NK Chats To… Nigel May

Hi Nigel. Thank you so much for joining me today with the blog tour for your novel. Can you tell me about Quilling Me Softly and what inspired it? 

Quilling Me Softly is a cosy crime novel set around a crafting group in a little sleepy village called Rooney-at-Burrow. I work as a TV presenter within the crafting industry so I have always loved crafting and crafters themselves. It seemed a weirdly perfect idea to have the craziness of a murder being solved by a group of people who normally get excited about making cards and scrapbooking. Normally it’s all about decoupage and not deception.

What songs would make up a playlist for your book? 

One of the characters, Sheena, sings in the Rooney-at-Burrow village pub so quite a few songs are actually mentioned. The book starts with Killing Me Softly by The Fugees and Sheena also sings Remember Me by Diana Ross And The Supremes, so definitely those two. I’d also have to have something by the Spice Girls as there is a spicy connection in the book (I’d probably pick Who Do You Think You Are) and something from Barbados as one of the characters comes from there. Rihanna was born there so I would choose Umbrella.

Which fictional character would you like to meet and why?

Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple as they are best sleuths ever created. Agatha Christie was a genius. Mind you, Miss Marple might have met her equal in Violet Brewer in Quilling Me Softly. She’s a very shrewd and tenacious lady.

From idea to finished book, what’s your writing process like and how long does it typically take you? Do you have any rituals before you begin writing? 

I always plot out characters before starting to write. That way I have my cast list, as it were, of the people who are going to be creating the action. Some change, some get jettisoned and some get killed off mid-story. I never know exactly what is going to happen. I always have a loose idea and obviously with a mystery I know who is behind the villainous action. This has actually been the quickest book I have ever written. Normally books take about six months. The first draft on this was done in three. Then the rewriting started! My advice to any writer is write about what interests you.

What’s your favourite word and why? 

I love the word plumptious. I don’t think it’s even a real word but I often refer to cushions being plumptious – a mixture of plump and scrumptious I suppose! It’s a lot of fun to say.

Any other advice for aspiring writers? 

I am going to say the same as a million other authors I suspect….never give up.

What are you currently working on? 

I have a murderous romp comedy novel set at Eurovision that I have been working on. Eurovision is my happy place. I have been many times. And maybe a follow-up to Quilling if people like it.

Which book have you read that you wish you could forget, just so you could discover it again? 

The Tales Of The City series by Armistead Maupin which is an utter delight. I read them in my teens and could read them all over again every week. That and anything by Jackie Collins. Legendary!

What type of scene do you find it hardest to write? 

When I was writing my glam fiction novels which were action packed in every way I did find love scene a little strange sometimes. With Quilling it was making sure that the reveal of what happened on that murderous morning was actually explained clearly for all to gasp at.

How has your writing routine changed since your first novel? 

I’ve grown in confidence I guess, and I hope I don’t waffle as much as I did when I first started.

Would you rather – 

Have an endless summer or winter? 

Endless summer as the thought of permanently defrosting my car is horrendous.

Tea or coffee? 

Tea. Green or pomegranate

Movie or book? 

Book. A good autobiography, a murder mystery or a glam fiction full of drama please.

Morning person or night owl? 

Morning all the way. I normally get up at about 5ish as once I’m awake I’m full of beans.

Paperback or eBook?

Both. eBook for holidays poolside and paperback for climbing into bed with.

About Nigel May –

Nigel to no stranger to the worlds of both publishing and crafting. He has published seven previous novels – six glam fiction blockbusters such as Trinity, Addicted and Revenge, which saw him gain fabulous reviews and nicknamed as the ‘UK’s male Jackie Collins’, and a gripping psychological thriller called The Girl Unknown. Quilling Me Softly is his first foray into the cosy crime world. Crafting is very close to his heart as he has been working as a TV presenter on the UK’s biggest crafting TV channel, Create & Craft, for over 16 years, and he has launched his own successful craft range, A-May-Zing, as well. He was named top Male Personality Of The Year in the Crafts Beautiful Awards in 2021.

As well as writing and telly hosting, Nigel presents a weekly national radio show on Gaydio, interviewing celebrities from the worlds of TV, film and music. He lives in Brighton and his obsessions include Eurovision, all things 80s, flea markets and juicy reality TV. 

Say hello via Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.  

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About Quilling Me Softly – 

Meet the craft group swapping decoupage for deception and glues for clues…

Violet Brewer is the owner of Rooney-at-Burrow’s charming wool shop, Brewer’s Loop, and the organiser of its weekly crafting group. Nothing much usually happens in the sleepy little English village. Until now.

But when Sir Buster Burniston, much-loved owner of nearby Burrow Hall, is found dead, a cloud of mystery lingers in the village air. Or at least it does for Violet and her fellow craft mates in Team C.R.A.B – the Crafters of Rooney-at-Burrow. They are certain that the old man’s death might not be as cut and dried as Violet’s police officer nephew, Samuel, seems to think. Violet has lived in the village for over sixty years, and something tells her and her creative pals that there is more behind Sir Buster’s sad demise. Violet and her friends are determined to turn detective, despite what her nephew says. And soon murder is on the cards at their meet and make sessions as they discover a mystery that needs to be unpicked stitch by stitch…

Quilling me Softly was released on 24th February 2023. Click to buy on Amazon UK and Amazon US. 

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Would you like a chance to win some crafting goodies? Here’s your chance in the THE HUGE QUILLING ME SOFTLY CRAFT GIVEAWAY. 

Seeing as Quilling Me Softly is based around the members of a fabulous craft group and Nigel also works in the world of craft it only seems right that the launch of Quilling Me Softly should come with a massive crafty prize giveaway!

Nigel has teamed up with one of the craft world’s most inventive companies, the incredible Lisa Horton Crafts to give away a bumper bundle of crafting goodies worth over £150. I

Included in the prize bundle are loads of inspirational layering stencils and embossing folders plus the worldwide crafting smash that is the Ulti-Mate Multi Tool – it’s the perfect crafting tool for everyone when it comes to stamping, stencilling and blending.

The competition is open internationally. To enter, click here.

*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box above.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner.

Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  

I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

by

Laura

I’m Laura. I started Novel Kicks in 2009. I wanted a place to post my writing as well as give other writers like me the opportunity to do the same. There is also a monthly book club, a writing room which features writing prompts, book reviews, competitions, author interviews and guest posts.

I grew up by the sea (my favourite place in the world) and I currently live in Hampshire. I am married to Chris, have a cat named Buddy and I would love to be a writer. I’m trying to write the novel I’ve talked so much about writing if only I could stop pressing delete. I’ve loved writing since creative writing classes in primary school. I have always wanted to see my teacher Miss Sayers again and thank her for the encouragement. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything I can get my hands on, I love reading, dancing like a loon and singing to myself very badly. My current obsession is Once Upon a Time and I would be happy to live with magic in the enchanted forest surrounded by all those wonderful stories provided that world also included Harry Potter. I love reading chick lit. contemporary fiction and novels with mystery.