Photography and book design for DECEPTION

For most of the morning and early afternoon, my partner and I were trudging through my childhood woodlands; capturing pictures for the cover of my new book, DECEPTION. It was good fun, and a great opportunity to explore the woods once again after all these years. Not only that, the book is based in those exact woodlands, so it was good to see the iconic scenes from DECEPTION.

Who’s that weirdo in the woods?

We got some great shots, and it’s looking very likely that one of the photos we took will be making the book cover for DECEPTION. I have to thank my wonderful models April and her cute springer spaniel Bella – they looked the part and took my (bossy) instructions very well; even when they were forced to walk back and forth numerous times. 

Hard at work, setting the scene – this photo makes me realise I need a haircut

I spent most the afternoon editing the photos we snapped today, and there is great potential for many of the photos to make the cover. 

As well as the book cover, there’s a lot of work to do yet before DECEPTION is released. The book itself is coming along nicely – I’m well into the second edit with my editor and have to say, it sounds great; I really have high hopes for this book. 


Find out more about me and my books by browsing through my blog

New dark fantasy story ‘Alive’ free to download ALL weekend

You will be aware that my brand new short story ‘Alive‘ is available to download from Amazon on Kindle/eBook; and because it’s new, and because I want everyone to read it, I have made it completely free for this weekend. Starting from today and lasting till late Sunday and early Monday morning, you can download my new book for FREE. In return, I would love it if you reviewed Alive on Amazon, Goodreads, on your blog and even shared it amongst your friends and followers on your social media pages.

Find out more about my new dark fantasy story Alive by checking back to my previous post Check out my short dark fantasy story ‘Alive’, or even by going over to it on Amazon. Dark fantasy is a new genre for me, but I really like this short story. It’s full of mystery, it’s dark and most of all, it’s creepy.

Download Alive today onto your Kindle without paying a single penny.

Alive ebook cover

 

Short story ‘Alive’ – coming soon

I am happy to announce that I will be releasing my short story, ‘Alive’, exclusively to Amazon on eBook format very, very soon. Keep an eye out for its release – it could be within the next few days!

‘For nearly a year now I have been living a lie. My husband and two daughters believe that I am dead. No one can know our secret.’

New dark fantasy short story ‘Alive’, coming soon!

Free eBooks for the Bank Holiday Weekend

My books Endurance, Endurance: Apocalypse and The Author will be free to download from Amazon Saturday 28th, Sunday 29th and Monday 30th.

Hi everyone,

A quick post from me this morning. I thought I would let all of you know that my books Endurance, Endurance: Apocalypse and The Author are all free to download from Amazon this weekend. So if you have a Kindle and you fancy a thrilling and unpredictable read this three day bank holiday weekend, you can rely on my books to keep you entertained. My books will be free to download from Amazon Saturday 28th, Sunday 29th and Monday 30th.

If you’re looking for a fast-paced, action-packed, unpredictable and gory dystopian book series, then this would be a great opportunity to begin my book series The Endurance Series (Endurance (1) and Endurance: Apocalypse (2)).

If you want to begin a mysterious and unique ‘book within a book’ thriller novel, then please do take the opportunity to download The Author.

Click the book titles below to download them from Amazon on eBook format

Endurance

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Endurance: Apocalypse

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The Author

The Author front cover

To read the synopsis of my novels, please continue to ‘Books by T. J. Blake‘.

Enjoy the Bank Holiday Weekend

Are you looking for an unpredictable dystopian book series?

If you’re a reader who enjoys an unpredictable, fast-paced, blood curdling and gory novel, then you’ll love getting yourself into my twisted apocalyptic dystopian book series, The Endurance Series.

So far in my book series, there have been two short novels; Endurance and Endurance: Apocalypse. Both books are short and fast, but most especially are capable of drawing you in and propelling you into the London chaos.

What is The Endurance Series about? 

Endurance (2013)

‘London is silent. Severed bodies lie amongst the rubble. What once was a lively city is a now a murderous grave, enclosed in smoke and ash. The cause of the destruction is unknown. Left haunted and terrified, survivor Tom Williams confronts the brutal, mutilated streets as he fights to uncover the truth. Could he be the last hope to restore normality?’

getBook.at/B00E8Q9QCU

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Endurance: Apocalypse (2014) – SYNOPSIS BELOW COULD CONTAIN MINOR SPOILERS

London is intolerable; the infected dominate the ravaged streets. Miller has gained full control and takes advantage of his authority, experimenting with the virus in an attempt to form a new superhuman army.

“Danni entered the station, the breeze was the only sound, eerily howling through the underground; the station was deserted. She ran up the escalators and stood at the top of Waterloo station. Staring along the station she saw corpses scattered across the ground. Splattered and smudged blood decorated Waterloo.”

getBook.at/B00Q57MIOI

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This book series is a three part book series, the last book Endurance: Recovery is due for release in 2017.

Catching up with T. J. Blake – latest articles and creative pieces

Sorry that I’ve been a neglectful blogger recently, but I’ve had a busy few weeks. After bagging myself a new job (which I start on Monday – woop!), I’ve been finishing up with my then current (now former) employer, editing my next thriller DECEPTION, and of course, been preparing for Monday.

Anyway, to the point of this speedy post, I thought I would just give you the titles and links to my latest articles and creative pieces; which I’ve added to my blog T. J. Blake #Author the past few months.

So, below are my latest blog posts, articles and general writing material.

About me

Why did I choose to self-publish?

Articles

How has technology affected the relation between speech and writing?

Overuse of the exclamation mark: You’re having a laugh!!!! A little strict?!!

Creative Writing

Flash Fiction

Poem Attempts

Short Story Nightmare

Illusory Waters

 

Please have a read of my latest material. Feel free to comment with your opinion, and please do share 🙂

‘DECEPTION – a love of lies’ synopsis

DECEPTION synopsis revealed – Please take a moment to read the DECEPTION synopsis, and feel free to let T. J. Blake know what you think by continuing to his blog ‘T. J. Blake # Author’.

Happy Easter weekend everyone!

I had some aims for this Bank Holiday weekend, and it’s fair to say I have most definitely achieved a lot of them (thankfully!). Below is my ever so strict check-list.

Easter Bank Holiday weekend check-list

  • Complete first draft of DECEPTION – CHECK
  • Complete synopsis of DECEPTION – CHECK
  • Complete first edit of DECEPTION – I’m working on it!

As I said on my Twitter and Facebook pages earlier today, I will be revealing the synopsis for my next novel DECEPTION – a love of lies in a moment… actually, now!

DECEPTION has been in the works for well over a year now, and I’m very happy to allow you all the opportunity to read the official synopsis for my new thriller novel. Please take a moment to read the DECEPTION synopsis, and feel free to let me know what you think. I hope you like it!

DECEPTION – a love of lies (synopsis)

“Through the stark and leafless trees, I see her.

I remember the first day I saw her; an instant attraction. I think she’s beautiful. She has such pensive blue eyes that remind me of a blue sky, right before the sun descends. Every time I see her I want to talk to her, I want to get to know her, and I want to be her friend.
She usually completes the lower woodland walk in six minutes and forty-two seconds; she misses the deeper woodlands and goes home, I believe.

I walk down the road at the same speed as her. She reaches the crossroads at the bottom of the road, looks both ways, and then jogs across into the garden of a house. I stop walking and concentrate on which house is hers.

I can’t stare too long but I am intrigued already, I will come back.”

DECEPTION, coming in the summer of 2016!

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Six hours of writing this Sunday! 

Since 2pm this afternoon, I have been writing my new novel DECEPTION. I was writing for 6/7 hours!

In this time, I was able to finish Chapter 28 and get started on Ch. 29.

Ch. 28 was an exhausting chapter to write – filled with twists, dark revelations and most of all, deep and emotional conversations for the two main characters involved.


Now, after today’s progress, I’m so close to completing the first draft of DECEPTION; I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I’m extremely excited to get this book finished and published for you all to finally read. It’s been well over a year now, since I started working on DECEPTION (formerly The Dog Walk) for my Creative Writing dissertation. I’m extremely hopeful about my fourth book, and I’m really looking forward to everyone experiencing this thrilling, creepy and dark journey.

Keep an eye out over the coming months for updates on DECEPTION – I’m aiming for it to be released in the Summer of 2016. A good read for your holidays!

Why did I choose to self-publish?

It’s been three years (on the 28th of March) since I self-published my first novel Endurance.  I remember working on it whilst at university, and I most of all remember having doubts about self-publishing Endurance – mostly because there was a niggling fear of what people would say or think about me for doing it.

I personally love the freedom of self-publishing, even though it does require some more work – who am I kidding, some? A LOT more work.

I believe new writers should try their luck with self-publishing; mainly to engage with readers, create a following and allow people to review your work and help adapt you as a writer. From my experience, encouraging people to read your stories is the key part to self-publishing; even if you give them the book for free

Covering: What are the benefits of self-publishing? & Self-Publishing on Createspace

Source: Why did I choose to self-publish?

How time flies – why did I choose to self-publish?

How time flies – why did I choose to self-publish?
Time. It’s a funny thing. We have so much of it, but we still don’t always take advantage of it.
This blog post is just a quick post about why I chose to self-publish and how it’s changed me.

It’s been three years (on the 28th of March) since I self-published my first novel Endurance

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I remember working on it whilst at university, and I most of all remember having doubts about self-publishing Endurance – mostly because there was a niggling fear of what people would say or think about me for doing it. Once I adapted a hardness and carelessness for what people would say about me, my decision was made. The decision though even after that wasn’t simple, because then I needed to consider whether to self-publish Endurance after an edit, or to finish Endurance and then just see if I could get the story published.

However, when I thought about it, I knew that would be a challenge for anyone, let alone a nineteen year old university student. In the end, I thought ‘you know what? fuck it, I’m going to give it a go’ and decided to start my self-publishing career as T. J. Blake.
‘Why?’ I here you ask; because firstly, I could, but secondly, I wanted to see what people thought of my writing. I had a slight idea of what people thought of my work, because of my Creative Writing and English Language studies, but I wanted to know what more people thought; more than my family or my peers. This is exactly what self-publishing has done for me, it’s given me a great amount of experience, a huge boost in confidence and now I’m ready to self-publish more.

So here I am, nearly three years later with three books self-published, and a fourth & fifth in the works, I’m very happy with my writing progress.

Having self-published two out of three books from The Endurance Series (Endurance Endurance: Apocalypse) and standalone novel The Author, I can proudly say that I am looking forward to self-publishing my fourth novel DECEPTION, the finale of The Endurance Series (Endurance 3) and the many more books and book series to follow.

If you want to find out more about my books, then feel free to continue to ‘Books by T. J. Blake‘ or continue to my Amazon author page or even my Goodreads author page.

Endurance: Apocalypse - Out Now!                                          the-author-front-cover2

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