Keith Bullock's Blog

My... my... I'm not too good at keeping up with this Blog and I promise I'll try to do better in future!
Since I wrote last, I'm pleased to say that 'Twelve Christmas Crackers and a Boxing Day Treat' seemed to have put smiles on many faces.
'Right', I thought, 'I'll put a second collection of short stories together for next Christmas - but this time, I'll show a more serious side of myself.' All went to plan and Christmas 2019, I published 'A Baker's Dozen'; thirteen new stories that were a darned sight more philosophical, scary and thought-provoking than the previous set.
I'd had a long-time-coming crime novel on the anvil too - and 'Circuit' followed the short stories into print at the beginning of 2020. I'm very pleased with this one; it is styled on Truman Capote's 'In Cold Blood' - that is to say: the narrative is driven as much by the complex lives of the perpetrators, as it is by their victims. I hope that you like it; it has already drawn fantastic praise from Denise Fitzpatrick, a New Zealand writer whom I rate highly. Happy reading!

With my latest book: "Twelve Christmas Crackers and a Boxing Day Treat" - I've put together a set of thirteen zany Seasonal short stories for grown-ups that I've been accumulating over the years. Most have a twist in the tail and they are designed to make you laugh and cry.
If you feel like taking well-earned time-out from the frenzied family festive frazzle, you might like to find a cosy corner and curl up with this little tranquilliser!!

Thanks to all who have recently rated or reviewed 'Winning Ticket' - these contributions have appeared here on Goodreads and also across other literary outlets including Austin Macauley, Amazon and Waterstones. It's difficult to describe what it means to a new author, as it's by far the most immediate way in which others get to know about one's work. I was particularly pleased by Glyn Stimpson's Amazon review, as he describes himself as someone who lives close to where the novel is set.
There will be always those that like, or dislike a book and it would be vain of an author to think otherwise... my only thought on this is that it would be so helpful if a one star and a five star rating was always accompanied by a constructive review - twos, threes and fours are clearly expressions of personal taste and preference (although accompanying reviews are great to have) - a five star rating is a cause for celebration and explanation, a one star rating with no review is impossible to evaluate.

This week I was pleased to feature in the Worcester News, as there was quite a drama surrounding the publication of my first novel... just a few weeks before, I'd suffered a heart attack and cardiac arrest in France and was put back together by the St Cyprien Fire Brigade (plus a lot of dedicated hospital staff of course). If you're interested you can follow it on the link below.
http://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/r...