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.

Blog Tour: The Wronged by Kimberley Chambers

Published March 9, 2015 | By Novel Kicks

We are excited to be welcoming Kimberley Chambers today and kicking off her video blog tour for her new novel, The Wronged which is due to be released by Harper Collins on 12th March 2015.

Kimberley was previously a disc jockey, a street trader and a mini cab driver before writing her first novel, Billie Jo. She is now a full-time writer and she lives in Romford. Her latest novel is the third in the Butlers series (the first two being The Trap and Payback.

About The Wronged:

When the going gets tough, the Butlers get even… ‘Murdered in 1980 she was, bless her. Now I’ll tell you the story of everything that’s happened since…’ No parent should ever have to bury their child, but God knows the Butlers have buried more than their fair share. Now, Vinny and Michael are planning the downfall of all who’ve wronged them. The Butlers don’t forgive or forget, and they take their secrets to the grave. As yet more tragic events rip the family apart, loyalties are on a knife-edge. Times are changing in the East End, and the brothers who have always stuck together are at each other’s throats. As the old saying goes – you keep your friends close, and your enemies closer…But you keep your family right where you can see them.

We chat to Kimberley about her new book, her advice for new writers and her favourite place to write.

WIN A SIGNED COPY OF THE WRONGED. THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED.

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Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: 500 Words

Published March 6, 2015 | By Novel Kicks

Friday 6th March 2015: 500 words.

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: The story, characters and theme are your choice but today, your challenge is that the whole story needs to be 500 words or less.

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News: JoJo Moyes announces book sequel

Published March 5, 2015 | By Novel Kicks

JoJo Moyes has announced that she is releasing a sequel to Me Before You. The new novel will be called After You and is due to be released in the autumn.

JoJo’s best selling novel, Me Before You is currently being adapted into a movie staring Sam Claflin (The Hunger Games, Love Rosie,) and Emila Clarke (Game of Thrones.)

On her website, JoJo said…

“I hadn’t planned to write a sequel to Me Before You. But working on the movie script, and reading the sheer volume of tweets and emails every day asking what Lou did with her life, meant that the characters never left me. It has been such a pleasure revisiting Lou and her family, and the Traynors, and confronting them with a whole new set of issues. As ever, they have made me laugh, and cry. I hope readers feel the same way at meeting them again.”

After You is due for release by Michael Joseph on 24th September 2015. I loved Me Before You and I can’t wait to find out what happens to Lou. If you can’t wait for the film or the book, Penguin have released a book trailer. Enjoy!

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March’s Book Club: All My Friends Are Superheroes by Andrew Kaufman

Published March 5, 2015 | By Novel Kicks

Telegram Books, Feb 2006.

Book Corner is our monthly online book club.

How it works…

We love books and we love chatting about them even more. Every month, we pick a new book for discussion. We will post a question to kick things off and then you can talk about any of your thoughts about the book in the comments box below. The best thing about our book club is that EVERYONE CAN TAKE PART. It’s open to all. You can read the book at any point in the month or if you’ve already read it, tell us what you think.

This month, our pick is: All My Friends Are Superheroes by Andrew Kaufman.

About the book:

All Tom’s friends really are superheroes. Tom even married a superhero, the Perfectionist. But at their wedding the Perfectionist is hypnotized by her ex, Hypno, to believe that Tom is invisible. Nothing he does can make her see him. Six months later, the Perfectionist is sure that Tom has abandoned her, so she’s moving to Vancouver. She’ll use her superpowers to leave all the heartbreak behind. With no idea that Tom’s beside her, she boards the plane. Tom has, until they touch down, to convince her he’s there, or he loses her forever.

What are your general thoughts about this book? Did you like it? Dislike it? Discuss in the comments below.

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Blog Tour: Creature Comforts by Trisha Ashley

Published March 4, 2015 | By Novel Kicks

I am excited to be welcoming Trisha Ashley back to Novel Kicks. Her latest novel, Creature Comforts was released by Avon on 26th February and as part of the blog tour for the book, Trisha and Avon have shared an extract with us. Enjoy.

When we first met, it felt so right that I thought falling in love with him must be part of my preordained destiny. Even though my best friends, Lulu and Cameron, teased me about my conviction that I had a near-death experience and went to Heaven while I was in a coma after the accident, and was sent back only because I had some important purpose to perform in life, I knew it was real. Since then I just had to tune inwards to the voice of my guardian angel from time to time to check I’d taken the right turning … only with Kieran, I think I must have fallen for him so hard that I misread the message.

My path through life had appeared clearly marked till then, for after studying Textiles and Design, I’d accepted a job with the Women’s World Workshops Foundation, which sent me on assignments all over the world, though the majority were in India. The pay was minimal, but the job satisfaction immense: discovering the skills and artistic heritage of each area and finding ways of utilising them in the making of beautiful garments, the sale of which could transform the lives of the local women involved in the scheme and, through them, those of their families and even their whole communities.

And all the time I was amassing a huge portfolio of colours, designs, patterns, ideas and contacts, ready for the day when I would finally go home for good to Halfhidden, the small village in west Lancashire where I grew up, and set up my own business selling retro-inspired clothes.

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