As an ex-English teacher I’m delighted to welcome James Hartley to Linda’s Book Bag today to tell me more about his brand new series of fiction for youngsters, Shakespeare’s Moon, based on Shakespeare’s plays. The first book in the series The Invisible Hand will be released in paperback by Lodestone Books on 24th February 2016 and is available for pre-order here.

The Invisible Hand

The Invisible Hand is about a boy, Sam, who has just started life at a boarding school and finds himself able to travel back in time to medieval Scotland. There he meets a girl, Leana, who can travel to the future, and the two of them become wrapped up in events in Macbeth, the Shakespeare play, and in the daily life of the school.

The book is the first part of a series called Shakespeare´s Moon. Each book is set in the same boarding school but focuses on a different Shakespeare play.

Unlocking Shakespeare

A Guest Post by James Hartley

Just the name can be enough to make people´s eyes roll back in their heads.

Shakespeare.

Thee, thou, doth, to be or not to be, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Hamlet and a weird one set in summer about a bloke with a horse´s head.

Then there are long speeches only rendered bearable by paying close attention to an actor or actress´s facial expressions and intonation. Cramped theatres. Bored teachers. Double English in stuffy rooms, praying your name isn´t called to read. Crib notes and The Globe and the plague – the list goes on.

Although many people do get Shakespeare I´ve always known there were a great number more, mostly young, forced to read the plays for exam purposes, who gave up early. The texts were too daunting, it all seemed irrelevant and, frankly, boring. Who needs that hassle?

I learned to love Shakespeare – Macbeth in particular – at school. I was taught by an enthusiastic teacher who pulled us all into the world of the play, like it or not. As this was my first experience learning Shakespeare – I was about 15 or 16, coming up to my GCSE exams – I took it for granted that´s how it would be. It wasn´t until I was taught Hamlet and King Lear at A-level that I realised how lucky I´d been to have had the teacher I´d had.

I´ve always wanted to try and pass on that energy and passion my Macbeth teacher transmitted to me all those years ago. I saw how everyone in the class, even those who scoffed and messed about until the end of the year, got a taste of what Shakespeare was serving up.

We all learned the “Come seeling night…” speech. We all acted out a scene. We all wondered what we would do if we were promised things by a seer and then, as if by magic, these things started to come true. Would we take it all in our stride or would we try and push things forwards a little? Make those dreams come true at any cost?

Magic, superstition, prophecy, murder – all these are as real now as they were over four hundred years ago. Footballers wag fingers at the sky. People feel they are destined to be together. We touch wood, we don´t like black cats crossing our paths, or walking under ladders or breaking mirrors. We have lucky clothes or routines. We visit fortune tellers. We see our lottery numbers in buses and clouds. Holy wars scar the earth.

So how could I transmit all these things I felt about the relevance of Shakespeare, and most specifically about Macbeth, to someone who might be my age, sitting in a classroom at sixteen, staring down at this strange text, wondering how he or she was ever going to understand it, let alone answer a question about it?

The answer, I decided, would be to take them inside the play. And when I´d got this idea clear, the rest fell into place. There was a boy at a school, an enchanted school where everyone, the teachers, the students and the places, had names linked to literature. There was magic connected with writing and Shakespeare. A young boy, yes, a callow youth of fifteen (who could he be based on?) was at the school and somehow became transported back to medieval Scotland. There was talk of Macbeth and Macduff. A girl appeared there and, somehow, reappeared at the modern school. Prophecies were fulfilled; Macbeth´s and the childrens´.

The response from teachers and educators to the book has been excellent and if there is one thing I wish for The Invisible Hand is that it might fall into the mitts of someone starting out on that same, slightly daunting path which everyone who opens a Shakespeare play encounters, and that it might somehow better light the way for them.

The book might be like a full moon, perhaps. A full moon above a cold, misty heath where three weird sisters appear dancing in the gloaming…

About James Hartley

James was born on the Wirral, England, in 1973 on a rainy Thursday. He shares his birthday with Bono, Sid Vicious and two even nastier pieces of work, John Wilkes Booth and Mark David Chapman.

James studied journalism in London and later travelled through Ireland, France, Germany and India generally having a good time, before finally settling in Madrid, Spain, where he now lives with his wife and two young children.

James loves writing and reading – the former a compulsion, the latter a pleasure – as well as running, boxing, eating, drinking and trying to see, and enjoy, the good things in life.

You can find out more by following James on Twitter and visiting his website.

I’m thrilled to be part of the launch celebrations of It’s Not You, It’s Them by Portia MacIntosh. It’s Not You, It’s Them was published on 4th November 2016 by Harper Collins and is available for purchase here.

To celebrate It’s Not You, It’s Them I have a fabulous guest post about real life happy endings from Portia MacIntosh and a super extract from the book.

It’s Not You, It’s Them

First comes love. Then comes family…

After a lifetime of kissing frogs, Roxie Pratt has given up on finding her own fairytale romance. That is, until she meets her very own Prince Charming, Mark Wright, and he sweeps Roxie off her feet!

So when Mark finally gets down on one knee and pops the question, there’s only one thing left to do: meet the family! And when everything has been picture-perfect so far, what could possibly go wrong…?

An Extract From It’s Not You, It’s Them

When I met my boyfriend one year ago, I couldn’t believe my luck.

You’re probably not going to believe me when I tell you this, but the way we met was like a fairy tale.

I was covering an event for work: a big, fancy-dress ball hosted by a children’s charity. I’m not much of a comic-book nerd, but the second I saw Margot Robbie dressed as Harley Quinn in the Suicide Squad movie, I knew that was who I wanted to dress up as. I pulled my long, blonde hair into pigtails before temporarily spraying the ends blue on one side, pink on the other. I watched hours of make-up tutorials so that my face was just right and then I slipped on a tight-fitting T-shirt, some hot pants and some Converse and was ready to go. I grabbed my baseball bat, brandishing it at myself in the mirror as I got ready to leave the flat, just as my flatmate Gil walked by me.

‘You’re showing your arse at a children’s charity ball?’ he said, laughing.

‘There won’t actually be any children there,’ I replied casually, making a pouty face as I snapped a photo in the mirror. But as I headed to the ball, I did worry that maybe Gil was right. Funny really, considering what a hot mess he is for a forty-something man. That’s actors for you, though.

Thankfully, when I arrived, there wasn’t a minor in sight – unless you count a guy I recognised from Game of Thrones who had, bizarrely, turned up dressed as a baby. The huge ballroom was packed with celebrities, journalists and people who worked for the charity… and then there was Mark. Mark Wright, head of PR for the charity, was the brain behind this fundraising ball, and very much the man of the hour. People were crowding around him – mostly women, I couldn’t help but notice – just to talk to him, get a quote from him, buy him a drink – or just anything, really, that would capture his attention for a few seconds.

Amid the chaos, our eyes met across a crowded room – I know, that old one – but they did. My body not having quite the same proportions as Margot’s, I was just starting to feel self-conscious in my hot pants, awkwardly pulling at them – like that was going to make them any longer – when I spotted Mark, sitting at the bar, facing out into the room, people all around him, trying to get a piece of him. He was dressed as The Joker (Heath Ledger’s portrayal, not Jared Leto’s – but that’s not important) so I smiled at him. His reaction was to applaud me, tilting his head down a little and narrowing his eyes, perfectly replicating Heath’s sarcastic clap in The Dark Knight, before turning his attention back to his audience.

Despite Mark’s temporarily messy green hair, that ghostly white face, black eyes and red, twisted smile, I could tell he was gorgeous. I don’t even think it was the usual characteristics that attracted me to him physically; it was the fact he had a smile on his face every time I looked at him (a real one, not the one painted on so he could tell everyone to ask him ‘how he got those scars’). He had kind eyes and, when he gave people his attention, I saw them light up – that’s Mark, though. With his good looks, charm and kind nature, he makes you feel like the most important person in the world when he talks to you.

Twenty seconds of attention from him and I was smitten, so I spent the rest of the night subtly following this unconventional Prince Charming around the ball, just trying to find a way to get his attention, but feeling like an unworthy Cinderella and chickening out.

Can I Have A Happy Ending?

A Guest Post by Portia MacIntosh

When I started writing It’s Not You, It’s Them, it got me thinking about a lot of things in my real life – mostly, what it means to love someone. I don’t just mean like someone a lot, I mean really, truly, cannot-live-without-them love.

In the story, Roxie finally meets her future in-laws and not only does she not get along with them, but she realises that maybe she and her fiancé want different things in life.

As I wondered how I could possibly give them a happy ending, I started to wonder if anything can actually be done to fix a situation like this.

If you love someone, but you want different things, do you need to break up?

All things considered, I decided that the answer was: no. To find someone you love, who loves you too, is such an incredible gift. Whatever problems you have, you figure them out. If my boyfriend really wanted something, I would do whatever I needed to so that I could give him whatever it took to make him happy, and I know he’d do exactly the same for me. If I didn’t get on with his family (although fortunately, I do), it would be hard luck, because if I want to be with him forever, then his family will be my family too – and you can’t choose your family, right?

I know that, no matter what the issue is, while I love my boyfriend and he loves me too, it doesn’t matter what problems we face, we’ll overcome them and we’ll make it work –  we’ll do whatever it takes to make each other happy.

That’s why, when I was writing the story, and worrying about whether or not it could have a happy ending, I realised that of course it could, because when you love someone, you make it work.

About Portia MacIntosh

Portia MacIntosh has been ‘making stuff up’ for as long as she can remember – or so she says. Whether it was blaming her siblings for that broken vase when she was growing up, blagging her way backstage during her rock chick phase or, most recently, whatever justification she can fabricate to explain away those lunchtime cocktails, Portia just loves telling tales. After years working as a music journalist, Portia decided it was time to use her powers for good and started writing novels. Taking inspiration from her experiences on tour with bands, the real struggle of dating in your twenties and just trying to survive as an adult human female generally, Portia writes about what it’s really like for women who don’t find this life stuff as easy as it seems.

You can find out more by visiting Portia’s website and finding her on Facebook and Goodreads. You can also follow her on Twitter.

When I was teaching English I was always on the look out for great books for youngsters so I’m delighted to welcome Diane Solomon to Linda’s Book Bag today to tell us about her writing, as she and Mark Carey have written a book I think those youngsters would have enjoyed – The Ravenstone: The Secret of Ninham Mountain.

The Ravenstone: The Secret of Ninham Mountain is available for purchase in e-book and paperback from your local Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Smashwords.

The Ravenstone: The Secret of Ninham Mountain

Imagine a raven appearing out of thin air and guiding you to an exquisitely carved icon that glows with ancient light and pulses with shamanic power.  This is how the adventure begins for Nadia and Aidan Shaw, 13-year-old twins, who live in idyllic Cold Spring, New York. Armed with the power of the Ravenstone and their own special gifts, they embark on a harrowing quest across centuries, at the bidding of a mysterious old shaman. They must depend on their courage, their faith in their friends, and luck… or is it destiny?

If they succeed, what they bring back could change the course of human existence.

Creativity Is Its Own Reward

A Guest Post by Diane Solomon

Ah, writing fiction. Recently, I was blessed with an enchanting experience: my husband, Mark Carey, and I co-wrote and published a middle-grade fantasy/mystery entitled, The Ravenstone: The Secret of Ninham Mountain. The fiction-writing path is full of magical discovery. There are surprises, even revelations, as you let your characters drive the story, and say what they will. It is the utmost fun.

The joy of creativity drives me. It always has! I’ve been in the creative world for a long time, first singing and performing on stage and TV in the UK. Songwriting. Then screenwriting. Then non-fiction books. Now middle-grade fiction. Each genre is a learning curve; each is entirely, completely, absolutely different.

What is creativity, exactly?

Creativity is the act of innovation and imagination. When you are creative, you are able to see the world in new ways, leaving traditional ideas or patterns behind. You’re not ruled by the usual interpretations of ideas. You think outside the box.

Is that off-putting? You don’t think you can come up with something new? It has all been done? But wait – it is how things are put together that can be new. And, here is the kicker: there is only one you, so no one will do things quite as you do. You are unique, as is your way of doing things.

Being creative is often a calling. Are you compelled to create, be it art, music, poetry, fiction? Then you must do it. You must do it to fulfill your passion in life.  Without it you may feel dead, unfulfilled, trudging through the three-foot mudslog of life, day by day, without experiencing the joy of your own heart.

But, I hear you ask:“Will someone else like my artistic endeavor?” My answer: Who cares? Seriously. WHO CARES?

A few tips for artists and writers everywhere:

1) Dare to Suck – (or Dare to Fail, for those of you appalled by the vulgarity.) As a singer/songwriter, I learned early (after an ego struggle) to trust the creative process and dive deeply into it. You have to dare to be criticized, dare to be silly, dare to be crazy, to be wild. You have to Dare to Suck.

2) Give up Being a Perfectionist  – Or you will never show anyone anything. Now I know I said Who Cares, but you still want to let someone else see it! Don’t you? Maybe not… now there’s a thought.

Forget going for perfect. Go for excellent, instead.

3) Allow Your Passion to Grow and Drive You – “The more extreme and the more expressed that passion is, the more unbearable does life seem without it. It reminds us that if passion dies or is denied, we are partly dead and that soon, come what may, we will be wholly so.”  ~John Boorman (English film-maker known for feature films such as Point Blank, Deliverance, Excalibur, The Emerald Forest, Hope and Glory, and more.)

My husband calls my passion, “extreme heart.” My heart must be involved in my writing. By that, I mean the work holds powerful elements of honor, integrity, caring for others, meaning, courage, and love. The protagonists, the main characters in my fiction need to be real, to be human, with flaws, certainly, but with good hearts. (Ok, ok, yes, I am Pollyanna.)

Creative passion is that energy that pours out from your very essence, from your soul.  And, since passion gives us energy, the greater the passion, the greater the creativity.

Let it flow!

4) Do it for the Bliss of it, Nothing More – There are moments during writing where I forget myself entirely. I lose track of time and look up after a couple of hours realizing I am cold, or starving, or some other bodily demand is hollering at me.

But, what a feeling! Pure meditational creativity. The writing seems to have taken over. Sometimes you look down and are surprised by what you read, as if you didn’t, in fact, write it.  I can only describe this experience as somehow verging on transcendent, in that it feels beyond the limits of experience, or independent of this world. It is exciting, inspiring, and rewarding.

So go for it; lose yourself. And remember the old maxim: It’s the journey, not the destination.

Creativity truly is its own reward.

 About Diane Solomon

Diane Solomon, author, enjoyed a wonderfully diverse career path that included her own variety show on BBC TV in England. As a performing artist, she opened for both Glen Campbell and Kenny Rogers during major tours of England, Europe and Africa. Her highly successful singing career was destroyed by Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and the story of her recovery via a homeopathic remedy is a book in itself!

Fully recovered, she is fulfilling her lifelong dream of being a writer. She has ghostwritten and/or edited many books in the last decade.

Eloquent Rascals Publishing released Diane’s first book, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A guide to the homeopathic treatment of CFS/M.E., in November of 2015. This book is a best seller in Amazon’s homeopathic section. Diane is also the author of two screenplays, one of which was made in to a film in 2001, entitled Touched by a Killer.

The Ravenstone is her first novel written with Mark Carey, a retired biologist, naturalist, and accomplished voice-over artist.

You can find out more about Diane on Goodreads and by following her on Twitter. There’s more about Diane and Mark on their website.

I love featuring authors I’ve actually met so I’m delighted to be part of the launch celebrations for Dark Fragments by Rob Sinclair as I have so enjoyed chatting with him in person. Dark Fragments is published tomorrow, 8th November 2016, by Bloodhound Books and is available for purchase in e-book and paperback here.

Today, Rob has kindly provided a guest post all about what it is like to be both a full time writer and a full time Dad and the challenges and benefits those two roles bring.

Dark Fragments

Murder. Money. Revenge.

Outwardly, Ben Stephens appears to be a normal, hard-working family man. In reality, his life has been in turmoil since the murder of his wife, Alice, seven years ago. The killer was never caught.

Now re-married – to the woman he was having an affair with while still married to Alice – Ben’s life is once again spiralling out of control, and he’s become heavily indebted to an unscrupulous criminal who is baying for Ben’s blood.

When Ben’s estranged twin sister, a police detective, unexpectedly returns to his life, asking too many questions for comfort, it becomes clear that without action, Ben’s life will soon reach a crisis point from which there will be no return.

In order to avoid falling further into the mire, Ben must examine the past if he is to survive the present – but just how much pressure can one man take before he breaks?

Full Time Writer or Full Time Dad?

A Guest Post by Rob Sinclair

I often wonder to myself whether I have two full time jobs or two part time ones. Writing is certainly the only job I have which pays money, but as a stay-at-home Dad with two young sons (aged 5 and 3), it feels at times that writing is just something which fills that short period of time in between weekends and school holidays and the twice daily school runs.

Now, I’d like to make it absolutely clear that I’m not complaining about our family set-up. I feel incredibly privileged that I now get paid a very decent amount for what is essentially a hobby, and I feel even more privileged knowing how hard it was to get to this position in the first place, and how much many writers struggle to make ends meet. That’s not to say that we have an easy life, though.

Wind back just a few short years and everything was very different in the Sinclair house. My wife and I were both working full time in demanding roles for a global accountancy firm (and my wife still is). With the birth of our first, and then our second son, it was becoming increasingly difficult to manage both our workloads while also being parents. Something had to give. Luckily for me, I had a secret life, which I’d only recently revealed to my parents some time after my first son was born. My secret was that I was also a budding writer. I’d kept this only to myself and my wife for a number of years through fear of being ridiculed, and because I’d had such a hard time properly finishing my first book (Dance with the Enemy) and getting it published. Despite years of rejection from agents and publishers, knowing that my wife and I couldn’t both go on working as we were (at least not without us both sacrificing time with our children), we collectively made the decision that I’d move to part time working, mainly in order to reduce the childcare burden, but also to see if I could ignite my writing career.

Whether mainly through luck or hard work or pure destiny, or a combination of all of those, my career did take off shortly after publication of my second book (Rise of the Enemy), and in summer last year I walked away from my accountancy career for good. At first I think many people felt the decision was rash, but I’d fully committed to writing in my own mind and was determined to make it work. And I think I have. My wife is now freed from having to worry about school drop-offs and pick-ups. She can work the hours she needs to, and stay away when she has an international trip without having to painstakingly check and re-arrange calendars. She can push on with her career however she chooses, without mine getting in the way.

And, most importantly, I get to do what I want to do, which is write (and spend more time with the boys).

Is it perfect? No, of course not. Being a writer isn’t easy, even though I do really enjoy the craft itself. But it’s not just about writing, it’s about editing and publishing and marketing and everything else that goes into making books sell. Most importantly I treat writing as my business. It’s a real job and I sit down and work full days (during school times at least!), and many evenings too. I still put a lot of time and effort into marketing and social media and everything else that is needed, I keep my own accounts and budgets etc etc. I think its been a huge benefit that I have a business and accounting and project management background as I’ve transferred a lot of those skills into my writing career.

But, inevitably, I do get taken advantage of still, and at times it can feel like I’m only a part time writer and full-time dad and house-husband. I guess it’s only natural for house-based burdens to fall to me. I do, after all, spend the lion’s share of the week in the house! During the lengthy school holidays and on the numerous teacher training days, it’s just assumed I’ll be looking after the kids, no questions asked. When my wife’s parents can’t get over on a Wednesday to look after our youngest son (the only day he doesn’t go to pre-school), it’s again just assumed I can drop my writing and whatever else I had planned and look after him, however impromptu it may be, and regardless of what writing I would otherwise have been doing.

On the flip side, though, I’m my own boss, which is perfect for a control freak like me. I hate being answerable to other people, and there’s nothing to stop me from taking time off whenever I want. If I’m feeling tired or just not in the mood, I’ll have a day watching movies, or go and play golf, or do a spot of gardening, or read a book, and I never feel bad about that because I always make sure I don’t let my writing slip. There aren’t many jobs where you could get away with doing that. Yes the competing demands I face can be tiresome, but for the sheer flexibility of it, I’m really not sure there’s another job out there that’s more suited for me. And you know what? Having been on the other side, stuck in offices day in, day out, I know now that writing is the only job I ever want.

About Rob Sinclair

Rob is the author of the critically acclaimed and bestselling Enemy series of espionage thrillers featuring embattled agent Carl Logan.

His explosive debut, Dance with the Enemy, was published in 2014 and introduced the world to the enigmatic Carl Logan. The second novel in the series, Rise of the Enemy, was released in April 2015, with the third, Hunt for the Enemy, being released in February 2016. The Enemy series has received widespread critical acclaim with many reviewers and readers having likened Rob’s work to authors at the very top of the genre, including Lee Child and Vince Flynn.

Rob’s latest novel, the pulsating psychological thriller Dark Fragments, released by Bloodhound Books in November 2016, has been described as ‘clever’ and ‘chilling’ and an ‘expertly crafted’ story.

Rob began writing in 2009 following a promise to his wife, an avid reader, that he could pen a ‘can’t put down’ thriller. He worked for nearly 13 years for a global accounting firm after graduating from The University of Nottingham in 2002, specialising in forensic fraud investigations at both national and international levels. Rob now writes full time.

Originally from the North East of England, Rob has lived and worked in a number of fast paced cities, including New York, and is now settled in the West Midlands with his wife and young sons.

You can follow Rob on Twitter, visit his website and find him on Facebook.

Having loved the first of Zak and Jen’s Astronomical Adventures, The Petal Planet by Natalie Page with illustrations by Chris Rivers Nuttall (my review of which you can read here), I’m delighted to be starting off the launch celebrations of the second book in the series Zak and Jen’s Astronomical Adventures, Tinsel Town. Zak and Jen’s Astronomical Adventures, Tinsel Town is available for purchase in paperback here.

Today I have a lovely guest post from Natalie all about her favourite Christmas stories and I have my review of Zak and Jen’s Astronomical Adventures, Tinsel Town too.

Zak and Jen’s Astronomical Adventures, Tinsel Town

Best friends Zak and Jen love exploring space using their magic umbrellas.

This time, they find a Christmas themed planet, but there is one thing missing, the inhabitants!

Join the characters as they make some festive friends, and realise how important it is to appreciate every day. Tinsel Town is written for children over five years old, however, younger children will also enjoy the rhythm of the story and its festive theme.

My Favourite Christmas Story

A Guest Post by Natalie Page

I am so delighted to have the chance to write a piece for Linda’s Book Bag. Linda was kind enough to review my debut children’s book and I am so pleased that she agreed to review my second!

So, in the spirit of Christmas, I wanted to take some time to share my favourite Christmas stories with you. Aside from the original nativity story, I have two favourite Christmas stories. The first is A Christmas Carol by the great Charles Dickens and the second is Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.

The reason I love both these tales is because I am a bit of a traditionalist at heart and both choices also stem from childhood memories. When I was a young girl, I read Little Women and I instantly fell in love with the coming of age story. I always saw myself as a combination of the responsible Meg and the feisty Jo. Then, when I was older, my family and I used to watch a film adaptation of the book starring Elizabeth Taylor and Janet Leigh. It was perfect comfort viewing and I often went back to the book as a result. In fact, now is probably the first time in years that I don’t actually own a copy!

There are several reasons why I love this story so much, and if you haven’t had the chance to read it, I strongly recommend you do so. The book is set in America at the time of the civil war and tells the story of four sisters and their progression into adulthood.  The strong family bond that exists within the March family is the thing that attracted me to the story initially as it was something I share with my own family. Similarly, the closeness of the sisters was something I shared with my own sister although at the time I do recall thinking that 3 sisters would have been a couple too many! Finally, I loved the characters. In particular, I really related to Jo’s desire to be a writer. Jo was so full of determination and guts, she struck out on her own and I really admired her for doing that. Fast forward a few years and I would never have thought I would be able to say I had published two books, but there you go!

My second choice, A Christmas Carol, is a Christmas classic. Who doesn’t love a little Christmas ghost story? I am a big fan of Dickens in general, but I particularly love how the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future coach Ebenezer Scrooge into a softer existence. I think it does us all good now and again to take a little time to reflect on our actions and how what we do affects others. I have often wondered what I would be shown if the three ghosts came to visit me, which is an intriguing and yet also slightly unnerving idea!

So there you go, these are my favourite Christmas stories, perhaps a little traditional, but for that reason they will always have a special place in my memory and they are certainly ones I will be sharing with my daughter as she grows!

My Review of Zak and Jen’s Astronomical Adventures, Tinsel Town

It’s Christmas Eve night and Zak and Jen are off on an adventure, but the town they find is empty.

It’s always a nervous moment when you’ve loved a book and a second comes along from the same author. Will you love it just as much? I don’t. I like it more!

Natalie Page seems to have settled into a glorious relationship with Zak and Jen so that there’s a natural feel to the story. As with the first book, The Petal Planet, Tinsel Town has a clever and organic rhyme scheme and some lovely new words like ‘befuddled’ for children to increase their vocabulary, but at the heart of the book is a sense of adventure and wonderment at Christmas time which makes it a glorious story to share with a child.

The importance of friends and family at Christmas is explored so that children can appreciate what they have, and the importance of that appreciation is stressed in the ending of the story.

A further element that I find so fabulous about the Zak and Jen books is the quality of the illustration. I can imagine discussing the images with children, looking for clues about Christmas, thinking about time, wondering what’s happening in the sky and generally enjoying the artwork. It complements the narrative perfectly.

If you haven’t discovered Zak and Jen with your younger relatives yet, I’d urge you to do so. I’m sharing my copy with my 5 year old great-nephew very soon and I know he’ll love it.

About Natalie Page

Natalie lives in the New Forest with her husband and daughter. She loves the freedom and creativity that comes with writing and enjoys nothing more than penning short stories and poems to entertain friends and family.

You can follow Natalie Page on Twitter and there is a Zak and Jen Twitter account too here. You can also visit the Zak and Jen Facebook page here.

About Chris Rivers Nuttall

Chris Rivers Nuttall is a professional drummer for the rock band Heavens Basement. He started painting while travelling the world with the band, needing something to do on the long journeys. He now paints from his home studio in a variety of styles, which often have a surrealistic theme.

There’s more with these other bloggers too:

I’m delighted to be part of the paperback launch celebrations for The Honey Trap by Mary Jayne Baker. I have a special extract from The Honey Trap for you today.

The Honey Trap is published by Harper Impulse and is available for purchase in e-book and paperback here.

The Honey Trap

The trap is set – but which one of them is the bait?

Journalist Angel Blackthorne is looking for her next big scoop. When her sleazy editor asks her to use her charms on super successful – and married – film director Sebastian Wilchester for a juicy exposé, Angel thinks what the hell? There’s a staff job on the horizon, and, let’s be honest, no one can make a cheater cheat if they don’t want to, right?

After the scandal breaks, Angel tries to put the story – and Seb – behind her, but fate seems to have other ideas. A near miss at a premiere after-party and a shared love of vintage film brings the honey closer to the trap.

But what happens when pretence leads to passion, and a ‘kiss and tell’ becomes something real?

An Extract from The Honey Trap

Chapter 20 – The Hippodrome

‘This is it. Anywhere round here,’ Seb said to the cabbie as they pulled up into what looked like a row of old terraces in some dark backwater of the city. Just a few empty shops, houses whose occupants were long in bed and some big, decaying old buildings.

Angel squinted through the car window. Why would he bring her to this place? There wasn’t much nightlife here unless you enjoyed getting mugged, by the look of it.

‘Don’t worry,’ he said, smiling at her expression while he held the door open for her to get out. ‘I’ve not brought you to spend the night in a crack den or anything.’

He fumbled in his pocket, pulled out a small key and led her towards one of the rotting buildings, its dirty white-tiled façade tinted orange in the streetlight glow. There was a large arched porch over a red door. Seb unlocked it and she followed him along a corridor with exposed brick walls, feeling like someone in a dream. Everything seemed too big, overexposed and a ringing sound like an old GPO telephone was assaulting her brain via her ears.

He ushered her through another door and flicked a switch by the side to illuminate the room they’d just entered.

‘Jesus, Seb!’

She was in a high-ceilinged, teal auditorium. Five rows of velvet-upholstered seats were laid out in front of a cinema screen, with an old-style projector window set into the top of the tall wall. There was even a pit at the front for an organ. The back half of the room and a balcony area above were still in a state of near-decay, but the front looked just as it must have done before the war.

‘Is it… yours?’ she asked.

‘Yes. The Hippodrome. Built in 1926, just in time to bring The Jazz Singer to London audiences. I bought it last year when it was in danger of demolition. Thought it would be something ReelKids could use in future, if I could get it in a decent enough state. But for now it’s just a bit of a den, really. I come here to screen rushes sometimes, and when I want to get out of the house.’

‘Bloody hell, Seb,’ Angel muttered, looking around the old cinema. ‘You know, other men have garden sheds…’

‘You like it, don’t you? I knew you would.’

‘How did you know I would?’ she asked, smiling.

‘I don’t know. Maybe because I do.’

He turned away from her, tanned cheeks flushing when he realised what he’d said.

‘Hey. Come see this.’ He nodded towards a door above the balcony, to the right of the projector window.

‘What is it?’ she asked, following him up an old, recently restored staircase to the second level.

‘The projection room,’ he said, eyes shining with boyish enthusiasm. ‘Can’t wait to see your face.’

He showed her into a small tiled room where a large 1940s two-reel projector peeped through the window, ready to show the latest John Wayne or Judy Garland blockbuster. Against the back wall were shelves upon shelves of old film reels in aluminium cases, each labelled with the name of a different movie – from the 1920s through to the ’80s.

‘Oh my God!’ She touched a reel gently with one finger. ‘Oh my God, Seb! These are old… some aren’t even in print any more.’ Drawing her hand back, she lowered her voice to a reverent whisper. ‘They must be worth a fortune. Are they really all yours?’

‘They are now. Some I’ve collected myself, and some that belonged to Abigail. She was a collector too, before… well, you know, before.’

‘This is amazing,’ she muttered, scanning the rows of silver cases. She smiled as she thought of something. ‘Reminds me of that bit in Beauty and the Beast.’

‘What, Cocteau?’ Seb looked impressed.

Angel gave an embarrassed laugh. ‘Er, no. Disney.’

‘The cartoon? With the dog-bear thing?’

‘Beast.’

‘Beast. Right.’ One corner of his mouth twitched into a half-smile. ‘And that’s me, is it?’

She looked at the bare board floor, trying not to laugh. ‘I can’t help thinking of it. It’s just there’s this library, with all the books Belle could ever imagine. It’s incredible. The beast shows it to her and she’s sort of…’

‘…blown away. I know, Angel. I love that bit.’

She let out a dizzy giggle. ‘Really, Mr Director? A kids’ film? Surely not.’

‘A classic. A masterpiece of its genre.’ He grinned. ‘And one of the finest talking teapots this side of an LSD trip.’

He came over to her, ran his fingertips over a row of reels. ‘Now come on, Miss Blackthorne. What’s it to be? Take your pick.’

‘You don’t watch them, do you?’ She looked up at him in horror, making him smile.

‘Not the originals. I had them all digitised. Here.’ He gestured upwards and she noticed a modern ceiling-mounted LCD projector with a small hard drive attached. ‘The old reel projector’s just here for atmosphere, really.’

‘Oh. Right. So… you want to watch a film?’

‘Since you don’t want to go home. It’s the only entertainment I can offer you, I’m afraid. I admit it’s no Queen tribute band.’

The only entertainment allowed anyway, Angel thought through the woozy numbness in her brain. Her headache was gone but she still felt pretty out of it from the champagne.

She ran her fingers along the titles printed on the spines of the film cases, resting on one that struck her. Some Like It Hot. It reminded her of Savannah in her slinky black Marilyn dress.

‘Good choice,’ Seb said, casting an approving glance at the case. ‘I knew you were a Wilder fan.’ He squinted one eye, puzzled. ‘How did I know that? Did you tell me?’

‘It was at the after-party for Milkman,’ she said, pleased he’d remembered, embarrassed she had to refer to it. ‘I mentioned Wilder… in the interview. You know. That night.’

‘So you did. Told me I was a derivative hack, didn’t you?’ he said with a grin. ‘Any other filmmaker and I might have been offended. But Wilder? Fair comment. Everyone’s a hack compared to Wilder.’

‘Oh God, don’t remind me what I said then. That’s not what I think at all. Well, you know that now, you read my review. I don’t know what I was trying to prove, really. Once I was sitting there with you glaring at me like something you’d wiped off your shoe, I wondered why I’d tried so hard to get you to see me.’ She flushed as she met his gaze. ‘I… hadn’t even prepared any questions.’

‘Really?’ She’d expected him to be offended, but he sounded impressed. ‘You did that whole interview just off the top of your head?’

‘Pretty much. God, Seb, I was so rude to you! I suppose I wanted to show you I wasn’t just another bimbo.’

‘You certainly did that.’ His voice was suddenly deeper, more intense, in a way that made Angel feel afraid and excited in equal measure. She fixed her eyes on the ground, hoping he’d move the conversation on.

He took the hint. ‘Or how about this one?’ She looked up to see which case he was pointing at.

‘The Apartment? Oh, I love that film!’ she breathed in what, to her disgusted ears, sounded like an almost Savannah-esque gush. ‘It’s the one I always watch when I need cheering up. My mum and me, that used to be our favourite.’

‘Really? I always think it’s quite sad, for a comedy.’

‘That’s why I like it,’ she said. ‘Feeling sad can be soothing sometimes, don’t you think? And at least there’s a happily-ever-after. Well, sort of.

‘“Shut up and deal.” True. There is that.’ He pulled his keen gaze away from her face and turned to the ceiling-mounted projector. ‘So how about it, then? Haven’t seen it recently, have you? I can queue it up if you like.’

Angel blinked, remembering the last time she’d watched it to cheer herself up just a few months ago. It was with Emily at the flat, the night after the she’d been with Seb at the hotel. The night she’d sobbed, upset at the thought of never seeing him again. The night before the story broke and everything in her life changed.

‘No, not for ages. I’d love to watch it with you.’

About Mary Jayne Baker

Mary Jayne Baker grew up in rural West Yorkshire, right in the heart of Brontë country… and she’s still there. After graduating from Durham University with a degree in English Literature in 2003, she dallied with living in cities including London, but eventually came back with her own romantic hero in tow to her beloved Dales.

She lives with him in a little house with four little cats and a little rabbit, writing stories about girls with flaws and the men who love them. You can usually find her there with either a pen, some knitting needles or a glass of wine in hand. She goes to work every day as a graphic designer for a magazine publisher, but secretly dreams of being a lighthouse keeper.

You can find out more about Mary Jayne Baker on her website, follow her on Twitter, and find her on Facebook.

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I’m so pleased to welcome ChocLit author Linn B. Halton to Linda’s Book Bag today as Linn’s book A Little Sugar, A Lot of Love is firmly on my TBR!

To celebrate the recent paperback publication of A Little Sugar, A Lot of Love Linn considers the difference between an e-copy and a real book in a fascinating guest post- and I’m with her every word!

A Little Sugar, A Lot of Love was published by Choc Lit and is available for purchase in e-book and paperback here.

A Little Sugar, A Lot of Love

Life isn’t all love and cupcakes …

Katie has had her fair share of bad luck, but when she finally realises her dream of opening a bakery it seems things can only get better.

But the reality of running a business hits Katie hard and whilst her partner, Steve, tries to help she begins to sense that the situation is driving them further apart. Could Katie be set to lose her relationship and her dream job?

Then, one winter’s day, a man walks into her shop – and, in the space of that moment, the course of Katie’s life is changed.

But nobody finds happiness in the blink of an eye. Sometimes it takes two Christmases, three birthdays and a whole lot of cake to get there …

A Little Sugar, A Lot of Love – feeling that paperback love!

A Guest Post by Linn B. Halton

OK – I’m the first to admit that before I owned a Kindle I did, actually, say “never”. In the words of the legendary Sean Connery – “Never Say Never Again”. So now my Kindle is always in reach and my constant companion – can you feel the “but” coming?

But sometimes a reading experience has to involve holding a paperback in your hands and smelling those pages. Yes, you know the moment. Like a familiar old perfume that wafts up the nostrils and evokes memories stretching way back. Every book experience you had that began in early childhood when Kindle and eReaders were unimaginable. In an age when we are used to surfing the net, hitting a web page and clicking away in seconds if the content isn’t for us, we’ve become impatient clickers. The same applies to the TV remote control – click, click, click. It can be with same with our eReaders and a part of that is, I believe, because (despite the convenience) there’s a little something MISSING.

Of course, as an author I’m overjoyed when a new book is available in eformat. But when the postman knocks and delivers a parcel of books  it’s pure, unadulterated book love. Cuddling your Kindle/eReader is like cuddling a brick; cuddling a paperback makes you want to sink straight down onto the nearest sofa and read. Now. Not in a minute, or later this evening, but NOW.

Chocolate, biscuits, popcorn, coffee, wine … yes, there will be accessories required to complete that perfect experience. But let’s be honest here – for many of us it’s a decadent, indulgent, can’t-live-without experience and that’s why the paperback will never die.

Even selecting a paperback from the bookstore shelves is more of a ritual than the surf, click and checkout experience. Like savouring a fine wine, or eating a gourmet meal, it shouldn’t be rushed. You pick it up, you touch the cover, you read the blurb on the back and you know that what you hold in your hands is magical. You will be spirited away into another time and place, walking alongside characters to inspire a range of emotions in you. Sympathy, empathy, hope, anger, love …

And now A Little Sugar, A Lot of Love is in print and I’ve had my eyes closed, touchy-feely moment that never fails to send a thrill up my spine.

Linn x

About Linn B. Halton

“I’m a hopeless romantic, self-confessed chocaholic, and lover of coffee. For me, life is about family, friends, and writing. Oh, and the occasional glass of White Grenache…”

An Amazon UK Top 100 best-selling author with A Cottage in the Country in November 2015, Linn’s novels have been short-listed in the UK’s Festival of Romance and the eFestival of Words Book Awards. Linn won the 2013 UK Festival of Romance: Innovation in Romantic Fiction award. Linn writes chick lit, women’s contemporary fiction and psychic romance for Choc Lit, Harper Impulse and Endeavour Press.

You can find out more about Linn on her website/blog, on Amazon or by following her on Twitter and Facebook.

I absolutely love a psychological thriller and am looking forward immensely to reading Beneath the Skin, by Sandra Ireland. Whilst Beneath the Skin is working its way up my TBR pile, I invited Sandra onto Linda’s Book Bag and luckily she agreed to write a guest post all about her writing inspirations.

Beneath the Skin was published by Polygon, an Imprint of Birlinn Limited, in September 2016 and is available for purchase in e-book and paperback here.

Beneath the Skin

Taking a job in the studio of an Edinburgh taxidermist probably isn’t Walt’s wisest decision. Suffering from combat stress and struggling to outrun the demons from his past, he now finds himself confronted by the undead on a daily basis.

His enigmatic boss, Alys, and her sister, Mouse, have their own uneasy relationship with the past. Someone doesn’t want to let them go. Can Walt save Mouse’s eight-year-old son, William, from becoming the next victim? And can he save himself?

Deliciously disturbing, this psychological thriller peels back the skin of one modern family to reveal the wounds no one wants to see. It deals with the effects of trauma and how facing up to vulnerability is sometimes the only way to let go of the past.

My Strange and Curious Inspirations

A Guest Post by Sandra Ireland

On a recent trip to Edinburgh, I got off the train at Waverly Station and joined the throng of passengers heading for the exit. Head down, shuffling my tickets and anticipating the perils of the automated ticket barrier, I almost missed a very curious sight.

About to board a train on the adjacent platform was a man not to be missed. Tall and elegant, he had long black hair and a bushy beard, a top hat and the most impressive Victorian frock coat. He was in conversation with the guard. There seemed to be some problem with the transportation of his luggage- a battered Gladstone bag and a very large, hinged cabinet which was strapped to a trolley.

This briefest of encounters was enough to spark my imagination. A hundred questions and scenarios sprang to mind. Was he an actor, an undertaker? A street performer? Was he a tour guide at the Edinburgh Dungeon, or simply en route to a Halloween party? And what on earth was in the cabinet? I’ll never know, but not knowing is the handiest prompt in the writer’s toolkit!

I have a notebook which contains detailed descriptions of many such episodes. Station platforms are, unsurprisingly, a hotbed of inspiration. Hotels are useful too, or city streets late at night. Here’s a sighting from a recent book festival: Two little girls in green pinafore dresses, one with red hair and purple top hat, the other in a straw boater. They were accompanied by a young woman who didn’t seem to be their mother. Was she an au-pair? Did these children have a very chaotic/Bohemian/privileged home life? I immediately saw them as quirky characters in a children’s adventure story.

I suppose inspiration is no more than that- a colourful image, a fleeting impression. I see it as playdoh for the imagination! You can twist and shape these little incidents until you have the makings of a story. My debut novel Beneath the Skin began life as a chance soundbite from a BBC documentary: a taxidermy artist revealing that every time she meets someone knew, she imagines what’s going on beneath their skin. The idea was both fascinating and repulsive, and I knew immediately that these were the feelings I wanted to exploit in my novel. So rather than attempting to come up with a fully-formed storyline, I let the characters and the narrative evolve from that single curious source of inspiration.

And the man on the station platform? Well, he might just find his way into my next book!

About Sandra Ireland 

Sandra Ireland is an award-winning writer, poet and artist. Born in Yorkshire, she was brought up in the North East and lived for many years in Éire. Her work has appeared in various women’s magazines and publications such as New Writing Dundee, Dundee Writes and ‘Furies’, an anthology of women’s poetry. Beneath the Skin is her first novel and was inspired by a love of all things curious and unseen.

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

I’m delighted to welcome Jo Platt to Linda’s Book Bag today as part of the launch celebrations for her latest novel It Was You. It Was You was published by Canelo on 31^st October 2016 and is available for purchase in e-book here.

Today Jo is telling us all about friendship which is at the heart of It Was You.

It Was You

When life falls apart, friendship will keep you together

Alice Waites has been happily single for almost two years.

But when her close friends in The Short Book Group gently question her current distinct lack of interest in men, she accepts that maybe it is time to deal with the past and open herself up to new possibilities.

Oh yes, the time has come to go dating again.

However, things soon unravel for Alice as she uncovers the secret heartache and hopes of those around her. And her most surprising discovery is the life-changing truth which she has kept hidden, even from herself…

Friendship

A Guest Post by Jo Platt

Friendship, and what makes someone a good friend, isn’t the easiest of topics to dissect. Not only are generalisations difficult to apply – because we are not, thank goodness, all drawn to the same kind of people – the whole subject is also a bit of a moving target for us as individuals too.

If you’d asked me when I was six years old, what qualities I looked for in a friend, I would have answered, ‘A Raleigh Chopper, a bag of Quavers and a willingness to share.’  By the time I hit my late teens, I had deepened a little and whilst transportation, namely access to a car, was admittedly still quite high on my friendship wish list, it was at least now sitting alongside ‘kindness to others’ and ‘a listening ear’.  Entering the workplace after university, further shaped and broadened my view of friendship.  Suddenly, integrity ie ‘not selling me down the river in order to get promoted’ shot up the rankings in terms of who I most wanted to spend my wine bar evenings with.  And as I stumbled into my thirties and motherhood, a shared approach to parenting, coupled with empathy over sleep deprivation and painful boobs, gained in importance.

So what follows is a very personal snapshot of my middle-aged take on friendship, homing-in on just a few of the qualities which, as I career towards fifty, I value most in my friends.

Tolerance

I’m going kick things off with a very grateful nod towards the tolerance and inclusivity of my friends.  I love that they choose to embrace and celebrate not only our similarities, but also our differences.  And, most importantly of all, that they are completely non-judgmental over my sorry lack of culinary skills.

Equanimity

And my friends are laid-back about a lot more than my inability to cook. I don’t mean they couldn’t care less because, in fact, they couldn’t care more.  But they are very busy people – midwives, carers, small-business owners – and, as such, they retain a sense of proportion and they don’t sweat the small things.  They are a day-to-day reality check for me.

Patience

I can’t think of one close friend whom I could describe as lacking in patience, so it’s clearly a character trait to which I am drawn.  It’s an enormously calming quality and has proved particularly important when friends are explaining issues which I have a need to grasp, but in which I have little or no interest.  One of my most patient friends, for example, is determined that I should know how to operate, and appreciate the benefits of, my home network.  He talks me through it, slowly and in depth, whenever the need arises, and despite my repeated failure to retain the information, or to feel the love, he never loses his rag.

Honesty

I rate honesty, as you might expect, as an essential constituent of all my friendships.  But I’m not in denial about the degree to which it is required.  I do not want total, unedited honesty about absolutely everything.  And my longstanding friends understand that. For example, they will tell me I look better in the over-the-knee dress than the mini skirt.  But they’ll make the choice an issue of fabric, or colour, rather than crushing me with references to my orange peel thighs and Pilsbury Doughboy knees.

Communication

And finally, communication is, without doubt, key to my closest friendships and a factor perhaps best illustrated by the friends who were the inspiration for both of my novels – my book group.  They are the intelligent, discerning readers I always kept in mind when writing my first novel, Reading Upside Down, and they are the reason It Was You centres on a book group.  However, unlike the small book group of six in It Was You, seventeen of us make up the Bristol group.  It’s an unwieldy number but, as I said earlier, we’re fans of inclusivity and we didn’t want to turn anyone away.  We used to have a gong, which we passed around and banged loudly whenever we wanted to make a point.  But everyone got tired of having to put down their wine to pick up the gong, so now we just shout a lot, often starting our literary observations with waving arms and the word ‘Oi!’.  And what has made the book group such a happy and successful one for over seven years, and what has helped to keep us together as an eclectic, and perhaps even unlikely, group of friends for even longer, is a shared and equal determination not only to be heard but, more importantly, to listen.  And that, together with tolerance, equanimity, patience and honesty is, for me, at this moment in time, what friendship is all about*.

*Footnote: Plus an across-the-board willingness to share knickers when I forgot to pack any underwear for a mums’ weekend away (Exmoor 2014). Thank you, ladies.

 About Jo Platt

Jo Platt was born in Liverpool in 1968 and, via the extremely winding route of rural Wiltshire, London, Seattle and St Albans, is now settled, with a husband and two children, in Bristol.

After studying English at King’s College London, her first paid employment was as a besuited office worker in a large City institution. After ten years in the City, Jo escaped into motherhood and part-time employment, first as an assistant teacher in a Seattle pre-school and, more latterly, as a Bristol-based secretary.

You can follow Jo on Twitter and

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I’m delighted to be part of the launch celebrations for Jane Isaac’s Beneath the Ashes. Beneath the Ashes was published on 1st November 2016 by Legend Press and is available for purchase in e-book and paperback here.

Beneath the Ashes

The floor felt hard beneath her face. Nancy opened her eyes. Blinked several times. A pain seared through her head. She could feel fluid. No. She was lying in fluid.

When a body is discovered in a burnt-out barn in the Warwickshire countryside, DI Will Jackman is called to investigate.

Nancy Faraday wakes up on the kitchen floor. The house has been broken into and her boyfriend is missing. As the case unravels, DI Jackman realises that nothing is quite as it appears and everyone, it seems, has a secret.

Can he discover the truth behind the body in the fire, and track down the killer before Nancy becomes the next victim?

My Review of Beneath the Ashes

When DI Will Jackman is assigned to an arson attack and a murder what he uncovers will have ramifications for the whole community.

I thoroughly enjoyed Beneath the Ashes by Jane Isaac. It reminded me in a way of a Shakespearean plot with all the intrigues, twists and turns we might expect from Hamlet or Lear. I found the plot hugely engaging so that I kept thinking I’d just read a little bit more and before I knew it, I’d consumed the whole book, I was so engaged by the narrative. Beneath the Ashes has a pace that defies the reader. With the mini cliff hangers at the end of the short chapters it’s impossible not to want to read on! What really impressed me was the way the different threads pulled together to make a coherent and convincing whole. Sometimes I find police procedural fiction a little contrived but this was unassailably well constructed, making for a perfect read. I think Beneath the Ashes would make a fantastic film or television series too.

I loved the depth behind the story. Characters, especially Jackman, are human, distinctive and well rounded so that they feel like real people. I’m definitely going back to read the first book with Will Jackman, Before It’s Too Late, as I so want to find out more and I can’t wait for the next book in the series.

Beneath the Ashes also deals naturally and sensitively with how crimes affect more than the immediate victim. I think this is what made it such a brilliant read for me. I could understand motives and deceptions and found myself wondering how I might have behaved in similar circumstances. There’s a humanity behind the writing, rather than a series of shock tactics that some crime writers employ, making Beneath the Ashes a mature and sophisticated read.

I must also mention the overall quality of the prose. I found Jane Isaac’s attention to detail that enhanced the narrative, particularly through the use of the senses, so skilful. However, at the same time, there isn’t an extraneous word to be found so the writing remains exciting and enthralling.

Beneath the Ashes is a seriously good read. I can’t praise it highly enough.

About Jane Isaac

Jane Isaac lives with her husband and daughter in rural Northamptonshire, UK where she can often be found trudging over the fields with her Labrador, Bollo. Her first novel, An Unfamiliar Murder, available here, was nominated as best mystery in the ‘eFestival of Words Best of the Independent eBook awards 2013.’ The sequel, The Truth Will Out, available here, was selected as a ‘Thriller of the Month –April 2014’ by E-Thriller.com. Her latest book, Before It’s Too Late, available here, was published by Legend Press on 1^st June 2015.

Jane was runner up ‘Writers Bureau Writer of the Year 2013’ and her short stories have appeared in several anthologies. When she is not writing, Jane loves to travel and spend time with her family. She believes life should be an adventure.

You can find Jane Isaac on Facebook, follow her on Twitter and visit her web site.

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