April 20, 2015 by Effrosyni Moschoudi

Interview with Lauren Lynne, author of The Secret Watchers Series

Today I’m delighted to welcome Lauren Lynne, a lovely author I’ve met in The Fantasy & Scifi Network (we are both members of the group). Lauren writes young-adult fantasy, but her Secret Watcher Series has fans among people of all ages. Join me as I check out her awesome book covers and then, on for a good chinwag!

Welcome to the world of Owen Ryer and The Secret Watchers. Owen is given glimpses of horrible things that have happened and is driven to fix them but it’s a dangerous life and he’s been told he has to keep it a secret. Homework and chores are bad enough when you’re in eighth grade but now this? He already hated school and now he must stand up to school bullies and even bigger ones out in the world beyond the school’s doors. Now it’s a race to see if Owen can master his special ability before the dark watchers destroy him or turn him to the side of evil and chaos. Everyone needs a hero and sometimes the best ones are the unintentional ones. Owen is that kind of guy as he searches for purpose, acceptance and morality. He isn’t perfect, he doesn’t always do things right, but he has the greater good at heart – always.

You are invited to follow Owen as he journeys through the darkest walk he has ever taken; where he captures images of the underbelly of society, a place he never knew existed and didn’t want to see. After you read Visions, will you be looking under your bed and double checking your closet? Please enter the Secret Watchers universe if you dare but beware – you may be sucked right into the good versus evil suspense of jaw-clenching action and never want to leave.

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For Owen, high school is difficult enough without adding the stress of knowing that there are some things in this world that only a secret watcher can fix. Too bad one of their special abilities isn’t repairing relationships because he feels like no one understands. Owen wonders what is going on with Lucie who is doing everything she can to avoid him. Then there’s Tess. She’s older, wiser and seems to really like him, but he’s afraid that she might just be using him. Something strange is happening on campus and his friend Katie is involved. And finally his father is not himself, blames Owen for everything and threatens to give his secret away. Owen is scared – plenty of dark watchers are already after him without his father exposing his presence and abilities to the rest of the world.

Owen and his family must go to Florida in the hope that he and his mentor, White Eagle, can get to the bottom of what is going on with his father. More importantly Owen hopes to discover what is behind the strange, potent relationship that his father and grandfather have rekindled after years of not speaking. They’re afraid it’s a trap but what choice do they have? It’s not in Owen’s nature to avoid danger. He will go where he is needed. Now if he can just make it out alive… because girl problems, not getting along with his dad and keeping up on homework are nothing compared to what’s waiting.

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Owen Ryer thought he was normal. He thought his life was boring. A walk into a pawnshop in eighth grade showed him that his life was a lie. Two years later Owen has accepted how far from normal he really is. He has a special gift, granting him the ability to see dark energy in the objects around him. Now he’s part of a secret society where people like himself help others and fight the dark watchers who want them for their powers.

Owen has discovered that a Secret Watcher does not have to live his life alone. He knows that he can expand his powers by working with other watchers but what will the price be? Darkness is growing and evil thinks it has found its new prince in Owen. They will stop at nothing to get to him even if it means kidnapping, mind-control or murder. Owen must do more than fight; he must use his wits and every ability he has at his disposal to hold the growing darkness at bay. Who knew high school could be more challenging than football, homework and relationships? The dark side knows… and they’re watching.

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Marlo finds a missing watcher and now it’s up to Lucie and Owen to go undercover to pull her out, if she’s even still alive. They find themselves thrown into the world of human trafficking and are afraid they won’t make it out alive. Caged, drugged and confused, they lose sight of their mission. Then they must face the truth about darkness and light or is it all shades of gray? How will they save someone else if they can’t even save themselves? Sometimes you have to do truly horrible things for the greater good but then what does that make you? What do you become if you are just as malicious as the dark watcher you are supposed to be saving everyone from? White Eagle says that power is power, but Owen has absorbed dark watcher gifts. He can feel himself morphing and he’s pretty sure he’s nowhere near good anymore. What will two damaged watchers do now? Are you still good if you’ve been consumed by darkness? Owen will have to figure that out before it’s too late. He meets a mysterious stranger who has an interesting offer. Owen can’t decide if it’s worth the risk but it becomes more and more appealing as he is used again and again by both sides and now that he’s actually killed someone, who will save him?

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Hello Lauren and welcome to my blog!

Hi Fros, thank you for the invitation!

What are you working on at the moment? Tell us a little about your current project(s).

I am working with my editor on the last of The Secret Watchers books, book five, Destiny. Closing a series is bittersweet, but I’m looking forward to new adventures. I also started a whole new genre. I’m working on my first dystopian. It will feature a female protagonist who has unique computer skills. The big bad government has her beta testing what she thinks is a game but in reality they are planning to kill off a portion of the population, and they are using her to plan how to do it.

Your next book sounds awesome, Lauren! Tell us, are there any hobbies or interests that you enjoy in your spare time?

I am an amateur photographer in my spare time. My son, my dad and I love to go on day hikes and take the camera with us. Most of the “art” in our house is pictures we have taken. Each of my covers includes at least one photo that I have taken. I also love to read young adult novels and go to the movies; they are my guilty pleasures.

Do you have any advice for other indie authors?

Go out there and make friends with the other amazing people who are in this business with you. As a group, indie authors have been incredibly generous with their tips and advice. They bring you up on a bad day and celebrate every success. I love my author buddies!

Oh, how right you are! Choose a male and a female character from your book and tell us which actor/actress you’d wish to play them in a film adaptation.

When I first started writing Visions, book one of the Secret Watchers, I had just watched the Twilight movies. Before I watch any book-adapted movie, I read the book first. I thought the Jacob Black character was pretty amazing and undervalued so Taylor Lautner became my vision of Owen. My oldest son, who was a junior in high school when I began the books, chose AnnaSophia Robb as the person he visualized as Lucie. He also named her and helped me decide what her attributes would be.

Being an author involves a lot of sitting around. What do you do for exercise?

I found an answer to this one. First I bought a stand up desk so that I only sit part of the time. I love to hike and sometimes I just walk. I’m not as young as I once was, so I also do a little yoga. I’ll be honest, I need to move more and eat less but I love food. I am a work in progress!

Oh, I can relate to that (giggles). Do you listen to music while you write and if so, what kind?

I love to listen to music when I work. I’m a big fan of epic movie music. Howard Shore, James Newton Howard and Blake Neely are my favorite composers. I also listen to music from some of my favorite TV series, like Arrow. Looking at my playlists I see that I have a lot of Maroon 5 and Nickelback.

Anything else you like to do to get the creative juices flowing?

I watch action-adventure TV and movies. I also go out and live my life. I take my journal everywhere I go and when I see, feel, hear, or smell something that moves me, I write it down and save it for the appropriate scene. As for office help… I keep a golden retriever at my feet and two cats on the shelves by my desk. No really! No joke, I’ve lost shelf space to kitty nap zones.

Delightful photo! What were your most and least favorite subjects in school?

Okay, funny story… back in school I hated… wait for it… ENGLISH! I was a science and math girl all through school and into college. As I traveled further along the road of life, I became a writer. I suddenly realized no one was telling me what to write anymore. I had all these emotions building up inside, and one day I started writing and couldn’t stop. Now I fight for my writing time.

Good for you! Well, Lauren, this has been a blast. Thank you so much for being here today.

It’s been a pleasure, Fros. Many thanks again for this opportunity!

I’m author Lauren Lynne. The good side of growing up is that you can write whatever you want. The downside… now I can’t read it without my glasses! I have the soul of an adventurer but the heart of a coward when it comes to danger, yet I’m drawn to all things action-adventure, so this particular genre was a natural fit. You won’t find me bungee jumping, cliff diving or doing parkour because, well… I’m a klutz… so I write it. Think of me as an armchair adventure hound. I create characters who are much braver, tougher, more graceful and athletic than I will ever be. When you dream, dream big!

I love working with students who have a thirst for knowledge. I write for young adults because they are the age group I most love to teach. I grew up in a house where reading was expected, anticipated and enjoyed. I want to pass that joy on to my students. I do not write alone, but pull in my boys for real life teenaged insight. I also listen to my students.

I am a native of the Pacific Northwest, with its vivid and varied panoramas. When I’m not writing, I can be found spending time with my family, working with students, reading, gardening or hiking around Mt. Hood, the Columbia River Gorge or the Oregon Coast with my camera. I am also a graduate of both Oregon State and Portland State universities with degrees in education and science. Writing is my passion and I want to share my love of it and reading with you.

Visit Lauren’s Amazon page

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April 6, 2015 by Effrosyni Moschoudi

An interview with Lily Graham, author of The Postcard

I’m pleased to introduce to you today Lily Graham and her delightful novella, The Postcard. I am in the middle of reading it and I’m finding it deliciously whimsical, much like the books of Cecilia Ahern – an author I adore for her similarly magical, quirky stories. I hope you will enjoy finding out all about this new author who, as you will see, is extremely talented in other ways too!

For fans of Sarah Addison Allen and Alice Hoffman. The Postcard is a novella of hope, second chances and the power of love.

An empty postcard, a mother’s last promise. At three a.m. anything is possible, even magic.

When Ivy Everton, a children’s book illustrator, moves to Cornwall to start a new life with her husband Stuart, she’s given her mother’s old writing desk, a bittersweet token from a mother who made childhood magical. When she clears it, she finds that the desk holds an unexpected surprise; one she wishes, in a way, that she hadn’t found, as hidden inside is a blank, faded postcard addressed to her, in her mother’s hand. At first, the postcard serves only to haunt her; as she can’t help but wonder what unwritten secret lies unsaid. Yet, as the days pass mysterious things begin to happen, odd items go missing from her studio, only to reappear, ethereally transformed in the seemingly empty desk. Soon Ivy realizes that the postcard was never really blank, it was simply waiting … waiting for her to find it.

Part ghost story, part romantic Christmas tale, The Postcard is about finding hope, even in the darkest times, and about the kind of love that transcends time and space to heal.

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One of Lily’s paintings

Hello Lilly and welcome to my blog!

Hi, Fros! Thank you so much for inviting me.

What has inspired you to write the postcard?

I never meant to write The Postcard. A month or so before I finally finished my first novel An Invincible Summer, NaNoWriMo rolled around and I (very unlike me) had plotted out the outline for a very different book complete with the ending. When November arrived however, I just couldn’t write that story. Four days rolled by and then on the way to work the idea of a postcard from beyond just popped into my brain. I couldn’t shake it. After phoning my best friend and my mother they gave me great advice which was to just go with it. So I did. I couldn’t seem to stop myself. Some days I wrote for twelve hours straight. It was sheer, creative bliss. The Postcard, despite being the quickest thing I have written, is my favorite story to date.

What was the first thing you ever wrote and how old were you then?

I wrote my first poem when I was nine. I sat in my tiny courtyard and tried to describe what I saw there. Then when I couldn’t name the plants I made up others. It was purple prose at its worst. I remember very clearly the acute distress I felt at how horrible it was because I felt somewhere in my bones that this was what I was meant to do. I’m not sure why, but perhaps because I was an avid reader I always had this sense that one day I’d try my hand at writing so I was rather appalled at how bad I was. But like any calling I kept at it, graduating to really silly stories and plays. For most of my life I’ve had an unfinished manuscript clogging up a drawer. It was only last year though that I made a vow to finish one.

What other writing have you done? Anything else published?

I’ve been a journalist for over ten years and have worked for national newspapers and magazines.

Any hobbies or interests that you enjoy in your spare time?

Travel! That’s my number one love. I don’t get to do it as much as I’d like but I devour travel memoirs – constantly wishing I could just runaway somewhere like France and start my own vineyard, lol. Here’s a pic of me in Venice, Italy.

Oh wow, I’m envious, and what a lovely snapshot! Anything else you enjoy doing?

Well, I love baking, or at least the idea of baking. My favorite show is The Great British Bake Off. Every Christmas I get a new cookbook – something I’ve been lusting over for months and the joy is indescribable, somehow it never occurs to me to buy them for myself. I love nothing better than buying baking supplies though, yet in truth I really only bake once a month if that. But when I bake I always make something new, I love the challenge – although it does increase the likelihood of flops!

My art - this was inspired by my favourite artist Laurence Amelie

A painting inspired by Lily’s favorite artist, Laurence Amelie

I also love painting. For years I went to a Thursday evening art class, until my work schedule conflicted with it, where I’d always have the biggest canvas I could buy, something that didn’t fit in my tiny Kia Picanto without the boot being partially open! I took months to finish the painting that I would only do on those two hour sessions every week, but it was immensely satisfying. Also, rather strangely, when it comes to art it’s one of the few areas in my life where my perfectionist tendencies are silenced. I just genuinely love it and afterwards think ‘ooh that’s lovely, I had fun with that.’ As a creative I think you need that outlet where you just let go. Writing can be like that for me, but it’s also something I take very seriously so the fear is also there more, so art is a great release for me.

Do you see yourself in any of your characters, or do any of them have traits you wish you had?

Absolutely. Particularly with some of their actions, I think like a lot of authors our characters get to do the type of things we wish we could at some point With my latest novel An Invincible Summer, I have a character who runs away. When I first started it seven years ago, I was in a very horrible job working for a really sadistic woman and all I wanted to do was run away like my character does. Now with The Postcard, my Ivy moves back to Cornwall and it’s what I’d love to do one day: have my own smallholding, write, live by the sea . . . spend all day with my snore monster bulldog, Fudge . . .

What are you working on at the moment? Tell us a little about your current project(s).

I’m currently working on my third novel called Dreaming of Elephants, which will be out hopefully before the end of the year, about a man who has had a heart transplant. Only they give him the heart of a woman. It’s a story of adventure, magic and living a life on your own terms.

Sounds wonderful, Lily! Describe your workstation. Are there any favorite objects you have there for inspiration?

I have a sign at work that says ‘Don’t let perfect get in the way of good’, as a recovering perfectionist this sign helps to remind me to create art every day. Like Jodi Piccoult said, “you might not write well everyday. You can always edit a bad page, you can’t edit a blank page.”

So true! Do you listen to music while you write and if so, what kind?

Absolutely. Music helps to keep me focused and drown out other distractions. I tend to listen to a lot of soft rock, and classical music.

Anything else you like to do to get the creative juices flowing?

I drive. I have this horrible long commute which I used to resent the pants off. But it’s my best thinking time. I’ve come up with at least 12 book ideas while driving – including The Postcard. I also have to write first thing in the morning. While I am a complete night owl and don’t function until ten in the morning, there’s something about waking up early and getting a start on my story – I’m far less resistant then. Unfortunately, I can’t wait for inspiration to strike – it may never do so I just need to get words out everyday; it’s the only way.

What are the things in your life that you’re most grateful for?

I’m most grateful for my wonderful husband, family, friends and my sweet bulldog, Fudge. My husband was in some ways the inspiration behind Stewart in The Postcard, except Stewart cooks and gardens! My best friend Catherine had her namesake in the postcard too as Ivy’s best friend. Like Ivy, Cath and I have marathon wattsapp chats about everything that goes on in my life. She’s also the first person who reads or even hears about my new books – if I’ve had a new idea I can’t wait to share it with her and a secret lasts about an hour.

Thank you, Lily. It’s been wonderful to have you here today.

Thank you for this opportunity, Fros.

Lily Graham is a wellbeing journalist, who spends far too long dreaming about Cornwall and inventing reasons to run away there with her bulldog, Fudge. She writes women’s fiction that feature drama, humour, and sometimes a bit of magic. The Postcard is her debut novella. Her latest novel, An Invincible Summer, will be out soon.

Visit Lily’s Amazon page

Visit Lily’s Website

Find her on Twitter : https://twitter.com/Lilywritesbooks

And Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lily-Graham/510158029113039?ref=hl

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March 30, 2015 by Effrosyni Moschoudi

Interview with fantasy author, Raymond Bolton

I met fantasy author Raymond Bolton, in the Fantasy Sci-Fi Network where we are both members. This is a group of authors who write fantasy or sci-fi that’s suitable for the whole family; this means no sex, graphic violence or profanity. Raymond is a real sweetie and the cutest thing about him is the words he has picked up in Greek, seeing that his wife is a compatriot of mine. The first time he wrote ‘makia’ to me, a Greek baby word for ‘kiss-kiss’, I hit the floor laughing. It’s not something you’d pick up in a Google translation. I hope you will enjoy meeting this awesome writer and fine fellow, just as much as I have. Let’s take a look at his books first of all though!

How does a world equipped with bows, arrows and catapults, where steam power is just beginning to replace horses and sailing ships, avert a conquest from beyond the stars?

Prince Regilius has been engineered to combat the Dalthin, a predatory alien species that enslaves worlds telepathically, and to do so he must unite his people. But when his mother murders his father, the land descends into chaos and his task may prove impossible. Faced with slaying the one who gave him life in order to protect his world, he seeks a better way. Set in a vast and varied land where telepaths and those with unusual mental abilities tip the course of events, Awakening goes to the heart of family, friendship and betrayal.

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Everyone who touches you transforms you, if only a little. But if you enter their minds, think what they have thought, in effect do what they have done, how complete will that transformation be?

The warlord, Hath Kael, kidnaps Darva, an opposing warlord’s sister, to force her brother to surrender. When Bedistai, from a tribe of hunters, foils the abduction and undertakes Darva’s return, Kael recruits Peniff, a telepath, to locate the two. Peniff’s talent makes him a fine weapon in anyone’s arsenal, and Kael ensures his cooperation by holding his wife and children hostage. But Peniff, a good man, refuses to play the game and instead comes to the couple’s aid. This is the story of a man, in all other ways ordinary, rising above his fears to do what is morally right. Make no mistake about it, his power is considerable. But can he rescue his family before his betrayal comes to light? Moreover, what will he become before his journey is over?

Thought Gazer, the second volume of The Ydron Saga, is the first book of Awakening’s prequel trilogy.

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Hello Raymond and welcome to my blog!

Thank you Fros, great to be here!

What has inspired you to write the Ydron Saga?

I began writing Awakening in the 1990s. I had always told myself I wanted to write a novel and one day I realized the only way to do that was to sit down and write. I had grown up reading sci-fi and fantasy, so that genre was the obvious way to start. Although I set it aside, I kept returning to it until I felt it was ready to publish.

Thought Gazer grew out of Awakening. In the course of developing a new character, I realized I had too many already. Awakening was starting to read like a Russian novel and I realized I had to can him. But because I liked him so much, I archived the chapter in which I introduced him. After I finished Awakening, I realized I had wrapped it up in such a way that a sequel would be almost impossible, but I had created such a complex world that there could be a prequel, if not many of them, and this character I’d deleted could be at the heart of one of them. So began Thought Gazer.

What other writing have you done? Anything else published?

I’ve written some poetry for which I have received some recognition and an award. I’ve also written two political thrillers. For a while, I thought these would be the primary thrust of my writing. Unfortunately, one of my clients, who was highly placed at Los Alamos National Laboratory and is now the US State Department’s senior scientist in charge of the Middle East, read one and asked that I never publish it. It seems I had touched upon something that, in her words, “a foreign enemy state with unlimited resources could easily produce.” I won’t go into details, but she agreed the central premise would dwarf 9/11. I had to trash it. And while the second one is definitely publishable, I don’t yet have anything to follow it with and readers prefer a series.

You trashed a whole novel on the strength of this advice? Wow! It must have been something huge! I’m very impressed, but sorry too in a way, I don’t mind admitting. Any hobbies or interests that you enjoy in your spare time?

I haven’t had anything resembling leisure time for several years now. For the last two-and-a-half, business has put me on a plane every week. Now that that part of my life is behind me, I’m going to resume certain hobbies I used to enjoy. I’m taking up Tai Chi beginning this evening, March 30, and I have a Martin guitar—a really superb instrument—that I’ve restrung. I hope to bring my musical skills back to where they once were.

It all sounds wonderful! What are you working on at the moment? Tell us a little about your current project(s).

At the moment, I am almost half way through the first draft of Foreteller, the second volume of Awakening’s prequel trilogy. Like Thought Gazer, I’m trying to draft in such a way it can be enjoyed as a free-standing novel, while directing four sub-plots towards the conclusion that will appear in Telekine, the last book in the series. It isn’t easy, but I think I have a handle on it.

Describe your workstation.

Now that the weather is improving, my favorite workstation has become my garden. Here’s a picture for you and your readers…

Oh wow, love the waterfall! A truly serene setting for writing. Tell us Raymond, which are your favorite authors, and what do you love about them?

I love John Steinbeck for his powerful characters, Ernest Hemingway for introducing compact prose to American literature, Donna Tartt for her vivid scene construction and Martin Cruz Smith for his intricate plot construction. Closer to home, closer that is, to the genre I’m currently involved in—fantasy/sci-fi—I take my hat off to Dean Koontz for his elegant use of language and to George RR Martin and JRR Tolkien for the scope of their works.

What genres do you read mostly, and what are you reading now?

I read everything. Regardless of their genre, accomplished authors have a great deal to teach. My previous reads, however, were all science fiction and fantasy. They were Andy Weir’s The Martian and Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere and I’m currently reading The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell. Oh, yes! I also recently finished the YA fantasy audiobook, Fledgling, by Natasha Brown, my cover artist.

Tell us about your website/blog. What will readers find there?

Last year, I changed my website’s focus. While I’ll always have pages about myself and my books, I’ve been interviewing both debut and award-winning authors of all genres from around the world, posting a new interview every second Monday on the home page. Naturally, I’m hoping to attract their fans and that some of them will discover my books. But I also believe the publishing world does best when everyone shares.

This is so true! What do you enjoy the most as an indie author that you imagine you wouldn’t if you were traditionally published? If you had a choice would you still go indie?

First and foremost, I enjoy the control I have over content and cover design—the way my work is presented. I also enjoy that when I see a potential marketing opportunity, I don’t have to ask permission or consult with anyone else before jumping in. Sometimes, the ability to act rapidly allows me to participate in events I learn about shortly before closing deadlines.

As for whether I’d still go indie if I had a choice: had I known how many of the myths about traditional publishing were created by publishers and agents to ensure their own survival and are NOT NECESSARILY TRUE, I would have taken the jump years earlier. One example: I have a friend who is dead bent on the traditional route, believing it’s best for her. She finally landed an agent three years ago, but he has yet to find her a publisher. If she ever does find one, it will be one to two years after she signs a contract before her book ever hits a bookstore shelf. Mine already have—and I mean real brick and mortar bookstores. I first published in January last year and I’m already years ahead of her.

I fully agree. I hear so many stories that have put me right off traditional publishers, small ones especially. What are the things in your life that you’re most grateful for?

I am most grateful to have found the woman I married. Life without Toni wouldn’t be nearly as meaningful, nor as much fun. She’s Greek, Effrosyni! So, of course she is fun.

She looks lovely! And thanks for the compliment, my friend. I hear American guys are a blast too! Hey, is it true that your wife is related to the late Greek poet Nikos Kavvadias from the island of Kefalonia?

Yes, that’s true. They were cousins. My wife has an extended family on the island.

I have family connections with Corfu as you know. Oh, I love the Ionian islands, and I’ve been to all seven of them. Kefalonia is stunning – Myrtos beach in particular. I think it’s wonderful that it’s now forever associated with Captain Corelli’s Mandolin.

Oh yes, great beach and great book!

Thank you for being here with us today, Raymond! It’s been a thrill for me! Makia! (*giggles*)

Thank you for inviting me, Fros! Makia, right back at ya!

Raymond Bolton lives near Portland, Oregon with his wife, Toni, and their three cats, Georgie, Sophia & Courtney. His goal is to craft gripping stories about the human condition, whether they are set here or another world. He says this about his life:

“I am of the persuasion life is too short to squander. I enjoy fine food, so I have learned to cook. I am endlessly curious about the world around me, so I read and I travel. I like people—who else is there?—so I talk and listen and try to understand what I hear. Over the years I’ve driven trucks, been an FM disk jockey, produced concerts, served as a mainsail trimmer on racing yachts, piloted gliders, written software, worked as a hair stylist and owned and operated my own business—all with varying degrees of success, but all have imparted a wealth of experience and taught great lessons. In the course of these doings I have had the privilege of meeting very accomplished individuals in the areas of music, movies, sports, technology, industry, finance and politics. Ultimately, all of this background comes together, struggles to find coherence and emerge in my work.”

He has written award-winning poetry and four novels. Two are explorations in fantasy: Awakening, an epic, was released in January, 2014, and Thought Gazer, an adventure and first volume of a prequel trilogy, was released on January 1, 2015. Under its working title, Renunciation, Awakening was one of eight finalists among 950 entries from the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Europe and Australia in the Pacific Northwest Writers Associations Literary Contest. Hailed on BookViral.com http://bit.ly/1nnIlAy as “a grand debut… [that] breathes originality into the genre.” Awakening is averaging 4.7 stars on Amazon and 4.6 on Goodreads. Although just released, Thought Gazer is already earning all 5 star reviews on Amazon UK.

Visit Raymond’s Amazon page

Visit Raymond’s Website

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RaymondBoltonAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RaymondBolton

Google+: https://plus.google.com/113362185126836813079/

Wattpad: http://www.wattpad.com/user/RaymondBolton

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=324981431

Have you enjoyed this post on EffrosyniWrites? Follow us by email or RSS feed (see right sidebar) and miss no more posts! You can also sign up to Effrosyni’s newsletter as to keep up to date with her new releases & book promotions (FREE & $0.99)

Interested to read more from this author? Head over to Effrosyni’s Blog, where you’ll find awesome tips for authors, interviews, book reviews, travel articles and even Greek recipes!

March 23, 2015 by Effrosyni Moschoudi

An interview with Irish author, Kerry Donovan

I am very excited to present to you today, one of the friendliest and most helpful authors of eNovel Authors at Work, Kerry Donovan. Kerry writes character-based crime thrillers from his stone cottage in Brittany, France. Let’s hear more from the man himself, shall we?

The Ray Collins Case – A novelette in 13k words to introduce Detective Chief Inspector David Jones:

Birmingham, England, a sunny day in the city park. Children play, adults stroll – and a man lies dead in a pool of blood. His terrified fiance screams for help. The assailant smiles, waves goodbye and strolls away into the trees… DCI Jones, together with his protege, Sergeant Phil Cryer are called to investigate the most difficult of crimes – an apparently motiveless and random attack. Hampered by a lack of resources, Jones and Cryer have to act quickly to prevent a murder spree…

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An empathetic detective and his Swedish-born colleague hunt for the abductors of a teenage schoolgirl—a police procedural set in England and France. When their daughter fails to return from school, her parents are terrified. Is she a runaway, or the victim of something more sinister?

Veteran Detective, David Jones, head of the Midlands Police, is tasked to find her. His team soon discovers a link to convicted sex-offender, Ellis Flynn, whom Jones suspects of grooming the naive teenager. A difficult case is made more personal when Jones sees a photo of the missing girl, Hollie Jardine. She is the spitting image of his God-daughter! Jones has difficulty separating the two in his mind. With Hollie’s chances of survival fading, Jones and his Swedish-born colleague Alexandra Olganski, risk their careers and their lives when they ignore protocol to follow Flynn’s trail across the Channel into France. What they discover in an idyllic backwater will stretch Jones’ detection skills to the limit. Ultimately, Jones faces an impossible decision – give himself up or the girl dies — do nothing and the girl dies.

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Before the accident … Frank Brazier has the perfect life. A contract to drive for a Formula 1 team. A supportive family. A stunning girlfriend.
On the surface, everything is great, but Frank keeps a secret. On race days, Shadow-man visits. He sits on the nose cone of Frank’s racing car, or floats above the grandstand, waving taunting, distracting, eating away at his concentration. An accident in the making.

After the accident … Frank starts hearing voices. Strange voices. Impossible voices. He’s losing his grip on reality and Paula, his sister, is dying. Doctors say she is brain dead. They want to pull the plug, but Frank knows she’s still in there, fighting. He can hear her calls.

A day later… Shadow-man speaks. He says Frank can save Paula, but can Frank pay the price?

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Hello Kerry, and welcome to my blog!

Hello Fros, I’m thrilled to be here.

What has inspired you to write this book?

Ellis Flynn started as a short story about a young girl waking in a cellar after being abducted from outside her school. I wrote from the victim’s perspective and thought it was pretty good. I considered submitting it to a few journals until life took a strange turn. Within a week of finishing the piece, the world learned the heartbreaking story of Amanda Berry and her two friends who’d been held captive for a decade. I spiked my story as I didn’t want to be accused of using the girls’ harrowing tale to jump on the bandwagon. Life imitating art?

A wise choice, if you ask me! What was the first thing you ever wrote and how old were you then?

Oh wow, that’s embarrassing. I didn’t write much before completing my first novel in 1985, when I was in my thirties. It was a cold war story that foretold the fall of the Berlin Wall five years before it finally came crashing down. The idea behind the tale was valid, IMO, but the writing dreadful. I burned the m/s in 1986 without showing it to a soul.

What other writing have you done? Anything else published?

As a former research scientist in Respiratory Physiology, I have a large publications portfolio of peer-assessed journal articles that are extremely dry and boring. I doubt anyone ever read any of them.

Any hobbies or interests that you enjoy in your spare time?

Here’s another great question. I am a former cabinetmaker with a workshop full of equipment I barely use any more other than when I need to fix things when they break. It took us five years to renovate our stone cottage here in Brittany, during which time I made the kitchen and most of the furniture. These days, I’m too busy writing to make furniture, but have always fancied making myself a roll-top desk in oak. I’ll put that on my to-do list for when I retire from my day job. I’ve included a photo of one of my design pieces an easy chair in French Ash. My wife uses it now when knitting.

The only times I enter the workshop these days is to grab my bicycle for when I go out training. I used to be a keen sportsman and am a former triathlete. I’ve completed a few marathons in the past, but my legs gave up. Can’t run much any more but still cycle and swim occasionally.

Wow, I am very impressed by all this Kerry, well done! My father loves to make all sorts of things with wood and my husband is a marathon runner, so I know what hard work and mastery are required to do well on both counts. Tell us, do you see yourself in any of your characters, or do any of them have traits you wish you had?

Oh yes, absolutely. My cranky veteran cop, Detective Chief Inspector David Jones, is just like me. Not physically. David is average height and slim verging on scrawny, while I’m 6’3” and getting bigger by the moment—if you see what I mean.

Yes, unfortunately I do. Started happening to me too after the age of forty; can’t work out why (*laughs*)

Ahem, better change the subject (*grins*). Anyway, David Jones looks like my father, but his moderate OCD makes him just like me. Also like David, I don’t have any patience for people I consider foolish or lazy. Unlike David, I wouldn’t recognize a real clue if it jumped up and bit me on the … nose.

What are you working on at the moment? Tell us a little about your current project(s).

I’m about to publish my next Casebook subtitled, Sean Freeman. This story focuses on an international gang of thieves. Here’s the back cover blurb I’ve come up with:

The DCI Jones Casebook: Sean Freeman, a crime thriller.

Veteran cop, DCI David Jones, is tough and uncompromising. His Serious Crime Unit has the best arrest record the Midlands Police has ever seen and Jones wants to keep it that way.

Sean Freeman, is the best crack-smith in the UK. He’s never been caught—the police have never even come close. When Freeman’s boss instructs him to break into the Stanford Museum, the UK’s most secure premises outside of the Bank of England, he’s in trouble. Why? The Stanford is slap bang in the middle of Jones’ jurisdiction.

Someone’s record is going to suffer.

Sounds intriguing, Kerry. Can’t wait to see the cover. Which are your favorite authors, and what do you love about them?

I’m particularly fond of early John Grisham. His writing is very easy to read and, my word, he can tell a damned fine story. I also like Harland Coben, David Baldacci, and Michael Connelly for similar reasons.

What genres do you read mostly, and what are you reading now?

I’m an avid crime thriller reader but will also read sci-fi and actioners. I’m currently reading a book about a gang of hired assassins written by an Australian. It’s a very well-written, if morally suspect, story.

I rarely read romance, comedy, or non-fiction, but have a particular fondness for Bill Bryson.

Do you have any advice for other indie authors?

I wouldn’t be so presumptuous. Oh well, if you insist. As with any other art form, practice makes if not exactly perfect, then better. The only way to write a good book is to write a good book. Okay, I never said I’d be profound.

Do you listen to music while you write and if so, what kind?

Absolutely not, I’m very old-school. I need complete silence when writing. It annoys my wife when she has to watch TV while wearing headphones.

Finally, someone who feels me! Thank you Kerry, I’d started to feel very weird being the only one (*giggles*). What were your most and least favorite subjects in school?

I loved woodwork and history, hated math.

No surprise there about the woodwork bit! What has been the most important lesson you’ve learnt so far in life the hard way?

Don’t ever argue with my wife. I’ve never won an argument with her and we’ve been married since 1977.

Wow, that’s a long time to be always wrong (*laughs*). How would you like to be remembered?

“That bloke who outsold John Grisham.”

And why not? I believe in dreaming big. Best of luck Kerry, and thank you for being here with us today.

Thank you for this opportunity Fros, it’s been great!

BIO

Born in Dublin, Kerry now lives and writes in a stone cottage in rural Brittany, France. A skilled cabinet maker, Kerry uses the same artistic approach to construct his novels.

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Visit Kerry’s page in Amazon UK

Visit Kerry’s Blog

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KerryJDonovan

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/KerryJDonovan

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March 16, 2015 by Effrosyni Moschoudi

Interview with women’s fiction author, Sharon Black

Today, I am pleased to welcome a women’s fiction author from Ireland. Sharon Black’s debut novel, Going Against Black, has been published by Tirgearr Publishing and is a humorous, light-hearted read of love and rivalry in the world of journalism and sport. Let’s get to know Sharon a bit better, shall we?

Some would say Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Regan has it all. Beautiful, smart, athletic and a great job working as a journalist – in the almost exclusively male sports department. But Charlotte is not quite as sure as she seems. Recently split from her overbearing boyfriend, she escapes for weekends, surfing in the Atlantic, and spends her free nights watching sports, roaring at the TV.

Derry Cullinane is a fashion writer, gossip columnist and sophisticated man-about-town. The go-to guy for any woman seeking expert advice on what fabulous outfit to wear for any given occasion. He’s also tall, dark, good looking – and straight! So what’s the snag? He has a track record of dating glamorous, vain and shallow women.
Charlie gets an opportunity to write a new column under the pen name Side Swipe, but is soon drawn into a war of words and wit with a rival paper’s columnist The Squire – and their verbal fireworks get readers and editors talking. Yet neither Charlie nor Derry knows just whom the opponent is…

When Charlotte and Derry meet at the Races, the attraction is instant. As their relationship develops, so much more proves at stake, than protecting their alter egos. But a blunder puts Charlotte’s job in jeopardy just as Derry’s past makes front page, and Charlotte begins to doubt her feelings. When Side Swipe and The Squire are finally forced to reveal themselves, will they revert to type – or confound everyone’s expectations?

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Hello Sharon and welcome to my blog!

Hi Fros, thank you for having me!

What has inspired you to write this book?

Going Against Type was inspired by an old movie I loved, starring Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracey. It was Woman of the Year, and they played rival columnists. She was a sort of pundit, who took a lash at sport in her column. Tracey, playing a sports reporter, leaps to attack. In my book, I decided to turn the stereotypes upside down. So my heroine is a sports reporter, and my hero is a fashion writer! I also wanted to keep the suspense going, and have them attacking each other week after week, even after they meet and begin a relationship. So, unlike the Hepburn/Tracey movie, my columnists write under pen names!

Sounds like a cracking good read! What other writing have you done? Anything else published?

I was a features writer for national newspapers, so I was used to having articles published all the time. But that’s hugely different from creative writing. The first creative writing I had published, were some short stories for a woman’s magazine. That was in my twenties. Down the years, I tried my hand at a number of novels, but I never finished any of them. I lacked both the confidence and the skills to see them through.

What genres do you read mostly, and what are you reading now?

I mainly read a mixture of literary fiction and commercial women’s fiction. I don’t think you could write commercial women’s fiction (as I do) and not read it. There are so many excellent authors too, and I am very loyal obviously, to the Irish ones. There are also a couple of English writers I love; they’re very funny and I love that in writing. At the moment I’m reading ‘Nora Webster’ by Colm Toibin. He’s an Irish author, and the book is set in rural Ireland in the late 1960s. I’m enjoying every word of it. I’ve read a lot of his books, and he is a wonderful storyteller. His characters are so rich and well written.

You know, I love Cecilia Ahern’s quirky, whimsical stories and she’s the only Irish writer of women’s fiction that I’ve read. I should look into Colm Toibin too, thank you for the recommendation. Tell us Sharon, if you were to pick a male and a female character from your book and then pick an actor and an actress to play them, whom would you choose?

Funny you should ask that, Fros! As I was writing Going Against Type, I could see two actors in my head, acting out all the scenes I was writing. My heroine, Charlotte, would be played by Reece Witherspoon, and my hero, Derry, would be played by British actor Benedict Cumberbatch. Both of them would have to get the accents right. Charlotte would have a soft Dublin accent and Derry, a hint of a Cork accent. There’s nothing worse than a really fake accent in a film, I think.

How right you are! You picked two brilliant actors and I bet they’d manage the accent just fine. Also, Cumberbatch is quite a looker, so I’d definitely go see the film (laughs). Tell us about your website/blog. What will readers find there?

My blog is a mixture of bits of information about my work, links to guest blogs I’m on (like this one, thank you!) and light-hearted columns about anything that takes my fancy. I did write a column for a while for a national newspaper, and that was fun.

What were your most and least favorite subjects in school?

My favorite subject, right from a very young age, was English. If I had a book, I’d completely blot out everything around me. I’d get lost in the story. And I used to get so excited when the new school books were bought each year, because I’d just take the English books and read them before the new term began! I also wrote a lot. Stories and poems. After that, I really liked history. It was one of the subjects I took in college.

My least favorite subject, and it’s terrible to admit it, was math. I could do the basics, and I really appreciate how important it is to have the basics. You just couldn’t get through life otherwise. But a lot of it, no matter how much I tried to understand it, and retain it, might as well have been Chinese. I did pass it though.

What are the things in your life that you’re most grateful for?

I had a great upbringing. I have kind, wonderful parents, who were always there for their children. And I have two terrific younger brothers, who have lovely wives and family. I’m also grateful for my husband. We’ve been married for 22 years and we have three fantastic children. So I’m lucky. And I also have wonderful, supportive friends.
After that, I’m just grateful to be in good health. And that at the moment, all my family is too. That’s it. Nothing else actually matters after that.

Thank you for being here with us today, Sharon. Wish you lots of success!

Thank you so much Fros, same to you, and thanks again for this opportunity.

Bio

SHARON Black grew up in Dublin. She studied history and politics at University College Dublin and then did post-graduate in journalism at Dublin City University. She has worked for national newspapers, including The Evening Herald and The Irish Examiner. She had short stories published in U Magazine and won the 2010 Dromineer Literary Festival short story competition. When she is not writing, she reads, walks and sees friends. She co-founded a local book club 14 years ago. She loves theatre, old Hollywood films, science fiction and good stand-up comedy. She lives in a coastal village in Dublin, with her husband and their three children.

Visit Sharon’s Blog

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March 13, 2015 by Effrosyni Moschoudi

Book review: Deadly Secrets by Angel Sefer

This is the second book in the Greek Isles Series and I must say, I thought it was even better than Spellbound in His Arms. Deadly Secrets was simply un-put-downable.

Helena arrives in the cosmopolitan Greek island of Mykonos on a long holiday from London in order to find her roots and hoping to unravel an old family mystery too. In the process, her life and the life of others are put in danger, and she also falls irrevocably in love. This reads in many ways like a Harlequin romance; the dislike between the two main protagonists, the second guessing, the misunderstandings, etc. It is not advisable to read this if you are put off by these elements. But, if like me, you enjoy this type of romance, then do not hesitate.

If anything, this book will transport you to the heart of the Greek summer in the Cyclades; the descriptions of the town of Mykonos are vivid and made me feel like I was back there. This book will highly intrigue and enthuse you, especially as the family secrets are many, the mystery intense and the villain is disclosed at the very end. Angel Sefer’s masterful story-telling will have you guessing all the time, enticing you to keep reading. I know I lost sleep over this, reading far longer into the night than I meant to. A cracking good read!

My rating:

5 stars

A fast-paced, romantic page turner set in the heart of Greek summer

Do you enjoy Harlequin-type romance or murder mysteries set in exotic summer settings?

If so, this is a perfect choice for you. Visit Amazon now!

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March 9, 2015 by Effrosyni Moschoudi

Interview with romantic comedy author, Rosie Dean

Today, I’m excited to welcome romantic comedy author, Rosie Dean. Rosie is an author friend from my writer’s group, eNovel Authors at Work, and quite a fun girl to talk to. Have a look at her stylish book covers and then join me as I ask a few questions to find out more about her!

Does your life lack fun and love? Does work consume your time? Does your mother try to fix you up with her priest’s middle-aged nephew? Millie’s does – so she takes a grip on her own future and draws up a plan to find Mr Right. When the first guy who floats her boat, Josh Warwick, doesn’t meet the criteria on her wish-list she moves on to wine merchant, Lex Marshall, who ticks all the boxes. Sexy, rich and unable to keep his hands off her, he seems like the man of her dreams. But when Millie faces danger and betrayal, she wonders if her dream man might not be Mr Right after all. So, who will be…?

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What if you found yourself stranded at the altar, knee-deep in your absent fiancé’s gambling debts? Vicki Marchant, humble art teacher and jilted bride, seizes her freedom by leaving teaching to paint – in France. It’s her time. Nobody is going to get in the way of her ambition – definitely not a man. Vicki learns two things: some men are difficult to resist, and choosing the right one is not always easy. Sexy French vet or aristocratic art dealer? Tough decision.

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To save her grandfather’s legacy – The Joshua Steele Theatre – Chloe Steele sells her services to the highest bidder. Enter leisure tycoon, business angel and playboy, Duncan Thorsen. But when the bank calls in the debts and the council enforces closure, just how much paparazzi exposure and wheeling and dealing can a girl stomach?

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Hello Rosie, and welcome to my blog!

Thank you Fros, I’m very excited to be here.

What has inspired you to write Chloe’s Rescue Mission?

I started to write Chloe’s Rescue Mission after watching an episode of Dragon’s Den and wondering what would happen if a female candidate fell for the dragon who helped her out. Add to that my love of the theater and my own history of spending years treading the boards in amateur productions, and the story came together.

I also have a bit of a soft spot for Gerard Butler, so he was my inspiration for Duncan.

Gerard Butler? Yum! (giggles) What other writing have you done? Anything else published?

For years, I wrote corporate training materials and then marketing materials. But my love was always for telling stories. So I have two other romantic comedies out there, both about young, professional women looking for Mr Right. The first, Millie’s Game Plan, is a about a woman so determined to find him, she produces a wish-list and a plan but, like so many things in life, it doesn’t work out quite the way she plans it. And Millie finds love where she least expects it.

The second, Vicki’s Work of Heart, is about a woman who thought she’d found Mr Right but discovers, on her wedding day, he really isn’t. She escapes to France to pursue her love of painting and get her life back on track. She doesn’t intend to let any man get in the way of her ambition but life has other plans, and throws two men in her path.

They all sound like awesome reads! Do you see yourself in any of your characters, or do any of them have traits you wish you had?

Oh yes! I confess there are aspects of me in all of my characters, although none of them is me. I think it would be difficult to write my heroines without some of my personality coming through. But I also give them characteristics I wish I had, and some I wouldn’t want.

I find it difficult to write serious, worthy, intense characters – unless I’m making fun of them. I try to see the funny side of life because often, that’s what has got me through the hard times. I hope that comes across in my heroines and perhaps helps readers to cope with their own difficulties.

A little bird told me you run on coffee when you write! Is this true?

Indeed, coffee is indispensable! I’ve done this selfie with a coffee for your blog. Well, there’s a bit of it left in the bottom of the mug that is!

Love it. Rosie! Anything else you’d like to show us that gets the creative juices flowing for you?

Well, I like to burn joss sticks and own a few incense burners. Will that do?

Wow, great selection there, Rosie! It promotes a relaxing atmosphere for you, right? I get it!

Yes, combined with classical music it works like a charm to create just the right ambiance for me. I find fragrance is very good for getting me in the mood to write.

What’s that wooden figurine on the left? I love that!

Oh! I got this cute incense burner from Germany.

How quaint! So, you listen to classical music when you write? I should try that. Sounds like a great idea.

Yes, I listen to classical music. Not because I’m highbrow or anything, but because I once read that when children were played classical music in the classroom, they became more creative. So I thought I’d give it a try. I have no idea if it has made me more creative, but if I listen to any other kind of music, I end up singing along or dancing around, which is counter-productive when I’m trying to meet a deadline. So, playing classical music, quietly in the background, has become part of my writing ritual.

What are you working on at the moment? Tell us a little about your current project(s).

I’m working on a riches to rags romantic comedy, about a sculptor called Gabriella Gill-Martin – known to her friends as Gigi. I’m setting it on one of my favorite places – the Isle of Wight – which is just off the south coast of Britain. I was lucky enough to live there for a few years, and still try to spend as much time as I can over there. It has some beautiful countryside and seascapes plus, being an island, it also has a lovely sense of community, which is missing from so many other parts of our world.

Gigi, who has had everything handed to her on a plate, moves to the island when she inherits her grandmother’s house. She’s a lovely girl but her world falls apart when the money stops coming in and she’s forced to make it on her own. She comes to learn the value of the simpler things in life, and finds true love where previously she’s mostly known cupboard love.

Sounds like quite a journey for your heroine, I love stories like that! If you could have one superpower what would it be?

To be able to cure the sick.

That would be an awesome power indeed. What are the things in your life that you’re most grateful for?

Being taught family values. I had a loving and supportive family. We weren’t spoiled with material things or flashy holidays but we were safe and loved. We also spent good times with the extended family, which gave me a sense of belonging, and lots of laughs.

I hear you, Rosie. I have been blessed with all that too, more or less, and feel very rich for it. How would you like to be remembered?

With a smile.

Well, Rosie, this has been a blast! Thank you so much for your visit.

Indeed, it’s been wonderful, Fros; thank you for having me!

BIO

I write romantic fiction with a sense of humor and, sometimes, a sense of the ridiculous. Because we all know life and love aren’t exactly how we’d like them to be. When not writing, I love to cook and to read, I even read in the car (talking books) and have notched up countless unnecessary miles as a result. Not one to spend hours in the gym or pounding the pavement, I prefer Yoga and Pilates, which means I can tone and tighten whilst watching TV.

Visit Rosie’s Amazon page

Visit Rosie’s Website/Blog

Other links:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/RosieDeanWriter
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/RosieDeanAuthor
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/RosieDean

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March 4, 2015 by Effrosyni Moschoudi

Book Review: Nanostrike by Pete Barber

I was hooked to this book from the very first page. This is a fast-paced thriller and quite a page-turner that has enhanced my reading pleasure but diminished my sleep time as I just couldn’t put it down. Detective Quinn was by far my favorite character, who was deliciously cute by being tough, but only on the outside.

The book comprised of a long list of lifelike characters that stayed with me, the main villain being particularly disturbing. I loved delving into the world of nanotechnology and found it all overwhelming and fascinating. This is a well-written book that can easily stand side by side, being of equal quality, with the high-octane thrillers written by largely celebrated authors of the genre. It is very seldom that I read a book of such a high ‘wow’ factor. Highly recommended!

My rating

5 stars

A thrilling adventure with one hell of a detective!

Do you enjoy high-tech thrillers and a cracking good chase?

Look no further, this gem was written for you!

Find it now on Amazon

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March 2, 2015 by Effrosyni Moschoudi

Interview with Jenny Harper, author of the Heartlands Series

Hello peeps! Today, I’m pleased to welcome Jenny Harper, women’s fiction author of the Heartlands Series. Jenny lives in Edinburgh and enjoys nature walks and traveling. I think this is represented in her stunning book covers, that exude a sense of freedom and serenity. What do you think? Scroll down and let’s find out all about her, shall we?

Love, loss and family life against the background of a controversial project that fractures the whole community. She builds wind farms, he detests them. Can they ever generate love?

After fifteen happy years of marriage, Kate Courtenay discovers that her charismatic novelist husband is spending more and more of his time with a young fan. She throws herself into her work, a controversial wind farm that’s stirring up tempers in the local community. Sparks fly when she goes head to head against its most outspoken opponent, local gardener Ibsen Brown – a man with a past of his own. But a scheme for a local community garden brings the sparring-partners together, producing the sort of electricity that threatens to short-circuit the whole system.

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Fans of Joanna Trollope will love Jenny Harper’s new contemporary women’s fictions series.

She thought she knew her husband, but he’s been keeping a secret … about her. Scottish politician Susie Wallace is under pressure. She risks censure from her Party for her passionate and outspoken views on arts funding. A charity she’s involved with runs into difficulties. And a certain journalist seems to have it in for her. Susie stumbles across some information that rocks her world but not, apparently, her husband’s – Archie has been in on this particular secret for thirty years. Now Susie wonders if she can trust him at all. Soon, unemployed son Jonathan and successful daughter Mannie begin to feel the fallout too, fracturing the family and leaving Susie increasingly isolated. Troubled by mounting pressure from her family, her Party and the Press, Susie goes into hiding. The Party needs her back for a crucial vote, but more importantly, Archie knows he needs to find his wife quickly if they are to rebuild their relationship and reunite the family.

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Fans of Joanna Trollope will love Jenny Harper’s new contemporary women’s fiction series.

She’s a professional photographer – but is she ready to expose her heart? Adorable but scatterbrained newspaper photographer Daisy Irvine becomes the key to the survival of The Hailesbank Herald when her boss drops dead right in front of her. And while big egos and petty jealousies hinder the struggle to save the paper, Daisy starts another campaign – to win back her ex, Jack Hedderwick. Ben Gillies, returning after a long absence, sees childhood friend Daisy in a whole new light. He’d like to win her love, but discovers that she’s a whole lot better at taking photographs than making decisions, particularly when she’s blinded by the past. When tragedy strikes Daisy’s family, loyalty drives her home. But it’s time to grow up and Daisy must choose between independence and love…

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For readers of Jojo Moyes, Jodi Picoult, David Nicholls, you will love Jenny Harper’s People We Love

Her life is on hold – until an unlikely visitor climbs in through the kitchen window.

A year after her brother’s fatal accident, Lexie’s life seems to have reached a dead end. She is back home in small-town Hailesbank with her shell-shocked parents, treading softly around their fragile emotions. As the family business drifts into decline, Lexie’s passion for painting and for her one-time mentor Patrick have been buried as deep as her unexpressed grief, until the day her lunch is interrupted by a strange visitor in a bobble hat, dressing gown and bedroom slippers, who climbs through the window. Elderly Edith’s batty appearance conceals a secret and starts Lexie on a journey that gives her an inspirational artistic idea and rekindles her appetite for life. With friends in support and ex-lover Cameron seemingly ready to settle down, do love and laughter beckon after all?

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Hello Jenny, and welcome to my blog!

Hi Fros, so lovely to be here!

What has inspired you to write your latest book, People We Love?

People We Love is multi-layered – that is, there’s a lot going on! I do like to explore difficult themes, but I hope I do so with a light touch. There’s plenty of laughter in the book – and there’s a mystery, and a love triangle too. The main story is about a family plunged into grief after the death of the heroine’s brother. Lexie Gordon is an artist. When she discovers that ‘shoes tell stories’, she marches herself and her family out of the state of grieving into acceptance and thence onto a path that leads to the future. My parents told me once about an elderly woman with dementia who used to live in their village. She had been put into a care home in a town some twelve miles away, and one day, she walked the whole way back, in her nightie, and climbed in the kitchen window of her old home. I was really intrigued – what was the overwhelming urge that drove her on this marathon journey? Dementia is a difficult disease for families to cope with – my mother suffered from it during the last decade of her life, so unfortunately I witnessed it first hand. In People We Love, Edith Dorothy Lawrence (my elderly character with dementia) brings mystery and laughter and is the catalyst for change.

The setting is my fictional town of Hailesbank, the ‘ancient capital of the Heartland’ (notionally just outside Edinburgh, Scotland’s capital). Anyone who has read my other novels will recognize the setting, but so far the books are non sequential.

I personally find dementia and Alzheimer’s to be fascinating themes in fiction, so I’m quite hooked right now! What other writing have you done? Anything else published?

I wrote quite a few books back in the 1980s, but they were mostly non fiction. They included a number of books about Scotland and a history of childbirth! I also wrote countless feature articles for newspapers and magazines and for a spell I was the freelance decorative arts correspondent for one of the Scottish national papers.

Any hobbies or interests that you enjoy in your spare time?

Oh dear … hobbies. I tend to take things up with passion for a few years then move on – so I’ve done quite a few things! I’m very creative, so there’s been lots in the way of drawing and painting, and I did a number of classes in silversmithing. I still have all the equipment, but I have a trapped nerve in my shoulder which pretty much rules it out these days. Now, apart from writing, I love walking in the hills, dining with friends, and traveling with my husband – pretty much anywhere, but particularly in the UK and Europe, and India, which we’ve visited for the last four years.

Jenny and her husband photographed during their last trip to India

Do you see yourself in any of your characters, or do any of them have traits you wish you had?

That’s an interesting question! I concentrate so hard on my characters when I’m writing about them that I don’t think of them in relation to myself at all. I’m too busy getting under their skin! I suppose all writers draw on their own experiences as well as their imagination, so maybe this applies to character traits too. Let me see … I’m nothing like Daisy Irvine in Maximum Exposure. She’s disorganized and dependent on others. Kate Courtenay in Face the Wind and Fly has a scientific bent and is competitive – I’m afraid science of any kind is a closed universe to me! Susie Wallace, the politician in Loving Susie, is a very glamorous actress and a ‘national living treasure’. All I can say is, ‘If only!’

Maybe I share some characteristics with Lexie Gordon, my artist heroine? Artists tend to see the world a little differently from most people. Lexie is into vintage in a big way and despises the kind of contemporary art that requires some critic or curator to interpret it for you. I certainly share that last trait with her!

What are you working on at the moment? Tell us a little about your current project(s).

People we Love is the fourth in my ‘Heartlands’ series of novels. Up till this point, the characters have not overlapped, but the setting is the same in each novel – an imaginary town (Hailesbank), village (Forgie), and social housing area (Summerhill). I never meant this to happen – I guess I fell in love with the Heartlands!

The novel I have almost finished writing, Mistakes We Make, is the first that takes one of the characters in a previous book and develops it. The character is Molly Keir, Lexie’s best friend, and it takes key elements of her story that we see in People We Love and carries them forward.

I also wrote a novella while I was in India recently. It’s not set there, though, it’s set in France, in a delightful small seaside resort called Arcachon, south of Bordeaux. Again, it takes a character in an earlier book (Nicola Arnott, the headmistress in Face the Wind and Fly), and follows her through one summer. I’m hoping it will be released in July.

Which are your favorite authors, and what do you love about them?

I love books by Jojo Moyes and Elizabeth Buchan, and I enjoy authors such as Rosie Thomas and Penny Vincenzi. What I like is depth, interesting plots and subjects and plausible, well-drawn characters. And really good use of language! But I do read quite widely. I think Robert Harris writes great, page turning books that are really well researched. An Officer and a Spy was a cracker. I like psychological thrillers – Sophie Hannah’s books, for example – and I’ve been known to romp through a Lee Child or ten.

What genres do you read mostly, and what are you reading now?

I mostly like contemporary women’s fiction, which is what I write. I try to support my fellow authors where I can. My writing buddy, Jennifer Young, writes good romantic suspense. I’ve just listened to a book by indie author Jackie Weger, Finding Home, which I’m about to review. It’s a romance, so a little more straightforward than I usually read, but boy, can that lady write! Her characters are extraordinarily vivid. Recently I’ve also enjoyed Lorrie Farrelly’s American Civil War novels. Supporting indie authors can take you on some amazing journeys!

I’ve also just finished listening to Middlemarch, by George Eliot. A marathon listen – more than 30 hours! – but incredibly rewarding. She is such a fine storyteller.

I totally agree about Jackie Weger’s lifelike characters! Finding Home is on my TBR list, so I’m looking forward to your review (Note: Jackie Weger is the founder of my writer’s group, eNovel Authors at Work and a truly remarkable writer and person). Tell us Jenny, if you could choose another profession, what would that be?

My career drifted from one thing to another – book editor, magazine editor, journalist, corporate communications manager. I went into employee communications before it became a specialist subject – there were no degrees in it when I started, for example – so I learned on the job. What I loved about it was the mix of business know-how and people skills, and it would have been good to have made it my whole career and got much deeper into it than I did.

If not that, then I’d have loved to have been an artist. I fondly imagine it would have been a whole lot less stressful than either business or writing novels – but maybe I’m wrong!

Thank you very much for your time, Jenny! Really enjoyed our chat!

Thank you for inviting me Fros, it’s been great!

BIO

I live in Edinburgh, Scotland, but I was born in India and grew up in England. I’ve been a non-fiction editor, a journalist and a businesswoman and I’ve written a children’s novel and several books about Scotland. More recently, I turned to fiction, and People We Love is my fourth novel set in the imaginary ‘Heartlands’, just outside Edinburgh. I used to love making silver jewellery until my shoulder refused to oblige, so now any spare time is used walking in the hills, traveling with my husband, or dining with friends!

Visit Jenny’s Amazon page

Visit Jenny’s Website

Visit Jenny’s Blog (on the website)

Other links:

https://twitter.com/harper_jenny

https://www.facebook.com/authorjennyharper

http://novelpointsofview.blogspot.co.uk/ (blog shared with four other writers)

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February 23, 2015 by Effrosyni Moschoudi

An interview with ‘superwoman’, Mary Smith

Today, I’m thrilled to introduce you to a truly intrepid lady! Mary Smith, who is another fine author from my writers’ group, eNovel Authors At Work, has lived in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Doing voluntary work, she got to sample these amazing foreign cultures and at some point, even more than she would have liked, when she found herself at the mercy of a man holding a gun to her head! Are you hooked? That makes two of us! So, let me stop blathering and introduce you to Mary and her work without further ado!

Scottish-born midwife, Miriam loves her work at a health clinic in rural Afghanistan and the warmth and humour of her women friends in the village, but she can no longer ignore the cracks appearing in her marriage. Her doctor husband has changed from the loving, easy-going man she married and she fears he regrets taking on a widow with a young son, who seems determined to remain distant from his stepfather.

When Miriam acts as translator at a medical teaching camp she hopes time apart might help her understand the cause of their problems. Instead, she must focus on helping women desperate for medical care and has little time to think about her failing marriage. When an old friend appears, urging her to visit the village where she and her first husband had been so happy. Miriam finds herself traveling on a journey into her past, searching for answers to why her marriage is going so horribly wrong. Her husband, too, has a past of his own – from being shunned as a child to the loss of his first love.

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Drunk Chickens & Burnt Macaroni will be only $0.99 between 02/26/15 and 03/05/15 !!!

Grab your copy!

Drunk Chickens and Burn Macaroni (subtitle) offers a remarkable insight into the lives of Afghan women both before and after Taliban’s rise to power. The reader is caught up in the day-to-day lives of women like Sharifa, Latifa and Marzia, sharing their problems, dramas, the tears and the laughter: whether enjoying a good gossip over tea and fresh nan, dealing with a husband’s desertion, battling to save the life of a one-year-old opium addict or learning how to deliver babies safely.

Mary Smith spent several years in Afghanistan working on a health project for women and children in both remote rural areas and in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif. Given the opportunity to participate more fully than most other foreigners in the lives of the women, many of whom became close friends, she has been able to present this unique portrayal of Afghan women – a portrayal very different from the one most often presented by the media.

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Hello Mary, and welcome to my blog!

Hi Fros, thank you for inviting me!

What has inspired you to write No More Mulberries?

Two things really: firstly my women friends in Afghanistan are the inspiration behind this book. The western media tends to portray Afghan women as downtrodden victims, who have no voice in a male-dominated society. I wanted to show that is not the whole truth. Yes, life is tough for women (and men), and there is poverty and lack of amenities, particularly in the rural areas, but there is also fun and laughter, hope and a dogged determination to make the most of life. The second thing was a ‘what if?’ moment, as I began to wonder how a woman from the west would cope with life in Afghanistan married to an Afghan. Would their love for each other be enough to overcome the cultural difficulties and past histories they kept hidden from each other?

What other writing have you done? Anything else published?

Drunk Chickens and Burnt Macaroni contains real Stories of Afghan Women; it is a travel memoir based on my life and work in Afghanistan. Also, I am pleased to say I abandoned the awful teenage verse and learned to write better poetry. I was really excited to have my first full length collection, Thousands Pass Here Every Day, published a couple of years ago by Indigo Dreams Publishing.

As a journalist I’ve lost track of how many features I’ve had published on everything from local history, arts and culture, heroin abuse, homelessness, boy racers to head lice!

I am impressed. Well done, my friend. Any hobbies or interests that you enjoy in your spare time?

Um, what is ‘spare time’? I read – can’t go to sleep without reading in bed. I enjoy exploring the fantastic countryside near where I live. We have glorious scenery; forests and woodland, stretches of coastline with sandy beaches and rugged cliffs. I think because I went away I returned years later seeing everything with fresh eyes and really appreciate it much more now.

Your part of the world sounds wonderful! Do you see yourself in any of your characters, or do any of them have traits you wish you had?

I’d love to say I shared many of the traits Miriam has in No More Mulberries but she is much nicer than I am, braver and more insightful. I suppose there are bits of me in her if only because I did live in Afghanistan for a number of years and we share some of my experiences and observations.

What are you working on at the moment? Tell us a little about your current project(s).

Lots of readers have asked when a sequel to No More Mulberries is coming out, and I have begun work on that, though I’m not even half way through the first draft. I find it difficult to decide how much back story from the first novel to include in the second without irritating people who read the first one while providing clarity for new readers. I think I’m going to have to read other series and see how it is best done.

Well, if it helps, in my Lady of The Pier series I revisit past events very sparsely and only in 1-2 sentences tops. Readers have good memories, and if you want the sequel to be a standalone, I’d say, still put little info as to intrigue new readers to buy the first book too. The more the merrier, right? (giggles)

Makes sense, yes (laughs). Anyway, I’m also working on something completely different. It’s a local history book called Dumfries Through Time (Dumfries is the main town near where I live). A photographer and I have been commissioned to track down old images of the town, take photos of the same places as they are today and write a short commentary. Quite hard work, time-consuming but fun and we’ve met some wonderful people who collect old postcards and other images and have been incredibly generous in sharing.

Oh, this simply intrigues me, seeing how places change over time. An exciting project! Have fun with that, Mary. Tell us now, what genres do you read mostly, and what are you reading now?

I read very widely and enjoy most genres (though not horror). I am a member of a ‘pay-it-forward’ writers’ group called eNovel Authors at Work and we are a very varied group in terms of genres which has been great, as I’ve found myself enjoying books I might never have picked up including thrillers and fantasy. Mostly, I like books which are about ‘real’ people dealing with real issues in their lives. Characters are the most important element for me. I want to empathize with the central character, to feel I know what she/he is going through.

I also read a lot of biographies – it’s the journalist in me which makes me nosy about other people’s lives. I’ve just finished The Witch of Napoli by Michael Schmicker, a novel about a 19^th century Italian medium and the attempts to prove or disprove her psychic abilities. I’ve just started Noodle Trails, a travel memoir: Fair Trade, Dung Trade, and Travels in Thailand and beyond (how could anyone resist such a title) by indie author Eileen Kay.

Do you have any advice for other indie authors?

Don’t give up your dreams or your day job! It probably comes as a bit of a shock to most indie authors when they realize that as well as writing their books they have to learn about marketing – a whole different set of skills. Actually, many traditionally published writers are realizing the same thing, as publishers don’t spend on marketing and promotions except for the top handful of already successful authors.

Are there any sites or writing tools that you find useful and wish to recommend?

I found Indies Unlimited a great site for all kinds of information helpful to indie authors. I already mentioned eNovel Authors at Work. Although it is a closed group, the site has lots of really useful resources for indie writers from style guides to marketing tips, from review sites to making sure your Author Central page serves its purpose.

Well said, Mary. And I can’t recommend the site for eNovel enough, myself! Tell us about your website/blog. What will readers find there?

I have a website which tells people a bit about me and my writing and also includes examples of some of journalism. I am ashamed to say it has not been updated recently – my bad, and it will be seen to as soon as possible.

I also have two blogs, one of which, Novel Points of View, is shared with four other writers. We thought this was a clever way of blogging as each of us would only have to do a post once every five weeks – I still find my turn comes round before I’ve thought of my next post. My other blog, My Dad is a Goldfish, is a more personal one about my father’s dementia and my role as his carer.

What are the things in your life that you’re most grateful for?

My ability to read and lose myself in a book. Regardless of what life throws at me, reading has always been my greatest comfort.

How would you like to be remembered?

As a kind person and loyal friend – oh, and as a wonderful writer!

Before we end this conversation, I am dying to ask, how did you wind up in Pakistan and Afghanistan? I mean, they’re not exactly popular holiday destinations!

Well, in a way, my whisky-drinking habit got me there! I was watching a snooker match in a pub in Lancashire, drinking whisky and talking to a Pakistani friend, and he would up inviting me to visit Karachi in Pakistan with his wife and his sister. I took up the offer and when I got there, I visited the leprosy headquarters that were supported by Oxfam. I volunteered to help and they asked me to set up a health education department! They trained me and I stayed there for three years.

Wow! And what about Afghanistan?

Well, when my 3-year contract ended, I signed up to continue my voluntary work there. I stayed in Afghanistan for seven years.

That’s amazing, seven years! Is this where you got the scare of your life?

I guess you can say that (laughs)

So what happened?

In Afghanistan I trained female volunteer health workers and spent time in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif and the rural areas of Hazara Jat. One day, armed robbers broke in and stuck a pistol in my ear and an AK47 at the back of my neck. Another time I experienced a bombing raid too. But despite these experiences, I found my stay in this country incredibly satisfying. I never felt more alive than when I lived there!

Goodness me, I am such a wimp! Forgive my gaping jaw! Can I call you, ‘superwoman’?

(laughs) I wouldn’t go as far as that!

Seriously now, kudos to you for doing all this incredible voluntary work! Well, Mary, thank you so much for our chat, it’s been wonderful to have you!

Thank you Fros. I am delighted to be interviewed by you. I’ve really enjoyed it!

Writer, freelance journalist and poet Mary Smith lives in beautiful South West Scotland.

Although she has always written, whether it was childish short stories, very bad angst-ridden poetry as a teenager, diaries or funding reports, she never really believed she could write for publication. And so she did lots of other things instead including fundraising for Oxfam and later working in Pakistan and Afghanistan for leprosy programmes. While in Afghanistan she established a low-key mother and child care programme providing skills and knowledge to women health volunteers.

Those experiences inform much of her writing. Her debut novel, No More Mulberries is set in Afghanistan and she has also written Drunk Chickens and Burnt Macaroni: Real Stories of Afghan Women, a narrative non-fiction account about her time in Afghanistan which offers an authentic insight into how ordinary Afghan women and their families live their lives.

Back in Scotland she found work as a freelance journalist while completing a MLitt in Creative Writing. She loves to travel but is having to keep her itchy feet still for a while until her son gets through his medical degree.

Visit Mary’s Amazon page

Visit Mary’s Website

Visit Mary’s Blogs:

http://novelpointsofview.blogspot.co.uk
https://marysmith57.wordpress.com/2014/07 (My Dad Is A Goldfish)

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000934032543

Twitter: https://twitter.com/marysmithwriter

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Welcome to Effrosyni Writes

This is the website of Greek author, Effrosyni Moschoudi. Go to the 'FREE STUFF' page on the menu to get her FREE books! Also, her travel guide to Moraitika and Messonghi in Corfu and the Greek recipes are unmissable if you love all things Greek!

Interview with Lauren Lynne, author of The Secret Watchers Series

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An interview with Lily Graham, author of The Postcard

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Interview with fantasy author, Raymond Bolton

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An interview with Irish author, Kerry Donovan

I am very excited to present to you today, one of the friendliest and most helpful authors of eNovel Authors at Work, Kerry Donovan. Kerry writes character-based crime thrillers from his stone cottage in Brittany, France. Let’s hear more from the man himself, shall we?

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Interview with women’s fiction author, Sharon Black

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Book review: Deadly Secrets by Angel Sefer

This is the second book in the Greek Isles Series and I must say, I thought it was even better than Spellbound in His Arms. Deadly Secrets was simply un-put-downable.

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Interview with romantic comedy author, Rosie Dean

Today, I’m excited to welcome romantic comedy author, Rosie Dean. Rosie is an author friend from my writer’s group, eNovel Authors at Work, and quite a fun girl to talk to. Have a look at her stylish book covers and then join me as I ask a few questions to find out more about her!

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Book Review: Nanostrike by Pete Barber

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Interview with Jenny Harper, author of the Heartlands Series

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An interview with ‘superwoman’, Mary Smith

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