It may come as surprise — but shouldn’t — when I say that the best part of marketing my new thriller has been writing about the writing of Fool Her Once.
What?! You say. Most authors can’t wait to step away from their laptops and go out to meet their adoring public. But, anyone who knows me, understands that I’m not great at signings, readings, or meeting readers. I’ve always adhered to the view that, Hey, if I wanted to be in the public eye, I’d have become a stand-up comedian. LOL!
So, in a way, I’ve been relieved that the pandemic somewhat slowed the pressure on authors to appear in person, in public. Over the last couple of months, I’ve done a podcast, appeared via Zoom on a Thriller Writers’ Panel at a California Writers” Conference and turned in a couple of self-directed videos reading lines from Fool Her Once. I’ve sucked at all of them.
However, I’ve had many requests for guest blogs, articles and written answers to Q & As which I’ve enjoyed immensely. In previous blogs here, I’ve linked to my post about the antagonist’s role in a thriller and about the advice of writing what you know, but here is a fuller list of the writings which my publisher, CamCat Books, commissioned me to write.
About The North Fork
A couple of weeks ago, my article on the North Fork of Long Island as a setting for thrillers appeared on Crimereads — a website where “readers can find the best writing from the worlds of crime, mystery, and thrillers.”
I signed up to read the daily website many years ago, and often thought about topics I could submit to it. So, when Laura Wooffitt, the marketing director at CamCat Books asked if I had any topics to offer Crimereads, I was ready.
We settled on the one which appeared recently as, “Are We About To See A Lot More Thrillers Set On The North Fork of Long Island?” As I state in the opening paragraphs, it was always a huge, “wine-spilling” surprise to me that googling “North Fork, Long Island thrillers” found me and Fool Her Once at the top of the search pages.
When I decided to dig deeper to find out why, I came to some surprising conclusions which became the basis of my Crimereads analysis on the lack of North Fork crime fiction .
Q&A About Writing & Publishing
Not long afterwards, I produced my best writing tips for Colleen Story’s Writing and Wellness website. My first Q & A with Colleen Story for her website appeared back in 2018. I’ve loved Colleen’s website from my first days of searching the internet for information about blogging, writing and publishing.
Colleen is an indefatigable blogger and promoter of other authors and writers. My first Q&A focused on health tips for writers. The most recent one focused on tips I could give other writers and authors as a 25-year writing veteran of published novels. Any writer/author who doesn’t sign up for Colleen’s newsletter is missing out on a real informative treat!
Blog Tours Are Great
Just to round out the list of writings I’ve loved producing as part of my effort to market my new novel, I’ll add, here, the ones I wrote for various reviewer websites on the Partners In Crime Blog Tour.
I looked at the domestic thriller genre for the Mythical Books website. Subsequently, I answered a Q&A for Quiet Fury where I wrote about the inspiration for Fool Her Once and about my writing environment. Finally, because of my background as a tabloid reporter, I wrote, The Truth About Tabloids for reviewer Elena Taylor’s blog.
C’Mon Guys, I Dare You!
Now, I’m just waiting for some online –or mainstream– publication to ask me : Who are the Real Bad Guys on the North Fork of Long Island? I’m itching to write that one. So, just ask me. Please.