“Sentence first, verdict after words.” -Lewis Carroll
My apologies to the White Queen for slightly altering her quote, but for a writer like me, it works better this way.
I am issuing a great big THANK YOU to all those of you in my blogging life and my on-line conversation circles for helping pass on the word about my two recently published thriller novels, Game Changer and Almost Perfect.
Thanks to you and your circle, Game Changer is now in the Amazon Top 100 and also in the Top 20 for Thrillers. In its first month, Game Changer, a Kindle e-book, has sold over 1,000 copies.
If all this is new to you, then take a look at Game Changer, a thriller novel about Beirut in the 60′s and a modern-day terrorist attack in Washington, by a female suicide bomber!
Here’s a quick overview:
When a suicide bomber blows herself up in Washington, President Roswell Clayton Pierce realises that nothing will ever be the same again. It is a Game Changer.
When Matt Richards sees bodies strewn across the US capital, he realises that there are some professions from which a man can never quit. It is a Game Changer.
And so begins a deadly game of cat and mouse against the most ruthless terrorists in the world. One man’s reputation will be decided, and a Presidency will be put to the test as the world stands on the brink of global chaos. Because when the Game changes, you either change with it…or you die.
From the terror camps of Beirut and the Lebanon, to the politics of the Middle East and Washington, Game Changer is a brilliant action thriller, combining the meticulous research of Frederick Forsyth, the military and intelligence know-how of Tom Clancy, the global reach of Robert Ludlum and the pulsating story-telling of Lee Child.
And my second thriller novel, Almost Perfect, about the Cathar Religion in the 12th Century, the Inquisition and modern-day financial fraud on a global scale is also climbing in the charts. If you like historical thrillers, you will discover a web of little known facts about the Catholic Church and its 100-year crusade against their own people.
Here’s a synopsis:
Matt Brennan, a brilliant young investment banker in the City of London, is celebrating his greatest deal yet: orchestrating a mega-merger that will transform the electronics industry. He is rich and successful beyond his wildest hopes. But his personal life is a mess. Fed up with his constant work, his wife is about to walk out on him. And he is plagued by mysterious dreams …of the Inquisition.
When Matt travels to Carcassonne in Southern France to buy a house he hopes will put his marriage and his life back together, he is plunged into the mysteries of the Cathar Sect, a fanatical branch of mediaeval Catholicism also known as the ‘the Perfects’. As he unlocks their secrets, his life is at stake.
And Matt Brennan is about to discover that no man, and no religion, is ever perfect.
Again, thanks to everyone for giving my fledgling writing career a boost.
Update: There are two more historical thriller novels to come over the next several months, one about female pirates on the high seas and the other about the drug wars.
You fail only if you stop writing. -Ray Bradbury
I would very much appreciate hearing from any of you about my novels. Especially about the characters since I am looking to craft a main character I can feature in future novels.
Tight Lines . . .
John R Childress
john@johnrchildress
I’ll write more when I am at my computer and not tapping on my phone, but wanted to give you my congratulations and enthusiastic endorsement of Almost Perfect. I loved it and was immediately pulled into the novel. Good for you John – you are well on your way!
Mimi: your endorsement means a great deal to me, as I know from your blogs how well you write and tell stories. Glad I could give you something to curl up with on your vacation, besides your husband of course.
Laughing…I’ve got one of my sons reading it now…though arguably he’s curling up with his own wife and reading this in his own bed…:-)
Congratulations John. Incredible accomplishment!
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David. My books start with an idea so compelling,to me that is, that it won’t let go of me. I tend to think about it all the time and then the pressure to get it the story out and onto paper finally reaches the flash point. Writing a book is a matter of project discipline, and you of all people have learned project discipline as a business executive. Treat it like a project, break it into smaller and smaller steps, then set a disciplined schedule. I usually write early in the morning for an hour or so and then late at night for two or three hours. My books aren’t perfect but I like to think that each one gets just a little better (literary wise). Then just follow the project schedule. It may never sell one copy, but you have written your first book and like catching your first trout on a fly, you will never be the same. You are hooked. Let the story guide you and don’t worry about the writing until after it’s finished, then do your editing. If you constantly critique every line and word you will get discouraged and give up before you’ve written one chapter. Follow the story!