Well, Vampire Month is finally over and I have just got back from a brief holiday during which I had my birthday. It’s been a rather successful month with some great vampire writers contributing some really good articles on a range of subjects. In this first week of april, however, there have been a few things cropping up here and there which need to be shared.

First of all, I was interviewed by Michael Brookes over at The Cult of Me blog. The interview went live yesterday and in it you can find out all sorts of things about me. Go over there and check it out. I talk about the first book I ever wrote which, thankfully, no longer exists save as a bad memory and a few other things.

Secondly, I have signed up for Authorgraph. This is a system which allows signatures to be added to ebooks. You can find Transitions on there by following this link: http://www.authorgraph.com/authors/areteus. Basically, you can click the ‘request authorgraph’ button and I will get a notification telling me you are wanting a signature. I can then choose to do this freehand (using a touchscreen or mousepad but be warned my ‘handwriting’ is terrible using a mouse…) or using a font. I can also add an inscription. You basically get a pdf of this with a picture of the book cover sent to you. This app seems to be a good way to fill a niche caused by the ebook revolution. I have heard many say that one thing you cannot do with an ebook is sign it. Now, I will not say that this is going to replace ‘signed copies’ in any way (I am not convinced, for example, that you will be able to sell the signed ebook copies for a greater value) but it is a step in that direction. It will be interesting to see how it works out over the next few years.

Scan this using your mobile phone and an appreopriate tagging app…

Finally, preparations for World Book Night are progressing. Myself, Ninfa Hayes (author of Bites), R.A Smith (author of Oblivion Storm), Ed Fortune (columnist for Starburst magazine) and Joy Phillips (upcoming debut novelist and organiser of innovative new LRP Fall of Vusoria) are getting together to give away free books to anyone in the Manchester area who wants to come and get them. We will be announcing a venue sometime soon (hopefully). It should be a good night and we have around 60 books between us to giveaway. As part of this I have decided to have some bookmarks made up and I have also sorted out a couple of QR tags so that people with mobile phones can scan them and quickly and easily buy a copy of my books in any ebook format. I am rather proud of the bookmarks, which I designed myself using elements of the cover for Transitions.

So, if you fancy meeting any one of us, getting any of our work signed or just want a free book, feel free to pop along on the 23rd of April and all of this will be possible…