A Toe Dipped into the World of e-Publishing

Oh no, once again so much time has passed since my last post.  What have I been up to you, I hear you cry.  A lot, I cry back.

As well as lots of very fun parenting, trips to the zoo, Hampstead Heath and the like and a busy schedule in my day job, I’ve fitted in lots of writing.  I completed and edited a manuscript for a new children’s book, one which I am very excited about.  I am playing a waiting game now, constant checks of the electronic and regular post to see what the powers that be think of my months of work.

I have gone back to several old manuscripts in varying stages of completion pushing, pulling, moulding, seeing if any one screams out to me.  I put a good amount of time into a adult novel I’ve been working on, very happy with how it’s going, but that one’s more a marathon than a sprint, or to be more accurate with my metaphors, more a 10,000 metre race than a 3,000 metre steeple-chase i.e. it’s going to take thrice as long as my last completed novel, In Too Deep, to be released in 2013.

The final project I’ve been working on started as a bit of fun, an experiment if you like.  I’ve had, for several years the idea of a short murder mystery set on an allotment.  It struck me as one of the least likely places to for murder to occur and a story that needed to be written.  So, in this technological, self-publishing kinda world I decided to finally commit it to screen and put it out via Kindle Direct Publishing.  As I write, The Missing Gardener, is free on kindle and doing rather well, #105 free in Kindle store.  Thanks,  I’m sure to the wonderful cover art by my fantastic wife, Chloe.

When an elderly neighbour requests DCI Amos’ help, the newly suspended detective can’t resist the mystery of the missing gardener.

Despite my intentions of one short story as a spot of fun, I found, as I wrote, a character fully formed, strutting across the page with a much larger story to tell.  Over the next few months, therefore I have decided to write his story, as I began, in short form, as a serial.  Part two, Consequences, came out today and is also available exclusively on Kindle.

After discovering the fate of The Missing Gardener, Amos returns home where his indiscretion with a gangster’s wife begins to catch up with him.
Taut with pace and tension, the second short story in this serial plunges the detective deeper into his self made mire.

Look out for each new part every Monday.  Also watch for regular free give-aways of each part, on a Monday too!  Really hope you enjoy, would love to hear what you think of this new endeavour.