Today my Guest Author is ...Alison May

I am delighted to introduce Alison to the blog.....

Hi. I’m Alison and I’m a History graduate. I’m not going to lie. It’s not a qualification that’s been of huge use in my adult life. The situations in which it’s genuinely handy to be able to talk, at some length, about the relationship between the abolitionist movement and British national identity in the early 1800s, are surprisingly limited. The old joke about history graduates spending most of their working lives asking people if they want fries with that isn’t particularly accurate, but generally it’s a good route to either teaching history or doing something completely random that doesn’t relate to your university life at all.

However, you can’t let one not particularly bankable degree deter you in life, so I decided, some years later, that the best thing to do would be to go back to university. This time however, I would make a wiser choice, so I did a second degree in creative writing, because, as everyone know, that’s a skill set that you can just take to the bank. (You can’t. Well, you can but the bank people will laugh at you and tell you you’re not qualified to work there.) There are huge hangars filled with creative writing graduates all sitting in rows and old-fashioned typewriters banging out their scripts and novels which will inevitably be published making the writers rich beyond their wildest dreams. (There aren’t. Sorry creative writing students of the world. There really really aren’t.)

So there I was qualified up to the eyeballs with absolutely no marketable skills. Whatever is a girl to do? Well the first thing to do is to write a novel, which I did. And it was terrible. So I joined the RNA New Writer’s Scheme and got some feedback on the novel and rewrote the whole thing from scratch. And then I rewrote it again. And then at least once more to end up with something that didn’t entirely suck. That book became Sweet Nothing which was published by lovely Choc Lit at the end of 2013.

But the problem then is you’re expected to write another novel, and as you’ve done it once, people are way less tolerant of you writing a sucky one. And that’s where that degree in history and all those years at university finally came into their own. Not because I wrote a historical novel – I’ve talked to historical novelists and they have to do actual research; it sounds like terribly hard work. So the history element was out of the window, but the university thing was interesting. Why not set a romantic comedy in a university? I’ve been a fan of David Lodge’s university novels for a long time. The politics of academic life is fascinating, and if I was setting a novel in a university, why not a history department? And so that’s where the main character in Midsummer Dreams all work, and within that history department we meet Helen, who is a lovelorn historian and expert on the relationship between the abolitionist movement in the early 1800s, which is funny because it I’ve studied that. I always knew it would come in handy one day.

Here's the blurb for Midsummer Dreams.

Four people. Four messy lives. One night that changes everything … 

Emily is obsessed with ending her father’s new relationship – but is blind to the fact that her own is far from perfect.

Dominic has spent so long making other people happy that he’s hardly noticed he’s not happy himself.

Helen has loved the same man, unrequitedly, for ten years. Now she may have to face up to the fact that he will never be hers.

Alex has always played the field. But when he finally meets a girl he wants to commit to, she is just out of his reach.

At a midsummer wedding party, the bonds that tie the four friends together begin to unravel and show them that, sometimes, the sensible choice is not always the right one. 

Buying Links:

Amazon UK: http://goo.gl/MEFw88

Amazon US: http://goo.gl/3rHnig

Author Bio

Alison May was born and raised in North Yorkshire, but now lives in Worcester with one husband, no kids and no pets. There were goldfish once. That ended badly.

Alison has studied History and Creative Writing, and has worked as a waitress, a shop assistant, a learning adviser, an advice centre manager, and a freelance trainer, before settling on 'making up stories' as an entirely acceptable grown-up career plan.
Alison is a member of the Romantic Novelists' Association, and won the Elizabeth Goudge Trophy in 2012. She writes contemporary romantic comedies, and short stories.

www.alison-may.co.uk

www.twitter.com/MsAlisonMay

www.facebook.com/pages/Alison-May/

 My thanks to Alison for this lovely blog post and also to Lu at Choc Lit for organising everything.

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Review ~ Bloodie Bones by Lucienne Boyce

Silverwood Books
2015

There's something rather special about the combination of good historical fiction and complex crime, and in this, the first book in the Dan Foster mysteries, we are introduced to a talented protagonist, who has his foot firmly placed in the reality of eighteenth century life, and yet, he attacks crime enquiry with all the gung-ho of a seasoned crime scene investigator.

We are introduced to Dan Foster, an officer in the Bow Street Runners, as he goes undercover to try to wheedle out the perpetrator of a crime, which involves the local gentry of a country estate, with the unexplained death of the estate’s gamekeeper. As Dan infiltrates himself into local culture, including some rather rollicking good fist fights, he discovers that local feelings against the Lord of the Manor run high and whilst the lure of illicit poaching is necessary to keep food on the table, it doesn’t help to foster good relations between the gentry and the working classes.

The historical accuracy of the novel shines through, with fine attention to detail, and some really interesting observations about the political and social ramifications of  rural life in the latter part of the eighteenth century. The fictional village of Barcombe in Somerset is described in such detail that both the place and its people come gloriously alive. It feels like you work in the heat of blacksmith’s forge with Dan and enjoy a well-earned beer with him, in the evening, at the Fox and Badger . The crime at the heart of the mystery is both complex and convoluted, and the many twists and turns in the plot adds realistic depth to the story and keeps you turning the pages in order to find out what happens next.

Weaving together history and mystery with great flair and fine attention to detail make this a most enjoyable historical crime story. There is no doubt that the author has given us a worthy protagonist in Dan Foster, and I can’t wait to meet up with him again soon, as there is much to discover about this enigmatic crime investigator, and I am sure that he has many exciting adventures still to come.

My thanks to the author for sharing her book with me.

About the Author

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Blog Tour : The 3rd Woman by Jonathan Freedland

Jaffareadstoo is delighted to be today's blog tour host

Author Photograph is courtesy of Philippa Gedge

Jonathan Freedland is perhaps better known as Sam Bourne.

With The 3rd Woman he has come out from behind his pseudonym to enthrall us with a fast paced thriller which grips from the very beginning.

#The3rdWoman
Published 2nd July 2015
Harper Fiction

SHE CAN’T SAVE HER SISTER

Journalist Madison Webb is obsessed with exposing lies and corruption. But she never thought she would be investigating her own sister’s murder.

SHE CAN’T TRUST THE POLICE

Madison refuses to accept the official line that Abigail’s death was an isolated crime. She uncovers evidence that suggests Abi was the third victim in a series of killings hushed up as part of a major conspiracy.

SHE CAN EXPOSE THE TRUTH

In a United States that now bows to China, corruption is rife – the government dictates what the ‘truth’ is. With her life on the line, Madison must give up her quest for justice, or face the consequences…

My review :

In a world of lies only one woman can expose the truth

Under the pen name of Sam Bourne, Jonathan Freedland has already established himself as a talented and worthy author of suspenseful fiction. In The 3^rd Woman, he has forgone the security blanket of publishing under his successful pseudonym, and has produced a really high octane thriller which takes as its starting point the sudden death of Abigail Webb, a young woman of flawless reputation. Madison Webb, a feisty and determined reporter, and Abigail’s older sister, will stop at nothing to find out why her sister died. When Madison discovers that two other young women have died in similar tragic circumstances she is determined, more than ever, to uncover the truth. However, as Madison delves deeper and deeper into this web of lies, her powers of observation are stretched to breaking point, and the discovery of scandalous behaviour at the highest level, will put her in grave danger.

Setting the story in a time when the United States has defaulted on its national debt, and has been usurped as a super power by China, adds an interesting dystopian element, and the otherworldly atmosphere which exists throughout feels frighteningly realistic. The short and concise chapters help maintain the snappiness of the suspense and allow the story to evolve in a believable and exciting way. The story line, as it develops, is tense, with elements of danger and there are some nasty situations which occur for Madison and her friends, all of which, had me turning the pages faster and faster, in order to see what happened next. I thought the ending was cleverly contrived and entirely convincing.

Overall, I really enjoyed the story. There are more than enough twists and turns in the plot to keep you guessing, and I am sure that the legions of Sam Bourne fans will be delighted with this author's venture into writing under his own name.

My thanks to Hayley at Harper Fiction for my invitation to be part of this exciting blog tour

and to Killer Reads for introducing me to this book and author.

You can listen to Claudia Winkleman on BBC Radio 2
talking about The 3rd Woman start listening at 1:28

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05zzyzp#auto 

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Saturday WW1 Poet ...

The songs of the Great War

are

featured this month

Tune:- I want to go home 

I want to go home. I want to go home

I don’t want to go in the trenches no more

Where whizzbangs and shrapnel

They whistle and roar.

Take me over the sea

Where the Alleyman can’t get at me

Oh my! I don’t want to die.

I want to go home.

I want to go home, I want to go home

Coal boxes and shrapnel they whistle and roar

I don’t want to go in the trenches no more

I want to go over the sea

Where the Kaiser can’t shoot bombs at me

Oh my! I don’t want to die

I want to go home.

It must be remembered that these songs were usually sung by the lower ranks to keep up morale.

Whilst some of the sentiments may appear offensive to us, it must be remembered that these were very different times and must be viewed as such.

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Review ~ The Mountain Can Wait by Sarah Leipcigar

Tinder Press
2015

The story starts with an event which shapes the narrative so subtly, that at times, you almost forget just what tragedy started the story off. Such is the mesmeric quality of the novel that the pages pass silently, and almost without realising, you are drawn into a story about tangled relationships; namely, that of a father with his children, sons with their fathers, and lovers with lovers. It’s also the story of a Canadian mountain and its mercurial and beautiful landscape and the force that the environment plays in nurturing those souls who live within its harsh confines. The story is slow, almost meandering in style but this adds depth and even as an air of suspense pervades the narrative, its underlying message is one of lives being played out in the shadow of deep wrongdoing.

Beautifully written, the slow and measured writing style draws you in from the beginning, and rather than being a page turner with lots of action, the story is more of a slow burner, with subtle nuances and understated light and shade. To say more would be to spoil the effect of the story and do a complete disservice to the author, but what I will say is that days after finishing the novel, my thoughts return to this remote and beautiful place, and such is the emotional pull of the story, that I still stop and wonder just how everyone is doing and hope that they will be ok.

The Mountain Can Wait is a commendable debut novel by a talented new author. I can’t wait to see what she does next.

About the author

Sarah Leipcigar was born and raised in Canada and low lives in London where she teaches creative writing to prisoners. Her short fiction has been short-listed for the Asham Award, he Fish Prize and the Birdport Prize. The Mountain Can Wait is her first novel.

My thanks to Tinder Press and Bookbridger for my review copy of this book



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Blog Tour : Little Black Lies ~ Sharon Bolton

Jaffareadstoo is delighted to be part of  Sharon Bolton's

Little Black Lies Blog Tour

29th June - 10th July

 

Sharon ~ A huge welcome to Jaffareadstoo and thanks for inviting us to be part of this exciting blog tour....

Where did you get the first flash of inspiration for Little Black Lies?

Books can be years in the making, and Little Black Lies was no exception. I can probably trace back its conception several years to a number of events: a dreadful car accident on the outskirts of Oxford in which several children were killed. Meeting a woman in my village who’d never recovered from the loss of her husband and children, also in a RTA, a couple of decades earlier. And then a random thought as I was out walking the dog one day: could three people, credibly, confess to the same crime?

Without giving too much away, what can you tell us about the story?

When a small child goes missing, the people of the Falkland Islands want to believe it a terrible accident. But this is the third child to vanish in as many years. And then a fourth…Three islanders, Catrin, her ex lover, Callum and former best friend Rachel are drawn into the hunt for the missing boys. But each of the three is hiding secrets. None of them can be trusted.

The stark beauty of the Falkland Islands has a central role in Little Black Lies. What made you choose this location and how did you research the island?

A tight-knit, preferably closed, community was essential to make this story work and islands, especially remote ones, are perfect. I was looking for an island setting that hadn’t been used before and, to the best of my knowledge, the Falkland Islands hasn’t. Researching the islands was a lot easier than it would have been a decade ago, because the Falklanders have embraced social media and there are lots of blogs, websites and Twitter accounts that I could follow. As well as the more usual reading, of course.

Whilst you are writing you must live with your characters. How do you feel about them when the book is finished? Are they who you expected them to be?

I tend not to have a very strong picture of my characters when I set out. I let them be defined by the story – in how they react to events, how they interact with each other. I enjoy the freedom of this approach, especially as characters rarely turn out exactly as I intended. Often, they are quite different, and as a result, so is the story.

What do you enjoy most about writing stories and do you write for yourself, or other people?

Both, in that I write the sort of stories I would most love to read, if anyone else were writing them; to that extent, I’m writing primarily for myself. But a huge amount of effort, mine and that of others, goes into a finished book. I wouldn’t put myself through that if I didn’t think a few other people would read and enjoy it.

Can you tell us what you are writing next?

A very dark love story, about a true-crime author, and a convicted murderer.

More about Sharon can be found on her website

Follow her on Twitter @authorsjbolton

My thanks to  Alison Barrow and  Becky Hunter at Transworld for their generous invitation to be part of this exciting blog tour. And of course, to Sharon  for giving so generously of her time.

Please take a look at the other blogs taking part in this tour for more exciting blog tour content

**Little Black Lies is published today**

2nd July

Taught.  Tight.  Tremendous. 

These are the three little words that summarise, for me, Little Black Lies.

Taught, a lesson in the capriciousness of human nature. It's about how we can be taught lessons about life and that no matter how well we think we know ourselves, fate can easily overwhelm us, leaving us floundering in a dark place of despair. We can be consumed by grief and isolated in our loneliness, or we can rise above it and look to the future.

Tight, because the narrative is well controlled and purposeful. There are no superfluous words, no wasted moments, no unnecessary dialogue and no reason to put down the book once you start reading. The story is both bright and shiny as a new penny and dark as the pits of hell. It shows the both the best and the worst of people in the saddest of circumstances and gives us characters who are so realistic they really could be people you know. They are all superbly flawed, quite delicately drawn and ultimately, as you will discover, they are all going to be entirely responsible for their own actions.

Tremendous, storytelling from beginning to end. The Falkland Island comes alive in such glorious detail that I feel like I have steered a boat through the sheltered waters of Port William, travelled the island’s rough terrain with Callum and ridden my horse to the cliff edge with Rachel. I’ve stopped for coffee at Bob-Cats and listened to Rob Duncan on Falkland Island radio.  But more than any other thing I have walked every step of the story in Catrin’s shoes. Her story draws you in and she reaches out to you. She is both enticing as a kitten and as fierce as a snared animal. You hurt with her. You feel with her, and ultimately, you believe in her so much, that you really don’t want the story to end.

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Six in Six 2015....

The idea being that as the end of June approaches and we are then halfway through 2015, let us share the books we have read in those first 6 months. In fact let’s share 6 books in 6 categories, or simply just 6 books. Whatever you want to and the same book can obviously feature in more than one category.

Started by 

Jo at The Book Jotter

Here are some ideas for headings for your 6 book choices:

Six new authors to me
Six authors I have read before
Six authors I am looking forward to reading more of
Six books I have enjoyed the most
Six books I was disappointed with
Six series of books read or started
Six authors I read last year – but not so far this year
Six books that took me on extraordinary journeys
Six books that took me by the hand and led me into the past
Six books from the past that drew me back there
Six books from authors I know will never let me down
Six books I must mention that don’t fit nicely into any category
Six books I started in the first six months of the year and was still caught up with in July
Six trips to Europe
Six blogging events I enjoyed
Six bookish things I’m looking forward to
Six Espionage or Historical Novels I enjoyed
Six Cool Classics
Six Non-US/Non-British Authors
Six From the Non-Fiction Shelf
Six books that didn’t live up to expectations
Six books that I had one or two problems with but am still glad I tried
Six books that are related to The Great War or Second World War
Six bookshops I have visited
Six books I’ve read in an English translation

Here's my Six in Six

Six new authors to me :- 

1. Linda Huber

2. Fiona Neill

3. M J Arlidge

4. Joanna Courtney

5. Kate Rhodes

6. Rebecca Whitney 

Six authors I have read before

1. Elizabeth Chadwick

2. Pamela Hartshorne

3. Rebecca Mascull

4. Jodi Picoult

5. Elly Griffiths

6. Deborah Harkness 

Six books I have enjoyed the most

1. If You Go Away by Adele Parks

2. The Edge of Dark by Pamela Hartshorne

3. The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley

4. The Silent Hours by Cesca Major

5. We are all Made of Stars by Rowan Coleman

6. You, Me and Other People by Fionnuala Kearney 

Six books that took me by the hand and led me into the past

1. The Raven’s Head by Karen Maitland

2. Lamentation by C J Sansom

3. The Song of the Sea Maid by Rebecca Mascull

4. The Silvered Heart by Katherine Clements

5. Leopards of Normandy by David Churchill

6. The Chosen Queen by Joanna Courtney


Six trips to Europe

1. The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain (Paris)

2. Hausfrau by Jill Alexander Essbaum (Zurich)

3. A Spell in Provence by Marie Laval (France)

4. The Wedding Cake Tree by Melanie Hudson ( England and Europe)

5. Secrets of the Tower by Debbie Rix (Italy)

6. Wolf Winter by Cecelia Ekback ( Sweden)



Six books that are related to The Great War or Second World War

1. Letters to the Lost by Iona Grey (WW2)

2. The Silent Hours by Cesca Major (WW2)

3. I Can’t Begin to Tell You by Elizabeth Buchan (WW2)

4. The Last Pier by Roma Tearne (WW2)

5. Sail upon the Land by Josa Young (WW2)

6. Into the Unknown by Lorna Peel (WW2)

Here's to the next 6 in 6

Happy Reading.

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