After much deliberation, I’ve decided that I’m not going to be releasing my second book “Twin” next month as planned.

This may be bad news for those of you who have contacted me after reading “Gifted” to find out when the sequel would be available (and thank you so much – your interest and support really does mean the world to me) but it honestly is for good reason.

I’ve learnt some valuable lessons since I released “Gifted” back in 2011, the main one being that despite best laid plans, life always has a way of intervening. That’s why the release date for “Twin” has been subject to more delays than the British Rail network. Now, “Twin” is actually finished and I could rush through the rest of the editing and stick it out there for the reading public, but as I’ve said in previous posts, it’s not going to be up to scratch. Added to that, if I’m lucky enough to have “Twin” generate as much interest from readers as “Gifted” did, then will come the burning question of when will the third book “Nemesis” be released?

And that’s where things get complicated.

I recently got a promotion of sorts in my “real” job (yeah the 9 to 5 that actually pays the mortage and keeps me in shoes, not the one in my imagination where I’m a mega successful hybrid of Enid Blyton and Stephen King) which is good news in some respects, but not so good for my writing aspirations. Because promotion also equals EXAMS. And ASSIGNMENTS. And – urgh, I hate to say it – STUDYING.

So for the next 12 months, the most exciting thing I’m going to be writing is 20,000 words on the importance of risk analysis and international financial regulation regimes and I highly doubt anyone is going to want to read THAT.

In a nutshell, this means that writing what I actually WANT to write (and you hopefully want to read!) is going to have to take a bit of a back seat and if I released “Twin” as planned, there could end up being quite a wait for the conclusion.

But this got me to thinking about the series as a whole. Looking back on “Gifted” now, I can see for myself loads of things that I could improve about it and I now also have the benefit of feedback from you, the readers. So instead of rushing out “Twin” and then leaving readers hanging for the last book, I’m going to take a bit of a time out.

BUT come September when the dreaded exams are done and dusted (assuming there are no re-sits necessary!) I will be back on the writing wagon with a vengeance!

The plan will then be to release all 3 books (including a revised edition of “Gifted”, although not so dramatically that you need to re-read it to follow the next two) so there will be no waiting to see what happens, plot quirks perfected and no ropey editing! Bazinga!

Thanks so much for the support you have shown “Gifted” and I hope that, when it is finally out there, you will find that the completed Evangeline Devine series is deserving of the wait.

And in the meantime, as always 

Happy Reading! 🙂

I’ve had a flurry of queries recently as to when “Twin” – the second book of The Evangeline Devine Series – is going to be released. I need to extend a really big apology in this regard. When I started writing “Twin” back in August 2012, the story was so clear in my head I was sure that it would take me under a year to write. So, full of foolhardy optimism, when asked when the sequel to “Gifted” would be released, I said Spring 2013. Hmmm…….well, maybe if the world had stopped turning for nine months, laundry had learnt to how to wash itself and I’d successfully mastered the art of cloning so that my cyber double could have gone to work for me, I would have hit that Spring deadline. And I tried – I really did. But I soon realised that I was rushing through writing “Twin” to get it out on time, but by doing so, all I was going to achieve was writing a book that wasn’t all it could be. And I don’t want to be the author of a half assed story any more than you want to be the reader of one.

So I stopped stressing about release dates and went back to investing quality writing time in “Twin” instead of cramming in hurried, panicked scribblings whenever I could. And I’m pleased to now be able to say – I’m done. “Twin” is now finished. It’s not ready for release just yet, I’m still proof reading, editing and tweaking bits and bobs, but it will be out before the end of 2013. I’ll post the actual release date on here nearer the time, but in the meantime, thanks so much for your interest and support and as always

Happy Reading!

Annalise 🙂

The Evangeline Devine Series #1 – "Gifted" – Now only 99p on Amazon!.

“Gifted” is now only 99p on Amazon.co.uk and $0.99 on Amazon.com

Download your copy now if you haven’t already read it!

Look out for “Twin”, the second installment of The Evangeline Devine Series, due for release on 31 October 2013.

As always, all reviews, be they good, bad or ugly, are greatly appreciated by the author.

What recent reviewers had to say about “Gifted”:

“Seriously, this is a good book. It draws you in, keeps the pace and encourages you to care about the characters. It’s well-written and has all the elements that a YA novel needs; strong, young protagonists that have something to lose – and to gain – and presented in such a fashion as to appeal to the target audience.” (Fluffy Socks)

“Even though this book is aimed at young adults (which I’m definitely not) I loved it. The book had me hooked from the first page to the last. I loved the characters and will certainly be reading the second instalment.” (Suzy J)

“I’m an avid reader, and so far this year four books have stood out as being difficult to put down. Gifted was one, The Hunger Games trilogy were the others. And that’s some pretty fine company to be in.” (OLT)

So that was what they thought…… what will your opinion be?

Happy reading 🙂

A heart weighed down with guilt can be too heavy a burden for even the strongest soul…..

Teenage clairvoyant Evie is a survivor. She’s survived a near fatal drowning accident, reconciled herself with her unwelcome ability to communicate with the dead and been shoved off a cliff by a seductive but sociopathic killer. She’s even come to terms with the fact that, thanks to an ancient prophecy of which she is an unwilling but intrinsic part, her future may never truly be of her own choosing.

But some obstacles in life are not so easy to overcome.  The irrational and unshakeable guilt that has plagued her since unearthing her family’s long buried secret – the death of her infant twin sister Rose – festers inside Evie, diminishing her spirit more than any other adversity she has faced.

So when, on the night of her eighteenth birthday, Rose’s spirit appears to Evie as her mirror image and offers Evie a risky yet beguiling way of assuaging herself of the torment she feels over Rose’s death, Evie wrestles with her conscience and loses.

She knows she shouldn’t do it. She knows there’s too much at stake. But some decisions still get to be hers – right?

But are Rose’s motives as genuine as she claims?

Or will Evie discover that the true cost of retribution is too high a price – and will she be the only one to pay? 

“Twin” – coming as soon as my ironing pile allows (which should be sometime around the end of March!)

In the meantime……………

Happy Reading!

Annalise 🙂

Thanks so much to Reagan of YA Book Bridges for reading and reviewing “Gifted” – hopefully she will have more to say on the sequel “Twin” when it is released in 2013.

Check out her review and the rest of her blog here:

http://wp.me/p1VfGf-jG

REVIEW: Always leery of self-published books that are immediately ebooks, this review was accepted with misgivings; however, Hulse’s debut turns out to be a pleasant surprise. There are few editing mistakes which are typical in self-pubbed ebooks and the writing is impressive.

But…on to the meat of the issue. The main character and the other characters’ stories are what really drives this book. Evie is confident, if even headstrong, and readers will admire her pluck. Her shining qualities are her loyalty and dedication to sincerity. The interesting thing is that while she never says something she doesn’t truly mean, that doesn’t mean that she’s always truthful. It’s difficult to create a character with principles who is also human but Hulse has accomplished just that. Seth is a loyal friend to Evie but his own story isn’t glossed over and readers will feel Seth’s struggle clearly as a subtle compliment to Evie’s conflict. Piers, too, is a fully fleshed-out character and Hulse does a great job of making the reader feel just as pulled toward Piers as is Evie. It is also refreshing to see parents play an actual role in the story. So many times characters’ parents are marginalized as uninvolved or struggling with their own demons in order to give the adolescent main character free reign. Hulse manages to capture the right balance between parents who are involved and in tune with their child while allowing interactions between characters to take place in realistic, sans-parents settings.

The plot itself is a treat. Hulse infuses a tired, talking-to-the-dead scenario with twists and turns that make it fun to read. Every time it seems the ending is predictable, Hulse throws in another twist that makes readers rethink their predictions. Ultimately, the plot is not so different than other paranormal romances but Hulse is able to craft the story in such a way that it never seems tired or cliche.

Hulse is one to watch and with three more installments in the Evangeline Devine series, there is much to look forward to with this author. Much like her small but spunky home of Jersey, Hulse is an ebook author who packs a punch. Teen fans of paranormal romance should definitely include this series on their To-Be-Read lists.

A big thank you to Charlene of Bookish Whimsy blog spot for taking the time to read and review my debut novel “Gifted”, the first installment of The Evangeline Devine Series.

See what Charlene thought of it here:

http://bookishwhimsy.blogspot.com/

Review:
The characters the author creates are incredibly vivid and relatable. I found myself tearing up over many poignant scenes and stories that Evie has to hear. I think this is because the author sets up the background and the lives of the characters so well, that their emotion comes through so strongly. I was very impressed by how much interest there was in the stories of the ghosts that passed on.

The mystery aspect of the novel was in some ways predictable, but in most ways surprising. I loved the building of tension over the two most suspicious characters – I was almost constantly switching back and forth over who I thought was guilty. The resolution of the mystery though was perfect and I could see it was really the obvious answer.

The romance in the novel was a little overstated at times for my taste, and felt a little contrived, especially with the way they two were kept apart. It’s a very sweet romance though, and the characters, as the author does so well, were extremely well-realized. This book sets up a bigger story-line that involves the main characters needing to use their powers to combat evil in some way, and I think this novel is a great set up for the rest of the series!

To be the first to see the cover of “Twin”, the sequel to “Gifted” and the second installment of The Evangeline Devine Series, just follow the link below…

Twin Cover

So there it is… the finished product. Well, the cover anyway. As for the book itself…. that’s a different story (if you’ll pardon the terrible pun). As I’ve told many of you who have kindly contacted me directly regarding the “Twin” release date, I was aiming to be done by December, but realistically, I just don’t think this is going to happen.

I’ve been working really hard on “Twin”, but the other day it struck me; I think I’ve actually been trying a bit too hard. Because I’ve been so keen to meet my own self-imposed deadline, I’m in serious danger of rushing it. And as much as I don’t want to let anybody down, I think that’s exactly what I’ll end up doing if I keep on steaming towards that December deadline. And the result is going to be a sub-standard product. I don’t want to release “Twin” until it is absolutely the best that it is within my capabilities for it to be. To do that would be letting myself down and, more importantly, it would be letting you down, the readers who have supported me so far.

“Gifted” was my first novel and it’s taught me a few valuable lessons. When it was done, I was so excited about it that in hindsight, I think I probably released it too quickly. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t change anything about the story, but as some reviewers have pointed out (and rightly so), the editing is less than perfect, the result of which is that it is now undergoing some lengthy and rather painful proof-reading before its release in print.

I don’t want to make the same mistake with “Twin” and realistically, there is just no way that it is going to be finished, re-drafted and thoroughly edited in nine weeks time, especially as during that period, I also have to make the several hundred amendments to “Gifted” and promote its launch in print (plus all the usual family, work and life stuff.)

So, although I’m so grateful that so many of you are waiting for “Twin”, it’s not going to be out until the first few months of 2013. I really really hope that you bear with me and understand my reasons for this, but I just don’t think that its the right thing to dash off a mediocre product and call it good. Someone once said writing a good book is a marathon, not a race. They sure weren’t kidding.

But in the meantime, “Gifted” is still out there (and will soon be in a format that you can actually hold in your hot little hands) and as I mentioned in my last post, for the month of September (at least) all proceeds from the sale of “Gifted” are going to three cancer charities in memory of my good friend and colleague Roy, who died last month. Please do help to support this worthy cause.

Thanks so much for your understanding, patience and support. It really does mean the world to me to know that some of you out there are prepared to take a chance on an unknown newbie like me and that you’ve actually enjoyed reading what I’ve written.

Happy Reading
Annalise 🙂

=”https://annahulsebooks.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/roy.jpg”>

This is Roy. I knew him since he was 15 years old. In his life, Roy was a son, a father, a husband and a friend. Above all else, he was a genuine, good person. He helped to create a company that gave jobs to 25 people, including me.

Roy died on Friday, 31 August 2012. He had just turned 39. To read Roy’s story, click on the link below.

http://www.penteratrust.com/charities#rs

When people who knew Roy asked him what they could do to help him in the last days of his life, he didn’t ask for anything for himself. He wanted instead for people to invest their time in raising funds for the charities and medical institutes that helped him and his family during his illness.

So in honour of Roy, for the next month (and possibly longer depending on how much we still need to raise) all sale proceeds of my novel “Gifted” will be donated to the cancer charities that supported and cared for Roy and other cancer sufferers like him.

So please, please support this cause and pass the message on. Not only might you have a good read, but you’ll be supporting some very worthy causes too.

Many thanks for your interest, time and support.

Annalise 😦

I only indie published my debut novel “Gifted” in April 2012, so I’m still pretty much a novice when it comes to the world of reviews, blogging, Goodreads, Twitter and the like.

So far, I’ve been very fortunate to have encountered some really kind, helpful, positive people, both reviewers and fellow authors alike (and my lovely Triberr tribe mates to whom I am perpetually grateful for their re-tweets and comments).

But recently I’ve been really saddened to learn that the world of writing and reviewing has a darker side.

Through reading various comments on Goodreads and posts on reviewers’ blogs, I learnt that there are some members of the writing community that have been throwing their toys out the pram in spectacular fashion, most notably indie authors who don’t like a review that has been written about their work and have subsequently dished out abuse to the reviewer who wrote it on Twitter, Goodreads and the like.

And the bad behaviour doesn’t end there. I’ve also read some woeful tales of authors who have set up dummy accounts on Amazon and Goodreads in order to post fake five star reviews of their own work and to post fake reviews trashing the work of other authors that they see as their competition.

Wow. Seriously? Have these people considered that if they invested more time in honing their writing and less on Machiavellian schemes that they might actually get the good reviews that they crave? And if you have that much free time on your hands – there’s a monster pile of ironing at my house that needs tackling.

But to me the saddest crime – the one that has the most far reaching consequences for us all – has to be reviewer abuse.  

As an indie author, without the might of a corporate marketing department behind me, I have learnt that book bloggers are a resource as precious as gold. It is only because of the time that they take to read my work and blog about it that anyone even knows that what I write exists.  And they do this, fitting it in to all the rest of the life stuff that we all have to contend with, purely for the love of books.  And for that, I for one am eternally grateful.

So when I hear about these precious people on whom all indie authors depend for free marketing getting hung out to dry for daring to have an opinion, some various points spring to mind which perhaps should be considered by the rogue indie authors before they reach for their dictionary of insults:

• You are ASKING the reviewer for their opinion of your work. If you don’t want to know what they think, then don’t ask them to tell you.
• The minute you put your work out there in the public arena, especially for financial gain, you have to accept the fact that there are going to be people out there that are not going to like it. This is life. Even the most popular and best-selling books have people who can’t see what all the fuss is about. It doesn’t necessarily mean that your work is bad, it just means that what you’ve written is not their cup of tea. Vive la Difference. If you don’t think that your skin is thick enough to deal with this, then maybe you should consider a different career path.
• A bad review is not going to be career trashing. But if you behave like a dick because of it, that potentially could be. Having a public tantrum over it is a sure way to get yourself on reviewers’ black lists, no matter how fantastic your subsequent works are.
• Sometimes the negative aspects of a review are the most valuable. Sure, we all love a bit of ego-stroking and hearing how great someone thinks our writing is. But it can be really hard to be detached from your own work and it is often the criticism that we receive that shows us where we need to improve. Thanks to the comments of reviewers, I now know that in my second book, I need to proof read better, give my male character a stronger voice and ramble less. I didn’t get the hump when I read these comments, I was grateful. And when I re-read my own work from that perspective, I saw that they were absolutely right. Because someone took the time to note these points, I won’t perpetuate the same mistakes and my second book will hopefully be better than my first. And surely what we are all aiming for is to be the best that we can be?
•  Now, don’t get me wrong. I am extremely passionate about my writing. I wouldn’t sacrifice social life and sleep if I wasn’t. But let’s get a bit of perspective; this is books we’re talking about here. I honestly believe that they make the world a better place, but let’s be honest. They’re not a cure for cancer or a solution to global peace. Are the extremes of reaction that I’ve seen in some instances really proportionate to the subject matter?

Sure, there are times when reviewers can illustrate a bit of bad behaviour of their own. I’ve seen negative reviews which give no constructive reason for why the reader didn’t like the book and are nothing more than a diatribe of “this book sucks, the author sucks,” without giving any comment to support this view. Of course such reviews are unhelpful and frustrating, but you know what the key response word is here?  WHATEVER. Rise above it, move on. To retaliate makes you as bad as them. And it is highly unlikely that any potential readers are going to be put off your book by such unsubstantiated rantings anyway.

My final word to those indie authors out there that are happily engaging in blogger abuse and reviewer retaliation is this. STOP BEING SO SELFISH. YOU ARE RUINING THINGS FOR THE REST OF US. I would never dream of dishing out bullshit to someone who extended me the courtesy of reviewing my book, no matter what their opinion of it was. In fact, I would never even respond or comment to any review unless that reviewer specifically contacted me via my blog or e-mail.

But potential reviewers don’t know this. And because of the bad behaviour of a few, there is a very real danger that all indie authors are going to be tarred with the same brush. I’ve had a few instances recently where reviewers that I’ve approached have politely declined to review my work specifically quoting their reason as being bad experiences they’ve had with indie authors in the past that they are understandably not keen to risk repeating and as a result have sanctioned review requests from ALL indie authors.

So, to any tantrum prone indie authors out there – thanks a lot guys. Now you’re bad behaviour is directly affecting ME.

And to all reviewers and bloggers out there reading this, I’d like to say – don’t judge us all by the behaviour of a few. I for one am immensely grateful for the time you spend and the work you do and you will never get any abuse from me, no matter what you think of my book. My days of stamping my feet and screaming when I didn’t get my own way stopped about 30 years ago.

And finally – from me to you – you deserve this:

Happy Reading (and reviewing!)

Annalise 🙂