You get a good review, and it's like crack. You need another hit.

“You get a good review, and it’s like crack. You need another hit. And another. And another. I know authors are like Tinkerbell and generally need applause to survive, but it’s a slippery slope.” - Alexandra Bracken

Well I hope you enjoyed my blog tour for The Bittersweet Vine, and that you are now following some of the other blogs mentioned! Most of the blogs mentioned belong to other writers with some great talent so if you haven’t checked them out do so now. You can scroll down to see the tour from some older posts on The Coffee Stained Manuscript!

As you may know I have entered The Bittersweet Vine as part of a Good Reads book giveaway for the month of November. If you have recently written a book this is a great way to get your work noticed and to get some real reviews. I believe it was the Good Reads book giveaway that really launched Goa Traffic. That’s a big declaration but I really think it got the name of my first book (and of me as an author) out there. With over 1000 people requesting Goa Traffic and getting a good review from the winner I definitely think that a Good Reads book give away is the best way to start your marketing campaign. A free book giveaway will raise awareness if nothing else! If you want to enter for your chance to win a copy of The Bittersweet Vine all you need is a Good Reads account (which is free) Just click on the link to the right!

Anyway… so the real reason for this post - reviews! I don’t know if the following is helpful or just a rant (most likely the latter) but I hope it makes you think. Whether you are a reader or a writer you’ll probably be interested in the following:

Now when The Bittersweet Vine was released, like any other author, I asked friends and family to read the book and review it! Did they? - Not really – asking for a review is like taking blood from a stone! But my sister tried - only to be rejected by Amazon. After doing some on-line research I figured that as my sister and I have often used the same computer Amazon twigged and thought this family member can’t write a review – perhaps in their opinion they felt it was sock puppeteering (creating fictitious accounts to create false reviews). Alternatively, perhaps Amazon felt that a family member reviews should not count – Amazon could be right. Family are always biased and false reviews create a fictitious market - Little do they know my sister is my strongest critic! I understand Amazon’s requirement to cut down on ‘false’ reviews but, for a new author with limited finances for marketing how do you go about getting that ball rolling? 

Recently on TV there was a programme on ‘fake’ facebook likers- most of which originate in Dakar! It will only be time before they catch on to the Amazon review (although now in America you have to have purchased the item from Amazon to review it and no doubt the UK will follow the same principle) but we authors are quirky penniless things. 1) we have no money to pay for reviews and 2) most of us want genuine reviews. We spend hours writing and this is not to just make money, but because we love what we do and for all our labours we want genuine reviews for our books- we deserve that at least- don’t we? We of course like good reviews rather than the bad ones, but over time our skin thickens and we get used to the bad ones as well. So if we don’t want to pay for reviews how can you encourage a review?

Use book review bloggers! I hear you say and yes of course you are right- send your book off to book reviewers. But they get hundreds and are they going to read yours? Well if you don’t send any out you wont know! I must add this 'to do' to my marketing plan.

Or another cheaper way to get reviews is to do what the majority of us do - wait for purchases to be made and readers out there will review. But how often do you buy a book without a review? And here is my point. You need at least one or two reviews from people you know (who have read the book) to get the ball rolling!

And how often do you write a review? Recently I have started reviewing everything on Amazon. Do unto others… and all that. Reviews make a huge difference!

Goa Traffic has now been available for (coming up to) three years. I have finally reached my target of 30 reviews! Thank you to the 30^th Reviewer- and it was 5* too! But that is not many reviews for 3 years- or is it? I think it is a sufficient amount of views to be settled in the book market place, but I look at some of those big names out there with their 536 reviews and my heat sinks (a little). Taking GT as an example I have to say I know at least 15 people who have taken the trouble to tell me that they have enjoyed reading the book. None of these people have written a review- perhaps they were lying to my face and didn’t want to put their lies on paper or perhaps (and this is quite likely) they couldn’t be bothered to write a review. There is nothing wrong with this. I, myself, hate writing reviews as I don’t feel I have the time! Now I force myself to do it. And Amazon are making it easy to review in allowing you to do it straight after you have read the book on your kindle.  My mother is an even worse culprit. She reads more than anyone I know. She is the mother of an author now - doe she write reviews? Never!!! There is no telling some people!

Amazon are doing the right thing by trying to reduce ‘fake’ reviews but they are stifling the small author and  the self-pubbed author- although given that they have given small author such an big platform to get our work out there I can't be too critical. I would say that if they just allowed a star rating without words they would encourage more reviews but that is their choice (That is the format for Good Reads and I have more reviews on Amazon for Goa Traffic - than Good reads).

Anyway this post is to get you thinking about reviews- any ideas for getting reviews- please send them my way! To all the reviewers out there (good reviews and bad ones) A big thank you. And a nudge of encouragement to those that have yet to write a review!!! Come on! Help us out!

Marketing is a contest for people's attention

Marketing is a contest for people's attention - Seth Godin

So today my attention turns to marketing! Last week I contacted a couple of independent book shops to see if they would be interested in stocking my new novel, The Bittersweet Vine. Today The Book House in Summertown, Oxford has a couple of copies and to me that was a huge bonus. I mean within  a week I got a bite. The Ocelot said they would publish my press release in January and hopefully I have a library talk in the new year. It has all come rather easy to me second time around. I can't help but ask myself is this because 1) I now have a publisher 2) The Bittersweet Vine being my second book gives me more credibility or 3) I have experience and contacts now so I know what to do.

I don't know which is the answer but it is easier. Perhaps it is because in having a publisher you are not burnt out from the stress of self publishing (although having a publisher is not without its stresses) and you can concentrate on marketing.

I have to admit I have been rather lazy on the marketing front. I have started a Good Reads Book Giveaway. See the link on the right (More on this in my next blog post) and I have contacted libraries all around the country. Something I never did with Goa Traffic. I have to say I have had a good response from the libraries in that they are considering my book. (I sent out an advanced information sheet along with a recent press release) but lets see how that goes. It is a different avenue but one which should be explored. After all libraries are great facilities which make books available to everyone.

In addition to the email offensive I am also getting some book marks made up. I found a good website Stress Free Printing which allows you to order in bulk and split the design. So I can have 150 for Goa Traffic and 150 for The Bittersweet Vine. Perfect. I also want to target some women's magazines such as Psychologies. The Bittersweet Vines explores the bond between sisters and betrayal. I have written two articles/press releases accordingly and plan to send them out to relevant e-zines and magazines next week. Lets see if I am still in luck.

In addition to all of this I also uploaded my press release on a couple of free press release websites. Now I don't know how good these are but I tried nosyjoe.com, pr.com, press box.co.uk and i-newswire.com I am not sure if I will get any coverage from this but nevertheless its free. It has only cost me my time which is in short supply-but never the less. If you have a press release about your book give it a go! It can't hurt.

I also had a go at creating a sale or return agreement. If you do choose to use this method to get your books into shops. I looked everywhere on line for a template to copy but I couldn't find one anywhere. Anyway I came up with the following. Feel free to use it but it has not been checked by a solicitor or anything like that so it may be flawed! You'll look professional if you do have this when approaching stores. Although I think for a small press author it can be a little over the top!

Sale Or Return Agreement

Date: XXXXXXXXX

This agreement is between:

XX (the author). Address

XXX (the customer). Address

Definitions:

The term the number of days the agreement is valid for.

The book /books XXXX by XXXXX (ISBN: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx)

1.0       XX books will be retained with the customer on a sale or return basis for the period of XX days.

1.2      After the term has expired the author will collect any unsold books.

1.3      Unsold books remain the property of the author.

1.4       The value of the books to the author is £xx (each book has a value of £xx).

1.5       The recommended retail price is £x.xx.

1.6       The author expects to receive from the customer £x.xx for each book sold.

1.7       The customer is free to charge what they choose in selling the book.  

1.8       Payment for the books by the customer will be made to the author on the last day of the term.

1.9       Payment to the author must be in the form of cash, cheque or bank transfer in British Pounds. 

1.10       If the books returned to the author are not in a perfect condition the customer is responsible for payment for the full value of the books as stated above.

I/We agree to the above agreement.

…………………………                                            …………………………………..

Author                                                                          Print name and sign on behalf of

The e-book revolution!

The e-book revolution

The independent book seller is a great way to get your novel out there. 1) They are small and so they care. if you are local they care even more. they know you will spread the word (Which you should) if they stock your book and word of mouth is everything. If you don't visits a local book seller try and find the time to do this and buy something. Don't just look and then buy it cheaper on Amazon. Buy something and help them out. I know this is rich coming from me. As I have only started doing this but I have seen the error of my ways. Where would we be if everyone bought everything on-line? We really need to help small businesses sustain themselves. Think of it this way; It's like supporting a new author. If publishers continually only publish stuff by authors who are already famous where would that leave us? Anyway if you don't know where you local book store is see the local bookstore website

Anyway rant over. Small independent book stores are brave. I have to admit these days time is in short supply and on-line shopping is so easy. You can get your weekly grocery shop and your mums birthday present in a few clicks in your lunch hour. Ordinarily this could take well over two hours. This has changed the way we live. We want things quicker and on our terms. Television viewing has changed dramatically too. These days you don't need to be in on a Wednesday night to catch an episode of your favourite programme. You can just catch it on line on demand. The e-book has made the world of publishing open to everyone and is revolutionising the book industry. I once said I would never get a kindle yet I eventually was given my mum's old kindle and I have to admit I loved it.

With an e-book I could email myself manuscripts without having to print them off, make notes and above all else get cheaper books. My mum loves hers because she reads at the speed of light. She no longer has to cart 10 books with her on holiday. They are all on one handy device. And us self-pubbers know the e-book is where we can break into the market cost effectively.

With Goa Traffic the e-book was my way in to publishing and being successful. I am going down the same route with Indian Diaries as well. So I can't knock the e-book and I can't help but think it is the way forward.

I still buy paperbacks. And there is nothing nicer than holding a new book in your hands. Also you don't want to drop your kindle in the bath - but in today's market your book has to have two versions an e-book and a paper/hardback. Why? A paperback gives your book more credibility.  I recently read that sales of paperbacks are steady and that they have not dropped like people would think they have. But there is definitely an appetite for the e-book reader and e-book readers buy more books than paperback readers.

Anyway that's it for now. This may seem a bit of a pointless post but I was thinking about it and  I thought I would put my thoughts out there. Paperbacks and e-books I love you both! 

Thames River Press Book Launch 2013

So as you may have seen mentioned on my blog before on the 28th October I was part of the Thames River Press Book Launch. The event was fantastic a great platform for a new author like myself. I must admit I didn't know what to expect from it. I was a bit apprehensive (I am just one of those people I guess) but comforted by the fact that there were quite a few authors presenting their latest books. It was held in central London which was good and there was quite a turnout.  Some authors appeared so confident when speaking which made me feel even more nervous about my own speech. But hey, I got through it and it was great. I met some lovely authors and picked up a couple of their books as well!

If you want to have a look at the pictures you can do so on YouTube. Just click here

I have got to say this event made being a published author seem real. When you first publish a book you feel amazing when you get that first copy in your hands but then there is nothing. I am desperately trying to finish Poison in the Water and I am now 60,000 words in already! But I know to be successful I need to plug my previous book. If you are a published author (self pubbed or otherwise) you will know what I mean!  You want to write you don't want to have to do all the marketing stuff that goes along with publishing but it is important. It s important (I know I have said it a thousand times) to have a business plan for each book along with a marketing plan. Who you need to contact on a monthly basis and what you need to do to make a success of your novels. Remember this as well - you owe it to the hours and hours you have spent working on your manuscript.  Make sure it receives the recognition it deserves.

So what are my plans for The Bittersweet Vine? So far I have done a radio interview - this aired on BBC radio Oxford and I was interviewed on the Kat Orman Show. It was great. Kat really put me at ease and doing the interview was like chatting to a friend over a drink. They concentrated on my upbringing in Goa - so Goa Traffic got a bit more of a plug than The Bittersweet Vine but nevertheless it was some publicity and a bit more experience under my belt!

I have done a blog tour through the month of October . I have really enjoyed doing this but whether or not it has helped sales I cannot say. What I can say is that it will have given my brand more credibility and hopefully reached a larger audience. Remember it is all about repetition of your name. Someone will mention Marissa de Luna and a reader from the blog tour will say oh I know that name- maybe I'll buy her book. Yes it might be in a years time but it is worth it.

This month I will be doing a Good Reads Book Giveaway for The Bittersweet Vine and I will be uploading my press release for the launch party just past on to several sites. Lets hope I get a bite. This doesn't sound like much by the way of marketing and I really need to get my brain in gear to decide what to do next. Hmmm its time I took a look at my marketing plan that I wrote before the the Bittersweet Vine was released. Practice what you preach and all that...

The Bittersweet Vine Blog Tour @ Robin Triggs Blog

And finally on the tour... Stop 6 features  the last part of my author interview on Robin Triggs blog, A writer's Life .  Robin is another talented writer and part of Abingdon Writers. I have read two of his manuscripts and can't wait to read the third. The minute you read his blog - even if you don't write - you will want to pick up a pen. Witty and insightful it's a great read! So even if you are not on the tour check it out! 

Next month I will be back to my normal blog posts. Giving you the lowdown on the launch party for The Bittersweet Vine along with some pics and new marketing ideas! 

The Bittersweet Vine blog tour @ Gabrielle Aquilina's Blog

Today The Bittersweet Vine Blog tour hits Gabrielle Aquilina's Blog. The post is a short article on the importance of adding detail to your manuscript and tips on how to hone in on your observational skills. I do hope you enjoy it!

I met Gabrielle Aquilina (don't you just love her name?) at Abingdon Writers back before Goa Traffic was published. Gabby was one of the founders of Abingdon Writers and without this group I would be lost! Gabby has written a novel herself and the chapters that I have been privileged enough to read certainly had me hooked!  Gabby's blog never fails to entertain me so take a look and continue with the tour!

Before I go... today is also the official book launch for The Bittersweet Vine. I am excited to say the least! This follows on from last weeks radio interview on the Kat Orman show on BBC Radio Oxford. In November I will be resuming normal blog postings to give you an update on all October's happenings and details of the Good Reads book giveaway! 

The Bittersweet Vine Blog Tour @ Author Luke Murphy's Blog

Today The Bittersweet Vine Blog Tour stops at  Luke Murphy's blog. You may have read about Luke's story on The Coffee Stained Manuscript earlier this year on how he turned from Hockey player to international bestselling author. I hope you have all got your copy of Luke's novel, Dead Man's Hand. This blog stop features part 2 of my author interview.

And this week there is more! On the 22nd October at 3:00pm (UK Time) I will be doing a live interview on BBC Radio Oxford on the Kat Orman Show.

Plus coming soon to The Coffee Stained Manuscript in November I will be blogging about reviews (When you should to when they don't let you), the in thing in social media marketing and  my official book launch which is happening on the 28th October in Central London! Watch this space. 

The Bittersweet Vine Blog Tour @ Abingdon Writers

This week my tour hits Abingdon Writers. Being an active member of this group has taught me so much.  I wouldn't be where I am today without their continued support! Just checking their site though I think our blog has disappeared from public view!

The post on the blog features a re-vamped version of my Creating Characters post. If you can't get on the Abingdon Writers Blog - the article is below:

Creating Memorable Characters

I have to admit over the last couple of years I have struggled with creating memorable characters and to make up for my failing I have read extensively on how to create characters that will stick in your readers mind. I have also experimented through short stories and four manuscripts to get to this point, and today I am going to share with you what I have learned, so far.

As a writer you are in control of the entire fictional world that you have placed your characters in. Better than that, you are in control of their minds, their actions and their looks to a certain point. And I say a certain point because we all know that our characters, once on the page, soon take on a life on their own and start doing things we never imagined for them!

So where do I begin? A name sounds like a good place to start. In Goa Traffic, my first novel, I picked random names and I thought they would work because I was under the impression that a name is a name. My reasoning was that in real life people have the name that is given to them at birth. But this is fiction. You have to work harder at making it all seem real and therefore it is paramount that you get your characters names right.

Readers want quirky names, which they can pronounce and which are relevant to the era you are writing about (Google is your friend here!). And remember the names have to fit the characters. Hannah is a soft name. Victor is hard. I am not saying here that all Hannah’s are angels and Victors are mean old men but you can use harder sounding names to represent the baddies where necessary.

Don’t use names that start with the same letter. Don’t have an Oliver and an Olivia like I initially had in The Bittersweet Vine, my second novel, which I then had to change. Readers like to differentiate the characters and remember they don’t know your characters as well as you do. If you open a book and three of the four characters have names beginning with L it may be confusing. And this is not to say your reader is ignorant. Far from it! It is just to say think carefully about your character names before you christen them.

As a fun exercise try noting the names of people you know in real life with their personalities and occupations. It makes for an interesting read and will help you develop characterization.  

Once your characters are named add some colour and history to them.  You can easily do this by adding a smidge of physical detail. Previously, in short stories and manuscripts and to some extent in my first novel, I made the mistake of describing every possible characteristic of a character – Whilst this may work in some novels, I believe characters remain more memorable if they are created not on the page but in the heads of the readers themselves. If you describe every detail for the reader you are not letting them do any of the work. A reader may become bored and they will switch off. Therefore they won’t remember the character. However, if you let them create someone in their own minds with a bit of guidance like a hooked nose, grey hair and a mole on their neck (I find 1-3 details works best) they will fill in the other details themselves. Remember the reader knows best.

Once you’ve done that give your character an interesting job, unless your character is jobless (and even then they should have some kind of interesting hobby). I have to admit I am yet to do this but I can see the potential. I recently read Sophie Hannah’s Hurting Distance and the main character made sundials. I think a quirky job gives another dimension to your character and all readers like to learn something new on a subconscious level. Having a quirky job can let you weave interesting facts into the story and even form part of the plot.  And think of this as a bit of marketing as well. Readers talk about the characters of their books and an interesting job is sure to be a talking point.

Think about your characters back-story. Sometime we can give too much of a character’s back-story in the opening chapters.  Back-story should be drip-fed, after all, it creates the characters motivation. What I did in The Bittersweet Vine was to write short stories for each character in their lives before they featured in the book. It got their back-story clear in my mind without boring the reader with it.

I also create a character profile for each character. You may think this is a waste of time, but it's not. At first it will be laborious but it will really save you time in the long run and will show you which characters are lacking in depth. Your characters will appear effortlessly three dimensional if you profile them out from the start. Try the following to profile your characters:

Interview them with a series of questions such as what is your dream job? Favourite food? Favourite colour? music? Keep a folder with each character profile tucked inside so you can refer to it easily. Google image the celebrity, which you would most like to play that character in the film version of your book. Cut the image out and stick that next to their profile. It will make you understand your characters better.

Pretend to be one of your characters. Go for a walk as your protagonist. What would they do in the real world? Would they sit by a river? Would they go to a record store? Get inside their heads!

Make a note of the props each character needs. One character may always need a walking stick another is always chewing gum.  All these things show something about your character without telling the reader this. And give them certain speaking styles too and mannerisms. It is this detail that will make your characters fully rounded.

Remember characterize the villains and the most likeable characters carefully in your novels too. Readers like the good guys to be modest, good at their jobs and a bit of an underdog. We want good to triumph over evil and we are shallow too. Believe it or not we like heroes to be good looking! But don’t make them flawless. Creating reality in fiction is about making people real. A balance is good. And be sure to make that character develop slowly through the book. If you want a reader to hate a particular character make sure they start the book by loving that character. Drip-feed them information about the character until slowly the reader turns against the character. If you can get a reader to change their mind about a character mid-way through a novel then you will have created a memorable character.

I hope the above has been a useful snapshot to what makes a memorable character!

Marissa de Luna is an author with a passion for adventure and travel. The Bittersweet Vine is her second novel.

The Bittersweet Vine is available now
The Bittersweet Vine (ISBN: 978-0-85728-094-7, Thames River Press, paperback and e-book) at Amazon or other on-line stores and in selected bookshops.  For more information about The Bittersweet Vine or about the author see www.marissadeluna.com

The Bittersweet Vine Tour @ The Literary Teapot!

The Bittersweet Vine Blog Tour  - Stop 2!

Today The Bittersweet Vine Blog Tour will be making a stop at Jan Greenough's blog The  Literary Teapot. Jan Greenough is a professional author and editor who has co-authored and ghostwritten several books.

So clink on the link above and carry on with the tour! 

The Bittersweet Vine Blog Tour - Self Publishing vs Traditional Publishing

The Bittersweet Vine Blog Tour - Self Publishing vs Traditional Publishing

In 2011 I self-published my first book, Goa Traffic. If you read this blog regularly you will know the process to self publish started much earlier than that. Say 2010. I had finished my manuscript and I had sent out a million submissions to agents and small press. It was my introduction to rejection. Some rejections were constructive and I took those comments on board, but the majority were just standard 'no' responses. After my 13th rejection I decided that I would self publish. Looking back 13 was not many. Didn't Gone With the Wind get 100 rejections? But I was young and I had no patience (I still don't) and so I chose to self publish. If you want the details you can read through older blog posts I wont bore you here but I will say it was a streamlined and efficient process. I have got to admit I was 100% satisfied with the outcome and the entire journey. And it was a steep learning curve. I learnt in 6 months the bare bones of publishing and the sleepless nights it can cause.

Fast forward two years and my second novel, The Bittersweet Vine has just been published by Thames River Press. I haven't paid a penny towards it and it has been a different experience all together. Although my novel is out now and in print and my e-book is available my journey has barely begun because publishing a book is so much more than about just getting the words on the page. Two years down the line I am still learning about self-publishing with Goa Traffic.  So perhaps what I am about to set out below is not completely accurate - I haven't seen the fruits of traditional publishing yet - but it is a undiluted version of how I compare self publishing to traditional publishing.

Self Publishing - The Pros 

• Complete control of your novel. 
• You pay, you say. You can do what you want (within the law) when you pay. 
• You see your royalties on a quarterly basis. If you self publish e-books you can monitor this daily or weekly. There is nothing more motivating than seeing your sales figures. 
• If you own the publishing rights and you generally do with self-publishing, you can publish the same book a hundred times. You own the book and you can do with it what you will! 
• Better Royalties! You can earn quite a bit from self-publishing if you are selling a high volume of books. And with the e-book set at such low prices you can make more sales than paperbacks. Readers are more likely to take a chance on an e-book for £2.00. 

Self Publishing -The Cons 

• You have to pay! This could be a lot or a little depending on what you need. But anyone you speak to will say how important it is to pay to a proof reader.
• The feeling that you have actually produced a book that no-one believes in! Well of course you do as does your friends and family do, but there is always that feeling that no one else likes what you have written.
• The feeling that you are on your own. As above really! 
• The stigma of self-publishing - that I have to admit we authors create for ourselves. I know there is nothing wrong with it but other authors and the general public don't take self publishing seriously. Although I have to admit this notion is eroding - slowly we'll get there. 
• It is hard work and  you'll put a lot of pressure on yourself- You will wake in the night wondering if you've picked the right font, the line spacing. You are responsible for everything and it's your fault if there is a mistake! Yes there is no getting away from that and the thought is scary. 
• You have to do your own marketing. But hey, you are a self-publisher and you have to be business savvy. You've paid money to get your book published. It's time to make some money. Trust me you will want your book to succeed and overnight you will turn into a marketing guru!
• With people's perceptions of self publishing it is harder to get reviews, media coverage and getting your book into retail outlets.   

Traditional Publishing - The Pros

• No Payment. Yay! You don't need to make 1000 plus sales just to cover your costs! 
• Someone believes in you enough to put money behind you. Even if this is a tenner - it does an awful lot for your confidence and we authors are not very confident so we need all the help we can get
• Contacts in media, press and getting your book reviewed
• A professional will edit your story. They will ask for clarification on points. They will pick the font and the spacing and provide you with front cover mock ups. You don't have to think - too much. 
• Instant credibility. People always want to know if you published yourself or not. As soon as you say you have a publisher it's a different conversation. 

Traditional Publishing - The Cons 

• You can't monitor your sales as closely as you would like 
• They set the price. You cant fiddle about with supply and demand. Although theoretically the publishers are the ones with better knowledge than you so leave them to it! 
• Whilst the publishers I worked with didn't make huge alterations to my story and text. they could easily ask this of you!
• They have ultimate say. They pay, they say! If they don't agree with you on the title or the front cover they can change it. It is as simple as that. Again I was lucky and got to choose my title and front cover but I am sure it is not as easy as that.  
• You lose your right to publish. They own the story and you can't publish in another country  or a cheaper version if you want.
• If it's a small publishers you may have to do your own marketing as well.
• The royalties are not that great! They are low and unless you are selling hundreds of copies each month your take home will be relatively little. 

The above is not supposed to be exhaustive, but I hope you have found it insightful! Follow the rest of the tour and see my previous blog post below for details of all the stops on this tour during the month of October. 

On the 7th October I will be making a stop at Jan Greenough's blog Literary Teapot. Jan Greenough is a professional author and editor who has co-authored and ghostwritten several books.  This post will feature a short author interview - part 1

The Bittersweet Vine is available now 

The Bittersweet Vine (ISBN: 978-0-85728-094-7, Thames River Press, paperback £8.99 and e-book £2.56.) at Amazon or other on-line stores and in selected book-shops.  For more information about The Bittersweet Vine or about the author see www.marissadeluna.com