Today I have the pleasure of sharing a lovely guest post from Abigail Osborne as part of her blog blitz for The Puppet Master!
Many thanks to Sarah Hardy, at Bloodhound Books, for the opportunity to join in.
Make sure you check out all of the fabulous book bloggers taking part…..
5 Things You Didn’t Know About Abigail Osborne
1. I have a deep-seated love affair with Porridge. When I was younger, my Mum said that for years I would only ever eat Porridge for breakfast. In fact, she was questioned as to my diet when a school project where everyone drew their favourite foods led to me telling everyone I only ever ate porridge whilst drawing a lovely bowl of it on the poster. I still love porridge and will happily eat it three times a day. I’m not allowed to buy it anymore as my husband gets so fed up of it. Not that he could ever come between me and my oats!
2. When I was a teenager I harboured a daft dream that I could be a singer, my voice is decent but nothing mind-blowing. But my very supportive Mum took me along to the X-Factor auditions. Not only was it the coldest day of my life, it cured me of any notion that I was in anyway cut out for singing. So much time was spent queuing outside. It is not as fun as the 3 second glimpse you get in the show. It was at a football stadium and we sat on the freezing cold stands for hours. I was horrified to learn that where the bottom of the stands met the pitch there were cardboard walls that all the singers went behind to audition. They lined the rim of the football pitch which was absolutely packed. The cardboard cut outs were utterly redundant as you could hear every audition and saw that person go around to audition. Soon it was my turn and I made the walk of terror down the steps, rather slowly given my frozen limbs and appeared in front of a very disinterested man sat on a chair. All I remember about him was his massive yellow puffer jacket and his clipboard. He looked me up and down and then said, ‘off you go’. I was so nervous and terrified I ended up singing as quietly as possible in hopes no one could hear me behind the so called ‘cardboard wall of protection’. At the end of my song, he simply said ‘you are far too nervous, we don’t need nervous people.’ Surprisingly I wasn’t devastated. I had realised as soon as I sat down on that plastic seat in the stadium that this wasn’t for me. You could feel everyone’s hopes and dreams bearing down on you. I felt like an imposter as I slowly realised that my churlish dream of being a singer was actually more of a fanciful whim. I was completely out of place around these people who evidently had music in their blood, to whom this meant everything. They had been dreaming of this opportunity whereas I was actually more excited about finishing the book I had started on the journey. I only went ahead with it as I’d dragged my mum and my grandma out for almost six hours queuing so I felt I may as well give it a go. I did get an X-factor jumper with my audition number on it though. Nothing like a six-hour freezing cold wait to make you realise what you don’t want to do with your life.
3. I am a secret violin player. I started learning the violin when I was around 5 or 6. I loved it straight away. I had lessons for many years and even took part in my school orchestra. I had to be coerced into the orchestra by my form tutor because I hate playing my violin in front of people. Hate it, hate it, hate it! When I play my violin, it’s like the music enters my body and takes over my mind. I am mentally lost in the moment. But if there is someone else in the room or a chance someone may hear me then I can’t reach that stage and I will make so many mistakes the sound is more like a cat being strangled. I play beautifully on my own or with my trusted violin teacher, but it’s like I lose my knowledge of how to play when there are others around. Being part of an orchestra was amazing and I really wish I had someone to convince me I’m brave enough to do it again. But alas, I’m sure my form teacher is retired now and wouldn’t fancy dragging me to another orchestra so I had no choice but to play. I’m pretty sure my husband thinks I don’t know how to play the violin as I’ve never used it in front of him and always put it back in its hiding place so he won’t ask me to play.
4. I absolutely detest sand. Going to the beach is like a really awful game of don’t touch the sand. Remember when you used to be a child and you’d jump around the furniture trying not to touch the ground because it was lava – no? Just me? – ah well you get the idea. That is me on a beach. I hate sand and will walk over craggy rocks and stone beaches just to avoid the sandy beaches. You see glowing sand, gently caressing your feet as you walk. I see evil particles of dirt just waiting to jump into every nook and cranny meaning you have to shower at least twenty times to be sand free!
5. Young Adult Romance and Fantasy books are my guilty pleasure. I don’t know what it is about this genre but the relationships and that intense, all-consuming love just gets me every time. I think with adult romance, it doesn’t grip me the same way because Adults are sensible (sometimes) and the love can’t be all consuming because we have jobs and lives that get in the way. But in these books, the girl and boy are just each other’s world and the guy regularly puts his life on the line to save her and who can resist that. When would you get to experience that in real life? I try not to read them too much as I tend to get depressed that my husband isn’t an all-powerful assassin that stops being evil because of my love.
🙂
Book Description:
Billie is hiding from the world in fear of a man who nearly destroyed her. But a chance meeting with budding journalist, Adam, sparks a relationship that could free her from her life of isolation and fear.
Unbeknown to Billie, Adam knows exactly who Billie is and is determined to expose her and get justice for the lives he believes she has ruined. But first, he needs to convince her to open up to him. As an unwanted attraction blossoms between them, Adam comes to realise that all is not as it seems.
Who is really pulling the strings? And are Adam and Billie both being played?
One thing is for sure, The Master wants his puppets back – and he’ll do anything to keep them.
Author Bio:
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