Revenge Tour by Mike Lupica. This critic/reader prefers it when the (antagonist) villain in the story has a tiny bit of redemption. A cutting edge sense of humor, a good brother, or a slice of empathy. When the victim (so-called) has not an ounce of redemption that does not bode well. In the case of Revenge Tour, please somebody just shoot Melanie Joan Hall immediately. Or shoot me and end my misery.
I could have cared less if Sunny Randall and her helpers kept the famous author safe. She was a miserable human being. But, other than that I always enjoy Sunny’s escapades. Many of the old gang is back in this one…which readers always appreciate. The dialogue is cutting edge, very Robert B. Parker.
Special Note: I hadn’t realized that it literally takes a village to keep producing Robert B. Parker novels. I read the ‘Acknowledgments’ (page 321) which lists the team who is involved, with the author, to create another story. David and Daniel Parker (sons? grandsons?), a senior editor, Lupica’s editor, and the curator of the RBP’s collection, Esther Newberg; all keep Parker’s stories alive.
Did you miss my Interview with Mike Lupica?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Coming soon! August: Author, Jay Hartlove
To receive my weekly posts sign up for my
On the home page, enter your email address. Thanks!
Q. Do you think we will see, in our lifetime, the total demise of paper books?
DA. No, I don’t think so. While digital books are usually cheaper and easier to store and buy, I think a lot of people still enjoy the way a paper book smells and feels. It’s more of an emotional experience. I receive a lot of messages from readers who want to know how to get hold of my books in physical form.
Daisy–the old lady
Q. What makes a writer great?
DA. For me anyone who can transport me from everyday life into a different world and make me lose myself is a great writer. Bringing people and situations to life on the page is a kind of magic.
Q. and the all-important: What does the process of going from “no book” to “finished book” look like for you?
One of this blogger’s favs
DA. I begin my novel by brainstorming the types of people I want in my story, what do they want, conflicts they might encounter and what do they need to learn?
Then I come up with a ‘hook’ or something that will draw readers in. I create ‘books’ of information about my stories which include pictures of my characters, location photographs (I find this helps me to really picture my setting and helps to make it real). I use a website call Pacemaker to plan my writing schedule ie when the deadline is, how many words I need to write each day to get the first draft completed on time. I generally write my first draft in three months, once I’m happy with it I deliver it to my editor.
Usually after a week I receive structural edits. These involve adding scenes/removing scenes/deepening conflict and addressing anything my editor things doesn’t work in the story. This tends to be the most major part of the editorial process. Sometimes my edits take a few days, but they can take up to a month. It all depends on how much work the book needs. After the structural edits are okay’d I work on line edits, then copy edits and then a proof read. The final stage of the process involves me reading through the final files before the book is created. Publication day is the end of the process – this involves promotion on social media, in newsletters and thanking people for support. I tend to end the day with a glass of something fizzy!
Q. How has your life experiences influenced your writing?
DA. Because my books are character driven, I think everyone I meet or speak to and everything that has happened to me influences my writing. I tap into
Dylan
experiences when I’m dealing with heartbreak or conflict in my novels. It’s not always the exact same experience, but the feelings are the same.
Q. Do you have children? If yes, how do you carve out ‘writing time’?
DA. This is how I keep my two lovely teenagers from disturbing me mid flow (in truth: it doesn’t work and they still barge in). Seriously, I wouldn’t be without them. I can get a bit obsessive about my writing and end up stuck at my desk for hours so it does me good to have some company and distraction!
Q. What’s your down time look like?
DA. I read a lot, enjoy swimming, walking and classes at my local gym. I love networking with other writers and spending time with family and friends.
Q. Have you or do you want to write in another genre`?
DA. I love romance and don’t plan to change to another genre.
Q. Note to Self: (a life lesson you’ve learned.)
DA. If you want something in life, behave as if you already have it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Did you miss the beginning of this Interview?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Coming soon! August: Author, Jay Hartlove
To receive my weekly posts sign up for my
On the home page, enter your email address. Thanks!
Q. Where/when do you first discover your characters?
DA. I need to know my characters before I start writing. I start by working out who they are and what their internal issues are, i.e. what is their wound? What needs to happen in the novel for that wound to be overcome or healed. I then spend time finding pictures of my characters on Google and adding in details like eye colour, hair colour, age, upbringing. While I discover my characters as I write, I need a fair amount of detail before I get started so they can become real in my mind. Sometimes news stories, novels or movies will help to inspire a character, especially if I admire or identify with particular personality traits.
Q. What first inspired you to write?
DA. I was a huge reader when I was younger and started writing books when I was around twelve. I don’t know what originally inspired me, but I was good at writing and enjoyed escaping into stories and creating my own worlds.
Q. What comes first to you? The Characters or the Situation?
DA. For me characters usually come first.
Q. Do you ‘get lost’ in your writing?
DA. When things are going well, I get completely lost. I often feel like the words are coming out of my fingers rather than my brain – that’s when my subconscious takes over and almost writes for me. I love those moments but it’s not always like that!
New books are born here. “Book Planning Books”.
Q. Are you working on something now or have a new release coming up? If so tell us about it.
DA. I’m working on my summer book for 2023 at the moment and I’m about 30K words in so I’ve a way to go yet. Recently my 2022 summer novel The Little Cornish House was published and my first novel Summer at the Castle Café was published by Sphere into paperback. My pitch for The Little Cornish House is it’s The Great Pottery Thrown Down meets The Murder Club (only without any murders).
Thirty-year-old Ruby’s life is safe and predictable: no dramas, no complications, no men. And that’s just the way she likes it – there’s no way she wants to get her heart broken again. But her whole life is turned upside down when her grandmother calls to say she’s in danger of losing her beloved little Cornish House by the sea. She needs Ruby to come back to Cornwall and save the day…You’ll find everything in this summer romance – from a gorgeous hero and heroine, to a whole host of quirky characters, pottery, cake and real ale-
One of my favs
not to mention a mystery, twists, turns and romances crossing the generations.
Q. When did you begin to write seriously?
DA. In 2017 I was awarded the Katie Fforde Bursary. This was a huge honour, not only to be selected as one of Katie’s promising writers, but also because all of the authors up until that point had gained a publishing deal within a couple of years. I’d been writing on top of my day job for a few years by then, but having Katie’s endorsement, and knowing I didn’t want to let her down, I went down to four days a week at work and decided to treat my writing more like a proper day job. In 2018 I was offered my first publishing contract. I think I had to make the ‘decision’ to take
getting published seriously before this would happen.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Join us next week for the conclusion of our Interview with Donna Ashcroft
Did you miss part 1 of our chat with Donna?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Coming soon! August: Jay Hartlove
To receive my weekly posts sign up for my
On the home page, enter your email address. Thanks!
Donna Ashcroft declared she would be an author at the age of twelve and used to write voraciously. During her career, Donna worked in publishing, online retail and as a freelance copywriter until she started her family. She had two children and finally decided she’d reached her “now or never” time. She joined the Romantic Novelists Association and started to write seriously in 2016. In 2018 (after penning a number of novels) she was offered a publishing contract by Bookouture and has been with them ever since. Her debut novel, Summer in the Castle Café was shortlisted for the RNA Debut Romantic Novel of the Year Award in 2019.
She says, “I love a happy ending and am never more content than when I’m escaping into a romance novel or movie. When I’m not reading or writing I’m probably swimming, or negotiating with my OH or teenagers about who is doing the washing up.”
Q. Where do you write? Do you have a special room, shed, barn, special space for your writing? (please provide a photo of you at work in your shed, room, closet, barn, houseboat….) Or tell us about your ‘dream’ work space.
DA. I work in my spare room. It’s a small space so we had to take the bed down and I have the headboards along one wall! I’ve tried to make it into a lovely space with a heart banner, plants and pictures of my novels. When the sun is shining though I love working outside in the garden. My ‘dream’ workspace would probably involve a pool and somewhere I can shelter from the sun but take a dip whenever I wanted to.
Q. Do you have any special rituals or quirks when you sit down to write? (a neat work space, sharpened #2 pencils, legal pad, cup of tea, glass of brandy, favorite pajamas, etc.)
DA. In the mornings I have to have coffee (multiple) and can’t start work without a caffeine hit. I also always have water on the go and drink plenty as the day progresses. I have hand cream on my desk as it’s good to just take a little time out sometimes to have a mindful moment as I’m applying it.
My office
Other must haves include pens, pretty notebooks and post it notes which I make notes on all the time! I also have a ball instead of a chair for when I’m working in an attempt to look after my back.
Q. Could you tell us something about yourself that we might not already know?
DA. I’ve been training to do a 1.4km open water swim since March – the swim is this weekend and I’m terrified but I always think it’s important to try new challenges. I’m a qualified life coach and NLP Practitioner. I don’t practice but I think the learning experience was useful to understanding behaviour in both myself and others.
Q. What tools do you begin with? Legal pad, spiral notebook, pencils, fountain pen, or do you go right to your keyboard?
A daily walk with my friend’s dog Tiggy
DA. I usually like to make notes on a pretty notepad when I’m brainstorming but I then hop straight onto the keyboard.
Q. Do you have a set time each day (or night) to write?
DA. I’m a full-time writer so I write between 8am and 6pm on weekdays and sometimes I work in the mornings on weekends. I take regular breaks to refresh my mind and body.
Q. What’s your best advice to other writers for overcoming procrastination?
Heart banner in my office
DA. Treat writing like a profession. You can’t wait for your muse, you just have to get on with it. Often I’ve spent a day writing chapters I think are awful, but then I often discover a nugget in there that’s worth keeping. Writing is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration with a little talent thrown in.
Join us next week for Part 2 of this Interview
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Coming soon! July’s author interview with Donna Ashcroft.
To receive my weekly posts sign up for my
On the home page, enter your email address. Thanks!
A charming story to be sure. Love finally conquers, maybe. A breath-taking story of how the system fails sexual assault victims and the justice system turns those women into suspects when they are forced to defend themselves. Shocking, but true if you are poor, a woman, and NOT white. Deftly told by Susan Wiggs.
I rarely comment on book covers but this cover does the story such an injustice. The beautiful cake, on the cover, suggests that a bakery is the focal point of the story. A woman with blond hair (the only part they got right) with ugly hands and an even uglier manicure. Sure, the love interest has a bakery, but it plays such a minor role that it doesn’t even deserve a mention.
This story is about BBQ and I would have thought (if the cover designer had read even the first few pages), a big platter of BBQ ribs would have been on the front. Always, ALWAYS use a hand model if you’re going to stage a cover with ‘hands’. Cooks don’t have manicures (gels), nail polish (very unsanitary). They have short clean, unpolished nails and knife-nicked hands.
But I digress. The woman in this story is sympathetic, without being a typical ‘victim‘. There are times when all she has in the world is her BBQ and the custom sauces she has invented. The reader likes her. If the reader is a woman, she can relate to Margot. No one likes a happy ending more than me, but it’s touch-and-go.
On sale: July 26th
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Did you miss my Interview with Susan Wiggs?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Coming soon! July’s author interview with Donna Ashcroft.
To receive my weekly posts sign up for my
On the home page, enter your email address. Thanks!
‘Ah, well, thereby hangs a tale. I’ve just bought the village pub. Rather on impulse.’ And what a tale it is! The only trouble with author, Veronica Henry’s books is, we (readers) never want the tale to end.
Stock-in-trade is Henry’s excellent writing. Deeply developed characters that we love (or hate), that we fall in love with or wish they were our kids. Believable and likeable and human. A delicious read. The exact perfect balance of descriptive writing and dialogue. One of this reviewer’s pet peeves.
I don’t write synopses of the books I review. That’s not a reviewer’s job. Just know that you will miss out on a terrific ‘tale’ if you don’t read this book.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Did you miss my interview with Veronica Henry?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Odd, loveable, quirky characters are sprinkled throughout this story. From the first page they seduce and beguile the reader.
Stewie, a 10 year old boy (when we first meet him) is passively neglected by his overly taxed, older sister. His Gam has recently died and as a way to stay connected to his much beloved grandmother, he adopts and takes over the care of her chickens. During his ‘egg route’ he meets Marilyn, another grandma-type with the same rough edge as his Gam.
And that’s where I’ll leave the spoiler alert. The writing is done with the same brilliance we have come to expect from Catherine Ryan Hyde. Her turn of phrase is unapparelled. Her balance of descriptive text and dialogue is near-perfect. And my readers know how too little dialogue irks me! This will never happen in a Hyde book. The characters are well thought out and deeply written. Hyde ‘shows’ you her characters; never tells you who and what they are. And who else could get a beautiful story out of a young boy and his chickens?
I highly recommend this book to my readers. If you loved Allie and Bea (and I did!) you will certainly love Dreaming of Flight.
Lillian Hellman said this. ‘If you hope to be any good, nothing you write will ever come out as you first hoped.’ It is true and if you are truly lucky it will happen to you.
In my novel, Women Outside the Walls, I have waited until Joe dies at Charlie’s hands to share with you the back story of how the last chapters of my book came to be. How I experienced this lucky event of my book not turning out as I had first hoped.
In the play script version , this is where the story ends; Joe dying on the cold floor of a prison and Charlie’s line: “I got you to find Chelsea, didn’t I?” And this was where I had planned for the novel to end too.
IF I had not been working closely with a woman who had ‘stood by her man’ for 15 years while he was in prison. Shortly after he was paroled, her son received 13 years for manslaughter. She has been there, done that, times two! After SK (the woman outside real walls) read the last pages, she looked up and asked: “What happened to Charlie? To Alma?”
I looked blank for a moment. I was, first and foremost, a playwright after all. Then replied, “do you think anyone would care?” She said, “Absolutely. Is Charlie in a death penalty state? Does Alma stick by him?” she asked. And “By the way, what happened to Hattie and her kids?”
The problem was I had no experience with death row……BUT I did have SK, whose son narrowly avoided the death penalty when he pled down from murder two to voluntary manslaughter. SK never spoke of those dark days when she thought she would lose her son when the state executed him. Now she was willing to speak of it with me.
Based upon her stories and the stories of her friends (other women outside the walls) I was able to write those
final chapters. Did Charlie walk down that long hallway to the ‘needle’? Was anyone there to witness his death?
You might be surprised. And yes, what happened to Hattie and Kitty?
Try to explore everything you can about your characters’ lives. Don’t leave a single road untraveled. We all care about what happens to the villain!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To receive my weekly posts sign up for my
On the home page, enter your email address. Thanks!
Sigh. Another delicious, wonderful story from Boo Walker. Perfecto! Magnífico! We all know him for his fabulous series, Red Mountain. Plopping his readers down amongst the vines in northern California. Introducing us to wonderfully drawn characters that we could savor through the series.
With A Spanish Sunrise, he takes us on a journey of loss, grief, fear and love. A Dad and his little girl, each seeking peace in their own way. And then a surprising and shocking email arrives one day. Enough said, I try not to write spoilers.
A little while ago I wrote a “teaching” book review about the writer who ‘tells’ the story instead of ‘showing’ the story with the actions and dialogue of his characters. This book is a perfect example of ‘showing’ the story. Through the characters’ voices I could smell the loam in the olive tree orchards. Feel the hot sun on my shoulder, taste the pungent, spicy oil on my tongue. Because Walker showed me, through his characters’ actions and dialogue. He didn’t tell me “the oil was good.”
I’ve read most of Walker’s books; maybe all of them. A Spanish Sunrise is my all time favorite from this wonderful writer…..so far. It would be divine if this was book 1 of a new series. Boo, are you listening?
This could have been a great story, a fascinating, enjoyable family saga spanning several generations.
Instead, the writer, Bill Kitson, chose to tell his readers the story, instead of showing them. Chapters of telling, telling, telling. Then a half page of dialogue and ‘showing’. For example, the rift between patriarch, Albert, and his son, James. Albert’s decline into dementia would have been an interesting sub-plot if the writer had shown it; not told it. Jesse’s arduous journey from war-torn Europe back home to England. The First World War (section) was reduced to a few chapters of ‘telling’. Ugh. Leaving this reader not caring about Kitson’s characters much at all.
The characters that this writer created were interesting, predictable in places, but on the whole pretty good. But, with the storytelling style of ‘telling’ rather than showing who these people were they were not deeply drawn. Dialogue enriches not only the story but the characters. Telling rather than showing is, to my mind, a lazy way of writing.
for the story. For the writing.
The formatting was distracting. The pages were not titled with the traditional title and author’s name. In the front or back, there was no list of Kitson’s other books; a missed marketing opportunity. There was no author biography.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To receive my weekly posts sign up for my
On the home page, enter your email address. Thanks!
