Louisa George's Blog, page 3

WIP Wednesday

What is WIP? I hear you ask. It means Work In Progress and I thought I’d let you know where I’m up to on a couple of projects I’m doing.

Writing: I’m currently writing a ‘duet’ book with another medical romance author Sue Mackay. A duet is basically two books with an overarching arc and a separate romance in each story. Mine is the first story and Sue’s is the second. I’m very excited about it. It’s about two men who used to be old adversaries. Through a tragic event one owes the other his life and they’ve avoided each other for years but now they have to work together. What’s more exciting is that the books are set on a boat, in the Mediterranean, that rescues refugees from the sea and takes them to safe havens. I’ve been doing some research about this kind of boat and the Doctors Without Borders teams that work on them. It’s fascinating, and heartbreaking and inspirational. So why not give two of the team a happy ever after? They certainly deserve it. At this point I’m only 11,000 words into a 55,000 word story, but things are progressing. Luckily Sue and I have written two duets together before and we know how each other works. We have emails zipping back and forth about what a character would say or how he’d act etc…lots of fun.
Crochet: I am still plodding along with the Attic 24 Moorland blanket. It’s been hard learning the pattern and getting all the stitches to line up in the correct order and I still count out loud but I love the way it is growing and I can’t wait to have it finished… 2025 anyone?  This blanket is so dear to me, it’s supposed to be reflective of the Yorkshire moors in England, this is where I grew up and it makes me so homesick. When I’ve finished I’ll have a little bit of home to snuggle into.  At the moment I’m at the heather and grass stage….can’t wait to get to the blue sky!

 

3. Crochet: So it’s always important to have variety in your life, right? When we got back from our big trip earlier this year the Doc asked me to make him a chunky scarf like the ones he saw in Europe. So I did. Brown and thick and chunky to his specifications in length and width. But, even though he likes it and wears it a lot it’s not long enough (grrrr…..!!!) So he asked me to make another. I took him to a yarn shop (he looked both ways before he went in to make sure no one he knew saw him enter it!!!) and he chose a 4 ply merino/possum mix wool. The most expensive ran I have ever bought. And the most difficult to use because it’s a dark grey and so fine I have to wear a head torch when I’m crocheting so I can see the stitches. It’s not going well. So slow to grow and I’m not entirely sure I have the same number of stitches as when I started. I’ll keep you posted! (ETA just looking at this photo confirms it’s not the same width as when I started. Looks like I’ve got some ‘frogging’ to do! (Frogging is ripping out the stitches and starting over….)

Do you have any WIPS in progress? How’s it going for you?

Book review: The Dry by Jane Harper

If you’re anything like me you like to read across genres. Sometimes I feel like reading a romance, sometimes a thriller or a mystery…it’s so good to have so many choices these days!

The Dry by Jane Harper was recommended to me by lots of different people. A murder in a drought ridden Australian small town wouldn’t necessarily be a go-to choice for me but it was gripping read and one I enjoyed.  The blurb:

WHO REALLY KILLED THE HADLER FAMILY?

It hasn’t rained in Kiewarra for two years. Tensions in the farming community become unbearable when three members of the Hadler family are discovered shot to death on their property. Everyone assumes Luke Hadler committed suicide after slaughtering his wife and six-year-old son.

Federal Police investigator Aaron Falk returns to his hometown for the funerals and is unwillingly drawn into the investigation. As suspicion spreads through the town, Falk is forced to confront the community that rejected him twenty years earlier. Because Falk and his childhood friend Luke Hadler shared a secret, one which Luke’s death threatens to unearth …

The overwhelming feeling I got when I read this book was of an unbearable heat– Harper has created a place that is literally choking. Pressure cooker tension in a town that is dying made worse by the absence of rain…nothing to cleanse the place of its previous misdeeds, or to help them move on from a death that happened years ago. Tempers fly, fingers are pointed easily and fists and insults used regularly.

When police investigator Aaron Falk goes ‘home’ for the funeral of his old friend he is asked to stay on and help uncover the truth of the senseless deaths of his friend, wife and child. Old wounds are peeled open and Aaron is reluctant to stay, but something about the case makes him think it wasn’t a murder/suicide after all. So he agrees to help the new police officer and forms an uneasy friendship and working relationship.

But there are many who would rather Aaron left town again, as he did years ago, and staying lays Aaron open to abuse, threats and accusations. Old memories resurface, alongside the unsolved death of his almost-girlfriend twenty years ago. All fingers point to Aaron as the perpetrator and soon he is trying to solve a recent crime and clear his name at the same time.

Harper has a talent for twists and turns in the plot and I found myself guessing (wrongly!) over and again as to who had killed these innocents. She takes the reader down many paths, and eventually they all lead to uncovering the identity of the killer. But The Dry is more than a whodunnit, it’s a rollercoaster of emotions reminding us of the complexities of life and the difficulties of existing in a place where nature is stacked against us.

 

The Dry is available from all good bookstores and e-retailers.

 

Coming soon….Something Secret

Er…yes, it’s a book title! I’m not just announcing that I’m doing something secret…LOL

I did agonise over the name of the book. How to encapsulate a 62,000 word story in a couple of words? For my traditionally published books I don’t get a say in the title or the cover, but for my self published ones I get to choose everything!! (rubs hands with glee!)…but all that freedom is a double edged sword; what if I get it wrong? Most large publishing houses have market research people who interview readers regarding titles and covers and what compels them to buy a book. Me? I have just my gut and experience.

So when it came to choosing a title for Kat’s story I nutted it down to the plot, to what we all like know about, what we all have somewhere in our cupboards….secrets.

And Kat’s got one or two…

Here’s the blurb…

After being scammed by her own boyfriend Katriona Croft is big on honesty and loyalty. No way will she ever fall again for some two-bit scammer with a pretty face. But when Gabe Cassidy arrives in Portobello with a story about secrets and lies, and touting the sexiest smile she’s ever seen, all her resolve is blown apart and her loyalty to her best friend is sorely tested.

All his life Gabe’s mantra has been that being alone is better than being broken. But when he overhears a conversation in a pub his life is tipped upside down and instead of being alone he finds himself very much in the middle of a big family feud. Kat Croft seems to be the key to fixing it all, but any alone time with her makes things even more complicated…

Can Gabe convince the woman who has lost all trust to take a chance on sharing a whole lot more than secrets?

Stay tuned for a cover reveal!!!!

Travel planning – bag for a 9 week trip

My husband has a sabbatical coming up and we’re taking advantage and going traveling for 9 weeks, leaving near the end of March and entering Europe’s spring (we hope! The ‘Beast from the East’ icy blast has made us rethink our packing needs a little!). One of the joys of being an empty nester is that we now have the freedom to up and leave without worrying about the kids (although we have had to find a house sitter for the 15 year old cat!! LOL)

But nine weeks! Wow. I am so excited! It has been such fun to organise and we’re staying in a range of places, some expensive, some budget and traveling by plane, train and car so we get to experience as much as possible without just flying from one country to another.

We have so many places lined up to visit and so many different things planned (including a weekend in Vancouver, an Easter wedding in UK, a romantic trip to Paris, a family catch up weekend in Barcelona, a 10 day hike in Northern Spain, a restful week in Portugal, a gourmet visit to southern Italy, a tour of Russia and a two day stopover in Shanghai – whoa! I’m exhausted just saying it!) but I’m facing the usual dilemma…what to pack? And what to pack it into?

We did a trial packing run a couple of weeks ago and came to the conclusion that the bag I was going to take wasn’t big enough. I’m conscious of the fact I will be lugging this bag around a lot and don’t want to make it too heavy (after all, you can pack the same number of items for 1 week as you can 9, right?) but I do have a lot of stuff to take, such as hiking boots, walking poles, wedding attire etc. It has to be easy to manoeuvre with wheels to tug behind me and have straps for carrying like a rucksack for when I’m in train stations and have to do numerous steps. It also has to fit my frame. I’ma hobbit by birth, reaching 5’1″ in my stocking feet, so anything that has a frame and straps needs to be adjustable to fit me and be (as) comfortable (as possible). It also has to have handy internal pockets where I can easily store (and find) all those little things you want to get your hands on quickly.

Research brought us to the Osprey Sojourn 80 which (after trying it in the shop) seems to be perfect for the job. It is good fitting, has great wheels that are big enough to haul up deep curbs and lots of internal pockets.

 

Time will tell! (But look at that colour!! I’m never going to miss that on airport carousels now, am I?)

Oh the joys of travel and packing!!! Getting excited now!

 

 

New medical romance cover reveal!

I’m what you call a HYBRID author…this means some of my books are published with a traditional publisher (Harlequin Mills and Boon and Harper Collins) and some of them I publish myself.

For the ones I self-publish I get to oversee every part of the publishing process, but for the trad published ones I have little input into the title, back cover blurb or cover. So it’s always a lovely surprise when I find one of my upcoming releases online and I get to see what’s been chosen for me.

The other day I was trawling through Amazon and I came across my May 2018 release: REUNITED BY THEIR SECRET SON and I was thrilled with the cover! So, without further ado…drum roll………. ta dah! Here it is……

Isn’t it gorgeous?!?!?!????  I LOVED writing this book and it’s quite an emotional ride but I was so happy to give Finn and Sophie a very happy future!  Here’s the blurb:

It started with one night…

Will it end with them becoming a family?

Sophie can never forget her sizzling encounter with gorgeous stranger Finn. How can she, when her beloved little boy’s a daily reminder? And she can’t forgive Finn for disappearing without a trace afterwards. But she’s shocked to come face-to-face with him at her son’s physio appointment, and sees how much he’s changed… Could this be their chance to finally become a family?

 

The eagle-eyed ones amongst you will recognise Finn as Callum Baird’s brother in THE NURSE’S SPECIAL DELIVERY (released December 2017). So, if you remember reading about Finn’s accident that claimed his leg and almost his life and you got wondering how he was doing, well….this book is available in May 2018. Pre-orders available on Amazon or mark your diaries now!!

What do you think? Do you like the new Mills and Boon covers?

 

 

Something Borrowed series inspiration

I’m often asked where I get ideas from and, after 24 books, whether I’m running out of things to write about. But I always say that everyone has a story and I’m a good listener- there’s always heaps of inspiration out there! Of course, I’d never write about anyone’s particular experiences, but I may ‘borrow’ some ideas every now and then! When writing a series it’s doubly hard to mesh characters, stories and settings and I needed to find a place where a group of young women from different backgrounds might meet. Small town romance is hugely popular because readers get to know a setting and grow to love the people who live there, but being a city girl I don’t know much about small towns. But I do know that within cities there are clusters of people who grow together and develop small communities of their own. I wanted to capture some of that, and they say you should write what you know. So, I went back to my roots!

When I was young and looking for love myself (although I didn’t know it at the time!) I moved to London and trained to be a nurse. I loved my job and I loved living in this amazing and vibrant city. I eventually found love (with a very gorgeous doctor) at a hospital in Ladbroke Grove where we both worked. Ladbroke Grove edges Portobello market and Notting Hill and I spent many months/years there exploring this very eclectic neighbourhood with people from all walks of life and ethnicities. I loved the place. I also love the movie, Notting Hill (starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts) and, of course, the other London lovelorn character, Bridget Jones. So where better to set a book series than there?

Throughout my life I’ve moved around a bit, being forced to make new friends and meet people in new places. The one thing I’ve always found reassuring and wonderful is that women are very welcoming and accommodating to the new kid on the block. I have made so many friends with amazing women that I wanted to celebrate the special and of women friends in my books too. I’ve also spent time with women of all ages in various book groups along the way- so what batter way to celebrate a shared love of reading than to pivot the series around women in a book group? (Of course, these women never actually read the books…but they do like a good chat and drinking wine- women after my own hearts!!)

 

All of my books have some humour in them. I generally find that the best humour comes out of difficult situations (maybe that’s the gallows humour nurse thing…I don’t know). But I love to hear that my readers laughed out loud when they read my books, I also like to know that they’ve maybe even shed a tear. Without dark you don’t have light. If I hear that one of readers has laughed and cried than I feel I have done my job properly!

And all of my books have a satisfying ending – life is too complicated and messy to read depressing books!

Finally, I’m asked a lot about book four in the series – and yes, it is in the works! I have a busy schedule next year with a fair amount of traveling, but I’m anticipating getting book four out around August 2018…watch this space. Oh, and sign up for my newsletter so you get to know exact details of all my releases and special offers / giveaways! The link is at the bottom of this page or at the top of my homepage.  Louisa xx

 

TGIF! Film review: Victoria and Abdul

Last night was the first girls’ night out in a long time. We’re all busy bringing up families and working etc, but decided we needed to go out and have some fun. We had a lovely Italian meal, wine (a little to much) and a movie which made us laugh and (almost) cry. Not a weepie, but a lovely story about a friendship between two unlikely people.

Victoria and Abdul chronicles the relationship between an 81 year old Queen Victoria and Abdul Karim, a lowly Indian clerk brought to England to present Her Majesty with a commemorative coin. Karim had a loveable, cheeky manner and was soon brought into Victoria’s household as a footman, then a teacher of Urdu and quickly became one of her favourites, despite the horrified reaction of her staff and family. Apparently, the movie is based on a true story only recently come to light as shortly after Victoria’s death Karim was sent back to India with his family and all traces of him and their correspondence were erased by her children.

It is a lovely movie, with a fabulous performance by Judi Dench as the cantankerous queen who is at times spectacularly difficult but also tender and sweet, and Ali Fazal as fun loving Abdul Karim. Have you seen it? What did you think?

Crochet progress, finished wip!

I try to make Wednesday a ‘work in progress’ update and today I should have blogged about my latest book (working title: “book 23” because I am so creative that’s all I can come up with!! No, actually, I lie… I’m thinking of calling it ‘Something Beginning With Mistletoe’ …it’s a Christmas book, but you guessed that, right?)

But the book is getting me down a little. Even after 22 books I still suffer from imposter syndrome (another blog post for another day!)

So today is just a quick update on my current work in progress my attic 24 bag. I LOVE the colours Lucy uses in her blog but I just wanted to use up some yarn I had left over from the wonky wobbly blanket I made (I’ll post the story of that particular crochet disaster another day!!).

Anyhoo, what with traveling and working I have taken ages to finish the bag but here it is!!

Cute eh? I used it today and felt so proud with it on my shoulder. I love the finishing touches of the flowers that hide where the straps attach to the bag. I also lined it. Badly. I put the lining in inside out, in fact. Yes. But because I’m not a perfectionist I decided to leave it as it is. I’m the only one who knows (apart from you now, obviously) and I don’t care.

Oh, a top tip from a bad crocheter… I used 4 buttons on the flowers and chose one to be a different colour so I’d always know which side was the front of the bag and could therefore ensure to hide the dropped stitches and bad row joins! Hey, I’m a beginner!

The Other Life Of Charlotte Evans release day!

Exciting news!!

My new women’s fiction novel is now live where all good ebooks can be bought!  I’m so excited about this book! It’s a side step away from romance, although there are romantic elements and all the usual things you’d expect from a Louisa George book: humour, a little heat and a satisfying emotional journey.

Here’s the official blurb:

Would you sacrifice your future to understand your past?

Life is rosy for dance studio owner Charlotte Evans, who is about to marry beloved fiancé, Ben. But when Ben finds a lump in Charlotte’s breast, it sends her on a journey of self-discovery which she knows she must do alone. Because Charlotte is adopted, and she suddenly, desperately, needs to know who she is and where she comes from.

Finding and reconnecting with her birth family, the life Charlotte could have had unfolds before her. As her wedding day draws closer, and her past merges ever more into her present, Charlotte must decide on the future she really wants…

Here’s the beautiful cover:

Here’s the Amazon.com link: Click here

The reviews are coming in and people are saying lovely things:

“This book has wonderful characters which you really care about. A storyline that keeps you guessing right up until the end and an emotional plot that had me blubbering many many times” Goodreads review

“This book really makes you appreciate your life and enjoy every second of it!” Goodreads review

Such a happy Saturday! I hope your weekend is going well too, wherever you are.

Louisa xx

TGIF! Batman strikes again!

I’ve had a lifelong fear/hatred of bats. Little mice with wings that can get tangled in your hair (it happened to my mum when she was 14, so maybe I’ve just inherited her fear). The horror!

So imagine if a bat got into your house, somehow. Let’s just say things didn’t go well for this Irish family! Happy weekend and I hope you don’t get bats in your belfry!! Are you a bat fan?