Things I Should Have Said and Done?

....And don't we all have a list of regrets?

Intrigued by the title I am delighted to welcome author Colette McCormick to tell us a little about the premise of her new book and the process of self-publishing it. 

And I am particularly pleased that she has accepted my lazy approach and agreed to interview herself!  

After all, she knows the right questions to ask!

Colette was born and raised in Sheffield but now lives in North East England. She has had a wide range of jobs from ledger clerk to school dinner lady and lots of things in between but in 2001 she found her calling in the world of charity retail. After working for CR UK for 10 years she now works for Barnardo’s and while it’s a job that she loves, writing is her real passion. When she is not working or writing there is a good chance you will find Colette, baking, gardening or walking the dog in the beautiful countryside that Co Durham has to offer. She has been married almost forty years and has two grown up sons. 

Colette: What made you decide to self publish Things I Should Have Said and Done?  Hasn't it already had its chance?

CMc: Personally, I love this story and not just because I wrote it but I don’t feel like it was given a real chance to reach its full potential the first time around. I’m not blaming anyone for that, it’s just the way it was. I think that I was quite naïve about the way that publishing worked and I assumed that there would be someone doing the promotion for me. As it turned out there wasn’t and it was pretty much left up to me but I had no experience of that sort of thing and so the book didn’t get the exposure it should have. I hope this time around I can do it better. If nothing else, it’s getting a blog tour.

Colette: Can you give us a feel for the book in three sentences?

CMc: No-one wanted Ellen to die, least of all herself. The book is about what happens to her and her family in the months following her death. It is a story of love and life after death.

Colette: Have you changed anything from the original edition?

CMc: Only the cover. I almost changed a few things but, in the end felt like I would be changing things for the sake of it. I was happy with the book as it was and it has received some really good reviews so in the end, I decided to keep it the same. I received an email from someone thanking me and saying that the book had helped them after their mother had died so that seemed reason enough to leave it well alone. However, about the one change that I did make, I think that the cover is much better this time around.

Colette: How did you find the process of self-publishing?

CMc: A lot easier than I feared. Getting it formatted correctly was a bit of a chore and the first half a dozen times it wasn’t right but when it finally looked the way that I wanted it to I was so happy – and relieved. Once the book is uploaded it’s a case of setting a price and choosing when to publish. I’m under no illusion though and I think that the real work starts now with promotion.

Colette: Do you intend to publish the rest of your books?

CMc: That’s the plan but there’s no schedule for it yet.

THINGS I SHOULD HAVE SAID OR DONE 

‘It is only after death that life can be fully understood.’

 Ellen’s life is over in an instant when a drunk driver comes out of nowhere and hits the car that she is driving.

She never knew what hit her.

But Ellen in only young, she isn’t ready to die and there are loose ends to tie up before she can move ‘beyond the light.’ Luckily she isn’t alone, she has George to look after her. He’s new to the job and his methods aren’t exactly orthodox but together they set about dealing with Ellen’s issues.

There is Marc, the man that Ellen still loves. She watches him struggle with life as a single parent as she herself struggles with the realisation that Marc needs to move on without her. There is Naomi, the child that Ellen left behind, the child that becomes Ellen’s link to those that still live. And there is her mother whose life is falling apart.

Ellen looks for ways to help and with George constantly at her side she learns that even though she is dead, she is not helpless. There are things that she can so from beyond the grave to influence what happened in the world that she left behind.

No-one ever said that being dead was easy.

Thank you Colette, that has really whetted my appetite.  I wish you all the luck in the world and hope that this time your book has the chance to reach a wider public. 

To contact Colette: 

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