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.
Promoting an author writing Victorian crime and murder novels, with a timeline in 19th century Leicester -'The Borough Boys' series. Book one, 'Jack Ketch's Puppets', introducing Samson Shepherd. Book two, 'Death lurks in Cock Muck Hill'. Book three, 'Without Fear or Favour'. New works always in progress.
Sunday 21 February 2021
More news on book four - and pricing print books
Thursday 11 February 2021
2021 - an impending fourth novel, and a revamp of books 2 & 3
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...
Monday 1 February 2021
A recap - the Characters and Locations that my series is based upon...
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 constables in the Force, during Chartist riots in 1842. Samson is tall, red headed (don't call him ginger), strongly built, with a sharp brain, and hard hands. A twice broken nose gives him a noticeable appearance, young and soft, but with something more hardened suggested. Keen to learn, quick to observe, and with an impressive memory, he is destined to become one of Leicester Police's finest. Teamed up with his mentor, John Beddows, a rugged copper, previously reduced in rank for a fondness of 'the drink', they are to make a formidable pairing. Beddows is a street hardened cop with loads of experience, and knows all the ropes. They will learn from each other and grow into a notable crime fighting team! Also, meet the real coppers of 1850's Leicester, Robert Charters, Francis 'Tanky' Smith, 'Black Tommy' Haynes and co, who add colour to my stories. Who is John Beddows?John Beddows is one of the original fifty officers employed by Leicester Borough Police in 1836. Promoted to a Sergeant for his exemplary courage and knowledge, he was previously 'busted' to Constable second class due to his thirst for Ale, as was so common a curse in this period of Leicester's history. Now a hard but fair detective sergeant he is Sam Shepherd's mentor, and he takes Sam under his wing, demonstrating the skills Sam would need to not only thrive, but to survive, in a pretty lawless and violent emerging Industrial Town. Stocky, craggy, battle-scarred and hard, he is a fearsome adversary, and backs down to nobody. My real 'Crushers' - Francis 'Tanky' Smith, 'Black Tommy' Haynes & Robert Charters.Not only was Tanky Smith Leicester's first private detective, he began his career as one of the first Police Detectives in The Borough of Leicester Police. He and his partner in crime, Thomas 'Black Tommy' Haynes feature in my series 'The Borough Boys'. It is thought by many that because of his mastery of disguise, to infiltrate Leicester's Victorian gangs, he was the basis for much of Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. Tanky Smith ultimately left the Borough Force and became a Private Investigator, of note, but he will feature accurately in 'The Borough Boys' series until the timeline says otherwise! 'Black Tommy' (The name sounds really sinister, but there is nothing to substantiate anything sinister at all) will feature, likewise. Robert Charters joined The Borough Force in January 1840, on recommendation from The Metropolitan police, and served as Head Constable (The Borough's equivalent of Chief Constable), until October 1871. From Peelers to PandasImage copyright Ben Beazley Much of my research would not have been possible without the help of a former colleague of mine, Ben Beazley, who sadly passed away recently. Not only did Ben help with background information, but also with actually writing and publishing considerations. Ben wrote a wonderful account of Leicester Borough Police, and its transition to Leicester City Police, and ultimately through its merger into Leicestershire Constabulary (what would be Leicestershire Police, as it is today). My respect goes out to Ben for his endeavours, which have helped me tremendously, working out what these guys must have gone through, from the humble beginnings of 1836. Ben's book can still be purchased via the link below. It is full of brilliant facts and information covering the whole timeline that 'The Borough Boys' will live through! http://www.amazon.co.uk/Peelers-Pandas-Illustrated-History-Leicester/dp/1859832318 A site for great images of what Victorian Leicester really looked like... |
A short promotion - Book four - 'A few silver threads'
Hi folks; For your information, I am running a promotional event on both Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com, for the next week only. During that t...
-
The old Borough map circa 1860 Looking towards 'The King & Crown' Inn from St Martins West The original Leicester In...
-
This series of interviews is a little different to others, as each question was posed to my ‘victims’ on an individual basis, and in many...