As the Brits were lagging behind in sales, I'm dropping the price on amazon.co.uk for one day only tomorrow. Grab a bargain while you can!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Endless-Winter-Guardians-The-Light-ebook/dp/B00HOIHR2K/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1390942540&sr=8-2&keywords=endless+winter

Coming out (part 2)

After having a few comments re my last post talking about my 14 year old niece coming out, I felt compelled to write more on the subject.
I have to admit that it's not something I've ever done but I do remember being fourteen very well (despite how long ago it was) and how difficult it was to tell my parents anything! My mother, for her part, kept trying to drag me out of a closet I was never in. I'm not sure what it was that made her think I was gay but she kept bugging me to admit it. The boyband posters that literally covered my bedroom walls and the slightly soppy look that I got whenever anyone mentioned said boyband, didn't put her off.
It was a very confusing time for me at fourteen. I got 'lesbian' shouted at me a lot from local louts, a slur (in their eyes) that didn't bother me at all but at fourteen, when your mothers at it and the community is at it, well I can only imagine how difficult it must be to take the leap and tell people that you are gay. My mother died before i got married but I still wonder what her reaction would have been to me actually marrying a man. Relief or dissapointment? Probably shock.
I passed Endless Winter to a friend of mine (bisexual in case you were wondering) and he told me he loved the understated coming out scene in it. He told me he'd read so many books on the subject and mine was the first that didn't make a big hoohah about it. So why not?
My main characters just happen to both be girls, they could have been a boy and a girl. I didn't have any kind of issue with it so why should the rest of my characters? That being said, in the subsequent books in the Guardians of The Light books, they will come up against some ignorance. I guess that's life!
Love J

I'm afraid to say that life took over this weekend and I only wrote about five thousand words. Half what I usually aim to write in the same time.
I had so many jobs to do that I just didn't have time to write.
Why is it that everything always seems to break at the same time. The current list of things in my house that need fixing goes like this:
Car,
Vacuum Cleaner,
Phone,
Computer,
Dryer.
Watch


This is why my productivity has gone down. I've been busy getting various things fixed. Plus I'm renovating my house which is taking up my time too.
I am the most disorganised person on the planet and so this weekend was one of those "Get the niggling jobs out of the way" weekends.
Wouldn't it be nice to have someone to do all those little jobs for you?
I'd love it if someone would just organise my sock drawer for me!
Next weekend I'll be back up to speed.
Love Jo

Team US or Team UK?

My sales as of this morning are now running equal between The US and The UK. I am interested to see how this will pan out by this evening. The UK sales were the strongest to begin with but today (after 20 days of being on sale) and a flurry of US sales this morning, they have now caught up.
I wonder if this trend will continue? I suppose the US is much larger than the UK and therefore has more potential readers but the book is set exclusively in the UK.

Book two in the Guardians of The Light series will see the action cross the pond.

So let's see which country will buy the most between now and tomorrow.
I'll update you on the outcome

Love J 

Coming out

My 14 year old niece recently caught up on all my Facebook promotion for Endless Winter. She advertised it to all her friends without actually reading it. I messaged her and explained that there were a couple of bits in it that were probably a bit old for her (I wouldn't mind my 14 year old reading it but I wasn't sure what her mum would say) I also explained that the main love interest was between two girls (again - wasn't sure what her mum would say)
I needn't have worried - Two days later she came out.
I don't think it had anything to do with me or the book though :)

From A to B via XY and Z

So how did I come up with the story of Endless Winter?
That is a story in itself!

It all started when I was unhappy at my last job (I worked in a school.) I applied and got a job in another school (Which I love!)

There was a leaving party which involved lots of chatting to various work colleagues, mainly about their plans for the long summer holidays which were just about to begin. One of the teachers I worked with mentioned that she was going to New York and had won the holiday in a competition. she told me that she won many competitions, made it sound really easy.

Well, I thought to myself. I could do with a nice free holiday. How hard can it be to win a few competitions. So with the long six weeks holidays ahead, I armed myself with puzzle magazines, postcards and stamps and set about entering every competition I could find. That's right - EVERY competition. I think I was even entering competitions to win a life time supply of dog food and I don't even own a dog. I entered thousands a week. I wrote poems, drew pictures, deciphered anagrams, made up punchlines. You name it, I did it!
Then I waited for all the holidays, cars, houses and yes, dog food, to come to me in the post via 'Congratulations' slips.
I waited
I waited some more

Hmmm. I'd really put a lot of effort into those competitions. One thing I did "win" was a heck of a lot of spam. Phone calls, emails, letters etc obviously thinking I was a soft touch and I would buy the product I was previously trying to win.
Phone conversations would go something like this....

"No, I would not like to spend £20,000 on a static caravan in Cornwall. I just wanted a free holiday"

Anyway I'm going off on a tangent....

I finally got that all important Congratulations email.
One win. One win in about 30,000 competitions entered.

I won an invitation film premiere in London

I have to say I was beyond excited. The film sucked but the evening was wonderful. I walked a red carpet and lil ole me got papped! (Not bad to say I'm nobby nobody and was wearing a charity shop dress!) Royalty were in attendance - great night!!!

Which leads me to....
An advert in the Metro Newspaper on my train ride home. It was looking for women to be surrogates.

Mmmm. I might be interested in that.

Here I am two years later, 6 months pregnant with another woman's baby.

Yes, you say, but what about the book?

It was carrying another womans baby that led me to pondering being pregnant and doing it for reasons other than just wanting a baby of your own. I thought some more and a seed of an idea began to form. What if...?

Anais story was born.

I hope you enjoy it!

Love J

Facebook

New Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/jarmitagetheauthor




I will try to update frequently!
I'm more than happy to answer questions on my book so if you have any queries
add me on FB or email me at jarmitagetheauthor@yahoo.co.uk