Indie Chat with Jamie Dougan

Today, I'm delighted to welcome Twitter friend and fellow Indie, Jamie Tucker Dougan.

Jamie will be doing a free promo of his Kindle book 'Grande Plage' from today till 14th July.  Grab a copy here while you can.  You can also follow his blog here - yes I do feature (!) or contact him on Twitter @JamieTDougan

I downloaded 'Grande Plage' earlier this week and would thoroughly recommend it as a coffee break read.  It's a sweet romance from a male's perspective - which I found refreshing.  Set in France, I felt as if I were there and it brought back some vivid teenage memories for me.

From his reviews:

'It's very sensual, and being written by a man you'd expect it to be all about the sex. However, it is not. It's very romantic in parts and has a happy, heartwarming ending.'

'Short story about a young footballer who falls head over heels for a French girl but has to leave her behind. Good story to read when you are travelling or have a few minutes to spare with a coffee.' 

So I welcome Jamie to the blog as we settle with a Pernod and ice (what else?) and pose some questions to him:


You've decided to do a free promo of 'Grande Plage' to recognise your wife's 40th birthday, which I think is a very romantic gesture.  As you write stories and novels on the steamier side of love, would you call yourself a romantic at heart?

Very much so. A few movies from the 80's have influenced my writing. Movies like 'St.Elmo's Fire' and 'Some Kind of Wonderful'. I like the 'happy ever after'.

If money were no object, how would you treat your wife on her birthday?

First thing I would get her is a new computer. Her current desktop is well past its best. She needs a decent computer for her little card-making business. I'd also buy her a new car and take her on a holiday to the destination of her choice. Which would be Disneyland Florida. A holiday for the kids ... and the big kids.

You're hosting an evening for five celebs - who would they be and why?  You must include one who you would invite just so that you could hit them with a frozen lettuce as I know this is one of your favourite sports!

Well Katie Hopkins would be first on the list to be bombarded with the freshly frozen lettuce by the other guests as they arrive. I'd just whack her a few times in passing. My second guest would be my childhood hero, football legend Kenny Dalglish. As well as telling me many stories from his footballing career, he'd make me laugh too because his one-line sarcasm is brilliant. Next would be French singer Alizee. She would provide musical entertainment and talk French to me (ahem). I'd invite actress Alyssa Milano too, just to help with being the visual muse for one of the characters in my current WIP.  And finally I'd have Prince Charles because I think he'd be an interesting guy to talk to.

What's your ultimate goal as a writer?  Do you dream of a publishing deal or are you happy to remain an Indie?

I'm happy being an Indie. It was never my intention to become a published writer. Writing for me has always been a hobby. A way of living the virtual world I sometimes escape reality to. But an old friend suggested I publish 'Grande Plage' (on more than one occasion I may add). Now, my hobby is seen by others. 

This question was once put to me and I had to find a tricky way around it - I'd be interested to know your take on it.  You are offered a huge amount of money (squillions of millions!) but, by accepting it, you're never allowed to physically write another word.  Would you take it?

Money is a necessary evil to me but it causes more problems than it does good. I'd be a far happier person if there was no money at all. The more some people have, the more they want and that's just pure unnecessary greed. Personally, I think we should better ourselves through knowledge rather than financial gain. So the answer would be no thanks!

Tell us your most embarrassing story - one that haunts you to this day?

It doesn't haunt me much but it was bloody embarrassing at the time. Let's just say it involved a country road lay-by ... steamy windows ... and a police car stopping to ask if we were okay.

QUICK FIRE ROUND

Pudding or cheese? - Pudding, preferably containing chocolate

Suit or jeans? - Jeans... I wear a shirt and tie for a living, so I don't when not working

Night in or out? - Night in

Dancer or watcher? - Watcher

Kylie or Dannii? - Kylie

Indian or Chinese? - Damn... can I have both? Okay, Chinese!

Home or away? - Home

Twitter or Facebook? - Twitter

Music or TV? - Music

Huge thanks to Jamie for joining me on the blog today - come on guys, give his wife the best 40th ever and download a FREE sensual story now.  Happy Birthday Mrs Dougan - what a lovely hubbie you have!

PS:  The frozen wet lettuce is a standing joke.  Tell us in the comments below, who you'd like to wallop over the head with one.  Go on!  You know you want to!

You can buy Jamie's other short stories here.

The Outlook's Sunny!

It’s been a good week in the Misfit house - and I mean a really good week.

I wouldn’t say it’s been a lazy one, because I don’t ‘do’ lazy, but it has been a little more laid back than usual and it’s given me time to come to terms with decisions I’ve made and let them gel.

My December release is flying along but my next big job is to get started on the editing of my Christmas novella which will be out in October - never a dull moment here.

So what else did my week bring?  Aside from seeing my son leave his much-loved school, we had SUNSHINE!  Don’t you just love it?  Unlike the yummy mummies who holiday (at least) thrice yearly, I haven’t set foot out of this country for 15 years so when the sun comes to me I jump for joy - OK, with the temperatures we've been having in London, it’s a bit of a lethargic jump, but I still do it.

Of course I dream of heading off to sunnier, more exotic climes but every penny I earn goes to our mortgage and I also need to be here to care for my mother so that’s not possible right now.

But as a writer, I’m lucky enough to be able to set up the office in the garden and enjoy the concept of a holiday while still working - it would be rude not to, wouldn’t it?  There aren’t many jobs that allow you to do that!  And apologies if I’ve made any of you green with envy.

With the arrival of the glorious weather, we entertained some close friends with a meal in the garden on Saturday night and took part in music wars with some neighbours who were having a family barbeque a few doors down - their reggae trounced our Dean Martin hands down but we accepted defeat graciously and had a giggle with them about it the next day.  The evil mozzies also had to back down from battle as I’d managed to find a very effective insect repellent and, although we all stunk and could well have gone up in a puff of smoke with one ignition of a lighter, we all remained bite-free.

I also featured on two blogs.  Here and here. And my friend Jamie Dougan moved his blog to a new web location so if you haven’t caught up on the piece I did on ‘My Writing Essentials’ check it out here.  He’s also doing a free promo of his short story ‘Grande Plage’ from Thursday and I'll be interviewing him here at the end of the week.

But the BEST thing this week has been my book sales.  Good grief!  If I could have more weeks like that, I would be one happy Misfit Bunny.  Paperback sales at Lulu have been great and I’ve also been hovering around the two to three thousand chart rating on Amazon (which, when you consider that there are over two million Kindle books in the UK Amazon store, isn’t too shabby a position for an Indie). Then on Sunday I was over the moon to see that I was at #4 in paid Chicklit (released in the last 30 days with 5* reviews)  How cool is that?

Apart from that, the teen is applying for jobs and not hearing back from anyone - probably something to do with his hair colour (!) and I bought a pair of size 12 jeans (not bad for a fatty!)

AMENDED on 10th July - the week just keeps getting better.  Sales have gone mad and we also received a letter telling us that our son has been given an award at school.  We'll attend the drinks reception and ceremony on 17th September.  We're such proud commoners parents! 

2nd amendment - added 7.50pm on 10th July!  I have also been quoted on the Daily Mail webpage, ranting about the vile Ms. Hopkins!

So … life’s good.  Who needs fancy holidays when you have a laptop in the sunshine?  Putney suits me just fine.  Oh, and the cats quite like it too.

 Check out my books here - everyone needs a light read in the sun. All under £2!