Childhood Mischief in Wartime Birmingham, by Eric Yates

Available on Amazon UK and Amazon US

This treasure trove of Second World War stories is a must read for those wanting to know about the lives of ordinary families in the history of Britain – or indeed, anybody wanting a good laugh to brighten up their day.

In the history of Britain there is a shortage of Second World War stories detailing the lives of ordinary families living in poverty, the children’s games and the black market profiteering that history has forgotten.

The story of young Eric and John is here to set the record straight. Two boys growing up in the midst of rationing, with a flair for mischief and a sense of humour history will never see again – what could happen? Quite a lot, apparently, if the exciting family life of Eric and John is anything to go by. 

Telling of their family life in war torn Birmingham where poverty was rife, Eric’s account is full of wit and the kind of humour history should remember. From the infamous Bread Pudding Incident to the charming children’s games like ‘Penny on the Brick’, you will find laughter and warm memories of time spent in an age before computers, when children had to entertain themselves. Yet there is poignancy here, too, as Eric and John find themselves swept up in the greater tide of war as evacuees, made to travel to the country with no chance of looking back...

For review copies please contact PublishingPush at http://publishingpush.com

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About the Author

Eric served two years' National Service as an Army Education Officer in Cyprus, and seven years with the Kenyan Police in East Africa where, as a Customs & Excise Investigation Officer, he swam in shark-infested waters looking for hidden contraband. Whilst living in Africa, he joined the National Theatre of Nairobi where he performed in Shakespeare, the Classics and drama. At one time a presenter for BBC Radio Birmingham, Eric spent ten years with the Monitoring Section of the BBC World Service in Berkshire, becoming well-known locally for his acting talent, especially mimicry and humour, winning numerous awards over the years. Eric was married twice and met his second wife in Henley-on-Thames, when she directed him in J.B. Priestley's When We Are Married. At that time he was semi-retired working as a warden at Windsor Castle, where he endeared himself to his colleagues but was often reprimanded for displaying his unique brand of humour to the general public. Retiring to Devon in 2001, Eric enjoyed boat restoration, brewing very strong cider, cultivating rare trees and plants and reading. He began writing his stories in 2004 - and also began tales from his adult life, regrettably unfinished.

Connecting with readers on Goodreads

Goodreads is for readers, so is not the place for authors to engage in self-promotion but there are over 25 Million registered users, looking at 750 Million books, who have created 29 Million reviews.  So how should you build this into your author platform? I've been on Goodreads for over four years and offer some thoughts on some things to consider:

1. Create your Goodreads author page

Your author page is separate from your member profile page, which lists your bookshelves friends and reviews. It doesn't take long and it’s free, so search for yourself and click on your published author name, then send a request to join the Goodreads Author Program. If you haven’t set up your page, Goodreads offers readers a disappointing silhouette, so switch that for your favourite photo. You can also add a bio, links to your blog and Twitter user name. I sometimes see authors who put the wrong links, so test them to make sure they work properly. (My Goodreads author page is HERE if you’d like to see what they look like.)

2. Make sure your books are listed

Your books don’t just appear on Goodreads, someone has to list them in the first place. The best person to do that is you, as soon as your book is launched. You can make sure the details are all correct, with the best cover image. If you added the book it is also much easier to update it in the future. Check before adding a book by searching by author and title – and read the guidelines. If your books need to be added, you will be given access to the online form.  You can also upload eBooks in epub or pdf and allow readers access to the whole book or an extract.

3. Start adding and reviewing books you read

The whole point of Goodreads is for readers to share thoughts about books they read, so please join in. I sometimes forget but am trying to make time to write a short paragraph and cross post on Amazon as well as Goodreads, so you have double value from your time and, depending on your review, may be helping other authors and readers.

4. Join and interact with Goodreads groups that match your genre(s)

There is a discussion group for everyone on Goodreads, including many led by Goodreads Authors so start exploring – just go to http://www.goodreads.com/group and type some keywords into the search box. Some groups offer book useful book promotion advice and are a great place to link up to other indie authors and find new ideas. (I recently formed a useful group of 'beta readers' for my new novel on a special interest group.)

5. Link to your writing blog with RSS

I have a lot of visitors to my writing blog via Goodreads, so it is definitely worth hooking up the RSS feed. (If you don’t know how to do it, here is step-by-step guidance) 

6. Post your promotional videos

If a picture is worth a thousand words, how much is a one and half minute video worth? I’ll be posting later in this series on my experience with YouTube, but if you have a promotional video it makes sense to add it to your Goodreads author page.

7. Make time to update your status

This is one of the under-used areas of Goodreads, which means if you have time to bother your input stands out. All you need to do is go to http://www.goodreads.com/update_status and you’ll be presented with any books you’ve marked as currently reading, but you don’t have to limit your updates to that.

8. Send friend requests to like-minded reviewers and authors

Goodreads recommends that you only add someone as a ‘friend’ after you’ve interacted with them in a group or in a book discussion thread. I rarely bother sending friend requests to readers unless I have a really good reason, but it’s a useful way to keep tabs on other authors who share your interests.

9. Accept friend requests

Unlike Twitter, where you need to be a bit careful about who you follow back, I’m happy to accept any ‘friend requests’ on Goodreads. If I have the time I usually check out their blog and add them on Twitter if they have a Twitter username you can be fairly sure they’ll follow back.

10. Help other authors

One of the Goodreads groups I like is Authors Helping Authors described as is a place where authors and bloggers can come together and help one another out. If you have a writing blog this is a great place to find authors interested in guest posting.

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Do you have more ideas and suggestions on how to get the best from Goodreads? If so, please feel free to add a comment below

Guest Post: Marina Julia Neary, Celto-Slavic disaster writer‏

Available on Amazon US and Amazon UK

1830s Bermondsey, London’s most notorious slum, a land of gang wars and freak shows. Dr. Thomas Grant, a disgraced physician, adopts Wynfield, a ten-year old thief savagely battered by a gang leader for insubordination. The boy grows up to be an idealistic opium addict who worships Victor Hugo.

Author Interview

America's most Irish author to come out of Eastern Europe - that has become Marina Julia Neary's tagline. A privileged albeit maladjusted only child of classical musicians, she came to the US at the age of thirteen. Her literary repertoire revolves primarily around the Anglo-Irish conflict, namely the events around the Easter Rising. She has a day job in foreign exchange. Today she joins me for a brief interview.

Q: You mentioned having to defend and explain your interest in Irish history.

A: When people find out I'm not Irish by blood, they ask me, "Why do you write about Ireland? You're not Irish." But then, does one need to be a vampire to write about vampires?  Does on need to be a serial killer to write a murder mystery? My parents were a mixed couple, ethnically and ideologically, so I have first-hand experience of tension.  With a Russian pro-imperialist mother and Polish nationalist father, the atmosphere in the house was always heated.  It's both humorous and dramatic.  My Irish last name is from my husband.  I've been with him since my late teens.  We met at the height of Celtic revival in the late 1990s. He's my hero and my muse, the most exquisite other-worldly male specimen. 

Q: Your debut novel Wynfield's Kingdom set during the Crimean War took you 16 years to write.

A: I often joke that the novel has been through more revisions than Michael Jackson's nose.  I wrote the first draft at the age of 15 and set it aside.  Then more than a decade later, I revisited it and made some significant changes to the storyline.  It was published by Fireship Press when I was 31.  The main character stayed the same.  It was my goal to create an iconic Victorian child-hero.

Q: You dub yourself as a disaster writer.

A: They say "write what you know".  I say, you should write what comes naturally to you.  I am a very tense, aggressive, negative person, and writing about disasters is second nature. You can tell from my picture. Each of my novels features some sort of disaster, be it political, military, natural or psychological.  I've written about the Irish Famine, the Charge of the Light Brigade, the Easter Rising, and, last but not least, the Chernobyl explosion.  

Q: Tell us about your latest novel, Saved by the Bang: a Nuclear Comedy. I understand, it's autobiographical?


A: Correct. My friends and readers have been begging me to write something autobiographical.  So I have to give people what they want, even if it's something they are not ready to palate. Set in the radioactive swamps of Belarus in the aftermath of the Chernobyl explosion, Saved by the Bang is tagged as a nuclear comedy.  Like I said before, I believe that tragedy and comedy go hand in hand.  If you hear a boo-hoo, chances are, there's a ha-ha around the corner. Some readers find my sense of humor disturbing. I've been called heartless and insensitive.  And yes, there is a lot of unsavory material in the novel: second trimester abortion, cancer, birth defects, rape. I don't depict those things to shock the reader. I write them because that's how it was in a society where human life is not valued.  I know I come across as a cynic, but actually I have profound respect for God and life.  I'm staunch pro-life activist, even though the tone of my works is not always life-affirming. 

Marina Julia Neary 

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About the Author

Marina Julia Neary spent her early years in Eastern Europe and came to the United States at the age of thirteen.  She now lives in Stamford, Connecticut with her husband and young son. An award-winning historical essayist, multilingual arts & entertainment journalist, she is a published poet, playwright, actress, dancer and choreographer. A specialist on the obscure works of Victor Hugo, Marina's novel Wynfield's Kingdom is a narrative version of Hugo in London. Her poetry has appeared in literary journals such as First Edition, Alimentum and The Recorder. In addition to her writing career,Marina has starred in independent art and horror films, and she is currently working on an adaptation of one of her novels. Find out more at Marina's blog.

Historical Fiction Spotlight ~ The Banneret's Blade - Revenge is Sweet, by Nick De Rothschild

Available on Amazon UK and Amazon US

The year is 1339, King Edward III is on the throne, French and Genoese warships continue their attacks on the English coast, and Sir Roger de Bohun, the Banneret, has been asked by the king to steal back his crown from the Prince-Bishop of Mainz and replace it with a counterfeit.

This epic tale picks up where The Banneret’s Blade: Trouble Brewing left off—the early days of the Hundred Years’ War, on the eve of the all but forgotten great naval Battle of Sluys.

Full of mutinous sailors, great sea battles and land wars, pirate raids, double-crossing spies embroiled in political intrigue, passionate affairs, and men caught up in forces beyond their control, this meticulously researched novel brings the history of medieval Europe to life.

The Banneret’s Blade: Revenge is Sweet invites readers into a world seemingly descending into chaos and introduces them to fascinating and complex characters driven by all manner of motives. Fans of sweeping works of historical fiction by genre masters such as Ken Follett and Bernard Cornwell will delight in the emergence of another great new voice on the scene.

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About the Author

Nick de Rothschild graduated from Cambridge University with a degree in Archaeology, Anthropology, and History of Art. Despite being a scion of the famed Rothschild banking dynasty, he never became a banker. Instead he was a pioneer in the video industry in London, before moving to the New Forest in Hampshire to look after his family's estate at Exbury, where his grandfather created the world renowned Exbury Gardens. An avid filmmaker, Rothschild occasionally makes movies about the Gardens and likes to think of himself as 'the man who lives in paradise.' In his spare time, he enjoys collecting nerines and photographing South African flowering bulbs. Find out more at www.banneretsblade.com and you can follow Nick on Twitter
@rothschild_nick.

Authors: How to create a free smartphone optimised 'showcase' for your books

"Our behaviour as consumers is evolving." This comes from a recent report on the exponential rise in smartphone use, which predicts over six billion users by 2020. Research in the US also concludes, 'nearly two-thirds of Americans are now smartphone owners, and for many these devices are a key entry point to the online world.' 

I've been aware of the significant rise in smartphone use by book buyers for some time, (and I've even heard of people reading books on smartphones!) so was interested to experiment with the free facilities in WiX to see what was possible. In particular, I wanted to see how quick and easy it was to set up - and how well my promotional YouTube videos would run.

If you're not familiar with WiX, they are have grown to over 60 million users in 190 countries and claim to offer the only 'drag and drop' website building platform with HTML5 capabilities - and guarantee that your experience is simple, fun and code-free. Although you can pay for premium services, their business model allows WiX to provide full websites free of charge.

You can see what I created here:

http://tonyriches.wix.com/historical-fiction

There are seven simple steps as follows:

1. Sign up for a free WiX account at WiX.com and choose a free layout template and background. (You don't need to pay as long as you don't mind having a small WiX advert in the corner)

2. Add your book cover images, with a short 'blurb' in a text box. (You can link the images to Amazon.)

3. Add alternative purchasing sites and your promotional videos from YouTube, if you have them:

4. Switch to the WiX Mobile Editor:

5. Now you can arrange your book layout by simply 'dragging and dropping' the elements:

(Purple guidelines appear as you move things, to make alignment easy)

6. Preview the results and test all the links to make sure they work.

7. Publish the new site and test on a smartphone.

You don't need any coding or technical skills, as it is all really intuitive and I didn't need to refer to the help files. Once you have the basic page working properly, you can add pages for an author bio etc. I also spent a few minutes improving the SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) by adding keywords and put some social media links in the footer.

The whole thing didn't take long - and like me, you would probably copy and paste the contents from your main website. Most importantly, this approach enables you to extend your author platform at no cost, which is always worth considering. I can't see myself switching from blogger to the still rather 'clunky' blogging features of WiX - but my new 'experiment' has already replaced my Wordpress author site as the main showcase for my books. 

http://tonyriches.wix.com/historical-fiction

Book Launch - The Artificial Anatomy of Parks, by Kat Gordon

New on Amazon UK and Amazon US

At twenty-one, Tallulah Park lives alone in a grimy bedsit. As Tallie grows up, she learns the hard way about damage and betrayal, that in the end, the worst betrayals are those we inflict on ourselves. This is her story about the journey from love to loss and back again.

A Family Secret

I think writing fiction is a great way to try to understand people. If you create a little world for your characters, and you make things happen to them, then they have to respond appropriately, and that really forces you to consider their perspective as opposed to your own, and how they might not only see but feel things differently to you, the writer, about these events, and about the world in general. So I think I’ve always been inspired by people, and in particular by families – which force you to look beyond your own point of view in a similar way.

Families are so important in shaping who we are, both in terms of genetic inheritance and environmental experience. Usually we feel that these people know us better than anyone else, so we feel able to act “ourselves” around them and free to say things to them we might not to others – such a gift for a writer!

Also, while we might look alike, or have similar character traits, we all tend to play different roles within our family unit. So in The Artificial Anatomy of Parks there’s the peacekeeper, the worrier, the drama queen, the loving figure, the bully, the figure of authority, etc. I decided to include a family secret, because I wanted to explore its knock-on effect on all the characters, and how their roles in the family can dictate their responses (and because it can make for great dramatic tension!). I’m sure, too, that every family has a secret. Especially when you look at people from my grandparents’ generation (born early 20^th Century): they were growing up in the aftermath of Victorian society and its particular set of morals, so illegitimate children, affairs, homosexuality, etc would usually have been hushed up in case of scandal.

I started off with the character of Tallie. When I knew her inside out, I knew the bones of the story. (I’m not sure I believe that your character can completely take over your writing, but I think there comes a point where the plot can only move in one direction because the character would only realistically react in a certain way to people and events.)

I always knew I wanted to write about a large family, including uncles and aunts and cousins. Mine is quite different – both my parents were only children, so I don’t have any extended family. That also decided for me that Tallie would be an only child, because in the absence of siblings, my mum and dad were both really close to their parents, and especially their mothers. Tallie’s relationship with Evie, her mother, is in honour of the bond between my mum and my granny.

I also knew from the beginning that I wanted two separate narratives – one in the present day that would take place over a period of a week or so, and one in the past, that would follow Tallie from age five until twenty-one (her age in the present-day narrative). I wanted to be able to write both from the perspective of a child and an adult – a child for the humorous possibilities (asking inappropriate questions, misunderstandings, etc), and an adult for the analytic possibilities (being able to really think about other characters’ actions, and their motivations).

I wrote the novel as it reads, alternating between the present-day and past storylines. It took me about two years to finish my first draft, and then another few years to edit. The story itself didn’t change too drastically throughout, because the main thrust was always going to be leading up to the revelation of the family’s secret, but parts of the story needed to be beefed up, or cut down, and one character disappeared altogether while another was brought back from the dead.

Something I found really helped me was drawing up a detailed synopsis, where every single scene was accounted for. Reading over that, I was able to make decisions about pacing, whether the revelations were happening at the right times, whether to give the secondary storylines more or less emphasis, and whether they had too much or too little “page-time”.  

It’s been a fairly lengthy process, but I’ve loved all of it: the writing, the editing, even the tearing-out-the-hair moments when I’ve realised that changing a scene on page 39 has affected something on page 290 and I have to think of a way around it. And I’m so excited that all my friends and family can read it now as a proper book! Although my dad did call me up the other day to say, “So hang on a minute... the story starts when she gets a call that her dad has had a heart attack....?”

    

Kat Gordon 

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About the Author

Kat Gordon was born and grew up London, attending Camden School for Girls. She read English at Somerville College, Oxford and worked at Time Out briefly after graduating, before travelling around America for three months then returning to Africa to travel and work as a teacher and HIV counsellor. Since finishing her MA in Creative Writing in 2009 she also worked as a gymnastics coach. She lives with her boyfriend (also a writer), and their cat. Find out more at https://katgordonwrites.wordpress.com/  and follow Kat on Twitter @katgordon1984.

Guest Post ~ Researching The Doctor's Daughter, by Vanessa Matthews

Available on Amazon UK and Amazon US

It’s 1927, women have the right to vote and morals are slackening, but 23 year old Marta Rosenblit is not a typical woman of her time. She has little connection with her elder sisters, her mother has been detained in an asylum since Marta was born and she has spent her life being shaped as her father Arnold’s protégé. She is lost, unsure of who she is

and who she wants to be. 

RESEARCHING A NOVEL

‘An ounce of fact is worth a pound of controversy.’ Arthur Schomburg, Historian, Writer & Activist

There are lots of different ways to write your way through history, but if you are working on fiction it can be tempting to throw caution to the wind and ditch historical accuracy in favour of a heap of artistic license so that your plot can move along in the way you want it to. Does it really matter if my femme fatale is wearing nylons pre 1940? 

Who cares if I shift the date of that war by a year or two so I don’t have to weave in details of a battle that will detract from the mystery? Readers do!  A little historical accuracy goes a long way when creating a believable story that feels authentic to its setting. Research is as important for fiction as it is for non-fiction. So, by now you might be wondering how I tackled the twenties in my own novel.

Let me start with a little confession. I didn’t intend to write a historical novel. I just sat down and started to write a story that intrigued me, featuring characters that appealed to me. I didn’t plan to set it in 1927, but that became my chosen year. The Doctor’s Daughter travels through Vienna, Budapest and London. Did I know that’s where it would take me when I started? Not at all!

I know that is not the way all writers approach their work, but I can only talk about my own journey from first paragraph through to final draft. I may not have started with much of a plan, but once I got going I most certainly wanted to ensure that I did everything I could to keep the reader in my historical world. One outdated slang word or use of a modern medicine and I knew I would pop the bubble and my readers would tumble right out of the pages.

What I lacked in the planning, I made up for in the writing, reading, redrafting and rereading later. For the locations, I spent hours researching the cities my characters passed through. I tried to ensure that any landmarks, important buildings and street names existed, or were at least based on similar ones. It wouldn’t do at all to mention a library or a hotel that had been built in the last 50 years! The flora and fauna too, the food and even the dining habits of people at that time. All vital if I were to create authentic scenes.

As for the timing, I had to consider the literature, communication methods, education system, transport, clothing, social context and so much more. It would have been easy to ramble through a bunch of roaring twenties clichés, but my story is very much driven by character. Marta, Elise, Leopold and Arnold are living in the late 1920s, but they are also human beings affected by their experiences and bearing flaws that still resonate in people’s lives today. 

Whilst there is a sprinkling of speakeasy culture, The Doctor’s Daughter is no Gatsby. My characters are imaginings of real people with hopes and dreams, doubts and fears, highs and lows. They can be both warm and austere. They cry, they suffer, they hurt and get hurt, they have compulsions and dark secrets. They are the best of people and the worst of people.

It took almost as long to research as it did to write it, and I hope the reader’s experience will be richer for it. Thanks so much Tony for inviting me to write this post for you, I could talk about writing for hours so it’s nice to be able to share at least some of my thoughts with your audience.

Vanessa Matthews 

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About the Author 

Vanessa Matthews has been writing since her teens and has had feature articles printed in the national media. In 2012 she started a 30-day writing and blogging challenge during which she won two poetry contests. Vanessa lives in Cornwall, England with her husband and four children. Find out more at Vanessa's website and find her on Twitter @VanessaMatthews.