Castles of Steel and Thunder Author Q&A

I was recently asked to answer some questions on my experience of novel-writing by a creative writing student from the University of the Highlands and Islands. Of course, I was happy to oblige – and thought I would share the interview here for anyone who would like to find out more. Read on for tips…

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Promoting Your Self-Published Book in a Pandemic

If, like me, you self-published your first novel during the pandemic, you might be wondering how on earth to go about promoting it. With bookshops – and indeed most places – still shut due to lockdown, it may not feel like the ideal time to be attracting new readers to your book. Thankfully, there are…

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2020: My Year in Numbers

Around this time last year, I wrote a review of my year in numbers (an idea borrowed gratefully from my friend Suzanne at Inside, Outside and Beyond – thankyou again Suzanne). I enjoyed the format of reflecting on the year numerically, and so I have decided to use it again this year. It also avoids…

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Castles of Steel and Thunder in Paperback

If you’ve been reading recently, you’ll know that the last month or so has been a very exciting time for me. My debut novel, Castles of Steel and Thunder, launched in November as an eBook and quickly went to the top of two Amazon categories in the eBook charts. Recently, I took delivery of my…

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eBooks, Excitement and #ChangeHerStory

If you were reading last week, you’ll know that my first Young Adult novel, Castles of Steel and Thunder, has just launched as an eBook (paperback launch coming soon – more on that subject next time). The last week has been very exciting, and I was delighted when the eBook hit the number one spot…

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Castles of Steel and Thunder is Here – and a Very Special Offer

I’m delighted to announce that after weeks of editing, proof reading – and spending rather a lot of time in loungewear – my first novel, Castles of Steel and Thunder launches officially today as an eBook. For today only, you can buy the eBook at the very special price of £1.99 (normal price £5.99). If…

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Happy Writing News and Preparing to Launch

The last few weeks have been a busy time for me, as I prepare to launch my first novel, Castles of Steel and Thunder. As a result, my blog has been neglected somewhat, and it’s been hard to find the time to put finger-to-keyboard here. On the positive side, I’ve just signed off on the…

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Introducing Castles of Steel and Thunder

If you’re a regular reader here, you’ll know I recently shared the news that I’m about to publish my first novel, a Young Adult fantasy inspired by the legends of Caithness. Over the October holidays, I was a very busy bee, proofreading typeset proofs and finalising small details with the wonderful assistance of Jen at…

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Where Stories Come From: Caithness Lore and Legend

If you were reading last week, you’ll know that I’m soon to publish my first novel, a Young Adult fantasy inspired by the folklore of my home county, Caithness. I’ll be sharing more details on the story soon, but for now, I wanted to share a little on why I was inspired to write the…

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Stepping Out Of Fear Into Uncertainty – And Some News

In any given moment we have two options: to step forward into growth or to step back into safety. Abraham Maslow You may (or may not!) have noticed that I didn’t write my regular blog post last week – unusual for me, as I try to keep up a weekly practice of posting. I did…

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