Welcome to an e-publishing sensation!  I'm delighted to welcome novelist Rachel Abbott to my blog today. The Guardian newspaper once called Rachel ‘the epublishing sensation of 2012’ while The Observer stated ‘self-published authors such as Rachel Abbott are the trade’s hottest property’. Rachel was born near Manchester, England, and spent most of her working life as the managing director of an interactive media company. After her company was sold in 2000, she fulfilled a lifelong ambition of buying and restoring a property in Italy. She now splits her time between homes in Italy and Alderney, where she writes full time . Rachel launched her first novel 'Only the Innocent' in November 2011. The book was self-published in the UK through the Kindle Direct Publishing programme on Amazon, and reached the number 1 spot in the Kindle store just over three months later. It held its position for four weeks, and was the second highest selling self-published title in 2012. 'Only the Innocent' is now published by Thomas and Mercer in the USA, and achieved number 8 in the US charts one week after launch, before reaching number 1 in August, making Rachel’s debut a number one bestseller on both sides of the Atlantic. In March 2013, Rachel Abbott released her long awaited second novel 'The Back Road', which entered the UK Kindle chart at number 100 just 48 hours after launch. It went on to reach number 2 and has over 450 five star reviews. Have you always wanted to write? What was the impetus for 'Only The Innocent'? I have been writing in one form or another for years. I ran an interactive media company for many years, and we often produced dramas for training and education (and occasionally for entertainment), and I was involved in the scripts. They weren’t sterile training videos – each one was like a TV drama, and working on those gave me a real desire to write. When it came to 'Only the Innocent', I’d had an idea in my head for years – what set of circumstances could be so bad that a woman had no choice but to murder a man? I spent years thinking about it as I drove to work – because there had to be no other option, and that’s quite hard to imagine. Then when I sold my company and had some spare time, I was delighted to find that I really enjoyed writing the story, and my writing career just went from there. Describe a typical writing day for you. Are there any props you consider essential to the writing process?I like silence when I write. Well – that’s not quite true. I live by a beach in the Channel Islands most of the time, and I can hear the sea washing up on the shore, which is a wonderful sound. My props depend on the stage of writing. When I am editing, I usually end up eating a lot of biscuits – usually Jaffa Cakes – which I swear help me to concentrate. As for the day itself, I sit down with a cup of coffee and go through all my emails first, respond to any that are absolutely essential, and flag for follow up any that will wait – principally because I want to get on with writing. I find I work best in the morning, so I write all morning, and if things are going well, all afternoon as well. If I’m stuck on a plot point and need to give it some thought, I will spend the afternoon taking care of all the other stuff – the outstanding emails, the accounts, some marketing. It all needs to be done, so I tend to go with how I’m feeling at a certain time. But writing takes priority. Will your future novels explore different genres, or will you stick with psychological thrillers?For now, I will stick to psychological thrillers. I am fascinated by what makes people tick – and that could have gone towards romance or thrillers. I think I’ve ended up with a thriller style that is about relationships, but usually the sort that have gone catastrophically wrong somewhere. But in all cases, the way in which they have deteriorated leaves my protagonist with a dilemma. Your books, being psychological thrillers, cover dark themes. Are there any topics you wouldn’t portray in your writing, and if so, why not? I don’t think in general that I would write about gory acts of physical violence. There may be dead bodies – there may be some elements of violence. But I don’t see myself writing about cutting open people’s stomachs and wrapping intestines around the victim’s neck. That sort of sickening violence should be reserved for those who write it considerably better than me. It’s mainly in the mind in the case of my books. My readers decide what is right and wrong. To what extent do you believe a crime fiction writer has a duty to end their novels with good triumphing over evil?  I don’t believe that at all. That suggests that everything is either black or white, and although it’s difficult these days to mention ‘shades of grey’ without it being misconstrued, I think that’s the reality. People do bad things. But they are not necessarily bad people. They make mistakes, get themselves deeper and deeper into trouble, and find it hard to extricate themselves. Sometimes people have to do very bad things in order to save others. One of the shout lines on one of my books is ‘how far would you go to hold on to the people you love?’ and it’s a theme that I have used more than once. In other words, sometimes people need to do some terrible things in order to protect others – and where do you draw the line? So I like to leave my readers to decide what is right and what is wrong. In both 'Only the Innocent' and 'Sleep Tight' my protagonists do things that are, without a doubt, illegal. But you can practically hear people cheering them on from the sidelines. Will your future novels involve the same characters, such as DCI Tom Douglas? I never intended to write a series about one policeman, but my readers fell for him, and so I’ve just carried on – and I love him more all the time. So for the moment, he’s staying with us. Will any of your future novels feature Italy, where you have a home? I did feature Italy a little in 'Only the Innocent'. Laura has a summer home there. I don’t spend as much time in Italy now as I do in the Channel Islands – and Alderney, my home, already features in 'Sleep Tight' so it would be difficult to repeat it. I may, however, bring Italy again at some point in the future – but it would have to be relevant to the plot. Your website features food and recipes from your books. Is food important to you, and if so, what is your favourite type of cuisine? I love food and I love cooking. I keep telling myself that I should go on a diet (true) but food is one of life’s greatest pleasures. The very next thing that I am going to do after answering these questions is go and make a curry. Indian food is my favourite, but anything spicy – Thai, Malaysian, even North African. Our local Indian restaurant here in Alderney (it’s really good) have a special curry that they make for me from Bangladesh, using a certain kind of lemon that you can’t get in the UK. It’s wonderful. Is music important to you, and if so, what sort do you most enjoy? I love to sing. I am a member of a small singing group that meets once a week for an hour or so, and we occasionally perform in public. We sing all kinds of things – but mainly well known popular music that people will recognise from the charts at some time or other (probably not recently, though). My taste is very varied. I particularly love 'Elbow' at the moment, but then when I wrote 'Sleep Tight' I mentioned Judie Tzuke’s music, which is haunting. Music, to me, is like writing. It has to evoke emotion. If it doesn’t, I’m not interested. To what extent do you reveal yourself in a novel – your opinions, your values? That’s a really good question. I think the main characters in my books share my values. The protagonist in each story (excluding Tom, of course) is usually a woman, and I think that although their personalities have been very different, they each have had a moral code that I approve of. However, I try very hard NOT to use writing to express my opinions. I used to be really, really guilty of that, and would find a way to introduce little things that bugged me into the story. My editor and/or agent would – without fail – cross them out. And quite right too. My books are not a platform for me to spout about bad manners, or irritating habits, and I would never make any political statements in my books, unless they were the opinions of the characters – but never mine. Thank you, Rachel! Thanks to Rachel Abbott for granting me this interview! I hope my readers have enjoyed it. You can find out more about Rachel and her books via her website, https://www.rachel-abbott.com/ Check out Rachel's latest novel, And So It Begins, on Amazon! Click or tap the image below (affiliate link): 
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For some, there's nothing like a real book  Ah, the pleasures of reading... 'I get how convenient e-books are,' a friend told me recently. 'But there's nothing quite like snuggling up with a real book, is there?' She's not alone. Since I started publishing novels, I've lost count of the number of people who have told me they prefer to hold an actual book in their hands as opposed to a tablet or e-reader. Personally, I'm happy to use both. I have a Kindle as my chosen e-reader device. I love it, but I also read hardbacks and paperbacks borrowed from my local library. I believe our free book borrowing system is amazing, so I'm keen to support it, and there's also an ever-growing range of e-books available from them as well. Ebooks, defend your corner!  So why are e-books so popular? Let's look at the advantages. 1. Immediate gratification. In a world where change is occurring at an increasingly fast pace, e-books provide near-instant enjoyment. With Amazon's 'one click' facility, it's a matter of seconds to get the latest blockbuster on your Kindle. 2. Portability. E-readers and tablets can hold thousands of books, great for travelling. It takes seconds to add or delete books, and it's a doddle to move them between devices. 3. E-readers are customisable. Need to read in a larger font? Simple. Like to make notes you can erase later? Easy-peasy. Want to read in bed at night but your partner is asleep beside you? No problem - simply activate the built-in light on your Kindle or Nook. 4. Price. The price of most full-length novels on Amazon UK is around the £3 mark. Paperback novels tend to retail at £8 or £9. E-books have made reading far cheaper and often free. The advent of Amazon's Kindle Unlimited programme has helped boost ebook reading. Let's hear it for physical books!  Aren't books beautiful? It's reassuring to note there's still a gratifying rise in the sales of actual books as well. So what makes so many people love snuggling up with a physical version of their chosen read? 1. Ah, the pleasure of a brand-new book! Many people give this as a reason for preferring paperbacks and hardbacks to e-books. There's something incredibly sensual about holding a new book purchase, smelling its pages and feeling the smoothness of the cover beneath one's fingers. How can an electronic version compete? Straight answer - it can't. Set beside their physical counterparts, e-books appear somewhat homely at best. And doesn't a well-stocked bookcase add something wonderful to a room? 2. Whilst textbooks are becoming increasingly digital, there are some books that undoubtedly do better in physical format. Cookery books, for one, with their glossy pages full of photos of wonderful culinary delights, look much better in a physical format. So do the types of books destined for life on the coffee table - exotic travel tomes, photographic books and the like - against which digital versions can't as yet compare. 3. For me, it's easier to flip backwards and forwards in a physical book. I can skim through the pages of one really quickly with my fingers. Not so with an e-book using the content/search facilities on my Kindle - sure, I can do it, but it takes longer. 4. Finally, plenty of people are technophobes. I'm not, but I do know a few! They're simply not comfortable with using electronic devices for reading. What's your preference? Ebook or actual? So what's your stance on the e-book versus actual book debate? Are you one of the many people who savour the feel and smell of a real book in their hands, something which will grace their bookshelves and hallmark them as a bookworm? Or do you love the convenience and cheapness of e-books, loading your e-reader or tablet up with the latest bargains as they hit the digital shelves? Maybe you're like me, mixing the tangible with the digital as it suits. Leave a comment and let me know!
A rollercoaster ride of a thriller...  ‘Witness The Dead’ is the first novel by Craig Robertson I've tried; based on my enjoyment of what I’ve read, it won't be the last. The novel delivers a rollercoaster ride of a thriller, dealing with the exploits of a serial killer in modern-day Glasgow. Here's an extract from the back cover blurb: ‘Scotland 1972. Glasgow is haunted by a murderer nicknamed Red Silk - a feared serial killer who selects his victims in the city's nightclubs. The case remains unsolved but Archibald Atto, later imprisoned for other murders, is thought to be Red Silk. In modern-day Glasgow, D.S. Rachel Narey is called to a gruesome crime scene at the city's Necropolis. The body of a young woman lies stretched out over a tomb, bearing a three-letter message from her killer - the word SIN scrawled in lipstick upon her body. Now retired, former detective Danny Nielsen spots a link between the new murder and those investigated in 1972 - details that no copycat killer could have known about. But Archibald Atto is still behind bars…’ A novel laced with tension and intriguing sub-plots  Courtesy of Simon and Schuster The tension in the novel ratchets skyward as more dead women are discovered, each one posed on a tomb in a different Necropolis. A race against time to prevent further deaths ensues, with the murders mirroring the 1972 Red Silk killings. The plot weaves through sharp twists and turns, as Archibald Atto dispenses information that may be accurate, or simply the warped machinations of a crazed mind. ‘Witness The Dead’ is an unusual novel in that it doesn’t have a protagonist as such. Danny Neilsen, his nephew Tony Winter and Detective Inspector Derek Addison are given equal prominence as the team intent on unearthing the link between Archibald Atto, the murders and the significance of the dumpsites at the city’s Necropoleis. Detective Sergeant Rachel Narey plays second fiddle to this trio in a side role as Tony Winter’s former love interest. Overarching the main players is the chilling character of Archibald Atto, a psychopath who revels in baiting Winter when he detects the guilty thrill the man gets from photographing dead bodies. Robertson doesn’t flinch in portraying his characters with all their flaws. Danny Neilsen is haunted by a terrible mistake he made in 1972, one that has estranged him from his only daughter. Tony Winter struggles to accept his failed relationship with Narey, as well as his self-disgust at his enjoyment of what he sees as the beauty of death. In an amusing subplot, Addison is both taunted and attracted by a member of the forensic team on the case, whilst battling his hatred of his superior officer and struggling to hold the investigation together. Hotpants, kipper ties and Glaswegian slang  1970s glam rock band The Sweet The backdrop to the narrative is the vibrant city of Glasgow, both in its modern-day incarnation and in 1972. The latter is played out in a nightclub called Klass, with its patrons sporting platform shoes, kipper ties and hotpants. They dance to music from The Sweet and Johnny Nash, richly evoking the zeitgeist of 1970s Glasgow, whilst defying the murderous danger posed by Red Silk. Robertson peppers his narrative with Scottish slang such as 'gallus', 'hen' and 'blootered', thus further immersing the reader in the spirit of the novel. ‘Witness The Dead’ is not without its flaws – some of the plot elements didn’t stack up for me, but that’s a minor criticism, given the overall thrill supplied by the narrative. Having started with 'Witness The Dead', I’ll be looking for more Craig Robertson novels to add to my reading list. And thanks to Craig, I now know that the plural of necropolis is necropoleis! More about Craig Robertson Craig Robertson is a Sunday Times bestselling author, and his debut novel, Random, was shortlisted for the CWA New Blood Dagger. His novel Murderabilia was longlisted for Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2017 and the McIlvanney Prize 2017. You can find out more about Craig and his novels from his website, www.craigrobertsonbooks.co.uk, and I'll be interviewing him in a future blog post. Have you read 'Witness The Dead'? If so, what did you think of it? Or do you have any recommendations for other Craig Robertson novels? Leave a comment for me! 'I don't waste time with novels...'  'I don't read novels,' someone once told me, his tone dismissive. 'I don't waste time with bullshit. Know what I mean?' My response? I chose not to reply, but to deflect the conversation. Had I answered his question, I'd have done so with an emphatic negative. Apart from the comment being provocative, making it to a lifelong bookworm like me was pointless. No, I don't know what he meant about novels being bullshit. Never have, never will. I suspect anyone reading this blog is likely to side with Team Maggie on this one! It's not that I don't understand why people don't read fiction. I do, despite my lifelong love of books. You see, I'm someone who doesn't care much for music. This often attracts gasps of horror from music aficionados, who refuse to believe me. 'You must enjoy music!' they tell me. 'Music is life!' For them, perhaps, but not for me. Each to their own, as the saying goes. Music doesn't feature in my existence and that's my choice. The difference between my fiction-loathing friend and me is that I'm not dismissive about what I don't enjoy. To dub all music bullshit would be ridiculous; it's a huge source of pleasure for many. I suspect that's what grated about my friend's comment. Fair enough if he doesn't enjoy fiction. But to brand all novels as bullshit strikes me as plain daft. Of course, some people pride themselves on a philistinic approach towards cultural matters, and that's their right. For me, however, fiction, especially in the form of novels, has enriched my life beyond measure. Let's examine five ways in which great novels enhance our lives. 1. They're a great means of entertainment and relaxation
2. Reading keeps our brains sharp, increases our cognitive skills and boost our vocabulary A study published in 2013 showed that fiction enhances connectivity within the brain, especially in the area of language. Makes sense, doesn't it? As we read, we're studying sentence construction and spelling without being conscious we're doing so. 3. Books can educate us An example is 'Sophie's World' by Jostein Gaarder. Clothed in the story of fourteen-year-old Sophie Amundsen lies a wonderful history of philosophical thinking, which teaches as it entertains. As mentioned above, I've also read Gaardner's novel 'The Castle in the Pyrenees', another educational read. This book focuses on a debate between a Christian and an atheist, examining issues such as the origin of the universe and life after death. All wrapped up in an intriguing story about the consequences of a hit-and-run accident in Norway. Education without the classroom! 4. Novels provide both social and political commentary
5. Novels, especially the classics, add beauty to life Lovers of Thomas Hardy's books thrill to his lyrical descriptions of the Dorset countryside. Fans of Charles Dickens marvel at his skill in creating characters, such as Wackford Squeers and the Artful Dodger. In adding beauty to our lives, books also contribute to our cultural heritage. Imagine a world without literature. For me, if not my fiction-hating friend, Earth would be a planet lacking the wonder that novels provide. Events such as the destruction of books under China's Qin Dynasty or the Nazi book burnings are akin to sacrilege for me. Works of cultural significance trampled under the boots of repressive regimes - it's no coincidence that the need to control and a hatred of the arts often walk hand in hand. Literature, when allowed to flourish, makes an invaluable contribution to our lives. As does music, for those who love it! Let's hear from you! What novels have you found educational? Do you agree that books enrich our lives and add beauty to them? Are there any roles books fulfil that I've not covered? Leave a comment and let me know! |
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