Tag Archives: Chindi Authors

Kick Starting Christmas with Upcoming events!

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Kick Start Christmas with Apricot Plots:

From the 1st to the 14th of December, Apricot Plots will be kick starting Christmas with a host of bookish competitions and giveaways. Each day there will be a chance to win a signed book, goodies, an ebook, or stationery, from one of these Apricot Plots authors: Angela Barton, Jane Cable, Caroline James, Morton S Gray, Tora Williams, Julie Houston and me. There will also be the opportunity to win this fabulous six book bundle!

We can’t wait for the event to get underway and hope you’ll join us by stopping by our Facebook page and having a go at one, or more, of our daily competitions.

The Chindi Authors will be raising funds for the Alzheimer’s Society:

On the 3rd and 7th of December I’ll be joining the Chindi Authors in Rustington, West Sussex, signing and selling books to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Society.

With children’s books, romance reads, historical fiction, memoirs and more on offer there will be something for everyone. Signed books make perfect Christmas presents so come along, say hello and support this great cause.

See the picture for details of where and when to find us (click to enlarge).

 I hope you can make it along, your support is hugely appreciated. xx

 

 

Welcoming Children’s Author Lexi Rees

Author Interview, Guest Post, , , , , , , , ,

I am delighted to welcome children’s author Lexi Rees to my blog. Lexi is a fellow Chindi Authorwho writes for young adults. Her book Eternal Seas was published by Matador, in September 2018.

What inspired you to write for children?

I really enjoy reading middle grade books, particularly fantasy adventures. My son and I often share books – when he was little he brought me a copy of “Magyk” (the first in the Septimus Heap series by Angie Sage) home from his school library because he thought I’d enjoy it. He was right – the whole series was great.

We still often share recommendations. When we were on holiday this summer he insisted I read “Red Rising” by Pierce Brown at the same time as him so we could discuss it.

Writing in a genre you love is such fun. I know some people research hot topics and write to fit that regardless of whether it’s Cowboy romances or mermaids, but I think I’d find that quite hard to do.

As well as more kids books, I do have plans for a few grown-up non-fiction books too though, in areas I’m passionate about.

Where did the idea for your novel come from?

The Relic Hunters evolved through wildly imaginative discussions with my son. When I physically started writing it, I was sitting in a marina in Turkey, but a lot of the plot twists were invented on a hiking trip with my son in Scotland. I think and write best whilst outside, either by water or in the mountains.

How have you created characters that your readers can relate to?

I did a lot of work on character development. One of my fantastic editors (Emma Mitchell from Creating Perfection) pushed me really hard to make sure the characters were engaging, and I’ve been really pleased that so many of my reviewers have commented on them.

I particularly wanted to make sure that Finn, Aria and Pippin were all strong characters in their own right – I didn’t want any sidekicks with no purpose.

I also wanted to cover non traditional family structures (adoption) and sought feedback to make sure it was handled appropriately for the readers age.

How does your story captivate and hold it’s audience?

Ooooh – I think that’s a question for my readers! I wouldn’t like to presume on their mahal!

Here are a few comments from their Amazon reviews …

“There were times when I was sitting on the edge of my bed with adrenaline and times when I truly believed that I was a character in the book. Sometimes in the evening I ended up going to bed later than I was supposed to (don’t tell my mum!) because i was so hooked. Each individual character has its own strength and weaknesses but they all care for each other and help each other. This book is definitely up in my top book list. I am about to read this for the fourth time when I have finished writing this review! Any Mums reading this review please buy this book for your kids, boys or girls.”

“I loved Eternal Seas because of the suspense and plot twists, I didn’t want to put this book down and wanted to keep reading as I really enjoyed it.”

“It was so creative and gripping. The storyline was fab with a cliffhanger at the end. The characters were believable and I could relate to Finn!!”

So I think their answer to your question is the plot and the characters.

What’s the best bit of feedback you’ve had from a child?

My team of beta readers were fantastic, each giving me different feedback. One of them was so enthusiastically positive that her mum was worried I wouldn’t get anything useful from her comments, but actually it was her gaps that gave me some of my best insights because I knew they were areas where I needed to focus my attention!

What can we expect from you next?

The sequel to Eternal Seas is well underway, with lots more action and adventure, and some ponies as well as boats, plus I’ve got two non-fiction projects and another couple of middle grade fiction ideas that I’m developing.

If you’d like to hear the latest news, plus get exclusive behind the scenes insights, competitions, and maybe even become a beta reader, please do join Lexi’s secret readers street team, here.

Eternal Seas, the relic hunters book one.

The Blurb:

Such a small parcel shouldn’t cause experienced smugglers much trouble, but this parcel is far from normal.

Lost and scared after a violent storm, Finn and his sister, Aria, take shelter on a remote island. They discover the parcel contains a relic belonging to a long forgotten people. Locked inside are powers which will change their lives, and the world, forever. As Finn realises his connection to the relic, a vision strikes him – but what does it mean? Who should they trust? And if they decide to follow their hearts rather than their orders, will they manage to deliver the relic in one piece?

Chased across the seas as they try to solve the mysteries within the parcel, the fate of this ancient people depends on them. Finn and Aria must choose between what is right and what is easy – and time is running out …

 

About the author:

About the author:

Lexi Rees grew up in the north of Scotland but now splits her time between London and West Sussex. She still goes back to Scotland regularly though.

Usually seen clutching a mug of coffee, she spends as much time as possible sailing and horse riding, both of which she does enthusiastically but badly.

Her first book, Eternal Seas was written on a boat; the storm described in it was frighteningly real.

Discover more about Lexi and her work here: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Google+ | Instagram |

 

Thank you so much for joining me on my blog, Lexi. I look forward to sharing Eternal Seas with my children. Xx

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Remember, Remember … Bonfire Night Memories with Michael Parker

Guest Post, Writing & Reading, , , , , , , , ,

Continuing the celebration of a special bonfire night in my novel The Purrfect Pet Sitter, I am delighted to welcome fellow Chindi Author, Michael Parker to my blog to share his bonfire night memory. 

Michael Parker shares a bonfire night memory from the 1950s:

In the early fifties me, my brothers and mates would gather round the bonfire built on the estate by ‘responsible adults’ and watch it burn until it was low enough to throw potatoes in along the edge. The trick then was to retrieve them before they were burnt to a cinder. This often resulted in singed eyebrows and hair. Can’t imagine that happening these days. We all smelt of wood-smoke, char and almost burning flesh.

 I think you’re quite right Michael, health and safety wouldn’t let that happen these days, but I bet the potatoes tasted good! x

About Michael Parker:

Michael has been writing thrillers for many years and has experienced the highs and lows of being a writer since his first book was published in 1980.

He has been married to Patricia for fifty seven years and they have four sons, ten grandchildren and three great grandsons (when last he updated his profile). His main hobby is writing, of course, and to date he has thirteen novels to his credit, nine of which were traditionally published. His other hobbies are snooker, speedway, football and music.

Michael is a born again Christian and played keyboard in his church fellowship in Spain for several years. He has worked as a maintenance technician most of his adult life, serving sixteen years in the Royal Air Force, and about seventeen years with a food manufacturer. He retired in 1996 (at the age of fifty five) and moved to Spain a year later, where he lived with Pat for seventeen years.

Writing has been Michael’s hobby for as long as he can remember. When his first book was published by Macmillan in 1980, he was described as a “gifted narrator” in the Financial Times. Here are just some of his titles currently available on Amazon.

Michael is also a member of the Chindi Authors. You can keep up to date with news of his writing and new releases via his blog | website | Facebook | Twitter 

You can also discover more of Michael’s memories and gain an insight into his life in his rarely promoted book, The Sum of My Life, available on Amazon.

 Look inside or buy the book.

Don’t miss more fabulous firework memories from fellow authors between now and November 5th, and as always, do get in touch. I’d love to hear your firework memories too. x

Festivals, Fundraising and Family.

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Supporting Cancer Research UK

Those of you who know me or who have seen my recent social media posts will know that I am currently running a stall for the Chindi Authors, at the Arundel Festival, to raise funds for Cancer Research UK.

This is my third year doing this, and I have said it will be my last. I’ve promised my children and husband I won’t be so busy, or absent for ten days of the summer holidays next year. I enjoy running the stall and supporting the charity, but the ten days is a small part of the overall time it takes to prepare and run the event. I will, of course, miss doing it.

The writers who have books on the stall, and who volunteer to man it, donate their profits to the charity. They get to sign books, and to meet readers. When the sun is shining it is a lovely experience, and when it isn’t, it can be slow going but still amazing when people take the time to stop, say hello and support us.

I know most families are or have been touched by cancer in some way. My mum got breast cancer when she was relatively young – it’s now twenty-four years on, and she is as fit as being eighty will allow. I have a niece who had it at a far too young age, who is now living life to the full with her two daughters. And most recently, finishing her radiotherapy just before the festival started, my amazingly strong, eldest sister, Karen was diagnosed with breast cancer.

So this year, Karen is my inspiration for doing the stall. No matter what life has thrown at her, before and during her cancer treatment – and it has really thrown some terrible things her way – Karen somehow stays positive. She is there for the rest of us, she makes us smile and she is an inspiration. Of course, she has her off days, where she feels overwhelmed, but she carries on and, during her own treatment she has encouraged us all to get checked and to go forward for genetic testing due to our family history. In short, she is amazing, and I am lucky to have her as my big sister!

My big sister stopping by to say hello at the Arundel Festival.

So, in conclusion, I’d like to say three things:

If you are in Arundel come along and say hello to the Chindi Authors – we’ll be outside Cancer Research UK every day up to and including 27th August. We’d love to see you.

And always check yourself for lumps, bumps and things out of the ordinary and seek medical advice and treatment if you are concerned. Cancer doesn’t care how old you are, but in many cases, especially now, it can be treated.

Thank you for reading. xx

P.S.: Also, I just realised I am wearing the same t-shirt in all of these pictures, despite the fact the ones at the top are a year old. Well that’s embarrassing! But can I point out I do own two of them – I am an if I like it buy it twice kind of girl! 😉 xx

Umbria here I come!

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It’s incredible to think that when I started my blog in January, I was talking about trying new things and my trip to Umbria for Sue Moorcroft’s writing retreat. Well, now that retreat is just days away, eeek!

On our recent family holiday to France, I tested out my summer clothes; I wore shorts on two occasions and a skirt on another. Like my body, my general wardrobe is best suited to autumn and winter. With the exception of the Chindi bookstall at the Arundel Festival, which sees me standing outside for ten days in August to raise funds for Cancer Research, I avoid the sun and usually hide in the shade. So Umbria at the end of June will be interesting!

Testing out my summer wardrobe in Samoëns, France. The legs are hidden but I have shorts on, honestly!

Last week, I attended the Romantic Novelists’ Association lunch for the southern chapter. It was lovely to get together with other authors and to chat about books. I drove and gave Sue Fortin a lift. Sue is a USA Today and Amazon best selling author who writes mystery, suspense and romance; she has also been on the Umbria writing retreat before. With this in mind, I seized the opportunity to ask her a few all-important questions, such as: Will I have all day access to tea making facilities? How hot was it? And will I need any posh clothes?

Her answers – yes to tea, it’s very hot but there is shade, and no to the posh clothes – were helpful. However, she also mentioned that she had a scorpion in her room one night! Despite the fact I worked in primary schools for many years, where mini-beasts always seem to loom large on the curriculum, bugs are not my friend. Wish me luck, and I’ll let you know upon my return how I fared.

The lovely ladies of the RNA Southern Chapter: Back row – Rosie Travers, Sue Fortin, Me, Lyn Liles, Rosemary Ann Smith, Charlie Place (book blogger). Front row – Charile Cochrane and Liv Thomas.

In other news, in case you haven’t seen me shouting about it, I have an office. It is located in Arundel and from my window I can see a lovely expanse of higgledy-piggledy rooftops as well as the castle above the tree line. It is peaceful and a great working base. The only issue is that Arundel has many cafés and I start every morning opening my window to the smell of bacon sandwiches. I like bacon sandwiches, so I don’t mind, but it does make my tummy rumble.

My office view, on a day I was sure I was being watched!

My current work in progress is at 12242 words. This is a sequel to The Purrfect Pet Sitter, which my publisher suggests should be a novella (30000-70000 words). I hope to get a good chunk of it written while on the retreat. It will be a challenge, as I haven’t written one before – sequel or novella – but I am quite excited by it.

I have another work in progress, at around 11000 words, which I am ignoring while I work on the sequel. This will be a contemporary romance with new characters, that will be a full-length novel (around 85000 words).

With three festivals coming up with the Chindi Authors I must focus my time to get all of this done. To find out more about the events we are hosting during the Littlehampton Arts Festival and the Festival of Chichester take a look at the events page of our website, where you will also see that for the third year running, we will be supporting Cancer Research UK throughout the Arundel Festival.

Finally, I am off to the cinema tonight to see Book Club it looks a good laugh. But I am also interested because I read a very good book, years ago by Sophie Hart, called The Naughty Girls Book Club, her characters were great and the story well constructed. This book, on a similar theme, will be hard to beat, but it will be interesting to see how this new film compares.

Anyway, next time I write a post I will have been to Umbria, my children and puppy will have hopefully forgiven me for deserting them for a week, my husband may have recovered, and my work in progress should have dramatically increased. I’ll let you know how all of that goes.

In the meantime, I have a couple of book reviews to share over the coming week and an interview with Choc Lit author Christine Stovell, who talks about her new novella, Moonbeams in a Jar. xx