Author Spotlight: John Marrs

Today it's my stop on The One blog tour, which I'll be reviewing soon, but first I'm shining the spotlight on author John Marrs.

John Marrs is a freelance journalist based in London, England, who has spent the last 20 years interviewing celebrities from the world of television, film and music for national newspapers and magazines.

He has written for publications including The Guardian's Guide and Guardian Online; OK! Magazine; Total Film; Empire; Q; GT; The Independent; Star; Reveal; Company; Daily Star and News of the World's Sunday Magazine.

As part of this spotlight feature, John has written a confession that I'm sure most writers can relate to.

I don’t read many books. In fact, I have only read five in the fourteen months. I’m actually quite embarrassed to admit it.

It’s not often that writers confess to such a crime, but I’d like to think it’s more common than you’d think. I’d also like to tell you that one of my New Year’s resolutions to read much, much more, but I’d be lying. Because unless by some miracle an extra day is slotted into my week, then I don’t see it changing much over the next twelve months. 

Many of us who are only just beginning our careers as authors already hold down full-time jobs to pay the bills. Mine happens to be as a journalist. So my days are spent interviewing television actors, actresses and presenters for magazines like OK!, S Magazine, Saturday Express, Total Film and GT. Day in, day out, from 9.30am until 5pm, I am glued to my keyboard or Dictaphone either transcribing interviews or carrying them out. So that doesn’t leave any time to read.

I live in Northamptonshire and work in London, which gives me around two and a half hours a day of commuting time to do with as I wish. But I use this as an opportunity to work on my own writing projects rather than open somebody else’s book. 

Author Spotlight & Guest Post: Where I Write by Della Parker

Today it's my pleasure to shine the spotlight on Della Parker and her serial The Reading Group, the first three eBooks December, January and February are published next week.  Della has also written us a guest post giving us a glimpse into her writing room. 

Della Parker is a novelist, short story writer and journalist. She's had over a thousand short stories published in the UK alone. 

She is a popular speaker at writing conventions and the agony aunt for Writers' Forum magazine. 

When she is not writing Della enjoys walking her dogs around the beautiful Dorset countryside and beaches.

I write in a freezing garret and wear fingerless gloves to ward off the chilblains.  A giant wolfhound lounges across my feet to keep them warm, occasionally lifting his massive head and baring fearsome yellowing teeth.

OK, I lied.  It is not a garret – it’s a summerhouse.  I only moved here recently and this garden office was what clinched the deal.  From its dusty windows I can see sheep, a patchwork of fields and beyond them a panoramic view of the distant hills. The view is spectacular, it changes constantly. I can watch a different sunset every night of the year and I never, ever get tired of it.

Author Spotlight: Agnes Ravatn

Today it's my pleasure to be kicking off The Bird Tribunal blog tour with a spotlight feature for Norwegian author Agnes Ravatn.  I'll also be hosting a review from Louise for The Bird Tribunal, which has been translated into English by Rosie Hedger, on 8th October so make sure you pop back to read what Louise thought but first let's get to know a bit more about Agnes with a Q&A. . 

Agnes Ravatn (b. 1983) is a Norwegian author and columnist. She made her literary début with the novel Week 53 in 2007. Since then she has written three critically acclaimed and award-winning essay collections: Standing, Popular Reading and Operation Self-discipline, in which she recounts her experience with social media addiction, and how she overcame it. 

The Bird Tribunal won the cultural radio P2’s listener’s prize for this novel, a popular and important prize in Norway, in addition to The Youth’s Critic’s Prize. The Bird Tribunal was also made into a successful play, which premiered in Oslo in 2015

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your writing journey?
I am Agnes, 33 years old, and I live with my partner and our 18-month-old son son on a smallholding on the western coast of Norway. I wanted to be a writer from I was six, and my debut novel was published in 2007 while I was a student. I then got a job as a journalist/columnist and wrote three non-fiction books while working on my second novel, The Bird Tribunal. Today, I am working on my third novel.

If you had to give an elevator pitch for The Bird Tribunal, what would it be?
The Bird Tribunal is a chilling book packed with secrets, fatal attraction and amateur gardening!

The Bird Tribunal is an interesting title, how did it come about?
It refers to a dream or vision the male character, Bagge, has, and tells us that he has done something in the past that haunts him, and plays on his conscience.

Where did the inspiration come from to feature a TV presenter leaving her successful life behind and escaping to live a reclusive lifestyle in the middle of nowhere?
Heaven knows! I started writing the story without knowing who Allis, the protagonist, was, but she had just arrived at the house where she was starting work as a sort of housekeeper for the mysterious Bagge. I just knew she had to have experienced a great fall. And then, as I wrote, I started finding out more and more about her background, and her reasons for escaping the spotlight.

If you had to describe The Bird Tribunal in one sentence, what would it be?
I would prefer to quote somebody else, who called it ‘Rebecca, with fjords’. Spot on. 

Author Spotlight: Sanjida Kay

Today it's my pleasure to be featuring in the spotlight author and broadcaster Sanjida Kay whose debut thriller Bone by Bone is being published on 3rd March.

When I was five years old I decided I wanted to be a novelist and a zoologist. 

I have a PhD on chimpanzees (useful as I have a small child) and I’ve had eight books published (four novels and four works of non-fiction as Sanjida O'Connell). Getting there was a lot harder than it sounds since a) I had to pass ‘A’ Level chemistry, b) learn how to spell, and c) write books without any training other than ‘O’ Level English. 

Along the way I wrote features and columns for national newspapers and magazines about science and the environment, directed science documentaries and presented wildlife programmes for the BBC.

My fifth novel, Bone by Bone, is a psychological thriller and it’s going to be published by Corvus Books in March 2016. I’m writing a second thriller RIGHT NOW!

I'm pleased to be able to exclusively share with you below the trailer that was made for Sanjida and her publishers by Laura Pride at OMGrenegade.  .

Author Spotlight: Laura E James

Today I'm bringing you a variation on my debut spotlight feature, an author spotlight on Laura E James whose second novel, her first in paperback format, Follow Me Follow You has just been published.

Laura lives in Dorset with her family. Laura was twice a runner-up in the Choc Lit Short Story competitions. Her story Bitter Sweet appears in the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Anthology Truly, Madly, Deeply.  Truth or Dare?, Laura’s debut novel, was shortlisted for the 2014 Joan Hessayon Award. Follow Me Follow You is Laura’s first Choc Lit novel published in paperback.

Twitter: @Laura_E_James

Thank you so much for inviting me today, Shaz. It’s exciting!

Can you tell us a little bit about your latest novel Follow Me, Follow You?
It’s a reunion story, set in and around the area I love ‒ Dorset ‒ specifically Chesil Beach, Portland and Weymouth. The theme is reconnection. The hero and heroine have lost their way and disconnected from life. Victoria Noble has retreated into her virtual world of EweSpeak, her social media business, and has a strained relationship with her young son. Chris Frampton, Victoria’s first love, is a Hollywood action hero coming to terms with a tragic loss. Both return to their childhood homes in Portland in the hope going back is the best way forward.

What inspired you to write about a busy single mum and the re-emergence of her first love?
I was intrigued by the concept of returning to a past relationship ‒ it’s not something I’ve experienced. I’ve been married for eighteen years, but I remember thinking in my youth, maybe naively, that when something was over, it was over. End of. The reasons the relationship failed remained. That posed the first question: Why would a person return to a relationship that left them heartbroken? Before I answered that, another question popped up: What effect would the breakdown of that intense love have on the emotional development of the parties involved?

Victoria Noble was suddenly on the scene ‒ a woman who’s given up on romance, thrown herself into work and withdrawn from relationships, including that of her young son.