Kiss of Death by Paul Finch blog tour

Could this be the end for Heck?


The Sunday Times bestseller returns with an unforgettable crime thriller. Fans of MJ Arlidge and Stuart MacBride won’t be able to put this down.

Don’t let them catch you…

A Deadly Hunt
DS ‘Heck’ Heckenburg has been tasked with retrieving one of the UK’s most wanted men. But the trail runs cold when Heck discovers a video tape showing the fugitive in a fight for his life. A fight he has no chance of winning.

A Dangerous Game
Heck realises that there’s another player in this game of cat and mouse, and this time, they’ve not just caught the prize: they’ve made sure no one else ever does.

A Man Who Plays With Fire
How far will Heck and his team go to protect some of the UK’s most brutal killers? And what price is he willing to pay?


Extract:



HECK’S ORIGINS

Readers often ask me which other crime authors are my benchmarks?

Which of those writers who focus on the seamy side of life are the ones who’ve most influenced me in the writing of my own novels? I’d imagine that lots of guys and girls in my situation get asked similar questions, and like me, will respond by reeling off lists of the most impressive names in the business – because we’ve all read widely in the field, and we’d be lying if we didn’t admit that we’ve all probably taken something from every great crime novel that’s gone before us and the masterclass cop characters we’ve so easily been able to picture thanks to how well realised they were on the written page.

But one question I’m rarely asked – and something I’d like to deal with today – is are there any film or TV cop characters who’ve been a stimulus for me, particularly with regard to DS Mark ‘Heck’ Heckenburg (who’ll be reappearing on the bookshelves very shortly, in KISS OF DEATH, of course)?

In response, I think it’s true to say that there are probably four celluloid cops (or cop situations) that have had this kind of direct impact on me; two films and two TV shows.

It might be an embarrassing thing for some writers to admit, because we are supposed to be literary types who, deep down, should only be affected by genuine greatness, though I’d contend that greatness can be found on the screen as well as in book-form.

Anyway, here we go. The two cop movies and two cop TV shoes that most made an impression on me and were most instrumental in the development of my character, Heck, are, in chronological order: Bullitt, The French Connection, The Sweeney and The Shield.

Aside from the fact that these are all essentially slick, quick, tough-talking action thrillers, set in contemporary times and an unforgiving urban setting, in actual fact they could not be more different from each other, and they’ve had very different effects on my work.



First, the movies …

BULLITT (1968), directed by Peter Yates, starred Steve McQueen as Frank Bullitt, a San Francisco police inspector in charge of a Mafia super-grass who is shot and critically wounded shortly before he’s due to give evidence. Bullitt needs to track the killers and whoever gave them their orders, but increasingly upsets his superiors as the enquiry threatens to lead him into ever higher places in the city’s administration.

One of the first ever cop thrillers to examine the often real connections between organised crime and the establishment, Bullitt is high on action but low on violence, casting a sexy and athletic film star in a very cerebral role, which sees him working his way through a highly complex investigation by following his instincts rather than his orders. Readers of the Heck books will probably not need an explanation from me as to what kind of influence this exerted. While the outsider cop is a regular fixture in crime fiction – and Heck is no different, loving his ‘roving commission’ – he often develops theories based on his own analysis of

crime scenes and crime situations which his bosses can’t buy into. Much of the drama and tension in the Heck books stems from the balancing act he must perform between following a system he often suspects is bent or incompetent, or both, and following his own gut.



THE FRENCH CONNECTION (1971), directed by William Friedkin, cast Gene Hackman as Eddie ‘Popeye’ Doyle, a real-life New York narcotics cop, whose vindictive pursuit of a local mobster leads him to break open one of the biggest heroin importation rings in US history.

The reason why this one was influential may not be immediately obvious. While Frank Bullitt was a handsome hero, Popeye Doyle is a slob and a boor, and unpopular with his colleagues, and that is not the way I’ve envisaged Heck. Heck is usually affable and has one or two friends on the force, even if not necessarily among the brass. But he and Doyle share a dogged nature; it’s that instinct thing again, that old-fashioned police hunch business. In The French Connection, Popeye only gets to the real bad guys after a prolonged and convoluted enquiry, which many of his fellow officers oppose because they simply don’t trust him. And that’s been the story of Heck’s life in all seven novels so far. Neither he nor Doyle have an unfailing faith in their own judgement, but they’re both of them stubborn and bullish enough to keep advancing along an increasingly difficult track despite growing evidence that it’s likely to be a dead-end.



And now the TV shows …

THE SWEENEY (1975/78), made by Thames Television, starred John Thaw as Jack Regan, a northern copper displaced to London, and now a DI in Scotland Yard’s elite Flying Squad, a unit who exist solely to tackle the city’s gangs of armed robbers.

The situation was the bigger deal for me here, rather than the actual character. While I certainly took some influences for Heck from John Thaw’s electrifying portrayal of Regan – I referenced it directly in Kiss of Death, the exiled northerner, lonely and cut off from his family, perennially unlucky in love – ultimately, I was more interested in his relationship with the underworld. By its nature, the real-life Flying Squad had to wheel and deal to get results; it was interested in big fish, not little ones. Therefore, unofficial alliances were made. They relied heavily on informers, against whose own criminal activities they often turned a blind eye. To some, this was common sense policing; to others it was corruption. The Flying Squad of the 1970s did eventually come unstuck, when it got embroiled in some seriously questionable practises, and this also happens in the TV series. But in the Heck books, which are set in the here and now, we never take it that far. Nevertheless, Heck refuses to play by the rules; he knows every trick in the book, which may include strong-arming criminals and even blackmailing them. At the same time, he makes allegiances with lesser villains in order to pull in the more dangerous ones. Heck is not corrupt, but in the heavily bureaucratic world of 21st century policing, all this would be complete anathema. So, even though Heck’s methods gain him extraordinary results, as Regan’s did back in the 1970s, we always get the feeling that, at any moment, his time could be up.



THE SHIELD, (2002/08), will almost certainly be my most controversial selection. A popular but divisive US cop show from Fox, it told the tale of South-Central Los Angeles’ infamous Strike Team, a group of undercover detectives, led by Sergeant Vic Mackey (a bravura performance by Michael Chiklis!), who would literally stop at nothing in their war against street crime.

Based on the real-life Rampart unit, who in the 1990s were the centre of a huge misconduct scandal, Strike Team members are openly portrayed as corrupt, killing some of their targets, framing and stealing from others, robbing criminal strongholds and even, on one occasion, murdering a fellow police officer who’s grown suspicious about them. However, such was the skill with which the show was written, directed and performed, that you endlessly rooted for these maverick antiheroes, even though you knew it would at some point come crashing down in flames – as indeed it did. I should say straight away that there is no aspect of Vic Mackey in Mark Heckenburg. Mackey is ruthless, violent and sadistic. Oh, he is charismatic, and he has his caring side with his family, but when he’s on the job, he’s an out-and-out hoodlum. But what I inherited from The Shield was not the character but the milieu.



The borough of Farmington is a fictional corner of LA, where every kind of crime and vice is rampant. Psychos, weirdoes and creeps populate every street; there are serial killers, gangbangers, child-molesters and pimps. Drugs and disease are everywhere; there is horrendous squalor. And yet there is colour to all this. In the fashion of James Bond or even Batman, The Shield features some of the most wonderfully deadly and deranged villains I’ve ever seen on television: the Jesus lookalike who collects people’s feet (whether they’re alive or dead); the handsome, intelligent Texan who relentlessly murders needy women; the scar-faced gangster who burns his rivals at the stake. It’s perhaps no coincidence that in the Heck books, we try to offer a cross-section of villainy, but that it’s always (or so we hope) memorable and outlandish. The inspiration for that could lie with Bond and Batman, but it’s mostly the case, I think, that it lies with The Shield.

Her Name Was Rose - Guest Post

Her name was Rose. You watched her die. And her death has created a vacancy.



When Emily lets a stranger step out in front of her, she never imagines that split second will change her life. But after Emily watches a car plough into the young mother – killing her instantly – she finds herself unable to move on.



And then she makes a decision she can never take back.



Because Rose had everything Emily had ever dreamed of. A beautiful, loving family, a great job and a stunning home. And now Rose’s husband misses his wife, and their son needs a mother. Why couldn’t Emily fill that space?



But as Emily is about to discover, no one’s life is perfect … and not everything is as it seems.




Guest Post:

One of the most common questions writers are asked is “How do you come up with your ideas”?

There is no clear, defined answer unfortunately. For any of us who have spent days or weeks, or even months trying to find the next idea to stick for the next book, it would be really handy if we had a go to method for picking what our next book will be about.

The truth is, you never really know when inspiration will strike or what will fire off an idea that you can take and transform into 90,000 words of a novel that will grip a reader.

Over the years, different things have inspired my stories. My own experiences of Post Natal Depression inspired my first novel Rainy Days and Tuesdays. A real life love story I reported on during my journalism career inspired The First Time I Said Goodbye. My grandmother’s battle with Alzheimer’s inspired Still You.

There were elements of real life experiences in all my women’s fiction books. But it’s a bit harder when it comes to finding ideas for thrillers. Thankfully most of us would have found ourselves under threat or under the control of a twisted individual!

But sometimes a kernel of a story can kick of something very different. When it came to ‘Her Name Was Rose’, there were a number of ideas that came together to make me sit down and put pen to paper.

First of all, the opening line ‘It should have been me’, popped into my head and wouldn’t go away.

Secondly I’d noticed how social media had become a very public way for people to express their grief, particularly after a tragic death and how people increasingly used the likes of Facebook to write messages to the deceased expressing their sorrow.

At the same time, I knew that Facebook and all other social media isn’t really real. They are showrooms for our actual life. We show people the good things, the happy memories, the days when we look at our very best, when we are being the best friends, mothers, partners and people we can be.

Quite often there is something very different going on behind the scenes of what we choose to share with people.

It has taken “keeping up with the Joneses” to a whole new level as we battle not only to have what others have, but to be as happy as they are.

The pressure to be happy, and grateful is immense.

So with those ideas in mind, I came up with the characters of Rose – who has the picture perfect life – and Emily, who craves it more than anything.

From there a story of intrigue and twists and turns followed and the ideas kept coming. Sometimes I would see an interaction between people and be inspired. More often than not the idea for the next twist would come to me while I was doing something really mundane like taking a shower or walking on the beach.

And now I’m preparing to start writing another book and waiting for that moment of divine inspiration to get me back at my writing desk.

All ideas welcome!

A Summer Scandal - Kat French and guest post

A feel-good summer romance guaranteed to make you laugh out loud!

Summer has never been so scandalous…

When Violet moves to Swallow Beach, she inherits a small Victorian pier with an empty arcade perched on the end of it, and falls in love immediately. She wants nothing more than to rejuvenate it and make it grand again – but how?

When she meets hunky Calvin, inspiration strikes. What if she turned the arcade into an adult-themed arcade full of artisan shops?

Not everyone in the town is happy with the idea, but Violet loves her arcade and business begins to boom. But as tensions worsen and the heat between her and Calvin begins to grow, life at Swallow Beach becomes tricky. Is it worth staying to ride out the storm? And can Violet find her own happy ending before the swallows fly south for the winter?

Sexy, sassy and full of heart, Kat French is back in a new summer sizzler.

Guest Post:
I’ve written a summer book for the last five years now - I love the idea of people packing my book in their suitcase alongside their bikini and sunscreen. This year my release is called A Summer Scandal, a story about a girl who unexpectedly inherits a pier in a seaside town she’s never heard of and packs up her life to head down there to discover her roots. What follows is a story of love and heartbreak across the decades, with lots of laughter along the way thanks to the eccentric locals of Swallow Beach!



Summer is undoubtedly my favourite season of the year, and here are my top ten reasons why.



Summer holidays. I wouldn’t be without the annual family pilgrimage to somewhere warm, preferably with a beach on the doorstep and a hammock in the trees. The older I get, the more I just want to get off the plane and crash out. When the kids are very little we started visiting the Balearics because of the short flight, and we love them so much that we go back most summers. This year we’re off to Formentera, the smallest and least known of the islands, and the only one we’ve yet to visit.



Everyone is in a better mood when the suns out. It’s true, isn’t it? Grey skies puts everyone in an equally grey mood, while the sunshine just seems to make everyone smile. No wonder they say that Aussie’s are the happiest people on the planet!



Opening all of the windows. Oh, this one is a biggie for me! We recently moved into a house that has lots of windows and French doors, and it’s blissful to be able to open everything up and let the summer in. I work at the table beside the French doors and it’s like having an inside-outside office.



Not having to wear winter clothes. The joy of cracking out a

sundress after a long winter of jeans and opaque tights is a particular thrill, isn’t it! Let’s forget about the whole having to shave our legs and slap on some bronzer. It’s harder work, but just so much more fun.



Not being cold. Seriously. I hate the cold. Give me a dappled, shady spot on a sunny day and I’m a happy writer.



Light mornings. I love the early mornings, those precise extra hours of daylight before everyone else wakes. I like to sit outside with a coffee and think about the day ahead, or write if I’m close to deadline.



Late nights. Ditto the long summer evenings. BBQ’s, windows open and start-lit nights… my idea of heaven.



Summer cocktails. I love a cocktail at any time of the year, but especially so in the summer. Long, preferably, stacked with ice and gin! Or fizzy. Bubbles def taste better in the sunshine.



The flowers. Summer hedgerows, parks bursting with colour, and the wisteria that climbs the front of our house. Summer is such a riot of colour and scents, flowers and freshly cut grass. No one say hay fever!



The school holidays. I always think that the end of the school year marks the onset of longer, lazy days. We work from home, so once the kids are out of school for summer, or home life in general takes on a more laid back, lazy pace for a couple of months. Bring it on, I’m so ready this year!



A Summer Scandal is out on June 28th 2018.

Missing Pieces by Laura Pearson

What if the one thing that kept you together was breaking you apart?

All Linda wants to do is sleep. She won’t look at her husband. She can’t stand her daughter. And she doesn’t want to have this baby. Having this baby means moving on, and she just wants to go back to before. Before their family was torn apart, before the blame was placed.

Alienated by their own guilt and struggling to cope, the Sadler family unravels. They grow up, grow apart, never talking about their terrible secret.

That is until Linda's daughter finds out she’s pregnant. Before Bea brings another Sadler into the world, she needs to know what happened twenty-five years ago. What did they keep from her? What happened that couldn’t be fixed?

A devastating mistake, a lifetime of consequences. How can you repair something broken if pieces are missing?

Laura Pearson has very kindly written a guest post for me on writing tips! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Guest Post:
Writing tips

I feel like a bit of a fraud writing a blog post with this title, even as my first novel is being published and my second one is going through edits. The truth is, I never really know what it is I’ve done that’s worked, and why other things haven’t. It’s so hard to be critical of your own work, when you’ve spent weeks and months and possibly years working on it and you cannot possibly be objective about it. Having said all that, I’ve been doing this (or trying to) for a really long time, and along the way I’ve picked up a few tips that I’d love to share with you. They’re not revolutionary, but they are simple and true (as far as I’m concerned).

1. Write as often as you can

I don’t really like it when people say you have to write every day. Writing every day is ideal but it’s not always practical. Writers have jobs and they’re parents and they have responsibilities and they can’t always prioritise writing over these things, especially when there’s no guarantee that they’ll ever be paid for their writing work. So if you have to skip a few days because work is insane or the kids are ill, don’t beat yourself up about it. Just get back to it when you can, and pick up where you left off.

2. Read as much as possible

We all know that reading is crucial for writers, right? Reading great writers is the best masterclass in writing you’ll ever get, in my opinion. And forget any literary snobbery you’ve come across in the past. Read whatever you want to read. Read the books you think your book might sit alongside in the market; read the classics; read the books you loved as a kid. Learn from books you think don’t work, and learn from those you can’t put down. And then channel it all into your own writing.

3. Help other writers to help yourself

I’ve only really discovered the writing community on Twitter fairly recently, and it’s wonderful. There are so many kind readers and writers out there who want you to succeed. So whether you’re looking for competitions to enter, hoping to connect with other writers for feedback or trying to find your way through the tricky publishing process, the best way to help yourself is to help others and then let them help you right back. I promise you, those people are there, ready and waiting. Join them.

It started with a tweet by Anna Bell guest post

It started with a tweet.

Daisy Hobson lives her whole life online. A marketing manager by day, she tweets her friends, instagrams every meal and arranges (frankly, appalling) dates on Tinder. But when her social media obsession causes her to make a catastrophic mistake at work, Daisy finds her life going into free-fall . . .

Her sister Rosie thinks she has the answer to all of Daisy's problems - a digital detox in a remote cottage in Cumbria, that she just happens to need help doing up. Soon, too, Daisy finds herself with two welcome distractions: sexy French exchange-help Alexis, and Jack, the brusque and rugged man-next-door, who keeps accidentally rescuing her.

But can Daisy, a London girl, ever really settle into life in a tiny, isolated village? And, more importantly, can she survive without her phone?

Guest post:

The Book on a Shelf Moment



I got my first taste of releasing a book baby into the world when I self-published my first novel, Millie and the American Wedding. I became slightly obsessed with checking it’s chart rankings and how many copies I’d shifted in a day. It was great seeing it on the screen and on my Kindle but there always something missing. I longed to hold my book baby in my hands, to see it on a shelf of a bookshop so I could visit it and stroke it and smell it and all the other things I imagined people did when visiting their own books.

Luckily for me, my third self-published novel, Don’t Tell the Groom, was picked up by a traditional publisher and they wanted to release it in paperback. I was absolutely over the moon. Nothing could have prepared me for the feeling of holding my very own paperback in my hands. It looked great, it felt great and it smelt great. Only the timing for me couldn’t have been worse. I had a baby four weeks beforehand and I live in rural France, which meant that I was in a sleep deprived/constant feeding haze and I was unable to travel with the baby as he had no passport. So I totally missed out on that book on a shelf moment. It was still really exciting, but at first I had to make do with living vicariously through friends and family. I remember my mum going into her local Asda and buying four copies and her proudly telling the man on the till that it was her daughter’s book. My sister bought a copy of Closer magazine and sent me photos of the reviews of my book.

I then had to wait for another two months until I physically saw my book in the wild and then I found it really weird. I shuffled nervously past my book in a supermarket, not wanting to stand next to it. I was too embarrassed to be caught next to it in case people realised that it was my book and thought I was a total weirdo for lingering next to it.

I was pretty much like that with the next couple of books too and it wasn’t until I got to my fourth book The Bucket List to Mend a Broken Heart that something seemed to snap in me and I got super proud of seeing my book in shops. I started to buy a copy every time I saw it and I’d often say to the cashier - that’s my book - and instead of it being really cringy they were always really excited for me. I suddenly realised how special it was and how lucky I was to see my dreams realised.

My books have now been translated into nine languages and that’s another surreal thing - seeing a book with your name and looking at words you can’t read but knowing that they must be yours. I’m yet to see one of my foreign editions in a shop, but my husband was excited to see the german version of The Bucket List in a department store in Berlin.

As the publication day for my new novel It Started With a Tweet approaches, I’ve got the inevitable pre-publication nerves, but I know they’ll start to fade as soon as I see the physical copy on the shelves. And this time, I’ll be the one standing proudly next to her book baby snapping selfies with it and stroking it. Gone is my awkward embarrassment; I wrote the book and I’m bloomin’ proud about it and I want as many people to know as possible

Thanks so much Anna Bell for stopping by today to share this on The Book Corner, I cannot wait to get started on my copy of the book. It will be perfect reading over Christmas! 

The Little Kiosk by the Sea by Jennifer Bohnet with guest post

The Little Kiosk by the Sea by Jennifer Bohnet
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time’s running out to save the little kiosk by the sea…

Sabine knows that if she doesn’t come up with a plan to save her little kiosk soon, it might be too late. If only her best friend Owen would stop distracting her with marriage proposals!

Harriet is returning to Dartmouth for the first time in thirty years, haunted by the scandal that drove her away and shocked by an inheritance that could change everything.

Rachel never expected to find love again after her world was shattered a year ago. But it seems as if the sleepy seaside town has different ideas…

One thing’s for sure, it’s a summer they will never forget!


I love a summery contemporary so couldn't wait to get started on this one. Working full time I find it difficult to read during the week, I need light reads that I can pick up read a couple of pages and put down until I have time to return to it. This was what I was hoping to do with the book due to it's length I thought it would be perfect.

The Little Kiosk by the Sea, is a sweet book, one where we follow regulars from the area (Dartmouth) getting into the summer season, it is focused around the kiosk, which is been threatened with closure. This is where I thought the book fell down a bit for me, there were just too many characters for me to understand what was going on. As I said before about my situation, it could just have been due to the fact I didn't have enough time to really get into it. I found it hard to keep up with the characters, although there were some stories that I really enjoyed.

I particularly liked Rachel and Harriet's stories, I could have just read a book about them. I thought the baby Carla story was a little silly and very unrealistic, it didn't seem to go anywhere either. Although this is based round the kiosk, the focus comes away from this and the stories of the people are what make the book.

This would be a perfect read on holiday with a cocktail in one hand and laying on a sunbed. I feel that it was an easy going read and I only wish I had dedicated a whole day to get into the story, I feel had I of done this I would have enjoyed it a lot more. I would rate this as 3.5*, which has been rounded up for Amazon and Goodreads.

I would like to thank the publisher for sending this in exchange for an honest review.



Guest Post:

Well the first thing you must absolutely do is to arrive by ferry rather than the inland route. There are two ferries continually criss-crossing the river but my preference is always for the Higher Ferry. Seeing Dartmouth from the other side of the river for the first time is unforgettable, as Ellie in The Little Kiosk By The Sea found the day she joined her mother Harriet in the house she’d inherited. Be warned though, there can be a lengthy wait for the ferry in the height of summer.



Once in Dartmouth there is so much to see and do but start with a wander along the Embankment towards the ancient Bayards Cove from where the Mayflower and Speedwell set sail for America. So much activity on the river these days, yachts, dinghies, even the occasional frigate making an official visit to the Royal Naval College high on the hill overlooking the town. You’ll walk past several of the little kiosks advertising fishing and boat trips, similar to the one in the book. If you have time, take a trip on the small passenger ferry out to the castle - keeping a an eye out for the beautiful bronze mermaid on her rock.



Back in town explore the centre of town with its medieval streets - Duke Street with the Butterwalk, Anzac Street, Foss Street usually a riot of flowers and hanging baskets in summer. As you wander around you’ll see flights of old steps in various parts of the town - explore where they lead and you’ll see parts of Dartmouth that visitors rarely see.



Celebrate your visit at the end of the day sitting by the boatfloat in the centre of town with a typical Dartmouth ice-cream - coffee flavour with Devonshire clotted cream on top and a chocolate flake. Delicious!





The Little Kiosk by the Sea by Jennifer Bohnet is out 6th July (HQ, £7.99) Find out more about Jennifer’s writing at www.jenniferbohnet.com

Island of Secrets - Patricia Wilson blog tour with guest post

'The story started at dawn on the fourteenth of September, 1943 . . .'
All her life, London-born Angelika has been intrigued by her mother's secret past. Now planning her wedding, she feels she must visit the remote Crete village her mother grew up in.

Angie's estranged elderly grandmother, Maria, is dying. She welcomes Angie with open arms - it's time to unburden herself, and tell the story she'll otherwise take to her grave.

It's the story of the Nazi occupation of Crete during the Second World War, of horror, of courage and of the lengths to which a mother will go to protect her children. And it's the story of bitter secrets that broke a family apart, and of three enchanting women who come together to heal wounds that have damaged two generations.

Patricia Wilson has stopped by today and is sharing her 5 top tips for writing. 

FIVE TIPS FOR WRITING FICTION



1/ Never use five words when three will do.



2/ Join a writer’s circle and embrace criticism.



3/ Work from your synopsis, but don’t be afraid to deviate.



4/ Write the story first, fill in details like the location descriptions later.



5/ Keep notes such as dates/places of birth, name spellings, for all your characters.



6/ Do a thorough check for repeated words.



7/ Use a good editor before submitting to agents.



8/ Don’t turn writing into a chore. Find your most productive time to write.



9/ Don’t be disheartened by rejection slips. Keep working to improve the ms.



10/ Learn the craft. Decide on your genre. Become professional in your writing habits.



11/ Write the first draft of your second manuscript, in the same genre as the first, and work on it as you wait for a positive submission response.

Dreaming of Venice by T A Williams blog tour with guest post

Summary:

Find love, friendship and prosecco – in the magical city of Venice.

Life is tough for Penny. A dead end job in a London café, a boyfriend in Australia (what could go wrong?) and an art career going nowhere. But then Penny is approached with an extraordinary proposition.

It isn’t going to be easy but, if she can pull it off, she will turn her life around and at long last see the fulfilment of her dream – to visit Venice. And, just maybe, find true happiness with the handsome man of her dreams.

But can dreams come true?



Information about the Book

Title: Dreaming of Venice

Author: T. A. Williams

Release Date: 24th April 2017

Genre: Romance

Publisher: Canelo

Format: Ebook 

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34597482-dreaming-of-venice 

Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B06XN5V1YR

Author Info:

My name is Trevor Williams. I write under the androgynous name T A Williams because 65% of books are read by women. In my first book, "Dirty Minds" one of the (female) characters suggests the imbalance is due to the fact that men spend too much time getting drunk and watching football. I couldn't possibly comment. Ask my wife...

My background, before taking up writing full time, was in teaching and I was principal of a big English language school for many years. This involved me in travelling all over the world and my love of foreign parts is easy to find in my books. I speak a few languages and my Italian wife and I still speak Italian together.

I've written all sorts: thrillers, historical novels, short stories and now I'm enjoying myself hugely writing humour and romance. My most recent books are the What happens… series. What happens in Tuscany reached #1 in the Amazon.uk Romantic Comedy chart and What Happens on the Beach, the last in the series, came out in July. Chasing Shadows is still romance, but with the added spice of a liberal helping of medieval history, one of my pet hobbies. I do a lot of cycling and I rode all the way to Santiago de Compostela on a bike a few years back. This provided both the inspiration and the background research for Chasing Shadows.

I’m originally from Exeter, and I’ve lived all over Europe, but now I live in a little village in sleepy Devon, tucked away down here in south west England. I love the place.

Website: http://www.tawilliamsbooks.com/ Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/TAWilliamsbooks Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TrevorWilliamsBooks

Guest Post:
Trevor (T.A.) Williams talks about why writing is so important to him.

Let’s start with a definition. What is a writer? At first glance, it’s pretty straightforward; a writer is somebody who writes things. For the sake of this post, we’ll ignore the clever people who write advertising slogans, poets, songwriters, journalists and whoever took the time and trouble to write that collection of smutty limericks on the wall of the toilet in the old pub I used to frequent. What we are talking about here are people who write books. I’ve been writing books since I was 14 and, seeing as I’ve just turned 68, that’s a hell of a long time. But I’ve only been an author since 2013. Know the difference? The received wisdom here in the world of those of us who write books is that you only become an author when your first book gets published.

So, although I spent fifty years writing the best part of a million unpublished words, the fact that none of my work got published until 2013 made me a second class citizen in the world of books, if I had only known it. It was only when my first book, “Dirty Minds” was read by an editor at Carina UK (now part of Harper Collins) and she offered me my first publishing contract that I suddenly became an author. That was, by the way, an amazing, life-changing day for me and I will always be immensely grateful to the lovely Clio Cornish for taking a chance on an old boy like me.

Anyway, what’s in a name? Being called an author or a writer is all the same to me. The fact is, I’ve always written as much for myself as for anybody else. Although I spent many a long hour composing begging letters to literary agents and publishers without success, it was the act of writing my books that worked for me. I had a pretty full-on day job for many years and for me, writing has always been a form of relaxation. I love losing myself in a world of my own invention, being able to choose what happens to the characters, where it all happens and even what they have for dinner. In this way, I can transform a cold winter evening into a sunny day on a sandy beach, and the mug of lukewarm tea beside me into a glass of vintage champagne.

It’s a great way of reminiscing about the past, remembering places and events buried in the mists of time. I have been fortunate in my life to have travelled a lot and to have met a host of interesting, funny and sometimes downright bonkers people. I saw a T-shirt recently which read, I’m an author. Be nice to me or I’ll put you in one of my books. I find myself doing it all the time. Oh so often, events I had forgotten or people who had retreated to the very back of my mind emerge from the shadows and

enter my books. As I write, I’m thinking about them and remembering the times we spent together.

My books are definitely Happy Ever After. That means, I want to feel happy with the ending myself. And as for the reader, the last thing I want is for somebody to get to the end of one of my books, reach for a bottle of vodka and a razor blade and end it all. What I want is for the reader to reach the last line with what one reviewer has described as “a silly smile on my face” and then head straight back to Amazon to buy another one. Apart from hopefully spreading a bit of happiness in an increasingly humourless world, it also makes sound business sense.

So, if you read any of my books, bear in mind that I have really, truly enjoyed writing them. If you read them and enjoy them, then that’s a real bonus for me.

The Woman who met her match by Fiona Gibson Guest Post

The Woman who met her match by Fiona Gibson
What if your first love came back on the scene . . . 30 years later?

After yet another disaster, Lorrie is calling time on online dating. She might be single in her forties, but she’s got a good job, wonderful children and she’s happy. This, Lorrie decides, is going to have to be enough.

That is, until she receives a very unexpected request from France. Antoine Rousseau, who had once turned a lonely French exchange trip into a summer of romance, wants to see her – after thirty years.

But Lorrie is a responsible woman. She can’t exactly run off to Nice with the man who broke her teenage heart . . . can she?

A wonderfully funny novel, perfect for fans of Jill Mansell, Joanna Bolouri and Milly Johnson.

Fiona has stopped by with her make up must haves. Here they are!

MY MAKE-UP MUST-HAVES / FIONA GIBSON

My make-up bag is a precious thing. If I mislay it, the accompanying panic is akin to losing my purse, phone or keys - or having one of those dreams when you’re, say, in the baked goods aisle in Sainsbury’s and suddenly realise you are naked.

Most women I know are the same. It’s taken us years to squirrel out our favourites, and to replace it all would be nightmare in terms of time, effort and cash. When I was younger, I hopped from brand to brand, whereas now - although I’m not averse to trying something new - I’m somewhat more faithful to my favourites. Here’s what’s nestling in my make-up bag right now.

Bare Minerals Complexion Rescue BB cream - recommended by Misha McCullagh, a BM consultant who gave me lots of helpful advice when I was writing my new novel, The Woman Who Met Her Match (my main character, Lorrie, works on a beauty counter in a posh department store and I needed the inside info on what that’s like). I can’t bear a caked, claggy feeling on my skin, and haven’t worn actual foundation for years. This BB cream is sheer and light and gives just enough coverage to smooth out the wear and tear.

Bare Minerals Smoothing Face foundation brush. Brush application, as demonstrated to me by Misha, was a revelation - for my entire life I’ve just bunged on my base with my fingers. But using a brush like this, in small circular motions, gives a more even coverage and a really brilliant, professional result. I’m a total covert.

Benefit ‘That Gal’ Brightening Face Primer. Another counter recommendation (I really am a beauty salesperson’s dream. ‘Here I am! Have my money, people!’). If I’ve been working mad hours and lack sleep and fresh air, then my skin can start to look ashen. This magical stuff perks it up. Often, I put a blob on my hand, with a blob of the aforementioned BB cream too, blend them with a brush and then apply - so it’s a primer and BB in one. The effect is really light and brightening.

Clinique Stay-Matte Sheer Pressed Powder. Yep, powder can be viewed as a bit ‘nana’s make-up bag’ but I’ve sworn by this for decades, and always have that trusty green compact in my bag. While I’m not fond of an overly powdery look, a light dusting makes me feel ready to face the day.

Chanel Hydrating Lip Color in Rouge Coco. I’m having a ‘red revival’ after two decades of muted lip shades. Weirdly, I assumed I’d passed the cut-off age for a true red, but a counter lady persuaded me otherwise. This formulation glides on, is neither too matte nor too glossy, and lasts for hours as long as it’s applied with a liner. It’s amazingly easy to wear.

Diorshow Proliner - a twist-up liner which is far easier to apply, in my opinion, than the liquid type that comes with a brush. It’s just like drawing with a pen and gives deep, rich colour that lasts for hours. While I feel slightly too old for the liquid flick, this little beauty just works for me.

As for blusher, at the moment I’m using a swanky Chanel one - but only because I had a treaty gift voucher. I could just as happily use a bargainacious brand like Barry M or Boots No. 7. Ditto for pencil lip liners and eye liners - I don’t believe you need to spend a lot. And mascara-wise, I’m currently using Soap & Glory but I’m equally keen on Clinique and Benefit. I’m a bit of a brand-hopper, lashes-wise.

And underneath it all? When it comes to skincare I’m currently wedded to Liz Earle’s Hot Cloth Cleanser (easily the best cleanser of my life), plus her Superskin Moisturiser and serum (called Concentrate for Night). The ladies at the John Lewis concession in Glasgow are super-helpful and I often come away with a few enticing freebies when I’ve made a purchase. Yes, it’s all a bit spendy, but these products last and last and are a joy to use every day. Isn’t it brilliant to be a woman sometimes?



Fiona’s new novel, The Woman Who Met Her Match, is out now (Avon)

I can't wait to go out and grab a copy, thanks so much Fiona for stopping by!

Where the Wild Cherries Grow by Laura Madeleine blog tour with guest post

It is 1919 and the war is over, but for Emeline Vane, the cold Norfolk fens are haunted by memories of those she has lost. In a moment of grief, she recklessly boards a trains and runs away from it all. Her journey leads her far away, to a tiny seaside town in the South of France. Taken in by cafe owner Maman and her twenty-year-old son, Emeline discovers a world completely new to her: of oranges, olives and wild herbs and the raw, rich tastes of her surroundings. But when a love affair develops, as passionate as the flavours of the village, secrets from home begin blowing in from the sea. Fifty years later, a young solicitor on his first case finds Emeline’s diary, and begins to trace a story of betrayal, love and bittersweet secrets that will send him on a journey to discover the truth...

Guest Post: 

Where I Write…

Laura Madeleine

Even though the image of a writer working feverishly in a cold garret is probably one of literature’s biggest clichés, that’s pretty much how I’ve written my last four novels. I work in the attic, my desk under a skylight, at the top of a tall, thin, Victorian terraced house. If you’ve ever seen pictures of Bristol, with its colourful houses on the hill, you’ll know what I mean. Writing in the attic does have its downsides. For one thing, there’s no heating up here, so it gets very cold in the winter. Also, being four flights of stairs away from the bathroom, it’s never a good idea to wait until things get too desperate…

But for me, the positives far outweigh the negatives. I’ve always loved attics, the feeling of being high up, the slanted ceilings, the beams. I also love the light: good light is important to me. The first flat I lived in when I first moved to the city was undeniably dingy, and I was never happy there. But here, if I look up, all I can see is the sky and the edges of chimneystacks.

There’s also a railway track close to the house. It’s not a big one, and is mostly used by ponderous, never-ending freight trains. At first, I thought the noise was going to be a problem; the two-toned honk honk of train horns and the strange, syncopated clacking of wheels in the middle of the night. But I’ve come to enjoy those sounds too. They’re sounds of movement, of life, a reminder that outside my bubble of make-believe, the world is always turning.

At my desk I’m surrounded by piles of paper that I have yet to sort out, but can’t throw away for whatever vague reason. There are empty cups of coffee (I’m terrible for hoarding them: again, three flights of stairs to the kitchen), open notebooks and ratty pieces of paper, that have taken on the status of IMPORTANT because of some idea scrawled on them. I have maps and pages of notes pinned to the wooden beam in front of me. At the moment, those notes consist of timelines, quotes by Maya Angelou and Primo Levi, a reminder about the Musée des Arts Forains in Paris (?) and words METAL POTFIRE. Hopefully I’ll remember why that’s significant at some point.

There are also a lot of plants up here. I love having them about, and often find myself staring at them, thinking. It’s a running joke in the house that I don’t know

where to stop when it comes to plants, and it’s true, I’m running out of flat surfaces to put pots on.

To my right, I have shelves of books that are being slowly bleached by the sun (sorry books), and a print that my friend Arthur once made for me in exchange for cake. To my left, there are shelves of records, the steep, steep stairs down the floor below and a trapdoor I can close, to keep the rest of the world at bay, while I write.

Laura Madeleine 

After a childhood spent acting professionally and training at a theatre school, Laura Madeleine chose instead to focus on studying English Literature at Newnham College, Cambridge. She now writes fiction, under three different psuedonyms. Laura lives in Bristol, but can often be found visiting her family in Devon, eating cheese and getting up to mischief with her sister, fantasy author Lucy Housom. Laura can be found on Twitter @esthercrumpet.

An Unsuitable Marriage By Colette Dartford with guest post

Could your marriage survive the ultimate betrayal? A sharp and emotional novel of a family under pressure, perfect for fans of Joanna Trollope and Hilary Boyd.

Olivia had everything - a loving husband in Geoffrey, a thoughtful and intelligent son in Edward and a beautiful home in the Somerset countryside.

But all that changed when Geoffrey's business went under. Now penniless and homeless, Geoffrey is living with his recently widowed mother, whilst Olivia has been forced to work as a housemistress at her son's elite boarding school.

With their marriage under intolerable strain, Geoffrey makes a mistake - one that has devastating consequences for the guilty and innocent alike . .

Guest Post by Colette Dartford

Character Profile:

I write about relationships in crisis and in my new novel, An Unsuitable Marriage, the relationship in question is the thirteen year marriage of Geoffrey and Olivia Parry.

Geoffrey is a vicar’s son, the only child of older parents. He grew up in a Somerset village, loved but lonely, and settled there after university, with a pregnant Olivia. This isn’t how he imagined his life but Geoffrey Parry knows the right thing to do and most of the time, he does it.

I find it much easier to write a bad man than a good woman. Not that Geoffrey is deliberately bad, but when bad things happen to him he responds in kind.

Faced with bankruptcy after losing his factory and his house, Geoffrey has no choice but to move back into his childhood home with his widowed mother. Ostracized by friends and villagers, many of whom lost their jobs when the factory closed, Geoffrey finds his life spinning out of control.

Neutered by stress and shame, he makes a devastating mistake—one that has consequences for the guilty and innocent alike.

Olivia Parry is a city girl, raised in a loving, working class home, and never imagined an affluent, rural existence. It takes time but eventually she comes to love life with her handsome husband, their cherished son and her circle of loyal friends.

But faced with the prospect of moving in with her stern, judgemental mother-in-law, Olivia is horrified and instead, takes a job as Houseparent at her son’s prep school. Here she stumbles across a sordid secret, and Olivia makes a powerful enemy that threatens not only her own future, by her son’s as well.

When tragedy strikes, Olivia discovers a terrible betrayal and realizes that life can never be the same again.

Colette Dartford

Island of Secrets by Patricia Wilson blog tour

If you love Victoria Hislop and Rosanna Ley, you will love this perfect beach read.

Can you escape your past in paradise?

'The story started at dawn on the fourteenth of September, 1943 . . .'

All her life, London-born Angelika has been intrigued by her mother's secret past. Now planning her wedding, she feels she must visit the remote Crete village her mother grew up in.

Angie's estranged elderly grandmother, Maria, is dying. She welcomes Angie with open arms - it's time to unburden herself, and tell the story she'll otherwise take to her grave.

It's the story of the Nazi occupation of Crete during the Second World War, of horror, of courage and of the lengths to which a mother will go to protect her children. And it's the story of bitter secrets that broke a family apart, and of three enchanting women who come together to heal wounds that have damaged two generations.

This wonderful novel will transport you to the shores of Crete and stay in your heart long after you turn the last page.

Patricia Wilson has stopped by with a guest post! 

 ‘the books that inspired Island of Secrets’ 

Patricia Wilson, Island of Secrets, www.pmwilson.net, pmwilson.author@gmail.com

The first book that inspired me to write, was an unpublished manuscript I read after my mother had passed away. Her memoir. The love story of a sixteen-year-old girl living in occupied Holland in World War Two. How she fell in love with a young English soldier from Liverpool (my father). I found the story in a bag, under a pile of bed sheets in the airing cupboard. Her struggle to marry the man she loved was a complete surprise to me. The story made me realise how little we know about our parents, and what a determined young woman my mother had been. One day I will write her story of quiet courage and adventure.

Quite soon after my mother’s death, I read Wild Swans by Jung Chang, 1991. The novel covered three generations of women, and I found their differences quite fascinating. Again, I realised how little we know about the lives of our mothers and grandmothers.

More recently, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin inspired me. A love story almost spanning a lifetime. Captain Corelli's Mandolin was released in 1994 by British writer, Louis de Berniéres. The story is set on the Greek island of Cephalonia in 1943. Berniéres story is based on senseless slaughter, during the island’s German occupation during WW2. However, in Berniéres novel, Italian soldiers are rounded up and murdered, not innocent village people.

Island of Secrets, is also set on a Greek island (Crete), also starting in 1943, but there the similarity ends.

When I unearthed a rusted machine gun, in my cottage garden in Crete, the local men began to tell me what had happened in that remote village of Amiras. Shocking! It took a while before the women came forward with their personal stories. Some spoke of the horrible local holocaust for the first time. So horrific were their tales, the old grandmothers did not want to burden their families with the terrible cruelty and suffering, which they ultimately managed to rise above. I researched. I do love research. Eventually, I discovered a document on the web recounting individual stories from that period and locality. Although I did not want to delve into the politics behind the story, I felt a need to confirm the facts for my own peace of mind.

When I found the last living member of the resident band of freedom fighters, his story confirmed there had been a political cover-up behind the tragedy. All was not as it seemed.

At the time, I was having Greek lessons in a local secondary school. When I arrived early, one day, the plump and jovial ‘dinner lady’ invited me to wait in her snacks room. After hearing about my interested in WW2, she brought her mother’s war medal and certificate of honour to show me. She told me stories of courageousness that, once again, had not been told outside the area of Viannos. This made me determined write about these brave and modest women.

And so, Island of Secrets was born.

Tell me a lie by CJ Carver with guest post

 

How do you protect your family when you can't remember who's hunting them? A gripping international thriller, perfect for fans of Lee Child and Mason Cross

A family in England is massacred, the father left holding the shotgun.

PC Lucy Davies is convinced he's innocent

A sleeper agent in Moscow requests an urgent meeting with Dan Forrester, referencing their shared past.

His amnesia means he has no idea who he can trust.

An aging oligarch in Siberia gathers his henchmen to discuss an English accountant.

It's Dan's wife

From acclaimed and award-winning author CJ Carver, this is the next gripping international thriller in her brilliant Dan Forrester series.

For my blog stop, CJ Carver has very kindly stopped by with a great guest post, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. 

All Stories are True, guest post by CJ Carver.

All Stories are True. A good story doesn’t tell you what to think but reveal to the reader the real issues to reflect upon.

The creative conversion of life itself to a powerful reading experience is pure story telling.

My first novel Blood Junction won the Crime Writer’s Association Debut Dagger, and it’s only now I can see why. I lived in Australia for ten years, but I was still a “Pom”, an outsider, and my main character is also an outsider and suffers the same indignities I used to. I use real-life experiences in the book to reveal to the reader what life is like as an “interloper”.

The same goes for the sub-plot involving the Stolen Generation, where over 100,000 Aboriginal children were taken from their families in the 1950s to try and “breed them white”. By using an Aboriginal policeman and making him one of these children, I can show the reader the brutality of that particular history but without banging a drum or being seen as bleeding heart. It reads as a simple story, but shows a human truth.

I didn’t set out to write about the appalling treatment of asylum seekers in Australia either, but when I sent my protagonist to a remote outback refugee camp, she witnesses parents sewing their and their children’s lips together in protest at their treatment by the authorities. Another rich sub-plot, more real issues to reflect upon.

Each time I look at setting one of my books overseas, I start looking for profound aspects in the country I’m studying to reveal to my reader.

For example, in Tell Me A Lie, the main plot is driven by Russia’s social system. The people’s need for a great leader even if he imprisons, exiles or executes people without due process, but what fascinated me even more was the psychology of the Russian people. Their passionate loyalty to their country. It was this immense and all inspiring devotion that helped drive the book to its finale, the real issue I bring the reader to reflect upon being would you die for your country?

People pick up a thriller to be entertained as well as have an experience they’ve never had. They want to be introduced to something new, see the world in a different way, and I do my very best to try and give it to them.

©CJ Carver 2017




Don't forget to drop by tomorrow for the next stop on the tour. 

Be My Baby by A.L. Michael blog tour with guest post

Blurb:

Two’s company…

If you asked Mollie whether she struggled as a single mum, she’d have to cover her daughter’s ears before answering. Surrounded by friends, watching Esme grow into the sassiest eleven-year-old in North London, and building her name as TV chef Mollie Makes, Mollie’s never been happier. Well, that’s what she’d tell you. But as her best friends pair off, and Esme starts getting into trouble at school, Mollie wonders whether life would be different – not better…but easier – with a team mate.

Three’s a crowd?

But Esme’s dad, Jamie, would be the last man Mollie would team up with. After all, he made it clear eleven years ago that he wasn’t interested in playing the family game. So when he suddenly reappears, Mollie can’t believe her eyes. And soon, she’s got to ask herself the hardest question yet: she knows she can succeed as a single mum. But what if her daughter doesn’t want her to?

Guest Post: 

What I’ve learnt from writing the House on Camden Square Series.

As Be My Baby is released into the world, it’s time to take a breather. At least, that’s what I thought. This is my eighth book in four years. There have been deadlines, stresses, excitement and a few too many celebratory bottles of prosecco.

But the more you write, the most you learn. And here is what I’ve learnt from writing this series:

* Try something new. I never thought I’d write a series. I don’t often read series, and I didn’t think I’d have the patience or attention to detail to write something that had crossing over perspectives or storylines or histories. But I loved it.

* Know your process. I panicked after I finished this book. I thought I’d never have a good idea again, never come up with anything. I was blank. And so I got on with reading, and breathing and living life. One day...I had an idea. A couple of weeks later, I wrote a few sentences. A week after that, I wrote two thousand words of something new I was passionate about.

* Be proud of your achievements. Sometimes you write something you’d love to read, something that makes you happy. Maybe it says something important to the world, or maybe it makes you snort attractively whilst you’re laughing. Whatever you do, be proud of it.

* Don’t sweat the bad reviews. Not everyone likes everything. We’ve all had something that’s not for us. Doesn’t make it bad, doesn’t mean it’s personal. You are not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. And that’s okay.

* Accept that you’re a liar. I’m a liar. And a thief. There are bits in my books that I haven’t even realised I’ve taken until someone mentions an anecdote they overheard, or uses a funny phrase in the office. Writers are magpies, always looking for the shiny words and sparkly ideas. And that’s okay, as long as you make it your own.

- Know when to say goodbye. Some characters have stories that could go on forever. Sometimes it’s right, sometimes it’s not. I feel like I could write the girls on Camden Square for years, watching the girls go about their lives and creating big dreams. And on the other hand, it’s time for new stories.

Links:

Goodreads , Amazon

About A.L. Michael

A.L Michael is a writer and workshop leader from North London. She has a BA in Creative Writing with English Lit, an MA in Creative Entrepreneurship and is starting an MsC in Creative Writing for Therapeutic Purposes. She likes learning and hates essays. She's a fan of cheap wine, expensive chocolate and still wants to be a secret agent when she grows up, but she'll settle for lying on the page.


Links:

Website: http://www.almichael.com/

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/almichael_

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/A.L.Michael.writer/?fref=ts



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The Wrong Train by Jeremy de Quidt blog tour

The Wrong Train by Jeremy de Quidt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It's late. Dark. A boy rushes to catch a train, leaping aboard just before it pulls away. Suddenly he realises that it's the wrong train. He's annoyed of course, but not scared...Yet. He gets off at the next station, but the platform's empty, and it doesn't look like any station he's seen before. But he's still not scared...Yet. Then a stranger arrives - someone with stories to help pass the time. Only these aren't any old stories. These are nightmares, and they come with a price to pay...Scared yet? You will be.



I read this book in one sitting and it certainly kept me entertained and wanting to know what was going to happen.

This is the first book I have read by Quidt and to be honest I didn't know what to expect. I had heard that it was quite a scary book, and scary books are not my type of thing so was a little apprehensive when I picked it up. There was no need to be though, I didn't find this very scary. It was intense at times and I did hold my breath on a couple of occasions.

I thought this was a very cleverly written book. There is the over arching theme and plot, which is broken intermittently with a collection of 9 short stories. These stories were fast paced and kept you interested throughout. I began to become more and more intrigued with the boy and the old man, wondering what his intentions are and how the boy was going to go home. At one point I thought I had worked out the ending, mine actually would have been scarier than the actual ending, but would have been very abrupt!

Although a short read at just over 210 pages, there is such a lot packed in that you don't notice the page length. This is a different type of book that I normally go for, however I am so glad I gave this a chance as I thoroughly enjoyed it. I would be interested in picking up more from Quidt.

I don't want to say too much about the book, as to not spoil your enjoyment of it. If you like jumpy books, that send a shiver down your spine I would recommend this one to you.

The only reason I have given this book 4* and not 5 is down to the ending, although it did surprise me, I had worked it out once the boy had got home. I think the ending could have been a little stronger.

I would like to thank the publisher for sending this in exchange for an honest review.

Jeremy stopped by with a guest post too, I asked him about his favourite scary stories.

Sam asked me to post about Spooky Stories - to give you my top 10 adult and children’s scary books - and that causes me a bit of a problem because as a genre, I’ve never read spooky stories. Not ever.

Given what I write, that might sound a bit unlikely, but it’s true.

As a small child and growing up through my teens I had such nightmares. Not just bad dreams but  real nightmares -  screaming, tear the heart out of the dark, nightmares - night after night. If you’d like to know all about that, then take a look back to the start of this tour because I told Beth at Readers Corner all about those days.

The long and the short of it is that the younger me could fill the hours of darkness with enough terror of my own making without ever needing to look in a book for it. So I never did. Not once. Never got into the habit of it since.

They said that as a child I had a dark imagination. They didn’t know the half of it. Its legacy is that I have a very clear recall of what frightened me then and I use that now when I need to. It’s like dipping a pen into old familiar ink.

Though I can’t tell you about spooky books I’ve read, I’ve got a mental list of scary books that if I were inclined to do some exploring, they are where I’d start. So, I’ll share that list with you and who knows, we might one day end up having gone over the same ground.

Here we go, adult stories first and in no particular order -

1.    Dracula by Bram Stoker. You can’t write a novel that fixes a character in global consciousness without it being an extraordinary story. Maybe the style will have dated, but the substance? No. This has to be on the list.

2.    The Shining by Stephen King. What makes so many people so very frightened by the stories that Stephen writes? If I’m going to find out, then I’ll look at this one. An isolated hotel, murder, possession and the supernatural. Makes me want to walk away from it right now.

3.    The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. This is a novel from the end of the 50’s but it’s considered by Stephen King to be one of the finest horror novels of the late 20th century and that is some recommendation. A house with a dark past and people misguided enough to want to uncover its secrets.

4.    The collected short stories of MR James, Sheridan LeFanu and Saki. These I have to confess I’ve read. Gems from another age and written with such skill. Perfect for dark winter’s nights, candlelight and the embers of a fire.

5.    Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury. A travelling carnival and a Midwestern town whose people are lured into darkness. Why not give this one a go? I like Bradbury’s writing though I’ve not read this. He’s very readable, like a daydream happening. Only this will be a dark daydream.

and for children -

1.    The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud.  Ghosts, hauntings and spectres appearing throughout London, all hunted down by Lockwood and Co. Jonathan’s writing is always a pleasure. He’s creative and funny and I just know that he will have the tone of this spot on.

2.    The Witches by Roald Dahl. Of course I’ve read this, and it’s frightening and touching on a variety of levels. There will be something unsettling enough for just about every reader.

3.    And then what about Roald Dahl’s Book of Ghost Stories? Fourteen stories by other authors but curated by Dahl. This more for the Young Adult reader. I think this will be like a box of pearls assembled by a master jeweller.

4.    Breathe by Cliff McNish. This is one I’ve read. An asthmatic child and his mother in a house with benign and far less benign supernatural forces about them. It really is very good. It makes you look at the emptiness of a room and wonder if it really is that empty.

5.    Coraline by Neil Gaiman. Ghost children’s souls and a child’s lost parents all mixed in another world. Sinister and memorable. A read alone or read-out-loud story. Buttons and eyes will never be quite the same.

There, ten stories all spooked and lined up ready for you.

I’ll just turn out the light now.

Sweet dreams.