MWG Writes on Q
March 2015
Featured Author
The most difficult part for me is editing. Some writers enjoy the process: I hate it. Once upon a time
editing was done by professionals employed by publishers: these days the poor writers are expected
to do it themselves. Content editing, copy editing, line editing. I confess that by the time one of my
novels is ready for the Amazon Mill, I’m sick of the sight of it.
From books that have already been published by other authors, which book do you wish you had
written?
That’s easy. None of them. Being a writer I find it all too easy to take a so-called classic and pick it to
pieces. It’s a terrible habit, but I can’t get out of it. I see a turn of phrase by one of the world’s literary
icons and think, “Why in God’s name did he say that?” Which is probably why so many great
writers never read their work again after it’s been published.
How do you market your books?
All the usual ways I suppose. Social Media – I have Facebook pages dedicated to books I’ve written
and try to keep them up to date. Twitter, of course, LinkedIn, Goodreads, and my own website.
However, to paraphrase a well-known businessman, “I know half the effort I spent on advertising is
wasted; I just don’t know which half.” And, there are supposed to be three secrets to selling; only no
one knows what they are.
One thing I have found out is that you should give very careful consideration to your titles. You
really need to make them not only memorable and apposite, but so they’ll stand out on search
engines. I called one of my books “The Warlock”. Huge mistake although it sounds good if you’re
looking for that “kind of book”. It gets over 5,000 possibles on Amazon. But it just doesn’t stand out.
Now, “The Malthorpe Slaughterhouse” gets just one: the right one.
Any new release? If yes, what is it about?
Yes. I’ve got another thriller with an occult flavor coming out shortly. It’s called “The Dark Side of
God”, which should give a bit of a hint. As soon as the cover is finished by my multi-talented son,
it’ll be going up on CreateSpace and Amazon, so watch out and keep those Kindles running hot.
Better still, snuggle up with the paperback.
Book blurb
David Morgan, an investigative journalist researching the dissolution of an ancient abbey is
fascinated by a sidebar to what he sees as just another piece he can uncover and sell to the highest
bidder.
Sylvanus Falconi owns the land around the Abbey of St Mary Zion and is the last in a family line that
stretches back to a Roman Centurion, Gaius Sylvanus Falconius, who witnessed the Crucifixion. He
is the final guardian of a dark and explosive secret called simply, “The Keeping”.
The story is a deadly chess game between Falconi and Morgan culminating in battle on the Downs of
Sussex and a final act of unbelievable destruction.