Novelicious.com | The Women's Fiction Blog for Readers and Writers

Until Next Year!

Novelicious Goes To...The Secret Supper Club at Canvas Books

By Jenny Banks

On Tuesday, at the London office of Constable and Robinson, I was invited on behalf of Novelicious to attend a Secret Supper Club to celebrate their new imprint, Canvas.

Over tasty canapés, a mouth-watering three course menu and a glass of wine, this exciting new venture was discussed. The Canvas line focuses on fresh commercial fiction by both debut and established authors, covering a variety of genres, including historical, erotic and romantic fiction. 

The evening tied in with the publication of one of the books on Canvas’ list, The Secret Supper Club by Dana Bate, which is out now. The Secret Supper Club follows Hannah Sugarman, whose dream of being a culinary genius is on the backburner while she writes about the financial crisis. But when her relationship crashes, Hannah is spurred on to act by creating a pop up restaurant, the secret supper club, and welcoming all manner of guests and secrets through her door.

As would be expected in a room full of book lovers, the conversation continued all night and it was lovely to meet fellow bloggers and the team behind Canvas. I left feeling slightly larger, but very happy, with a Canvas goody bag full of Constable and Robinson books.

Thank you to the team for providing such a great evening of wonderful food and company, and I wish you the best of luck with Canvas.

Review - No Such Thing As Immortality by Sarah Tranter

Reviewed by Jennifer Joyce

 

Since becoming a vampire, nearly two hundred years ago, Nathanial Gray has chosen not to feel any emotion. He is out driving with his best friend and fellow vampire, James when they are involved in an accident, running Rowan Locke off the road. Nate isn’t hurt during the accident, but something strange begins to happen to him. His body starts surging with emotions that do not belong to him, emotions so powerful that he is unable to function properly. It soon becomes clear that the emotions he is experiencing are coming from Rowan and there is no way Nate can block them out. For the first time in both his human and immortal life, Nate feels a connection to a woman. Not only does he experience every emotion Rowan feels, Nate can't help felling concerned for her welfare as she lies in hospital. He worries about Rowan and needs to be close to her to the point of obsession, which is all very alien to him especially since he shut off his feelings two centuries before.

Nate’s family are worried about him as he struggles to cope with Rowan’s onslaught of emotions and they are horrified when he insists on being close to her, feeling the irrepressible need to protect her. Nothing can change Nate’s mind, so his family are forced to go along with his plans. Fellow vampire Madeleine is compelled to investigate Rowan and is puzzled by the lack of information on Rowan's Aunt Hetty. Nate felt there was something very off about the woman when he met her at Rowan’s bedside, which only adds to Madeleine’s intrigue. She is determined to discover what secrets Aunt Hetty holds, particularly when it appears Rowan’s safety is in jeopardy and Aunt Hetty may be the only one who knows how to keep her out of harm’s way.

Novelicious Chats To...Ellen Marie Wiseman

Ellen Marie Wiseman, author of THE PLUM TREE, was born and raised in Three Mile Bay, a tiny hamlet in Northern New York. A first generation American, Ellen has travelled frequently to visit her family in Germany, where she fell in love with the country’s history and culture. A mother of two, Ellen lives peacefully on the shores of Lake Ontario with her husband and three dogs. Ellen recently answered a few questions for our Novelicious readers. Here's a link to Jennifer's review of The Plum Tree.

 

Can you tell us a little about your average writing day?

I begin the day by taking my dogs for a walk along the lakeshore. Then, because I can't think in a messy house, I make the bed, throw in a load of laundry and tidy up. Once I feel a sense of order, I brew some tea, quickly check my emails, and reread the pages from the previous day to figure out where I am in the story. If all goes well, I spend the next four to six hours writing and trying to avoid Facebook. In the evening, I check emails, Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads. When I get closer to having a book finished, I write 10 to 14 hours a day.  

When you are writing, do you use any celebrities or people you know as inspiration?

I love picturing celebrities as my characters! Sometimes I use their colouring and manners in my descriptions. While writing the The Plum Tree I pictured Scarlet Johansson and Jake Gyllenhaal as my main characters, Christine and Isaac. It was a lot of fun when it came to writing those secret meetings in the root cellar! I also used people I know for some of my secondary characters, but I’ll never tell who!

What is your favorite Women’s Fiction book of all time and why?

Do I really have to pick? I love so many books for so many different reasons. I’m not entirely sure all of these would be categorized as Women’s fiction, but I loved Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells, Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay, Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum, Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier, Sophie’s Choice by William Styron. Sorry, I don’t think I can pick!

Review - Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Reviewed by Amanda Keats

Beautiful Creatures follows the arrival of Lena Duchannes in a small town where everyone knows everyone and nothing ever changes. This is the sort of deep south US town that does civil war reenactments and dresses their young ladies in Gone With the Wind style gowns for functions.

The fact that Lena is the new girl is enough to spark riotous excitement - but the news that she is the niece of the elusive Macon Ravenswood gets people even more curious - because Macon has not been seen out in town for years.

Lena is used to being the outcast and is confused when one of the boys in her class takes a shine to her. Ethan is fascinated by Lena but soon discovers that there is far more to her than he could have imagined when he starts hearing her thoughts and realises they can communicate telepathically. Though she tries to keep him at a distance, this bond between the pair inevitably becomes stronger.

Both Lena and Ethan's families try all that they can to keep the pair apart - which of course only makes them want to stay together more, and to find out what it is the families are hiding from them. They begin to dig deeper and soon start to uncover a dark family secret that has linked their families for generations.

Novelicious goes to…the Books and the City event at The Clothes Show Live

By Kirsty Nicole Pole

When I was offered the opportunity to go to the Books and the City event held by Simon and Schuster UK, I practically bit their hand off. By the time I had got lost in the car park of Birmingham NEC and ended up back on the motorway I feared I would never make it but after a helpful hand from the wonder that is Sat Nav, I made it and found myself in a room heaving with excited ladies all buzzing with the anticipation of seeing their favourite authors.

Rebecca Chance, Ali Harris, Louise Fennell, Milly Johnson and Helen Warner aka ‘The Fab Five Fictionistas’ were glorious. They spoke with such passion about their writing that I felt inspired within the first 10 minutes. The fab five spoke about the moment when they first get an idea that won’t leave them alone, Rebecca referred to it as an ‘Oooooooooooh’ moment, when you mention a story idea to a friend and they go “Ooooooooooh”. She shared with us the idea for a book based on Princess Diana that made the entire audience go “Oooooooh”, thus proving her point.

The Novelicious Book Awards 2012

 

After much discussion and debate, Team Novelicious are pleased to announce their 2012 Novelicious Book Award winners...

AUTHOR WEBSITE OF THE YEAR

Shortlisted

MarianKeyes.com

 MillyJohnson.co.uk

VictoriaConnelly.com

Kate-Harrison.com

And the winner is...

Victoria Connelly! Victoria's website is bursting with regularly updated content, is easy to navigate and has some great writerly resources. Well done, Victoria!

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BOOK JACKET OF THE YEAR

Shortlisted

And the winner is...

We all cooed over the Meet Me Under the Mistletoe cover when it was released. The soft jewel colours, the font, the glittery snowflakes and stars and the super romantic Lucy Truman illustration: this cover is unabashed chick lit with more than a dash of whimsy and it's our favourite of 2012.

 

 

 

PUBLISHER OF THE YEAR

Shortlisted

Simon & Schuster (UK)

Sphere (Little,Brown)

Avon (HarperCollins UK)

 And the winner is...

Avon (HarperCollins UK). This was a tough category but Avon have really gone above and beyond to provide us with consistently fantastic content and access to their authors in 2012. They got involved in our Novelicious Undiscovered competition earlier this year by providing some amazing prizes and it's been a genuine pleasure to work with the Avon team, in particular Becke Parker and Caroline Hogg. The above, combined with a regular output of quality commercial fiction and a fantastic flourishing social media presence, makes Avon an easy choice for our publisher of the year. 

 

 

AUTHOR-TWEETER OF THE YEAR

Shortlisted

Miranda Dickinson

Rowan Coleman

Pippa Wright

Abby Clements

 And the winner is...

Rowan Coleman. As well as being an absolutely super writer, Rowan Coleman is a friendly and approachable tweeter. She is consistently supportive of fellow authors and aspiring writers and is a generous re-tweeter.  In June this year, Rowan set up a weekly twitter initiative under the hashtag #rowancolemanswritingclinic in which she answered questions for aspiring authors about writing. 

 

 

 

DEBUT OF 2012

Shortlisted

The Desperate Bride's Diet Club by Alison Sherlock

The Vintage Teacup Club by Vanessa Greene

Black Heart Blue by Louisa Reid

Tony Hogan Bought me an Ice Cream Float Before He Stole My Ma by Kerry Hudson

And the winner is...

Black Heart Blue by Louisa Reid. In Black Heart Blue, Louisa deals with abuse, neglect and disability with grace and intelligence. This would be incredibly challenging for an established author to pull off but for one only just beginning it is both courageous and immensely powerful. We cannot wait to see what Reid comes up with next...

 

 

 

ALTERNATIVE THURSDAY BOOK OF THE YEAR

Shorlisted

The Perfume Garden by Kate Lord Brown

The Secrets of the Tides by Hannah Richell

The Apothecary's Daughter by Charlotte Betts

The Light Behind The Window by Lucinda Riley

And the winner is...

The Light Behind The Window by Lucinda Riley. Lucinda Riley's story makes you wonder if you would put duty before love, if you could you put your trust in someone you shouldn't and when the unimaginable occurs, how you would react in their place. It also has two unexpected heroes. The Light Behind The Window is beautifully written and haunting.

 

 

 

BOOK OF THE YEAR

Shortlisted

Welcome to Rosie Hopkins' Sweetshop of Dreams By Jenny Colgan

Dearest Rose by Rowan Coleman

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

The Mystery of Mercy Close by Marian Keyes

And the winner is...

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. We were all taken with Lou and Will's compelling and heartbreaking story. It made us laugh and sob and kept us transfixed until the last page. This is the book we've most recommended this year and we've yet to hear back from someone who didn't like it. Our must-read book of 2012.

 

 

 

AUTHOR OF THE YEAR

Shortlisted

Marian Keyes

Jane Green

Dorothy Koomson

Jojo Moyes

And the winner is...

Jane Green. We have a bit of a crush on Jane Green. Her books (including this year's The Patchwork Marriage) are some of the most engaging and gorgeously written we've read and her huge success has done nothing to diminish her deep connection with readers. Jane upholds a busy social media presence and blog and invites her fans to share in her life on facebook. Jane also gave us our favourite interview of the year in this epic two part chat with our Amanda Keats. Jane Green is an inspiration to so many readers and writers of women's fiction and we can't wait to see what 2013 will bring for her.

 

Huge congratulations to all of the shortlisted and winning authors. It's been a wonderful year for books!

Novelicious Chats To...Steven Scaffardi

Steven Scaffardi's debut novel The Drought is out now.

Can you tell us a little about your average writing day?

 I try to write something – anything! – at least once a day. Whether it is blogging, jotting down ideas, or working on a novel, I will write! I call this keeping myself ‘match fit’ (to use a typical boy sports analogy).This takes many forms from sitting at home at the laptop to being squashed on a packed train on my way to work trying to tap notes into my iPhone, which is very useful for when those great ideas just happen to spring to mind! I remember when I was writing The Drought, my girlfriend made me go to Oxford Street to go shopping, and I practically wrote a whole chapter on my phone as I followed her around Topshop! I managed to capture all of those wonderful thoughts and emotions that guys can relate to when you are being forced to look at yet another pair of shoes. (You can actually read the chapter here). When I get ideas like that, I have to write them down there and then.

 

When you are writing, do you use any celebrities or people you know as inspiration?

 The Drought is very much based on a combination of personal experiences, and stories told to me by others. I always use my friends and family for inspiration, especially my mates as they have some seriously funny – if not slightly concerning – experiences with the opposite sex! I write about relationships, dating disasters, and all the funny things that go with that. I listen to stories that my friends tell me about their love life’s and I steal their stories and put them down on the page! And when it comes to characters, I will always use someone I know as a starting point and then add my own creative tweaks to make that character work in the story. This way I find that I already know the character, and I already have an understanding of how they might react in a certain situation. However, this does have its downsides in that people I know always then try to spot who I have written about. An ex-girlfriend of mine read the book and I had forgotten that I had used a couple of our experiences together (and then massively exaggerated them for comedy value) and I don’t think she was best pleased to say the least!

 

What is your favourite Women’s Fiction book of all time and why?

 I haven’t read many, I have to admit! The reason I wrote The Drought is because I would flick through the pages of my girlfriends Sophie Kinsella or Louise Bagshawe books and moan that the men in these books were unrealistic. She then challenged me to try and write something better! I did read Bridget Jones Diary as a bit of ‘research’, and although I would never admit this to my girlfriend, I did enjoy it – but just a little bit though!

The Secret Dreamworld of an Aspiring Author by Anna Bell - Dreams Can Come True

I’ve been really lucky that 2012 has been a brilliant year for me and my writing. Yet, despite the letter I wrote to the universe, one of my dreams hasn’t come true this year; I still don’t have an agent. I’m determined that one day I will get one, and recently two stories of aspiring authors signing with top literary agents has inspired me not to give up on that dream. So to share the hope and inspiration, I asked Novelicious’ own Debs Carr and Cesca Major to share their how-I-got-my-agent stories. 

Novelicious Chats To...Nicola May

Nicola's latest novel is The School Gates, which recently won an award at The Festival of Romance!

Can you tell us a little about your average writing day?

 When I start a novel I cannot stop! I find it’s the best way to retain character continuity. I always write in bed. I may have a radio on but I’m usually so engrossed I don’t hear it. Time flies. 6 hours is my usual stint but if the story is flowing I can write for longer. I just stop to get food and drinks, but consume them in the bedroom too!

 

When you are writing, do you use any celebrities or people you know as inspiration?

 Not so much celebrities, but definitely I draw characters from people I know or have met throughout my life.

 

What is your favourite Women’s Fiction book of all time and why?

 Water Melon by Marion Keyes, because it gave me my initial inspiration to become a writer.

 

What is your writing process? Do you plan first of dive in? How many drafts do you do?

 The ideas for my novels comes to me first, usually at very random times. I sort of plan in my head but then dive in and different plot lines seem to happen as I go along. I see a book as one continuous draft until I write The End.

Review - With Love at Christmas by Carole Matthews

Reviewed by Cressida McLaughlin

Juliet Joyce loves Christmas.  She can’t wait for the festive season and enjoys nothing more than buying gifts, decorating the house and cooking enough food to feed her ever-expanding family. Her daughter Chloe and young son Jaden are living with them – and with baby number two on the way, Juliet wishes that Chloe would get back with Mitch, the father of both Chloe’s children, and have a proper family of her own. Juliet’s son Tom treats the place like a guest house, bringing back friends and prospective partners at all hours of the day and night, and with her mother also living with them – and becoming increasingly confused – Juliet is lucky to have husband Rick at her side to cope with the daily challenges.

But with only a few weeks to go until Christmas, Juliet discovers that there is room for things to get even more complicated. Juliet’s Dad Frank lives with his partner Samuel, and – while he seems blissfully happy – life is about to prove to the Joyce family that nothing can be guaranteed. Juliet’s boss is having troubles with his marriage, and while Rick enjoys his job and has dependable colleague Merak to help him, there are some customers destined to take up more of his time than he bargained for.

Review - The Plum Tree by Ellen Marie Wiseman

Reviewed by Jennifer Joyce

Christine Bolz is a seventeen year old German girl on the brink of starting her first relationship. Isaac Bauerman is the son of a wealthy lawyer and aristocrat, who employs Christine and her mother to cook and clean their home. Coming from completely different worlds, Christine and Isaac shouldn’t be together but they are in love. Matters are made worse when the Nazi party gain power in Germany and it is not only class keeping them apart anymore as relationships between Jews and non-Jews are forbidden. Isaac and his family, once prominent figures in the community, begin to lose their rights and their situation worsens as World War Two breaks out. Christine refuses to give up Isaac and they agree to meet in secret, hoping the war will end soon so they can be together properly.

But the war rages on and everybody is affected, from those drafted to fight to those left behind to deal with rationing and air raids. And then Jewish families start to disappear from the village, along with Isaac and his family. Already stripped of their wealth, possessions and the right to call themselves citizens of Germany, the Bauermans are being transported to a work camp and there is nothing they, or Christina, can do about it. Christina has no choice but to get on with her life, helping her mother and grandparents take care of her younger siblings, but she never forgets about Isaac and later, when the opportunity arises, Christina risks everything – her own life and her whole family’s lives – to help the man she loves.

Novelicious Chats To...Laura Florand

Laura Florand is the author of THE CHOCOLATE KISS published by Kensington Books and out on 24 December. We will be reviewing THE CHOCOLATE KISS soon, but in the meantime here are Laura's answers to a few questions we recently asked her.

Can you tell us a little about your average writing day?

I mostly try to fit writing in wherever I can. I usually get up very early, by five, and write until it’s time to get my daughter ready for school. I teach also, at Duke University, and I try to keep the 5:00-9:00 p.m. window reserved for family, so often I can’t write again until after her bedtime, which means from nine until I’m falling asleep at the keyboard. But I’ve requested a reduced load at my university, so that does help some. 

When you are writing, do you use any celebrities or people you know as inspiration?

No, they’re pure fiction. But I am inspired by the very real character traits you see in the types of professions I write about. For example, with the very top chocolatiers and pâtissiers, some things are common to all of them: perfectionism, passion, the driving desire to give pleasure and to give the most pleasure, to be the best, a powerful investment in the senses. And pure, stubborn drive. I can’t think of a better combination of traits for a fictional hero.

What is your favorite Women’s Fiction book of all time and why?

It would be impossible to pick just one. An author I particularly like is Sarah Addison Allen. I love the subtle sensuality in her writing and the threads of magic that run through it.

Review - Married by Christmas by Scarlett Bailey

Reviewed by Jenny Banks

Anna Carter has one wish on her Christmas list: to be married by Christmas. Since her unhappy childhood, there’s nothing Anna wants more than her dream wedding to Tom Collins, the one she’s had planned since she was a little girl. But her perfect husband-to-be is about to drop a bombshell two weeks before Anna is set to say, ‘I do’. Discovering your fiancé is already married, to a Las Vegas showgirl no less, could derail any wedding plans. But Anna is going to pull out all the stops to ensure she gets her big day.

Following this unwelcome surprise, an upset Anna goes in search of Tom’s wife in New York, her last known location, while a distraught Tom stays in England with Anna’s best friend Liv, who has a secret of her own she’s trying to hide. Unexpectedly joined by old flame Miles on the flight to New York, Anna is determined to track down Charisma Jones, the current Mrs Collins. But will there still be wedding bells on Christmas Eve?

For a brief moment at the start of the book, I was unsure about super - organised Anna, who ran the risk of becoming annoying. But almost as soon as this gripe surfaced, it disappeared, and Anna became a very likeable, kind character you can relate to; we all have an inner Anna. After being abandoned by her mother as a child, her wedding day is the culmination of years of organisation to ensure that everything will, for once, go right for her. Even Tom, who is close to ruining his fiancée’s happiness, is difficult to dislike. Liv is very sweet, wanting only the best for Anna while knowing that this could lead to her own heartbreak. Miles is funny, considerate and easy going, perhaps just what in-control Anna needs. Although they seem like complete opposites, I couldn’t imagine Anna taking on New York without him.