Today it’s exactly one year since I published Cupid’s Way – and what a year it’s been. In lots of ways, the launch of Cupid’s Way got lost under a mountain of problems. As some of you know, my husband was ill last summer, and many of the post-launch activities I had planned – reaching out to reviewers and bloggers, offering giveaways and other fun stuff – just didn’t materialize. But the fantastic thing about indie publishing is that books have no shelf life, and taking inspiration from brilliant author Emma Davies, who also celebrated a one year book birthday recently, I decided to throw a little Happy Birthday party of my own. Click here to say Happy Birthday on Twitter.
Here are some fun facts about Cupid’s Way you may or may not know:
- The terrace street in Cupid’s Way is based on real-life Spencer Street in Milton Keynes – most of the railway houses like Spencer Street were knocked down in the 1970s to make room for new development, but a group of families got together and saved their street. Read more about that here.
- Cupid’s Way is set in a fictionalized version of Bristol – a town with its own stock of gorgeous terraces, but with a lot of new building and development going on, like the planetarium …
- Bristol also has ‘green’ credentials. Evie Stone is an eco-warrior, and dives into battle when she hears about the plans to knock down Cupid’s Way.
- One of my favourite characters in Cupid’s Way is Stig, who is named after a children’s book character called ‘Stig of the Dump.’ My Stig loves to shuffled through other people’s rubbish – with surprising consequences!
- I made myself cry while writing one of the scenes in this book – if you read it, you’ll probably know which one! I think making yourself laugh or cry while you’re writing is probably a very good idea!
- Cupid’s Way has had two covers in its short life so far, the most recent of which was actually the first that cover designer, Chris Howard, came up with. I chose the blue design initially, but I feel the fun, livelier cover fits the book far better.
We also have a sparkly new blurb, courtesy of BookBub:
Greedy housing developers and clueless grandparents don’t mix well. It’s up to bored, single Evie to save the day – but she never expects to fall for the evil corporation’s CEO in the process. Fans of romantic comedies, let us welcome you to one crazy neighbourhood.
Short, sweet, and to the point, and a lovely birthday present too.
So, Happy Birthday Cupid’s Way – long may you continue to get great reviews. One reviewer said: “I used the word “adorable” too many times in this review, but that’s how I feel about this book.” And that about sums it up for me 🙂
If you’d like to share this on Twitter just click here, or click on this link to share on Facebook. If you haven’t read Cupid’s Way yet, it’s still only 99p/99c on Amazon – click on the cover or here to go to the store in your country.
And to finish off, here’s a quick excerpt from the book for you to read during your lunch hour. Evie is arriving back at Cupid’s Way for the first time in years, and is about to make the acquaintance of one of its more colourful residents …
“In the middle of the narrow street stood a white shire horse – a monster of a beast, with a long fringe over blinkered eyes and white fringing over its hooves. The horse stamped and whinnied, thrashing its head from side to side. Evie had no idea how to size horses, but she reckoned this one must be the maximum number of hands possible. Attached to the horse by a wooden harness was a cart with four red-painted wheels. At first glance there didn’t seem to be anyone in the cart, or indeed anyone tending to the horse at all, but when Evie shuffled further forward she caught sight of the top of a man’s head. It was bald, with a tuft of ginger hair above each ear. As she watched, the mystery driver cracked a whip and nudged the horse on. Straight towards Frank’s supermini.
‘Reverse, reverse,’ Mavis cried, but Frank was already half out of the car.
‘Gran, we’d better get out too.’ Evie grabbed her suitcase and reached for the door. ‘Come on, over here.’
They pressed themselves against a brick wall out of harm’s way, and watched Frank advance on the horse and cart, shaking his clenched fist.
‘This is the bloody end for you, Peacock. I’ve told you a million times you can’t bring that mangy old nag up here. What the bloody hell do you think you’re playing at?’
‘What on earth is going on?’
Evie’s heart was racing; she wanted to pinch herself. A horse and cart in the middle of a cobbled street; two old men, their jaws set in anger, squaring up to each other. Evie shook her head and looked around for some kind of orientation. To her right was one of the gates that led into Cupid’s Way, and she could see the first of the twelve Victorian houses above an expanse of evergreen hedging. It was just like the others – perfectly preserved, with Gothic revival architecture and tall sash windows, a tiny yard out back and a lawned garden in front. All the gardens were communal now, with a cobbled path running down the middle of the facing rows of two-up, two-down houses. Evie held up her hand to shield her eyes from the winter sun. The window frames could do with a good coat of paint, and some of the roof tiles had slipped into the drooping gutter, but apart from that this house at the end of the street hadn’t changed since she was a child.
The man in the cart was standing now, barely as tall as Frank despite being a good two feet off the ground. He shook his fist right back at Evie’s grandfather, and the breeze made his two patches of red hair flip up around his ears like feathers. He puffed out his chest and stamped one foot; the horse whinnied and shook its head, flicking away the long white fringe and glaring back at the cart and driver.
‘Frank,’ Mavis called. ‘Think of your blood pressure.’ But Frank wasn’t listening. He reached into the cart and grabbed the smaller man by his grubby jacket.”
Read more and check out the reviews at http://hyperurl.co/CupidsWay
Joanne Phillips 