Morton S. Gray's Blog, page 41

Spotlight on Guest Author Margaret James

My blog guest this week is fellow Choc Lit author Margaret James. I’ve just re-read that sentence, as I was reading and enjoying Margaret‘s books long before I ever dreamed that I could be a Choc Lit author too!!![image error]

I asked Margaret to tell us about herself:-

I’m a British writer of historical and contemporary fiction. I’m also a journalist working for the UK’s Writing Magazine and I teach creative writing for the London School of Journalism. I was born in Hereford, but now I live in Devon, which is great because it means when I am stuck for a plot I can always go for a walk along one of our gorgeous beaches and be inspired!

Margaret‘s newest book Girl in the Red Velvet was published on 23 April 2017 by Choc Lit and it has a gorgeous cover. I asked her to tell us about her writing and her latest novel.

Hello Morton,

Thank you for inviting me to be a guest on your blog today. It’s lovely to be here chatting about writing with you.

I’ve been a writer for quite a long time: since 1988, in fact, when my first novel A Touch of Earth was published. Over the years, I’ve had a variety of jobs, got married and had children, but I’ve always managed to fit writing into my schedule, although sometimes I’m not sure how!

I write about the kinds of women I admire – women who are courageous in many ways, physically, morally and emotionally. I’m not very brave myself.  But, strangely enough, my two daughters are amazingly courageous. They’re both devoted to extreme sports and they both have very demanding careers.

When I’m planning a new story I talk to my characters all the time, asking them questions and sometimes even arguing with them. I realise that saying things like this makes me sound completely mad, but I’m also sure plenty of other novelists would agree with me. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t make up stories about people who don’t really exist. But this means that even when I’m by myself I’m never alone, and I’m never lonely, so that has to be a plus, doesn’t it?

The cover of Girl in Red Velvet was designed by the wonderful Berni Stevens. My heroine Lily looks exactly as I had imagined, so I am delighted. I haven’t owned a red dress myself since I was a teenager like Lily, when I had a pretty raspberry-red mini-dress I made myself: like Lily, at that age I made most of my own clothes. I wouldn’t buy a red dress now because, unlike Lily who has jet black hair, I’m fair-haired and fair-skinned. So red all over would be rather overpowering on me.  But I do own red tops, red shoes and a red coat. I like a bit of red here and there!

The inspiration for this novel was the set-up in Wuthering Heights, which has always been one of my favourite reads. I don’t warm to any of the central characters, but the story situation involving these three people – Edgar Linton, Catherine Earnshaw and the ghastly but charismatic Heathcliff – is endlessly fascinating. I wanted to see if I could write a story in which there would be hopeful resolutions for my own threesome.

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Girl in Red Velvet is a romantic drama. The action starts in the 1960s, and writing this novel involved a fascinating trip down Memory Lane for me.

The story is set in Oxford, and when it begins it’s 1966 and Lily Denham is seventeen, all set to begin her studies at Oxford University. On her first day she meets best friends Harry Gale and Max Farley and is enchanted by their mischievous charm.

But Lily soon realises she is falling in love with both her new-found friends, men who might offer Lily two very different futures. Harry is generous and kind, hardworking and ambitious: he would probably make a dream husband. Max embodies the spirit of the sixties, being adventurous, rebellious, madly attractive but a little bit dangerous, too.

Does Lily want a dream husband or does she want a life of adventure? Perhaps she could have both? But maybe making the wrong decision might have devastating consequences for them all?

Thank you, Margaret. I found this interview fascinating as I like to understand the inspiration and thought processes of other authors. Girl in Red Velvet is next on my reading pile and now I can’t wait to start it.

To contact Margaret:-

Facebook : www.facebook.com/margaret.james.5268

Twitter : www.twitter.com/majanovelist

Blog : www.margaretjamesblog.blogspot.co.uk

Buying links for the Girl in Red Velvet can be found on the Choc Lit website here

Exciting News

Saved my blogging until Tuesday this week to coincide with the announcement of the contenders for this year’s Romantic Novelists’ Association Joan Hessayon Award. The list includes little me!!!!

Fellow Choc Lit authors Lynda Stacey and Victoria Cornwall are contenders too, so I’m sure we will have a fun time on 18 May 2017 in London, when the winner is announced.

The shortlist is made up of authors whose debut novels have been published after critique by the Romantic Novelists’ Association New Writers Scheme. Each year 250 places are offered to unpublished writers writing romantic fiction. They can submit a complete manuscript to one of the Association’s published authors for comment, as well as being able to attend RNA events.

The Award will be presented at the RNA Summer Party on Thursday 18 May at The Royal Over-Seas League, Park Place, London SW1A 1LR at 19.15.

The Joan Hessayon Award is sponsored by gardening expert Dr. David Hessayon OBE, in honour of his late wife Joan, who was a longstanding member of the RNA and a supporter of its New Writers’ Scheme.

The full list for 2017 is:

Victoria Cornwall – The Thief’s Daughter – Choc Lit

 Kate Field – The Magic of Ramblings – Accent Press

Terri Fleming – Perception – Orion

 Jen Gilroy – The Cottage at Firefly Lake – Forever, Grand Central, Hachette

              Morton Gray – The Girl on the Beach –  Choc Lit

Vivien Hampshire –  How to Win Back Your Husband –  HQ Digital

April Hardy – Sitting Pretty – Accent Press

Emily Kerr – Who Does He Think He Is? – Crooked Cat

Abbey Macmunn –  Touched  –  Tirgearr Publishing    

Arabella Sheen –  Castell’s Passion –  Beachwalk Press Inc

Lynda Stacey – House of Secrets – Choc Lit

All eligible books are judged by a panel of experienced RNA members who are already published authors.

Good luck girls! See you in London on 18 May 2017.

Maybe my blog readers could read all of the books and see if you can predict the winner! Having said that, in my eyes we are all winners – we did it, we got a book written and published. I hope that all of the contenders have a successful publishing career. Yay!

Spotlight on Guest Author Sheryl Browne

My blog guest this time is fellow Choc Lit author, Sheryl Browne. She writes edgy, sexy contemporary fiction and psychological thrillers.

A member of the Crime Writers’ Association, Romantic Novelists’ Association and awarded a Red Ribbon by The Wishing Shelf Book Awards, Sheryl has several books published and two short stories in Birmingham City University anthologies, where she completed her MA in Creative Writing.

Recommended to her publisher by the WH Smith Travel fiction buyer, Sheryl’s contemporary fiction is published by multi-award winning Choc Lit.

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I asked Sheryl some questions :-

When and where do you write?

I have a Georgian Bureau which is my actual writing station. I absolutely love it. It makes me feel like a proper writer and has so much history in its bones. It even has an ink stain (no, I won’t be renovating it).

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However, I’m currently working in my lounge at tiny a repro French antique dressing table. The little guy lying next to it is the reason why. Little Snoops is recovering from two strokes and is more settled when he can keep an eye on me!

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Do you scare yourself when you are writing your thrillers?

I do a bit. In writing psychological thrillers, I’m exploring the darker psyche of some of my characters, looking at the nature vs nurture conundrum. Is badness in the genes? Is it brain function or childhood experience that creates a monster? A combination of all three?

The driving force linked to most murders, I’m reliably informed by a former DCI, is humiliation. How many of us haven’t felt humiliated at some point in our lives? Who hasn’t wished for revenge, even if only in the form of hoping someone gets their comeuppance? As a writer, in order to create a believable character, you have to live, eat sleep and breathe them, almost become them, as it were. I think I may have succeeded as, apparently, I have a scary insight into the mind of a psychopath. Thank you Rachel at Rachel’s Random Reads. I’m flattered … I think.

What part of you is included in your books?

My heart. Seriously, my writing tends to gravitate towards family and family dynamics and just how strong a family unit can be. My latest thrillers feature DI Matthew Adams, who is a family man, and the core of the stories is his need to protect his family. Personally, I am fiercely protective of those I love and this is a trait I think I bring into my writing.

What can we look forward to next from you?

The Edge of Sanity! No, I’m not balancing on the brink of, honestly. This will be the third in the DI Matthew Adams thrillers series. A harrowing story of hope amid loss and betrayal, The Edge of Sanity pushes the Conner family to the absolute limits of what a person should be able to cope with. The story is “remarkable, dark, emotionally charged” and already a Northern Crime Reviews Recommended Read.

The book is currently in edits so … watch this space.

Thanks so much for sharing my book news, Morton! Can I just take this opportunity to also thank readers and book bloggers for their fabulous support? It really is so hugely appreciated. I honestly wouldn’t still be writing without it.

That’s great, Sheryl. I hope Snoops continues to improve. Details of the first two DI Matthew Adams thrillers are below.

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After She’s Gone

He’s killed your child and kidnapped your wife. What would YOU do?

There’s evil and then there’s Patrick Sullivan. A drug dealer, pimp and murderer, there are no depths to which Patrick would not sink, and Detective Inspector Matthew Adams has found this out in the most devastating way imaginable.

When Patrick’s brother is shot dead in a drug bust gone wrong, the bitter battle between the two men intensifies, and Matthew finds it increasingly difficult to hold the moral high ground. All he wants is to make the pimping scum suffer the way he did … the way Lily did.

But being at war with such a depraved individual means that it’s not just Matthew who’s in danger. Patrick has taken a lot from Matthew, but he hasn’t taken everything – and now he wants everything.

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What if you’d been accused of one of the worst crimes imaginable?

Detective Inspector Matthew Adams is slowly picking up the pieces from a case that nearly cost him the lives of his entire family and his own sanity too. On the surface, he seems to be moving on, but he drinks to forget – and when he closes his eyes, the nightmares still come.

But the past is the past – or is it? Because the evil Patrick Sullivan might be out of the picture, but there’s somebody who is just as intent on making Matthew’s life hell, and they’re doing it in the cruellest way possible.

When Matthew finds himself accused of a horrific and violent crime, will his family stand by him? And will he even be around to help when his new enemy goes after them as well?

Buying links:

After She’s Gone: http://getbook.at/DIMatthewAdams

Sins of the Father: http://getbook.at/DIMatthewAdams2

Author Links for Sheryl Browne

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Amazon | Amazon US | Pinterest

Choc Lit

Trailer Link for DI Matthew Adams series: https://youtu.be/0MqZ5TpBwGk

Delight in New Places

I recently visited the Powerscourt Estate near Dublin and discovered a new favourite place. I love the Avoca café’s in Ireland and that was what initially drew me to the location, but the gardens and the views are superb.

The house was commissioned in 1730 by the 1st Viscount Powerscourt and a 68-roomed mansion was completed in 1741. It was designed around a medieval castle with Palladian architecture and had baroque dome-roofed towers on either side. An extra storey was added in 1787. In 1961 the Slazenger family bought the estate from the 9th Viscount Powerscourt.

Tragically, like one of my other favourite places, Witley Court in Worcestershire, UK, a fire gutted the house in 1974 leaving a roofless shell. In 1996, it was re-roofed and now houses gift and interior shops.

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The gardens have a wonderful view of Sugerloaf mountain and have a very peaceful energy. I thought I’d share the delight my visit produced. I shall be going back.

Spotlight on Guest Author Jane Lovering

Jane Lovering, another Choc Lit author, joins me on the blog this week. Her latest novel, The Little Teashop of Horrors was published on 26 March 2017.

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Jane has been a published author of romantic comedies since 2008. Her novel ‘Please Don’t Stop the Music’ won Romantic Novel of the Year in 2012 and Best Romantic Comedy the same year. She has ten novels and two novella currently published, and calls what she writes ‘dark, psychological romance – with jokes.’

She lives in North Yorkshire, with a floating collection of children, cats, dogs, hens and dust, and firmly believes that housework happens to other people.

I asked Jane some questions:-

When do you write?

Usually in the mornings. I’m fortunate to have a job on a floating rota, so I’m often at home in the mornings. I like to write in my bed as soon as I’ve woken up, but that’s mainly because my bedroom door is the only door that closes between me and two hyperactive terriers. I write best in the mornings. By the afternoon my brain has filled up with other things that want thinking about.

What part of you is in your latest book?

If I said Amy is directly based on me, everyone would go ‘awwww’ and rush to assure me that I’m nothing like her (at least, I hope they would. If they nod and agree then I’m never speaking to them again). But some of her experiences, always being overlooked for the taller, prettier friend, were based on experiences I had growing up. I think I just have a natural ‘resting bitch face’ which put men off. That and being way too cynical…

How did you go about the research for the book?

I live very close to a Bird of Prey centre, and have annual membership, so I spent a lot of time lurking around birds, watching flying displays and talking to the handlers. I went through a phase of wanting a Harris hawk of my own (they are the best birds for beginners), but realised it wouldn’t make a great combination with the previously mentioned hyperactive terriers. People would hide when they saw me coming (not that they don’t already, but I’d be capable of air attacks too).

Tell us about The Little Teashop of Horrors

About the book? Well, I think the blurb says it all, really. It’s about tea and cake, freedom in all its forms, being tied by love and duty and money and obligation and…how an owl that can’t fly can still be a hero!

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Thank you for joining me on the blog, Jane.

I’m reading Jane’s book at the moment (50% through) and thoroughly enjoying it. I’ve a feeling I’m about to get to one of the dark undercurrents of the book and am intrigued. A thoroughly recommended read, I can already tell I will give it five stars with my review!

Blurb for The Little Teashop of Horrors

Secrets, lies, carrot cake – and an owl called Skrillex!

Amy Knowles has always been the plain sidekick to her pretty best friend Jules. And whilst the tearoom they both work in on the Monkpark Hall estate in Yorkshire is not exactly awash with eligible bachelors, it’s obvious where the male attention is concentrated – and it’s not just on the cakes!

There is one man who notices Amy. Joshua Wilson also works at Monkpark, where he flies his birds of prey for visitor entertainment. He lives a lonely existence but he has reasons for choosing isolation – and, in Amy, he may have found somebody who understands.

Then a management change brings slick and well-spoken Edmund Evershott to Monkpark. He’s interested in Amy too, but for what reason? Josh suspects the new manager is up to no good – but will Amy? Because Edmund could leave her with much worse than a broken heart …

To buy The Little Teashop of Horrors or indeed any of Jane‘s other excellent books you can use the following links:-

Jane’s Choc Lit Page

Amazon

To connect with Jane use the following links:-

Website – www.janelovering.co.uk

Twitter – www.twitter.com/janeloveringwww.twitter.com/janelovering

 

Birds of a Feather

This week I decided to do a shout out for meeting up with like-minded people. It doesn’t really matter where your interests lie, you cannot underestimate the value of conversing with people who share the same interest.

On Saturday, I attended the Romantic Novelists’ Association Birmingham Chapter meeting. This meeting is for people in the association who live within travelling distance of Birmingham, and indeed other writers who like to join us. We tried a new venue on Saturday, the Bacchus Bar in New Street.

Our new co-ordinator got there early to bagsy a few tables in an alcove and then we descended to order lunch and drinks. I’ve noticed that a group of writers can get very loud and enthusiastic (even without a drink). We applaud successes in the group, publication deals, contracts signed, books published and, this time, the news that our newly appointed c0-ordinator is the recipient of the Katie Fforde bursary. Yay!

We never seem to run out of conversation, with subjects ranging from the downright risqué, to serious marketing tips. One thing is sure, I always come away feeling enthusiastic and uplifted.

So, if you have chance to meet up with others sharing your interest, take it – I don’t think you will be disappointed.

Favourite Blog Questions

I’ve been answering blog questions on numerous sites for a while now and thought I would share a selection of my favourite questions with you today, just in case you missed them.

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Where do I get my inspiration?

Inspiration is a strange thing. I find if I’m looking for it, I don’t necessarily find it, but if I’m busy doing something else it strikes!

It is almost as if ideas have a consciousness and take great delight in catching you out. I’m not the only person who thinks like that, Elizabeth Gilbert, famous for the book made into a film, Eat, Pray, Love, has written a book called Big Magic about the wonder of creativity. In it she talks about ideas swirling around in the ether waiting for the perfect partner to bring them into the world.

Like many writers, I rip pictures from magazines and articles from newspapers that inspire me and keep them in a box. I trace family trees and often find storylines in the research.

Mostly, my books start with a character with an intriguing background or situation and then, if I let it and don’t try to force it, their story will unfold onto my notebook pages.

In the case of my debut romantic suspense novel, The Girl on the Beach, published in e-book format on 24 January 2017 by Choc Lit, the story was born from a combination of factors – a couple of interesting news articles and an art competition run by a friend at my son’s high school.

My character, Ellie Golden arrives to judge the school art competition and is introduced to the new headteacher, but she is pretty sure she has known the man before.

Who would play you in a film about your life?

These days, I think it would have to be Emma Thompson.

Choice of alternative career if you weren’t an author

I’ve had several changes in my working life. I’ve worked in administration, committee services, staff development and training. I then left office work to be a therapist. I’m a clinical hypnotherapist, Reiki master, Tuina acupressure massage therapist and energy field practitioner. If I had to choose a new career now it would be as an artisan jeweller and I may yet train in this field in the future.

What advice would you give to a fledgling author who is either writing their first or have written their first book? 

Get your work out into the world.
It is easy to write a book, put it in a drawer and not do anything with it.
Enter competitions.
Join societies for your genre of writing.
The Romantic Novelists’ Association is amazing for advice, support and the social aspect.
Send out your work to publishers and agents and don’t give up.
Look for new ways to get your work in front of a publisher, for example, Twitter pitches are a different avenue to get your words noticed.

How do you visualise your characters?

I have a very active imagination, but, in a similar way to the news stories above, I squirrel away pictures that inspire me. The basis for Harry was a model in one of the junk mail clothing catalogues that appear through my door. I just happened to catch sight of him as I was depositing the booklet in my recycling bin and thought – “Ooo”.

When I have pictures and a story idea, it’s a case of thinking how these characters would act in the situations I am presenting them with for their characteristics to become clear. It’s great fun, but a little spooky when the characters become real in your mind and you even have imaginary conversations with them! I expect the men in white coats any day.

Is the fictional town Borteen, where the story takes place, based on any particular seaside town?

I love the seaside and long to walk on the beach every day. That’s a bit impossible though, as I live probably as far from the sea as you can get in England. I indulged myself writing this book, as I could imagine the feel of the sand beneath my toes and smell the sea air as I was writing it.

Borteen is an amalgamation of many seaside towns I have visited. It has a little bit of Barmouth, Woolacombe, Lyme Regis, Llandanawg, Burnham and many more. I’ve taken my favourite bits of lots of beaches and beach towns and put them together to suit my story. At least if it’s fictional, I can add in the details I need to tell my story.

It’s quite strange though, because I’ve spent so much time in Borteen, I can walk down the streets, go into the shops, even tell you the colour and texture of the sand in my head. At least I can now stroll on my beach every day, as I’m busy writing more stories in the Borteen area. Watch out for some of those characters from The Girl on the Beach!

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A heartfelt thank you to all of you who have bought and read my debut novel, in particular those who have taken time to post the all important reviews. If you haven’t read The Girl on the Beach yet, it is available in all e-book formats on the following link at my publisher’s website Choc Lit

Sp0tlight on Guest Author Clare Chase

My blog guest this week is fellow Choc Lit author Clare Chase.

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Clare writes mysteries set in London and Cambridge featuring crime-solving couples. She fell in love with the capital as a student, living in the rather cushy surroundings of Hampstead in what was then a campus college of London University. (It’s currently being turned into posh flats …)

After graduating in English Literature, she moved to Cambridge and has lived there ever since. She’s fascinated by the city’s contrasts and contradictions, which feed into her writing. She’s worked in diverse settings – from the 800-year-old University to one of the local prisons – and lived everywhere from the house of a Lord to a slug-infested flat. The terrace she now occupies presents a good happy medium.

As well as writing, Clare loves family time, art and architecture, cooking, and of course, reading other people’s books. She lives with her husband and teenage children, and currently works at the Royal Society of Chemistry.

I asked Clare some questions:-

Have you ever undertaken an investigation like your sleuthing characters?

Thankfully, I’ve never been faced with the serious crimes that they have to tackle! However, I am quite an inquisitive person, and I do find there are lots of everyday mysteries that pique my curiosity. If there’s an unexplained dynamic between people that I know, for example, there’s a great temptation to try to find out what the background is. I also love objects that hint at past stories, like the pen and ink drawing in our living room, dedicated to my great, great uncle by the artist Claud Lovat Fraser. I spent some time looking into Fraser’s history; the personal nature of the present made me want to know more.

Even though these are low-key mysteries, they’re the sort of puzzles that spark ideas for the whodunnits that I write. Circumstances can often be developed and embroidered to form the basis of something darker.

You have a degree in English Literature – which is your favourite classic book?

I think it would have to be Charles Dickens’ Bleak House. It’s very moving and full of tragedy, but also crammed with intrigue, hidden connections and evil plots! But what really makes the novel special from my point of view is Dickens’ ability to conjure up such vivid pictures and intense emotions. There are paragraphs in that book that still give me goose bumps, a couple of decades after I first read them.

Do you plan your novels or go with the flow?

I’m a dedicated planner – though I’m filled with admiration for writers like Minette Walters and Donna Leon who just dive in. Before I start I know who my killer is, and I’ve plotted the main twists and turns, and worked out how the denouement might play out. I find if I have those things in place, I can relax and my writing flows, because I know I’m not going to march off down a dead end. Having said all that, things frequently change as I write. The process of getting the words down sparks new ideas, so I don’t let my original plans restrict me.

Do you feel your writing is influenced by the city you live in?

That’s definitely the case for my latest books, A Stranger’s House and One Dark Lie, which are both set in Cambridge, where I live. I find it’s a fascinating backdrop for mystery fiction. It’s a very small city, and the contrasts between people’s circumstances can be stark. You get college choirs singing Elizabethan madrigals by the river, whilst drunks deal drugs on the commons. You also get people rubbing shoulders who wouldn’t normally cross paths. The university employs large numbers of people in all sorts of capacities, from college bedders, who look after the students’ rooms, to professors. This means secrets have the potential to travel quickly and in unexpected directions! Beyond that, it’s a very beautiful, lively and international place, which means there’s lots of interesting local colour to draw on.

My first book, You Think You Know Me, was set in London, where I lived as a student.

Which characteristics do you share with your characters Ruby and Nate?

Ooh, golly – that’s a great question, but a tricky one! Ruby’s much braver and more self-sufficient than I am, to be honest, though people have said they like her mixture of feistiness and vulnerability. I do have a curious streak though, just as she does, and I’m very interested in what makes people tick. Ruby makes her living writing about people and their behaviour, which is a job I think I’d enjoy! Nate has had a lot to deal with, including a past family tragedy, and unfinished business with his enemies. Perhaps because of this, he’s very fond of the situations that make him feel grounded, such as holing up at his Suffolk farmhouse or working a case with Ruby. I think that’s what I share with him: I love some excitement and adventure, but only if the most important things remain solid and dependable!

Nate and Ruby both like music, and also cooking – they love their food and wine – and that’s certainly something I share too!

Thank you, Clare – I’d love to know more about the history of that pen and ink drawing – fascinating!

Clare’s latest novel, One Dark Lie, is out now on all digital platforms.

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One Dark Lie – Blurb

The truth can hurt, and sometimes it leads to murder …

After becoming embroiled in a murder investigation, Nate Bastable and Ruby Fawcett have decided to opt for the quiet life. But crime has a habit of following them around.

When her work dries up, Ruby finds herself accepting a job researching and writing about Diana Patrick-John, a colourful and enigmatic Cambridge academic. Simple enough. But then there’s the small fact that Diana was found dead in suspicious circumstances in her home – the very place where Ruby has now been invited to stay.

As she begins to uncover Diana’s secret life, Ruby’s sleuthing instinct kicks in, leaving her open to danger and retribution. But can she rely on Nate to support her once again? Especially when his behaviour has become increasingly distant and strange, almost as though he had something to hide …

You can find out more and buy a copy here: www.books2read.com/u/mV7XGJ

The previous books in the London and Cambridge mystery series are:

You Think You Know Me (London): www.books2read.com/u/3RBDEp

A Stranger’s House (Cambridge): www.books2read.com/u/mvYLAl

Both are available in paperback and on all digital platforms and can be read as standalone novels.

If you would like to connect with Clare, her links are below

Website and blog: www.clarechase.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ClareChase_

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClareChaseAuthor

Amazon: http://bit.ly/ClareChaseAmazon

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/10204574.Clare_Chase

 

 

Giving Birth to a Book Baby

When I was working towards publication, I used to think it very strange that authors referred to their books as their book babies. Now that I am published I understand…

It is easy to compare the writing and editing phase of writing a novel to being pregnant. You also choose the nursery furniture and baby’s clothes, aka the cover, blurb, title, but I hadn’t anticipated the excitement and also anxiety of publication birth!

As an author, you have built yourself up to this day, done all of the required edits and usually spoken about your book on blogs and even the radio. Can you tell I was at radio Hereford and Worcester today? Interview airs on Thursday 2 March 2017 on the Tammy Gooding show between 2 and 3 pm.

I can’t describe the euphoria of seeing my book cover for The Girl on the Beach finally appear on iBooks, Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Barnes and Noble, Kobo and Google play. All of those months of anticipation and it had happened – I was a published author at last.

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This excitement was immediately followed with anxiety – Would people read my book? Would they like the story and my characters? Would they leave me the all important reviews and would they be good ones?

I found that I was suddenly having to market myself too, with blog posts asking about my past history and how I had come to write this story. Writers tend to spend a lot of time closeted away on their own, so the spotlight has at times been uncomfortable and strange. I’m essentially shy.

Co-incidentally, Jane Lovering, who also writes for Choc Lit, was messaging me this morning about a forthcoming appearance on this blog. Her new book is out on 28 March 2017 and she said, I quote – “I love this lead up to publication! It’s like waiting to give birth, i.e. still all perfect and full of expectations, before the screaming and crying starts.” The co-incidence of her saying that made me feel it was time to write this blog.

As for my book, The Girl on the Beach is now in the school playground and it is very difficult not to check the reviews and ratings to see how it is faring in the wide world. It is still a mystery to me what makes the difference to rankings on different sites. So far, the highlights for my book have been reaching No 2 on Kobo’s Romantic Suspense chart, 25 in their Fiction and Literature chart and 106 on Amazon.co.uk’s Romantic Suspense chart.

I would ask that if any of you have read my book and liked it, please take a moment to post a short review on the site where you bought it, as it seems to make a real difference to buyers.

Another analogy with giving birth in real life, is that as soon as you have shown friends and relatives your new bouncing baby, they ask when he/she will be having a brother/sister. I’m working hard at that in the background, I promise –another book, not another baby! Lol.

 

Returning the Spotlight to Choc Lit Author Kirsty Ferry

Fellow Choc Lit author, Kirsty Ferry joined me for a Spotlight on Guest Author blog on 29 August 2016. Today, she returns with news of a new book – The Girl in the Photograph.

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Kirsty is from the North East of England and won the English Heritage/Belsay Hall National Creative Writing competition in 2009 with the ghostly tale ‘Enchantment’.

Her timeslip novel, ‘Some Veil Did Fall‘, a paranormal romance set in Whitby, was published by Choc Lit in Autumn 2014. This was followed by another Choc Lit timeslip, ‘The Girl in the Painting‘ in February 2016 and ‘The Girl in the Photograph’ in March 2017. The experience of signing ‘Some Veil Did Fall‘ in a quirky bookshop in the midst of Goth Weekend in Whitby, dressed as a recently undead person was one of the highlights of her writing career so far!

Kirsty’s day-job involves sharing a Georgian building with an eclectic collection of ghosts – which can sometimes prove rather interesting.

I asked Kirsty some questions based around the subjects of her books:-

What fascinates you about the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood?

Ooh, what doesn’t fascinate me? I think the thing that drew me to them initially was the whole Gothic incident of Rossetti digging up Lizzie Siddal’s body after she was dead, so he could retrieve a book of poems he’d buried with her. I know that’s a bit ‘urgh’ but you’ve got to admit it’s a good story.

I started to do some research after that on Lizzie and on the PRB, and the more I found out the more my jaw dropped. I did quite a bit of work on Lizzie for my Master’s Degree and if I ever progress to a Doctorate (ha ha) I’ll pick it up again. There’s so many layers to her whole situation, and above all that you have this overriding, quite dangerous passion between her and Rossetti. I was lucky that my tutor was as much of a Lizzie-fiend as I am, so we had some great conversations!

I also love the PRB artwork and the whole rebellious attitude. Rossetti’s pictures weren’t, in my mind, as brilliant as Millais’, but they were still ‘out there’ and must have caused quite a sensation in their day. A wonderful quotation that sticks in my mind is that Rossetti painted ‘pouting, inflated, over-sexed cream puffs’ – and that was from an art critic in 2012, so imagine how these rebellious young men were viewed in Victorian times?

Do you paint yourself?

I do, but I’m not brilliant at it! I like to do watercolours and pencil sketches, and have a love-hate relationship with coloured pencils. I think with me if I can’t write, I’ll draw or bake cakes to channel my creative side. Someone told me I draw like a ten-year-old, but I just happen to like doing sort of fantasy pictures with fairies and Gothic ladies and beautiful dresses.

I have done some really nice pencil sketches of people such as Marilyn Monroe and Louise Brooks, but I have issues with eyes and mouths and have put holes in the paper on too many occasions to be proud of. I lose my temper and attack the drawings with an eraser. My favourite pencil is about 3cm long. I’ll be gutted when it finally sharpens away to nothing…

Have you any art qualifications?

Ha ha – well now. I failed my Art O-level as I was too lazy to go in and stretch the paper for a watercolour. I ended up doing a really awful picture of a vase of flowers…with coloured pencils. My teacher must have despaired of me. She tried so hard to make me achieve what I was capable of. I remember walking back into the classroom to collect my pencil case after the exam as I’d forgotten it and just saw her shaking her head and staring at my picture. Whoops. Someday I will resit it, just out of devilment. I still cringe when I think about it! I also studied a bit of art history in my degree and found it incredibly interesting. I could have branched off and changed my degree to art history, but I stuck with the safer option of Literature.

You mention past lives in your books. Have you ever been regressed?

No, I haven’t! It’s something I’m very interested in, and would love to do it one day – but I’d probably be something really boring like a scullery maid. Or a cave-person. But perhaps that’s better than being someone like Anne Boleyn? I do have a horrible fear of drowning though, and hate even going underwater at the swimming baths. Maybe that’s something residual?

If someone painted a picture of you, what style would you want it to be and why?

Ohhh nice one. I’d go for someone like John Singer Sargent. He did some beautiful portraits, but I think that was also in relation to the beautiful outfits the ladies wore in Edwardian times. I can lose hours in research to get my characters in the correct clothing and particularly enjoyed searching for Lorelei’s outfits as I was writing The Girl in the Photograph.

I think if they could corset me up to make me look about three stone lighter I’d fit right in to those portraits. I love the clothes, I love the style and the Edwardians definitely had the edge in hourglass figures – much better than the twiglets women are supposed to unrealistically aspire to nowadays. I’ve never been a twiglet and I never will be. I happen to like my food too much.

Thank you, Kirsty, for some interesting answers. I look forward to reading your new book The Girl in the Photograph, which has another gorgeous cover. I’ve left it as a large picture, so that people can see the lovely detail.

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THE GIRL IN THE PHOTOGRAPH

What if the past was trying to teach you a lesson?

Staying alone in the shadow of an abandoned manor house in Yorkshire would be madness to some, but art enthusiast Lissy de Luca can’t wait. Lissy has her reasons for seeking isolation, and she wants to study the Staithes Group – an artists’ commune active at the turn of the twentieth century.

Lissy is fascinated by the imposing Sea Scarr Hall – but the deeper she delves, the stranger things get. A lonely figure patrols the cove at night, whilst a hidden painting leads to a chilling realisation. And then there’s the photograph of the girl; so beautiful she could be a mermaid … and so familiar.

As Lissy further immerses herself, she comes to an eerie conclusion: The occupants of Sea Scarr Hall are long gone, but they have a message for her – and they’re going to make sure she gets it.

Thank you for joining me, Kirsty. I hope the book sells really well.

If you would like to buy The Girl in the Painting it is published on 7 March 2017 on all electronic platforms, but available for exclusive pre-order on Kobo for details see Choc Lit

You can find out more about Kirsty and her work at www.rosethornpress.co.uk, catch her on her Facebook Author Page or follow her on Twitter @kirsty_ferry.

Have you any ghostly tales or stories of regression to tell? Please add them in the comments below.