The Secret by Katharine Johnson.

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Author Katharine Johnson.

About the author

Katharine Johnson likes writing about ordinary people in extraordinary situations. She’s passionate about old houses and the stories they have to tell. She grew up in Bristol and has lived in Italy. She currently lives in Berkshire but spends as much time as she can in the Lucca area of Tuscany. When not writing you’ll find her exploring cities, drinking coffee, playing netball badly and walking her madcap spaniel

This is the second book set at Villa Leonida, the house at the centre of The Silence which was published last year but it’s a standalone story.

In The Silence some bodies were discovered at Villa Leonida, an idyllic holiday home, during a children’s game of hide-and-seek on a family holiday. They  were found to relate back to the summer of 1992.

A year on, in The Secret, the villa has been put up for sale. Which for elderly resident Sonia can only mean one thing – that the renewed interest and gossip will lead to the discovery of her own secret which relates to that same evening at the villa in 1992.

But while she’s desperate to keep the past hidden another resident, Carlo, can’t leave it alone. He’s determined to discover the truth about a wartime atrocity in which Sonia’s mother and his own played a part.

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Here’s the blurb:

Love, lies and betrayal in wartime Italy. Two girls growing up in Mussolini’s Italy share a secret that has devastating consequences. Against a backdrop of fear, poverty and confusion during the Second World War friendship is tested and loyalties divided. But a chance encounter changes everything. The girls’ lives diverge when beautiful, daring Martina marries and moves into Villa Leonida, the most prestigious house I their Tuscan village while plain, studious Irena trains to be a teacher.

But neither marriage, nor life at Villa Leonida are as Martina imagined. And as other people’s lives take on a new purpose, Irena finds herself left behind.

Decades later a tragedy at the villa coincides with the discovery of an abandoned baby whose identity threatens to re-open old wounds. While Irena’s son is determined to get to the truth, Martina’s daughter is desperate to keep the past hidden.

The Secret is published by Crooked Cat Books and is available in paperback £6.99 and kindle £1.99 here: http://thesecretjohnson

Find out more at the Online launch on 1-2  June  https://www.facebook.com/events/111942169663863/

Social Links

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Katharinejohnsonauthor/

Twitter https://twitter.com/@kjohnsonwrites

Website/blog https://katyjohnsonblog.wordpress.com

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Cover reveal. The Alternative.

It’s my pleasure to have been asked by author S. Burke to be part of her cover reveal launch for her latest book, The Alternative. What do you think of this wonderful cover?

The Alternative BOOK COVER PERFECT AND READY TO GO.

You can pre-order this book from today! I usually have a marketing post on a Monday, so I asked S. Burke to give us her marketing tips to help other authors.

From S. Burke…

Hello and welcome to My Cover reveal for my new Thriller Anthology “The Alternative”

My grateful thanks to my marvelous host, Lizzie Chantree.

In keeping with Lizzie’s Marketing tips Day, I’ve shared with you a few simple things that I’ve learned over the years.

MARKETING TIPS ON CREATING A GREAT COVER

I must admit to having zero skills when it comes down to creating my own book cover. I’m now a committed believer that a great cover can create sales. I know from first-hand experience what happens as a result of a merely adequate cover being crafted by my own inexpert hands.

I had a book that I was proud of, that I used a generic cover creator on, and it sold very few copies. But I had faith in the readability of my work…  that’s when I made the decision to use a professional service to have the cover recreated.

I looked for the covers that drew my eye immediately amongst all the writers I follow and discovered of the ones I found most appealing many were created by Eeva Lancaster at The Book Khaleesi. I had a clear visual image of what I wanted and Eeva’s service gave me the total freedom of selecting my own image and having it used, or the offer of them creating the cover from my description. I found the image, and had a brilliant eye-catching cover created by them and returned within twenty-four hours. End result … Book sales increased!  Reviews started coming in … And the Cover won Second Place in Best Cover of the year on Rave Reviews Book Club.

Lesson learned, and then some.

I have the pleasure of sharing with you The COVER REVEAL for “The Alternative”

The Alternative BOOK COVER PERFECT AND READY TO GO..JPG

Grab your copy here!

The Alternative by S. Burke

AVAILABLE for PRE-ORDER NOW!
Release Date: Monday, June 18th, 2018

 Category: Thriller & Suspense > Anthology

“The Alternative” on AMAZON.COM

Suzanne Burke Amazon Author Page

On TWITTER.

On Facebook.

My Blog

MARKETING TIP ON WRITING A GREAT BLURB

What are the key Overriding emotions you want your readers to find within your manuscript?  I don’t presume to tell my reader what they MUST feel, but rather invite them to feel it.

 Keep in mind that the blurb is intended to be a lure, that hook that captures the reader’s attention, and prompts them to take a look at this book for themselves, it is not intended to be a detailed synopsis of what your reader will find. Too much information is a curiosity killer.

Here is the blurb for “The Alternative”

There are those that cling unreservedly to the lifeboat that believing in Karma hands them so willingly.

They work, they live, and they function in a world that grants them the option of believing that Karma has no deadline.

Until they are handed the spark that ignites them into becoming the instrument of Karma itself.

There are others who have had all they once held to be truths, everything they once stood for and took pride in, torn apart and ripped from them by the hand of a cruel fate.

Then, of course, there are those who believed in nothing and no one, to begin with … 

These are their stories.

The stories of people both good and bad, who made the choice to exact “The Alternative.”

Thank you so much for joining me here today. I’d be delighted if you would care to comment on my latest work.

My thanks again to my host Lizzie Chantree for sharing my exciting news with all of you today.