 

The organisers announcement is below

Have you managed to grab your ticket for our amazing indie romance signing in Cardiff yet?

With over 50 romance authors joining us in Cardiff City Hall on the 18th of November, you won't want to miss out on this fantastic offer.

Discount code: STDAVID23

Ticket links: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/109672577632

Promo ends on the 5th March, so make sure you get yours today!

Facebook readers group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/940817246272917/

#Authors #Bloggers #Readers #BookSigning #IndieLove #ILW23 #Cardiff #Romance #Wales

 You can join the Facebook group to find out more about the event and the authors who will be there - many are from Wales, but I'm told there will even be a few flying in from the States. 

I know it is going to be a memorable day. Hope you can come along to say hello. 

(If you want to read my blog post about when I attended one of these events as a reader - have a look at 27 June 2018!)

St David's day!

 Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus