Hi,

After a fairly cold start to the spring, the temperature has risen (so has the wind!), and everything is exploding into life. The Blackthorn blossom is abundant, leaves are bursting out on the trees, and we have trays of seedlings growing in the polytunnel ready for planting out. Because we made a cold frame we were able to start bringing on plants a month earlier. This year we have obtained some hardy perennial vegetables, perennial leeks and various other things that used to be used in medieval times. It will be interesting to see if they do come back every year, and also whether we like eating them - if the invading army of slugs don't get them first.

Update on House Renovations

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AUTHORLY NEWS

For me, the best news this year is that my writing has taken an upward turn. I worked like a trojan last month to finish the novel for Bookoutre. The editor sent back and said, wow, absolutely wonderful, if you could just make a few changes... Then followed an A4 sheet of suggestions that pretty much amounted to a total re-write. So, the rewrite is done, and has been accepted in principle. I won't have the contract for a couple of weeks as the editor is on holiday, so I'm not planning that Mediterranean cruise just yet. If it all goes through, there's a requirement to write a second novel and have a third in progress before publication of the first. After that, I can keep going... The new series, set in the south of Ireland, will be marketed as Women's Fiction, more in keeping with 'Legend of the Selkie' than the 'Suffer the Little Children' series. It is to be published in 2024. The books will go through a rigorous editing process, covers will be created by real graphic artists, and blurbs will be created by the editor instead of me fumbling in the dark on all counts.

Now, I do listen to you guys. Someone wrote to me (Thank you!) and suggested that the cover for the Legend of the Selkie needed to be more mainstream in appearance. I love the seals, but the cover, I agree, was a bit gloomy, so here are the old and new versions for comparison. Anyone who would like to review this book can collect it free from Amazon over the next three days (5-7 May). Bear in mind it is a gentle story, not a thriller (I got the Bookoutre deal on the back of this book).

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The Silence of Children series also now has new covers, to fit in with the crime thriller genre. I'm not 100% sure I like them, but you get what you pay for, as they say. The cover has more to say about the genre than the storyline, and people do judge a book by its cover, which is not always the best milestone. Many of the covers I see are much more professional than the contents. I will invest more on the covers in a year or so, when I have published the fourth book in the series, and do a push on Amazon.

The Recovery of Children is on hold at the moment, as I have to complete a second novel for Bookoutre, but I do intend to carry on with that series.

Follow me on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/chrislewando

As always, if you review one of my books online (preferably on Amazon), and send me a link to the review, I'll let you have another book free! But do make sure to tell me which book you would like.

The Silence of Children: Amazon Bookbub Goodreads

The Price of Children: Amazon Bookbub Goodreads

The Loyalty of Children: Amazon Bookbub Goodreads

***OTHER AUTHORS' BOOKS***

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*** BOOKS FREE OR ON OFFER (mostly) ***

I don't have time to check every book that comes via a book funnel, or a 'swap' promotion with another author, so if you get a sample, a badly written book, or anything else that you find irritating, let the author know, by way of a review; don't shoot the messenger!

Even if you choose not to take any of the books from the offers, do please click on some links - it would help my 'share' statistics. I have been refused entry to some promotions as my share rate isn't high enough. The book funnels are dominated by some very aggressive authors, which says more about their character than their writing. I admit to being a social mediaphobe, and live in the hope that writing quality beats the ability to bludgeon my way into readers' kindles.

Happy Reading

www.chrislewando.com

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