Tag: book launch

All About SATS

SATS. That’s my new novel,

Style and the Solitary

In just five days, it will be launched into the world. My first venture into crime fiction. Fortunately, it has some wonderful people to help my baby emerge from the womb.

No, I didn’t mean Nathalie and Asaf. They carry the story through from start to finish. But I’m talking about the lovely, real people who have helped in many ways, and to whom I will always be grateful.

People like Melina Kantor and Shoshana Raun, whose prompts and other writing suggestions helped to craft the plot much more than I’d expected. Joan Livingston, who read and commented on my draft, and also wrote the cover line and the brilliant foreword. And Stephanie and Laurence Patterson of darkstroke books whose editing and cover design were magnificent.

Also to all those who have opened up (or will open up) their blogs for me:

Name and Link	Topic	Date
Natalie Wood	Why crime?	3rd March
Jennifer Worrell	Settings	24th March
Heidi Slowinski	Interview	20th April
Sue Barnard	Importance of Setting	21st April
Tim Taylor
Paula Readman
Angela Wren

What can you do?

You can come to the Facebook Launch on Monday.
Click now and press Going. There will be information about the book in text, photos and music, and plenty of interaction.
You can come to the joint online launch event called Ladies Who Launch, where three darkstroke authors will introduce our new books with readings and answer questions.
It’s on 6th May. Click now to secure your free ticket.
And you can buy Style and the Solitary – paperback or ebook – on Amazon.

Thank you, everyone!

Tags book launch, Crime Fiction, Ladies Who Launch, Style and the Solitary

Books

No Place Like Japan

My husband and I are lucky to have been on some amazing trips around the world. One of them took place seven years ago in Japan. In three action-packed weeks, we toured a country that is like no other – modern yet traditional, beautiful and quaint.

We dressed in traditional clothes and consumed local food and drink.

But we remained most definite outsiders. In three weeks, we couldn’t possibly begin to know what it’s like to live in this weird and wonderful land. And it’s only as an outsider that I’m able to write about Japan.

Fortunately, Martin, the main character in my novel: Cultivating a Fuji, also visits Japan as an outsider. Unfortunately, he has lived his whole life as an outsider, starting at school where he was ostracised and bullied.

When Martin is sent to represent his company in Japan, nobody believes he can succeed. He surprises everyone, including himself, but that’s only the beginning.

Edition 2 of Cultivating a Fuji will be released on 22nd February 2021. You can pre-order it now from Amazon at mybook.to/CultivatingAFuji.

What’s New?

Not a lot, so don’t buy it if you’ve read it. I’ve made minor improvements to the text. And I’ve changed the very beginning and the very end.

The beginning is important because the first sentence needs to make an impression, but the story remains the same.

The ending is now the one I really wanted for the first edition, before I allowed myself to be persuaded by a suggestion from an author I admire. Instead of explaining why my ending worked better, or simply ignoring the suggestion, I persuaded myself that she knew better.

So, for me, this novel has been a lesson in trusting myself as an author. It’s important to listen to what readers have to say, but ultimately the decision must remain with the author.

Fortunately, this novel has been enjoyed by many and I hope it continues to satisfy readers and make them reflect.

Tags book launch, bullying, Cultivating a Fuji, Japan, ostracism, outsider

Books Israel

Worlds Apart

My world and your world. Their world and our world. Where am I? Where are you? Where are they?

Somewhere, further down in this post, I will talk about tomorrow’s book launch. If you don’t want to read my prattle, you can go there now.

Things used to be easier in the old days. Worlds kept themselves separate. Facebook brings them all together. It’s hard.

One minute I’m reading about the topic that’s uppermost in the mind of all Israelis. Three teenagers were kidnapped by terrorists. Parents look at their children, knowing it could have been them. How can a sixteen-year-old cope with being held by people who want us all dead?

The next minute, without even scrolling or clicking, I see a joke and I try to laugh. Then there’s a beep and I have to read and comment on a totally unrelated topic. Yes, have to, because it’s part of my job of being a writer. I have to look away from my world and become part of yours for a while.

Yes, I know it’s happened to you, to. There was 9/11, 7/7 and all the rest. But when those things happened, all the worlds were feeling similarly shocked. Now, it’s just us. For everyone else it’s business as usual. Who cares about three boys?

Then there’s their world: the world of those who are euphoric over the news. I see that, too, when people post their pictures and comments, before I look away in disgust.

But I really wanted to talk about another world, one that is right here in Jerusalem. The other day, I walked into the haredi world to take pictures. But when I was there, I didn’t feel good about photographing them, even though no one took any notice of me at all.

Signs that make me feel unwelcome, Mea Shearim

I hurriedly snapped a few photos and escaped from another world where I don’t belong.

Esty, the heroine of Neither Here Nor There, did belong there. She grew up there. Her family and friends and everyone who knew her expected her to remain in that world for the rest of her life.

And they expected her to meet her future husband two or three times, sitting far apart from him so as not to touch him by mistake, before making a decision about whether to spend the rest of her life with him.

If you look carefully below the Old City walls that are lit for the Jerusalem Festival of Lights, you can make out the man on the left and the girl on the right of the bench

In my novel, I don’t make any judgements. My characters make judgements occasionally, but mostly this is a novel of discovery. The characters find out about the other world on their doorstep.

I’ve said enough for now. If you want to join in tomorrow’s festivities, which will include a competition, go to this Facebook page. You can join it now.

Tags book launch, competition, Facebook, Haredi, Jerusalem, kidnapping, Mea Shearim, Neither Here Nor There

Website	Date	Title
Val Penny	2 August, 2017	Book Review: The Mill River Recluse
Sue Barnard	10 August, 2017	How I Discovered What I Had
Contemporary Romance Writers	15 August, 2017	From Romantic Romance to Ordered Disorder
Nancy Jardine	18 August, 2017	That Question Again
Chris, The Story Ape	19 August, 2017	Following My Passion
Jennifer C. Wilson	20 August, 2017	Coming Out

Website	Date	Title
Val Penny	2 August, 2017	Book Review: The Mill River Recluse
Sue Barnard	10 August, 2017	How I Discovered What I Had
Contemporary Romance Writers	15 August, 2017	From Romantic Romance to Ordered Disorder
Nancy Jardine	18 August, 2017	That Question Again

What can you do?

What’s New?

Social Anxiety Revealed