A big welcome to my friends from RRBC and anyone else who might happen by.
Hi and “WELCOME” to Rave Reviews Book Club’s BACK-TO-SCHOOL BOOK & BLOG BLOCK PARTY at the Official Site of:
Brian O’Hare and the
DCI Sheehan Mysteries
Location: Northern Ireland
Here’s What I’m Giving Away Today:
*$10.00 Amazon Gift Card
*$5.00 ITunes Gift Card
*One copy of the award winning, non-fiction paperback: The Miracle Ship
*One e-book copy of the award winning first book in the Inspector Sheehan Series:
The Doom Murders
*One ebook copy of the award winning contemporary fiction novel: Fallen Men
# of Winners for this stop: 5
Note (re the paperback): I can arrange for this to be posted to an American winner by my publisher. Anywhere else, I will post it myself.
Competition Rules:
Read the blog and leave a comment at the end. That’s it. Your comment can be humorous, serious, bland, or it can be astute, erudite or astringent. The choice is yours.
FIRST OFF
Let me say, this is a new site, so there’s not a lot here to hold your interest. And right away we’ve got a problem because one of the RRBC’s key instructions was that we should make your blog stop fun, exciting and interesting. Jeez. ‘Interesting’ on demand? Being an infant, in blogging terms, I don’t even have a clue what I’m supposed to be doing.Okay! Let’s see. What have we got on this site? There are a couple of short essays on Page One about what prompted me to write Fallen Men and The Doom Murders. The one about Fallen Men is vaguely interesting, I think. Dunno about the other one. Then there’s a page that tells readers about the whole four of my books. Yawn! And then there’s a page about me. Wow! Don’t know if any one could be interested in that but hey, if you are, knock yourself out. It’s the second page.
NEWS
My writing has followed a strangely circuitous path. From writing articles for academic journals, I progressed to writing book length academic reports. From there, after a serious illness, I wrote to two religious books, one an autobiographic memoir, the other, The Miracle Ship, a strange and incredible biography of a most extraordinary man, a miracle worker. Retired by now, and fancying a move to writing fiction, I was prompted by the widely-reported shenanigans of corrupt clergy in Ireland to write a contemporary fiction novel, Fallen Men.
And then, because my favourite genre for the past several years has been crime thrillers, I thought I’d have a go at writing one of my own, et voila, there appeared The Doom Murders.
And now, there’s something happening in my writing life that might interest visiting writers. I found a publisher…yeah! You guys know how hard that is… who is willing to publish all my stuff. Crimson Cloak Publishers is owned by a lovely lady called Carly McCracken. Carly liked The Doom Murders with it’s introspective but perspicacious (Like that? That’s the way we writers talk!), anyway, the perspicacious Detective Chief Inspector Sheehan. She suggested a series. A series? Yeah, a series, and my immediate reaction was, ‘No way that’s possible. I’ve only written one detective book in my life. Where would I start?’
But guess what? I have only just this week completed Book Two of the Inspector Sheehan series: The 11:05 Murders. I thought initially I might have enough of a plot for about 50000 words but the final tally was 104500 words. Go figure! I am not sure when Carly will be able to get it out but I am hoping it won’t be much longer than about six or seven months from now. Not a soul has read it, not my wife, not any family members, not even the beta readers who were reading and commenting upon The Doom Murders during the process of my writing it. This time I wanted to hug the new story to myself. Don’t ask me why. Was it because The Doom Murders won a couple of awards and garnered 37 very positive reviews on Amazon.com and I’m afraid to let anyone see the sequel in case it doesn’t measure up? Maybe. Or as it because the plot this time is much more complex and I just wanted to be able to drift back and forward making multiple changes without having to reference them to anyone? That would probably be true. Or did I just want the thing to be whole and complete before anyone came to it? Whatever the reason, I am now totally without feedback. Writers among you will recognise that that’s a scary place. Do I want feedback? Of course I do…but I’ll deal simply with Veronica Castle, Crimson’s Cloak’s indefatigable editor, and go by what she says. Fingers dutifully crossed…but that doesn’t mean that I’m not crappin’ myself.
Five Great Indie Writers
Many of my colleagues in RRBC have been supporting me with tweets and other comments. I would like to point towards a few great writers, members of the RRBC, who have supported me and whose books gave me that special frisson of enjoyment as I read them:Rebecca Reilly
Rebecca is a pastor who has been in ministry for several years. She enjoys writing mysteries (Into Dark Waters and Haunting Megan), but has also written humour (Diary of a Christian Woman: How I Used 50 Shades of Grey to Spice Up My Marriage), a children s chapter book (The Geek Club), and two picture books (Heart of a Kitty and Jammers and His Flying Bed Adventure). Right now, Rebecca is working on follow-up novels in all four genres. Read Haunting Megan, a heart-stopping story from the pen of a gifted writer.Robin Chambers
Robin is a very erudite, retired school principal, well versed in Philosophy and Literature. Despite this, he has chosen to write children’s fantasies. One of the great books from the Myrddin’s Heir series is Gifts from the Gods, a hugely appealing children’s fantasy that many adults, too, will derive a sneaky enjoyment from.J.M. Shorney
J.M. Shorney has graduated from writing about vampires to thrillers. Her flawed hero, Aidan McRaney, will soon become a by-word for thriller readers. Meet him for the first time in her gripping, suspense-filled thriller, Progeny of a Killer.Ronesa Avila
This is actually the pen name for a collaboration between Rebecca Carter (very supportive member of the RRBC) and Anelia Samovila. Their book, Mystical Emona is a story to touch the hardest heart. A mystical and wonderful world leaps from these pages. Absorbing reading.Harmony Kent
From a peaceful and lyrical opening to a horror story in the mould of Stephen King, The Glade will keep you riveted. A delicious spine-chiller, skilfully written.If anyone has got this far, thanks for sticking with my blog, and thanks for coming.
And remember, genius is one per cent inspiration and ninety-nine per cent perspiration.
And finally, If somebody says to you that they shall lose no time in reading your book, don’t take it as a compliment!!
Wee Note
If anyone would like to make the acquaintance of Chief Inspector Sheehan and histeam, The Doom Murders will be available for the next month or so at a reasonable $2.08 (£1.32).
Fringe Festival, Edinburgh
My wife an I visited the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in the middle of August. The Royal Mile was filled with characters weird and wonderful, but none so strange as this guy.
And Finally
Below is a photograph of Marcie who treated us like royalty in Guiliano’s Italian restaurant when we were in Edinburgh a couple of weeks ago. My wife asked her if she would like to take me home but, alas, she already has two dogs and a cat and has no room for any more pets.