Today I have the pleasure of welcoming Jennifer S Alderson to Chat About Books 🙂

Happy Publication Day, Jennifer 🙂

For those who don’t know already, could you tell us about yourself and your book(s) please?

Hi, Kerry, and thanks for inviting me to share more about my books with your readers!

I am an American expat and author of four books. I was born in San Francisco and raised in Seattle, Washington, a gorgeous yet rainy city on the West Coast of America. A serious dose of wanderlust combined with burnout drove me to quit my job and travel through Asia, Central America, Europe, and Oceania for four years. I even lived in Darwin, Australia for eighteen months, until the heat and cyclones got to be too much. Home is now Amsterdam, where I live with my Dutch husband and young son.

My journeys inspire and inform my writing. The Adventures of Zelda Richardson mystery series transports readers to exotic locations around the globe. Down and Out in Kathmandu: A Backpacker Mystery is about a volunteer English teacher who gets entangled with diamond smugglers. The Lover’s Portrait: An Art Mystery, my second book, is a suspenseful “whodunit?” that transports readers to wartime and present day Amsterdam. Art, religion, and anthropology collide in my third novel, Rituals of the Dead: An Artifact Mystery – available on April 6, 2018 as paperback and eBook!

Like the star of my mystery series, I am an avid traveler, multimedia developer, journalist, and art historian. Unlike Zelda, I have never been threatened with jail time, chased after by art thieves, tasked with tracking down illegally acquired artifacts, or gotten caught up in a diamond smuggling scheme.

I’ve also released a travelogue – Notes of a Naive Traveler – about my own experience volunteering and backpacking in Nepal and Thailand.

Where did/do you get your ideas from?

From everywhere! Seriously, a newspaper article, museum exhibition, chance conversation overheard on the tram, an issue at work, how a barista complains about a co-worker – these tiny snippets of information can all provide inspiration for a character, plot twist or even storyline.

I am a culture lover and spend a lot of time in museums and galleries as well as reading about art, so a lot of my ideas flow from a painting or sculpture I’ve seen, a biography of an artist I hadn’t yet read about, or a robbery at a local museum or gallery.

The nefarious characters and wonderfully kind locals I met in Nepal and Thailand inspired the plot of Down and Out in Kathmandu. The Lover’s Portrait draws heavily on my own experiences as a collection researcher and exhibition assistant at several Dutch museums. Rituals of the Dead is an artifact mystery about Asmat bis poles, missionaries and anthropologists in Dutch New Guinea (now Papua). The storyline was conceived during my time as a collection researcher at the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam, for a fascinating exhibition of Asmat bis poles held in Dutch museum collections.

Are any of your characters based (however loosely) on anyone you know?

Virtually every character I have created is based on a conglomeration of people I met while traveling and working, or those I’ve known all my life. However, none are based solely on one individual. For instance, my main character Zelda includes aspects of my personal history, combined with character traits of several friends, acquaintances and former co-workers, as well as people I don’t really like. She is not me, despite us having similar backgrounds and ambitions.

How do you pick your characters names?

My protagonist, Zelda Richardson, is named after my first cat; a petite black stray I found when I was eleven years old. She was my favorite pet. No one in my family knows why I chose that name and I can’t remember either. I was recently asked if I’d named her after the video game Legend of Zelda. To my relief, the game came out in 1986, three years after I found her! When I was trying to sort out the name of my mystery series’ protagonist, Zelda always topped the list. Because of the video game, I resisted for months. Yet I never did think of a name that felt right, so Zelda stuck.

Because the other characters in my novels are from all over the globe, I search for the most popular first and last names for a male or female in that country, born within a specific period. It is incredible what you can find on the internet these days!

Can you share your writing process with us, in a nutshell?

I’m a big believer in writing up a tight outline before beginning the first draft. It takes a lot of time to work out all of the details and twists, but I’ve found it to be crucial for the book and my own motivation. I prefer to write out the first draft as quickly as possible, so I can get the essence of the story down on paper. When I sit at the computer to type it in the first time, I also do the first round of editing, add in descriptions or characters and settings, and tighten up the action and dialogue.

The initial outline and first draft have to be written in order. Once I get to the second draft, if I’m having trouble working out a chapter or scene, I’ll skip ahead and come back to it the next day. That happens quite a bit, so I guess it’s become part of my process.

Who are your top 5 favourite authors?

Honestly, the answer changes weekly! Here are five authors whose books have left a deep impression on me, for a variety of reasons.

Alex Garland’s novel The Beach is the reason I wrote my first book, Down and Out in Kathmandu. It made me realize travel fiction could be thrilling, as well as convey a strong sense of place. I’ve read his other books but they didn’t grab me like The Beach did.

I read all of Agatha Christie’s mysteries when I was a girl. I know they influenced my decision to write mysteries later in life. For this reason, she’s probably my favorite writer!

Chris Pavone’s The Expats is a thrilling amateur sleuth mystery and adventure through Europe. It’s a wild ride of a story, with excellent characters and plot twists. His other books are also interesting.

Donna Leon’s Commissario Brunetti series is one of my favorites. Each book is a wonderful trip to Venice and the surrounding countryside, as well as a tightly constructed mystery. How she’s able to write so many wonderful books set in the same city leaves me in awe!

Victoria Blake’s Return of the Courtesan (in hardback: Titian’s Boatman) was my favorite read of 2017. I also enjoyed her crime fiction novel, Jumping the Cracks. Titian’s Boatman is a captivating contemporary and historical fiction novel set in London, New York and Venice. As you can see, I have a thing for Venice (and Italy in general) and love to visit it via fiction.

If you could meet any author, who would it be and what would you ask them?

Donna Leon. Not only because she’s an incredible author, but also because she is a longtime American expat. I would ask how she stays inspired to create engaging, interesting mysteries set in the same small city. Where does she find her inspiration? And after so many years as an expat, does she still consider herself an American? Does she think she could have written her Commissario Brunetti novels if she had stayed in America?

Were you a big reader as a child?

I was an avid reader and still am. My parents are too, and that helped get my brother and I interested in stories and reading in general. I devoured my mother’s predominantly cozy mystery books and many of my father’s horror and thriller novels before I reached puberty.

When did you start to write?

My fascination with writing fiction stems from a childhood game my father and I played; a series of ‘what ifs?’ which resulted in a short story. After completing a degree in journalism, I worked as a columnist, investigative journalist, and newspaper editor before life took me in other directions. My father’s unexpected death at the age of sixty-one motivated me to try writing a novel worthy of publication. It took eight years to finish my first, Down and Out in Kathmandu, but I did it!

Is there a book you wish you had written?

There are so many! The Ghost by Robert Harris is a thriller that keeps you guessing right down to the last word. I am in awe of his writing, pacing, storyline, characters, and subject matter. It’s truly a brilliant book!

If you wrote an autobiography, what would your title be?

Adventures in Living. My life has been a series of happy coincidences I cannot fully explain. For whatever reason, I’m now in Amsterdam and love my expat life. I am truly thankful for every experience I’ve had along the way, even the bad ones.

If you could invite any fictional character for coffee who would it be and where would you take them?

It would be fun to walk around the Rijksmuseum with Dan Brown’s Robert Langdon and check the artwork for hidden clues.

Tell us about your last release? Do you have a new release due?

Rituals of the Dead is a thrilling mystery about Asmat artifacts, missionaries, smugglers and anthropologists. I cannot wait until April 6, when it is released as paperback and eBook!

It is set in present-day Amsterdam and Dutch New Guinea in the 1960s. I wanted to write a mystery around a bis pole, an ancestor object similar to a Native American totem pole. They are carved by the Asmat in Papua, a region in the Indonesian half of the island. Amsterdam plays a role because Zelda is working at an anthropological museum in the city on an exhibition of Asmat artifacts. However, Zelda’s experiences are far more thrilling than my own!

The storyline was inspired by collection research I conducted for a fascinating exhibition of Asmat art and artifacts called Bis poles: Sculptures of the Rainforest. It was held in the Amsterdam’s Tropenmuseum in 2008. While researching the histories of Asmat objects held in Dutch museum collections, I came across many bizarre stories about headhunting, crazy explorers and daring anthropologists. Those stories stuck with me long after the exhibition opened and eventually inspired this novel.

My intention in writing this book is not only to entertain readers, but also to inspire them to learn more about the Asmat and their fascinating culture. I can’t wait to share Rituals of the Dead with mystery and thriller fans!

What are you working on right now?

I am currently working on book four in the Adventures of Zelda Richardson series. Zelda is once again embroiled in an art-related mystery. Italy will feature heavily in this novel about the mafia and art theft. It’s been fun researching the plot! Readers will have to wait a while for this one to be published as I’m only flushing out the first draft now. Though I think Zelda’s fans will enjoy the direction the series takes and the next art-related mystery to be solved.

What do you generally do to celebrate on publication day?

An extended happy dance then a delicious meal and fine wine. The next day, it’s business as usual.

How can readers keep in touch with you?

I love to hear from readers! Facebook, my blog and Goodreads are the best places to ask questions or leave comments. You can also join my newsletter or connect with me on social media:

Website: http://www.jennifersalderson.com

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/JennifeSAlderson

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jenniferSAldersonauthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JSAauthor

Instagram link: http://www.instagram.com/JSAauthor

Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/cWmc29

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions, Jennifer 🙂

Thank you for interviewing me, Kerry! I appreciate your insightful questions and interest in my books. Take care!

Rituals of the Dead: An Artifact Mystery

Art, religion, and anthropology collide in Alderson’s latest art mystery thriller, Rituals of the Dead, Book three of the Adventures of Zelda Richardson series.

Art history student Zelda Richardson is working at the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam on an exhibition of bis poles from the Asmat region of Papua – the same area where a famous American anthropologist disappeared in 1962. When his journal is found inside one of the bis poles, Zelda is tasked with finding out more about the man’s last days and his connection to these ritual objects.

Zelda is pulled into a world of shady anthropologists, headhunters, missionaries, art collectors, and smugglers – where the only certainty is that sins of the past are never fully erased.

Join Zelda as she grapples with the anthropologist’s mysterious disappearance fifty years earlier, and a present-day murderer who will do anything to prevent her from discovering the truth.

Rituals of the Dead is now available as paperback and eBook on Amazon, iBooks, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, and Smashwords.

Purchase Book Links:

AMAZON.COM: https://www.amazon.com/Jennifer-S.-Alderson/e/B019H079RA/

KOBO: https://www.kobo.com/nl/en/search?query=Jennifer%20S.%20Alderson&fcsearchfield=Author

iBOOKS: https://itunes.apple.com/nl/author/jennifer-s.-alderson/id1071483428?l=en&mt=11

BARNES & NOBLE: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Jennifer%20S.%20Alderson%22?Ntk=P_key_Contributor_List&Ns=P_Sales_Rank&Ntx=mode+matchall

AMAZON CO UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jennifer-S.-Alderson/e/B019H079RA/

SMASHWORDS: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jennifersalderson

GOOGLE PLAY: https://play.google.com/store/books/author?id=Jennifer+S.+Alderson

Author bio

Jennifer S. Alderson was born in San Francisco, raised in Seattle, and currently lives in Amsterdam. Her love of travel, art, and culture inspires her ongoing mystery series, the Adventures of Zelda Richardson. Her background in journalism, multimedia development, and art history enriches her novels.

In Down and Out in Kathmandu, Zelda gets entangled with a gang of smugglers whose Thai leader believes she’s stolen his diamonds. The Lover’s Portrait is a suspenseful “whodunit?” about Nazi-looted artwork that transports readers to wartime and present-day Amsterdam. Art, religion, and anthropology collide in Rituals of the Dead, a thrilling artifact mystery set in Dutch New Guinea (Papua) and the Netherlands.

Her travelogue, Notes of a Naive Traveler, is a must read for those interested in learning more about – or wishing to – travel to Nepal and Thailand.

When not writing, Jennifer can be found in a museum, biking around Amsterdam, or enjoying a coffee along the canal while planning her next research trip. Visit Jennifer’s website to learn more about and buy her books: http://www.jennifersalderson.com/.

Happy Publication Day, Lewis Hine 🙂

I am currently reading this inspirational story, with thanks to Karen Browning at Blink Publishing for my beautiful hardback copy.

My review will follow shortly, but in the meantime I wanted to let you all know it is OUT TODAY 🙂

Buy your copy…..

Follow Lewis Hine on Twitter…..

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Lewis Hine Friend Finder charity website –

http://www.lewishine.co.uk/

Guest post by J. F. Kirwan…..

Writing realistic fight scenes

Guest blog by J F Kirwan

In 88 North, Nadia and her small entourage come up against a martial arts specialist called Blue Fan. The first third of the book is set in Hong Kong in triad territory, and there are several fight scenes without guns. This kind of stuff works well on the silver screen and gaming videos, but usually less so in books. Are you ever reading a thriller, and in a key scene there is a fight, but you get confused: the hero or villain seems to have three arms, or is facing one way then suddenly another, or else you just can’t visualise what is going on, and you really want to…?

Me too…

It’s not easy writing fight scenes – it’s hard for three main reasons. First, most writers have probably never been in a real fight, and being in a fight is completely different from watching one. Second, most readers don’t know karate, kung fu or wrestling, and so the various moves need to be explained in a way that is visual and understandable. If it’s simple and over quickly (e.g. A punched B in the gut, then knee’d B in the head as B doubled over), it can be done in a straightforward way. But if you want something more exotic, it’s harder. The third reason is related, since if you start over-describing things, many readers will disengage and lose interest just when you don’t want them to…

So, here are seven solutions I use.

First, I admit to having done a lot of martial arts over the years, including full-contact sparring, so I know what is possible, what is fantasy, and what it feels like (including being hit and even knocked out). You don’t have to know all that to write good fight scenes. But you do need a basic idea of anatomy…

Second, I write them out in full, as if choreographing a dance, because in a way that’s what such scenes are, and that’s how they are developed for the big screen. Then I pare the description back to give the minimal information that still makes it visualisable and understandable.

Third, I add in things that are visual to give it a cinematic feel so the reader can see these things even if the actual fight is less clear to them. Ordinary things – like the umbrella in the short extract below – rather than exotic artefacts.

Fourth I add in other visceral details (sound/touch/smell), to keep the reader engaged (thunder and warm rain in the extract below), so that it feels real rather than watching a video game.

Fifth, I raise the stakes for the reader by putting the central character in serious jeopardy, to engage the emotional connection between the reader and the central character. This is important: would you like a character that easily beat up someone? The line between hero and bully is quite thin (see for example the ‘ragged child’ in the extract below, who could so easily have become ‘collateral damage’).

Sixth, I add an environmental element, in the extract below, a cyclone, because the fight happens in Hong Kong (where I trained, incidentally) in August, which is cyclone season.

Last, I add a surprise, because, let’s face it, fight scenes have become ‘normal’, almost banal. It’s at the end of the Prologue (i.e. beyond the extract, as I have to leave you in some suspense J)

So, here’s a short extract from the Prologue, portraying two martial artists squaring up in a fight to the death on a market street in Wanchai district, Hong Kong, just as a cyclone hits the island…

Blue Fan heard it before she saw it: the stuttered hum of a bladed weapon tomahawking through the air. She dropped down low into a snake posture, right leg outstretched on the soggy ground, left leg bent double, as the axe missed her and squelched into the forehead of a balding man holding an umbrella, his shirt spattered by rain, a sheen of sweat on his face from the intense humidity. Until a moment ago he’d been next in line to buy fish. He keeled over, rigid, silent, already dead, eyes unseeing, the umbrella falling with him like a frozen parachute. Blue Fan triangulated the position of the attacker behind her, and was about to let one of her razor fan-knives slip from her fingers, when a ragged child ran across her path.

Time slowed. Her eyes met the assassin’s: an athletic male with jet black hair lashed back in a ponytail, a tiger tattoo on his inner forearm, its front claws outstretched, its jaw set in an eternal, angry roar. Others around her suddenly caught up with events. A woman screamed. The fishmonger vanished into the dark recesses of her shop, while another shopkeeper stumbled backwards and tripped over his wares, upsetting water-filled cartons, spilling gawping koi and angry crabs onto the cobbled pavement. People ran. The attacker removed two more short axes from his belt, one in each hand, and crossed them in front of him as he faced her. A male tourist tried to video them, until Blue Fan skewered his iPhone with one of her blades. He stared at it a moment, then dashed off.

Thunder cracked, loud and close. Warm rain lashed down, drenching everything. Wind whipped water into her eyes. The cyclone was early. On cue, the siren wailed, and everyone vanished.

Good. Now it was just the two of them.

Thanks so much for writing a great guest post for Chat About Books, J. F. Kirwan. It’s a pleasure to be a part of your blog tour!

Thanks, as always, to Rachel for her hard work and for the opportunity to take part.

88° North

The deadliest kind of assassin is one who is already dying…

As the radiation poisoning that Nadia Laksheva was exposed to in Chernobyl takes hold of her body, she knows she has mere weeks to live. But Salamander, the terrorist who murdered her father and sister has a deadly new plan to ‘make the sky bleed’. Nadia is determined to stop him again, even if it is the last thing she ever does.

The only clue she has are the coordinates 88˚ North, a ridge in the Arctic right above one of the largest oil fields in the world, three thousand metres below the ice. If Salamander takes hold of the oil field, he could change the climate of the whole planet for generations to come…

But can Nadia stop him before her own time runs out?

The gripping third and final novel in J.F. Kirwan’s brilliant spy thriller series. Perfect for fans of Charles Cumming, Mark Dawson and Adam Brookes.

Purchase from Amazon UK –

https://www.amazon.co.uk/North-Nadia-Laksheva-Thriller-Book-ebook/dp/B072FJSRMJ/

Author Bio

J. F. Kirwan is the author of the Nadia Laksheva thriller series for HarperCollins. Having worked in accident investigation and prevention in nuclear, offshore oil and gas and aviation sectors, he uses his experience of how accidents initially build slowly, then race towards a climax, to plot his novels. An instructor in both scuba diving and martial arts, he travels extensively all over the world, and loves to set his novels in exotic locations. He is also an insomniac who writes in the dead of night. His favourite authors include Lee Child, David Baldacci and Andy McNab.

Website:

http://www.jfkirwan.com

Blog:

http://www.jfkirwan.com/blog

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/kirwanjf/

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/kirwanjf

Previous posts on Chat About Books featuring J. F. Kirwan and his books…..

66 Metres #BlogTour J.F. Kirwan @kirwanjf #GuestPost @rararesources

37 Hours by J.F. Kirwan @kirwanjf #BlogTour #AuthorInterview @rararesources

Postcard Poets

Saturday 14 April, 11am-12noon

City Central Library, Hanley

Cost: free

You may have seen some of the beautiful poetry postcards, produced by Poetry On Loan and available in libraries. We’re very pleased that three of the poets whose work is featured on these postcards – Jonny Fluffypunk, Simon Fletcher and Dave Reeves – will read and perform at City Central Library.

Contact City Central Library to book your free place

Tel: 01782 238455

Email: central.library@stoke.gov.uk

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

Today I have the pleasure of joining in with Ryan Ruby’s The Zero and the One blog tour. 

Many thanks as always to Imogen, at Legend Press, for the opportunity to take part and for offering a paperback copy of The Zero and the One for me to giveaway to one of you lucky people!

Extract…..

RITUALS OF SUSPENSION.—

The ritual that can withstand the deadening weight of its own unbroken repetition has yet to be choreographed. Any ritual so rigid that it fails to include the means of its own periodic suspension is bound to go extinct. Pembroke is one of the smallest and poorest of Oxford’s colleges. The Cotswold stone buildings seem to turn inward, away from bustling St. Aldate’s, as if ashamed of the plainness of their features. The Old Quad, where I was given rooms, lies quite literally in the shadow of the fairer sister over the road. Tourists would come from round the world to visit Pembroke Square, only to turn their backs on our Porter’s Lodge so they could have a better angle from which to snap a photograph of Tom Tower, the lavishly ornamented gateway to Christ Church. The college was old enough to have produced a few notable alumni, but the most famous of them, Samuel Johnson, was sent down after a year for a lack of funds. Today, its students are better known for the speed of their oars on the Isis than the speed of their pens in the Exam Schools. It is largely made up of those like me, who have what the Student Union euphemistically calls non-traditional backgrounds, and who were only able to attend the oldest university in England by grace of what the Bursar called, rather less euphemistically, hardship grants. (Mine in particular were financed by the sale, a few years previously, of Man in a Chair, an early painting by Francis Bacon, a poster of which was the only decoration on the walls of my rooms.) Rounding out the Junior Common Room were the thicker products of the public schools, Erasmus scholars from the continent, and Americans on their year abroad. Of this last group there were around twenty, paying American tuition fees to add English polish to their CVs. The reason for their presence at Pembroke was nakedly economic, a way for a college whose endowment consisted almost entirely of subsidies from its wealthier neighbours to generate a bit of additional revenue. They were lodged in the back staircases of the North Quad, on the main site, with the rest of us first years. Though they were only two years older than I, and though they were living, many for the first time, in a country not their own, this slight difference in age lent them an air of cosmopolitan sophistication; I certainly wasn’t the only one to regard the visiting students, as they were called, more as elders than as peers. For better or worse, they generally had the run of the place. Zach was not long in distinguishing himself, mostly through skirmishes with various members of the college staff concerning the finer points of college etiquette. The first time I recall seeing him, he was being reprimanded by Richard Hughes, the Head Porter, a lean and sallow-faced man in his fifties, whose fingernails were worn longer than his sense of humour. I remember looking out my window to see what the fuss was about below. Zach, it seems, had walked across the immaculate square of lawn in the Old Quad on his way to the pantry. Not content to defer to authority — or local custom — he was demanding, in those flat syllables I’d come to know so well, the explanation for such an absurd rule. The one he was given (“only fellows and newlyweds are permitted to walk on the lawn of the Old Quad”) didn’t satisfy him. He demanded another. The exasperated Head Porter told him that it was “out of respect for the sleep of the dead monks who are buried there.” To this he nodded, convinced and perhaps a tad impressed. But whenever he walked through the Old Quad, he made sure to toe the cobblestones near the edge of the lawn, not seeming to care, now that he had been reprimanded, that he was liable to pay a fine if he lost his balance. A fortnight later, I was sitting alone at what had already become my regular seat at my regular table, reading whilst I waited for Formal Hall to begin. I was dressed subfusc— jacket, white bowtie (in my case poorly knotted), black commoner’s gown— the requisite attire. Zach arrived in the company of Gregory Glass, in the middle of a heated political debate. “I can’t believe what I’m hearing!” Gregory was saying. The other visiting student from Columbia, Gregory was short and barrel-chested, with long curly brown hair that was held off his face, no matter what time of day, by a sporty pair of sunglasses. I’d already seen him several times at macroeconomics lectures, furiously scribbling away in the front row. That term, not a single lecture would conclude without Gregory raising his hand to ask a question, or rather, to give a meandering observation in an interrogative tone. He asked me if they could sit at my table and, without waiting to hear my answer, continued talking to his friend. “Don’t tell me,” he said, in a voice that could be heard from one end of the hall to the other, “you’re going to throw your vote away on Nader!” “I’m not throwing away my vote,” Zach replied, perfectly calm. “I’m not voting.” “But it’s your duty to vote! You complain about the government all the time, but when you’re given the chance to actually change things, you throw it—” “See, that’s where you’re wrong. My vote doesn’t actually change anything. Nor does yours, Greg. You and I are registered in states that have already pledged their electors to Gore. And anyway, on the major issues there is a consensus between the two parties that differs only in rhetorical emphasis. During the presidential debates, the questions are never How should we organize our economy? but What flavor of capitalism would you like? Never What role should the United States have in the world? but How blatant should we be about our empire? Third-party candidates like Nader, who at least would give the election the veneer of choice, are marginalized into irrelevance by unregulated campaign finance laws and” — here he pointed a finger at Gregory — “the bad-faith scare tactics of pseudo-leftists and lesser-evil socialists like you.” Fuming, Gregory tried to respond to this accusation, but Zach sped to his next point before he could get a word in. “So don’t tell me it’s my duty to accept this state of affairs. It’s not my duty to give legitimacy to this farce we call democracy. Under the present conditions, voting is one of those customs more honored in the breach than the observance.” Gregory looked like he was going to lean across the table and grab Zach by the bowtie to get him to stop talking. To make sure he wouldn’t be interrupted again, he almost shouted his rejoinder. “Man, you’re so full of shit! I’d rather be a ‘pseudo-leftist’ than the beautiful soul who’s scared to get his hands dirty in actual politics. You think of yourself as a purist, but you’re just a cynic with a trust fund. You talk about not being able to opt out of capitalism? Why would you even want to? You’re its beneficiary! I’ve never met anyone more bourgeois than you.” “As Marx defined bourgeois, maybe,” Zach said, with a dismissive twirl of his wrist. “But not as Flaubert defined it. Speaking of cynicism, Comrade Glass, let’s say for the sake of discussion that your socialist dream is realized on earth. Poverty is eradicated, exploitation rooted out, war declared a thing of the past, and total freedom of thought is granted to all. That’s the idea, right? Now, will mankind hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, raise cattle in the evening, and criticize after dinner, as Marx predicted?” he asked, counting off each activity on his fingers before answering his own question. “No! They’ll shop in the morning, fill their prescriptions in the afternoon, watch TV in the evening, and die of boredom after dinner! Stupidity is not just the result of false consciousness and organized oppression. It’s the natural condition of the vast majority of mankind. It’s the one thing that is equally distributed among the rich and the poor. Solving our political and economic problems will do nothing to answer the question, Why bother? In fact, all evidence suggests that it will only make that question more difficult to answer.” Meanwhile, the hall had filled up with students and the fellows of the college had taken their places at the High Table. In a slow roll, the current of conversation ebbed and the hall flooded with the sound of bustling chairs as we all stood to hear the Classics Tutor recite the Latin Grace. All save Zach, that is, who remained seated. He took the opportunity to slide my book close enough to him to get a better view of the cover. He tapped the title with two fingers — I was reading The Birth of Tragedy — and nodded with approval. Grace concluded, the sound of conversation and sliding chairs and clanking cutlery resumed. The waiting staff appeared and began to place the starters on our plates. Gregory returned to his seat and gave Zach a stern look. “I bet you were the kid in homeroom who refused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.” “We didn’t have homeroom at The Gansevoort School, Greg.” The Hall Manager had also noticed the sole seated student and went to enquire into this breach of conduct. The Hall Manager was called Mr. Stroop, a squat man well past middle age, whom I couldn’t stand. Stroop had worked at Pembroke for over a decade, but was far less convincing than the Head Porter in performing his role as the guardian of the college’s traditions and values. It was precisely in his comical assiduousness that he betrayed his working-class origins. No one who belonged at Oxford, who was slated to go there from birth, from before their birth, cared half so much for the college’s traditions and values as he did. This confounded and perplexed him, but as he did not understand why it was the case, he was undeterred in his mission. Queuing up at the pantry one day, I heard him correct the pronunciation of an American who had ordered his sandwich without tomato. “It’s toh-mah-toe,” he said. “Not toh-may-toe. You’ve come all this way to receive a proper education. You should at least learn how to order a sandwich.” A proper education. One he himself had not received. A fact that was not lost on the American, who sneered at this bit of servility and told him to bring the sandwich “without toh-mah-toe. Right quick!” Which Stroop did, causing me to wince. Implying he couldn’t hear what was being said over the general din, though he must have known quite well what the Hall Manager was there to discuss, Zach motioned him closer to his ear. Stroop stooped as he was told and the whole table quieted down to listen to what promised to be a duel of insincere politeness. “Mr. Foedern —” “How may I be of help, sir?” “I couldn’t help but notice that you — and you alone — were not standing during the recitation of Grace.” “Yes, sir, you’ll have to forgive me. You see, I don’t speak Latin.” “Don’t speak Latin? I’m afraid I don’t see what that’s got to do with it.” “I’ll explain. To stand means to assent, no?” “To stand? Yes, I reckon…” “Well, there you have it. I can’t assent if I don’t understand what’s being said. And I can’t stand if I don’t assent. So perhaps you’ll be so good as to translate the Grace for me so I can decide whether I assent or not.” Zach batted his eyelashes with feigned innocence and, receiving no response from the flustered Hall Manager — whose only Latin, needless to say, was Veni vidi vici and Dominus illuminatio mea — tucked into his prawns. Mr. Stroop interrupted him to escort him to the High Table so the Classics Tutor could translate the Grace for him. I watched Zach listen gravely, exchange a few words with Stroop, and return to his place at the table. But he did not sit down. He poured himself another glass of wine and drank it in a single swallow. “Now that I understand,” he told us, “I definitely do not assent.” “Where are you going?” Gregory demanded. “To Hassan’s,” Zach said, referring to the kebab van on Broad Street. “I’m sure they will agree with my position on the Latin Grace.” I never again saw Zach attend Formal Hall, but I noticed that during every subsequent Grace, one or two students remained seated, small acts of rebellion that would plague Mr. Stroop until the end of the year.

A bookish scholarship student, Owen Whiting has high hopes of Oxford, only to find himself immediately out of place. Then he meets Zachary Foedern from New York. Rich and charismatic, Zach takes Owen under his wing, introducing him to a world Owen has only ever read about.

Giveaway…..

For your chance to win a paperback copy of The Zero and the One (UK ONLY!) all you need to do is comment ‘Yes please’ at the bottom of this post and I will choose a winner at random.

*The book will be sent directly from the publisher once I have passed on the winner’s details*

Thanks is advance for taking part!

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My review…..

Manipulated Lives is a collection of five short stories, although each longer than I had anticipated. Each story is unique and I found myself immersed in five very different stories about five very different people, living very different lives. However, they do all have something in common. They have all fallen victim to a manipulator or they are the manipulator.

I won’t say too much about the stories themselves as I don’t want to give anything away, but I have to say that I think the last story, where we meet Lisa, will definitely stay with me. As a parent I can totally understand her desire to make her child happy. However, keeping children happy isn’t the same thing as letting them have their own way all of the time. This teaches them nothing and Lisa learns this the hard way. I really did feel for her.

These stories highlight just how easy it can be to be manipulated by another human being and how it might be obvious to others looking in from the outside, but the victim can be totally oblivious. Also, some people thrive on manipulating others, but these people aren’t necessarily easy to spot. Any one of us could fall for their charms and I’m sure most of us have, to some degree, at one time or another.

A thought provoking collection.

Many thanks to the author for my review copy of Manipulated Lives.

Manipulated Lives

Five stories – Five Lives

Have you ever felt confused or at a loss for words in front of a spouse, colleague or parent, to the extent that you have felt inadequate or, worse, a failure? Do you ever wonder why someone close to you seems to endure humiliation without resistance? Manipulators are everywhere. At first these devious and calculating people can be hard to spot, because that is their way. They are often masters of disguise: witty, disarming, even charming in public – tricks to snare their prey – but then they revert to their true self of being controlling and angry in private. Their main aim: to dominate and use others to satisfy their needs, with a complete lack of compassion and empathy for their victim. In this collection of short novellas, you meet people like you and me, intent on living happy lives, yet each of them, in one way or another, is caught up and damaged by a manipulative individual. First you meet Tess, whose past is haunted by a wrong decision, then young, successful and well balanced Sophie, who is drawn into the life of a little boy and his troubled father. Next, there is teenage Holly, who is intent on making a better life for herself, followed by a manipulator himself, trying to make sense of his irreversible incarceration. Lastly, there is Lisa, who has to face a parent’s biggest regret. All stories highlight to what extent abusive manipulation can distort lives and threaten our very feeling of self-worth.

Purchase Link –

https://books2read.com/u/49P2MJ

Author Bio –

Helene Andrea Leuschel grew up in Belgium where she gained a Licentiate in Journalism & Communication, which led to a career in radio and television in Brussels, London and Edinburgh. She now lives with her husband and two children in Portugal and recently acquired a Master of Philosophy with the OU, deepening her passion for the study of the mind. When she is not writing, Helene works as a freelance journalist and teaches Yoga.

Social Media Links –

http://www.facebook.com/HALeuschel/

https://twitter.com/HALeuschel

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15337013.H_A_Leuschel

http://www.heleneleuschel.com

Giveaway –

Win a signed copy of Manipulated Lives by H.A. Leuschel (Open Internationally)

*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter link below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time I will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

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My review…..

I have to admit that this is the first book I’ve read by Susan Hill. It has been on my kindle for ages so I thought it was about time I bumped it to the top of my list and I am glad I did.

In The Small Hand we meet Adam Snow, who has the most amazing job by the way as an antiquarian bookseller. As he is on his way to meet a client he stumbles upon an old derelict house and gardens known as the white house. His curiosity gets the better of him and he vacates his car to explore. Whilst he’s there he feels a hand take his, a childlike hand, but there is no child. This would personally freak me out, but Adam is quite calm about the situation, initially. Things soon start taking a sinister turn though and I thoroughly enjoyed the suspense and tension that builds as the story progresses.

At one point I was worried it was going to end without any real answers, but thankfully this was not the case. I did sense where the story was heading towards to end, but this didn’t take anything away from it. It’s a brilliantly written ghost story. Atmospheric, compellingly creepy and sad.

I will be adding Susan Hill’s other books to my list.

Interview with Keith Anthony…..

For those who don’t know already, could you tell us about yourself and your book(s) please?

I live in Buckinghamshire and enjoy hiking in the Chiltern countryside, though I’m determined this year to start cycling again. I’d also like to learn wildlife photography. I play classical and finger picking blues guitar, but hit a musical ceiling a long time ago. At school I liked languages: I’ve since spent short periods of time living in a number of European countries, often trying to learn their languages too, though with mixed success… Balkan languages are super hard! I’m also interested in spiritual matters, but always with many more questions than answers.

Times and Places is about a couple who lost their 24 year old daughter a decade previously. They go on a cruise, meeting lots of colourful people but, amidst various misadventures, their emotions finally come to a head. There are plenty of flashbacks to their daughter’s life and to the aftermath of her accident, and these often involve locations I love. My story has some quietly spiritual parts to it, but I sought to mix in lots of observational humour, pathos, romance, natural beauty and light gothic horror to create a thoughtful but very accessible read.

Where did/do you get your ideas from?

I went on a cruise and it struck me as a perfect setting for a novel: on board you are trapped with strangers to love or loath, ships call at interesting ports and cruises are ripe for humour and satire.

I once ventured on a silent retreat and was interested by how the mind responds to being taken out of the modern world. I decided to send Fergus there too, to think through his anxieties and his faith, but the reader is left to make up their own mind: they are entirely free to think him crazy!

Finally, I wanted to capture the beauty of the places I love – the Isles of Scilly, Slovenia, the Chilterns – and to use them to evoke a slightly mystical natural backdrop to a poignant story.

Are any of your characters based (however loosely) on anyone you know?

I’m half Fergus, with his anxieties and spiritual wonderings, and half his daughter Justine, with her love of nature, wildlife and romantic train journeys. But there are also bits of them that are not me at all, and bits of me that are not them.

How do you pick your characters names?

Fergus and his wife Sylvie, I have no idea! They just came to me and felt immediately right: I never looked back. And Justine was the name of an early crush… it was a non-starter of course, but somehow the name has stuck. Casey (her boyfriend), as in the story, was named after a cat I once briefly looked after, though he (the character not the cat!) insists on using his nickname of “Jones”.

Can you share your writing process with us, in a nutshell?

Nowadays, with computers, pre-planning is less key: you can keep going back and forward through the text, deleting what doesn’t work and adding complications, details, side stories etc. Eventually, you have a first draft of your book! So my process is to have an idea and a general plot and then to start writing. It took about 6 months, though the polishing and editing then took three times as long.

Who are your top 5 favourite authors?

I don’t have favourite authors, more favourite books, but I would definitely say Jonathan Coe. I love his mix of humour and pathos and how multiple strands come together in the end. I’ve tried to emulate that in “Times and Places”.

Otherwise, I enjoy anything which is poignantly sad, such as “What was lost”, or which is about people who struggle to fit in, “Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine” and “The unlikely pilgrimage of Harold Fry” being two recent examples.

I like contemplatively spiritual books such as “Life of Pi” but they must avoid being preachy. In terms of the classics, I’ve hardly scratched the surface, but I read “Wuthering Heights” back to back twice, and was shocked by the ending of “Tess of the D’Urbervilles”. I love the depiction of the natural world in both.

If you could meet any author, who would it be and what would you ask them?

Maybe Roald Dahl… he had unsurpassed imagination and lived quite locally to me, though I never saw him. My question would be “why did you come and give a talk at my school on the one day I wasn’t there?” Apparently he went down a storm with the pupils, even if not with all the teachers.

Were you a big reader as a child?

No, not as a teenager at any rate, much to my Mum’s frustration, she was an English teacher and has always been an avid book lover. When I was very young, I remember her patiently reading to me the fairy tales of Ruth Manning Saunders – still super atmospheric by the way – amongst much else. Later I did really enjoy reading several children’s series, including the Willard Price “Adventure” books, but describing myself as having been “a big reader” would be a lie.

When did you start to write?

I kept a detailed diary every day from 1990 through to 2003, which I think really honed my ability to write naturally. I first started writing children’s stories about five years ago, though I do remember an atmospheric one called “Paradise Farm” which I wrote for a friend’s son much earlier. My latest story was very recent, for my goddaughter’s 7th birthday earlier this month: “The juggler of poisonous frogs.”

If you could re-write the ending to any book what would it be and what would you change?

Either that disturbing ending to “Tess”… or the ending to “The Book Thief”, giving Rudi a chance to say what he needs to say. But I admit I’ve only seen that film, so perhaps I should choose Tess.

Is there a book you wish you had written?

I like the casual style of “The Catcher in the Rye” and even now relate to its angst and to the dreamy job of watching over children playing in a rye field, catching any who run out dangerously close to the nearby cliff… though I imagine in real life that could be quite stressful! Anyway, I understand why Holden Caulfield wanted to do it. A few parts are dated now… but it reached me as a teenager and even today I suspect it still reaches teenagers other books can’t touch.

If you wrote an autobiography, what would your title be?

Not sure… maybe “Stepping out of the dream…” I feel that is what I have done with my book… I always wanted to write one, now I have. I hope this gives me confidence and opportunities to do more of the things I’ve previously only dreamed about.

If you could invite any fictional character for coffee who would it be and where would you take them?

If it is not cheating (because the book itself remains on my list), I would say Rudi from “the Book Thief”. I’d be his Catcher and leave him somewhere safe. I hate to think that there were (and still are) countless real Rudis in the world… they all deserve(d) much better. Towards the end of my book Fergus reflects similarly.

What are you working on right now?

I’m working on marketing “Times and Places”… but I do have a potential idea for a second novel, though I haven’t started it yet, so there’s a long, long way to go. And I’m told the second book is the hardest… actually they put it rather more strongly than that, so don’t hold your breath.

Do you have a new release due?

Judging by my first novel, I’d say in about two years!

What do you generally do to celebrate on publication day?

Well I have only had one so far and I took the day off work to enjoy the moment. I did naively venture to my local bookshop: my novel wasn’t in the window, nor was it on a display, and it wasn’t on a bookshelf either… I sloped off consoling myself that it must still be out the back somewhere. I’ve since learned that Waterstones have ordered copies, so they are out there…

How can readers keep in touch with you?

Please follow me on Twitter, @KeithAnthonyWS, or write to me via my publisher, the Book Guild. I would love to hear from anyone who reads my book, for better or worse, or relates to its themes!

Is there anything else you would like us to know?

This is nearly 1,500 words, I think that’s probably already too much!

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions, Keith 🙂

Times and Places

Ten years after his daughter Justine’s death, an anxious Fergus embarks on a cruise with his wife. On board, he meets a myriad of characters and is entranced by some, irritated by others and disgusted by one. These turbulent feelings, combined with a sequence of bizarre events, only lead to his increased anxiety.

In a series of flashbacks, Justine enjoys an ultimately short romance, a woman concludes she killed her and an investigating police officer is drawn into her idyllic world. Fergus, haunted by poignant memories, withdraws in search of answers.

Back on the cruise, Fergus reaches breaking point, fearing he has done something terrible. By the time the ship returns, his world has changed forever.

“Times and Places” spans Atlantic islands, the Chiltern countryside, Cornish coasts and rural Slovenia, all of which provide spectacular backdrops to a humorous and moving tale of quiet spirituality.

Purchase from Amazon:

http://amzn.to/2o9hgF0

Purchase from Book Guild –

https://www.bookguild.co.uk/bookshop-collection/fiction/times-and-places/

Purchase from WH Smith –

https://www.whsmith.co.uk/products/times-and-places/9781912362141

Purchase from Waterstones –

https://www.waterstones.com/book/times-and-places/keith-anthony/9781912362141

Author Bio –

Keith was born and brought up in the Chilterns, to where he returned after studying French at university in Aberystwyth and a subsequent spell living in west London. He has a love of nature, both in his native Buckinghamshire countryside, but also in Cornwall and wherever there is a wild sea.

Keith has been lucky enough to spend time living in France, Spain, Belgium, Serbia and Croatia, as well as being a regular visitor to Germany, and languages were the only thing he was ever half good at in school. Since graduating he has worked in government departments, but between 2005 and 2008 he was seconded to the European Commission in Brussels and, thanks to a friend from Ljubljana he met there, has travelled regularly to Slovenia, getting to know that country well.

Keith’s other great love is music and he plays classical and finger picking blues guitar, though with persistently limited success. He has always enjoyed writing, including attempts at children’s fiction, and in 2016 he began work on his first full book with “Times and Places” the end result: an accessible, observational story, mixing quiet spirituality with humour, pathos and gothic horror, and setting it against a rich backdrop of the natural world.

Twitter – https://twitter.com/KeithAnthonyWS

Giveaway –

Win 3 x Signed copies of Times and Places (Open Internationally)

*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time I will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

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

Enjoy!

Interview with Lorraine Hellier…..

Thank you for inviting me to your blog.

For those who don’t know already, could you tell us about yourself and your book(s) please?

I live near the cathedral city of Lichfield, Staffordshire, overlooking the Trent and Mersey canal. I visit local schools, libraries and bookstores offering Author Visits and Creative Writing Workshops. I love to travel and a visit to New Zealand inspired this novel, “The Elf King,” which is the first of a trilogy. It is a story of the love and loyalty of family and friends on a perilous journey.

I am a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and a local group of writers who support and encourage each other.

The sequel is “The Elf Quest,” official publication April 2018, copies now available.

Where did/do you get your ideas from?

I’m rarely short of ideas but have to make notes of them while I focus on the project I am working on. I often dream or get an idea just as I’m waking. Sometimes travelling, pictures, TV, a chance remark or conversation sparks an idea.

Are any of your characters based (however loosely) on anyone you know?

Without realising, it’s only when I look back on a story, I discover there’s a little of myself in some characters. Unconsciously I use traits of family members but the characters don’t look anything like them.

How do you pick your characters names?

Names of characters are often where I begin something new. Once I have one character I may research others which will work together: For example the flowers and herbs for names of the characters in “The Elf King.” I often just make up a name if it is a fantasy character or use a mythical name.

I resorted to a telephone directory once though.

Can you share your writing process with us, in a nutshell?

I brainstorm an idea, make rough notes and I usually know the beginning and end of the story. It’s up to the characters to get me there!

My first draft is always longhand. I type up chapter by chapter rephrasing along the way. Edit, critique with other writers, Edit, Edit, Edit… read aloud. Edit again. Before publisher gets a look!

Who are your top 5 favourite authors?

This is difficult because they can frequently change. I love classics like Charlotte Bronte. I also like Anthony Horowitz YA novels. Recently I find I want to support new authors Patrice Lawrence, Eugene Lambert, Peter Bunzi.

If you could meet any author, who would it be and what would you ask them?

J. R. R. Tolkien. Can you take me to Middle Earth and share your inspirational thoughts?

Were you a big reader as a child?

Yes, I almost always had a book in my hand. To the extent I would be told to “put that book down and help with the washing up!”

When did you start to write?

I started writing around 2000. I returned from living and working in Guernsey, Channel Islands full of ideas for children’s stories. I joined a writers group and took a writers course. I learnt a lot from other writers and still appreciate their advice and support.

If you wrote an autobiography, what would your title be?

Probably something like “On my Own” as everything I have achieved has been through my own efforts.

What are you working on right now?

The third book of my Elf Trilogy

Do you have a new release due?

“The Elf Quest” book two of Trilogy, official publication date is April 2018 but is now available.

How can readers keep in touch with you?

Readers can contact me via my website http://www.lorrainehellier.com and follow my Facebook page Lorraine Hellier, Children’s Author.

Is there anything else you would like us to know?

“The Elf King” is a traditional style “fairytale,” approach reading it with that in mind rather than expecting references to modern technology.

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions, Lorraine 🙂 I live not too far away from you!

The Elf King

Bay Leaf is the new Elf King and must take his Oath of Allegiance. His sister, Sweet Pea, demonstrates her love and support on a perilous journey to the Mountain Shrine.

An enchanted book offers advice and guidance from their ancestors and warns Sweet Pea to take care of her brother. Will her interference resolve Bay Leaf’s heartache?

Purchase from Amazon UK –

http://amzn.to/2EHNCi6

Author Bio –

Lorraine writes from her canal-side home near the cathedral city of Lichfield, Staffordshire. She visits local schools offering Author Visits and Creative Writing Workshops. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators supporting and encouraging other members.

Lorraine loves to travel, a visit to New Zealand inspired this novel.

The sequel “The Elf Quest” will be published April 2018.

Social Media Links

Website http://www.lorrainehellier.com

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/Lorraine-Hellier-Childrens-Author-205398739480807/

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

Enjoy!

Interview with Susan-Alia Terry…..

For those who don’t know already, could you tell us about yourself and your book(s) please?

I always loved to read, but didn’t consider writing until my early-to-mid 40s. Mid-life crisis? Possibly. Probably. I was bored in my current job and the question running around my mind was “Is this it?” Given that I could have another 40 to 50 years (or more) ahead of me, continuing in that vein seemed a bit bleak. So I went about exploring my creative side. Since I love music, I decided to give that a try. I found out that I have no patience for learning an instrument. Since I love reading, I decided to give writing a try. Once I dropped my pre-conceived notions about writers, I instantly fell in love. In 2016 (at 52), my first book, Coming Darkness, was released. I can easily see doing this for the next 50-plus years!

Where did/do you get your ideas from?

The idea for Coming Darkness grew out of a dream. In that dream, a bunch of goth kids went to a graveyard to summon Satan. Lucifer, played by a very stylish David Niven, shows up and tells them how stupid they all are.

The dream stuck with me, and from it I wrote that scenario with Lucifer and Kai. While the scene didn’t make it into the final novel, it was the springboard for the story.

In general, my ideas come from all different places. I’ll be watching a movie and somebody will say something and that will create a seed of an idea. Same thing can happen while reading. The most innocent thing can spark an idea that I want to build on.

Are any of your characters based (however loosely) on anyone you know?

No. At least not intentionally!

How do you pick your characters names?

Sometimes they tell me what their names are. Other times I feel it out. It sounds weird, but I know how the name feels (and possibly the first letter), and while I’m scouring lists of baby names I’m looking for a resonance to that feeling.

Can you share your writing process with us, in a nutshell?

When I started writing Coming Darkness, I had no idea what the story was. All I knew was that I wanted to build a story around a Lucifer that not only had never been to Hell, but also was not The Devil. He still hated humans, but all the rest of it was untrue. I also had Kai and Roberta.

I wrote a bunch of scenes, trying to get a sense of the story. I tried Mind Mapping. I got a huge piece of paper and wrote down character names and ideas. Then I circled some I thought were on a similar path and drew lines connecting groups with conflicts etc. It was an interesting exercise, and slightly helpful.

The thing I’m most comfortable with though, is both writing and daydreaming the story. I write some and then let my mind and imagination flow, and they feed on each other. I may imagine a scene, but then when I sit down to write it, it becomes something else entirely. That sparks my imagination further and it takes off until I write the next bit, and so on.

Who are your top 5 favourite authors?

In no particular order: Clive Barker, Anne Rice, Stephen King, R.A. Salvatore, Lee Child

Were you a big reader as a child?

I was, but I didn’t pay attention to authors. I read a lot, but I rarely recalled the author’s name. It didn’t occur to me that there were actual people behind the stories. The covers attracted me and the blurbs sealed the deal. There were a handful of authors I knew: Judy Blume was one, Alan Dean Foster was another, but for the most part, I didn’t pay attention to who wrote the books I read. Looking back, there was something really freeing about picking up a random book and reading it without regard to who wrote it or what anyone else had to say about it.

When did you start to write?

I started writing poetry in college, and I played around with writing on and off afterwards. It wasn’t until around 2004 that I started really thinking about it, and it wouldn’t be until another 2 or so years until my first National Writing Month when things started getting serious.

If you could re-write the ending to any book what would it be and what would you change?

I wouldn’t have killed Sirius Black.

Is there a book you wish you had written?

No, because the book wouldn’t be the same. A book is the product of the author: their life’s experiences, their personality etc. I couldn’t write their book. Now, would I like one of my books to emulate the success (either commercially or artistically) of other books? Absolutely.

What are you working on right now?

I’m working on the revisions to the follow-up to Coming Darkness.

Do you have a new release due?

Hopefully this year will see the release of the follow up to Coming Darkness, tentatively titled Dreaming in Shadow.

What do you generally do to celebrate on publication day?

When Coming Darkness was released, I basked in happiness. It was a perfect day. I’m looking forward to feeling that way with each successive release.

How can readers keep in touch with you?

I can be found on:

On my website: susanaliaterry.com

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/@susan_alia

Is there anything else you would like us to know?

Thank you Kerry, for the opportunity to be your guest on this tour! I also want to thank all of my readers, and I hope they will continue to read and enjoy my work for years to come!

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions, Susan :-)

Coming Darkness

Archangel Lucifer lives a comfortable life of self-imposed exile with his vampire lover, Kai. When the other Archangels come to him with a problem — Heaven is gone and their Father is missing — he refuses to get involved because not only is it not his problem, but it’s probably some elaborate ruse they’ve cooked up to lure him back into the fold. When he’s personally attacked, he finds that he’s wrong on both counts. There are other powerful gods at work, gods who believe the current creation is flawed and must be destroyed.

Kai is thrown off balance when Lucifer disappears, and his life begins to spiral out of control. In the past, he never cared that he was looked down upon and called Lucifer’s pet. But with Lucifer absent, he’s left to navigate a world that doesn’t respect him. Since the only true currency is respect, he must gain it the only way his enemies will understand, through blood.

Purchase from Amazon –

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D7MM5IM/

Author Bio –

They say it’s never too late to find and pursue your passion. Turns out they’re right. Although Susan loved to read, she didn’t start writing until she was in her late 40’s. A stint in grad school helped her hone her craft, and now she happily spends her days making up stories and figuring out how best to emotionally (and sometimes physically) torture her characters.

Social Media Links –

Website: http://susanaliaterry.com

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/@susan_alia

GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/SusanAliaTerry

Creativia Author Page: http://www.creativia.org/focus-passion-and-purpose-fantasy-author-susan-alia-terry.html

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

Enjoy!