Blog Tour: Gilding The Lily by Justine John – What Makes A Good Novel
The blog tour train rolls in today. I am pleased to be welcoming Justine John to Novel Kicks. Her latest novel, Gilding The Lily was released on 24th November 2016.
A gripping mystery of jealousy, murder and lies.
An invitation to her estranged, wealthy father’s surprise 75th birthday party in New York sees Amelia and her husband, Jack, set off across the pond to meet a whole new world of family politics.
Amelia, now a successful businesswoman, feels guilty about never liking her father’s women, so does her upmost to give his new socialite partner, Evelyn, the benefit of the doubt. Wouldn’t it be nice if they could just all get along? But there’s something very dark, determined and dangerous about her…
When Amelia’s father, Roger, becomes ill, Jack grows suspicious that there is more to it. Amelia understands why, but no one else will believe them. They travel back to America to piece together the puzzle, but when Roger goes missing, the couple are driven to their wits’ end. It takes a DEA officer and a secret assassin to bring them answers, but the ruthless truth is something no one expected…
I’ve reviewed Gilding The Lily below but first, Justine talks to us about what she feels makes a good novel. Over to you, Justine.
I’ve read a fair amount of books and the ones that I enjoy most are the ones that keep me guessing until the very end, and then for it to be a real wow-factor.
I love to see body language in a setting or a discussion and I like to be able to understand what the character is feeling, so I get to know them, their peculiarities and their traits. That makes them real for me.
Recently I read a novel, where I guessed who the culprit might be half way through – but I also thought ‘no, this writer is too clever – she is leading me up the garden path and in the end it will be someone else’. It made the story almost more intriguing. But the end revealed that the killer was who I thought it was after all. For me it was a big let-down and I was truly disappointed. It also put me off buying the writers next novel. It was well written, grammatically speaking, and the paragraphs, points of view and story rolled and built up nicely. It was just the ending that let me down.
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Courses and Competitions: Chipping Norton Literary Festival 2017
The Chipping Norton Literary Festival is back for 2017.
Chip Lit Fest is due to take place between 27th – 30th April and the box office is open now for the many great events and sessions taking place over the four day event.
This excellent writing festival offers free and paid events featuring many workshops and authors. All venues are within a 10-15 minute walk of each other around the centre of Chipping Norton.
Events include Desert Island Books with Armando Iannucci, a talk with Veronica Henry as well as a writer’s workshop with Clare Bailey. Ian Rankin will be talking to Mark Billington, Nadiya Hussain will be talking about The Secret Lives of the Amir sisters, Sarah Phelps will be talking about writing for the screen and Emily Barr, the author of The One Memory of Flora Banks, will be talking about creating characters.
Each event is individually priced. For more information, call 01608 642350 or visit their website, https://www.chiplitfest.com
You are also able to keep up with all the latest news about the festival on Twitter, https://twitter.com/ChipLitFest
by Novel Kicks Writing Room: Introduce Yourself
Tuesday 17th January 2017: Introduce Yourself.
Creating characters is one of the most important things when writing a novel. A writer needs to know their characters. They need to know their likes, dislikes, what scares them or what motivates them.
The more you know your characters, the more developed they will feel or at least that is what I am finding. Today, I thought it would be fun to introduce yourself. Write a biography with you as the character. To help, I’ve included some questions below. Then you could also pick one of your characters and complete this for them. Add more questions if you wish.
Name.
Age
Date of Birth
Education.
Favourite books, music and films.
Dislikes.
by Book Review: The One Memory of Flora Banks by Emily Barr
Released: 12th January 2017, Penguin
Flora is seventeen and longs to be like every other girl her age. However, Flora can’t remember anything past being ten for more than a few hours. She has anterograde amnesia ever since she was ten.
When she goes to a party, she ends up alone with her best friend’s boyfriend, Drake. They kiss and he leaves. When Flora wakes up, she remembers Drake, she remembers the kiss. Her first new memory for seven years.
She must be with Drake and so sets out to find him alone hoping that she will find him quickly and they can be together.
I found Flora to be such an interesting character. She had such an innocence about her that I felt the need to protect her, hoping that no one was going to take advantage. As far as all the other characters are concerned, I didn’t know who to trust much like Flora. She’s an inspirational character. Many could learn a lot from her.
As I read, I tried to put myself in her shoes – getting myself to a place and then waking up a while later having no idea how I got there. It was a terrifying thought and yet, she embraces the adventure. She forgets, starts again and keeps moving.
by Book Cover Reveal: The Good Daughter by Alexandra Burt
Evening everyone.
I hope you’ve all had a lovely weekend. It does tend to go too quickly.
It’s time for a cover reveal (we’ve not had one in a while.)
Today, Avon has revealed the cover for the latest book by Alexandra Burt. I really liked her novel, Little Girl Gone. I’m looking forward to reading this one. It sounds great.
It’s called The Good Daughter and it’s due to have its paperback release on 23rd February 2017 via Avon Books (you can follow all the lovely guys and girls at Avon on Twitter.)
Ta-dah. Here’s the cover for The Good Daughter. I think it already creates a pretty chilling backdrop. What do you think?
What if you were the worst crime your mother ever committed?
Dahlia Waller’s childhood memories consist of stuffy cars, seedy motels, and a rootless existence traveling the country with her eccentric mother. Now grown, she desperately wants to distance herself from that life. Yet one thing is stopping her from moving forward: she has questions.
In order to understand her past, Dahlia must go back. Back to her mother in the stifling town of Aurora, Texas. Back into the past of a woman on the brink of madness.
by Book Club
