The Write Stuff with...Audrey Davis

Today it's my pleasure to welcome author Audrey Davis back to the blog to talk about her writing journey and the lessons she has learnt since she was last a guest on the blog as part of a debut spotlight feature in July 2017.

It’s hard to believe, but I’ve just put my third romantic comedy novel up for pre-order, to be published on June 22. It’s called A Wish For Jinnie and I’m so excited to get it out there.

Almost three years have passed since I featured here with a Debut Author Spotlight. My first romcom novel, A Clean Sweep, had just been published and I was over the moon. Until reality kicked in …

The harsh truth is, books don’t sell themselves. Particularly if you’re an indie author, and therefore responsible for every aspect of getting your ‘baby’ out in the wild. Back in July 2017, I said the hardest part was the marketing/promo side, and that still remains an ongoing daily battle.

I’m proud to have 50+ reviews now for A Clean Sweep on Amazon UK alone. But it’s been a slog to get there, involving paid and free promos (some considerably more successful than others), and building up my social media presence. In the early days, I had a handful of followers on Twitter, no FB author page and a deep-seated terror of my woefully-inadequate website.

So, what I have learned – and achieved – in the past three years?

Debut Spotlight: Audrey Davis

Today it'st my absolute pleasure to be shining the debut spotlight on author Audrey Davis whose debut novel A Clean Sweep was published earlier this Summer.

Audrey Davis is a Scottish-born former journalist and mother of two grown-up boys. She spent many years living in Singapore, Australia and Buckinghamshire before settling in Switzerland in 2002.

Her hobbies and interests include reading, watching scary movies and going to the gym, although the latter is more of a necessity. Chiefly because her main pleasure – after writing – is cooking and eating.

Recent years have seen Audrey involved in major house renovations. These have proved extremely challenging, not least because of her appalling French. However, she does provide endless amusement for the local workforce.

It was always a dream to write a novel and, after many false starts, Audrey published her debut novel – a romantic comedy entitled A Clean Sweep – in early June 2017 on Amazon. This was closely followed by a short prequel – A Clean Break – which examines the crumbling lives of two of the characters in the main book.

Audrey is now working on what she hopes will be a series of books. Still with a strong romantic comedy element but also with a hint of the supernatural …

Where did you get the inspiration for your book?
The seeds of my story were sown many years ago when not one but two incredibly handsome chimney sweeps turned up on my doorstep. It’s the law in Switzerland that chimneys are swept once a year. Those seeds took a long time to grow but – having done an online Writing Fiction course – they began to form into a narrative about a younger man and an older woman. The title came first, the rest followed but certainly not in an organised fashion! It required a lot of rewriting and editing at the end. I aim to be more structured in the future!