Wednesday 30 April 2014

Competition - Midnight Crossroad by Charlaine Harris


#IWantItAtMidnightCompetition.

Today, we’re a launching a competition togive one lucky winner a chance to read Midnight Crossroad at midnight on the 7th May.

The winner will spend the night in a fantastic hotel and have their copy delivered to them at midnight with an exclusive gift box. They’ll also win a chance to meet Charlaine Harris when she visits the UK later this year. Full details at the link below.

Would be awesome if you could share the link to enter on your blogs and on social media. We’ll be tweeting and using the #IWantItAtMidnight on social media for this competition.


Harris offers a brilliant cocktail of domestic drama and supernatural adventure –
The Daily Mail

“Light, slick and eminently readable” – The Observer

Charlaine Harris
MIDNIGHT CROSSROAD

May 2014, Gollancz, Hardback £18.99 / eBook £9.99

Everything begins at Midnight

From Charlaine Harris, the author of four consecutive #1 Sunday Times bestsellers, comes the moment that fans have been waiting for: the very first novel of aunforgettable new series.

Charlaine Harris is the globally admired author of amongst others, the hugely successful SOOKIE STACKHOUSE novels, made into HBOs Golden Globe award winning seriesTRUEBLOOD. Charlaine Harris is the Queen of Dark Fantasy and a celebrated Crime Novelist.

Her brand new stand-alone novel, MIDNIGHT CROSSROAD, is an edge-of-your-seat page-turner and a perfect example of what Charlaine Harris does best: chilling small town murder mysteries with a jaw-dropping twist.

The publication of this all-new series, especially one with a foot firmly in the crime genre, is a world-wide publishing event and guaranteed to attract significant attention across both the fantasy and mystery fiction blogosphere.

Charlaine Harris said: “I was very excited about the prospect open to me: the thrill of doing something new and different, the creation of another world. I literally didn’t know where to start. It was like being in a great bakery where there are no calories. But gradually a place started to form in my mind, a desolate and isolated place, and I began to populate that little town”

Welcome to Midnight, Texas: a dried-up Western Town. Located at the crossroad of Witch Light and Davy Road, thelimited cast of full time residents includes...

MANFRED: new in town, phone and internet psychic. Manfred Bernardo is a man with secrets. Looking for a place to carry out his work in private, Midnight seems like the perfect respite from the modern world. Afterall, this is a town where no one asks after your past.

FIJI: Lovable Fiji runs a new age magic store and is just a bit hopeless. Her hair is impossible to tame, her clothes never seem to create quite the outfit she meant to wear and her love life is so quiet you can hear the crickets chirping. But Fiji had s secret of her own. One that can literally freeze people in place.

BOBO: Bobo runs Midnight Pawn, an unlikely hangout for the residents of Midnight. By day customers come in to pawn a TV, necklace or gun. But at night, another type of customer visits the pawn shop

OLIVIA: No one is quite sure what Olivia does, exactly. And that’s probably for the best.

Welcome to Midnight


About Charlaine Harris



Charlaine Harris has sold more than three million copies worldwide. She has dominated the New York Times bestsellers list since 2008 and has been writing for 30 years. Her novels have included crime series, the Aurora Teagarden novels and theShakespeare mysteries, featuring the amateur sleuth Lily Bard. Her Urban Fantasy novels have included the Sookie Stackhouse and Harper Connolly sequences. MIDNIGHT CROSSROAD is classified by the author as “mystery with a supernatural twist”.
Charlaine Harris lives in central Texas, and when she is not writing her own books, she reads omnivorously. Her house is full of rescue dogs.

Visit Charlaine’s website: www.charlaineharris.com

The first four chapters of Midnight Crossroad. Link: http://bit.ly/1lynFCF

Tuesday 29 April 2014

Reaching for the Stars by Janice Horton


What They Say:

Scottish celebrity chef Finn McDuff is media stalked and disillusioned after winning his third star and losing his third wife. He decides he’s had enough of all the food campaigns, the TV cookery shows, the constant frenzy surrounding his private life and, after giving up all his accolades and closing down his restaurant, he disappears.
With the enfant terrible of the kitchen missing, two rival newspapers, having lost their media meal ticket, compete against each other to whip up further public curiosity in the missing chef. Love him or hate him, everyone is out looking for Chef McDuff. Who will find him first and whose side will you be on…?
What I Say:
I would like to thank Loveahappyending and Janice Horton for sending me a copy of this in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Finn McDuff seems to have the world at his feet, he has just acheived his ambition of 3 Golden Stars for his restaraunt, his world comes crashing down around him when his wife decides to leave him.
Anna James returns to Edinburgh expecting to be sponsored by Chef McDuff, willing to put the past behind her in achieving her dreams.... But is Anna willing to forgive and forget.  Finn let's Anna down by closing his restaraunt and doing a disappearing act with the press on his tail.
Raine and Ross were competing for the same job until Raine beats him to an exclusive interview with Chef McDuff, now they are working for different newspapers, they are on his tail for the exclusive story surrounding his disappearance.
Janice gives you a clue to the corruption that was once the press over here, this is done in a way that makes you dispise the press for their intrusion into celebrities lives.
As for Chef McDuff I couldn't help but like him, if not the typical book boyfriend, there was something sad about his story and I found myself warming to him and feeling sorry for his plight.
Anna was seeing her father through rose tinted glasses and blamed everything on Finn, I really wanted to give her a slap and tell her to wake up and smell the roses.
Raine I liked instantly she was trying to do her job with an honest integrity, even though she had to deal with her bosses demanding more and falling in love with Finn didn't help her.
Ross I really wanted to come unstuck and I laughed at the way he eventually did, a totally ingenious way of doing it from Janice.
In short the book was totally different from what I expected and would recommend it, it was a journey for so many of the characters that I found myself wanting to work out, with a great supporting cast.
5 out of 5 stars 

Monday 28 April 2014

The French for Always by Fiona Valpy



Escape to France with The French for Always

Review copies available now. Publication 25 April 2013.


What They Say:


Soak up the sunshine and enjoy the local charm in The French for Always from women's fiction author and Bordeaux resident Fiona Valpy. Best served with a chilled glass of wine!


Perfect for fans of Katie Fforde, Carole Matthews or Erica James - and everyone who enjoyed Nick Alexander's The French House.


Five Weddings. The perfect venue. One little hitch...

Leaving the grey skies of home behind to transform a crumbling French Château into a boutique wedding venue is a huge leap of faith for Sara. She and fiancé Gavin sink their life savings into the beautiful Château Bellevue – set under blue skies and surrounded by vineyards in the heart of Bordeaux.

After months of hard work, the dream starts to become a reality – until Gavin walks out halfway through their first season. Overnight, Sara is left very much alone with the prospect of losing everything.


With her own heart breaking, Sara has five weddings before the end of the season to turn the business around and rescue her dreams. With the help of the locals and a little courage can she save Château Bellevue before the summer is over? 


What I Say:


I would like to thank Kim Nash and the team at Bookouture for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Sara has moved to France with her fiancé Gavin to run Château Bellevue, having taken a risk and invested her life savings in the Château, Sara is having doubts about everything.  Not only is it harder work than Sara thought it would be, Gavin has undermined her confidence.

Unsure of what to do Sara is at a crossroads until she catches Gavin in a a compromising position with a guest at a wedding.  Gavin leaves Sara in the lurch saying he cant carry on.  Sara has a choice to make let her dreams die around her or get the Château through the next few months of 5 weddings.

I instantly liked Sara she wasn't afraid of hard work and I instantly hated Gavin for undermining her confidence, when he was caught out I secretly cheered. When Gavin had left, she settled down to make the best she could of the situation and I had my fingers crossed that Gavin wouldn't come back and spoil it all for her.

Enter the handsome Thomas into Saras life, he slowly helps her to get her confidence back and with a little help from your friends you can achieve anything.  Thomas and the rest of the team all muck in to help Sara out, Sara realises that she really doesn't want to lose her home and business.

The books follows Sara and Thomas as they manage to get through the summer season and this includes 5 very different weddings. There's a rock stars wedding not quite how you would think it to be.  A couple in there 80's proving you are never too late to find love.  I won't tell anymore but this is a must read.  I've read reviews that say there isn't much happening in this book but for me there was plenty and you don't always need plenty of plot twists to make a good book,  each to their own but I would recommend this as a nice summer read.

This is a gorgeous feel good book with a lovely story, that is beautifully written.  A perfect read that makes me want to visit France, for me that's a big thing as I have never wanted to go to France before.  

At the time I didn't realise there was a previous book to this The French for Love and will definitely be reading it.  You can read this without reading the other book as I did, this doesn't distract from the story.

5 out of 5 stars

Thanks

Jo x


About The Author



Fiona Valpy lives in France, having moved there from the UK in 2007. She left behind a career in Marketing and Public Relations to explore new avenues and now teaches yoga and writes.


Having renovated an old rambling farmhouse with her husband, she has developed new-found skills in cement- mixing and interior decorating, although her preferred pastime by far is wine-tasting.


Praise for The French for Love


'Overall, this book is so much fun and will definitely leave you feeling warm and fuzzy inside. I highly recommend it.' 4.5/5 ChickLitPlus.com


'I thought the book was a fun, enjoyable read in a beautiful setting.' Novelicious.com


You should just take my word and dive into this book. It’s a perfect summer read that will transport you away from the doldrums commuting or the usual rat race and have you longing to move to France and find a ramshackle house of your own.’ 5/5 Kimtalksbooks.com



I would definitely recommend this book as a summer read to anyone... A little bit of romance, a nice glass of wine and a wonderful summer setting.' Fabulous Book Fiend 

Bookouture: https://www.facebook.com/Bookouture 


Fiona Valpy https://www.facebook.com/fionavalpybooks 

Sunday 27 April 2014

Promo Screaming Divas by Suzanne Kamata


About the Book:

Screaming Divas by Suzanne Kamata
Publication Date: May 18th, 2014
Publisher: Merit Press
Pages: 208
Genre: YA Contemporary


Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-screaming-divas-suzanne-kamata/1116741607?ean=9781440572791

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Screaming-Divas-Suzanne-Kamata/dp/1440572798 

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18442148-the-screaming-divas 

The Book Depository: http://www.bookdepository.com/Screaming-Divas-Suzanne-Kamata/9781440572791 

What They Say:

At sixteen, Trudy Baxter is tired of her debutante mom, her deadbeat dad, and her standing reservation at the juvenile detention center. Changing her name to Trudy Sin, she cranks up her major chops as a singer and starts a band, gathering around other girls ill at ease in their own lives. Cassie Haywood, would-have-been beauty queen, was scarred in an accident in which her alcoholic mom was killed. But she can still sing and play her guitar, even though she seeks way too much relief from the pain in her body and her heart through drugs, and way too much relief from loneliness through casual sex. Still, it’s Cassie who hears former child prodigy Harumi Yokoyama playing in a punk band at a party, and enlists her, outraging Harumi’s overbearing first-generation Japanese parents. The fourth member is Esther Shealy, who joins as a drummer in order to be close to Cassie–the long-time object of her unrequited love–and Harumi, her estranged childhood friend. Together, they are Screaming Divas, and they’re quickly swept up as a local sensation. Then, just as they are about to achieve their rock-girl dreams, a tragedy strikes.

About the Author:

Back in the day, Suzanne Kamata spent a lot of time hanging out in a club in Columbia, South Carolina, much like the one in Screaming Divas. (The beat goes on . . .) She later wrote about musicians for The State newspaper, The Japan Times, and other publications. Now, she mostly writes novels. In her free time, she enjoys searching for the perfect fake fur leopard-print coat and listening to the Japanese all-girl band Chatmonchy. 

Her YA debut, Gadget Girl: The Art of Being Invisible was named the 2013-2014 APALA YA Honor Book and Grand Prize Winner of the Paris Book Festival.

For more info, visit http://www.suzannekamata.com or follow her on Twitter @shikokusue.

The Excerpt: 

from The Screaming Divas
By Suzanne Kamata
   Trudy got her hands on a guitar.  Actually, it was her fathers guitar, the one hed played in his band.  The instrument had a history of smoky bars, fields of wild flowers, park benches, Greyhound buses.  It had been all over the place, probably even Dahomey.
   She was going to ask to borrow it, but when she dropped by Jacks apartment, he wasnt home.  Trudy decided to cart the guitar off anyhow.  He never played it any more and besides, he might say no if she asked him to loan it to her.  He didnt trust her so much since all the trouble with Adam.
   Shed practice and innovate and turn herself into a brilliant performer.  And then shed start a band. It would be the most exciting thing to hit the town since General Sherman.  Yeah, these were good thoughts.
   By day, she practiced.  By night, she hung out at The Cave, playing records or slamming on the dance floor.  During breaks, she looked for musicians in the Pink Room.
   Hey, Maddy.  Im starting a band.  Wanna join up?
   Her roommate Madeline tossed a lock of black hair out of her eyes.  You must be out of your mind.
   Trudy shrugged.  She asked Jeff, the David Bowie lookalike.  She even asked Johnny Fad.  People laughed, blew smoke in her face.  Sometimes they just turned away as if they hadnt heard her at all.
   Why did everyone treat her proposition like some sort of joke?  She was as serious as shed ever been.  The more she practiced, the more she knew that her dreams lay in music.  She closed her eyes and saw herself on the stage, crooning into a mike while a huge crowd lit and lofted their Bics in tribute.
   When people were drinking and dancing, they werent in the mood for serious talk.  She had to find another way to put her band together.

   Trudy made a flyer with scissors and magazines and Elmers glue.  When she was finally satisfied with her work, she rode her housemates rickety bicycle to Kinkos and made a hundred copies.  Then she ran around Five Points with a staple gun and plastered them to every telephone pole in sight.  When she was finished, she went back to the apartment, picked up her guitar, and waited for the phone to ring.
   Hey, whats this? Madeline barged into her room justafter midnight, smelling of booze and smoke.  She waved one of Trudys flyers in the air between them.
   Im starting a band, Trudy said.  I told you already.
   Madeline shrugged.  Yeah, whatever.  I wish you hadnt put our phone number down, though.  Well get half a million calls from creeps.
   Trudy didnt answer.  Why was Madeline being such a bitch?  She looked really cool with her tattooed shoulder and asymmetrical haircut, but sometimes she could be totally square.
   Ill get my dad to buy us an answering machine, Trudy said.  That way we can screen calls.
   Madeline nodded, seemingly consoled, and wandered off to her room.
   Trudy giggled softly.  Jack would never fork out cash for something like that, but the lie had worked.
   The first call came at noon the next day.
   Hey, Im calling about the band, a gravelly voice said.
   “What do you play?
   Bass, drums, whatever.  Im versatile.  Hey, wait.  You sound really familiar.  Whats your name?
   Trudy Sin.
   Hey, I know you.  Youre that firestarter.  The line went dead.
   Later, Southern Bell called about an overdue phone bill.  The manager at Yesterdays, where Madeline waited tables, called asking Madeline to report to work early.  Someone dialed a wrong number.
   Where were all the budding musicians, the soulmates in tune with her dreams?  Trudy set aside her guitar and put on some music.  She threw herself on the bed and let Patti Smith comfort her.
   How was she ever going to start a band?
   Maybe she could go solo  set up a drum machine and play the guitar herself.  She wracked her brains trying to come up with someone whod gotten famous withoutback-up.  Her mind went blank.
   Two nights later, when she came home from a trip to the Quick Mart down the street, Madeline greeted her with,You got a phone call. Someone wants to join your band.
   Great. Who?  She pictured a pale, black-haired guy in leather, a guitar strapped across his hard-muscled body.
   I dunno.  She said shed call back.
   She?  Well, okay.  This could be good.  A girl group.  Yeah, thats the ticket.  Theyd be like the Supremes with instruments.  The Gogos with attitude.  It would be a good gimmick, something to get them started while they developed as a band.

The Giveaway:

5 signed copies of Screaming Divas of Screaming Divas with five $25 gift cards. Open Internationally.

Available when the book releases. 

Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/share-code/ZTZiMDc1NDE0OGU4YWExOWQ5YWNlOWI2MGZmNTA4Ojgz/


Saturday 26 April 2014

The Otherside of Morning by Joanna Lambert


What They Say:

Charlotte Kendrick’s ill-fated relationship with rock star Christian Rosetti still haunts her. The new man in her life, handsome, rich Italian restaurateur Marco D’Alesandro, is everything she wants. But when beautiful heiress RossanaCaravello arrives to spend time with his family as their house guest she wonders whether history is about to repeat itself. Marco insists he loves her and that he has no interest in their guest, but how can Charlotte believe him when everything about his behaviour around Rossana indicates he is lying? 

Giving him the benefit of the doubt, Charlotte wonders whether his ruthless stepmother Thérèse may be involved, and decides to find out more about the young heiress. However, far from putting her mind at rest, what she discovers leaves her feeling more unsettled than ever about her future with Marco… 

From rural West Somerset to the glorious rolling landscape of Tuscany and the Italian lakes THE OTHER SIDE OF MORNING is a story of love, betrayal, deception and ultimate sacrifice.

What I Say:

I would like to thank Brookscottagebks and Joanna Lambert for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Charlotte or Lottie Kendrick was in a relationship with rock star Christian Rosetti until he went on tour but his increasing erratic behaviour had driven them apart.

Lottie then meets the gorgeous Italian Marco, their relationship doesn't get off to the best of starts but eventually they realise how much they want each other. 

As with all love stories things don't run smoothly and they have the erratic Christian trying to drive a wedge between them along with Marco's stepmother Thérèse.

This book keeps you gripped wanting to know what happens, not only with Marco and Charlotte but with Charlotte's extended family.

How can you go wrong with a rock star, a sexy Italian, various venues across Europe and a wicked step mother,  it is an gripping read and I can see the series turning into a blockbuster, in the likes of Woman of Substance. 

I read this as a one off but there are other books set before this and will definately be reading them and any more that follow.

4.5 out of 5 stars 

An Interview with the Author

Hi Jo , thank you for you time to answer my questions.

Can you tell us about your book?

With The Other Side of Morning I’m drawing to a close my series of books following the lives of the Kendrick and Benedict families. However, this story has been written so that it can easily be read as a stand-alone novel.  As with all the other books in the series it’s a multi-layered plot wrapped around one central story. It is now 1996 and the turn of twenty-something cousins Charlotte Kendrick and Lucy Benedict.  Born within a year of each other they are so similar in looks they could almost be twins. However this is where the similarity ends.  Lucy is fun loving and capricious whereas Charlotte is more responsible and grounded.  They fall in love with very different men and it is the changes those relationships bring to both their lives on which the book focuses.  One of the key aspects of my writing is that I always put my main characters through a lot of challenges before I’m able to type THE END.  This book is no exception; Lucy has the easiest pathway to her eventual happiness; for Charlotte the journey will prove far more difficult.

How old were you when you started writing?

I must have been about 9 years old before I ventured into writing anything beyond an English essay. Reading for me was magic; it gave me access to other worlds where you could lose yourself and spend time with all sorts of amazing characters.  I loved Enid Blyton’s Famous Five so for me this naturally became the sort of story I wanted to write when it came to creating my own fantasy world.

Who are your favourite writers?

That’s a very difficult question as over the years I’ve read so many good books.  I have been a long term fan of South African writer Wilbur Smith. His multi novel sagas of the Courtney and Ballantyne families cleverly blended South African history with great fiction. I also love Phillipa Gregory another writer who has done a similar thing with English history.  Val McDermid is another favourite author and George R R Martin’s Game of Thrones had me completely addicted.  As you can see I have a fairly eclectic taste in reading.

What books did you read as a child?

Very early on Noddy and Janet and John books.  As I got older it was Enid Blyton’s Famous Five and Secret Seven series.   I also had an uncle who sent me books for Christmas and birthdays so I got all the classics – Alice in Wonderland, The Jungle Books, Children of the New Forest, The Heidi series, Black Beauty and Wind in the Willows.  

Your favourite book and why?

It has to be Penmarric.  Not only did reading it kick start my writing again, I absolutely loved this huge epic saga.  Set in Cornwall it ran from Victorian times to the end of the Second World War, it was dramatized for TV in the late 1970s.  I read somewhere that Susan Howatch based the structure of the family on the Plantagenets and the struggle between the houses of York and Lancaster. The whole book became the inspiration for the kind of novel I wanted to write – emotional family driven drama.

Do you have a favourite place you like to write and why?

We have an office in the house which my husband also uses but I get the lion’s share of time there.  Because I touch type a laptop slows me down so I need continued access to the desktop.  The room, facing south has wonderful views down a river valley – an absolutely ideal place to write.

What inspired you to take up writing?

My earliest attempts as I’ve described above were down to wanting to emulate Enid Blyton.   However, my writing dried up as I moved into my teens.  I switched all my energies into my education, then work and finally I got married. However, the desire to write never really left me, it was always there lying dormant simply waiting for the right trigger.  That came in my mid-twenties when after reading Susan Howatch’s saga Penmarric I was so taken with the book that I knew I had to get back to writing once more. This time, of course, when I began I was in new and uncharted territory. No more Famous Five style children’s adventures, I was moving into the more complex world of the adult novel.  If there is a connection between my childhood and adult writing life I guess the inspiration behind wanting to write is the actual creation of a parallel universe of fictitious people.  People whose lives you direct and control as they act out the story you have set them in.  As a child this was purely for my own entertainment.  Now as a published writer I do it for an audience.

Are any of your characters based on people you know?

In my head I hold a whole library of people I have known over the years and there have been some really amazing characters among them.  I find this incredibly useful to draw on but usually I use personality traits rather than the whole individual.  However, when I wrote the trilogy I actually dipped into my memories of village life as a child and used one or two real people for characters in the fictitious village of Meridan Cross.

Do you have a support network for your writing?

Not as such but I do have really good writing friends I can bounce ideas off or ask for advice and I’m there to reciprocate should they need assistance. And, of course, I have an excellent editor who is always able to give me help and guidance if needed.

What items are on your desk/where you write?

The PC obviously, a pad and pen for notes and bottled water, although I do stop for coffee mid-afternoon.  I like my workspace uncluttered too – any files or reference books sit on adjacent shelves so are close at hand if I need them.

Do you have a routine for your writing? i.e. time of day.

I try to get all my non-writing things out of the way in the morning and then use the afternoon plus a short session in the evening after 7pm running over what I’ve done and planning for the next day.

Any tips for writers who are just starting out?

Be organised and professional in your approach to your work
Write something each day
Try to work through any problems you encounter,  believe in yourself, don’t be tempted to give up
Above all enjoy what you are doing

Can you share a sneak peak at what you're working on at the moment?

I started work on my current novel while The Other Side of Morning was away for editing.  The five books I have written have all been about the same families and I decided book six was going to be a completely new venture.  I had been running a few ideas through my head and which gradually expanded into a full story.  The book is in two time slots; 2007 and present day.  It is about two young people from completely different social backgrounds who meet and fall in love during the summer of 2007. Settling into a relationship they both feel has the potential to last, a sudden and unexpected chain of events one evening destroys their love and parts them forever.  Five years later they accidentally meet again.  Both are very different people but realise despite the time they have been apart their feelings for each have never really gone away. As they rekindle their love affair someone who was there on that fateful night is about to reveal something which is guaranteed to destroy their new found happiness.

Have you ever heard a strange/different story that you thought would be great in a book?

Actually strange as it may seem, I cannot think of anything. However I have incorporated some experiences and incidents from my own life into my writing. Apart from this I honestly don’t think I have come across something that has made me stop and think ‘Yes, that would make really good material for a novel.’  

What do you like to do when you're not writing?

I try to set aside time for reading.  Living five minutes away from open countryside means we have access to fantastic walks, a great incentive to get out for regular ‘fresh air’ breaks. I also take time out to meet friends for lunch in town. Now I’ve finished my regular nine to five job I’m very much in control of my time.  Bath has a huge selection of good restaurants, an ideal place to meet friends and catch up on news and gossip. 


Do you like it quiet when you're writing or do you need background noise? (Music or TV)  

Usually I find I can’t write without having music in the background. It’s very much part of my writing process.  However there are some occasions, normally when I’m editing that I do prefer to work in silence.

If one of your books was made into a film/TV series, who would you like as the leading lady/man? 

Although The Other Side of Morning has a lot of centrally placed characters, the story is principally about Charlotte and Marco.  For Charlotte Kendrick I think I’d choose Jessica Brown Findlay who played Lady Sybil in Downton Abbey.    As for my beautiful Italian Marco D’Alesandro, who else but the incredibly handsome Antonio Cupo.

Do you have a process for planning your books? i.e. do you talk over an idea with a friend or a partner?

My planning process is very much down to me. Once I get an idea I work at developing it to see whether it can be expanded into a full blown story. If the whole thing looks positive I work out an outline and then talk it through with my publisher to get the final OK before beginning to write. Personally I don’t like to work within the confines of a set storyline; I prefer to use my outline merely as a guide.  For me it’s all about making the writing as organic and flexible as possible.
  


Non book questions

Favourite holiday place? – Italy, Tuscany and the Italian Lakes are favourite destinations
Favourite food? Thai
What kind of music do you listen to? I love guitar driven rock. However I love anything with great lyrics and melody
Favourite film?  Ryan’s Daughter
Favourite Chocolate? Thorntons
Favourite drink? – It has to be Prosecco

Thanks for a wonderful interview Jo. xx


About The Author

Born and raised in rural Wiltshire, Jo Lambert grew up with a love of books and a vivid imagination.  As a child she enjoyed creating her own adventure stories similar to Enid Blyton’sFamous Five.  Writing always stayed with her, but college, work and eventually marriage found it kept very much in the background as a hobby.  

In 2009 everything changed whenshe decided to self-publish a novel she had completedAfterWhen Tomorrow Comes, three other books - Love Lies and Promises, The Ghost of You and Me and Between Today and Yesterday followed.  

In 2013 she decided to give up full time work to concentrate fully on her writing.  Her fifth novel The Other Side of Morning was accepted by ThornBerryPublishing UK and is now available in e-book form with a paperback version to follow shortly.

Jo is married and lives in a village on the eastern edge of Bath, Somerset with one small grey feline called Mollie. Sheshares her husband with his ‘other woman’ Bridget - a 48 year old white MG Midget who keeps him occupied while she is busy writing.