The fifth volume in my Skilled Investigators series is ‘live’ on Smashwords and Amazon.
In this volume, Genef, the female elf trainee detective, and her elf mentor Rath have been sent undercover to the neighbouring human kingdom of Norveria to investigate the murder of an elf. They find more murders, abductions and violence. They make friends with human Officers, and meet prejudice against elves on their road trip. Scratch stays in The Kingdom initially (after all, a dragon can’t exactly go undercover) but later visits his family in the mountains near the capital of Norveria and helps to solve the case and arrest the criminals. There’s a map of The Kingdom and Norveria under the Skilled Investigators tab here on my WordPress site.
I’m feeling quite pleased that the formatting and uploading needed for self publishing are becoming easier every time I have a new book out. I reckon I’ll be expert just as I run out of plots!
The series will finish in the next and final volume which I’m currently writing. It’s called The River and takes newly qualified Genef back to her home village where Scratch finds himself investigating kidnapping and murder under Genef’s supervision. I’m not quite half way through but I’ve already created the cover… (I find Photoshop a great distraction that helps me procrastinate!!!)
Sales are not going well. I think the books cross too many genres and I find them hard to market properly. I happen to like fantasy, dragons, female detectives, murder mysteries, elves, a sub plot with a gentle mm romance and general alien/fantasy world building. That doesn’t mean the series will appeal to many readers! I think when I have the six books published I’ll make a ‘box set’ of ebooks, change the blurb, tags and pricing and start marketing all over again. Any advice welcome!
Jay's World 