Tag Archives: Catherine Balavage

My Writing Process Sandie Jones

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Sandie Jones, AuthorI’ve been a journalist for the past 25 years, interviewing celebrities for national newspapers and magazines. I started writing fiction in 2017, because writing a book was on my bucket list, but I never imagined it being read by my mother, let alone be published and reviewed by thousands!

My debut The Other Woman was published in 2018 and was a New York Times Bestseller, as well as a Reese Witherspoon Pick. My second novel The First Mistake was published last summer and The Half Sister is out on 25th June.

What is your latest book?

The Half Sister, which is about Kate and Lauren,  two sisters who each feel that the other has the perfect life. When a woman turns up, whilst they’re having a family Sunday lunch, claiming to be their half sister, their worlds are turned upside down and it sends them in opposite directions, in their quest for the truth. But neither of them could ever imagine what they’re about to discover.

Please could you tell us a bit about your process of writing?

It’s changed since writing my first book, as I’m no longer doing it just for myself. There are editors and publishers involved now so instead of, quite literally, making it up as I go along, I now have to have a clear idea of what the story is, where it’s going and how best to get there.

Do you plan or just write?

It goes against my natural instinct to plan anything – I love to just write and see where we takes me, but as I say, I do have to have a solid outline of an idea before I start, which involves lots of spider diagrams and boxes on a whiteboard. Though once I get started, it all tends to change anyway!

How do you think about structure?

I used to think that the books I liked to read had one big twist at the end, but since writing myself, I’ve found that actually, reveals are peppered throughout. I tend to drop a bomb of some description at each third, so as to keep the reader interested and engaged.

Is there anything you find hard about writing?
The planning stage is particularly difficult for me as I feel I’m forcing myself to come up with every twist and turn in advance. However, I am learning that it’s good to have a loose structure to work to and I have understanding editors who know that my best ideas are likely to come when I’m writing.

What do you love about writing?

Everything else! I adore creating characters and getting to know them. I’m at the stage with my fourth book where I don’t want to put it down. It feels like I’m reading a story I’m really invested in and can’t wait to get back to it, to see what happens next. I forget that’s down to me to decide and that’s a great feeling!

Sandie Jones’s books are available here.

More information on Sandie Jones.

Her Husband’s Mistake By Sheila O’Flanagan

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Her Husband's Mistake, Sheila O'FlanaganThere are few things more satisfying to me than reading a book with a layered, well-written female character. Of course, Sheila O’Flanagan is known for writing amazing characters but the pay off remains. Her Husband’s Mistake takes a tale as old as time- a cheating husband- and writes about it in a way that is both satisfying and complex.

Her Husband’s Mistake has more pages than the average book I read and I found myself able to really dive into the story. Women tend to give more of themselves to others and end up in the role of the carer. I found this book picks up on so much about being a woman, how hard it is and how you can lose your identity. It takes strength to find it again. I recommend this brilliant book to anyone who loves to read books about people finding their feet and flourishing.

Dave’s made a BIG mistake. What’s Roxy going to do about it? The riveting new novel from No. 1 bestselling author Sheila O’Flanagan. Perfect for readers of Marian Keyes and Catherine Alliott.

Roxy’s marriage has always been rock solid.

After twenty years, and with two carefree kids, she and Dave are still the perfect couple.

Until the day she comes home unexpectedly, and finds Dave in bed with their attractive, single neighbour.

Suddenly Roxy isn’t sure about anything – her past, the business she’s taken over from her dad, or what her family’s future might be. She’s spent so long caring about everyone else that she’s forgotten what she actually wants. But something has changed. And Roxy has a decision to make.

Whether it’s with Dave, or without him, it’s time for Roxy to start living for herself…

Her Husband’s Mistake is available here.

Just My Luck by Adele Parks | Book Review

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Just My Luck, Adele Parks, extract , review

I have loved Adele Parks’ books for years now. Which is handy, as she writes one a year and has done for the past twenty years. Impressive.
Just My luck is another triumph. It has a great premise which is beautifully executed. We have all dreamt of winning the lottery. This book explores what happens when people become rich beyond their wildest dreams. It may be a novel, but it is a cautionary tale that money does not buy happiness. I loved the characters, even the ones I was loving to hate. The twists at the end are hugely satisfying. I find Adele Parks is an expert at picking up on the beautiful details of life, as she is at finding the complexities of the human character. Just My luck is the perfect escapist novel that will leave you hooked until the very last page.

It’s the stuff dreams are made of – a lottery win so big, it changes everything.

For fifteen years, Lexi and Jake have played the same six numbers with their friends, the Pearsons and the Heathcotes. Over dinner parties, fish & chip suppers and summer barbecues, they’ve discussed the important stuff – the kids, marriages, jobs and houses – and they’ve laughed off their disappointment when they failed to win anything more than a tenner.

But then, one Saturday night, the unthinkable happens. There’s a rift in the group. Someone doesn’t tell the truth. And soon after, six numbers come up which change everything forever.

Lexi and Jake have a ticket worth £18 million. And their friends are determined to claim a share of it.

Sunday Times Number One bestseller Adele Parks returns with a riveting look at the dark side of wealth in this gripping take on friendship, money and betrayal, and good luck gone bad…

Just My Luck is available here.

Easy Ways To Cook Vegetables. How to Get Your 5-a-Day.

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Getting our 5-a-day is hard. Or at least, I have often found it so. It is easy to grab a piece of fruit but eating vegetables requires more effort. At least that is what it feels like sometimes. Since lockdown it has been harder to get some foods. We have had a weekly delivery of fruit and veg. There are a number of companies that do this.

It has set a challenge to use everything up as I refuse to have food waste. This has always been the case but even more so now. I will be sharing tips on the coming weeks but here is what I am doing at the moment.

Every few days I make a a huge salad or a traybake of roasted vegetables. This does as a lunch for a few days and also a side for supper. It is very easy to do. Sure there is a lot of chopping, and my children are usually trying to get my attention, but because you only have to do it every three days it is not that bad.

Salad potatoes can be boiled for 15 minutes. I add rosemary or parsley to them.
potatoes with herbs, cooking vegetables, how to cook potatoes,

Cauliflower can be boiled in 15 minutes. Carrots take 5 minutes. I add as many herbs and spices to the various vegetables as possible. A lot of  fruit and veg boxes come with a bag of fresh herbs. You might also have some in your cupboard. Five spice anyone?

Aubergine can be roasted for 20 minutes in the oven. I tend to add olive oil and salt and pepper. It tastes delicious. You can also pan fry it. Beetroot is great baked in the oven for 45 minutes. You can even bake it whole. Add olive oil and wrap in foil. I tend to cook things at 180. The roast vegetables can be added to the salad and vice versa. I love adding fruit to veg. Oranges go great with aubergine. It is a lot of work cooking and, lets be honest, tedious, but when you make a lot you only have to do it every three days. That is for a family of four.

Eating raw food is great and retains nutrients. I find raw cabbage tastes amazing and has a satisfying texture. I have a large Mason Cash baking bowl which I make a huge salad in. There was one week where we did not get a fruit and veg box and my husband and I really noticed the difference to our health. A plant based diet is the easiest way to great health.

In the evenings and weekends I write in the kitchen while my husband looks after the kids. I am right near the fridge which is not good, but instead of snacking on unhealthy foods I just dip into my huge bowl of salad. Try it, put all of your favourite fruit and veg in a big bowl and pick at it when you are hungry. It will change your life and your health.

Please share any cooking tips or recipes with me. Lots of love and stay safe, Catherine xx.

 

 

Stay Up with Hugo Best Book Review

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staying up with Hugo Best, Erin Somers, book review, book reviews

Some books are entertainment and some are a hard read. Stay Up with Hugo Best is a bit of both. It can be an uncomfortable,  read, but it is an important one. I feel like this is a real book which picks up on so much nuance. It is a rich tapestry of the complexities of the gender war.The relationship between men and women is complex, and the relationship between powerful men and younger women is complex and ripe for abuse.

Metoo has created a new world but it is not necessarily a better one. Abuse and inappropriate behaviour still happens. People make bad choices all of the time.Sometimes the people making the bad choices are woman. 

Stay Up with Hugo Best is a brave book and Erin Somers has taken her own path in writing it. It is a brilliant exploration of the entertainment industry and the powerful men within it. This book will resonate with many. A great read. 

The novel is an exploration of the power and influence in the entertainment industry in the #MeToo age and a meditation on desire, both realized and unrealized. Through these themes Somers has created in Stay Up with Hugo Best a wonderfully witty, wise and deliciously melancholy narrative.

Stay Up with Hugo Best charts the long weekend a late night talk show host and a young staffer spend together after the show’s cancellation. The weekend is tense, and uncomfortable and the characters so magnificently honest, as the two sardonic souls find themselves connecting.

When Somers finished a creative writing program in her late 20s, she did not know how to proceed. She was uselessly spinning her wheels. This seemed to her something a lot of her peers were going through too—the structures by which one builds a life seemed to have crumbled. ‘I thought this was an interesting time of life to explore, and an interesting predicament: how to succeed as a young woman in a creative field still dominated unfortunately by men. What compromises would I be willing to make if given the opportunity.’ From these initial reflections came her inspiration to write Stay Up with Hugo Best.

Stay Up With Hugo Best is available here.

 

Coronavirus Is Tough On All of Us But Together We Will Pull Through

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Hey, how are you doing? Not great? I do not blame you. These are scary times. Every day is seems unbelievable that our lives have changed so much, and that so many have lost their lives. The NHS workers, delivery drivers, bin men and grocery workers are our new heroes. It is a new world and frivolous things do not mean much in a world like this.

I am seeing a lot of stuff on social media and in the press about how staying at home is easy so I just want to write this, not for any idiots who are going out and not listening to the Government guidelines, but for the rest of us: none of this is easy. It is okay to not be okay.

What is going on at the moment is horrendous and there is so much we do not know. If you are struggling then do not feel bad. I read a story about a 43-year-old woman who had what she thought was a cold and a fever for two days. Her husband called an ambulance when she collapsed. She died before the paramedics even arrived and her husband was in shock. They had a 13-year-old son.

A lot of people are dying every day and there are mass graves in New York. Pregnant women are having a tough time and some women who wanted to get pregnant say they have lost their last chance. This is all scary and unknown.

So many people have lost jobs and money. Millions of people have gone hungry. People are worried about the roof over their heads and the future. There is so much suffering at the moment. It is impossible to not be affected by this. So we must all go forward together because never before have we been more in this together. This is not easy but we have each other and we can all do whatever we can to put goodness and positivity into the world.

Get in touch with us if you want to talk or share your story. If you want to learn more about the Pandemic, or Pandemics in general, then I recommend Pandemic, the documentary series on Netflix, Pandemic: Covid-19 on NowTv.com and the movie Contagion which is also on Netflix.com.

 

The Dilemma By B. A. Paris Book Review

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B. A. Paris

The Dilemma is a book that stays with you. The characters are so rich and the premise of the novel is so breathtaking. I would label The Dilemma is a psychological thriller albeit one in the domestic setting of family. After all, is that not where the most complex things are? I dare you to put this novel down. I raced through it, my heart in my mouth. It is beautiful, sad and vivid. Perfect.

It’s Livia’s 40th birthday and she’s having the party of a lifetime to make up for the wedding she never had. Everyone she loves will be there except her daughter Marnie, who’s studying abroad. But although Livia loves Marnie, she’s secretly glad she won’t be at the party. She needs to tell Adam something about their daughter but she’s waiting until the party is over so they can have this last happy time together.

Adam wants everything to be perfect for Livia so he’s secretly arranged for Marnie to come home and surprise her on her birthday. During the day, he hears some terrible news. He needs to tell Livia, because how can the party go on? But she’s so happy, so excited – and the guests are about to arrive.

The Dilemma – how far would you go to give someone you love a last few hours of happiness?

One day that will change a family forever, The Dilemma is the breath-taking, heart-breaking new novel from the million-copy-selling, Sunday Times bestseller, B A Paris

The Dilemma is available here.

Need Some Uplit? Books To Bring Joy

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I think it is fair to say we could all do with some cheering up at the moment. So here are some books to bring some joy. THE PATH TO THE SEA by Liz Fenwick (5th March) – A beautifully evocative tale of the secrets held by the Cornish coast for three sisters, full of mystery and feel-good romance, by ‘Queen of the contemporary Cornish novel’ Liz Fenwick.

FAMILY FOR BEGINNERS by Sarah Morgan (2nd April)- A compelling, escapist family drama about Flora and her attempt at fitting in with Jack’s family whilst living in the shadow of his perfect immortalised wife, from international bestseller and Sunday Times bestselling author, Sarah Morgan.

WHAT HAPPENS NOW by Sophia Money-Coutts (16th April) – the saucy laugh-out-loud poolside read by mistress of the romp-com Sophia Money-Coutts, about swiping right, weeing on a stick, and dating the aristocracy, not necessarily in that order.

WE JUST CLICKED by Anna Bell (16th April in eBook and Audio) – A fabulously funny, feel-good novel that will make you laugh until you cry, for anyone who’s ever presented a perfectly-filtered life online to hide the unglamorous reality, perfect for fans of Sophia Kinsella and Laura Jane Williams.

THE SUMMER VILLA by Melissa Hill (14th May) – An enthralling feel-good romance set in a rambling stone villa on the Amalfi Coast – a story of friendships rekindled and of secrets buried in the past re-surfacing under the Italian sun, by international best-selling author Melissa Hill.

THE EXTRAORDINARY HOPE OF DAWN BRIGHTSIDE by Jessica Ryn (28th May) – Based on debut novelist Jessica Ryn’s experience as a homelessness resettlement worker, The Extraordinary Hope of Dawn Brightside is a quirky, hopeful commercial piece of fiction with book club appeal, focusing on Dawn Elisabeth Brightside and her fight for saving St Jude’s Hostel for the Homeless, her own personal light in the darkness.