Frost Editor Catherine Balavage Tells All You Need To Know About Blogging

Posted on April 13, 2016 by Frostie

In a new Frost series Catherine Balavage will be covering everything you need to know about being a successful blogger and running a successful blog. Hot on the heels of releasing her book on blogging, Catherine will be doing a talk on blogging at Litfest, the esteemed literary festival founded by contributing editor Margaret Graham. All proceeds from Litfest go to Words For The Wounded so come along if you can. It is this Saturday (16th April 2016).

If you have any questions on blogging then please send them along to us at frostmagazine@gmail.com or tweet us at @Frostmag. Blogging is huge now and allows you to create a brand, earn a living or even work from home. Keep coming back to Frost for the knowledge to help you achieve your dreams.

You can buy The Ultimate Guide To Becoming a Successful Blogger here.

The European Startup Revolution Book Review

Posted on March 30, 2016 by Margaret Graham

The European Startup Revolution is a book of interviews with leading European entrepreneurs and investors.

This is a book for the entrepreneurs amongst you, and perhaps those who are not yet, but hope to be.

Ivo Spigel, co-founding editor of the technology blog www.Tech.eu has interviewed 28 European startup founders and investors over a period of 6 years for his book, “The European Startup Revolution“.

The European startup and technology ecosystem has changed dramatically over the past 6 years, as it recovers from the 2008 financial crisis. No longer content to take the back seat, founders of European startups have been busy creating global winners, particularly in areas such as fintech (TransferWise), music (SoundCloud, Deezer) and gaming (Supercell, Nordeus, Playfish).

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Ivo Spigel has interviewed many of Europe’s most successful startup founders, from Spain to Finland and from Britain to Hungary. In the 28 chapters of The European Startup Revolution, the author takes an intimate look into the company with the founders to explore their early days, the critical steps to the evolution of their companies and how they developed over time.

Each chapter has a ‘before’ and ‘after’ part, speaking to the entrepreneurs first in 2010 – 2011 and then revisiting them 4-5 years later to learn what has become of their ventures. Most have been very successful, but there are valuable lessons to be learned from those who have not.

The companies covered are many, and include Zemanta, the venture funds Atlas, as well as Skimlinks, Playfish, Last.fm, Rebate Networks, Dailymotion, PriceMinister, Getjar, Index Ventures, Supercell, and others.

“The European tech landscape is changing“ commented author Ivo Spigel “and there is a need to report on these dynamic developments. Europe has nurtured some amazing companies that have not always had the media attention they deserve. I’ve written this book as an exploration and a celebration of European entrepreneurship.“

The book, is available at www.europeanstartuprevolution.com and www.Tech.eu, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Google Play, Apple Books and Kobo.

A Girl’s Guide to Moving On by Debbie Macomber Reviewed by Jan Speedie

Posted on March 28, 2016 by Margaret Graham

Leanne and her daughter-in-Law Nichole are both coping with the aftermath of divorce and decide to compile a guide to help them move on. Two years on both Leanne and Nichole have pushed forward with their careers and have found new relationships. Just as they feel life is good, people from their past try to spoil their new happiness and bring difficult family challenges which they must overcome to secure their bright future.

Debbie Macomber is a bestselling author in the USA with over 200 million copies of her books in print worldwide. It is said she is a master of feel good stories, ones which raise the spirits of those dealing with relationship problems.

So how much of a master is she?

A Girl’s Guide to Moving On is easy reading and it certainly does bring raise the spirits in our hum drum world, especially as we wait for spring to be sprung.

The pace is brisk, the emotive thrust draws us in, and it is one of there rare things these days, a wholesome and satisfying read.

Another few million sales on the way it would seem. Great stuff.

Debbie lives with her husband, Wayne in Port Orchard, Washington. As well as her best selling fiction Debbie has published two cookbooks, numerous non-fiction works and two children books. Debbie is a devoted grandmother and works for several charities. Debbie and Wayne spend their winters in Florida.

Published by Arrow in paperback on 10th March 2016 at £5.99

The Last Thing I Remember by Deborah Bee Reviewed by Frances Colville

Posted on March 25, 2016 by Margaret Graham

One of the launch titles for Twenty7 books, an imprint of Bonnier Publishing Fiction, The Last Thing I Remember by Deborah Bee is a gripping read. Sarah is in an induced coma after a mugging, unable to move, see or communicate or to remember anything about herself and her past life. She is, however, able to listen in to conversations going on around her. Can she make sense of what has happened to her, remember who she is and alert the medical team to the fact that she is not brain dead? Kelly is a stroppy yet sensitive and intelligent teenager who spends a great deal of time at Sarah’s bedside. What part does she play in all this and can she help Sarah recover? And who is the man who appears at Sarah’s bedside when no-one else is around and whom no-one knows?

Deborah Bee keeps the tension high and the reader guessing until the very last page. I couldn’t put it down. If you’re a fan of Gone Girl, or The Girl on the Train or any of Sophie Hannah’s psychological thrillers, this is a book for you. Just one word of warning, if you object to very frequent (albeit integral to the story) use of the f-word then it might not suit you.

The Last Thing I Remember (Twenty7 books) is available as an Ebook from 3 March 2016 and in paperback from 28 July 2016.

The Glory By Katie Flynn (writing as Judith Saxton) Reviewed by Janet Speedie

Posted on March 21, 2016 by Frostie

Katie Flynn is a well known and successful writer who also writes as Judith Saxton.

Book two of this family saga follows the Neyler family through the dark years of WW1 and their hopes for a brighter future.

The Glory follows the lives of Ted and Tina’s family and friends during a dark and difficult period. The story starts in Norfolk in 1912 when there are only distant rumours of war.

Follow and enjoy the Neyler’s trials and tribulations of family life, though, if you haven’t read the previous novel in the series, you might find that you flounder a bit in the early stages trying to work out who is who. Once you get the hang of the characters, though, and sink into a poignant and readable wartime story you’ll thoroughly enjoy it. Keep your hankie at the ready though, and be amused by the twist at the end.

What adventures will Judith Saxton aka Katie Flynn bring to the Neyler family in Book 3? I can hardly wait.

Katie Flynn was born in Norfolk but moved with her husband and family to the North West. Katie is a compulsive writer with over 80 titles published under several names, one of which is Judith Saxton. Even suffering with ME for the past few years, Katie continues to write her stories for which I am grateful.

Published by Arrow on 10^th March 2016 priced £6.99

Song of the Skylark by Erica James Reviewed by Frances Colville

Posted on March 18, 2016 by Margaret Graham

Song of the Skylark is Erica James 20^th novel and having read all the others I can confidently say that it doesn’t disappoint. Telling the stories of Clarissa Dallimore before and during the Second World War and Lizzie Moran in the present day, this is really two books in one, but there are enough links between the two to make the story flow and the plotting work well.

Lizzie has a reputation for attracting bad luck and the story begins with her ending a relationship, losing a much loved job and being compelled through lack of money to move back to her parents’ home. Against her better judgment she begins a temporary job and meets Mrs Dallimore who is also reluctantly having to adjust to a new situation, in her case old age necessitating a move to a care home. A friendship develops between the two as they learn about each other’s past, and try to adapt to their present situations.

Both main characters are well-drawn and easy to identify with, as are the other more minor characters in the book. And Erica James has a delightfully fluent style of writing which draws you in and means that you don’t want to stop reading. If a good story and the feel-good factor is what you are looking for, I recommend this wholeheartedly and the same goes for all Erica James’ other books.

Song of the Skylark: Orion Books – available in hardback from 17 March 2016, with paperback and ebook editions to follow.

30 Days of Gratitude Day Eight #30daysofgratitude

Posted on March 8, 2016 by Catherine Balavage

Today I am grateful for books. I have loved reading all my life. There are very few pleasures in life as great as reading a good book. My love of reading has also given me a career that I love, and broadened my view of the world. Reading is great for the imagination and it makes you smarter. Some of these books are written by Frost contributing editor Margaret Graham and some others were written by me. Margaret is a bestselling author for Random House so she is on another level. I hope I get there one day.

Catch up on other days:

Day 1.
Day 2.

What are you grateful for?

The House at Baker Street by Michelle Birkby Reviewed By Frances Colville

Posted on March 3, 2016 by Frostie

It’s a growing trend to write fiction about the women behind famous men, and a brilliant idea to extend this to write about the women behind fictional characters too; in this case the women connected to Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson. The House at Baker Street by Michelle Birkby puts together the scraps of information we learn about these ‘background’ women in the Arthur Conan Doyle stories and gives them a detective adventure of their own.

Both Martha Hudson and Mary Watson are believable characters and the plot is a good one, though not perhaps quite of the standard of an original Conan Doyle. The book doesn’t have the same period feel as the Conan Doyle stories either, but then why should it? It was written a hundred years later and doesn’t make any pretentions to be the same as the originals.

As far as I can tell, without extensive knowledge of the Sherlock Holmes books, it fits in well and I didn’t come across any annoying anomalies. In short, it could have happened! I enjoyed it very much and I particularly liked the way the scene is now set for further adventures by the same pair of intrepid female detectives.

The House at Baker Street by Michelle Birkby is published by Pan Macmillan and will be available in paperback from 25 February 2016

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