WordFest Crawley

Just a quick plug for WordFest beginning this weekend in Crawley. A whole week of fab literary events is planned, including everything from an illustrative lettering workshop to an open mic night to author panel events...which is where I come in.

On Saturday 2nd April, I'll be doing a 'Meet the Crime Writers' panel discussion with fellow Headline author Julia Crouch as well as Peter Lovesey and Andrew Martin. We'll be talking about our books - we're all quite different in terms of what we write - the writing process and how we ramp up the tension. Of course, it wouldn't be a panel event without lots of questions from the audience, so come along and give us a good grilling!

The event is being held in the Food Court at County Mall, Crawley and begins at 6.30pm. Tickets are £3 each and you can buy our books there too - and get them signed, of course!

Hope to see you there!
Sam x

World Book Night in Crawley

Live in or around Crawley? Then why not pop along to Waterstone's and get me to sign a book (preferably one that I wrote, although I'm happy to sign anything really). I'll be there from 4PM with copies of SOMEONE ELSE'S SON and fellow Headline author Julia Crouch.

Here's a link to County Mall where you'll find Waterstone's at 83-84 County Mall, Crawley, West Sussex RH10 1FD Telephone 01293 533471.

Then...it's off to Crawley Library for an event for World Book Night. It starts at 6.30PM and costs a mere £3 which includes a free book (Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell or Shadow Magic, a young adult book by John Lenahan) so you can't say fairer than that. Plus I'll be reading from my latest novel along with several other authors.

Crawley Library is on Southgate Avenue, Crawley - close to County Mall (exit via Debenhams). The postcode for SatNavs is RH10 6HG. Contact the Box Office on 01293 651751.

If you think about it, you can come to the signing in Waterstone's, grab an early supper (or carry on shopping) then come on over for a glass of vino and some quality fiction. Sorted!

See you there!
Sam x

Another one from Russia with love...

Russian cover of TELL TALE - 'THE INFORMER'

This time it's Big Bird and a little ballet dancer but oh how I love it, despite it being rather sinister-looking! It's the cover of Tell Tale and my Russian contact (aka my Dad's wife - see my piece in the Sunday Times Style magazine this week for more on that story!) informs me that it translates as, well, The Informer. Quite fitting. I seriously would love all my Russian covers as big framed pictures in my house. Of course, put these images on my books in the UK and my readers would stand in the bookshops scratching their heads wondering what on earth I'd written about. If you take a flick down the side of my blog you can see how the different countries have their very unique ideas for covers, with the German edition of Tell Tale (The Forbidden Room) looking quite different to the previous two.

And soon I'll be adding Dutch and Norwegian covers with the ink still wet on contracts for more titles sold in these countries.

I'm now a paid-up official member of the Crime Writers' Association (why didn't I join before, I'm asking myself?) and I'm very excited about going along to my first get-together and meeting other members. I hear that they like the bar. I'm not sure they mean the legal one.

Meantime, I'm nearly done ploughing through an office stuffed full of paperwork and accounts - it suffers for my art, you see (well that's my excuse) and I will be starting work on my new novel next week. I've been tinkering and planning and plotting for several weeks now and I'm ready to begin in earnest. I'm not keen on the little gaps between books but alas they are necessary to sort the mess that grows while I'm immersed in writing. I think new curtains and a lick of paint might well be in order too. I may even post a pic of the 'writer's workspace' if it turns out well. I'm always intrigued to see other writer's places of creation.

Sam x

Nice Review from Downunder

A little trumpet-blowing never hurt anyone on a Friday afternoon. I've just been sent a nice review from Australian Women's Weekly so thought I'd share in the hope it will tempt you to dash out and buy my new book, SOMEONE ELSE'S SON. Have a great weekend all!

Sam x

Click on image to enlarge

A bit of book stalking

So She-Devil and I did a little bit of book stalking at the weekend. Hey, tell me an author who doesn't? Or vanity-google (or lay in bed really late - ahem). Here are a couple of pics. And did you see my fab book trailer yet? Go to my website to take a look. There's a link on the main page. Not following me on Facebook or Twitter (@samhayes) yet? Please do! Oh, and you can buy my book online here.

In good company WH Smith

Youngest She-Devil doing a bit of promotion work

It might look as if I did an impromptu, in-store reading...

SOMEONE ELSE'S SON Out Now In Paperback!

So it's been that kind of day again...a paperback publication kind of a day - yay! SOMEONE ELSE'S SON is released into the wild. You can buy it at WH Smith in the chart section of their shops and of course from Amazon...or, dare I say it, you can find it in your local library. Assuming you can still find your local library.

The theme of this book was clear from the outset. It's about being different, about not fitting in, about being true to yourself and your beliefs. The main characters, from famous daytime TV presenter Carrie Kent to blind mathematician Brody to the two teenagers and their love-hate affair, all suffer for their differences, their quirks, their circumstances.

The book opens with a tragic event. A teenager is stabbed in his school grounds. Knife crime is something we read about almost daily in the news and every time it makes me shudder. I'm a mother of three (two of them teens) and, not long after I began writing this book, I was shocked to find my home town silenced from fear as yellow police crime tape cordoned off a section of our town centre one Sunday morning. A young man had been stabbed to death only a short distance from our home. Yet we all think This will never happen to me...

Carrie Kent believes just that and is thankful on a daily basis that she's nothing like the no-hopers she interviews on her Jeremy-Kyle-meets-Crimewatch TV show. But then she gets the call every mother dreads--her son has been stabbed at school--and she's suddenly plunged into a nightmare she'd always believed happened to other people. The only witness is a girl too terrified about consequences to speak out. Determined to find answers, Carrie enters an unknown world of fear and violence and gradually discovers things about the son she clearly knew little about. The novel asks: Do we really ever know our children?

Even after four books, it's still a thrill to know that a book I wrote is Out There, being bought, being read, being reviewed, being talked about. Be sure to let me know what you think as there's nothing better for an author than the sound of the inbox pinging with some nice (hopefully!) words. Enjoy! (Although it's quite sad in places so have a box of tissues close.)

Meantime, I've finished next novel. Haha to 'finished' but it now lies in the hands of Lovely Agent and I will await comments without destroying my non-existent nails. You hear about authors saying 'This book wrote itself' - well, of course it didn't - *I* wrote it, but it seemed to have a momentum all its own. I began it during the second week of Septemeber last year and finished the first draft at the end of November. At a hundred and twenty thousand words, that's physically no mean feat, but it's true that the story flowed faster than my fingers could manage. I even have high hopes that no one will chew the end of their pencil over the title on this one. Not saying owt yet but news to follow soon.

I have a number of events coming up this year and a couple of panels with some other lovely writers (does that mean I'm lovely too - oops!). I'm planning on attending Harrogate Crime Festival in the summer and also Crimefest in the middle of May. I had the pleasure reading a fellow Headline author's debut novel recently and I'll be posting a review of CUCKOO here soon. But why not take a look at the author Julia Crouch's site and blog to find out how she got published. NaNoWriMo was involved. We'll be doing a panel event together soon along with author Barbara Nadel. Details to follow soon.

Happy reading!

Sam x

Happy Publication Day to me!

Yay...the hardback of SOMEONE ELSE'S SON is published today. And to celebrate (apart from chocolate with my coffee...heavens, I know how to live it up) here's a link to my fabulous new book trailer.

Do let me know what you think! It will be on my website very soon and on Amazon etc. It's weird but very cool to see images that literally seem to have come from my head when I was writing this book suddenly translated into a video clip. And talking of book trailers, it's still not too late to vote for your fave from the four finalists over on the Foyle's Book Video Awards site...cough ....vote S J Bolton...cough...

A nice review from the Northern Echo here and a reminder of the competition over at the Euro Crime site to win a hardback copy of my new book. Another competition at the wonderful Book Club Forum site but hurry as this one ends today! Michelle from BCF has also written a review and you can read it here.

There's also going to be a review in the Sun this Friday I believe and also in Bella and Stylist magazines as well as the Daily Mail at some point. And finally some other nice news to reveal...TELL TALE has sold to Norway!

Sam x

Foyles Book Trailer Awards

Being the seat-of-the-pants gal that I am, I totally meant to blog about this before now. But totally didn't. Anyway, better late than never...so I insist that you go immediately to the Foyles website and take a look at the amazing (and I do mean amazing!) book trailers that have made it into the final of the 2010 video awards.

There are four finalists and each clip is of such a high standard, you'd think they were for a major Hollywood production. I've already voted for my favourite, Blood Harvest by S. J. Bolton. Sharon tells me "A very talented young German student has produced a fabulous trailer for my latest book and it's got through the the final four of the Awards." A talented student indeed - just look at it! Seriously sinister. And being a CWA finalist for the Gold Dagger award makes this book doubly exciting.

Why am I so enthused by book trailers currently? Because I've been trying to 'direct' a trailer for my latest book. I tell you, it's easier to write the damn book than it is to chop it up into three second clips and come up with a few punchy words. Of course, with a budget of exactly zero pounds, it is proving...interesting. But thanks to the resourcefulness and talent of my techie other half, we very nearly have a minute and a half of gritty trailer to let loose very soon for this week's publication of SOMEONE ELSE'S SON.

Meantime, as I said, I insist you hop over to the National Book Video Awards voting page before OCTOBER 15th (this coming Friday!), take a look at the clips, agree with me whole-heartedly about S.J. Bolton's being the best...and vote! It only takes a second and actually gets you very excited about reading the books. And for more information on Sharon and her thrillers, she has a fab website and blog here.

And talking of trailers...I'll soon be posting news of an exciting 'blog trail' where you can read excerpts from my new novel!
Sam x

Library Events

Just a quick mention of two libraries that's I'll be visiting in October. On 20th October I'll be at Dudley Library between 10am and 12 noon talking about SOMEONE ELSE'S SON.

Then on 21st October (evening) I'll be at Rugby Library with Judith Allnatt discussing our work, including my new book. Our styles and subject matter are very different indeed so should make for a varied and interesting evening! Contact the library for details on 01788 533250.

TGIF

It's been a funny old week. One where lots has been done but has left me wondering if anything's actually been achieved. As for actual creative words, there have been some - mostly in the form of New Novel - and some in the form of a Christmas (yes Christmas!) short story. What I really need to get my head around (and dear agent, forgive me if you're reading this) is a synopsis.

The synopsis is a strange thing. The dictionary says it's a brief summary of the main points of a written work. Absolutely correct, of course, but it's way more than that when you're trying to capture not only the main plotlines and how they all hang together, but also convey the tone, setting, suspense and feel of the novel. And really, no one likes to read a synopsis that's more than a couple of pages long. Lengthy descriptions of characters and scenery are a big no-no and the worst bit is, you have to give away the ending. When you don't even know it. Hence synopsis-avoidance syndrome in my house this week.

With the Frankfurt Bookfair (don't you love 'Buchmesse'?) drawing near, much talk in the trade mags is about ebooks and pricing and basically how it's all going to work. When ebooks were just a twinkle in the publisher's eye, no one really knew how it would pan out. Now it's panning, potentially quite nicely, authors just want it to be fair. For everyone. We all work hard. Everyone has a part to play. I have a Sony ereader and to be honest, I don't use it nearly as much as I should. Not because I prefer the feel of a book (although that's nice) but because I can't get the books I want for it at a reasonable price. But hark at me, the author, complaining about high prices! We all expect £4 supermarket paperbacks to be the norm since the NBA did a runner. What do we expect with ebooks? The truth is, I don't think anyone really knows yet.

I got rather excited yesterday when a delivery man called with the familiar boxes that I knew instantly contained my hardback author copies of SOMEONE ELSE'S SON. I lugged them into the kitchen, snipped the tape and spent an indulgent few moments handling them very carefully. They smell and look gorgeous. And eldest She-Devil was delighted when she saw the dedication. This one's for her.

Talking of the hardback, as I type it's now reduced by £5 on Amazon. A bit of a bargain for such a quality read so why not get ahead of yourselves and bag a few for Christmas pressies? Pre-ordering is easy and you'll receive your copies mid-October. Plus, if you email me your address and what you want me to say, I'll personalise and sign a book plate for you to include. A treat for you or a loved-one. (Sorry, I'm a serious sales slut at the moment.)

So the week's drawing to a close and I'm off to gather the harvest. She-Devil # 1 asked me to bring 'stuff' to school as a matter of urgency for Sunday's harvest festival. Here's me thinking giant home-grown marrows (of which there are none so it would be off to the market) and bunches of fresh carrots are a good idea. But no, they want tins and packets. Doesn't exactly conjure images of thankful farmers praying to the veg gods but hey, it allows me to clear out the cupboard (all in date, of course) and dontate to the cause.

Have a good weekend, all, and I'll be back soon with dates of library visits and other booky stuff.

Sam x