Sean Cameron, Author at SEAN-CAMERON.COM

Beta-Readers Wanted

By Sean Cameron | April 26, 2016

Photo credit: Wiertz Sébastien on Flickr

I’m looking for beta-readers to read my 23,217 word comedy-mystery novella: ‘Feline Fatale’. It’s a story set in England about two young detectives who attempt to find a missing cat to impress a middle-aged woman they have a crush on.

It’s part of the ‘Rex & Eddie Mysteries’ series I’m writing. The previous novel was compared to Dumb & Dumber, Laurel & Hardy, and Hot Fuzz. Reviews also compared my writing to the Dortmuder novels and the Stephanie Plum novels. If you like a couple of those things, ‘Feline Fatale’ will probably be a good fit for you.

As a beta-reader you will read through the manuscript and give an honest critique of the story, including thoughts on the plot, characters, and pointing out any confusing areas and plot holes. Correcting grammar and spelling isn’t a priority at this point, but if you can’t help yourself please do let me know what you find.

I’m looking for people who can finish reading and send me their notes by May 12th, so just over two weeks.

If you want to read and critique a short silly mystery get in touch by email: sean@sean-cameron.com.

Also feel free to share this with any friends who might be interested.

Little Free Library – take a book, give a book

By Sean Cameron | June 8, 2015

I take a lot of walks in my neighbourhood and in the last couple of years I’ve noticed small little house-shaped boxes on a stilt in people’s gardens. It’s not a birdhouse or a shrine, but a house of books – a Little Free Library – placed near the street so a passerby can take a look, grab a book, and return a different book.

Little Free Library is a non-profit organisation that supports people installing mini libraries on their lawn to share books with the community. Some buy official Little Free Library units but anyone can make their own and register it with the Little Free Library organisation to be added to the official map.

There are dozens of these libraries within a 10-mile radius of my home and I always take a look inside. While editing my novel Catchee Monkey: A Rex & Eddie Mystery I found a book on copyediting in a local LFL. I took the book home and used it as a guide while finishing Catchee Monkey.

This month I decided it was time I gave a book to the Little Free Library so I dropped off a couple of copies of Catchee Monkey, one at the LFL I got my copyediting book from and another local LFL I like. I also inserted a Strange Paul postcard which my artist friend Ben Cameron asked me to leave around Los Angeles. Check out his Etsy store.

I hope the Little Free Library trend continues to grow. Owners talk about how installing one connected them with their neighbours and brought a collection of new books to their front door. Of course, there are some spoil-sports who call in complaints and misuse zoning laws to remove the libraries, but hopefully common sense will win out. As soon as I have a front garden, I plan on getting a Free Little Library myself.

Catchee Monkey Reviews Word Cloud

By Sean Cameron | May 25, 2015

I had some fun with the word cloud creating website www.wordle.net and inputted all the reviews for my book Catchee Monkey. The results were interesting.

The character’s names show up biggest, which makes sense since it is also name of the series – Rex & Eddie Mysteries. Next up was “book,” “read,” and “story;” which are obvious words to use in a review. Following that is the word “funny” and that’s fantastic. As the author I can call my book a comedy, but only the reader can call it funny. I can, of course, quote the reader.

Other words that pop out are “British,” “detective,” “mystery,” “first,” and “humor” (the spelling shows it’s the American’s that have written the most reviews).

I can also tell people are looking “forward” to the sequel, or a “movie” adaptation. One word that stood out was “Hardy.” Catchee Monkey had been compared to Laurel and Hardy a few times but Laurel doesn’t show up as big on the word cloud. This confused me for a bit but I realised it’s because my book has also been compared to the Hardy Boys, a US mystery book series for teens. I’ve been looking for ways to pitch the book series and found “Laurel & Hardy meets Philip Marlowe” is the best description. Maybe from now on I can call Rex and Eddie “the Laurel and Hardy Boys.”

Reading Event: Book’d in Burbank

By Sean Cameron | March 29, 2015

On April 23th 2015 I’ll be doing a reading from my comedy-mystery novel Catchee Monkey. The event is called Book’d in Burbank and takes place at the Theater Banshee, 3435 W. Magnolia Blvd, Burbank, 91505.

As part of the literary entertainment there will be total of six readings spanning many genres: mystery, comedy, young adult, and romance. They’ll also be book giveaways, dessert, and a chance to mingle.

Tickets are $10 and can be bought at eventbrite.com Did I mention dessert?