....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:
