Competitions: Winners of a Copy of Shylock is my Name
Hogarth, February 2016.
Shylock is my Name is a modern retelling of The Merchant of Venice and is part of the Hogarth Shakespeare series. Thanks to Hogarth, we had three copies to give away.
Congratulations to Rhoda K, Jinger and Caron Edwards who have all won a copy. An e-mail will be on its way to you all shortly (be sure to check the junk folder.)
About Shylock is my Name….
‘Who is this guy, Dad? What is he doing here?’
With an absent wife and a daughter going off the rails, wealthy art collector and philanthropist Simon Strulovitch is in need of someone to talk to. So when he meets Shylock at a cemetery in Cheshire’s Golden Triangle, he invites him back to his house. It’s the beginning of a remarkable friendship.
Elsewhere in the Golden Triangle, the rich, manipulative Plurabelle (aka Anna Livia Plurabelle Cleopatra A Thing of Beauty is a Joy Forever Christine) is the face of her own TV series, existing in a bubble of plastic surgery and lavish parties. She shares prejudices and a barbed sense of humour with her loyal friend D’Anton, whose attempts to play Cupid involve Strulovitch’s daughter – and put a pound of flesh on the line.
Howard Jacobson’s version of The Merchant of Venice bends time to its own advantage as it asks what it means to be a father, a Jew and a merciful human being in the modern world.
by 
A Moment With… Lynne Shelby
I am very pleased to be welcoming Lynne to Novel Kicks today. She talks to me about her writing process….
I never know when I’m going to get an idea for a novel. I love travelling, and very often, when I’m exploring a foreign city I’ve not visited before, I think of a story that could take place in that locale, but it could be a photograph, a piece of music or an overheard conversation that suddenly makes me want to open my laptop and start writing. The idea for my debut novel, ‘French Kissing,’ grew out of a phone conversation I overheard when travelling back from Paris to London with my family on the Eurostar. A young Frenchman sitting across the aisle spent the entire journey calling his English friends on his mobile, telling them that he was coming to London, and suggesting that they meet up. Unfortunately, none of his friends seemed to want to see him, which made me feel very sorry for him – and gave me the scenario for ‘French Kissing,’ in which a Frenchman coming to work in London is made very welcome by his English friend – who happens to be a girl…
When I start writing a story, I know the beginning and the ending, but have only a vague notion of what is going to take place in between. I jot down a few notes, just the outline of the plot, and then begin typing, throwing my hero and heroine together, and seeing what happens as they interact. I already know a lot about my hero and heroine at this point, and I note their age, appearance, etc on index cards, adding more details that as I go along. There does seem to be a moment when the characters I’ve created take over and start telling their own story! Sometimes I realise that the story arc I have planned for them just doesn’t work with the person they have become on the page, and I have to change it. A minor character in ‘French Kissing’ ended up in a romantic sub-plot, although I had no idea that this was going to happen when I first put her in the book – she was just supposed to be my heroine’s confidante.
by My Writing Ramblings: Distractions and Procrastinations
I am not entirely sure where this last week has gone to be honest. This is my main problem when I am on shift for the day job. Twelve hour shifts really do mean that the days go like lightening. I am really having to try and look after myself so things, like they have this week do sometimes get put to one side.
I have been struggling with motivation and things over the past couple of days. The beginning of the week, I was getting many things done. I’d prepare my to do list, set a timer and get much of it achieved but the lack of sleep is taking its toll which has meant that my productivity level has dipped right down.
Not that I am beating myself up about it. I have good days and bad days (which is par the course if, like me you have anxiety.)
Due to been easily distracted these last couple of days, (my brain has had the concentration span of a child,) I have been doing anything but writing. I’ve been doing other things like watching films, listening to music, reading and playing games on the phone.
This is where I find the apps and games on the phone to be really good for getting me focused on something fun. My shift pattern makes me feel tired which then makes me feel out of it so it is very easy for me to loose days off to nothing.
by Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: The Round Table.
Friday 18th March 2016: The Round Table.
Today’s prompt, as you’ve probably guessed centres around a round table. Your character has been taken by a group of people and put into a white van.
The character, male or female are driven to an unknown destination and shown into a dark room.
There is a round table in the centre with six chairs. Your character is told to sit in one of the chairs. Five people occupy the other seats.
Who are they and why has your character been brought here?
by This Week’s Latest Releases
It’s Thursday and time for another week of new releases. I have three titles to share with you today. All of these sound so good and I can’t wait to read.
The Unforgotten by Laura Powell (Freight Books, 17th March 2016.)
This has been released today. This book feels as though it would be right up my street and yes, I am in love with the cover.
Summer, 1956. Fifteen-year-old Betty Broadbent has never left the Cornish fishing village of St Steele or ventured far beyond the walls of the boarding house run by her erratic mother. But when the London press pack descends on her village to report on a series of gruesome murders, Betty’s world changes. In particular, she is transfixed by mysterious and aloof reporter, Mr Gallagher.
As the death toll rises, an unlikely friendship blossoms between Betty and Gallagher. But as their bond deepens, they find themselves entangled with the murders and each is forced to make a devastating choice, one that will shape their own lives and the life of an innocent man forever.
Hold Still by Tim Adler (Urbane Publications, 17th March 2016.)
This book sounds like a fantastic read. Even from the blurb, it has me wondering what is going on and how I would react if I were the character. It would be devastating.
‘I photographed the moment of my husband’s death…’ So begins HOLD STILL, a nerve-twisting thriller from bestselling author Tim Adler. How much do we really know about those we love? Kate is visiting Albania with her husband Paul, a much-needed break from Paul’s stressful website business. ‘Hold still,’ says Kate, taking a picture as Paul steps onto the hotel room balcony. ‘We’ll always be together,’ Paul responds. Suddenly there is screaming below and a blaring car horn. Kate stares down from the balcony at the broken body of her husband lying lifeless in the street. Overcome with grief, Kate can’t accept the truth of Paul’s tragic death, and replays the incident over and over again, searching her pictures for a vital clue to what really happened. When she meets the enigmatic Priest at a grief support group, they journey together into a dangerous world of violence and secrets as Kate realises what Paul really meant when he said he would never leave her……
When I’m Gone by Emily Bleeker (Lake Union Publishing, 15th March 2016.)
This book was released in paperback on Monday and again, it’s a really gorgeous cover. I have this book on my TBR pile and am looking forward to reading although it does sound heartbreaking so I might need to have the tissues ready for crying purposes.
by Book Club
