Books of the Month, a Blog Tour, and a book festival appearance @LoveBooksGroup @Juleswake @Kathleen Jamie @PortyBookFest #reading #writing #romanticfiction #creativenonfiction

Two great reads to recommend in this post as well as a heads-up on part three of the blog tour for my own Skye series of novels, and news of my appearance at an upcoming book festival..

A mixed start to autumn

September has been a month of contrasts here in Scotland – some beautiful cool but sunny autumn days as well as some incredibly rainy and grey ones.

And as regards my social life it’s been a month of contrasts too.

I got to see friends I hadn’t seen since the start of the Covid lockdown, got out for a couple of lunches, had a couple of friends to the house, and had a lovely staycation week away in Argyll with family.

But then the Scottish government announced we’re back to partial lockdown and we can’t have friends or family to visit us at home or visit them in their homes.

However through all the ups and downs of the pandemic – one thing has remained constant. I continue to find much solace in reading.

And below I have my two of my favourite reads of the month to share with you.

September Books of the Month

First up is a beautiful non-fiction book of contemporary writing about the nature and landscape of Scotland. Antlers of Water is edited by Kathleen Jamie – a favourite writer of mine, and the contributing writers got me thinking even more than normal about our relationship as humans with the natural world.

From the backcover:

The first ever collection of contemporary Scottish writing on nature and landscape, Antlers of Water showcases the diversity and radicalism of new Scottish nature writing today.

Edited, curated and introduced by the award-winning Kathleen Jamie, and featuring prose, poetry and photography, this inspiring collection takes us from walking to wild swimming, from red deer to pigeons and wasps, from remote islands to back gardens.

With contributions from Amy Liptrot, Malachy Tallack, Chitra Ramaswamy, Jim Crumley, Amanda Thomson, Karine Polwart and many more, Antlers of Water urges us to renegotiate our relationship with the more-than-human world, in writing which is by turns celebratory, radical and political.

And second, is a contemporary romance – I know no surprises there – but what is surprising is I read this one in a day – something I’ve never done before. It was a wet Sunday, I wasn’t feeling energetic and the sofa beckoned. And wow! Just wow! The Saturday Morning Park Run by Jules Wake is a five out of five stars and is in line for my book of 2020.

From the back cover:

This is the story of two women.
One old, one young.
One looking for new adventures. One looking for a purpose.
Both needing a friend.

And this is how, along with two little girls in need of a family, a gorgeous stranger, and a scruffy dog, they bring the whole community together every Saturday morning for love, laughter and a little bit of running…(well, power walking).

Blog Tour for Fulfilment

As well as reading, I have of course spent much of the month writing. And after a couple of false starts I’m now underway with the first novel in my new series. However, that doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten about the novels I already have out there. And I’m delighted that Fulfilment – the third and final part of my Rachel & Jack: Skye series is off on its blog tour this week – and as before the tour will include reviews and extracts.

This follows on from the recent tour weeks for the first two novels in the series – Displacement and Settlement. These proved very successful and got lots of interaction and sharing and I’m hopeful the same will be true for Fulfilment‘s trip out.

And I must say a huge thanks to Kelly at Love Books Group who organised the tours and to all the book bloggers who have taken part.

You can see below all the stops Fulfilment will be making on its tour – and as always I would appreciate it so much if you could visit, like and share some or any of them. Thank you.

Fulfilment Blog Tour September 2020

28th Sept            Review    Books ’n’ Banter            @AngiPlant        http://booknbanter.wordpress.com/

28th Sept            Review    Undiscovered Scotland              @UndisScot       https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk

29th Sept            Review     Vicky Book and Family               @Vickybooksandfamily                https://www.instagram.com/Vickybooksandfamily

30th Sept            Review    Book Loving Science Teacher   @book_loving_science_teacher                https://www.instagram.com/book_loving_science_teacher

1st Oct                Review     Portobello Book Blog  @portybelle       portobellobookblog.com

1st Oct                Review     The Book Reader         @the.b00kreader            https://www.instagram.com/the.b00kreader

2nd Oct              Review      Jessica Belmont           @jessicaxbelmont           Jessicabelmont.wordpress.com

3rd Oct               Review & Excerpt             Being Anne         @Williams13Anne           http://www.beinganne.com

3rd Oct               Review       Rajiv’s Reviews           @rajivsreviews https://www.rajivsreviews.com/

4th Oct               Review       Daisy Says     @daisyhollands       daisysays.co.uk

4th Oct               Excerpt       B for Book Review     @BookreviewB   https://bforbookreview.wordpress.com

 

Portobello Book Festival

Oh, and before I go, just wanted to let you know that I’m delighted to be appearing at the Portobello Book Festival this Friday (2nd October) at 8pm. Portobello is a seaside area in the city of Edinburgh and has hosted its own live book festival for several years.

This year, of course, the festival is online and free to attend – so even if you can’t watch my session – where I will interviewed about my books – as it goes live on the 2nd – you can catch up any time online on YouTube later. You will be able to find my event by clicking on the link HERE any time after 8pm on the 2nd.

The festival runs from the 2nd to the 4th October 2020 and you see the full programme and timings HERE.

Settlement is on tour @LoveBooksGroup #books #reading #bookreviews #romanticfiction

 

Yes, this week it’s the turn of Settlement, the second book in my Rachel & Jack Skye series of novels to be out and about on a book blog tour. And I’d like to say a big thank you to Kelly lacey at Love Books Tours for organising it and of course huge thanks also to all the bloggers taking part.

So what is this book about and where can you read more about it?

 

From the back cover:

Can love truly heal old wounds?  Can the past ever be put peacefully to rest? 

Falling in love is the easy bit. Happy ever after requires work, commitment and honesty.

She wants him to be her friend and lover. He wants her as his wife. Can a compromise be reached? Or are things truly over between them?

When former Edinburgh policeman Jack Baxter met crofter and author Rachel Campbell at her home on the Scottish island of Skye, they fell in love. It was a second chance at happiness for them both.

But after Jack proposes marriage, it becomes clear they want different things.

Then, as Rachel prepares to return to the Middle East to work on a peace-making project that’s close to her heart, and as Jack’s past catches up with him, it seems their relationship is doomed.

Can Rachel compromise on her need to maintain her hard-won independence?

Can Jack survive the life-threatening situation in which he finds himself?

Will they get the chance to put things right between them?

If you like a complex, grown-up romance with lots of raw emotion, dramatic and exotic settings, all mixed in with some international politics and laced with elements of a crime thriller, then this is the book for you.

Settlement is the second of the three books in the Rachel & Jack: Skye Series, but it can be read as a stand-alone.

Stops on the blog tour:

14th Sept Review Daisy Says @daisyhollands
14th Sept Excerpt Orchard Book Club @OrchardBookClub
15th Sept Review Jane Hunt Writer @jolliffe03
15th Sept Review Portobello Book Blog @portybelle
16th Sept Review Reading Through the Lookinglass @readingthroughthelookinglass
16th Sept Review Book Loving Science Teacher @book_loving_science_teacher
17th Sept Review The Book Reader @the.b00kreader
17th Sept Review Rajiv’s Reviews @rajivsreviews
18th Sept Review Vicky Book and Family @Vickybooksandfamily
18th Sept Excerpt Book Reviews Today @valeriepenny
19th Sept Review Books ’n’ Banter @AngiPlant
19th Sept Review & Excerpt Being Anne @Williams13Anne
20th Sept Review Ceris Little Blog
20th Sept Review Jessica Belmont @jessicaxbelmont

I do hope readers will visit one or more of these blogs and see what the book bloggers have to say about Settlement and please do feel free to share.

Blog Blitz for Change of Life coming up #books #reading @LoveBooksGroup

I’m excited to let you know that my novel Change of Life – the first book that I published – and the one that changed my life by setting me off on my writing career – is going on a bit of a blog tour in two days’ time – on Wednesday 5th August. The tour has been organised by the lovely Kelly who runs Love Books Tours And you can see a list of where it’s going to pop up on the chart below. I’ve also posted an extract from the beginning of the book at the end of this post.

DateBlog NameHandle
5th AugGeraldine Gatsby@geraldinegatsby
Reading Through the Lookinglass@readingthroughthelookinglass
Vicky Book and Family@Vickybooksandfamily
The Book Reader@the.b00kreader
Ruthies Next Chapter@ruthies_next_chapter
Neville Louise@nevillelouise
Karen and her Books@karenandherbooks
Jazzy Book Reviews@PixyJazz
Tangents and Tissues@tangentsbb
Being Anne@Williams13Anne
Daisy Says@daisyhollands
B for Book Review@BookreviewB
Frost magazine@frost_magazine_westcountry
Portobello Book Blog@portybelle
Chicks Rogues and Scandals@ChicksandRogues
Love Books Group@Lovebooksgroup
Pen Possessed@ThinkStates
Donna’s Book Blog@dmmaguire391
Fabulous Book Fiend@fabbookfiend

I’d love it if you have a moment on Wednesday to pop in at any of the blogs and if you could share the posts – even better.

Change of Life is a standalone story and as with all my novels it’s contemporary romantic fiction.

And here’s what it’s about:

Be careful what you wish for…

Wife to heart surgeon and control freak, Tom, and mother to four adolescent children, Rosie feels taken for granted as she juggles family life and her work as a teacher. She longs for a change of life. When she almost hits a teenage boy with her car, her life explodes into uncharted territory. The boy is Robbie – and Rosie discovers he is part of a terrible secret that Tom has kept for seventeen years. Then when Rosie is diagnosed with breast cancer, she leaves home and begins the fight for her life. Meanwhile Tom, is forced to learn what it means to be a husband and father as he struggles to keep his family together and strives to get his wife back.

Change of Life is available for only 99p as an ebook and is free if you’re a Kindle Unlimited member. You can buy it here. It’s also available as a paperback.

Thank you to Kelly at Love Books Tours and to all the wonderful book bloggers above.

Extract from Change of Life

Chapter One

Rosie

I didn’t see the boy until the moment of impact. He slammed into the side of the car as I reversed out of the driveway. I got a fright, thought I’d hurt someone, but I couldn’t have guessed that this was merely a foreshock to a much greater upheaval. Ten past one, lunch time, Tuesday 17th May. It was the moment when the past caught up and collided with the present.

I got out to check he wasn’t hurt. He glanced at me and turned to run. He was about Adam’s age, seventeen or so. There was something familiar about him. But I didn’t think I knew him. Ours was a small community and with four children of my own, I thought I knew most of the local young people, at least by sight.

“Wait, are you all right?” I caught his arm. “I’m sorry. I didn’t see you.”

He didn’t appear to be injured. He was taller than me, with untidy, dark hair and very deep brown eyes. In one ear he wore a little silver skull. I recognised his tee shirt. Adam had one just like it. It had the words ‘Subliminal Messages’ written across it – the name of a Slipknot  album. As the boy pulled his arm back he seemed to hesitate.

“Do I know you?” I said. “Are you a friend of Adam’s?”

He looked me in the eyes for a moment. I stared back. Something passed between us; was it recognition? Then he bolted – obviously uninjured.

I didn’t have time to speculate about the boy. I’d only nipped home for lunch and a catch up with Ruby. I needed to get back.

I got the last space in the school car park. I was hurrying towards the main entrance when my mobile rang. I answered it as I went inside. It was the hospital. My stomach tightened.

“Hello, Mrs McAllister. This is Mr Campbell’s secretary. He’s asked me to set up an appointment for you to come and discuss your test results.” The voice was warm, friendly even. But I still had an awful feeling of dread.

“He could see you on Thursday at three.”

“Oh, yes, right, Thursday…” My mind whirred through Thursday’s schedule. I’d need to get off early. Kirsty, my head teacher and one of my closest friends, would have to cover my class. What would I tell her? I wondered if the doctor needed to see you if it was good news. He could tell you over the phone, surely. It must mean bad news…

“So is that all right then, Thursday at three, with Mr Campbell?”

“Sorry, yes. Is it bad news do you know? I mean, why else would he be bothering?”

“You mustn’t jump to conclusions, Mrs McAllister. He’d want to see you either way. Try not to worry and we’ll see you in a couple of days.”

As the call ended, the bell rang for the start of afternoon lessons. My life went on, even as its bedrock heaved and shifted beneath me.

Tom

It’s Sunday morning. Rosie only met him on Tuesday. Is it really only a few days ago? In less than a week my life has fallen apart – no that’s wrong – it fell apart in a moment – in the time it took a boy to speak a sentence. And now my wife is leaving and my heart is broken.

It’s the 22nd of May, but it feels more like November. I’m standing at the living-room window. It’s raining and the sea and sky are slate grey, the horizon obliterated. I feel leaden, unable to move or speak; it’s the paralysis of a nightmare. I want to beg her to stay, to admit she’s being silly and overreacting.

Rosie and our nineteen year old daughter, Sam, load bags and boxes into Rosie’s car. Toby is watching them, barking occasionally. I know I should go out to her and fight to make her change her mind but I’m exhausted, I’m drowning. I’m engulfed in the aftermath of more anger than I’ve ever felt towards her.

I hear the dull thud of the boot closing. It’s done. She’s ready to go. Our younger daughter, Jenny, sprints down the driveway, jacket held above her head, and says something to Rosie. Then Max dashes from the house and hands his mother a piece of paper. She looks at it and smiles and they hug each other. She puts the paper down on the driver’s seat and closes the door. They all come back in and head for the kitchen.

Jenny calls out, “Dad, Adam, coffee.”

A few moments later I hear Adam coming downstairs and going along to the kitchen. I know he’s not happy about his mother leaving, but at least he’s able to join the others for a coffee before she goes.

I make it to the sofa. I find that I want to cry. This terrifies me. I struggle not to lose my grip, not to howl and kick and scream. I’m Tom McAllister, consultant heart surgeon, professional, practical, in control. Or so I thought. I didn’t intend any of this to happen. I’m helpless, lost. I haven’t felt this vulnerable or alone since I was a child. I find I’m rocking, curled up, my head wrapped in my arms. I force myself to sit up, to keep breathing.

When I fail to appear in the kitchen, Jenny comes to get me.

“Come on Dad, come and have a coffee. I’ve made a carrot cake and it looks scrummy, even if I say so myself. Come and say cheerio to Mum.”

“I can’t. How can you be so cheerful?”

Jenny puts her hand on my arm, “Och, Dad, she just needs a bit of a break.” She hesitates and gives my arm a squeeze. “And she needs to get over how cross she is with you.”

“So she says, Jenny. So she says. But I can’t come and say goodbye as if she was simply going away for a few days holiday. I don’t understand how she can go.”

“If we all understand, why can’t you? Even Adam’s there to say goodbye. Come and wish her well, Dad, and tell her you’ll be here waiting for her. She needs you to say that.”

I stand up and hug Jenny. Seventeen and so grown up. The children are behaving better than me. I feel even more ashamed and desperate. “I can’t do it. I can’t give any of this my blessing.”

Jenny walks away. With her long blonde hair and slight frame, she looks and moves like her mother. At the door she turns and says, “It’s not your blessing she wants.”

Rosie

It’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. Yet it feels like the right thing. This is about my survival and I know I can’t stay. It’s a wet Sunday morning in May. The weather gives the day a heavy, washed-out feeling and it mirrors my mood perfectly. I’m sitting at the kitchen table. My children are with me.

“So, I can come and see you in two weeks?” Max asks.

“Yes, like I said, I’ll have had a good rest by then and Grandma will bring you to Edinburgh for a visit.”

“I’ll miss you, Mum.” Max puts down his glass of milk and comes to hug me. I cling to him, glad that, at twelve years old, he doesn’t yet feel too old for such displays.

“I’ll miss you too. But two weeks will pass quickly and then, in the summer holidays, you can come and stay as much as you want.”

“That’s a great picture you did for Mum, Maxy.” Jenny rubs her wee brother’s back. “You could do more for her while she’s away – like a sort of picture diary of what you’re up to – use the sketch book Uncle Dan gave you for your birthday.”

“Mm yeah, I suppose.”

“You could start now – draw us all here at the table.”

Max considers then nods. “I’ll go and get my stuff.”

I smile my gratitude at Jenny.

Sam gets up from the table. “I need to go. My shift starts at twelve.”

I get up too. “Sam,” I say, holding my arms out towards her.

She shakes her head. “I still don’t get it, Mum. I’m trying to, but I don’t. I think if you just talked to Dad, you could sort it.”

I drop my arms. I can’t look at her. Then she’s over and holding me in a tight embrace. “Go if you have to, but come back soon,” she whispers. Then she’s gone.

I know I should go too. There’s no point prolonging this. I glance at Adam. He’s staring into his coffee mug. Max comes back with his sketch book and pencils.

“How can I do my picture if Sam’s gone?”

“I better get on my way.” I smile apologetically at him.

“You can still put Mum and Sam in the picture, Max,” says Jenny. “Even if they’re not here – you’re a good enough artist.”

Max nods and lays his things on the table.

I hug Jenny. “Thanks for the making the cake, it was a lovely thought.”

She smiles. “Come on, Adam, let’s see Mum off.” Jenny places a hand on her twin brother’s shoulder. He shrugs it off.

Max takes my hand. At first Adam doesn’t move. Then he gets up and stands, hands deep in the pockets of his jeans, shoulders hunched. He’s facing me, eyes downcast.

“Bye then, Adam. I meant what I said. I’m really sorry.” I will him to look at me. He shrugs and walks past me, head down. I hear him stomping up the stairs.

As I walk down the hall with Jenny and Max, I glance at the closed living room door. I wonder if Tom will say goodbye. I wonder if I should go in. I can’t face it. The shock and anger that I’ve felt for the last few days have hardly abated. Tom has betrayed me. His secret’s out.

As I get into the car I glance back at the house. The Victorian villa’s sandstone walls are darkened by the rain. It’s been my home for nearly twenty years. I love everything about it, its seaside situation in Gullane, one of East Lothian’s prettiest villages, its large, light rooms, its period quirks and the memories we’ve made there. I shall miss it almost as much as the people inside it. I see Tom at the living room window, watching. I think he’s about to wave or beckon me back. He turns away.

The appearance of Robbie in our lives has changed everything. And on top of that I now have a dreadful secret of my own.