Crime novel blog part 5

Posted on September 16, 2017 by johnt321

My first proper crime novel, where ‘proper’ means there are no vampires in it, is ready for publication. A lot of proof-reading, re-reading and editing has been done over the last few months. Four test-readers have passed the book as not only fit-for-human-consumption but also “unputdownable”, “brilliant”, and “Entertaining all the way through”. There was also this comment in a rejection letter from a literary agent that I particularly liked, and have already mentioned at length in this blog: “cracking pace, plenty of tension, with credible characters and dialogue”.

The downside, because there’s always a damn downside with everything, is that after a heck of a lot of rejection letters from literary agents it’s starting to seem inevitable that I’m going to have to self-publish this book, and I already know what that’s likely to mean after self-publishing my first five novels: single-figure sales and a total lack of reviews anywhere, even on Amazon where the seething masses seem to want to spout their opinion on pretty much everything. Except any of my books.

I don’t want to announce the title yet, because it’s a pretty good title and there isn’t another novel (at least on Amazon) with a similar name.

If you are interested in finding out some more about this book, please get in touch via the contact page on this site. The same goes for anyone who fancies being an advance copy reader, or just wants a free copy as soon as it is available.

Painting The Dragon – in pre-order for 12th Dec publication

Posted on November 13, 2016 by johnt321

The latest novel in the Kate Hayes series – Painting The Dragon – has been submitted to Amazon for pre-order. I’ll add the Amazon .com and .co.uk links on this site as soon as they’re available.

Painting The Dragon should be available for pre-order within 24-48 hours, depending on your Amazon region. The publication date is set for 12th December 2016.

Once again, I have managed to hit a promised publication deadline. Just imagine how great this would be if I was writing for my day-job, not to mention how great it would be if anyone actually read any of these books.

As always, if you would like a free copy to review, or just to save yourself 99p, all you need to do is ask.

Playing The Ace – permanent price drop

Posted on October 13, 2016 by johnt321

I have dropped the price of Playing The Ace, the second book in the series The Truth About Kate Hayes, to mark the imminent release of the third book in the series – Painting The Dragon. This means that the first two books in the series are 99p/99c each.

The Kate Hayes series is now officially labelled Fun, filthy, feel-good bloke-lit. Because why not? Anyone who feels excluded by that sub-genre should embrace their inner rebel and just read the damn books anyway.

Painting The Dragon – Title & cover reveal

Posted on June 27, 2016 by johnt321

I’ve grown up, accepted the truth, become a born-again realist. Take your pick. But for now, here’s the cover of the next book I’m going to release.

I’m publishing this one because it’s already written and I already paid for the cover art tattoo and got the cover designed and produced by a very good friend of mine. All I need to do is edit what I’ve written and get it formatted.

Then I’m going to do what I have spent a few years learning the hard way. I’m going to write books that you are going to want to read.

I’ve missed the contemporary romance comedy smut boat, I know that. That one has sailed and I wasn’t even on the dock to wave goodbye. Nobody wants to read these books, and I was kidding myself when I thought these were the kind of books I’d get anywhere writing. I know that now. I enjoyed writing them and I’ve heard a few people say they enjoyed them too. But it’s going nowhere.

Everyone else out there who is getting somewhere with what they create – I read your books and I listen to your albums and I watch your movies. And I’m grateful to you for creating the good stuff.

Cheating Sunrise – sample chapter available

Posted on March 25, 2016 by johnt321

I have made the first chapter of Cheating Sunrise available in pdf format, downloadable from Mediafire via this link:

You can share the short link: http://bit.ly/1VMwXgM

Take the Cheating Sunrise first chapter challenge – Download sample, read sample, then find out that you just … have to … keep … reading.

Have fun, and enjoy Cheating Sunrise.

Cheating Sunrise (Kindle) – available for pre-order

Posted on March 19, 2016 by johnt321

My fourth novel, Cheating Sunrise, is now available to pre-order for Kindle on Amazon. Full details on the Cheating Sunrise book page on this site.

The book is on offer at a reduced price during the pre-order period. ($0.99 / £0.99).

Cheating Sunrise – in for pre-order review

Posted on March 18, 2016 by johnt321

Here it comes…

I’m very excited about this one. Hopefully you are too!

Cheating Sunrise – spoiler free FAQ

Posted on March 15, 2016 by johnt321

With my fourth novel in a limbo state, half published (paperback is out) and half not published (Kindle version isn’t available for pre-order for a few more days), I have time to post a quick FAQ to answer those burning questions that I know you are eager to ask.

Is Cheating Sunrise a chronological sequel to Midnight Cocktail, and do I need to read Midnight Cocktail first?
Yes and no. The events in Cheating Sunrise occur after the events in Midnight Cocktail, and several of the characters appear in both books, but you don’t need to have read Midnight Cocktail in order to to fully enjoy Cheating Sunrise.

Why aren’t the vampires in the Blood:Lust series the usual supernatural vamps with paranormal powers?
The vamps in Midnight Cocktail and Cheating Sunrise are a separate species that evolved alongside humans. They are not the undead, and they don’t have superpowers. They do live for a very long time, have fangs, love the taste of blood, and tend to stay out of the sunlight. But no superpowers, no mind-reading, no turning into bats, or mist, or angst-stricken teens.

Midnight Cocktail has a lot of gratuitously graphic sex scenes. Is Cheating Sunrise the same?
No. This was a fundamental design decision based on feedback which made it clear that my readers preferred “the second half of Midnight Cocktail” which was the half with more story, plot, and action than smut.

Does [a particular character from Midnight Cocktail] come back in Cheating Sunrise?
Sorry, that would be a spoiler. Lana is back, fairly obviously, but I’m not going to say anything about any of the other characters as I don’t want to ruin the surprises.

Where do the events in Cheating Sunrise take place?
Lana still lives in New York but, as in Midnight Cocktail, the events of the story take her to various other locations.

Who did the cover art for Cheating Sunrise?
The excellent cover was created by Nikolai Ostertag, who also did the Midnight Cocktail cover.

How many people read Cheating Sunrise before it was published?
Three, and they provided a lot of really valuable – and different – feedback and recommendations that have helped make it the book that it is.

How much is the paperback version of Cheating Sunrise, and why is it so expensive?
$16.49 (US) or £9.99 (UK). Trust me, I’m not making much out of that because the print-on-demand costs are pretty high for a 400+ page book. Cheating Sunrise weighs in at 432 pages in its paperback format. If I could make it less expensive, I would, but I can’t.

How much is the Kindle version of Cheating Sunrise going to be?
The special pre-order price will be 0.99c / 0.99p for the full pre-order period. Once the book is published (meaning after the pre-order period ends) the price will go up, probably to about £2.49 and whatever the equivalent is in all the other regions.

If there was an audiobook of Cheating Sunrise, who would do the narrating?
I’d like to hear Cheating Sunrise read by Alissa White-Gluz.

When is the next book in the Blood:Lust series coming out?
Possibly late 2017. I will have at least one other book published before that.

Cheating Sunrise – paperback soft-launch

Posted on March 14, 2016 by johnt321

I wanted to make the Cheating Sunrise paperback available at the same time that the Kindle version goes on Amazon for pre-order, but the coordination of those two different releases isn’t something that can be timed that precisely, at least not when you’re dealing with it all yourself.

What this means is that I have already published the paperback version (via Createspace) and it will be available on your local Amazon store some time in the next few days.

You can check it out on the Createspace store here:

The paperback cover turned out really well, as you can see…

Cheating Sunrise – website page added

Posted on March 12, 2016 by johnt321

I’ve recently added a page to this site for Cheating Sunrise. There’s also a new banner that will eventually (with slight rewording) replace the current header image on my twitter account (@JWTapper).

J W Tapper

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