I can’t believe how long it is since I last featured one of my favourite writers, Sheila O’Flanagan, here on Linda’s Book Bag. Then I  helped reveal the cover of her novel, Christmas With You. Also on the blog Sheila previously told me all about her inspiration for another of her books My Mother’s Secret in a guest post that you can read here. I reviewed My Mother’s Secret here. With Sheila’s latest book Her Husband’s Mistake out in paperback on 5th March, I’m delighted to have a copy on my TBR waiting to be read.

I’m absolutely thrilled to be staying in with Sheila today to hear all about Her Husband’s Mistake and I’d like to thank Anne at Random Things Tours for inviting me to participate in these launch celebrations.

Staying in  with Sheila O’Flanagan

Welcome back to Linda’s Book Bag, Sheila. Thank you for agreeing to stay in with me. I’m sure I know, but tell me, which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it?

Her Husband’s Mistake. It’s my latest book and I’m still very close to the characters so they come everywhere with me.

I can imagine it’s hard to shake off characters when you’ve been writing about them for so long. What can we expect from an evening in with Her Husband’s Mistake?

You’ll travel around Ireland with Roxy who has taken over her late father’s business as a chauffeur. She meets lots of different people in her job and all of them impact in her life in some way. She also has plenty of time to think , which she needs to do as her marriage is crumbling, she has two kids to consider and she’s worried about her recently widowed mum who’s acting strangely.

Now I’m intrigued. I’m so pleased to have a copy of Her Husband’s Mistake waiting to be read.

What else have you brought along and why have you brought it? 

I’ve brought my iPad so that I can update my Insta feed with pix of our night in! Because Roxy has learned to use Insta in her job, I’ve started to use it too. It’s a much cheerier place than a lot of social media and I’ve really got into taking photos even though I’ve never been much of a snapper in the past. My own feed seems to be dominated by shoes and cocktails!!! Presumably we’re going to have some of the latter, so they’ll be a perfect fit.

That sounds like a plan to me! I’m rather fond of a Mai Tai. If I open up my Insta account maybe you can show me how to use it as I haven’t a clue! Thanks so much for staying in with me Sheila. Let me pass you a Margarita whilst I tell everyone a bit more about Her Husband’s Mistake.

Her Husband’s Mistake

Dave’s made a BIG mistake. What’s Roxy going to do about it? The riveting new novel from No. 1 bestselling author Sheila O’Flanagan. Perfect for readers of Marian Keyes and Amanda Prowse.

Roxy’s marriage has always been rock solid.

After twenty years, and with two carefree kids, she and Dave are still the perfect couple.

Until the day she comes home unexpectedly, and finds Dave in bed with their attractive, single neighbour.

Suddenly Roxy isn’t sure about anything – her past, the business she’s taken over from her dad, or what her family’s future might be. She’s spent so long caring about everyone else that she’s forgotten what she actually wants. But something has changed. And Roxy has a decision to make.

Whether it’s with Dave, or without him, it’s time for Roxy to start living for herself…

Her Husband’s Mistake that is available for purchase through the publisher links here.

About Sheila O’Flanagan

Sheila O’Flanagan is the award-winning author of over twenty titles, including the Sunday Times bestsellers The Missing Wife, My Mother’s Secret and If You Were Me, and the winner of the Irish Independent Popular Fiction Book of the Year Award, All For You.

Sheila has always loved telling stories, and after working in banking and finance for a number of years, she decided it was time to fulfil a dream and give writing her own book a go. So she sat down, stuck ‘Chapter One’ at the top of a page, and got started. Sheila is now a full-time writer and lives in Dublin with her husband.

You can follow Sheila on Twitter @sheilaoflanagan, or find her on Facebook and visit her website for more details.

There’s more with these other bloggers too:

As regular Linda’s Book Bag readers know, before I decided to ‘retire’ I used to work in education, with a particular focus on English, reading and literacy. I’m involved in my local Deepings Literary Festival which will be celebrating its third full festival in 2021 with a Read Dating event to come at the Deepings Library on May 2nd this year. There will be news to come about those events soon.

With this focus on books and words, and festivals away from London, when Steph from Words Weekend got in touch to see if I’d be interested in telling blog readers about the forthcoming event at the Lowry in Salford I knew it was something I had to support. The festival takes place the weekend of 27th-29th March 2020 and includes over sixty different events from poetry to television.

This is what Steph told me about Words Weekend:

Words Weekend is a brand-new festival series celebrating the power of words. Our central aim is to unite communities through the power of words and stories, speaking and giving a voice to demographics usually under-served by traditional literary festivals. 

Following the success of our first Words Weekend at Sage Gateshead in early December (where 12,000 people attended!), next up we’re heading to the Lowry from 27-29 March for what will no doubt be an equally exciting and engaging weekend. 

At least 25% of the programme is free and all events will be accessible, as well as BSL interpreted. We’re also committed to being a festival that works with and is driven by local voices and local concerns – we’re here to go beyond Londoncentricity! 

To give you a sense of our programme, we will be exploring issues such as the importance of access to education and the incredibly damaging personal and societal impact when such access is restricted, be that due economic reasons, religious or political motives, or on the grounds of prejudice.

Another strand is social activism and participation. The third core strand is mental health and how sense of place and identity tie in with self-expression and emotional literacy. 

We’re so excited to hold the second edition of our festival at the unquestionably iconic Lowry, and to embrace Salfordian narratives and culture. We want to showcase the confident voices of the North West, particularly in this current climate where so much important work never reaches the region. We intend to draw national focus back the North West, through platforming both local and international speakers. 

Now doesn’t that sound a fantastic rationale and basis for a festival? I’m so disappointed that I won’t be able to attend as I’ll be in India but I hope some of you might be able to visit Words Weekend.

You’ll find the full line up of speakers and events here. With everything from children’s events like The Wimpy Kid Show, through celebrities like Sir Bob Geldoff to Amrou Al-Kadhi’s Memoir of a Muslim Drag Queen there is something for everyone at this festival.

For more information, visit the Words Weekend website, or follow Words Weekend on Twitter @wordsweekend, Facebook and Instagram.