Hello! Hope everyone had a good Christmas and New Year. I had a full household with thirteen for Christmas dinner, so lots of food, drink, games and plenty of fun! It was certainly a hectic period, trying to finish The Wicked Trade alongside all the festivities... On which note… The Wicked Trade …is out now! There have been a few delays with the two paperback versions which will be available (by itself or combined with The Suffragette’s Secret, for those who don’t ‘e-read’). Keep an eye on Facebook and/or Twitter for an immediate notification of its release, but, if everything is okay with the proof copies, which are currently on their way to me from South Carolina, then it should just be a matter of days... Lastly on this point, if you have enjoyed reading The Wicked Trade, a review on Amazon would be very much appreciated! Thank you in advance for that. Feel free also to do this on goodreads.com, if you are a member. Click here to purchase The Wicked Trade. |
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Encubriendo el pasado I’m very pleased to say that the Spanish translation of Hiding the Past is now available in Kindle and paperback form. So, if you know of any Spanish-speaking friends who might enjoy starting the series, please let them know! Click here for further information. |
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Next book You’ll be pleased to hear that I have already started the first stages of plotting the next book in the Forensic Genealogist series. I’ve got the idea and approximate time period, but need to do some research and further pinning down of the narrative and main characters before actually putting ‘pen to paper’. It will be another full-length novel. However, before I actually begin writing this book, I am going to be writing a novella linked to the 100-year anniversary of the end of WW1. Sad to say it won’t feature Morton, but will have an element of historical investigation. All being well, it will be released on 11th November this year, meaning that the next Morton instalment will be at some point next spring / early summer. Q&A! Many thanks to those of you who submitted questions for a Q&A on my Facebook page. I’m planning on answering some of them in a video at some point in the next few weeks. It’s not too late to visit the page (or just email me directly) if you have a burning question to ask me! Website I’ve been working on updating the website over the last few days. There is now a shop on the site where signed / inscribed books from the series can be purchased. If you live outside the UK, please get in touch for a revised p&p quote, as the postage is set to ‘world’ (i.e. most expensive) but the price would vary according to location; also multiple copies would need a P&P discount. I am unfortunately limited in this by the webshop tools available to me currently from my page-host. I’m in the process of adding maps featuring the various places used in The Wicked Trade and The Suffragette’s Secret. Photos and research for the two books will also be added to Pinterest in due course. Rootstech Well, I have six suitcases each weighing 32kg (70lbs) containing my books ready to go! I’m sincerely hoping to bring back a much lighter load… I will be at the convention (at Booth 2046) for each of the four days, so if you are about, come along and say hi. I’m hoping to be able to sneak off at some point and visit some of the other stands. I will report back on how it went in my next newsletter. I'll also post updates on Facebook and Instagram. Click here to see the full list of exhibitors for 2018. Hiding the Past audiobook The audiobook version of Hiding the Past (unabridged) is now available at Audible, iTunes and on Amazon. I have five codes for a free download of the book on both Audible.com and Audible.co.uk. To stand a chance of winning one of them, simply share this newsletter via email, on Facebook or Twitter (here's the link to copy / paste) and I will choose ten winners. Remember to copy (cc) me in, share my post or add my username, respectively, so that I can see your action! |
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Goodreads competition I have launched a book giveaway on Goodreads, offering 100 free Kindle downloads of Hiding the Past to US readers (sorry, rest of the world; it’s the current but soon-to-change Goodreads policy). All you need to do is visit this page to register your interest. If you already have this book, please share the link with friends and family who might like to start the series. Family History I noticed in the news that DNA kits were a very popular gift last year. More than 1.5 million Ancestry kits were purchased over the Black Friday / Cyber Monday weekend, with another equally large number shipped out for Christmas presents. If, like me, you have had your DNA tested, then you might be receiving several new matches in the coming days. I’ve had several matches which, on my Goodwin line, have confirmed the paper trail back to my great great great great grandparents. I’m hoping that, with a bit of work, I can push further back beyond this couple as they are currently my ‘brick wall’. Don’t forget that for very little or free, you can upload your raw DNA data to other providers and access their separate databases. I have found many new discrete sets of relatives in this way. Another positive outcome from these new DNA tests has been my research into my half-aunt’s biological father. If you have read the Historical Information on The Spyglass File, you will remember that my grandmother gave birth to an illegitimate baby in 1943 whilst my grandfather was Missing in Action (although later confimred a POW in Thailand). The identity of the father has always been a mystery and, despite my best efforts, I had been unable to find out who he was. However, a first-cousin DNA match came up on MyHeritage (after I transferred the results for free, from Ancestry) which, when combined with further painstaking research, has allowed me to narrow down the potential father to one of four brothers (all now deceased) from Manchester. Hopefully by the time of the next newsletter I might have identified which one of them it was! I will be back with further updates in due course. But, for now, I’m heading to my favourite Austrian Alpine retreat for a writing-/skiing-break before heading off to Salt Lake City for Rootstech 2018! |
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