Making It Up

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blogtour

Inscape by Louise Carey

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Inscape Inscape by Louise Carey publishes on 21st January. Available from bookshop (affiliate) and other booksellers. Copy supplied free for the purpose of review.

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Tanta has trained all her young life for this. Her very first mission is a code red: to take her team into the unaffiliated zone just outside InTech’s borders and retrieve a stolen hard drive. It should have been quick and simple, but a surprise attack kills two of her colleagues and Tanta barely makes it home alive.

Determined to prove herself and partnered with a colleague whose past is a mystery even to himself, Tanta’s investigation uncovers a sinister conspiracy that makes her question her own loyalties and the motives of everyone she used to trust.

I hate to publish a review post without finishing the book, but despite my best efforts, I’m not quite at the end of Inscape. This doesn’t reflect badly on the book – it’s a great read, rather on my ability to concentrate in current situation. (Please tell me I’m not the only person struggling with the focus needed to actually read a novel at the moment?)

The book is SF that rockets along, told in third person present tense. This isn’t one of my favourites, I usually find it a bit obtrusive, but it’s done very well in this book and has the effect of keeping the pace up and the story really flowing. I can easily see YA readers enjoying this as it sits in that crossover area with many similar characteristics to YA novels.

Tanta, the lead character, is great, and watching her character develop even in the short time span of the book (there’s a lot going on very quickly) is fascinating. I’ve just got to the part where it really starts getting involved, and you should all be impressed I’ve put the book down to write this review. Well worth a look, I recommend this for anyone enjoying futuristic dystopian fiction.

The Leavers by Lisa Ko

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Today I’m pleased to be helping kick off the blog tour for the award winning The Leavers by Lisa Ko.

Blurb:

One morning, Deming Guo’s mother, Polly, an undocumented Chinese immigrant, goes to her job at a nail salon – and never comes home. No one can find any trace of her. With his mother gone, eleven-year-old Deming is left mystified and bereft. Eventually adopted by a pair of well-meaning white professors, Deming is moved from the Bronx to a small town upstate and renamed Daniel Wilkinson. But far from all he’s ever known, Daniel struggles to reconcile his adoptive parents’ desire that he assimilate with his memories of his mother and the community he left behind.

Set in New York and China, The Leavers is a vivid examination of borders and belonging. It’s a moving story of how a boy comes into his own when everything he loves is taken away, and how a mother learns to live with the mistakes of the past.

Given the state of the world around us at the moment, this is a timely read. On belonging and not belonging, the stories of Deming/Daniel and Peilan/Polly his mother are tangled in past and present, knitting together families, cultures and countries.

The narratives switch between Daniel and Polly, and with a less talented writer, the switch in perspective would be a harsh interruption. But this flows despite the harsh content, in the way that a stream finds its way around rocks and tree roots. There’s a depth to the characters that draws you in to their story, making unfamiliar words and relationships welcoming and understandable. And discovering Daniel’s music linked him to my family, with a teen son playing guitar and a daughter writing songs.

I’ve set myself a challenge recently to read outside of my culture, to broaden my understanding of the world around me. (It feels like the only way to get to grips with the way our own country is dividing around us. Perhaps if I explore the reasons behind the divisions I can see a way to heal them?) The Leavers is a book with a wealth of areas to understand, America, China, adoptive families and homes broken by bureaucracy. (Like I said, timely.) I can see I’m going to be recommending it over and over, and reading it more than once myself. There are so many layers to the story that I know I’ll get more from it every time.

A beautiful, powerful, and important book.

The Leavers by Lisa Ko

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Dreams and Regrets by Emily Williams, author of Rafferty Lincoln loves.

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You may or may not be aware that I have an occasional series of posts on the theme of Dreams and Regrets. (If not, follow the link.) Today I’m happy to add to that series as part of the Rafferty Lincoln loves blog tour, with a guest post from author Emily Williams.

Emily Williams

Dreams…

When Jax first talked to me about her dreams and regrets series for her blog, I was very excited. There are so many dreams in my head and I think I could talk forever about them! My dreams have evolved over the years but the central core – writing – has always been there.

My dreams during childhood were mainly pony-related. I spent hours fantasising that I owned a horse, buying all the equipment and saving my pocket money for the horse that never was. I read and saved every horse magazine going and grew a good collection of pony related non-fiction books and hundreds of pony stories, which to this day I still have. I guess the pony dream always stuck with me. Despite, in my early twenties, finally getting that pony the dream of horses and ponies is always there and still makes me smile.

I wrote endless pony stories and developed the dream of becoming a writer from an early age. This would be as early as primary school, when I first learnt to write. The stories always had animals in them, and mainly ponies or dogs. It was during secondary school that the dream became more concrete. Another child had had a story published in a magazine and I was jealous. I realised that it was writing that I wanted to do and wanted to become good at. The teachers were a great encouragement.

I continued to write stories, for my eyes only, right up until college, when I knew that I wanted to find an audience for my stories. University and boys took over for a while, but in my head, there were still stories. The dream never went away until the idea for Letters to Eloise (Amazon affiliate link) arrived. Never before had I a whole novel in my head bursting to get out. For once, I planned and developed a strict timeline. I always thought the dream was possible, I just didn’t think I’d ever have the motivation to finish.

When a publisher friend of mine printed me the first proof copy of Letters to Eloise, I knew I’d found my niche in life and the childhood dream of writing had begun.

Regrets…

I don’t have many regrets in life but I do regret not starting to pursue my dream earlier. I regret those wasted years and years spent unhappy at what I was doing with my life. I wasted my twenties. Although Letters to Eloise was already in my head, I didn’t sit down to write the novel until my late twenties/early thirties. I dabbled with short stories, occasionally sending them off to be rejected. But I didn’t properly give writing my full concentration.

I had a full-time job, a career that I was good at. However, the writing dream was always there, always niggling in the background waiting to be heard. I just wish I’d listened sooner and started writing those ideas in my twenties and not my thirties. But who knows, maybe I just wasn’t ready then.

A word from the author…

I wrote Rafferty Lincoln Loves… as I have always wanted to write a horse involving horses. I read many pony stories as a child, but have found that there are very few to read as a young adult/adult so I wanted to fill this void. I have been around horses from a very early age and spent many years saving to afford my own horse. Sadly, due to a road accident and then a fall of a horse, I can no longer ride. However, my passion and love for equines hasn’t diminished. Due to arm injuries from the accidents, I have had to dictate the novel, Rafferty Lincoln Loves… and am donating the proceeds of the novel to the British Thoroughbred Retraining Centre – a charity I have supported since childhood.

Many thanks for supporting the novel and I do hope you enjoy it!

Emily x

Find Rafferty Lincoln loves on Amazon (affiliate link)

The blurb of Rafferty Lincoln Loves…

Rafferty Lincoln doesn’t like horses. Not one bit. But when the popular high school girl of his dreams, Liberty Ashburn, pulls him into a world of lead ropes and horse brushes, who is he to say no?

Except this isn’t any old horse. This is the missing racehorse, Profits Red Ridge. The horse Rafferty and three of his friends are hiding from the world. And Liberty Ashburn isn’t just any ordinary high school girl. How far will Rafferty go to win her over?

An intense, witty and powerful coming of age story with startling consequences.

The proceeds from the novel ‘Rafferty Lincoln Loves…’ will be donated to The British Thoroughbred Retraining Centre.

BTRC is dedicated to improving and promoting the welfare of retired race horses through education, retraining and suitable rehoming in order to ensure that our Thoroughbreds have a rewarding and valuable life after their racing careers have ended.

Each year thousands of horses leave racing, some because they reach the natural end of their career and others through injury or lack of ability. Established in 1991, The British Thoroughbred Retraining Centre was the UK’s first charity dedicated to ex-racehorse welfare, retraining, rehoming and protection for life.

‘It is fantastic to see a contemporary novel for young adults embracing passion and love for horses, as well as advocating for their welfare. Emily’s fast-paced novel not only explores the relationship and incredible bond between horse and rider but also delves into darker aspects relevant to today’s challenging world of growing up. Rafferty Lincoln Loves… deserves to be celebrated for bringing an important cause to the forefront of today’s young adults.’ Frankie Dettori MBE

‘I am thrilled to have written this novel for the BTRC and to be donating the proceeds to such an important and dedicated charity for the welfare of retired racehorses.’ Emily Williams

Book cover - Rafferty Lincoln loves

Author Bio

Emily Williams lives by the seaside in West Sussex with her family and a menagerie of small pets, including her own horse Bella, and welsh mountain pony, Lucy. After graduating from Sussex University with a BA in Psychology, Emily trained as a primary school teacher and teaches in a local school.

Rafferty Lincoln Loves… is her first YA novel after the success of her debut adult novel, Letters to Eloise, released in 2017.

You can follow Emily on twitter

Find out more about Emily’s other books on Amazon

Read reviews and find out more on her blog

The Everything Machine by Ally Jennen – review and giveaway

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What would you do if you accidentally acquired an intelligent machine that could print anything? (I’m thinking robot cleaner. Or an extra storey for the house, maybe a dozen extra bookcases…)

The Everything Machine

From Ally Kennen

(twitter, web, facebook)

Release Date: 2nd February 2017

Genre: MG

Publisher: Scholastic UK

Format: Paperback

Cover illustration Chris Jevons

(twitter)

Buy at Amazon (affiliate)

Eleven year old Olly has a very special delivery – a 3D printing machine, stamped with PROPERTY OF M.O.D and BRITISH SPACE AGENCY. WARNING. DO NOT TAMPER, which has magical powers… It has a name, it speaks, and it can print ANYTHING Olly asks it to – a never-ending supply of sweets, a swimming pool in the shed – but what Olly really wants is… his dad, who has separated from his mum and moved out of the family home. Cue the creation of Dad-Bot – he looks just like Dad (on a good day) but is totally chaotic – and his antics tip Olly and co into a heart-racing and heart-warming adventure!

The Everything Machine is a great example of middle grade fiction – a romping yarn that draws in newly independent readers. Or passing parents for that matter – I started reading it so that I could talk about it and entice in the aforementioned newly independent reader 7 year old, and discovered I’d devoured three chapters and was desperate to know what happens next…

You have been warned. It’s a *very* readable book. I’m a particular fan of Bird, the 14 year old sister to our main character, who “knows how to fix the internet, debug computers, build crazy websites and put up firewalls. She’s got this very cool sideways haircut and seems to know about everything before it happens.” Definitely my kind of teen. (Also, cool sideways haircut? Would that suit me?) All the characters are well drawn, even the machine itself – a huffy printer sounds about spot on for the ones I’ve met day to day. Of course, there’s more to the story than the interactions between children and machine, but this is, as ever, a spoiler free review.

If you’d like to check out the Everything Machine for yourself, you’re in luck, because I’ve got three copies to giveaway – entry via the easy Rafflecoptr widget below. Mandatory entry is by comment, UK addresses only. What would you make with an Everything machine?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Don’t forget to check out the other blogs on the tour, and good luck!

Listed on the Prizefinder

Be a happier parent with NLP by Judy Bartowiak

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This may be an unexpected post to see on this blog – I’m not sure that I’ve ever reviewed or even mentioned a parenting advice book or manual previously. That isn’t because I don’t read them though it’s irregular, it’s more because I don’t believe any one system has all the answers. And that’s because I strongly believe that all children, and all parents are individuals. Which makes for a whole host of interesting dynamics 😉

Having said that, anything that boosts happiness for parents (as long as it doesn’t reduce happiness for children) has got to be a good thing. NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) is a type of coaching regularly applied in business, and in this workbook, it’s applied to parenting in much the same way.

The book starts with an introduction to NLP and where it sits in relation to things like TA (transaction analysis) and CBT (Cognitive behaviour therapy). It goes on to lay down some ground rules, like

There is no failure, only feedback.

Don’t know about you, but where parenting is concerned, I find that a hard one to take on board. I’m not sure whether the teenager would go for it either. But if it makes either of us more resilient, it would have to be thought of as a good thing. Anyone out there with any experience of this?

One that I’m really going to struggle to take on board though is

One word works wonders

My children do this. They walk into the room and bark “drink!” or “hungry!” or “biscuit”. The wonders that this works on me starts primarily with my blood pressure, which rises instantly. I say, that’s interesting, and maybe if you actually form a sentence, we’ll be able to do something about it. So I’d be rather hypocritical to start saying “teeth” or “homework” or “door” (to take the examples from the book). Is there a difference in my children communicating in single words to me doing it? I take on board the short and sweet command – I do have a tendency to the verbose (quiet at the back there!) but I think I’m going to stick with short direct sentences, rather than single words.

As you can see, I’ve already found food for thought in this book, and I hope you will do the same. If you’ve prior experience of NLP and parenting, I’d love to hear from you, and likewise if you think it’s all just twaddle 😉 Stick me a message in the comment box, or pop by on social media (icons in the sidebar).

Don’t forget to check out the rest of the blogs in the tour!

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Author Information:

Judy Bartkowiak (twitter) is the author of ‘Be a happier parent with NLP’ a guide to using life coaching skills to enhance your parenting. Judy and her husband Edward have four children and live in rural Berkshire with their dogs Roxy and Holly and nine hens.

She has an NLP training and coaching practice NLP Kids, specialising in child and parenting issues and runs Kids Brands Europe Email Judy  for your FREE mini book ‘Be a happier parent with NLP’ and apply code ‘Blog’ to get 10% discount off Judy’s books at NLP and kids books.