Author Interview: Clodagh Murphy

Today it's my pleasure to welcome author Clodagh Murphy to the blog to talk about her latest book For Love or Money which was published this week.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how your writing journey started? 
Hi! I’m an Irish writer and I live in Dublin – currently in a city centre apartment, but I’ll shortly be moving to a house in the suburbs, where I plan to build the writing shed of my dreams. 

I wanted to be a writer from a young age, and I was always scribbling stories, poems and bits of novels. The first thing I had published was a short story in a national newspaper.  But when I started writing romantic comedy, I felt I’d found my niche. I was surprised - and delighted - to discover I could actually make people laugh with my writing. My first novel The Disengagement Ring was published in 2009 by Hachette Ireland, and I’ve had three other novels and a novella published since then. 

If you had to give an elevator pitch for your latest book For Love or Money, what would it be? 
I’m so bad at elevator pitches! I really need to work on that. I’d say it’s a sunny, funny, sexy romantic comedy with a lot of heart. But if we can pretend it’s a very slow elevator in a very tall building, this is a short blurb:

Lesley has always fancied herself as an amateur sleuth, so when Al wants to hire her to investigate his elderly uncle’s fiancée, she jumps at the chance. It doesn’t hurt that the job will involve posing as Al’s girlfriend and joining his family on holiday in Nice.

Stella can’t quite believe she’s engaged to legendary actor Sir Peter Bradshaw. She accepted what she thought was a deathbed proposal. Now she has a living, breathing fiancé and a wedding to plan. But first she has to get through a holiday in the South of France with Peter’s extended family, who all seem convinced she’s a gold-digger.

As Lesley bonds with Stella over shopping trips and bottles of rosé, she thinks she has it all figured out. After all, it’s no great mystery why a young woman would marry a fabulously wealthy seventy-two-year-old with a heart condition, is it? 

And Al may be the nicest boyfriend she’s ever had (even if he is fake), but Lesley believes in instant attraction and there’s just no spark. So there’s no chance he’s going to grow on her.
But people have a way of surprising you, as she’s about to discover ...

Books Read: It Started with a Secret by Jill Mansell

The trouble with secrets is that you can't guess what the consequences will be . . .

Lainey has lost everything. Luckily one little fib (OK, quite a big fib) helps nail her dream job. Soon she's living in a stunning house by the sea, fending off obsessed fans for a retired - if far-from-retiring - actor and organising his charming but chaotic family. It's definitely worth the challenge of keeping her secret.

At least Lainey isn't looking for love. It's time for a break from all that. And yet . . . Seth, the actor's grandson, really is rather attractive. There's growing chemistry and a definite connection between them. But how would he react if he knew she hadn't been honest with him?

Lainey's not the only one with a secret, though. Seth has one of his own. And everything's about to start unravelling . . .

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Author Interview: Maggie James

Today it's my pleasure to welcome author Maggie James to the blog for a chat about her writing and her latest book Silent Winter.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how your writing journey started?
Ever since I was a child the only thing I ever wanted to do career-wise was become a novelist. I’m not sure where the desire came from, but it burned fiercely in me, perhaps because my father cultivated my love of reading from a young age. I never doubted that I’d achieve my desire, because I yearned so strongly for it – ah, the hubris of youth! Things didn’t turn out that way - at least not at first.

As a young adult I lacked confidence, and although I still wanted to be an author, I had no idea how to start. Instead, I ended up an accountant, a profession I stayed in for nearly thirty years. The urge to write never went away, however. In my forties I wrote several short fanfiction pieces and published them online, to some very positive feedback. 

Around this time I fell out with my employers, and at first went into full-on victim mode – ‘how dare they? I’ve been wronged!’ until one day I had something of an epiphany. Maybe, I reasoned, this could be a blessing in disguise. Hadn’t I always wanted to write? Why not leave my job, go travelling for a year (I’d long suffered from advanced wanderlust) and write a novel while away? It seemed a good plan, especially as a milestone birthday was looming. Unable to bear the thought of turning fifty without having written my longed-for novel, I decided to save as much money as possible and to quit my job the following year.

That’s exactly what happened, and in October 2010 I flew to Thailand on the first leg of my trip, having told no one of my intention to write a novel while travelling. Procrastination still dogged me, however. It wasn't until months later, in a town called Arica in northern Chile, that I had a second epiphany, and determined to buckle down to writing at long last. With that in mind, I resolved to travel to Bolivia and not leave until I had completed the first draft of my book. I already had an idea for the plot, following a conversation with fellow travellers in Vietnam – what would it feel like to discover, as an adult, that you had been kidnapped as a child? After I arrived in Sucre I found a cheap hotel and knuckled down to write. Just under two months later, I completed the first draft of ‘His Kidnappers Shoes’, and promptly burst into tears. It was a very emotional moment for me, the memory of which I’ll always treasure.

If you had to give an elevator pitch for your latest book Silent Winter, what would it be? 

On an icy November night, Drew Blackmore is beaten unconscious, then abducted.  He awakes to find himself in total darkness, naked and chained to the floor.  Fed just enough to keep him alive, Drew is unable to identify his captor, or the reason for his incarceration. As reality fades, hallucinations take over. Can Drew escape his prison before madness claims him?

Meanwhile Drew's wife, Holly, despairing of ever seeing him again, turns to his brother for comfort. As the worst winter in decades sweeps the UK, she learns of Drew's tragic past. Could his disappearance be connected with that of a prostitute years before?

A story of how the mind responds to solitary confinement, ‘Silent Winter’ examines one man's desperate attempt to survive the unthinkable. 

Books Read: A Dark Matter by Doug Johnstone

Meet the Skelfs: well-known Edinburgh family, proprietors of a long-established funeral-home business, and private investigators…

When patriarch Jim dies, it’s left to his wife Dorothy, daughter Jenny and granddaughter Hannah to take charge of both businesses, kicking off an unexpected series of events.

Dorothy discovers mysterious payments to another woman, suggesting that Jim wasn’t the husband she thought he was. Hannah’s best friend Mel has vanished from university, and the simple adultery case that Jenny takes on leads to something stranger and far darker than any of them could have imagined.

As the women struggle to come to terms with their grief, and the demands of the business threaten to overwhelm them, secrets from the past emerge, which change everything…

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Emma's Review: The Outcast Girls by Shirley Dickson

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Germany, 1939: Eleven-year-old Frieda is boarding a ship bound for England with her little brother, Kurt. Life at home is perilous, with synagogues set alight and innocent lives lost to the Nazis, and they have no choice but to flee. But as Frieda stands on the deck crammed with frightened children, her brother jumps off, back to land.

England, 1939: After a devastating childhood at Blakely Hall Orphanage, seventeen-year-old Sandra longs to put her past behind her. But when war breaks out and her brother Alf is sent to fly bombers, she’s completely alone.

1943: When Sandra and Frieda’s paths cross in the remote countryside, each girl finds a home at last. Facing long, terrifying nights in bunkers, they huddle together as planes roar above them and distant explosions shake them to their cores. They console one another – Frieda, with no idea whether her family have been captured or if her brother survived, and Sandra praying that Alf will live to see tomorrow.

The darkness of war may shroud them but as long as they have each other, they can keep a little light in the world. Will Frieda and Sandra ever be reunited with their loved ones? And will the two handwritten letters bound their way hold news of happiness… or heartbreak?

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The Write Stuff with... Margaret Kirk

Today it's my pleasure to hand over the blog to author Margaret Kirk to talk about being 'In It for the Long Haul – Writing a Crime Series'

The thing is, I never set out to write a crime series – certainly not a police procedural with a male DI as the main character. 

My first (so far unpublished) novel was a coming home story, I suppose, with a female main character and a distinctly psychological vibe. Looking back now, I can see there were a few things that didn’t quite come off, and it would certainly benefit from a good edit. But I liked my cast and characters – still do, actually – and overall, I think it worked.

And then, three chapters from the end, in walked a Scots-German Detective Inspector called Lukas Mahler. 

Clever, complex Lukas, son of a German father and Scots mother. Cambridge-educated Lukas, lover of the Italian Renaissance and master of the caustic put-down. Lukas, who arrived with his character and his entire story arc fully formed inside my head. 

He made his debut in 2017, in Shadow Man, which won the Good Housekeeping First Novel Competition, What Lies Buried followed in 2019, and I’m currently finishing book 3, In The Blood, which will appear in the summer of 2020. And with every book, I’m learning more about how writing a series works – for me, at least.

Emma's Review: Homecoming by Ellie Dean

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Peace has finally been declared in the Far East, but for those living at Beach View Boarding House, the news brings mixed emotions.

Peggy Reilly is devastated that her husband Jim will not be coming home for Christmas. And Sarah and Jane, who have lived at Beach View throughout much of the conflict, dread what they will find when they go back to Singapore.

Life in Cliffehaven is in a whirlwind of change as the men return from the war and Peggy’s evacuee chicks begin to spread their wings and start new lives in different corners of the world.

Peggy and Jim have longed to be together after so many years apart, but war has left them profoundly changed. Can they rekindle the loving, close relationship they’d shared before?

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Books Read: Firewatching by Russ Thomas

ONE WRONG MOVE
A body is found bricked into the walls of a house. From the state of the hands, it’s clear the dead man was buried alive. Soon, the victim is linked to an old missing person’s case and DS Adam Tyler is called.

WILL IGNITE
As the sole representative of South Yorkshire's Cold Case Review Unit, Tyler recognises his role for what it is – a means of keeping him out of the way following an ‘incident’. When this case falls in his lap, he grabs the opportunity to fix his stagnating career.

THE CITY
And then Tyler discovers he has a connection to the case that hopelessly compromises him. He makes the snap decision not to tell his superiors, certain that he and only he can solve the crime. But now Tyler must move carefully to find out the truth, without destroying the case or himself.

Meanwhile, someone in the city knows exactly what happened to the body. Someone who is watching Adam closely. Someone with an unhealthy affinity with fire. . .

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Emma's Review: Burning Island by Suzanne Goldring

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

They were not her children. But she would protect them with her life…

Corfu 1944. Though they don’t know it, five-year-old Matilde and three-year-old Anna have kissed their mother for the last time. The Nazis have reached their sun-scorched home, and they are being taken to a place of safety, on the north-eastern tip of the rocky island, to be hidden at great risk by kindly Agata and her husband until the terrible war is over.

Matilde and Anna’s tears are soothed by Agata’s bedtime stories, but she is always alert. So far no soldiers have ventured down the steep rocky hillside to their secret haven, but Agata knows they are constantly scouring the island for missing Jews. And then, on a day when Agata’s husband is away, a German soldier appears…

2016. Under a baking June sun, Amber and her husband arrive in Corfu from England, hoping for a fresh start. But not everyone is pleased by their arrival, and with the pressures of pregnancy, the couple grow further apart. Desperate to find a sense of belonging for herself and her unborn child, Amber finds herself drawn to the local story of two little girls, left by their parents and hidden for their own protection.

But there are some who would rather Amber left Corfu’s terrible history well in the past. Can Amber uncover the heart-breaking truth about the two little girls, and what happened after a German soldier took a swim in the bay by their house? If she does, can the secrets of the past help her find happiness, or send her running from the island, alone?

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Books Read: Mix Tape by Jane Sanderson

You never forget the one that got away. But what if ‘what could have been’ is yet to come?

Daniel was the first boy to make Alison a mix tape.

But that was years ago and Ali hasn’t thought about him in a very long time. Even if she had, she might not have called him ‘the one that got away’; after all, she’d been the one to run.

Then Dan’s name pops up on her phone, with a link to a song from their shared past.

For two blissful minutes, Alison is no longer an adult in Adelaide with temperamental daughters; she is sixteen in Sheffield, dancing in her skin-tight jeans. She cannot help but respond in kind.

And so begins a new mix tape.

Ali and Dan exchange songs – some new, some old – across oceans and time zones, across a lifetime of different experiences, until one of them breaks the rules and sends a message that will change everything…

Because what if ‘what could have been’ is yet to come?

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Emma's Review: The Fortunate Ones by Catherine Hokin

Reviewed by Emma Crowley 

Every day he stood exactly where he was directed. He listened for his number, shouted his answer in the freezing cold. He was ragged and he was starving, but he was alive. He was one of the fortunate ones whom fate had left standing. And he needed to stay that way. For Hannah.

Berlin, 1941. Felix Thalberg, a printer’s apprentice, has the weight of the world on his shoulders. His beloved city is changing under Nazi rule and at home things are no better – Felix’s father hasn’t left the house since he was forced to wear a yellow star, and his mother grows thinner every day.

Then one night, Felix meets a mysterious young woman in a crowded dance hall, and his life is changed forever. Hannah is like a rush of fresh air into his gloomy, stagnant life and Felix finds himself instantly, powerfully infatuated with her. But when he tries to find her again, she’s vanished without a trace.

Was Hannah taken away by the Gestapo and held prisoner… or worse? When Felix himself is imprisoned in Sachsenhausen concentration camp, his thoughts are only for her safety. And when a life-threatening injury lands him in the ward of Dr Max Eichel – a Nazi medical officer with a sadistic reputation – his love for his lost Hannah sees him through the pain.

Until one day Dr Eichel brings his pretty young wife to tour the camp and Felix’s world is thrown off-kilter. Framed in the hospital window he sees – impossibly – the same girl he met that fateful night… her wrist in the vice-like grip of the deathly calm SS Officer. And it’s clear Hannah recognises him at once – there is no mistaking her expression, she has been dreaming of him too...

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Books Read: Six Wicked Reasons by Jo Spain

It's June 2008 and twenty-one-year-old Adam Lattimer vanishes, presumed dead. The strain of his disappearance breaks his already fragile family.

Ten years later, with his mother deceased and siblings scattered across the globe, Adam turns up unannounced at the family home. His siblings return reluctantly to Spanish Cove, but Adam's reappearance poses more questions than answers. The past is a tangled web of deceit.

And, as tension builds, it's apparent somebody has planned murderous revenge for the events of ten years ago.

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Emma's Review: The Sun Sister by Lucinda Riley

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

To the outside world, Electra D’Aplièse seems to be the woman with everything: as one of the world’s top models, she is beautiful, rich and famous.

Yet beneath the veneer, Electra’s already tenuous control over her state of mind has been rocked by the death of her father, Pa Salt, the elusive billionaire who adopted his six daughters from across the globe. Struggling to cope, she turns to alcohol and drugs. As those around her fear for her health, Electra receives a letter from a complete stranger who claims to be her grandmother . . .

In 1939, Cecily Huntley-Morgan arrives in Kenya from New York to nurse a broken heart. Staying with her godmother, a member of the infamous Happy Valley set, on the shores of beautiful Lake Naivasha, she meets Bill Forsythe, a notorious bachelor and cattle farmer with close connections to the proud Maasai tribe. But after a shocking discovery and with war looming, Cecily has few options. Moving up into the Wanjohi Valley, she is isolated and alone. Until she meets a young woman in the woods and makes her a promise that will change the course of her life for ever.

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Books Read: The First Time I Saw You by Emma Cooper

Lost:
Six-foot-two Irish man who answers to the name Samuel McLaughlin.
Has weak shins and enjoys show tunes.
If found, please return to Sophie Williams.

Before Sophie met Samuel she saw the world in grey.
Before Samuel met Sophie, he never believed in love at first sight.

When they first meet, something tells them they are meant to be.
But fate has other ideas.

Now they have lost each other and can't see a way back.
But they've already changed each other's lives in more ways
than they ever expected...

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Emma's Review: The Telephone Box Library by Rachael Lucas

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

The Cotswolds: the perfect retreat for a stressed-out teacher. And Lucy has found just the right cottage for a bargain rent. All she has to do is keep an eye on Bunty, her extremely feisty ninety-something neighbour . . .

With her West Highland terrier Hamish at her side, Lucy plans to relax and read up on the women of nearby Bletchley Park. But the villagers of Little Maudley have other ideas, and she finds herself caught up in the campaign to turn a dilapidated telephone box into a volunteer-run library.

Along the way, she makes friends with treehouse designer Sam, and finds herself falling for the charms of village life. And it seems Bunty has a special connection to Bletchley and the telephone box, one that she's kept secret for decades . . .

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Giveaway: Win a copy of The Home by Sarah Stovell

Today it's my stop on the blog tour for Sarah Stovell's latest book The Home, which is out now as an eBook and the paperback is published on 22nd January, for which I should have been hosting my review. However, I have struggled getting back into a work/blogging routine this week which has meant that I haven't yet had a chance to write my review as only finished reading the book late last night.

Rather than writing a rushed review this afternoon for this book that affected me more than I could have possibly imagined, I have decided to host a giveaway for my blog tour post today and will write my review in the morning once I've had a chance to compose my thoughts on this emotional read!

One more little secret … one more little lie…

When the body of a pregnant fifteen-year-old is discovered in a churchyard on Christmas morning, the community is shocked, but unsurprised. For Hope lived in The Home, the residence of three young girls, whose violent and disturbing pasts have seen them cloistered away…

Debut Spotlight: Helen Buckley

Today it's my pleasure to be shining the spotlight on author Helen Buckley and her debut novel Star in the Shadows which was published in October.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your writing journey? 
Hi! I’m Helen Buckley. I live in Bedfordshire with my husband and son. I always dreamed of being a writer when I was little, but I never truly thought I could write a novel. It seemed impossible. 

It was only when my husband and I were experiencing infertility and I was feeling really low that I turned to writing as an escape. I completed my first novel, Star in the Shadows just as we completed our first IVF – and I got pregnant with my son. That’s why Star in the Shadows is dedicated to my son Donovan. 

Since then, I can’t stop writing! I have completed my second novel and I am working on my third.

If you had to give an elevator pitch for Star in the Shadows, what would it be? 
About a teen runaway turned popstar, and the family she loves and leaves behind, Star in the Shadows is a gritty, dramatic and romantic read about fame, shame, family, and love.

The world thinks that pop superstar Kiara Anderson has it all, but she spends her nights drinking away memories of her childhood and life as a teen runaway. 

The Jacobs family are desperate to see the girl next door again and discover why she ran away, especially their son, Shane, who blames himself for her disappearance. 

When Kiara's manager forces her into a reveal-all TV interview, she knows the family she loved more than her own will finally discover the truth. 

Can she overcome her demons or will the shadows of the past rob her of fame, fortune, and a chance to finally fall in love?

Which came first, the character or the plot?
I had the story in my head for a long time, but the plot developed over the course of writing the novel – so I would say the character, Kiara, came first. I was fascinated with the idea of writing about someone in the public eye who had come from a challenging background and was still carrying the shadows of their past with them.

Emma's Review: Three Hours by Rosamund Lupton

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Three hours is 180 minutes or 10,800 seconds.

It is a morning's lessons, a dress rehearsal of Macbeth, a snowy trek through the woods.

It is an eternity waiting for news. Or a countdown to something terrible.

It is 180 minutes to discover who you will die for and what men will kill for.

In rural Somerset in the middle of a blizzard, the unthinkable happens: a school is under siege. Told from the point of view of the people at the heart of it, from the wounded headmaster in the library, unable to help his trapped pupils and staff, to teenage Hannah in love for the first time, to the parents gathering desperate for news, to the 16 year old Syrian refugee trying to rescue his little brother, to the police psychologist who must identify the gunmen, to the students taking refuge in the school theatre, all experience the most intense hours of their lives, where evil and terror are met by courage, love and redemption.

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Emma's Review: The Christmas Countdown by Donna Ashcroft

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Twenty-seven-year-old Holly Devine has just had her heart well and truly broken. Hurt by the two people she loves the most, she flees to her eccentric Aunt Clara’s cosy cottage to hide away over the winter season. But kind, impulsive Aunt Clara has other ideas… She’s not about to see her favourite niece wallowing in sadness during the most wonderful time of the year. So, with the help of her close circle of friends and plenty of gin, she creates a handmade advent calendar for Holly.

Every day in December, Holly opens a new door and has a different task to complete. She soon finds herself asking out a complete stranger – gorgeous, cheeky pub landlord, Finn Jackson. But as handsome Finn gets involved in her festive challenges, Holly’s determination to avoid romance is put to the test. Still, Finn’s far too carefree and single for true love, isn’t he?

As Holly begins to embrace each day – a complete makeover, building the biggest snowman she’s ever seen, singing in a karaoke contest – Finn is there adding fun and laughter to every moment. Holly starts to realise that she can become the person she’s always wanted to be…

But a secret from Finn’s past threatens to turn Holly’s Christmas upside down and makes her question everything she has experienced in the last few weeks. Will Finn open up to Holly in time to show her how he really feels? And will she complete the advent calendar challenges and fall in love this Christmas?

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Author Interview: Jordan Bell

Today it's my pleasure to welcome Jordan Bell back to the blog to find out a little more about her children's book Aunt Jodie's Guide to Evolution.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself? 
I’m a nerdy mum from Australia. I love reading, science, and talking about ideas. My daughter Ruby will be 7 this year, so she’s just edging into the demographic for my books. I have a PhD in Psychology – my thesis was on educational resilience, so I know a lot about how children develop and learn. I live on Kaurna Country in Adelaide, South Australia – close to the beach and the hills. My dream Sunday would be time alone in a café, reading all morning with a pot of tea, and then catching up with friends or family in the afternoon. 

If you had to give an elevator pitch for Aunt Jodie's Guide to Evolution, what would it be? 
I love science and I wanted to find a way to introduce big ideas in a way that was right for little minds. Aunt Jodie’s Guide to Evolution is the first book in a series, introducing real science to kids in a way that’s easy to understand. It’s a perfect book for anyone who wants to foster a child’s interest in science.

Your professional background is as a psychologist and educator, what inspired you to decide to write this book? 
One of my mottos is “If not you, who? If not now, when?” – so when I realised in 2011 that I didn’t know of any books that would help children grow up with a strong scientific worldview as their intellectual foundation, I decided to write one! Thankfully the rest of the world also seemed to agree that this was important – in the years since then, there has been an explosion of STEM-focussed books for kids. However, I think Aunt Jodie’s Guide to Evolution is still one of the only books out there that teaches the scientific basics of evolution in a fun story format. 

How much research did you need to undertake before you started the writing/editing process? 
The entire book was meticulously researched. Genetics was my minor at university before I did my PhD in Psychology, so I was very comfortable with a broad general understanding of the topic. But to make sure I got the details right, I delved into the scientific literature including analysis of the fossil record, the history of debates around evolution, and even the timing of pre-historic volcanic eruptions. I tell you, you haven’t lived until you’re up at 1am reading about underwater rock strata and what they tell us about volcanoes near Iceland! Finally, to make sure that no errors had slipped past me, I asked a Professor John Long (an Australian expert in palaeontology) to read my manuscript and check it for accuracy. When he gave me a thumbs up, I knew I had a book that was ready to release.