Saturday 27 August 2016

Cover Reveal for The Wendy House

Ta da! 
It's cover reveal day for my latest book, The Wendy House
Produced by the amazingly talented, Cathy Helms at Avalon Graphics, it is beautiful.

The Blurb

When Nicola changes overnight from a bright, happy young child into a sullen, rebellious girl, ceasing to show interest in anything or anyone around her, her parents struggle to understand why. As she develops into a difficult, troubled, hostile teenager they put it down to hormones, believing it will pass. Yet Nicola goes from bad to worse and no matter how much her mother tries to reach out to her, it seems she is hell bent on self-destruction. When she leaves home at seventeen, rushing into the arms of a man ten years her senior and quickly becoming pregnant, her despairing mother almost gives up on her. A decade later, the events that stole Nicola’s childhood and changed the course of her life threaten finally to destroy her. She knows if she is to cling on to her sanity she must tell her mother the dreadful secret she has carried all these years, but her fear that she will be met with disbelief, hostility and branded an evil liar drives her to the edge.

A heart-rending story of betrayal, secrets and gripping fear.



Publication Date: Saturday 3rd September
Genre: Women’s Fiction / Family-Noir




  The Wendy House is available in Kindle for pre-order on all Amazon sites including


A HUGE thank you to these amazing peeps who are sharing my cover reveal on their Blog or Facebooks today. I am truly honoured...



It's been a long journey with this book and a deeply disturbing one. Thank you for stopping by and sharing another step towards publication day for, The Wendy House.
And, as always, I hope the sun is shinning on your face and in your heart.

Until next time…

Love

Pauline
xxx

Monday 22 August 2016

On Tour & Sitting Round my Pool Janey Travis


Today, Not only is Janey Travis on tour with her debut book, but taking five minutes to sit round my pool. Of course you will also know Janey as number one best selling author, Janice Horton. It’s been some time since we last caught up, but here she is talking about, I Need a Doctor.

Take it away Janey....



Genre: Romantic Comedy

Release Date: 15th July 2016

Publisher: Thornhill Print

Beauty and fame… a blessing or a curse?

Story synopsis: Loveless fashion model Nola Nichols thinks being beautiful is a curse; that is until she is cursed and her looks begin to fade just a week before the most important photo shoot of her career. In her attempts to get un-cursed, she finds herself taking part in a rather unconventional funeral, reveals one or two unrests in her own past, and falls madly in love with a doctor. Erm… that would be a witch doctor, right...?




BUY LINKS


What the Readers say:

“Just the right sprinkling of romance and humour.” Brook Cottage Books 

“A very enjoyable and clever plot. Different, fresh and enjoyable.” Jenny in Neverland

“I couldn't help but like Nola even though at times she is a proper diva.” Comet Babe’s Books

“I love all the quirky characters in the story and just the pure madness and fun of it all!” Books4U

“A nice balance of humour, sweet romance, morals and a spooky side!” The Little Reader Library

“A Five Star Read - I really enjoyed the light-hearted tone.”  Love Reading Love Books 



ABOUT JANEY TRAVIS


Janey Travis is currently travelling around the world chasing the sun while blogging, tweeting, writing fun-to-read novels and travel magazine features. Look out for her new light-hearted romantic comedy novel I Need a Doctor. You can catch up with her on Twitter: @janey_travis on Facebook: janeytravisbooks.


Janey also writes bestselling romantic adventure fiction as Janice Horton. Find out more at www.janicehorton.co.uk


Author Links:
Janey Travis on Facebook:
Goodreads:



GIVEAWAY
An ecopy of the book (open internationally)

 http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/4be03017184/


My Review!

From Barbados, to London, to Scotland to New Orleans, Janey Travis takes the reader on a journey of pure escapism. Filled with perfect love, mind blowing coincidences, I need a Doctor is an uplifting and feel good read that we all, at times, need to snuggle down and melt into: A perfect story for any time of the day or year.

A huge thank you to Brook Cottage Books for a copy for an honest review.


Thank you for stopping by and if you want to escape, then please check out Janey's book.
Until next time, I hope the sun is shinning on your face and in your heart.


Pauline
xxx

Monday 15 August 2016

Sitting Round my Pool: Melanie Robertson -King



I am delighted to have the lovely Melanie Robertson-King, all the way from Canada, sitting round my pool and talking about her latest book, a paranormal romantic suspense.

Take it away Melanie…

Thanks for inviting me back to your lovely home in the Canary Isles Pauline. It’s been a long time since I’ve sat by your pool and visited with you.

You thought I would perish in the heat this time of year, but in what has been an unusual summer in Eastern Ontario, Canada, our temperatures are just as high. We’re begging for rain being in a drought situation. Unfortunately, I can see when the rain finally comes it will be a deluge and will run off before it does any good.

But enough of that, I’m dying to tell you about my new book, The Secret of Hillcrest House, a paranormal romantic suspense. Recently divorced, Jessica Maitland wants to make a clean break from her past. Police Constable, Alain Fournier still mourns the death of his wife. And then there’s the house and the supernatural occurrences that take place within its four walls.

When I was younger I loved reading and telling ghost stories, some scarier than others. If a house had a turret on it, it had to be haunted. If the house happened to be a bit run-down then so much the better.

I first saw the house that graces the cover of the book when I went as a chaperone on my son’s school trip to Quebec City back in 1993. Since then, every time we’ve been in the area, I’ve always had to drive by it and take pictures. I knew that eventually that house and the village it’s in would become the setting for one of my books, I just didn’t know how it would come about. The most recent trip was in November 2014 when I took a number of photographs of it from the streets to encompass as much of the house as possible.


1 "Hillcrest House" November 2014


Yes, the house in the picture above looks somewhat spooky, but a change to Black & White made a huge difference, followed by making the sky transparent. I had an idea of what I wanted for the background so I scoured the stock photo sites and finally decided on a full moon and cloudy sky image from Shutterstock.


2 After the special effects

Don’t you agree that this layered image makes the house look haunted?

Before I bore your readers any more than I already have, here’s the finished cover and book blurb.





Sometimes there's more to a house than bricks and mortar.
Hillcrest House is one such place. Perched on a cliff in the picturesque town of Angel Falls, there is more to this Victorian mansion than meets the eye. When referring to the house, the locals use the word haunted on a regular basis. Strange visions appear in the windows, especially the second-floor ones over the side porch. Even stranger events take place within its four walls.
Rumour has it, the original owners, Asher and Maggie Hargrave, never left their beloved home. They claim the couple and their family are responsible for driving people away. Over the years, Hillcrest House has changed hands numerous times. No one stays long. Renovations begin then stop and the house is once more abandoned. The latest in this long line of owners is Jessica Maitland.
Will Jessica be the next one to succumb or will she unravel the mystery of the haunting of Hillcrest House?

Melanie Robertson-King's latest novel serves up a delightful blend of the supernatural and spicy romance, Lynn L. Clark, author of The Home Child, and Fire Whisperer & Circle of Souls: Two Novellas of the Supernatural, & The Accusers
Intrigue, dark buried secrets, hot romance and a neat twist in the tale make this riveting reading, Sheryl Browne, MA Creative Writing, Choc Lit Author
A fun read that keeps you guessing right up to the surprise ending, Dayna Leigh Cheser, Author of Janelle's Time, Moria's Time, Adelle's Time, & Logan's Time

Buy Links:



About Melanie Robertson-King



A native of Eastern Ontario, during her pre-school years, Melanie lived in a winterized cottage on the shore of the St Lawrence River. Prior to her starting school, her family moved to Brockville where she received her education, including a post–secondary degree in Computer Programming.
Growing up as an only child, Melanie was an avid reader, and remains so to this day. It was through this love of the written word that she knew that one day she would become a writer. When she wasn’t talking about her dream of becoming an author, she wrote stories and began honing her skills at an early age.
Her father was a Scottish national, who came to Canada as a ‘Home Child’ through the auspices of The Orphan Homes of Scotland. She promised herself that one day she would travel to her father’s homeland to see where he was born and raised. That first trip was in 1993 and she’s not looked back since, having returned to the “auld country” a further seven times and is looking forward to trip number eight. On one of her many trips to Scotland, Melanie had the honour of meeting Princess Anne (The Princess Royal).
Melanie began her professional writing career in non-fiction. Eight of her articles have been published, with one being an international feature cover article. At the same time she continued to develop her writing voice: short stories (both fiction and non–fiction) as well as novel length work.
A Shadow in the Past, Melanie’s debut novel, was published by 4RV Publishing in the summer of 2012. Melanie even made the trip to the Kansas Book Festival in September to celebrate the launch of her novel and met her publisher and editor face–to–face for the first time, along with two other authors from the publishing house.
Other works by Melanie include a compilation of short stories, The Consequences Collection; and a children’s chapter book geared to ages 7–11, Tim’s Magic Christmas. Her short story, Cole’s Notes, was included in EFD1: Starship Goodwords – a cross genre anthology (Carrick Publishing, 2012).
Author Links:



Thank you for stopping by and I hope you are as interested as I am with Melanie's latest book.
Until next time, I hope the sun is shinning on your face and in your heart.


Pauline
xxx

Thursday 11 August 2016

Sitting Round my Pool: Helen Hollick Accounting for On the Account


Having recently read, On the Account – review at the end of the post – I wanted to know why Helen Hollick, best selling author of historical novels and pirate adventures wrote this fifth book in the Sea Witch series. So with such a great excuse to get this lovely lady down here to talk to me, I invited her to leave her fabulous home in Devon and sit round my pool and talk about Captain Jesamiah Acorne. And, here she is, so please help yourself to a glass of bubbly and settle down on a sun lounger and enjoy meeting my guest.




So why did I decide to write a fifth adventure for my Sea Witch series?
It might sound a little mad but partially it was because my editor’s son, Simon Murgatroyd, had the most gorgeous photograph of a full moon reflected in the sea with evocative rocks in the foreground. When I saw the photo I had two immediate thoughts: there should be a tallship with all sail set, and who would be standing on that big, flat rock? Hmm, someone looking wistfully at the ship, wishing he was aboard, his heart breaking because she was sailing away? Well, those sort of thoughts are what get a good story going. And I just had to use that photograph for one of my covers.



And the title? Going ‘On The Account’ in the early eighteenth century was a term for turning pirate, so it was quite fitting as a title for one of my pirate series of nautical adventures. Except, by book two of the series (Pirate Code) my dashing rogue of a pirate had accepted the King’s Amnesty and become an ex-pirate. I never said anything in the following books three and four, though, about him staying an ex-pirate…

Incidentally the Amnesty was a real event initiated in Nassau, where most pirates congregated, in 1718 by the new Governor, Woodes Rogers. Pirates Benjamin Hornigold and Henry Jennings agreed the terms and retired from piracy, Blackbeard and Charles Vane refused to even think about accepting, while Calico Jack Rackham took the offer then, along with Anne Bonny, broke the agreement and returned to piracy. Blackbeard was killed in battle a short while later while Vane and Rackham were caught and hanged. Anne Bonny had a stay of execution because she was pregnant, but her father probably paid someone to let her go for we do not know what happened to her.

I’ll not give away any spoilers but I wanted an excuse for my (ex) pirate to have a few night-time adventures at sea ─ because of that wonderful photograph, which was turned into a fantastic cover by the very skilled and talented graphics designer Cathy Helms of www.avalongraphics.org.


‘He’ is Captain Jesamiah Acorne and when I wrote that first Voyage, Sea Witch, I did not expect to write another, but Jesamiah took over and insisted on having more adventures, and well, dare I admit I fell in love with him? I found myself wanting to know more about him, his background, what motivated him, what made him angry, what made him laugh. How he reacted when he realised that he had fallen in love with my co-protagonist, Tiola Oldstagh, how he would react when he discovered that she was not an ordinary human but a white witch. I describe the Voyages as sailor’s yarns with a blend of Jack Sparrow, Hornblower, James Bond, Indiana Jones and Richard Sharpe (Bernard Cornwell’s Napoleonic era hero) oh, and with a little dash of Poldark thrown in for good measure. I base the plot around real historical events, but I do not stick rigidly to accuracy ─ except for my sailing detail which is checked by a real tallship sailor, James L. Nelson (who also writes darn good books.) The fantasy I try to keep within the realm of believable, more like The Force in Star Wars, not as in the wand-waving magic of Harry Potter. One of the secondary ‘characters’ in Sea Witch and the fourth Voyage, Ripple in the Sand is Tethys, the spirit elemental of the sea, who wants Jesamiah’s soul for herself.

The series is adult, it has adult content (some bad language, sex and violence – I mean we are talking pirates here) and my tagline is ‘Trouble follows Jesamiah Acorne like a ship’s wake.’ That trouble can come in various guises; he is coerced into spying, gets into things he doesn’t want to get into, and a few he does (most notably the beds of various pretty women). For which, of course, he then finds himself in trouble with girlfriend Tiola.



In Voyage Three, Bring It Close, Jesamiah has to deal with the ghost of his father while also encountering, somewhat unpleasantly, his old adversary Blackbeard. Oh, and working out a way to apologise to Tiola for not keeping his breeches buttoned.

My original idea for On The Account, once I had decided on a series, was to introduce a sort of vampire-like character for back in 2008 vampire stories were all the rage, but I abandoned the idea. The character I had decided upon, Maha’dun, is a Night-Walker. Tall, dark, handsome and mysterious he is unable to tolerate sunlight and has excellent night vision. He has several anti-social habits, like chain smoking and killing people and he is also at the beck and call of his superiors as a ‘personal entertainer’ (a male prostitute) which means he is beholden to others. All he really wants is his freedom to do as he pleases and love who he wants. And freedom is one of the main traits of a pirate, so when he meets up with Jesamiah out of the blue (or should that be black seeing as we are talking night hours here?) he finds his dream lifestyle.



Just why he is standing there on that rock looking forlornly at Sea Witch I’m not telling, you will have to read the book. (I suggest you start at the first in the series for maximum enjoyment). He has a great adventure with Jesamiah, and there are several secrets, some revealed, some not, in On The Account, but he is not a vampire.

expected publication date late 2017/early 2018’
Exactly what he is I’m not telling, you will have to wait until I’ve written and published the sixth Voyage, Gallows Wake to find that out!

Links

Helen’s  Author Page on an Amazon near you : http://viewAuthor.at/HelenHollick
Twitter: @HelenHollick


My review for On The Account…

Filled with adventure, suspense and a little supernatural, On The Account is an epic voyage slicing through rough seas on Sea Witch and battling across unfriendly, often wet, bleak countryside. Treachery, treason and murder abound aplenty, and of course, there is love amongst the debris. So if your love swashbuckling, pirate tales, you will love this book and all the others in the series. A great read.


Thank you for stopping by and I hope you've enjoyed our little pirate adventure. He's a rascal!
Until next time, I hope the sun is shinning in your face and in your heart.


Pauline
xxx

Monday 8 August 2016

Sitting Round My Pool & Talking about Devil’s Porridge, Chris Longmuir



Today, I have awarding winning crime author, Chris Longmuir sitting round my pool and talking about Devil Porridge. It is Chris’s latest book, but do you know the true meaning of Devil’s Porridge? No, then please sit back and Chris will give you an explosive thumbnail account!

Thanks for inviting me to sit round your pool, Pauline. We have had some beautiful sunny days in Scotland this summer, but I must say the heat here is greater and I’m sweating already – sorry, should I have said perspiring (more polite), or glowing (ladies don’t sweat, they glow, or so I‘m told!). Ooh! Is that a cool drink you’re offering me? And very welcome it is too. What’s that you say? You have some questions for me? Just let me get a bit more comfortable and then we can begin.



It is great having you back here and of course do help yourself to the cool drinks. Now whilst you settle down, I’m dying to learn about your latest book, so let’s clink glasses and then you take it away…

Devils Porridge is your latest book, but before we talk about this, how many books have you published.

You do realise that anything to do with numbers is anathema to me, that’s because any counting I have to do depends on my fingers. So let me see, I still have enough fingers to count my books. I’ve got three books in my Dundee Crime Series, plus I made a box set of them. Then I have two books in my Kirsty Campbell Series, plus a historical saga, and a nonfiction book on ePublishing and Indie crime fiction. Let me count, the fingers I’m holding up? Yes, that seems to be seven books in total, eight if you count the box set. Phew! I’m glad that’s over. You’re not going to give me any more counting tasks, are you?

Only because we’ve already downed one bottle of bubbly! Right back to the questions… I believe they are different genres, why is this?

When I was with a traditional publisher they don’t allow you to get out of the box they put you in. So I was firmly nailed into a contemporary crime fiction box. But I like variety, and when the muse hits it doesn’t respect publishers’ genre boxes, so I found traditional publishing very restrictive. In order to escape these restrictions I became an indie publisher, and now I can write what I want in the knowledge my publisher (me) is not going to say you can’t do that.

I really love writing different genres, although it does pose problems in satisfying readers’ expectations. Some of my readers are clamouring for more Bill Murphy books, some want another historical crime, and I do have some who want me to continue with more historical sagas. Over and above that, I provide a lot of advice to indie writers when I’m asked, plus I do workshops on ebooks and self publishing, so I want to do another nonfiction book based on my workshops.



You won a prestigious award back in 2009 / 2010 how did this come about?

That’s right. I won the Dundee International Book Prize, one of the most prestigious prizes for unpublished books. It came with a publishing contract and a fairly sizeable cheque which, at the time, was the largest cash prize for a book competition. Unfortunately they have now cut the value of this prize in half, but it’s still well worth winning. I bought my first Apple Mac computer, and did the Orient Express to Venice, with my prize money.

The book that won the prize was Dead Wood, which is book two in the Dundee Crime Series. Book One was written at this time, but wasn’t published. I had three finished novels in my bottom drawer, otherwise known as my computer’s hard drive, before I won the prize and got my first novel published. So, you could say I was an overnight success, after twenty years of writing!

Devil’s Porridge is a strange title, how did you come by this?

I’ve had that title under wraps since 2008, which was when I first decided to write this book, and I actually came across it in an article Arthur Conan Doyle wrote in 1916, after he visited Gretna Munitions Factory. There is also a museum at Eastriggs called The Devil’s Porridge Museum, easily found through a Google search.

Gretna Munitions Factory was a vast place. Nine miles long and four miles wide, and they built two new towns, Gretna and Eastriggs, to service it. At the Eastriggs end the munitionettes mixed guncotton and nitroglycerine together, with their bare hands, into a paste needed for the manufacture of cordite which was the propellant used in bombs. The paste the munitionettes kneaded in lead drums was likened to a porridge consistency, and it was this that Conan Doyle named Devil’s Porridge. Here is what he said “Those smiling khaki-clad girls who are swirling the stuff round in their hands would be blown to atoms in an instant if certain very small changes occurred. The changes will not occur, and the girls still smile and stir their ‘devil’s porridge’, but it is a narrow margin between life and death.”

This book has been on my back burner for several years, but it’s always been in the back of my mind, nagging me to be written. It’s tied in with my pioneer policewoman character as well, because the early policewomen were sent to service the munitions factories. And what better place to set a murder mystery story than a munitions factory which makes Devil’s Porridge. (I have included a historical endnote in the book for those readers interested in the historical background.)

What era is Devil’s Porridge set in?

It’s set in 1917 during the First World War. There are some historical events which I’ve woven into the fabric of the story. The Silvertown explosion, for example, did take place. Vernon Kell, and William Melville were real people working for MI5. Lloyd George, the Prime Minister of the time has a walk-on part. And the visit by King George V and Queen Mary did take place at Gretna on 18th May 1917, although there is no record of the assassination attempt which takes place in my novel and is purely fictional.

Can we expect more for Kirsty?

Of course. But in the next book she will be back in Dundee as the city’s first policewoman. Kirsty came about when I found out there was a policewoman in Dundee between 1918 to 1921. At that time there were only two policewomen in the entirety of Scotland. The other one was in Glasgow. So, Kirsty just fell into my lap, and what writer could resist writing about such a unique character. It’s writers’ gold. So, watch this space, Kirsty will return.

Absolutely fascinating! Thank you so much for all of this, and also for leaving your beautiful Scotland to sit round my pool.  I am already hooked on your latest novel, but then I have read your crime novels and know from experience they are filled with facts and fiction.

Find out more about Chris by visiting her web site and do look at reading her books, they really are page turners… all of them!
  


This is a criminally good read.

Links :

Chris Longmuir


Books

Historical books

Nonfiction

As always thank you for stopping by and now you know what Devil's Porridge is... fascinating!

That's it for today, I hope the sun is shinning on your face and in your heart.

Until next time…

Love

Pauline
xxx

Tuesday 2 August 2016

Gold Medal from Earthathon!



As most of you know I love to go out for a run To me running is therapeutic; it lets my mind settle and helps it focus on what really is important. Unfortunately, I’m a natural worrier and fretter, and, far too often I allow things, events and people to get to me. Running puts things back into perspective and leaves me feeling great.

For a number of years I have been friends with the lovely, Chris Stovell, author and my “virtual” running buddy. You can read how Chris’ running is to help raise funds and awareness of pancreatic cancer by clicking here. Earlier this year, Chris introduced me to #earthathon. This is an online site that is dedicated to getting people out there, running, walking and, if necessary, crawling! And, to make doing all this exciting, they have a challenge each year, and that is to run round the planet… not individually, though some runners pack the miles in! No, it is a relay and this year there are eleven teams competing to be first round the planet, a total of 25,000 miles.

I joined the team #werun2gether with Chris earlier this year, and I can tell you our team has completed the relay! Wow!



As well as all the excitement of our team finishing first, individual, “virtual” medals are awarded along the way for milestones met  

Earthathon for 26.2 miles
Bronze for 131 miles
Silver for 262 miles
Gold for 524 miles



I am so proud to announce I have reached a gold medal with 625 miles added to our team’s efforts. And before you ask, no I don’t spend all my life running, far from it! Part of this achievement is down to being out each morning with our doggies. Every morning before 7am we set off on a minimum of 5 kms walk/ brisk walk. Then a few evenings a week, I go out for a run. Though the heat, this time of the year is exhausting, but I try to get out there and sweat!



So with my gold medal and the knowledge #werun2gether has achieved its run around the planet, I’d better don my trainers to make sure I don’t get out of shape before we need to run the next relay!


If you would like to know more about #earthathon on how you can be involved click here.



As always thank you for stopping by. I hope the sun is shinning on your face and in your heart.

Until next time…

Love

Pauline
xxx