The Novel Previously Known as Distraction has a new title!!

Last week I admitted defeat and accepted that Distraction ought to have a new title – there are too many books out there with the same title. After a brainstorming session over a bottle of wine brought nothing more original than The Broken Ballerina, I went to Twitter and Facebook for help. One of the first to jump to the challenge was my friend Liz. And this girl’s got previous too. She came up with the name for Kat French’s Undertaking Love.

Bearing in mind that the Novel Previously Known as Distraction is about an ex-Ballerina living in a Cumbrian village, Liz came up with the fabulous title of…

Swan Lake District

*smiles* If you’d like to sample more of Liz’s fabulous humour, go check out her book Molly Ringwald’s Cardigan on wattpad.com.

Okay, so Swan Lake District isn’t the title I’m going for, but Liz did come up with a whole raft of ideas, including the suggestion that I might use a phrase from the book. Which is what I did. And reading through the odd snippet, I found my inspiration and so the title was born…

Couldn’t have done it without you, Liz. And to say thank you, I’ll pop a copy of #Forfeit in the post.

Book Signings

Back in July, I’d not even released #Forfeit when the gorgeous ladies at Orchard Book Club invited me along to their Book Signing in Peterborough next March.

How good a start to my life as international best-selling author was that? I hadn’t sold a book by this point, yet I’d be sitting next to the likes of Kitty French and Jodi Ellen Malpas.

Eek.

What has me reassured all will be okay and terrified it’ll be a disaster in equal measures is I’ve been to a signing event before. It was the Totally Booked Author Event in London last November. I’d gone along to help out *Name Drop Alert* my writing buddy, Kitty French, and omg, what a great day. Hanging out with Kitty was a blast, plus I got to meet the lovely Orchard Book Club girls, chit chat to the lovely Tara Sivec, and had my ass kicked by Alice Clayton for not self-publishing already when I’d had nigh-on 1,000,000 reads on Wattpad. All in all, a life changing event.

And now I’ll be the one holding the Sharpie pen. *gulp*

If you’d like to save me for a fate worse than sitting behind a desk with no one to talk to, come to Peterborough and say hi. I’ll have paperbacks on sale and swag to give away.

Tickets are one sale now – they’re only £5.50.

A New Title

I’m currently editing my second novel – it’s title since I wrote the first words back in 2012 has been Distraction. But it’s a title my editor doesn’t like. I argued my case why it was totally relevant. She argued for me to Amazon search it.

#Forfeit was okay – other books using that title were a Dick Francis novel and some erotica title. Sadly, Distraction‘s not quite in the same boat. A gazillion new adult / contemporary romance / erotica titles are either called Distraction or use it as a subtitle. I don’t want to fight against those, or be confused with them.

Which means Libby & Patrick need a new book title. Can you help come up with one?

He’s a mountain biking vet who’s a bit too fond of everything bad for him; she’s a goody-two-shoes who looks like trouble. Here’s the blurb…

If someone comes up with the end result they’ll be showered with platitudes, swag and my undying respect/gratitude/love.

Answers on a postcard / email/ tweet / carrier pigeon.

Street Team Giveaway! The winner is…

Over the last month, I’ve built up a fab street team. We’re not going for guerilla warfare or spamming our loved ones to death, but they’re reading and honestly reviewing – they’re spreading the word by turning their facebook profiles to pics of them and #Forfeit.

To say thank you, I’ve promised to do a draw and giveaway a paperback of #Forfeit. Actually, I’m giving away three!

And I’m delighted to say that the winners are…

I’ll be in touch to get your mailing addresses.

Selfpublishing – Tax Information

I swear, hand on heart, that I completed my Createspace tax information back in July when I got my EIN. I swear it was all fine. (Lesson #1 – Take screen grabs). But about a fortnight ago, I received an email from CS saying my tax info needed completing.

Armed with the confidence of someone who passed the Amazon Kindle Tax Interview with ease, and who got an EIN with ease, I then spent an hour trying to work out where the hell to put my EIN. Then I googled it a bit. Then I discovered other people were wailing in despair too…

Mercifully, I stumbled across the CS Forum and this thread. You have to read it yourself as I’m not tax expert, but I think if you’re like me, a regular person who’s selling the odd book on Amazon and you live in a country that has a tax treaty with the US, then you DON’T need an EIN or an ITIN.

I know! You just fill out the CS Tax Information saying you’re you, where you live and when you get to the question about having an ITIN or not, you select the ‘I have a Foreign Income Tax No.’ And on the next page you can enter your tax number – so for UK folk, I do believe it’s our National Insurance number.

But go read the forum thread to get the full details. And do read it. Otherwise Cumara will shout at you because he’s repeated himself about eight(y) times.

Last chance today… #Forfeit is FREE on Kindle!

Sex, drugs & social media – that’s how Amazon No.1 Bestselling Author Natalie Martin described #Forfeit.

If you haven’t read this contemporary romance / new adult novel already, today’s a great time to join in the ultimate game of dares. It’s free on Kindle for today only

#Forfeit is FREE on Kindle – this weekend only

Sex, drugs & social media – that’s how Amazon No.1 Bestselling Author Natalie Martin described #Forfeit.

If you haven’t read this contemporary romance / new adult novel already, this weekend’s a great time to join in the ultimate game of dares. It’s free on Kindle for the whole of Friday, Saturday & Sunday.

COVER REVEAL The Mr Write Trilogy by Cassandra P Lewis

Orchard Book Club

Title: The Mr Write Trilogy.

Author: Cassandra P Lewis.

Published by: Limitless Publishings.

Meeting Mr Write

Rosie Alvez is a romance writer with writers block…

Well she has just been dumped…On her wedding day!

Jackson James is a travel writer, and the perpetual bachelor…

He has absolutely no intention of ever settling down. Why would he? He’s living the life he’s always dreamed of. A different beautiful woman in his bed each night, a different incredible destination each week, he didn’t even realise there was anything missing.

Until he met Rosie…

After a chance meeting, Jackson sets his sights on Rosie, much to her annoyance. She might be attracted to him, but can’t stand him!

While the two search for inspiration in Thailand, a romance blossoms, but it’s a rocky road. Rosie needs to be loved, but struggles to trust it. Jackson wants to give in, but is terrified of…

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The Official #Forfeit Trailer

Have you used Animoto? It’s freaking awesome, if slightly unhinging for my perfectionist side. Essentially, it’s an easy-peasy way to create a video – for you, your family, your business. You can sign up for free, add a few photos, add a few words, choose a ‘theme’, pick a track and hey presto, when you click ‘Preview’ you create this slick video.

It’s that easy.

But then you notice a typo in one slide. You correct it, obviously, and hit Preview again.

And now your video’s utterly different. The awesome way it used your main characters profile as a backing shot has been replaced by your book cover image and the main title is fighting with the slogan you’ve typed in. Gah. So you make another change. This time, it splits your hero in half, right through his happy trail. It looks painful.

One week. One whole week I’ve been adding spaces, removing spotlights, trying to get the right combination of effects. I had it once. The video lasted 58 seconds. Visually it couldn’t be more perfect if Quentin himself had directed it. Sadly, it cut the music too soon.

So after another few hours of tweaking, here we are – the final cut. I’m sure there was a better version last Friday morning, but I’ll be damned if I can recreate it and I need to get editing Distraction.

May I present, the trailer for #Forfeit. Enjoy.

#Forfeit – Official Trailer

Street Team – Official Name Reveal

I have my street team – twenty-five loyal fans, and although the voting was super-close, the official name of the street team will be…

The Gosthwaite Locals!

Although I had a ~~not-so~~ secret hankering for Fugly Hos, it wasn’t for everyone. And let’s face it, if you don’t want to be called a Fugly Ho, it is kinda offensive.

Thanks to everyone who applied, but there can only be twenty-five!

Now, does anyone have the first idea what a street team does…

*jokes*

Love you