February word count.

Hello everyone. I haven’t posted here for a while. How are you all? I’ve been working on the second book in the Cherry Blossom Lane series and have just received the first edits back from my editor. The book is called, The One That He Wants and is the second book in the series to My Perfect Ex. It’s always exciting and nerve wracking to open that email to see what she says! Luckily she loves the story and is looking forward to book three. Phew! Here are some gorgeous reviews from book 1: ‘Loved it!’ ‘A wonderful read.’ ‘Beautifully written and thoroughly enjoyed.’

I’m trying to be more organised this year, so I bought myself two huge wall planners for my office and home and I’m using it as a visual prompt to get on with book promotion and stop procrastinating. I’ve held a couple of writing buddy sessions that I run with fellow romance author, Chris Penhall, recently and the daytime session was fully booked, which was exciting. It warms my heart to hear about the different ways people write, what they are working on and also that writing buddies might help them to get words onto paper in some way. We hire the top floor of a gorgeous coffee shop and encourage people to write with two 30 minute writing sprints, a coffee break to network and a chat at the end about how people are. There are no word count pressures and we don’t check anyone’s work, it is purely to write alongside other creatives for a couple of hours. We have people writing books, comedy, short stories, poetry, articles and more. The weather has been dreary, so it’s always a mad dash to keep our computers and manuscripts dry if we are going to the coffee shop. I tend to write by hand at first, so I always have pages and pages of paper with me.

I’ve been chatting to people on social media a lot recently and I’m enjoying hearing about what everyone is reading. I’ve just started reading a lovely book called Patches through time by Sian Turner, who is a member of my book group, Lizzie’s Book Group, on Facebook. I’ve also just finished a book by Sue Moorcroft, called An Italian Island Summer, which is a beautiful read.

Have a great week everyone! From Lizzie. x

 

Happy New Year’s Eve!

Happy New Year’s Eve  everyone.

I was lucky enough to receive six marketing books that I’d wished for, for Christmas this year. I’ve begun reading them and will share any insights on my regular Marketing blogs in 2019. I can’t wait to get back to working on my latest romance book, as I have written about 20,000 words  and would like to complete it in the near future.

I hope that you all have exciting plans for the New Year and that 2019 brings lots of happiness and success to you all. I can’t wait to discover some new reads and to share them here too. I’ve tried lots of different genres in 2018, but am still drawn to the ones I write in, which are romance and humour.

Wishing you all an amazing and fulfilling New Year.

The saying goes, If you love what you have, you have everything you need.

Happy 2019!

Tweet by Lizzie Chantree 9

Tweet by Lizzie Chantree 23

A gift for you!

Happy Friday everyone. From around 10am on the 23rd November until the end of the day on the 25th November 2018, you are able to download your own FREE copy of my two latest Bestselling Romance Reads, Ninja School Mum and If you love me, I’m yours. I hope the stories make you smile and that you have an amazing weekend. Happy reading! From Lizzie.

Winter book sale. Lizzie Chantree

 

Universal book buy link: If you love me, I’m yous: viewbook.at/IfYouLoveMe-ImYours

Universal book buy link: Ninja School Mum: viewbook.at/NinjaSchoolMum

 

Looking for a great new read?

Susan Roebuck

COMING SOON! “Forest Dancer” by award winning author Susan Roebuck, will be here in February 2018, published by CrookedCat Books. This novel is set in Portugal in the forests outside Lisbon and as I have pre-ordered a copy, I can’t wait to read it!

Portugal

From the author:

It’s such a varied country with different cultures and landscapes. In one day you can drive from the north through national parks, ancient stone villages, past rocky mountains and steep hills covered in vineyards, to the more populated Centre with its famous Coimbra University, the walled town of Obidos down to rocking, vibrant and beautiful Lisbon. Cross over the vast Tagus river onto the south bank and travel through the plains of the Alentejo, past fields of wild-flowers, sunflowers, cork and olive groves with villages of white and blue cottages until the well-known, glamorous Algarve appears, its sparkle reflected in the azure sea because that’s as far as you can go on mainland Portugal.

The country is 900 years old, revels in the fact that it is Britain’s oldest ally (thanks to Queen Philippa of Lancaster who married Dom João I in the 14th century), and, in the fifteen and sixteenth centuries created a huge empire overseas thanks to its New World Discoveries. Portuguese is even today one of the most spoken languages in the world (thanks, largely, to Brazil).

Living in such a beautiful place, I decided to write three novels set here.

Portugalmap

“Rising Tide” was set in a small (fictional) fishing village on the little-known Alentejo coast.

“Forest Dancer” is my new novel, published by Crooked Cat Books, and is set in the mountains just 20 miles west of Lisbon

“Joseph Barnaby” will be published by Crooked Cat Books in 2018, and is set on the island of Madeira.

Forest Dancer - Susan Roebuck

Book blurb : It’s a long way to go to create a new life for yourself.

Classical ballerina, Flora Gatehouse, has no choice but to take a risk. Having failed an important ballet audition in London, she moves to a small cottage in a forest just outside Lisbon, Portugal, her only inheritance following her father’s death.

Soon, Flora is involved in village life, where fate takes a new twist when she becomes attracted to forest ranger, Marco. But they are off to a shaky start.

Can Flora find acceptance in a foreign land, in a magical place that harbours secrets and heartache?

 

Book Links:

Forest Dancer (paperback and ebook) on Amazon : myBook.to/ForestDancer1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SusanRoebuckauthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sueroebuck

Blog: http://www.susanroebuck.com

 

 

Meet Award Winning Author Heidi Catherine!

About Heidi Catherine:

Heidi Catherine is a writer with a weakness for stories that encourage readers to see the world in a new light. Her debut novel, The Soulweaver, explores the possibility of loving the same souls over many lifetimes. This novel is the winner of Romance Writers of Australia’s Emerald Pro award and will be released by Crooked Cat Books on 19 January 2018.

Not being able to decide if she prefers living in Melbourne or the Mornington Peninsula, Heidi shares her time between both places. She is similarly pulled in opposing directions by her two sons and two dogs, remaining thankful she only has one husband.

Heidi loves to hear from readers and can be found at www.heidicatherine.com


The Soulweaver by Heidi Catherine

The Soulweaver Blurb

She’s loved and lost him a hundred times across a thousand years. She can’t bear to lose him again.

Lin’s dreams are haunted by faces of people she’s never met. Unable to shake the feeling she’s lived before, she’s drawn to Reinier—a stranger whose soul is heartbreakingly familiar from a time gone by.

Reinier helps Lin unravel the mystery of her past life as Hannah, a girl who sacrificed herself for her true love, Matthew. As Lin falls hopelessly in love with Reinier, her memories of her life as Hannah sharpen and she finds herself unable to let go of Matthew.

With her heart torn in two, Lin must decide whether she should stand by Reinier’s side or track down Matthew and fight for his love. What she doesn’t know is that her decision will ripple across our troubled planet, affecting far more lives than just her own.

Winner of Romance Writers of Australia’s Emerald Pro award, The Soulweaver is a story that will change the way you see the world.

 

Here are five fun things you may not know about me, by Heidi Catherine!

1. I am a vegetarian who used to work in a delicatessen. You’d think that coming home with shoes filled with chicken blood might have been what tipped me over the vegetarian edge, but almost 20 years passed between me leaving work at the deli and deciding to no longer eat meat. My decision also had nothing to do with the tray of ham I threw at my boss’s feet when I resigned… I promise.
2. When I was growing up, my father was a forensic scientist with the police. My sister and I were strictly forbidden to look in his briefcase, which of course meant that we looked in it every chance we got. Until one day we found a jar with a human finger floating in it (nail polish perfectly intact). Scarred for life!
3. I recently had a Soul Reading, where I was told that in my past lives I’ve been a trapped miner, a dancer and a famous male actor in black and white movies. Apparently I was a very dapper and had a lovely moustache. Those were the days…
4. In my early 20s I was talked into doing a bungy jump. I was so petrified that I refused to jump so the guy working there picked me up by my hands and dropped me straight over the edge. It was one of the worst things I’ve ever done.
5. In celebration of signing my first publishing deal, I got a tattoo on the inside of my left wrist that says ‘BELIEVE’. A few minutes before the tattoo artist began he confessed to me that he’s dyslexic. Not exactly what I wanted to hear!

The Emerald Pro award is an annual competition run by Romance Writers of Australia for the best unpublished manuscript written by a published author. 

 
The Soulweaver won first place in the Emerald Pro awards in 2015. 
 
 
Emerald Pro judges’ comments:

‘This entry had me transfixed from the very first sentence and the intrigue continued throughout the whole book. Amazingly well written, fantastic use of poetic language, unusual story line that made sense even though it transposed time and characters. Thought it was wonderful.’

`I would describe it as really beautiful, clever and interesting story about love (not just romantic) and connections.’

‘The story, it’s amazing! Loved it! I love the concept and the storyline.’

‘The writing is beautiful, and I think this story has been very carefully crafted for the target readership. I think it will really appeal to young female readers (and older ones too).’

‘This was a very compelling novel opening. I shivered a few times while reading it— always the sign of a good story, I think! I thought the plot was well structured and well paced. The tone of the opening drew me in, and the writing was expressive without being overly flowery. The supernatural part of the story was also dealt with beautifully.’

‘The opening lines are very powerful and would definitely grab the intended audience. There was a feeling of intense emotion straightaway and I was captivated by what might have happened.’ 

 

Book Title: The Soulweaver

Author: Heidi Catherine

Release date: 19 January 2018

Available for Sale at: TBC

ISBN: TBC

Retail Price: TBC

Publisher website: www.crookedcatbooks.com

Author website: www.heidicatherine.com

Author Twitter: www.twitter.com/heidicatherine

Author Facebook: www.facebook.com/heidicatherineauthor

Grab a great new read!

Alice Castle

The Girl in the Gallery by Alice Castle.    OUT TODAY! 

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to Dulwich…

It’s a perfect summer’s morning in the plush south London suburb, and thirty-something Beth Haldane has sneaked off to visit one of her favourite places, the world-famous Picture Gallery.

She’s enjoying a few moments’ respite from juggling her job at prestigious private school Wyatt’s and her role as single mum to little boy Ben, when she stumbles across a shocking new exhibit on display. Before she knows it, she’s in the thick of a fresh, and deeply chilling, investigation.

Who is The Girl in the Gallery? Join Beth in adventure #2 of the London Murder Mystery series as she tries to discover the truth about a secret eating away at the very heart of Dulwich.

acb2 copy

From Alice:

Thanks so much, Lizzie, for hosting me today on your blog. It’s great to be able to have a chat about my second whodunit, The Girl in the Gallery, which is coming out on 19th December.

The Girl in the Gallery is number two in my London Murder Mystery series and, as the title suggests, it starts off in a picture gallery. The gallery is based on the real life Dulwich Picture Gallery, one of my favourite places, which is not only a superb building but also houses an amazing art collection. When I realised it was celebrating 200 years of art for the public this year, I was determined to make it the backdrop to a murder mystery and, thanks to my publisher Crooked Cat, we’ve just got it out in time.

Dulwich Picture Gallery is a very odd building and, although its use of light from above to maximise wall space has been copied around the world, there’s one aspect of this structure which has never been replicated. That’s the mausoleum at its centre, which houses the dead bodies of the founders of the art collection. Their remains are so beautifully packaged that you can walk straight past them without quite knowing what you are seeing, but I thought it would make a wonderfully gothic place to find a body, and that’s what gave me the idea for The Girl in the Gallery.

The book is concerned with issues of identity and pressure on teenage girls, whether it’s the compulsion to establish an online profile at an age when most adolescents don’t really know who they are, or whether it’s the eating disorders and massive exam stress that sadly affect so many high-achieving girls.

Despite dealing with some series issues, the book is light-hearted and I hope has a comic twist, thanks to characters like Belinda MacKenzie, the scary uber-mummy who dominates the playground, and Beth Haldane herself. Beth is my single mum amateur sleuth, bringing up a ten-year-old on her own and, thanks to her determination, persistence and a distinct reckless streak, determined to find out who The Girl in the Gallery really is, and what has befallen her. Along the way, she has the assistance of DI Harry York, whose pragmatic attitude to crime is at odds with Beth’s fixation with justice.

Although The Girl in the Gallery is the second in a series which started with Death in Dulwich, it can be read independently. I hope, though, that you’ll get the bug and want to read on. If you do, then Calamity in Camberwell is due out in 2018 and there will be more Beth adventures to follow.

You can buy the book here: MyBook.to/GirlintheGallery, and find Death in Dulwich here: MyBook.to/1DeathinDulwich

Alice Castle Contact: 

About the author:

Before turning to crime, Alice Castle was a UK newspaper journalist for The Daily Express, The Times and The Daily Telegraph. Her first book, Hot Chocolate, set in Brussels and London, was a European best-seller which sold out in two weeks.

Alice is currently working on the sequel to Death in Dulwich and The Girl in the Gallery, the third book in the London Murder Mystery series. It will be published by Crooked Cat next year and is entitled The Calamity in Camberwell. Once again, it features Beth Haldane and DI Harry York.

Alice is also a top mummy blogger, writing DD’s Diary at www.dulwichdivorcee.com.

She lives in south London and is married with two children, two step-children and two cats.

Author website: https://www.alicecastleauthor.com

Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/alicecastleauthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DDsDiary?lang=en

Links to buy books: MyBook.to/GirlintheGallery   myBook.to/1DeathinDulwich, myBook.to/HotChocolate

The Cocktail Bar.

When Cocktails Take Over Glastonbury High Street!

What could possibly go wrong?

Actually, perhaps we should be asking ‘what could possibly go right?’

In talented author, Isabella May’s second novel, “The Cocktail Bar”, which launches on February 13th 2018, the mystical town of Glastonbury – and its residents’ lives – will never be the same again.

Why?

Because ex indie rock star, River Jackson, has returned to his roots after a decade on the road, touring with his band, Avalonia and ‘has the audacity’ to come swanning back into town, buying up a former working class pub complete with skittle alley… only to turn it into a cocktail bar.

Well, if anybody out there has ever been to this one-off Somerset destination, then they will know first-hand that Caipirinha and candles do not mix… much less Cosmopolitans and the traditional Scrumpy Farmhouse Cider.

The Cocktail Bar is available for pre-order NOW on Amazon via this universal link: http://myBook.to/thecocktailbar 

-Before you know it, your pint of cider will be a thing of the past.-

The Cocktail Bar blurb: 


Rock star, River Jackson, is back in his hometown of Glastonbury to open a cocktail bar… and the locals aren’t impressed.

Seductive Georgina is proving too hot to handle; band mate, Angelic Alice, is messing with his heart and his head; his mum is a hippie-dippy liability; his school friends have resorted to violence – oh, and his band manager, Lennie, AND the media are on his trail.

But River is armed with a magical Mexican elixir which will change the lives of the Three Chosen Ones. Once the Mexican wave of joy takes a hold of the town, he’s glad he didn’t lose his proverbial bottle.

Pity he hasn’t taken better care of the real one…

 

Author Bio:


Isabella May lives in (mostly) sunny Andalucia, Spain with her husband, daughter and son, creatively inspired by the sea and the mountains. When she isn’t having her cake and eating it, sampling a new cocktail on the beach, or ferrying her children to and from after school activities, she can usually be found writing.

As a co-founder and a former contributing writer for the popular online women’s magazine, The Glass House Girls – www.theglasshousegirls.com – she has also been lucky enough to subject the digital world to her other favourite pastimes, travel, the Law of Attraction, and Prince (The Purple One).

She has recently become a Book Fairy, and is having lots of fun with her imaginative ‘drops’!

The Cocktail Bar is her second novel, following on from the hit sensation, Oh! What a Pavlova, published in 2017. Her third novel is currently being polished up and involves copious amounts of churros con chocolate: watch this space…

Twitter – @IsabellaMayBks
Instagram – @isabella_may_author

Excerpt taken from Chapter Six of The Cocktail Bar:

If it wasn’t for his celebrity status she’d have been utterly humiliated. Six people turned up for the official opening night. Just six! And one of those was Heather. It was like a sketch out of a very bad comedy.

“There will be one rule in this bar and one rule only,” River announced. “I’ll never serve you more than two cocktails of an evening.” A flurry of muffled voices ensued. “Why?” he paused until he’d regained their attention, “because the cocktail is to be savoured, not devoured. The construction of a cocktail is a work of art; the degustation of a cocktail is an evening at the theatre. You wouldn’t eat a three course meal during The Phantom of the Opera; in the same way, you won’t drink three courses of cocktails in this bar.”

Fabulous, there went all of Georgina’s future tips every time a starry-eyed customer thought he was in with a chance with her. What a stuck up thing to say. People knew their limits when it came to drink. You might get away with this in some swanky speakeasy in the capital, the kind of place ‘the other half’ visited before their soiree in a plummy theatre, but in a small town like this, it was an insult that would only drive away footfall. He should have run this past her first. She’d soon have persuaded him to up it to four. Two cocktails did not comprise a night out. This was beyond ludicrous.

She gave him a conspiratorial nod to keep up the charade anyway. What else could she do? Yes, her own reputation in this gossip-rife town might be at stake now, but she was doing this for Blake – and her dad. She just had to stick with it. There was still time to turn things around. If nothing else, the hearsay that wended its way out of here tonight was going to prick up so many only-too-willing-ears to put his outlandish theory to the test. The gathered ensemble clearly didn’t know whether to huddle at one table to avoid the mortifyingly, socially embarrassing phenomenon of rattling around at a party, or to do just that, flinging themselves far and wide to create the illusion of roaring success. How the first floor of the bar would ever be populated, she had no idea.

Georgina needed a tipple to deal with this herself, but instead she held her head high, remembering beauty’s power to take the edge off disappointment. Ever the hospitality pro, she sashayed over to a couple of decidedly middle-aged ladies who had evidently just finished work, dressed as they were in their hideous High Street travel agents’ regalia.

“What can I get you, girls?” she prompted, notebook at the ready.

River had asked her to try to memorise cocktail names, said it looked more authentic that way, but it was hardly going to make or break business if she did jot them down, and besides, it was still early days as far as her own training went, some of these creations had some unnecessarily complicated titles.

“We just can’t decide,” said the older one. “What does your sexy bartender over there recommend?” the ever-so-slightly younger one chimed in, unable to tear her besotted eyes off River as he needlessly demonstrated his showy pouring skills in the background, only adding to their collective pool of drool.

Georgina felt her hackles rise, and a twinge of a distant relative to jealousy stir in the pit of her stomach. Was this what she was going to have to contend with every night? He was hers, all hers, and as much as that was simply part of a revenge-fuelled plan, she was not used to sharing her treats with anybody, and not about to start.

“Why don’t I ask him to surprise you then? Yes, what a great idea,” she said, catching River’s eye in a moment of perfect synchronicity and walking back to the bar before they had chance to protest.

“They’ve asked for two Earthquakes,” she said, slapping her notebook down on the counter and letting her pen catch up with her mischief.

“But that’s not even on the menu,” said River, clearly alarmed at the strength of their choice.

“Well, these ladies do seem very experienced when it comes to their spirits. Best give them what they’ve asked for. I’m just as surprised as you are, but we can’t be discerning or sexist when it comes to serving up Absinthe. There’s a very good reason they let it back into the States in 2007.”

“I’m impressed, George… Georgina, Georgina.”

She scowled.

“You are a little powerhouse of knowledge, aren’t you?” he winked, and then heard the laughter coming from the travel agents’ table which clearly helped to back up their letting-their-hair-down choice of drink. “Hopefully they’ve both got a day off tomorrow.”

He turned to find a couple of Champagne coupe glasses and Georgina breathed an imaginary sigh of relief. This was going to be entertaining all right.
The Cocktail Bar, by Isabella May

Discover author Nicola Slade.

THE HOUSE AT LADYWELL
Nicola Slade

 Nicola Slade book cover

Book blurb:

A hare carved in stone and the scent of flowers in a house full of echoes – can Freya’s inheritance help her to leave the past behind?

Had I gone completely crazy that first day? To open the door, take one astonished look round, and decide on the spot that I would live there?

To fall in love with a house?’

 When Freya Gibson inherits an old, run-down property she has no idea she is the last in a long line of redoubtable women, including the Tudor nun who built the house. Unknown to Freya these women, over centuries, fought with whatever weapons came to hand – deception, endurance, even murder – to preserve their home and family.

Freya falls in love with the house but her inheritance includes an enigmatic letter telling her to ‘restore the balance’ of the Lady’s Well. Besides this, the house seems to be haunted by the scent of flowers.

In the past the Lady’s Well was a place of healing and Freya soon feels safe and at home, but she has demons of her own to conquer before she can accept the happiness that beckons.

Buy your copy here: The House At Ladywell