I’d like to
pretend that I’m a visionary. That I predicted the explosive impact that
digital publishing has had on the reading public and was in on the ground
floor. If only! Sadly, I can’t bring
myself to lie.
I can’t remember
a time when I haven’t been oblivious to the world because I’ve had my nose
buried in a book, (the type that trees died for). That’s why, when I resumed my
career as an author—no, make that, tried to start the career I’d always wanted to
forge but never had time to explore—I went down the traditional publishing
route. Against all the odds, my first effort at a Regency romance was taken up
by a small London publishing house. As you can probably imagine, I was
euphoric, and absolutely convinced I was the next Jane Austen. Nothing would
stop me now.
Except, of
course, that it did. Four more Regencies were sold to the same house but the
sales were negligible. Minimum wage? I wish! Still, at least I’d learned one
thing. I wrote books that professional publishers were interested in buying.
That had to mean something, right? But the whole process was so damned
frustrating. Hurry up and wait is the name of the publishing game. You rush to
get a book finished, submit it and then wait months, often for a form rejection
no one bothers to sign. There had to be a better way.
What about this
digital business? It seemed to be taking off and, from what I’d heard the wait
times were much shorter. And that, as they say, was that. I’ve had a love
affair with e-books ever since and now have over twenty of them with my name on
the cover.
I’m fortunate
enough to be with Carina Press, who publish my historicals and a series of
marine crime mysteries. We’ve had boats for years and I never waste an
experience.
The Hunter Files
feature my youngish retired detective, Charlie Hunter, who lives aboard his
trawler yacht in Brighton Marine, England and just wants to be left alone.
Except it doesn’t quite work out that way and he gets dragged back into his
cold cases, simply because he can’t say no.
Risky Business, follows on the heels
of Unfinished Business. Once again
Carina artists have come up with an awesome cover. What do you think of it?
The recurring
theme in these books is Charlie’s quest to find answers for the senseless
murder of his mother twenty years previously. It’s what made him give up a
promising career as a jazz musician and join the police force instead. At last
he seems to be getting somewhere—at least that’s what he thinks at the end of Unfinished Business. Risky Business
plunges him into the murky world of fixed dog racing. Cleo Kendall asks for his help, convinced
that her father, who's serving a life sentence for murder, isn't guilty.
Everyone thinks the case is closed. Charlie doesn't agree, especially when his
investigation points towards his difficult stepbrother, who may be involved
with his mother's murder and Cleo's family.
With the detective chief inspector watching his every move, Charlie
delves deeper and deeper into dangerous territory. But someone doesn't want
Charlie getting to the bottom of this case--ever. Fighting against the bad
guys, Charlie unearths more clues about his mother’s demise, which strike much
closer to home.
And, come March,
we have the third and final in the trilogy to look forward to, Lethal Business.
Wendy
