Isabella May's Blog, page 10
July 25, 2017
Meet The Author: Columbkill Noonan
Welcome, Columbkill Noonan! Please tell us a little about your fabulously titled up-coming novel, “Barnabas Tew and the Case of the Missing Scarab”.
I have an obsession with British detective shows. And supernatural, mythological, paranormal things. And Jane Austin and the Bronte sisters. Put all that together, and you get a Victorian British detective who gets dragged into the mythological underworld of Ancient Egypt. Of course, right?
Now, one can’t really put all of those things together in an altogether serious sort of way, so “Barnabas” doesn’t even try to. “Barnabas” is fun, and a little weird, even, with lots of twists and turns and unpredictability.
Even though the fate of the world depends on Barnabas’ success, I knew I wanted the story to have a fun feeling to it. Barnabas is a very earnest, very nervous little fellow, who likes for things to be just-so, and the Egyptian afterlife if anything but. I had a wonderful time putting Barnabas into all of these strange new situations and seeing how he handled it. Sometimes he did smashingly… other times, not so much. I really enjoyed exploring his journey.
If you could be a fictional detective character from another great author’s book, who would that be and why?
I could take the easy route and say ‘Sherlock Holmes’, but he’s far more serious and methodical than I could ever be. So, I think I’d be Charles Lennox (written by Charles Finch). He’s smart, like Holmes, but a bit more fallible and, well, human, so he’s attainable.
Can you give us any clues as to what you are working on next?
I’m working on the sequel to “Barnabas Tew and the Case of the Missing Scarab”. It involves an entirely new afterlife, with all of the new mythology and gods and stories that entails. Barnabas may be a bit more accustomed to dealing with the unusual now, but he still retains his quintessentially Victorian love of order. And this new afterlife is one of the most chaotic ones in all of history (hint: there are Vikings!) so poor Barnabas is cast pretty far out of his comfort zone in this one.
One of your hobbies is aerial yoga. I would imagine this involves a similar level of discipline and skill as being a writer?
It does! I started about two years ago (I was forty-two years old at the time, and in a class with a bunch of twenty-somethings. I thought, what am I doing in here? I’m too old for this! Then I thought, oh well, I’ll be the old lady dangling like a beached walrus in the midst of all these agile young people, and so what?) Anyway, I did it (and I was like a beached walrus for the first couple months!) But I worked at it, and practiced, and was determined, and now I can do things that I never really thought I’d ever do. The practice takes a lot of work, though; if you miss a week or two of class it’s much harder to do some of the moves.
Writing is the same. The first things you write, starting out, are a bit ungainly, too. Then you work on it, and practice, and get better, until suddenly you’re writing things you never dreamed you could. And if you skip a few days of writing then it’s much harder to find your way back into the story again.
Favourite cake?
I’m not so much into sweets. And I’m a vegan, which makes it pretty hard to find a cake that I can eat. But there is a restaurant in Baltimore (called the One World Café…it’s actually the place that is hosting my launch party!) that is very vegetarian/vegan friendly. And when they bring you a piece of vegan cake, no matter what flavor it is, you eat that little piece of heaven. It’s really that good.
Favourite place you have ever visited anywhere in the world?
Cusco and Macchu Picchu, Peru. I went there with a good friend a couple years ago, and it was fabulous. When your bus finally makes it up to the top of a rather terrifying climb up a very skinny dirt road that snakes its way along the side of a very high mountain with some very steep drop-offs and you see Macchu Picchu spread out below you, it takes your breath away. The drop-offs were so precipitous, and so close to the side of the road, that you pretty much feel certain several times over the course of the trip that you are definitely about to plunge to your death. There was an elderly lady seated on the seat behind us, and boy did we learn some interesting combinations of swear words from her! Once you get to the top though (adrenaline pumping and your heart leaping out of your chest) you see this unbelievably magnificent ancient city spread out below you. Then you walk through that city, touching stones that were laid thousands of years ago by an ancient people. Wild llamas jump around delightfully from ledge to ledge all around you, and you are surrounded by beautiful mountains and valleys in all directions. It feels as though you could touch the gods in that place. But you really earn that experience.
To get to Macchu Picchu, you can either take a bus (didn’t have time for that!), hike for several days up the Inca Trail (I’m adventuresome, but not that adventuresome!), or fly to Cusco from Lima and then take a four hour train ride down the mountain, followed by the (formerly mentioned terrifyingly harrowing) bus ride to Macchu Picchu. We opted for the Cusco/train ride/bus trip.
The difficulty is that Cusco is very high up in the mountains, and the air is ridiculously thin. As in, every store, every restaurant, every hotel has oxygen tanks to give to people who are starting to pass out from oxygen deprivation. My friend and I knew that altitude sickness was an issue there, but we (rather stupidly) thought, well, we’re pretty healthy so we’ll probably be just fine. And besides, we can acclimate a bit in Lima.
Now, altitude sickness doesn’t care how healthy you are, and Lima is at sea-level, so nobody is going to do any “acclimating” to high altitudes there. My friend is a microbiologist, and I’m a biologist. You’d think one of us would have been smart enough to catch on to the error in our thinking. But no. We didn’t. So we land in Cuzco, and then we realize our mistakes pretty quickly. It’s like you’re constantly out of breath, you get winded even though you’re walking so slow a turtle walking backwards could pass you by, and you get dizzy every time you turn your head. We ordered an oxygen tank from room service once we got to our hotel (room service brings you oxygen tanks!!! That says it all right there). They also gave us some candy (they called it “coco-candy”, and it’s made from the same plant that people use to make cocaine) because they said it helped with the sickness. Well, you can bet that we were eating that “coco-candy” like our lives depended on it, and sharing that oxygen tank back and forth all night long. After a couple days it did start to feel better, but the whole experience was really an exercise in understanding just how much I can endure in order to see one of the most amazing places on earth. There was a lot of spiritual growth that came from that (and I don’t think that’s the “coco-candy” talking!)
Your one piece of advice for anybody writing in your genre?
Just keep trying. Keep writing. Keep submitting. Keep editing and revising. Be yourself, don’t try to emulate this-or-that writer. And write things that you enjoy writing about. I look forward to seeing Barnabas every morning. It would be much harder to write if I didn’t feel that way about him and his story. It should be fun! And if it’s not, well, go to Peru, get some altitude sickness, have some “coco-candy”, and regain your perspective.
July 23, 2017
Why I Became a Book Fairy
I’m a minimalist kind of girl when it comes to my bookshelves. I devour a novel, and then, unless it’s steeped in positive affirmations which I am unable to commit to memory the first time round, off it goes to the charity shop – or my mum’s ever-growing bedside To Be Read pile.
There are just too many books out there to read and I don’t live in a library!
But I do live in Spain, the Costa del Sol to be precise. And something very sad happens to our secondhand books here in Andalucia, the home of great artists and writers: they wither and wilt, gathering dust on shelves (the novels that is… not the creatives). In fact, my local charity shop even has duplicates of certain commercial titles! Something had to give, something needed to change. These books, these talented authors, deserved a brand new lease of life…
And then along came the fabulous initiative that is The Book Fairies. The project set up by Cordelia Oxley, has grown from strength to strength this year with more than 100 countries involved – each recognised as its own mini Book Fairy enterprise across the various social media platforms. Collectively, Book Fairies sticker and ribbon up books, hide them in imaginative places and then leave them for the next person to enjoy… in the hope that they will do the same, that the ripple effect will morph into a Mexican wave of bookish fun.
I mean think about it: wouldn’t it just feel like fate if you ‘happened upon’ a copy of The Celestine Prophecy in a cocktail bar… or perhaps one of The Handmaid’s Tales dotted around Parisian landmarks by Emma Watson (oh yes, Emma is involved as well!)… or a fresh new voice in fiction (no… I’m not referring to my debut novel, honest) that’s waiting for you on a park bench.
When we are ‘gifted’ with a book, we are far more likely to read it, then to feel inspired and ‘goosebumpy’ enough to do the same and pay the kindness forward by passing the book on to the next person – or hiding it with a flutter of our own fairy wings. In a world full of negativity, it’s a simple way to keep the embers of positivity burning. It’s also a fabulous way to encourage literacy, among children and adults alike.
And so, once I had run out of titles to recycle from my own shelves, I headed to said charity shop… and they even offered to pay me for taking the books off them! Of course, I declined, because that kind of defeats the object. But I did walk away with a huge stash of books to give a new life to, for just a couple of Euros. And that felt really good!
But the best thing of all has been getting my children (and our visitors involved). We have had, and continue to have, an absolute barrel of laughs along the way, thinking up funny/slightly crazy/interesting and obscure ‘hiding’ places for our book drops. And then it’s always an added bonus when you get chased down the street because people think you have accidentally left something behind… as well as watching crafty kids pilfer green ribbons for their hair… as well as wondering if you can get away without somebody spotting you.
I can’t deny that as an author myself (an author whose debut novel, ‘Oh! What a Pavlova’ launches this October!), I am not drawn to a few Book Fairy drops for my own PR purposes. Of course I am… I might live in Spain, but my family live close to Glastonbury, the town where much of my book is set. Oh, the fun and games they are going to have dropping books on Glastonbury Tor and all the other tourist hot spots for me!
More than that though, being a Book Fairy is turning into a way of life. We go out somewhere – as mundane as the supermarket, as exciting as a party, we take a book with us, we brighten up somebody’s day, we have a giggle and we help another writer escape from those dusty bookshelves of the charity shop.
What could be better?
July 20, 2017
Meet the Author: Kristin Anderson
Welcome, Kristin Anderson! Please tell us a little about your latest
book, “The Things We Said in Venice.”
The Things We Said in Venice is a fast-paced travel romance of a contemporary nature. It has quite a bit of humor and has been described as both steamy and saucy, but also explores more mature themes. It gets into issues of divorce, loss, healing, recovering from betrayal and setting boundaries. It is steeped in architecture and culture without getting too high brow, and of course, it gives you a chance to go on a whirlwind travel adventure and fall in love. As you can imagine, The Things We Said in Venice takes place mostly in Venice, but like your upcoming novel Oh! What a Pavlova, visits multiple cities and countries. In the case of my novel, in addition to Venice, readers get to visit Belluno, Sappada, Vicenza and Cortina, Italy, Reims, France, Barcelona, Spain, Amsterdam and The Hague, The Netherlands and more.
What inspired you to write it?
I started writing a happy little romance as a vacation from a more serious writing topic. But the more I got to know my lead characters Sarah and Fokke, the more the story and the settings swept me up. Before I knew it, I was on my way to writing a novel.
Another inspiration was my circle of friends. Although most of my friends are married, I have several female friends who have pretty much given up on men due to getting burned. They are such awesome, talented and independent women, that they aren’t sure a man or a relationship is worth their time. Yet they long for the sort of intimacy that can only come from taking a leap of faith and opening up their hearts again to the chance of love. So in a way, I wrote it for them. They don’t know this of course.
In Chapter 1 of the novel (something you can currently view for free on Kristin’s website https://authorkristinanderson.com/tag/venice-romance/), you mention a phenomenon that the protagonist of your novel “invents”: European Style Detachment. It sounds fascinating… please enlighten us!
In The Things We Said in Venice, the lead character Sarah Turner is traveling abroad for the first time. She is also traveling alone. Without the distraction of a travel partner, she is truly observing and absorbing the culture around her, while contrasting it with the only culture she knows; the United States.
Like Sarah, I am also from the U.S. In general, Americans are friendly, curious people, who aren’t afraid to jump right in and talk to strangers or observe others. They like to be helpful and can be prone to problem solving, or in other words, getting involved in other people’s business.
In the six years I’ve lived in The Netherlands and traveled through Europe, I’ve observed that Europeans don’t share these ‘American’ qualities. They are less likely to jump into a conversation with a stranger and they also give people more room to just be who they are. This could come across as indifference or aloofness, but I think it has to do with a general acceptance of differences in culture, due to the proximity of so many countries and cultures within a short distance. There’s probably a name for this, but I dubbed it European Style Detachment.
Here is a small excerpt from Sarah’s perspective just after she has boarded a train in Belluno, Italy and is overhearing a conversation that is out of her line of sight:
‘Back home, she would need to know why the [train] doors had to open once more and what these men are discussing. But in the past four weeks of free-wheeling through western Europe on her own, she has adjusted her way of responding to things beyond her control. She has learned to let go. It is so different from how she acts at home that she has given her newfound skill a name: European Style Detachment.’
Excerpt, The Things We Said in Venice, chapter 1.
Venice features briefly in my own novel and besides the sights and the sounds, one of the biggest surprises for me in Venice was the food. Out of all of the Italian cities, it’s not often that we go to Venice for her gastronomy. What’s the most memorable meal you have ever eaten in the city?
I can’t remember the name of the restaurant, but I had a plate of gnocchi, which is a potato-based pasta. It was so delicious I ordered a second helping, much to the dismay of the waiter. Gnocchi is very filling. Usually a tea drinker, I developed an addiction for espresso both times I was in Venice. Somehow it tasted better there! I realize this could most likely be a trick of ambiance and the joy of being on vacation, but I’m sticking to my story—the espresso is better in Venice.
Can you give us any clues as to what you are working on next?
I’m currently working on a sequel to The Things We Said in Venice. I enjoyed the characters so much, that I want to hang out with them a little longer. Readers have shared a similar desire, so it’s good to know that Sarah and Fokke have a following who wants to see them again soon. Sarah’s sister, April, who is briefly mentioned in the first novel, will play a major role in the second novel. New characters will also weave their way into the story, which is currently set in The Hague. Though I imagine, like your novel, the characters will probably travel to other locations.
Favourite cake? And on that note, I am particularly excited to learn that you hail from Solvang, California (a little piece of Denmark in America). I once visited for the day and loved the cake there in particular!
Ha! You’ve done your homework! Yes, I’m from Solvang and I’m so impressed that you not only know where that is, but that you have visited Solvang! It’s a small town, with a friendly atmosphere. The Book Loft is carrying my novel in the ‘local writers’ section, which is quite an honor, considering I no longer live there.
I worked in one of those Danish bakeries for a year when I was in high school, so I know a lot about pastries and cake. But my favorite cake is carrot cake with buttercream frosting. I’ve experimented with some vegan versions of this as well.
Favourite place you have ever visited anywhere in the world – other
than Venice, California, or your current home, Holland?
I’m going to get greedy and go with two places. Bali, Indonesia and Ronchamp, France. Bali for its friendly people, warmth and ocean lifestyle, Ronchamp and environs for the beautiful chapel designed by Le Corbusier that is called Notre Dame du Haut and the surrounding countryside which just says “relax.”
Your one piece of advice for anybody writing in your genre?
Don’t underestimate the power of a proofreader. I can’t tell you how many romance novels I’ve read that have spelling and grammar errors right when things get intense or steamy. It’s as if the author is so excited by the fact that the two lead characters are finally getting intimate or having a conflict, that they drop words or write the write the same words twice. That can pull the reader out of a very important moment in your plot development.
In my first novel, I had changed the lead male character’s name from Adam to Jake. However, the find and replace function somehow didn’t make the replacement at a crucial point. My lead female character almost uttered the wrong name. Thank God for proofreaders!
You can buy Kristin’s fabulous book, “The Things We Said in Venice” via the link below:
US edition – amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XKDNFTM
UK edition – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B06XKDNFTM
And you can follow Kristin on her Facebook Author page here:
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorKristinAnderson
July 17, 2017
Meet the Author: Graham H. Miller
Welcome Graham H. Miller! Tell me a bit about your latest book:
It’s a crime novel introducing Jonah Greene, a detective who feels his career has reached a dead-end. Following time off for stress he’s pushed sideways to work for the coroner. His first case is a homeless man who died on a freezing cold night. A list of names written by the dead man raises more questions, but no-one apart from Jonah is interested in investigating.
What inspired you to write it?
The big idea behind it is the tension between the generations. It’s over 25 years since I was at University, but I remember those times as being so bright and intense. We were so young and naive and everything seemed earnest and important. The book is a classic what “happened twenty years ago” plot so you get to see the consequences of the decisions that the characters made when they were young. On top of this my main character is facing a personal crisis in a police force that is at times bureaucratic and at others displays old-fashioned prejudice to mental health issues.
Cardiff and South Wales feature prominently – what did you learn about them while writing this book?
I picked Cardiff as a setting as it’s near enough that I can go there for a wander whenever I need inspiration. Cardiff and actually all of Wales are massively under represented in terms of crime writing. I expected Hinterland (Y Gwyll in Welsh) to kick-start a kind of Welsh-noir scene but it doesn’t seem to have happened yet. That being said, I am networking with some very promising authors all writing crime novels set in Wales.
Cardiff itself is a fascinating city. When there is a capital city, the assumption is that it’s ancient and has always been a seat of power. But with Cardiff there was a concerted PR campaign starting in the late Victorian era. Philanthropists like Lord Bute decided to first elevate it to city status and then on to capital. So they built areas like Cathays Park and Bute Park to give it a status. These places are incredible, all marble columns, public parks, and proud statues. Cathays also houses the National Museum, Library, Law Courts and University buildings. Before they spent all the money, Cardiff was an ordinary town with a castle and either Swansea or Merthyr Tydful were more likely contenders for the capital of Wales.
For a writer Cardiff offers huge appeal. As well as Cathays, it has been reinvented again in the 2000s as the bay was redeveloped. Now it has a huge pedestrian area with shops and cafes. The choice of locations around Cardiff is huge – the suburbs cover everything from the expensive detached mansions down to the ex-steel works terraces and all points in between. Outside the city,you have coast, countryside, the valleys and industrial towns.
Kindle or physical book?
Despite being very technical (I used to work as a programmer) I’ve resisted getting any e-reader. I occasionally read books on the Kindle app on my phone if they’re not available in any other format. I know the time is coming in the next couple of months when I’ll buy a Kindle and I’ll probably be a total convert when that happens.
Favourite cake?
There’s a Nigella recipe for a chocolate olive oil cake that is gluten free and actually has better texture and taste than any cake with flour in it.
Favourite place?
Despite writing about South Wales, any favourite place of mine would be a stone circle, probably Stonehenge if I had to pick just one.
Do you have any advice to pass on to other writers?
Write what you want to read. If you’re not interested by what you’re writing then your readers won’t be either. You should sit down thinking “I’ve just got to write this, it’s so good!” and then your readers will pick up on it.
You can order Graham’s current novel, The List, via the links below, as well as keeping up with his writing news via social media:
Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/List-Jonah-Greene-Thriller-ebook/dp/B072VGTPHS/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/Graham-H-Miller-117009058317246/
Twitter https://twitter.com/grahamhmiller
Blog https://grahamhmiller.com
Mailing list http://eepurl.com/cM1q3v
July 13, 2017
Meet The Author: Nancy Jardine
Welcome, Nancy Jardine! Please tell us a little about your book, Topaz Eyes.
Topaz Eyes has been called a treasure hunt, a deadly mystery set in fabulous world wide cities, and more that one reviewer has said it made them want to immediately book a holiday to experience for themselves the fabulous European cities that feature in the story. Essentially, Topaz Eyes is a mystery that’s ancestral based – who is the deadliest cousin in the ‘family tree’ descendants of Geertje Hoogeven of 1880s Amsterdam being one of the big questions. Who is the cousin who will contemplate murder to keep the precious emerald jewellery collection that once belonged to a Mughal emperor?
What inspired you to write it?
I created a simple family tree structure for Monogamy Twist, a romantic mystery that became my first published novel. I enjoyed the task so much that I challenged myself to make a much more complex one. In Topaz Eyes, by choosing to originate my fictitious family in Amsterdam in the 1880s, I was able to scatter the family members around Europe in the intervening years between the two World Wars, with some of them leaving Europe to emigrate to the US. The cast of characters is much larger than in a simple romance so Topaz Eyes developed into a suspense mystery with romantic elements.
How easy was it to set your scenes in the European locations detailed in the book? I am particularly interested to know since my debut novel contains multiple cosmopolitan scenes… and unfortunately, I didn’t get round to flying back to them before writing the book!
I’ve visited all of the fabulous places mentioned in Topaz Eyes except one and I like to challenge my readers to work out which world-wide place I’ve never been to. I lived in Holland for three years (1979-1981) and have been back to visit many times since so I’m quite familiar with all of the Dutch places mentioned. My daughter spent a year studying at Heidelberg University (like my main female character Keira Drummond in Topaz Eyes). I’ve visited that quaint university town a few times, which makes it easy to describe and I’ve made tourist visits to the other places in the novel bar one. For anywhere not experienced, the internet is a useful tool!
You live in beautiful Scotland. How does the very particular landscape there influence your writing?
I try, where possible, to include a Scottish connection in my writing. In Topaz Eyes, Keira Drummond is from Edinburgh, a city I know quite well and some of the action of the story is set there. Another of my contemporary mysteries Take Me Now has my humorous version of a contemporary highland hero who has a Scottish island castle base and a lot of the action takes place in the west coast of Scotland. Though in Take Me Now, I also feature world wide cities during the saboteur hunt, locations I’ve also visited and loved so much I wanted to include them in my writing.
My historical romantic adventure Celtic Fervour Series is set in first century northern Britannia which geographically means from Yorkshire and Cumbria northwards, all the way to where I live in Aberdeenshire. It’s quite a challenge to imagine what these British locations were like almost 2000 years ago so that I can describe them as well as I do in my contemporary writing.
Can you give us any clues as to what you are working on next?
Book 4 of my Celtic Fervour Series is my current writing. It’s a project that’s been through many changes and is taking me a long while to complete. I’m completely fascinated by the (pre-) historical Roman Britain/ Roman Scotland era that has almost no written documentation to work on and every new archaeological discovery has me reaching to make revisions! I’ve a couple of other manuscripts that I also work on- a second historical time travel, and the beginning of a family saga both set in Victorian Scotland.
Favourite cake?
That has to be what I call ‘school caramel cake’. Shortbread base, yummy caramel filling with chocolate vermicelli scattered on top. I love it served with vanilla custard. It’s sinfully sweet and so delicious, not quite Millionaire’s Shortbread, but so bad for me!
Favourite place you have ever visited anywhere in the world?
That’s so hard to answer since I’ve managed to visit loads of fantastic places. The most sumptuous would be a hotel in Oman called the Al Bustan Palace. The interior in the mid-1990s was unbelievably decadent and afternoon tea served in the central atrium with the harpist playing next to the interior waterfall was incredible. The surroundings were of totally impressive marble. I think it will have been redecorated by now but it was a beautiful place. (BTW – it’s one of the places that features in Take Me Now)
As a family tree fanatic, what has been your most eye-opening discovery about your own family’s roots?
That would be telling! When I discovered that my Victorian great-grandfather had more than one wife – at the same time – I found it highly amusing. My sister wasn’t quite so amused though, and I heard that my grandmother’s sister’s daughter (are you following?) was so affronted she wanted it hushed up! My most eye-watering moment, so far, was discovering that the same great-grandfather was father to twin girls, born in 1882 and who died of diphtheria at 7 months old, on the same day. When I read that during online searches it touched me very deeply. Their birth and death certificates declare them illegitimate and times were much harsher then if you were touched with the stigma of illegitimacy so I have to wonder if it was a good thing, or not, that they died.
Your one piece of advice for anybody writing in your genre?
That’s a tough question since I write in two different genres/ sub genres. Realistically, the marketing is hard for any genre of fiction but some are harder to market than others. If your work straddles genre types, then classifying it for selling on Amazon is very difficult yet it can be crucial to more sales if you get into a niche part of a genre that reflects aspects of your story better than a more general classification. I’m totally delighted, though, that @Crooked Cat Books make it their business to publish excellent novels which straddle lots of genre areas.
The Topaz Eyes universal link is: Amazon Universal http://getbook.at/buymehere
Bio: In Nancy Jardine’s contemporary romantic mysteries there’s easy reading and deeper plots to please different readers. Topaz Eyes was a Finalist in The People’s Book Prize 2014 (UK). Her Celtic Fervour Series of historical romantic adventures is set in first century northern Roman Britain when the Ancient Roman advance into barbarian territory means the Celts need to get their act together!
The Taexali Game is a historical time-travel adventure set in third century Roman Scotland. This acquired second place in the Barbara Hammond Competition for Best Self Published Book March 2017 (Scottish Association for Writers).
Nancy’s week vanishes in a blur of reading, writing & reviewing and blogging. She’s creative about squeezing in gardening but regular grandkid minding (official & unpaid) is a priority—any time left is merely for breathing, sleeping and keeping up with news and politics. She’s a member of the Romantic Novelists Association, the Scottish Association of Writers and the Federation of Writers Scotland. She’s published by Crooked Cat Books and has delved into self publishing.
You can find her at these places:
Blog: http://nancyjardine.blogspot.co.uk Website: www.nancyjardineauthor.com/ Facebook: http://on.fb.me/XeQdkG & http://on.fb.me/1Kaeh5G
email: nan_jar@btinternet.com Twitter https://twitter.com/nansjar
Amazon Author page http://viewauthor.at/mybooksandnewspagehere
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5139590.Nancy_Jardine
July 9, 2017
The 5 Best Things about Bologna
Oh, how the heart pines for Bologna when you have not visited in a while. It’s a destination like no other. Striking architecture, fascinating culture, food to die for, ice cold blood orange and Campari in Piazza Maggiore, boutique and delicatessen style shopping on Via Indipendenza… I could go on.
How then to narrow Bologna’s Best Bits down to just 5 things?
Well, that’s impossible, of course. But the following five aspects of this one-off city (which features early on in my debut novel, ‘Oh! What a Pavlova’) are my particular favourites. And what is travel if not a little subjective, after all?
1: Bologna is… atmospheric
Whether you are taking a cool refreshing Negroni of a sun downer in one of the city’s ancient squares, sipping strong Italian caffè in a backstreet, or wandering around the old town, stealing glimpses of Bologna’s twin towers, there is always something rustically gorgeous to stop you in your tracks. Bologna’s left-wing and culinary twists and turns surprise and delight like that, her splashes of terracotta living on long in the memory – and from left to right, pretty much everybody is smiling.
2: Bologna is… simple food, cooked beautifully
You walk into a Trattoria (preferably with an Italian friend) and there is no menu. The lady of the kitchen reels off three or four dishes, and that’s it: you eat what they have. But my, you eat well! And then there are the gelaterias strewn across the city like confetti… my favourite, just off the main shopping street, even lists its flavours as movies titles!
Bologna and food go hand in hand like that:
“We quickened our pace, only to slow it right back down to catch the scent on the air. Pretty little Amaretti morsels capped with snowy icing sugar peaks, and Torta di Riso di Bologna – the city’s take on rice cakes, selling out by midday the eve of Good Friday – streamed out the doorway of a bakery.
‘Mmm,’ I said, fluttering my eyelids. ‘How can Daisy pass this lot by without as much as a drool?’
‘She’s a boring twig who exists on green tea and goji berries, Kate; that’s how.’
Steph tossed her hair over her shoulder like a scarf and we reluctantly carried on.”
Extract from ‘Oh! What a Pavlova’
3: Bologna is… children’s books
Once a year in spring, publishers from all over the world descend on the city’s Feria del Libro for a week long book fair. Rights are sold, up-and-coming illustrators exhibited, and Northern Europeans delight in the fact they can wear T shirts, dine on truffle-stuffed ravioli, and buy limoncello at duty-free.
4: Bologna is… a little bit mysterious
We don’t know as much about her as we do the rest of her Italian compatriots. She’s Queen of keeping a little bit back for herself, but look a little closer and you’ll find it. It’s in the world’s oldest academic institution of the western world – did you know that’s located in the heart of Bologna? It’s in the gastronomy which comprises of oh-so-much-more-than-Bolognese. It’s in the people and their history, the medieval walls which guard the treasures of art and literature, the Basilica, the whispering walls and the secret bakeries.
5: Bologna is… understated
She doesn’t shout about her credentials from the roof tops, and frankly, she’s all the more appealing for it (yes, Bologna is a Mama in my book… or to be more precise, my recipe book). She doesn’t care if you haven’t sought her out yet in the way that you will undoubtedly have with Venice and Rome, Florence and Pisa. That’s how she remains a segreto.
Have you been to Bologna? What are your favourite things about Emilia Romagna’s capital?
July 4, 2017
The 5 Best Things about Glastonbury
Glastonbury. A word which conjures up the most iconic of images: a mammoth music festival frequented by celebrities in their version of ‘tents’, the goddess-like Tor guarding the ancient isle of Avalon, crystals and incense, faeries and steampunk top hats, mud and wellies…
Why then doesn’t this very unique place feature more often in fiction?
It’s something I pondered long and hard before writing my debut novel, ‘Oh! What a Pavlova’, and I still don’t have an answer. Yet this truly one-off destination has so much to offer the literary and film world (go on Paramount Pictures… you know you want to!). And that’s why I just had to give it a starring role in my book. In fact, I don’t think there could be a better backdrop to a story.
So without further ado, I present to you MY 5 Best Things about Glastonbury. And yes, I am qualified… I did live there… for a rather long time!
1: Glastonbury is… quirky
You’ll be hard pushed to find another melting pot of so many different walks of life. Glasto is one of those few places in the UK that everyone feels they own a little piece of. It just is. From locals (townies) to those escaping city life, tourists to hippies, festival-goers to the famous, and goddesses to pagans.
2: Glastonbury is… magical
Myths and legends abound here. Forget J.K Rowling and the Harry Potter studio tour. In Glastonbury every twist and turn reveals the mystical and the unexpected. Be it the wonder that is the Tor (and the never-ending hearsay as to why she was built), Arthur’s burial site, the story of the Holy Thorn, the tale of the spiritual trees, Gog and Magog… or indeed the treasure troves that are the Harry Potter-esque shops (the kind of places where you truly do feel like you are in a potion shop with witches and wizards), Glastonbury will blow your mind.
3: Glastonbury is… full of contrast
One moment you are approaching this iced gem that is Somerset’s jewel in the crown via The Levels and the pale fringed, willowy banks of the River Brue, and the next you are witnessing Ed Sheeran busking impromptu outside the gates of St John’s church in the High Street. Another moment you are eating fish and chips in undoubtedly THE BEST fish and chip shop in the world, and half an hour later you can be at The Chalice Well, reveling in its holy water and wonder.
4: Glastonbury is… freedom
Nobody bats an eyelid here, quite frankly, if you feel the need to dress up as your favourite comic book super hero and strut your stuff far and wide. Glastonbury takes liberty to a whole new level. Which could also be why she and her outskirts attracts Nick Cage, Johnny Depp – and the ilk – in their quest for a life incognito.
5: Glastonbury is… inspirational
Forget St. Ives or any of the other eponymous centres for art and excellence. This little epicentre in the West Country is the real cauldron for creativity! Why? Because just about any scenario you can conjure up would be plausible here, making it a piece of the Rainbow’s End Cafe’s luscious carrot cake for you to pen that story/write those song lyrics/unleash that poem locked within.
What’s YOUR best thing about Glastonbury?
June 30, 2017
Meet the Author: Sue Barnard
Welcome, Sue Barnard! Please tell us a little about your latest book.
My most recent release is a time-slip romance novella called Never on Saturday, and it’s based on an old French legend.
What inspired you to write it?
I first came across the legend when I visited the area of Western France where the original story is set. The inspiration for the book came to me a few months later when I was gardening (I tend to get a lot of my ideas when I’m mowing the lawn). A single line of dialogue popped into my head: “My name isn’t [X], it’s [Y]”. Unfortunately I can’t say any more than that here, as it would give too much away!
One of the first things we notice on your blog’s website – http://broad-thoughts-from-a-home.blogspot.com/ – is that you believe ‘an immaculate house is a sign of a wasted life’. Well, on that note you are welcome to come to my place any time! But I am curious… do you get most of your writing done at home, or do you have an office in a completely different setting?
I mainly write at home, where I sit with my back to the domestic chaos. My desk has a great view of the aforementioned lawn, so I can always see when it needs mowing. This may be a good thing.
Kindle or physical book?
Both. I love my Kindle, which is an absolute boon when I’m travelling, but it will never fully replace “proper” books.
Can you give us any clues as to what you are working on next?
I’m working on a Wuthering Heights spin-off, speculating what might have happened to Heathcliff during the three years when he disappeared.
Favourite cake?
To be honest I don’t eat cake very often, so when I do it’s very much a treat. It’s hard to beat Pastel Nata (Portuguese custard tart), carrot cake, or a delicious light lemon drizzle cake.
Favourite place you have ever visited anywhere in the world?
I’ve visited dozens of places, but I don’t think I can name a single favourite. Sorry!
You’ve written a number of books now (and you are also a poet), but which work of art are you most proud of having created?
In terms of novels, I think it has to be The Ghostly Father. In case you aren’t familiar with it, it’s a retelling of the Romeo & Juliet story, but with a few new twists and a whole new outcome. I wrote it mainly for myself (in response to the prompt Write The Book You Want To Read), so the fact that other people have also enjoyed it is an added bonus.
In terms of poetry, I’m particularly proud of Cartloads (the poem which won a major award). But poor John Masefield is probably spinning in his grave even as I type…
CARTLOADS
(with profuse apologies to John Masefield)
Elegant young lady dressed in black Versace
gliding around Waitrose with a leisured ease,
with a cartload of oysters, mussels, truffles,
fillet steak, Bollinger, and Stilton cheese.
Smartish young accountant still in office outfit
trudging around Sainsbury’s on her homeward way,
with a cartload of pasta, chicken, houmous,
pitta bread, Camembert and Chardonnay.
Shabby hungry student rushing back from lectures,
dashing around Tesco in her faded jeans,
with a cartload of cider, Cheddar, pizza,
sliced bread, sausages and cheap baked beans.
Your one piece of advice for anybody writing in your genre?
Not just in my genre, but in every genre: Write something every day, even if it’s only a few sentences. You can always go back afterwards and revise what you’ve written, but you can never edit a blank page.
Sue Barnard is an Author and Editor at Crooked Cat Books
For more information on her work, click on the following links:
Blog Facebook G+ Twitter Amazon Goodreads
NOVELS:
The Ghostly Father: Amazon, Smashwords, Kobo, Nook, Apple iBooks, GooglePlay
Nice Girls Don’t: Amazon, Smashwords, Kobo, Nook, Apple iBooks
The Unkindest Cut of All: Amazon, Smashwords, Kobo, Nook, Apple iBooks
Never on Saturday: Amazon
June 27, 2017
Pass Me the Sugar, Sweetie!
Joanne Harris, one of my favourite authors – despite the fact that her public rants about this, that and the price of fish, go so far against the grain of my Law of Attraction beliefs that they are sometimes impossible to read – has another bee in her bonnet!
This time it’s a bit of a honey bee. And it’s about the way ‘men refer to women as food’.
*You can read her short but very sweet (for it is loaded with saccharine-based evidence) blog post here.*
I tweeted Joanne, because I wanted some clarification. You see in this household, my husband and I BOTH refer to each other (privately, and probably a little too often publicly) as ‘Sweetie’. Always have done, probably always will do. We just never use one another’s full names. Perhaps that’s because they are long and laborious. Perhaps it’s because we feel like we’re being taken back to childhood reprimands when one or the other of us uses our elongated titles? Hey, I don’t know. But the fact is, Joanne’s declaration seemed, well, frankly, a little bit off kilter to me.
But she did come back, with this explanation:
“Different dynamic. What people call each other in a loving relationship is very different to random blokes shouting it at you in the street.”
Aha. She had more than a point, for sure.
I guess it’s just been quite a while since I was referred to as a ‘nice slice of Bakewell Tart’ by a group of builders… or any other lone males… or males en-masse, in stereotypical union, or not.
And thank God for that.
However, call me an odd-ball, but I do actually think of my book characters, male AND female, in terms of food. Who am I kidding? I think of many actual people in terms of food – okay, more accurately, CAKE.
For cake has personality, masculine as well as feminine. It really does. And perhaps it was Harry Eastwood’s gorgeous and equally gorgeously titled cookbook, ‘Red Velvet Chocolate Heartache,’ which reassured me I was far from alone. In it, Harry does the very opposite, anthropomorphising her cake so it feels like we are quite literally baking real people, with stunning effect.
Yet cake is sweet. And this is the very thing Joanne is pleading (with men in particular) to stop calling women; to stop referring to them as any variety of treacly, syrupy, stevia-based ‘goodies’ via their language; to stop implying the female of the species are to be consumed.
But is it so very strange after all to use the sweet reference point of a Battenburg… or a Jaffa Cake… or a Flapjack… or a Shortbread… or a collapsed Souffle when it comes to crediting characters with their traits, or remarking upon their appearances? I do it all throughout ‘Oh What A Pavlova!’, my debut novel, and I certainly don’t go sparingly on the guys:
“It was then that I realised I had my arms around a croque-em-bouche, a rich tower of haute couture, the height of which was simply too majestic for a girl like me to scale.”
“I sometimes wondered how I could ever have mistaken Daniel for Black Forest Gateau when we’d first met. He was Marble Cake through and through; tumultuous, twisted, and wholly unpredictable.”
Even Joanne herself touches upon this in at least one of her books, with a baby resembling a melon. And others sporting raisin-like eyes or doughy skin.
Of course, I am no match for her quick quips, writing talent, or wit. And she would probably set me straight by telling me that none of these are quite as ‘consumable’ as, well, a tarte. And that’s fair enough.
I guess all I am trying to say in a very going-off-at-tangents-roundabout-kind-of-a-way is: why not get playful with our language and sweeten things up? As long as we are not crossing politically incorrect lines (including being downright sexist), that goes without saying. But do we really need to go as far as to ban men from referring to women as anything remotely dusted with icing sugar? If that’s the case then writers like myself – who just have to get their foodie fixes into their novels by hook or by crook – will end up with rather lopsided tales where only the men are being likened to brioche or ice cream flavours or cocktails.
And in that case – and going completely off the foodie subject (just for five minutes) – I’d hate to witness Joanne hop on a West Country bus, where, okay, not so much ‘Sweetie’, but ‘My Luvvie’ would be order of the day from any number of male (and female) bus drivers, token offering of Clotted Cream Fudge sometimes even thrown into the mix. Because they’re friendly. Not friendly as in expecting to bag themselves a date, but friendly as in kind, considerate, nice.
Life can be as serious as we like, or, indeed, we can choose not to rise to the unavoidable stereotypes of our language, give as good as we get if we’re a woman on the receiving end of too much saccharine talk, and fling some of these references back at the men to even out the score. But one thing IS for sure: when we fight it, we only attract more of it.
I mean, what woman hasn’t referred to a guy as a ‘total and utter bloody donut’ anyway?
Food (even the sweet stuff) can make a wonderful reference point in our writing. It’s human nature after all to give everything a benchmark, to make analogies. We couldn’t stop it if we tried. But when we invent too many unnecessary rules, that’s when the wonder is extracted from creation, the plug pulled on our inspiration… and we spend our days walking on egg shells.
Far better we bounce on Victoria Sponge!
June 15, 2017
Meet the Author: Deirdre Palmer
– Welcome, Deirdre! Please tell us a little about your latest book.
Moonshine was published on 7 th April by Crooked Cat. It’s set in 1969 and is the sequel to Dirty Weekend, although it also works as a stand-alone. In Dirty Weekend, the young South Londoners head to Brighton for the weekend, and in Moonshine they go to Torbay for a caravan holiday. Chaos breaks out when one of them creates a drama of her own during the night of the Apollo 11 space mission – which made a very useful backdrop to the story! There’s a lot of humour in the book, but it also shows the characters facing some heavy issues for the first time in their lives. The mood of the sixties is reflected in my characters’ dreams for the future, and their determination to make them come true.
– What inspired you to write it?
When I wrote Dirty Weekend I had no plans to write a sequel, but after I’d written another book and was thinking what to write next, I looked back at those characters and knew there were more stories there, and that I had more to say about the sixties.
– We’re often told not to “date” our books (unless we are penning a historical novel) but many of your stories are set in the evocative time of the sixties… how important is it that we chart and preserve social history?
I’ve written two books set in the sixties, plus a little book of short stories. My other two novels are set in the present day. I think it’s important to preserve social history, and it’s something I’m interested in myself, but when I write, my main aim is to entertain. If readers learn something of the period along the way, that’s a bonus.
– You live in the fabulously lively seaside resort of Brighton, how does the soothing sound and shifting landscape of the sea influence your writing? (I also live by the beach and don’t think I could picture myself getting inspired anywhere else!)
Yes, Brighton is well-known as a seaside resort but it’s also quite a big city and I live some distance from the sea, so it’s not part of my daily landscape. I like to go down to the sea, especially on a rough day when the waves are high, but from the writer’s point of view I’m more likely to be influenced by the little coves and rocky coastlines of places like Devon and Cornwall. I probably shouldn’t say this, but our stretch of coast is rather flat and featureless.
– Can you give us any clues as to what you are working on next?
At the moment I’m having a break from full-length novels and I’m adding to my stocks of short stories to submit to The People’s Friend magazine. They’ve bought seven from me since I started writing them last year, which is lovely. I’m also trying my hand at a pocket novel to submit via the same route. Those are 42,000 words. I’ve got a few ideas for another full-length novel, which looks as if it will be different from anything I’ve written before, though it’s too soon to tell if it will work out!
– Favourite cake?
Coffee and walnut.
– Favourite place you have ever visited anywhere in the world?
I haven’t travelled a great deal but I was very taken with the Ring of Kerry when we went to Ireland. The waterfalls tumbling over moss-covered rocks are quite magical. I also loved the Alhambra in Granada with all the little courtyards and amazing mosaics.
– I know you are a National Trust aficionado. Which is your favourite National Trust attraction and why?
It’s such a privilege to see inside all the wonderful houses, and get a taste of what it was like to live in them in their heyday. That would never happen if it wasn’t for organisations like the Trust. Petworth House, in West Sussex, has to be my favourite. The house is very grand and actually I prefer the smaller, homelier houses like Standen, which is in Arts and Crafts style, but I have family connections with Petworth – below stairs, that is! My great-grandfather was a groom, my great-grandmother a housemaid. My grandmother and her eight brothers and sisters were born in one of the estate cottages, so Petworth means a lot to me.
– Your one piece of advice for anybody writing in your genre?
I think it’s important to push yourself, experiment with your writing, and keep learning and developing. One way to do that is through reading widely and not always going for the same type of book. That’s true of any genre, of course.
