A book launch and a jar of cookies, not flies.


Super short and speedy post, this one, after another week that simple flew by without me noticing it speed away from my hands. Last Monday I launched my latest novel. Part three on a series of four, The Preternaturals, following the lives of a bunch of vampires, witches, Fey and can de loups - and now you're all asking what the heck are these, well, go and read the novels and you'll figure it out easily enough! - and their adventures. Put like this it sounds as if I wrote something like The Famous Five with preternatural beings, and it's no such thing. There's no adventures per se like those - no kids around, except for a baby who does not get much character development along the storyline - there's only a lot of brooding, a lot of sighing, a lot of plotting world domination and a lot of sex. Yeah, this one is like Book I, there's quite a bit of sex going on, so if the thought of reading about two male vampirs getting it on together is not your cup of tea, stay clear of this one. On the other hand, if the idea of a couple bingedrinking vampire blood and having sex amidst all the gore and the ripped throats and cut off heads sounds like fun, well, I got you covered.


You might think I'd be busy as Stephen and Owen King promoting "Sleeping Beauties" around America trying to get this novel - and the other two preceding it - noticed by a whole bunch of new readers, working hard on promoting my work and outlinig a marketing strategy that was sure to land me over the 1000 sales mark, and that would be the reason behind how fast this week has gone by, but alas! Make no mistakes. I suck at marketing as much as my vampires suck the proverbial vein. Oh, I've posted on facebook and instagram, sure, repeatedly, to the point anyone who follows me on those platforms must be sick of hearing me go on and on about my books and my writing and all that. And so far, the sales just don't stop coming in! But not the sales for my books, nope. I sold one copy of the new release, on pre-order of all things possible. I would like to leave my most sincere thanks to that particular person - whom I have no idea who it is! - for taking such a leap of faith and investing hard earned money on my book. I do hope you did it because you read the two previous instalments and loved the story so much you couldn't wait to get your hands on Book III. One single fan is better than zero, right? So I haven't been doing much to get my book sold - most of the things I've seen going around involve spending some amount of cash which I don't have, hence the lack of promotional action on my part. My hubby, on the other hand, he did well this week, seeing he got his first order for homemade cookies. I do hope he manages to get more sales, at least one of us is being somewhat successful in something we love doing.


 Of all the cookies my husband bakes, these are probably my most favourite ones. These are butter cookies, and if you're not into butter (how can you?) these are not for you. Because they're really... well, buttery! So good, so melt in your mouth suave, so full of flavour. Go one, bake yourselves a batch, or place an order, hubby would be delighted to oblige. You'll need:
  • 350 gr flour
  • 250 gr cold butter
  • 175 gr dark muscovado sugar
  • 50 ml milk
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp baking pwder
Start by mixing the baking powder and flour together. Pour this mix onto a clean, cold surface and make a hole in the middle. Add the sugar, butter, milk and egg. Combine the ingredients into a dough. Now, knead very softly, to bring it together and wrap in cling film, refrigerating it for half an hour at least. Once the time has elapsed, bring the dough out and roll it quickly over a floured surface, cutting it into the shapes you want. Because this dough is very soft and hard to work, we usualy keep it simple and cut into small rectangles with a sharp knife. Transfer the cut cookies into a baking tray lined with baking parchement and bake in the oven for about 12 minutes at 170º. Once they've cooled enough, you can keep them in air tight containers and they actually last for quite some time. They're really melt in your mouth good, perfect with a cup of tea, or a tisane.



Comments

  1. Hooray for one loyal reader! That is wonderful. Truly. And definitely something to celebrate. :-) Wishing you much luck as you market a bit more. :-)

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    1. Ah, well, I'd be stoked to have a few more readers, a few more sales, but nope, no sales so far except for that one. Does make one wonder ahahahh.

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  2. Congratulations on the release of your third book! Super duper amazing. I do feel you shouldn't self sabotage and go out there and MARKET IT IN EARNEST ;), OR hire someone who can do it for you. Such a shame not to let the right people know about it. Either way, congrats again, it's a phenomenal achievement.
    Hugs
    Kimberly

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    1. oh, boy I know you're right, Kimberly. I do self sabotage myself a bit, but I feel hopeless when it comes to self promoting and selling out my own work. Plus, asides flooding my feed on facebook and insta with stuff about the books, I dunno how else to do it in a way that doesn't mean I need to invest money - which is something I don't have - in the promotion. I can't hire someone because of exactly that: no funds, I'm bankrupt ahahahah. But, yeah, I do believe that somewhere there's a right audience for these books and I am not reaching them, I don't even know how to get myself across them, which is a shame as I do believe the stories are good and worth a read...
      Thank you for your words, you always get me thinking and analysing!!

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  3. Congratz on your 3rd book. Your books sound really interesting if you ever want to hit me up for some reviews :)

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    1. I would love you to have a read of my books but your reading policy says no erotica, and well, there's quite a bit of explicit sex in at least two of my novels...

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