It’s Nearly Christmas!

And you know what that means? Feel good Christmas stories read or told round the fire with family and good food, favourite drinks, presents and good cheer.

Well, maybe not for everybody. Real life has a way of carving chinks in our ideal visions of the holidays, but that’s why we need uplifting stories to give us hope and visions of better times.With rising costs for just about everything, I’ve done what I can by entering my Christmas story, A Christmas with the Dodger, into the Smashwords end of year sale.

For just 99 cents or the equivalent in your local currency, you can enjoy a short respite in a Victorian world where even a child thief can grow up to better himself in a world of opportunity and the magic of Christmas. You can find it here in all e-book formats! https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/504148

It’s Christmaaaaaaas!

Wherever does the time go?

Once again I am tardy with updates here on my blog. I make no excuses. I simply get caught up in ordinary life and forget that I’m supposed to be developing a ‘writer platform’ as they call it these days. You would think that a few words once a month would be easy enough to keep up.

I don’t want the blog to be nothing but repeated sales messages, but having said that, it’s December. Of course my Christmas story has to go on sale. Perhaps my New Years resolution this year will be to post more regularly here.

Meanwhile, through Christmas, A Christmas with the Dodger is half the usual sale price! Enjoy a heartwarming Christmas story where rich and poor collide in Victorian London.

https://amazon.com/Christmas-Dodger-Charlton-Daines-ebook/dp/B00RBLQ2F8

Christmas Gifts

With August coming to a close, many thoughts are on Halloween soon to be followed by Christmas!

Now is the time to start collecting gifts for those readers among your family and friends who enjoy a heartwarming story with that holiday feeling that comes with a Victorian era Christmas!

Reduced 40% on Kindle and 2.00 in paperback until Christmas, join Jack and Reg Dawkins along with Lily and the children to enjoy a turn of the century Christmas in Victorian London!

https://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Dodger-Charlton-Daines/dp/B08F7J2C1Z

Smashwords July Sale!

It’s that time again! The Smashwords July Sale is on and there are loads of bargains, including Apprenticed to the Artful Dodger at 75% off! Just $1.87 or equivalent in local currency!

Come on an adventure with The Artful Dodger and his apprentice in the hidden byways of Victorian London! https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/767293

Black Friday Weekend!

It’s that time of year again. With Christmas looming and the call of Black Friday and Cyber Monday for all merchants large and small to cut special deals for a public who need books now more than ever, my two book set including Jack Dawkins and A Christmas With The Dodger is on offer for just $2 or £2 or €2, depending on where you live!

The sale starts as soon as Amazon makes the change, which has already been submitted, and carries on through the long weekend, though I’m notoriously lax about changing prices back so it could go on another day or two.

Grab these stories now while they’re on rock bottom price! You won’t be sorry.

Amazon.com Amazon UK Amazon AU Amazon.CA

Interesting Times

As Douglas Adams says, “Don’t panic!”

Having said that, we do need to be more careful than many are managing. Looking at what’s happening in Italy at present and seeing the same pattern of increased cases in the UK, self-isolation needs to be a serious practice. It’s difficult to do when hoarders are causing a supply shortage as well.

Many authors are offering free books to help you get through the self-isolation. I’m taking part and have offered up the combined volume of my available books.

No need to sign up or give any information about yourself. Just choose your format, download and have a good browse through your preferred genres for more books to read during these trying times. Mine can be accessed here.

For myself and other authors offering their books for free, it is a way of giving back to our beloved readers.

There are many ways to give back to your community. If your job has dropped hours or completely taken a moratorium, the supermarkets are crying out for shelf-stackers. It’s not a glamorous job, but it’s only temporary and some of them pay well. It also puts you on the front line for supplies for your family.

Now is a good time to remember all those grandparent stories about WWII and the ways in which everyone pulled together for the greater cause. Differences in ideology become less important when everyone needs to survive together.

We need to find the best of humanity within our own hearts to get through this. Try to keep your groceries a month ahead by topping up, but don’t hoard and leave others without. There is no food crisis except what is caused by panic buyers.

Stay save and look to all those things you’ve been wanting to do at home if you only had the time.

A Long Overdue Update

Oh dear, I seem to have been remiss in keeping up my blog again. I blame it on encroaching age, though I’m not yet forty.

Time has a nasty tendency to fly past when you live a busy life. A good intention to write a blog post gets put off for a few days and suddenly the span can be measured in weeks, even months!

So, what is happening on the writing front! I’ll tell you about one project I’ve been wanting to do. A book of ghost stories in the Victorian style. Ghost stories were popular in Victorian Times, especially around Christmas.

However, I’ve been piecing this one together one story at a time. The two projects commanding my attention when I do get a chance to write are novels of course. One was requested by readers, which makes it dear to my heart. The further adventures of Reg Dawkins feel natural as something that must exist.

Reg is sort of my own personal Dodger. He fills a literary role for me that I felt Dickens left vacant when he sent Jack off on a prison ship, never to be heard from again. It’s only natural that a young man at the turn of the twentieth century should travel to the European continent to fulfill the grand tour so often enjoyed by the well-to-do in those days that I believe that Reg, with his special talents, simply must enjoy such an experience in his own way!

I seem to be continually distracted by the project I was working on when Reg’s next appearance was suggested. This one is not one of my own characters, but one who was too little heard from in another Dickens story.

There are many secondary characters in the master’s stories who imply fascinating stories of their own. Some of them have been dealt with by other writers and I’ve enjoyed reading various interpretations of them.

Have I teased you enough yet? I’m afraid the mystery must continue a little while longer. Perhaps on my next blog I’ll be close enough to publication to release the title, and therefore the character of whom I speak.

It’s a story that I feel strongly must be written.

A Busy Life

Time does fly when you’re busy, doesn’t it?

Suddenly it’s Christmas again and I find I haven’t made a blog post in far too long and I haven’t set up any Christmas deals. I also haven’t finished any new books, though I have two in early draft stages.

Despite my lack of marketing, the audiobooks seem to be going very well, especially the Christmas story. I find it interesting that they are outselling the much cheaper e-books.

Paperbacks are, of course, the most convenient for giving as gifts but I’ve left it rather late to offer a sale. So, I’ll tell you what, I’ll make it a January sale! From today until 31st January 2019, both Jack Dawkins and A Christmas with the Dodger are 25% off direct from Lulu.com.

I hope you all have a wonderful Victorian Christmas!

Audiobooks!

Great news! Jack Dawkins has just been released on Audible! You can find it on Amazon US and Amazon UK.

And soon A Christmas With The Dodger will also be available on audio! Well in time for Christmas! The final touches are being put on it now and I expect release by the end of September.

Both are expertly narrated by actor Tony Cleary, who has a flair with accents and characterisation that suits the stories well.

This is an exciting new development in the adventures of both Jack and Reg. More adventures are to come, so if you haven’t already, do follow my blog for updates! I post infrequently, so your inbox won’t be inundated with trivial day-to-day nonsense.

A Weekend Sale!

Both Jack Dawkins and A Christmas With The Dodger are on sale this weekend for .99 on Amazon.com and Amazon UK.

This won’t be a regular occurrence so it’s worth grabbing a copy quickly!

It’s only for a few days!

Come adventure with Jack and Reg. You won’t be sorry.