I love poetry. I read it. I write it. But I have hardly ever featured it on Linda’s Book Bag, so it gives me enormous pleasure to welcome author and poet Dane Cobain today. Dane’s latest book, Eyes Like Lighthouses: When the Boats Come Home is a collection of poems and is available for purchase here.

Excitingly, Dane agreed to write a guest post for the blog all about the relevance of poetry, but he also offered to write a poem exclusively for Linda’s Book Bag if I gave him five words to work from. Instantly, five words popped into my head: starlight, eclectic, desire, windmill, narrative. This is what Dane wrote and I think it’s rather wonderful, especially as Erika Eigen’s song Lighthouse Keeper was featured in the film sound track to A Clockwork Orange:

For Erika Eigen

All my life

I’ve been a lighthouse,

and the night

is a sight

that frightens me;

 

I stand alone

on the sandy shore,

sure to shore up my defences

with eclectic collections

of electric fences,

meant to break down barriers

like a windmill grinding flour

into powder.

 

I desire silence;

I lust after naphtha

to keep my lamp lit

because sailors seek starlight

to know where north is,

but the stars don’t show the shoreline

where the rocks break waves

like trainers on a pavement.

 

This is my cross-eyed

night-time narrative;

I saw dead men’s reflections

when I looked into

the mirror.

 

I am the last

of a dying breed;

the lights are going out

and they won’t be lit again

in our lifetimes;

they made me retrain

to be a solar panel.

Eyes Like Lighthouses When the Boats Come Home

Eyes Like Lighthouses When the Boats Come Home is Dane Cobain’s first book of poetry, distilled from the sweat of a thousand memorised performances in this reality and others. It’s not for the faint-hearted.

“I’ve never seen anyone do a stream of consciousness piece as talented as that. Very impressed.” – Mark Allsard-Will, author of Saskatch-A-Man and co-founder of Cuckoo’s Nest Press

“Dane’s poetry is a multi-layered spiral of the macabre, quirky humour and disjointed imagery. Not only does he make you think, he captures the small forgotten moments of everyday life.” – Nikki Dudley, co-editor of Streetcake Magazine

“…[Dane] combines concrete detail with socioeconomic concerns.” – Lorna Wood, associate editor of Gemini Magazine.

Why Poetry is Still Relevant

A Guest Post by Dane Cobain

Okay, okay, I get it. I read poetry at school, you’re thinking. It’s that stuff that rhymes and talks about flowers and love and stuff.

And you’d be right. But poetry is much more than something that’s reserved for students and academics, and whilst the great poets of the past (like Walt Whitman, John Milton, and the Williams – Shakespeare, Blake and Wordsworth) have a lot to offer, it often seems like they’re no longer relevant to the busy lives that we lead.

If you’re lucky, then you’ve probably come across some of the more recent work, starting with the beat poets of the 50s – Allen Ginsberg being a fine example – and continuing through Charles Bukowski and into characters like John Hegley, who came to define what we think of today as the performance poet.

These days, contemporary poetry is almost a subcategory of hip-hop, and there’s certainly something poetic about the way that rappers string a sentence together. When you take a look at a rapper doing an acapella track, it can sound like a poet if you close your eyes, as long as they’re not talking about guns, drugs and women.

Kate Tempest is a contemporary poet making waves in the UK, where I come from; she’s done sell-out shows at big stadiums, performed with a backing band, and is, in many ways, the voice of a generation. Jay Hulme is a talented poet I know who speaks up for the LGBT community; then there are the countless poets I’ve come across who use poetic styles and language to talk about the world that we live in.

Poetry isn’t just something that you read on a page anymore. It doesn’t have to rhyme, and it doesn’t have to make sense, but it does have to create a feeling or to make the reader think about the world around them. If you’re not reading contemporary poets then you’re missing a trick – whilst you have to wade through it to find the really good stuff, like you do with any genre, it’s still worthwhile.

It lets you experience an entirely new type of literature, and watching performance poets on YouTube is another great way to add a visual element to your intake. Being a reader is like eating, and it’s important to have a healthy diet of different genres.

And, in the same way that a short story can encapsulate the same range of emotion or the same sense of belonging and characterisation as a novel or a novella, so can a poem. In fact, collections of contemporary poetry can help you to see the real world around you in a whole new light, by surprising you with a quick flash of insight.

So go out and read some contemporary poetry – it’s much, much more difficult for people to make a living as a poet than as a novelist, and so your friendly contemporary poets need your help. And if you need a place to start, you can always kick off your new interest with Eyes Like Lighthouses When the Boats Come Home, my poetry collection.

About Dane Cobain

Dane Cobain (High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, UK) is an independent poet, musician and storyteller with a passion for language and learning. When he’s not in front of a screen writing stories and poetry, he can be found working on his book review blog or developing his website. His debut novella, No Rest for the Wicked, was released by Booktrope in the Summer of 2015.

Visit Dane’s website (where you’ll find a competition currently running to win an Amazon voucher and a signed book bundle) and follow Dane on Twitter. You’ll find all Dane’s books for purchase here.

It’s publication day today, 5th July 2016, for Conrad Williams’ Sonata of the Dead and I’m delighted to have a publication day interview with Conrad. Sonata of the Dead is published in e-book and paperback by Titan and is available for purchase on Amazon, Waterstones and directly from the publisher as well as from all good book shops.

Sonata of the Dead

Searching for a lost daughter who doesn’t want to be found. Even as he recovers from his near fatal encounter with an unhinged killer, PI Joel Sorrell cannot forget his search for Sarah. He receives a tip that photographs of her have been found at a crime scene, where a young man whom Sarah knew when they were children has been horribly dismembered. Finding a link between the victim and an underground writers group, Joel follows the thread, but every lead ends in another body. Someone is targeting the group, and it is only a matter of time before Joel’s daughter is run to ground.

An Interview with Conrad Williams

Hi Conrad. Thank you so much for agreeing to answer some questions on my blog about your writing and Sonata of the Dead in particular.

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

I’m a writer living in the north-west of England. I’ve been in love with words all my life and wanted to be a novelist for as long as I can remember. I worked for a while as a freelance journalist, which is how I met my wife. We have three sons. When I’m not writing, I’m trying to play guitar, taking photographs, lusting over stationery and watching good TV.

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

I was seven years old, in a class at school. We were told to write a story and I had so much fun I didn’t want to stop.

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

I prefer to work in the mornings. I usually write straight on to the screen, but a lot of the time I’ll take a nice fountain pen and a notebook and some headphones and go and work in a café while listening to soundtracks. I’ll write between 1000 – 4000 words a day if things are going well.

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

I imagine, had the dark stuff in my head not been released through the safety valve of writing, that I’d probably be a serial killer. No… I always harboured dreams of being a marine biologist. So I probably would have poured all my efforts into that.

(Crikey – just as well you’re a writer then!)

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

Easiest: Coming up with titles, character names… unimportant stuff like that. Hardest: getting started. I’m like a crocked engine on a cold morning sometimes. Coffee helps. Deadlines too. I’m a terrible procrastinator.

(Procrastination seems to be a pre-requisite for many writers.)

You’re quite prolific and seem very driven. How far is writing an obsession and how far is it just a job?

It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. It’s never been a job, and I hope it never feels like one. It’s something I do that I get paid for. I see the money as a bonus. I was writing before I realised people might pay you for your stuff. And as a writer, you never switch off. I’m always thinking of sentences and plots and characters, often when I really ought to be concentrating on something else. The downside of writing, especially the kind of stuff that I’m involved in, is that you can’t not look at bad things. Tragedies and disaster are material. Graham Greene once said that there’s a splinter of ice in the heart of every writer and I think that’s right. That’s essential. I’ll empathise and sympathise, and it’s heartfelt, but there’s always a part of me nagging at the back of my head saying: use that, use that.

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

There’s no secret to research. It’s all there if you know where to look for it. I think the trick is to hold back on the details. It’s very tempting to load your writing with any facts you’ve learned but it’s a form of authorial intrusion. You’re saying to the reader: Look at all the work I did.

Sonata of the Dead is the second in your PI Joel Sorrell series. What made you move away from the horror genre for this set of books?

You know, I’m not altogether sure I did move away. In many respects, this series is darker than some of the horror fiction I write. The characters are bleaker, their actions more unpleasant… I’ve argued before that there’s little difference between the genres. Crime is horror.

What similarities and differences do you find in writing crime and horror genres?

Having said the above, the main difference is that crime writing is rooted in reality (unless you’re writing a supernatural crime novel of course…). Everything that happens is underpinned by real emotions, motives and comes with its own type of internal logic. In a supernatural novel, you have a certain latitude to introduce left field elements, but in a crime novel you have to play by the rules.

Having written novels, novellas and short stories, what three elements do you think they all have to have in common to be successful?

You have to, hopefully, have a good story. That’s key. You’re not going to get away with it for too long if you’re relying solely on pretty writing. Then engaging characters and kick-ass writing skills.

How did you develop Joel as a character for this series? Had he been brewing in your head for a while or did you make a conscious decision to create him? Did you write a full character profile or has he developed organically?

I submitted a short story for an anthology called Future Cops (part of the publisher Robinson’s Mammoth series) back at the turn of the century. I wanted to write about a smart-arse PI. It was set in the future, so I gave him a futuristic name – Rad Hallah – and had him working the Needles, these skyscrapers in a busy city. He was one part Rick Deckard, one part JJ Gittes and one part Vyvyan Basterd (from The Young Ones). At the same time I was reading Derek Raymond’s Factory novels and I knew I wanted to do something similar. Very dark, very bleak, profane… A couple of years later when I came to write the first novel, I kept the character of Rad Hallah but changed his name.

When you’re writing, how far does the psychological aspect of your narratives affect you personally?

Not often, but it’s noticeable when I’m writing about children in peril, or random violence, or the decay of relationships. These are all things that scare me witless. To some extent I drive them out of my system by writing, but they’re themes that keep cropping up in my work, so I guess my purging skills aren’t the best.

You’ve won prestigious  prizes for your writing. How far does that enhance your writing experience and how far does it add extra pressure?

No pressure. I think that comes from within. Awards are always a nice thing, but it’s important not to make too big a fuss of them. I like to look at them on my bookcase and they are like a pat on the back, a signal that you’re kind of doing the right thing. But it’s fleeting. It’s for work done. The WIP is paramount, not the bauble you might or might not get for it. And there are plenty of amazing writers knocking around that have never won an award.

You’re writing is very cinematic. How do you achieve that effect?

Thank you… but I don’t know. I’m visual, I guess. I like description. I like setting the scene. I enjoy trying to turn location into a kind of character. I wish the people who make decisions in the movies read my stuff and came to the same conclusion as you…

Without any plot spoilers please, what can we expect next for PI Joel Sorrell?

Hell is Empty, which is out in November, finishes this sequence of novels in which he’s searching for his daughter. It’s my ‘Daughter’ trilogy. Or rather, my ‘Missing Girl’ trilogy (which ticks a box in the commercial column). Actually I’ve always thought of the trilogy as the ‘Derelict’ books because they each feature a shattered building. Joel finds himself sent on what he suspects is a wild goose chase and he has to find a path to his quarry while being targeted at every turn.

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

I’m currently a purple belt in karate, so I’m looking for ways to bring that into my fiction (Joel Sorrell has been using a few moves, although he’s not as into it as I am). I also play guitar and managed to transfer the frustration of trying to learn into a recent short story called The Devil’s Interval.

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

I prefer to read non fiction when I’ve got a novel on the go. I especially like books about exploration, especially in cold places, or involving mountains. If I do read any fiction, it’s got to be something totally different from whatever I’m working on. So at the moment I’m reading The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. If anything, it’s taught me that there isn’t enough whimsy in my life.

How did the cover image for Sonata of the Dead come about and what were you hoping to convey (without spoiling the plot please!)?

I didn’t really have much say in the cover, but I like the way they’ve done the title and the gritty urban suggestion of it. There’s definitely impact in all three.

If you could choose to be a character from Sonata of the Dead, who would you be and why?

There’s a female character, a writer, who is known as Odessa (the writers in the group are known by their code names). I think she’s pretty sassy.

If Sonata of the Dead became a film, who would you like to play Joel Sorrell?  

I’ve always had Paddy Considine in mind whenever I write about Joel Sorrell. There’s something vulnerable about him, but something steely too.

If you had 15 words to persuade a reader that Sonata of the Dead should be their next read, what would you say?

Sex, vodka, car chases, vertigo, bloody typewriters, tattoos, vodka, graphology, cats, nightmares, gags, thrills, vodka.

Thank you so much, Conrad, for your time in answering my questions.

You can find more about Conrad Williams on his website and follow him on Twitter.

I’m delighted to be part of the launch celebrations for Sweet Breath of Memory by Ariella Cohen which was published on 28th June 2016 by Kensington. Sweet Breath of Memory is available for purchase on Amazon, Hive, from Waterstones and Foyles.

I have a brilliantly though-provoking guest post from Ariella Cohen all about memory and identity.

Sweet Breath of Memory

Life is in the telling.

With its tree-lined streets, vibrant downtown and curbside planters of spring bulbs, Amberley, Massachusetts, seems a good place for Cate Saunders to start over. It’s been two years since her husband, John, was killed in Iraq and life has been a struggle. Her new job as a caregiver doesn’t pay much, but the locals are welcoming. In fact, Cate has barely unpacked before she’s drawn–reluctantly at first–into a circle of friends.

There’s diner-owner Gaby, who nourishes her customers’ spirits as well as their bodies; feisty Beatrice, who kept the town going when its men marched off to WWII; wise-cracking MaryLou, as formidable as Fort Knox but with the same heart of gold; and, Sheila, whose Italian grocery is the soul of the place. As Amberley reveals itself to be a town shaped by war, Cate encounters another kindred spirit–a Holocaust survivor with whom she feels a deep connection. When revelations about John’s death threaten Cate’s newfound peace of mind, these sisters-in-arms’ stories show her an unexpected way forward. And Cate comes to understand that although we suffer loss alone, we heal by sharing our most treasured memories.

The Mutable Quality of Memory

A Guest Post by Ariella Cohen

War widow Cate Saunders, the protagonist in Sweet Breath of Memory, struggles to keep the life she lost in the forefront of her mind.  Although it has been only two years since the death of her husband, some memories remained as crisp as a new apple, others seemed as fragile as a moth’s wing – as fleeting as frost on a windowpane.  The mutable quality of memory takes Cate by surprise and she concludes that if memories of her beloved dim with each dawn, she is somehow to blame.  Her love must be flawed or her commitment lacking.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

What and how we remember isn’t a choice; if it were, we would mentally delete horrible experiences and underscore pleasant ones.  We would sort the past, preserving some bits in a treasure box and shredding others.  But such editing is impossible because memories answer only to themselves.  Some are as fluid as water; the harder we try to grasp them, the more they seem to slip away.  Others distort with perspective or become sepia-toned, abrading with age but not in the traditional sense.  Mum used to say that memories don’t respect the quarter turn of Nature’s seasons because their frosts and thaws can’t be predicted.  That’s true, for the one constant is how often unbidden memories push forward, claiming center stage one day only to wait in the wings the next.  And yet–

Memories define us; if they’re changeable, then so is identity.  Cate acknowledges this cruel fact when she realizes that the married woman she was is lost to her forever.  She will never be that Cate again, and every step she takes toward remaking herself carries her away from the woman her husband loved.  The life they shared.  The children she might have had.

I chose to have Cate confront the nature of memory because I think many of us react as she does when we forget – whether it’s an upcoming birthday or something truly treasured.  But why are we so hard on ourselves?  Our mind’s filing system is a mystery and if the attic of our thoughts becomes a jumble, we’re not to blame.  An experience may be spotlighted one day only to be cast into the shadows the next.  It is a process beyond our control; beyond understanding.  And yet–

Even tattered memories are armor.  Initially so shiny they dazzle, in time they acquire the patina of use but are no less a shield against loneliness and despair.  Cate comes to understand this and celebrate what memories are left her.  In the act of piecing them together, like the remnant woman she is, she begins to find peace of mind.  And she’s able to forgive herself.

About Ariella Cohen

A native of Bergen County, New Jersey, Ariella lives in New England but her dream self resides in County Mayo, Ireland.  The daughter of a school teacher/librarian, she doesn’t remember learning to read, only the frustration when her older siblings could and she couldn’t.

Ariella graduated with honors from Barnard College, Columbia University, and attended the Hebrew University in Jerusalem as a Visiting Scholar.  Her three years in that city were magical.  She holds a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School where she served as Associate Editor of both The Journal of International Law and Comparative Studies in Society and History.  She spent more than a decade working  in NYC – as a senior manager at the New York Public Library, Yeshiva University and Columbia University’s School of the Arts – before completing her law degree.  After practicing in New York and New Jersey, she now focuses full-time on her writing and her family.

You’ll find more about Ariella on her website and you can follow her on Twitter. There’s more with these other bloggers too:

My grateful thanks to Lovereading for an advanced reader copy of The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 1/4 Years Old as part of their reader panel in return for an honest review. The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 1/4 Years Old, translated by Hester Velmans, is published in e-book and hardback on 25th August 2016 by Michael Joseph, an imprint of Penguin Random House and is available for order here.

The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 1/4 Years Old

‘Another year and I still don’t like old people. Me? I am 83 years old.’

Hendrik Groen may be old, but he is far from dead and isn’t planning to be buried any time soon. Granted, his daily strolls are getting shorter because his legs are no longer willing and he had to visit his doctor more than he’d like. Technically speaking he is … elderly. But surely there is more to life at his age than weak tea and potted geraniums?
Hendrik sets out to write an exposé: a year in the life of his care home in Amsterdam, revealing all its ups and downs – not least his new endeavour the anarchic Old-But-Not Dead Club. And when Eefje moves in – the woman Hendrik has always longed for – he polishes his shoes (and his teeth), grooms what’s left of his hair and attempts to make something of the life he has left, with hilarious, tender and devastating consequences.
The indomitable Hendrik Groen – Holland’s unlikeliest hero – has become a cultural phenomenon in his native Netherlands and now he and his famously anonymous creator are conquering the globe. A major Dutch bestseller, The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen will not only delight older readers with its wit and relevance, but will charm and inspire those who have years to go before their own expiry date.

My Review of The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen

83 3/4 year old Hendrik Groen lives in a home for the elderly and pretty much hates it, but the formation of the Old-But-Not-Dead Club gives him cause for optimism.

Initially I was unenthusiastic about this book, thinking it has all been done before in various formats, but within a few pages I was laughing aloud so frequently as Hendrik describes the other residents, or voices his opinion, that I was completely under his spell. I don’t often laugh aloud when reading but I laughed frequently at this book, even on a couple of occasions until I cried. His comments about what he’d do if clowns were sent in to brighten up the home’s residents being one such example – but you’ll have to read the book to find out.

We all have to age and The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 1/4 Years Old presents a no-holds barred picture of that process in all its ignominious glory, from personal hygiene to love and relationships.  The wry first person diary hits just the right level of conversational tone, sarcasm, fear and honesty so that it is impossible not to empathise with Hendrik. I think credit must be given to the translator Hester Velmans in conveying the original text so brilliantly. Whilst this is a diary, there are also coherent narrative strands such as the formation of the The Old-But-Not-Dead Club, Hendrik’s relationship with his best friend Evert and with newcomer Eefje, giving a pleasing hook that meant I had to read just one more entry. Then another. And another.

Aside from the humour there are references to real (Dutch) national and international events and places that afford a credible realism to the book. The death of Margaret Thatcher, the Tour de France and even a reference to Djimba (which I looked up and actually exists as a home for elderly dogs – see the website here) for example, all added depth and interest.

But what made this such a good read for me most was that, underneath the humour, underneath the flippancy and the true life events are themes that touch us all. How do we care for our elderly in homes and hospitals? What does happen when dementia sets in? How do we maintain a quality of interesting lifestyle, and indeed interest in life, as we age. The character of Mrs Stewagen with her punitive regulations may be scarily realistic.

The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 1/4 Years Old is funny, entertaining and simultaneously moving. At its heart, Hendrik is a character readers can’t fail to love and I am not surprised this book is an enormous success already in Holland. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Having met lovely Rebecca Bradley I’m delighted to have her on Linda’s Book Bag today. Rebecca’s latest novel Made to Be Broken is just released and is the second in her Hannah Robbins crime series after Shallow Waters. Rebecca Bradley’s books are available for purchase here.

Having met my husband at Nottingham university as we did our PGCEs, and knowing Rebecca’s books are set in that city I just had to ask her to write about the setting of her novels and luckily she agreed to do so.

Made to Be Broken

A rising death toll. A city in panic.

A young mother is found dead in her home with no obvious cause of death. As DI Hannah Robbins and her team investigate, it soon becomes clear that the woman is the first in a long line of murders by poison.

With the body count climbing, and the city of Nottingham in social meltdown, the team finds themselves in a deadly race against a serial killer determined to prove a point.

And Hannah finds herself targeting an individual with whom she has more in common than she could possibly know.

A Sense of Place

A Guest Post from Rebecca Bradley

Firstly, can I thank Linda for hosting me on her blog today. This is the start of the third week of my #MadeToBeBroken blog tour and the generosity shown to me by the  blogging community has been immeasurable. They have opened up their blogs and welcomed me with open arms. When I asked if there were any bloggers who would mind hosting me on their blogs Linda was quick to volunteer and I am truly grateful. Thank you, so much, Linda.

(You’re very welcome to the blog Rebecca.)

Linda asked me to talk about the setting in my novels. Made to be Broken is the second in a series, which is based in Nottingham. The first being Shallow Waters. She wondered on the importance of place in this series and how fiction matches the reality.

I decided to base my protagonist, DI Hannah Robbins and her team in a Nottingham department, one, because we have plenty of novels set in London, and two, I don’t know London very well! So, why Nottingham? I do know Nottingham and it’s actually great city to set a crime novel in. It’s a wonderfully diverse city which gives me plenty of scope to play with whatever storyline I need to.

First, let me explain, with the first question Linda asked about, which was the importance of place in novels, and specifically to mine? I’ll be honest in answering this question and tell you that Shallow Waters was the first novel that I had ever written, there was nothing before it, there’s nothing in a drawer, so in reality it was my practice novel as well as being my debut novel. And what this means is that when I started I didn’t really know a lot about writing, particularly about writing novels. So, I wrote Shallow Waters without a real sense of place so that the reader could imagine it as any city wherever they were. I received some brilliant advice from an editor right at the beginning of my writing “career” who told me that sense of place was integral to a crime novel. When it comes to learning on the job, I’m like a sponge, taking every little bit of advice given and using it to my advantage, and sense of place was no exception. Nottingham breathed life into Shallow Waters and made it a whole new novel. It made the story feel real, allowing me to see just how important setting is. So now Nottingham as the setting is a very important feature of the novel because I can see it for what it is, how it brings life to the story, a place for your characters to just be.

The diversity that Nottingham offers gives me the ability to choose whatever type of crime or story I want to be able to tell, because there will be an area, a community, a history, or backdrop that will fit perfectly with it. Nottingham city is a cultural place, it has an active arts scene, festivals covering all interests, museums, a thriving nightlife due to the University and an active LGBT culture. As for locations, you have the city centre which boasts some beautiful architecture, a castle, an actual castle, well the ruins of a castle with large enough sections still visible for you to be able to see what it would have looked like with an art gallery and museum standing in the grounds, caves which run under the city, as well as some wonderfully rundown in need of financial input areas which are perfect for certain scenes in crime fiction.

Further out from the city you have other communities to play with. One such community provided the city the title Shottingham for a period of time, due to the level of gun crime, several years ago, though it is now recovered from this ill-fated name. you will also find more rural areas if the story is in need of a quieter place. What more can you ask for from a setting?

The fiction completely matches the reality of the city. Because of the beginnings of setting in the Hannah Robbins series, I find it important to be factually correct and have had great feedback from readers who know the area and enjoy the book when they recognise areas mentioned. The only time I make small changes is if I mention a specific address, I will make a street number up that doesn’t exist. After all, I wouldn’t want a reader knocking on someone’s door asking to look around the house that existed in a novel would I?!

I do know the area but Nottingham and its surrounding areas is quite large so I do still have to research some of it. The areas I know, I remember, but I also have some photographs that I’ve taken and can reflect back on just to get a feel of where I’m trying to place my characters. These photographs have a section of their own on my blog so people can look at them if they want to.

I’d be interested to know how much readers enjoy the setting in a novel or if they barely notice it? If so, where is your current favourite setting?

About Rebecca Bradley

Rebecca Bradley is a retired police detective who lives in Nottinghamshire with her family and her two cockapoos Alfie and Lola. They always keep her company while she writes. Rebecca needs to drink copious amounts of tea to function throughout the day and if she could, she would survive on a diet of tea and cake while committing murder on a regular basis.

You can sign up to the newsletter on Rebecca’s blog for exclusive content and giveaways and you can follow her on Twitter.

As someone who has shunned short stories in the past, I’m fast becoming a fan so I’m delighted to be part of the launch celebrations for Champagne & Lemonade by John A.D. Hickling which was published by Clink Street Publishing on June 5th 2016 in paperback and e-book. Champagne & Lemonade has a variety of pieces and is available for purchase here and to order from all good bookshops.

Today I’m reviewing the poetry Depressing/Depressed Again. You’ll find my review from yesterday of the one of the stories, Vampire of 133A Greenstone Street here.

Champagne & Lemonade

Champagne & Lemonade is a delightful collection of eclectic short stories, taking readers on a journey to different times and places, meeting a sparkling cast of well-drawn characters.
Nibble the fish is desperate to escape his boring old pond.
A new breed of super hero has been born and his name is Bob Cheesecake.
Dumpton Hospital’s staff have a somewhat unconventional approach to looking after their patients.
Robert Hood is on a mission to save modern England.
And just who is the vampire terrorising the neighbourhood from his home at 113A Greenstone Street?
From the quixotic to the poignant, John A. D. Hickling’s wild and whimsical tales fizz with fun and are sure to entertain almost everyone!

Depressing/Depressed Again

Another day of feeling like the world is closing in on you.

Depression has got a hold of me today and how many more days to come?

My Review of Depressing/Depressed Again

When I was asked to review just this Section 14 of a mere four pages of seemingly random lines I wasn’t sure I’d have a lot to say. However, I found Depressing/Depressed Again very moving and affecting.

This is a complete study in what it’s like to be depressed, from the physical effects on the body to the feeling of worthlessness in the mind. The reader is made aware of how the environment can impact on those suffering depression as can the behaviours and attitude of loved ones.

I found some of the different fonts used in this section of Champagne a& Lemonade quite difficult to read at times and I had to struggle to make out a couple of lines. I thought this was inspired as it reflects the difficulties depressed individuals have in existing in their day to day lives. There are allusions to suicide in the repetition of guns and rivers and there’s a very strong sense that the persona behind the lines would love a restorative faith that they can’t find or that they have lost when they appear to feel guilty because they ‘don’t pray’.

There’s also a hint that the ‘I’ of the section could be pushed as far as murder, wishing for ‘two guns’ and wanting to chop up those making unbearable noise. I even wondered at the egocentrism of that first person voice – so many lines begin with ‘I’, perhaps belying the professed lack of self -esteem. I thought the writing was really thought provoking and the more I have returned to the lines the more I’ve found.

What I liked most, however, was that I found the lines at the end of both these sections Depressing/Depressed Again ultimately uplifting and reminiscent of Scarlet O’Hara at the very end of Gone With The Wind. There is a positivity that we would all do well to adhere to.

About John Hickling

Proud father and grandfather, and jack of all trades John A.D. Hickling currently lives with his family in Nottingham. A lover of music, especially 60’s rock, John has previously recorded two independent albums, appeared in comedy band Space Cadets on Britain’s Got Talent and is an active member of Masque Productions amateur theatre group. His debut book, Champagne & Lemonade. For more information please visit John’s website or find him on Facebook. You can follow John on Twitter.

There’s more about John’s debut Champagne & Lemonade with these other bloggers:

I love featuring authors on Linda’s Book Bag whom I’ve actually met so it gives me enormous pleasure to be the first stop in the celebrations of The Good Kind of Bad by Rita Brassington today. The Good Kind of Bad is available for purchase in e-book and paperback here.

Rita has featured on Linda’s Book Bag before when she told readers all about her writing journey. You can read that post here.

The Good Kind of Bad was selected as one of Heat Magazine’s Top Five Reads too.

To get the celebrations thoroughly underway lovely Rita has put together a wonderful The Good Kind of Bad prize package that UK readers can enter to win at the bottom of this blog post.

This wonderful prize includes a signed paperback first edition copy of The Good Kind of Bad, three signed and three unsigned The Good Kind of Bad postcards, a signed print and a pop out guide to Chicago where The Good Kind of Bad is set.

The Good Kind of Bad

Secrets don’t stay secret for long…

She spent her whole life being the perfect daughter, the perfect girlfriend, and was all ready to become the perfect wife. But after ditching her fiancé at the altar and escaping to Chicago, she marries smouldering stranger Joe Petrozzi three weeks after meeting him in a bar. At least this time, there’s no chance of cold feet.

Married life starts out great: there’s the new job, a gorgeous, enigmatic husband and money’s not an issue.

So what if she’s kept a few secrets from Joe – like where all her money came from. Joe’s been keeping secrets from her, too. But his might just get her killed.

About Rita Brassington

Rita Brassington grew up in Staffordshire, UK, before studying at UCLan, Durham University and the Maastricht Centre for Transatlantic Studies, The Netherlands. She currently works in the field of forensics and also loves cocktails, and cake. Preferably together.

You can follow Rita on Twitter, visit her website and find out more with these other bloggers:

The Good Kind of Bad Prize Package

from Rita Brassington

UK readers (only I’m afraid because of postage costs) click here to enter win a selection of The Good Kind of Bad goodies. Competition closes UK midnight on 11th July.

As someone who has shunned short stories in the past, I’m fast becoming a fan so I’m delighted to be part of the launch celebrations for Champagne & Lemonade by John A.D. Hickling which was published by Clink Street Publishing on June 5th 2016 in paperback and e-book. Champagne & Lemonade has a variety of pieces and is available for purchase here and to order from all good bookshops.

Today I’m reviewing one of the stories, Vampire of 133A Greenstone Street and tomorrow you’ll find my review of the poetry Depressing/Depressed Again.

Champagne & Lemonade

Champagne & Lemonade is a delightful collection of eclectic short stories, taking readers on a journey to different times and places, meeting a sparkling cast of well-drawn characters.
Nibble the fish is desperate to escape his boring old pond.
A new breed of super hero has been born and his name is Bob Cheesecake.
Dumpton Hospital’s staff have a somewhat unconventional approach to looking after their patients.
Robert Hood is on a mission to save modern England.
And just who is the vampire terrorising the neighbourhood from his home at 113A Greenstone Street?
From the quixotic to the poignant, John A. D. Hickling’s wild and whimsical tales fizz with fun and are sure to entertain almost everyone!

Vampire of 133A Greenstone Street

Murders were being committed, Jack believed them to be the work of a vampire, and would do everything he could to stop himself and his friends from becoming the next victims.

I stood up and looked out from my apartment window; a thick, scary fog engulfed Greenstone Street. Who or what was doing these murders? The police had no clue; but I had my own theory, it was a vampire who had been driven into town looking for fresh meat.

My Review of Vampire of 133A Greenstone Street

Jack and his university flatmate Kelly are surrounded by dark foggy nights and inept police as victims are found with animal like wounds to their bodies.

Crikey this is a fast paced and exciting story. It combines all the elements one would expect of a vampire film or narrative, from the creepy pathetic fallacy of the fog to rotting corpses and blood.

There’s light and shade too with humour offsetting the gore so that there’s a lightness of touch to the storytelling that I really enjoyed. Jack dropping his digestive biscuit as he reads the graphic description of the latest body is just one example.

I thought the characterisation was especially effective and felt Jack’s first person storytelling added to that success.The reader gets a clear image of what the characters look like and their relationship with one another.

Despite being only a few pages long, Vampire of 133A Greenstone Street would make a fantastic feature film for television as much of the writing has a very visual element.

About John Hickling

Proud father and grandfather, and jack of all trades John A.D. Hickling currently lives with his family in Nottingham. A lover of music, especially 60’s rock, John has previously recorded two independent albums, appeared in comedy band Space Cadets on Britain’s Got Talent and is an active member of Masque Productions amateur theatre group. His debut book, Champagne & Lemonade. For more information please visit John’s website or find him on Facebook. You can follow John on Twitter.

There’s more about John’s debut Champagne & Lemonade with these other bloggers:

My grandmother died two weeks short of her 101st birthday, having been born in 1890. My grandfather was injured and blinded in one eye during the Battle of the Somme in 1916. Consequently, this era of history has a particular fascination for me. It is with great pleasure, therefore, that today I have a guest post from Clare Flynn, whose latest novel The Green Ribbons, opens in 1900. Clare explores how the North-South divide has evolved. The Green Ribbons was published by Cranbrook Press on 19th May 2016 and is available for purchase here.

The Green Ribbons

‘Two men will love you. Both will pay the price for it’

When, in 1900, Hephzibah Wildman loses both parents in a tragic accident, she is forced to build a new life for herself. Penniless and only eighteen, she must leave the security of the Oxford college where her stepfather was Dean, and earn her living as a governess. On the recommendation of a man she has never met, the parson of Nettlestock, Merritt Nightingale, Hephzibah finds herself at the forbiddingly impressive Ingleton Hall. She is the latest in a long line of governesses to arrive there, and soon learns why; her employer, Sir Richard Egdon has a roving eye and turns his unwanted attentions to her.

Hephzibah is forced to leave when a chance encounter with Thomas, the squire’s handsome son, leads to him persuading her to elope with him. Marriage to Thomas proves less than idyllic. Away all the time, and more interested in training his racehorses and gambling than he appears to be in her, Hephzibah becomes fearful that Thomas is having an affair. And something else is missing: a child. When Sir Richard tells her that he plans to disinherit his son if he fails to produce the necessary heir, Hephzibah becomes fearful for the husband she loves. She concocts an audacious scheme for Merritt to help her conceive a baby to pass off as Thomas’s. It is a plan that will put the lives of the two men she cares for most on the line but which will ultimately lead her to discover an unexpected love.

The North-South Divide

A Guest Post by Clare Flynn

There is much talk in the English media and among politicians and estate agents, of the North-South Divide, with a wealthy prosperous South experiencing soaring house prices, higher employment and affluent middle classes dominating. The countryside is a chosen place for “the haves” to set up a second home – or to flee London with substantial equity in hand to buy a bigger property for less money and enjoy a new life. Meanwhile “up North” there are large areas blighted by unemployment, stagnant or falling house prices and a general air of deprivation. Whilst there are pockets in both North and South that are exceptions, this pattern, while something of a cliché, is broadly true.

What may surprise the occupants of high priced cottages and country houses in the shires, is that until the middle of the twentieth century the North-South Divide was the other way around. The former occupants of their Farrow and Balled houses may well have been living in desperate straits and struggling to make a living in a changing world.

Southern England in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was more or less entirely dependent on agriculture – increasingly becoming subject to competition from America and Russia. Meanwhile the dramatic growth and prosperity of the Industrial Revolution was focused on the new cities and towns of the North.

I’ve explored this phenomenon in my two most recent novels. Letters from a Patchwork Quilt is partly set in Middlesbrough, a town now with serious problems – recently made more acute with the closure of the steel industry. In the nineteenth century it was a very different story.

From its origins as a tiny settlement next to salt marshes, where the few occupants subsisted on salt-panning, fishing and a bit of sheep farming, Middlesbough underwent the most explosive growth of any town in Britain. It was described by Gladstone in 1862 as:

‘This remarkable place, the youngest child of England’s enterprise. It is an infant, gentlemen, but an infant Hercules’

 The arrival of the blast furnaces and the insatiable demand for iron, and later steel, meant that the town became responsible for a third of the country’s iron ore output and was a shining example of Britain’s industrial progress.

While this led to untold riches for the industrialists, the wealth did not trickle down to their workers, who lived in sordid cramped houses without sanitation.

‘The stench of sulphur and smoke clogged in his throat. He saw it as a metaphor for the life that was ahead of him. He was a soul condemned to eternal damnation among the blast furnaces of this god-forsaken town. As he neared the waterfront to look across at the foundries, he saw white-capped waves lapping below: the rough sea indifferent to the ugly beauty of this manmade colossus of industrial might.

In The Green Ribbons I explore the other side of the divide. The setting is 1900 in the village of Nettlestock, based loosely on Kintbury in Berkshire. In the eighteenth and early nineteenth century the place had everything going for it – the Kennet and Avon Canal passed through the village, there was a thriving whiting mill, supplying chalk powder for wigs, and a silk mill and then the railway arrived. But the investment in industrial facilities in the North, combined with the increasing uncompetitiveness of British grain, in what had become a world market, led to depopulation of southern towns and villages like Nettlestock, as agricultural workers moved north to share in the opportunities offered by the cotton, wool, iron and steel industries.

The occupants of Nettlestock at the time of The Green Ribbons – the first decade of the twentieth century – struggle to eke out a living. This extract follows a visit to the local workhouse.

‘She took off her hat, held it arm’s length and shook off the raindrops. ‘What drives a person to accept living like that, Merritt? What makes them so desperate that they’re prepared to dress in an ugly uniform and tear old ropes apart for hours until their fingers bleed? Did you see the quantity of meat that went into the stew? A bit of tough old mutton gristle cut into tiny pieces and mixed in with a lot of turnips. It was turnip soup but the matron called it mutton stew!’

Merritt placed his hand on her arm. ‘I know. And the numbers are growing. Times are hard and getting harder. One of the farmers told me the other day that it’s cheaper to ship a sack of grain all the way from the prairies of America than from here to London.’

Whether the divide is in favour of North or South, one thing is clear, whatever prosperity exists was only enjoyed by the wealthy, not by their employees. And although the north offered employment and bread on the table, it offered little else. Whether a starving former agricultural worker in Nettlestock forced to throw oneself on the charity of the parish or into the drudgery of the workhouse, or an employee at the iron foundry in Middlesbrough, secure in a job but living in a slum, life was no picnic.

About Clare Flynn

Award-winning author, Clare Flynn is a former global marketing director. She now runs a successful strategic management company, although most of her time these days is spent writing her novels.

Her first novel, A Greater World, is set in the Blue Mountains of Australia in the 1920s and was awarded an Indie BRAG Medallion in 2015.

Clare’s second book, Kurinji Flowers, is a gripping story of love and loss set in colonial India on a tea plantation in the 1930s and 40s.

Clare’s novels feature places she knows well and she does extensive research to build the period and geographic flavour of her books.

You’ll find all Clare’s books here.

Find out more about Clare on her website, where you can receive a free short story A Pair of Fine Shoes, find her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.

Regular readers of Linda’s Book Bag know that I meet all kinds of wonderful bloggers and authors through Book Connectors on Facebook. Today’s guest blog post is from two more lovely folk I’ve met there, married couple Bob and Carol Bridgestock. I’m thrilled to be rounding off their first ever blog tour and to bring you a guest post all about being Partners in Crime as they write together. I also review When the Killing Starts

Writing as RC Bridgestock, Bob and Carol’s latest novel When The Killing Starts was published on 30th June 2016 by Caffeine Nights Publishers and is available for purchase here. Although it is the 7th book in the DI Jack Dylan series, When The Killing Starts can also be read as a stand alone novel, as can all the other books.

When The Killing Starts

Crime is a way of life for the Devlin brothers. Groomed at an early age and trained as criminals by local gangsters, the Devlin brothers get their thrill out of creating fear among their victims. They have a macabre pact; not to be arrested or caged.

Brutality hits the town of Harrowfield when the scourge of the community is found dead, his companion slaughtered. The locals react with praise for the killers.

The same day firefighters respond to a fire but lose the fight to save Merton Manor. Amongst the debris two bodies are discovered; executed.

As Dylan struggles to cope with the pressure, armed officers await his judgement call.

Can he remain professional or will he release his anger?

Partners in Crime

A Guest Post from Bob and Carol Bridgestock

‘Bob writes the police procedural from start to finish, showing how real crime is investigated. From the moment the body is discovered the reader travels with Dylan as it really is, but in a fictional tale,’ said Carol. ‘I then pick up the plot and bring it to life by building the characters and writing the scenes – some times with help from Bob as for instance I have no idea what its like to be at a post-mortem. I don’t want to go. But, I want to know how it really feels for the man in charge at each stage of the investigation for the reality in the books.  I draw out Bob’s real feelings and strip away the mask of the detective to unveil raw reality that he can only express through Dylan. Once the characters live and breathe, I set the scene and add the relationship storyline – Dylan’s home life and how it affects him and his family when he is transported to ‘another world’ investigating a serious crime. As the series unfolds you will see Dylan and Jen’s relationship grow, with all the ups and downs of being married/partner of someone who works as a dedicated professional member of the uniformed services.’

‘At first it was very difficult for me to drop the ‘mask’ and reveal my true feelings,’ says Bob. ‘I’d kept them tucked away. If you let yourself get sucked into the sadness you’d never cope. But Carol said it would be cathartic. Of course I said that, that was utter rubbish – it was part of ‘the job’. But when I started to unveil my ‘crutches’ that had kept me strong for so long, I now have to agree. It’s awful when you have to admit the wife’s right isn’t it?’

You can find out more about the DI Jack Dylan books with Caffeine Nights Publishers here.

My Review of When the Killing Starts

I have to be honest and say I wasn’t especially keen to read When the Killing Starts as it is the seventh book in the series and I thought it would be too reliant on the previous books to enjoy. I was completely wrong.

When the Killing Starts works brilliantly as a stand alone read and is an explosive (in more ways than one!), fast paced and exciting crime thriller. The plot certainly raises the pulse and even though I found a couple of incidents difficult to read, they are not gratuitous, but serve to show the kinds of criminals police deal with. I think the author background in the police gives incredible authenticity to so much of this novel.

I thought the syntactical style was polished and sophisticated so that the contrast between how different characters speak and think gives them depth. The quieter parts of the writing only serve to enhance further the thrill of the faster elements in a very skilful way.

I really liked Jack Dylan and his relationships with family and colleagues. I think this is where the husband and wife authoring partnership really works so well as there are layers that are sometimes missing in other crime fiction so that the human emotions are explored highly effectively.

When the Killing Starts is definitely a must read for crime thriller lovers. Having begun not wanting to read the seventh book in the series, I now want to go back and read them all.

About Bob and Carol

Fifty years of police experience offers the crime fiction lover an authentic edge by reading the Detective Inspector Jack Dylan ‘Dylan’ series – written by husband and wife crime writing team, Bob and Carol Bridgestock.

Bob worked in the CID at every rank. For over half of his service he was a senior detective, retiring at the rank of Detective Superintendent of the fourth largest police force in England, West Yorkshire Police.

In his last three years alone as a Senior Investigative Officer (SIO), he took command of twenty-six murder investigations, twenty-three major incidents including shootings and attempted murders, over fifty suspicious deaths and numerous sexual assaults. He was also a Hostage Negotiator for kidnap, terrorism, extortion and suicide intervention – in his ‘spare’ time. During his thirty year career Bob worked in Detective Training at the world renowned West Yorkshire Police Training School; training Detectives in the whole spectrum of investigative skills, and the law.  On promotion to Detective Superintendent he was seconded to a protracted enquiry investigating alleged police corruption in another force. He worked on the Yorkshire Ripper and Sarah Harper murder, and received praise from Crown Court Judges and Chief Constables alike for outstanding work at all ranks including winning the much coveted Dennis Hoban Trophy.

Having created the down-to-earth character Jack Dylan, Bob brings a unique insight of how real life cases are conducted and turns them into page turning, gripping fiction, aided by his wife Carol who worked as a civilian, in the same force for 17 years. Carol brings her understanding and experience of living, and working with, a frontline police officer. This combination adds accuracy and realism rarely seen in British crime fiction, coupled with warmth, humour and humanity.

The books offer an insight into the real world of British policing mixed with cunning plots and human relationships. This adds a dimension to police procedural fiction which is truly genuine in voice and substance.

Find out more about Bob and Carol on their website, via DHH Literary Agency and by following them on Twitter.

You’ll find more with these other bloggers too: