Hello, I’m back! Well, I’m not officially back yet, but I missed you, and I couldn’t wait until next week to write. Did you miss me?
It’s been interesting to take some time away from blogging, and from sitting at my computer morning after morning.
I’ve written here before about how I handle self-promotion (and being an egogooglaholic).
A phrase I’ve been mulling over is one I’ve borrowed from the Twelve Step programmes (e.g. A.A.) – ‘attraction not promotion’. It advises people working the Twelve Steps to be living examples of the benefits of the programme, so that relatives ask them what they’re getting and where they can get some, rather than shoving the benefits down people’s throats in a desperate attempt to get them to try the programme out for themselves.
This concept feels pretty relevant to how I go about selling my novels. Whenever I feel like I’m trying to persuade someone to read my stuff, then I’m onto a loser. Instead I will quietly go about doing what I do to the best of my ability. I can write my books and blog posts. I can make sure there are synopses, reviews and interviews out there. I can do no more.
If I get it right, people will go to my books like bees to honey. Not like stubborn donkeys being dragged by a rope.
Aaah. It’s good to be back! Hope you’re having a good summer.
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PS seconds after finishing this post I found this rather lovely 5 star review for The Blue Handbag on Amazon. Would I be contradicting myself if I re-printed it here? Answers on a postcard ; ) and thank you ‘Star Ling’ whoever you are…
Mysterious Handbag with a secret to tell by Star Ling (UK)
The Blue Handbag by Fiona Robyn is an excellent read. The novel is written in the third person present tense which took me by surprise. But it works so well. I was “in” there straightaway from the first page.
The protagonist, Leonard, is an endearing widower who is so real and normal that I warmed to him straightaway. The plot twists and turns but you never flounder and think where’s all this going? That there’s a secret is obvious from the start. But what the secret is, is revealed very cleverly, layer by layer.
The author has a couple of red herrings lying in wait and I found myself changing my mind just as Leonard does, as more information is revealed. It’s almost a mystery, without a murder! If you like “solve it” type of novels, this would be one for you.
But even if you’re not into mystery novels, this is worth a read. The romance is tender, the pace, although “here and now” is actually quite fast paced. The reader sees things through Leonard’s eyes and follows his train of thought as it goes off at a tangent – just like one’s thoughts do in real life. But you have to keep reading. You have to find out what the secret is.
A very neat, concise novel, an interesting cast of characters and a compelling plot that draws you along. Great for a holiday read or a back to work read – I rate this novel very highly indeed. And don’t be put off by someone comparing Fiona Robyn to Joanna Trollope. Robyn is miles better than Trollope!
