Hello, welcome to my blog and thank you for visiting my website! It’s an exciting time for me as I’ve recently signed a book deal with Endeavour Media to publish my two-book crime series, THE SCRIBE and THE ABDUCTION, due for release in July and December of this year. In January, I had a great meeting with my publisher and agent discussing pre-launch plans, so please continue to follow me on this site and social media for regular updates, including cover reveals, interviews and reviews!
You’ll see from my bio that I’ve not exactly taken the most conventional path to a writing career, but then again, I think that’s probably true of a lot of writers, and hopefully makes for more interesting, believable books! I certainly met a lot of interesting characters on the tennis circuit, and I’d never have been able to write authentic legal thrillers without having practised as a lawyer so I’m really very lucky in that respect.
I’ve always loved to read and write my own stories. As a child, I’d make up stories, binding them into mini-booklets which I’d proudly present to my parents. So, to now be able to write fiction full-time is a dream come true for me, as is the fact that, after years of hard graft and soul-destroying rejections (such is the nature of the publishing industry!) I am finally going to be published under an exciting dynamic imprint this summer.
I started writing full-time in 2010, and in 2013 self-published a women’s fiction novel, entitled Love & Limoncello, under the name Alexandra Sage, featuring a disgruntled City lawyer who accepts her cousin’s invitation to spend the summer in Sorrento where she discovers romance, the joys of limoncello-making, but also a disturbing family secret that threatens her happiness. I’m a huge fan of everything Italian, having holidayed there year after year as a child so it was a joy to set my first novel there. It did incredibly well, selling over ten thousand copies and climbing to number 53 in the kindle bestsellers list under a special promotional deal offered to me by Amazon. The follow-up, Love & Loss, didn’t do so well, but by then, I’d set my sights on writing hard-boiled fiction. By the end of 2014, I’d completed the first draft of a legal crime thriller entitled ILLICIT RETAINERS, and since then, I’ve written three further crime novels, including THE SCRIBE and THE ABDUCTION, as well as two psychological thrillers. Every author has their own way of working, but once I have an idea, I can write for up to four or five hours a day. The time just races by and there’s nothing better than losing myself in the world I’ve created.
I’ve always been an avid reader of crime and psychological fiction. Whether we’re talking the established greats - Grisham, Patterson, Connelly and how can we not name, Christie – or more recent exceptionally talented authors – Paula Hawkins, Jo Nesbo, C.L. Taylor, Shari Lapena, to name but a few. I’m also addicted to compelling crime drama, be it Line of Duty, Bodyguard, Broadchurch, along with slick, racy thrillers like The Night Manager or compulsive legal dramas like The Good Wife. I love the complexities of the crime/thriller genre – the heart-stopping suspense, the intricate plotlines, the red herrings thrown in to keep the reader on their toes, building great moments of tension, making the reader guess all the way and throwing in unexpected twists every now and again to shock, and the ultimate satisfaction of tying all the loose ends together at the end.
Writing a crime novel is a challenge, but it’s an exhilarating one, and the satisfaction I get from penning one is second to none. I hope you enjoy my forthcoming novels. I can’t wait for you to read them.
Until next time…
Alex