Deeds Not Words is the second novel by Birmingham author Katharine D'Souza.

It tells the story of Caroline, a museum curator in Birmingham, who is recently divorced and unsatisfied with her life. The novel immediately picks up pace by presenting Caroline with three dramatic turn of events: 1) an anonymous figure arrives at the museum with a mysterious object, 2) Caroline's one-time fling Olly arrives in the city, and 3) Caroline's grandma falls sick and vows to reunite her broken family by changing her will.

As with any second novel, fans want to see everything they loved about D'Souza's debut novel, Park Life, but they also demand something bigger and bolder. Deeds Not Words delivers on both fronts. 

Returning fans will once again be rewarded with a strong female protagonist, a vast range of characters and writing which celebrates the city of Birmingham for its story-telling potential. However, D'Souza also ups the ante for her second novel, offering readers a more ambitious plot which delves into the history of Birmingham's suffragette movement. It is clear that D'Souza has done her research and she blends historical points of interest into the story without ever derailing into a dry lecture.

D'Souza is very skilled in presenting her lead characters with moral dilemmas, naturally prompting the reader to consider themselves in similar situations. For instance, Caroline has to consider whether to respect her grandma's wishes at the risk of upsetting the rest of her family. She also has to consider whether to pursue a relationship with Olly, which is fun but against her better judgement. Much of the interest for the reader is seeing how Caroline works through these dilemmas.

D'Souza also has a talent for depicting grey characters. There are few obvious heroes and villains. Olly confidently swaggers into Caroline's life looking for romance after cheating on his wife. However, the same cocky character offers Caroline support (and free art appraisals) as the novel progresses. Adversely, Caroline's mother Alice becomes less and less sympathetic, despite her own mother's illness. This complexity of characters elevates D'Souza's work over similar novels in the genre of chick lit.

There are a few minor quibbles. One of the three plot points described above is abandoned quite early and could have been omitted entirely. The ending also feels rather abrupt with a few plot threads that could have been explored further, especially the future plans of the family. However, it is not a bad thing to be left wanting more.

Deeds Not Words is a brilliant Brummie read and is available for Kindle and Kobo.

The Well of Shambala is the third volume in Iain Grant's ongoing steampunk series, The Sedgewick Papers. Interestingly, Professor Sedgewick does not actually appear in this outing, nor does his loyal companion Cadwallander, who served as narrator in the first two volumes.

The narrator and heroine on this occasion is Mina Saxena, the River Song-style adventurer who appeared as a secondary character in the previous adventure, The Pearl of Tharsis. This is not confirmed until the end but I do not see this as a spoiler because it will be obvious to anyone who read Pearl and will mean nothing to those who haven't.

Happily, Mina Saxena is every bit as engaging as Cadwallander, adept at providing observational dry humour and possessing a vast Victorian vocabulary. She may lack Cadwallander's prudish British gentleman moments (always a treat) but she instead offers a female perspective of the time, as well as the perspective of someone in opposition to the British Empire.

Grant continues to vary his series to ensure it does not go stale. This time, the action is set on Earth in snowy Tibet rather than in outer space as with Pearl and Angels of the Abyss. Readers can also enjoy a much higher body count than the previous two, with extras being dispatched in numerous new ways. Death by yeti! Death by space goo!

Nevertheless, the series retains its steampunks motifs. Further historical figures find their way into the story, notably Herbert Walton, a surgeon who truly did provide aid to Tibetans during the British Occupation of Tibet. Equally, there are more appearances of steampunk technology, including a sled pulled by engines instead of huskies, a giant satellite gun in orbit called the Gloriana and the iron lungs of Duke Alexei Mikhailovich. The latter is a great addition to the cast who, like Mina Saxena, proves that not all heroes are on the side of the Brits.

Fans of the previous Sedgewick Papers will not be disappointed by this third installment and, if you are new to the series, there is no better time to start.

Imagine that wonderful day when you have the final draft of your novel, all reviewed, edited, proof-read and stripped of every single grammatical error. You managed to get a beautiful front cover, a snappy title and you are just settling down to prepare the various formats so you can get it online...

But stop! There are five last little finishing touches that you should apply to your novel before it goes live, all of which will help you increase interest in your book.

1. About the Author - readers like to connect with authors. It allows them to view you as a real person and form a bond with you. This can certainly be positive for your book sales too. If the readers like what they read in your biography and feel a certain connection with you then they are more likely to support you as a writer. Tell them personal facts, such as where do you live, how many kids you have, whether you have pets, do you like baking or running or volunteering with kids. This is also the time to mention your other writing activities so you can increase interest in those projects too.

2. Dedication/Acknowledgement - this is your opportunity to thank people who were important is making your novel happen. The most obvious people to thank are your loved ones (who let you lock yourself away with a laptop) and your test readers (for digesting your novel in their own time before it was polished and published). If you want the support of either group for your next novel then extend them the courtesy of a public thank you at the back of your book.

3. Link to your website - this can go in the About The Author section. It is a crucial piece of signposting because you want as many readers discovering your website as possible. Social media platforms are great but your website is solely owned by you and is your HQ on the internet. Your website is a great opportunity for readers to engage with you and your projects. Therefore make sure the address is written in your paperbacks and, better yet, put the hyperlink in the e-book versions of your novel so readers can click straight through to your website if they are reading on a smartphone or tablet. You may even wish to add a link to your mailing list so readers can subscribed to your newsletter.

4. Please Write A Review - so much of self-publishing success rests of readers writing you a positive review on Amazon (as well as Goodreads, Kobo and so on). Therefore, it is perfectly acceptable to ask readers for a review on the back pages of your novel. Keep the plea informal and light so they do not feel pressured but explain how much you would appreciate this.

5. Trailer for Next Book - if you have another project on the go, you can use your back pages of your book to advertise this novel. A quick trailer will be enough, such as the title, a quote from the novel to act as a teaser and an estimated release date. Keep the release date very general. Rather than an exact date or even a month, just go with a season, such as Autumn 2014. This gives you a wide window of three months. In the back of The Sheriff, I promised my next Nephos novel, The Curse of Besti Bori, would be out in Autumn 2014. I am now certainly feeling the pressure but that might be good for motivation!

You will often hear writers moan, 'I don't have the time to write!' 

It certainly is hard for self-published authors, the majority of which have full-time jobs and many more of which have families. They therefore have to write in little scraps of time between these two major commitments.

But, in some ways, a lack of time is the most preferable out all of the writing excuses. If time is the only thing stopping you then things could be worse. If you have the inspiration, the talent and the motivation, then a little issue such as time is much less of a concern.

There are many ways to find time for writing. Here are my top five tips.

1. Commute - do not drive to work. Get the bus or the train. This is great for the environment, cheaper than driving and fantastic for your writing. Public transport may take longer and require you to set an earlier alarm but it will provide you with a great chunk of downtime when you can open a laptop and type out a few pages. I wrote my first novel The Sheriff through a series of commutes last November. This would not have been possible if I was sat behind the wheel of a car.

2. Take Pen and Paper Everywhere - you never know when you are going to find a period of downtime. This could be waiting for a colleague to show up for a meeting, sat in your doctor's surgery, or queuing in line at the supermarket. Always keep pen and paper with you. It is easier to transport than a laptop and will allow you to scribble a paragraph or two at the most unlikely moments.

3. Cut TV - this is brutal and arguably the ultimate sacrifice but it will give you back a few hours of your evening. I am not as strict as some writers, such as Joanna Penn, who got rid of her TV entirely. I need some TV because I learn as much about story-telling from television as I do from books. But try and cut out passive TV  watching, by which I mean you get home, turn on the box and then just veg out in front of the couch watching whatever happens to be on. If you need a little bit of TV to wind down after a hard day or gain inspiration for your own stories then limit your viewing to high quality television, of which they is plenty: The West Wing, The Sopranos, Lost, Battlestar Galactica, Mad Men, House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, Homeland, and so on.

4. Routine - establishing a routine and communicating this to your friends and families is an important way to protect your time as a writer. Work out a period of time that you will use exclusively to write. Perhaps, you will always spend lunchtime by yourself so you can write, in which case, you will need the support of your colleagues. Maybe you will write one hour every evening, in which case you may need your partner to help you by putting your kids to bed. Or perhaps you write better on a Sunday afternoon, in which case you may need to arrange for your partner or children to be occupied during that time to allow you some quiet time. Work out what is best for you, then get buy-in from those that love you to ensure your writing time is always protected.

5. Smartphone - invest in a smartphone and you will never look back. This is less about finding time to write and more about finding time to connect with writers on Twitter, promote your book on Facebook, write blogs such as this and read books by other writers on the Kindle and Kobo apps. All of this activity is important for increasing interest in your writing. Writers are not just writers, they are marketers too.

Social media is an essential tool for writers. Twitter is the number one platform that writers should use but Facebook can be useful too. Facebook has a lot more users and people will often say 'I don't get Twitter' whereas nobody says that about Facebook.

But Facebook is a very different platform to Twitter and needs to be approached differently. So here are my tops five tips for how writers should interact with Facebook.

1. Separate You From The Writer - I imagine you already have a Facebook profile and therefore a few hundred friends who see your posts on a regular basis. You do not want to annoy these people by bombarding them with information about your writing. Even your best friends might not be fans of the genre that you write. Plus, you originally connected with people on Facebook because you want to hear about their lives, not because you wanted them to buy your book.

You therefore have two options: either start a completely fresh Facebook profile just for your writing or start an author Facebook page. I would recommend the latter. A Facebook page is essentially a profile within Facebook focused on a business, TV show, character or celebrity. Facebook users can Like the page and then receive posts from that page in their newsfeed. It is basically a chance for fans to see content generated by the people behind their favourite things and people. For instance, if you Like the Tyrion Lannister page then you will see lots of Tyrion fan art popping up amongst your usual Friends' posts.

By starting your own author page, you will be offering your Facebook Friends the option of Liking it. If they Like it, they have stated an interest in your writing and will see your posts. If they do not Like it, they will never see your posts, never get annoyed with you and happily stay Friends with you in the traditional way.

2. Start An Author Page, Not A Novel Page - the page should be about you as an author and not about your novel. My first novel is called The Sheriff but I did not start a page called The Sheriff because I hope to write a second book with a completely different name and a third and a fourth. I do not want to start a new page for every novel that I write, nor do I want to start gathering Likes from a starting point of zero each time. As an author, you are the brand, not your latest novel. Therefore, focus on building an author Facebook page.

3. Post High Quality Content - Facebook, like many social media sites, is designed to be fun and interactive. Therefore, you need to post entertaining content and not just pleas for people to buy your book. You want your fans to Like your posts, comment on them and especially share them. This way, your posts will appear in your fans' own newsfeeds and hopefully get seen by people who do not even know you. This is how things go viral and why complete strangers will be drawn to your page and your writing.

Entertaining content includes funny statuses, photos, cartoons (see above), videos and questions. Entertaining does not necessarily mean funny. It can also mean interesting, shocking, memorable and informative. Think about the posts that grab your attention when you are scrolling through the newsfeed. Before you post, ask yourself, 'What's in it for them?' 

Of course, your content should always be relevant and related to your writing. A picture of a cat, no matter how funny, should never be posted from your author page. Fans of your page have Liked it because they are interested in your writing. Possible posts could therefore be an early draft of your new book cover, a poll about which title your fans prefer for your short story collection, a video of you speaking at a poetry evening, a funny cartoon about how writers cope with writers' block, a photo of you undertaking research for your next novel, and so on. 

Just remember: keep it entertaining, keep it relevant.

4. Do Not Overshare - posting good content is essential but do not overshare. Facebook is not Twitter. You can post as much as you want on Twitter because it is designed to be a constant stream of information. However, with Facebook, you do not want to bombard your fans. A post every few days is enough. Facebook users' primary reason for logging in is to see what their friends have been doing. They want their newsfeed predominantly about people they know, which is why each Facebook user will only like a handful of pages. Therefore, if a Facebook user has been generous enough to Like your page, do not abuse that privilege. Post well but post sparingly.

5. Remember Your Website - as always, you want to drive people back to your personal website because you own your website. Facebook and Twitter are fantastic platforms that seem destined to be here forever but they might crash one day, just like MySpace. If this happens then you would lose all of the content that you worked so hard to post. Even if  Facebook goes on and on, you cannot control Facebook policy. If they decide to abolish Facebook pages one day then, again, all of your hard work will disappear. 

As such, do not treat your Facebook page as a substitute for a website. Your own personal website is always the priority so use your Facebook page as another useful platform to guide your fans back to your author website. You can do this by posting links to blogs that feature on your website, or galleries of photos that you have put up there. You do not have to force it, nor should you do this with every single one of your Facebook posts, but keep your website in mind. Traffic on your website is always your ultimate goal.

You can check out my author Facebook page as an example. Feel free to Like it whilst you are there!