Sophy Layzell's Blog
February 1, 2022
Book reviews and guest authors
My blog is full of book reviews that i post at the end of every month. I read a wide range of genres, from historical fiction to sci-fi, alternate reality fantasy, YA, literary fiction, crime and contemporary fiction.
Some books are new ARC, others are old classics and I have favourites from both self published and traditionally published authors.
Mid-month I feature guest authors and usually have a little Q&A session to find out their current WIP and motivations.
Do get in touch if you'd like to be featured.
https://www.sophylayzell.com/blog-1
Some books are new ARC, others are old classics and I have favourites from both self published and traditionally published authors.
Mid-month I feature guest authors and usually have a little Q&A session to find out their current WIP and motivations.
Do get in touch if you'd like to be featured.
https://www.sophylayzell.com/blog-1
August 13, 2021
Welcome Chantelle Atkins guest author
Chantelle Atkins is a local author who I think produces new work even faster than I do!
I have read A Song for Bill Robinson, the first in her Holds End series and absolutely loved it. My full review is here.
Chantelle does a great deal to encourage other authors and young writers. Have a look at the Chasing Driftwood page (link to my interview here)
Chantelle welcome to my blog, my first question, is where did the story of Bill and his friends come from?
Thank you for having me! I actually got the idea when I was 16 years old and I even wrote a very early version of it at that age. I was partly inspired by the film The Commitments which is about a group of working class musicians that form a band. The rest of the plot just came by itself once I had my characters in place. In 2016 I found an old suitcase under my bed with tons of forgotten stories I had started when I was young. The early version of the book was there, complete with a plot and character bios. I just knew I had to rewrite it and get it done! The characters changed a bit and as they took control, they suggested more sub-plots and future plots and by the time I got started I knew I had a trilogy on my hands.
Your character building and the setting is very strong. Are most of your stories about young people? If so, why?
Thank you! I always start with the characters and they will grow and grow in my head, suggesting back stories and plots, so by the time I start to write it, I know them very well. Yes, most of my stories are about young people. Even the ones aimed at adults, (Elliot Pie’s Guide To Human Nature and This Is Nowhere have young protagonists!) I think it’s because the stories I come up with just suit this age range better. I’m not interested in growing up myself and I have avoided it as much as possible, so I think it comes from that too!
As an Indie author, what’s the greatest challenge you have faced so far?
Selling the books and working out who my audience is. My books can be hard to classify and I write across the genres, whatever I fancy, so I can’t just call myself a YA author or a crime writer or anything like that. I go through phases of trying really hard to market them and spread the word and then I go through phases of barely bothering because I would rather be writing! But yes, getting them out there and figuring out how to market them is and probably always will be the greatest challenge.
Do you read the same kind of stories that you write?
I try to, because I certainly write the kinds of books I want to read, and I think that’s important to do as a writer. The Catcher In The Rye is one of my favourite books ever and I adore everything written by S.E Hinton, especially The Outsiders, which influenced me a lot as a young writer. I am a huge fan of Stephen King and Charles Bukowski, and although they are very different, they both focus on characterisation, which I really like. I like dark, gritty stories with unlikely heroes. I’ll read pretty much any genre so long as the characters are good!
What can we expect in the future from you?
I’m relaunching my short story collection Bird People and Other Stories very soon with a new cover and a few extra stories. All of them are related to my novels so it works as a nice little introduction to my work. After that I will release a brand new poetry and short story collection which is almost ready. My current work-in-progress is a four-book post-apocalyptic YA series. I am almost at the end of the first draft of book three. I don’t plan to release any until all four are written in case I make changes! I am also working on a supernatural YA trilogy with author Sim Alec Sansford. It’s the first time I have written with another author and it’s been a brilliant experience! We are about half-way through the final book and again, we won’t be releasing any of them until all three are finished and we are completely happy. We also have another YA series in the planning stages that we will write together. And I have a book in the planning stages which will be a spin-off from The Boy With The Thorn In His Side series!
How can my readers follow you or get in touch?
Feel free to follow my blog The Glorious Outsiders https://chantelleatkins.com/
My Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/chantelleatk...
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chantelleat...
I have read A Song for Bill Robinson, the first in her Holds End series and absolutely loved it. My full review is here.
Chantelle does a great deal to encourage other authors and young writers. Have a look at the Chasing Driftwood page (link to my interview here)
Chantelle welcome to my blog, my first question, is where did the story of Bill and his friends come from?
Thank you for having me! I actually got the idea when I was 16 years old and I even wrote a very early version of it at that age. I was partly inspired by the film The Commitments which is about a group of working class musicians that form a band. The rest of the plot just came by itself once I had my characters in place. In 2016 I found an old suitcase under my bed with tons of forgotten stories I had started when I was young. The early version of the book was there, complete with a plot and character bios. I just knew I had to rewrite it and get it done! The characters changed a bit and as they took control, they suggested more sub-plots and future plots and by the time I got started I knew I had a trilogy on my hands.
Your character building and the setting is very strong. Are most of your stories about young people? If so, why?
Thank you! I always start with the characters and they will grow and grow in my head, suggesting back stories and plots, so by the time I start to write it, I know them very well. Yes, most of my stories are about young people. Even the ones aimed at adults, (Elliot Pie’s Guide To Human Nature and This Is Nowhere have young protagonists!) I think it’s because the stories I come up with just suit this age range better. I’m not interested in growing up myself and I have avoided it as much as possible, so I think it comes from that too!
As an Indie author, what’s the greatest challenge you have faced so far?
Selling the books and working out who my audience is. My books can be hard to classify and I write across the genres, whatever I fancy, so I can’t just call myself a YA author or a crime writer or anything like that. I go through phases of trying really hard to market them and spread the word and then I go through phases of barely bothering because I would rather be writing! But yes, getting them out there and figuring out how to market them is and probably always will be the greatest challenge.
Do you read the same kind of stories that you write?
I try to, because I certainly write the kinds of books I want to read, and I think that’s important to do as a writer. The Catcher In The Rye is one of my favourite books ever and I adore everything written by S.E Hinton, especially The Outsiders, which influenced me a lot as a young writer. I am a huge fan of Stephen King and Charles Bukowski, and although they are very different, they both focus on characterisation, which I really like. I like dark, gritty stories with unlikely heroes. I’ll read pretty much any genre so long as the characters are good!
What can we expect in the future from you?
I’m relaunching my short story collection Bird People and Other Stories very soon with a new cover and a few extra stories. All of them are related to my novels so it works as a nice little introduction to my work. After that I will release a brand new poetry and short story collection which is almost ready. My current work-in-progress is a four-book post-apocalyptic YA series. I am almost at the end of the first draft of book three. I don’t plan to release any until all four are written in case I make changes! I am also working on a supernatural YA trilogy with author Sim Alec Sansford. It’s the first time I have written with another author and it’s been a brilliant experience! We are about half-way through the final book and again, we won’t be releasing any of them until all three are finished and we are completely happy. We also have another YA series in the planning stages that we will write together. And I have a book in the planning stages which will be a spin-off from The Boy With The Thorn In His Side series!
How can my readers follow you or get in touch?
Feel free to follow my blog The Glorious Outsiders https://chantelleatkins.com/
My Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/chantelleatk...
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chantelleat...
Welcome Neil Mach guest author
Neil and I met on twitter when I put a call out for ARC reviewers. He kindly offered to feature me on his Podcast ‘Myth and Magic’. We talked about the writing process, and my dystopian trilogy so it seems only fair that I find out a little bit more about Neil in return.
You’ve been a music journalist and author for several years publishing at least one novel a year since 2015, is that correct? Where do you find inspiration?
Hi, thanks for inviting me as your guest. I think a lot about well-being, wholeness and happiness while doing various household chores, or engaging in alternative hobbies such as cooking and gardening. I think that’s when visions & daydreams develop into bigger, multifaceted stories. Inspiration means to “breathe life into” something so in my (audacious) opinion, it’s simply not “good enough” to think-up stories — as artists we also have a duty to record our ideas and package them into published products if we want to make a distinction in this world. I guess what I’m saying here is that I attempt to collect all the ideas that float around in the neverland of imagination and try to harness and solidify them — I suppose cement them into place — by placing them into a book, at least once a year. I am a big fan of NaNoWriMo (the National Novel Writing Month of November) and I’ve been competing in the 50k challenge since I wrote “The Last Music Bearer” in 30 days, back in 2014. The strictness and discipline of a month-long write-in with other like-minded authors supercharges my sense of perseverance to get the job done. I don’t cheat: I start (and finish) a 50k plus word manuscript within the month. Of course, the outcome is only a rough draft and it will take at least three edits before its ready for public consumption. But at least it’s done. I also competed in the 85k in 90 Days annual writing challenge a few times (a higher word count but longer time to accomplish it) and it helped focus my mind and got me to apply myself with some level of sincerity. Otherwise, without these sort of annual challenges, I fear I’d be tilting along at my own speed, forever toppling, tipping and lurching from one flight-of-fancy to another.
In your novels you focus on strong women, you also place great emphasis on duty and loyalty. Why do you think this is?
Great question! I think this is a two-in-one question, so I’d like to tackle powerful women first: I come from an “all female” family and an all-female world. Let me explain: I was raised with three sisters (I’m the oldest) and my mother was superhuman — almost herculean — in her potency and authority. That’s because my father was a London policeman and all children of police officers will tell you their police-parents are rarely “around” as they grow-up. Even when a police-parent is physically present, he or she is very often not emotionally present. So my Mum was the controller and supervisor of our family, rather than the nurturing presence you might expect a mother to be. My Dad was always doing early-turn, late-turn and night duty shifts so we kids needed to be “kept quiet” while he slept. We’d work on silent projects while Dad recovered from the various ordeals of being a busy shift-working, beat copper... we’d rarely see him from one week to the next. My sisters and I made “our own entertainment” and we had to be silent. We would spend time drawing, painting, writing, and sewing. We weren’t really allowed to talk (because talk turned into bickering) and weren’t allowed to play in the street in case it made a noise. It was an upbringing that, of course, cultivated a love for creative-play and recreation through silent mental imagery. I ought to point-out that this was during the late 1950s and early Sixties, when most families had no television, and of course no computer games or any other electronic distractions. We had a valve radio but weren’t permitted to turn it on unless my Dad was around. Fortunately, my Mum was an artist, painter, crafter and brilliant dressmaker, so she helped my sisters and I learn handicrafts and she was really encouraging. I was also a dancer, singer and “show person” from a tender young age (my parents signed me up to a theatre school when I was five.) Looking back on those days now, I realize I was the Billy Elliot type character of our local community. So, naturally, all the sporty boys in our neighborhood scorned and ridiculed me... not that it mattered much to me because I had plenty of female friends and lots to be getting on with... plus the boys didn’t dare physically attack me because of what my Dad did for a living! As a “show person” I had dance workshops three evenings a week and all day on Saturday if there was a show to perform. I’m sure you can imagine that my world, both in-and-out of the family home, was filled with strong female role-models... for example, I was the only boy in a ballet class of twenty! All my friends from the age of six to sixteen were female! As far as duty and loyalty go: being raised in a super-strict family by the wife of a police officer meant being ever-judicious, ever-trustworthy and acting super-responsibly all the time. My sisters and I were routinely told our behavior would be examined, assessed and analysed by “neighbors in the street” who’d be secretly hoping to see inconsistency or shortcomings. Therefore, my sisters and I were never complacent: we had to be seen to be “better than good” at all times. It’s also worth acknowledging that these perspectives and other standards of good behavior were literally clouted into us in a way that wouldn’t be acceptable these days: my Mum and Dad were both quite physical, and at school the teachers brandished canes (I had a loathsome teacher named Miss Manning-Legg who routinely caned me for the tiniest infractions) while my dance teacher carried (and used) a big stick to “help me” understand things better. So, loyalty and duty got beaten-into me from a tender young age.
The pandemic has changed so many things. How do you think it has changed the publishing industry and on a personal level have you found it harder or easier to promote your work?
In most ways, writing is a lonesome activity. Authors enjoy peace-and-quiet and prefer their own company. When I went to author events (prior to 2020) other authors often flabbergasted me by how scowling and beetle-browed they could be. Often they were downright unwelcoming! And this was when they were attending a networking event! Goodness knows what they must have been like, at home, during lock-down. I put this lack of gregariousness down to habitual reclusive isolationism during long periods of writing. So, yeah, I think authors are insular animals, happy in their self-made confinement and pleased to distance themselves from others. Therefore, the act of writing is not troubled by things like global lock-down. And figures seem to suggest that book sales have reached an 8-year high (not just e-books but print books too) with more 200m paperbacks sold during the pandemic, these are the best physical-book sales since 2012, according to the Publishers Association. I don’t like to think of the pandemic as a boon because this terrible disease is a calamity that has impacted upon and battered many lives, yet I don’t think it’s hindered the publishing industry. On a personal level, I’m now a full-time writer so, yeah, I’m happy in confinement. Though I would have liked to have seen my kids and grand-kids a bit more over the last 18 months. And I missed going to church services. But I coped moderately well.
I see on your website you have a new trilogy on the way. Can you tell us anything about it yet?
Ha ha! My trilogy is (almost) finished. Book One in the “Moondog” trilogy Neil Mach“Moondog and the Reed Leopard” came out in 2019 and it’s a crime fiction novel with a twist. Moondog is a member of the Roma (itinerant) community and because of a background in paranormal research, he becomes engaged by a television program to be a preternatural detective. There are multiple plot twists and elements of detective fiction in the novel, but at its core, it’s a 21st century urban fantasy with magic, cryptids, and mysterious events. The plot revolves around a female teenage protagonist who begins the story as an intermediary between officials, but soon becomes Moondog’s assistant in a fight against evil. Moondog’s cultural upbringing is more than just a gimmick: his gypsy ethnicity is intrinsically linked with a wild temperament and nomadic lifestyle and he has a natural affinity for pantheism, spirituality, and transcendentalism. But don’t let those bewildering notions put-you-off, “Reed Leopard” is just a fun mystery-scamper with a cute teenage participant who has her own issues to deal with (for example, she has an annoying ex-boyf who won’t let her go) — it’s a story filled with surprise and wonder!
I’m currently narrating Book Two of the series, titled “Moondog and the Dark Arches”. It sees Moondog team-up with a teenage librarian who lives in a peculiar feudal village. This new teen side-kick possesses a remarkable ability: she can fly from her own body and hook into another person. Moondog utilises these magical skills to investigate why another young woman jumped from an ancient bridge in the village, having ostensibly escaped a pagan ritual.
I wrote Book Three “Moondog and the Scarce Vapour” last year for NaNoWriMo and it’s due out this autumn. This story sees Moondog team-up with a post-grad science student who studies at a state-of-the-art university near Wales. She tells Moondog that a primeval phantasm visited her to tell her it had been “murdered”. So Moondog needs to investigate the “murder” of an immortal entity while, at the same time, he’s hunted by an undercover police unit.
You are always busy, if not with the novels, then with your podcast, how do you unwind?
I have at least four books on my “currently reading” list and I generally read four books at once! Though, if I’m editing, I read little chunks rather than undertake any long binge-sessions. I like to watch TV shows too (I collect DVD’s so I watch box-sets the old-fashioned way.) Currently, I’m enjoying the Breaking Bad spin-off “Better Call Saul” and I’m re-watching the HBO series “Treme.” I do all the cooking at home (my wife of forty years is happy to leave the kitchen to me, and has done so, since we were first got married) and I do all my recipes “from scratch.” At the moment I love preparing North African meals (tagines, couscous) but I also love Southeast Asian cuisine (my youngest daughter lives part-time in Malaysia and inspired me to get better at Asian cooking). When I’m not physically cooking, I can be found sourcing ingredients or planning recipes! I enjoy a bit of cosplay (I’m not very good at it, if I’m honest) so if you find me using Google images you’ll probably see photos of me dressed in a bunch of silly, colourful, and unlikely outfits at various fantasy events. If all that sounds rather tame and perhaps even metrosexual, please understand that I’m a silver-haired old gent now and probably approaching my second childhood — though my adult life has been bumper-packed with thrills, spills and commotion. I’ve done just about every exciting pursuit you can imagine from mountain leadership to body-guarding, from professional motorbiking to marathon running, and from sword-fighting to driving tanks! And everything in between. I’ve lived a very manly-man’s life! I tell you this in case you think I’m a bit effeminate... not that I mind (I’ve never cared about the sniping) though I always take a stand against prejudice, discrimination, and intolerance.
If you’d like to know more about Neil’s work please find him on:
https://neilmach.me/
You’ve been a music journalist and author for several years publishing at least one novel a year since 2015, is that correct? Where do you find inspiration?
Hi, thanks for inviting me as your guest. I think a lot about well-being, wholeness and happiness while doing various household chores, or engaging in alternative hobbies such as cooking and gardening. I think that’s when visions & daydreams develop into bigger, multifaceted stories. Inspiration means to “breathe life into” something so in my (audacious) opinion, it’s simply not “good enough” to think-up stories — as artists we also have a duty to record our ideas and package them into published products if we want to make a distinction in this world. I guess what I’m saying here is that I attempt to collect all the ideas that float around in the neverland of imagination and try to harness and solidify them — I suppose cement them into place — by placing them into a book, at least once a year. I am a big fan of NaNoWriMo (the National Novel Writing Month of November) and I’ve been competing in the 50k challenge since I wrote “The Last Music Bearer” in 30 days, back in 2014. The strictness and discipline of a month-long write-in with other like-minded authors supercharges my sense of perseverance to get the job done. I don’t cheat: I start (and finish) a 50k plus word manuscript within the month. Of course, the outcome is only a rough draft and it will take at least three edits before its ready for public consumption. But at least it’s done. I also competed in the 85k in 90 Days annual writing challenge a few times (a higher word count but longer time to accomplish it) and it helped focus my mind and got me to apply myself with some level of sincerity. Otherwise, without these sort of annual challenges, I fear I’d be tilting along at my own speed, forever toppling, tipping and lurching from one flight-of-fancy to another.
In your novels you focus on strong women, you also place great emphasis on duty and loyalty. Why do you think this is?
Great question! I think this is a two-in-one question, so I’d like to tackle powerful women first: I come from an “all female” family and an all-female world. Let me explain: I was raised with three sisters (I’m the oldest) and my mother was superhuman — almost herculean — in her potency and authority. That’s because my father was a London policeman and all children of police officers will tell you their police-parents are rarely “around” as they grow-up. Even when a police-parent is physically present, he or she is very often not emotionally present. So my Mum was the controller and supervisor of our family, rather than the nurturing presence you might expect a mother to be. My Dad was always doing early-turn, late-turn and night duty shifts so we kids needed to be “kept quiet” while he slept. We’d work on silent projects while Dad recovered from the various ordeals of being a busy shift-working, beat copper... we’d rarely see him from one week to the next. My sisters and I made “our own entertainment” and we had to be silent. We would spend time drawing, painting, writing, and sewing. We weren’t really allowed to talk (because talk turned into bickering) and weren’t allowed to play in the street in case it made a noise. It was an upbringing that, of course, cultivated a love for creative-play and recreation through silent mental imagery. I ought to point-out that this was during the late 1950s and early Sixties, when most families had no television, and of course no computer games or any other electronic distractions. We had a valve radio but weren’t permitted to turn it on unless my Dad was around. Fortunately, my Mum was an artist, painter, crafter and brilliant dressmaker, so she helped my sisters and I learn handicrafts and she was really encouraging. I was also a dancer, singer and “show person” from a tender young age (my parents signed me up to a theatre school when I was five.) Looking back on those days now, I realize I was the Billy Elliot type character of our local community. So, naturally, all the sporty boys in our neighborhood scorned and ridiculed me... not that it mattered much to me because I had plenty of female friends and lots to be getting on with... plus the boys didn’t dare physically attack me because of what my Dad did for a living! As a “show person” I had dance workshops three evenings a week and all day on Saturday if there was a show to perform. I’m sure you can imagine that my world, both in-and-out of the family home, was filled with strong female role-models... for example, I was the only boy in a ballet class of twenty! All my friends from the age of six to sixteen were female! As far as duty and loyalty go: being raised in a super-strict family by the wife of a police officer meant being ever-judicious, ever-trustworthy and acting super-responsibly all the time. My sisters and I were routinely told our behavior would be examined, assessed and analysed by “neighbors in the street” who’d be secretly hoping to see inconsistency or shortcomings. Therefore, my sisters and I were never complacent: we had to be seen to be “better than good” at all times. It’s also worth acknowledging that these perspectives and other standards of good behavior were literally clouted into us in a way that wouldn’t be acceptable these days: my Mum and Dad were both quite physical, and at school the teachers brandished canes (I had a loathsome teacher named Miss Manning-Legg who routinely caned me for the tiniest infractions) while my dance teacher carried (and used) a big stick to “help me” understand things better. So, loyalty and duty got beaten-into me from a tender young age.
The pandemic has changed so many things. How do you think it has changed the publishing industry and on a personal level have you found it harder or easier to promote your work?
In most ways, writing is a lonesome activity. Authors enjoy peace-and-quiet and prefer their own company. When I went to author events (prior to 2020) other authors often flabbergasted me by how scowling and beetle-browed they could be. Often they were downright unwelcoming! And this was when they were attending a networking event! Goodness knows what they must have been like, at home, during lock-down. I put this lack of gregariousness down to habitual reclusive isolationism during long periods of writing. So, yeah, I think authors are insular animals, happy in their self-made confinement and pleased to distance themselves from others. Therefore, the act of writing is not troubled by things like global lock-down. And figures seem to suggest that book sales have reached an 8-year high (not just e-books but print books too) with more 200m paperbacks sold during the pandemic, these are the best physical-book sales since 2012, according to the Publishers Association. I don’t like to think of the pandemic as a boon because this terrible disease is a calamity that has impacted upon and battered many lives, yet I don’t think it’s hindered the publishing industry. On a personal level, I’m now a full-time writer so, yeah, I’m happy in confinement. Though I would have liked to have seen my kids and grand-kids a bit more over the last 18 months. And I missed going to church services. But I coped moderately well.
I see on your website you have a new trilogy on the way. Can you tell us anything about it yet?
Ha ha! My trilogy is (almost) finished. Book One in the “Moondog” trilogy Neil Mach“Moondog and the Reed Leopard” came out in 2019 and it’s a crime fiction novel with a twist. Moondog is a member of the Roma (itinerant) community and because of a background in paranormal research, he becomes engaged by a television program to be a preternatural detective. There are multiple plot twists and elements of detective fiction in the novel, but at its core, it’s a 21st century urban fantasy with magic, cryptids, and mysterious events. The plot revolves around a female teenage protagonist who begins the story as an intermediary between officials, but soon becomes Moondog’s assistant in a fight against evil. Moondog’s cultural upbringing is more than just a gimmick: his gypsy ethnicity is intrinsically linked with a wild temperament and nomadic lifestyle and he has a natural affinity for pantheism, spirituality, and transcendentalism. But don’t let those bewildering notions put-you-off, “Reed Leopard” is just a fun mystery-scamper with a cute teenage participant who has her own issues to deal with (for example, she has an annoying ex-boyf who won’t let her go) — it’s a story filled with surprise and wonder!
I’m currently narrating Book Two of the series, titled “Moondog and the Dark Arches”. It sees Moondog team-up with a teenage librarian who lives in a peculiar feudal village. This new teen side-kick possesses a remarkable ability: she can fly from her own body and hook into another person. Moondog utilises these magical skills to investigate why another young woman jumped from an ancient bridge in the village, having ostensibly escaped a pagan ritual.
I wrote Book Three “Moondog and the Scarce Vapour” last year for NaNoWriMo and it’s due out this autumn. This story sees Moondog team-up with a post-grad science student who studies at a state-of-the-art university near Wales. She tells Moondog that a primeval phantasm visited her to tell her it had been “murdered”. So Moondog needs to investigate the “murder” of an immortal entity while, at the same time, he’s hunted by an undercover police unit.
You are always busy, if not with the novels, then with your podcast, how do you unwind?
I have at least four books on my “currently reading” list and I generally read four books at once! Though, if I’m editing, I read little chunks rather than undertake any long binge-sessions. I like to watch TV shows too (I collect DVD’s so I watch box-sets the old-fashioned way.) Currently, I’m enjoying the Breaking Bad spin-off “Better Call Saul” and I’m re-watching the HBO series “Treme.” I do all the cooking at home (my wife of forty years is happy to leave the kitchen to me, and has done so, since we were first got married) and I do all my recipes “from scratch.” At the moment I love preparing North African meals (tagines, couscous) but I also love Southeast Asian cuisine (my youngest daughter lives part-time in Malaysia and inspired me to get better at Asian cooking). When I’m not physically cooking, I can be found sourcing ingredients or planning recipes! I enjoy a bit of cosplay (I’m not very good at it, if I’m honest) so if you find me using Google images you’ll probably see photos of me dressed in a bunch of silly, colourful, and unlikely outfits at various fantasy events. If all that sounds rather tame and perhaps even metrosexual, please understand that I’m a silver-haired old gent now and probably approaching my second childhood — though my adult life has been bumper-packed with thrills, spills and commotion. I’ve done just about every exciting pursuit you can imagine from mountain leadership to body-guarding, from professional motorbiking to marathon running, and from sword-fighting to driving tanks! And everything in between. I’ve lived a very manly-man’s life! I tell you this in case you think I’m a bit effeminate... not that I mind (I’ve never cared about the sniping) though I always take a stand against prejudice, discrimination, and intolerance.
If you’d like to know more about Neil’s work please find him on:
https://neilmach.me/
May 18, 2021
Welcome Beth Linton Guest Author
I haven't met Beth yet, but I was pleased to discover she lives in North Wales, so my blog exchanges still have South West connections.
Beth focusses on romance, something that writers often have mixed feelings about. My blog on the subject 'Embracing Romance' is already on Beth's website. If you are a writer we'd love to know your views on the subject. Beth has very strong and clear ethics which in today's society is paramount.
Paranormal Romance: Alpha Males, Strong Women, & Consent
https://www.sophylayzell.com/post/welcome-to-my-may-2021-guest-author-beth-linton
Guest Blog ByBeth Linton Beth Linton
Beth focusses on romance, something that writers often have mixed feelings about. My blog on the subject 'Embracing Romance' is already on Beth's website. If you are a writer we'd love to know your views on the subject. Beth has very strong and clear ethics which in today's society is paramount.
Paranormal Romance: Alpha Males, Strong Women, & Consent
https://www.sophylayzell.com/post/welcome-to-my-may-2021-guest-author-beth-linton
Guest Blog ByBeth Linton Beth Linton
April 19, 2021
Welcome Catherine Randall guest author
Catherine and I share publishers and publishing date! We also share a similar theme, for her story is based during a real life epidemic, the plague in 1665-6 and mine of course is set in a fictional future pandemic where a gruesome flesh eating disease has wiped the majority of the population. Catherine and I follow each others endeavours to spread the word about our books and are hoping to meet this summer to share the highs and woes of releasing our debut novels during covid-19.
My interview with Catherine is now live on my website blog.
https://www.sophylayzell.com/post/welcome-to-my-april-2021-guest-author-catherine-randall
The White Phoenix
My interview with Catherine is now live on my website blog.
https://www.sophylayzell.com/post/welcome-to-my-april-2021-guest-author-catherine-randall
The White Phoenix
March 19, 2021
Blog exchange with Marcia Clayton
Looking for a Victorian historical romance? Marcia Clayton’s novels are set in Devon and already have glowing reviews. If you are a Catherine Cookson fan, I recommend you support this local independent author!
Marcia is my March guest author, find out more on my blog.
The Mazzard Tree
The Angel Maker
Marcia Clayton
my blog
#devon #historicalfiction #historicalromance #socialdivision #heirarchy #lordofthemanor #romance #poverty #victorian #selfpublishedauthor #authorssupportingauthors #authorsofinstagram #writers #blog #blogger #bloggersofinstagram #blogexchange
Marcia is my March guest author, find out more on my blog.
The Mazzard Tree
The Angel Maker
Marcia Clayton
my blog
#devon #historicalfiction #historicalromance #socialdivision #heirarchy #lordofthemanor #romance #poverty #victorian #selfpublishedauthor #authorssupportingauthors #authorsofinstagram #writers #blog #blogger #bloggersofinstagram #blogexchange
March 3, 2021
February Reads 2021
My latest reviews are now on my website.
The books I read this month are:
Romancing Robin Hood Romancing Robin Hood by Jenny Kane
The The Shadow in the Glass Shadow in the Glass by JJA Harwood
The The World at My Feet World at My Feet by Catherine Isaac
Three Women Three Women by Lisa Taddeo
High Heels in the Highlands High Heels in the Highlands by Liz Hurley
Annie GarthwaiteCecily Cecily by Annie Garthwaite
Book of the month is Cecily by Annie Garthwaite
my blog
The books I read this month are:
Romancing Robin Hood Romancing Robin Hood by Jenny Kane
The The Shadow in the Glass Shadow in the Glass by JJA Harwood
The The World at My Feet World at My Feet by Catherine Isaac
Three Women Three Women by Lisa Taddeo
High Heels in the Highlands High Heels in the Highlands by Liz Hurley
Annie GarthwaiteCecily Cecily by Annie Garthwaite
Book of the month is Cecily by Annie Garthwaite
my blog
February 14, 2021
My First Guest Author for 2021
Welcome to my February 2021 Guest Author: Fearghal O'Laigh
The Ayahuasca Chronicles
Fearghal and I share publishers and are going through similar publishing experiences; this is his first work too and we launched in the Autumn of 2020 amidst a deluge of other books that had been delayed because of the pandemic.
I was lucky to win a copy of his travel memoir and although this isn't the kind of book I usually choose, I started it (rather cautiously I admit) but was quickly engrossed. If you fancy a virtual trip to South America....I highly recommend you read this!
You say in your blog in October last year ‘I never planned to write a book’ so how did your memoir the ‘The Ayahuasca Chronicles’ come to be?
Well, I wrote this book when I got back to Ireland, in fact. The experience was so powerful that it left an indelible mark, and as a result, it wasn’t too difficult to recall. Plus, I had a notebook and some photos to guide me. I really wanted to share my story with the world because I saw so much that moved me, and I think the plant kingdom can help us to make the world a better place; we just need to reconnect with our plant allies.
Now that you can hold a copy of your first book in your hand how do you feel?
While I see writing a book as a great achievement in itself, and would always attest to that, it is true that anyone can write a book. What really matters, as far as I see it, is for the story to connect with somebody. If it can inspire or encourage just one person, then that’s job done as far as I’m concerned. But apart from that, I found the writing process as a whole to be a highly reflective one, and I learnt a huge amount about myself from putting it all down on paper (and having to read the proofs back multiple times!).
Both you and I had to face unprecedented obstacles publishing during a pandemic. That aside how have Covid-19 restrictions affected your creativity and usual occupations?
Well, things have taken a downturn in the English-teaching world, so that has affected me, but I’m also keeping busy with my apprenticeship as a herbalist. Otherwise, I’ve just been focusing on what I can do with my days. Stewing over things that are out of my control won’t help. I’ve spent my time getting out in nature every day (even if just for a walk). I also love wildcrafting, so I’ve had more time to do that. And of course, I’ve read tonnes of books!
What kind of books do you most enjoy reading?
I love any book that I can take something from and bring it to my own life. That is the beauty of reading and learning: you can grow as a person from what you learn, and it can help you to bring more lightness to the world. As a child, I read thrillers and detective stories, and I just pored through the pages. My mother, to her credit, recognised my love of reading, so she tried to encourage it. She bought George’s Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl for me, and I was instantly hooked. I must have plagued her to buy every Roald Dahl book there was ̶ and she pretty much did in the end. These days, I tend to read non-fiction, as I love to learn new things about how the world works, people’s ideas and philosophies. Life is one great mystery, and it makes for such wonderful stories. But I still enjoy fiction, as long as there is something it can teach me. All books are teachers; they might make you laugh and inspire you to bring more lightness to your life, or they might represent the world to you in a new light, inspiring you to make changes for the better. The story is key!
Will you continue writing? Is there another book in the pipeline?
I only write if I feel inspired to do so. There is no other book in the pipeline at the moment (although I do write on my blog). I would like to see where this one takes me first, but I have no doubt that the urge will come again ̶ reading and writing are my lifetime travel companions.
Do connect with Fearghal on social media.
IG: @herbal_fearghal
Twitter: @OLaigh
Blog: fearghalolaigh.wordpress.com
The Ayahuasca Chronicles
Fearghal and I share publishers and are going through similar publishing experiences; this is his first work too and we launched in the Autumn of 2020 amidst a deluge of other books that had been delayed because of the pandemic.
I was lucky to win a copy of his travel memoir and although this isn't the kind of book I usually choose, I started it (rather cautiously I admit) but was quickly engrossed. If you fancy a virtual trip to South America....I highly recommend you read this!
You say in your blog in October last year ‘I never planned to write a book’ so how did your memoir the ‘The Ayahuasca Chronicles’ come to be?
Well, I wrote this book when I got back to Ireland, in fact. The experience was so powerful that it left an indelible mark, and as a result, it wasn’t too difficult to recall. Plus, I had a notebook and some photos to guide me. I really wanted to share my story with the world because I saw so much that moved me, and I think the plant kingdom can help us to make the world a better place; we just need to reconnect with our plant allies.
Now that you can hold a copy of your first book in your hand how do you feel?
While I see writing a book as a great achievement in itself, and would always attest to that, it is true that anyone can write a book. What really matters, as far as I see it, is for the story to connect with somebody. If it can inspire or encourage just one person, then that’s job done as far as I’m concerned. But apart from that, I found the writing process as a whole to be a highly reflective one, and I learnt a huge amount about myself from putting it all down on paper (and having to read the proofs back multiple times!).
Both you and I had to face unprecedented obstacles publishing during a pandemic. That aside how have Covid-19 restrictions affected your creativity and usual occupations?
Well, things have taken a downturn in the English-teaching world, so that has affected me, but I’m also keeping busy with my apprenticeship as a herbalist. Otherwise, I’ve just been focusing on what I can do with my days. Stewing over things that are out of my control won’t help. I’ve spent my time getting out in nature every day (even if just for a walk). I also love wildcrafting, so I’ve had more time to do that. And of course, I’ve read tonnes of books!
What kind of books do you most enjoy reading?
I love any book that I can take something from and bring it to my own life. That is the beauty of reading and learning: you can grow as a person from what you learn, and it can help you to bring more lightness to the world. As a child, I read thrillers and detective stories, and I just pored through the pages. My mother, to her credit, recognised my love of reading, so she tried to encourage it. She bought George’s Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl for me, and I was instantly hooked. I must have plagued her to buy every Roald Dahl book there was ̶ and she pretty much did in the end. These days, I tend to read non-fiction, as I love to learn new things about how the world works, people’s ideas and philosophies. Life is one great mystery, and it makes for such wonderful stories. But I still enjoy fiction, as long as there is something it can teach me. All books are teachers; they might make you laugh and inspire you to bring more lightness to your life, or they might represent the world to you in a new light, inspiring you to make changes for the better. The story is key!
Will you continue writing? Is there another book in the pipeline?
I only write if I feel inspired to do so. There is no other book in the pipeline at the moment (although I do write on my blog). I would like to see where this one takes me first, but I have no doubt that the urge will come again ̶ reading and writing are my lifetime travel companions.
Do connect with Fearghal on social media.
IG: @herbal_fearghal
Twitter: @OLaigh
Blog: fearghalolaigh.wordpress.com
December 14, 2020
November Reads 2020
November Reads 2020
This month I managed to finish 6 lovely books all of which I enjoyed. They were read in the following order:
Beneath Cornish Skies by Kate Ryder
La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman
The Angel Maker by Marcia Clayton
People Like Us by Louise Fein
Greenlights by Matthew McConoughay
Woman, Girl, The by Bernadine Evaristo
All are listed to buy on Bookstore, where 10% of your purchase goes to local independent bookshops.
https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/sophylay...
https://www.sophylayzell.com/post/nov...
This month I managed to finish 6 lovely books all of which I enjoyed. They were read in the following order:
Beneath Cornish Skies by Kate Ryder
La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman
The Angel Maker by Marcia Clayton
People Like Us by Louise Fein
Greenlights by Matthew McConoughay
Woman, Girl, The by Bernadine Evaristo
All are listed to buy on Bookstore, where 10% of your purchase goes to local independent bookshops.
https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/sophylay...
https://www.sophylayzell.com/post/nov...
October 17, 2020
Guest Authors welcome!
I'm really pleased to be getting together with some fellow authors to exchange blog pages! It will help us all to reach a bigger audience and I hope introduce our followers to novels they might not have heard of.
My first guest featuring Bethany Askew author blog is now live!
Please have a look :)
https://www.sophylayzell.com/blog-1
Bethany Askew
My first guest featuring Bethany Askew author blog is now live!
Please have a look :)
https://www.sophylayzell.com/blog-1
Bethany Askew
