Let Them Drink Wine

I guess childbirth kinda gets you ready to release a new book. The original concept was fabulous wanton fun, the development was a bit up and down and the final push is a release followed by sleepless nights.

Cepage de Saintonge 017.JPG

I’m the grapeist

The next model in the Passion Patrol series is hunched down in the starting blocks. The serious looking guy in the blazer is raising his gun. I see barriers, medals, bruised shins and failed drug tests ahead. May as well have a glass of wine while I’m waiting.

And wine brings me to the setting of Passion Patrol 3 in God’s own country of the vine – France. The action unfolds in Paris, London and a real life Disney castle in deepest Aquitaine.

roche-courbon

Anyone seen my glass slipper?

Naturellement wine is served and the only choice would be the local vin de Saintonge. For many years this region was humbled by the big hitters of Bordeaux just down the road. Local producers tended to produce wines for the Cognac makers just to the east. However a change of varieties has brought about a renaissance and the modern Cépage en Saintonge range is both a delight and a bargain. You’ll find a 3 litre box in supermarkets for about 9 Euros and a bottle for 2.87 Euros  – that’s 3 US dollars.

I’m no expert on wine. I’d like to tell you it has scents of leather and highlights of vanilla on the palate. For ladies the red Merlot is warm and fluid, as rich as the sun bronzed skin of a lover, as soft as his lips on yours. Swallow and let the warmth and need for more spread shamelessly lower. Goes well with sausage and red meats.

Emma Thinx: The message in the bottle always reads Hope.

Give A #Dog A #Free Home – http://t.co/bWCW8z7aMy 11-13th April Amazon Worldwide

You can’t drive a better bargain than free!

There is a long tradition of novelists taking real characters and turning them into literary figures. Sherlock Holmes, James Bond, Severus Snape, Indiana Jones, Dorian Gray and Alf The Workshop Dog were all based on real people …..and a dog of course. 

If you want to check out the real Alf  FOR FREE you will able to see him live by using the interactive features in Alf The Workshop Dog which goes free on 11th, 12th and 13th April.

In the story Alf the homeless mutt helps out at a Bus depot workshop by finding tools and sniffing out waste food on a fleet of buses. Do I hear you saying “Aah – poor thing”.  Well, here’s your chance to give a dog a home and learn the whole story. 


Emma thinx: Police dogs work on leads.

Review of #thriller The Edge Of Sanity by @SherylBrowne #tense #drama

Looking back, I don’t say much about writing. Maybe deep down I don’t think I am a writer. Maybe I’m a lasagna guru or a laundry operative with delusions of poverty. Maybe I’m a French maid or an audio book producer. Maybe I’m a vacuum cleaner analyst, a taxi driver or school homework consultant. Time is running short. With more than fifty years and a power point presentation of kids in the CV it’s about time to wise up and get a foothold in something. I’ll start once I’ve peeled all the carrots and sorted out a book cover. You see, I can focus.

photo courtesy http://treelifecoaching.com/



I do know I’m a reader. In the whole rickety house of publishing, the reader is what matters. They are the walls and the footings. All the rest is huff puff and show biz.  The true talent of the reader is to suspend disbelief and follow the trail. My latest read has been The Edge of Sanity by Sheryl Browne. I had read a couple of her other books before and count myself as a fan. This book was like nothing she has done before. It is a tense psychological thriller with elements of drug abuse, teenage rebellion, violence and crime. All of this is set against a backdrop of personal tragedy and a dysfunctional relationship. Wow! 

Here is my Amazon review:

This is a page turner where you never know where you are going next. From the outset, Daniel Conner drew my sympathy. You kinda know that things are going out of control in a life that has already known tragedy. This is a dark story yet among it all there is a thread of hope and almost humour in places. Few authors would risk a chase involving police on bikes and a canal boat in the middle of a terrifying drama. The writer has obviously studied or experienced teenage psychologies and the haphazard life style of detectives. As I was reading I identified so much with the characters that I kept asking myself what I would do in their place. At times I felt quite anxious and had to assure myself I was just reading. The ending is not a cut off but rather a jagged tear or rip. Life is uncertain – an edge may fray or not. This is a tight tense read that is never quite finished with you.

Book Links



Emma Thinx: A good book sets you free by keeping you pinned down






HitLit Pro – A new collaboration between #Romance #Authors, #Readers and Promotors @HitLitPro


I am thrilled to announce my launch day as part of a year-long promotion with Hit Lit Pro and Candle Lit Author Services. Myself and nine other hand-picked authors will be talking about ourselves and our books at various online visits from now though to June next year.

We want to get to know YOU, our readers, and the aim is to getting us all chatting, exchanging ideas, favourite things and everything else we want to talk about…as well as the hope you might be interested in buying some wonderful books, of course!

Make sure you follow us on Facebook and Twitter to see what we’re up to!


There will be giveaways and prizes as well as lots of writerly and readerly chat – I am so honoured to have been picked for this launch.

Happy Reading!

Authors taking part are:

and me ….. Emma Calin

Computer genius and hacker on the run, banking collapse and vanishing funds. Real life or fiction? @caitlynnicholas #BBF

Today my guest from the Blogger Book Fair is Caitlyn Nicholas with details about her forthcoming book PURSUIT, which is published by Momentum Books and comes out on the 1st August this summer.


Blurb
Legendary hacker, Dimity Pond, is on the run from the law.  
Her landlord’s sold her home, her money has disappeared along with her two-timing husband, a cyber-terrorist named Nemesis is forcing her to wreak havoc with a nasty virus and she’s developing a vile migraine.
Six years ago, Nemesis framed Dimity for the collapse of one of Europe’s biggest banks. The money was never found, and the bank’s failure caused untold damage to its customers. She’s been living under the radar ever since. The only way she can clear her name and live a normal life is to uncover Nemesis’s identity, but he’s always one step ahead.
Since Lord Richard Summerhayes left the Special Forces he’s built the best disaster-recovery network in the world, known as The Bunker. Banks, militaries, airports and other major systems around the world rely on him as the last unshakeable digital fortress in the face of disaster. Richard has been keeping an eye on his neighbor who has a dubious hacking past. He doesn’t like hackers, and when someone nukes his network with an intriguing new virus he knows exactly who to blame. But when he confronts her, he gets a whole lot more than he bargained for.

When Nemesis commits an unthinkable act of terrorism, the last hope is an encrypted file that only Dimity can crack. Will Nemesis manipulate Dimity into helping him wipe out the world’s biggest financial center? Or can Richard and Dimity take Nemesis down once and for all?

Excerpt from Pursuit

My name is Susan Kiffler.” The woman had a cultured English accent that perfectly matched her outfit. 

Kiffler? Dimity’s heart stopped.

So?”

The woman scrabbled around in her gigantic mauve handbag. 

This is a photo of me and my husband, Jake Kiffler, on our wedding day.” She held out a picture with a hand that shook. Not just trembling, but shaking, like an online gamer at the end of a forty-eight hour session, down to his last quart of caffeinated beverage.

Dimity took the photo from the trembling hand and stared at it, trying to make out what it meant. A stunned, sledgehammered feeling made it hard to concentrate. Thoughts skittered out of her grasp and fragmented, like the smashed mug.

One thing was certain.

Jake was the groom who smiled at her from the photo.

He said it was a disaster, that his first marriage only lasted a few months.” Dimity lifted her chin and narrowed her eyes. 

Jake knew her secrets. He’d helped her create a vague sort of life. Hiding. Isolated. 

Jake Kiffler and I have been married for eleven years.” The woman pulled out a piece of paper and waved it at Dimity. It was a wedding certificate. “We’re not divorced. He’s still my husband.” She pointed to his name on the paper, then put it carefully away.

Get away from my house.” Dimity reached forward and flicked the photograph back into the gaping bag. “Go away.”

Susan grabbed her wrist. “He’s disappeared. We’ve got two children.”


Author bio

Caitlyn Nicholas began writing in 2005. Exhausted, pregnant and coping with a demanding toddler, she decided the time was right to embark on a writing career.

To her family’s eternal startlement she is now the author of five novels and a short story.

Her debut novel – and the first manuscript she had ever written – Running Scared, was published in 2007. This was followed by Secret Intentions in 2009, The Danger Game in 2012 and, Drive Me To Distraction, also in 2012. Her next novel, Pursuit, will be out in August 2013.

Author Links

You can find me online at: http://www.caitlynnicholas.com

Buy links



Thanks for coming to visit and best of luck with your book launch Caitlyn – it sounds like an intriguing read! 


Caitlyn was visiting from the Blogger Book Fair – I will be posting at her blog today and at other blogging locations between the 22nd-26th July (see links below)




22nd July    Caitlyn Nicholas http://www.caitlynnicholas.blogspot.com
                   Jamie Campbell http://jamiecampbell.com.au/blog/
23rd July     Emily Tippets http://www.emtippetts.com/search/label/Blog
                   Penelope Reece http://penelopereece.blogspot.co.uk/
24th July     Leslie R. Wright http://thebasementlevelfive.blogspot.co.uk/
25th July     Aria Glazki http://ariaglazki.blogspot.co.uk/ 
                   Barbara Billig http://www.thenuclearcatastrophe.blogspot.com/
26th July     Don Wooldridge http://www.donwooldridge.com

Virtual Book Fairs – Do they work?

In answer to my title question – I have no response, as yet.  I am about to embark on the  first virtual book fair that I have ever done, so in a couple of weeks I may have some sort of answer.  

I would say, that it’s a phenomenal amount of work… so I hope that there are positive outcomes.  What have you found?  Can you give any tips for getting the most out of this type of event?

As a break from my constant rabbiting on about my new book  (The Love in a Hopeless Place Collection – in case you missed all the hype 😉 ), I am going to be handing over my blog to fellow scribes from around the world and across genres, for the duration of the Blogger Book Fair (BBF) from the 22nd-26th July.

The Blogger Book Fair is a bi-annual event where authors celebrate and showcase each other’s work. There are book bargains/freebies/competitions and general literary fun – just like a real book fair but without the travel.

For my own contribution, I have reduced ALL my books to 99c/76p/89€ for the duration of the event.  So, if you need to fill your e-reader for the holidays… now is the time!


Here are the bloggers who will be visiting and showing their wares – and who in return, will be hosting me, on the same dates, on their blogs:
22nd July    Caitlyn Nicholas http://www.caitlynnicholas.blogspot.com
                   Jamie Campbell http://jamiecampbell.com.au/blog/
23rd July     Emily Tippets http://www.emtippetts.com/search/label/Blog
                   Penelope Reece http://penelopereece.blogspot.co.uk/
24th July     Leslie R. Wright http://thebasementlevelfive.blogspot.co.uk/
25th July     Aria Glazki http://ariaglazki.blogspot.co.uk/ 
                   Barbara Billig http://www.thenuclearcatastrophe.blogspot.com/
26th July     Don Wooldridge http://www.donwooldridge.com
So, here we go – all the fun of the fair… enjoy and hope you enjoy my guests’ posts.

Love A Happy Bookshelf

There’s no end to books.

There’s something new on the block. I am a member of a writers’ group under the banner “Love A Happy Ending”. My inclusion has been a wonderful element in my writing career and has brought me into contact with some amazing and committed authors. Yesterday, they launched a new bookshelf section that features a selection of writers and their work. And guess what – yes I’m on it!

The world of publishing can still be called a world but none of the old maps really work any more. The Loveahappyending Bookshelf is a unique initiative between Authors and Publishers to promote and discover new writing talent and to share news from around the publishing universe. It features  Indies, the Pindies and the Traditionally published. The Pindies are writers who have published independently and have secured deals from publishers. There are also writers who have had deals in the past but have now gone Indie. 

In all of this raging torrent, I am but a minnow or even something smaller. I feel myself to be very privileged to be among such larger fish and so far no one has looked hungry. 

Loveahappyending Bookshelf Authors:

Linn B Halton Carol E Wyer Mandy Baggot  Janice Horton Richard F Holmes Ali Bacon Sheryl Browne Nicky Wells Kit Domino Stephanie Keyes Melanie Robertson-King

Loveahappyending Bookshelf Publishers:

Sapphire Star Publishing  Safikhet Publishing Thornberry Publishing 4RV Publishing Inkspell Publishing


Standing by for touch down Captain. 

OK – let me descend into the metaphysical depths and share with you a photograph I took yesterday of a  cauliflower I bought in Walmart (ASDA). As I looked at this green alien landscape I found myself piloting my CLM (Cauliflower Landing Module) onto the surface of this wonderful fractalised world. The mother ship held orbit over the draining board galaxy while I swept my eyes through vistas of breathtaking beauty while making a sound of alien wind. It was then I realised that I was being watched by those who wanted to eat. I explained of course that I was merely looking closely for any worms or caterpillars. Normally my fantasies involve far more basic concepts. Oh no – is my libido slipping? When your hormones go, do you turn to Sci-Fi?

And here is a trail for my next post. I want to talk about toys and their place in the modern literary love-place. This may not involve Lego. Brace yourselves. 

Emma thinx:  Ideas only want to play.