Friday, 17 May 2024

JAGGED SHORES Behind the Scenes Part 1

 Dear reader

With the series now at an end, I thought it would be fun to share a few behind the scenes moments with you on the creation of Jagged shores.

First up – it was never intended to be a series. The first book, North Point, started life as a standalone. I wanted to write a story set on the north east coast of England which would feature a life boat volunteer as one of the heroes. I grew up in Northumberland and am familiar with the coastline but there wasn’t one specific town that I thought would be best suited as a location, so I created Nyemouth, which was an amalgam of several different places.

   



I plan all of my novels in advance using a student project book. I usually start with a bit of a mood board, collecting images of the kinds of people and locations I want to feature.

 

From there it’s a case of creating a cast list, building the characters and then the story outline. Only when that is all in place, do I start writing.

It was when I turned the book in to the publisher that they came back and asked if I could develop it into an ongoing series. My initial reaction was – not really. Dominic and Arnie had their happy ending, and I didn’t want to mess with that. But I quickly realised that Nyemouth itself could be the basis for a series of loosely connected standalone thrillers. There were supporting characters like Jacob who could return again and again. Once I hit on that idea, everything fell into place.

  

GET IT HERE

I hope you’ve enjoyed this behind the scenes look at my creative process. Look out for more details in the coming weeks.

Happy reading

Thom X


Friday, 10 May 2024

JAGGED SHORES 75% off Books 1-4

 

Dear readers

If you have missed any of the previous Jagged Shores books, First for Romance have a great deal on at the minute with a massive 75% off the first four books – North Point, Safe Harbour, Deep Waters and Cold Day Dawning. They also have Jagged Ends for Just £3.99 – considerably less than other retailers. At the time of writing this, Jagged Ends is also the number 1 book across all romance genres at the site.

Get them here: Jagged Shores Series (firstforromance.com)


It’s been just over a week since the release of Jagged Ends and there have been some fantastic early reviews.

The climax is so suspenseful I couldn’t put the book down. It is not often the suspense side of the story captivates me so much more than the romance but for me, JAGGED ENDS is all about the suspense and I loved it.

“I’ve read every book in this series and each one was a 5-Star read for me and Jagged Ends is no exception. This gripping story had me hooked right from the start and for much of it I was on the edge of my seat. Thom Collins really knocked it out of the park with this one.”

I love that readers are appreciating the thriller aspects of the book as much as the hot romance. I put so much effort into building suspense that it’s a huge reward to hear it paid off.

That’s all for now but if you’re a Jagged Shores fan look out for upcoming posts where I’ll let you into the development of the series and some of the guys who inspired all those hot characters.

 Happy reading

Thom X