Thursday 24 December 2015

Merry Christmas 2015!


Merry Christmas everyone!! 

Hope you all have the most wonderful time with your friends and family during the holidays.

Tuesday 22 December 2015

GUEST POST by Blair Howard on writing mystery

It's been less than six months since I decided to try my hand at writing detective novels. It was something I'd wanted to do for more than 30 years. The first book in the series, Harry Starke, was published in September and was quickly followed by two more, Two for the Money and Hill House.

All three are, I'm happy to say, doing quite well. Harry Starke has just received its 20th review, and is rated overall at 4.5 out of 5. Even the few 3-star reviews are good. Thank you one and all. And so the series continues with Checkmate, the 4th in the series due in February 2016, and I continue to try to write the best detective novels I can. Speaking of which:
It ain't easy folks. To write a true who done it is in itself a puzzlement. The task is to craft a believable story, a mystery that will keep the reader guessing right to the end, to hide the solution in such a way that when revealed the reader says: Wow, I didn't see that coming. To do that, I have to hide it from myself. I never know the solution to the mystery myself until the story is almost complete. You can't cheat the reader. The solution must be believable. You can't make the perp some obscure character that's mentioned only in passing, nor can it be the obvious choice, although I have seen that done.

The solution to Hill House came to me in a flash of inspiration as I was writing the third to last chapter. Up until that point I had no idea 'who done it', then suddenly, the light went on, and I had it. When it happens, and it always does, it's a moment like no other. When the solution to Hill House came to me, I sat there and smiled at the screen. It was the same with the first two Harry Starke novels, but Hill House was different. I wasn't expecting it, at least not then. Wow. It's moments like that I live and write for.

All of my detective novels start out in the same way, with a single scene. For Harry Starke, it was a beautiful girl jumping off a bridge at midnight. In Two for the Money, it was a late night phone call. Hill House? The body of a girl long dead discovered under the floorboards of a derelict house. For my new novel, Checkmate, it's the discovery of a body on a golf course. Once I have that first scene, I look for photographs I can use for inspiration. I take that first scene and play with it. I ask myself the eternal questions: Who? Why? How? When? The answers to those questions, hoy Harry Starke and the rest of the characters handle them, drive the story to its conclusion.

I have to confess that ideas for my detective novels don't come easy. No, I don't suffer from writer's block, but if I didn't manage to find those first, inspirational scenes, I probably would. Where do they come from? They are everywhere. Life is full of such scenes. All you have to do is recognize them, grab them, and then develop them. Hill House came from an old three-story house, now demolished, that I passed by several times a week on my way into town. Each time I did, I saw it out of the corner of my eye, and it intrigued me. The opening scene in the first Harry Starke novel, the suicide, came to me one day several years ago as I stood on Walnut Bridge and looked down into the water. You'll know them when you see them.

Finally, to write a true detective story is to have more fun than any human being deserves to have. Who said that? Dave Ramsey, I think. No matter. It's true, and I am ever grateful to my readers and the validation they provide.


Harry Starke is available on Amazon U.S. and Amazon UK. You can find Two for the Money on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk

About the author


Blair Howard was born and raised in a small town in England, near Stratford-Upon-Avon, on the edge of the English Cotswolds. He is the author of the Harry Starke series of novels: hard-boiled detective stories set in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The first book was released early in September 2015; the second book, Two for the Money, was released on October 19, 2015. Book 3 in the series, Hill House, will be released early in mid-December. Blair also writes sweeping historical epics, five historical novels of the American Civil War and the American West. He is also the author of more than 30 non-fiction books and more than 4,500 magazine, newspaper and web articles. You can follow Blair on Facebook, Google Plus and Twitter, or visit his blog and his website.

Wednesday 9 December 2015

COVER REVEAL for Darkly, Deeply, Beautifully by Megan Tayte


Hey everyone! I'm incredibly excited to be hosting this cover reveal for Darkly, Deeply, Beautifully, the fifth instalment in Megan Tayte's fantastic series The Ceruleans. I read and reviewed the first book, Death Wish, this summer, and seriously can't wait to delve deeper into the series! And now, on to the cover...

Wednesday 2 December 2015

November 2015 Wrap-Up!


November is over already... and I seriously don't know where all the time went. I've been terribly busy all month, running around trying to fit everything in my schedule. I'm ready for some holidays now, even though I know I'll have to wait quite a while before I can actually get any. Oh well, at least now that December is here I have an excuse to drink hot chocolate... because everything is better with some hot chocolate! I'm also really happy to see the lights and Christmas trees starting to go up. It's getting me in a festive mood early, and I really like it!

Reading and blogging-wise, November has been just as dreadful as October. I only read four books this month, posted very little, and was absolutely rubbish at keeping up with visiting other blogs. But three out of four of these books were on my reading plan for this month, so I'm happy that I managed to follow it at least a little!

covers link to Goodreads

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton - 4/5 (review to come)
The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro - 3/5
Time to Die by Caroline Mitchell - 4/5
Alice Takes Back Wonderland by David D. Hammons- 5/5

Links in titles take you to my full review


Also, this month I hit 100 Instagram followers!! That really surprised me, since I don't actually post very often (I'm just too lazy when it comes to taking pictures), but I'm ever so grateful that people actually like some of the stuff I post! Massive thanks to each and every one of you who take the time to read my posts and like my tweets and pictures. You are so wonderful, I want to hug you all!! 
If you don't already follow me and would like to, you can find me on Instagram and Twitter, and as usual, you can follow me on Bloglovin or by email by clicking on the links on the right.

What I added to my shelves


How to Fall in Love by Cecelia Ahern - from the library
Grudging: Birth of Saints Book One by Michelle Hauck - review copy from Edelweiss. Huge thanks to Harper Voyager!

Not many new books this month, but that's not too bad since I have a lot of older ones that I want to get through first. I'm particularly excited to have had the opportunity to host the wonderful Michelle Hauck (author of Grudging) here on the blog this month to talk about NaNoWriMo inspiration. If you missed her guest post, be sure to check it out!

My Plans for December


I've been pretty good at following my reading plan for November, so I'll try again this month. I'll definitely try to read:

-How to Fall in Love - since it's from the library, I have to read it before the deadline. That's motivation for you! 
-Grudging by Michelle Hauck - because it makes me very curious and I feel in the mood for a good fantasy.
- Never Never by Brianna Shrum
- The Traitor by Seth Dickinson

Both of these last two were in my plan for November, but I didn't manage to get to them in time. I'll try again this month, and maybe I'll be more successful!

What about you? How was your November? Any plans for December? Tell me EVERYTHING in the comments!