Tags

, , , , , , , ,

Photo by Keith Pitcher. Hello you!

I’ve been meaning to pen a proper update on Gunshot Glitter for ages.

I think in a way, I’ve avoided it a little through nerves and excitement.

The two are quite a heady combination!

Gunshot Glitter has been a LONG time coming and I am so grateful for the interest and support I’ve had on Twitter, Facebook, email and of course my beloved blog. Thank you : )

It is almost ready for your eyes and ears.

Ears –  because I’ve recorded a reading of the opening chapter.  I really enjoyed doing that.  My friend named the recording ‘SexyVoice,’ which tickled me, I guess you’ll get to decide that part for yourselves!

If it goes down well maybe I’ll try and get a gig as a talking dictionary next?  You’ll get to check out my rather lovely bedroom wallpaper, which believe it or not is also called ‘Yasmin’! It was gifted to me.  Quite tough lining the pattern up though. The recording will be on You Tube and I would love you to share it far and wide. The You Tube trolls scare me a bit, so I am tempted to disable comments, but please do comment on the post and send links to any souls you think might dig it or enjoy watching a woman with pouty lips talking at them : )  She will love you longtime if you do.

So where am I at?

I am currently about to launch into the formatting of Gunshot Glitter for ePublication, BUT there will definitely be PRINT copies of my beautiful behemoth too.  If you are a fan of the instant gratification of an e-read, the novel should be launching in mid-August. Go for it, download a sample and read it and buy it if you like it.

It will be available to read on Kindle, iPad, Kobo and other reading platforms. You will be able to buy it from Smashwords, Amazon and Barnes and Noble and hopefully more outlets if none of those tickle your fancy.  If I am missing one you use, do let me know.

There will also be a website coming up later this year, yes! This will be where you’ll be able to buy the print version of Gunshot Glitter from. The cover will knock you for six, you will get to see that on the day the eBook launches!  I personally cannot wait to see Celene Petrulak’s amazing work in colour, printed on the cover, and laid across the palm of my hand on. I strongly suspect I’ll fall asleep holding my novel.

The behemoth is a work of love, toil and super–human effort. There is no publisher involved, I wanted to retain creative control of the whole process. There is only me and you.  As you can appreciate that’s a bit scary for me.

So why did I do this?

Well, I wanted you to read a great, original story. I didn’t want to compromise on that. I wanted it to have a great cover that I approved of. I think those are valuable things worth fighting for, in a publishing climate which is increasingly risk adverse.  I wanted to get my novel out sooner rather than later too.

But I didn’t want to compromise on standards, so  it has also been proofed professionally twice over by Jill Blair, proofed another four times in addition to my own efforts, beta read by two great writers,  it has received valuable editorial feedback from a best-selling writer I respect hugely and I’ve honestly done the best I can to deliver a great, debut novel.  I really hope you like it.  I hope my next one is even better!

How you can help me

If you’d like to support me or if you like Gunshot Glitter once you’ve read it, please recommend it to friends, book readers, that cool person you met at a party.  Mention it in a blog. Tweet about it.  Share the URL on Facebook and Google+. Subscribe to my blog. Share my blogposts with bright sparks who love to read. Leave comments. I will always reply to comments as I love engaging with readers. Contact me if you’d like to run a feature on myself or the novel – I can talk for England. Review it on Amazon and Goodreads. Leave a rating on Kobo. Trust me you can make a massive difference.

Do it if you like it or if you have something to say about it that others might find interesting.

What exactly is Gunshot Glitter about?

Good question!  It is a hard to summarise, but if I gave it to you in a sentence,  I would say this:

It is the story of an incinerated boy who never quite goes away

There are three key connected narratives that run throughout the novel, three  -fighting for your empathy and understanding, all on a collision course.  It was tough isolating the one, but Celine Silver wins out. How can she not? It’s her actions that set off domino effect, chain of events that literally ripple through the story.

 But as a wee teaser of what is to come this is the product description you’ll find online to support the novel, read this:

“Your name is Celine Silver. But no one has called you that in eight years.
You’re a classically trained musician and an Honours graduate.
You come from a nice, middle-class family.
You kill people for money.
And no one knows you anymore.
Fate throws the man you abandoned right back into your path – the man who knew you before you got blood on your hands, before you changed your name.

And he’s demanding answers. 
But is there a way back to the path of normal?

What price do you have to pay when you realise you no longer want to be monster? 
And who are the real monsters and victims anyway?”

I guarantee it is a little bit different.  It’s a story that turns the crime genre on its head.

And in other news, I am featured in this month’s ‘Psychologies’ magazine.

I am delighted about this, it’s my favourite magazine and I possess every copy since running off with the Lucy Liu issue many years ago.  I stumbled across it while working for a rival publisher; I was properly smitten.  In fact, I called up our subs department to ask why it wasn’t on our list.  I didn’t know it wasn’t one of ours! My Marketing colleagues were gesticulating wildly at me on hearing my conversation before I realised that!!

I enjoy tweeting comments to the wonderful, very hands on, editor, Louise Chunn, and their Twitter team and was most flattered when I was approached, and asked, if I wanted to feature in their prestigious, themed-based Dossier.  I immediately said yes, Rebecca Alexander and I held a telephone interview and I talked about the very surprising themes that emerged from a questionnaire I’d completed about resolutions. The results helped me touch base with where I was at. We also talked about Gunshot Glitter and how I was going to focus solely on my novel.

The team sent over a Lindsey- a lovely make-up artist who arrived with a trolley of tartware and Laura – a funky Hackney based-photographer, to do my hair and make-up and take snaps of me around my home. My foster cat, Raffles, even came out to see what the fuss was about. Laura told me she lived near the actor Michael Fassbender, cue instant envy! The photo you see is taken outside the Castle next to Joan’s beautiful roses. The whole thing was really positive experience and I am glad I got to take part. They were lovely to work with.

The issue is on sale now and features Emily Mortimer on the front, I recommend it to everyone who enjoys a good intelligent read on a massive variety of topics encompassing the mind, body, soul, culture, life, beauty, health. I am always amazed at the resonance and congruence of the topics featured in relation to my own life.

Though it has a female bias, it is a unisex read and features columns by David Baddiel and Jo Fairley.  The guest writers and contributors are always interesting too.  I once asked Louise why all the cover stars were women and she told me there were so many wonderful, talented  women to celebrate she wanted to focus on them first. Good answer!

September issue

I cannot praise the magazine enough.  So to be featured as a reader, to contribute to that, was very, very cool for me.

So wish me luck, I should be formatting Gunshot Glitter this weekend and fingers crossed you will be reading it as an eBook or a printed volume…very, very soon.  x

Visit Psychologies HERE and follow them on Twitter too