I have some brilliant reads on my book pile and I couldn’t believe it when I saw the events Dulwich has planned in the next few months as so many of them feature so I thought I’d share them with you.

LIVE EVENTS PROGRAMME FOR 2016.

Launching in January, with venues at both Dulwich Books in West Dulwich and the legendary The Bedford in Balham, events will feature both renowned writers and debut novelists including Fiona Barton, author of The Widow (2016’s The Girl on The Train?) and award-winning novelists Kate Mosse and Helen Dunmore.

January – March Event highlights at Dulwich Books
Dulwich Books, 6 Croxted Road, SE21 8SW

DEADLY IN DULWICH with Fiona Barton and Ann Morgan
21st January, 7pm. Tickets are £10 and include a mystery cocktail

Fiona Barton and Ann Morgan, two of the most exciting names in contemporary page-turning fiction, are the stars of the inaugural Dulwich Books crime and thriller event series, Deadly in Dulwich.

Fiona’s debut novel The Widow will be published on the 14th January and is already tipped to become next year’s The Girl On The Train. Ann Morgan, famous for her previous book Reading The World, in which she recorded her attempt to read one book from every country in the world, has written her first psychological thriller Beside Myself, a tense story about the fragility of identity.

 

Award-winning novelist Helen Dunmore launches her new spy novel, Exposure
28^th January, 7pm. Tickets are £10 and include a glass of Prosecco

British poet, novelist and children’s writer, Helen Dunmore joins Dulwich Books for the evening to celebrate the launch of her latest novel Exposure, a spy thriller set during the Cold War. Having won the Orange Prize for Fiction with her novel A Spell of Winter, her new book is a remarkable story of forbidden love, intimate betrayal and the devastating power of exposure drive. 

In conversation with Susie Nicklin, Helen will discuss her incredibly powerful book before welcoming guests to ask questions and celebrate its publication with Prosecco.

NEW VOICES with Monica Wood and Jem Lester
4^th February, 7pm. Tickets are £10 and include a glass of wine and a proof copy of Monica’s novel The One-in-a-Million Boy.

Monica Wood, already an award-winning author in the US, will present her debut UK novel The One in a Million Boy, a heart-wrenching book due for publication in April. A story of an unlikely friendship between a mentally sharp, determinedly independent woman of 104 and a world-records-obsessed eleven-year-old boy, this UK debut is insightful, inventive and full of surprises.

Jem Lester’s debut novel Shtum is a funny, engaging and beautiful novel about a young boy called Jonah who suffers from autism and has never spoken. Set in North London, his single father, Ben, must learn to cope with the challenge of having a child who keeps shtum, a book perfect for fans of David Nicholls, The Shock of the Fall and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.

January – March Event Highlights at The Bedford
The Bedford, 77 Bedford Hill, Balham, SW12 9HD

Dulwich Books are also delighted to announce a new series of events taking place at legendary live music and comedy venue The Bedford in Balham.

Originally a hotel developed in the 1830’s, The Bedford is still the central community hub of Balham. In the late sixties and seventies it was a spit and sawdust live music venue serving as a springboard for early gigs by acts including The Clash and U2 and now, it will host some of the most fantastic literary talent of the modern day as part of Dulwich Books. 

 I CALL MYSELF A FEMINIST with Kate & Martha Mosse, Meltem Avcil, Amy Annette, Caroline Kent, Hajar Wright and others.
14^th January, 7pm. Tickets are £6 entry only, or £10 with a paperback copy of I Call Myself a Feminist included

Is feminism still a dirty word? I Call Myself A Feminist brings together twenty-five of the brightest, funniest, bravest young women, to ask what it means to be a feminist in 2015. For this special one-off evening, the launch of Dulwich Books’ 2016 events programme in its new location, Kate & Martha Mosse will be speaking as mother and daughter about intergenerational feminism alongside Meltem Avcil, Amy Annette, Caroline Kent, Hajar Wright, and others.

With readings, discussions, and opportunities for audiences to participate, all interspersed with breaks to visit the bar, there’ll also be an after-party with music and dancing.

GROWING UP COMMUNIST with David Aaronovitch and Jo McMillan
11^th February, 7.30pm. Tickets are £6, which is fully redeemable against a purchase of either Party Animals or Motherland

Join David Aaronovitch and Jo McMillan to discuss an upbringing on the fringes of political life. Tracing the decline of the communist tradition in Britain, Party Animals is a deeply personal account of what it’s like to grow up in a family on the far-left. Written by David Aaronovitch, a well-known journalist and commentator, it is a memoir that stands out from the crowd.

Jo McMillan’s debut novel Motherland, published in hardback last year, is an incredible story of a childhood in struggle. In this case the struggle is that of thirteen-year-old Jessica, whose mother Eleanor is unerring in her attempts to radicalise the sleepy midlands town of Tamworth. Unfortunately for Jessica, those attempts are mostly met with indifference and hostility. But a visit to the Democratic Republic of Germany beckons…

DISPLACEMENTS with Ben Rawlence
10^th March, 7.30pm. Tickets are £6 and are fully redeemable against a purchase of City of Thorns

Over the course of four years, Ben Rawlence became a first-hand witness to a strange and desperate limbo-land. To the charity workers, Dadaab refugee camp is a humanitarian crisis; to the Kenyan government, it is a ‘nursery for terrorists’; to the western media, it is a dangerous no-go area; but to its half a million residents, it is their last resort. Among those seeking sanctuary there are Guled, a former child soldier who lives for football; Nisho, who scrapes an existence by pushing a wheelbarrow and dreaming of riches; Tawane, the indomitable youth leader; and schoolgirl Kheyro, whose future hangs upon her education. In City of Thorns, Rawlence interweaves the stories of nine individuals to show what life is like in the camp and to sketch the wider political forces that keep the refugees trapped there.

Ben will share his stories of life in the camp, explaining why he wrote the book and what he thinks can be done to improve the lives of refugees around the world.

TICKETS You can buy tickets for events at both locations online at www.dulwichbooks.co.uk, by email at hello@dulwichbooks.co.uk, on the phone on 020 8670 1920 or in Dulwich Bookshop

For press enquiries and author interview requests please contact Sophie Goodfellow and Hayley Steed at ed public relations on sophie@edpr.co.uk /hayley@edpr.co.uk or call on 020 7732 4796

For more information about the events including ticket prices,  patron tickets and venue details please visit
www.dulwichbooks.co.uk or call 020 8670 1920
Find us on Twitter: @DulwichBooks/@TheBedfordPub

I’ve always loved everything I’ve ever read by Amanda Prowse and couldn’t believe it when I realised I hadn’t read anything by her since I began Linda’s Book Bag almost a year ago. It’s beyond time to put that right so I am delighted to be reviewing her latest book, ‘Another Love’ which is published by Head of Zeus in Kindle on 16th January 2016. It will also be out in hardback and paperback and is available here.

Romilly has everything. Glorious red hair, a husband, David, who adores her, a fabulous scientific brain, a good job, a lovely home and a perfect child in Celeste. She also has a drink problem – a problem that is about to alter her life forever.

I approached reading ‘Another Love’ with some trepidation as there’s always a slight fear that a much loved author will not meet expectations. However, in common with all Amanda Prowse’s writing, I was hooked from the very first word and by the end I was a sobbing wreck. ‘Another Love’ is perfect reading. Written from two viewpoints; the first person account from Celeste and the third person narrative about Romilly and David there is a balance to the plot that satisfies the reader completely. The writing is never sugary or judgemental. It presents life – real life.

In essence, the subject matter is pretty stark and Amanda Prowse does not shy away from the grim reality of what an alcohol dependent person will do when consumed by the disease of alcoholism. Romilly behaves in ways no well person can contemplate but those who have encountered a friend or relative with similar problems will know that the depiction of Romilly’s fall from grace is terrifyingly accurate.

What Amanda Prowse seems to do so effortlessly though, is to ensure the reader’s empathy and engage their emotions so completely that they are not merely reading a story, but are living Romilly’s life with her – I’d even go so far as to say, as her.

So compelling is the story telling that I put my life on hold to read this book and absolutely consumed it in two sittings. It’s the skill of portraying humanity so realistically that makes it impossible not to want to find out what happens next to the characters who instantly feel like family. I thought about them the whole time I wasn’t reading and couldn’t wait to return to the book.

If you want to read a book that is emotional, gorgeously written and that will stay in your mind for a very long time, ‘Another Love’ is exactly what you’re looking for.

You can follow Amanda Prowse on Twitter and visit her web site here. You will also find her on Facebook.

All of Amanda Prowse’s wonderful writing is available here .

I’m delighted to be starting the launch celebrations of ‘Bella Broomstick’ by Lou Kuenzler with Faye Rogers Publicity. ‘

Here’s what you need to know about the book and I have a review too.

Title: Bella Broomstick (Bella Broomstick #1)

Author: Lou Kuenzler

Release Date: 7^th January 2016

Genre: MG Fantasy

Publisher: Scholastic UK

Format: Paperback and E-book and available here

This delightful new series, full of doodle illustrations and themes of friendship and fitting in, will have young readers bewitched from the very first page! Bella Broomstick is a hopeless witch. So hopeless that nasty Aunt Hemlock is sending her to live in Person World – with the warning that she must never do magic again! But when Bella finds a kitten in trouble, a spell is the only way to rescue it. What is Bella to do? For where there is magic, trouble is never far away!

My Review

Orphan Belladonna Broomstick is a useless witch, so when she fails her witch exams for the third time her Aunt Hemlock banishes her from the Magic Realm to the Person World. When she arrives, her adventures begin.

I loved this children’s book. It has some worthy themes as it explores love and belonging, failure and success and responsibility and family, but these are enriching layers in a super plot that races along and would be sure to enthrall any child. There is a blistering pace that keeps the reader entertained from start to finish.

The characters are easily identifiable to children without being two dimensional. The kitten Rascal is equally as good a character as Bella and the subsidiary cast give real variety so that all types of people, good and bad, are explored in the village setting.

There’s great humour in the writing and the descriptions are vivid and effective. I also really liked the annotations and notes from Bella as if she is talking directly to the reader alongside the actual narrative.

‘Bella Broomstick’ is the first in a new series and I’m sure children will be clamouring for every one. It’s a great read.

About the Author

Lou Kuenzler likes to write stories which make children laugh.

Her popular SHRINKING VIOLET books are funny, action-packed adventures about a little girl who suddenly shrinks …. Think Mrs Pepperpot with a 21st century twist!

And then Lou’s next series PRINCESS DISGRACE introduces the clumsiest princess ever in a comic romp through life at a posh princess academy – unicorns, dragons and japes galore!

For slightly younger readers, Lou’s AESOP’S AWESOME RYHMES add a comic, rhyming twist to the classic moral tales.

While JACK SPLAT: SUPERFLY PEST and JACK SPLAT: DOG’S DINNER tell the fly-on-the-wall adventures of … well, of a fly!

You can find out more about Lou on her website, on Goodreads and you can follow her on Twitter

There are lots more blog posts coming up as part of the launch of ‘Bella Broomstick’, so don’t forget to visit these too:

I have a huge ‘to be read’ (TBR) pile sitting on my desk, but there are so many exciting books due in 2016 that I thought I’d select just ten that I’m really looking forward to reading in the very near future.

Who can resist a psychological thriller? ‘Try Not to Breathe‘ by Holly Seddon looks brilliant. It is published by Corvus on 7th January in hardback and ebook.

‘The Widow‘ by Fiona Barton is almost at the top of my TBR pile. I anticipate it will be one of those books like ‘Disclaimer‘ by Renee Knight that divides opinion but I can’t wait to get in to it. Published in ebook and hardback by Bantam Press it is out on 14th January.

Tim Baker’s thriller ‘Fever City‘ is out on 21st January in ebook and hardcover, published by Faber and Faber and promises to be an exciting read.

I know many bloggers have already read this, but although I’m a bit late to the party, I’m looking forward to ‘In a Land of Paper Gods‘ by Rebecca Mackenzie as I think the setting will be one I enjoy. It is published by Tinder Press in ebook and hardback on 28th January.

Also published in ebook, paperback and hardback on 28th January by Doubleday, ‘For the Most Beautiful‘ by Emily Hauser looks a sumptuous read set in Troy.

Here’s another book that I think will take the blogging world by storm in 2016. ‘The Ballroom‘ by Anna Hope is out on 11th February in hardback and ebook and is published by Doubleday. The atmosphere suggested looks just my kind of read.

Also released in paperback on 11th February after being out in ebook, is Anna North’s ‘The Life and Death of Sophie Stark‘. It is published by Weidenfield and Nicholon, an imprint of Orion. Backed by a big campaign, I think this will be a huge success.

Having been a sensation in Japan, selling a million copies in six days, ‘Six Four‘ by Hideo Yokoyama and  translated by Jonathan Lloyd-Davies is published in hardback and ebook by Quercus on 3rd March.

Out on 5th April is ‘One in a Million Boy‘ by Monica Wood. Available in hardback and ebook it is published by Headline Review.

 ‘Shtum‘ by Jem Lester I think might be one of THE books of 2016. It is published in ebook and paperback by Orion on 7th April which happens to be my birthday so how could I resist?

Those lovely people at Quercus Books have sent me a copy of ‘The Canary Girls’ by Rosie Archer for review which is published in ebook and paperback on 7th January 2016. You can buy ‘The Canary Girls’ here. I’m really looking forward to reading it. However, as a lovely New Year prize, Quercus have allowed me to give one lucky UK reader their own paperback copy, so please enter by clicking on the Giveaway below.

In love and war, who can you trust?

1944, Hampshire.

Her face still bearing the scars from the explosion at the factory, Rita Brown is nonetheless back on her feet. She’s caught the eye of local wide boy Blackie Bristow, who’s sweeping her around the country in a life of shady glamour.

But there’s a war on, and life is not all fun and games. Some of the local men are taking advantage of the topsy-turvy world to break more than just hearts, and standing up to them comes with its own costs.

Rita keeps calm and carries on with a little help from her friends at the factory. But then she discovers someone there has been leaking secrets to the Germans. With D-Day on the horizon, Rita must work out who she can rely on – and fast.

Here’s your chance to win your own copy and you have until noon UK time on 8th January to enter:a Rafflecopter giveaway

Linda’s Book Bag Top Reads of 2015

Even though I only began blogging in February, I found it almost impossible to compile a list of just my favourite ten reads of 2015 in readiness for an ‘Ask the Blogger’ event that is happening on The Book Club on Facebook on Thursday 7th January 2016. Consequently I have cheated slightly and gone for a choice of 12 with three special categories added. So here they are. If you click on the book title you can see my review of the book.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank all the authors, publishers and bloggers who’ve welcomed me so warmly into the blogging world, given advice, been prepared to be interviewed and have provided books. My apologies to those still awaiting a review. I promise I haven’t forgotten and will get to the book as soon as I can.

Book of the Year

Jakob’s Colours by Lindsay Hawdon

 

Best Crime Fiction Book

Cracked by Barbra Leslie

Best Audio Book

     How to be Brave by Louise Beech

Top 12 Reads (in no particular order except roughly the order in which I read them)

 

 

1. Our Endless Numbered Days by Claire Fuller
2. A Man Called Ove By Fredrik Backman
3. Song of the Sea Maid by Rebecca Mascull
4. The Silent Hours by Cesca Major
5. Devastation Road by Jason Hewitt
6. The Prodigal by Nicky Black
7. The Tea Planter’s Wife by Dinah Jefferies
8. The Sea Between Us by Emylia Hall
9. My Everything by Katie Marsh
10. Untouchable by Ava Marsh
11. The Turning Point by Freya North
12. The Trouble with Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon

I have to be honest and say that there were so many others that could equally well have been included and were also 5 star reads so please have a look through my blog to see what else is there. In the end I chose books that I find myself still thinking about almost daily.

I’d like to thank EVERY author whose book I’ve read whatever my personal view of it was. You all bring so much joy to so many people.

Happy New Year!

 

I am delighted to be featuring Jon Teckman on Linda’s Book Bag today as I thought his debut novel ‘Ordinary Joe’ was brilliant. Available in both paperback and ebook, it is currently on offer on Kindle at just £1.49 and can be bought here.

Jon kindly agreed to answering some questions about his writing so let’s see what he said.

Hi Jon. I so enjoyed reading your debut novel ‘ Ordinary Joe’ . Thank you so much for agreeing to answer some questions on my blog about your book and your writing.

Firstly, would you like tell readers a little about yourself and how you came to write ‘Ordinary Joe’?

Gosh, where to begin?  I am 52 years old, married with two teenage boys (actually one of them is only 12 but he acts more like a teenager than his 14 year old brother).  I was born and grew up in Northampton then, after graduating from university, lived in London for 20 years before moving to Aylesbury.  After leaving university, I worked as a civil servant in various Government departments, ending up at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) where I advised Government Ministers on film policy (yes, they have one).  This led to me joining the British Film Institute (BFI) and I eventually became Chief Executive of that august institution.  And that, really, was the starting point for writing Ordinary Joe which draws on my experiences working on the fringes of the film industry.  I had wanted to write a novel for some time and on one trip to Los Angeles got the idea for a story about an Englishman working in Hollywood but I didn’t do much with it until a few years later when I went on an Arvon Foundation novel writing course (a 10^th Wedding Anniversary present from my wife) and developed the idea there.  I completed a first draft of Ordinary Joe in just over a year – towards the end of 2008 – but then it took me six more years of re-working it, submitting it to various people and dealing with their rejections before I eventually landed my publishing deal with The Borough Press.

Other than writing, do you have other interests and creative outlets?

Like many blokes, I am very interested in sport, particularly rugby union and cricket. I used to play quite a bit of cricket and was a decent wicketkeeper but packed up when I found I was moving towards the ball several seconds after it had gone past me.  I am also still very interested in the cinema and maintain a professional interest in that as a member of the Council of Management of the British Board of Film Classification and a voting member of BAFTA.  But apart from being able to write a sentence and tell a joke, I am spectacularly uncreative.  I can’t draw or paint to save my life and don’t have a musical bone in my body (apart from being able to knock out a passable rendition of Delilah after a few drinks!)

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

In terms of the technical aspects of writing, I think I am good on dialogue, probably as a result of watching films written by the likes of Billy Wilder and Woody Allen who are so good at capturing natural speech patterns. I am less good on long descriptive passages or passages of purple prose so you won’t find many of those in Ordinary Joe!  On the CurtisBrown Creative novel writing course I attended in the first half of 2013, we were told that authors tend to be either “writers” or “storytellers” – I am definitely more “storyteller” than “writer”.

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

When I was writing the first draft of Ordinary Joe I was very disciplined and used to take myself off to my writing room almost every evening after dinner and work for a couple of hours.  But, as the children got older, my writing room became Matthew’s bedroom and dinner got later and that space – both physically and temporally – got taken away from me.  As a result (he says, blaming everyone but himself!) I am now less disciplined, snatching writing opportunities whenever and wherever I can.  I generally write longhand first and then type up my notes periodically making a few changes as I do so, so that my first typewritten draft is (or should be) slightly better than a typical first draft.  This means that my writing is very portable – just a pencil and a notebook – so I write a lot in cafes and, sometimes, pubs.  Most writers I know like to write in almost total peace and quiet – I quite like having a bit of noise and distraction around me.

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

I have very varied taste.  Many of my favourite novels come from the post-war American ‘school’ of Joseph Heller, Philip Roth and John Updike etc but I also like some more modern writers such as John Irving, Stephen King and Ben Elton.  One of the unforeseen benefits of being published at my advanced age is that I have joined a group of similarly mature authors called The Prime Writers and have enjoyed many of their works, including Ridley Road by Jo Bloom, Galina Petrovna’s Three Legged Dog Story by Andrea Bennett and You, Me and Other People by Fionnuala Kearney, which are all excellent.  I also like to keep up with the classics from time to time – I am currently fighting my way through War and Peace – 750 pages in and the end is still nowhere in sight!

I couldn’t agree more about the Prime Writers – and I loved You, Me and Other People by Fionnuala Kearney too!

Why did you choose to set ‘Ordinary Joe’ in the world of film?

I spent almost 8 years working on the fringes of the film industry at the DCMS and BFI and the whole crazy business fascinated me.  I am also really interested by the whole idea of “talent” and how being famous affects people and the way they are treated by others.  This is what gave me the idea of dropping a very ordinary Joe Schmo into the middle of this strange world and seeing what would happen.  Several of the scenes are based on things that actually happened to me – for example, the opening film studio scene was inspired by meeting Martin Scorsese on the set of Gangs of New York.  Rather than continue to annoy my friends and family with my stories and name dropping, I thought it might be better to put them into a story – and attempt to entertain a wider audience!

You live in England. How did you go about researching detail to ensure your Hollywood setting was realistic?

Sadly, as a first time novelist, there was nobody waving an Amex card and saying you must fly to Hollywood to make sure you get all these details right!  All the scenes set in Los Angeles, New York and Cannes are based on real places that I visited, but all of them were more than ten years ago, so I had to draw deep on my memory banks to recreate them.  The post-premiere party in New York near the beginning of the book, for example, was based on a party I went to at The Inn on the Green in Central Park in around 2000.  Originally, I named this as the location in the novel but then discovered that it had closed down in about 2007 so I had to anonymise it instead.  One of the nicest compliments I received after Ordinary Joe was published was from a former colleague who had been with me on one trip to LA and recognised Buddy Guttenberg’s apartment as being based on a studio executive’s apartment that we had visited more than 15 years ago.

I think ‘Ordinary Joe’ would make a great TV, film or stage show. Does script writing appeal to you and do you write in other forms such as poetry?

Ordinary Joe has been optioned for a movie and is currently in development.  The producers allowed me to have a first go at adapting the novel for the screen but, although it was a pretty good script, it didn’t work well enough cinematically for them (basically I had stuck too closely to the novel without really re-imagining it for the big screen) so they are not taking that screenplay forward.  I really enjoyed working on it though and would like to have another go at screenwriting at some point especially as, I believe, dialogue is a strong element of my writing.

Oh. Congratulations. That all sounds very exciting.

How difficult is it to write comic scenes and how can you tell they are successful as you write?

I am either blessed or cursed with a ‘comic gene’. Pretty well all of my family are funny – my dad was a very fine amateur comic actor (he performed alongside people like Alfie Bass and Bill Owen in his youth) and my brother is a semi-professional stand-up comedian.  The blessing of this is that I don’t find it at all difficult to write comic scenes; the curse can be knowing when to stop.  There is quite a lot of pathos in Ordinary Joe so there has to be that light and shade to ensure that the more comic elements don’t crowd out the other emotions that I am hoping to inspire in the reader.  One of the obvious ways I could tell whether or not the comic scenes were working as I was writing them is whether they made me laugh.  This might sound a bit odd – like laughing at one’s own jokes – but when a scene is really flowing, comic elements emerge that I hadn’t planned or anticipated.  For example, in the scene where Joe West and his wife Natasha are arguing over a note he has received from Olivia Finch, one of the key lines came to me from completely out of the blue and still makes me laugh now.  Another important factor in determining whether or not they are successful is that they still work when you re-read them during the many editing stages – Ordinary Joe went through more than twenty drafts and I reckon that most of the deletions were to get rid of ‘jokes’ that either didn’t work or didn’t fit in with the developing characterisation of the main characters.  Some of my most interesting discussions with the Borough Press editorial team involved convincing them that a certain word or formulation of words was necessary in order to retain the humour of a particular sentence or passage.

‘Ordinary Joe’ has different covers for the UK and overseas audiences. Why is this and how did the covers come about?

I had very little input into the cover design which was the work of the design team at HarperCollins UK.  Fortunately I think it is brilliant – very eye-catching and bringing the themes of Joe West’s domestic life and the glamour of Hollywood together.  My editor at The Borough Press, Katie Espiner, wanted the domestic drama at the centre of the novel to be the key element and this is reflected in the UK cover. The cover design for the edition that will be published in Scandinavia next May focusses on the bright lights of a Hollywood premiere but then adds the incongruity of a man with a brief case stepping onto the read carpet.  It looks quite dark – more like a thriller than a comedy – but is still very effective and I hope it will do well.

I’m sure it will.

How far do you think Joe is a victim of his own actions and how far a victim of circumstances (but don’t give away the plot here please!)?

Joe is primarily a victim of his own inactions.  For me (and others may well disagree with me on this) Joe’s worst fault is that he is a coward – he dare not take the actions that might extricate him from the dreadful situation he has created because he is too scared of hurting people and dropping himself further in it.  Once he sets off on this track, like a skier on a black run, events take their own momentum and he becomes increasingly powerless to stop them.

Should ‘Ordinary Joe’ be made into a film, who would you cast as Joe and Natasha?

I really struggle with this question (and, thankfully, should the film be made this is not a decision that I will have any part in!)  I watched Tom Hardy’s extraordinary performance as both Kray twins in the film Legend the other day and decided that he could play ALL the main characters, including Natasha and Olivia!  Ideally Joe West would be played by a middle-aged, Jewish English actor but we don’t have many of those.  The bullying boss Joseph Bennett is easier to cast, I think. Several people have suggested that Benedict Cumberbatch could be perfect in the role, in which case, perhaps Martin Freeman could play Joe West and they could reprise the dynamic they have established in Sherlock?  Another interesting combination would be Hugh Bonneville as West and James Purefoy as Bennett – made more interesting by the fact that they were in the same year at school together.  Casting Hollywood superstar Olivia Finch is also very difficult as I have always imagined her being very young – certainly no more than 25 – which rules out many well established actresses.

You recently penned a short follow up to ‘Ordinary Joe’. How difficult is it to leave behind the characters you’ve created?

It is surprisingly hard.  I have been working with Joe West and the rest of them for more than eight years now and I know them all very well.  Starting to write new characters without simply making them new versions of the old ones is more difficult than I imagined.  The novel I have been working on featured a character who was a bit like Joe West as an 18 year old (he was also too close to the Will character in The Inbetweeners for comfort!) but I have put that one on the backburner now and have just started on something which I hope is very different and based around very different characters.  I did enjoy writing the short story following up on what happened to Joe West some months after the action in Ordinary Joe finished as it helped me to tie up a few ends that I’d left loose at the end of the novel.

I was delighted to read it too. 

The media is a strong iterative theme in your book. How important are various forms of media and social networking to new authors?

I think they are incredibly important. Facebook provides a very good opportunity to meet readers and potential readers – for example, thanks to Facebook I was able to offer the follow up short story as a sort of Christmas present to my loyal readers – and Twitter brings the possibility of engaging with a very wide audience.  One thing that has surprised me since Ordinary Joe was published in July is how hard I have had to work to promote the novel to potential audiences to augment the work that my publishers are also doing.  Much of it is good fun and I do enjoy engaging with audiences, but it can also be a distraction away from getting on with the new writing that I should be doing.

Blog readers can follow Jon on Twitter and on his Facebook page.

If you had 15 words to persuade a reader that ‘Ordinary Joe’ should be their next read, what would you say?

“Please, please, please buy my book – my children are starving!”

Or I would quote from your own lovely review of my book, Linda, and tell them that Ordinary Joe:

“will appeal to anyone who wants a well plotted, well written and highly entertaining read.”

And indeed it will, Jon! Blog readers can see my review of Ordinary Joe here. 

What can we expect next from Jon Teckman, and when?

I have had a couple of false starts on novel number 2 but I do now have a plan and a story and some interesting characters so my aim is to have a draft finished within the next three months. I only have a one book deal with The Borough Press so there is no guarantee that they will publish it – I just have to make it too good for them to turn down.  Given the long lead times involved in publishing, however, even if they love it, it is unlikely now that it would be published before the end of 2016. So, apologies, but you will just have to wait a little longer for the next Jon Teckman masterpiece!

I’m not sure I want to wait that long – get writing! I’d like to thank you so much for your time in answering my questions, Jon. I’ve found the answers fascinating.

 

My thanks to Elizabeth Preston at Simon ad Schuster UK for an advanced reader copy of ‘American Housewife’ by Helen Ellis in return for an honest review. ‘American Housewife’ is published by Scribner on 14th January 2016 and is available here in the UK and here in the US in both hardcover and ebook.

‘American Housewife’ by Helen Ellis is a collection of twelve short stories and commentaries written with a quirky eye for detail and often a cruel and incisive wit.

It’s genuinely difficult to define and review this collection as it lurches from one bizarre context to another mundane one in an instant so that reading it is like being on a roller coaster or watching a television sketch show. I think it is a book that will divide opinion but I really enjoyed it.

I found Helen Ellis’s writing original and hugely entertaining. I may have missed a few of the American nuances, but thought there was such intelligent wit in the stories. I laughed aloud several times and frequently wondered how Helen Ellis got away with some of the reference to real people and products. In one of her own tweets she says ‘I want to walk the line between tacky and fabulous’ and I think that is exactly what she has achieved with this collection.

There are several distinct voices, but the perpectives are all female so that men play a secondary role. Frequently the tone is sassy and acerbic so that reading ‘American Housewife’ is a little like eavesdropping a particularly bitchy conversation. There is murder and intrigue, love and deception. That said, there is also the full range of emotions such as sadness in The Fitter and empathy in Dumpster Driving with the Stars. As I read I kept thinking I’d just read one more as the writing drew me in and entertained me.

‘American Housewife’ would be fabulous for anyone feeling jaded at the end of a working day who wants genuinely original writing that can be read and enjoyed on a commute. American Housewife is hugely satisfying.

You can find out more about these stories and make your own mind up by following @WhatIDoAllDay

Although I am hosting a question and answer session with Anne O’Brien on January 12th 2016 as part of the launch of her novel ‘The Queen’s Choice’, I could not wait to share my thoughts about this wonderful book. It is published by Mira on 14th January 2016 in hardback and is available to order here in the UK and here in the US.

In October 1396, Joanna of Navarre meets Henry Bolingbroke, Earl of Derby, for the first time. Their mutual attraction will lead to a marriage that will shape the course of history.

I knew a little about this period of English history, but Anne O’Brien has educated me further with a skill and flair that is outstanding. Historical details and facts underpin effortlessly the relationships, both political and personal, of those living in the early 1400s. This is a book that has been meticulously researched and beautifully written.

Anne O’Brien’s attention to the smallest elements means that there is a tapestry of perfection in her words for even the most demanding reader. There is a feast for the senses as the settings are described. We hear the lutes playing, taste the wines, smell the herbs, touch the soft furs and see the pennants billowing in the wind so that it is like stepping into history rather than reading a narrative. There is incredible skill in the way the past is brought to life.

But for me, the greatest joy in reading ‘The Queen’s Choice’ is the quality of the characterisation. I cared deeply for Joanna and Henry, even when they were at their most recalcitrant and stubborn. I felt their frustrations, their despair and their passion along with them so that I found myself thinking about them when I wasn’t reading the book. I kept hastening back to it at every opportunity. I think it Joanna’s first person perspective that makes the book so compelling.

It is no exaggeration to say I loved ‘The Queen’s Choice’. Anyone who enjoys historical fiction (and indeed, a cracking love story,) will love it too.

You can follow Anne O’Brien on Twitter and find out more about her on her web site.

The celebrations for this wonderful book begin on Monday 11th January 2016. Be sure to have a look.

Hi. Thank you so much for agreeing to answer some questions on Linda’s Book Bag.

Pleased beyond measure to be here, dear Linda!

Firstly, please could you imagine we are on a one minute speed date and tell me a little about yourself?

Okay, I am going to go further and imagine that you are sitting across
a table from me, at a restaurant, wearing a lovely dress, and a lovely
smile, and sipping some red liquid from a glass. Then I would say to
you: I am a simple guy with a dream, or rather a guy who lives for a
dream. A dream to affect the world positively. A dream to do something
above the material. This is why I wake up every morning. I could go on
but I don’t want to creep you out. Hehehehe

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

I was about 15 when I read a book: ‘Sunset at Dawn,’ written by
Chukwuemeka Ike. The book was a satire on the Nigeria-Biafra war,
which was a bloody genocide against my people. I remember starting to
write a story immediately after I put that book down. I never finished
that story though… and I cannot even remember why, but anybody who
reads ‘Bomber Boy’, and then wonders why I wrote a funny story about
something so sensitive should blame Chukwuemeka Ike because he
affected the life of a 15 year old many years ago.

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

Maybe I would have gone deeper into music. I have stood on a stage,
singing for free to a crowd of people whose laughter I could not
interpret. Till this day I wonder if they laughed at me or with me.

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

I read articles on the subject, I ask questions from well travelled
oldtimers who may have knowledge about the subject I am writing about.
I also try to travel to various locations so as to get a feel of the
environment- although I must confess that this is not always possible.

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

Dialogue. You have read ‘Bomber Boy’ and so you know I pretty much
avoided dialogue. This perhaps due to my personal failing as a talker.

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

When I have just woken from a refreshing night’s sleep, I hear a voice
inside my head, it talks to me. I have called it my higher self in a
previous interview and this must not be far from the truth because I
wrote most of ‘Bomber Boy’ in one sitting, on one fine morning.

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

I have read Julius Caesar’s ‘The Conquest of Gaul’ more times than I
can remember. I am currently re-reading ‘Lord of the Golden Fan’ by
Christopher Nichole, and I like to read blogs on the internet.

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

Not interests but passions. If you have seen the kind of suffering I
have seen, you want to do your bit to help your people. My pen is my
sword, and everybody who reads my books becomes my soldier… Not
everybody, actually, some have taken it upon themselves to ruin me.
Just Google ‘Bomber Boy, Ike Pius,’ you may get the picture.

Why did you choose to write about terrorism in ‘Bomber Boy’?

I wanted to write something to promote my book ‘The Paradise that
Was,’ and one morning I found myself writing. The rest, they say is
history.

If you had 15 words to persuade a reader that ‘Bomber Boy’ should be their next read, what would you say?

Pick up Bomber Boy as a story, but find yourself joining a movement of Change.

How important do you think social media is for new authors?

Social Media is the future. Embrace it, immerse yourself in it, be
part of it. Social Media provides an almost level playing ground for
everyone. The rich, the poor… Everyone!

What advice would you give to others who are just starting their writing career?

It takes a lot of patience.

Is there anything else you  wish you had been asked and would like to answer in this interview?

I would like readers (particularly those of African origin) to pay
attention to the Afterword  which is often overlooked by reviewers. I
pour out my heart, my soul, my life into that. Please read it!

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

Thank you so much, Linda, I hope one day we can have a bigger better date.

You can read my review of Bomber Boy here and you can follow Ike Pius on Twitter. His books are available to buy here in the UK and here in the US.