Author Interview: Ellie James, Author of the Midnight Dragonfly Series

 Author Website -  http://www.elliejames.net/

1. If you could work with any other author, who would it be and why?

First off, let me thank you for inviting me onto your blog. I love all that your passion for books and all that you’re doing to share that love!  So wish I could be there in person to answer these questions with you!

Okay, what other writer would I want to work with?  Well, he’s not a novelist, per se, but he is a story creator, and his work does routinely rock my world: JJ Abrams, the mastermind behind Alias, Lost and Fringe. I absolutely love the way that man’s mind works, his fascination with mystery and possibility, with the unexplained and the bizarre, with history and prophecy and human interactions. I’d love to brain-meld with him for a day—or get him to hire me to work on one of his shows!!!

2. What would be a typical working day for you? When and where do you write?

I love writing. I love creating. I love exploring story-worlds. My mind is always spinning, whether I’m at the computer or not. Typically I’m at my desk 4-5 hours per day, 5 days per week, with “mind work” happening the rest of the time. I’m constantly grabbing my phone and recording voice messages or jotting random notes. I’m not sure why, but my absolute best thoughts come to me at times when it’s hardest to jot them down: in the shower, while driving, and while running.

Most of the time I work from my office space in the upstairs of our house, with a lovely east facing window to my left and a door to the rest of the house to my right. Initially, I had my workspace situated so that my back was to the door, but I HATED that. I just never felt comfortable, kinda like I never feel comfortable in a restaurant if I’m not sitting with my back to a wall. (I think maybe in a former life I was a warrior who met a grim fate through a sneak-attack from behind!)

Anyway, I have to have my back to the wall—and I really, really prefer a neat and tidy workspace: for me, clutter in my office= clutter in my mind.  However, with young kids, I’m constantly tripping over stuffed animals and race cars!!!

Here’s what the floor of my office looked like as I approached the deadline for FRAGILE DARKNESS (book 3 in the Midnight Dragonfly series)!! Sometimes it really helps to sit down and spread everything out!

 

When planning my workspace, I consulted Feng Shui for paint color and ended up with a blue-green that is supposed to stimulate creativity. I also have an entire wall dedicated to inspirational sayings, such as Shoot for the Moon. Even if you miss you’ll land among the stars and Don’t believe everything you think!, as well as a display of my books. 

 

3. What is the hardest part of the art of writing for you?

That’s a great question. I love playing around in story worlds so much I think the hardest part is letting go. I could fiddle with my stories forever, letting my characters turn left instead of right and exploring what happens next. There are so many possibilities, it’s tough to choose one and run with it. With every book I’ve written, there’s something I’d love to change, all the way from adjusting an existing scene to scrapping it altogether and replacing it with something completely different. In fact, just last night I woke up around 3:30 in the morning with a killer idea for my book which coming out later this year (Fragile Darkness)…but it’s far too late for changes!

4. When and why did you first start writing?

When I think back to what inspired me to start writing, I can’t isolate any specific event or point in time that serves as a trigger. A librarian’s daughter, I’ve been writing stories as long as I can remember. I think I wrote my first fan-fic before I was five!  I would fall in love with characters and not want their stories to end, so I’d keep them going. It wasn’t just fan fic, though. I had my own creations, such as Monster Falls In Love and Jacquie and the Swamp. In middle school and high school I was always writing poems (and even songs!) for my friends, usually about something romantic, and something dangerous! Growing up in Louisiana, my stories always took on a mystical feel, featuring ghosts and danger and all sorts of things that couldn’t be explained, and always, always a healthy dose of star-crossed lovers. When it was time for college, my mother and I were discussing majors, and I asked what I could major in that would involve writing. She said journalism, so journalism it was. Of course, writing obituaries for my news-ed class wasn’t quite what I had in mind, but everyone has to start somewhere, you know?

5. How did you come up with the idea for the book ‘Shattered Dreams?’

It was one of those bizarre, unplanned things. A few years ago I wasn’t getting much sleep and woke up one early one morning from one of the most incredibly detailed, vivid dreams I’d ever had. I’d more than just seen a group of teen sneak into an old abandoned mansion—I’d been with them.  I’d gazed into the darkness, and smelled the decay. I’d felt the fear, and the crazy blast of excitement at the prospect of a game of truth or dare.  My heart was still racing when I woke up. The images lingered. I kept thinking about what I’d seen, and from the questions came: What happened next? What if one of the teens was a psychic? What if she saw something…something bad? What if she had a premonition? What if what she saw actually happened?  What if no one believed her, or at least, no one but the last guy she should let herself begin to fall for

As I answered those questions, the Midnight Dragonfly books were born!

6. Are you a big reader? If so, what are you reading now?

Yes! I read everything! I read magazines and catalogs, medicine bottles and instruction labels…anything I can get my hands on at a given moment. I always have a few books going at one time, generally one fiction and several non-fiction. (I’m totally in love with books like The Power of Now.)  Presently I am sooo lucky to be reading an advance copy of a book coming out this fall, The Trouble With Fate , by a super talented new author, Leigh Evans. (Mark your calendar for this fall. You’re going to want this one, as well as Ashes of Twilight by Kassy Tayler!)

7. Do you have any advice for other aspiring writers?

Yes! Believe in yourself and never give up. Each of us has stories to tell, and only you can tell them. The writing life can be incredibly hard. You spend tons of time alone, creating, and then you toss your creation out to the rest of the world, to see what they think. Some will love it, some won’t. That can take a toll of your confidence and your dream. But I have a plaque across from my desk that reads, “You’ll miss 100% of the shots you don’t take,” and I essentially live by those words. You have to believe in yourself and follow your dreams. It’s the only way they can come true.

Deb, thank you so much for sharing my books in your café!

About Ellie James

Most people who know Ellie think she’s your nice, ordinary wife and mom of two young kids. They see someone who does all that normal stuff, like grocery shopping, walking the dogs, going to baseball games, and somehow always forgetting to get the house cleaned and laundry done.

 What they don't know is that more often than not, this LSU J-School alum is somewhere far, far away, in an extraordinary world, deeply embroiled in solving a riddle or puzzle or crime, testing the limits of possibility, exploring the unexplained, and holding her breath while two people fall in love.

Regardless of which world Ellie’s in, she loves rain and wind and thunder and lightning; the first warm kiss of spring and the first cool whisper of fall; family, friends, and animals; dreams and happy endings; Lost and Fringe; Arcade Fire and Dave Matthews, and last but not least…warm gooey chocolate chip cookies.

 You can follow Ellie on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Midnight-Dragonfly-Books-by-Ellie-James/154988421236309

About the Midnight Dragonfly Series

The firstborn daughter, of the firstborn daughter, of the firstborn daughter, sixteen year old psychic Trinity Monsour has a connection to the Other Side. She knows secrets and truths she shouldn’t, feels emotions that do not belong to her, and see events that have yet to happen. They come to her as glimpses, shadowy, disjointed snapshots that flicker through her dreams. Some terrify: a girl screaming, a knife lifting, a body in the grass. But others--the dark, tortured eyes and the shattering kiss, the promise of forever--whisper to her soul.

They come without warning. They come without detail.

But they always mean the same thing: The clock is ticking, and only Trinity can stop it.

Find out how in Shattered Dreams, available from QuercusKids!

Guest Post - Unidentified Woman by Hillel F. Damron

WARNING - THIS BOOKS DEALS WITH MATURE TOPICS

Author Website - click here

Unidentified Woman—a literary mystery novel about rape, revenge, and redemption—follows a young Mexican girl, Maria Sanchez, who is kidnapped on her way to school one morning. She is enslaved and repeatedly, brutally raped by paying costumers, mostly Americans. But she survives and grows up to become an independent young woman living in Los Angeles. She tracks down all those men who wronged her, exerting a deadly, unusual punishment.

On her footsteps, following the police failure to capture her, is Gideon Gold: a reluctant, amateur private investigator, and a former commander of an elite Israeli paratroops unit and a Mossad secret agent. His frantic pursuit of the her takes unexpected twists and turns, culminating in a dramatic, compelling game of cat-and-mouse that will change both of their lives forever.

About the Author: Hillel F. Damron was born in Israel to parents who survived the Holocaust. He was an officer at an elite paratroops unit and was wounded in battle. He studied films at the London Film School and became a film director of TV documentaries, a feature film, and numerous video shorts. He is the award-winning author of a Sci-fi novel, short stories and film reviews. His novel Very Narrow Bridge, a first in the series of Gideon Gold’s Investigation, was published last year.

This year in February he was awarded Moment Magazine’s prize for winning its memoir contest with his entry: The Sweet Life.  And in the summer, August 15th, his second novel in the series of Gideon Gold’s Investigation will be published throughout the E-reader Universe. Be the first to read an excerpt, and have an initial clue on the road to solving the mystery: who is she, the Unidentified Woman, and what’s her story?

Here how it begins:

Capirato, Mexico. October 12, 1976

“If life is a garden,

Women are the flowers.

Men are the gardeners,

Who pick up the prettiest ones.”

I sing this song while jumping rope with Adela, my best friend, before going off to school. I’m only twelve, but Mami keeps telling me I should grow up and stop jumping rope. Do things girls my age are supposed to be doing, like help her in the kitchen and learn how to sew. I hate it when she says that. I keep holding tight to the rope that connects me to my childhood, afraid of losing it, afraid of growing up. It’s as if somehow, don’t know how, I know what lies ahead.

The dirt road to school, that’s what lies ahead, where Adela and I run hand in hand. We skip between the small stones, still singing that silly song a boy at school taught us yesterday, about the flowers and the gardeners. And laughing about it, too, questioning who is the prettiest one: her or me? And this boy, Angelo his name, is he in love with me or with her?

We come off the bend to the only half paved road in our poor little village, happy to bounce on solid ground. Just then a black car suddenly stops near us making noise and raising dust. Never before in my life have I seen such a beautiful, shiny car. I can see myself reflected in it, like in a twisted mirror.

But only for a second. Because the back window rolls down immediately and a man pokes out his head, asking me for my name. “Maria,” I say. (I hate my name, it’s so… so ordinario.) He asks me to come over and show him the way to our school. I don’t know why I didn’t run away at that moment. Maybe it’s because Mami always told me to obey men. Especially older men.

He opens the door when I get closer and grabs me by the hand and pulls me inside. He is strong and he places me in the back between his legs, pushing my head down. I left my schoolbag on the dirt road behind. But why, I will need it soon? No matter, Adela will bring it to school. Of course she would. That’s where we are going, isn’t it? It’s only a game.

The car takes off screaming. I want to scream, too, but I can’t. His stinky hand is on my mouth. It hurts so much so I bite it. He curses bad words and hits me on the back of my head. Now I really scream. He is strangling me. I can’t breathe. His firm thighs clap my hips. I can’t move. I can’t shout. I close my eyes.

When I close my eyes, I’m afraid the world that was promised me—going to school with Adela, meeting Angelo and our other friends there, studying history which I like the most, our daytrip next week to the Mayan ruins, graduation, going to trade school, falling in love, marrying and having children—may be gone and lost forever. And together with the cloud of dust I imagine the speeding car is raising behind as it leaves our village, an evil cloud is falling over me. Covering me with eternal darkness and sadness. 

Links: 

Author’s website: http://hillelbridge.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/HillelFDamron

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/shalomhd

Add the book on Goodreads: Goodreads Link

Stormy Weather Series by Selena Blake

WARNING - PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS A REVIEW AND FEATURE OF AN ADULT EROTIC NOVEL

After centuries of solitude, the stars are finally aligned just right for the handsome Deveraux men of Louisiana to meet their matches this Hurricane Season. Anthology includes the first five "Stormy Weather" Stories.

Goodreads :  Check it out here...
Amazon UK  /  Amazon US 
Published:   20th January 2012
Author Website:  click here.

Book 1 (The Cajun's Captive)   After centuries of solitude the stars are finally aligned just right. The handsome Deveraux brothers of Louisiana are going to meet their match this Hurricane Season.

Sebastian Deveraux is the Alpha of his pack and like all the Deveraux men, he's sexy as pure sin. He's waited for decades for just the right woman. For his mate. And ten years ago he'd been sure he'd found her in Amanda St. James. But she'd run from him.

Now she's back. He'll do anything to keep her. Even if it means chaining her to his bed.

Book 2
Bitten in the Bayou

Goodreads Link here

Book 3

Bound and Determined

Goodreads Link here

Book 4
Mated to a Cajun Werewolf

Goodreads Link here 

Book 5

Stranded with a Cajun Werewolf

Goodreads Link here

I have to confess that Erotic stories are not usually my type of reading but this year I thought I would expand my reading limits and I am really glad I did.  This is not a normal erotic story, its more of a paranormal erotic story.  This is a great mix of romance and wolves.   I have to admit that I particularly enjoyed following the character of Sebastian....

This series has a great amount of hot and steamyness with a lot of great romantic build up and for all those of you who enjoy a heavily erotic paranromal story,  I would recommend you give this a try.

8 out of 10

Best wishes

Debs :-)

Waiting on Wednesday: Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly memo that is hosted by Breaking the Spine Blog.

 

Expected Release Date:   25th Sept 2012
(Release date obtained from Goodreads)


Goodreads link is here.

She won’t rest until she’s sent every walking corpse back to its grave. Forever.

Had anyone told Alice Bell that her entire life would change course between one heartbeat and the next, she would have laughed. From blissful to tragic, innocent to ruined? Please. But that’s all it took. One heartbeat. A blink, a breath, a second, and everything she knew and loved was gone.

Her father was right. The monsters are real….

To avenge her family, Ali must learn to fight the undead. To survive, she must learn to trust the baddest of the bad boys, Cole Holland. But Cole has secrets of his own, and if Ali isn’t careful, those secrets might just prove to be more dangerous than the zombies….


I wish I could go back and do a thousand things differently.
I'd tell my sister no.
I'd never beg my mother to talk to my dad.
I'd zip my lips and swallow those hateful words.
Or, barring all of that, I'd hug my sister, my mom and my dad one last time.
I'd tell them I love them.
I wish... Yeah, I wish.


Best Wishes

Debs :-)

Book Review - The Duff by Kody Keplinger

Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn’t think she’s the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She’s also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her “the Duff,” she throws her Coke in his face.

But things aren’t so great at home right now, and Bianca is desperate for a distraction. She ends up kissing Wesley. Worse, she likes it. Eager for escape, Bianca throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with him.

Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out Wesley isn’t such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she’s falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone.

Goodreads page here
Publisher:  Little Brown
Release Date:  7th September 2010
Purchase it at:  Amazon UK /  Amazon USA

My Review:   10/10

(video review at the bottom of post)

Bianca is a character that really defines this story.  Of course, its based on her but just reading all about her and following her story being 'The Duff' was most definitely the best part of this book for me.  At the beginning, she is very defencive, withdrawn and likes to keep herself to herself.  She goes along with what others want to do.  At the beginning, we see her at a bar sitting and talking to the bartender while her two friends are dancing and having fun.  Bianca is, however, counting the hours until she thinks it is socially acceptable to say to her friends that she wants to go (as she is the designated driver).  

However, it all changes when Wes, the local jock, comes up to Bianca at the bar and calls her the Duff.  From then on things change for Bianca in ways that she never expected.  

There is a lot of relationship drama in this book that I really enjoyed.  We see Bianca's parents; her mother who is never at home and her father who used to be an alcoholic but is now struggling to save his marriage.

This book really made me smile and has a great romance to it.  I would highly recommend it to all those who like a bit of character drama in their reading.

Best wishes

Debs

Waiting on Wednesday - The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly memo that is hosted by Breaking the Spine Blog.

 

Expected Release Date:    27th September 2012
(Release date obtained from Goodreads)


Goodreads link is here.

What happened to the girl you left behind?

In 1916 French artist Edouard Lefevre leaves his wife Sophie to fight at the Front. When her town falls into German hands, his portrait of Sophie stirs the heart of the local Kommandant and causes her to risk everything - her family, reputation and life - in the hope of seeing her true love one last time.

Nearly a century later and Sophie's portrait is given to Liv by her young husband shortly before his sudden death. Its beauty speaks of their short life together, but when the painting's dark and passion-torn history is revealed, Liv discovers that the first spark of love she has felt since she lost him is threatened...

In The Girl You Left Behind two young women, separated by a century, are united in their determination to fight for the thing they love most - whatever the cost.


Best wishes


Debs :-)

Book Review: The Blessed by Tonya Hurley

Brooklyn teens Lucy, Cecelia and Agnes find themselves in the emergency room at Perpetual Help Hospital at the lowest point in their lives. Lucy, the superficial party girl; Cecelia, a drop out rock chick; and Agnes, a hopeless romantic. All rebels running from their lives and themselves, plagued by broken hearts and broken dreams. Enter Sebastian. Mysterious, compelling, seductive. He seems to bring each of them what they long for...

But in the battle for his heart, will they lose their souls?

Goodreads Link here

Published:  2nd August 2012

Amazon:    UK  /   US

7 out of 10

This was a very interesting and confusing story; sometimes one sometimes another and even a bit of both on occasion.  You have the three main characters Lucy, Cecelia and Agnes who are introduced at the beginning at Perpetual Help Hospital.  Agnes attempted suicide, Cecelia from drowning and Lucy from drugs.  It is then that we meet the mysterious Sebastian at the hospital, with a hidden agenda.  After then, they all have a charm bracelet with no idea of how they got it.  Maybe its no coincidence that its also Halloween?  

A very slow paced novel where you are fed little bits of information as the story goes along.  Gradually each of the three teens are brought together in an old church as a storm rages outside.  This story really did have me puzzled until and took me until nearer the end of the story to figure out what was going on.  Great character build up.

Best wishes

Debs :-)

  

Book Review - Carnival Girl by Sonja Herbert

The only life little Sonja Francesco has ever known is traveling the carnival circuit and living with her five siblings in a tiny caravan home. The family never stays anywhere long enough for Sonja to make friends or develop roots. The only one in her family, Sonja always believed in God and wants to belong to a church.

At fourteen, Sonja meets the Mormon missionaries and develops a strong testimony of the truth of the Gospel. But can she live the commandments while traveling with the carnival and running one of the attractions every Sunday? Will it be possible for her to leave her family’s life behind and live the life she has always dreamed of?

Goodreads page here

Publisher:   Cedar Fort Inc
Release Date: 12th June 2012

Purchase it at:  Amazon UK /  Amazon USA

My Review -  10 out of 10

What an amazing memoir.  I really enjoyed reading this book.  I have to admit that I am not normally one to read Christian stories and have only read one or two but there was something about this book that intrigued me.  Right from the start, I was sucked into the life of a travelling family following Sonja's story living with her large family travelling with a Carnival and following her discover her religion right from the start when she was aged 8, which was the first time she leaned about Jesus.  Also following the story of Sonja's Mutti and how hard she had to work to raise her family was very inspiring.  Also, what made the story real for me was the little pictures that accompanied the story, which brought to live the people I was reading about, putting a face to the name.

I found this story to be truly inspiring and has definitely brought up some questions for me that I want to search for answers for.   For all you out there who are looking to read an inspiring story, I would definitely recommend this one. ..

Best wishes

Debs :-)

Book Review - Broken Illusions by Ellie James

Below is the blurb for book one in the Midnight Dragonfly series.  If you would like to see the blurb for this book (book 2) please see the below Goodreads link.

 Sixteen-year-old Trinity Monsour wants nothing more than to live a normal life. But that isn’t as easy as it seems. Trinity is different. She is special. She sees visions, and for those she’s seen, it’s already too late. 

Trinity arrives on her aunt’s doorstep in New Orleans with virtually no knowledge of her mysterious heritage. She begins settling into life at a new school and even starts making friends. But all too quickly her dreams accelerate; twisted, terrifying visions of a girl locked in a dark room. And when the head cheerleader, Jessica, goes missing, Trinity knows she has no choice but to step forward with what she’s seen.
But people believe that Trinity has information about Jessica’s disappearance not because of a dream, but because she is involved. She is kind-of dating Jessica’s ex-boyfriend, Chase, and Jessica did pull a nasty prank on Trinity. Revenge seems like the likeliest scenario. 

Nothing prepares Trinity for the dark odyssey that ensues while searching for Jessica, including the surprising romance she finds with Chase, or the shocking truths she learns, not just about the girl who has gone missing, but the past that has been hidden from her.

Goodreads page here

Publisher:  St Martin's Griffin
Release Date: 8th May 2012

Purchase it at:  Amazon UK /  Amazon USA

Check out my review of Shattered Dreams (Book 1) - click here

My Review  
10 out of 10

This is fast becoming one of my most favourite YA series of all time.  I absolutely love the main character Trinity and her kick ass attitude of realising what is the right thing to do and doing it rather than going for the safest way or even not doing anything at all...   


In this second book, we see another girl has gone missing and Trinity starts to have visions in her dreams and she has to quickly put the pieces together to find the girl before something bad happens.  In this second book we learn a lot more about Trinity and her family and I am VERY keen to read the next book in the series, Fragile Darkness which looks like it is due out in November.


If you have not yet picked up this series, I would strongly recommend it...  I'm hooked....


Best wishes


Debs

Waiting on Wednesday - Vessell by Sarah Beth Durst

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly memo that is hosted by Breaking the Spine Blog.

 

Expected Release Date:   21st August 2012
(Release date obtained from Goodreads)


Goodreads link is here.

In a desert world of sandstorms and sand-wolves, a teen girl must defy the gods to save her tribe in this mystical, atmospheric tale from the author of Drink, Slay, Love."Liyana has trained her entire life to be the vessel of a goddess. The goddess will inhabit Liyana's body and use magic to bring rain to the desert. But Liyana's goddess never comes. Abandoned by her angry tribe, Liyana expects to die in the desert. Until a boy walks out of the dust in search of her.

Korbyn is a god inside his vessel, and a trickster god at that. He tells Liyana that five other gods are missing, and they set off across the desert in search of the other vessels. For the desert tribes cannot survive without the magic of their gods. But the journey is dangerous, even with a god's help. And not everyone is willing to believe the trickster god's tale.

The closer she grows to Korbyn, the less Liyana wants to disappear to make way for her goddess. But she has no choice: She must die for her tribe to live. Unless a trickster god can help her to trick fate--or a human girl can muster some magic of her own.


Best wishes

Debs :-)

Book Review and Interview with the Author: Don't You Forget About Me by Alexandra Potter

After a bad break up, doesn't every girl want the same things?

* For her ex-boyfriend to stay single forever...
* Or maybe emigrate, to a remote, uninhabited island?
* Better still, that she'd never met him in the first place!

But what if one of those wishes came true?

Tess is heartbroken when Seb breaks up with her and can't help blaming herself. If only she'd done things differently. If only she could make right all her regrets... But she can't. It's over. She has to forget about him. Drunk and upset on New Year's Eve she wishes she'd never met him.

But when she wakes up to discover this dream has come true, she realises she has a chance. To do it all over again. And to get it right this time...

Goodreads Link here

Publication Date:  19th July 2012

Publisher:  Hodder & Stoughton

Amazon:  UK /  US    

10 out of 10 

Words cannot describe how much I enjoyed this book.  I have always been a big fan of comedic chick lit and this one hit the spot.   We see Tess at the beginning of the story really down in the dumps after being dumped by the person she thought was 'the one'.  New Years Eve, drunk and alone she is flicking through the channels on the TV when she hears about a ritual where you can cleanse your life by burning things.  Tess decides to rid herself of anything Seb.  The next morning everything about Seb has been erased except Tess' memory of being with him, even her flatmate cannot remember him.

  

There are some really fantastic characters in this story, including Tess.  You have her grandfather who is not a normal laid back grandfather.  He's lively, loud and loves to play poker for money.  There's her flatmate who is a beauty consultant who doesn't seem to take her own advice and is always trying to be false and posh when out in public.  There's also Tess' box at work, Sir Richard.  Despite the fact that Tess is awful at her job, Sir Richard takes her on and is very kind.   He has also been acting very strange and appears to have some martial problems.  

It was very interesting to follow Tess' journey through her 're-do' where she tries to do everything different to keep Seb in her life.  There is a very funny scene where they go to a restaurant called Mala which serves spicy food.  The only think is that Tess cannot handle spicy food but Seb loves it.  In the spirit of the re-do, she goes ahead and eats at Mala and the scene afterwards did make me giggle.

I would mention that if you haven't read the book One Day by David Nicholls and is one that you want to read, you might want to read that one first as there is a spoiler in this book for it.  

This was an absolutely fantastic comedic chicklit that I would strongly recommend.....

And now the interview.......

If you could work with any other author, who would it be and why?
Oooh, that's a good one! Can I say Jane Austen? I know it's kind of a magical answer to your question, but I would love to hear her thoughts on my novel, Me and Mr Darcy, and also to work on some new characters. I think we'd make a great double-act!

What would be a typical working day for you? When and where do you write?
I'm terrible in the mornings. I think not having to set my alarm clock is the biggest perk of my job. It takes a very large pot of espresso to get me going in the morning and I tend to spend the first hour or so, replying to emails, reading the papers online and catching up with any celebrity gossip. Sometimes I work from home, but I also like going to the library, or sitting in a coffee shop as I like being around people and writing can be a very lonely profession. I usually start work around 10.30, take a break for lunch, and then finish about 6. However, sometimes if I'm not going out I can work late into the night. In fact, some of my best writing has been done of an evening with a glass of wine…

What is the hardest part of the writing for you?
I'll be honest, I find it ALL hard. I'm not one of those writers who can breeze through a book in a few months, I'm a dreadful perfectionist and agonise over scenes and paragraphs for weeks! In fact, it takes me 18 months from thinking of an idea for a book, and finishing it, which is quite a long process. I think it's easier to focus on which part I find easiest and that would definitely be the last third of the book, when everything is coming together and there's a real sense of the story writing itself. I love that part and find it very exhilarating. I also find the rewriting process easy and enjoyable as once I've written a first draft it's all there, i just need to fine tune it.

When and why did you first start writing?
I've always written, ever since I was a small child. Recently my mum was clearing out her loft and I found all these novels I'd written - the first one when I was nine years old! It was called 'The Tenth Step' about a magic step that grants you all your wishes. How fortutious is that?! Considering I now write magical romantic comedies..

How did you come up with the idea for the book ‘Don't You Forget about Me’?
I had recently broken up with a boyfriend and - as women are often wont to do - I couldn't help blaming myself and wishing I'd done things differently, as maybe then it would have worked out. It was something that I talked about with friends, and i discovered that a lot of them felt the same way. So I thought, wouldn't it make a great story if I gave my heroine a second chance at her relationship If by some magical twist of fate she gets to date her boyfriend again. Imagine all the things you could do! I thought it would make for a great story, and also allow me to write some great comedy.

Are you a big reader? If so, what are you reading now?
When I'm working on a novel, I tend not to read much - which pretty much seems to be all the time! Once I finish one novel I pretty much move directly onto the next. However, when I do get the chance to read I love autobiographies - Keith Richards was my last one. My main reading tends to be articles and features in various publications. I love reading other people's opinions on the world.

Do you have any advice for other aspiring writers?

Have a go! I think a lot of people are put off trying to write, by the fear of failure, of not being a good enough writer. And yet writing is very much like anything else - the more you do it - the better you become. I definitely think I have improved as a writer, simply by writing every day for the past twelve years and honing my skills. You realise what works and what doesn't work. Also, a lot of it is determination. Writing is bloody hard work. I've been known to spend a week on a scene, only to delete it at the end of that week. That's pretty soul destroying. You have to be able to pick yourself up and keep going. Because what I've learned is that if you keep going, you will eventually, get to the end. Oh, and if you're anything like me, stay out of Zara! Honestly, the time I've spent in those changing rooms when I should have been at my desk writing… :)

Best wishes.

Debs :-) 

What I Do When Im Not Reading: My DVD Collection

Part One

Part Two

Book Review: Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas

After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin.

Her opponents are men—thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the kings council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she’ll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom.

Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she’s bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it’s the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.

Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

Goodreads Link here.
Published:  2nd August 2012
Amazon:  UK  /  US  

10 out of 10
(video review at the bottom of post)

OMG this book was amazing... At over 400 pages long, I was hooked from the beginning and could not put it down until the final page.  The two main characters in this story are Celaena and the Crown Prince and there is great interactions and banter between them right from the beginning.  There is also a magical element to the story, which I loved and won't mention here as I don't want to spoil the story for you. 

As well as being an infamous assassin, she has a love of books and learning and the Royal Family has a library that holds thousands of books (which I am totally jealous about!).  


As well as striking up an unexpected friendship with a member of the Royal Family, Caleana also strikes up a friendship with her guard, Chaol so there is definately a very interesting love triangle here.  


As well as the competition to find out who will become the King's Champion, there is also something strange happening in the Royal Castle.  People are getting murdered and strange symbols left on and aside their bodies.  Celaena sets out to try and find out what is happening...


What a great book and I would recommend for all of you YA paranormal book lovers out there...

Best wishes


Debs :-)

Book Review - Friendship Bread by Darien Gee

An anonymous gift sends a woman on a journey she never could have anticipated.

One afternoon, Julia Evarts and her five-year-old daughter, Gracie, arrive home to find an unexpected gift on the front porch: a homemade loaf of Amish Friendship Bread and a simple note: I hope you enjoy it. Also included are a bag of starter, instructions on how to make the bread herself, and a request to share it with others.

Still reeling from a personal tragedy that left her estranged from the sister who was once her best friend, Julia remains at a loss as to how to move on with her life. She’d just as soon toss the anonymous gift, but to make Gracie happy, she agrees to bake the bread.

When Julia meets two newcomers to the small town of Avalon, Illinois, she sparks a connection by offering them her extra bread starter. Widow Madeline Davis is laboring to keep her tea salon afloat while Hannah Wang de Brisay, a famed concert cellist, is at a crossroads, her career and marriage having come to an abrupt end. In the warm kitchen of Madeline’s tea salon, the three women forge a friendship that will change their lives forever.

In no time, everyone in Avalon is baking Amish Friendship Bread. But even as the town unites for a benevolent cause and Julia becomes ever closer to her new friends, she realizes the profound necessity of confronting the painful past she shares with her sister.

About life and loss, friendship and community, food and family, Friendship Bread tells the uplifting story of what endures when even the unthinkable happens.

Goodreads page here

Publisher:  Ballantine Books
Release Date:     April 2011

Purchase it at:  Amazon UK /  Amazon USA

My Review
10 out of 10


When I first started to read this book I had thought with so many characters it might get a bit confusing but it really wasn't.  You have certain main characters - Julia and Mark who have a rocky relationship and trying to get over the loss of a child, Edie and Richard who are trying to get pregnant, Livvy who is Julia's sister and has a troubled relationship with her sister since the death of her nephew and of course her relationship with her husband, Hannah and Philippe who are at the start of a divorce and then you have Madeleine who is a widower who has set up a tea shop and has had a bit of a rough past.


This is very much a family drama type of story where we see Julia receive the friendship bread from an anonymous donee with a recipe of how to bake it and pass it on.  From then on we follow the bread as it flows through the main characters and see glimpses of other characters who also come across the friendship bread.  


I really enjoyed this story following the various families and what was happening at the time and I have to admit that this story really gave me an uplift and a fresh perspective on how great we all can be.

Best wishes

Debs