NK Chats To… Jon Rance
Hi Jon. Happy publication day. Thank you so much for joining me and for inviting Novel Kicks onto your blog tour. Can you tell me a little about your latest novel, Not Moving Out and what inspired it?
Hello, and thank you so much for having me on Novel Kicks! It’s a real pleasure to be here. My new novel, Not Moving Out, comes out on May 15th and I am very excited about it. Set in Brighton, it’s the story of Freya, Joe and their daughter Dolly. Freya and Joe have decided that after twenty years, their marriage is over. The problem is that Dolly still needs to live at home for another six months before she leaves for university, and they can’t afford for either of them to move out. So for six months, they are all forced to live together. The question is, will living together but separated make them both realise things about themselves and their relationship that might save their marriage? There are also various other plotlines that keep things ticking along with the most prominent one being Joe, a once successful but now failed comedy writer, using their new living situation as the basis for a sitcom – without telling Freya about it, of course.
I was inspired to write this book after reading a few articles about couples that wanted to separate, but for financial reasons had to keep living under the same roof. I thought it would be a really interesting dynamic for a romantic comedy.
Which songs would feature on a playlist for this book?
A great question. If you read my previous book, One Hundred Moments Of Us, you’ll know that it had a very strong playlist. I even created a playlist for it on Spotify! There are two Snow Patrol songs in this book. Chasing Cars, which is one of my favourite songs of all time and, You Could Be Happy. Also mentioned in the book are ABBA, so let’s go with Take A Chance On Me because it’s a great song and also the title fits into the theme of the book. In Not Moving Out, Joe is really into 90s Britpop music and so that would feature heavily. Perhaps some Oasis, Blur, Supergrass, and Pulp! The book has that perfect blend of humour, drama, pathos and joy, and I think that would be reflected in the song choices.
What’s your typical writing day like and do you have any writing rituals? How much has this changed since writing your first novel?
I do have a writing routine and it has definitely changed so much since writing my first book. My life when I was writing my first novel, This Thirtysomething Life was very different. I was working full-time, we’d just had our first baby, and writing was something I did when I got a spare five minutes. Which is why it took about 18 months to write that first book! Now I write full-time and my children are teenagers!
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Book Extract: Tucker’s Time Machine Telescope by Robin Bennett
It’s a pleasure to be welcoming Robin Bennett to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for his book, Tucker’s Time Machine Telescope with illustrations by Matt Cherry.
Thomas Tucker (or just Tucker to everyone who knows him) is walking innocently down the street when he is attacked by a chicken and falls down a hole. Unlikely as it sounds, this is how he ends up finding the Time Machine Telescope.
Unfortunately, Tucker seems to attract chaos and bad luck the same way that someone standing on top of a mountain waving a metal pole will eventually attract lightning and a free Xray.
Can he survive killer robots, Tudor kings, dinosaurs … and Kylo Hens long enough to complete his Time Machine Wish List
- GET RICH
- HAVE FUN!
- GET MUM AND DAD TO SPEND LESS TIME ON THEIR MOBILE PHONES
There’s only one way to find out…
Robin has shared an extract with us today. We hope you enjoy.
*****beginning of extract*****
Chapter 1
Tucker is chased by a chicken
Thomas Tucker (or just Tucker to everyone who knew him) was walking innocently down the street near his home. Minding his own business.
Although he didn’t know it yet, this was going to the most important day of Tucker’s life.
He was on his way to see Mrs Dempsey, the lady who looked after him in the holidays. His parents worked late, and they didn’t trust him to stay on his own for more than about ten minutes without getting into some sort of terrible trouble.
They weren’t wrong about this because Tucker seemed to attract chaos and bad luck the same way that someone standing on top of a mountain waving a metal pole will eventually attract lightning and a free Xray.
As we shall find out.
The sun was warm on his face, and it made him scrunch his eyes up, so he heard the chicken before he saw it.
by Book Extract: Summer Paths: An Anthology by Seasonal Collective
It’s a pleasure to be welcoming the Seasonal Collective as we shine a light on their anthology, Summer Paths.
This, the fourth and final selection of stories, completes the Seasonal Paths series created by a consortium of best-selling and award-winning North Atlantic writers.
In this anthology you will encounter unintentioned consequences, love in later life, the pull of family dynamics, misguided assumptions and murderous soulmates.
These yarns will take you to new worlds, into a ghostly abyss, across an ocean in pursuit of truth and into the darkness of ancient beliefs.
Make yourself comfortable and surrender to these multi-styled tales, all linked by the theme of summer, within the covers of this book. You will be surprised and entertained by what you find.
The Seasonal Collective has kindly shared an extract from Pierre C. Arseneault’s, The Year of the Goat with us today. We hope you enjoy.
*****beginning of extract*****
I like to tell people, I loved Gus and his motley crew so much that I wanted to tell another tale with this same cast and so I wrote this comedy called The Year of the Goat in Summer Paths as a sequel to Melvin in Winter Paths.
The Year of the Goat
By Pierre C. Arseneault
A dry, cracking sound echoed through the sultry morning air as the wooden baseball bat connected with the softball. Much of the crowd in the bleachers stood, cheering as the ten-year-old girl dropped the bat and ran for first base.
“The kid’s good,” Harvey said, stuffing his age-spotted hands into his jacket pockets as he stood next to the chain-link fence that circled the baseball field.
“Isn’t that Scooter’s granddaughter?” Gus asked, lifting his beige bucket hat and wiping the sweat from his brow with a handkerchief. He wondered how Harvey could wear long pants and a jacket on such a hot summer’s day.
“Over here!” Gus heard a familiar voice shout. Turning his attention to the bleachers, he saw his friend, nicknamed Scooter since early childhood. He’d been the only kid in the area who’d had a push scooter instead of a bicycle. Scooter straightened and waved excitedly while shouting, the wispy white hairs that ringed his baldpate fluttering in the warm breeze. “Did you see that?”
Gus’s knees creaked as he followed Harvey up the side of the weather-beaten bleachers of the old ballpark.
by Book Extract & Giveaway: You Can’t Hurry Love by Susan Buchanan
It’s a delight to be welcoming Susan Buchanan back to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her book, You Can’t Hurry Love.
A delicious friends to lovers, forced proximity, workplace romance for 2025.
A 30th birthday celebration. A sloth sanctuary in Costa Rica. A split-second decision.
When Kat MacDonald takes the trip of a lifetime to Costa Rica, she doesn’t count on ditching her dead-end job, sending her uber-controlling boyfriend packing and volunteering at a sloth sanctuary.
But when she finally meets the swoon-worthy assistant manager Dexter, the chemistry between them is unmistakeable and sparks fly. Despite a rival for his affections, and her ex’s inability to know when to give up, she and Dexter are drawn to each other like magnets.
Just as she’s settling into life at the sanctuary and making friends, a letter arrives from back home in Scotland. A letter which could both upset her new plans and give her everything she has ever wanted. Everything except Dexter.
Kat is torn: should she stay in the tropical rainforest paradise with her beloved sloths, new friends and the delectable Dexter or pursue her lifelong dream? Or can she find a way to have it all?
A fun, escapist read full of romance, beautiful scenery and humour, perfect for fans of Emily Henry, Beth O’Leary Leonie Mack and Portia MacIntosh.
There’s a chance to win a copy of You Can’t Hurry Love but first, Susan has shared an extract with us today. We hope you enjoy.
*****beginning of extract*****
Kat has just arrived at the sloth sanctuary and is being shown around by the owner, Carlos. She has just clocked someone trying to catch his attention.
‘Excuse me a second, Kat. My deputy manager needs to speak to me.’
‘No problem.’ I cast my glance back towards the gorgeous guy he’s heading towards and he catches me. Oops. Busted. But his lips curve into a smile before I look away. Interesting.
I stand and listen to the questions from the school group, my brain whirring as it tries to work out some of the more difficult terms. I love that the word for sloth in Spanish is ‘perezoso’ – basically ‘lazy’, or ‘oso perezoso’ – a lazy bear. And the sloths are so sweet. It’s so relaxed here I almost feel a bit ‘perezosa’ myself. It’s hot, though. I could do with a cold drink.
I’m suddenly aware of a delicious, spicy aftershave and I turn my head slightly to discover the gorgeous guy is now standing beside me.
by Book Extract: The Throne of Ash by Lissy Porter
It’s a pleasure to be welcoming Lissy Porter to Novel Kicks and the blog blitz for their latest book, The Throne of Ash.
The Throne of Ash – A thrilling Tudor-esque fantasy with all the deceit, politics and Courtly romance of the Tudor era
A Queen. A Princess. And a Consort who must be chosen to ensure the future of the Throne of Ash.
The Queen’s Face masks all—even the woman who wears it. None may see her without it, not even her Consort responsible for ensuring she brings forth a healthy daughter to succeed her. If he fails, being cast aside is the most favourable of outcomes.
When Queen Cecily unknowingly determines on her sister’s lover as her Consort, ambition, jealousy, and the demands of courtly etiquette threaten the stability of the Throne of Ash.
Princess Bess knows only too well her responsibilities towards her sister, the queen, but when one of the powerful noble Houses attempts to ensnare both sisters with one lover, there can only ever be one winner.
The Throne of Ash is a Tudor-esque fantasy in which women rule, and men are kept in the background, of little use, except when a Consort must be chosen. Then, court intrigues, and politics come to the fore in a deadly game of politics and etiquette that sets sister against sister.
Lissy has shared an extract with us today. We hope you enjoy.
*****beginning of extract*****
In this excerpt we see Princess Elizabeth painting her sister, Queen Cecily, for a royal portrait. The queen has been absent from court for some days, following the revelation her Consort might not be who he seems to be.
The next time I see the queen, she greets me regally. If her expression, behind the Queen’s Face, is more rigid than usual, I hardly blame her. There have been no court appointments for three days. In that time she’s kept herself within her apartment, and now appears before everyone once more in the Queen’s Hall.
Unwillingly, I admit she’s played her hand well. In her finery she wishes to be painted wearing, she looks every inch the rightful and regal queen of Ash. No matter the swell of her belly, which she doesn’t so much hide as obscure beneath her gown, she presents herself as perfectly in command and above reproach.
Rumours regarding the likely outcome of Lady Alice’s fate are running like fire throughout the palace. All believe she’ll be executed. Few have anything good to say for her, although Lady Mary assures me there are many who are worried about the full accounting the queen has ordered. It appears, the House of Fish weren’t alone in pretending children belonged to them when they didn’t. Not, of course, that any can debate the legitimacy of the claims of me and the queen. We were acknowledged at birth by my grandmother, who witnessed our arrival into the world, if not our creation. For which I’m quite grateful. I imagine my mother and father were as well. Now, I’m pleased my grandmother was so assiduous in performing her duties.
by Book Club
