Guest Author Anne Allen

Today we have author Anne Allen joining us. Cathy from the book review team recently read and reviewed Anne’s book Guernsey Retreat, catch up with the review here. http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-61d

Let’s find out more about Anne and her writing.

Where is your home town?

I now live in sunny (sometimes!) Teignmouth, by the sea in Devon, but I was born and raised in Rugby. For someone who learnt early on that she loved the sea, this proved to be a problem and I’ve spent my adult life making my home by various coasts.

How long have you been writing?

Not that long – I’m a late starter! I began writing my first novel, Dangerous Waters, about 9 years ago, after thinking about writing for many moons. I’m one of those people who tends to prevaricate when attempting anything new but I finally ran out of excuses at that time – now working part-time and the children had flown the nest – and inspiration floated in. Phew! I was boosted by winning First Prize in a competition run by Prima magazine, who were looking for a true-life story of 500 words. After receiving my prize of £500 in M&S vouchers, I thought writing might prove to be a rewarding second career after semi-retiring from being a psychotherapist.

Which genre do your books belong to?

They fall into several genres; each one has a romantic element and Dangerous Waters and Guernsey Retreat are also mysteries, while Finding Mother is a family drama. As a result of my work as a psychotherapist, I’ve been fascinated by relationship issues and these figure largely in my work. And I love buried secrets and mysteries. ☺

Cathy from the book review team recently reviewed Guernsey Retreat. Is this the first book you’ve set on the Channel Island of Guernsey?

No, all my books are set on the island. When I wrote Dangerous Waters it was my homage to the place where I had lived for many happy years and where I left behind a son and numerous friends. I didn’t set out to write a series even with Finding Mother, but by the time I wrote Guernsey Retreat I realised that was what I was doing. The series is called The Guernsey Novels which says it all! Each book is a standalone story, but linked by characters and places. Readers have commented on the fact that characters from one book pop up in another and they enjoy discovering what has happened to them in the intervening years.

Tell us a bit about Malcolm Roget from Guernsey Retreat.

He is an older man, about 70, who was brought up by a single mother, Betty, and learnt young that you could be successful if you worked hard enough. Brought up in Canada, he became a wealthy man from running his own hotel group, but didn’t allow himself a private life, apart from when he met Susan Canning. They had a passionate time together when he worked for a while in London, but he returned to Canada without knowing Susan was pregnant. Meeting his daughter late in life proves to be a turning point for him, coinciding as it does with his decision to set up a natural health centre and retreat in Guernsey, his mother’s original home.

Who is Louisa Canning?

Louisa is the child of Susan and Malcolm. Her mother never married and all Louisa knew about her father was his name. She lives in London and works as a hospital physiotherapist but is feeling stressed by her job and unhappy after the abrupt end of a relationship. It is at this point that her mother dies tragically and Louisa has to embark on a journey of discovery, in more ways than one.

Tell us a bit about Dangerous Waters, the first book in the Guernsey series.

The story focuses on Jeanne Le Page who left Guernsey at 16 after a tragic family accident. She now returns reluctantly following the death of her beloved grandmother. Jeanne, reeling from that loss and the end of a long-term relationship, only plans to stay long enough to sell the cottage she has inherited. However, the cottage holds a secret going back to World War II when Guernsey was occupied and she is drawn into learning more. Jeanne also meets up with old school friends and begins to see that it might be better to stay after all. Another mystery surrounds the tragedy which claimed the lives of her family and left her injured and suffering from traumatic amnesia. Back on the island hazy, frightening memories begin to surface and Jeanne has no choice but to face her demons and re-live the awful events of that long-ago night. As the truth is finally revealed her life is, once again, in danger…

What is the second book, Finding Mother, about?

This story follows Nicole’s search for her birth mother after her marriage hits the rocks and she needs to find out who ‘she really is’. Adopted by Jersey parents, Nicole has enjoyed a comfortable upbringing and, after university, met Tom Oxford when they were both working in radio in Bristol. They married and their careers took off in television, becoming the proverbial media ‘golden couple’. But when Tom’s unfaithful, Nicole realises it’s time for things to change and she wants to find her ‘real’ mother. Her search takes her from England to Spain, where her parents have retired, to Jersey and finally Guernsey. It’s here that she finds a family riddled with its own secrets and Nicole becomes a catalyst for change for them all.

Tell us what you are working on at the moment.

My fourth book in the series, The Family Divided. The story concerns a local family, the Batistes, who have been split since Edmund Batiste was killed during the German Occupation, amidst allegations of collaborating with the enemy. Edmund’s grandson, Andy, wants to clear his grandfather’s name and restore his own father’s rightful inheritance. In this he is helped by Charlotte Townsend, an English friend of Louisa and who appeared in Finding Mother. Charlotte, a recently divorced publisher and fledgling writer, is drawn to Andy and only too willing to undertake research on his behalf. So again we have romance, mystery and family drama as threads throughout the book. It’s due to be published in spring 2015.

Where can readers find out more about you and your books?

The best place is my website – http://www.anneallen.co.uk Here you can read the first chapters of all of my books, watch the book trailers, dip into my blog or the About Me page. I’m always happy to hear from readers and there’s a contact form on the site.

If anyone wants to follow me – nicely of course! – I’m on twitter @AnneAllen21 and my facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/pages/Anne-Allen-Author/176883759173475

Find Anne’s Books here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Guest Author Cinda Mackinnon

Today we have a guest author for you to meet, Cinda Mackinnon. Over the last two days we’ve had a review of Cinda’s book from review team member Jessie and my own review of Cinda’s book “A Place In The World” you can catch up with both of these reviews

Jessie’s review http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-5ZN

My Review http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-5VC

Let’s find out more about Cinda and her writing

Interview for Rosie Amber

1) Where is your home town?

Well I never really had one growing up overseas, nor even a state, even though my parents were Americans. I used to say I was from Costa Rica (having lived there the longest) but then people would say “no you’re not” ( being that I’m blondish with blue eyes). Now I say I am from northern California, having now lived here longer than anywhere else and feeling quite comfortable.

2) How long have you been writing?

Since I was about twelve – on and off – but only in the last 10 years was I able to have the luxury and discipline to treat it as a second career. When we were still little kids, I was making up stories for my younger brother every night.

3) What was the one idea behind A Place In the World?

I wanted to write about the sights and sounds of the Andean forests and the Latino culture, but the main theme is “belonging”… finding your place in the world.

4) Describe briefly the Cloud Forest for the readers.

Cloud forests in the tropical latitudes are similar to rainforests, but located in less extensive zones in the mountains. Thus they are cooler, often misty, and have an abundance of mosses, ferns and other “epiphytes” like orchids. The diversity of flora and fauna in both is incredible and I tried to convey the grandeur. Here’s a sample:

“Ropy lianas draped every tree with magically twisted vines, and tender foliage competed with other greenery for space and light in the understory. Every square foot held a new fascination: a patterned leaf, an exotic flower or a brilliantly coloured insect to behold. A flamboyant, blue-green caterpillar with yellow spines zigzagged along a wet philodendron.”

5) Tell us about your cover art. (photo)

I love how it captures the essence of the book. The book designer sent me photos, but none were quite right as I had a definite notion of what I wanted. The art work is a painting by Martin J. Heade that has been a favourite of mine for years – my husband gets credit for saying “what about that painting you like?”(in a San Francisco museum).

6) Can you tell us about the constant coffee growing season the cloud forest provided?  

In the novel, the finca is ideally located for growing coffee, nestled between a cloud forest and the rainforest down slope. The ability of the forests to attract and hold moisture is vital to climate stability. Just as important are the uniform temperatures and the amount of light available near the equator, where the days are the same length all year.

7) Tell us about the Jorge and other characters.     

Alicia is swept off her feet by Jorge’s charisma and romantic, fun-loving nature; plus they have in common the experience of living as expats and her ties to Colombia. Jorge changes in the book and we are not sure if his immaturity is unveiled or if an accident is to blame. His gentle brother Pepe is the responsible family man in the picture. My favorite character is barefoot Carmen who has worked for the family most of her life. She is usually indefatigably cheerful and hard-working in spite of hardships and becomes Alicia’s loyal companion.

8) How are Latin Americans different from North Americans in your book?

Latinos are warm people and close family ties are central to their lives; all ages get together often. The Carvallo family is shocked by the seemingly uncaring attitude of Alicia’s family and her father-in-law “… felt sorry for Alicia, as if she were an orphan… From that day forward don Felipe treated her with tenderness, as though she were his own daughter.“ The men take care of women and children, but that can be a double-edged sword if women are not regarded as capable as men by the older generation. Alicia is independent and her decision to run the finca alone, in spite of a dangerous situation, is admired by her American friend, but viewed as fool-hardy by the Colombians.

 

9) How dangerous did people think the volcano was?

The volcano was some distance from them so there was no imminent danger of flying rocks or gases, however winds can carry fine ash many miles and this is what practically smothered the coffee plants. People living on the flanks would be in danger of explosions, hot ash and other hazards and have to evacuate. I based it on a real-life volcano in Colombia named Nevado (snow-covered) del Ruiz, which is located in coffee country and continues to pose a threat.

10) What are you working on at the moment?

At least two things: a family memoir and a novel set in Hawaii and California about a woman with a dark secret. There is another story bouncing around in my head too. I hope one of them “wins” soon so I start concentrating on just one!

11) Where can readers find out more about you?

My main URL is my website/blog: http://cindamackinnon.wordpress.com

See more reviews at: http://amzn.to/19wSFfX 

A Place in the World : the Kindle Best Book Award 2014 (Semifinalist in Literary Fiction); 2^nd place at the San Francisco Writer’s Conference in the indie category and an Honorable Mention in the Mainstream/Literary Fiction category for Writer’s Digest’s Self-Published Book Awards.

I’m on Goodreads too if you want to see my favorite books (but the author page says much the same thing!) http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7039858.Cinda_Crabbe_MacKinnon

If anyone is interested in seeing some wonderful (I can say that because I didn’t take most of them!) pictures of Colombia, rain forests and more go to: www.pinterest.com/CindaMac/ (I also have a board for writers on Pinterest.)

Find a copy of A Place In The World here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guest Author Juliet Greenwood

Today we have Juliet Greenwood as our guest author, she wrote We That Are Left which I reviewed yesterday, see this link for the review http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-5MX

Let’s find out more about Juliet and her books.

 

 

1) Where is your home town?

I live halfway up a mountain on the edges of a village in Snowdonia in North Wales. In one direction I look up to the mountains, and to the other I look over the romantic Island of Anglesey, and some pretty gorgeous sunsets. I lived next to the Hammersmith flyover in London for several years, so I certainly appreciate the peace and quiet!

2) How long have you been writing?

All my life! I wrote my first rip-roaring historical at the age of ten, and never looked back. It’s taken me a long time to be actually published and begin to be the writer I want to be. It’s been a long learning curve, but I feel that time and experience is often vital to the creating of a long-term career as a writer. Having your first book published is really only the beginning of the journey.

3) What was the one idea behind this book?

I wanted to write about the amazing women in WW1, who not only kept life going at home under the most difficult of circumstances, but also worked on the front line risking their lives as ambulance drivers, doctors and nurses, but who have been largely forgotten.

4) For readers who don’t know the book yet, can you introduce us to Elin?

At the start of the book, Elin is a typical wife of her time, living a comfortable, but rather unfulfilling existence in the country estate in Cornwall. Her husband, Hugo, is much older, and sees her in the way women were generally viewed at the time, as delicate and in need of protection, and is quite unable to share his own traumas from fighting in the Boer War. Like many women, Elin is left to take charge of the estate when WW1 breaks out, discovering new strengths and depths that eventually take her on a desperate rescue mission in the battlefields of France. It’s an experience that changes her forever.

5) Mouse is such a fun character, can you tell us about some of her beliefs.

I love Mouse! Like Elin, she’s frustrated by the limitations of being a woman in Edwardian times, but coming from a rich, aristocratic family she has far more choices. She is adventurous, and loves to shock. She flies her biplane over to France and back for a bet, wears trousers (very shocking at the time), speaks her mind and is determinedly independent. She has no wish to be tied to a rich husband and forced into tedious domesticity. When the war comes and her brothers go off to fight, she is determined not to be left behind. Like many rich women of the time, she takes off with supplies to help on the frontline of the fighting. Despite the things that she goes through, she never loses her free spirit.

6) How does Elin grow into her role as leader at Hiram Hall once Hugo leaves for war?

 

Elin soon realises that she will need to use the estate’s kitchen garden to help the local population as food prices rise, and eventually shortages kick in. She rediscovers old recipes and remedies to cope with the shortages, and she also rediscovers her own passion for baking, inherited from her mother.

 

As the war goes on, Elin takes on more of the responsibilities, learning to deal with staff and the accounts, and discovering that she is perfectly capable of running a large estate, as well, if not better, than her husband. Like many women during the war, she becomes the linchpin of the local community, dealing with the grief and loss of those around her, and reassuring them in the face of the danger from Zeppelin air raids. When Hugo returns, he can no more understand this change in her than she can understand his experiences of war, meaning that, for Elin, the end of the war is where her own battles begin. It was something that happened for many couples after WW1, in fact so much so that the level of those seeking to divorce after the war finally led to divorce being made possible for ordinary people.

 

7) What do Mouse and her friends do to help the war efforts?

 

In WW1 there were plenty of wealthy women who were determined to do their bit for the war effort, despite being scornfully dismissed by those in authority. It was totally chaotic, with volunteers simply taking off with supplies and going over to France to do what they could. Mouse and her friends fit out a truck and set off with food and medical supplies to help on the frontline, driving ambulances and helping in the makeshift field hospitals. One of the real-life women who did this was the Duchess of Sutherland who set up her own field hospitals: http://www.westernfrontassociation.com/great-war-on-land/casualties-medcal/2383-millicent-duchess-of-sutherland-ambulance.html They were truly brave and heroic women!

 

8) Can you explain how the front line might move from day to day and how the field hospitals coped?

 

The part set in France is not only in the trenches but on the edges of the battlefields, the tiny bits of land that were fought over constantly during the years of the war. What was horrible about the fighting was that it was over such small advances that caused huge losses on both sides, and then the line moved back again, with the civilians who had nowhere to go caught in the middle. This meant that in places the front lines were constantly shifting, which caused huge suffering not only for the soldiers involved but also for the French civilians. I have family in France who experienced the effects on civilians in both wars, something that has always haunted me. I also read accounts of the women working on the frontlines, in field hospitals in whatever building they could find, who frequently had to move as the fighting grew too close, losing precious vegetable gardens that supplemented the lack of food, and desperately trying to take wounded and dying men to some kind of safety. So much is written about the soldiers and the battles, I wanted to give a sense of what it must have been like for civilians caught in the middle of the horror and the chaos of war.

 

9) Is this your only book set in this time period? What else have you written?

 

This is the only book I’ve written that covers the period of the war. My first book for Honno Press, ‘Eden’s Garden’, is a timeshift set in Cornwall, London and Wales in contemporary times and the late Victorian era. The historical story of ‘Eden’s Garden’ ends just before WW1, and it was during my research that I stumbled across the stories of the women during the war, and so the idea behind ‘We That are Left’ began.

 

 

10) Where can readers find out more about you and your books?

 

These are my media links:

 

Juliet Greenwood

‘We That Are Left’, Honno Press, 2014

The Welsh Books Council’s Book of the Month, March 2014

The National Museum of Wales Book of the Month, March 2014

Waterstones Wales Book of the Month March, 2014

Amazon Kindle #4 May 2014

http://www.amazon.co.uk/That-Are-Left-Juliet-Greenwood/dp/190678499X

Amazon.com

 

‘Eden’s Garden’, Honno Press, 2012

Finalist for ‘The People’s Book Prize’, May 2014

Amazon Kindle #5 June 2014

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Edens-Garden-Juliet-Greenwood/dp/1906784353

Amazon.com

 

Website:     http://www.julietgreenwood.co.uk/

Blog:            http://julietgreenwoodauthor.wordpress.com/

Facebook:    https://www.facebook.com/juliet.greenwood

Twitter:      https://twitter.com/julietgreenwood

 

 

We That are Left

Juliet Greenwood

Elin lives a luxurious but lonely life at Hiram Hall. Her husband Hugo loves her but he has never recovered from the Boer War. Now another war threatens to destroy everything she knows.



With Hugo at the front, and her cousin Alice and friend Mouse working for the war effort, Elin has to learn to run the estate in Cornwall, growing much needed food, sharing her mother’s recipes and making new friends – and enemies. But when Mouse is in danger, Elin must face up to the horrors in France herself.



And when the Great War is finally over, Elin’s battles prove to have only just begun.





Waterstones Wales Book of the Month, Wales Independent Bookshops Book of the Month and Wales National Museums Book of the Month, March 2014


 

 

 

 

 

 

Guest Author Suraya Dewing

Our guest today is Suraya Dewing author of yesterday’s book Bend With The Wind, here is a link to the post if you missed it. http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-5JC

 

Where is your home town?

My home town is currently Auckland, New Zealand. However, I grew up in a remote part of New Zealand, Hokianga. The Hokianga shaped me. Auckland educated me.

How long have you been writing?

When I graduated from University I began a career as a trainee television director then went on to Public Relations. So, in that sense, I have been writing for 30 years. Like many creative writers I always wanted to write creatively but put that on hold because I needed certainty of income while we raised our family. In 2008 I returned to University and completed a Master of Creative Writing in 2009. I worked on ‘Bend with the Wind’ during 2009-10. Before that I had written short stories whenever I got the time (pretty average I must confess) and had a go at a novel which was awful.

What was the one idea which parked off Bend With The Wind?

The premise behind the novel is that a group might feel they have got away with an act of oppression. For a time the repercussions are hidden. However, resentment gathers momentum and eventually explodes. Usually an unrelated catalyst ignites the fire and violence becomes inevitable.

Where about in New Zealand did you set the settlement that Joe’s parents live?

Joe’s parents lived in a settlement called Parihaka which is in Taranaki, North Island of New Zealand. It is about ten miles out of New Plymouth.

Can you tell the readers a little about Colonel Messenger

Col. Messenger was a long serving member of the military in Taranaki and commanded an Armed Constabulary Post for a number of years.   In 1871-72 he was in command of the unit that pursued Titokowaru, a Maori leader and a government opponent. After the campaign Colonel Messenger returned to the Armed Constabulary Post and a nearby mountain was named after him in recognition of the period he spent surveying the area and protecting the land. He led, along with Col. Bryce, the troops into Parihaka. He was well regarded by settlers but for Sophie, being related to anyone associated with the history of the occupation was an anathema. This explained her reaction when she finds his name on their family tree.

How did they stop the Maori people from returning to their lands?

When the militia occupied the area they posted guards and no-one was allowed to return. Later, some received passes. At the time of the occupation and arrest of Te Whiti and Tohu homes were plundered, livestock killed and crops destroyed. The women were raped. Anyone who tried to get back was threatened and chased off. The land was in the hands of the militia for five years.

What were the Black Power group all about?

The Black Power gang lives outside the law and is largely made up of marginalised Maori and Pacific Island men. They live off income from drugs and the proceeds of crime.

Tell us some of the things that Joe did for young people to help them.

Joe helped the young people get back to their roots and to regain a sense of self worth. Many people were disenfranchised by the loss of their land. They were also banned from speaking Maori at school and the only legitimate history was that of the English which bore no resemblance to the world they knew. Afraid their children would be disadvantaged later in life, many Maori parents wouldn’t allow the children to learn anything of their heritage including language. He would have taught them their language, te reo, carving, whaikorero (speech making), local history going back many centuries and carving.There was a commonly held belief that being familiar with Maori culture would not allow Maori to get ahead in the world. This was true. Any connection with their culture was frowned upon by Pakeha authorities and often Maori parents supported this stance. He would have given them back a sense of pride in their heritage by taking them back to Parihaka, to the elders to hear the unacknowledged stories belonging to them.

Tell us what you are working on at the moment.

My publisher has requested a book of short stories so I’m working on those. Once they are finished I will go back through Bend with the Wind before my publisher produces it in hard copy.

Tell us about The Story Mint and where readers can find out more about you.

The Story Mint is a service that aims to give writers an opportunity to develop their writing skills, to get to know other like-minded people and to grow their profiles by demonstrating their story telling skills. We provide ways for them to do that including writing chapters and starters for serials, putting writing up on the Writers’Pad and getting engaged in the forum. We also have an active Facebook page and Linked In group. I have created an online analysis tool called the Style Guide™ which analyses writing styles. The writer submits a piece of writing and is immediately given feedback on the style and how to change it if it doesn’t fit with the intended audience’s preferred style. For example someone writing a romance novel will not want to have his or her writing land in the section where business articles land. The Style Guide™ is currently being tested for training writers who are second language users.

http://www.thestorymint.com

Find a copy of Bend With The Wind here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Guest Author Mark King

Today our guest is Mark King, author of yesterday’s book Frenzy. Here is a link to the post if you missed it. http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-5HT

Let’s find out more about Mark and his book.

1) Where is your home town?

I live in the city of Norwich in the county of Norfolk in the U.K. It’s one of Britain’s most historic cities and the hub for present day literature. Norwich is the only English UNESCO City of Literature with a thousand year history of writing right up to the present day. A lot of major award winning English authors of both sexes over the last twenty years have some type of connection to Norwich or Norfolk. That’s only just a small piece of what makes Norwich a great place to live and somewhere I am extremely proud to be associated with.

2) How long have you been writing?

I have been writing professionally for nearly four years. Since the release of Frenzy a Daniel Jones story I have been writing on the manuscript to Daniel Jones Doom the Sequel to Frenzy which should be published around the end of 2014, as well as magazine articles and on my world-wide blog at always-hanging-around.

3) What was the one idea behind Frenzy?

The idea first came for me one Monday morning during the recent financial crises that had engulfed the whole world while I was driving. I had a secure job with staff under me working for blue chip clients while handling a multi-million pound budget; and I was absolutely miserable traveling to my first working appointment of the day. Governments around the world had virtually bankrupted themselves for generations to come to save the banking system, or more specially the people at the very top of it, and now the rest of us are having to pay for it; either through higher taxes, or a reduced standard of living. The retirement age was increased to 68, and will probably increase to 70 if not more, and then I realised there may not be a golden age of retirement anymore. Most people can expect a life of toil before they die. In that moment the Bankers became the Overseers, the seven procedures became the lies we have all been told and the achievement centre is the promise of a golden old age that future generation may never see. By the time I arrived home that evening the story was set in my head. I knew I had to resign from my job to complete the book. That’s exactly what I did and Frenzy a Daniel Jones Story by Mark King is the finished product.

4) Who are the Over-Seers?

The Over-seers represent not just the bankers, but all the people at the top of the finance system who have had a feeding frenzy off humanities labour since the liberation of the finance system that started in the early 80’s. Taking grotesque risks with our future, and our children’s, while taking out monstrous payments in bonuses which has left behind a hideous mountain of debt for us to clear up.

5) Can you tell the readers briefly about Daniel’s village life?

Daniel’s life is like most people’s lives today. It has its ups and downs and can be hard trying to cope with life’s daily trials and tribulations, but he, and everyone else in his community, believes if he works hard, keeps to the rules (seven procedures) and believes in the new gods called the Over-seers it will all be worth it in the end; because he can retire to a life of relaxation and security. Just like until recently when we were all told that if you worked hard, paid your dues and believed in the consumerist society you could retire at 65 to a relaxing life of cruise ships and enjoying time with the grand-children. For a lot of people this isn’t going to come true.

6) What happens to villagers on their Achievement days?

Now that’s for the readers of Frenzy a Daniel Jones Story to find out! But all I can say other than this is that it always takes people by surprise when they find out the truth, just like Daniel.

7) Tell us about the Triclops.

The Triclops are terrifying walking machines that stand hundreds of feet tall on three legs thus you get the first part of the name Tri. They have a body that transports the Over-seers over the land with a centre viewer that looks like one eyed-monster, just like a Cyclops, so you get the second part of the name, clops. We in the U.K are under constant C.C.T.C surveillance that keeps us under control, and the Tri-clops is the Over-seers tool of fear that keeps humanity of the future under control.

8) How long has Mary been in the desolate Lands?

Mary is just a young girl when you first meet her in chapter one and then she’s in her mid-twenties when in the resistance she rescues the young Gwendolyn. When you see her again later in the book she is her mid-sixties so in one way or another she would have spent sixty years living in a land of destruction when the Overseers first appear and take control. The story is based in the near future and the warnings signs of the Over-seers arrival are mentioned in the book. Some would say those very same warning signs are present today! There have been unprecedented weather events throughout the world recently. Are these a sign of things to come?

9) This is a Daniel Jones Story, are there more adventures to come?

Yes. The sequel to Frenzy, which is initial titled Daniel Jones Doom, should be published near to the end of 2014. I have kept to the same fast pace, exciting and vivid story telling that is to be found in Frenzy. In fact I like to think that the sequel is as good or has even surpassed the original book in a thrilling and stimulating read that will keep everyone from young to old, of both sexes, glued to the pages as the story unfolds.

10) Where can readers find out more about you and your books?

Readers can follow my weekly posting on my blog at always-hanging-around and through my Twitter page @author_king. I’m also on Goodreads and there is a Frenzy-a-Daniel-Jones- story Facebook page. I’m also on Google+ and for people in the media I’m on LinkedIn. Also I can be contacted via email at markkingtheauthor@gamil.com. My books are available through most outlets and also on Amazon U.K and Amazon U.S.A hard back or kindle, Nook and iTunes etc.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Thank you Mark and Good Luck with the launch of the next book.

Guest Author Arie Farnam

Today our guest is Arie Farnam, author of yesterday’s book The Soul and The Seed. Here is a link to my review. http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-5Hy

Let’s find out more about Arie and her book.

1) Where is your home town?

As a matter of fact, my home town is pretty much the initial setting of the story. I grew up about twenty miles north of La Grande in the Blue Mountains of Eastern Oregon on a hill called Pumpkin Ridge. La Grande was our hub. I put my initially unaware main character there. It could have been any small rural town but I happen to know La Grande. I love stories where you can go to real places and walk around and imagine the story is real, so I decided to do that for my readers.  (Hint: Red Bridge Park and the 205 Bridge between Portland and Vancouver are also real places in The Soul and the Seed.)

2) How long have you been writing?

I have been writing since I fell out of my cradle, more or less. I loved to make up stories as a kid and I started writing for newspapers as a teenager. When I graduated from college I took off for Eastern Europe, where the big international journalists were hanging out at the time, and started freelancing. Within two years I became a correspondent for The Christian Science Monitor and Business Week in Kosovo, Macedonia, Bosnia, the Ukraine and other areas of Eastern Europe. For many years, I didn’t have much time to write fiction but I would argue that gritty reality is the best education a fiction writer can get. Journalism also ruthlessly teaches the technical craft of writing and the realistic dialogue in my stories comes partly form the countless hours I spent transcribing interview tapes back before speech recognition software was a thing.

3) I described your book as a fantasy thriller, some of it is quite horrific, would you be aiming it at Young adult or New adult and upwards?

I don’t generally recommend this book for readers younger than sixteen and I think the core age of readers is between eighteen and thirty. Both men and women tell me they accidentally stay up all night reading it but the main character is a young woman and the story is told from an emotional perspective, so I think women will be particularly engaged.

It’s interesting that you call The Soul and the Seed a fantasy thriller. I hesitated to describe it as a “thriller” because it isn’t a book of unrelenting violence, which is my experience of modern thrillers. But if it’s a thriller in another sense, then I’ll embrace the term. Readers have said The Soul and the Seed maintains “terrifyingly taut tension” throughout, but the actual violence is only in a few incidents. I abhor violence. I have seen real violence as a conflict correspondent and I won’t engage in gratuitous or cartoon violence for the sake of fiction. There is a place for that but it isn’t something I can do. If there is going to be violence in a story of mine, it will not be glorified. The emotional intensity and realism of this book is one reason I recommend it mainly for adult readers and even some adults may find it difficult to bear at times. The others in the series will be similarly intense. I like to read emotionally real and intense books myself.

4) Tell us about the Addin.

The Addin is part of the premise of The Soul and the Seed. The book is set in modern America, or so it seems. The girl Aranka attends a school much like those that kids today attend and she has concerns like today’s kids, particularly about the cliques at school. The problems of the modern world are all there too – wars, greed, corruption, disease and so on. But where we often shrug and shake our heads at these terrible realities and wonder how such things can happen in the twenty-first century, the book gives an explanation.

There is a force or perhaps a kind of cult – no one is entirely sure which – that usurps the wills and emotions of individuals. It’s as if the human desire for power evolved into a conscious entity and it uses people to satisfy its thirst power. A certain portion of the population is under the influence of the “Addin Association,” meaning that they desire what the Addin desires and will act accordingly, as if of their own will, to secure more power for the Addin. Anyone under the spell of the Addin is capable of “taking” others and usurping their will. It might take only a word and a moment of eye-contact. Those who know of the danger live in terror of it, but most people don’t know and they live with the rules that the Addin sets without realizing that everything from politics to the latest clothing fashions are dictated by Addin tastes.

5) Who are the Meikans and where can they be found?

The Meikans are not really a race or a nationality anymore than the Addin is. The Addin can take anyone of any background. The Meikans are a diverse group of people who have resisted Addin control for generations and passed down the secret knowledge of what true inner freedom means for more than a thousand years. Essentially Meikans are simply the descendants of those who allied with the non-human Kyrennei against the Addin in ancient times. Meikans are found pretty much all over the world, although they are more numerous in some areas than in others due to historical circumstances. The Meikans in the story come from Russia and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Japan, Vietnam, Kenya and Ireland as well as Canada and the United States. One interesting part of the premise is that the Meikans have a mysterious “sign” that helps them identify who has been taken by the Addin and who is free.

6) How old a race are the Kyrennei?

The Kyrennei are the non-human “fantasy” characters in the story. I have had some reviewers accuse me of not writing fantasy at all but rather pure science fiction, because I have a pseudo-scientific explanation for the Kyrennei. My background is in linguistics and anthropology to some extent. I love the complex interplay of languages and cultures. I have also studied the theory of evolution and I am puzzled as to why only humans beings, among all the animals in the world, evolved in this particular way with a high level of language and manipulation of the environment. I have to wonder why no other animals developed in this way and why human races appear to have significant physical differences but insignificant to non-existent mental and psychological differences. There is also the interesting fact that many cultures around the world have legends about people who are slightly smaller than humans and often those legends include a detail about either slanted eyes or pointed ears or both. I put all of these real-world details in my cauldron, mixed them up and let them bubble with a dash of my childhood love of J.R.R. Tolkien and a pinch of Romani (Gypsy) lore and out came the Kyrennei.

They are essentially an non-human race, our closest biological cousins. They are at least as old as humanity, probably somewhat older. They didn’t arrive on a space ship, as some legends would have it. Instead they simply evolved along side humans. But they are not only physically different from human races. They are also mentally different. While the Addin can usurp the will and desires of humans fairly easily, the Kyrennei are essentially immune to Addin control. There are ancient myths about Kyrennei who “went over” to the Addin for one reason or another, but they were not forcibly taken by the Addin. the conflict between the Addin and the Kyrennei developed naturally. The Addin could easily control humans and the desire for power is the quintessential feature of the Addin. Anyone the Addin couldn’t control would be considered a threat. Throughout early history there was a struggle within the Kyrennei between those who believed they should remain aloof from human problems and interventionist Kyrennei who believed that the Addin wouldn’t be satisfied with controlling humans. Eventually, the interventionists won and the Kyrennei started collecting human allies and refugees who wanted to resist the Addin. These later were unified into the international Meikan sub-culture.

A relationship developed between the Kyrennei and their human allies which is summed up by the saying “my shield for your shield, your shield for mine.” Kyrennei evolved to be smaller than humans with a light, somewhat brittle bone structure, and while they have great endurance, they were not well suited to medieval warfare. Their human allies were essential to them once the Addin decided that the Kyrennei were a threat to their supremacy of power. On the other hand, the human allies were vulnerable to Addin mental control and the Kyrennei could offer some protection against that control. What kinds of protection Kyrennei could provide to others is unclear in historical documentation but one thing becomes obvious early on in the story. At least some of the Kyrennei could at least tell who was controlled by the Addin and who wasn’t, thus shielding their allies from Addin infiltrators, which were otherwise a serious problem.

7) Can you describe where and when your book is mainly set?

The book is set in the present in the American Northwest. Other books in the series branch out into Canada and Europe. There are some brief medieval era flashbacks and I hope to eventually write books within the world of the Kyrennei series that are set in medieval or ancient times but the current books are very solidly rooted in our time.

8) What was the one idea that sparked off this book?

I have had the premise for this story and the major characters for so long that I honestly don’t know what part came first. When I was a kid, my friends and I loved to act out fantasy stories. We were Tolkien fanatics and we belonged to the Society for Creative Anachronisms. Some of the initial ideas for The Soul and the Seed must have come out of all that, but it isn’t really traditional fantasy. I think a lot of the ideas came from real life. I was frustrated by the senseless cruelty of the high school popularity game and later by the inhumanity of modern political parties and militarism. I spent a lot of time lying under trees in the woods and turning over “what if” questions.

But all of that would have been for nothing without the characters. I barely feel like I can take credit for them, though my subconscious must have been hard at work. Several of them, particularly Kenyen, Rick and Thanh, came to me very close to fully formed when I was a teenager. Their backgrounds and names have not really changed in twenty years of musing, which is a bit odd because I was a kid living in an isolated rural area without much knowledge of the wide world at the time. I had never met an Israeli, an Arab or a Vietnamese person in those days. All I can say is that they are like real people. I can’t make them do or say things that they really wouldn’t do. When I found out more about their backgrounds and countries of origin, I discovered that they were more real than I had initially realized. I decided not to change their names to something realistic for their backgrounds because they had good reasons for having the names they did and they each had a clear voice that I didn’t want to silence.

9) Are you working on the second book now? When will it be available?

I am adding a chapter to the second book and polishing the rest of it. I hope to publish it on Kindle by early October.

10) Where can readers find out more about you and your writing?

The online hub of the Kyrennei world is www.kyrennei.com

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Guest Author Jan Ruth

Today our guest is Jan Ruth, author of yesterday’s book Wild Water. Here is a link to the post if you missed it. http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-5vR

Let’s find out more about Jan and her books.

1) Where is your home town?

My home town is in Conwy, North Wales. I wasn’t born here, I’m originally from Cheshire – so not Welsh either! However, I’ve always felt Wales is my spiritual home and it features as a setting for all of my books

2) How long have you been writing?

I’ve been writing for about 30 years. Back in the days before self-publishing I had various dalliances with traditional agents and publishers with my first book ‘Wild Water’ but sadly it didn’t really go anywhere. My stumbling block – at the time – was that it fell between genre and the male voice was too unusual. This was 20 years ago. I thought it made me unique but what did I know!

3) Do you have a preferred writing genre?

I write about people, the Welsh landscape and about situations I have knowledge of. This brings me firmly into the contemporary mould. I think genre is difficult to pin down with a lot of self published works, but without the confines of publishing houses the freedom of writing what feels natural can now (and should) come first.

4) What was the one idea which sparked off “Wild Water” ?

I wanted to write about the impact of a marriage breakup from the male point of view. At the time of writing, there were issues in my personal life which provided lots of accurate detail and fodder for fiction. Standard chick-lit is always about the hard-done-by female character and I set out to write about the other side. The book then developed into something deeper than chick-lit, with mature characters and of course, the Snowdonia setting.

5) Can you tell the readers a little about Conway?

Conwy is a medieval town set on the River Conwy in North Wales, UK. It is coastal and rural. The Snowdonia National Park provides a fabulous backdrop and the town is steeped in history, with a castle dating back to 1283.

6) Tell us about the buyer lined up to buy Anna’s Farm.

He’s intent on buying Gwern Farm to develop it into a leisure hotel. Anna doesn’t want to sell her rural idyll to this man, in order to have it destroyed, but her fiance, Alex, is determined to see the sale through.

7) What is Anna going to do once she’s sold the place?

Alex wants to buy a restaurant in Cornwall, but Anna’s heart isn’t really in it.

8) Why does Jack end up convalescing at Anna’s?

Jack is on a downward spiral, trying to keep his business afloat and stay sane in the face of his wife’s betrayal. His accident is a turning point for Jack and Anna when she offers a respite at Gwern Farm.

9) What are some of the tourist attractions that Anna’s B&B guests come to see?

The area around Gwern Farm is a paradise for walkers, bird-watchers, photographers and artists. There are many National Trust properties, castle and period houses in the whole of Wales and of course, it is a popular coastal area with many beaches.

10) Tell us where readers can finds out more about you and your books.

My website is: http://janruth.com/*WILD WATER is currently on sale at 77p. The sequel, DARK WATER, is my latest title.*

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com

 

 

 

Guest Author – Michaela Weaver

 

Today our guest is Michaela Weaver, author of yesterday’s book Manic Mondays. Here is a link to the post if you missed it. http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-5sJ

Let’s find out more about Michaela.

1)      Where is your home town?

 

I moved around quite a lot as a child. I was born in Berkshire, and then moved to London before moving to the west coast of Wales. I now live about ten miles outside Cardiff in the countryside, and a couple of miles from the Bristol Channel beaches. I always wanted to live in a city, in the country, by the sea, (and even wrote a song about it once) and that’s exactly where I am.

 

2)      How long have you been writing?

 

Writing is something that has always come back to me even though I turned my back on it several times. I loved English at school, and won a short story competition in a national paper when I was in my teens. I then went to university to study engineering (honestly, I did!) after doing science A levels. I’ve always made up stories in my head….what if that, and they did that, and he said that…what then? I found myself on a creative writing course about 15 years ago, and I dabbled a little with writing again. It was always on my mind, but people’s attitude put me off… why do you want to do that? What makes you think you’ll be any good at it? Some people laughed. Then one day I decided to write Manic Mondays. I was like Forest Gump. When I started I didn’t stop. It took me five months to write the first draft. I’ve now written several short stories for my own pleasure, two of which have been published, I’ve studied Creative Writing at MA level, and am now running my own courses on novel writing to inspire others, and to show them that ‘they can’. I am working on my second novel now. I may have walked away from writing several times, but it always kept up behind me and tapped me on the shoulder once to often to be ignored.

 

3)      What was the one idea which sparked Manic Mondays?

I suppose the over-riding ‘one’ idea that sparked it is work-life balance; the ‘second’ was a message that family values can transcend different kinds of break-ups – it can work; the ‘third’ idea was another message – people can lose and still win, and the ‘fourth’? Well, that was to do all this in a year of Mondays. Funnily enough, it is the second spark which I think will be a theme in my writing for the future. It’s such a big issue in our society, and one that people so often mess up.

 

4)      Where in the country did you envisage Catherine and James’ country house?

I envisage Catherine and James’ house to be somewhere like the Peak District, or the Lake District, or even the Brecon Beacons. All are areas where I have walked and enjoyed adventures and rural peace.

 

5)      Tell the readers why Catherine loved Mondays before the dreaded August day.

Catherine was the archetypal workaholic before she had her daughter, Madeleine. The arrival of Madeleine starting a shift in Catherine’s thinking, but only sub consciously…the dreaded day in August was the big catalyst. Catherine loved being busy and the sense of achievement that running a business gave her, new clients, new business, new Mondays. Unlike a lot of people, Catherine loved Mondays because it meant she could go back to work!

 

6)      How does Catherine fill her days once she first moves to town?

When Catherine moves to the new city, she doesn’t know what to do with the once busy Mondays, and she is floundering. She goes to the park, drives around the city, goes to the shop…anything to have something to do. Mostly, her days aren’t full, and that’s the Monday problem she tells Mike about.

 

7)      Catherine turns to counselling for help, does this help?

Funnily enough, the counselling did help Catherine because the counsellor was so miserable herself, and so bitter about her own husband walking out over twenty years ago, that it made Catherine determined not to be the same. Going to see the counsellor was a minor turning point for Catherine and one where her strength and resolve kicked in.

 

8)      Tell us about some of Catherine’s friends who are also single or single parents.

There are several people whose relationships evolve and change along with Catherine’s. He neighbour, Grace, is an unlikely friend, because of age and class, but they become firm allies. Through the novel Grace’s story develops portraying an unfulfilled young woman who has lost touch with her closest relative, her grandmother. Catherine helps Grace to make her own life-changing decisions and to build bridges for the future. Steve is an old university friend of Catherine’s, and a confirmed bachelor. His own values are challenged dramatically when he finds out he has a teenage daughter the other side of the world. Annie has been raising her daughter alone for a few years, and beneath her hippy and bohemian exterior is a mother who doesn’t always find it easy being alone. A significant transformation in Manic Mondays takes place with Catherine’s mother and father, career-minded and judgemental, it isn’t difficult to see where Catherine’s work ethic has come from. But they too are forced to re-evaluate what is important in their lives.

 

9)      Tell us about the charity that Mike Stone is a big part of.

Mike Stone is Chair of the charity Victims of Road Rage. The charity supports families who have been affected by dangerous and careless driving, and lobbies government and raises money to improve road safety awareness and to encourage alternative forms of transport, particularly in cities – hence Mike’s bike.

 

10)  Where can readers find out more about you and your writing?

You can follow me on Twitter @kaelaweaver, Facebook www.facebook.com/michaelaweaverwrites, and my blog www.michaelaweaver.blogspot.co.uk and the publisher www.Candy-jar.co.uk

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

 

 

 

 

Thank you Michaela and good luck with your writing.

 

Guest authors Roy Dimond and Jeff Leitch

Today my guests are Roy Dimond and Jeff Leitch authors of yesterday’s book “Saving Our Pennys”. If you missed the book review here is a link to it. http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-4XH

Let’s find out more about them. Firstly Jeff.

1) Where is your home town?

My home town is in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada – ironically only a half-block from where Roy and his wife Lorraine lived before they moved up to the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia.

2) How long have you been writing?

I have been an avid writer for over twenty years, mostly writing articles for local papers.  Saving Our Pennys is my first published work which was co-written with my great friend Roy Dimond.

3) Have you written other books in this genre?

No, but this type of book intrigues me for my future endeavours.  I really enjoy the ‘voice’ we have used in Saving Our Pennys.

4) How did you split the writing roles of these book?

After having the opportunity to work with Roy, we discussed over the course of that time the idea of this book.  It slowly evolved into a great story, but even with Roy’s move up to the Sunshine Coast we were not concerned with the collaborative efforts.  Over the course of a calendar year, like the four seasons of a school year, we wrote the story of Penny.  As each chapter was written and ideas flowed and merged we had essentially a “talking stick” between us.  Despite some initial rejections and letting the book ‘sit’ for a few years, we always knew this story would be told.  But honestly, I have to credit Roy giving the book its real push a few summers ago.  He breathed new life into Saving Our Pennys voice and the story absolutely soared.

5) What or who was the inspiration for this book?

Saving Our Pennys was written in honour of a student that Roy had the great fortune of working with.  As I worked with Roy, and in some of my initial teaching experiences, I noticed we had many similar concerns about those students who were simply disappearing from the school system.  This deeply concerned not only us, but many of our colleagues.  We used Penny as that student that needed to be heard from again.

6) Can you tell the readers about the “Words” that people carry as stones?

Yes, our story demonstrates to the reader that all words have weight.  These words are stones that we either choose to carry, or put down from our life’s backpack to move further down our road.  But the reader will soon realize that some stones are necessary to achieve balance.  But you will have to read Saving Our Pennys to see how this balance is achieved…

7) When did the teacher first step out of the fast lane? What did he do?

I think the best way to answer this is by asking ‘How does one become conscious?’  This is truly realized by the self-analysis of the power of intention.  A life must be seen to matter, to exist and to be important, but too often the fast lane takes us away from the magic of each day.  This particular teacher recognized the pain and made the conscious choice to understand why this pain is crucial to his life.

8) Would you say that too many of us on a roller coaster ride of life which we seem unable to get off?

Absolutely… just watching the faces in traffic, in coffee shops and diners, in schools, at work…  These people exist but so often they don’t realize their potential in their existence.  They have become robotic and live a life of reaction, without realizing that they are the catalysts of their own happiness.

9) How can a person take the first step towards “Living in the moment?”

I think ‘the first step’ is realized from the two earlier questions and the willingness to step out of the fast lane, to step off of the roller coaster of predictable highs and low.

10) A line from the book suggests that if we all live to be 100, we will be given 36 500 precious days. How many precious days of life have you lived and what has been your best moment so far?

I have to be careful how I answer this… I think if one recognizes the preciousness of tragedy in one’s life, and the power of those messages, then every day up until this point of my life I have lived.  Have I attained this?  I don’t believe I have found the magic in all lessons yet, but I believe I am moving in the right direction.  So I suppose my best moment… is right now.

Jeff added, ” a heartfelt thank you Rosie” Aww! You’re welcome.

Hoping that you are now really intrigued by this book and it’s authors let’s move on to Roy’s interview.

1) Where is your home town? 

Garden Bay, British Columbia, Canada. It’s a small village on the West coast where my wife and I live in a small log home overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

2) How long have you been writing?

Over twenty years. I think my English teachers from High School would fall over if they knew that I was a professional writer.

3) Have you written other books in this genre?

No, this is my first work of non-fiction.

My first book is called, The Singing Bowl, a story of a Tibetan monk sent on a quest to find a book that has been lost to the world. I loved writing that story. It took 5 years to complete as the main protagonist travels the world. My second book is called, The Rubicon Effect. I have always wondered how the human species will react the day it is too late to reverse Global Climate Change. I was lucky, as one of the characters is a new Pope born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and he wants to change the church. This was published before the real Pope was elected!

I have two other children’s books under contract and my agent is presently negotiating a deal with another publisher.

4) How did you split the writing roles of these book? 

Jeff and I worked well together. I think we both placed our egos aside and tried to be as honest and raw as we could in the telling of this story. We were both motivated because of all the unhappiness we have seen on our jobs. In co-authoring a book, I think both had to really listen to each other’s ideas and be brave enough to go down unseen roads. Jeff would come up with these great ideas and off the story would run down some avenue I had not even seen. It was fun to release the story a little bit and soon a third entity sort of formed that was not Jeff or I, but the story itself. It was a thoroughly grand experience, as it remains to this day.

5) What or who was the inspiration for this book? 

Well, the main inspiration was a student named Penny. She was a boisterous and happy child who, because of circumstances not of her making, plummeted into a dark and bad place. But with the help of others she worked her way up and back to the life she deserved.

6) Can you tell the readers about the “Words” that people carry as stones?

Great question, Rosie! This is such an important part of the book… words have meaning. That may sound trite, but it is a vital concept to grasp in the telling of this adventure.  Words can hurt worse than a knife and can help more than a stranger passing by and giving you money. They can weigh us down so we are lethargic, or inspire so we believe in ourselves. But Jeff and I wanted people to know that they have a choice which words to hold onto and which to let go. Words are like rocks and we can throw them at each other or share one we think is beautiful. It is just a simple choice.

7) When did the teacher first step out of the fast lane? What did he do?  

To me there is no one moment where he steps out and decides there is another way. It is a process and we can tell if our process is working for us by the things that we hold dear. What we value, what is important to us, these concepts tell us where we are on our road. I think once he realized there was another way, he began his process, and like all those who take, the other road, he found it hard, and entirely worthwhile.

8) Would you say that too many of us on a roller coaster ride of life which we seem unable to get off?

Very much like the inspiration for this book, Penny, we all find ourselves in circumstances not of our making. Because of our culture, we are all on that roller coaster. And I’m not sure at all that life is meant to be lived that way. Like Penny, we find ourselves in a culture not of our making, but one that just appeared, and now we have to deal with it. Some go to the bad, dark place, others just survive, and a few, who have eyes and use them, find another road, a better path.

9) How can a person take the first step towards “Living in the moment?” 

There are many roads to this “moment” but all start by having a need. Acknowledging that need, facing the dread, believing you deserve better. Then having the courage to take a deep breath and then do nothing. To let the moment come to you. To breath slowly and smile. We sometimes believe “the moment” is far away, but it isn’t. It’s right beside you as you read our book or contemplate this interview. The moment waits… but we have to slow ourselves and concentrate before we are one with it.  And we have to do that… everyday.

10) A line from the book suggests that if we all live to be 100, we will be given 36,500 precious days. How many precious days of life have you lived and what has been your best moment so far?

A very, very tough question Rosie. You make me stop and think.  If I can attain but a few precious moments in each day  then I will be a very happy man. My best moment so far, is, as always, this moment right now. Why? Because there is nothing else.

Thank you so much Rosie for your insightful questions. I and very grateful for your time and for you taking your moment and sharing it with me.

http://roydimond.tripod.com/

Find a copy here from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

So there you have it, got your taste buds tingling? Roy describes the book as non-fiction, but don’t be put off it can read like fiction, I loved the book, it inspired me. After I’d finished reading it I went out for a walk in the fresh air and sunlight just to let it all sink in and to live in the moment. It made me think about my Year of Good Deeds challenge, I’m way over 300 days of my 365 and this book made me realise why I was doing it. I have stepped off the roller coaster and am doing something I love and making a difference.

You can also read my reviews of Roy’s other books, The Singing Bowl and The Rubicon Effect here on the blog in the first half of May.

Guest Author Olivia Stocum

Today our guest is Olivia Stocum author of yesterday’s book “Moonstone”  and last weeks book “Dawning”. Here are links to those posts. Moonstone: http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-4UA Dawning: http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-4T3

Let’s find out more about Olivia and her writing.

1) Where is your home town?

I live in Owego, New York, a historic town by a river that floods at little too often for comfort, in a two hundred and fourteen year old house, that has the uncanny ability to be completely surrounded by water and yet still not succumb to the rising floods.

2) Tell us the significance of the title “Moonstone”

Originally Moonstone was meant as a description of my hero, William’s eyes. There is something in the Celtic gene pool that produces very dark hair with pale gray eyes. (Which is what William looks like.) Eventually, it came to mean more… but you’ll have to read the book to find out.

3) Where is Moonstone set?

Historic Scotland, early 1600’s, in the North Highlands. The exact location is completely fictional.

4) I don’t think I’ve read the word “Kilt” in your book? Is there a historical reason?

Yes. The kilt as we know it did not exist until the late 1700’s. I know some writers use the term anyway, but I’m kind of a stickler about such things. You’ll also note that I don’t use the word Sporran  for the same reason.

5) I love your rugged brave Scottish men, tell us how William got his shoulder injury.

William was injured in a battle in Sweden, where it was common for young Scottish men to hire themselves out as soldiers.

6) You had fun with some Gaelic words in this book, tell us a couple that William was caught saying.

LOL. Yes, he was caught, wasn’t he.

Here’s a few of the words used in the book:

Mo leannan – this means, my darling, sweetheart, love …

Bean sídhe – A female fairy, otherwise known as a banshee. Often she heralds the coming of doom. (Which sounds awful, but when William first met Rhiannon she was tied up with rope, and he got some of her blood on him. He knew their destinies where somehow intertwined, but he wasn’t entirely sure why or to what end.)    

Fey – Again associated with fairies, meaning one who is destined for tragedy.

Tha gràdh agam ort – I love you, or literally, I have love on you. Rhiannon is actually the one to say this (at least in Gaelic anyway)

 7) Tell us the motives behind Reginald’s actions.

Laird Reginald was a troubled man from an abusive past. I felt bad for him, really, and wished there was some help for him, but there weren’t any therapists around in the 1600’s, and William had to deal with Reginald for what he was; a threat to his family.

8) If I was around in the 1600’s I think I’d want to be rescued by some of the men in your books, who is your favourite?

Oh boy, you ask a lot of me. Let’s see… Ronan (from Dawning) is my beef head. He can be a tad dense, especially when it comes to women, but he’s completely loyal to Triona. William is my strong, sensitive guy. Unfortunately, he loves a little too deeply, and that makes him overprotective to the point of sometimes smothering Rhiannon. Then there’s Graham, my giant Norse throw-back. On the surface he’s a bear. Inside, he’s a big softy. And lastly, there’s Alec. He’s young and has a few lessons to learn about love, but his current broken heart won’t last forever…

OK, so I didn’t pick a favourite, and I don’t think I ever could! I love them all for who they are, AND for who they will become.

9) I did enjoy all the Scottish vocabulary, which of those words did you enjoy using the most?

Probably mo leannan, but I like all of it.

10) I feel there’s a story to be told for young Graham next, what do you think?

Absolutely. In fact, that is why he wasn’t present at the beginning of the book. While he was away visiting his niece, I was busy getting him in over his head with a certain young noble woman.

Find a copy of Moonstone here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Find a copy of Dawning here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

I’ll certainly keep a look out for the next book in the series.