I was delighted to be offered a copy of the novella Jungle Rock by Caroline James in return for an honest review as I’ve featured Caroline in interview on Linda’s Book Bag in the past. You can read that interview here. Today Caroline explains how Jungle Rock came about – and how, with writer’s block, it nearly didn’t!

Jungle Rock is published today, 21st November 2016, by Ramjam and is available for purchase here.

Jungle Rock

Handsome young chef, Zach Docherty is feeling the heat. Following an exposé in a national newspaper, his fiancée Poppy Dunlop has broken their engagement. Heartbroken at the thought of life without Poppy, Zach drowns his sorrows and when his agent suggests that Zach becomes a contestant in a reality TV show, Jungle Survival, he reluctantly agrees. Plunged deep in the jungle, into a bizarre mix of talent and trials, Zach meets glamour model, Cleo Petra, and the cameras go crazy.

Will Zach survive and be crowned Jungle King?

Or will his latest exploits push Poppy further away…

Jungle Rock and Writer’s Block

A Guest Post by Caroline James

Huge thanks to Linda for hosting me on her lovely blog today. Jungle Rock is my new novella and has been described as ‘a feel-good read’. I wrote this shorter story at a time when I was having a writer’s block and as soon as I started, the words began to flow again. Jungle Rock finds Zach Docherty, a handsome young celebrity chef, plunged deep into the Australian jungle when his agent puts him forward to be a contestant on a popular TV reality show. Zach is feeling the heat after a recent expose in a national newspaper and his fiancée has broken their engagement. The novella includes characters from previous novels but like all my novels, is a stand-alone read. Perhaps the familiarity of the characters helped to get me writing again.

To have a block in any work of creativity is tough, especially when it is your job and it is a discussion I often have with a lovely group of writers that I belong to (The Cheshirati). My own thoughts on how to overcome this problem is to stop procrastinating and turn up at the page and write. Get your rear on a seat and get typing. It doesn’t matter what you get down, at some stage something will start to develop. Don’t attempt to proof or edit till the end and most of all, believe in yourself; don’t die wondering about what might have been.

The urge to write is back, thank goodness, and my next novel, Boomerville, is scheduled for 2017. Jungle Rock is a happy piece and it made me smile and I hope readers enjoy the novella as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Happy reading and writing xx

My Review of Jungle Rock

Having blown his engagement with Poppy, Zach finds himself in a reality TV programme in Australia.

I haven’t read the other books featuring Zach, but it made no difference at all to my enjoyment of this topical and entertaining story. I have a confession. My guilty pleasure is ‘I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here‘ which I watch every year leading up to Christmas. Now, whilst I don’t think you need to be a fan of the programme to appreciate Jungle Rock, the fact that I am really enhanced my pleasure in the story as there are many echoes. I could imagine the scenarios and recognise the references which brought the story to life very vividly. Christmas is an underlying theme too, but it is not overdone as in some Christmas stories. It successfully underpins the time of year in which the story is set.

Whilst Zach is the central character, he is presented in a slightly oblique way so that Poppy, Bob, Jo and Harriett have greater focus and uncover Zach to the reader. I really liked this different approach and felt I got to know all the characters intimately, despite Jungle Rock being a novella. There’s a brilliant range of individuals with a cast of different ethnicities, sexualities, professions and ages so that Jungle Rock has a character that every reader can relate to.  I especially liked the fact that Harriett and Jo are living life to the full, giving a positive image of those of us of a certain age!

I thoroughly enjoyed the underlying messages to the story too. Characters are quick to judge one another and have to reassess their position which gives a clear message about not jumping to conclusions even when presented with ‘evidence’. Caroline James celebrates family, relationships, honesty and trust in her quick and lively writing and through her fast paced plot.

If you’re looking for a highly entertaining story for a winter’s afternoon in the run up to Christmas, look no further. Jungle Rock is for you.

About Caroline James

Caroline’s debut novel, Coffee Tea The Gypsy & Me shot to number 3 on Amazon and was E-book of the Week in The Sun newspaper. Her second novel, So, You Think You’re A Celebrity… Chef? has been described as wickedly funny: ‘AbFab meets MasterChef in a Soap…’ Coffee Tea The Caribbean & Me, an Amazon best-seller, was a Top Ten Finalist at The Write Stuff, London Book Fair 2015 and the judge’s comments included: Caroline is a natural story-teller with a gift for humour in her writing.” Her next novel, Boomerville will be published spring 2017.

Caroline has owned and run many catering related businesses and cookery is a passion alongside her writing, combining the two with her love of the hospitality industry and romantic fiction. As a media agent, Caroline represented many well-known celebrity chefs and her TV script, So, You Think You’re A Celebrity Chef? was runner up at the Winchester Writers Festival 2016.

She has published short stories and is a member of the Romantic Novelist’s Association. Caroline writes articles on food and celebrity based interviews and is Feature Editor for an online lifestyle magazine. She is a founder member of The Cheshirati and is available for inspiring and entertaining talks on anything related to the hospitality and publishing industry.

You can find all of Caroline’s books on Amazon UK and Amazon US.

You can find out more about Caroline on her website and follow her on Twitter. You’ll also find her on Facebook.

I’m delighted to welcome Mendus Harris to Linda’s Book Bag today to tell us all about his writing and Dead Man’s Gold in particular. Dead Man’s Gold is the first in the Lomax Gold Mine Series and is available for purchase in paperback here.

Dead Man’s Gold

There is a small town in Ghana, W Africa which exists for no other reason than to mine gold. It was founded in the early twentieth century when a lucky strike sent people flocking to the site to find wealth and employment.

Edryd (Ed) Evans arrives from his hilltop on the Welsh Borders. He is an experienced gold exploration geologist who has spent large amounts of time in West Africa. But he is wary of returning after being kidnapped and held hostage on his previous visit. He has come because an old friend, Greg Boston, has disappeared in mysterious circumstances…

An Interview with Mendus Harris

Firstly Mendus, please could you tell me a little about yourself?

I’m a Welsh Liverpudlian, born in Scotland whose spiritual home is in Ireland. After many years working as a geologist in mining I now earn a living as a teacher. I’m married with three children and live in North Wales.

When did you first realise you were going to be a writer?

I always felt that  I’d like to be a fiction writer, the urge grew progressively as I got older, when I realised that I had a story to tell. I began to write seriously seven years ago

If you hadn’t become an author, what would you have done instead as a creative outlet?

As a gold exploration consultant I was required to write the equivalent of a Master’s thesis every six weeks. Although based in cities in New Zealand, then Australia and then Canada, much of my time was spent in isolated mine or exploration camps in the Outback, Labrador Coast, Scandinavia and, of course, Africa. So in some ways being an author is a way of utilising the creativity that developed during these formative years.

How do you go about researching detail and ensuring your books are realistic?

I write using my own experiences. Dead Man’s Gold is a memoir that morphed into a work of fiction when I stitched my own recollections of working in a real African gold mine along a plot line. The more outlandish incidents have been left out, either because nobody would believe them, or because they would be misunderstood.

Which aspects of your writing do you find easiest and most difficult?

The beginning is hardest. You need to start somewhere, and I always begin writing at the beginning with the knowledge that much of it will be ditched. After the meat of the book is written, it’s time to return to the beginning and rewrite. This can be challenging, particularly when it’s a sequel and the events of the previous book have to be summarised for events in the new book to make sense.

What are your writing routines and where do you do most of your writing?

Writing gets done when time and tiredness allow. The best times are in the morning at the weekend or a couple of hours at night once the kids are in bed.

You’re now based in North Wales. How far has location impacted on you as a writer?

It probably influenced the setting of Ed’s farmhouse. As a writer (and teacher) having a place like North Wales on my doorstep is very important. I can be in Snowdonia and climbing a hill within an hour of leaving the house. Unfortunately my own family ditched the Welsh language a generation or so ago in the mistaken belief that it was a mill stone. Once a language is lost, its not so easy to regain, like trying to put toothpaste back into the tube.

When you’re not writing, what do you like to read?

Thrillers are best. Le Carre is king, but only his Cold War novels. Stieg Larsson has been a revelation. Quirky autobiographies; Boycott’s made me laugh like a drain recently. JRR Tolkien. Science fiction up to a point, if it’s internally consistent. Dean Foster’s rendering of the Alien movies are engaging. I like to dip into social history books, recently I read a book about the North Wales slate industry. The last heavy-weight book I read was Crime and Punishment.

Do you have other interests that give you ideas for writing?

One of my greatest joys is fly fishing for trout, particularly somewhere high and remote, several hours strenuous walk from road end. My mind empties and for several hours focuses on only one thing. Afterwards, ideas appear in my head.

Dead Man’s Gold has a very stark contrasting black and gold cover. How did that image come about and what were you hoping to convey (without spoiling the plot please!)?

The book is dark. It’s about conflict, whether between geologists and engineers, Europeans and Africans, new and old religions, capitalism and organised labour…… But the lustre of gold obliterates bonds of kinships and at the same time sharpens rivalries between intractable foes. It’s impossible to represent that fabric within the simple patina of a book cover

(I’d say you’ve done so pretty well!)

Dead Man’s Gold is the first of your books featuring Edryd (Ed) Evans. How did you create his character? (I’m wondering if he’s based on you, someone you know, if you used a template or post-its, or produced an entire character profile for him etc)

Ed has a lot of me in him, but not entirely, he’s what I might have become had I not stepped aside and become a teacher. I needed somebody from a similar background so I could anticipate reactions to certain people and situations. He’s a bit of a lost boyo or a faithful old dog who has difficulty interpreting people, particularly women. Health and happiness are always just out of his reach.

If Dead Man’s Gold became a film, who would you like to play Edryd (Ed) Evans?  

Ed is riven by internal conflicts, prey to the whim of powerful interests, fighting internal demons. Rhys Ifans would be good.

What can we expect from Ed in the future? (Blog readers please note there are slight spoilers in this answer from Mendus!)

In The Wolf Man Approaches Ed returns to the mine after a plea for assistance from Allen. The loose ends from Dead Man’s Gold are tied up and Ed realises that there’s more, much more, going on behind the scenes than he previously suspected. We find out a lot more about Allen and his murky past thanks to the arrival of two new characters at the mine.

In Ice Bound Ed is persuaded by Lucky Lomax, owner of the Lomax Mine, to visit the Labrador Coast in Canada. When the exploration camp is hit by a storm and all lines of communication are cut, Ed begins to realise that he’s been set up. Even in this remote place, echoes of the events at Lomax Mine continue to reverberate.

With so many countries in Africa relying on gold why did you choose Ghana in particular for your setting?

I know Ghana. I did dabble with a fictional country, mainly because people who know Ghana might think they recognise the mine in the book. But on long reflection I decided that didn’t matter, so long as I changed the name and did not use any easily recognisable characters.

As a geologist in a previous life, how easy or difficult is it to get the right balance of geological reference in your fiction?

Very difficult. In the end I’ve plumped for as little as possible, just enough to give a ring of authenticity. On the other hand, I think the use of trilobites will intrigue readers.

(Oh – I have a trilobite myself bought as a present by my husband!)

I know gold mining in Africa is fraught with danger and corruption. How much was this a motivator for your writing?

Quite a bit. Huge wealth flows out of the Lomax Mine into the hands of rich City investors and only a fraction of a percent finds its way into the pockets of ordinary people in the town.  They live in conditions of squalor, in shacks next to open sewers.  It’s the dichotomy between extreme wealth and extreme poverty which fuels the greed that causes corruption and dangerous working practices.

Dead Man’s Gold doesn’t shy away from the realities of life in African mining communities and I think some readers will be surprised by what they read. How far do you think it is the role of an author to educate as well as entertain?

People who like to read want to be transported from their own lives into another place, even if that place is less pleasant that their own. Life in a town surrounding an African gold mine is as detached from our own as its possible to get and still be on Earth. I think most people would see Lomax Mine and its town as a fantasy place.

If you could choose to be a character from Dead Man’s Gold, who would you be and why?

James Allen… Allen has led a charmed life. He is a man of experience who can read people. Rumours abound about his past and the Old Hands at the mine avoid him. He’s attractive because he’s an outsider, he isn’t swayed one way or the other by mere words and has enough internal resources to decide for himself.

As Dead Man’s Gold is the first in a series, how have you managed continuity and progression in your writing?

By keeping the number of characters and places to a minimum.  Although the third book, “Ice Bound”, takes place outside the Lomax Mine, its setting is an island where there is only four other people. Keeping the primary POV to Ed also helps to maintain the continuity, it forces discipline.

And finally, if you had 15 words to persuade a reader that Dead Man’s Gold should be their next read, what would you say?

Life and death at an African Gold Mine written by someone who knows.

About Mendus Harris

Mendus Harris has been writing conspiracy thrillers for the last ten years. His latest books are based in a fictional gold mine named Lomax and draw on his extensive experience as an exploration geologist.Very few people appreciate how a large gold mine in Africa functions and those that do may not be keen for the truth to be told.

His writing conjures images which are redolent with the sights and sounds of West African gold mines, the characters who inhabit them and the political conflicts which can threaten to rip them apart. Here is an author who has been there and seen that and has a view on what he has experienced.

You can find out more by visiting Mendus’ website and finding him on Facebook. You can also follow him on Twitter.

I’ve never been a Mum and think I’d be pretty useless at it too. Therefore, I’m rather in awe of Kristen Bailey’s guest post on Linda’s Book Bag today all about being a ‘souper’ mum! Kristen is celebrating her latest novel Second Helpings which was published by Accent Press on 17th November 2016. Second Helpings is available for purchase in e-book and paperback here. Kirsten’s first novel in this series Souper Mum is available for purchase here.

Souper Mum

Souper Mum is the story of Jools Campbell, a stay-at-home mother of four, who becomes an unlikely foodie hero when she stands up to a pompous celebrity chef, Tommy McCoy on a reality show.  Armed with fish fingers and a severely limited cooking repertoire, we watch as she becomes a reluctant celebrity and learns some important life lessons about love, family and the joyless merits of quinoa.

Second Helpings

Exactly eighteen months after squaring up to a pompous TV chef, Jools Campbell finds herself back in the fame game as she becomes a judge on a family cooking show.  How will she cope being back in the limelight, juggling being a working mum?  What happens when she finds out her old nemesis, Tommy McCoy is her fellow judge?  The knives are sure to fly as ‘Souper Mum’ makes her triumphant return.

Seven Secrets For Being A Souper Mum

A Guest Post by Kristen Bailey

• Souper Mums operate on sleep. Where possible, sleep.  Of course, this is easier said than done so catch sleep when you can.  This may be in the day while you’re watching Judge Rinder in mismatched pyjamas with a chocolate Bourbon stuck to your forehead, or when you’re in the car waiting for the school gate to open.  If the blighters are up at 6am on a weekend, you have full permission to throw them all a brioche and put on Netflix, then crawl back into bed.  It’s why the world created Netflix.

• Souper Mums’ Guide to Laundry

1. No one ever died wearing an unironed school shirt.
2. It’s mismatched socks or no socks.
3. Also, totally fine to wear said socks two days in a row.
4. Ribena/grass/paint stains come as standard. Wear them like nouveau fashion statements.

• Souper Mum’s Guide to the School Run

1. Lots of caffeine.
2. Contrary to popular belief, it’s totally fine to do the school run in your pyjamas, just put your trackies and hoodie over the top.
3. No one is looking at your hair bundled atop your head like a small mammal’s nest. Or the fact you don’t have any make up on.  Or a bra.
4. Get the kids in and leave, making sure to avoid the mums with the clipboards, the ones gloating about spelling tests, the ones who look like they’ve come from the gym…

• Cake Sales are the benchmark by which you can measure a Souper Mum. There will be some who send in perfectly risen cupcakes, iced within an inch of their lives and covered in glittery sparkles and shards of caramel.  There will be those who send in cupcakes that have been shop-bought but put in their own Tupperware to make it look like they baked them.  Others will send in a pack of Jaffa Cakes, others will forget…*whispers* none of it matters really because we all know kids just lick the icing off and never eat the cake anyway.

• Souper Mums sometimes make a spag bol from scratch. Other days they will serve fish finger sandwiches with a packet of crisps that have to be eaten in the car or else everyone will be late for swimming.  There is nothing wrong with fish fingers.  They are endorsed by Captain Birdseye – a man with genuine naval expertise.  Level everything out with boxes of raisins, apples and a token bit of cucumber; all of which you’ll find in between the car seats three months later.

• Souper Mums drink. Not in the day if possible but when you know you don’t have to get back in the car again that day, it is totally fine to open up a bottle and have a cheeky glass of something.  If your day has involved vomit, public tantrums, temporary traffic lights, toilet training, a lost remote control then up the stakes and hit the hard liquor.  Drink with other Souper Mums to console each other.

• *whispers again* The seventh secret is that…there is no secret to motherhood.  Everyone’s winging it, and you’re doing just fine.  If any of the above sounds familiar though, I’d like to introduce you to my Souper Mum; Jools Campbell.  Her adventures in motherhood and modern life were published in June 2016 and the next instalment of her story, Second Helpings is out this month.  Both novels take a refreshing look at family, celebrity culture and the joyless merits of quinoa.  Both are gluten-free and suitable for vegetarians.

About Kristen Bailey

Mother-of-four, gin-drinker, binge-watcher, receipt hoarder, hapless dog owner, enthusiastic but terrible cook.  Kristen lives in Fleet, Hampshire in a house overrun by Lego and odd socks.  Her debut novel, Souper Mum was released by Accent Press in June and its sequel, Second Helpings was released on 17th November.

You can find out more about Kristen on her blog about being a modern mother.  You can follow her on Twitter and find her on Facebook and Instagram.

There’s more with these other bloggers too:

 

My grateful thanks to Lizzie Curtin at Summersdale Publishers for a copy of For the Love of Shakespeare by Beth Miller in return for an honest review. For the Love of Shakespeare was published on 13th October 2016.

Available from Amazon in e-book and hardback, you can also obtain a signed, dedicated hardbacked copy of For the Love of Shakespeare from Beth’s own website by clicking here.

For the Love of Shakespeare

Did you know…

• Shakespeare is the most filmed author of all time: he’s been credited on more than 1,000 movies and TV shows.
• ‘Obscene’, ‘gloomy’, ‘fashionable’ and ‘generous’ are among the countless new words that Shakespeare introduced. (Actually, ‘countless’ is one of his too.) It’s also because of the Bard that we say ‘catch a cold’, ‘naked truth’ and ‘green-eyed monster’.
• Almost all the moons of Uranus are named after characters from Shakespeare, including Titania, Oberon and Puck?

For further fascinating insights, dive into this masterful miscellany and become a Shakespeare buff.

There’s never been a better time to take a fresh look at William Shakespeare’s eternal works. A treasure trove of wit, imagination and emotion, his plays and poems continue to surprise, inspire, console and delight us. Whether you’re a lifelong lover of the Bard or a curious newcomer to his world, this companion will lift the curtain on the unforgettable characters and stories of Britain’s greatest dramatist.

My Review of For the Love of Shakespeare

Everything you thought you knew about Shakespeare and an awful lot more besides!

I’d have thought that Shakespeare had been done to death and that there wouldn’t be much more to offer but Beth Miller has come up with a fresh and vivacious book that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Divided into clearly defined sections, For The Love of Shakespeare is designed, as Beth Miller herself says, for the reader to dip in to and I must mention the lovely attached silk bookmark that allows this so easily. I began by flicking through and allowing aspects to catch my eye but then became hooked on the ‘In a Nutshell’ summaries of each play so I went back and read them all in order and before I knew it I was reading the whole book exactly as presented.

Beth Miller has such a natural and lively writing style that she made me laugh out loud on several occasions with her wry and witty comments. I loved the description of Sonnet 73 as wise, ‘If a bit gloomy…’ As well as being massively entertained I was also educated. I studied English at University, I’ve taught Shakespeare to A’level in schools and to adults in college and I still learnt all kinds of things from this smashing book. I had no idea Richard Burton was so put off his Shakespearean performance by Winston Churchill! When reading bits aloud to my husband he said in a tone of awe, ‘That must have taken some researching. I don’t know how people do it.’ And he’s right, the depth of research is outstanding, but never pompous or dry in its presentation. And one of the joys of For The Love of Shakespeare is that it is a book you can share with readers of all ages. I’m sure younger readers will be entranced by the body counts at the end of the play sections , for example.

For The Love of Shakespeare is certainly an erudite, educational and entertaining book about Shakespeare with a Foreword by the eminent Director of the Shakespeare Institute, Professor Michael Dobson, but it is so much more besides. It’s partly an autobiography of Beth Miller as we gain a real insight into how her passion for Shakespeare has evolved from that first live performance of Richard 111 to sniggering at Bottom’s name in  A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It’s partly a social history and a literary one. It’s partly a joke book and an insight into modern media of stage, film and television. But most of all, For the Love of Shakespeare is an absolutely brilliant read and I loved it and yes, there is more faith in me ‘than in a stewed prune’!

About Beth Miller

Beth Miller’s varied career has included roles as a sexual health trainer, journalist, psychology lecturer, PhD student and inept audio-typist. She is the author of two novels, When We Were Sisters and The Good Neighbour, as well as For the Love of the Archers.

You can follow Beth on Twitter and visit her website.

Oh, I love a good twisty psychological thriller so I’m delighted to welcome June Taylor to Linda’s Book Bag to tell me a little about her debut thriller Losing Juliet.

Losing Juliet will be published on 25th November 2016 as part of Harper Collins’ Killer Reads and is available for e-book pre-order on Amazon and by following the publisher links here. It will be released in paperback on 12th January 2016.

Losing Juliet

You can’t escape the past…

Juliet and Chrissy were best friends until one fateful summer forced them apart. Now, nearly twenty years later, Juliet wants to be back in Chrissy’s life.

But Chrissy doesn’t want Juliet anywhere near her, or her teenage daughter Eloise. After all, Juliet is the only person who knows what happened that night – and her return threatens to destroy the life that Chrissy has so carefully built.

Because when the past is reawakened, it can prove difficult to bury. And soon all three of them will realize how dangerous it can get once the truth is out there…

An Interview with June Taylor

Hello June. Thank you so much for agreeing to answer some questions on my blog about your writing.

Firstly, please could you tell readers a little about yourself?

I’m a writer from Leeds, and a very proud Yorkshire lass! I’ve done many jobs from selling cream cakes to teaching English as a foreign language, and I love to travel, see new places, experience new things.  I’ve written short plays and had a full-length play produced.  In 2011, I was runner-up in the Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition with a YA novel.  But I finally found my niche writing adult psychological thrillers.  I’m on the Board of Script Yorkshire and help out with Leeds Big Bookend.

When did you first realise you were going to be a writer?

Well I’ve been writing ever since I realised that, in my imagination, I could do anything, be anyone, and go absolutely anywhere.  I was a quiet kid at school, growing up in the “should-be-seen-but-not-heard” era, so the written word became my means of expression.   I had a brilliant English teacher at my middle school, Mr Coulthard.   I have a lot to thank him for.  He got me over that, I suppose initial embarrassment of writing and sharing it with others.  You can feel very vulnerable.

(I’m rather fond of English teachers myself June!)

If you hadn’t become an author, what would you have done instead as a creative outlet?

I used to be a TV promos writer/producer in a previous life.  It was a brilliantly creative job that kept me going as a freelancer for many years.  I was so lucky in that respect.  I suppose if I hadn’t become an author I’d still be doing that, or something very similar with words and images.  But I’m not very good at art or making things with my hands, so it would never be anything along on those lines.

How do you carry out the research for your novels?

So far I have written contemporary fiction, or at least set within the last few decades.  The locations I’ve used I go and recce, or are places I’ve been to before.  For any factual stuff I use Google – but carefully! You have to remember that Google is not god.  Also, I ask people if they can provide some backdrop to a location or a particular time period.  There’s usually someone who can help.

I greatly admire those who write historical fiction because I don’t think I have the stamina to carry out that type of research, nor the imaginative prowess to bring it to life.  Including Sci-fi, actually, where you’re inventing a whole new world and set of rules.

Which aspects of your writing do you find easiest and most difficult?

Good question! Well I come from a scriptwriting background, so transferring that discipline across to novels has been interesting for me, and a steep learning curve.  When you write a script you do minimal stage directions and scene setting.  Someone else has to worry about that.  So it’s these bits I find hardest to write.  Plotting and dialogue tend to flow more easily.  I then go back and embellish the descriptive parts.  There certainly won’t be much of that in the first draft.

What are your writing routines and where do you do most of your writing?

I’m jealous of people who say they get up at the crack of dawn and start writing, because I am just so not a morning person.  I use the mornings for admin, chores, any other work I have to do.  Afternoons and evenings are for writing.  I work in a very small and incredibly untidy office.  I like the fact it’s compact because I feel hidden away.  The untidiness I seem to need for some reason because if I have a neat desk, orderly notice boards, I fail to concentrate.  I suppose it feels a bit too sterile.  So I’ve learned to work with this; it’s just who I am!

When you’re not writing, what do you like to read?

I like to read what I love to write actually – psychological thrillers.  Generally ones not too ‘in the genre’, but more the twisty, “gets under your skin” type.  Like Rebecca, Room, Notes on a Scandal, The Lovely Bones, The Sick Rose.  I prefer the criminal mind, so I love Patricia Highsmith novels.  But that’s not to rule out crime fiction, or any other sort of fiction for that matter if it’s good.  I think you’ve got to take a punt sometimes and read outside your comfort zone, pick up recommendations from those you trust.  I’m a terribly slow reader though.

If one of your books became a film, which would you choose and why?  

This is my first book to be published, so this one! It’s pretty filmic and set in some great locations.  Because of my scriptwriting training I always write very visually, in scenes rather than in chapters.  My style of writing is therefore quite filmic, I would say.

How important do you think social media is to authors in today’s society?

Very.  It’s a wonderful thing for putting word out there about your work.  But there are things I really don’t like about it.  It’s very time-consuming and there’s such a lot of hype goes on.  We’ve always had that of course, but these days it’s so much more exaggerated.

However, social media is a lovely way of connecting with other writers, bloggers, reviewers, readers.  There’s a huge community of people out there who just love books.  This is an amazing thing, and certainly makes up for the negatives.

Is there anything else you would have liked to be asked?

No, but I would like to say thanks for having me on here, Linda.  And thanks for reading this, if you have actually made it to the end!

My pleasure to have you June. Thank you so much for your time in answering my questions.

About June Taylor

June is a British writer from Leeds and proud of her Yorkshire heritage.  Writing mainly psychological thrillers and YA fiction, as well as plays, in 2011 she was a runner up in the Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition with Lovely Me, Lovely You.

June has worked in many arenas from being a TV promos producer to EFL and French club teacher, as well as a volunteer with Childline and the Refugee Council.

June is on the Board of Script Yorkshire and a big supporter of Leeds Big Bookend.

You can follow June on Twitter and visit her website.

It gives me great pleasure to welcome Adrian Hyde to Linda’s Book Bag today. Adrian’s novel Kingmaker was published by Three Assassins Press on 27th September 2016 and is available for purchase in e-book and paperback here. Kingmaker is set in Norway, a country I’m desperate to visit, so I asked Adrian to tell me more about why he chose this particular setting for his writing.

Kingmaker

Kingmaker: A Harry King Thriller

Wealth. Power. Glory. Revenge.

When the world is against you, who do you trust?

April 1940. Norway has fallen under the Nazi Blitzkrieg. Only a small British force now stands between Hitler’s SS and the ultimate prize…

Lieutenant Harry King is in trouble again. Haunted by his past and consumed by alcohol, he is saved from his fate by a mysterious senior officer. When he is sent on a seemingly simple errand, he stumbles into a conspiracy that could change the course of the war.

Dragged into a hair-raising world of murder, mystery and betrayal, King must choose between his duty, love and revenge. In a heart-pounding race across the frozen tundra, mountains and fjords, can he survive against the odds and uncover the traitor at the heart of his world?

Norway, An Authentic Setting

A Guest Post by Adrian Hyde

When I started to write my book, Kingmaker: A Harry King Thriller, I wanted to write a mainstream thriller (as that is what I mostly love reading at the moment), but as a new author I knew that I needed something different so I decided to set it in Norway at the start of World War 2. I was unsure about this at first as I know that the typical “military” books reader is very different from the more mainstream thriller reader, so I had to make sure that the background supported the main plot, rather than the other way around. It must have worked because lots of readers have already said how much they enjoyed reading Kingmaker and were surprised at how unlike a traditional “war story” it is. I think the landscape really helped me to achieve my target.

So why did I choose Nazi-controlled Norway in 1940? Well, firstly, I have always been fascinated by the war – as were most boys of my age, growing up in the nineteen-eighties surrounded by war movies on the television at Christmas, and this was increased by tales of my father’s own military experience in the fifties. As a result of this, history has always been a passion of mine, so over the years I started to read more about both World Wars in order to better understand what happened. I was particularly drawn to those events that didn’t go as planned and were consequently swept under the carpet by history and establishment alike. The British failure to stop Hitler’s invasion of Norway was largely ignored and overlooked by Britain at the time, desperate to focus instead on the miracle of Dunkirk and the success of the Battle of Britain. Despite this, I felt it was a fascinating story of bravery and plucky resistance against overwhelming odds, and I decided to use this reflection of my similarly confused, misunderstood and underestimated protagonist. Harry King is a British Lieutenant with a haunted past and a drinking problem despite his responsibility. He is falling to pieces but nobody wants to listen, mainly because the world was far less understanding of mental health issues at that time and King’s torment is lost in a sea of old-school authority and the British stiff upper lip. As part of the joy of discovering and developing King, I wanted to see how he coped under pressure by placing him out of his depth in a foreign country, and then throwing him in at the deep-end by dragging him into a world of conspiracy, murder and treason. Despite his many problems and imperfections, King is surprisingly resilient and heroic, and wins through in the end by forgiving himself and gaining redemption. The frozen landscape helped cleanse him of his past and give him a clearer vista of his future.

Secondly, the stark, barren winter landscape of Norway in the early spring has a mythical, surreal quality to it that offers a stark contrast to the usual depictions of the chaos of war. It felt refreshing to use the snow-covered valleys, mountains and fjords as a character of their own, no less deadly than the man-made weapons carried by King’s enemies. He feels isolated at first, a theme echoed in the silent landscape, and his own pain begins to thaw as the snows also finally start to recede and he uncovers his past. There was also a timeless purity of the still wintry landscape that even the horrors of war couldn’t sully, and I found that King had much in common with this as he initially seems as hard as the mountains themselves, but then he shows a hidden warmth and humanity that is only unlocked as his feisty local companion Anja helps him to face his demons and find love again. I felt that it was important to include a strong female character, as too many books set in this period tend to forget that the vital role that women played in winning the war.

And finally, I also loved the landscape because it conjures-up another, almost magical dimension with its mythology of ancient kings, lost treasure and dark secrets that nicely overlapped the background narrative of the later war. The more that I read about the Norwegian side of the story, the more I just fell in love with the country and I knew that had to try to write something worthy of those unlucky few who were there at the time and faced death in Norway’s magical scenery. I hope that people will enjoy reading Kingmaker as much as I enjoyed writing it.

About Adrian Hyde

Adrian Hyde is a thriller writer, history nut and citizen of the world. He was born in the city of Derby, England in 1975, the son of an ex-soldier. He grew up on the doorstep of the beautiful Derbyshire Peak District, and his father’s military service and an interest in local history inspired him to write from an early age.

Educated in Derby and Heanor, he studied Politics at the University of Reading, Berkshire. Adrian then had a successful career in sales, marketing and product management, mainly in heavy engineering and construction equipment companies, where he travelled extensively throughout the world.

All this was to change when his wife was diagnosed with dementia, and Adrian became a full-time single parent and carer, however the experience spurred him on to return to writing full-time. He still loves Derbyshire but now lives in Burbage in neighbouring Leicestershire with his two children and Ben the Labrador. His first novel – Kingmaker: A Harry King Thriller – was published by Three Assassins Press in September 2016. He is currently working on the sequel.

You’ll find Adrian on Facebook. You can follow him on Twitter and visit his website.

I’m thrilled to be part of the launch celebrations of The Bone Collection by Kathy Reichs. The Bone Collection was published on 3rd November 2016 by William Heinemann, an imprint of Penguin, and draws together four novellas featuring Temperance Brennan. The Bone Collection is available for purchase in e-book and hardback by following the links here.

To celebrate this month’s publication I have three hardbacked copies of The Bone Collection to give away to UK readers lower down this blog post.

The Bone Collection

A collection of chilling tales featuring forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan – including the untold story of her first case.

The No.1 Sunday Times bestselling author Kathy Reichs is renowned for suspense and fascinating forensic detail. Now she brings that same artistry to her first volume of collected short stories.

In First Bones, a prequel to Reichs’s very first novel, Déjà Dead, she at last reveals how Tempe became a forensic anthropologist. In this never-before-published story, Tempe recalls the case that lured her from a promising career in academia into the grim but addictive world of criminal investigation.

Three more stories take Tempe from the low country of the Florida Everglades, where she makes a grisly discovery in the stomach of an eighteen-foot Burmese python, to the heights of Mount Everest, where a frozen corpse is unearthed.

Giveaway

(Open in the UK only. Giveaway closes at UK midnight on Wednesday 23rd November 2016.)

For your chance to enter to win one of three hard-backed copies of The Bone Collection by Kathy Reichs, click here.

About Kathy Reichs

From teaching FBI agents how to detect and recover human remains, to separating and identifying commingled body parts in her Montreal lab, as one of only seventy-seven forensic anthropologists ever certified by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology, Dr Kathy Reichs has brought her own dramatic work experience to her mesmerising forensic thrillers. For years she consulted to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in North Carolina, and continues to do so for the Laboratoire de Sciences Judiciaires et de Médecine Légale for the province of Québec.

Kathy Reichs has travelled to Rwanda to testify at the UN Tribunal on Genocide, and helped exhume a mass grave in Guatemala. As part of her work at JPAC she aided in the identification of war dead from World War II, Korea, and Southeast Asia. Kathy Reichs has served on the Board of Directors and as Vice President of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, and is currently a member of the National Police Services Advisory Board in Canada. She is a Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

A native of Chicago, she now divides her time between Charlotte and Montreal. Kathy Reichs’s first novel Déjà Dead catapulted her to fame when it became a New York Times bestseller, a Sunday Times bestseller and won the 1997 Ellis Award for Best First Novel. All eleven of her novels have been international bestsellers. She is also a producer of the chilling hit TV series Bones. 206 Bones is her twelfth novel featuring Dr Temperance Brennan.

You can follow Kathy on Twitter, visit her website and find her on Facebook.

There’s more with these other bloggers too:

My enormous thanks to Emily Burns at Twenty7, an imprint of Bonnier Zaffre Publishing, for a copy of Tall Oaks by Chris Whitaker in return for an honest review. Tall Oaks was published on 8th September 2016 and is available for purchase in e-book and paperback here.

Tall Oaks

When three-year-old Harry goes missing, the whole of America turns its attention to one small town.

Everyone is eager to help. Everyone is a suspect.

Desperate mother Jess, whose grief is driving her to extreme measures.

Newcomer Jared, with an easy charm and a string of broken hearts in his wake.

Photographer Jerry, who’s determined to break away from his controlling mother once and for all.

And, investigating them all, a police chief with a hidden obsession of his own . . .

In Chris Whitaker’s brilliant and original debut novel, missing persons, secret identities and dangerous lies abound in a town as idiosyncratic as its inhabitants.

My Review of Tall Oaks

Three year old Harry has been abducted and the Tall Oaks community will never be the same again as the search for him continues.

Difficult times recently mean I’m way behind with my reviews and I’m extremely late to the Tall Oaks party. However, it was certainly worth the wait.

I’m always sceptical of the publicity claims about debut novels and when Tall Oaks was proclaimed to be for fans of Twin Peaks and Fargo, both of which I loved, my initial reaction was ‘Yeah, right!’ How wrong could I be? Tall Oaks is indeed the perfect literary embodiment of quirkiness, humour and emotion in a dynamic and entertaining read. I thought it was brilliant.

Firstly, the iterative image of heat and pressure, that runs throughout the text, impressively builds to the climax so that the reader experiences the oppression and tension that so many of the characters endure. I thought Chris Whitaker’s writing style was masterful. The balance of longer paragraphs with utterly shocking short sentences gave an impact I won’t forget in a hurry. I found myself laughing aloud, gasping and even crying as I read.

There’s also quite a cinematic feeling to the narrative. Lots of sharp changes of scene with fabulous dialogue mean I can easily see Tall Oaks as a gripping television series.

I thought the characterisation was a triumph. I was surprised by some of the fabulously handled revelations about many of the people who inhabit the small American town of Tall Oaks. Teenager Manny, in particular, is sensational and he provides the perfect foil to some of the darker passages. Be warned, though, if you don’t like profanities, as Manny loves them! Every emotion, every obsession, every secret possible lurks beneath the characters of Chris Whitaker’s intense tapestry of life. I can’t think of a single person in Tall Oaks who didn’t add depth and enjoyment to the experience of reading the book – and it is an experience and not just an entertaining read. I’ve finished it feeling I know a little more about humanity as a result. Tall Oaks has everything – wit, empathy, mystery and a cast of people so real I feel I know each one in person.

There’s only one negative about reading Tall Oaks and that is that I feel my understanding of it probably hasn’t done it justice. I need to go back and read it again, looking for more clues and appreciating the wonderful quality of the writing still further. It’s a fantastic read and I feel privileged to have had the experience.

About Chris Whitaker

Chris Whitaker was born in London and spent ten years working as a financial trader in the city. When not writing he enjoys football, boxing, and anything else that distracts him from his wife and two young sons. Tall Oaks is his first novel.

You can find Chris on Twitter.

I recently took part in a discussion about Christmas books where some readers thought they shouldn’t be read before December as it isn’t Christmas season. I don’t agree – I don’t avoid settings in a country because I haven’t visited them, books with murders because I’m not a murderer or books with male protagonists because I’m not a man so why would I avoid reading books about Christmas simply because it isn’t the season? As Maxine Morrey’s latest novel is The Christmas Project, I invited Maxine onto Linda’s Book Bag to tell me her opinions of reading out of season and you can see what she thinks below.

The Christmas Project was published on 14th November 2016 and is available for purchase in e-book here.

The Christmas Project

Christmas in the city has never been more magical!

Professional organiser Kate Stone has never – NEVER – been tempted to hit a client over the head with a snow shovel, but Michael O’Farrell is the most obnoxious – and heart-stoppingly gorgeous – man she has ever met. If he weren’t her best friend’s brother, she would not have waited on his doorstep in the freezing cold for five minutes, let alone an hour.

Kate knows, however, that her job isn’t just about tidying up, sometimes she needs to be part therapist too, and Michael clearly needs her help to declutter his heart as well as his home.

But with the festive season just around the corner there isn’t much time to get Michael’s house ready for the O’Farrell family celebrations, but everyone knows that at Christmas anything can happen…

Out of Season

A Guest Post by Maxine Morrey

Like it or not, Christmas is coming, and with it a whole host of books that feature the festive season. Christmas in publishing tends to start making itself known around September and this seems to cause a mix of reactions; on one side of the fence there are those who literally cannot wait to dive into the literary equivalent of the biggest tub of Cadbury’s Roses you ever did see, and on the other are the readers who can’t even entertain the idea of reading a ‘Christmas’ book outside a certain time period, say – the month of December.

Both of these views are, of course, absolutely valid. Reading is a pursuit that is supposed to bring joy and relaxation and there are no rules. It’s totally up to you – that’s the great thing about it. But, as both my books with Carina/HQ have been set around Christmas, I’ve been asked to put forward the case for reading festive fiction at any time.

When it comes to it, the main reason we read a book is for the story. We want to be pulled in and connect with the characters, feel what they’re feeling, and see – in our mind’s eye – what they’re seeing, even if it is a fully bedecked Christmas tree whilst we’re sat in the garden on a warm summer’s eve.

What’s good to remember is that, for many books that fall into this category, Christmas itself might literally only be a few pages so it’s not like you’re always being hit over the head with roast turkey and all the trimmings. It’s just a backdrop. A wintery backdrop, I grant you. But it’s the people in front of that backdrop that we get wrapped up in – pun fully intended – not the decoration.

Having said that, there are some books that are full on glitter cannons of Christmassy goodness and if you are someone who’s currently reluctant to step into the festive world before the first of December, these could at first glance, seem a little overwhelming when you’re just making your first tentative steps into this new and exciting reading way of life. And if that’s the case, do not worry! Just build up to these and surround yourself with their loveliness once you’ve got the tree up and are closer to full Christmas immersion. Alternatively, you could do the equivalent of cannonballing into a freezing cold swimming pool and just launch yourself in with one of these from the start!

The fact is, we don’t tend to avoid ‘summer’ books in the winter, or books set in a country other than the one we’re reading it in, and we still enjoy them. It’s also a fact that there are a whole bunch of wonderful ‘Christmas’ books published every year and it’s pretty much impossible to devour as many as one would like to if the reading period is a relatively short one, not to mention that it’s a period that often has plenty of other time demands upon it.

So this year, be brave and dive in early! You won’t regret it!

About Maxine Morrey

Maxine has wanted to be a writer for as long as she can remember and wrote her first (very short) book for school when she was ten. Coming in first, she won a handful of book tokens – perfect for a bookworm!

As years went by, she continued to write, but ‘normal’ work often got in the way. She has written articles on a variety of subjects, as well as a book on Brighton for a Local History publisher. However, novels are what she loves writing the most. After self publishing her first novel when a contract fell through, thanks to the recession, she continued to look for opportunities.

In August 2015, she won Harper Collins/Carina UK’s ‘Write Christmas’ competition with her romantic comedy, Winter’s Fairytale.

Maxine lives on the south coast of England, and when not wrangling with words, can be found tackling her To Be Read pile, sewing, listening to podcasts, and walking.

You can find Maxine on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. You can also visit her website.

One genre I don’t often read is the comedy thriller so I am delighted to be finding out a bit more about it today from Sharn Hutton, author of It’s Killing Jerry. It’s Killing Jerry is published today, 15th November 2016 and is available for purchase in e-book here.

It’s Killing Jerry

Fantasist, push-over and all-round crap father: Jeremy Adler’s an inspiration. For scandal, treachery and blackmail.

Fleeced by his ex-wife, oppressed by a narcissist boss and ridden over rough-shod by a two month old infant, Jerry might have thought he’d been keeping the peace but, the tide of resentment is turning against him.

Fighting for his job, control of the bank statement and, ultimately, his life, Jerry’s got problems and they’re about to get a whole lot worse.

Breakdowns and break-ups, manipulation and thievery, green-eyed phoneys and unscrupulous deals. Pretending to be someone else just won’t cut it this time and featuring on the late evening news as: missing, presumed murdered, is just the beginning.

With adult themes, It’s Killing Jerry is the head-hopping tale of Jerry’s desperately funny demise.

Adult Themes and Humour in Fiction:

the Challenge of a Comedy Thriller

A Guest Post by Sharn Hutton

One of the great things about Amazon is that you can drill down through the thousands upon thousands of books to find just the kind you enjoy. Your virtual bookshelf can be narrowed down to paranormal meets Jane Austin in a matter of two clicks, if your heart desires. That kind of niche might take some time to find in a real world bookstore. The genre pigeon-holes are undoubtedly a time saving boon, but sometimes a novel just won’t fit into one spot so easily.

This I discovered when trying to decide upon the right ‘shelf’ for my first novel It’s Killing Jerry. In the end I went for ‘Comedy Thriller’, which seems like an odd pairing when you first hear it but, the more I think about it the more those two terms sit happily together.

Consider when your hilarious spouse jumps out on you from behind the bedroom door – terror and shock are quickly replaced with laughter (along with a punch in the chops for the husband) and when the passengers of a rollercoaster disembark, wobbly on their feet with adrenalin, there’s no shortage of laughter while hands are clutched to wildly beating hearts. Thrills and laughter go hand in hand.

Who’s funny now?

Humour can be elusive and often it’s the ‘Cringe Factor’ or the vicarious ‘You’ve been Framed’ style delight in another’s misfortune that tickles the funny bone. I’ll give you a real life example.

A summer or two ago I remember watching the husband create a teetering pile from our wheel barrow, grow-bags and a selection of odds and sods at the bottom of the garden, which he then proceeded to climbed on top of. He was attempting to get himself up onto the fence to capture some toy or another that had been tossed high in a tree by a now crying child.

I saw him doing this from afar and thought to myself: This is should be interesting, there’s no way that’s going to hold. Might be worth a touch of recording...

And with that in mind I pulled my phone from my pocket to point at said hapless husband, waiting for the inevitable and thinking of the two hundred and fifty quid which was all but mine. That’s when I noticed that my Mother-in-law was also watching. Not the husband, but me and from the look on her face it was fairly obvious that she felt I should have been down the garden, warning him against the perils of what he was attempting, rather than trying to capture it for my own hilarity and possible financial gain. Ah yes, quite so. That’s the cringe moment right there. The humour wasn’t where I’d expected it to be at all – it was in me getting caught and shamed. BAD wife. Oh dear.

Thrilled or Horrified?

To my mind, a reader who likes a bit of comedy in their stories is unlikely to also want extreme horror, which can be the way some thrillers lean. An adult book has other possibilities for thrills: sex, drugs, power struggles and dirty dealing. And I’m not talking ‘Dallas’ style drama here (giving away my age a bit there with an 80’s reference) but genuine real life stuff. After all, it’s difficult to relate to JR’s disappointment in a short lived oil strike, whilst the mind numbing drudgery of early parenthood is much easier to grasp for most of us.

Scenarios from real life provide great opportunities for humour because we recognise them and have experienced something similar ourselves. You can feel the characters pain, so that’s how I’ve tried to write, with the experience of being an ordinary person in mind. The story of a comedy thriller, to me, is driven by the characters themselves. It hinges upon the choices they make, acting for what seems to be the best at the time, only to discover later that their decision had dire consequences.

About Sharn Hutton

Sharn Hutton scuttled along in the rat race with everyone else, until the advent of babies provided an excellent excuse not to go back to the office. It turned out that ‘giving up work’ wasn’t really that at all. In fact, career motherhood had just as many challenges and disappointments as the corporate world, only the pay was much, much worse. That’s when the idea for a story was born.

Now writing from home in Hertfordshire, she wouldn’t trade her tiny writing room at the back of the house for the fanciest of corner offices. Apart from anything else, where would the dog’s bed go?

It’s Killing Jerry is her first novel and she’s expecting many more to come. (Books that is, not babies. Definitely not babies.)

You can find out more by following Sharn on Twitter and visiting her website.