Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Reviews for COVENANT from the USA and Canada!

Had some great reviews appearing after Covenant's launch today in the USA and Canada, really exciting to see such positive responses from well respected newspapers and bloggers.

This one from the Wall Street Journal:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204524604576608973562717798.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

And this one from blogger Luanne in Canada:

http://luanne-abookwormsworld.blogspot.com/2011/10/covenant-dean-crawford.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Friday, October 14, 2011

My first sales news update!

Great news from Australia! My editor revealed to me in a phonecall today that COVENANT is selling at a tremendous rate - some 3,000 copies gone already. More importantly, the rate of sale is not tailing off ( at least not yet ) which is incredibly promising. COVENANT, I am reliably informed, is currently the best-selling debut novel in the country.

It's great news to hear, and bodes well for the novel's future releases in both the United States ( October 18th ) and the UK ( November 10th ). Can't wait to see how it performs in those markets, especially when the promotional campaigns kick off!

In other news, my second novel, ELIXIR, is entering its final phase, with edits nearing completion. Apparently, I have only minor changes to make to the MS before it goes to print, which is nice to know. Cover art is just around the corner, as is the possibility of a title change, to IMMORTAL. Any thoughts, anyone, on which seems like the best title...? Bearing in mind that it needs to have the greatest impact, and immediately reveal something of the novel's content?

Friday, October 07, 2011

Writing injury!!

It's been a tough five weeks for me. I tore a muscle in my left shoulder, right where the nerve travels between the rhomboids and down into the arm. Incredibly painful. At one point I was on doctor-prescribed anti-inflammatories, Diazapan and Co-Dydamol at the same time - to no effect. My physio, who has done sterling work on the damage, has said that most likely writing in awkward positions on a laptop computer caused the muscle to become stressed, setting me up for the injury. The ironic thing is that I keep fit with both running and regular bodybuilding - I currently do chest-flies with 20kg dumbells in each hand and have never hurt myself. So what caused this final, epic muscular disaster....? Towel-drying my hair after a shower. Won't be doing that again ( using a towel to dry my hair, not showering, obviously ).

Over that time, I've also moved house, a stressful experience in itself.

The bottom line is that I haven't been able to write a word for those five weeks, due to the pain. This is probably the longest in fifteen years of writing that I've been away from a manuscript that I've been working on. With deadlines in effect, this is far more of an issue now than ever in the past. Fortunately, I've gotten far enough ahead of schedule to still have plenty of time to complete Book 3 in the Ethan Warner series before Jan 31st 2012, but it's still a hell of a set-back and it's been driving me up the wall ( along with said pain and resulting lack of sleep ).

Happily, I'm on the mend now and with a proper desk and fancy chair installed in my own office in our new house ( courtesy of my parents, bless them ), I finally have everything I need to work as a professional author. I can't wait to get stuck back into my work, as CONTINUUM was progressing really well before disaster struck!

So, for those reading this, be aware: RSI can affect all muscles, not just those in the hands. If you're a laptop user who likes sitting writing in armchairs , as I did, or at a desk that's not quite right for you, then get something more appropriate sorted. Believe me, it's really not something you want happening to you.