Nearly eight years in the making. Nothing but a vague dream, a hopeful aspiration to begin with. An idea. An ambition. And now it’s here. It’s real. The very rushed man from UPS delivered it in the morning, oblivious to the importance of the cargo he was carrying.
I know what’s in these boxes. Tears? Why, of course. I’m all choked up with emotion, and I haven’t even opened them yet.
My book! There it is…
It’s beautiful. It smells gorgeous, that hot-of-the-press smell of fresh ink. And it’s all mine. I did that!
Of course, I had lots of help along the way, and you all know who you are, but this moment… this is mine. And in less than two weeks, it can be anyone’s.
My two boys, witnessing their mummy’s moment of pure joy, decide to capture the occasion for all eternity and grab the camera. Thank you, my lovelies!
This week is absolutely jam-packed with excitement, so I’m bringing you two instalments.CentreStage showcases fantastic authors from around the world presenting stories about themselves, their writing, their books or anything that takes their fancy. Today, it is my enormous pleasure to introduce you to the one-and-only Yasmin Selena Butt, and her best friend and heroine, Cornelia Friend. Yasmin and I connected over at The Romaniacs and we have been best blogging friends ever since. She is full of wit and sparkle, and I think you’ll greatly enjoy meeting her and Cornelia today.
It turns out that Cornelia has a very strong mind of her own, and she turned the tables on Yasmin when it came to an interview. I like that in a character, and I can’t wait to read her in full… So for now, I give you:
Gunshot Glitter: A woman with a Band-Aid on her damaged soul
Writer, Yasmin Selena Butt, asked if she could interview me. I pointed out that I’d spent the last eight years moving around, changing my name to keep myself safe, and inventing personas so I could slip through the net. An interview probably wasn’t such a good idea.
So I told Yasmin that I’d like to interview her instead.
I told her I’d like to know what she was thinking when she gave me this life, before setting the cat amongst the pigeons to see what I would do. I’ve been inside her head for years and I’ve watched her live, write, dream, fret about the day she lets me loose on the world and the world loose on me. Gunshot Glitter isn’t just my story, it’s also the story of an incinerated boy who never quite goes away, the aftershock he leaves in his wake: A family confused and in pain. Lies. Old flames. Betrayal. Death. Life. Love. Sex. Good music. A jackal and a doe. Angels in unlikely places and guises. And your feelings dear reader as you watch it all unfurl.
All I ask is you keep an open mind, and that you don’t judge me until you know me. Today, you can call me Cornelia Friend. But you and I both know it’s not my real name.
Author photo by Keith Pitcher
CF: Hi Yasmin, I know this wasn’t the plan, are you nervous?
Yasmin: About what? Talking about you? Having people judge you once they’ve read Gunshot Glitter? A little bit, I feel very protective of you, even though I know you can look after yourself. It’s really easy to paint victims and criminals in black and white terms, but I never saw you that way and I’ve never found that very interesting. Real people are way more complicated! I wanted to write a story which made the reader question their own sense of right and wrong, test their moral barometer and muddy the lines. Dreaming you up helped me do that.
CF: How would you describe me, could you sum me up in a sentence?
YB: That would be hard, but I’d describe you as – a beautiful, educated, dangerous woman with a band-aid on her damaged soul; someone who took a wrong turn and never found her way home.
CF: You gave me this vivid life and bestowed me with secrets, love, rage, guilt as well as a gift for playing the cello, a soft spot for cats and a fear of heights. Why did you do that?
YB: Everyone who reads Gunshot Glitter and your story is going to have to decide what they make of you themselves, but I know fundamentally, we are a sum of parts, whatever we’ve done. However well or badly we’ve acted, we’re all human underneath it all, we all go shopping, listen to music, have fears, enjoy strengths. I wanted people to see you as a person as well as witness your actions. Once you identify with someone, it gets interesting gauging how you feel, the more you find out about them, despite your moral judgement of them.
CF: You’re talking about what happened at Gunshot Glitter. Tell me about the club, why did you call it that?
YB: The club, Gunshot Glitter, was named after a Jeff Buckley song I really loved from an album called Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk. The song was released as a bonus track on the European edition of the album. I loved it, it’s raw and lo-fi.
The image evoked by a gunshot of glitter literally sparkled in my imagination and I had this vision of a glamorous venue in Soho with lap dancers and burlesque performers, where the patrons could buy guns filled with ampoules of glitter and they could choose their dancer by firing at them. So your story starts there the night you meet a Yorkshire boy called Liam Griffin on his 21st birthday.
CF: Liam and I, we share the same star sign. We’re Scorpios. You like astrology don’t you?
YB: I do, it was a good way of defining the characters in Gunshot Glitter, it helped me visualise them and their personalities. You all had to become very real to me before I could do you justice. Anis is Pisces, he’s an emotional soul who wishes he could conceal his feelings more because they often give him away. Sera Logan is a hot-headed, impetuous Aries who enjoys being centre of attention. Luke Becklow is a steady, enduring Capricorn, loyal and far more attractive than he realises. I loved you all. When you and Liam meet you change each other’s lives forever.
CF: How did you see me? Who did you base me on?
YB: You, my love, where inspired by a mixture of souls – including a strawberry blonde, freckled boy I once fiercely loved, who was a black belt in judo, who once told me that if he hadn’t gone to university he’d have become a criminal like the kids he ran with. And also an elegant redhead called Miranda, who I met when I was 20, who gave me a dodgy perm, but was amazingly beautiful with a stunning rack. I found her positively hypnotic to look at. I loved the idea of making you complicated, extraordinary, but also utterly normal all at the same time.
CF: Tell me how you dreamed up Gunshot Glitter, how did I come into being?
YB: Many years ago, I copy-typed a tagline I found on a soya drink carton onto my computer and stared at it long and hard…
CF: What did it say?
YB: It said, you can try me for free…’ And I thought where in life would you ever hear someone say that?! And I immediately thought of a woman with a glistening seductive mouth whispering in a boy’s ear and my fingers took over and I started typing. You were born as a bewitching character and I watched you act out this scene like a movie in my head. You ended the story laughing softly at the moon.
CF It was a short story to begin with wasn’t it?
YB: It was. I called it The Birthday Present. And it was possibly the most perfect short story I’d ever written. I almost wrote it in a trance. It was so fluid and effortless, it was the first decent short story I’d written in years. I showed it to friends and everyone who read it, asked me what happened next. That had never happened before. But the person whose opinion really affected me was a man called Jeremy Smith.
CF: Who was he? You dedicated Gunshot Glitter to him didn’t you?
YB: I did, he was a man I became friends with in 2004 when I was having a rough time. We kind of saved each other. He was a writer, book editor and music obsessive. He was thrilled as I was as into music as he was. He’d really met his match with me. He got me into Cat Power and Ed Harcourt. And I got him into Low. I’d never met an industry professional before, so was in awe of him. The fact he told me I was a good writer meant so much to me. Sadly, Jez died in 2010. It was a huge shock to me, he was only 35. It makes me sad, he never got to read Gunshot Glitter.
CF. I think he would have loved that you saw it through. That that short story became a novel on your own terms.
YB: Thank you, I really hope people read it with an open mind and just focus on the story. I believe in originality taking precedence over genre pigeonholes. Cover control was massively important to me, I found the artist, Celene Petrulak , on MySpace years ago and immediately knew I wanted her to work on the cover with me. She’s amazingly talented. And I believe that self-published novels should be equal in quality to traditionally published books. I worked with Jill Blair, a Scottish proof-reader and had it Beta read by several people. Plus Lisa Jewell, my favourite writer, read it and loved it and gave me a cover quote. That meant a great deal to me.
CF: So does Yasmin Selena Butt have any other stories up her sleeve?
YB: She does. I’m publishing an erotic novella called ‘Venus’ later this year, it’s extremely explicit, and an anthology of short stories called Ten Minute Tales, which should all take ten minutes tops to read. I love short fiction; it’s highly under-rated. I may publish the latter with BookBaby.
CF. Thank you for dreaming me up, good luck with the words, especially Venus.
YB. Cornelia Friend, it was my pleasure.
Cover artwork by Celene Petrulak
Gunshot Glitter…
Your name is Celine Silver. But no one has called you that in eight years. You’re a classically trained musician and an Honours graduate. You come from a nice, middle-class family. You kill people for money. And no one knows you anymore. Fate throws the man you abandoned right back into your path – the man who knew you before you got blood on your hands, before you changed your name. And he’s demanding answers. But is there a way back to the path of normal? What price do you have to pay when you realise you no longer want to be monster? And who are the real monsters and victims anyway?
‘Gunshot Glitter’ by Yasmin Selena Butt will be available on Amazon from Friday 24th August 2012. If you would like to buy a print copy please email: GunshotGlitter2012@yahoo.co.uk
To find out more about Gunshot Glitter and Yasmin Selena, visit Yasmin’s blog, Hello, You… You can follow Yasmin on Twitter as @YasminSelena and you can also follow Cornelia as @CorneliaFriend.
WOW!What an interview, and what a GORGEOUS cover!!I can’t wait for tomorrow when Gunshot Glitter launches, I’ll be off to Amazon in a shot… Thanks so much for visiting today, Yasmin and Cornelia, it was fabulous to meet you both.
What do you think of these unusual, intriguing ladies and the book they’ve written between them?
STOP PRESS! Gunshot Glitter has just gone live on Amazon.co.uk. You can buy it… NOW!
CentreStage showcases talented and exciting authors from around the world. These authors might tell you about their writing, or their lives, or any subject that is dear to them. Today, the wonderful Sheryl Browne is visiting CentreStage for the second time. I think she had such a great time on her previous visit, she simply had to come back. I am honoured!
But alas! Sheryl is having a weird time on CentreStage today. I seem to have gone… funny. I usher Sheryl in with undue haste, shutting the door firmly beside her, stealing a surreptitious backwards glance down the corridor. ‘You know the score… over to you, Sheryl! Here’s the mic… off you go…’ Sheryl gives me a worried look but springs into action.
**Sheryl enters**
Ooh, I’m in the spotlight, again. ‘Ta-dah!’ *Takes centre-stage*
‘Ahem, I’d like to start by… Oops, hold on.’ *Attempts to adjust microphone, which is currently eyebrow level. Grunts and fiddles. Microphone plummets to kneecap level. Smiles sweetly, dips surreptitiously, yanks it back up and smacks self in the head*
‘Ahem…’ *Starts again, now a bit cross-eyed* ‘My husband and I… Whoops, no, wrong speech. Bear with me. Um,’
*Thinks, finger poised on chin* ‘Ah, yes, I’d like to start by saying thank you to all the lovely people who have… Pardon? Yes, I know, I’m not receiving an Oscar, Nicky. Yes, I know your next guest is due. I am trying to get on with it. Honestly, if your stage props were up to par, sweetie, we wouldn’t have been delayed in the first place. Humph!
‘Now, where was I? Um? Right, yes. I’d like to start by thanking all the people who have been so uber-supportive during my book launches, first and foremost, my fellow authors and friends at Loveahappyending.com’ *pauses to cast Nicky a pointed glance* ‘without whose guidance and constant encouragement, I would have possibly been swept away by the tidal wave that is Twitter, like a little speck of dust in cyberspace. Yes, it is quite eloquent, isn’t it? Thank you, Nicky. Wha’d’y’mean: if a bit long-winded??’
*Glances miffily over at Nicky side-stage, points nose in air and turns back to audience*
‘I would also like to thank all the lovely readers who have bought my book, in particular readers and reviewers, who have gone to the trouble of posting up some fabulous reviews. Without people who are prepared to give of their time to do that, writers who are struggling to make a name for themselves might possibly sink without trace. Yes, Nicky, I know I’ve gone all poetic now. Thank you for that. Shhhut up! I’m trying to be serious. Wha’d’y’mean, I don’t do serious? This is me, being serious!
‘I’ve lost the plot now. Ah, yes, reviewers. Seriously, if you…’ *microphone plops to ankle-level* ‘Do not utter a word, Nicky. Yes, you are. You’re tittering. Stoppit. Ahem! If you haven’t thanked your reviewers, do it now, profusely. They’re quite partial to chocolates, I gather, preferably Belgian or Hotel Chocolat. And wine, a nice chilled Chablis, possibly, or… OK, now I’m not being serious. The thing is they do it for FREE, in their own time. They have tbr piles up to their armpits and probably impaired vision because of it, so if you’ve given a reviewer a hard time, chasing or moaning, feel ashamed. Very, very ashamed.
‘Likewise, if you invite someone to take centre-stage on your blog and then give them a hard time! Will you please stop giggling, Nicky! It’s putting me off! Thank you! I’d just like to end by… No, I did NOT bring a coat. I’d just like to end by thanking Lovehappyending.com again, and all my Twitter and Facebook friends for their tremendous support. Having two book launches quite close together has been a bit demanding promo-wise and I simply couldn’t have done it without you. Also, Safkhet Publishing – THANK YOU – for helping me to get my books where they should be: out there for people to enjoy. Comments are always truly appreciated. Good comments more so, obviously, but the not so-good… Well, you write, you learn. Every little comment and piece of advice is always taken on board if you are… All right. All right. I’m going. Anyone would think you have someone important on next. Honestly.’ *Turns to strop side-stage, passing next guest en route*
‘Hi JK.’
**Sheryl exits**
At this point, the door opens and I bustle in, bearing a tray with biscuits and two steaming cups of tea. ‘Here we are, Sheryl,’ I breeze, somewhat breathless. ‘Sorry it took so long, someone seemed to have been messing about in my kitchen… Sheryl? Sheryl?’
I catch sight of myself already in the room and drop the tray in dismay. ‘Who are you?’ I shriek, fearfully. ‘And what have you done with the lovely Sheryl…?’ The impostor turns and flees. Well, I never. What was that all about?
Let me tell you more: About the lovely, talented and unflappable Sheryl Browne
Now residing in Worcestershire, Sheryl grew up in Birmingham, UK, where she studied Art & Design. She wears many hats: a partner in her own business, a mother, and a foster parent to disabled dogs. Creative in spirit, Sheryl has always had a passion for writing. A member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, she has previously been published in the US and writes Romantic Comedy because, as she puts it, “life is just too short to be miserable.”
Sheryl’s debut novel, RECIPES FOR DISASTER – combining deliciously different and fun recipes with sexilicious romantic comedy, is garnering some fabulous reviews! Sheryl has also been offered a further three-book contract under the Safkhet Publishing Soul imprint. SOMEBODY TO LOVE, a romantic comedy centring around a single policeman father’s search for love, his autistic little boy and the boy’s Autism Assistance Dog, launched July 1 with an immediate 5* review. WARRANT FOR LOVE, bringing together three couples in a twisting story that resolves perfectly, released August 1.
Now for more about Sheryl’s recent double release…
Somebody to Love
How do you tell her?
After a turbulent marriage to a man who walked off hand-in-offshoot with something resembling a twig, divorced mum, Donna O’Conner, doubts happy endings exist. She’d quite like to find herself an Adonis with… pecs …and things. Alas, that’s not likely, when her only interest outside of work is hopping her three-legged dog in the park, carrying a poop-scoop. In any case, Donna isn’t sure she’d know what to do with an Adonis if she fell on one. When PC Mark Evans comes along, gloriously gift-wrapped in blue, however, she can’t help wishing she did.
Mark, a single father, is desperate for love. He doesn’t hold out much hope, though, that there is a woman out there with a heart big enough to love him and his autistic son. Enter big-hearted Donna, plus three-legged dog. And now Mark has a dilemma. Pretending not to mind her house-bunny chewing his bootlaces, he’s smitten with Donna on sight. Should he tell her his situation up-front? Announcing he has a child with autism spectrum disorder on a first date tends to ensure there isn’t a second. Or should he skirt around the subject, which amounts to a lie? When one lie leads to another, can he ever win Donna’s trust back? Admit that he didn’t trust Donna enough to let her into his life?
PUBLISHER’S NOTE: Somebody to Love has been made with love… love of animals. Sheryl Browne has done excellent research on assistance dogs, specifically their use with autistic individuals. With a focus on romance with police officers, appealing to all readers who love our boys in blue, the author’s “teasing but not telling” style makes this read appropriate for anyone, including young adults and older teens.
Leanne Curtis has shared more than her heart and her home with her womanising man. She’s shared her pin number. The scales are peeled painfully from her eyes when she spots female footprints on the inside windscreen of his car. Devastated, Leanne storms off into the night. He wasn’t going to pay her back when he sold his flat, his bolthole, his shag-pad, probably, the absolute…! Shivering on a street corner, Leanne comes up with a survival plan. She’s no choice. If she’s to keep her son in PS3s, Leanne needs a lodger.
Brought up in care, Police Constable Paul Davis doesn’t communicate well. On duty, he’s gloomily contemplating his impending divorce. His wife sleeping with his sergeant is not helping his morose mood. His sergeant has a history, and Paul needs to find somewhere decent to live in order to gain custody of his son, fast. And to keep his job. Wrongfully arresting Leanne Curtis for soliciting, he muses, whilst avoiding five-star-freezer looks from her friends, might not be the best way to do it.
Could fate have brought them together, though? Leanne needs a respectable lodger. Paul needs a home. One thing leads to another, and Paul can’t quite believe his luck. When a blackmail plot ~ cooked up by Leanne’s friends ~ threatens their budding relationship, however, is Paul compelled to uphold the law? Or will he risk everything to make sure Leanne’s abusive ex gets his comeuppance?
PUBLISHER’S NOTE: Warrant for Love is not your typical rom-com where only one gal gets the guy — Sheryl Browne brings together three couples in a twisting story that resolves perfectly. With a focus on romance with police officers, Warrant for Love appeals to all readers who love our boys in blue. Complex yet everyday relationship problems makes this read appropriate for young adults and older teens.
Wow! What a post. Love Shery’s humour and style. And an impostor on my blog stirring up trouble… it’s all fun and games over here at CentreStage!
Thanks for visiting again, Sheryl, and I promise next time I’ll have the tea ready, the stage set up and the premises searched for impostors. Maybe PC Paul Davis can help me…
The Festival of Romance New Talent Award aims to cast a spotlight on the authors of tomorrow and is open to all writers who have not yet had a book commercially published. Writers may submit the opening chapter (up to 3,500 words) of a romantic novel of any type by 30th September 2012. The winner and runners-up will be announced and presented with trophies at the gala Festival of Romance Awards on Friday 16th November 2012. There is a small entry fee to cover the award administration. Entrants may also gain a critique of their entry written by a professional novelist.
“As part of the Festival of Romance we want to help new writers with talent get their break into the commercial fiction world,” says Kate Allan, chief romantic at the Festival of Romance. “At the Festival of Romance in November we are running writing workshops, an industry conference and chance to meet publishers face to face as well as the New Talent Award. I’m delighted that Georgina Hawtrey-Woore and Diane Banks have agreed to judge this year’s entries.”
Winner of the 2011 New Talent Award Henriette Gyland subsequently garnered a book deal from publishers Choc Lit. Her debut novel Up Close will be published in December 2012.
Today, I want to share with you my summer-moving-to-Lincoln memory song. I didn’t realise that this was my theme song for this particular event in my life until a recent family holiday in Wales, where the local radio station woefully neglected to play this song even ONCE in a week.
Upon hitting Lincolnshire, the lovely Lincs FM thankfully obliged almost immediately, and it was that moment that sparked the recognition that not only were we coming home, but that also this song had somehow become the theme song for the Wells family move and the start of a new era in our lives.
It’s a bit happy-go-lucky and I leave you to make your mind up about the video and the lyrics… But the chorus, boy, doesn’t it make you want to sing along at the top of your voice?
Happy Monday. And remember: We are young. Always!
**The official video has been suspended at some point since this post went live, and it is no longer available via YouTube. Apologies.** Do you have any special theme songs for moments in your life?
Windows failed to start. Startup cannot be repaired.
Or words to that effect. It’s Friday evening, 9:10pm. The perfect end to an already fraught day. My computer gives up the ghost.
I stare at the grey screen in dismay. I’ve never seen anything like it. This is the second screen, you see. I previously negotiated the “Windows failed to start, click here to repair” screen. Anxious, but full of hope. Yet 2o minutes later, the result was this. Startup cannot be repaired.
My options? None. There’s just one clickable button, and that’s Finish and shutdown.
I cannot tell you how frightened I felt at that precise moment in time. My precious laptop, my link to the world, my network, my books… everything. Yes, of course I have everything backed up, that wasn’t the source of the anxiety. The source of my blind panic was this: it’s a Friday night. Friday is followed invetibaly by the weekend. Who is going to repair my computer over the weekend? And what am I going to do if this fault is fatal? Or, slightly better scenario, if it isn’t fatal but takes three weeks to repair? I haven’t got three weeks to go spare without a computer. I’ve got a book launch in three weeks, and stacks to do. Without a computer… I feel incapacitated, bereft, robbed, at sea, helpless, powerless. Desperate. (Side question; should one really be that dependent on technology? Should the demise of a humble object cause this level of distress? File that for future reference, I can’t deal with the moral and philosphical implications right now.)
Well, as you can see, all’s well that ends well. I got off lightly in the end. Disregarding the little advice gained from the not-very-helpful computer manufacturer who took my call but couldn’t process my problem as the model was purchased in a different country and therefore not on the system (what? In this day and age? You’ve got to be kidding, right?), OH and I decided to switch the computer back on again and have another go. We watched the startup sequence anxiously, flinching at the appearance of a blue screen (not the blue screen of death… please!), breathing a small sigh of relief at the appearance at a grey DOS screen, and scratching our heads when the familiar Windows failed to start up screen appeared.
This time, we elected to click Repair and restore to a previous configuration. We’d previously been too scared to choose this option as it cannot be undone and there’s knowing just exactly what configuration you go back to (factory settings??). But at that moment in time, it seemed better than nothing at all.
A further twenty minutes later, my desktop gradually appeared with no files missing and only a few settings altered. Emit a cautious ‘hooray’!
HOWEVER. We found the source of the corruption. Windows asked us quite brusquely to disconnect any external devices, specifically a printer, as it had corrupted the startup software and was likely to do so again. (Or words to that effect. I would have taken screenshots for you but that wasn’t possible at the time…)
Lightbulb moment. Sad, old, ancient printer. Which has been ‘hanging’ itself for weeks. Has failed to print, or recognise print cartridges, or chewed the paper, or spewed out sideways print (?). In fact, just before the whole startup-not fiasco happened, the printer was having one of its tantrums. Apparently, it was the tantrum of all tantrums–one that even harmed the laptop. So printer is now destined for the scrapheap.
Meanwhile, the laptop appears to be functioning. I say ‘appears’ because I am still wary. I haven’t been using it over the weekend and I am not yet sure if there’s any damage or corruption that I haven’t seen. I also live in fear of it dying completely. So… back to blind panic, in moderation.
If, my friends, I suddenly and quite abruptly, completely without warning, disappear from the scene, you’ll know now what happened. You’ll assume that the laptop has given up the ghost and that I’ll be busy finding a solution.
In the meantime, I shall keep writing and working and tweeting and blogging and backing up, backing up, backing up, backing up, backing up…
If you have any insights into this kind of eventuality, or if you’ve ever lost your laptop or computer mid-project, I’d love to hear about it (if you can bear the memory). XX
The Summer Silence is over: I’m back! And I’m back with a bang: welcome to the latest edition of CentreStage.
CentreStage features fantastic authors from around the world. On CentreStage, these authors might write for you about their lives, or their writing journey, or anything else that matters to them. Every feature will be different in format and flavour, so watch out for a variety of stories and tales.
Today, it is my great pleasure to bring you a fellow lovehappyending.com author, Carol E Wyer.
Welcome, Carol! It’s so lovely that you could visit here today. Let me ask you first of all… what’s your background? Did you always want to be a writer?
Although I only began writing full time two years ago, I have written for a long time. For many years I wrote short stories for children, none of which I took to press but which I read to my son or his friends when they were little.
For some time I ran a language company and at that time I progressed to writing stories that were educational. I wrote a series of books, highly illustrated by a good friend that were set in France and which, through the use of animal characters, taught basic French to children. I took the books into local schools where they were used as part of a curriculum to teach French to young children and were very much enjoyed.
That’s amazing, I’m going to have to look out for those: what a wonderful idea. But this love for writing… does it maybe echo a love for reading, too?
Writing has always been a pleasure for me. It is on a par with reading which I absolutely love. Being a speed reader I can race through books at a terrific speed (if only I could type that quickly) and I love all genres. Reading allows you to have ‘time out’ for you. It allows you escape from your world for a while. Sometimes I enjoy being transported to an earlier time, or abroad. Other times I’ll get to grips with a mystery and quite often I just want to read something light and cheerful that leaves me with a feel good factor.
Having been asked the question a few times now and having given different answers depending on my mood, I sat back and worked out just what is my favourite book of all time. That is such a difficult question when I consider the number and variety of books I have read over the years. Being bed-bound for some considerable time in my youth meant I had read the entire contents of the local library from Enid Blyton through to Dennis Wheatley and Charles Dickens by the time I was eighteen.
Oooooh, a fellow kindred spirit! I can totally relate to your love for anything Enid Blyton and I am with you all the way. On Dickens, too. Great choices! But I gather there is one book, one author in particular who struck a note with you… and an unusual one at that?
Yes, indeed! I have, always loved humorous novels and enjoy Ben Elton’s novels or anything that is dry and amusing. But I suppose I have been most influenced by a novel I read at University: Candide by Voltaire. It is not the sort of book you would pick up in a bookshop and think what a great book –I’ll get this for my trip to Ibiza but it is undoubtedly the book that has influenced my approach to life and my writing.
Go on, tell us more!
Published way back in 1759 it is a French satire about a naive young man who lives in a sort of paradise at Chateau Thunder-Ten-Tronckh. The illegitimate nephew of the Baron, he is allowed to live at the chateau under the tutelage of Pangloss, who attempts to teach him that “all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds” or as we know it ‘optimism’.
It consists of thirty chapters which are divided into three sections. At the beginning of each chapter is a summary of what to expect.
Although written a long time ago it is actually a tremendous novel, fast moving, fantastical, erratic but above all I appreciated and enjoyed the sarcastic tone of the novel. The plot parodies many adventure and romance clichés and the tone is mordantly matter of fact.
Events that Candide witnesses were based on historical happenings for example the Seven Year War, and the 1755 Lisbon Earthquake, Tsunami and fires. The novel humorously and directly contends the problem of evil as did the philosophers of Voltaire’s day.
After many adventures, almost dying, finding love and losing it again, the resurrection of Pangloss and other characters, Candide meets a farmer who lives a simple life, works hard, and avoids vice and leisure. Inspired, Candide and his friends take to cultivating a garden in earnest. All their time and energy goes into the work, and none is left over for philosophical speculation. At last everyone is fulfilled and happy. Candide decides to turn his back on optimism and cultivate his garden.
The book applies to modern times as much as its own and is definitely my favourite read – just as it was Frederick the Great’s, King of Prussia, who said that it was the only book he knew that one could read and re-read and never become bored of it.
I checked it out on Amazon before I wrote this post and was surprised at how popular it still is. You can download it for free so why not check it out? I am not alone in enjoying it one review I found said it was:
“A must read for any fan of classical European literature it reads as an escalating, buccaneering romp through exotic lands with a firm tongue in cheek and a book long maxim of the thrill of the chase surpassing the kill.”
Well, I can’t beat that, can I?
Now, now, don’t put your light under that bushel. I’ll have to check out Candide first of all and then, when I’ve closed that glaring gap in my education, I shall get back to you… But tell me more, first of all, about your own novels.
My novels are humorous. They look at life and problems facing all of us who are getting older but feeling just as young as we did ten years ago. My first novel, Mini Skirts and Laughter Lines, written through the eyes of a woman who is facing the dreaded ‘five-oh’, smacks slightly of Candide. Amanda Wilson doesn’t go on any great journey and meet Jesuits, become mega wealthy or get cooked by cannibals but she blunders through mishaps and hugely entertaining episodes to eventually learn to appreciate what is around her. She finally recognises that the grass is not always greener on the other side and that if she wants to enjoy her life and her relationships then she has to work at them.
I suppose deep down the message I took from reading Candide stayed with me and I hope that in years to come people will say how much they enjoyed my acerbic witty observations and how it is as relevant in the future as it is today.
That sounds fantastic. Who wouldn’t be tempted to go and get a copy now? Speaking of, here’s where you can find Carol’s books:
And you can find out more about Carol at her website. Carol is also on Facebook and Twitter.
PS: Owing to a small scheduling delay (from my end, mea culpa) this post now coincides with Carol’s official launch of Surfing in Stilettos. How cool is that? I am so honoured to feature Carol on her launch day. HUGE congratulations, Carol, and I hope it goes fantastically well. Rock on! 🙂 xx
As always, over to you, dear reader. Have you read Candide? Is it a hard act to follow? And do you have an author or book that’s inspired you in the way that Voltaire inspired Carol? We’d love to hear about it…
I’m off.
Folks, I need a break. A breather. Like my laptop, I’m running low on juice.
From today and through next week right up onto and including Monday, 13 August, I shall take myself into a voluntary, self-imposed, absolute and complete Internet blackout. I won’t be blogging, tweeting, or Facebooking. Or emailing, for that matter.
Drastic, huh? Four weeks before my book launch, too.
Bad timing, perhaps?
Nah, perfect timing! This is the creative break before the storm. Batteries on charge, and then full speed ahead…
PLUS!
It’s the school holidays. So I shall have a holiday! 😉 I am going to get up late, make lazy breakfasts, go to the park, take the bus into town, drive to the seaside if the fancy takes us. I envisage evenings spent barbequeuing and sipping wine until late sitting in the garden. Making cakes and playdough and lego houses and playing games. Hooray!
With that, my friends: Hasta luego! See you soon, properly rested and in high spirits. And then it’ll be all systems go until launch (and beyond)!
Roll out the red carpet! Open the champagne! It’s time to enter the Hall of Fame!
Yes, today it’s a double celebration as not one but two of my amazing fellow authors over at Sapphire Star Publishing celebrate the launch day for their books. Meet Linn B. Halton and J. K. Hogan! Pour yourself a cuppa (or something sparkly, if it’s late enough in the day!), sit back and enjoy as you get to meet these exciting new authors…
STOP PRESS! Just had news that the lovely Linn B. Halton can’t be with us today as she is currently touring Europe:
So she’s asked Hilary Marks from The Restaurant @ The Millto visit on her behalf…
Welcome, Hilary!
Hello Nicky – it’s fantastic to meet you! My name is Hilary Marks and stepping in for Linn B Halton. As you say, Linn’s on a tour of Europe at the moment, the lucky thing! Some big wedding anniversary celebration, so it’s all rather romantic – castles, a chateau here and there …
Anyway, I’ve come to tell you a little bit about The Restaurant, it’s out now and is published by Sapphire Star Publishing.
Nicky: Yes, tell us more about The Restaurant. What’s the story here?
Why did Ben and I open a Restaurant? Well, it’s a long story and it’s the reason why Linn began writing this novel. Let’s just say Ben and I both have things from the past that mean it’s hard to let go. I wish it wasn’t like that, but that’s life. However, the wonderful thing is that The Restaurant @ The Mill is our dream and it’s thriving. It’s been very hard work and it hasn’t all been easy, but the building itself lends an ambience and with Ben’s brilliance as a chef … well, we’re both very proud of what we have achieved.
Nicky: But it’s not just about you and Ben, is it? I gather there are plenty of things going on!
Ah, you want to know about the other ‘stories’ within this story ….
Well, we have some lovely regulars and then, of course, there is Sadie, our head waitress. She’s learning the trade and although she’s very new I think she’s going to do very well. She has this ‘friend’ Sam, she’d like him to be a boyfriend really but it’s complicated. He used to be her sister’s boyfriend before her sister had a serious accident. The story of Sadie’s sister Mya is told in Linn’s novel, Touched By The Light, which is a psychic romance. It’s both sad and uplifting, but it left Sadie and Sam with an awkward association, they still rely upon each other so much. I’m sure we’ll find out what happens before we get to the last page of The Restaurant.
There’s Thomas too, he’s a friend of mine – very attractive, very wealthy and very lonely. Funny how when we look at other people’s lives we tend to focus on the successful bits and don’t always see the heartache they hide so cleverly.
Isobel and David live nearby and often come to dine. Isobel is a writer and after a lifetime of bringing up her family it’s how her time to devote to her passion! The problem is that whilst David is the love of her life, he’s decided to take early retirement and I get the feeling he’s often in the way … I hope they do sort it out. They are a lovely couple, I’d hate to see them drift apart at this stage in their lives.
Charlotte and Nick are struggling. They might be newlyweds and having their first baby, but life is taking its toll on them. Nick was involved in an accident and it’s changed him – I wonder if Charlotte will ever get back the ‘Nick’ with whom she fell in love …
Now Grace is a fabulous lady, she’s a medium and features on the TV programme ‘Spirits Live’. This rather distinguished gentleman seems to have come into her life, his name is Lawrence and it’s obvious they’ve known each other really well in the past…
Nicky: What a colourful cast! I have to confess to having met them all by now and I’m totally wrapped up in their stories. But someone is still missing, right?
You want to know about Sarah? There isn’t very much I can tell you, the spirit of Sarah wanders the Mill and when we bought it the previous owners warned us of her presence. She doesn’t trouble us at all, although she’s often felt by people who come to visit us. I haven’t seen her myself, but I think Ben has – I’m sure Linn knows all about that!
Nicky: Well, well, I’ll just have to read on to find out more….
It’s been lovely to be here with you Nicky, thank you so much and if you ever want to come and dine with us – The Restaurant @ The Mill will have a table especially reserved for you!
Nicky: Thanks so much, Hilary, I will. I know how much pride Ben takes in his work, sourcing only the freshest ingredients every day (and the very best wines, I hear!). I look forward to meeting you there!
Wow, what a post! I have goose bumps of excitement. But there’s more… don’t miss the excerpt below! First of all, though, Hilary wanted to share how you can find out more about her author, Linn B. Halton. You can visit Linn’s author page over at loveahapyending.com. You can also find Linn on Facebook and Twitter and, of course, at Sapphire Star Publishing. Linn is also present on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com!
Nicky: Thanks for that, Hilary. Now then, let’s have a read of the opening page of The Restaurant @ The Mill:
The first time I walked around the flour mill at Huntingbridge in Gloucestershire turned out to be a life-changing moment. Reminiscent of the first time I met my business partner, Ben Adams. The initial thought that struck me on both occasions was “Great, not perfect, but I can work with this.” It was enough to clinch the deal for me.
You see, I thought I had a “perfect” life once a long time ago. I married Josh, the man of my dreams, only to find out one failed marriage and a broken heart later, that everything could change in an instant. What you saw depended upon where you were standing when you admired it. If you were on the outside looking in on someone else’s life, it was only natural to form an opinion based on the façade you saw. What I eventually discovered was that even when you were on the inside looking out, it was easy to be fooled into thinking everything was fine. On that fateful day many years ago, what I hadn’t appreciated was that what we had was in fact a love triangle and knowing that would have given me a whole new perspective.
Everyone around us believed Josh and I had an enviable life, because we looked like the perfect couple. For two years and four months I thought so too. Then I found out Josh was cheating on me, and had been for quite a while before I eventually discovered the truth. The other woman, who had also fallen under the irresistible spell of my attentive husband, obviously had a completely different viewpoint from where she was standing. What was so poignantly sad and particularly cruel was that even after their affair I continued to remain oblivious to the fact that my life was a sham. Josh continued to be the kindest, most thoughtful, and loving man that I had fallen in love with—and that, above all else, hurt the most. How could he deceive with such blatant disregard to anyone else’s feelings? Had he ever really loved me? Or did he only love himself?
Well, I don’t know about you, but I was hooked after this, and I have been following the story of The Restaurant @ The Mill ever since…
HUGE congratulations to Linn on the launch of her second novel with Sapphire Star Publishing. Here’s to a tremendous launch!
And here’s today’s second launch in the Sapphire Star Publishing family. Get ready for…
Fire On The Island by J.K. Hogan
“She who wields the mark is the barrier between man and monster.
She is the daughter of gods, the mother of man, protector of all. Vigilati Usque Ad Mortem”
All Isla Macallen wanted was a simple existence on her little Scottish island, free from her mother’s insanity and the prying eyes of neighbors. What she got was embroiled in a war for the souls of mankind. A war of good versus evil, of witches versus demons, and Isla learns that she alone can end it.
Dr. Jeremiah Rousseau was a self-proclaimed nomad, traveling the world researching paranormal phenomena. He doesn’t expect his research to lead him to Scotland, and to the woman who will turn his world upside down.
Together with a facetious shapeshifting animal spirit guide, Jeremiah and Isla discover that she is part of an ancient bloodline bred to protect the gateways between the human world and the spirit world, to keep evil demons from destroying them. They must find the key to defeating Alastore, the demon king, and closing the gate before Samhain, when the veil between the worlds is lifted. As the war for their souls wages around them, Isla and Jeremiah will risk it all for love—a love neither had ever thought possible.
Are you intrigued? Does that stunning cover grab you? Want to read on? Well, J.K. has sent this excerpt to get you hooked good and proper. Enjoy!
Isla had stopped at the edge of the porch and stood, frozen, staring out into the rainy darkness. Beyond her, Jeremiah could see the silhouette of a man. His face was in shadow, but from the luminescent eyes swirling with shadows, he knew it was Alastore.
When the man stepped forward into the dim light cast through the open door of the house, it became clear that he had a victim. Mhairi Mackay stood in front of the demon, and he had a strong arm locked around her neck.
Jeremiah surged forward, determined to protect Isla’s only remaining family, but Marduk stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. With a silent shake of his head, Marduk encouraged Jeremiah to think first and act with care.
Trust nothing, question everything, because things will most definitely not be as they seem. Marduk’s earlier words came back to him, and Jeremiah gave the man a quick nod to let him know he understood.
Isla lifted a foot to step down off the porch. “Think, Isla. Breathe. That’s not really Mhairi. She’s at Sacred Hearts, guarded by doctors and nurses that didn’t even want to let us in at first, remember?” he said in a low tone.
He saw a shudder rack her slender body but, much to his relief, she stayed put. Three pairs of eyes fixed on the pale, glowing arm that had the projection of Mhairi in a headlock.
Alastore threw his head back and cackled, before pinning each of them with a hard glare. “You think you can defeat me? I will lead you to your graves like lambs to the slaughter.” His voice was demonic, and they could hear the echo of pure evil behind it. It sounded like a dozen demons living inside one body, speaking in unison.
Without warning, he wrapped his free hand around Mhairi’s head and twisted in opposite directions. They heard a gruesome snap before the image of Mhairi crumpled to the ground.
A strangled cry ripped from Isla’s throat as the three of them bounded off the porch. They ground to a halt as Alastore threw his hands up toward the sky, and the pelting raindrops burst into incandescent flames.
The pellets of flame singed their skin, forcing them back to the shelter of the porch. Isla wailed as the spectre of Mhairi seemed to dissolve under the onslaught of fire and rain combined. Alastore’s head swiveled back to face them, his eyes gleaming with madness and hatred, pierced through to Isla’s soul.
“The little witch thinks she can defeat me! I, who can make the sky rain fire?” He took a step forward and Isla stood her ground. He glared at her with his mouth turned up in a gruesome sneer. “I will burn your life!” he spat at her.
“You’ll watch everything you care for turn to ash if you fight me!” He turned his cutting glare to the two men standing shoulder to shoulder on her right and absently gestured toward them. “These will die. Everyone will die.”
Facing Isla again, he gave her a sickeningly sweet smile. “And you, my dear…You will watch things fall apart. And then, you shall be mine.” She shuddered when he licked his lips and leered at her.
Isla would never be able to explain what came over her in that moment. As she focused on the images the demon pushed into her head—the pain and suffering, the dead and dying—it was the thought of Alastore turning his wrath upon Jeremiah that sparked the bone-deep anger inside her.
Storming off the porch into the maelstrom of fire and rain, she felt the breeze on the nape of her neck, when Jeremiah reached for her and missed. Storming toward Alastore, she stopped a few feet in front of him.
The balls of fire raining from the sky seemed to roll off an invisible shield around her and fury radiated from her body. “The hell I will!” she growled at him, gathering her energy low in her chest, preparing for a strike.
Marduk’s deceptively calm whisper drifted over to Jeremiah. “He’s goading her for a reason. Pushing her buttons. He may be trying to funnel her energy into himself, leaving her vulnerable for him to take her. Alastore does nothing without reason. Stop her.”
Jeremiah palmed the shotgun and whispered back to Marduk. “If I shoot him, it’s not going to stop him, right?” He waited for the other man to nod before continuing. “But it’ll hurt.”
Giving him a devious grin, Marduk nodded again. “It sure will. When he’s in corporeal form, he’ll feel the same pain a human would, he just won’t die. It will send him back to the locus to recharge.”
“Good enough for me.” Jeremiah pumped the forestock of the shotgun, drawing Alastore’s attention. The demon snarled at him but didn’t seem overly worried. That didn’t bode well.
Bracing the buttstock of the twelve gauge on his shoulder, he took aim and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. Cursing, he expelled the dead round and pumped again. Trigger pull, nothing.
Howling with laughter, Alastore returned his attention to the 110 pounds of livid woman that stood in front of him. He cocked his head, like an animal hearing a strange sound. “So pretty, and yet so easy,” he began, “just like your mother.”
“Christ,” Jeremiah hissed as he saw flames spike out from Isla’s fingertips. She was playing right into Alastore’s hands, but she just couldn’t see it. Shoving the shotgun into Marduk’s hands, he turned toward the house.
“I think he’s somehow jamming the gun. Maybe if I find something with no mechanics, he won’t be able to stop it.”
“Hurry.”
Well, duh. Jeremiah bounded into the house and began tearing through cupboards and rifling through drawers. He thought about grabbing a knife, but he didn’t think any of them should get that close to the demon.
Inspiration struck when he found an unopened bottle of vodka, dusty and forgotten in a cabinet. Grabbing a kitchen rag, he ripped it in half. Emptying a third of the bottle down the sink, he stuffed the rag down into the neck, making sure that it was in far enough to soak up the alcohol.
He snagged a lighter from a drawer and rushed back outside. “Get her out of the way,” he ordered Marduk as he passed, not even stopping to make sure the other man heard him. He didn’t need to stop, because Marduk ran to catch up with him as he was lighting the rag on fire.
Marduk grasped Isla by the shoulders and yanked her back into his arms as Jeremiah tossed the burning bottle at Alastore’s feet.
The projectile immediately exploded, engulfing the demon in a huge wall of fire. The surge of heat was so intense, Jeremiah backed up several steps. He stood, watching as the skin melted off of Alastore’s corporeal form to reveal a blackened skeleton.
An inhuman screech rent the air as Alastore pointed a bony finger at them. “You’re mine,” he croaked as what was left of him dissolved into ash and flame.
“Yeah, yeah, and our little dog, too. Got it,” Jere grumbled.
“Hey!” Marduk’s indignant tone said he didn’t appreciate the dog reference, but Jeremiah didn’t much care. Pulling Isla away from wolf-boy, he enveloped her in a tight hug. Resting his chin on the top of her head, he allowed the shudders he had been suppressing to roll over his body. Giving her one last squeeze, he set her away from him and brushed past her, stalking into the house, slamming the door behind him.
Doesn’t this just have everything? Passion, romance, intrigue, fire… well, I can’t wait to read the entire book! HUGE congratulations to J.K. on the launch of Fire On The Island!! Fire on the Island is available now from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.
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Nicky Wells: Love & Thrills 