Will I ever...? A writer's life. 22-26 July.
MONDAY
Water baby.
The doggy loves a paddle – who knew? To accustom her to the sensation of being on the water, Grant the instructor took us out in a Canadian Canoe. She coped with it wonderfully – better than I could have hoped.
At one point, she leapt out of the canoe into the water, clearly expecting it to behave like solid ground. A look of pure terror crossed her little doggy features as she went a couple of feet under and scrabbled frantically for the surface. Once she bobbed up and realised she could swim, she seemed reasonably relaxed, and the handle on the back of her doggy lifejacket meant she was easy to hoik back into the boat. Discovering she’s happy on the water will do wonders for our potential adventures next year, especially if we end up in a New England lake house.
GoPro shots of our first ever paddle are on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/AHAuthor/
TUESDAY
Freebies.
As promised, I’ve shared the first part of my new Florida Keys thriller, Many The Miles, for FREE on my Blog www.annieholder.com/just-write-right/
It’s about an ambitious local reporter, Kennedy McKendrick, who unwittingly stumbles upon a huge political scandal. One minute, she’s chasing down the biggest scoop of her career; the next, she’s in a ditch, left for dead, with no memory of how she got there. When her battered body is miraculously discovered by bereaved drifter, Gage, and Kennedy’s shadowy enemies redouble their efforts to silence her, the unlikely allies must evade capture and unlock the explosive secret trapped within Kennedy’s broken brain, before it’s too late for them both.
It’d be a perfect read for a train commute, a boring airport delay, or a relaxing afternoon by the pool. Have a look. Part 2 will follow shortly, and it’s genuinely FREE!
www.annieholder.com/many-the-miles/
WEDNESDAY
Just call me Jane Austen.
Went for a long dog walk with my neighbour. She has only just discovered I write – can’t believe it hasn’t cropped up in conversation before now – has very loyally bought all five paperbacks I currently have out, and is devouring them voraciously.
She’s just read Miss Taken Identity and Miss Direction back-to-back (Books 1 & 2 in a 3-book series), and we chatted about them on our two-hour trek through the local woods and fields. She was brimming with delightful enthusiasm, had really enjoyed them, and I asked for feedback on story and characters. It’s always fascinating to me how everybody interprets my work in a totally different way. In fact, in ways I very often haven’t thought of! The one universally-held opinion concerning the Miss books is reader mistrust of the central character, Tammi Rivers. This is unfathomable to me, because I think she’s terrific – endlessly inventive, psychologically invincible; the ultimate survivor. I’d give my right arm to be her, and yet everyone else thinks she’s irredeemably evil. Reminded me of what Jane Austen wrote about one of her most famous characters, the complex and fallible Emma Woodhouse, “I’m going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like…” I’ve clearly done the same with Tammi. It’s nice to be in such exalted company.
PS. You’re all wrong. Tammi is brilliant.
www.annieholder.com/miss-taken-identity/
THURSDAY
My Hero.
A nice message from a customer to start the day. She’s reading First Sight, is a third of the way through, and already head over heels in love with Everett. Good girl – we’re all in love with Everett. That’s why he was created, to salivate over.
Surfing the resulting wave of positivity, I was brave enough to have a thorough look at my Amazon sales reports. What’s most successful? Perennially, my most popular book is Against All Odds, a love-triangle romance with a big twist, set on strikingly beautiful and desolate Orkney. (An amazing place. If you haven’t been, go. You won’t regret it. But pack a big coat.)
Against All Odds is not a book I ever particularly think of. It’s my under-the-radar novel, and yet people love it. It’s even made big, butch men cry. Perhaps I should be pitching that? I’ll kick myself if it turns out to be THE ONE, and I’ve been sitting on it all these years.
Off twitter again after only a week. Remembered why it drove me so mad the first time. Now, several years on, it’s full of people complaining about Donald Trump…perhaps justifiably, but I can’t be bothered with it. Just noise, noise, noise. I’d rather listen to the real twittering of birdies bathing in my nature pond.
www.annieholder.com/against-all-odds/
FRIDAY
Uh-oh, we’re in trouble.
I don’t know what it is about life, but things sail along comfortably for ages, and then everything cocks up at once.
Last September, fell off my SUP in the Florida Keys, cut my foot on some coral, it got infected, swelled up like a balloon, and hasn’t been right since. Finally gave up being brave about the increasing pain, and went to the doctors. He manipulated sore toes agonisingly until I almost punched him on the nose, then frowned, filled in a form, and sent me to the local hospital for an immediate x-ray. Two hours, half a paperback off the ‘borrow a book’ shelf (utter crap, and yet THAT person got a publishing deal – not that I’m bitter), and a whole family-size pack of Jelly Babies from the sweet trolley later (no willpower), finally got called in for a five-minute consultation in which the Radiologist took several lovely snaps of my foot at various jaunty angles, and advised me the results would be back with my doctor within 10 days. 10 days??? I felt like yelling, ‘I can see the images on your computer screen RIGHT NOW!!! WHY does it take so long? You could email them to him NOW!’, before I came to my senses. This is the English NHS, nothing if not chaotically inefficient – sort of like old-fashioned Communism, only much more expensive to the taxpayer.
I presume nothing’s going to go black and drop off in the intervening period, but you never know…?
Went kayaking again with the dog. Great, as before…except that it poured torrentially the entire day, and my steering of the new solo craft was so squiffy we ended up zipping down one of the downriver canoe chutes backwards (not recommended – a heart-in-mouth moment for me!).
Got home and discovered I had water in the works of my FitBit from the constant rain. It’s supposed to be waterproof, but I don’t think ANYTHING is waterproof enough to survive the unremitting damp of an English summer’s day.
Then, I dropped my mobile ‘phone down the toilet. It’s currently in a bag of rice (because that fix always works on the telly), but my hopes aren’t high. I’m not sure I’d recover if you dropped me in the loo with no warning whatsoever either.
THEN, Googled the interesting insects populating my new nature pond, only to discover they are mosquito larvae and I must eradicate them without delay!
Am now in a state of irritable anticipation, awaiting Fate’s next throw of the dice.
Annie Holder writes pacey thrillers, twist-filled crime novels, and unconventional romances – set all over the world.
You can find out more about her books at www.annieholder.com, and follow her on Instagram www.instagram.com/alhwriter/