Category Archives: Fife Fantasy

January 25, 2016 · 4:21 pm

First Written Review for my new book

I have done little to promote my new book

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Watercolour by Heather More

‘From Redundancy to Rejuvenation ~ A Writer’s Fantasy Walk Along The Fife Coastal Path’ as yet but I received this text yesterday which lifted my spirits.

“Opened yer book this morning and was taken to places in the Kingdom of Fife. Some Familiar and some not so. What a journey! You had me fixed from beginning to end. So enjoyed your pilgrimage and felt I was travelling with you throughout your journey. LOVED IT. X

I’m so chuffed!

My plans for this book are very different to previous novels which, although all of them were for sale at various points in several bookshops in their hey-day, the main sales were on-line.

From next month I will be contacting bookshops, visiting them where I can, leaving leaflets and in some I will leave a free copy. This memoir/fantasy is a very tactile tome and is meant to be held with kindness and anticipation.

I will let you know over the months ahead how I get on. I, alongside the efforts of Eventispress, will continue to tell you more about the book on social media – especially on my other blog http://www.selectionsofreflections.wordpress.com, but my primary goal is to reach bookshops.

Thus it will not be for sale on Kindle for the foreseeable future. (More detailed reasons explained in my next blog post)

 

 

 

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January 10, 2016 · 4:27 pm

Writing Plans for 2016

‘In a nutshell,‘ if you’ll excuse the cliche, my hopes for my writing life for the first quarter of 2016 are:

January:

  • To plan the book launch celebration of my Fife Fantasy, ‘From Redundancy to Rejuvenation ~ A Writer’s Fantasy Walk Along the Fife Coastal Path.’  
  • To promote the book in tourist centres and bookshops around the south east of Scotland
  • To return to blogging. I have two blogs. This one is of all things writerly and my other http://www.selectionsofreflections.wordpress.com will continue with the theme of Pilgrims and Allegories but will be interspersed with stories of my life here in Fife and in our campervan down in the south
  • To get back into the life of social media after a break

February

  • To begin to support a dear friend and fellow writer to complete her debut novel
  • To focus on social media promotion of new novel/memoir including giveaways
  • To reflect on the business needs and focus of Eventispress and how my move to Scotland will reflect on the direction it will take in 2016

March

  • To begin to set aside time to write again. (This is a huge one for me having been out of the habit of writing regularly for well over a year!)
  • To support one of our authors in Eventispress to get his book into paperback form

Having just moved from our home in Bedfordshire to our new life back in Fife, Scotland my mind has been preoccupied of late with unpacking boxes, visits to IKEA, helping hubby to build shelves and deciding where to put up pictures – so much so that there has been little room for my writing life. Then there was Christmas and New Year too!

Now the fog in my writing mind has begun to lift, it has been so helpful to begin to plan 2016 and in sharing my thoughts with you it has not only helped me, but this has also become a commitment so I thank you for being there. I’ll let you know how I get on.

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November 27, 2015 · 11:48 am

Cross Genre, #Memoir, #Travel, #Motivational and Inspirational, #History ~ Why?

DSCN2797[1]Dear reader and writer

I posted a tweet about a week ago “Soon to be announced – launch of my Fantasy. It’s a bit of everything , .”

It may have been a coincidence but a day later there was a post on a blog I admire and subscribe to The Book Designer:

Thinking about writing on multiple genres – here’s what you need to know

Firstly – an agent and publisher does not know where to place it ~ or is to self publish best

I must admit that it has crossed my mind as to where bookshops would place my new book, and it is that market which I hope to tap into, as well as Amazon, but I reasoned that it was more a ‘gift book section’ since it is inspirational and motivational. OK – got it, but I am self publishing, or publishing through a small indie press, Eventispress, run by local authors.

Secondly writing what you are moved to write is not always the most productive for marketing purposes.

Will my current readers stay with me? Should I stick to the same genre  to be consistent and build up an audience. Yes, there is lots of sense in this but circumstances have meant that I have altered course. I will write this more fully on another blog post. Whether I am right to veer in different directions I’m not sure. I could give all sorts of arguments ~ this was a book I needed to write, I was so inspired by my surroundings that I could not help myself, I was grappling with ‘who I am’ and this just felt the right direction to go in and I’m thrilled with the result…

Thirdly I’ve not been true to my author brand.

I hold my hand up here. I’m not very good at marketing in a logical way. I know I should be more business like about writing but if I failed to enjoy what I do then I would give up. 

.Specialisation is one key to success.

I must argue that there is one theme running through all of my novels and books and that is my love of social history. If I visit a place the first thing I do is read about its past and its people. ‘Riduna’ and ‘Ancasta’ are historical romantic fiction. Norman’s memoir is of course history too – 103 years of it! Then ‘Murder Now and Then’ was inspired by an unsolved murder one hundred years ago and finally, ‘From Redundancy to Rejuvenation’ is inspired by many folks through the ages who either lived in or visited Fife. In fact I ‘met’ them as I walked along the Fife Coastal Path. They were fascinating characters.

Branding is more than genre, it is style, characterisation and voice

Yes, I believe that the characters in ‘From Redundancy to Rejuvenation’ are as true to my style as any of my novels ~ more so since the book is in part a personal memoir. My writing reaches from the depth of my soul in a way which I have not really experienced since writing ‘Riduna’ ~ that’s because it was written at a time of ‘soul searching’ and my encounters were as real to me as Harriet and her family in my Riduna Series, who have lived with me for about fifteen years now. It is truly my own voice.

I will finish with this wonderful quote from The Book Designer.

“But ultimately, your goal is to link your name to an organic and dynamic brand that’s based on you and arouses a positive, emotional experience for your targeted readership–regardless of genre. yes!!

By doing so, you can tie a common thread between all genres you choose to explore.”

I could not have put it better myself ~ beautifully written. I recommend reading the whole post for anyone interested in exploring different genre, or multiple genres. 

‘From Redundancy to Rejuvenation ~ A Writer’s Fantasy Walk Along The Fife Coastal Path’ is now available as a paperback on Amazon.

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