Hi there Ripperists,

 It seems an age since the last update, but fear not, the book is having its final edit with my fabulous editor Sarah Caughie and then it’s off to INKSHARES.  I’ve been watching other books in the throes of publishing from the sidelines, and one thing is obvious. Publishing a book isn’t as swift as an arcing blade.  But nonetheless, it will be published swifter than  human gestation.  There is a cure for tardiness tho’… Simply send your email to me at touchwoodpicturesltd@hotmail.com with the heading Louisiana Blood Beta Reviewer and I will send you a directors cut of the novel via PDF, or if I get up to speed a Mobi or whatever file is trending.  You can then thank me dear readers by leaving a review on Amazon.com. or Amazon.co.uk, Barnes and Noble and Goodreads when my book is published. You will of course still get a paperback or download if you ordered them in the future. Thank you all for your support and your patience! Mike Donald

Hi there followers.  

I just thought I’d send a quick update to all you fans as I haven’t done one for a while.  At present I’m doing my final edit before handing it off to the folks at INKSHARES.  I’m working with the wonderful Sarah Caughie, alias best selling author Sarah Bryant  you can check out her Amazon page by clicking on her name link.  She’s a great choice for Quill members if you want to sharpen up your work prior to sending it off to Inkshares.  

I’m aiming for a publication date of early in the new year as I opted to avoid the Christmas (other festivals are available) bun fight and give my work the chance to miss being swamped by cookery books!  Also, it would appear that Inkshares is going through various changes, some of which have impacted on the speed of publishing process.  

Quill members I have been in touch with are finding it difficult to get a publication date from management, and without that information it would not be possible to mount a synchronised marketing plan...something essential for Quill authors in charge of their own campaigns.                       

A restructured royalty package also came with the possibility of marketing support for Quill  authors.  So until Inkshares has addressed that situation, and become able to give accurate publication dates, I think it best to use the time for editing Louisiana Blood rather than adding to their burden.  When I see things starting to move, and authors I know being given dates I will hand my novel over to Inkshares for final tweaks.

On a good note I see that Louisiana Blood is number one in the mystery charts!   I intend to make the follow up, BRUGES BLOOD as big a success!    Thank you all for your support, and anybody that wishes to snap up a copy cheap, go HERE.


Small update. First editing session now over. This will soon be off to the team at inkshares for the various stages before publication.  Now can I ask a small money free favour?  I’d like all my 250 followers to "follow" me over at the follow up site BRUGES BLOOD --- the next Chandler Travis and Duke Lanoix mystery.  All you have to do is click the link and FOLLOW me.  

Here’s the link  BRUGES BLOOD  thank you all so much for getting LOUISIANA BLOOD  published!  And here’s the cover for the next mystery.



Welcome followers to my literary swamp! 

Once more,  I’d like to thank all of you for your input into the novel, the cover, and my prose...all of it is useful and helps with the bestseller trajectory I’m aiming for.  

This is the latest and final cover before we launch.  I’d also like to use this update to point you towards the geniuses behind the cover design.  John Robin and Ave at Dreamscape Cover Designs.         

Contact them HERE    They did some fantastic work and were fast, and a pleasure to work with.  If you need a great cover for your book...and who doesn’t!  I suggest you check these guys out.  They are also getting into website design so bear that in mind when you speak to them.

I’d also like to point you towards Peter Ryan’s new book Destiny Imperfect which is punching above it’s weight in the present NERDIST competition.  It’s a fantastic read so why not hop over to his site and help push him up the ladder, he needs a few more pre-orders to keep him in the top three, preferably no 2!   So go  HERE and help the man out.  

And now...drum roll. THE COVER!

Joni Dee · Author · edited over 7 years ago · 1 like
Great cover Mike !! Good job Girl Friday team!  Can’t wait for my signed copy! 

Jus a small update. 


Editing is progressing well and I will soon be handing over to the team at INKSHARES, but big news...new cover!  Check it out and let me know what you think? 


 

Hi knife wielding followers, 

just a little splash of news, I have now been officially welcomed into the hallowed halls of Quilldom...there was a lot of funny handshakes and strange creatures in masks, but it’s all over now and I am awaiting my mission instructions before the next stage.  

I am also piqued to discover that I am number one in the mystery community...which I’m sure is a whole heap better news than a lower number...unless the scoring is rather like POINTLESS in which case more is less if that makes sense...

Anyway, I should also take this opportunity to steer you in the direction of a stonkingly great read by Peter Ryan, smash hit author of Sync City...his latest work is called Destiny Imperfect and is one of the two books I’m supporting this month and beyond.  So check it out or tell a friend!  DESTINY IMPERFECT 

The other book I love is called PROXY, if you like the idea of a collection of pop artists selling their souls to live forever, than this might just be you cup of tea...


Hi blood soaked followers!

I’ve changed the first chapter to better set up the area our story is set in, comments more than welcome.  

DEVIL’S SWAMP, LOUISIANA – Oct 1st, 1893

 Devil’s Swamp lay ten miles north of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Very few people passed through it and even fewer visited. The rancid stench from the methane gas bubbling up from the rotting vegetation was one thing; but the desolate swamplands also wore an eerie cloak of melancholy on even the brightest of days.  The source of its name, if not its atmosphere stretched back through the centuries to 1776. 

A German emigrant had cleared some land alongside the bayou, felling cypress trees and scrub. The next day he took a wrong turn into another bayou in his canoe only to see what looked like the exact same land he had cleared, including the specific Cypress trees he knew he had felled, back up again, untouched by his axe.  Not knowing he had taken a wrong turn he believed an evil spirit had caused everything to be returned to it’s original state in a single night…he fled the area never to return, and since then it had been known as Devil’s Swamp.

 Tongues of lightning flickered from the sullen clouds above, bleaching the dark swamp waters either side of a muddy track; throwing harsh shadows across the desolate landscape.  Mangrove roots shuddered in the howling wind, grey tentacles writhing in pain. Through torrents of rain, a black coach with a steamer chest roped to its back, raced ahead of the approaching storm.

The pale, frightened faces of five women stared out from the coach into the gloom.  The driver whipped the horses with grim desperation. His face a ravaged mask framing coal black eyes. A studded leather collar barely covered the livid rope burns around his throat.

Suddenly the wind and rain ceased. They were in the eye of the storm. The coach shuddered to a halt. A skein of cloud tore across the moon, revealing a ghostly silvered landscape. Dark swamp waters shimmering in its pale light.  Beneath the banks of the track, something moved. The hooded eyes of an alligator stared balefully into the night. The horses snorted, eyes rolling with fear. The alligator sank back below the surface.

Inside the coach, the weary women huddled together; it looks like they’ve been to hell and back. They wear identical red scarves around their necks. One of them, blonde haired with an ethereal beauty, looks out of the coach window.  A sudden gust of wind rips the scarf from her neck. Sends it floating up into the sky, a blood red wound cutting into the dark clouds above.

The driver climbs down from the carriage -- reaches into his jacket and pulls out a pistol. He heads purposefully towards the door of the coach. The blonde girl starts to scream. Her voice snuffed out as a wall of grey water engulfs them. Coach and horses cease to exist as the maelstrom sweeps everything before it.

Hi you blood thirsty lot. 

I’m just updating you all with what’s going on in my world. I’m finishing a final edit before joining the Quill gang and getting the publishing boat launched for Louisiana Blood.         As some of you may know, I’m also writing the follow up called  Bruges Blood as well.  What would be really great is if you could all take a spin over to the Bruges Blood site for that book and become a follower over there. By all means also leave any comments, it’s thanks to you that the book is being published and I’d like you all onboard for my reader update when I gear up to promote  BRUGES BLOOD.  

You can check it out and follow me by clicking HERE!    

Also while I have your attention there are a couple of books that you might like to throw some credits at as they are all first class reads.

The author of SYNC CITY is not resting on his laurels either and has a cracking Sc-Fi project in the works DESTINY IMPERFECT check it out! 

Another great novel I love is Pixilated Obsidian Roses  As the universe draws to a close, two young men befriend the mysterious Shedim, and their parallel worlds begin to converge--an experimental dark fantasy, in the vein of Lovecraftian Cosmic Horror. 

Check Pixilated Obsidian Roses out HERE

And finally,  another great genre mashup. Check out  SEVEN DAYS DEAD a brilliant new slant on a Zombie outbreak set against the backdrop of a middle east conflict.  Christopher has done a fantastic job of injecting something fresh into the undead genre and he deserves to succeed in getting this published.  Take a bite out of his novel and tuck in! 

Okay, that’s my update.  Look forwards to seeing you all over on the side of Bruges Blood! 



Thank you all for your support. Things have been progressing well...I’m just sending a quick Round Robin for a good friend of mine as it is a good cause and time sensitive. So those of you who aren’t his followers already feel free to back the cause.  And do it now!  

There are fewer than 24 hours before the Canadian government stops matching donations to the Red Cross for the Alberta wildfire recovery efforts. This is fewer than 24 hours to take advantage of Ottawa’s generosity and help out the good folk of Fort McMurray. You buy Sync City in the next 24 hours, and I give $5 to the Red Cross. The Canadian government matches this. Hit this link :www.inkshares.com/books/sync-city  pre-order and help the people out!

Thank you all for your support! 

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