What She Saw Makes Amazon Top 100

I would like you to forgive this rather excitable post but I'm, well, rather excited.

When you have a novel published, you never know what to expect. Is anyone going to read it? Will people like it? Will you have to rethink your career? I thought all these things, and more, as the excitement of publication day wore off and life returned to normal.

It was a bit like having finished an exam and I couldn't help thinking, 'Was that it?'

My novel was hovering around the #1,000 mark on Amazon and I had no idea if this was a good place to be or whether I should skulk away into the shadows. I knew my editor was keen for What She Saw to make it into the Amazon Top 100 bestseller list but it didn't look as though it was going to happen.

Then suddenly, when my back was turned, something changed. My second psychological thriller, We Were Sisters, went on pre-order and the next thing I knew, What She Saw had begun to climb again. If I said I didn't check my Amazon ratings at frequent intervals after that, I would be lying. After all, things were starting to get exciting.

With each day, my debut slowly but surely climbed the charts until, early one morning, my editor emailed me to tell me I'd sold 10,000 books in twenty days and had broken into the Amazon Top 100. But it didn't stop there... it kept on climbing and, to my amazement, reached #58.

Not only that but it also got to #2 in the Amazon Hot Releases chart in Psychological Thrillers.

I was absolutely over the moon and was just thinking things couldn't get much better when I had another message to tell me that on Kobo in Singapore I was #1 in 'Mystery and Suspense Thrillers' (plus two other categories) and had bagged top spot in 'Hottest New Page Turners' in both the UK and the US.

The icing on the cake though was when I found out I had received my first 'Bestseller Badge' on Amazon. This time it was in Australia. What She Saw was #1 in Psychological Thrillers (and two other categories) and #2 in the whole of the Kindle charts. Here's the evidence!

I'm really sorry for what must sound like a horribly boastful post, and I don't mean it to be. It's just that (as a lot of you know) the road to publication for What She Saw has been a roller coaster and I can't help feeling like a proud parent as they watch their child who's struggled at school, graduate... which I will actually be doing in a couple of month's time!

I am so very lucky to have found my marvelous publisher, Bookouture, and the best editor in Jennifer Hunt.

She believed in What She Saw from the moment she read it and, thankfully, I now know others do too... including the lovely lady who took the time to let me know she'd read my novel on her cattle station in Queensland!

Cover Reveal - We Were Sisters

Just when I think I'm getting over the excitement of publication day for What She Saw, another lovely thing happens. I've had the official cover reveal for my second psychological thriller, We Were Sisters.

I've been dying to show you all the fabulous cover for a while now and am relieved that I don't need to keep it a secret anymore! I just hope you love it as much as I do... Bookouture have certainly worked their magic again.

The cover reveal wasn't the only big announcement though. We Were Sisters is now available to pre-order. So, if you fancy guaranteeing a copy on publication day on August 8th, you only have to click on the link below.

We Were Sisters

I also want to show you my gorgeous mug! My husband bought it for me as a Publication Day present and had a canny way of making sure he didn't have to buy me another when the next novel comes out.

Clever eh!

It's Publication Day... I Did It!

It's Publication Day for my debut thriller, What She Saw, so you will have to forgive me if I'm a tad over-excited! 

I still can't believe it.

It was a year ago when I received the email from my editor, Jennifer, from Bookouture (although, of course, I didn't know she was going to be my editor then). And this is what she had to say about the novel I'd submitted just four days earlier:

'I just spent a glorious weekend reading it and I think you've written an absolute page-turner.'

Could we arrange a time to chat on the phone?

We had that phone call the next day and, when I was offered a two-book deal, it didn't take much encouragement to say yes. Bookouture had, after all, been top of my list of publishers. 

Up until that point, having my novel published had just been a dream. But now, a year later, it's become a reality and I couldn't be happier.

It's been a busy year with many rounds of edits and a new book to write but there have been many wonderful milestones: the day I first saw my cover, the day I held the paperback in my hand for the first time, the day I heard the audio clip, my first five star review. But nothing has been as exciting as waking up to the announcement that my book is now 'out there'. Ready to be read by people I've never met or heard of... not just my family!

So I hope you'll join me in my celebrations, share my news if you'd like to and maybe even buy yourself a little present!

Here is the blurb.

How far would you go to keep your daughter safe?

Everyone knows Leona would do anything for her daughter, Beth: she moved to Church Langdon to send Beth to the best school, built a business to support them and found the perfect little cottage to call home. They hike together, shop together, share their hopes and fears. It’s the relationship every mother dreams of.

But Leona never talks about why they moved to the Lake District.

She’s never told Beth anything about her father.

She says Beth should never speak to strangers. She says Beth doesn’t need friends.

She’s only trying to protect her daughter.

When Leona answers the phone one morning, her heart stops as she hears a voice from her past. 

She’s given her daughter everything, but now she must tell her the truth. And once it’s out, can she keep her little girl safe?

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