Tag: Books

Jolabokaflod on Christmas Eve!

Jolabokaflod on Christmas Eve!

Every Christmas Eve, Icelandic people practice something called ‘jolabokaflod,’ which translates to ‘Christmas book flood. ‘ Jolabokaflod’ is pronounced Jola-boka-flod (with the ‘J’ sounding like the ‘Y’ in ‘yoghurt!)  The tradition  involves giving books as presents on Christmas Eve, so that friends and family can spend a cozy night in curled up with a good story. Let’s set the scene. It’s Christmas Eve and after receiving a brand-new book from your family, you sit comfortably in your favourite chair close to a warm fire with chocolates to eat and a mug of hot cocoa to spend the rest of the…

Read More Read More

Guest Blog by Louise Mercer.

Guest Blog by Louise Mercer.

My working background I’ve worked for the NHS as a data analyst for over twenty-five years. Over the past eighteen months it’s been demanding, pressured and relentless. Working weekends and evenings on eleven-hour days, twelve days on and two days off! It’s been scary, tiring, and stressful, but I’ve had a vice to come down after those long shifts… my writing. After many struggles, I became a mummy to our now 13 year old son, Thomas back in 2007. I felt like I’d been given the moon and stars to hold. Of course, sleepless nights and teething soon took the…

Read More Read More

Wordsearch

Wordsearch

We have wordsearch puzzles based on each of our books free to download from a link on the Freebies page of our website. Check them out here Here is one of them to start you off!

How to Write Humour

How to Write Humour

Well, that’s obvious, isn’t it, you might say. Write something funny. But is it that easy? Think about it. How many programmes on TV have some people rolling about in hysterics, and leave others cold? Do you see what I mean? Humour is a personal thing, and the hardest part about writing it is that if you try too hard, it falls flat. If that happens too often in your book, then the reader will give up. That is something you seriously do not want to happen. So, how to write humour. It isn’t as easy as it sounds, is…

Read More Read More

Guest Blog by Ellen Read

Guest Blog by Ellen Read

MRS PRESTON’S KITCHEN BREAKFAST The Thornton Mysteries When writing a book set in the 1920s, the first thing you realise is there is a lot of research to do. The Dragon Sleeps is a murder mystery, the first in The Thornton Mysteries. The family home, Thornton Park, is a lavish mansion. There are servants and a definite upstairs downstairs scenario. Fashions, music and cars aside, I found the need to research food. What would the family eat in 1927? What did the servants eat? Mrs Preston is the cook at Thornton Park. Not a chef, but she’s as meticulous and proud of her…

Read More Read More

Book Reviews

Book Reviews

Book Reviews are a vital part of promoting books for authors. The top authors need them and depend on them, and even more so the lesser known authors. Book reviews are long or short written views about an author’s book, often submitted to Amazon or GoodReads etc. They tend to be based on personal opinions from the reader of the book. Did they enjoy the story, were the characters likeable, would they like to read more by the same author? It is important therefore that each book has as many reviews as possible. A book that some might rate as…

Read More Read More

PINTEREST

PINTEREST

Pinterest is an online bulletin board – mostly for collecting images of whatever you want your viewers to see. It is popular to make your own boards, and to look at other people’s ideas. All authors especially should consider making a Pinterest page based on each of their books! It is free to join and easy to use, and you can also post your pins to Twitter. You can post to Twitter as you repin or pin images, or you can post images when you view them. You can tweet images on a pin-by-pin basis rather than potentially overwhelming your…

Read More Read More

If only you knew Amy Sharples.

If only you knew Amy Sharples.

By Louise Mercer, author of ‘If Only You Knew’ Amy is the best friend any girl can have! When Laura finds herself in a new village, running a business she has no experience of and battling an unpleasant ex-boyfriend as well as her attraction to an extremely bad tempered but gorgeous looking vet, Amy becomes her rock. Fiercely loyal with a vulnerability that makes your heart melt, Amy Sharples very quickly became one of my favourite characters. Ask me for my inspiration behind her? Well, I can’t do it justice without an explanation about myself. Like so many people I…

Read More Read More

The Nielsen Book database

The Nielsen Book database

All formats of our books are available on Nielsen. Who are Nielsen, you might ask? About Nielsen “Nielsen Book Discovery range of search and discovery services are used by booksellers, libraries and publishers in over 100 countries worldwide. We collect bibliographic metadata from publishers in over 70 countries (including the UK, Ireland, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, India and South Africa) and work closely with the leading data providers in the US to ensure we have the most consistent and comprehensive global database of title records available. The Nielsen Book database, which now holds over 30 million title records, is available to booksellers, libraries and publishers worldwide to inform…

Read More Read More

National Human Trafficking Awareness Day is observed every year on January 11.

National Human Trafficking Awareness Day is observed every year on January 11.

In 2011 President Barack Obama issued a Presidential Proclamation, designating each January to be National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. The anniversary of this proclamation became known as National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. Slavery was officially abolished in the USA by the Thirteenth Amendment in December 1865 however human trafficking grows at an alarming rate and despite the USA being a first world country, human trafficking has become a lucrative business for some members of society. The victims affected and forced into modern day slavery are often of foreign nationalities but could be anyone. They are all subjected to…

Read More Read More

error

Enjoy this blog? Please spread the word :)