Fifteen Days and Fourteen Nights

It’s two weeks since Escape to the Cotswolds was published, and what a two weeks it’s been.

The build-up was amazing enough with pre-sales going along nicely. The blog tour began three days prior to publication and I don’t think my feet have touched the ground since. But what about the dreaded P word. Promotion! My publishers, HQ Digital, provided me with some eye-catching shareables which certainly enhanced many of my posts and even made me want to read the book.

But promoting oneself isn’t something that comes naturally, either to me or, as I understand it, to most other writers. My biggest problem was where to draw the line. If you don’t advertise yourself then no-one will know you are there. That’s undeniable. But is there also a danger of over-promotion? Being irritating? Prompting people to think ‘Oh no, not again’! If this has happened to you I apologise here and now, and wholeheartedly, if I have been guilty of over-egging it.  

So what have I learnt? Amazingly that I like Twitter! I’ve always enjoyed Facebook. To me it’s a friendly place where I’ve met many people, writers and others, and it’s truly a sociable medium. Members of groups I belong to who have nothing to do with the writing world have been incredibly supportive. Some have even bought my book! But I’ve struggled for some time with Twitter, knowing that my knowledge wasn’t sufficient to take full advantage of its possibilities. I still have much to learn but I’m getting better, finding it easier to negotiate my way around.

Yesterday I ran a campaign on Twitter. Well, it felt like a campaign. There was the opportunity to win a free copy of Escape to the Cotswolds – all you had to do was retweet to be in with a chance. Not having participated in anything like this before I was staggered at the response. I carefully noted and cut up the names of all who hit the RT option and put them in…a shoe box. Here’s me picking out the winner.

For me this blog post is an opportunity to say a huge thank you to all those bloggers, reviewers, Facebook pals, Twitter supporters and anyone else who has taken the time and the interest to become involved.

See you next time.

Natalie

The Accidental Writer

I was delighted to be invited to give a talk to a local group last week. It wasn’t a writers’ group and for me that made it all the more enjoyable. As far as I am aware only one of the twenty-two had attempted creative writing but they were really interested and asked me lots of questions. What made it so nice for me was the chance to share my journey from where I began as ‘The Accidental Writer’  to publication. It’s so easy to lose sight of the overall picture when focused on what’s happening in the now. So what did I tell these lovely ladies?

Can't wait to add
Escape to the Cotswolds

In the beginning…It was a time when I was looking for a new challenge. The ten week creative writing course I enrolled in might have been chosen from the list with a pin. In fact, though I don’t remember, that could easily be what happened. It turned my life around. It’s a worse addiction than wine or chocolate. It seemed I couldn’t leave it alone, and I still can't.  For a while I belonged to a writing group which was incredibly enjoyable but I had ambition to improve so I joined a creative writing school, the Write Place in Dartford, which I still attend. In time I had a short story accepted by a magazine in Norway. You can imagine how excited I was. In the same year another of my stories was accepted by The People’s Friend. And for a while this was my writing life. But later, after more than thirty published short stories, I wanted to move on. It was time to attempt a novel. 

Success came with the publication of two books within seven weeks of each other and the high was such that I can’t even begin to describe how I felt. Now I am awaiting the forthcoming publication of my third  on 21st June. Escape to the Cotswolds is a contemporary romance in a beautiful setting. As yet I don’t have a cover photo or a link to Amazon. Not long to go now though. As soon as my lovely editor, Charlotte Mursell, at HQ Digital lets me know, I will be sharing with you. You can be sure of that! What I can give you now is a little taster:

Taking her courage in both hands, Holly leaves London and her cheating husband to start anew in the peaceful Cotswold village of Cuffingham. A talented artist, she opens a small gallery and life seems good except for the intrusion on her peace of the local vet, Adam Whitney. Gorgeous or what! And then she adopts an adorable Bordie Collie puppy. Will Tubs bring them together or will their inauspicious start only serve to drive them further apart?

Not a Border Collie
but a much loved/much missed companion

Well, I love dogs and I love The Cotswolds and as I wrote him I fell in love with Adam as well, but don't tell Holly or my husband. Will Holly and Adam ever get together? I leave it to you to guess. In the meantime, as I wait for further news, I hope you’ll be at my side as events unfold. Watch this space!