Archive for January, 2010

Julia Williams’s latest book Last Christmas was only released at the end of October but her next book is due out incredibly soon (and I can’t wait)! The Bridesmaid Pact is due for release on 27th May 2010 and I have to say I’m really looking forward to this as I’m a huge fan of Julia. I rather adore the cover, too! Here’s the synopsis:

One for all and all for one! As children, Sarah, Dorrie, Beth and Caz were inseparable and vowed to one day be each others bridesmaids. But life got complicated. Now they have one last chance to fulfil their promise. Dorrie is planning her ultimate Disney wedding to the delicious Darren and is determined to have her friends back together for the Big Day. But Dorrie’s fairytale is not all that it seems…Beth is desperate for a baby and is starting to resent her more fertile friends. Is a mistake from her past about to destroy her future?

Caz’s wild streak has tested her friendships over the years. One by one she has let her friends down, not least when she commits the ultimate betrayal to Susan. Can she change her ways and more to the point, does she really want to? Married to Steve, Sarah is plagued by doubts that she went down the wrong path. Does Sarah have the strength to make a change and will she ever be able to forgive Caz? As Dorrie’s big day dawns, all eyes are on whether the ultimate act of friendship will be honoured and obeyed!

In My Mailbox was created by The Story Siren and let’s us show off the books we’ve acquired this week (in the post, from the library, bought). We’ll post the titles of our books and, in brackets, where they’re from and we’ll post the picture below!

Leah’s books this week: Just the one for review but am expecting lots next week: How To Be Married by Polly Williams (Headline Review).

Chloe’s Books this week: Designer Genes by Emma Hannigan (Poolbeg), Its Now Or Never by Carole Matthews (Headline Review), Take A Chance on Me by Jill Mansell (Headline Review), Excess All Areas by Mandy Baggot (Thanks to Mandy for this), Northern Soul Revival by Claire Moss (Snowbooks), Scandalous by Martel Maxwell (Penguin).

When I first came up with the idea of getting an author to write us a number of guest posts I put some feelers out and when Emma Walsh got in touch to say an author she looks after, Fiona Cassidy (real name Fionnuala McGoldrick), would love to do the series of posts I jumped at the chance. Fionnuala was happy with the idea and there’ll be 12 posts in total to be posted on the first Saturday of each month. We hope you like the feature and we’d love you to comment your thoughts on the series. Before we get started, here’s a little bit about Fiona:

Fiona Cassidy (better known as Fionnuala McGoldrick) is from Galbally, Co. Tyrone in Northern Ireland. She lives with her partner Philip and between them they have five children (and a very messy house!) Fiona has always been an avid reader but five years ago decided that she would like to become a writer as well and in April 2009 all her dreams came true when she was finally offered a three book publishing deal by Poolbeg Press in Dublin. Her first romantic comedy novel Anyone for Seconds? was launched in November 2006 and reached no. 6 in the Irish paperback fiction charts. She has just completed her second novel, Anyone for Me? which is due for publication in August 2010. (I will be reviewing Anyone For Seconds? next week). Now… here is your first installment…

I suppose the best place to start is at the beginning! I’ve always loved reading, ever since I was old enough to pick up a book and had got past the stage of begging to have stories read to me and shouting at my parents if they dared to leave out a favourite passage which they frequently tried (obviously to speed things up but to no avail!) I cut my bookworm teeth on Enid Blyton and then moved on to bigger things in the form of The Hardy Boys and The Nancy Drew Mysteries which then led me to the non-fiction autobiographies, literary fiction and commercial fiction of which I am such a big fan and now write myself! You may wonder what this has to do with me being a writer but I believe that being an avid reader benefits any writer as obviously you can learn to appreciate the voices and styles of other authors and be in awe of their success as I was which undoubtedly spurred me on and helped to develop my ambitions until they made me determined to succeed.

People often ask me “how do you write a book? What’s the process? Is it as simple as scribbling on a blank piece of paper or filling an empty laptop screen with words?” In response I usually explain that I did indeed start by scribbling thoughts and ideas down until the jumble of words eventually comprised of something I thought worthy of being a series of plots in a book. I did feel that I needed help, though, not specifically with the writing itself but more with the mechanics of it – the development of characters, the creation of scenes, information about the publishing process (although at that stage it was a pipe dream and one which I thought would never come to fruition.)

The idea of me needing guidance led to me responding to an advertisement in my local paper which informed me that a nearby arts centre was holding a series of creative writing classes with a published author from Belfast. I was highly impressed – imagine, a published author actually coming to teach the art of his craft. It was too good an opportunity to miss so I enrolled immediately and began the classes a week later. Everyone who was there had their own reasons for wanting to write and wrote throughout the different genres. That was my first lesson…when you’re a reader you don’t really explore the fact that different styles of writing fall into categories…if a book is good you’ll read it…never mind labelling it. Lesson two was discovering how much a listening ear and having an audience can help to motivate and encourage you. I was like a teenager again…rushing home to do my homework in eager anticipation of reading it aloud to the ‘class’ and then basking in any praise that resulted like an excited four year old waiting for a lollipop as a reward. I felt that these classes were invaluable to me and signed for another session after the first one had finished and our esteemed mentor was free to come back and take us again. Not only did I learn from the experiences of others but the brainstorming sessions we had were fantastic when it came to plot development – I was trying to write a novel at the time and loved the fact that everyone was so passionate about what I was doing! To this day I am still friends with three of my ‘classmates’ and they formed one of the noisiest contingents at my recent book launch.

As well as attending creative writing classes I complimented this by joining an online forum http://www.writeon-irishgirls.com where female writers could get together and chat about what they’re writing and what experiences they’ve had regarding submitting manuscripts etc. We could publish short stories which everyone could comment on, invite people to literary events and talks all over Ireland and do book reviews also. I attended a few events, some of which had agents and publishers there (and tried not to kneel at their feet) and met some of the girls I’d been chatting to online and found this a brilliant tool and am still a member, although I have a lot less time these days.

If you want to write - read lots of books across a variety of genres and seek out people with similar ambitions as you can learn from each other whilst strengthening your talent and learning the do’s and don’ts of the publishing world. As for starting to submit to publishers and finding an agent…well that’s another story entirely!

Here is the gorgeous new cover for Belinda’s next book Living La Vida Loca due out on 13th May 2010 and I think it’s fab! I can’t wait for the book now, and it looks like the perfect summer read! Here’s the synopsis in case you’ve missed it before:

“Carmen has been feeling the need to break free for Too Darn Long. So when her equally frustrated friend Beth suggests the ultimate escape – dancing their way through a series of scorchingly-hot countries – she can’t resist!

But, when the sun goes down, do they have what it takes to go beyond the steps and free their hearts for love?”

Irish author Anna McPartlin has four books to her name, but most have had their titles changed for publication in the UK/USA from the originals that were released in Ireland. In a bid to stop the confusion, we present to you all four of Anna’s books as well as their other titles.

So What If I’m Broken? (Published in the US under the title of Alexandra, Gone (out in April), not yet published in the UK)

Tom is distraught. His wife is missing, his world has fallen apart and his only focus is on finding her. For seventeen years, Jane has cared for her son Kurt, her eccentric sister Elle, and her cantankerous mother Rose. The only person she doesn’t care for is herself. Elle is an artist and recognised as a genius. As such her somewhat erratic behaviour is indulged. Although her life appears perfect Elle’s sadness is sometimes profound. Leslie has lost her entire family to cancer. She has spent twenty years waiting to die but following radical surgery she’s determined to live again. Four months after Alexandra’s disappearance Tom steps into a lift with Jane, Elle and Leslie at a Jack Lukeman concert. One hour later the four strangers emerge with their lives forever intertwined.

The Truth Will Out (Published in the US under the title of As Sure As The Sun, not yet published in the UK)

Ever get the feeling you don’t really belong in your family, that you’re completely different to your relatives? That’s how 30-year-old interior decorator Harri Ryan has felt since she was a child despite being close to George, her twin brother, and loving parents Gloria and Duncan. It’s the second time Harri has tried to marry her fiancé James, and the second time she’s had a panic attack, ended up in hospital in her wedding dress and the celebrations have to be called off. Harri has lost the love of her life, but there’s more to it than wedding nerves and this time she wants the truth. George suspects there’s something their parents aren’t telling them. But in one week all will be revealed and their lives will change forever. And Harri’s not the only one suffering a crisis George and his partner Aidan are struggling, her friend Susan thinks her marriage is dead and friend Melissa wants to kill her hubby. Something’s got to give, but can they all come through this difficult time and find happiness? No matter what you do, the truth will out.

Apart From The Crowd (Published in the US under the same title; Published in the UK under No Way To Say Goodbye)

Mary was born to be unlucky but she s a fighter and despite a painful past, part of her is still hopeful for a happy ending. She just needs someone to remind her. Sam is a waster and a disappointment. He once had it all, but that didn t stop the thing that haunts him from destroying everything. He just wants a fresh start. Pennys the life and soul of every party. She s also a drunk and some would say a home wrecker. No one knows how lonely she really is. Ivan s a gentleman. He shouldn t care about the woman who left him, taking his kids, but he does because deep down, he knows that something is not right. Adam loves his kids and for them he s given up the woman and town he loves, but Adam doesn t even like his wife and that s a problem. Five souls have five months to change their fate.

Pack Up The Moon (Published in the UK under the same title)

What if your boyfriend died right in front of you? It was a night of laughter and celebration. But when John dies in a dreadful accident, his girlfriend Emma is plunged into despair. She loved John more than life itself - and now death has taken him from her. She feels nothing, she has lost everything, her world spins out of control. Or so she thinks. For Emma has friends - good friends who rally around. But the shocking memory of that night returns to haunt each of them in different and trying ways. And Emma knows that if she is ever to laugh at life again, or find love she once had, she will have to let go of the man she thought she couldn’t live without. She must let go and trust her heart.

Ruby O’Neill thought she had it all: a gorgeous husband, a rock-solid marriage and a fairytale house. Until one night, on Christmas Eve, Ruby’s world is shattered into tiny little pieces when she finds out her husband has died in a car accident.

As Ruby’s friend Jasmine helps her through her grief, Ruby decides to move house and buy out the shop in which she works. As Ruby and Jasmine make a success of the shop, Ruby’s life seems to be getting back on track, but she still feels as if she’ll never love again - until she meets Tom, a fellow widower. Are Ruby and Tom sufficiently over their grief to be able to love again or will it all end in disaster?

(more…)

Just a quick update… Lauren Weisberger’s new book which is due out on May 27th 2010 has been confirmed as being titled Last Night at Chateau Marmont on the publishers website. If you want to read the synopsis that Leah recently posted, click here!

Katie’s Fforde’s next book, A Perfect Proposal (what an intriguing title - and Katie says she’s bad at thinking them up), is due for release on 10th June 2010 and the book cover has finally been released. I adore it - I’m so pleased Katie’s covers now look modern and fresh and A Perfect Proposal is no exception! Here is the fab synopsis:

Sophie Apperly has been supporting herself since she left school, but as far as her academic family are concerned she’s never had a ‘proper’ job. And because she’s currently in between work she’s despatched to look after Uncle Eric while his housekeeper is away. Here, whilst tidying his papers, she discovers a document relating to family business in America. Driven mad by her family and wanting to prove herself to them and bring in some much-needed income for them all, when her best friend Milly invites her over to New York she jumps at the chance - what’s more she’s lined up some nannying work for her to pay her way.

However, she’s hardly been in the country five minutes before disaster strikes. She suddenly finds herself with no work, nowhere to stay and very little money. Luckily Milly has a corner in her tiny apartment she can camp out in. A jaunt to an art gallery opening throws her into the path of Matilda - a grand old lady who is delighted to find someone who comes from the same part of the world as she grew up in. She is very taken with Sophie and invites her to her house in Connecticut for Thanksgiving. But Matilda’s grandson Luke is very suspicious of Sophie - what exactly does this English girl want, is she after her grandmother’s money? - and he’s determined to nip this growing friendship in the bud.