An update on upcoming events, from Emma (at City Central Library)…..

As you may know, submissions are currently open for the next 6X6 Reading Café, which takes place on Tuesday 12 June. We’re also looking forward to Poets, Prattlers and Pandemonialists on 18 May. More details of these events are below.

Hot off the press, here are details of two further events in Stoke-on-Trent Libraries. On Saturday 16 June, the Writing Kiln returns to Stoke-on-Trent Libraries, with an event for National Flash Fiction Day  – followed by a novella launch elsewhere in Hanley. And, on Saturday 7 July, we’re running a Paperverse workshop at Stoke Library, combining poetry and simple decorated booklets. Both events are free, but booking is essential.

Fuller details of all these events are below.

Poets, Prattlers and Pandemonialists

Friday 18 May, 7.30pm

City Central Library, Hanley

Cost: £3 including refreshments

What happens when three poets meet up in a pub and decide to put on a show? Join nationally-acclaimed poets Dave Pitt, Emma Purshouse and Steve Pottinger as they come together to plot their path to fame and fortune – will they be distracted by beer and scratchings? Will they put the world to rights? Creative performance poetry at its very best – may contain language!

Contact City Central Library to book your place

Tel: 01782 238455             Email: central.library@stoke.gov.uk

6X6 Reading Café

Tuesday 12 June, 7pm

City Central Library, Hanley

Cost: free

Six writers…six readings…six minutes each. Join us for the ever-popular 6X6 Reading Café, where local authors read and promote their work. The submissions window is open until 27 May; if you’d like to find out more about the café, or how to submit, take a look at the 6X6 blog:

https://6x6writingcafe.wordpress.com/

Contact City Central Library to book your free place

Tel: 01782 238455             Email: central.library@stoke.gov.uk

National Flash Fiction Day event and 2^nd Potteries Prize Launch

Saturday 16 June, 11am– 12:30pm

Cost: free

You are all welcome to attend for a free interactive session about flash (very short) fiction. To celebrate National Flash Fiction we have a great line up of speakers to answer your questions, give advice and to hear readings. Guests include Steve Campbell, Editor of online and print literary magazine Ellipsis Zine, flash fiction writers Helen Rye (Norwich), Adam Lock (Wolverhampton) and Joely Dutton (Stafford), as well as local Stephanie Hutton (The Writing Kiln) to give you the low down on entering writing competitions including the upcoming Potteries Prize.

Bring a pen and paper! Pre-booking is essential.

Contact City Central Library to book your place

Tel: 01782 238455             Email: central.library@stoke.gov.uk

Immediately after the Flash Fiction Day event, local writer and clinical psychologist Stephanie Hutton from The Writing Kiln and co-ordinator of the Potteries Prize will be launching her first novella Three Sisters of Stone. You are invited to come and hear her and other flash fiction writers from across the UK give readings, as well as meet the local artist Louise Ryder-Hall who has designed the front cover.

Saturday 16 June 1pm – 3pm, downstairs at The Exchange, Hanley

Pre-booking is essential for this free event – please contact thewritingkiln@gmail.com by 9^th June or post a comment on their Facebook page @Writing Kiln

Paperverse

Saturday 7 July, 11am-1pm

Stoke Library, South Wolfe Street, Stoke, ST4 4SZ

Cost: free

Join poets Jeff Phelps and Marion Cockin for a creative workshop combining poetry with simple decorated booklets. It’s relaxing, great fun, and with a finished product to take away at the end. Pre-booking is essential!

Contact Stoke Library to book your place

Tel: 01782 238446             Email: stoke.library@stoke.gov.uk

I love Alison Lingwood’s style of writing. I know I’m in for a treat when I start one her books and A Wild Kind of Justice was no exception. I read a lot of crime fiction books, but most tend to be a lot more gruesome than Alison Lingwood’s much more gentle (for want of a better word) murder mysteries. I enjoy both kinds and this has been a pleasure to read.

A Wild Kind of Justice is Alison Lingwood’s third book and I would recommend you read them in order as they do feature the same detective and some of the character’s story lines follow on from the previous books. I don’t think you’d find yourself totally lost if you read this as a standalone though.

In this story DCI Christopher Timothy finds himself in charge of a new mystery when part of a human body is found at the site of a disused mine in Staffordshire. Unfortunately he doesn’t get much of a chance to investigate before losing a close friend to murder and ending up in hospital himself. His team battle to piece together the evidence and try to find any links between the two murders, but nothing much seems to make sense to start with. They miss Chris’ expertise but are determined to solve the case before anyone else gets hurt. With the help of vital witnesses things eventually start falling in to place.

This is a very cleverly written police procedural which is very much plot driven, but also focusses heavily on the character’s.

I really felt for Chris’ wife. It must be terrifying being married to a policeman, especially when your worst fears seem to be coming true. I also felt for his colleagues, desperate to uncover the truth. It just goes to show though, do you ever really know those who you should be able to trust?

I love that this book is set in Newcastle-under-Lyme (my hometown). It’s great when you can picture the places mentioned!

Full of suspense, as always. I’m looking forward to catching up with DCI Christopher Timothy, and others, in the next book.

Purchase here…..

About the author…..

Alison Lingwood was born in Cheshire in 1952. She is an ex-lecturer and retired businesswoman who lives in Staffordshire with her husband.

Alison Lingwood’s Amazon Author Page

Enjoy!

Previous posts featuring Alison Lingwood and her books…..

Local authors

The Bridport Dagger by Alison Lingwood

Q&A with author, Alison Lingwood

Our first #Stoke-on-Trent #bookblogger / #author #meetup – 12th May 2018 😊

Decide to Hope

An unimaginable trauma. A future that seems impossible. When your world shatters, how do you put it back together? For 950 days, Kathleen Conners has struggled with that choice. Behind a scarf and sunglasses, she hides from the world, from herself, from The Event, from any future with anyone. After receiving a box of letters from his deceased mother, Matt Nelson is shoved from his predictable, controlled life to a secluded beach in North Carolina. While trying to understand his mother’s intent, he discovers Kathleen. Matt must choose whether to follow the path his mother orchestrated or rescue the woman who has captured his heart. When the only person Kathleen blames more than herself reappears, can Matt be the strength Kathleen needs to create a new life, or will he be forced to walk away if she decides the climb is too great?

Pre-order Link

Author Bio:

June happily resides in Sandy Springs, Georgia, with her husband, Dave, and their dog, Sodapop. They have two wonderful adult children and two grandchildren. She is an enthusiastic exerciser and an accomplished cook. She and her husband enjoy hiking with Sodapop, traveling, scuba diving, trying new restaurants, concerts, and whatever other adventures they can find. Reading and a constant desire to learn keeps her busy too.

A trauma survivor who struggles with mental illness, June is continuously reaching for hope like the characters in her books. She openly discusses her personal struggles on her blog, JuneConverse.com

Decide to Hope is her first novel and relies a great deal on her own experience with trauma, choices, recovery and hope. If you’d like to discuss trauma, coping and recovery, contact her at JuneConverse.com or DecideToHope.com

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/JuneAConverseAuthor/

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/juneaconverse

Website/blog:

https://www.juneconverse.com/

Check out the rest of the blog tour for reviews, and more, with these awesome book bloggers…..

Enjoy!

Hiya! 🙂

I was so overwhelmed with the response to our first ever book blogger / author meet up in Stoke-on-Trent! It was the most amazing day filled with some of the most amazing bloggers and authors you are ever likely to meet. A big thank you to the very lovely Steph Lawrence for organising the whole thing with me. I had the best time and I can’t thank those who came along enough. You are all awesome!

There are a few who sadly couldn’t attend in the end and they were very much missed. I have my fingers crossed that they will make the next one.

I managed to get lots of lovely photo’s and I wanted to share them with you all. Please check out everyone’s blogs/websites etc.

The venue

•

Me and my partner in crime, Steph 😉

Steph blogs at https://steflozbookblog.wordpress.com/

•

Me and my beautiful daughter, Taylor, who is an aspiring author and has already had a short story published 🙂

•

Waiting for everyone to arrive!

•

Susan Hampson who blogs at https://booksfromdusktilldawn.blog/

•

Tess Makovesky – author – http://tessmakovesky.com/

•

Carla Kovach – author – http://carlakovach.com/

•

Nia Ireland who blogs at https://themostsublime.com/

•

Stacey Garrity who blogs at https://whisperingstories.com/

•

Alison Lingwood – author – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alison-Lingwood/e/B00J951G3M/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1526302687&sr=8-1

•

Jan Edwards – author – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jan-Edwards/e/B009BAA3R0/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1526302807&sr=8-1

•

Lindsay Hill who blogs at https://bookboodle.co.uk/

•

Jo Robertson who blogs at https://mychestnutreadingtree.wordpress.com/

•

Authors – Jo Furniss and Mel Sherratt

http://www.jofurniss.com/

http://melsherratt.co.uk/

•

Susan Boulton – author – https://www.susanjboulton.co.uk/

•

Peter Coleborn – Editor/Publisher – https://alchemypress.wordpress.com/

•

Caroline England – author – http://carolineenglandauthor.co.uk/

•

Claire Huston and her lovely little boy 🙂

Claire blogs at https://clairehuston.co.uk/

•

Caroline James – author – http://www.carolinejamesauthor.co.uk/

•

Nikki Ashton – author – https://www.nikkiashtonbooks.co.uk/

•

Sharon Sant aka Tilly Tennant – author – https://tillytennant.com/

•

Jen Lucas who blogs at https://jenmedsbookreviews.com/ and her sister, Mandie Griffiths, who guest reviews on Jen’s blog.

•

Sue Flint – writer/blogger – http://sueflintsfs.blogspot.co.uk/

•

John Pye – author – http://cathedraloflies.com/index.html

•

Other fab photo’s taken…..

•

I was even lucky enough to come away with two new signed books! 🙂 🙂 🙂

A massive thank you to Carla & Tilly (Sharon) for your kindness. xx

•

I can’t wait to do it all again on 29th September!

Hope to see you there 🙂

Kerry xx

The Things We Need to Say

Sometimes the things we never say are the most important.

Fran loves Will with all her heart. They had a whirlwind romance, a perfect marriage and a wonderful life. Until everything changed. Now Fran needs to find her way again and teaching a yoga retreat in Spain offers her just that. Leaving behind a broken marriage she has some very important decisions to make.

Will needs his wife, he needs her to open up to him if they’re to ever return to the ways things once were. But he may have damaged any possibility he had of mending their relationship and now Fran is in Spain and Will is alone.

As both Fran and Will begin to let go of a life that could have been, fate may just find a way of bringing them back together.

Perfect for fans of Katie Marsh, Amanda Prowse and Sheila O’Flanagan

Purchase on Amazon UK –

http://amzn.to/2kLqSYL

Enjoy!

Rachel Burton has been making up stories since she first learned to talk. After many false starts she finally made one up that was worth writing down. After graduating with a degree in Classics and another in English, she didn’t really know what to do when she grew up. She has worked as a waitress, a paralegal and a yoga teacher. She has spent most of her life between Cambridge and London but now lives in Leeds with her boyfriend and three cats. The main loves of her life are The Beatles and very tall romantic heroes. Her debut, The Many Colours of Us, was an Amazon Kindle bestseller. Her second novel, The Things We Need to Say, is released on 11 May 2018. She is currently working on her third novel in which the heroine follows the love of her life to live in a city in northern England. It has no autobiographical elements at all…..maybe. Find her on Twitter & Instagram as @bookish_yogi or search Facebook for Rachel Burton Author. She is always happy to talk books, writing, music, cats and how the weather in Yorkshire is rubbish. She is mostly dreaming of her next holiday….

Social media links…..

Facebook –

https://www.facebook.com/rachelburtonauthor/

Twitter –

https://twitter.com/bookish_yogi

Instagram –

https://www.instagram.com/bookish_yogi/

THE WEEKEND SPA BREAK

Friendships Online Series

Part Two

After finally meeting in person at the publishing party of the season, Constance and Estelle are determined not to let their friendship return to mere virtual champagne bottles and uploaded pictures of food.

It’s been a busy year, and Constance feels it’s time to reward herself with the spa break Estelle gave her for Christmas. Naturally, Constance wouldn’t dream of taking anyone other than Estelle, and this will provide the perfect opportunity to bond with her new chum.

As the excited pair spend some quality time together, they realise it’s not just writing books they have in common, but something that goes much deeper. After a few Jacuzzi sessions, facials, pedicures, and a massage by sexy Senior Therapist, Julio, everything seems to be peachy until an unexpected visitor turns Constance’s weekend of bliss … on its head.

A two-day spa break.

Sparkling water on tap.

And the perfect massage.

But who’s rubbing who up the wrong way?

Purchase from Amazon UK –

https://amzn.to/2GVSnZX

Anne John-Ligali is a writer and the founder of Books and Authors UK, a popular website featuring author interviews and book reviews. She loves all things books: reading, writing, going to book events, and meeting other book lovers. She has written a series of short stories and is currently writing her first novel.

Anne has always loved stories and read many books as a child, including the entire Sweet Valley High and Caitlyn series. Her interest in writing fiction came years later, when she began writing for pleasure in 2007.

Originally from Peterborough, Anne now lives in London. After moving to London, she studied graphic design at the University of Arts and has held a number IT administration jobs in the city. Anne continues writing and aspires to write more women’s fiction books, a non-fiction book and several children’s books.

Social Media Links –

Author blog:

http://annejohnligali.com/

Author Twitter:

https://twitter.com/AnneJohnLigali

Author FB:

https://www.facebook.com/annejohnligali/

Books and Authors UK:

http://www.booksandauthors.co.uk

Books and Authors UK Twitter:

https://twitter.com/BooksNAuthorsUK

Books and Authors UK Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/Books-and-Authors-UK-674729805905507/

Check out the rest of the blog tour for reviews, and more, with these awesome book bloggers…..

Enjoy!

To Rome…with love?

Mary Smith is turning her very ordinary life upside-down! She’s bought herself a one-way ticket to Rome and is ready for a summer she’ll never forget.

Men might be off the cards for waitress Mary, but within hours of arriving at the utterly charming family-run La Dolce Vita pizzeria, she’s already fallen in love with the bustling capital!

Only Dante Rossi, the mysterious (and drop-dead gorgeous) chef seems displeased with her arrival. And in the heat of the kitchen, it doesn’t take long for long-buried secrets to surface and sparks to fly…

A deliciously heartwarming romance to have you dreaming of summer. Perfect for fans of Debbie Johnson and Caroline Roberts.

Purchase from Amazon UK:

http://amzn.to/2rrwXfT

Enjoy!

Samantha Tonge lives in Cheshire with her lovely family and a cat who thinks it’s a dog. When not writing she spends her days cycling, willing cakes to rise and avoiding housework. She has sold over 80 short stories to women’s magazines. Her bestselling debut novel, Doubting Abbey, was shortlisted for the Festival of Romantic Fiction best Ebook award in 2014. Game of Scones hit #5 in the UK Kindle chart and won the Best Romantic Ebook category at the 2015 Love Stories Awards.

Links

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/SamTongeWriter

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/SamanthaTongeAuthor

Website:

http://samanthatonge.co.uk/

My review…..

One Little Mistake has been on my Netgalley list for far too long, so I thought it was about time I read it. OH MY! What a tense and often uncomfortable read this is. In a good way, of course.

Vicky seems to have it all, a loving husband, three healthy children, a nice home, money, a good job….. but she doesn’t seem to fully appreciate any of them. I didn’t warm to Vicky until right at the end. She came across as spoilt and a bit self-centred to me. She puts her marriage at risk as well as her baby and lies to cover up it all up. Her biggest mistake, however, is confiding in her so called best friend, Amber. I didn’t warm to Amber either. She had a really rough upbringing and feels that those she trusted failed her, which has obviously affected her mental health and life as a whole, but this doesn’t condone her behaviour towards Vicky and her husband. I am amazed Vicky wasn’t more wary of her sooner, but then Amber is a very manipulative character. I can totally understand why she would envy Vicky though, given her past.

This story builds in tension quite early on and doesn’t let up. I was totally hooked. Having said that, at times I wasn’t sure I wanted to carry on reading as I knew something awful was going to happen. I had to know though!

Brilliantly written!

I will be adding Emma Curtis’s upcoming release to my wish list.

Many thanks to the author and publisher for my review copy via Netgalley.

**When I Find You, the eagerly anticipated next thriller from Emma Curtis, is available to pre-order NOW!**

THE BESTSELLING EBOOK SENSATION

‘A compelling page-turner which kept me reading well into the night.This book will make any woman look at her best friend with more than a touch of suspicion . . .’ Jane Corry, author of MY HUSBAND’S WIFE

*********

YOU TRUSTED YOUR BEST FRIEND . . . YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE.

Vicky Seagrave is blessed: three beautiful children, a successful, doting husband, great friends and a job she loves. She should be perfectly happy.

When she makes a split-second decision that risks everything she holds dear, there’s only person she trusts enough to turn to.

But Vicky is about to learn that one mistake is all it takes; that if you’re careless with those you love, you don’t deserve to keep them . . .

*********

‘A brilliant, gripping read. I couldn’t put it down’ Claire Douglas, author of THE SISTERS and LOCAL GIRL MISSING

‘A tense and utterly engrossing story’ Tammy Cohen, author of WHEN SHE WAS BAD and THE BROKEN

‘A page-turner that explores how friendship, mothering, marriage, and events in the past can collide in unexpected and tumultuous ways’ Beth Miller, author of THE GOOD NEIGHBOUR and WHEN WE WERE SISTERS

‘A dark page-turning debut of friendship, deceit and lies’ Woman & Home

Purchase link…..

Enjoy!

I am thrilled to be kicking off Kathleen Jowitt’s A Spoke In The Wheel blog tour 🙂 

I have a fabulous guest post for you all…..

One day in May 2011 I stepped out of the railway station on my way home from work and found myself in the middle of a bicycle race.

I hadn’t been particularly interested in sports up to that point. I hated school PE, and my parents didn’t have a television, so I had no opportunity to follow professional sports even if I’d wanted to. At university, a friend got me into Formula One, but other than that I filed sport under ‘not my thing’.

Then came that spring evening when I got off the train in Woking, started walking home, and found my way blocked by a metal barrier.

A cyclist came past, a woman in her early twenties, obviously very fit, but also obviously suffering. Then another one. Then, a few minutes later, a whole bunch. I had no idea what was going on, who was winning, who was even riding, but I was fascinated. I applauded everybody who came past. I worked my way around the course to the finish line and learned that this was the Women’s Grand Prix Series, and that the men would race in the Tour Series later in the evening.

I went home and dragged my partner out to watch the men’s race with me.

‘Next year,’ I said when it was over, ‘we’ll watch the other stages, so we know what’s going on by the time it gets back to Woking.’

We did.

In 2012 I also followed the Tour de France for the first time. That was the one where Bradley Wiggins won the general classification, the first British rider ever to do so. But what really stuck with me was the image of David Millar in tears after winning a stage in Annonay-Davézieux, and talking about what that win meant to him, as an ex-doper who was now clean. This was a story that interested me. I was hooked.

That was the year of the London Olympics, of course, and by sheer good luck we were living about a mile from part of the road cycling race route. Well, that was my birthday weekend sorted. We cycled up to see the race go past (the men on the Saturday, the women on the Sunday) and then dashed home again to see the rest of it on television.

I haven’t looked back. Over the seven years since that first race I’ve travelled to York and to Walthamstow to see two different stages of the Grand Départ of the Tour de France, and to Bury St Edmunds to see the Women’s Tour get under way. I’ve sat on a blanket on my own front lawn, glass of wine in hand, as the Tour of Britain peloton passed by. I’ve got back on a bike myself, if only to get from home to the station. I’ve been enthralled, I’ve been disillusioned, and I’ve still got a lot of respect for David Millar. The Grand Prix Series and the Tour Series have left Woking, and so have I.

And I’ve written a book. A Spoke in the Wheel is about many things – it’s about disability, integrity, cycling, and people’s assumptions about all those things – but it wouldn’t have happened without that first race, that race I saw by accident, seven years ago.

Seven years as a cycling fan, and counting. It’s been one heck of a ride.

Thanks so much for taking the time to write this inspiring guest post for Chat About Books, Kathleen, and for the opportunity to kick off your blog tour 🙂

A Spoke in the Wheel

The first thing I saw was the wheelchair.

The first thing she saw was the doper.

Ben Goddard is an embarrassment – as a cyclist, as an athlete, as a human being. And he knows it.

Now that he’s been exposed by a positive drugs test, his race wins and his work with disabled children mean nothing. He quits professional cycling in a hurry, sticks a pin in a map, and sets out to build a new life in a town where nobody knows who he is or what he’s done.

But when the first person he meets turns out to be a cycling fan, he finds out that it’s not going to be quite as easy as that.

Besides, Polly’s not just a cycling fan, she’s a former medical student with a chronic illness and strong opinions. Particularly when it comes to Ben Goddard…

Buy…..

Author Biography

Kathleen Jowitt was born in Winchester, UK, and grew up deep in the Welsh Marches and, subsequently, on the Isle of Wight. After completing her undergraduate degree in English Literature at the University of Exeter she moved to Guildford and found herself working for a major trade union. She now lives in Cambridge, works in London, and writes on the train.

Her first novel, Speak Its Name, was the first self-published book ever to be shortlisted for the Betty Trask Prize.

Social Media Links

Website

http://www.kathleenjowitt.com

Twitter

http://www.twitter.com/kathleenjowitt

Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/kathleenjowitt

Instagram

http://www.instagram.com/kathleenjowitt

Amazon author page

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kathleen-Jowitt/e/B01CDJN1HE/

Check out the rest of the blog tour for reviews, and more, with these awesome book bloggers…..

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Enjoy!

Previous post, on Chat About Books, featuring Kathleen Jowitt and her books…..

Q&A with author, Kathleen Jowitt @KathleenJowitt

Today I have the pleasure of bringing Song Castle to your attention as part of Luke Waterson’s blog tour with Love Books Group 🙂

Purchase here…..

Enjoy!

About the author…..

(Via AmazonUK)

Raised in rural Somerset, Novelist and Travel Writer Luke Waterson developed a penchant for travelling at an early age and, following completion of an English Literature and Creative Writing degree at the University of East Anglia, duly set forth to travel the world. He has developed a particular passion for the Americas (he’s travelled across the lot of them extensively – north, central and south) and for Eastern Europe (he’s lived in Slovakia for four years) but has never lost his love for getting lost within the rolling, damp green British countryside on a hike ideally incorporating a country pub or three.

Luke’s first novel, “Roebuck – Tales of an Admirable Adventurer” – a swashbuckling adventure set amidst the Amazon rain-forest of the 16th century – was published in December 2015. His second novel “Song Castle” follows the traumatic travels of a group of bards undertaking the dangerous journey to perform at a festival of song in 12th century Wales, due to be published in April 2018. He also writes for Lonely Planet, Rough Guides, the Telegraph, the Independent, BBC Travel and a clutch of in-flight magazines including N by Norwegian and Morning Calm by Korean Air.

Check out the rest of the blog tour for reviews, and more, with these awesome book bloggers…..

Many thanks, as always, to Kelly at Love Book Group Tours