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George Polley

2/26/2014

8 Comments

 
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I have to say, I’ve been so lucky to have some marvellous guests join me on the sofa since I opened The Coffee House doors.  This week is no exception and I’m delighted to welcome George Polley to my little corner of Northumberland. George has travelled all the way from Japan to be with us today. He’s a writer, blogger and all round good guy and he’s been in the literary business for a heck of a long time, so I’m hoping he can give us all a few tips. He writes for the young at heart, regardless of age, and has a wonderful lyrical way with words. I’m looking forward to hearing more about George’s interesting life and learning more about his latest book, a novel set in Mexico City. So please, George, come in and make yourself at home.

GP - “Thank you, Babs, for inviting me. Cozy place you have here. This morning in Sapporo, Japan, it’s a beautiful, cold day and the snow is a brilliant white in the sun.”

1 – Now, George, this is where you get the opportunity to order up anything you fancy from the menu. And since you’ve come such a long way I’ll make sure you get double helpings.

GP - “Coffee (black) and a chocolate chunk scone if you have one, please.”

2 – I know you’re originally from the USA, George, but perhaps you’d like to spend a few minutes giving us a little more background about your life. Were you always a writer? Do you have a secret skill or hobby that we need to know about? And how did you end up in Japan?

GP - “I grew up in Seattle, then lived in several different places (Oregon, California, Illinois, Minnesota, then back to Seattle in 1984, where my wife and I lived until we moved to Japan in early 2008. I’ve been writing since the late 1960s, squeezing it in around a busy career in the mental health field as a clinical social worker. I retired from that at the end of 2007. Why Japan? My wife is from here, and wanted to go back home after I retired. So we sold our home, flew to her home town in Hokkaido, found a place in Sapporo, bought it, and moved. Couldn’t be happier.”

3 – What brought you to writing? What was the first thing you had published and how did you go about it?

GP - “My 7th grade English teacher gave me high marks for a story I wrote for a class assignment, telling me that I had a talent for writing. That was in 1947. I didn’t do anything with it until the mid 1960s, when I was seized with the desire to begin writing. Things progressed from there. The first thing I had published was a short story, “Jonah’s Birth”, published in The South Dakota Review, a literary journal. Frederick Manfred, a well-known upper Midwestern novelist, read it and recommended that I send it to their editor, which I did. After that I wrote and published an article about Henry Miller’s work. Fred Manfred became my mentor and guide in those early years.”

4 – Are you a disciplined writer, George? Do you get carried away with the latest project to the exclusion of everything else, or do you flit from one to the other as the mood takes you? Do you have a study or place of solitude where you write, or are you the ‘back of an envelope’ kind of guy?

GP - “I write something every morning, usually focusing on one main project at a time, such as a specific book, poem or story. Right now, I’m putting together a short story collection which I hope to publish later this year. I’m also working on a nonfiction book on addiction and recovery, which is a carry-over from my profession and my personal life (I’m a recovering alcoholic; quit drinking 35 years ago). I also blog, which satisfies my desire to share my thoughts on issues and interests, poems, snippets, etc., with others.

“I’m fortunate to have a study here in our little home, as I did in our Seattle home. I don’t write well when I’m surrounded by other people talking and doing other things. This way I can also have a messy desk, and other essentials, like a place for pens, pencils, and books that I often reference for details and inspiration (I keep all of my poetry books nearby so I can read them when I feel the urge).

5 – Where do you take your inspiration from?

GP - “People, incidents, dreams. Life presents an endless supply of stories. My novella, “The Old Man and The Monkey” came from a dream I had in 2006 about a big Japanese monkey. Since I’d never had a dream about a monkey before, and hadn’t been thinking about monkeys, I wondered about the dream. So I “asked” the monkey why he’d dropped around. The result is the story about an elderly Japanese man and the big monkey that, much to the consternation of his wife and neighbors, becomes his good friend and companion. I listened, and he “told” his story. Once when I tried to expand the story, my mind went blank and nothing happened. Expanding it would have ruined it. I’ve learned to listen to my characters and allow them to tell their story through me. May sound weird, but, hey, I’m a writer, right?”

 6 – I love to genre hop, how about you? Do you write in a specific genre? Which is your favourite and why?

GP -“Interesting question, Babs. Prior to publishing my first two books (“Grandfather and The Raven” is the second), I’d never given a thought to genres. I just wrote books that I hoped people would find interesting. I suppose both books fit in “General fiction” or “literary fiction”, though both have been identified as “children’s literature. i see them as fables (especially the one about the old man and the monkey). A favorite genre? I don’t have one. I read what I find interesting in a broad selection of genres.                          

7 – Is there a particular genre or type of scene that you would avoid and if so why?

GP - “Sex scenes; I’m really awful at them. Attempts send my wife to rolling about on the floor holding her abdomen which is bouncing up and down as tears of mirth spill into her ears). Romance is another subject I’m not especially good at writing about, though there is a budding romance toward the end of a new novel about Mexico City, so perhaps I’m not totally hopeless on the subject.”

8 – As a child which was your favourite book? Were you read to as a child and did that develop your love of books? Do you have a favourite book and author now? What are you reading now?

GP - “What comes immediately to mind is Edgar Rice Burroughs series about John Carter and Mars. Couldn’t get enough of them. Read them again and again, to the point that, as a child, on a clear night when I could see Mars in the night sky, there I’d be in our front yard with my arms raised toward Mars waiting to be lifted up and planted on the Red Planet. I quit that when the thought dawned on me: “What if I can’t get back?” Horrors! That put an end to that (but not to reading those books.) I also liked historical fiction, especially those written by Louis Muhlbach about Napoleon and Josephine, Henry the Eighth, and so forth.”

9 – Promotion and marketing is the bane of most writers’ lives. I know you’re a successful blogger, does this help you reach your readers and promote your work? Do you have any particular tips that you can share with us?

GP - “Oh, my! Marketing is something I’m learning a lot about, I belong to several helpful Facebook groups and mine books and articles on the subject. Since I’ll be much more involved with marketing my new books, I’m taking tons of notes, being much more active in Facebook groups and Twitter, and paying attention to what I learn. My work there will sharply increase as my new books come out this summer and beyond.”

10 – Tell us a little about the books you currently have published.

GP - “The Old Man and The Monkey.” This is a fable about friendship, about Genjiro Yamada and his wife, who live in a tiny village in Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost prefecture. They have lived in the village for fifty years. Genjiro has a favorite place to sit that he calls his “sitting place,” a broad, flat stone on a little rise from which he can view and meditate upon the broad, lush valley and its river below and the mountains rising beyond. There is a forest nearby, in which a tribe of monkeys (not native to Hokkaido) are alleged to live. Legend has it that, whenever villagers have sought to go deep into that forest to dig for mountain potatoes and forage for mushrooms, the monkeys attack by throwing things at them from the trees and chattering ferociously. One day, while sitting and gazing out over the valley, a very large old monkey walks up, stands and gazes at him, then sits down on the stone next to him. Genjiro has never seen such a large monkey before, and is somewhat anxious, even though it is clear that the monkey means him no harm. After thirty minutes, the monkey gets up, looks Genjiro in the eyes, and leaves. This scene repeats itself several times a week. When Genjiro’s wife and the villagers find out about it, they are upset, especially when Genjiro names the monkey Yukitaro (“snow monkey” in Japanese). Friendships with such an alien creature is frowned upon. But when Yukitaro shows his kindness to his human friend and, ultimately, to the villagers, they are overwhelmed.

“Grandfather and The Raven” is about a Sapporo grandfather and the big raven that becomes his friend and companion. “Sir Raven” (as Grandfather calls him) is a bit of a comic figure who enjoys pulling Grandfather’s leg, chases away vicious dogs, and is a pretty likeable guy. The raven is one of my favorite characters. He almost always gets his way, he has a wicked sense of humor, and he’s quick to rescue people when called upon. Yep, Sir Raven’s my kind of guy!

11 – Can you give us a little hint at what you have planned next and when it might be available?

GP - “‘The City Has Many Faces: A Love Story About Mexico City” will be available late this summer. As the title says, it’s a love story about Mexico City, told through the lives of its citizens and history. I lived in Mexico City in 1973-74, fell in love with it, and the novel is the result.

“‘Bear, the story of a boy and his very unusual dog”. Previously published by Taylor Street Publishing, it will be published by Tortoise & Hare Publications sometime this summer.

A third book that I hope to have completed and published before the end of the year is a nonfiction book, “Returning to the World From the Crazy Land of Addiction.”

12 – And tell us even more about the one you’ve brought with you.

GP - “It’s ‘The Old Man and The Monkey.’ Having lived in the village for over fifty years, Genjiro and his wife Harue are respected elders. When a friendship develops between Genjiro and a very large monkey, everyone is thrown into a tizzy, except for one little girl, who’s convinced that the monkey is really a little old man dressed up like a monkey. When the monkey, whom Genjiro has named Yukitaro, shows up at their house and begins helping Harue with her garden, and brings them a huge long mountain potato that one villager mistakes for a club (“He’s going to kill them! I’ve seen him!”), the whole village shows up, ready for a fight. When they see that the “club” is really a huge mountain potato, they all laugh and go home. And then, one day, they really see what the gift is that Yukitaro has brought to them all.”

13 – Pick one of your characters and sell him/her to us in twenty words or less.

GP - “Yukitaro: he’s a shaman, a being that just comes along one day, says little but does much in spreading kindness around.”

14 – While I top up your coffee would you like to read a short excerpt from your chosen book?


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Prologue

In a small park near one of the rivers that run through the city of Asahikawa, Hokkaido, there is a bronze statue of an old man and a monkey seated side by side on a wide flat stone looking out over the river and the mountains. The monkey is bigger than ordinary snow monkeys; the top of his head reaches to the old man’s shoulder.

Looking at the bags under his eyes, one can see that the monkey, like the man, is elderly. Affixed to the base of the statue is a bronze plaque that reads: “Genjiro and Yukitaro.” These two old friends sit and warm themselves in silence as the years and seasons pass.

As Long as long as the statue has been there, people passing by have paused, wondering how a monkey and a man could become friends because, as everyone knows, monkeys are pests and can be dangerous when humans get too close. Some people tell each other that such a friendship is unnatural, and that because it is unnatural, is impossible. Others believe that Genjiro and Yukitaro are characters that the artist made up. But everyone agrees that the statue is appealing, because the two old friends have such an air of tranquility and peace about them that people come and sit down next to it to enjoy their lunch, or to just sit quietly and look out at the river and the mountains, later commenting on how peaceful the experience was.

So it is that the old man and the monkey receive a constant stream of visitors who sit and enjoy their company in silence and take something of them away to warm themselves.

No one believes the old man and the monkey were real; but I know that they were because the old man was my grandfather, Genjiro Yamada, and Yukitaro was his companion and friend for the last five years of his life.

Now is the time for me to tell their story and reveal for the first time how an improbable friendship like that between a man and a monkey happened, how it was good, and how it ended.


Amazon.com

Amazon UK


George's Website

And finally, George, a little game that I hope all my guests will contribute to. Can you give me 100 words of your choosing to contribute to The Story So Far and to follow on from last weeks guest? Your last line will be picked up by the next guest... and so on:

‘Oh, no, my pretty one!  Too late for that!’ Then, quite suddenly, a great well of resolve rose up in her. “Not too late!” she heard herself shout; “Not too late, ye daemon!” With strength she didn’t know she had, she threw off his hand and pushed, sending him reeling back. Then, quick as lightning, she was through the door. Slamming the inner bolt into the locking mechanism, she looked wildly about the room. All she needed to do was find the key. But where? From the other side of the door came a growl: “Ye canna get away!” Then the door crashed down, and the furred beast was …


Thank you, George. It was a real pleasure to chat with you. What an interesting life you've led. I hope to see many more of your books in the coming months and wish you well with all of them.

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8 Comments

Gerry McCullough

2/19/2014

27 Comments

 
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This week I’m excited to welcome the very talented Gerry McCullough to The Coffee House. Gerry is a Belfast writer with a commendable list of thrillers, short story collections and magazine articles to her name. Her fabulous book Belfast Girls was an Amazon best seller. In addition to her own writing, she’s a tireless supporter of fellow Indie authors and I’m delighted she’s found the time to stop by for a coffee and a chat. I know she has a busy life so I’m hoping she’s going to share more about what she’s been up to recently and of course about her books and future projects. So, without further ado, Gerry, come in out of that awful weather, hang up your coat, and make yourself at home.

1 – Before we get started, Gerry, what can I get you? Name your poison and I’ll see if the chef can rustle it up. If it’s an Irish delicacy then you might need to roll up your sleeves and give a hand.

GM - You’re very kind, Babs! I think, since it’s a special occasion, I could forget my diet for once (or is it the millionth time?) and have some strawberry pavlova – or hot pancakes with raspberry jam – or a cherry scone – or hot chocolate – or – or – oh, you decide!

2 – Okay, mini bio time -Let’s get to know a little bit more about how you ended up here on my sofa, Gerry. I know you’re a successful writer but do you have an additional occupation or interesting hobby that drags you away from the keyboard.

GM - Well, Babs, I was born and brought up in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where I went to school and later university. I married as a student and we moved to the Co. Antrim seaside village of Whitehead. My first husband died while he was still very young, leaving me with two little boys aged four and five. A few years later, I met and married my present husband Raymond, who’s been a real blessing to me and the boys, and we moved to Bangor on the other side of the Lough, not too many miles from Belfast. Then we had two more children, both girls. Two per husband, I think that’s fair, isn’t it?  So to answer the second part of your question, Babs, since I have four adult children and nine grandchildren, keeping up with their lives (and, for example, their birthdays!) is enough of a hobby for anyone, I should think. And, yes, it can be a major distraction!

3 – How did you get into writing? What was the first thing you had published and how did you go about it?

GM - I’ve always loved writing, Babs, since I was a very small child, and for years I tried hard to get published, but like 99% of authors, famous or otherwise, I gathered up enough rejection slips to, as PG Wodehouse said, ‘paper the walls of my office.’ The breakthrough came when an Irish magazine accepted one of my short stories, A Tale of a Teacup, (my first Tale of Old Seamus), and then went on to publish a whole series of the other stories I wrote about the same character. A few years later, I won a prestigious Short Story Award. I really thought I had it made! But it was several more years before Someone accepted one of my full length books. That came to nothing (Irreconcilable differences, as they say in the divorce courts.) But not long after that, Night Publishing accepted Belfast Girls, and since that I haven’t looked back.

4 – I usually have two or three projects on the go at the same time. How about you, Gerry? Do you get carried away with the latest project to the exclusion of everything else, or do you flit from one to the other as the mood takes you? Are you a planner, or happy to go where your characters take you?

GM - They say women are multi-tasking. I can only say, I’ve never been. (Which reminds me to stop talking for a moment and eat some more of this marvellous pavlova!). I need to concentrate on one thing at a time, and finish that, before going on to something else. At the moment, I have the problem that there are at least three things I should be writing. Firstly, adapting Belfast Girls to make a play. A local theatre is very interested in this project, but since way before Christmas it’s been dead slow and stop with it. Secondly, I’ve planned for some time to lengthen one of my more literary short stories, set before, during and after the First World War, into a full length novel. I’ve got up to 33,000 words. But every time I’ve thought of writing some more (and I’ve lots of ideas for new scenes) I think I should really be working on the play, and nothing happens. Then, I really want to write another book in my Angel Murphy thriller series, and I have ideas for two more, but I don’t know whether to go ahead with them or finish one of my other projects first. I really need to get my head together on this.

5 – I like to listen to music when I’m writing and depending on what I’m writing, the music will differ. So, for my Mrs Jones series it’s got to be Michael Buble’, Wildewood is Sting and Bedlam is definitely The Stereophonics. How about you, Gerry? Do you have a particular musical influence while writing?

GM - Well, no, Babs. I love listening to music when I’m doing nothing else. But I suppose it follows on from what I’ve said above, I can’t listen to music, or to someone talking, or anything, while I’m trying to write. I just doesn’t work for me.

6 – I love to genre hop, how about you? Do you write in a specific genre? Which is your favourite and why?

GM - Yes, I’ve written Belfast Girls which is labelled as Literary Fiction / Contemporary Romance; Danger Danger and my two Angel books which are thrillers with a bit of romance thrown in, Lady Molly & the Snapper, which is a YA Time Travel adventure, a collection of the first 12 of my Old Seamus stories (The Seanachie – which means storyteller in Irish) and a so far unpublished book which is a Terry Prachett-like comic fantasy. (This was the book accepted by another publisher which I mentioned above.) So I’ve genre hopped and enjoyed it. I actually believer books shouldn’t be labelled as one genre or another. No one labelled Dickens or Jane Austen as of one particular genre – but who am I to challenge the now established system? The problem with genre hopping is that readers are trained to expect a certain sort of book from an author. If you write something different, you have to start from scratch building up a new audience. Far too much work, I’m afraid.

7 – Is there a particular genre or type of scene that you would avoid and if so why?

GM - Yes, I would never write anything upsetting about a child being hurt in any way. I don’t read this sort of thing either. Or extreme horror, or extreme erotica. That’s about it. I’ll happily write or read almost anything  else.

8 – As a child which was your favourite book? Were you read to as a child and did that develop your love of books? Do you have a favourite book and author now? What are you reading now?

GM - I never know what to answer to questions about my favourite book. Mostly, I have favourite authors, and I’ll read and reread everything that author has ever written. As a child, I read a lot of E. Nesbit, Nancy Breary (intelligent girls’ boarding school stories) Geoffrey Trease (historical fiction). But I also read adult writers like PG Wodehouse, Georgette Heyer, Jane Austen – the list is endless and I’ve probably left out some real favourites. One of my sisters used to read to me, and was also responsible for taking me to the children’s library and getting me enrolled. My mother recited poetry to me, my father sang – oh, I was brought up in a very cultured family. For which I’m very grateful. I can never understand writers who don’t read. If I stopped reading, I think my creativity would die the death very soon.  Currently I’m rereading J.B. Priestley’s The Image Men, a book I couldn’t recommend too heartily to anyone reading this.

9 – Promotion and marketing is the bane of most writers’ lives. How do you reach your readers and promote your work? Do you have any particular tips that you can share with us?

GM - The usual advice is to build an internet platform. Facebook, Twitter, a bog, a website. I’ve done all that. The Kindle Select Programme, where you are allowed to make a book free for 5 days out of every 90, worked very well for me at first. Nearly two years ago my second book Danger Danger, published by Precious Oil Publications, had 21,000 free downloads followed by over 2000 actual sales, which put it into the overall top hundred on Amazon. Then because Danger Danger had a chapter of Belfast Girls at the back, and a link to buy Belfast Girls on Amazon, Belfast Girls in turn sold around eleven thousand in a few months, was in the top hundred overall for some time, and was #1 in its genres. Around then I switched Belfast Girls from Night Publishing to my new publisher, who put it up free on Kindle Select, and it similarly had around 21,000 free downloads followed by 2,300 actual sales, and went back into the overall top hundred again. Alas, Kindle Select no longer works like that, since Amazon changed the goalposts. Free downloads are no longer followed by actual sales, or not by many. Facebook and Twitter are less useful than they were, I think. And the new Countdown programme is of doubtful value. The emerging thing seems to be paid advertising, especially on sites with an established following, like BookBub. Unfortunately this is hard for a new writer since they won’t accept a book unless it has a large number of reviews. And how do you get reviews before people have read the book? It’s a bit of a vicious circle.

10 – Tell us a little about the books you currently have published.

GM - I suppose I’ve already covered this pretty well!  I have six books published. Belfast Girls is about three girls, friends since childhood, growing up in the new post conflict Belfast where drugs, wealth and fashion have become important; and of their lives and loves.  Danger Danger is a romantic thriller about twin girls separated at birth whose lives nevertheless follow strangely similar patterns, as the lives of twins seem to do. Both have a relationship with a dangerous man who draws them into trouble. Angel in Flight introduces Angel Murphy, a Belfast Girl emerging from a broken marriage and learning, while on holiday in Greece, to stand up for herself and deal with the villains she comes across. The second Angel book, Angel in Belfast, shows Angel tracking down another villain who has driven a well loved pop star to the brink of death. I’ve already mentioned Lady Molly, the YA Time Travel adventure, and The Seanachie: Tales of Old Seamus.

11 – Can you give us a little hint at what you have planned next?

GM - I’ve too many pots on the boil, as I said above. As a matter of fact, I decided last week to simply put all these aside, turn off the gas as it were, and relax into writing, as I used to do long ago, just what I feel like writing. I’ve started what might have been a short story, but seems to be developing into a novel. It’s a mixture of Georgette Heyer, Vanity Fair, and Jane Eyre – a historical romance, in fact – and I’m enjoying writing it. Whether it will ever get finished or not I’ve no idea. The whole point is not to push myself, but to get back to writing purely for enjoyment.

12 – And tell us even more about the one you’ve brought with you.

GM - Well, I’ve decided on Belfast Girls.  The three girls in this book each have their own stories, but because they are friends the stories are intertwined. Sheila, beginning life as an ‘ugly duckling’ grows up to be a supermodel, and is kidnapped at one point in the book. Her one desire is to heal her broken relationship with her former boyfriend John Branagh. Phil is deeply in love since her teens with Davy Hagan, who is involved in dealing drugs. Phil, because she won’t give Davy away, is herself accused of dealing and sent to prison at another point.  The third friend, Mary, starts as a wild child, with underage drinking and drugs. But when she almost dies from an accidental overdose she has a spiritual awakening and her life is turned around.  And that’s just scratching the surface of the book!

13 – Pick one of your characters and sell him/her to us in twenty words or less.

GM - Sheila seems to have everything – beauty, success as a model. But all she really wants is John, who despises her.

14 – While I top up your coffee would you like to read a short excerpt from your chosen book?


Sheila stared at herself in the mirror and saw a cool, beautiful woman, the epitome of poise and grace. She knew that famous, rich, important men over two continents would give all their wealth and status to possess her, or so they said. She was an icon according to the papers. That meant, surely, something unreal, something artificial, painted or made of stone. And what was the good? There was only one man she wanted. John Branagh. And he’d pushed her away. He believed she was a whore – a tart – someone not worth touching. What did she do to deserve that?

It wasn’t fair! she told herself passionately. He went by rules that were medieval. No-one nowadays thought the odd kiss mattered that much. Oh, she was wrong. She’d hurt him, she knew she had. But if he’d given her half a chance, she’d have apologised – told him how sorry she was. Instead of that, he’d called her such names – how could she still love him after that? But she knew she did.

How did she get to this place, she wondered, the dream of romantic fiction, the dream of so many girls, a place she hated now, where men thought of her more and more as a thing, an object to be desired, not a person? When did her life go so badly wrong? She thought back to her childhood, to the skinny, ginger-haired girl she once was. Okay, she hated how she looked but otherwise, surely, she was happy.

Or was that only a false memory?

The evening was almost at its climax.

To the loud music of Snow Patrol, Sheila half floated, half danced along the catwalk, her arms raised ballerina fashion. This was Delmara's spring look for evening wear and she could tell at once that the audience loved it.


With one part of her mind Sheila was aware of the audience, warm and relaxed now, full of good food and drink, their minds absorbed in beauty and fashion, ready to spend a lot of money. Dimly in the background she heard the sounds of voices shouting and feet running.

The door to the ballroom burst open. People began to scream. It was something Sheila had heard about for years now, the subject of local black humour, but had never before seen. Three figures, black tights pulled over flattened faces as masks, uniformly terrifying in black leather jackets and jeans, surged into the room. The three sub-machine guns cradled in their arms sent deafening bursts of gunfire upwards. Falling plaster dust and stifling clouds of gun smoke filled the air. For one long second they stood just inside the entrance way, crouched over their weapons, looking round. One of them stepped forward and grabbed Montgomery Speers by the arm.

“Move it, mister!” he said. He dragged Speers forcefully to one side, the weapon poking him hard in the chest.

A second man gestured roughly with his gun in the general direction of Sheila.

“You!” he said harshly. “Yes, you with the red hair! Get over here!”



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Blurb:
The story of three girls - Sheila, Phil and Mary - growing up into the new emerging post-conflict Belfast of money, drugs, high fashion and crime; and of their lives and loves.
Sheila, a supermodel, is kidnapped. Phil is sent to prison. Mary, surviving a drug overdose, has a spiritual awakening.
It is also the story of the men who matter to them –

John Branagh, former candidate for the priesthood, a modern Darcy, someone to love or hate. Will he and Sheila ever get together? Davy Hagan, drug dealer, ‘mad, bad and dangerous to know’. Is Phil also mad to have anything to do with him?

Although from different religious backgrounds, starting off as childhood friends, the girls manage to hold on to that friendship in spite of everything.

A book about contemporary Ireland and modern life. A book which both men and women can enjoy - thriller, romance, comedy, drama - and much more ....


  Buy at -                Amazon

Catch up with Gerry at:

Blogspot
Website
Twitter
Goodreads
Facebook

Amazon Author Page

16– And finally a little game that I hope all my guests will contribute to. Gerry, can you give me 100 words of your choosing to follow on from this? Your last line will be picked up by the next guest... and so on: You can catch up with the whole story so far Here.

Oh my God nightmare! ...Rose twisted and turned in the damp sheets. Her fever increased. No more of this horror throwing her from one awful situation to another! Where was the castle where her dream started? If she could get there, a prince on a white horse would come and rescue her. There was the kitchen! Rose heard hooves thudding in the courtyard outside the door. She must open it! She wrestled in vain with the heavy bolt. A hand grasped her shoulder. A hand covered in grey fur. And a voice said in her ear, ‘Oh, no, my pretty one!  Too late for that!’


Thanks for inviting me in out of the cold, Babs! It’s been great – especially the strawberry pavlova.

And thank you so much for coming, Gerry. It's been lovely to find out a little more about your life. I wish you continued success in all you do and hope all your plans come to fruition. Do pop back and let us know how you get on.


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27 Comments

Elaine - Reader Interview

2/16/2014

17 Comments

 
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This Sunday’s Guest Reader at The Coffee House is Elaine. Elaine and I are Geordie lasses who first met in high school and have shared so many memories and embarrassing moments I could write a book on it...ah there’s a thought. She’s a true bookaholic, the type who comes to visit, picks up your book, begins to read it and forgets that you’re sitting there too. We share a love of horses, guinea pigs and The Buble’ and once competed in the same Judo team ... I kid you not! It’s a real delight to have Elaine here today.


So without further ado and before you get sidetracked by my latest John Connelly book, Elaine, would you like to give folks an insight into who you are? i.e. job, hobbies, life in general, and tell us why you love books.

Ha ha, Babs, you know as much about me as I do!  I live in the coquet valley in a small village but was originally a “Townie” born in Wallsend and living in North Tyneside most of my life. My husband’s family come from this neck of the woods.  I met him while I was doing a part time job as a barmaid in a rugby club.  I was working full time in the civil service but needed extra money to keep the horse I owned at the time.  We have lived here for 20 years now so almost a local.  I have a part time job in a residential home for Adult Males as a support worker. It’s never dull and more rewarding than the civil service although not half as well paid.   I have become quite lazy as far as hobbies go, being very fond now of reading, (of course) I love to spend time with friends and family and in particular my 15 year old son although he is at that age where parents are definitely not cool.  I also love opera and used to be very fond of drawing and intend to try and get back to doing this.  I also absolutely love horses and have owned two, unfortunately not at the moment.  I have a cat, a guinea pig and six fish, animal crackers you could say.

Can you tell us what your favoured genre is? Or are you an eclectic reader?

I have to say I will read most things although I suppose my main preferences are for Crime and Historical Fiction, but anything is fair game. I particularly like books with a kind of supernatural vibe so Bedlam is probably my favourite of your books, Babs.  Books have always taken me to a different world.  When I was young I remember sitting behind the settee at my Grans reading and everyone left for a train trip to the seaside, they had to come back for me when they got to the station and realised I was not with them. I was totally unaware that they had left and was still in the same place reading when they came back for me. I must have been about eight. I don’t read romance books of the Mills and Boon, Barbara Cartland ilk, though I sometimes I enjoy books written particularly for women (I hate the term chick lit, I think it demeans the content somehow)  I won’t touch those tragic life books they just are not for me.

Give us your 5 favourite books if you can?

That is a really hard question as I have so many books I have really loved but if I am pushed I would say ‘Black Beauty’ by Anna Sewell, probably one of the first books ever written to make a social issue of cruelty to animals, and a great read for a pony mad youngster.  (I might also say the ‘My friend Flicka’ books were a favourite as well)
‘Lord of the Rings’, I read that when I was about 11 and what a great journey that was! Although I have to say I skipped some of the poetry to get to the action. (I still have my original copy, a favourite of mine too, Elaine. Nothing at all to do with me being Hobbit sized!)
‘The Last Ride’ by Thomas Eidson, this is one you introduced me to, Babs.  The story of a man estranged from his family, living as an Apache, who helps his daughter to recapture his lost granddaughter from Indians.  A brilliantly written and almost poetic book I love it (and still have not returned it to you!) (Yes, I had noticed!)
‘Jack’ by Brian Carter, this is the original war horse if you like, but for adults.  I bought this one as an out of print hardback from a cheap pile in a tent at an agricultural show and what a bargain it was.  The story is of a young Irish lad living in Devon working on a farm.  His favourite mare is taken by the army for the first world war.  Jack joins up to try to find and be with his horse.  Beautifully written and a real description of social values at the time. Unfortunately out of print but still obtainable on Amazon I think.  I treasure this because it reminds me of the bond you can establish with a horse which until it is experienced is not really explainable, but this book does a fantastic job.
My last choice is ‘Tracks’ by Robin Davidson, which again I bought over 10 years ago as a tattered hard back from a church jumble.  A true story of a woman who sets out to cross the deserts of the Australian Outback with 4 camels and a dog.    It is both sometimes hilarious and also very sad in parts just like life, but what a story and what a journey. 

Do you have a favourite author?

You are of Course!! (ha ha the tenner’s in the post) I also like Phillipa Gregory, Stephen King, George Shuman, James Patterson, Phil Rickman, and loads of others.  I could actually more easily say which Authors I would not pick up.


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What are you reading now?

Phil Rickman’s  ‘The Remains of An Altar’  (part of the Merrily Watkins Mysteries)
The first book of Phil Rickman’s that I read was Candlenight, really atmospheric and a good story so I read his as I come across them.  I found the one I am reading now in a charity shop.

How many books would you normally read in a month?

As many as I can!  At least four or five I would say, but that is slow for me, I used to be able to read a book in a day, alas I do not have that sort of time now

Which do you prefer e-books or paperbacks?

 I don’t mind at all but I have to say I would never buy a cookery book as an e-book, I do have a weakness for cookery books, especially the ones with some sort of narrative in them and I love to write notes in them because I am a devil for making changes and additions to recipes.  

Do you have an e-reader, if so, which one?

I have a kindle and it is the devil’s work ha ha. I feel guilty at having so many unread books on it and then being sidetracked by a book I’ve bought at a charity shop or something.    

Where do you usually buy books, online, bookshops or other? 

I buy them anywhere, anyhow, I am not precious about it I have to say.    I do think that the good thing about the e-book is that authors who may not have been published are now easily and economically accessible which is great for readers and writers alike.  Having said that I am still particular about what I download onto my device.

Do you use your local library?

I used to use the library a lot but don’t now because of a change in my lifestyle and the limited hours our library is open which makes it more difficult to visit. 

If a book you wanted to read wasn’t available on your reading device what would you do? Download an app? Borrow from the library or choose a different book?

I still have my library card and if I wanted to read a book I couldn’t get hold of on my Kindle I would use the library.

What first attracts you to a book by an unknown author? Cover, Blurb, Recommendation? Are you influenced by publisher name?

The Blurb is the first thing I suppose, although it depends where you are choosing them.  If I’m looking in a shop I will choose depending on cover, author, blurb or a combo of everything.  Once I pick the book up I look at the first paragraph to see if it grabs me. Publishers don’t mean a lot to me, the book’s the thing.

What puts you off?

I won’t read about children being murdered or tortured which has put me off reading the sequel to The Shining, a book I really enjoyed.  I am happy to read a book with a gentle pace if that is the right thing for the story but I do not like procrastination in books which should be moving along such as adventure or crime.  Other than that I am not a fan of anything which is too graphic in either sexual or violence descriptions, I think authors should be able to credit their readers with some imagination 

What do you think is fair price for a novel length e-book/paperback?

 I balk at paying a lot of money for an e-book.  They do not cost as much to publish so I think that publishers are sometimes making money that the writers do not see.   I might pay up to £3 if I don’t know the author and as for famous authors I usually wait and buy books from the charity shop. You don’t wait long these days before fairly new books are recycled.   If I was to buy a new paperback it would probably be about £8.00 before I had the internal conversation with myself as to whether I can afford it.  (that’s over an hours pay for me)

After reading a book do you ever leave a review? Only when you really enjoy it? Only when you really didn’t enjoy it? 

I would be very much more likely to leave a good review, often the enjoyment of a story is subjective, one man’s meat etc.  I feel a bit guilty that I have really enjoyed some e-books and have not left a review mainly down to time it has to be said, I must fix that.  I have left a couple of bad ones, but I have to say they really needed it!  Both had lots of happy readers but I was not one of them so I did not feel too bad about saying what I thought (in the politest possible way of course)  I admire authors and their imagination, I love to read and I am grateful that there are people who love to  write.

Are you influenced by other reader’s reviews?

Not really although some of the reviews I have read have been better than the book!  They may make me more likely to look inside the book if they are on an e-book platform but on the whole I like to make up my own mind.

Do you recommend books you’ve enjoyed to friends? 

I do if I have enjoyed a particular book in a genre they enjoy, and I loan books to people (although only if I am fairly sure I will get them back)  I also recycle a lot of books to charity etc as I don’t keep all those I buy.  

Are you a member of any reader groups, book clubs i.e. Goodreads?

I have a Goodreads account but don’t use it very often.

Do you subscribe to any e-book promo newsletters? If so which ones?

I do get emails from the CRA (Crime Readers Association) but I have to say I see lots of promotions on Facebook via your page Babs and do download some of them although not all (back to the unread e-book guilt) 


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Thanks so much for dragging yourself away from Phil Rickman to join us today, Elaine. I must remember to borrow that book when you’re finished. I’m sure you’ll also welcome some further recommendations, so if anyone can think of a book that Elaine might enjoy, pop your suggestion in a comment.
I mentioned earlier that Elaine and I go back a long way and share many memories. Well here’s one ... Whitley Bay, late seventies. Happy days! And here’s to many more.

                                                                                                        Babs x


17 Comments

Jan - Reader Interview

2/9/2014

7 Comments

 
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To complement our Wednesday author interviews, The Coffee House is pleased to announce a new feature...Sunday Reader Interviews. It’s an opportunity to get to know a few of the folk who read our books and discover what they give a thumbs up to, and what gets the thumbs down. Amongst other things I’ll be asking them about their favourite genres/authors and of course their preference, e-book versus printed. So, if you’re not reading or writing, then join us on Sundays to discuss books!

A warm Coffee House welcome goes to our first guest, Jan. She’s a Northern lass, like myself, and an avid reader.  A little bird tells me she was once a book buyer for a well known UK book retailer, so she knows a thing or two about the industry. Jan, while I pop the kettle on, can you give us a little insight into who you are? i.e. job, hobbies, life in general, and tell us why you love books.


I work in the beautiful market town of Hexham where I manage an outdoor shop selling clothing and equipment. 4 kids , 4 grandies and a full time job leave  little time for leisure activities but of course there is time everyday to read something. I’m more of an outdoor type preferring to roam the hills of Northumberland and delve into local historic sites than watch television.

What is your favoured genre or are you an eclectic reader?

I do read a wide range of books but it’s easier to tell you what I tend to leave on the shelf.  I’m not a great lover of crime. (ha ha, that’s my books out the window then) I hate reading about children going missing etc, and graphic murder scenes horrify me.  I prefer stories set in England (I can’t tell you why) and I don’t read ‘Chick lit’ My most often chosen genre is historical fiction.



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Can you give us your 5 favourite books?

So difficult to select only 5. But here goes 1) Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. 2) Sarum by Edward Rutherford. 3) The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle 4) Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsch. 5) Chocolate by Joanna Harris. (Pillars of the Earth is my all time favourite too)

Your favourite author?

I don’t have a favourite author although I have more Phillipa Gregory novels than any other. That’s because of the Genre rather than the author.

What are you reading now?


I’m reading 2 books at the moment 1) The first phone call from heaven by Mitch Albom and 2) Constantinople .  Istanbul’s Historical heritage by Stephanie Yerasimos. (Click the links to find the books on Amazon)

How many books would you normally read in a month?

Sadly not as many as I would like. On holiday I will read 4 in two weeks but otherwise I have 2 or 3 on the go for maybe 6 /8 weeks or more.

Which do you prefer e-books or paperbacks?

Books not e-books.


Do you have an e-reader, if so, which one?

Nope.

Where do you buy books, online, bookshops or other?

Always bookshops, independent if possible but I do enjoy browsing around Waterstones.

Do you use your local library?

No, I will only read a new book. I can’t even bear to borrow from a friend.

What first attracts you to a book by an unknown author? Cover, Blurb, Recommendation? Are you influenced by publisher name?

An eye catching cover does attract me. I subscribe to New Books and often take reader recommendations from there. The publisher has no influence at all. The blurb has the biggest influence of course.

What puts you off?

Covers that have photographs or scenes from subsequent films. I don’t like too many characters in the plot. I also prefer dialogue lead story line, rather than descriptive. I prefer a narrated story rather than first person.

What do you think is fair price for a novel length e-book/paperback?

I usually pay £7.99 for a paperback and have no grumbles, although I won’t buy a short book at that price. I don’t buy from supermarkets.

After reading a book do you ever leave a review? Only when you really enjoy it? Only when you really didn’t enjoy it?

I do sometimes review books for New Books. I never give bad reviews.  Although try to be as honest as possible making sure the reader knows it’s not to my taste. If I don’t like a book I feel it’s because it’s not my thing rather than not worthy.

Are you influenced by other reader’s reviews?

Yes, very much so.  A strange reply given my previous answer, but that’s exactly why I won’t slate someone’s effort.

Do you recommend books you’ve enjoyed to friends?

Always yes.

Are you a member of any reader groups, book clubs i.e. Goodreads?

Goodreads & New Books are two but I don’t have the time for much more.

Do you subscribe to any e-book promo newsletters? If so which ones?

One or two on Facebook. Free books and Goodreads. Also Goodreads by email and Newbooks. (a bit of a trend showing here.)

Thanks for dropping in and sharing all things booky with us, Jan.  As a writer, I’d also like to offer a heartfelt thank you for taking the time to review the books you read, as reviews do influence reader choice. I think we can safely say from your answers that you prefer historical fiction in printed form and you’re happy to give a new author a shot if the cover is eye-catching and the blurb is hot. If anyone has any recommendations for Jan (must be available in paperback) then by all means leave your suggestion in a comment.

                                                                                                                                                                                         Babs x


7 Comments

David Menon

2/5/2014

7 Comments

 
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This week I’m very pleased to welcome David Menon to The Coffee House. Not only has David written a number of books, he’s also well travelled and I’ve been genuinely interested in his online persona. I’m hoping he’s going to tell us a little more about his life as a writer and of course about his books. So, without further ado, hang up your coat, David, and make yourself at home.

1 – First up. What are you having, David? Name your poison, or in this case the hot beverage of your choice and seeing as how the weather is so awful out there, I think an extra portion of cake is on the cards.

DM - I’d like a flat white coffee, please. I first discovered these in Australia where the name for a white coffee with hot milk is a flat white. They do them in Costas here now which has broken my addiction to cappuccino. I don’t see the point of a latte – too much milk. And as for cake, can I have a slice of lemon cheesecake, please? I don’t often eat cake but that’s my poison when I do.

2 – Okay, mini bio time -Let’s get to know a little bit more about how you ended up here on my sofa, David. Are you a full time writer or do you have an additional occupation or interesting hobby that drags you away from the keyboard?

DM - I would really like to be a full-time writer! I’m certainly doing my best to work towards that. In the meantime though I teach English to foreign students, mainly Russian teenagers from a school in St. Petersburg. Normally I go to Finland where they take the kids to activities camps and we teach English each morning. Some of the camps are deep in the forests and I’ve been greatly inspired by these places. In summer it doesn’t really get dark which is a nightmare for trying to sleep, but for a writer it’s like heaven. My short story collection ‘Kind of Woman’ which largely written there over a four week period in summer 2012. As for hobbies, well I don’t know if I should describe it as such, but I’m a member and volunteer activist for the Labour party.    

3 – How did you get into writing? What was the first thing you had published and how did you go about it?

DM - I always knew I wanted to write but for a long time I didn’t really know how to go about it.  I’ve always written stories since I was a child but when the company, British Airways, where I’d been working for 24 years, offered a voluntary severance deal in 2009, I decided to take it and therefore throw the cards in the air. I went from earning a very good salary to earning nothing overnight but I had to take that risk. I felt compelled to. My first book was called ‘The Wild Heart’ which is a thriller about a love affair set against the background of the Northern Ireland troubles and someone whose identity was changed when he gave information about his paramilitary comrades. I published it initially through a vanity publisher but I wouldn’t do that again. ‘The Wild Heart’ is now published through Amazon and I’m much more comfortable about that.

4 – I’m a terribly disorganised writer. I write when the mood takes me and usually have two or three projects on the go at the same time. How about you, David? Do you plan your novels out in advance or just go where the characters take you? Do you have a particular musical influence while writing? If so, you can either hum it...or I’ll pop the track on and we can all get in the zone.

DM - Babs, I am totally disorganized! I scribble on the back of bus tickets, train tickets, the front pages of newspapers, napkins in restaurants, anything I can lay my hands on when the spirit moves me! But I also have a couple of notebooks that I use to write stuff down and then when I’m at my laptop actually writing I have all these scribbles near me and they almost all end up in the book somewhere. I never fully plan a novel. I have the basic idea, the basic plot when I start out but I then let the characters lead me through it. I let them put the meat on the bones. I also don’t write several drafts. I correct things every three or four chapters and keep going until I feel instinctively that the story is now told.

Do I have a particular musical influence? Oh yes I do. Her name is Stevie Nicks and she has a thirty years solo career as well as being a member of the legendary rock band Fleetwood Mac since 1975. I call her the ‘poet in my heart’ and the ‘voice of my inner world’. I listen to her songs at least once every single day and in fact, I name all my books after the title of one of her songs and there’s always an oblique reference to the lyrics of the song on the dedication page of the book. The book is never about the meaning of the song but somehow the title seems appropriate. As for popping a track on, I was going to be cheeky and ask for several! Ha! The Fleetwood Mac tracks are amongst those that Stevie has contributed to the band. Fleetwood Mac ‘Sara’, Fleetwood Mac ‘Sisters of the Moon’, Fleetwood Mac ‘Landslide’, Fleetwood Mac ‘Gypsy’, Stevie Nicks ‘Edge of Seventeen’, and Stevie Nicks ‘Moonlight’.  The link I’ve chosen is the video for the Fleetwood Mac song 'Gypsy', written and performed by Stevie Nicks of course, and it really captures the emotional ebb and flow of Stevie, her poetry and sheer magic. 

5 – I love to genre hop, how about you? Do you write in a specific genre? Which is your favourite and why?

DM - I write in the crime genre because I find it’s the most fascinating and the most interesting for me. I can write about historical events that come home to roost in the present day or about purely contemporary issues. I can go into people’s motivations and I like to see what ordinary people are capable of doing when they’re pushed into extraordinary situations. I also like to see people get their own back on those who’ve done something against them. Forgiveness is an over-rated virtue. I don’t see why people shouldn’t get their revenge if they can.

6 – Is there a particular genre or type of scene that you would avoid and if so why?

DM - Not specifically but I do avoid being too graphic about situations of sexual or physical abuse. I don’t think you need to be too graphic about these situations and not only would I be uncomfortable about writing those kind of scenes, I actually think it’s more skilful as a writer to suggest horrific situations and therefore it has a more powerful impact on the reader. You know what I mean?

7 – As a child which was your favourite book? Were you read to as a child and did that develop your love of books? Do you have a favourite book and author now? What are you reading now?

DM - I didn’t grow up in a very ‘bookish’ family, no. In fact, I don’t remember anyone around me reading books when I was a child. But my father who sadly I never met was apparently an avid reader, particularly of poetry. So it must be in my genes. 

8 – Promotion and marketing is the bane of most writers’ lives. How do you reach your readers and promote your work.

DM - Marketing is the thorn in the side of the indie author as we all know. I could spend all day on it but I’m a writer and I want to write. So I’ve now brought it down to doing interviews like this and using facebook and twitter to ‘spread the word’. I may try different things this year but I haven’t decided yet.

9 – Tell us a little about the books you currently have published.

DM - Well, I have the DCI Sara Hoyland series of ‘Fall from Grace’, ‘Beautiful Child’, and ‘Outside the Rain’. Sara is a Manchester-based detective who is single, likes men and wine, and I’ve given her crimes to investigate that have a very political flavor to them and tackle big issues like the support of the British upper classes for Hitler during WW2 in ‘Fall from Grace’, the forced migration of orphaned children to Australia in the 1950s and 1960s in ‘Beautiful Child’, and the definition of just who is a terrorist in ‘Outside the Rain’ which involves an attack on Manchester’s Piccadilly station. There’ll be a fourth Sara Hoyland book over the next year or so. I’ve now started another series featuring a Manchester detective called Detective superintendent Jeff Barton. Jeff is a single Dad after his wife died and I wanted to explore the work of the single working father as he investigates some pretty vile murders across the city. The first one is ‘Sorceror’ for which there are links here and I’m busy writing the second one which is called ‘Fireflies’. These are ‘straightforward’ murder detective cases and I have high hopes for the series. Then there’s my collection of short stories called ‘Kind of Woman’ which are all about women in various situations and all have a macabre twist at the end like Roald Dahl’s ‘Tales of the Unexpected’. Then there’s ‘Gypsy’ about a middle-aged man who returns to the small country town he grew up in to try and finally solve the murder of his best friend thirty years ago, and ‘The Wild Heart’ in which love leads someone into a very dangerous and exposed situation and questions how far you’d go to protect the one you love from those who are trying to kill him.     

Don’t ask me to choose a favourite. I have my own personal favourite but I’m not telling.

10 – Can you give us a little hint at what you have planned next?

DM - The next release will be the second in the Jeff Barton series called ‘Fireflies’ and will be out about April/May. I’m also working on a second book of short stories called ‘The Highwayman’ and they’ll all be about men and the situations they find themselves in and all, of course, with a macabre twist at the end to companion ‘Kind of Woman’. I’m also developing the third ‘Jeff Barton’ book and the fourth ‘Sara Hoyland’ plus two more ‘stand alone’ books, both in the crime genre but with little twists that take me in a slightly different direction.

11 – And tell us even more about the one you’ve brought with you. I did explain about reading an excerpt later didn’t I? Oh good. Don’t think you get coffee and cake for nothing.

DM - Well ‘Sorceror’ introduces Detective Superintendent Jeff Barton who is a Manchester based detective investigating murder across the city. The story begins with the discovery of three bodies, including one of an infant, in a house that used to be a care home for teenage boys. Jeff is a widower who has to balance a highly demanding job with being a single Dad to his son Toby and he relies on his brother for childcare because of an estrangement from his parents. Meanwhile, as the investigation proceeds it comes down to one former manager of the home and his wife who are not only involved in a paedophile ring right across Europe but have some devastating family secrets to expose. Jeff begins to work out that a former resident of the home who was a victim of the abuse is seeking to get his revenge against those who abused him but once he’s cracked that Jeff and his team need to run fast before justice is taken out of their hands.  

12 – Pick one of your characters and sell him/her to us in twenty words or less.

DM - Detective Superintendent Jeff Barton – A devoted father, an effective police officer and a good bloke.

13 – While I top up your coffee would you like to read a short excerpt from your book?

DM – An excerpt from ‘Sorceror’.

SORCEROR ONE

Pembroke House had once been a care home for boys until it closed in 1993. Since then the building had fallen into what local people thought had been terminal decline until a local property developer had recently bought it having seen its potential in a prime location close to the main Manchester university campus. They sent a team of builders in to excavate it and turn the twenty rooms into apartments for the student market. But the work had been abruptly stopped when the house gave up some grisly secrets.

Detective Superintendent Jeff Barlow of the Greater Manchester police received the call and dropped his son Toby off at school before driving straight over to what had now been closed off as a crime scene and where he met his deputy Detective Sergeant Rebecca Stockton.

‘Morning Becky’ said Jeff after he’d got out of his car.

‘Morning, sir’ said Rebecca. She didn’t let many people call her Becky but Jeff was one of them. ‘June Hawkins is waiting for us inside’. 

‘The builders must’ve started early’ said Jeff as they headed for the front door. ‘It was just before eight when I got the call’.

‘Well I was staying over at my Mum and Dad’s last night and they only live at the other end of this road so I was able to get here quickly’.

‘How are they?’

‘They’re good, thanks’ said Rebecca.

‘And how’s Toby?’

‘He walked into school holding hands with his little friend Emma this morning’ said Jeff, smiling. ‘It was so sweet’.

‘He’ll be breaking hearts one day’.

‘Yep. That’s my boy’.

The pathologist June Hawkins had a phenomenal reputation amongst the Greater Manchester force and worked with many of Jeff’s colleagues. She was decked out in her usual plastic zip-up suit covering her normal clothes. She’d set up a temporary laboratory on the ground floor of the building with large square bright mobile lights illuminating a long table. What was on the table wiped the smiles off Jeff and Rebecca’s faces instantly. 

‘This used to be a little baby’ said June, her voice more solemn than usual and looking down at the skeleton that was clearly that of an infant. ‘It was found by one of the builders and he’s still in shock. He said it reminded him of his grandson who’s only a few weeks old’.

‘Why couldn’t they have left it where it could’ve been discovered alive?’ wondered Rebecca in a mixture of frustration and sorrow. ‘Why did the poor little sod have to die?’ 

‘Well that’s for you to find out, honey, but I estimate it’s probably been here a while’.

Rebecca flinched. ‘Where was … it found?’

‘In the same place as the other two skeletons that have already been sent over to the lab’ said June.

‘They’re not babies as well?’ asked Jeff.

‘No’ said June. ‘Although one of them is a child of only about seven or eight years old. The other is an adult male. Now come with me’.


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Blurb:
The remains of three bodies, one of them an infant, one of them a child, are found in an old house close to Manchester University. The house used to be a care home for teenage boys and Detective Superintendent Jeff Barton and his team uncover a horrific period of brutality and abuse that took place there. Their investigations lead to the former manager of the care home and his wife who are traced to a villa in Spain. The secrets and lies of the family are exposed and the line of victims starts very close to home but Jeff, who is a single Dad following the death of his wife and balances a demanding job with the care of his five year-old son Toby, begins to see what nobody else can. A determined and audacious plot by a former resident of the home, a former victim of the abuse, who is now hellbent on revenge. And if he's right then Jeff and his team have to act quickly before justice is taken out of their hands.

Amazon Uk

Amazon .com


You can catch up with David on:

Facebook

Twitter -
@ifanyonefalls 

By email
- [email protected]

14– And finally a little game that I hope all my guests will contribute to. David, can you give me 100 words of your choosing to follow on from this? your last line will be picked up by the next guest... and so on:

‘You found me,’ said the greyness, wrapping the girl in soft fur...
'Yes' said the grey fur with one hand firmly on his hip. 'I mean, what did you expect? I don't clip and I don't wax so if you don't like men with fur on them you'd better read Martina Navratilova's autobiography and see if the other side of the stamp is more appealing to your tender tongue. Anyway, it's that Marcus I want to see. Let's just say we had an intimate encounter at a wedding. He was the groom but he had issues and I tried to help him work them out in the gents toilet. Wait a minute though, weren't you the bride? Oh my God nightmare!'


Thanks so much for coming, David. I wish you much success in all you do. Please drop in again with your next book.


                                                                 Babs x





7 Comments

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    As a writer I'm interested in what makes other writers tick. In the real world I'd invite them round for coffee and a chat. In the virtual world I can do just that. Welcome to The Coffee House!

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