Free book for the Meningitis Trust

As many of you know, we lost our son to meningitis in October 2007. In the wake of that tragedy the Meningitis Trust gave us emotional and financial support as well as friendship. They helped our devastated family to rebuild our lives and come out of the darkness of grief. The charity exists to help victims of the disease and their families cope with the terrible consequences of meningitis. They also work to inform people of the signs and symptoms of the disease through their website, a dedicated iPhone app, symptoms cards and visits to schools and univiersities.

Since 2007, with the help of friends and family, we have raised over £40,000 to help them continue their fantastic work. In October of last year we joined a host of people on Little Cumbrae in a sponsored cycle round the island. That was my first visit to Millport in over thirty years and from it came the germ of the idea that became my short novel, ‘The Island Murder.’

The Trust's mascot, Monty the duck, gets the tour
with the help of my daughter Kirsten and yours truly.

This weekend - Saturday 2nd March and Sunday 3rd March - I am going to give the book away for free on Kindle and we would ask you to consider saying thank you by donating the price of the book to Calum’s tribute fund. For just £1 you could help the Trust to continue to help families and educate the public about meningitis. If you feel you can donate more that would be great but if we can get everyone who downloads the book to donate just the price of the book it would be amazing.

To donate click on the link to Calum's tribute fund donation page and follow the instructions.

For those of you outside the UK, please feel free to make your donation to a local meningitis charity.

Thanks

Sinclair

Next Big Thing Blog Tour

A huge thank you to Carol Parsons for tagging me in her ‘Next Big Thing’ blog posting at the Tamrion Book Nook. Check out her wonderful fantasy series, The Journals of The Peregrine.

Now to my answers to the Next Big Thing blog tour interview.

What is the working title of your book?

The fourth book in the Reluctant Detective series is tentatively called ‘The Island Murder’ and is my first attempt at a novella. It follows three full novels in the series as well as Soulseeker, the first in a new detective series.

Where did the idea for your book come from?

The book is set on the Scottish island of Little Cumbrae and the idea grew from a recent visit to the island. The fact that it can become isolated in bad weather made it perfect for a ‘locked room’ kind of mystery that Agatha Christie wrote with such panache. Although I wouldn’t claim to be close to the great lady, this book is my homage to her.

What genre does your book fall under?

It is a crime novel and my detective Craig Campbell is a contemporary Scottish derivation of the classic private eye.

Which actors would you choose to play in your movie rendition?

The cast would have to be mainly Scottish and I’ve always thought that James McAvoy would be ideal to play Craig. Denis Lawson would be my choice to play Neil Cairns, a disgraced former church minister. Tiffany Mulheron has the looks to play Debbie Grayson, the femme fatale who is at the centre of the crime. David Tennant is an actor I admire immensely and it would be great to have him play Colin Victor, a man who has lost everything due to the dangerous Ms Grayson. Laura Fraser would bring a lot to the character of Rhona McColl and Richard Madden would be my choice for the young geeky character, Brent Picard.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

The murder of a woman on an isolated Scottish island forces Craig Campbell to investigate and find the killer amongst a long list of suspects.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

It will be self published like the rest of my books. This will be slightly different as it will be a Kindle exclusive, at least for the first few months.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

I have been working on it for about two months and I hope to finish it within the next month as it is a shorter story than my previous books.

What other books would you compare this story to?

Compare is a strong word but there are similarities to a book like ‘And Then There Were None’ by Agatha Christie in the sense that the suspects are trapped in the situation with no means of escape. As a Scot, I can’t help but be influenced by Scottish writers, in particular Ian Rankin, Caro Ramsay and Christoper Brookmyre. Books like ‘The Big Sleep’ by Raymond Chandler and Ross Macdonald’s ‘The Far Side Of The Dollar’ are a huge influence as all the Reluctant Detective books are written from a first person perspective.

Who or what inspired you to write the book?

Everything I write is driven by the realisation that life is too short to put off what you would love to do. The death of my son at the age of twelve had a huge affect on my perspective. Along with my wife and daughter, Calum is the constant inspiration for everything I do.

What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?

Can the reader spot the killer from a list of six people, all with a strong motive before Craig does?

Next week on the 9th January the tour will move to the blog of David Magowan.