Ridley: There are a few rare books that get an RSA (Ridley Stamp of Approval). It has to have all the elements to receive it; a good relationship, a vivid world and a gripping story! For it to get an RSA, after reading it, there needs to be a thumping heart and a major urge to scurry around telling people to get the novel. I have read some really fantastic books, there are loads out there, some are great on relationships, on characters and others have crafted fantastic vivid worlds (where you can almost close your eyes and see them) but very few have all of these to the same level. We all know the big hitters, they had them all, it’s why they’re so popular!
Last night, I read Angelfall by Susan Ee. The book is completely to my tastes, by that I mean it has a brilliant slow burning relationship (with my new fictional character crush-Raffe!) an engaging story filled with a twisting exciting plot, clever weaving of seemingly unimportant information and a vivid gritty world, which is steeped in fantasy and the supernatural (flying yummy deadly Angels!)
It’s set in a post-apocalyptic world, our future, where merciless angels have been sent down to bring us judgement day. Cities have fallen, unending fires rage and humans have scattered, forced to scavenge in the ruins for food and essentials. (Think of the 2010 film, Book of Eli, with Denzel Washington! They are the images Susan’s words evoke when you read this! Fantastic world building!)
The main character Penryn is a strong, kick ass girl with some great abilities as a fighter. At the same time, by highlighting the type of childhood she’s had to experience, the post-apocalyptic world she’s had to survive in and the dangerous psychotic mother she is forced to look after, we see her vulnerable side. We also see her inherent caring nature from her intense need to protect her handicapped baby sister Paige. When the little seven year old is kidnapped by an angel in revenge for Penryn’s interference in a fight, Penryn is forced to team up with the striking and injured angel, Raffe, in order to save her. (Raffe immediately has all us girls swooning!)
Together, they are forced into an uneasy partnership, both needing help from the other to achieve their end goals. As they travel and meet various obstacles, some of which are quite gruesome, while others are not immediately explained- though this is where the author weaves in information, that later becomes important. These encounters also enable the relationship between Raffe and Penryn to slowly develop. It moves at a steady, believable pace (the fun is in the anticipation after all!!) It goes from a fizzle of attraction and awareness to a slow burn, hinting and teasing us with the possibilities, until you’re just praying it’ll end up building into an inferno between them!
I can’t wait for the sequel!
Go read the sample chapters on Susan Ee’s website, pop on to Goodreads to see the brilliant reviews there and then buy it on Amazon. You won’t regret it!
I’ve finished my gushing now. (Though, did I mention I like the cover too? That rusted brown, dark, stained and old, really represents the type of world now left behind after the destruction brought down by the angels!)
An absolute hidden gem, so glad I can jump on to this bandwagon as it’s starting to get hitched up! Wagon’s roll!
Ridley: I was feeling nostalgic this week. I was trying to think back on where my love of books began. I’ve always been encouraged to read. In my earliest memories, I was read to by my parents, a lot of it was Beatrix Potter (Peter Rabbit and Squirrel Nutkin) and Enid Blyton (Famous Five and The Secret Seven!)
Then after them I also had Teddy Ruxpin.
He was my favourite toy. You slotted a tape into his back and you could read along with him. His little mouth and eyes would move as he spoke. For some reason, the story I remember most is the journey to the centre of the earth. I was enraptured as noises emerged from him as we ‘travelled’ downwards and we began our adventure. If I ever had children, I’d definitely buy one for them. I’d probably end up like the woman in this video (where supposedly they released Teddy R again in 2006? Hadn’t heard about that!)
I might mention here that some of my childhood was spent in America, so not a lot of my friends can relate to my Teddy Ruxpin experiences, never mind my Puffalump, Cabbage Patch kids, playdough (marla here, its harder to work with and the colours are darker) and books about Clifford the Big Red Dog. (Though I did love Bosco as much as every other Irish child did. Latimer can tell us about her early memories at some point, we can see how much we differ in our early years! We’ve had these conversations before, it always ends up descending into sweet discussions. Where I had buggals, twinkies and chewing gum with fake tattoos wrapped around them, she had penny sweets, macaroon bars, fruit salads, Kimberley and Mikado biscuits, Taytos-mind I ended up having all of these too-eventually!)
Anyway, slipping back on to this particular memory lane and away from the food one, I progressed onto reading books by Tom McCaughren such as ‘Run Swift Run Free’, ‘Run to Earth’, ‘Run with the Wind’. These were stories all about foxes and their lives in the woods (Hop-along and Old Sage Brush) One of the best Christmas presents I ever got as a child was an autographed book of ‘Run to the Wild Wood’. These books were a definite follow on from Beatrix Potter’s tales! And watching The Animals of Farthing Woods! Theywere all set in Ireland. Ithink I did start reading Irish authors after that, though not by any particular design or need to be patriotic. The primary school I attended was fantastic for bringing in authors to speak with us, who of course were Irish, there weren’t many writers from other countries touring around after all!
I got a few more books autographed after that, including Gordon Snell (Maeve Binchey’s husband) and Marita Conlon McKenna (Under the Hawthorn Tree-was her first book in a trilogy about the Great Irish famine and the survival of three children). I read her books when I was around 12 years old or so. They were great. I was lucky enough to meet Marita not long afterwards due to one of these school visits, I had a little stack of books for her to sign. She was absolutely lovely, even laughed when
she saw me coming. In the final autograph she has ‘Another bookworm, lots of luck!’ It was then my desire to become an author really crystallised, to have people read my work and love it like we loved her books. We’d always written short stories in English class and I’d started to write numerous ‘novels’ at home. I’d always enjoyed it.
This wish to become an author, to earn my living doing something I love, has been with me ever since.
There were numerous other fantastic authors that caught my interest as a young teen including Mark O’Sullivan (‘Melody for Nora’-about a girl living during the civil war in
Ireland), Siobhan Parkinson (‘Amelia’-also during the same time of civil unrest), Gerard Whelan (‘Out of Nowhere’-a boy wakes up with no memory in a monastery and all life outside its stone walls has disappeared) and Orla Melling (‘The Druid’s tune’-wouldn’t you want a gorgeous Celtic war chieftain falling in love with you? and ‘The Hunter’s Moon’-how about the High King of Fairie after you? Yes please!).
From then on, I was sucked into the massive world of Point fiction, Point horror, Point Romance for many a year. It was through Point that I discovered
Philip Pullman as well. I could go on and on about what else I’ve read or would like to but I’ve limited myself to just discussing my childhood, otherwise you might get bored (more so than you are already perhaps!).
These days, I have tried to honed my skills at finding the best fantasy stories with great plots interwoven with an exciting love story. It’s why I love the Young Adult genre, it often has this, along with there being numerous options within it and they’re imaginative!
So I just leave you with a question or two, when did your desire to become a writer spark? And what books do you remember as a child?
(Instantly, does anyone else have this version of Twilight? I bought it long before Stephenie Meyer had written any sequels and I remember thinking if she wrote any more books they’d probably be quite good! This version was before the black covers! It’s kind of a strange picture really.)
Ridley: I seem to be on some sort of readathon. Not a deliberate one, these moods sometimes seize me. I’ll read nothing for ages and then snap up two or three books in one go.
One of these was E.M. Tippett’s, Someone Else’s Fairytale (love the title). She was kind enough to provide it free on Amazon on 1st March to celebrate being in the Kindle top 1000 books. Congratulations to her! I’d literally just visited her website and read an excerpt when she did, so it was happy timing for me. A much appreciated generous gesture on her part!
I’ve come away after reading this book with a smile and warm fuzzy feelings. Then I happened to watch the most recent Glee episode afterwards, which compounded the feeling -there were so many fuzzies I could’ve made a teddy bear!
It’s a really endearing love story, a fairy tale for the modern girl. Jason is an international movie star and all the fan girls are starry eyed for him (and squealing, giggling, crying) all except Chloe. She is completely unimpressed by him, his lifestyle and his strutting around.
This is what draws him to her.
Laid back and completely normal around him and his superstar status, it is Chloe whoimpresses everyone including his famous friends and his family. Not to mention quite a number of people have a wide protective streak when it comes to her due to something that happened in her past. This ‘something’ is slowly revealed to us throughout the story.
It is the love triangle however, that really grabs the attention. It isn’t only the handsome actor after Chloe’s heart; her alpha Texan best friend Matthew starts to see green, especially when Jason begins to woo her with extravagant romantic gestures.
We follow their struggles, the ups and downs, as well as a reappearance of Chloe’s dark past. It’s only when everything is almost too late, that Chloe realises what she feels and for who. The complications don’t end there, however, as insecurities begin to gnaw at our heroine.
Towards the ending I had my breath held, hoping it was all going to turn out well for Chloe. Of course, I won’t tell you either way how it ends, but it’s a good writer who makes me try to stem the flow of oxygen to my brain!
So if you want a good book, with entertaining characters that suck you into their lives, grab this one!
Ridley: We’re only starting out on our self-publishing journey, so we certainly are nowhere near experts to be talking about it but I’m going to be doing it anyway! I’m not going to share invaluable information (and it’s not because I’m selfish, it’s because I don’t have any wisdom nuggets to share, yet! Maybe one day!). I want to write about my impressions, the view point of a beginner just starting out on this incredible journey. It’s like I’ve entered a new world. Even just peering out the window at this new place, never mind walking through the door out into it, has been absolutely fantastic.
The people in the self-publishing community are extremely welcoming and encouraging. Or is it really the twitter and blogging communities combined? With each person at the varying stages of working on their own novels, you can find knowledge and support and great reads!
I love that you can read an e-book, where if you love it enough, the minute you’re finished, you can pop online and let the author know. You can actually have a conversation with them. As a fan, it’s everything I would have ever dreamed of as a girl. As an author, it’s amazing instant feedback and gratification.
Then there’s the wide range of ideas and stories that you can obtain through reading self-published works. No longer do you have to roam the bookstore and leave a little fed up having found nothing. (Though to be fair, even if I don’t find anything, I still love wandering round in the hush, inhaling that calming book smell.) It’s just sometimes it feels like there’s nothing available to read. It’s understandable that traditional publishers hedge their bets; they stick to formula and topics that have worked. It costs them too much to take too many chances. It just can get very ‘samey’ and boring.
Not so with an e-book publisher. They don’t have the same risks. They don’t need to justify that, Such and Such by Jane Doe did well, mine is just like it. Now they can say, my book is like nothing else on the market and I think it’s a real winner. This creates a colourful and exciting pool of very imaginative and different books.
Before I opened up my mind though, I’d always had that horrible stereotypical view that self-publishing was for people that had given up, failed to get anyone interested in their work and decided to do it on their own. No matter how good their book, the resources were never available to market it to anyone other than close friends and relatives. How many garages across the country are cluttered with boxes of glossy books filled with words no one has ever read?
No longer is this the case.
The power, the influence of the internet just continues to increase and it’s not a selfish medium. It lends this power to anyone who looks for it. Through it, we can reach almost every part of the world.
Even if your book is about the eating practices of a specific worm from a never heard of forest on a distant remote island, someone somewhere will be interested in it. Even if it’s just one person, it’s one more than you could have touched with your writing before this. Better yet, you will have found a kindred spirit.
Dreams are what get us all up in the morning. So many people gaze out their windows and fantasise. Maybe they envision becoming an international dancer, an actor, an animator, a trapeze artist, a fireman, a wealthy CEO.
Now though, for those of us dreaming of becoming authors, we’re incredibly lucky. We’re in a new age where we can make it happen. We’ve been handed the tools to enable us to achieve our dreams.
Not many can say that.
So for anyone reading this, dream big and reach for the stars. They’re there for the taking all you have to do is believe it.
Ridley: I was in the mood for a book, so I went browsing through Amazon on my laptop. This can always be dangerous to my bank balance, I generally have more books I want than sense! (Also does anyone else hate browsing on their Kindle for an e-book? I generally find it online first, then go onto the Kindle and buy it. Otherwise it’s too slow and all that greyness gets very boring, I like seeing all the colourful covers!)
Anyway! I stumbled upon Chosen, I read the reviews, (Amazon.com has far more than co.uk by the by.) opened the excerpt for the first few pages, and then I was hooked!
I’ve definitely found a nice gem and a future favourite author. Below I’ve done a small review so I can spread the word and let others discover it too! -I love telling people about my new finds! Even if it’s a case a thousand and one people have already found it before me, it’s still my find in my head!! Just like Harry Potter was my find, and Twilight was my find and Trudi Canavan’s Black Magician trilogy was my find!! Yes, I know you see a pattern-of fantastic finds by me!! 🙂
So Chosen….
The two main characters are complex and wonderfully written. Will, with his dark past and cold ruthlessness and Emma, who has had to deal with her own horrific past events and a life on the run as a single mother.
Their encounter happens almost immediately, there are no boring introduction pages ‘setting the scene’. We get right into the action and we are taken on their journey both physically- across country, and emotionally. With such scarring pasts, it’s only natural that each character has to deal with a lot of emotional turmoil, which the author is quite apt at portraying. However, she does not make the mistake of dwelling on this ad infinitum and she is able to show us that while the characters are both scarred deeply, they are also resilient and very strong.
The other, more fun emotional journey is the romance! (always my favourite part!)
Will definitely has that bad boy attitude that all us poor suckers fall for. Emma though is feisty enough to handle him. The building passionate relationship between them will have you the edge of your seat. Not to mention all of the thrilling gunfights and car chases.
Then there’s the creepiness of Emma’s little boy Jake, he’s cute but he’ll give you a bit of a chill too. No child should speak like him and know the things he does! Though I ended up having quite the soft spot for him, creepy or no creepy!
The book is ultimately a thriller, based in the ‘real world’, it is not as heavily laced with magic as other novels, there are no magic wielding big bads or magical peoples as such. While the whole story is based on concepts which are inherently paranormal, their use is drip fed throughout the book. Each paranormal event is built one upon the other.
In such a realistic landscape, this could have gone very wrong under the typing fingers of a different author but Denise weaves them into the plot extremely well and ensures they’re quite believable.
She also keeps you guessing as to what will happen next. The overall mystery and suspense as to why they’re being chased is what really drives you forward to turn the pages, wondering and hoping the answer will be in the next sentence, the next paragraph, the next chapter.
It’s the sort of book that you finish in a day (which I did!) and then go purchase the sequel Hunted (which I’m about to do!)
So if you want a good read that will keep you snuggled up on your couch till your bum is numb and your tea is cold then pop on over to Amazon and check Denise Grover Swank’s books out.
Ridley: Like many people in their mid-twenties, I grew up with Harry Potter. For 12 years, as each book and film was produced, I was there ready and waiting! It was a sad and jubilant moment when the last film was finally released.
Why do I chat about this now? Because J.K Rowling has returned! She’s announced she has a new adult novel coming out. With so many children, who were her original fans, now fully grown up, I’m in little doubt that this new book will do well. Beyond well. I know already I’ll buy it, even if it was about dirty dishwater I’d still get it. I know it’ll be interesting, though I haven’t a clue what it’s about or even what it looks like (don’t judge a book by its cover unfortunately is a saying ignored by me, not deliberately, it’s just what happens. The more interesting/striking the cover, the more likely it is I will pick it up and ultimately buy it) As it is with J.K’s new book there are only rumours that it could be a crime novel.
I was trying to imagine yesterday what the pressure being heaped upon her must feel like. There are some enormous, ridiculous expectations that she has to live up to. I just wonder how you can sit down in front of your laptop and just type, knowing that’s all there, that it won’t go away. Surely it’s given some sleepless nights. At some point though, I think you’d have to just say, ‘feck it, I’ll write for me’ and just go for it. It’s what she did for her other books before this and it seemed to work!
Of course, some of her biggest fans want this to be another HP phenomenon. I say some fans, because there are those of us who wish we could tell her we just expect a good entertaining read, her books don’t need to change the world every time. Her critics, of course, want it to be a flop, for her to fail, so they can say I told you so. But we’ll all just ignore them.
Either way, she’s a fantastic writer, her words enthral you, even listening to her Harvard commencement speech was amazing.
So…I can’t wait!! 🙂
After hearing this news, I also started to remember where it all began, I believe we each have our own stories to how we ‘discovered’ Harry Potter in the first place.
My start with reading the series was far from auspicious. I was thirteen, still in primary school when Harry made his first appearance. A younger sister of a friend ran up brandishing the Philosopher’s Stone in my face, insisting it was ‘the best book she’d ever read’. I turned it over to read the blurb and saw ‘boy is rescued by an owl’. All I thought was ‘no thanks, I don’t want to read a kiddies book about giant owls.’
Even to this day I still shake my head in despair.
It wasn’t until a few months later, during the summer time, that I came across the book again. My parents brought home a treat for both my brother and I.
My mother who always worried that he wasn’t reading enough (no fear of that with me!) bought him Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. For me she brought back a tape with the song ‘Kiss me’ by Sixpence None the Richer on it. (I loved it. To this day when I hear that song, these memories still come flooding back to me.)
My brother ignored the book. It took me two days before I was bored enough to go hunting for it. I had finished all of my own books and wanted something else to read. I found Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone abandoned on the floor in my brother’s bedroom. (on the floor!!) I settled down into the living room, legs dangling over the armrest with a cup of tea. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much. It was a child’s book after all…little did I know!
I flew through it.
I bought the second book that same day. I cajoled my father into giving me a lift into town where I used my allowance money. My parents cautioned me to ‘make it last’ and not to read it too fast.
I didn’t listen.
I finished the Chamber of Secrets also within hours.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban had just been published that summer. I had no more money left, I remember painstakingly counting out the exact change in copper coins, penny by penny, to be able to buy it.
I had to wait a day this time. It was excruciating.
The next morning, along with an indulgent fatherly smile, another lift was provided. When I got into town, I remember it was almost deserted. I can’t remember why, it was possibly only due to the horrific weather. The day was dark grey, overcast, it had been raining heavily all morning.
When I arrived at the bookshop, the lights were glaring, harsh on the eyes compared to outside and the yellow wooden floor was so bright.
I paused just inside. It was also very quiet, a fan whirled gently just above the door. I felt a small cool waft of air along my arms. The shop was empty. A single sales assistance stood behind the till, watching me. In my wet shoes I squeaked my way straight across to the stand where the book was on display. I twirled around, clutching it to my chest and I stuck out my fist, it was full of pennies. I dropped them into the girl’s joined hands with a muttered apology.
I almost ran from the shop. When I got home, it was read as quickly as the last ones.
Then I had to wait for a year. Reading and rereading the Prisoner of Azkaban. Twiddling my thumbs like a loon. It was agony waiting for Book 4. The night before it was published, I couldn’t sleep. I was listening to the radio, they were reporting on the hundreds of people that turned up for the Harry Potter midnight party in Eason’s in Dublin. I remember thinking the people that were up there were so lucky to have gotten the book already. (little did I know, my own local bookshop opened with a party that night too!)
It was after the 4th book came out, that it really felt like the rest of the world sat up and took notice. It was popular and then some. The parties, events, they all just got bigger as time went on, then the movies happened.
Soon everyone else loved Harry Potter too.
It was my first ever experience of wanting a book now. I couldn’t get my hands on the next sequels fast enough.
I darted around the house, telling anyone that would listen to me how fantastic the books were. I suddenly understood why that little girl had run up to me all those months ago, waving the book around. Every single one of my friends got the same treatment from me, I introduced them to Harry Potter (I didn’t know Latimer at the time, so she didn’t benefit from my uncontrolled enthusiasm! It was probably just as well, I think together our Harry Potter obsessions would have reached scary supernova levels!)
I still marvel at the fact there are children alive now today that never had that anticipation, that will never have gotten a chance to go to those parties. I can only hope one day there will be a new series that can capture people’s imagination and interests like J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books did. That those children can have the fun we did. Perhaps her new books will do it again? We shall see!
For now though, for those of you that were lucky enough to have them, tell me about your Harry Potter discovery stories! You too Latimer, when did you flick open that first page of the Philosopher’s Stone and join the HP world?
Ridley: There are a few rare books that get an RSA (Ridley Stamp of Approval). It has to have all the elements to receive it; a good relationship, a vivid world and a gripping story! For it to get an RSA, after reading it, there needs to be a thumping heart and a major urge to scurry around telling people to get the novel. I have read some really fantastic books, there are loads out there, some are great on relationships, on characters and others have crafted fantastic vivid worlds (where you can almost close your eyes and see them) but very few have all of these to the same level. We all know the big hitters, they had them all, it’s why they’re so popular!
Carwicky 