You know, when I started doing these blog countdowns at 100 days it felt like I’d never get there. Now its 30 days to go, which is nothing! All I have to do is get the big messy hump of Christmas and New Year out of the way and there it is: January the 3rd, publication day!
In the last week Sorrowline has been to WAR! War, I tell you! Or at least the cover has. Sorrowline has been competing with three other covers in Mr Ripley’s Book Cover Wars. Its proved to be a fierce battle, with Sorrowline and Alexander Gordon Smith‘s book, Execution: Escape from Furnace, swapping places more than once! And Barry Hutchison‘s book, Afterworlds: The Book of Doom lovely cover has been climbing steadily as well. This race is far from over! More than 200 people have voted for Sorrowline’s cover art, designed by James Fraser! I’m thrilled by so much support for an yet-to-be published book. If you haven’t already you can cast your vote here. There are four great covers to choose from, and a signed copy of Unrest by Michelle Harrison up for grabs!
But the big news for me (bigger than a WAR!) was the arrival of my very own copy, hot off the press. Finally Sorrowline is a real book, with a cover and pages and words! It’s not just a bunch of ideas, or a document on a computer, or even a pile of printed pages with notes scribbled on them. Its a book, just like those ones you see in the shops! But its got my name on the front, and my ideas inside, which makes it the most surreal experience of my life so far! In just a few short weeks there will be more copies out there, sitting on other people’s shelves. Those ideas will be resting in other minds, giving them headaches! Something that was personal and private is about to go public! And its already happening – I’m having strange conversations with friends who have just found out about Sorrowline. “Really? You wrote a book? You?”, “Are you publishing it yourself?”, “Has it got pictures?”, “Can I have a free copy?”, “Are you loaded now?” “What’s the book about?”, “Will I like it?”.
The easiest way to answer that last question is to let you have a peek and you can make up your own mind – the online equivalent of browsing in the book store. So, with just a few short weeks left here is a little taster to get you in the mood – the prologue and first chapter of Sorrowline – https://rwc.pfq.mybluehost.me/Nielb/writing/Sorrowline_extract.pdf
Let me know what you think. And if you like it you can order it from any bookshop, or online:
Buy Sorrowline in the UK
