One of the joys of selling books at local Christmas Fairs is that you get a chance to introduce yourself to possible new readers and to chat to them about their reading tastes.
I had some interesting chats at the Princethorpe College Christmas Fair on Sunday afternoon whilst promoting and selling signed copies of my two novels Mystical Circles and A Passionate Spirit.
One lady, seeing that my new novel is a paranormal thriller, asked: “Is it based upon a real life story?”
At first her question surprised me, for of course I wouldn’t expect the target audience of a paranormal thriller to even ask that.
But I realised it was a very interesting question. “Yes,” I replied. “Not only do I get my inspiration from my own experience and from the many people I have met and known; but also this novel is based upon several true stories, from different people.”
The true stories that I draw upon in my novel A Passionate Spirit, have been told by my sister Julia; by a retired clergyman called John Alderman; and by a selection of writers upon the paranormal, including Peter Ackroyd, Paul Adams, Eddie Brazil and Peter Underwood.
Whilst chatting to another lady about the fact that both my novels were set in the Cotswolds, I was asked another curious question: “But do paranormal things happen in the Cotswolds?”
My reply to that was, yes, they certainly do – in my novel at least!
Then I realised it produced quite a good slogan: “Creepy things happen in the Cotswolds”. Though, in reality of course, they can happen anywhere and everywhere.
Decide for yourself by downloading the ebook here or by ordering the paperback direct from the publisher here.
scskillman.com 