A First Review for Dirty Work

So very pleased with this review for Dirty Work. It really can’t be said enough, reviews really do make an author’s day. Go on, readers,  write about the books you love and make an author happy!

‘Unsworth’s first novel – The Palaver Tree – will always be my favorite, because I too lived in Africa.

Her novel – Dirty Work – is another must read. The deceptively simple story of two couples morphs into a mystery with a number of surprising twists that kept me turning the pages. On the surface it would seem that Nathan, with all his money, his beautiful wife and stunning home, has the upper hand. Below the surface, however, things are churning – nasty things, that lead Nathan, his brother and his sister-in-law into a web they never could have imagined.

Well written with strong characterizations, great descriptions, and lots of action, Dirty Work is a story not to be missed if you like mysteries and even if you don’t.’

When I have time…

It’s Monday again, bringing that busy beginning of the week feeling with so much to achieve and only five (six?) (seven?) days to do it in.

Last evening I went through my to-do list. I don’t know about you but I probably need a whole month to get through my average week and, in order to make things look a bit more doable, I relegated a few of the not-so-urgent items  to dates a little further along in my diary. These range from things that definitely need to be done in the next week to those that must be done by the end of the month and a few that will be okay this side of Easter. They are mostly to do with writing/blogging.

But I was also reflecting on my ‘When I Have Time’ list and realised this one is quite a mixed bag. So, forthwith, (and in no particular order) here are some of the things I would like to fit in over the next few months:-

• Wax  the car – properly.
• Knit some fancy hot water bottle covers (fun gifts)
• Sow my seeds, Amongst other things, I am planning to grow bananas and papyrus from seed this year
• Get fit – I ran a half marathon in May 2016 and since then everything in the body department has gone to seed!
• Maybe get a kitten?  (Cleo would like a playmate)
• Make marmalade
• Spend time with my children/grandchildren
• Learn Portuguese
• Make a bed quilt
• Read everything
• Move house
• Take up Tai Chi

……….. But at the moment, I’m writing 🙂

20 Inspiring Pinterest Boards for Writers

Love this list of useful and inspirational board from Pinterest!

Happy New Year, Everyone!

It’s the eve of a new year and judging from many of the wonderful blogs I have had the privilege to read in 2016 quite a number of us will greet it gladly with anticipation of some better times in 2017.

So, to everyone, I want to wish all the very best. Here’s to hard work, strong relationships and a little luck to help us along the way, in 2017!

Happy New Year!

 

So, Bloggers, How Do You Do It?

It’s coming up to three months since I started my new, improved approach to blogging. I came out, admitted I had a few problems that had badly affected my focus on writing/blogging and declared my determination to do better.

Before that time I had gone through a period of reading many of the blogs I enjoy for entertainment or for the fantastic and informative posts, especially on writing and marketing, but I was a lurker, in the background, never taking part. That is not good , I know. It’s was not helpful to anyone but myself, but it was just the way it had to be at that time.

Now I feel I am on a roll. It’s small (for small read minute) by comparison to many, but I’ve posted reviews and a bit about myself and my books and the ideas are coming. But I watch with awe as the posts roll into my Reader or inbox and wonder, seriously, how do you do it?

Many of you have thousands of followers. I know many have full-time jobs and young children at home; I have neither and yet it seem so hard to keep up, make the comments I would like to make, not let people down who deserve comment on their marvellous posts, put together my own posts and write books and market them!

I know hard work and dedication are required and I am up for that but I also think that maybe you lovely people have some tricks of the trade that you might be willing to share?

This morning, just as I was about to sit down and write I received an email from Jenny at Jennyinneverland with a link to her lovely blog and her post on blogging. You can read it here. She is much further down the blogging line than I and has some interesting things to say after successfully completing a huge blogging challenge. It seems, though, that there are still questions to be answered. Maybe it’s  just our continual desire to improve wherever we happen to be in the game at a given time?

I want to thank everyone who has followed me so far and say that I hope to give back some of the really great and insightful things I have learned via blogging and some of the fun too. And if you do have any pearls of wisdom for this newbie I would be so grateful if you would share!

Let’s Talk About #BookReviews Day 2 #TuesdayBookBlog

Lots of encouragement and advice here in support of #AugustReviews. Go on, write a review – you know you want to!

August 2016 is Write An Amazon Review Month! By @TerryTyler4 #AugustReviews

In a previous post , the first that I hope will be of many, I confessed that I had written just 6 reviews in 2016, though I have read 40+ books. The year has not, so far, been a good writing one for me.
So I was delighted to read about the initiative below, just what I need to hustle me into action! I have set myself a little personal goal in August of at least ten books reviewed, posted to Amazon and other sites and tweeted with the hashtag #augustreviews. Thanks to Terry Tyler and co for coming up with such a great and useful idea!

Lit World Interviews

Hi all:

As some of you might know, apart of contributing to this blog and having my own blog, where I share reviews and other things, I’m also part of another group of reviewers, Rosie’s Book Review Team and one of the other members of the group, Terry Tyler, has had a fabulous idea to encourage people to post reviews. Below is the post! (And don’t forget to check both blogs, especially if you are interested in new books and enjoy reading reviews. And if you’re an author, you can also submit your book to Rosie’s site, here). And if you’re bloggers, don’t forget to spread the word and the love.

On Monday 25th July, book blogger Rosie Amber wrote this post encouraging readers and writers alike to post a short review on Amazon for any book they’ve read and enjoyed ~ following this up, Terry…

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