Audiobook Giveaway Continues

Audiobook Giveaway Continues

Hi everyone, my audiobook giveaway codes are now available in the UK and EU, as well as in the USA, Australia and Canada as announced previously

These giveaway codes for the first two audiobooks in the Utterly Crime Series:

  • Utterly Explosive, and
  • Utterly Fuelled

are limited in number, so why not quickly have a listen to a sample on my audiobook page, then contact me through my website contact page and I’ll send you a code. Just remember that the Giveaway Codes are only valid for listening through the Authors Direct mobile apps and can only be redeemed at https://authors-direct.com/redeem/.

They ONLY work on IOS and Android (non-Kindle) mobile devices, and are NOT available as a direct MP3 download for playback via desktop computers, etc.

Hurry, as I say, stock is limited!

Best wishes,

Pauline

Audiobook Giveaway

Audiobook Giveaway

Good news – if you live in USA, Australia or Canada! I have a limited number of Giveaway codes for my audiobooks UTTERLY EXPLOSIVE and UTTERLY FUELLED.

But here’s the catch – they are only for listening through the Authors Direct mobile apps and can only be redeemed at https://authors-direct.com/redeem/.

Authors Direct is currently only available for users in USA, Australia and Canada on iOS and Android (non-Kindle) mobile devices. And only through the app, i.e. there is no direct MP3 download available for playback on desktop computers etcetera.

So – if you would like a Giveaway code for the audiobook Utterly Explosive or Utterly Fuelled, then please email me and I will send you a code. (Have a listen to a sample on my audiobook page.)

It sounds a bit complicated, but I have been told by those who have already redeemed a Giveaway Code that they work (and they’re good)!!

Best wishes and good luck,

Pauline

P.S. If you do redeem and enjoy, a review would be greatly appreciated – Apple; Google; Amazon; Kobo; Downpour

Covid-19 Tribulations

Covid-19 Tribulations

Utterly Dredged – the 9th book in the Utterly Crime Series – is now published and available to buy – but the ‘book launch’ is on hold.

I thought, quite reasonably, that an early spring or Easter release date for Utterly Dredged, the 9th book in the Utterly Crime Series, would be a great idea. I had planned a book launch starting at the Cressing Temple Barns Spring Fair, to be swiftly followed by various library talks and bookshop signings/meet-the-author events.

And the plan started so well. My amazing cover artist Rebecca Moss Guyver had two of her egg tempera paintings chosen for the 2020 Royal Society of British Artists Annual Exhibition, held at the Mall Galleries in London on the 20-29 February 2020. The exhibition was a great success, and what better way to celebrate and validate the talent of the artist who has designed my latest Utterly book cover?

But the coronavirus pandemic was about to hit the UK. Three weeks into March the UK Government announced a shut down of events and public meetings, closed schools, pubs and restaurants, and advised social distancing – in a bid to slow the spread of the virus. All necessary steps, but they also slowed the spread of my book publicity! End result – the promo book launch is on temporary hold BUT…Utterly Dredged is published and available to buy (ebook and paperback), on Amazon, and at Waterstones and other local bookshops.

Bury Literature Festival – Negotiated

Bury Literature Festival – Negotiated

Held in one of Bury St Edmund’s most impressive buildings, the Unitarian Meeting House in Churchgate Street, it was a pleasure to attend and indeed feature in the Literature Festival on the 27th October 2019. It was a first for me to be talking  with a backdrop of a sweeping wooden staircase circling up to a substantial wooden pulpit! It was very atmospheric with the light streaming in through the tall windows and Waterstones there with a table of festival authors’ books.

We had a wonderful audience with plenty of interest and questions, as Jackie, Rachel and I talked about our independent approaches to publishing and our various experiences.  Our different genres lend themselves to contrasting methods of reaching our audiences, for example – Rachel writes post apocalyptic adventure for Young Adults, Jackie writes literary fiction as well as being a playwright, and I write contemporary crime novels set in Suffolk. That’s quite a mix of styles, and led to a lively talk about ebooks, paperbacks, audiobooks and the stage. We could have talked for far longer than our allocated time – it always feels good when you leave an audience wanting more!

Bury St Edmunds Literature Festival

Bury St Edmunds Literature Festival

I’m delighted to be taking part in the Bury St Edmunds Literature Festival when it returns to the town this October with a whole host of exciting events, talks and discussions on literature, publishing and the like.

I’ll be ‘in conversation’ with award-winning local playwright and novelist, Jackie Carreira, (her new novel, The Seventh Train, was released in April 2019) about the highs and lows of independent publishing – sharing our experiences and offering our tips on how to avoid the common pitfalls of the process.

Details:

Bury St Edmunds Literature Festival 25th – 27th October 2019

Jackie Carreira in conversation with Pauline Manders

Venue: Unitarian Meeting House, Churchgate Street, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk IP33 1RH
Start: 10:30 am
Tickets: £2.00, concessions free. Click here to buy tickets

Looking forward to seeing everyone there!

 

Waterstones Window

Waterstones Window

This is a photo I took last weekend of a Waterstones window display. To be more specific it was the window of their Buttermarket branch in Bury St Edmunds. It was rather nice to see my name and latest crime novel on a poster in a bookshop window – namely Waterstones.

I didn’t think to check if the poster gave the correct information. That is to say – I will be in the Bury St Edmunds Waterstones bookshop, Buttermarket branch, with my crime novel ‘Utterly Roasted’ on Saturday the 24th August from 10 am to 4 pm. A book signing  and meet the author event.

I hope that if you are in Bury St Edmunds on that Saturday and pass this Waterstones window display, you will drop in to say hello. I’d love to see you. I’ll be the one with a neat pile of books with burnt orange/apricot covers stacked on a small table. I hope it will be a sunny day to reflect the warmth of the covers.

Utterly Roasted’ is set in the summer of 2013. August, to be precise. Chrissie Jax and DI Clive Merry return from a short break in Amsterdam. Within a week, two bodies are delivered to the morgue and the international spotlight is on Clive and his investigation. The action moves from Alton Water to Ipswich; Bury St Edmunds to Felixstowe; Hadleigh to Woolpit and Woodbridge. Tension mounts as a tangled web of car paint re-spraying, a catering outfit, pike fishing and chocolate draws in long term friends Matt and Nick. Chrissie becomes part of the investigation in a way no one could have predicted.

This is a classic crime novel with so many twists it makes it feel completely fresh and different from anything you have read before!

Rebecca Moss Guyver Exhibits at the RBA Annual Exhibition 2019

Rebecca Moss Guyver Exhibits at the RBA Annual Exhibition 2019

Two paintings by artist Rebecca Moss Guyver were selected for this year’s Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) annual exhibition. How cool is that? I feel so lucky to have Rebecca as the artist designing my Utterly Crime Series book covers.

The exhibition runs from the 4th to the 14th of July. It features over 500 works by established and emerging artists. It’s held at the Mall Galleries, The Mall, London SW1.

It’s sourced from member artists and through open submission, to produce high quality works in an eclectic mix of style and media. The show also includes entries from the finalists for the Society’s prestigious Rome Scholarship award, and work from the recipient of the Rome Scholarship from the previous year.

I went along for the official opening and took lots of photos. The gallery lighting cast a few frame shadows – it all adds to the atmosphere of the event! I have posted one of Rebecca’s two selected paintings along with Rebecca Moss Guyver next to the painting. Catch the exhibits at www.royalsocietyofbritishartists.org.uk.

Rebecca Moss Guyver

ORANGE COLLECTION

Egg tempera

Another novel from the Utterly Crime Series joins the ‘Suffolk Loves’ shelf.

Another novel from the Utterly Crime Series joins the ‘Suffolk Loves’ shelf.

Imagine how surprised and pleased I was when I spent a December Friday in the Woodbridge Library and while there spotted my crime novel – Utterly Dusted – amongst the crime novels on the library ‘Suffolk Loves’ shelf. I had to take a quick photo. Unfortunately the snowflake design on the seasonal cover tends to disguise the ‘Suffolk Loves’ sticker. It isn’t immediately obvious and doesn’t leap out at you from the photo, but if you screw your eyes up and focus hard… yes it is there. A ‘Suffolk Loves’ sticker. Wow!

Utterly Roasted

Utterly Roasted

The 8th novel in the Utterly Crime series is now published and available in paperback and ebook.

Some of my research before writing this particular book took me to do some, what I'd call high-end event waiting/waitressing. I spent my time at one event back-of-house helping in the kitchen (washing up and plating up) and a second event front-of-house serving canapés and waiting at table. I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did, although it was exhausting work. And my poor feet...! It was nice to sit down and weave it into the plot.

As always, Rebecca Moss Guyver has designed the cover. Another highly original, colourful and inspired piece of art.

And so to the story: it is August 2013 and Chrissie Jax and D.I. Clive Merry return to Suffolk from a short break in Amsterdam. Within a week, two bodies are delivered to the morgue and the international spotlight is on Clive and his investigation.

Tension mounts as a tangled web of: car paint re-spraying; a catering outfit; a mysterious waitress; pike fishing, and chocolate draws in long term friends Matt and Nick. Chrissie becomes part of the investigation in a way no one could have predicted.

This is the eighth novel in theUtterly Crime series. It stands alone, but we see the return of many characters met before as the action moves from Alton Water to Ipswich; Bury St Edmunds to Felixstowe; Hadleigh to Woolpit and Woodbridge.

Utterly Roasted. No. 8 in Utterly Crime Series
Utterly Explosive Audiobook

Utterly Explosive Audiobook

Utterly Explosive, the first book in the Utterly Crime Series is now available as an audiobook!

I have been so lucky to find a fantastic narrator in Andy Deane. If you didn't already know, Andy is a local (Suffolk based) actor with the QuirkHouse Theatre Co based in Bury St Edmunds. He has already narrated Utterly Crushed for an audiobook, and so it is wonderful to have him narrating another Utterly Crime novel.

With a word like explosive in the title the action is bound to kick off. When it does, Andy happily adds some fun with the accents of the hot Rumanian fruit picker, a smooth-talking Polish fruit farm manager and a threatening Bulgarian thug.

The book is set in Suffolk and it all comes to life as he effortlessly changes from his warm narrator English into the voices of the characters. When a local accent is needed, Andy's soft Suffolk is excellent easy listening.

Utterly Explosive is now available on Amazon, Audible and iTunes.