October 31, 2011

Someone who I know finished Locked In recently and told me he had something of a crush on Jessica. The conversation went a bit like this:
Him: I quite fancy Jessica actually.
Me: You do know she’s a figment of my imagination?
Him: Yeah, it doesn’t sound so good when you put it like that.

What we did agree on is that “my” Jessica is probably quite different from “his” Jessica because everyone reads the character differently. I’ve had a mix of genders tell me they like her and others who say they don’t. I guess some of it comes down to what you look for in a friend or someone you might be drawn to in real life.

In my mind Jessica is a strong woman on the outside who can be incredibly intimidating to anyone, male or female, colleague or criminal. But to a small group of people who really know her and, hopefully, the reader, there’s a vulnerable side to her too.

I had a review where someone said they were unhappy Jessica didn’t change her clothes because the reader felt male colleagues would have a reason to have a go at her. I responded, which I probably shouldn’t, to point out that things happen off-page. That’s true, of course, but the real point is that, in my mind, she simply wouldn’t care if someone did try to have a go at her. I think someone – particularly a male – would be taking their life in their hand if they tried.

I guess it’s my fault for not getting that across. Or, maybe, people do just read the same words in different ways?

I recently watched a movie called Crazy Stupid Love, which features Steve Carrell, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone.

I thought it was a pretty decent film – and definitely better than the poster/trailer made out. But the reason I mention it is because of a scene around two-thirds of the way through when Emma Stone has gone to Ryan Gosling’s house after promising to seduce him. Things don’t quite work out (I won’t spoil it) – but the actresses’ perfect mix of vulnerability and confidence is how I see Jessica.

It’s broken up by a cutaway back to Steve Carrell but, put together, if anyone is interested in “my” Jessica, that’s the scene to watch.

October 29, 2011
Wow. The number one bestselling book in the UK is mine. It is unbelievable and I have no idea what to say. It seems scarcely believable.

All I can really do is thank the people who have downloaded and enjoyed it. I’ve had some great emails and really nice correspondance. I’ve also been called “a one-man assault on the English language”, which I guess evens it out. Ultimately, as I’ve written before, I never set out to write something that I thought would end up being this popular. I just wrote something almost to prove that I could. I recently re-read Locked In and there are so many things I would do a little bit differently but perhaps it works because of that?

Either way, Vigilante is just outside of the overall top-20 on Kindle and, in its categories, is second only to Locked In. Book three, The Woman In Black, is out in around a month. I hope people enjoy that too. I’m still in a state of shock.

October 20, 2011

After a period of revision and editing (which included taking out one almost erroneous sentence that destroyed the entire book’s premise!) book three in the Jessica Daniel series is now nearly ready for release.

I am hoping to have it available as a digital download on November 25, 2011.

It will be a little more expensive than the first two books – but still cost under £3. Part of that is because it is longer. While books one and two are just under 100,000 words, The Woman In Black is almost 110,000. It might not sound like much but I do try to not just fill pages with waffle. It’s not ten per cent longer for the sake of it, it has that much more story in it.

The other side of is that writing has become a massive part of my life and, if I can make a little more from sales of the title, it will give me slightly more freedom to work and hopefully continue to create.

Rest assured, book four – Think Of The Children – will also cost less than £3 as a digital download when it’s available in 2012. I’m not looking to fleece people.

Meanwhile, as I’ve been busy working on books three and four, Locked In peaked at number two on the Kindle chart, while Vigilante has consistently been in the top-40.

Locked In has also been the number one mystery book on Amazon, while that and Vigilante are the top two crime novels featuring a female sleuth on the site.

I’ve had some very supportive emails and Tweets from people, which always make my day. Thanks to anyone who has contacted me and/or enjoyed the book. It makes it all worthwhile.

October 13, 2011
I didn’t realise it when it went live but the digital version of Locked In had conversion problems in it. The biggest thing was missed full-stops and closing speech marks at the end of the sentences. There were other errors of my own making too. I can only apologise to readers for those. I didn’t realise until I got a Kindle myself because my ‘master’ file was correct. It should now be fixed.

As of 10 October, a second edition went live on iTunes and Kindle which should address many, if not all, of people’s concerns.

Kindle does not automatically update you to the latest version but if people contact Amazon customer services and ask, they will send you the latest file for free to overwrite the edition you have on your device.

Unfortunately there is no other way of getting you the latest file. Simply deleting the original file and redownloading will only get you the version you had in the first place. This is Amazon policy because of the way notes and marks work.

From what I can tell, Vigilante is relatively unaffected.

Thanks for the constructive comments and emails.

September 27, 2011

While I’ve been busy writing Think Of The Children, Locked In and Vigilante have been doing really well on Kindle. Book one is currently at No.7 in the overall chart – and at No.1 in both the Police Procedural and Women Sleuth category. Vigilante is in the top five for both of those categories too and just inside the top-70 of all books on Amazon.

I’ve had more nice emails and lots of people seem to like Jessica.

I’m still finding it very surreal how the product of my imagination can literally be reaching thousands of people. It seems strange in retrospect but I never wrote Locked In thinking it would be read by so many people.

In a week or two, I will be returning to the completed draft of The Woman In Black.

September 26, 2011

… well sort of. It’s 10.30pm and the first draft is finished. The final third has been written in five mad days of more-or-less non-stop writing. It’ll need editing and rewriting and so on but actually having a working draft is just brilliant.

It’s a little bit different to the other three but I don’t want to give too much away. There’s a lot of Jessica in it.

It’s roughly the same length as Locked In, which means it’s a tiny bit shorter than Vigilante. Book 3: The Woman In Black, which is at second-draft stage, is quite a bit longer than all of the other three.

For word-count fans, I’ll give you this:
Locked In: 98,200
Vigilante: 99,500
The Woman In Black: 108,500 (second draft)
Think Of The Children: 96,000 (first draft)

As you can see, there isn’t much between books 1, 2 and 4. When I was around halfway through writing Book 4, I knew it was going to be slightly shorter. I figured I could either fill the middle section with waffle, or just be honest with it. It still needs an edit and bits will go in and come out.

At some point in the not too distant future, I hope people will be able to enjoy it.

September 20, 2011

I hit Amazon UK’s top-20 overall today and am currently the No.1 Police Procedural novel, as well as the No.1 novel featuring a female sleuth. I am also still in iTunes/iBooks’ top-10.

On top of all that, I received a really nice email today, which is here:

Hi kerry

Just want to say I have just finished reading both Locked In & Vigilante. I thoroughly enjoyed both and felt you have made the second title even better than the first.

I spent 32 years as a working Policeman so have a pretty good knowledge of Police procedure. I believe you dealt with the procedural matters in a way that was quite factual but remained entertaining, not an easy task I’m sure.

I have recommended that my wife reads both novels and i am sure she will enjoy them as much as I did.

I look forward to the release of your third title The Woman In Black.

Thanks for the entertainment,

Regards

September 18, 2011

Locked In has been creeping up the Kindle charts over the past week. It made the top-40 overall this weekend but, perhaps more significantly, hit the No.1 slot in the Women Sleuths category.

As a bit of a coincidence, I live in the same town as Neil White, whose books I would recommend and is in second and third on that chart.

September 15, 2011

While I’ve been working as and when I have time on Think Of The Children, Locked In and Vigilante have really started to take off on Amazon.

Locked In has hit the Kindle top-50 for the first time, while Vigilante is just outside of the top-250, although it is in the top-10 for Police Procedurals.

The paperback version of Vigilante should be out by the end of the year too.

September 12, 2011

Vigilante in the top-20 of its categories

Think Of The Children is now around half-complete in terms of its first draft. It’s not necesarily been harder to write than the other three but I’ve had less consistent time to get into it, meaning I’ve only had an hour here or there to work. I suspect the revision and editing period will be quite brutal when it comes down to it.

Meanwhile, Locked In has had a record weekend on Kindle. With no external coverage, it has re-entered Amazon’s overall top-100 books and broken into the top-five for each of its categories.

Sales on Vigilante have also been doing well, which is particularly pleasing as you’d have to assume most of the people buying book two are people who have read and enjoyed book one.

Either way, I’m really pleased. I hope people continue to enjoy both books.

Locked In has spent four days in the overall top-100

Locked In at No.99