Book Reviews : God Says No by James Hannaham.
God Says No by James Hannaham.
McSweeeney’s Publishing, 2009.
Review by Laura Parish.
Gary Grey and his girlfriend love Disney. They are fellow students at Central Florida Christian College. They are young, god fearing and are eager to start a family but a week before their wedding; Gary goes into a rest stop bathroom and lets something happen. God Says No is Gary’s testimony. It’s the story of a young, black Christian man struggling with desire and belief. It gives a picture of how a life like his can be lived and how it can’t.
I would never have independently picked up this book but this proves the cliché ‘never judge a book by its cover.’ Some of its themes would have been something that may have put me off if I had spotted it in a bookshop. I am glad that I gave this book a chance. Yes, this book has serious themes but it was still an enjoyable read.
by 
A Notebook for writing inspiration.
Anyone who knows me will tell you that I have an obsession with stationery particularly notebooks. I have many dotted around at home (most with scribbles occupying a couple of pages and then the rest is blank – a sure way to know that I had moved on to another notebook I simply couldn’t be without.)
A writer can’t ever have enough notebooks right?
This one I like. It’s from Blottshop.com and it’s £4.00. I love inspirational quotes and this one will come in handy if I were trying to write my novel in it. Blott have some stores in the UK too. I walked into the one at Meadowhall and had to eventually drag myself out of there forty minutes later. It’s amazing!
by NK Chats To.... : Lulu Taylor
Novel Kicks chats to author Lulu Taylor. Lulu is the author of Beautiful Creatures, Midnight Girls and Heiresses. Her latest novel, Outrageous Fortune was released in 2012.
Can you tell us about your latest novel, Outrageous Fortune?
It’s a reversal of fortune story, with two girls born on the same day, one to great privilege and the other to a life of hardship. But events bring great changes, and Daisy, our rich girl, finds herself facing a huge challenge, while Chanelle, who’s grown up in poverty, does whatever it takes to get away from her background. And, of course, their lives become intertwined in unexpected ways…
Describe your typical writing day?
The writing day depends really on how close my deadline is. I always spend ages over the beginning of the book and then realise that time is disappearing, so then write much faster. Ironically, my endings are always better than my beginnings. I have written at home in the past, but I find that so distracting now that I’ve just got an office space outside home. And it’s great. It helps me treat writing more like a 9 to 5 job, and paying rent for my work space helps focus the mind wonderfully.
by Writing Room :
For the month of April, the writing exercise is to write about a 60 year old woman who can sometimes be a little petulant. It can be from third person or first person point of view. 
Post your contributions in the comment box.
by Postbag : Upcoming Titles.
Some of the upcoming releases that have arrived at Novel Kicks…
Leftovers by Stella Newman (Avon, April 2013.)
A novel about friendship, hope and the power of pasta from the bestselling author of Pear Shaped.
According to a magazine, Susie is a ‘Leftover’ – a post Bridget-Jones 30 something who has neither her dream man, job, nor home. She doesn’t even own six matching dinner plates.
According to her friend Rebecca, Susie needs to get over her ex, Jake, start online dating – or at least stop being so rude to every guy who tries to chat her up.
But Susie’s got a plan. If she can just make it the 307 days till her promotion and bonus, she can finally quit and pursue her dream career in food, then surely everything else will fall into place. If only her love life wasn’t so complicated…
by Book Corner : April’s Book
Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O’ Farrell
It’s July 1976. In London, it hasn’t rained for months, gardens are filled with aphids, water comes from a standpipe, and Robert Riordan tells his wife Gretta that he’s going round the corner to buy a newspaper. He doesn’t come back. The search for Robert brings Gretta’s children – two estranged sisters and a brother on the brink of divorce – back home, each wih different ideas as to where their father might have gone. None of them suspects that their mother might have an explanation that even now she cannot share..
by Trisha Ashley’s advice for new writers…
I often hear people say they’re going to write a novel…eventually, when they retire, or the children have left home (do they ever, these days?) and they have the right computer, or pen, or the wind is coming from the south west…
I’ve never really understood this, because if you’re a writer, you write. You burn to write. It’s part of who you are. And its fun, too – in fact, Stephen King says writing is the most fun you can have on your own and he’s quite right.
Perhaps it’s a fear of failure or success, but you won’t experience either unless you actually get the words down on the page, so why not start today? If your writing U-bend needs unblocking first, you should read Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones, and all will soon be flowing freely. And I’m going to quote Stephen King again (you should read his book, On Writing) when he says that you should write your first draft with the study door closed, i.e., just for yourself, then the second draft with the door opened, rewriting it with an eye to your readers. That’s great advice – write with a red-hot pen, let the words rush out onto the page, then hone and polish till it sparkles.
For those going the traditional route and submitting to agents or publishers, a little market research in the Writers and Artists’ Yearbook beforehand can work wonders, so that you’re submitting to an agent or editor who actually handles/publishes the genre of fiction you write.
Of course, to do this you actually need to know what kind of novel you’ve written and make this clear in your synopsis, because if you don’t know, then the agent/publisher certainly won’t.
And once it’s gone, don’t wait for the novel to come back, but crack on with the next one straight away.
by NK Chats To.... : Jacqui Rose
Jacqui Rose is the author of of the novel, Trapped which has just been released by Avon (Harper Collins.) Jacqui chats to us about writing and her new book.
Can you describe your writing style in fifteen words or less.
Lyrical, passionate, intuitive and at times poetic.
What’s your typical writing day like?
I’m contracted to write two books a year which I love but instead of spacing it out sensibly, I leave actually sitting down to write the book until almost the last minute because I thrive under pressure and I think it makes my writing better. So then I’m left with long writing days. I could start early in the morning and not finish writing till midnight. This will go on for about six weeks, writing between 2-3000 words a day and on crazy days up to 7,000 words, but those days are few and far between. And as much as it becomes very intense I wouldn’t have it any other way.
by Book Reviews : You Had Me At Hello by Mhairi McFarlane
You Had Me At Hello by Mhairi McFarlane
Avon, 2012.
Review by Helen Jackson.
What happens when the one that got away comes back? Find out in this sparkling debut from Mhairi McFarlane.
‘Think of the great duos of history. We’re just like them.’
‘You mean like Kylie and Jason? Torvill and Dean? Sonny and Cher?’
‘I think you’ve missed the point, Rachel.’
Rachel and Ben. Ben and Rachel. It was them against the world. Until it all fell apart. It’s been a decade since they last spoke, but when Rachel bumps into Ben one rainy day, the years melt away.
They’d been partners in crime and the best of friends. But life has moved on: Ben is married. Rachel is not. Yet in that split second, Rachel feels the old friendship return. And along with it, the broken heart she’s never been able to mend.
Hilarious, heartbreaking and everything in between, you’ll be hooked from their first ‘hello’. Continue reading
by Book Corner : March’s Book
The HitchHiker’s Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams
It’s an ordinary Thursday lunchtime for Arthur Dent until his house gets demolished. The Earth follows shortly afterwards to make way for a new hyperspace bypass and his best friend has just announced that he’s an alien. At this moment, they’re hurtling through space with nothing but their towels and an innocuous-looking book inscribed with the big, friendly words: DON’T PANIC. The weekend has only just begun….
by Matt Dunn talks about creating characters.
If there’s one question a novelist (well, me, at least) always gets asked (apart from “where do you get your ideas from?”, to which I always reply “there’s a great website – IdeasForNovels dot com”), it’s “is the central character based on you?”. 
I’m never offended – after all, I don’t write books about serial killers – but though I don’t always like to admit it, the answer is quite often a resounding “yes”.
And I sometimes apply a similar approach to the supporting characters too. There’s a saying that goes something like: “when you write a novel, half your friends will be annoyed because they think they’re in it, and the other half will be even more annoyed because they’re not.” Most authors will probably smile wryly at this, but there’s a reason why, at the front of very novel, you’ll read a disclaimer that says something like ‘any similarity between characters and persons alive or dead is purely coincidental’, and that reason is, well, because any, ahem, similarity isn’t always, you know, purely coincidental. Well, at least in my books!
Of course, while most of us writers – me included – wouldn’t stoop so low as to completely and accurately reproduce our friends and family in the books we write, it’s probably fair to say that many of us do occasionally ‘borrow’ or exaggerate facets of people we know’s personalities, or pinch things they’ve said, or even the way they speak, in order to give life to characters on the page.
Certainly, the supporting characters in my first two books – Best Man and The Ex-Boyfriend’s Handbook – were based loosely on friends of mine. At the time – and it was early on in my writing career – it just seemed easier to imagine someone I knew, then just write that down. And it seemed to work.
I now know most novelists take a much more formal approach – spending ages writing full character CVs, or even question-and-answer profiles so they know exactly what a character’s like. This works well – I’ve done it myself recently. But strangely enough, I’ve found my best received characters have all had a dose of reality about them.
by Book Reviews : The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling
The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling.
(Little, Brown. September 2012.)
Review by Laura Parish
Parish Counsellor Barry Fairbrother is dead. This has caused a casual vacancy on the Pagford Parish Council. It’s not long before the town is divided into two camps; the people, like Barry Fairbrother who believe that a council estate called ‘The Fields’ should stay part of Pagford and the people who wish to disassociate the estate from the town.
It’s not long before the people standing for election see their darkest secrets posted anonymously on the Parish Council’s online forum and their election hopes are put into question as well as the revelations having an effect with other aspects of the lives of the people of Pagford.
I am a HUGE fan of the Harry Potter books and therefore was both nervous and excited to be reading this book. I had the opportunity to visit the Southbank Centre and hear Jo Rowling talk about The Casual Vacancy and found that very interesting. Due to that and the hype surrounding its release, I wanted to wait to read it once everything had settled down, (a little like not seeing the films nominated for an Oscar until the ceremony has been and gone.)
Anything she wrote post Potter was going to be a hard sell. Having been placed into a genre that was suitable for a wider audience and creating a series of books that was so well loved, she had a hard task on her hands.
by Book Reviews : The Ghost of You and Me & Between Today and Yesterday by Joanna Lambert.
The Ghost of You and Me
By Joanna Lambert.
Authors Online, 2010.
Review by Laura Parish.
The Ghost of You and Me is the third book in the Behind Blue Eyes trilogy.
It’s been a year since Matt and Ella had last seen one another in Meridian Cross. Now, back with Andy, Ella is trying to move on and is hoping that the arrival of their daughter will help things in their marriage. Things are going OK until Andy hears about his ex-girlfriend’s imminent wedding and he puts a plan in motion to stop it.
In the meantime, Matt is over in New York about to embark on a UK tour with his newest singing sensation, Marcie Maguire who is secretly in love with Matt and is trying to do everything in her power to get him to fall in love with her.
by Book Corner : February’s Book
Pear Shaped by Stella Newman
Sophie Klein walks into a bar one Friday night and her life changes. She meets James Stephens: charismatic, elusive, and with a hosiery model ex who casts a long, thin shadow over their burgeoning relationship. He’s clever, funny and shares her greatest pleasure in life – to eat and drink slightly too much and then have a little lie down. Sophie’s instinct tells her James is too good to be true – and he is. An exploration of love, heartbreak, self-image, self-deception and lots of food. Pear-Shaped is in turns smart, laugh-out-loud funny and above all, recognizable to women everywhere.
by NK Chats To.... : A Night with Avon.
Novel Kicks was very exicted to be invitied along to meet some of the authors and lovely people at Avon Books.
Helen and Laura had the opportunity to meet with Julia Williams, Claudia Carroll, Gill Paul and Fiona Gibson. We were able to chat about two of our favourite things – books and writing. A good night was had by all.
On arrival, we recieved name badges. Yes, we did get stupidly excited about name badges.
Laura with author Fiona Gibson who’s new book, Pedigree Mum is due out at the end of February.
by Book Reviews : The Girl You Left Behind by JoJo Moyes.
(The Girl You Left Behind by JoJo Moyes.
Review by Helen Jackson.
France, 1916. Sophie Lefevre must keep her family safe whilst her adored husband Edouard fights at the front. When she is ordered to serve the German officers who descend on her hotel each evening, her home becomes riven by fierce tensions. And from the moment the new Kommandant sets eyes on Sophie’s portrait – painted by Edouard – a dangerous obsession is born, which will lead Sophie to make a dark and terrible decision.
Almost a century later, and Sophie’s portrait hangs in the home of Liv Halston, a wedding gift from her young husband before he died. A chance encounter reveals the painting’s true worth, and its troubled history. A history that is about to resurface and turn Liv’s life upside down all over again . . .
In The Girl You Left Behind two young women, separated by a century, are united in their determination to fight for what they love most – whatever the cost.
by Book Reviews : All That Glitters by Ilana Fox and introducing our latest contributor, Helen.
All That Glitters by Ilana Fox
(Orion, Sept 2012.)
Helen’s verdict on ‘All That Glitters’ by Ilana Fox.
Ella Aldridge seems to have it all. Married to Danny Riding, one of the Premiership’s leading goal-scorers, she lives the dream – the mansion, the car, the freebie designer clothes. But Ella and Danny have a secret. Their marriage is not what is seems. Between them, it takes a lot of hard work to fool the press and the nation that they really are Love’s Young Dream, when deep down Danny’s desires lie elsewhere.
With Ella’s star in the ascendant, the world is at her feet – a TV show, a fashion column. But then she meets Johnny Cooper, the bad boy of British television. He’s ruthlessly charming and sexy, and he can see through Ella’s sham of a marriage in a heartbeat. Drawn into a risky, high-octane affair, Ella suddenly realises how much she has to lose and how quickly it can be taken from her…
by Book Reviews : Bared to You and Reflected in You by Sylvia Day.
Bared To You/Reflected in You
Sylvia Day
Penguin, 2012.
Bared to You and Reflected in you are the first two books in the Crossfire series. Eva is new to New York. Trying to escape a troubled past, Eva has a new life, a new apartment and a new job in an Advertising agency situated in the impressive Crossfire building. It’s not long before Eva meets Gideon Cross, the charming and mysterious owner of the Crossfire who is as gorgeous as he is rich but he’s also hiding an abusive past that he’s as eager to forget.
They are drawn together with a powerful sexual attraction but the road to love isn’t smooth for Eva and Gideon and they are as bad for each other as they are good.
by NK Chats To.... : Mac Logan
Mac Logan is the author of ‘The Angels’ Share’ series.
DarkArt, the second in the series is due next month.
Can you describe your writing style in less than fifteen words.
Focus on story, character, pace, edge, tension, conflict; with elements of romance, empathy and compassion.
What’s your typical writing day like?
Deal with needful business first thing and get it done (or procrastinate … big time). Go to the writing space in my head and pick up where I left off. Break for a walk every day, rain or shine; out over the fields and up an old tree-arched lane – about 3 miles. On the walk I can ponder aspects of the story I’m working on or just ‘be’. Write in two hour chunks then stretch, make tea, smile. Keep track of time – my computer speaks the time every fifteen minutes to help me keep track. My aim is to write 4-5K words per full writing day. When I’m on a roll I can do more. If I side track into editing or other stuff it can be much less. Better focus and productivity comes from practise.
by Book Corner : January’s Book
Rumours by Freya North
Everybody’s talking – but what’s really going on?
Rumour has it that Stella Hutton landed her new job thanks to family connections. She’s guarded about her past and private about her new life. Over in Long Dansbury, there’s always a rumour circulating about Xander – but the eligible bachelor shrugs off village gossip. Then a rumour starts that Longbridge Hall is up for sale. Home to the eccentric Fortescues, it has dominated Long Dansbury lives for centuries.
Stella is summoned to sell the estate. But Xander grew up there. His secrets and memories are not for sale. He’ll do anything to stand in Stella’s way. Anything but fall in love.
by NK Chats To.... : Chris Baty
Chris Baty is an author, a public speaker and a blogger and one of the founders of National Novel Writing Month.
What’s your typical writing day like?
My writing sweet spot has always been the three or so hours after the coffee first hits my brain cells. So I try to reserve my mornings for creative work. After lunch, my artistic focus shifts to refreshing Twitter and procrastinating on returning important emails by looking at photo galleries of basset hounds running.
You started National Novel Writing Month. Did you have any idea it was going to be as successful as it is and are you taking part this year?
Never in my wildest dreams. When I organized the first event back in 1999, I honestly didn’t think the 21 of us who signed on would last the month. None of us knew what we were doing, and few of us had bothered to plan our books. The saving grace of the whole endeavor was that we met up after work and wrote together. That camaraderie made the inevitable difficult stretches endurable. Which in turn gave us the focus we needed to bring the stories to life. It sounds corny, but finding out we had these novels inside us that we hadn’t known was there was a little like discovering we could fly. And I thought: Dang. If we can do this, anyone can.
I am taking part in NaNoWriMo this year for the 14th (!) time—I’m about to wrap up a tale of two monsters who find a VHS tape and set out to return it. It’s pretty ridiculous, but I’m loving it.
by NK Chats To.... : Milly Johnson.
Milly Johnson is the Sunday Times bestselling author of An Autumn Crush, White Wedding and The Yorkshire Pudding Club. Her latest novel, A Winter Flame was published by Simon & Schuster in October 2012.
Can you tell us about your latest novel, A Winter Flame?
Milly Johnson
It’s about a woman – Eve – who hates Christmas, especially after her soldier fiancé was killed on Christmas Day, and is left a Christmas theme park by an eccentric old aunt – to be jointly run by herself and Jacques a man she has no knowledge of. Eve can’t move on from the loss of her fiancé and has become a semi-recluse but her mad business partner and the people of the park force Eve out of the past and into the here and now. I had great fun in writing it – Jacques is one of my favourite heroes and I wanted Eve to have her happy ending after so much sadness in her life. It’s fantastical of course – but if you can’t have a bit of magic in a Christmas story, when can you? Oh and it picks up the story of Violet in White Wedding so best to have read that one first if you want to avoid any spoilers.
by Blog : Bridget Jones – Book 3.
Exciting news for all the fans of Bridget Jones (including me.) Publisher Jonathan Cape has announced it is publishing the third Bridet Jones book. It’s expected to be published in Autumn 2013.
Helen Fielding (Photo by Alisa Connan)
The first two Bridget Jones novels were huge international bestsellers, published in forty countries and selling over 15 million copies worldwide.
Dan Franklin, Publisher of Jonathan Cape, said: ‘Great comic writers are as rare as hen’s teeth. Helen is one of a very select band who have created a character, Bridget, of whom the very thought makes you smile. Like millions of others I can’t wait to see what’s happened to her.’
Helen Fielding said: ‘I’m thrilled to be published by Jonathan Cape but want to register my huge appreciation of Bridget’s original publisher, Picador, and the success they made of the two early Bridget Jones novels. The new novel is set in present-day London, with an entirely new scenario for Bridget. If people laugh as much reading it as I am while writing it then we’ll all be very happy.’
Bridget Jones’s Diary started life as a weekly column in the Independent in 1995 and charted the life of a thirty-something singleton in London in the 1990s. The column was subsequently adapted into a novel and published in 1997, becoming a huge international bestseller. As was its sequel, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, published in 1999. The novels were adapted for the big screen in 2001 and 2004, starring Renée Zellweger, Hugh Grant and Colin Firth.
Can you wait? I can’t……
by Book Corner : November’s Book
My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult
‘A major decision about me is being made, and no one’s bothered to ask the one person who most deserves it to speak her opinion.’
The only reason Anna was born was to donate her cord blood cells to her older sister. And though Anna is not sick, she might as well be. By age thirteen, she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her sister, Kate, can somehow fight the leukaemia that has plagued her since she was a child. Anna was born for this purpose, her parents tell her, which is why they love her even more. But now that she has reached an age of physical awareness, she can’t help but long for control over her own body and respite from the constant flow of her own blood seeping into her sister’s veins.
And so she makes a decision that for most would be too difficult to bear, at any time and at any age. She decides to sue her parents for the rights to her own body.
by NK Chats To.... : Meredith Goldstein
Meredith Goldstein is an advice columnist and entertainment reporter for The Boston Globe. The Wedding Guests (released by Penguin,) is her debut novel. We met up with Meredith at Penguin HQ in London. We asked her about her favorite novel, which character from fiction she’d like to meet and her advice for new writers.
How did you begin the process of writing The Wedding Guests?
I started with Rob first and wrote his story from start to finish – almost like a short story. As I think with a lot of first time writers, I then realized nothing was in the present tense…
If you could do anything differently, what would it be?
I would put more fiction in my fiction. It’s counter intuitive as a journalist to lie.
by NK Chats To.... : Victoria Connelly
Victoria’s first novel in the UK was Molly’s Millions. She’s also the author of the Jane Austen Addicts’ trilogy and The Runaway Actress. Her latest book is a novella sequel to The Austen Addicts’ trilogy and is called Christmas with Mr Darcy.
Can you tell us about Christmas with Mr Darcy?
Christmas with Mr Darcy is a light-hearted novella sequel to my Austen Addicts’ Trilogy. All of the main characters from the first three books meet for a special Christmas conference at Purley Hall but, when a first edition of Pride and Prejudice goes missing, the fun and festivities stop as everybody turns detective.The novella was enormous fun to write and it was lovely to meet up with all of the characters again and see how they’re all getting on but readers don’t need to have read the trilogy first although they might get more out of the novella if they have.
by Book Reviews : Letters From Yelena by Guy Mankowski.
Letters From Yelena by Guy Mankowski
(Legend Press, Oct 2012.)
Yelena is a Ukrainian Ballerina who is brilliant but flawed. She has come to the UK to fulfill her dream and dance one of Ballet’s most prestigious roles: Giselle.
Yelena soon meets Noah – a writer visiting the school whilst researching for his new book and both of them are soon on a journey of discovery. Life then takes an unexpected turn and the two of them begin writing letters to each other. During this process, Yelena visits dark areas of her life and her past soon catches up with her.
by Pauline Barclay talks about Famous Five Plus.
Novel Kicks would like to welcome back Pauline Barclay to our blog….
Laura, thank you for having me here on your fantastic web site and thanks to your hospitality, I’m not a stranger here having appeared twice before. Though this time, as much as I would love to talk about my books and of course my new book due out at the end of this year, I will save all of that for another time if you’ll have me back.
Today, I’d like to tell you about Famous Five Plus which is an Indie Author Group. As an Indie author I know how hard it is to get your name out there to the widest audience. And of course whilst you are marketing yourself, you are not writing. Added to trying to balance writing and marketing you can often feel isolated having no one to talk to, to bounce ideas off or to share any success that might come your way. Writing is for many a solitary occupation and being an Indie author you can often feel even more isolated, but by sharing thoughts and ideas can make you feel less on your own. These are just some of the reasons I decided to set up Famous Five Plus to bring like mind people together who could share their experiences and support each other. So on 31st October 2011, I launched Famous Five Plus. To get the group off the ground I invited five authors I had become friendly with to join me. Since then many authors have asked to join the group.
Famous Five Plus is about working together as a group and supporting each other. Everyday I update the FFP web site with a new post, an extract from a member’s book, highlight an author, highlight one of the member’s trailers and more. All members are asked to promote these changes through social media: Twitter, Facebook or their own Blog / web sites. What is wonderful is that during the month everyone is promoted and everyone gets involved.
by Book Corner : October’s Book
The Hunger Games bySuzanne Collins.
Scholastic (2009.)
In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games – a fight to the death on live TV.
Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister’s place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to death before and survival for her is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.
by NK Chats To.... : Tracey Garvis Graves
Tracey is the author of the New York Times Bestseller, On The Island.
Tracey, your debut novel is called On The Island. Can you tell us a little about it?
On the Island is a story about a thirty-year-old teacher named Anna who has been hired to tutor sixteen-year-old cancer survivor T.J. Callahan. They were supposed to be spending the summer at the Callahan’s vacation rental in the Maldives. Unfortunately, the plane Anna and T.J. are traveling on crash-lands in the Indian Ocean. They make it to the shore of an uninhabited island and wait for a rescue that never comes.
Can you sum up your writing style in five words?
Fast-paced, sparse, emotional, easy, storyteller.
by NK Chats To.... : Richard Foreman
Richard Foreman runs Chalke, a freelance publicity and consultancy agency for authors. Richard is also the co-founder of Endeavour Press (endeavourpress.com), the UK’s leading digital publisher. Richard is also the author of the historical novel A Hero of Our Time. He lives in London.
What was your route to publication?
I have an agent for my novels, which she is trying to sell for an orthodox print deal, but the Raffles series of novellas are published with Endeavour Press, the UK’s leading digital publisher. As I am co-owner of the company, the acquisition meeting went smoothly.
I work with a number of authors, both as a publicist and publisher, and it’s apparent that there are as many different routes into the trade as there are writers. And I can add one more by saying that should you be interested in writing short fiction, or non-fiction, please visit the endeavourpress.com website. Please read the submissions page. You are likely to narrow down your odds further by reading Raffles and citing this piece.
by NK Chats To.... : Lucy Robinson
Lucy Robinson’s latest novel, The Greatest Love Story of All Time was published in 2012. Her new novel is due to be published in 2013.
What was your route to publication?
A silly part of me believes that to be a worthy author I should have had to drag my manuscript around the publishing houses of London, begging someone to publish me. In actual fact I got spotted by an editor who encouraged me to write a novel. So I did just that and within six months I had a publishing deal. Had she not found me (via my Marie Claire blog) I probably wouldn’t have written a novel. I’d always wanted to be an author but it had genuinely never occurred to me to try – I just presumed I’d never make the grade.
Your latest novel is titled The Greatest Love Story of All Time. Can you tell us about it?
The Greatest Love Story of All Time is about Fran, a slightly bonkers journalist who, at the beginning of the novel, is living like a badger in her bed having just been dumped by the man she thought she was about to get engaged to. Her friends, who are now seriously fed up of her moping, break into her flat and demand that she pull herself together and get back out there on to the dating scene. Fran is appalled by this idea but eventually caves in, signing up to a bizarre eight-date deal that her friends have set her. But as she sets out trying to find love online she gets sidetracked by a beautiful woman called Nellie, by her increasingly alcoholic mother and by her evil cat whose life’s mission it is to eat Fran alive.
by NK Chats To.... : Joanna Lambert
Joanna Lambert is the author of the Behind Blue Eyes trilogy. Her fourth book, Between Today and Yesterday has just been released.
You’ve just completed work on the fourth book in the Behind Blue Eyes series. Can you sum up the plot in a few sentences?
As with all my other novels there’s a strong central plot with sub-plots woven around it, so it’s not always easy to describe. However, I did an interview last year while I was in the middle of writing Between Today and Yesterday and one of the questions I was asked then was to sum the plot up in around thirty words. This was my response – The birth of a band; the death of a matriarch; a family in crisis; the search for a lost love child and someone from the past is back looking for revenge. I think that covers everything quite well and believe it or not, although they appear to be totally unrelated, they all blend quite seamlessly to become one story.
by Book Corner : September’s Book
The Ice Cream Girls byDorothy Koomson
As teenagers Poppy Carlisle and Serena Gorringe were the only witnesses to a tragic event. Amid heated public debate, the two seemingly glamorous teens were dubbed ‘The Ice Cream Girls’ by the press and were dealt with by the courts. Years later, having led very different lives, Poppy is keen to set the record straight about what really happened, while Serena wants no one in her present to find out about her past. But some secrets will not stay buried – and if theirs is revealed, everything will become a living hell all over again . . . Gripping, thought-provoking and heart-warming, The Ice Cream Girls will make you wonder if you can ever truly know the people you love.
by NK Chats To.... : Jane Rusbridge
Jane is the author of The Devil’s Music.
Her latest novel, ROOK, was released this month. We asked Jane where she finds inspiration, about what she’s currently reading and which one of her characters is her favourite…
Your latest novel is titled ROOK. Can you tell us about it?
Set in the ancient Sussex village of Bosham, where King Cnut is said to have proved even he could not command the waves, ROOK is a story of family, legacy and turning back the tides.
Nora has abandoned her career as a cellist, returning to her childhood home and her mother Ada, a fragile, bitter woman, who distils for herself a glamorous past as she smokes French cigarettes in her unkempt garden. A charming young documentary-maker arrives to shoot a film about King Cnut’s illegitimate daughter, whose body lies beneath the flagstones of the local church. As Jonny disturbs the fabric of the village, digging up tales of ancient battles and burials, the threads lead back to Ada and Nora, who find themselves face to face with the shameful secrets they had so carefully buried.
Rook explores the mystery surrounding Harold II’s burial place, the hidden histories of the Bayeux Tapestry and connections forged through three women’s stories.
by NK Chats To.... : Julia Llewellyn
Julia is the author of The Model Wife, Love Nest and Amy’s Honeymoon. Her latest novel, Ten Minutes to Fall in Love is now available. Novel Kicks chat’s to Julia about her new book.
Your latest book is called Ten Minutes to Fall in Love. Can you tell us a little about it?
Ten Minutes is about a mixed-up young woman called Zu. Her mother was an alcoholic, who made her teenage years a misery. After she died, Zu left home, hoping never to return. But now she’s been forced back and she decides to clear her conscience she needs to find a new girlfriend for her father, Tony. Nothing goes to plan, however. There are dominatrixes, drug addicts and a trip to Ukraine with men who are desperate for a wife. Action-packed in other words.
Can you tell us about your writing day? Do you have a favourite time and place to write?
I try to write in my home office from 9am to 6pm four days a week, but the reality is probably three hours writing a sentence here and there, interspersed with three hours internet shopping, an hour on Twitter, an hour separating fighting kids and unloading the washing machine and an hour having lunch with my best friend (writers need to get out and about and talk to real people, you see!).
by Book Corner : August’s Book
The Night Circus byErin Morgenstern
The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.
The black sign, painted in white letters that hangs upon the gates, reads:
Opens at Nightfall
Closes at Dawn
As the sun disappears beyond the horizon, all over the tents small lights begin to flicker, as though the entirety of the circus is covered in particularly bright fireflies. When the tents are all aglow, sparkling against the night sky, the sign appears.
Le Cirque des Rêves
The Circus of Dreams.
Now the circus is open.
Now you may enter.
by Book Reviews : The Patchwork Marriage by Jane Green.
The Patchwork Marriage by Jane Green. 
(Penguin, 2012.)
Are love and devotion enough to create a happy family? When Andi married Ethan she not only got the man she loved but also the chance to be a mother, to his daughters Emily and Sophia. Unable to have a child of her own, Andi saw this opportunity at motherhood as a precious gift. If only it were that simple. For this is not a happy family, and the trouble lies with Emily. Her conflicted feelings towards her stepmother leave Andi feeling hated in her own home despite years of trying to reach out to her stepdaughter. And with each new drama, Emily drives Andi and Ethan further apart. Just as Andi starts to contemplate a life without Ethan and the girls, Emily comes home with some shocking news. News that will change their lives for ever.
by Gillian Bagwell: Jane Lane and the Royal Miracle.
The defeat of Charles II by Cromwell’s forces at the Battle of Worcester on September 3, 1651 set off one of the most astonishing episodes in British history—Charles’s desperate six-week odyssey to reach safety in
Portrait of Lady Jane which is hung at Mosely Old Hall.
France. It came to be known as the Royal Miracle because he narrowly eluded discovery and capture so many times.
One of the players in the astonishing tale was Jane Lane, an ordinary Staffordshire girl who risked her life to help the 21-year-old king escape. She had a pass allowing her and a manservant to travel the hundred miles to visit a friend near Bristol—a major port where the king might board a ship.
In a story that sounds like something out of fiction, Charles disguised himself as Jane’s servant, and she rode pillion (sitting side-saddle behind him while he rode astride) along roads traveled by cavalry patrols searching for him, through villages where the proclamation describing him and offering a reward for his capture was posted, and among hundreds of people who, if they had recognized him, had every reason to turn him in and none—but loyalty to the outlawed monarchy—to help him.
It was an improbable scheme. Charles was six feet two inches tall and very dark complexioned, not at all common looking for an Englishman of that time. But time after time he rode right under the noses of Roundhead soldiers without being recognized.
If he had been caught, he would certainly have been executed, and it is an open question whether the monarchy would have been restored as it eventually was after the death of Oliver Cromwell. What Jane did took great bravery, and she risked not only her life but the lives and lands of her family, as the fugitive king had been proclaimed a traitor, and anyone who helped him would be executed for treason. Continue reading
by Book Corner : July’s Book
Me Before You by JoJo Moyes
Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick. What Lou doesn’t know is she’s about to lose her job or that knowing what’s coming is what keeps her sane. Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he’s going to put a stop to that. What Will doesn’t know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they’re going to change the other for all time.
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by Book Reviews : The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty.
The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty.
Penguin, 2012.
Review by Laura Parish.
About the book:
On a summer’s day in 1922 Cora Carlisle boards a train from Wichita, Kansas, to New York City, leaving behind a marriage that’s not as perfect as it seems and a past that she buried long ago. She is charged with the care of a stunning young girl with a jet-black fringe and eyes wild and wise beyond her fifteen years. This girl is hungry for stardom and Cora for something she doesn’t yet know. Cora will be many things in her lifetime – an orphan, a mother, a wife, a mistress – but in New York she is a chaperone and her life is about to change. It is here under the bright lights of Broadway, in a time when prohibition reigns and speakeasies with their forbidden whispers behind closed doors thrive, that Cora finds what she has been searching for. It is here, in a time when illicit thrills and daring glamour sizzle beneath the laws of propriety that her life truly begins. It is here that Cora and her charge, Louise Brooks, take their first steps towards their dreams.
by Book Reviews : Vs Journal.
Vs. Journal
Published by Knock Knock, 2011 (via Abrams & Chronicle Books.)
Review by Laura Parish.
Life is full of decisions. The Vs. Journal provides over two hundred illustrated face-offs of psychological import, insightful interpretations and writing room for contemplation – including reason vs. emotion, pancakes vs. waffles or The Beatles vs. The Rolling Stones. Continue reading
by Bob Harvey: My Writing Process.
The thriller genre has always been a personal favourite, whether by way of novels or films, since intrigue and deceit, sprinkled with a generous helping of twists and turns, hold my interest and are heaven made for 
strong subtext. Because I believe it’s vital to stimulate the reader and maintain strong story momentum I tend to write in short chapters, which gives me an opportunity to break up the narrative and insert cliff-hangers in order to build tension and elements of mystery.
I think it’s important not to be didactic or preachy in any way, whatever points are relevant to the story with regard to human interaction, politics, greed, and so on. Whilst storytellers often feel it is part of their responsibility or even purpose to offer the benefit of personal insight and enlightenment to their readers, I tend to focus on creating a strong plot with interesting, credible, characters written in humorous vein. Snapback is a comedy-thriller created for entertainment value rather than anything of deeper significance, with a sting in the tail that involves invasion of privacy and our obsession with celebrity, these personal concerns being worked into the story without the need to bash the reader over the head with a metaphorical sledgehammer. Whatever serious situations occur within a story, the overall effect for me has to be a combination of mystery and fun, the prime objective being to sustain interest and be thought-provoking, but never to tread water, and always to entertain.
For this reason the hook, or set-up, is critical and after the first draft is completed I often rework the opening chapter, or write a completely new one, to ensure that the reader is swept immediately into the unfolding narrative. Tying up the plot lines is also essential. Readers should never be left to imagine their own endings (unless that is a specific intention) or be confused about any elements within the story. To that end, covering my tracks is part and parcel of the writing process. Continue reading
by NK Chats To.... : Anna Stothard
Anna is the author of the novel, Isabel and Rocco. Her latest book, The Pink Hotel, was nominated for the Orange Prize for Fiction.
Your latest release, The Pink Hotel was nominated for the Orange Prize. Can you give us a plot summary?
The Pink Hotel is about a androgynous, violent, nameless seventeen-year-old London girl who flies to LA to attend the wake of her estranged mother. She steals a suitcase of letters, clothes and photographs from her mother’s bedroom at the top of a huge pink hotel on Venice Beach, and spends her summer travelling around LA returning love letters and photographs to the men who knew her mother.
Where do you find your inspiration?
The Pink Hotel was inspired by living in Los Angeles for two years. When I first arrived in the city at the end of a road trip around California and Nevada, I stayed in this giant art-deco pink hotel on Venice Beach. Outside my window were children on rollerblades and cartoonish men and doll-shaped women and an old man playing the piano on the sidewalk. Like the protagonist of The Pink Hotel, I meant to stay for a week but ended up living in an apartment on the cusp of Thai Town and Little Armenia in East Hollywood, for much longer than expected.
by Book Corner : June’s Book
Snapback by Bob Harvey
A series of news-breaking events. An innocent bystander with a camera. A devastating backlash. Invading people’s privacy can have serious repercussions, as amateur photographer Matt Holmes is about to find out. Within a few days of acquiring a new camera, Matt becomes a key witness to a string of news-breaking events, including an attempted suicide by a well-known comedian from Richmond Bridge, a warehouse fire, a jewel robbery and a kidnap, his dramatic photographs suddenly given prominence in the national press. But Matt’s moment of fame takes a sinister turn as suspicions are aroused by his prolific scoops and his accidental intrusions make him a target for revenge.
As Matt looks back over his collection of photographs he makes discoveries that put everything into focus and he realises that his ultimate fate rests on the simple truth that nothing is ever quite what it seems.
by NK Chats To.... : Phillipa Ashley
Phillipa’s first novel, Decent Exposure, won the RNA New Writers Award. Her other novels include, It Should Have Been Me, Just Say Yes and Wish You Were Here. Her latest novel, Fever Cure is about to be released.
What was your route to publication?
A short one! I was inspired to start writing fiction by a TV costume drama called North & South in 2004. I wrote a modern fanfic version and plunged straight into my first novel Decent Exposure which was published by Little Black Dress in 2006.
Your first novel won the RNA New Writers award – what made you choose the RNA and how valuable was the experience?
I was advised to join the RNA by just about every romantic fiction writer I met online. My critique from the New Writers Scheme was very insightful and the support I received ever since from many RNA members has been invaluable.
by NK Chats To.... : Matt Lynn
Matt Lynn is the author of Shadow Force, Fire Force, Death Force and most recently, Ice Force. He’s also a Journalist and the CEO of Endeavour Press.
Describe your typical writing day.
Writing is a job like any other and you have to treat it like that. After helping get the kids ready for school, I start up my computer and start writing. It’s always easier first thing in the morning because your mind is fresh, and you have been thinking about it overnight. I read an interview with Wilbur Smith once where he said he left a sentence half-finished so it was easy to get started again the next day.
I set myself a target of 1,000 words a day. Once I’ve done that, I can start dealing with e-mail and all the other things that need to be done.
How do you approach planning before beginning a book?
I do an incredibly detailed plan. I did quite a bit of ghost-writing, and when you do that you have to have a plan to show the publisher and ‘author’. But it is a good discipline. It is much easier to throw stuff out of plan that isn’t good enough – and, as I think Beethoven pointed out, it’s the notes you don’t write that really count.
by Book Reviews : Chocolate Shoes and Wedding Blues & The Magic of Christmas by Trisha Ashley.
Chocolate Shoes and Wedding Blues.
Trisha Ashley.
(Avon, May 2012.)
Tansy Poole inherits a run –down shoe shop in the village of Sticklepond – Cinderella’s Slippers is soon established, stocking the footwear to make any fairy-tale wedding come true.
If only Tansy’s personal life was as heavenly. With a fiancé trying to make her fit into a size eight wedding dress as well as the discovery of shocking family revelations, Tansy soon takes shelter in the shops success.
A link to her past also moves in next door, in the shape of ex fling, the actor Ivo Hawksley who is there to nurse his own broken heart.
Soon they discover that secrets shared begin to forge a special bond between them. Continue reading
by Trisha Ashley – Process between the first draft and finished manuscript.
Trisha Ashley, the author of Chocolate Shoes and Wedding Blues, The Magic Of Christmas and Wedding Tiers takes over our blog and tells us about her process between the first draft and finished manuscript.
I write directly onto the computer, touch-typing, though I need to see my words in print on paper before the world I am writing about becomes real to me, so I print everything out. This can also be useful if your computer loses the chapter and you forgot to back up onto a memory stick or whatever.
My first drafts are usually somewhere between eighty and a hundred thousand words long and written in the stream-of-consciousness style made popular by James Joyce, since I just pour the words out onto the page and don’t always bother with the punctuation or typos. If I’m too tired to think creatively in the afternoon, though, I will often go back and tidy up the work I did in the morning. Continue reading
by Book Corner : May’s Book
The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty
On a summer’s day in 1922 Cora Carlisle boards a train from Wichita, Kansas, to New York City, leaving behind a marriage that’s not as perfect as it seems and a past that she buried long ago. She is charged with the care of a stunning young girl with a jet-black fringe and eyes wild and wise beyond her fifteen years. This girl is hungry for stardom and Cora for something she doesn’t yet know. Cora will be many things in her lifetime – an orphan, a mother, a wife, a mistress – but in New York she is a chaperone and her life is about to change. It is here under the bright lights of Broadway, in a time when prohibition reigns and speakeasies with their forbidden whispers behind closed doors thrive, that Cora finds what she has been searching for. It is here, in a time when illicit thrills and daring glamour sizzle beneath the laws of propriety that her life truly begins. It is here that Cora and her charge, Louise Brooks, take their first steps towards their dreams.
by NK Chats To.... : Elle Amberley
Elle is the author of the novel Nowhere Left To Hide and her latest novel, Lost In Your Time has just been released in e-book format by Indio Press and is available via the amazon kindle store. Read our interview with Elle here.
Describe your typical writing day.
Oh, I’m a messy writer, and a very busy one with that. No day is the same. If however I’m in the middle of writing a first draft, the world could collapse around me and I’d still be typing away furiously. This is when my husband brings me little treats, as I forget to eat, along with cups of coffee.
When I’m revising and editing I need more peace and have to work in chunks, carefully crafted around my children.
Any other day will see me scribbling away on bits of paper, notebooks, anything. I’ve been known to stop the car so I could jot something down. Other times I might spend all night on my laptop.
How do you approach planning before beginning a book?
Ah, this is interesting because a while ago I would have told I don’t really plan. However I’ve realised that’s not so true. The planning takes place in my head, hence the very fast first draft, I only have to sit down and type. It’s like a film in my head.
That said, very often I get more ideas for other projects and file them until I can go back to them.
by NK Chats To.... : Carmen Reid
Carmen is the author of the Annie Valentine series. Her other titles include The Jewels of Manhattan which was released in March. Carmen dropped by for a chat.
Tell us about your route to publication.
I’d been working as a news journalist for about six years and aged 28, on maternity leave, I decided it was time to start that novel I’d promised myself I would write. I found my agent, Darley Anderson, quite quickly and he gave me the encouragement needed to finish and edit and re-edit that first manuscript. Three in A Bed was published four years after I first set pen to paper – well… fingers to keyboard.
Your latest novel, The Jewels of Manhattan has recently been released. Can you tell us a little about it?
The Jewels was inspired by a line in a story written by my daughter: ‘Three girls decided to rob a jewellery shop.’ Why? I wondered, How? And: did they get away with it? My book about three Texan sisters living in Manhattan and getting drawn into a high stakes glamorous jewel theft grew from those urgent questions.
Where do you find inspiration?
Everywhere! From conversations with friends, from listening to other people’s experiences, from reading novels, newspapers, magazines… in art galleries, department stores (Annie Valentine was born on a shopping trip with an old friend). The more open you are to ideas, the more they seem to come at you. The other day I was walking the dog and I saw a bunch of mistletoe hanging from a bridge so that it dangled over our path. Now there is a story just waiting to be written!
by Book Corner : April’s Book
Something Borrowed by Emily Griffin
Rachel has always played by the rules and is the “Good Girl.”
She’s a hard working attorney at a Manhattan law firm and a diligent Maid of Honour to her best friend Darcy, who seems to live a charmed life. Since school, Rachel has been happy to sit on the sidelines and watch Darcy shine, quietly accepting her role.
That is until her thirtieth birthday, when Rachel confesses her feelings to Darcy’s fiancé and is both horrified and thrilled when he tells her that he feels the same way.
As the wedding gets nearer, events spiral out of control and Rachel finds that she must make a choice between right and wrong and that the lines between the two are sometimes blurry. She discovers that sometimes you have to risk everything to be true to yourself.
by Book Reviews : Brilliance by Anthony McCarten.
Brilliance by Anthony McCarten.
(Alma Books, 21th March 2012.)
Short of money, the inventor Thomas Edison is captivated by the charismatic figure of J.P. Morgan, the “world’s banker”. Accepting Morgan’s glittering offer of almost unlimited cash in return for helping the man change the way the world does business, Edison sees himself descend from being the godlike inventor of electric light to being complicit in the invention of the electric chair. Ever more enmeshed in Morgan’s personal life, he becomes infatuated by a world of privilege and power, where duty and desire, faith and immorality are thrown into conflict, ultimately threatening his own spiritual and creative survival. Continue reading
by Book Reviews : 642 Things to Draw and 642 Things to Write About.
642 Things to Draw.
(Chronicle Books, Oct, 2010. 978-0811876445. Available from Amazon. Currently £8.15.)
‘This is a simple and addictive sketchbook with content. It includes many hip and entertaining things to draw including a bike, a waffle and RUN DMC.’ Continue reading
by NK Chats To.... : Morgan St James
Morgan St. James is the author of Writers’ Tricks of The Trade: 39 Things You Need To Know About The ABC’s Of Writing Fiction and the Editor of the monthly Writers’ Tricks of The Trade newsletter/magazine.
What was your route to publication?
My writing career was launched when Designer’s West Magazine, a slick interior design magazine of the era, approached me and my partner during the time we owned an interior design studio in Southern California. The editor wanted us to write an article for them, and instead of a typical how-to technical article, we submitted a tongue-in-cheek spoof on a noir mystery. It detailed everything in a fun way and the editor loved it. More important, I discovered that I loved writing. The article was so well received, the magazine continued to publish many more of my articles. From there, I expanded to diverse subjects like human interest, dementia, travel and barter, and finally to fiction with the first Silver Sisters Mystery, A Corpse in the Soup.
Your latest book, Writers tricks of the trade: 39 things you need to know about the ABCs of writing fiction. Can you tell us about it and how it came about?
After writing over 200 articles about writing and “Spotlighting” people in the publishing industry for two editions of the online newspaper examiner.com, and constantly being asked if I had a book about writing when I gave talks or workshops, I realized that I had material for one or more great handbooks for writers at any stage in their careers. The book is written in easy-to-read prose like my columns, spiced with humor and examples and covers tips and techniques for 39 important things fiction writers need to know. A bibliography at the back recommends in-depth books about single topics touched upon in the various chapters.
by Book Corner : March’s Book
The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom
Eddie, a war veteran, thinks he has lived an uninspired life. When an accident kills him on his 83rd birthday, he wakes in the afterlife to find that Heaven is not a destination but a place where your life is explained by five people, some you knew and some who may be strangers. One by one, Eddie’s five people revisit their connections and the mystery of Eddie’s ‘meaningless’ life and reveal the haunting secret behind the question, ‘why was I here?’
by Book Reviews : Breakfast At Darcy’s by Ali McNamara.
Breakfast At Darcy’s by Ali McNamara. 
Sphere, 2011.
About the book:
When Darcy McCall loses her aunt, she doesn’t expect to inherit a small island. Tara is located off the west coat of Ireland and hasn’t been inhabited for years, but according to her aunt’s will, Darcy must stay there for twelve months before she can fully inherit. She will also need to persuade a village full of people to settle there with her.
Darcy will have to leave her independent life behind and swop heels for wellies, a magazine job for dealing with plumbing and pubs. Also, Darcy meets Connor and grumpy Dermot. Who will make her feel totally at home?
by NK Chats To.... : Heath Samples
Heath Samples, along with Claire Hooper, is the author of the book, Princess Diana: The Day She Didn’t Die. Novel Kicks had a chat with Heath and asked him about his route to publication and his tips for new writers.
Tell us about your route to publication.
It was more of a maze than a route! The first part was researching other authors’ routes to understand their experiences. Second part was to contact some agents and publishers through the Writers & Artists Yearbook to see if there was anybody with the courage to take it on but the publishing world is not the place it used to be.
Finally, I spoke with New York Times Bestselling Author GP Taylor and he introduced me to Grosvenor House Publishing.
Your debut novel is called Princess Diana – The Day She Didn’t Die. Diana is still a topical and controversial subject. Can you tell us about the book and how it came about?
The book came about on the New Years Eve of 1999. I am a big fan of the Royal Family and I started to think about what Diana would have been doing that night, on the eve of a new millennium. The next day I sat down and laid out the chapters of how her life may have been, had she lived. A classic “What If” novel. It sat there for a decade before I had the time to write it.
Where do you find inspiration?
Inspiration is one ingredient I am not short of. I am a pilot, commercial boat Skipper, scuba diver, skier, canoeist and those are the only ones I can remember! However, this does not just inspire me. Some of the most mundane experiences in life give me the best influences to work with.
by Book Reviews : I’ve Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella.
I’ve Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella. 
(Bantam Press, 16th February 2012.)
A couple of glasses of champagne at a charity event means Poppy loses the one thing she wasn’t meant to lose – an antique engagement ring that’s been in Magnus’s family for three generations. Also, in the panic that followed, Poppy also loses her mobile phone.
Disconnected from everyone who may find her ring, Poppy feels as if her life is about to go into meltdown. That is, until she finds an abandoned mobile phone in a bin. Finders Keepers right? The owner, businessman Sam Roxton doesn’t’ think so and he doesn’t appreciate Poppy’s suggestion to share the phone and her prying into his personal affairs.
As Poppy tries to juggle her wedding plans, Sam’s e-mails and hiding her hand from Magnus and her future in-laws, she wonders if life could get any more complicated. Continue reading
by Book Club
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