Jennie Ensor's Blog, page 3
May 17, 2020
Life in Lockdown
It’s been a while since I’ve posted here, due partly to my current obsession with Book 4. There’s also that other thing, the Coronavirus crisis.
I’m grateful Covid19 hasn’t killed anyone I’m close to. Some family and friends have been ill from ‘the virus’ but not too badly thankfully. Everything seems to have changed though, A.C.
It’s hard, I find, to stay upbeat and focused on doing things when the fabric of life has fallen apart. Friends aren’t getting treatment for cancer, are feeling isolated and depressed, or are constantly anxious about getting ill from the virus. The news is full of suffering and the latest stats on numbers dead.
I feel blessed to live in a house with a garden in a pleasant, very green part of London. So even with the restrictions on daily life, being stuck inside isn’t so bad most of the time. When it’s sunny I love to sit among the blooming rhododendrons – this year our flora has gone crazy, as if to say Fuck it, we’re not dead yet. But the 
March 17, 2020
A Plague on All Our Houses
An amusing piece on the plague that’s overnight changed our lives, while you calculate when and if you’re going to risk setting foot out of the front door, and what the chances of succumbing to the virus might be…
I for one shall be using rose petals if toilet roll stocks dry up
December 23, 2019
It’s that time again…
…when bloggers remember they do actually have a blog (my hand is up, have lapsed lately) and people wish each other all sorts of unlikely to be achieved states of mind. Many of us are overcome with a collective impulse to buy stuff, eat too much and do things we don’t really want to but feel we should to keep up with expectations or make our loved ones happy (putting up a Christmas tree in my case – Mr E loves them, I see a heap of needles on the floor and hours of fussing with erection and decoration).
My thoughts are with everyone who’s feeling sad or stressed. (Most of us?) Those who are alone and don’t want to be, or who are grieving for someone, or who are reminded of children they’ve lost or not had, or suffering physically or mentally, distressed about floods or bushfires, the political situation (especially in the UK & US!) or the state of the planet…
With so many people here in Britain falling out with each other over politics and Brexit, it feels like an uncivil war has been going on for ages. I don’t yet feel merry or joyous but I’m doing my best to find that spirit of tolerance, forgiveness and goodwill. (It’s there somewhere…)
Lately I’ve been too immersed in writing the first draft of my latest novel to send any cards and have yet to buy presents. Blog, social media, house and husband have all been neglected. (Not good at multitasking.) I have been full steam ahead poring over my computer screen, learning about teen and urban slang, police procedures and the inner workings of violent street gangs in London, and watching drill music videos and Top Boy. (Yes, I have decided to return to the dark side with a crime thriller.) Trying not to write too much or will have a mini series!!
Here’s some pics from north London where my novel is set:
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Tottenham cemetery
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River Lea and canal
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I probably won’t get around to posting a list of my favourite books of the year (oh alright then – top 3: Echo Hall by Virginia Moffat, The Women by – will add the rest in a bit) or the momentous moments of the last decade, so I’ll wish you the very best possible Christmas, end of year and 2020
September 6, 2019
Banishing news, TV and social media to write
In late July I set off with my husband and dog for our large, very old house in a remote part of France for a long summer break. As Mr E had to get back to London in August for work, I had two weeks there with only the dog for company, and hoped to get some writing done.
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The house has no TV, one old-fashioned radio that can pick up very few stations due to the mountains, and the satellite wifi connection is expensive, data hungry and difficult to set up temporarily. Also the village is tiny, I only know a handful of people there and my French is a work in progress. So conditions were perfect for plunging into my fourth novel.
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I had few distractions apart from the books on my kindle and the mountains. For the first time, I also took the dog on many arduous mountain treks. He loved it – I had to drag him away from some high places with views that we stopped at, he was spellbound! Though I had to entice him up a few steep bits with pieces of sausage.
How did it go? Well, I managed to (mostly) stay off social media, not spending much time on my phone apart from taking photos, writing a synopsis using the Notes app and once a day checking out the BBC news app (no videos to cut down data usage).
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The solitude, the tranquillity, the beauty of my surroundings all began to work their magic. I felt the characters coming to life, and the story started writing itself without much help from me…
My aim had been to get the novel well underway, which I did, though unfortunately my laptop keyboard had too many sticking keys so I decoded to write in longhand on graph paper. But that meant I was forced to keep going forwards and not edit too much, and also I could write in the garden 
July 18, 2019
Update from London
It’s been a while since my last post, I know… But it’s quality not quantity, n’est pas?
My book news to kick off. The paperback launch of NOT HAVING IT ALL last month went incredibly well, especially given the near non-arrival of the paperbacks.
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Fortunately, due to an emergency order they made it just in time: 10.30am on the day of the event. (By then I felt almost as frazzled Bea Hudson in my book and the woman’s face gracing the cover.) The event didn’t have to be delayed after all, there was a full house, the actors performed the excerpts brilliantly (links to videos below – you can judge for yourself), I said what I meant to say without any major glitches, the cake didn’t collapse into a soggy heap due to lack of refrigeration, and most importantly everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. I certainly did.
[image error]The cake
[image error]With the talent!
Many thanks to my sterling readers Diana Berriman, Ian Skewis and Runilla Chilton, to Mr E who took videos of their performances, and not least to the Crouch End Waterstones staff who ensured that all went smoothly on the night – especially the manager Oliver Thelwall for his enthusiasm and resourcefulness leading up to the launch.
[image error]A still from the therapy scene: ‘I don’t have much faith in therapists I’m afraid’
Watch the video of the therapy scene on Facebook
Watch the video of the Report on Suspicious Signs reading, starring TV/film actress Diana Berriman and Ian Skewis (author of A MURDER OF CROWS and narrator of the audiobook). Kurt, who’s away on a long business trip, starts to wonder if his wife might be interested in other women…
NHIA e-book half price
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From around now for a few days the e-book of NOT HAVING IT ALL should be for sale at half price, 99p/99c. So, if you haven’t yet read my no-holds-barred comedy and fancy a laugh…
June 5, 2019
Portrait of an author in need of a rest
I’m pleased to say that I’ve survived the publication of my third book, though I’m feeling a little weary now and looking forward to putting my feet up. For those not yet awake or paying attention, Not Having It All: a brazen comedy about the perils of midlife was released a week ago, 28 May 2019. (It’s a no-holds-barred comedy about a woman pulled towards breaking point by the incompatible demands of her family and her career.)
[image error]Banner for the blog tour after publication
I’ve just about recovered from the excitement of last week’s blog blitz, and getting so many wonderful reviews from bloggers and others. (This has been replaced by angst about when Amazon will be putting up those wonderful reviews… But one can’t have it all!) It’s been a whirwind week of frantically writing guest posts, sharing and tweeting on social media, sending off books for review, showing off my book to random people at bus stops… Here are some links to a few of the stops on the blog blitz:
Not Having It All’ is one of those books that has a bit of everything. There’s drama, humour and love in there and I loved it!! I would definitely be recommending this book to other readers. As I indicated above, I will definitely be reading Jennie’s other books just as soon as I can. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.
Dash Fan Book Reviews ‘Not Having It All really is a compelling, light hearted and funny read.’
Rather Too Fond Of Books ‘I loved every minute that I spent reading it.’
Swirl & Thread (extract)
The Book Magnet
‘It is literally laugh out loud hilarious at times and I read most of the book with a smile on my face; a fabulous bit of feel-good fiction from Jennie Ensor.’
[image error]The first page of the paperback, from Bea’s journal
I am very grateful to my publisher Bombshell Books for going to such trouble to make the inside of the book so spiffing in both print and ebook formats. (Each character has their own visual style.) It really does look good, as you can see from these pics of the paperback.
I won’t go on too much in this post… Here are some pics to show the really good things that happened this past week!
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[image error]Rather pleased to see a familiar cover in this week’s picks of a well-known online book club
Next week (7-9pm Tuesday 11 June) is the Not Having It All launch at London – Crouch End Waterstones. There aren’t many seats left I understand. If you’re interested, please check with the bookshop. Free entry; to reserve seats email crouchend@waterstones.com or call the bookshop on 0203 551 9706. Further info
I’ve organised dramatised readings of extracts from Not Having It All, to be performed by a couple of very talented people: author and audiobook narrator Ian Skewis, and actress Diana Berriman, who’s appeared in a string of TV dramas over the years and the film Notes On A Scandal. All going well, I’ll be putting up clips on social media, maybe even here if WordPress will allow it. It’s going to be great fun!
May 16, 2019
Not Having It All – the cover
This post will be short and sweet, for a change. Virtually no words at all. Just…
The cover was revealed for the first time on Linda’s Book Bag earlier this week, thanks to the generosity of Linda Hill.
My book will be published in ebook and paperback on 28th May 2019 and will be available pre-order soon – once they’ve sorted out all the fonts, emojis and other complicated thingies that I asked for, that is! The special formatting for this book has proved quite an involved job, but it will be well worth it when it’s done, I think readers will agree.
A further announcement before I go. My debut novel BLIND SIDE is 99p/99c on Amazon Kindle for a limited time.
Not Having It All – the cover
This post will be short and sweet, for a change. Virtually no words at all. Just…
[image error]
The cover was revealed for the first time on Linda’s Book Bag earlier this week, thanks to the generosity of Linda Hill.
My book will be published in ebook and paperback on 28th May 2019 and will be available pre-order soon – once they’ve sorted out all the fonts, emojis and other complicated thingies that I asked for, that is! The special formatting for this book has proved quite an involved job, but it will be well worth it when it’s done, I think readers will agree.
A further announcement before I go. My debut novel BLIND SIDE is 99p/99c on Amazon Kindle for a limited time.
Not Having It All – the cover
This post will be short and sweet, for a change. Virtually no words at all. Just…
[image error]
The cover was revealed for the first time on Linda’s Book Bag earlier this week, thanks to the generosity of Linda Hill.
My book will be published in ebook and paperback on 28th May 2019 and will be available pre-order soon – once they’ve sorted out all the fonts, emojis and other complicated thingies that I asked for, that is! The special formatting for this book has proved quite an involved job, but it will be well worth it when it’s done, I think readers will agree.
A further announcement before I go. My debut novel BLIND SIDE is 99p/99c on Amazon Kindle for a limited time.
Not Having It All – the cover
This post will be short and sweet, for a change. Virtually no words at all. Just…
[image error]
The cover was revealed for the first time on Linda’s Book Bag earlier this week, thanks to the generosity of Linda Hill.
My book will be published in ebook and paperback on 28th May 2019 and will be available pre-order soon – once they’ve sorted out all the fonts, emojis and other complicated thingies that I asked for, that is! The special formatting for this book has proved quite an involved job, but it will be well worth it when it’s done, I think readers will agree.
A further announcement before I go. My debut novel BLIND SIDE is 99p/99c on Amazon Kindle for a limited time.
