Spalding's Racket

Dogs Of War free until Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 03:04:49 PST

At Amazon UK and Amazon USA:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dogs-Of-War-ebook/dp/B006IRH61A

http://www.amazon.com/Dogs-Of-War-ebook/dp/B006IRH61A

In time for Xmas... my new short story!!

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 11:29:56 PST

DOGS OF WAR

Giving interactive gameplay a whole new meaning…

Disaster.
Epic. Huge. Unmitigated. Disaster.

Zack Hampton’s beloved Gamestation console has just committed electronic suicide - right in the middle of a hectic Dogs Of War Team Deathmatch.
Where the hell is he supposed to find another one the week before Christmas? All the shops have sold out!
Imagine Zack’s delight when he stumbles on a quaint Christmas shop, run by the enigmatic Mister Fix… and discovers a unique ‘special edition’ Gamestation on sale for a bargain price.
Following a very strange conversation with the old shopkeeper, the teenager buys the console and rushes home to rejoin the online mayhem as quickly as possible.

This Gamestation really is very special though - and Zack is about to take part in a game of Dogs Of War he is never going to forget…

Available at:

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Smashwords

You know you've made it when...

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 11:44:03 PST

...you're next to the top man in light entertainment - Mr Alan Partridge :)

A-ha!!

The Cornerstone makes Amazon's Best Books Of 2011 lists!

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 07:08:50 PST

I’m delighted to say The Cornerstone has been voted one of Amazon UK’s ‘Best Books Of 2011’ in the Kindle Customer Favourites category.

Take a look at the annual feature by clicking on the link:

http://tinyurl.com/dxaruhv

The Cornerstone featured at Daily Cheap Reads UK

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 05:59:04 PDT

The Cornerstone is featured at Daily Cheap Reads UK today :) Click the link to go to the site. It's full of great bargains!

http://dailycheapreads.co.uk/

Impeccable Sources by David Brewerton - Thriller

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 15:27:00 PDT

Cassandra Brown is determined to make it as a top-notch newspaper reporter, but after two years in London she has failed to get even one story on to the Posts’s front page. But when a millionaire friend of the Prime Minister goes missing in mysterious circumstances, she seizes the chance to make the story hers, whatever the cost.

Day by day she writes revealing stories about the missing tycoon - his affairs, his finances, his health - and the secrets that even his wife did not know. There seem to be good reasons why he might have wanted to disappear. Or have been kidnapped. Or worse.

Then, two weeks after he walked out of his hotel, his battered body is found floating in the Mediterranean Sea. But did he fall, did he jump or was he pushed?

Driven by competition from other papers, Brown’s demanding News Editor insists she comes up with a new angle every day. The more she digs into his life, the more convinced she becomes of foul play. But she also discovers that even her most impeccable sources have their own agendas, their own axes to grind, and that it’s not only her own ambition that knows no limits.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Impeccable-Sources-ebook/dp/B004P8JT5K/

http://www.amazon.com/Impeccable-Sources-ebook/dp/B004P8JT5K

My first guest blog post...

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 07:45:32 PDT

For the first time I've had the chance to guest post on someone else's blog :) And mighty fun it was too.

Go check out my contribution to popular author Saffina Desforges site, where in I wax lyrical about childhood Halloween experiences and alienating Twilight fans.

http://sapphicscribe.wordpress.com/2011/10/27/thirteen-ghosts-a-collection-of-spooky-tales-for-halloween-part-one/

The joys of having Amazon promote your own book at you...

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 02:17:36 PDT

Received an email this morning from Amazon UK suggesting some new science fiction and fantasy books that I might like to read. Main one featured was Nick Spalding's The Cornerstone:

It's quite strange to have Amazon promote your own book at you, I can tell you...I was wondering why I catapulted into the UK top twenty yesterday. Now I know!

Soliloquies: the lady doth indeed protest by Chris Wind - Poetry

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 11:50:52 PDT

Lady MacBeth kill herself? Please. And Portia—you don’t think someone that intelligent would be pissed to be bait and trophy? And Juliet, well, Juliet just wants to have—sex..

Soliloquies: the lady doth indeed protest, by poet chris wind, is a collection of soliloquies delivered by Juliet, Ophelia, Lady MacBeth, Portia, Kate, Desdemona, Regan, Isabella, Marina, Miranda – protesting the role given to them by Shakespeare.

Exquisite poetry. Fresh audition pieces.

smashwords

kindle

Power Trip by Jeff Thomason - Sci Fi

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 11:49:03 PDT

René thinks he's hit the jackpot!

After six months of no luck following college, he finds the perfect job with excellent benefits at The Power Company doing what he graduated in.

But a newly hired manager has a mysterious agenda. Employees disappear with no warning, and René is caught in a massive explosion that leaves the city of 8 million without power during a record-breaking heat wave. Riots rage and fires burn as the city plunges into chaos, and René finds himself framed for sabotage.

Only the intervention of a silent wanderer can save him and the rest of the city from a deadly power trip.

Smashwords Link: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/78228

Amazon.co.uk Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005FI5Q6K

Amazon.com Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005FI5Q6K

The Other Room by James Everington - Horror

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 11:46:51 PDT

The Other Room is a collection of weird horror fiction, containing twelve stories of the uncanny and the surreal.

A naive student finds that his crumbling bedsit can be as haunted as any Gothic mansion.

A man stumbles across another world which is the mirror image of his own.

A young woman who everyone thinks is beautiful wonders why, given what she sees in the mirror each morning.

Influenced by writers such as Ramsey Campbell, Shirley Jackson, and Robert Aickman these tales, like all good horror stories, are as much about the psychology of the protagonist as the fate that awaits them.

The Other Room contains both new and previously published stories that will challenge your conceptions of horror and literary fiction.

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Smashwords

The Road Trip Dialogues by Jass Richards - Humour

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 11:43:44 PDT

Rev and Dylan are intelligent, sensitive, idealistic, enthusiastic, and – utter failures. When they reconnect twenty years after teacher’s college, Rev is en route to Montreal to see the fireworks festival. (Something with great social and political import.) (Oh shut up. I tried. For twenty years. So fuck it.). Dylan goes along for the ride. (Typical.)

Along the way, they attend a student protest. Against student debt. Sponsored by a car dealership. Understandably, ‘Where did we go wrong?’ becomes ‘What the hell is wrong with the world??’

They spend much of their time in Montreal hopelessly stoned. And looking after cats they can’t find. …

It’s a coming of age story. For those in their forties.

Two Way Split by Allan Guthrie - Crime

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 13:33:38 PDT

Winner of the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year

Robin Greaves is an armed robber whose professionalism is put to the test when he discovers his wife has been sleeping with a fellow gang member. Robin plans the ultimate revenge, but things go from bad to worse when the gang bungles a post office robbery, leaving carnage in their wake. Suddenly they are stalked by the police, sleazy private eyes, and a cold-blooded killer who may be the only one not looking for a cut of the money.

A lean and muscular crime thriller with a seriously twisted dark side, TWO-WAY SPLIT is an explosive introduction to the raw talent of Allan Guthrie.

Praise for TWO-WAY SPLIT

"Seek him out and buy his book." Ian Rankin, creator of Inspector John Rebus and author of THE COMPLAINTS

"Excellent." George Pelecanos, author of THE CUT

"With razor-sharp characterisation and an evocative sense of place, the novel's pace never relents: the supremely damaged characters that Guthrie conjures up are seldom let off the hook, and stew throughout in their fetid juices. Dark and splendid." The Guardian

Allan Guthrie is the author of BYE BYE BABY, a top ten Kindle bestseller.

Link to Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Two-Way-Split-ebook/dp/B005890S3C/

Link to Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Two-Way-Split-ebook/dp/B005890S3C/

Inferno by Holly Hook - YA Fantasy

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 13:32:14 PDT

Book 2 of the Destroyers Series

Ever since becoming leader of the human hurricanes called Tempests, 16-year-old Janelle is overdue for a vacation. But the trip to Hawaii quickly presents its own problems when she meets Kenna, a local sophomore who makes the volcano start rumbling when she's nearby. So when Kenna gets kidnapped, Janelle has to find her. If she doesn't, Kenna's secret could mean the end of civilization and the death of everyone she loves.

Also Available: Tempest (Destroyers, Book 1)

Links:

Amazon.com

Amazon UK

Barnes and Noble

A Memory Of Grief by Dale Phillips - Mystery

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 13:28:56 PDT

"Zack Taylor is hot. With anger, grief, testosterone, muscle—and booze when he lets himself, though he tries not to. And he’s hot on a case of suicide that his gut tells him is murder. No pro, he acts out of some time-worn sense of honor—as Hammett might’ve said: When a man’s friend is killed, he ought to do something.

Wounded by life, Taylor is a loner who makes friends easily, and enemies even more easily. Beginning in the heat of Miami, he treks north to Portland, Maine, where things get way hotter.

Dale Phillips writes a clean, efficient prose and spins a yarn that’s as gritty as any I’ve read in recent years. There’s humor, violence, ghosts, and sex—all the good stuff that has driven stories forever."

http://www.amazon.com/Memory-Grief-Mr-Dale-Phillips/dp/1618070002/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1309222866&sr=1-1

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/59556

Punk Fiction by Marcus Blakeston - General Fiction

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 13:25:52 PDT

Nine interlinked slice of life dramas set in and around a small Yorkshire town in the early 1980s. Written by shouting poet Marcus Blakeston, they are populated by an assortment of punks, skinheads, yobs and hooligans. Not suitable for yuppies.

1 Punk and Disorderly

Punk rocker Colin Baxter was looking for a good night out, getting as drunk as possible to escape the tedium of his life on the dole. He certainly wasn’t looking for a fight with one of the local skinheads.

2 Yob Culture

Skinhead Trog was in a foul mood when he pushed through the door to The Black Bull, and the rowdy sounds of his favourite band The Cockney Upstarts playing on the jukebox did little to calm him. It was bad enough having his bird yelling and screaming at him and then stamping off in a sulk without having some gobby student call him a ‘rotter’.

3 Bored Teenagers

Four short vignettes in which nothing much happens.

4 Warrior in Woolworths

Woolworths security guard John Taylor doesn’t like punks. If he had his way they would all be shipped off to the Falklands to fight the Argies. Management might say he has to let scum like that in the shop, but that doesn’t mean he has to put up with any nonsense from them.

5 Gothic Rooms

“Come back to my bedsit,” Stiggy said, “we'll play some records and stuff.” But when Colin gets there he finds out Stiggy has other plans.

6 It’s All Done by Mirrors

Colin and Brian had it all planned out: A romantic night out with a couple of punk birds – go and see a band, ply the birds with drinks all night, then see how it goes. But then glue sniffer and social misfit Stiggy decides to tag along.

7 Sniffin Glue

There’s only one thing worse than having some kid yapping in your ear while you’re trying to enjoy a good bag of glue in peace, and that’s having the coppers turn up while you’re off your head and unable to defend yourself.

8 I'm an Upstart

Top oi band The Cockney Upstarts, much loved by both punks and skinheads alike, are playing in nearby Shefferham. Unfortunately they chose to play at a time when tensions between punks and skinheads are running high.

9 Life Moves On

An announcement is made.

Amazon UK

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005EDH62I

Amazon USA

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005EDH62I

Epub / PDF

https://sites.google.com/site/marcusblakeston/home/punk-faction-ebook

Epiphany by Stuart Land - Sci Fi Mystery

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 13:24:26 PDT

Doctor Sam Enright and his geneticist wife, Dorinda, face turmoil in their small town when a dozen adolescent girls show up pregnant at Sam’s office—and they’re all virgins. When their own daughter falls victim to the same fate, the Enrights rush to Homeland Security for answers. As the questions multiply, they realize they are at the vanguard of a worldwide epidemic, and the mystery deepens. As events escalate, a disparate group of international doctors, scientists, and mothers-to-be are brought together at Dorinda’s genetics lab in Middle America. They race to find the cause and meaning of the mysterious pregnancies, but every discovery reveals a new, worse scenario, leaving humanity's very existence in question.

This story is based entirely on science fact

USA: www.amazon.com/dp/B005D3Z3ZG
GB: www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005D3Z3ZG
DL: www.amazon.de/dp/B005D3Z3ZG
www.smashwords.com/books/view/74757

Voice Mail Murder by Patricia Rockwell - Mystery

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 12:35:39 PDT

Who stabbed the philandering football coach in the back? Was it one of the three women who left romantic voice mail messages on the cell phone found next to his body in the motel room?

The police don’t have a clue. None of the coach’s family, friends, or colleagues recognize the voices of the unidentified women--and probable mistresses. Who could they be? This sounds like a case for Pamela Barnes, local Psychology professor, acoustics expert, and sometimes amateur sleuth. Can she identify the three women (and potential murder suspects) from just the sound of their voices on the voice mail?

Who are these mystery women and how did the popular coach manage to conduct affairs with all of them unbeknownst to everyone around him? And how did he keep his trio of lovers from finding out about each other—or did he? It’s a tangled romantic web that ultimately led to murder and Pamela Barnes is determined to figure it out. Read Patricia Rockwell’s new cozy mystery VOICE MAIL MURDER.

The Strange Journal Of The Boy Henry by S Alini - General Fiction

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 12:34:16 PDT

An eleven year old boy wakes up in a bedroom. He doesn’t know where he is and doesn’t remember who he is. He finds a very strange household whose members insist he is part of their family. When the creepy dad starts asking him strange questions, the boy notes his observations in a journal, to solve the puzzle of his very peculiar situation.

http://alinibooks.blogspot.com/

Coffin Dodgers by Gary Marshall - Comedy Thriller

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 12:32:17 PDT

Eighty is the new thirty. Nobody's having babies, the old massively outnumber the young and the hip crowd has become the hip replacement crowd. Twentysomething barman Matt Johnson would be bored senseless if someone wasn't trying to kill him.

Gary Marshall's debut novel, Coffin Dodgers, is a fast, funny and fat-free thriller set in a terrifying world where youth culture is a distant memory and a big night out begins and ends with bingo.

When Matt Johnson narrowly escapes a car wreck, he discovers that his accident was no accident. Someone's murdering young people, and dozens are already dead. Can Matt and his friends Amy and Dave stop the killings? The answer involves guns, gangsters, an angry bear and plenty of irate pensioners.

Knockout by Emma Calin - Romance

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 12:29:51 PDT

Interpol cop, Anna Leyton, spirals down into a hopeless vortex of sexual and emotional passion as she fights to keep her professional cool. Who is deceiving who in this fast moving ride across continents? What motivates her art loving prize-bull of a lover Freddie La Salle? The power of love and trust stands against greed and crime as conflicting forces grapple for that knockout punch.

Links

Website:

http://www.emmacalin.co.uk

Amazon UK:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Knockout-Passionate-Police-Romance-ebook/dp/B0051PJWB2/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1310207370&sr=1-1

Amazon USA:

http://www.amazon.com/Knockout-Passionate-Police-Romance-ebook/dp/B0051PJWB2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=A7B2F8DUJ88VZ&s=digital-text&qid=1310207409&sr=1-1

Smashwords:

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/65587

Blog:

http://emmacalin.blogspot.com/

My new book Love... From Both Sides is out now!

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 10:23:15 PDT

My new book is out now! Click on the links below to buy :)

Sometimes, the hardest part of finding love is keeping a straight face.

For Jamie Newman, being a single guy isn’t proving to be much fun, especially when confronted with a sexually belligerent divorcee and a goddess so far out of his league she might as well be a different species.

Mind you, being a girl in search of love isn’t a bowl of cherries either. Just ask Laura McIntyre, who’s recently contended with a horny estate agent on a quest for light relief, and a rabid mountain bike enthusiast with a penchant for genital display.

When Jamie and Laura bump into one another (quite literally) it looks like their luck may have changed – but sometimes finding the right person is only the start of your problems…

Based on real-life tales of dating disaster and relationship blunders, Love… From Both Sides is a warts-and-all romantic comedy for everyone who knows how tricky (and occasionally ridiculous) the quest for love can be.

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Smashwords

Coming soon! Nick Spalding's new book 'Love... From Both Sides'

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 09:13:38 PDT

I'm pleased to announce that my new book will be released in September on Amazon and Smashwords.

Here's the blurb:

Sometimes, the hardest part of finding love is keeping a straight face.

When Jamie and Laura bump into one another (quite literally) it looks like their luck may have changed – but sometimes finding the right person is only the start of your problems…

More details coming soon!

Lilith's Tears by David Jones - Fantasy

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 12:16:55 PDT

Wrecked on an unchartered island, his ship and crew lost in a storm, Captain Trebane struggles to survive amongst the island’s deadly community of immortals. Beset by the peculiar, dark magic that pervades the jungle, and the curse which has driven its inhabitants to savagery, Trebane discovers that, beneath the island’s tropical beauty, lurks the shadow of an age old evil. Battling to rescue the woman he loves from the cathedral at the island’s heart, he encounters the reclusive skeleton leader of the savages, along with the island’s other strange inhabitants. As Trebane explores, he learns more of the island’s curse, its connections with the Garden of Eden, its history, and the inexorable fate which tugs upon the lives of all its sinister occupants. Severed from the rest of the world, his quest culminates in a battle which will change the lives of the characters forever, and echo through all of time.

Lilith’s Tears will immerse readers in the mystical world of the island. Magic and darkness pervade the landmass, with its fabled immortality and the curse that has condemned countless generations to languish there. Adventure, mystery, romance and legend - Lilith’s Tears will both amaze and enchant.

Kindle Edition on Amazon.co.uk – http://www.amazon.co.uk/Liliths-Tears-ebook/dp/B0054H1U6C

Kindle Edition on Amazon.com – http://www.amazon.com/Liliths-Tears-ebook/dp/B0054H1U6C

iBookstore – http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/liliths-tears/id444414393?mt=11

Paperback - http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/liliths-tears/15844520

Smashwords – http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/70572

The Last Man On Earth Club by Paul R Hardy - Sci Fi

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Spalding) — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 12:15:33 PDT

Therapy groups support people traumatised by a common issue, such as cancer, sexual abuse, or PTSD suffered in war. This therapy group is for people who were the last survivors of their world.

Each of them was rescued from a parallel universe where humanity was wiped out. They’ve survived nuclear war, zombies, machine uprisings, mass suicide and more. They’ve been given sanctuary on the homeworld of the Interversal Union, and placed with a therapist who works with survivors of doomed worlds.

No one has lost as much as they have. No one has suffered as they have.

Their only hope is each other.