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August 24, 2012 By Catherine Cousins Leave a Comment

An Interview with 2QT Author Roger Thompson

Sum up your book in a few sentences-What is it about?

‘Eye of Athina’ is set on a Greek holiday island in 1994. With the fall of the Berlin wall in ’89 a ripple effect is felt on the islands, with East European mafia money and its influence on the Greek islands. A young female agent is sent by MI6 to investigate the supposed drowning of a fellow agent. During her time there she uncovers gun and drug running and crosses paths with a Romanian hit-man.  Having been born within the city of Athens, she is influenced by a strange bond with the Goddess Athina and blessed with unusual eyes.  Out of this she finds romance!

There’s been quite a bit of speculation about the main character; did she or didn’t she? I’ve already thought of how I might develop that storyline in terms of a twist! I guess you’ll just have to read the book for yourself and see what I’m talking about.

Who are the intended audience?

I didn’t go for any specific audience.  However I’ve had positive feedback from women who have all said they associated themselves with the main female character.

What inspired you to start writing? What inspired the story for your book?

I have always been interested in writing and was told off many times at school for spending more time writing stories than my homework. When I was fifteen I sent comedy scripts to the BBC (Roger tells me he was the youngest person to send them to the BBC at that time!). I had an interview there when I turned sixteen.  The story for Eye of Athina started a few years back when I visited a friend living on this Greek island, mid winter for my sins; I got to know the locals who told me about strange goings on with Russian and Romanian arrivals in the ‘90s, coupled with the drowning of a man who locals reckoned was an English agent. I couldn’t wait to get back and start writing it even though I was in the middle of another story.

 

How did you go about writing the story?

To have a rough idea, I got the opening line on paper-sorry, the monitor- and from then the story seemed to flow.  What I find exciting is when the story has a life of its own and I wonder where it is taking me.  My other stories do seem to have a strong maverick type of woman as the main character.

What made you look to 2QT publishing?

I belong to the ‘New Writers UK’ and the chair John Baird suggested I try them. I have to say they have been very patient with me, particularly Catherine; she didn’t give up and I learned such a lot from her.

Any advice for anyone contemplating writing/publishing a book?

If it’s what you feel you must do then just do it and surprise yourself! If you are going into it to make money; well you might be lucky, but at the end of the day treat it as a satisfying hobby.  Take the advice of the team and learn from them.

 

What are you planning on/hoping to do next?

I’m just finishing the story I started before being interrupted by Athina (that woman again!).  Set in 1955 in Manhattan’s Little Italy, it is a cops and mafia story involving Nazi loot from Europe. My research on Google for that period was a joy and I eventually ended up spending a week over there to check my locations. I am a Bogart/ Phillip Marlowe fan so it was fun writing. After discarding two other titles, I’ve called it ‘The Girl on the Bridge’ (that’s Brooklyn Bridge by the way).

Who is your favourite Author?

I think it has to be Patrick O’Brian, author of ‘The Master and Commander’. I’ve read all of his books (and presently reading them again) on Jack Aubrey and even the 21st which he was halfway through when he sadly died. I’m also a fan of Raymond Chandler’s writing-hence Marlowe of course. You might see his influence in my Manhattan story.

‘Eye of Athina’ is now out on e-Book. You can purchase it online from Amazon Kindle store here


Alternatively, buy it in Paperback from our website here

Filed Under: Featured Articles and Posts, News and Updates

July 26, 2012 By Catherine Cousins Leave a Comment

An Interview with 2QT Author Jo Hampson

This week I chatted to author of ‘Smoking Food at home’ AKA Smoky Jo about what inspired her to write the book, and why she looked to 2QT Publishing…

Introduce your book in a few sentences

‘Smoking Food at Home with Smoky Jo’ is an easy step by step guide to start smoking your own food at home.  It teaches you how to both hot and cold smoke with information about smokers, woods, brining, herbs and spices, recipes, service suggestions and much more.

 

What have you hoped to achieve with your book?

I hope that I have written a book that will make the art of smoking simple to master.  I wanted this  book to be fun to read and easy to understand.

 

What inspired you to start writing? What inspired the idea for the book?

Many other books on smoking food that I have read seem to make it very complicated and it really doesn’t have to be.  I think it was this that first inspired me to write a food smoking book.  Also I wanted to  write a sort of text book that complimented the food smoking courses that we run at Smoky Jo’s. I think reading a self-help  book gave me the inspiration for what I wanted the book to look like – not the self-help bit but the layout of the book.  The book was called S.U.M.O. which stands for ‘Shut Up and  Move On’  – which is of no relevance at all – other than the book had this funny sumo wrestler that kept popping up with advice and it sort of caught my imagination.  Which is why I came up with the Smoky Jo and  Smoky Georgina cartoon characters.

 

What’s your favourite book/who is your favourite author?

My favourite book of all time is ‘The Snow Goose’ by Paul Galico and illustrated by Peter Scott. I have a number of favourite authors – and they are all really good story tellers.  I love a good story with characters that I can really care about.  Wilbur Smith is a good example – yes he is prolific and some will say a  little light – but his books are always very well researched and historically very accurate which I think is really important.  They are also mostly set in Africa – which I love and they are almost without exception a cracking good read. Sarah Waters is another author who makes you really care about her characters.

 

What made you look to 2QT publishing?

2QT was personally recommended to me.  I had a meeting with the owner and she was very professional, she left me with the impression that she was knew what she was doing and she was  able to explain the process of publishing to me and offer support through the whole process.  She inspired  confidence in me and after that I didn’t look for any other publisher.

 

Any advice for anyone contemplating writing/publishing a book?

My only advice is to get a good publisher like 2QT for help and advice.  Then sort out in your mind a timeline for writing the book and another for the publishing.  Try to understand the processes involved and treat it like a project.  Give yourself a realistic end date and work backwards from that to give yourself deadlines. Once it is written don’t expect it to sell without a significant amount of leg work to market it. If this is not your forte – find someone who will do it for you.

 

What are you planning on/hoping to do next

I am not sure what to do next – I suppose that the natural progression would be a smoking recipe book.  I have started collecting recipes so I will see how that goes.

 

Who have you written your book for?

I have written the book for anyone who enjoys food and cooking or who likes to entertain.  There is a great ‘theatre’ to smoking your own food  – both in the kitchen and outdoors and I hope that his book will inspire those people who love to experiment with food and ‘have a go’.

 

You can buy ‘Smoking food at home with Smoky Jo here

Follow Jo on Twitter for more updates @FoodsmokingJo

 

By Kate Cousins

Filed Under: Featured Articles and Posts Tagged With: Food smoking, Smoking Food, Smoky Jo, Smoky Jo's

June 20, 2012 By Catherine Cousins Leave a Comment

An Interview with 2QT Author Peter Jackson

Peter Jackson, author of ‘The Cumbria Way’- a fantastically illustrated walking guide – chats about his favourite authors as well as his future ambitions and exciting plans for more walking guides…

 

 

Can you tell us a bit more about your recent book published in April?

“An Illustrated Walking Guide to the Cumbria Way” is a guide book for people wishing to walk all or part of the 73-mile Cumbria Way, a long-distance walking route which links the south of the county at Ulverston, on the shore of Morecambe Bay, to Carlisle, in the far north near the Scottish border. The book contains over 120 colour photographs of the walk, and the route notes link 136 “waypoints” – key points on the route that can be used as extra navigational aids if required. Buyers of the book also get access – at no extra cost – to lots of additional information that will enable them to plan and organise their own perfect walking holiday – an accommodation listing (to over 280 establishments on or near the route), public transport information, suggested itineraries and so on.

Who would you say the book is aimed for – experienced walkers? or any ability?

The book is aimed at walkers of all levels of ambition and experience. There are plenty of walkers who don’t have the confidence to set off on a long-distance walk either because they think they can’t navigate, or they don’t know how to go about finding the right accommodation in the right place (or simply because they don’t think they’re up to it!). My hope is that the level of detail together with the photographs and waypoints will encourage those people to give it a go. And I feel sure that even the most experienced walkers would get something from the book and the accompanying downloads.

What gave you the idea to write it?

I used to be co-owner of a walking holiday business – in our walks with groups around the Lakes and Dales, we saw more than a few people on walks such as the Cumbria Way and the Dales Way who were struggling with finding the correct route. When we provided self-guided holidays for walkers, we did not just provide them with an existing guide-book, but supplemented it with our own route notes. Comments about the notes from our walkers were very favourable, most of them saying that they felt confident because of the level of detail they contained. My guidebooks are an attempt to continue to offer that reassurance.

So what is your favourite book?

I don’t know if they count as books but my favourite reading is a map! Any old map will do, but the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 maps of the Lake District are a seemingly endless source of new ideas, as well as being essential rucksack companions. So far as walking guides are concerned, I love reading Wainwright’s books – not so much as guides, but his enthusiasm and love for the hills he is describing shines through, as does his dislike for certain places. In my opinion his Pennine Way Companion is a masterpiece: he did not enjoy much of the walk…and it shows. Terrific.

Away from walking, I enjoy Harry Pearson’s and Bill Bryson’s travel books and I used to read a lot of Franz Kafka and Stephen King – although not at the same time. I’m not sure I can use the influence of either of these two authors in a walking guide – although a Kafka-esque meander along the Coast to Coast walk with horror overtones might make for a best seller! Good if you want to read about a walker who turns into a beetle at his first B&B, gets arrested for an unknown offence he didn’t commit and then stays in a hotel where gallons of blood gush out of the lift doors.

– Perhaps that could be a ‘special edition’!

Why did you contact 2QT?

I saw a piece in the local paper (The Westmorland Gazette) about 2QT, rang Catherine and then had a meeting with her. The help and advice I have received all along the line has been fantastic: the Cumbria Way book would probably never have seen the light of day without the encouragement and support that 2QT have offered. Thanks to all concerned!!

What advice would you give to other writers starting out or thinking of publishing their work?

I don’t really feel qualified to offer advice except to say “Don’t give up!” If you do have an idea, give 2QT publishing a call.

Have you got plans for more books?

My main ambition is to write a blockbusting novel but, since I don’t have a novel in me, I’ll stick to guide books I think. I guess much will depend on how things go with the Cumbria Way guide, but I would like to write more in a similar style. I have ideas on writing a walkers’ guide to a part of the French Alps that I know well – all the best existing guides to the area are in French – and I am currently working on a project for a very long walk (500 miles or so) around the Lake District: the idea is that the walk will visit as many points of interest as possible whilst taking the walker to every major valley and all the lakes. It will also take in many of the parts of the Lakes that tend to be overlooked by most walkers. The walk is not intended to be done as a single trip – perhaps if you had the time – but can be broken down into stages. It is mostly a low to mid-level walk, rather than a mountain marathon, but the route will pass within walking distance of most of the Lakes’ best-known tops, and will include a handful of them on the route itself. The whole thing is meant to be a book about the Lakes, with the walking guide as an integral part of it, rather than a guide book pure and simple.

 ‘The Cumbria Way’ can be purchased here from our website. Visit www.mywalkingguide.com for more guidebooks

 

 

Interview by Kate Cousins

Filed Under: Featured Articles and Posts, News and Updates Tagged With: Peter Jackson, The Cumbria Way, walking guides

June 7, 2012 By Catherine Cousins Leave a Comment

The Nutters of Pendle Forest – The Enchanted Valley – David Carter

Author: David Carter
Release Date: 15th June  2012
Format: Paperback /  222 pages
ISBN: 978-1-908098-54-2

Buy from Amazon | About the author

It all started with a promise kept secret for four hundred years from the woman accused of being the ringleader of a coven known as the ‘Witches of Pendle’, arrested along with several other unfortunates who were hanged on the gibbet of the City of Lancaster in the year of 1612.

At last, after waiting patiently for all these years, the promise is about to be revealed to India and together with her best friends she will have to learn the art of white magic and face great adversity. For them, life will never be quite the same again. Little do they know that they stand on the threshold of a great ‘witchery’ adventure.

Filed Under: Book Releases, Children / Teenager, Publications Tagged With: Pendle Forest, Witches

June 6, 2012 By Catherine Cousins Leave a Comment

An interview with 2QT Author Katharine Ann Angel

Author of ‘Being Forgotten’ Katharine Ann Angel has had many recent successes following the publication of her book in just February of this year. Having had years of experience fostering and teaching children, I caught up for a chat with her to find out what it is about her and her book that scored a great review in the Times Ed last month…

So Katharine, first and foremost- congratulations! You’ve had a great month in terms of getting your book out there- I’m sure many of our readers and authors would like to know what has happened since…

After Being Forgotten was published by 2QT in February, I sent out some publicity postcards to various organisations around the country. I also sent one email to the resources editor (Jo Knowsley) at TES asking her to consider reviewing my ‘unusual resource.’ Jo replied, “Very interested.” I sent her a copy that day and two days later she phoned me saying she loved the book and spent the morning reading it at her desk. She later described it in an email as “a lovely thing.”

 

Can you tell us a bit more about your book in a few words? What inspired you to write it?

The book is primarily eight short stories inspired by my real life experiences of teaching teens, all of whom are permanently excluded from school. Two of the stories are based on teens we fostered. I wanted to give people an insight into their hidden lives and behaviours, but I didn’t want to sensationalise them. Each teen highlights a different problem – for example, ‘Diamondman’ who is a boy called Blake waiting to be tried in court. Then I wrote about Hetty – a rebellious girl who thinks her parents don’t love her, and also Pia, whose life is disasterous but who longs to fit in at mainstream school. In my work I have encountered extreme situations such as dangerous weapons, sexual abuse and murder, but I didn’t focus on those things in Being Forgotten because it is more important that the reader learns that children, teenagers, experience abandonment, isolation, fear, illiteracy and so on, as the norm. They simply accept it.

 

How would you describe your style of writing?

I aim for an accessible, often chatty style. Being Forgotten was a challenge, because it is aimed at an adult readership, but is from the perspective of young people, so I didn’t want to use overly sophisticated vocabulary. Jo Knowsley (TES) wrote, “The writing is sometimes humorous, often poignant and always non-judgemental.” I love jokes and seeing the funny side of life, so I’m glad Jo picked up the humour in what could be a very miserable subject.

 

It didn’t all end there though-

Jo’s colleague, Kerra Maddern was at this time, composing a long, political article on SEN. Kerra asked my permission to quote some of Being Forgotten.  However I told her the true version of a story, (only changing names and minor details). In another place, she quoted me. The next day my sister phoned from Somerset to tell me that my name was on the front page of the Telegraph and Daily Mail. These papers had lifted my quote from TES and used it for political debate about poor parenting being a cause of some behavioural problems.

 

I am not into the blame game. Blaming parents, teachers, social workers or anyone else for the ills of society doesn’t profit anyone. ‘Being Forgotten’ is not about solutions, but about raising awareness of the plight of many youngsters.

 

What kind of response have you had back from readers of ‘Being forgotten’?

 

I have had feedback from people who work for social services, teachers, college workers and even a nursery nurse who say that a copy of ‘Being Forgotten’ should be in every staff room. A college worker said, “I used to think very negatively about some of our students. Since reading Being Forgotten, I am more aware that some of them have challenging lives and I am glad they turn up to college. I feel less judgemental.” A social worker who read the book twice said, “On second reading I felt that everyone who works with young people should have a copy.”

 

What advice would you give to authors out there that are trying to get their book ‘noticed?’

Make advertising material and use it. I made double-sized postcards with the cover of Being Forgotten as the picture, and some reviews on the back. You can ask shops to do book signings although I personally didn’t like doing this. Send short, polite emails to your target audience. Some people are into Twitter and Facebook – anything that allows you to speak about your book. I panicked when the newspaper articles came out and updated my website!

 

I’m sure this isn’t the last we will hear from you- is there anything you plan on writing next?

I am working on a novel for adults, a comic/mystery story, which highlights the issue of modern day loneliness. I have finished a children’s novel but not sent it anywhere yet. Also two series of stories for teens who struggle with reading – again completed but not sent to a publisher yet. One series for boys is called ‘Gripper. Dog of Vic’. The series for girls is called ‘Dizzy Bezzy’. My son-in-law, Mark Shotter, is a superb cartoonist and is working on illustrations for these. It is all very exciting!

 

 The eBook of ‘Being Forgotten’ will be available for download very soon, but in the meantime Katharine’s book can be purchased here

Cover also available in green!

Please visit Katharine’s website Katharineangelyolasite.com for more information about the book, and also read a free short story!

You can read the Times Educational Supplement review here http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6210945

Interview by Kate Cousins

 

Filed Under: Featured Articles and Posts, News and Updates

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