Jenny Kane & Jennifer Ash

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

Tag: accent press Page 17 of 31

From Coffee to Champagne: The End of the Pickwicks Saga

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On April 17, 2016

In Blog, Contemporary fiction, Contemporary Romantic Fiction, Fiction, Romance

As I finish proofing the final rounds of the type-set copy of Another Glass of Champagne (pre-order now available), I can’t help wonder what life is going to be like without Jack, Amy, Kit and Megan to keep me company.

Another Glass Of Champagne

The crew from Pickwicks Coffee House and their friends have lived in the back of mind for a very long time.

It took me 13 years before I had the courage to develop the story of Amy Crane, from her journey as self-imposed recluse in Scotland, to a braver person, prepared to face the demons she’d once run away from, in Richmond, London.

Originally Another Cup of Coffee– which was published by Accent Press in 2013- was entitled Coffee Stops. It went through many incarnations before it turned into the fully formed novel it is today. At the time I believed it was a one off novel. I never dreamt it would lead to one Christmas themed sequel- let alone three. (Another Cup of Christmas, Christmas in the Cotswolds, Christmas at the Castle). I have been incredibly lucky!

The Pickwicks regulars have proved more popular than I could ever have imagined. After the first book in the series it turned out to be bad boy Jack who was the character who the majority of readers wanted to hear more about. So, in Another Glass of Champagne, it is Jack who takes centre stage…although Kit, Amy and the others are all engaged on their own adventures as well…

Blurb

A warm-hearted, contemporary tale about a group of friends living in a small corner of busy London, by bestselling author Jenny Kane.

Fortysomething Amy is shocked and delighted to discover she’s expecting a baby – not to mention terrified! Amy wants best friend Jack to be godfather, but he hasn’t been heard from in months.

When Jack finally reappears, he’s full of good intentions – but his new business plan could spell disaster for the beloved Pickwicks Coffee Shop, and ruin a number of old friendships… Meanwhile his love life is as complicated as ever – and yet when he swears off men for good, Jack meets someone who makes him rethink his priorities…but is it too late for a fresh start?

Author Kit has problems of her own: just when her career has started to take off, she finds herself unable to write – and there’s a deadline looming, plus two headstrong kids to see through their difficult teenage years…will she be able to cope?

A follow-up to the runaway success Another Cup of Coffee.

***

Another Glass of Champagne will be released on 9th June! You can pre-order it on from all good book retailers, including-

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Another+Glass+of+Champagne+Jenny+Kane

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss/188-7813436-7626710?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Another+Glass+of+Champagne+Jenny+Kane

Another Cup of Coffee - New cover 2015

It isn’t vital to have read the previous four stories (especially the Christmas novellas), but if you want to read the very beginning of Amy, Jack and Kit’s story, you can find it here-

Another Cup of Coffee –mybook.to/cupcoffee 

Happy reading,

Jenny xx

Guest Post from Tom Williams: Who is Susan?

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On April 15, 2016

In Blog, Fiction, Historical fiction

I’m delighted to welcome Tom Williams back to my site today to talk about his latest book, and a young woman called Susan!

Over to you Tom…

My books are a simple history of a man who finds his best friend has fallen in with villains in 1859 London. Admittedly his attempts to save his friend end up in all sorts of adventures with spies and crooks and fights with the police and much underhand business…Then again, there is the story of young Susan.

Susan has been recruited to help our narrator, John Williamson, who has been recruited to pass off bad sovereigns – a much more difficult part of the business of making money by forgery than the manufacture of the coins in the first place, which was practically a cottage industry in 1859.

Back Home

Susan, when I met her, did indeed seem a nice enough girl. Her father had been a baker, but on his decease (‘Just upped and died’, she told me, ‘on a Tuesday, just after he opened the shop,’) her mother had been unable to make the place pay. The family had got into debt and Susan had left for the Metropolis in the hope of repairing her fortunes, but, like so many other young girls, she had fallen in with bad company and, being desperate for money and having no reputation left to preserve, she had turned to selling her body to survive.

Susan still had a little of the bloom of the country on her, though she was already developing a certain hardness in her features which seems common to women who make their money as she did. Still, once Michael and I had dressed her up in clothes that we purchased especially for the business at hand, she could pass as respectable.

Our first foray was made that afternoon to the Burlington Arcade. Michael assured me that my companion’s appearance would be entirely unremarked there. So, having dressed myself in my smartest suit, I repaired to Piccadilly with her on my arm.

Burlington Arcade

Burlington Arcade

Despite the new outfit, the girl could not but look what she was and anyone watching our progress through the West End would see a gentleman with his poll. This was a role that, given my nature, was one that I had never played before. I must admit that, in anticipation, I had believed that I would be mortified with embarrassment, and was uncertain that I would be able to pull it off, but, in the event, I found myself but one of many promenading with a woman clearly not my wife. Indeed, once I had opened my eyes to what was going on around me, it seemed that the Burlington Arcade was as rife with vice as Seven Dials – but in the Arcade the women were much better dressed and the signs of pox less immediately visible.

Accompanied by this woman, it seemed natural that we would find ourselves loitering in front of a jeweller’s window. She pointed enthusiastically at the display, while I made as if I were anxious to be off down the street. Once I was sure that our dumb show had been noticed by the staff inside the shop – one of whom, I could swear, was trying unsuccessfully to hide his smile – I shrugged resignedly and went in alone, pointedly leaving my companion outside. With every appearance of embarrassment and awkwardness, which required little in the way of acting on my part, I indicated that I wanted a small bracelet from the window display. I had carefully chosen an item that might reasonably be purchased with ready money. The assistant picked it from the window and, without being asked, made it up into a neatly wrapped packet.

‘Sir will be taking his purchase with him?’ he asked, struggling to conceal his smirk.

I nodded, blushing.

‘That will be three guineas, sir.’

I reached into my pocket and withdrew three golden coins and three (real) shillings, which I slapped onto the counter, grabbing at my parcel and heading toward the door. The assistant was clearly amused and watched as I hastened towards my lady friend and passed her the package. She immediately threw her arms around me and, from the corner of my eye, I saw the shop man, his eyes glued to this indecorous display, toss the coins into a drawer without any proper examination at all.

*  *  *

After a lifetime of respectability, writing research reports for government and management, Tom now writes historical novels. He is a man of spotless integrity, whose greatest vice is occasionally dancing tango with women who are not his wife.

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Tom’s books:

The Williamson Papers

The White Rajah:  myBook.to/WhiteRajah

Cawnpore: myBook.to/Cawnpore

Back Home: mybook.to/backhome

And here are the stories about James Burke.

Burke in the Land of Silver: myBook.to/LandofSilver

Burke and the Bedouin: mybook.to/Bedouin

Burke at Waterloo: myBook.to/BurkeWaterloo

Burke at Waterloo

I blog at http://thewhiterajah.blogspot.co.uk/

My Facebook author page is https://www.facebook.com/AuthorTomWilliams/

My Twitter handle is @TomCW99

***

Many thanks Tom- another great blog.

Happy reading,

Jenny x

My First Time: Lynne Shelby

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On April 13, 2016

In Contemporary fiction, Contemporary Romantic Fiction, Fiction, Interview

Amazingly, two weeks have passed since Nell Peters shared her ‘First Time’ publishing experiences with us. Today I’m delighted to have the ‘French Kissing’, Lynne Shelby, here to share her own first time with us.

Over to you Lynne…

First Time

Can you remember writing the first story you actually wanted to write, rather than those you were forced to write at school? What was it about?

I can remember that first story! I was fourteen, and had decided that I wanted to be a writer. My first effort was ‘The Mysterious Island, ’a book-length fantasy/adventure story (it would probably be called YA now) in which four teenagers were out in a rowing boat off the Cornish coast, and were lost in a sudden sea mist. When the mist cleared, they found themselves … on a mysterious island, where time had apparently stood still since the middle ages. Taken prisoner by the island’s villainous ruler, a witch, and about to be sacrificed to the ‘old powers,’ the four teenagers were rescued by the island’s rightful – and extremely handsome – ruler! Looking back, I can see that the book can best be described as ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ meets ‘The Wicker Man’ – which I guess is a reflection of the sort of books I was reading as a young teenager! I sent the completed manuscript off to a publisher, and although they didn’t publish it, one of the editors sent me a very kind and encouraging letter back, telling me to be sure to keep writing as she felt I did have talent. I’m so glad I took her advice! I kept the manuscript of that first story for years, but it got misplaced when we moved house.

What was your first official publication?

My first official publication was my debut novel, ‘French Kissing,’ which won the Accent Press and Woman magazine Writing Competition in 2015 – the prize was to be published by Accent Press. A contemporary romance, the novel is about two childhood penfriends, one English, one French, who meet as adults, when their friendship could become something more…

Lynne Shelby with her debut novel French Kissing

What affect did that have on your life?

For me, becoming a published author really was a life-long dream come true. This last year, since I found out I’d won the competition, has been amazing, with so many highlights, like holding a book I’d written in my hands for the first time. It’s been fantastic to have so many readers tell me they’ve enjoyed the book, and I’ve also had the opportunity to meet some wonderful writers who have been so generous with their knowledge and advice about writing.

Does your first published story reflect your current writing style?

I think ‘French Kissing’ is the story in which I found my ‘voice,’ and I am continuing to write in that style – although I hope that I can always continue to grow as a writer.

What are you working on at the moment?

At the moment I’m working on another contemporary romance – a love triangle set in the world of showbusiness. I’m having a lot of fun writing about film premieres in Leicester Square and first nights at the theatre.

L Shelby cover

 

Buy links to ‘French Kissing’ by Lynne Shelby:

Bio

Lynne Shelby can’t remember a time when she wasn’t writing stories, and it has always been her ambition to be a published author.  She writes contemporary romance because that is what she most likes reading.  She’s worked in a variety of day jobs from stable girl to legal administrator. She’s also had a very enjoyable vicarious career as a stage mother, which has given her a love of the theatre that inspires a lot of her writing.  She loves travelling, and she’s also inspired to write by the many wonderful foreign cities that she’s visited and explored – with a camera and writer’s notebook in hand – and her first novel, ‘French Kissing’ is set partly in Paris. She is currently working on her second novel. She lives in north London with her tall, dark, handsome husband and a lot of books.

Website: www.lynneshelby.com

Twitter: @LynneB1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LynneShelbyWriter

***

Many thanks Lynne! Great stuff!

Happy reading,

Jenny x

 

 

Novel Progress 11: Almost there….

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On April 9, 2016

In Blog, Contemporary fiction, Contemporary Romantic Fiction, Fiction

The end is in sight…

From the initial notes in my notebook, through to the first draft, edit, re-edits, editors proofs, and now- with the pre-order option available on Amazon, I am at the penultimate stage of the production line for my latest novel- Another Glass of Champagne.

Stage 11 is triple checking the typeset proofs.

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However hard a writer or editor works, there will always be errors in a novel. How can there not be when there are (usually) over 90,000 words involved? It’s impossible to catch every single typo- although I wish we could! Checking through the typeset version of our work is the very last chance to spot those errors.

I’m about halfway through at the moment, and have found about a dozen little mistakes- misplaced comma, a ‘be’ where there should be a ‘me,’ etc…

20160407_103216

Once I’ve read the typeset then that’s it- there is nothing I can do! My novel is out of my hands. It is a weird feeling-  to no longer have control over all the words my imagination conjured up for my fingers to reproduce on my laptop screen. It is also a touch frustrating, because I know that somehow, during the printing process, new mistakes will appear that have nothing to do with me or my editor. The computer involved with printing will just ‘correct things.’ It happens- and we have to accept it- but it is annoying!

However! Printer errors aside, this is an exciting time- because the only stage left is number twelve – publication!

Roll on 9th June!! I can’t wait to see the final episode of Amy, Kit, Jack, Peggy and Megan’s story reach the world.

AGOC

If you’d like to pre-order the book/download, then you can via all Amazon sites, including-

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Another+Glass+of+Champagne+Jenny+Kane

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss/188-7813436-7626710?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Another+Glass+of+Champagne+Jenny+Kane

Happy reading,

Jenny x

 

 

Guest Post from Jeff Gardiner: Pica

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On April 7, 2016

In Blog, Contemporary fiction, Fiction

I’m delighted to welcome Jeff Gardiner to my site today to talk about his brand new novel, Pica, which is to be officially launched next week at the London Book Fair!

Over to you Jeff…

Pica Final

Hi Jenny. Thanks for having me on your blog – I really appreciate it. I’m really excited about my new book Pica, published by Accent Press. The book is already out but it gets its official launch at the London Book Fair on April 12th.

Pica is a novel about our relationship with the natural world. I’ve always been inspired by nature, wildlife and the great outdoors, and assumed that everyone feels the same way. It seems they don’t. We are in fact destroying our planet due to our consumerism, overpopulation, pollution and greed. Leonardo DiCaprio reminded us in his Oscar speech not to take planet Earth for granted. There’s lots in the news at the moment about deforestation occurring due to the over-reliance on palm oil. In the UK we are considering our membership of the European Union, and this may well affect future environmental policies, which probably need countries to work closely together.

Early humans had a closer relationship with nature, animals and plants. What if we could rediscover that relationship in our modern world? Luke meets Guy who seems to have the ability to draw animals towards him. What is this strange boy’s secret? As Luke learns more, he realises that the natural world can unlock a special magic that gives people powers he could never have imagined.

I was also keen to make this novel – the first in the Gaia trilogy – a fantasy. Fantasy literature allows us to use our imaginations in our understanding of reality. Luke discovers powers that many of us can only dream about, so there is also a sense of wish-fulfilment alongside the serious environmental message.

I even have a cover quote from fantasy author, Michael Moorcock, who read it and wrote, “One of the most charming fantasy novels I’ve read in years. An engrossing and original story, beautifully told. Wonderful!”

picanewrel

Extract

The snake moved its head, flicked its long tongue over Guy’s hand and unbelievably slithered its head voluntarily over it, allowing him to lift its whole body off the ground. I couldn’t believe the size of it: it must have been about a metre long.

“Grief! He’s a monster,” I said, aghast.

“It’s a female,” Guy replied, matter-of-factly.

“I didn’t know we had snakes that big in this country.”

“Oh yeah. She’s a grass snake.”

I started to feel less nervous as Guy handled the creature like a pet. He tickled its throat and allowed the snake to dart its tongue all over his face.

“Ah, it just licked my eye!” Guy giggled with delight.

“Are you okay?”

“Course. It’s not actually licking me. It uses its tongue to smell and sense things.”

I looked on, stunned. The image before me of this odd, shy boy holding a massive snake made my head spin. What the hell was going on?

“Can I hold her? I mean, do you think she’ll let me?” I couldn’t believe I was saying it.

“I’m not sure.” Guy’s forehead wrinkled somewhat. “She might dart off suddenly, or even —”

“What?”

“Give it a try,” Guy slowly passed over the serpent. I tried to copy what he did. I placed one hand behind the snake’s eyes and put the other hand under the heaviest part of its body. It wasn’t slimy at all. Its skin was smooth and silky. It shifted and I could feel the tightening of muscles as it moved. I got concerned when the snake began to thrash about as if struggling to escape my grip, and I had visions of giant fangs engulfing my face and of venom being stabbed into my eyes, when the creature suddenly went limp and fell from my arms into an inert pile on the floor.

“Oh God! I think I’ve killed it! What the hell happened? I didn’t do anything. What’s going on?”

I looked at Guy who was studying me intently. I expected him to attack me and accuse me of murder, when I realised he was holding his stomach with laughter.

“What’s so funny?”

“Thanatosis.”

“What?”

“Classic grass snake behaviour. It’s a predation defence mechanism. It’s playing dead.”

“What? Pretending?”

“Yeah. It saw you as a threat and to avoid being eaten it’s now playing dead. Any sensible predator will give up and find something fresh to eat. Get closer and try smelling it.”

Without questioning him, I bent down and took in a big whiff. Big mistake. The snake smelt worse than a stink bomb.

“Oh man! That is rank.”

“It’s very clever.” Guy gazed on with admiration. “It smells like a rotting carcass. Perhaps we should leave her now and she can go back to her nest.”

“I hadn’t realised such amazing things were happening all around us every day.”

***

Blurb

Pica explores a world of ancient magic, when people and nature shared secret powers.

Luke hates nature, preferring the excitement of computer games to dull walks in the countryside, but his view of the world around him drastically begins to change when enigmatic loner, Guy, for whom Luke is reluctantly made to feel responsible, shows him some of the secrets that the very planet itself appears to be hiding from modern society.

Set in a very recognisable world of school and the realities of family-life, Luke tumbles into a fascinating world of magic and fantasy where transformations and shifting identities become an escape from the world. Luke gets caught up in an inescapable path that affects his very existence, as the view of the world around him drastically begins to change.

***

Jeff’s website

Accent Press

WHSmith

Barnes & Noble

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Amazon Australia

JeffGardiner1

About Jeff

Jeff Gardiner is the author of four novels (Pica, Igboland, Myopia and Treading On Dreams), a collection of short stories, and a work of non-fiction. Many of his short stories have appeared in anthologies, magazines and websites.

“Reading is a form of escapism, and in Gardiner’s fiction, we escape to places we’d never imagine journeying to.” (A.J. Kirby, ‘The New Short Review’)

For more information, please see his website at www.jeffgardiner.com and his blog: http://jeffgardiner.wordpress.com/

***

Many thanks for such a great blog Jeff.

Happy reading,

Jenny x

Novel Progress 10- Another Glass of Champagne is available for PRE-ORDER

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On April 6, 2016

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

The final book in my ‘Another Cup of…’ series

Another Glass of Champagne

is now available for pre-order!

AGOC

So the process is almost complete!! From that first ‘Novel progress blog’ when I began to draft out my chapter plan for Another Glass of Champagne, we are almost there! The pre-order facility is up on Amazon, I can show off the cover, and I can begin to share a few hints about what Amy, Jack and Kit have been up to since you last saw them. But the novel isn’t finished yet!

There is still one vital task for me to do before I hand the book over to the printers. Although the editors proofs have been tackled, I still need to check over the printer proof to make sure all those naughty little typos are eliminated. Of course this is not an exact science! I’m only human, I miss things. Also- printers these days often use predictive text- so that can cause a few extra errors to appear despite our best efforts to stop them!

In the meantime….

Here’s the blurb!!

A warm-hearted, contemporary tale about a group of friends living in a small corner of busy London, by bestselling author Jenny Kane.

Fortysomething Amy is shocked and delighted to discover she’s expecting a baby – not to mention terrified! Amy wants best friend Jack to be godfather, but he hasn’t been heard from in months.

When Jack finally reappears, he’s full of good intentions – but his new business plan could spell disaster for the beloved Pickwicks Coffee Shop, and ruin a number of old friendships… Meanwhile his love life is as complicated as ever – and yet when he swears off men for good, Jack meets someone who makes him rethink his priorities…but is it too late for a fresh start?

Author Kit has problems of her own: just when her career has started to take off, she finds herself unable to write – and there’s a deadline looming, plus two headstrong kids to see through their difficult teenage years…will she be able to cope?

A follow-up to the runaway success Another Cup of Coffee.

***

Another Glass of Champagne will be released on 9th June!!! You can pre-order it on from all good book retailers, including-

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Another+Glass+of+Champagne+Jenny+Kane

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss/188-7813436-7626710?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Another+Glass+of+Champagne+Jenny+Kane

It isn’t vital to have read the previous four stories (especially the Christmas novellas), but if you want to read the very beginning of Amy, Jack and Kit’s story, you can find it here-

Another Cup of Coffee –mybook.to/cupcoffee 

Another Cup of Coffee - New cover 2015

Happy reading!

Jenny x

 

 

 

Nothing’s Forgotten: Booking at The Hooded Man Event

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On April 2, 2016

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

What a year it’s turning out to be! There are days when I can’t believe my luck. Here I am, black coffee at my side (of course!), a packet of chocolate buttons on standby, a new book deal with WHSmith to sell my forthcoming novel, Another Glass of Champagne, in its airport, railway station, and service station shops, and two new novel contracts on the starting slopes- and, to add the cherry to my virtual cupcake, I have been invited to sell my part modern/part medieval novel, Romancing Robin Hood at this years celebration of all things ‘Robin of Sherwood’ – The Hooded Man II event.

romancingrhposterPROOF2

 

If you are a regular to this site, you’ll know that I have been running a series of blogs about Robin of Sherwood, which is being revived as a one off audio show called, The Knights of the Apocalypse. (#KOTA). If you’ve missed them, you can find the blogs here- Blog 1, Blog 2, Blog 3

I am looking forward to attending The Hooded Man event at Chepstow on 30th April- 1st May. I’m also a bit nervous!! This is a massive event, with people travelling from all over the world to attend- and I’ll be on my own with a pile of books!! However- I am SO excited. What an opportunity! Maybe- at last- I’ll be able to thank, in person, the people who set my life on its path of historical research and fiction!

RH- RoS 2

And what better day than this- 2nd April 2016- to announce that I’ll be attending this RoS event- as it was on this very day, at 5.35pm, 30 years ago, that Jason Connery first took his longbow as Robin Hood, in the opening episode of series three- Hernes Son (Part1) Where do the years go?!

I look forward to seeing some of you at the event!!

Happy reading,

Jenny x

 

My First Time: Nell Peters

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On March 30, 2016

In Contemporary fiction, crime, Uncategorized

This week it’s the turn of the always lovely Nell Peters, aka Anne Polhill Walton, to share her first time publishing experiences- and a picture of a chicken…Ummm…

Over to you Nell…

First Time

Can you remember writing the first story you actually wanted to write, rather than those you were forced to write at school? What was it about?

At a loose end over a summer in Montreal (early 20s, pre-children), living in a house with the St Lawrence at the bottom of the garden, I settled down at a picnic table and started writing stories for young children – in between swatting mosquitoes. They were the sort of traditional tales I’d been raised on – gentle escapism, make-believe storylines and not a boy (or girl) wizard in sight, as far as I remember. They were rubbish.

What was your first official publication?

That was a poem published in an anthology for Mother’s Day – I forget what year, but I had four children by then. It was entitled ‘Bonjour Maman’ and some of it was in French, so I had to translate for my mother as she doesn’t speak the lingo.

What affect did that have on your life?

I became rich and famous overnight. Oh no – that wasn’t me. Am eejit.

By Any Name final

Does your first published story reflect your current writing style?

As you specify ‘story’, that would be my psychological crime novel By Any Other Name, which was published in November 2014 by Accent Press. Obviously, my style hasn’t changed too much since then, but with Hostile Witness – launched February 2016, my editor took out a lot (actually most) of the humour I find impossible to resist, to make it quite dark.

Hostile Witness ver 2

What are you working on at the moment?

This questionnaire, silly!

Buy links

By Any Other Name – http://viewbook.at/By_Any_Other_Name_by_Nell_Peters

Hostile Witness – http://mybook.to/hostilewitness

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Author Bio and links

Nell Peters is a pen name, as Anne Polhill Walton is something of a mouthful. After I abandoned my quest to become the next Enid Blyton, I started to write poetry and that remained my first love for many years, before I moved on to writing crime – a genre that very much suits my warped mind. Poetry as a therapy continues to be an interest.

I live in Norfolk UK and most of the family are close-ish, so we have some very chaotic weekend get-togethers, Christmases etc. We are collecting a frightening number of Grands – three of each at the last count. Oh, and Pavlova the chicken who turned up almost two years ago and just stayed. She is named not after a meringue dessert, but Ivan Pavlov (he of dog fame) because she responds to classical conditioning. Did I mention my warped mind?

chicken

On Facebook I have an author page: https://www.facebook.com/NellPetersAuthor/

And on Twitter I am myself as @paegon

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***

Many thanks Nell (Anne!)- fabulous! Love Pavlova!

Happy reading,

Jenny x

My First Time: Maggie Cammis

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On March 16, 2016

In Blog, Contemporary fiction, Contemporary Romantic Fiction, Fiction

It’s time for another instalment of my blog series, ‘My First Time’. Today I’m delighted to welcome Mggie Cammis to my site. Over to you Maggie…

First Time

Can you remember writing the first story you actually wanted to write, rather than those you were forced to write at school? What was it about?

I have vague recollections of a torrid story concerning a stolen horse and a damsel in distress but to be honest, I can’t remember writing many stories except for homework. I was far too busy reading. When the writing bug finally bit, I jumped straight in with a novel, which had an incestuous relationship at its heart. (I have no idea where that idea sprang from, but the characters just took up the story and ran with it.) Perhaps a little ambitious for a first attempt. It languished at the bottom of a drawer for years, too embarrassed to show its face.

What was your first official publication?

About ten years ago I entered a Writer’s News competition for a personal memoir. Mine was about my experiences working as a teenager in a liquorice factory in the late 1960s. I was thrilled when it won! The article was later published in a local magazine and it’s now available to read on my blog: The liquorice fields of Pontefract                                                                                                                       

My first published fiction was my novel ‘No News is Good News’, published by Accent Press. It’s set in the exciting world of 24-hour rolling news, and concerns a young editor whose career is compromised by an intriguing storyline.

No News Is Good News(1)

Eleanor was gearing up for marriage when her boyfriend Daniel rejected her without explanation and disappeared. Four years later, she has thrown herself into her hectic career as a TV news editor. She is happy and successful and has definitely moved on.

That is, until Daniel returns with a brand-new fiancée on his arm and Eleanor’s golden chance turns to be not as shiny as she had first anticipated.

What affect did that have on your life?                

The competition win confirmed my suspicions – maybe I could write after all. The publication of the novel endorsed them.

Does your first published story reflect your current writing style?                                                                  

No. That first novel attempt was littered with purple prose! I’ve learned a lot in the intervening years and it’s taken a lot of practice to find my own style.

What are you working on at the moment?

As well as the final edit of novel number 2 – working title ‘Background Feature’ – I’m well into the third, which is a complete departure, covering very different subject matter. It deals with some of the issues surrounding women of a certain age. My age. With added humour, of course.

***

Buy links to your first published story (if still available) and links to your latest book. http://maggiecammiss.com/non-fiction/the-licquorice-fields-of-pontefract/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/No-News-Good-Maggie-Cammiss/dp/1783757035/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1452605212&sr=1-1&keywords=no+news+is+good+news

https://www.accentpress.co.uk/maggie-cammiss

 Maggie Cammiss1

Author Bio and links

Always an avid reader, the first years of my working life were spent in public libraries. Later, I moved into film archives, and in 1989 joined Sky News when the channel first launched. At the end of 2005, after more than ten years as Head of the News Library, I left London with my partner – now my husband – to see what life outside the M25 had to offer. We settled in Norfolk, I joined the Cutting Edge Writers group and started to write seriously.

I came away from the hectic environment of a 24-hour rolling news channel with a gift: masses of background material for a novel. No News is Good News was published by Accent Press in December 2014. In 2012 I entered the NaNoWriMo challenge to write a novel in a month and succeeded with the first 50,000 words of a second novel, with a similar setting, which is now in its final edit. A third novel, with a different theme, is in progress. I also write short stories, some of which I read on local radio, and our writing group has just published an anthology of our work.

https://www.facebook.com/maggiecammisswriter/

http://maggiecammiss.com/

https://twitter.com/maggiecammiss

 ***

Great interview! Thanks Maggie.

Happy reading,

Jenny x

Guest Blog from Nell Peters: The Ides of March-ish

By

On March 15, 2016

In Blog, Contemporary fiction, crime, Fiction

I love having guests on my blog. Some visitors I particularly look forward to, and today I’m thrilled to have one of my favourite guests sharing a little writers wisdom. Please welcome back Nell Peters.

Over to you Nell…

Hello, Jenny – thanks for having me again!

Last time I was a guest blogger here Christmas was approaching fast, with sleigh bells ring-ding-a-ding-a-ling loudly in our ears. Now we are a matter of days away from Easter. Scary! Of course, chocolate eggs and the like have been in the shops since 26th December, possibly before – I wonder what days of the year that posh choc company designate to convert their gold foil-covered bunnies rather unconvincingly into reindeer, or vice versa?

Most of the Christmas break disappeared for me under various edits required for a 4/1 deadline and it will hereinafter be referred to the Swear Box Christmas. This in no way overshadows that of two years ago, which became the Bug Christmas. And I don’t mean those cute little ladybird creatures with innumerable legs and spotted backs.

A PW

On Christmas Eve 2013, the youngest boy was twenty-one and everyone and their dog was coming to stay for several days. In our infinite wisdom, the OH and I felt we should get the main bathroom tarted up a bit for the invasion. Big mistake. Work inevitably fell behind schedule and the self-imposed deadline (22/12) was getting perilously close, when OH managed to put his foot through the floor…which forms part of the dining room ceiling. Not a good look. When everyone arrived on 23rd (actually our anniversary, but mostly forgotten after #4 son gate-crashed the party a week before his due date on New Years Eve) we had rather too few – shall we say – functioning facilities to accommodate the gathered masses. Pioneering spirit to the fore (we are British after all, don’t you know), we could have coped with that, had someone not turned up brewing a tummy bug. I’ll let you join your own dots from there – it was a challenging few days, to put it mildly, with enough left-over food to keep us going until midsummer. Oh, in case you were worrying about it, we did get the ceiling patched up in time – though that was really the least of our worries.

That’s all a distant memory now, and one we may (or may not) find amusing at some time in the future – if we live that long.

I’m pleased to report that Pavlova the chicken survived her second Christmas with us without ending up in the roasting tin – as threatened by various horrid sons throughout the year, amid pointed ‘fattening her up for Christmas’ remarks. Poor Pav didn’t know what she was getting herself into, when she turned up on our land a couple of years ago and decided to stay…

chicken

Back to the here and now…or almost. All the necessary edits were done and dusted on time for Hostile Witness – just as well, as it was on pre-order for a 4th Feb launch, so there was little leeway. But most importantly, another little cutie entered our lives; GD #3 and our fifth Grand, arrived only a little late on 7th Jan, and of course she is just as beautiful as her big sister, Isla. The baby is called Indie, so the ‘I’s have it in that household! Sorry …

Today, 15th March, is the seventy-fifth day of the year (this being a Leap Year – I bet there’s some bright spark out there who knows exactly how many days there are until Christmas 2016. If you find them, please gag them) and was known to the Romans as the Ides – the middle of the month. It was the day in 44BC that Julius Caesar probably wished he hadn’t bothered to get out of bed, or had at least had the presence of mind to wear his dagger-proof Kevlar toga.

dagger

Anything Roman still reminds me of our Head of Latin at school, Miss Mackinder. She was a terrifying woman with protruding teeth and a passion for cats, if not her pupils. She had a glare that could kill at a thousand yards and like most of the staff at that very staid, traditional Grammar she was a spinster who seemed very old – as anyone over twenty does to a young teen. Miss Mack used to spend her holidays in Rome, rescuing stray cats (and quite possibly scaring the natives). The author Judy Astley and I somehow survived years of regulation indoor shoes, regulation outdoor shoes, summer boaters and winter felt hats (hat detention if seen outside school grounds not wearing the damned things), and flame-coloured summer dresses that suited no one and could be seen from outer space. All this amid wood-panelled walls, and an oppressive atmosphere where pupils (all gels, natch) should neither be seen nor heard, or be caught doing anything unladylike. There was a list of school rules as long as the M1 and woe betide anyone who stepped out of line – they still had the cane! Where was ChildLine when we needed it?

Anyway, I digress – fast forward to 15th March 1493, when Christopher Columbus docked in Palos, Spain after his first trip to the Americas. It was a disappointing voyage of discovery because neither Colonel Sanders nor Ronald MacDonald had opened for business and so CC was stuck with paella for another few hundred years. Or maybe I imagined that bit?

Continuing the boat/water theme, in 1927 (when my mum was about six weeks old) the first Oxford v Cambridge Women’s Boat Race was held on the Isis in Oxford. It took place at 1.15 pm, when heads of colleges hoped young men students would be too distracted by their lunch to go along to gawp. To call it a race is a bit of a stretch though, because the boats rowed separately downstream and judging concentrated mainly on style and deportment – perhaps keeping their knees together, balancing books on their heads and not showing their bloomers? When that resulted in a tie, the teams rowed against each other upstream and Oxford won by two points. Ah…those were the days – remember this was a whole year before all women over the age of twenty-one in Great Britain and Northern Ireland were finally given the right to vote. Enlightened times indeed.

Before I send everyone to sleep, perhaps I should plug the latest masterpiece and go, so that you can get on with whatever floats your boat.

newrel

Immaculately edited psychological crime novel Hostile Witness can be found at mybook.to/hostilewitness

Because it was previously self-published, the book comes complete with two 5* reviews – always handy:

‘Many twists and turns – and a cliff-hanger ending. Quite an enjoyable read, with a delightfully twisty plot. Ms. Peters kept me guessing till the end.’

And

‘Thoroughly enjoyed this book and will look forward to the next one from this author. Keeps you guessing till the end.’

Common theme there, as in being kept guessing until the end – I know the end, but I’m not telling. Both reviews come from Amazon.com and were posted on consecutive days three years ago – slightly bizarre, but I’m not complaining!

I’m off now, but remember – beware the Ides of March. Et tu, Jenny! J

***

How I remember my own Latin lessons. I was lucky enough to be blessed with a wonderful Latin master- the amazing Mr White. Amazing because he was so patient with me- I was not the best language student!!

Thanks Nell,

Happy reading,

Jenny x

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