books – Page 5 – Anne-Marie Ormsby

Behind the Book : The Girl in the Gallery

Published on November 27, 2017November 27, 2017 by Anne-Marie Ormsby1 Comment

Girl in the Gallery

I was drawn to this book by Alice Castle as I was aware that it was set in Dulwich, as was her last book ‘Death in Dulwich’. Being as I used to frequent the area when I lived in Peckham I was instantly snared, I love reading books set in London as I find it so much easier to get into stories when I know the setting well. London and a murder mystery – my ideal book – lucky for me Alice agreed to discuss her book ahead of its release on 19th December.

Tell us what your latest book is about

Hi Anne-Marie, thanks so much for hosting me! My latest book, The Girl in the Gallery, is a cozy crime murder mystery with a dash of romance. It’s set in the very beautiful Dulwich Picture Gallery, open to the public for 200 years this year. The book opens when my single mum amateur sleuth, Beth Haldane, stumbles on a terrifying new exhibit when she pops into the gallery before work. It’s the second in my London Murder Mysteries series, the first, Death in Dulwich, was published earlier this year, but you can read either as stand alone stories.

Did anything specific inspire the storyline?

My storyline is inspired by Dulwich Picture Gallery itself – it’s stuffed with amazing art, and the building itself is very unusual. At its heart is a mausoleum, containing the dead bodies of the original collectors in marble coffins, on display to the public. Weird and quite creepy! I have always thought it would be a brilliant location for a murder mystery.

Tell us more about Dulwich and any other London locations you use, do they hold meaning?

I love Dulwich. I lived there for four years, after returning from nearly a decade in Belgium. I found the area, and the people, really welcoming. I am repaying them by setting a series of grisly murders in their midst, which I really hope they won’t take the wrong way. It is a perfect, village-like setting, where people know everything about each other – or think they do. It’s a modern St Mary Mead, the place where Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple solved unspeakable crimes. I was really thrilled when a reviewer of my first book in the series, Death in Dulwich, said my heroine Beth Haldane was a modern Miss Marple. I’m planning to venture away from Dulwich with other books in the series but, like Beth, I will always have a soft spot for SE21.

Do you have a favourite author?

I have loads – Agatha Christie, of course, then Dorothy L Sayers, Margery Allingham, Ngaio Marsh, PD James, Ruth Rendell, Val McDermid, MC Beaton, Simon Brett… the list goes on. I love whodunits! I do read other books, I’m in a book group and I plod through whatever’s chosen, but I always come back to a nice murder mystery in the end.

What made you want to be a writer?

A teacher at my infants’ school. I can’t even remember her name, but she very kindly praised a sentence I’d written and I thought to myself, ‘this is something I can do.’ Good teachers are so wonderful and not nearly treasured enough.

If you could have a night of drinks and literary discussion with any writers (alive or dead) who would you choose?

Oh, I think Dorothy Parker would be a must, and then Shakespeare might be fun, Jane Austen of course… I think that lot might be daunting enough! I’m sure I wouldn’t open my mouth in that august company, but I’d be taking notes for my next novel, that’s for sure.

Will there be a 3rd instalment for Beth Haldane to solve?

There definitely will be a next installment, I am writing it now. It’s called Calamity in Camberwell and this time, Beth is on the trail of a missing friend, with plenty of obstacles thrown in her way. And she’s giving online dating a try! I’m hoping it will be out by mid-2018. After that, there’ll be plenty more mysteries to solve, if I have my way.

Get yourself over to Amazon now and pre-order The Girl in the Gallery here!

While you are there, grab the first Beth Haldene mystery Death in Dulwich

Alice

Alice Castle

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Behind the Book : The House at Ladywell

Published on November 9, 2017November 9, 2017 by Anne-Marie Ormsby2 Comments

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Continuing my look at authors and the inspiration behind their books – this week I was lucky enough to talk to Nicola Slade about her new book. There’s a touch of the Nicola Slade Pic paranormal at work here and along with a historical mystery, I had to get involved and ask more about the background.

Tell us the basic premise of your novel?

Freya Gibson, PA to Patrick Underwood, a best-selling novelist, inherits an old, run-down house from an unknown elderly relative. She falls in love with the house but waiting for her is an enigmatic letter from Violet, the elderly cousin, telling her that she must ‘restore the balance’ of the house, beginning by reciting a Latin verse. Freya does so, while wondering whether it’s a prayer or a spell.

She learns that Ladywell was known as a place of healing and the house begins to work its magic on her as she discovers family secrets that shake her foundations.

Woven into Freya’s contemporary story are echoes of the family through the ages and although the reader learns why things happened as they did in the past, Freya is unaware of the house’s history.

What or who inspired you to become a writer?

My mother and grandmother were great readers and meals were always quiet as we all ate and read at the same time! I realised when I was very young that books came out of people’s heads and knew that was what I wanted to do.

Are your locations based on a real place? and do the locations hold any real life significance to you?

In this book my fictitious town of Ramalley is based on Romsey, in Hampshire, a bustling market town between Winchester and Southampton and about five miles from where I live, so it’s a place I visit frequently. When I was small I used to visit an aunt who lived not far from the town and I’ve always loved it so I was delighted when we moved to Hampshire back in the 80s.

Did it take a lot of research for your locations and the historical aspect of the story line?

I’m passionate about history so I mostly enlarged on historical events that fascinate me and I had a lot of fun reading up on them. The Lady’s Well – part of the history of the house – was inspired by the font at Mottisfont Abbey, a National Trust property not far away and I had a couple of interesting day trips to check out the Chalice Well at Glastonbury and the Wishing Well at Upwey in Dorset. I blogged about it here .

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There’s a supernatural feel to the story, do you believe in ghosts?

I’d like to! But I’m not sure though I do think some places have a distinct atmosphere. It’s not a spoiler to say that some people can smell flowers in The House at Ladywell even where there’s not a petal in the place!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA The House at Ladywell has legends about hares all through the book – partly because, like so many people, I find hares magical.

What is your favourite genre to read and to write?

I love historical mysteries and have written a cosy mystery series, The Charlotte Richmond Mysteries, set in the 1850s. I don’t like to read anything too gritty or gory and I do like a happy ending!

What are you working on next?

I’ve written the first draft of a cosy mystery set in 1918, actually in the same fictitious town of Ramalley as The House at Ladywell and I’m about to start on the serious revisions.

‘Three sisters struggle to keep the home fires burning but are hampered by wartime shortages, lack of money, demanding lodgers and a difficult mother. As though this isn’t enough, there’s a rumour that their late, unlamented father may not be dead after all and their lives are further inconvenienced by murder!’

Buy your copy of The House at Ladywell here

Facebook Author Page https://www.facebook.com/nicolasladeuk/

Twitter @nicolasladeuk

Website www.nicolaslade.com

Blog www.nicolaslade.wordpress.com

Email Nicola.slade@virgin.net

Pinterest https://www.pinterest.co.uk/nicola8703/the-house-at-ladywell/

Behind the Book: Barnabas Tew and the Case of the Missing Scarab

Published on October 25, 2017 by Anne-Marie OrmsbyLeave a comment

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This book has several elements that drew me in – firstly its set in my home town of London, which is always a plus. Add to that its set in Victorian London, which is even cooler. Then add a Private Detective and Egyptology and there you have the recipe for a brilliant adventure novel! And of course – there being a whole trip to ‘The Land of the Dead’ thing set this firmly on my radar.

The author Columbkill Noonan hails from beautiful Maryland, USA, so I was very excited when she agreed to have a long distance chat with me about her book.

Tell us the basic premise of your novel?

Barnabas Tew is a somewhat neurotic, extremely anxious, and rather particular sort of person. He also happens to be a somewhat sub-standard private detective. Through luck (or misfortune, depending on your perspective!) he is whisked off to the Egyptian afterlife to solve a case for Anubis, the Egyptian god of the dead. Things just keep going wrong from there…

Why did you choose Victorian London and do the locations hold any real life significance to you?

I love historical fiction, and I love London, and everything that is quintessentially British. I’m also fascinated with ancient mythologies, so I figured I’d marry the two.

Did it take a lot of research for your locations and story line?

It did! I spent a lot of time researching the Egyptian gods and goddesses. But I think researching is fun, so it wasn’t really like work at all for me.

If you could have a few drinks and an evening of conversation about the afterlife with any 3 famous figures (alive or dead) who would you pick?

Eleanor of Aquitane, for one. Was she really as much of a pip as history makes her out to be? If so, then I want to hang out with her for sure. Cleopatra, for pretty much the same reasons. And lastly…Genghis Khan. Was he so warlike out of a need to preserve and protect his people from invasions? Or was he just kind of a jerk? I need to know…

Do you believe in an afterlife? What do you think it would be like?

I do believe in an afterlife, and I rather hope that it’s not like the ancient Egyptian idea! I tend to think of it in terms of the Buddhist or Hindu theology, where a person would be reborn until they figure things out and then they can get off the merry-go-round, so to speak. Heaven sounds pretty nice, though. It would be great if that’s how it was. I guess I’ll find out…someday!

What are you working on next?

The sequel to “Barnabas Tew and the Case of the Missing Scarab”, of course! Can’t just leave him hanging. He and Wilfred are off to the Viking afterlife, and they are really in way over their heads this time.

‘Barnabas Tew and the Case of the Missing Scarab’ is published by Crooked Cat Books available in paperback and Kindle.

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Behind the Book ; The Wood Collecting Stag

Published on October 20, 2017October 20, 2017 by Anne-Marie OrmsbyLeave a comment

Books have been a part of my life since I was a child, my parents encouraged me to read from a very young age and it stuck.

Now I have a child myself I found that I have done the same with her, from the fabric books she used to chew as a new baby to the big colourful storybooks she now loves.

So these days I find myself reading as much adult books as I do ‘Meg and Mog’ and ‘The Gruffalo.’

For that reason I thought it would make sense to speak to children’s book author – another world from what I write myself. As strange fate would have it – within weeks of my own book being published, a dear old school friend Hannah Murray, found herself published too. Her book The Wood Collecting Stag is a collection of 6 children’s stories, perfect for ages 3 and up, was based on characters he had created in her craft shop with wool and yarn. So I had a chat with her about how she created the world of Heidigurumi.

Tell us the basic premise of your book?

I’ve always had the stories of the characters in my shop. In my head. I usually am thinking about their personalities and ‘jobs’ when I’m actually making them. My Dad encouraged me to write the stories down. I’ve not had time before (I don’t have time now!!) But I knew I wasn’t getting any younger and I have a vision for Heidigurumi. One I want to leave as a legacy for my children. It’s up to me to try and bring that vision to a reality. I felt the time had come to really put my all into it and try to pull it all together. Books was the next step. Though it was a much bigger step than I anticipated. 1am finishes coupled with 5am starts over the last 2 months have taken their toll on me!

What inspired you to write the book?

Lots of things. But mainly I long for little children to hear the stories I have in my head, to fall asleep thinking of these funny characters going about their business. Just as we do with all our books as kids. The biggest inspiration for me author-wise would be Enid Blyton. I practically read everything by her as a child. The Faraway Tree, The Enchanted Forest, and as I got older, Famous Five, Secret Seven. All these books took me to exciting places.

Have you always wanted to write children’s fiction? Have you written in any other genre’s?

I’m quite childlike minded!! I give voices to animals whenever I see one (even dogs in the street!) My children think I’m bonkers. So in a word, no. I would not contemplate writing a different genre. I have too much stored up in my head to share with children for there to be room for anything else.

You also run an Etsy shop called Heidigurumi, what can you tell me about what you make and sell?

I opened Heidigurumi in November 2009. It’s evolved through the years really. The things I sell are woodland related. I make needle felted characters (a process of sculpting raw unspun wool into solid structures using a single barbed needle). These characters are usually one offs. They can take between a few evenings to a few weeks to make. They also have a character card with them. There is a hand drawn watercolour postcard with all their individual details on. I take custom orders too. As my collection of characters grew, so did the imaginary World they lived in in my head, Heidigurumi became the actual woodland they all lived in alongside each other. Which brought me onto the books I suppose.

I make other bits and pieces, like little crochet birds in hanging nests. They are quite funny. Just all handmade items I make during winter evenings! I’m not a ‘goer outerer’ at all. I’m home every single night. Making things. In fact I’ve had three evenings out in the last three years!

Heidigurumi

What are you working on next?

Next in the pipeline is a book for another character in my shop. Stargazing Badger. He is hilarious. An old badger that spends a lot of time on Stargazer Hill (see map above) he has a notebook he draws the constellations in. He has stories to be told and they are ready, though they are not on paper yet! I’m hoping to have this out by Christmas. It’s the illustrations that take more of the time. Wood Collecting Stag had over 70 hand drawn, watercolour painted pictures (which you can’t see in the paperback but they are all colour painted) and that took forever!! So it’s a daunting prospect to do similar before Christmas for S.Badger. But I’m better under pressure. All the children out there are my motivation.

Buy ‘The Wood Collecting Stag’ on Amazon

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Behind the Book – ‘Oh! What A Pavlova’ by Isabella May

Published on October 13, 2017 by Anne-Marie OrmsbyLeave a comment

I recently had the good fortune to have a chat with author Isabella May about my book Purgatory Hotel. While we were talking I managed to ask a few questions of the lady herself as her new book held an interest for me.

Despite the light-hearted name and appearance of the book, its subject matter of domestic violence is a darker element that has been misrepresented so many times in the past. I was eager to see how she handles it. Plus there’s cake so, you know……

Tell us the basic premise of your novel

It’s a tricky one to condense down into an Elevator Pitch… but here goes:

One woman’s bid to flee her abusive relationship amidst the lure of cake, travel, many an unsuitable man, and the whispering of Glastonbury’s ley lines.

Did you take any inspiration for your story from real life?

I think it’s impossible for reality and fiction NOT to cross at some point. Whilst Kate’s story is fabricated, I have been through Domestic Violence myself, and I had a burning desire to dispel some of the myths that surround it. In particular, the misconception that only the uneducated and working class fall prey to abuse. DV does not discriminate! I also wanted to shine a light on the increasing phenomenon of the victim living two very different lives: one ‘for the cameras’ – ie. friends/family/the office… and the other, the very much darker existence that plays out when the curtains are drawn, the front door locked.

What do you think is the most accurate depiction of domestic violence on film or in a book?

I have yet to come across anything that accurately sums it up in its entirety, and I honestly think that’s because it is virtually impossible to do so. The one thing I have learned is that domestic violence doesn’t discriminate or pigeonhole. No two experiences are ever the same and the contrast from victim to victim is vast, all of which only highlights the need for open-mindedness. My own novel is in no way representative of the average domestic violence experience either. It’s just Kate’s story, but it does serve to life the lid on that all too common assumption: only the uneducated are abused.

What do you think the biggest, most represented myths around domestic violence are?

1: It can only happen to women. Many men are also affected.

2: That it is reserved for those who are poor, uneducated and working class. Anybody from any walk of life can find themselves in this situation.

3: That physical abuse happens on a daily basis. In Kate’s situation (in many situations) it doesn’t. The emotional abuse tends to play out as a daily ritual to grind the victim down. But the physical side of things can be sporadic, often with no ETA, taking the abused by complete surprise when they have let their guard down.
Onto a lighter subject…..Cake is a big theme in the book, what’s your favourite cake?

If I was really pushed to choose, then the classic Victoria Sponge. It’s so hard to beat, especially with fresh whipped cream and a cuppa to cut through it all. But I adore most cake (with the exception of anything from a Clean Eating recipe… or containing chunks of stem ginger!)

Why did you choose the setting you chose, and do the locations hold any real life significance to you?

I had long felt (and still do!) that Glastonbury is under-represented in mainstream fiction. It was high time it took centre stage. As for the other locations, many of them I have visited, and as I adore travel, it was a great way for me to pay homage to some fabulous international cities… and their cake!

Did it take a lot of research for your locations and story line?
I had to jog my memory as to some of the sights, sounds and smells. Pinterest made the perfect place to do that… as well as get sidetracked by its millions of hygge-esque pictures.

I’m intrigued by the mention of Glastonbury ley lines in the synopsis… can you tell me anything about the role they play?

The ley lines are a metaphor really for all of the spiritual signs that Kate collates throughout the story. They get louder and louder as the plot develops. But will she act on their advice? Or will fear and procrastination have its way?

What are you working on next?

My second novel is called The Cocktail Bar. Once again, it is set in Glastonbury and it will be published on 13th February 2018. Here’s a bit of blurb:

Rock star, River Jackson is back in his hometown of Glastonbury to open a cocktail bar… and the locals aren’t impressed.Seductress Georgina is proving too hot to handle, band mate Angelic Alice is messing with his heart and his head, his mum is a hippie-dippy liability, his school friends have resorted to violence – oh, and his band manager, Lennie AND the media are on his trail.But River is armed with a magical Mexican elixir which will change the lives of the Three Chosen Ones. Once the Mexican wave of joy takes a hold of the town, he’s glad he didn’t lose his proverbial bottle.

Pity he hasn’t taken better care of the real one…

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You can get a copy of the book here; Oh! What A Pavlova – in paperback and on Kindle

You can follow Isabella May on her website and social media here:

www.isabellamayauthor.com

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The Long Road : A Writers Journey.

Published on August 4, 2017 by Anne-Marie OrmsbyLeave a comment

Twelve years ago I was living in a different town, married to a different man and living a very different life.

Put simply I was a very unhappy person, afraid to try and get out of an abusive marriage.

But I like to think that despite the dark days, a lot of good came from those very unhappy times, I learned a lot, I became a better person in the years that followed my eventual departure from the relationship and I also wrote a lot of fiction as a way of escaping from the trap I’d got myself into.

One story, which I named ‘Purgatory Hotel’ was a fixation of mine for a long time. It was inspired by a Nick Cave lyric – ‘In God’s hotel, everybody’s got a room.” While that lyric ran around my head I got to thinking about what if the afterlife was a hotel, specifically what if Purgatory – the waiting room – was a hotel? What if you did something really bad and you got sent there, with all the other bad people and you had to repent until you got to check out and go to Heaven?

And so my novel was born, a story about a girl who wakes up in Purgatory and can’t remember how she died or what crime she committed to get sent to the in between world.

I created a whole world, an afterlife of my own imagining, a decrepit old hotel, mouldering out on the edge of forever with a library full of books where everybody’s lives are being written in dusty old books as they happen. The writing stops when the breathing stops.

And my anti-hero, my victim/perpetrator has to read her whole life, each tragedy, each sordid detail, and each terrible decision as part of her punishment until she can remember her awful crime and why she ended up dead. After all you can’t ask for forgiveness when you don’t know what you did wrong.

The main characters, Dakota and Jackson became people to me, their dark hours became mine, and their brief happiness’s a source of joy to me. All this darkness born out of an unhappy life. And looking over my words now I can see the inspiration, the parallels I pulled from my own unhappy existence and placed in a fictional world. Part escapism, part exorcism.

Then twelve years after I first scribbled the ideas out on the back of my payslip envelope, a publisher said yes.

Crooked Cat Books are an indie publishers and they were just one of dozens I submitted my twisted little tale to. Lucky for me, they saw something worth printing.

So this November ‘Purgatory Hotel’ will be published and I feel like at last I can let go of my characters, stop trying to change them and leave them be, let them be who I made them to be.

Writing is hard, not because it’s a mammoth task. For me writing is hard because I don’t know when to stop, I can’t say how many edits I made to the book over the years, how many name changes, how many lines I’ve deleted. There were years when I just totally ignored it and left it behind as though I was over it and would never do anything with it.

I even self-published it under a different name but I knew I was not happy with it yet and pulled it back. All writers are different, all have their own process, my process is to sink deep into that world, write and write and not think too much about it until I go back to re-read it after I’m done. And then I find I need to add more, say more. A line of great significance in the story – “You should know by now, it’s never over.” Might as well have been me talking to myself.

The road from that day where I first scribbled the notes for the novel has been long, but it’s amazing how much life can change in 12 years, I have left the dark corridors of Purgatory behind.

I served my time.

I am glad to say the sun shines brighter these days, I am happily married and I can honestly say I am more grateful than ever for the good things in my life.

Purgatory Hotel will be released through Crooked Cat Books this November.

Behind the Book : The Watcher

Published on June 8, 2017 by Anne-Marie OrmsbyLeave a comment

Having at last found a publisher for one of my own books, I have had the good fortune to find myself in the company of a bunch of great writers lately. Its great to be part of a community of writers sharing ideas and general chat. Its also a great way of finding new books to read!

One of the novels coming out this year is right up my street ; a serial killer on the loose in London with a detective hot on his trail. The Watcher, the debut novel of Eli Carros is being released by Crooked Cat Publishing on 21^st June.

Being a bit of a true crime nut and crime fiction fan and always excited by any London based books, I thought I’d have chat with the author to find out more about what inspired him.

Tell us the basic premise of your novel?

The Watcher is about an obsessive serial killer who stalks his victims before violently attacking them. It takes readers into the mind of a true psychopath, exploring what makes him tick and learning how he became who he became. It’s a novel about alienation, prejudice, abuse, and shame and how formative life experience can tip the balance of an unstable mind. It also takes readers behind the eyes of DI Jack Grayson, who’s been tasked with the unenviable job of stopping a brutal killer who leaves no trace before he strikes again.

Did you take any inspiration for your serial killer from any real life crimes?

The lead antagonist in my novel is a composite character, incorporating traits from real life serial killers I studied and also some fictional and screen creations. Before writing, I made case studies of several serials, including Ted Bundy and the Green River Killer, and I did draw on certain commonalities that I found. Though the actual character I have created has his own, very distinct, and possibly fairly unique motivations for doing what he does.

I’m also an avid crime fiction reader, and a big fan of the novels of the late Ruth Rendell, as well as crime queen Patricia Cornwell, and the books of Mark Billingham, Val Mcdermid, and Leigh Russell, among others. No doubt I have been influenced to some degree by what I’ve read from those amazing authors.

Why did you choose London as a setting and do the locations hold any real life significance to you?

I lived and worked in London for seven years, and also studied journalism there. I love the hum and throb of the place, as well as the tolerance and culture, and it definitely feels like my spiritual home. I don’t live there currently but I want to, and, as soon as I can afford to, I’m moving back there for sure.

Are you a Londoner or did it take a lot of research for your locations?

As I was a Londoner for seven years, while I was there I was able to go to some amazing and very atmospheric locations. The Watcher was actually written while I still lived in London, in fact, one scene of the book in actually set in a café in Old Compton Street that I was writing the book in at the time, though I don’t name the place in my novel. I can tell you now though, it’s Patisserie Valerie, a lovely place where I’ve spend many a wonderful afternoon, people watching.

Crooked Cat are an independent publisher, what can you say about your experience with them so far?

I admire independent publishers like Crooked Cat for the high standards and professionalism in a market that is orientated towards big business. I also think the authors they have in their stable are absolutely amazing, I’ve read some of their talented writers already and am steadily working my way through the rest.

Can we expect more from Chief Inspector Jack Grayson?

I think Grayson will be making a comeback soon, as I’m in the planning stages for my second crime thriller at the moment. This one’s about a very different killer than the one featured in The Watcher, because this one actually wants to stop. The second novel will cover themes of virtual reality and autism, and will contain lots of surprises and twists because I do think those are the some of the best things about reading crime fiction.

The Watcher’s officially released on June 21^st by Crooked Cat Books and is available in e-book and paperback from getbook.at/thewatcher. Readers can stay updated on The Watcher and receive news of bonus content, exclusive competitions, and the online launch party by visiting the facebook page at https://facebook.com/elicarros or Eli’s website at http://www.elicarros.com