Susan Buchanan's Blog, page 16
November 19, 2013
Carol's Christmas by N E David - Book Review
Morning!
I know, I know, it's a bit early for a Christmas book, but well, Christmas books are coming out earlier and earlier each year (except mine!) You may recall I reviewed N E David's Feria last year, which was a humorous, charming novella, set in Spain, which I adored.
How could I resist a Christmas book by the same author? Well, short answer is, I couldn't!
It's Christmas Eve and in Acacia Avenue the lights are on, big style - flashing lights on every house - except at number 26 where Brian sits in darkness waiting for his daughter Carol to come home. This will be the first christmas they will have spent together since Edna died...
My review:-
I'd read and enjoyed N E David's novella, Feria, so I was keen to read Carol's Christmas, as I am a big fan of Christmas books. There must be thousands of people like Carol, who dreads going home for Christmas, but feels it's her duty, especially as she's an only child. Nothing seems to have changed in the house. Her father tries to retain the traditions they previously had, but Carol feels irritated by the very specific schedule her father has set. Irritation on Carol's part at being there, and an awkwardness in communicating with each other seems to be a key facet of the novel. I can say that as I wrote this review, I noticed the cover again and it is very appropriate, pertaining to a lovely scene late in the novel - look out for it!
Carol's father, Brian, will be recognised the world over by those who know a widower, who had been married to a domineering wife; no get-up-and-go, chooses not to socialise, makes little effort. It's no wonder his daughter isn't looking forward to spending Christmas with him. Carol's Christmas is a journey of a father and daughter trying to understand each other and find some common ground. Crossed wires make for entertaining reading. All in all, a heartwarming little novella, an easy read and worth the hour or so of your time.
You can stay abreast of what Nick is up to on Twitter @nedavidauthor
or on his website, where you can also get print copies of his books - http://www.nedavid.com
the ebook can be purchased via Amazon - http://amzn.to/19qReME
And keep an eye out for Nick's new book, Birds of the Nile: An Egyptian Adventure - it couldn't be more different from Carol's Christmas if it tried. I'm lucky enough to have received a paperback copy, so look out for my review early next year. Since I've been to Egypt, I am intrigued!
Tune in tomorrow, when I will be showcasing my first ever book trailer on the blog - that of An Unlikely Goddess by Mohana Rajakumar
I know, I know, it's a bit early for a Christmas book, but well, Christmas books are coming out earlier and earlier each year (except mine!) You may recall I reviewed N E David's Feria last year, which was a humorous, charming novella, set in Spain, which I adored.
How could I resist a Christmas book by the same author? Well, short answer is, I couldn't!
It's Christmas Eve and in Acacia Avenue the lights are on, big style - flashing lights on every house - except at number 26 where Brian sits in darkness waiting for his daughter Carol to come home. This will be the first christmas they will have spent together since Edna died... My review:-
I'd read and enjoyed N E David's novella, Feria, so I was keen to read Carol's Christmas, as I am a big fan of Christmas books. There must be thousands of people like Carol, who dreads going home for Christmas, but feels it's her duty, especially as she's an only child. Nothing seems to have changed in the house. Her father tries to retain the traditions they previously had, but Carol feels irritated by the very specific schedule her father has set. Irritation on Carol's part at being there, and an awkwardness in communicating with each other seems to be a key facet of the novel. I can say that as I wrote this review, I noticed the cover again and it is very appropriate, pertaining to a lovely scene late in the novel - look out for it!
Carol's father, Brian, will be recognised the world over by those who know a widower, who had been married to a domineering wife; no get-up-and-go, chooses not to socialise, makes little effort. It's no wonder his daughter isn't looking forward to spending Christmas with him. Carol's Christmas is a journey of a father and daughter trying to understand each other and find some common ground. Crossed wires make for entertaining reading. All in all, a heartwarming little novella, an easy read and worth the hour or so of your time.
You can stay abreast of what Nick is up to on Twitter @nedavidauthor
or on his website, where you can also get print copies of his books - http://www.nedavid.com
the ebook can be purchased via Amazon - http://amzn.to/19qReME
And keep an eye out for Nick's new book, Birds of the Nile: An Egyptian Adventure - it couldn't be more different from Carol's Christmas if it tried. I'm lucky enough to have received a paperback copy, so look out for my review early next year. Since I've been to Egypt, I am intrigued!
Tune in tomorrow, when I will be showcasing my first ever book trailer on the blog - that of An Unlikely Goddess by Mohana Rajakumar
November 18, 2013
Cover Reveal - The Christmas Spirit
Happy Monday!
Now, you may have noticed I've been very excited about this cover over the past few weeks and I think with good reason. It's very difficult to convey to someone who hasn't read the book (as you haven't finished writing it yet!) what the book is about, so for Brad Covey, designer extraordinaire - www.bradcovey.com to come up with such a cracking cover is a veritable feat.
My only stipulation was I wanted something which was in keeping with the covers of the previous two books, and this will continue to be the case. I wanted a tree, presents and maybe red, white and green. The rest I told Brad was a blank canvas. I didn't even indicate a colour for the cover.
Anyway, ta da, here's what he came up with and I LOVE it!
I hope you do, too. In less than 2 weeks it will be hitting the virtual shelves. I can't wait!
Isn't it amazing? I can say that, 'cos I didn't make it!
But it is!
Compare it just for interest's sake with the first two - I love the theme he has built.
Well, that's it for now. I better go and write the blurb for The Christmas Spirit for next week's post!
Tune in tomorrow for a book review of a Christmas novella - just to get you in the mood. Have you started your Christmas shopping yet?!
Have a good week
Sooz
Now, you may have noticed I've been very excited about this cover over the past few weeks and I think with good reason. It's very difficult to convey to someone who hasn't read the book (as you haven't finished writing it yet!) what the book is about, so for Brad Covey, designer extraordinaire - www.bradcovey.com to come up with such a cracking cover is a veritable feat.
My only stipulation was I wanted something which was in keeping with the covers of the previous two books, and this will continue to be the case. I wanted a tree, presents and maybe red, white and green. The rest I told Brad was a blank canvas. I didn't even indicate a colour for the cover.
Anyway, ta da, here's what he came up with and I LOVE it!
I hope you do, too. In less than 2 weeks it will be hitting the virtual shelves. I can't wait!
Isn't it amazing? I can say that, 'cos I didn't make it!
But it is!
Compare it just for interest's sake with the first two - I love the theme he has built.
Well, that's it for now. I better go and write the blurb for The Christmas Spirit for next week's post!Tune in tomorrow for a book review of a Christmas novella - just to get you in the mood. Have you started your Christmas shopping yet?!
Have a good week
Sooz
November 16, 2013
EReader News Today features The Dating Game - today at 99 cents!
Here's the link and a few other good deals are on here, too and a couple of freebies!
http://ereadernewstoday.com/more-kindle-deals-for-11-16-13/6736975/
Tune in on Monday for my big cover reveal of The Christmas Spirit!
http://ereadernewstoday.com/more-kindle-deals-for-11-16-13/6736975/
Tune in on Monday for my big cover reveal of The Christmas Spirit!
November 15, 2013
Book Review - Breaking the Rules by Cat Lavoie
It's back - the regular book review. And about time too. It's the only excuse I get to read. Otherwise I am writing, working, doing housework (bleurgh), so I need a reason to read (aka excuse)
I liked the cover of Breaking The Rules and came across Canadian author Cat Lavoie via Facebook. There's a lot to be said for social media!
But, I have a treat in store for you, this is not any book review, oh no, this is a double whammy! Cat has just released a new book, on my To Read list (the small matter of finishing my own book got in the way of reading it since its release) so you get two lowdowns instead of one.
Here's a wee bit about Breaking The Rules
When twenty-seven year old Roxy Rule’s best friend and roommate accepts a glamorous new job overseas, she expects their relationship to continue as it’s always been—carefree and easy—until they share a heart-stopping kiss moments before his departure. Overcome with mixed emotions, she fights the urge to over analyze the situation and resumes back to her normal life in New York City, working for an intolerable boss at a dead end job, creeping further and further away from her own dreams of becoming a professional chef.
While things become more complicated between her and Ollie, Roxy is sure that nothing can come between two lifelong best friends—not even mild jealousy over a thriving career or a silly little kiss that meant nothing. In fact, it was such a meaningless and forgettable kiss that she convinces herself that it’s not even worth mentioning to her fiancé, although it is all she can think about.
Roxy’s already topsy-turvy life only gets more complicated when her sisters Steffi and Izzie suddenly become her roommates. Steffi is six months into a pregnancy she refuses to discuss and Izzie is in the throes of a premature midlife crisis. Roxy tries to take control of her career, her love life and her sisters – but can she really handle it all? And can the Rule family keep it together – or break under the pressure?
Author Cat Lavoie
Sooz's Review
BRIDGET JONES MEETS SHOPAHOLIC
I loved this book and found it very refreshing. Characters were well-rounded and I loved the dynamic between the three sisters and found it completely believable. The bossy older sister, the ditzy younger sister and then Roxy, the middle one and protagonist. Any girl having a male best friend and a fiancé is asking for trouble and Roxy certainly seems to bear this theory out. Each of the sisters has secrets. Roxy's indiscretion with a celeb and prospects of career progression looking as if they were going down the pan were favourite parts of the novel for me. But Ollie, Roxy's best friend, who couldn't love Ollie, and of course, the novel wouldn't be complete without a superbitch of a girlfriend, who hated his female best friend, would it?! The friends are parted in quite an extreme way and the bitch girlfriend does her best to keep them even further apart, but whose fault is it really and why? The drunken phone call made my day, as who hasn't done it and regretted it next morning. The twist in the tale re the child's father I hadn't seen coming either.
Naturally Roxy's financial adviser fiancé got the thumbs down from me for his controlling and patronising behaviour.
The hands-on, overbearing, anxious parents whom everyone was hiding secrets from and physically hiding from (in Roxy's apartment) had me in stitches. Imagine your parents turning up at 2am!
A well-written, wonderfully funny chicklit novel. Cat Lavoie's new novel, Zoey And The Moment Of Zen is just out and I will definitely be buying it. A new name on the chicklit scene and one to watch. An easy 5 stars from me.
So, now we move on to Cat's new release, Zoey and the Moment of Zen
Don't you just want to be spirited away there now?!!
Here's the blurb!
When coffee shop owner Zoey Everwood takes her obsession with ex-boyfriend Braden too far, everyone—except Zoey—is convinced a bit of fun in the sun at the Moment of Zen Wellness Resort will help her get over him once and for all.But Zoey's relaxing vacation turns out to be anything but peaceful when she meets Shane Lawson, a resort guest who bears a striking resemblance to Braden. And things get even more complicated when the resort's owner starts spilling secrets about Zoey’s aunt Nessa, the woman who raised her. Add a snarky Wellness Coordinator and Nate Holmes—Shane's grumpy friend—to the mix, and you've got the recipe for a perfect tropical storm.When Zoey comes back home with a new husband instead of tacky souvenirs, she must convince everyone she hasn't completely lost her mind. As Zoey and Shane struggle to keep the magic alive outside the resort, Zoey discovers that she isn't the only one having trouble letting go of the past. And when Nate drops a bombshell that changes everything, Zoey must decide if the old saying is true—what happens at the Moment of Zen stays at the Moment of Zen. Well, it sounds good to me. You can buy a copy of Cat's books via the links below:- BREAKING THE RULES
Amazon Kindle: http://amzn.to/11omrMHAmazon UK Kindle: http://amzn.to/18hxKiTAmazon Canada Kindle: http://amzn.to/186kL2q ZOEY & THE MOMENT OF ZENAmazon Kindle: http://amzn.to/Has3aUAmazon UK Kindle: http://amzn.to/17IxqVaAmazon Canada Kindle: http://amzn.to/1gERZLz CONNECT WITH CAT:Website: http://www.CatLavoie.comFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/CatLavoieAuthorTwitter: http://www.twitter.com/Catenabi Tune in on Monday for the big COVER REVEAL - yep, I'll be revealing The Christmas Spirit's cover and to steal an American phrase, it's awesome! Brad Covey, my cover designer, is a genius! Don't miss it!
I liked the cover of Breaking The Rules and came across Canadian author Cat Lavoie via Facebook. There's a lot to be said for social media!
But, I have a treat in store for you, this is not any book review, oh no, this is a double whammy! Cat has just released a new book, on my To Read list (the small matter of finishing my own book got in the way of reading it since its release) so you get two lowdowns instead of one.
Here's a wee bit about Breaking The Rules
When twenty-seven year old Roxy Rule’s best friend and roommate accepts a glamorous new job overseas, she expects their relationship to continue as it’s always been—carefree and easy—until they share a heart-stopping kiss moments before his departure. Overcome with mixed emotions, she fights the urge to over analyze the situation and resumes back to her normal life in New York City, working for an intolerable boss at a dead end job, creeping further and further away from her own dreams of becoming a professional chef.
While things become more complicated between her and Ollie, Roxy is sure that nothing can come between two lifelong best friends—not even mild jealousy over a thriving career or a silly little kiss that meant nothing. In fact, it was such a meaningless and forgettable kiss that she convinces herself that it’s not even worth mentioning to her fiancé, although it is all she can think about.
Roxy’s already topsy-turvy life only gets more complicated when her sisters Steffi and Izzie suddenly become her roommates. Steffi is six months into a pregnancy she refuses to discuss and Izzie is in the throes of a premature midlife crisis. Roxy tries to take control of her career, her love life and her sisters – but can she really handle it all? And can the Rule family keep it together – or break under the pressure?
Author Cat Lavoie
Sooz's Review
BRIDGET JONES MEETS SHOPAHOLIC
I loved this book and found it very refreshing. Characters were well-rounded and I loved the dynamic between the three sisters and found it completely believable. The bossy older sister, the ditzy younger sister and then Roxy, the middle one and protagonist. Any girl having a male best friend and a fiancé is asking for trouble and Roxy certainly seems to bear this theory out. Each of the sisters has secrets. Roxy's indiscretion with a celeb and prospects of career progression looking as if they were going down the pan were favourite parts of the novel for me. But Ollie, Roxy's best friend, who couldn't love Ollie, and of course, the novel wouldn't be complete without a superbitch of a girlfriend, who hated his female best friend, would it?! The friends are parted in quite an extreme way and the bitch girlfriend does her best to keep them even further apart, but whose fault is it really and why? The drunken phone call made my day, as who hasn't done it and regretted it next morning. The twist in the tale re the child's father I hadn't seen coming either.
Naturally Roxy's financial adviser fiancé got the thumbs down from me for his controlling and patronising behaviour.
The hands-on, overbearing, anxious parents whom everyone was hiding secrets from and physically hiding from (in Roxy's apartment) had me in stitches. Imagine your parents turning up at 2am!
A well-written, wonderfully funny chicklit novel. Cat Lavoie's new novel, Zoey And The Moment Of Zen is just out and I will definitely be buying it. A new name on the chicklit scene and one to watch. An easy 5 stars from me.
So, now we move on to Cat's new release, Zoey and the Moment of Zen
Don't you just want to be spirited away there now?!!
Here's the blurb!
When coffee shop owner Zoey Everwood takes her obsession with ex-boyfriend Braden too far, everyone—except Zoey—is convinced a bit of fun in the sun at the Moment of Zen Wellness Resort will help her get over him once and for all.But Zoey's relaxing vacation turns out to be anything but peaceful when she meets Shane Lawson, a resort guest who bears a striking resemblance to Braden. And things get even more complicated when the resort's owner starts spilling secrets about Zoey’s aunt Nessa, the woman who raised her. Add a snarky Wellness Coordinator and Nate Holmes—Shane's grumpy friend—to the mix, and you've got the recipe for a perfect tropical storm.When Zoey comes back home with a new husband instead of tacky souvenirs, she must convince everyone she hasn't completely lost her mind. As Zoey and Shane struggle to keep the magic alive outside the resort, Zoey discovers that she isn't the only one having trouble letting go of the past. And when Nate drops a bombshell that changes everything, Zoey must decide if the old saying is true—what happens at the Moment of Zen stays at the Moment of Zen. Well, it sounds good to me. You can buy a copy of Cat's books via the links below:- BREAKING THE RULES
Amazon Kindle: http://amzn.to/11omrMHAmazon UK Kindle: http://amzn.to/18hxKiTAmazon Canada Kindle: http://amzn.to/186kL2q ZOEY & THE MOMENT OF ZENAmazon Kindle: http://amzn.to/Has3aUAmazon UK Kindle: http://amzn.to/17IxqVaAmazon Canada Kindle: http://amzn.to/1gERZLz CONNECT WITH CAT:Website: http://www.CatLavoie.comFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/CatLavoieAuthorTwitter: http://www.twitter.com/Catenabi Tune in on Monday for the big COVER REVEAL - yep, I'll be revealing The Christmas Spirit's cover and to steal an American phrase, it's awesome! Brad Covey, my cover designer, is a genius! Don't miss it!
November 10, 2013
Name Unveiling! What's In A Name?
Da da! Yep, it's finally here, the moment to shout the name of my recently announced Christmas book from the rooftops.
THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT (out on 1st December) I am often asked how I come up with titles for my books and the truth is there is no specific formula. The idea for The Christmas Spirit came to me one night as I lay in bed, and I knew I had to write it. I didn't publicise it until last week, as I wasn't sure it would be finished in time for this Christmas, but once I started writing, it just flowed and flowed. I toyed with simply Christmas Spirit, but preferred the title I've gone with. Giving your novel a name is a big moment - for me it makes the book become a reality; it will get written. It's right up there with naming your first born. You have to make sure the name does the book justice. People ask, what came first, the title or the idea? Well, in this case they both came together and then the characters tumbled out one after the other. With The Dating Game it was different. Originally it was meant to be a working title, but eventually I liked it so much, I just kept it - either that or I was too lazy or knackered to change it!Sign of the Times was more intriguing. Initially I called it Zodiac, and wrote a great part of it, thinking it was called Zodiac, but then as time went on, I discovered another author had a book called Zodiac, so I changed it to Sign of the Times, which in retrospect I am much happier with. It also gives me more scope for the title of the continuation. For the record, Danielle Steele has a book called Dating Game, but that didn't put me off! And now, the Times' cartoonist, Peter Brookes has brought out a book called Sign of the Times, too - grrr! I guess there really are only so many names to go around. And, checking Amazon, just when I was sure there was no other The Christmas Spirit, I found one!I guess my theory pans out then, eh?!
I should really check out the titles of my next three books, see if there are any other contenders, although I already know there are several What Ifs. Oh yes, I already know the titles of the next three books and have known for at least a year. I just need the time to write them! Keep a lookout for a book review on the blog on Friday. We're almost back to business as usual, although a punishing schedule to get The Christmas Spirit ready for its 1st December launch might slow me down a bit! Next Monday I have a real treat for you. I am so proud of it and it's not even my own work! I'll be unveiling the cover for The Christmas Spirit and it is GORGEOUS! Sorry, but I can say that, as I'm not blowing my own trumpet - all the work of Brad Covey, my fab cover designer. I can't wait to share it with you all. Have a great week everyoneSooz
THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT (out on 1st December) I am often asked how I come up with titles for my books and the truth is there is no specific formula. The idea for The Christmas Spirit came to me one night as I lay in bed, and I knew I had to write it. I didn't publicise it until last week, as I wasn't sure it would be finished in time for this Christmas, but once I started writing, it just flowed and flowed. I toyed with simply Christmas Spirit, but preferred the title I've gone with. Giving your novel a name is a big moment - for me it makes the book become a reality; it will get written. It's right up there with naming your first born. You have to make sure the name does the book justice. People ask, what came first, the title or the idea? Well, in this case they both came together and then the characters tumbled out one after the other. With The Dating Game it was different. Originally it was meant to be a working title, but eventually I liked it so much, I just kept it - either that or I was too lazy or knackered to change it!Sign of the Times was more intriguing. Initially I called it Zodiac, and wrote a great part of it, thinking it was called Zodiac, but then as time went on, I discovered another author had a book called Zodiac, so I changed it to Sign of the Times, which in retrospect I am much happier with. It also gives me more scope for the title of the continuation. For the record, Danielle Steele has a book called Dating Game, but that didn't put me off! And now, the Times' cartoonist, Peter Brookes has brought out a book called Sign of the Times, too - grrr! I guess there really are only so many names to go around. And, checking Amazon, just when I was sure there was no other The Christmas Spirit, I found one!I guess my theory pans out then, eh?!
I should really check out the titles of my next three books, see if there are any other contenders, although I already know there are several What Ifs. Oh yes, I already know the titles of the next three books and have known for at least a year. I just need the time to write them! Keep a lookout for a book review on the blog on Friday. We're almost back to business as usual, although a punishing schedule to get The Christmas Spirit ready for its 1st December launch might slow me down a bit! Next Monday I have a real treat for you. I am so proud of it and it's not even my own work! I'll be unveiling the cover for The Christmas Spirit and it is GORGEOUS! Sorry, but I can say that, as I'm not blowing my own trumpet - all the work of Brad Covey, my fab cover designer. I can't wait to share it with you all. Have a great week everyoneSooz
November 4, 2013
Announcements! The Bonnie Bonnie Banks
Well, it's finally here - the end of my maternity leave. Who knew it would go in so quickly? However, as I type I am fortunate enough to have my baby girl beside me destroying building blocks and pretty much everything in the vicinity is being launched off the table. Yes, working from home has its benefits. I would be a snotty, mascara-running mess (if I ever wore mascara!) if I had to put baby Antonia in nursery to go back to work, so thank goodness I get to stay at home with her and write.
- Sorry, just had to stop for a quick chorus of Hey Diddle Diddle - she needs entertained you see!
NOW, for my other big announcement, although if you've been eagle-eyed, you might have spotted this on FB or Twitter, although I was very subtly answering questions posed by readers, not announcing it - there will be a NEW BOOK out on 1st December. It won't be What If, which should be out in the spring, but a Christmas book! I love Christmas, always have, have wonderful memories of Christmas, so over the next few weeks I will be telling you lots about it, but for now, I will be a little bit cryptic and tell you only this.
It's not set in Glasgow, but in a fictional village near here:-
And it features five principal characters - three female, two male. I'll share the title with you soon!
That's all folks. Now that I am back from mat leave, expect more posts, reviews and general book-related goings-on.
Oops, almost forgot, for those of you still to pick up THE DATING GAME, it has been reduced for its birthday week to celebrate its first anniversary to 99p/99 cents. Get it here -
viewBook.at/B009Z2QPT4
have a great week
Sooz
- Sorry, just had to stop for a quick chorus of Hey Diddle Diddle - she needs entertained you see!
NOW, for my other big announcement, although if you've been eagle-eyed, you might have spotted this on FB or Twitter, although I was very subtly answering questions posed by readers, not announcing it - there will be a NEW BOOK out on 1st December. It won't be What If, which should be out in the spring, but a Christmas book! I love Christmas, always have, have wonderful memories of Christmas, so over the next few weeks I will be telling you lots about it, but for now, I will be a little bit cryptic and tell you only this.
It's not set in Glasgow, but in a fictional village near here:-
And it features five principal characters - three female, two male. I'll share the title with you soon!
That's all folks. Now that I am back from mat leave, expect more posts, reviews and general book-related goings-on.
Oops, almost forgot, for those of you still to pick up THE DATING GAME, it has been reduced for its birthday week to celebrate its first anniversary to 99p/99 cents. Get it here -
viewBook.at/B009Z2QPT4
have a great week
Sooz
October 28, 2013
THE DATING GAME anniversary post
Happy Monday everyone
I'm bang in the middle of something and I'll share with you all next week what (ooh, I should write suspense!) but for now, I just wanted to say THE DATING GAME is 1 year old this week, so to celebrate and because I have lots of new Twitter followers and blog followers, I thought we'd take a wee trip down memory lane and revisit some of the posts from the week before the launch last year. For those of you who have read the book, it will give you a special insight, since you will be able to relate a lot more to the locations now. For those of you yet to buy it, it can act as a guide and hopefully a reason to pick up a copy!
So, here we go!
Gill's dating profile (and mine too!) - http://www.susancbuchanan.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/gills-dating-profile-and-my.html
Visit The Dating Game's Barcelona locations - http://www.susancbuchanan.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/visit-barcelona-with-dating-game.html
The Do's and Don'ts of Dating - http://www.susancbuchanan.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/happy-ever-afters-dos-and-donts-of.html
Well, I figure that's enough to be going on with. Shortly there will be a couple of book reviews up - I'm a bit behind -a lot going on right now.
have a good week everyone. Oh, for those interested, Sign of the Times will be at the knockdown price of 99p for a few more days only. Seriously, I'm Scottish - we don't like to give money away! It actually causes us physical pain!
Sooz
I'm bang in the middle of something and I'll share with you all next week what (ooh, I should write suspense!) but for now, I just wanted to say THE DATING GAME is 1 year old this week, so to celebrate and because I have lots of new Twitter followers and blog followers, I thought we'd take a wee trip down memory lane and revisit some of the posts from the week before the launch last year. For those of you who have read the book, it will give you a special insight, since you will be able to relate a lot more to the locations now. For those of you yet to buy it, it can act as a guide and hopefully a reason to pick up a copy!
So, here we go!
Gill's dating profile (and mine too!) - http://www.susancbuchanan.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/gills-dating-profile-and-my.html
Visit The Dating Game's Barcelona locations - http://www.susancbuchanan.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/visit-barcelona-with-dating-game.html
The Do's and Don'ts of Dating - http://www.susancbuchanan.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/happy-ever-afters-dos-and-donts-of.html
Well, I figure that's enough to be going on with. Shortly there will be a couple of book reviews up - I'm a bit behind -a lot going on right now.
have a good week everyone. Oh, for those interested, Sign of the Times will be at the knockdown price of 99p for a few more days only. Seriously, I'm Scottish - we don't like to give money away! It actually causes us physical pain!
Sooz
October 11, 2013
Book review - What It Takes by Terry Tyler
Hello everyone
hope you're all looking forward to the weekend. As you probably know, I've read all of Terry Tyler's books and loved all of them, so was keen to read the new one ASAP.
So without further ado, feast your eyes!
A tale of three sisters...
Karen Kavanagh has spent her life feeling like the runt of the family.
Her two elder sisters, domestic goddess Ava and salon owner Saskia, are mini versions of their mother, a gorgeous Danish beauty. Karen has inherited her father's droopy, dull brown hair and long nose - pitted against two Scandinavian sauna babes, she feels like Cinderella in reverse.
Danny Alvarez doesn’t see her like that. He thinks she’s wonderful.
Lots of women want Danny, but Danny just wants Karen.
He pursues her with the devotion of a stalker - but she pushes him away. Then she realises what she’s done…
Set in Norfolk, Terry Tyler's sixth novel, "What It Takes", is a story of insecurity, jealousy, sibling rivalry, love and loss, and the games people play in the search for love - because if you love someone with all your heart you’ll do what it takes to make them yours…
As a fan of Terry Tyler's books generally, I was looking forward to this newest offering. For those, who like myself, have read all of her books, What It Takes harks back in style to Nobody's Fault (my personal favourite) and You Wish (which just won some award recently). Stalking is once again revisited although in a completely different way. I enjoyed the depiction of several of the characters, including Lois, who I could totally see on her council estate, rigging the benefits system with aplomb. The names given to her children and grandchildren made me giggle, too, as they are the kind of names expected of mothers who get pregnant at 15. Lois and her clan were exactly what you'd expect from that sector of society. What was rather more unusual was Danny's part in their lives. The novel is told partly by the narrator and partly in the first person by several of the principal characters. Apart from Danny, a sweetheart, we have the three sisters; Ava, Saskia and Karen. One sister feels overshadowed by the others and always has done - a modern day Cinderella in reverse. If she only had a chip on her shoulder, it would make the others' lives much easier, but she's not that straightforward, and a drama queen, as well as being more than a tad unreasonable.
Karen's best friend, Sam, seems too good to be true, but everyone needs a Sam.
Overall, I found that What It Takes was more descriptive than some of the previous novels and I felt that this was particularly well done - showing a maturity in the author's writing. It was also clear that the author knew Cromer and the surrounding area very well and managed to paint a good picture of a part of the country I've never visited, but could now easily imagine.
Terry Tyler's books always feature red herrings, twists and turns and What It Takes is no different. I did guess some of the twists, but I reckon that's because my mind is now thinking along the same lines as the author's! That said, there were still several twists that I didn't get and the extent of some of them was surprising
A big 4 out of 5 from me.
You can catch up with Terry on Twitter @terrytyler4
What It Takes can be bought via Amazon - UK http://amzn.to/16U2kPY
US and .com - http://amzn.to/1fn2Qs4
Her blog - http://terrytyler59.blogspot.co.uk/
Baby permitting, I might manage another blog post for Monday - bookshelves is the theme!
hope you're all looking forward to the weekend. As you probably know, I've read all of Terry Tyler's books and loved all of them, so was keen to read the new one ASAP.
So without further ado, feast your eyes!
A tale of three sisters...
Karen Kavanagh has spent her life feeling like the runt of the family.
Her two elder sisters, domestic goddess Ava and salon owner Saskia, are mini versions of their mother, a gorgeous Danish beauty. Karen has inherited her father's droopy, dull brown hair and long nose - pitted against two Scandinavian sauna babes, she feels like Cinderella in reverse.
Danny Alvarez doesn’t see her like that. He thinks she’s wonderful.
Lots of women want Danny, but Danny just wants Karen.
He pursues her with the devotion of a stalker - but she pushes him away. Then she realises what she’s done…
Set in Norfolk, Terry Tyler's sixth novel, "What It Takes", is a story of insecurity, jealousy, sibling rivalry, love and loss, and the games people play in the search for love - because if you love someone with all your heart you’ll do what it takes to make them yours…
As a fan of Terry Tyler's books generally, I was looking forward to this newest offering. For those, who like myself, have read all of her books, What It Takes harks back in style to Nobody's Fault (my personal favourite) and You Wish (which just won some award recently). Stalking is once again revisited although in a completely different way. I enjoyed the depiction of several of the characters, including Lois, who I could totally see on her council estate, rigging the benefits system with aplomb. The names given to her children and grandchildren made me giggle, too, as they are the kind of names expected of mothers who get pregnant at 15. Lois and her clan were exactly what you'd expect from that sector of society. What was rather more unusual was Danny's part in their lives. The novel is told partly by the narrator and partly in the first person by several of the principal characters. Apart from Danny, a sweetheart, we have the three sisters; Ava, Saskia and Karen. One sister feels overshadowed by the others and always has done - a modern day Cinderella in reverse. If she only had a chip on her shoulder, it would make the others' lives much easier, but she's not that straightforward, and a drama queen, as well as being more than a tad unreasonable.
Karen's best friend, Sam, seems too good to be true, but everyone needs a Sam.
Overall, I found that What It Takes was more descriptive than some of the previous novels and I felt that this was particularly well done - showing a maturity in the author's writing. It was also clear that the author knew Cromer and the surrounding area very well and managed to paint a good picture of a part of the country I've never visited, but could now easily imagine.
Terry Tyler's books always feature red herrings, twists and turns and What It Takes is no different. I did guess some of the twists, but I reckon that's because my mind is now thinking along the same lines as the author's! That said, there were still several twists that I didn't get and the extent of some of them was surprising
A big 4 out of 5 from me.
You can catch up with Terry on Twitter @terrytyler4
What It Takes can be bought via Amazon - UK http://amzn.to/16U2kPY
US and .com - http://amzn.to/1fn2Qs4
Her blog - http://terrytyler59.blogspot.co.uk/
Baby permitting, I might manage another blog post for Monday - bookshelves is the theme!
October 7, 2013
How book buying habits have changed
Happy Monday!
I often wonder about this, so thought I would ask you all about your own habits. When I was a student, studying language and literature at university, ironically I had no time or money to book non-academic books. Books were also much more expensive back then and a lot less accessible, ie you couldn't buy them in the supermarkets. I remember that the first book I bought after uni, when I got my first pay packet was Maeve Binchy's The Glass Lake (my favourite author then and still one of my favourites now) I devoured it in one sitting. I bought it from WH Smith - the only place in the town where I lived where you could buy books.
I still didn't have a great deal of money to play with back then, so it was a few years before I became the book hoarder I am now.
Bookshops - I remember buying books from John Smith & Son, the official academic book shop in Glasgow in St Vincent St (now closed sadly), I used to visit an independent bookshop in Ayr, when I lived there, on the Sandgate. It, too, has gone now I believe.
This was all back in the '90s, before the emergence of Amazon and online retailers. I went to London with a friend and we spent 4 hours in Waterstones. I bought 17 books!
I was convinced that when a bookshop became available which was handy for me, I would never be out of it. Actually, that wasn't true, although it would be now. Pity most of them have closed down.. Ottakers opened in High St in Ayr, late '90s/early noughties and it was less than 100m from my house, yet I must have been in it only a handful of times (this was possibly due to rarely being home, I was a right social butterfly back then!) With the advent of the out-of-town shopping malls, I became a fan of Borders at Glasgow Fort, and I loved Borders in Buchanan St in Glasgow, too. Loved spending a Thursday evening there.
Supermarkets - Apart from my trip to London, my book glut first happened when I went to Asda to buy milk. It was the closest shop to my house in Ayr. I bought 8 books, mostly chicklit and crime novels, got home all delighted with myself, one Friday evening, went to make myself a coffee and discovered I hadn't bought milk...so I had to open some red wine instead!
So began a long love affair with supermarkets and their special offers, 2 for £7. When I moved to Cumbernauld, north of Glasgow, and where I went to school, I had the same love affair with Tesco, as I had had with Asda in Ayr. I could not go shopping without browsing the book aisles and usually buying some. I used to get hacked off if I went to buy a book and there were no new ones that I liked (mainly 'cos I had already bought all the ones that had been released that I liked, which were in the charts!)
Ebay - And then there was Ebay. Ebay...manna from heaven for someone like me back then. I watched the BBC The Big Read in 2003 and decided I had to buy as many of the books I hadn't read as possible. I tried to get them all off Ebay. Couldn't. So I ordered the rest from independent stores or my next big discovery - although I couldn't possibly tell you when I placed my first order with them, as I don't remember exactly - Amazon.
Amazon. Amazon made my life simple. OK, I didn't like that I couldn't leaf through the pages and see if I liked the look of the book, but mainly the blurb was enough for me. But the selection of books they had...wow! And the fact I could see info on all the titles..double wow! And I loved that it told me what books were being released soon and made recommendations for me, based on my browsing history. Even now, I add books to my Goodreads TBR (To Be Read) based on the emails Amazon send me and the recommendations which pop up when I log into my account (among many other ways of getting recommendations, of course!)
Charity shops - almost forgot about them - I love a bargain the same as everyone else and I always find it a great way to discover new authors. I might not pay £5 or £6 for a book by an author I don't know, when there are other books out by authors I do know and love, but £1-£2 to take a chance? Sure thing! I often end up buying their back catalogue. I love nothing better than pottering about the various charity shops we have in our town, seeing what I can scoop up that week - it might honestly be 8 years before I get time to read them - seriously - but I like to know I have them!
Foreign bookstores - I love 'em. Barnes & Noble was my all-time favourite. I loved discovering books which never seemed to be available here, or perhaps it's just that they were New York Times bestsellers, but hadn't made it over here in the UK. As I travelled a ridiculous amount overseas with two of my jobs, I became a big fan of Hudson News in the US! Every airport has one I think. I would always buy books there. There was a bookstore in Long Beach, California where I spent ages, but I can't remember the name of it - it might have been a Borders. It was so chilled. Also spent a fair amount of time when visiting friends near Houston in a bookstore. Think that might have been B&N. And, I visited, but didn't buy any books, just bookmarks and cards, at the Washington train station B&N two years ago, which I believe is now closed. I did, however, find an independent bookstore one night when we were out for dinner over there, we'd had a few glasses of wine and I bought about five or six books, including The Giant Book of Farts as a joke present for my OH. And that's just the US. I used to buy books wherever I went in the world - but that's for another post! Suffice to say, in Japan, they wrap your books, in the way you used to cover your school jotters!
E-books - And then, finally, it happened. I've known about electronic books for more than a decade, as I used to work in Electronics. So, I was always at the latest trade show which was showcasing products of the future. I remember not quite being able to work out if e-books were a good thing or not. Sony was the first brand I was taken with, but by the time I worked out if I was going to start reading e-books or not, Amazon had just launched the first Kindle, with the keyboard. After a particularly annoying incident on a long haul flight to Brazil, where the bleepin' thing stopped working, I am pleased to say that Kindle has served me well. I'm surprised it hasn't given up the ghost from overwork! I downloaded a few classics for free and I remember thinking long and hard about which book should be my first paid e-book, quite an honour I felt. Carlos Ruiz Zafon won with The Prince of Mist. Fantastic book. And so started my rather erratic book buying. Now I buy when indie authors I know release books, as often they are in the US/Canada and the paperback prices plus shipping are prohibitive. I also buy indie authors and traditionally published authors on Kindle, if the paper copy is more than £1 dearer. Otherwise, I'd rather have it in paper, thank you very much. That may change soon, as although I negotiated with my OH when we moved house, that one room HAD to be a library, it is overflowing. I do occasionally download a free book, but more often I don't.
I bought some books for World Book Night and I always ask a member of my family to buy me Amazon vouchers for Christmas or my birthday (December, just in case you want to send a card!) and I spent Christmas morning, the early part, ie from 7-8am, downloading books I had on my wishlist. OH happy, as he got to sleep on, without me bugging him that Santa had been!
Plus, even when I am on a no book buying phase (happens rarely), I will still buy an e-book if it's by one of my favourite authors and they are on special. I was lucky enough to pick up two such books last week for 69p each! Told you - bargain hunter!
I still buy books in supermarkets, but less; I still buy them on Amazon, particularly for my nephews - the Julia Donaldson ones for example; and I still visit charity shops. I don't go to Waterstones or bookstores very often anymore, mainly as there aren't any near me, although I do pop in to WH Smith's occasionally.
And I almost forgot; the second hand bookshop. Whatever happened to it? I'm sure there are still some in the west end of Glasgow near the university, but it has been about twenty years since I've been in one.
So, how have your book buying habits changed over the years? Are you an e-book convert, a devotee of the independent bookshop who eschews all other mediums, or has buying books online become your sole way of purchasing?
Would love to hear from you all
Tune in on Friday for an exciting new book review.
I often wonder about this, so thought I would ask you all about your own habits. When I was a student, studying language and literature at university, ironically I had no time or money to book non-academic books. Books were also much more expensive back then and a lot less accessible, ie you couldn't buy them in the supermarkets. I remember that the first book I bought after uni, when I got my first pay packet was Maeve Binchy's The Glass Lake (my favourite author then and still one of my favourites now) I devoured it in one sitting. I bought it from WH Smith - the only place in the town where I lived where you could buy books.
I still didn't have a great deal of money to play with back then, so it was a few years before I became the book hoarder I am now.
Bookshops - I remember buying books from John Smith & Son, the official academic book shop in Glasgow in St Vincent St (now closed sadly), I used to visit an independent bookshop in Ayr, when I lived there, on the Sandgate. It, too, has gone now I believe.
This was all back in the '90s, before the emergence of Amazon and online retailers. I went to London with a friend and we spent 4 hours in Waterstones. I bought 17 books!
I was convinced that when a bookshop became available which was handy for me, I would never be out of it. Actually, that wasn't true, although it would be now. Pity most of them have closed down.. Ottakers opened in High St in Ayr, late '90s/early noughties and it was less than 100m from my house, yet I must have been in it only a handful of times (this was possibly due to rarely being home, I was a right social butterfly back then!) With the advent of the out-of-town shopping malls, I became a fan of Borders at Glasgow Fort, and I loved Borders in Buchanan St in Glasgow, too. Loved spending a Thursday evening there.
Supermarkets - Apart from my trip to London, my book glut first happened when I went to Asda to buy milk. It was the closest shop to my house in Ayr. I bought 8 books, mostly chicklit and crime novels, got home all delighted with myself, one Friday evening, went to make myself a coffee and discovered I hadn't bought milk...so I had to open some red wine instead!
So began a long love affair with supermarkets and their special offers, 2 for £7. When I moved to Cumbernauld, north of Glasgow, and where I went to school, I had the same love affair with Tesco, as I had had with Asda in Ayr. I could not go shopping without browsing the book aisles and usually buying some. I used to get hacked off if I went to buy a book and there were no new ones that I liked (mainly 'cos I had already bought all the ones that had been released that I liked, which were in the charts!)
Ebay - And then there was Ebay. Ebay...manna from heaven for someone like me back then. I watched the BBC The Big Read in 2003 and decided I had to buy as many of the books I hadn't read as possible. I tried to get them all off Ebay. Couldn't. So I ordered the rest from independent stores or my next big discovery - although I couldn't possibly tell you when I placed my first order with them, as I don't remember exactly - Amazon.
Amazon. Amazon made my life simple. OK, I didn't like that I couldn't leaf through the pages and see if I liked the look of the book, but mainly the blurb was enough for me. But the selection of books they had...wow! And the fact I could see info on all the titles..double wow! And I loved that it told me what books were being released soon and made recommendations for me, based on my browsing history. Even now, I add books to my Goodreads TBR (To Be Read) based on the emails Amazon send me and the recommendations which pop up when I log into my account (among many other ways of getting recommendations, of course!)
Charity shops - almost forgot about them - I love a bargain the same as everyone else and I always find it a great way to discover new authors. I might not pay £5 or £6 for a book by an author I don't know, when there are other books out by authors I do know and love, but £1-£2 to take a chance? Sure thing! I often end up buying their back catalogue. I love nothing better than pottering about the various charity shops we have in our town, seeing what I can scoop up that week - it might honestly be 8 years before I get time to read them - seriously - but I like to know I have them!
Foreign bookstores - I love 'em. Barnes & Noble was my all-time favourite. I loved discovering books which never seemed to be available here, or perhaps it's just that they were New York Times bestsellers, but hadn't made it over here in the UK. As I travelled a ridiculous amount overseas with two of my jobs, I became a big fan of Hudson News in the US! Every airport has one I think. I would always buy books there. There was a bookstore in Long Beach, California where I spent ages, but I can't remember the name of it - it might have been a Borders. It was so chilled. Also spent a fair amount of time when visiting friends near Houston in a bookstore. Think that might have been B&N. And, I visited, but didn't buy any books, just bookmarks and cards, at the Washington train station B&N two years ago, which I believe is now closed. I did, however, find an independent bookstore one night when we were out for dinner over there, we'd had a few glasses of wine and I bought about five or six books, including The Giant Book of Farts as a joke present for my OH. And that's just the US. I used to buy books wherever I went in the world - but that's for another post! Suffice to say, in Japan, they wrap your books, in the way you used to cover your school jotters!
E-books - And then, finally, it happened. I've known about electronic books for more than a decade, as I used to work in Electronics. So, I was always at the latest trade show which was showcasing products of the future. I remember not quite being able to work out if e-books were a good thing or not. Sony was the first brand I was taken with, but by the time I worked out if I was going to start reading e-books or not, Amazon had just launched the first Kindle, with the keyboard. After a particularly annoying incident on a long haul flight to Brazil, where the bleepin' thing stopped working, I am pleased to say that Kindle has served me well. I'm surprised it hasn't given up the ghost from overwork! I downloaded a few classics for free and I remember thinking long and hard about which book should be my first paid e-book, quite an honour I felt. Carlos Ruiz Zafon won with The Prince of Mist. Fantastic book. And so started my rather erratic book buying. Now I buy when indie authors I know release books, as often they are in the US/Canada and the paperback prices plus shipping are prohibitive. I also buy indie authors and traditionally published authors on Kindle, if the paper copy is more than £1 dearer. Otherwise, I'd rather have it in paper, thank you very much. That may change soon, as although I negotiated with my OH when we moved house, that one room HAD to be a library, it is overflowing. I do occasionally download a free book, but more often I don't.
I bought some books for World Book Night and I always ask a member of my family to buy me Amazon vouchers for Christmas or my birthday (December, just in case you want to send a card!) and I spent Christmas morning, the early part, ie from 7-8am, downloading books I had on my wishlist. OH happy, as he got to sleep on, without me bugging him that Santa had been!
Plus, even when I am on a no book buying phase (happens rarely), I will still buy an e-book if it's by one of my favourite authors and they are on special. I was lucky enough to pick up two such books last week for 69p each! Told you - bargain hunter!
I still buy books in supermarkets, but less; I still buy them on Amazon, particularly for my nephews - the Julia Donaldson ones for example; and I still visit charity shops. I don't go to Waterstones or bookstores very often anymore, mainly as there aren't any near me, although I do pop in to WH Smith's occasionally.
And I almost forgot; the second hand bookshop. Whatever happened to it? I'm sure there are still some in the west end of Glasgow near the university, but it has been about twenty years since I've been in one.
So, how have your book buying habits changed over the years? Are you an e-book convert, a devotee of the independent bookshop who eschews all other mediums, or has buying books online become your sole way of purchasing?
Would love to hear from you all
Tune in on Friday for an exciting new book review.
October 4, 2013
Interview with author Maria Savva about 3 - her new short story collection
Well, apart from Meredith Schorr's Blogger Girl, it's been a while since I've done any reviews on the blog, or author interviews (small babies take up a lot of time, you know!) So, I thought I'd get back into the swing of things by asking Maria, she of Coincidences and Haunted fame (those are my favourites so far) about her latest collection, as well as a few other things, 'cos let's face it, I'm a bit nosy.
How do you choose your covers, do you design them yourself or do you have a cover designer?
With my first novel, Coincidences, the cover was designed by an in-house artist in the publishing company that published it. With the second edition, because I self-published it I wanted a new cover, so I used a photo that I had taken specifically for the book cover. Alice is trying to find her father and likens her life to an incomplete jigsaw puzzle because she doesn’t know everything about where she came from, having never known her father. There is also another part of the book, I think, that talks about her world falling apart. As you know, from reading the book, she does have a bit of a hard time emotionally, not only dealing with abandonment issues, but also the fact that her mother had lied to her for so long. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I had the idea of taking a photo of falling jigsaw pieces. I found an old jigsaw puzzle and held the camera in one hand and a lot of puzzle pieces in the other, then took the photo as the pieces fell to the floor. I took about twenty or so pictures until I was happy with the one I used for the cover. I chose the blue colour because I think it suits the mood of the story.
With A Time to Tell, my second novel, again the original cover design was by small press publisher’s in-house artist. I recently ended the contract with that company and will be self-publishing a paperback version of the novel with a new cover. The new cover has been designed by Aeternum Designs: http://aeternumdesigns.com/ I entered a competition to win an e-book cover design from that company, and I won! It came at a great time for me because I was having trouble thinking up a design for the new cover for A Time to Tell. I like the original cover so much, so I want the new one to be just as striking. I am pleased to say that Kat McCarthy at Aeternum Designs has designed a wonderful new cover for me. I’m still doing the final edits for the second edition of the book, so am not yet ready to reveal the cover, but I’m really looking forward to showing it to everyone. It’s perfect for the story.
I designed the covers for all the other books I’ve published because I love art and like to create covers that are inspired by the stories. The cover for Pieces of a Rainbow is from a watercolour painting I did. The Love and Loyalty (and Other Tales) cover is from a royalty free photograph I found on morguefile.com. I used iPhoto to play around and change the photo until I was happy with it.
The covers for Fusionand Second Chances are also from royalty free photos I found on morguefile.com
The cover for The Dreamcame from a photograph of a clock that was in my parents’ house. I printed the photograph and cut out the numbers and arranged them in the backwards design and stuck them on some paper. The backwards clock is of course because of the time-travel element in the story. I then stuck some other pictures in the centre of the clock. Originally, the white cat and a gravestone were going to be on the cover, but I changed my mind. I used charcoals to design the rest of it, and then changed the colour to purple using iPhoto.
The cover for Haunted is an acrylic painting I did that was inspired by the novel. The girl in the painting is supposed to be Emily Baxter, one of the major characters in the book.
The photo for Delusion and Dreamswas taken by Martin David Porter, a photographer I have been following on Facebook for a while. http://www.martsartsphotography.com/site/He’d posted the photo on Facebook and I thought it would be perfect for the cover, so contacted him and he agreed to let me use it.
The photo I’ve used for my latest book “3”is one I found on a royalty free website and asked the photographer if I could use it. I had seen a similar photo that someone posted on Facebook one day, I think that one had a pink tree. I searched the royalty free site for that type of thing and came up with the one that now appears on the cover. I absolutely love it and think it’s very striking and fits the mood of the stories well.
What can you tell us about 3 which isn't covered in the blurb without giving too much away?
These are 3 short stories that happened to be written in the course of about 2-3 weeks where I was just getting lots of ideas and feeling the need to write them down. With the story ‘The Bride’, for example, not much planning went into it, but when I read it over while editing I was quite spooked by how on a deeper level, there was more to the story than I’d intended (that’ll make more sense when you read it... or maybe it won’t because you’ll probably think I intended it. I have probably confused you now!). I say ‘spooked’ because it’s a paranormal story, and even I felt quite scared when I was reading it over at night... and I wrote it. It made me wonder how other readers would feel!
These 3 stories just seemed to fit together as a collection because they all have a common theme of the past and how our memories really do stay with us.
With ‘What The Girl Heard’ I was surprised by the ending. I had no idea how it would end, but loved the way it all came together. That’s the fun part of being a writer; sometimes we are as much a reader of our own work as anyone else. The stories sometimes seem to come from somewhere else and we are just the person who writes them down. I’ve always thought that, but with this story in particular (and with The Bride) I really felt as though this was the case.
There’s a lot of regret and guilt going on in the stories.
For those who have read other works by you, which is 3 most like?
Probably “Fusion” and “Delusion and Dreams”. But the paranormal aspect of The Bride, may remind people of “The Dream”, and some of Never to be Told may be a bit like “Haunted” just because of the subject matter.
What are you working on next/now?
As usual, lots of things. A new novel, currently titledIllusion, but that will probably change. A joint novel that may or may not ever see the light of day. For that reason I can’t talk too much about it. My co-author, like me, is very busy, so we will try to fit it in with our other projects. If it does ever get written our readers may be surprised by the subject matter.
I’m also writing short stories quite a lot and will probably put together another collection at some stage.
Why 3 stories? And should we expect 7 from you next time?!
Funny you should ask that because I was wondering today whether I should continue on a number based title for my next collection. I don’t think I will though. “3” was just something that felt right because 3 has always been my favourite number and when I had these 3 stories I’d written that all fitted together, it just made sense to release them as a collection and call them, simply, “3”.
I don’t think I would have done the same for any other number of stories because there are not really any other numbers that have been as significant in my life as the number 3.
What do you like to do in your free time, except write and babysit?!
Ha! You say that as if writing and babysitting leaves time to do anything else ;) Plus I have a full-time day job and maintain 3 blogs!
‘Free time’? What’s that?
But seriously, if I ever do get time where I’m not writing, promoting, or babysitting my beautiful nieces and nephew, I like to catch up with my ever-growing TBR list and read books by my favourite authors, watch films, listen to music, catch live gigs, go to the theatre, travel, catch up with friends, DIY, art projects, the usual stuff.
Do you plan to release anything Christmas related?
No. But I never say never. If I ever had time to plan in advance, it would be quite a nice thing to do, I suppose; maybe in the future I’ll release a Christmas-related short story.
Would you work on a collaboration with someone?
Yes. I have already done that in the past. I wrote the online novella, Cutting The Fat, with the talented Jason McIntyre. It wasn’t actually planned I have to say. We were just chatting with the group on the writers’ forum, BestsellerBound, and Darcia Helle suggested that we should all write a story about an evil book reviewer. Jason then came up with an excellent first chapter. I couldn’t resist, so wrote the second chapter. No one else on the forum contributed anything; I’m not sure whether Jason was feeling the same way as I was at the time but I really was excited about the story and wanted to get it written. A couple of days after I wrote my chapter Jason wrote another and it became clear that the rest of the members were happy to let us write the whole book. We ended up writing about 25K words in a couple of weeks, and that became the novella, Cutting The Fat, which needed hardly any editing, quite surprisingly. We’ve published it on Kindle if anyone’s interested.
And, as mentioned in one of my previous answers, I’m currently working on a novel with a fellow writer.
Where is your favourite place to write?
I dream of having a nice haven where I can do my writing, away from all the noise of everyday life. Eventually, I’d love to be able to escape somewhere like to a mountain village or something. For now, I make do with writing mostly at night in bed. I prefer it when it’s quiet and everyone else is in bed. There’s something about that time of night that brings out all the creativity and inspiration.
Best book you have read recently
There are two great books that deserve a mention that I’ve read recently. They are Killing Instinctby Darcia Helle, and Joe Soap by Andrew Peters
Well, thanks Maria for all of that. You can keep abreast of Maria's work and find links to her books and social networking sites via her website - http://www.mariasavva.com
Tune in on Monday for another book related post. Have a good weekend, Sooz
How do you choose your covers, do you design them yourself or do you have a cover designer?
With my first novel, Coincidences, the cover was designed by an in-house artist in the publishing company that published it. With the second edition, because I self-published it I wanted a new cover, so I used a photo that I had taken specifically for the book cover. Alice is trying to find her father and likens her life to an incomplete jigsaw puzzle because she doesn’t know everything about where she came from, having never known her father. There is also another part of the book, I think, that talks about her world falling apart. As you know, from reading the book, she does have a bit of a hard time emotionally, not only dealing with abandonment issues, but also the fact that her mother had lied to her for so long. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I had the idea of taking a photo of falling jigsaw pieces. I found an old jigsaw puzzle and held the camera in one hand and a lot of puzzle pieces in the other, then took the photo as the pieces fell to the floor. I took about twenty or so pictures until I was happy with the one I used for the cover. I chose the blue colour because I think it suits the mood of the story.
With A Time to Tell, my second novel, again the original cover design was by small press publisher’s in-house artist. I recently ended the contract with that company and will be self-publishing a paperback version of the novel with a new cover. The new cover has been designed by Aeternum Designs: http://aeternumdesigns.com/ I entered a competition to win an e-book cover design from that company, and I won! It came at a great time for me because I was having trouble thinking up a design for the new cover for A Time to Tell. I like the original cover so much, so I want the new one to be just as striking. I am pleased to say that Kat McCarthy at Aeternum Designs has designed a wonderful new cover for me. I’m still doing the final edits for the second edition of the book, so am not yet ready to reveal the cover, but I’m really looking forward to showing it to everyone. It’s perfect for the story.
I designed the covers for all the other books I’ve published because I love art and like to create covers that are inspired by the stories. The cover for Pieces of a Rainbow is from a watercolour painting I did. The Love and Loyalty (and Other Tales) cover is from a royalty free photograph I found on morguefile.com. I used iPhoto to play around and change the photo until I was happy with it.
The covers for Fusionand Second Chances are also from royalty free photos I found on morguefile.com
The cover for The Dreamcame from a photograph of a clock that was in my parents’ house. I printed the photograph and cut out the numbers and arranged them in the backwards design and stuck them on some paper. The backwards clock is of course because of the time-travel element in the story. I then stuck some other pictures in the centre of the clock. Originally, the white cat and a gravestone were going to be on the cover, but I changed my mind. I used charcoals to design the rest of it, and then changed the colour to purple using iPhoto.
The cover for Haunted is an acrylic painting I did that was inspired by the novel. The girl in the painting is supposed to be Emily Baxter, one of the major characters in the book.
The photo for Delusion and Dreamswas taken by Martin David Porter, a photographer I have been following on Facebook for a while. http://www.martsartsphotography.com/site/He’d posted the photo on Facebook and I thought it would be perfect for the cover, so contacted him and he agreed to let me use it.
The photo I’ve used for my latest book “3”is one I found on a royalty free website and asked the photographer if I could use it. I had seen a similar photo that someone posted on Facebook one day, I think that one had a pink tree. I searched the royalty free site for that type of thing and came up with the one that now appears on the cover. I absolutely love it and think it’s very striking and fits the mood of the stories well.
What can you tell us about 3 which isn't covered in the blurb without giving too much away?
These are 3 short stories that happened to be written in the course of about 2-3 weeks where I was just getting lots of ideas and feeling the need to write them down. With the story ‘The Bride’, for example, not much planning went into it, but when I read it over while editing I was quite spooked by how on a deeper level, there was more to the story than I’d intended (that’ll make more sense when you read it... or maybe it won’t because you’ll probably think I intended it. I have probably confused you now!). I say ‘spooked’ because it’s a paranormal story, and even I felt quite scared when I was reading it over at night... and I wrote it. It made me wonder how other readers would feel!
These 3 stories just seemed to fit together as a collection because they all have a common theme of the past and how our memories really do stay with us.
With ‘What The Girl Heard’ I was surprised by the ending. I had no idea how it would end, but loved the way it all came together. That’s the fun part of being a writer; sometimes we are as much a reader of our own work as anyone else. The stories sometimes seem to come from somewhere else and we are just the person who writes them down. I’ve always thought that, but with this story in particular (and with The Bride) I really felt as though this was the case.
There’s a lot of regret and guilt going on in the stories.
For those who have read other works by you, which is 3 most like?
Probably “Fusion” and “Delusion and Dreams”. But the paranormal aspect of The Bride, may remind people of “The Dream”, and some of Never to be Told may be a bit like “Haunted” just because of the subject matter.
What are you working on next/now?
As usual, lots of things. A new novel, currently titledIllusion, but that will probably change. A joint novel that may or may not ever see the light of day. For that reason I can’t talk too much about it. My co-author, like me, is very busy, so we will try to fit it in with our other projects. If it does ever get written our readers may be surprised by the subject matter.
I’m also writing short stories quite a lot and will probably put together another collection at some stage.
Why 3 stories? And should we expect 7 from you next time?!
Funny you should ask that because I was wondering today whether I should continue on a number based title for my next collection. I don’t think I will though. “3” was just something that felt right because 3 has always been my favourite number and when I had these 3 stories I’d written that all fitted together, it just made sense to release them as a collection and call them, simply, “3”.
I don’t think I would have done the same for any other number of stories because there are not really any other numbers that have been as significant in my life as the number 3.
What do you like to do in your free time, except write and babysit?!
Ha! You say that as if writing and babysitting leaves time to do anything else ;) Plus I have a full-time day job and maintain 3 blogs!
‘Free time’? What’s that?
But seriously, if I ever do get time where I’m not writing, promoting, or babysitting my beautiful nieces and nephew, I like to catch up with my ever-growing TBR list and read books by my favourite authors, watch films, listen to music, catch live gigs, go to the theatre, travel, catch up with friends, DIY, art projects, the usual stuff.
Do you plan to release anything Christmas related?
No. But I never say never. If I ever had time to plan in advance, it would be quite a nice thing to do, I suppose; maybe in the future I’ll release a Christmas-related short story.
Would you work on a collaboration with someone?
Yes. I have already done that in the past. I wrote the online novella, Cutting The Fat, with the talented Jason McIntyre. It wasn’t actually planned I have to say. We were just chatting with the group on the writers’ forum, BestsellerBound, and Darcia Helle suggested that we should all write a story about an evil book reviewer. Jason then came up with an excellent first chapter. I couldn’t resist, so wrote the second chapter. No one else on the forum contributed anything; I’m not sure whether Jason was feeling the same way as I was at the time but I really was excited about the story and wanted to get it written. A couple of days after I wrote my chapter Jason wrote another and it became clear that the rest of the members were happy to let us write the whole book. We ended up writing about 25K words in a couple of weeks, and that became the novella, Cutting The Fat, which needed hardly any editing, quite surprisingly. We’ve published it on Kindle if anyone’s interested.
And, as mentioned in one of my previous answers, I’m currently working on a novel with a fellow writer.
Where is your favourite place to write?
I dream of having a nice haven where I can do my writing, away from all the noise of everyday life. Eventually, I’d love to be able to escape somewhere like to a mountain village or something. For now, I make do with writing mostly at night in bed. I prefer it when it’s quiet and everyone else is in bed. There’s something about that time of night that brings out all the creativity and inspiration.
Best book you have read recently
There are two great books that deserve a mention that I’ve read recently. They are Killing Instinctby Darcia Helle, and Joe Soap by Andrew Peters
Well, thanks Maria for all of that. You can keep abreast of Maria's work and find links to her books and social networking sites via her website - http://www.mariasavva.com
Tune in on Monday for another book related post. Have a good weekend, Sooz
