One of the joys of blogging is being in at the start of an author’s journey and supporting smaller publishers as well as the big hitters. I have always loved every book I’ve read from Legend Times imprint Legend Press and am delighted to welcome their debut author Suzanne Harrison to stay in with me today to tell me about her brand new book.

Staying in with Suzanne Harrison

Welcome to Linda’s Book Bag Suzanne and thank you for agreeing to stay in with me.

Tell me, which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it?

Firstly, thank you for staying in to talk books.

It’s my pleasure. What could be better than a bookish evening?

Secondly, it would be remiss of me if I didn’t bring along my debut novel, The Colour of Thunder, released by Legend Times on February 1 after a brief delay due to Covid.

Congratulations on your debut Suzanne. That’s a stunning cover. So, what can we expect from an evening in with The Colour of Thunder.

I wanted to write something that I wanted to read, something fast-paced and a little edgy with colourful characters. I was living temporarily back in Australia when I started writing this a few years ago, and that’s what drove me to explore the Hong Kong I know and love.

Oo. I’m so glad to have The Colour of Thunder on my TBR. I was due to go to Hong Kong on my way back from the Philippines but the typhoon scuppered us and we were unable to go. What kind of book is it?

To put it into a genre, the novel is a modern-day thriller set in Hong Kong featuring a diverse cast of troubled characters from around the world, all seeking to solve mysteries from their past, either by running from it or digging deep into what really happened. At times, their lives intersect – and not always in a particularly pleasant way. At the final hour, there’s a violent anti-government protest staged during what becomes the storm of the century. Conversely, the truth is starting to emerge and tempers are flaring.

It sounds brilliant Suzanne.

One reviewer said this: “It is a story in which the main characters are working through issues from their past and it is this intrigue and the flowing style of the narrative that I found most absorbing. I felt gripped from the first page and as the mystery unravelled.”

That’s a great comment and makes me think The Colour of Thunder will be exactly my kind of read.

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

One of the best things about Hong Kong – where I have lived for 20 years – is the food. So, let’s start with a steaming plate of Har Gao, my favourite prawn dumplings. Fantastic comfort food. Of course, I’d like to polish that off with a bottle of Tsingtao beer and perhaps we could add in a plate of clams with black bean sauce, my favourite dish at the Po Toi Island restaurant off Hong Kong and the setting for a romantic scene between Wang and Alice, two main characters in the book.

If you’re going to bring food like that Suzanne, you are welcome back at any time!

I’ve also got an old Nokia phone – you have to read the book to understand that one, as without those phones, the crime may never have been solved – and a photo of Shek O Village, where I have lived since 2000. This is also a regular setting in the novel.

Last but not least, I have brought a yellow umbrella with me, in case it rains on the way home. If you know about the Umbrella Revolution in Hong Kong, you will also know that yellow ones became a symbol of the protestor’s fight for full democracy in Hong Kong. This is a fight still raging, although with many arrests and Covid there now, protests have all but stopped.

Indeed. I wonder if I’ll ever make it to Hong Kong now Susanne but at least I have The Colour of Thunder to take me there vicariously. Thanks so much for staying in with me to chat all about it. 

The Colour of Thunder

One small island, six troubled lives, and the storm of the century is on its way.

In one of the world’s most vibrant international cities, present day Hong Kong, the lives of six people become irreversibly intertwined. The past is catching up with those running from it, while the futures of others hangs dangerously in the balance. But who knows the most? And what will they do to keep it that way?

Published by Legend Press on 1st February 2021, The Colour of Thunder is available for purchase here.

About Suzanne Harrison

Suzanne Harrison is a journalist who has worked for the South China Morning Post since 1999. Originally from Australia, she has lived and worked in the media in the US, London and mostly Hong Kong, writing everything from business to news, lifestyle features and most recently, an investigative piece about an alleged Hong Kong-based con woman. Suzanne is now working on another novel and hopes to have that up and running by mid-year.

For more information, follow Suzanne on Twitter @suzannej123. You’ll find a podcast with Susanne here and can find her on Instagram too.

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