You Are Viewing Author of the Week

This weeks Author of the Week is the great chick-lit/bonkbuster(!) author Tilly Bagshawe. I’ve read 3 of Tilly’s books now and they are incredibly readable, and absorb you in within just a few pages so she’s well worth checking out if you haven’t already! Tilly obviously has writing in the blood because her sister is fellow author Louise Bagshawe who featured as our Author of the Week a few months ago, and both sisters are equally great at what they do.

Tilly’s first novel Adored was released in 2004, and was one I read before I started reviewing. It was fantastic and quite unlike anything else I had read at that point. Since then she has released Showdown (the only book I haven’t read of Tilly’s), Do Not Disturb and Flawless. Tilly also wrote the sequel to Sidney Sheldon’s Master of the Game which was called Mistress of the Game and has been very well received by fans of both authors. Here’s about Tilly:

“Tilly Bagshawe went to Cambridge at the age of eighteen with her ten-month-old daughter in tow. At 26, she was the youngest ever partner in one of the world’s most prestigious headhunting firms. Tilly is married and divides her time between LA and London.”

Tilly’s next projects include novel Scandalous which is due in 2010, and also another Sidney Sheldon book which is titled Sidney Sheldon’s After The Darkness, so she’s been very busy! If you enjoy really fun and gritty chick lit, or you’ve read and enjoyed Louise Bagshawe’s work, then I can definitely recommend Tilly’s books to you. They’re fun, sexy and brilliant reads… what more could you ask for?!

This week’s Author of the Week is the lovely Claire Allan. Claire is another of Ireland’s great Chick-lit authors and came to my attention when I was sent her second novel Feels Like Maybe to review by her publishers, Poolbeg. I adored it, and eagerly awaited the next of Claire’s books, Jumping In Puddles which I read quickly and loved even more than her previous book! Claire has the knack for writing realistic characters that you care about, and stories that are gritty and real, with emotions that you can relate to. Here’s a bit about Claire from her website:

“I’m from Derry in Northern Ireland, which is sometimes known as Londonderry, but let’s not all get political. I work as a reporter for the Derry Journal. I’ve worked there since 1999 and I really enjoy that I get to meet lots of people. share their stories and actually get paid to write for a living! Five years ago I started writing a weekly column called ‘Skirting the Issue’ which made me the first female columnist in the history of the paper. I was and am very proud of that! Apart from writing the majority of my time is spent with my son Joseph who is 5, and our new baby daughter Cara. That’s plenty enough to keep anyone busy!”

Claire doesn’t seem to be well heard of over here in England, so I hope by featuring her as our Author of the Week choice, more people will be tempted to picking up one of her fantastic novels. I haven’t read her debut novel Rainy Days and Tuesdays yet but I will do as soon as I can, and she also has another book coming next year which I await eagerly! I love Claire Allan’s work and think she is definitely a huge talent in the chick-lit market so pick up one of her books if you can!

Sophie King is one of those authors that doesn’t seem to get all that much publicity in the “chick lit” world which is a shame because she’s a fab writer! Her real name is Jane Bidder and she’s a journalist, but under the name of Sophie King, she’s written 5 fabulous novels of which I’ve read them all and loved each. Here’s a bit about Sophie from her website:

“Sophie King’s books are aimed at teenagers, mums and grans or anyone else who can identify with a chaotic family life. Sophie has three children, a dog, a cat and a sleepy terrapin – all of whom make her laugh or cry, depending on how she feels

Sophie has a pen name to distinguish her novels from her journalism. As Jane Bidder, she has written for The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Daily Express, The Daily Mail, Woman, Woman’s Weekly, My Weekly, Good Housekeeping and many other national publications.”

Sophie King’s books first came to my attention when I read Mums @ Home many years ago, before I started reviewing and I loved it. I then read Second Time Lucky and was hooked on her books. My favourite of Sophie’s books has to be The Supper Club, a fabulous read about a group of friends and their woes. Her latest book is The Wedding Party and is also a good read. There’s no news of a 6th book yet but I’m hopeful there will be! If you haven’t yet discovered Sophie’s books, please try them - they’re fab!

This week’s Author of the Week is the fabulous Jane Costello. I recently read (and reviewed) Jane’s second novel The Nearly-Weds and I absolutely loved it. Jane’s writing style is easy to get into and her heroines are very likeable and down-to-earth. Jane’s biography from her site reads:

Jane Costello is a former journalist for newspapers including the Daily Mail and Liverpool Echo. Until 2007 she was the Editor of the Liverpool Daily Post, a job she’d held for four years. She lives in Lancashire with her husband and two young sons. Jane’s books, Bridesmaids and The Nearly-Weds, have been translated into numerous languages.

As I said, Jane’s easy writing style makes her a must-read for me. I look forward to getting her first novel Bridesmaids as it sounds fab. Jane’s third book, My Single Friend, is due for release on 15th April 2010 and also sound fantastic. I wholly recommend The Nearly-Weds particularly if you like Paige Toon, the style of writing and loveable heroines are very similar! Jane’s book covers are also fab, no? I love the text.

Alison Kervin is a relatively new author, with only three books to her name, but she’s already a favourite of mine. She introduced us to the WAGtastic Tracie Martin (of The WAGs Diary and A WAG Abroad), who could give Rebecca Bloomwood a run for her money regarding how dippy she is. Alison also introduced us to the loveable Kelly Monsoon in Celebrity Bride. You can see my review of Celebrity Bride here.

As well as writing fiction, Alison also writes non-fiction biographies and used to be the Chief Sports Interviewer for The Daily Telegraph. Alison has also written for numerous other newspapers and publications and even won the 2006 Sports Journalist of the Year award for her interviews in The Daily Telegraph. To learn more about Alison, visit her website.

As I said before, Tracie Martin is one of the most enjoyable characters in chick lit. Yes she’s dippy and very WAGtastic but she’s also incredibly likeable. She features in both A WAGs Diary and A WAG Abroad, both of which I adored. Alison said in her interview with us that she’d love to bring Tracie back for a final book so here’s hoping. Alison’s latest book, Celebrity Bride, featured the fab Kelly Monsoon who will also be coming back for a second book due for release on 24th June next year. Alison mentioned in an email it was tentatively titled Hollywood Royalty and I’m already excited for it. I’d wholly recommend new readers to Alison start with A WAGs Diary. I was hooked immediately and plan to re-read it soon.

This week’s author of the week is the fab Maggie Alderson. I’m a huge fan of hers and have read two of her novels: Mad About the Boy and Handbags and Gladrags and loved them both. Maggie is also the author of Pants on Fire, Cents & Sensibility and the recently released How To Break Your Own Heart. I will hopefully be reviewing How To Break Your Own Heart by the end of the year so look out for that. Here’s Maggie’s auto-biography from her site:

I was born in London, brought up in Staffordshire and educated at the University of St Andrews. I have edited four magazines: British ELLE and ES (I was Editor of the Year for that – get me) in London, then Cleo (acting editor) and Mode in Sydney. I also worked on the Evening Standard and the Sydney Morning Herald. Newspapers are my spiritual home. My column in Good Weekend magazine has been running for over ten years and has been collected into three books. I currently live in Hastings Old Town on the south coast of England, with my husband and six-year old daughter, but I move a lot. I have about 150 pairs of shoes and I am currently writing another novel.

Maggie’s writing is hilarious and incredibly readable. Mad About The Boy captivated me and I couldn’t stop reading it. I also thought Handbags and Gladrags was outstanding. I’d wholly recommend you read one of Maggie’s books. If I was you, I’d start with Mad About The Boy - Uncle Percy is hilarious. With any luck, Maggie is working on a sixth book and I look forward to reading those of Maggie’s I have yet to read!

This week’s Author of the Week is Julia Williams. I read Julia’s debut book Pastures New a couple of years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it, so she quickly became an author to watch for me! Leah read and enjoyed Julia’s second book Strictly Love based around ballroom dancing, and Julia also has a third book due out at the end of this month called Last Christmas. Here’s a bit about Julia from her website:

“Julia grew up in North London, one of eight children, including a twin sister who also writes. She attended St Michael’s Grammar School, before going to Liverpool University to study English. While at university she met her husband, David, a dentist. They have four children and live in Surrey.

After leaving Liverpool, Julia went into a career in publishing, firstly in academic books (which she loathed) and then into children’s books (which she still loves). Following the birth of her second baby, Julia left to start a freelance career, and decided that now was a good time to start writing.”

Julia has also written several picture books under the name Julia Moffatt which are aimed at Key Stage 1 children. Last Christmas is due out on 29th October and sounds like the perfect winter read!

You can find out more about Julia on her website: www.juliawilliamsauthor.com and follow her on Twitter too: www.twitter.com/jccwilliams

When I was at University, I began to start to read “chick-lit” properly, and one of my first ever chick lit books was Monday’s Child by Louise Bagshawe. I absolutely loved it and set about getting hold of Louise’s other books and since then I’ve been a big fan of her books. Her earlier stuff is definitely much better than her later stuff so its worth checking that out if you haven’t read any of Louise’swork before. Her latest novel Passion is a bit different to her other 11 novels, but I can’t wait to getting around to reading it. As well as being a best selling author, Louise is also a Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Corby and East Northamptonshire, so she keeps pretty busy! Her sister, Tilly Bagshawe, is also a bestselling writer and just as good as her older sister too. Here’s a bit more about Louise:

“Louise attended local Catholic schools near her family home in London, before going to Oxford University in 1989. After graduating with a degree in Anglo Saxon and Norse, Louise worked as press officer with EMI records and then as a marketing official with Sony Music.

On her 22nd birthday, Louise’s passion for writing was realised with a major publishing deal. To date, Louise has written twelve novels including a string of bestsellers. She has sold over two million books worldwide.”

(more…)