Wednesday 30 January 2013

Double Whammy! Interviewing twins!

And now for something completely different...
Shaman's Drum CoversCancel Christmas

Today I'm thrilled - not to mention confused - to be interviewing an author who writes as twins Ailsa Abraham and Cameron Lawton, who have their own genres and bicker constantly on Facebook. They share a blog and nobody is quite sure if they really are two people or one disturbed personality...

Hi Ailsa and Cameron!

Hi Linda thanks for inviting us. Great to be here.

We'll be finding out more about the genres you write in a bit later, but to start with I was wondering what you like to read? Has anyone particularly inspired you?


Ailsa grew up reading fantasy which is probably why she writes her genre. Alan Garner, Tolkien, C.S. Lewis are probably her inspiration. Cameron was a Biggle freak and also the Viking saga by Henry Treece. We're both history crazy so any well-researched historical novels, Mary Renault for example are snapped up.  Also Terry Pratchett – just to die for!

 
Do you have a hero or heroine? (Fictional or real!)
 
Cameron – Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean. How anyone can wear THAT eye make-up, camp it up like that and not come over as gay is beyond me. I WANT that look! I'd love to have written a character like that but my guys are very in the closet.
Ailsa - (rolling her eyes) Nanny Ogg in Terry Pratchett's witches stories. She is as close to a practical witch like me as I've ever read. She's down-to-earth and doesn't hold with all Magrat's fancy paraphernalia bought from the esoteric shops. That's so great. People have very weird ideas about witchcraft and shamanism. If you but realised, there are probably practicing witches in your community but you may never notice them.
Speaking of that sort of thing... Do you have any rituals when writing? Some people need a certain pen, a particular sort of paper, complete silence...
 
We swap between propped up on the bed with the laptop or sitting at OUR desk on the desktop. That started after an operation when Ailsa had to keep her feet up for some weeks and found that a very comfy position.
As far as silence – yes! Can't have the radio or TV playing although there is certain music, instrumental that is very conducive. Shaman's Drum was written exclusively to Era playing on a loop on the headphones.  Even when we go on holiday in the caravan, usually down to Spain or over to Germany, the laptop comes too and it isn't a break from writing. I think we get more writing done then, sitting under the awning, very pleasant.
Oh and there must be an endless supply of freshly-brewed coffee and (guilty blush) cigarettes for us to work properly.
 
We writers all seem to have an inner Demon or a gremlin on our shoulder telling us we're rubbish. What does yours look like - do you know? How do you shut them up?
 
I think mainly for us it's our characters. They tend to peer at what we're writing and say “I wouldn't do that!”. For Ailsa the main demon is the one who sneers “Fantasy eh? Floaty girls dancing in the moonlight is it? Or hunky hero and completely made-up world, like dungeons and dragons eh?” Because that is soooo not what I write. My stuff is based on solid, practical experience of shamanism and paganism, I just set it in the future to accommodate the fact that these had become the “mainstream religions” of the day.
 
Cameron – whenever I doubt my abilities, usually when I read some of the awesome work my fellow-authors over at MLRP write, I remember when I got my first book published and our gorgeous Scottish auntie who is over 80 was explaining to a bunch of her friends in an Edinburgh tearoom. They're all a bit deaf so she found herself shouting at the top of her voice, “I said, dear, that Cameron's now writing pornography.... for homosexuals;” And I want to die because I don't; I write murder mystery and detective fiction where the two main characters just happen to be gay men. They're superb at their job and have to hide their relationship at work. But if you saw the same situation on any TV series with a heterosexual couple, you wouldn't turn a hair. Sure, my guys have sex, they're in love … who wouldn't?  Even Ailsa's couple in Shaman's Drum get it on a few times, maybe not so graphically but they do! 
Ailsa (laughing) yes, but even then you had to write the sex scenes for me and from the male point of view!
 
So, you help each other out - are the two of you also competitive about writing?
 
No. We are very supportive. We advertise each other's work and we share a blog where we post about our life at home and applaud when one of us has a success. No – we're twins and the only competetive thing we've ever suffered from is …. boyfriends! Oh and clothes!  
Cameron – that's true. She has crap taste in men – I'm trying to improve her dress sense but ..(eyeroll) silk purses and sow's ears etc.
Ailsa – yes, Bro – and you fall in love faster than an avalanche down a mountainside! Oh and we steal each other's fragrances regularly which causes much bitterness on Facebook. The War of the Aftershave ran for weeks (giggle).


 
Do you have a favourite word or phrase?
(A & C exchange glances) Yes, most of them extremely vulgar. Ailsa's husband is ex-Navy and uses “colourful language” all the time but he's really inventive with it and has us rocking with laughter.
Ailsa - There are so many, though.  I think “f**ktard” is my favourite insult at the moment.
Cameron – one expression? One that my older character, Rory, uses a lot because he is just so crazy about his lover, Jack. “What did I ever do to get this lucky?”
 
A word or phrase that makes your skin creep because you loathe it so much?

Ailsa – ones that I overuse in my first drafts “and then” is the worst.
Cameron – clichés! “Hot guy” is my pet hate at the moment – describe him!
 
 
What makes you smile?
Loads of things – we are very easily amused and moved. Animals particularly, and a beautiful view, we're lucky to have lots of those around here. Unexpected kindnesses from people, especially our friends on the internet. We're very isolated here and so our net-pals are very important to us and a compliment or caring remark can make our day!
 
You live in France. I assume you speak French well! Do you find yourself dreaming in French? ( I spent 2 weeks on the French Exchange aged 14 and found myself dreaming in French. I still occasionally dream in French, although I suspect most of it is made-up words that sound French!)
 
Well (slight blush) we got here by accident and didn't speak a word of French, apart from bonjour, café and s'il vous plait. But being here we learned very quickly and worked in jobs where nobody else spoke English which is the best way. Now we're bilingual and that is a bind because we forget words in our native language.

Cameron – yes, I'll be in the middle of writing and have to ask Ailsa's husband, in French, what the English is for … (goes very red)

Ailsa – I dream in French and I've noticed that when I'm out and about talking French to people, my personality changes completely. I'm normally very forthright and almost “butch”

(Cameron sniggers). But in French I become a typical, flirty, kissie-wissie, French lady doing all the shrugs and boff!s and getting in far closer to people's personal space than I'd ever do with Brits or Americans.

Cameron – you should see it! She gets positively fluffy and fluttery. Makes me hoot!
 
Coffee or tea? ( I should probably have offered you this right at the start!)
 
Both and gallons of it!  The morning always starts with tea as we are true Brits. We still have to go to the UK to buy it. The rest of the day it is ground coffee which is very much cheaper here.
 
Red wine or white?

Either. Ailsa is not drinking alcohol at the moment to raise money for Cancer Research in memory of Dad who died of stomach cancer aged only 38. But obviously being in the land of l'heure apero, it's great to sit outside in the fresh air and have a glass of wine before dinner. We're lucky to live in a wine-producing area, there is even an AOC for our little town up the road. A good robust red is great for a treat when we finish writing for the day but a very dry, chilled white is great for a pick-me up apero around 5.30.
 
Somehow, I'd feel bad drinking at 5.30 - I guess it just isn't the same if you're not in France!
Here's another irrelevant one: cheese or chocolate?

Cheese every time. Now you're going to say, of course, you're in France but we really do miss  British cheese a lot. Favourite dessert for both of us is fresh fruit or dates with blue cheese.

Summer or winter?
 
(Loud laughter) Neither. We love the Spring and Autumn. Summer it gets waaaaaaaaay too hot here and it's very difficult to motivate oneself. Winter here is usually not so bad, we get snow every year and it's a dry cold. Not like Brittany where we used to live, which was like Cornwall where we grew up – not cold but very damp and foggy. Utterly miserable. The spring and autumn we adore for the change in Nature around us. We're very much country kids.
 
You two are great fun! How can we find you and keep in touch?
 
Right here!
http://cameron-writes.blogspot.fr/2013/01/write-of-passage.html Joint blog
http://www.cameron-lawton.com/2013/01/lokis-curse.html
http://ailsaabraham.com/
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17213216-shaman-s-drum
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16233162-cancel-Christmas



You can also find us both on Facebook and Twitter under our names.

 Thanks so much for having us – is there any more coffee, please? We'll wash up!


 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Red wine or white?

Either. Ailsa is not drinking alcohol at the moment to raise money for Cancer Research in memory of Dad who died of stomach cancer aged only 38. But obviously being in the land of l'heure apero, it's great to sit outside in the fresh air and have a glass of wine before dinner. We're lucky to live in a wine-producing area, there is even an AOC for our little town up the road. A good robust red is great for a treat when we finish writing for the day but a very dry, chilled white is great for a pick-me up apero around 5.30.
 
Somehow, I'd feel bad drinking at 5.30 - I guess it just isn't the same if you're not in France!
Here's another irrelevant one: cheese or chocolate?

Cheese every time. Now you're going to say, of course, you're in France but we really do miss  British cheese a lot. Favourite dessert for both of us is fresh fruit or dates with blue cheese.

Summer or winter?
 
(loud laughter) Neither. We love the Spring and Autumn. Summer it gets waaaaaaaaay too hot here and it's very difficult to motivate oneself. Winter here is usually not so bad, we get snow every year and it's a dry cold. Not like Brittany where we used to live, which was like Cornwall where we grew up – not cold but very damp and foggy. Utterly miserable. The spring and autumn we adore for the change in Nature around us. We're very much country kids.
 

 
 
 

 
 
 




 

 


 
 







 
 

 
 

 

 
 
 

 

 
 

 



 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 



 








Friday 25 January 2013

Guest blogging

Hi!

Today I'm guesting on Cassie Mae's blog which I'm really excited about because it means I've travelled the Atlantic and am in the USA! Please come and visit us. I've attempted to impart some words of wisdom on the subject of being a writer (yes, I call myself a writer without apology, ner!)

See you there, I hope!

Monday 21 January 2013

A Year and a Day with Patsy Collins


 
 
Today I'm really pleased to have the incredibly prolific Patsy Collins here again. The last time, it was to promote her book Escape to the Country which I thoroughly enjoyed.  Not wanting to steal the thunder from her new release A Year and a Day, which you can find on Amazon UK here, and here on Amazon.com, I can also recommend her recent novel Paint Me A Picture. Patsy also has what seems like millions of short stories published, including her anthology Not a Drop to Drink.
 
And now, on to the business of the interview!
 
Patsy, it's great to have you!
 
Thanks for inviting me onto your blog, Linda! 

 
 
A fortune teller features in A Year and a Day. What are your thoughts on palm-readers, crystal balls and the whole predicting the future thing? Do you believe in that sort of stuff? 

I am interested in the subject. (You probably guessed that anyone who'd write a whole book based on the events that resulted from a visit to a fortune teller would be!) 

You've only got to open almost any newspaper or woman's magazine to find a horoscope, so a vague interest in the general idea of fortune telling is probably fairly universal. I don't believe them though and would never act on them unless they suggested I do something I'd already intended doing (one of the few things I have in common with A Year and a Day's main character, Stella.  

I know many people do believe in various forms of spiritualism, I have friends who do. It's not that I think they're deluded or batty or anything, I just don't share their belief. (Actually I do think a couple of them are a bit batty, but it's not because they talk to dead people, or think prettily decorated cards reveal something about the future) 

Have you ever been to a fortune teller, or to a medium? 

A drunk woman once insisted on reading my palm. If she actually had any skill the alcohol must have blurred her vision because she didn't get anything right, despite making rather a lot of suggestions. 

I did go to see a proper medium with a friend. It was a kind of show in a theatre rather than a private reading. His information was detailed (none of that asking 2,000 people if anyone had known someone with a J in their name, or maybe it was a G or K). I couldn't see how he cheated and wasn't really sure that he had, yet still I wasn't convinced. I wonder why not. 

At one point a lady, sitting near us, put up her hand and said the person who'd 'come through' sounded like a relation of hers. As she listened to the message she cried and I'm sure hearing the person was now happy and at peace was of comfort to her. His other messages seemed to help people too. Even if the whole thing was nothing more than a gimmick, it seemed to do some good and no harm. 

Would you consider visiting a professional fortune teller?

 Yes, but only as research for a story. 

Do you like the future to be full of surprises and don't want them spoilt?
 
I do like to feel that we create our own futures and would be uncomfortable thinking everything was already decided. Maybe that's why I don't believe in fortune telling - I don't want it to be true.

 What's the idea behind A Year and a Day? 

Two girls who've been friends since they were little kids have their fortunes told. It's Daphne's idea. She never makes a move before consulting her horoscope and of course believes everything  Rosie-Lee the fortune teller says. Stella has to be manoeuvred into agreeing to have hers done and doesn't believe any of what she hears. 

Rosie-Lee gives Stella a letter, that she's not to open for a year, which she claims will prove her words true. The letter gets sealed up and is then taken by John, Daphne's really annoying brother, before Stella or Daphne can read it. 

Stella attempts to prove Rosie-Lee wrong and Daphne tries to prove her right, which leads to them meeting Luigi. He's tall, dark and handsome enough for any fortune teller, plus he has a wonderful accent and hates to see a girl go hungry. Then there's Doug, also tall dark and handsome and with the knack of acting out Stella's fantasies. Sometimes a girl just has to accept her fate - at least temporarily. 

There's loads of yummy Italian food, chocolate and cocktails in this story (subjects that I researched very thoroughly) I predict that reading it will make people fancy pizza or a glass of Prosecco.
 
Can't wait to get stuck into my copy - who cares about diets anyway?
Patsy, I wish you the best of luck with the new book!
 

Friday 18 January 2013

Coming up...



My blog is beginning to feel like a 'proper' blog this year!

On Wednesday I hosted the fab Elizabeth Seckman, but that is not all!

Next Friday 25th I will be a guesting on Cassie Mae's blog, on Sunday 3rd Feb I will be hosting the brilliant Annalisa Crawford, and next week I'm interviewing the prolific Patsy Collins.

Whoop!

If you'd like to guest on my blog, please let me know! I'd love to have you :-)


Wednesday 16 January 2013

Elizabeth Seckman - Healing Summer Blog Tour

For Sale Now!!!

Maybe Love, Not Time, Heals All Wounds

Ditched at the altar…biopsied for cancer…Mollie Hinkle is having a bona fide bitch of a summer. When life sucks so hard it takes your breath away, what's a girl to do? Pack a bag, grab a few friends, and leave the past and the worry in the rear view mirror. What wounds can’t be healed by a drive across the Heartland, where quarter flips at cross roads determine the route and the future? All roads lead to Craig, the second son and bad boy of the haughty Coulter line. Has fate brought her to the miniscule Montana town to find happily ever after or will it just break her heart?

“Healing Summer” is the second book in the Coulter Men Series.
 
 

I've lent my blog to Elizabeth today as part of her Healing Summer Blog Tour. In return, she rose to the challenge to write a post with the word effervescence as the prompt...

 

I love that word! It actually reminds me of my second son. He was born with red hair and eyes such clear blue they sparkled. He had these dimples that framed a smile that made strangers stop. 
And he smiled a lot. He had a natural effervescence. He was so sweet and pleasant, I'd had to interrupt his baby play of singing to ceiling fans to hold him. A friend laughed and asked me why I picked him up when he wasn't crying and I told her if I waited for the little fella to fuss, he'd never get picked up. 
He's sixteen now and he's still a positive, funny guy. Even when his mom tells him, "There's my Cole-E Bear, my effervescent baby."  
Though I don't know what he'll say about me putting it on the Internet.
But none of you will tell, right?
 
 You can catch up with Elizabeth's Blog Tour here or you could visit her Facebook page or find her on Goodreads where there is a book giveaway.
You can buy Healing Summer on Amazon, here or on Amazon UK here.
To thank people for stopping by, Elizabeth has set up a Rafflecopter for $100 - you can enter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway  

As I'm a bit of a technophobe and that rafflecopter link might not work, you can also find it on Elizabeth's blog!

Elizabeth with Cole - not so small now!
 
Thanks for stopping by - if any of my links don't work, please hop over to Elizabeth's blog as it's all there! (So confident, aren't I? But then if you read my 50 Things list last week, 'learn how to use Blogger' was in there!)

 

 
 







 

 

Friday 11 January 2013

50 things to do!



My bloggy-friend, Vikki at The View Outside gave me this idea (well, actually I stole it as I didn't ask first, but that's just a technicality, surely?)

It seems that she (shamelessly) stole it from another blogger, Paula Acton.

The idea is to create a list of 50 things to do before you reach 50 (or I guess you can substitute any age with any number of things!)  50 suits me fine as it gives me just over 5 years to get some of these (I'm not pretending I'll get around to all of them...) under my belt.

You can find my list here.  What would be on your list?

Wednesday 2 January 2013

IWSG

I feel it would be a negative start to the year for my first blog post to be about feeling insecure - and this year is going to be all about being positive in as many ways as possible!

I haven't got a lot of resolutions - I think I have finally found a work/life/write balance so I want to keep that up - and as I said in my last post, I want to spend less time on Facebook and more time catching up with reading at times when I'm not writing.

Last year was good for me - I had several successes and only one rejection - and I THINK I have a more balanced view of rejections these days (although they are still ouchy!)

I daresay that by the first Wednesday in February I'll be feeling wobbly about something, but at the moment I'm bursting with life and raring to go - the gremlins are well and truly banished for now!

Are you feeling positive about your writing at the start of this new year? I'm looking forward to popping along to some of your blogs to find out!

Just in case you need a bit of a nudge in the right direction, here's a happy little bunny to cheer you on.