Some skills we hone. And some we mess up.

 

After taming new wordprocessing software to my will (ooh, calm down there...) the good news is that the interior of the paperback of The Forever House is finally finalised: headers, footers, blank pages, et al. 

Hurrah! and all that jazz. Do you like the Half Title page? I thought I did quite well with that.

However, just as when reading a good-news missive from an agent or editor, we know there's a but lurking in the wings.

The but isn't so much lurking as staring out from that embarrassed pink border which should not be there. I am so used to working with covers for ebooks that is what I've done, whereas the height & width specifications of a paperback are not the same. The trick, I now realise, is to create the paperback cover first and pull the ebook cover from it. And it is no compensation to read that I am not the first to mess this up, not by a long chalk.

But there we go. Some skills we have to hone more than others.

Smirking alone on its Amazon page, you'll find the ebook HERE.

Thanks for not throwing cabbages. I will get there - eventually.

A Brilliant Break and a Brilliant Review

We've had a few days down London way - Windsor Castle, Kew Gardens, Stratford-up-on-Avon - and doubtless I'll be writing about the visits when I get myself back on an even keel.

I returned to a mountain of washing and a garden going rampant after much-needed rain, but found awaiting me a brilliant review for The Forever House by Terry Tyler, writer of dark suspense and member of Rosie Amber's Book Review Team.

...I did enjoy this book, and read it in just three days.  It's so well-written...  

...The story did not develop as I was expecting it to - it turned out to be something completely different...

...a nicely rounded-out novel with complex relationship dynamics...

Check out the full 4* review HERE.

The Forever House is currently only available on Amazon (global link) to purchase or read for free as part of the Kindle Unlimited subscription. 

Regarding news on the paperback...[pause for silent scream followed by much gnashing of teeth]... there was a slight problem with page formatting which I should have foreseen but didn't. However, new software is loaded and now I am home I shall lock the office door so as to concentrate on taming it. 

I'll keep you posted. 

Book Launch: THE FOREVER HOUSE #psychologicalthriller

The Forever House is now available for pre-order via Amazon – global link:
https://mybook.to/ForeverHouse

Many thanks for all the good wishes received after last month's heads-up. It's good to know so many are interested in my up-and-coming novel, which will be – traa-laa! – launching to a less than unsuspecting world on Monday 30 May.

Originally, it was scheduled for the first week in June, but someone forgot there was a certain little celebration taking place in the guise of the Platinum Jubilee. One does not cross swords with the Queen – ahem!

So what's The Forever House about? First a recap of the blurb:

Resisting family pressure to sell the too-big house Carrie and her late husband began to renovate, she is determined to carry through their shared project to prove she can manage alone.

And she can, until a discovery beneath old wallpaper chills her to the bone.

As her need to know more becomes all-consuming, Carrie’s family fears she's tipping into irretrievable obsession. Can she be dissuaded, or must she take that final step? How far is too far to right a wrong?

Early readers are calling it ...deeply moving...  ...an enthralling read... which is most satisfying.

Yes, yes, that's the blurb, but you want to know what the novel is about – right? Of course you do. Novels are rarely just about their front-end story; they're about what that story carries in its subtext.

Having lost her husband before the novel begins, Carrie is working her way through the grieving process. All their married life, she and her husband have renovated houses, slowly climbing the property ladder. This house, with its large kitchen and huge garden, was to be their Forever House, the one they didn't sell but made into their long-lasting home. Except life isn't fair, and now she faces it alone.

As she continues with the refurbishment, the papered-over cracks of an earlier family begin to reveal themselves in the fabric of the house, and long-held questions within her own family start to surface, until the strain of denial in exchange for a quiet life is no longer an option, on any front.

The novel launches on 30 May in ebook format to purchase through Amazon, and to read via Kindle Unlimited for subscribers. A paperback will closely follow.

Order your copy now: https://mybook.to/ForeverHouse

Announcing the Cover Reveal for a new #PsychologicalThriller - THE FOREVER HOUSE

And about time, I hear you shout. Well, here it is, the cover reveal for The Forever House.

 

How far is too far to right a wrong?

 

While family members think Carrie should sell the too-big house she and her late husband began to renovate, Carrie is determined to carry through their shared project to prove she can manage alone.

And she can, until a discovery beneath old wallpaper chills her to the bone.

As her need to know more becomes all-consuming, her family fears she's tipping into irretrievable obsession. Can she be dissuaded, or must she take that final step?

How far is too far to right a wrong?

Promotional images and texts for social media are in their final stages and will start appearing in the next couple of days.

The ARCs are back from beta readers, and comments are about to be compiled. As soon as I am certain the book is ready to roll, a pre-order facility for the ebook will be uploaded to Amazon, and you'll hear about it here.

The intention is for it to be available free to subscribers to Kindle Unlimited for the first few weeks - which means it can only be purchased through Amazon. Sorry if you prefer to purchase via other retailers. This will become available, I promise.

And finally, as you can probably tell reading this, Blogger has decided to have a minor meltdown, making correct sized text and line spacing a lottery [rolls eyes]. It certainly chooses its moment. So apologies for a less than stellar reading experience.

Writing News: yes, there is some, finally.

Image by Olga Volkovitskaia via Pixabay

I’m a right one for crossing genres in my writing; I never learn. The mystery cum psychological cum women's fiction novel I have been working on, seemingly for an aeon, finally passed its finishing post last week. Or it would have if I’d managed to hit all the steps for a satisfying ending.

Unfortunately, the initial read raised questions, and critique partners agreed. The problem is that my mind is wedded to the ending as written, despite my knowing it won’t fly. So, what to do?

If in doubt, stick to the plan – which is to spend this week working through the comments I made on the script as it was being written. And there are plenty of those to consider. By the time I reach the final chapter, or where the final chapter should be, I am trusting to have clicked back onto the rails so as to be able to steam smoothly into Ending #2.

But back to what the novel is about. Its title is The Forever House, and here’s the tagline and blurb:

In searching for a lost child, can a recently bereaved woman find her true self?

While her family thinks Carrie should sell the too-big house she and her late husband had begun to renovate, Carrie is determined to carry through their shared objective to prove she can manage alone. And she can, until the surprise of finding a child’s drawings beneath old wallpaper turns to disquiet.

But is she reading more into the drawings than is there? Are her misgivings merely revealing the long-papered cracks of her own marriage? Or, as her family fears, is her need to discover the identity of the nameless child tipping her into obsession?

I’ll give an update next time.