Blog Tour: The Magic Touch by Kelly Florentia
I am very pleased to be welcoming author, Kelly Florentia to Novel Kicks today. I’ve reviewed her debut novel, The Magic Touch below but first, I get to chat to Kelly about her novel, her writing process and Eric Bana.
Hi Kelly. Congratulations on the release of your new book, The Magic Touch, Can you tell me a little about it and how the idea originated?
Hi Laura, thanks for your good wishes, and thanks so much for having me on your blog today. The Magic Touch is my debut novel, so it’s an incredibly exciting time for me. It’s a paranormal romance about a 39-year-old divorcee who seems to have slipped into complacency with her partner of five years. Perfectly normal, she thinks, for couples who’ve been together for several years. But then when she stumbles across a flirtatious text message on her boyfriend’s mobile phone from a female colleague, sparks fly. Emma’s sole aim is to get to the bottom of Harry’s secret affair, which she does with the help of friends, her ninety-three-year-old neighbour, and a little intervention from a psychic App, The Magic Touch.
The idea for the story came from my fascination with mobile phone applications. There seems to be an app for everything these days. My phone is bursting with them – from social media apps to photography apps. I even plan my week around a weather app (I’ve got three, by the way). Then I thought, what if there was an app that could predict your future with alarming accuracy, what then? And The Magic Touch was born. I enjoy writing about everyday issues that people can resonate with, to a point. So, I based the novel on a couple who suddenly find, after five years together, that they want different things in life, and I went with it.
Can you tell me about what your typical writing day is like?
On a writing day, I’ll grab a coffee, fire up my computer and start tapping away at my keyboard. Of course, this is punctuated by a thousand tweets, a hundred Facebook posts and constantly checking my email.
How do you approach the process – do you plan much, edit as you go? Any rituals?
I’m a planner. I can’t write the story unless I know what’s going to happen, and I have to be incredibly excited about the ending before I can even begin. I get the first draft down quite quickly and then I start editing. Probably three drafts in total. I don’t have any rituals, I’m quite boring, apart from necking copious cups of coffee, but that’s normal, right?
by 
My Writing Ramblings: Dream a Little Dream
For the most part I’ve always enjoyed dreams. I will go to sleep wondering what awaits; what strange or fascinating montage my subconscious has waiting for me. There is the occasional bad dream which I am not so fond of. However I mostly just find them interesting even the bizarre ones.
I can usually remember most of what I’ve dreamt. As I am waking up, if I can tell myself to remember, I usually can (although this wasn’t the case this morning and not being able to remember my dream is annoying me.)
I’ve been using my dream journal a lot at the moment and I am enjoying looking at the dreams. My dreams recently have included having a lounge area set up in the middle of a road in a quiet suburban street. A well-known you tuber happened to walk past and have a chat with me, I’ve been stuck in a library (this one wouldn’t have been bad if I wasn’t trying to hide from someone,) to having a ‘Night Manager’ version of Hugh Laurie hiding out in the attic behind a wall hidden by a bookcase which moved. That bit was pretty cool.
by Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: Animals
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 is about animals.
Your characters all share a house. They don’t always get on but are forced to interact. Your characters are a cat, a dog, a hamster and a snake. Your first line is ‘I can’t live with him anymore.’
by This Week’s Current Book Releases
It’s that time of the week again. I wanted to share some of the new books that have been released today. All of them look great. Which ones are you excited to read?
The Night That Changed Everything by Laura Tait and Jimmy Rice (Corgi, 24th March 2016.)
Laura and Jimmy’s book covers are always so pretty. This book sounds great and I can’t wait to read. It’s released today in Paperback.
Here’s the blurb….
Rebecca is the only girl she knows who didn’t cry at the end of Titanic. Ben is the only man he knows who did. Rebecca’s untidy but Ben doesn’t mind picking up her pieces. Ben is laid back by Rebecca keeps him on his toes. They’re a perfect match.
Nothing can come between them. Or so they think.
When a throwaway comment reveals a secret from the past, their love story is rewritten.
Can they recover from the night that changed everything? And how do you forgive when you can’t forget?
Gone Astray by Michelle Davis (MacMillan, 24th March 2016.)
I like a good thriller/mystery so this book looks up my street. Here’s the information…
When Lesley Kinnock buys a lottery ticket on a whim, it changes her life more than she could have imagined . . .
Lesley and her husband Mack are the sudden winners of a £15 million EuroMillions jackpot. They move with their 15-year-old daughter Rosie to an exclusive gated estate in Buckinghamshire, leaving behind their ordinary lives – and friends – as they are catapulted into wealth beyond their wildest dreams.
But it soon turns into their darkest nightmare when, one beautiful spring afternoon, Lesley returns to their house to find it empty: their daughter Rosie is gone.
DC Maggie Neville is assigned to be Family Liaison Officer to Lesley and Mack, supporting them while quietly trying to investigate the family. And she has a crisis threatening her own life – a secret from the past that could shatter everything she’s worked so hard to build.
As Lesley and Maggie desperately try to find Rosie, their fates hurtle together on a collision course that threatens to end in tragedy . . .
Money can’t buy you happiness.
The truth could hurt more than a lie.
One moment really can change your life forever.
by Writing Room: Starting at the Close
Tuesday 22nd March 2016.
Today’s prompt is all about starting at the close.
Take your current work in progress or an idea to which you have an idea of a beginning, middle and ending.
Pick a section or write a small section. Rewrite it or start it from the end and work your way backwards.
As always, if you’d like to share your work, put it in the comments section below.
by Book Club
