Ellesea Loves Reading

Thursday, 29 October 2020

Publication Day Spotlight and Author Guest Post: Under the Warrior's Protection by Ella Matthews

I often get asked what I find hardest about writing a novel. Is it coming up with the ideas or dealing with rejections? For me, it’s neither of those.

Hours spent thrashing out a plot and getting it into some semblance of order is a walk in the park in comparison to releasing a novel.

Under the Warrior’s Protection, which was released on 29^th October, is my seventh novel, although it’s only my second for Mills & Boon. Before I wrote books I worked in publishing for a long time, producing over sixty books a year. There’s nothing more exciting than holding a glossy, new book and knowing you are somehow responsible for its existence, whether it’s as an author or an editor. You normally get these copies a month or two before they are sent out to the wider world and I have to admit to spending time, more than is probably normal, staring at them (especially my most recent one as the model is delicious).

So you’d think, after all those publication days, I would be a bit more relaxed about them by now. Sadly, that’s not the case. I’m a wobbly bag of nerves each and every time.

The build-up to this one has been particularly nerve-wracking and not just because of my normal worries. While I’ve been sending out promotional copies and answering questions from bloggers, I’ve also started a new job as a literacy support officer in a secondary school. I get to talk about books and punctuation all day, which might not be everyone’s cup of tea (it certainly isn’t my pupils!) but I love it. On top of that, my daughter’s started secondary school, which seems to mean an awful lot of homework for me, something I wasn’t really expecting.

The main characters of my latest novel, Katherine and Jarin, filled my head for over six months. I watched as they fell in love and struggled over the hurdles I threw at them to overcome. I laughed and cried with them and wrote about them late into the night, long after the rest of my family had gone to sleep. In essence they were my world. But it was a very private one, where only the three of us existed. Now I have to introduce them to everyone else and I’m very nervous about it.

Having said that, there is always wine on publication day and, if I’m lucky, cake. So it’s not all bad.

Thank you so much to Ellesea for allowing me to take over the Ellesea Loves Reading blog. This isn’t something I’ve ever done before and I’ve had great fun doing it.

Under the Warrior’s Protection by Ella Matthews

Letting down her guard…

Might save her life…

With their family name in tatters, Katherine Leofric and her sister are headed for a new life at their brother’s estate. They are escorted by the hardened Jarin, Earl of Borwyn, whom Katherine believes is only after her dowry! Then her sister is abducted on their treacherous journey, and Katherine must rely on Jarin’s protection. Now, seeing a different side to the man she's sworn to hate, it’s her heart that’s most at risk!

Amazon UK Amazon US

Ella Matthews lives and works in beautiful South Wales. When not thinking about handsome heroes she can be found walking along the coast with her husband and their two children (probably still thinking about heroes but at least pretending to be interested in everyone else).

https://twitter.com/ellamattauthor

www.ellamatthews.co.uk

https://www.facebook.com/ella.matthews.524381

Wednesday, 28 October 2020

Book Spotlight and extract: Stonechild by Kevin Albin

Stonechild by Kevin Albin

Where do we go to when we die? Imagine human consciousness embedded in the molecules of a statue. So, when the statues of London come to life, it is a spectacle like non other, and they come with a specific message, and an offer we cannot refuse.

As the world reels in this wonder of science and religion, Molly Hargreaves has other plans and she sets out to prove that things are not as they seem.

Chased, captured and confined, Molly confronts the statues and her own fears. But who can she convince? The people are welcoming, the Government has succumbed, and the police try to act, but how do you shoot stone and metal? Be prepared to be run ragged around London on a mystery worthy of the great Sherlock Holmes.

https://amzn.to/2BfnoWs

Molly finds herself on the top of Uganda House overlooking Trafalgar Square where large numbers of statues have come together. There are some confrontations with the police, a police car is crushed and it is clear there’s going to be more trouble

Gunshot — two shots, then another two as the armed police officers fired at the statue of Cromwell. He was bullet-proof, and continued to advance on the police. What looked like hundreds of police officers poured out from the lines of parked vans, and moved quickly to strategic points in the square. Statues were shouting, police were shouting, granite blocks being torn up, heavy statues moving; the noise was becoming louder and louder, as everyone tried to make themselves heard over the din, and above it all, two police helicopters.

Then there came a new sound. A heavy pounding of footsteps that could only have come from a statue. With her hands on the stone balcony, Molly could feel vibrations coming up from street level. Who or whatever it was, was big.

A word puzzle for the readers of Stonechild and with a prize to be drawn on the 10th December, which is Human Rights Day. Here’s the link with all the details https://kevin-albin.com/book-kevin-albin/puzzle-time-for-readers-of-stonechild/

I served 25 years with the police in the UK, eight years of which were with a tactical firearms team. In 2002, I took a career change, and retrained as an International Mountain Leader working across the globe guiding on mountaineering trips and expeditions.

I have led many trips to the jungles of Borneo, my favourite destination, an enchanting place that has sadly seen much deforestation. My trips were based on education and conservation.

In 2011, I won the Bronze in the Wanderlust Magazine World Guide Awards for my work..

It was whilst working on a corporate training day in London, when I pictured a statue coming to life to give my clients the answer to the clue they were working on. The rest grew from there.

My hope is that my writing will continue to spread the word on conservation and protection of all species.

I live in France.