In celebration of the release of What Doesn’t Kill You, my first novel in the Chesil Series, Truth or Dare?, is currently 99p on Amazon (10 December 2015)
If you like your romances a little darker, why not check out The Chesil Series?
Take care.
Website Jail.
I’ve been in website jail. It’s taken a little while to sort out, but I am once again free to blog!
I was victim to over a thousand spam or non-existent subscribers, and as my last blog went out, so did three thousand emails, of which hundreds pinged back. This action put my website host on alert, and quite rightly, they put the site on lock-down.
In order to gain back control, I had to delete the dead or spam email addresses and install a captcha code box to prevent robot subscribers. I spent a lot of hours copying, pasting and deleting these addresses in order to remove them from my database, and once I let my provider know I’d complied with their request, my site was unblocked.
So, lesson learned. On the off-chance my code box doesn’t pick up all the spammers, I will delete the addresses that ping back as and when they occur. The reason I didn’t do this before? Fear of the unknown. Well, now I know, and despite being a lengthy process, it turned out to be reasonably simple thing to fix.
What I wanted to tell you, whilst I was in website jail, was that both my Choc Lit novels, Truth or Dare?, and Follow Me Follow You, are in the Amazon summer sale, each 99p to download, here. If you’ve read and enjoyed them, please do recommend them to a fellow reader. Thanks.
Ahhhh. Life on the outside … Oh. It’s raining.
Time to curl up with a good book, then.
Laura x
I have some exciting news for both Truth or Dare? and Follow Me Follow You.
Truth or Dare? has been selected for Amazon’s Kindle Valentine Deal, and is currently 99p only to download. If you enjoy reading romance without the soft edges, this could be the book for you. It’s received great reviews, and it’s a thrill knowing readers really enjoyed a different type of romance novel – my type of romance novel.
Follow Me Follow You is now available as an audio book, which is a first for me. I would love to hear from you if you listen to Chris and Victoria’s story.
Also with Follow Me Follow You, I am delighted to say I have my first Waterstones book signing on Valentine’s Day, Saturday 14th February, in the Dorchester branch. I’ll be there from 11-1, signing copies of my paperback, and would love for you to come and say hello, and of course, buy a book 😀 Follow Me already has twenty 5* reviews.
Waterstones are running an entire day of romance related events and it’s going to be brilliant.
That’s my news for today. I still have my head down, getting on with book 3, What Doesn’t Kill You, and it’s rattling along at a fair speed now as everything is coming together for the big finish. I’m also thinking about book 4 and have a title and an idea for that, so as soon as I’ve submitted WDKY …
Have a great week, and take care in this cold, icy weather.
Morning all and happy bonfire night!
My Choc Lit debut novel Truth or Dare? is a Kindle Daily Deal today, November 5th 2014.
‘Really enjoyed this book – couldn’t put it down and read it over 3 nights. There were elements of the characters I could really relate to, especially Rosie. After about 2 years of not reading anything at all it was the perfect story to get me back into books and I’m looking forward to the next one.’ – Amazon Reviewer.
For 99p, this first book in the Chesil Series will take you on a journey from Bedfordshire to Dorset, to the spectacular Chesil Beach, as you meet Kate Blair, Rosie Jenkins, Josh Willis and Declan O’Brien.
Would you know when to do the wrong thing for the right reason?
Truth or Dare?
Love’s a dangerous game …
Kate Blair’s sick of unrequited love. She’s quietly waited for Mickey for the past six years and finding a compass-carved heart, with their initials scratched through the middle, only strengthens her resolve: no more Mickey and no more playing it safe.
It’s time to take a chance on real love and Declan O’Brien’s the perfect risk. He’s handsome, kind, and crazy about her so it’s not long before all thoughts of Mickey come few and far between.
But old habits die-hard. Kate may have started to forget … but has Mickey?
It’s National Chocolate Day!
I say that like I need an excuse to enjoy chocolate, but it’s not an excuse, it’s a reason.
My dependency on chocolate goes in phases. Believe it or not, there are times when I don’t fancy it.
Sorry. I should have warned you to sit down before I made that confession. I tend to go for savoury more than sweet – salted, buttery popcorn, cashews, black olives. I wonder if chocolate-covered black olives would be palatable …
But fear not, I’m experiencing a long phase of chocolism at the moment. I’m wondering if it’s my age, or if it’s because I’m a writer. Or perhaps my body is in desperate need of trace elements contained in a Galaxy bar.
I do enjoy a hot chocolate in those chilly, icy months. I had one last week at my son’s school sport’s day. Yes, I know it was June, but I was blue with cold. And I have a frozen shoulder.
You think me doth protest too much?
Hot chocolate is a soothing drink and was used as a form of medicine way back when. It’s feeding and comforting and smooth.
As I was thinking about this post, I realised both Truth or Dare? and Follow Me, Follow You have hot chocolate mentions and scenes, and all for different reasons.
In Truth or Dare? Declan makes the drink for Elle as a peace offering and an invitation to talk:
He pushed himself up, approached the kettle and prepared two hot chocolates. Two minutes later, he was on the landing, outside Elle’s bedroom, tapping on her door. ‘Elle?’ He gave her a moment to reply, but was met with a silence that was becoming too familiar. ‘I’ve made us hot chocolates.’ He heard rustling and shuffling, two floorboards creek and a nose blow, indicators Elle had been lying in bed crying; another familiar scenario. Yesterday, Elle propped Declan up, supplying cups of tea and plates of toast. Today, it was his turn to be strong. It wasn’t a conscious decision to alternate, but thank goodness they didn’t sink to the bottom together. They were a source of support for each other, and for that, Declan was grateful. The door opened.
In Follow Me, Follow You, out September 2014, Victoria remembers her dad supplying mugs of hot chocolate in times of upset and sadness. It provides her with strength. It’s her go-to drink when she needs bolstering.
A waitress, wearing regulation black, and sporting a Santa’s elf hat, placed one hot chocolate and one lemonade on the table. Victoria smiled her thanks, and reclined. The bench, though dressed with cushions, was uncomfortable, but its style was in keeping with the rest of the interior; dark mahogany beams across the ceiling, white wooden sash windows, and porthole lights. Christmas decorations hanging overhead like jungle vines brought colour, but it was the heat and glow from the central log burner that gave the room its warmth. The place had character. More than Victoria remembered. Not that she’d paid much notice to it in her youth, her eyes and mind being all about Chris.
And on this day, it seems appropriate to add I’m published by the wonderful Choc Lit.
My short story, Bitter Sweet, published in the RNA anthology, Truly, Madly, Deeply, is about a chocolate sculptor, and in Melt, a story appearing in Romaniac Shorts, Carissima Sweet owns a café called The 
Chocolate Bar.
I’m beginning to see a theme …
One last thing. Do you like your chocolate straight from the fridge or eaten at room temperature?
Happy National Chocolate Day!
Take care.
Truth or Dare?, with its fantastic new cover, has been chosen by Amazon to be part of June’s Kindle Monthly Deal. The special offer is for the UK, France, Germany and Spain.
What do you get for 99p?
Suspense, dilemmas, two antagonists, two heroines and Declan O’Brien, a gorgeous, intelligent, gentle Irish man with dark hair and arctic blue eyes.
You will journey from Bedfordshire to Dorset, chill out on the beautiful Chesil Beach and enjoy a coffee in one of Weymouth’s best cafés.
It’s a story of friendship, passion and obsession, and knowing when to do the wrong thing for the right reason.
My fab publisher, Choc Lit, celebrating its fifth birthday, has five titles in Amazon’s promotion, including Truth or Dare?.
For less than a fiver, you can take a trip back in time with Margaret Kaine’s Dangerous Decisions, read Christina Courtenay’s The Guilded Fan, winner of the 2014 Best Historical Novel of the Year Award, fall in love with a maths genius in Alison May’s Sweet Nothing, a modern take on a Shakespearean classic, and be ‘seduced as much by life in the sleepy boatyard as by the infuriating but gorgeous Matthew Corrigan’ (Myslexia magazine), in Christine Stovell’s Turning The Tide.
And if you’ve enjoyed the books, a review would be wonderful and very much appreciated.
Why not download now, before the promotion ends? It’s a great start to your summer holiday reading list 🙂
Take care,
If I could clap, I would express my excitement at having ‘Truth or Dare?’, published by Choc Lit, selected by Amazon as a Kindle Deal of the Month. For the rest of January, you can download ToD HERE for 99p only!
By downloading and reading ToD, for less than a pound, you will travel from Leighton Buzzard to Weymouth and Portland, take a short trip on the London underground, and spend two evenings at the theatre. And meet Declan O’Brien. He’s Irish, and in a recent survey (not mine, although I wish I’d thought of doing it), the Irish accent came out on top as the world’s sexiest.
Thoughts like that keep me from counting down the days to complete freedom for The Hand. My wrist surgery went well, but I am still in a cast, waiting for my 
ligaments to heal. I’m not sure where my muscles went. Okay, they weren’t that big to start with, but 4 weeks in an above-elbow cast has left me with an Olive Oyl arm. I am now in a below-elbow cast, and movement is getting better each day. I’m working up to a pea sized bicep. Just over a week, and I should be cast-free, and into a splint. Marble muscles, here I come.
It hasn’t stopped me writing, and book 3, working title, ‘What Doesn’t Kill You’, is under way. It’s set in Weymouth and Portland, and this time my hero is a Welsh coastguard. I’m looking forward to the research. I’m trying to clap. Have resorted to slapping my thigh with my good hand.
I mention book 3 and my hero coastguard as although it’s sunny in Dorset today, which is always a bonus for January, the weather has been wild, throwing all sorts of debris onto Chesil Beach. A wonderful crew of volunteers have given up their weekends to clean the long sweep of pebbles. Great work. Had I been able to help, I’d have been there, but I thank you and applaud your efforts, generosity and hard work.
And when I can clap, I shall applaud some more. You can read about the brilliant work HERE.
I hope the start of 2014 has been kind to you, and continues to be so.
Take care.
Handy New Year – that’s what I’ll be having, with another sixteen days in plaster. The Hand is sporting a fantastic, luminous orange, lightweight cast. I’m very attached to it. I once had welly boots the same orange – I remember splashing about in them. I digress.
I hope you had a great Christmas and are now ready for 2014. Our tree will come down on New Year’s Day, as we prepare for my son’s birthday. I like to have a marked distinction between the events. It’s the end and the beginning wrapped up in a few days.
I’ve spent time reflecting. 2013 has been an enormous year for us.
Shortly after the first anniversary of my mum’s death, my family and I set off to Florida, and spent an incredible three weeks visiting Disneyworld and Universal Studios. This is a holiday I will never forget. It was special. It was healing. It was magical.
A glorious week was spent in Italy, at Arte Umbria, with Celia Anderson, on a course led by Sue Moorcroft, followed by a fab weekend in Sheffield with my lovely Romantic Novelists’ Association and Romaniac friends at the annual RNA conference.
I saw Paloma Faith live twice, introducing my daughter to the live gig experience. Jessie J was the next concert my daughter attended, escorted by Gajitman, as I was away at the Festival of Romance.
Choc Lit accepted my manuscript and Truth or Dare? was published.
My short story, Bitter Sweet, was accepted for the RNA anthology due out early 2014, Truly, Madly, Deeply.
Truth or Dare? was nominated for the Festival of Romance Best Romantic Ebook award.
I received a new ulna joint.
Christmas dinner was cooked by my husband and daughter, and my son ensured our energy levels were high. I was thoroughly spoiled.
Well, that was my year, and supporting me all the way through with unconditional love was my small, but perfectly formed family, and my wonderful friends. Thank you so much.
And thank you to everyone who bought, read, and reviewed Truth or Dare?
I hope 2013 was kind to you, and I wish you all health, wealth and happiness for 2014.
Take care.
Merry Christmas!
My award-nominated, debut release, ‘Truth or Dare?’ is on FREE download for 5 days only. It’s received great reviews, with readers enjoying the pace, suspense and twist. As one of the reviews states, ‘It’s romance without the soft edges.’ 😀 You can download ‘Truth or Dare’ here.
I’m typing using one hand only. The operation was successful, and for Christmas, I received a new wrist. Will update further when both hands are sharing the workload.
Thank you for you wonderful support this year.
Have a great Christmas, and I’ll see you in 2014.
Take care.
Naked. That’s how my left hand feels tonight, as it prepares for tomorrow’s surgery. It feels odd to not wear my rings, but I had to take them off when the opportunity arose – when my hands were at their coldest.
Tomorrow, assuming all goes to plan, my left arm will be wrapped snugly in a back-slab and bandages, following surgery to prevent further damage to my tendons.
I am a little obsessed with hands. Declan, my main man in ‘Truth or Dare?’ has safe hands, and it’s one of the first things the heroine, Kate, notices. She’s of the opinion one can tell a lot about a person from studying their hands.
I’m not letting her near mine.
While I still have both hands free to type, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for all your wonderful support this year. 2013 saw my debut novel published, which was a dream come true. Receiving 5* reviews and being nominated for an award has taken me beyond those dreams.
I wish you a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year.
My naked hand and I are off to bed – we have an early start.
Take care.