Author Interview - Joanne Phillips

Today I am really pleased to feature an interview with author Joanne Phillips. Joanne's latest novel is Cupid's Way.

Welcome Joanne, and thank you for agreeing to answer my questions! 

Please could you tell us a bit about your new book, Cupid's Way?

Cupid's Way is a feel-good romantic comedy about a woman called Evie Stone, who finds herself in the middle of a battle to save a Victorian terrace: Cupid's Way. Her grandparents live there, along with a host of colourful characters, but Dynamite Construction are threatening to demolish the site in the name of development. Evie begins to fall for charismatic Michael Andrews at an eco conference, not realizing he is in fact the CEO of Dynamite Construction ...

I know you've started a series of mystery novels too, I'm looking forward to reading the first one when I get chance. How do you decide what you want to write about next?

I have a notebook full of ideas, some are pretty detailed novel outlines and others just brief sketches, but I need to feel fired up about an idea to begin writing. A novel, even if you write quickly, takes a big chunk out of your life, and you have to love the characters and feel totally immersed in the plot to live with it for so long.

Do you plan extensively in advance when you write, in terms of plot and character, or do you have just an outline/main idea and then see where the words take you?

I do both, depending on the type of book. For a mystery, plotting is essential. The latest Flora Lively mystery was carefully plotted, scene by scene, before I started writing. You don't have to do it this way, of course, but if you don't it definitely means more re-writing and editing later to make sure you've laid a trail of clues and made the final denouncement totally credible. But my usual way of writing is to take an idea or a character and just begin. When I get to chapter 3 or 4, if I'm happy and certain I'm heading in the right direction, I might stop and jot down some ideas about where I want it to go. But plotting too much can suck all the joy out of it, for sure.

How long do you spend writing a novel from start to finish, and does it vary depending on the subject matter?

It does vary. Now I'm on my fifth novel, I usually spend about 6 months writing and editing, but often the idea will have been working itself out in my head for far longer, or will be based on notes and character sketches I've developed over time. Writing a novel for me doesn't only include sitting down at my desk and typing out the words - much of it goes on in my head while I'm doing other things.

Do you find writing addictive - is it hard to stop once you get going?

It is addictive, and I would write all day, every day if I could!

I love your site offering advice on writing and publishing from your own experiences. I read that you have done different roles prior to writing, but did you always have that itch to write?

I've always written, no matter what job or role I've had. I can still remember the feel of my school exercise books: red, blue or green covers with lined paper inside. I still think in stories all the time, and my characters have conversations with each other in my head! I think the big moment came for me when I realised that you need to take your dreams seriously, and give yourself every chance to achieve what you want, which for me was to have my work in front of readers. I'm enjoying sharing my journey on my blog and I'll always continue to do that too. 

Many thanks for being my guest on the blog today, Joanne!

You can visit Joanne's website here, and find her on twitter @joannegphillips and visit her amazon page here.

Janey Fraser - Author Guest Post

Today I'm pleased to feature a guest post by author JANEY FRASER, whose latest novel is called AFTER THE HONEYMOON. Plus, see the end of Janey's post for the chance to win some goodies!

Vanessa Calls! by Janey Fraser

The email popped up unexpectedly in my Inbox. It was from my PR at Random House. Would I do an interview for Vanessa Feltz on her radio show. Would I? Just try to stop me!

As a journalist (before becoming a novelist), I’d interviewed Vanessa on a couple of occasions for various women’s magazines. I’d always found her to be warm, bubbly and generous. At the time, I was freelancing from home with three small children and she was very understanding when I had to pause the telephone interview for a few minutes while I sorted out yet another squabble.

However, there was only one catch with this radio interview. It was on a Bank Holiday Monday.  I moved to Devon some years ago so it’s not always easy to get into London on high days and holidays. I also had to be there for 9.30am. I’m not a motorway driver (for some reason, it brings me out in a cold sweat to approach the Entry lane) so I took the sleeper. So exciting! In fact, it would make a story all of its own but I want to tell you about Vanessa.

The BBC is a sprawling mass of buildings nowadays. I was heading for the bit behind Top Shop (an important landmark for my daughter) but even my taxi driver wasn’t sure of the exact spot. Eventually, I made my way to the right building where – wow! – there was actually a uniformed BBC man at the door.

‘Are you a guest?’ he asked.

To be honest, I almost felt like an intruder. At this time of the morning, I am normally running my dog along the beach and thinking of the next plot.  Still, my name was on the list so they must have been expecting me.

Not surprisingly, there’s a lot of security at the Beeb. I wasn’t exactly frisked but you have to sign things and get a badge. After that, because I was so early (thanks to the sleeper), I had to wait a bit on the ‘state of the art’ sofa in the lobby in front of a giant TV. It was so comfortable that I almost forgot why I was there!

Suddenly, Vanessa’s lovely assistant breezed in and whisked me off for a coffee. Honestly, I could get used to this. Yet at the back of my mind was the thought that in a few minutes, I was going to be chatting on air. From previous experience, I know that the strange thing about live radio is that you are lulled into a false sense of security. It feels as though you are talking to a mate because the presenter is normally friendly (unless you’re on some horrible political programme which I would never be on because I’m  hopeless at that sort of thing). So it’s very easy to say something you don’t mean or stumble over words – and then you can’t take it back.

Vanessa wanted to talk to me about honeymoons because that’s what my new novel is about. So I’d made a few notes. But when I found myself being ushered into a smallish room with THE Vanessa on the other side of the desk, all my ideas went out of my head. Vanessa in the flesh is just like the kind of woman you’d want to have a chat with. She looked very glamorous with that lovely hair of hers but don’t be fooled. She was also very professional.

We kicked off with the fact that – according to a recent survey by the travel firm Kuoni – 12 per cent of brides would like to ring their mums when on honeymoon. ‘Don’t most girls want to do that?’ asked Vanessa who has two grown up daughters.

I agreed. When I got married the first time, I queued up for hours in Greece to ring my mum/ ‘No mobile phones then,’ said Vanessa chattily.

Too true. Then we had a good old natter about some of the brides I’d interviewed – including a couple whose damp confetti fell out of their clothes on their wedding  night. It stained the marble floor and they spent hours trying to get the marks out of the floor so they didn’t get billed. It rather put paid to any newly-wed intimacy if you get what I mean...

In between chats, Vanessa played tracks but to be honest, I couldn’t have told you what they were. We were too busy having little chats ourselves. ‘Look at this,’ said Vanessa, proudly holding up a shopping bag which had a picture of her first grandchild on it.   It was really heartening to see a normal proud granny behind a public face.

Another interesting bit were the number of emails which came in from listeners who wanted to describe their own honeymoon experiences.. They were handed to Vanessa swiftly over the desk by another assistant and she read them out on air. It just goes to show that it IS worth getting in touch!

I was on for nearly half an hour but it felt much shorter. In fact, I was sad to go. ‘Would you like to come to my launch party?’ I asked Vanessa boldly as I left.

‘Send me the invitation,’ she replied chummily.

I don’t know if she’ll turn up – but I’ll let you know......

~~~~~

Please send me (Janey) your honeymoon stories – and you could win a bag of books or a Champneys goodies parcel. Email them to me at janeyfraser@gmail.com

~~~~~

About the novel...

AFTER THE HONEYMOON by Janey Fraser. 

One honeymoon destination. Three couples. Six secrets.

Emma never wanted to marry Tom, let alone go away without the children. But then the girls at work give her a honeymoon voucher. Enter Yannis, the local lothario...

Winston is the nation’s Keep Fit bachelor darling. Newspapers are agog when he marries Melissa, newly-divorced mother of two. But when her teenagers disrupt their honeymoon, his past is revealed....

Rosie was homeless and pregnant when she arrived at the Villa Rosa, sixteen years ago, but now she’s the owner. Winston might not remember her, but she’s never forgotten him…

By the end of the week, none of their lives are the same.  But what happens after the honeymoon?

Published by Arrow (Random House) on May 22.

Amazon UK link

~~~~~

About the author... (in her own words)

Janey Fraser is the pen name for journalist Jane Bidder who also writes as Sophie King. You might have read some of my previous novels such as THE SCHOOL RUN and THE WEDDING PARTY which was short listed for Love Story of the Year 2010.

For many years, I was a journalist on women’s magazines and until recently, edited the family page of Woman. Now I write ‘ MUM LIT’ novels about the ups and downs of family life.

I have plenty of experience with my own three – remind me to tell you, one day, about the time that my youngest gave his friend a pudding-basin haircut while my back was turned for three minutes or when my eldest bashed me on the head with an empty lemonade bottle while driving because of an over-heated car game.

My Book Buddies interview on Dizzy C's Little Book Blog

Thanks to lovely Carol who writes Dizzy C's Little Book Blog for the chance to take part in her Book Buddies feature, in which she is highlighting lots of lovely fellow book bloggers throughout the month of December.

I'm very excited as it's my turn today, so if you're interested, go take a look, link below! 

Dizzy C's Little Book Blog - Book Buddies - Lindsay Healy 

Authors Linda Mitchelmore and Jane Lark are featuring in the festivities there too today. 

An interview with me!

Well, it's a much more common occurence that I feature guest authors and ask them questions, but...today it's the other way around and I am delighted to have been interviewed myself by author Claire King for a feature in her series of discussions with a few book bloggers - you can read it on her website and here's the link:

Word of mouth: Lindsay Healy

I am talking amongst other things about book blogging, star ratings for books, taste in books, and recommending three books that blew me away.

Claire's debut novel The Night Rainbow was published earlier this year. (You can read my review of it here.) 

Thanks very much to Claire for asking me to take part in her feature and challenging me with some interesting questions.

Sophie's Turn - Nicky Wells - Review & Author interview

Sophie Penhalligan works on the news desk at the ‘Read London’ newspaper. She has been with her accountant boyfriend Tim for two years, and is hoping for their relationship to progress. The story is told in the present day, interspersed with flashbacks early in the novel, in which Sophie recalls an adventure in Edinburgh from her younger days involving a rock band she adored, called Tuscq, and her encouter with the lead singer Dan. Back in the present, a chance meeting with ex-Tuscq band member Darren at the airport sees Sophie learning that the band is now planning a comeback. When Sophie meets all the band once again, she realises on seeing Dan that her feelings for him are still strong, and this causes her to question seriously how she really feels about her relationship with Tim. Sophie feels that Tim 'was the best man any girl could ever wish for' and yet she has to admit to having a 'persistent weakness' for Dan. 

Nicky Wells has written an enjoyable, light romantic novel with some entertaining comedy moments, and there is a palpable chemistry between Sophie and Dan! The first person narrative throughout means we are inside Sophie's head and in the midst of the confusion as to how she feels. At the worst point, she feels her life has become 'a tale of deception and lies.' Sophie is torn between the two men, and has to take time to decide what her way forward will be. Sophie has colleague and best friend Rachel to share the agonies and indecision of her love life with, and there is some lovely banter between the two friends. As Sophie spends time with the band on their comeback tour, she falls for the glamour and excitement of the lifestyle, 'the buzz before a gig, the exhilaration afterwards.' But is this where her long-term happiness lies? She has to face up to how she really feels, and decide what will make her happy. 

The good news is that author Nicky Wells has decided this isn't the end for Sophie (see interview below) and we can look forward to more rock star romance and adventures very soon!

Thank you very much to the author for sending me a copy to read and review.

'Sophie's Turn' is available to buy as an e-book from amazon UK and from amazon US.

You can visit Nicky's blog here. Nicky is one of the writers featured in the loveahappyending project.

Interview with the author, Nicky Wells

In your novel, main character Sophie loves rock music. Are you a big fan, and if so have you always been? Did you/do you go to many concerts?

I love rock music.  I suppose I always have done, and I blame my brothers!  They are quite a bit older than me and supplied me with a steady diet of The Police, Pink Floyd, Queen and other assorted bands.  My first rock album ever was given to me by my older brother for my fourteenth birtday, and it happened to be Europe's Final Countdown!  I promptly went out and bought myself concert tickets to go and see them a few months later, and that was my first ever hard rock show.  I stood in the front row to the right of the stage, and I will never forget that feeling when the lights went off and the low bass drone for the opening of Final Countdown permeated everything in the hall.  You couldn't hear anything else, or think, or anything... but you could feel it all through your body! It was fantastic.

Since then I've seen an eclectic selection of other hard rock gigs, including Bon Jovi (several times), Europe, (at every opportunity), Dare, FM, The Darkness and Evanescence. There's nothing like a good hard rock concert to make you appreciate the power of the music!

The city of Paris plays a special role in the story, is that a city you are fond of yourself?

Do you know, I've only ever been to Paris once, on one of my first dates with my now husband (!) and I loved it. I loved everything about it, the charm of the quiet side streets, the hustle and bustle of the main shopping streets, the metro, the Eiffel Tower, the restaurants where we ate. It was truly enchanting. It is also a place I would love to get to know better one day...

Which three albums would be your 'Desert Island Discs'?

Oh God, where to start?

Europe--The Final Countdown

FM--Tough It Out

ABBA--Gold

Can you tell us if you are writing at the moment? What are you working on?

Great question!  I am just in the process of writing the last few chapters of the sequel to Sophie's Turn!  When I got the end of Sophie's Turn, I realised that Sophie's story was far from over and that there were things I wanted to happen that hadn't... well, happened to her yet.  So I started planning the sequel, and it turned out that wasn't enough space either, so the whole thing is turning into the Rock Star Romance Trilogy.  Part 1 is Sophie's Turn, which you have already read (Thank You for your lovely review!).  Part 2 is nearly complete... featuring Sophie, Dan and Rachel (of course) and a few new characters.  There will be weddings and journeys and accidents and disasters.  Part 2 is a real rollercoaster of events with a couple of totally surprsing twists, and it will draw you deeper into Sophie's amazing story.  I am hoping to release Part 2 in the summer, probably in July or August.

What type of books do you enjoy reading?

I read so much, it might be easier to tell you what I don't particularly enjoy reading, and that would be science fiction.  I don't know why, and I used to love it as a child, but I can't get into it anymore.  Oh, and anything with blood and gore.  Apart from that, bring it on!  Favourite authors include (but are in no way limited to) Catherine Alliott, Jill Mansell, Sophie Kinsella, John Grisham, Su Grafton, Terry Pratchett, David Mitchell, Alexander McCall Smith... as well as loveahappyending's very own Jessica Strassner, Janice Horton, Stephanie Keyes and Bonnie Trachtenberg!  I am slowly working my way through the works of all the amazing authors in this group, and that will no doubt dominate my TBR pile for a few months to come yet!

And now for some quickfire questions...!

Which do you prefer...?

Rock or pop music?  ROCK

Milk chocolate or dark chocolate?  Milk; I can't stand dark chocolate.

Countryside or city? City, I'm afraid (unless you include seaside in countryside, in which case, seaside, please!

Train, boat or plane? Boat!

Cats or dogs?  Ooooh... difficult one.  Probably dogs.

Cinema or TV?  TV, because I can put my feet up and watch in my pyjamas.

Hardbacks or paperbacks or ebooks?  In my humble opinion, e-books are the way forward, but I do love flicking through the pages of a good paperback... And I miss the smell of fresh ink on paper in an e-book; perhaps that is something that the kind developers of e-readers might think about incorporating?

Pen and paper or computer? Computer!!!

Thank you so much for being a guest here, Nicky!

The Black Banner - Helen Hart

Ahoy there, clamber aboard the Bonny Marie and join an amazing adventure on the high seas with young buccaneer Becky Baxter! This is an entertaining, exciting young adult read depicting the lives of pirates in the eighteenth century. 


Thirteen year old Becky Baxter wants nothing more than to leave behind her unkind Ma and her life of poverty in the backstreets of Bristol, and meeting sailor Zac Price one day she talks her way onto the crew of the Bonny Marie setting sail from Bristol in 1719. But wait, Becky? A girl on a ship? Becky becomes Billy, and determines she will keep her true identity a secret, however hard it may be. She joins Captain Scarbrill and his crew and slowly learns the ropes, the highs and lows of being away at sea. 


But what’s that on the horizon? A black banner! Pirate captain Logan and his crew seize the Bonny Marie and Becky decides to join them! Cue a life of riding the waters targetting merchant ships and procuring gold and other treasures from those ships they encounter! Where will this all end? Will the pirate lifestyle be able to endure? This is a cracking buccaneer adventure tale for young adult readers. And this adult enjoyed it very much too!

4.5/5


Thank you very much to the author for providing a review copy of this novel.


'The Black Banner' is available now in paperback and Kindle editions, published by SilverWood Books., from Amazon UK and Amazon USA.

The author is part of the loveahappyending project highlighting new authors. 

Visit Helen's own author page here, where you'll also find some writers' tips.

Interview with the author, Helen Hart

What gave you the original idea for the story of The Black Banner?


I always knew I wanted to write something for young teens/YA. I've never really grown up and I've always loved reading YA novels because the stories are so much more exciting than most adult novels. Being a young adult (or teen) is an exciting rollercoaster time where you learn who you are, how you fit in, who you can rely on. You’re discovering so much for the first time, and every experience is intense. This is reflected in YA fiction. Characters tend to be smarter, more energetic and more resourceful than their adult counterparts. The baddies can be really bad. And the settings can be fantastic – after all, there aren’t that many adult novels with pirates or highwaymen or supernatural creatures. So... I'd had a few rejections for an adult novel I'd written, so I sat down to write the book I really REALLY wanted to write... not writing for the readers, or the publishers, or a literary agent, but just for me. I dreamed up the character of Becky Baxter who lives in poverty with her rather unpleasant mother, and thought to myself "If I were Becky, what would I really want to happen to me to get me away from this horrible life I'm living...?" And so Becky's adventures began. And in all honesty, who WOULDN'T want to go back to be a 13 year-old girl with no responsibilities except disguising yourself as a boy and  throwing in your lot with a gang of pirates on the high seas of the Caribbean? 


Why did you decide to concentrate on a female pirate?


I think I concentrated on a female pirate because boys have all the fun in novels, so I wanted a girl to do a bit of 'swashing and buckling'. And as a reader I've seen boys do this kind of thing before - just think of young Jim Hawkins in 'Treasure Island'. So I wanted to take a different angle and it seem natural to throw a girl into that lifestyle, with all the associated difficulties of concealing her true identity. I was looking for the excitement of Joan of Arc and those real-life girl pirates Mary Read and Anne Bonny.


What fascinates you about this period in history/about the lives of pirates in particular?

That's a good question... I guess the 17th and 18th centuries seem to me to be very exciting times. Yes, I know there was disease and hardship and no antibiotics... but the clothes were great (all those tricorn hats, lace cuffs and velvet coats). It was a time when adventure and entrepreneurial spirit was seen as a good thing - go to sea, make your fortune! Nowadays there are so many rules, and society has so many expectations (and everyone is worried about health & safety, and satisfying lawyers about 'acceptable risk'). A few centuries ago, adventurers were actively encouraged to go to sea and 'take' the shipping of enemy nations in legalised piracy known as privateering. Pirates took a step outside of that and lived totally outside the law. I know that many were cruel and deeply unpleasant criminals, but it's nice to think that some acted with honour like handsome Captain Logan Corder in 'The Black Banner'. 

Do you have a favourite book?


I love the 'Angelique' series by Anne Golon (writing back in the 1950s in collaboration with her husband, as Sergeanne Golon). She wrote such wonderful rich, epic  stories, full of historical detail about the court of the Sun King, Louis XIV. Angelique is an amazing heroine - beautiful, resourceful, quick-witted and kind. She's what every romantic heroine (and every real-life adventuress) should aspire to be! I've read almost every book in the series (and there are many of them, let me tell you, 13 in all!) and re-visit some of them quite regularly, at least every two years - my favourites are 'The Road to Versailles' where Angelique has to live as a thief and pickpocket until a chance encounter sets her on the road to becoming the favourite mistress of the King, and 'Angelique in Revolt' where she turns against the King, who she suspects may have engineered the murder of her beloved first husband Joffrey de Peyrac. Such classic and exciting adventures... no other books come close for me.

What are you currently reading?

I'm re-visiting Daphne DuMaurier in a big way - I picked up a collection of her short stories in a little independent bookshop recently and was reminded how wonderful her writing is, and how humanly fallible yet likable her characters are. I'm re-reading 'The House on the Strand' now (probably my all time favourite of hers) with the intention of going on to 'Rebecca', 'My Cousin Rachel', and 'Jamaica Inn'.

Are there any writers who influence or inspire you in your writing?

Well, how funny that we should just be talking about the mistress of great writing herself... Daphne DuMaurier. I can't say I'm a good enough writer to have been able to take her as a influence, but I'd love to think that I've read and re-read her so many times that some of her craft has rubbed off on me. A reader once told me that they felt my writing reminded them of Anya Seton, which is a HUGE compliment. As for authors who I HOPE influence me? Well there are so many I admire, that we could be here a while... if I had to name just one, it would be Robert Westall. He was a genius at conjuring up compelling characters and fast-paced plots. He mixed adventure with genuinely heart-breaking tragedy to create unforgettable books that deserve to be read again and again. There’s also Maggie Prince who hooks the reader from the first page, and doesn’t let go. Her believable heroines have great adventures amidst a rich cast of unique and fascinating characters. I also admire a lot of Catherine Fisher’s work, especially her fantastic YA novel ‘Corbenic’ which is a modern and utterly brilliant take on the Grail legend. And finally (although I could go on...!) Mary Hooper is a great favourite of mine – she weaves magic with words, and I couldn’t put down her Great Plague novel ‘At the Sign of the Sugared Plum’ (which has such a gorgeous cover, too).

Do you have a favourite place where you do your writing?

I have my study at home. It's a tiny room next to the kitchen, so I can make regular cups of tea to keep me going (it's an English habit, lol). I have a small window that looks out over our garden where I set up a bird table and I like watching birds come in to peck at the food I put out. However, I try not to look out the window too much as it's a distraction... I try to stay in the world I'm conjuring for my characters, so when I'm working on a novel - whether it's pirates, or Victorian vampires, or samurai sisters - I tend to pin up a lot of maps and pictures of the time so I'm immersed in that world. That's the nice thing about being a writer... you can disappear into another time and place. It's a bit like time travel!

Thank you so much for your time, Helen!