Rachel Walkley's Blog, page 3
February 2, 2019
Blog Tour Day 3 – How do I write?
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Once again I’m off gallivanting around the country, and the world. I’m taking my book, The Last Thing She Said, to The Netherlands, Ohio, where part of the book is set, and Bristol, where I happily lived for several years as a student.
B for Bookreview – a Q&A about how I write!
Book Babble – Review
Do you like to read about free chapters and short stories, or find out more about your favourite author including their work in progress?
Interested? Then sign up for my reader’s club newsletter: Rachel’s Readers and you’ll receive a complementary short story.
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February 1, 2019
Blog Tour Day 2 – the continuing voyages of an author
I’m excited that my book, The Last Thing She Said, has managed to cross not one sea, but two. I’m visiting Europe and America. A big thanks to these book bloggers and reviewers for take the time to review and host my book.
A few chapters of the book are set in the farming communities of Ohio, so I’m intrigued what readers over in the US think of my portrayal of rural life.[image error]
In de Boekenkas – Review
Rev. Rebecca Writes: Read, Write, Pray – Review and Q&A including a question on how to write about playing an musical instrument.
Stardust Book Review – Review
Do you like to read about free chapters and short stories, or find out more about your favourite author including their work in progress?
Interested? Then sign up for my reader’s club newsletter: Rachel’s Readers and you’ll receive a complementary short story.
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January 31, 2019
Blog Tour Day 1. Come meet the book bloggers
I’m excited to be setting out today on a book tour featuring The Last Thing She Said. It’s a seven day amble, taking in book bloggers and reviewers, and I’m delighted they have offered to host me on their websites. A big thank you to everyone helping me promote my new book.
Today I’m visiting …
Trail of Tales – review
The Magic of Wor(l)ds – Featuring a guest post on Magical Realism
I hope you find the time to stop by and join us.
January 21, 2019
December 13, 2018
The Last Thing She Said – who will believe her?
Birthdays are family time. The giving and receiving of presents, a cake maybe, and perhaps a party.
For Rose, a birthday is a day to spend in the company of her granddaughters. She likes cake, especially chocolate cake, and always has one candle on top of it to blow out. What she also does is say something, a few words. The trouble is, they don’t make much sense to her granddaughters. They listen, and forget, or so it might appear. What do you do if your grandmother claims to know the future, hears things that will come true? Each of the three sisters has to decide what to do. What if Rose really does have a gift?
Rose puckered her lips and slowly expelled a stream of air. The diminutive flame flickered for a second then died. Through the threads of smoke that lingered above the birthday cake, Rose’s pale eyes fixed on Naomi. When she spoke, her warbling voice was stretched, but the revelatory words were enunciated clearly.
‘Beware of a man named Frederick and his offer of marriage.’ Rose blinked and gave a small satisfactory nod. ‘Cut a slice for me, love.’
Naomi glanced to her side. Rebecca was poised, holding the fake ivory handle of the cake knife with a white-knuckled grasp.
‘I don’t know anyone called Frederick,’ Naomi whispered into Rebecca’s ear. She’d no plans to marry gaming geek Kyle, or any other man for that matter, at least not until she could see the benefit outshine the exuberant cost and extensive planning needed.
Rebecca pressed the knife through the layer of marble icing. ‘She’s done it. That’s all that matters,’ she said quietly.
‘What’s that?’ Rose cocked an ear towards her granddaughters. Even if Naomi bothered to ask questions, Rose, with a humorous twinkle in her eye, would likely shrug dismissively. Sometimes she claimed it was a spirit that dropped the thought into her head, other times she implied the eruption of a whispering voice was due to the revitalising energy of her birthday. The lack of consistency significantly weakened Rose’s sage advice.
On the other side of the stained kitchen table, Leia removed the plate from Rose’s hand.
‘Here, Gran, let me help you.’ She thrust the plate at Rebecca. ‘Just slice the cake. She’s had her moment.’
Her moment, as Leia put it, was something of a tradition on Rose’s birthday. The sugary-topped sponge, which Rebecca had baked that morning, the solitary pink candle and the customary extinguishing of the flame, were a necessary precursor to the miniature party. Without fail, every year, Rose, with her salt and pepper hair swept back from her face into a bun, leaned toward the candle, and spoke her words of prophecy. The only difference this time was she had said them directly to Naomi instead of to a spot on the far wall.
If you’re intrigued, then head over to Amazon. The Last Thing She Said is now live, available on Kindle and in print. Don’t miss out on finding out a family secret.
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Three Sisters. Three Gifts. One Prophecy
“Beware of a man named Frederick and his offer of marriage.”
Rose’s granddaughters, Rebecca, Leia and Naomi, have never taken her prophecies seriously. But now that Rose is dead, and Naomi has a new man in her life, should they take heed of this mysterious warning?
Naomi needs to master the art of performing. Rebecca rarely ventures out of her house. She’s afraid of what she might see. As for Rebecca’s twin, everyone admires Leia’s giant brain, but now the genius is on the verge of a breakdown.
Rebecca suspects Naomi’s new boyfriend is hiding something. She begs Leia, now living in the US, to investigate.
Leia’s search takes her to a remote farm in Ohio on the trail of the truth behind a tragic death.
Just who is Ethan? And what isn’t he telling Naomi?
In a story full of drama and mystery, the sisters discover there is more that connects them than they realise, and that only together can they discover exactly what’s behind Rose’s prophecy.
The Last Thing She Said
Who will believe her?
(Print and Kindle)
Interested? Then sign up for my reader’s club newsletter: Rachel’s Readers and you’ll receive a complementary short story.
December 10, 2018
Countdown: ready to meet the Liddell sisters?
[image error]Thursday is the big day. Like most authors I’m filled with excitement and trepidation. Will anyone notice it, read it? Like my new book? It’s a voyage into the unknown.
Writing a book is often similar to a journey. You have a bunch of characters whom you pick to take with you, a landscape you’re going to explore with them and a plot that keeps them engaged with each other. Along the way, your characters evolve, the scenery decides to alter and the plot deviates from the original structure. Fortunately, the end point of my book remained the same, I always knew the destination, and there’s nothing more satisfying then having everything reach that point safely.
How does The Last Thing She Said begin? With three sisters – Leia and Rebecca, who are twins, and Naomi, their younger sister. Each woman is on the verge of making a big decision in her life. But first a family tradition …
Every June the first, Naomi’s eldest sister visited their grandmother, insisting whoever was available on the day be towed along to watch Gran blow out a candle on her birthday cake and fall asleep with feigned exhaustion.
‘I’ve baked a cake,’ Rebecca announced over the telephone to Naomi. ‘You’re coming, and we’ll pick up Leia on the way to the house.’
Naomi behaved exactly as Rebecca would expect – like a grumpy teenager impatiently waiting to turn twenty. ‘Oh, God, do we have to take her? You know Leia hates all the mumbo jumbo that Gran spouts. She’d have her in one of those sheltered housing places.’
‘Gran’s not that old. If it wasn’t for Granddad passing away, she’d still be sprightly and full of beans.’
‘And in her right mind. Why do we put up with all this nonsense? Her clairvoyance? This “I can see the future” business?’
‘She doesn’t see it. She hears it,’ Rebecca corrected with infuriating precision. ‘It doesn’t do anyone any harm, so leave her to it.’
‘Harm? No, I suppose not.’ Naomi hung up and closed her bedroom door, blocking out the scrape of bow against string. She’d taken up residence with an ambitious violinist who preferred to practise in the hallway, sandwiched between the front door and the bottom of the stairs, where she claimed the acoustics were good. The budding Nicola Benedetti was in full flight of the bumble bee mode and unlikely to stop practising for a few days due to her impending recital. Naomi preferred the hallowed practice rooms of the university.
A trip to Gran’s cosy house wasn’t a bad idea.
The Last Thing She Said is available on pre-order at Amazon, and will be released on Kindle Unlimited and in print.
“Beware of a man named Frederick and his offer of marriage.”
Rose’s granddaughters, Rebecca, Leia and Naomi, have never taken her prophecies seriously. But now that Rose is dead, and Naomi has a new man in her life, should they take heed of this mysterious warning?
Naomi needs to master the art of performing. Rebecca rarely ventures out of her house. She’s afraid of what she might see. As for Rebecca’s twin, everyone admires Leia’s giant brain, but now the genius is on the verge of a breakdown.
Rebecca suspects Naomi’s new boyfriend is hiding something. She begs Leia, now living in the US, to investigate.
Leia’s search takes her to a remote farm in Ohio on the trail of the truth behind a tragic death.
Just who is Ethan? And what isn’t he telling Naomi?
In a story full of drama and mystery, the sisters discover there is more that connects them than they realise, and that only together can they discover exactly what’s behind Rose’s prophecy.
[image error]Do you like to read about free chapters and short stories, or find out more about your favourite author including their work in progress?
Interested? Then sign up for my reader’s club newsletter: Rachel’s Readers and you’ll receive a complementary short story.
November 21, 2018
Book club questions – what happened at Heachley Hall? #bookclubs
I’m more than delighted, and a little scared, when I find out my book, The Women of Heachley Hall, is featuring at a book club. What do people talk about? Readers are always reviewers, even if they never post anything on a public forum, and as a writer, it is there at the back of my mind, all the time – what is that makes a book a good read?
If you are in a book club, then please consider my book, and if you do, I’d love to hear back from you.
I crafted a few questions I’d like to ask, if I was there. Just food for thought, things that intrigue me about the themes and characters.
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Warning to those who haven’t read it – some spoilers!!!
Would you live in Heachley Hall on your own? What makes somebody tenacious?
Would you have left the house at any time, and if so, when?
Miriam sacrifices her love to free Charles from his curse. What convinces her to do this?
Do people punish themselves too harshly for guilty feelings – is Charles’s guilt justified?
Did you guess the ending? Is Charles a ‘ghost’ or ‘time-traveller’?
How much do the other characters contribute to the book?
Did I make the right decision to tell Charles’s story in a journal or should I have done it differently – ie. In dialogue or interspersed between Miriam’s story?
Considering a pre-emptive strike – do I put readers questions in my next book?
November 14, 2018
Me and my flute
(I originally posted this on my Quietwriter blog four years ago).
I played in a concert last night. No, concert isn’t the right word. Far too grand. A small performance to an even smaller audience. Did it matter? Not really. I enjoyed the coming together with my fellow musicians and hearing all our hard work successfully performed.
Audience size doesn’t matter, one person, a thousand, the true joy is in the preparation and smiles when we make it to the end of the piece without glaring mistakes.
I’m a flautist. Since 8 years old my primary instrument has been the flute. I took the grades, joined concert bands, and other small ensembles though not orchestras. My latest one is a flute choir. With little opportunity to play regularly, the couple of times a month we meet is my musical fix.
I chose the flute because my best friend at the time played one. It was a fortuitous choice I would discover many years later, but at the time it made sense because I was a competent player of the recorder. The transition to flute made easier due to similar fingering patterns.
My enthusiasm increased as I was exposed to more classical music my parents, visiting the Royal Festival Hall for concerts. The flute is a social instrument, so I learnt to cope with nerves and play in school concerts and regional concerts put on by county music schools.
Technically, I could call myself a grand-pupil of James Galway. My first teacher had been a pupil of his and always called him Jimmy. “I’d I seen Jimmy, yet?” she’d asked. I did, when I was about 8 or 9, in Devon on holiday. He came to a Dartington Hall to perform a concert and I sat on the balcony, peering through the wooden railings and it enthralled me. His eyes darted about the room – if you play from memory then there is nowhere to look playing the flute, the instrument is to one side and out of eyesight. I fix on a point or shut my eyes, if I play from my heart.
Later, another teacher would suggest I only bought recordings of his earlier performance ‘before he got really famous’, because they were less flamboyant in nature. I’m not sure what my teacher meant – wasn’t that the point, show off your prowess?
Of course, I’ve learnt that unembellished music is often the best. My preferred flautist is now very different – Guo Yue. A Chinese born flautist, who lives in England. He’s expertise is the bamboo flute and there are no keys, just holes to cover. The music he plays is not western in style, the notes slide, drift into each other, swirling. He provided the musical accompaniment for a Channel 4 documentary on China called Beyond the Clouds. It is haunting, melancholic. Beautiful. He’s also trained to play western flutes and music, but I stick to his origins.
I could never play what he does, I have a Chinese flute, but it is so different, so basic in structure, so difficult to play.
At our concert, we played popular pieces, Irish folk, operatic arias. Our small audience sung along in places. I don’t think they’d have appreciated Chinese flute music. But that is the wonder of music, what I listened to, isn’t necessarily what I enjoy performing, and what inspires me to play is often what I don’t want to actually play myself.
My next book involves three talented sisters, one of whom plays the flute. Will she tackle performing?
November 5, 2018
It’s coming soon…
My next book is in its final stages of editing, and here is the cover!
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Three Sisters. Three Gifts. One Prophecy.
Do you like to read about free chapters and short stories, or find out more about your favourite author including their work in progress?
Interested? Then sign up for my reader’s club newsletter: Rachel’s Readers and you’ll receive a complementary short story.
October 5, 2018
Hidden stories that need unlocking.
There are plenty of things I could tell you, things about my book and what I want to write in the future. However, my novels have secrets that only they can tell. What I can share are short stories that I’ve written. If you would like to read one, and have the opportunity to take part in giveaways and prizes, then sign up for my newsletter. Recipients will receive a ‘key’ to unlock hidden stories on my website.
Newsletter signup – Rachel’s Readers
The first hidden story on offer – Seeing is believing.
[image error]Maggie claimed there were the ghosts of squirrels in Harlton Woods. As we walked amongst the bluebells, I’d point at the squirrels on the branches and she’d tell me which were ghosts and which were alive. According to Maggie even the fox I spied in the hollow of an oak was a ghost. The woods weren’t exactly spooky. Just old trees with knotted branches and moss covered bark. I played along with her; it’s what friends do when they’re innocent and young.
To find out more, join Rachel’s Readers.
