Happy New Year and January Sale!

Hi!

Happy New Year!  Hope you all had a good time.  I have big plans for 2014 but I thought I'd start the year with a little sale.  

Get Leslie's Bus for only $0.99!

Follow the link:

Smashwords - Leslie's Bus

and use the code:

EM32P

With her mother in a mental hospital and her father preoccupied with his pregnant girlfriend, Susan Blake is lost and lonely. She finds an unlikely friend in Paul, a New Age traveller, and he introduces her to the colourful and exciting British alternative scene of the 1990's. Susan discovers a world full of drugs and alcohol, raves, parties and festivals, but not everyone is as nice or as honest as Paul. 

When Susan's world falls apart she finds comfort in the arms of Leslie, a charismatic and seasoned traveller. He shares his alternative philosophy as they travel on his bus, but will she heed the warnings that there is more to him than meets the eye? 

Available in all formats for iPad, iPhone, Android, PC, Mac, Kindle, Kobo, Nook and more!

"Just read Leslie's Bus after stumbling across it on bus love - fantastic book! 

Bought back some memories! Thank you :)" James

"Fantastic book! I spent as much time crying as I did reading." Keith

"This is a brilliant story of our time in history where we are at with youths of today...  

And I loved it." Sue

I've defected to the Kobo Glo

I was a bit late to the electronic book party.  I guess I was a purist, I liked to feel the pages of a paperback between my fingers and my eyes never really felt comfortable reading a screen for any length of time.

Kindle Touch v's Kobo glo

I bought my Kindle Touch when I started writing seriously again.  I wanted to be able to review what I'd written sitting in the comfort of my armchair instead of propped up at the PC.  The Kindle Touch seemed like the perfect thing for me.  It was easy to buy books from Amazon and my DH was pleased that I wasn't cluttering up the house with yet more paperback.

I really liked my Kindle.  OK, it was a bit grey and boring but I bought a snazzy red case to brighten it up.  It was light and fitted in my handbag so I took it everywhere with me.  It killed time in hospital waiting rooms and it provided anonymity when I was reading *those* books.  Still not sure why I bothered but curiosity and all that...

Anyway, the Kindle was great but there was a small problem.  I found myself straining to read the screen in the evenings.  I needed a light.  I did a bit of research and found you can get cases with lights on but I they looked like more trouble than they were worth.  I also researched the Kindle Paperwhite.  It looked like it would fit the bill and until I read the reviews.  They weren't very convincing.  The more I read about faulty screens, bulb shadows and weird colour casting the more I realised it wasn't going to be the one for me.

Grey Kindle, pretty blue Kobo

I'd never really considered any of the other eReaders because they weren't Amazon, but I'd seen some reviews of the Kobo Glo and people were raving about it.  I popped into my local W H Smith store and had a play.  I was sold!  The screen was clearer, the page turns were faster and best of all at the touch of a button the page lit up and I could read at night!!!

I decided to get the blue one.  It wasn't available online but thankfully they had it in stock in W H Smith at Meadowhell  (and no, that's not a typo!).  I got it out the box and fell in love!  It's so cute in blue!  It took a little while to set up on the computer but buying books is just as easy as getting them from Amazon.

I did have a little panic when I realised I could only put books on it that I'd bought from the Kobo website but then I remembered reading about Calibre and pretty soon I'd downloaded that too and I had all my other books on my new beloved Kobo Glo.

I am so loving it.  I can read in the conservatory when it starts to get dark, I can read in bed without turning the lamp on, and I can adjust the brightness so it's perfect for my eyes.  So, I'm sorry Kindle, you're relegated to reading old books in the bath because I've defected to Kobo :D

Its glow in the dark!

Nearly Christmas!

It's chaos at our house as we're busy ready getting ready for Christmas, as you can tell by the state of my desk!  In between baking star shaped cookies for the cookie tree and writing Christmas cards I've been busy with my writing.

I'm currently editing the third novel in the Heaven Knows trilogy.  I still don't have a title for it yet - suggestions on a postcard please!  LOL!  It's a little different from the first two novels as some of the story is told from Miles's perspective.  It's very dark in places, I push the characters to their limits but it's not all doom and gloom, there is romance, humour and plenty of soppy bits.

If you can wait for the next novel I've been updating Lora's Secret Diary.  You can read the latest instalment here:

Lora's Secret Diary - March, April and May

I'm very proud to announce that I successfully completed this years NaNoWriMo.  My novella, Being Isobel, was verified and I'm now a certified winner :)

The story changed a little from my original idea, sometimes my characters tell me what is going to happen next and who am I to argue?  It all worked out in the end and I'm currently working on publishing it for free on Kindle.  I'm aiming to have it out before Christmas as a little gift to say thanks for all the support you've given me this year.  I couldn't have done it without you!

Clair  xx

Something FREE for the Weekend?

Hi!

How is the weather where you are?  I think the summer has passed us by, we've got rain, rain and more rain!  All I want to do is curl up with a good book, a nice cup of tea and a big plate of chocolate biscuits.

So, for this weekend only I have decided to offer 'Heaven Knows This Time' for free!  Yes, you can download a full copy of the book and not have to pay a penny for it.


To get your free copy of the book go to:

Smashwords - Heaven Knows This Time

and use the coupon

JY27R

The book is available in various formats.  You don't need a Kindle to read it, you can download free software so you can read it on your PC, laptop, tablet PC or your smart phone.  

The coupon expires 23/7/2012 so hurry!

I hope you enjoy it!  If you do tell your friends, or even better write a review!  I'd love to know what you think.  Thanks!

Clair

Gadget Geek

OK, I'll admit it, I'm a bit of a gadget geek.  I'm not one of those people who have to have the latest of everything the very second it comes out, but I do like my electronic gadgets.  Some of them even helped me to write my novel.

I love my Sony Tablet S.  It was a Christmas gift and I don't think I've put it down since I got it.  I'm always on my computer so this allows me to be away from my desktop but still able to surf, network and write.  Oh yeah, and play Angry Birds :)  When I'm feeling ill or tired I take my tablet up to bed with me and just read, watch videos or play games.  It's so versatile I don't know how I lived without it.

I love my little android phone.  It's a little known Huawei Blaze and for a budget phone it's pretty good, my husband rates it more highly than his HTC!  The camera isn't so great but it does everything I ask of it, including running a word processor so I can write on those rare occasions I'm away from both my desktop PC and my tablet.

I love my iPod.  Music is my escape, it helps motivate me when I need to get things done and it helps calm me when I need to rest.  I listened to a lot of music when I was writing my novel.  The House of Love's "A Spy In The House of Love" is always a favourite of mine for background music.

I love my Canon EOS 450D DSLR camera.  I've had it just over a year now and I think I've used it practically every day.  I'm always taking photographs of everything, from my children and pets to the food I've cooked and all those quirky little things that catch my attention like the ladybird on a stone by my front door or the pigeons perched on the fence.

My Kindle Touch is my newest electronic gadget.  I have the Kindle app on my tablet but this is so much easier to hold and to read.  I used it a lot when proof reading my novel.  All the typos I missed on the computer screen seemed to jump out at me on the Kindle (althought I'm sure some have still escaped my attention).

As with everything in life, there has to be a balance.  As much as I love my electronic gadgets I'm also a lover of old fashioned tools as well.  I will take a break from writing and sit down with my acousitc guitar, writing lyrics on paper with my fountain pen, and I'm a strong believer in keeping traditional crafts alive so I will spin yarn with my spinning wheel, skein it on a niddy noddy and then knit the yarn by hand.

So I guess there is no denying it, whether it's electronic or not, I really do love my gadgets!