Posts Tagged Books
Cover Reveal plus a Free Book
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Books, Promotion, Successes on February 21, 2025
It’s an exciting week: the cover for Out of Control, my third novel with Choc Lit/Joffe Books is now in the public domain and the Kindle version is available for preorder at only 99p. 
Plus Little Museum of Hope is available on Kindle for FREE for today only (Friday 21st February 2025).
Out of Control is about learning to loosen the reins of life, trying to go with the flow, learning to trust and letting others in. Three decades ago Fiona was married to a man with a gambling problem. He lost everything they had and the stress this caused may have played a part in Fiona’s miscarriage. Fiona divorced Rob and vowed never to let anyone else get too close to her again. She keeps that promise. Fast forward to the present day. Fiona is on the verge of retirement. She sees boyfriend Joe only once a week – which she loves because she still has her own space and complete control of her life. Plus absence makes the heart grow fonder!
Then Joe turns up on her doorstep with his suitcases: his house has been flooded and he needs somewhere to stay. He’s swiftly followed by his heavily pregnant student daughter who has nowhere else to go. Fiona’s ordered existence is suddenly out of control. Will her relationship with Joe survive? Can she cope with the presence of his daughter and the reminder of the baby she lost?
Out of Control will be published on March 11th 2025 and can be preordered now for only 99p on Kindle!
And if you missed out on reading Little Museum of Hope – now is your one-day only opportunity to grab it for FREE! (That means you can get two of my novels for a combined price of only 99p – don’t miss out!).
Giving-up on a Book
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Books on October 6, 2013
I feel guilty this week because I gave up on a book half-way through.
It’s something I never used to do but as I get older I am gradually doing it more often. And every time I do it I feel bad. I don’t know why I feel bad – it’s not as if the author is breathing down my neck checking that I read every word or that I’m going to be tested on it at a later date.
Maybe it’s because I’m acknowledging that my choice of book was not up to scratch or because I’ve wasted my time getting as far as I did with the book – when I could’ve been reading something better.
I won’t name this book but the jacket is covered with glowing review excerpts from all the major newspapers. So I feel that I should have enjoyed it. Does that mean there’s something wrong with me?
I’ve just had a look at the book’s Amazon reviews, they are all 4 or 5 star except one. That single 2 star review makes me feel better – so at least I’m not alone in being unable to appreciate this book which the Guardian tells me is ‘a real page-turner’ and the Literary Review says is an ‘impressive piece of storytelling’.
How do you deal with books that don’t live up to expectations?
Finally, here are a couple of quotes that I’ve come across. Take them as a confidence booster. Forget all those ‘I’m not good enough’ voices in your head and just sit down and write!
To live a creative life we must lose our fear of being wrong. Joseph Chilton Pearce.
I am the MASTER of my FATE. I am the CAPTAIN of my SOUL. William Ernest Henley.
Books to be Won!
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions on January 3, 2011
One of my goals for 2011 is to grow the readership of this blog – it can feel quite lonely sitting here, prattling away and 
not knowing if anyone will read it!
I plan to do this in 2 ways:
- Include information that can be ‘used’ (e.g. markets, competitions and writing tips etc.) in as many posts as possible
- Hold a prize draw
The draw prize is the 3 best-selling books in the Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson. If you’ve already enjoyed these novels about Lisbeth Salander, the girl with the dragon tattoo, then they’d make a great gift for a book-loving friend.
To be in with a chance of winning, all you have to do is use the box to the right of this page to sign-up for email updates. This means that each post on my blog will be sent directly to your inbox. You can un-subscribe at any time (although I hope you won’t!).
Simply enter your email address at the Email Subscription heading to the right of this post. You will receive a confirmation email asking you to confirm your subscription and then, hey presto!, you’re done.
Everybody on the subscription list on Friday 4th February will be entered into the draw – including those of you that already subscribe. I will contact the winner via email and when he/she has confirmed their name and address, I will announce the result here. I will also give a plug to the winner’s blog, book or anything else (writing related) they wish to publicise.
Please note the books can only be posted to UK addresses (excluding the Channel Islands).
N.B. If you prefer to manage your blogs via RSS Feed you can still enter the draw. Just add this blog to your feed, contact me via the form on my ‘About’ page and I will enter you into the draw.
Another couple of things I’ve thought of since originally posting this:
- If I can’t get hold of the winner within 14 days of the draw taking place then I reserve the right to re-draw (so let me know in advance via the contact form on my ‘About’ page if you’re going away).
- If your confirmation email isn’t coming through – check your spam folder in case it’s hiding there
Best of Luck!
Sally Jenkins 