Hi,

I'm back in Ireland after a brief visit to the UK, relieved to find the animals all present and correct, thanks to our son and some helpful neighbours. The veg garden is a cornucopia of produce, and rife with weeds. We just ate our first homegrown spuds, carrots, broad beans, and beetroot sparsely cooked, served with butter. Delicious. There's nothing quite like veg from your own garden, it truly tastes better than anything you can buy. There is the added advantage that it's totally organic: we don't use weedkillers, fungicides or aphid sprays.

Thanks to everyone who responded to my query regarding the covers of my books. I'm not a graphic artist, which is probably obvious, and one day I will probably have to employ a designer to do the job for me. This is a 'chicken and egg' situation, though. If I don't have the right covers I won't sell the novels, but if I don't sell the novels there's no money in the kitty for new covers. So, basically, I'm stuffed! Anyway, with your help (and I'm always open to suggestion) I'm revamping the covers using the yellow font option, with larger fonts for clarity as thumbnails onscreen.

When I embarked upon this venture I was thinking in terms of 'nice' covers which reflected a scene from the story. This, it turns out, was naive. It seems that a book's cover generates an emotional response in the person glimpsing it, determining in an instant whether the reader will go on to read the book description. It doesn't even have to reflect the book's content, only the genre. I had no idea about marketing or psychological triggers. In all honesty, I'd love to outsource marketing to the experts, and get on with writing. Spending so much time on covers, blurbs and book funnels certainly eats into my creativity. After this latest cover update I'm going to get on and write...

I shouldn't have been surprised to learn that selling novels as an Indie is a numbers game. The more books you have to offer, the better a writer you are - obviously! And the more reviews you have, the more books you're perceived to have sold (h'm). But the reviews do provide social proof that people are reading your work and, if the star rating remains fairly high, enjoying it. I'm not able to write endless series of romances, dystopian fiction, space opera, or defective detectives, which seem to be the way to make a living as an Indie, so maybe I'm destined to remain poor but happy. Anyway, I set myself the task of writing five mainstream books in three or four years before trying to sell (ie, advertise). In the meantime, I've read many books on marketing, which I honestly find a little distasteful. Still, needs must.

I presently have three mainstream novels available, Night Shadows, Jessie Running, and Stations of the Soul. When I have published The Silence of Children (later this year) followed by Son of the Selkie (next year), I will put the next phase of my plan into action. In the meantime, if you're prepared to review any of my published books online, do request a free ecopy from me. Anyone who posts a review and lets me have the link, may claim another free book from my list.

1 See my books on Amazon or My Website

2 Storyboard - Caning

The storyboard this time isn't about bringing back corporal punishment, but a blast from my past. I spent several years doing re-upholstery and making loose covers and curtains, but my joints started to suffer, so I decided to get an office job. I loved doing upholstery. I didn't love office work. Anyway, just before last Christmas I found a lovely little chair in a charity shop which had once had a cane seat, so I brought it home and restored it. It was therapy, I guess. It got me away from the computer, and was creative. I was pleased to find I hadn't totally lost the knack.

2 Free Books

As usual, there is a selection of free books on offer, with the usual proviso. With the exception of my work, I can't vouch for the quality, simply because I haven't read them, so you'll have to make your own mind up.So if you enjoy the author's many hours of work, do return the favour with an online review.

My portfolio book, Death of a Dream can be found in these book funnels, but if you want the latest version, which includes the first chapter of Stations of the Soul, follow this link: Death of a Dream.

You're welcome to stick with me, if just to enjoy my storyboards, but if you wish to unsubscribe, please do so from the link below.

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