From the very first moment I was introduced to the Beautiful Star and Other Stories collection of short stories by Andrew Swanston I was intrigued. Consequently, I’m delighted to be part of the launch celebrations for the collection with a fascinating guest post from Andrew into the inspiration for them.

Beautiful Star and Other Stories is published by The Dome Press on 11th January 2018 and is available for purchase here.

Beautiful Star

History is brought alive by the people it affects, rather than those who created it. In Beautiful Star we meet Eilmer, a monk in 1010 with Icarus-like dreams; Charles I, hiding in 1651, and befriended by a small boy; the trial of Jane Wenham, witch of Walkern, seen through the eyes of her grand-daughter. This is a moving and affecting journey through time, bringing a new perspective to the defence of Corfe Castle, the battle of Waterloo, the siege of Toulon and, in the title story, the devastating dangers of the life of the sea in 1875.

The Happy Lot of the Writer

A Guest Post by Andrew Swanton

I am often asked where the ideas for my stories come from.  There is seldom a simple answer. I first learnt about the fate of Beautiful Star, a fishing ‘fifie’ on its maiden voyage, for example, from a newspaper cutting on the wall of the ancient church of the village of St Monans, thought  that it would reward further research, and was soon captivated by the way of life of the Scottish herring fishers and their families before the advent of steam.  It was my first story and of course I had no idea then that it would lead on to the other six in this collection and to five (so far) historical novels. What a stroke of good fortune that walk along the Fife coastal path and the visit to the little church turned out to be.

By contrast, I came across the stories of the English Button Seller and the French Drummer Boy while researching for Waterloo: The Bravest Man, a fictionalised account of the gallant defence of Hougoumont at the Battle of Waterloo, and the story of Jane Wenham in A Witch and a Bitch while researching the history of witchcraft.  The Castle, the story of Lady Mary Bankes’s extraordinary defence of Corfe Castle during the War of the Three Kingdoms resulted from a chance visit to Corfe, and The Flying Monk from a visit to Malmesbury.

Ideas and stories come from all manner of places and experiences, and I much enjoy keeping an eye out for promising material, just as I enjoy the research that inevitably follows. In this, the author’s lot is a happy one. Without exception, every expert, academic, librarian and local historian has proved generous with time and knowledge. I think of meeting and talking to them as a perk of the job.

I am most attracted by stories which are either interesting footnotes to major events – Waterloo, The War of the Three Kingdoms – or are driven by a strong or unusual character – Sir Cloudesley Shovell in HMS Association, Mary Bankes in The Castle – or simply deserve to be more widely known – Jane Wenham, Eilmer the Flying Monk.  And I like to write within the framework of real events. It creates a discipline.

Three of the stories in the collection are written in the first person, four in the third. The choice was driven simply by the demands of the narrative and I invented two of the narrators to enable this.  All seven include both real and fictitious characters. Making an interesting character up is just as much fun as researching a real one.

There is one story not mentioned above. It is the shortest and most whimsical, despite being based on a well-known event. The Tree is the Boscobel oak in which Charles II and William Careless hid after the Battle of Worcester.  It does not fit comfortably into any of the categories above, except perhaps by being a footnote to a major event, and I have included it for no other reason than it offers a light-hearted change of pace.

My Review of Beautiful Star and Other Stories

A collection of seven richly historical short stories.

I really enjoyed the Beautiful Star collection. I especially liked the way in which these historically accurate narratives are given added depth and warmth by the personal viewpoints, particularly those written in the first person. I felt as if I had a better understanding of the past through the eyes of these characters. So often history is the story of the rich, the influential and the famous and I appreciated that those less renowned were brought alive for me and given centre stage.

I also enjoyed the quality of the writing. Andrew Swanton writes with a tone that matches extremely well the eras of the stories. His use of the senses adds a realism and colour. Penny’s smelling like a ‘rotten haddock’ for example leaves the reader in no doubt about her! In fact, the descriptions in the opening story, Beautiful Star were my favourites because I could picture the boat building process so vividly. That said, it was Emily’s story in A Witch and A Bitch that I found most moving and disturbing. I think it’s because we don’t appear to have moved on very far in our treatment of those who seem ‘other’ since the 1700s when this narrative is set.

There’s an unsentimental reality, a harshness and a sadness behind so much in this collection that reading these stories made me grateful I am who I am living when I do.

This is quite an eclectic mix of stories and I think there is something in Beautiful Star and Other Stories for all readers to enjoy. Certainly they are historical in context, but they are about humanity and that’s what appeals most to me.

About Andrew Swanton

Andrew read a little law and a lot of sport at Cambridge University, and held various positions in the book trade, including being a director of Waterstone & Co, and Chairman of Methven’s plc, before turning to writing.

Inspired by a lifelong interest in early modern history, his Thomas Hill novels are set during the English Civil Wars, and the early period of the Restoration.

Andrew’s novel, Incendium, was published in February 2017 and is the first of two thrillers featuring Dr. Christopher Radcliff, an intelligencer for the Earl of Leicester, and is set in 1572 at the time of the massacre of the Huguenots in France.

The Dome Press is publishing Beautiful Star, a collection of short stories documenting a journey through time, bringing a new perspective to the defence of Corfe Castle, the battle of Waterloo, the siege of Toulon and, in the title story, the devastating dangers of the life of the sea in 1875.

You can follow Andrew on Twitter @AndrewSwanston and visit his website. You’ll find him here on Facebook.

There’s more with these other bloggers too:

I’m thrilled and a little bit star struck to welcome back Rachel Amphlett to Linda’s Book Bag today in celebration of her new release Assassins Hunted. Even better, Rachel has agreed to tell me some aspects about her that others might not know so I’m very excited to share those with you. Previously, Rachel wrote a brilliant post (here) about Living Locations when another of her books, Scared to Death was released.

Assassins Hunted is released today 7th January 2018 and is available for purchase here. Assassins Hunted is the first book in Rachel Amphlett’s new English Spy Mysteries in an ongoing story involving Eva Delacourt and will be followed by Assassins Vengeance on 14th January and Assassins Retribution on 21st January.

 

Assassins Hunted

Mother. Widow. Spy.

Eva Delacourt has been in hiding for three years after her fiancée was assassinated in cold blood outside the British embassy in Prague.

She thought she was safe.

But someone in the mysterious Section has betrayed her, and now she’s on the run for her life, sworn to protect the six-year-old boy she adores.

Her enemies are closing in, and the odds are not in Eva’s favour. For Eva, the nightmare is just beginning…

5 Things You Might Not Know About Me

A Guest Post by Rachel Amphlett

With another new series published to kick off 2018, I thought it might be a good idea to let you know a little bit about me, as this might be the first time we’ve met. Here we go!

1. I have two passports

I emigrated to Australia from the UK 11 years ago, so now I have an EU passport and an Australian one. It makes it easier for travelling and I love having the EU one for getting around the UK and Europe – it makes things much simpler.

I had to take a citizenship test and attend a ceremony before I could apply for my Australian passport. It was so funny – there was a really dodgy singer providing the entertainment, and then every new citizen had to get up on stage, shake hands with the mayor of the local council, and be presented with our citizenship certificate and a grevillea sapling (a tree) to take home. My rescue greyhound ate the tree within three days of my being presented with it…

2. I love to travel

The moment I land back at Brisbane airport, I’m already planning the next trip away. I love everything about travelling – even the long-distance flying – there’s something enjoyable about setting out on a journey: people watching; catching up with films or a book while flying; and then landing somewhere completely different and soaking up the culture and meeting new people.

(Absolutely agree Rachel – I love travelling.)

3. I’m scared of horror films

You will never, ever find me watching a horror film!  I think it has something to do with the fact that I have an overactive imagination. The only true horror film I’ve ever watched was Hallowe’en 3 when I was about 12 years old. Never, ever again – even the beginning of Poltergeist freaked me out!

Some TV shows can send chills down my spine, too. I recently got hold of the box set of the first three series of Luther and since then have heard about the episode with the killer under the bed – I don’t know if I can watch the rest of it!

(I’m a wimp too – I avoid horror books as I find them too scary.)

4. I’ve crashed a helicopter. Five times.

Okay, so it wasn’t a real helicopter, but the crashes were still pretty spectacular.

I’ve written two espionage series (the Dan Taylor series, and now the English Spy Mysteries series), and I’ve always been a stickler for research ­– more so if I can get away from the desk and the internet, because hands-on research is a lot more fun!

I had a scene in one of my books, Three Lives Down, where a daring prison rescue is made using a helicopter landing right in the middle of the abandoned exercise yard. I’ve never attempted such a thing myself, and there’s a company in Brisbane that offers sessions in a Black Hawk helicopter simulator, so I thought “why not?”

Put it this way – be grateful I’m not a helicopter pilot. After five attempts at taking off only to ditch the aircraft in the dirt every time, the instructor eventually took pity on me and got me up in the air – after that, it was a ball. And I’m definitely better as a gunner – those enemy tanks didn’t stand a chance…

(I’ve only been in a helicopter once to view the Iguassu Falls, but I’m pretty glad you weren’t the pilot!)

5. I’ve studied forensic science and forensic psychology

I wanted my Kay Hunter series to be as realistic as possible, so apart from gathering information and guidance from both active and retired police officers this past year, I’ve also undertaken a couple of short courses to give me an understanding of the science behind the job.

FutureLearn is an online initiative that offers free courses from some of the best universities around. It started with offerings from UK universities, but now includes some international ones as well.

I first studied forensic psychology to gain more insight into police interviewing techniques, and have completed a forensic science course through the University of Strathclyde.

All of this has given me fresh insights into what my characters might have to deal with and, of course, my imagination has been working overtime with new story ideas!

(I love Futurelearn Rachel – I’ve done their creative writing course twice as well as others on Hadrian’s Wall and World War One. Thanks so much for telling us five things we might not have known. Good luck with this new series.)

About Rachel Amphlett

Rachel Amphlett is the bestselling author of the Dan Taylor espionage novels and the new Detective Kay Hunter crime thriller series, as well as a number of standalone crime thrillers.

Originally from the UK and currently based in Brisbane, Australia, Rachel’s novels appeal to a worldwide audience, and have been compared to Robert Ludlum, Lee Child and Michael Crichton.

She is a member of International Thriller Writers and the Crime Writers Association, with the Italian foreign rights for her debut novel, White Gold, being sold to Fanucci Editore’s TIMECrime imprint in 2014.

An advocate for knowledge within the publishing industry, Rachel is always happy to share her experiences to a wider audience through her blogging and speaking engagements.

You can visit Rachel’s website, find her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter @RachelAmphlett.

One genre I don’t feature enough on Linda’s Book Bag is fiction in translation so I’m delighted to be putting that right today with an interview with Onder Deligoz, author of Love After You Have Gone. However, more importantly, Onder explains why his book is in translation.

Love After You Have Gone is available for purchase here.

Love After You Have Gone

In one of Istanbul’s most lively streets one night, a drunk, well-dressed young man slips in front of a closed store with its shutters pulled down. Although the body can not move, his mind was still alive. Everything he heard and everything he saw leads him to his past.

It was childhood love that had flourished in the midst of the social crises in the 90s… The emotional intimacy between the son of an ordinary family oppressed in a secular-religious struggle and the young daughter of a family who emigrated from the East due to the anti-terror unit’s pressure and fear of death.

Love After You Have Gone tells the story of the people oppressed under secular and religious radicalism’s ‘pressure alliance’. It introduces the lives that hatred and alienation have defeated in the back streets. It strikes the hypocrisy behind religiousness in the face with real-life examples. It tells us the riot of a teen who is struggling with the hypocrisy of being hit with love while trying to forget the pain of another one. It sheds light on the recent history of Turkey becoming a repressive regime.

An Interview with Onder Deligoz

Welcome to Linda’s Book Bag, Onder. Thank you so much for agreeing to answer some questions on my blog about your writing and Love After You Have Gone in particular. Firstly, please could you tell me a little about yourself?

Previously, I would define myself with only one word. Journalist. Now, I am defined with a few words. A journalist who is paying a price. If one desires to be an independent journalist in countries like Turkey, he/she must be aware of factors such as the antidemocratic pressure and the possible loss one might be in. In the newspaper and television companies I worked at, I prepared several newsletters and documentaries on the uprising political pressures that are causing social disorder. Chasing only the truth for news, I am just one of the many journalists who are deprived of their freedom of speech and press rights. For that reason, I am one of the journalists who is wanted to be silenced. The institution I worked for was forcefully shutdown, and nearly 200 of my coworkers were arrested. Hundreds of my other coworkers have abandoned the country and are living  in exile due to life and imprisonment threats. I am one of them as well. Around the globe, there are many evil leaders striving to silence journalists and writers so that the people would not be able to  retrieve accurate information. However, just like my coworkers, I will not give up and continue to write as a journalist. This is because writing our thoughts, beliefs, emotions, and dreams is no different than breathing.

(I can’t imagine how it must feel to be working under such pressure Onder.)

Without spoiling the plot, please could you tell us a bit about Love After You Have Gone?

Love After You Have Gone, describes love stories in the search for life, as families are influenced and bombarded with radicalism. As the 1990s are described in this story, there are kids and teenagers who have terrible lives due to radical religious rules, and there is their struggle as they try to keep straight. The hypocrisy and the unpardonable sins that hide behind Religion can be seen in real life examples. As a young man keeps his lost love in his heart with a bloody photograph, and looks for a new lover to forget the past, he is halted by the inexorable radicalism as he gives effort to fight against this hypocrisy.  Every sentence in this book, describes how lovers struggle in countries with strict religious and political enforcements, and how threat can lead to deaths, how families are broken down. And it also describes the ones who rejoice  in such mercilessness.

You’re a journalist by trade. How did writing fiction compare with journalism?

Journalism is a profession that is concentric with both life and society. As you do your job, you get to know different lives all around the globe as you analyze and observe them like sociologists or anthropologists. This experience expands your imaginary world to a point where it is larger than your reality. As I sought for the truth and gained experience as a journalist,  I realized that this painted my imagination with new colors and sounds. After a while, you want to have others hear these sounds that boil in your imagination. Every new color and sound seated in your conscience, turns into a secret that you cannot hold within you. And instead of whispering this secret to each individual’s ear, you want to shout out on the top of your lungs to a crowd. You want people to know the greening spring, shining sun, and the wild storm within you. These words become your companions. You shout out your secrets as you write them for such crowds. You gift your audience your imagination that you developed through your experiences, so that they can grow new dreams within themselves.

(What a beautiful way of describing the writing process.)

There are some challenging themes in Love After You Have Gone. Why was it important for you do explore oppression, love and  hypocrisy in this way?

Hypocrisy is the name of the lovers’ executioner. I am not only creating boundaries within love. Hypocrisy is the murderer of anything that is done through one’s heart and love. Hypocrisy is insidious. Loves and friendships continue as hypocrisy hides itself within them. It really can be senseless when it comes to love. However, it will show up one way or another even if it is on the death bed. It will transform loving hearts into a fire pit. It will only leave back ashes and disappointment. Love After You Have Gone  describes the hypocrisy in radical religionism and how lives and lovers are destroyed by the social pressure. There are stories of the struggles of those who rebel against this hypocrisy in Love After You Have Gone. And this struggle is the story of societies who have not yet been introduced to real democracy.

How involved were you in the translation of Love After You Have Gone from Turkish to English?

Love After You Have Gone was actually going to be introduced to the audience in Turkey, in the Turkish language. However, after the July 15, 2016 coup attempt, many journalists were threatened so I had to move out of the country. It would not be comparable to the hardships my coworkers have been through in prisons of course; however, living in exile is just another form of imprisonment. I didn’t want this novel that I wrote to be a victim of this punishment. I said to myself, “Even if my novel can’t be introduced in Turkish, as a journalist ready to fight for the truth, I will have to do the best I can.” It shouldn’t only be only Turks who hear my voice, it should be people from all around the globe. Because, now, shouting out the truth and the good is very crucial. For that reason, I translated my novel into the English language. Headquartered in London, my publisher, Bookcity.Co, prepared my novel for publication and allowed for it to be placed in amazon.com, barnesandnobles.com, and iTunes for further distribution. Love After You Have Gone now tells stories of the struggles lovers face with hypocrisy , to whole new world that exceeds the limits of  prison walls.

Love After You Have Gone has a cover that seems very intense. How did that image come about and what were you hoping to convey (without spoiling the plot please!)?

I would like to thank my publisher Bookcity.Co, who helped me with the cover. They executed a well done job. This cover represents the huge chaos in a big city, the social disorder that is uprooted with hate, the broken hearts, and the average lives contaminated with radicalism. At the same time, it represents the determination of youngsters who are trying to fight the dark truth of radicalism.

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

When I am not writing, I prefer to read. Lately, I have been reading novels about Nazi Germany. Books like Alone in Berlin describes the civil struggles against Hitler’s dictatorship, and I had the chance to read this again. These books that describe real events and stories from those time periods, are great sources to use when comparing to today’s world. These books are like school textbooks that describe methods of cruelty and oppression of different time periods. At the same time, graphic novels started to appeal me a little more. The graphics add a different richness and taste to the enjoyment that one has while reading. It also takes me back to the childhood comic books I read and the enthusiasm I had.

If you had 15 words to persuade a reader that Love After You Have Gone should be their next read, what would you say?

When you witness the struggle to fight against the religious hypocrisy, you would have a different perspective on life and love.

Thanks so much for enlightening us about your writing Onder.

About Onder Deligoz

Onder Deligoz ia a Turkish writer and journalist. He graduated from Istanbul University’s Department of Journalism and has worked as a reporter, editor and director in various newspapers and television since 2004. Love After You Have Gone is his first novel.

You can find out more via Onder’s website and on Facebook or by following him on Twitter @onderdeligoz.

I’m absolutely delighted to be staying in with Anne Coates, author of Death’s Silent Judgement, today as I’ve been out with Anne on a few occasions and she’s wonderful company!

Anne has been on Linda’s Book Bag before, once to tell us (here) about writing a sequel and once to tell me all about the influence of reading on writing in a fantastic post you can read here.

If you’re an author who’d also like to stay in with me and tell me about one of your books, please click here for more details.

Staying in with Anne Coates

Welcome back to Linda’s Book Bag Anne. Thank you for agreeing to stay in with me on a Saturday.

Always a pleasure to share your company, Linda.

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

I’ve brought along Death’s Silent Judgement, the second Hannah Weybridge thriller, because the characters led me by the nose in this one and I want to tempt you into her world of 1990s London.

What can we expect from an evening in with Death’s Silent Judgement?

Some shocks and surprises. Hannah is investigating – in her capacity as a journalist ­– her close friend’s death. She is devastated by Liz’s murder and is also hurt that DI Tom Jordan whom she met in Dancers in the Wind, accepted a posting in New York. I was thrilled at one reader’s reaction which was “For God’s sake, Tom get the next plane home!”

Hannah uncovers many secrets – as well as red herrings – and is never sure whom she can trust including the DI, Claudia Turner, who’s investigating Liz’s death. One reviewer was irritated by Claudia remarking that you never knew where you were with her but that’s just the reaction I wanted to achieve! Claudia doesn’t give much away and all we really know is that she is smart – both intellectually and sartorially – and that she and Tom did their training together at Hendon.

One of my daughter’s colleagues suggested I’d modelled Hannah on her. Olivia was horrified and said, “Oh no I’m the baby!” Hannah is a single parent and some readers have criticised her for putting her child at risk. In Death’s Silent Judgement, Hannah is earning more and can afford a full-time nanny but life is never simple.

(Oo. Hannah sounds such a complex and fascinating character!)

One of the joys of writing a series is being able to develop characters who may have had minor roles in an earlier book – assuming they lived to tell the tale! There’s a not a high body count in Death’s Silent Judgement.

What else have you brought along and why?

A bunch of freesia for you. They are one of my favourite flowers and the scent has a significance for Hannah plus a bottle of Chablis – what else? Hannah enjoys her white wine – in fact one reviewer suggested matching her glass for glass while reading the book but I wouldn’t recommend that! She and Tom shared a bottle of Chablis over their first meal together in Joe Allen’s restaurant in Covent Garden so it seems fitting. (I know you don’t drink ordinary wine so I’ve sneaked in a bottle of Prosecco for you, Linda.) Hannah and her friends also enjoy Indian takeaways so I’m having one delivered.

(Wow – a perfect evening for me. I love freesias (once grew some from scratch) and what could be better than a curry and Prosecco!)

Also I’ve brought along happy memories of friendship. Last year two close friends and a neighbour died and previously two other really close friends died way before their time. Those two were such supportive and brilliant friends. I’d like to think they would have enjoyed reading about Hannah’s life.

(What a lovely thought. So many of us have lost loved ones recently.)

In Death’s Silent Judgment, Hannah discovers areas of her friend Liz’s life she had known nothing of… and this leads to some horrific revelations. Some of my friends saw me in a new light after reading my thrillers!

(Me too – you’re such a warm friendly person in real life I can’t imagine you bumping off anyone even in fiction! Thanks so much for a fascinating time staying in Anne.)

Death’s Silent Judgement

Death’s Silent Judgement is the thrilling sequel to Dancers in the Wind, and continues the gripping series starring London-based investigative journalist Hannah Weybridge.

Following the deadly events of Dancers in the Wind, freelance journalist and single mother Hannah Weybridge is thrown into the heart of a horrific murder investigation when a friend, Liz Rayman, is found with her throat slashed at her dental practice.

With few clues to the apparently motiveless crime Hannah throws herself into discovering the reason for her friend’s brutal murder, and is determined to unmask the killer. But before long Hannah’s investigations place her in mortal danger, her hunt for the truth placing her in the path of a remorseless killer…

Death’s Silent Judgement is available for purchase here along with Anne’s other books including Dancers in the Wind.

About Anne Coates

Anne Coates is a freelance editor and author. While editing and abridging other peoples’ novels and non-fiction, she has contributed short stories to magazines like Bella and Candis and wrote two novels that never saw publication. One afternoon she re-read the second one, saw its potential and rewrote it, restructuring the narrative and adding and subtracting scenes. This work became Dancers in the Wind to be published by Urbane Publications on 13 October, 2016.

Some of her short stories appear in two collections: A Tale of Two Sistersand Cheque-Mate and Other Tales of the Unexpected both published as e-books by Endeavour Press. Anne has also written seven non-fiction books ranging from a history of Women in Sport (Wayland) to Applying to University (Need To Know) and Living With Teenagers (Endeavour Press).

Anne lives in London with three cats who are all rather disdainful of her writing as they have yet to appear in her fiction although a dog has!

You can follow Anne on Twitter @Anne_Coates1 and visit her website. You’ll also find Anne on Facebook.

I’m absolutely thrilled (in more ways that one!) to be part of the launch celebrations for The Chalk Man by C. J. Tudor and would like to extend enormous thanks to Jenny Platt for inviting me to take part and for a copy of The Chalk Man in exchange for an honest review.

The Chalk Man will be published by Michael Joseph, part of the Penguin group, on 11th January 2018 and is available for purchase here.

The Chalk Man

Looking back, it all started on the day of the fair and the terrible accident. When twelve-year-old Eddie first met the Chalk Man.

It was the Chalk Man who gave Eddie the idea for the drawings: a way to leave secret messages between his group of friends.

And it was fun, to start with, until the figures led them to the body of a young girl.

That was thirty years ago and Ed thought the past was behind him.

Then he receives a letter containing just two things: a piece of chalk, and a drawing of a stick figure.

As history begins to repeat itself, Ed realises the game was never over…

Everyone has secrets.

Everyone is guilty of something.

And children are not always so innocent.

My Review of The Chalk Man

A dismembered body in a wood is both the culmination, and the start, of actions, lies and shared histories that show we all have something to hide.

Wowzers! What an outstanding book! From the opening sentences of The Prologue to the very last word, The Chalk Man had me gripped in its heart-thumping thrall. C. J Tudor writes with such skill. She knows exactly when one word says more than a whole paragraph and I thought her style was sublime. There are clues dropped like pebbles into a pool that reverberate throughout the story, with red herrings and cliff hangers that whirl through the text so that I was compelled to read on. I found my head spinning with revelations and my skin crawling at some of the descriptions so that reading The Chalk man was an active and physical experience rather than the more passive one we expect.

The plot of The Chalk Man is so sneaky. Just when I thought I had a grasp on exactly what was happening the sands shifted and I found another aspect skewed the truth. Without giving anything away, I found the ending for Ed even more chilling than some of the other, more visceral aspects. This is a book I’ll be thinking about for a very long time.

The characters are superbly depicted. C. J. Tudor has the most intimate understanding of what makes us human in all our frailties and she’s not afraid to show the malicious, the spiteful, the misguided and the vulnerable that lurk beneath the surface in different measures in all of us and make The Chalk Man such a compelling read. I thought the exploration of how we are shaped by coincidence, circumstance and others’ perceptions of who and what we are, was just perfect.

Another triumph for me alongside the fabulous plot and themes is the blurring of truth, perception and imagination. Ed’s nightmares and experiences serve as a Hitchcockesque psychological element that I adored. It is in these sections of the book that C.J Tudor is at her descriptive best so that I can see The Chalk Man being a book that will enthrall readers for decades.

I have seen comparisons between Stephen King and C. J. Tudor. I think they are very much deserved. I believe C. J. Tudor’s writing is brilliant and with The Chalk Man an absolute triumph of a book I can’t wait to read more. The Chalk Man is fantastic and C. J.Tudor is a rising star.

About C. J. Tudor

C. J. Tudor was born in Salisbury and grew up in Nottingham, where she still lives with her partner and young daughter. Her love of writing, especially the dark and macabre, started young. When her peers were reading Judy Blume, she was devouring Stephen King and James Herbert.

Over the years she has had a variety of jobs, including trainee reporter, waitress, radio scriptwriter, shop assistant, voiceover artist, television presenter, copywriter and now author.

The Chalk Man is her first novel.

You’ll find C.J. Tudor on Facebook and you can follow her on Twitter @cjtudor.

There’s more with these other bloggers too:

I’m so pleased that my new Linda’s Book Bag feature Staying in with… is proving popular and today, I’m delighted to welcome back Maggie Christensen to stay in with me and tell us about her book, Champagne for Breakfast as I think that’s a habit I could get used to! Previously on the blog Maggie kindly agreed to be interviewed to celebrate her novel The Good Sister and you can read that interview here.

If you’re an author who’d also like to stay in with me and tell me about one of your books, please click here for more details.

Staying in with Maggie Christensen

Welcome back to Linda’s Book Bag, Maggie. Thank you for agreeing to stay in with me. Tell me, which of your books have you brought along to share and why have you chosen it?

The book I’m bringing along is Champagne for Breakfast and, of course, I’ll be bringing along a bottle of champagne with it.

I’ve chosen this book to take all those in the Northern Hemisphere to a sunny place for the New Year. The book is set in Noosa on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, close to where I live. And the champagne is to go with the title.

Thanks Maggie. I’d loved to be transported to a sunny place – I much prefer the summer to the winter.

What can we expect from an evening in with Champagne for Breakfast?

You can expect to be whirled away to Queensland’s sunshine with a heartwarming story. This book will make you believe in second chances no matter how old you get and help you realise that just because you may be over 50, it doesn’t mean there isn’t any romance or fizzle left.

As someone well over 50 I have to say I agree with you completely Maggie!

What else have you brought along and why?

I’ve brought a very good bottle of champagne!

That sounds like an excellent addition. Like Rosa in Champagne for Breakfast I celebrated my 50th birthday with champagne. The trouble was, I don’t drink much and hadn’t had alcohol for several months. After over a bottle and a half to myself I couldn’t walk straight to make my way back to our hotel room!

Thanks so much for staying in with me Maggie.

Champagne for Breakfast

Rosa Taylor is celebrating her fiftieth birthday with champagne. By the river. On her own.

After finishing her six-year long affair with her boss, Rosa is desperate to avoid him in the workplace and determined to forge a new life for herself.

Harry Kennedy has sailed away from a messy Sydney divorce and is resolute in kick-starting a new life on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.

Thrown together at work, Rosa and Harry discover a secret. One that their employer is desperate to keep hidden. To reveal it they must work together, but first they must learn to trust not only each other but their own rising attraction.

Are these two damaged people willing to risk their hard won independence for the promise of love again?

Champagne for Breakfast is available for purchase here.

About Maggie Christensen

After a career in education, Maggie Christensen began writing contemporary women’s fiction portraying mature women facing life-changing situations. Her travels inspire her writing, be it her frequent visits to family in Oregon, USA or her home on Queensland’s beautiful Sunshine Coast. Maggie writes of mature heroines coming to terms with changes in their lives and the heroes worthy of them.

From her native Glasgow, Scotland, Maggie was lured by the call ‘Come and teach in the sun’ to Australia, where she worked as a primary school teacher, university lecturer and in educational management. Now living with her husband of thirty years on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, she loves walking on the deserted beach in the early mornings and having coffee by the river on weekends. Her days are spent surrounded by books, either reading or writing them – her idea of heaven!

She continues her love of books as a volunteer with her local library where she selects and delivers books to the housebound.

A member of Queensland Writer’s Centre, RWA, ALLi, and a local critique group, Maggie enjoys meeting her readers at book signings and library talks.

You can follow Maggie on Twitter @MaggieChriste33, find her on Facebook and visit her website. You’ll also find Maggie on Goodreads.

As the festive season already seems a distant memory, it’s time to look ahead and think about books again properly. Today, I’m delighted to welcome back Georgia Rose to Linda’s Book Bag to stay in with me and tell us about her book, Parallel Lies.

If you’re an author who’d also like to stay in with me to tell me about one of your books, please click here for more details.

This is a welcome return visit for Georgia and you might like to see her previous guest post all about Cat here.

Staying in with Georgia Rose

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

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

Thank you for inviting me round, Linda. I have brought you Parallel Lies. It is my most recent release, coming out last September, as well as being my most ambitious book to date and the hardest of all of mine to write.

What can we expect from an evening in with Parallel Lies?

Well, Linda, you can expect an evening with a complicated heroine with attitude. Madeleine, or Maddy for short…

‘Unfortunately, on that occasion I’d arrived at the same time as one Letitia Pritchard and not knowing any better had had little chance to get away once she’d pounced on me. Rather disconcertingly, as I was an innocent of village life then, she’d already known where I’d moved into and although I’d introduced myself clearly enough she’d bustled me into the hall and announced me to the assembled throng as Maddy, thereby assuming an intimacy we did not have.

My name is Madeleine, Madeleine Ross. It is a name chosen with thought and because it is classy, and that is what is needed here, so I’d disliked Letitia from that moment on for two reasons. Firstly, for taking the liberty with my name and secondly, because it irritated the hell out of me that I actually liked the shortening, but did not care for the fact she’d been the one to impose it.’

Maddy is living more than one life as well as hiding in plain sight from another. All is gradually revealed but when her past catches up with her it looks like everything she had hoped for in her future is about to unravel.

Told in the first person, as with all my books there is a blending of genre so this is best summed up as a romantic, crime, thriller and the line from a review that tells you that little bit more is ‘For those who admire character-driven thrillers, who can handle brief but shocking violence, and who enjoy beautiful writing, I can’t recommend Parallel Lies enough.’

I think Parallel Lies sounds hugely entertaining and different. 

What else have you brought along and why?

I’d love to have brought round my editor actually, Mark Barry. He is a huge supporter of this book and speaks far more eloquently about it than I could ever do, however he’s a little busy at the moment so instead I bring food, drink and music!

Madeleine loves her food and while she shares a particular meal with one of the other characters, at home she will be found eating macaroni cheese (preferably Charlie Bighams!), much like myself whenever I can get away with it!

(Oh! I haven’t had macaroni cheese for years. I feel the need to have some right now!)

For a young woman she drinks secretly probably more than she should, and she keeps her favourite tipple to herself as it is not in keeping with her new life. Just between ourselves though I’ll treat you to a bottle, Linda, whether you choose to partake is another matter.

(Rather depends on what it is as I can’t drink ordinary wine any more because it makes me ill – though sparkling wines, champagne and cocktails are all fine!)

There is one song which for me fits Maddy perfectly – it is Arms by Christina Perri. When I first heard it I knew I’d found her.

(Brilliant choice Georgia. I love that song. For those who don’t know it, you can listen here.)

It’s been great having you to stay in with Georgia. Thanks so much for being on the blog.

Thank you so much for inviting me round, I’ve had a delightful evening in with you.

Parallel Lies

‘My name is Madeleine, Madeleine Ross. It is a name chosen with thought and because it is classy, and that is what is needed here…’

Madeleine Ross has life exactly as she planned it.
Cosy cottage, friendly village, satisfying job.
Company… when she wants it.

It’s an enviable existence for an independent young woman, and one she’s keen to protect.

Enter Daniel – strong, dependable and a danger to everything she’s built. He’s not something she was looking for, but hearts can’t be controlled and maybe, just maybe he might be worth letting into hers.

But, all is not what it seems. Because Madeleine is hiding a lifetime of secrets. Deep secrets.

And they never stay buried for ever.

Her darkest secret returns, like the proverbial bad penny. He is her first love, shadowy, dangerous, the baddest of bad boys. No matter how far she runs, or how well she hides, she can never escape him.

Or her past.

Here he is, on her doorstep, with a proposition she is powerless to resist but which could devastate the future she hoped to have.

Can Madeleine satisfy the old love while keeping the new?

You can’t always get what you want but, desperate to preserve the life she has worked so hard for, Madeleine is willing to risk everything to prove that she can.

Parallel Lies is available for purchase on Amazon and if you’re quick it’s on offer at 99p/99c until 7th January!

About Georgia Rose

Georgia’s background in countryside living, riding, instructing and working with horses has provided the knowledge needed for some of her storylines; the others are a product of her overactive imagination!

Following a long stint working in the law Georgia set up her own business providing administration services for other companies which she does to this day managing to entwine that work along with her writing.

Her busy life is set in a tranquil part of rural Cambridgeshire where she lives with her much neglected family of a husband, two grown up children and two dogs.

You can find out more about Georgia Rose on her web site and on Facebook. You can also follow her on Twitter. You’ll also find all about Georgia on Amazon UK and Amazon US.

When Three Things About Elsie arrived courtesy of lovely Ann Bissell at Harper Collins in return for an honest review I was utterly delighted because I think Joanna Cannon is one of the most talented authors we have. I previously adored and reviewed Joanna’s The Trouble with Goats and Sheep here.

Three Things About Elsie will be published on 11th January 2018 by Borough Press, an imprint of Harper Collins, and is available for pre-order here.

Three Things About Elsie

There are three things you should know about Elsie.
The first thing is that she’s my best friend.
The second is that she always knows what to say to make me feel better.
And the third thing… might take a little bit more explaining.

84-year-old Florence has fallen in her flat at Cherry Tree Home for the Elderly. As she waits to be rescued, Florence wonders if a terrible secret from her past is about to come to light; and, if the charming new resident is who he claims to be, why does he look exactly a man who died sixty years ago?

My Review of Three Things About Elsie

Florence has had a fall and whilst she waits for someone to find her in her sheltered accommodation, she thinks about her past.

I think I can sum up Three Things About Elsie in two words. Sheer perfection. Joanna Cannon has the unerring ability to look into our very souls and hold up a mirror to who we are and who we might become. There is such beauty and wisdom between the pages of Three Things About Elsie that its resonances will stay with me always.

The language perfectly matches the characters so that I felt as if I were eavesdropping on their conversations and thoughts. It was as if I were listening to someone speaking to me rather than as if I were reading a book and it felt as if Joanna Cannon had crawled into my head and described flawlessly my perceptions about people I know, articulating them far better than I could ever hope to do. I loved every word as the characters of Flo, Elsie, Jack et al were built and revealed. It felt so real and vivid to me I had to keep reading passages aloud to my husband to share the glorious beauty and truth of the writing, especially those elements steeped in humour.

The plot surprised me. I was expecting fabulous and emotional writing, but not quite the wonderful degree of mystery so that Three Things About Elsie can be enjoyed on many, many levels. The themes of love, identity and friendship wove a magical web of enchantment around my heart as a reader, but it was the exploration of who we are, who we become and how we value or demean the older members of our society that truly spoke to my soul. Flo’s experiences and her story could belong to any one of us. I was left with an understanding that we do not have to loom large in the world to leave our mark. Our very ordinariness can be the catalyst for more than we might ever imagine. I ended the book simultaneously in tears and completely uplifted.

Three Things About Elsie is funny and poignant in equal measure. It is beautifully and sympathetically written. It left me feeling we all have positivity and worth and we can make a difference. I thought it was utterly, utterly sublime.

About Joanna Cannon

Joanna Cannon graduated from Leicester Medical School and worked as a hospital doctor, before specialising in psychiatry. She lives in the Peak District with her family and her dog.

You can find out more about Joanna Cannon via her website and you can follow her on Twitter. You’ll also find Joanna on Facebook.

I’ll let you into a secret. I actually read The Place We Met by Isabelle Broom just before Christmas but as I loved it so much and I know I’ll want it be on my list of favourite books for 2018 I have waited to post my review – I know that’s cheating but it’s my blog and I can make my own rules! I’d like to extend my enormous thanks to Izzy for sending me a copy of The Place We Met for review.

You can read also my review of Isabelle Broom’s My Map of You here and of A Year and A Day here.

Published by Penguin on 30th November 2018, The Place We Met is available for purchase through the links here.

The Place We Met

Lucy may have suffered her fair share of bad men, but now she has Pete. Finally, a man worth sharing her favourite place with, Lake Como. That’s if she can put mysterious phone calls and glamorous ex-girlfriends out of her mind.

Taggie is rushed off her feet, but distraction is exactly what she needs to forget why she fled England and the sadness she left behind. She certainly doesn’t have time for infuriating stranger Marco. A man is the last thing she needs right now.

Lucy and Taggie might not know it, but their lives are about to collide. The New Year might begin with fireworks – but how will it end?

My Review of The Place We Met

Taggie, Pete and Lucy can’t imagine how a stay at Lake Como can affect their lives.

Oh my heavens I enjoyed The Place We Met. I thought it was absolutely wonderful. Even when the emotions the characters feel are negative ones I experienced sheer joy in reading The Place We Met. It had everything I adore in fiction, from a setting so vivid it feels as if I’m actually there, through wonderfully depicted characters that are living, breathing humans, to a narrative that draws in the reader so thoroughly that they are completely absorbed in, and almost part of, the story.

I have no idea if the authorities in Lake Como are aware of The Place We Met, but they should be giving Isabelle Broom an Order of Merit for her portrayal of this area of Italy. I feel utterly compelled to be there, preferably in the winter. There’s a magic to the descriptive writing that sparkles and dances until my heart ached with the need to see the same sights as Taggie, Pete and Lucy.

The narrative occurs over Christmas and the New Year, but reading this story would be perfect at any time. Isabelle Broom explores themes of love, relationships and, most importantly, being ourselves when we so often lose sight of who we are, so beautifully that I found reading The Place We Met achingly emotional. I was swept away in the romance, the emotions and the sheer gorgeousness of the writing so that I didn’t want the experience of reading this book to end. I know it will become a book I return to frequently.

I think what Isabelle Broom does so outstandingly when she writes is to keep a relatively small pool of characters so that each one is entirely realistic. I found Pete a complex individual and now I’ve finished reading the book I still feel I’d like to meet him in person and look him in the eye to make my final judgement, but I was in love with Marco from the moment he was introduced.  However, it was Lucy and Taggie who made the book so perfect for me. Taggie’s heartbreak is uncovered with consummate skill and Lucy’s insecurity is a trait so many can identify with. I felt I wanted to gather them both into my arms and reassure them of their worth and future happiness.

Whether I’m thinking about plot, setting, character, style or theme, I thought The Place We Met was unmitigated perfection and I loved it. I was transported by reading it and feel blessed to have had it in my life. Just wonderful.

About Isabelle Broom

Isabelle Broom was born in Cambridge nine days before the 1980s began and studied Media Arts at the University of West London before starting a career first in local newspapers and then as a junior sub-editor at Heat magazine. She travelled through Europe during her gap year and went to live on the Greek island of Zakynthos for an unforgettable and life-shaping six months after completing her degree. Since then, she has travelled to Canada, Sri Lanka, Sicily, New York, LA, the Canary Islands, Spain and lots more of Greece, but her wanderlust was reined in when she met Max, a fluffy little Bolognese puppy desperate for a home. When she’s not writing novels set in far-flung locations, Isabelle spends her time being the Book Reviews Editor at Heat magazine and walking her beloved dog round the parks of north London.

You can follow Isabelle on Twitter @Isabelle_Broom and find her on Facebook.

One of the very first books I read when I began blogging was The Dress by Kate Kerrigan and you can read my review here. I was thrilled to be part of the celebrations of another of Kate’s books, It was Only Ever You with an extract and my review you can read here. Consequently I’m absolutely delighted that my first post of 2018 on Linda’s Book Bag is to start off the celebrations for Kate’s latest novel That Girl with an extract for you to read and an e-book giveaway.

That Girl is published today, 1st January 2018, by Head of Zeus and is available for purchase on Amazon, Kobo and iBooks.

That Girl

You can escape a place. But you can’t escape yourself.

Hanna flees the scene of a terrible crime in her native Sligo. If she can just vanish, re-invent herself under a new name, perhaps the police won’t catch up with her. London seems the perfect place to disappear.

Lara has always loved Matthew and imagined happy married life in Dublin. Then comes the bombshell – Matthew says he wants to join the priesthood. Humiliated and broken-hearted, Lara heads to the most godless place she can find, King’s Road, Chelsea.

Matthew’s twin sister, Noreen, could not be more different from her brother. She does love fiance John, but she also craves sex, parties and fun. Swinging London has it all, but without John, Noreen is about to get way out of her depth.

All three girls find themselves working for Bobby Chevron – one of London’s most feared gangland bosses – and it’s not long before their new lives start to unravel.

An Extract From That Girl

Chapter one

HANNA

Sligo, Ireland, 1961

It was her first visit to Dr Dorian Black’s surgery, and Hanna liked him straight away.

She had only been living in Killa for a few weeks at the time. After her father died suddenly, two years before, her mother Margaret decided they needed a new start and rented a small cottage in Killa, a fishing village on the north-west coast of county Sligo. Margaret hoped proximity to the sea would help heal their ongoing grief. Indeed, Margaret’s spirits lifted as she began a new life among people who knew little or nothing about her, fitting easily into the friendly new parish. Hanna, just thirteen, had settled well into the local convent school. Their home was at the end of the pier, and Hanna developed an appetite for the fresh, salty air, spending hours sitting on the front wall reading and watching the sea. However, this time spent in the chilly air had also resulted in a nasty cough. Margaret, overly protective of her only child, had brought her straight up to the local surgery where she had been greeted by this kind, handsome Dr Black.

‘Now, we’re going to have to take a little look in your mouth, Hanna. Can you open wide for me?’

Hanna opened her mouth widely and he peered in. He smelt of soap and she felt strangely pleased to be in the company of a nice man, even if he was only their doctor. Most of the men they knew from home were farmers, rough and ready, smelling of manure or beer. This man was clean and gentle, like her father. She missed him. It had been two years now and Hanna had started to find it hard to call his face to mind.

‘Now, that doesn’t look too bad.’ Dorian leaned back and took his stethoscope from around his neck. Hanna smiled at him. His accent was refined, barely detectable as Irish. She reminded him of a Jane Austen hero, handsome and dapper like Darcy, but friendly and open too, like Bingley.

‘Well, young lady,’ he said, ‘I think you’ll live.’ Hanna laughed.

Then he turned his attention to Margaret. ‘But, I am writing you a prescription for some antibiotics to clear this nasty cough.’

‘Thank you, Doctor,’ Margaret said.

‘Please,’ he said, smiling, ‘call me Dorian.’

‘Thank you, Dorian.’

Hanna noticed her mother blushing. Margaret was taken with him and, for a moment, Hanna felt pricked with possessive irritation. She reminded herself that her father was dead and it was nice, after all, to see her mother smiling.

As they were leaving, Dorian signalled Margaret to stay back for a private word. For a split second she had a dreadful feeling that there was something wrong with Hanna. After losing Liam, she knew she had become unnaturally attached to her daughter. There was just the two of them now. She couldn’t face it if Hanna were sick.

‘I was wondering,’ Dr Black said, his eyes downcast in shyness, ‘if you would do me the honour of allowing me to take you and Hanna out to dinner this evening.’

*

Over the coming weeks, Dorian courted Margaret. It was like a dream. This charming, erudite man had come into their lives after all the pain, hurt and shock of the last two years. She could hardly believe her luck in finding love again and, although she was as head over heels as a schoolgirl, it was Dorian’s kindness towards Hanna that truly won Margaret’s heart. Most men would have baulked at taking on another man’s daughter, but every time they went out for a drive, to a nice hotel for dinner or to a movie theatre, he always made sure to invite Hanna. Even when they went to Dublin for a weekend, Dorian insisted she and Hanna shared their own room in the Shelbourne rather than have Hanna enduring the upset of her mother being with another man.

That, he said, was the reason for his marriage proposal just two months after their initial meeting.

Giveaway

For your chance to win an e-copy of That Girl by Kate Kerrigan click here. Open internationally, this giveaway closes at UK midnight on Sunday 7th January 2018.

About Kate Kerrigan

Kate worked for many years as a magazine journalist and editor before her first book, Recipes for a Perfect Marriage was published in 2006 and shortlisted for the Romantic Novel of the Year, translated into 25 languages and optioned for film. Her next novel The Miracle of Grace, was also turned into a screenplay, but it was her next project, the Ellis Island Trilogy, featuring feisty heroine Ellie Hogan, that made her a New York Times bestseller. The Lost Garden, The Dress and It Was Only Ever You followed, all to critical acclaim and achieving bestseller status.

You can find out more by following Kate on Twitter and visiting her website. You’ll also find Kate on Facebook and there’s more with these other bloggers: