Category: crime

Guest Post from Julie Frayn: Writing is…

On March 24, 2015

I am thrilled to be welcoming Julie Frayn back to my site today. Today Julie is discussing what writing is. I have to say, she has nailed it for me! How about you?

Over to you Julie…

Writing is… a warm puppy?

I have a day job. It’s a lovely job that I’m very good at, at a wonderful organization (charity, theme park, museum, shopping and great food – and a full-size steam train – all rolled into one. Can’t beat that).

In my spare time, I write. Now, that makes it sound like writing is my hobby. Oh, no. It’s so not.

The writing’s the thing. I’m talking THE THING! Get it? But the rest of life finds ways to throw roadblocks up, to prevent accomplishment of THE THING.

There are dishes to do, children to support, laundry and cooking and vacuuming and other such drudgery. As Alzheimer’s eats at my mother’s independence, she needs more of her family’s time to ensure she stays in her home. There’s that day job, of course, along with a myriad of other priorities that keep me away from what I wish was my true full-time career. (That would be writer, in case it wasn’t clear).

So on days like this, where responsibility is tugging at me to visit Mom, where the taxes have yet to do themselves (stupid taxes), where I have too much to do and not enough hours in the day, I wonder if it’s time to quit writing.

Oh, hell no.

Why not? Because this is what writing is to me.

Writing is red. It is the stuff of life, the crimson that flows through my veins. It is that spark of color in a neutral room. It is scarlet patent leather stilettos punctuating a black suit.

Writing is my third child. A child that embodies all the characters I love. All the broken souls (the ones I broke on purpose for the sake of story) whom I can’t hug in person, whose hair I can’t stroke and tell them it’s going to be all right. Because, for some of them, it never will be.

Writing is release. To quote the Red Hot Chili Peppers song, My Friends, release is peace. Finding the right combination of words, the perfect sentence, prompts me to moan yes, yes, yes at my monitor. It hits the writing g-spot. Some days I have multiple literary orgasms. But I am only temporarily sated. I always hunger for more.

Writing is solitude. It is me time. Better than any spa day. Better than shopping. No, really. It is that time I can be crazy in private, sing at the top of my lungs, pace the floor and swear at my computer, then pet the screen in apology because, really, is it the computer’s fault when I can’t get it right? When I do that stuff in public, people look at me funny.

Writing is connection. When I write, I touch others. Not in a creepy, get your hand off my thigh before I scream, kind of way. Virtual touching. Emotional touching. Get inside their head and make them feel something they didn’t expect, touching.

Writing is hope. It is everything I am not. Everything I am afraid to be. Everything I can be. Everything I will be.

Writing is breath. Without it, I fear I may die.

Links

Amazon US http://www.amazon.com/Mazie-Baby-Julie-Frayn-ebook/dp/B00KGMJ79M

Amazon UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mazie-Baby-Julie-Frayn-ebook/dp/B00KGMJ79M

Bio

Julie Frayn pens award-winning novels and short stories that pack a punch. And a few stabs. She has published three novels and two short, short story collections. Suicide City, a Love Story won two gold medals in the 2013 Authorsdb cover contest, It Isn’t Cheating if He’s Dead won the Books and Pals 2014 Readers’ Choice award for women’s fiction, and Mazie Baby was named to three Best of 2014 lists by Suspense Magazine, IndieReader.com, and Readfree.ly and is currently nominated for a Big Al’s Books and Pals Readers Choice Award in Women’s Fiction. You can vote for her here if you like! http://booksandpals.blogspot.ca/2015/03/2015-readers-choice.html

A bean counter by day, Julie revels in the written word. When she is not working or writing, she spends as much time as possible with her two children (grown adults, really), while they still think she’s cool.

Social links:

Website/blog: http://www.juliefrayn.com

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/JulieFrayn

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/juliebirdfrayn

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

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/juliefrayn/

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/author/juliefrayn

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Many thanks Julie- brilliant post!

So, lovely readers- what s writing to you?

Happy reading,

Jenny x

Interview with Julie Frayn: Mazie Baby

By Jenny Kane

On March 9, 2015

In Blog, crime, News

I’m am delighted to welcome a new voice to my blog today today. All the way from Canada, the lovely Julie Frayn is answering questions about her hit novel, Mazie Baby. Julie is also giving you the chance to buy her novel at a bargain price!!

Let’s dive in with the first question!

What inspired you to write your book?

The first inspiration came from a flash of a scene. Just scissors sticking out of a man’s thigh. While I wrote it, the faces of women I know have been abused kept popping into my head, including one woman who was murdered by her husband before he committed suicide. I hadn’t intended to write an abuse victim’s manifesto, but that seems to be how it is being received.

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

So much research! I read true stories of domestic abuse, studied the stages of abuse, and of grief. There was research into the Canadian legal system. My brother is a police officer, so he was a great resource, and a friend introduced me to a Crown Prosecutor who helped me get the trial details right. I am grateful to them, and to the Google Gods as well.

Which Point of View do you prefer to write in and why?

I write in third person deep POV. Deep means you do away with the ‘he thought’ and ‘she wondered’ and just state their thoughts. You are inside their head, but it’s not first person narrative.

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

I’m a pantser. I go along for whatever ride my characters take me on.

What excites you the most about your book?

The honesty with which the tale is told – an ‘unflinching eye,’ as another author has termed it. Also, the enthusiasm with which it is being received. And of course, the cover. My sister, Carolyn Frayn, created the cover while undergoing chemotherapy (for the second time). She made the blood from beet juice and corn syrup, and used my daughter as the model for Mazie. It’s a beautiful, and very personal cover.

Anything else you’d like to share with us?

Mazie Baby is on sale from March 5 – 11 for $1.99 (regularly $2.99). I think that translates to about £1.29, normally £1.94. Sending out a huge thanks to UK readers who have really taken a shine to the story.

Links

Amazon US http://www.amazon.com/Mazie-Baby-Julie-Frayn-ebook/dp/B00KGMJ79M

Amazon UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mazie-Baby-Julie-Frayn-ebook/dp/B00KGMJ79M

Bio

Social links:

Website/blog: http://www.juliefrayn.com

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/JulieFrayn

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/juliebirdfrayn

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

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/juliefrayn/

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/author/juliefrayn

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Many thanks for coming by today Julie! Great interview. Don’t forget to grab your BARGAIN priced copy of Mazie Baby folks!

Happy reading,

Jenny xx

Robin Hood: A Very Mini Medieval and Tudor Ballad History

By Jenny Kane

On February 21, 2014

In Blog, Contemporary fiction, crime, Fiction, Historical fiction, News

I admit it- I had a lot of fun writing my latest novel, Romancing Robin Hood. It gave me the chance to take a self indulgent trip down memory lane, and dig out all my PhD notes on the ballad history behind the Robin Hood legend. Although my novel is a modern contemporary romance, it also contains a second story- a medieval mystery which has more than a hint of the Robin Hood’s about it.

The earliest balladeers sang tales of Robin Hood long before they were written down, and audiences through history have all had different ideas of what Robin Hood was like in word, action, and appearance. Every writer, film maker, and poet ever since the first tales were spoken, has adapted the outlaw figure to fit their own imagination.

The Lytell Geste of Robyn Hode

The earliest mention found (to date), of the name Robin Hood appears in the poem The Vision of Piers Plowman, which was written by William Langland in c.1377.

A long ballad, Piers Plowman was a protest against the harsh conditions endured by the poor in the Fourteen Century. Not only did it mention Robin Hood, but makes reference to he outlaw gang, the Folvilles, who research suggests were an influence on those whose exploits wrote the Robin Hood ballads.

“And some ryde and to recovere that unrightfully was wonne:

He wised hem wynne it ayein wightnesses of handes,

And fecchen it from false men with Folvyles lawes.”

The Folville family were incredibly dangerous, influential, and had great impact on the Midlands of the UK in the Fourteenth Century. I’ll be introducing this family of brothers to you properly very soon; for they are something of an obsession for historian Dr Grace Harper- the lead character in Romancing Robin Hood.

Robin Hood and the Monk

In 1450 the earliest single short ballad, Robin Hood and the Monk, was committed to paper, but it wasn’t until 1510 that the original story (Lytell Geste of Robyn Hode), was recorded in its entirety.

With the arrival of the printing press in Tudor and Elizabethan times, all of the most popular stories we recognise today were recorded for prosperity. Some of these stories had medieval roots, but many were were brand new pieces. The Tudor audience was as keen for fresh tales containing their favourite heroes as we are today. These ‘new’ tales included Robin Hood and Gisborne (c.1500) and Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar (c.1550) – who became known as Friar Tuck.

The Tudors loved the stories of Robin Hood. He was more popular then than he is now. Tudor documents are littered with mentions of Robin Hood’s all over Britain. For example-

– in 1497 Roger Marshall called himself Robin Hood, and lead a riot of 200 men in Staffordshire.

– in 1509, ten Robin Hood plays were banned in Exeter by the city council, as they had become a public nuisance.

Robin Hood’s most famous Tudor fan was Henry VIII himself. In fact, apart from hunting, eating, and getting married, Henry’s favourite hobby was acting. Sometimes he dressed up as Robin Hood. The king would wear a mask, and his audience had to pretend they didn’t know it was him, and had to look surprised when he revealed his true identity at the end of the play.

In 1510 Henry VIII and eleven of his nobles dressed as Robin Hood and broke into the Queen’s private rooms, apparently giving her the fright of her life! (Up to that point anyway!)

Thank you for letting me share a little of my Robin Hood passion with you today- be warned, there will be more on the subject very soon….

Romancing Robin Hood is available now on Nook, Kobo, Kindle and in paperback from all good retailers, including-

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Romancing-Robin-Hood-Jenny-Kane-ebook/dp/B00M4838S2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407428558&sr=8-1&keywords=romancing+robin+hood

Happy reading,

Jenny xx