Phil Simpkin - Author

  After a review of current Amazon / Kindle pricing, printing costs, etc, and their impact on value for money for my readers who prefer print books, I was quite concerned as to how the size of 'Without fear of favour' had influenced such a high print copy cost, at over 450 pages. As a consequence, I have reviewed my draft of what will be book four in the Borough Boys series, and adapted into print book sized format, and already I am at 280 pages, with quite a bit left to fit in. I have eliminated as much superfluous material as possible to get it down to the current size, and set myself a limit of 400 pages, maximum, for my target to complete the work. I am still more than happy with the story / storyline, and the intrigue is still there, but I know it will be tough to keep with the target, as things presently stand. The good news is that I am still writing hard, and the end is definitely in sight!

 An interesting couple of days, exploring and developing new cover creator software. As a result I have now completed a more desirable effect for my series, and something a little less 'stark'. Books 2 & 3 have now redesigned covers for both Kindle books and Print books, and a design for what will be book 4 in both formats has also been completed. A glimpse of the revamped covers on 2 & 3 below...

  Who and what are 'The Borough Boys'? Who is Samson Shepherd? This is the commissioned artwork by Simon Marchini that forms part of the cover for my 'Borough Boys' series of novels. This is the man I wanted, just as I wanted him to look! Copyright Simon Marchini (c) 2013 Constable Samson Shepherd  will become the central character of my present series of stories, and in my first novel he makes his initial impact on Policing in the Borough of Leicester. Samson was brought up in Sutton Bonington, just over the Leicestershire border inside Nottinghamsire, where he lived with his parents and siblings. His father, a heavy drinking and violent agricultural labourer, has caused Samson to learn to fight, and Samson has become a seasoned pugilist, primarily to protect himself, his mother and his siblings. A keen artist and fisherman, he moved to Leicester, to join the Borough Police. This was as a result of the death in service of his uncle George, one of the original fifty con

  Current Books by this Author The three books currently in circulation under 'The Borough Boys' series are;- Jack Ketch's Puppets (2013) Death lurks in Cock Muck Hill (2013) Without Fear or Favour (2016) My other publication in circulation is;- Leicestershire Myths & Legend - in verse

2021 - a year of change   After a challenging year or two, 2021 offers a time for change, and shortly, time for a fourth book in my 'Borough Boys' series of novels. I have also made the decision to close my 1455bookcompany website, which was becoming more of a vanity asset. I will endeavour to make more use of my blog, and the Facebook page for 'The Borough Boys', and Twitter will be utilised for promotional purposes. I hope this does not disappoint. Thanks Phil 31/1/2021

The voices inside my head have finally started, once again. I have been struggling with how to adapt the work I have already undertaken on book four, which was not going the way I best wanted, wandering further and further away from any chance of links to what will become book five. Last night, Beddows and Shepherd started chatting away and provided me with a solution, and one which I had not considered, but will add perfectly to resolving my dilemma. Funny how a little reading can get my voices talking. Time to get book four back on track.