Authors Electric

The Amber Heart on Kindle - Polish & Christmassy When I was wondering whether to do a Christmas 'special offer' on one of my books and also wondering which one to choose, I found myself trying to decide between a couple of suitable books. But really, when it came down to choices, it was a no-brainer. It had to be the Amber Heart . Even the cover seems kind of Christmassy and in my heart, when I think about this book, I think about Poland at Christmas. It is a big doorstop of a book but then it's a big story. Epic. Romantic. Heart rending. When one of my previous agents sent it out, she relayed a letter from an acquisitions editor who said that she had stayed up all night reading it and weeping. They didn't acquire it though. Poland was a non starter as a setting. Now if it had been Russia ... No point at all in telling them that Eastern European borders have been so fluid and so deadly, in consequence, that this novel, set firmly in that part of mid-ninete...

Which box are you in? Publishers have this unfortunate habit of placing authors in a specific genre box. If your first novel is romance, then you are a romance writer, and woe betide you if you step outside this genre. My first accepted novel, Dead Wood , was a contemporary crime one, although I had previously written a romantic saga. So, I was popped into the contemporary crime genre box and, if I was still with my traditional publisher, that is where you would find me languishing. My Dundee Crime Series Now, I am quite happy to be a crime writer, and I suppose I’m best known for my Dundee Crime series of books. However, I’m not sure that I want to be restricted in my choice of what to write. So, having successfully made the conversion to being an indie writer, I have a bit more autonomy. If you are wondering how I have exercised that autonomy, you have to look no further than my historical saga, A Salt Splashed Cradle , set in an 1830s fishing village. In that book...