Carys Bray's Blog, page 2

Book Giveaway

I've been busy trying to finish off book 2 but on Friday I'll be enjoying the treat of chairing an event at Cheltenham with writers Claire Fuller and Sarah Leipciger. Their debut novels, Our Endless Numbered Days and The Mountain Can Wait, are excellent and I can't wait to find out more about them. It will be the first time I've chaired an event - I was so excited to do it that I went out and

Richard and Judy Book Club

The Richard and Judy Book Club is spotlighting A Song for Issy Bradley at the moment which means that some bonus content will be released on their website in the coming days. 

Here are a few links:

A piece I wrote about grief.

An author Q & A. 

A podcast interview with Richard and Judy.

Interview with Anne Goodwin

I'm surfacing from a few busy weeks to talk about Anne Godwin's debut Sugar and Snails which will be published on 23rd July in paperback and ebook.  I spoke to Anne about writing and the inspiration behind her novel. 

When
did you know that you wanted to write?





I’ve been making up stories for as
long as I can remember, telling them to my sister or writing them down. When I
was at

Some Reading

I don't get to read very much at the moment, which is a real shame, but I have read two fantastic books recently. Firstly, The Trouble with Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon. What a charming and beautifully written novel. The characters were memorable, the prose insightful, the descriptions deft - I was enchanted; I didn't want it to end.




Secondly, The Fair Fight by Anna Freeman, a novel

Desmond Elliott

Warmest congratulations to Claire Fuller who won the Desmond Elliott Prize last night, for her novel Our Endless Numbered Days. 






It's strange attending prize a prize ceremony and waiting for the announcement. The wait is really nerve-racking, but once the announcement has been made the rest of the evening is actually quite fun. And, in this case of this particular prize, not winning

Growing things

I'm in the middle of growing my second novel. I'm writing about allotments, and weeds, and sowing and reaping, which means that the time I spend at our allotment essentially counts as research. This makes me happy.

The fact that I'm writing about something I know (in this case allotments) doesn't make the novel autobiographical. I'm also writing about things I don't know - being a single

Authors' Club First Novel Award

On Wednesday evening it was the Authors' Club First Novel Award reception at the National Liberal Club. I won - something that doesn't feel real, but there is photographic evidence, so I suppose it must be true. I hadn't prepared anything to say, so I just grinned like a doofus and said thank you. 



It was a lovely day. Earlier, in the afternoon, Emma Healey, Claire Fuller and I met up at

A year since publication

This week it has been a year since A Song for Issy Bradley was published. It's been an amazing twelve months, easily the most interesting and exciting time of my life (cue the Dirty Dancing soundtrack). 

To celebrate I'm doing an Issy Bradley themed giveaway. In addition to a signed hardback and audiobook I'm also giving away a copy of my short story collection Sweet Home and some items that

New Books

There was a brief window between finishing my PhD and getting properly stuck into the first draft of novel 2 when I had time to read and enjoy some of the proofs I had been sent. Here are some brand-spanking new books that you'll be sure to enjoy when they are published in the coming weeks.



If you like suspenseful, frightening novels, you'll love Ruth Ware's In a Dark Dark Wood. Nora hasn't

Desmond Elliott Prize

I'm thrilled to discover that A Song for Issy Bradley has been shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize, alongside Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey and Our Endless Numbered Days by Claire Fuller.





It's especially exciting to be shortlisted with two books that I loved as a reader - I liked them so much that I've lent my copies to friends.