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

Dates for Your Diary – December 2015

by Zarina de Ruiter

As the year draws to a close, we see a considerable slump in reading and writing events across the UK. Most people will be busy wrapping gifts (books, obviously), writing Christmas cards and generally spending a lot of times indoors curled up with an engrossing novel while listening to some festive tunes. However, if you are are going to pop out and brave the weather anyway (perhaps to do some last-minute shopping for literary presents), why not check out one of the book events happening this month? There are some seasonal crackers!

December – The Alice in Wonderland exhibition at the British Library in London is well worth a visit. First you stumble into Wonderland with an illustrated journey through the iconic story, before getting to ooh and aah over the original manuscript handwritten and illustrated by Lewis Carroll and a host of other exciting behind-the-scenes snippets of the classic tale, bringing you right back to the 21st century. The exhibition is completely free and running until April 2016, with a dedicated pop-up shop (which is amazing by the way) until January 2016.

3 December – If you are in London or can get to the city this week you're in for a real treat as Waterstones Piccadilly is hosting their annual free Christmas Extravaganza with authors from the likes of Laura Barnett, Jonathan Coe, Zoe Gilbert and many more. There will also be music, poetry reciting, cocktails, music and lots of other festive joy.    

3 December – If London is too far south for you, perhaps the Christmas Cracker event at Edinburgh West End Waterstones is more up your alley. There will be readings from authors Lucy Ribchester, Catherine Simpson, Chris Close and Angela Jackson and festive tipples to boot!

4 December – Christie Barlow will be in store signing copies of her new book The Misadventures Of A Playground Mother at Waterstones Wrexham.

5 December - Have you been trying to get an agent for yonks but haven't had any success so far? How to Hook an Agent is a half-day event with workshops on finding the right agent, submission packages and how to pitch your novel. There will be agents in attendance going over the dos and don'ts of the process, followed by 10 minute one-to-one sessions where you have the opportunity to pitch your book to an agent yourself! Tickets are £149.

Review – The Other Half of my Heart by Stephanie Butland

Reviewed by Kay Brooks

Bettina May has recently moved to Throckton and opened her own bakery, Adventures in Bread. After spending the last 15 years trying and failing to find a way to deal with the tragedy that stole the life of her twin brother Sam, Bettina is finally managing to find happiness. She is in a new tentative relationship with a caring and patient man, and the business is going from strength to strength. When Bettina is nominated for a local business award, the associated publicity brings a familiar, unwelcome face back into Bettina’s life. Is she strong enough to finally face the demons that have haunted her for so long?

When this novel first arrived through the letterbox, I was unsurprised to see that it was set in a bakery as this seems to be a bit of a trend at the moment. As a rubbish cook, I do still enjoy reading cookery related stories but, for me, it has become a bit overdone as a theme. Despite my reservations, Bettina’s enthusiasm and Butland’s descriptions of the bread being baked were evocative enough to have me pulling out some old recipes to attempt with my children over half term! Some of the more popular recipes are also included at the back of the book.

The novel moves between Bettina’s life as an 18 year old working in the stables owned by the Floods, parents to gorgeous and confident Olympic equestrian hopeful Roddy, and her current life as bakery owner. The voices are different enough to show how Bettina has grown up. As her younger self, she goes by the name Tina and has all the hopefulness of a girl who has her whole life in front of her. As a woman in her thirties, she has lost her naivety and lowered her expectations in love. Her relationship with Rufus has not been defined as romantic yet with Bettina’s heart firmly stuck on the day when she lost her brother – her true love and her mother lost her will to live.

The novel starts with Bettina in the present and at first I found her to be overly cagey and quite selfish due to the way she keeps Rufus at arm’s length without being honest with him about her feelings. As the clues are gradually revealed about what happened on that fateful day, I was able to be more sympathetic.

Novelicious Chats To...Adele Parks

Every single novel by Adele Parks has become a UK bestseller and her work has been translated into 26 languages. Talking about her path to publication, her new novel, If You Go Away, and sharing a few writing secrets, Adele joins us now.

Tell us about your latest book.

If You Go Away is set between 1914 and 1918 in Britain and France. Vivian, a young sexually progressive debutante is hurried into a pedestrian marriage to cover a scandal. War breaks out on her wedding day – domestically and across Europe. Her traditionalist husband hurries to take up arms and escape the disappointment of matrimony and Vivian has no alternative than to take up the management and running of his land, after all everyone is required to do their bit. Even pretty, inadequately educated young wives.

In the meantime, Howard, a young brilliant playwright rushes to the front to see for himself the best and the worst of humanity but was not prepared for how horrendous the worst would be. In March 1916, when conscription becomes law, it is no longer enough for him to report on the War, it’s a legal requirement that he joins the ranks. Howard refuses and is arrested and imprisoned as one of the most notorious conscientious objectors of the time. Disarmingly handsome, famous, articulate and informed, he’s a threat to the government.

Howard narrowly escapes a death sentence by agreeing to take essential work on Vivian’s farm. It’s only then he understands what is worth fighting for…Basically it’s a big, fat epic romance and I’m so proud of it and desperate to know what you all make of it!

Where do you find inspiration for your books?

When I was researching Spare Brides, my last historical romance, I stumbled upon the story of conscientious objectors; I’d never given their plight during WW1 much thought. The more I read about it the more interesting I found the topic. COs were in some ways ahead of their time – I mean it is a fact that if everyone put down their weapons, or refused to pick them up then there would be no war – but it seems a very naive, unworkable view. In 1914 it was certainly a very unpopular view. COs haven’t been given much of a voice, in fact they’ve been vilified and dismissed as cowards. I thought I’d try to rectify that via Howard. Vivian is like many young women I’ve met (and perhaps even once was), sometimes she bites off more than she can chew, sometimes she’s underestimated and sometimes she’s a disaster but in the end she’s magnificent! Most of us just need a bit of time. Even though this is set 100 years ago, I think it’s a very modern book. Vivian is gutsy.

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

I always say if there’s such a thing as a muse then mine is a working mum as she visits between the hours of 8.30am and 3.30pm i.e. drop off and pick-up, which shows great understanding! I write 5 days a week and at least 1000 words a day. In addition I research, read and also hope to promote the charities I’m interested in, such as The Reading Agency and The Alzheimer’s Society. I try to swim or walk most days to loosen up my back, and minimize my butt!

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

Yes, I’ve done both. I find inspiration everywhere. You never know where it will strike. I did a talk at a church coffee morning recently to a group of pensioners, I did it as a favour but in fact I was the one who got lucky! There are stories everywhere.

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

I really struggle with this sort of question because there really are simply endless brilliant books and the danger is people tend to give safe answers when asked this. I often say Emma because the heroine is feisty and flawed (which is how I like my heroines) but I know that is a safe answer (no one is going to argue with me that Jane Austen knew a thing or two). It’s true that I adore Austen’s ironic, biting comedy of manners; her tales are often thought of as simple love stories yet they are subtle multi-layered social and historical commentaries. In my opinion Austen is responsible for some of the most remarkable characterizations and wittiest dialogues in the English literature. Emma is a charming, brilliant classic but to name one book is to leave hundreds of other magnificent books out in the cold and I feel terrible doing that!

What female writer has inspired you?

Many, many: Jane Austen, Rosamond Lehmann, Vera Brittain, Marian Keyes, Jilly Cooper, Kate Atkinson, Anne Tyler, Joanne Harris…honestly the list is endless. Some are lyrical, hysterical, challenging, educating, entertaining; they are all inspiring.

Can you give us three book recommendations?

I can give you 100s, books are such a joy but if I have to restrict myself I’d say why not try some of the books that I’m happy to read over and over…

Review – Rules For Thursday Lovers by Yana Stajno

Reviewed by Jennifer Joyce

Sneaking onto a boat on the river Thames for an extravagant event, Angie is alarmed when she bumps into her school friend, Fiona. Technically, Angie hasn’t been invited to the event and is pretending to be Lady Beaverwood, who was invited so she’s worried Fiona may blow her cover. But the pair find themselves picking up their friendship and Fiona has a proposition for Angie.

With both women feeling that their marriages have grown stale and with access to a luxurious apartment every Thursday, Angie suggests the friends forget about timesharing an apartment and timeshare a lover instead.

The women devise a list of rules that they must play by while dating their timeshare lover, but will they be able to stick the rules? And will their newly-resumed friendship survive?

I found it quite difficult to get into Rule For Thursday Lovers to begin with as we are quickly introduced to the characters of Angie and Fiona and thrown into the situation without any solid information of who the women are and why they would come up with such a bizarre plan. I felt that there were a lot of flowery words but no real substance. I would have liked some more background and depth so that I could warm to the characters more. I didn’t feel like I knew the women at all as the plan was devised and therefore felt little connection for them or their plight.

There are some humorous aspects to the book, which helped to lift the book for me but it really wasn’t enough to draw me into the book and so I was never really invested in the women’s stories. It’s quite a quirky book with a lot of fun and witty situations that Angie and Fiona find themselves in but sadly I wasn’t bowled over by it.

6/10

MORE ABOUT THIS BOOK

Wickham Hall Part Four: White Christmas by Cathy Bramley is Published Today

If you’ve been following Holly Swift’s adventures at Wickham Hall, the beautiful manor home that sits proudly at the heart of the village where she grew up, you’ll be pleased to know that part four is out today. And it’s a festive cracker!

Sleigh bells are ringing and the snow is glistening at Wickham Hall! While overseeing the hall’s very own winter wonderland, Holly is kept busy making lists and checking them all twice. It’s almost enough to keep her mind off her one and only Christmas wish...

But life isn’t as easily organised as an event at Wickham Hall (and even those usually have their complications). Can Holly learn to let go and live in the moment? After all, that’s when the magic really happens…

Wickham Hall is an utterly feel-good story told in four parts – following Holly Swift’s attempt at organising her own happy-ever-after, one catastrophe at a time. White Christmas is part four.

If you’d like to find out more about Cathy Bramley, you can visit her website, follow her on Twitter or pop along to say hello on Facebook.

The Novelicious Book Club – If You Go Away by Adele Parks

Glamorous debutantes, heartbreak and discovering just what is worth fighting for in the new historical novel from Sunday Times bestseller Adele Parks, If You Go Away, our next Novelicious Book Club Pick.

1914. Vivian, a young, impassioned debutante is hurried into a pedestrian marriage to cover a scandal. War breaks out on her wedding day – domestically and across Europe. Quick to escape the disappointment of matrimony, her traditionalist husband immediately enlists and Vivian has no alternative than to take up the management and running of his estate – after all, everyone is required to do their bit. Even pretty, inadequately-educated young wives.

Howard, a brilliant young playwright rushes to the front to see for himself the best and the worst of humanity; he cannot imagine what the horror might be. In March 1916, when conscription becomes law, it is no longer enough for him to report on the War, it’s a legal requirement that he joins the ranks. Howard refuses, becoming one of the most notorious conscientious objectors of the time. Disarmingly handsome, famous, articulate and informed, he’s a threat to the government. Narrowly escaping a death sentence by agreeing to take essential work on Vivian’s farm, it’s only then Howard understands what is worth fighting for.

We’ve already dipped into this beautiful novel and it’s quite the pager-turner.

So, how do you take part in The Novelicious Book Club? Simply grab a copy of If You Go Away by Adele Parks and read along with us, sharing your thoughts in the comments of this post or on Twitter using the #NoveliciousBookClub hashtag (we’ll retweet our favourites).

Once you’ve finished the book, you can send a brief 100 word review to kerry@novelicious.com for potential inclusion in a preliminary book discussion, which will be published here on Novelicious on Monday 14 November. We’ll also be sharing some of the most creative participation from the month (your tweets, images and videos) and a series of discussion questions ahead of an hour-long #NoveliciousBookClub chat on Twitter and Facebook at 8pm that evening.

You can read an extract of the book here, visit Adele’s website, or pop along to say hello on Twitter and Facebook.

The Novelicious Book Club – What We Thought of Conditional Love by Cathy Bramley

This month, we read Conditional Love by Cathy Bramley for The Novelicious Book Club. Ahead of our live natter about the book on Twitter at 8pm tonight – join us for virtual wine, nibbles and book geekery if you’re around – a few members of Team Novelicious are here to share their thoughts on the book.

Zarina

There was nothing I didn't love about Conditional Love. It was such a fresh and funny read, with many hilariously awkward situations that made me chuckle and after reading it I had quite a few post-its scattered across my room with phrases that I wrote down that made me crack up. The humour felt to me similar to that of Lindsey Kelk and Lisa Dickenson, so if you like the novels by those lovely ladies then Conditional Love will definitely be up your bookish street.

It's hard to believe that this was Cathy Bramley's debut as it reads as if written by a much more seasoned author. I am thrilled that she's now published by Transworld and they've released a brand spankin' new version of this fab novel, so even more people can fall in love with the charming story of Sophie Stone!

Kay

After reading the Ivy Lane and Appleby Farm series, I couldn't wait to start on Conditional Love. This is another completely absorbing read. The main character Sophie is instantly likeable and, with her inability to stand up for herself and tendency to always see the best in people, even when she is being told otherwise, I really related to her.

Verity

Heroine trying to figure out who she really is – check, relationship woes – check; Family drama – check. But what's this? A bit of Grand Design's property porn in a novel? Ooooh. Right up my street. Or rather right through my (imaginary) bi-fold doors! I did have a few frustrations with Sophie, but I really enjoyed Conditional Love – as I did Appleby Farm – and I'm looking forward to the last part of Wickham Hall, too!

Kerry

I’ve always had a soft spot for inheritance stories, but most of those are historical fiction or gothic romances. Conditional Love was an instantly compelling, modern take on the old mysterious benefactor novels I love. Once again, Cathy Bramley has written a book with a relatable heroine, a snappy, page-turning plot and a simply gorgeous sprinkling of romance.

Join us for The Novelicious Book Club chat on Twitter at 8pm tonight to let us know what you thought of the book!

My Book Deal Moment by Sharon Maas

The year was 1998. The place was Trinidad, a Caribbean island. I was staying with my cousin Reggie on my way to Guyana to visit my mother – and taking my two children to visit their grandparents there for the first time. We had arrived the night before, and I was sleeping off my jet-lag when my cousin’s wife woke me.

There’s a phone call for you, she said. From England.

Still groggy with sleep, I made my way downstairs – no cordless phones in those days. It was my agent.

I took the book to auction, she said, her voice high with excitement, and we’ve had two offers already!

That was the defining moment. The rest of that holiday was spent in a cloud of elation. It was happening, finally! It was the culmination of years of hard work, frustration, disappointment, creative fervour, blood, sweat and tears.

The journey had started many years previously, when I finished my first novel. Written on a manual typewriter, it was over 700 pages long. I was living in Germany at the time, and had no idea of the publishing process – and of course there was no Internet, no email. Somehow, I got hold of a copy of Writers News, and read an article about a brand new agent in London who was just starting out. I’ll call her agent A. I wrote her about my book, and she asked me to send it. Sending it, of course, in those days, meant sending a massive manuscript by post, and waiting. A few weeks later she called again. Can you come to London? She asked. No word about representation, but I said yes right away. I was convinced she'd summoned me just to say the novel was terrible, and so I was completely bowled over when her first words were, It’s terrific! Her second words were … but it needs a lot of work.

Right there and then we got down to work. She went through the entire manuscript with me. This needs to go, and this and this, she said, crossing through pages and pages of the work. I simply nodded and agreed to everything.

I returned to Germany, and the real work began: revising. I cut the bits she’d told me to; restructured the whole work; changed this and that. Each draft typed out on a manual typewriter. Sent it back to her again and again until, after about a year, she said it was ready to submit.  We now had a trim 450 page manuscript, I had learned a hellofalot about writing, and my career was just about to take off. At last.

Adele Parks Shares Her Top 5 Writing Tips

1. My first big tip for writing a novel is ‘get writing’. So many people say to me that they want to write a novel but in fact never write anything longer than a shopping list! Harsh but true. Try to write something every day, even if it’s just for ten minutes and even if you’re not in the mood. If you’re stuck for something to write about set yourself tasks, such as describing what you can see if you look out of the window, or your earliest memory or how a new dish tastes. It doesn’t matter what you write, or even if you ever use the exercises in your big novel, it simply develops discipline.

2. Have fun. It shows. If you don't enjoy what you're writing, no reader will enjoy reading it.

3. Read a lot because that’s essential for all good writers. Averagely, I read a book a week.

4. Don’t become a hermit. Everything you see and do informs your writing. The more you have experienced, seen, read, learnt, the more ideas you'll have. No-one learns much by sitting at a desk waiting for 'the Muse' to knock on the door. Get out there and enjoy life!

5. Finally, develop a thick skin. Chances are you will get some knock backs along the way but don’t ever give up hope. If you have a talent and you are persistent it will pay off eventually, I promise. Some of the reasons for rejections are because an agent’s books are full, or your work is too similar to another author or not like the other authors that particular agent represents! A rejection doesn't necessarily mean that your work isn’t any good. Be realistic. Remember that there are thousands of new titles published every year. For every one of these that is published agents and publishers, read and reject over 100 manuscripts (sometimes as many as 500). These are the odds. Don't give up – but don't expect instant success either.

If You Go Away by Adele Parks is out now.

The Secret Dreamworld of an Aspiring Author – Channel Your Inner Spy

by Anna Bell

Sometimes I think being an author is a bit like being a spy. No, I'm not talking about eavesdropping on other people's conversations (although that can be good for research – ahem), I'm talking about when it comes to back story. A good spy creates a legend for their undercover persona, and it’s not dissimilar to what an author should do when creating a character.

When you watch spies going undercover in films and on tv, they know their cover story backwards and forwards so that their true identity is not revealed. And that's what authors need to do, too. They need to think about every element of the character so there’s no possibility of getting caught out by the reader.

Creating a solid backstory is a must, whether you make the reader privy to it or not. No matter how much if the backstory makes into the novel, the character will still have been shaped by what has happened to them in the past. Previous heartbreaks, divorced parents, a stint at boarding school … whatever has happened to your character before you present a snapshot of their life, it is important you know. A small reference to what's happened to them before the reader meets them, helps them to appear a more rounded person.

Then there are the little details. In some spy films spies are put in jeopardy when a tiny error is made – an incorrectly recalled detail for example. This happens in novels, too; someone's eye colour changes, or the name of a great aunt changes according to the chapter. Yes, they might be details that are flippant or irrelevant to the plot, but those details can also be jarring to readers who pick up on them.

So how do you, as an author, channel your inner spy?

Cathy Bramley Two Years On: Seventeen Covers, Seven Novels and Three Paperbacks

An awful lot has happened for Cathy Bramley in the last two years. Cathy joins us now to talk about how life has changed since she self-published Conditional Love in 2013. Two years, seventeen covers and seven novels later, you can treat yourself to the sparkly, new, made over paperback version of Conditional Love – our Novelicious Book Club pick of the month.

I recently celebrated my two-year anniversary in publishing. TWO YEARS! That time has literally flown past; it doesn’t seem five minutes since I was stringing bunting around our local village phone box ready for my first book launch.

So much has changed for me since self-publishing my first novel, Conditional Love, and looking back it makes me quite dizzy thinking about how I managed to pack it all in.

Things began to change in January 2014, after a call from Transworld to write them a serialised novel and a call from literary agent, Hannah Ferguson, with an offer of representation. I would say that it was a dream come true. Except that it wasn’t really – not the dream part anyway. I prefer to paraphrase Hannibal from The A Team and say that it was a plan that came together.

I had decided to self-publish my first book on Amazon and optimistically planned to pitch my second book to an agent. Unbelievably it worked! The second book I wrote will be published by Transworld in Spring of 2017 and is called White Lies and Wishes.

The Book That Changed My Life: Adele Parks Picks Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson

I have always read vociferously and I wanted to be a novelist since I was a child. However, I like many people simply had no idea how to go about becoming one. I used to write every day, indeed I’d written a novel in my early twenties that was (and still is) languishing in a drawer somewhere but I didn’t know how to make the leap.

In the late 90s I read so, so much, at least a book a week, often two or three. I commuted into work and I didn’t have a family – there was simply more time! I read many amazing books in those years. I remember one birthday (I think I was 26) I received 14 books as gifts. People gave books regularly, they’re a true gift. Oh, those were the days!

One of those gifts was Kate Atkinson’s Behind the Scenes at the Museum. Atkinson effortlessly shifts between characters and times periods to detail a family history spanning generations.

It’s a wonderful and intelligent read, brimming with mystery and murky secrets. Acutely observed, it explores complex family relationships, births, weddings, divorce, death, secrets and lies. It delivers jokes and tragedies side by side, it struck me as very real and relatable, (I subsequently found out we’re both northern women born at a similar time). It was a debut novel of astonishing confidence and skill.

She was marketed as a Yorkshire mother-of-two some would argue that this straight-up simple description maligned a depth, poignancy and poetry, for me it opened doors. It was a revelation; if Atkinson could do it this brilliantly, maybe I could do it – you know – not too shabbily?

I don’t think Kate had any prior publishing experience, she’d just jumped in. Raw talent won the day. She saw off Salmon Rushdie to win the Whitbread in 1996. I saw her as inspiring! I still do. I started writing what would become Playing Away that year because suddenly I believed it was possible.

If You Go Away by Adele Parks is out now.

Review – This Is One Moment by Mila Gray

Reviewed by Jenny Banks

Didi Monroe’s first day interning at a Californian military hospital doesn’t quite begin as she expected. Being covered in yoghurt after an altercation with Lieutenant Noel Walker isn’t the start she hoped for. Still, there has been an upturn in her personal life in the form of Hollywood heartthrob Zac Ridgemont, and the internship is helping her earn her doctorate in clinical psychology. Wracked from guilt following an ambush while on patrol, Walker refuses all help that Didi offers. A relationship with Walker is strictly out of bounds, but Didi can’t help but be drawn to Walker and try to give him the happily ever after he is adamant he doesn’t deserve.

I finished This Is One Moment by Mila Gray in the early hours, and I didn’t know where to begin when writing this review. The novel is beautiful and heart-breaking and a story that has made an indelible impression. I wasn’t expecting to have such a reaction to This Is One Moment, which is testament to Mila Gray’s creation of nuanced, dimensional characters and careful handling of such a sensitive subject.

Didi knows that her time at the military hospital is going to be tough, although she couldn’t have anticipated the challenge that Walker presents from her first day. Walker is closed off to everyone in the hospital. His parents aren’t close by, he and his brother haven’t talked in a long time, and his fiancée Miranda has decided that their relationship isn’t going to work. Walker has Sanchez, a fellow Marine, who owes his life to Walker’s bravery. Walker can’t begin to imagine a future, believing that no one will want a bruised and broken man. Didi isn’t going to let Walker give up on himself, and a friendship forms between the two. Despite Didi knowing she shouldn’t be involved with a patient, and Walker insistent that there is no future for him, the friendship deepens into a real emotional connection and attraction that neither of them can ignore.

Didi is incredibly kind-hearted and compassionate, full of empathy and a real desire to help the patients in the hospital. The gestures that she makes for Walker are very heartfelt, such as giving him her iPod to listen to music and audiobooks, soothing him when he has another nightmare and taking him out sailing. It is Walker particularly who has stayed with me. He is brave, courageous and strong but he is also at his most vulnerable. Initially, he is rude and recalcitrant in front of Didi, feeling like he has lost everything, including his sight, following the ambush. But the real Walker is kind and caring, and very sweet.  As the youngest lieutenant in the Marines, Walker takes the responsibility for the deaths of his friends. He can’t, or rather won’t, let go of the guilt and it has started to adversely affect his progress.

Novelicious Chats To...Sophie Hart

Sophie Hart spent a long time submitting to agents before her writing dreams came true. Today, she has published several novels – The Girl’s Guide to Getting Hitched is her latest – and is adapting The Naughty Girls’ Book Club for screen. Sophie joins us now to talk about her journey and inspirations.

Tell us about your latest book.

It’s called The Girl’s Guide to Getting Hitched (I love a long title!) and follows Julia (an events planner who popped up in my last book, The Girl’s Guide to Falling in Love) as she plans three different weddings for three very different brides. There’s divorcée Gill, who’s trying to blend her unconventional family with her hubby-to-be’s; Aimee, with the mother-in-law from hell who’s trying to take over the wedding; and Debbie, who’s anxious to drop the pounds before her big day. Hopefully it’s funny, heart-warming and relatable!

Where do you find inspiration for your books?

All over the place. Ideas often pop into my head, and then niggle away at me whilst I’m trying to get on with my day. Although I actually got engaged whilst writing my last book, so that was great timing and definitely inspiring for a book about weddings!

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

I work full time, so it’s a question of trying to squeeze it in where I can. I have quite a long train journey to work, so can get a lot done then. I write every weekend and try to put down as many words as possible, then the daily commute during the week is great for re-writing and editing what I did at the weekend.

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

It’s so hard to pick just one! Pretty much anything by Sophie Kinsella (especially the Shopaholic series). And I also have a strong love for Bridget Jones (except the last book. I understand why Mark Darcy wasn’t in it, but I wish he had been!)

What female writer has inspired you?

I’m massively inspired by Sophie Kinsella (I wrote a Literary Love Letter to her for Novelicious). It’s an amazing achievement to create a character who appeals to women all over the world, and is so well-loved, as she has done with Becky Brandon (née Bloomwood!). And I love the standalone books too. It takes so much work and dedication to consistently produce funny, high-quality, entertaining books, but Sophie Kinsella manages it brilliantly.

What books have you been recommending recently?

Christmas is approaching and Karen Swan is queen of the Christmas book for me! I haven’t read her newest one yet (it’s on my wish-list), but I definitely recommend Christmas at Tiffany’s and The Perfect Present for fabulous festive reads. And I’m always recommending books by other Bookouture authors – they have some wonderful, lovely writers like Holly Martin, Christie Barlow and Jenny Hale.