Guest Author - Amanda Addison

Today I have the honour and pleasure of introducing Amanda Addison.   Amanda is pictured at her sewing machine.  Crafters will be very interested in today's Author Spotlight, too.

Photos by kind permission of the author 

 

How did you career in writing begin?

After working in a variety of art and design areas I began to do more book illustration work which led to me wanting to develop my own stories.I completed an writing MA entitled Writing the Visual and since graduating have worked on several writing projects which feature art & design - Laura's Handmade Life being my first full length adult novel.

 

Amanda, you work with textiles as well as writing, like your character Laura,  where did your passion for textiles begin?

 

Firstly, from travelling and collecting 'world' or ethnic textiles from North Africa to Scandinavia. The obsession continues,  last year I found some unique Tyrolean woven mats in a second hand shop in Austria. They were my sole holiday souvenir! Even as a student I used textiles in my illustration work, always torn between becoming a textile designer or an illustrator. Most recently the purchase of Indian ribbons was the basis for a textile installation.

You have some lovely designs on your website.  How do you begin with an idea for a project?

I'm definitely process led. This is art jargon for someone who enjoys working with materials. I have far too many boxes of fabric, papers, ribbons or buttons just in case they should come in handy for a project. My other big influence and starting point are colours and shapes in the landscape/different weather conditions.

 

Are you working on another novel?

 

I have just completed a manuscript for a sequel to Laura's Handmade Life and sent off to my agent. It is very much about crafting in the winter and the idea of creative entrepreneurship. It features knitting, felting, pantomime and a spot of baking. Like Laura's Handmade Life  it is underpinned with some Norfolk textile history, notably fisherman’s jumpers, Flemish weavers.

I’m also working on a 9-12 year old children’s novel, set in Norfolk and featuring a boy who loves to bake.

What book is on your bedside table at the moment?

I'm about to read by A Perfect Life Raphaella Barker, also a Norfolk based author. Her mother, the writer Elspeth Barker taught me one my MA and I recently met Raphaella at City College Norwich where she was presenting the Creative Writing award to one of my students. I'm now intrigued and very much looking forward to seeing what her writing is like.

Find out more about Amanda, her novels and her crafts here

Friday Update!

Hey, guys! I know you haven't seen me around much lately and I'm sorry about that. I went on an unexpected vacation to see my best friends and ended up with their cold! So I've been heavily medicated and have been walking around like a zombie for the past few days. Not very productive...

I took a break from my blog, but not so much the internet all together. I made a few guest appearances at some other sites including loveahappyending.com and jtaylorpublishing.com, so you can hop over there and see what I've been up to.

Hope you guys have had a great week and here's to an even greater weekend. I'll be back in full-swing soon!

Better off Without him winners

Thank you to Dee Ernst fhis generous giveaway of 3 e-book copies of her latest novel 

Better off Without Him

Congratulations to the winners!

Jackie

Momma's Soapbox

AoBibliophile

Many thanks to all who entered the giveaways.

Check back for future giveaways.  

Review - Emotional Geology by Linda Gillard

• Format: Kindle Edition
• Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
• ASIN: B0055T357G

The Blurb

Rose Leonard is on the run from her life.

Taking refuge in a remote island community, she cocoons herself in work, silence and solitude in a house by the sea.  But she is haunted by her past, by memories an desires she'd hoped were long dead.

Rose must decide whether she has in fact chosen a new life or a different kind of death.  Life and love are offered by new friends, her lonely daughter, and most of all Calum, a fragile man who has his own demons to exorcise.


But does Rose, with her tenuous hold on life and sanity, have the courage to say yes to life and put her past behind her?


Rose, has moved to a Scottish Island that has no mountains.  Gavin climbed mountains. 
Rose tries to convince those around her that she is over Gavin, but moving on with her life is proving a challenge. 


A Bi-polar sufferer, Rose believes that the remoteness of her new home and her textile therapy and work is helping her to heal emotional scars of her past.


Enter, Calum, another one of the author's gorgeous leading men.  Calum is the distraction Rose had not counted on. Calum is strong, handsome and attentive, but he has some healing of his own to do.


 This is the second novel I have read by Linda  Gillard and, although very different to Star Gazing, the author's amazing story telling woven through the Scottish landscape delivered a page turner I could not put down. 


I did not find this an easy read as it deals with mental illness and the effect on those close by, but the subject was approached sensitively.  There is plenty of romance and passion on an emotional journey to a happy ending.


Linda Gillard is one of my favourite authors and House of Silence is next for me.


5 out of 5!


I received copy of this novel from the author for my honest review.  This did not influence my review in any way.  

Review - Laura's Handmade Life - Amanda Addison

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Sphere (23 Jun 2011)
• Language English
• ISBN-10: 0751545341
• ISBN-13: 978-0751545340

The Blurb


Laura Lovegrove is leaving behind her seamless life in London. Architect husband Adi has been relocated to rural Norfolk, a far cry from ultra-urban Ealing.


Though Laura knew village life would be different, she didn't foresee a poky cottage, nosy neighbours, errant poodles, and even an ex turning up. Chris had been her big love at art college and seeing him again is utterly confusing.  Is she really so different from the impulsive student who once trawled charity shops for fashion treasures?


Laura does not take to country life as easily as she thought she would.  She seems to be permanently looking backwards, into the past,  instead of forwards, after losing someone dear to her, and the upheaval from urban to country life.

She is a hardworking mother of 2, designing textiles and tutoring at college. She is very critical of her own parenting skills, torn between being a good mum and having a successful career.  She thinks and sees in colours, patterns and textiles in her everyday activities. Always looking for that next project.  Recycling textiles is almost an obsession, a way of life.

 When Laura bumps into an old flame, Chris it seems a good distraction from facing her new life in the country, which Adi seems to be taking in his stride, and it can only be a dangerous path to revisit the past where an ex is concerned.

Adi, her husband is getting on well with rural life and becoming more distant.  What is he keeping from her?

I could identify with Laura to a certain degree having been a working mum myself and making a choice between work and family.
I was very wary of Chris and was eager to find out how this reunion was going to develop.

There was a mention of Thody's  Fabric shop.  I have vivid memories of many visits to Gordon Thoday's in Cambridge with my mum to choose fabric and pattern for a new outfit or bridesmaids dress.  Sadly no longer there.

I enjoyed the recall of stitches at the beginning of each chapter and it has sparked an interest to pick up a needle again, not just to mend.

The storyline was exciting but I did find  that the description of textiles, patterns and colour, too often,   detracted a little from the story. It was worthwhile to discover how the story  would end.

This would appeal to those who enjoy sewing, crafting and grown up chick lit.

4 out of 5 for me!

Thank you to Little, Brown for sending me a review copy.  This is did not influence my review in any way.

Guest Blog: Into The Past with Christine Schulze

It's my honor to welcome Christine Schulze, author of the Gailean Quartet series, to Missy's Reads & Reviews as part of her series' blog tour! Today, Christine will tell us about what books her past self would recommend at specific ages during her life.

Enjoy!

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Age 5: First of all, I probably would have commanded you to read “Jonny to the Rescue!” my first book with both words and illustrations. Then, I would have insisted you buy yourself a copy of Good-night Moon and make sure you stock up on your Dr. Suess collection so your mom could enjoy reading those long, tongue-twister books every night before bed. Oh, the Places You’ll Go! was a particular favorite of mine, probably for its adventuresome quality. There is also one I can’t remember the name of, one with a zoo with all these wacky creatures. I liked this one simply for the page with the adorable little deer with huge antlers.


Age 11: These are all probably more around age 12; twelve was a poignant age for me, for both reading and writing, even video games. A creative explosion occurred for me around this age, like coming of age, only in the writing realm instead of normal puberty. The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Neverending Story, Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass—all these fantasy classics were making a major impact on my own fantasies I was writing at the time. I also attended good Christian schools, so the literature I read there helped influence the Christian themes and values seen in many of my books.

I also finally got to play The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which Mum bought after my wanting it since I was eight. She didn’t know my secret obsession over it, but after seeing it at a friend’s house, I was hooked. I actually rushed home that night to write a comic on it.

At twelve and the through the next few years, I’d tell you to rush out and get The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which is as good as any book with its unique, quirky characters, great plot and fantasy elements, and then borrow the above books from your local library. All of these inspired books I was working on at the time, such as The Legends of Surprisers series, Loz: Zephyr’s Islands, and Loz: The Mass.


Age 16: I don’t honestly remember reading a lot at this age besides the Harry Potter series, plus various other books I got in book sales. I was very busy working on many of my own books. However, even Harry Potter helped inspired the series I wrote around this time, The Hero Chronicles.


Age 20: This is actually going to be a mix of books I’ve discovered between about eighteen til the present, in part because I don’t remember my exact age for many of them. I know that, after Aaron, a best friend of mine, bought me the movie of Howl’s Moving Castle for my birthday, that I soon after read the book and became hooked on Diana Wynne Jones. I consider her a great inspirer to this day, as we seem to share a love for quirky characters, unique fantasy worlds, and intriguing plots. I truly loved Castle in the Air and the first Chrestomanci Chronicles. I am still itching to get my hands on a copy of Dogsbody. I read the blurb and first few pages in Barnes and Noble once, and it inspired me to write my middle grade fantasy, The Last Star, which I hope to procure an agent for in the near future.

I also attended more book fairs at my local library during this time, and one of the books I picked up was a fantasy by Nancy Springer called Chains of Gold. It has some supernatural elements and also tells the story of a young couple daringly escaping a terrible ritual of their people. I think it subconsciously inspired my novel Bloodmaiden, published by Old Line Publishing last year.

I also discovered the world of Stephanie Meyers’ Twilight. Now, for all you haters, I had no clue this was a world-wide fetish or else becoming one at the time. I’d never heard of it, because I generally don’t keep up with what’s going on in the world. I just saw it one day in my college bookstore, read the blurb, and new I must have this book. I’d never done vampires, never been into them, but the concept of romantic, possibly good vampires intrigued me. I usually have honing skills for finding books that I love, and behold, I did it again!

Another great vampire book I picked up later—and this one is truly a unique fantasy, so don’t compare to Twilight; all kinds of stuff going on here—was called Darkangel. I never read the other two in the trilogy though I would like to sometime, but it did inspire me to write a story on gargoyles; you can read the story in October when my Lily in the Snow and Other Elemental Tales is released.

Today, I would suggest books like The Forest of Hands and Teeth. I seem to have taken on a bit of a horror fetish, which is reflected in several short stories I’ve written as of late. I still don’t reserve much time for reading with all of my writing and promoting. However, one series I am eager to read is Susan Collins’ Hunger Games, especially as I’ve been told by some readers that Bloodmaiden was a comparable read for them.

Between the Lines Review

Between The Lines
Tammara Webber

Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: April 29, 2011
Series: N/A
Genre: YA, Romance
Pages: Kindle ebook
Source: Purchase
Rating: 5/5 (Avg 4/5)

When Hollywood It Boy, Reid Alexander, arrives on location to shoot his next movie, his goals are the same as always—film another blockbuster hit and enjoy his celebrity status to the fullest while doing so. His costar is a virtual unknown with whom he had blazing hot chemistry during her auditions. The universe is lining up nicely to grant whatever he wants, as usual, until he’s confronted with unexpected obstacles on location like a bitter ex-girlfriend and a rival for the first girl to spark his genuine interest in years.

Emma Pierce just got her big break after more than a decade of filming commercials for grape juice, department stores and tampons, and more recently, bit parts in made-for-TV movies. Nailing the lead role in a wide-release film sent her agent, father and stepmother into raptures, and should have done the same for her. The Problem? Emma is experiencing a building desire to be normal, and starring in a silly, modernized adaptation of one of her favorite novels—opposite the very hot Reid Alexander—isn’t going to advance that aspiration.

Graham Douglas doesn’t fear playing the part of a nerdy dimwit; when it comes to choosing film roles, if it pays, he’ll do it. Besides, his friend Brooke Cameron snatched up the role of the bitchy hot girl and could use his help as a buffer, because her ex is the star. Graham has no problem keeping a handle on the situation, until he finds himself attracted to Reid’s costar, Emma, the girl Reid is pursuing full-throttle with his standard arsenal of charm, good looks and arrogance.

Between The Lines is what I would consider a pretty perfect Contemporary read for me. There's drama and there's romance with a slight love triangle, but it lacks the insta-love - which means Webber got it right for me.

Emma is everything I wanted in a female lead. She's strong and can take up for herself, yet still has some of those typical teenage weaknesses and flaws that makes you relate to her completely as the story goes. Even if her decisions were a little different from what I think my own would be if I was put in her spot, I understood the decisions she made because they fit who she was and how she thinks. Reid definitely played his part well, and Graham and Brooke both surprised me with how much I enjoyed their characters in the story. I thought Brooke would have been the one girl in the story I wanted to strangle -- but it turned out to be someone completely different and unexpected, which would be Emma's stepmother. Wow, what a character she turned out to be!

This story is one that is completely relatable in today's world. There are a lot of teen stars and this story takes on a realistic portrayal of what that world may be like. Over everything, I think the part about the story that I enjoyed most was that everything wasn't just a bed of roses. There was conflict and there were unexpected moments that I didn't see coming. I also enjoyed the fact that the story's ending didn't take the stereotypical route.. but that's about all I can say without messing up the ending. Everything tied up nicely and nothing was left completely unanswered. I think my only problem now is that I know that a second book will be coming out soon and I cannot wait!

For the squeamish, note that there are some sexual situations along with scenes of teen drinking and some language. This would be a great read for the more mature YA audience.

"You live with your parents?"

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Purchase: Amazon Kindle • Barnes & Noble Nook

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