JO. B. CREATIVE

Author & Multi-Disciplinary Artist

Friday 25 August 2023

BUT IS ALIAS JEANNIE DELANEY - BOOK 1 - GO WEST, GIRL! ANY GOOD?



The first book of this epic western trilogy, Alias Jeannie Delaney - Book 1 - Go West, Girl! is now available on Amazon. This is the life story of a devastating & charismatic pants-wearing cowgirl who's the fastest gun in the west and bisexual. A crack shot story that blazes across the wild west!

It all feels a bit surreal at the moment. I'm delighted! I've got fans! And a lot of people have bought Alias Jeannie Delaney - Book 1 - Go West, Girl! and some have sent me their photos with the novel! Thank you so much for all this! 

                                     

                                     

😄  So tell you what - if you're reading this and have bought the novel, take a selfie with the book (or your tablet) send it to me and I'll feature it on here. That could be fun! Also tell all your friends about it. 



ON MY BOOKSHELF,
NEXT TO DAUGHTER'S NOVELS!


REVIEWS


Yee-hah! I'm enjoying this soooo much! Not just because of the story but also because of the quality of the writing, and the loving detail put into it. Clearly a lot of research - Kit Mackenzie writes as though she's actually been there. I so enjoyed reading the novel in detail, and relishing the nuances of the fab writing. Rereading it and absorbing the world and the atmosphere she's created. It's a terrific story with strong characters (to put it mildly!) and a powerful arc.

YouTube video trailer.
https://youtu.be/50nD0cruN5E

Oh blimey! - just watched the video trailer, and my goodness Kit MacKenzie does know how to captive an audience ... (Never seen anything like it. Terrific!:-)
CAROLINE, CORNWALL UK


I'm just reading the preview at the moment, it's great! I just love kit Mackenzie's descriptions of where Jeannie is, so atmospheric 😌 I've got to chapter 12 and loving it! A fascinating angle .
ANNE, WEST SUSSEX, UK


I'm already deep in Chapter 1 of the book and loving it!
JANA, USA.


I am loving the book so far !! Good on my phone too as had long break yesterday and Jeannie and her Dad are so happy to be moving West !!
This novel is a refreshing change from the usual western. Easy to read and I'm thoroughly enjoying it!
PHILIPPA, HAMPSHIRE, UK


Finally, a brilliant review from Booksprout!

A unique western read. Five stars.
This is a different take on a western and I really enjoyed it. Jeannie is an independent woman focused on living her life on her terms before it was socially acceptable to do so. It is well written and entertaining!


I've had a lot of feedback, and all extremely positive. My readers ('my readers' - love it!) are really enjoying the story and the fact that it's a western with a female protagonist and written from a completely different perspective. 

Again I'm delighted, and immensely relieved! For years I worked on this thing, not knowing whether it was any good or not. Then hubby read it and told me that it was good, a bit like after God created the earth and liked it. Whether or not he (hubby, not God) personally liked it was not the point. He's been reading avidly since he was a kid, is classically educated so knows his stuff and knows a good story from a mediocre one. He told me to keep going. So I did. 

But I only had his word for it that it was any good. Finally, long after our decision to self-publish on Amazon, we sent a synopsis to a professional editor. She loved the whole idea. The first time a professional had positively endorsed the story. I was over the big yellow planet that had been bombarded with meteors forever and is now covered in big craters and mountains that hangs in the sky on a clear night. We hired the editor and she read the first book. She loved my writing and loved the whole story. 

We were aware that editors can be pretty brutal and return physical manuscripts (in days of old) covered in red ink amendments. These days virtual manuscripts are returned on your screen with black amendments and suggestions in the margins and it's a whole lot more complicated than it used to be. I was so pleased that there weren't nearly as many amendments as I was expecting. 

After making the changes came the decision regarding the cover design. Yeah, yeah, yeah I wanted to design and create the cover myself, just to prove I could do it and to be able to say: 'Yes, I wrote the whole thing and created the cover artwork myself. Aren't I clever?' Well, yes. Yes I created a design, and it was good. Hubby took the cover artwork away with him when he travelled up to Warwickshire to do a bit of boat maintenance on Dotterel, our narrow boat, and mull over the design. On his return he suggested - bravely - that  it wasn't really up to standard. He honestly thought I was going to a) hit him. b) yell at him. c) have hysterics. He's used to all of that. All at once. Really? Oh god. I hate that. 🙄 That's what depression and anxiety can do to you. 

Anyway, the long and the short of it was that I calmly agreed with him. He was a little astonished that I was so calm about it. You see - I can be like that. Anyway we hired our designer, who took my ideas and polished off a fabulous cover artwork. We loved it! The result was brilliant. So you can thank hubby for that! 

Weeks and weeks and weeks and weeks later  hubby pressed the 'Go' button on Amazon and 'Bing!' I was published and launched. Then we had to wait. Oh crikey. I've spent my life waiting with bated breath (a nervous and excited state anticipating what will happen, so Google tells me) to see what would happen. 

It happened. Loads of messages and contacts from people everywhere on Facebook who bought the novel and are loving it! A five star review on Booksprout! 

I'm now marketing like a marketeer on speed and I don't mind marketing. An interesting challenge. I know that out of the umpteen zillion promotional Gmails I send to lgbtq and feminist reading clubs and groups and libraries, one of two might reply. A library in Canada, I think it was, replied saying that they would check the novel out with a view to adding it to their reading list! 😲

I know the novel is a niche within a niche (lgbtq and a western) which can make things awkward to sell, but so far so brilliant. Even the graphic adult juicy bits aren't putting people off. 'Tastefully done.' I'm told. That's good. 

I'm a bit up and down. Delighted then 'Aw...'. It's to be expected. Breathing and balance, I'm told. Breathe in, breathe out... And balance. Go snorkeling. Do some artwork. A long walk. I walked almost eight miles the other day. I was knackered and crackered but fine. Physically good. That's all it takes. 

So, best foot forward and all that. 🦶...













Alias Jeannie Delaney - Book 1 - Go West, Girl! 
Video Trailer


















Posted by at
Labels: , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)