Tag: free short stories

Two Chickens for Laura Long Arms

There’s a new FREE short story for subscribers to the Woodville Village newsletter…

Superb art design by Andrew Bowden!

This story was previously published in November 2021 as part of the Everyday Kindness anthology compiled by LJ Ross in support of the charity Shelter. All of us were still reeling from Covid and lockdown and the idea was to put a little good out into the world.

The result was an amazing anthology with stories from a wide range of incredible authors. I do urge you to check it out and support the good work of Shelter here: https://ljrossauthor.com/book/everyday-kindness/

Regular newsletter subscribers also know that I usually record an MP3 audio version of the story for them to download. Well, in this instance someone beat me to it. And that someone is only Dame Julie Bleedin’ Bloody Walters* herself! It’s part of the same anthology over on Audible and she gives a beautiful and heartfelt reading.

I was blown away when I heard that she chose to read my story, especially as I have a wee bit of history with Julie that you can read about here.

Laura Long Arms is based a little on the legend of Jenny Greenteeth and other such nymphs who lurk at the bottoms of ponds and wells and lure people (especially children) to their doom. I grew up in a time when children were bombarded with public information films warning us about the dangers of deep and still waters, so her legend has always resonated with me, and there’s no reason why she can’t return in another tale from Woodville. 

I really hope you enjoy this story where Faye learns that a little kindness can go a long way…

*To give her full honorific.

The Miss Charlotte Quartet is Complete

With the publication of THE MEMORY THIEF, the MISS CHARLOTTE QUARTET is now complete. A series of four short stories featuring the witch Charlotte Southill from my Witches of Woodville novels. Sign up to the Woodville Village Library newsletter and grab your FREE copies here… https://witchesofwoodville.com/#library

The stories were edited by Julian Barr: https://jbarrauthor.com/editorial-services/

Cover designer Andrew Bowden: https://www.ididthat.uk

TRANSCRIPT:

Hello folks, the Miss Charlotte Quartet is now complete. Okay, I know some of you will be going, “What’s a Miss Charlotte Quartet?” Well, Miss Charlotte is one of the witches in the Witches of Woodville novels. And she’s very mysterious, and there are all kinds of hints that she has a murky past, and she might just be a wee bit older than she’s  actually letting on. The four stories in the Miss Charlotte Quartet  explore her history. Not all of it. Don’t worry, she’s still as deliciously ambiguous as ever.

But the stories go from 1593 to 1910. See, told you she was old. Weirdly, I also seem to have written a love story as it’s about Charlotte falling in love with a young woman called Lizzie. And, well, to say any more would be a spoiler. These stories began life as a project to get me out of my funk during the first covid lockdown. They started with just a few hundred words a day and have become something wonderful.

Thanks to the editorial skill of Julian Barr, and the splendid artwork of Andrew Bowden, both are available for hire, I would not hesitate to recommend both of them wholeheartedly. Julian saved my bacon on a number of occasions with his sharp eye, and Andy went out of his comfort zone to produce what I think you’ll agree are a fantastic set of cover designs. Thank you, gents, for helping Miss Charlotte and me on our way. Thanks also to Claire Burgess for her help on the audio books and of course, to Woodville Village’s head librarian, Miss Araminta Cranberry for, well, not throwing me out of the library, especially when it was raining, which was… usually. And most of all a huge thanks to everyone who has read all of these stories and said nice things about them. That’s all an author ever wants, really. So what’s next? Well, I’m currently writing the first draft of SKYCLAD, the third Witches of Woodville novel. That should be done in a few weeks.

Just a first draft, very rough. Then it’s copyedits for book two, BABES IN THE WOOD. Once they’re done, I’ll be sharing the first few chapters with everyone who subscribes to the Woodville Village Library newsletter. So that’s where you can also get all these free stories, not just the Miss Charlotte Quartet, but all of these too. Hey, hey, hey. I’ll pop a link in the description below. This is the part of the video where in the past I’ve put a clip of the audiobook.

Oh, did I mention these are also available as MP3 audiobooks to download narrated by me. Never mind. But I don’t want to do this for this because it would reveal something a bit spoilery. So just grab your copy now. Free, it’s free! Thanks for watching and happy reading.

How To Market Your Book On YouTube – Episode 5

Are you a debut author or seasoned writer needing to know HOW to market your book? Or HOW to promote your book on YouTube?

In this 5th episode author Mark Stay and video marketer Jeremy Mason reveal more book marketing strategies and tips for authors.

WHICH of their video marketing strategies have worked so far? WILL they hit their 1000 target for pre-sales before Feb 2021? WHICH digital marketing techniques will they enlist? WHICH book marketing strategy will be put to the test next on their ambitious (some may say foolhardy) quest?

In Episode 5 you will learn: Lots of book marketing strategies, finding the route to market for your book, insider hints and tips that will help you with marketing your book. We talk about: Tweetdeck, Canva, Goodreads, BookFunnel, Groovepages, book events, pre-orders, book signings, pitching yourself for publicity and more…