It's time to introduce my new book

My new book ‘Which way to love?’, written as Hannah Kane, came out last Monday. It being the Christmas Eve, I didn’t have much time to promote it; I only made a couple of mentions on Twitter. So here I am, remedying the matter.

‘Which way to love?’ is the first book I ever wrote that I actually completed. That was about a decade ago. I believe I tried to submit it a couple of times too, but it didn’t catch; and no wonder. The original story wasn’t very interesting or well-written. First attempts seldom are – well, there are exceptions, of course. I’ve since rewritten the manuscript a few times, changing both the plot and the characters every time, and I believe it has been worth it. The story has matured into what I think is a very good book.

When I wrote the first version of the book, chick-lit was very popular. I wasn’t terribly into it, but I did read a few. However, chick-lit is what I ended up writing. It isn’t very typical of the genre, at least it wasn’t when I started the project; perhaps others have since made similar changes I have. The main character isn’t an air-head and the plot isn’t over-the-top funny; at times, it is the opposite. It is, perhaps, more of a chick-lit for grown women, those thirty-somethings who for the first time start to reflect the choices they have made in their lives. Perhaps everything is well, perhaps a change is needed. That’s what the main character, Audrey, is facing. Her marriage is in trouble and she has to decide whether it is worth saving. Life is never simple, however, and it may be she’s too late.

Is this the kind of book that would interest you? You can read the first chapter here. Amazon's Look Inside feature actually has a bit longer sample, but as I write this, only the US and UK sites seem to have that thing working. 

You can buy it here: US, UK, CA, FR, DE, ES, IT, JP

Which way to love? News agency love affairs. 

"I don’t know why I thought turning my life upside down would save my marriage. But that was exactly what I was about to do."

Audrey Wright fears that her marriage is over. She knows that in order to save it she needs to change herself. While her photojournalist husband, Marcus, is on assignment to Kabul, she takes up a new job in the same news agency he works for.

The life of a junior correspondent for a large news agency is more eventful than she had expected and people there are more interesting than she had dared to hope for. There is Henrietta who needs a friend, and then there is Andrew who suddenly seems very enticing. And Marcus? Well, he is more interested in her life than he has in ages.

But a war photographer's life is hazardous, as Audrey discovers to her horror. Will she be too late to save their marriage.

Happy holidays

It's time for me to quiet down to enjoy the holidays. I've had hectic six months, with a last minute attempt to get my next book published, so I could do with some rest. There's a lot of eating and spending time with my family in store for me. I'll be back in a few days, hopefully with my new book. Until then, I wish you happy holidays.

Here be the cover

I got the manuscript for ‘Which way to love?’ back from my editor. That means, it’s time to reveal the cover. I’ve had one version on my web pages for a couple of days already, but this is the final version. Or as final as all my covers have been.

This is yet another of my own creations. Yes, I know I wrote in an earlier post that a sensible writer would hire a professional to do it. The truth is, however, that I love to design my own covers. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll learn how it’s done properly. It won't be for the lack of trying if I don't.

The book has a chick-lit vibe to it so I wanted an illustrated cover. I found wonderful illustrations on Dreamstime and combined them to this. Then I added some shading and the text. Colours took some extra planning, but in the end, I think I nailed it. The title colour repeats the woman’s shoes and file, and the author’s name fit both her and the background. All in all, I’m very happy with it. Knowing myself though, I’ll probably make some changes at some point, but for now, this is it. What do you think?

Which way to love? News agency love affairs.

"I don’t know why I thought turning my life upside down would save my marriage. But that was exactly what I was about to do."

 

Audrey Wright fears that her marriage is over. She knows that in order to save it she needs to change herself. While her photojournalist husband, Marcus, is on assignment to Kabul, she takes up a new job in the same news agency he works for.

The life of a junior correspondent for a large news agency is more eventful than she had expected and people there are more interesting than she had dared to hope for. There is Henrietta who needs a friend, and then there is Andrew who suddenly seems very enticing. And Marcus? Well, he seems more interested in her life than he has in ages.

But a war photographer's life is hazardous, as Audrey discovers to her horror. Will she be too late to save their marriage?

The wait is over

I saw the Hobbit last night. With my husband, even though he wasn’t that enthusiastic about it. Upfront, anyway. He didn’t object at all when I said I wanted to go.

As with most movies, the first impression after exiting the theatre was bemusement. I wasn’t entirely sure what I thought about it. It was so big and fast, and watching it in 3D HFR had made me slightly nauseous. I wasn’t the only one who didn't know what to think, if the comments I overheard are an indicator. I had to sleep on it to be able to put some coherent thoughts on paper. Or on my blog, as it is.

In short, I liked it. I liked the story, but I haven’t read the book so I have nothing to compare it with; one of the comments I overheard trashed it, however. The movie started with a bang and although a small lull followed immediately after, I thought it was necessary to make the audience understand the peaceful existence Bilbo enjoyed before a bunch of dwarves came calling. After that there was an action scene after another that kept me on the edge of my seat for the entire three hours. And it didn’t feel that long.

I liked the cast too. Martin Freeman was wonderful Bilbo and the dwarves were cast well too. The old characters from the LOTR movies were as they should, familiar and great. And then there was Richard Armitage, of whom I could wax poetic about, but I’d better not.

I wasn’t entirely happy with the movie, however, and that has to do with the technical side of things. I saw the 3D HFR version and I didn’t like it at all. It was too sharp, for one. I could see too many details and they didn’t necessarily live up to close scrutiny. Nothing seemed real anymore; Bilbo’s house didn’t look like a home where people had lived in for centuries, it was a prop. The lightning seemed unreal. Everything looked like it was shot in a studio, even some of the scenes that were shot outdoors; the warm glow of the previous movies was gone. The HFR technique made everything happen slightly too fast for the human eye. Especially the action scenes looked bizarre. And while there were some clever 3D tricks – things shooting towards the audience that made me duck by reflex – I don’t think there was anything in the movie that especially required it. Then again, I don’t think I’ve seen a 3D movie yet that I have liked.

All in all, though, it was a good movie. Not necessarily one that will have me in thrall for months to come, unable to wait for the next one, but a good movie. An adventure that kept me very well entertained. I’ll wait until I see the 2D version to give my final verdict, however. If the movie is good without all the gimmicks too, then I’m happy with it. Especially if the world looks better, the way I remember from the previous movies.

My new web pages are here

As I wrote in the previous entry, I’ve been redesigning my web pages. So here they are: Crimson House Books. It took me longer than I thought to update them, mainly because I spent a long weekend visiting family on the other side of the country. Also, because there are just about million links on my pages I had to make sure still work. And then there were those technical problems I mentioned earlier.

The main clour is red, as you can probably guess when the site is called crimson house books. Hannah and Susanna, my pen names, both have a page of their own, but unlike in the previous version, those pages don’t have their own subpages; it became too difficult to update them all.

Anyway, take a look. If you like to comment on them, you can do so here on my blog or send me e-mail.

The unbearable difficulty of web design

I know my blog post is slightly overdue, but I’ve been too busy redesigning my web pages to write. Well, I could easily have taken a break from coding to write something, but I tend to get immersed into it and only notice time when my stomach growls. When the day ends, my husband has to force me away from the computer. There’s something addictive about coding. I don’t at all wonder the stereotypical image of overweighed coders; you eat where you sit so that you don’t have to abandon your task. There’s always something to tweak, something to improve or mistakes to correct you cannot find no matter how hard you stare at the code.

While web pages are an important marketing tool for any writer, web designing is one of those tasks that I really wouldn’t have to do myself. There are plenty of free templates available for everyone to find the one they like, and plenty of professional designers for those to hire who want something special. But I like to do it myself. HTML coding is a skill I learned ages ago, but I’ve never had a chance to use it in any professional capacity. Now I have a good reason to. I get the pages I like and I don’t have to pay anyone for them.

Ok, maybe not exactly the kind of pages I would like. You see, it really was a long time ago that I learned to code. And like with all technology, coding has changed over the years and my skills have grown old-fashioned. For example, I've learned to position different elements with tables, which I hear is no longer done. I should use style sheets. Well, I tried to learn basic CSS, but I wasn’t very successful. So I gave up and made my pages using tables after all. They work, so I decided not to care about ‘new-fangled’ things. I think my pages are coming out just fine. There were a couple of technical things I would have liked to try out too, but I couldn’t make the code work no matter how hard I tried, so I gave up on those as well. I’m choosing to think that my pages are more dignified without them.

It isn't blood, sweat and tears that have gone into my project; more likely booze, profanities and persistence. But in the end, all the elements have come together and I think I have very nice new pages.

Now, you would think that a blog post about web design would have a grand unveiling of said new pages. Not so. I’m not quite done with the tweaking yet. But it’ll happen any day now. Check back here or follow me on twitter; I'll announce it there. Another unveiling that will happen soon is the cover of my next book, ‘Which way to love?’ The manuscript is with the editor, but once I get it back, I’ll post the cover here.

Since there aren’t my fine new pages to show you, let me end with a wintry picture. Winter has arrived here with plenty of snow and biting cold. I hope it’ll last at least until Christmas.

Of book signings

I’ve noticed that a good sign of the approaching Christmas is the ever growing number of book signings in my local bookstores. They’re usually held by bestselling authors who publish their books right before Father’s Day, Mother’s Day or Christmas to make sure it's their book that is found in all those presents. Equally often, they’re held by writers whose books I’m not particularly interested in reading. Judging by the queues in front of their desks though, I’m the only one.

Sour grapes, perhaps?

Back when I still dreamed about fame and glory as a traditionally published author, I occasionally imagined what it would be like to sit behind that desk, signing my bestseller for people eagerly lining up for them. Since it was my fantasy, there were always long queues; reality wouldn’t interfere. 

I imagined singing books until my wrist was sore. Would it be fun? Would it feel like I’d achieved something, seeing those people? Perhaps I would be extremely successful and do hectic book tours around the world. In those fantasies, the publisher would be happy to pay for hotels and expensive restaurants. Not very realistic, I know, but it was my fantasy, so I got to imagine them the way I like.

That was before I read an article by Andrew Mueller, Australian rock critic and travel writer, about his book signing tour (in three parts: 1, 2, 3). Written some years ago when he was marketing his then new book, it tells a different story. In a humorous and self-deprecating manner, he lets the reader understand that in reality – for a less known author at least – the book signings draw modest crowds at best and most people are there only to tell their own stories, or no crowds at all; the only audience the bookstore employees and crazy old men holding rain. 

After reading his account it was really difficult for me to imagine my book tours would be different. I would notice, too, how most authors – those who weren’t bestsellers – sat alone behind their desk, desperately trying to look like it didn’t bother them that shoppers avoided them like plague. So it wasn't hard for me to let go of that dream when I became a self-published author.

It isn’t necessary all that much fun for those successful authors either. At least if you believe Terry Pratchett who claims that his latest tour was almost the death of him. Of course, he was suffering from a food poisoning, but even without that, he makes a book tour sound very exhausting.

One doesn’t have to have Pratchett’s level of success to have an annoying book signing experience. A while ago, the biggest bestseller of my small country held a signing in my local bookstore. A media darling, she draws in huge crowds where ever she goes. However, perhaps to limit the attendance, the signing was held in the middle of a working day and not even during the lunch hour. The only people who had time to attend it were pensioners, stay-at-home mothers, unemployed and – dare I say – those not employable. Still, there was a respectable queue, long enough that I decided I didn’t want her to sign my copy that badly. Especially since the line didn’t seem to be moving.

I wanted to see the author in person though, so I walked around the queue to take a peek and learned the reason for the holdup. A middle aged man, one of those not so easy to employ, was chatting with the author. Judging by the look on her face and those next in line, the conversation had been going on for a while already without actually going anywhere. She writes historical fiction about events that are recent enough that some readers have personal experience about them and controversial enough that everyone has an opinion too. This man definitely had an opinion – and it wasn’t shared by the author. She listened to him patiently though, nodding politely, all the while trying to get him to stop and go away so that the line would start moving again. She may be a big name, but she didn’t have a handy helper from her publisher who would get rid of such blocks for her.

I left the scene before the man did, having heard enough. But I couldn’t help thinking that the reality of any book signing was probably closer to what I had just witnessed than to my dreams: long lines of harried people trying to squeeze in a moment with their favourite author, and the author trying to keep from getting provoked by know-it-alls. Still, it might be fun to find out in person. Who knows, maybe someday I will.