Book News – Becky’s Back…
Eeeeek. We are super excited here at Novel Kicks. We are huge fans of the Shopaholic books and couldn’t be happier that Becky Brandon is due to return in the latest installment to the Shopaholic series by Sophie Kinsella. It’s called Shopaholic To The Stars. It’s due for release by Bantam Press on 25th September (in hardback and e-book with the paperback due for release in March 2015,) and we can’t wait!
You can pre-order the book in hardback and it’s available to order in e-book too.
About Shopaholic To The Stars…
Becky Brandon (nee Bloomwood) is in Hollywood! It’s as if all her life has been leading to this moment. She’s hanging out with the stars . or at least she will be, when she finally gets to meet movie superstar Sage Seymour, whom husband Luke is now managing.
There’s so much to see and do! And getting Minnie through the hurdles for her A-list Hollywood pre-school will require some.er.help.
by 
Novel Kicks Fiction Friday – Doing Things Differently
Friday 1st August 2014 – Doing Things Differently.
Fiction Friday is our weekly 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 – What would you do if you could go back and change something from the past? Would you do things differently? Take a character you’re currently working on or, if you’ve not got one, choose a character from a favourite novel. Re-write part of their story but this time, change a decision they made and get them to do something differently. What happens?
by Competitions – Writers’ & Artists Yearbook Winner
The Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook is acknowledged as the indispensable companion to navigating the world of publishing. This book provides guidance on writing for newspapers, magazines, scripts for film, radio and TV; advice on writing and submitting plays, poetry, non-fiction and fiction of all genres and how to contact publishers and agents; managing finances as a writer; negotiating legal issues, such as copyright; understanding the editing process; self-publishing and conventional routes; digital and print.
Thanks to Bloomsbury, we had one copy of the new edition to give away.
Well done to Chris Roche from Sussex who has won a copy of the 2015 edition.
The new edition was released by Bloomsbury Publishing on 31st July and is available in paperback and eBook.
Visit the Writers’ and Artists’ website at www.writersandartists.co.uk
by Novel Kicks Chats To Kathryn Simmonds
Kathryn’s first collection, Sunday at the Skin Launderette won the Forward Prize for best first collection in 2008. Her short stories have been published in magazines and broadcast on Radio 4. Her first novel, Love and Fallout was published by Seren Books in 2014. We chat with Kathryn about her book, her planning process and Oscar Wilde.
Can you tell us about your novel, Love and Fallout and how the idea originated?
The idea for the novel evolved from a short story I was writing about a charity worker who gets a sudden and unwelcome TV makeover. To help fill in my character’s history, I did some research into the Greenham Common peace camp where she’d protested as a teenager, and the more I read the more fascinated I became.
As I looked at film footage of the 1980s demonstrations, particularly ‘Embrace the Base’, when thirty-thousand women joined hands around the military airbase, I wondered where those women were now and what they might be doing. My original story grew: my character had a secret from her past, an old friend of hers turned up, and gradually a novel began to take shape.
What’s your planning process like when writing a novel?
This is my first novel so I don’t have a tried and tested method. Love and Fallout became difficult to control as the story expanded, and mid-way through I had to stop and properly consider the plot. Writing into the unknown is exciting, but I learned that it’s also necessary to have a loose idea of what’s ahead or you’ll write yourself into a corner.
by A Moment With Carole Matthews
Carole Matthews is the best-selling author whose books include Summer Daydreams (which was nominated for the Melissa Nathan award,) and A Place to Call Home (which was released earlier this year.)
Today, Carole shares her five writing tips…
1. Write every day.
2. Write what’s in your heart.
3. Don’t follow the latest trend. By the time you’ve written your book, it will have passed.
4. Don’t make excuses about why you can’t find time to write.
5. Don’t give up. Determination is the key. And a great story, of course.
Carole can be found at her website, www.carolematthews.com
by News – George RR Martin & Robin Hobb in Conversation
HarperVoyager has announced this week that they will host an event with two of their highest profile authors.
George RR Martin and Robin Hobb will be in conversation on 19th August 2014 in an event taking place in central London (the exact location will be announced soon.)
If you are a fan of either author (we love Game of Thrones,) this unique event features two of the world’s greatest storytellers, discussing how they build their fictional universes, create their characters and balance fantasy and reality; about their influences and inspirations, their struggles and successes.
This is a uniquely exciting event, bringing together two of the greatest storytellers in modern fiction talking candidly about their writing lives, said Jane Johnson, HarperVoyager’s Publishing Director.
Tickets will go on sale later this week. They will be £45 each and this includes a hardback copy of Robin Hobb’s latest novel Fool’s Assassin.
For more information about the event, visit HarperCollin’s website.
by Mick’s Musings – Better Late Than Never
My first post for a couple of weeks. Better late than never – hopefully that’ll mean my blog boss won’t tell me off too much.
The reason for which is simple; I’ve been desperately putting the finishing touches to getting my one page synopsis down from a page and a half. I could easily write this post which wasn’t what I had planned, but let’s see where this actually does end up. So, welcome folks, step right this way for the Magical Mystery (Post) Tour. No buses, no Walruses, but perhaps plenty of flying pigs!
Please include a one page synopsis – only 6 words, a nice small sentence. Cue pulling out of hair, opening of that bottle of wine you swore you’d keep for that special occasion, making sure the fridge (it is hot at the moment) is full of your favourite chocolate – Milky Way Stars here please (any sponsors out there?). Now, pull out all those notes you have of what’s actually happening in your story and – SWEAR as loudly as you can. Who the heck decided this was a good idea???
Now, settle back and eat chocolate and drink wine until it comes out of your ears, you fall down and decide that yes, this is a good idea. You are now ready to condense your lovingly crafted story into one little page of paper (ok, screen). Sound easy? Of course it’s not. My latest is just under a page and a half and that was difficult enough – but it’s a nice page and a half. Wish it could stay at that length, but that’s the rules and this has to be ready to go out in three days time. So, now you know how I spent this lovely weekend, but if I want to become a published author, this is a cross to bear willingly.
That’s the rant over and I feel much better. Thank you to all of you who stayed with me.
by Competitions – Win a Copy of The Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook 2015.
The Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook is acknowledged as the indispensable companion to navigating the world of publishing. This book provides guidance on writing for newspapers, magazines, scripts for film, radio and TV; advice on writing and submitting plays, poetry, non-fiction and fiction of all genres and how to contact publishers and agents; managing finances as a writer; negotiating legal issues, such as copyright; understanding the editing process; self-publishing and conventional routes; digital and print.
The new edition is due to be released by Bloomsbury Publishing on 31st July and is available to pre-order in paperback and eBook.
Thanks to Bloomsbury, we have a copy of the 2015 edition to give away.
How to enter:
Comment on this post with your name and county by the closing date which will be Thursday 31st July 2014 at 23.59. The winner will then be chosen at random from the entrants and announced on the Novel Kicks blog on Friday 1st August 2014. The winner will also be contacted by e-mail (we will use the e-mail provided when you enter.) UK and Ireland only.
Good Luck.
Visit the Writers’ and Artists’ website at www.writersandartists.co.uk
by Courses and Competitions – The Writers’ Academy
Creative Writing for Beginners by The Writers’ Academy (Penguin Random House,) is being led by Selina Walker.
It’s a 10-week interactive online creative writing course which gives you the essential skills and techniques you need to get started writing fiction.
You will learn with experienced creative writing tutors, and interact with a highly experienced Editor at Penguin Random House as you are introduced to the key elements of writing a story: Character, Plot, Point of View, Description, Dialogue, Voice, Setting and Beginnings.
The course consists of a series of carefully planned weekly writing exercises, videos and podcasts from world-famous authors (including Audrey Niffenegger.)
The course will involve between five and ten hours of learning per week at whatever times suit you. You can contact the course enquires team on 0044 (0)203 026 0810 if you have any questions.
by Novel Kicks Fiction Friday – Undercover
Fiction Friday
Friday 25th July 2014 – Undercover.
Fiction Friday is our weekly 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: You are a police officer. You’ve not been one for long and you’ve been partnered with someone new (who you don’t know well.) Your first assignment means that you both have to go undercover and be convincing in your role in order to catch a criminal. Where, why and you is up to you.
by Bella’s Scribblings – Why is a One Liner so Hard?
Bella Osborne
I can write a novel, I have proved it by doing it twice. Neither are published yet but that’s not the point. The point is I can write circa 100,000 words relatively easily but when I have to write something in a card my mind goes blank. The worst scenario is when you are under pressure. When someone sidles up to your desk, plonks a card down and says ‘Freda is leaving, write something funny’. I actually think one of my brain cells dies and it is most definitely one devoted to writing funny things.
I generally manage the situation by panicking and asking for more time, which results in lots of huffing and eye rolling until they eventually slope off, leaving me to sweat over the card. So then I start to read what everyone else has put – this does not help. All this does is waste more time, highlight that most of the office are just like you and have nothing funny to say, not that this has stopped them penning it in the card.
However, there is even more pressure if you have to go first, always try to avoid this scenario. There will be the odd one or two who have put in something slightly humorous and right there is the spark that I needed. I now have a challenge and I have a target to beat (not that I am in anyway competitive, you understand). At this point I find it works well to pretend you have a meeting and head off carrying papers or laptop, supporting a purposeful stride. Find an empty meeting room and get to work.
I will start by having a one woman brainstorm – What is Freda known for? Are there any funny stories already that I just need to recall? Is there an opportunity to play on words here? What did she get up to at the last office party? After much head scratching an idea will alight. I write it out in draft and see if it needs editing to make it punchy. Once I am happy with it I need to find a space in the card. (Why do the people who say the dullest things have the biggest writing?) Eventually I reach the point where my mission is accomplished and I return the card with a smug look to the card co-ordinator.
by Book News – Liane Moriarty
Liane’s new book is due for release this month.
We LOVED The Husband’s Secret (if you haven’t read it yet, we can’t recommend it enough. Read our review here.) We are very excited about Liane’s new book which is due to be available from 31st July. It’s being released by Penguin and it’s called Little Lies.
We are also liking this cover. Very pretty.
It’s now available to pre-order from Amazon.
About Little Lies:
Jane hasn’t lived anywhere longer than six months since her son was born five years ago. She keeps moving in an attempt to escape her past. Now the idyllic seaside town of Pirriwee has pulled her to its shores and Jane finally feels like she belongs. She has friends in the feisty Madeline and the incredibly beautiful Celeste – two women with seemingly perfect lives . . . and their own secrets behind closed doors.
But then a small incident involving the children of all three women occurs in the playground causing a rift between them and the other parents of the school. Minor at first but escalating fast, until whispers and rumours become vicious and spiteful. It was always going to end in tears, but no one thought it would end in murder . . .
by Competition Winners – Liberty Silk by Kate Beaufoy
Thanks to Kate and Transworld, we had three copies of Liberty Silk to give away to celebrate it’s release in the UK.
Well done to Rebecca Carden from Cambridgeshire, Charlotte Ingham from the UK and Tammy Tudor from Greater Manchester. You’ve all won a copy of the book.
About Liberty Silk:
One beautiful dress is the key to three brave women’s destinies.
France 1919: Jessie is celebrating the last heady days of her honeymoon. But when her husband suddenly disappears she finds herself bereft. Until a chance encounter thrusts her into the centre of the intoxicating world of Parisian high life.
Hollywood 1945: Lisa has come a long way from her quiet, unassuming life in London and is taking Hollywood by storm. But all that glitters is not gold, and as the smoke and mirrors of the lifestyle she so longed for shatter around her there are some secrets she can never escape.
by More Books To Kick Start Your Writing
As a new writer, the first battle for me was knowing where to begin. With so many ‘how to’ books on the market, it’s hard to pick which one could be right for you.
We posted our ‘five books to kick start your writing,‘ last year. As there were so many I wanted to pick, here are a few more I think you may find helpful as you find your own path to writing your first book.
I have lost track of the amount of people who have recommended this book to me. Whenever I am talking about ‘how to write’ books with other writers, this book (along with Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott,) will always comes up accompanied by the sentence, “have you read it? You should, it’s fantastic.” Part memoir, it also offers invaluable advice and a tool kit for aspiring writers. Stephen is one of the most successful writers so I don’t think you can go far wrong with On Writing. (Hodder Paperbacks.)
by Courses and Competitions: New Children’s Author Prize 2015.
National Literacy Trust and Bloomsbury Children’s Books want to find talented new authors of children’s fiction.
They are inviting you to submit your stories for eight to twelve-year-olds.
The first prize will be a publishing contract with Bloomsbury (including advance payment of £5,000 for your work,) as well as the use of “Winner of the New Children’s Author Prize 2015 from Bloomsbury and National Literacy Trust,” and a prize ceremony in your honour, with press, authors and publishers in attendance.
Shortlisted authors will get the use of “Runner up in the New Children’s Author Prize 2015 from Bloomsbury and National Literacy Trust,” as well as signed book bundles plus an invitation to attend the prize ceremony with the opportunity to meet agents, editors, press and others.
The competition will be closed for entries on 30 September 2014 at 5pm.
by Book News: Jodi Picoult Releasing Novella.
Hodder & Stoughton, August 2014
On 4th August, Jodi Picoult will be releasing a novella exclusive to eBook. It’s called Larger Than Life and it’s available now to pre-order.
This book is focusing on one of the characters who will then feature in Jodi’s new novel, Leaving Time which is due for release in November.
It looks fantastic and the cover is beautiful too. We will be pre-ordering our copy.
About the book:
Alice is a researcher studying memory in elephants, and is fascinated by the bonds between mother and calf – the mother’s powerful protective instincts and her newborn’s unwavering loyalty. Living on a game reserve in Botswana, Alice is able to view the animals in their natural habitat, as long as she obeys one important rule: she must only observe and never interfere.
Then she finds an orphaned young elephant in the bush and cannot bear to leave the helpless baby behind. Alice will risk her career to care for the calf. Yet what she comes to understand is the depth of a parent’s love.
Preorder at Amazon.
by Novel Kicks Chats To Amy Bird
Amy’s first book, Yours is Mine was released by Carina in 2013. We catch up with her to chat about her latest book, Three Steps Behind You (which was released in March of this year.) We talk about her book, her writing rituals and James McAvoy.
Hi Amy, can you tell us about Three Steps Behind You?
Three Steps Behind You is a twisting tale of toxic friendship, psychopathic fixation and author identity. Set in North London and Soho, it tells of Dan, a crime writer who believes he has to experience everything in order to write about it. Method writing, if you will. But underlying Dan’s writing is the obsessional need to get closer to childhood friend, Adam, and Adam’s wife, Nicole. And he’ll keep trying until he achieves it – however brutal the method. The book is all first person through the eyes of Dan, so you really enter into his psychotic little world.
What attracted you to the psychological thriller genre?
I’m a big fan of Hitchcock, who is a real master of the psychological thriller on-screen. There is such technical skill in keeping an audience hooked, even as they feel uneasy, and I wanted to have a go myself. It’s also fun as a writer to create the very intense worlds that a thriller needs. You really immerse yourself in the world of your characters and the style of the genre. For Three Steps Behind You, I wrote my first draft in three months, which was a delightfully claustrophobic experience. Hopefully the reader then shares in some of that intensity.
Do you have any writing rituals?
I try to keep those to a minimum because I think they can be an excuse for not writing unless the ritual is complete – which would mean you couldn’t snatch small bits of time here and there to write. When I’m having a day devoted to writing, though, I generally go for a walk before I write, to wake my brain up, and remind myself about the outside world. Then as soon as possible after I return, I’ll draw back the curtains in my study, fire up my laptop, take off my watch, and start to write.
by Share a Puffin Book – Charlotte’s Web
This summer Puffin are bringing a series of timeless and unforgettable stories to life for a new generation of readers to discover as A Puffin Book – including Goodnight Mister Tom, Charlotte’s Web, Watership Down and Tarka the Otter. The new editions feature beautiful new cover designs, including iconic cover images and new artwork, as well as additional content, such as material unearthed from the Puffin archive, activities inspired by the books (such as make your own origami Gobbolino the Witch’s Cat!), background information on the story, as well as quizzes, author profiles, fun facts and much more.
As part of this, Puffin are asking readers to choose their favourite story from twenty titles. It was not hard to pick my favourite. For me, it had to be Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White.
I think I was about ten when I first read Charlotte’s Web. This book had such a large place in my childhood and it’s one that I’ve picked up to re-read many times. Recently, on hearing that my husband had never read this book, I insisted he did as for me, it’s one that needs to be read whatever age you are.
The characters are so relatable (even now as I read it as an adult.) Fern is the motherly figure, Charlotte is the best friend every person wishes they had. The animals were like a family. They are so likeable (even Templeton is redeemable,) and I think it was this element that pulled me into the story.
by Competitions: Win a copy of Liberty Silk by Kate Beaufoy.
Thanks to Kate and Transworld, we have three copies of Liberty Silk to give away.
To enter, comment on this post with your name and county by the closing date which is Thursday 17th July 2014 by 23.59. Three winners will then be chosen at random from the entries and announced on the Novel Kicks blog on Friday 18th July 2014. UK and Ireland only.
(Winners will also be emailed via the email they provide when entering the competition.)
Good luck.
About Liberty Silk:
One beautiful dress is the key to three brave women’s destinies.
France 1919: Jessie is celebrating the last heady days of her honeymoon. But when her husband suddenly disappears she finds herself bereft. Until a chance encounter thrusts her into the centre of the intoxicating world of Parisian high life.
Hollywood 1945: Lisa has come a long way from her quiet, unassuming life in London and is taking Hollywood by storm. But all that glitters is not gold, and as the smoke and mirrors of the lifestyle she so longed for shatter around her there are some secrets she can never escape.
London 1965: Cat, headstrong and independent, drawn to danger and passionately opposed to injustice, has no idea of the legacy that precedes her. Once past secrets are unveiled, she has the chance to find out what liberty really means…
An evocative story of survival, betrayal and the invincibility of love.
by Bella’s Scribblings – Character Building With Mr Potato Head…
Bella Osborne
I love Mr Potato Head – there I’ve said it out loud (this isn’t a pet name for my husband in case you were wondering). The character in Toy Story is exactly the way I would have expected that toy to be had it come to life. Believe it or not this is a column about writing, I know sometimes you have to get a shovel to dig it out but trust me I will get there eventually.
Anyway, Mr Potato Head, sadly my eight year old informs me that she is too big to play with him now and he can go to the charity shop. It is such a shame, he was a brilliant toy. We had hours of fun swapping over his assorted limbs and accessories. Thanks to Disney, Mr Potato Head now has a ridiculous amount of outfits and extras, he can be a king or a chef or even Mickey Mouse from Fantasia! In my day you had to use an actual potato and stick bits into it (yes I am that old, please stop sniggering).
Whilst playing with the modern version it struck me that building characters is very similar (see I told you there was a connection to writing, my sincerest thanks for bearing with me). He has a selection of different coloured eyes one of which is a scary frowny pair. Just like Mr PH a character’s features change when they are angry, they may have a particular way that their face contorts. Perhaps their face doesn’t change much, they may keep their emotions concealed. Perhaps they think that they conceal them well but there is a chink, a flicker of something that gives away their true feelings.
I had some feedback a while ago that my main characters were strong but that my supporting ones needed to be more rounded. I assumed that they didn’t mean just fatten them up with cake. So I pondered this for a while because I feel that the approach I use to make my main characters rounded is by exploring their emotional connections and the underlying reasons as to why they react the way they do in each situation I place them in. How they reveal themselves, their thoughts and feelings all helps to develop them for the reader. This is tricky to do with the supporting cast.
by No Mercy by John Burley – Competition Winners.
As part of of the Blog Tour for No Mercy, we had two copies of the book to give away thanks to John and Avon.
Well done to Carol Peace and Tracey Walsh who have both won a copy.
About the book:
The peaceful town of Wintersville is a place safe from the crime and congestion of city life, where neighbours feel like family. It’s the perfect place to live.
But when a teenager is discovered brutally murdered in the woods, it becomes clear that a psychopath is roaming the streets. Dr Ben Stevenson, the town’s medical examiner, and father of two young boys, becomes entangled in the hunt for the murderer, determined to keep his family safe.
But as Ben uncovers the dark secrets of his seemingly quiet community, he confronts a truth that will haunt him forever and puts those he loves in serious danger.
(No Mercy was released by Avon on 3rd July 2014 and is availalbe in paperback and e-book.)
by Events – Red Author Network Event
We all love to read a good book. If you’re a writer just starting out or have thought about writing a novel – seeing your name on the cover, then this event could be just what you’re looking for to give you encouragement and inspiration.
Red Magazine are holding an author network event, How To Write Your Own Bestseller, on Thursday 7th August 2014. It starts at 6.30pm and ends at 8.30pm. It’s being held at British Museum in London.
The panel have 36 best-selling novels between them. Join Lisa Jewell, Freya North and JoJo Moyes for an in-depth discussion on their novels, how they plot, write and get published.
Tickets are £40 which includes a drinks reception and a fabulous goody bag. I’ve been to previous Red author events and in my opinion, they are very helpful and worthwhile if you’re writing a novel.
For more information and to book your ticket, visit www.redonline.co.uk
by Novel Kicks Chats With Kathryn Freeman
Kathryn Freeman made herself a new year resolution back in 2010 to make time to write her novel. Too Charming was released digitally by Choc Lit in September 2013. Her new book, Do Opposites Attract? was released on 7th July 2014. We chat with Kathryn about her book, her theme song and Scooby Doo…
Hi Kathryn. Thank you for joining us. First, can you tell us about your route to publication? How important was joining the RNA New Writers scheme to you?
At the time it felt as if my route was a long and bumpy one, going nowhere, but looking back now it could have been so much worse! I didn’t write my first book until around 5 years ago, but once I’d got the bug I couldn’t stop writing. Of course there followed several years of disappointments when I sent the first few books off to agents and publishers and the rejections flooded in. Then I did my research (umm, perhaps I should have done this first?) and sent the next two manuscripts to the NWS. That, I believe, was my turning point. I followed their advice and submitted the amended versions to Choc Lit – and was stunned and delighted when both were accepted.
Can you tell us a little about your new book, Do Opposites Attract?
The story line came from my desire to write about a rough, gruff hero who’d had a dubious upbringing but was trying to put it all behind him. He became Mitch McBride, Chief Medical Officer for a charity called Medic SOS who provide medical aid to areas devastated by a natural disaster. While he’s out working in a tornado hit part of South America, he meets Brianna Worthington, his opposite in every way.
by Writing Room – Showing, Not Telling
Writing Room is our online writing group.
We post a prompt. Once you’ve written your piece, post it in the comments box below. Anyone is welcome to take part and it’s an opportunity to post work plus give and gain feedback.
Today, we’re looking at showing, not telling.
I came to the party. Kelly was there. I said hello. She looked at me.
Rewrite these sentences to show the following: the character is happy to see Kelly, is anxious, fancies Kelly and finally, not expecting to see Kelly.
by Blog Tour: The Atlas of Us by Tracy Buchanan
I’m pleased to welcome Tracy Buchanan to Novel Kicks. As part of the blog tour to celebrate the release of The Atlas of Us, we have an extract from the book. Happy reading!
Her voice trails off, her eyes losing focus as the bus slows down. A large spiky roof with gold spires comes into view, a mountain shrouded in trees behind it. As the bus draws closer, the whole temple appears before us, curved and ornate with tiered icing-sugar walls and arched windows fringed with gold. Two painted tiger statues adorn its entrance, looking ready to pounce on the frantic relatives and tired- looking officials hurrying around the busy area in front of it. This must be where the foreign embassies are: white canopies, rows and rows of photo boards, lines of desks weighed down with paperwork and flags.
I try to find the Union Jack among all the other flags, as if it might blur the strangeness of this place a little. But all I can see is a tiny beige monkey that is weaving in and out of the table legs. I make a mental note to tell the girls about it. They’ll want to know things like that when I get back. They don’t need to know about the bodies I’ve seen floating in the sea, nor the turned-over cars.
by Blog Tour: The Atlas of Us by Tracy Buchanan – Review
The Atlas of Us is about family, loss, resilience, reconciliation and hope…
When Louise Fenton flies to Thailand to find her mother, Nora, after the Boxing Day tsunami, she fears the worst when the only trace she can find is her mother’s distinctive bag. In the bag is a beautifully crafted atlas owned by travel journalist Claire Shreve, with her notes and mementos slipped in-between the pages. The journal tells the story of Claire’s struggle to find her place in the world following a life-altering revelation, and a tumultuous love affair.
Louise treks across Thailand’s scarred landscape, exploring Claire’s atlas to try to make sense of the connection between this woman and the mother she is so desperate to find.
As devastated people are beginning to put their lives back together, Louise uncovers the secrets that nearly destroyed Claire and the man she loved – the same secrets her mother has been guarding all these years …
This book has such a beautiful cover but from the blurb, I was intrigued to find out how the author was going to tackle the subject matter (the story is set around the tsunami that happened in 2004.)
Told from the point of view of two seemingly unconnected women, Louise and Claire, the story immediately drew me in. It does jump around between the two storylines but this helped build up the mystery and suspense – that urge to keep turning the page as I wanted to know what would happen. I particularly resonated with certain aspects of Claire’s life.
by Blog Tour: Novel Kicks Chats To Kerry Fisher
We’re very happy to welcome Kerry Fisher to Novel Kicks. As part of her blog tour to celebrate the release of The School Gate Survival Guide, Kerry talks to us about her new book, her writing rituals and The Famous Five.
Hi Kerry. Can you tell us a little about The School Gate Survival Guide and how the idea originated?
The idea came to me years ago when I lived in Italy and noticed that social snobbery was mainly confined to job title and geographical location – north vs. south. I was often introduced as ‘Dottoressa (Doctor) Fisher’ even though I’ve got a degree in languages! (I was always terrified there’d be some medical emergency and I’d have to say, ‘I can’t help with the heart attack but I can give you a hand with the subjunctive’.) When I came back to Britain, I noticed that there were all sorts of little social judgements constantly taking place – where you came from and your job was just the beginning. So I decided to write a humorous book about class and thought that the school gates would make a perfect comedic vehicle – a kind of Downton Abbey in a contemporary school setting.
If you were told you were only allowed to pick three things to survive, what would they be?
I’m not going to count my family as they’re a given. My needs are very few, but I couldn’t survive without the friends I’ve know for years. I don’t think anything can compete with that feeling of flopping down with a glass of wine and bouncing from topic to topic without having to fill in any back story. The dog is pretty vital – I love walking her and seeing the changing seasons. If I didn’t have her to exercise me, I’d have to spend even more time being ridiculed by my children when I hula-hoop on the Wii Fit! I don’t care about ‘stuff’ – I hate shopping and am still dinosauring about with an ancient mobile, much to the despair of my daughter. If I were really pushed for something else, I’d have to say, as a service to humankind, I should continue to have pedicures to avoid contaminating the environment with my aesthetically displeasing duck-billed platypus feet.
by Blog Tour: The School Gate Survival Guide by Kerry Fisher – Review
Feisty Maia Etxeleku is a cleaner for ladies who lunch. She spends her life wiping up spilt Sauvignon and hoovering around handbags before rushing back home to skivvy after her children’s feckless father on an estate where survival depends on your ability to look the other way.
But an unusual inheritance catapults her into a different world where no child can survive without organic apricots and Kumon maths classes – and no woman can contemplate a week without Pilates and pedicures.
As she blunders through a middle class minefield, dashing from coffee mornings to her mops and buckets, she is drawn to the one man who can help her family fit in. But is his interest in her purely professional or will her modern My Fair Lady experiment end in disaster?
Maia is a character with whom the reader can immediately empathise with and I liked her straight away. She had an honest feeling about her. She is a mother of two who is working hard to make a better life for herself and her two children, Harley and Bronte. Her partner, Colin, is very little help. He’s lazy, unemployed and feels entitled to sponge off Maia who struggles to make ends meet working as a cleaner.
by Blog Tour: The School Gate Survival Guide by Kerry Fisher.
The School Gate Survival Guide was first published as The Class Ceiling. It’s now got its new titile as was released as an e-book by Avon earlier this month with the paperback release following later in the year. We were very pleased to be invited to take part in Kerry’s blog tour to celebrate the release of her new book.
Below is an extract from the book. Enjoy.
Posh women with dirty houses sometimes phone me. Posh men never do.
Until today, when this solicitor bod burst into my morning with the sort of booming confidence it would be impossible to argue against. My ears closed down, rejecting the steamroller voice, pushing away his words.
‘I’m sorry to be the bearer of ghastly news.’
I’d just got home from my worst job cleaning the changing rooms at Surrey’s grottiest leisure centre. The phone rang while I was in the shower scrubbing away the taint of old plasters and plughole cack. As I clumped down the stairs wrapped in a towel that barely covered my backside, I was praying that the call was from Colin, with good news about work. Instead I stood in the kitchen, holding the phone away from my ear so I didn’t drip water into the receiver while Mr William Lah-di-dah bellowed away at a slight distance, a sort of old Etonian-cum-Clanger. Then I heard it.
‘I’m afraid Professor Rose Stainton passed away last Friday.’
by Blog Tour: John Burley talks about his debut novel, No Mercy
We are pleased to welcome John Burley to Novel Kicks. As part of his blog tour for his debut novel, No Mercy, John talks to us about how his job experience and knowledge contributed to his plot.
My experience as an Emergency Department physician came in handy during the writing of NO MERCY. The novel merges the genres of medical thriller, crime, murder mystery, and psychological suspense. It’s fueled by adrenalin, the drug that got me hooked on emergency medicine in the first place. I tried to bring a level of realism to the medical scenes, to convey the intensity of these environments and how they affect the people working there. NO MERCY is a story about bearing witness to the struggles of others, and the E.R. is a place for that, as well.
My wife is a forensic psychiatrist, and I also incorporated her experience into novel. The story involves a serial killer who terrorizes a small town. We tend to think of such individuals as extremely rare. But many serial killers are sociopaths, and what I learned through discussion with my wife is that sociopaths are present in almost all communities. About 4% of men and 1% of women fit the diagnostic criteria. They frequently blend in to the community, and are harder to identify than one might imagine. Not all sociopaths become serial killers, of course, but for many of them the potential is there. If that doesn’t make you lock your doors at night, I don’t know what will.
by Blog Tour: Win A Copy Of No Mercy By John Burley
Thanks to John and Avon we have two copies of No Mercy to give away to celebrate it’s release on 3rd July.
To enter:
Comment on this post before the closing date of Wednesday 9th July 2014 at 23.59. The two winners will then be chosen at random from the entrants and announced on the Novel Kicks blog on Thursday 10th July 2014. The two winners will also be contacted via the e-mail they provide when they enter the competition. UK and Ireland only.
About the book:
The peaceful town of Wintersville is a place safe from the crime and congestion of city life, where neighbours feel like family. It’s the perfect place to live.
But when a teenager is discovered brutally murdered in the woods, it becomes clear that a psychopath is roaming the streets. Dr Ben Stevenson, the town’s medical examiner, and father of two young boys, becomes entangled in the hunt for the murderer, determined to keep his family safe.
by Blog Tour: No Mercy by John Burley – Review
The peaceful town of Wintersville is a place safe from the crime and congestion of city life, where neighbours feel like family. It’s the perfect place to live.
But when a teenager is discovered brutally murdered in the woods, it becomes clear that a psychopath is roaming the streets. Dr Ben Stevenson, the town’s medical examiner, and father of two young boys, becomes entangled in the hunt for the murderer, determined to keep his family safe.
But as Ben uncovers the dark secrets of his seemingly quiet community, he confronts a truth that will haunt him forever and puts those he loves in serious danger.
I do love a good mystery so I was intrigued to read this book once I had read the book blurb. The first few pages are a little graphic but at the same time, you’re immediately plunged into the story, the action and the lives of these people portrayed in the book.
Ben works in the local CO in the small town of Wintersville – a safe place that sees very little in the way of violent crime until the body of a teenager is found mutilated near the local high school which marks the beginning of a spree of murders.
by July’s Book Corner – Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
Book Corner is our monthly online book club.
How it works…
Anyone can take part in our book club. Every month, we pick a new book for discussion. We will post a question to kick things off and then you can talk about any of your thoughts about the book in the comments box below.
This month, our pick is Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple.
About the book….
Bernadette Fox is notorious. To Elgie Branch, a Microsoft wunderkind, she’s his hilarious, volatile, talented, troubled wife.
To fellow mothers at the school gate, she’s a menace. To design experts, she’s a revolutionary architect.
And to 15-year-old Bee, she is a best friend and, quite simply, mum.
Then Bernadette disappears. And Bee must take a trip to the end of the earth to find her.
by Mick’s Musings – Feeling Sorry For Myself
Hi everyone and welcome to the week leading up to one of the most important dates of the year. Now, just in case my lady wife reads this entry, this does not include (in no particular order); your birthday, your sister’s birthday, our wedding anniversary (I am perfectly aware it will be 20 years next year btw) , the cat-who-must-not-be-named birthday, the multiple theatre dates on the calendar and of course, December 19th, when we first met (or a day or so either side.)
So what am I on about today? Well, whilst sat in my chair, trying to dedicate enough concentration in keeping anything I eat inside. I’m not feeling too well at the moment, had to go home from work yesterday and had an interesting night which didn’t involve much in the way of sleep. Of course, that gave me plenty of time in which to do a multitude of other things. I could have read War and Peace (ok, ignore that, me being silly as usual), or I could have continued writing a short story I’ve had on the go for a while, but it’s a little hard to balance a laptop whilst constantly trotting to the littlest room to throw up.
What did I do then? Even in this digital age, most of us will still have shelves full of bound bits of paper called, books. How wonderful it is to open a crisp new (or in this case, has been sitting there unread for a good while) tome and start to lose yourself in a new story. So, this’ll be a bit of a plug I suppose, but I feel no shame as it was a lovely little story. You will likely have heard of Michael Morpurgo, but this isn’t one of his most recent stories. This is from 1996 and is called ‘The Ghost of Grania O’Malley’ and for the first time I can recall, the heroine has cerebral palsy. Now, it’s not high-brow literature, there’s no real romance involved (after all the 2 leads are both young children) but it’s a sweet little story that I just couldn’t put down. The story brings together such topics as preserving nature, human greed for gold and ghost pirates; all the usual. But you’re rooting for Jessie and Jack from page 1 and I can’t recall 212 pages whizzing by so quickly. Got a few hours and want to relax the mind? Search out this book people. I’ve been a fan of Mr Morpurgo for a while now and if you’ve never read any of his books, you could do a lot worse than to start with this one. Continue reading
by Review: The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter
The Long Mars was released by Doubleday, June 2014.
2040-2045: In the years after the cataclysmic Yellowstone eruption there is massive economic dislocation as populations flee Datum Earth to myriad Long Earth worlds. Sally, Joshua, and Lobsang are all involved in this perilous work when, out of the blue, Sally is contacted by her long-vanished father and inventor of the original Stepper device, Willis Linsay. He tells her he is planning a fantastic voyage across the Long Mars and wants her to accompany him. But Sally soon learns that Willis has ulterior motives …
Meanwhile U. S. Navy Commander Maggie Kauffman has embarked on an incredible journey of her own, leading an expedition to the outer limits of the far Long Earth.
For Joshua, the crisis he faces is much closer to home. He becomes embroiled in the plight of the Next: the super-bright post-humans who are beginning to emerge from their ‘long childhood’ in the community called Happy Landings, located deep in the Long Earth. Ignorance and fear are causing ‘normal’ human society to turn against the Next – and a dramatic showdown seems inevitable . . .
The Long Mars is the third instalment of the Long Earth series by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter.
It’s set several years after the second book. A general summary of the story is that, following a massive natural disaster on Datum earth, there is a mass relocation of people out into the stepwise worlds. It follows three main story arcs, the first is a long distance trek into the far reaches of the long earth, another across Mars and a third one to find an emerging breed of humans who exhibit intelligence far superior to our own.
by Novel Kicks Chats To Jon Rance
Jon’s previous novels include Happy Endings and This Thirtysomething Life. His new book, This Family Life, was released today. We chat to Jon about his new book, his writing rituals and the character he’d like to meet.
Happy publication day, Jon. Tell us about your new book, This Family Life and what inspired it?
Hello. It’s great to be back on Novel Kicks! This Family Life is the sequel to my debut novel This Thirtysomething Life. I always knew I wanted to write a sequel because I fell in love with the characters from the first book and I knew I had continue their story. Both books are in some ways autobiographical and I use lots of experiences from my own life as a parent. There’s just so much comedy in being a father.
The difference to the first book is that this is a much bigger story. The first book really focused on Harry going through pregnancy with his wife Emily, and the book covered the nine months until they had their baby. This Family Life takes us through their whole first year of parenthood, and includes more characters, some old ones return and a few new ones are introduced. This reason it’s called This Family life is because it focuses on Harry and Emily’s family a lot more. With the introduction of baby William, his grandparents are much more involved than the first book, and so we really see the whole family in all its complicated, hilarious, uncomfortable, and brilliant best.
If you loved the first book then I think you’re going to love this even more. I’ve tried so hard to make this sequel even better than the first book, and hopefully I’ve succeeded. It’s definitely a very real, honest, hilarious and heartwarming story about family life and being a new parent, and one that I hope my readers will be able to relate to and laugh along with.
Do you have any writing rituals?
Just lots of tea, coffee, and me staring at a blank screen waiting for inspiration. I think every book is a little different. I think the beginning process for me is the nearest I have to a ritual. When I start writing a book, it’s very much me just brainstorming ideas and I spend a long time writing down completely unrelated bits of lines, character info, jokes, ideas for scenes, and then eventually, after lots more coffee and tea, I start writing the actual book. I also wear my lucky underwear through the whole year-long process – which my wife isn’t very excited about.
by Novel Kicks Chats To Sue Watson
Sue was previously a journalist with national newspapers and magazines before moving on to being a TV Producer for the BBC. Deciding that she’d love to write a novel, Sue became a writer. Her latest book, Love Lies and Lemon Cake was released today. We chat with Sue about her book, her writing process and cake.
Are you a planner? Do you edit as you go? How many words do you aim for on a first and last draft?
I’m not a planner as such, I have a worked out synopsis but I like to allow the characters to develop while I’m writing. I usually write a first draft then add layers as I go over and over it – a bit like icing a cake! I start with about 90 thousand words and after editing and layering and cutting end up with about 80 thousand.
Can you tell us a little about Love, Lies and Lemon Cake (we love that title,) and how the idea came about?
It’s about a woman who’s disillusioned with her life, her marriage and her career. Discovering an old rucksack at the top of her wardrobe she is reminded of all the plans she’d had as an eighteen year old and when she opens it finds a list of all the things she’d planned to do with her life. She realises she’s barely ticked this list off – and decides to try and get her life back before it’s too late. Of course there’s a gorgeous man in the mix to help her achieve those dreams – and to add to his credentials he makes the most amazing lemon cake.
The story was driven by the title really. I used it as a chapter title in Fat Girls and Fairy Cakes which I wrote about 5 years ago and the title’s been in my head ever since.
by Book News: Judy Blume
Yearling, 1970
Judy Blume is to release a new novel. It’s for adults and will be the first in ten years.
In a statement via her publishers, Alfred A. Knopf, Blume said, “I’m both thrilled and terrified, my usual feelings at this point. I’ll be hiding out this summer revising, my favorite part of the process.”
Her previous novels have exceeded sales of 80 million. Titles include Forever, Blubber and most famously, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret – this was certainly one of the books I remember reading when I was a teenager and so I shall be waiting with excitement.
The new book is yet to be titled and there is currently little detail on its plot but it’s “pure Judy Blume – about family, friendships, love and betrayal,” according to Ms Blume’s editor.
The new book is due for release in summer 2015.
by Before I Die by Jenny Downham
David Fickling Books.
Tessa has just a few months to live.
Fighting back against hospital visits, endless tests, drugs with excruciating side-effects, Tessa compiles a list. It’s her To Do Before I Die list. And number one is sex.
Released from the constraints of ‘normal’ life, Tessa tastes new experiences to make her feel alive while her failing body struggles to keep up.
Tessa’s feelings, her relationships with her father and brother, her estranged mother, her best friend, her new boyfriend, all are painfully crystallized in the precious weeks before Tessa’s time finally runs out.
BEFORE I DIE is a brilliantly crafted novel, heart-breaking yet astonishingly life-affirming. It will take you to the very edge.
Sometimes a book will come along that moves me, really moves me. I’m an emotional person, so it’s (reasonably) easy to make me cry, and lots of books do, especially when the subject is around death. But to really, really move me is something different. Me Before You by Jojo Moyes, The Timetraveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, The Love Verb by Jane Green, and now, Before I Die by Jenny Downham.
by Bella’s Scribblings – Boozy Book Club
Bella Osborne
My husband rolls his eyes when I mention that Book Club evening is approaching as his opinion of our book club is that it’s a boozy night out with the girls. This opinion may have been influenced by the rare occasions that I have fallen giggling into the house at some late hour.
Many pieces of advice that you will see for writers often say that you need to read. My writing tutor is forever drumming into us the benefits of reading and more importantly reading as a writer. By that she means, doing a bit of analysis as you read. Looking for things like how it starts, pace, seeing where the author have added description and where they have left it out, where they have utilised dialogue and how it develops the characters. Also trying to understand what the key things are that make you want to keep reading. That elusive page turning quality that is so often referred to but nobody can quite put their finger on exactly was it is. And also what it is for different people. This is, without doubt, great advice.
As a writer there is sometimes an expectation that you are well read, this is so not the case with me. I read the books I had to at school and ever since I have read the books I liked. So as an adult I have indulged my love of chick lit, or women’s fiction if you prefer, and this is a path from which I have rarely strayed.
So being the girly swot that I am, last year I joined a Book Club or more accurately I tagged along with a group of friends who decided that reading a book each month might be a nice thing to do. The aim was to become more widely read, to experience different genres and to do some analysis. We agreed we would put in random suggestions for the next book and draw one out each month. So far we have read a great selection from thrillers, to ghost stories, to historicals and a classic.
by Book News: Michele Gorman
Notting Hill Press, 2014
To celebrate the recent US and Canada launch of Michele Gorman’s The Curvy Girls Club, Michele’s short story, Weightless, is available for free for a limited time.
To get hold of your copy, simply email thecurvygirlsclub@gmail.com and they’ll send you a copy of Weightless, along with membership to the real Curvy Girls Club. The club was created by Michele and anyone is welcome. It’s a daily doze of loveliness for everyone.
The blurb for Weightless…
Annabel’s not surprised when nobody recognises her at her 10 year reunion. The spotty fat teen nicknamed AnnaBall by the school bullies is long gone. But standing on the edge of the popular crowd, she still feels like that girl. That is, until Jack, her teen crush, starts flirting with her. Much to her amusement, he has mistaken her for Christy Blake, Annabel’s chief tormentor before she moved to France in their last year.
by Novel Kicks Chats With Fiona Sussman
Can you tell us about Shifting Colours and where the idea originated.
‘Shifting Colours’ is a story of secrets, love and loss. Set against the violent backdrop of apartheid South Africa and then the calm of late twentieth century Britain, it traces the lives of Celia and Miriam – mother and daughter separated by land, sea and heart-rending circumstance.
Its genesis was a snapshot from a current-events programme I saw many years ago. I held the image in my head for a long time, knowing that one day I would elaborate a story from it.
What’s your writing day like? Do you have any writing rituals? Do yo prefer to write in silence?
I begin each day with a coffee expertly brewed by my husband, but only start writing after doing some sort of exercise (running/walking/Pilates) and then seeing my family off to their respective commitments. I’m usually at my desk by 9am and write through until 2pm, after which life again intervenes.
I try to write Monday to Friday and get very frustrated if I don’t manage to achieve this. I like to write in the silence of my study for a first draft, but for any editing and rewriting after that, I prefer to go down to a local coffee shop. I sit in the same corner each day – the owner calls it ‘my office’ – and a cappuccino and a piece of ginger-and-oat slice go a long way to improving my writing skills.
by Courses and Competitions – Literature Works
Literature Works are now accepting entries for the First Page Writing Prize 2014.
They seek opening pages (300 word limit,) of unpublished novels along with a 150 word synopsis from promising writers around the country. They are looking for openings of a novel that make them want to read on. The deadline for entries is September 30th 2014.
It’s £6 for the first entry and then £3 for all subsequent entries.
The first prize is £1500 plus reading from a literary agent. Second prize is £350 with the third prize being £150.
by Writing Room – Research
Writing Room is our online writing group.
We post a prompt. Once you’ve written your piece, post it in the comments box below. Anyone is welcome to take part and it’s an opportunity to post work plus give and gain feedback.
Today’s prompt is all about researching. Many writers find this a valuable thing when it comes to beginning their novel or story. There is no rule as to how much you need to do before starting your own work but it is valuable to at least know a little about what you’re writing about and getting a balance between fact and imagination in relation to your work.
by Book News: The Long Mars
Third book in the series due for release.
The Long Mars by Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter is due to be released by Doubleday on 19th June. Not long to wait. It’s the third book in the Long Earth series and it’s available for pre-order now.
About the book:
2040-2045: In the years after the cataclysmic Yellowstone eruption there is massive economic dislocation as populations flee Datum Earth to myriad Long Earth worlds. Sally, Joshua, and Lobsang are all involved in this perilous work when, out of the blue, Sally is contacted by her long-vanished father and inventor of the original Stepper device, Willis Linsay. He tells her he is planning a fantastic voyage across the Long Mars and wants her to accompany him. But Sally soon learns that Willis has ulterior motives …
by Fiction Friday – Lucky?
Friday 13th June 2014.
Fiction Friday is our weekly 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: Lucky. Friday 13th is unlucky for some. Write about a character who has always had bad luck except for Friday 13th when they seem to have a large reversal of luck. What happens? Is it all too much at once?
by Book Review: The Library of Unrequited Love by Sophie Divry
The Library of Unrequited Love by Sophie Divry, published by MacLehose Press (2 Jan 2014)
Here’s the blurb:
One morning a librarian finds a reader who has been locked in overnight.
She begins to talk to him, a one-way conversation full of sharp insight and quiet outrage. As she rails against snobbish senior colleagues, an ungrateful and ignorant public, the strictures of the Dewey Decimal System and the sinister expansionist conspiracies of the books themselves, two things shine through: her unrequited passion for a researcher named Martin, and an ardent and absolute love for the arts.
A delightful divertissement for the discerning bookworm…
I had seen this in my local bookshop and nearly picked it up a few times. Translated by Siân Reynolds from the french novel, it’s not a long book at 91 pages so it didn’t take long for me to read. I wasn’t sure what to make of it at first. The main character, the librarian, is having a conversation with a man who has been locked in the library overnight and gradually, as the book progresses, you learn more about her view of the world, her thoughts and her feelings toward someone called Martin. You never hear the responses from the man – the narrative is a one way conversation; it’s all from the librarian’s point of view.
by The Luxury Of Being Read To.
Bella Osborne
As young children many of us were lucky enough to enjoy a bedtime story, read to us by our parents and many of us will have kept up this tradition. But once a child is able to read competently the gift of being read to somehow slips away. You don’t necessarily miss it as it’s part of you growing independent but I think there is a magic in being read to that disappears.
I have been known on occasion to partake of a frivolous extra holiday with a female friend and during those we would read to each other. Often it was magazine articles although some of the glossies are mainly photographs in which case it’s very difficult to make a soap stars kitchen sound exciting. However, it was still a relaxing and pleasurable experience all the same. At the time we felt it was the height of laziness!
I am in my second year of attending a local ‘Writing Fiction’ class where, those that would like to, read out short pieces or extracts each week for feedback and critique. As a new writer it is totally terrifying to read out your own work to twelve people (give me a PowerPoint deck, a microphone and five hundred in the audience any day!) However, as one of the listeners it is an enriching experience. Hearing something written and read by the author, usually for the very first time is quite a privilege and we are lucky enough to have a talented group of writers so each piece is a gem.
by Novel Kicks chats to Mark Kotting
Mark Kotting’s novel, Teach Her was released by Legend Press in May. Mark had a chat with us about his novel, the simple way in which he deals with writer’s block and his favourite word.
Can you tell us about your novel, Teach Her and how the idea came about?
Teach Her is inspired by a teacher who i had the pleasure of sharing a class room with, she was nuts and had strange discipline methods.
Is there a character from fiction that you’d like to meet?
Jonathan Living Seagull.
Have you ever got writers block and if so, how do you deal with it?
I turn the music up.
Who would you invite to a fantasy dinner party?
I’d have to practise my table manners before I could come up with a list.
by Book News: Lee Child
The 19th book in the Reacher series due for release by Bantum Press on 28th August.
Fans of the Reacher novels will only have to wait until August to read the latest instalment.
About the book:
Jack Reacher walks alone. Once a go-to hard man in the US military police, now he’s a drifter of no fixed abode. But the army tracks him down. Because someone has taken a long-range shot at the French president.
Only one man could have done it. And Reacher is the one man who can find him.
This new heartstopping, nailbiting book in Lee Child’s number-one bestselling series takes Reacher across the Atlantic to Paris – and then to London. The stakes have never been higher – because this time, it’s personal.
It’s now available for pre-order.
by Events – The Romance e-Festival Weekend
This weekend, HarperImpulse will be running their first ever digital Romance Festival.
The festival is running on 7th and 8th June 2014.
It’s in conjunction with some of the world’s best loved publishers of romance. It’s two days of discussions, tips and giveaways for writers and fans of romance. Writers involved include Jill Mansell, Lindsey Kelk and Mhairi Mcfarlane.
The full line-up is available on the festival blog. For full timings and schedules of discussions, you’ll need to register for free by clicking this link.
You can also mention the festival on Twitter by using the hashtag, #Romance14
For more information, click here.
by Mick’s Musings – What’s That Nice Feeling?
Well, the psychotic cat from hell deciding not to sleep on your head for one. That wouldn’t be too bad if she didn’t dig her claws in when she dreams.
Opening a fresh bar of chocolate – I may be a man, but I’m still allowed that one ladies.
But, on this particular day, it comes from having finished the edit of my book (I’ll call it a novel if it’s ever published), including adding in the bit I’d forgotten when I first finished it. You know, that bit that is one of the things you first think of when you’re planning and only realise you haven’t actually written in until you’ve finished? You should have heard the language when I realised that. But, at least it doesn’t read like it’s been shoe-horned in. If it had, it would have to come out, no matter how much I love that bit.
So, officially as Happy Bunny here – or at least until my wonderful readers (yep, I am creeping again) come back and tell me what a complete load of rubbish it is. Still, at least I like the main characters in this one – don’t get me started on my lead from my first book. I hate her!! Still like the actual story and don’t think it’s too badly written, for a first attempt, but oh the lead. Very few redeeming characteristics which, possibly, I could get away with if I was an established writer, so it could perhaps be re-visited at some point? Here’s where that time-machine would come in handy again. Continue reading
by June’s Book Corner – Stardust by Neil Gaiman
Headline, 2005
Book Corner is our monthly book club.
How it works…
Anyone can take part in our book club. Every month, we pick a new book for discussion. We will post a question to kick things off and then you can talk about any of your thoughts about the book in the comments box below.
This month, our pick is Stardust by Neil Gaiman.
About the book:
Life moves at a leisurely pace in the tiny town of Wall – named after the imposing stone barrier which separates the town from a grassy meadow. Here, young Tristran Thorn has lost his heart to the beautiful Victoria Forester and for the coveted prize of her hand, Tristran vows to retrieve a fallen star and deliver it to his beloved. It is an oath that sends him over the ancient wall and into a world that is dangerous and strange beyond imagining…
by Competitions – The Separation Winner
Penguin, May 2014.
The Separation by Dinah Jefferies.
Thanks to the lovely people at Penguin, we had a copy of The Separation by Dinah Jefferies to give away.
Well done to Linda Russam. A copy of the book will be on its way to you soon.
About the book:
What happens when a mother and her daughters are separated; who do they become when they believe it might be forever?
1953, the eve of the Cartwright’s departure from Malaya. Eleven-year-old Emma can’t understand why they’re leaving without their mother; why her taciturn father is refusing to answer questions.
Lydia arrives home to an empty house – there’s no sign of her husband Alec or her daughters. Panic stricken, she embarks on a dangerous journey to find them through the hot and civil-war-torn Malayan jungle – one that only the power of a mother’s love can help her to survive.
by Review – Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
When two girls are abducted and killed in Missouri, journalist Camille Preaker is sent back to her home town to report on the crimes.
Long-haunted by a childhood tragedy and estranged from her mother for years, Camille suddenly finds herself installed once again in her family’s mansion, reacquainting herself with her distant mother and the half-sister she barely knows – a precocious 13-year-old who holds a disquieting grip on the town.
As Camille works to uncover the truth about these violent crimes, she finds herself identifying with the young victims – a bit too strongly. Clues keep leading to dead ends, forcing Camille to unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past to get at the story. Dogged by her own demons, Camille will have to confront what happened to her years before if she wants to survive this homecoming.
Anyone that’s read Gone Girl would agree it has the best twist in it – and that the characters are seriously messed up. I can’t decide if the characters in Sharp Objects are AS bad, worse or better.
It’s written first person, which I always prefer (when done well) as it means you get really into the character’s mind, and discover things at the same time as they do – and as this is a mystery it’s good. Flynn does it very well.
by Competitions – Going Back Winners
We had three copies of Going Back by Rachael English to give away.
Well done to Janet from Bath, Lynne from Hertfordshire and Jackie from Wiltshire who have all won a copy.
About the book:
How do you know where you belong?
In June 1988, Elizabeth Kelly’s parents think she belongs at home in Ireland. Her boyfriend is certain of it. Unwilling to settle down just yet, she decides to spend the summer in Boston with her college friends. But the next four months change all of them, especially Elizabeth. Quiet and dutiful at home, she surprises herself and everyone else by falling for Danny Esposito, a restless charmer with a troublesome family.
More than 20 years later with opportunities in Ireland scarce once again, a new generation looks to America, awakening memories of a golden summer for their parents. When a crisis occurs, Elizabeth returns to Boston where she is drawn back into the life she once lived. But will she be able to reconcile the dreams of her 20-year-old self with the woman she has become?
(Going Back – published by Orion, May 2014. Available in paperback and e-book.)
by Competitions – Trisha Ashley Competition Winners
Every Woman For Herself by Trisha Ashley.
Thank you to all who entered our competition to win a copy of the new novel, Every Woman For Herself.
Well done to Annegret and Carol who have both won a copy of the book.
Every Woman For Herself is published by Avon and is available in e-book and paperback.
About the book:
First comes marriage. Then comes divorce. Then it’s every woman for herself …
When Charlie’s husband Matt tells her that he wants a divorce she has to start from scratch. Suddenly single, broke and approaching 40 she is forced to return to her childhood home in the Yorkshire moors.
Living with her father and eccentric siblings could be considered a challenge but soon Charlie finds her new life somewhat refreshing. Now that she’s single she’s got no need to dye her roots nor to be the perfect wife and she can return to her first love- painting.
But just as she begins to feel settled, handsome, bad-tempered actor Mace North moves in down the road and starts mixing things up for Charlie in more ways than one.
Published by Avon, May 2014. Available in paperwork and e-book.
by Review – The Accident by C.L. Taylor
Published in April by Avon, The Accident is a gripping psychological thriller about the deadly secrets your children can keep …
Sue Jackson has the perfect family but when her teenage daughter Charlotte deliberately steps in front of a bus and ends up in a coma she is forced to face a very dark reality.
Retracing her daughter’s steps she finds a horrifying entry in Charlotte’s diary and is forced to head deep into Charlotte’s private world. In her hunt for evidence, Sue begins to mistrust everyone close to her daughter and she’s forced to look further, into the depths of her own past.
Sue will do anything to protect her daughter. But what if she is the reason that Charlotte is in danger?
The Accident is recommended for people who enjoyed Before I Go to Sleep (one of my top ten ever books), Gone Girl (brilliant) and Sophie Hannah (only read The Carrier – wonderful) so I knew I HAD to read this.
From the first chapter I was gripped. The whole novel is written from Charlotte’s mother’s perspective, with it beginning as she’s sat by her bedside wishing her to come round from her coma. We find out that her Continue reading
by Book News – Lindsey Kelk
What a Girl Wants is due to be released on July 17th.
It’s the latest book by Lindsey (her other books include the I Heart series,) and it’s being published by Harper. We think the cover is very pretty and we’re looking forward to reading.
About the book:
Tess Brookes was the girl with a plan. Now she’s the girl with a choice.
Should she stay in London and start her own advertising agency with her best friend and potential boyfriend Charlie? Or should she head to exciting Milan to pursue both a new career as a photographer and a new man, the enigmatic and elusive (and highly irritating) Nick?
by Five Writing Themed Bags
If there was one thing other than books that I love, its bags. It’s more of an obsession really. One of the things I struggle with (despite the fact that my laptop is quite small and thin,) is finding a bag that’s big enough to carry everything I need (I do tend to carry the kitchen sink too.) I’ve hunted through the internet and picked out some writer themed bags that I thought were great and most importantly, practical for all the writing stuff you may need to carry around. Which one is your favourite?
Last Term at Malory Towers Bag – £44.00
Mini Book Handbag by the Literary Gift Company.
Love this, love this, love this. It’s from their books turned into handbags range and I love them. Continue reading
by Book Club
