Author Interview: Emma Bennet
Emma Bennet is the author of I Need A Hero, His Secret Daughter and Snowed in for her Wedding. Emma joins me today to chat about writing, planning her novels and her dinner party guests.
Hi Emma, thank you for joining me. Do you have a favourite word?
I have several: pudding, serendipity and natty stand out as particularly wonderful to say. Actually, I managed to get ‘natty’ into my latest manuscript, a great moment!
How much planning do you do before beginning a book? What elements need to be in place?
I use an A4 notebook and write a basic outline over a page. I then expand on this over about three pages, and write short character profiles for my hero and heroine. I add to and refer to these sheets regularly! Once these are in place, I’m off!
Which novel would you like to live in for a day and why?
I think it’s got to be ‘Pride and Prejudice’: I’d love to chat with Lizzy, advise her mum on her nerves and dance with Mr Darcy!
Out of all the books you’ve read, which three have stayed with you?
It tends to be children’s books which stay with me the most. I absolutely love being able to share my favourites with my children. The top three would probably be Enid Blyton’s The Enchanted Wood, Noel Streatfeild’s Ballet Shoes and Catherine Cookson’s Nancy Nutall and the Mongrel (which never fails to make me cry!).
by 
Competitions: Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook 2017 Winner Announcement
The best-selling Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook is back for 2017 and thanks to Bloomsbury, we had ONE copy to give away.
WELL DONE TO PIPPA GOODHART FROM CAMBRIDGESHIRE WHO HAS WON A COPY OF THIS YEAR’S EDITION. CONGRATULATIONS.
This book is an essential guide to all things media and publishing. It’s in its one hundred and tenth printing and it was released by Bloomsbury on 28th July 2016.
The Writers’ & Artists Yearbook is an indispensable guide to all areas of publishing. It has plenty of advice and guidance for writers and is packed with guidance of whom to contact if you’re wondering what to do next with your novel and looking to get published.
It’s 816 pages and it has over 4,000 listings including publishers and agents.
by Blog Tour: No Turning Back by Tracy Buchanan – Extract and Review
I’m very happy to be welcoming Tracy Buchanan back to Novel Kicks and her blog tour for her new novel which is called No Turning Back (published by Avon on 28th July 2016.)
When radio presenter Anna Graves and her baby are attacked on the beach by a crazed teenager, Anna reacts instinctively to protect her daughter.
But her life falls apart when the schoolboy dies from his injuries. The police believe Anna’s story, until the autopsy results reveal something more sinister.
A frenzied media attack sends Anna into a spiral of self-doubt. Her precarious mental state is further threatened when she receives a chilling message from someone claiming to be the ‘Ophelia Killer’, responsible for a series of murders twenty years ago.
Is Anna as innocent as she claims? And is murder forgivable, if committed to save your child’s life…?
I have reviewed it below but thanks to Tracy and Avon, here is an extract from chapter seven of the book. Enjoy. (Warning, small amount of bad language.)
The Third One
‘My friends call me Coolio,’ the boy says.
I laugh.
‘Not for the reasons you think though,’ he adds. ‘It’s ’cos I once got my fingers stuck in a freezer door.’
I laugh again. This one’s funny.
‘I like it here,’ the boy says. We’re sitting in his garden, looking out towards the sea through the broken panels of his fence. It’s boiling hot and we’re both trying to huddle under a small tree, the one piece of shade out here. He’s new here, only been living in The Docks for three weeks.
I can’t help but look towards his pond. It shimmers under the bright exhausting sun and I have a flashback to the week before and the pale body that had lain prone in filthy water.
Guilt swirls with excitement. You said that will change, the guilt will eventually fade. I think you’re right, I’m starting to feel braver, fingers tingling with excitement.
by Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: String a Sentence Together
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.
Today’s Prompt: String a Sentence Together…
For today’s prompt, use the following three sentences in a story.
‘The most beautiful smile I ever saw.’
‘Emma found something buried in the garden.’
‘Finally, the key gave way.’
by My Writing Ramblings: The Austen Challenge and Other Things…
Happy Wednesday everyone!
I can’t quite believe that we are already into August. The time is slipping by me in a surreal manner this year. Today marks the third year we’ve been in our current house and yet it doesn’t feel like five minutes since we moved in.
Before we know it we are going to be pulling those clocks back (I know, I said it. Ssshh, I hear you cry.)
This week I’ve been mainly trying to sleep and failing. Being wide awake at 2am isn’t so bad when I’m on my days off but on workdays it means copious amounts of tea and numerous walks around the building just to keep myself awake. In the last few days I’ve managed to spill tea all over the carpet (and my bag didn’t escape unscathed either,) drop things, walk into the occasional wall and drop a can of coke on a concrete floor, which had it spraying out absolutely everywhere. Lack of sleep does not do anything for my coordination. Ha-ha.
The writing side of my week has shown some progress. Most of my characters have had biographies written about them now. It’s nice to have a sense of who my characters are. They are becoming much more real to me now. Now it’s time to work on the plot.
One thing I have set myself starting this month is my Austen reading challenge. When thinking about it, I’ve realized that I have 
not read all of the Austen novels. I know!
So, the challenge is to read one a month for the next six months.
If you fancy reading along with me I am going to be reading them in this order…
by Book Club
