The Hippo Hands Over . . . . to Toya Richardson

Today it's my pleasure to introduce you all to Toya Richardson, an author I recently discovered and 'met' during an online author event. I was also lucky enough to win a signed copy of one of her books, Flame, which my little assistants Hamlet and Howie are posing with below, so watch out for a review coming soon as well!

So back to today, before I share Toya's guest post let's find out a little bit about the lovely lady herself.

Photo courtesy of Toya Richardson

Writing has been my passion since a very early age. Sadly, it wasn’t until the death of my mum, who was also my best friend, in 2009 that I started to take it seriously. My mum’s wish was to see me published, which didn’t occur until 2014. And now, each book written by me is dedicated to her.

My main genre is romance, with books published in contemporary and paranormal romance. I also have the first of a trilogy published in YA Fantasy, there is an element of romance in this series, although the focus is predominantly the heroine’s quest.

When not writing, or reading my main hobbies are; cinema, theatre, gardening, keeping fit, Formula One racing, darts and spending time with friends.

I live in Suffolk with my husband, grown up son and Masai the cat.

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                                       My Publishing Journey

I’ve always had a vivid imagination which was encouraged by my mum. From a very early age, she read stories to me from books and her own made up ones. Her wish was to see me published one day.

Over fifteen years ago, I had a Eureka moment in the bath. Flame, my contemporary romance thriller was born. My mum loved the book and was positive it would be successful. After its completion, I had a professional critique done, which led to another until I ended up paying out almost £800! I submitted to various publishers. After many rejections, I gave up and put it in the back of a cupboard.

My mum passed away in 2009, leaving a huge gap in my life. I spiralled with depression and got to a very low point in my life. I started to write again as a form of therapy and soon had a series of eight paranormal romances written. After several more rejections, I signed for a US publisher and the series, Eternal Love of the Seekers, is now on eBook only.

After this, I decided to retrieve Flame from the back of the cupboard. I was actually quite embarrassed by how badly written it was and felt upset by how much money I had spent on it with no positive outcome. I proceeded to re-write it until I was happy with the finished book. I was fortunate enough to be signed by a UK publisher and Flame is now in paperback and eBook. When I first held a copy in my hand I’ll admit I did a happy dance! There’s something extremely precious about holding a real book in your hands. It’s your baby and to see it given life is a very special moment.

Years earlier, when I had an agent, he suggested I self-publish a YA fantasy I’d written, Defender of Stargor, Book One of The Fireblood Saga. I spent over £700 with very little sales. So, I asked them to take it down and in 2016, it was published by my UK publisher.

Gone are the days when publishers had vast amounts of money to support their authors with marketing etc. Now, authors must be proactive on social media and attending various events. I never wanted to go on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram and now I’m active on all three. I also have a website, which requires updating although I don’t have time at the moment!

I have pushed myself to do things that I never thought I would. It started slowly with posting one-liners from my work and links to Amazon. I took part in a takeover event on Facebook and was absolutely terrified! I do them all the time now and enjoy interacting with readers and fellow authors. I’ve also completed live reads on there and again I really didn’t want to do it, but am quite comfortable with them now. It’s helped a little with sales, but more importantly I’ve made many friends.

The Indie author community is very welcoming and supportive and it heartens me at how much they want to help if you’re struggling. I am always happy to help others too, and love to see others succeed.

Recently, I’ve attended two author signings, yet another way to “get yourself out there” and finally meet people you’ve interacted with online. I also gave a talk to a local WI group whose book club reviewed Flame back in June. They had lots of questions and appeared generally interested in my work. More recently, I gave a talk where I work on my writing journey. Over twenty people attended and again, I was terrified! They sat and listened while I spoke for forty minutes before reading an excerpt from Flame. There was a thunderous round of applause and many questions afterwards. It was certainly a confidence booster!

If someone had told me I’d be taking part in all these various events a couple of years ago, I’d have laughed. I am basically shy and have really had to push my limits with all of this. But, it’s made me confident and more comfortable with it all.

So, what now? Well, I cannot say too much in case it doesn’t happen but I am working on an MS called Destination: Love, a contemporary romance. There is interest in this story, but I’ve been asked to do a little more with it. This is part of a series of romances based at beachside locations – all of which I’ve visited. I also have around ten other finished works, which require editing – not to mention three wip and books full of notes for other stories!!

I, like most other indie authors, run at a loss. That doesn’t matter though, because writing is a passion. I remember wise words from a published author I met years ago at a workshop. He said, and I quote, “write because you love to write. If you write for the money, then you might as well stop now.” This is so very true.

Writing quite literally saved my life. I thank my lucky stars that I always have stories running around inside my head, and writer’s block isn’t something I suffer from. As a memorial to my mum and her amazing love and support, I dedicate each book I am lucky enough to have published to her.

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Thanks so much for sharing your journey with us Toya! I always find it interesting to hear all the different stories that authors have about how their book babies come to fruition. Knowing how difficult it can be for authors to get their books noticed is one of the reasons why I love blogging so much, it's lovely discovering and getting to know you all as well as sharing the book love!

If you'd like to find out more about Toya and her books you can use the links below:

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Little Bird Publishing

Red Sage Publishing

I'd like to thank Toya for writing such a great guest post and for stopping by today. I'd also like to her every success with her books.

Cover reveal - You're Next - Michael Fowler

I'm delighted to be taking part in the cover reveal for You're Next by Michael Fowler.

                                                                 Blurb

It is the opening day of Detective Sergeant Scarlett Macey’s biggest case of her life – ‘The Lycra Rapist’ is standing trial for a series of brutal rapes.

But things don’t go according to plan – the trial collapses – and James Green is freed.

Scarlett is determined his freedom will not last long and immediately begins planning his downfall.

Meanwhile James Green has his own plans for revenge, and driven by feelings of hatred begins to pick out those who brought about his downfall – priming them for the kill.

Scarlett has faced many villains in the past, but never one quite as terrifying as James Green…

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I love this dark, atmospheric cover which I think fits so well with the blurb. 

You're Next is published by Caffeine Nights Publishing and will be available in paperback from November 9th and ebook from November 21st.

There will also be a blog tour which I'm looking forward to taking part in.

 

#Blog Tour - The Winter's Child - Cassandra Parkin

I'm delighted to be one of today's stops on the blog tour for The Winter's Child by Cassandra Parkin. I've never read any of Cassandra's books but after reading the blurb when I was offered a review copy by the publisher Legend Press, I jumped at the chance.




Five years ago, Susannah Harper's son Joel went missing without trace. Bereft of her son and then of her husband, Susannah tries to accept that she may never know for certain what has happened to her lost loved ones. She has rebuilt her life around a simple selfless mission: to help others who, like her, must learn to live without hope.

But then, on the last night of Hull Fair, a fortune-teller makes an eerie prediction. She tells her that this Christmas Eve, Joel will finally come back to her.

As her carefully-constructed life begins to unravel, Susannah is drawn into a world of psychics and charlatans, half-truths and hauntings, friendships and betrayals, forcing her to confront the buried truths of her family's past, where nothing and no one are quite as they seem.

A ghostly winter read with a modern gothic flavour. A tale of twisted love, family secrets and hauntings.

Susannah is at a local fair with her sister and niece and nephew when she is tempted into a fortune tellers tent. She has visited various psychics and mediums over the years since her son Joel went missing and despite being let-down by them, she is still secretly searching for one who will give her the answers she needs. There is something about this particular fortune teller that pulls her in and when she's told that Joel will be back by Christmas Susannah's hopes are raised.

Susannah is now torn between her hope that the fortune tellers prediction will come true and her past experiences with charlatans who prey on people like herself, desperate for answers and a tiny glimmer of hope that their loved ones aren't lost. She is so passionate about this subject that she writes a blog warning other parent's whose children are missing about how easy it is to be taken in by these unscrupulous people who pray on their misfortune as well as sharing her day to day feelings and thoughts on life in general.

When Susannah meets Jackie, another mother who's son has gone missing, the two women quickly form a bond and a friendship is forged. Jackie has been following Susannah's blog and has found it comforting to read her posts so when Susannah tricks her into visiting a psychic Jackie rightly feels betrayed but have they found the one person who can truly help them find out where Joel is?

The Winter's Child is a beautifully written book that will tug at the heart strings. The author has done a wonderful job of making the characters believable and putting a real twist on the missing child plot. This is a dark and atmospheric read, perfect for this time of year, where the nights are drawing in and the shadows play tricks with your eyes and maybe even your mind. Cassandra Parkin has written a hauntingly evocative story that deserves to be savoured and one that had me absolutely enthralled from beginning to end. I wish someone had told me about this author before as I've clearly missed some amazing books if this one is anything to go by!

You can follow the rest of the Blog Tour with these wonderful blogs:

With kind thanks to Imogen Harris at Legend Press for the review copy in exchange for an honest review and for asking me to take part in the blog tour.

The Hippo Hands Over . . . . to Elizabeth Jane Corbett

Today The Hippo is going international and I'm handing over to Elizabeth Jane Corbett, a debut author in Australia!

Elizabeth's novel, The Tides Between will be published on October 20th by Odyssey Books and she's here to talk about the inspiration for her book, but as usual let me first introduce you all to the lovely lady herself.

Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Jane Corbett

When Elizabeth Jane Corbett isn’t writing, she works as a librarian, teaches Welsh at the Melbourne Celtic Club, writes articles for the Historical Novel Review and blogs at elizabethjanecorbett.com.  In 2009, her short-story, Beyond the Blackout Curtain, won the Bristol Short Story Prize. Another, Silent Night, was short listed for the Allan Marshall Short Story Award. An early draft of her first novel, The Tides Between, was shortlisted for a HarperCollins Varuna Manuscript Development Award. It will be published by Odyssey Books in October 2017. Elizabeth lives with her husband, in a renovated timber cottage in Melbourne's inner-north. She likes red shoes, dark chocolate, commuter cycling, and reading quirky, character driven novels set once-upon-a-time in lands far away.

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The Tides Between – an Aussie immigration novel that got hijacked by Welsh fairy-tales

It started with a mid-life crisis. In the lead-up to a significant birthday (let’s not be specific) I wrote a list of all the things I’d like to have achieved by that stage in my life. ‘Write a Novel’ topped the list. See, I’d always been a bookish kind of girl and, having been raised on stories of an author in the family, and, having trained as a librarian (because only clever people wrote novels), I had this always-wanted-to-write-a-novel thing deep in my psyche. On the occasion of my significant birthday, I decided, I’d better make a start before it was too late.

Emigrating to Australia as a five-year-old had been the defining event of my childhood. So why not make it an immigration novel? But not my own story. That was too boring. I’d done a history degree as an undergraduate and loved reading historical fiction. So maybe an historical novel? But I still had four children living at home and absolutely no research budget. So maybe an Aussie immigration novel? So, I could get resources from the local library.

During my university years, I’d been fascinated by Caroline Chisholm, a nineteenth century immigrant woman who advocated on behalf of vulnerable female migrants to Australia. I borrowed some biographies on Chisholm, then broadened my research out to immigration in general. By which stage, to my immense surprise, characters were forming in my head. A young girl was the primary one. I called her Bridie. She had lost her father in tragic circumstances. I had this notion that a creative young couple on the ship would help her come to terms with her loss. Initially, I imagined they were Irish. But wait, hang on, too cliché. Besides, I didn’t have any Irish relations and my proposed research trip would be reliant on long-lost family accommodation. But Mum was Welsh. Maybe my creative young couple could be Welsh?

I knew nothing about Wales at that stage - apart from rugby and male voice choirs. But Rugby hadn’t been invented in the 1840s and, even if I could have invented a scenario in which a whole male voice choir emigrated to Australia en masse, I didn’t think a young girl would find it particularly inspiring. Some quick research told me Wales had a strong bardic culture.

Hmm…maybe my Welsh couple could be storytellers?

While this fermentation was going on, I learned there were Welsh classes in Melbourne. I’d read How Green Was My Valley and realised that Welsh people spoke English differently. I thought maybe a term of Welsh lessons would help me understand why. But, I had no idea the language of my fathers was so beautiful and ancient and endangered. Or that the welsh were engaged in an even-now battle to keep it alive. Somehow, one term of lessons became two, then three. Before, long I realised I didn’t want to stop. I am now one of the tutors at our Melbourne Welsh classes.

So, I had characters, and this love affair with a language going on. Time to start writing. I did a short ‘How to Write a Novel’ course which scared the Bejeezus out of me. I thought: if I worry about everything I need to know I’ll never find the courage to write. I decided to simply let my characters board the ship and see what happened.

The first draft took me about a year. It was a great, big rambling mess that somehow got shortlisted for a manuscript development award. Hmm…so maybe I could write? And I now had a full first draft. Perhaps it was time to learn all those things I should have learned before starting out?

I had the manuscript professionally assessed twice and did some novel subjects at a local Technical and Further Education college. External assessors told me it was a good story, and worth pursuing. While, a voice inside kept telling me to give up. I was wasting my time. No one ever got their first novel published. See, I’d been to realise mine was an unusual manuscript. A young girl’s coming-of-age tale with embedded Welsh fairy-tales that had both adult and young adult viewpoints. Like, where was it going to sit on the bookshop shelves? But I am a pretty stubborn and, though wrestling with self-doubt, I had to see the process through to the end, no matter the outcome.

In the end, I re-wrote the manuscript four times. The ensuing novel, The Tides Between was picked up by Odyssey Books. It will be published on 20th October 2017. On the surface, it is a simple coming-of-age tale that can be enjoyed by teenagers. Yet it also has embedded Welsh fairy tales, which both mirror and inform the plot, and fantasy elements. But although the story is steeped in ancient folklore, it explores modern themes of mental illness, failed marriage, blended families, disillusionment with sacred stories, and how to read them with different eyes. Hopefully that makes it a book with crossover potential. Especially among those who love fairy tales, folklore and a bit of Celtic mysticism with their history.

                                                           Blurb

She fancied herself part of a timeless chain without beginning or end, linked only by the silver strong words of its tellers.

In the year 1841, on the eve of her departure from London, Bridie Stewart’s mother demands she forget her dead father and prepare for a sensible, adult life in Port Phillip. Desperate to save her childhood memories, fifteen-year-old Bridie is determined to smuggle a notebook filled with her father's fairy-tales to the far side of the world.

When Rhys Bevan, a soft-voiced young storyteller and fellow traveller realises Bridie is hiding something, a magical friendship is born. But Rhys has his own secrets and the words written in Bridie’s notebook carry a dark, double meaning.

As they inch towards their destination, Rhys's past returns to haunt him. Bridie grapples with the implications of her dad’s final message. The pair take refuge in fairy tales, little expecting the trouble it will cause.

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I've been practising my Welsh here at The Hippo in preparation for Elizabeth's post today, so here goes. . . . *clears her throat* . . . .  

Rwy'n credu bod hyn yn swnio fel llyfr gwych Elizabeth 😉

Please forgive me if my pronunciation is a little off!!

You can find out more about Elizabeth and connect with her using the links below:

Website

Twitter

Facebook

I'd like to thank Elizabeth for stopping by today and to wish her lots of luck or pob lwc with The Tides Between 🥂