NK Chats To…Soulla Christodoulou
Hello Soulla. Thank you so much for joining me today and inviting Novel Kicks onto the blog tour for your book, The Magic of Miramare.
Aww, thanks so much. I appreciate you taking the time to chat to me like this.
What’s your typical writing day like and do you have any writing rituals – like a favourite place to write? Silence or noise?
Definitely silence and it’s what prompted my partner to build my own little haven away from the house. I’m now lucky enough to have a beautiful writing room tucked into the corner of my garden. It has lighting and heating and internet access so I can hide away all day writing—I usually start early, sometimes as early as 7am—and do my researching and planning for my books, social media campaigns and client edits. I can keep going for hours and sometimes even forget to stop for lunch. The back wall of my space is covered in pictures from magazines to inspire me and the other has shelves which house most of my books; all organised by colour. It really is a special place and during the pandemic I wrote Alexander and Maria in there in just a few short weeks.
What were the challenges when writing a novel from the point of view of three characters and what’s the most important thing to remember when doing so?
My second novel, The Summer Will Come was written from the POV of four different characters and each POV started with a new chapter. I have done the something similar with The Magic of Miramare. I like the use of multi viewpoints in that it brings the reader closer to the character and their thought processes and helps them to understand the characters’ motivations and behaviours better.
What’s your favourite word and why?
My favourite word is serendipity, not only is it such a beautiful sounding word but it brings so much magic to our everyday, ordinary lives. I have found that so many of my happiest moments and opportunities have arrived just by chance, as if by magic, and the feeling of being in the right place at just the right time, not a moment too early or too late, for me, speaks volumes about how amazing the power of God, and the Universe, are.
If you could visit a fictional world for a day, where would you go and why?
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NK Chats To…Susan Buchanan (Plus a Giveaway To Win A Copy Of A Little Christmas Spirit)
Hello Susan, thank you so much for joining me and for inviting Novel Kicks onto the blog tour for your book, A Little Christmas Spirit. Could you tell us a little about your latest novel, A Little Christmas Spirit and what inspired it?
Hi, thanks for having me. Well, it’s the third in the series, and the main character, Lara, who pulls everyone together in this story, is now 9 years old. It has been a long time since the last Christmas Spirit book (2015) so I specifically ensured Lara was the right age for everything to happen organically. We’re back at the Sugar and Spice café, now owned by her mum Tabitha and her uncle Jacob. Because of Lara’s age, and her key role in the novel, a great part of the book is set in her school, with all the Christmas events that throws up.
Which songs would make up a playlist for your novel?
This is a tough one, as I’ve never really thought about it. How about ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ by Mariah Carey. ‘Merry Christmas, Everyone’ by Shakin’ Stevens. ‘Wonderful Christmastime’ by Paul McCartney. You’ve got me on a roll here, now! ‘Step Into Christmas’ by Elton John, and ‘Last Christmas’ by Wham.
What’s your typical writing day like and do you have any writing rituals, for example, writing in silence, needing coffee?
I don’t have a typical writing day as every one is different and I don’t write every day. When I do write, sometimes I write a lot, like 12,000 words, to finish a book. As I also edit other authors’ books, sometimes it depends on my workload, and in the run-up to launch of a new book, I have a lot of business things that need doing: admin, processes. However, with regards to the actual writing, yes, I need silence and lots of coffee. Apart from that, I just lose myself in my world!
From idea to finished book, what’s your process like? How do you approach editing and when do you know when you’ve done enough preparation/research prior to starting?
by NK Chats To… Ian McFadyen
Hi Ian, thank you so much for joining me today and inviting Novel Kicks onto the blog tour for your latest book. Can you tell me about your novel, Blood Matters and what inspired it?
Blood Matters is the tenth book in my Carmichael whodunit series. It’s set in rural Lancashire (as they all are) and starts with the discovery of a body down a dark unlit road. The murder victim is not from the area but is known to some of the residents of the small hamlet where he’s discovered. It quickly becomes apparent that the deceased was seen by the young man who found him and countless other people, less than 30 minutes earlier in the local pub, having a heated argument with one of the village residents.
The book was inspired by a twist I thought of when I was driving about 18 months ago.
What were the challenges you found when writing your novel, especially when it’s part of a series?
The main challenge when writing murder mysteries in a series is to come up with ideas for a plot, characters and a twist that are not just different from anything else in previous books in the series but that aren’t similar to whodunits written by other authors.
Which songs would make up a playlist for your book?
I’d go for tracks from the 80’s or 90’s.
From idea, to finished book, what’s your writing process like and how long does it typically take you?
It’s remarkably haphazard in that I write ferociously at times, but I can also not put finger to keyboard for a week or two if I’m mulling over how to tackle something I find tricky that’s coming up soon. I only write in the mornings and rarely write more than 1000 words a day (usually more like 500). Despite my seemingly chaotic approach I generally take about 1 year to write the first draft then 6 months recrafting parts to make them ready to share with my copy editor.
What’s your favourite word and why?
by A Moment With…Alice May
I’m so pleased to be welcoming Alice May to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her book, The Mid-life Trials of Annabeth Hope.
Two very different worlds are about to collide.
Feisty country girl Annabeth Hope has sworn off men since her ex abandoned her. Juggling three resentful step-teens, a hyperactive toddler, a smallholding, and a herd of rescued llamas, she has her hands full.
With the roof about to collapse on her crumbling New Forest home, she is desperate to find a way to hold her patchwork family together. The last thing she needs is an attractive distraction moving in next door.
Burnt-out inner-city doctor Rick Mahon has left London and his medical career behind in a moment of professional crisis. A malpractice lawsuit is on the horizon, and the cancel culture mob are snapping at his heels. His plan to stay under the radar is thrown off course when he meets his new neighbour and sparks start to fly.
Annabeth and Rick couldn’t be more different, but maybe they hold the key to each other’s happiness…
Alice joins us today to chat about inspiration and people watching so without further ado, it’s over to you.
I love writing family dynamics. Finding the inspiration to write teen characters can be tricky, especially when you are trying to replicate their interactions with the adults in their lives. When I worked as a school librarian, it was interesting that pupils using the library often forgot that I was there. While I quietly moved around the room emptying the returns box and filing books back onto shelves, teenagers would chat openly with their friends about things they would never share in front of an adult. I wasn’t deliberately eavesdropping, but it was impossible to do my job without hearing what was being shared quite openly around me. Snippets of random conversations triggered ideas, situations and character quirks that went on to influence my writing.
by NK Chats With… Alana Oxford
Hi Alana, thank you so much for joining me today. Can you tell me about your novel, A Modern Midlife Christmas Carol and what inspired it?
Thank you so much!
My book is about a frazzled wife/mother who is fast approaching burnout for the holiday season.
I am part of the “sandwich generation” myself, meaning I’m caught in the middle of helping aging parents, but I still have my own children at home to care for as well. I’ve had a lot of powerful conversations with friends and colleagues about navigating this challenging time of life and I drew upon our collective experiences, embellished and fabricated, to explore those feelings under the added pressure of holiday expectations.
I thought this stressed wife/mother character would make a fantastic modern day Scrooge and went from there.
What’s your typical writing day like? Do you like to write in a particular spot? Silence or noise? Any other writing rituals?
I don’t like to be around other people when I write, so depending on who’s home, I’ll either write with my laptop on the dining room table, or closed up in my office.
I prefer to have music playing when I write. I also create a playlist for every book I write. Certain songs act as theme songs for different characters, or they get me in the right frame of mind for certain scenes I’m writing. If I have to step away from writing for a few days due to life, the music will put me right back in the world I’m creating.
What were the challenges you found when writing your novel especially when A Christmas Carol is so well known?
I wanted it to harken back to the original, but not too much. Scrooge himself makes a brief appearance in my book, but I really enjoyed playing with the idea of an overtaxed woman who’s lost her Christmas cheer but is expected to make holiday magic for everyone in her family.
To give myself more direction, I wanted to keep the length of my book to about the length of Dickens’ classic. His is a little more than 30,000 words. Mine came in around 37,000.
Which songs would make up a playlist for your book?
by Book Club
