Novel Kicks

About Novel Kicks/Laura... Novel Kicks was founded in 2009 and is run by Laura who is currently living in Hampshire, and lives with husband, Chris and her cat, Buddy. She would love to be a writer. She’s trying to write the novel she thinks so much about. She’s loved reading and writing since ‘Creative Writing’ classes in primary school. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything she can get her hands on, she loves reading, dancing like a loon, and watching Project Runway and Ugly Betty (her two TV guilty pleasures.) She also has an obsession with chocolate and Jammie Dodgers.

Review: Before I Go To Sleep by S J Watson

Published November 24, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

Black Swan, August 2014.

Black Swan, August 2014.

Memories define us. So what if you lost yours every time you went to sleep? Your name, your identity, your past, even the people you love – all forgotten overnight. And the one person you trust may only be telling you half the story. Welcome to Christine’s life.

This book had been recommended to me by so many people. I am always in two minds about a book many people tell me ‘I must read.’ I am then worried that it won’t meet expectation (this is also why I stay away from most nominated films during Oscar season. I find that the hype sometimes ruins the book or film.) I shouldn’t have worried.

Before I Go To Sleep focuses around Christine, who following an accident years earlier, looses her memory every night when she goes to sleep. Every morning, she has to learn who she is all over again from her husband, a man she doesn’t know. Eventually, she begins to keep a journal and everything begins to unravel around her. Like Christine, you begin to realise something isn’t quite right but you can’t quite figure out what.

I love books like this where there are puzzles to solve. The only small thing I had to get my head around was, with having started to read this around the time I heard a lot about the movie, it was hard to imagine the characters in any other way than the actors who were playing them on screen. No disrespect to Mark Strong (he’s a great actor,) but I imagined the doctor being a little younger.

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A Moment With…Kelly Florentia

Published November 24, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

Kelly Florentia is the second author to join us today for our collection of posts to coincide with NaNoWriMo. Kelly joins us to talk about short stories.

I love reading short stories. There’s something quite gratifying about a sharp, tight tale with a satisfying or clever ending. Although not as widely read as novels, short stories are a lot more prominent than some people may think. Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a film adaptation of Truman Capote’s novella (1958). And Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 classic The Birds was inspired by Daphne Du Maurier’s short story of the same name taken from her anthology The Apple Tree (1952). Oscar Wilde, one of my favourite authors of all time, mainly wrote plays and short stories.

Producing fine, short literature requires great skill and tenacity. Unlike a novel, you only have a few hundred or a few thousand words to create a strong, believable plot with convincing characters and a fulfilling conclusion. Your aim is to engage readers within the first sentence, keep them connected, and not let them down in the last paragraph with a poor or predictable finish. Most of the stories I write have a twist or surprise ending simply because that’s what I like to read, but not all short stories need to take this form. Stories can be humorous, moving, romantic, inspirational or chilling. But, primarily, they must be entertaining.

Personally, the most challenging aspect of short story writing is coming up with new ideas. Magazine editors are always on the lookout for fresh material, and the last thing you want is for your reader to find your story predictable or worn. So when ideas arise I jot them down and work on them later. Ideas are everywhere. A comment someone makes, a newspaper article, a conversation, something I see on T.V. or read on the internet.

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Writing Room – Game Show

Published November 24, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

Writing Room is our online writing group.

We post a prompt. Once you’ve written your piece, post it in the comments box below. Anyone is welcome to take part and it’s an opportunity to post work plus give and gain feedback.

Today’s prompt: You are forced to be a part of a game show where peole watch for fun. To survive, you have to win and that comes with tough decisions. What happens to you if you win? What happens if you loose? Is everything as it seems?

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A Moment With…Christina Jones

Published November 23, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

In our second post today to coincide with National Novel Writing Month, we talk to author, Christina Jones about her route to publication and how all started with a boy called Tony…

My route to publication was – to quote every contestant X-Factor has ever had – a bit of a roller-coaster… And a lifelong roller-coaster at that… I’d always enjoyed writing stories and making things up, and I had my first short story published when I was 14 (in a teenage magazine – remember them?). I wrote about Tony from the chip shop who I was madly in love with and who ignored me and went out with my best friend instead. I poured every bit of teenage heartbroken angst into that story I can tell you! I sent it to the magazine without ever thinking it’d be published – but they loved it, bought it and paid what was a fortune to me then, and it opened up a nice little niche for me – and I carried on writing short stories, serials, articles (I became the pop correspondent for “Jackie” – was the envy of all my friends!), and anything else they’d pay me for (!) for the teenage mags while I was still at school, and then did the same for the women’s magazines for years. It was my hobby – and I was earning enough pocket money from it to have a couple of nice holidays each year – and that was about as far as I ever imagined my writing career was going.

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Competition: Win a Writing Maps Gift Pack

Published November 23, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

Writing Maps think that good writing should be encouraged, shared and published.

Devised by writer and creative writing tutor, Shaun Levin alongside a wide range of designers and illustrators, Writing Maps are full of inspiration for writers. Each map contains at least 12 writing prompts and each map is beautifully illustrated. Maps available include; The Character Map, Writing People (for crowded places,) and My Writing Life.

Thanks to Shaun, we have a wonderful chance for someone to win this lovely little gift pack. It contains the City of Inspiration Writing Map (I have it and it’s fantastic and so helpful,) a notebook, a pen and a postcard with an additional prompt. It’s perfect for any writer or will be great as a Christmas present for any writer. They really are useful in helping the creative process.

How to enter:

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A Moment With…Rob Sinclair

Published November 23, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

We are now into the last week of National Novel Writing Month. I can’t believe we are almost at the end already. If you’re having a month like me, it’s going to be a marathon to the end or if you’re near the end or have finished already, I applaud you. Today, we chat with author Rob Sinclair about the challenges of writing his debut novel.

For Dance with the Enemy, the biggest challenge for me was that I when I first started writing it I hadn’t really learned the craft properly. Writing was something entirely new to me. I’d never been on any courses or anything like that. I’m certainly no expert now even, with only three books under my belt, but I know I’ve learnt a lot on the way already. So Dance with the Enemy was a really steep learning curve for me – there were things I tried which didn’t work, mistakes I made in terms of my approach to writing including style, plotting, structure etc. All those have been ironed out over time but it meant that Dance with the Enemy was really quite a belaboured project by the end. Continue reading →

Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: Unreal Becomes Real

Published November 21, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

Friday 21st November 2014: unreal becomes real.

Fiction Friday is our weekly prompt. The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can. Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.

Today’s prompt: Recall a story that you’ve been told that at the time you didn’t believe. Now write about it as though it was true and set it in modern times.

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A Moment With…Hannah Beckerman

Published November 20, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

We are twenty days into National Novel Writing Month. How is everyone getting on? Today, we have the author of The Dead Wife’s Handbook, Hannah Beckerman who is sharing her five writing tips…

1. Write a lot. That’s not meant to sound glib. Writing’s like a game of pass the parcel: you have to wade through all the boring, tedious layers of wrapping on the outside before you get to the prize in the middle. And with writing, it can take an inordinate amount of time to reach that prize.

2. Be brave. I don’t just mean in terms of what you write (although obviously that too). But allow other people you trust to read and comment on what you’ve written. It’s scary putting yourself out there but it can be invaluable in helping your work develop.

3. Suit yourself. Some people will insist that you have to write in a particular place or according to a particular routine. But writing’s one of the most personal things you can do and you need to find what works for you.

4. Be disciplined. Wherever you choose to work on your writing, don’t forget that it is work. Lots of people ask me if I wait for inspiration to write. The answer is a resounding no. You have to write through the days when you’re not in the mood and when you know what you’re writing will end up in the virtual (or even the real) bin. But that’s how you get to the days when you write something that you know just might be okay. Sometimes, on really good days, something that’s even better than okay.

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A Moment With…Nicci Gerrard

Published November 19, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

Nicci Gerrard is one half of the writing team, Nicci French. On day nineteen of National Novel Writing Month, Nicci talks to us about the challenges and advantages of writing as part of a team

Writing can be solitary and also rather frightening – and sometimes it can feel like going mad (and I write in an attic). Writing with Sean is less solitary and less frightening, and there’s something rather exhilarating about going mad with another person – folie a deux. In many ways the actual process of writing isn’t so different from when I write solo novels, because Sean and I actually never write together (we did try once, at the end of our first book, The Memory Game, in an act of symbolic unity – but it was dreadful: we took about an hour to come up with one drab sentence, and squabbled throughout).

There are things that are straightforwardly lovely and fun – like the planning, when we go for long walks, or sit over coffee and tea and wine, and bounce ideas off each other without fear of being ridiculous. But usually the advantages are also the challenges – what’s good about writing together can also be what’s hard. We have to trust each other and to be vulnerable in front of each other. We have to allow the other to edit an even to erase our precious words. And there’s nowhere to hide – most relationships thrive with areas of separation, with boundaries .

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Let’s Go Round Again – the ups and downs of writing a second novel

Published November 19, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

Rob Pateman (Photo Paul Stuart)

Rob Pateman (Photo Paul Stuart)

R.S Pateman is the author of The Second Life of Amy Archer. His new novel, The Prophecy of Bees is due for release on 20th November. Rob talks to us about writing the second novel.

Sometimes it seems as if the writing life is one big obstacle course. Don’t get me wrong – I love what I do and feel blessed for being able to do it. But it isn’t all plain sailing.

There’s the anxiety of getting the first novel written; you’re isolated, not certain if what you’re writing is any good and the dream of publication seems distant and unlikely.

Then there’s the stress and disappointment associated with finding an agent, the lack of any concrete feedback, the finality of ‘sorry, no, not for us.’ Until of course, that magic day when someone finally says yes.

But you’re not done yet. Next up is submitting your novel to publishers, which is even more nerve-wracking than the search for an agent as the dream is that bit closer. Until, if you’re lucky, a publisher makes an offer on your novel.

The package my agent, Oli Munson at A M Heath, sent out to publishers included the manuscript of The Second Life of Amy Archer – and a synopsis for a second novel, The Prophecy of Bees.

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Book News: Katie Fforde

Published November 19, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

I always look forward to anything by Katie Fforde and I can’t wait for her new release coming in February 2015.

Being released by Century on 12th February, it’s called A Vintage Wedding and I am totally in love with this cover. If you want to have a sneak peek of her new book, Katie is releasing a collection of Christmas short stories and there will be a preview of A Vintage Wedding inside. A Christmas Feast is being released by Arrow in paperback and electronically and is available to buy from 4th December 2014. Both books are available for pre-order from Amazon.

A little about A Vintage Wedding:

Beth, Rachel and Lindy are looking for new beginnings.

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A Moment With…Cathy Kelly

Published November 17, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

Earlier, we heard from author, Deborah Lawrenson about how she deals with the mid-book slump and now we catch up with Cathy Kelly to see how she deals with that dreaded mid-book stall…

I keep writing and tell myself I am an idiot about a hundred times. It’s such a dreadful thing to go through and I go through many of them with each book, and I force myself to stay at the computer, when really, a good walk helps. What I’ve written still looks dreadful when I come back but I am somehow calmed!

Cathy Kelly is the best-selling author of The Honey Queen, Just Between Us and The House on Willow Street. Her latest novel, It Started With Paris was released by Orion in October 2014. Read our interview with her by clicking here.

Mick’s Musings: Time Flies?

Published November 17, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

Time flies…

But does it? Well, yes it does, but whether that means it crawls or streaks along is open to debate. I promised the good lady who lets me post on her Blog much more regular updates when I sent in my last entry and – goes down on bended knee – I haven’t lived up to that promise. I am very, very sorry Laura and hope that you’ll forgive me. I do have a good excuse, or at least, not a made up one, that I’ll let you judge me on.

Ever since I received my report back from the RNA New Writer’s Scheme, I’d been trying to get together my Query letter to submit to various Agents and Publishers and was just getting nowhere. I’ve spoken to a lot of people and done a lot of online research on this art and can very much agree that compared to writing the book, this is a much harder task. There are books out there that give you tips on how to write these things, but for me, the hardest part was undoubtedly convincing myself that the 6^th, 7^th, 8^th (probably more) draft of the thing was as good as it was going to get and I should get it out there.

For even getting that far, I can only give my thanks to my fellow RNA members, both published and, like myself, hopeful. You know who you are, but they include Laura and Bella from Novel Kicks, Bernadette for giving me the ass-kicking I really needed and too many others to list here.

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Events: Chawton House Library’s Georgian Christmas

Published November 17, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

Find out how the people of Jane Austen’s time celebrated Christmas at Chawton House Library this December.

Explore the ‘great house,’ she loved as well as seeing it fully dressed for Christmas.

This event is happening on 13th December 2014 at Chawton House Library near Alton in Hampshire.

It’s an open house between 10am and 3pm. As well as cooking up gourmet christmas treats from the Knight family cookbook, there will also be talks from the food historian, Dr Anne Gray (who featured on the Great British Bake Off,) who will be giving talks on the traditional Georgian christmas dinner – ‘Plumb, Porridge and Pickle for Brawn.’

Tickets are £8 for adults and £4 for children (under fives go free.) Continue reading →

A Moment With…Deborah Lawrenson

Published November 17, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

Monday has rolled around once again and we are now over halfway through November and National Novel Writing Month. Most of the people taking part will be over 25,000 words into their NaNoWriMo novel (or not even close if you are having a writing month like mine.) At this stage, it’s very easy to fall into the mid-book slump. Later on today, we will be hearing from Cathy Kelly with her advice on how to conquer the mid-book slump but first, we hear from the author of The Sea Garden, Deborah Lawrenson. She gives us her advice on what she does to get through it.

The mid-book slump is a genuine threat. For me, it’s the moment when the thought strikes that what I’ve written so far might all be a load of rubbish, an implausible story and so tangled that any readers will rip it to shreds. How do I get over it?

I just walk away from it for a few days. I don’t stop working, though. I keep a notebook for each book, beginning with ideas, details of characters, reminders to myself, and whole passages of writing I’ve played around with. This is the time to re-read the notebook, and keep it close to jot down my thoughts.

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Novel Kicks Chats To: Jo Mazelis

Published November 15, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

Jo is the author of non-fiction, poetry and short stories. Her first novel, Significance was released by Seren Books last month. We had a chat with Jo about her book, her ideal dinner guests and her favourite word…

Hi Jo, thank you so much for joining us. Can you tell us about your novel, Significance and how the idea originated?

The idea for the novel came from two sources; first, a sort of unease about reading and watching stories about murder. Like a lot of people I have enjoyed the recent Nordic Noir TV series The Killing and The Bridge, and I’ve also enjoyed novels on the same theme. On the other hand real murder as it hits our headlines is brutal and awful and it has often been said that while we remember the names of the killers the victims’ names are forgotten. I think the book is also informed by a series of murders in the town where I lived of three girls the same age as me at the time. Two of them had been to the same club as my friend and I on the night they died and so obviously this had an impact, and while I never knew them I have never forgotten them. So it was exploring these memories and ideas that provided the backbone of the book.

Out of all the books you’ve read, which three have made the most impact on you?

So many books come to mind, but for different reasons – if I think about impact my first thoughts go to those books that had a real emotional impact – for example, Sophie’s Choice by William Styron, one passage of which made me weep loudly and uncontrollably on the London underground. Edna O’Brien’s The Country Girls Trilogy has also remained memorable for its tragicomic scenes and O’Brien’s droll understated humour. Ian McEwan’s collection of short stories, First Love, Last Rites impressed for the strangeness of the situations his characters found themselves in, the borderlands of loneliness and love with dark undertones of decay.

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Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: Memory Loss

Published November 14, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

Friday 14th November 2014: Memory Loss.

Fiction Friday is our weekly prompt. The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can. Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.

Today’s prompt: You wake up in a strange hotel room. You appear to be alone but the room is messy and there were signs of a party. You don’t remember anything. You spot a digital camera on the bedside table. On it is a photo of you with a mystery person. This is the first clue as to what happened the previous evening. You begin to try to work out the chain of events….

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Novel Kicks Chats To: Kerry Barrett

Published November 14, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

Kerry is the author of the Could It Be Magic series. The first in the series is Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered followed by I Put a Spell on You. The third book in the series, Baby, it’s Cold Outside was released at the beginning of last month. We had a catch up with Kerry where we chat about her book series, her writing rituals and Chocolate!

Can you tell us a little about your Could It Be Magic Series?

The series follows Esme, who’s a lawyer, and her cousin Harmony, known as Harry. Harry runs her own business and is a successful, sassy, together 30-something. Esme’s a few years younger. She’s more relaxed than Harry – about some things. Oh, and they’re both witches. Esme is reluctant to use the powers she’s inherited from her mum while Harry embraces them and has built her whole life around them.

Is there a fictional character you’d like to swap places with for a day and why?

Oooh, that’s a good question! I think I’d like to swap places with Becky Bloomwood from Sophie Kinsella’s brilliant Shopaholic novels. She always has so much fun!

Out of all the books you’ve read, which three have impacted you most and why?

At the moment I can’t stop thinking about The Woman Who Stole My Life – the latest novel by Marian Keyes, which I have just finished. It’s really staying with me and I keep wondering what I would do if I found myself in Stella’s position. It’s very thought-provoking. Another book that has stayed with me is Life After Life by Kate Atkinson, which I absolutely loved because of all the alternatives it offered. I find myself thinking about that a lot. And Possession by AS Byatt is the most perfect novel I’ve ever read. I remember when I finished it thinking I’d never have to read another novel again because that was always going to be the best. In fact, I’ve read hundreds – thousands probably – of novels since then and I must go back an re-read it to see if I still think that way!

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A Moment With…. Margaret James

Published November 12, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

Day twelve of National Novel Writing Month. So far we’ve heard from Jill Mansell who talked about planning a novel, Victoria Fox who gave us advice about discipline and Milly Johnson who chatted to us about heroes. Today, Margaret James joins us. She talks to us about what elements she believes creates a great story.

A great story needs a great premise – think of the tag lines and/or memorable quotes from some of the movies you’ve seen and you’ll soon come up with one yourself. Here are a few to get you thinking.

Love means never having to say you’re sorry.

You killed my father so prepare to die.

Houston, we have a problem.

Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas any more.

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Novel Kicks Chats To: Carla Caruso

Published November 12, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

Carla Curuso lives in Adelaide and as well as being the author of Catch of the Day, Mommy Blogger and Unlucky for Some, she is also involved in the Adelaide Chick-Lit Book Club and the Life, Love & Laugh blog. Her novel, A Pretty Mess is available on Amazon and Pretty Famous will be available on 1st February 2015.

We chat with Carla about her novel, Sophie Kinsella and Gossip Girl.

Hello Carla, thank you so much for joining us. Can you tell us about your novel, A Pretty Mess, and how the idea originated?

Yes! A Pretty Mess is the first in my ‘Astonvale’ rom-com mystery series. (Following on from it is Pretty Shore and Pretty Famous.) It surrounds a neat-freak professional organiser – Celeste Pretty – who gets caught up in messy mysteries with a sexy builder (Lenny Muscat)! I’ve always had a bit of a fascination with professional organisers who de-clutter people’s homes and offices for a living. Maybe because my mum was such a clean-freak Virgo. We weren’t allowed to wear our shoes in the house and the family home always looked like a magazine spread, seriously

Can you tell us about your route to publication?

My background is in print journalism (newspapers and magazines), so I’ve always written for a living. But being a novelist is what I REALLY wanted to do since I was, like, five. I just took a while to get serious about it and actually send anything anywhere! I reckon it took about three years, when I went freelance as a journalist – working from home – that I focused more on the novel dream and properly did anything.

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Book News: Talli Roland

Published November 12, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

Talli is releasing two new books before Christmas and is also giving away a Kindle Fire.

Talli Roland’s previous novels include Build a Man and The No-Kids Club. She has two new book releases coming before Christmas and she has also announced a great giveaway too (details at the bottom of the post.)

The first book she has coming out is a novella called Married by Midnight: A Christmas Story. It’s due to be released by Notting Hill Press on 14th November 2014 and it’s currently priced at 89 pence* on Amazon UK (a bargain in our opinion,) and $1.49* on Amazon US (it’s already available on the US store.)

It’s a Christmas book so we can’t help but be excited.

Here’s the blurb:

Christmas is coming . . . and so is the biggest day of Kate’s life.

While choosing a vintage dress for her Christmas Eve wedding, Kate finds a cryptic note pinned to the inside of a 1930s gown. As doubts about her own ceremony loom, Kate is determined to track down the dress’ owner and determine what became of her – and the marriage.

Will Kate find the answers she’s seeking to propel her down the aisle, or will her discovery prompt her to call off the wedding for good?

If a Christmas novella wasn’t enough, Talli also has a new Serenity Holland book coming out (the third in the series – Build A Man and Construct a Couple being the first two.) It’s called Marriage to Measure, it’s due to also be released by Notting Hill Press and will be available to buy on 10th December 2014 (it’s available to pre-order at a special price of 99 pence* on Amazon UK and $1.61 on Amazon US.)

About Marriage to Measure:

When Serenity Holland proposes to her long-time boyfriend Jeremy, she’s certain ‘forever’ is a perfect fit. As the wedding train steams forward, though, Serenity starts to wonder if they really are an ideal match. From a crusty old ring to a dilapidated house she’s left to renovate on her own – not to mention the appearance of Jeremy’s clingy ex-fiancée – engagement feels more like disengagement.

Even worse, wedding planning’s like a bad hangover as Serenity juggles the wishes of family and friends with her bossy mother-in-law-to-be, resulting in a Frankenwedding nothing like the simple ceremony she envisioned.

Can Serenity knit her relationship back together and fashion a celebration that suits, or will ‘I do’ become ‘I don’t’?

To celebrate the release of her new book and novella, Talli is giving you the chance to win a Kindle Fire HD 8GB. It’s open to anyone living in the UK & Europe, Canada and the US. There are a few ways you can enter and you can also enter as many times as you like. Just follow this link to see how to enter. The contest closes on 10th December (the day Marriage to Measure is released.)

To find out more about Talli and her novels, visit her website at http://www.talliroland.com/

(*prices correct at the time of publication.)

A Moment With…Milly Johnson

Published November 11, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

On day eleven of National Novel Writing Month, Sunday Times best-selling author, Milly Johnson joins us today as we talk about perfectly imperfect heroes.

When I am thinking up the perfect hero, the first thing I do is make him (ironically) imperfect. A totally perfect hero would be too daunting. George Clooney belongs on a pedestal, not wandering around a car boot sale on a Sunday morning. My heroes have flaws, they have made mistakes in life and become stronger people because of that. They are attainable and interesting. They have a good work ethic and are kind to animals. I could not write convincingly about a hero who kicked cats and preferred life on the dole. Flaws make a hero believable, but you have to find the right balance. A hero with too many flaws would be a pain in the butt and unattractive to readers. A good starting point is writing about someone who would be imperfectly perfect for you. Trawl the internet and find someone you like so you have a visual in your head when you are writing about him.

Lookswise… well, the faces I find most attractive have character. Features might not be flawless, but together they work. My hero’s nose may be slightly large, but on a strong face, a small straight nose would look ridiculous (analyse Liam Neeson’s features – small eyes, crooked nose, thin lips – but dynamite when placed together!). Strong female leads need even stronger men. I would have thought that 99.9% of women find being cared for and protected by someone physically and mentally strong a turn-on.

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Book News: Festive Short Stories and Novellas

Published November 10, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

Happy Monday! It has not escaped my notice that a few more festive treats have appeared in the shops, christmas adverts are appearing on TV and I, for the first time in years, have firmly begun my christmas shopping early. Christmas is definitely in the air here (yes, I know it’s only November.) A few weeks ago we featured some great christmas short stories that were due to be released. As I am finding myself humming Christmas carols under my breath, I couldn’t resist letting you know about a few more…

Skating at Somerset House by Nikki Moore.

This one has such a pretty cover. It’s from new author, Nikki Moore and it’s due for release on e-book by Harper Impulse on 4th December 2014.

There’s nothing Holly Winterlake loves more than Christmas and skating, so working as an Ice Marshall at London’s Somerset House is a dream come true. Noel Summerford hates the festive season and is a disaster on the ice, so taking his godson to Somerset House is his idea of the nightmare before Christmas! Things are bound to get interesting when these two collide…With a forty foot Christmas tree, an assortment of well meaning friends and relatives, and a mad chocolate Labrador, will this festive season be one to remember … or forget?

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Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: Treasure Hunt

Published November 7, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

Fiction Friday

Fiction Friday

Friday 7th November 2014: Treasure Hunt.

Fiction Friday is our weekly prompt. The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can. Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.

Today’s prompt: An envelope gets put through your door. There is no indication as to who it is from. The only thing inside is one small piece of paper. Written on it are the words, ‘You should go where you swing high to see the world from a different perspective.’

You are invited onto a mysterious treasure hunt. What happens next after you find this clue?

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A Moment With…Victoria Fox

Published November 7, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

Day seven of National Novel Writing Month and Victoria Fox talks to us about finding the discipline to write.

One of the questions I’m most often asked is how I find the discipline to write. Well, the answer is simple. Writing is my job, and, like any job, I have to get up every day, sit down and get on with it. Sure, sometimes it’s hard. Sometimes I feel like doing just about anything if it means getting away from my desk. But if I worked in an office, say, I couldn’t just not turn up one morning because I’d decided I’d really rather stay in bed and watch re-runs of Frasier. I’m a firm believer that if you sit down with your book for long enough, the words will come. They might not be the right words first time, but they’ll move your story forward and keep your plot turning over.

When you’re on a roll, everything is brilliant. When you’re feeling creatively sapped, it’s an effort. And if you don’t have a book contract in place, that’s the hardest bit. Will it be worth it? Will anyone read it? Is it any good? These are questions the vast majority of unpublished writers, including me, have asked ourselves. Discipline, then, becomes something different. It comes from deep inside. You have to believe, in your core, that you’re going to finish this book. You’re not going to do it for anyone else except you – because you want a completed novel and you can’t let your characters float in uncertainty for the rest of time. The publishing contract is the golden prize but it’s not a given. Discipline stems from your own personal desire to write.

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November’s Book Club – Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy by Helen Fielding

Published November 6, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

Mad About the Boy

Jonathan Cape, October 2013.

Book Corner is our monthly online book club.

How it works…

We love books and we love chatting about them even more. Every month, we pick a new book for discussion. We will post a question to kick things off and then you can talk about any of your thoughts about the book in the comments box below. The best thing about our book club is that EVERYONE CAN TAKE PART. It’s open to all. You can read the book at any point in the month or if you’ve already read it, tell us what you think.

This month, our pick is Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy by Helen Fielding.

About the book:

Is it morally wrong to have a blow-dry when one of your children has head lice?

Is technology now the fifth element? Or is that wood?

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A Moment With…Jill Mansell

Published November 5, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

We are now on our fifth day into National Novel Writing Month. How is everyone doing?

All throughout November, to coincide with National Novel Writing Month, we will be bringing you advice on aspects of writing from a variety of authors including Ali McNamara, Jane Fallon and Nicci Gerrard.

Today, we catch up with best-selling author, Jill Mansell who is talking about planning that novel. She says:

The trouble with planning out a whole novel’s worth of plot in advance is that you are bound to get much better ideas during the course of the book that knock the initial careful plans completely off course and render them useless. Since it’s so important to have the best plot possible, I now only plan it out in the very vaguest of ways, with Post-It notes stuck to a huge length of paper.

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Events: Write By The Shore

Published October 31, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

Being held at the Cockenzie House and Gardens, the Write by the Shore Festival is taking place next weekend (1st and 2nd November 2014.)

Over the two days, there will be a variety of events including sessions like, Meeting the authors, historical authors and there is also a session for Crime fiction authors.

There will also be events looking at children’s books and there is also an open mic session for local authors so plenty going on for both writer and reader alike.

Authors appearing over the weekend include Sara Sheridan, Ed James and Michael Pederson.

Tickets are £35 for the weekend, £20 for a day ticket or £10 per session.

For more information on the programme and tickets, click here.

We had a chat with Sara Sheridan, one of the authors attending Write by the Shore.

Hi Sara, thank you for joining us. How important are events like Write By The Shore? Are they both for writers and readers?

I think one of the wonderful things about the growth of book festivals all over the UK is that it lets readers meet writers and vice versa. I find that fascinating – you never can tell what the audience are going to ask, come question time… It’s also great that books are made more accessible by virtue of these kinds of festivals. I’m a big supporter.

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Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: Ghost Stories

Published October 31, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

Friday 31st October 2014: Ghost Stories.

Fiction Friday is our weekly prompt. The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can. Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.

Today’s Prompt: It’s Halloween and it’s your chance to write a ghost story. It can be set in any era and anywhere. Is there a haunted house? Do you see a ghost? It can be anything you like.

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Bella’s Scribblings: Half-Term Research

Published October 29, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

It’s nearly Halloween which not only means things get a bit creepy and there are horror movies on the telly, it also means you need to stock up your house with bucketfuls of sweets and prepare to be terrorised by small children. I quite like the change to Halloween. I was quite creeped out about it as a child so it’s nice to see my daughter getting excited about choosing a costume and putting up decorations. Someone once proposed to me on Halloween (you would have thought I would have spotted the obvious warning signs here but I didn’t).

Anyway, Halloween got me thinking about half term which is usually followed by the word ‘holiday’ and that got me thinking about needing a holiday and the mismatch of my need to the availability of cash to pay for one. (I know it’s a tenuous link but stick with it). Then I thought about all my lovely writer friends that are just popping off somewhere in the name of research!

Many a mini break is booked in the name of research. Trips to take in the details of specific locations, to experience things unique to certain places, to take in the atmosphere and ambiance of a particular place. Google maps and the rest of the wonder that is the internet can take you so far but it can’t tell you what the breeze feels like against your face as you teeter on the edge of the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland or the taste of the weird and wonderful ice cream flavours as you walk along Aberdovey beach in Wales or the sound of the Titanic hitting the iceberg (OK maybe the last one you could imagine).

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Blog Tour: The Dying Place by Luca Veste

Published October 28, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

We are delighted to welcome author, Luca Veste to Novel Kicks and his blog tour for his new novel, The Dying Place which was released by Avon on e-book on 23rd October and is due to be released in paperback at the beginning of December.

Luca talks to us about creating suspense and making you turn one more page…

I was asked at an event recently if I was disappointed if someone told me they had read one of my books in a day or similar length. The idea being that something for which I had put in more than a year’s worth of work had been devoured within short space of time somehow diminished the output in some way. I, of course, answered no – I’m actually inordinately pleased if I’m told that someone ‘couldn’t put the book down’! In a world full of seemingly endless distractions, the thought someone can shun all of those and concentrate solely on one thing for more than ten minutes has to be a good thing. And this is something that is of great importance to me when writing and rewriting a novel… how do I keep a reader turning those pages?

Creating suspense isn’t something I have found to be organic during the writing process. It takes time and effort to keep a level of intrigue going throughout a read, with building blocks spread within a novel. Suspense is derived from asking questions and not instantly revealing answers – instead, you keep a reader interested in finding out the answers to the mysteries created in a variety of ways. My initial concern is with character. In order to keep a reader invested is to create characters which will resonate and make people interested in what happens to them. If I want to keep someone reading the novel engaged with what is occurring, I need to create characters who the reader cares enough about to see what will happen to them next. In DEAD GONE, the character of Jemma Barnes runs throughout the novel, with her capture and mental torture occurring over a long period of time. It was important to me that people would care about her predicament, so her personality had to come through in the chapters in which she appeared or other characters talked about her. The reader had to care whether or not she was going to make it or not. Similarly, in my new novel THE DYING PLACE, what is happening to the characters of Goldie – and the rest of the teenagers and what they are being put through – meant I had to make people care about them in some way. I made this more difficult for myself by creating characters which are often the most maligned in society. Issues surrounding young people and the problems a small section of them cause is often the focus of negative media. Creating a moral dilemma for people reading became a major part of writing the novel.

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Blog Tour: The Dying Place by Luca Veste – Review.

Published October 28, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

Once inside…there’s no way out

A fate worse than death…

DI Murphy and DS Rossi discover the body of known troublemaker Dean Hughes, dumped on the steps of St Mary’s Church in West Derby, Liverpool. His body is covered with the unmistakable marks of torture.

As they hunt for the killer, they discover a worrying pattern. Other teenagers, all young delinquents, have been disappearing without a trace.

Who is clearing the streets of Liverpool?

Where are the other missing boys being held?

And can Murphy and Rossi find them before they meet the same fate as Dean?

I was a huge fan of Dead Gone (the debut novel by Luca Veste,) so I was intrigued to be reading his latest book, The Dying Place.

Set in Liverpool, we return to DI David Murphy and his partner, DS Laura Rossi as they race to save a group of teenagers that are disappearing and being held against their will.

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Cover Reveal: One Hundred Christmas Proposals by Holly Martin

Published October 20, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

WE ARE LOVING THIS COVER. It’s beautiful and so sparkly. We can’t wait to read it. We are very excited to be helping to reveal the cover for Holly’s new book. It’s really put us in a festive mood.

You can pre-order an electronic edition of Holly’s new book from Amazon. It will be released by Carina on 3rd November 2014.

About One Hundred Christmas Proposals:

If you thought Harry & Suzie’s life couldn’t get anymore sweepingly romantic than Harry asking her to marry him at the end of One Hundred Proposals – think again!

It’s Christmas in a snow-kissed London, and the.PerfectProposal.com have vowed to carry out one hundred proposals in December. No easy task at the best of times – made even more complicated by Harry & Suzie trying to plan their first Christmas and a visit from the dreaded in-laws. But one hundred deliciously Christmassy proposals later they find themselves asking if everything is still perfect in their own relationship….

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Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: Oh Crystal Ball

Published October 17, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

Friday 17th October 2014:

Fiction Friday is our weekly prompt. The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can. Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.

Today’s prompt..

You have to go on a quest to find an ancient crystal ball that has the powers to save the world. This artefact has the power to show the future. Is there anything else it can do?

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Blog Tour: It Started With Paris Competition Winners

Published October 17, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

Thanks to Cathy and the lovely people at Orion, we had THREE copies of It Started With Paris to give away.

Well done to: Tracy Shephard, Aisling Quinn and Leila Benhamida. You’ve all won a copy of the book.

About It Started With Paris.

It all started with Paris. At the top of the Eiffel Tower, a young man proposes to his girlfriend, cheered on by delighted tourists. In that second, everything changes, not just for the happy couple, but for the family and friends awaiting their return in Bridgeport, Ireland…

Leila’s been nursing a badly broken heart since her love-rat husband just upped and left her one morning, but she’s determined to put on a brave face for the bride.

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News: Launch of One Book Lane

Published October 14, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

We wanted to tell you about a fantastic new community for readers. It’s called One Book Lane and it comes to you from all those lovely people over at Orion. It’s here to make sure you’re never short of a good book to get lost in. The website is beautiful. We love it.

Launching today, http://www.onebooklane.co.uk is inviting you to get involved in a variety of ways. We love discovering new books and authors and they want to help us all find great book recommendations and there will be great competitions too.

If you’re a member of a book club, you can also register that on the site and have a chance to win books amongst other things.

As it’s their launch day, you can get involved via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

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News: Books Are My Bag 2014

Published October 10, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

This year’s Books are my Bag campaign launched on 9th October and there are plenty of ways to get involved.

There will be many bookshop parties tomorrow as well as the chance to pick up the Books are My Bag tote bags. Tracey Emin has designed a collector’s edition bag which will be available from tomorrow (11th October,) but be quick if you want to get your hands on one. Jen Campbell’s, The Bookshop Book is the official book for this year’s campaign and it looks fantastic.

Throughout October, Books are My Bag are also running #ThisBookshop. Just tweet what your favourite bookshop is or if you have your own blog, write a blog post and share on Twitter with that hashtag, #ThisBookshop. The idea is to put bookshops in the spotlight and at the end of October they will award somebody using that hashtag with some book tokens.

They are also hosting #bookadayuk (details in the banner to the right,) throughout October where there is a new subject to tweet about everyday -just some of the many ways you can get involved.

BOOKS ARE MY BAG, which originally launched in 2013, is a Continue reading →

Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: Mysterious Competition

Published October 10, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

Friday 10th October 2014: Mysterious competition.

Fiction Friday is our weekly prompt. The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can. Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.

Today’s prompt: You’ve had a notification that you’ve won a competition. The prize is £10,000. The only thing you have to do to claim it is to be at the address listed at a certain time. When you arrive, there are five other people waiting; people you’ve never met before. What happens?

(Write up to 1,200 words.)

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Blog Tour: Win a Copy of It Started With Paris by Cathy Kelly

Published October 10, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

Thanks to Cathy and those lovely people at Orion, we have THREE copies of It Started With Paris to give away.

About the book:

It all started with Paris. At the top of the Eiffel Tower, a young man proposes to his girlfriend, cheered on by delighted tourists. In that second, everything changes, not just for the happy couple, but for the family and friends awaiting their return in Bridgeport, Ireland…

Leila’s been nursing a badly broken heart since her love-rat husband just upped and left her one morning, but she’s determined to put on a brave face for the bride.

Vonnie, a widow and exceptional cake-maker, is just daring to let love back into her life, although someone seems determined to stop it.

And Grace, a divorced head teacher, finds the impending wedding of her son means that she’s spending more time with her ex-husband. After all those years apart, is it possible she’s made a mistake?

HOW TO ENTER:

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Blog Tour: It Started With Paris by Cathy Kelly – Review

Published October 10, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

It all started with Paris. At the top of the Eiffel Tower, a young man proposes to his girlfriend, cheered on by delighted tourists. In that second, everything changes, not just for the happy couple, but for the family and friends awaiting their return in Bridgeport, Ireland…

Leila’s been nursing a badly broken heart since her love-rat husband just upped and left her one morning, but she’s determined to put on a brave face for the bride.

Vonnie, a widow and exceptional cake-maker, is just daring to let love back into her life, although someone seems determined to stop it.

And Grace, a divorced head teacher, finds the impending wedding of her son means that she’s spending more time with her ex-husband. After all those years apart, is it possible she’s made a mistake?

With her warmth and insight, Cathy Kelly weaves a delightful tale spinning out from a once-in-a-lifetime moment, drawing together a terrific cast of characters who feel like old friends.

(Published by Orion on 9th October 2014.)

It Started With Paris begins with a couple, Michael and Katy getting engaged at the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It then looks at how their engagement affects the people around them – focusing on three women in particular; Grace (a head teacher and Michael’s mother.) Grace is still great friends with her ex, Stephen.

Leila is a twenty-nine year old who is divorced and whose mother is in hospital following a car accident and finally Vonnie, who has come to Ireland following the death of her husband.

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Blog Tour: It Started With Paris by Cathy Kelly

Published October 10, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

We are so happy to be welcoming Cathy Kelly to our blog today and her blog tour for her new novel, It Started With Paris (released by Orion on 9th October.)

Hello Cathy. Thank you so much for joining us. Can you tell us a little about your new book, It Started with Paris and how the idea originated?

Hello! I begin to think about one book when I’m half-way through another one and during the writing of The Honey Queen, I began to think the classic writer thing of ‘what if…?’ In this case, it was what if I wrote about women who had gone through divorce or were alone through widowhood and looked at how their lives had changed and how they found love again. So then I came up with lovely 29-year-old Leila, who has a glam job in the film industry and was married to love rat Tynan, who got up one morning and walked out – for someone with legs up to her armpits. Nightmare, right? Then there’s Grace, in her fifties, who is divorced and has a really civilized relationship with her ex, so that they spend a lot of time together when their son gets engaged and Grace looks at her ex (who is happily with another woman now) and wonders: ‘Did we split up without trying hard enough?”

And finally, there’s American mum-of-one, Vonnie, who lost her husband tragically, came to Ireland so she’d be able to live without expecting to see him all the time, and she falls in love with a man who was married – and whose ex-wife is not so happy with it all. Basically, the book is about how life is never black and white, how relationships are wonderful and sometimes difficult, and hopefully, there’s plenty of humour and hope.

Do you have any writing rituals?

A very strong cup of coffee with a decreasing amount of sugar. I am trying so hard to give it up because it’s so bad for you – wrinkles, inflammation, the list goes on – but I LOVE it. I bring my sons to school, come home, stick on the washing, do my emails, then make a decent cup of coffee and write.

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Author Interview: Nell Dixon

Published October 8, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

Nell is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association. Her books include Christmas Ever After, The New Bay Series and Radio Gaga. We chat to Nell about her books, fictional characters and theme songs.

Can you tell us a little about the books you write and about your latest book, Sophie’s Choice?

I write contemporary women’s fiction with a dash of humour and a pinch of suspense. Sophie’s Choice is the first in the Ever After series. Christmas Ever After – the second book, was written as a stand alone but readers begged for Sophie’s love story so I gave in. Book 3 in the series will be out before Christmas and is called It Happened at Midnight and is the final one in the trilogy.

How much planning do you do before starting a book? Do you edit as you go?

I do very little planning. I have the characters in my head and I know what their problems are but the rest just writes itself. I don’t edit as I go. I wait till the story is completely done before I start to tinker with it.

What’s different with writing a book for a series and writing a ‘stand alone’ novel?

It’s hard writing series or linked books. You have to remember every detail from what’s gone before and ensure characters that have continuing storylines are still developing and keeping to their original concepts. Plus, you need to keep your timelines straight. Sophie’s Choice happens five years before Christmas Ever After. What advice would you give to someone thinking of writing a series of books? Keep a series’bible’ so you don’t have to keep looking back through your storylines to check your facts.

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Writing Room: It’s Not The End.

Published October 8, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

Writing Room is our online writing group.

We post a prompt. Once you’ve written your piece, post it in the comments box below. Anyone is welcome to take part and it’s an opportunity to post work plus give and gain feedback.

Today’s prompt: This is not the end….

I have read many novels where I have got to the end and I have felt sad that it’s over. I have grown so fond of the characters that I want to know what happens to them beyond the end. Until recently, I had wondered what would become of Bridget and Mark, what happens to Harry between school and the epilogue of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, how would Jem and Ralph get on after Ralph’s Party ended.

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Book News: Marian Keyes

Published October 7, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

Eeek! We are so excited for the imminent arrival of the latest novel from Marian Keyes. The Woman Who Stole My Life is due for release by Michael Joseph on 6th November (so just under a month to wait,) and it sounds great.

It’s available to pre-order in hardback and e-book.

Who else is excited? We are.

About the book:

‘Name: Stella Sweeney.

Height: average.

Recent life events: dramatic.’

One day, sitting in traffic, married Dublin mum Stella Sweeney attempts a good deed. The resulting car crash changes her life.

For she meets a man who wants her telephone number (for the insurance, it turns out). That’s okay. She doesn’t really like him much anyway (his Range Rover totally banjaxed her car).

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Review: A Girl is a Half-formed Thing by Eimear McBride.

Published October 7, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

About the book:

This experimental debut novel tells the story of a young woman’s traumatic coming-of-age in rural Ireland, as she struggles with her abusive family and clings to her relationship with her terminally ill brother.

(Published by Faber & Faber. April 2014.)

I first heard of this book when it was nominated for the Baileys Woman’s Prize for Fiction. I then saw some of the reviews and it sounded great and interesting so I was looking forward to reading it.

I did struggle with the style of the writing. I found this meant that the book was hard to read.
There were no punctuation marks and so I found it hard to keep up with in places and I found I was having to work hard to fill in the parts that weren’t that easy to understand. I had to go back and re-read to absorb it properly. As a result, it took me a good few days to read despite it being only 200 pages.

The concept of the book was interesting though. It was told from the point of view of a girl who is having to deal with the aftermath of her brother’s childhood illness. You never know her name. I did feel some sympathy for her character. She goes through a lot in her childhood and it subsequently affects her decisions later in life. She is a vulnerable girl and this is sometimes taken advantage of. It’s hard not to feel empathy for her.

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Author Interview: Marissa Tejada

Published October 6, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

Marissa Tejada’s debut women’s fiction novel Chasing Athens was released by Musa Publishing in April 2014. Marissa had a chat with us about her work.

Can you tell us about your novel, Chasing Athens, and how the idea came about?

Chasing Athens tells the story of a heartbroken American ex-pat Ava Martin who is inspired to continue living abroad in Greece after her new husband literally walks out on her. That abrupt decision leads her through a humorous, touching and cultural journey that forces her to confront her disappointing past and redefine the true meaning of home.

I knew I wanted to write a story that was influenced from my experiences as an American expat living in Europe. There were so many funny, strange, crazy, sad, tragic moments happening around me from all angles. Contemporary women’s fiction is one of my favorite genres. I think it was natural that a romantic comedy set abroad in a foreign place came about in my mind. I had some messages and themes I knew I wanted to express and that’s how my novel came about.

Have you ever got writers block and if so, how do you deal with it?

I go and do something other than sit at my desk. I can go take a walk and go for a coffee at a café. It’s the perfect excuse to go to the gym.

Who would you invite to a fantasy dinner party?

I’d love to have Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. They are so beautiful and Hollywood. I’d love to have women’s fiction authors Wendy Holden and Jennifer Weiner. I’d include author and linguist Noam Chomsky. I think Jon Stewart and Conan O’Brien are both super funny and smart. George Clooney, well, because he’s George Clooney.

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Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: Waiting Room

Published October 3, 2014 | By Novel Kicks

Friday 3rd October 2014: Waiting Room.

Fiction Friday is our weekly prompt. The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can. Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.

Today’s prompt: Your setting is a train station waiting room. Whether it’s part of a busy station or a quiet small town station is up to you. Your story should centre around three of the people waiting in the room. Why are they there? Have they met before or are they total strangers? Why are they all waiting for a train? Where are they going? The appearance of your characters is up to you as well as gender, age and occupation.

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