Strange Ideas: The Thursday Throng

Squeeee! I've been interviewed by the lovely Linda Parkinson-Hardman and am now an honoured member of her Thursday Throng!

 

You can read the interview (and discover something I've been keeping a secret) here. Please leave a comment to show your support of this wonderful lady and what she does to support authors.

 

Strange Ideas: Death, Destiny and Decisions is available from Bookmark, Spalding and Amazon.

Friday Five: Five details that never made the book.

Happy Friday!

Only seventeen days to go until Strange Ideas: Death, Destiny and Decisions is released, and I've been poring over the proof, making sure everything is perfect for you.

It's been lovely to read the proof as a book, rather than edit it (although I have spotted and corrected a few clunkers) but one thing that struck me was how much of the story is not actually on the page.

J.K. Rowling famously wrote detailed and elaborate back-stories for all her characters, and so did I- although not in as much detail, obviously. These are short (ish) stories, after all! But, for my Friday Five this week, I'd like to share a few details with you. These won't make one jot of sense until Monday 27th May, but here you go.

Strange Ideas: Death, Destiny and Decisions

SQUEEE!

 

Sorry, I couldn't help myself- my proof copy of Strange Ideas arrived today and it looks GORGEOUS! The nice man over the road (Geoff, not John) took it in for me as it arrived while I was at work, and jolly grateful I am too. I don't think I'd have slept a wink all night knowing it was sat at the post office, all lonely, waiting for me.

Stamp- the final installment

Happy Wednesday! Or not, depending on how attached you've become to Ben. Today will be the last installment of Stamp on this blog. But don't cry into your cocoa yet! I have good news too!

Stamp- part ten

Happy Hump-Day! I hope you're having a marvellous week so far! I've been settling in to my new job and playing hostess to some Young Americans- exciting stuff! But enough about my life- you're here to find out all about the latest twist in Ben's. It's getting good!

 

The tension is really getting to poor Ben- will Tim's numbers come up? Or has it all been wishful thinking? Hurry up and meet them in the pub- it's Tim's round (and that rarely happens).

Stamp- part Nine

Happy Wednesday everyone! After the excitement of The Next Big Thing I'm back on schedule with Stamp- sorry I made you wait two whole weeks for this!

 

So, Ben has finally put two and two together and come with Tim's lottery numbers. Is his hunch right? He doesn't have long before he finds out! Read on to find out what happens next...

The Next Big Thing: Strange Ideas

I've got a very special WIP Wednesday for you this week, and I'm squeeely excited to be part of this- The Next Big Thing blog tag. 

For those of you who are unfamiliar with this idea, it's a way for authors to share and promote their books by "tagging" each other and answering 10 questions about our next book or work in progress.  At the end of January, I was tagged by Gloria Piper, author of Finnegan's Quest: a metaphorical fantasy that pokes fun at life’s foibles—political, religious, and social. You can look her up at http://gloriapiper.wordpress.com/

And now... drum-roll...

Stamp- part eight

Why, hello there, lovely readers! I hope your week is going well so far, and that you enjoyed my part of the 7 Line Challenge. This blog-hop business is rather exciting, isn't it? Read all the way to the bottom of this post to discover what I have planned for you next week- it's very special (and a little delayed).

 

Onto this week's chapter of Stamp. I know I made you wait a week (sorry, Mary- your complaint has been noted) but, unfortunately, I think this next part will have you climbing the walls to find out what happens next too. Feel free to bribe me with cake and I'll email you the next chapter. I'm not kidding. (Mary, you know the cake I like).

Stamp- part seven

Hello again and welcome to my Wednesday WIP.

I've been busy editing "Stamp" and working on "A Flip of the Coin" this week, in between schoolwork, snow-sculpting and car trouble. For once, I've set myself a deadline that I might actually keep in finishing my short story collection by the end of March. All but one story is drafted, and I'm making good use of my wonderful beta-readers to keep on top of edits and improvements. I'm feeling very organised, which is a bad sign. Plate-spinning is not normally my strength but maybe this old dog (easy now) is learning a few new tricks after all!


Anyway, enough about me. I know why you're here today. You want to find out what happens next, right? You've read about Ben and his fall-out with Tim, and you're wondering if they'll ever be friends again, and how Ben's life is working out post-Cassie. Most of all, you're wondering what the stamp is for... read on for another piece of the puzzle.

Stamp- part six

Hey, it's Wednesday! How is your week going so far? Poor old Ben is not doing very well: Cassie's gone, his boss is on his back and, to top it all, he has a mysterious stamp on his hand that stubbornly refuses to wash off. Surely things can only get better? Read on to find out..

Stamp- part five

Wednesday again! I love Wednesdays- it feels like we're over the hump of the week and ready for an easy slide down towards the weekend. It's also WIP Wednesday day. I look forward to it, and I know some of you do too. I shan't keep you waiting and, if you've read this far already, you know where to look to refresh your memory so I'll just include a link to the last installment. Remember, I value your feedback on this so please do post comments and tell me what you think.

Stamp- part four

Well, hello! This is becoming a bit of a regular thing, isn't it? I'm not complaining- I quite like getting stopped on the street to be grilled about Cassie's disappearing act and Ben's mysterious stamp. Makes me feel needed. 

Here's the next installment of Stamp for your perusal. Let me know if you get bored and I'll stop posting them. Alternatively, beg me for more and I'll happily oblige. Enjoy x

By popular request- Stamp part three

Tuesday already! Doesn't time fly? Especially when Christmas is racing towards us and I haven't started my shopping... Hey ho. I am well-skilled in the subtle arts of procrastination, so I'm not worried yet. People love presents from garage forecourts, right? Oh. Maybe I'd better get on with it.

Anyway, I've been a bit preoccupied with editing the first of five (possibly) short stories for my new collection- no book title yet- suggestions appreciated- and I've been getting requests from people who are dying to know what happens next between Ben and Cassie. Who is she? Where did she come from? Is this love? Or something else? I've caved, so here is a bit more. Let me know what you think.

All apologies

As you may have noticed, no Friday Five, Saturday Six or Sunday Seven. 

'hangs head in shame'

BUT I do have something to offer you blog-hungry monsters... Remember Ben and Cassie? In the club? Want to find out what happened next? Puzzled by the title? Refresh your memory here. 

Now you're ready...

Pick a part that's new

I've been working on an idea for a story. Like most of my ideas, it was a random conversation that began it and it grew in the retelling. By the time I'd mulled it over (see my previous post on procrastination) and discussed it some more over a potentially-fatal mint Aero Krushem (long story) it was fully-formed and wanting to be born. So far, so good.