Tell us a little about yourself.

I wish there was little of me. But alas. Well, I was born in Essex, so I’m a real Essex girl, although no one believes me. I think the accent got knocked out of me. I use to teach but writing was always my first love. I’ve been writing since I was seven. So when I was able to write full time that was a dream come true. My second husband rekindled the writing bug in me.

 What is your happiest childhood memory?

Trips to Club Row in London with my Dad. It’s a market and they used to sell lots of puppies and kittens. I would spend hours playing with the animals and asking if we could take them home. We never did but they may have had something to do with the fact we already had three cats at home!

When did your writing career begin? What made you decide to write Rom Coms? 

I’ve been writing for many years and published serious novels but they didn’t do very well. One day I had a really bad migraine and I watched ‘The Holiday’ and it occurred to me that maybe people would like a rom com book. A novel that would make you feel good while reading it and also make you laugh. So I had a go and I haven’t looked back.

Where do you get your inspiration from? Is there any other genre which appeals to you as a writer?

I would like to write erotica at some point but not right now as there just isn’t enough time. The honest truth is I don’t really know. The ideas often come to me while in bed and I have to grab my phone and make notes right away. Other times in the car or while chatting to my husband but at other times I could struggle for ideas. So I have learnt to wait until they flow on their own.

You have just returned from holiday.  Is there any part of the world which you haven’t been to and which you would include on your ‘bucket list?’

Yes, there are loads of places. I still want to visit Singapore and Malaysia. Plus I am interested in all places Asian. I love the culture and the people.  I would like to go to Prague at some point and Vietnam which is on the cards for next year I believe. There are just too many places aren’t there?

When you have some chill out time, what kind of books do you read?

I usually read psychological thrillers. I’ve just finished ‘The Mistress’s Revenge’ by Tamar Cohen which was very addictive. It’s the only genre I really enjoy. I have read some crime but I don’t really enjoy them. I like the classics too. I never ever read romantic comedy as it can affect my own writing. And the truth is I don’t really enjoy romances. I always think that rather funny considering I love writing them.

And lastly, you’re hosting a dinner party.  If you could invite five famous people who would they be and why?

Ricky Gervais, because he is so interesting, outspoken and honest. Paul O Grady but as his alter ego Lily Savage as he is so raw and funny and down to earth. Julian Clary because he is just so camp and funny. Salman Rushdie, simply because he is a genius and is so interesting and finally Iris Murdoch, because she is or was the greatest British writer ever and a brilliant philosopher. I knew her husband and was always saddened never to have met her.

LYNDA’S LATEST BOOK, FIFTY SHADES OF ROXY BROWN IS AVAILABLE ON AMAZON   http://amzn.to/1hmtw0e

Bag yourself a great read on Amazon – currently two of Lynda’s e-books -Fifty Shades of Roxy Brown and Pink Wellies and Flat Caps are only  99p

LYNDA’S LINKS:

Facebook author page: http://on.fb.me/1ba7mmf

Twitter: http://bit.ly/1E1jbRu

Webpage www.renham.co.uk

Amazon page: http://amzn.to/IxzzMY

Tuesday Talk will be back next week.  To fill the gap this week (yes I know it’s Wednesday)  I’ve decided to slip in this post, posing the question ‘How much does real life influence your writing?’

From my personal viewpoint the answer is quite considerably. All my books have had a rural backdrop and writing about country life has been easy for me as until the age of 12 I lived in a small Wiltshire village.  Remote and sitting on the edge of Salisbury Plain, a heavy fall of winter snow could cut us off for a week.  With no buses able to run and without a shop, this meant the local farmer had to take his tractor and trailer across the field to collect basic food supplies from the next village.  This was before town dwellers were looking to escape to the country; when several generations of the same family lived in close proximity to each other. For years little had changed.  Seen through my young eyes it was a peaceful, idyllic way of life. Winters could be harsh but that was more than compensated for by summer months where grass, wheat and barley fields formed a glorious patchwork across the landscape.  There were also rolling hills,  and sheep and cattle dotted everywhere. The most wonderful place for a child to grow up.

When beginning to put the components together for my very first book, therefore,  it was very much an environment I knew I could create and feel comfortable setting my characters in. So I set about taking pieces reality and incorporating into my fictitious landscape. I love woods too (what would a village be without local woods?) and those across the valley from where I live were the inspiration for ‘Hundred Acre’ which sits above Meridan Cross.

he village pub in  my latest book, – The Black Bull – is in fact, based on a local in a village a few miles away. My previous OH actually grew up there and as an adult played for the pub’s cricket team.  Like the Black Bull it now has a great restaurant while still retaining a traditional bar with flag stone floors.

Google Maps are another really useful tool.  In one of my books I had to ‘walk’ one character around Verona.  Not having been there for many years, I could visualise the Arena – the Roman amphitheatre where concerts are held.  I also remembered visiting Juliette’s Balcony.  In order to bring some realism into my character’s visit, however, I needed to be able to describe where she was walking and what she was seeing. So I simply toured Verona’s streets via Google Map – perfect!

Talking of characters, a few of mine have been ‘borrowed’ from real life too’.  I guess the most important one of all from that first trio of books was the owner of Little Court Manor, Laura Kendrick. She was based on a lady called Marjorie Welsh, who lived in the manor house when I was a child.  A lady of mature years, married with grown up children, she had been a debutant in the days when they were presented at court. Very much the local benefactress, upon arrival she automatically took responsibility for the villagers – running the elderly to hospital appointments, having them all up for tea and cake on occcasions and even wheeling a barrow full of logs through the snow to a young couple whose baby was imminent. There was absolutely nothing patronising about her. A very genuine public spirited lady. Later as an adult, if I was visiting my grandparents I’d drop in and see her.  On one occasion I found the whole family in the kitchen preparing food for a dinner party that evening.  She’d deliberately given the kitchen staff the evening off, wanting them to do all the food prep themselves. The villagers who worked their had the greatest respect for her, all agreeing she was a fair and generous employer.  A unique and lovely lady, her character was absolutely perfect for Laura.

Another village character I borrowed was Tom Stone or ‘Brusher’ as the locals called him.  This was on account of the very heavy black moustache which hung over his top lip.  He worked on the railways and owned this very large black and white dog called Toby who could bark for England. It almost seemed the animal ran on batteries – he never shut up!  When creating characters for my first book I borrowed Brusher and turned him into the local poacher, ‘Doggie’ Barker, whose faithful friend was – yes – Toby.  The real Toby was a ‘Heinz 57’ as my grandfather used to refer to him, a dog of indeterminate breed.  Fictitious Toby, however, was to have the elevated status of a Border Collie.

By book four I was moving my backdrop abroad.  The Costa Del Sol, a place where we’d spent quite a bit of time before mass urbanization overtook that part of the coast, seemed ideal. Orlando Flynn, an enigmatic character central to the plot, lived there and had a small dark moustachioed Spanish ‘gofer’ called Elvira.  When asked how the two of them had met, Flynn, as he was referred to, said he’d rescued him from a life on the streets being paid by drivers for moving industrial waste bins to free up parking places.  Does this sound far fetched?  Well in fact it wasn’t.   While wandering the streets of Seville, believe it or not, I actually saw this happening.

So do any of you writers out there use fact to help you create fiction?  For me it works well – would be interested to hear your thoughts on the subject though.

Unless you are posting on a dedicated blog, coming up with a new idea usually involves a lot of hard thought, note scribbling and lots of discarded pieces of paper before it eventually comes to life on the screen.

As often is the case, though, inspiration comes in very mysterious ways. Last week we drove down to Christchurch in Dorset for a few days on the coast to celebrate a friend’s birthday. Our journey took us through the Wiltshire town of Melksham, about 13 miles away from where we currently live. One of the town’s biggest employers, Avon Rubber Company (now Cooper Tires after an American buy out) was where I had my very first taste of full time employment. As we got nearer, lots of forgotten memories came flooding back and suddenly I thought…yes, that’s it.

Finishing college at 18 with good shorthand and typing speeds and a business diploma, I successfully  landed myself a secretarial job at Avon. In those days they were considered one of the best local employers around with excellent pay and conditions. On my first morning I arrived, signed in at the security desk and was shown up to the large first floor reception area to wait for someone from HR to collect me. In those days the company pooled their intake of ‘freshers’ from college and a decision on exactly where they would be placed was taken nearer to their start date. So you can imagine as I sat there I was wondering where I would eventually end up. Sales maybe? Or Finance? Once I’d completed the necessary paperwork in HR, all was revealed. I was to be the new secretary to the Technical Manager and his team.

The department was situated in a huge first floor former store with dark stone floors and high ceilings. As you can imagine it was cold in the winter and hot in the summer and when it rained, yes you’ve guessed it, the roof leaked! Today, of course, no way would anyone be expected to work in those conditions. Back then, however, it was what it was and people simply accepted  it. Technical employed over forty staff, and only seven of them, including me, were female. A bit of a baptism of fire for a girl whose only experience had been in predominantly female environments – as a Woolworth Saturday girl, a waitress and a six weeks summer holiday stint at the local Ross food factory on the packing line. I needn’t have worried though, all the guys in the department were amazing; really supportive, great fun and incredibly kind to the newbie in their midst.

My boss was David Hartley, who was related to the Hartley jam family. He was around forty; a larger than life character with unruly dark hair he always seemed to be pushing out of his eyes. You could hear his loud footfalls echoing down the corridor as he returned from lunch in the Manager’s Dining Room.  He was always calm and never appeared to be fazed by anything.

David had responsibility for six other sections – Tyre Design, Product Performance, Quality, Tyre Test and two laboratories which worked on creating new tread compounds. I shared a small corner office with Diane, the department’s copy typist who was five years older than me. We became close friends and still have a regular lunch meet a couple of times a year. She warned me my office chair was known as the ‘Fertility Chair’ because those who occupied it left the job pregnant. I believe I was the first to buck that trend. The other five female members of staff were Ruby and Maureen in the Patents section, Sandy and Annie who provided the admin support to the two laboratories and Sarah who was a tracer. She worked with the department’s draughtsman Geoff Baines – now, of course, technology has come on leaps and bounds and it’s all done by CAD.

That first Monday David held his usual department heads meeting where, before they started, he introduced me to all of them. The next morning he called me in to dictate the minutes which he felt was much easier than me trying to take dictation a room full of people all talking at once – his meetings, I discovered, were pretty informal and quite noisy!  At college, as you can probably guess we had simple dictation like ‘Dear Mr Smith, Thank you for your letter of…’ On that second morning I became acquainted with a whole new language. Words like sipes and squeegees, Bag-o-Matics and polybutadiene were added to my vocabulary.  It threw me for a while but I eventually got used to it and writing these new shorthand outlines soon became second nature. There was a large amount of copy typing which Di covered, although I helped out if I wasn’t busy.  I took general dictation from David and also the Tyre Design Manager and there were occasions when we had to put submissions together for people like Ford and Jaguar. It was a very busy office and quiet days were rare. We had 15 minute refreshment breaks morning and afternoon when a  trolley arrived from the canteen with coffee, tea and snacks.  If David had a meeting or visitors I would have to collect trays from the main canteen – a bit of a juggling act sometimes given the weight of the tray in the hands of one small secretary!

Occasionally David needed to make an international call, usually to someone in Goodyear Tires in Akron, Ohio. When I think  today we simply pick up a phone and dial, what we had to do back then must now seem quite Fred Flintstone in comparison. The call had to be booked first thing in the morning, usually for three in the afternoon because of the time difference in the US. Switchboard would then ring me back at the agreed time and put the call through.

Everyone, apart from managers, got paid weekly in cash. Every Friday after lunch I would go down to the payroll office and collect the pay packets. Returning to the department I’d then distribute these small brown envelopes to each member of staff. Having actual money in your hand at the end of the week was, in those days, simply the way people expected to be paid.  Three years after I joined the company they announced changes.  Everyone over 21 would have their money paid directly into their bank account each month.  Only those working on the factory floor would still receive weekly pay packets . As there were nearly 2,500 people working for the company, paying everyone by cash was not only a labour  intensive job, having that much money on site was also a high security risk.

The next most important thing to pay, of course, were holidays.  What did we get? Well actually it was two weeks  – Managers got three.  Now I know above I said above that Avon offered excellent pay and conditions and you might well be thinking – that’s not very good, but actually anyone having more than two weeks’ holiday in those days was unheard of.  Also at the time, New Year’s Day was treated as a normal working day for everyone and it wasn’t until. eight years after I started work that it became a Bank Holiday and we could all go out and party properly!

As tyre production could be a highly combustible process the company retained its own on-site tender together with trained volunteers. The picture on the left is very similar to the vehicle they used. It was usual to hear the claxon sound half a dozen times a day and see the vehicle accelerating between the buildings with its bell ringing loudly. I’d been there about six weeks when late one afternoon there was a fire alert. We had a new apprentice start in the department that day and he looked absolutely panic stricken. ‘Don’t worry,’ one of the guys reassured him, ‘this happens all the time.’ Well, yes it did, apart from the fact, on this occasion it was a really bad fire. One which burnt down the Finished Goods store and badly damaged several of the houses in Scotland Road just behind the factory. Several brigades ended up attending.  My then boyfriend had the day off, helping his brother with harvesting nine miles away high on the edge of Salisbury Plain and the the smoke could clearly be seen from there.

Two and a half years later I decided it was time to move on. Although I had loved working in the department things had changed. Not only had Di had left to have her first baby, David had too – being promoted to Original Equipment Sales Manager. I eventually  got a job in HR in training. I didn’t forget them all though, I’d still  made a point of calling in to see them occasionally during my lunch hour (usually with cake) to catch up on all the news.

Looking back, HR could not have given me a better job to start my working life.  I still treasure fabulous memories of this amazing group of guys (and girls)!

Today I’m pleased to welcome Jane Dixon Smith – not only a talented book designer but a novelist as well.

Tell us a bit about you…

I’m first and foremost a book designer, having been in the graphic design industry my whole life. It was a surprise to end up here, but then it shouldn’t have been since I’ve been a writer almost as long as I’ve been a designer. The two eventually merged and I’m very glad they did. I’m also very lucky to live in the Lake District surrounded by such beautiful countryside and tea and cake shops!

How did J D Smith – Design come about and what services does it offer?

I design book covers and also specialise in interior formatting of both fiction and non-fiction books. I also design various accompaniments, such as flyers, bookmarks, posters and so on. I used to manage a design studio for a number of years, but when eventually the structure of the company changed and the office closed, I began working on a freelance basis. Knowing so many writers meant that work came mainly from them, and it wasn’t long before I was working almost exclusively on books.

What is a typical day for you?

Well I live right next door to the school my three children attend, so once they’re fed and dressed it’s a quick drop off and I’m back home putting the kettle on. So, despite them starting school at 8.50, I’m usually sat back at my desk with a cup of tea by 9am. Then it’s replying to emails, working on covers, sourcing images, making amendments and so on until 3.15 when I pick them back up again. Then I work for a couple of hours in the evening when they’re in bed and the house it quiet once more. It works well because it’s flexible.

Does living in the Lake District give you inspiration for your work?

Not really. I’ve written both about Syria, Rome, Egypt, Cornwall and Ireland. But not about here. I think it inspires my general love of history, though. I’m a real fan of everything historical and the Lake District offers a lot of untapped history and beauty.

What made you decide to add writing to your list of talents?

I love stories and immersing myself in the worlds my characters inhabit. I don’t think it’s a decision so much as a place I’m simply drawn to and enjoy.

You’ve written historical novels. What are your future plans?

I’m still writing historical novels! I first wrote Tristan and Iseult, which became a finalist in the Historical Novel Society Indie Book of the Year Awards 2015. And then I published the first three books in the Overlord series, based on the Palmyrene Queen Zenobia, who defied Rome. There’s another three to go so that’s going to keep me busy for a while I should think.

Would you ever consider another genre and if so, what and why?

No, never. I love history too much. I suppose I’ve considered moving back and forth in time, and flitting a little between romantic history and the more brutal war themed, but that’s all.

And now, the dreaded dinner party, question. You’re the hostess and can invite four guests. Who would they be?

I was asked this question recently and I said I’d invite my fellow Triskele Books authors: Jill, Gilly, Kat, Batty , Liza and Barbara. That’s six though? They’ll have to share seats.

JD Smith, is the author of the Historical Novel Society Indie Book of the Year Award Finalist Tristan and Iseult, The Rise of Zenobia and The Fate of an Emperor, The Better of Two Men, editor of Words with JAM and Bookmuse, member of the Triskele Books collective, and the mother of three mischievous boys.

You can discover more about her writing at www.jdsmith-author.co.uk.

FLUENCE

Ten thousand minutes and counting

By Stephen Oram

Genre: Dystopian

Published by Silverwood Books

Amber is young and ambitious. Martin is burnt out by years of struggling. She cheats to get what she wants while he barely clings on to what he has. It’s the week before the annual Pay Day when strata positions are decided by the controlling corporations. The social media feed is frenetic with people trying to boost their influence rating while those above the strata and those who’ve opted out pursue their own manipulative goals.

Fluence is a story of aspiration and desperation and of power seen and unseen. It’s a story of control and consequence. It’s the story of the extremes to which Amber and Martin are prepared to go in these last ten thousand minutes before Pay Day.

BUY LINK

AMAZON

MY REVIEW

This was a very thought provoking read.  Here we have an imagined world (not so far away from the one we currently live in) where individuals compete on social media for Fluence points.  At the end of the year scores are then added up and colour graded according to the number of points achieved. The colour an individual is awarded is fixed for a year and dictates their social status and class. It controls every aspect of their lives, including where they live and who they socialise with

Amber and Martin work at the same place – the Bureaucracy – as part of a disability assessment team. Their job is to determine whether people are fit to work, or if they need to be supported by the government.  There are Fluence points to be gained for good job performance, keeping those disability figures down – so there’s a conflict of conscience straight away. Gain points by reducing the numbers on government support, or make an honest assessment to assist those less fortunate.

Amber is both knowledgeable of how the system works and very focussed.  She plays to win, her only goal to increase her colour level and social status within society.  Martin, however, is tired of the game, happy to stay in Green but concerned his score is currently in freefall.  He is struggling.

The story, although central to these two characters who are at different ends of their game, also shows the bigger picture. Here we have a world where people are pitched against each other.. One man’s rise means another man’s downfall. At the end of the day if being  a winner is to the detriment of someone else – can your conscience live with this?  Or has the system conditioned you not to care?

I would like to thank the author for providing a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Like each and every one of us, my perspective of the world has been affected by many people and experiences: as a teenager I was heavily influenced by the ethos of punk; in my early twenties I embraced the squatter scene and then joined a religious cult, briefly; I did some computer stuff in what became London’s silicon roundabout; and I’m now a civil servant with a gentle attraction to anarchism. I really enjoy taking a sideways look at our world and thinking, “what if,” and then writing about it through speculative fiction.

https://www.facebook.com/StephenOramAuthor

https://twitter.com/OramStephen

www.stephenoram.net

http://stephenoram.net/fluence/

GIVEAWAY

Ecopy of the book x 2

Open Internationally

< http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/4be0301783/

Today I have editor Elaine Denning in the spotlight, talking about her likes, dislikes, virtual dinner guests and her passion for editing…

Firstly, tell us a little bit about you…

 Ah! The dreaded question! Well, I’m  on the wrong side of forty and live with two mad cats and a wonderful lodger called Martin, a stone’s throw from the south coast in Devon. My son, Dan, is 26 and the best thing that ever happened to me. I have a passion for everything creative – art, photography, music, theatre, and writing. I love German wine, oozy pasta sauces, and being barefoot. I hate spiders, celery, and people who drain their cutlery the wrong way around. Martin says the worst thing about me is that I drain my cutlery the wrong way around.

What brought you into the editing world?

A few years ago when a good friend of mine was blogging his experiences of an absolutely horrific time he spent on holiday in Spain, I encouraged him to self-publish a book about it, which I edited for him.  I’ve always been an avid reader, writer, and (shamefully) a grammar Nazi, so you could say that the passion to be in this line of work has always been with me. At first I started working as a copywriter and editor part-time, squeezing it in at the end of my day, but then I took the leap, left my job, and set up my own business. I haven’t looked back.

What is a typical day for you…if there is one…

 It usually involves a mug or two of black, decaf coffee, whilst checking emails and getting my Facebook fix before I start work.  I’m usually in full editing flow by eight and finish by four, although sometimes there are interruptions (neighbours visiting, phone calls, cats wanting belly rubs). The hardest thing about working from home is trying to convince people that I do, actually, have a job to do! If my day has too many interruptions I’ll have an early night and will be up and at it by three the following morning. That’s the best time for me – when the whole world is asleep and I can completely immerse myself in my work. In the evenings I like to sit in the garden, read a book, drink some wine, listen to some music, and generally chill out. My life isn’t very exciting these days but it makes me happy.

Who is your favourite author and why?

 I don’t have a favourite author but I certainly have my eye on Tony Parsons again after his decision to venture into crime writing. I loved the emotional power of Man and Boy, love the way he structures sentences, and how he gets away with breaking the rules by doing a whole lot of ‘telling’ instead of ‘showing’.  (I do admire authors who aren’t scared of breaking the rules.) Dorothy Koomson is another author who, in my opinion, is an expert at writing page-turners. I’ve enjoyed all of her books.

If you were to contemplate writing a book which genre would you choose and why?

I have several unfinished manuscripts tucked away in the bowels of my laptop but have no desire to revisit them. Editing really does satisfy the need in me to be immersed in words, so the fact they belong to someone else is irrelevant.  However, if I had the urge to embark on a writing career, my first book would be a psychological thriller. I love the tension and suspense, plot twists, and feeling slightly anxious and unsure of things when I’m reading books in that genre. I studied psychology for a year with the Open University and am fascinated by people and why they do the things they do. I’ve watched more documentaries about psychopaths than I care to admit!

If you were holding a dinner party and could invite four guests, who would they be and why?

My family, obviously, but that’s not a very interesting answer! So, leaving them aside, my first guest would be Jesus, just to see if he actually showed up. If he did, I’d have some serious re-thinking to do.  My second guest would be David Blaine because if Jesus actually succeeded in turning my tap water into wine, I’m sure David would say “I can do that, mate” and then we’d have twice as much to drink.  I’d need someone who could entertain us with a song or two, so Freddie Mercury would fit the bill nicely. (Also, I’d like to see if Jesus would actually leave the table if he was sharing it with a gay man.)  My last guest would be Peter Kaye because he makes me laugh and I think he’d help me with the dishes.

Catch up with Elaine on her website: www.elainedenning.com  or on Facebook:facebook.com/elainedenning