Latest news 2024-10-15: New blog post: Tales for Our Times Book Launch.

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Smile for the Camera: a cybercrime story 🔗

Smile for the Camera book cover.
Image of Smile for the Camera ebook cover consisting of (top) Smile for the Camera, (bottom) Nicola L. C. Talbot and (middle) a security camera icon in a frame with a yellow background. Background light grey with the following characters spaced from top left to bottom right: V2hvIHdhdGNoZXMgdGhlIHdhdGNoZXJzPw==.

Following on from Unsocial Media, Smile for the Camera is another cybercrime short story ebook now available on SmashWords, and will hopefully soon be available in the ebook distribution channels.

Smile for the Camera is about Evelyn, a CCTV operator, who monitors a store’s self-service tills but sees rather more information than she ought. This is a short story cautionary tale about identity theft. It’s approximately 2,500 words in length. The first 50% can be read for free on SmashWords¹. A shorter sample is also available on the book’s home page on the Dickimaw Books site.


¹Edit 2024-10-31: it seems you now have to be logged in to view the sample and the percentage may have changed.

Nicola Talbot 2024-04-12 (updated 2024-10-31) 📂 Crime Fiction 🔖 News Smile for the Camera

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The Briefcase book coverConvinced that his secretive wife, Annie, is cheating on him, Aide meets an attractive young goth at the pub who helps him pick the lock of Annie’s briefcase to search for incriminating evidence.
Nicola Talbot 2024-08-06 📂 Crime Fiction 🔖 News The Briefcase

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Ebook coversThe DRM-free ebook retailer SmashWords “Read an Ebook Week” Sale is on from 3rd–9th March 2024. My crime novel “The Private Enemy” and children’s illustrated story “The Foolish Hedgehog” both have a 50% discount and my crime fiction short story “I’ve Heard the Mermaid Sing” and cybercrime fiction short story “Unsocial Media” both have a 100% discount (i.e. free!) for the duration of the sale. Did you know that you can gift ebooks on SmashWords?
Nicola Talbot 2024-03-02 📂 Books Children’s Illustrated Fiction Crime Fiction Speculative Fiction 🔖 I’ve Heard the Mermaid Sing News Sale The Foolish Hedgehog The Private Enemy Unsocial Media

Recent Posts

Tales for Our Times Book Launch
Tales for Our TimesThe book launch for the anthology Tales for Our Times, written by Norfolk writing group Ex-Cathedra and published by Smokehouse Press, took place in the Norfolk and Norwich Millennium Library at noon on World Homeless Day (10th October 2024). All profits from the sale of this book will be used to help raise funds to support Norwich-based St Martins Housing Trust in their work to help the homeless into independent living. The book launch included a talk from Dr Jan Sheldon, SEO of St Martins, two readings by authors of the book, and a presentation to the library.
Tales for Our Times: Raising Funds and Awareness for St Martins Housing Trust
Tales for Our TimesTales for Our Times is an anthology of forty stories featuring loss and hope, dreams of love and belonging, biography and science fiction and adventure. Written by Norfolk-based writing group Ex-Cathedra and published by Smokehouse Press, the book will be launched on World Homeless Day 10th October 2024 midday at the Norwich and Norfolk Millennium Library. All profits from the sale of this book will be used to help raise funds to support Norwich-based St Martins Housing Trust in their work to help the homeless into independent living.
The Briefcase: a crime fiction short story
The Briefcase book coverConvinced that his secretive wife, Annie, is cheating on him, Aide meets an attractive young goth at the pub who helps him pick the lock of Annie’s briefcase to search for incriminating evidence.
Smile for the Camera: a cybercrime story
Smile for the Camera book cover.Evelyn, a CCTV operator, sees too much information while she monitors a store’s self-service checkout tills in this cybercrime short story about identity theft.
Nicola Talbot 2024-04-12 (updated 2024-10-31) 📂 Crime Fiction 🔖 News Smile for the Camera
Read an Ebook Week Sale 2024
Ebook coversThe DRM-free ebook retailer SmashWords “Read an Ebook Week” Sale is on from 3rd–9th March 2024. My crime novel “The Private Enemy” and children’s illustrated story “The Foolish Hedgehog” both have a 50% discount and my crime fiction short story “I’ve Heard the Mermaid Sing” and cybercrime fiction short story “Unsocial Media” both have a 100% discount (i.e. free!) for the duration of the sale. Did you know that you can gift ebooks on SmashWords?
End of Year Ebook Sale
Book coversThe DRM-free ebook retailer SmashWords has their end of year sale from 15th December 2023 to 1st January 2024. My crime novel “The Private Enemy” and children’s illustrated story “The Foolish Hedgehog” both have a 50% discount and my crime fiction short story “I’ve Heard the Mermaid Sing” and cybercrime fiction short story “Unsocial Media” both have a 100% discount (i.e. free!) for the duration of the sale. Did you know that you can gift ebooks on SmashWords?
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Smile for the Camera
A cybercrime short story about CCTV operator monitoring a store’s self-service tills who sees too much information.
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The Briefcase
A crime fiction short story (available as an ebook). See the story’s main page for further details.
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Alternative history novel set in 1980s/90s London. See the book’s main page for further details.
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A cybercrime fiction short story (available as an ebook). See the story’s main page for further details.
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