Monthly Archives: July 2012

Jera’s Jamboree: Guest Author Harvey Black

Having tweeted with Harvey Black for quite a while and then actually meeting him recently at the Loveahappyending‘s A Summer Audience in Tetbury, I’m delighted to welcome Harvey to Jera’s Jamboree.

Harvey Black, Jeremy! and me at Loveahappyendings’s Summer Audience

I have wanted to write a novel since I was a teenager. Enthralled by Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, E.E. Doc Smith’s Lensmen series and Edgar Rice Burroughs, I felt sure my first would be of the SF genre.

Joining the Army changed all of that and my passion now is for Military History.  ‘Devils with Wings’, my first novel,  a military thriller based around the adventures of two young Fallschirmjäger paratroopers during the early part of World War II, is a fictionalised adventure based on the famous glider assault on the impregnable Belgian Fortress, Eben Emael.

Once finished, I knew I would want it published, if only so I had a hard copy and could claim to the world that I was an ‘Author’. But how? On reading various articles, I chose the ‘Self Publishing’ route, providing me with all the options I was looking for; book cover, printing, a website, distribution and some marketing.

Devils with Wings was finally published, so what next? Realising, unless snapped up by a mainstream publisher, becoming a best seller would be pure luck. I would have to promote it myself. Support for authors appears very thin on the ground, but I have since discovered two great organisations that give you the moral support you need to promote yourself, the author, and your novels. “Love a happy ending’, LAHE, and ‘Famous Five Plus’ have given me a platform, as well as greater confidence, from which I can market myself, and my novels, to a much wider audience.

Promoting my novels through book signings has also been a great success and I would like to thank  Waterstones Southampton, Poole, Winchester and the other stores in my county for their support during my book signings, where I have sold an average of 50 copies at each session.

What’s next? Devils with Wings: Silk Drop, set during the famous battle for Crete, has also been published.

My third novel, Devils with Wings: Frozen Sun, set near Leningrad during one of the bitter Russian winters, is due to be published by Silverwood books later this year. There will be ten novels in the Devils with Wings series.

Having three novels in the pipeline has given me the confidence to establish my own Blog, where I can present background material to aid my readers in gaining greater knowledge of the era that my books cover. I recently posted a number of articles about my time working in East Berlin in the 80’s, during the Cold War. This has prompted me to write a ‘Cold War’ series of novels, covering the hypothetical invasion of West Germany in the 1980’s. At the time, it was a case of when, not if, the Warsaw Pact was going to cross the Inner German Border. I experienced Intelligence acquisition at the sharp end. This experience, I hope, will  give my novels a sense of realism. Book 1, of three, ‘The Red Effect’, will be published in 2013.

Photo courtesy of author

What can I say to other potential, aspiring authors out there? Pick up a pen and write!

Thank you for sharing with us Harvey.

You can find out more about Harvey on his website, on his blog (some very interesting articles with photographs), his Loveahappyending author page and on Famous Five Plus.  You can tweet with him and find him on Facebook.

Harvey’s Amazon pages:

Devils With Wings The Green Devils assault on Fort Eben Emael

Devils with Wings: Silk Drop: The Green Devils’ Invasion of Crete

The Festival of Romance needs your nominations!

The Festival of Romance will be presenting awards this year for the first time to the best romantic film of the year and the best romantic television programme of the year.

What have you enjoyed watching on the big and small screens that you think should be on the shortlist?

The Festival will also be presenting awards for the first time to the most innovative publishers of romantic fiction and the best literary agents in the genre. Which industry professionals do you have think have contributed the most to shaping and promoting the genre?

Please post your nominations in romanticfiction.org forums (links below) or you can email them to festivalofromance@gmail.com


http://www.romanticfiction.org/forum/topics/nominations-please-film-and-tv


http://www.romanticfiction.org/forum/topics/nominations-please-publishers-and-agents

Take the opportunity cast your vote!

 

Jera’s Jamboree review: Thicker than Blood by Shalini Boland

Thicker Than Blood (Marchwood Vampire Series, Book 2) by Shalini Boland

Format: Kindle Edition

File Size: 447 KB

Print Length: 265 pages

Publisher: Adrenalin Books (15 April 2012)

Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.

Language: English

ASIN: B007UQF4RQ

Aelia lives in 6th century Byzantium. She is sixteen years old and her life is about to change forever. She doesn’t yet know it, but she holds the fate of thousands in her hands and her actions will echo across the centuries.

Fourteen hundred years later the lives of Madison and Alexandre are once again plunged into danger. To save Madison, Alexandre is forced back to a world he thought was dead and buried. But time is running out. 

The chase is on…

Chilling and fast-paced, Thicker Than Blood is the supernatural sequel to Hidden. It combines passion and drama with a historical twist.

 

The first book in this series, Hidden, was a keeper for me (you can read my review here) and I’ve been looking forward to the next in the trilogy to be published.  However, because I enjoyed it so much I did feel a little anxious to see if Boland kept the momentum going.

The story opens with Aelia in Cappadocia in 571AD.  Collecting water we understand that she has broken one of the rules of her community but is confident that Lysus, son of the village leader, will marry her.  On her return, half the village are waiting outside her home.  Her father is shouting at the village leader.

Chapter Two finds the reader in present day.  Maddie and Alex, Ben, Leonara and Freddie and Isabel and Jacques are at Gloucester Cathedral ice-skating.  Maddie goes off to buy hot chocolate for Ben and herself and doesn’t return.

Straight away, in both timelines, the action is about to start.  As in Hidden, we alternate in these different timelines until they merge.  From the Marchwood Vampires trying to rescue Maddie to the banishment of Aelia and being taken in by the widow Maleina (a hermit healer living away from society) there is plenty of crises and action.  I loved the significance of the solstice.

This time we find out about the backstory to the time before the Marchwood Vampires met their fates in the Cappadocian underground village.  I loved the way it all tied in and how Aelia held the key to events that were still being played out in present time.

New characters are introduced by way of the Cappadocian Vampires and the arrogance and superiority came across really clearly.  The characters we already know from Hidden are exactly the same (brilliantly portrayed if you read my review!)

The betrayal had me confused as the person all the evidence pointed to just didn’t make sense.  Of course when we find out who it is and why it all makes perfect sense!  I loved that I didn’t know.

At the end, we’re back in Tetbury at Christmas.  Alex knows there is more to come with facing the Cappadocian Vampires and so this is just a brief interlude.  However, there is also something else waiting outside those walls and in need of something they have…  what a brilliant way to end!  Not only do we have the final conflict between the warring vampires to look forward to but also the intrigue of the creature who is obviously intelligent and will also cause conflict.  Can’t wait to find out …

Thicker than Blood does follow through.  It had hooked me just as much as Hidden did.

Buy it but be loathe to share your copy … it’s a keeper!

You can read it as a stand alone but you will have continuity if you read Hidden to understand the importance of the Cappadocian thread running through the trilogy.

You can purchase Hidden (Kindle Format) from Amazon £2.49   (at the time of my review)

Thicker than Blood (Kindle Format) from Amazon £2.60

Shalini Boland can be found tweeting , on Facebook  or you can catch up on her website 

Deborah Harkness events and Elizabethan Walking Tour of London

I will be hosting a competition shortly for the launch party for Shadow of Night (not open to the public) but in the meantime, I’d like to share with you three public events.  (You can read my review here)

Tuesday 11th September – 6.30 to 8.30pm – Discovery of Shadows with Deborah Harkness and Christopher Fowler 

The Gallery

Foyles

119 Charing Cross Road

London

WC2H 0EB

You can read about the event on Foyles website.

This is a free event but customers must request tickets in advance by emailing events@foyles.co.uk or by going to the website.

Wednesday 12th September

Talk and signing at Waterstones, Nottingham

7pm

Tickets £5 in advance or £3 with a Waterstones loyalty card

Waterstones,

1/5 Bridlesmith gate

Nottingham

NG1 2GR

Tel: 08432908525 for more information or to reserve a signed copy

Thursday 13th September

Talk and signing at Waterstones, New St, Birmingham

7pm

Tickets £3 in advance redeemable against the cost of the book on the night

Waterstones,

128 New St

Birmingham

B2 4DB

Tel: 08432908151 for more information or to reserve a signed copy

I would also like to share the movie clip of Deborah Harkness taking us on a tour of Elizabethan London.  Lasting just over 8 minutes, it really brings Shadow of Night to life.

Author Information

Deborah Harkness Bio

Extensive FAQ

Information for aspiring writers

A portion of the Q & A for Viking US about Shadow of Night

Short Films

Jera’s Jamboree: Blog Tour Simon Lipson ~ Song in the Wrong Key

I would like to welcome author Simon Lipson to Jera’s Jamboree today.

Simon Lipson was born in London and took a law degree at the LSE. After a spell as a lawyer, he co-founded legal recruitment company Lipson Lloyd-Jones in 1987. In 1993, Simon took his first tentative steps onto the comedy circuit and has since become an in-demand stand-up across the UK, as well as a regular TV and radio performer/writer. His first novel, Losing It, a thriller, was published by Matador in 2008.

Simon is a columnist for Gridlock Magazine (www.gridlockmagazine.com).

As part of the blog tour for Song in the Wrong Key, I have been fortunate to catch up with Simon and interview him … but first I’ll share the blurb:

 

Michael Kenton is a middle-aged man living in middle-class comfort with wife Lisa and daughters Millie and Katia. Drifting complacently towards retirement, Mike’s world is turned upside-down when he is thrown unexpectedly onto the career scrapheap.

While Lisa’s career sky-rockets, Mike slobs around in his track suit playing guitar, rekindling his teenage love affair with pop music. Knowing Lisa wouldn’t approve, he plots a secret ‘comeback’ at a grimy Crouch End bistro where music executive Ben, desperate and out of time, asks if he can enter one of Mike’s songs into the Eurovision Song Contest.

With nothing to lose, Mike focuses on Eurovision but quickly finds himself staring down the barrel of low level fame. His crumbling marriage now page five news, he must choose between his musical dream and mending his broken family, a task complicated by the re-appearance of ex-love of his life Faye.

A laugh-out-loud comedy about love, family, friendship and Euro- tack by acclaimed stand-up and comedy writer Simon Lipson.

Hi Simon,

Welcome to Jera’s Jamboree.

Thank you.

 

“A laugh-out-loud comedy …” you’ve obviously used your skill and experience in this media to write Song in the Wrong Key.  Would you share with readers the inspiration behind the plot?

Like me, Mike Kenton is a thwarted musician, a wannabe pop star who reluctantly accepted that life was about making sensible choices, not pursuing fantasies. I became a solicitor – don’t hate me – while Mike opted for a middling, plodding career in IT. I was running my legal recruitment business when I decided to have a crack at stand-up comedy. It was whimsical, the sort of thing I’d do once and tell the unimpressed grandchildren about, but suddenly found myself performing all over the country, appearing on TV and radio and voicing commercials. How did that happen? I’ve never been less than starry-eyed about this – it still strikes me as incongruous and delightful that a serious professional type like me has worked within such a frivolous industry for 20 years alongside all sorts of famous people – and maybe it’s this experience that attracted me to the idea of an Ordinary Joe suddenly rising to national prominence through the creative arts. I never quite hit the heights (because I couldn’t ever commit to a full time career in comedy, I like to delude myself) but Mike gets a once in a lifetime opportunity to make his dream come true with the chance that it might lead to personal redemption.

Did you have a fixed idea of the characters at the start of the story? Did they change during your edits?  How did they become real to you?

I had a pretty clear idea of the dramatis personae and their personalities at the outset, but things change as you write and, for me at least, it’s important to follow the muse! Mike is, I suppose, a version of me. His attitudes, voice, sense of humour, impatience and grudging soft-heartedness (hidden beneath the sarcasm) are all similar to my own. When he talks about people who smile on trains or nouveau cuisine, that’s me talking. But he’s unlike me in other ways, particularly as he’s a man who has settled for a dull career and put all his dreams to bed. I’m still dreaming! I think the hoops and hurdles you invent as you go along inform character development. In Mike’s case, his attitude to life’s possibilities change quite markedly as the story unfolds. Mike’s wife Lisa is a fiction, but the kids, Millie and Katia, are certainly based on mine at that age. Chaz, Mike’s best friend, is not wholly unlike my best friend, albeit he’s a lot shorter and less hirsute. The idea of Faye – rather than Faye herself – is something drawn from my own life as well. Because so many of the characters were familiar to me before I started, they were already real in my mind and didn’t require any major leaps of the imagination to flesh them out into fully formed characters.

How much of your own family experience is reflected in Song in the Wrong Key?

The basic family unit at the centre of the story is the same as my own. My daughters are now 16 and 18 (Millie and Katia are 7 and 8) but they were incredibly sassy and knowing when they were younger, and not averse to the odd swear word! When I was a kid back in the Dark Ages, we were innocent, respectful of our parents and knew nothing about anything important. Lisa – as I’ve suggested above – bears no resemblance to my wife (apart from being beautiful – Mrs L might be reading this!). She’s tough and career-minded and, despite her obvious qualities as a mother, I suppose she is a little unsympathetic, especially as she also emerges as the main reason Mike gave up music. That said, Mike gives her every reason to be weary of his lack of ambition. My wife is warm and supportive, whatever stupid venture I might undertake. And we’ve never had marital problems in the 22 years we’ve been together (though one should never be too smug!). So, yes, elements of my own family experience are in there, but their story is mostly imagined.

I’ve seen your novel tagged as ‘contemporary romance’.  Is the romance from the perspective of Michael Kenton or does Lisa also have a ‘voice’?

I think Mike is the romantic core of the book. It’s up to the readers to decide if he really loves Lisa or has simply become too comfortable in a relationship that hints at problems just below the surface. Does he need – rather than love – her because without her, his precious family unit might disintegrate? Likewise, whether Lisa genuinely loves Mike is something I have left hanging in the air. My previous book, Losing It, was a psychological thriller written entirely in the voice of a female protagonist, so I like to think I can write from a female perspective. Song In The Wrong Key, I think, explores the way an essentially good and faithful husband deals with matters of the heart, especially when suddenly faced with choices at a stage in his life when he believed he’d already made all his romantic decisions.

How does the ‘technical’ side of writing a novel differ from scriptwriting?

That’s a great question. Most of my script writing has been for radio and live work, and has focused on sketches. These require instant set-ups, characters we can identify from the off and a solid tag. I have written a feature film script and have also developed my next book, Standing Up, as a sitcom. Scriptwriting is largely dialogue-driven with a huge dollop of ‘show, don’t tell’. We can see what’s happening on the screen/stage, and all sorts of visual and narrative short cuts can be used – a look, an expression, a sign, an action – to convey ideas and propel the story. Exposition is the scriptwriter’s last resort! Novel writing allows the author room to breathe, to let ideas and characters develop, to create images and ideas in the minds of the readers. While ‘show, don’t tell’ also applies to this form, the novelist can’t rely on great actors to convey character and evoke the subtleties of human expression and communication; nor do they have the luxury of scenery to create a sense of place. It’s all in the prose.

… and how easy is it to adapt from one media to the other?

Before I started writing the Standing Up sitcom, I thought I’d spend hours poring through my novel and lifting dialogue and ideas verbatim. In fact, I hardly looked at it. Obviously, I knew the story beats intimately, as I did the characters, so I simply started again. I love writing dialogue, so the difficulty for me was using the conventions of script writing (alluded to above) in an effective way. I worked with a brilliant script doctor who showed me what I needed to do. My agent has already had some interest in the script from a couple of independent production companies.

Are you a panster or a plotter?

On balance, a panster. I need some basic plot beats and characters before I can get going, but prefer to extemporise and go where the mood takes me. The untidy bits of plotting and sloppy chronology of a first draft can always be repaired at a later stage.

What authors or books have influenced you?

My favourite book is Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe. I can only dream of writing like him. It’s so rich, so complex, so funny, so true. I love witty American authors like Jonathan Tropper, Steve Hely and Rob Long, as well as the funnier stuff by David Nicholls and Nick Hornby. I wouldn’t say any one author has particularly influenced me, but people like Hornby make it ok for men to write contemporary humorous fiction with a romantic heart, so hats off to him!

Your next novel, Standing Up, is due to be published in the Autumn.  You’re still doing stand-up, involved with radio and writing sitcom … where do you find the time to fit everything in?  Do you have a writing schedule?

I don’t have a schedule, but when I’m in ‘book’ mode, I usually cycle into London, settle myself in a café and write for about three or four hours per day. I like having hubbub around me. It seems to energise me in a way writing from home in a silent room never does. I also need the distraction of the odd celeb wandering in or some nutter shouting at his coffee; I can’t just put my head down and write unremittingly. Once I’m inspired by a story and characters, I find it a thrilling process and don’t ever feel like I’m fitting it in around my other pursuits. I also love editing, finding new things to add, new jokes. It generally doesn’t take me long to rattle out 80,000 words. That’s not a boast by the way; sometimes 79,000 of them can be rubbish! But once I’m flowing, in the zone, I can get things done quickly.

And finally, what can we expect from you next?

Well, I’m performing a one man show at the Camden Fringe on 20 – 23 August, so you and all your followers are very welcome to come along. The show is called The Accidental Impressionist which, as the title suggests, is about how I became known – and pigeonholed – for my impersonations, when I really wanted to tell jokes. It’s at the Camden Head and tickets are available here:
http://bit.ly/KYM0Bx
. I’m also hoping to publish my next novel, Standing Up, later this year. Beyond that, hopefully someone will get their head around making my sitcom!

Thank you for being such an entertaining guest!  I’m sure my readers join in wishing you well with all your creative projects!

AUTHOR LINKS:

www.songinthewrongkey.com

www.simonlipson.com


http://www.facebook.com/simon.lipson.3


http://www.facebook.com/pages/Song-In-The-Wrong-Key-Simon-Lipson/140280092721031
;

Twitter: @SimonLipson

www.simonlipson.blogspot.co.uk

Buy links – paperback and Kindle:

Amazon.co.uk:
http://amzn.to/xaosKp

Amazon.com:
http://amzn.to/yo7bpY

My show, The Accidental Impressionist, is on at the Camden Fringe 20 – 23 August @ 8pm. Everyone welcome! Details and tickets here:
http://j.mp/JDPBnu

 

 

 

 

Jera’s Jamboree: Review and Giveaway The Wedding Guests by Meredith Goldstein

The Wedding Guests by Meredith Goldstein

Paperback: 416 pages

Publisher: Penguin (19 July 2012)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0241960363

ISBN-13: 978-0241960363

One wedding. Five nightmare guests. Five ways to ruin the happiest day of someone else’s life:

- Cry uncontrollably over your ex in front of the bride and mix calming herbal remedies with copious amounts of alcohol so that it’s hard to stand up – especially if you’re a bridesmaid

- Dress like you are attending a funeral and look for opportunities to re-enact scenes from steamy novels

- Turn up late wearing a T-shirt covered in mud and something that looks like blood

- If you are the bride’s uncle, who no one likes anyway, try to cop off with her friend who’s way too young for you

- Wear a suit that stinks of chicken wings and then spend the whole reception propping up the bar

Who said going to a wedding solo couldn’t be fun?

The Wedding Guests is a heartwarming and hilarious tale of what not to do at a wedding.

We meet Beth Eleanor Evans (aka BEE) aged 29 as she is writing her seating plan on a whiteboard (the type you see in a boadroom).  It’s the last thing to plan and she’s getting married in less than 48 hours.  She spends ages trying to strategically place the five singles that are attending when along comes her mother, Donna, places them. Job done.  This is the only time we spend with Bee seeing things from her point of view.

Told in a third person narrative, we switch between each ‘singles’ point of view which is told from the time of the bridal party getting ready on the top floor of the Tower Gardens Country Club, through the wedding/reception and on until the morning after.

Three of the singles have history together having been at college in Syracuse but since drifted apart. Bee’s uncle spends the majority of the wedding with one of them. One of them doesn’t turn up until the next morning but is a part of it through phone calls … and one of the singles is a substitute having taken the place of his mother who is a close friend of the groom’s mother.

The focus of the story is more about the emotional lives of the singles rather than the wedding itself although it is obviously the wedding that is in the background and the reason that brings them together.  We get to read their reflections and learn about hopes and dreams that have been put to one side although not forgotten.  Bee’s wedding is a pivotal point in all their lives.

It’s easy for the reader to identify with each character’s profile and get caught up in the story.  The characters on the periphery add even more colour with their personalities. The pace of the story is fast – there’s no time to be bored!  There’s always something happening.  There are some hilarious/embarrassing scenes and one poignant scene in particular that had me on the floor sobbing alongside the character.

The ending is satisfying although we don’t know the outcome for them all.  However, we do know there are changes …

If you’re looking for a holiday read then I would definitely recommend you add the The Wedding Guests to your reading list.

Buy it and spread the word

I would like to thank the publishers, Penguin, for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest opinion.

About the author:

Meredith Goldstein writes for the Boston Globe and is the author of its hugely popular advice column ‘Love Letters’ where she dishes out pearls of wisdom to the lovelorn. She was born in New Jersey and now lives in Massachusetts.

You can find out more about Meredith Goldstein on her website and tweet with her.

The Wedding Guest is available to purchase:

Amazon Kindle format £3.99

Amazon paperback £4.89

Penguin paperback £6.99

Penguin ePub eBook £4.00

and all good book shops

Penguin are generously offering a paperback copy of The Wedding Guests for one of Jera’s Jamboree readers.  Do you have a memorable wedding experience (humorous, tugged at your heart-strings etc)?  To enter, share in the comments below and one of my boys will pick the winner.  The giveaway is open to UK/IE only and will close at midnight (BST) on 30th July 2012.

Good luck!

Jera’s Jamboree review: The Lost Soul by Suzy Turner

The Lost Soul (The Raven Saga) by Suzy Turner

Format: Kindle Edition

File Size: 368 KB

Print Length: 226 pages

Publisher: Suzanne Turner Publishing (21 Mar 2012)

Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.

Language: English

ASIN: B007NHUEAO

December and Lilly have got their work cut out for them. Not only are they desperately trying to figure out the identity of the Lost Soul, and track him down, they’ve also got to investigate why Powell River’s newest resident has got all of their men falling at her feet.
But when they learn that the Nephilim might be involved, it becomes clear that they’re all in extreme danger…

 

The Lost Soul is the final book in The Raven Saga trilogy which is targeted at a Young Adult audience.

You can read how I found out about indie author Suzy Turner and read my review of Raven (the first in the trilogy) on my blog here.

The second book in the trilogy December Moon was one of my Top Ten Fiction reads for 2011.  An e-copy was provided by Suzy for me to review this time.  You can read my review here.

As soon as I saw Suzy tweet that The Lost Soul was available to purchase I was first in line to buy my Kindle copy.

The final book opens with a man who has been unconscious and wakes to realise that he’s  laying with rotting corpses.  He’s in a deep ditch and has no recollection of who he is and how he got there.  He sees what he thinks is a hummingbird who tells him “You will be safe.  Do not worry.”  And so the adventure begins …

All the way through this story we have action … with December and her headaches and finding out this is a result of ‘the lost soul’ trying to contact her; the vampires trying to find Duran’s legacy he left behind; the man who opens the story who has a quest of his own that runs parallel to those in Powell River and the devastation caused by the new resident.

The way new characters tie up with history/old characters in the book is brilliant.  The strands all weave together so that we realise there is nothing that happens in isolation but is part of the whole story.  The characters all behave as we would expect them to from the previous books so we have continuation.  I absolutely loved the appearance from a certain angel … My notes say ‘OMG it’s …’ even before he was named :)

There were a couple of surprises for me – the new resident of Powell River, Calliope.  I had my suspicions about her at the funeral but didn’t guess who she was.  I also didn’t guess who the lost soul was until it was there in black and white!

I have two favourite scenes.  One is when the Tulugaq family all realise their heritage – made me shiver.  The other is when Ruby (the ghostly mother) finds her love.  I had tears in my eyes!

You could read The Lost Soul as a standalone because it is a different quest and we are told what the characters are.  You would be missing out on the background of the characters though and the journey they’ve been on to get where they are.

For me, the final quest of The Raven Saga brought it all together.  I will miss this world!

Buy it but be loathe to share your copy … it’s a keeper!

Catch up with Suzy on her website and blog.  Suzie has an author Facebook page and she tweets.

The Raven Saga is available to purchase Kindle format on Amazon ~ under £1 for each book!

Suzy Turner on Amazon

I’ll leave you with one of my poems that is relevant to the Tulugaq family:

JOURNEY

Feet are solid 
On the ground 
Dust is swirling 
Round and round

 

Rooted, grounded 
Sacred space 
Sounds are growing 
Cello, bass

 

Energy entwining 
Above, below 
Flowing, merging 
Transformation slow

 

Tempest howling 
Earth steady 
Energy growing 
Physical body ready

 

Casting off shape 
Form is a blur 
Metamorphosis, streamline 
Feathers and fur

 

Hunting the field 
Scaling the height 
Snuffling the underbrush 
Soaring in flight

 

Freedom, fluid 
The web is strumming 
Carefree, unbound 
Daylight is coming

 

Remembrance, pulling 
A drawing down 
Reverence, reluctance 
Cold wind blown

 

The beating heart 
The senses reeling 
Stretching, tingling 
Awkwardness, feeling

 

Joy in memory 
Warm blood, taste 
Physical body 
Is not in haste

 

The wind is quiet 
The moon is low 
Birds are singing 
The horizon aglow

 

A blessing received 
Sustenance given 
Time to leave 
Inspired ……. driven 

Jera’s Jamboree: Giveaway A Shirtful of Frogs

I was delighted to be contacted by local indie author Shalini Boland earlier this month after I had written on her Facebook wall.

If you read my blog regularly you will know I’ve already thoroughly enjoyed Hidden – Book One in the Marchwood Vampire Series, rating it as a keeper.  (Thicker Than Blood – Book Two is scheduled for review on 27th July 2012).

I had been intrigued by the title and synopsis of her latest novel which is YA/Crossover.

As World War 2 breaks out, six-year-old Jimmy Sweeney is evacuated from London to the country. He is now an outcast, bullied by the local kids and mistreated by the awful Mrs Cribbins. One night a stranger appears in his room. A tall clean boy who brings him wonderful food and other amazing things. They become friends which is good because pretty soon Jimmy is going to need a friend. His life may depend upon it . . .

Look at the text on the bottom right of the cover … now you can understand why my interest was piqued …

A Shirtful of Frogs is available to purchase on Amazon Kindle format now – retailing at £2.64

The paperback edition is due to published 21st July 2012 and retails at £6.99 on Amazon.

I can’t wait to read it :)

Shalini is generously offering an e-copy as a giveaway for one of Jera’s Jamboree readers.  Just leave a pick me comment below and I will use random.org to choose a winner.  Entries close on Wednesday 25th July 2012 at midnight BST.  Open Internationally.

Good luck

Jera’s Jamboree review: One Perfect Summer by Paige Toon

One Perfect Summer by Paige Toon

Paperback: 480 pages

Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK (10 May 2012)

Language English

ISBN-10: 1849831289

ISBN-13: 978-1849831284

‘Do you still love him?’ Every second of every minute of every hour of every day…

Alice is 18 and about to start university while Joe’s life is seemingly going nowhere. A Dorset summer, a chance meeting, and the two of them fall into step as if they have known each other forever.

But their idyll is shattered, suddenly, unexpectedly. Alice heads off to Cambridge and slowly picks up the pieces of her broken heart. Joe is gone; she cannot find him. When she catches the attention of Lukas – gorgeous, gifted, rich boy Lukas – she is carried along by his charm, swept up in his ambitious plans for a future together.

Then Joe is there, once more, but out of reach in a way that Alice could never have imagined. Life has moved on, the divide between them is now so great.

Surely it is far too late to relive those perfect summer days of long ago?

We meet Alice while she is travelling to Dorset with her mum.  Her dad will join them at weekends over the six week stay.  Alice meets Joe on the first day in the pub that is run by his parents … and the magnetic  pull is there from  the beginning.  They have so much in common and their relationship is warm and playful.  They walk Joe’s dog Dyson down to Dancers Ledge on the coastline and have trips out together to Corfe Castle and Brownsea Island (as a resident of Dorset I can vouch for the authenticity of these scenes!)  As Alice and Joe become closer, she finds out about his family background. One incident finds Alice and her family fleeing Dorset earlier than planned.

Alice tries to find Joe but doesn’t succeed.  She’s been living in Cambridge for six months leading an insular life and feeling broken when she meets Jessie and a friendship develops.  He’s a professional punter and Alice soon finds herself part of this ‘group’.   It’s alongside the river banks that her relationship with Lukas first develops.  Nine years later, Joe is once more on the radar but seemingly totally out of reach.

Narrated in the first person, the reader becomes a part of Alice’s life.  Alice changes and grows in maturity over the years and I thought the author made this very real – from the uncertainty of an 18 year old to a married woman refusing to be controlled.

The places we see through Alice’s eyes also add interest to the story.  We spend time in Dorset, Cambridge and visit Germany, becoming involved in the communities and individual characters.

The characters, leads and those on the periphery, are believable.  The relationships are also true to life.  It’s easy to image the pact Alice made with best mate Lizzy and how Joe’s family affected the change in the way Alice related to her own parents.

Alice and Joe’s relationship is totally different from Alice and Lukas’.  The alienation of her friends in both relationships (for different reasons) and trouble with the parent’s are very similar though.  I did wonder if best friend Jessie might also be a contender for an intimate relationship … sometimes we see the ‘best friend’ turn out to be the one all along …

I so wanted Alice to have what was right for her.  From the moment Joe is in the public eye I avidly turned the pages.  I have to admit to being tempted to read the end but just (only just!) stopped myself.  I was so desperate to find out and the tension was unbearable!  By this time I really couldn’t say for sure what I wanted though – stay or …

I found One Perfect Summer an emotional read.  There’s a heartbreaking moment with Dyson (sobbed my heart out) and tears involving Joe and Lukas.  The heart-warming friendships and the romance balanced out the tears (mine I mean).  I’m a softie at heart!

One Perfect Summer was a quick read for me.  I enjoyed the writing style and it was easy to become absorbed in Alice’s life.  You should definitely add this to your holiday reading list!  Another success for Paige Toon.

Buy it and spread the word

I would like to thank Simon & Schuster  for proving a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

Paige Toon on Amazon

Paige Toon on The Book Depository

You can visit Paige Toon’s website, find her on Facebook  and tweet with her.

Jera’s Jamboree: Caught my eye …

Browsing through different genres in the Kindle store on Amazon today, a few bargains caught my eye …

Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 849 KB
Print Length: 508 pages
Page Numbers Source ISBN: B0069HESO2
Publisher: Macmillan (27 Oct 2011)
Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
Language: English
ASIN: B005I3PA5Y

John and Naomi are grieving the death of their four-year-old son from a rare genetic disorder. They desperately want another child, but they realize the odds of their next child contracting the same disease are high.

Then they hear about geneticist Dr Leo Dettore. He has methods that can spare them the heartache of ever losing another child to any disease.

At his clinic is where their nightmare begins.

They should have realized something was wrong when they saw the list. Choices of eye colour, hair, sporting abilities. They can literally design their child. Now it’s too late to turn back. Naomi is pregnant and already something is badly wrong . . .

Digital List Price: £7.16
Print List Price: £7.99
Kindle Price: £0.20 includes VAT

Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 394 KB
Print Length: 340 pages
Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0330453580
Publisher: Pan Books; 1 edition (20 Feb 2009)
Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
Language: English
ASIN: B003GK22YI

‘I miss him with every breath and heartbeat. He should have been my happy ending. Instead, he is the sad beginning to my story.’

Olivia and Luca Felicone had known each other nearly all their lives, but when they fell in love as teenagers and eloped to London they broke the hearts of those closest to them. Luca’s parents run Marinella’s restaurant, the colourful hub of life in the otherwise bleak north-eastern seaside town of Watersford, and his mother, Angela, has never forgiven Olivia for causing such a rift in her beloved family.

On a freezing January night Olivia’s life is shattered when she learns that Luca has been killed in a car accident. She is left with nothing and, after suffering from weeks of overwhelming grief, she abandons her job and returns north to where Luca has been buried in Watersford.

Olivia’s chance meeting with Luca’s married twin brother, Marc, leads to the realization that he is experiencing a loss almost as painful as her own. Their desolation draws them into an affair which both know has no future, but fills the space where Luca should be. It is a course of action that can only spiral out of control, and when it does the consequences are both explosive and cruel.

The Love of My Life is a beautiful novel that portrays both the innocence of childhood, and the dynamics of love and loss with deftness and sensitivity. It is, above all, a stunning debut from an author with a unique and natural narrative voice.

Kindle Edition
 £0.74
Paperback, Unabridged £4.89
Audio, Cassette, Audiobook £39.50


Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 2386 KB
Print Length: 425 pages
Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0778329860
Publisher: MIRA (17 Jun 2011)
Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
Language: English
ASIN: B004VSTP08

Dear Anna,What I have to tell you is difficult to write, but I know it will be far more difficult for you to hear, and I’m so sorry-

The unfinished letter is the only clue Tara and Emerson have to the reason behind their close friend Noelle’s suicide. Everything they knew about Noelle – her calling as a midwife, her passion for causes, her love for her friends and family – described a woman who embraced life.

Yet there was so much they didn’t know.

With the discovery of the letter and its heartbreaking secret, Noelle’s friends begin to uncover the truth about this complex woman who touched each of their lives – and the life of a desperate stranger – with love and betrayal, compassion and deceit.

Digital List Price: £7.99
Print List Price: £7.99
Kindle Price: £1.99 includes VAT

Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 500 KB
Print Length: 353 pages
Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1847562027
Publisher: Avon (5 July 2012)
Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
Language: English
ASIN: B006Y0QZFO

Special low price for a limited period to discover Erin Kaye’s latest novel.

Divorcee Jennifer Irwin has it all – a successful interior design business and two loving children. But as her 45th birthday approaches and her children prepare to start their own lives, Jennifer is left feeling lonely in her empty nest.

That’s when she meets Ben Crawford – a man 16 years her junior – as their attraction heightens, Jennifer realises what she’s been missing. But mindful that the small-town Ballyfergus residents would never approve, they conduct their affair in secret.

But a secret is never a secret for long…

As the affair surfaces, Jennifer encounters opposition from friends and family, especially her daughter Lucy. Enraged by her mother’s relationship, Lucy seeks comfort in the arms of charismatic but troubled, Oren. Jennifer knows that Oren is not the man he seems, but can she convince her daughter of that?

And with everything going against them, can Jennifer and Ben’s love survive? Or will she risk losing her daughter to be with the man she loves?

Print List Price: £6.99
Kindle Price: £0.99 includes VAT

Happy Reading!