Contemporary fiction – Page 59 – Jenny Kane & Jennifer Ash

Today, I’d like to welcome debut novelist, Sharon Black, to my site, to tell us all about writing her first work of fiction, and what inspired its creation.

Over to you Sharon…

HI JENNY, thank you so much for having me here on your blog today. I’d like to tell you and your readers a little about myself and my inspiration for my debut novel.

My background is in journalism. After I left college, I worked as a features writer for a national newspaper here in Dublin. I married and took a substantial break from paid work, when my children were small, before returning to write for another national paper for a while.

By the time I was ready to write a novel, it seemed natural for me to write about what I knew.

Going Against Type is a romantic comedy, it’s set in the world of Dublin-based national newspapers. Because the setting was familiar, I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone in other ways.

Going Against Type tells the story of rival newspaper columnists, who write under pen names, and unknowingly fall in love with their arch enemy: each other! They each have good reason to protect their alter egos. So their relationship develops, each blissfully unaware of whom the other is. Until they are forced to reveal themselves….

My inspiration for the book was the 1940s Hollywood film, Woman of the Year, starring Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracey. I loved all their films! Hepburn plays a high brow pundit, who rubbishes sport in one of her columns. Tracey is a sports columnist who leaps to defend his beloved sport and in turn, attacks Hepburn’s views, and the fun begins. In the film, however, they meet quite quickly and despite knowing who the other person is, they fall in love.

In Going Against Type, I turned the stereotypes around. So Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Regan is the sports buff. At the beginning of the story, she is given a chance to write the new, anonymous sports column, Side Swipe.

My hero, Derry Cullinane is a fashion writer and gossip columnist, The Squire for the rival paper. He’s sophisticated, man-about-town and a bit of a playboy. They fall in love, and that’s where the fun begins.

While that whole build up was really fun to do, it was also extremely challenging. The main reason was that I to ensure that Charlotte and Derry’s columns were quite acerbic. That way, you could see a huge contrast between their views in the papers – their weekly banter – and how they were with each other. It also meant there was more at stake.

The hardest columns to get right were Charlotte’s. Paradoxically, she turned out to be a wonderful character to write. I know very little about sport, having never been sporty myself. But I admire people who are, and I wanted Charlotte to be very different from me. Because Charlotte’s a journalist, I didn’t want anyone to think I was writing bits of me into my heroine.

So I did a lot of research. I read a lot of sports columnists, I checked all my facts, and then I tried to put myself into the head of a feisty, twenty-something woman, working in an area that’s largely dominated by men.

Her columns took a lot of writing and re-writing. I wanted them to be sharp, funny and very controversial. And as her columns got better, the character of Charlotte became more defined and easier to write. In the end, she felt like a real person; somebody I had known a long time.

A lot of people are surprised when they see that my hero is a gossip columnist and fashion writer. Yes, there are exceptions to the rule, but mainly these are areas in journalism that tend to be dominated by women.

Quite apart from wanting to just shake things up, I wanted to write a strong male character, who is completely comfortable in his own skin, and his fabulous tailor made suits! He is manly, yet completely relaxed with having a female boss and working in a features department, surrounded by women. Actually, he likes that a lot!

It sounds like a terrible cliché, but writing this book was a huge learning experience. I had written short stories down the years, and had some of them published. And I’d started so many books – but had never finished them.

This time, I armed myself with the tools: the nuts and bolts of novel structuring. And I knew I had a good story. I was determined to see it through. I’m so glad I did. I became an author and I’m so grateful for that. And I’m very proud of my debut.

***

EXCERPT

Note: Charlotte is sent to cover Ladies’ Day at The Galway Races. It’s here that she meets Derry for the first time.

‘So, did you get lucky?’ a deep voice drawled.

Charlotte spun to find Mr Panama Hat grinning down at her. Bloody hell, she thought, smiling back despite herself. Any other man she knew would look utterly ridiculous in what seemed to be a tailor made, striped linen jacket and trousers, combined with that damned hat. But he carried it off with a self-confidence that bordered on swagger.

‘Yes actually, I did,’ she admitted, still smiling. ‘What about you?’

He grimaced.

‘I lost. My own fault. I took a flier on somebody else’s tip.’

Charlotte grinned sympathetically.

‘Oh?’

Mr Panama Hat shook his head, scowling briefly.

‘I read some bloody sports columnist from Ireland Today. Had a few winners earlier this week. As I said, it’s my own fault. I never normally bother with racing tips. Whoever it is, he obviously doesn’t know a horse from a three-legged stool.’

Charlotte swallowed hard.

‘So how much did you lose?’ she managed, trying to sound casual.

‘A thousand.’ He caught Charlotte’s horrified expression and laughed. ‘Hey, don’t look so worried! I’m a big boy.’

Charlotte stared at him in amazement. Who did that? Maybe he was a rich eccentric, the kind of guy who hung around the race courses, betting big. Not caring whether or not he won – or lost everything on the day. That said, she was damned if she’d come clean!

‘So do you normally gamble this recklessly Mr…?’ Charlotte trailed away meaningfully, biro poised over her notebook. He stuck out his hand, a warm smile forming.

‘Sorry I should have introduced myself. I’m…

‘Derry! Where have you been? They’re just about to start the judging. Come on darling, I have to go line up. I want you to be able to see!’

A tall blonde, wearing a rose pink knee-length dress with tiny matching jacket, pink stiletto sling-back shoes and a dizzy spiral of cream and pink headwear, teetered over and clung to Derry’s arm. She looked, Charlotte thought, vaguely familiar. The blonde smiled tightly at Charlotte and then noticed her press badge.

‘Oooh, you’re from the papers! Maybe I could talk to you when the judging’s over. Do you have a photographer with you?’ She didn’t wait for Charlotte to answer, but rushed on. ‘You’ll have to excuse us right now, okay?’

‘Of course, don’t let me delay you,’ Charlotte said, stepping back.

‘Wait,’ Derry began, shooting her a sudden intrigued look. ‘You’re not with Ireland Today, are you?’

‘Shit. Charlotte managed a surprised laugh.

‘Um, yes,’ she squeaked. ‘I’m er, writing a piece on Ladies Day.’

‘Oh right.’ He frowned. ‘What about their Side Swipe columnist? Do you know him?’

Lie Charlotte. And do it well.

‘No. It’s being written anonymously. I think the writer works from home…’ She smiled brightly at him. Behind Derry, the blonde shot Charlotte a steely glare. Charlotte glanced one last time at Derry.

‘You should go. And I have to work. Nice to meet you.’ She turned and walked away…

***

BIOGRAPHY

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 Dublin coastal village, with her husband and their three children.

BLOG: http://sharonblackauthor.blogspot.ie/…

WEBSITE: http://coldcoffeecafe.com/profile/SharonBlack http://coldcoffeecafe.com/profile/SharonBlack http://coldcoffeecafe.com/profile/SharonBlack

FACEBOOK AUTHOR PG: http://on.fb.me/1AG4C3J

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/Authorsharonb https://twitter.com/Authorsharonb

ALL BUY LINKS: tirpub.com/gatype tirpub.com/gatype

***

Many thanks for visiting today Sharon, I wish you much luck with your new book.

Happy Reading,

Jenny x

Guest Interview with Stephanie Harte: Kitty Murphy’s Ticket to Paradise

By Jenny Kane

On July 8, 2015

In Blog, Contemporary fiction, Contemporary Romantic Fiction, Fiction

Followers of this blog will know that last month I was privileged enough to meet a whole host of writing, both established and fresh off the block, at the Tiverton Literary Festival. One such new comer, the delightful Stephanie Harte, instantly impressed me with her total passion for the craft, and so I quickly snapped up the chance to interview her about her first novel- Kitty Murphy’s Ticket to Paradise.

So, it’s time to get cosy folks. Kick off the shoes, grab a cuppa. Cut some cake, and let the interview commence…

What inspired you to write your book?

I had dreamt of writing a book for years but had always been put off by such a daunting task. It would be a massive challenge, and I was filled with self-doubt, so I easily talked myself out of it every time the idea resurfaced. But something changed and on New Year’s Eve 2013 after one or two glasses of bubbly I decided to make a resolution, this year I’m going to do it. The time had come, and I finally felt ready to put pen to paper. I wanted to write a novel that would embrace my Irish heritage and pay homage to my dad’s incredible sense of humour and many quirky sayings.

What type of research did you have to do for your book?

Having been a teenager in the 80s, I vividly remember what it was like, the music I listened to and the terrible clothes and make-up I wore. I thought it would be fun to write a book set in this era and provide some readers with a nostalgic trip down memory lane. For those lucky enough not to have a first-hand account of when big hair and shoulder pads were the height of fashion it would turn back the clock to a time when they were. So I relied on my very fond memories of the decade to write the novel and as a fact-finding exercise, purely in the line of research, I started making cocktails again just for old times’ sake.

Do you prefer to plot your story or just go with the flow?

I do a combination of both. I like to have a basic outline of the story from start to finish that I use to guide me, but I don’t stick rigidly to it. Then I go with the flow and see how the story unfolds as I begin to write. I enjoy inventing my characters and choosing names for them and every character I introduce adds another dimension to the story. I love being in the zone when ideas keep popping into my head quicker than I can type and completely lose track of time.

What excites you the most about your book?

This is my debut novel. I loved writing it because I was able to reminisce about the past. Although Kitty Murphy’s Ticket to Paradise is a work of fiction, it contains loads of incidents that actually happened to my friends and family. Many of the places that I wrote about in my book I visited on holiday. So it’s almost like a memoir, a record of my personal experiences and memories, and a chronicle of my teenage years. I thoroughly enjoyed the process of writing a novel and found it totally addictive.

Anything else you’d like to share with us?

I’ve just started writing my second novel that is about a girl called Violet Adams. It’s set in the 60s, and so far my research has been fascinating. Learning about hippies, marijuana, magic mushrooms and naked yoga has been a very enlightening experience and once again I find myself engrossed in the process. I just hope my computer doesn’t get seized. The strange web searches I’ve been conducting would certainly raise a few eyebrows if anyone checked the history.

You can buy Kitty Murphy’s Ticket to Paradise from-

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kitty-Murphys-Ticket-Paradise-Stephanie-ebook/dp/B00SYWNEUE

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=kitty+murphy%27s+ticket+to+paradise

The paperback will be available to buy soon.

You can follow Stephanie on Facebook at-

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008107800355

***

Bio-

Stephanie Harte was born and raised in North West London where she still lives with her husband Barry, daughter Sarah, son James and Cairn terrier Ruby.

She was educated at St Michael’s Catholic Grammar school in Finchley. After leaving school, she trained in Hairdressing and Beauty Therapy at London College of Fashion.

She worked for many years as a Pharmaceutical Buyer for the NHS, based at Barnet General Hospital purchasing stock for North London hospitals including, Edgware General, Finchley Memorial, Napsbury & peripheral sites. Her career path led her to work for an international export company whose markets included The Cayman Islands and Bermuda.

Since 2007 Stephanie has been teaching regular Beauty Therapy workshops at a London based specialist residential clinic that treats children with severe eating disorders.

Stephanie Harte was born and raised in North West London where she still lives with her husband Barry, daughter Sarah, son James and Cairn terrier Ruby.

She was educated at St Michael’s Catholic Grammar school in Finchley. After leaving school, she trained in Hairdressing and Beauty Therapy at London College of Fashion.

She worked for many years as a Pharmaceutical Buyer for the NHS, based at Barnet General Hospital purchasing stock for North London hospitals including, Edgware General, Finchley Memorial, Napsbury & peripheral sites. Her career path led her to work for an international export company whose markets included The Cayman Islands and Bermuda.

Since 2007 Stephanie has been teaching regular Beauty Therapy workshops at a London based specialist residential clinic that treats children with severe eating disorders.

Kitty Murphy’s Ticket to Paradise is her debut novel she is currently writing her second.

***

Many thanks for dropping by today Stephanie! I wish you much success with your first novel.

Happy reading,

Jenny x

Guest Post from Nell Peters: Write Therapy

By Jenny Kane

On July 6, 2015

In Blog, Contemporary fiction, crime, Fiction

I’m delighted to welcome Nell Peters back to my site today! This is a fabulously poetic blog!!

Over to you Nell…

Hello again – and huge thanks to Jenny Kane for risking her blog’s fine reputation once more.

Since I was last here, I’m thrilled to have signed another contract with Accent Press, for Hostile Witness, a psychological crime/thriller. It will probably appear in 2016, after I’ve pared down the word count by approx 6,000 words – don’t you just hate it when that happens? Hostile is my Book That Will Not Die, having been around for quite a while – initially written in the first person, now converted to third. It sold reasonably well on sites such as Lulu.com and later Amazon KDP and collected some spanking reviews – but no publisher showed more than a sniff of interest, until lovely Greg Rees cast his eagle eye over it. Hey presto!

Here’s the blurb:

When her husband leaves her and their sons to shack up with a mere child, Callie Ashton thinks she’s hit rock bottom. She’s wrong. Already unemployed – possibly unemployable – and struggling to hold everything together, her life goes into freefall when she finds a neighbour dead and the murderer becomes intent on killing her too, wrongly assuming she can identify him.

Nothing makes sense – the killer’s motive is buried deep in the past and the police seem incapable of finding it. Despite her new man, David, being in charge of the investigation, Callie is in great danger – and the sinister Balaclava Man isn’t too worried whom he kills or maims by mistake, in his quest to eliminate her. No one is safe and Balaclava Man seems to know her every movement. Faced with a mounting body count and what she perceives as police ineptitude, Callie feels she has no choice but to take matters into her own hands.

However, she discovers that like a scorpion, Balaclava Man has a sting in his tail and many a twist in his plot – and she has no idea just how very close to home the real danger lurks.

Even when her nemesis is safely behind bars and she dares to resume normal life, a shocking revelation makes her realise she and her family may never be safe.

How can you resist? ☺

Someone asked me recently how I came to write crime – good question, and it was a very convoluted pathway. Probably like most authors, I’ve always had some writing project or other on the go – from dreadful children’s stories to creative missives to the milkman. When the family suffered a bereavement, I suddenly started to write poetry even though I’d never been a particular fan – not serious stuff, as you might reasonably imagine, but mostly humorous.

More or less for my own amusement, I was writing a how-to book on composing basic poetry, when I read of research undertaken at Bristol Royal Infirmary, which concluded that creative writing – poetry in particular – had helped patients suffering from depression, anxiety, bereavement and stress, to the extent that over half were eventually able to stop taking their medication. I could recognise that improvement in myself, even though I’d never been under the chemical cosh. Much like you might write a letter or email to someone you’re really pissed off with – and probably never send it, because you feel a whole lot better after venting your feelings on paper – writing poetry can be a means of expressing destructive, negative emotions so that they become impotent. You have written them down, so you are in control.

As Graham Greene said; ‘Writing is a form of therapy; sometimes I wonder how all those who do not write, compose or paint can manage to escape the madness, melancholia, the panic and fear which is inherent in a human situation.’

I rehashed my masterpiece to include the research findings and sent it off to the Submissions Editor at Hodder Stoughton. Though she said I’d ‘taken her breath away’, (I think she meant it as a compliment) ultimately it wasn’t for them, but she asked me to write a novel and let her see it. I decided on crime, because that is mostly what I read for pleasure – too bad the editor was made redundant before I had got as far as typing The End, but it didn’t stop me plugging away.

I recently revised Write Therapy, incorporating snippets of what I learned when I returned to uni to read Psychology and Sociology. It now reclines on Amazon KDP – if you mention poetry to publishers in general, they tend to suck air in through their teeth and shake their heads meaningfully, in much the same way that car mechanics do when they sense a hopeless auto-dunce in their midst, just waiting to be led to the slaughter.

One of the exercises in Write Therapy is to write as someone else. I have had a character named Bazil Bratt knocking around in my head for years – he uses his way with words as a form of therapeutic escapism from a pretty miserable existence, although at eight or nine he’s probably far too young to realise that. He writes about things he has seen or done at school or home and drifts off into his own little world, where nothing can touch him. Writing is his creative armour, his defence mechanism.

Grub’s Up

School dinners are disgusting

All lumpy, green and gooey

I don’t know what we had today

But it was very chewy

The standard of the cooking

Gets worser everyday

The bins are fit to burst by one

As we throw the muck away

The local pigs are laughing

They get such a lot to eat

Well, they’re welcome to my dinner

‘Cos it smells like cheesy feet

Birthday Boy

It was my birthday yesterday

and the coolest gift has come my way

a whoopee cushion! It does loud farts

and I’ve got placing it down to an art

When Granny came to birthday tea

I sat her down right next to me

The foulest noise then filled the air

(it was under the padding, on her chair)

Poor Granny bowed her head in shame

I was delighted with this game!

But as Gran turned the brightest red

My rotten Mum sent me to bed

Season of Goodwill

The Nativity Play didn’t go too well

in fact, it was a big disaster

The scenery fell right off the stage

and landed on the Headmaster

We could have coped and covered that up

if it hadn’t been for the lighting

a spotlight blew and frightened the Mayor

then he and Joseph started fighting

Peace and Goodwill to All Men – maybe

but not in our school hall

The audience rose and rolled up their sleeves

and the play ended up in a brawl

Beanz Meanz Farts

Monday, we had beans for tea

(we had no bread for toast)

But it didn’t matter, we were quite content

seeing who could fart the most

First Bern let rip – a noxious pong

that scored eight out of ten

but the big surprise was the amazing noise

that came from Little Ben

Easter Bun

That Easter Bunny should get the sack

He forgot our eggs, but didn’t come back

To apologise and give us the chocs

May myxomatosis rot his socks

It’s not as though he’s overworked

Just once a year the little jerk

Has to hop around delivering the loot

If he can’t manage that, then give him the boot

Dad’s Stir

Our Dad is doing porridge

No, not the cereal kind

He’s gone to jail for many years

And left Mum in a bind

But she is very lucky

She has we four young men

If we could just dig up Dad’s loot

We’d not need him again

We’d fly off to the sunshine

For unlimited ice cream

But ‘til Dad coughs and draws a map

We sit and freeze and dream

Ralph

Our dog called Ralph is brainy

He’s qualified in Woof

He doesn’t have a girlfriend, though

I think Ralph is a poof

Nitty Nora

The Nit Nurse came to school today

She looked through all our hair

But I’ve no head lice, so she says

Well! I don’t think that’s fair

I could train them to do circus tricks:

Acrobatics and trapeze

Wait! Another plan has come to me

I could always breed cat fleas

And finally, returning to every small boy’s favourite subject: farts;

The Bum’s Rush

The laughs and guffaws had turned to screams

When my brother was playing with chums

I rushed to his room to see why the fuss

And saw flames attacking his bum

I scooped up the duvet, to smother the fire

(He was lucky I got there so fast)

No real harm done, though his pants were destroyed

And he had blisters all over his arse

The aim of their game was to fart and ignite

But my brother’s a dense little brat

He didn’t remove his underwear

And his friends set fire to that

I don’t think Carol Ann Duffy is losing any sleep …

Perhaps I should go, before the men in white coats catch up with me.

Write Therapy – also written under my pen name Nell Peters, can be found at:

viewBook.at/WriteTherapy

My currently crime novel, By Any Other Name, published by Accent Press, can be found at: viewBook.at/By_Any_Other_Name_by_Nell_Peters

Thank you again, Jenny!

***

Wonderful blog! Love the poems!

Happy reading,

Jenny xx

Abi’s House: A Very Special Dedication

By Jenny Kane

On July 3, 2015

In Blog, Contemporary fiction, Contemporary Romantic Fiction, Fiction

Regular visitors to this web site will remember that a few months ago I was privileged to be asked by the fantastic charity, CLIC Sargent, to take part in their Get in Character Auction.

This was an incredible opportunity to bid to have a character given the name of your choice in a novel written by some of the most popular writer’s in the country – so you can imagine how honoured I was to be asked to donate a name!

The character I donated to the auction was a Cornish potter from my latest novel, Abi’s House – which is now out for sale.

I was so excited- but also nervous! What if the winning bid was for a name I really didn’t like? After all, names are very important. The wrong name for a character can make or break a story. I need not have worried though! As luck would have it, the winner of the auction wanted to donate a name that fitted my character perfectly.

I have dedicated Abi’s House to the group who kindly bid for the right to have a character in my book…

Dedication

A special dedication and thank you must go to the Dennyside Bowling Association. This UK-wide bowling club-based charity was founded by Leonard Denny in 1935. In 2014 they raised over £40,000 for various good causes. Recently they bid in the CLIC Sargent Get in Character Auction. Dennyside’s winning bid entitled them to choose a name for one of the characters in Abi’s House. So, please let me introduce you to Jacob Denny – a perfect name for a Cornish potter, and a generous tribute to Dennyside’s founder.

***

If you would like to read Abi’s House, you can buy it from all good e-bok and paperback retailers, including-

Kindle

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Abis-House-Jenny-Kane-ebook/dp/B00UVPPWO8/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1426711175&sr=1-1&keywords=Abi%27s+House+Jenny+Kane

http://www.amazon.com/Abis-House-Jenny-Kane-ebook/dp/B00UVPPWO8/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1426711253&sr=1-2&keywords=Abi%27s+House+Jenny+Kane

Paperback

http://www.amazon.com/Abis-House-Jenny-Kane/dp/1783753285/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1426711253&sr=1-1&keywords=Abi%27s+House+Jenny+Kane

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Abis-House-Jenny-Kane/dp/1783753285/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1426711343&sr=1-1&keywords=Abi%27s+House+Jenny+Kane

***

My thanks again to CLIC Sargent, everyone who bid in the auction, and to the Dennyside Bowling Club- in particular John, Ken, and Brian for putting the bid forward.

Happy reading,

Jenny xx

Guest Post with Gilli Allan: Fly or Fall- An Interview with Nell Hardcastle

By Jenny Kane

On June 25, 2015

In Blog, Contemporary fiction, Fiction

I’m delighted to be able to welcome a fellow Accent Press author to my site today. The lovely Gilli Allan is shining the spotlight on the lead character in her latest novel, Fly or Fall!

Over to you Gilli- and Nell Hardcastle…

Nell, the heroine of FLY OR FALL, is an honourable woman. And yet, as the story unfolds, her values and principles are gradually undermined. The interview takes her back through her early life, before the story opens, to discover what made her the woman she is, and how and why she arrives at the point where she slips. But you’ll have to read the book to discover what actually happens, and how Nell copes with the fall-out.

Interview with Nell Hardcastle

Interviewer: Looking at your history, Nell, it seems you were a bit of a wild child. You must have started a physical relationship with Trevor Hardcastle when you were still very young.

Nell: No! Not wild. ….I was an only child and quite insecure. I already felt isolated and excluded from my parent’s relationship. And when my Dad died my Mum lost her soul mate. She was so overwhelmed by her own grief she failed to recognise mine. Trevor was the son of one of my dad’s TUC friends. He was starting his economics degree in London. It was a mutually beneficial arrangement that he lodge with us. It’s not surprising that both of us – my mother and I – leant on him.

Interviewer: How old was he?

Nell: He was already in his twenties.

Interviewer: And you were?

Nell: Thirteen … but you’re making it sound very tacky. Trevor may be many things but he’s not a paedophile. We didn’t start sleeping together until…

Interviewer: You were still underage, Nell! (A pause.) OK, let’s get on. You completed your A levels but never went to university?

Nell: No, Trevor was in his first teaching job by then and the twins were babies. Then my mum’s health began to deteriorate.

Interviewer: You stayed on in your family home?

Nell: Why move? My mother increasingly relied on us being there.

Interviewer: Even though the mortgage was paid off by your father’s insurance, you were still pretty hard up. And your husband was out a lot in the evenings. Did you never question why?

Nell: He told me he was working late at school, or going to local party political meetings. I trusted him.

Interviewer: (Clears throat.) And when the offer to buy your house dropped on your door mat, what did you think then?

Nell: The whole episode was surreal. My mum had just died and the house wasn’t even on the market. And the price…! It seemed vastly inflated! I was scared.

Interviewer: Most people would be delighted.

Nell: Normal people you mean? Trevor was so thrilled. Out of the blue we’d been handed the chance to move house, live in the country…

Interviewer: But?

Nell: I didn’t want my life to change. I had a kind of presentiment that having that kind of money would undermine us. It would lead to disaster.

Interviewer: In what way?

Nell: Hard to explain. And because I couldn’t convince Trevor I gave in. I just let it happen.

Interviewer: But you soon made friends in Downland.

Nell: I think I was depressed for a while. I was still grieving and felt cast adrift … away from everything I knew. We moved in the autumn and there was more work to do on the house than I’d realised. It felt a bit like we were living in a perpetual building site. And the people we got in to do the first jobs weren’t the most reliable. But by the early spring of the next year I’d met Fliss and Kate … but….

Interviewer: But what?

Nell: They weren’t the kind of women I’d normally choose as friends. They were very materialistic, self-centred, and childishly obsessed with who fancied who. But it was Fliss who recommended a more reliable building firm of builders. We laughed about the business card – ‘Bill Lynch. Man for all reasons’.

Interviewer: And one of the new builders, Patrick, had a reputation as a womaniser

Nell: I didn’t know that. It was only after we’d engaged the firm that the nudges and winks from Fliss and Kate started. So I was relieved that he never made a pass at me.

Interviewer: Really?

Nell: Of course! I don’t know how to flirt.

Interviewer: That’s an odd comment. What do you mean?

Nell: Some women take that sort of thing so lightly. To them it’s inconsequential.

Interviewer: But not you?

Nell: Perhaps I take things too seriously. I … I believe what I’m told.

Interviewer: So why did you take the job as a barmaid at the sports club? Seems an odd choice of job for a serious minded woman, who doesn’t know how to flirt?

Nell: Trevor was so down on the idea, as if I’d personally offended him….

Interviewer: You took the job because your husband was against it?

Nell: I know it sounds ridiculous, but… yes, kind of. Trevor seemed to be changing before my eyes. His opinions were becoming ever more right-wing and stuffy. He even changed the twins’ school, badgering me into agreeing to send them to the fee-paying high school, something he’d always disapproved of and argued against. His attitude about ‘his wife doing a bar job’ provoked me.

Interviewer: And there you met the man you knew as Angel.

Nell: I’d met him briefly before then, but he didn’t remember me. In fact he seemed fairly indifferent to me until…

Interviewer: Until what?

Nell: You have to realise that none of this was apparent to me at the time. I only saw it in retrospect. It was after Patrick and I had become friends….

Interviewer: Patrick? I thought you were suspicious of him. Keeping him at arm’s length.

Nell: Friends I said, nothing more. But it was only when Angel noticed Patrick treating me with a kind of … um … casual affection, his attitude to me changed. He began to pursue me.

Interviewer: And you?

Nell: I’d been infected by the whole atmosphere there … and by Kate and Fliss. Their attitude to infidelity was so casual – as if love affairs were every woman’s right – an added seasoning to give spice to their lives. And Angel was so gorgeous. I had such a crush on him…..

Interviewer: Not every one of your women friends had this ‘all’s fair in love and war’ attitude?

Nell: No. Not Elizabeth. She was very much in love with her husband – ‘OH’ as she called him. Because I felt closest to Elizabeth, I’d planned to confide in her. I felt so triumphant, so pleased with myself, until….

Interviewer: Until what?

Nell: (A pause. She swallows.) It … it was a total and profound shock, but…. I was still trying to hang on to my life, to the world as I knew it. Fat chance! Like a domino derby, the shocks kept going, one falling after another. Everyone around me – my friends, my husband, even the twins – had been pretending. They’d all constructed facades. They’d all been keeping their own secrets.

Interviewer: And so had you.

Nell: Believe me, I don’t absolve myself. I can hardly believe I did what I did. I was as guilty as the rest of them. Worst of all I’d been deceiving myself… And it wasn’t the best time to suddenly realise I’d fallen in love.

***

Blurb

Wife and mother, Nell, fears change, but it is forced upon her by her manipulative husband, Trevor. Finding herself in a new world of flirtation and casual infidelity, her principles are undermined and she’s tempted. Should she emulate the behaviour of her new friends or stick with the safe and familiar?

But everything Nell has accepted at face value has a dark side. Everyone – even her nearest and dearest – has been lying. She’s even deceived herself. The presentiment of disaster, first felt as a tremor at the start of the story, rumbles into a full blown earthquake. When the dust settles, nothing is as it previously seemed. And when an unlikely love blossoms from the wreckage of her life, she believes it is doomed.

The future, for the woman who feared change, is irrevocably altered. But has she been broken, or has she transformed herself?

***

Buy Links:

FLY OR FALL- myBook.to/GilliAllan (universal)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fly-Fall-Gilli-Allan-ebook/dp/B00XXZJ43S/

Bio

Gilli Allan started to write in childhood, a hobby only abandoned when real life supplanted the fiction. Gilli didn’t go to Oxford or Cambridge but, after just enough exam passes to squeak in, she attended Croydon Art College.

She didn’t work on any of the broadsheets, in publishing or television. Instead she was a shop assistant, a beauty consultant and a barmaid before landing her dream job as an illustrator in advertising. It was only when she was at home with her young son that Gilli began writing seriously. Her first two novels were quickly published, but when her publisher ceased to trade, Gilli went independent.

Over the years, Gilli has been a school governor, a contributor to local newspapers, and a driving force behind the community shop in her Gloucestershire village. Still a keen artist, she designs Christmas cards and has begun book illustration. Gilli is particularly delighted to have recently gained a new mainstream publisher – Accent Press. FLY OR FALL is the second book to be published in the three book deal.

Connect to Gilli:

http://twitter.com/gilliallan (@gilliallan)

https://www.facebook.com/GilliAllan.AUTHOR

http://gilliallan.blogspot.co.uk/

***

Many thanks Gilli (and Nell)- wonderful blog!

Happy reading,

Jenny x

Abi’s House: OUT IN PAPERBACK TODAY!

By Jenny Kane

On June 19, 2015

In Blog, Contemporary fiction, Contemporary Romantic Fiction, Fiction

I can’t tell you how exciting it is to have a book published. It really is the most incredible feeling.

It is thrilling enough to have an e-book produced- but a paperback- a book that you can hold- stroke- smell…now that is a whole new realm of blissed out happiness!!

Today, my latest novel, Abi’s House, hits the bookshelves. Even if you can’t see it in your local bookshop, you will be able to order it over the counter. And of course, the more people that order it in Independent Bookshops the better (not just for my sales, but for the whole industry!!)

Look at my lovely books- I adore them!!

A massive thank you to everyone who has already purchased Abi’s House. I’ve been overwhelmed by your kind comments.

If you’d like to buy the paperback version, if it available from all good bookshops as well as Amazon-

http://www.amazon.com/Abis-House-Jenny-Kane/dp/1783753285/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1426711253&sr=1-1&keywords=Abi%27s+House+Jenny+Kane

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Abis-House-Jenny-Kane/dp/1783753285/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1426711343&sr=1-1&keywords=Abi%27s+House+Jenny+Kane

You can find the Kindle links here

Happy reading,

Jenny xx

Novel Progress 8: The End – ish?

By Jenny Kane

On June 15, 2015

In Blog, Contemporary fiction, Contemporary Romantic Fiction, Fiction, News

Did you hear that? That was the sound of me shouting “Yippee!” I have just pressed ‘Send’ and sent my completed manuscript of next years novel, Another Glass of Champagne, off to my lovely editor Greg at Accent Press!

I dread to think how much coffee I’ve consumed while drinking writing this novel, editing it, and re-reading it so many times, I could quote passages from it!!

Don’t be fooled however- the handing in of my novel doesn’t mean it’s finished. Now comes the waiting. My work is now sat on my editors massive ‘to read’ list. Then, once Greg has the time, he will edit it, then I will go through his edits, then he’ll go through them again, and on it goes…until we are both happy with it…and it can join the ‘to be published in Spring 2016’ queue.

My notebook, which has all my continuity notes in it, will be ever ready by my side, ready to double, triple, and quadruple check everything when the time comes.

In the meantime, I’d better start working on the next book!!

Happy reading,

Jenny xx

OUT NOW! Abi’s House: Out in E-Book TODAY

By Jenny Kane

On June 13, 2015

In Blog, Contemporary fiction, Contemporary Romantic Fiction, Fiction

I’m delighted to be able to announce that my latest novel is out NOW!

Newly widowed at barely thirty, Abi Carter is desperate to escape the Stepford Wives-style life that Luke, her late husband, had been so keen for her to live.

Abi decides to fulfil a lifelong dream. As a child on holiday in a Cornwall she fell in love with a cottage – the prophetically named Abbey’s House. Now she is going to see if she can find the place again, relive the happy memories … maybe even buy a place of her own nearby?

On impulse Abi sets off to Cornwall, where a chance meeting in a village pub brings new friends Beth and Max into her life. Beth, like Abi, has a life-changing decision to make. Max, Beth’s best mate, is new to the village. He soon helps Abi track down the house of her dreams … but things aren’t quite that simple. There’s the complicated life Abi left behind, including her late husband’s brother, Simon – a man with more than friendship on his mind … Will Abi’s house remain a dream, or will the bricks and mortar become a reality?

***

I hope you enjoy my new adventure of friendship, self-discovery, Cornish scenery, cream teas, art, and lots and lots of fish and chips…

Minack Theatre, Cornwall

Sennen Cove, Cornwall

Available from:

http://www.accentpress.co.uk/Book/12915/Abis-House

Kindle

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Abis-House-Jenny-Kane-ebook/dp/B00UVPPWO8/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1426711175&sr=1-1&keywords=Abi%27s+House+Jenny+Kane

http://www.amazon.com/Abis-House-Jenny-Kane-ebook/dp/B00UVPPWO8/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1426711253&sr=1-2&keywords=Abi%27s+House+Jenny+Kane

Paperback – available for pre-order. Out on 19th June.

http://www.amazon.com/Abis-House-Jenny-Kane/dp/1783753285/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1426711253&sr=1-1&keywords=Abi%27s+House+Jenny+Kane

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Abis-House-Jenny-Kane/dp/1783753285/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1426711343&sr=1-1&keywords=Abi%27s+House+Jenny+Kane

***

Happy reading,

Jenny xx

Tiverton Literary Festival: With thanks to…

By Jenny Kane

On June 11, 2015

In Blog, Books For Children, Contemporary fiction, Contemporary Romantic Fiction, crime, Fiction, Historical fiction

With the first Tiverton Literary Festival over, the TivLitFest team would like to thank everyone who kindly gave up their time to help us run each event, all the authors who gave up their time to come along, and all the publishers and agents who let those authors go AWOL from their computer keyboards for a while.

Special thanks must go to the following for their donations of hosting space, competition prizes, refreshments, ticket selling, sponsorship, or free time.

Tiverton Portas Company

Sue Searle at The Oak Room

Lionel at Brendon Books

Reapers Wholefood Store, Tiverton

Richard’s Aquatics

Jurassic Coast Costa

Majestic Wine, Tiverton

Accent Press

Tiverton Library

Tiverton Museum and Tourist Information Centre

Tiverton Town Hall

Blundell’s School

Tiverton High School

Tiverton Castle

Courtney’s Bar, Tiverton

The Rose and Crown, Caverleigh

Hepcomotion,

WHSmith, Tiverton

Tiverton Town Council

Mayor of Tiverton

Mid Devon District Council

PosiTIV Radio

Petroc Café

CreaTIV Hub

BBC Radio Devon

Cult Pens

St Peter’s Church, Tiverton

St George’s Church, Tiverton

Tom Watson Music

There are so many people to thank that it would be impossible to mention everyone. We appreciate each and every person who made the festival such a success, no matter what they did to help.

If you would like to be involved in The Second Tiverton Literary Festival next year (8th-13th June 2016), as an author, sponsor, or a volunteer, please email info@tivlitfest.co.uk

Many thanks,

Jenny, Kerstin, and Sue.

xx

Coming VERY Soon: Abi’s House

By Jenny Kane

On June 10, 2015

In Blog, Contemporary fiction, Contemporary Romantic Fiction, Fiction, News

It seems so long ago since I first put pen to paper, and drafted the initial outline for my new novel, Abi’s House. Yet, at the same time, it feels as if no time at all has passed, and suddenly here we are, with only days to go until my Cornish adventure of life, friendship, love and hope is launched onto the e-selves and bookshop shelves of the nation!!

Here’s the blurb!

Newly widowed at barely thirty, Abi Carter is desperate to escape the Stepford Wives-style life that Luke, her late husband, had been so keen for her to live.

Abi decides to fulfil a lifelong dream. As a child on holiday in a Cornwall she fell in love with a cottage – the prophetically named Abbey’s House. Now she is going to see if she can find the place again, relive the happy memories … maybe even buy a place of her own nearby?

On impulse Abi sets off to Cornwall, where a chance meeting in a village pub brings new friends Beth and Max into her life. Beth, like Abi, has a life-changing decision to make. Max, Beth’s best mate, is new to the village. He soon helps Abi track down the house of her dreams … but things aren’t quite that simple. There’s the complicated life Abi left behind, including her late husband’s brother, Simon – a man with more than friendship on his mind … Will Abi’s house remain a dream, or will the bricks and mortar become a reality?

****

I’ve been extremely lucky to have already received some great 5 star pre-release reviews for Abi’s House–

Pre-release reviews

“When Abi is suddenly widowed at 30 years old she realises that she has become a shell – modelled into the wife her dead husband wanted her to be and not the person she wants to be.

Feeling suffocated in Surrey by the ‘lifestyle’ and her In Laws Abi up sticks and heads to Cornwall to find Abbey House – a place her family found years before whilst on holiday. Once in Sennan Abi quickly makes new friends and soon realises she has found the one place she wants to call home.

Jenny’s style of writing is wonderful. You can feel the sand in your toes, the gentle waves lapping at your feet, the sun and the wind and smell the Fish and Chips! It was whilst reading this book that I realised I really missed a good old fashioned pub garden – we just don’t have them where I live. Jenny’s stories always draw me in, I get so engrossed in and involved with the characters. It’s like you are there. I want to live in a Jenny Kane book!

It is over a week since I read the book and I just loved it so much…I feel like I have lost some friends since I finished reading it….”

***

“Reading a Jenny Kane book is like opening a journal by a much loved friend. I’m spirited away into a world of warm, friendly and interesting people. To places that I not only want to visit but actually live in. Shops, cafés and pubs that I want to be my locals and life that I want to experience and be a part of. Abi’s House gives you all of these feelings and left me with a huge smile on my face and a glowing in my heart. More of this wonderfulness please!!”

***

So why not escape with Abi Carter into the beautiful Penwith corner of Cornwall? Let the sea breeze calm you, the fish and chips sustain you, and the adventure unfold…

Could this be Abi’s House?

Published by Accent House June 13^th 2015 (Kindle) and June 19^th 2015 (Paperback) –

http://www.accentpress.co.uk/Book/12915/Abis-House

Pre-order links-

Kindle

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Abis-House-Jenny-Kane-ebook/dp/B00UVPPWO8/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1426711175&sr=1-1&keywords=Abi%27s+House+Jenny+Kane

http://www.amazon.com/Abis-House-Jenny-Kane-ebook/dp/B00UVPPWO8/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1426711253&sr=1-2&keywords=Abi%27s+House+Jenny+Kane

Paperback

http://www.amazon.com/Abis-House-Jenny-Kane/dp/1783753285/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1426711253&sr=1-1&keywords=Abi%27s+House+Jenny+Kane

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Abis-House-Jenny-Kane/dp/1783753285/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1426711343&sr=1-1&keywords=Abi%27s+House+Jenny+Kane

***

Happy reading everyone!!

Jenny xx

Jenny Kane: Coffee, cupcakes, chocolate and contemporary fiction / Jennifer Ash: Medieval crime with hints of Ellis Peters and Robin Hood

Category: Contemporary fiction Page 59 of 61

Guest Post by Sharon Black: Going Against Type

Guest Interview with Stephanie Harte: Kitty Murphy’s Ticket to Paradise

Guest Post from Nell Peters: Write Therapy

Abi’s House: A Very Special Dedication

Guest Post with Gilli Allan: Fly or Fall- An Interview with Nell Hardcastle

Abi’s House: OUT IN PAPERBACK TODAY!

Novel Progress 8: The End – ish?

OUT NOW! Abi’s House: Out in E-Book TODAY

I’m delighted to be able to announce that my latest novel is out NOW!

Available from:

Tiverton Literary Festival: With thanks to…

Coming VERY Soon: Abi’s House

Category: Contemporary fiction Page 59 of 61

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Available from:

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