Barbara Scott Emmett is one of those rare authors whose prose is so superb that I enjoy every sentence, and at the same time as I want to get to the end to find out what happens, I don't want it to end because the pleasure of reading her writing is just so good. In this book, Dog Leap Stairs, set in the fifties, Emmett writes in first person point of view as Monica. From the begining she is portrayed as a woman with two sides, one a normal woman of the times, the other, someone with a dark secret. At the begining it's not clear exactly what that secret is. Murders, we hear in passing conversation with her friend Jan, are taking place in the area of Dog Leap Stairs, a place known to be frequented by prostitutes. But is this Monica's secret? We discover that Monica does visit that area and get's a thrill from doing so, but that doesn't mean she's a prostitute or a murderer. Or does it? The mystery unravels as the story progresses and we find out about Monica's history, but her dark … [Read more...]
Interview with Tanya Taylor, thriller author
Hi Tanya. Welcome to the blog. First up, what kind of books do you write? Mystery, thrillers, paranormal, fantasy, and horror are the main genres in which I write. I’ve just recently written my first drama entitled ‘10 Minutes before Sleeping’, but it can also fit comfortably in the romance and thriller categories. Tell us a bit about yourself. I have been writing since I was a child and published my first book back in 1993 titled ‘A Killing Rage’, published by Carlton Press in New York. I’ve worked as a banker for several years, a proof-reader/editor, and ventured into a number of small businesses before returning to my first love of writing. I am also a ghost-writer and have been privileged to pen the stories of several influential clients who had amazing stories to tell. When I take these jobs on, I am often inspired by the life the client is so gracious to share with the world and I learn something new about life in general by reading and writing about the … [Read more...]
Author Interview with Chris Longmuir
This week's author interview is with Chris Longmuir, another Awesome Indies Approved author. Hi Chris, tell me about your latest book Hi Tahlia, thanks for inviting me. My new book, Devil’s Porridge, published in August 2016, is a historical murder mystery, the second book in my Kirsty Campbell Mystery Series. Here’s the blurb: Pioneering policewoman, Kirsty Campbell, teams up with Belgian refugee, Beatrice Jacobs who is on a spying mission for MI5. The feisty pair set out to protect a young munitionette who has witnessed the aftermath of a crime and they become embroiled with saboteurs, Irish revolutionaries, a German spy, and a killer without a conscience, in the midst of a World War 1 munitions factory. I love the cover! Tell us a bit about yourself and why you write I’ve been writing professionally for about 26 years now, and with me it’s like an addiction, an itch I have to scratch. When I’m prevented from writing, which used to happen during my professional … [Read more...]
Yay! Whoopee! The Locksmith’s Secret is OUT NOW & with a great review already.
My 9th book has just been published and it feels great. I can't believe I've actually written and had published so many books. Not only that but The Locksmith's Secret already has one review and its AWESOME. It's written by Amazon Vine reviewer, Dreambeast. It starts with: "In The Locksmith's Secret, Tahlia Newland has woven several narratives into a complex story about the joys and pitfalls of love and the enduring power of the imagination. ..." Then she goes onto talk about the story and she gives a really good summary of it. She ends with: "Newland interweaves all of these threads with consummate skill. Not once do they get tangled. Not once does the suspense flag, which is especially impressive in a contemplative novel like The Locksmith's Secret. The credit goes to Newland's mastery of narrative structure, to her concise and transparent prose that is eloquent without ever drawing attention to itself, and to her wonderfully varied and complex characters. The worlds … [Read more...]
You can order my new steampunk murder mystery/ contemporary romantic mystery NOW!
Having a book published is a very exciting time for an author. It's great to see all those hours of work finally come together into something others can read. So I'm very excited to be able to say that at last The Locksmith's Secret (the second in the Prunella Smith Series) has a publication date (8th of April). AND you can pre-order it NOW and get USD$1 off. Though it's the second in a series, it can also be read first. If you're a Prunella Smith fan, you'll want to snap this up while it's cheap and if you haven't met Prunella yet, then this is a good place to start. It has the same elements that impressed all those reviewers of Worlds Within Worlds. This book is more than just a steampunk murder mystery or a contemporary romantic mystery, it's also a transrealist and metaphysical work of literary fiction. I sum it all up by calling it magical realism, and that's what it is really because it blends fantasy and reality, and uses extended metaphors that become a world of their … [Read more...]
Friday Free Web Ficton: Corridors of my Mind
Every week in Friday Free Web Fiction I post a first draft scene from my work in progress (WIP), or a short story, or an excerpt from one of my books. Today’s offering is from my Prunella Smith WIP, Past Worlds, The Lock Smith's Secret. A corridor opens up before me. Or is it a corridor? It doesn’t seem to have walls, and yet it does. I sense a universe outside, and I glimpse a star field beyond the walls, as if through thick tinted glass. Stars sparkle and galaxies swirl around me. I stare at them as I pass. I feel their power, their pulsing energy, yet they remain apart, beyond the walls. A faint light draws me on and the sound of metal tools working echoes faintly down the corridor. Someone’s down there. I quicken my pace but seem to get no closer. Suddenly, the light is to my right, no longer ahead. I stop and stare through the translucent walls. An endless field of almost transparent corridors surround my corridor. Some run parallel to mine, some at right angles. … [Read more...]
Unpredictable supernatural suspense: The Glade by Harmony Kent
The Glade is basically a supernatural suspense story. It's different, intriguing and totally unpredictable. Like many indie works this book crosses genres. The supernatural element puts it in the fantasy category, but apart from The Presence that Helen and Geoff, her husband, feel in their little glade in the Forest of Dean and the dead people who get up and walk, it all happens in the fairly ordinary world of a small country village. It's this low key approach that makes the story all the more chilling because we can't immediately dismiss it as a fantasy world. This real world basis means that the book also fits into the mystery and suspense categories. There isn't so much fantasy that it would turn off those who aren't generally fantasy readers, and there's plenty of mystery and suspense for fans of those genres. Kent's characters and the world she creates around them are very real, but beneath this ordinary exterior lies a dark underbelly. Helen has cancer and she and her husband … [Read more...]
A superb supernatural mystery: Vingede by Krisi Keley
The second of Krisi Keley's Friar Tobias mysteries is even better than the first. Once again the author's background in linguistics and theology provides the unique material for this superb supernatural mystery. A man seeks Tobias's help for his foster son. He thinks the child may have witnessed a crime, but the boy has a speech problem due to either autism or schizophrenia, so no one can understand him. Like Ms Keley, Tobias has a degree in linguistics which is why the man seeks him out. Paolo speaks in poetry and makes obscure references to what Tobias eventually figures out is an old fairy tale about a girl and her eleven brothers that are turned into swans by a wicked witch. He senses that someone is in trouble, but who? Tobias's friend, the psychiatrist priest, wants him to meet a mute and apparently traumatised girl who has turned up in a hospital and, in what appears to be sheer coincidence, her sketches indicate that she fills the role of the girl in the fairy tale. But where … [Read more...]
Has Mr Greaton outdone himself or just wowed me?
I purchased this book quite a long time ago and didn't get around to reading it until now because the books on my to-be-reviewed pile tend to take precedence over ones I buy simply because I know that the authors are waiting for the review to be posted. When I finally did read it, I remembered why I bought it and wondered why I waited so long. I've read a couple of other Tim Greaton novels and apart from his obvious skill with words and story, I always loved the theme of the power of compassion that I saw in them. At first, I thought that this book didn't have that because it reads like a normal kind of mystery, and a very good one at that, but the end held the trump card. Sure enough, there was Mr Greaton's signature heart-warming story of ordinary people doing extraordinary things through their commitment to helping others in a very real, hands on way. There is so much in our world that is hard and uncaring, and so much of that is reflected in mainstream popular fiction that it is … [Read more...]
Book Review: Matinicus, an island mystery by Darcy Scott
As part of the Celebration of Indie Excellence today I'm sharing my review of Awesome Indie author, Darcy Scott's mystery, Martinicus, and on her site, she is posting her review of my book, You Can't Shatter Me. So pop on over there and see what she has to say about my little offering to the world. Here's what I thought of Matinicus. This is a terrific, well written mystery with richly drawn characters and a surprising and thought provoking conclusion. Matinicus is one of those stories that, like the subtle flavours of an excellent meal, stays with you long after it ends. I found it a little slow to start, but that is probably because I usually read young adult books where major action generally starts early in the story. Here, we take time to get to know Gil, the main character, and the others on the island. They’re a motley crew, lobster fishermen united by their island birth and long family history there. Gil is an outsider, a summer tourist but tolerated because he’s been … [Read more...]
