Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Ready to Reach by Inglath Cooper

Title: Ready to Reach
Author: Inglath Cooper
Series: Nashville #1
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: October 4, 2014


Summary:
Ever thought a dream might pass you by?

Nineteen-year old CeCe Mackenzie is determined to make her dreams come true. She heads for Nashville with not much more to her name than a guitar, a Walker Hound named Hank Junior and an old car she’d inherited from her grandma called Gertrude. But when Gertrude ends up on the side of I-40 in flames, Nashville has never seemed farther away. Help arrives in the form of two Georgia football players headed for the Nashville dream as well. When Holden Ashford and Thomas Franklin stop to offer CeCe and Hank Junior a ride, fate may just give a nod to serendipity and meant to be. Because while CeCe is chasing after her dream, she might find love as well.

New Adult Romance where “the characters are so alive you can almost hear them next to you.”

1. What is the biggest influence/interest that brought you to this genre?
I love to read character-driven stories. I think the romance and women’s fiction genres most often do this best. We get to know the people in the stories, where they came from, what makes them tick, what they want out of life and why. When I’m writing a book, it’s my hope that readers will leave the story feeling as if the people they’ve met there are almost like people they’ve known in real life.

2. When writing a book, what is your favorite part of the creative process(outline, plot, character names, editing, etc)?
My favorite part of writing a book is completing the first draft. It feels at that point as if I’ve proven to myself that the story is real; the characters have traveled a journey. Then it’s up to me to make the whole thing shine.

3. When reading a book, what genre do you find most interesting/intriguing?
I love books that make me love the characters, make me care about them intensely, miss them when I turn the final page.

4. If you could co-author with any author, past or present, who would you choose?
I would say Nora Roberts because she has built such a loyal following of readers who love the way she tells a story.

5. Have you always wanted to write or did it come to you "later in life”?
I’ve wanted to write since I was a little girl. I wrote my first story about a pony named Sunny when I was nine. I still remember how good it felt to watch the words accumulate on the paper rolling up out of my mom’s old manual typewriter. My desire to write good books comes directly from my love of reading them.

Author Bio:
RITA AWARD WINNING AUTHOR INGLATH COOPER writes books that aim to give her readers a mini-vacation. A stretch of time during which they can visit other places and other people’s lives. Her books have reached the top 100 Amazon Kindle Bestseller list, with Truths and Roses hitting #11.

Inglath Cooper’s Nashville series became a reality after she spent time in Music City, writing lyrics with other songwriters. She fell in love with the community and gets to revisit regularly through her characters.


FACEBOOK  /  TWITTER  /  WEBSITE







Brought to you by: 

Murder in Pastel by Josh Lanyon

Summary:
Ten years ago Cosmo Bari vanished, taking with him his legendary masterpiece, Virgin in Pastel. Since that day no one in the seaside art colony of Steeple Hill has heard from the eccentric painter.

Surrounded by an extended family of Cosmo’s colorful compatriots, mystery writer Kyle Bari believes he has come to terms with being abandoned by his famous father. Then his ex-lover Adam MacKinnon arrives with his new partner, the beautiful but poisonous, Brett.

Brett has an unerring instinct for other people’s weak spots and soon the quiet colony is seething with hostility and suspicion as Brett begin to hint he knows what happened to the missing artist.


Those of you who follow my reviews know that Josh Lanyon is one of my absolute all time favorite writers so when I woke up and saw that there was a new Lanyon release on my FB newsfeed, I just about passed out from giddyness overload.  After restarting my brain, I settled in and read Murder in Pastel.  I was not disappointed.  I didn't really want to hate Brett, I figured there was some heartbreak in his past that made him into who he was, but he was just so hateable.  As a huge mystery fan, very few murder mysteries really keep me guessing till the big reveal, that says nothing on the authors' web-weaving ability it has more to do with the way my mind works, and Murder in Pastel was no different.  Even though I was pretty sure I had it pegged right, the story telling and the characters had me hooked from page one, I hated to see it end.

RATING: 


The rain had passed and the moon shone. I stood out on my front porch, too restless to sleep, though I was beat. The lights were off in the cottage across the meadow. I could still feel Adam’s arms around me and the taste of his mouth on mine. On impulse I decided to walk out to the old church and watch the sunrise.

When I was younger I used to walk out to Steeple Hill often. I think it started as a kind of proof to myself that I wasn’t actually in the graveyard if I could walk to it. Too, I guess the silence and peace appealed to me. My imagination was stirred by the graves with their ornate headstones and flowery epitaphs. Lest I appear some fey creature of the woodland, I didn’t wander that way much anymore, but I still could trace the path in the dark.

The church stood lightless and silent, windows boarded, the doors padlocked. The bell in the steeple hung motionless, its tongue stilled for many years.

I’m not sure how long I had been sitting on the steps watching the marble angel frozen in its dance when I heard a rustling sound behind me.

Warning prickled down my spine. I half turned and something slammed down on my shoulder. I was in motion so it was a glancing blow, but it hurt unbelievably and it scared the shit out of me.

I think I yelled, “What are you doing?” Which should have been obvious already. I scuttled over the broken stones in the walk, dodging a kick aimed at my midsection.

It happened so fast. It didn’t occur to me to fight back. I’d never been in a fight. I wouldn’t have known where to begin. My focus was on escaping in one piece, and for that I was well equipped, being limber, relatively fast, and familiar with the churchyard.

I dived, rolled across the wet leaves and grass, and scrambled to my feet as my assailant slammed the board into a stone urn, showering bits of cement flowers over my face and hair.

“Don’t like it rough, honey? Don’t want to play anymore?”

It was too dark to see more than a bulky outline. His voice was hoarse, rasping, unfamiliar.

“Fucking faggot!”

I scrambled up and bolted for the break in the fence. He was right behind me. I wriggled through, tearing my sweatshirt, managed to get to my feet and raced for the shelter of the woods.

Once inside the muffled darkness I slowed. Stopped. Listened.

He was coming up fast.

Slipping off the path, I moved carefully, cautiously, while nerves clamored to break and run. Quietly, quietly… Creeping through the tangle of vines and underbrush, the humid smell of earth and mold assailed my nostrils.

Something moved nearby. I froze. Leaves crackled. I sank down on my haunches behind a tree trunk. My heart was clamoring like an eight-bell fire alarm. Steady, steady, I warned my faulty pump.

Silence.

I was afraid to breathe. He was not gone. He was listening for me, as I was listening for him.

I thought of my father vanishing in these same woods ten years ago.

The crack of a tree branch beside me was like a gunshot. I jumped up, thrusting through the mass of thorns and brush. My face and hands stung as I plowed on.

Author Bio:
A distinct voice in gay fiction, multi-award-winning author JOSH LANYON has been writing gay mystery, adventure and romance for over a decade. In addition to numerous short stories, novellas, and novels, Josh is the author of the critically acclaimed Adrien English series, including The Hell You Say, winner of the 2006 USABookNews awards for GLBT Fiction. Josh is an Eppie Award winner and a three-time Lambda Literary Award finalist.


FACEBOOK  /  TWITTER  /  WEBSITE  /  BLOG
NEWSLETTER  /  KOBO  /  iTUNES  /  ARe
SAMHAIM  /  AMAZON  /  GOODREADS
EMAIL: josh.lanyon@sbcglobal.net



AMAZON US  /  AMAZON UK  /  B&N
KOBO  /  iTUNES  /  ARe  /  GOODREADS TBR


#eNovAaW Women of Words: No Perfect Destiny by Jackie Weger & Trails in the Sand by PC Zick


No Perfect Destiny
Summary:
Leah Spenser owns a decrepit car, a budget that won’t stretch, and the moxie to make a decent life. She lives in the present until one sun-drenched day, a past she has outrun imperils her future and threatens all she holds dear. When her boss announces that someone is embezzling company funds, history begins to repeat itself. Detective Leo Garvey has her in his sights as the number one suspect and more. Leah knows she must be careful, that nothing good could come from his attraction. Leo doesn’t see it her way. Guilty or innocent, she is the one. Convincing Leah the past can only be escaped by embracing something better seems to fall on deaf ears. While Leo works to uncover the truth, Leah determines it will never surface.

Trails in the Sand 
Summary:
Caroline Carlisle loved Simon from the moment she first laid eyes on him when she was nine years old. Unfortunately, he married her older sister, and thus set a southern family on a collision course with its past. After the death of her sister that makes Simon a widow, the two finally marry and attempt to make a family with Simon’s daughter Jodi. Jodi has other ideas, and they don’t include welcoming a new step-mother who also happens to be her aunt.

As Caroline starts to report on the oil spill threatening the sea turtles on Florida’s Panhandle beaches, she begins to uncover the secret of her own mother’s past, which includes her brother’s suicide and a teenage pregnancy. With Caroline’s sharpened reporter skills, she digs until she brings all the secrets to light, including her own.







Author Bios:
Jackie Weger
Jackie Weger has more than a million books in print world-wide. For half a lifetime Jackie moved with the times and jobs until she settled on St. Augustine, Florida where she renovated a hundred-year-old house in historic Lincolnville, a community established by freed slaves in 1866. In 1995 she put her career on hold to care for elderly and handicapped members of her family.  Later she moved to Central America with her companion dog, a Shar-pei named Simon. She and Simon lived in a small Pacific Rainforest village in a thatched-roofed bohio while making intrepid excursions into the Darian, the San Blas Islands and outer islands in the Pacific.  Says Weger: “I was living high on adventure until I one Christmas I was gifted a Kindle. I fell in love with it. Next I discovered indie publishing, and that’s an adventure in itself.” Now living in a rural Texas community Jackie is enjoying indie authorship and connecting with early fans and new—an adventure all  its own.

PC Zick
P.C. Zick describes herself as "a storyteller no matter what I write." And she writes in a variety of genres, including romance, contemporary fiction, and nonfiction. She's won various awards for her essays, columns, editorials, articles, and fiction.

Many of her novels contain stories of Florida and its people and environment, which she credits as giving her a rich base for her storytelling. "Florida's quirky and abundant wildlife - both human and animal - supply my fiction with tales almost too weird to be believable."

Her fiction contains the elements most dear to her heart, ranging from love to the environment. All of her novels contain elements of romance with strong female characters and descriptive settings. She believes in living lightly upon this earth with love, laughter, and passion, and through her fiction she imparts this philosophy in an entertaining manner with an obvious love for her characters, plot, and themes.


Jackie Weger
FACEBOOK  /  TWITTER  /  WEBSITE

P.C. Zick
FACEBOOK  /  TWITTER  /  WEBSITE



No Perfect Destiny

Trails in the Sand



Want to meet the rest of the 
 #eNovAaW Women of Words?





Fun Facts:
So what or who is #eNovAaW?
eNovel Authors at Work is a group of indie authors who believe in paying it forward…

We are dedicated to helping one another to understand the challenges facing writers in the digital universe. Everything we discover finds its way into these pages to help authors and readers alike to navigate the universe of indie publishing. Our Author pages are filled with an array of well-written and entertaining books across all genres, from sweet romance to edge-of-your-seat thrillers. We do not promote erotica or gratuitous violence. eNovel authors are scattered about our good earth: USA, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, France, Greece, Scotland and the United Kingdom, but we all come together right here.

We are all about THE BOOK. We help each other to get our books noticed and expand our audiences. Indie Publishing is constantly changing. We do our best stay informed. Our members can and do participate in individual and group promotions. Whether an author has published one book or ten, success requires diligence, dedication, and focus. We don’t know all the answers, but we are learning who to ask, who to listen to, and how best to use the tools available to sell BOOKS in today’s market. What worked last year or even last month may need tweaking. We try everything from blogging, interviews, Tweet Fests, Rafflecopters, Giveaways, Facebook events and promoting our titles free and discounted. You can read about some results here and here.
Our newsletter is for our fans and readers and is usually emailed monthly.

We keep it filled with new releases, special events, giveaways, free and discounted books. eNovel is free. No dues. If you are interested in membership, do visit eNovel Basics.  eNovel Authors at Work is not for every indie author. We know it. We also know from our collective experience that it takes a new indie author at least a year to learn the ropes of indie authorship. It is not easy and it is a ton of work. It helps to share the load. That’s what we do. Please visit our blog often.  Every page offers tips and our experiences. some eNovel authors report results of promotions on their author pages.

Brought to you by: 

Never Forgotten by Stacey Nash

Title: Never Forgotten
Author: Stacey Nash
Series: Collective #3
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Release Date: September 1, 2015
Publisher: Harper Collins
Summary:
Continuing on from Forget Me Not and Remember Me, this is the thrilling third novel in Stacey Nash’s unforgettable series.

Since the strike on Collective territory during Anamae’s rescue, things have taken a turn for the worse. Unprovoked attacks on innocent people have Anamae and her friends fighting day and night to minimize the damage. With hundreds of lives lost, morale amongst the resistance fighters has plummeted. But that’s the least of her worries.

Manvyke still has Anamae’s mom, Annie, secreted away somewhere and after the way they parted, Anamae worries it’s not at her mother’s bidding. Maybe Annie’s disappearance all those years ago wasn’t her choice. But with Manvyke scouring the world, there’s something far more pressing than the need to find Anamae’s mother …

It’s a fight against time to find the other keys before Manvyke. In his hands, the three relics could unlock enough power to reek a much worse havoc than the current issues at hand. If the councillor gets his hands on those keys, civilization will bow down.

THE RACE IS ON.


     We’re too late.
     The minute I step out of the alley with my crew of resistance fighters I can tell. Blood, so much blood everywhere. And the silence. You’d think in the midst of such horror it’d be loud: people screaming, wailing, crying even. But it’s not. The silence is almost deafening.
     My heart constricts like someone tugged at its laces.
     We’re too late.
     We can only help the survivors now and that’s the horrid truth. On autopilot, I walk then run to the closest victim. A woman sprawled on the ground, blood covering every inch of her, so I can barely make out the color of her blouse. She moans when I hold my fingers to her neck, checking for a pulse.
     Not too late for her, thank god.
     “I’ve called 911.” Will’s voice echoes through my mind. Even with the lack of inflection due to the telcom I can hear the sorrow in his words.
     “Damn it,” Jax says through the same tech device, “we’re getting later each time.”
     And he’s right, we are. More people perish with each attack and all because we can’t reach them in time to intercept the Collective. I’ve never felt so useless.
     The woman groans—a long drawn-out noise like no other I’ve ever heard—and slowly sound returns to the scene. Moaning, whimpering, noises of pain, and my friends’ voices pitched low and soothing as we reassure the wounded it’s okay. They’ll be okay. Even though sometimes we know that they won’t. Like this woman. Each ragged breath now comes a little shorter and sharper than her last. I hate the damn Collective for stealing people’s lives, but she doesn’t need to see that.
     “I’m here. You’re okay.” I rest my hand on her sticky arm.
     Her breath hitches, she gives a last weak heave and she’s gone, her head rolling to the side.
     We are too late.
     The saddest thing in this whole mess is that I can’t cry. I’ve seen so much it’s like nothing’s left in me but hatred. My compassion is drained. I glance around trying to decide where I’m needed most, but too many dead and wounded lay in the open-air amphitheater that it’s impossible to know where to turn next. In places, the bodies pile on top of each other, just lying where they fell.
     So much loss and devastation and for what? Because the Collective want to send a message to us; that they’re in control, that the resistance is hurting more people, not helping. Somehow I don’t think us backing off will help.
     A guy walks toward me, his T-shirt—an advertisement for the main band—a tattered mess with his bloody shoulder peeking through a gaping hole. His eyes lock on me, but they’re unseeing, glassed over like he’s retreated inside his mind. He steps over and around those on the ground as if he knows right where they are without looking.
     Hate isn’t a strong enough word for how I feel about the Collective.
     I dread the day we might turn up to find one of my friends, like Cynnie or Xane. I’m not sure how I’d react, but I like to think I won’t see them. That neither of my free-thinking friends would be involved in something like this, regardless of agent duty.
     It doesn’t take long before the wail of sirens fills the air and as the paramedics arrive on the scene, we’re no longer needed. Jax and Will both appear at my side looking as somber as I feel. Today we have another person who’s seen too much, left with too little, and has no choice but to port with us. We can’t leave him for the Collective’s clean up.
     Jax takes a look at the ragged, zombie-like guy and says, “I’ll catch a ride with one of the others.”
I nod, any words I might have had stolen by this day’s horror, then grab my charge and Will to port us out.



Author Bio:
Writing for the young and new adult market, Stacey's books all hold a lot of adventure, a good dose of danger, a smattering of romance, and plenty of KISSING! Hailing from the Hunter Valley in New South Wales, she loves nothing more than immersing herself in the beauty and culture of the local area.

Author of the Collective Series; Forget Me Not, Remember Me, Never Forgotten. And the Oxley College Saga; Shh! and Wait!


FACEBOOK  /  TWITTER  /  WEBSITE



AMAZON US  /  AMAZON UK  /  B&N  /  KOBO




Brought to you by:

Chasing Happy by Rylie Roberts

Title: Chasing Happy
Author: Rylie Roberts
Series: Texas Desires #1
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: September 15, 2015
Summary:
Reed Prescott’s life is complicated enough before a silly little girl in outrageous high heels bites it in front of his moving vehicle. With no other choice, he forces her out of the pouring rain and inside his car. His concern isn’t necessarily with her safety, but to ward off any potential lawsuit.

Lara Hunter’s life is headed in the right direction. With a good education, a great new job, and her dear best friend, Kade, by her side, nothing can get in her way until a freak rain storm leaves her sprawled across the road in the middle of a busy intersection during rush hour traffic. When the gorgeous man in the business suit and too expensive car takes her back to his office, she’s not entirely sure she appreciates his high-handed helpfulness.

When Reed's assistant finishes with Lara, he finds his entire world rocked by the captivating beauty underneath that soggy exterior. From day one, Reed's success in business has always been fueled by a deep, unbreakable hate for his grandfather. So when the potential for love stands in front of him, can this hardened man find a way to chase his own happiness?


     “What? Do you want me to say you’re my first to get you back in there? Not even you can be that naïve.” She figured those hurtful words had the impact he’d intended. She reached for the only thing she saw, pushed and a small door opened with a single button inside. She reached in hoping that called the elevator, but he knocked her hand away.
     “I need the elevator; I’m going home.” She almost yelled those words.
     “Fuck, Lara, what the fuck’s your problem? It’s sex. Adults have it all the time. You want me. I want you.” He yelled those words right in her face. When she tried to press the button again, he reached out and knocked her hand away a second time. She went for the phone on one of the desks, but he was right behind her, slamming the phone down. “You’re a fucking cock tease. You’ve been giving me the signals all fucking week.”
     She schooled her facial features at his words. They were getting more derogatory with each comment he made. He was mad, but no longer pushing her to perform. Instead, he walked away, muttering, “I could have brought anyone up here tonight. You fucking wore that fucking dress, flashing me those fucking tits all goddamn night, and now you get a conscience?”
     Lara wanted out. She went for the call button and the elevator doors opened. She rushed on, fighting the tears his stinging words caused. “Goddammit! You’re fucking pissing me off.”
     He darted across the foyer, sticking a hand between the closing elevator doors. He entered, quickly working a hidden keypad on the inside. He left the elevator and the doors didn’t shut. Even when she reached out to push the close button, they remained open. He came back into view, and she moved to the far side of the elevator, wiping a stray tear away before it fell. He stepped back inside, this time with his suit jacket on.
     “What are you doing?”
     “You aren’t walking home alone.” He punched another code into the keypad. The elevator doors shut and they began to descend.
     “I don’t want you to walk me home,” she said defiantly.
     “I don’t care.” He stood at the front of the elevator and she stood in the back. Neither said another word. He walked out first, keeping his distance. She ignored him as he exited through his private entrance. She went the other direction through the parking garage. He frustratingly met her on the street at the front of the building. At the street corner, she was so disgruntled by his presence she didn’t see the car until Reed took her arm, hoisting her back on the sidewalk as it passed by.
     She’d have rather been hit by the car than to have him touching her again. She yanked her arm free with such force she stumbled several feet.
     “You’re a hard-headed, stubborn little thing.” Once on the street, she walked the distance to her apartment with him by her side. Aggravated, she whipped around when he entered her building.
     “Why are you following me? I’m not having sex with you at my apartment either,” she stated, trying for a cutting remark. Every eye in the foyer turned their way.
     “Yeah, that offer’s off the table now, babe. You don’t play fair,” he said, following her inside a waiting elevator.



What Others Are Saying:
“Rylie Roberts's storytelling voice is great to read. I was given this book. I very much enjoy this story. I look forward to more stories from Rylie Roberts. I am so glad I got to read this book, I think you will be too. Give a new author a try; it will be well worth your time.” ~ Goodread Reviewer

“This was a solid start from a debut writer. It touched on some deeper, darker topics than I expected, and it captivated me enough that I am looking forward to more in this series.” ~ BJs Book Blog

“Captivating...Addicting...Masterful debut novel by Rylie Roberts.  Rylie brings her characters to life and made me fall in love with Reed and Lara on every page.  Sexy...Lustful....Passionate between the steamy scenes and meaningful topics Chasing Happy makes for an all around amazing read.” ~ Swoon Worthy Books

Author Bio:
Rylie Roberts is an award winning author and native Texan who loves to write and read romance. Look for her debut novel, Chasing Happy, releasing Tuesday, September 15, 2015, with more Texas Desires Novels coming soon.

Please follow the newsletter by emailing rylie@rylieroberts.com or following us on social media. Stay tuned, there’s more on the way.


FACEBOOK  /  TWITTER  /  AMAZON  /  GOODREADS
EMAIL: rylie@rylieroberts.com







Brought to you by: 

The Princelings of the East by Jemima Pett

Title: The Princelings of the East
Author: Jemima Pett
Series: Princelings of the East #1
Genre: Young Adult, Pre-Teen, Fantasy, Science Fiction
Release Date: November 2011/Paperback June 2015
Publisher: Princelings Publications
Cover Design: Danielle English

Summary:
The Princelings of the East is an adventure set in a world of labyrinthine castles, bustling inns, and the curious Isle of Hattan.

Princelings George and Fred leave the security of their isolated castle to solve the problem of the Great Energy Drain, meeting the dubious businessman Hugo, the young barkeeper Victor, the impressive Prince of Buckmore, and other movers and shakers. Who should these two innocents trust? Their wits and teach other, for sure, but when something comes between them, each is left to his own devices, and some of those devices are very strange indeed – and time is of the essence.

The Princelings of the East is the start of a saga where friendship and intelligence are rewarded, even in the face of treachery and deceit.


The Princelings of the East #1
Fred sat staring at the tunnel, lost in thought. George waited. This might take a while. He could hear soft sounds of crackling flames in the fire on the other side of the wall, and in the distance the occasional pitter-patter of footsteps echoing down the corridors. He wondered what would happen if they ventured out of this castle into the tunnels. When he had been out in the marshes, he’d never gone a long way from home; the castle was always visible in the distance, light glinting on its spires. He’d never been out overnight, either. He identified a strange feeling inside him. They might be on the edge of a Great Adventure, but he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t rather be safely tucked up in bed.

Fred stirred. “We need to go and investigate this Great Energy Drain,” he said. “We must find out whether it is a widespread phenomenon, and whether the causes are known.”

George nodded; this was elementary procedure for an investigation.

“And then?” he asked. “And then,” answered Fred, “we shall come up with some ideas for how to solve it.”

“Good idea!” said George, knowing that you can never know exactly how you are going to do something until you have made the preliminary investigation and tested out a few theories. But the aim was set, and all they had to do now was decide... to go or not to go?

The Princelings and the Pirates #2
“Right, you lubbers!” said the black guy.  “My name’s Frankie and if you know what’s good for you you’ll listen hard, work hard and keep your mouths shut.”

He passed round eight bits of stale biscuit and a bucket of fairly clean water and a scoop.  They each took a drink, and some of them nibbled the biscuit.  George found his stomach settled down a bit, and tried to see whether Fred and Victor were among the party in the darkness.  He rather thought they weren’t, and frowned.  The haughty guy refused the biscuit, saying it was disgusting, and one of the other guys took it off him, and wolfed it down.

Frankie waited for them to recover their senses a bit more, then started talking again.

“You are now aboard the Golden Guinea, the prettiest barque that ever sailed the seven seas.  You will do as you are told, you will work hard, and if you don’t, you will walk the plank.  That means you will find yourself swimming, possibly in shark infested waters, a thousand miles from the nearest land.  You won’t last long.” And he laughed again.  It was not a pleasant laugh.

The Princelings and the Lost City #3
A strange noise crept into their consciousness, a sort of buzzing.  It changed tone, skipped a beat and sometimes stopped altogether.  The princelings looked out, straining to see what was making the noise.  Fred stared down the road as far as the bridge; George gazed up into the sky as if he was dreaming.

“There ….there..they..ther….” he stuttered and pointed for Fred to locate.  

“What?” said Fred, following the direction and wondering why he was pointing into the sky.  There was some sort of bird flying towards them.

“I w-wond-ered … a ffly-ing ma-ma-sheen.”  In his excitement, George was having trouble getting any words out at all.  

He slipped off the window seat and went over to a pile of papers beside his bed.  He selected one near the top of the pile and brought it back to Fred.

“M. Bleriot demonstrates flying machine at Fortune,” read the headline.  Underneath was a picture of a very dashing French person with a helmet and goggles standing next to a funny tube with two boards sticking out of it on either side.  

Fred glanced at it, held it close to look at the machine in more detail and dropped the paper to look at the sky.  A very similar machine was now approaching the last stretch of road before it turned to come into the castle itself.

“Oh my goodness,” said Fred, his eyes wide in panic. “She’ll be killed!”

The Princelings & the Pirates #2
Summary:
The second book of the Princelings of the East series shows our heroes, Princelings Fred and George, enjoying life with their inventions at Castle Buckmore.  Oblivious to the kidnap of a princess from Chateau Dimerie, they are despatched there by Prince Lupin to discover why the wine hasn't been delivered and solve the case of the missing messengers.

What follows is the stuff of nightmares. Captured by pirates, sent off on different ships, Fred endures hardship and shipwreck while George has a dangerous night escape.  They discover treachery at their home castle, and lead the people they have rescued to safety, only to end up fighting for their lives in the Battle of Dimerie.

The Princelings & the Lost City #3
Summary:
Book 3 in the Princelings of the East series is the completion of the trilogy.  A mystery is uncovered in the Prologue (which is unravelled in Book 5), then the story moves to more familiar territory as our heroes, Princelings Fred and 

George, wait at Castle Buckmore for the arrival of Princess Kira from Dimerie in a flying machine.  George's power plant invention is overtaken by his enthusiasm for flying, but Fred is upset by Kira's strange behavious after the visit a legendary 'lost' castle in the middle of a forest.

What is the secret of the Lost City?  Are the old wives' tales, of a civilisation ruled by females where no male dare set foot, true after all?  Will Fred and his friend escape with their lives?  How many times can Princess Kira be kidnapped in one story?  The path of true love runs anything but smoothly in this tale of love, bravery, cruelty and loss.

1. What is the biggest influence/interest that brought you to this genre?
I took ages to think about this question, but I eventually came to a conclusion: my library.  When I was small, libraries were magical places where thousands of books were available for kids of all ages.  Of course for a long time I kept firmly to the children's section.  I can't remember when I strayed into science fiction (maybe when books for school-reading were in the General section).  I was firmly into horse books, and other animals too.  Although you can think of my Princelings characters as people, to me they are all guinea pigs in a human-less world, but they have what you might call 'light scifi' adventures, mixed in with mystery and adventure.

2. When writing a book, what is your favorite part of the creative process(outline, plot, character names, editing, etc)?
I think I'd describe myself as a 'concept-driven pantser'.  Most pantsers have to have some idea of where they are going, but the idea of a thoroughly structured outline and plot makes me shudder.  How do you leave room for characters to do their own thing?  That's what surprised me most about writing.  Characters do things you don't expect, because they have their own motives, personalities, risk-adverse natures – or not!  So maybe I put most emphasis on solid characters, and let the rest happen, with an overall aim in mind (the concept).  I suppose I'm fairly lucky that my brain seems to work in the right way to allow sub-plots to develop and come together.  It can hang me up for a few weeks if I get to a point whether I think, ok, but how is he going to get out of that, but at other times, you just keep writing, putting the words down, and you get back to something good. But then you need to 'edit tight'.  Editing is not my favourite occupation.

3. When reading a book, what genre do you find most interesting/intriguing?
I was blown away when I first discovered steampunk.  I'm not sure that it has a lasting fascination for me as I haven't read any for a while – maybe I'm missing out.  It's not something I would want to write, so it's good for me to read that when I'm really stuck into a new project. Although I could class Princelings as strawberrypunk, since they miss out on the Steam Age and go straight to fuel cells running on strawberry juice. I don't read science fiction if I'm writing science fiction (even with the Princelings).  I suppose there's a risk of subconsciously picking up other people's ideas.  But I discovered Weird last year, and although I haven't read much of it, I really do like what I've read.  It's weird!!

4. If you could co-author with any author, past or present, who would you choose?
You don't ask easy questions, do you?  I've not thought of co-authoring.  I always wonder how people's styles work through a book.  You have to understand each other very well.  But then yes, I have co-authored research papers, and so I'm talking rubbish as usual.  Apart from my ex-colleagues, I think the authors I'd most like to co-author with are Sandy Smith and Jennifer Ellis, both of whom write great eco-fic (ecological science fiction); I think we'd have a meeting of minds over many subjects that we could explore.

5. Have you always wanted to write or did it come to you ʺlater in lifeʺ?
I always wanted to write stories, but when I was at college (I was a science major) I started a scifi novel and made the mistake of showing it to a 'friend' who pronounced it 'rubbish' and told me not to bother writing fiction.  Shows how impressionable I was at that age, because I believed her, in fact it's only recently I finally realised what snide remarks she's always made and she's not really a friend at all.  So I suddenly freed myself up to write fiction again.  Maybe that's why the floodgates have opened and all these stories keep pouring out, bottled up for years, during which my writing was more journalistic or academic.

The moral of the story is: don't believe people who might be jealous of your talent!

It does help not to have to work a full day at something you don't want to do, though, and just write instead – and I did pack in a whole load of experiences and travels I can draw on for all sorts of incidents!

So I've probably outstayed my welcome, and you'll have to cut this (edit tight), but I really enjoyed your questions, Padme – they were challenging, and I hope my answers have done them justice.
Best wishes
Jemima

Author Bio:
I’ve been writing since I was 8 years old.  I still have a small booklet I found in my mother’s box of treasures, written in a very childish hand, entitled The Little Stream.  It reads very much like the story of Smetana’s Vltava, or The Moldau as it was called when I was young, so I must have been into classical music at an early age (I blame my brothers’ influence).   My early fiction attempts failed for want of suitable inspiration:

I couldn’t get characters or plot that seemed interesting, and my first attempts were derided by a ‘friend’.  I had the bug for writing, though, and wrote articles and event reports for newsletters and magazines whenever I got the opportunity. My career in business and in environmental research kept me chained to a desk for many years, but also gave me the opportunity to write manuals, reports, science papers, blogs, journals, anything and everything that kept the words flowing.  Finally the characters jumped into my head with stories that needed to be told….

I now live in a village in Norfolk, UK, with my guinea pigs, the first of whom, Fred, George, Victor and Hugo, provided the inspiration for the Princelings stories.


FACEBOOK  /  TWITTER  /  WEBSITE
BLOG  /  PINTEREST  /  GOOGLE+



The Princelings of the East #1

The Princelings & the Pirates #2

The Princelings & the Lost City #3




Brought to you by: