Chris Penhall's Blog, page 3

Pen to Print: Write On interview

I love talking about the books I’ve written – Its great fun to answer questions and chat about the things I’ve learned and continue to learn along the way.

So, thank you to Pen to Print and Write On Magazine for inviting me on to talk about my latest novel, Summer in Your Eyes and answer a few questions about writing

Below is the article and here is the link to it if you’d like to browse the magazine:

https://pentoprint.org/write-on-interviews-author-chris-penhall/

Write On! Interviews: Author Chris Penhall

Write On! Interviews: Author Chris Penhall24 MARCH 2024 NEWS, WRITEON INTERVIEWS

Write On! interviews Author Chris Penhall

Chris Penhall writes uplifting stories in gorgeous places and won the 2019 Choc-Lit Search For A Star competition, sponsored by Your Cat Magazine, for her debut novel, The House That Alice Built. 

Having found her writing mojo, she’s now written six books and is working on another one. 

Chris is an author and freelance radio and podcast producer. 

She produces and presents Books and Tunes for West Wiltshire community radio, and also has her own occasional podcast: The Talking To My Friends About Books Podcast, in which she chats to her friends about books.  

As well as this, she runs a monthly buddy writing meet-up in a local cafe with fellow author, Lizzie Chantree, to encourage people to write. 

She has helped make radio programmes for many years, mostly at BBC Essex, and many, many, many, many years ago at BBC Radio One and Radio Four, was an Associate Producer for the Richard and Judy Book Club Podcast with Jibba Jabba Pods for nine years and has also interviewed authors at Essex Book Festival events. 

A lover of books, music and cats, she’s also an enthusiastic salsa and tap dancer, a keen cook, and loves to travel. She’s never happier than when she is gazing at the sea. 

WO: How would you describe your writing to someone new to it? 

CP:  I write uplifting stories set in gorgeous places, with female characters at their heart. There’s romance, humour, and it only rains for dramatic purposes. 

WO: Can you tell us a bit about your latest book Summer In Your Eyes?  

CP: Summer In Your Eyes tells the story of travel blogger Holly Merriweather, who is relocating to London following the break-up of her relationship with her childhood sweetheart and the failure of the business they started together. She’s thrilled to land a job with an iconic travel book company and is hoping for sunsets in Marrakech, cocktails on the French Riviera and gondola rides through the Venetian canals.

She’s finally decided to put herself and her career first, and enjoy living in her favourite city, which feels like a giant film set to film fan Holly.

But of course her new boss Jack is drop-dead gorgeous. And, it turns out, the job is less glamorous sightseeing and more crumbling offices and a struggling family business, rocked by the death of their larger-than-life founder. As she struggles to keep things strictly professional with Jack, they begin working together to ensure the company’s legacy and uncover a local mystery.  

WO: What inspired you to write in the first place, and what inspires you now?

CP:  I always wanted to be a writer. But, when I was young, I thought it was something other people did. As an adult, I dabbled in writing, but had loads of excuses to hand about why I didn’t do more. Although, actually, life was quite busy, and it wasn’t easy to find the time. My move to Cascais in Portugal many years ago proved to the be the catalyst; I was so inspired by the place I began to write. What I wrote when I was there was not good at all, but I now realise I was just practising.

Then, when we moved back to the UK, my commitments grew. So I dabbled in writing off and on until I started working on The House That Alice Built, which eventually won the Choc Lit Search for a Star Competition in 2019. So, I suppose what inspired me to write at the start was being in a different environment and, ever since, I have, in my imagination and through my books escaped, whether it be to Portugal, Wales or London. As far as the plots are concerned, I get ideas from hearing things and seeing things and just generally somehow hoovering up information, feelings and all sorts without realising until a fully formed idea comes out!

It was a bit like that with Summer In Your Eyes. It’s based in London, and I wanted London to be a sort of character in the book, but I wasn’t sure how I could do that – it’s entirely different to the coastlines of Portugal and Wales, where my other novels are set. So, given I love films and when I often wander around London, I think about the movies I’ve seen and where they were filmed, I thought: I know – Holly Merriweather will love movies, so the city sort of became a filmic backdrop for her. At the heart of the story, is a little square with struggling shops, a café and a mysterious building that may or may not hold the key to helping the people around it. That idea came about because of the issues many small businesses are having and, of course, in cities such as London there are a lot of old buildings amongst the new, and they all have their stories.

WO: The current issue of Write On! explores the theme of ‘Beginnings And Endings’. With that in mind, what do you find easier to write, the beginning or the end? And do you always write the beginning first and the ending last? 

CP: That’s an excellent question and I wish I could give you a straightforward response… 

I know how I want the book to start, but finding the right words is not easy – not for me, anyway. Before I start writing, I’ll have an idea of how my main character is feeling and where they are, as well as an idea of their story arc, but thinking of the wording in order to catch a reader’s attention to make them want to follow the character takes me a while. I’d love to write something as evocative as ‘Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again,’ or ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.’ Those words conjure up so much, and once you’ve read Rebecca and A Tale Of Two Cities, you realise how masterful they are. I’m sure we all have our favourite first lines and, I think, being able to create that kind of feeling in so few words is something for me to aim for. 

Sometimes, I’ll write the beginning and, once I’ve finished the book, I realise it needs something ‘before’ that beginning. As for the endings, sometimes I’ll write the end when I’m in the middle of the book, so I know where I have to get to, and won’t rush the last few chapters. 

However, this is all subject to change. The book is only finished when the very final version is sent to the publisher! 

WO: What one piece of advice would you give an aspiring writer? 

CP:  The main one is just to start writing. Whether it be a line, a paragraph, or a whole chapter – as long as you’ve written some words, you’ve got something to work with. Once you can see those words on a screen, or on paper, give yourself a pat on the back. You’re on your way! 

WO: Question from social media: @Grasshopper2407 “What advice would you give to other authors interested in starting a podcast?” 

CP:  I started my own occasional podcast, Talking To My Friends About Books, because during the lockdowns I missed talking to my friends about books! I arranged the interviews, recorded them at home, and uploaded them. I’ve been a radio and podcast producer for years, so am used to working with audio, and I may be simplifying it, but there is a lot of easy-to-use tech out there, and free platforms you can upload your podcast to if you don’t want to pay. They keep changing, but I use Zoom to record on, Audacity to edit with and, currently, Anchor for Spotify. 

My mindset is generally – unless it is long-distance running, mountaineering or caving (and a long list of other things I can’t or won’t do) – if you want to do something, why not? Just do your research, then find a way to do it. 

I’ve now got a radio show on community radio called Books And Tunes With Chris Penhall, so as far as I’m concerned, everything you do builds up your portfolio and brings other opportunities. 

WO: Can you tell us anything about future projects? 

CP: My fourth book in the Portuguese Paradise series is being published by Choc Lit/Joffe this year, so I’m waiting for the edits to come in for that and I’ve started working on another London-based novel.  

WO: Lastly, if you could choose one fictional animal/creature to be a pet or companion, who would it be and why? 

CP: I’m going to give you two answers, because one isn’t in a book, it’s in a film and I couldn’t have them as an actual pet, but… that first one is the turtle in Finding Nemo. The reason being that I had a pet tortoise called Leslie when I was little and I loved him very much, which means I am a lifelong fan of tortoises, terrapins and turtles. I’ve been lucky enough to visit Barbados on a couple of occasions and I did the usual snorkelling trip to spot turtles, but, better than that, I used to walk along the beach and watch turtles just float in the waves really close to the shore. And to me, they were probably just bobbing around saying, ‘Dude….’ just like in Finding Nemo. (I never said my level of maturity matched my age!)

Apart from that, I love cats. So, Mog, maybe, as a fictional companion to my actual cat. 

You can find out more about Chris Penhall here chrispenhall.co.uk and connect with them via X: @ChrisPenhall, Instagram: @christinepenhall and on Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisPenhallWriter

Summer In Your Eyes is available in e-book, paperback and audio from geni.us/summer-eyes-fbt and you can order the paperback from retailers including Foyles, Waterstones and Blackwells. 

*****

Issue 19 of Write On! is out now and you can read it online here. Find it in libraries and other outlets. You can find previous editions of our magazines here. 

You can hear great new ideas, creative work and writing tips on Write On! Audio. Find us on all major podcast platforms, including Apple and Google Podcasts and Spotify. Type Pen to Print into your browser and look for our logo, or find us on Podcasters.Spotify.com.

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Books and Tunes radio show – author Lizzie Chantree and Peter Dixon of the Bumbling Book Club

I’ve got a new community radio show about books!

In the first edition, I chat to author Lizzie Chantree and Peter Dixon of the Bumbling Book Club.

Click here to listen https://westwiltsradio.com/shows/books-and-tunes-episode-1-250124/

 

 

 

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Write On Magazine – Finding Your Voice

I enjoy learning new things, and even though I’ve now had five books published, one more written, and the first few hundred words of another story already on paper, I’m still finding out how to write. It’s part of the fun to be honest. And now I look back over the past few years, I’ve realised that finding my author’s voice, far from set from the start, is constantly evolving, so I’ve written something about it for Pen to Print.

Just click on the link to read

https://pentoprint.org/write-on-features-finding-your-voice-chris-penhall/

 

Write On! Features: Finding Your Voice by Chris Penhall

 

 

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Chris Penhall’s Author Top Tips – writing what you see through the eyes of your characters

I’m a great one for learning new things – I have recently taken up watercolour painting, for example, thoroughly enjoy my tap dancing classes and even after many, many years of salsa dancing, still have lessons. Every day is a school day, even if I think I know what I’m doing – sometimes I realise I don’t, and sometimes I realise I can improve.

That’s how it is with my writing. I’m always reading, always thinking of ways to get better, and that means I often think back to how and why I have written certain things in certain ways.

So, in the first of my ad-hoc series – Chris Penhall’s Author Top Tips, I’ve been thinking about my first novel, The House That Alice Built. It is set in Cascais near Lisbon in Portugal, where I lived for a few years a long time ago. It made a huge impression on me and I can conjur it up in my mind whenever I need to.

But…when I started writing my book, I couldn’t describe it how I see it. I had to see it through my leading lady’s eyes. Alice Dorothy Matthews is running away and not dealing with anything, which is how she finds herself in Cascais for a holiday in the first place. She was a talented artist but has not only lost that part of herself in order to get a good job to pay the mortgage, she has lost her confidence.

But Cascais is vibrant and colourful and inspirational.  So, when I look at this photograph I see:

A beautiful iconic scene represented in many an Instagram post, and one very familiar to me at a particular time in my life – I see the blue sky, the sea that changed colour as it ebbed under the sone bridge I took the photo from the red striped lighthouse…and I hear people laughing and chatting, peacocks calling from the park on the other side of the road that you can’t see..I can smell pine and wild herbs and – would you believe – coconut oil oozing from sunbathers in the summer….

But that’s not what Alice sees – she paints and she photographs and she sees how the colours change as the light moves, the patterns the breeze makes on the water….the green algae clinging onto the rocks below, and she thinks about how she would bring that to life with watercolours….

So, what do your characters see? If you fancy trying it, here’s a little exercise:

Write a paragraph about

what you see

What 72 year old ex-waitress Lulu would see when she thinks about meeting Filipe when she was a 22 year old backpacker, and their first encounter on that bridge

What 32 year old cyclist Jerzy would see as he paused to drink some water there in the middle of a training run

What 40 year old wild swimmer Jolene sees a few days after she has broken her foot, so she can’t go in the water anytime soon.

How different are they, and how does that description give a hint as to their character…

And now try the same thing with this photograph  taken  in  Barbados

 

 

 

And then, take a couple of your characters, chose a photograph and try the same thing

That’s the first top tip. I’ll be posting some more soon

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Summer in Your Eyes playlist

I love music and have it on in the background when I’m writing – that’s if I’m not out in a coffee shop enjoying the ‘coffee shop ambient noise’ which also helps me to put words on paper.

In my novels, I often use music to punctuate some of the scenes, just was it does in our day to day lives. And in Summer in Your Eyes, it was a crucial part of the action for many reasons. One of which was that the parents of my main character, Holly Merriweather,  are fans of 80s music and enjoy going off to 80’s weekenders, another of which is that one of the other characters, Caleb, owns a record shop in a street close to where Holly lives, and there are other reasons too, but I don’t want to give away the plot.

Holly is also something of a film buff, and I’ve included some  songs from a few of the films she likes.

So, I’ve added a playlist to Spotify of some of the songs that I mention in the book, or were the soundtrack to my writing of it. And here they are….

Bright Side of the Road – Van Morrison

Dance the Night – Dua Lipa

Daylight – Harry Styles

Do Anything You Wanna Do – Eddie & The Hot Rods

Don’t Turn Around – Aswad

Do You Really Want to Hurt Me – Culture Club

Heaven – Niall Horan

How Can You Mend a Broken Heart – Al Green

I’m Every Woman – Chaka Khan

London is the Place For Me – D-Lime Tobago Crusoe

The Relfex – Duran Duran

Seven Seas – Echo and The Bunnymen

Waterloo Sunset – The Kinks

 

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Author Claire Buss chats on The Talking To My Friends About Books Podcast

In the latest episode of The Talking to my Friends About Books Podcast I chat to author Claire Buss about her books and her poetry.

https://d3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net/production/exports/ba7b6b04/78231986/0903be4e6b333af59a8af2097b272cfa.m4a

About Claire:

Claire Buss is an award-winning multi-genre author and poet. She wanted to be Lois Lane when she grew up but work experience at her local paper was eye-opening. Instead, Claire went on to work in a variety of marketing and administrative roles for over a decade but never felt quite at home. An avid reader, baker and expert procrastinator Claire won second place in the Barking and Dagenham Pen to Print writing competition in 2015 with her debut novel, The Gaia Effect, setting her writing career in motion. Since then, Claire has published nineteen novels and poetry collections and had her short fiction published in six anthologies. The Gaia Effect won the Uncaged Book Reviews Raven Award for Favourite Sci-Fi/Fantasy novel in 2017 and the first book in her humorous fantasy series, The Rose Thief, won in 2019. Working with Pen to Print, Claire delivers regular Book Surgeries offering marketing help and advice to new and established authors. In 2019 Claire was part of the original team involved in creating and establishing Write On! Magazine and continues to support, work and promote the magazine in her role as Deputy Editor, a different kind of Lois who champions new writers and helps them share their creativity. Claire continues to write passionately and is hopelessly addicted to making the perfect vegan cake.You can follow her across social media linktr.ee/clairebuss and visit her website www.clairebuss.co.uk  for more information about Claire and her writing. All her books are available in eBook and paperback on Amazon at tinyurl.com/ClaireBussBooks

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The Talking to My Friends About Books Podcast – Sci-Fi author, Anka Troitsky

I love chatting to people about books, hence the clever title of my occasional podcast, The Talking to My Friends About Books Podcast.

And for this one it is sci-fi author, Anka B Troitsky, who I first met many years ago when we began dancing salsa at the same time. ‘Back in the day’ as I like to call it, we didn’t really discuss the fact that we were both aspiring novelists. And then we lost touch. Fast forward about 15 years, and a familiar face turned up at the Buddy Writing group I run in Chelmsford with fellow author, Lizzie Chantree, and it was only then, that Anka Troitsky and myself discovered that we had both nurtured, all those years ago, the same dream – to write books!

And so far, Anka has had three published – Object and Vist, Construct and Vist, and Vist and Proper Ganda. So, I invited her on to the podcast for a chat about writing and all that kind of thing

Click on the link to listenhttps://d3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net/production/exports/ba7b6b04/78066397/fa0e2aac0d09ccc838e218cf8d9cc895.m4a

The podcast is also available on Spotify

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The Talking to my Friends about Books Podcast: the What the Pho Travel podcast

As the main character of my new novel, Summer in Your Eyes is lapsed travel writer and blogger Holly Merriweather, I thought i’d ask some actual travel podcasters onto my occasional podcast cleverly entitled The Talking to My friends about Books podcast…Amy and Nick Thomson are co-creators of the What the Pho Travel Podcast

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/christine-penhall/episodes/Travel-podcasters—Amy-and-Nick-Thomson-from-What-The-Pho-Travel-Podcast-e28fdk6/a-a58kovAs?fbclid=IwAR0LHt6ohsGXuDUWrfhS5nEvsEGLokyBG0xqf_EjFvcJNgB11K7avUUz-XA

You can find out more about them here: https://whatthephotravelpodcast.co.uk/

 

Summer in Your Eyes

 

Sometimes life’s greatest adventures are found closest to home . . .

Travel writer Holly Merriweather knows a fresh start is just what she needs to get her life back on track.

Breaking up with her childhood sweetheart and the collapse of their artisan cheese business definitely  didn’t help  in  that  department.
So Holly’s thrilled to score her dream job at an iconic travel book publisher. She’s ready for sunsets in Marrakech, cocktails on the French Riviera and gondola rides through the Venetian canals.

And she’s had enough of men. She’s putting herself and her career first.

But of course her new boss Jack is drop-dead gorgeous. And it turns out the job is less glamourous sightseeing and more . . . crumbling offices and a struggling family business, rocked by the death of their larger-than-life founder.

She struggles to keep things strictly professional with Jack. They begin working together to ensure the company’s legacy and uncover a local mystery. Perhaps this summer she’s heading towards the most exciting chapter of her life . . .

 

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Notes from an Urban Rambler (Ambler)

Notes from an Urban Rambler (Ambler): Incorporating Food Stops into Ambling Posted on June 27, 2016 by chrispenhall

 

As a committed ambler I have learned over the years to pace myself properly in order to fully enjoy my surroundings. You can’t amble along a promenade, to a beach or around a town quickly or to a set time:  that would be called walking somewhere and it’s different. The amble by its very definition does not have to have an actual firm destination, usually fizzling out in a café or bar en-route. Although it isn’t really en-route as you are not actually going anywhere. You are ambling.

Food and drink stops are very important, not only to eat and drink, but also to take photos of what you are eating and drinking. It’s the same as ramblers taking photos of panoramic views from the tops of mountains and such.

Lagos in Portugal’s Algarve has many pit-stops to keep my energy up that I have spent a lot of time researching over many years (eating and drinking.  Someone had to do it.) One of my favourites is Bahia Beach Bar on Meia Praia where I indulge in the tapas for two: the lovely thing about this particular tapas for two is that it’s a surprise. You don’t know what’s going to be in it until it arrives piled high on the plate, and as you enjoy maybe Crab, Lobster, chorizo, King Prawns or meat balls you uncover another delicious delight hidden underneath. Oh, just sitting there grazing, listening to the sea and smiling at the sun is one of life’s great simple pleasures and squeaking “I have found squid under these carrots. Fabulous!” I am quite easily pleased, has to be said.

Then when you’ve finally and reluctantly finished difficult decisions have to be made. Do you

Have another drinkMove from the table to the bean bags and have another drinkWalk onto the beach and sit downSlowly amble back towards Lagos and sit down and have drink somewhere else. Or an ice cream.

I never know. An ambler lives in the moment.

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To Have and To Hold by Carol Nightingale

My friend, Carol Nightingale has just achieved a long-held ambition to write and publish a book, which is the first of many, I’m sure. It’s a psychological thriller called To Have and To Hold.

We used to talk about books all the time when we got together, so I thought I’d continue that by inviting her onto my blog and asking a few searching questions……

Tell us about the book.

It’s a psychological drama, not a romance as the title might suggest, and recounts Beth’s story – starting from her fairytale wedding to what eventually turns out to be nothing of the sort. Without giving too much away, Adam is a complex character and as the story unfolds, a character from the past reappears, leading Beth to reflect on her marriage.  

Where did you get the idea from?

The idea came from an interest in the subject matter and an acquaintance with someone who had faced a similar situation in their relationship. The dilemma this person found themselves in led me to research why someone would behave in this way. I read widely about the subject, including recent changes in the law to support women (and men) who face this situation.

Adam is a very interesting and dangerous character – how did you build him into what he became?

His character needed to grow as the story unfolded. I knew exactly how I wanted him to present him from the outset – a handsome, almost too-perfect catch – with an air of mystery about him. As the story developed and his troubling characteristics became more challenging, I knew that his actions needed to become more dangerous, leading the reader to wonder exactly what he was capable of.  I then felt the need to offer some sort of explanation as to what might have led him to behave in this way, which I hope offers readers a chance to reflect on his character. I have to say, building Adam’s character was the most challenging yet enjoyable aspect of the book.

For how long have you wanted to write?

It’s been a lifelong ambition to write a book. I’ve always loved books – both reading and writing. I still have stories I wrote as a child, including a 50-page handwritten, illustrated book entitled ‘A Term at St Joan’s’ inspired by Enid Blyton’s Mallory Towers! As I progressed through two diverse careers, in banking and teaching, whilst raising my two daughters, it was always in the back of my mind that one day I might have the time and inspiration to put pen to paper. Since retiring two years ago, I have been able to achieve my ambition.

What motivated you to put pen to paper for this novel?

This wasn’t the original plan – I have an amazing story within my family that really needs to be written, but I soon came to realise that whatever you write about, it needs to be thoroughly researched and I felt that I didn’t have the depth of knowledge to write about the past. This idea came from an encounter with someone who was facing a similar situation as one of the characters (not Beth or Adam!) I don’t know how the story unfolded in real-life, so all events in the book are totally fictitious, based purely on wider reading of the subject matter.  

How did it feel when it was published?

I can’t explain how delighted I was when I received my proof copy! It didn’t seem possible that my dream had finally come true. Once people started to read and review it positively, I felt that it had all been worth it.

Have you got anything new in the pipeline?

I’ve just completed a small project that I’ve been working on alongside writing my novel – ‘In the Kitchen with Nana’. It’s a 30-page book filled with kitchen ideas and recipes for toddlers up to the age of 3. It came about because I’ve been baking on a weekly basis with my granddaughter, Lily, since she could stand on a chair!

Now that’s completed, my next project will be my second novel. I have decided upon the title and the story outline, and can’t wait to begin!

About To Have and To Hold

“I take you, Beth, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward…” In an effort to erase painful memories of the past, Beth believes the answer lies in marriage – traditional and wholesome – with the prospect of a loving relationship and a happy home, just like her own parents. But dreams rarely come true, as Beth is about to find out. The past catches up with us whether we like it or not, no matter how hard we try to hide from it. Often it brings happiness and joyful memories, but sometimes it casts dark shadows that linger on…

Buying Links

Available on Amazon – ebook and paperback https://amzn.eu/d/8TYWVmI

 About the author

Born in Staffordshire, Carol began her first career in the world of banking after graduating from Leeds University with a degree in Modern Languages. Whilst raising her two daughters, following a move to rural Somerset, she completed a further degree in English Language, and by the age of 40, embarked on her second career teaching English. Teaching children and encouraging them to not only love books, but to find pleasure in both reading and writing gave her immense satisfaction. During her 20-year career as head of English, she inspired children to write poetry and short stories which went on to win national competitions. Since retiring two years ago, she has had the time and inspiration to fulfil a lifelong ambition to write her own novel, alongside working as a freelance proofreader and copy editor.

A lover of books, cookery and cake making, Carol plans to continue her writing with subsequent novels of a similar genre. She intends to seek inspiration from her regular travels abroad and to the Dorset coastline, and from her family and friends – especially her partner – Mike, daughters – Charlotte and Laura, granddaughters – Lily and Martha, and her Mum – Patricia, all of whom offer constant encouragement and support.

To Have and To Hold is Carol’s first book.

To follow what Carol’s doing, visit

Facebook – Carol Nightingale Author https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?...

 

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