Blog Tour: Rare Objects by Kathleen Tessaro
Photo credit: Gregg Liberi USE
I am so happy to be welcoming Kathleen Tessaro to Novel Kicks today and her blog tour for her new novel, Rare Objects which is due to be released by Harper on Thursday.
Mae Fanning seizes on a job at a tiny, exclusive Boston antiques shop as the fresh start she desperately needs. It opens a window to new world, one peopled with rare and rich characters. But the day that enigmatic socialite Diana van der Laar walks in, Mae’s hidden past returns.
As a moth to a flame, Mae is unable to resist Diana’s heady, seductive glamour and glittering life. Yet, like the rare objects in the shop, very little is what it appears – Diana included.
Moving from Jazz-Age New York to Boston in the grip of the Great Depression, Rare Objects is a rich and gripping story of what it means to reach for a braver, bolder life.
Hello Kathleen. Thank you so much for joining me today. Can you tell me a little about your typical writing day?
Thank you for inviting me!
My normal day involves getting up at 6am, walking the dog, and getting my son off to school. Then I drink lots of strong coffee, research, write, walk the dog again, spend far too much time looking up useless information and then give up entirely around 2:30. The nice thing about historical fiction is that when you get stuck in your writing, there’s always interesting reading or research to indulge in.
How do you normally approach the process – do you edit as you go? Plan? Write in silence or with noise and where do you like to write?
I normally write at home, in relative quiet, and often in bed (though it must be made and I must be dressed – otherwise one is simply asking for trouble). I like to get the first 50 or so pages out before I go back over anything, just because one can get stuck quite easily in re-working the first three paragraphs over and over and never move forward. (Chances are the first three paragraphs never make it to the final cut anyway.) I do plan and sometimes even outline but have never managed to stick to it.
Congratulations on the release of your new novel, Rare Objects which is due to be released this week. Can you tell me a little about it and where the idea originated?
Thank you! The idea came from my fascination with found objects and the stories behind them. I’ve always wanted to write about an antiquities shop so that I would have a constant influx of characters and stories coming in and out. And the reason why different people collect certain things intrigues me. Add into that mix two young women from very different social classes with a shared secret, the glamour and despair of the Prohibition period and a mythical object that acts like an omen to everyone who comes across it and before you know it, an entire world is up and running!
by 
Book Review: In The Light of What We See by Sarah Painter
Brighton, 1938: Grace Kemp is pushed away by the family she has shamed. Rejected and afraid, she begins a new life as a nurse. But danger stalks the hospital too, and she’ll need to be on her guard to avoid falling into familiar traps. And then there are the things she sees…Strange portents that have a way of becoming real.
Eighty years later, Mina Morgan is brought to the same hospital after a near-fatal car crash. She is in terrible pain but recalls nothing. She’s not even sure whom to trust. Mina too sees things that others cannot, but now, in hospital, her visions are clearer than ever…
Two women, separated by decades, are drawn together by a shared space and a common need to salvage their lives.
I came across this book after listening to Sarah Painter’s podcast called Worried Writer. This podcast is brilliant if you are a writer and I have been hooked since the first podcast I listened to. This is the first book I have read of Sarah Painter’s and after having finished this one I will definitely be getting hold of her backlog to add to my ever growing TBR (To Be Read) pile.
I have one word to sum this book up: amazing. You could tell that everything about this book was well thought out and I loved every bit of it.
by 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 Latest Book Releases
It’s time to share some of the new book releases this week. There is a nice mixture of genres and authors this week. Which one are you looking forward to reading?
Song of the Skylark by Erica James (Orion, 10th March 2016.)
I do have a thing for covers and this one is beautiful. This book sounds so interesting too.
Lizzie has always had an unfortunate knack of attracting bad luck, but this time she’s hit the jackpot. Losing her heart to her boss leads to her losing her job, and with no money in the bank, Lizzie finds herself forced to move back home with her parents. When she reluctantly takes another job, she meets Mrs Dallimore, a seemingly ordinary elderly woman with an astonishing past . . .
Now in her nineties, Mrs Dallimore is also coming to terms with her situation. Old age is finally catching up with her. As she and Lizzie form the bond of unexpected friendship, Mrs Dallimore tells the story of a young girl who left America before the outbreak of World War Two and, in crossing an ocean, found herself embarking on a new life she couldn’t have imagined.
As Lizzie listens to Mrs Dallimore, she begins to realise that she’s not the only person to attract bad luck, and that sometimes life has a way of surprising you . . .
Sleepless in Manhattan by Sarah Morgan (Mira, 10th March 2016.)
I know I do go on about covers but again, this one is beautiful and very whimsical. It’s also based in New York which is one of my favourite cities. This sounds like a lovely romantic comedy.
Great friends. Amazing Apartment. An incredible job. Paige has ticked off every box on perfect New York life checklist. Until disaster strikes and instead of shimming further up the career ladder, Paige is packing up her desk.
Her brother’s best friend Jake might be the only person who can help her put her life back together. He also happens to be the boy she spent her teen years pining after, and Paige is determined not repeat her past mistakes. But the more time she spends with Jake, the more Paige realises the one thing that was missing from her world all along: The perfect New York love story…
by My Recent Book Haul (February and March)
I love me a good book haul. Buying new books is one of my favourite things to do. Recently, I have brought or received so many lovely books. It was hard to pick which ones to feature (I’ve managed to narrow it down to nine.) Here is my selection.
Room by Emma Donoghue (Picador, 2011.)
This book is not a new release but I am not sure why I haven’t got around to buying it until now. The premise sounds intriguing. Jack and his mother are prisoners in one room. I’m a few pages into this book and am already enjoying it. I am also wanting to see the film based on the book but I think I want to read the book first before I see it.
Jack is five. He lives with his Ma. They live in a single, locked room. They don’t have the key.
Jack and Ma are prisoners.
Room by Emma Donoghue is an extraordinarily powerful story of a mother and child kept in isolation, and the desire for, and price of, freedom.
Winter by Marissa Meyer (Puffin, 2015)
Winter is the fourth book in the Lunar Chronicles. These books are all based on well-known fairy tales. I have not read any of this series yet but having received this book for review by the publisher, I can’t wait to get started and Cinder is also here waiting to be read. The series sounds fantastic and right up my street.
Princess Winter is admired for her grace, kindness and beauty, despite the scars on her face. She’s said to be even more breath-taking than her stepmother, Queen Levana…
When Winter develops feelings for the handsome palace guard, Jacin, she fears the evil Queen will crush their romance before it has a chance to begin.
But there are stirrings against the Queen across the land. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even find the power to launch a revolution and win a war that’s been raging for far too long.
Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter claim their happily ever afters by defeating Levana once and for all?
by Book Club
