Summer Reads Make Me Feel Fine #ASMSG #Giveaway

Blowing through the jasmine in my mind (as Seals & Crofts and the Isley Brothers put it).
Marble City Publishing has three new releases this summer and they’re offering a giveaway to celebrate. Register for their newsletter and you can choose any one of Marble's existing e-book titles for free!
Also, because Marble hate those ads that offer a great new deal to new subscribers but tough luck to existing customers, all existing newsletter followers can also get one of Marble’s titles for free. Just click through as if registering and then update your profile to choose your e-book.
And here, in brief, are those three new releases:

The Sadness of Angels is a new release from Booker-nominated Jim Williams. An epic science fiction fantasy, first part of an upcoming trilogy. Beautifully written, captivating and lyrical. Read more about The Sadness of Angels on Amazon.

Twelve Curious Deaths in France is Marble City’s first release from Emmy-nominated screenwriter John Goldsmith. A novel length collection of outstanding stories. Do miracles really happen? Did Voltaire rise from the dead? Is our fate predestined? Are sex toys dangerous? The answers are to be found in this remarkable collection. Includes how-to advice on a number of topics: delivering practical jokes from beyond the grave; how best to murder an African despot; the secret of the world’s best rabbit stew. From fantastic to factual, contemporary to historical, a mix of comedy, drama, intrigue and suspense. Twelve Curious Deaths in France is available on Amazon.

Edge of Passion is Marble's 2014 anthology of crime, mystery, suspense and romance. Twenty-one stories from nineteen authors, including Emmy-nominated John Goldsmith and Booker-nominated Jim Williams.
This global collection from 400 to 7000 words covers everything from crime fiction to romantic suspense and historical mystery.
Authors: John Goldsmith, Jim Williams, Jeremy Hinchliff, John Holland, Gerry McCullough, Alexandar Altman, R.A. Barnes, Maura Barrett, Eileen Condon, Mary Healy, Susan Howe, Damon King, Mary Mitchell, Jeanne O’Dwyer, Michael Rumsey, Valerie Ryan, Dennis Thompson, Catherine Tynan and T. West.
Edge of Passion is available on Amazon.

This post is reblogged from Marble City Publishing

Marble City - Passionate About Writing #ASMSG

They've been busy again over at Marble City Publishing and this year's anthology, Edge of Passion, has just been released in e-book and paperback. Yours truly has a story in there - Heirloom - and the anthology makes very good reading. Some really strong stories from this year's competition winners and stunning guest pieces from Booker-nominated Jim Williams, Emmy-nominated John Goldsmith and other Marble City guest authors.

An anthology of twenty-one crime, mystery, suspense and romance stories from nineteen authors, including Emmy-nominated John Goldsmith and Booker-nominated Jim Williams.

This global collection of short stories from 400 to 7000 words covers everything from crime fiction to romantic suspense and historical mystery.

Authors: John Goldsmith, Jim Williams, Jeremy Hinchliff, John Holland, Gerry McCullough, Alexandar Altman, R.A. Barnes, Maura Barrett, Eileen Condon, Mary Healy, Susan Howe, Damon King, Mary Mitchell, Jeanne O’Dwyer, Michael Rumsey, Valerie Ryan, Dennis Thompson, Catherine Tynan and T. West.

Edge of Passion is available on Amazon

Passion Pushed Them Over the Edge - The Winners Are ...

 

The winners have been chosen for Marble City's Edge of Passion anthology. See Marble City's blog for details. 

Guest authors from Marble City will include Booker-nominated Jim Williams plus their new signing bestselling novelist and Emmy nominated screen writer John Goldsmith.

Watch Out For The Skin Deep #ASMSG

My stablemate Jim Williams has a very eloquent turn of phrase that earned him a Booker Prize nomination for his historical novel Scherzo a few seasons back. Scherzo is a great book but I think my favourite of Jim's is The Argentinian Virgin. Marble City Publishing is running a pre-Christmas sale on Amazon and Barnes & Noble for The Argentinian Virgin and I've re-posted my review of the book here in case it catches your interest. At 99c / 77p it's a snip!

 

Ruby reviews The Argentinian Virgin

Judging a Book by its Cover

I was captivated by the beautiful woman on the cover of this book the moment I saw her. It’s happened to me before and I dare say it’s happened to you. We assign attributes of character without any basis in fact, but because of the way an individual appears. Through a happy accident of birth, the lucky mix of genes, what the red Hot Chili Peppers call “a perfect piece of DNA”, an individual is blessed with beauty. Facial symmetry, poise, a breadth of shoulders, slimness of waist, coupled with graceful strength or endearing fragility.

Nature’s deception, I call it. The effect may be momentary; if they open their mouth and sound like their antithesis then the bubble is burst; if their charm works when statuesque but fails in movement then they ought best to stand still. Without any contrary evidence, such beauty can be an enduring lure. I’ve been caught out more than once by appearances, giving trust and even affection to the owner, only to find that it was an accident of nature and under the alluring surface they’re just as ordinary as you or I. But sometimes, occasionally, the character matches the appearance and something wonderful is ignited for anyone who comes within range. Such a person is Tom Rensselaer in The Argentinian Virgin by Jim Williams.

Lucky Tom Rensselaer warms the sight and hearts of all who have the good fortune to meet him. He’s a product of good breeding, old money (although now lost) and perfect nature. Strong in principle, generous and loving, he cannot fail in life. But what happens when Adonis meets Aphrodite? Katerina Malipiero captivates Tom from their first encounter. She’s without guile, innocence personified, and all the more irresistible for that. The air crackles with charge whenever they are in each other’s company. He can’t withstand her attraction, any more than the powers at war can halt their own inevitable march towards doom.

Set on the French Riviera early in the Second World War, monumental events occur around the cast of Tom and the other Americans, the Malipieros and the Irish narrator, Pat. A chance encounter, infatuation, love and lust lead Tom and his Argentinian Virgin through the backwoods of occupied France, leading to a tragedy that no one can avoid.

Passionate, evocative, enthralling and emotive, The Argentinian Virgin is a warning to watch out for the skin deep.

Marble City Publishing is running a pre-Christmas sale on Amazon and Barnes & Noble for The Argentinian Virgin.

Want to win a new Kindle? Marble City Publishing is giving away a Kindle Paperwhite plus leather cover in a free draw, visit their site to enter: http://www.marblecitypublishing.com

 

Win A Professional Critique On The Opening Of Your Novel

Over on Multi-story they are running a competition to win a professional critique of your novel opening (up to 2500 words) by Booker Prize nominated author Jim Williams. Three winners will receive an incisive critique from Jim who has had twelve novels internationally published to critical acclaim, and he describes here what he is looking for in the winning entries. Entry to the competition is open until 30th September 2013 and here are the rules.

Grabbing the Knife by its Edge - #Goodreads paperback giveaway

Marble City Publishing is doing a Goodreads Giveaway of two paperback copies of the Knife Edge Anthology. This collection of twenty-five crime / thriller / mystery / suspense stories has had a great reception in online bookstores and all profits go to the children's literacy charity Booktrust.org. There are twenty-three writers involved including Marble City authors (Jim Williams, yours truly and others) and winners from the recent genre competition at multi-story.co.uk. Click below to enter the giveaway.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Knife Edge

by Jim Williams

Giveaway ends August 12, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Fatman's Couch puts The Hitler Diaries to the Burger Test

In a recent Goodreads Giveaway my publisher shipped a paperback copy of The Hitler Diaries off to Canada. In the business of book marketing, publishers and authors have to put themselves out there and many review copies go out. Sometimes you hear back, and sometimes you don't. In this case the result was a perfect match. The Fatman loved The Hitler Diaries and wrote a very insightful review for Fatman's Couch Reviews, giving The Hitler Diaries four and a half burgers out of five.

The story doesn't stop there. To spread the word, Marble City are offering up to five e-book copies of The Hitler Diaries to winning entrants on his website. Go here to enter.
Thanks.

Goodreads Giveaway of The Hitler Diaries - new release

Another upcoming release from my Marble City stablemate, Jim Williams, is up for grabs in a Goodreads Giveaway of two paperback copies. Head on over to Goodreads and enter for a chance to win. The Hitler Diaries will be released in e-book and paperback on 15th May 2013.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Hitler Diaries

by Jim Williams

Giveaway ends May 20, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Shutting the stable door before the horse has bolted

My stablemate at Marble City Publishing, Jim Williams, has a new release. Tango in Madeira will be published as an e-book and paperback on 15th April. Jim has published ten novels and his Scherzo was nominated by Simon and Schuster for the Booker Prize. Tango in Madeira is a murder mystery set on the exotic Portuguese island of Madeira after the First World War and Marble City are running a Goodreads Giveaway of two paperback copies. Just click below to enter.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Tango in Madeira

by Jim Williams

Giveaway ends April 14, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Prepare to be creeped out. The Baptist by Ruby Barnes

Since the debacle over Amazon fake, friend and family reviews over the last couple of months, it seems to me reviews are a bit harder to come by. My opinion is authors and some readers have become reluctant to post reviews on Amazon in case of removal. 
The following review for The Baptist is posted on the author's blog and reproduced here with permission. It's quite a cerebral piece and I'm flattered by the literary comparison. I highly respect Jim Williams as an author. He has a very strong literary style and is a Booker Prize nominee, and I'm honoured by his insight and kinds words. At the same time his review reminds me what a traumatic experience it was to write The Baptist as I had to live with that first person narrative for about a year.

Jim Williams' review of The Baptist by Ruby Barnes

In popular fiction the serial killer is a trope for the embodiment of evil rather than an extreme example of the everyday experience of madness that may affect our friends or ourselves.  For that reason Hannibal Lecter has more in common with Dracula Prince of Darkness than, say, the Yorkshire Ripper in his ignorant ordinariness.  For the same reason, the madness of the fictional serial killer is a permanent part of the character’s identity – masked perhaps, but always there – while in contrast the madness of actual life is like a career of part time jobs: some good, some horrible, but all episodic.  Ruby Barnes’s insight into this reality is what makes The Baptist so truthful, convincing and distinctive.
The story is told mainly from the point of view of the killer himself, John Baptist.  He is committed to an institution in his teens for the murder of his brother and here he meets Mary, whose madness is of a more chaotic type.  On his release he creates a normal life in Ireland, including a marriage with children and a job running a small garage business.  His tendency to madness is always there but it is managed by drugs, as is the case for many people.  However – and this is another intelligent insight of the author – John secretly comes off his drugs: he actively chooses his psychosis over his sanity because the experience of madness is invigorating and empowering (at least on a temporary basis until its disruptive effects become overwhelming).  In this condition John encounters Mary again and they embark on a spree to realise his mission.
The most effective passages of the book deal with John’s encounter with a mysterious friend, Feargal, and the resumption of his relations with Mary.  Because we see events through John’s eyes the surface of the narrative becomes slippery with uncertainty as to the reality of what we are seeing, and the identities of characters seem to elide one into another.  This part is wonderfully done because of the delicate writing, which is restrained, slyly humorous, and at times lyrical.  The best parts are reminiscent of Kazuo Ishiguro.  The writing throughout is of a very high standard. 
As with most books there are flaws, though none of them fatal.  This isn’t a detective story, but Barnes introduces a detective, McAuliffe, who is linked to John’s history by an inadequately explained backstory and whose role is essentially redundant.  Also there are several shifts in the narrative point of view that work only so-so because the dominance of John’s viewpoint has the effect that the shifts come as something of a surprise.  It is also fair to repeat that this is not a standard serial killer thriller, and this means that the reader does not have the safety and comfort of the usual conventions.  Prepare to be creeped out.

Jim Williams is the author of Scherzo, ten other novels and two works of non-fiction.

The Baptist - a psychological thriller. Available from all online bookstores in all formats, including tree. 

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