I am very happy to announce that Lucinda E. Clarke has a new book coming out! Please check out her work and her website and blog!
WRITING TO MARKET
No one told me when I morphed from TV scripting to scribbling books that I should choose a genre and stick with it. Stephen King did it, Wilbur Smith did it and all the other writer ‘household names’ did it.
Lucinda E Clarke didn’t.
Not, because I was being difficult, but because I didn’t know any better. I can’t remember all the topics I wrote and filmed over the decades, from health to housing, to voting, manufacturing, educational subjects, finance, dramas, plays, corporate, council and so on and so on. You name it I’ve written a programme about it, and, that even includes splitting the atom.
I followed the advice I’d heard a hundred times over, ‘Write what you know’…
I should be writing this from the nearest lunatic asylum. (Goodness can I call it that? You never know what’s acceptable these days, but you get the drift?)
I have a problem.
I love writing, I hate marketing. I was married to a salesman in a former life and I know all the buzz words. Listen, discover a problem, solve it and then close the deal. He could sell fridges to Inuits or Eskimos and send them away happy.
Me? Not so much. As I work on a project – and I was the same with my film making – my enthusiasm has no bounds. I’ll bore anyone silly talking about it, sit and tweak for hours and make it as perfect as possible. The moment I finish it and send to client or publish I hate it. Yes, really.
When I was compiling the box set of the first three Amie stories, I re-read them and thought ‘Goodness did I write these? Hey they’re quite good.’ But at the time, I pushed them out into the world half hoping no one would notice.
I become shy and embarrassed and while getting some one-star reviews does not send me into the fox hole (you have plenty of clients from hell / frustrated Spielbergs when you write for a living) I am basically shy.
I have a long list of what to do before a book launch, but I also have a mental block about doing anything about it. It’s so hard for me to get excited and enthusiastic even when my beta readers rave about the latest scribble.
My fingers refuse to type words such as ‘Great!’ ‘Fantastic!’ ‘Best book you’ll ever read!’
So, A Year in the Life of Belinda Brand comes out tomorrow and I’ve priced it as low as I can, @ $/£ 0.99 but my heart is now with Polly, my newest victim heroine, I’m enthusiastic about her – for now.
So, let me just paste the book blurb and live in hope and I’ll scurry back to my current WIP and Polly who has just won the lottery with dire consequences.
PUBLISHER DESCRIPTION
Belinda Brand becomes an overnight sensation when Hollywood offers to make a film of her runaway bestseller. A confident, modern woman, she has the world at her feet – and a secret she is convinced no one will ever discover. Leah, her gentle and long-suffering stepmother will guess, but she would never betray her, or would she?
When menacing notes appear after the Awards ceremony in London and then follow her across the Atlantic, Belinda realizes someone is threatening to expose her.
As she struggles to stay calm, her best friend disappears, Belinda’s celebrity life turns into a nightmare and there is no one she can trust.
If the Brand family thought they could lead a quiet, normal life, they were wrong. Danger continues to lurk in the shadows.
A fast-paced, page-turning psychological thriller, full of surprises, twists, and turns.
I am very pleased to bring you a guest post from Lucinda. She is a writer, published author, and a very loyal blog follower.
Here is her bio.
Lucinda E Clarke has lived an extraordinary life, in 8 countries, on land and sea, survived childhood abuse, marriage to a psychopath and many real-life adventures. She moved from teaching to the media realising a life-long dream to write for a living. From announcing on radio, she graduated to scriptwriting for radio and television and every other form of writing known to man. Movies, advertising, drama plays, street theatre, mayoral speeches, her newspaper column, company reports, tourist promotions etc. She was prepared to write for anyone who paid her – even if it meant lying through her teeth. She needed to support one husband, two children, a St Bernard, other dogs, various felines and a menagerie of small furry animals and at…
Delighted to share the news of a new release by Lucinda E. Clarke– The psychological thriller – A Year in the Life of Belinda Brand – on pre-order until May 14th at a special price.
About the book
Belinda Brand becomes an overnight sensation when Hollywood offers to make a film of her runaway bestseller. A confident, modern woman, she has the world at her feet – and a secret she is convinced no one will ever discover. Leah, her gentle and long-suffering stepmother will guess, but she would never betray her, or would she?
When menacing notes appear after the Awards ceremony in London and then follow her across the Atlantic, Belinda realizes someone is threatening to expose her.
As she struggles to stay calm, her best friend disappears, Belinda’s celebrity life turns into a nightmare and there is no one she can trust.
“…has anyone ever actually died laughing?”—CathyR for Between The Lines Book Reviews
“The off-the-wall snark’s all there.“—Terry Tyler, Author of Project Renova series
“Get this book and prepare to be entertained, you can thank me later.” —Georgia Rose, Author of The Grayson Trilogy
“This book needs to come with a warning: ‘Caution: Do Not Eat Or Drink While Reading This Book! You will spew food or liquid everywhere when you laugh out loud.’”—Kassandra Lamb, Author of Kate Huntingdon Mysteries
“This rollicking escapade had me in stitches one minute and pondering the next. I could see my own childhood through their…