Helen Smith

Treats for Bears and Book Reviewers

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Smith) — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:27:00 +0000

Have you left a review for one of my books on Amazon? Thank you! Even people who don't buy their books from Amazon tend to use it as an unofficial reference library, checking customer reviews before they buy elsewhere. Customer reviews on Amazon help readers decide whether or not to buy my books and I'm grateful for every one of them.

If you lived in London and I knew you had written a review of one of my books, I'd probably invite you to a launch party for the new one, Invitation to Die. But most of my reviewers don't live in London - I have many more reviews for my books on Amazon.com than I do on Amazon.co.uk, and they're from readers who live all over the world. Besides, I'm not sure if I'll get the chance to have a launch party for Invitation to Die this summer as I'm writing a new book. I might just wait and celebrate the next one, Beyond Belief, which is due out in January 2014.

But I have been counting my blessings recently, thinking how lucky I am to have this new book out, and feeling grateful for all the kind comments from reviewers over the years, starting with my first review for Alison Wonderland in The Times, and continuing with reviews from bloggers and readers that are still coming in every day. I would like to say thank you, but without directly rewarding people who leave high-starred reviews (much as I love them!) because I don't want to nudge people to give good reviews, I just want to say thank you for any and all reviews I might receive.

I have been following Animal Asia's release and rehabilitation of some moon bears that had been imprisoned in cages and milked for their bile. I would like to donate a year's worth of treats to a moon bear - there are several to choose from (scroll down to the bottom of this post). I have decided to choose a reviewer at random and donate the treats on their behalf. The reviewer will be able to choose which moon bear receives the treats and will also receive a pack with a photo of the bear and a cuddly moon bear toy. The cost of donating the treats for a year is £40/E70/$80 so I will match that by sending an Amazon gift card worth the same amount to the winning reviewer.

I will also send a free ebook to every reviewer who signs up to win the treats for the moon bear. One book per reviewer. Choose from any of the books I have written: Alison Wonderland, Being Light, The Miracle Inspector, Invitation to Die, Three Sisters and Showstoppers. My books are listed on my author page at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

I will choose the winner of the Moon Bear treats and the Amazon gift card at random on 5th August 2013. I will send out the free ebooks w/c 5th August. International entries are welcome. It doesn't matter where you live so long as you have left a review for one of my books on one of Amazon's sites.

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Through Animal Asia's Befriend a Bear programme, you can provide the rescued moon bears with special treats to keep them happy and occupied – treats like fruit ice blocks, rubber kongs, honey, tofu-filled bamboo shoots and many other enrichment items – all of which keep their intelligent minds busy and provide extra nourishment along the way!

One of my lovely reviewers will get the chance to choose a moon bear to receive treats for a year.

The winner will be chosen on 5th August 2013.

* I won't collect your email address for marketing purposes. If you tick "please send me an email alert" at the bottom of the form, I'll email you when my next book comes out in January 2014. But otherwise I won't contact you except to send you a book & let you know if you've won the moon bear treats/Amazon gift card package.

Publication Day Flowers

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Smith) — Thu, 16 May 2013 13:51:00 +0000

Hooray!

I'm starting work on the third novel in the Emily Castles mystery series. The second, Beyond Belief, will be published in January 2014.

If you have read Invitation to Die and you like Emily and Dr. Muriel but can't wait until January 2014 to read more of their adventures, you might enjoy the two novellas in the series, Three Sisters and Showstoppers. They're available in Kindle format and paperback from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

New British Mystery: Invitation to Die by Helen Smith

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Smith) — Wed, 15 May 2013 11:52:00 +0000

Invitation to Die has just been published by Thomas & Mercer. It's the first full-length novel in my Emily Castles mystery series.

Twenty-six-year-old Emily Castles teams up with eccentric philosophy professor Dr. Muriel to investigate a murder at a romance writers’ conference in London.

There's an interview about my books as part of Lucy Hay's Women and Writing series here.

There's a review of the book at Melina's blog and I have written a guest post on Melissa's Mochas, Mysteries and More. Please visit Melissa's site for a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card.

I have also taken part in a Q&A over at author Rob Kroese's blog. Want to know what I'd do if there were two minutes left until the end of the world? Have a look here.

You can buy Invitation to Die in paperback and as an ebook from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca, Amazon.de, Amazon.es, Amazon.fr, Amazon.jp and Amazon.br .

Reclaim My Heart

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Smith) — Tue, 14 May 2013 15:00:00 +0000

Award-winning romance author Donna Fasano has just published a new book, Reclaim My Heart.

Sixteen years ago, Tyne Whitlock cut all ties to her past and left town under the shameful shadow of a teenage pregnancy. Now her fifteen-year-old son is in trouble with the law and she is desperate for help. But reaching out to high-powered attorney Lucas Silver Hawk will tear open the heart-wrenching past in ways Tyne never imagined.

Forced to return to the Delaware Indian community where Lucas was raised, Tyne and Lucas are tempted by the heated passion that consumed them as teens. Tyne rediscovers all the reasons she found this man irresistible, but there are scandalous secrets waiting to be revealed, disgraceful choices made in the past that cannot be denied. Love is a powerful force that could heal them both—if the truth doesn't rip them apart.

You can buy the book for your ereader or in paperback at Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Barnes & Noble, Kobo.

Donna Fasano is a three time winner of the HOLT Medallion, a CataRomance Reviewers Choice Award winner for Best Single Title, a Desert Rose Golden Quill Award finalist, and a Golden Heart finalist. Her books have sold over 3.6 million copies worldwide and have been published in nearly two dozen languages.

You can find Donna at her website or at Goodreads, Pinterest, Twitter and Facebook.

Kindle Books and Tips

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Smith) — Thu, 09 May 2013 18:30:00 +0000

Showstoppers has been picked up by Kindle Books and Tips today as it's discounted to $0.99/99p. It's a novella featuring Emily Castles, the delightful amateur sleuth who will appear in Invitation to Die, a full-length British mystery to be published by Thomas & Mercer next Tuesday, 14th May.

When twenty-six-year-old Emily Castles helps out at a local stage school in London, she's soon mixed up in murder. She teams up with eccentric philosophy professor Dr. Muriel to solve the case.

"Helen Smith is a master story-teller." Socrates Book Reviews

"Suspensefully created and plotted." Vine Reviewer

Check out Kindle Books and Tips for more bargain and free books for your Kindle.

Crime Fiction Lover

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Smith) — Thu, 09 May 2013 16:05:00 +0000

Invitation to Die has been featured on Crime Fiction Lover today, along with Stav Sherez's Eleven Days, Chasing Bad Guys by Wayne Epperson and Fallen Angel by Jonelle Patrick.

Stav's A Dark Redemption was recently announced as one of the books on the Theakston's 2013 longlist. The shortlist will be announced in July.

You can read about Invitation to Die and the other new releases on the Crime Fiction Lover site here.

Invitation to Die: The Big Thrill

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Smith) — Mon, 06 May 2013 20:23:00 +0000

Invitation to Die has been featured on The Big Thrill in a round-up of 30 new mystery and thriller books to be published in May. Visit The Big Thrill to check out the other new titles.

Twenty-six-year-old Emily Castles teams up with eccentric philosophy professor Dr. Muriel to investigate a murder at a romance writers’ conference in this entertaining British mystery.

Invitation to Die will be published by Thomas & Mercer on 14th May. It is available to pre-order in paperback at Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca and Amazon.de. You'll also be able to buy the Invitation to Die as an ebook on 14th May.

Shoeless Joe by W P Kinsella

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Smith) — Sun, 05 May 2013 19:38:00 +0000

The film Field of Dreams is based on Shoeless Joe by W P Kinsella, first published in 1982, which has just been published in a new edition in the UK by The Friday Project. I had never seen the film and had no preconceptions about the book, which turned out to be a delightfully surreal fantasy about a man called Ray Kinsella, whose dream is to use a field on his Iowa farm as a place where dead baseball stars can play. As a young man, Ray’s father was a pretty good baseball player, though not in the same league as the famous stars who begin to show up at Ray’s farm to play baseball. It’s Ray’s dream for his father to join them. He also conceives a plan to cheer up the reclusive writer J D Salinger by taking him to a baseball game, as he mistakenly believes that Salinger loves baseball as much as he does. He ends up ‘kidnapping’ Salinger, with Salinger’s consent, and taking him back to Iowa.

It’s a charming story. You don’t need to know anything about baseball and you don’t need to care about sport – I don’t know about baseball and I don’t care about sport, and I enjoyed the book. It’s about a man’s dreams and his attempt to fulfill them, and to make others happy as he does it.

It's available as an ebook for £2.99 or £8.09 in paperback from Amazon.

Polari at the Royal Festival Hall

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Smith) — Sat, 04 May 2013 18:14:00 +0000

I went to Polari at the Royal Festival Hall on Friday. Described as "London's most theatrical salon" in the New York Times, Polari is a regular literary event hosted by author and journalist Paul Burston.

On Friday there were readings from Kerry Hudson, Rebecca Chance, Paul Bailey, Fidelis Morgan and special guest, actress Celia Imrie. Photo (above) courtesy of Krysphotos.co.uk.

There's a detailed write-up, as always, over at Give 'Em the old Razzle Dazzle.

If you'd like to a taste of what you missed, there's a video of highlights of the event produced by Trace-Media. If you can't spare 15 minutes to watch the whole thing, do at least check out the opening credits. Paul Bailey delivers one of my favourite lines that I've heard at a literary event, and it sums up the fun of Polari.

The next Polari is on May 28th and features Christopher Fowler, V G Lee, Sophia Blackwell, Anny Knight and Greg Mitchell. If you're on Facebook you can join Polari there. They are also on Twitter @polarisalon.

CrimeFest: Panel and Author Spotlight

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Smith) — Fri, 03 May 2013 10:43:00 +0000

I'm delighted that I have been invited to appear on a panel at CrimeFest to discuss crimefighting duos. In Invitation to Die, which will be published on 14th May, twenty-six-year-old Emily teams up with eccentric philosphy professor Dr. Muriel Crowther to find the killer when an American blogger is lured to her death at a romance authors' convention in London. So, I love crimefighting duos! I'm excited to have the chance to discuss them at CrimeFest.

The panel is at 11.20 on Saturday 1st June. The authors on the panel will be Dorothy Cannell, Martin Edwards, Neil White and me. The moderator will be Len Tyler.

I have also been selected for an author spotlight on Friday 31st May at 2.10 pm to talk about writing comedy. Last year David Nobbs (creator of Reggie Perrin) and I did a workshop on writing comedy for the Writers' Guild so I'm planning on doing something similar, but much shorter.

Some of the passes and tickets to CrimeFest have already sold out. So if you're planning on attending and haven't yet booked your ticket, you need to book now!

Men are like cigarettes

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Smith) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 14:30:00 +0000

Being Light was recently nominated for a Readers' Choice Award at the Books and Pals review site. I was delighted to see that a quote from the book has been excerpted and posted on the Books and Pals Facebook page (above). "Men are like cigarettes. I only want one when I'm drunk." It's a line from Alison, a private detective from Brixton who is the main character in Alison Wonderland. She also appears in Being Light. Thanks again to Big Al for reviewing the book and nominating it for an award. Thanks to everyone who voted.

Being Light is the follow-up to Alison Wonderland and features some of the same characters, including Alison, her best friend Taron and her boss at the detective agency where she works. It doesn't matter if you haven't read Alison Wonderland. Being Light can be read and enjoyed as a standalone book.

When Roy Travers doesn't come home his wife begins to suspect he has been abducted by aliens, and she enlists the help of a private detective to find him. But Roy was not taken by aliens. The truth is far stranger.

"Imagine a satire on Cool Britannia made by the Coen Brothers." Times Literary Supplement

"This is a novel in which the ordinary and the unusual are constantly juxtaposed in various idiosyncratic characters - Its airy quirkiness is a delight." The Times

"A screwball comedy that really works." The Independent

"Wicked!" Time Out

You can buy Being Light in paperback online from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca, Barnes & Noble, The Book Depository, WH Smith, Waterstones and from independent bookshops including The Bookseller Crow, The Big Green Bookshop, Herne Hill Books and Clapham Books.

If you have an ereader you can buy Being Light from Amazon.com, Amazon.ca and Amazon.co.uk.

Kindle Books and Tips

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Smith) — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 08:18:00 +0000

Three Sisters and Showstoppers are on special offer in the Kindle store in the US, the UK and Canada at only $0.99/99p today.

Three Sisters and Showstoppers are novella-length British mysteries featuring twenty-six-year-old Emily Castles. In both stories she teams up with eccentric philosophy professor Dr. Muriel Crowther to solve the case and save the day.

The first full-length novel in the series, Invitation to Die, will be published in paperback and as an ebook in the US, UK and Canada by Thomas & Mercer on 14th May 2013.

Three Sisters has been picked up as a bargain book by Kindle Books and Tips. This is a blog that features a selection of highly-rated free and bargain books every day. If you have a Kindle or a Kindle app and you'd like to subscribe to their recommendations, there's a Facebook page here or you can sign up for an email newsletter on the site here.

Showers of Books Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Smith) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 16:30:00 +0000

The Showers of Books giveaway was hosted by I am a Reader, Not a Writer and Books a la Mode. The giveaway was open internationally.

Thanks to everyone who signed up to win an Amazon gift card on the Showers of Books giveaway on my blog. The winner, Jen H, has been chosen using random.org and notified by email (her winning entry was to add Invitation to Die to her shelf at Goodreads, thanks, Jen!) I'm sorry if you didn't win but I'll have other giveaways coming up on my blog soon.

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Invitation to Die: Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Smith) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 14:56:00 +0000

If you're a member of Goodreads, you can enter to win a paperback review copy of Invitation to Die (see below). Please add the book to your "to read" shelf if you're a member of the site.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Invitation to Die

by Helen Smith

Giveaway ends May 24, 2013.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

World Book Night: Free and discounted children's reading apps

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Smith) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 11:30:00 +0000

To celebrate World Book Night, Top That Publishing will be offering some of their best iOS apps for free download, together with a number of in-apps at a discounted price from 23^rd – 24^th April.

I haven't tried any of these but The Jumblies app sounds great. I used to love Edward Lear when I was a child. Here are the details of the free apps:

· The Jumblies app – Download for FREE

Full of fantastical nonsense, interactive prompts, and unique illustrations by Sam McPhillips, this humorous interactive animated storybook app is perfect for children to interact with the Jumblies on their ocean adventure! Written by inimitable British author, Edward Lear, you can touch, tap and drag many of the characters and items throughout the story, bringing them to life! The app also allows for you to read along by yourself or have the story read to you with touch activated text! (RRP usually £1.49) https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/the-jumblies/id584366156?mt=8

· Silent Owl app – Download for FREE

New and emerging readers will love this enchanting interactive animated storybook app with unique illustrations by Sam McPhillips and rhythmic text by Clemency Pearce. You can touch, tap and drag many of the characters and items throughout the story for a full interactive experience! Read along yourself or have the story read to you. (RRP usually £1.49) https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/silent-owl/id584363667?mt=8

· The Froobles app – FREE plus discounted in-app purchases for £0.69

Join everyone’s favourite little fruit and vegetable characters learning BIG lessons about growing up in this positive attitude app for pre-schoolers! Packed with interactive features, animated stories, celebrity narration and a whole host of fun characters, The Froobles app is an essential download for your child's digital library. Read along with the animated stories and eBooks or sit back and enjoy great celebrity narration by Johnny Vaughan, Denise Van Outen, Edith Bowman and Reggie Yates. The Froobles Little Jack Potato app is FREE to download, with Chloe Carrot, Orlando Orange and Tessa Tomato in-app purchases DISCOUNTED to £0.69 (usually £1.99) https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/froobles/id484923073?mt=8

Gaze - A Modern Review

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Smith) — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 09:00:00 +0000

Gaze - A Modern Review is a new publication from Square Peg Media with Managing Editors Julie Bindel and Paul Burston.

It will be available from Sat, April 20th on Apple, Android and Kindle devices, and also to download online from the website.

It’s a good read with provocative, intelligent pieces by writers including Julie Burchill, Giles Fraser, Bonnie Greer, VG Lee, Tim Teeman, Suzanne Moore, Maryam Namazie, Iman Qureshi, Gail Dines, Alex Hopkins, Andrew Pierce, Suzi Feay, Sophie Ward and others.

Invitation to Die: Available to Pre-order

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Smith) — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 08:38:00 +0000

My new murder mystery, Invitation to Die, is available to pre-order in paperback at Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca and Amazon.de. The book will be published by Thomas & Mercer on 14th May 2013. You'll also be able to buy the Kindle copy then, if you'd like to read the book on your computer or ereader.

Twenty-six-year-old Emily Castles teams up with eccentric philosophy professor Dr. Muriel to investigate a murder at a romance writers’ conference in London in this entertaining British mystery.

The Miracle Inspector on special offer today

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Smith) — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 16:51:00 +0000

My dystopian novel, The Miracle Inspector, which has drawn comparisons with the work of Margaret Atwood, is on offer for the Kindle at $0.99 in the US and Canada, and 99p in the UK. If you don't have a Kindle, you can download the Kindle app free from Amazon for your computer or iPad.

The Miracle Inspector was chosen by bloggers at The Opinionated Geeks and For Books’ Sake as a best book of 2012.

Lauren Peel at For Books’ Sake calls The Miracle Inspector ‘one of the finest novels of its genre.’

The Opinionated Geeks say, ‘Helen Smith both scares with the reality and entertains with the tale.’

The Miracle Inspector is a blackly comic dystopian thriller set in the near future. England has been partitioned and London is an oppressive place where poetry has been forced underground, theatres and schools are shut, and women are not allowed to work outside the home. The book tells the story of a young married couple, Lucas and Angela, and the disastrous consequences of their decision to try to escape from London to make a new life and start a family.

The Miracle Inspector is one of the few novels that everyone should read, it's a powerful novel that's masterfully written and subtly complex. SciFi and Fantasy Books

Helen Smith crafts a story like she's the British lovechild of Kurt Vonnegut and Philip K. Dick, only with a feminist slant. Journal of Always Reviews

You can buy The Miracle Inspector for your ereader in The Kindle Store in the US, the UK, Canada and worldwide. You can buy the print edition online from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca, Barnes & Noble, Blackwells, The Book Depository, Fishpond, Foyles, W H Smith, Waterstones or from your local independent bookshop (mine include Clapham Books, Herne Hill Books and The Bookseller Crow and they will all stock it).

Do you want to be one of the first to know when my new books are published?
Sign up for an email alert here:

Invitation to Die: Episode Three

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Smith) — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 15:29:00 +0000

Episode Three of my British mystery Invitation to Die goes live on Amazon.com today. If you're in the US you can buy all five episodes for only $1.99. If you sign up now, the first three episodes will download to your Kindle, with episodes four and five following automatically at no further cost on 30th April and 14th May.

As the Romance Writers of Great Britain gather for their annual conference in a London hotel, an American tourist is founded murdered nearby. Twenty-six-year-old Emily Castles teams up with eccentric philosophy professor Dr. Muriel to investigate.

This entertaining British mystery is the debut novel in a new series featuring twenty-six-year-old amateur sleuth Emily Castles.

If you're reading the book and you'd like to discuss it with other readers or with me, please go to the discussion forum that has been set up on the book's page at Amazon.

Kindle Serials are only available to US readers at the moment. However Invitation to Die will be published in paperback and as a full ebook in the US, UK, Canada and Germany on 14th May.

If you'd like to read more stories featuring Emily, there are two novellas currently available as ebooks in the UK, US, Canada and Germany. The print versions will be available soon.

In Three Sisters, Emily goes to a party in a large house at the end of the street where she lives in Brixton. It's bonfire night and she's trying to cheer herself up after the death of her elderly dog, Jessie. When she suspects a murder has taken place, investigates with the help of her neighbour, eccentric philosophy professor Dr. Muriel.

In Showstoppers, Emily helps out at a local children's stage school called Showstoppers, run by her neighbour, Victoria. But she's soon mixed up in blackmail and murder, and she has to intervene to stop a massacre happening live on stage in the end-of-term show.

Miniaturists 40

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Smith) — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 09:52:00 +0000

After seven years, The Miniaturists are celebrating their fortieth show at The Arcola Theatre in London on Sunday 14th April, 5pm and 8pm.

Tickets are £12 (£9 concessions). Book here.

I THINK I AM A GOOD DOG
Written and directed by Jon Brittain
cast: Nick Kay

ROOT BOUND
by Fiona Doyle
directed by Lucy Allan
cast: Christina Carty, Kathryn O’Reilly, Rachel Wilcock

INTERVAL
by Stephen Sharkey
Directed by Lucy Skilbeck and Gordon Murray
cast: various

PABLO NERUDA
by David Eldridge
directed by Tim Stark
cast: Lucy Gaskell, Olivia Poulet

EGGSHELLS
by Melissa Dunne
directed by Amanda Castro
cast: Scott Wilson-Besgrove, Jennifer Pick

The Drowning of Arthur Braxton

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Smith) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 16:22:00 +0000

Last night I went to the book launch for The Drowning of Arthur Braxton by Caroline Smailes.

Here's the description:
Arthur Braxton runs away from school. He hides out in an abandoned building, an Edwardian public baths. He finds a naked woman swimming in the pool.

From this point on, nothing will ever be the same.

The Drowning of Arthur Braxton is an unflinching account of the pain and trauma of adolescence, of how first love can transform the most unhappy of lives into something miraculous. It is a dark and brooding modern fairy tale from one of our most gifted writers.

For more information about Caroline and her book, and links to reviews and interviews, visit her website here.

I met Caroline when she and I appeared together at a literary event called The Firestation Book Swap, which involves authors, readers, books and cake. I haven't read her new book yet as it was published yesterday. But I'm looking forward to it. If you've read it, let me know what you think.

Invitation to Die: Episode Two

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Smith) — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 17:16:00 +0000

If you buy your ebooks from the Kindle store in the US you can read Invitation to Die as a Kindle Serial. You pay only $1.99 for all five episodes.

Episode Two will be published tomorrow, so if you sign up now you'll get episode one today and episode two tomorrow, with the three subsequent episodes downloading to your Kindle automatically every two weeks at no further cost.

Twenty-six-year-old Emily Castles teams up with eccentric philosophy professor Dr. Muriel to investigate a murder at a romance writers’ conference in this entertaining British mystery.

In Episode One ~ Preliminaries to Murder, some of the key characters prepare to travel to the Coram Hotel in Bloomsbury, London, for a romance authors' convention.

In Episode Two ~ The Coram Hotel, a murder takes place. The suspects begin acting suspiciously and we have further insights into their personalities and possible motives for a killing.

If you're reading the book and you'd like to discuss it with other readers or with me, please go to the discussion forum that has been set up on the book's page at Amazon.

If you don't want to read the story in serial format, or you don't live in the US, you'll be able to buy Invitation to Die in paperback or as a full ebook on 14th May when it is published in the US, UK, Canada and Germany.

Happy Easter Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Smith) — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 09:30:00 +0000

This giveaway is now closed. It was co-hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and Read Now Sleep Later. Congratulations to Nurmawati D whose name was selected using random.org. She has been notified by email and has received an Amazon gift card worth $10. I'm sorry if you didn't win but I'll be having more giveaways for followers of my blog so please check back here or join my Facebook page. I'm also going to do some kind of giveaway for people who have kindly left reviews for my books, to celebrate Alison Wonderland reaching more than 200 reviews on Amazon.com. I'm working on finishing another book at the moment and as soon as that's done (in a couple of weeks), I'll give some thought to how to say thank you to reviewers and I will post about how to claim your gift here.

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Selected Private Eye mysteries on offer for Kindle

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Smith) — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 19:41:00 +0000

Take a look at these private eye mysteries on offer in the Kindle store in the US. Alison Wonderland is one of them. It's an offbeat comedy about a woman who joins an all-female detective agency in Brixton, south London.

There are now more than 200 reviews on the book on Amazon.com. Thanks to everyone who has bought it and read it. And if you have left a review, thank you!

If you like the sound of Alison Wonderland and you haven't read it yet, you can pick up a copy for your Kindle for only $1.99 at Amazon.com. It's also available in the UK and Canada at a bargain price.

If you don't have a Kindle, you can read ebooks using a Kindle app on your iPad, computer or Smartphone. The book is also available in paperback or audiobook if you'd prefer one of those.

I need to celebrate passing 200 reviews on the book. Let me think of how to put together some kind of giveaway for everyone who has left a review for any of my books in any country. A draw for a $50 Amazon gift card? A signed copy of one of my books for the first dozen reviewers who contact me? A free copy of one of my ebooks for everyone who has left a review?

If you have any thoughts about what would be a nice way to think readers who have left reviews, please let me know in the comments section below.

And if you have read my books and enjoyed them but you haven't left a review yet, please consider leaving one at Amazon. Thank you!

Alison Wonderland auf Deutsch: Gorgeous!

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Smith) — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 13:12:00 +0000

My author copies of the German edition of Alison Wonderland arrived at the weekend. This is the front and back cover, designed by bürosüd⁰ München for AmazonCrossing. It's stunning, isn't it? I really love it.

The German edition of Alison Wonderland is available in paperback and ebook. If you know someone who might like to read the book in German, please let them know.

Nachdem Alison Temple entdeckt, dass ihr Ehemann sie betrügt, macht sie das, was eine sitzen gelassene Frau so tut: sie sprüht eine fiese Botschaft an ihn auf ihr Hochzeitskleid und nimmt einen Job bei dem Detektivbüro an, das ihn überführt hat. Plötzlich ist sie Ermittlerin in einer reinen Londoner Frauenagentur namens „Fitzgeralds Untersuchungsbüro“, was eine einschneidende Veränderung im Vergleich zu ihrem früheren Leben bedeutet, besonders wenn man bedenkt, mit was für Leuten sie es durch ihren neuen Job zu tun bekommt. Da ist ihr Boss, die achtenswerte Mrs. Fitzgerald; Taron, Alisons exzentrische beste Freundin, die behauptet, ihre Mutter sei eine Hexe; Jeff, ihr liebestrunkener, Gedichte-schreibender Nachbar; und – last but not least! – ihr übersinnlicher Postbote. Alle zusammen drohen Alison mit ihren Eigenheiten und Forderungen wahnsinnig zu machen. Clever, gerissen und mit genau dem richtigen Schuss an Magie, ist Alison Wonderland ein Roman über eine unvergessliche Heldin, die versucht, die täglichen Verwicklungen des modernen Lebens zu meistern.

Alison Wonderland: Roman is available in paperback and ebook from Amazon.de, Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.ca