Interview with Dan Brotzel ~ @sandstonepress @brotzel_fiction

Today on my blog I have an interview with Dan Brotzel.  His book, ‘Hotel du Jack’, a debut collection of short stories, was published in paperback and as an eBook by Sandstone Press on the 23rd January 2020.

 

I have been sent a copy of your book and am really looking forward to reading it. For the benefit of my readers can you please tell me a bit about ‘Hotel du Jack’?

Thank you so much for reading, Sonya! Hotel du Jack is a collection of short stories that I mostly wrote over the last 4-5 years. They tend to be funny-sad in tone, and look at things like parental guilt, dodgy gurus, the nightmare of office life, failed relationships, grief, ageing, wondering where your life went wrong etc – often quite domestic themes, but with a bit of a dark edge to them.

I’m interested in playing with different voices and unusual structures too. So in here you get stories in the form of a product recall notification, a dishwasher glossary, a grammar lesson, a shopping list – not to mention a strange ghost story in the form of a neighbourhood forum chat!

 

Have you been writing short stories for long?

I’ve been trying to write fiction for about 30 years, but I always thought I had to start with a novel. Then, about five years ago, I suddenly had the brainwave of writing shorter things. I’ve not been able to stop since…

 

Where have you had your short stories published?

My stories have appeared in lots of literary mags, such as Pithead Chapel, Ellipsis Zine, Reflex Fiction, Cabinet of Heed, Bending Genres, The Esthetic Apostle, Spelk, Ginger Collect and Fiction Pool. I won the 2019 Riptide Journal short story competition, was runner-up in the 2019 Leicester Writes contest, and was highly commended in the Manchester Writing School competition 2018 too. A couple of my stories have recently been nominated for the Pushcart anthology in the US too.

 

Where do you get your ideas from?

Often they come from something that I’ve seen or experienced that I can then use as a sort of prompt to make up from there. The title story for Hotel du Jack, for example, came from a man spotted on a beach who looked like a body-builder and seemed more interested in his quads than his kids. At the same time I was reading an Anita Brookner novel, and I thought it would be funny to see what would happen if I put these two things together. Another story, ‘Ella G in a Country Churchyard’ is based on me trying to explain death to my young daughter.

But as I write more stories, I find they are often less based on direct experience. ‘Now and For Ever’, for example, is based on an idea I had about a dubious guru who preaches that everyone can become immortal but finds himself terrified on his own deathbed, while ‘Nothing So Blue’ simply came from my son telling me to ‘write a story about being invisible’. I suddenly thought: What if being invisible turned out to be rubbish, and it just went from there…

 

Are there plans for anymore of your stories to be published as a collection?

I really hope so! I’m about halfway through getting enough stories together for another collection (working title: The Grace Period), so we shall see…

 

Have you got any other writing projects on the go?

Yes! I’ve got a comic novel coming out with Unbound in early 2021. It’s called Kitten on a Fatberg and it’s about a group of very eccentric wannabe writers… I’m also putting the finishing touches to another comic novel just now, a solo effort this time, called The Wolf in the Woods.

 

What do you hope readers will get from your stories?

Well, I’ve had some lovely reviews on Amazon and elsewhere. For example: ‘Life affirming, heartbreaking, quietly hilarious. A joy.’ And: ‘Hotel du Jack offers the chance to see life through many lenses; the joyful, the sad, the heartwarming and the hilarious are all treated with the same sharp wit and keen insight into the beauty of the mundane.’   I’m so thrilled with comments like these because they say better than me what I’d hoped for these stories – that they make people smile, maybe nod their heads in recognition, and feel they are not alone in being less than perfect! I love finding beauty and poignancy in every day things – or as Updike put it, ‘to give the mundane its beautiful due’.

 

What advice would you give to someone wishing to submit short stories to magazines?

Go for it. Just do it and keep doing it! Write a story and submit it to 20 places! Then write another while you are waiting! The most important thing is just to keep plugging away and not to waste time on doubting yourself – all writers do, I think, but over time you can learn to focus your thoughts elsewhere. There are so many wonderful litmags out there – all the ones I mention above, for example – that are really supportive of new writers, often giving feedback when they turn a piece down. And on Twitter there’s a lively community of writers who are are really supportive and generous with each other too. It’s an inspiring thing to find, especially when there’s so much bad news around. Also – enter short story competitions. Again, there are loads, and each one comes of course with a deadline (and sometimes a prompt), which focuses the mind wonderfully…

 

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I write! Also, I have three young children, so that takes care of most of my time. I play tennis badly too. But mostly, I write.

 

Who are your favourite authors?

They change all the time. But at the mo, off the top of my head, maybe Malcolm Lowry, Joyce Carole Oates, Jonathan Coe, Siri Hustvedt, Paul Theroux, Gary Shteyngart…  I could go on!

 

Book Blurb

A woman granted a superpower discovers it’s more trouble than it’s worth. A neighbourhood forum becomes the setting for a bizarre ghost story. A children’s entertainer wrestles with problems that are nothing to joke about. A harassed dad attempts to meet the challenge of the primary school cake competition.

By turns tender and satirical, witty and bizarre, the stories in this debut collection cast a fresh eye on first-world problems. Funny and humane, they zoom in on the absurdities and poignancies in work, family, love and loss in our frenetic modern lives.

 

About Dan Brotzel

Dan Brotzel’s stories have appeared in Pithead Chapel, Ellipsis Zine, Reflex Fiction, Cabinet of Heed, Lucent Dreaming, Bending Genres, The Esthetic Apostle, Spelk, The Ginger Collect and Fiction Pool. He won the 2018 Riptide Journal short story competition, was runner-up in the 2019 Leicester Writes competition, and was highly commended in the Manchester Writing School competition 2018. He is also coauthor of a comic novel-in-emails about an eccentric writers’ group, Kitten on a Fatberg (Unbound).

He lives in London with his partner Eve and their three children.

 

Links

‘Hotel du Jack’ is available from Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hotel-du-Jack-Other-Stories-ebook/dp/B07YF61DMZ/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1585032597&sr=8-1

Twitter – https://twitter.com/brotzel_fiction

Blog Tour – ‘The Home’ by Sarah Stovell ~ @annecater @OrendaBooks @sarahlovescrime

‘The Home’ by Sarah Stovell was published in paperback on the 23rd January 2020 by Orenda Books and is also available as an eBook and Audiobook.  It is a real pleasure to be taking part in this blog tour today along with a fellow book blogger.

I would like to thank Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for inviting me to participate in this tour and the publisher for my review copy.

You will find out what I thought about this book after the blurb.

 

Book Blurb

A dark and emotive thriller which shines a light on the troubling issue of children in care, The Home marks the return of Sarah Stovell, author of the 2017 international bestseller Exquisite.

When the body of pregnant, fifteen-year-old Hope Lacey is discovered in a churchyard on Christmas morning, the community is shocked, but unsurprised. For Hope lived in The Home, the residence of three young girls, whose violent and disturbing pasts have seen them cloistered away.

As a police investigation gets underway, the lives of Hope, Lara and Annie are examined, and the staff who work at the home are interviewed, leading to shocking and distressing revelations … and clear evidence that someone is seeking revenge.

A dark and devastating psychological thriller, The Home is also a heartbreaking and insightful portrayal of the underbelly of society, where children learn what they live … if they are allowed to live at all.

 

My Review

I really enjoyed reading ‘The Home’. I was hooked from the very start not wanting to put the book down for too long. I loved the short chapters and the way they drew me in. I was literally left with bated breath needing to know then and there what was going to happen next. Beautifully written, I found this story to be chilling, shocking and heart-breaking. I liked the author’s descriptions of the mountains, the tarn and the woodland. Very atmospheric but at the same time rather bleak sounding.

This story is split into five parts. It goes back and forth between the past and present right from when Hope is found dead to events leading up to her death. In between we learn about all three children’s childhoods and how they eventually ended up in the home. I really liked how the author keeps the reader waiting to find out exactly what happened to Hope.

Those poor young children. Each story was just as heartbreakingly tragic and didn’t make for very easy reading at all. No child should have to endure what Hope, Annie and Lara went through. Sadly, it’s a fact of life that these things happen. Sometimes it’s the parents and other times it’s various addictions like drugs and alcohol which as we all know can ruin lives.

Out of all the characters I really liked Helen, the manager of the children’s home. She came across as very caring. Apart from her and the children I didn’t really warm to any of the other characters.

‘The Home’ deals with a number of issues including relationships, mental health, alcohol, drugs, sex and death. If you like psychological thrillers, then I really recommend that you read this book.

I look forward to more from this author.

 

‘The Home’ is available to purchase from Amazon UK:-

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Home-Sarah-Stovell/dp/1912374730/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1580152996&sr=8-1

 

About Sarah Stovell

Sarah Stovell was born in 1977 and spent most of her life in the Home Counties before a season working in a remote North Yorkshire youth hostel made her realise she was a northerner at heart. She now lives in Northumberland with her partner and two children and is a lecturer in Creative Writing at Lincoln University. Her debut psychological thriller, Exquisite, was called ‘the book of the summer’ by Sunday Times.

 

Links

Twitter – https://twitter.com/sarahlovescrime

Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1030004.Sarah_Stovell

 

Book Review – ‘A Summer to Remember’ by Sue Moorcroft ~ @SueMoorcroft @AvonBooksUK

Following on from my post this morning promoting ‘A Summer to Remember’ by Sue Moorcroft, I am back reviewing this book.  I would like to thank Sue and Avon Books for sending me a review copy.

Before I tell you all what I thought about ‘A Summer to Remember’, here’s the book blurb again.

 

Book Blurb

COME AND SPEND SUMMER BY THE SEA!

WANTED! A caretaker for Roundhouse Row holiday cottages.

WHERE? Nelson’s Bar is the perfect little village. Nestled away on the Norfolk coast we can offer you no signal, no Wi-Fi and – most importantly – no problems!

WHO? The ideal candidate will be looking for an escape from their cheating scumbag ex-fiancé, a diversion from their entitled cousin, and a break from their traitorous friends.

WHAT YOU’LL GET! Accommodation in a chocolate-box cottage, plus a summer filled with blue skies and beachside walks. Oh, and a reunion with the man of your dreams.

PLEASE NOTE: We take no responsibility for any of the above scumbags, passengers and/or traitors walking back into your life…

GET IN TOUCH NOW TO MAKE THIS A SUMMER TO REMEMBER!

 

My Review

I thoroughly enjoyed ‘A Summer to Remember’. No, actually I loved it. It was everything I expected it to be and so much more besides. From the very first page I knew this book was for me. Sue Moorcroft’s descriptions of Nelson’s Bar and the surrounding areas were simply breath-taking, and I could picture the village in colour in my head. It sounded like the ideal place to escape to away from the hustle and bustle of daily life and technology.

There were some truly wonderful characters in this story including Dilys and Ernie. They literally couldn’t live with each other but at the same time they couldn’t live without each other. It was quite sweet in a way.

Clancy was such a warm and lovely person and I found myself liking her instantly. Circumstances left her with no other option but to start afresh somewhere else which didn’t seem at all fair at first, especially when what happened was hardly her fault. Nevertheless, she got on with life as best as she could. I really liked Clancy’s spirt and how she was always there for others.

And of course, how could I forget Nelson the dog. He was just so adorable. I think it’s so nice when there’s a pet included in the story. That’s very important as they are characters in their own right.

Relationships and break-ups played a key part in this story. It took a lot to confront the truth and realise that sometimes things just weren’t meant to be. Hearts broke and life didn’t feel worth living but at some point, something or someone better was bound to come along as Clancy was about to discover.

I really recommend reading ‘A Summer to Remember’. I guarantee that it’s a story you won’t forget in a hurry.

Sue Moorcroft is now on my list of favourite authors. She is an amazing writer and her books are magical.

 

‘A Summer to Remember’ is available to buy from:- 

Apple iBook: buy
Amazon UK: buy
Kobo: buy

Don’t forget that the eBook is currently 99p.

 

Book Promotion: Guest Post – ‘A Summer to Remember’ by Sue Moorcroft ~ @SueMoorcroft @AvonBooksUK

If you are a fan of Sue Moorcroft’s books then I have some brilliant news for you.  Her latest novel, ‘A Summer to Remember’ is currently on promotion at only 99p for the eBook.  How good is that!  I can tell you now that you are in for a real treat.

Sue Moorcroft has written a guest post for my blog.  First though, here’s what ‘A Summer to Remember’ is about.

 

Book Blurb

COME AND SPEND SUMMER BY THE SEA!

WANTED! A caretaker for Roundhouse Row holiday cottages.

WHERE? Nelson’s Bar is the perfect little village. Nestled away on the Norfolk coast we can offer you no signal, no Wi-Fi and – most importantly – no problems!

WHO? The ideal candidate will be looking for an escape from their cheating scumbag ex-fiancé, a diversion from their entitled cousin, and a break from their traitorous friends.

WHAT YOU’LL GET! Accommodation in a chocolate-box cottage, plus a summer filled with blue skies and beachside walks. Oh, and a reunion with the man of your dreams.

PLEASE NOTE: We take no responsibility for any of the above scumbags, passengers and/or traitors walking back into your life…

GET IN TOUCH NOW TO MAKE THIS A SUMMER TO REMEMBER!

 

Guest Post

Dealing with the exes

In A Summer to Remember the ex-fiancé of Clancy and the ex-girlfriend of Aaron played pivotal roles.

Will, Clancy’s ex, was comparatively easy. He was ex at the beginning of the book because he’d been caught with another woman. The other woman, Renée, had come storming back at him from his past: the love of his life, now single and returning the love he felt for her, marrying Clancy could only be wrong. Nevertheless, readers weren’t meant to feel much sympathy for him when he was intimate with Renée before ending his engagement to Clancy. It was made hard for Clancy to remain in the business in which they were both partners. She was the innocent victim, but Will didn’t leave the biz and their home to make it easy on her. In fact, Will’s behaviour is increasingly self-serving throughout the book until, some might consider, he gets a bit of a comeuppance.

In writing terms, it was beyond easy to encourage the readers not to sympathise with Will.

Genevieve, Aaron’s girlfriend at the beginning of the book, I found trickier to handle. Essentially, she did nothing ‘wrong’ – at least, she didn’t cheat or lie. Genevieve, as so often in real life, made a mistake. Instead of continuing to be the independent woman Aaron had been enjoying being with for the past year, she tried to move their relationship on and move in with him. I think Aaron would have handled this better if she hadn’t hung this change on the fact that she had to move out of her cottage for building work. The more he told her it was the wrong reason for moving in with someone the more she seemed to realise that actually, she wanted to commit.

Sadly, Aaron didn’t.

It made him realise that not only was Genevieve not ‘the one’ but that his preoccupation with Clancy, with whom he’d shared one hot kiss, one blazing row and then six years of stilted emails, was altogether too much on his mind.

The problem, I found, was in making Genevieve nice enough for Aaron to have been with her for a year but not so nice that he’d remain with her when she gave him an ultimatum. At the same time, I didn’t want to make my hero look bad … I fought the Genevieve character throughout the book and finally got her where I wanted her. She played a pivotal part in the ending of the book and yet, I hope, the readers don’t hate her because it’s easy to see where she went wrong – she loved someone more than he loved her.

 

About Sue Moorcroft

Sue Moorcroft is a Sunday Times and international bestselling author and has reached the coveted #1 spot on Amazon Kindle. She’s won the Readers’ Best Romantic Novel award and the Katie Fforde Bursary, and has been nominated for several other awards, including the Romantic Novel of the Year Awards.

Her short stories, serials, columns, writing ‘how to’ and courses have appeared all over the world.

Part of an army family, Sue was born in Germany and lived much of her childhood in Malta and Cyprus before setting in the UK.

 

Links

Twitter: @SueMoorcroft

Facebook: SueMoorcroftAuthor/

Instagram: @SueMoorcroftAuthor

 

The A Summer to Remember UK ebook is currently on 99P PROMO!

Apple iBook: buy
Amazon UK: buy
Kobo: buy

 

Look out for my review of ‘A Summer to Remember’ this evening.

 

Book Launch – ‘Crossing the Line’ by Laura Wilkinson ~ @ScorpioScribble @AccentPress

Big congratulations to Laura Wilkinson whose book, ‘Crossing the Line’ (previously called ‘Public Battles, Private Wars’) is out today in paperback, published by Accent Press.  I just love that cover.

I read ‘Public Battles, Private Wars’ a few years ago and am posting my review again.  First though lets look at what ‘Crossing the Line’ is about.

 

Book Blurb

Miner’s wife Mandy Walker lives a quiet life. She’s hopeless at everything apart from looking after her boys and baking. Life is fine.

But she knows it could be better.

Her husband’s a drinker and best friend Ruth is busy with a teaching career. Mandy dreams of a different life – an impossible, unachievable life. Only Ruth’s husband Dan believes in her and, after serving during the Falklands war, he’s damaged.

But when the men come out on strike, Mandy joins a support group. She finds friends and strength in surprising places. And secrets and enemies where she least expected them.

Mandy must decide which side of the line to stand on and determine her fate.

 

My Review

‘Crossing the Line’ is set in Yorkshire, Fenley Down in the 1980’s, and tells the story of the miners’ strike.

Mandy is 23 years old, married to Rob who works in the mines, and has children.  Mandy feels as if she is stuck in a rut and wants to do more.  However, a life as a housewife and bringing up the children seems inevitable.  Mandy’s childhood friend, Ruth, who left Fenley years ago, returns with her Falkland’s war hero husband, Dan.  But something just doesn’t add up and Ruth isn’t the person she appears to be.

Conflict with the Coal Board turns to war and the men go out on strike.  The community and its whole way of life is badly threatened and Mandy finds herself joining the Fenley Action Group (FAG) which gives her a whole lot of confidence.  As the strike goes on relationships are tested and Mandy discovers just who her true friends are.

This book is just so different from Laura Wilkinson’s debut novel.  I really enjoyed it and I liked her writing style.  I could actually hear the Yorkshire accent.  Whilst this story was about the miners’ strike it also took a good look at the people affected by it and their families, bringing with it a couple of interesting plots.

Mandy was one of my favourite characters.  She was of strong character no matter what life threw at her and a woman to be admired.  The cakes she baked and the descriptions throughout the book are enough to make anyone’s mouth water.

I give this book 5 out of 5.

~~~~~

‘Crossing the Line’ is available to purchase from Amazon UK:-

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crossing-Line-Laura-Wilkinson/dp/1786157381/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1552505894&sr=1-5&keywords=laura+wilkinson

 

About Laura Wilkinson

Laura Wilkinson is a feminist and lover of ginger hair. A resident of an unfashionable quarter of Brighton, she likes to write stories which entertain and provide food for thought. Her novels are Crossing the Line, The Family Line, Redemption Song and Skin Deep. Her work has been described variously as ‘compelling’, ‘poignant’, and ‘emotional’. Alongside writing, she works as an editor and mentor, and speaks at events nationwide. She has a passion for fashion and anything which glitters. In another life, she’d make a good magpie.

 

Links

Website – http://laura-wilkinson.co.uk/

Twitter – https://twitter.com/ScorpioScribble

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/laurawilkinsonwriter

Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7170702.Laura_Wilkinson

Blog Tour – ‘Smart Moves’ by Adrian Magson ~ @DomePress @AdrianMagson1

‘Smart Moves’ was published in paperback and as an eBook on the 16th August 2018 by The Dome Press.  I am thrilled to be part of this blog tour and would like to thank Emily Glenister for inviting me to participate and for my review copy of this book.

I have both my review and a guest post by Adrian Magson for you.  First though here’s what the book is about.

 

Book Blurb

International troubleshooter Jake Foreman loses his job, house and wife all in one day. And when an impulsive move lands him in even deeper water – the kind that could lose him his life – he decides it’s time to make some smart decisions.

The trouble is, knowing the right moves and making them is a whole different game. And Jake, who has been happily rubbing along doing things he always suspected were just a shade away from being dodgy, finds it all too easy to go with the flow.

Now he’s got to start learning new tricks. If he doesn’t, he could end up dead.

 

My Review

I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘Smart Moves’ and thought it to be very cleverly written. I liked Adrian Magson’s style of writing and the fairly short chapters kept me reading on.

I really felt for Jake Foreman. Not only did he lose his job, but he then discovered that he had lost his wife and his home all in the same day. I mean surely you can’t have so much bad luck in one day. I guess this is proof that things really do come in threes.

Jake soon managed to get a temporary job via his friend and it seemed that things were starting to look up for him. He got to travel around again which maybe wasn’t such a bad thing. That is until he was given one particular assignment. Little was he to know what he would end up being involved in. Somehow I knew it would be trouble. That’s when the story itself started to hot up and things got really rather exciting. It was as if Jake had been given several lives, much like a cat. He actually managed to cheat death.

I liked how things started to fall back into place for Jake and I was just as made up for him as his brother was. Jake went through some bad times, but he learnt a few valuable things along the way. He made some new friends and realised what real friendship was. He also met someone special. The rest I guess is left to the reader’s imagination but hopefully everything will work out for Jake.

‘Smart Moves’ is a story about what happens when you lose virtually everything in your life and the choices you make. It’s a serious read with a bit of humour added. I am certainly interested in reading more of Adrian Magson’s books and I would like to thank both him for and The Dome Press for several hours of pure entertainment. I am really liking what this publisher is publishing and I hope they continue to grow.

I give this book 4 out of 5.

 

Guest Post

BELIEVE IN RANDOM

I’m a great believer in random. Things surprise us that we haven’t planned for, circumstances change without warning, and we get caught short through no fault of our own. Stuff happens.

Most of us try to control our lives. We might end up swimming against a current now and then, or take a detour here and there to get where we want to go. But we usually push through in the end.

After writing a number of crime and spy thriller series (some 22 books in all), with determined and focussed lead characters, some of them women (as in the Riley Gavin series and the Ruth Gonzales duet) some men (as in the Harry Tate, Marc Portman and Insp Lucas Rocco series) I got the urge to try something a little different.

How about, I thought, instead of writing about characters whose lives are closely controlled through training and instinct, where they assess risk and cater for the unexpected, I write about Joe Ordinary, whose life simply isn’t like that? This Joe – or Jake, in my latest book and first standalone, ‘Smart Moves’ – isn’t expecting bad luck, but suddenly finds himself on the nasty end of a severe kicking from circumstances he hasn’t seen coming. As a friend tells him afterwards, that’s what happens when you don’t pay attention to detail.

For Jake, it couldn’t be worse. His wife doesn’t want him, his job’s redundant and his home has been overtaken by a bunch of Kiwi tree-huggers. The only way is up. However, making the right decisions after years of going with the flow doesn’t come easy, and Jake’s soon in hot water up to his ears. If he wants to survive he’s got to do something radical.

This means making some smart moves. Of course, we can all say we‘ll do that but as Jake discovers, there’s always random just waiting round the next corner.

Fortunately, he also finds that random isn’t always bad.

 

About Adrian Magson

Hailed by the Daily Mail as “a classic crime star in the making”, Adrian had written 21 crime and spy thriller books based around:

Gavin & Palmer (investigative reporter Riley Gavin and ex-military policeman Frank Palmer; Harry Tate, ex-soldier and MI5 officer; Inspector Lucas; Marc Portman (The Watchman); investigators Ruth Gonzales and Andy Vaslik.

Adrian also has hundreds of short stories and articles in national and international magazines to his name, plus a non-fiction work: Write On! – The Writer’s Help Book (Accent Press).

Adrian lives in the Forest of Dean and rumours that he is building a nuclear bunker are unfounded. It’s a bird’s table.

 

Links

‘Smart Moves’ can be purchased from Amazon UK – https://amzn.to/2vWqzwM

Website – https://www.adrianmagson.com

Blog – https://adrianmagson.blogspot.co.uk

Twitter – https://twitter.com/adrianmagson1

Facebook – https://facebook.com/adrianmagsonbooks

Blog Tour – ‘Sky’s the Limit’ by Janie Millman ~ @DomePress @ChezCastillon

‘Sky’s the Limit’ was published on the 2nd August 2018 in paperback by The Dome Press and is also available as an eBook.  I am absolutely thrilled to be taking part in this blog tour and would like to thank Emily Glenister for inviting me to participate.

I have an extract from the book for all of you.  First though, here’s what it is about.

 

Book Blurb

Sky is devastated when she finds that her husband is in love with someone else, even more that it is her oldest friend, Nick. She has lost the two most important men in her life and can’t ever trust either of them again.

To escape, she goes alone on a dream trip to Marrakesh and meets Gail, on a mission to meet the father of her child, a man she loved but thought did not want her.

In Marrakesh, Sky and Gail both find unexpected joys – and surprises. For Sky, these lead to France, to a beautiful Chateau and a family whose relationships seem as complicated as her own.

With a rich cast of characters, beautiful locations and an ending that will make you smile, this is the perfect summer read.

 

Extract

‘You’re going off with Nick, “the person who makes you feel complete”. While I’m left with my world crumbling around me.’ My breathing was ragged and I felt as if I was drowning. ‘You know what really hurts the most? The fact that you didn’t even talk to me about it.’

‘I had no idea what the hell was happening to me! One moment I was a happily married man and the next moment I was having feelings for your closest friend, the nearest thing you have to a brother, what the hell could I have said?’

‘I don’t know, but you could have tried. We always said we would try to be honest with each other.’

‘It wouldn’t have made a difference.’

‘You don’t know that, do you?’ I couldn’t bear his calm certainty. You don’t know that because you didn’t try, you were too bloody scared. You didn’t trust me. We could have tried to work things out.’

‘You’re right. I was scared.’ He threw up his hands in defeat. His left cheek was still bright red. ‘I was absolutely terrified and I still am.’

There was another silence. A deafening silence. We glared at each other, like boxers in a ring. I was waiting for the next punch.

‘What hurts most, Sky?’ he finally asked me. ‘The fact that I am leaving you, or the fact that I am leaving you for another man?’

‘I honestly don’t know.’ I really didn’t know, my head was spinning. ‘Maybe I should be grateful that you aren’t leaving me for a young blonde with big tits, but then again maybe I should have cut my hair short, left off the facial waxing and grown a moustache.’

‘Oh, Sky.’ Miles grinned ruefully.

‘What really hurts is that the two men I love most in the world have been suddenly taken away from me.’

‘We are still here for you. We both love you so very much.’

‘How can you be here for me?’ I was incensed by his insensitivity. ‘How can you possibly be here for me when you’re there for each other?’

‘Sky, please, we can work this out. Think of everything we’ve been through together, think of everything we’ve shared.’

‘And now you’re sharing with each other.’ I couldn’t face hearing another word. ‘I want you to go now.’

‘But…’ He reached out to touch me.

I couldn’t bear to look at him. I turned around and stood still. ‘Now, Miles.’

 

After the door had closed I sank to the ground. My legs simply couldn’t support me anymore. I couldn’t move a muscle. I stared at the floor tiles, willing the tears to come, but my eyes stayed resolutely dry. I have no idea how long I sat slumped and motionless on the floor. It could have been minutes, it could have been hours. I think I wanted to die then, I think if an angel had come offering me oblivion I would have accepted. But no angel appeared. Instead the telephone began to ring, bringing me slowly out of my trance. I heard the answering machine kick in. I knew exactly who it would be.

‘Sky, it’s me. I know you’re there.’ I heard the intake of breath as Nick inhaled his cigarette.

‘Skylark, I love you.’ I winced at the use of his pet name for me. ‘Jesus, I don’t know how the hell this happened, but it has and we’ve got to get through it. I’m not losing you, Sky. You mean too much to me.’ He paused. ‘We have to talk whether you want to or not…’

‘No, we don’t!’ I yelled. I staggered to my feet and the room swayed dangerously. I grabbed the phone. ‘I never ever want to speak to you ever again, never.’ Flinging the phone to the floor I ground it beneath my feet. ‘Never, never, ever again, never ever…’

I collapsed onto the floor as, from deep within, a keening noise erupted, a sound I didn’t recognise as being my own. And then the tears started. Oh boy, did they start. They seemed to flood from every orifice: they poured from my eyes, my nose was streaming, and bubbles were coming out of my mouth. I wondered briefly if it were possible to drown in your own tears.

 

Nick stared helplessly at the phone. It was, of course, the reaction he had expected. He could hardly blame her. It was al his fault. Christ, what a mess. What a bloody awful mess. He stubbed out his cigarette and immediately lit another.

He could picture her now, her lovely face white and bloodless, the freckles standing out on the bridge of her nose and her dark blue eyes wide with shock. She could be hugging her arms to her chest with her face turned to the wall as if to shut out the world. He wanted nothing more than to rush over, pull her into his arms and comfort her as he had so many times before.

They had met on their first day at primary school and he could remember it as clearly as if it were yesterday, this tiny young creature standing alone, shy and uncertain. He had thought she looked like a fairy. He had walked towards her, held out his hand and said, ‘Let’s go in together.’

She had placed her small hand trustingly in his and smiled, her whole face lighting up with joy.

And now he had hurt her, his precious Sky, his soul mate, his fairy queen. He put his hands to his head and screamed.

~~~~~

Hopefully the extract has left you needing to read this book now.  If that’s the case then you can purchase it from Amazon UK – https://amzn.to/2Mowep6

 

About Janie Millman

Janie Millman is an actress, writer and co-owner of Chez Castillon.

She met Mickey, her husband, playing romantic leads in a summer season of comedies at The Little Theatre, Sheringham, on the Norfolk coast. Both actors for more than twenty years, their roles have ranged from Ninja Turtles, to acting in Olivier Award-winning stage productions and working on-screen with Hollywood stars.

Although still acting, Janie is now concentrating on writing. Her debut novel, Life’s A Drag, was published first in July 2015 by Accent Press and went on to receive highly acclaimed reviews.

It was then rebranded by The Dome Press and republished in February 2017.

Janie’s next book with The Dome Press, Sky’s the Limit, will be published in August 2018.

 

Social Media

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChezCastillon

Website: www.chez-castillon.com

 

Book Review – ‘The One’ by Maria Realf

‘The One’, Maria Realf’s debut novel, was published in paperback and as an eBook on the 22nd March 2018 by HarperImpulse.  I was contacted by Heidi of Bland PR about this book and would like to thank her for my copy to review.  You’ll find out what I thought about ‘The One’ in a minute, but first here’s what it’s about.

 

Book Blurb

You never forget the one.
You’ll never forget this book.

Lizzie Sparkes should be the happiest girl in the world she’s three months away from marrying The One in the wedding of her dreams! But then The One before the One walks back in to her life with a bombshell.

Alex’s unexpected return changes everything and now Lizzie faces an impossible dilemma. Because how can you leave the past behind you, when it’s standing right in front of you….asking you for one more chance?

Fall in love with this beautiful l love story. A must read for fans of Jojo Moyes’ Me Before You and Cecelia Ahern’s PS I Love You.

 

My Review

I am so very glad that I agreed to read ‘The One’. I absolutely loved this book from start to finish. The story has been beautifully told and is very realistic with a number of flawed characters.

Set in Surrey, this story switches between the present and the past giving readers a good insight into Lizzie and how she first met Alex. I thought this worked really well without any confusion. I also liked the way the chapters counted down to the wedding and I loved the build up to it.

I was just as intrigued as Lizzie as to why Alex was back in town and I found myself wondering if the wedding would actually go ahead.

I liked Lizzie and really felt for her. It’s stressful enough organising a wedding without your ex turning up and confusing matters. It seemed that even years later Alex still carried a torch for her. He was more encouraging of Lizzie’s dream than Josh was, something that I really loved about him.

‘The One’ looks at a number of different issues including relationships, illness, death, loss, break ups and marriage. It definitely is a story that will stay with you for a while.

The ending was just so sad but also really beautiful and because of this I am giving the book 5 out of 5. I am looking forward to reading more by this author. Perhaps there could be a sequel?

~~~~~

‘The One’ is available to buy from:-

HarperCollins – https://www.harpercollins.co.uk/9780008278960/the-one/

Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/One-moving-unforgettable-story-emotional-ebook/dp/B074Z2FGF4/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1523810804&sr=1-1

 

About Maria Realf

Since graduating with a degree in multi-media journalism, Maria Realf has wrked on a staff or freelance basis for many of the UK’s best-known magazines, including The Mail on Sunday’s YOU Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Cosmopolitan Bride, Fabulous, Marie Claire, Now and You & Your Wedding. In her spare time, Maria is also an all-round movie obsessive, theatre lover and karaoke enthusiast. Find out more at www.mariarealf.com.

 

Social Media Links

Twitter – https://twitter.com/MariaRealf

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/mariarealf/

 

Blog Tour – ‘Dead Ernest’ by Frances Garrood

‘Dead Ernest’ is being published as an eBook tomorrow the 1st March 2018 by Sapere Books.  It is also out in paperback.  I am absolutely thrilled to be kicking off this blog tour today along with two other bloggers.

I have an exclusive extract from the book for all of you to read, but first here’s what its about.

 

Book Blurb

No one had expected Ernest to die, least of all Ernest…

Ernest Bentley was a pillar of the community. But when he suddenly dies of a heart attack his wife Annie refuses to have the words ‘beloved husband’ added to his gravestone. Their son, Billy, is exasperated with his mother and worries about how she will cope on her own. Unwilling to take time out of his own busy schedule to take care of her, he enlists the services of the local vicar, Andrew, to keep an eye on her.

Before she knows what is happening, Annie finds herself telling Andrew things she has kept hidden for years. Dark secrets that had plagued her sixty-year marriage to Ernest. When Annie’s estranged granddaughter, Ophelia, turns up for a visit, the two bond over their mutual contempt for Billy and his controlling behaviour. But when Ophelia meets Andrew, the unhappily married vicar, things start to get very complicated…

What is the truth about Ernest? Why is Annie behaving so strangely now that he is dead? And how can Andrew reconcile his growing feelings for Ophelia with his respect for his marriage and his religion?

Spanning from the Second World War to the present day, Dead Ernest by Frances Garrood is a poignant, moving and, at times, very funny look at what really goes on behind closed doors in the ordinary lives of ordinary people.

 

Extract

CHAPTER ONE 

Dead Ernest

No one had expected Ernest to die, least of all Ernest. He prided himself on coming from tough, Yorkshire stock, and had often told Annie that he would easily outlive her. So, when he had his heart attack, Annie’s feelings were at first of surprise rather than anything else.

“Are you sure?” she asked the policewoman, who was making tea in the kitchen. (How odd that it was always the police who were sent to break bad news; almost as though dying in the street were an offence against the law). “Are you sure he’s dead?”

“Quite sure. I’m so sorry, dear.” The policewoman handed her the tea (much too sweet, and not hot enough) and put an arm around her shoulders. “It must be a terrible shock. Is there anyone you’d like us to contact?”

“Billy. My son Billy. You’ll need to contact him.”

Because, of course, Billy must be told. Strangely, Annie had rather wanted to keep the news to herself for a while; to taste it and think about it on her own before sharing it with anyone else. But Billy would think it odd if she didn’t tell him at once, and besides, there would be things that would need doing. Annie had only the vaguest idea of what those things were, but she was sure Billy would know how to deal with them. Billy was good at that sort of thing.

“How do you know it was a heart attack?” Annie asked. “How can they tell?”

“Well, they can’t tell. Not for certain. But that’s what it looks like. There’ll have to be a post-mortem, of course.”

“Ernest wouldn’t like that,” Annie said, remembering Ernest’s dislike of being touched and even greater dislike of anyone seeing him in a position of disadvantage. A post-mortem, she could see, was going to place him in a position of considerable disadvantage.

“It has to be done, dear. It’s the law. Because he didn’t die in hospital.” The policewoman poured herself a cup of tea, although Annie hadn’t invited her to have one. Death, it would seem, muddled up all the rules of normal behaviour.

Ernest would have hated dying in the street like that, with everyone watching. Dying in hospital would have been acceptable, with dignity and nurses and clean sheets. But then Annie might have had to sit with him while he was doing it, and she wasn’t sure she could have managed that. Perhaps, after all, it was a blessing that he had died in the street.

“Where was he?” she asked. “Where did Ernest die?”

“Outside the fish and chip shop.”

“Outside the fish and chip shop,” Annie repeated, surprised. It seemed such an odd place to die. She wondered what he had been doing there. The fish and chip shop was the wrong end of town for the barber’s, which was where Ernest was supposed to be, and he’d only just had his lunch, so he couldn’t have been hungry. But now she would never know. Nobody would ever know what Ernest was doing before he died outside the fish and chip shop.

Annie was aware of the policewoman watching her, waiting to see how she would behave. “What do people usually do?” she asked, suddenly interested.

“Do?” The policewoman looked bemused.

“Yes. When someone dies. You must see a lot of them. When you tell them, what do they do?”

“Everyone’s different of course,” said the policewoman carefully. “They cry, of course, and some people even scream. And sometimes they’re just shocked and quiet. Trying to understand what’s happened.”

“And what am I?”

“What are you?” The policewoman’s teacup paused, trembling, halfway to her lips.

“Yes. How would you say I was taking it?”

“I would say,” the teacup returned firmly to its saucer, “I would say that you were being very brave. Perhaps it hasn’t quite sunk in yet,” she added gently. “It’s a terrible shock for you.”

Was it? Was it really a terrible shock? A surprise, certainly, but a shock? Annie wished the policewoman would go away and let her think. She needed time to sort herself out; to get to grips with what had happened. Ernest was dead, and she didn’t feel anything much at all. Not sad, not happy, not anything. Was she normal? Was it okay to feel like this?

“Ernest is dead.” She tried the words to see what they felt like. “Ernest — is — dead. It sounds so strange.” She paused. “He had this little joke he used to tell: ‘Once upon a time there were two worms fighting in dead Ernest.’ I never thought it was funny, and Billy didn’t like it, but it always made Ernest laugh.”

The policewoman smiled.

“Did he have a sense of humour then, your Ernest?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that. Ernest only had the two jokes, and I’ve forgotten the other one.”

“Would you like another cup of tea?” the policewoman asked.

“No thank you. I think I’d like you to go now,” Annie said.

“But we can’t leave you here on your own. Not at a time like this. Is there a neighbour who might sit with you? Just until your son gets here.”

Annie thought of her neighbours. Of odd, secretive Mr Adams, a tiny man of indeterminate age who lived alone and who hoarded things. Annie had only once been inside his house and had been left with an impression of disturbing smells and what appeared to be wall-to-wall jumble and bric-a-brac. The piles were neat and appeared to be in some kind of order, but the impression was not welcoming. On the other side lived a young couple, with a frog-faced toddler who screamed a lot. Annie certainly didn’t want to involve them, and she quite definitely didn’t need the toddler.

“I don’t really have much to do with the neighbours.” She stood up. “I want to be by myself now. I don’t need anyone else.”

After the policewoman had gone, Annie locked and bolted the door. Then, because it was getting dark, she drew the curtains and turned on the gas fire. Ernest would be home any time now, and wanting his tea. Ernest was very particular about his tea. He always had it at six o’clock on the dot, the same time as he used to have his meal when he got home from work. Ernest liked routine and order, and because it was easier to do what Ernest wanted, Annie had always gone along with it. Yes. She must get Ernest’s tea ready. A nice piece of fish (it was Friday) and some mashed potatoes and cabbage. Annie thought it was odd to have cabbage with fish, but Ernest had read a book about green vegetables being particularly good for you, and recently he had insisted on having them with everything.

But Ernest is dead, she realised again. Ernest is dead. He isn’t coming home for his tea. The green-vegetable book came too late to save him. He won’t be coming home at all; not ever. His heavy tread on the gravel (a slight limp because of his bad hip), his key in the door, his voice calling her name as he hung up his coat and cap. None of these things would ever happen again. The coat and the cap were — where? At the hospital, presumably. And Ernest himself; where exactly was he? Lying somewhere, cold, waiting for the post-mortem. Annie shivered. At least she wouldn’t have to go and identify him. Billy would see to that. She couldn’t understand why anyone had to go and identify Ernest, when he’d been carrying his pension book.

~~~~~

‘Dead Ernest’ can be purchased in paperback from Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dead-Ernest-behind-closed-doors/dp/1912546019/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1519756569&sr=8-1 

The eBook can be pre-ordered – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dead-Ernest-behind-closed-doors-ebook/dp/B077Y1R7PP/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1519756569&sr=8-1

 

About Frances Garrood

My main career was in nursing, but I also trained and worked for many years as a relationship counsellor with Relate. Widowed in 1992, I re-married and now live with my husband in Wiltshire, where I enjoy riding my horse in the beautiful Pewsey Vale, reading, writing, singing in our large church choir and keeping up with my grandchildren. I also write regularly to a prisoner on Texas Death Row and do local voluntary work with homeless and vulnerable adults.

I first started writing as a child; mainly poetry, but there was one horrific novel (mercifully, never finished) in which a woman gives birth to a hideously deformed child in a thunderstorm. While I was bringing up my four children, I began writing and selling short stories to magazines before the enforced immobility following a fractured spine gave me the time to tackle my first novel, Dead Ernest.

All my books are very strongly relationship-based. My writing has also been affected by my widowhood and my experiences with my Relate clients, and my books sometimes include issues of death and bereavement. Strangely (and not by design) they all seem to include pet animal funerals (not a subject which normally occupies my mind!).

 

PRAISE FOR FRANCES AND HER BOOKS

“Frances Garrood is a magnificent writer.” — thebookbag.co.uk

“Dead Ernest is remarkably well written, well constructed.” — Grumpy Old Bookworm

“Light-hearted, heartwarming and enjoyable.” —writers-online.co.uk

 

Links

Website – http://www.francesgarrood.com/

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/FrancesGarroodAuthor/

 

‘Away for Christmas’ by Jan Ruth

Congratulations to the lovely Jan Ruth whose novella, ‘Away for Christmas’ is out today as an eBook. Jan asked me if I would like to review her new book and provided me with a copy of it.

Set in Rhos-on-Sea, North Wales, this story starts off in December 2015. Christmas is meant to be the most wonderful time of the year but it doesn’t look as if it will be for Jonathan Jones. Losing his job just a few days before the festive period, Jonathan is really under pressure to get the novel he’s written published and for it to become a bestseller. But things aren’t that easy. To make matters worse his partner drops a bombshell of her own. The festive holiday already looks set to be a disaster.

Jonathan is bequeathed a failing bookshop in their seaside town and he starts to feel as if some of his prayers have been answered. However, it turns out that his publishing company are not what they seem. Then Jonathan’s ex-wife declares her romantic intent and he’s left totally confused as to what to do for the best.

Is everything lost or can the true meaning of words, a dog called Frodo and the sheer magic of Christmas be enough to save Jonathan’s book and his skin?

I firstly want to mention the cover which I adore. It is absolutely stunning and with its bright colours it looks so inviting. I almost wished that I could climb into it and walk into the bookshop. Somehow I think I would be stuck in there for hours.

This is the first Christmas story I have read this year and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved the opening paragraph and I really liked Jan Ruth’s style of writing throughout. The way she describes things is wonderful and you can really picture scenes in your head. I enjoyed reading about Beachside Books and the progress made to restore it.

Jan Ruth is an experienced writer and so she is able to tackle the subject of the different avenues of publishing and book promotion very well. Jonathan’s burning ambition was to finish writing his books and to get them published. In a way it was as if losing his job opened up other options for him. Thinking everything was above board with the publishing company, he found out the hard way that they weren’t what they claimed to be. As soon as I read about them I thought, dodgy! They didn’t even liaise with him properly with regards to the book covers.

As well as the issues Jonathan faced with getting his books published, he was also having problems in his personal life. I read on with great interest wondering what would happen. I absolutely loved Frodo the dog. He sounded just so adorable. The last chapter left me with a nice warm feeling. Things had changed so much for Jonathan and I was really happy for him. I like how everything came together. There was even a little unexpected surprise.

‘Away for Christmas’ is a lovely read. It is the ideal book to snuggle down on the sofa with on a cold winters day.

I give this book 4 out of 5.

 

About Jan Ruth

The real story began at school, with prizes for short stories and poetry. She failed all things mathematical and scientific, and to this day struggles to make sense of anything numerical.

Her first novel – written in 1986 – attracted the attention of an agent who was trying to set up her own company, Love Stories Ltd. It was a project aiming to champion those books of substance which contained a romantic element but were perhaps directed towards the more mature reader and consistently fell through the net in traditional publishing. Sadly, the project failed to get the right financial backing.

Many years later Jan’s second novel, Wild Water, was taken on by Jane Judd, literary agent. Judd was a huge inspiration, but the book failed to find the right niche with a publisher. It didn’t fall into a specific category and, narrated mostly from the male viewpoint, it was considered out of genre for most publishers and too much of a risk.

Amazon changed the face of the industry with the advent of self-publishing; opening up the market for readers to decide the fate of those previously spurned novels. Jan went on to successfully publish several works of fiction and short story collections and after a brief partnership with Accent Press in 2015, has returned to the freedom of independent publishing.

 

Links

‘Away for Christmas’ is available to buy from Amazon UK – http://mybook.to/Away4Xmas

Website – http://janruth.com/

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/JanRuthAuthor/

Twitter – https://twitter.com/JanRuthAuthor

 

Book Review – ‘Simon says’ by Daniel Gothard

‘Simon says’ was published by Urbane Publications at the beginning of last year. I read several different genres and as I liked the sound of this book I bought myself a copy.

Simon Templar was named after a suave and heroic man of action, but of course he’s nothing like him. Out with his future father-in-law who gets rather drunk, poor Simon really doesn’t expect the night to end the way it does. It seems his one chance of happiness has just been taken away from him. Everything has changed in an instant. Simon is determined however to rebuild his life, hopes and dreams.

With the help and support of his best friend Sean and some rather interesting dates, Simon goes on a personal journey of self-discovery. Can he learn to trust again and finally understand what the true meaning of love is?

I so like the cover for ‘Simon says’. It’s bright, it’s retro and it shouts out to you, saying “Buy Me!” This book is very different from any I have read in a while. I really liked Daniel Gothard’s style of writing and how text messages played a big part in the story. It did take me a bit of time to get into the story, but once in I found it enjoyable and couldn’t wait to get back to it. There were some really funny moments too. Surely only Simon could get into certain situations.

I really liked Simon and not just because he worked in a bookshop. When Simon learnt what he did from his soon to be father-in-law he was naturally angry and upset. There were two ways to look at things, but personally I didn’t blame Simon for feeling the way he did. He needed to go and lick his wounds, take some time out and decide what to do for the best. I was so glad that Simon had Sean to turn to.

‘Simon says’ takes an honest look at relationships, love, life, longing and friendship. It is proof that male authors can write really good rom-coms.

I give this book 4 out of 5.

 

‘Simon says’ is available to buy from:-

Urbane Publications – http://urbanepublications.com/books/simon-says/

Amazon – http://www.amazon.co.uk/Simon-says-Daniel-Gothard/dp/1910692484/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1451671468&sr=1-1&keywords=simon+says+daniel+gothard

 

Interview with Daniel Gothard

I can’t believe this is the very last day of my Urbane Blog Event.  Where has the time gone?  Today I have for you an interview with Daniel Gothard and then later on there will be reviews of both of his books.

 

You have so far had two novels published by Urbane Publications. For the benefit of my readers can you tell me a bit about them please?

“Simon says” is a book about youth, love and the value of great friends – classic tenets of a lot of romantic comedy. I think what sets the novel apart, or so I’ve been told by various readers, is this type of story being from a male point-of-view – heartbreak, starting over, strong friendship … A few people have referred to the novel as “male chick-lit”.

“Reunited” is set in 1992 and 2012 – the story is told in a first-person narrative by Ben Tallis (aged 16 in ’92, at school, dealing with the death of his dad, and being in secret love with one of his best friends. And then in ’12, at 36, a journalist, going to a 20 year school reunion). The chapters go between the 2 time frames and seem to have worked well – reviews have been very positive (to date!)

 

What led you to write them?

I’ve written in various genres – even a 16,000 word 2nd person Dystopian short story! – and I’ve always loved rom-coms: “When Harry Met Sally”, “Four Weddings And A Funeral”, et al. I had the ideas in quick succession and had a really good time writing the books. Writing can be genuinely hard work, but these were a pleasure and I found myself smiling and laughing at my own references and comedic scenes. It was a bit pathetic!?

 

Where did you get your ideas from?

Ah, the BIG question. Probably watching too much TV, too many films and listening to too much music in the 1970s and 1980s! My head is full of useless cultural markers – but they come in handy sometimes. The actual moment of inception, when the idea happens – for me – is just something I can create. That reads as a bit arrogant, but it’s just a thing I’ve done since childhood.

 

Would you like to see either of your books made into a film or TV programme?

Oh yeah! Money, money, money!! And for a wider audience. Artistically, of course, most books don’t translate that well on to the screen. But I love film and TV, and there are some brilliant actors and directors around these days. It would be fantastic

 

What would you do if a character from one of your books knocked on your door?

Pretend I wasn’t home! I mean that wholeheartedly … They are nice enough people, I’m the misanthrope.

 

Can we look forward to more books from you?

Yep. I’ve got 2 books out with literary agents and publishers, but the difficulty with success in the creative arts is always about ‘shifting product’. Quality naturally counts, but a publisher and/or a literary agent has to be VERY sure of you to take the financial risks. I’ve been hugely fortunate. YouGov found, in 2015, over 60% of the UK had writing as their dream-job. 98% of submissions are rejected – and there are, literally, thousands of submissions each week.

 

How easy was it to get published?

Not easy at all. 2013-present has been very busy and my publication rate looks very good. But I started learning the craft in 2000, got married, had a day job and have 3 kids. It’s been a very long process. You have to REALLY want to write, act, make music, etc. to succeed. And there are absolutely no guarantees.

 

Have you got any pearls of wisdom for anyone wanting to write a book?

Look at my answer from the last question. Keep writing, read great, ‘difficult’ books, learn from the best, take chances. Don’t give up. As one of my bosses used to say, “You’re a long time dead. So get on with getting on.” Morbid but true!

 

Has social media been of much benefit to you?

Undoubtedly. I wouldn’t have met Matthew Smith – MD of Urbane Publications – without it. I wrote, as an arts correspondent, for After Nyne Magazine and met the editor, Claire Meadows (another Urbane Publications author) through Twitter. It has changed everything for me.

 

What do you like to do in your spare time?

Watch great TV/films. Read those ‘difficult’ novels.

 

Describe your writing journey in three words.

Long. Tough. Fulfilling.

 

If you could do all this again, would you?

Absolutely!

 

Links

Twitter – @bookslifelove and @GOTHARDDANIEL

 

Guest Post by Jared A. Carnie

The lovely Jared A. Carnie has written a guest post especially for this event.  His debut novel, ‘Waves’ was published in September last year and has been getting some really good reviews.

 

Island Inspiration

Waves, my recent novel, is set on the Isle of Lewis, where I used to live. Frankly, I find it amazing that anyone could live in the Outer Hebrides and not write a book set there. It’s hard to get across what a wonderful and unique place it is.

Here’s an example:

I was working for Western Isles Council doing admin work (the council is one of the only places up there for unskilled office workers to get a job). It was a Friday afternoon and I was nearly done for the day. I got a text from my friend Callum. It said do you fancy going out to Horgabost tonight? We can camp out. I’ll pick you up after work.

Horgabost is a beautiful, isolated campsite down on the Isle of Harris, which is actually the same bit of land as the Isle of Lewis. I know that’s confusing. I got told it’s like that because hundreds of years ago, when these places got named, the mountains in the middle of the two isles made it impossible to get from one to the other through any route except by boat, so they were in effect two separate isles, despite being connected by land. Today, they still have their separate names despite the fact that you can drive straight from Lewis to Harris. And if you’re ever up there, I recommend you do, as it’s an incredibly beautiful stretch.

Anyway, I told Callum I’d love to go camping and would see him in a bit. So, at half past four (because it’s an island and nobody has to work late) Callum picked me up outside work. We drove down to Horgabost, passing the sheep in the road, passing the glassy lochs reflecting the sky.

When we got there, unsurprisingly, we were the only people at this giant, white, impossibly clean, beach. Callum and I set up the tent ready for the evening. By the time we were done, a few of Callum’s other friends had started to arrive. One of them had brought some fireworks for later. He said he’d called the coastguard, and warned them that we would be setting off fireworks around 10pm, so that was when we would have to use them.

Callum had brought some burgers and after an hour or two of sitting around drinking we got a fire going to cook some of the meat. At that point, as it was starting to get dark, Mike arrived. I’d not met Mike before. Mike was just back from being out on his boat, and he’d brought some lobster he’d just caught with him. Now, I’d never had lobster before. So, this ended up being the way I had lobster for the first time: with six people, alone, on a vast, mediterranean-looking beach, by a roaring fire, with our own, private fireworks display.

And it was all pretty much free. And just down the road from my house. And at 3pm that day I’d expected to just be spending the evening at home watching TV. That’s the magic of the island. Things like that would happen all the time. My girlfriend and I would text each other at lunch sometimes and suggest a bit of the island we wanted to head to after work. We’d head out and find ourselves alone on other beautiful beaches or seeing whales off the top of the island or stumbling across deer on walks or eagles in the sky. Things people would pay thousands of pounds to do were just down the road for us. And that’s why, when people ask why I decided to write a novel set on the Isle of Lewis, I can’t help but think how could I not?

 

Links

‘Waves’ is available to purchase from:-

Urbane Publications – http://urbanepublications.com/books/waves/

Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Waves-little-book-beauty-escapism-ebook/dp/B01KP84V5G/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1488655553&sr=1-1&keywords=waves+by+jared+carnie

Jared A. Carnie’s website – http://www.jaredacarnie.com/

Twitter – @jacarnie

 

‘Silver Rain’ by Jan Ruth

Jan Ruth writes contemporary fiction about the darker side of the family dynamic.  She very kindly sent me a copy of ‘Silver Rain’ to review a while back.

After failing to save his marriage, Alastair Black decides to return to his childhood home at Chathill Farm for a while.  His brother George isn’t very welcoming though and would rather that he isn’t there.

Kate has recently lost her husband and is finding that she is increasingly being put upon by her daughter, sister and mother.  At over fifty years of age she is already beginning to feel that her life is over, until she meets Alastair that is.  He is everything she isn’t but there’s definitely more to him than meets the eye and it is up to Kate to find out what that is.

I really enjoyed reading ‘Silver Rain’.  Told by the two main characters, Al and Kate, I found myself feeling as if I knew them both.  I loved the setting of this story.  Chathill Farm sounded lovely.

It was obvious from the start that Al and Kate were attracted to one another, but things weren’t that straightforward.  In fact it was all very complicated.  For a start off Al had lots of skeletons in the cupboard, one of which was a bit of a shocker.  Al had a great sense of humour, but he was a very sad and lonely man.  I felt sorry for him and wished that he and Kate would get together.

I thought Fran was just so lovely.  She doted on the animals she took in at Chathill Farm.  If money wasn’t an object I reckon Fran would have possibly opened an animal sanctuary.

I’m so glad that I read ‘Silver Rain’.  I think it’s great that Jan Ruth has written a novel where the characters are that little bit older and I will definitely be checking out some of her other books.

I give this book 4 out of 5.

 

‘Silver Rain’ is available to buy on Amazon:-

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Silver-Rain-Jan-Ruth-ebook/dp/B00GS87VW8/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1453405859&sr=1-6&keywords=jan+ruth

To find out more about Jan Ruth and her books visit her website – http://janruth.com/

 

Book Launch – ‘Simon says’ by Daniel Gothard

Happy New Year!  Daniel Gothard’s novel, ‘Simon says’ is out today, published by Urbane Publications.  Read on to find out more about it.

 

Book Blurb

Simon Templar was named after a suave and heroic man of action, but he seems to lack the finer points of his namesake. Slightly hapless, occasionally hopeless, and prone to being chased by angry strangers, he is the everyman who doesn’t fit. When his drunken father-in-law divulges a shocking truth about the love of Simon’s life and takes away his one chance at happiness, it seems the world will always kick him where it hurts. Yet in the aftermath of this revelation Simon is determined to rebuild his life, hopes and dreams. Or at least have a life, hopes and dreams. With the support of his best buddy Sean, and embracing a dating frenzy that would put a lothario to shame (albeit a not particularly successful lothario), Simon goes on a journey of self-discovery. Can he learn to trust again, and finally understand the true meaning of love? In the best traditions of Richard Curtis and David Nicholls, Simon says is a wonderful bittersweet comedy of love, life and longing, and the perfect read for any rom-com fan.

 

‘Simon says’ is available to buy from:-

Urbane Publications – http://urbanepublications.com/books/simon-says/

Amazon – http://www.amazon.co.uk/Simon-says-Daniel-Gothard/dp/1910692484/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1451671468&sr=1-1&keywords=simon+says+daniel+gothard

 

Guest Post by Tess Rosa Ruiz

‘Freefall into Us’ by Tess Rosa Ruiz is a compelling collection of unique poetry and prose that provides an emotional mosaic of the path of relationships.  It was published by Urbane Publications Limited on the 11th September 2015.

Below is a guest post written by Tess Rosa Ruiz.

 

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In the 80’s, I wrote the author, Stephen King, a letter. You see, he is one of my favorite writers ever and I was a bit obsessed with him, had even thought of going to Bangor, Maine just so I could possibly catch a glimpse of him walking down the road or drinking coffee in his favorite café. The letter wasn’t very nice. He had disappointed me. I didn’t feel his recent work was up to par with the standards I had held him to, with the greatness that he was and is. To my utter surprise, he wrote me back. He told me he was under contract to write three books in a small amount of time and he agreed that his work may not have been his best. He promised me if I would stay with him and not stray, he would be back to his old self. I fell even more in love with him because now to me he was a real person, with real feelings and not just a writing machine pumping out book after book with disregard to his readers. He cared.

He cared enough to not only take the time to respond to me but to respond to me in an apologetic way. In a human way, in a way that I could grasp and understand, with passion. He could have easily told me to go fuck myself. So moved was I by his response, I would sit down a few days later and attempt to write my first short story.

In the early 90’s I became obsessed with the writer Anne Rice. I consumed her Vampire Chronicles and the lives of the Mayfair Witches. But her work as A.N. Roquelaure, The Sleeping Beauty Trilogy, would have a huge impact on me. The beauty of the erotica and the grace and elegance with which she wrote it was not comparable to any work I had ever read. She was in a league all her own. I would be further moved by her bout with alcoholism, her weight, the death of her child. I realized then her writing probably helped heal her, mend her, fill that void. I would have an ah-ha moment over this.

There would be many writers I would fall for over the years. Henry Miller, Raymond Carver, Tom Robbins, Joan Didion, William Styron, Charles Bukowski, Anais Nin, to name a few. They have all inspired much in me.

When I was 16, I took a creative writing class simply because the instructor was a beautiful man. I wrote a lot of poetry and short pieces in that class. My teacher was the inspiration for most of the writing, unbeknownst to him. On the last day of class he pulled me aside after everyone was gone and told me I had a gift, a true gift and that my destiny would be to become a writer. Although it would be many, many years later before I would dig my feet in and plant myself, he had been right.

You have heard many writers say they didn’t choose their profession, it chose them. I don’t choose to spend most days alone, holed up in a café or the confines of my small apartment. I don’t choose to watch every penny, or cancel hair appointments because I didn’t make enough last night waiting tables. I don’t choose to have fits of sadness, anxiety, angst, self-doubt or extreme loneliness. Yes, I miss my daughters and lots of social time with friends. I thought after my marriage ended I would miss being in a relationship, having a partner. I couldn’t imagine going without sex for more than a week. I have been constantly in a relationship since I was 14. I have gone this entire year without a man and the truth is I have never been happier. The truth is, I feel a pull, a need to write, a want, a desire. I feel this is my time. This is my call and right now it prevails over everything else.

Hell, I even took Stephen King’s advice and got rid of my television yesterday. I am excited and I look forward to what 2016 holds in store for me.

 

October 6, 2015
Tess Rosa Ruiz

~~~~~

About Tess Rosa Ruiz

Tess Rosa Ruiz hails from a small town in Western Montana. She left for Seattle with two bags and a lot of passion at the age of 19. An established photographer, she met a group of writers from New York and through them, found her voice. Freefall into Us is her first published collection of prose and poetry. She currently resides in Seattle, and has been known to quote Kerouac and sling the finest of wine.

 

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Competition

Matthew Smith of Urbane Publications Limited has offered 5 paperback copies of ‘Freefall into Us’ for a giveaway.  To enter just leave a comment telling me what you think of the cover of this book.

Terms and Conditions 

This competition is open worldwide.

The closing date is 11:59 p.m. on the 22nd October 2015.

The winners will be randomly picked and notified of their win within 7 days of the closing date.  Their details will be passed on to Matthew Smith who will send out the prizes.

 

Good Luck! 🙂

Book Launch – ‘The Gingerbread Cafe Trilogy’ by Rebecca Raisin

Today is a very exciting day indeed for Rebecca Raisin.  ‘The Gingerbread Cafe Trilogy’ collection published by Carina is out.  I’m just loving the cover! 🙂

 

Book Blurb

Enjoy the warmth, cupcakes and hot chocolate of The Gingerbread Cafe series, and follow Lil’s journey to happily ever after…

Lil has every recipe down, from gingerbread men to cinnamon muffins. So when gorgeous outsider Damon opens a shop opposite The Gingerbread Cafe, Lil refuses to let him steal her customers without a fight – no matter how much he makes her heart flutter.

When it comes to love, Lil’s never quite got the method right! But it looks like this time, deviating from the recipe might just lead Lil to the magic ingredient she’s been missing all along…

Don’t miss this delicious series from best-selling author Rebecca Raisin – the ultimate romantic indulgence.

 

Book One – Christmas At The Gingerbread Cafe

The icing on her Christmas cake!

Christmas is the season the Gingerbread Cafe in Ashford, Connecticut was made for…but owner Lily couldn’t be feeling less merry if she tried. She’s spent another year dreaming of being whisked away on a sleigh-ride for two, but she’s facing festive season alone – again. And, just to give her  another  reason to feel anything other than candy-cane perky, a new shop across the road has opened… Not only is it selling baked goods, but the owner, with his seriously charming smile, has every girl in town swooning.  But Lily isn’t about to let her business crumble — the Gingerbread Cafe is the heart of the community, and she’s going to fight for it! This could be the Christmas that maybe, just maybe, all her dreams – even the  someone-to-decorate-the-Christmas-tree-with  ones – really do come true!

 

Book Two – Chocolate Dreams At The Gingerbread Cafe

Chocolate…the most irresistible temptation?

The Gingerbread Cafe is all a buzz! This Easter, Lily and the rest of the town of Ashford, Connecticut are planning a truly decadent Chocolate Festival. Cooking up a storm, CeeCee and Lily are not just baking a batch of their sinfully delicious chocolate-dipped gingerbread men, but an excess of chocolate truffles, squidgy, cinnamony hot cross buns and melt in your mouth chocolate eggs. The Gingerbread Cafe staff have definitely enjoyed the tasting process!

Add in Damon’s cute-as-a-button seven year old daughter, Charlie, up for a visit and Lily’s perfect Easter may just be around the corner. Until her ex-husband Joel turns up demanding twenty thousand dollars… Suddenly the future of the Gingerbread Cafe is not so clear…and Lily finds herself eating far more of The Gingerbread Cafe’s treats than her skinny jeans allow…

Can Lily concoct a brilliant plan to save her beloved café, convince Damon she has no feelings for Joel and still throw a Chocolate Festival the town will be talking about for years? There’s only one way to find out…

Welcome back to the warmth, cupcakes and hot chocolate of The Gingerbread Cafe – your home away from home.

 

Book Three – Christmas Wedding At The Gingerbread Cafe

You are invited to the wedding of the year!

Snow is falling thick and fast outside the Gingerbread Cafe and inside, its owner Lily is planning the wedding of the year. Her wedding! She never dreamt it would happen, but this Christmas, she’ll be marrying the man of her dreams – in a Christmas-card-perfect ceremony!

The gingerbread is baking, the dress is fitted and the mistletoe’s in place – for once, everything’s going to plan. That is until her mother-in-law arrives… Suddenly, Lily’s famous cool is being tested like never before and her dream wedding is crumbling before her eyes.

In the blink of a fairylight, the Gingerbread Cafe has been thrown into chaos! Lily thought she had this wedding wrapped up, but with so much to do before she says ‘I do’, can Lily get to the church on time – and make this Christmas sparkle after all?

 ~~~~~~~~~~~

About The Author

Rebecca Raisin is a true bibliophile. This love of books morphed into the desire to write them. She’s been widely published in short story anthologies, and in fiction magazines. And now she is focusing on writing romance.

Rebecca aims to write characters you can see yourself being friends with. People with big hearts who care about relationships and believe in true love.

 

Buy Links

AMAZON UK

AMAZON US

KOBO

NOOK

 

Guest Post by Virginia King

The lovely Virginia King is back on my blog with a guest post.

 

Getting Inside her Head

How a Group of Real Women Became One Feisty Heroine

Reviewers are describing Selkie Moon as a character they can relate to – “charming, spirited, intelligent” as well as “enchantingly honest” with “a fine sense of humour”.  In ‘The First Lie’, Selkie’s got to dig deep to “take on the challenges that are literally haunting her steps.”  One reviewer says: “King gives the reader a perfect story on a silver platter that ties us tightly to the fate of this remarkable woman.”

As the creator of Selkie Moon, I’m delighted that readers are finding her fascinating and real.  I’d like to say she’s just like me, but for a start she’s thirty-four and I’m “somewhat older” 🙂  Here’s a glimpse into how I created her.

 

Food, Wine, Secrets

To make Selkie a multi-layered character, I needed to get into the heads of more than one modern woman.  I invited a group of thirty-something singles to have lunch with me.  I plied then with food and wine and got out my notebook!

They talked about their lives.  I got insights into different careers – from life coaching to copywriting.  They explained the challenges of short-term contracts and a freelance life.  I learnt about the meaning of ‘friends with benefits’ and the need to use your ‘gaydar’ with potential lovers.  We talked about the biological clock and their desires around career and children.

“If Selkie meets a guy she likes,” Emma told me, “she’ll definitely google him before dating him.  She doesn’t want any surprises.”

“She’ll have at least one gay friend,” Sally said. “Someone she confides in.”

 

Soul Mates Suck

“I’ve changed my profile on RSVP,” Kate shared, “to cut out the men looking for their soul mate.”  She pulled a face. “You’d be surprised how many arrange to meet you and when you walk up you can tell they’re waiting for lights to flash and an orchestra to play or they’re out of there.  I put ‘forget the fireworks and the violins’ on my profile and my responses dropped by fifty percent.”

 

Committed to Non-Commitment

As the afternoon wore on secrets were revealed.  Jules lived with a guy on and off and he was the one who wanted more.  “I was the girl who didn’t commit.  Life was frivolous and fun.  No strings.  I found out later that he married someone just like me – she even looks like me.  I’d treated his love way too casually.  I was … afraid.”

 

Not Passion, Control

Prue told us about her ex.  “I didn’t have any concept of emotional abuse until I met Ben.  I was smart, with a great job and a flat, and he was in a band, penniless and couch surfing.  I know now that he knew the only way he’d keep me was to control me.  He was ‘into me’ big time – telling me what to wear, getting insanely jealous over nothing, putting me down in a twisted way.  He systematically isolated me from my family and friends until I lost all my confidence.”  It was only when Ben went on tour with his band, that Prue suddenly saw his ‘passion’ for what it was.  “While he was around I believed it,” she said.

 

A Scream across the Table

The wine was doing the trick.  “I was so lonely one night,” Rosie said, “I actually took JJ back to my flat.”  “Oh God,” Sally screamed. “I’ve slept with him.  I didn’t want anyone to know.”  We dissolved in tears of laughter.

 

A Woman under Pressure

These real women gave me the background to make Selkie Moon a complex character.  If you read ‘The First Lie’ you’ll recognise snippets from that lunch.  It’s the qualities of her relationships that interweave to create this multi-dimensional story about a modern woman under pressure to unravel a frightening psychological mystery – to find out the truth about herself.  I’m very grateful to my lunch partners for their generosity and honesty.  Selkie is ‘real’ because of them.

 

 

About Virginia King 

Virginia King lives in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. She’s been a teacher, an unemployed ex-teacher, a producer of audio-books, a writer of 50+ children’s books, a writing workshop presenter and an award-winning publisher. “The First Lie” is her debut novel for adults, the first mystery in the Selkie Moon series.

In The First Lie, Virginia combines her love of psychological mystery/thrillers with her fascination for mythology and fairy tales.  Her writing process is to work without a plot and let the book evolve and gain depth from the ideas and serendipitous happenings that turn up along the way.  She believes that if the writer is surprised by the twists and turns in the story, the reader will be too.  Book Two in the series will be published in early 2015.

Guest Post by PJ Whiteley + Competition

‘Close of Play’ is PJ Whiteley’s first novel.  Below is an interesting guest post from the author.

 

Men don’t ‘do’ romantic drama. Or do we?

Recently, I joined the Romantic Novelists’ Association. As expected, there are rather more women than men. I thought that the ratio might be 85-15 or 90-10. In fact, it’s more like 99-1, and a few of the male card-carrying members use female pseudonyms. There is a similar story in the readership profile. The extent to which the cover and other aspects of marketing of my first novel Close of Play, a romantic comedy, have been tilted towards the expected female audience has been a fascinating learning experience, as my publisher applies the finishing touches.

If you read the mini-biographies on the Romantic Novelists Association’s site, many relate how they grew up as bookworms, typically devoted to fantasy tales and romantic melodrama. My CV is very different. I didn’t read Jane Austen or Jean Plaidy as a boy. I played sport, read about sport, made Airfix kits and watched war movies. The books I enjoyed usually had a male lead figure and a fair amount of sport or danger. So it was a long and very indirect route by which I came to pen a romantic novel in my early 50s. My childhood influences can hardly have had any impact at all.

Or so it would seem. But if one uses an expanded definition of romantic drama, my early years were filled with the most heart-rending, achingly emotional tales, often rendered by alpha males. Their names included Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan and John Lennon. There were a lot of tears and much insecurity; probably more direct soul-baring than any female scribe would dare, until Alanis Morrissette came along. Above all, these and other singers expressed an intense longing; this desire really to know a woman as well as love her.

So what is it about songs that gives blokes permission to get in touch with our inner feelings (or any other feelings, for that matter)? And why do we struggle when it’s on the printed page or at the pictures?

I’m afraid I can’t provide definitive answers, only a few observations. There is something about the ‘will they/won’t they’ drama that struggles to hold the male attention as the main or sole story arc; especially in a movie featuring Kate Hudson or Reese Witherspoon because, of course, we know they will in the end, after a break-up 20 minutes from full time as she discovers the secret that he had kept hidden (I still enjoy them, mind – guilty pleasure).

Humour helps. I might not have struggled with Far From the Madding Crowd at O-Level if Gabriel Oak hadn’t been so dour and earnest. Or a bit of political intrigue or philosophical depth. Or at least a car chase. Somehow, the question: ‘Is he The One for me?’ is not enough to hold our interest for 90 minutes or 288 pages. But for three and a half minutes, with a soaring chorus, and a macho guitar solo to come, we can give our passion a full-throated roar. We do have a romantic heartbeat, but it’s detected in different ways.

Close of Play has many ‘romcom’ features. I make no apology. It has a slightly different slant in that it’s from the man’s point of view. The two main male characters have been a bit sniffy towards love n romance n girly stuff in their early adult years. They prefer playing cricket and drinking beer. But each of them aches for the woman they really, really want, and fear that it might all be too late. I hope the female readers will be touched by their longing and forgive them their mistakes. And maybe, just maybe, the occasional bloke will read it, disguised inside GQ magazine, as he listens to Blood on the Tracks via his headphones.

PJ Whiteley, March 2015.

• Close of Play is published by Urbane Publications, April 2015. More at http://urbanepublications.com/books/close-of-play/

 

About PJ Whiteley

PJ Whiteley, who writes non-fiction as Philip Whiteley, is an experienced author, principally about management. He has written extensively about how low wages are bad for business, as part of a bid to try to convince economists that society consists of people. Taking a break from this Quixotic task, he has turned his hand to romantic comedy, seizing on the potential of men preferring to play or watch sport than talk about their feelings and stuff.

Close of Play is the first novel, centring on perennial themes of the human condition: love, loss, hope, life choices and that nagging feeling in the back of the mind that you may not fully be up to date with how your team is doing.

PJ Whiteley’s boyhood ambition was to represent Yorkshire Cricket Club. He gave up playing as an amateur a few years ago when facing the quicker bowlers became a bit too tricky, but still plays five-a-side football. He works from home full time as an author and is married to a sex therapist, so things could have turned out worse.

 

Competition

To celebrate the publication of ‘Close of Play’ I am running a competition in which 10 lucky people will win a paperback copy of this book.  To enter just leave a comment telling me what you think is romantic.

 

Terms and Conditions 

This competition is open worldwide.

The closing date is 11:59 p.m. on the 16th April 2015.

The winners will be randomly picked and notified within 7 days of the closing date.  Their details will be passed on to Urbane Publications Limited who will send out the prizes.

 

Good luck! 🙂

 

Guest Post by Linda MacDonald

‘The Alone Alternative’ is Linda MacDonald’s latest book in a series of thought-provoking novels about relationships.  Linda has written a very interesting guest post for my blog.

 

When is stalking, ‘Stalking’?

Do you remember being fourteen and following every move of the most fanciable boy in the school? He was probably a year or two older, supremely cool and confident and with a glamorous girlfriend. He may have had two or three equally desirable friends and they would roam the local park, talking music and girls, posing, preening, aware of the glances, revelling in the attention. They and their girlfriends were ‘key characters’; you watched adoringly, jealously, from the sidelines.

When you were fourteen, you might have been aware of their schedule, accidentally-on-purpose hanging out with your friends in a nearby location so you could swoon in a way that only teenage girls can swoon. Or you ‘arranged’ a meeting on the staircase or in a corridor at school, because you knew his timetable. Yes, you stalked your love-interest, you fantasised and imagined that one day he would notice you.

But this is normal behaviour for a young teenager and doesn’t mean any harm. Ten, twenty or thirty years on, the same thing would be seen as unusual; even weird or desperate. There’s an element of threat when an adult woman or man follows every move of someone who isn’t interested in her or him. This is when stalking becomes Stalking.

Who are the Stalkers?

There are those that stalk celebrities with a childlike obsession. Perhaps they have a high insecurity and fear of rejection, so chase unattainable goals. But most stalkers are known to their victims. Often they are reluctant exes, desperate to win back their lost love.  Or they may be a friend or acquaintance who wants a relationship and is the victim of unrequited love. Research has shown stalkers have often suffered disrupted attachment in childhood and a recent rejection of any sort may start stalking behaviour. The stalker may link their own happiness with the attainment of a relationship with a particular person and when they don’t achieve their goal, they become distressed and try even harder. The unattainable person is often idealised, becoming an even more desirable goal. The stalker may adopt extreme chasing behaviour and is likely to misinterpret any signs as encouraging, even negative ones.

Twitter    

Cyber-stalking via social networking sites or email is a relatively recent phenomenon. Twitter is the perfect medium for the potential stalker because it is so easy to read someone else’s tweets or send them messages. But for it to constitute Stalking, there must be a threat of harm such as sending them malicious tweets or posting defamatory tweets about them. The law is beginning to catch up with this new type of behaviour.

In my latest novel, The Alone Alternative, stalking is one of the sub-plots, showing how an acquaintanceship can suddenly turn sinister; how friendliness may inadvertently lead someone into imagining you are interested when you are not. Stalkers see what they want to see; hear what they want to hear and if a person is known to you, it is not always easy to identify when the boundary has been crossed and the behaviour poses a threat. If you are interested in the psychology of stalking, you will find more information in the book.

 

About Linda MacDonald

Linda MacDonald was born and brought up in Cockermouth, on the edge of the Lake District in Cumbria, England. She was educated at the local grammar school and later at Goldsmiths’, University of London where she studied for a BA in psychology and then a PGCE in biology and science. She taught secondary science and biology in Croydon for eleven years before taking some time out to write, paint and make jewellery. In 1990 she was lured back into teaching at a sixth form college in south-east London where she taught health and social care and psychology. For over twenty-five years she was also a visiting tutor in the psychology department at Goldsmiths’.

The Alone Alternative is the third part of a series of thought-provoking novels about relationships. It also stands alone as an interesting read for both men and women. The first two parts, Meeting Lydia and A Meeting of a DIfferent Kind may also be read independently although many readers have enjoyed following the characters sequentially from the start of their journey.

Health issues in 2011 prompted Linda to retire from teaching in order to concentrate on her writing career. She hopes that with this new focus she can bring her books to the notice of a larger audience.

‘The Alone Alternative’ is available to buy on Amazon:-

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Alone-Alternative-Linda-MacDonald/dp/1783064331/ref=pd_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0Y35R097KGGE4ZXYV6GX

 

‘Public Battles, Private Wars’ by Laura Wilkinson

I read and reviewed Laura Wilkinson’s first book, ‘BloodMining’ a while back and so was delighted when she asked me if I would like to review her second novel ‘Public Battles, Private Wars’ which was published by Accent Press on the 9^th March 2014.  Set in Yorkshire, Fenley Down in the 1980’s, ‘Public Battles, Private Wars’ tells the story of the miners’ strike.

Mandy is 23 years old, married to Rob who works in the mines, and has children.  Mandy feels as if she is stuck in a rut and wants to do more.  However, a life as a housewife and bringing up the children seems inevitable.  Mandy’s childhood friend, Ruth, who left Fenley years ago, returns with her Falkland’s war hero husband, Dan.  But something just doesn’t add up and Ruth isn’t the person she appears to be.

Conflict with the Coal Board turns to war and the men go out on strike.  The community and its whole way of life is badly threatened and Mandy finds herself joining the Fenley Action Group (FAG) which gives her a whole lot of confidence.  As the strike goes on relationships are tested and Mandy discovers just who her true friends are.

The first thing I want to say is that this book is so different from Laura Wilkinson’s first novel.  I really enjoyed it and I liked her writing style.  I could actually hear the Yorkshire accent.  Whilst this story was about the miners’ strike it also took a good look at the people affected by it and their families, bringing with it a couple of interesting plots.

Mandy was one of my favourite characters.  She was of strong character no matter what life threw at her and a woman to be admired.  The cakes she baked and the descriptions throughout the book are enough to make anyone’s mouth water.

I give this book 5 out of 5.

 

 

‘The State We’re In’ by Adele Parks

I was very kindly sent a proof copy of this book by Headline Publishing Group.  A novel very much talked about, ‘The State We’re In’ was published on 4^th July 2013.  I really wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes a bestseller.  This is the first time I have read any of Adele Parks’ novels and I am so happy that I was given the opportunity to review this book.  I loved it, loved it, loved it!

Two strangers meet on a plane going from London to Chicago.  They are the total opposite to each other.  For a start off they come from two very different family backgrounds.  Jo is a true romantic who remains forever optimistic that she will find true love, whereas Dean due to his childhood finds it very hard to put his trust in people.  It’s an unlikely association but as they get to know each other on the plane, they discover that there is a connection between them.  Dean even finds himself pouring his heart out to Jo, something he has never been able to do preferring instead to keep his past private.

This is a wonderful story which looks at relationships, marriages and broken families.  It shows what a small world this actually is and reminds us that no one is perfect, that these things happen.  Each chapter has been narrated by the main characters Eddie, Clara, Jo and Dean.

I thoroughly enjoyed ‘The State We’re In’ from the start and I found it so very hard to put down.  In fact I was up at 7 a.m. this morning reading it as I couldn’t wait to find out what was going to happen next.  I really liked Jo and just wanted her to find happiness.

This novel has been tenderly and beautifully written and will stay with me for quite a while.

I give this book 5 out of 5.