Author Q & A with Midge Raymond

My Last Continent by  Midge Raymond (Out 28 July, Text Publishing).

Picking up huge praise from authors such as Graeme Simsion, Karen Joy Fowler and ML Stedman, My Last Continent is a summer must-read. Part love story, part elegy, and perfect for the ‘armchair adventurer’, the novel takes us to the end of the world – to the glacial mountains, cleaving icebergs, and frigid waters of Antarctica—where Deb Gardner and Keller Sullivan feel at home. For the few blissful weeks they spend each year studying the habits of emperor and Adélie penguins, Deb and Keller can escape the frustrations and sorrows of their separate lives and find solace in their work and in each other. But Antarctica, like their fleeting romance, is tenuous, imperiled by the world to the north…

Amongst its poetic prose and triangular love story, Raymond also takes a moving and memorable look at the effects of a warming world. She reveals the cute penguins of the Antarctic as extremely complex creatures with problems akin to those of humans – seeking long-lost mates, nurturing their chicks and adapting to suit their ever-changing surroundings. Matters of both the heart, and science are taken into consideration and it as beautiful as both the landscape and romance it describes. It’s heartfelt, it’s moving and above all…unique.

Title:        My Last Continent
Author:    Midge Raymond
Published By: Text Publishing
Date:        July 28th 2016
Link:        UK: Amazon   US: Amazon

Author Q & A with Midge Raymond

Today we are delighted to welcome Midge Raymond to Sincerely Book Angels blog.

What was the inspiration behind this novel?

Antarctica has always been intriguing to me, and I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to visit in 2004. Several days into the journey, I witnessed a fellow traveller slip and fall on a patch of ice on the edge of a penguin colony. I appeared to be the only one who saw him, and fortunately he got up immediately, more embarrassed than injured. But already I’d been hearing concerns from our onboard naturalists about the dangers of accidents at the bottom of the world, I began to wonder: What if this man hadn’t gotten up? This question became the inspiration for a short story, and that story in turn grew into My Last Continent, which envisions an even larger accident in the Southern Ocean, one involving thousands rather than just one.

  

Did you always want to be a writer?

Yes, always. I’ve been writing since I was a  young girl, though as I got older I switched from making up stories to telling real ones. I published my first article in a local newspaper when I was fifteen years old and continued in journalism until my mid-twenties, when I returned to making up stories. I published my first short story in 1999; my first book, a short story collection, Forgetting English, in 2009; and my first novel, My Last Continent, this year.

What other jobs have you had?

I’ve been lucky to have always found work related to writing. I’ve worked in publishing, as a production editor as well as a copywriter; I’ve worked as a staff writer and editor; I’ve taught English as a second language as well as journalism and creative writing; and I co-founded a small press dedicated to environmental literature. It’s been wonderful because every job has helped me grow as a writer.

How did it feel when your first novel was published?

It has been very exciting, and I’ve loved every minute of getting MY LAST CONTINENT out into the world. I’m so fortunate to be working with fantastic publishing teams in many corners of the world.

Have you ever had writer's block? If so how did you overcome it?

Once I’m into a project, I rarely have writer’s block — but I often have trouble with the blank page. To get around this, I take a notebook and find some writing prompts (or make them up myself), and just freewrite until I have a foundation for a scene or a character.

What motivates you to keep writing?

It’s mostly the joy of doing it that motivates me, but I also think all writers need to have something to say to stay motivated, and for me, writing about the Antarctic and its magnificent creatures has been very inspiring. I hope that readers come away not only enjoying the novel but appreciating the continent as well.

Do your characters’ moods ever affect your mood and vice versa?

Definitely! The character of Deb in MY LAST CONTINENT, for example, grew from my anxiety about tourism in Antarctica and the fate of the penguins on a warming planet. So, while she is actually nothing like me, I channelled a lot of my concerns into her character. And if I’m working on a story that is really light or really sad, I sometimes take a little of this with me once I step off the page.

What three pieces of advice would you give to an aspiring writer?

1. Write what you want to write, not what you think others want to read.

2. Learn as much about the publishing industry as you can.

3. Never give up.

Which authors inspire you?

I love books that tell amazing stories related to animals and the environment, and a few favourites include Karen Joy Fowler’s We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, Ann Pancake’s Strange As This Weather Has Been, and Barbara Kingsolver’s Flight Behavior.

What are you reading at the moment?

I just finished reading Adam Haslett’s Imagine Me Gone, and I’ve just started reading Colum McCann’s TransAtlantic. Next on my stack are Lionel Shriver’s new book, The Mandibles, and War of the Encyclopaedists.

If your book was made into a film what song would you choose for the opening credits?

I have no idea! But I think I would choose something instrumental rather than something with lyrics.

Who would you choose to play your favourite character in the film of your book?

I would definitely try to fit George Clooney into the film somehow, even if I had to create a new character.

What is your next book about?

My next book is still in its very early stages, but it looks as though it’ll deal with some of the same themes as MY LAST CONTINENT — isolation, nature, a catastrophic event — though everything else about it is completely different.

And now think about the books you've read and just give the first one that comes into your head for our quickfire 'Which book round.'

Which book has made you:

Laugh out loud?

Nora Ephron’s I Feel Bad About My Neck

Cry your heart out?

Karen Joy Fowler’s We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

Want to read it again?

Lionel Shriver’s We Need To Talk About Kevin

Think more?

Just about anything by Margaret Atwood

Wish it would be made into a film?

I can’t think of one! I think most books are perfect as books.

Shocked?

Undercover: The True Story of Britain’s Secret Police by Paul Lewis & Rob Evans

Scared?

Elizabeth Kolbert’s The Sixth Extinction

Thank you so much for joining us on our blog today and good luck with the book.

About the Author

Midge Raymond is an award-winning short-story writer who worked in publishing in New York before moving to Boston, where she taught creative writing. She has published two books for writers, Everyday Writing and Everyday Book Marketing. Midge lives in the Pacific Northwest, where she is co-founder of the boutique publisher Ashland Creek Press. My Last Continent is her first novel.

Review and Extract from Melody Bittersweet and The Girls' Ghostbusting Agency

An absolutely hilarious, totally entertaining, spookily sexy read that you won't be able to put down!

Life’s tricky for Melody Bittersweet. She’s single, she's addicted to sugar and super heroes, her family are officially bonkers and ... she sees dead people. Is it any wonder no-one’s swiping right on Tinder?
Waking up lonely on her twenty-seventh birthday, Melody finally snaps. She can’t carry on basing all of her life decisions on the advice of her magic 8 ball; things have got to change.

Fast forward two months, and she’s now the proud proprietor of her very own ghostbusting agency – kind of like in the movies but without the dodgy white jumpsuits. She’s also flirting with her ex Leo Dark, fraternising with her sexy enemy in alleyways, and she’s somehow ended up with a pug called Lestat.

Life just went from dull to dynamite and it’s showing no sign of slowing up anytime soon. Melody’s been hired to clear Scarborough House of its incumbent ghosts, there’s the small matter of a murder to solve, and then there are the two very handsome, totally inappropriate men hoping to distract her from the job…

Welcome to Chapelwick, home of the brand new and hilarious Girls Ghostbusting Agency series, where things really do go bump in the night.

This is the PERFECT choice for fans of Marian Keyes, Sophie Kinsella or Lindsey Kelk, with an extra helping of hauntings and hilarity!

Title:        Melody Bittersweet and the Girls' Ghostbusting Agency
Author:    Kitty French
Published By: Bookouture
Date:        July 14th 2016
Link:        UK: Amazon   US: Amazon

My Review

Melody Bittersweet and the Girls Ghostbusting Agency

If I had to use just one word to sum up this book then that word would be 'delightful.'

I really enjoyed meeting Melody and her crazy family who all see dead people.

It was great fun accompanying Melody on her journey to create her own Ghostbusting agency along with her fearless friend Marina. They soon take on a young man called Artie who is painfully shy, the relationship they forged with him actually brought me to tears as I have a son who is painfully shy and I think Kitty captured his reaction to being accepted perfectly.

The story follows with a handsome love interest or two and becomes a ghostly whodunit as Melody tries to discover the truth about a murder which took place over a hundred years ago. The characters are well thought out and mostly lovable apart from the horrible ones who are meant to be nasty.

Melody has a lovely bubbly personality and whilst feeling satisfied that the mystery was resolved I feel that I'm already missing her.

Thanks to Bookouture for the ARC X

Sincerely

Book Angel x

Here is an extract from the book...Enjoy!

Chapter One 

‘So, what do you do with your spare time, Melody?’

I look my date square in his pretty brown eyes and lie to him. ‘Oh, you know. The usual.’ I shrug to convey how incredibly normal I am. ‘I read a lot . . . Go to the movies. That kind of thing.’ 

I watch Lenny digest my words, and breathe a sigh of relief when his eyes brighten.

‘Which genre?’

‘Movies or books?’ I ask, stalling for time because, in truth, I don’t get much in the way of spare time to do either.

‘Movies. Action or romance? No, let me guess.’ He narrows his eyes and studies me intently. ‘You look like a sucker for a rom-com.’

‘Do I?’ I’m genuinely surprised. I’m five foot three and look more like Wednesday Addams than a Disney princess. Maybe Wednesday Addams is over-egging it, but you get the idea; I’m brunette and my dress sense errs on the side of edgy. I don’t think anyone has ever looked at me and thought whimsy. Maybe Lenny sees something everyone else has missed, me included. I quite like that idea, mainly because everyone who knows my family has a head full of preconceptions about me, based on the fact that my family are all crackers.

‘Four Weddings?’ He shrugs hopefully.

I nod, not mentioning that the only part of that particular movie I enjoyed was the funeral.

‘The Holiday?’

Again, I try to look interested and hold my tongue, because I’m sure he doesn’t want to hear that I’d rather stick needles in my eyes than ever watch an over-optimistic Kate Winslet drag some old guy around a swimming pool again.

I’m relieved when the bill arrives and we can get out of there, because so far Lenny has turned out to be a pretty stellar guy and somehow I’ve managed to convince him that I walk on the right side of the tracks. Maybe this time, things will be different.

Lenny pulls his dull, salesman’s saloon into the cobbled cartway beside my building and kills the engine. I don’t mind dull. In fact, my life could really use a bit of dull right now, so I shoot him my most seductive smile, cross my fingers that my mother will be in bed, and invite him in for coffee.

Oh, just when it had all been going so well. Why couldn’t I have just given him a goodnight kiss, with maybe the smallest hint of tongue as a promise, then sent him on his way? He’d have called for a second date, I’m sure of it.

But no. I got greedy, pulled him by the hand through the dark back door, placing my finger against my lips to signal he should be quiet as we tip-toed past my mother’s apartment and up the old wooden staircase to my place.

He rests his hand on my waist as I turn the key, and a small thrill shoots down my back. Look at me, winning at this being-an-adult thing today! Dinner with an attractive man, sparkling conversation, and now back to mine for coffee . . . and maybe even a little fooling around. It’s not that I’m a virgin or anything, but it would be fair to call my love life patchy of late. By ‘of late’ I mean the last two years, ever since Leo Dark and I called things off. Well, by Leo and I, I mean Leo called things off, citing conflict of interests. Ha. Given that he was referring to the fact that my mad-as-a-bag-of-cats family are the only other psychics in town besides him, he was, at least in part, right. 

But enough of Leo and my lamentable love life. Right now, all I want is for Lenny not to know anything at all about my peculiar family, to keep seeing me as a cool, regular, completely normal girl, and then to kiss me.

‘You remind me of Clara Oswald,’ Lenny whispers behind me at the top of the stairs. ‘All big brown eyes and clever one-liners. It’s very sexy.’

Lord, I think he’s just brushed a kiss against the back of my neck! My door sticks sometimes so I shoulder it open, aiming for firm and graceful but, I fear, ending up looking more like a burly police SWAT guy ramming it down. Thankfully, Lenny seems to take it in his stride and follows me into my apartment. Then I flick on the table lamp only to discover that my mother is standing on my coffee table in a too-short, too-sheer, baby-blue negligee with her arms raised towards the ceiling and her head thrown back. 

‘Shit!’ Lenny swears down my ear, clearly startled. He isn’t to blame. My mother’s a striking woman, ballerina-tall and slender with silver hair that falls in waves well beyond her shoulder blades. It isn’t grey. It’s been pure silver since the day she was born, and right now she looks as if she’s just been freshly crucified on my coffee table.

I sigh as I drop my bag down by the lamp. So much for me being normal. 

‘Err, mother?’

Slowly, she takes several heaving breaths and opens her eyes, changing from crazy lady to almost normal human lady. She stares at us.

‘For God’s sake, Melody,’ she grumbles, taking her hands from above her head and planting them on her hips. ‘I almost had the connection then. He’s hiding out in the loft, I’m sure of it.’

I risk a glance over my shoulder at Lenny, who sure isn’t kissing my neck anymore. 

He lifts his eyebrows at me, a silent ‘what the hell?’ and then looks away when my mother beckons to him like a siren luring a fisherman onto the rocks. 

‘Your hand, please, young man.’

‘No!’ I almost yell, but Lenny is already across the room with his hand out to help her down. My mother eyes me slyly as she steps from the table, keeping a firm hold of Lenny’s hand.

‘Long lifeline,’ she murmurs, tracing her red talon across Lenny’s palm.

‘Mother,’ I warn, but my somber, cautionary tone falls on her selectively deaf ears. I expected nothing else, because she’s pulled this trick before. Admittedly, the standing-on-the-table thing is a new twist, but she’s got form in scoping out my prospective boyfriends to make sure they’ll fit in with our screwball family from the outset. Not that her romantic gauge is something to put any stock in; Leo passed her tests with flying colours and look how that ended up. I got my heart broken and he got a spot on morning TV as the resident psychic. Where’s the justice in that? 

Look, we may as well get the clanky old skeleton out of the family closet early on here, people. It’s going to come out sooner or later, and despite my attempts to pull the wool over Lenny’s eyes, there’s never any running away from this thing for long.

My name’s Melody Bittersweet, and I see dead people. 

It’s not only me. I’m just the latest in a long line of Bittersweets to have the gift, or the curse, depending on how you look at it. My family has long since celebrated our weirdness; hence the well-established presence of our family business, Blithe Spirits, on Chapelwick High Street. We’ve likely been here longer than the actual chapel at the far end of the street. That’s probably why, by and large, we’re accepted by the residents of the town, in a ‘they’re a bunch of eccentrics, but they’re our bunch of eccentrics,’ kind of way. What began as a tiny, mullion-windowed, one-room shop has spread out along the entire row over the last two hundred years; we now own a run of three terraced properties haphazardly knocked into one, big, rambling place that is both business and home to not only me, but also to my mother, Silvana, and her mother, Dicey. Gran’s name isn’t actually Dicey, it’s Paradise, officially, but she’s gone by Dicey ever since she met my Grandpa Duke on her fifteenth birthday and he wrote Dicey and Duke inside a chalk heart on the back wall of the building. He may as well have written it on her own racing heart.

‘Silvana!’ 

Speak of the devil. Does no one go to bed around here? 

I open my door to find Gran on the threshold with her hand raised, poised to knock. I guess I should be glad she’s slightly more respectably dressed, if a floor-length, purple shot-silk kimono, bearing huge technicolor dragons could be considered as such. Her usually pin-curled gold hair is piled elegantly on her head and she wears a slash of fire-engine-scarlet lipstick for good measure. Most people couldn’t carry the look off, but thanks to her poise, confidence and couldn’t-care-less attitude, Grandma Dicey wears it with artful success. She glides past me without invitation and gazes at my mother and Lenny, who are still hand-in-hand on the rug.

God.

First thing tomorrow morning, I swear, I’m going to look for a new place to live, somewhere, anywhere, that is not in the same building as my mother and my gran. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a charming old place and I love my family dearly. It’s not even as if I don’t have my own space here, because, theoretically at least, I do. Mum and Gran have the ground floor apartment behind Blithe Spirits, and I have the smaller flat upstairs, at the back. In lots of ways this makes me fortunate; I get to have a nice little home of my own and stay close to my family. It would all be fine and dandy, were it not for the fact that my family are officially bonkers and liable to come up and let themselves into my flat – using the spare key I gave them for dire emergencies only – and embarrass the shit out if me.

‘Why is Silvana entertaining a man half her age in your flat?’ Gran looks from me to my mother. ‘You should have said you were expecting company, darling. I’d have gone out.’ She touches her hand lightly against her hair. ‘Put a towel on the doorknob or something, isn’t that the modern way to signal these things? Don’t come a knockin’ if the caravan’s rockin’?’

She looks spectacularly pleased with herself, and one glance at Lenny tells me that he knows he’s way out of his depth with these two and is in the process of writing me off as the worst date he’s ever had. His eyes slide from me to the door, and I can almost hear him begging me to let him go unharmed.

‘He’s not mum’s date, he’s mine. Or else, he was,’ I mutter, and then I’m distracted as a beer-bellied pensioner in a soup-stained shirt slowly materialises through the ceiling, his flannel trousers not quite meeting his bony ankles. Stay with me; I see dead people, remember? As do my mother and my grandmother, who also watch him descend with matching expressions of distaste.

‘Finally,’ my mother spits, dropping Lenny’s hand so she can round on the new arrival. ‘Two hours I’ve been chasing you around this bloody building. Your wife wants to know what you’ve done with the housekeeping she’d hidden in the green teapot. She says you better not have lost it on the horses or she’s had it with you.’

Grandma Dicey rolls her eyes. ‘I rather think she’s had it with him anyway. He’s been dead for six weeks.’

‘You’re a fine one to talk, given that you still sleep with your husband twenty years after he died.’ Mother flicks her silver hair sharply. Touché. 

Lenny whimpers and bolts for my front door, turning back to me just long enough to splutter ‘something’s come up, gotta go,’ before he hoofs it out and down the stairs two at a time.

I listen to the outside door bang on its hinges and wonder what came up. Probably his dinner.

Sincerely
Book Angels x

About the Author

Kitty French lives in the Black Country with her husband, two young sons and two crazy cats. She’s a lover of all things romantic - songs, music, and most of all, books. 
Her USA Today best-selling Lucien Knight series topped the erotic chart on both sides of the pond, and she also writes romantic comedy as Kat French for Avon, HarperCollins. She's over the moon to join Bookouture with her brand new paranormal romantic comedy series, Melody Bittersweet and the Girls Ghostbusting Agency.

Follow the rest of the blog tour here

Author Q & A with Claire Seeber

The perfect wife. A fairytale family. Don’t believe your eyes…Jeanie and Matthew are a happily married couple who both have teenage children from previous relationships.
No one said it would be easy to raise a blended family under one roof but Jeanie and Matthew are strong. They will make it work.
And whilst Jeanie’s step-daughter Scarlett rejects her, Jeanie will just have to try harder to win her over.
But Jeanie has a past. A terrible secret she thought she’d buried a long time ago. And now, it’s coming to the surface, threatening to destroy her new marriage.
Someone is playing a terrifying game on Jeanie and she must put a stop to it once and for all.

After all, a fairytale needs a happy ending…doesn’t it?


Title:        The Stepmother
Author:    Claire Seeber
Published By: Bookouture
Date:        July 15th 2016
Link:        UK:   Amazon   US: Amazon


Welcome to the blog Claire, can you tell us..

What was the inspiration behind this novel?

I’ve been studying psychology. I’m fascinated in childhood and how it affects us as adults. And the step-parenting thing is SO complex: so many people’s different emotions coming into play. 

Did you always want to be a writer?

Not really. English was about the only subject I was good at, at school, but my dad had a go at being a writer, and that put me off! I wanted to be an actress; I’m not sure why because I wasn’t very good really. I liked hiding behind other people’s identities maybe.

What other jobs have you had?
So first out of college, I did have a go at being a actress – a bad one! Always played bimbos and prostitutes. I did lots of jobs to pay the bills like waitressing, and doing promotions: lay on the bonnets of cars and sold video recorders in a gym skirt at Earl’s Court. God that sounds terrible!! Then I got into factual TV production, worked my way up from being a temp, to being a director. 

How did it feel when your first novel was published?
It was very exciting; really felt like a proper dream coming true. I’ll never forget seeing my first book in a shop – in Borders on Oxford St. It was next to Kerry Katona’s first novel! Not sure if that’s a good or bad thing!

Have you ever had writer's block?

If so how did you overcome it? Not really to be honest. I usually have too many things I want to write, and not enough time, if anything! 

What motivates you to keep writing?

Good question! A mix: I’ll always write, I need to get things out, to work stuff out. I have written to support my kids as a single mum; to share ideas; to try to reach people.

Do your characters moods ever affect your mood and vice versa?

Oh, another great question. I’m sure they do, yes. I’ve been known to cry over certain scenes, and not just as I write them, but when I read them again! Not sure anyone else cries.

What three pieces of advice would you give to an aspiring writer?

Be true to yourself: don’t try to manufacture something you don’t believe in.

Be organized (I’m not) & plan what you’re writing before you write it…at least a little bit.

Do your research once you want to try to sell it: who is the right agent/ where’s the right market.

Which authors inspire you?

So many! 

What are you reading at the moment?

I just read SJI Holliday’s Willow Walk. It was great: very creepy!

If your book was made into a film, what song would you choose for the opening credits?

That’s tricky..probably something a bit dark and moody but also funky. Jeanie listens to Janis Joplin in the book, so maybe one of her tunes, Cry Baby maybe.

Who would you choose to play your favourite character in the film of your book?

Oh that’s tough…how about Ruth Wilson or Jodie Whittaker playing Marlene? Or Gemma Arterton as Jeanie?

What is your next book about?

I’ve written something very different; it’s a historical thriller set between the wars and is about love, survival and spies.

And now think about the books you've read and just give the first one that comes into your head for our quickfire 'Which book round.'

Which book has made you:

Laugh out loud?

Nina Stibbe’s Man at the Helm

Cry your heart out?

Beyond the High Blue Air by Lu Spinney. It’s the most beautifully written, harrowing, heart-wrenching memoir by a mother whose eldest son Miles is brain-damaged snowboarding. I used to babysit Mile as a teenager, which made it all the more poignant for me. I was sobbing on the Intercity from Bristol.

Want to read it again?

I’ve just re-ordered Shadow of the Moon by MM Kaye which I LOVED when I was about 14. I want to see if I still like it!

Think more?

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry

Wish it would be made into a film?

Probably Nina Stibbe again; a feral family in the ‘70s with a flakey single mum, enjoyed that so much, relating to it!

Shocked?

Maggie Nelson’s The Argonauts, which opens with a very graphic sex scene. I was reading it in a queue into a theatre with a lot of elderly ladies around. I spluttered a bit 

Scared?

Was terrified by Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie as a kid! Does that count?!

Thank you so much for joining us today Claire and good luck with the book.

Sincerely

Book Angels x

About the Author

Claire Seeber’s TV career has seen her move from in front of the camera to behind it, and from MTV, to  chatshows, to documentaries. Her work has taken her all over the world, but home is in London with her partner and two children. Claire writes features for a range of broadsheets, last year began studying psychology, and has had four novels published by HarperCollins. 


Follow the rest of the tour here...

Blog Tour; All is not Forgotten by Wendy Walker

‘Deeply intriguing and provocative,… ALL IS NOT FORGOTTEN is not to be missed’

–KARIN SLAUGHTER
You can erase the memory. But you cannot erase the crime.
Jenny’s wounds have healed.
An experimental treatment has removed the memory of a horrific and degrading attack.
She is moving on with her life.
That was the plan. Except it’s not working out.
Something has gone. The light in the eyes. And something was left behind. A scar. On her lower back. Which she can’t stop touching.
And she’s getting worse.
Not to mention the fact that her father is obsessed with finding her attacker and her mother is in toxic denial.
It may be that the only way to uncover what’s wrong is to help Jenny recover her memory. But even if it can be done, pulling at the threads of her suppressed experience will unravel much more than the truth about her attack.
‘Original, compelling and very, very clever’
-B.A. Paris, bestselling author of Behind Closed Doors

Title:        All Is Not Forgotten
Author:    Wendy Walker
Published By: Mira
Date:        July 12th 2016
Link:        UK: Amazon   US: Amazon

My Review

A thought provoking psychological thriller that grips you from the first page and doesn't let go even after you've finished reading

The story is about a young girl called Jenny who goes through an horrific ordeal as she is brutally raped in the woods. Her parents are devastated and choose a controversial method of dealing with the situation by allowing doctors to give her a treatment which will make her forget the attack. This sounds like the perfect solution until we find out that the recovery is actually hindered because the memory might not have been deleted but may just be being stored in a different place.

The narration is fantastic and is told from Alan the psychiatrist's point of view. It was an interesting style and is very personal to the reader.

As Alan is providing therapy for the whole family he is able to bring each of their stories to our attention and I really liked that approach. We were able to see the complexities of the lives of all the characters and feel the emotions that they would be going through, particularly Tom who was Jenny's dad.

Alan needs to get Jenny to remember what happened so that she can move on with her life but then that could cause difficulties elsewhere and create other huge dilemmas.

This book deals with an horrific situation so is not for the faint hearted yet is not doom and gloom and has a positive voice throughout. The characters are strong likeable and believable

The book is intriguing and unputdownable, the art of manipulation at it's finest. I can't wait to see the film.

Congratulations to Wendy Walker for what has to be the psychological thriller of the year and thank you to Cara from Harper Collins for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

See below for an excerpt from the novel.

Excerpt from All Is Not Forgotten

I don’t remember exactly what was said. I just kept hearing the word “rape” over and over. I can tell you that it was a brutal, merciless attack. That they had no suspects. That he had been careful, wearing a condom and perhaps shaving his body hair. They thought, and this was later confirmed by the forensic investigators, that he wore a black wool mask—like one of those ski masks that covers your entire face and head. They said it lasted for about an hour. I have thought about that more than I should. When Jenny was back in the hospital eight months after the rape, when I knew this was not over, I went home and lay on the floor with my face pressed to the ground, my body positioned the way they said hers was. I lay there for an hour. An hour is a long time to be tortured, longer than any of us can imagine. I promise you that.

Anyway…the treatment. So they explained the process. The drugs that would be given. How it would put her into a sort of coma for about a day and that, if we were lucky, it might block her memory of the rape and at the very least, and this they said they knew for sure, it would reduce any PTSD she might suffer. They said the PTSD could be debilitating and require years of therapy. Dr. Baird asked if we wanted to speak with a psychiatrist to better understand the treatment and what life might be like for her without it. He said every minute that passed reduced the effectiveness.

Charlotte’s eyes got so wide. “Yes!” she said without even looking at me. “Do it! What are you waiting for?” She stood up and pointed to the door like they should both rush out to follow her orders. But I grabbed her arm. I may not be the smartest man, but this didn’t sound right to me. If she couldn’t remember, how could she help them find this creature? How could she help put him behind bars, where he would get what he deserved? Detective Parsons nodded and looked at the floor like he knew exactly what I was saying. He finally confessed that it would be very difficult. That even if the drug didn’t work completely, anything she did remember would be ripped apart in court as unreliable. Of course it would, right? I mean, come on. Game over. Look—I’m not saying I wanted this guy caught and punished more than I wanted my daughter to recover. But where her mother saw her recovery in forgetting and pretending this never happened, I saw it coming more by way of facing the devil, you know? Looking him square in the eye and taking back a piece of what he had stolen. And I was right, wasn’t I? Jesus Christ, I wish I wasn’t, but I was.

Sincerely

Book Angel x

About the Author

Wendy Walker has worked as an attorney specialising in family law. She lives in Connecticut where she is at work on her next novel.

wendywalkerbooks.com

facebook.com/WendyWalkerAuthor/

instagram.com/wendygwalker

Author Q & A Sue Watson

Does first love deserve a second chance?
When she was almost seventeen, Rosie Draper locked eyes with a charismatic student called Peter during their first week at art college, changing the course of her life forever. Now, on the cusp of sixty-five and recently widowed, Rosie is slowly coming to terms with a new future. And after a chance encounter with Peter, forty-seven years later, they both begin to wonder 'what if' . . .
Told with warmth, wit and humour, We'll Always Have Paris is a charming, moving and uplifting novel about two people; the choices they make, the lives they lead and the love they share.

Title:        We'll Always Have Paris
Author:    Sue Watson
Published By: Sphere
Date:        ebook: June 27th 2016
Link:        UK: Amazon   US: Amazon

Author Q & A

Today we are delighted to welcome the lovely Sue Watson to the blog to talk about her new book 'We Will Always Have Paris.

Hi Sue, What was the inspiration behind this novel? 
I’ve always been intrigued by the idea of ‘the one that got away.’ Most people remember their first love, their BIG love and who hasn’t wondered where they are now? And faced with a chance encounter with that lost love after many years - what would we say … what would we do? I wanted to explore what happens after all this time, how we change, who we are and if we’re the same people in a different world. I spoke to many people who’ve been through this and it’s been a fascinating and enlightening book to write.

Did you always want to be a writer? 
Actually I was desperate to be an actress, it was my dream to go to drama school, but I ended up playing it safe and doing a degree in English. This lead me into journalism, then I became a TV producer, which I loved and while working at the BBC I started to write my first book. I was just making notes, but the idea for Fat Girls and Fairy Cakes was a big pull and I left TV to write and realised it was what I’d been looking for all my life.

What other jobs have you had? 
At university I worked as an usherette in a theatre – it was as close as I could get to being ‘on stage,’ but sadly the star was never on my dressing room door. After Uni I took a post grad course and became a journalist, working for agencies, then women’s magazines and landed a brilliant job on the TV pages of The Sun. It was great fun and involved meeting and interviewing many celebrities and attending glamorous launch parties, but being young (and stupid!) I thought I shouldn’t be having so much fun at work. I wanted to be taken more seriously so became a TV researcher at the BBC which was also great fun and I couldn’t believe I was being paid for it – that lead me to producing. I’ve been very, very lucky.

How did it feel when your first novel was published?
Amazing! I miraculously managed to find an agent quite quickly – and she was really encouraging. However, she offered my book to all the major publishers and it was turned down – so she dumped me. I was devastated, and had to go it alone with my book, eventually finding a small publisher who wanted to publish it. The road had been long and rocky and the process had taken several years – but the day those copies of Fat Girls and Fairy Cakes arrived in the post was like holding my baby for the first time… well, almost!

Have you ever had writer's block? If so how did you overcome it?
I think, if I allowed it to happen I could easily have writer’s block, but I try really hard not to let it in. Some books are tougher to write than others, and I always have the ‘this is rubbish’ days but I keep going and the next day it feels better. Sometimes it’s difficult to lose myself in the writing, especially working at home with a family around. I write in the kitchen because I don’t want to miss anything, but it has its disadvantages especially when I’m in the middle of a love scene and someone’s asking where their clean socks are. I suppose that can be a sort of writer’s block, but I plough on through all the chaos because if I didn’t I would have to stop making stuff up for a living and find a ‘real’ job, and I couldn’t possibly do that!

What motivates you to keep writing?
I write a lot about disillusioned women with disappointing lives – we’ve all been there at some point. But I want to laugh or at least smile about life and recognise we’re all in this together and we can and should do something about it if we can. In the great scheme of things it’s not the end of the world to be overweight, in a frustrating relationship, or a disappointing job – but it affects your life. Many of my readers contact me to say they have identified with my heroines, laughed at my books, then done something about it. I’ve received messages on Facebook that have made me cry and when someone says my books have inspired them to chase their dreams and have the courage to make a change, that’s what really motivates me.

The other motivation is my characters, who never let me rest. I’m ‘in between’ books at the moment and had looked forward to the down time of a couple of weeks with a head free from characters and plots, but I can’t let go. My head is constantly filling with voices - I feel like psychic Sally! I’ll burst if I don’t start another book soon – and I only finished two days ago.

Do your characters moods ever affect your mood and vice versa? 
What a great question. Oh yes. When I wrote Summer Flings and Dancing Dreams I laughed a lot because my hero is hilarious and gorgeous and I loved spending time with him. But he’s not your typical romantic hero – he’s gay and his opening line is ‘I’m not interested in women, so you can’t take me to bed, take me shopping instead. I miss him, he cheered me up if I was feeling low.

And when I wrote Love, Lies and Lemon Cake I fell in love along with my heroine! Faye is a hairdresser in a dead-end marriage and a dead-end job who falls for Dan, a cool, gorgeous Australian who cares and listens and loves her like no-one else. Her husband Craig, on the other hand is a plumber, whose idea of excitement was a wet flange and a flick through ‘Plumbing Monthly.’ I felt like I’d had an affair after writing that book - and kept reminding myself that I wasn’t Faye and my husband wasn’t actually Craig the plumber!

What three pieces of advice would you give to an aspiring writer?

1.     Write, write, write. Seems obvious, but stop dreaming about writing ‘that’ novel, just get it on paper.

2.     Try not to worry about what everyone else is doing and achieving – that way madness lies. Just focus on you and your writing.

3.     It’s a cliché – but I can’t stress this enough - don’t give up. The rejections, the lack of money and the way some people look at you at the school gate like you’re deluded when you say ‘I’m writing a book.’ All these things, and more, will make you feel like absolute rubbish - but if, after all that you’re still writing, then you might just make it, because half the battle is to just keep on keeping on.

If your book was made into a film what song would you choose for the opening credits?
Oh that is just such a good question because I have absolutely the song. My teenage daughter and I don’t often like the same music but we both love a singer called Lily Kershaw. We play her album in the car constantly – and one of the songs really inspired me while I was writing ‘We’ll Always have Paris.’ It’s called ‘As it Seems,’ – it’s beautiful, about the fragility of life, the choices we make on the journey – and the stories we leave behind. The song gives me goosebumps and I can’t hear it without thinking of Rosie, my heroine… and it always, always makes me cry. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utXz08ICZg4

Who would you choose to play your favourite character in the film of your book? My heroine in ‘We’ll Always have Paris,’ is in her sixties, and my editor loves the idea of Felicity Kendall which I do too. I also love the idea of Amanda Redman, who is actually in her fifties, but she’s sexy and feisty and fun – and who knows, if they ever made a film she might be old enough by then!

What is your next book about? 
My next book is a Christmas book, the working title is The Christmas Cake Café – and where ‘We’ll Always have Paris’ is an emotional read written with humour, this is a humorous read with emotion like my other books. The story involves Jenny, a forty-something woman who, having been dumped by her boyfriend on Christmas Eve plans to spend the rest of her life and her Christmases alone with her cat, a tin of Quality Street and Downton Abbey. But her younger sister convinces her – against her better judgement – to go on a Christmas ski-ing holiday, promising roaring log fires and glittering landscapes. But on arrival, things aren’t quite what she expected and the fact Jenny’s suitcase is lost and she can’t even ski is just the beginning of her problems.

And now think about the books you've read and just give the first one that comes into your head for our quickfire 'Which book round.'

Which book has made you:

Laugh out loud? Jen Lancaster’s ‘Such a Pretty Fat.’
Cry your heart out? Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
Want to read it again? ‘Her’ by Harriet Lane
Think more? ‘The Last lecture’ by Randy Pausch
Wish it would be made into a film? ‘The Mistress’s Revenge,’ by Tamar Cohen
Shocked? ‘I Let you Go,’ by Clare Mackintosh
Scared? ‘Behind Closed Doors,’ by BA Parish


Thank you so much Sue for joining us on our blog today and good luck with the book. 

Sincerely

Book Angels x

About the Author

Sue Watson was a TV Producer with the BBC who combined motherhood and family life with a busy career. However, one day it dawned on Sue that Cosmo magazine may have been telling porkies about 'having it all,' and her life had become a slightly crazed juggling act.

So after much soul searching (and comfort eating) Sue abandoned her TV career, bought a pink laptop and wrote 'Fat Girls and Fairy Cakes.' It was then Sue realised she couldn't stop writing and produced 'Younger, Thinner, Blonder' 'Love, Lies and Lemon Cake' and 'Snow Angels, Secrets and Christmas Cake,' 'Summer Flings and Dancing Dreams,' and 'Bella's Christmas Bake Off.' Her next book 'We'll Always have Paris,' comes out in June 2016.

Originally from Manchester, Sue now lives with her husband and teenage daughter in Worcestershire where she bakes (and eats) lots of cake. She spends much of her time making big decisions about whether to have Caramel Chew Chew or Peanut Butter ice cream (or both?) while watching 'The Biggest Loser USA,' and procrastinating over her latest novel.

For more info visit Sue's website; http://www.suewatsonbooks.com/
Sue would love to meet you on FaceBook at https://www.facebook.com/suewatsonbooks

Follow Sue on Twitter @suewatsonwriter

That Girl from Nowhere by Dorothy Koomson

From the bestselling author of The Ice Cream Girls, The Woman He Loved Before and My Best Friend's Girl, an emotional story about love, identity and the meaning of family. ‘Where are you coming from with that accent of yours?’ he asks.
‘Nowhere,’ I reply. ‘I’m from nowhere.’
‘Everyone’s from somewhere,’ he says.
‘Not me,’ I reply silently.

Clemency Smittson was adopted as a baby and the only connection she has to her birth mother is a cardboard box hand-decorated with butterflies. Now an adult, Clem decides to make a drastic life change and move to Brighton, where she was born. Clem has no idea that while there she'll meet someone who knows all about her butterfly box and what happened to her birth parents.

As the tangled truths about her adoption and childhood start to unravel, a series of shocking events cause Clem to reassess whether the price of having contact with her birth family could be too high to pay...

Title:        That Girl from Nowhere
Author:    Dorothy Koomson
Published By: Cornerstone Digital
Date:        April 9th 2015
Link:        UK: Amazon   US: Amazon

My Review

I am a huge fan of Dorothy's ever since I found a copy of The Chocolate Run in a Spanish apartment we were staying in one year. After reading that I read her whole back catalogue and then bought everything she wrote and loved them all. However in the year since I've been blogging I've been inundated with so many other fabulous books and so when I met Dorothy at Isabelle Broom's book launch I was determined to catch up and she very kindly signed my copy for me. The book covers are always beautiful and intriguing.

One of the main things to say about Dorothy's books is that they deal with issues head on and I think that's what makes them so real and heart wrenching.

That Girl from Nowhere deals with the painful issue of adoption, Clemency Smittson has always known she was adopted and although she has had a happy childhood and was very much loved and wanted by her adopted parents she still was actually made to feel inferior and as if she didn't belong by other people including some family members.

I had always assumed that adoption would bring complications into a person's life but poor Clem did not deserve what she had to go through. Even meeting up with the biological parents caused such a lot of grief for her in that she felt guilty for meeting them incase it upset her mum but she also felt guilty for reminding her biological parents that she was responsible for causing problems in their lives. My heart broke for Clemency as she always had to be the bigger person in every aspect of her life and the feeling of being the girl from nowhere wasn't helped by meeting the biological family because they already had their roles within the family. One of the most heartbreaking scenes for me  was when her biological mother explained that she hadn't gone to University in the end and the room went quiet as everyone realised the reason why was because she got pregnant and then Clemency felt awkward, how absurd that she should feel awkward for being born!

I was horrified and angry for Clemency when her grandmother asked her to help her to do something as to me that just showed that she wanted to use her without any regard to how she might feel and the repercussions that would follow.

This story explored emotional blackmail, racism, family loyalty, pain and heartbreak. The adoption aspects were handled very sensitively and really made me feel empathy for everyone involved in this sort of situation. I feel that Clemency was actually a very strong character although she probably doesn't realise just how strong she is.

Another fabulous deep and meaningful book from Dorothy, interesting, heartbreaking and full of substance. I now need to catch up on the latest book When I Was Invisible.

About the Author

I wrote my first (unpublished) novel when I was 13 - and I've been making up stories ever since.

After finishing my masters degree, I had several temping jobs before getting my big break in journalism working on small newspaper. In the evenings I continued to write fiction and in 2001 I had the idea for The Cupid Effect. Two years later it hit the shelves and my career as a published novelist began.

In 2006 my third novel, My Best Friend's Girl, was published and was selected for the Richard & Judy Summer Reads Book Club - going on to sell over 500,000 copies. To date I've written six bestseller list books, and they have been translated into 28 languages across the world.

I live near Brighton and am currently working on another book and a screenplay. Find out more info at www.dorothykoomson.co.uk

Show More

Summer at Skylark Farm by Heidi Swain

For everyone dreaming of escaping to the country, fall in love this summer at Skylark Farm...
Amber is a city girl at heart. So when her boyfriend Jake Somerville suggests they move to the countryside to help out at his family farm, she doesn't quite know how to react. But work has been hectic and she needs a break so she decides to grasp the opportunity and make the best of it.

Dreaming of organic orchards, paddling in streams and frolicking in fields, Amber packs up her things and moves to Skylark Farm. But life is not quite how she imagined - it's cold and dirty and the farm buildings are dilapidated and crumbling.

But Amber is determined to make the best of it and throws herself into farm life. But can she really fit in here? And can she and Jake stay together when they are so different?

A story of love in the countryside from the author of the bestselling The Cherry Tree Café. Perfect for Escape to the Country dreamers, Cath Kidston fans and Country Living addicts!

Title:        Summer at Skylark Farm
Author:    Heidi Swain
Published By: Simon & Schuster
Date:        June 2nd 2016
Link:        UK: Amazon   US: Amazon

My Review

Another super book from the delightful Heidi Swain.

Amber has a high powered job in the city which is her whole life. That is until she meets Jake who offers her a chance to taste the country life by moving into Skylark farm which belongs to his auntie Annie.

It doesn't take long for Amber to fall head over heels  in love with the place and she fits in really well but soon she discovers that secrets have been kept from her and Jake's ex, Holly, seems determined to get her claws back into him no matter what.

I was really taken with Amber's character and the way she threw herself into any challenges that came her way, she had a lovely relationship with Annie and made some great friends in the village.
I loved the descriptions of Skylark Farm and Meadowview Cottage and really felt as though I was there attending the May Fair and being a part of the community myself. It was also nice to revisit the Cherry Tree cafe and see how Lizzie and Jemma were doing.

I felt sorry for Amber as I really think Jake over reacted but he was helped into that situation by the trouble causers who made an innocent situation seem much worse.
Congratulations to Heidi for an excellent second novel and I can't wait for the next one. It's been a real treat watching Heidi embark on her writing journey and I've had the pleasure of meeting her on a number of occasions now.

Huge thanks to netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the review copy.

Sincerely

Book Angels x

About the Author

Although passionate about writing from an early age, Heidi Swain gained a degree in Literature, flirted briefly with a newspaper career, married and had two children before she finally plucked up the courage to join a creative writing class and take her literary ambitions seriously.

A lover of Galaxy bars, vintage paraphernalia and the odd bottle of fizz, she now writes contemporary fiction and enjoys the company of a whole host of feisty female characters.

Heidi can be found at the keyboard at all hours of the day and night and quite often scribbling longhand in her car during her lunch break. She lives in stunning south Norfolk with her wonderful family and a mischievous cat called Storm.