Book Extract: The Secret To Falling in Love by Victoria Cooke
Hello to Victoria Cooke and the birthday blog blitz for her novel, The Secret to Falling in Love. Happy Book Birthday Victoria.
Lifestyle journalist and thirty-something singleton Melissa hashtags, insta’s and snapchats her supposedly fabulous life on every social media platform there is.
That is until she wakes up on her birthday, another year older and still alone, wondering if for all her internet dates, love really can be found online? The challenge: go technology free for a whole month!
Forced to confront the reality of her life without its perfect filters, Melissa knows she needs to make some changes. But when she bumps into not one, but two gorgeous men, without the use of an app, she believes there could be hope for love offline.
If only there was a way to choose the right guy for her…
I have reviewed the book below but first, Victoria has shared an extract from the novel. I hope yo enjoy.
***** beginning of extract*****
Here, main character, Mel, is reflecting on her grandmother’s romantic encounter with her grandad. This memory helps plant the idea of a technology detox in Mel’s mind.
I stumbled across a picture of me and my grandma. My throat ached as a lump formed. She’d died just two months ago, and I’d missed her ever since. She was my rock who I could talk to about anything; she knew me better than anyone else on the planet. I lifted my glass.
‘To you, Gran – I hope you’re raising hell up there.’ The last time I’d spoken to her, she’d told me to stop worrying about finding a man.
‘You’re not going to find anyone in there,’ she’d scolded, pointing to my laptop. ‘Do you think that’s how I met Grandad?’
I didn’t reply. Gran’s questions were usually rhetorical, which you discovered if you tried to answer.
‘No, I put on my make-up; made sure my best dress was darned, washed and pressed; and I went out and smiled at boys. It was easy to catch an eye or two.’ I’d chuckled at the time. Of course, things were different these days, but I enjoyed her stories so played along. ‘Grandad asked me if I wanted a drink. But I said a firm no.’
‘No?’ I’d queried, wondering if she’d not been attracted to him at first, if she was trying to tell me to just settle for someone.
by 
NK Chats To… Amanda Brooke
Hi Amanda, thank you so much for joining me today. I am very happy to be part of the blog tour for your book, Don’t Turn Around. Can you tell me about it?
My latest book is set ten years after the death of seventeen year-old Megan McCoy and is told from the perspectives of Meg’s mum, Ruth and her cousin, Jen who was also her best friend. Meg died from suicide and her parents have established a helpline in her memory to reach out to young people in crisis who need someone to talk to.
The family are trying to rebuild their lives but there are questions that haunt them. What hold did her boyfriend have over her and why did she protect him to the very end? Was the brief note she left meant to be a cryptic message or did someone destroy part of the note before her father found her body?
The family think they have accepted there will be no answers until a young woman phones the helpline and reveals things that only Meg could know. Is she suffering as Meg had suffered and can they save her?
What’s your writing day like, where do you like to write, do you prefer silence and what keeps you motivated throughout your writing time?
I gave up a career in local government two years ago to become a fulltime writer and it’s so much easier having a set routine rather than fitting writing in around the day job.
My writing room was my son’s bedroom but working from home can be quite sedentary and I adapted my treadmill so I could walk and type on my laptop for the first hour or two each day. It was a great plan but as you know, it was a very hot summer last year, and my treadmill started billowing smoke! Unsurprisingly, I haven’t used it since but I have a dog now and we go out for long walks once I’ve met my daily word count. She’s the incentive I need to keep the words flowing so that we can escape together.
What elements do you believe make a good suspense novel? What are the common mistakes made if you’re writing one for the first time?
The best compliment you can give a writer is that their book was a page turner and that’s particularly important when it comes to suspense novels. Making the reader want to read on is an art and to get it right you have to consider the pace and structure of your story.
Each chapter should give the reader something but also leave them wanting to know more.
The characters are also key as the reader has to be invested in them. Protagonists should be relatable and that means giving them flaws as well as strengths, whilst the reverse is true of antagonists who can benefit from having something about them that makes them human.
What is your favourite word and why?
Having a favourite word can be problematic if it sticks in your mind and you find it appearing in one page after another. Hopefully, the repetitions are picked up during editing but often it’s a surprise to see how many times your copyeditor has to flag up overused words.
One word that I fell in love with at the start of my writing journey was ‘unfettered.’ It described perfectly the decision one of my characters had to make in my first novel, Yesterday’s Sun. She was to sacrifice her life for that of her child and her decision needed to be unfettered by other influences, such as the love for her husband or the dreams she had beyond becoming a mother.
by NK Chats To… Steven J. Gill
Hi Steven. Welcome to Novel Kicks. Can you tell me about your novel, The Rock ‘N’ The Roll ‘N’ That and what inspired it?
The novel in very simple terms is about a band.
A middle-aged man stumbles across said band as they prop up the bill in a subterranean haunt in Manchester.
He offers to manage them, and their journeys begin.
The backdrop is essentially to highlight love and friendship and the insecurities/successes/predicaments that middle-age can bring.
In terms of what inspired the novel, I’d previously read a book that used the music industry as a backdrop but felt it could be done better. I then attended the inaugural Festival Number 6. In North Wales and after an enjoyable afternoon at the literary stage, had somewhat of an epiphany and decided I would set to and get my book written.
The coupling of the music industry and this ‘new-breed’ of middle-aged felt like it had a lot mileage. Forty-something is now such a different beast in comparison to previous generations. And that opens a wealth of possibilities and jacking your job in to mange a band is well within the realms of possibility this day and age.
What’s your typical writing day like, where do you like to write and do you prefer silence? What keeps you motivated when writing?
It tends to fit in around work and I work in a room with a table, a huge bookcase and a stereo. I like to write for a couple of hours at a time. And I do very little in silence!
A perfect writing day involves no work. Get up and do a couple of hours. Go to the gym. Come back and eat couple more hours writing. Go for a walk for an hour mid afternoon and then a couple more hours writing. Breaking the creative process up allows for thinking time.
Motivation is progress in simple terms – be it writing or editing etc.
What’s your route to publication?
I ran a social media crowdfund campaign to gauge interest and to ‘out’ myself as a writer. The response was great, and I used the monies to get the book professionally edited and launched via Clink Street.
Do you have a favourite word?
Tough question and it can easily change from day-to-day – much like my favourite Beatles track – but let’s say preternaturally today.
by Book Review: The Talisman – Molly’s Story by Eliza J. Scott
Molly’s dream of taking over her childhood home at Withrin Hill Farm with husband Pip and their three children has finally come true.
And, as they settle into the stunning Georgian farmhouse, with their plans to diversify into glamping nicely taking shape, the family couldn’t be happier.
But tragedy suddenly strikes, and Molly’s world is turned upside down.
Heartbroken and devastated, she struggles to face each day. True to form, her fiercely loyal best friends, Kitty and Violet, rally round offering love and support, but Molly doesn’t think she’ll ever be able to smile again. Until the day a tall, dark stranger with twinkly eyes arrives…
Follow Molly’s story in book 2 of the Life on the Moors Series set in Lytell Stangdale, a picture-perfect village in the heart of the North Yorkshire Moors, where life is anything but quiet.
The Talisman, Molly’s Story is book two in the Life on the Moors series.
Picking up a few months from where Kitty’s story left off, The Talisman focuses on Molly and Pip.
They have a dream to convert part of their farm into a glamping business. With everything looking as though it is slipping into place, Molly has never been happier, and she counts her blessings.
When tragedy strikes, Molly’s life feels like it is crumpling around her and nothing is going to fix it…
I am excited to be part of the blog tour for this novel especially on publication day.
I very much enjoyed Kitty’s story and was so happy to be back in Lytell Stangdale with Molly, Pip, Ollie, Kitty, Vi and the hilarious Jimby.
Reading the first novel will give you insight but you can very much read this as a standalone if you wanted to begin with this one.
by Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: A Time For Firsts
It’s Friday which means it’s time to start writing some fiction.
Fiction Friday is our weekly writing 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.
Pinch punch first day of the month.
Your character finds themselves overwhelmed when they experience three big firsts in one day.
Their age, gender, job is up to you.
by Book Club
