Tuesday 24 April 2018

Five Stars for West Yorkshire based Novel




I continue to focus on my Yorkshire theme and later this week I will be talking to best selling author, Andrew Barrett whose chilling, thrilling books are set in and around Leeds. However, before we meet my special guest, I want to share with you a beautiful review for Storm Clouds Gathering. A new five star review appeared on Amazon and Goodreads last week and took my breath away. The reason I share this wonderful review with you today is not only because I am thrilled, but the timing fits perfectly into my Yorkshire special theme.

Storm Clouds Gathering is set in a mill town in West Yorkshire in the mid-sixties and tells the story of three couples who live in a period of time that is full of promise and full of change.




Here is one or two snippets from this latest FIVE star review…


“The detail contributes to the fascination of this book.”

“I found it hard to put this book down because I was captivated and needed to know how everything resolved.”

“Storm Clouds Gathering would lend itself beautifully to a film, or even better to a TV series. For anyone who can remember the 1960s it’s fascinating. And for anyone who can’t it will give a good idea of what they missed.”

You can read the full review on Amazon co uk

Needless to say, I am smiling in my heart and on my face. Have a fabulous day, thank you for stopping by and please come back to meet, Andrew Barrett.

Pauline  
  
Brought to you by Storm Clouds Gathering


And

Chill Awards for Independent Authors

Sunday 22 April 2018

Legging It!




I can already see you rolling your eyes as you read the title of this post and I know it is not about writing or reading, but it is about another passion of mine… running and walking.

The last few months have been a rough tough time which saw me finding running about as impossible as flying, but I know running makes a difference and helps me cope and keeps me sane. I’m not a fast runner nor am I a long distance runner 10km is my limit, though I dream that one day I will run the London Marathon. Who knows, I might surprise myself!

Every morning before breakfast we, with our gorgeous doggy, walk 7km and then during the late afternoon I go out for a run two or three times week. Doing this every day had me thinking about all the steps I take in a day (yes I have a stepper and average between 18,000 and 22,000 steps a day!) and thought maybe it would be a good idea to create something fun and hopefully something to help others by making every step count.

With this in mind, I have created a “virtual” 30,000 mile target. It’s an eye-watering target, but it can be achieved if we join together. If you run or walk why not share your miles and let’s see how soon we can reach this target.
By the way age is not a reason to back out! One of our first participants will be 86 later this year and is keen to share their miles.
So come on let’s legit together!

Interested? I hope so.
Please click on
and find out all about this exciting, fun “virtual” Challenge.

Trainers on and I’ll see you there.



Friday 20 April 2018

West Yorkshire Published - Liz Mistry




This week I am celebrating West Yorkshire with authors from the area and also their books that have a Yorkshire theme.


Today I am delighted to introduce Liz Mistry, top selling murder and mystery author from Bradford.




1.    A little about your book (s)



My books are all police procedurals set in Bradford.  They feature dark and brooding, DI Gus McGuire who has shoulder length dreads courtesy of his mixed-race Scottish/Jamaican mother.  His father is a big bluff Scot who is also the pathologist.  Gus is a troubled character.   Having been forced to kill his best friend in self-defence, he suffered Post Traumatic Stress syndrome and even now he has to work hard to manage his anxiety. My most recent book, Uncommon Cruelty was released on 14th April.  It is about a teen house party gone wrong, rogue bikers and how religion can impact on teen lives.  The recurring theme in Uncommon Cruelty is about dispelling the concept of the ‘nuclear family’ being the most functional family unit.




2.    What inspired you to set the story in Yorkshire

Having lived in Bradford for longer than I lived in Scotland it was inevitable that I set my stories here.  Apart from that though, Bradford has a fantastic landscape for crime fiction.  Its brooding mills dominate the landscapes and the Yorkshire sandstone and terraced houses are very distinctive.  I wanted to create stories that represented the diverse world we live in and I also wanted to represent the North of the country.  I know Bradford well, and despite the bad press it sometimes gets, I know Bradford and its people as Warm and Rich and Fearless and I hope that comes over in my books.




3.    A few words about yourself, in particular about living in Yorkshire and / or your connection with Yorkshire.
I moved from Scotland over thirty years ago to do teacher training in Bradford. I met my husband who is Indian and stayed. We have three children.   I taught for over twenty years in Bradford inner city primary schools and my own children attended multi-cultural schools in Bradford and I value what the city’s diversity has to offer.  Apart from the diverse culture, Bradford has many wonderful museums. It’s a stone’s throw from the countryside. It’s tourist attractions include Haworth, Saltaire (which is a world heritage site) and Ilkley as well as many picturesque villages. As well as that Bradford is a renowned Curry capital and has UNESCO City of Film accreditation.

I love it!



You can find Liz here too...

Liz is contactable here:
Facebook: @LizMistrybooks       Email: LizMistryAuthor@yahoo.com
Twitter: @LizCrimeWarp              Blog: https://thecrimewarp.blogspot.co.uk/
Website: https://lizmistrycrimewriter.wordpress.com/
Liz’s Books  available here
Book 1 Unquiet Souls  http://ow.ly/1NLZ30iSwY4
Book 2 Uncoiled Lies http://ow.ly/YOD630iSx4K
Book 3 Untainted Blood http://ow.ly/fTtn30iSxa5
3 book Set 1, 2 & 3 http://ow.ly/FtpC30iSxeM
Book 4 Uncommon Cruelty
Amazon  https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07BQVLGNQ/
Amazon  https://www.amazon.com/Uncommon-Cruelty-McGuire-case-Book-


Thank you Liz and thank you, dear friend, for stopping by. Have a fabulous day and I hope the sun is shining on your face and in your heart.

Pauline

Brought to you by Storm Clouds Gathering


And

Chill Awards for Independent Authors

Wednesday 18 April 2018

West Yorkshire Published - Chris Turnbull



This week I am celebrating West Yorkshire with authors from the area and also their books that have a Yorkshire theme.



Today I am delighted to introduce Chris Turnbull, top selling author from Bradford.



Chris tell us little about the book, Whitby’s Darkest Secret.



Whitby's Darkest Secret is a crime story with a difference.
Set in Whitby, February 1900, the story is set from the perspective of both the murderer and the lady he targets.

Set 3 years after the release of Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' (which has connections to Whitby) our murderer carries a first addition with him and idolize the main character.
Can Detective Matthews draw him out of the shadows before it's too late?


What inspired you to set the story in Yorkshire

Whitby's Darkest Secret came about purely for the reason that as a Yorkshire man myself, Whitby is one of my favourite places to be. I wanted to set a story there.


A few words about yourself, in particular about living in Yorkshire

Chris Turnbull was born in Bradford, and lived most of his life in Leeds. He has written since being young and in 2015 released his first book 'The Vintage Coat', a WW2 inspired story.
Chris now resides in York with his husband and Jack Russell terrier, Olly. 


You can find Chris at the following...





Thank you Chris and thank you, dear friend, for stopping by. Please call back again tomorrow to meet another amazing author. Until then, have a fabulous day and I hope the sun is shining on your face and in your heart.

Pauline

Brought to you by Storm Clouds Gathering


And

Chill Awards for Independent Authors

Tuesday 17 April 2018

West Yorkshire Published - Phill Featherstone



This week I am celebrating West Yorkshire with authors from the area and also their books that have a Yorkshire theme.




Today I am delighted to introduce Phill Featherstone, born in West Yorkshire and top selling author of Paradise Girl.





I was born and brought up in West Yorkshire, in a small village near Hebden Bridge. At the time I didn't ‘reckon much’ (as they say in these parts) to life up north. Everything that was lively, vibrant and had appeal for a teenager was going on in other places, so when I was 18 I left and headed for London. I became a teacher and taught English, mainly to 6th formers. Along the way I also served time as a taxi driver, an ice cream man (I was Mr Whippy!), sold audio equipment, and with Sally, my wife, founded and ran a small educational publishing company. All this was in other places. However, Yorkshire was a constant call. Eventually Sally (a Hampshire lass) had had enough of me going on and she decided she’d only get peace if I moved back. We found a wonderful converted farm house high on the hills, a good spit in a strong wind from Haworth, and at the same time I turned from writing non-fiction for teachers to producing fiction. I’m lucky that I can look out from my writing desk onto the spectacular scenery of the Brontë country, moors which might have been traversed by Heathcliff or Catherine Earnshaw. The stunning beauty of the landscape and its gritty bleakness can’t fail to call to an artist or writer.



The idea for ‘Paradise Girl’ came to me one day in the summer of 2013. There was a power cut, and it turned out to be a long one. I was in the house on my own and I worked on my laptop until the battery gave out, then I took a cold drink outside and sat on my terrace. The day was hot and still, and I was slipping into a snooze when I became aware that I could neither see nor hear any signs of life. There were no vehicles moving on the opposite hillside, no tractors in the fields, no sounds from the valley below. It was as if no-one else existed. I began to muse on this. If no one was left, where might the people have gone, and why? Could they have been evacuated to escape some threat? Had they been beamed up by aliens? Wiped out by a plague? And just supposing everyone else had disappeared and I were to be left entirely alone, abandoned on this hilltop on my own, what would I do to keep going? Could I survive? The idea for ‘Paradise Girl’ was born.




The character of Kerryl Shaw, heroine of ‘Paradise Girl’, was already in my head. She and her twin brother, Lander, were in a story about organ harvesting I’d been plotting. It wasn’t going well and I’d already decided to put it aside, but I liked Kerryl and she seemed an ideal antagonist for this new story. It needed to be someone young because that would make the situation more poignant, but they had to be old enough to think and communicate on an adult level; a bright, observant 17-year-old with their life before them was ideal. I chose Kerryl rather than her brother because I felt that, based on my experience of teaching teenagers, a female character would be better able to explore their feelings, reflect on them and put them into words. It’s a terrible generalization, I know, but that’s what I decided.
The next matter to settle was how to tell the story. The book needed the immediacy of a first-person narrator, but I also wanted readers to be intrigued by the question of Kerryl’s survival: does she manage to get through the apocalypse or not? If she were to be the storyteller that question would be answered from the start and some of the opportunity for suspense would be lost. Also, the present tense would have more impact than describing what had happened in the past, although some back-story would be needed. I thought about these things for a long time and then I had an idea; Kerryl would indeed be the narrator, but she would tell the story through a diary. As a bookish girl in love with English, it’s natural she would write one. It would be a private conversation in which she would express her ideas, impressions, thoughts and innermost feelings, as well as chronicling the advance of the plague. The diary would be found later, and the reader wouldn’t know until they got to the end whether Kerryl was still alive or not.
However, there was a snag: she might start a diary, but why would she continue with it once she realised that there was no one left to read it? The answer was for her to imagine a reader, a good-looking hunk of a boy called Adam. Adam comes into her mind and Kerryl begins to write for him, and as she does so he becomes increasingly real to her.
A lot of research has been done by NASA on the psychological impact of isolation, and there have also been studies of the effects of solitary confinement. I drew on some of these when exploring the dark places a mind can go when it is left alone in a world that is falling apart. Kerryl’s mental state as loneliness bites into her is a key theme of the book.


Paradise Girl’ is the third novel I’ve written, although it’s the first to be published. It’s available for download from Amazon at 99p or 99c (for a limited period).
My latest book is called ‘The God Jar’, and should be out later this year or early next. This is completely different, being a fantasy adventure spanning 400 years. I’m now working on a sequel to ‘Paradise Girl’. You can find out about all my writing, as well as read my book reviews and blogs, on my website – www.phillfeatherstone.net – and there you can also sign up for advance information and special offers.

You can find Phill on the following....
These are the book links:


I also have links to Apple, GooglePlay, Kobo and Barnes & Noble -


My website (info about me, random and occasional thoughts about writing, book reviews) is 



Goodreads page is - https://tinyurl.com/y7frtrtp
Twitter is - @PhillFeathers





Thank you Phill and thank you, dear friend, for stopping by. Please come back tomorrow to meet another author from Yorkshire.

Until then, I wish you a fabulous day and I hope the sun is shining on your face and in your heart.

Pauline

Brought to you by Storm Clouds Gathering


And

Chill Awards for Independent Authors

Monday 16 April 2018

Celebrating West Yorkshire Published




This week I am celebrating West Yorkshire with authors from the area and also their books that have a Yorkshire theme.

I was born in Bradford, West Yorkshire and went to school there, Gregory Girls and Bolling Girls (these school have long since gone!). At the age of fourteen, due to my father's work, we moved to Suffolk. Since then I have lived in a number of places in the UK as well as the Netherlands. Today, I live, with my wonderful husband and our rescue doggy, on one of the beautiful islands in the Canary Isles, but my roots still extend back to Yorkshire. 


My lovely Nana, born in 1889 and lived until she was ninety one, worked in a Mill off Barkerend Road, Bradford. The memories of Nana working in the mill were used in my novel, Storm Clouds Gathering.



Storm Clouds Gathering is set in a Yorkshire mill town in 1965 and reflects how life was for working class people back in the sixties. The sound of the clip clop of the rag and bones man’s horse has it trotted down streets, the unforgettable odour of the woollen mills, the deafening noise and the toil of working in these places. Contrasted against the joy of owning a twin tub washing machine and the dream of central heating. How education in schools was changing and how women were slowly gaining control of their lives.
Love, lies and deceit go back decades and beyond and there is no change today, but when Storm Clouds Gather, time is not important only how to cope and survive in a world that is changing.


Please join me over the next week to meet three amazing authors and their books which are all steeped in Yorkshire.


Phill Featherstone
Paradise Girl



Chris Turnbull
Whitby’s Darkest Secret




Liz Mistry
Police procedurals set in Bradford…
Uncommon Cruelty
Unquiet Soul
Uncoiled Lies
Untainted Blood




I am sure you agree it all looks so exciting, so do please come back and meet these wonderful authors and their page turning books.

See you tomorrow! 
Until then, have a fabulous day and I hope the sun is shining on your face and in your heart.

Pauline

Brought to you by Storm Clouds Gathering


And

Chill Awards for Independent Authors

Friday 13 April 2018

Hitting the Right Note or Not!




The hills are alive with the sound of music, well not quite! 🎶 

A few weeks ago I decided that if I wanted to add music to the videos I produce it might be better if I have a go at producing the music myself. OK, I can see you rolling your eyes and yes, I know there is free download music out there, but I spend hours searching and still never find what I really want. With the decision made to have a go myself I bought a music composition and production software package. It arrived on Wednesday!

Excited I unpacked the large outer box and then the big inner box to find a USB stick! Don’t ask as I don’t want to go there at the moment, but suffice to say, the packaging was ridicules!

Pushing the packaging to one side, I uploaded and loaded my new software. A short while later, what appeared on my screen made Photoshop look like a paint by numbers canvas. Not to be daunted I swiftly moved to Youtube and found a suitable tutorial video. It was challenging as I have never produced music nor used any equipment associated with the production of music, however, I was not going to be daunted and steadfastly carried on with the tutorial.

A few hours later, I had produced my first very short clip of music. Unfortunately Blogger does not have a facility to let me load this, therefore, I have made a short video that allows me to add my music, and here it is.



Please be kind as it is my first attempt and I promise to improve over the coming weeks and months and only share the best…. assuming I manage that J

As always a HUGE thank you for stopping by. Have a great day and I hope the sun is shining on your face and in your heart.

Hugs
Pauline

Wednesday 4 April 2018

My Very First Video Blog Interview and it's with Eileen Schuh


Today, I am excited and nervous in equal measure because my first Video Blog Interview is now live! It has been great fun making, yet despite my nervousness, I plan for these to be a regular feature on my Blog.

So please make yourself comfortable and meet my very first guest, the truly lovely, bestselling Author, Eileen Schuh.





Thank you Eileen for being part of our pilot project, it’s been great working together and I know you will be back again soon with more chats about your BackTracker series.


If you would like to appear in one of my Video Blog Interviews, please let me know.


Sunday 1 April 2018

My other love - Chill Awards - April Newsletter

You all know by now that one of my other loves is Chill with a Book Awards. Today, I have posted the April Newsletter on Chill's web site, but I thought you too might like to read it here too!

Happy Easter.



April Newsletter 2018


Hello and welcome to Chill Awards April Newsletter.



Happy Easter



I hope you are all having a great Easter and enjoying plenty of chocky eggs!





This month Chill Awards opened an Instagram account, so you can now follow all our news here too: chillawards@instagram






This month I found time to make a short video about Chill Awards. It's my first so please be kind !










March was another busy month with many books being added to the Award Programme, so with no further ado hands together please for these award winning authors ...


Readers' Awards for March







Book of the Month
March






Satin Cinnabar by Barbara Gaskell Denvil







Book Cover of the Month
March









Lies of the Dead




Cathy from Avalon Graphics is our fabulous judge for this Award.







** Pauline Barclay's (mine!!) lovely book cover had to be excluded from the judging because the judge designed it! ***











All Authors who receive a Chill with a Book Readers' Award are automatically put forward for consideration for BOOK of the MONTH and BOOK COVER of the MONTH in the month they receive their Award.

All Awardees of Book of the Month or Book Cover of the Month are automatically put forward for consideration for BOOK of the YEAR 2018 or BOOK COVER of the YEAR 2018





The key stone to Chill Awards is its readers and READERS are "always" NEEDED!
Chill can never have enough readers... 




If you love to read, why not read for Chill Awards?

If members of your family or your friends are interested in joining Chill to be a reader, please ask them to email me. Pauline

Chill readers receive Amazon vouchers so they can download to their Kindle / e-reader any book they choose from the Award Programme and no reviews are required.

More information Here





Huge congratulations to all this month's Awardees


A very special thank you to all Chill's readers who read and evaluate the mountain of books submitted.



And I thank each and everyone of you from the bottom of my heart for being part of this amazing Award Programme and being a member of our exclusive family.

Enjoy your Easter, until next time, have a fabulous month and please find time to read a book.


Sunny smiles


Pauline