Tag: book bloggers

Happy 1 year hedgehogversary!

Jessica Redland AuthorLeave a comment

I’m celebrating a very exciting 1st book birthday today because it’s not just a book that was born but a series. Happy 1 year anniversary to the first book in the Hedgehog Hollow series, Finding Love at Hedgehog Hollow.

I was nervous about the publication of this book on 2nd July last year because, until that point, every book I’d written was set in the fictional North Yorkshire seaside town of Whitsborough Bay. I knew readers loved that setting but it didn’t right for Hedgehog Hollow. I wanted my hedgehog rescue centre to be in a countryside rather than a coastal setting. I only hoped my Whitsborough Bay readers wouldn’t mind the change.

The great news is they didn’t. Phew! In fact, the series has hooked in a huge number of new readers who were drawn in by the hedgehogs. Many of them have then gone on to read the Whitsborough Bay books too which is lovely.

When I first decided to set a book in a hedgehog rescue centre, I imagined it as a standalone story. Silly me. I should have learned by now that I don’t think that way. I nearly always think bigger than a single plotline and manage to introduce a cast of characters, each of whom has their own story to tell and, before I know it, I have a sequel or a series on my hands. Hedgehog Hollow was no different.

In the first book, we meet my heroine Samantha and find out how she came to be the owner of Hedgehog Hollow. The hedgehog rescue centre doesn’t open until the end of the first book so it definitely needed a sequel to see her taking in lots of gorgeous rescue hedgehogs. But it would just be two books. Definitely. Although…

As I wrote book 2, New Arrivals at Hedgehog Hollow, (which came out in January this year) more stories emerged and there was no way I could end it at book two without ever telling them.

Family Secrets at Hedgehog Hollow was published in May this year telling one of those stories but there are plenty more to come. There will definitely be five plus a prequel. There may be six. There could be more! Some characters won’t have a book focusing on them because much of their backstory has come out in other books and I would only ever make a person a focus of a book if I feel that there is a good story to be told and a good story would not be regurgitating what the readers already know. For example, I don’t see Samantha’s mum Debs as a focus because readers already know a lot about her past *pauses as readers cheer because nobody likes Debs*

I wrote the first three books in the series back to back. I also worked on the edits for some of my backlist books in the midst of that, preparing them for re-publication through Boldwood Books. After writing book 3, it was time to take a break from Hedgehog Hollow as Whitsborough Bay was calling. Over the past few months, I’ve been writing Snowflakes Over The Starfish Café which is set just outside Whitsborough Bay. This will be out on 31st August and, true to form, there’s more than one story to tell. It will definitely have a sequel but it may become a trilogy.

It was good to have a break from Hedgehog Hollow but oh so lovely to return to the farm and my friends for book 4. I’m partway through writing A Wedding at Hedgehog Hollow which is out on 6th January 2022 but available for pre-order now.

I get so many messages and comments on social media from readers telling me they can’t bear the wait for book 4 and I need to write faster! This is exceptionally flattering, knowing that readers are clamouring to find out what happens next. That might have something to do with the unexpected cliffhanger I dropped at the end of Family Secrets at Hedgehog Hollow. The thing is, it can take readers a day (or less) to read a book but it takes just a smidge longer than that for an author to write one so I’m afraid there has to be a bit of a wait between books. Really sorry to those who are waiting patiently … or not so patiently! Don’t they say that all good things come to those who wait?

I love this series so much. I can vividly picture myself at the farm, sitting on Thomas’s bench, looking out over the wildflower meadow sowed by Thomas and Gwendoline with the farm cat Misty Blue draped across my knee. Every time I write a scene there, I can almost smell the flowers, hear the buzz of bees, feel the gentle breeze kissing my cheeks. It’s so tranquil. I keep telling my husband that I want to live in the real Hedgehog Hollow. Need a Netflix deal before that would ever be financially possible!

I’m so exceptionally proud of how well those hedgehogs have done in finding a place in readers’ hearts. The three books so far have sold over 120,000 units combined (i.e. a copy in any format) in the space of only a year and Finding Love at Hedgehog Hollow is on its way to being the first of my individual books to join Boldwood’s 100k Club and will hopefully be there in the next few months. Go hedgehogs go! 

The hedgehogs have scampered into the UK Kindle Top 100 for all three books, with Finding Love at Hedgehog Hollow peaking at #31 and they’ve had some impressive positions on the Apple Chart with an amazing #2 for New Arrivals, Top 10 in Australia and New Zealand and Top 100 in the USA. The latter is especially impressive when there are no wild hedgehogs in the USA! Family Secrets also stormed the Apple chart with #5 in the UK and Top 200 in the USA.

But the thing I am most proud of is the reviews they’ve gathered and it is so fitting on the book birthday of the series that I am close to celebrating another milestone. Family Secrets at Hedgehog Hollow is just 15 shy of received 2000 ratings/reviews on Amazon and it hasn’t even been out for two months yet (released on 4th May). Hopefully it will even hit that milestone by the two-month anniversary.

I’ve never experienced anything like this. At the time of writing this, Finding Love at Hedgehog Hollow (book 1) has 2,291 reviews and New Arrivals at Hedgehog Hollow has 2,724 with a 4.7/4.6/4.7 average rating across them. Wow! The love is definitely there for the hedgehogs.

So as the hedgehogs and I party and celebrate one year of this new series, we would like to thank everyone who has made all of these achievements possible. In no particular order as everyone is extremely important in this list:

  • Readers and listeners without whom I wouldn’t be able to keep doing this. You are absolutely amazing
  • Bloggers and reviewers who have been on the blog tours or independently shared their kind words about the series
  • The gorgeous community on Redland’s Readers, my Facebook group for those who love my stories. You can join Redland’s Readers here if you’re a fan and want to immerse yourself in the worlds of Whitsborough Bay and Hedgehog Hollow
  • The lovely readers and admins on The Friendly Book Community and Heidi Swain and Friends – two gorgeously friendly Facebook book groups – for recommending and sharing the love for my books. Click on the names to link to those groups
  • The team at Boldwood Books, particularly my amazing editor Nia for her insightful feedback and her encouragement
  • The authors at #TeamBoldwood for their support
  • Emma Swan, James Dryden and Lucy Browhill for their amazing narration and ISIS Audio and Ulverscroft for the production and distribution of the audio versions
  • My tribe – the wonderful Write Romantics and the other talented authors out there who champion my work
  • My mum who is my number 1 fan and an absolute star
  • My Auntie Gwen, a hedgehog rescuer, for providing the inspiration in the first place
  • All the amazing rescue centres whether large scale or small around the country for the incredible work you do in helping protect these gorgeous creatures

If you haven’t already dived into the world of Hedgehog Hollow, the hedgehogs are waiting to welcome you. You can buy in a stack of formats – eBook for Apple, Kindle, Kobo, Nook, paperback, hardback (only book 2 and 3 at the moment), large print, audio and streaming via Spotify. And if you’re still not sure, here’s a couple of quotes from reviews, including ones from the audio version…

Big hedgehugs
Jessica xx

Thank you to everyone who joined the blog tour for New Arrivals at Hedgehog Hollow

Jessica Redland Author1 Comment

Yesterday saw the final day of the blog tour for New Arrivals at Hedgehog Hollow. With 36 stops over 12 days, it was epic and I certainly felt a lot of love for those hedgehogs.

I must start by thanking my publisher, Boldwood Books, for sending each new release on a blog tour and to the fabulous Rachel Gilbey of Rachel’s Random Resources for organising it. You are a star, Rachel.

Finding Love at Hedgehog Hollow – the first book in the series – had been on a tour in July 2020 and had been extremely well received. I was a little nervous … okay, make that extremely nervous … as to whether book two would have the same positive response. There were several familiar bloggers on the tour but also some newbies to my books. They were offered the opportunity to read book 1 as well if they wanted to catch up. Some did but most didn’t although thankfully it didn’t appear to harm the review. I personally would recommend reading the full series in order but there is a catch-up and a cast of characters at the start of book 2 to get the reader up to speed or to remind them if there’s been a gap between reading both books. This went down very well.

I’ve posted below the names of the review sites and linked each to their review if anyone (mum) wants to read some of them but I thought I’d pick out a handful of quotes which stood out to me. This doesn’t mean I didn’t love so much of what other bloggers said because I absolutely did. All the reviews gave me a warm and fuzzy glow and I could easily have included a quote from everyone who took part.

Some bloggers give a rating out of 5 and others don’t. Of those who don’t, some post a review on Amazon which has to be accompanied by a rating so I’ve been able to fill in some. I was delighted to have 20 x 5-star reviews and 6 x 4-star ones. There was only one 3-star where the reviewer wrote about loving my writing but marked it down because she drew two messages from the book which she personally disagreed with. They are themes but they aren’t actually the messages in the book – exactly the opposite in fact – but everyone takes something different away from a read based on their own personal circumstances and principles and one of my New Year’s writing resolutions is not to let negative reviews upset me. Still got quite a bit of work to do on that one!

Anyway, here are a selection of gorgeous comments. I emphasise again that I could easily have had one from every single review so, if you did take part and a quote from your review isn’t below, please don’t read anything into it!

Being Anne: “The author always creates the most wonderful living and breathing characters. The exchanges between them – the nice and the not-so-nice – are so excellent, with that quality of conversations you’re allowed to overhear and be part of, always something I particularly enjoy about the author’s books”

Wendy Reads Books: “Drama, family relationships and love are intertwined with the hedgehog rescue in this brilliant, charming story. I can’t wait for the next instalment”

Ginger Book Geek: “To say that I enjoyed this book is a massive understatement.  I ADORED reading ‘New Arrivals At Hedgehog Hollow… superbly written … reading one of Jessica’s books is more like a chat between friends rather than reading an actual book. … Jessica has a way of making me feel as though I am part of the story and that’s all thanks to her very realistic and vivid storytelling”

This Hannah Reads: “Jessica Redland is fast becoming a top author for me and an automatic buy when I see a new book by her! … I absolutely loved this book and it left with me a warm fuzzy feeling”

Mama Bear’s Book Hour: “As with the previous books of Jessica’s that I have read, this one was well written, easy to digest and knows how to tug your heartstrings. And I mean, mine got tugged so hard, it’s going to take a week of rom com binging to fix them. All the characters, and I mean every single character you meet, feels like a real person or reminds you of your neighbour down the street. I would move to Whitsborough or its surrounding areas if I could. It sounds delightful”

Ceri’s Little Blog: “This author seems to be an expert in showcasing realism, romance and domestic drama… My only regret after reading this book is that I finished it so quickly and it’s taken me so long to read something by this author! … I have absolutely loved this one and would recommend it to all women’s fiction fans. I would rate this author up there with some of my all time faves, including Milly Johnson, Holly Martin, Mary Jayne Baker and Lucy Diamond”

Breakfast at Shelby’s: “Jessica Redland really does not disappoint with her stories, they are absolutely phenomenal and she really does have the power and talent within her writing to have you feeling every type of emotion. Her characters are always wonderfully developed and the settings, especially Hedgehog Hollow, are an absolute comfort to be in”

Reading Girl Reviews: “Heartwarming, cozy, and downright realistic when it comes to family drama, this truly is one of the best series I have read in a very long time. I laughed, I got angry, I cried, and my heart melted all while reading this book”

Tizi’s Book Review: “I adored the first part, so I kind of feared that this story wouldn’t fulfil my expectations, but the author managed again to break my heart, healed it again, made me swoon, made me smile, made my cry, made me angry and in the end, just made me utterly happy… oh yes, and made me love hedgehogs even a little bit more!”

Little Miss Book Lover 87: “I adore Jess Redland, this is an author that you absolutely know will not disappoint. This book has been no different… The story itself is also absolutely gorgeous and has left me with a huge smile. I have devoured this book in just one sitting… this book might possibly be my new favourite favourite”

Love the Smell of a Book: “This series is a true masterpiece it is full of love and forgiveness as well as being a hive of information about hedgehogs… I picked up this book just a couple of days ago and I flew through it as Sammie & Josh are such great characters it’s like the book is constantly calling for me to pick it up and keep reading. I love the books that leave you missing them as you weren’t ready to finish them and this story is definitely one of those”

An absolutely enormous THANK YOU to everyone who took the time to read New Arrivals at Hedgehog Hollow and to share their views. I’m so delighted that so many of you have expressed excitement for book 3 – Family Secrets at Hedgehog Hollow – which will be out on 4th May.

All three books are/will be available on eBook for Kindle, Kobo and Apple, as paperbacks, physical audio, audio download, large print format and via streaming services. Here’s the links on Amazon if you’re interested:

Finding Love at Hedgehog Hollow
New Arrivals at Hedgehog Hollow
Family Secrets at Hedgehog Hollow

Big hugs
Jessica xx

The book bloggers with links to their review:

Day 1 – Being Anne / Me and My Books / Karenandherbooks (Instagram)
Day 2 – Wendyreadsbooks (Instagram) / Books, Life and Everything / Ginger Book Geek
Day 3 – This Hannah Reads / Emma’s Things to Read / Mama Bear’s Book Hour
Day 4 – Reading Tonic / Ceri’s Little Blog / Lisa’s Reading
Day 5 – Lis Carey’s Library / Mrs Brown’s Books / Bookish Jottings
Day 6 – The Cozy Pages / Nicki’s Book Blog / Karen Reads and Recommends
Day 7 – Book Escapes with BabsW67 / Breakfast at Shelby’s / JenJenReviews
Day 8 – Jane Hunt Writer / Reading Girl Reviews / Audio Killed the Bookmark
Day 9 – Damsel in the Bookland / The Review Crew / Eatwell2015
Day 10 – Coffee and Kindle Book Reviews / Two Ladies and a Book (Instagram) / Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers
Day 11 – Tizi’s Book Review / From Under the Duvet / Donnasbookblog
Day 12 – Little Miss Book Lover 87 / Splashes Into Books / Love the Smell of a Book

The one where Boldwood Books are celebrating one year of publishing

Jessica Redland Author2 Comments

Author Shareable Twitter

Boldwood Books, my amazing publishers, are celebrating the one-year anniversary of their first published book and what a year it’s been for Boldwood as a publisher and for me personally as one of their authors.

They shared a graphic on their social media this morning which I’ve shamelessly stolen, summarising an amazing year:

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I was the 5th author to be published with The Secret to Happiness released on 3rd September 2019. My re-edited ‘Welcome to Whitsborough Bay’ series came out in the first quarter of the year and Finding Love at Hedgehog Hollow – the start of a new series – came out last month. Six of those 59 titles published are therefore mine. Greedy, aren’t I?

I’ve had such an amazing first year as a Boldwood author.

I’ve gone from languishing in the charts and failing to make an impact to being a Top 10 international bestseller… Woo hoo!!!! All of my books have been in the UK Kindle Top 200 with two of them entering the Top 100. Just yesterday, New Beginnings at Seaside Blooms (which has been in the Top 100 since the start of May, peaking at #14) and Finding Love at Hedgehog Hollow were in the Top 100 at the same time which was lovely. Five titles have been in the Top 30 on the AppleBooks chart and the other – Making Wishes at Bay View – only didn’t make it quite that high because it was on a free offer and #1 in the free chart.

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I’ve gone from days and days of zero sales to… well, watch this space as I should have an announcement about that next week when July’s sales figures are in. Eek! It’s something I could never, ever have dreamed I’d achieve until I joined Boldwood.

IMG_8440I’ve gone from having my titles in eBook only… to 9 formats. Wow! You’re going to ask me to name them all, aren’t you? Argh! I think it’s eBook on 3 platforms (Kindle, Kobo, AppleBooks), paperback, large print, audio MP3, audio CD, digital audio and one more format that I know about but there’s not been an official announcement yet so I’d better not say just yet). The Secret to Happiness has appeared in The Works stores around the UK and online and it is always a dream to hold (and sniff and stroke) your own paperback. It’s not just me. I promise. We all do it!

I’ve gone from having a demanding day job… to being a full-time author and I could not be happier to be able to spend my days chatting to my fictional friends and making stuff up. And procrastinating a bit on social media. Okay, procrastinating a lot! Although I did write 80k words of my second Hedgehog Hollow book since leaving the day job so I’ve got my head down too.

I’ve gone from feeling like a failure… to feeling like a real author who isn’t just wasting their time slapping a few words on a computer and hoping somebody will read them. If anyone asked me what I do, I’d always say I work in HR (true) and only occasionally add in an embarrassed voice that I also write books. Why? Because I dreaded the next question: Would I have heard of you? Cringe! Er, no. Only my mum has! Or the classic: I’d love to write a book… if only I had the time! (As if to suggest that I clearly had loads of spare time on my hands!) Or the glazed-over eyes/disinterest/disbelief and swift change of subject.

Now, I proudly declare I’m an author – or I did before Covid turned me into more of a hermit than usual – while trying to push that pain in the backside, Imposter Syndrome, back in his box. Ooh, he’s a little tinker.

Now, readers get in touch with me to say they’ve loved my work. Now, other authors ask me to read and endorse their books. I have to pinch myself every time these things happen and wonder if they’ve got the right person!

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So on Boldwood’s 1-year publication anniversary, my thanks go to so many people who have changed my life over the past year:

  • Boldwood Books for inviting me into their fold and believing in me – Amanda, Nia, Caroline, Sarah, Megan and Ellie (and welcome Emily!)
  • Our audio partners, Isis Audio, and Ulverscroft who run the uLibrary App and produce our large print books. Your work is fabulous and my audios, voiced by Lucy Brownhill and Emma Swan are brilliant
  • My superb, passionate, talented and lovely editor, Nia Beynon, whose support and advice I value so highly
  • My fellow Boldwood authors for being such a supportive community
  • My husband, Mark, and our daughter, Ashleigh, for being amazing and never moaning about the crazy hours I had to work trying to balance a day job with writing
  • My mum for being my number one fan!
  • The amazing book blogger community, some of whom have been with me since my debut release. You are such amazing champions of my work and I appreciate all your kind words and promotion so much
  • Any of my family and friends who’ve read/reviewed/promoted my books. You know who you are and I’m so very grateful
  • My writing bestie and super-talented fellow author, Sharon Booth, for tea, cake, advice, encouragement and sympathy
  • My other Write Romantic buddies for being there with virtual hugs during hard times and congratulations during the good
  • The Beverley Chapter of the RNA who are so much fun to be around. So glad we’ve managed to keep our meetings going virtually
  • A whole host of authors, some of whom I’ve met, some of whom I only ‘know’ virtually who’ve been so supportive and encouraging
  • And last, but absolutely not least, all you lovely readers. Boldwood say they’d be nothing without their authors and I’d be nothing without my readers. You are absolute stars, every one of you

If I had some cake, I’d be tucking into it right now but, instead, I’ll take a sip of Diet Pepsi (I so know how to party!) and toast Boldwood Books and their team of amazing authors.

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If you’re an author, Boldwood are currently closed for submissions but will be open again later in the year. I cannot recommend them enough as a home for your books so do follow them on social media and watch out for news.

Big hugs

Jessica xx

 

 

The one where I thank all the bookbloggers who joined Hedgehog Hollow’s blog tour

Jessica Redland Author7 Comments

Finding Love at Hedgehog Hollow Full Tour Banner

The blog tour for the publication of Finding Love at Hedgehog Hollow has just finished and what an epic tour it has been. Across 13 days, there have been a whopping 37 stops.  36 of the bloggers gave reviews and one provided an extract only. What fabulous exposure!

 

Those damn nerves…

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Image by Mirko Sajkov from Pixabay

It’s exciting but also a little nerve-wracking when one of my books goes on a blog tour. The dream is that every single participant has loved it, waxes lyrical about how amazing it is and insists that everyone simply must read it. The reality is that there will be mixed opinion because we don’t all like the same things. I just have to hope that those who don’t love it don’t hate it either.

When I see the names of familiar bloggers on the schedule, there’s a momentary feeling of relief – they’ve loved my other books so they’re bound to love this one – followed by panic – what if they think this is the one where I’ve lost my touch and they say it’s okay but not a patch on xxxxx?

When I see the names of new-to-my-books bloggers on the schedule, there’s a mixture of hope – they could become a new ‘fan’ with a huge following who highly recommends my book and reads my back catalogue – followed by that panic once more – what if they regret trying a different author and they don’t like my voice or what I write?

So there I am with this fission of nerves, waiting for the first review to come in. Please let the first one be a nice one! With all this turmoil, who’d be an author, eh?

 

Did they like it?

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Image by autumnsgoddess0 from Pixabay

Overwhelmingly yes. Phew!

Not all bloggers give ratings. On this tour, 21 (60%) of the 36 reviews included one and they were all positive with the majority at the top end:

  • 14 x 5-star (66.5%)
  • 1 x 4.5 star (5%)
  • 6 x 4-star (28.5%)

 

What did they think of the main character?

A consensus was that everyone loved the main character, Samantha, and were rooting for her right from the start of the book. I love Samantha. She’s a genuinely kind and caring person but she is taken advantage of for this. I worked hard on developing a rounded, realistic character and was conscious that I didn’t want her to come across as a complete pushover who could not stand up for herself. I was thrilled that nobody saw her that way and understood that the problems lay with those around her rather than Samantha being weak. If they wanted to shout at someone, it was those who used her rather than Samantha.

Another common thread was the love for Samantha’s relationship with Thomas, the owner of dilapidated farm Hedgehog Hollow. I love creating inter-generational relationships. I first did this with Callie and Ruby in Making Wishes at Bay View and it was such a pleasure to create a very different relationship between Sam and Thomas but with a similar age gap.

 

What did they think of the antagonist(s) (baddies)?

Most books will have one or more antagonists – the person(s) who make the hero’s journey difficult. This could be a deceitful partner, an ex, a sibling, a parent, a bully, a friend, their boss, a neighbour…. the possibilities go on and on. This is reflective of real life where we simply cannot get on with everyone but some relationships affect us more negatively or hinder our growth more than others.

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Image by Tom und Nicki Löschner from Pixabay

I loved how passionate some of the bloggers became about Samantha’s family – specifically the female members – and my absolute favourite quote ever comes from Ginger Book Geek who called them ‘numpties’ (one of my favourite words) and said she wanted to give them ‘a darn good slap with a wet flip flop’. I actually laughed out loud when I read that.

I was particularly nervous about how bloggers would react to how Sam’s family treated her because I had a couple of scathing comments about this over on NetGalley including a reviewer who gave the book 3-stars and wrote, ‘I devoured this book but honestly the relationship between Sam and her mum was so painful to read about that I cannot recommend this as an escapist read… I would remove [that plot line]… disgusted me… can’t rate higher due to the nastiness’. Eek and ouch! Hence my nerves ahead of the blog tour.

The thing is, Sam couldn’t have gone on the journey she went on without those ‘baddies’. The story wouldn’t have been the story. And then I’d have received criticism for it being bland or nothing happening.

Also, fiction is based on reality and, sadly, the reality is that there are people out there who behave like Sam’s family. I know we would all love the world to be a happy place where everyone is kind and tolerant and considerate. But they aren’t. Family feuds and toxic relationships exist and a couple of bloggers proved this by sharing personal insights into how they could relate to Sam’s plight based on difficult relationships with their own families. For those in this situation, I send you my best wishes.

Despite a couple of other negative comments about the toxic relationships on NetGalley, the bloggers on the tour seemed to understand the whole premise of the story: that sometimes blood is not thicker than water, that the real meaning of ‘family’ can be found in unexpected places, and that sometimes there are people in your life who don’t deserve to be and being kind can mean being kind to yourself by walking away from those who continually bring you down.

 

What about the romance?

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Image by Ben Kerckx from Pixabay

The title of the book ‘Finding Love…’ relates to so many aspects of this story and it’s not just about a romantic love; it’s about loving your family, your friends, and yourself.

I like to mix up the way I tell my stories. Some of them are very much driven by the romance such as New Beginnings at Seaside Blooms whereas other stories are much more about friendships and/or family such as The Secret to Happiness and Finding Love at Hedgehog Hollow. There will always be a romance story but it’s not always the main premise.

On the tour, one blogger thought the romance was ‘a little shoehorned in’ and the book could have done without it but thankfully most loved the romance and felt it rightly took a back seat while the other themes had the opportunity to shine.

 

Were they reaching for the tissues?

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Image by Alexas_Fotos from Pixabay

It was fascinating to read how emotional bloggers found the book. I sobbed my heart out while writing a few of the scenes but I confess that I’m a sobber. Everything makes me cry! Would others have the same reaction to Finding Love at Hedgehog Hollow?

It seems it certainly did draw on the emotions from bringing a tear to the reader’s eye to them crying rivers with comments such as ‘this book just hit me hard in the feelings’ (Books and Bookends), ‘I laughed, I cried, I felt like I was there’ (Reading Girl Reviews) and the most gorgeous accolade from Book Reviews by Shalini who called me the ‘queen of hearts’ – ‘the story unfolded so brilliantly that at times my heart shattered into a million pieces where each piece was laden with so many emotions that I didn’t know where one began and the other ended’. Hugs to you, Shalini ❤

 

And did they love the hedgehogs?

Yes, overwhelmingly the hedgehogs were a hit. Which is just as well because the next two books in the series will have LOADS of hogs in them.

 

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Image by Ryan McGuire from Pixabay

Thank you so much…

Thank you to everyone who participated in the tour. It goes without saying that I love reading the reviews where it’s the dream I described earlier – you’ve loved my work, you wax lyrical about how amazing it is and recommend it to all your followers. Anyone who has described it as a ‘page-turner’ and/or stated ‘I couldn’t put it down’ – including the fabulous anecdote from Yvonne at Me and My Books who wrote ‘I started it as I got in the bath, 2 hours later I decided I really need to get out the bath! I then got dry, warmed up in PJs and finished reading the book, it was that good!’ – has filled my heart with joy.

As I said at the start, we don’t all like the same things and I equally value the opinion of those who have liked but not loved my work. I find it most helpful when there’s a reason given for this because I don’t think writers ever stop learning. If something is raised by one blogger on a 37-stop tour, I’m going to put it down to personal tastes. If something is raised by several bloggers, then this gives me something to think about in future books.

In my previous job as a trainer and coach, there was a saying, ‘feedback is a gift.’ That might sound a bit cheesy but I do agree with the sentiment. The gift is one of learning and, as a writer, I can only continue to improve if I continue to learn.

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Image by Michael Schwarzenberger from Pixabay

Here’s the rub…

The thing about gifts is that some are thoughtfully packaged in shiny paper with a pretty bow and presented to the recipient with care and, even if the gift inside may not be exactly what the recipient might have hoped for, the recipient still feels the kindness and the overall experience is positive.

Other gifts are poorly-wrapped in barely-stuck-together newspaper or not wrapped at all and are tossed towards the recipient like a hand grenade.

I’m fortunate that I’ve received 37 beautifully-packaged gifts on the blog tour for Finding Love at Hedgehog Hollow for which I am ever so grateful. And very relieved!

Thank you to everyone who has shared their reviews on Twitter, Insta and/or Facebook and RT’d those that others have shared, helping spread the word.

And my final thank you goes to my amazing publisher Boldwood Books and Rachel Gilbey of Rachel’s Random Resources for organising and executing such an amazing tour. I’ve worked with Rachel on several blog tours as an indie writer and was absolutely delighted when Boldwood engaged with her to deliver all the BW author tours. She is brilliant at it!

I look forward to seeing what my next (now full) blog tour brings – a joint one for the refreshed re-released Christmas at Carly’s Cupcakes and Starry Skies Over The Chocolate Pot Cafe starting 8th September when Starry Skies is released.

Big hugs

Jessica xx

You can buy Finding Love at Hedgehog Hollow on Amazon here. It’s also available via AppleBooks and Kobo and is out in audio, paperback, eBook and large print formats.

THANK YOU:
Rachel’s Random Resources – find her website here
Boldwood Books – find their website here

And all these bloggers who participated in the tour (hyperlinked to their review):
Being Anne
Portobello Book Blog
Books and Bookends
Brmaycock’s Book Blog
From Under the Duvet
Donna’s Book Blog
Two Ladies and a Book
Shalini’s Book & Reviews
Bookish Jottings
Books, Life and Everything
Tizzy’s Book Review
Love the Smell of a Book
Jane Hunt Writer
The Cozy Pages
Emma’s Things to Read
Lu Reviews Books
Afternoon Bookery
Reviews in Heels
Carla Loves to Read
Jess Bookish Life
Lilac Mills
Coffee and Kindle Book Reviews
Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers
Audio Killed the Bookmark
On the Shelf Reviews
Ana’s Column
JenJen Reviews
Book Reviews by Satabdi
Kraftireader
Splashes Into Books
Just Katherine
Ginger Book Geek
Books Are Cool
Me and My Books
Reading Girl Reviews
Dash Fan Book Reviews
Jessica Belmont

 

 

The one where I have 9 bestseller flags on Amazon – Eeeeekkkk!!!!

Jessica Redland Author2 Comments

Good morning and welcome to a beautiful Friday. The sun is shining, the birds are singing and it’s nearly the weekend. Yay!

I have just had the most delicious start to the day. I’m sure I’m not the only author who logs into Amazon and AppleBooks first thing to have a quick check chart positions and I was astonished and thrilled to see the most #1 Best Seller flags I’ve ever had on Amazon. Ooh, I love that little orange flag. When books are uploaded for sale, they are allocated to 2-3 categories based on the content of the book and the flag appears when the book makes it to #1 in that particular category.

Don’t they look pretty? (The 9th one is further down the page)

Out of all my books, only Christmas at Carly’s Cupcakes and Charlee and the Chocolate Shop haven’t got best seller flags first thing but the only reason for that is that they’re in the same categories as Christmas at the Chocolate Pot Cafe which does so they can’t all have one! They are, however, numbers 2 and 3 in that chart and therefore would be #1 if one of my books wasn’t already in that slot. So can I pretend that’s 11 flags? Hmm. Maybe pushing it a bit far with that.

Screenshot 2020-06-26 at 09.43.42

Screenshot 2020-06-26 at 09.46.37I’m particularly thrilled to see Finding Love at Hedgehog Hollow displaying an orange flag as it’s only on pre-order, out next week on 2nd July. And I’m even more thrilled to see Starry Skies Over the Chocolate Pot Cafe with a flag. This is a re-edited and much longer version of Christmas at the Chocolate Pot Cafe and is also available for pre-order now, out on 8th September. The original version will disappear from sale on 1st July.

Thank you so very, very much to anyone who has bought or borrowed any of my books, left a review, recommended them to friends/family and to anyone in the blogging community who has loved them and spread the word. This could not happen without you all and I’m so incredibly grateful.

Big hugs

Jessica xx