Isabella May's Blog, page 9
August 28, 2017
Meet The Author: Cristina Hodgson
Welcome, Cristina Hodgson!
Please tell us a little about your latest book, “A Little of Chantelle Rose” – what inspired you to write it?
Hi Isabella! Thanks for having me on your blog today. I’m just flattered to be sitting in such lovely company and surrounded by so much scrumptious cake! My debut novel, which was released just recently, was actually written thirteen years ago. After graduating from Loughborough University with a degree in PE and Sports Science, I travelled and worked in various jobs. One of which was as an extra in a British produced gangster film which was filmed in Nerja, Spain. It goes without saying that my sport mechanics and kinetic energy knowledge wasn’t put to maximum potential in this part-time job. But it was certainly a fun and unique experience, but most importantly it gave me an idea.
A year later I sat down and within three months I had written my 90 K novel. A little of Chantelle Rose was born. The novel tells an urban fairy tale. It’s about a young London girl who through a series of hilarious, if bizarre, circumstances is propelled to Hollywood glamour, lovers, confusion, menace and a truly startling conclusion. Its twists and turns will grip the reader – and make them laugh, too! At least that’s what I hope!! ?
How much of a cross-over is there between your career as an athlete and your career as a writer? I would imagine bags of discipline come into play with both…
Exactly, there is a huge cross-over. I’ve always compared my writing with long distance running. Both are solitary activities, where, to achieve the end results you have to spend hours perfecting the activity. You have to be consistent with the work, structured and very disciplined. With running, to achieve any level of success, you need to train, even when you’re feeling unmotivated. You have to get out in the rain, in the cold, in the heat. You have to push yourself to get the work done even when you feel like giving up, when you doubt yourself and believe you’re not talented enough. But if you can fight the internal and external factors, and learn to believe in yourself, you can achieve great things. This is exactly the same with writing. You need a sprinkling of talent to excel in either activity, but more important perhaps, you need discipline. You need to believe in yourself, you have to learn to work hard and never give up. And believe me, the end result will make all the hard work worth it.
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It’s such a small world that we have both of us live in the province of Andalusia (large though that particular area is!) What do you love most about your life in Spain, and how does that feed into your writing?
I know, it’s lovely that we both live quite close to each other. It’s hard to choose what it is I love most about my life in Spain because there are several things. I guess if I had to summarise in one word, that word would be “Quality.” By this I mean I have everything I need, the shops, doctors, kids’ school, supermarket, sports centre, my day job all in a radius of about five minutes from my house. This makes daily life so convenient. It’s very hard to get stuck in a traffic jam where I live. Saying that it’s also hard to come up with a convincing reason if I’m late for work!
This commodity of having everything so close at hand makes it easier to organise my time and consequently gives me more time to dedicate to writing. So that can’t be a bad thing, can it?
Can you give us any clues as to what you are working on next?
As you have just finished reading my debut novel, you’ll understand me when I say that my current WIP is a bit of a secret. For those who feel intrigued I would suggest reading A little of Chantelle Rose and then you’ll all know what I mean! ; )
Favourite cake?
I’m going to be really boring here and say fruit cake. I’ve only recently been told I’m lactose intolerant, but even before, I’ve could never eat cake with loads of whipped cream and rich toppings or fillings. I don’t even think it was the runner in me staying away from all those extra calories, it’s just I actually prefer savoury foods. Just call me “Sporty Spice” I guess. But I do have to say the cover art of your debut novel “Oh! What a Pavlova” looks good enough to eat!
Favourite place you have ever visited anywhere in the world – other than sunny Spain?
I’ve been to the Maldives islands which was AMAZING!!! I also lived for a while in Boston, a really beautiful place, such great architecture and lovely people. But if I have to choose one place I’ve been to where I just fell in love with everything it had to offer and felt like home, I’d have to go with Sydney. An exciting and vibrant city and a sport’s person’s paradise…
Your one piece of advice for anybody writing in your genre?
Just one piece of advice? If it has to be structured advice, I’d say build up your fan base. Which is actually much easier said than done. If it can be therapeutic advice, just make sure you love what you do.
You can grab my free short story “Simply Anna” She was simply furious, but he was simply divine here: FREE short story Simply Anna
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BUY LINK: myBook.to/chantellerose
(From Monday 28th August – for a limited time – you can purchase A Little of Chantelle Rose for just 99c/99p across Amazon! Just type in ‘CROOKED CAT BOOKS’ to your Amazon search for this book and many other Crooked Cat titles.)
Social media links:
Website: Website
Twitter: @HodgsonCristina
Facebook: Facebook profile
email: hello@cristinahodgson.com
August 26, 2017
A Sneaky Peek Inside The Cocktail Bar!
It’s been an exciting couple of weeks! Pre-sales of my debut novel, ‘Oh! What a Pavlova’ are looking healthy I’m told (see, cake IS good for you)… and I have also signed the contract for my second novel, ‘The Cocktail Bar’.
I wanted to give you a sneaky peek at the rough copy of the blurb:
Rock star, River Jackson is back in his hometown of Glastonbury to open a cocktail bar… and the locals aren’t impressed.
Seductress Georgina is proving too hot to handle, band mate Angelic Alice is messing with his heart and his head, his mum is a hippie-dippy liability, his school friends have resorted to violence – oh, and his band manager, Lennie AND the media are on his trail.
But River is armed with a magical Mexican elixir which will change the lives of the Three Chosen Ones. Once the Mexican wave of joy takes a hold of the town, he’s glad he didn’t lose his proverbial bottle.
Pity he hasn’t taken better care of the real one…
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And so Glastonbury is back on the scene once again…
As well as Mexico (as the blurb would suggest), and Prague and her Christmas markets.
There are even more jump-off-the-page characters, plenty of mishaps, comedy and romance; one of the most narcissistic and spiteful Bad Girls you will ever have the misfortune of ‘meeting’… and some exquisitely wild drinkies!
One thing is for sure, I had THE best time writing this one…
Cover to be revealed in the coming weeks/months, so stay tuned.
August 24, 2017
Meet The Author: Alice Castle
Tell us a little about your latest release, Death in Dulwich.
Death in Dulwich is a cosy crime mystery set in an affluent south London suburb. It’s the story of single mother Beth Haldane, who’s in her thirties and struggling to make ends meet. Much to her surprise, she lands a great job at a posh local school but things start to go horribly wrong right from the first day. Before she knows it, she has to clear her own name as a murderer prowls the pretty, tree-lined streets…
What inspired you to write it?
I love Golden Age murder mysteries, from writers like Margery Allingham, D L Sayers, Ngaio Marsh and, of course, Agatha Christie. I do also love contemporary thrillers with a harder edge, but I knew when I started to write whodunits that I wanted to create a modern twist on the village murder. In an age when many of us live in sprawling, anonymous cities, there’s a yearning for a time when everyone knew their neighbours and there was more of a sense of community. But living in each other’s pockets can bring its own stresses, and my books are about the moments when those cracks in an apparently perfect surface are revealed.
I was brought up and went to school in south London and worked as a journalist in Fleet Street and Docklands, before moving to Brussels for almost ten years. When I returned to the UK, I settled in Dulwich, getting to know the ways of the place from the inside out. It’s probably a good thing that I moved away a couple of years ago! I now look on its habits, good and bad, as a very affectionate outsider.
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Can you give us any clues as to what you are working on next?
At the moment I’m very busy getting the sequel to Death in Dulwich ready for publication next year. It’s called The Girl in the Gallery, and again stars my amateur sleuth, Beth Haldane. I’m really excited about it as it deals with some tricky issues surrounding teenage girls and eating issues. I think it will strike a chord with parents trying to understand their daughters. Its setting is based on one of my favourite places in the world, the Dulwich Picture Gallery, which is 200 years old this year.
When The Girl in the Gallery is finished, I’m moving on to the third book in the series, which will test Beth to the limits, as one of her friends is in mortal danger.
Favourite place you have ever visited anywhere in the world?
One of my favourite places, apart from the Dulwich Picture Gallery I’ve already mentioned, is the Medici Chapel in the Palazzo Riccardi in Florence. This tiny space is patterned on all four walls with amazing frescoes by Benozzo Gozzoli. It depicts the journey of the Magi and there is so much going on – little dramas and conversations, plenty of jostling for power and position, romances and, of course, the odd crime being committed too. It’s incredibly beautiful – and the rest of Florence isn’t bad either! I also love Sicily and have just visited Corfu for the first time, which was gorgeous. I’ve had some great holidays in Sweden, too. The temperature there suits me much better and reminds me of all the wonderful Scandi noir whodunits which I love. My favourite place to visit with my daughters is New York. There’s no place like it, crackling with energy and possibilities – and stuffed with great shops, too.
What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said about your writing?
Someone once told me they’d wet themselves after reading a funny passage in my first novel, which was quite a compliment! It’s also great to get reviews saying people are looking forward to seeing what I’ll write next. Like many authors, I’ll take any tiny scrap of praise going and then hoard it away, against those dark moments when I’m writing in a room on my own and suddenly have a ‘why am I doing this and why do I think I have anything to say?’ moment. One of the reasons I started writing was seeing London commuters reading and looking grim on their way to work. I’d just like to put a bit of a smile on people’s faces.
Your one piece of advice for anybody writing in your genre?
Try not to leave any of those smelly old red herrings lying around at the end. Whodunits are complicated to write and details can run away from you. And never underestimate your readers’ eagle eyes for detail. I’m sure I should take my own advice and do some sort of a graph so I can make sure the body really is in the library at the same time as the lead piping. Maybe with the next novel!
You can buy Death in Dulwich via the link below:
https://www.amazon.com/Death-Dulwich-London-Murder-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B071WSGCQ2
You can follow Alice on her Facebook Author page here:
https://www.facebook.com/alicecastleauthor/
Alice also has her own website:
http://www.dulwichdivorcee.com/
And she’s on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/DDsDiary?lang=en
Here’s the blurb:
Already described by early reviewers as ‘murderously good fun’ (author TP Fielden), a ‘keenly observed page turner … highly recommended’ (Amazon) and ‘well-written, engaging and fun,’ (author Jo Blakeley), Death in Dulwich is the story of thirty-something widow Beth Haldane.
Beth has her hands full – she has a bouncy nine-year-old son, a haughty cat, a fringe with a mind of its own and a ton of bills to pay. She loves her little home in plush south London suburb Dulwich, but life here doesn’t come cheap.
That’s why she is thrilled to land a job as archivist at top local school Wyatt’s – though she has an inkling the post is not what it seems and she doesn’t think much of her new boss, Dr Jenkins, either. Then, on her first day at work, Dr Jenkins is brutally murdered. Beth finds the body, and realises she is the prime suspect, with means, opportunity and a motive.
Beth has no choice but to try and clear her name, bringing herself into conflict with the police and the school. But who is the real culprit? And is the cause of the killing a horrifying secret buried deep in the school’s past, or does evil lurk behind the comfortable façade of daily Dulwich life?
Beth grows in confidence during her dogged pursuit of the murderer and, by the end of the book, is ready for any adventures that may come her way. Which is just as well, because there’s trouble brewing at the Dulwich Picture Gallery ….
August 22, 2017
‘Social Anxiety Revealed’ is Published Today!
Today’s the day! A big step in fulfilling what has become my passion: to raise awareness of social anxiety. The reason for that passion has been posted on other blogs, as well as my own, but I’ll summarise it here.
It took me 35 years of struggling with my problems before I discovered I wasn’t alone, and that many others in the world shared these feelings and difficulties. That should no longer happen to anyone, but it does.
Social anxiety usually develops in adolescence and should be dealt with in adolescence. That’s the time when it’s easy to change. In adulthood, change is much more difficult. If parents and teachers knew about social anxiety, they would understand the need to take action.
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You’re welcome to join my online launch party, which starts today at midday, UK time. Here are some of the things planned for the party:
Famous people who’ve had social anxiety
Songs with connections to social anxiety
Did you know? (Information about social anxiety)
Some of my fellow authors, who’ve kindly agreed to take over the reins for a while
Competitions
The book, Social Anxiety Revealed, is available from Amazon in ebook and paperback formats.
Here’s a little about it:
Fear of other people? Most of us feel this occasionally, when giving a presentation or being grilled in a job interview. This is not social anxiety disorder.
Fear of what other people think of you? We have all felt this, too. It is why we dress as we do and generally try to behave in a way that is expected of us. This is not social anxiety disorder either.
But when those fears become so prevalent that they take over your life? When they cause you to hide away, either literally or by not revealing your real self? When you keep quiet in an attempt to avoid those raised eyebrows and the possible thoughts behind them? That is social anxiety disorder.
And it is much more common than you might think. In the mental health table, it comes third – after alcoholism and depression – and yet most people don’t even know it exists.
If you have social anxiety disorder, this book is for you.
Even if you don’t have social anxiety disorder, you might have a friend, a relative or a work colleague who does. You might see it developing in your son, your daughter, or a child you teach. This book is for you, too.
Social Anxiety Revealed is created by people who yearn to ditch all these problems and live their lives to the full.
Can you help?
About Miriam
Miriam Drori is the author of a romance, Neither Here Nor There, and co-author of The Women Friends: Selina, the first in a series of novellas based on a painting by Gustav Klimt. She is married with three adult children and enjoys folk dancing, hiking, touring and reading.
Miriam sees the publication of Social Anxiety Revealed as an important step in fulfilling an ambition that began in about 2003: to raise awareness of a condition that’s very common yet little known.
Miriam has struggled with social anxiety for the past fifty years, although for thirty-five of those years, she didn’t even know the name of it or that a name existed. Only recently has she come to the conclusion that she shouldn’t have been struggling at all, but rather making friends with it.
In order to introduce this book and as a place for discussions with readers, Miriam has begun a blog that’s devoted solely to the topic of social anxiety: http://socialanxietyrevealed.wordpress.com/. Everyone is welcome to visit and comment.
Miriam Drori can be found all over the Internet, including:
Miriam’s website and blog, a blog devoted to social anxiety, Facebook author page and Twitter.
Social Anxiety Revealed will be available from Amazon from August 22 in paperback and ebook formats.
August 17, 2017
The Enchantment of The Glastonbury Tarot Cards…
Have you ever had your tarot cards read?
I have, several times, and yet never did a reading come as close to feeling as magical, as spot on, as goosebump inducing, as it did with the Glastonbury Tarot Cards. Perhaps that’s because I once lived in the town, and so their messages resonated on a deeper level, and perhaps it’s because they really are laced with divinity?
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Kate Clothier, the protagonist of my debut novel, ‘Oh! What a Pavlova’ is obsessed with ‘signs’.
Signs that she should leave her abusive partner. She’ll switch the radio on and ‘just happen’ to stumble across a debate about domestic violence, a newspaper will have an article on the rise of gaslighting, a soap on TV will reach its crescendo… a wife being attacked in the kitchen by the man who is supposed to cherish her. One day, having bought and read her animal cards, having collated enough ‘scientific evidence’ from the 22 international cities she visits (and the men she meets), that actually, she can break free, she decides it’s time for a tarot card reading. Like just in case she has got all of these previous signs terribly wrong.
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Here’s a little snippet of dialogue from her reading with Jenny, who lives in a rabbit warren of a cottage next to the town’s infamous Chalice Well:
“One day I booked myself in for a tarot card reading. To be honest, it was about time. How can anybody living in Glastonbury not take advantage of the myriad mystics on their doorstep?
Except this wasn’t any old set of tarot cards; these were Glastonbury Tarot cards (I mean I hadn’t known they would be, but I suppose it made their message all the more relevant, right?)
I was nervous as hell, until Jenny greeted me at the front door of her home near The Chalice Well, reassuring in plain clothes.
‘This isn’t ouija boarding or clairvoyancy or anything like that, relax love. I could sense the foresty dark green of your aura even before you rang the bell,’ she smiled before leaning in to kiss me on the cheek as if we’d known one another all our lives, then led me in to her tiny mid-terraced house. ‘Take a seat… I’ll fix you a tea – you drink normal builders’ I presume? I’ll bring the cards through in a jiffy and cut them up. All we’ll be using is your intuition and that’s it.’
She disappeared down the rabbit’s warren which joined sitting room to kitchen. ‘You’ll choose the cards that speak to you most right now, but whether you follow their path or take a new one is entirely up to you, so nothing’s set in stone,’ she raised her voice above the clinking of the china I could see her laying out on the draining board.
‘Okay, yeah that sounds good,’ I said, picking at my nails as I scanned the books lining her walls which catalogued everything from Pranic Healing, to Tales from the Ancient Isle of Avalon, and Rune Stones to Macrobiotic for Life.
It turned out Jenny was right. I opted for the three card reading and the images it brought forth were as relevant as any that could have been randomly picked. I knew that all the more so after she let me study the others which made up the pack.
‘Interesting, very interesting,’ she turned the cards I’d selected one by one and concentrated on their message.
The first card was the Seven of Swords: boundaries.
‘So this is where you are at the moment,’ said Jenny. ‘The goalposts of your current relationship are stifling you, to the point that it’s impinging upon your own sacred space. It’s time to go within, follow the messages from your higher self and make your perimeters very clear to significant others…’
The second card was The Chariot. It depicted a woman with a flowing mane of brown hair and a green cape sailing away from Glastonbury Tor in a boat. It was my situation captured with the strokes of a brush. And there wasn’t the slightest hint of trepidation to be detected in this woman’s face. In fact she was radiant, smiling. She knew where she was going, and yet she didn’t know where she was going. All she felt was freedom and that was the only signpost she needed.
And the final card was the Five of Staffs: empowerment; a thunderbolt of lightning zigzagging to the ground and a shaman standing against a very dark sky.
‘Wowzers,’ said Jenny. ‘Just look at the pattern here. Everything’s flowing wonderfully… Okay so the Five of Staffs is truly one of the most powerful cards in the Minor Arcana. It’s telling you that you’ve grown in awareness of your inner power and now the only thing you need in order to turn your life around, is sheer self-belief. If you believe it, you will see it come to pass…’
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Will Kate follow the wisdom of Glastonbury’s ley lines, or will procrastination reign supreme?
You’ll just have to read the book!
Many thanks to Lisa Tenzin-Dolma for her kind permission to feature the Glastonbury Tarot Cards, not only in this article, but also in the novel.
If you would like to purchase the cards, click here for more information.
If you would like to try a free online reading of Lisa’s cards first, click here to see how wonderful they are…
August 14, 2017
Hygge Time with Elizabeth Rose
When it comes to choosing books for our children, we (they) are spoiled for choice. But in a world packed to the rafters with the Disney (and the Disney-esque), doesn’t it make for a refreshing change to support a self-published author?
Jaquelyn Muller is just that.
Her Australian success with her first two picture book titles, I Love You 5 Lollipops and Elizabeth Rose on Parade, has been nothing short of inspirational. Teaming up with the equally talented illustrator, Kathryn Zammit, Jaquelyn has brought the magical, adventurous world of Elizabeth Rose, the circus girl, to life in inimitable style. This has also lent itself well to creating a series of chapter books for older readers, so that children can enjoy their own reading journey as it progresses through the fun and frolics of the little protagonist!
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But the talented children’s author doesn’t stop there. She’s a key player in KidLitVic, an annual conference which celebrates all that is fantastic about children’s literature, whilst encouraging fresh talent (as well as experienced writers and illustrators) by giving them the opportunity to meet and hear from industry professionals. She also hosts regular creativity workshops at schools in and around the Melbourne area where she lives. In short, she’s one busy lady!
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She’s also the proof of the pudding that many aspiring authors are seeking: self-publishing can work, with commitment and vision…
To buy Jaquelyn’s books, click the Universal links below:
myBook.to/ElizabethRoseonParade
http://mybook.to/ILoveYou5Lollipops
To find out more about the author, you can visit her website here: https://www.jmullerbooks.com/
August 9, 2017
Meet The Author: Sarah Louise Smith
Welcome, Sarah Louise Smith! Please tell us all about your latest release, ‘Unrequited Alice’.
Alice is in love with her friend Hannah’s fiance, Ed. He’s everything she could want – except available. On Hannah’s hen weekend, Alice meets Toby – also in unrequited love. The two hit it off and form an unusual friendship. But what happens if Ed starts to feel the same way about Alice? And is Toby just her friend?
What inspired you to write it?
The book is mostly set in Niagara Falls and New York – I went on holiday there in 2014, and started thinking about what cool places they were to set a novel. Although Alice is in unrequited love, the book is also a lot about friendship, and knowing your own feelings. And – doing the right thing!
What’s the funniest thing you have ever witnessed at a wedding?
My brother-in-law did a great ‘second dance’ when he married my step-sister. They had their first dance, all romantic and slow. And then an upbeat number came on and he just broke into this great dance routine, encouraging others to join them on the floor, even the bride was surprised – it was hilarious and his dance moves were brilliant.
Weddings truly do make fantastic subject matter for novels, since they provide the possibility for a whole host of emotions and scenarios. I have popped a wedding scene in my second novel which is currently being edited, and it was one of the most fun chapters I have ever written! Would you consider a book based around this theme again?
Weddings actually appear in all of my novels! In Amy & Zach, Amy’s travelling back home for her sister’s wedding (and her sister’s fiance is a one-night-stand she had!) … Izzy’s Cold Feet is about a bride who isn’t sure she’s with the right groom … In Independent Jenny, Jenny’s best friend gets married … So I guess you could say I’m a fan of weddings and enjoy writing about them! I haven’t planned a wedding in my current book, but who knows how it’s going to end
The Best 5 Things About Porto
And here’s why:
She is captivating. Most cities are female in my book, and Oporto (or Porto as I prefer to call her, using her Portuguese name), is no exception. This is a destination dazzling with soul, colour, heritage, amazing food and drink experiences and the friendliest, most charming of people.
And that’s just on the surface of the Douro river.
1: Luscious Landmarks
Porto is peppered with them. From her dramatic bridge straddling the Douro, through to her monuments emblazoned with tiles in every shade of blue. Then there are the barrels carrying her namesake, Port, which flank the water’s edge – be they hidden in cellars or high-profile lodges. Not to forget the miradouros providing the best viewpoints all across the city to admire said luscious landmarks!
A stroll around Porto is like walking through a fairy tale kingdom. Houses somehow defy gravity with wonderfully cascading roofs, and everything is a little bit rickety yet all the more beautiful for it.
2: Foodie and Drinkie Heaven
Whether you’re a Port connoisseur or not, no visit to this city would be complete without at least wandering around a cellar or distillery. Follow that up with as many petiscos (small plates) as it is polite to eat, or try something a little more avant-garde in a trendy bistro. Porto is fast gaining a reputation for the new and exciting when it comes to the culinary. But pudding should always be a pastel de nata. Preferably on the go, as you get lost among the maze-like medieval streets. It’s just got to be done.
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3: Tantalizing Tiles
In my humble opinion, nowhere rivals this city when it comes to her Azulejo mosaic masterpieces which come in every hue of blue from cornflower to denim, sky to petrol. Porto’s arty offerings are sumptuous and gorgeous in equal measure. Even the train station is studded with 20,000 of the city’s legendary blue tiles. It’s impossible not to stop and gaze in awe, making yourself look like a right old tourist…
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4: Everyday Life
In many ways, Porto and Venice are interchangeable (in a good way!) when it comes to the art of people watching and just ‘being’, soaking up the atmosphere. It’s the joy of the splash of the river and the unmistakable smell of the Port, the twists and turns down the winding streets where washing hangs pendant like from house to neighbouring house, never so glorious as when set against an azulejo backdrop depicting a medieval tale. It’s watching love’s young dreams as they bimble past the cafe where you sit sipping strong coffee. It’s the art of getting lost on purpose and stumbling across something so sweetly off the beaten track, whose secret you are torn between sharing and safeguarding. All of this is Porto.
5: Gardens
From Crystal Palace (no, not the football stadium!) to Cordoaria, from Quinta do Covelo to Nova Sintra… not forgetting the city’s infamous Botanical Gardens, green space abounds here. Northen Portugal truly is a magnificent place with a charm unlike anywhere else you have been.
Small wonder Kate Clothier, the protagonist of my debut novel, ‘Oh! What a Pavlova’ is so enchanted!
August 2, 2017
Meet The Author: Angela Wren
Hi Isabella and thanks for inviting me onto your blog today.
Writing a first novel takes blood sweat and tears and in my case about 4 years as I do not have the luxury of being able to write on a full-time basis. Writing the second book took about half that time but in many respects was much harder to complete than the previous one.
Although I knew all my central characters very well, and spent some considerable time developing the secondary characters that I needed for my new plot, I still felt constrained. That constraint came from understanding that the reader had expectations, they would have favourite characters, they would expect those same characters to behave in a particular way.
When I write, I inhabit my characters in the same way that I inhabit a role when I’m on stage. I know the characters’ mannerisms, their pattern of speech, their gait and how they move. So it came as quite a surprise to me, when writing the scenes in Merle that involved 6 year-old Pierre Mancelle, that his persona was by far my favourite to inhabit. Perhaps I liked the freedom to let out my inner child for a while! Perhaps it was the challenge of ‘playing’ a little boy – working cross-gender is not new in theatre.
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Anyway, I thought I would introduce you to a scene I had great fun writing. Pierre is out playing on his bicycle when he sees Beth Samuels – a young English widow – arrive back at her chalet in the village of Messandrierre…
“Junior Gendarme Mancelle on patrol, Madame Samuels.” A wide smile on his face, he saluted smartly.
“Pierre… sorry, Gendarme Mancelle, how are you?” Beth moved another box onto the front porch.
“I’m going back to school tomorrow. My medicine is finished today so Maman and the doctor said I’m better now.”
Beth smiled at the simplicity of his view of life. “That’s very good news. And does Maman know where you are?”
“Oh yes. I told her I was going on patrol and she said that I’ve got to be back home by four.”
She glanced at her watch, there was another half hour of freedom for him yet. “Oh, well, if I phone her and let her know you’re here do you think she will let you give me a helping hand with all these 16 boxes?”
He nodded as Beth took out her phone and dialled. A few moments later, assent given, Beth opened the door of the car to reveal a pile of box files laid out across the rear seats.
“Do you think you could take those files into the snug for me and put them on the floor in front of the book cases?”
Another smart salute. “Happy to help Madame Samuels.”
Beth placed two box files, one on top of the other and gently rested them on his proffered forearms. Then she picked up the first box. “Follow me, and as we’re working together, now Pierre, I think you’d better call me Beth.”
The boy stopped dead in his tracks on the top step of the porch. “Maman says I’m not allowed to do that. She say’s I can only call grown-ups Monsieur or Madame.”
“OK.” Beth balanced the box unsteadily on one arm as she used her spare hand to unlock the door and push it open. “Well, we can’t go against what Maman says, can we?” She stood with her foot holding the door back to let the youngster through. “How about you call me Madame…?” She was about to suggest her own shortened name and then realised that, whilst an adult used to speaking English could cope with the final digraph, a boy of six may not be so capable. As she placed the heavy box on the floor in the corner at the far side of the hearth, she heard in her mind his young voice pronounce her name in the standard French manner. A smirk spread across her face as the mental picture of the bordello keeper in a Victorian gothic novel that she had read recently came into her mind. Hmm, Madame Bette is perhaps not a good choice!
And if you want to know what happened next, then you’ll have to but the book!
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Author Bio
Angela Wren is an actor and director at a small theatre a few miles from where she lives in the county of Yorkshire in the UK. She worked as a project and business change manager – very pressured and very demanding – but she managed to escape, and now she writes books.
She has always loved stories and story-telling, so it seemed a natural progression, to her, to try her hand at writing, starting with short stories. her first ;published story was in an anthology, which was put together by the magazine ‘Ireland’s Own’ in 2011.
Angela particularly enjoys the challenge of plotting and planning different genres of work. Her short stories vary between contemporary romance, memoir, mystery and historical. She also writes comic flash-fiction and has drafted two one-act plays that have been recorded for local radio.
Her full-length stories are set in France, where she likes to spend as much time as possible each year. She’s currently researching and working on the follow-up to Merle.
Novel Blurb
Jacques Forêt, a former gendarme turned investigator, delves into the murky world of commercial sabotage – a place where people lie and misrepresent, and where information is traded and used as a threat.
The Vaux organisation is losing contracts and money, and Jacques is asked to undertake an internal investigation. As he works through the complexity of all the evidence, he finds more than he bargained for, and his own life is threatened.
When a body of a woman is found, it appears to be suicide. But as the investigation takes another turn, Jacques suspects there is more to it.
Who is behind it all…and why? Will Jacques find the answer before another person ends up dead?
Merle – the second in a new crime series featuring investigator, Jacques Forêt.
Universal Links:
Website : www.angelawren.co.uk
Blog : www.jamesetmoi.blogspot.com
Facebook : Angela Wren
Goodreads : Angela Wren
Contact an author : Angela Wren
July 30, 2017
Meet The Author: Aimee Brown
Welcome, Aimee Brown! Please tell us a little about your brand new book, “Little Gray Dress.”
Hi! Thank you so much for having me. Little Gray Dress is a book full of weddings, breakups, engagements, and many laugh out loud moments.
Here is the official blurb: Emi Harrison has avoided her ex-fiance, Jack Cabot, for nearly two years. Her twin brother Evan’s wedding is about to end that streak.
From bad bridesmaid’s dresses, a hyperactive sister-in-law, a mean girl with even meaner secrets, and too much to drink, nothing seems to go right for Emi, except when she’s wearing her little gray dress.
When she speed-walks into Liam Jaxon’s bar, things get more complicated. He’s gorgeous, southern, and has no past with Emi. He may be exactly what she needs to prove for the last time that she doesn’t need or want Jack!
Her favorite little gray dress has made an appearance at nearly every major event in Emi’s adult life. Will it make another grand appearance when she least expects it?
What inspired you to write it?
I’ve always wanted to be a published author. I’ve started and trashed at least a hundred manuscripts over the years. For some reason, this one stuck. I wrote it quickly because the characters never seemed to shut up. Ha!
I’m also obsessed with anything wedding as well as the 90’s romantic comedies that they no longer make. I wanted to write both of those things and I think Little Gray Dress is a great mix of the two.
Can you give us any clues as to what you are working on next, or are you taking a well-earned breather?
Since I signed my publishing contract I’ve been mostly working on Little Gray Dress in some way or another. If it wasn’t editing, it’s been marketing. But… I have had some time to start a couple different projects. One is a story surrounding one of the characters in Little Gray Dress. It seems everyone who has read it needs a happy ending for this particular character and I’m super happy to oblige.
I’m also about ¼ of the way through a kind of cozy chick lit-ish mystery book that is set in a vintage Tiki bar. It’s such fun and I’ve really fallen in love with my characters.
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Some of my favourite people sport an interesting cluster of tattoos, but it’s no secret, I’m not their biggest fan – (at this point I duck for cover) – and probably therefore in a very small minority nowadays! What sparked your love of them? I must confess, when I first saw your picture, I thought “Oh, what a beautiful necklace she’s wearing!”, but in actual fact, it is a slightly more permanent piece of art, isn’t it?
Yeah, so I guess I should tell everyone reading that I’m a BIG tattoo fan and when I get one I don’t go small or hidden. I have a big tattoo across my chest, armpit to armpit you could say. I have heard people mistake it for a necklace upon first meeting me, which is OK because it’s gorgeous. It’s vines, interweaving into a heart with a sparrow on each side. I also have an ‘in process’ ¾ sleeve on my left arm that is chrysanthemums right now, and in the future will also be air and the wind, plus a few more random flowers.
I love the look of tattoos. One of the reasons I chose to get them was just for the simple ‘shock and awe’ of the visibility of them in someone like me. I really love seeing the obvious judgment on people’s faces who disapprove of them. It’s art, who disapproves of art? Really, I’m about the least judgmental person you will ever meet. People’s choices in life are just that, their choices. I have no opinion on them because I’ve never walked in their shoes. But, I will say, tattoos bring out the worst in people who are against them. I’ve heard a lot of awful things said about myself because of the tattoos. I was once stopped by an older woman in the store who let me know she would pray for my children. Why would she think my children (who were standing well behaved and all clean and shiny, next to me) weren’t taken care of because I have beautiful tattoos? It doesn’t make me regret the tattoos at all when I’m treated that way. If anything it makes me want more to keep exactly those people outside of my comfort zone. Lol.
I understand that they aren’t for everyone and that’s ok. I got them because I love them. My tattoos have no special meanings, besides the fact that I fell in love with them and wanted to break the stereotype of what a ‘responsible mother’ should look like. I’m not a drug user, (never have used a single one) I’m not a partier or drinker (all stereotypes pinned to tattooed folks). I’ve been married 20 years, I have three teenagers that I’ve home-schooled (one even graduated a year early!), I run a successful business and I’ve been the face of many hospital ER’s, despite being heavily tattooed under the cover of my scrubs. My tattoos have never held me back from a job and they don’t devalue my worth as an honorable human on the planet.
One of the most popular blog posts I ever did was about my tattoos as a woman. You can find it over here à http://authoraimeebrown.com/im-a-tattooed-woman/
Now that I’ve written a book you see that tattoos, and those that have them, are a subject close to my heart because of they equal individuality, and a stereotype that is so often wrong. I believe no matter how someone looks, they deserve to not be judged based on negative stereotypes.
I also understand you are a coffee aficionado… but what about cake?
Oh, my goodness, who doesn’t love a great piece of cake?! Cheesecake, chocolate cake, carrot cake. YUM! Cake seems to represent the celebration of something great so that could be part of my obsession. Is it my fault that getting all the laundry washed, dried and folded counts as ‘something great’ in my house? No way. LOL.
When I was a child my family served a lot of cake during family get togethers. My grandfather used to mix his vanilla ice cream and his chocolate cake into a sort of milkshake. I do that. It’s one of my favorite desserts and every single birthday I have, the requirement is always chocolate cake with chocolate icing and vanilla ice cream so I can mix it. Now that my grandfather is no longer with us, it makes me think of him every time I mix the two together (or when I see my 19-year-old, who’s picked up the habit, do it too!)
Favourite place you have ever visited anywhere in the world?
I’m truly sad to say I’ve never left America, though my list of ‘go to’s’ is rather long. I’ve lived all over the states though, from Oregon to Nevada then on to Oklahoma and now in Montana. I love the deep south and the warm humid days, palm trees and laid back atmosphere. But I also loved the southern coast of California with the tall palm trees and gorgeous beaches. It’s safe to say that if there is sun, warmth, beaches and palm trees, I’ll love it.
Life with three teenagers must be a roller coaster of fun and games! How much do your kids influence your writing, and how understanding have they been of your need for a quiet space?
I’m not sure they yet understand my need for a quiet space, even though they are 19, 18 and 13. My house always has some kind of chatter and laughter happening and luckily for me I’ve learned how to tune most of it out.
It’s kind of funny because when I think of writing a character with children, I always decide against it. For me, a book is a vacation and writing about kids is no vacation. I’m with kids all the time. I homeschool them as well so we are literally together nearly 24/7. So I can say if they’ve influenced my writing at all it’s to make sure there are no children front and center in the stories. Lol.
Your one piece of advice for anybody writing in your genre?
I say write what you know. I didn’t really choose my genre (romantic comedy/chick lit) it chose me. I’m sarcastic, flawed, and funny by nature so it’s really easy for me to write that way as well. You can’t force something that isn’t there so if you’re bound and determined to write a chick lit but a suspenseful mystery is what keeps coming out, go with it.
Author Bio: Aimee Brown is a writer and avid reader, often blogging her thoughts on chick lit books. Little Gray Dress is her first novel published. She’s currently studying for her Bachelor’s degree in English Writing. She spends much of her time writing her next book, doing homework, raising three teenagers, binge watching shows on Netflix and obsessively cleaning and redecorating her house. She’s fluent in sarcasm and has been known to use far too many swear words.
Aimee grew up in Oregon but is now a transplant living in cold Montana with her husband of twenty years, three teenage children, and far too many pets.
She would love to hear your thoughts on Little Gray Dress! If you want to chat with her she’s very active on social media. Find her over at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest or her author website – http://www.authoraimeebrown.com. Continue checking her website for information on her next book release!
Author Links:
Website – http://authoraimeebrown.com
Facebook – http://facebook.com/authoraimeebrown
Twitter – @authoraimeeb – http://twitter.com/authoraimeeb
Instagram – https://instagram.com/authoraimeeb
Pinterest – https://www.pinterest.com/wordswithaimee/
Book Blurb: Emi Harrison has avoided her ex-fiance, Jack Cabot, for nearly two years. Her twin brother Evan’s wedding is about to end that streak.
From bad bridesmaid’s dresses, a hyperactive sister-in-law, a mean girl with even meaner secrets, and too much to drink, nothing seems to go right for Emi, except when she’s wearing her little gray dress.
When she speed-walks into Liam Jaxon’s bar, things get more complicated. He’s gorgeous, southern, and has no past with Emi. He may be exactly what she needs to prove for the last time that she doesn’t need or want Jack!
Her favorite little gray dress has made an appearance at nearly every major event in Emi’s adult life. Will it make another grand appearance when she least expects it?
Buy Links:
AmazonUS: https://www.amazon.com/Little-Gray-Dress-Aimee-Brown-ebook/dp/B071JF7DWG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1498143799&sr=8-1&keywords=little+gray+dress+aimee
AmazonUK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Little-Gray-Dress-Aimee-Brown-ebook/dp/B071JF7DWG/ref=la_B072Q4PLQJ_1_1_twi_kin_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1498140516&sr=1-1
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