The Hippo Hands Over . . . . to Kate Rigby

Today I'm delighted to hand over to author Kate Rigby. Kate has written an impressive amount of books so I'll waste no more time and  hand you straight over to her so that you can find out more.

Photo courtesy of Kate Rigby

                                               Author Biography

 

Kate Rigby was born near Liverpool and now lives in the south west of England.  She’s been writing for nearly forty years, with a few small successes along the way, although she has long term health conditions. She is a hybrid author, having been traditionally published, small press published and now indie published.

She realized her unhip credentials were mounting so she decided to write about it. Little Guide to Unhip was first published in 2010 and it has since been updated.

However, she’s not completely unhip. Her punk novel, Fall Of The Flamingo Circus was published by Allison & Busby (1990) and by Villard (American hardback 1990). Skrev Press published her novels SeaviewTerrace (2003) Sucka!(2004) and Break Point (2006) and other shorter work has appeared in Skrev’s avant garde magazine Texts’ Bones.

Thalidomide Kid was published by Bewrite Books (2007).

She has had other short stories published and shortlisted including Hard Workers and Headboards, first published in The Diva Book of Short Stories and as part of the Dancing In The Dark erotic anthology, Pfoxmoor Publishing (2011)

She also received a Southern Arts bursary for her novel Where A Shadow Played (now re-Kindled as Did You Whisper Back?).

She has re-Kindled her backlist of previously published as well as most of her unpublished work including:

Break Point (Awesome Indies Certified)

Seaview Terrace

 Far Cry From The Turquoise Room

Suckers n Scallies (formerly Sucka!)

Down The Tubes (Underground Book Reviews Certified)

She Looks Pale

Tales By Kindlelight (a collection of short stories, many of them previously published or shortlisted in short story competitions and now available in paperback as She Looks Pale &Other Stories)

Savage To Savvy  (ABNA Quarter-Finalist 2012 and Awesome Indies Approved)

Thalidomide Kid

The Dead Club

I think you'll agree that's a remarkable list of books but Kate has been writing for many years! I had the pleasure of reviewing The Dead Club at the beginning of last year which you can read here and one of my favourite characters was Topsy the cat so I was excited when Kate told me that Topsy had agreed to come along for a chat.

                          Interview with Topsy from ‘The Dead Club’

Interviewer:  Hello, Topsy.  I have kept the window seat for you as I know how you like to recline and stretch out.

Topsy (ceases washing, looks alert): Why, thank you.

Interviewer: Saucer of cream?

Topsy: Now you’re talking!

Interviewer: You are a very handsome boy with that tabby overcoat.

Topsy (exposes belly, rolling a few times): Handsome girl, if you please.

Interviewer: Of course.  I do apologise.

Topsy (suddenly fixing interviewer with a knowing stare): People are always making that mistake. Not all heroic felines are male, I’ll have you know.

Interviewer: I’m afraid I can’t offer you the same treats as Mrs L who cleaned your old master’s house either.

Topsy: Just give me a saucer of cream and I’ll be fine.

Interviewer: Now you make a few appearances in The Dead Club, don’t you?

Topsy: More than Mrs L, I’d say.

Interviewer: It’s a rather ominous title, wouldn’t you say – The Dead Club?

Topsy: We cats have nine lives as you know. We’re used to dicing with death, missing it by a whisker, but some of the people I come into contact with...well, a cat senses when they need a bit of feline intervention.

Interviewer: Yes, there is that touching scene when you save Marina – literally – from falling off a ledge at one point. 

Topsy: I do my best, but sometimes, fate is bigger than us.

Interviewer: Would you say you were a moggy on a mission?

Topsy:  We are always on some sort of mission, even if it is just to get into your food cupboard – well, that especially. 

Interviewer: But wasn’t your main mission to find your brother who you were certain was still out there somewhere?

Topsy (purring): Mmm. I was sure we were separated as kittens and there was a Turvy out there, missing me.

Interviewer: Well, we won’t issue any spoilers in our interview today.  But tell us a bit more about  the ‘catverts’ as you call them in the pet shop window?

Topsy: You’ll have seen the kind of thing  – you know: ‘young mums waiting to settle down’ and language that you folks will understand.

Interviewer: Or to quote you directly: Kindle, this beautiful black and white gal has just arrived with her brother, Nook – this handsome black & white chappie. Kindle and Nook haven’t had the best of starts but they’re settling into the comparative luxury of our lovely rehoming centre. They have not had much experience with people so we have immediately enrolled them in our ‘charm school’ where they will learn the pleasure of cuddles, the delights of laps and indoor conveniences such as litter trays –

Topsy (waving a dismissive paw): Not quoting me, my friend, that was an actual catvert I strolled past and I remember feeling quite bitter that the brother and sister in question were at least able to be rehomed together. Things were very different in my day!

Interviewer:  I’m sure. Still, you talked about fate earlier. Do you think it was fate that you and the railway poet, Zion, hooked up together, after he’d experienced a loss?

Topsy:  Oh yes.  There is a lot of fate going on in the book, if you ask me, which most people don’t. But Zion needed to overcome his fear of train journeys which he’d previously lived for and I needed to go on a train journey in search of my brother, so we sort of hooked up and helped each other out, so to speak.

Interviewer (stroking Topsy’s head:) Well, thanks for joining us today, Topsy, but I’m afraid we have run out of time.  A big thanks to the haphazardous hippo who I hope doesn’t have an aversion to felines.

Topsy (slinking off): An aversion? The very idea.

Thank you so much for bringing Topsy along for a chat today Kate. It was lovely to meet her but such a shame that she had to leave so quickly, but I guess that's cats for you, always busy!

You can find out more about Kate, her books and connect with her using the links below:

Website
Facebook - Books
Facebook - Paperbacks
Amazon
Blog
Goodreads

I'd like to thank Kate and Topsy for stopping by today. It's been an absolute pleasure having you both here.

Cragside (DCI Ryan Mysteries #6) - L J Ross

I love DCI Ryan and this amazing series of books so when author LJ Ross emailed me to ask if I'd be interested in reading and reviewing Cragside I jumped at the chance.

Having had to relocate Ryan and Anna are temporarily living in a cottage within the grounds of Cragside. They have been invited to a Victorian themed murder mystery evening and while history lover Anna is looking forward to it, Ryan isn't relishing the idea of dressing up. Once there though, Ryan sees everyone else in costume and settles down a bit until suddenly all the lights go out. Initially everyone thinks that it's a planned part of the evening until one member of staff assures them that it's not and heads off to try to fix the problem. When they don't return to the party Ryan goes off in search of the elderly valet, only to find him in a crumpled heap at the bottom of a staircase. Initially it appears to be an unfortunate accident but when another death is reported the very next day Ryan suspects the two deaths are linked and they have a killer in their midst.

LJ Ross is an outstanding writer and each book has just the right mix of gripping plot combined with the camaraderie of characters that I've very much grown to know and love and Cragside is no exception . Ryan's team are all engaging characters in their own right and each of them have had to battle with their own demons at some point throughout this fantastic series but this never detracts from the story and helps to bring an even greater sense of reality and connection to the reader.

Writing a great book is an accomplishment in itself, but to write a whole series, that in my opinion just gets better with each book, is for me, as rare as hens teeth. In my experience of  several series of books I find that the author doesn't do enough to keep the sparkle alive within each book but this is definitely something that Louise has mastered. If you've read any of the DCI Ryan books then you'll know exactly what I'm talking about and if you haven't read any of them then you really are missing out on some amazing books so don't just take my word for it, do yourself a favour and hook yourself up with a date with DCI Ryan.

With kind thanks to author LJ Ross for the review copy.

White Lies - Ellie Holmes

After reading The Flower Seller by Ellie Holmes last year (you can read my review here) I was delighted to be asked to read her next book White Lies.

Following a night out Sam and her husband Neil are on their way home when the couple knock David off his motorbike. When Neil then convinces his wife to lie to the police neither of them could have imagined its ensuing consequences.

Their marriage is already on shaky ground, following an admission by Neil, so when Sam can't handle her guilty feelings anymore she decides to go behind her husband's back and visit David in the hospital to confess all. When she arrives at the hospital David has a visitor so once again Sam finds herself telling another lie about why she's there.

The deceptions and lies come thick and fast and although the characters aren't particularly easy to like (with the exception of the adorable widow Daphne), it's compelling to read as you know that the proverbial is going to hit the fan but you don't know when or how.


White Lies is an intriguing story, written with great insight into how and why people feel the need to deceive others, whether it's to protect themselves or to spare the feelings of others close to them and clearly showing how seemingly harmless lies can soon spiral out of control, impacting everyone involved.

This is a book that will have you questioning what you would do in the same circumstances and certainly proves to me that honesty is usually the best policy! 

Ellie's talent for writing shines through in this book and she's fast becoming one of my favourite authors. I would highly recommend that you check them out, I know you won't be disappointed.


With kind thanks to author Ellie Holmes for the review copy.

#Blog Tour: Each Little Lie - Tom Bale

I'm thrilled to be one of today's stops on the blog tour for Tom Bale's latest book, Each Little Lie.

Once again Tom has written a book about an ordinary person who finds themselves in a dilemma no-one would want to find themselves in. In Each Little Lie we meet Jen, a single mum to Charlie who is going through an acrimonious divorce from her husband, Freddie.

On her way to work one day she notices her neighbour drop his keys, trying to do the right thing she picks them up but she's unable to get his attention as he drives off with a friend. Not wanting to leave the keys where someone could potentially find them and not having a pen to leave a note, she decides to enter the house.

After having left a note stuck to the neighbours front door she heads off to work without giving much more thought to the matter. Later that evening there's a knock on Jen's front door, but instead of the neighbour in search of his keys, it's the police who proceed to arrest her for criminal damage and burglary.

Jen is shocked to say the least but the consequences of her going to prison are too high so she sets off to clear her name which triggers a whole chain of events which quickly spiral out of control. Is her theory that someone is out to get her all in her mind? If not, then who is it and why have they targeted her?

Having read some of Tom's previous books I was expecting a fast paced, action  packed thriller but Each Little Lie is a slower, more hesitant story, which relies more on building the suspense. That said, I still found myself racing through it, keen to find out who was targeting Jen. Yes, some of her actions were questionable, but people do strange things in the heat of the moment. What made this such an enjoyable read for me was the fact that there were quite a few characters who fell under suspicion and each one appeared to have a plausible reason for being the main suspect until, a few pages along, another revelation was made which caused me to doubt my reasoning. There are some pretty horrible, self-centred, manipulative and downright vile characters in this book but that just added to the realism and when the story is based on deceit, lies and corruption there's bound to be more than a few unsavoury characters.

For me Each Little Lie was a slow burning read that pulled me in and had me gripped right up to the climactic end and one that I would definitely recommend.


You can follow the rest of the blog tour on these great blogs:

With kind thanks to Kim Nash at Bookouture and NetGalley for the review copy.

The Hippo Hands Over . . . . to Robert Rees

I'm handing over to Robert Rees, author of A Season in the Sun today and he's going to tell us what inspired him to write his book.

Robert Rees was born in Berkshire and educated at Eton College and Trinity College Cambridge. He retired from the City of London in 2007 and now works in the music and drama media industry. He regularly writes, directs and composes music for local amateur productions. Robert lives with his wife, bestselling author Deborah Lawrenson, and daughter Madeleine in Kent.

     What inspired me to write my book “A Season in the Sun” – The Evolution of Henry Fanshawe

I had never really intended to be a writer when I retired from the City in 2007. By discipline I was a scientist, but not a particularly notable one. At university it became clear that the queue in front of me for Nobel Prizes was far longer than the queue behind me, and anyway, I couldn’t stand the practicals. There was a wonderful subject for those disenchanted like me, called History and Philosophy of Science, in the last year. It taught me, after many years of figures, how to write again, and gave me an interest in the subject which I have never lost. 

Similarly, in my years of project finance and banking, (though I loved the atmosphere) I found the area interesting only when there was something new to be invented or some grand design to be funded. I remember upon becoming a director of a major bank that we had to take a psychometric test, to establish that we weren’t mad or likely to abscond to Brazil with everyone’s life savings. The besuited man over the desk looked at me, then down at my results, then up at me again, before telling me that of all the potential candidates he had analysed, he could not remember one less suited to the job. It is amazing what we will do for money.

So in 2007 I was looking forward to a complete change – mainly on the music side, which I have studied and loved for years. I took lessons, started writing music, and, as it turned out crucially, applied to play piano for my local acting group. They were putting on “Aladdin” for the Xmas panto and needed a pianist. Having looked through the script (average) and the songs (dreadful) I wondered if I could not rewrite the songs using the words already there. It was the first time I had tried this since my university days, but seemed to go OK. The show was successful and I tasted the utter pleasure of hearing something I had written performed and appreciated. It was an addictive cocktail.

The next year, having been unable to find a decent script for “Jack and the Beanstalk”, I left for the summer hols having decided to try and write one. Plans for a book on the History of Science were shelved in exchange for bad puns, silly names and slapstick. I found myself enjoying this anarchy enormously, though my wife and daughter, regularly forced to listen to excerpts, may have been less enthusiastic. Still, by the autumn, Giant Underpants, Jack O’Bean (geddit?), and Baron Landscape were ready to be unleashed upon the poor unsuspecting public of Penshurst, with original songs and a new script. This has become a biennial event, and three pantos later I still enjoy writing and performing it immensely.

So to the more serious art of novel writing. Many years back, I and my wife honeymooned in the Seychelles, which I still regard as the most beautiful of islands. We have been back there a few times, and in about 2010, we visited again. On one jaunt in a jeep around the island, I noticed something new – a group of boys playing cricket on a square of grass rough-hewn from the surrounding rain forest. It set me thinking – how new was this sport to the Seychelles? Was there a league? A little research confirmed its novelty, and the germs of idea began to spout. In its nascent state, could a village team ever win the national trophy (all Brits love an underdog!). Could the cloud of match fixing drift over from India to complicate proceedings? Could a pompous and grumpy old banker and cricket nut from England somehow find himself in the position of having a team of talented amateurs to manage? 

Like all ideas, this was initially put aside and relegated to the unconscious, where it lay for some years, making bad friends and generally hanging around in dubious company. Then one summer when a pantomime was not required, I was chatting with my wife (who is a proper novelist!) about the idea, and she suggested I give it a try. I started to piece together how it could work. Maybe the scientist in me enjoyed the pattern forming that is at the base of all art and science. Maybe it was the practice doing pantomime that led to pleasure of writing dialogue. It was certainly the characters, so wonderful and varied, that I had met in the City of London, who contributed to the main hero. Henry Fanshawe, a middle aged, slightly overweight banker with a love of cricket and fine wine. Apt to be gruff, with the messiest desk in the city, but full of bonhomie and generosity for his fellow travellers. So many of my friends went into this melange that I slightly worry about returning to the City in the future.

The novel was completed a few years ago, and then handed to parents (they liked it, but of course they would say that!), brother (disturbingly quiet reaction), daughter (corrected my punctuation with an industry that marks her out as a pedagogue of the future) and lastly my wife, who having ripped the first section to shreds, then gave me the most valuable and constructive criticism I have had. It took around six months to recast.

All that was last year, and after the new draft attracted positive comment from friends and family, I took the plunge and sent it to Troubador, with whom we have a previous connection through one of my wife’s earlier novels. They select, so there is an element at least of some standard being applied. But the printing is paid for by the author, so it is a slightly hybrid approach. This suited me, as I am well aware of the extreme difficulty of getting a publisher nowadays, and of the time and trouble taken. With the limited market for a first time author (hopefully not too limited) it was just not worth toiling round the market. Troubador will also edit, copy edit and market. If it works, it may get taken up by someone. If not, well I enjoyed every moment of it.

I must go now, Henry Fanshawe is on the phone. He was at Taunton yesterday watching England lose narrowly to South Africa, and it seems that the qualities of Somerset Cider have worked their usual magic on him. Apparently he was escorted from the ground after haranguing the umpire on a decision, and he wants me to nip down and pick him up from the local constabulary (and no doubt pay the fine). Honestly, I can’t take him anywhere!

                                                   *    *    *    * 

 I love it when the authors character's drop by and interrupt their creators and Henry certainly sounds like a character! 

If after reading that you're intruigued and want to know more about A Season in the Sun here's the blurb:

Henry Fanshawe, the last family member of Fanshawes Commodities in the City of London, leads a quiet life trading spices in a large dealing room. His day consists of ignoring requests to tidy his desk, making money and spending it on his three great loves: French landscape paintings, fine wine, and cricket. But the new City does not agree with him, and he finds himself falsely accused of financial chicanery, and summarily dismissed. In a stroke of extremely good fortune, a legacy from an elderly aunt allows Henry to move to the Seychelles - though there are strings attached. He must manage her Village Cricket Club, and propel it through the formative years of the Seychelles Cricket league to the position of greatness it deserves. For his colourful and talented team of amateurs, who include a depressive ex-county opener, a drug-taking fast bowler, and the local Chief of Police, this would be difficult enough a task. But in addition there are darker forces within Seychelles cricket, forces from the murky world of gambling who wish to twist the beautiful game to their illicit ends. Henry's first season in the sun becomes a high stakes contest of amateur talent against organised crime, leading to a thrilling climax...A Season in the Sun combines cricket, crime and comedy in the beautiful surroundings of a south sea island. Similar in style to PG Wodehouse and William Boyd, it will appeal to fans of suspense and sporting pursuits alike.

You can find out more about Robert and connect with him using the links below:

Facebook

Twitter

Amazon

Troubador

 I'd like to thank Robert for taking the time to stop by today and for writing a great guest post. I'd also like to wish him every success with A Season in the Sun.