Simon Wood

Posts Tagged: ebooks

It’s that time of year, so if you’re looking to give a book for Christmas and you’re going to make it one of mine, bless your heart. If you want to get a book autographed or personalized to that special someone (even if that special someone is you) go to my bookshop. Used the code HOLIDAY10 to get a 10% discount.

Alternatively, I can mail out a bookplate or sign ebooks via Authorgraph.com. Just email me with your requests and I’ll do my best to make it happen. All the details are on the bookshop.

Categories: Uncategorized

Read more

I hadn’t intended to put my heroes, Scott Fleetwood and Tom Sheils, through the fictional wringer for a second time but something cropped up.

When I start a book, I don’t build it around a character or plotline. I’m premise driven. More often than not, that premise is a real world one. TERMINATED was built around the issue of workplace violence. ACCIDENTS WAITING TO HAPPEN explored corruption in the life insurance industry. It was survivor guilt for THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY. And for my latest book, SAVING GRACE, it was the manipulation of the free press.

Now before you go rolling your eyes, it’s not what you think. This has nothing to do with the current fake news claims. I’ve been looking into this issue for a quite some time. The tough thing about writing a book is it takes a long time from concept to final product. Who knew an election cycle would muck things up for me?

My interest dates back ten years when there was a kidnapping of a child in Portugal. Planted stories and media manipulation marred the investigation, which hasn’t been solved even today. The more insidious side to this story was that people profited monetarily from the incident. My writer’s radar became attuned to the issue and I came across more instances of abuse from within and outside the media. I’m sure you’re aware of some instances.

The subject was too enticing to ignore. If I was going to turn to the world of media and evil shenanigans, there were two characters I could turn to—reporter Scott Fleetwood and special agent Tom Sheils of the FBI. They were protagonists of a fan favorite, PAYING THE PIPER. I’d put these guys through hell in PIPER, and it’s that notoriety that gets exploited in SAVING GRACE.

No longer a reporter, Scott Fleetwood is still recovering from the aftermath of tangling with the notorious kidnapper, the Piper, when a new foe emerges from the shadows. The Shepherd announces to the San Francisco Independent that he has snatched a young girl from a vacationing family. The Shepherd has two demands for the safe return of the girl—a cash ransom and for Scott to act as his intermediary between the family and himself. The kidnapping brings in Special Agent Tom Sheils and his team to work the case and watch over Scott. The Shepherd promises the girl’s safety as long as Scott follows the rules of his game. Forced to trail the kidnapper’s twisting lead—and haunted by a previous victim he failed to save—Scott is desperate to keep the past from making a brutal comeback.

Each of the Shepherd’s demands are played out on the world’s stage for everyone to see with Scott as the star of a perverse reality show. As the stakes get upped, Scott realizes he’s a pawn of a much larger scheme.

I won’t say how the media is being manipulated in SAVING GRACE. For that you’ll have to read the book. And when you have, come talk to me and I’ll tell you about the facts behind some of the lies. You can learn more about the book here.

Categories: shelf life

Read more

Ebook distributor, Smashwords, is having an “Authors Give Back” special sale.  So for the next 30 days, a large number of my books are 30% off. This is includes some of my French language titles and the sale includes all formats to cover all ereaders.

If you need something to read during the global quarantine, please them out here & please share this post.  Thanks and stay safe.

Categories: book of the month

Read more

It’s a new year and that means I receive annual royalty statements for a couple of my books. One such book was LOWLIFES. It’s been a pretty successful book, but the publisher said, “Royalties have fallen off the edge of a cliff. I guess books do have a finite life.”

I understand the sentiment but I disagree. The problem I have (and it’s a nice one to have) is that I have close to two dozen titles in publication. That means some books will take the limelight while others are pushed into the shadows. It’s not necessarily my early books. My most popular titles are usually the latest and my first.

So I want to shine some light on what could be considered my forgotten titles.

LOWLIFES: Larry Hayes is a decorated police inspector with a substance abuse problem and he has to investigate himself as to whether he murdered a homeless man. I have a soft spot for this slice of pulpy noir because I was commissioned to write this piece from a brief outline.

HOT SEAT: This is the second of the Aidy Westlake motor racing mysteries. Aidy gets his first professional drive but soon finds himself press ganged into investigating the murder of a team mechanic by his gangster brother. Again with many of the Aidy Westlake stories, it’s based on my own experiences in the motor racing world.

ROAD RASH: Straley is a bank robber on the run, but the situation takes a downward turn after he steals a car from a fatal car wreck. He develops an all consuming rash within hours of driving away, but the disease isn’t bacterial. He will lose everything, including his skin on a journey to redemption. The story is partially inspired by a personal encounter with Santeria believers.

WORKING STIFFS: This was my first collection of short stories all with a workplace theme. The publisher asked me to come up with the themed collection after reading one of the stories. I rose to the challenge by coming up with stories that ranged from the police workplace all the way to the criminal workplace. Everything is a job…even crime.

I would love it if you’d check these books out. They might not be the bells of the ball, but you’d like them just as much. You just have to get to know them.

Categories: Uncategorized

Read more

My book of the week is my supernatural thriller ROAD RASH. It’s 99c/99p at Amazon in the US and the UK for this week only!!

It’s the story of James Straley, a bank robber on the run with the proceeds of a botched bank robbery. It’s all he has. His crew is dead and his getaway car just died on him. He’s on foot with the cash when he comes across a two-car pileup. There’s no saving the drivers, but he can save himself by taking one of the wrecked cars. But he boosts the wrong set of wheels. Within an hour of driving off, he develops a rash that eats away at his flesh. No doctor can help him–only the car’s original owner. If Straley wants his skin back, he must journey on the road to redemption.

I have a real soft spot for this book.  It was inspired by a trip to Guatemala and a run-in I had with Santeria.  You can read all about my adventure here.

There’s also a great audio edition read by Ed Hunter.  I love Ed’s voice and it’s probably my favorite reading that anyone has done of my books.

It’s available from iTunes, Kobo, B&N, Audible as well as Amazon.  You can find all the links here.

Anyway, I hope you’ll snap up a copy.  I think you’ll enjoy it.

Categories: Uncategorized

Read more

The Aidy Westlake mystery series is very personal to me because it’s based on my experiences as a racecar driver. It’s a period of my life I am very proud of…and that’s includes the good, the bad and the ugly. Motor racing shaped me as a person and I’ve infused that into the character of Aidy. The storylines inspired by incidents I came across during that time.

With that said, I have a deal for you. For one week only, you can pick up all three books for $5/£5 on Amazon, although you don’t have to buy all three to get the price break.

From Amazon.com:
DID NOT FINISH
HALF-INCHED
HOT SEAT

From Amazon.co.uk:
DID NOT FINISH
HALF-INCHED
HOT SEAT

The books are available elsewhere in all e-formats, print and audio.  You can find all the links here.

I hope you’ll pick up the books because they are very special to me, but also because I am working on books #4, #5 & #6.   🙂

Categories: Uncategorized

Read more

Similarly to Kobo, a bunch of my ebooks and audiobooks are now on iTunes.  I must admit I feel like a bit of a rock star because I have an artist’s page on iTunes.  So if you’re an Apple iTunes person, you can find all my titles listed here.  Just make sure you get the correct “Simon Wood” books.  While there are a number of my foreign language titles, please note that I am not the author of the German BDSM erotica…that’s some other guy…really it is.  🙂

My Simon Janus titles are also on iTunes here.

Any questions or issues, let me know. Also, feel free to share with others. I won’t stop you.

I hope you can support me. Thanks!

POSTSCRIPT: Apple have made one of their never-ending updates and unfortunately, my author page no longer shows all my titles although they are on the site. Just to confirm, my titles on iTunes are: DID NOT FINISH, HALF-INCHED, HOT SEAT, THE FALL GUY, FAST CRIMES, WORKING STIFFS, CRESTFALLEN, LOWLIFES & SHORT SHARP SHOCKS. You can find direct links on “BOOK” pages of this website.

Categories: Uncategorized

Read more

My ebooks are now appearing on Kobo (my English and French titles). Essentially, they’re a competitor to Kindle and Nook. To get some momentum with them I need a few good people to buy them. That’s where you come in, but it’ll hardly cost you’re a penny…well, kinda.

They have an offer going at the moment. When you spend $5.01, they’ll give you $5 off first order. I’d love it if you’d take advantage of their offer and you can get a couple of my books for less than a dollar while helping me cement my position with Kobo. All my books are listed here. (including some of my French titles):

Just make sure you get the “Simon Wood” books as there are a couple that aren’t by me.  Any questions or issues, let me know.  Also, feel free to share with others. I won’t stop you.

I hope you can support me.  Thanks!

Categories: Uncategorized

Read more

T’is the season and I have a couple of early Christmas presents in the shape of a couple of bargain books.  Here they are and I hope you jingle all the way to bookstore.

ACCIDENTS WAITING TO HAPPEN: Someone is out to kill Josh Michaels. An SUV runs him off the road and into a river. As his car goes down, the SUV’s driver watches only to calmly give him the “thumbs down.” This is only the first of the attempts. With his time—and maybe his luck—running out and no one willing to believe him, Josh had better figure out who wants him dead and why…before it’s too late.

Just $1.99 at Amazon.

NO SHOW: Englishman Terry Sheffield has just arrived in San Francisco to start his new life with Sarah, the investigative journalist he married after a transatlantic love affair. But Sarah never shows up at the airport… When Terry reports his wife as missing, the police chalk it up to a new bride with cold feet. Then one murdered woman after another turns up, all with something in common: they had exposed scandals just before their deaths…and their names appear on a list that Sarah composed. As a journalist, Sarah’s exposed her share of scandals, and Terry realizes that she’s not missing—she’s on the run. To find her before the killer does, Terry must explore the dark recesses of his new homeland and rely on the help of some new friends. But as his search brings him closer to finding Sarah, Terry realizes she’s very different from the woman he thought he married.

Just $1.99 at Amazon.

TERMINATED: Gwen Farris crossed the wrong coworker when she gave Stephen Tarbell a poor evaluation. That was all it took to push Tarbell over the edge. He already believes Gwen stole the promotion that was rightfully his. He won’t let her take anything else from him. Now it’s his turn to take…and take. By the time he’s finished with her, Tarbell plans to take her job, her family—even her life.

Just $1.99 at Amazon.

Categories: shelf life

Read more