Publisher: Wings ePress (1st September 2014)

Bells On Her Toes is another book which has been waiting ever so patiently on my kindle. I’m so glad I didn’t leave it any longer. This is an excellent murder mystery which kept me guessing until the very end.

The story starts with a barn fire on a country estate. A man’s remains are found in the barn and it’s initially thought it might be an insurance scam gone wrong. Perhaps a homeless man sheltering. However, when the man is found to have been shot, it soon becomes clear this was no scam or accident. As we follow DCI Peter Hatherall, his partner, Fiona, and their team’s investigation, all sorts of secrets are revealed, but nothing seems to be adding up.

The characters involved in and/or suspected of the murder are an interesting bunch. Gladys especially! There are plenty of twists and turns and short chapters which make this a fast-paced and suspenseful read.

Bells On Her Toes is a brilliantly written police procedural, with mostly likeable and some very quirky characters. Peter is a very believable character. He’s a devoted police officer, but has his flaws and personal struggles which can affect his work as much as he tries to separate his work and personal life. I really warmed to Fiona. There is an obvious attraction between the two of them, but one that neither of them seem to want to admit to. Will there be a sequel? I’d be interested to see what happens next!

Many thanks to Diana J. Febry for my review copy. I am now off to add her other books to my TBR list.

Buy a copy…..

DCI Peter Hatherall is called in to investigate a shooting on the Earl of Ditchburn’s country estate. The Earl’s activities have angered animal rights and environmental groups but subsequent deaths suggest Elmsgrove Racehorse Yard is the target. There is more at stake than a horse race and time is running out for Hatherall to solve the case before the culprit kills again.

Diana J. Febry’s Amazon Author Page

Enjoy!

Hi and welcome to my #FlashbackFriday feature.

On the first Friday of each month I like to have a little look back at what I was reading at the same time last year.

Here are the book reviews I published in May 2016…..

Political Suicide

My Name Is Leon

A Reason To Stay

Field Of Lies

Have you read any of these books?

What were you reading this time last year? If you do a #FlashbackFriday post please do share your link with me in the comments.

Thanks for reading!

I am delighted to be joining in with K. A. Richardson’s Watch You Burn blog tour 🙂

Many thanks to Sarah Hardy, at Bloodhound Books, for inviting me to take part.

Guest post…..

Being asked to do a guest blog post in advance of the blogger tour for my fourth novel, Watch You Burn, is a great honour – thank you so much to Kerry Ann Parsons for being interested enough to request one! Blog’s are a funny thing for me – I do a monthly blog on what’s happening in my world but I feel like a guest blog should be something special. Something different.

So I thought I would do this one on characters.

Characters are so important to me as a writer – if I don’t like how the character grows throughout the story it can throw my plot off completely resulting in massive rewriting and pondering – and occasionally even binning the work off. It’s not always immediately obvious that the character is what’s at fault either so I can spend hours wondering why a story isn’t doing what I want it to do without even realising why. It’s because she doesn’t drink coffee, or he isn’t the kind of person to deal with something the way he should be, or that I’ve written someone as a she when in fact they might be better as a he. There are so many ways that characters impact on my writing and in truth, it took me some time to realise this.

I used to just start with the names I wanted to use (a feat in itself!) and go from there, never paying a second thought to how they look or the person they were. In days gone by this is why those particular stories never worked – because if I didn’t know the character, how could I expect a reader to relate to them?

When I did my MA a revelation hit – a major component of one module was characterisation and the lecturer, a writer herself and extremely knowledgeable (Carol Clewlow was her name though she’s now retired), asked us all to do character profiles. Now I’m sure there are different ways to do character profiles, but the way she taught me was an eye-opener. All of a sudden my characters could become real people, I could see them in my head, know them as a person and understand how they would react to a situation based on the profile I built of them. That was when I started planning out my characters before they even appeared on paper. I knew their names, how old they were, where they were from, what family they have, who their friends were, their strengths, their weaknesses, what scared them and what they would die fighting for. I can’t convey enough thanks to Carol for the input on this when I was learning – this knowledge helped develop me into a writer – and enabled my characters push my plots forward.

I do this now with every main character in every book or story I write – because I want them to be real to the reader – I want people to be able to relate and think ‘wow that could happen to someone I know or even me’ – I want readers to believe, while they’re reading, that the person they’re reading about could actually be real. I hope I’ve achieved that in the books I’ve done so far. I absolutely loved learning about Edina Blaze, the fire investigator in my upcoming novel, Watch You Burn. She’s feisty but also a little vulnerable, and so family orientated! And she rides a Harley Davidson and wears leathers – she’s definitely not run of the mill!

If anyone reading this is contemplating being a writer, that would be one of my push points – know your characters before you start. They will help you write the book that’s in your head.

Thank you so much for writing such a fab guest post, Kerry Ann (great name by the way! 😉 ), and for the opportunity to be a part of your blog tour.

Publisher: Bloodhound Books (2nd May 2017)

Someone is breaking into Fire Investigator, Edina Blaze’s, home and leaving deadly messages. When Glen Peacock is burned alive, she has to put her own problems aside and attend the location with Crime Scene Manager, Kevin Lang.

As the body count rises, Edina’s sister Heather becomes involved. Is it her setting these gruesome fires? Or is she a target too?

Kevin has seen it all in his years on the force, but when a young girl is found burnt to dead, even he is shocked.

Who is taking pleasure in watching people burn? Why are they doing it? And will they be caught?

DI Alistair McKay and the team from North East Police have to work quickly to stop the killer, before they all end up in flames.

Buy your copy…..

About the author…..

My name is Kerry-Ann Richardson (generally known as Kerry) and I write as KA Richardson. I started writing the North East Police series in 2010 when I was working towards my MA Creative Writing – I used the first 15000 words of With Deadly Intent as my dissertation. I passed my MA in 2011 and kept on writing. This all came about from working as a Crime Scene Investigator – I’d always written but when I was a CSI I went to see a psychic, Anthony, and he wanted to know why I wasn’t writing. He reminded me that it was my passion and said he could see me signing in Waterstones in 5 years. That was 5.5 years before my first ever signing in Waterstones so he wasn’t far wrong!

I did the normal things writers do when their book is ready to go out into the world – submitted to agents etc. I got a few nice personal responses back – still saying no but being constructive and polite about it. I approached Darren Laws from Caffeine Nights whilst at a crime festival and he asked to see my work. He agreed to publish With Deadly Intent from there, and once that was out I approached Bloodhound Books as wanted to know if there was any other interest in my novels. Bloodhound came back within 24 hours and offered me a 3 book deal!  And I’ve since signed an additional 3 book deal with them which covers the series up to and including book 7!

K. A. Richardson’s Amazon Author Page

Enjoy!

Publisher: Alchemy Press; 1 edition (10th March 2015)

Fourteen short stories by Jan Edwards, including the BFS award short-listed ‘Otterburn’, plus a previously unpublished tale. “All adeptly told, often with a sense of locale and time neatly placed within the narratives. Her family history informs and inspires some of her stories. Folklore figures as a focus in more than one story, whether urban myth or historical lore. But ghostly they are and deceptively disturbing.” (42,000 words)

My review…..

Leinster Gardens and Other Subtleties is like nothing I’ve ever read before. I don’t read many short stories and I always struggle to review them when I do, but I would highly recommend you give these stories a go, if you haven’t already. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading something completely different.

Each story is unique and some are quite dark and creepy, but they’re not your ‘typical’ ghost stories. As the title suggests, they are subtly eerie. Each story transports you to another time and place and I found myself engrossed in the characters and their stories. Each one demands your attention and holds it with wonderful description and dialogue.

I thought Nanna Barrows would be my favourite, until I read R for Roberta, then I changed my mind again when I read Redhill Residential, then The Clinic, then Wade’s Run………

Now I’m not sure which is my favourite, but if I had to pick one I’d probably go with Wade’s Run, but all are beautifully written and thought provoking.

I’m looking forward to reading more of Jan Edwards’ writing.

Buy a copy…..

About the author…..

Jan Edwards is a Sussex-born writer now living in the West Midlands with her husband and obligatory cats. She was a Master Locksmith for 20 years but also tried her hand at bookselling, microfiche photography, livery stable work, motorcycle sales and market gardening. She is a practising Reiki Master. She won a Winchester Slim Volume prize and her short fiction can be found in crime, horror and fantasy anthologies in UK, US and Europe; including The Mammoth Book of Dracula and The Mammoth Book of Moriarty. Jan edits anthologies for The Alchemy Press and Fox Spirit Press, and has written for Dr Who spin-offs with Reel Time Pictures.

Her crime novel Winter Downs will be out 3rd June 2017.

http://janedwardsblog.wordpress.com/

Jan Edwards’ Amazon Author Page

Enjoy!

I am delighted to welcome Laurie Ellingham today 🙂

Laurie’s most recent novel, One Endless Summer, was published by HQ Digital UK on 20th April 2017.

Guest post…..

My Writing Team

It goes without saying that when a book is signed to a publisher, it becomes a team effort with editors, proof-readers, copy editors, cover designers and marketers. You only need to look at the beautiful cover of One Endless Summer to see the wonderful work that my publisher HQ (Harper Collins) have put into my novel.

But this guest post is not about that team. It’s about my other team: the amazing individuals who help me with my manuscript long before it ever reaches the hands of the publisher. As the saying goes – Behind every great man is a great woman. Well, behind every writer there are a great team. Here’s my team and why they are so important to me:

1. Andy Ellingham (aka my husband) – Andy is not much of a reader but he does diligently read my manuscript and has a great eye for weeding out clichés, as well as metaphors and similes that don’t make sense.

2. Maggie and Mel Ewings (Aka my mum and her husband) – A husband and wife duo who read everything I write. They are great with characterisation and often question whether one of my characters would say or do something.

3. Pauline Hare (aka Aunty Pauline) – A fabulous proof reader who not only spots errors but gives me a feel for when the pace is too slow or too fast, and where there needs to be a boost of excitement. Pauline is an avid reader and will give me a great sense of if I’m getting my twists right.

4. Kathryn Jones (aka my dog walking/running friend) – Eagle-eye Kathryn loves nothing more that to circle errors in my manuscript, which makes her a fantastic proof-reader. She’s my go-to person on word queries too. Kathryn is a pro at finding incorrectly used words (i.e. undulate not ululate).

5. Steve Tomlin (aka my dad) – A fantastic sounding board for ideas and story plotting. My dad is where my burning desire to write comes from. Steve likes to make sure my characters feel realistic. In One Endless Summer, Ben has a fear of heights, which was an idea Steve gave me because Ben was otherwise a bit too perfect.

6. Katherine Cresswell (aka my sister-in-law) – A social media whizz, Katherine is great at spreading the word about my books in the run up to, and after publication.

The creation of a novel is a lonely process, with long hours spent with fictional characters and typing away at a computer, but my amazing team help me through it and I would be truly lost without all of their support!

Thank you, Kerry for having me as a guest on your blog and for allowing me to give a shout out to these fabulous people.

It is my pleasure, Laurie 🙂 Many thanks for joining me.

Publisher: HQ (20th April 2017)

‘Speechless at just how breathtaking this book really is.’
Rachel Gilbey

Three best friends.

Three continents.

Three months to live.

How long can you keep a secret?

Three best friends are embarking on an all-expenses paid trip of their dreams. The only catch? Every moment will be documented on film.

Lizzie’s battle with cancer is coming to an end, and now she’s ready to embrace adventure for the very first time. There are only three months, but it is Lizzie’s time to finally start living!

Jaddi is known for her stunning looks, flirtatious attitude and many conquests. But Jaddi has a secret and on this last trip together she needs to decide whether her best friends will ever know the real her.

Samantha has always been the ‘grown up’ of the group, the one with a five year plan. What Lizzie and Jaddi don’t know is that Sam is trapped, and her perfect life isn’t quite what it seems…

As they trek across the globe Lizzie, Jaddi and Samantha must come to terms with loss, love and trusting one another. But will it all be too late…

Buy a copy…..

About the author…..

Laurie lives in a small village on the Suffolk/Essex border, with her husband, two children, and their cockerpoo, Rodney. When she is not disappearing into the fictional world of her characters, preferably with a large coffee and a Twix (or two) to hand, she is running through the countryside, burning off the chocolate intake and plotting her next chapter.

To find out more visit http://www.laurie-ellingham.com, or find her on Twitter @LaurieEllingham and Facebook Laurie Ellingham Author

Laurie Ellingham’s Amazon Author Page

Enjoy!

I am thrilled to be kicking off Karen King’s Perfect Summer blog tour! 🙂

Many thanks to Karen King for inviting me to take part and for providing a lovely extract for me to share with you.

Publisher: Accent Press (10th May 2017)

Set in a society obsessed with perfection, 15 year old Morgan is best friends with the seemingly perfect Summer. But when Morgan’s brother, Josh, who has Down’s syndrome, is kidnapped, they uncover a sinister plot and find themselves in terrible danger.

Can they find Josh before it’s too late? And is Summer’s life as perfect as it seems?

Extract…..

Summer and I hurried upstairs while Josh was busy watching TV. Summer plonked herself down on my bed while I got my things ready.

“Want some music?” I asked, pressing the silver button on the comm-panel. The latest hit from Krescendo, our favourite band, blasted out and a hologram of them playing beamed onto the wall.

Then I pressed the green button, my wardrobe doors glided open, and a rail of clothes slid out. I glanced over at Summer, feeling awkward as always, that my room was so small and my wardrobe so sparse. Summer’s wardrobe was a huge walk-in affair full of designer clothes. Luckily, she was sprawled out watching Krescendo so I quickly grabbed the clothes I needed for the weekend and shoved them in my rucksack. Thank goodness I’d found an immaculate emerald green Maliko dress at the recycle store the other week. That would be perfect for Roxy’s. I knew Summer would let me borrow her clothes but felt better if I wore something of my own.

I took out the dress and zipped it into a freshpack to keep it crease-free. I glanced at the image screen on my bedroom wall and grimaced. My make-up needed renewing and some strands of my chestnut hair were escaping from the ponytail I’d swept it into. I swiftly fixed it and applied more make-up. I didn’t want to turn up at Summer’s looking a mess, Tamara and Leo expected everyone to always look their best.

“Ready.” I pressed the buttons on the CP again to close my wardrobe doors, and switched off the music.

“Have a nice weekend,” Mum said as we popped in to say goodbye. She looked so pale, with dark circles under her eyes. I could tell the visit from the Ministry had upset her and hesitated for a moment, wondering if I should stay. But Dad was due home soon and I was so looking forward to the weekend. I loved going to Summer’s house and being spoilt for a bit. It was like living in another world. She was so lucky.

“Thanks, we will.” I leaned over and tousled Josh’s chestnut curls. “Bye, Josh.”

“Play, Maw,” he said, scrambling up.

“Maw going out now. I’ll play with you when I come back.” He puckered his face as if he was going to cry, but Mum took his hand. “Come on, Josh, let’s pick some tomatoes for tea.”

Josh’s face lit up. He loved helping Mum in the garden. Everyone had a vegetable patch, compost and water butt by order of the Ministry as part of the Planet Protection Programme. I hated gardening but Josh loved helping Mum water the plants with the rainwater collected in the butt, and picking the vegetables. Summer’s parents had a gardener, of course.

Mum led Josh out into the garden while we went out the front door. before Josh could realise I was leaving. I had no idea how much I was going to regret not playing with Josh one more time. Or not kissing him goodbye.

Pre-order your copy…..

What people are saying about Perfect Summer…..

‘This book was amazing, as it was easy to relate to the characters, and it put a perfect twist on society’s obsession with perfection.’ Shehayamsani – Litpick reviewer.

‘King does an amazing job of writing about the discrimination children with disabilities face’ http://strollinginstoryland.blogspot.co.uk/

I was really taken away by this book – it is full of excitement, danger, shocks, gripping scenes and a thick plot. It is a truly brilliant story, with some fun – but SO realistic – characters. It makes the reader think – could the future turn out to be something like this?? Bookworm1, Amazon UK review

‘The story line was fascinating and kept my attention. Could also be a good book club discussion book.’ Donna – More Than A Review

About the author…..

Karen King is the author of over 120 children’s books and has had two YA’s published, Perfect Summer and Sapphire Blue. Perfect Summer was runner up in the Red Telephone Books YA novel competition in 2011 and has just been republished by Accent Press.

Karen is also the author of two romance novels, and has been contracted for three chick lit novels by Accent Press. The first, I do?… or do I? was published in 2016 and the second, The Cornish Hotel by the Sea, is due out in the Summer. In addition, Karen has written several short stories for women’s magazine and worked for many years on children’s magazines such as Thomas the Tank Engine and Winnie the Pooh as well as the iconic Jackie magazine.

When she isn’t writing, Karen likes travelling, watching the ‘soaps’ and reading. Give her a good book and a box of chocolates and she thinks she’s in Heaven.

Author links

Website: http://www.karenking.net/

Twitter: @karen_king

Karen King Romance Author Facebook Page

Karen King Young Adult Books

Pinterest: https://uk.pinterest.com/karenkingauthor/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karenkingauthor/?hl=en

I am delighted to be joining in with Tony J Forder’s Bad To The Bone blog tour! 🙂

Many thanks to Sarah Hardy, at Bloodhound Books, for inviting me to take part.

Guest post…..

Writing day/business day

My writing routine has altered dramatically since the start of 2017.  With a full-time job in a pretty pressurised environment I write as and when I could squeeze out the time – mostly late at night, or in the early hours of the morning sleep eluded me. Now I have a part-time business, and I get to devote 2-3 days’ a week to my writing – a genuine luxury.

On those days I can generally be found bashing away at my laptop from around 8.00am. After lunch I do another couple of hours. If the work is going well and I’m in the groove, I can often still be caught hard at it at five or six in the evening. I also still write longhand at times, on A4 pads which I keep close by in case inspiration strikes whilst I’m watching the TV or reading. I tend to get consumed by my work, no matter what it is, and when I’m in that mode I find it almost impossible to switch off completely.

Structurally, I do a basic outline of the story I want to tell. I list the key points, and then try to fill in a little of what comes between in order for the story to flow. The starting point usually suggests itself fairly quickly, and I’ll let others be the judge as to whether I get that right. I then need to figure out the characters I’m going to need in order to tell my story in the most appropriate way. I mull this over for a few days, let it stew, but I like to begin the writing process not long after I have all the pieces in place.

For the first 5 or 6, and then 10 or 12 chapters, I write and edit, write and edit. This pattern will often lead to new threads, new plotlines, new back story, new characters, and new chapters. Once I have that, I have the story firmly fixed inside my mind. From that point on I write and don’t look back again until I am done.

The first draft then gets sidelined for a while whilst I work on something fresh. Once it comes out again, that’s when the story comes alive. I write thin to fat to thin – I usually describe it as follows: I create the skeletal framework upon which I will later add the flesh. That flesh tends towards obesity during the second draft, and then every visit afterwards is designed to prune back. Make it lean, adjust the pace, get the voice right…really, there is so much to look out for, and so many obstacles upon which you can stumble.

In my book Degrees of Darkness I knew who the villain was and how I wanted to end the book from the word go. With Bad to the Bone I changed my villain – or one of them at least – right near the end, and so then had to go back and rewrite so as to drop subtle hints (hopefully). With the book I’ve set aside having completed the first draft, I could see the end but it was like those motes you get in your eyes which float around and the moment you try to focus on them they swim out of view. I was starting to panic, and then in the most glamorous turn of events I was in the toilet when the ending of the book came to me in a rush – just like I was afterwards as I hurried to jot it down (and yes, I did flush and wash my hands). As for my WIP…I know roughly how it ends, but it needs a little finesse and I hope that by the time I come to write it I have improved enough to do it justice.

Bad to the Bone was written quite a while ago, but when I came to look at how I wanted it published I decided not to update it. I like the feel of its time and place. I remember my late night sessions piecing that book together, and I think I grew as an author during its creation. I like the story and I’m pretty sure I’d get on well with DI Bliss. I could see myself having a pint with him and chewing the fat about football and music and…dead bodies.

Writing can be hard at times. But I’ve always believed you should write for pleasure, because if you don’t enjoy it then what’s the point? Whilst I am my sternest critic, I also know my own limitations. But I’m proud of Bad to the Bone, and now that it’s out there I can only hope that people enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

 Many thanks, Tony.

Publisher: Bloodhound Books (22nd April 2017)

A skeletal body is unearthed in a wooded area of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire. DI James Bliss, together with DC Penny Chandler, investigate the case and discover that the young, female victim had been relocated from its original burial site.

A witness is convinced that a young female was struck by a vehicle back in the summer of 1990, and that police attended the scene. However, no record exists of either the accident or the reported victim. As the case develops, two retired police officers are murdered. The two are linked with others who were on duty at the time a road accident was reported.

As Bliss and Chandler delve deeper into the investigation, they start to question whether senior officers may have been involved in the murder of the young women who was buried in the woods.

As each link in the chain is put under duress, so is Bliss who clashes with superiors and the media.

When his team receives targeted warnings, Bliss will need to decide whether to drop the case or to pursue those responsible.

Will Bliss walk away in order to keep his career intact or will he fight no matter what the cost?

And is it possible the killer is much closer than they imagined?

Buy a copy HERE

About the author…..

On 1st February 2017, Tony signed to Bloodhound Books, who will publish his new edgy crime thriller Bad to the Bone this spring. It is the first in a series.

Later this year, Tony’s second novel for Bloodhound Books, Degrees of Darkness, featuring ex-detective Frank Rogers, will be published.

Tony has been writing stories since childhood, but it was only when he won a short story competition judged by an editor from Pan Books, that he realised he might actually be half decent at this writing business.

The story, Gino’s Bar and Grille, went on to be published in Dark Voices 2, part of the celebrated Pan Book of Horror series. Three further short story sales followed: Book End, published in Dark Voices 4, Character Role, in FEAR magazine, and finally A Grim Story, which featured in A Rattler’s Tale.

During a book singing for Dark Voices 2, Tony was seated next to author Brian Lumley. At one point, Tony revealed to Brian that he felt out of place alongside all the proper writers. Brian then told Tony something he has never forgotten: “The moment you sat down and pulled a story out of your imagination and put it to paper, you became a proper writer.”

Subsequently, Tony began to focus on novel writing. He admits that his initial attempts were exploratory and somewhat derivative, although there was some interest from an agent – who oddly enough turned out to be Brian Lumley’s wife, Dorothy.

Tony wrote Degrees of Darkness, which he was happy with. He wasn’t so happy with a follow-up, so that never saw the light of day.

As a part-time writer with a full-time job, plus some ill-health, life got in the way and, although Tony continued writing, it took a back seat to making a living.

This year, however, Tony has been inspired by new ideas, and has been working hard on two new books, both of which should be completed in 2017. In the meantime, he hopes you enjoy Bad to the Bone, introducing DI James Bliss and DC Penny Chandler.

Links:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tony-J-Forder/e/B01N4BPT65/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1490529612&sr=8-1-spell

https://www.facebook.com/tonyjforder/?fref=ts

https://twitter.com/TonyJForder?lang=en-gb

Enjoy!