- Barbara Copperthwaite
Weekend round up
It’s Saturday! What are you all up to? Do you have a good book to bury your nose in this weekend? I very much hope so. I’m about to start an epic tome which is almost 700 pages long. It’s called Six Four, by Hideo Yokoyama, and it comes out in a couple of months…and sounds incredible. That’s my weekend sorted – and then some! It’s been a fabulous week, with me finally able to let you all know about my review column for Inside Crime. It’s a very privileged position to be in, as I know first hand the difference reviews make to an author. They are our life blood, giving us feedback, giving our novels greater visibility to other potential readers, and increasing our likelihood of further sales. Without reviews a book will fail – no matter how brilliant it is. Talking of reviews, it was wonderful to end this week with the news that Flowers For The Dead had received a 5* review from Chellesbookreviews. Not only does Shell have this lovely blog and its Facebook page and Twitter feed, but she also runs Crime Book Club, a fabulous page on Facebook, which you really should consider joining if you’re a fan of, well, crime books! It’s been hectic in my personal life, too. Paul’s birthday was a lovely day, and we visited the village of Friskney, where we both grew up. It’s also the inspiration for the fictional village of my next novel. On the marsh, in the distance, we could see the body of one of the sperm whales that have so tragically died and beached on the east coast. It was a very sobering sight, and I will be writing a fuller post about it next week. One of my uncles has been very ill, too, so there has been some rushing round involved there. Luckily, after a stint in hospital, he is now on the mend. Of course, there has been lots of writing, too. Heart-racing action scenes, followed by languid descriptions, and tense atmosphere. I so want to tell you more, but it would spoil the fun! Have a fabulous weekend x