A Survey - please take a moment to comment.

I've noticed that some of my books are selling much better than others. I don't know why. There's no real way of finding out why some stories sell well and others don't. If a reader likes my writing, what makes them decide NOT to buy the next story I have published - because that has to be the crux of it. Yes?

So what puts you off purchasing?
1. Cover
2. Blurb
3. Genre
4. Price/length
5. Other

Any chance of putting those in order?

For me, when I have to make a purchase decision - first I look for the name of the author, then I read the back cover. I don't care about the front cover, the length/price - though I won't buy hardback. I don't care about genre - I'll read almost anything if that author has impressed me previously.
So what would stop me buying? I guess if the subject matter really didn't interest me - eg wrestling, NASCAR or other racing track stuff, or the same old vampire story.
How about you?

Pain

I am a fool.

I am deluded.

I am in pain.

When my son and his partner asked if I'd join them on a 10km run - the Guiseley Gallop - on Easter Sunday - I said yes.

And actually sounded enthusiastic!!! What an idiot.

I DO like running - on pavement in Florida in the early morning listening to Robbie Williams on my MP3 player.

I do not like running in mud, through forest, up hills, next to sewage treatment plants and on uneven ground.

But I did it. I walked up a couple of the hills but made it back in one hour fifteen. Not bad for a decrepit person of indeterminate age who hasn't run more than about four miles on Highway 27 in Clermont.

But am I paying for it. My running shoes were full of blood, I've no skin on either heel and the muscles in my calves and thighs - arrghghghghgh.

But I did it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yippeee.

One Day - by David Nicholls

I'd just about finished this great book when the dog threw up . I sent current slave to deal with the pooch and curled up to devour the last few pages at 4.00 am. It's a lovely story of two flawed characters and gives us a snap shot of their lives on one particular day over a long period of time. The guy, Dexter, is a lot like Charlie in my story - Strangers - and I do love bad boys! I don't want to say too much about it because I'd like people to read it and get to love Em and Dexter as much as I did.
Dog's fine by the way!

New Stories coming soon

I just heard that I've had a Quickie accepted by Ellora's Cave - based on my skiing holiday and escapade in another sort of cave!! Yippeee!!!
I've also had 'Fight to Remember' accepted by Loose Id. This is the last story in the Trueblood vampire series and ends with characters from all the books in a final chapter. Another Yippeee!!! And a boohoo - I could have kept going but LI don't want long series.
And to keep anyone who's vaguely interested up to date - I'm working on a paranormal for Ellora's Cave - about a quarter written so far. This will be my first paranormal for them since I wrote 'Power of Love'.

Want to see pictures of the little doggie I help look after?

www.winstonken.wordpress.com

He is a sweetie.

A most fortunate mistake

I buy books by the ton and if I see them on special offer - I'm there with my money. But when it's buy one, get one half price and I already have an odd number in my arms, sometimes I make an impulse buy without looking too hard at the blurb.
Wendy Moore's 'Wedlock' - How Georgian Britain's Husband Met His Match - is my fortunate mistake.
I was hooked by the great title but if I'd looked a little closer and seen it was non-fiction - I wouldn't have bought it. Not my thing. But I brought it on holiday and today I read it.
Wow.
Another word.
Brilliant.
If I'd written this as fiction, it would never have been believed. It's the tale of an absolute charming brute of a husband and the terrible cunning with which he tricks his way into marriage and then abuses his wife, and the way she eventually escapes his tyranny and he gets his comeuppance - sort of.
I love regency romances and this was like the primer for them. The only snag is, the men don't come off very well in this story and I do so love regency heroes. I knew a little about the lack of rights for women at this time, the way their husbands controlled everything but this book brings home the sad reality of their lives when marriages didn't work out. It's a tale of triumph over the odds by a remarkable woman and I am so glad I made that mistake in the bookshop.

How much sex is too much?

I have to start by making a huge confession. I had read virtually no erotic romance before I submitted my first story! I know, I know. I should have done lots of research, finding out the requirements of various publishers - but I didn't. I was told EC was the biggest and best so I just sent it to them. I'd never read an Ellora's Cave book. Shocking - yes?
In the dim and distant past, when I'd considered writing for Mills and Boon, I DID buy a load of their books and read them and decided I couldn't write to the formula they required. So I suppose, not reading erotic books before I wrote one of my own was a throw back to that. I might have been put off if I'd emersed myself in a pile of them.
A consequence of my lack of research has been a lack of knowledge about how much sex a book needs to make it work. I've never put sex in just to keep up the heat level - I always make sure the situation fits but I've had a few comments saying there was too much sex in my stories - not all of them - just some of them. The comment also that the sex got in the way of the plot. UH? That sort of upset me because the one thing my books have - is PLOT. The sex is never gratutious and after all these are not straight romances but EROTIC romances. Explicit sex is the essence of the story. Isn't it?
Well - maybe not. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I should be putting less sex in? Anyone care to comment?