My first release

I debated with myself over how I was going to handle releasing my titles, when they were ready, and finally came to the conclusion that I would go with Amazon and the kdp select program.

I realise that in the future it may be a good idea for me to spread my wings a little further and to have my titles available on multiple ebook platforms, but right now I feel kdp select, despite the exclusivity it requires, offers me the best chance of getting noticed at this, the beginning of my writing career.

To that end I have released a short story, Exposed, ahead of my first full novel, which should be out in January. I would like to simply give away this short, so that people can get a sense of my writing and hopefully encourage them to buy my novel when it’s released, but that isn’t possible on kdp – I have to price it at 99c, which is the lowest I can, and make it available for free for 5 days during the next 90.

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Exposed

Alex R Carver

Some secrets should remain hidden.

All Julian wanted was as normal a life as was possible, when Adam and Harry come into the petrol station looking for trouble, though, their actions threaten to expose his secret, a secret that would make him a wanted man – wanted by lots of people for lots of reasons. Now he has to leave behind the life he’s been building and start over again, but before he does that he wants to make Adam and Harry pay.

This is a short story of approx 8,000 words

If you like the sound of it then make sure to follow this link Amazon get it for free today and tomorrow

The Dark Place

DeeJayBee (Wattpad user name)

Following the death of her mother 11-year-old Tamicka Moon and her father move from Canada to Eastlake in England, where they both struggle to come to terms with their grief. Jack Moon becomes engrossed in writing about Munford House, the estate where they are staying, while Tamicka is left to explore the house that no-one in Eastlake, save the housekeeper, Mrs Hughes, will go near.

Why won’t anyone go near the house, though, and who is the spirit that offers to make everything better for Tamicka – friend or something else? When Tamicka befriends a local girl, Penny, the spirit warns her she can’t be trusted, and that seems to be true when Penny’s friends play a cruel trick on her; is the spirit telling her the truth, or even everything, however?

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I’m sure some of you will be a little confused by the two sets of star ratings I’ve given this book, so I’ll explain.

First off, this is a 4* book, the story is a good one, with plenty of twists, a nice Gothic touch on occasions, some good characterisation, with people you’re interested in and whom you want to see either prosper or get their just desserts. The writing is nice and tight, without a lot of padding (this is something I’m guilty of in my writing and seeing who short and sharp the writing is here has helped me to work on my own books to pare the padding) which keeps you close to the action at all times. The dialogue is good as well, it fits the characters.

There’s a short epilogue which ties a few things up, with one thing that wasn’t a surprise and another that really was – I didn’t see it coming at all – and I think it’s good that you get an, albeit brief, idea of what’s happened to the characters after.

The reason there is a second rating to this book is because it’s a first draft. DeeJayBee has released her book on Wattpad, as I am in the process of doing, to get feedback and generate some interest. Because it’s a first draft there are typos that might put people off, and a few areas where a tweak might be needed, and I have deducted .5* for that. Once the edited and polished version is available this will be a 4* all the way, and I look forward to it being sorted and released for Kindle and other devices because I think it will do quite well.

If this sounds like your kind of thing, then you can start reading it here (by the way, this is a former winner of Wattpad’s Best Wattpad Reads in Paranormal so it’s not just me that thinks it’s good.)