The Fussy Librarian interviews the Very Grateful Author

Heavens, the speed of modern communication quite dazzles me at times!  Less than twenty-four hours ago I indulged myself by replying to a very interesting email questionnaire sent to me by Sadye of the Fussy Librarian website.  This website is a big deal in the e-book world, as it (to quote its own description) “is the first website to match readers not only with the genre of books they like but also their preferences about content… We also only bother with the good stuff so you know you’ll see great reads every time you open our daily email.”

So you can imagine that I was delighted to be asked to take part in their regular “author Q&A” feature.  I expected it to sit around for a while, waiting its turn – but no!  It’s there today!  I’ll let you know if I see a spike in sales in the Des Moines area.  (Only kidding – I can’t track purchases that closely.  At least not legally.)

Build it and they will come

I know, I know: it was but a few short days ago when I declared that I was – temporarily – abandoning all marketing efforts in order to concentrate on writing.  And to be fair to me (if I can’t be fair to myself, what hope is there?) I have indeed concentrated on the writing – or, more specifically, the plotting – of “Plank 6”.  And I can announce that I have a twisty, turny and frankly rather nasty plot in mind for you – I had no idea that I could be so unpleasant and devious.  But, in the odd manner of things, as soon as I turned my back on publicity it started seeking me out.

In example one, a review that has been pending since May, when “Faith, Hope and Trickery” was published, has just appeared.  It is on the website of Shots Crime & Thriller eZine and has been written by the lovely Pippa Macallister, whom I know from a local crime book group.  You can read it yourself, as I blush rather to repeat it, but let me just say this: “There is a wonderful warmth between [Sam and Wilson] and Sam’s wife Martha, which contrasts with the cold, hard reality of life in the areas where they live and work.”  You will also spot the typo in the title of the review: I am minded to leave this as it is, as I figure that people might notice it and – as the marvellous Oscar Wilde so astutely commented – “There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.”

And in example two, I have been contacted by an e-book marketing company called The Fussy Librarian and asked to take part in their regular author Q&A feature.  I was recommended to them by my fellow – and kind and generous – historical fiction author Victoria Blake (if you haven’t read her novel “The Return of the Courtesan”, a real treat awaits you), and the questions the FL has sent to be answered are really interesting and quirky.  I don’t know when it will appear on the FL’s newswire (I haven’t even sent in my answers yet) but when it does, I’ll let you know.  The FL is based in Iowa in America, so it certainly can’t hurt to introduce Sam to a wider transatlantic audience.