Novel Kicks

About Novel Kicks/Laura... Novel Kicks was founded in 2009 and is run by Laura who is currently living in Hampshire, and lives with husband, Chris and her cat, Buddy. She would love to be a writer. She’s trying to write the novel she thinks so much about. She’s loved reading and writing since ‘Creative Writing’ classes in primary school. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything she can get her hands on, she loves reading, dancing like a loon, and watching Project Runway and Ugly Betty (her two TV guilty pleasures.) She also has an obsession with chocolate and Jammie Dodgers.

Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: Celebrity Dinner

Published January 30, 2015 | By Novel Kicks

Friday 30th January 2015: Celebrity Dinner

Fiction Friday is our weekly prompt. The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can. Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.

Today’s prompt:

Pick four of your favourite celebrities and invite them to dinner. Write about the evening. What happens? Do they all like one another? Does it end well or in disaster?

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Review: That Night by Chevy Stevens

Published January 29, 2015 | By Novel Kicks

That Night is the latest novel from author, Chevy Stevens. Here’s the blurb:

Eighteen-year-old Toni and her boyfriend, Ryan, were wrongly convicted of the murder of her younger sister.

Seventeen years later, she’s out on parole and back in her hometown, but she’s struggling to adjust to a new life on the outside. Ryan is convinced he can uncover the truth; her mother still doesn’t believe Toni’s innocent; and the former high school girls who made Toni’s life miserable may have darker secrets than anyone can imagine. Before Toni can move forward, she must take a terrifying step back to her past to find out the truth and clear her name, before it’s too late.

I am new to Chevy’s books and so I didn’t know what to expect but reading the blurb, I found I was definitely intrigued. This book certainly appealed to my love of mysteries as I love trying to figure out what is going on.

That Night follows Toni through three stages of her life – her life as a teenager prior to the death of her sister, her situation through the trial and finally her life once she’s released from prison after serving her sentence for her sister’s murder.

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Book News: Neil Gaiman

Published January 29, 2015 | By Novel Kicks

Great news for Neil Gaiman fans.

The author of Stardust and The Ocean at the End of the Lane is due to release the third collection of short fiction. It’s called Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances and it’s due for release on 3rd February 2015 in hardback and e-book formats.

Trigger Warning mixes horror, ghost stories, science fiction and fairy tales and this also includes a never before published American Gods story, Black Dog.

Here’s a bit of the blurb:

In this new volume, Neil Gaiman pierces the veil of reality to reveal the enigmatic, shadowy world that lies beneath. Trigger Warning includes previously published pieces of short fiction-stories, verse, and a very special Doctor Who story that was written for the fiftieth anniversary of the beloved series in 2013-as well as BLACK DOG, a new tale that revisits the world of American Gods. Continue reading →

Blog Tour: Win a copy of Campari for Breakfast by Sara Crowe

Published January 28, 2015 | By Novel Kicks

We’ve been so delighted to be part of the blog tour for Campari for Breakfast. To celebrate the paperback release of Sara Crowe’s debut novel, thanks to Sara and Transworld, we have two copies to give away.

How to enter:

Simply comment on this post by the closing date which is 23.59 on Tuesday 3rd February 2015. The two winners will then be chosen at random from the entrants and announced on the Novel Kicks blog on Wednesday 4th February 2015. UK only. Good Luck!

(The winner will also be notified via e-mail. We will use the address you provide when you enter the draw. Don’t worry, it’s safe with us. Also don’t forget to check your junk folder. I try to get the prizes to you as quickly as I can. In this instance, the prize is coming directly from Sara’s publisher so please allow up to 28 days for delivery. If you’ve not received your prize after this time, please contact us via the blog and not social media as there is a danger with social media that we may miss your message.)

About Campari For Breakfast:

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Blog Tour: Campari For Breakfast by Sara Crowe

Published January 28, 2015 | By Novel Kicks

We are very happy to be welcoming Sara Crowe back to Novel Kicks to celebrate the paperback release of her debut novel, Campari for Breakfast (which is released by Transworld tomorrow.) Sara has kindly shared an extract from her novel. Enjoy.

(Warning: some bad language.)

Sue
Sunday 4th January 1987

It was easy persuading Dad to let me leave. In my heart I’d hoped he would object, but since it would give him more time alone with Ivana, he didn’t. Persuading myself was easy too. Stay in Titford or go to Egham? Most of my friends are having gap years picking strawberries, living in communes, whereas I want to go straight into life with no gap, and earn good money doing it. And so Titford holds nothing for a girl of my ambition any more.

It’s an understandable and terrible fact that Dad’s taste has deserted him since we lost mum. I think he just got so lonely that anybody would do. He met Ivana at Titford golf club. She was playing a round with his boss and Dad was to take them to dinner. She’d really been after the boss, but settled for Dad’s attentions because the boss was a terrible lecture. I don’t know much about her, other than she comes from somewhere in Denmark. She just appeared out of nowhere like bad wind.

The only things I have to show for my life so far are a love of words and some interesting relatives, and mum always drilled me to make the best of what I’ve got. So in the end my decision has absolutely nothing to do with Dad or Ivana. Ultimately I think Green Place will be a good place to write.

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