The Penny Bangle is the last in a trilogy of books following the lives and loves of various members of the Denham family. It’s a series I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading and a family who I’m sorry to have to leave behind, no matter how fitting an end The Penny Bangle is to the series.
In The Penny Bangle, it’s the turn of Alex and Rose Denham’s twin sons, Robert and Stephen, to take centre stage. It’s 1942 and both men are home, recovering from injuries they suffered at Dunkirk. Into their lives comes nineteen-year-old Cassie Taylor, newly arrived from Birmingham after her granny sent her away to the country where she thought she’d be safer, and very reluctantly about to be the new land girl tasked with helping out on their parents’ farm. Read more
I must admit to having a bit of an aversion to pink. With the notable exception of the singer, P!NK, I try and avoid the colour, especially when it liberally covers a book. But I was only too happy to overcome this irrational dislike if it meant I could read another Kate Johnson novel.
I read and thoroughly enjoyed Kate’s fantasy novel The Untied Kingdomlast year and was looking forward to reading one of Kate’s Sophie Green mysteries. Run Rabbit Run is the first of these to be published by ChocLit, an independent publisher of fiction with an element of romance. (The previous four books in the Sophie Green series were published as ebooks in the USA.)
You don’t need to have read any of the previous Sophie Green books to be able to enjoy this one. It works perfectly well as a stand-alone. Read more
The house was in a kind of mews, not directly on the river. Compact, made of old brick. It was a world away from the backstreets of Hackney where he’d grown up. That was an even longer time ago. Yet another name, and another life. He frowned. He didn’t need stuff like that surfacing. He was American, nowadays – it said so on his passport.
He’d asked the cab to drop him on the opposite site of the road. Reconnaissance. Even now he didn’t have to knock on that neat, blank front door. Bobby’s words echoed. He would be stirring up something that maybe was better left. She’d made no attempt to contact him.
The paint on the house was shiny; the windows were clean, with boxes on the sills overflowing with spring stuff. He could recognise daffodils but the other things, blue and white, kind of like bells? No idea what they were. Pretty though. Like someone cared. There was a slim tree in a pot beside the door, with more daffodils. Someone had made an effort. Life was going on here.
That’s another taster from the first chapter of Never Coming Home. Keep following the tour for more.
Many thanks to The Nut Press for hosting the second stop on the ‘Wispa it …’ Tour. It’s good to be here, having met Kath and Squizzey at the RNA conference last year.
Almost the first thing anyone asks, after they’ve congratulated you on finally getting a publishing contract, is ‘What is the book about?’ This is the part where the author — me — shuffles, stutters and comes up with a cautious — ‘It’s a romantic thriller.’ Then there’s a couple of seconds of silence, that go on for about ten minutes or so, during which you can see it in their eyes. ‘Yes – but what is the book about.’
As you will have guessed, I’m not that good at what is known as the elevator pitch — the summing up of your carefully crafted masterpiece into half a dozen earth-stopping words that completely encapsulate its brilliance, relevance and the downright deliciousness of your hero. I find it extremely difficult. Some of this is down to natural ineptitude, but some of it is due to the fact that the book is a thriller, with quite a complex plot, AND I DON’T WANT TO GIVE TOO MUCH AWAY!
So, it’s about, um, well …
It’s about a young woman, Kaz, who is getting over the tragedy of losing her five-year-old daughter in a car crash. Six months after the crash, a stranger turns up on her doorstep, with an incredible story. As a result of that story, Kaz begins a quest that takes her to some of the most beautiful parts of Europe, in an attempt to find out what really happened to her daughter. Oh, and the stranger, Devlin, goes with her. And he is seriously hot — And Kaz has sort of noticed that he’s hot … and he seems to feel the same way about her. You get the picture. That’s what the book is about. But sadly that’s not an elevator pitch. It’s a summing up of a book that’s got a twisty plot and an edgy love affair bundled together in 300+ pages.
How they got bundled, I don’t exactly know. I can’t point to a particular thing that gave me inspiration for the book, and I don’t know how the plot got to be the way it did. I admire books by master plotters, like Robert Goddard, but I’m not one of those who do puzzles or cross-words or anything like that. When I stand outside the writing process, I think that I just sit down and write. If anyone asks, I’d say I was a pantser, not a plotter — I certainly get moments when the characters take off and I’m running after them — but I don’t think it can be like that — in fact, I know it’s not, as when I go back to check on something (like when an editor asks a particularly awkward question) I find that I have all sorts of pieces of paper with timetables and timelines, dates of birth and character motivation scribbled on them. As a result of this, I’ve reached the conclusion that I do a lot more plotting than I think I do.
An awful lot of it goes on before I even begin the book. At present, I’m in the very early stages of planning something that might possibly become something else at some stage in the future — precision stuff, you’ll notice. I’m watching the process a little more, and I think that’s what happens. If you write, then you research, and if you research, then you have to be open to what that research tells you. I think a lot of what I do comes out of that. And I do like timelines, slanting ones that go from one corner of the page to the other — Why do they have to do that? I have no idea.
I don’t sit down and write a synopsis first. I don’t do chapter plans. I don’t even write in chapters, except to mark the places where there is a good cliffhanger ending. I don’t fill in those questionnaires where you list your character’s favourite colour, her shoe size, name of childhood pet, etc. For years I felt incredibly guilty about not doing any of those things. But the words didn’t stop falling out of the pen and onto the page. Now, I let them get on with it. Everyone works in the way that is best for them. I think I probably plot a lot, but it’s a bit like the iceberg, most of it is under the water — I let the characters tell me details of who they are when they are ready – and I look up stuff, when I need to, but a lot of general research goes on before I ever get as far as writing.
How did I get here? I really don’t have a clue.
Never Coming Home is Evonne Wareham’s debut novel and is published by ChocLit. For more information, check out Evonne’s Author Website or Blog where she blogs on Wednesdays. She tweets (sometimes) at @evonnewareham. The next stop on the tour will be Love Reading, Love Books on Friday 10th February and you can find details of all the stops on the tour here: The Wispa It… Blog Tour. Never Coming Home will be available to purchase from 8th March. It will be officially launched in Waterstones in Cardiff from 7pm on Thursday 15th March. If you are in the area, you are very welcome to drop in.
For your chance to win a copy of Never Coming Home and a delicious Wispa chocolate bar to enjoy while reading it, ‘Wispa’ what your guilty reading pleasure is in the comments below, and Squizzey will choose a winner on Monday 13th February.
Having already read and enjoyed Christina Courtenay’s previous two novels, Trade Winds and The Scarlet Kimono, you’d think that I would have learned my lesson and left Highland Storms for a weekend when I had some uninterrupted reading time. But no, despite knowing that I find it incredibly hard to put one of her books down, I picked it up on a Tuesday evening and started to read. Although I did manage to put it down long enough to get some sleep on Wednesday night, my dreams were vivid, heather-coloured ones, full of dashing heroes running about brandishing dirks! And when I woke up on Wednesday morning and really should have been working, I reached for Christina’s book instead and spent the rest of the day in the Scottish Highlands. This might help you see why that might have happened:
Betrayed by his brother and his childhood love, Brice Kinross needs a fresh start. So he welcomes the opportunity to leave Sweden for the Scottish Highlands to take over the family estate. But there’s trouble afoot at Rosyth in 1754 and Brice finds himself unwelcome. The estate’s in ruin and money is disappearing. He discovers an ally in Marsaili Buchanan, the beautiful redheaded housekeeper, but can he trust her? Marsaili is determined to build a good life. She works hard at being housekeeper and harder still at avoiding men who want to take advantage of her. But she’s irresistibly drawn to the new clan chief, even though he’s made it plain he doesn’t want to be shackled to anyone. And the young laird has more than romance on his mind. His investigations are stirring up an enemy. Someone who will stop at nothing to get what he wants – including Marsaili – even if that means destroying Brice’s life forever …
One of the things I love about Christina’s writing is how quickly she draws you into the world of her books and Highland Storms is no exception. Rather than reading Brice Kinross’ story, I felt more as if I were taking the journey alongside him, as he leaves behind his family in Sweden for a new and uncertain future running the family estate in Scotland. I moved about the family home with him and felt as if I really knew it and could feel its stone beneath my hands. Christina’s descriptions are so good and work on all your senses. She’ll have you smelling the peat fires, the sweat of the horses and the hay in their stables; feeling the wind and water on your skin; and tasting the whisky warming your body after a night out on the hills. Your heart will positively pound as dirks are drawn, you’re taken captive and then later go on the run.
Highland Storms tells the story of Brice Kinross, the son of Killian and Jess from Trade Winds, and, coming from such impressive hero stock, Brice had a lot to live up to in order to convince in his own right. Happily, he’s different to his father but no less appealing, and I especially liked that Christina didn’t create a mini-me version of Killian but let Brice grow into his role on his own terms. I loved Marsaili’s character and how she is strong and capable while under attack, rather than simply being a damsel in need of a rescuer. Special mention also has to go to her wise and faithful protector, Liath, who was another of my favourite characters in the book.
I don’t want to give any more away about the storyline or the other characters involved but I can wholeheartedly recommend this as an engrossing read from an author who has become a firm favourite of mine.
, Amazon.com and The Book Depository. Christina’s previous novelsTrade WindsandThe Scarlet Kimonoare also available from Choc Lit and all good booksellers.Trade Windswas short listed for the Romantic Novelist’s Association’s Pure Passion Award for Best Historical Fiction 2011. To find out more about Christina, you can read her Author Page, visit her Author Website or Follow Christina on Twitter.
And if you’re near Abergavenny this Saturday between 1pm and 3pm, why not pop into Waterstone’s and meet Christina? She’ll be there, together with fellow ChocLit author, Margaret James, to chat about their books and to sign any copies purchased. Naturally, their books would make excellent Christmas presents.
Betrayed by his brother and his childhood love, Brice Kinross needs a fresh start. So he welcomes the opportunity to leave Sweden for the Scottish Highlands to take over the family estate. But there’s trouble afoot at Rosyth in 1754 and Brice finds himself unwelcome. The estate’s in ruin and money is disappearing. He discovers an ally in Marsaili Buchanan, the beautiful redheaded housekeeper, but can he trust her? Marsaili is determined to build a good life. She works hard at being housekeeper and harder still at avoiding men who want to take advantage of her. But she’s irresistibly drawn to the new clan chief, even though he’s made it plain he doesn’t want to be shackled to anyone. And the young laird has more than romance on his mind. His investigations are stirring up an enemy. Someone who will stop at nothing to get what he wants – including Marsaili – even if that means destroying Brice’s life forever …
If I tell you that Jane Austen is one of my favourite authors and has been since I was a teenager; that Persuasion is not only my favourite of all her books but one of my all-time favourite books; and that Captain Wentworth is my favourite literary hero, then you’ll probably understand why I might have been slow to flick open Juliet Archer’s Persuade Me, a modern retelling of Persuasion.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for modern revamps of classic books and films. When they’re done well, they can give you a fresh take on the original and guide you back to revisiting an old friend or introduce you to a new one. But when they’re done badly, they’re a travesty and I rue the loss of valuable reading or viewing time.
Happily, Juliet Archer has done a fantastic job with Persuade Me and my love of Persuasion not only remains undimmed but it might even have been reinforced, if that’s possible. The beauty of ChocLit titles is that they offer you the story not only from the heroine’s perspective but also from that of the hero and, with such an appealing hero as Rick Wentworth, that’s one of the main draws here. You finally get inside Wentworth’s head and find out what he’s thinking and feeling. Being able to do so does mean that the Will-they?, Won’t-they? suspense of the original is compromised slightly but Juliet Archer handles things in such a way that she still manages to retain much of the tension, right up to the last possible moment. Besides, it was terrific fun to see just what a modern Wentworth might be like. Rick Wentworth, marine biologist, is a clever imagining of what Austen’s hero could be today. He’s every bit as passionate and impulsive as the Captain Frederick Wentworth of the original.
The heroine, Anna, is a character that I couldn’t help liking and wouldn’t mind being friends with, were she real. I also loved the Musgrove family and the Crofts every bit as much as I did the ones in Austen’s novel and I definitely approved of Mrs Smith’s modern-day equivalent and her situation. That was a lovely touch. It was a lot of fun to recognise each and every modern equivalent of much-loved (or hated, in some cases) characters and I enjoyed how Juliet Archer updated the key events, making it especially relevant in our seemingly celebrity-obsessed times.
You don’t need to know or love Persuasion to enjoy Persuade Me. The book easily holds its own and is a great read in its own right and, if you haven’t read Persuasion, you’ll hopefully enjoy Persuade Me enough to want to see where the inspiration for it came from.
I read Persuade Me straight through in one sitting. I hadn’t meant to but once I started I didn’t want to put it down, even though I knew exactly how the story would end. I eventually finished it around 5am on Monday. That’s the sign of a good read in my book.
Hello. It’s me again, I’m afraid. Budge up a bit, chaps, and… IS that an acorn? Ow. Really Squizz, have some decorum, I thought I’d got another boil on my bum for a minute. Now. Where was I? Ah yes. The reason that the gorgeous Squizzey has allowed me access to this page (apart from the fact that I have in my possession one or two photographs of a certain squirrel somewhat the worse for drink), is to enable me to give all you lovely people – ow!- and squirrels, yes, some insight into my new release from Choc Lit publishing … I give you Starstruck!
When I began writing Love & Freedom I decided that American Honor Sontag had come to Brighton, England, searching for her English mother who had left when Honor was a baby.
I didn’t immediately realise that it would represent a new start – like her, I believed she was just taking time out, a four-month odyssey that would allow her a break from a bad situation in her Connecticut home town of Hamilton Drives. Although, I suppose, having taken such a radical step as to take off without even telling her family where she was going, it was logical that she was ripe for change.
Thank you, Kathryn, and all your furry friends and familiars, for inviting me to be a guest blogger on The Nut Press. I’m really delighted to be here today, and to have the chance to chat about my new novel The Golden Chain.
All I’ve been thinking about for the past couple of weeks is the rewrites on my work novel, Love & Freedom, which comes out on 1 June 2011. Rewrites, rewrites, rewrites, REWRITES.
Rewrites or editing or polishing or revisions – they come under several titles but they’re an inevitable part of a writer’s life. As soon as your work comes under the scrutiny of a fresh pair of eyes, every scamped piece of research, saggy bit, hole in the plot or break in the continuity might as well be highlighted in neon pink. To the fresh pair of eyes, that is, not to you – or you’d put it right before you sent it in.
