‘Cold Snap’ by Codi Schneider – Gifted Book Review

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blogging, Blogging community, Book, Book Review, Cats, Codi Schneider, Colorado, Fantasy, fiction, Humour, new author, Vikings

With big thanks to @lovebookstours and @codi_schneider for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. What a great book it is!

Blurb

Tucked in the cold Colorado mountains lies the remote village of Gray Birch, a place where outsiders are frowned upon. In this village lives a cat named Bijou. But she’s no ordinary house cat; her ancestors were mousers on Viking longships, and their blood runs through her veins. Since her battle skills are hardly needed in this modern age, however, she spends her energies running the Fox Burrow Pet Inn with her human, Spencer, and her assistant, Skunk, a mentally negligible Pomeranian. Together, the happy trio has created a safe haven for their four-legged guests.

But when Eddy Line, a handsome baker from California, comes to the inn—along with his piglet and pit bull puppy—everything changes. Spencer falls for Eddy, Bijou is unhappy with the sudden changes to her clan, and the townspeople are anything but welcoming; in fact, threats are made against Eddy when he buys the town’s historic firehouse in order to open a bakery.

Then a shocking murder/dognapping occurs on the night of the bakery’s grand opening, and Bijou finds herself thrust into a tangled mystery. To solve it, she will have to summon her inner Viking—and fight tooth and claw for her new clan.

My Review

I was super intrigued to read a mystery novel told from the point of view of a cat called Bijou. Her crime-solving powers are aided by her innate Viking abilities, and her animal friends.

This honestly has to be one of the best books I’ve ever read. Codi Schneider is a very talented writer with a mastery of word play. This novel is such fun – I didn’t want to stop reading. The book has a good dose of humour and an engaging plot full of suspense. The cast of characters gives the story depth and diversity.

I really look forward to reading more from the author.

The Power Of Nostalgia

Tags

blogging, Blogging community, Childhood, Comics, Creativity, Dreams, Fantasy, Fun, hobbies, Subbuteo, writer's block

The last few weeks had been a bit odd for me. My creativity had been stifled. Sometimes life gets in the way, and I need to reset. Thankfully, I had some holiday due from work, so I used it to visit my brother in Cheshire. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

My brother surprised me when he got out his old Subbuteo set from his loft. I spent hours on end playing this tabletop soccer game in my bedroom as a teenager. Now, here I was again revisiting my youth. My brother beat me 1-0 in the game we played, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was that we were kids again having fun.

On another day, we visited the town of Stockport. Here, I found a comic book store that stocked old copies of my favourite comics I’d read growing up. Normally, the comic book stores I visit are full of Marvel and DC Comic titles, as well as manga and other publications. They’re all great, but here for the first time ever I found titles such as ‘Buster’ and ‘Whizzer and Chips’ – firm British staples of my childhood that are sadly no longer published. Suddenly, I was transported back to Saturday mornings in the mid-80s when I’d run down the local shops and buy a big pile of comics and read through them again and again before school came round again on Monday.

I bought a few copies, and have been laughing my head off ever since.

Comics were so instrumental in me wanting to become a writer as they opened up endless worlds of storytelling and possibility to me. It was good to reminisce about this.

The result of all this is that the power of nostalgia has fuelled my creativity again. I’ve now got a pocketful of ideas for short stories that I’ve begun working on. Plus, I’ve also got a new tactic if I get writer’s block again.

If you’re creativity is lacking, remembering the hobbies you had a child could be one way to help you.

I hope you all have a great and creative week. ☺️

Back Again! Self-Publishing Update And Other Stuff

Tags

Adventure, Author, blogging, Blogging community, Book, book marketing, Creativity, Self-publishing

Hi Everybody,

I hope you’re keeping well in your part of the world. It’s a good couple of months since I was last here. I’m so sorry for the delay. I’ve been focusing on a few projects that had taken me longer due to my level of dyspraxia only making it possible to take on one project at a time. This can hamper in sticking to other tasks (like putting up regular posts) but these last couple of months have helped me to work at a possible solution around this.

I’ll come to that solution at the end of this post. Suffice to say here that it means that I should be posting up more regularly, and able to focus on all the wonderful blog posts that I enjoy reading more.

NEW PROJECTS

Website

My new author website is up and running now. I’ve got to make a few edits to the text and replace some of the stock photos still, but I’m reallly happy with it. I’ve struggled to merge this blog with the website, but I’ve got a good friend looking into this problem now. So, hopefully it’s just a matter of time before it’s sorted.

Please feel free to have a peak at it: http://www.waynemullane.com

It’s been a real education in learning how to get a domain name and build a website. I really felt out of my depth at times. But when all is done, I can appreciate that I had some good people to teach me and I’ve gained lot more knowledge.

Social Media

I’ve found the likes of Facebook and Twitter a minefield. Thankfully, I’ve been able to hire some very reasonably priced freelancers on Fiverr to help me to get my author accounts on social media going. It’s now focusing on putting out good quality posts that’s the next challenge. I’m learning all the time, and it’s good for me as it’s helping me to connect as well as grow as a person.

I’ve included my social media handles in the ‘About Me’ section of this site.

Marketing

This has been really tough. Normally, I’m the kind of person who’s happy to sit in front of the keyboard and write away for hours on end. But writing a self-published book has so many other aspects that take up time. Plus, I’m quite shy by nature, so having to promote my book to magazine editors and other groups (even via email or telephone) can play havoc with my brain as I think endlessly about the right things to say.

I’ve had a few magazine editors say that they’d kindly promote the book. Such things do give you a boost as there’s a constant stream of people to contact including podcasts, charities, social media groups, libraries…the list keeps growing. Pitching a book can mean that you’ll get rejections or no replies. This means sending two or three rounds of emails. So, for the ones that do reply and do offer you an outlet for promotion, it makes the whole experience so worthwhile.

What’s Next?

As well as continually working on the things above, I’ve got a week long book blogger tour coming up in the middle part of October. I’ll do a separate post or two about that nearer the time.

I mentioned at the top of this post that I had a new strategy to commit to doing more posts and following other bloggers here more regularly. One thing I’m going to do is write a few posts in advance, spending a day here or there just dedicated to this blog. Dedicating whole chunks of time to this is better for my dyspraxia as it means I’m still focusing on just the one thing.

I’m at a level now with developing my website and social media skills that makes dedication to my blog easier as well. Plus, at times when I’ve been focused on other projects and not written for a while, this blog has assisted me in refocusing my efforts and reconnecting with so many lovely people.

Next Up is a post about my recent hiking holiday in Northern Ireland!

Thanks for reading, everybody. Stay safe and well. Peace and love to you all!

SELF-PUBLISHING UPDATE: FULL STEAM AHEAD WITH MARKETING

Tags

Adventure, Author, blogging, Blogging community, Book, Discover Prompts, Hiking, marketing, Self-publishing, WordPress

Hi Everybody,

I hope you’re all keeping well.

I knew that when I published my book, Adventure Dayze, last month that the marketing side of things would keep me busy. Just how busy, though, has been a complete surprise to me!

Taking a different route to market

As I was writing, the advice I’d researched about marketing a self-published book told me that I should do the majority of it before publication, including reaching out to established book reviewers. However, the gut feeling I got when I told others that I was writing a book was that it’d be believed when seen. So, perhaps somewhat counterintuitively, I decided to wait and do the marketing after the release date.

Family And Friends First

Once the book was up on Amazon, I put the word out to my nearest and dearest via social media. Whether people offered kind words, bought the book and maybe left a review, I was humbled by the response. The reviews I’ve received have provided me with an important step in the next stage of my marketing strategy.

The Importance Of A Marketing Mentor

I discovered Hollie Anne Marsh via the freelance website Fiverr. Hollie has a background in marketing and she is an award-winning author with her Sweetbriars book series, which is set in the world of horse-riding. Hollie has supported me to get the book published, and has sorted the advertising campaign on Amazon. This week the Facebook advertising campaign will start.

Working with Hollie has taught me a lot that’ll benefit me in the future: how to navigate Amazon Author Central and my Facebook Author page; how to write a press release statement; how to actually get a book live on Kindle; the ins and outs of marketing.

From the start, Hollie showed me the importance of having reviews for when the time comes to reach out to organisations.

Hollie has helped me brainstorm a list of hiking magazines, podcasts and websites to contact. Libraries, local newspapers, charities and bookshops are on the list too.

The Next Step

After much brainstorming and research, then, I now have a list of contacts that I’m working my way through. It’s an enjoyable process magnified by the hope that something will come of it. It takes a lot of perseverance – there’s a lot of phone calls to find a named person to contact in an organisation followed by a lot of emails – but hopefully the fruits of the labour will show soon.

Lessons Learned

Although I’ve taken a different approach as to the order of publishing and marketing the book, I can see the importance of following the much suggested route to market for my next book.

However, as a self-published author I can see that marketing is an ongoing thing and can take place any time after a book is published. So, all I’m doing now is giving me experience for the future.

Having an experienced hand to guide me has been so important. It’s made the whole experience more navigable and rewarding.

Thanks for reading this. I hope to come back soon with some positive news about who I’ve reached out to.

If you have any comments or advice, it’d be great to hear from you.

Peace and love for now 😃.

SELF-PUBLISHING UPDATE: EARLY DAYS ON MARKETING THE BOOK

Tags

Adventure, Author, Blogging community, Book, book marketing, Books, creative writing, Hiking, marketing, Self-publishing

Hello Everybody,

I just wanted to briefly share some early insights on marketing a self-published book.

This is by no means a definitive guide. I just wanted to share a few issues I’d found that may help others attempting to self-publish.

THE MARKETING ADVENTURE BEGINS

Next Monday sees my hiking book, Adventure Dayze, go ‘live’ on Amazon. It’s actually been out about a month, but my main aim in the first four weeks was to get word out to family and friends, and to build up a few reviews.

I’ve also used that time to create my Facebook page and to put together a list of blogs, podcasts, tourist boards etc as I start to promote and market the book more from Monday 5th July.

LESSONS LEARNED

My approach has been a little different to the advice I’d researched on how to market a self-published book. Normally, having a team of readers to review the book before the launch and doing a few other marketing bits and bobs is the regular way. However, it was important for me to focus on getting my book out there first and dealing with the other steps one at a time. My mind works better that way as I can give more thorough attention to each step.

That said, for my next book there’s things that I’ll definitely do differently before the book launch (e.g. getting it reviewed) as I can see the benefit in that.

What I appreciate is that I’ve had some great advice from my mentors, Jessica Coleman (editor) and Hollie Marsh (marketing), that is steering me in the right direction, and that the way I’m presently doing it is okay. It’s so important to have people around you that help you to believe in yourself.

Overall, this is all a learning curve and I’m enjoying the whole experience.

WHAT’S NEXT?

I’m returning to Rutland on a camping adventure holiday this weekend.

Then, it’s time for the marketing to begin properly.

I’ll put posts up about all this in the next week or so.

If you’ve self-published or are about to, what has your approach been? Or, if you’ve enjoyed this post, please feel free to leave a comment. It’d be great to hear from you 

MY HIKING BOOK IS OUT ON AMAZON

Tags

Author, blogging, Blogging community, Book, Britain, Hiking, Novel, Self-publishing, Travel, UK, writing

Hi Everybody,

My self-published novel, Adventure Dayze, is now out on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk

• 

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

Hiking is the gateway to adventure.

Being in the Great Outdoors is great for the mind, body, and soul. And the even better news? It needn’t involve much more than putting on a pair of trainers and heading out your front door.

In Adventure Dayze, author Wayne Mullane recounts his hiking experiences in Britain and Ireland with his friends, including overcoming limitations walking at altitude and having a dodgy sense of direction!

This book aims to help you get started… or, if you’re a seasoned hiker, to encourage you to hike with renewed vigour. This story shares insights and discusses the benefits of hiking, including fitness, friendship, courage, mental health, and…err…the joy of eating.

Adventure Dayze will inspire you to overcome your limitations and get outdoors to enjoy all the unique beauty that is on offer. Even pandemic lockdowns won’t be able to suppress your exploration, as the author found out, there are many ways to bring the outdoors inside when there’s no other choice.

AMAZON.CO.UK LINK AND PRICES:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Adventure-Dayze-Overcoming-limitations-Irelands/dp/B096LKHGLN/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=adventure+dayze&qid=1623688944&sr=8-1

Prices: Paperback is £7.99; Ebook is £2.99 (FREE on Kindle Unlimited).

AMAZON.COM LINK AND PRICES

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B096LKHGLN?pf_rd_r=7VAYZBC327SQZRJDSEXX&pf_rd_p=9046d300-28af-4c4d-96e2-e418322f9056&pd_rd_r=1a404fe0-0ce0-4d62-adc8-013c023033bd&pd_rd_w=Bndgg&pd_rd_wg=OSlj0

Prices: Paperback is $7.99; Ebook is $2.99 (FREE on Kindle Unlimited).

WHAT’S NEXT?

I’m really focusing on the marketing side of things from this week. I’m learning a lot of new stuff and enjoying the journey.

I’m also looking to get this website revamped in the next few weeks to give it a fresh look, add a mailing list link and more.

It’d mean so much to me if you were able to support me by purchasing a copy and leaving a review. Thank you ☺️.

Peace and Love, Everybody. Thanks for popping by. See you next time.

PHOTO POST: HIKING BOOK COVER REVEAL

Tags

Adventure, Author, blogging, Blogging community, Book, creative writing, Discover Prompts, non-fiction, Self-publishing

Hi Everybody,

I hope you’re all doing okay.

I’m very excited to reveal the cover for my first book, Adventure Dayze, which charts the adventures of my friends and I. The book covers my progress to overcome a fear of heights and a dodgy sense of direction as we attempt the highest mountains in each of the countries of Britain and then Ireland.

• 

The cover shows me wandering off in a completely different direction to my friends even though I’m holding the map. That’s a very common theme on our mountain hikes! The cover is mostly green for two reasons: this is a nod to my Irish roots and because my favourite colour is… you guessed it…green!

The cover was designed by Laura Antonioli, who I found on Fiverr. Laura was so patient and kind, and very supportive of any changes I needed. She also did the internal layout of the book – and I am really pleased with that too. I look forward to working with her on future projects.

In the next post I’ll reveal more details about the book’s release!

Thank you for stopping by and reading this. If you’ve got any comments, it’d be great to hear from you. I’m looking forward to reading your posts as well.

Peace and Love for now 😊

Back Up And Running

Tags

Adventure, Author, blogging, Blogging community, Hiking, Self-publishing, Travel

Hi Everybody,

I hope you’re all doing well.

After not having been on my website since last Autumn/Fall, I’m back again.

I suddenly got really busy with my book trying to get it over the finish line, and it took longer than I hoped. My brain only allows me to stay focused on one project at a time, so I’m sorry I’ve not been committed here. I was making connections with so many wonderful people here too.

The good news is that my hiking book is finished. It’s on Kindle and out in paperback now. I’ve just got a few final touches to do before it goes ‘live’, but I hope to do a big reveal next week.

As busy as the last few months have been, the journey has been fun. I’ll chat about that in coming posts too. I’ve connected with some very lovely people who’ve been instrumental in me completing the book. The joy is that I’m still learning and growing as a writer, and I enjoy the opportunities and connections that brings.

As I’m typing this out, I’ve got to admit that it’s nice to be back.

I hope you all have a great weekend. I’ll post up again soon. I look forward to reading your posts soon.

Peace and love to you all.

Self-Publishing Update: Time For A Revival.

Tags

Adventure, Hope, Journal, journaling, non-fiction, Self-publishing, Travel, writing

Finally, I sat down today and wrote out a comprehensive plan of how to take my hiking novel forward. The main issue I’ve faced is that a lot of the advice I’d given was pre-pandemic, so, for instance, info on train travel to reach destinations or visiting a pub was in need of revision. Covid-19 caused my usual drive to evaporate – like a lot of people’s, I guess – and I shelved my attempts to carry on with writing the novel for several months.

Lockdown came and went. Thankfully, my editor, Jessica Coleman (www.colemanediting.co.uk), was always on hand to give me sage advice. Jessica advised me to keep a journal of 2020 to record not only the hikes I took in this new world, but also what coping mechanisms I adopted. Without this sound and simple advice, I think I may’ve consigned my book as a lost project – something which I’m ashamed to admit.

Keeping a journal has been a novel experience for me: the whole exercise has been a chance for me to reflect and to think up new ways to carry on hiking. For instance, if you read my recent post on how to travel the world for free, you’ll know that I’m attempting to walk every capital city in the world via YouTube from the comfort of my own front room. So far, I’ve done six; I’m going to give an update on my virtual adventures in a near future post. Spoiler alert: I’m off to Caracas, Venezuela tonight.

Being able to reflect made me realise on a deeper level than before that hiking is therapy for me. Going outside freely again after lockdown – in a socially distanced way – over the summer emblazoned my heart with fresh passion. I think that deeper sense of love for this hobby comes across more in my renewed edits.

Journaling has given me a source of hope and strength. Without thinking about it, I was writing the book even when I was thinking about giving it up. Sure, as well as revising what I’d already written, I have another chapter to write for this year. But that’s okay because, thinking about it now, despite all that’s gone on I know I can relay a message of hope.

When hope was lost it was hard for me to write. But thanks to my family, friends, Jessica Coleman’s advice and kind words and being connected with lovely people here on WordPress, hope has returned.

Thanks for reading this. If you have any comments, it’d be great to hear from you.
Peace and love…and hope for now xxxx

Daily Prompt: Kindness of Strangers: Space and Time

Tags

blogging101, Blogging201, creative writing, fiction, writing, Writing201

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “The Kindness of Strangers.”

It had been a stressful and testing day at work. The unbearable heat made it all the more insufferable. By the time I got home that evening, I was ready to flop on the sofa. I flicked mindlessly through the TV channels; I was so tired that I was as indifferent to a news story on a famine as I was to a cartoon.

I looked up to the ceiling, closed my eyes and took a deep breath. When I opened my eyes again I found myself floating upwards through the ceiling, through the roof, above the houses. I could see the streets and lights below getting smaller and smaller until….

I was rising through the clouds. I could see the outlines of continents, the movements of the oceans. Night turned to day and back again. It was clear to me that I wasn’t just floating upwards; it was as if I was being swept by the winds across the world. But I couldn’t feel the winds or the heat of the sun, or the rain or snow.

I was just there.

And soon, I found myself floating through the outer layers of the atmosphere until I was high above Earth in space itself. I could see our planet, suspended like a teardrop in the dark abyss. I looked around, spinning on the spot as if in a gyroscope. Stars and planets and galaxies and black holes and supernovas and nebulas whizzed around at unfathomable speed.

As I slowed I looked at the Earth again. I could see every person as if I was right next to them. I knew their thoughts, felt their breath, understood their hopes and fears. I came to understand why good and evil existed and the importance of hope. I saw there was a solution for everything, no matter how big or small a problem; at the same time, I witnessed how and why people in different corners of the globe make mistakes, but never truly learn.

I learnt a lot, I saw a lot, but then I forgot it all. As I came to, my mind ached, my mouth was bitter and dry. All in a moment I understood how, what, when and why; but, all in a moment, my new found knowledge and wisdom had dissipated into the depths of space.

I flicked off the TV and went to bed. I would wake the next morning only to make the same mistakes as today, not having learnt a thing.