October 14, 2013

I had more entries for this competition than any other I’ve run. Coincidentally, I also had exactly six correct answers, which meant I didn’t have to do any sort of draw. Nice! There are 35 chapters in Thicker Than Water.

The six winners of an advance copy are:

• Dahviad Tierney from Co Tyrone;
• Susan McCracken from Peebles;
• Keith Owen from Bridgend;
• Margaret Kippen from Great Yarmouth;
• Adam Roberts from Northumberland;
• and Donna Jackson from Scunthorpe

The book is available to pre-order in all sorts of places:

If you want to know anything else, you can e-mail me and I’ll put you on my mailing list. You won’t get spam – only the odd update about releases/pre-orders/competitions, etc.

Monday, October 7, 2013

Thicker Than Water (Jessica Daniel book six) is out on October 24 and I have six paperback copies to give away.

Entry is completely free and all you need to do is guess the number of chapters in Thicker Than Water.

As a clue, it is between 30 and 50. Simply e-mail me using the subject “Competition entry” and let me know:

• Your name
• Your address
• Your guess

The closing date is Monday, October 14 at 6pm.

After that date, the six closest guesses will win a copy of the book. If more than six people get the answer correct, I will choose six at random from those.

You can’t enter if I know you personally – and only one entry per person (although if there’s more of you living in one house and you have different email addresses, you can have more than one per household).

I’ll post the winners’ names on the Facebook page and will email them personally.

THICKER THAN WATER (JESSICA DANIEL BOOK SIX)

(Coming: 24 October 2013)
When Cameron and Eleanor Sexton arrive home to find their babysitter missing but their child and property otherwise untouched, Detective Sergeant Jessica Daniel is sent on what she thinks is a fool’s errand to find out what happened.
But Jessica is left confused as the teenager’s body turns up in the bath of a different house seemingly at random – a puzzle which only deepens when a journalist points out that someone placed an obituary for him days before he went missing.
With one colleague leaving while another returns, plus a local businessman taking an unhealthy interest in her, Jessica turns to home to find the one person she can rely on. But is that trust misplaced?

• Available to pre-order as an ebook via: UK Kindle – iBookstore – Kobo – Google Play –
• Paperback: Amazon UK – Blackwells – Book Depository – Guardian Bookshop – Mail Bookshop – Pan Macmillan – Telegraph Bookshop – Waterstones – WH Smith

August 13, 2013

Jason Green’s life is changed for good after he is saved from a mugging by crime boss Harry Irwell. From there, he is drawn into Manchester’s underworld, where stomping into a newsagents and smashing the place up is as normal as making a cup of tea.
   But Jason isn’t a casual thug: he has a plan that doesn’t involve blowing his money on the usual trappings. That is until a woman walks into his life offering one thing that money can’t buy – salvation.

July 15, 2013

Almost exactly a year ago, I offered readers the chance to ask me a bunch of questions for a reader interview. I answered a fair few of them at the back of Jessica 4: Think of the Children.

I’m going to do the same for the back of Jessica 6: Thicker Than Water. This is your opportunity to ask me anything you like: About me, about the books, the characters, the plots, influences – anything. Be as creative as you want.

There is only one rule. When you ask, tell me your name and where you’re from. This can be as vague as you want – Joe Smith, Lancashire is fine, as is Joe Smith, Chorlton if you are happy to be more specific. Your name will be at the back of the book with your question and the answer.

I might not be able to use everything but I’ll put in what I can. I will only answer one question per person – but, if you prefer, you can ask two or three and I’ll pick my favourite.

When Thicker Than Water comes out in October, you’ll be able to skip to the back to see if your question has been answered.

Some of you might want to wait until you’ve finished Playing with Fire, so I’ll accept questions until 6pm BST on 18 August.

How to ask a question

If you are happy to ask in public, or if you want to see what others are asking, you can go through Facebook or Twitter – else email me.

Questions from last time:

-1- Do you agree with everything your characters say and do or is it just for fictional purposes?
-2- What is your favourite part of the series?
-3- Has your style of writing been modelled on anyone else’s?
-4- When you start writing a book, do you write a synopsis of the plot and characters, or do you just have a sudden brainstorm of an idea and start writing?
-5- What gave you the idea to create a character like Jessica Daniel? Her manners, her style, her way of thinking . . . she is quite peculiar but she is really close to reality.
-6- You managed to create a woman who is not just the typical fantasy image. How did you manage to conjure up such a character?
-7- Do you always know the end of the story when you start a book?
-8- How do you come up with the different characters in your books? Are they based upon people in your life?
-9- Who was your favourite or most memorable author growing up and why?
-10- Are there ever any points in the writing process when you decide on a certain point but then later go back and change it thinking it would fit better?
-11- Is there anything you wish you could have changed about the characters or storylines before they became so popular?
-12- Why are your books based in Manchester and why do you choose the specific locations?
-13- Where do you get the ideas for the stories from for your books?
-14- Do you create Jessica first and then build up the story and the plot around her and her colleagues?

June 22, 2013

The five winners of the competition to win an advance copy of Playing with Fire are:

• Laura Harmon from Hamilton;
• John Jarratt from Welwyn Garden City;
• James Inman from Cleckheaton;
• Andrew King from Nairn;
• Alan Budd from Lincoln

The word count of Playing with Fire is 90,608. Of the five, Laura was the closest, guessing 90,203.

• The book is available to pre-order as an ebook via: UK Kindle – iBookstore

You can e-mail me and I’ll put you on my mailing list. You won’t get spam – only the odd update about releases/pre-orders/competitions, etc.

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Playing with Fire (Jessica Daniel book five) is out on July 18 and I have five paperback copies to give away to readers.

Entry is completely free and all you need to do is guess the word count of Playing with Fire.

As a clue, it is between 85,000 and 105,000 words. For extra guidance, The Woman in Black is 104,644 words and Think of the Children is 89,770.

Simply e-mail me using the subject “Competition entry” and let me know:

• Your name
• Your address
• Your guess

The closing date is Saturday, June 22 at 6pm.

After that date, the five closest guesses will win a copy of the book. Simple as that.

You can’t enter if I know you personally – and only one entry per person (although if there’s more of you living in one house and you have different email addresses, you can have more than one per household).

I’ll post the winner’s names on the Facebook page and will email them personally.

PLAYING WITH FIRE (JESSICA DANIEL BOOK FIVE)

(Coming: 18 July 2013)
Seven years ago Martin Chadwick set fire to a Manchester pub, not knowing a teenager was sleeping inside. Chadwick’s release from prison is imminent, with journalists gearing up for a good old-fashioned media lynching.
With the victim’s father telling the papers he is out for revenge, DS Jessica Daniel is left to keep an eye on Chadwick and his fiery eighteen-year-old son.
If that’s not enough to keep her occupied, a private investigator is doing a fine job sticking his oar in, it looks like there’s a schoolgirl suicide ring in operation, her car is working a little too well, and the endless rain continues to pound her northern home.
Jessica’s personal and professional life is in the balance – giving her barely enough time to focus on the person in her midst seemingly intent on burning everything to the ground.

• Available to pre-order as an ebook via: UK Kindle – iBookstore

April 30, 2013

This post has been a long time coming – but I thought I’d give everyone an idea of what’s going on with me and my various series.

In short:
– Pan Macmillan have bought three more Jessica Daniel books from me, meaning they will publish a minimum of NINE in the series
– Jessica 5: Playing with Fire is out in the UK in ebook/paperback (Macmillan) /audiobook (published by AudioGo) on 18 July 2013
– The Jessica series launches in the USA in July 2013
– Jessica 6: Thicker Than Water should be out in the UK late in 2013
– Jessica 7: Behind Closed Doors will likely be out in the UK during the first third of 2014
– Jessica 8 / 9 will follow
– My young adult/sci-fi/fantasy series – the Silver Blackthorn trilogy – will begin to come out from spring/summer 2014, with the second book likely to be released later that year
– I am giving up my full-time job as a sports journalist to either, a) Retire; b) Be unemployed; or c) Be a full-time writer, depending on which way you look at it.

I know I said “in short” but there’s a fair bit there!

Essentially, I’ve been trying to juggle two full-time jobs for two years now – that’s 16- and 17-hour days, commuting, and many hours looking a computer screens. For the most part, I did that because I really enjoyed my job as a sports journalist and I liked writing books too.

With my job, I got to work on the London Olympics, which was utterly fabulous. That career was what I wanted to do with myself and I’ve had a great 10 years since I graduated.

The problem is that I simply cannot fit it all in any longer, so had to make a decision.

Think of the Children has (I’m told) done very well for the UK publishers, Pan Macmillan. As far as I know, I’m the only UK-born/based person to self-publish through Amazon and then go on to have a paperback in the UK’s top-20 chart (feel free to correct me).

I’ve also now sold over half-a-million books in the UK…and it’s all gone a bit beyond me sitting on my sofa trying to do two jobs.

That’s 12 books that Pan Macmillan will be publishing from me, with only four of them out at the moment. That still leaves quite a bit of work for everyone.

Something had to give – and it’s not the books, or, hopefully, my sanity.

Lastly, for anyone who enjoyed the Q&A at the back of Think of the Children, I’m doing another one for the back of Jessica 6. There will be a month-long window after the release of Jessica 5 to e-mail me whatever you want, or to post on the Facebook group’s wall.

Thanks for reading,
Kerry

March 30, 2013

A quick post to say that the winner of the Kindle competition is (drum roll)… Nicky Wright from Thornton-Cleveleys in Lancashire.

She took the picture below in Tesco, Blackpool, which shows Think of the Children at number three in their chart.

Thanks to everyone who entered – I had loads, as ever.

Jessica Daniel 5: Playing with Fire is out on July 18 and I’ll have some copies of that to give away in due course.

February 26, 2013

OK, so Think of the Children is *this* close to finally being out! In fact, the print version is already in stock on Amazon and in many bookshops.

To celebrate, I have a brand-new Kindle Touch 3G to give away. Entry is completely free and you don’t even need to do much. Simply e-mail me a picture of any of my books or, if you’re in Greater Manchester, one of the advertising posters. Examples are below.

Include:

• Your name;
• Your address;
• Where you took the photo, ie shop & place;

The books should be available in Tesco, Sainsbury’s, WH Smith, Waterstones and a bunch of other places. There are two scrolling banners in the Arndale centre if you live in Manchester, and around 90 train station posters around the north west. Photos of any of those count.

The closing date is (Good) Friday 29 March at 6pm – so you have loads of time to take your photos. They should be in enough places that you don’t really have to go out of your way.

Simply e-mail them and you get an entry into the draw. After that date, I’ll pick one entry at random – it’s not to do with quality of photo or anything like that.

You can’t enter if I know you personally – and only one entry per person (although if there’s more of you living in one house and you have different pictures and email addresses, you can have more than one per household).

I’ll post the winner’s name on here and on the Facebook group’s wall sometime over that Easter weekend.

EXAMPLES:

Think of the Children poster (taken by one of my mates!)

Think of the Children, Waterstones, Arndale, Manchester

Locked In – Waterstones, Arndale, Manchester

Locked In, Vigilante x2, Woman In Black, Waterstones, Arndale, Manchester

February 2, 2013

The title pretty much says it all.

I’m not sure what to say, really. The publishers haven’t even begun marketing, yet the fourth Jessica Daniel book, Think of the Children, is the no.1 pre-order on Kindle in the UK, a full four weeks before it’s even out.

This is entirely down to the many, many fabulous readers who have read the first three Jessica books and waited so patiently for its release since The Woman In Black was out in November 2011. I’ve been waiting too … I finished the first draft in the same month, so it’s been 16 months since then. I can barely remember half of what happens in it!

The good news is the Jessica 5: Playing with Fire is coming in July 2013. It has an amazing blow-you-away cover to look out for.

So, after a 16-month wait, you’ll have two Jessica books within five months. Whew.

Guess what? Jessica 6: [Title under wraps for now!] won’t be too far behind either.

Thanks so much to everyone who has pre-ordered it. Now I just hope you enjoy it.