Book Extract: Joyful June Journeys by Stephanie Wood
I am delighted to be welcoming Stephanie Wood to Novel Kicks as we celebrate the publication day for her book, Joyful June Journeys.
Chrissie is escaping to the Greek Retreat to avoid some of the issues her parents have left her to deal with at home. She hopes that visiting a new location will give her a different perspective and help her to find a way forward.
The Greek island of Kynos is an idyllic hideaway, offering its visitors the space and time needed to truly appreciate the traditional hospitality. The locals are always friendly and ready to entertain their guests, while the daily activities offer many different ways to explore the island and its heritage.
Chrissie is hoping The Retreat will help to focus her mind and stop her procrastination, but will she become distracted by the friendly locals?
The Greek Retreat is a trilogy of standalone tales full of sunshine, surprises and love.
Stephanie has shared an extract from Joyful June Journeys with us today. We hope you enjoy.
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Chrissie has decided to go on a bike ride to discover what lies further out from the local village where she has been spending most of her time.
The first part of the journey was familiar, as she took the road towards the village, but then she just kept going once she passed the usual turning.
Soon afterwards, she climbed a slight hill without too much effort and from there she was blessed with a 360degree view of the nearby fields, full of leafy goodness in all directions. There was an abundance of fruit and vegetables as far as she could see and as the breeze blew across the tip of each plant, she was bombarded with a remarkable mixture of aromas which were both tantalising and mysterious.
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Book Extract: This Ruined Place by Michael Lawrence
I’m pleased to be welcoming Michael Lawrence to Novel Kicks as we shine a light on his book, This Ruined Place.
Evy Miller thinks a summer with her grandparents in sleepy Dorset will be painfully dull. Her suspicions are confirmed when Juby, a wild-haired, lanky old man, strolls through her grandparents’ doorway. At first, she thinks he’s nothing more than an odd duck who charms her grandmother and annoys her grandfather. The last thing she expects is to become his companion on visits to the small village of Rouklye, whose entire population was evicted during WWII.
She has no idea that the reason for Juby’s visits will become a defining moment in her life and change her understanding of history and her own family forever.
Michael has shared an extract with us today. We hope you enjoy.
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The following excerpt is from This Ruined Place by Michael Lawrence. The teenaged main character, Midge, is visiting the ruined village of Rouklye with her elderly companion, Juby.
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There were several adjoining cottages beyond the wall. A much smaller building at the near end of them, a shed of sorts, was the only one with a door and roof. The roof was topped with crudely-cut gray slate, and on the equally rustic door, which was padlocked, a notice asked visitors not to pick the wild flowers, a request that might have amused Midge if she’d been in an easily-amused mood because there were no flowers in the immediate vicinity, wild or tame.
Juby had gone straight to the second cottage along, where he stooped to look in the doorway. ‘Post office and village shop,’ he informed her as she drew near.
He ducked inside. Following with a long-suffering sigh, she found a crumbling interior open to the skies, ivy reaching across exposed walls to which ragged portions of ancient plaster clung, an iron fire-grate teetering on a ledge where a ceiling and upper floor had once been, and beneath their feet ailing weeds between uneven gray paving slabs, while year-old leaves crunched underfoot. The place smelt of nettles and moss, the dust of an overheated summer.
‘Looks bigger empty,’ Juby said. ‘When the counter was in, shelves stocked, customer or two chatting, it was a right jam in here.’
Sunlight entered the broken building in tall bright spirals, picking out hovering dust motes. Watching the dust’s leisurely dance, Midge’s mind wandered. Her thoughts were still adrift when the whispers started. Whispers so indistinct that they registered only gradually; but once her attention was caught she glanced about for whoever it was that had followed them in.
by Book Extract: Wicket Maiden by Chrissie Harrison
It’s a pleaure to be welcoming Chrissie Harrison to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for Wicket Maiden.
Wicket Maiden is a groundbreaking romantic comedy set in the world of women’s cricket.
It’s the start of a new season for professional women’s cricket team The Scorpions.
Acclaimed batter Ellie, 32, is returning to the game after a long injury, determined to regain her form and her place in the England squad. This is her last chance, and she won’t let anything stand in her way.
Cricket fan Adam, 34, an artist and photographer, has followed Ellie and the team through highs and lows. He’s drawn to her talent, athleticism and public persona – but is content to be a face in the crowd, cheering her on. He’d never date a famous person, anyway.
When events on and off the pitch bring Ellie and Adam together, friendship blossoms, and their careers initially soar. Yet, with romance in the air, Ellie loses focus, jeopardising her dream.
What’s more important to them both – love, or cricket?
A share of the book’s royalties will be donated to pertinent clubs and organisations who champion the development of grassroots, girls’ and women’s cricket.
The story echoes the film “Notting Hill” – the challenge of love between a ‘star’ and a ‘normal person’.
The book touches on the good and bad sides of fame, and shines a light on women’s cricket – the mental and physical challenges, pressure of relentless media attention, community outreach, fan engagement, and the finite nature of the career of professional athletes. Above this, it is, of course, a love story.
The book is a non-spicy romance, and also includes neurodiversity and epilepsy representation.
Chrissie has shared an extract with us today. We hope you enjoy.
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Professional cricketer Ellie is visiting a friend at a local art gallery. Killing time, she (literally) bumps into a familiar face – one of the fans she often sees at matches. They’ve barely shared a few words over the years, and she doesn’t even know his name, let alone his job. Ellie, conversely, is known by him and millions of others…
A wide doorway led to a rear annex, with a sign proclaiming “Exhibition – Adam Glenn – Maidstone Artist”. Ellie nosed into the room. Only three people were inside, all nodding appreciatively beside a pop art style painting of a woman taking a selfie.
We’re now all masters of creating our own fame.
Another exhibit stopped Ellie in her tracks. Pride of place on the far wall was a brilliant and charismatic rendition of former England bowler James Anderson. The painting gushed with vigour and personality, movement and expression.
Wow.
by Book Extract: Tucker’s Time Machine Telescope by Robin Bennett
It’s a pleasure to be welcoming Robin Bennett to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for his book, Tucker’s Time Machine Telescope with illustrations by Matt Cherry.
Thomas Tucker (or just Tucker to everyone who knows him) is walking innocently down the street when he is attacked by a chicken and falls down a hole. Unlikely as it sounds, this is how he ends up finding the Time Machine Telescope.
Unfortunately, Tucker seems to attract chaos and bad luck the same way that someone standing on top of a mountain waving a metal pole will eventually attract lightning and a free Xray.
Can he survive killer robots, Tudor kings, dinosaurs … and Kylo Hens long enough to complete his Time Machine Wish List
- GET RICH
- HAVE FUN!
- GET MUM AND DAD TO SPEND LESS TIME ON THEIR MOBILE PHONES
There’s only one way to find out…
Robin has shared an extract with us today. We hope you enjoy.
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Chapter 1
Tucker is chased by a chicken
Thomas Tucker (or just Tucker to everyone who knew him) was walking innocently down the street near his home. Minding his own business.
Although he didn’t know it yet, this was going to the most important day of Tucker’s life.
He was on his way to see Mrs Dempsey, the lady who looked after him in the holidays. His parents worked late, and they didn’t trust him to stay on his own for more than about ten minutes without getting into some sort of terrible trouble.
They weren’t wrong about this because Tucker seemed to attract chaos and bad luck the same way that someone standing on top of a mountain waving a metal pole will eventually attract lightning and a free Xray.
As we shall find out.
The sun was warm on his face, and it made him scrunch his eyes up, so he heard the chicken before he saw it.
by Book Extract: Summer Paths: An Anthology by Seasonal Collective
It’s a pleasure to be welcoming the Seasonal Collective as we shine a light on their anthology, Summer Paths.
This, the fourth and final selection of stories, completes the Seasonal Paths series created by a consortium of best-selling and award-winning North Atlantic writers.
In this anthology you will encounter unintentioned consequences, love in later life, the pull of family dynamics, misguided assumptions and murderous soulmates.
These yarns will take you to new worlds, into a ghostly abyss, across an ocean in pursuit of truth and into the darkness of ancient beliefs.
Make yourself comfortable and surrender to these multi-styled tales, all linked by the theme of summer, within the covers of this book. You will be surprised and entertained by what you find.
The Seasonal Collective has kindly shared an extract from Pierre C. Arseneault’s, The Year of the Goat with us today. We hope you enjoy.
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I like to tell people, I loved Gus and his motley crew so much that I wanted to tell another tale with this same cast and so I wrote this comedy called The Year of the Goat in Summer Paths as a sequel to Melvin in Winter Paths.
The Year of the Goat
By Pierre C. Arseneault
A dry, cracking sound echoed through the sultry morning air as the wooden baseball bat connected with the softball. Much of the crowd in the bleachers stood, cheering as the ten-year-old girl dropped the bat and ran for first base.
“The kid’s good,” Harvey said, stuffing his age-spotted hands into his jacket pockets as he stood next to the chain-link fence that circled the baseball field.
“Isn’t that Scooter’s granddaughter?” Gus asked, lifting his beige bucket hat and wiping the sweat from his brow with a handkerchief. He wondered how Harvey could wear long pants and a jacket on such a hot summer’s day.
“Over here!” Gus heard a familiar voice shout. Turning his attention to the bleachers, he saw his friend, nicknamed Scooter since early childhood. He’d been the only kid in the area who’d had a push scooter instead of a bicycle. Scooter straightened and waved excitedly while shouting, the wispy white hairs that ringed his baldpate fluttering in the warm breeze. “Did you see that?”
Gus’s knees creaked as he followed Harvey up the side of the weather-beaten bleachers of the old ballpark.
by Book Club
