Over at Jessewave, guest review Leslie S. has clearly been enjoying Chris Quinton's FOOL'S RUSH, despite not having read the previous two volumes of the trilogy!
If you like your vamps just a little bit different, you’re sure to enjoy Fool’s Rush. As for me, I’m off to pick up the first two books in the series – and I’m going to bat my eyelashes in a winning manner at Chris Quinton and ask if there’s any chance for a story about Lucien, pretty please?
We'll second (third, fourth, whatever ... ) that request too, Chris ...
Wednesday, 24 April 2013
Tuesday, 23 April 2013
New review of THE DEFINITIVE ALBERT J. STERNE
Julie Bozza's epic THE DEFINITIVE ALBERT J. STERNE has always been one of our strongest sellers but slightly unfairly (in our view) it seems on the whole to have eluded the attention of the reviewers. This situation has now been remedied, however, with a review by Sirius at Dear Author which is extremely positive on all fronts.
I recommend this book very highly, especially if you love snarky, complex heroes and if detailed descriptions of murder with torture do not scare you.
Congratulations, Julie - praise very thoroughly merited!
I recommend this book very highly, especially if you love snarky, complex heroes and if detailed descriptions of murder with torture do not scare you.
Congratulations, Julie - praise very thoroughly merited!
Saturday, 20 April 2013
RAVAGES on P.O.D.
We are delighted to announce that the extremely popular RAVAGES by R.A. Padmos is now available in a print-on-demand paperback edition; you can order it either directly from CreateSpace or from your regional Amazon.
Congratulations and all good wishes to R.A. Padmos in embarking on this new adventure!
Congratulations and all good wishes to R.A. Padmos in embarking on this new adventure!
Wednesday, 17 April 2013
Manifold Press on Twitter
It's probably taken us longer than it should have to get round to it, but we are delighted to report that Manifold Press now has an active Twitter account - and so, in fact, do several of our authors.
In the fullness of time we are planning to organise a few events which will be announced on Twitter, but in the meantime if you'd like to follow us - and find out what's going on in the strange and mysterious world of Manifold Press - these are the places you will find us:
Manifold Press
Julie Bozza
Jane Elliot
Adam Fitzroy
R.A. Padmos
Chris Quinton
We're looking forward to seeing you there!
In the fullness of time we are planning to organise a few events which will be announced on Twitter, but in the meantime if you'd like to follow us - and find out what's going on in the strange and mysterious world of Manifold Press - these are the places you will find us:
Manifold Press
Julie Bozza
Jane Elliot
Adam Fitzroy
R.A. Padmos
Chris Quinton
We're looking forward to seeing you there!
Monday, 15 April 2013
More titles uploaded to Kindle
Over the weekend, the following titles went live on Kindle:
Chris Quinton: FOOL'S OATH
F.M. Parkinson: THE WALLED GARDEN
R.A. Padmos: UNSPOKEN
These links are to Amazon.co.uk, but the books are available on all Amazon markets of course!
Chris Quinton: FOOL'S OATH
F.M. Parkinson: THE WALLED GARDEN
R.A. Padmos: UNSPOKEN
These links are to Amazon.co.uk, but the books are available on all Amazon markets of course!
AUTHOR GUEST BLOG NUMBER ONE: R.A. Padmos
We thought it was about time our authors stepped away from their keyboards a little and introduced themselves properly, and so throughout the coming business year 2013/14 we're going to be presenting an irregular series of guest blogs. We cannot tell a lie, we actually drew lots so that it would be completely random - and the lucky winner of the first place is our good friend R.A. Padmos, the author of RAVAGES and UNSPOKEN! So, here she is, in her very own words...
More than once, I’ve been asked how and when it all started. What was the moment I realised I wanted to write stories? Human memory is a notoriously untrustworthy thing, so I assume that even this account has at least some elements of fiction.
I must have been ten, eleven at most, and just like any schoolchild can tell you, the fresh year started with the assignment to write a short essay about what we did during our vacation. I have no idea why, but instead of writing first I did this and then I did that, I wrote about the very real and yet totally fictional family who went on a happy camping trip in the Ardennes. It was, of course, my own family and everything that happened in my story, had actually happened. And yet, by simply changing the perspective I had discovered something. I discovered that by simply changing I into they, I opened up a whole world of creative possibilities.
Soon enough I made up my own characters and situations that were truly fictional, though heavily leaning on whatever I was reading at that moment, or saw on TV. But, by imitating writers who, I assumed in my teenage adoration, knew exactly what they were doing, I learned all those neat tricks you can perform with language. Not surprisingly, I discovered later that writers have a tendency to do a lot of stumbling in the dark, and that not all fiction is created equal.
Skip many years and there I found myself writing the first words of what would become RAVAGES. Steve knows he looks like an idiot.
Knows, not knew. It wasn’t on purpose, I wasn’t even conscious of it until I had written the first few chapters. I could have easily changed it, but even if the content would have remained exactly the same, it would still have resulted in a totally different reading experience. So, I left it as it was and accepted the journey with Steve and Daniël. Would the novel have been technically better if I had thought `damn, I made a mistake` and corrected it? Probably. Would it have been easier on the readers? I have no doubt about it.
And yet, now I reread RAVAGES a couple of years after I wrote that first sentence, I know I made the right decision. Good or bad, this is the way this story had to be told by me. Just like that ten year old, more than forty years ago, had to write they and the family instead of I and my family.
Because that is how stories, and writers, are born.
More than once, I’ve been asked how and when it all started. What was the moment I realised I wanted to write stories? Human memory is a notoriously untrustworthy thing, so I assume that even this account has at least some elements of fiction.
I must have been ten, eleven at most, and just like any schoolchild can tell you, the fresh year started with the assignment to write a short essay about what we did during our vacation. I have no idea why, but instead of writing first I did this and then I did that, I wrote about the very real and yet totally fictional family who went on a happy camping trip in the Ardennes. It was, of course, my own family and everything that happened in my story, had actually happened. And yet, by simply changing the perspective I had discovered something. I discovered that by simply changing I into they, I opened up a whole world of creative possibilities.
Soon enough I made up my own characters and situations that were truly fictional, though heavily leaning on whatever I was reading at that moment, or saw on TV. But, by imitating writers who, I assumed in my teenage adoration, knew exactly what they were doing, I learned all those neat tricks you can perform with language. Not surprisingly, I discovered later that writers have a tendency to do a lot of stumbling in the dark, and that not all fiction is created equal.
Skip many years and there I found myself writing the first words of what would become RAVAGES. Steve knows he looks like an idiot.Knows, not knew. It wasn’t on purpose, I wasn’t even conscious of it until I had written the first few chapters. I could have easily changed it, but even if the content would have remained exactly the same, it would still have resulted in a totally different reading experience. So, I left it as it was and accepted the journey with Steve and Daniël. Would the novel have been technically better if I had thought `damn, I made a mistake` and corrected it? Probably. Would it have been easier on the readers? I have no doubt about it.
And yet, now I reread RAVAGES a couple of years after I wrote that first sentence, I know I made the right decision. Good or bad, this is the way this story had to be told by me. Just like that ten year old, more than forty years ago, had to write they and the family instead of I and my family.
Because that is how stories, and writers, are born.
Friday, 12 April 2013
New review of BUTTERFLY HUNTER/ old review of ALOES
Over at ARe Cafe, reviewer Val has this to say about Julie Bozza's BUTTERFLY HUNTER:
... this novel is still a good read with its hints of physical danger and Dreamtime mysticism. The breathtaking Australian setting feels real. The book’s tone is muted but adventurous ...
Looking further, we see that we missed a post by her back in September 2011 in which she describes Chris Quinton's ALOES as:
a combination romance and mystery with a dash of the paranormal and goes on to mention the engaging romance and the suspenseful mood.
We think this may be the person who previously reviewed BUTTERLY HUNTER at Obsidian Bookshelf on 30 January 2013 and ALOES on Jessewave on 7 July 2010, but as they are not identical reviews we've decided to go ahead and include them on the website. After all, she may well have read the books more than once, of course - and in fact we rather hope she did!
... this novel is still a good read with its hints of physical danger and Dreamtime mysticism. The breathtaking Australian setting feels real. The book’s tone is muted but adventurous ...
Looking further, we see that we missed a post by her back in September 2011 in which she describes Chris Quinton's ALOES as:
a combination romance and mystery with a dash of the paranormal and goes on to mention the engaging romance and the suspenseful mood.
We think this may be the person who previously reviewed BUTTERLY HUNTER at Obsidian Bookshelf on 30 January 2013 and ALOES on Jessewave on 7 July 2010, but as they are not identical reviews we've decided to go ahead and include them on the website. After all, she may well have read the books more than once, of course - and in fact we rather hope she did!
Wednesday, 10 April 2013
New review of END OF THE TRAIL
It's been a while since the last one, but availability on Amazon is stirring some reviewers into action once again!
Gerry at Gerry B's Book Reviews calls Jane's book "an enjoyable western novel written in the classical style" and finishes his review with the words:
All-in-all, I feel justified in recommending End of the Trail for your reading enjoyment.
It's nice to know that some of our older books are still out there making new friends!
Gerry at Gerry B's Book Reviews calls Jane's book "an enjoyable western novel written in the classical style" and finishes his review with the words:
All-in-all, I feel justified in recommending End of the Trail for your reading enjoyment.
It's nice to know that some of our older books are still out there making new friends!
Monday, 1 April 2013
Response time
To round out the statistical information, average response time for March was six hours and 58 minutes. This is a little slower than usual, but the results were skewed by one long absence from the keyboard over the weekend just ending.
We have decided to stop posting this information on a monthly basis now, as we feel the point has been sufficiently made - indeed, hammered ruthlessly into the ground! We will continue to record it ourselves however and may publish it either quarterly or half-yearly. Or, indeed, not at all ... we haven't quite decided yet!
We have decided to stop posting this information on a monthly basis now, as we feel the point has been sufficiently made - indeed, hammered ruthlessly into the ground! We will continue to record it ourselves however and may publish it either quarterly or half-yearly. Or, indeed, not at all ... we haven't quite decided yet!
Titles uploaded to partner sites
We're starting to move forward the dates when our titles will become available via our distribution partners, RAINBOW and ALL ROMANCE, as a result of which we're very pleased to announce that both Adam Fitzroy's BETWEEN NOW AND THEN and Chris Quinton's FOOL'S RUSH are now available to buy in this way.
For anyone eagerly awaiting our month-end statistical information, we are delighted to report that the best-seller via the website was Adam Fitzroy's BETWEEN NOW AND THEN, but thanks to Kindle the overall best-seller - yet again! - was Julie Bozza's highly-successful BUTTERFLY HUNTER!
For anyone eagerly awaiting our month-end statistical information, we are delighted to report that the best-seller via the website was Adam Fitzroy's BETWEEN NOW AND THEN, but thanks to Kindle the overall best-seller - yet again! - was Julie Bozza's highly-successful BUTTERFLY HUNTER!
Forthcoming titles announced!
We're more than happy to be able to bring you news of our two new titles, which are scheduled to be published on 1 May.
There’s a welcome return for Morgan Cheshire, who brings us the story of Harrison and Daniel, two men struggling with the realities of social inequality in late-nineteenth century Liverpool – as well as the profound and troubling implications of their growing affection for one another – in ALWAYS WITH US.
And the ever-popular Julie Bozza is also back, this time with an unusual twist; the inter-generational romance of Tom and Hilary is played out against the colourful background of a neglected tower, a derelict physic garden, and the mystery of an historical relationship quite as unconventional as their own in THE APOTHECARY’S GARDEN.
We’re absolutely delighted with both these titles, and we hope you’ll get as much pleasure out of reading them as we’ve had in working on them – if not more!
There’s a welcome return for Morgan Cheshire, who brings us the story of Harrison and Daniel, two men struggling with the realities of social inequality in late-nineteenth century Liverpool – as well as the profound and troubling implications of their growing affection for one another – in ALWAYS WITH US.
And the ever-popular Julie Bozza is also back, this time with an unusual twist; the inter-generational romance of Tom and Hilary is played out against the colourful background of a neglected tower, a derelict physic garden, and the mystery of an historical relationship quite as unconventional as their own in THE APOTHECARY’S GARDEN.
We’re absolutely delighted with both these titles, and we hope you’ll get as much pleasure out of reading them as we’ve had in working on them – if not more!
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