Blog archive
Every post from Saskia van der Zee's Substack, mirrored here in full: the writing and indie-publishing story behind The Shropshire Mysteries.
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On procrastination…
Over five months ago I began recording the audiobook of my second Shropshire Mystery, Death by Relic. I’d enjoyed recording the first one and was looking forward to the second. For some reason, though, I failed to make it a priority and it seemed to take ages. I was using…
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Caer Caradoc
If you’ve never visited the hillfort of Caer Caradoc near Church Stretton, prepare yourself for an invigorating climb and stunning views. And weather. It is always windy up on the top and last time we were there we had sleet, rain, hail and sunshine. All along with wind that at…
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Being Your Own First Believer
This is something I’ve always struggled with as a writer. But in the past two days I have aced it. Smashed it. Seized the bull by the horns, gone for it, and any other clichés I can get my hands on. Yesterday, on the way to the swimming pool (which is in Church Stretton, the…
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A Real Live Author
A little follow-up to yesterday’s piece. Today I delivered some books to my local bookshop (yep, the one with the purchase order!) I always deliver by hand as, apart from anything else, it’s a good way of keeping up relationships. The first time, I felt intensely nervous in a…
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Morning thoughts...
Dear Blog, A short one today. Last week I wrote about the pressure on authors, particularly indies, to achieve more. To hit the bestseller lists with every launch, to become that mythical six-figure author. About how those spam scam emails sent by people desperate to give my…
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The daily grind of spam and scam author emails...
This morning I received five emails from people who claimed that they could transform my book sales. The day before four. The day before three. Until a couple of weeks ago, I was averaging about one a day. Now, the numbers have trebled. Some of these are deliberate scams. The…
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A Good Crime...
Last night I watched the opening episode of a new TV crime drama. It set me wondering. Where does our seemingly insatiable appetite for crime fiction spring from? (Somewhere in my mental grammar database is the rule that you should never end a sentence with a preposition but I…
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Green shoots
Dear Blog, I know that’s not your real name but I like to feel that I am writing to someone instead of just spilling words into the ether. I am excited! And excited when I thought I might feel a little anticlimactic and sad. When I began my Shropshire Mysteries, I planned to…
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From evening to morning writer...
Many writers and writing gurus will tell you that true writers get up and do their best writing first thing in the morning, before anyone else is up. This has always made me feel inadequate. I have always been an evening writer. In my previous life, I was a teacher and had to…