Chris Longmuir, Crime Writer: Eileen Ramsay

Saturday, 1 November 2014

Anchors Away – Awesome Indies Website is Live

In my last post I told you all about the brand new website that has been designed for Awesome Indies, but of course the links only took you to the original site because the new one was scheduled for today, Saturday 1st November. Scroll down if you want to read my previous post.Here is the link for the new website http://awesomeindies.net/

Well, today is the day, the website is live, and all those delicious book bargains are on offer. There are 74 books in the sale, I know because I counted them. And there are loads to choose from, in a variety of different genres. Oh, and before I forget, there is a competition for you with the prize being a Kindle Paperwhite ereader. Here is the link to the competition page – Awesome Indies Welcome Page.

However, don’t miss my books. I have two in the sale. And these books have never been discounted before – ever. So, they are genuine bargains. Let me tell you about them.

I decided to put Night Watcher and A Salt Splashed Cradle in the sale to celebrate the launch of the new website. They’ve both been reduced from $4.99/£3.03 down to $2.99/£1.92.

Night Watcher is the first book in my Dundee Crime Series, featuring DS Bill Murphy, and it’s been very popular, as well as the rest of the series. It’s a story of two stalkers, both with the same target, Nicole, who is rather partial to male company and is not too concerned about whose husband she steals. I’ve already said there were two stalkers – there is the woman with revenge on her mind playing mind games, and then there is the deranged and dangerous Night Watcher. But who kills Nicole? Read it and find out. Link for Night Watcher.

Here are a couple of reviews of Night Watcher:

Night watcher is the sort of novel that keeps the reader glued to its pages, frantically guessing as the plot takes numerous twists and turns. – Alex Gray, Crime Writer

This is a complex and very well crafted tale, beautifully put together -full of a sense of foreboding, and full of menace. – Catherine Czerkawska

A Salt Splashed Cradle is different. It is not my usual crime story. It is a historical saga set in 1830s Scotland in an east coast fishing village which does not welcome newcomers in their midst. This story reflects the living conditions and the morals of the ordinary fishing folk of that time. It starts when Jimmie Watt brings his new bride home to his horrified parents. This is because fishermen are expected to marry within their own community, and Belle is an incomer from the town across the water. Belle, an emotionally damaged and beautiful girl, struggles to find acceptance in the village but she is fighting a losing battle, and when Jimmie leaves the fishing village to sail to the Arctic with a whaling ship, she becomes increasingly isolated. With Jimmie gone, Belle falls for the charms of Lachlan, the Laird’s son and embarks on a tempestuous affair with him. When Jimmie returns she struggles with her feelings for him and for Lachlan. The women in the village now regard Belle as a Jezebel who will tempt their men away. A mood of hysteria engulfs them and they turn against Belle, in an attempt to force her out of the village. What will Belle do? And will she survive? Read it to find out. Link for A Salt Splashed Cradle

Here are some reviews of A Salt Splashed Cradle:

There is some beautiful poetic writing and the complex life of the heroine, Belle, had me gripped from the beginning. Some of the loveliest writing is in the whaling sequences -one can feel the cold - and among the whalers she creates some outstanding characters – Eileen Ramsay, novelist

Chris Longmuir's books so far have been mysterious, suspenseful stories concerned with some of the darker depths of human nature. So it's surprising to learn that this latest is a romance. But fans won't be disappointed. Yes, it's a romance but the murkier motives and actions are still in evidence – Bill Kirton, crime writer

A Salt-Splashed Cradle drips with historical accuracy, and even the scenes aboard a whaling ship seem to have been recounted directly from an 1800's whaler, almost as if Chris Longmuir boarded those ships and chopped them free from the arctic ice herself – Tim Greaton

There are many more books in the sale and I hope you’ll visit the sale page to sample some of them. Have fun reading.

Here is the link to the sale page http://awesomeindies.net/bookstore/on-sale/

Chris Longmuir

http://www.chrislongmuir.co.uk/

Tuesday, 15 July 2014

Dundee Literary Book Trail

Hang out the flags, blow up the balloons, I think I might have arrived! I’ve made my mark on the literary map. Well, it’s a comparatively small literary map. But I’m right there on it.

The map I’m talking about is the map for the Dundee Literary Trail. Have a look at this description on STV Dundee, with the header Dundee’s first literary trail could be a best-seller idea.

Map of Dundee Literary Trail - I'm location 29

The literary trail is a map that plots locations and buildings mentioned in books set in Dundee. The walk covers 15 miles of the city and has 48 stops enroute. But because of the distance it is divided into 3 parts. So those on the walk can choose which one they want to do. The Eastern walk, the Western one, or the Central one. I chose the Central walk because that is the one that features me.

Walkers meeting outside the Wellgate Library

Apparently 20 local authors contributed to the map, and I’m one of them. Some of the others include my good friends, Eileen Ramsay, and Russell McLean. Others included were Alexander McGregor, who wrote The Law Killers, Mae Stewart, Chae Strathie and others too numerous to mention. Some of the more famous names on the trail were Agatha Christie, George Orwell, and Jacqueline Wilson. My apologies for not mentioning everybody but with 48 stops, that means more than 48 authors and there just isn’t room.

The STV article did ask if Dundee was the most literary city in Scotland, and I certainly hope it’s up there among the front runners because that’s where I set most of my novels.

Witches Blood to commemorate the last witch burned in Dundee

Walkers heading for Dundee Sheriff Court

Anyway, I joined the literary walk for the central area. We met outside the Wellgate Library and commenced our walk down to the city centre where we took in the scene of Grizzel Jaffray’s burning as the last witch in Dundee, and was featured in The Curewife, Claire-Marie Watson’s Dundee International Prize winning book as well as William Blain’s classic novel Witches Blood. Further down the High Street we stopped to admire Desperate Dan and Minnie the Minx from the DC Thomson popular comics the Beano and the Dandy. Then on to The Howff, the historical cemetery which is the scene of many a nasty Dundee murder including some I have committed myself – on paper I may add, unless I give you the wrong impression. Various other sites were visited including Dundee Sheriff Court, and even the Deep Sea fish and chip shop where some of my characters buy their fish suppers.

The Howff Cemetery where a grisly murder in The Death Game takes place

The Deep Sea Restaurant where DS Bill Murphy buys his fish and chips

We took in Scott’s ship The Discovery, walked along the riverside where Macgonagall is commemorated on the paving stones, traversed Magdalen Green, and up the hill to the George Orwell Pub for a welcome drink before the organisers departed for Walk 3 of the day. One of them was wearing a mileometer and informed us that the walks had covered 14 miles. I was glad I’d only taken part in the second walk, and on enquiring how many miles the central walk had covered, I was told almost 5 miles. No wonder I was feeling knackered.

I left the group at that point, wished them well with walk three, and dragged myself back to my car, which I reckoned added another mile onto the walk I’d already done. The price of fame does not come cheap!