Tom Grove's Blog

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Thanks for helping me. If you haven't voted yet  (it only takes a couple of minutes) there's still time - Click here

What's Tom working on?
I have, of late, become a little distracted with new writing projects outside of the Shaun Young crime fiction series. All will be revealed soon...


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To finish the third novel
Some of you may have seen from twitter and Facebook that I've gone to France for a month or so to finish the third installment in the Shaun Young series. 






Set on a hill it overlooks farmland and a small forrest which has a brook running through it. It is a very tranquil place. Set on the main road running through Beaulieu, you would be lucky to see two or three cars go past in a day - tractors are more frequent, but only just.
I wrote some of The Pink Herring here during the hot summer of 2016 and reminded by the utter quiet the place affords a writer I have returned to finish The Soul Eroded - a task which should take me four to six weeks to get to the first draft. I have the opportunity of some short-term contract starting in April/May so I'm taking this distraction-free opportunity to do the work required in the time I have.


I have the place to myself, so I'll post updates on progress with the book and life in France at sporadic intervals - watch this space.
If you want to contact me while I'm out here, please drop me an email and I'll be pleased to read it and reply.

From the Norfolk Daily Times

This is the press clipping that is referred to at the beginning of The Nor'easter - if you click on the graphic it is easier to read.
As my readers will know, the Norfolk Daily Times is a fictitious invention for the purposes of the story. The editor of the NDT, Cliff Burnette, is a particularly abrasive character that comes to light in Evette Minton's backstory.

I created these realistic clippings as a taster for the book's marketing campaign.



I'd love to know what you think of them - please leave me a comment to let me know...

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The Nor'easter has been published

I've published The Nor'easter as a paperback on Amazon UK and on Amazon USA.

The digital book can be purchased here on kindle, ibooks, nook, kobo, scribd, 24S, Thalia, Playster, bol, Angus & Robertson and Mondadori.

It's been a while folks but I hope that you all enjoy it -  please take a moment to rate or review it once you have finished it.

Many thanks

Tom






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... this Friday 26th October 2018

I'm so pleased to announce that I've finally finished The Nor'easter. My editor, Janet Laurence, returned her review of my 147,500 word first draft at the end of August and I completed the re-work at the end of September. I went through it again to clean and tighten, reducing the words from 142,00 t0 134,940. John Holland then performed a final proofread and here we are.
The finished book reads so much better than the original first draft - some 12,000 words shorter - it now flows with pace. For those that read The Pink Herring, The Nor'easter is a page shorter - so a similar length read. 
I've published the eBook to Amazon, iBooks, Kobo and all the other digital platform here. The eBook can be pre-ordered from any of these sites but the Paperback will only be available on the release date, Friday 26th October 2018.
I really hope that you enjoy the next episode of Shaun Young's adventures and while you do, I'll be finishing the third in the series, The Soul Eroded, due for release in early 2019.
Thanks for your patience, but I hope once you've read it you'll agree that it has been worth it.
Please feel free to share this...

... this Friday 26th October 2018

I'm so pleased to announce that I've finally finished The Nor'easter. My editor, Janet Laurence, returned her review of my 147,500 word first draft at the end of August and I completed the re-work at the end of September. I went through it again to clean and tighten, reducing the words from 142,00 t0 134,940. John Holland then performed a final proofread and here we are.
The finished book reads so much better than the original first draft - some 12,000 words shorter - it now flows with pace. For those that read The Pink Herring, The Nor'easter is a page shorter - so a similar length read. 
I've published the eBook to Amazon, iBooks, Kobo and all the other digital platform here. The eBook can be pre-ordered from any of these sites but the Paperback will only be available on the release date, Friday 26th October 2018.
I really hope that you enjoy the next episode of Shaun Young's adventures and while you do, I'll be finishing the third in the series, The Soul Eroded, due for release in early 2019.
Thanks for your patience, but I hope once you've read it you'll agree that it has been worth it.
Please feel free to share this...

Can you spare five minutes?
First of all, a big thank you to everyone that left a review or rated The Pink Herring – I really appreciated the feedback. I’m lucky to have a very good average rating for the book (4.75 out of 5 stars) for the forty or so reviews I’ve received, but this represents less than 5% of the total books sold. It might not seem like much but the average on Amazon is just 1.5% per book sold. 

Why don’t people leave reviews?
There are a number of reasons, ranging from not finding the time or forgetting, to not feeling qualified or knowing what to say, through to just not being bothered – we’ve all been there.

Why should you leave a review?
Most independent authors rely heavily on word-of-mouth as their key marketing asset. Book reviews and ratings are essential if they are to build and grow a reader base in a very competitive and crowded market. On top of that, although we have editors, proofreaders and friendly reviewers, there is no substitute for direct feedback from readers.

“We all need people who will give us feedback. That’s how we improve.” - Bill Gates

What should you consider when leaving a review or rating?
1. Keep it short – a couple of sentences would be fine;
2. Focus on something you liked - storylines, characters, setting, etc;
3. Talk about parts that stood out – scenes, sections, themes, etc;
4. How did it make you feel?
5. Would you recommend it?
6. Would you read more by the author?

You don’t have to answer them all – one or two would be fine - and five minutes is all it should take you.


Where should you leave the review or rating?
The best place would be wherever you bought the book - here are the links to make it easier:

- Amazon (Kindle or paperback)
- Apple iBooks
- Barnes & Noble (nook)
- Kobo
- Scribd
- 24S

If you borrowed the book or simply prefer another way, then go to my Goodreads page.

And that’s it folks – five minutes of your valuable time that this author would gladly high five you for.


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What are you up to now?
With the second book in the series, The Nor'easter, safely in the hands of my editor, Janet Laurence, I have about four weeks before I receive her full assessment. I have picked up writing on the third book in the Shaun Young series, The Soul Eroded (if you click on the cover pages graphic above, a larger version appears - it's pleasing to see them lined up as a series)

What is the third book about?
While watching the news about the devastating coastal erosion taking place along the Norfolk and Suffolk coastline - places like Hemsby, Happisburgh and Hopton - I began wondering who had lived in these homes by, and soon to be in, the sea. One shot of a back garden falling away over the cliff edge onto the beach below was particularly striking. It showed grassy lawns churned up on the beach and fence posts hanging precariously from the precipice. Then a thought struck me - what if a skeleton was found amongst the rubble? What a story that would be. Maybe an old cottage that had been rented out to many different people over the years, all with a story to tell, and some with secrets they'd rather keep buried. This became the spur for the third Shaun Young book which I'm currently writing (the cover and back page blurb can be found here).
Sounds interesting but where do you start?
I've walked the headland and beaches of many areas under siege by the environment and I know them well. I've done a lot of research into why its happening, what can and can't be done to protect the areas but it is a very expensive and in some cases a hopeless exercise to hold back the destruction - mother nature is a powerful force. While this will help with the background, I'm mainly concerned with the lives of those who lived in the cottage before, during and after these events. I have my cast of characters set - the existing CID team with their professional and personal baggage, the owner, the individuals and families that have lived at the cottage over the years - and I am now drafting the main story and sub-plots.
When will it be released?
I am confident that The Nor'easter will be published in September and I am pushing to complete The Soul Eroded by Christmas - may be a little ambitious, but it's good to have a goal to work to. I will be keeping you all updated via the website on my progress with the publishing and writing, but if you want any updates in between, you can send me an email, a message on Facebook or Twitter or leave a comment below and I'll get back to you.
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