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Crikey, it’s been a while. 2014 has been kicking my ass. However, with everything falling around me, there was one thing I could always rely on – my books. During long nights, when my body was falling apart, and when I just wanted to escape my brain and the pain in my heart, books were, and still are, my life line. Soon I was whisked off to small towns in the US where an underestimated woman was revealing a murderer; or in Chicago falling in love with Harry Dresden; or kicking ass with the awesome Maggie MacKay as she battled beasties; or a sewing circle of friends unpicking local murders; or chuckling along with Abby as she tries to curb her swearing while kicking ass for the government with her psychic skills …
In the first 4 months of the year when sleep was almost impossible, I’d ‘chain read’ books during the night – as you can imagine I’d read a lot of books! So I ended up reading more and more free and nearly-free ebooks and with that, exploring more of the mystery genre, spreading into sci-fi, crime and even steam punk. It broadened my horizons from my bed.
Read all the books!
So often the free or nearly free ebooks are dismissed or criticised, but I saw them as gifts. Writing books aren’t easy, and it’s not like the writer has the author gnome pop by while they are asleep, root about in their head and write up a book (spell checked of course) ready for them to find in the morning. I was also acutely aware of how much time, energy and effort went into making these books, which made me appreciate them even more.
Bearing all this in mind, I decided that I’d like to include self published ebooks in this blog, not only to review them, but to talk about issues that concern them. I’ve always realised that as a prolific reader, that recommending books and writing reviews is part of loving books in general. However for this new generation of ebooks, it is even more important that there is *vocal* support for authors. I have been reading a lot of author books and it seems that people speaking up can make a difference, as many series have been stopped simply because there wasn’t enough interest.
So as well as my murder mystery books, which I will always love; I am just expanding things a little more. If you know of any books or authors I should try – drop me a line or comment and let me know.
Murder! She Read 