Every day this week, a bit more of the cover of my latest project will be revealed here at Celtic Connexions.
I can’t tell you too much about it just yet, after all this is a cover reveal post and too much too soon… well, the anticipation has to build doesn’t it?
Every day this week, a bit more of the cover of my latest project will be revealed here at Celtic Connexions.
I can’t tell you too much about it just yet, after all this is a cover reveal post and too much too soon… well, the anticipation has to build doesn’t it?
A little bit more of the plain brown wrapper has been torn off for today. Aren’t you all a-quiver with excitement? I am.
Coming soon from King Park Press…
Every day this week, a bit more of the cover of my latest project will be revealed here at Celtic Connexions.
I can’t tell you too much about it just yet, after all this is a cover reveal post and too much too soon… well, the anticipation has to build doesn’t it?
Someone has his/her eye on us…
Coming soon from King Park Press…
Every day this week, a bit more of the cover of my latest project will be revealed here at Celtic Connexions.
I can’t tell you too much about it just yet, after all this is a cover reveal post and too much too soon… well, the anticipation has to build doesn’t it?
Here we go with the first strip of paper torn off…
Coming soon from King Park Press…
Every day this week, a bit more of the cover of my latest project will be revealed here at Celtic Connexions.
I can’t tell you too much about it just yet, after all this is a cover reveal post and too much too soon… well, the anticipation has to build doesn’t it?
March is shaping up to be another busy month here at Celtic Connexions. Be sure to mark your calendars so you don’t miss a single thing. There are Book Tours, author interviews, a St Patrick’s Day party and more!
March 1st – The monthly calendar for the month of March
March 7th – A Spell in Provence by Marie Laval
March 11th – Brady’s Lost Blanket, a children’s book, by fellow 4RV Publishing author, Stephanie Burkhart
March 14th – Interview with Rosemary Gemmell, Scottish author of The Highland Lass (and more)
March 17th – Online St Patrick’s Day party with “virtual” Irish food, drink and traditions along with an interview with Irish author, Sharon Black
March 21st – Interview with Linda Gillard, Scottish author of Cauldstane (and more)
March 25th – A Matter of Temperance by Ichabod Temperance
March 31st – Introduction to April’s #AtoZChallenge month. You’ll find out what the challenge is all about and what I’ll be blogging about throughout the month of April.
I’m always happy to host fellow authors for interviews, cover reveals, or book launch parties.
If you’d like to be a guest here at Celtic Connexions, you can contact me at Celtic Connexions.
Blurb:
Romeo & Juliet – was this what really happened?
When Juliet Roberts is asked to make sense of an ancient Italian manuscript, she little suspects that she will find herself propelled into the midst of one of the greatest love stories of all time. But this is only the beginning. As more hidden secrets come to light, Juliet discovers that the tragic tale of her famous namesake might have had a very different outcome…
A favourite classic story with a major new twist.
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I managed to get Sue to sit down long enough to answer a few questions…
You say your background is stranger than fiction (I’ve got some crackers in my family history, too), could you share a snippet from your family history? You don’t need to mention names.
Suffice it to say that for almost forty years, I was a skeleton in someone else’s cupboard – a secret baby who had to be given up for adoption because of the unforgiving attitudes of the time. How I came to be reunited with my birth family is a long and very complicated story, but when it happened, it felt like a homecoming. And the day I met my mother would have been a very good day to have owned shares in Kleenex!
What prompted you to write this book?
It was in response to the prompt “Write the book you want to read.” I’ve always loved the story of Romeo & Juliet but hated the ending, and I’ve often wished that there was an alternative version of the story which had a better outcome.
What’s the best thing about being labelled as “professionally weird”?
The label “professionally weird” originated when I first became involved with writing questions for BBC Radio 4’s fiendishly difficult Round Britain Quiz – something which requires a particularly warped type of mind. The best thing about the label is that it gives me something to live up to!
Thanks so much, Sue, for stopping by Celtic Connexions and sharing your book and your story.
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About the author:
Sue Barnard was born in North Wales but has spent most of her life in and around Manchester. After graduating from Durham University, where she studied French and Italian, Sue got married then had a variety of office jobs before becoming a full-time parent. If she had her way, the phrase “non-working mother” would be banned from the English language.
Since then she has had a series of part-time jobs, including some work as a freelance copywriter. In parallel with this she took several courses in Creative Writing. Her writing achievements include winning the Writing Magazine New Subscribers Poetry Competition for 2013. She is also very interested in Family History. Her own background is stranger than fiction; she’d write a book about it if she thought anybody would believe her.
Sue has a mind which is sufficiently warped as to be capable of compiling questions for BBC Radio 4’s fiendishly difficult Round Britain Quiz. This once caused one of her sons to describe her as “professionally weird.” The label has stuck.
Sue joined the editorial team Crooked Cat Publishing in 2013. Her first novel, The Ghostly Father (a new take on the traditional story of Romeo & Juliet) was officially released on St Valentine’s Day 2014. Her second novel, a romantic mystery entitled Nice Girls Don’t, is due for release in July 2014.
You can find Sue on Facebook, Twitter (@SusanB2011), or follow her blog here.
There’s a Facebook Event happening today, too. You can join the fun here:
You can purchase The Ghostly Father at:
Blurb:
This is the second book in the Greek Island Mystery series. Although each book is intended to be read as a standalone, some of the characters from the first book, Jennas’s Journey, do make an appearance.
Kat has never understood why she was sent at the age of seven from Greece to live in England with her Aunt Tigi. When she receives an email from her grandmother, the first contact in over twenty years, informing her of her mother’s death, she knows this could be her last chance to find out the truth. Little by little she finds out the shocking facts as her grandmother opens her heart. It seems everyone has a secret to tell, not only her grandmother, as Manoli, her school friend, also harbours a guilty secret. Then there’s a twenty year old mystery to solve as well as a murder and what happened to the missing Church treasure?
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I see in your bio you have a strong attachment to Greece. Can you elaborate on it?
I first went to Greece in 1984 to work as a Language Teacher and although it wasn’t love at first sight – I arrived by train in Thessaloniki in the middle of the night – as soon as I saw Athens I felt a tingle and by the time I visited the islands it was a full blown love affair. I stayed for two years in all and have been back to visit on numerous occasions. There’s just something magical about the light and the scenery and climate are fantastic. What more could you ask?
You were born in Barnsley, Yorkshire (I have a character in one of my WsIP who comes from there). What was it like to live in a former mining town? (Since I’m not sure of your age, if you lived there before the mines closed any memories such as the miners’ strike in (I think) 1984?
I have a strong attachment to Barnsley – though for different reasons to my attachment to Greece. The people are down to earth and for me it will always be home. I remember the miner’s strike well and how divisive it was to the community. It was a very dark time and some of the wounds it opened still haven’t healed completely. I have family there and whenever I return, it’s like reliving my childhood and I immediately lapse back into ‘Yorkshire.’
Sophia’s Secret is the your 2nd book in the series. How many do you envision in the complete series? Two? Three? Four? More?
To be honest, I have no idea. The first book in the series, Jenna’s Journey’ began life as a short story. I was amazed that it developed into a novel. I thought that was it but I missed writing about Greece and before long a second book was on the way. There will definitely be a third but after that I’ll wait and see what my characters tell me.
Did you always want to be a writer? When did the bug bite you?
I’ve always loved writing but never really imagined that I would write a novel. I think I just needed some self-confidence. Once I saw that it was a real possibility then the bug took hold and now I don’t think I could stop even if I wanted to.
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GIVEAWAY!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
About the Author:
Julie was born and brought up in a mining village near Barnsley in South Yorkshire. She graduated with a BA (hons) in French Language and Literature from Hull University. Since then she has lived and worked as a Teacher of English as a Foreign Language in France, Greece, Poland and Thailand. She now lives in rural Gloucestershire with her husband, son and a dippy cat with half a tail. She is so passionate about books that her collection is now threatening to outgrow her house, much to her husband’s annoyance!
She is the author of two novels set in Greece, “Jenna’s Journey” and “Sophia’s Secret” both part of the Greek Island Mystery series. She is currently working on a third book, ‘Pandora’s Prophecy.”
You can follow Julie on
Facebook
Twitter
and on her Blog
You can buy Julie’s Greek Island Mysteries
Sophia’s Secret
This year, I spent the day at the Canada Day Morrisburg Market. The heat was oppressive as was the humidity. I think it felt like 41C outside – and that was even under a canopy in the shade. Thankfully, there was a breeze coming in off the river, but that also posed a few problems.
My little table (while it looks very nice decked out in red and tartan looks so small under the 10’x10′ canopy. And because there was so much room in the tent, people took the short cut through the one end to go to and from other parts of the park.
I rearranged the table after this photo was taken and put the easel with the “what people are saying about A Shadow in the Past” in the middle behind the calendars and moved the stacks of A Shadow in the Past to the edge of the table.
I had a few people ask if we had T-shirts for sale but I only ordered the two – one for hubby and one for me to wear to assorted signings (unless more formal attire is required).
The militia reenactors scared most of the people (me included) when they started firing their guns… without warning I might add. Still I managed to get a couple of pictures of them.
Early in the afternoon, the wind changed and my easel became a sail, so it spent most of the afternoon under the table, although I did manage to get it back on display a few times. It meant having to hang on to it and even then there was no guarantee it would remain upright.
By the end of the day, I had sold 4 copies of A Shadow in the Past and 2 copies of The Consequences Collection. In addition, a number of people took my postcards and were quite pleased that both books are available as ebooks. Now we’ll see if that interest translates into sales.
How did you spend your Canada Day?
BOOK BLURB
My Life in a Nutshell: A Novel is the story of one man’s struggles with debilitating anxiety. Brian Cunningham has isolated himself to such a degree that his human contact is barely more than an hour a day. While lonely, he feels powerless to change his life. Unexpectedly, his safe little world is invaded by one Abigail Harris, a seven-year-old girl who, for the last five years, has bounced from foster home to foster home. She has come to live with an aunt and uncle she has never known. Unsure if she can trust her new environment, she turns to Brian. Neither one quite knows how to live in the world. Can they possibly help each other?
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I had the opportunity to interview Tanya about this project and her writing in general. So, welcome to Celtic Connexions, shall we get down to it?
How long does it take you to get from the initial concept for a novel to the finished product?
For me, the process involves two main stages. The first is my main love, the creation of the story and the characters and the world. This is a fluid, circular process that involves research, brainstorming, outlining, and writing. I flow among these activities for approximately five or six months (depending on how many other things vie for my attention), and then, hooray, there’s a novel! At this point, I have a bit more left in the first stage. This is when I go back through from beginning to end and do edits (I edit throughout the process, of course). Next, it’s onto stage two. I send it to my editor, and once the two of us have exchanged the document back and forth and are satisfied, it goes on to Inkwater Press. It takes another couple months for it to be fully designed and formatted. Then, it enters the ARC (advance reading copy) stage and is sent out for early reviews. Once those are all in, it’s ready for release! Typically, the entire process takes about a year. That seems like a long time, but I grow so very close to my characters that I’m not ready to let them go soon, so I don’t mind. (Oh, I’m ready to let them go into the world, but I’m not ready to let them go to be replaced with a new set for a new novel.)
Do you see yourself as one of the characters in your books, or are they an amalgamation of a number of people you’ve met throughout your life?
I write realistic fiction, and I draw on things from the real world (including my own world); however, all of my characters are purely fictional. Their struggles are based on real-life struggles, but they’re their very own people.
What motivated you to begin writing?
For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved writing. I wasn’t always confident enough to do anything with it other than writing things for school, college and, later, graduate school. I’m also passionate about social justice, particularly around mental health/illness. I’ve worked as a teacher and a counselor, I have personal and professional experience with mental illness, I want to increase understanding and empathy, and of course I still have that love to write. I decided to be brave and combine them all into a writing career that includes writing novels that illustrate what it’s like to live with mental illness or to love someone with mental illness.
Most authors have difficulty coming up with titles for their work. Do you have the same problem?
Most definitely! I can write a nearly 400-page novel with ease, but I can neither summarize it or come up with a title! The title of my last novel (Leave of Absence) was developed with the help of my editor. She created a fantastic list of options, and I selected the final choice.) I’ll share the story of my current novel below!
How did you decide on the title for this book?
I actually came up with this one all by myself! I asked my editor for input if she didn’t like the title I used, but she had none. She approved of mine! As I was writing, I would think of the title here and there, while doing dishes or showering or other such things. Nothing really jumped out at me. One day when I was writing a scene in which Brian (the main character) was meeting with his new therapist, he was asked to describe his life in a nutshell. Bingo! That was it! That phrase is symbolic of a few different things (which become evident in the story), and I knew it was perfect. The story is told in the first person POV as Brian, thus the title My Life in a Nutshell: A Novel (The term “A Novel” was tacked on by the publisher just to make sure people didn’t think it was a memoir.)
Is your family supportive of your writing?
I’m very fortunate that yes, they are very supportive indeed. Both of my children are still at home, but at ages 17 and 12, they are definitely old enough to make this easier. If they were young, that would be a different story. My husband, too, is supportive of my doing this. Trying to make a career of writing is a huge risk, and I feel quite anxious about it often. But I believe in my “cause,” and my family does, too, so that’s really helpful and quite encouraging.
Thanks for stopping by today, Tanya. I know you’re busy what with the promo party over on Facebook and all. Good luck with your novel. It sounds like a fascinating read.
Thank you, Melanie, for taking the time to “chat” with me. Thanks to you and your readers for wanting to get to know a little bit about me!
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YOU CAN BUY MY LIFE IN A NUTSHELL a novel at:
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About the Author:
Tanya J. Peterson, MS, NCC
Mental Health Novelist, Writer, & Speaker
Tanya J. Peterson holds a Bachelor of Science in secondary education, Master of Science in counseling, and is a Nationally Certified Counselor. She has been a teacher and a counselor in various settings, including a traditional high school and an alternative school for homeless and runaway adolescents, and she has volunteered her services in both schools and communities. Peterson is an active volunteer with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), and she is a regular columnist for the Anxiety-Schmanxiety blog on HealthyPlace.com.
She draws on her education, experience, and personal background with bipolar 1 disorder and anxiety to write stories about the psychological aspect of the human condition, specifically mental illness and the impact it has on human beings. Her goal is to change the way the world thinks about mental illness and the people who live with it.
Peterson believes that fiction is a powerful vehicle for teaching fact. Further, she knows that people empathize with characters in novels, and commonly they transfer their empathy to real-life human beings. To that end, she has published Leave of Absence, My Life in a Nutshell, and the YA novel Losing Elizabeth. Additionally, she has published Challenge!, a short story about a person who finds the confidence to overcome criticism and achieve a goal, and a book review of Linley and Joseph’s Positive Therapy: A Meta-Theory for Positive Psychological Practice that appeared in Counseling Today, the national publication of the American Counseling Association.
Peterson has also been interviewed on numerous radio shows, given presentations on mental illness and book readings nationwide, spoken on mental illness at the 2013 national conference of the Mothers of Incarcerated Sons Society, Inc., and has been quoted in various articles about mental health and mental illness.
You can follow Tanya at:
FACEBOOK – https://www.facebook.com/TanyaJPeterson
Twitter – https://twitter.com/tanyajpeterson1