Barbara Copperthwaite is not only a talented writer, but one of the loveliest people you could want to meet so I’m thrilled she’s back on Linda’s Book Bag with a guest post to celebrate a year since the publication of Flowers For The Dead. I interviewed Barbara here so you can see for yourself just what she’s like! Flowers For The Dead is available for purchase in e-book and paperback here.

Today Barbara is telling us all about the way Flowers For The Dead has been received over the last year and how she still worries.

Flowers For The Dead

ADAM WILL DO ANYTHING TO MAKE YOU HAPPY. EVEN IF IT KILLS YOU.

Adam Bourne is a serial killer who thinks he is a saviour. When he murders young women and cuts off their lips, he believes he has done it to make them happy.

How did he become warped from the sensitive four-year-old who adored his gran and the fairy tales she read to him? What turned him into a monster who stalks his victims? And what is he trying to say with the bouquets he sends?

When he meets Laura Weir, Adam weaves a fairy tale romance around them. A tale she has no idea she is part of. As he hatches his twisted plan for their fairy tale ending, can anyone stop him before he creates the ultimate sacrifice to love?

Conquering the Fear

A Guest Post by Barbara Copperthwaite

Twelve months ago I self-published my second psychological crime novel, Flowers For The Dead. I was so horribly nervous, and terrified that it would sink without trace.

I had thought that my second novel would be less terrifying, but it seemed that the fear was greater. Last time I had nothing to prove, but I had something to live up to, thanks to my first novel, Invisible, becoming an Amazon Top Ten bestseller (Kindle Murder). I counted myself as exceptionally lucky for that success, as I had heard the terrible tales of how most self-published authors sell fewer than 100 books; that they sink without trace never to be heard of again; that they haunt the echoing annals of Amazon forever, forced to carry clanking chains (okay, I made the last bit up, but you get the picture).

After dodging the bullet (and chains) first time, surely it was too much to expect the same again…

Of course, I loved Flowers For The Dead. I had spent long months living and breathing the characters, making them as rounded and realistic as possible. Creating a story that is both chilling and extreme, yet also plausible in the real world. I had wanted to write a tale that was a little thought-provoking, that played with readers’ expectations, that was different. But the problem with different is that other people simply may not ‘get’ it.

With those fears rattling in my mind, I nervously sent it into the world, while worrying like hell what the reaction would be.

It got off to an incredible start. The day before publication, the Sunday Mirror featured a review of Flowers For The Dead. What’s more, they made it their “Choice Read” of the week – picking it over global bestselling authors Lee Child and Jane Shemilt. Oh my goodness!

Thanks to that auspicious beginning, Flowers For The Dead rocketed straight into the Top Twenty of the Psychological Thriller chart on Amazon, and became the site’s Number 1 Mover & Shaker, which was very exciting! At Christmas I was given the best present when it sat at number 24 in the ENTIRE Kindle Paid For Chart (and Number 3 in the Murder chart).

Since then, Flowers For The Dead has continued to do well, and I’ve been overwhelmed by the way people have taken the main character, Adam, into their hearts. The comment I hear most frequently is: “I never thought I’d feel sympathy for a serial killer!” Readers love that the novel is a unique take on crime fiction, unlike anything they’ve read before.

It seems that my fears people wouldn’t ‘get’ Flowers For The Dead was unfounded, thank goodness.

Of course, now I have the same fears over my next book, Dying Light, which I recently finished. And I’ve no doubt I will be same about the one after that, and the one after that, and… But right now, I’m celebrating a wonderful year of Flowers For The Dead – and looking forward to many more. Thank you to EVERYONE who has bought my book or supported me through tweets, Facebook messages, reviews, and kind words. It means a lot!

About Barbara Copperthwaite

Before turning to full time fiction writing Barbara Copperthwaite was a journalist and editor. She took voluntary redundancy and hasn’t looked back. Barbara likes writing gritty fiction with a human heart. When she isn’t writing, you’ll often find her taking photos of the natural world.

You can find out more about Barbara by visiting her website and following her on Twitter. You’ll also find her on Facebook.

Invisible

Barbara’s novel Invisible is available for purchase in e-book and paperback here.

THERE’S ONE VICTIM OF CRIME NO ONE NOTICES…
Something is wrong. With her marriage, with her husband, with her. But as she pours her heart out to her diary, it’s clear she doesn’t know what.

Until one explosive night she finds a possible answer.

Suddenly hated and vilified by everyone, she clings to her relationship – even while wondering if she really knows her husband at all…

Invisible is a stunningly powerful, gripping and original psychological thriller of subtle insight that takes you on a twisted journey through one woman’s marriage.

You can find out more about Barbara’s book birthday with these other bloggers: