Dear reader, The few weeks since I was last in touch have been hectic, but fun. I travelled to Guernsey for the literary festival which gave me the opportunity to meet and chat to some lovely readers. My talk was given in a very smart tent that was a bit like a huge inflated igloo, but a particularly high wind made it seem slightly precarious at times (it wasn’t!). I also had the pleasure of sitting next to the wonderful Clare Balding at the author dinner. She was great fun, as you can imagine, and had some amusing stories to tell - one of which involved the Queen! Then I made my way up to Newcastle – always a pleasure as I have family there, and the Geordie people are delightful – for New Writing North. I enjoyed the day enormously, although I was nearly late for my own talk as I was listening to Louise Doughty (of Appletree Yard fame) giving a brilliant presentation on her journey as an author. I went directly from there to Italy – not to lie in the sun – but to write. Sometimes I find getting away from the office to be a good thing, and as you will see from The Writer Writes article below, it was very productive. The highlight of this newsletter for me has to be the interview with talented writer, Clare Mackintosh. I LOVE her books! She was so easy to chat to, and her story is inspirational. The next few weeks are going to be spent writing (as always) and moving house – but I’ll be back to you soon. In the meantime, have a wonderful summer and read lots of books! Special OfferOnly the Innocent was my first novel, introducing DCI Tom Douglas, and has now sold over 600,000 copies worldwide, with over 2,200 reviews and an average rating of 4.3. It was top of the Amazon bestseller list for four weeks. What set of circumstances could be SO BAD that a woman has no choice but to murder a man? Find out now. Read Only the Innocent for just 99p An Interview with Clare MackintoshThis month I’m in conversation with Clare Mackintosh, author of I Let You Go and I See You, who I recently bumped into at The Crime Fair in Denmark and we agreed to have a chat about our publishing journeys. It was great to see you in Denmark, Clare. Was it a good event for you? It was my second time there, and it was really amazing. I’m still fairly new at this with only two books to my name and last time I was there only about two people — my editor and somebody sitting down because they had a bad back — were interested in listening to me speak! Coming back this year after I Let You Go, suddenly I had queues and a massive audience because the book did so well there. It’s a reminder of how much has happened in such a short time. I remember reading, and loving, I Let You Go. When did you write it? I wrote it mostly in 2012, maybe a bit in 2011. I got an agent in 2013 and signed a publishing deal in the same year, and it came out in ebook in November 2014 – but it was when the paperback was published in May 2015 that things exploded. So it’s still relatively recent. When did your debut come out, Rachel? To read the rest of this interview, please click here to visit the blog.
Kindle Storyteller AwardThis month is only going to get busier! I am thrilled to have been invited to be one of the judges in the Amazon Kindle Storyteller Award, a new literary prize recognising recently self-published work in the English language across any genre on the KDP platform. The Kindle Storyteller prize was open to submissions from all authors and genres (except me, as a judge, of course!). Sadly the deadline for entries has past, but if this competition is as successful as Amazon believes it will be, I’m sure there will be another one – so it’s definitely worth looking out for. There’s an amazing prize too - £20,000! Plus (and this is where it gets interesting) marketing support from Amazon for the winning title, which in my mind is worth more than the £20,000 because Amazon can make your book fly. About the competition, Kindle content director at Amazon, Alessio Santarelli said: “We hope to encourage aspiring authors, and those who have already been published, to get writing and make their new stories available to readers across the world. Publishing a book has never been easier, and the Kindle Storyteller Award will reward the author whose story resonates most with both readers and literary experts.” So I have a huge amount of reading to do! I will be attending a judging event in a week or so, and then the prize giving in July. I am so looking forward to getting stuck into a lovely (virtual) pile of new books. A Writer ReadsThis month’s pickings are slim, I’m afraid as a result of all the travelling. I’ve been in the midst of writing and I sometimes find it difficult to read without being influenced by the tone of another writers’ work. I decided not to read thrillers when I was deep into the plot of my latest novel, and so moved to women’s fiction. Sadly, even that had an impact – as I read a particularly hilarious novel I found I was introducing jokes into my thriller! Not a good idea. However, having sat next to the lovely Clare Balding at dinner I felt compelled to read one of her books, so this one is a bit outside the norm in terms of my usual reading. The other choice for this month from Erin Kelly has been heaped with praise and is bang on my kind of reading.
He Said She Said – Erin Kelly is such a good writer! You only need to read the reviews from other writers such as a couple of my favourites – Sharon Bolton and Clare Mackintosh – to realise what an amazing book this is. Red Magazine calls it “a clever, compulsive read” and The Telegraph says that Erin Kelly “ascends to a new plane of ingenuity” – so what more can I say! My Animals and Other Family – I was intrigued by this because the original Gerald Durrell book, My Family and Other Animals, was one of my all-time favourites when I was about fifteen. In this book about Clare Balding’s early life, she paints a vivid picture of the dogs and horses that she grew up with and the book made me smile (and cry in one place). What an amazing young life she had. Dying to WriteI’ve been on a lot of book tours this year in all kinds of weather! But now it’s Summer and while I was at the Guernsey Literary Festival I found myself writing a postcard to a friend. It’s not something I’ve done for years and I was reminded how pleasing it is to jot down a couple of paragraphs, sticking to the point and recording a moment or two in time. So, what could be better than dashing off a fictional postcard? In keeping with our dark theme, you’ll need to tell someone why you won’t be coming home! It’s all part of my desire to get you writing. If you’ve never written before it can be scary but so many of you jumped aboard the First Line competition in April that I believe reading your Perfect Postcards will be just that – perfect! I’m looking forward to reading them already – send your entries to newsletter@rachel-abbott.com. The winner will be announced next month and will receive a signed copy of one of my books.
Featured ReaderThis month I’ve picked Lacey Eder because of the delightful Kindle screenshot she submitted to let me know how much she was enjoying my book Stranger Child! We had a funny little exchange about the dictionary translating balaclavas into ‘a warm hat’ but then I noticed the classic definition of cemetery as ‘a place to bury dead people’. Well, all I have to say about that is it’s not always the only place to bury dead people if you’re writing psychological thrillers! This is why I love hearing from readers, I always get such a boost knowing the books are being picked up and enjoyed, so thank Lacey, you made my week or if you’d prefer, you made my ‘period of seven successive days, usually understood as beginning with Sunday and ending with Saturday’. A Writer WritesWhat a month it has been, and so exciting! I finished the first draft of a new book, and I enjoyed writing it so much it was hard to let it go. I’m now just waiting to get feedback which is bound to be full of heart-sinking moments when I realise that a paragraph that I thought was brilliant isn’t at all, and it needs to be rewritten. It’s all part of the process, though, and I wouldn’t change it. I learned a couple of new lessons with this book – ones that I’ve been subconsciously aware of, but have failed to really take note of in the past. I know that all writers have their own way of doing things so my quirks won’t apply to everybody, but maybe if you’re a writer too, they will give you pause for thought. And that’s the key. Pause for thought. To continue reading, please click here to visit the blog. Interesting linksHave you always wanted to read more, a LOT more? Get on track to get through more than fifty books a year with these wonderful tips. https://hbr.org/2017/02/8-ways-to-read-a-lot-more-books-this-year An interesting and timely review of a Generation of Sociopaths by Jane Smiley – a top read if you want to know why Donald Trump might ruin the world! Books to read now as selected by the Financial Times. https://www.ft.com/content/582f7ed6-36fe-11e7-bce4-9023f8c0fd2e
Your support really matters to me - so please spread the word. And don't forget that there is nothing an author loves more than a great review on Amazon or Goodreads. So many of you have written them - and I will be forever grateful. And you can forward this newsletter to a friend if you like! (see below) Keep tweeting and posting on Facebook! I love hearing from you. And if you're not already registered for the newsletter, please visit here. |