I’ve put together a collection of offers for e-readers which will start on Black Friday!
A 4 day free ebook offer for You’ll Never Walk Alone will start on Thursday 28 November atmidnight PST. I’ll be doing some targeted advertising to parts of the US and Canada via a Facebook ad campaign to see how the novel will be received ‘across the pond’.
Hot on its heels will be a 5 day freebie of Following the Green Rabbitwhich I’m going to run alongside a reduced-price offer on the paperback version, targeted at UK readers on amazon.uk. Again I’ll be trying some paid advertising via Facebook. This certainly worked for my ‘summer-read’ novel: ‘The Silver Locket’ (penned as Holly Atkins), reached the dizzy heights of No.17 in the UK charts for free Kindle books during that campaign.
And talking of the summer, I’m going to try a similar freebie offer directed towards Australia and New Zealand to see if they’d like to pour themselves a Pimm’s and spend a sunny afternoon with The Silver Locket over the holidays there.
Offers will be across all Amazon territories, so you might want to bookmark this page, although, of course, I’ll be mentioning them again as they’re launched!
To everyone who has read my books already.
Especially to everyone who has read, rated and reviewed
on their WordPress sites, on Goodreads and on Amazon.
I’m really thrilled by your support and enthusiasm for my work!
Some really helpful advice from author, J I Rogers.
If you were wondering how to jump aboard the ‘author’s helping authors’ band wagon, this makes it so easy!
You can see from the side panel that I regularly read and review books on Goodreads. I also post the review to Amazon for the books I’ve downloaded and read by indie authors. I know how important it is.
So, all of you ‘indies’ out there, time to help each other out. Share the message and post your book links!
And to all you gallant readers: let’s have your reviews! Pretty please?
My writing buddy, Paul English, with whom I regularly meet for coffee to chat about our writing, recently published the second novel in his Superhero series. We’ve many times discussed how difficult it is to do one’s own publicity, but doing for someone else is much easier. The article will appear in the school magazine, and I shall be submitting it to our local paper.
New Superhero Books for School Library
Somerset West author, Paul English, has a new audience for his superhero novels. The first two books published in Paul’s Fire Angel Universe Series, ‘Fire Angel: Genesis’ and ‘Fire Angel: Turning Point’, have now been donated to the library of the International School of Cape Town by Cliff Davies, Head of Geography, who won them in an on-line competition run by the author through his Facebook fan page: https://www.facebook.com/FireAngelUniverse
Paul English at a book signing of his debut novel, ‘Fire Angel: Genesis’
Although you wouldn’t think it when you read his books, Paul has faced many difficult physical challenges in his life. The unexplained and undiagnosed syndrome with which he was born has affected both his sight and hearing throughout his 38 years. Nor has he an academic background, having left school after Grade 9. Paul says he found school boring as he felt it kept him from his drawing and writing!
The children’s TV series ‘Transformers’ first awoke the desire to write when Paul was just seven years old. Putting together his combined talent for writing and drawing, he has produced dozens of hand drawn comic books over the years.
Later the inspiration to create his own Superhero came from listening to an interview with Stan Lee about how he came up with Spider-Man and the Marvel Universe. After a few attempts to start his novel, Paul took a course in Creative Writing, which gave him a much better foundation. He regrets not having done that first of all and earnestly recommends this to aspiring writers.
Paul did not want to copy the stereotypical male hero with a perfect body and all the techno gadgets. His Superhero is Haley, a sassy but kind-hearted teenager living in a crime ridden working class neighbourhood, with fears of retrenchment looming over her parents.
In Paul’s first novel, ‘Fire Angel: Genesis’, Haley caught in the impact of a crashing meteorite which gives her some very unusual powers. Soon she is being hounded by unscrupulous people who want to harness her superpowers for themselves. Haley quickly learns not to trust anyone, especially not the scientists who have their own secret agenda.
In the sequel, ‘Fire Angel: Turning Point’, we meet a new superhuman, ‘Nemesis’, who brings death and destruction to all who have wronged her. A confrontation with her leads Haley down the dark path which she has set on. Haley faces some tough choices about whether she will return to defend her community or not.
Paul admits that there is a bit of him in Haley: courage in the face of difficulties, played down by a quirky sense of humour. Asked what his message to fellow writers would be, Paul says: ‘write the story you’d want to read.’
If you’d like your very own copies, ‘Fire Angel: Genesis’ and ‘Fire Angel: Turning Point’ are available as a double pack directly from Paul, priced at R270,00.
The third book in the series, ‘Fade’, will be published soon. The fourth novel is well underway and Paul has already come up with several more ideas for future books in the series.
SPECIAL OFFER For one week only (1st to 7th August) my collection of short stories
‘A Sextet of Shorts’ is free to download on your Kindle or phone.
Click on the ‘Buy on Amazon’ box below:
Well hello to you, and thank you, everyone who took advantage of the free Kindle download offer for my recently-published short story collection: ‘A Sextet of Shorts’.
All 16 of you; I am almost blown away!
For those of you who didn’t take advantage of the offer, the collection is available at a very reasonable $3.45 on Kindle.
So, did you enjoy ‘A Sextet of Shorts’? Why not leave me a review on Amazon or Goodreads?
If you liked my stories, maybe you’d like to read the novel I published back in 2012 under pen name Holly Atkins? It’s called ‘The Silver Locket’ and is available on Amazon and Kindle.
For readers in South Africa, I would love to send you a signed paperback copy for R120.00 including postage. Contact me here!
The silver locket hides beneath the loose floorboard in a small attic room. Sunlight streams through the window pointing towards the tarnished trinket which waits patiently for its secrets to be unlocked.
The locket has a history. It has a past forged in passion and suffering; bought in the hope of love and put away in despair. A gardener’s boy, aspiring to the love of his master’s young daughter Cathy, bought it from a traveller at a local market. The traveller had assured him of the mystical powers of the locket which he said had been wrought in a far off land, where dreams come true.
The boy had spent a whole week’s wages on the locket; taken it home and polished it lovingly. He’d removed the faded photograph it contained and replaced it with a drawing of a little rabbit, ears pricked and nose raised as if sniffing a scent on the breeze. Cathy had been so delighted when he’d brought her the baby rabbit he’d found in the orchard that bright May morning. Together they’d taken it to the far side of the meadow and watch it scamper away, safe from the murderous eye of Mr. Stebbins, the head gardener.
A few weeks later, he gathered his courage and presented her with the locket. The traveller’s magic worked. She smiled up at him and kissed him quickly on the cheek. He took her lightly in his arms, the calloused skin of his hands stroking the soft fabric of her gown. He had captured her heart, just as he’d captured the little rabbit.
But as the sun rose high in the sky that summer, the locket, once so proudly displayed, disappeared from view. For a while longer it was still tenderly worn, pinned to the young girl’s under-bodice, close to her heart. But a year after its giving, the locket found itself gently put away, hidden in the under-floorboard darkness, waiting to be found.
Well hello to you, and thank you, everyone who took advantage of the 
Here’s the Prologue from ‘The Silver Locket’…
luna's on line 