My First Book Signing Is Out of this World and Off the Planet

Saturday, February 28, I hopped a train to London to attend a special book signing organised by my publisher, Titan Books. The venue was Forbidden Planet books, one of the funkiest and coolest bookstores you can imagine. FP has two floors devoted to Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Horror, and Mystery titles, as well as many tie-ins with Star Trek/Star Wars/Dr. Who and comic book/graphic novel related titles.

The  event was attended by four Titan authors who write Sherlock-related books. The signing panel consisted of Vaughn Entwistle (The Revenant of Thraxton Hall), Adam Christopher (Elementary, Ghost Line), James Lovegrove (Sherlock Holmes, Gods of War), and George Mann (Sherlock Holmes, The Spirit Box).

It was a real thrill to be at my first book signing and it was especially gratifying to meet and shake hands with fans who had traveled to the event specifically to meet me. Several even brought both versions of my book, hardcover and paperback, for me to sign, and several wanted their photo taken with me. My first fifteen minutes of fame actually lasted an hour!

It was also wonderful to meet Miranda Jewess, my very astute editor at Titan Books and Ella Bowman, one of Titan's PR wizards. After the event we retired to the Cross Keys pub for a G&T and a good old chin wag before I caught the train at Paddington Station for home.

I'm still floating on a cloud of endorphins!

Here is a photo of me looking only a little like Snidely Whiplash in my Victorian Topper and frock coat, apparently rubbing my hands with glee as my fiendish plot comes to fruition.

My Gothic Novel, The Angel of Highgate, gets new cover art and a publication date

I just received the cover art for my Victorian suspense novel, The Angel of Highgate. 

I am really bowled over the artwork created by designer, Julia Lloyd, which perfectly captures the brooding gothic feel of the novel.

Julia read the book for inspiration and came up with this moody and evocative design that features a moonlight scene at Highgate Cemetery with two of the book's main characters. 

Brilliant stuff! The Angel of Highgate will be published on November 3rd, 2015 by Titan Books.

The novel has already garnered terrific reviews from Kirkus and from the Historical Novel Society. 

Meet Me at The Forbidden Planet Bookshop, London

Sherlockians rejoice! My UK publisher, Titan Books, is putting on a special event for its Sherlockian authors at The Forbidden Planet Bookstore in London.

In all, four of us Titan authors will be in attendance:

Adam Christopher - Elementary The Ghost Line

Vaughn Entwistle - The Revenant of Thraxton Hall

James Lovegrove - Sherlock Holmes, Gods of War

George Mann - Sherlock Holmes, The Spirit Box

The event takes place on Saturday, Februrary 28th at the Forbidden Planet Megastore on Shaftesbury Avenue. 13:00 - 14:00

Get there early to beat the huuuuuge crowds. (I'm kidding . . . I'm kidding . . .)

Forbidden Planet Event

So Red it Bleeds!

My publisher, Titan Books, recently sent me the cover art for the paperback version of The Dead Assassin, Book 2 of The Paranormal Casebooks of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

The design closely follows the cover art Titan created for The Revenant of Thraxton Hall, no doubt to establish a "Brand" identity.

This time around the background is blood red and once again features the real-life silhouettes of Conan Doyle and Oscar Wilde front and centre. Much of the action of The Dead Assassin is set in a fog-bound London as the cover design reflects.

Can't wait for the book to hit the bookshops--scheduled for publication in June, 2015.

Pre-order your copy today!

Gutenburg Gets his Groove On; Five Star Review of The Revenant of Thraxton Hall

In 1439, Johannes Gutenburg invited the movable type printing press which revolutionized printing books and made them affordable for the masses. This was handy, since the e-reader would not be invented until 1998.

Recently, I came across a Book Blog with the groovy name of Gutenburg's Son, who just review The Revenant of Thraxton Hall.

The review goes into great detail. Although the fantasy aspects of the novel were not entirely to the reviewer's tastes, and he had quibbles with certain aspects of the plot, he ended up giving the book five stars and plans to read the next book in the Paranormal Casebooks series, The Dead Assassin.

You can find the blog and the review here: Gutenburg's Son

The BookTherapy Podcasts Names The Revenant of Thraxton Hall as one of its Top 10 of 2014!

BookTherapy is a brilliant podcast run by Rob Cohen, a lawyer in the US. In each edition Rob and his brother discuss and review the latest books they have read. The podcasts, I must point out, are tremendous fun and a complete hoot to listen to. 

As you can imagine, BookTherapy gets through a lot of books in the course of a year. As it was the end of the year, Rob released his Top 10 Books of 2014 and The Revenant of Thraxton Hall made the list! It was very flattering to see my book listed alongside some big, big names such as Stephen King, Ken Follett, Peter James, Alex Grecian, etc. 

Thanks again

to Rob Cohen. I am counting his shoutout as the best present I got this Christmas.

Read the full Top 10 List Here:

My Latest Author Interview with an Edinburgh based Blogger

Recently, I came across a terrific review of The Revenant of Thraxton Hall on a book blog run by Edinburgh. The blogger in question, Melissa (Mel to her friends) is very pretty Aussie lady who fulfilled a life's ambition by taking the leap and moving to Edinburgh in Scotland!

Now she blogs about her fascinating home city and about the books she is reading. After I read her terrific review of my novel, I contacted Mel and she asked to do an interview for her blog in which I give out advice to prospective novelists on the difficult road to being published.

Check out the article at Mel's Blog: http://www.everythingiwishedfor.co.uk/blog/a-paranormal-mystery-romp …