Tracie Podger's Blog

It's just a few hours now until the release of my first romcom! I'm terrified ;) I'm releasing at 99c/99p because it's a new genre for me so be sure to grab your copy at that hugely reduced price. A few days after release the book will be set to $3.99/£3.99.

You can grab your copy here --> mybook.to/LDST

One more month, friends! Limp Dicks & Saggy Dicks is set for release on 1st August and arc copies have now been sent to blogger friends, my review team, and THE Book Club (TBC) over on Facebook. This is the time where I go into semi-hiding awaiting those reviews!

I've decided to release at 99p/99c and there will be a very short pre-order (about four/five days) so I can grab a buy link for some advertising. Three days after release, the book will go up to its correct price of £3.99/$3.99. So be sure to check out Amazon, my pages on Facebook, or here for release information.

Oh my, do you think Amazon is going to be in a tizzy with this title? ;) Just in case they are, I have titled my next release Limp & Saggy on Amazon (I'll let you know when it's ready for pre-order) but it's officially known as Limp Dicks & Saggy Tits!

So, what is it about?

It's a humorous journey of a woman's journey through single life at fifty-years-old.

Excerpt:

Chapter One

Fifty and single was not a great place to be. Especially when I had no desire to be either. But, against my wishes, I found myself to be exactly at that point.

Why should meeting a man be so difficult at my age? Why couldn’t I walk into a bar and not look like a cougar on the prowl or a nearly-OAP being patronised by the youth? Why couldn’t I still have a healthy sex life even if I didn’t have a husband anymore?

Too many whys, and after my third glass of wine, I guessed I could continue to add more but…what the fuck good would it do?

“Lizzie, are you listening to me?” I heard.

“No,” I replied, draining the glass I held in my hand. “I’m thinking about what the nurse said to me.”

“What did the nurse say?”

“That I might need to consider lubricant.” I was aware of the slur to my voice. “She said I have vaginal atrophy. Fucking vaginal–”

“What’s vaginal atrophy?” he asked, interrupting.

“A shrinking fanny, Joe!” I replied.

“Let’s just call it a return to virgin fanny, it sounds better. So, did you hear what I said earlier?”

I was lying on the sofa, there was a romcom playing on the TV that I had absolutely no interest in—had probably seen twenty years ago—while my best friend, Joe, was sitting in the chair opposite me.

“No, what did you say?” I asked, shuffling up a little so I at least looked interested in what he had to offer.

“I said, I think we need a little weekend break away,” Joe repeated.

“I like the sound of that.”

“I might have a look online tomorrow.”

Maybe he told me more, I had no idea. I awoke the following morning with a banging headache and a mouth tasting like a sewer.

Piqued your interest? You can add Limp Dicks to your GR TBR with this link:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...

Keep an eye out for some giveaways and the release which will be August 1st.

The super naughty erotic romance, The Facilitator, is now in audio. I'm thrilled that one of the UK's leading audio producers purchased the audio rights to this and the second book!

If listening to erotic romance is your thing, you can find The Facilitator on Audible, AudioBooks.com, iTunes, and Nook.

With just a week and a bit before release, I decided to do what I'd said I wasn't going to do and put a pre-order up on Amazon. The reason to avoid a pre-order on Amazon is that it really affects ranking on release day, negatively. Anyway, I wanted to give readers a little longer to be able to take advantage of that 99p/99c release day price so a pre-order it is!

Here is a universal buy link that will allow you to select your preferred retailer:

https://books2read.com/u/bpWAvg

Grab your copy at 99p/99c because it will revert to full price a day or so after release :)

Yet again, I've neglected this blog! Life as a full-time carer and an author does mean the days seems to run away with me sometimes. It was Christmas just a short while ago and now we're into Spring.

I have Fallen Angel, Part 5 releasing in a few weeks! I wasn't meant to revisit that series but Robert Stone and Rocco Sartorri were niggling away in my mind. I still feel there might be more to say where they are concerned!

You can preorder Fallen Angel, Part 5 on iBooks, Nook & Kobo but you'll need to wait until April 23rd for release on Amazon here:

books2read.com/u/bpWAvg

I can't wait for you guys to read this book, I'm also terrified - it's quite different !

I haven't updated this blog in a long time, that is really naughty of me! So, what has been happening?

I've released my 16th book, Taylor & Mack - A mafia romance to compliment the Fallen Angel series, recently. Like the other accompanying books/novellas, this is the story of how these two wonderful characters met.

Jackson is to be released in December and I'm so excited for you guys to meet him. I wrote Jackson a couple of years ago and I just fell in love with him, but I've written this dual POV, something new for me, and I wanted to sit on it for a little while. Now we are ready to step out into the world!

I have a lovely little novella to release March next year (2018) as part of an anthology for a signing I'm attending in Belfast, NI. The theme of all the pieces in the anthology is Titanic and this piece was so interesting to research. In fact, I spent way too much time watching youtube videos and reading about the ship than I should have. Look out for that anthology and the accompanying novel I'll be releasing at the same time!

I'm thrilled to have been invited to attend some author signings next year. I'm terrified of course! Night after night I dream I am sitting at my table with tumble weed blowing across the empty floor in front of me and I scan the room, the other authors have thousands of fans waiting to have their book signed. I'll make sure the family come and perhaps I'll have them bring a change of clothes. They can queue, have their books signed, run off and change and come back and do the same thing ;) I'm joking of course, I hope to meet some of the wonderful people I have got to know over the past few months.

In March I will be in Peterborough at the Orchard Book Club singing event, you'll find their details on facebook and in April, at Tattooed Bad Boys in York (tbbyork.co.uk). As well as meeting people who, hopefully, have read my books, I'm also looking forward to meeting some fellow authors.

I would like to say a big thank you to the organisers of these events, it can't be easy co-ordinating authors, readers, locations and entertainment.

I was asked this question recently and I don't have an answer for it. I do know that at some point the story dries up and hopefully when that happens to me I will recognise it! Fallen Angel started as one book. One very large book. For a debut author this wasn't going to work so the book was split in two. But these books are written from Brooke's point of view and Robert is the troubled character. I wanted readers to know why he acted the way he did, why his life had been so hard. So I wrote Robert's story and started this when he was six years old. This book takes the reader to the end of Part I but is a totally different story. One third is his childhood, one third his teenage to adult years and the last third when he meets Brooke. But I couldn't end it there.

Evelyn is a really important character as is Travis and both have an interesting background. So I wrote Evelyn, a novella to be released in July. However, I felt there were some loose ends with Fallen Angel, Part I & II and after re-reads and discussions with beta readers I decided a Part III was in order. But, what to do with Travis?

Here's the problem, I can't seem to stop! I can't let go of these characters that have become so important to me and who I've fallen in love with. I guess the danger comes if an author is not strong enough to say "that's it" and continues words to eek out the story just for the sake of trading on it's popularity.

If you're a fan of the Fallen Angel series and you think it's gone on too long, please let me know ha ha. Until then, I guess I have no choice but to continue to write about the characters until they plague me no more!

What does it take to be an indie author? Courage, a thick skin, the desire to work hard, an understanding family - all these things spring instantly to mind. Let's break them down.

Courage - A strange word to include in the list you might think. I can't speak for all indie authors but when I wrote my very first book, A Virtual Affair it was to exorcise demons! A Virtual Affair is based on a true life experience with a huge, and I mean huge, amount of fiction thrown in. For anyone starting to write their first novel, whether it be something based on their experiences or completely fictional, it takes guts! To have your 'baby' put out in the real world and be commented on, well, that leads me nicely to....

A thick skin - I can't write for everyone, I wish I could. I wish absolutely everyone would love and rave and shout from the rooftops about my work ha ha I can only write what's inside and hope that I improve as I continue on this journey. Yes, there are plenty of courses and degrees on writing but at the end of the day, no-one can teach you to write a great story. I look back on Fallen Angel, Part I and see a few things I would like to change and maybe one day I will. For now I accept everyone's views and comments and I try not to take them personally.

The desire to work hard - Well, writing a book is only a small, tiny piece of what being an indie author, or any author for that matter, is all about. The hard work comes after those words "The End" are written. First it's editing. Endlessly reading and re-reading the same chapters until you are totally word blind and can't see any errors. Then you hand your work over to your beta readers who tap their red pen on the manuscript while raising an eyebrow at you! "Isle is an island, I think you want aisle!" they say - oopps! After all this comes cover design, formatting (you need an IT degree for this one!), until you eventually hold that paperback proof in your hand. And, you know what, now the hard work really starts! You have to entice people to want to read it. Welcome to groundhog day! Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Goodreads, you name it, you're on it, plugging away, day after day. All the time trying so hard not to keep checking Amazon and your sales chart!

An understanding family - Writing is a very solitary thing, isolating. When I first starting writing, it was as part of my therapy to overcome depression so I had already isolated myself from friends and family (when I'm down, I hide away). But then to get engrossed in the story, the characters and plot meant hours and hours of typing, researching and something goes by the wayside, namely the housework, the cooking, the hubby! Hubby likens it to having a flat mate he doesn't particularly get on with (he says this in a kind way, of course). He sits and watches the TV, I sit in a different room and type. It must be hard if you have children to fit everything in and I know many writers will go through the night, catching up on word count. But writing becomes an addiction and thankfully my hubby saw the good that it was doing me and supports me all the way. I remind him that should I ever make it big, he'll thank me for the new car!

So there's a little of my story, with a touch of humour thrown in. I can't sit here and say I wouldn't love to have a publisher, the backing of a marketing team because I would be lying but equally I am really enjoying the process of doing this myself, at my pace, with no-one to blame for mistakes but myself. I'm still learning, I hope my writing improves with each novel and I hope some of you might just like what I've done :)