Dark Angel video on YouTube

 To coincide with the Kindle freebie promo, I made this little video about "Dark Angel."  You can see it here:

http://youtu.be/Sayi-kDb4Is

The Saga's best cover?

I think this is my favourite of all the covers -- designed by Martin, it is a veritable feast of symbolism.  The flames and the smashed gate symbolising the Rebecca Riots, the raven on the gatepost, the diary script at the base of the page, and the ornamented letter "A" to indicate that this is a part of the Angel Mountain Saga.  A clever piece of work.....

Monsters misunderstood

A little collection of images....... all joined by a common thread......
Get your free Kindle download here:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007W1S8OU

Jazz up your Kindle book description

I've been reading up  on how to increase the effectiveness of your book description on your Amazon Kindle page.  Here's mine for Dark Angel -- jazzed up this morning and very different from what was there before.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007W1S8OU

Previously, like many other authors, I simply had a brief synopsis of the story.  According to the experts, that's a complete waste of space, since the space on the Amazon web page can be used much more effectively for marketing purposes. 

You can't do much if you type directly into the box on the Amazon Kindle KDP page that you normally use for uploads.  However, quite a bit of space is allowed, and what Amazon doesn't tell you is that you can paste in HTML code and that it will come out more or less as you want it to.  On my page the bold type and the spacing has come out OK, but my attempt to introduce colour to the text has so far failed.  Still working on it.........  I might go back to it after a few more days and do some further tweaking.

You can do as follows.  Go to Scrivener (if that's what you use) and set up a document with the wording and formatting exactly as you want it --  book description, reader reactions, purple prose, outrageous nonsense -- whatever......  Once you have done that, highlight it, go to Edit > Copy Special > Save as HTML.  Then you are almost done.  Paste it into your Scrivener document to make sure it's OK;  if it is, copy the HTML and go back to your Amazon Kindle upload page.  Then just paste it into the box.  If you are over the character limit, revise.  Otherwise, proceed to the end of the page, save and upload the changes.

After 12 hours or less, the revised book description will appear on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk and on all the other Amazon sites too.  And your sales record will be TRANSFORMED!!!!!  Well, that's the hope of the eternally optimistic.......

One other advantage is that a new date appears at the head of the new book description -- so quite an ancient book suddenly appears to be a brand new one.  That might just be good for sales too!

Who or what is The Nightwalker?

 An eerie shadowy faceless figure dressed in black from head to toe walks -- or glides -- through the pages of "Dark Angel".  Who -- or what  -- is this strange creature that appears intermittently, leaving no trace of his movements, even when there is snow on the ground which should show up footprints?  Is The Nightwalker a human being intent on stalking or terrorising Martha and her family and friends?  Or is the creature a ghost -- or a devil -- or even the Grim Reaper, come to remind Martha of her mortality and maybe of her impending demise? 

The character of The Nightwalker is one of the most interesting of the 200 or so characters who appear in the stories.  As an author, of course I have used the "creature" to symbolise the darker components of this story -- Martha's loneliness and despair, her paranoia, and her tendency towards depression.  But it was also interesting to turn everything upside down towards the end of the novel, and to turn The Nighwalker into an ultimately pathetic and even tragic figure -- and the scene in which Martha is finally forced to confront this creature is one of the scenes of which I am most proud.... but I must not give too much away.........

Your free Kindle version of "Dark Angel" can be obtained here:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007W1S8OU

Beauty and the Beast.  The Phantom of the Opera.   King Kong.  Ogres, monsters and trolls.  Literature is full of these terrifying figures who are demonised because they are different -- either because they are large, or ugly, or fail to conform with what we are used to seeing as beautiful or comfortable.  The great film called "Monsters" comes to mind as well.  All too often the monsters are themselves terrified because they have suffered from some traumatic event, or because they are in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Dark Angel freebie promo goes live

The Kindle edition of "Dark Angel" is now free from Amazon websites -- for just 5 days.  This is one of the favourite books of the series, darker in tone than most of the others, but with an ultimately optimistic thread running right through it.  So yes, is is about fear of the unknown, insecurity, loneliness and despair (well, Mistress Martha did duffer from bipolar syndrome) -- but it's also about compassion, courage, loyalty and love.  If you have a Kindle, feel free to download and enjoy.........

Free Promo coming up: Dark Angel on Kindle

From Thursday 14th November to Mon 18th November volume 3 of the Angel Mountain Saga will be free for Kindle owners, from the Amazon web site.  Here is the link for the USA:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007W1S8OU

 and for the UK:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007W1S8OU

This is the first time I have done a free promo for this book.  Enjoy!!

It is 1807, and Martha Morgan, the beautiful and feisty Mistress of the Plas Ingli estate, has recovered from the murder of her husband David. The murderers have been brought to justice, and now she looks forward to a happier future in the company of Owain Laugharne, the new love of her life. Plans for the marriage are far advanced when Owain disappears without trace. This is trouble enough for a young widow with four children, but then she has to cope with the bullying of a neighbouring squire, the terrifying appearances of a strange figure in black called The Nightwalker, and a newborn baby left on her doorstep. Her friend and mentor, the Wizard Joseph Harries, tries but fails to discover exactly what is going on. As the years pass she becomes increasingly lonely, and at last her friends and servants convince her to marry again. A long-time admirer, Ceredig ap Tomos, proposes, and she accepts. But on the night before the wedding, a new arrival triggers off a series of extraordinary events on Angel Mountain which will test Martha’s resolve to the limit.......