I’m delighted to be part of the launch celebrations for Sweet Breath of Memory by Ariella Cohen which was published on 28th June 2016 by Kensington. Sweet Breath of Memory is available for purchase on Amazon, Hive, from Waterstones and Foyles.

I have a brilliantly though-provoking guest post from Ariella Cohen all about memory and identity.

Sweet Breath of Memory

Life is in the telling.

With its tree-lined streets, vibrant downtown and curbside planters of spring bulbs, Amberley, Massachusetts, seems a good place for Cate Saunders to start over. It’s been two years since her husband, John, was killed in Iraq and life has been a struggle. Her new job as a caregiver doesn’t pay much, but the locals are welcoming. In fact, Cate has barely unpacked before she’s drawn–reluctantly at first–into a circle of friends.

There’s diner-owner Gaby, who nourishes her customers’ spirits as well as their bodies; feisty Beatrice, who kept the town going when its men marched off to WWII; wise-cracking MaryLou, as formidable as Fort Knox but with the same heart of gold; and, Sheila, whose Italian grocery is the soul of the place. As Amberley reveals itself to be a town shaped by war, Cate encounters another kindred spirit–a Holocaust survivor with whom she feels a deep connection. When revelations about John’s death threaten Cate’s newfound peace of mind, these sisters-in-arms’ stories show her an unexpected way forward. And Cate comes to understand that although we suffer loss alone, we heal by sharing our most treasured memories.

The Mutable Quality of Memory

A Guest Post by Ariella Cohen

War widow Cate Saunders, the protagonist in Sweet Breath of Memory, struggles to keep the life she lost in the forefront of her mind.  Although it has been only two years since the death of her husband, some memories remained as crisp as a new apple, others seemed as fragile as a moth’s wing – as fleeting as frost on a windowpane.  The mutable quality of memory takes Cate by surprise and she concludes that if memories of her beloved dim with each dawn, she is somehow to blame.  Her love must be flawed or her commitment lacking.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

What and how we remember isn’t a choice; if it were, we would mentally delete horrible experiences and underscore pleasant ones.  We would sort the past, preserving some bits in a treasure box and shredding others.  But such editing is impossible because memories answer only to themselves.  Some are as fluid as water; the harder we try to grasp them, the more they seem to slip away.  Others distort with perspective or become sepia-toned, abrading with age but not in the traditional sense.  Mum used to say that memories don’t respect the quarter turn of Nature’s seasons because their frosts and thaws can’t be predicted.  That’s true, for the one constant is how often unbidden memories push forward, claiming center stage one day only to wait in the wings the next.  And yet–

Memories define us; if they’re changeable, then so is identity.  Cate acknowledges this cruel fact when she realizes that the married woman she was is lost to her forever.  She will never be that Cate again, and every step she takes toward remaking herself carries her away from the woman her husband loved.  The life they shared.  The children she might have had.

I chose to have Cate confront the nature of memory because I think many of us react as she does when we forget – whether it’s an upcoming birthday or something truly treasured.  But why are we so hard on ourselves?  Our mind’s filing system is a mystery and if the attic of our thoughts becomes a jumble, we’re not to blame.  An experience may be spotlighted one day only to be cast into the shadows the next.  It is a process beyond our control; beyond understanding.  And yet–

Even tattered memories are armor.  Initially so shiny they dazzle, in time they acquire the patina of use but are no less a shield against loneliness and despair.  Cate comes to understand this and celebrate what memories are left her.  In the act of piecing them together, like the remnant woman she is, she begins to find peace of mind.  And she’s able to forgive herself.

About Ariella Cohen

A native of Bergen County, New Jersey, Ariella lives in New England but her dream self resides in County Mayo, Ireland.  The daughter of a school teacher/librarian, she doesn’t remember learning to read, only the frustration when her older siblings could and she couldn’t.

Ariella graduated with honors from Barnard College, Columbia University, and attended the Hebrew University in Jerusalem as a Visiting Scholar.  Her three years in that city were magical.  She holds a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School where she served as Associate Editor of both The Journal of International Law and Comparative Studies in Society and History.  She spent more than a decade working  in NYC – as a senior manager at the New York Public Library, Yeshiva University and Columbia University’s School of the Arts – before completing her law degree.  After practicing in New York and New Jersey, she now focuses full-time on her writing and her family.

You’ll find more about Ariella on her website and you can follow her on Twitter. There’s more with these other bloggers too:

My grateful thanks to Lovereading for an advanced reader copy of The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 1/4 Years Old as part of their reader panel in return for an honest review. The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 1/4 Years Old, translated by Hester Velmans, is published in e-book and hardback on 25th August 2016 by Michael Joseph, an imprint of Penguin Random House and is available for order here.

The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 1/4 Years Old

‘Another year and I still don’t like old people. Me? I am 83 years old.’

Hendrik Groen may be old, but he is far from dead and isn’t planning to be buried any time soon. Granted, his daily strolls are getting shorter because his legs are no longer willing and he had to visit his doctor more than he’d like. Technically speaking he is … elderly. But surely there is more to life at his age than weak tea and potted geraniums?
Hendrik sets out to write an exposé: a year in the life of his care home in Amsterdam, revealing all its ups and downs – not least his new endeavour the anarchic Old-But-Not Dead Club. And when Eefje moves in – the woman Hendrik has always longed for – he polishes his shoes (and his teeth), grooms what’s left of his hair and attempts to make something of the life he has left, with hilarious, tender and devastating consequences.
The indomitable Hendrik Groen – Holland’s unlikeliest hero – has become a cultural phenomenon in his native Netherlands and now he and his famously anonymous creator are conquering the globe. A major Dutch bestseller, The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen will not only delight older readers with its wit and relevance, but will charm and inspire those who have years to go before their own expiry date.

My Review of The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen

83 3/4 year old Hendrik Groen lives in a home for the elderly and pretty much hates it, but the formation of the Old-But-Not-Dead Club gives him cause for optimism.

Initially I was unenthusiastic about this book, thinking it has all been done before in various formats, but within a few pages I was laughing aloud so frequently as Hendrik describes the other residents, or voices his opinion, that I was completely under his spell. I don’t often laugh aloud when reading but I laughed frequently at this book, even on a couple of occasions until I cried. His comments about what he’d do if clowns were sent in to brighten up the home’s residents being one such example – but you’ll have to read the book to find out.

We all have to age and The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 1/4 Years Old presents a no-holds barred picture of that process in all its ignominious glory, from personal hygiene to love and relationships.  The wry first person diary hits just the right level of conversational tone, sarcasm, fear and honesty so that it is impossible not to empathise with Hendrik. I think credit must be given to the translator Hester Velmans in conveying the original text so brilliantly. Whilst this is a diary, there are also coherent narrative strands such as the formation of the The Old-But-Not-Dead Club, Hendrik’s relationship with his best friend Evert and with newcomer Eefje, giving a pleasing hook that meant I had to read just one more entry. Then another. And another.

Aside from the humour there are references to real (Dutch) national and international events and places that afford a credible realism to the book. The death of Margaret Thatcher, the Tour de France and even a reference to Djimba (which I looked up and actually exists as a home for elderly dogs – see the website here) for example, all added depth and interest.

But what made this such a good read for me most was that, underneath the humour, underneath the flippancy and the true life events are themes that touch us all. How do we care for our elderly in homes and hospitals? What does happen when dementia sets in? How do we maintain a quality of interesting lifestyle, and indeed interest in life, as we age. The character of Mrs Stewagen with her punitive regulations may be scarily realistic.

The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 1/4 Years Old is funny, entertaining and simultaneously moving. At its heart, Hendrik is a character readers can’t fail to love and I am not surprised this book is an enormous success already in Holland. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Having met lovely Rebecca Bradley I’m delighted to have her on Linda’s Book Bag today. Rebecca’s latest novel Made to Be Broken is just released and is the second in her Hannah Robbins crime series after Shallow Waters. Rebecca Bradley’s books are available for purchase here.

Having met my husband at Nottingham university as we did our PGCEs, and knowing Rebecca’s books are set in that city I just had to ask her to write about the setting of her novels and luckily she agreed to do so.

Made to Be Broken

A rising death toll. A city in panic.

A young mother is found dead in her home with no obvious cause of death. As DI Hannah Robbins and her team investigate, it soon becomes clear that the woman is the first in a long line of murders by poison.

With the body count climbing, and the city of Nottingham in social meltdown, the team finds themselves in a deadly race against a serial killer determined to prove a point.

And Hannah finds herself targeting an individual with whom she has more in common than she could possibly know.

A Sense of Place

A Guest Post from Rebecca Bradley

Firstly, can I thank Linda for hosting me on her blog today. This is the start of the third week of my #MadeToBeBroken blog tour and the generosity shown to me by the  blogging community has been immeasurable. They have opened up their blogs and welcomed me with open arms. When I asked if there were any bloggers who would mind hosting me on their blogs Linda was quick to volunteer and I am truly grateful. Thank you, so much, Linda.

(You’re very welcome to the blog Rebecca.)

Linda asked me to talk about the setting in my novels. Made to be Broken is the second in a series, which is based in Nottingham. The first being Shallow Waters. She wondered on the importance of place in this series and how fiction matches the reality.

I decided to base my protagonist, DI Hannah Robbins and her team in a Nottingham department, one, because we have plenty of novels set in London, and two, I don’t know London very well! So, why Nottingham? I do know Nottingham and it’s actually great city to set a crime novel in. It’s a wonderfully diverse city which gives me plenty of scope to play with whatever storyline I need to.

First, let me explain, with the first question Linda asked about, which was the importance of place in novels, and specifically to mine? I’ll be honest in answering this question and tell you that Shallow Waters was the first novel that I had ever written, there was nothing before it, there’s nothing in a drawer, so in reality it was my practice novel as well as being my debut novel. And what this means is that when I started I didn’t really know a lot about writing, particularly about writing novels. So, I wrote Shallow Waters without a real sense of place so that the reader could imagine it as any city wherever they were. I received some brilliant advice from an editor right at the beginning of my writing “career” who told me that sense of place was integral to a crime novel. When it comes to learning on the job, I’m like a sponge, taking every little bit of advice given and using it to my advantage, and sense of place was no exception. Nottingham breathed life into Shallow Waters and made it a whole new novel. It made the story feel real, allowing me to see just how important setting is. So now Nottingham as the setting is a very important feature of the novel because I can see it for what it is, how it brings life to the story, a place for your characters to just be.

The diversity that Nottingham offers gives me the ability to choose whatever type of crime or story I want to be able to tell, because there will be an area, a community, a history, or backdrop that will fit perfectly with it. Nottingham city is a cultural place, it has an active arts scene, festivals covering all interests, museums, a thriving nightlife due to the University and an active LGBT culture. As for locations, you have the city centre which boasts some beautiful architecture, a castle, an actual castle, well the ruins of a castle with large enough sections still visible for you to be able to see what it would have looked like with an art gallery and museum standing in the grounds, caves which run under the city, as well as some wonderfully rundown in need of financial input areas which are perfect for certain scenes in crime fiction.

Further out from the city you have other communities to play with. One such community provided the city the title Shottingham for a period of time, due to the level of gun crime, several years ago, though it is now recovered from this ill-fated name. you will also find more rural areas if the story is in need of a quieter place. What more can you ask for from a setting?

The fiction completely matches the reality of the city. Because of the beginnings of setting in the Hannah Robbins series, I find it important to be factually correct and have had great feedback from readers who know the area and enjoy the book when they recognise areas mentioned. The only time I make small changes is if I mention a specific address, I will make a street number up that doesn’t exist. After all, I wouldn’t want a reader knocking on someone’s door asking to look around the house that existed in a novel would I?!

I do know the area but Nottingham and its surrounding areas is quite large so I do still have to research some of it. The areas I know, I remember, but I also have some photographs that I’ve taken and can reflect back on just to get a feel of where I’m trying to place my characters. These photographs have a section of their own on my blog so people can look at them if they want to.

I’d be interested to know how much readers enjoy the setting in a novel or if they barely notice it? If so, where is your current favourite setting?

About Rebecca Bradley

Rebecca Bradley is a retired police detective who lives in Nottinghamshire with her family and her two cockapoos Alfie and Lola. They always keep her company while she writes. Rebecca needs to drink copious amounts of tea to function throughout the day and if she could, she would survive on a diet of tea and cake while committing murder on a regular basis.

You can sign up to the newsletter on Rebecca’s blog for exclusive content and giveaways and you can follow her on Twitter.

As someone who has shunned short stories in the past, I’m fast becoming a fan so I’m delighted to be part of the launch celebrations for Champagne & Lemonade by John A.D. Hickling which was published by Clink Street Publishing on June 5th 2016 in paperback and e-book. Champagne & Lemonade has a variety of pieces and is available for purchase here and to order from all good bookshops.

Today I’m reviewing the poetry Depressing/Depressed Again. You’ll find my review from yesterday of the one of the stories, Vampire of 133A Greenstone Street here.

Champagne & Lemonade

Champagne & Lemonade is a delightful collection of eclectic short stories, taking readers on a journey to different times and places, meeting a sparkling cast of well-drawn characters.
Nibble the fish is desperate to escape his boring old pond.
A new breed of super hero has been born and his name is Bob Cheesecake.
Dumpton Hospital’s staff have a somewhat unconventional approach to looking after their patients.
Robert Hood is on a mission to save modern England.
And just who is the vampire terrorising the neighbourhood from his home at 113A Greenstone Street?
From the quixotic to the poignant, John A. D. Hickling’s wild and whimsical tales fizz with fun and are sure to entertain almost everyone!

Depressing/Depressed Again

Another day of feeling like the world is closing in on you.

Depression has got a hold of me today and how many more days to come?

My Review of Depressing/Depressed Again

When I was asked to review just this Section 14 of a mere four pages of seemingly random lines I wasn’t sure I’d have a lot to say. However, I found Depressing/Depressed Again very moving and affecting.

This is a complete study in what it’s like to be depressed, from the physical effects on the body to the feeling of worthlessness in the mind. The reader is made aware of how the environment can impact on those suffering depression as can the behaviours and attitude of loved ones.

I found some of the different fonts used in this section of Champagne a& Lemonade quite difficult to read at times and I had to struggle to make out a couple of lines. I thought this was inspired as it reflects the difficulties depressed individuals have in existing in their day to day lives. There are allusions to suicide in the repetition of guns and rivers and there’s a very strong sense that the persona behind the lines would love a restorative faith that they can’t find or that they have lost when they appear to feel guilty because they ‘don’t pray’.

There’s also a hint that the ‘I’ of the section could be pushed as far as murder, wishing for ‘two guns’ and wanting to chop up those making unbearable noise. I even wondered at the egocentrism of that first person voice – so many lines begin with ‘I’, perhaps belying the professed lack of self -esteem. I thought the writing was really thought provoking and the more I have returned to the lines the more I’ve found.

What I liked most, however, was that I found the lines at the end of both these sections Depressing/Depressed Again ultimately uplifting and reminiscent of Scarlet O’Hara at the very end of Gone With The Wind. There is a positivity that we would all do well to adhere to.

About John Hickling

Proud father and grandfather, and jack of all trades John A.D. Hickling currently lives with his family in Nottingham. A lover of music, especially 60’s rock, John has previously recorded two independent albums, appeared in comedy band Space Cadets on Britain’s Got Talent and is an active member of Masque Productions amateur theatre group. His debut book, Champagne & Lemonade. For more information please visit John’s website or find him on Facebook. You can follow John on Twitter.

There’s more about John’s debut Champagne & Lemonade with these other bloggers:

I love featuring authors on Linda’s Book Bag whom I’ve actually met so it gives me enormous pleasure to be the first stop in the celebrations of The Good Kind of Bad by Rita Brassington today. The Good Kind of Bad is available for purchase in e-book and paperback here.

Rita has featured on Linda’s Book Bag before when she told readers all about her writing journey. You can read that post here.

The Good Kind of Bad was selected as one of Heat Magazine’s Top Five Reads too.

To get the celebrations thoroughly underway lovely Rita has put together a wonderful The Good Kind of Bad prize package that UK readers can enter to win at the bottom of this blog post.

This wonderful prize includes a signed paperback first edition copy of The Good Kind of Bad, three signed and three unsigned The Good Kind of Bad postcards, a signed print and a pop out guide to Chicago where The Good Kind of Bad is set.

The Good Kind of Bad

Secrets don’t stay secret for long…

She spent her whole life being the perfect daughter, the perfect girlfriend, and was all ready to become the perfect wife. But after ditching her fiancé at the altar and escaping to Chicago, she marries smouldering stranger Joe Petrozzi three weeks after meeting him in a bar. At least this time, there’s no chance of cold feet.

Married life starts out great: there’s the new job, a gorgeous, enigmatic husband and money’s not an issue.

So what if she’s kept a few secrets from Joe – like where all her money came from. Joe’s been keeping secrets from her, too. But his might just get her killed.

About Rita Brassington

Rita Brassington grew up in Staffordshire, UK, before studying at UCLan, Durham University and the Maastricht Centre for Transatlantic Studies, The Netherlands. She currently works in the field of forensics and also loves cocktails, and cake. Preferably together.

You can follow Rita on Twitter, visit her website and find out more with these other bloggers:

The Good Kind of Bad Prize Package

from Rita Brassington

UK readers (only I’m afraid because of postage costs) click here to enter win a selection of The Good Kind of Bad goodies. Competition closes UK midnight on 11th July.

As someone who has shunned short stories in the past, I’m fast becoming a fan so I’m delighted to be part of the launch celebrations for Champagne & Lemonade by John A.D. Hickling which was published by Clink Street Publishing on June 5th 2016 in paperback and e-book. Champagne & Lemonade has a variety of pieces and is available for purchase here and to order from all good bookshops.

Today I’m reviewing one of the stories, Vampire of 133A Greenstone Street and tomorrow you’ll find my review of the poetry Depressing/Depressed Again.

Champagne & Lemonade

Champagne & Lemonade is a delightful collection of eclectic short stories, taking readers on a journey to different times and places, meeting a sparkling cast of well-drawn characters.
Nibble the fish is desperate to escape his boring old pond.
A new breed of super hero has been born and his name is Bob Cheesecake.
Dumpton Hospital’s staff have a somewhat unconventional approach to looking after their patients.
Robert Hood is on a mission to save modern England.
And just who is the vampire terrorising the neighbourhood from his home at 113A Greenstone Street?
From the quixotic to the poignant, John A. D. Hickling’s wild and whimsical tales fizz with fun and are sure to entertain almost everyone!

Vampire of 133A Greenstone Street

Murders were being committed, Jack believed them to be the work of a vampire, and would do everything he could to stop himself and his friends from becoming the next victims.

I stood up and looked out from my apartment window; a thick, scary fog engulfed Greenstone Street. Who or what was doing these murders? The police had no clue; but I had my own theory, it was a vampire who had been driven into town looking for fresh meat.

My Review of Vampire of 133A Greenstone Street

Jack and his university flatmate Kelly are surrounded by dark foggy nights and inept police as victims are found with animal like wounds to their bodies.

Crikey this is a fast paced and exciting story. It combines all the elements one would expect of a vampire film or narrative, from the creepy pathetic fallacy of the fog to rotting corpses and blood.

There’s light and shade too with humour offsetting the gore so that there’s a lightness of touch to the storytelling that I really enjoyed. Jack dropping his digestive biscuit as he reads the graphic description of the latest body is just one example.

I thought the characterisation was especially effective and felt Jack’s first person storytelling added to that success.The reader gets a clear image of what the characters look like and their relationship with one another.

Despite being only a few pages long, Vampire of 133A Greenstone Street would make a fantastic feature film for television as much of the writing has a very visual element.

About John Hickling

Proud father and grandfather, and jack of all trades John A.D. Hickling currently lives with his family in Nottingham. A lover of music, especially 60’s rock, John has previously recorded two independent albums, appeared in comedy band Space Cadets on Britain’s Got Talent and is an active member of Masque Productions amateur theatre group. His debut book, Champagne & Lemonade. For more information please visit John’s website or find him on Facebook. You can follow John on Twitter.

There’s more about John’s debut Champagne & Lemonade with these other bloggers:

My grandmother died two weeks short of her 101st birthday, having been born in 1890. My grandfather was injured and blinded in one eye during the Battle of the Somme in 1916. Consequently, this era of history has a particular fascination for me. It is with great pleasure, therefore, that today I have a guest post from Clare Flynn, whose latest novel The Green Ribbons, opens in 1900. Clare explores how the North-South divide has evolved. The Green Ribbons was published by Cranbrook Press on 19th May 2016 and is available for purchase here.

The Green Ribbons

‘Two men will love you. Both will pay the price for it’

When, in 1900, Hephzibah Wildman loses both parents in a tragic accident, she is forced to build a new life for herself. Penniless and only eighteen, she must leave the security of the Oxford college where her stepfather was Dean, and earn her living as a governess. On the recommendation of a man she has never met, the parson of Nettlestock, Merritt Nightingale, Hephzibah finds herself at the forbiddingly impressive Ingleton Hall. She is the latest in a long line of governesses to arrive there, and soon learns why; her employer, Sir Richard Egdon has a roving eye and turns his unwanted attentions to her.

Hephzibah is forced to leave when a chance encounter with Thomas, the squire’s handsome son, leads to him persuading her to elope with him. Marriage to Thomas proves less than idyllic. Away all the time, and more interested in training his racehorses and gambling than he appears to be in her, Hephzibah becomes fearful that Thomas is having an affair. And something else is missing: a child. When Sir Richard tells her that he plans to disinherit his son if he fails to produce the necessary heir, Hephzibah becomes fearful for the husband she loves. She concocts an audacious scheme for Merritt to help her conceive a baby to pass off as Thomas’s. It is a plan that will put the lives of the two men she cares for most on the line but which will ultimately lead her to discover an unexpected love.

The North-South Divide

A Guest Post by Clare Flynn

There is much talk in the English media and among politicians and estate agents, of the North-South Divide, with a wealthy prosperous South experiencing soaring house prices, higher employment and affluent middle classes dominating. The countryside is a chosen place for “the haves” to set up a second home – or to flee London with substantial equity in hand to buy a bigger property for less money and enjoy a new life. Meanwhile “up North” there are large areas blighted by unemployment, stagnant or falling house prices and a general air of deprivation. Whilst there are pockets in both North and South that are exceptions, this pattern, while something of a cliché, is broadly true.

What may surprise the occupants of high priced cottages and country houses in the shires, is that until the middle of the twentieth century the North-South Divide was the other way around. The former occupants of their Farrow and Balled houses may well have been living in desperate straits and struggling to make a living in a changing world.

Southern England in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was more or less entirely dependent on agriculture – increasingly becoming subject to competition from America and Russia. Meanwhile the dramatic growth and prosperity of the Industrial Revolution was focused on the new cities and towns of the North.

I’ve explored this phenomenon in my two most recent novels. Letters from a Patchwork Quilt is partly set in Middlesbrough, a town now with serious problems – recently made more acute with the closure of the steel industry. In the nineteenth century it was a very different story.

From its origins as a tiny settlement next to salt marshes, where the few occupants subsisted on salt-panning, fishing and a bit of sheep farming, Middlesbough underwent the most explosive growth of any town in Britain. It was described by Gladstone in 1862 as:

‘This remarkable place, the youngest child of England’s enterprise. It is an infant, gentlemen, but an infant Hercules’

 The arrival of the blast furnaces and the insatiable demand for iron, and later steel, meant that the town became responsible for a third of the country’s iron ore output and was a shining example of Britain’s industrial progress.

While this led to untold riches for the industrialists, the wealth did not trickle down to their workers, who lived in sordid cramped houses without sanitation.

‘The stench of sulphur and smoke clogged in his throat. He saw it as a metaphor for the life that was ahead of him. He was a soul condemned to eternal damnation among the blast furnaces of this god-forsaken town. As he neared the waterfront to look across at the foundries, he saw white-capped waves lapping below: the rough sea indifferent to the ugly beauty of this manmade colossus of industrial might.

In The Green Ribbons I explore the other side of the divide. The setting is 1900 in the village of Nettlestock, based loosely on Kintbury in Berkshire. In the eighteenth and early nineteenth century the place had everything going for it – the Kennet and Avon Canal passed through the village, there was a thriving whiting mill, supplying chalk powder for wigs, and a silk mill and then the railway arrived. But the investment in industrial facilities in the North, combined with the increasing uncompetitiveness of British grain, in what had become a world market, led to depopulation of southern towns and villages like Nettlestock, as agricultural workers moved north to share in the opportunities offered by the cotton, wool, iron and steel industries.

The occupants of Nettlestock at the time of The Green Ribbons – the first decade of the twentieth century – struggle to eke out a living. This extract follows a visit to the local workhouse.

‘She took off her hat, held it arm’s length and shook off the raindrops. ‘What drives a person to accept living like that, Merritt? What makes them so desperate that they’re prepared to dress in an ugly uniform and tear old ropes apart for hours until their fingers bleed? Did you see the quantity of meat that went into the stew? A bit of tough old mutton gristle cut into tiny pieces and mixed in with a lot of turnips. It was turnip soup but the matron called it mutton stew!’

Merritt placed his hand on her arm. ‘I know. And the numbers are growing. Times are hard and getting harder. One of the farmers told me the other day that it’s cheaper to ship a sack of grain all the way from the prairies of America than from here to London.’

Whether the divide is in favour of North or South, one thing is clear, whatever prosperity exists was only enjoyed by the wealthy, not by their employees. And although the north offered employment and bread on the table, it offered little else. Whether a starving former agricultural worker in Nettlestock forced to throw oneself on the charity of the parish or into the drudgery of the workhouse, or an employee at the iron foundry in Middlesbrough, secure in a job but living in a slum, life was no picnic.

About Clare Flynn

Award-winning author, Clare Flynn is a former global marketing director. She now runs a successful strategic management company, although most of her time these days is spent writing her novels.

Her first novel, A Greater World, is set in the Blue Mountains of Australia in the 1920s and was awarded an Indie BRAG Medallion in 2015.

Clare’s second book, Kurinji Flowers, is a gripping story of love and loss set in colonial India on a tea plantation in the 1930s and 40s.

Clare’s novels feature places she knows well and she does extensive research to build the period and geographic flavour of her books.

You’ll find all Clare’s books here.

Find out more about Clare on her website, where you can receive a free short story A Pair of Fine Shoes, find her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.

Regular readers of Linda’s Book Bag know that I meet all kinds of wonderful bloggers and authors through Book Connectors on Facebook. Today’s guest blog post is from two more lovely folk I’ve met there, married couple Bob and Carol Bridgestock. I’m thrilled to be rounding off their first ever blog tour and to bring you a guest post all about being Partners in Crime as they write together. I also review When the Killing Starts

Writing as RC Bridgestock, Bob and Carol’s latest novel When The Killing Starts was published on 30th June 2016 by Caffeine Nights Publishers and is available for purchase here. Although it is the 7th book in the DI Jack Dylan series, When The Killing Starts can also be read as a stand alone novel, as can all the other books.

When The Killing Starts

Crime is a way of life for the Devlin brothers. Groomed at an early age and trained as criminals by local gangsters, the Devlin brothers get their thrill out of creating fear among their victims. They have a macabre pact; not to be arrested or caged.

Brutality hits the town of Harrowfield when the scourge of the community is found dead, his companion slaughtered. The locals react with praise for the killers.

The same day firefighters respond to a fire but lose the fight to save Merton Manor. Amongst the debris two bodies are discovered; executed.

As Dylan struggles to cope with the pressure, armed officers await his judgement call.

Can he remain professional or will he release his anger?

Partners in Crime

A Guest Post from Bob and Carol Bridgestock

‘Bob writes the police procedural from start to finish, showing how real crime is investigated. From the moment the body is discovered the reader travels with Dylan as it really is, but in a fictional tale,’ said Carol. ‘I then pick up the plot and bring it to life by building the characters and writing the scenes – some times with help from Bob as for instance I have no idea what its like to be at a post-mortem. I don’t want to go. But, I want to know how it really feels for the man in charge at each stage of the investigation for the reality in the books.  I draw out Bob’s real feelings and strip away the mask of the detective to unveil raw reality that he can only express through Dylan. Once the characters live and breathe, I set the scene and add the relationship storyline – Dylan’s home life and how it affects him and his family when he is transported to ‘another world’ investigating a serious crime. As the series unfolds you will see Dylan and Jen’s relationship grow, with all the ups and downs of being married/partner of someone who works as a dedicated professional member of the uniformed services.’

‘At first it was very difficult for me to drop the ‘mask’ and reveal my true feelings,’ says Bob. ‘I’d kept them tucked away. If you let yourself get sucked into the sadness you’d never cope. But Carol said it would be cathartic. Of course I said that, that was utter rubbish – it was part of ‘the job’. But when I started to unveil my ‘crutches’ that had kept me strong for so long, I now have to agree. It’s awful when you have to admit the wife’s right isn’t it?’

You can find out more about the DI Jack Dylan books with Caffeine Nights Publishers here.

My Review of When the Killing Starts

I have to be honest and say I wasn’t especially keen to read When the Killing Starts as it is the seventh book in the series and I thought it would be too reliant on the previous books to enjoy. I was completely wrong.

When the Killing Starts works brilliantly as a stand alone read and is an explosive (in more ways than one!), fast paced and exciting crime thriller. The plot certainly raises the pulse and even though I found a couple of incidents difficult to read, they are not gratuitous, but serve to show the kinds of criminals police deal with. I think the author background in the police gives incredible authenticity to so much of this novel.

I thought the syntactical style was polished and sophisticated so that the contrast between how different characters speak and think gives them depth. The quieter parts of the writing only serve to enhance further the thrill of the faster elements in a very skilful way.

I really liked Jack Dylan and his relationships with family and colleagues. I think this is where the husband and wife authoring partnership really works so well as there are layers that are sometimes missing in other crime fiction so that the human emotions are explored highly effectively.

When the Killing Starts is definitely a must read for crime thriller lovers. Having begun not wanting to read the seventh book in the series, I now want to go back and read them all.

About Bob and Carol

Fifty years of police experience offers the crime fiction lover an authentic edge by reading the Detective Inspector Jack Dylan ‘Dylan’ series – written by husband and wife crime writing team, Bob and Carol Bridgestock.

Bob worked in the CID at every rank. For over half of his service he was a senior detective, retiring at the rank of Detective Superintendent of the fourth largest police force in England, West Yorkshire Police.

In his last three years alone as a Senior Investigative Officer (SIO), he took command of twenty-six murder investigations, twenty-three major incidents including shootings and attempted murders, over fifty suspicious deaths and numerous sexual assaults. He was also a Hostage Negotiator for kidnap, terrorism, extortion and suicide intervention – in his ‘spare’ time. During his thirty year career Bob worked in Detective Training at the world renowned West Yorkshire Police Training School; training Detectives in the whole spectrum of investigative skills, and the law.  On promotion to Detective Superintendent he was seconded to a protracted enquiry investigating alleged police corruption in another force. He worked on the Yorkshire Ripper and Sarah Harper murder, and received praise from Crown Court Judges and Chief Constables alike for outstanding work at all ranks including winning the much coveted Dennis Hoban Trophy.

Having created the down-to-earth character Jack Dylan, Bob brings a unique insight of how real life cases are conducted and turns them into page turning, gripping fiction, aided by his wife Carol who worked as a civilian, in the same force for 17 years. Carol brings her understanding and experience of living, and working with, a frontline police officer. This combination adds accuracy and realism rarely seen in British crime fiction, coupled with warmth, humour and humanity.

The books offer an insight into the real world of British policing mixed with cunning plots and human relationships. This adds a dimension to police procedural fiction which is truly genuine in voice and substance.

Find out more about Bob and Carol on their website, via DHH Literary Agency and by following them on Twitter.

You’ll find more with these other bloggers too:

With such an unusual title, Peanuts and Eggcups, I couldn’t wait to be part of the launch celebrations for Sara Mendes da Costa’s debut novel. Peanuts and Eggcups was published in e-book and paperback on 28th June 2016 by Clink Street Publishing and is available for purchase from Amazon UK.

Today, Sara has kindly provided a guest blog all about happiness and just reading it cheered me up!

Peanuts and Eggcups

For Maggie Parsons there’s only ever been one man: the stunningly delicious Luke Henderson. Unfortunately, he left her, without explanation, after their ‘first night’ together …breaking her heart in the process.

Now ten years on, without any contact, he’s back and going to her school reunion. Great! And, to confuse matters…so is his suave, sexy, brother Tony who makes a major play for Maggie, then turns up with his insufferable – supposedly ex – fiancée!

Via the reunion, a black eye, getting the sack (as a result) a madcap girlie holiday and juggling her confused emotions around the two alluring brothers…Maggie starts to build a picture of what she really wants in life.

Trouble is, Maggie’s a pawn in a game she doesn’t even know she’s playing …and things are about to get a whole lot more complicated.

How I Feel About Happiness

and

Some Of My Favourite Things

A Guest Post from Sara Mendes da Costa

My protagonist, Maggie, is journeying to what and who she truly wants in her life and as she goes along she realises the aspects of her life and work that she loves and doesn’t love and ultimately begins to understand that she doesn’t want to settle for second best. She is on a journey to what matters to her, what’s really important.

I must admit I consider life like that. If something isn’t making me happy and I can’t seem to get to a place where it does, I look to change it. Life is short…certainly the one we’re living, so we might as well be happy and feel good! Positive thoughts, being happy, feeling good means the endorphins fly and the better you feel the more positive stuff and good feelings seem to be attracted to you. A wise suggestion I was given once was: just ask yourself: ‘how do I feel; what do I want?’ Meaning in order to improve the quality of your life, just keep asking yourself, ‘How do I really feel?’ and be truthful about the answer. If you’re feeling good…great! How can you feel even better? If you’re feeling bad, great! (OK, well…great, ish!) but it’s an opportunity to realise what you’d like instead. So once you know how you feel, ask yourself what you want, what would help you feel better. It could be taking a break, having a cuppa, sitting down, getting fresh air, having a bath (even if it’s the middle of the day) or something more lovely like treating yourself to something, having a massage, meeting a friend, booking a holiday…making a positive life change.

The idea is if you’re feeling naff, staying there isn’t doing you any good but it does serve as a great motivator – if you let it – to say ‘What do I want instead?’ By taking little steps away from what you don’t want and moving towards what you do want, and by choosing good thoughts instead of bad, you’re on the road to happiness. You’re on the road to feeling good all the time – and that sounds great to me.

So, that’s my overall happiness and wellbeing ethos but there are many things that make me particularly happy.

Laughter is a HUGE one! Probably why I like to inject a good dose of fun into my novels. Laughter is such great medicine and so very good for all round good feelings. I understand it burns calories too! And that’s gotta be a plus.

I love my three large male cats: Bootsie, Muppet and Mozart. They are a constant source of amusement and love, and a good cuddle with them is wonderful. They’re very silly too. Although I’m not quite so enamoured with them when they jump on me at four in the morning!

I love to create. That can be writing, painting, designing my home or garden. I love colour and surrounding myself with colour that excites me. I had my colours done once and I’ve never looked back – very inspiring. I guess you could sum it up by saying I love transformation – going from an idea to completion, pretty much like writing a novel. Painting and decorating transforms a space and I find it wonderful to see a blank canvas, a space, a wall, a page, a room – open for anything – and then designing it – filling it with whatever the mood takes me.  And then, using whatever ingredients needed, I love to get to work and watch transformation happen; not always so practical when I start transforming more than one room at once! (my house only has small rooms, so clearing one room to decorate another means everything from one room lives all over the house!) But hey, it all comes good in the end – even if I do end up with boxes full of stuff, previously in a room, that I now don’t want to put back! The charity shops do pretty well out of me.

I LOVE to travel and want to do a whole lot more – particularly taking my work with me. Currently, travel seems to take one of two forms: either I’ve worked hard and am completely exhausted so need a rest i.e. a good quality all-inclusive resort with a fabulous pool and the company of my best friend Annie (along with cocktails, books, food and loads of belly laughing) or it’ll be something a bit more active and outdoorsy with my lovely man. Camping, walking, cycling and great pubs! In amongst both options I love sunshine and beautiful vistas. For me an amazing view is unbeatable and if I can get somewhere up high to drink in the surroundings, hills, mountains, lakes, sea, fields…wonderful! Total bliss. This is a seriously beautiful planet we live on if you know where to look.

I’m really beginning to enjoy exercise again. I used to love it but for various health reasons it had to take a back step…now I’m feeling better than ever and I’m loving the fact that slowly but surely I’m feeling fitter and healthier than I have done for years.

And then there’s people watching! Sitting outside a café bar and watching the world go by. It’s fascinating looking at what people wear – particularly where I live in Brighton – how they are, how they talk to each other. And when I witness a moment of emotion, of joy, of kindness…that’s the icing on the cake – it makes me glow from head to toe.

Ooh, now I do love cocktails and making something that tastes delicious. I love cooking but don’t do lots. I think cocktails have the edge, especially if I’m sitting on my garden swing – with my man on his own special chair – on a summer’s evening and swinging back and forth and letting the dreams flow through me.

Something that brings me great happiness is seeing someone do something lovely. It can be anything from lending a helping hand, giving someone a hug, checking someone’s OK, being inspirational, doing something well or doing something not so well and getting up and trying again. I particularly love watching someone being happy. Happiness breeds happiness and weirdly enough, seeing joy makes me cry! But in a good way…

I love the love of friends, family and my gorgeous man.  Having a small circle of people who really know me and who I know and love right back, makes me happy. Laughing with them, experiencing life with them, sharing things, building a history – being there for each other. I feel blessed to have such special people in my life who are sharing this path.

Basically, I’m a bit of a spiritual hippy I think! I’m all about the fluff but I do have my head screwed on – though it’s very therapeutic to take the lid off sometimes. I can get joy from the smallest thing. Life can be tough – jeez we all know that! Life can dish out lemons but I choose to mix them with sugar and make lemonade (or, as the other saying goes…Tequila shots!) I believe happiness is a choice. From wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, there’s always a choice to be happy…even taking the tiniest step in the right direction. If being happy takes a little time, a little journey to get there, just keep going – keep moving in the direction. The journey will get easier and the destination will truly be worth it.

 About Sara Mendes da Costa

Sara Mendes da Costa is the voice of the BT Speaking Clock; the fourth person to hold this prestigious title since 1936.

A successful, world-renowned voiceover artist, her dulcet tones are easily recognisable on television, radio, film and across countless media.

Never far from the press, she’s known for her appearances on BBC Breakfast, ITV This Morning, Children in Need, Wake up to Wogan and The Today Programme, and balances her prolific voiceover career with her passion and commitment as a novelist.

Peanuts & Eggcups, her debut novel – hotly anticipated by the industry – is “The perfect & highly addictive reading companion for women’s fiction fans”.

A lover of laughter, creativity, great storytelling and a wee dram, Sara adores writing novels and seeks to entertain, uplift and inspire.

Her upcoming novels: Time & Time Again & Maggie Ever After, are expected in 2017.

You can follow Sara on Twitter, visit her website and find her on Facebook.

There’s more about and from Sara with these other bloggers too:

I’m excited to be taking part in today’s wonderful cover reveal with Brook Cottage Books for I Need A Doctor,  the romantic comedy by Janey Travis which will be published by Thornhill Print on 15^th July 2016 but will have a special pre-order price of 99p or $1.40.

I Need A Doctor is available for purchase on AMAZON UK, AMAZON US, KOBO, iBOOKS and SMASHWORDS.

A special message from Janey Travis

For just a few hours on Saturday 2nd July 2016 (morning for US and afternoon for UK) I’m hosting a fun to attend FB Party Event to celebrate my latest rom-com book Pre-Release ‘I Need A Doctor’. It is SIMPLE and FUN to take part – just POST up a picture of your favourite doctor onto the Event Page. Is is Dr Who? Dr George? Dr Dre? or Dr John (Utila folk might choose him!) I’ll be posting too and every guest poster will be entered into a book GIVEAWAY raffle. You can also enter by tweeting your Doctor pic on Twitter using the hashtag ‪#‎INeedADoctor. Join the party now by clicking ‘Going’ or ‘Interested’ now or just turn up on the day. All are invited! #INeedADoctor This is the Event Page here.

Love, Janey xx

I Need A Doctor

 

 

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…?

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 follow her on Twitter and find her on Facebook. Janey has a new website under construction too.

Janey also writes bestselling romantic adventure fiction as Janice Horton. Find out more here.