Want to receive free Awesome Indies e-books?

Awesome Indies Books invites you to join our Read to Review program. If you sign up, once a month we will email you details of the Awesome Indies approved books that are up for review. You then have two weeks to let us know if you’d like to read any of them. The author will then send you the book in whatever file suits your ereader.

In return for this FREE READ you agree to:

• Post a review on the Awesome Indies Book site, Amazon, and on one other review site (eg your blog, B&N, Kobo, or Goodreads) within two months of receiving of the book.
• The review should be a minimum of 100 words and include the following at the end: I received this book free from Awesome Indies Books in return for an honest review.
• When completed, email the administrator the links to your review on the three sites. If for some reason you didn’t finish the book or don’t feel you can review it for any other reason, then please let us know why. If after two months you don’t leave a review and we don’t hear from you, we will remove you from the reviewers list.

All the books you’ll be offered have already passed Awesome Indies approval—that means they’re good. Though you may not like a book, we can guarantee they’ll be well-written and edited. Two of my books, The Englishman and Coffee and Vodka, have been awarded Awesome Indies Approval badge.

Sign up here to start reading FREE Awesome Indies books now!

Quality Books for Only 99 Cents!

If you're looking for critically-acclaimed contemporary fiction ebooks, a number of them are on sale now until the New Year, including Coffee and Vodka for only 99 cents!

Coffee and Vodka is only 99 cents
for a limited time only!

Over at Awesome Indies the Holiday Bonanza Sale has just started, so pop over and see contemporary fiction at UNBEATABLE low, low prices. This sale won't go on forever. Fill your Kindle now!

The Englishman in paperback - nearly!

Yes, you read it correctly, The Englishman is very, very nearly out in paperback.

When I received the proof copy in the post last Thursday, I felt quite emotional. This is the first time one of my novels is in proper print, ink on paper, and the feeling of holding my own written words in my hands (or arms, I was hugging the book at this point!) was overwhelming.

When, later, I spoke with Big Sis over Skype about how proud I felt about the book, but also silly for being so emotional (I was again pressing the novel to my chest), she very wisely said, 'Of course you feel like that! You're realising your dreams!'

I've been thinking about her comment since, whilst dealing with some last minute issues with the printed copy. Those words have given me strength and a belief that I am indeed doing the right thing.

Once the small hitches have been ironed out, I'll be able to give you a final publishing date. Hold the front page!

For those of you who can't wait for the paperback copy, The Englishman is already available on Kindle. Just click on picture below.

An Awesome Magical Mystery Tour

The Awesome Indies is having a Magical Mystery Tour from the 27^th to the 30^th September. The tour highlights some of the magical and mysterious books listed on the Awesome Indies.

Take the tour for a chance to pick up some special offers and win some awesome prizes at  the blogs participating in the tour. At the end of the tour you get to enter the Giveaway for an  Amazon gift card. (First prize is a $25 card, second prize is $15 and third prizes is a $10 card.)

All you have to do is start at the Awesome Indies, follow the links from blog to blog, read the story and pick up the clue to the mystery key to enter the draw when you get back to the Awesome Indies.

Every book you buy from the tour gets you an extra 5 entries into the draw. Like all books listed on the Awesome Indies, these books have all been checked for quality and approved as being the same standard as mainstream published books.

Start the tour now by clicking HERE

The tour begins at 00.00 hrs on the 27th September  Pacific Daylight Time.

4 reasons why I'll never forget 2012

Another year is nearly over and after such an eventful 2012 in London (Olympics etc!), personally I too have had quite a remarkable year. Here are the four major reasons why.

1. In January '12 we finally took the plunge on the property market and moved into our own flat in Crouch End. I cannot describe to you how wonderful it was to set my roots down again. (A few mishaps like being shut out on the balcony not withstanding) In the last 11 months or so we have grown to really love this part of North London, from its pubs (The Maynard Arms and The Queens), to its award winning coffee shops (The Haberdashery and The Blue Legume) to its fishmongers (Walter Purkis and Sons). The End is truly a lovely place to live.

2. The year 2012 also saw the first ever Crouch End Festival, a feat of local arts in the form of music, literature, dance, performance, bunting displays around the Broadway and much, much more. The festival broke all records for both the supply of events and spectators, but to me it was a fantastic way to get to know the local arty folk. (It's reputed that over 40% of the people living in N8 are working in the creative industries - no wonder I feel so at home here). I cannot wait for the 2013 Festival which I'm lucky again to be involved in.

3. The year 2012 was also significant for me because I published my first ebook, The Englishman. As well as having wonderful support from many of my fellow bloggers, who reviewed the book and/or let me talk about The Englishman on their sites (thank you Tania, Karen, Expat Mum and Ruth), it got terrific reviews (4 and 5 stars!!!) on Amazon. It was also a choice of the month at Indy Writers and became an Awesome Indie. It also made the N10 Show locally, where for the first time I read out loud from the book. That was scary….What's more the sales of the book have completely outstripped my expectations. All is now set for the next two books to be published in 2013. My tale of displacement, Pappa's Girl, will be out in January closely followed by a gentle spy thriller, The Red King of Helsinki. All I now need to do is to finish the next one…

4. Last, but not least, this year I found a diet that works for me: the 5:2 fasting. I've talked about it  lot here, but the fact is that I lost a whopping 5 kilos in the first two months! Plus the fasting has completely changed my relationship with food, so much so, that even during this holiday season when I decided to give myself a break with the diet, I've not been overeating as I usually do either. This is truly unusual and revolutionary for me. I cannot wait for the New Year when I will be starting the regime anew. And roll on 10 January when Dr Mosley's book, The Fast Diet is out (where this blog gets a mention).

So those were my highlights of 2012 - what were yours?

The Englishman is an Awesome Indie!

I was absolutely bowled over earlier today when I had an email telling me that the wonderful and discerning folks at the Awesome Indies site had selected The Englishman to be one of their new titles! This after my novel was one of the October reads at Alliance of Independent Authors! It's more than incredible to be recognised in this way by your peers.

Especially as The Awesome Indies site lists only 'quality books written by independently published authors'.

As the blurb on the site further says,

The difference between this site and others that showcase Indie books is that the only criteria for inclusion on this list is quality, and the quality is determined by publishing professionals.

Well….The Englishman is listed as one of the new titles and the link to the site is here. Do go and visit Awesome Indies, there are some other (!) great titles at great prices listed there too.

Off to make myself a well deserved cup of coffee…think there will be a requirement something cold & bubbly later this evening!?