This May I am releasing a new novel entitled Love vs Honour.

It is available to pre-order from Amazon (see link below).

Love vs Honour is a novel I wrote almost ten years ago and have sat on for some time, for reasons I will explain in subsequent posts.

It exists entirely outside of my usual genres; being neither a thriller, nor science fiction, horror, or a children’s adventure, but a young adult romantic drama aimed primarily at the Fault in our Stars demographic (although it isn’t about life-threatening illness). It will, I suspect, also be appreciated by grown-up readers, or anyone who enjoys a gripping, provocative drama.

Here is the blurb from the back of the book:

Two Religions. Two Deceptions. One Love.

From the author of Children of the Folded Valley…

When Johnny meets and falls in love with Sabina, their bond proves stronger than a teenage holiday fling.

Fearing the disapproval of their strict Christian and Islamic families, they undertake an elaborate deception to continue seeing one another. Johnny pretends to convert to Islam whilst Sabina pretends to covert to Christianity to appease their parents.

But how long can this deception last before it unravels?

Love vs Honour is released on the 31^st May on Kindle. Pre-order your copy now!

Print copies will be available from the 7^th of June.

For five days only, you can download my debut novel, Uncle Flynn, absolutely free from Amazon.

Uncle Flynn was received very positively. On the surface it is a properly old-fashioned treasure hunt adventure, but it contains underlying themes about overcoming fear and the dangers of mollycoddling. The book is dedicated to my eldest son, and was largely inspired by our many excursions over Dartmoor, as well as a bit of local history.

Here is the blurb from the back of Uncle Flynn:

When timid eleven year old Max Bradley embarks on a hunt for buried treasure on Dartmoor with his mysterious Uncle Flynn, he discovers he is braver than he thought.

Together they decipher clues, find a hidden map and explore secret tunnels in their search. But with both police and rival treasure hunters on their tail, Max begins to wonder if his uncle is all he seems…

Here are some reviews:

“Harking back to the wonderful adventure stories of Arthur Ransome, Uncle Flynn is a welcome return to the excitement of outdoor exploits in wild surroundings. Excitement, tension and peril combine in a well-written tale where The Goonies meets Swallows and Amazons. The evocative descriptions of treasure seeking on Dartmoor will have you longing to visit and explore for yourselves. Action-packed puzzle-solving pleasure for children and adults alike, with a neat twist in the tale to keep you guessing.”

Mrs Alice R Brewer.

“A treasure for all ages. Kids and teenagers would love this fast-paced adventure story. Most adults would also find it a light and enjoyable read.”

B Fraley, Amazon.

“Really enjoyed this book. Had read Folded Valley and thought I would try this by the same author. Kept me reading well past my bedtime.”

Simon Smith, Amazon.

“Don’t pass this one by. I have been burning through the free NOOKbooks and this is the absolute BEST. Doesn’t matter what type of fiction you like to read, I can imagine this would capture just about anyone’s attention – and heart.”

willreadanything, Barnes and Noble.

“Could not put the book down, so enjoyed the journey. Recommended it to my 12 year old grandson who now wants me to be his book reading adviser. Loved by three generations.”

Brinney, Barnes and Noble.

“What a wonderful book for young readers and anyone else who loves a book with a great twist on an amazing story of courage over fear.”

Beansie47, Barnes and Noble.

“I’m an 83 year old woman. Your book was a joy to me. I felt I was having all the adventures myself at this ripe old age. Your book was like a cold drink of water on a hot day. Thank you.”

Joan McLaughlin, commenting on the Uncle Flynn blog.

“I downloaded the book for my boys to read, and thought I’d just read the first few lines… Needless to say I read to the end! Well written and most enjoyable – great adventure with life lessons woven into the story.”

Cecile Weyers, commenting on the Uncle Flynn blog.

If you prefer print copies, they can be ordered here (but are not free, sadly): http://www.lulu.com/shop/simon-dillon/uncle-flynn/paperback/product-21165126.html

One simple fact any writer has to face is that you cannot please all people all the time. Often the very reasons one person loves your work is the reason another hates it. The important thing is to provoke reactions.

That said, no matter how thick skinned writers claim to be, or how much bravado they put across, bad reviews can be seriously discouraging. How then do I deal with this?

Fortunately, I have not yet been in a position where any of my novels are universally or near universally reviled. I can imagine such an occurrence would be deeply disheartening. For the most part, reaction to my work has been overwhelmingly positive. Such a good/bad ratio means it is very easy to dismiss bad reviews with a “can’t please everyone” shrug.

Yet some bad reviews have actually proved instructive, either to confirm that I succeeded in my goals (eg, when reviewing a horror story if someone says “I hated this book because it was too scary”), or to legitimately highlight areas I can improve.

Ultimately a review is simply an opinion, but it is very gratifying when a large amount of opinion is positive. My novel Children of the Folded Valley has almost entirely five and four star reviews on Amazon, and clearly the majority of readers have really embraced the novel.

But if you click on the link below, you will note that despite such apparent success, there are still a couple of bad reviews.

So how do I handle bad reviews? Depending on what they are saying and why, I either am discouraged or encouraged. I either disregard them, or see (sometimes through gritted teeth) where valid points have been made. They can hurt, but they can also be vitally important.

In short, they should not automatically be dismissed.

Every writer desires that their work will somehow affect the reader, getting under their skin as it were. In fact, sometimes bad reviews are preferable to good ones if the writing has made the reader frightened, sad, angry, offended, or otherwise provoked them in some way.

Occasionally I read reviews of my work that clearly demonstrate I have achieved this with a particular reader. For example, here is a review from an Amazon reader, David MacGuire, reviewing my novel Children of the Folded Valley.

“I generally review only the books that I really love or hate passionately. I neither hate nor love the book, it has its flaws, but the story has stuck with me. This is a good, original story. The concept and characters are engaging and appealing. There are places where the writing gets a little thin, but I hope to see many more books by this author. It has a happy ending, of sorts, and yet left me profoundly depressed. I think it was that the author hit it right on the head; even in a perfect paradise, people are going to be perfect s***s to each other, given half a chance. Even so I recommend it.”

Mr MacGuire’s review sounds as though he is still struggling to figure out what he really felt about the novel, which I am pleased about because it demonstrates the story got to him. I am not ashamed to admit that reviews like this provide great encouragement, so thank you David MacGuire.

Children of the Folded Valley is available to download for Kindle (see below link):

Print copies are available from Lulu.com: http://www.lulu.com/shop/simon-dillon/children-of-the-folded-valley/paperback/product-21836029.html