Tag Archives: #bookstagram

Flashback Friday – Have you met Ellen?

Posted on April 14, 2023 | Leave a comment

“It’s fine, Rocky,” said Ellen, praying she sounded calmer than she felt. “Luke, I’ll make a deal with you. One error and I’m gone. One from you and the result’s the same. You go.”

Want to know more? Check out Ellen on Amazon today.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FYHKR44

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07FYHKR44

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Why not spend the weekend relaxing with Riley?

Posted on March 24, 2023 | Leave a comment

“Good evening,” began Garrett, a hint of nerves evident in his voice. “Welcome along to my humble abode to celebrate the launch of Riley’s debut album, Firefly Dreams.”

There was a polite round of applause before Dr Marrs began to speak, “I first heard this young lady when she visited JJL as part of a high school music workshop. Her voice immediately caught my ear. A few weeks later, I invited her back out to the studio to sing on Garrett’s solo record. Again, she blew me away with her raw talent. Move forward a few months to last summer. Riley spent a few weeks down at JJL with me and what you’re about to hear is the result of all the blood sweat and tears…. quite a few tears.”

“Without further ado,” continued Garrett theatrically, “We give you Miss Riley Johnson!”

Having offered up a silent prayer to the muses, Riley began to play the intro to Sand Dollars. Keeping her playing subtle, she felt her nerves beginning to ease as she sang her tale of walking the beach at sunrise in search of sand dollars, the flat sea urchins found along the shoreline. It was a song filled with hopes of a bright future where the sand dollars were a metaphor for real dollars.

Want to know more? Check out Riley on Amazon today!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B9SWP6K3

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0B9SWP6K3

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Have you met my favourite little green haired girl – Riley?

Posted on March 15, 2023 | Leave a comment

Up on stage, Three Dead Mice brought Killer to an end.

“New York, thank you!” screamed Rob, glancing over towards them. “Now, we’d like to invite a friend… sorry two friends… up here to join us. New York, let’s hear it for the beautiful Riley Johnson and the legend that is Jake Power!”

The small crowd went wild as Riley and Jake stepped up on stage. Hurriedly a guitar was found for Jake then Rob stepped back up to the mic.

“Time to Shoot To Thrill!”

With a nod, Rob and Jake both began to play the distinctive ACDC intro before the others joined in on bass and drums. Gone was the quiet Riley from the album launch. In her place, centre stage, was a rock queen in waiting as she poured all her vocal power into the raucous lyrics. Both Rob and Jake joined in for the chorus, standing either side of her.

“Pull the trigger!” screamed Riley as she spun away, allowing the two guitarists to play together. No one watching would have guessed that the performance was entirely unrehearsed. Their passion for the classic rock track was clear for all to see and hear.

“Folks, give it up for Riley and Jake!” roared Rob, grinning from ear to ear as sweat ran down his face.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B9SWP6K3

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0B9SWP6K3

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Throwback Thursday Free e-book: – Impossible Depths

Posted on March 9, 2023 | Leave a comment

Fancy spending the weekend at the beach with some hot rock stars for free? Yes?

Impossible Depths is FREE to download to kindle today. Here’s a short extract for you-

An early morning mist had rolled in off the ocean creating an eerie atmosphere along the beach. It had been early when Lori had crept out of the house to go for a walk. She did some of her best thinking alone down on the sand. Over the months her confidence and her physical strength had grown allowing her to walk along the shoreline without a constant nagging fear of falling. With the broad base plate attached, she still used her cane for support, psychological as much as physical. She had left Jake snoring loudly in bed, his long limbs spread out over more than his fair share of the mattress. When she had come down the hall, she had found Rich asleep on the lounge floor, his leather jacket serving as a blanket. The last two revellers hadn’t even made it indoors. Gary and Scott were dead to the world on the sun loungers outside. Someone had had the good sense to cover them with the fleecy blankets from the sun room. Images of the sleeping rock stars made her smile as she strolled along the sand. This early the beach was deserted, and the pockets of morning mist created her own small private thought bubbles.

Here’s the download links

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01C0GS30K

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01C0GS30K

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Riley…..two weeks to go

Posted on November 4, 2022 | Leave a comment

Two weeks until release day….

The restaurant was busy but, when Jethro gave the hostess his name, they were led straight through to a table at the back of the room, affording them a little privacy. A few moments later, Riley became aware of a tall, slender woman with waist length rainbow coloured hair weaving her way through the table towards them.

“Jethro!” greeted the woman enthusiastically. “So sorry I’m late. Traffic out there is horrible. All snarled up.”

Standing to hug the new arrival, Jethro assured her, “It’s fine. We only just got here ourselves.”

Indicating that she should take the empty seat between them, Jethro said, “Riley, meet Molly. Molly, this is Riley.”

“Lovely to meet you at last, sweetie,” said Molly shaking Riley’s hand. “Sorry I missed your launch party last night. My flight from London was delayed. It was after midnight before I got in.”

“Nice to meet you too,” replied Riley shyly.

Pre-order using the links below to ensure Riley is ready and waiting on your kindle on 18 Nov 2022

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B9SWP6K3

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0B9SWP6K3

** note- this tale makes reference to self-harm**

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November 1st is National Author’s Day

Posted on November 1, 2022 | 1 comment

Did you know that 1st November is National Author’s Day?

This literary day of celebration dates back to 1928 when the president of the Illinois Women’s Club, Nellie Verne Burt McPherson (now there’s a name for a character!) proposed that a day be dedicated to recognising America’s authors. The first National Author’s Day was celebrated the following year and in 1949 was officially recognised by the US Department of Commerce and the rest is history…its been recognised far and wide ever since.

So, what is it? How do you celebrate it?

National Author’s Day is day to be dedicated to celebrating/reading books by your favourite authors. It’s a day to appreciate all those characters that you’ve wanted to grow up to be or those that you have fallen just a little bit in love with over the years. It’s also a day to pause to appreciate the hours and hours of work that go into creating those books and that the author spends developing those characters that you know so well.

In reality, there is no hard and fast way to celebrate.

You could simply take the time to read your child a bedtime story.

You could visit your local library or, if you are an author yourself, you could donate a book to your local library.

You could spare a few minutes from your day to leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads or both for a book that you’ve enjoyed. (Hint- authors thrive on those twinkling stars and kind words.)

You could take it a step further an email your favourite author to express your appreciation of their books.

You could try your hand at writing your own piece of fiction. They do say that everyone has a book in them after all.

You could gift a book to a friend. I have actually done this today but the book in question won’t be delivered to said friend for a couple of days so I don’t want to say too much.

Or you could curl up with your favourite beverage, some leftover Halloween treats and lose yourself in a good book for an hour or so.

Happy reading

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Want to hook up with a hot rock star this weekend?

Posted on September 23, 2022 | Leave a comment

His inbox was crammed full of unread mails – most of which were advertising junk. Before this infuriated him further, he tweaked his junk mail filters, then returned to his inbox. There was one email from Maddy that caught his attention. The subject heading was “Silver Lake album and merchandising artwork.” He opened the message, scanning the details about a band meeting scheduled for Friday to discuss the attachments. Jake opened the first of four attachments to reveal the three draft designs for the album cover, each significantly different. Instantly his eyes were drawn to the distinctive signature on the drawings. He opened the other three attachments and found a variety of other designs tagged as t-shirt proposals and miscellaneous. One proposed album design caught his eye – a dragon, with its wings spread out nestled inside an intricate Celtic knot. The twist of its tail reminded him of the Celtic trinity that was in the band’s logo. When had Lori found time to complete this portfolio? Why hadn’t she told him? Suddenly, he desperately wanted to talk to her, but it was four o’clock in the morning. Smiling for the first time since Monday, Jake reached for his phone and turned it on. A barrage of text alerts pinged through – he ignored them for now. Quickly he typed, “Love the designs. Love the Celtic dragon knot. Love you. J x”. He hit send.

(extract from Stronger Within, book 1 in the Silver Lake series)

If you want to read more then check out the Silver Lake series today

Amazon.com links –

Stronger Within – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VXDSC1M

Impossible Depths – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01C0GS30K

Bonded Souls – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XSQHG71

Shattered Hearts – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZY8ZSDM

Long Shadows – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08RR1FGLG

Amazon.co.uk links  –

Stronger Within – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00VXDSC1M

Impossible Depths – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01C0GS30K

Bonded Souls – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B06XSQHG71

Shattered Hearts – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07ZY8ZSDM

Long Shadows – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08RR1FGLG

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Life’s busy….it’s all about Riley

Posted on August 31, 2022 | Leave a comment

There nearly wasn’t a blog post this week…. a certain diminutive green haired teenager has been taking up all my spare time. Yes, you guessed it- Riley!

Some of you might have noticed that I shared my pre-order links for the e-book edition of Riley a couple of weeks ago but I’ll let you in on a secret…. Riley still looks pretty much like the picture above. Yes…I’m still typing furiously to get it all done. There’s about 3000 words still to be typed so not too much.

I’m also in the thick of proofreading and editing. My wonderful Infamous Five have been reading and giving me their feedback for the past few weeks. I seriously couldn’t do it without the love and support of those guys. Things are on track though so all is well…so far.

I put the feelers out this week to some book bloggers to see if they would be interested in receiving an eARC copy mid-October and reviewing Riley for their own blogs/websites. So far so good on that front too. If you are a book blogger and are interested in reviewing Riley then please drop me a message in the comments below.

There is one aspect of this tale that I do want to be transparent about right from the start. This book differs slightly from my previous book babies. I’ve included a scene of self-harm. There is also a smattering of social media bullying woven into the tale. (Trying not give any spoilers here) I wholly appreciate that these are sensitive topics and could put some readers off but I didn’t want to hide them and accidentally cause anyone distress. That is not my intention here.

I hope once you get your copy of Riley safely downloaded to your kindle or the Amazon courier delivers your paperback copy that you fall in love with this young lady as much as I have. Sometimes as an author you create a character that steals a piece of your heart. Riley is one of those…well to me anyway. I’ll let you make your own minds up in due course.

I’ve set myself the realistic target of 25 ebook pre-orders. Sorry to those who prefer a physical copy, there’s no pre-order available. So far as I type this, I’m at 7. So, if you’d like to pre-order, the links are below.

I’ll love you and leave you here for now. Work to be done to ensure Riley looks like the photo below by 18 November 2022!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B9SWP6K3

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B9SWP6K3/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_S6SCJ8PPM7NPDDHPNR8P

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Riley- now available to pre-order

Posted on August 16, 2022 | Leave a comment

Riley – now available to pre-order

Around her the bedroom was lit by half a dozen candles, their shadows dancing on the walls. A delicate vanilla fragrance filled the room. The gothic palace lay silent. It was almost midnight. Sitting cross-legged in the middle of the large four-poster bed, Riley sat staring down at the CD in her hands. Her CD. Her debut album that was due to be released worldwide on the stroke of midnight.

A box of CDs had been delivered that morning with a note from the record company saying simply, “Autograph these in time for the launch party on February 29th.” She’d signed her way through two silver Sharpie markers before all the CD inserts were autographed. At Garrett’s suggestion, she’d practiced her autograph on a few sheets of paper before deciding how she wanted to sign it. Initially it had been fun sitting at Garrett’s huge rosewood dining table signing the insert for each disc but after the first fifty or so the novelty swiftly wore off. Two hours later she had finished the chore. All of the discs had been signed -all bar one. The one she held in her trembling hands.

Pre-order using the links below to ensure Riley is ready and waiting on your kindle on 18 Nov 2022

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B9SWP6K3

Riley eBook : McCallum, Coral: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

** note- this tale makes reference to self-harm**

#coralmccallum #Riley #coming2022 #18Nov22 #releasedate #newfiction #contemporaryfiction #kindle #ebook #KU #Amazon #tellyourfriends #bookpromo #booksofinstagram #booklovers #amreading #bookstagram #bookpromoishardwork

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Save the date…18 November 2022

Posted on July 22, 2022 | Leave a comment

*****  Riley – coming 18 November 2022 *****

And to keep you going until 18 November, here’s another little sneak peek inside.

“I have one last song for you,” began Riley. “I hope you’ve enjoyed yourselves tonight. I’d like to say a few thank yous. Huge thanks to Dr Marrs, to the guys from Silver Lake, to my record label, to each and every one of you for making tonight magical. This really is a dream come true. A Firefly Dream. I have one final extra special huge thank you for Garrett for hosting this party and for giving me a chance, a job and a home. Garrett, I love you.”

As the cheers died out, Riley continued, “This last song was inspired in this very place. I’d never seen a real four-poster bed before Garrett invited me to stay here. You can work out the rest of the story. Folks, it’s been amazing. I’m going to leave you with Jumping On The Bed.”

The light-hearted song was the perfect choice to end the show with and left everyone in a buoyant mood as the lights came back up and the caterers began to circulate with trays of drinks and canapes. Not quite sure what to do, Riley stayed in the alcove tidying up her guitars and her lyrics folder. Suddenly, she felt two strong arms wrap round her. The hint of a familiar exotic spicy aftershave tickled her nose. Without a second’s thought, she spun round and wrapped herself round Todd.

“You were sensational, girl!” he declared before kissing the top of her head. “Awesome set.”

“Thank you,” said Riley, snuggling in close.

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