Good luck with the book, H. And those sick twins.

I'm reading your book at the moment. I'm really enjoying it. It races along, and is gritty (or is it "gritty, gritty, gritty?"). Get crackin' with book 2.

I don;t know if CrimeSpace works for promoting your writing, mainly because my writing is about PR, business and parenting,.... something that doesn;t particularly appeal here! However I would say forums in general have been great for my biz. I get alot of my business from a couple of forums frequesnted by women running their own businesses. This has also been good for sales of 'A Guide to Promoting Your Business', which is relevant to them.
Hope this helps a bit!
CHeers
A

Hi Helen, I'm really pleased that you liked The White Room. I'm writing a kind of sequel at the moment which may well be the next Donovan novel. And Born Under Punches is still around. I think that's even better than The White Room. I'll have to read Damaged Goods next. Great to hear from you, keep in touch, Martyn

hi and thanks.

oh right. thanks. great music! i love it.

Hi Helen! Oooo -- I would love to see that documentary on The Life of Brian. I wonder if it'll be shown in the US?

Yeah, I'm the guy all my friends run too when they can't afford the alimony. Ha! Thanks for the Welcome.

Heh. Expectations are wacky things, huh?

Congrats on the publication: good luck!

My one and only piece of advice: don't spend any time thinking about sales figures. It'll drive you potty. Just wait for someone else to tell you how it's doing.

Helen...three crime writers in one family...Christmas would be murder!
Lurve your site, Docs and tats...just my style! DAMAGED GOODS sounds the biz, too; why don't you drop me a line at Pulp Pusher and we could get some kind of interview piece together, unless that sounds like nepotism!
Later
Tone.

Hello there, Supermum Lawyer! Glad to be your friend.

Hi Helen, had a good chuckle reading your blogs. Congratulations on the publication of your first book - i hope the second one is going well for you.
I've got a website for mums (webmums.ning.com) and we have a little book group on there - I'll give your book mention and perhaps we'll review it!
All the best, xx

Hi Helen! Thanks for the invite! Congrats on your book being published and good luck with the first draft of the second one. You know, you scared the living daylights out of me. It didn't click, when you said your first book was just published, that you meant actually PUBLISHED. I was thinking just SOLD, probably because that's where I am on the curve -- waiting and hoping for the book to sell. I was like, FEBRUARY?!? If someone wants my second book by February, I'm DEAD! (G)

Is Damaged Goods available in the states? I'd like to read it.

Hi Helen, thanks for the invite. I am below the peon level in the film industry, but would rather keep that side of my life separate from the side that attempts to write. There is already too much that friends and collegues feel the need to overlook.

Yes, I'm a stand-up. Weird combo with crimewriting, I know. But there you are.

Good to meet you, and thanks for the invite!
Roger.

hi

thanks for your message re Harrogate. I would go this year but my family holiday happens to fall on the dates, sorry. I have been away for the last 8 weeks (1 more to go) with my daughter in Oz and NZ as she is on her gap year and about to start a job in Wellington for 6 months. She arrives back in the UK in mid July and we felt it was important to take time off to be with her as she left in Aug 07.

good luck with the book, which I shall read on my return.

Hi Karen
I just love the internet. Therer's nothing better than meeting fellow sisters in crime from the opposite side of the planet.
My website is www.lindycameron.com
My O'Malley series is available in the UK and via Amazon but my latest, Redback, is still only published and available here. I am working on that.
I've already visited your site so my question is, naturally, is your book available here yet. I really hope so.
And was it really published just last week? Congrats!
Lindy

I've had a bit of break from it HB as I was back home in OZ - will be back into it shortly, hoping to finish the first draft in the next six months.

Congratulations on Damaged Goods - looks very interesting - you must be excited! How does it feel to be published??

Hi Helen!

I read whatever gets in my hands and it doesn't matter if it's in English or translation. If I can find original version I prefer to read it instead of translation, but sometimes it's hard to find the original and vice-versa.
Just as an example, I read Dean Koontz's "Watchers" both in Croatian and in English, five Harry Potter books in Croatian and last two in English because I was to impatient to wait for the translation, Steve Mosby's "50/50 Killer" in English because there is no translation yet, an when I bought "Heartshaped box" in English I discovered they have a cheaper version of it in Croatian (figures) etc... it makes no difference to me. I understand it anyways ;)

Hi Helen - sorry it took a while to comment back to you . . . I'm a little engrossed in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, and have been camping out there. I'm glad there's another Python fan here!

Kudo's on your book!

Blair Witch Project, wow.

I have actually been in that "haunted house."

Hi Helen,

I don't have a website as yet - it's kind of a work in progress - albeit a slow one! Why do you ask?

Cheers,
Steve

Hi Helen,
Thanks for your message. I've been interested in the history of capital punishment for many years and having researched into it I've amassed enough material for the various projects and books I've had published. I've three more in my 'hanged at...' for Sutton out this year and in the meantime I'm trying to finish one of my fiction books. Hopefully, this year, I will.
best wishes
Steve

Hi Helen
Sorry I wrote everything in a bit of a rush - Heffers is a bookshop in Cambridge UK. I would say the best bookshop in Cambridge but others might not agree.
Pippa

Pinch my name for a character? Hey, I'd be honored! Your blog entries are hilarious. As a mother, I totally sympathize. But hey, I think you should be darn proud of yourself! Wow!

Hi Helen
Thanks. Just hoping that being on this will generate ideas for stories etc.

an ex cop who went onto study law, and is now corporate legal counsel.

Hi Helen,

I think you're probably right about the gender thing! I'm also the same when it comes to writing, I often have different projects on the go as I also write non fiction.

Nice to 'meet' you!

Lynette :)

Thanks for your comment / friend request. Sorry for not getting back to you sooner but I work funny hours. Updating my page now, so nice to hear from you.

Helen,
I think it all depends on how much you want to write the screenplay and how much you want to cut. When you see movies and think, 'that's not as good as the book' it's often because sections you really enjoyed in the book are not in the film. There's a process you go through when adapting where you need to decide what the STORY is about and the little things that this reader or that reader might really like disappear. In the end I think it is difficult because you are the most attached to your book. As well, writers, especially mystery and thriller writers, want to get onto the next book and not live inside a single novel for that long. And Scriptwriting is a long long process.
If you are interested in trying to work a book into a screenplay there's a great free scriptwriting package online now called celtx http://www.celtx.com/ Having used Final Draft for years, I am now switching over. This program has everything you need from character development to who will be doing an actor's hair. Try getting some ideas down with this program and actually start writing the script and you'll be able to see whether it's going to be hard or easy for you.
Cheers

Hi Helen,
Just wanted to let you know that I am reading and thoroughly enjoying your book at the moment! One part that really struck me was when 'husband who lives in hope' went out and bought you a laptop when you said you'd like to write a book - mine did that too!
Of course, it was second hand and died before I got cracking....tsk.....but hey!
So, anyway, I'm now back online - with a new laptop and a better internet connection. If someone could throw in a Cadburys twirl and a bar of wholenut at this moment then my life would be almost perfect.
But back to the book - I only picked it up yesterday and I'm on Chpt 3 - it's zinging along really nicely and Lilly Valentine is a great character. Having met some fantastic Northern women, it's great to see one brought to life like that!
Anyways - I'll give you my humble opinion - for what it's worth - when I finish!
Better get my butt back over to WebMums now - I've abandoned it since my laptop died and I've loads of new articles to put on there!
TC
Nikki
x

Will do - and my mistake, I was actually on chpt 6 not chpt 3!!!
x

Hi Helen
I haven't heard about panels just yet but it's nice to be able to say hi in advance of the festival. Thanks for the heads up on Neil - I'll track him down and say hello on here too. I see we both share the same sordid dayjob btw - must be something about the law that drives us to come up with complex murder plans...
Cheers
Chris

Hi Helen
Twins, lawyering, and writing. Okay, so I'm not the busiest person I know.
Congratulations on your successful debut.

Hi Helen
I have just bought a copy of Damaged Goods, I saw it when I was signing books in Waterstones the other day. Not sure when I'll get round to reading though, there are already half a dozen waiting on the pile. It was the title that caught my eye - I was was to use the same title for the third or fourth book in the series. Never mind.

should have known! you're a lawyer--you had extra reasons for liking The Firm, one hopes it isn't really like that, but it probably is to a great extent in the U.S. that is. I can't picture U.K. law firms like that though.