5 more days!

Happy Sunday to you.
(It's back to being cold, extremely windy and slightly rainy where I am, but I hope the weather is kinder wherever you are today.)

The month of February is waning and that means that there are only 5 more days to go to place the votes for my ancestral mystery/ thriller TOPAZ EYES, which is nominated in the current section of THE PEOPLE'S BOOK PRIZE FICTION 2014 (winter category) This link will show you what it's all about.
http://www.peoplesbookprize.com/book.php?id=1060

When I first saw that the VOTES could be cast for 3 whole months, (voting taking place 4 times a year for each seasonal section) the time seemed endless and yet the end of that period now looms. To go through to the finals at the end of May, my exciting thriller mystery needs to gain the highest vote from the PUBLIC. How to encourage those votes is not a simple matter.

It's a competition of great prestige for both myself and my publisher as the competition aims to bring novels into the public eye. I, personally, could not nominate myself - only my publisher Crooked Cat could do that, so in a sense a win for a Crooked Cat book is excellent news for the publisher, too, as they will gain much credibility for being the excellent publisher that they are.

I've been periodically posting on my Facebook groups to encourage people to vote for me. How can I know if that has happened? The answer is I can't. Unlike some less prestigious competitions, it has no status bar to show how many votes have been cast. I must wait and see in the hope that I gain support from author friends and family, alike. I've managed to have a couple of mentions in my local newspapers during the period but how many votes can be gained through this is not easy to quantify. I've handed out flyers to people at the local market where I periodically sell my books and I've encouraged attendees at the local book events I've organised during the last few weeks to place a vote.

Is that enough? I really don't know since this competition is one where it seems the winner is likely to be the gregarious person who has a huge amount of friends to support them.

If you're one of my regular blog readers, or just someone popping in today, your VOTE really does COUNT. I kow that having to use your email address will put off some voters but it truly is just to prevent multiple votes for the one book from the same email address adn I can assure people they will not be 'spammed' with unwanted mail.

So what's it about? 

A peculiar invitation to Heidelberg embroils Keira Drummond in the search for a mysterious collection of extraordinary jewels once owned by a Mughal Emperor; a hoard that was last known to be in the possession of Amsterdam resident, Geertje Hoogeveen, in 1910. Who among the progeny of Geertje- hitherto unfamiliar third cousins brought together for the quest - can Keira rely on? Distrust and suspicion among them is rife. Which one is greedy, and determined enough, to hire thugs to tail her… and worse… as she travels to Vienna and Minnesota?  Can Keira even trust Teun Zeger - a Californian she is becoming very drawn to - as they pair up to unearth the jewellery? As they follow a trail of clues, will the cousins uncover the full collection before the hired gun kills them? Details remain furtive and undisclosed until danger and death forces their exposé. And who harbours the ultimate mystery item that is even more precious than the Mughal jewels?

Greed, suspicion and murder on the one hand are balanced by growing family loyalty, trust, and love on the other.

If you haven't yet placed a vote and would like to support me, please click on this link:

http://www.peoplesbookprize.com/book.php?id=1060

You vote will be greatly appreciated. 

Thank you. If you haven't seen my book trailer have a little look and see what my Teun and Keira are up against.

Slainthe!