Forthcoming attractions (and me!)

Ah, that long, lovely lull at the start of the year. Everyone (certainly me, anyway) dragging themselves out of holiday mode. I’ve made it to mid-February and looking down the barrel of the remaining months in 2018…it looks set to be a biggie.

Book 2 in The River and the Ravages trilogy is now in full swing. I’ve done my all important plans, I’ve pondered, I’ve ruminated…and now I’m writing like a demon. Every which way you look at it, there’s going to be edginess and grandiose struggles, characters are going to find themselves up to their eyeballs in problems, lessons are going to be learned the hard way, and of course there will be love and sex and beauty. Oh, not to mention hilarious banter. Something you’ve come to expect from me are well-developed characters and a conflict driving the main character to seek solutions…and you won’t be disappointed. This is all verging dangerously close to hype but sometimes you’ve got to put faith in your writers. And yes, I have a book title, and no, I’m not telling you what it is. Not yet anyway. Like all good maverick creatives, I must retain some shred of mystery, you know…

Some people have been asking about the audiobook version of The River and the Ravages. The process has been BIG…even I’ve been surprised. There’s so much involved…narration of course, but also sound engineering, rights and privileges, distribution and so on. But it’s so close now folks. Any day now it will be available and I’ll let you all know when and where and how so you can listen and enter your own river and ravage world while you walk the dog, smash those muscles at the gym, cook dinner, commute to work…

As I’m not quite at the stage (okay…not remotely at the stage) of chucking in my day job and being a writer full-time, I also will be endeavouring to transform the business of the South Australian public service agency where I work as a Project Development Officer. Yes, I have a whole other life outside writing which I fulfill like the good taxpayer that I am. But rest assured, writing is my love and I spend every waking moment outside my day job writing for your reading pleasure. Awww.

And for those who may be curious, the lovely artwork in the picture was done by my thirteen year-old-daughter. What a treasure she is. She helps to make my instagram account interesting!

Right, got to go

Books don’t write themselves. Yet, anyway.

JM

The Happy Writer

Six months since the launch of The River and the Ravages and I’m starting to get some of those blessed things called reviews. Yes, we authors love ‘em, crave ‘em, scan the internet like crazed narcissists seeking them out and positively feel like bathing a kind and cheery reviewer in hand crushed rose petals when we come across one.

Possibly something most of you readers don’t know is that we writers are strange people. Yes, this might come as quite a shock but we’re a bunch of people whose crippling self doubt is often just slightly outweighed by our monumental fear of failure. We spend way too much time sitting on our own, fingers poised at the keyboard, our brow furrowing and twitching as images are formed in our mind, but never quite sure if what we’re writing is going to be actually liked by anyone. So when we come across someone who has enjoyed our book and has left us a good review (well…any review) we literally do cartwheels. Joy! Joy! Happiness! Joy!

But indeed it stands to reason, different people like different things. Of course, one man’s meat is another man’s poison. Thankfully, so far anyway, I’ve had pretty darn wonderful reviews for The River and the Ravages, such as this one on Amazon:

“A brilliant mix of intrigue, lust, love, danger and suspicion.”

And what about what this Goodreads reader had to say:

“Each page took me completely to Aaliya’s world, and for 48 hours I lived with her. Don’t you just love it when a book does that! Hot and steamy, tender and thoughtful. Can’t wait to read more.”

Yes I do love that! Let’s not forget Nina’s review on Goodreads:

“Fifty Shades of Grey pales in comparison.”

Oh my! A Fifty Shades comparison. Now we’re talking!!

But probably my favourite feedback was from a menopausal colleague of mine who just finished reading my book and told me “It got the waters going. Didn’t think that was possible…” Not what you thought the book would be like? Only one way to find out. Buy The River and the Ravages. I’m broke too. It’s dirt cheap on Amazon at the moment (only 75c for Kindle, and $13.99 for print). Give it a go. Then you can be the judge.

Giveaway!!

Let’s pass on the drum roll. It’s been done before. Let’s go for the sound of rushing water as I softly make my way (Moses style) through the parted sea holding my book. With that image firmly in your mind, I’d like to announce I’m holding a giveaway of my book, The River and the Ravages, on Goodreads. Yes, you read correctly. GIVE. AWAY. An absolute freebie for you. A cost for me. You’d be quite the silly duffer if you didn’t give it a go. Need I remind you how close Christmas is? Need I point out that, although there are millions of books out there, mine is one where characters outgrow themselves, where lessons are learned the hard way, where conflict is all around but is one hell of an entertaining read?

By reading it, you also get the opportunity to review it and put me firmly in my place…whether that be the dog house or the ivory tower. Sounds fun, right? So make a beeline to Goodreads giveaway page and go for it. Ends 13 September 2017.

Save

Save

Save