Eva Jordan in conversation with

Eva Jordan in conversation with @nholten @OneMoreChapter

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Although we’ve never met in person, I’ve been an online friend of Noelle’s for over 5 years now, and like many bloggers and writers, I’ve found her to be both extremely supportive and encouraging to all those linked with the book world. Today we get to know her a little better…

  • Welcome Noelle, thanks for chatting to me. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself – I understand you used to be a probation officer?

Hi Eva! Thanks so much. A little about myself – hmmm. By day I am the PR & Social Media Manager at a leading digital publisher in the UK – Bookouture and by night I write the DC Maggie Jamieson series for Harper Collins imprint, One More Chapter and read/review on my blog: CrimeBookJunkie. Yes, I was a Senior Probation Officer for nearly 18 years. I managed two teams of officers and one of the teams was based in a police station. I left in 2017 when my dream of working for a publisher came true!

  • Did you always want to be a writer, and if so what writers inspired you?

The short answer to that is no! I always wanted to work in the criminal justice field. I used to write morbid, teenage poetry in my youth and a few short stories in high school but I never believed I could actually write a novel myself. I was an avid reader from a young age and my favourite genre has always been true crime/crime fiction. My interest in writing came when I was about 44/45 yrs. old and every crime author I read (there’s been a lot) are the ones who inspired me. I was in awe of their talent to pull a reader into a story and I wanted to see if I could do the same. So far, so good! My series isn’t for everyone, but that’s the great thing about books – some people will love them, others won’t but there are plenty of great crime writers out there to choose from!

  • How does writing compare to probation?

The only murders I now have to deal with are those I create myself on the page! Probation can be a very stressful and emotional draining job. Even though I left in 2017, I still consider myself a probation officer – albeit an ex one! It is challenging and the rewards can be few. I admire all my colleagues who still go in and do their very best to ensure the public are protected. I loved my time in Probation but once politics became involved and split us into Public/Private sectors – I knew my time was limited. What I love about writing is I can still be ‘involved’ in probation and other criminal justice fields – without the stress.

  • And finally, for anyone thinking of starting a blog, or becoming a writer, what advice would you offer?

For starting a blog, I’d say – just go for it! Be yourself, read and review what you love and make it your own. There are no rules!

In terms of writing, I would say read as many books in the genre you want to write about as you can. See how your favourite authors keep you turning those pages. I would also suggest that if you seek any advice, by all means take it on board, but find what works for you. If you don’t have a thick skin… develop one! You need to be able to accept constructive criticism, rejections as well as negative reviews. And finally, persevere! Not everyone gets a book deal the first time around. You may have to keep at it for years – but if it is something you are serious about, think of it like a job – you need to keep doing it and hopefully you’ll find that agent or publisher who sees your potential. There’s always the self publishing route too – but I’d suggest that you make sure you invest the time and money into making your self publishing journey as successful as possible – like Mark Dawson, L.J Ross or M.A. Comley to name a few!  

To read my review of Dead Inside click here

Connect with Noelle on Social Media here:

Twitter: (@nholten40) https://twitter.com/nholten40
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/noelleholtenauthor/
Blog FB page:https://www.facebook.com/crimebookjunkie/
Instagram:@crimebookjunkie (https://www.instagram.com/crimebookjunkie/) 
Website: https://www.crimebookjunkie.co.uk  
Bookbub Author page: https://bit.ly/2LkT4LB
Newsletter:https://bit.ly/3glVZlO

Amazon Author Page: https://amzn.to/2Y1kCM1

Goodreads Author Page: http://bit.ly/37P4t0C

LinkedIn: http://bit.ly/2Y1lQ9Y

Harper Collins Website: http://bit.ly/2OAnBYJ

Buy Links – Dead Inside 

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2PtcKk7 

Apple: https://apple.co/2SBRpqt 

Kobo: https://bit.ly/2DZwZ2M 

Googleplay: http://ow.ly/T17w30nCWp3 

Audiobook: https://adbl.co/2qiQVJR 

Eva Jordan in conversation with writer Wendy Fletcher

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In convo with Wendy

 

I’m currently reading a beautiful memoir called The Railway Carriage Child, written by the lovely Wendy Fletcher. Look out for my review in next month’s magazine. In the meantime I thought we’d get to know Wendy a little better…

 

Hi Wendy, thanks for agreeing to chat with me. Can you tell our readers a little bit about yourself?

Hi Eva, I live in the railway carriages just outside Whittlesey, the last ones still occupied in this area – as far as I am aware. These have been in my family since 1935 and I spent my childhood there with my parents and grandmother; attending school at King’s Dyke and March. I returned to the carriages in 2009. Then my mother died and I realized how much history was lost with each generation. I started to record my memories, originally just for the family. Edward Storey, well-known chronicler of the Fens, suggested that this might appeal to a wider audience and The Railway Carriage Child evolved.

 

Your memoir is beautifully written. Have you written any other books and do you have plans to write more in the future?

This is my first book. I am currently collecting material for a book on the social history of King’s Dyke, which I hope to publish as a tribute to the families who lived and worked in that small community just outside Whittlesey. I am also 12,000 words into writing a novel and have started two children’s books. I am enjoying having a variety of projects and swap from one to the other, as inspiration takes me.

 

Finally, what advice would you offer anyone thinking of writing a memoir?

My first experience of writing was very lonely and isolating. I was surrounded by piles of notes and half-remembered images from more than fifty years ago. I found the balance for this by setting up a creative writing group (U3A Whittlesey Wordsmiths). Through them, I have met like-minded people and received support and encouragement. My advice to anyone considering a similar project would be ‘You don’t need to do it on your own’.

 

You can purchase The Railway Carriage Child here at Amazon or locally (when they re-open) at the Whittlesey Museum, and Parkers Newsagents. Plus, if you’d like to read more by Wendy, you can read a number of her short stories in two anthologies published by the Whittlesey Wordsmiths, Where the Wild Winds Blow (read my review here) and A Following Wind, also available at Amazon and at the Whittlesey Museum.

 

 

 

 

Eva Jordan in conversation with author @AuthoJon @EyriePress

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Add a heading

 

Last month I reviewed the beautiful novella Silence and Songbirds (which you can read here), a thought provoking tale that transports the reader across the sea to the beautiful islands of the Marlborough Sounds, written by author Jon Lawrence. This month we get to know him a little better…

 

  1. Hi Jon, thanks for chatting with me. Can you please tell us a little bit about yourself? I understand you used to be a singer-songwriter?

 

Yes, I trained as a musician and ethnomusicologist (which has fed quite nicely into my writing). I was lucky enough to perform all over the country and Europe as singer-songwriter. I released a number of albums, then my literature work started to take over. However, I still teach music and I enjoy writing musicals every year for the school I work with.

I was born in Pontypridd, so I am a child of the valleys. I moved out east with my work as a music lecturer, where I taught song-writing and world music. I have a wonderful wife, Kerry-Ann and two children, who always support me.

I love working with young children and have written some illustrated songbooks for them. Children are a huge inspiration for me. The way they view the world is unique and they represent an innocence that I have been searching for in my writing since I started writing books.

I am interested in all areas of written expression and I don’t feel pigeon-holed in any area. I have published poetry, plays, children’s books, essay and magazine article because I simply love to write.

I am also interested in travel. The world offers many wonderful landscapes which intrigue me. I have a particular fascination with New Zealand – a place which has a special place in my heart. I have based two novels there (Silence and Songbirds and Playing Beneath the Havelock House). Indeed, in all of my novels and novellas, stories have come out of the landscape. When I see a desert, a forest, a mountain range or an island, I ask myself, ‘Who lives here? What is their story?’

 

 

 

  1. You’ve recently completed a touring show called “Good Grief” – can you tell us what that was about?

 

My father died of cancer just over two years ago. Before he died I promised him that I would do five 100k treks on five deserts on five continents to raise money for a cancer charity. So, between August 2018 and April 2019 I walked the Atacama in Chile, the Sahara in Morocco, the Rangipo in New Zealand, the Wadi Rum in Jordan and finally, the Mojave in America. My journey gave me a lot of time to think about my father and the sometimes difficult relationship we had. It afforded me a little time and space to work through my grief.

I documented each part of the trip and published a book last year called Good Grief. To promote the book, I have been performing a one-man show around the country telling the story of my adventures around the world and how the journey helped me to come to terms with things. The show contains video footage from my trips, photographs, anecdotes and music specially written for the show. It’s light-hearted, informative but also moving (I hope). I resume the tour in Stamford Arts Centre on February 4th with the tour visiting Diss, Bungay, Wells-next-the-sea, Doncaster, Birnam in Scotland, before concluding in Auckland, New Zealand in April.

 

  1. How does writing songs compare to writing books?

 

The thing about writing songs, is that you have to compress what might be a huge subject (life, death, world peace), into about twenty lines, sometimes less. You have to be able to move someone emotionally in two, verses, a middle-eight and a chorus. It has to get to the listener’s heart straight away. There’s no time to set scenes, establish characters or consider subplots. You have to be very clever with words. That’s why Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ is so brilliant. It gets you hooked form the first line and by the time it has finished it has you questioning everything you ever thought you knew about life!

Conversely, when you write a book, you start with what might be a small idea – a quote, a title, something you have seen – and then expand it to establish the bigger picture.

Some people might say that a song only takes fifteen minutes to write (such as ‘Every Breath You Take’) but some songs take months even years to shape and mould into the final version (Springsteen’s ‘Born to Run’ and ‘Thunder Road’ are perfect examples of this).

They are both tremendous art forms.

 

  1. And finally, what advice would you offer anyone thinking of becoming a writer?

 

My view is that everyone is a writer; some people just have a go, some people never do it for fear of what others might say. If you write a diary, you are a writer – you express your thoughts and feelings through words. In the first instance, write for yourself.

Then when you have a story, make sure you plan it. If I have a story idea, I go through a number of planning stages before I start to write (despite the desire to get writing straight away). A book might take up eighteen months of your life so you need to know that the story and the characters will still be of interest to you at the end. I have made the mistake of starting stories without proper planning, only to lose my way three months in. That’s a lot of time to waste.

Just have a go!

 

 

If you’d like to know more about Jon, click on the links below:

Website

Facebook

Eva Jordan in conversation with bestselling author @darrensully @HQDigitalUK

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Back in September I was lucky enough to do a joint ‘Ask The Author’ event at Peterborough City Library with bestselling author, Darren O’ Sullivan. It was a great success and I’m pleased to say we both had a lovely afternoon, including plenty of audience participation. It was fascinating to learn about Darren’s journey to publication compared to mine, and I was surprised to learn that his love of books, unlike mine, came later in his childhood. Therefore, for those of you that missed our event but are keen to know more about Darren, read on…

  1. Hi Darren, thanks for agreeing to chat with me. Can you please introduce yourself?

 Hi, I’m Darren O’Sullivan, Author of Psychological thrillers, Our Little Secret, Close Your Eyes, Closer Than You Think, and Dark Corners.

  

  1. How long have you been writing? Did you always want to be a writer?

 I have been writing for about 18 years, I started my career as an actor (it was hardly something you could call a career) so my writing journey began with my dabbling with stage plays. But despite writing shows, I didn’t want to be a writer; I hoped that by writing I would find a way in to be a more successful actor. Even the idea for my first book came from a play called Pact. I wrote it, had actors in to workshop it, and at the end of the first session we all knew the play was terrible. But, the characters were good, and I couldn’t shake them. It was then I contemplated writing a book, not knowing if I could. When I started, I was hooked and knew in that moment, I wanted to be a writer.

 

  1. So you were an actor? What is the most difficult/frustrating part of being an actor and how does that compare to the most difficult/frustrating part of being a writer?

I guess, reflecting, my acting career didn’t reach the dizzy heights (or any height) because of self-confidence. I was capable, but I wasn’t good at putting myself forward for things. That was the hardest part. Weirdly, being a writer feels more vulnerable, huge parts of my identity are poured onto the page, but I don’t have the same fear. Or if I do, I am more willing to face it. I love everything about writing, I love the challenges, the editor feedback, I love opening my laptop every morning and diving back into a world I have made up, I am an addict to the art of trying to be good. But writing is a slow process; it takes time, a lot of thought, and a lot of isolation. I found the transition from being in a busy, fast moving theatre to my desk on my own the most difficult part. Even still, I wouldn’t change it for the world.

  1. And finally, what advice would you offer anyone thinking of becoming a writer?

The only advice that means anything is very simple; to write, you have to write. A marathon runner cannot complete 26.2 miles, if they just decided, on the day of the race to do it. You have to run, a lot, for months and months before entering. Don’t get me wrong; I am not a marathon runner, not even close. But I do the same with words. I wasn’t a good writer when I began; in fact, I was terrible. But I did it, every day; I put down words and finished pieces that would never be read. I ran. And I’m still running now. Get enough miles under the belt, and you will finish the race.

Eva & Darren 2

Eva Jordan in conversation with retired nurse and author Joy M. Lilley

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Eva in conversation with Joy

 

Today on my blog I’m very pleased to welcome the lovely Joy M. Lilley, author and former nurse.

 

Hi Joy, thanks for chatting with me today. Can you tell everyone a little bit about yourself? I understand you’re a retired nurse?

 Hello Eva, yes, I worked in the NHS for a long time. My nursing years were wonderful. I enjoyed every minute. Caring for others gave me much satisfaction. And I made some wonderful life-long friends.

Taking on three stepchildren along with one son of my own when I married, while working to train as a registered nurse was hard work. At that time I already had seventeen years under my belt nursing as a State Enrolled nurse. That training no longer exists. Looking back I wonder how I did it.

My nursing skills were required at home too. My husband was diagnosed with critical coronary heart disease aged 45. It was in 2008 I retired, when he needed his third major heart operation. Thereafter, I was able to get on with a goal I’d dreamt of for years, namely to write and publish my first novel.

I am a Grandmother of 6 and a great grandmother (gosh).

As well as writing, I also work as a voice over recording artist. I work mainly for the U.S. market, some European and the U.K. I have a British, mature voice and can manage most British accents and some others.

   

How long have you been writing? Did you always want to be a writer?

Seriously since 2008.And yes, I always hoped I’d end up writing novels.

 

What is the most difficult/frustrating part of being a nurse and how does it compare to the most difficult/frustrating part of being a writer? 

Interesting question. Nursing during the 60’s was hard slog compared with the modern era. Don’t get me wrong; nurses still have to work very hard, but there are a number of better systems in place now. We had to hand wash out the catheters of each prostatectomy every 30 minutes, with likely three patients having had the operation that day, along with 28 other patients to care for – it was exhausting. And wow betide any nurse who reneged on that duty as the patient could go into clot retention and need to return to theatre. There was only one trained nurse on night duty. Thankfully, that situation no longer exists as patients are now connected to a continuous infusion, releasing the nurses to cover all their other duties.

Perhaps not so much a comparison, but thinking through an appropriate, readable story to tell is frustrating to me, along with the discipline required to sit down and write.

 

And finally, what advice would you offer anyone thinking of becoming a nurse or a writer?

If you are thinking about becoming a nurse the most important skills you need are compassion, empathy and patience. Be prepared for much study and a whole lot of giving oneself to others. Five GCE’S are required before the colleges will accept a student. The rewards are immense and as a Registered General nurse you will need a degree under your belt.

As for becoming a writer, similarly you’ll need empathy with your characters. Much patience is required when the rewrites take over. As is the need to go over the script, time and time again. I would also say it’s imperative to get an editor. They are often able to see the ‘schoolboy howlers’ we don’t.

 

Thanks for chatting to me today, Joy. 

 

If you want to know more about Joy’s books you can read about them here

 

Eva Jordan in conversation with publisher @janefspencer @EyriePress

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Eva in conversation with Jane Spencer

 

Earlier this month I reviewed the wonderfully illustrated children’s story The Hospital Hoppities (see my review here), published by Eyrie Press. So, I thought I’d take the opportunity to have a chat with Jane Spencer, the publisher and managing director behind the local press who published this lovely children’s story. 

 

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  1. Hi Jane, can you tell our readers a little bit about yourself and about Eyrie Press?

 

Hi Eva. I’m an editor and proofreader living in March, Cambridgeshire. I home educated my four children and realised there weren’t many books that featured home educating families, at least not in a positive way, so I decided to address that and publish some! I set up Eyrie Press as a social enterprise and then broadened its horizons to publish books that take a non-tokenistic approach to featuring other communities underrepresented in fiction, or books by writers from East Anglia. We also run local writing and publishing workshops from time to time and have an annual short story competition exclusively for East Anglian writers.

 

  1. The Hospital Hoppities is such a lovely, beautifully illustrated book and is the perfect companion for small children that have to spend time in hospital. How and why did Eyrie Press get involved with its publication?

 

Charlotte, the author, submitted it to us and it was such a lovely idea that we knew straight away we wanted to publish it. As a story which aims to make families in hospital feel ‘seen’ in children’s literature, and which empowers its main character with a helping role rather than a dependent one, it very much ticked our boxes! We put out a call on Facebook for an illustrator and were delighted to find Anjalee, who did an amazing job of bringing the story to life. We could hardly believe this was the first book she’d illustrated!

 

  1. And finally, for all those budding writers out there, I understand you are open for submissions. What, ideally, is Eyrie Press looking for?

 

Going forward, we’re focusing on well-crafted novels and novellas in the genres of contemporary, historical and speculative fiction. We’d really like submissions that are by writers from East Anglia (which we define as Cambridgeshire, Peterborough Norfolk, Suffolk and Lincolnshire), or which feature underrepresented communities. There are more details on our website www.eyriepress.co.uk and you can get some hints as to what I like in a submission by reading the Q&A I did over at The Book Stewards blog! www.thebookstewards.com/qa-with-jane-spencer-of-eyrie-press

Jane Spencer

Eva Jordan in conversation with Gina Kirkham @GinaGeeJay

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Eva in Conversation Canva

A Q&A With Retired Police Officer and Author Gina Kirkham

Last month, you may remember my book review (here) of the politically incorrect, hilarious rollercoaster ride of a read, Handcuffs, Truncheon and a Polyester Thong by fellow Urbane published author Gina Kirkham. Loosely based on her own experience in the police force, I thought I’d take the opportunity to have a chat with the lovely lady herself.

Gina, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself? I understand you are a retired officer of the Merseyside Police Force?

Oh gosh, how I would love to tell you about myself in an exciting and mysterious light but in reality I’m just Mr & Mrs Dawson’s eldest, Emma’s mum, the current Mrs Kirkham (as my hubby calls me!) and ‘prinkly’ Nan to Olivia and Annie and a baby grandson due any day. They are the best titles in the world to hold though.

I was a mature recruit to Merseyside Police, joining when I was in my early 30’s as a then single mum with a little girl, after my first marriage ended in divorce. I joined at an exciting time for women, there were no barriers to achieve any role or rank. I chose to remain a front line uniform response Constable throughout my career as I was very much a ‘street’ cop but took on the role of Crime Manager in my final 12 months prior to retirement after being diagnosed with a bone condition and arthritis. I think age just caught up with me, I found I could chase the naughty boys and climb walls after them, but I couldn’t get down again on the other side. Nothing ruins your street cred more than to be left dangling from a concrete pillar!

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How long have you been writing? Did you always want to be a writer?

 I always feel a little guilty about my writing as I didn’t have the dream, desire and author angst to be a writer, initially, so I think I’m a bit of a fraud. I loved penning stories as a child and books were my escape to other worlds, but I had never carried a serious hankering to write. I would joke at work that I would one day write a book based on my experiences as a police officer, but never dreamt that it would actually happen. I had been retired a little over six months and my idea of chilling in my garden drinking gin wasn’t as exciting as I thought it would be, so I began to imagine an alter ego who could recount my stories. I put pen to paper to scribble, then fingers to my laptop and 18 months later I had an 86,000 word manuscript.   I think I surprised myself…. I know I definitely surprised my family.

Your bio states that Mavis Upton, “Constable 1261… Ace police driver and apprehender of naughty people” is actually your alter ego, but how much of her character is actually based on you?

 In truth, quite a lot. I suppose Mavis is me as I write through her eyes. The personal side to her life in the books mirror very closely my own life and I try to use the experiences and emotions I had to bring her alive. A lot of the police stories are based on true events and legendary stories passed down over the years, with some artistic licence thrown in but if you were to think ‘oh that couldn’t really happen’ – then they are the incidents that actually did!

In Handcuffs, Truncheon I deal with the loss of my own mum through Mavis. I wept buckets when I had finished that chapter, but as sad as it was, it was also very cathartic for me. Writing can truly be a release and a healer.

What is the most difficult/frustrating part of being a police officer and how does that compare to the most difficult/frustrating part of being a writer?

 Gosh, there are so many ways that being a police Officer can be difficult and frustrating. I found death, particularly in the young, heartbreaking. Even more so if that death was as a result of crime, suicide or road traffic incidents.

The most frustrating for me personally, were not guilty court results when I knew the offenders were guilty, and poor sentencing that didn’t reflect the seriousness of the crime or give the victims a sense of justice and protection. The mountains of paperwork is a huge frustration too. No police officer wants to be sitting in a police station or custody suite with their nose buried in it when they are needed out on the streets.

The frustrations I experience as a writer are, by contrast, very minor….although I still swear like a trooper when they rear their ugly heads – which is often. The most difficult is writing humour when you don’t feel ‘funny’. 2018 wasn’t my best year. I have cared for my Dad who has Alzheimer’s for the last five years, and sadly he had to go into a residential home, I felt I had failed him. A few months later I had to undergo spinal surgery, which had a lengthy recovery time. I desperately wanted to write, but I’d temporarily lost my ‘funny’… until I had one of my ‘Mavis’ disasters with Amazon one-click ordering and a humongous stick-on bra, which happily gave me back my mojo.

 I thoroughly enjoyed reading Handcuffs, Truncheon and a Polyester Thong and, as I work my way through my ever increasing TBR list, I look forward to reading Whiskey Tango Foxtrot: The Further Adventures of Constable Mavis Upton.

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However, I understand you have a third book out later this year? Can you tell us the title and what readers can expect? Are there plans to write more books about Mavis?

 Book 3 in the series is called BLUES, TWOS & BABY SHOES The Further, Further Adventures of Constable Mavis Upton. This follows Mavis through the third stage of her career, as she juggles the demands of the job, a new, late in life baby and her relationship with Joe her hubby. There’s a little bit of fun with the ‘Stupendous Cora May Spunge’ a genteel 72 year old widow who decides to throw caution to the wind and find excitement by becoming a blackmailer of the other elderly folk in the village to fund her dream of a cottage with a cat sanctuary.

As with all Mavis’s stories, I type THE END and then add….

….. ‘or is it?’

And finally, what advice would you offer anyone thinking of becoming a police officer or a writer?

Oh, as a writer definitely prepare for rejections and 1* reviews that tell you how awful your book is – don’t cry, it stings, but it’s not as bad as it first seems, take it as valuable critique and go and drink gin… lots of it! And best of all, welcome the lovely fellow writers and book bloggers you will meet, either in person or on social media, they are so supportive and friendly.

As a police officer, I would say to police with integrity, passion and pride. There are no limits and there are no boundaries to what you can achieve, always be kind and respectful on the way up, as you could so easily meet those you have treated favourably or less favourably on the way down, it’s a hard, stressful and dangerous job, you need allies not enemies… and take the time to care. You might not be able to change the world by becoming a police officer, but if you care, then you will make a difference to someone.

You can find Gina at:
Twitter:  @GinaGeeJay
                @MavisUpton
Amazon Author Page with Book links:

 

Eva Jordan in conversation with… Anne Hamilton

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Eva Jordan in conversation with Anne Hamilton - Write Right! - Post Header

A Q&A with Anne Hamilton
Editor & Writer

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 With the recent publication of my third novel, Time Will Tell, I can definitely say it’s been a journey. I’ve learned a lot, sometimes by trial and error, but one thing I have discovered, if you want to write novels and write them well, you need a good editor. I know for some writers, especially those just starting out, hiring an editor is an expense they can do without. There are other options of course. For instance, having a team of great Beta readers can help point out the gaps, errors and pitfalls in your manuscript, however, where possible I’d always recommend using a professional editor, plus the Beta readers. Therefore, I’d like to introduce you to the lovely Anne Hamilton, the brilliant editor who worked with me on Time Will Tell.

  1. Hi Anne, can you tell everyone a little bit about yourself?

Hi Eva, it’s a pleasure to be here! And can I just say how much I enjoyed Time Will Tell – the perfect ending to the trilogy.

I am, indeed, lucky to be a writer and an editor, and since I’m a bit of a nomad, too, it’s great that both of those can be done from more or less anywhere. I’m never exactly sure whether I come from the Fens or the West of Ireland…so I’ve ‘compromised’ by settling in Edinburgh, where I live with my eight-year-old son. We enjoy the odd jaunt to Bangladesh, where I’m a trustee of Bhola’s Children, a charity set up on foot of my first book, a travel memoir called A Blonde Bengali Wife.

I originally started out in social work, sidestepped to epidemiology, and finally found myself doing a postgraduate course in Creative Writing, which has led to my freelance work as a writing tutor. When I’m not reading or writing, I’m invariably baking or helping construct LEGO creations – often at the same time!

  1. You are a writer as well as an editor, which do you prefer doing and why?

I’ve often been asked if editing is second-best because I haven’t (yet!) made it as a best-selling author. But honestly? I love editing. I love the creativity of structural or development editing (looking at a story as a whole) and the nitty-gritty precision of line or content editing (checking and polishing the finished article). Whether it’s my own work or someone else’s, having words to play with, working out the best way to communicate a story is like an enormous, satisfying jigsaw puzzle.

Being a freelance editor means my hours are very flexible so I can fit in mum-time or writing-time – often quite chaotically, it must be said – and for me, these three things go hand in hand. There’s many a dreich Scottish Monday morning when I look out of my kitchen window at the commuting traffic and remember how lucky I am that I get to stay at home and make up stories for a living.

  1. What does it take to become a professional editor and, if anyone reading this is considering it as an occupation, how would they go about it?

I’ve been a reader and writer since childhood (my first ‘book’ was called The Little Blue Elephant and was kept in pride of place in Deeping St James County Primary School library for years!) and I’d say enjoying both of these is essential. In fact, all the Ps come to mind: being persistent, pedantic and patient. Editing is painstaking work and, like writing itself, the only way to build up the skill is to practise, practise, practise.

I never set out to become a professional editor, it was whilst doing my PhD, I realised I had something of a flair for it. It really goes hand in hand with mentoring, so I started by tutoring students, teaching online, and gradually building a (small) business from there.

I’ve met people who have been journalists, teachers, completed English degrees, worked as interns at publishing houses…so there are many roads to becoming an editor.

  1. And finally, what one piece of advice would you offer to newbie writers and editors?

Very few people get rich or famous from writing or editing, so you really need to enjoy the process for its own sake. For writers, I’d add, don’t compare yourself to others – your unique voice is your greatest asset – and for editors, edit the book the author wants, not what you think s/he should have. For some authors I’m a hard taskmaster, for others, a cheerleader, others still, I play devil’s advocate…

…And how could this answer be edited succinctly? Read, read, read, and write, write, write!

Thanks for being a guest on my blog today Anne, and for your brilliant, informative replies to my questions. 

Anne Hamilton

If you want to contact Anne or find out a little bit more about her, you can find her here:
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Eva Jordan in conversation with… Liza Perrat – The Story behind The Swooping Magpie

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On my blog today, I’m very pleased to welcome the lovely Liza Perrat who has written a guest post about her current novel, The Swooping Magpie.

Hi Liza, it’s an honour to have you here today. I haven’t read it yet but The Swooping Magpie sounds like an amazing but heartbreaking read. Can you tell us a little bit more about it, the story behind it?

The Story Behind The Swooping Magpie

We’ve all heard the terrible stories of the Magdalene Laundries, 18th to late 20th century-institutions housing “fallen women”, term implicating sexual promiscuity or prostitution work. In practice, most of these “laundries” were operated as gruelling work-houses. However, many people are unaware that similar institutions operated in Australia and, inspired by a true-life scandal, this the story behind The Swooping Magpie.

It is difficult for any Australian born after the feminist movement to understand what it was like to be sixteen, pregnant and unmarried in 1970. Marriage was still the vital cornerstone of Australian society and it was impossible to imagine having a child outside of this union blessed by church and state.

So, rather than rejoicing at the new life growing inside her, these girls were hidden away in shame –– at their parents’ house or sent to homes for unmarried mothers.

While The Swooping Magpie demonstrates a society that refused to support mothers battling to raise an infant alone, it also exposes the brutal adoption industry practices that targeted healthy newborn babies for childless couples.

Until the mid-70s it was common practice to adopt out the babies of unwed mothers. In the 1960s, Sydney’s Crown Street Women’s Hospital was one of the largest sources of Australia’s adopted babies. Patient documents from there, and other maternity hospitals show that from the moment most unmarried girls arrived, their records were marked “for adoption”.

They were given three days after the birth to sign the adoption consent, and then thirty days to change their minds. These laws were meant to give legal certainty to adoptive parents while protecting relinquishing mothers’ rights. But in practice, those rights were either denied or the women had no idea they existed.

During this time, approximately 250,000 girls had their newborns taken, many claiming they were pressured into signing consent whilst under the effects of postpartum sedation. Forced to pay this terrible price for pregnancy outside marriage, thousands of women harboured their grief, in silence, for decades.

The Swooping Magpie Book Description

The thunderclap of sexual revolution collides with the black cloud of illegitimacy.

Sixteen-year-old Lindsay Townsend is pretty and popular at school. At home, it’s a different story. Dad belts her and Mum’s either busy or battling a migraine. So when sexy school-teacher Jon Halliwell finds her irresistible, Lindsay believes life is about to change.

She’s not wrong.

Lindsay and Jon pursue their affair in secret because if the school finds out, Jon will lose his job. If Lindsay’s dad finds out, there will be hell to pay. But when a dramatic accident turns her life upside down, Lindsay is separated from the man she loves.

Events spiral beyond her control, emotions conflicting with doubt, loneliness and fear, and Lindsay becomes enmeshed in a shocking true-life Australian scandal. The schoolyard beauty will discover the dangerous games of the adult world. Games that destroy lives.

Lindsay is forced into the toughest choice of her young life. The resulting trauma will forever burden her heart.

Excerpt From Chapter 1

I wrinkle my nostrils against the caustic smell of cat piss as we pick our way across the filthy footpath to the black gate.

My mother steps aside as the high gate creaks open, nods at me to go through. I scowl, don’t move.

‘You heard what your father said, Lindsay.’

With a sigh, I push past her.

The storm flushed away, the humidity has seeped back into the air at this tail-end of another scalding Australian summer. There’s no warmth in me though, only ice-blocks freezing my insides so that I become so cold I can’t stop shivering.

It’s not just the fear that sets me quaking, but the helplessness too. Like when I was a kid about to launch myself down the slippery dip. I’d hesitate, knowing that once I slid off there was no turning back, even if the metal burned my bum raw, or that once I reached the bottom I’d tumble forwards and scrape my knees.

My mother nudges me ahead of her. I don’t realise it yet, and I won’t speak of the whole sorry tale for years to come, since every time I thought about it, the memories would leave me frustrated, sad and angry, but I would recall walking through those black iron gates as crossing the threshold into the darkest hell.

Liza Bio

Liza grew up in Australia, working as a general nurse and midwife. She has now been living in France for over twenty years, where she works as a part-time medical translator and a novelist. She is the author of the historical The Bone Angel series. The first, Spirit of Lost Angels, is set in 18th century revolutionary France. The second, Wolfsangel, is set during the WW2 Nazi Occupation and the French Resistance, and the third novel – Blood Rose Angel –– is set during the 14th century Black Plague years.

The first book in Liza’s new series, The Silent Kookaburra, published in November 2016, is a psychological suspense set in 1970s Australia.

Liza is a co-founder and member of the writers’ collective Triskele Books and also reviews books for Bookmuse. liza perrat

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Sign up for her new book releases and receive a FREE copy of Ill-Fated Rose, the short story that inspired The Bone Angel French historical series.

The Swooping Magpie is available in both ebook and paperback at all the usual retailers.

the swooping magpie triple pic

Eva Jordan in conversation with… M.J. Lee

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Last month, in honour of Remembrance Day, I wrote about my Great Great Uncle William who is commemorated on the Menin Gate. How apt then, when writing my column, I came across author Martin Lee’s recently published novella, The Silent Christmas, which finds Jayne Sinclair, a genealogical investigator, trying to unravel a mystery concerning her client’s great grandfather in the trenches on December 25, 1914. Read my review here to find out more but in the meantime, I’d thought we’d do an interview with the author himself.

Martin, can you please tell our readers a bit about yourself? How long have you been writing? Did you always want to be a writer?

I’ve been a writer for most of my adult life, but not a novel writer. I worked in advertising for over 25 years as a copywriter and creative director. Every day, I had to go into work and, in the blink of an eye, come up with creative solutions to business problems for clients. About four years ago, I was offered a new job and I had a chat with a headhunter who asked me what I really wanted to do with my future. Without a thought, I answered ‘write novels’. And now, here I am, with The Silent Christmas being my tenth book to be published, the fifth in the Jayne Sinclair series.

I really enjoyed The Silent Christmas, which falls into the historical fiction genre, however, I also understand that you’ve recently released a contemporary thriller called Where The Truth Lies? My question being, which do you prefer to write about, the past or the present?

I’m so glad you enjoyed The Silent Christmas, I really loved writing the book. The answer is both because the challenges are very different for an author. When writing about the past, you have to put yourself in the mind of the character, his or her beliefs, attitudes and thoughts at the time. Writing in the present is much more about the observation of people and events in one’s daily life. I think what links the two is the idea of character. What made people act the way they did, whether it is yesterday or 100 years ago. That’s what I love to write about.

What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?

I love research, it’s where you can escape the banal and ordinary and discover something new. As I write historical crime fiction, the mores, actions and beliefs of the time are present in all my work. Readers would soon point out (and have) anachronisms for me. Research allows me to stay true to the times whether its 1920s Shanghai, the Restoration period of Samuel Pepys, or the first year of the Great War.

I’m quite methodical, probably because I was at one time a researcher in history as well as my background in advertising. I start with some general books of the period, in this case, the lead-up and first year of World War One, so that I can understand what was happening on a macro level. Then I will read contemporary newspaper accounts of what happened. In most cases these are third hand, ie reporters writing about something told to them, but in the case of the Christmas Truce, some newspapers published letters from men at the front describing what had happened. At the same time, I will look at newsreel footage, programmes or films on the subject. Some of the participants actually described what happened on film. Next, I will read memoirs or first-hand accounts of what happened. There are three or four published accounts of the Christmas Truce the best being by Henry Williamson, Bruce Bairnsfather and Bertie Felstead. Finally, I will look at contemporary documents such as War Diaries and individual diaries kept at the National Archives or, in this case, at Cheshire Military Museum.

I’m generally researching two books ahead of my writing. So at the moment, I’m looking into the Emancipation of Slaves in 1834….

What is your writing Kryptonite?

Character. Why do people act like they do?

In The Silent Christmas, what made people, on both sides, stop killing each other for one day? What made people stop being enemies and become friends? And conversely, having met and chatted with their opposite numbers, how did they return to the trenches a day later and start killing again?

And finally, what one piece of advice would you offer any would-be writers out there?

Read. Read. Read.

But read smartly.

How is the writer telling his story? What are they trying to say? How are they saying it? What would you do differently? How have they built up character and themes? What genre are they writing in? How would you describe this book in one sentence?

And once you’ve decided to be a writer, never, never give up. There will come a point when you want to stop. Don’t. Push on through to the end, because nobody will ever read an unfinished book.

Writer Martin Lee

M J Lee on Social Media:
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