The first week after launching a new book is...

exhausting. Have wasted lots of nervous energy wondering what people will think of it, worrying if they'll like it . There's also the views of the family to consider. I felt really squirmingly embarrassed when I was told that both my mother and uncle were reading it simultaneously. Their comments were interesting. Then there's the colleagues at work who think that they are in it. I thought long and hard abut this and no one I know currently is in it and characters are generally an amalgam of people who I have met over the years and always tinkered about with and changed, especially by gender. Still it doesn't stop people  ,' I know who that is,' or 'She's me isn't she?'

Then there's the social media to try and keep up with and reply to. I just hope people do like 'Everything But the Girl' especially as I'm half way through a sequel. Phew, I think I'll go and have a lie down in a darkened room for a while.

'Everything But the Girl' cosy crime fiction out today!

I'm really excited because my first adult book is out today. It's a cosy crime novel starring an educational psychologist who stumbles into a sideline as an animal behaviourist/investigator. She deals with horsebox shy and depressed equines and skulduggery in the pigeon racing world. But then her day job and sideline collide as one girl is murdered and another disappears. Enter a mad Irish mother in law Orla, a detective Rossi and a fiendish plot.. Liddy helps solve it by luck, a series of blunders and of course psychology. Available as an ebook on amazon priced £1!

New book for adults out soon!

I'm really excited to be releasing my new book, a cosy crime, humorous murder mystery in the Autumn. It's called 'Everything But the Girl' and is a Liddy Marbles mystery. More when I finalise my cover and write the blurb.

NEW ! The Liddy Marbles Mysteries

I'm very excited to tell you about my new venture. I have now branched out into adult fiction and my new cosy crime novel, 'Everything But the Girl- A Liddy Marbles Mystery' is going to be released as an ebook in the Autumn . This will be quickly followed by another title.

Liddy Marbles is an educational psychologist, who in the course of her work finds herself involved in a mystery when a school girl she works with goes missing. Liddy unwittingly gets involved in a complex mixture of crimes, murder, fraud and intimidation. She also realises that through her job , she does have some skills which can help solve these crimes, albeit in an unconventional style. The result is a lighthearted, jolly read which I hope you enjoy.

I will be publishing excerpts through this blog as a taster soon so watch this space!

Tools for editing

Did you know that you can send your documents to your kindle fire to read ( as you can an ordinary kindle) but then on kindle fire you can also edit them? Great for a last minute edit! There's something about reading your book on a kindle which really helps you notice mistakes.

By the way Jade Fry and the Village Spy is FREE ALL WEEKEND. Why not treat your 8-12 year old with a fun, reluctant reader type story?

Do kids ebooks sell?

Do kids ebooks sell well? I don't know but I'm interested in your thoughts. I wonder if parents would let their child browse through amazon etc, unpatrolled as it were, to buy whatever they like at whatever cost? I don't think I would  have when my children were below a certain age. So are authors trying to appeal to parents? I suppose in a sense they always were when they published in print form, but clearly the experiences are different. You don't take a kid to a computer, kindle, tablet etc to spend their pocket or birthday money. It's hard to get your head round how it works and how it might work in the future. Any thoughts anyone?

The 'Jade Fry , Private Eye' series

I'm very excited as the third book in this series will be available on kindle this weekend! Jade Fry and the Village Spy follows what happens when the Melton is in the Best Kept Village competition. Melton and it's neighbours Paxby are neck and neck and when it comes to the crucial final week of judging things start to get nasty. Who has dumped manure on Melton village green? Or scrawled graffiti on the village hall? Worse is to come when Rex is dognapped! A frantic Jade Fry turns private eye to solve the crime before things get really out of hand.

This is a humorous story for children, mostly girls aged 8-12yrs. Like all the Jade Fry books it's also a very inclusive book and features a boy with Autism Spectrum Condition ( although this is never specially said). The boy Connor has clear features shown by children with this condition but is always portrayed positively,  in fact Connor is always critical to the solving of the mystery because of his memory, powers of observation etc. I hope children enjoy the book.

New ebook cover!

Here's a cover for my new e book,' Jade Fry and the Village Spy' courtesy of fiverr. I think they've done a good job!. This book will be out soon!

new book soon- 'Jade Fry and the Village Spy.'

I'm planning to release my new book soon. It's an ebook, the third n the Jade Fry series. This time Jade Fry Private Eye has to turn detective to help the village, Melton, which is in the Best Kept Village Competition. But it's neck and neck with the neighbouring village Paxby and when things turn nasty and someone seems to be sabotaging Melton's plans, Jade Fry has to spring into action to find the spy and ensure fair play.

I'm waiting for a cover ordered from fiverr, I'll let you know what its like but so far  I must say I like fiverr. The gigs as they call them are done swiftly and efficiently and well. Communications are really quick and  emails are terribly polite and quick and it only costs $5. What's not to like?

How not to get sidetracked when writing! Try a trusty alphasmart!

Try an alphasmart. I know it sounds stupid and low tech, positively neanderthal these days but if you're not great with IT like me it may help you. I like it because:
- I can write a scene in odd snatches of time  in the car on my knee, anywhere really
-the keyboard is punchy and solid , a bit like an old typewriter. atisfying to use somehow
-it runs on AA batteries which last for ages
- no need to rely on things that  can go wrong like the internet, saving files on tablets etc which I ALWAYS seem to do wrong
-you can pick a trusty old alphasmart up from ebay pretty cheaply (£30 maybe)
- you can easily transfer the scene you've written into your laptop at home, just connect with a lead, arrange the cursor where you want it to go and press SEND! A blindfolded monkey could do it, well maybe not
-Best of all, you CANNOT go on the internet, waste time on social networking, check emails
Good eh? Worth  thinking about maybe?

Deadman's Diamond FREE

My book is free to buy from amazon ALL WEEKEND. So why not have a look, get it and read it. If you like it please write me a review. It's great for 9-12 year olds action, mystery and crime lovers especially BOYS because it's exciting. You will want to know what happens next, I guarantee!

Deadman's Diamond review!

My first review for Deadman's Diamond said  that my book was, and I quote,
               'Intelligent and often funny'
which I think was a pretty fair assessment. The thing I need to do now is get some more reviews. So I'm going to email bloggers who write about children's books and see if they will review it, but apparently they are often deluged with review requests. I'll see what I can do.I'll let you know,
                                                                                                                     Suzi

         

Here's a great book!

Infinite Sky by CJ Flood is a fantastic story . It's for young adults and is a spellbinding story of friendship, jealousy and loss. Although it's for young adults I think it works as a crossover book. It follows the story of  Iris and her brother Sam though one long hot summer on the family farm. Their mother has left to go travelling and the young people are left with their dad. All three are struggling in their different ways, especially Sam. But then a group of travellers camp out on one of the fields and Iris befriends one of them ,an attractive boy  called Trick. But during the heat tensions mount until things explode with tragic consequences. It's beautifully written, subtle and heart breaking. Read it!

How to get reviews for your ebook...

Well I'm a novice at this but this is what I've come up with so far in getting reviews for Deadman's Diamond:

- ask family or friends ( please note that amazon have tightened up and reviewers must have ereaders, buy the book and wait for two days before posting a review) In my case that rules out most of my friends and family who are not very techno savvy to say the least but hey!

-contact groups like the Reading and Book Discussion Forum. You have to fill in a form and upload a free copy of your book ( I ticked the box which said publish review even if it's not favourable, )

- contact bloggers who blog about your sort of book and ask for a review

I'll let you know how I get on with these. Any more ideas gratefully received.

Deadman's Diamond

Hi everyone,
                Just to let you know you can borrow this book free now, for a limited period only.

Thank God for the nice people at KDP

I am relieved to say that I managed to change my silly mistake title.
Instead of Deadman@s Diamond, I've managed to change it to 'Deadman's Diamond'. Phew!
Who knew you could get so confused and make such daft mistakes? Reminds me of the time I bid for a pair of shoes on ebay and bid £15,000 by accident instead of £15. Still don't know how I did it but that's a story for another day... All I can say is don't rush like I did. Anyway Deadman's Diamond is out, all present and correct. You can get it for any 8-12 year olds you know, at just £2.03 now. Now for my next trick.

How not to publish on amazon KPD! Don't do what I did!

Don't rush things like I did. I spent nearly two months checking and rechecking that my ms was fine, was obsessive about the layout, about typos, etc. As I have written previously I got the lovely people at fiverr to do me a cover and convert the text into mobi. I then checked and rechecked the whole thing, got my sister to reread it rechecked the layout, contents etc etc. then I decided after Easter, fuelled by choc, on a high because the holiday had gone well, everyone liked the family treasure hunt I'd made up, etc etc that I'd publish it today. Did it in a rush, loads of interruptions but followed all the instructions,  pressed save and then publish. At last done! But no when I checked I'd put the title as Deadman@s Diamond instead of Deadman's. Will anyone spot this? I don't know but what a stupid idiot. I hang my head in shame!

Hurry up and Wait

Just finished reading Hurry Up and Wait by Isabel Ashdown. What a brilliant book! It had me gripped after the prologue, really keen to find out what would happen to main character Sarah, her often best friends Kate and Teen and various boys. Set in the 1980s it evokes that time, being in the fifth year at a seaside comp fabulously with lots of references to pop music, clothes, fashion etc and depicts the terrible insecurity of adolescents. Funny and touching, I absolutely loved it. Great read for a snowy weekend.

Writers: how to keep going!

Here's the thing, how do writers keep going? Solidly working away on something  that may never see the light of day and most likely be returned with a terse thank you but no note from agent or publisher. Here's some ideas:
- change your thoughts, ie not 'Why am I doing this?' but  'I choose to write because I enjoy it.' (mostly)
-train yourself not to think about what will happen to your story, just think about writing the best story you can for yourself
-sometimes I surround myself by things I have had published just to remind myself that I can do it
-I have an inspirational picture of a woman holding an old fashioned type writer with the words 'You have to finish it' stuck across it hung just where I can see it if I look up from my computer
- promise myself a trip to the shops/ a browse on ebay/ eat biscuits when you've done your quota.
- sometimes just resign yourself to having a bit of  bad session so plan or do research or go out for a walk
What about you? All ideas greatly received.

Smashwords v KDP

Just wondering how people find self publishing on Smashwords compared to KDP. This is the cover (or similar) to a short self help book that my sister and I published on Smashwords called 'Help I've got no dosh'. We found the process a bit dispiriting because sales were so poor. So for my next venture I'm going to try KPD. Does anyone have any thoughts or tips? I'd love to hear them.

World Book Day

World Book Day is here again. here's my tip for an easy outfit for your kids. Dye a cotton overall orange and go as Stanley Yelnats from Holes. Great outfit and actually a really great book too. Simples...

Just settling down to read Writers' News,  part of Writing Magazine. I find it full of all sorts of little gems, other members' experience and so on. It  always takes me a while to trawl through because the
magazine's so jam packed. Writing  Magazine itself is also good. This month there's lots of information about competitions and  always lots of useful articles about self publishing and the publishing industry.  But I always return to the Writers' News for all those  little morsels of information you don't seem to get anywhere else. Well worth a look!

Rooftoppers

Just part way through Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell about a girl called Sophie. She's the only female survivor of a shipwreck and was found floating in a cello case in The Channel. Sophie though is convinced that her mother is alive and when she grows, flees to Paris to find her, following the address in the cello case. There she takes up with a group of urchins who live on the rooftops of Paris and who help her search for her mother. So far, it's a brilliant read, really enjoying it, great characters, great atmosphere.

Preparing a book for Create Space

Have so far reformatted my book five times following instructions from internet! Each time it has been rejected by Create Space because there are issues/ problems with layout. It is driving me absolutely mad!

Finally got it accepted only to start on the cover. Well , guess what, there's problems with this too. The sizing is wrong they want a different format, there aren't enough dots per whatsit. At the moment I give up. Might just have an e book and be done with it! What a flaming palaver,
                                  Suzi

Writing one line stories

I was doing an observation of a pupil in a Y10 class today when I became distracted by the English lesson content. It was about writing a story in one line. The example given was:

He was alone in the dark. When he put out his hand , a box of matches were put into it.

I tried to think of another example.

'Hurtling down into the darkness, she saw a pair of yellow eyes pass before blackness descended.'

or,

'Hell ,' said the duchess as she fell over backwards off the tower. When they looked over she had gone. '

Any more ideas ?  Suzi

How to get boys reading?

I 've just checked my diary for next week. Three appointments to see kids with basically the same problem, all under 8, all poor readers. How do you get boys reading? One thing is to find high interest material which they want to read. That's why I wrote my first book, a reluctant reader published by eprint called The Mum Manager. It's simply written, easy to follow, lots of action, illustrations, cream paper etc. Check it out. Here's the cover. And read to your kids, especially dads. Did you know only 1 in 8 dads read to their children? This book is available from amazon.

What are you reading now?

I'm reading The Land of Green Ginger by Winifred Holtby. Did you know that there is a street in Hull actually called The Land of Green Ginger, something to do with Hull being a port  where ginger was unloaded and sold or processed there. The book is set near Hull and follows the life of Joanna who finds herself married to a man, who because of the war, she doesn't know well, who's ill and struggling with  harsh conditions on a small farm. It's good so far, like South Riding, in that it's well written and a bit unusual.
                                                                                                         Suzi

Favourite reads

'Course all people who try to write are readers first. That got me thinking about my absolute favourite coming of age reads of all time. Here's some, what about yours,
              - Bilgewater by Jane Gardam
              - I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
              - TheGreengage Summer by Rumer Godden
and The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice. What are yours?
                                      Suzi

How to find ebook covers

I don't know about you but I'm useless at trying to design things on computer, I just want to get out pens and paper and sketch . I can come up with OK things that way but when I tried to design an ebook cover on Paint my  teenage daughter had hysterics but flounced off when I asked her for help, she was doing her nails, she had an essay...

Struggling, I did a google search and came up with the idea of asking for one to be designed by fiverr, for $5  which I reckoned would be worth losing if the design was awful. But guess what - it was great. Done in 3 days. The service was professional, I had to give them specific info about the book, age range, colours etc and my ideas . As it's a book for 8-12 yr olds, I asked for something simple, bright and just with my name and the title on it. And this is what I got, see above, not bad for £3, in fact amazing.I'd  definitely recommend fiverr!

Next I'm going to try and get my book formatted by someone from fiverr, as I've seen that this is also a service they offer. I'll let you know how it goes,
                                                                              Suzi

Welcome to writerpsych

Hi welcome to writerpsych. I'm Suzi Cresswell, an educational psychologist and a writer. I'm interested in all things to do with books, writing and psychology. I've written four children's books all published by eprint. Now I'm about to self publish a book on KDP. It should be easy but at the moment I'm having problems editing my work.  Hard isn't it? I always miss something. Thought I'd cracked it when I spotted 'willies' instead of 'wellies' ( thank God I saw it, can you imagine?) and two suddenlys in consecutive sentences. Back to the drawing board again. I'll let you know how I'm doing, Suzi.