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Book Haul, Stationery Love and battling with thorn trees

Excuses, excuse, excuses. Today’s post was going to be my review of Phoenix Rising by Bryony Pearce for the British Books Challenge. I’m really enjoying the book… but I haven’t finished, mainly due to spending two days battling with thorn trees in the garden. I’m pleased to report I won, but they did put up a good fight and I have a great collection of …

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Cheree Alsop’s Top 10 things you need to know about Writing: Daybreak Book tour

I’m really excited to be taking part in the Daybreak book tour. Daybreak is a YA science fiction action adventure by Cheree Alsop. It’s the first book in the ‘Girl from the Stars’ series. Cheree Alsop is an award-winning, best-selling full-time author who has published over 30 books, including two series through Stonehouse Ink. She lives in Utah with her husband, …

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“It’s behind you…” or how panto rekindled my love of writing

The start of something. I’m hanging curtains when there’s a knock on the door. We’ve moved eighty miles and lived here for two days. I know no-one. Who on earth could it be? From the battered Land Rover parked across my driveway, I guess the man standing on my doorstep is the farmer at the top of our lane. He’s …

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Playlist for Sarah… and all human-alien hybrids far away from home

Playlist for Sarah… and all human-alien hybrids far away from home Music has always been a massive part of my life. I started playing the keyboard sat on my Grandma’s knee, have marched in Brass Bands, earned my living as a singer and still teach piano to whoever wants to learn. It’s no surprise that music plays a big part in …

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Instructions for a secondhand Heart by Tamsyn Murray. Book review.

Instructions for a secondhand heart Remember my search for a YA romance to read for Valentine’s Day? Miranda Dickinson suggested Instructions for a secondhand heart by Tamsyn Murray, so I checked it out. Thanks, Miranda. I’m very glad I did. The Cover I thought this was a great cover. You can’t tell from the picture, but the red heart is raised …

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I won a book! The Last Day I Saw Her by Lucy Lawrie

The Last Day I Saw Her. I was having a shitty day. I have a trapped nerve in my neck, the window blind in my bedroom jammed and I couldn’t open it, and someone hacked my website. Great! And then a book I won courtesy of Black and White Publishing and Jera’s Jamboree arrived in the post. The Last Day I …

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Help! I don’t have a romantic read for Valentine’s Day

A romantic read for Valentine’s Day. A romantic read for Valentine’s Day. That was my idea for February’s British Books Challenge 2017. So, I wanted a YA romance written by a UK author. You wouldn’t think that was too hard. Whilst a lot of the YA books I read have a romantic element in them, I wanted a bit more for Valentine’s …

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Split Second – Book Review

Split Second – Book Review To kick off my British Books Challenge 2017, I picked up a copy of Split Second by London-born Sophie McKenzie. I read and enjoyed some of her earlier books and saw her speak at the Hay Festival a couple of years back so I was interested to read more of her work. The description of …

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My road to self-publishing part 2

Life in the fast lane Welcome back to my road to self-publishing part 2. Part 1 saw the fledgling manuscript of ShockWaves. my YA action-adventure, appraised by Cornerstones Literary Consultancy. After several edits, they thought it was ready to fly. I opted to let Cornerstones submit for me. Yes, there would be a payment if the manuscript sold, and there was …

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British Book Challenge 2017

British Book Challenge 2017 I’ve done it! I know I said I wasn’t going to do any reading challenges this year but I’ve signed up. The British Book Challenge 2017 requires you to read and review just one book by a British author per month. UK authors tend not to get the same amount publicity that those in the US …