Miriam Halahmy's Blog

HIDDEN promotion FREE on Amazon

HIDDEN is available on Amazon Kindle this weekend until Sunday night June 7th and there will be a second promotion next weekend if you miss this round. So do grab your download and feel free to leave an Amazon review if you enjoy the book.
I just checked out my stats and the book is listed as #730 in the free Kindle listings - moved up from several thousand in just two days. So I think people are enjoying it.
Here's the download link.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hidden-Haylin...

My upstairs book and my downstairs book.

Interesting that Goodreads doesn't recognise the books I am currently reading, so I'll put them up here.
Firstly - The Corpse Washer by Sinan Antoon, translated from Arabic by the author, who won the Banipal 2015 prize for his excellent translation.
Set in Baghdad during Saddam Hussein's regime and his brutal war against Iran, this novel gives a wonderful picture of life in Iraq, a world we never really see. As my husband and all of his family were born in Iraq, we are always eager to read books set there. Beautifully written - I'm halfway through and would already recommend it.
Secondly - I've just got Pompeii. The life of a Roman Town, by Mary Beard, as I was there last week and now I'm hungry to read more. I like to have an upstairs book and a downstairs book.
How about you?

Italy, Vesuvius and living the dream

Writers need to travel to stretch their imaginations and look to new horizons. So I have just come back from Italy where I finally fulfilled a childhood dream. To walk up Vesuvius - possibly the most famous volcano in the world because it covered the Roman city of Pompeii in 79 AD and left us a complete preserved museum. Very sad for the inhabitants but a treasure for us.
I first visited Pompeii when I was twelve and since then it has been a real desire to climb the mountain and stare down into the monstrous crater. I finally achieved this last week and on the lip of the crater saw steam escaping from the boiling magma 14 miles beneath the surface and smelt the sulphur.
Will I write a novel set in ancient Pompeii? Who knows, but I certainly have enough material if I decide to.
Have you ever climbed a volcano?

Dealing with Writer's Block

If you are suffering from Writer's Block, or something similar, take a look at my guest post on Craft Of Writing, a great new blog by author Lorrie Porter. Lorrie and I share an agent, Eve White and a publisher, Meadowside and will be meeting for the first time at the CWIG Conference in September.
Here's the link
http://lorrieporter.wordpress.com/201...

Getting away from it all

I'm away at a quiet retreat place in Sheepwash Devon. There are no sheep - well perhaps in the nearby fields, but I am in the village, with a beautiful little room overlooking the square and the pub. There's even a village shop stuffed to the brim with goodies and loads of useful things. The only problem is the rain but at the moment, that's a problem for everyone. So I'm just chilling in my study bedroom, writing the new book and taking time out to catch up on Goodreads. I've taken some great photos - haven't a clue how to post them here - so watch out for a new blogpost on The Edge site in the next few weeks.
If you are writing - hope you are enjoying it and signing off from deepest Devon.

BBC Radio Solent

Had a great day in Portsmouth yesterday. Blackwells have a lovely display of Hidden and Illegal right by the door and encouraging sales along nicely.
Then I had my interview with Katie Martin,from BBC Radio Solent, who interviewed me last year. She loved Hidden and is really enjoying Illegal and said, "they are fascinating stories, and although they are aimed at younger readers they are really enjoyable for adults too.!
Terrific, thanks Katie.
You can listen to the interview here - 34 minutes into the programme after Rick Astley
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/...

ILLEGAL on the radio

I will be interviewed on BBC Radio Solent at 1.30pm on Monday March 26th by Katie Martin about ILLEGAL. Katie interviewed me last year when HIDDEN came out and called it a crossover novel, as appealing to adults as children and teens. Must try not to get too nervous this time - she is a lovely interviewer!