A Moment With… Lucy Kaufman
Lucy Kaufman is bringing the blog tour for The Heart-Shaped Box to Novel Kicks today. Welcome.
The page-turning psychological thriller novella about infatuation, revenge and the lengths we will go to for love.
“She pressed her nose gingerly to the glass, peering unblinking through the viscous liquid at her gift.”
Victorian, rural Sussex. When headstrong daughter of a rector, Constance Timothy, receives a flurry of gifts in pretty little boxes from the charming, smouldering student doctor Smith Williams, her whole family anticipates a future betrothal.
Yet beneath the exquisite pastel lids and satin bows lie macabre secrets that entice Constance into a private world of obsession and darkness, where morality becomes blurred, loyalties are tested and unthinkable acts are possible.
One secret will shake the genteel world she knows to the core…
The first book of The Carousel of Curiosities series, this haunting novella is perfect for readers of Sarah Waters, Laura Purcell, and Angela Carter.
To talk about how much she loves Novellas and why you might too, it’s over to you, Lucy.
Like many schoolkids in the UK, the first novella I read was Of Mice and Men. Short enough to read over a term in a classroom and engaging enough a story for even the most book-phobic child to be drawn into its emotional world, it’s obvious why Steinbeck’s 30,000-word masterpiece has become an all-time classic as well as a Literature syllabus perennial.
There are clues in that thin-spined book as to what makes a great novella: one strong storyline pushing forward to an inevitable climax and conclusion, unforgettable characters, vivid description that puts us right there with Lenny and George in Soledad, and an emotional tangle at its heart that has a deep sense of how things should go in an ideal world but – in this book at least – don’t.
I read recently how a novella is akin to other short forms such as flash, the short story and even poetry in that a novella cannot afford to waste a single word. For this reason, they may be short, but they are rich and refined, the good ones often polished to perfection like precious stones until they gleam.
by 
NK Chats To… Kathleen Jeffrey
Hi Kathleen. Thank you so much for joining us today and for bringing the blog tour for Katie’s Really Bad Day: A Story About Test Anxiety to Novel Kicks. What’s a detail, theme, or clue in your book that most readers might miss on the first read—but you secretly hope someone notices?
Empathetic, concerned faces of Katie’s teacher, Mom & Dad, and her classmates when Katie is upset. No one is making fun of her.
When did this story or idea “click” into place for you—was there a single moment you knew you had to write it?
During critique group sessions with a long manuscript, I discovered I actually had two books to write. The first became Katie’s Really Bad Day: A Story About Test Anxiety, to identify Katie’s character with school & test anxiety, which is based on my personal story I had to tell for authenticity. The second book will feature Katie once again and will be illustrated sometime this year.
Which character or real-life person surprised you the most while writing this book, and why?
Katie’s sidekick Finn turned out to be quite the entertaining cut up as well a very concerned and empathetic friend.
If your book had a soundtrack, what three songs would be on it and what scenes or moments would they pair with?
“Inside Out” by Michael Giacchino, (From joyful school yard to Katie’s sudden test anxiety.)
“When I Breathe” by Stephanie Leavell (Learning belly breathing with Miss Julie and later with the class.)
“When I’m Nervous” (A song for kids about overcoming anxiety.) Overall story wrap up. Would play at the end of the book.
What’s one belief, question, or emotional truth you hope readers carry with them long after they finish your book?
by A Moment With… Elaine Spires
We are saying hello to Wednesday and welcoming Elaine Spires as she brings the blog tour for her book, A Body in the Banjo to Novel Kicks.
It’s November 1958 and Dagenham is excitedly awaiting Bonfire Night. Cissie Partridge isn’t too keen on fireworks but she generously donates to the local children doing Penny for the guy. Cissie is content with her lot. She loves her husband Harold.
She shops, she cooks, she reads at every opportunity and she volunteers at the Dockland Settlement. Observant and sharp, she gets on with all her neighbours.
Then, one morning, she finds a body…
To tell us about more about The Body in the Banjo’s main character, Cissie, it’s over to you, Elaine.
Mrs Cissie Partridge
As a writer I have often struggled to classify my novels. Romance? Well… there is romance in them but they certainly don’t fall into the typical enemies-to-lovers or friends-to-lovers formats of most romantic novels. Contemporary Fiction? Some are. Sagas? Sort of. Women’s Fiction? Getting warmer! All of my books feature strong women. But all the years I have been writing there was one genre that I’d always wanted to attempt: cozy mysteries.
When I went to live in Spain as a 19-year-old holiday rep — or courier as we were known in those days — clients would often offer me their paperbacks when they were leaving. I’ve always been a voracious reader and I was extremely grateful for their generosity. Thus I discovered so many authors, Jackie Collins, Harold Robbins, Sidney Sheldon, Mario Puzo, Alistair Maclean to mention just a few. However, there was one author’s name I was always delighted to see on my gifted books: Agatha Christie.
I devoured her books and fell into every trap, followed every red herring as the Queen of Whodunnits totally blindsided me. I never once guessed who the murderer was. I’ve also watched all the TV Miss Marples over the years, my favourite being Geraldine McEwan and I must have seen every episode of David Suchet as Poirot a dozen times. From time to time over the years I would ask myself “Can I write a murder mystery?”
by Book Extract: The Last Adam By Ron Echols
Please join me in welcoming Ron Echols to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for his book, The Last Adam.
Ron Echols’s The Last Adam tells a story where spiritual warfare unfolds alongside everyday life. What begins quietly soon gathers momentum, as hidden forces start influencing events with lasting consequences.
Mary Levitt’s pregnancy becomes the focal point of violent attacks and unexplained visions, revealing a prophecy feared by forces that have waited centuries to act. Her child represents a threat to an ancient balance.
Joseph Riesman’s involvement in a major development project exposes political manipulation and older powers operating beneath visible authority. What seems modern and rational soon gives way to something far more dangerous.
The sacrifice of the archangel Raphael exposes a war involving angels, fallen angels, and human collaborators working across time. Watched and hunted at every turn, Mary and Joseph confront betrayal and spiritual warfare while fighting to protect a life destined to change the world.
Ron has kindly shared an extract from The Last Adam with us today. We really hope you enjoy it.
*****beginning of extract*****
Prologue
Location: The Lunar Surface, Tranquility Base, southwestern corner of the Sea of Tranquility.
The moon hung motionless, like a dead thing in the void of space. Its pockmarked exterior reflecting the sun’s merciless glare and millennia of asteroids pummeling its surface. In that airless waste where humans had once taken a small step, the lunar dust lay since undisturbed, marked only by boot prints and machinery left behind.
Piercing through the silence of the void, a voice called out.
“Raphael!”
A brilliant white light erupted into existence, hovering above the moon’s surface like a tear in the fabric of space itself. The light intensified until it seemed to bend space around it, taking form. A figure of a man emerged. Behind him, the first suggestion of wings. Translucent, but appearing stronger than steel, they folded against his armor etched with ancient angelic symbols that seemed to move when viewed directly. Dark hair, wild and untamed accentuated his sapphire eyes and caressed his polished, glass-like skin.
The being that called itself Gabriel stood motionless on the lunar surface, its feet leaving no prints in the ancient dust. The face that poets had tried and failed to capture for millennia turned slowly, searching.
by Book Extract: Winter’s Season By R.J. Koreto
I am so pleased and excited to be welcoming R.J. Koreto to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for his novel, Winter’s Season.
Winter’s Season by R.J. Koreto follows a man tasked with enforcing justice before the tools to define it exist. Through Captain Winter’s perspective, the story examines how authority operates when law is informal and accountability is selective.
In a city still shaped by war, Captain Winter serves as Whitehall’s “special emissary,” confronting crimes meant to be handled quietly. When a young woman is murdered, his investigation exposes connections that reach beyond the crime itself, binding privilege and violence together.
Winter’s path is shaped by uneasy reliance on others. A nobleman tied to his past opens doors to influence, while a wise Jewish physician brings careful observation to a world driven by rumor. The case grows more volatile with the return of Barbara Lightwood, a former lover whose intelligence and social access place her near dangerous truths. Her guarded involvement unsettles Winter at a critical moment.
As pressure mounts, Winter is forced to confront not only the crime, but the moral limits of his role in pursuing justice.
R.J. Koreto has kindly shared an extract with us today. We really hope you enjoy it.
*****beginning of extract*****
The captain said goodbye to his colonel and a few other officers, and the butler saw him out. He walked to the nearest stand and engaged a hackney cab to Bow Street Court. A few heads turned as he entered the building, but no one accosted him. A clerk gave him the barest nod but said nothing as he entered a room.
A few minutes later, the captain came out. He was no longer in his regimentals, but in rather shabby outfit, almost rural, with a slouch hat. Down the hall, he entered another room, where a squad of Bow Street Runners awaited—constables, employed by the local court at Bow Street, to keep order and seize felons. Winter suppressed a grimace. They were poorly trained and poorly paid, but it was pretty much all London had for law enforcement. Many still thought the idea of a formal professional constabulary too much government interference—too un-English. So, the Runners would have to do. At least they were willing and obedient.
“We have already gone over where you should be standing,” said the captain. “You know how important it is you aren’t seen.” There was more than instruction in his voice—there was menace.
“Yes, sir,” said the most senior constable present.
“Then take your places. I’ll be along shortly.”
by Book Club
