KINDRED - Out 12 April

NEW RELEASE

I'm very excited to say that my new Jefferson Tayte Genealogical Mystery KINDRED will be out this month on 12 April. It follows on from The Lost Empress, which was released in October 2014, and as with all the books in the series, it can be read as a stand-alone story.

I'm also very pleased to report that multi-award winning narrator Simon Vance has once again performed the audio editions, and having listened to it I can say that fans of audio books are in for another treat.

WIN A COPY

If you would like to chance to win 1 of 20 copies of KINDRED in paperback, follow this LINK to enter the Goodreads giveaway, which runs until the launch on the 12th.

Netgalley members can request a download for review HERE. 

If you can't wait until the 12th to start reading, here's a snippet to whet your appetite. Click the link at the end of this extract to read the full prologue and a little bit of JT's opening chapter.

Prologue

Karwendel Mountains. Bavaria, Germany. November 1973.

He wished now that he had taken the road. The road would have led him down to a town or village where he could have sought help. But he knew that if he had tried to escape by the road, he would already be dead. The mountains, on the other hand, gave him places to hide, but beneath an overcast sky, amidst frozen rocks that were already partly settled with snow, he felt so cold. He pulled his jumper up over his mouth and tried to calm himself. His breath, swirling up into the chill morning air, could certainly give him away. Despite trying to warm his hands in his pockets and in the folds of his jumper, his pale, blueing fingertips were already losing sensation and he had only stopped to rest for a few minutes. He had to keep moving...

Follow this LINK to read more. I hope you enjoy it.

To coincide with the release of KINDRED Amazon have reduced the price of the entire series in the US to $1.99 this month for Kindle and $7.99 in paperback, and in the UK they have extended last month's Kindle promotion until 17 April at £1.99. Here's a LINK to my author page in your country, where you can find out more about my books, or you can visit my website HERE.

SALE!

The charity auction has begun!

CLIC Sarget 'Get in Character' 2016 fundraiser.
I'm helping to raise funds for children and young people with cancer. If you would like the chance to be a named character in my sixth Jefferson Tayte book, and receive a personalised signed copy of the book once it's released, please follow this LINK to my eBay Auction page. The auction ends at 19:33 GMT on 6 March.

For more information, and to see a list of all the other authors taking part, please visit CLIC Sargent HERE.

THANK YOU!

Get in Character 2016 charity fundraiser

Get in Character 2016

This year I'm once again very proud to say that I've been invited to take part in CLIC Sargent's 'Get in Character' charity fundraiser for children and young people with cancer. In short it's an eBay auction where the winning bidder gets to have their name, or the name of a loved one, immortalised in one of my Jefferson Tayte mystery thriller books, together with a personalised signed copy from me. The eBay auction runs from Thursday 25 February for ten days. See below for all the details. I hope you can join in.

Your name, their book

Whatever genre you love to read – be it crime, chick-lit, thriller or romance – from Thursday, 25 February 2016 we have a fantastic selection of authors taking part in a unique 10-day eBay auction to name a character in a forthcoming novel after you or a loved one:

Alex Shaw	Ali McNamara	Anthony McGowan & Jo Nadin
Anouska Knight	Catherine Alliott	Clare Donoghue
Emma Hannigan	Elly Griffiths	Emma Donoghue
Jodi Taylor	Holly Martin	Jane Fallon
Amanda Jennings	Julie Cohen	Kate Ellis
Katie Fforde	Katy Regan	Lisa Jewell
Luca Veste	Lucy Clarke	Paula Hawkins
Renee Knight	Roger Ellory	Santa Montefiore
Sara Gruen	Sarah Hilary	Sarah Morgan
Simon Kernick	Stephen Edgar	Steve Robinson
Tim Weaver	Tammy Cohen	Penny Hancock
Christie Barlow

Get bidding 

Paula Hawkins, writer of the best-selling novel The Girl on a Train, is proud to be involved with Get in Character.

She said: "CLIC Sargent does invaluable work helping children and young people coping with the most difficult of circumstances."

It's an honour to be able to help out with a donation of a character name for my new book.

There is also the chance to get your hands on signed books from Lee Child, Ian Rankin, Tania Carver, Peter James, Liane Moriarty and Kathy Reichs, and aspiring writers can bid to have their work critiqued by best-selling authors Eve Seymour, Claire Dyer and Philippa Ashley.

Last year, the Get in Character auction raised £14,500 to help CLIC Sargent provide clinical, practical and emotional support to children, young people with cancer and their families.

The bidding starts at 8pm Thursday, 25 February and ends at 8pm Sunday, 6 March 2016.

Find out more

Please contact our team by emailing: charityauction@clicsargent.org.uk.

IN THE BLOOD - over 100,000 copies sold with Thomas & Mercer - series close to half a million sales.

A Christmas present from my publisher

I received a very nice Christmas present from my publisher, Thomas & Mercer, recently: a commemorative framed copy of my first book in the Jefferson Tayte Genealogical Mystery series, IN THE BLOOD, for exceeding sales of 100,000 copies with them since they took over publication in March 2014. It's taken pride of place on the wall in my writing cabin.

Reaching this milestone prompted me to add up how many copies have been bought across the entire series since first publication in May 2011, and I was staggered to see that the figure is now close to half a million! However did that happen? It's wonderful to know that so many readers have enjoyed reading my books, and will hopefully continue to do so. A big thank you to everyone.

2015

This year has been both distracting and exciting for me. I'd been putting off some home improvements for several years while I concentrated on my books, but during the summer the work finally began. It was more home renovation than decoration as all the walls had to be re-plastered, all the woodwork replaced, which as you can imagine is a very messy and disruptive business. Thankfully I have my writing cabin in the garden, where I was able to plot much of my 6th Jefferson Tayte book, but the improvements turned into such a hands on project though that I had to abandon all hope of starting to write book 6 until the house was finished, which I'm very glad to say it now is. As 2016 approaches, I'm really looking forward to writing the book that's been turning though my mind while I've been cutting skirting boards, changing electrical sockets, filling and painting and goodness knows what else.

The year has also been peppered with highlights. I finished writing KINDRED and I'm so looking forward to its publication in the spring. All the edits are done and the description finalised (see below if you've not already read what it's about). All that's left to finalise is the jacket cover, which I'm very pleased with. Hopefully I'll be able to share that with you very soon. 2015 also saw the very first translation publication of one of my books - IN THE BLOOD - into the German language, and it's also just been released, along with TO THE GRAVE, in the Czech language. On top of that, a few weeks ago I was informed that IN THE BLOOD is now being translated into French for release in the latter half of 2016.

One of the biggest highlights of the year has to be the November promotion in the UK Kindle store, which was to see all four of my currently published books in the top 100 for most of the month. At their peak, they were all in the top 30, with two in the top 10, and IN THE BLOOD reached No.3! The book has been out for a while now, so I wasn't expecting anything like that. It was a lovely surprise and it's great to see such interest in the series and in my leading man, Jefferson Tayte.

KINDRED

For audiobook fans, I'm very pleased to announce that Simon Vance will be narrating my latest book. He's done a wonderful job with all the characters in the series so far, so I'm very pleased that he's on board again for KINDRED - particularly as JT will sound the same as before.

Here's the description of KINDRED for the back of the jacket:

Jefferson Tayte is good at finding people who don’t want to be found. For years he has followed faint genealogical trails to reunite families—and uncover long-hidden secrets. But Tayte is a loner, a man with no ties of his own; his true identity is the most elusive case of his career.

But that could all be about to change. Now Tayte has in his possession the beginnings of a new trail—clues his late mentor had started to gather—that might at last lead to his own family. With Professor Jean Summer, his partner in genealogical sleuthing, he travels to Munich to pick up the scent. But the hunt takes them deep into dangerous territory: the sinister secrets of Hitler’s Germany, and those who must keep them buried at any cost.

When their investigations threaten to undermine a neo-Nazi organisation, Tayte and Summer know time is running out. Can they find their way to the dark heart of a deadly history before they become its latest victims?

2016

I'm very excited about 2016 and I hope you are too. I can't wait to chat about KINDRED with you and to share my progress again with my next book as I get down to writing it. I've usually made a good dent in the word count target by now, so I have some catching up to do, but now that my house is a home again and order has been restored, I'm raring to go!

I'm also delighted to have been invited to participate in the CLIC Sargent charity fundraiser for children with cancer again. It starts on 25 February, so please look out for that. It's an eBay auction called 'Get in Character' where you can bid to have your name immortalised in one of my books. Last year the bid was won by a lady called Jan Statham who has now become a key character in KINDRED, so next time it could be you, or a loved one as you can nominate a name if you win.

Whatever your hopes and plans for 2016, I wish you every success, good health and much happiness. 

Steve

New (5th) Jefferson Tayte Genealogical Mystery

My publisher (Thomas & Mercer) has set the release date for my 5th Jefferson Tayte Genealogical Mystery! It will be out for Kindle, in paperback and audiobook formats worldwide on 12 April 2016. You can pre-order it now from Amazon in your country by clicking HERE.

It's a big story for JT this time around and I'm very excited about it. The feedback from my editors has been excellent, but I can't wait to hear what you think about it. This time JT's own family history is about to catch up with him, and he's in for more than a few surprises. I'll let you know more about it once the jacket blurb has been decided on.

Next month I'll be working on the copyedits and hopefully soon I'll get to the see the jacket design, which of course I'll share with you as soon as I can.

Meanwhile, please share the news! Your support is, as always, very much appreciated. :o)

Photographs from my trip to the Canadian Rockies

I finally got around to processing the photos I took on my recent trip to Canada's Banff and Yoho National Parks with Mrs R. Here are a few of my favourite images, taken on my Canon 5D Mark III in RAW format, then processed in Lightroom 4. Thanks for taking a look. Just click on any image to view them all in full screen. I hope you enjoy them.

I thought this was a chipmunk at first, but it's a ground squirrel.

I saw a chipmunk later in the same area, but couldn't get

a photo. It was much smaller and with more stripes.

Canon 135mm f2 lens, shot at f6.3 for 1/200sec.

Hmm... I can't quite remember where this was taken, but it was one of
my first shots of the trip so I'd say it was taken in Banff.
Canon 35mm f1.4 lens, shot at f11 for 1/25sec.

This is Point Cabin at the Emerald Lake Lodge,
where we stayed for four wonderful nights.
Great location, right on the lake.
Canon 135mm f2 lens, shot at f11 for 1/30sec.

A view from the balcony of the cabin we stayed in.
Canon 35mm f1.4 lens, shot at f13 for 1/40sec.

Taken at Lake Minnewanka.
Canon 135mm f2 lens, shot at f3.5 for 1/640sec.

Another shot of Lake Minnewanka.
Canon 35mm f1.4 lens, shot at f11 for 1/50sec.

Johnston Canyon - Lower Falls.
Canon 35mm f1.4 lens, shot at f11 for 0.6sec.

The light in the woods. This was taken near
Johnston Canyon on our way to a place called
the Ink Pots.
Canon 35mm f1.4 lens, shot at f1.6 for 1/250sec.

View from the Ink Pots.
Canon 35mm f1.4 lens, shot at f11 for 1/50sec.

I came across this ice meltwater waterfall heading out
from Emerald Lake one morning.
Canon 35mm f1.4 lens, shot at f3.2 for 1/8sec.

A Hoary Marmot. I'd never seen one before, but we
managed to identify it from a book at the lodge.
It was taken at Emerald Basin.
Canon 135mm f2 lens, shot at f2 for 1/1600sec.

June Book Promotions

All at $1.99 through June for the Amazon Kindle US and Canada

Summer reading?

My books are in various Amazon Kindle Monthly Deals around the world this month. In the US and Canada you can currently get all four titles in the Jefferson Tayte Genealogical Mystery series for just $1.99 each. That's just $7.96 for the entire series so far!

Amazon AUS

Amazon UK

The second title in the series, To the Grave, is also on offer this month in the UK at £1.25, and in Australia at $1.49.

All titles are highly rated by Amazon readers around the world and have been top 10 bestsellers in Kindle store on numerous occasions,. So, if you like a bit of history and a thrill with your mystery solving, and haven't yet tried them, now could be a good time to get better acquainted with my lead character, Jefferson Tayte.

Reviewers have compared In the Blood to the works of Stieg Larsson and Robbert Goddard, and have said that it's reminiscent of a Sherlock Holmes adventure and the writings of Daphne Du Maurier. To the Grave 'was more than a crime novel. It was every bit as good as Ian McEwan's Atonement.' The Last Queen of England has also been compared many times to Dan Brown's DaVinci Code. To find out more, please follow the links in the caption beneath each image to the various deals, or you can visit my website.