We’re only five days away from the official publication of Every Time He Dies. YAY!!!!

If you haven’t already, click here to pre-order your copy of the book. Everyone who pre-orders the book automatically gets access to the first five chapters as a thank you.

Pre-orders are vital to a book’s success as these sales are included as part of the release week sales. If pre-sales are strong, the book has a far better chance of getting on a best-seller list, appearing in algorithms or being included in Amazon’s weekly “recommended for you” email newsletter.

This increase in exposure is invaluable.

So please, if you have been following this blog for a long time or if you are planning on buying a copy of Every Time He Dies anyway, then please consider pre-ordering the book. I sincerely thank you.

Now, on to this week’s topic.

You guys have been asking a ton of questions about ETHD, so I thought I’d put this blog together as a way to answer them!

1 / ETHD is a Hybrid Novel

When you boil it down, ETHD is a mystery novel as the book is shaped around a central mystery. Dah.

However, labelling ETHD this way is slightly misleading.

ETHD is not a tidy, read once, throw away mystery novel. Oh no, this baby’s got layers. She is about something.

ETHD draw upon many different genres. There are elements of crime, thriller, horror, supernatural, mysticism, romance and speculative fiction.

Basically, it’s Frankenstein’s monster: a stitched together beast whose parts I’ve pilfered from robbing the graves of multiple genres. But, that’s what makes her so damn beautiful — if you can get past her lopsided smile!

2 / ETHD is Not Your Average Girl Novel

This is connected to the last point, but it’s also a little bit different …

Though the book opens at a crime scene, a double homicide, ETHD is not a crime novel.

In fact, the crimes that occur in this novel do so as a way to keep the story moving forward.

The book isn’t about an unsolved crime, not really, it’s about what happens we bury our grief and isolate ourselves from our community and ourselves.

What this novel is really about is the characters. An early title for this book was Haunted. Not because the book has a ghost, but because ALL of the character’s are haunted by their past mistakes; mistakes they can never undo.

This book is an exploration of how our mistakes can have huge ramifications and how we can move through this.

3 / ETHD is Funny

After reading points one and two, you’re probably thinking, “Damn! This book sounds heavy!”

Look, a good book should contain both light and dark passages.

There are some sad moments and some moving exchanges, but this book is also very funny.

I mean, how could it not be?

I attached a ghost with amnesia to an embalmer who is suffering from PTSD and who doesn’t believe in anything woo-woo … I mean, that kind of character friction can’t be anything BUT funny.

4 / Research

I covered this a bit in one of my last posts, but it bears repeating.

One of the elements that makes Every Time He Dies so unique is the volume of research that informed the writing process.

I interviewed cops, psychic, mechanics, nurses, pharmacists, Filipino witch doctors (boy, howdy!), embalmers, funeral home directors, medics, detectives, and other crime authors.

Basically, I bought a lot of people a lot of coffee.

The reason I am telling you this is because I embedded all of their glorious knowledge into my book.

As a result, the scenes are visceral and authentic.

I describe the embalming process, the smell of the chemicals, the equipment used. I go deep into the psychological ramifications of working the beat and I’ve included colourful adaptations of stories told to me by Western and Eastern Healers.

Basically, ETHD is pretty awesome.

5 / Effort

I’ve made a lot of sacrifices in order to write this book: financial and personal.

I chose to invest in a master’s program where students spent one year developing their novel under the guidance of established writers and teachers. I worked with a brilliant mentor and hired a slew of professionals.

I quit my job, moved to a different city (three times!) and rented rooms with strangers (now friends) in order to study.

Much to everybody’s horror, I turned down a lucrative job in order to dedicate more time to study and writing.

And I haven’t even touched on the effort it required to write the book.

Needless to say, I’ve totally lost count of how many revisions this book went through.

There is only one scene (the climax) and one single paragraph (the opening paragraph) that has remained virtually the same since the day I wrote them. Everything else has been rewritten more times than I can count.

But it was all worth it.

When I started writing ETHD, I knew that I’d be figuring out how to write a novel while writing a novel.

It was a long and windy path, but I did reach the top of that summit. Eventually.

There’s no guarantee that my next hike up the novel-writing mountain will be any easier, but at least I will have a map and well broken-in shoes.

There you have it guys, the five things you need to know about ETHD. Remember to pre-order your copy BEFORE publication date (Tuesday, November 5) and enter my book giveaway. DETAILS BELOW!

EVERY TIME HE DIES

AVAILABLE FOR PREORDER + GIVEAWAY

‘Who knew that a book about murder, grief and disintegrated families could be so funny?’ – Paul Williams

‘A unique modern mystery that is one part psychic practices and one part police procedural. The fast pace, dynamic characters and intricate plot will keep readers hooked until the end.’ – Gregory James

‘It’s rare to find an Australian-set book of this scope and genre that could stand among its international peers and hold its own, but I won’t be surprised to see this book find its success in all corners of the crime genre reading world.’ – Shayla Morgansen

‘Can someone please make this into a TV series? This is a fabulous read and I want to see Liam and Daff on the small screen.’ – Carol Seeley

CLICK BELOW TO PREORDER NOW

PREORDER GIVEAWAY!

Everyone who preorders a copy of Every Time He Dies (paperback or ebook) will go into the draw to win one of THREE MAJOR GRAND PRIZES.

To celebrate the release of Every Time He Dies, I’m running an EPIC book giveaway. The three grand prize packs include signed copies of:

🎉Dying in the First Person by Nike Sulway
🎉Bordertown by Gregory James
🎉Haunted by Shayla Morgansen
🎉The Spark Ignites by Kathleen Kelly
🎉Every Time He Dies by Tara Louise East

If you preorder a copy, simply take a snapshot of your proof of purchase and fill out the entry form here.

WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

Everyone who preorders a copy will ALSO receive the first five chapters straight to their inbox. Not only will this tide you over until the book arrives, but it’s also my way of saying thanks!

October 17, 2019October 24, 2019

taraeast88Leave a comment

Meet the Cast of Every Time He Dies

Every Time He Dies is just two weeks away from publication. WHAT?!

I figured now was a great time to (formally) introduce you to the cast.

For those who don’t know ETHD is my debut novel. It’s a mystery novel, but if you want to get uber specific, it’s a soft-boiled crime novel with paranormal elements aimed at adults 18 years and over.

Every Time He Dies is about a woman, Daff, who finds a watch buried in the sand at Gold Beach, only the watch is haunted by a ghost with no memory of who he is or who he died. While trying to uncover his identity, Daff becomes entangled in her estranged father’s homicide investigation.

Daphne Lawrence

Daphne Lawrence, AKA, Daff, is a twenty-eight-year-old university drop out. After losing her partner in a tragic accident and her mum to terminal illness, Daff relocates from her native Brisbane to the Sunshine Coast.

Daff is scientifically minded, literal, has a dry sense of humor and loves gardening.

As an embalmer with a former education in forensic science, Daff’s work doesn’t make her squish, but the fact that she feels more comfortable around dead people than living ones is … concerning.

Detective Jon Lawrence

Sergeant Detective Jon Lawrence is a cop on the verge of retirement.

A few years ago, his marriage disintegrated following an affair with a colleague. He then lost his ex-wife, Daff’s mother, to cancer.

Jon is deeply lonely, so he does the one thing he knows who to do: work.

He spent years trying to smother out an illegal motorcycle gang that started up in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley, but when tensions between cops and bikers got too heated, Lawrence decided to pull back.

One morning, an unremarkable double homicide presents him with a second chance, and this is when Lawrence’s story truly begins.

Liam

It’s kind of hard to tell you anything about Liam without giving the entire book away …

But I can tell you that he is tall, pale, with dark hair and eyes.

He’s a total smart arse, has some severe anger issues and is completely dependent on our leading lady.

Want to know more? Buy the book!

Peta

Peta is Daff’s best friend and her polar opposite.

Where Daff is tall, pale, blue eyed and dark haired, Peta is short, tanned, hazel-eyed and blonde.

The differences don’t end there.

Peta is a nurse, but she’s also into alternative medicine, crystals, conspiracy theories, meditation, shamanic healing and just about every other woo-woo practice or belief system you can think of.

She’s a total ditz, flirts with anything that moves and has a heart of gold.

Melissa

Melissa is maybe my favourite character.

Unlike the goddess garb most psychics wear, Melissa’s attire is band t-shirts, leather jackets, way too much silver jewellery, red lipstick and black eyeliner.

She is tough, street-wise, and doesn’t take shit from anybody. Melissa is a psychic who believes in all things woo-woo, but at the end of the day, she is pure rock and roll.

Henry Ernst

Henry is the president of the outlaw motorcycle Road Dogs.

He’s sixty years old, has a long wiry beard, a wiped-thin frame and a bad attitude.

Single and recently released from jail, he is the ultimate catch!

Henry has a long history as an outlaw biker, but in the mid-2000s, he decided to start his own gang.

The outlaw president has had many encounters with Detective Lawrence, none of them good.

There are many more characters in Every Time He Dies, but the above six are the main players.

I had so much fun hanging out with this crew over the last seven years, and I can’t wait for you to join Daff on her adventure.

EVERY TIME HE DIES

AVAILABLE FOR PREORDER + GIVEAWAY

‘Who knew that a book about murder, grief and disintegrated families could be so funny?’ – Paul Williams

‘Can someone please make this into a TV series? This is a fabulous read and I want to see Liam and Daff on the small screen.’ – Carol Seeley

CLICK BELOW TO PREORDER NOW

PREORDER GIVEAWAY!

Everyone who preorders a copy of Every Time He Dies (paperback or ebook) will go into the draw to win one of THREE MAJOR GRAND PRIZES.

To celebrate the release of Every Time He Dies, I’m running an EPIC book giveaway. The three grand prize packs include signed copies of:

🎉Dying in the First Person by Nike Sulway
🎉Bordertown by Gregory James
🎉Haunted by Shayla Morgansen
🎉The Spark Ignites by Kathleen Kelly
🎉Every Time He Dies by Tara Louise East

If you preorder a copy, simply take a snapshot of your proof of purchase and fill out the entry form here.

WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

Everyone who preorders a copy will ALSO receive the first five chapters straight to their inbox. Not only will this tide you over until the book arrives, but it’s also my way of saying thanks!

October 2, 2019February 27, 2021

taraeast882 Comments

Knowing Your Why: The Story Behind Every Time He Dies

As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, it took me seven years to write Every Time He Dies. Seven years is a long time. Now, I wasn’t working on the novel that entire time, but still, it takes a certain level of discipline to stick with an unpaid, time-consuming project for that long — even when you love it.

In short, if you want to write a novel then you have to know why you want to write it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Frd3K7ByJg&t=1s

A why that is bigger than:

it’s fun
it’s something to do
well, it’s better than cleaning the house!

There has to be a story behind your story. It doesn’t have to be a personal story (in fact, this can sometimes become problematic), it can a topic or issue that you want to explore more deeply.

Why do you want to dedicate your precious time to writing, revising, publishing and promoting a novel? What are you trying to say with this novel? What are you trying to figure out by writing this book?

For me, I started writing Every Time He Dies after a close friend of mine passed away after a very long, and painful illness. This friend was only a few years older than me. They were young, fit, had a good diet, a great family and a sunny disposition.

I’ve (weirdly/unfortunately) been to a lot of funerals. In fact, I’ve been to more funerals than weddings (the current ratio is 3:1). I’ve lost friends and family to illness, suicide and tragic accidents. In short, I’ve had my fair share of grief and I’ve lived in close proximity with others as they’ve gone through their own grieving process.

In the West, we have a tendency to bury our grief and we avoid all conversations about death because we see it as morbid, but Death is a part of Life. As the now famous graph from TheOnion.com shows, Earth’s Death Holding stead At 100 Percent.

So, I wanted to write a book that expressed my own feelings about death and grief.

Please note, Every Time He Dies is a work of fiction; it’s not a fictionalised version of my life. The plot is entirely fabricated and yet, as the great adage goes: most memoirs are a work of fiction and most fiction is memoir.

You won’t discover anything about my personal life by reading ETHD, but you will come to know what I think about big topics like time, death, identity and memory.

I wrote this book because I needed to figure out my own feelings about death and I needed to do something with my grief. Some people drink, play sports or speak meanly to their kids. I write books.

Every Time He Dies is a book about grief, but it’s also a book about life. It’s a story about bravery, female friendships, trusting your gut, forgiveness and the malleability of time.

Plus, it has a talking ghost … so it’s actually pretty funny …

Writing is how I figure out what I think about certain subjects and topics.

Writing is slow. You have to really think about what it is you are trying to say and Every Time He Dies is the product of that exploration and I think it says it very well.

EVERY TIME HE DIES

AVAILABLE FOR PREORDER + GIVEAWAY

‘Who knew that a book about murder, grief and disintegrated families could be so funny?’ – Paul Williams

‘Can someone please make this into a TV series? This is a fabulous read and I want to see Liam and Daff on the small screen.’ – Carol Seeley

CLICK BELOW TO ORDER NOW

PREORDER GIVEAWAY!

Everyone who preorders a copy of Every Time He Dies (paperback or ebook) will go into the draw to win one of THREE MAJOR GRAND PRIZES.

To celebrate the release of Every Time He Dies, I’m running an EPIC book giveaway. The three grand prize packs include signed copies of:

🎉Dying in the First Person by Nike Sulway
🎉Bordertown by Gregory James
🎉Haunted by Shayla Morgansen
🎉The Spark Ignites by Kathleen Kelly
🎉Every Time He Dies by Tara Louise East

If you preorder a copy, simply take a snapshot of your proof of purchase and fill out the entry form here.

WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

Everyone who preorders a copy will ALSO receive the first five chapters straight to their inbox. Not only will this tide you over until the book arrives, but it’s also my way of saying thanks!

Tag: Every Time He Dies

Five Things You Need To Know About Every Time He Dies