Don't Look Behind You by Mel Sherratt - Blog Tour Review

Today I am super excited to be part of the blog tour for Don't Look Behind You by Mel Sherratt! 

Don't Look Behind You 

She got into bed but sleep didn’t come easily. Every creak in the house made her alert. She was waiting for him to come and get her. 

The small city of Stockleigh is in shock as three women are brutally attacked within days of each other. Are they random acts of violence or is there a link between the victims? For Detective Eden Berrisford, it’s her most chilling case yet. 

The investigation leads Eden to cross paths with Carla, a woman trying to rebuild her life after her marriage to a cruel and abusive man ended in unimaginable tragedy. Her husband Ryan was imprisoned for his crimes but, now he’s out and coming for her. 

As Eden starts to close in on the attacker, she also puts herself in grave danger. Can she stop him before he strikes again? And can Carla, terrified for her life, save herself - before the past wreaks a terrible revenge? 

My Review

This book had me on tenterhooks pretty much the entire way through and I spent a lot of time looking behind me, even in my own home! 

Don't Look Behind You covers some very important and sensitive topics in domestic violence and rape. I feel like they are covered very sympathetically without sugar coating anything. Mel Sherratt doesn't shy away from showing the horror and the aftermath for both the victim and the authorities that deal with them. 

I really enjoyed the character of Eden Berrisford and I loved her relationship both with her family and her work colleagues. She's definitely a tough cookie with a soft side and she was quite easy to relate to. Carla is also a pretty interesting character  and you really feel her pain after everything she has gone through and her fear is contagious as you learn more about her past and then all the things that start happening in the present. 

I thought the mixture of a main story running through the book with a couple of different smaller stories worked and they were balanced really well so they all had a relevant amount of time and you weren't left wondering and waiting for too long. 

Don't Look Behind You is the second book in the series, you can read it as a stand alone though there are some references to what happened in the first book. I have read this book first and it hasn't taken away my excitement to go back and read the first book and find out everything that happened there. 

I really thoroughly enjoyed Don't Look behind You and I definitely looking forward to more books in the Eden Berrisford series, 

I gave this book 5 stars.

To Connect With Mel Sherratt

www.melsherratt.co.uk or Twitter at @writermels 

To Get Your Own Copy Of Don't Look Behind You 

UK: http://amzn.to/2fZ5tXB 

US: http://amzn.to/2gGLY7h

About The Author 

Mel Sherratt writes gritty crime dramas, psychological suspense and fiction with a punch – or grit-lit, as she calls it. Shortlisted for the CWA (Crime Writer’s Association) Dagger in the Library Award 2014, she finds inspiration from authors such as Martina Cole, Lynda la Plante and Elizabeth Haynes. Since 2012, all nine of her crime novels have been bestsellers. Four of her books are published by Amazon Publishing’s crime and thriller imprint, Thomas & Mercer and she has a new series out with Bookouture.

Mel lives in Stoke-on-Trent, with her husband and terrier, Dexter, named after the TV serial killer, and makes liberal use of her hometown as a backdrop for some of her books.

Don't Forget To Check Out The Rest Of The Tour

The Baby Auction by Peter Taylor-Gooby - Review

I am on a mission to catch up on my reviews and I read The Baby Auction by Peter Taylor-Gooby all the way back at the beginning of December so it's definitely about time that I get my thoughts about it on my blog.

The Baby Auction

Auctioning babies makes sense, at least that’s what Market World thinks. After all the baby goes to someone who can give them a good start in life, and the parents get a return for their pain and trouble. 
For Ed and Matt, the Baby Auction sums up everything that’s wrong with a society based on profit. Then one day Matt rescues a drowning child and they face the question: can love and compassion overcome the harsh laws of Market World?

My Review

I didn't know what to expect when I picked up The Baby Auction as the title is quite shocking. It definitely fits the tone and dystopian feel of the story though and it is even scarier than it sounds when you realise just how easily the world could head in the same direction. 

I think the world building is done extremely well and it was very easy to picture the Market World and the Broken Lands as they are depicted by the authority in power. The Market World is run under the One Law and this promotes Property, Equality, Dignity and Trade. It's very reminiscent of a modern day 1984 and has a lot of the same themes which I thoroughly enjoyed. 

The characters are all really fleshed out and represent both ends of the kaleidoscope as Matt and Ed are both from the lowest levels of society, while Dain and Anna are the up and coming and rich top level. I thought the relationship between Matt and Ed felt a little forced to me, but they got together under circumstances that you just can't imagine, so it's not my place to judge what people in that situation should feel.  Dain and Anna's relationship however I found incredibly sweet and I was routing for them so hard throughout the story. It did help that I completely and utterly fell in love with Dain! He slowly broke down my barriers as I got to know him and by the end I loved his character. 

The story itself is very strong and I loved the politics and revolutionary talk throughout, showing that if people can come together then they can succeed against all odds. 

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed The Baby Auction and I look forward to reading more by Peter Taylor-Gooby. 

I gave this book 4 stars. 

About The Author 

I was lucky enough to have Peter Taylor-Gooby on my Getting To Know... feature if you want to read more about him check here!

My novels deal with how people live their lives in a diverse globalised capitalist world. In 'Ardent Justice', Ade struggles against the corruption of the City of London, where high finance and street homelessness flourish cheek by jowl. In ‘The Baby Auction’ Ed and Matt struggle to lead a passionate, humane and generous life in a world dominated by the market.
In my day job I'm an academic. My research shows how market capitalism generates inequalities between haves and have-nots and promotes a corrosive individualism that stunts our capacity for empathy, charity and love.
I enjoy hill-walking, riding my bike, holidays and looking after my grand-daughter (not in that order). I became interested in social policy issues after working on adventure playgrounds, teaching, claiming benefits and working in a social security office in Newcastle. I’ve worked in the UK, most European countries, Canada, the US, China, Korea and Japan, Australia and South Africa.

Getting To Know... Peta Rainford

Peta and Archie (Photo Credit: Kelly Murdoch)

Today on Getting To Know... I am happy to welcome children's author and illustrator Peta Rainford. 

You write children's books, what is it that draws you to this genre?

I suspect like a lot of authors who write for children, I started when my own daughter was small, because I wanted to write for her and, to some extent, about her. I relate to kids, particularly their humour (that’s a sensible way of saying I like daft jokes) and I feel very comfortable writing in this genre. I find I have plenty to say!

When you're writing do you have a set routine or schedule that you like to follow?

I wish! Like most writers, I have to fit my writing around the Rest of Life, including other book-related activities such as marketing and school visits. I tend to sit down on a Monday and plan my week on a sheet of A4 (I am incurably low-tech!). Although my scheduling is pretty chaotic, I do try to have some writing and/or illustration time every weekday, depending what phase of a book I’m on – if I’m lucky it’s a whole day, but it may be just an hour. And I don’t always manage it.

Do you have a favourite character that you have created so far?

I suppose it has to be Fizzy in Hairy Fairy. The fairy who is very much her own little person, who ‘doesn’t think like others think, prefers blue wings to standard pink’, bears a more than passing resemblance to my own daughter (though I wouldn’t dare admit that to her face!)

To be honest, my other three books aren’t so character-driven. The leading characters are more cyphers for the plot – though I do have a sneaking regard for the evil cat Blot in the two Isabella books and I am quite fond of the exuberant Billy Bonkers in Jamie and the Joke Factory.

Do you remember your favourite book as a child?

I don’t really remember one favourite book. I loved the Paddington stories which my Dad used to read to me, because they were funny and we laughed at them together. I liked a bit of drama too: I can remember loving Carrie’s War by Nina Bawden and When Marnie Was There by Joan G Robinson.

When you're not writing and illustrating what would we find you doing?

Apart from family stuff? I have been a school governor for nearly four years which is a fascinating (unpaid) job that takes up much more of my time than I ever imagined when I took it on. Otherwise, you might find me on the tennis court, or on the beach, walking my hairy Jack Russell Terrier (and muse), Archie.

As you both illustrate and write your stories, which comes first when you're creating a new character, the image or the writing?

Although each of my books has evolved slightly differently, I generally concentrate on the words first. That said, I never work on the words in isolation; I am always planning the illustrations as I write, in my head, if not always on paper. This was particularly important when I was writing Isabelle Rotten Speller as I was creating a world and people made out of letters, so I had to have a pretty good idea how that would look in order to be able to describe it.

The words and pictures feed off each other. Quite often I will be illustrating a section of text and the way the picture develops will prompt me to go back and rewrite the words.

In Isabella there are things that only adults will pick up on - the Alice In Wonderland theme for example - is this a conscious decision to include things for parents?

Yes and no. Going back to your first question, another of the inspirations for me to write my own children’s books were the books I was reading with my daughter. Some of them were inspirational in their own right (step forward Lauren Child, Judith Kerr, Oliver Jeffers, Julia Donaldson and Axel Sheffler), but others were just SO BORING! I do think it is important that if you are writing books for adults and children to share, there should be something in there for those doing the reading, as well as those being read to.

I want my stories to have lots of layers – hidden jokes and narratives – in the words and the pictures. But I don’t put some bits in for adults and some bits in for kids. They are just extra details and ideas for anyone to find.

The Alice In Wonderland theme just evolved naturally as part of the story: I knew I wanted to reintroduce the character of the cat Blot, who had featured in Isabella Rotten Speller, and I had the idea of having glimpses of him appearing in the pictures long before he was mentioned in the text. It occurred to me he would be a bit like the Cheshire Cat and the Alice In Wonderland theme grew from there.

Funnily enough, as soon as my eight-year-old saw the picture of the White Rabbit, she said it was like Alice In Wonderland – she hasn’t read the book, but she has seen the Disney film!

If you could give younger you any advice about your writing journey, what would it be?

Probably: ‘Just get on with it’. Though, actually, I don’t think I could have started writing children’s books much sooner than I did. I think I needed to be a parent.

Do you have a favourite author?

I don’t think I do. I like lots of different books and lots of different authors. If you narrowed the question down to my favourite author of children’s picture books though, I would probably come back to Julia Donaldson. I love the cleverness of her best books and the precision of her rhyme.

What can we look forward to from you next?

Well, I’m currently working on a longer chapter book for children, probably between the ages of 8 and 12. This one’s much more about the words – around 30,000 of them, compared with my usual 800 – although it will have some black and white illustrations. I hope to finish the first draft of that in the next month or so and then, while I’m tidying that up, I plan to start on my next rhyming picture book. So 2017 is shaping up to be pretty busy!

Thank you so much for inviting me to take part in your Getting To Know… feature. I really liked your questions. As an author, I think it’s really useful to be asked why you do what you do; I think it helps develop the writing process – and you’re sometime surprised by your own answers!

Thank you so much to Peta for joining me today and answering my questions.

To Connect With Peta Rainford

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/dogpigeon/?fref=ts

Twitter - @PetaRainford

Website - http://www.dogpigeon.co.uk/

Check out my review of Isabella here

Isabella's Adventures In Numberland

Isabella is back for her second adventure! In this colourful, rhyming picture book, the accident-prone little witch falls through a hole in the ground and lands in Numberland – a place where nothing quite adds up (because all the numbers have disappeared!) 
She makes new friends, encounters an old enemy and, though the odds are against her, finally saves the day. YOU CAN COUNT ON ISABELLA!

Readers of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland will see some parallels between Isabella’s Adventures in Numberland and that wonderful, crazy children’s classic.

Fans of Isabella’s first adventure, Isabella, Rotten Speller, published by Peta Rainford in 2014, will also love Isabella’s Adventures in Numberland. Peta Rainford has created a book that buzzes with vibrant, amusing pictures and interesting, funny, rhyming words. 

This book will encourage young children to think about the importance of numbers and how numbers are used in our everyday lives, while at the same time being very, very silly! 

A useful tool for parents and teachers and a fun story for early readers and younger children who enjoy being read to.

(Photo Credit: Kelly Murdoch)

Getting To Know... Ross Sayers

Today I welcome to Getting To Know... the wonderful Ross Sayers, debut author of Mary's The Name which was published on the 30th of January 2017.

Mary's The Name is a particularly emotional contemporary read, what was it that draws you to this genre?

I didn't really set out to write in any sort of genre, to be honest. I knew I wanted to tell a story about a wee girl and her granpa and see where it took me! When I first finished the book, I was telling early readers how much humour I'd put in and how they'd be chuckling away at what Mary has to say. I didn't expect so many to tell me they were in tears at the end! This reaction has been very touching though, as it shows how much readers have connected with Mary. It's a huge compliment when readers engage this much with your characters.

When you're writing do you have a set routine or schedule that you like to follow?

For 'Mary's the Name', I was fortunate enough to be able to focus all my time on it. A 9-5 type thing. I used it as my dissertation for my Masters, so I had all summer to write it. I doubt I'll have this luxury again, so now I just write where I can find time. I do like to have the radio on when I write though, Radio X being my station of choice.

Do you have a favourite character that you have written so far?

It may sound obvious, but Mary, definitely. She's such a kind character, and I loved seeing things through her eyes. I still do it! I see a news story and I think, Mary would have something funny to say about that.

Have you always known that you wanted to be an author?

It's always been a dream of mine. I even wrote it in my Primary school yearbook. I didn't pursue it through high school and most of Uni, but when I took creative writing modules, my passion for it came back. It still feels strange when someone refers to me as an author though.

When you're not writing what would we find you doing?

Well, as a writer, my top answer has to be reading of course! But I also like to go to the gym, play poker with friends, or watch my team Arsenal play (this isn't always enjoyable...). I'm a huge music fan too, and my musical hero is Brian Fallon, who I was lucky enough to see twice last year.

Your short story "Dancin" is used as part of the West College of Scotland's Higher English course, can you tell us how this came about and how you felt about that?

It's a funny story. A girl contacted me through Twitter and asked for the story. When I asked why, she said she needed it to finish her essay and it couldn't wait! Huge surprise for me. I contacted the teacher of the class and she told me she read it in the magazine Quotidian (great magazine, look it up!) and thought it would fit well with her class. Since then, it's continued to be used, and the teacher, Mrs Fiona Wallace, always lets me know when the new batch read (and hopefully enjoy) it!

Having written both short stories and a novel, do you have a preference over which you write?

Both have their advantages, but I really enjoyed getting immersed in the long narrative of 'Mary's the Name'. It's a lot of work, but when readers respond to the story and the characters, it makes all the months of writing worth it. I'm looking forward to getting back into this process.

As part of your promotion for Mary's The Name, you used Tinder (I had to google what this was!) You wrote a great post about it, but what can we now look forward to when you're promoting future works?

Thank you! I feel I may have set the bar too high with quirky promotion ideas now! I don't have anything crazy in mind right now, but as I've shown, I'm not embarrassed to try anything. Tinder's worked well for me so far, I'm sure I could fire it up again for the next novel...

Do you have a favourite author?

I don't think I could pick just one. In terms of Scottish authors, I admire James Kelman and Ali Smith. Outside of Scotland, Patrick deWitt is my new favourite!

I know Mary's The Name is only just being published, but what can we look forward to from you next?

I'm currently putting together the plot of novel number two. I don't want to say too much, but I'm hoping to set in my hometown of Stirling. A couple of schoolboys may feature, getting mixed up in something dodgy when they should be at school!

Thank you so much to Ross for joining me today and look forward to  a review of Mary's The Name coming up on Life Of A Nerdish Mum soon!

To Connect With Ross Sayer

Twitter - @Sayers33

Facebook - Ross Sayers

Website - http://www.rosssayers.co.uk/

An eight-year-old girl and her granpa are on the run…

“When me and Granpa watched James Bond films, he told me not to be scared because people didn’t have guns like that in Scotland. That must’ve been why the robbers used hammers.”

Orphaned Mary lives with her granpa, but after he is mixed up in a robbery at the bookies where he works, they flee to the Isle of Skye. Gradually, Mary realises that her granpa is involved. And the robbers are coming after him–and their money.

Mary’s quirky outlook on life, loss, and her love of all things Elvis, will capture your heart. Full of witty Scots banter, Mary’s the Name will have you reaching for the hankies, first with laughter, then with tears.

Heart-warming and heart-breaking, this darkly comic debut is from a fresh voice set to become Scotland’s answer to Roddy Doyle.

The Wolf Of Dorian Gray by Brian S. Ference - Review

Re-tellings are really popular at the minute and I'm enjoying quite a few of them. When I was given the opportunity to review The Wolf Of Dorian Gray I jumped at the chance as the idea intrigued me. 

The Wolf Of Dorian Gray 

"There on my desk is the first passionate love-letter which I have ever composed in my life—and it is addressed to a dead girl."

What will happen when the wolf comes to London? Can Dorian save his soul? Or will the beast consume it and his life, along with those of his friends and loved ones?

”The engorged moon hung full and low in the sky like a yellow skull. Misshapen clouds stretched across the floating orb with elongated hands and bony fingers grasping. As they neared the docks, the gas lamps grew fewer and the streets gloomier. The cobblestones blackened as they passed the deserted Brickfields. Bottle-shaped kilns spat their outrage with orange tongues of fire into the cooling air. Mangy dogs snarled in hunger and wandering sea-gulls screamed their displeasure at the hansom’s passage.”

This expanded edition of the classic philosophical fiction by Oscar Wilde, features all-new scenes in a compelling tale of love, lust, and the werewolf spawned by the evil of man. The story, set in late 1800’s England, follows the life of Dorian Gray, who through ancient Romani magic’s and the skills of an astonishing artist has had his fate and soul irrevocably linked with the last remaining wolf in the forests of England. Dorian revels in the experiences of first love, delights in the art and beauty of the world, relishes the freedom of his youth, and is awakened to the many pleasures of life. His friend and mentor, Lady Helena, provides a guiding hand as he struggles with his conscience and the purpose of living. Meanwhile, the wolf begins to grow and change into a hideous monster that is ravaging the countryside.

"The wolf had begun hunting human prey. They were plentiful in the dark city streets and provided enough good meat to satiate his gnawing hunger. He was still very careful not to let any who saw him live. To do otherwise would displease the Master. He would only stalk those people that were foolish enough to walk alone in the night."

My Review

It's been years since I read The Picture Of Dorian Gray but I do remember the basic story and The Wolf Of Dorian Gray seems to follow the original with some gender bending of characters and the obvious introduction of the Werewolf. 

I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked this up and I thought it would either be really good or really bad. I was pleased that it turned out to be the former. The original story is great anyway but the new scenes and changes have been done very sympathetically and so you the two authors work fits together seamlessly. 

I really enjoyed the character of Dorian Gray and I enjoyed watching his descent into depravity and perversity culminating in one particularly horrendous crime. It was fascinating the corresponding effect his crimes and behaviour had on the wolf and the painting. I thought it was really well thought out how the wolf became more of a wolf/monster/human hybrid as time went out, it was actually quite terrifying how it was described and the attacks it was committing with an incredible intelligence. 

The story shows how meeting just one person can change the course of your destiny for good or in this case for the bad. 

I would have liked to have seen more of both Sage and Lady Helena as they are both interesting characters in their own right and in extremely different ways. I really enjoyed that they were changed from the original male characters into female as I thought their friendships with Dorian took on another dimension. 

The only thing that didn't sit right with me is probably a problem with me rather than the writing, but I didn't like the use of measurements when describing things. Instead of saying someone was six foot tall, the height would be given in centimetres etc and I found it awkward to read. 

The Wolf Of Dorian Gray can be read as a stand alone, but the author has left an epilogue which totally whets your appetite for the second book which I believe might be out later this year. 

Overall a really enjoyable read and I am looking forward to re-reading the original at some point in the near future. 

I gave this book 4.5 Stars, 

About The Author

BRIAN S. FERENCE lives in Cave Creek, Arizona with his wife Rachel and two children Nathan and Lena. He has always had a passion for reading and writing from a young age. Brian loves new experiences, which has included operating his own company, travelling the world, working as a project manager, diving with sharks, and anything creative or fun. He is always up for a new adventure such as writing or other artistic pursuits.

His first book is titled: The Wolf of Dorian Gray: A Werewolf Spawned by the Evil of Man. You can learn more about book two in The Wolf of Dorian Gray series: Purgatory of the Werewolf, as well as any other upcoming books or projects at http://brianference.com or http://thewolfofdoriangray.com.

Getting To Know... Carol Cooper

Today on Getting To Know... I welcome the very talented and very lovely Carol Cooper, author of Hampstead Fever and One Night at the Jacaranda.

Your most recent novel, Hampstead Fever, follows the lives of six Londoners that are all intertwined. What was the inspiration behind this story?

The novel came out of the characters I had made up, who are six very different people, all of them approaching 40. I love hot summers, but I’m aware that emotions can reach boiling point, so I thought I’d write about how a heatwave affects their lives, and makes them do things they shouldn’t. The action takes place in Hampstead, where I live. While it’s an upmarket and very picturesque part of London, the area means subtly different things to each of the people in the book.

The novels you write are contemporary, what is it that draws you to this genre?

I think it is the perfect genre for creating a world that readers can relate to. I write with an eye on the everyday, which includes modern dilemmas like being a single parent and a working mum, coping with ailing relatives, today’s competitive job market, the role of the media, and the challenges facing Britain’s health service.  Having said that, the aim of the book is to entertain, not to contemplate solutions to these problems.

When you're writing do you have a set routine or schedule that you like to follow?

Sadly not. Although I’m driven to write, many things crop up needing instant attention. For example, I write expert comments for The Sun newspaper. It’s a great forum for any writer, and I love the chance of saying my piece on the health story of the day, whether it’s a radiation spill or a celeb’s liposuction. The downside is that it’s often at short notice.

Do you have a favourite character that you have written so far?

I like almost all my characters, and I have an affinity for Karen, a single mum of four, as well as for Geoff, a stressed doctor, but my softest spot is reserved for Dan. He’s out of jail following wrongful imprisonment, and determined to go up in the world. Neither educated nor articulate, he tries hard to make up for it by reading widely and working hard. He’s now got a job in the kitchen of a trendy new Hampstead eatery, and he’s living with the woman of his dreams and their baby, but it’s not all plain sailing.

When you're not writing what would we find you doing?

I got remarried three years ago, so you’ll find me spending time with my husband. And, like every writer, I also love reading.

You are also a doctor and have written health books, firstly how on earth do you find the time and secondly what made you decide to make the jump to writing fiction?

Well, here’s my secret: I now do everything part-time. It would be impossible otherwise. As for what triggered the jump to fiction-writing, I think the desire has always been there. I first tried to write a novel when I was at university, but that didn’t get very far because I knew nothing about the world at the time, except maybe how to pass exams. I do love health journalism, as well as writing non-fiction books, but with novels there’s a chance, with luck, to create something that’s lasting. We’re still reading good books published 20, 50, and even over 100 years ago, while non-fiction books are more ephemeral.

Having taken a look at your non-fiction books, you have written a lot about pregnancy, birth and the early years. What made you decide to specialise in this area?

As a family doctor, I’ve looked after a lot of pregnant women and their babies, so this is an area I know about from the professional viewpoint. Then I had three children in under three years (my second pregnancy was twins), so I figured I’d mastered Parenting 101 and could add my experience to my medical expertise, creating useful and realistic guides on child health and the like.  Of course, nobody ever has parenting taped.  You go on learning new things about family relationships until you drop off your perch.

Do you have a favourite author?

That would be Kate Atkinson, though I also love Tony Parsons, Maggie O’Farrell, and the ever-witty Howard Jacobson.

If you could give the younger you any advice about your writing journey, what would it be?

Be yourself. As the saying goes, everyone else is taken already. It takes time to evolve your own voice as an author, so the best thing is just to keep writing and make it as good as it can be. I’d also tell myself that, unlike climbing a mountain, with novel-writing there’s no such thing as arriving. Each book is as good as I can make it at the time, but the whole writing game is a process of learning and discovery. If it weren’t, it might become very dull.

What can we look forward to next from you?

I’m working on another novel that takes some of the characters from Hampstead Fever into new adventures. There’s also going to be a novel mostly set in Egypt. I grew up in Alexandria, a cosmopolitan world that remains fresh in my mind.

Thank you so much to Carol For taking the time to answer my questions, it's been a pleasure!

To Connect With Carol Cooper

Twitter - @DrCarolCooper

Facebook - Carol Cooper’s London Novels https://www.facebook.com/onenightatthejacaranda/

Blog - Pills and Pillow-Talk https://pillsandpillowtalk.com/

Pinterest - DrCarolCooper https://uk.pinterest.com/drcarolcooper/

Hampstead Fever

It is high summer in London and trouble is brewing.

Chef Dan should be blissfully happy. He has the woman of his dreams and a job in a trendy Hampstead bistro. But his over-anxious partner, engrossed in their baby, has no time for him.

Stressed doctor Geoff finds solace in the arms of a mercurial actress. Journalist Harriet’s long-term relationship with Sanjay hits the buffers, leaving each of them with serious questions to answer. Meanwhile single mother of four Karen lacks the appetite for a suitable relationship.

Passion and panic rise in the heatwave. Who can spot the danger signs?

Available in bookstores and online from Amazon and other retailers.

Amazon link http://mybook.to/HF

Author Bio:

Carol Cooper is a doctor, journalist and novelist. She writes for The Sun newspaper, broadcasts on TV and radio, and has a string of non-fiction books to her name including an award-winning textbook of medicine. In 2013 she turned to contemporary fiction with her debut novel One Night at the Jacaranda. Her latest title is Hampstead Fever.

Getting To Know... Tina Hartas Of TripFiction

Today I am really excited to welcome Tina Hartas of the wonderful website, TripFiction, to answer questions for Getting To Know...

Your website, TripFiction, is designed so that you can find books set in pretty much whichever location in the world you can think of. What inspired you to set this up?

A good question! I have always tended to choose books that are set in the country to which I am travelling. It was never really a conscious thing until I went to Bangkok, where I happened by chance to choose a novel set in the city. Contrasting the book and the city made for an amazing experience.

Then on to Vienna and the only book I could actually find, which was set there, was The Fig Eater by Jody Shields. That was an excellent choice, very atmospheric of the city at the turn of the 20th Century, it gave a feel of past history and I found it still resonated today, lending insight and understanding into the multitude of historical buildings around the city, as well as the city layout. On my return, I did a little research and found that actually there are many books set there but it was hit and miss whether they were easy to find. And bingo, one day a few weeks later, over a glass of wine naturally (and it was Austrian wine we had brought back!) TripFiction started to become a reality.

We were aiming for a site where books could be collated, reviewed, and all were strong on location, we wanted to build a resource for both actual and armchair travellers. It was spurred on by a vision of a community where like-minded people could come together to share books, indeed add books and reviews, and suggest some of the ace titles that perhaps aren’t so widely known that will transport you to a given place – via a good storyline, of course.

Have you always been a big reader or is it something that has come about as you became an adult?

I have always read. We were a household of books. My best friend’s mother was a writer – Kamala Markandaya - who firmly set her novels in her own culture and country of India, and perhaps it was through reading her novels that my subconscious interest in learning about cultures, people, customs and places first started.

When you're not reading, what would we find you doing?

The admin side of TripFiction is growing apace, so that takes up a lot of time. We often burn the midnight oil. Mastering Social Media is proving to be a real challenge, though a rewarding one – for the most part! Researching new books to add takes time but people are now adding books to the site (anyone is welcome to suggest titles and add reviews)… and so it goes on. But otherwise I work as a couple counselor and psychosexual therapist. And travel is a great joy in my life, which probably doesn’t come as a surprise!

Do you have a favourite place that you have visited?

That is a very hard question. I guess I am drawn to Asia, I like the culture and cuisine. Southern India is next on the list, because we had such a great trip last year to Rajasthan. I really enjoy travelling to Europe, which is so much more accessible thanks to carriers like EasyJet. My next European trip will be to Berlin and Warsaw and I would also like to see Dresden.

This year TripFiction has started it's own YouTube channel, have you enjoyed using a different medium to discuss location in books?

It is a service we like to offer to authors. If an author has a video where s/he talks about the setting of their book, then we love for people to add their videos. I have stuck my toe in the water, but it is going to take a lot more practice and courage!

Bookmark, random piece of paper or dog ear?

I am a neat reader, without a doubt. I am definitely a bookmark kind of person, always. I can’t bear to see tattered books, all crinkly with water damage. I trained as a paper conservator way back, so I feel drawn to paper and its preservation. I can find myself recoiling when I see cracked spines, dog-eared pages and water-damaged covers….

How many books do you read in a year? Do you set yourself an annual goal?

I never set a goal. That would turn something that is a pleasure into a chore. At the moment we can combine work and pleasure, how often do you hear people say that?. When I see all the reading challenges on sites like Good Reads I really do wonder why people do it, there is more than enough pressure in everyday life without adding to it!

I have come to realize that I am still quite a slow reader. I enjoy seeing how an author puts a book together, so I don’t like to skim read too often. But there is a time and place for a bit of super fast reading and I can do it when I have to… but it’s not my natural style.

Do you have any advice about location for anyone writing a novel?

I can only speak from the perspective of a reader and someone who enjoys experiencing a location through literature. I recently read a book set in Dubai, which I thought evoked the city quite well. I passed it to a friend who lives there, who spotted the inaccuracies and found that quite frustrating.

I guess you would need to visit your chosen locale to get an accurate geographical sense, but there is so much more to it than that – the sense of place and people is something you can only experience when you are there, talking to locals, observing street life, seein how people talk to each other, it’s not something you can make up from the comfort of your desk. And converting that ethereal “feel” for any given place is surely key (it’s surely also an excuse to travel!)

Do you have a favourite author?

I always find this a difficult question. I tend to have a rolling list of authors and will often add new ones to the list and re-connect with past favourites. I have recently picked up with the work of Rose Tremain, through her most recent novel “The Gustav Sonata” (shortlisted for the Costa Book Awards, one of my favourite reads of 2016). I got back into reading Lesley Downer, who, writes books set in Japan, and I took one of her earlier works on a trip to Japan several years ago (way before TripFiction) – her current book The Shogun’s Queen reignited my pleasure. Gill Paul is always an interesting writer and has used Rome, Turkey and most recently Russia as settings for her novels. I am very much looking forward to reading Dinah Jefferies new book Before the Rains, set in Rajasthan and it will no doubt transport me back to the trip we made there last year.  On the TBR pile I am particularly looking forward to trying Guinevere Glasfurd’s The Words in my Hand set in 17th Century Amsterdam and shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award. And many more novels sitting on my desk just to my left as I write… there are so many good novels that simply never get the accolades they deserve, so we are committed to doing our very small bit to help get them out there.

What can we look forward to in the future from TripFiction?

That’s a big question! TripFiction/Movies is something that keeps popping up, but for that we would need to find major funding; just think, though, of the range of films that wonderfully transport you to a given location!

I guess our main aim for the foreseeable future is to have the community drive the site – we researched the first 5000 books, added individually all the books we could find that were strong on locale, and we need our followers now to flag and add new books as they come along that they think are strong on locale and worth shouting about.

More author chats, location features and a bit more travel-oriented features. Watch this space!  

Thank you so much to Tina for answering my questions and joining me today, I look forward to more from TripFiction!

To Connect With Tina Hartas

Website - http://www.tripfiction.com/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/TripFiction.literarywanderlust/?fref=ts
Twitter - @TripFiction