Not so bleak midwinter

I don't have any proper news - too busy writing and wrapping and, um, mastering Mario Kart (early Christmas present!), but just wanted to post this photograph I took during a carol-singing session at Trafalgar Square last week - what we lacked in tunefulness, we made up for in enthusiasm!

And surely at this time, more than any other, it's the thought that counts.

Have a peaceful, happy time, blog friends. Try to forget financial meltdowns etc, and focus on what counts - and see you in the New Year.

Kate xxx

Shelf Life

So, the book’s out there, and I’ve seen it looking very sparkly in Smiths, Sainsbury’s, Woolworths but not yet in Asda (though I have had many reported sightings). There’s a retail saying that applies to books and their shelf life – ‘longer than milk, shorter than yogurt’. That might surprise you as much as it did me when I first heard it, but it is true – unless a novel begins to sell very quickly in the first few days (and of course, technology makes it possible for stores to see at a glance how many ‘units’ have been sold), the chances are that it will be removed from the shelves without ceremony, to make way for the next book…which is a very scary thought for an author. The retail world, as we all know, is a chilly and potentially inhospitable place at the moment, and sending your book out there feels like sending your baby off to the workhouse to earn its keep.

The good news for me is that so far The Secret Shopper's Revenge is earning its keep – it's in the fiction bestseller chart today - so sincere thanks for anyone who has bought it, and for all the lovely messages. I’m cracking on with the next book, so going quiet again, but I really am so grateful that people are being kind to my 'baby.'

Oh, and if you want to know more about the background to the book, there's an interview with me by the brilliant Danuta Kean on the Orion website,
Kate x