Issue 9 – July 2021
Editor’s Letter
I feel very fortunate to have got away in July and grabbed some sunshine. In contrast to 2020, this year’s weather has been cloudy with some of the worst rainfall we’ve seen for many years. So, while I took my work with me, it has been great to work from a different environment and to see the sunshine on a daily basis.
I’ve been editing a YA thriller for author Sheena Law, which I’ve thoroughly enjoyed. In Sheena’s story, main protagonist, Jamie, is missing his best friend, Luke, who has moved to Australia. He goes to his favourite hideout and comes across Rick, who lives on the other side of the bridge. Initially the boys don’t get on and a light-hearted battle to unseat each other from the weeping willow ends with the tree being uprooted from the ground. The boys discover an old chest buried beneath the roots of the tree and join each other in a treasure hunt where they almost come unstuck so many times. It’s a great adventure story and lots of other characters get caught up in the race to the treasure, including Jamie’s feisty grandad and his karate kicking twin sisters. The story has been meticulously plotted and I will be championing it here after its release. Watch out for Sheena’s author page, which I hope to bring you once she’s completed a swim across all the Scilly Isles – brave girl!
Happy writing,
Lesley
Contents: writing prompts, book reviews
Writing Prompts
In keeping with last month’s holiday themed writing prompts I couldn’t resist adding a couple more. I hope they don’t find you languishing under a black cloud!
She dug her toes into the golden sand and recoiled …
Police tape was strung across the villa’s entrance, she’d left only an hour previously …
The scene in front of him shimmered then rushed towards him, enveloping him completely …
Book Reviews
More Ketchup Than Salsa, by Joe Cawley
We go to Tenerife a lot for holidays, so I was keen to read the perspective of someone permanently living and working in Las Americas. Joe’s writing style is full of humour and well told anecdotes about setting up in business and with good comparisons to life in Britain. I felt there could have been a little more on the anecdote side and a little less emphasis on how hard it was, which just felt a little over egged. I appreciate though that this book only covers their first six months in business and that they were both daunted and shell shocked by the expectations and by their success, which felt well deserved. I’d definitely recommend this book to anyone who thinks of setting up business abroad, it’s eye-opening but balanced by the humour which must be necessary for anyone to survive. A reprint would benefit from dates alongside chapter headings.
Girl A, by Abigail Dean
Girl A was a long-awaited and hotly touted book over Amazon for months building up to its publication and the furore was fully justified.
The story follows Lexie Gracie – Girl A – who manages to escape the chains that keep her and her brothers and sisters prisoners in their own home. Their father dies in the house that day and their mother chooses prison, rather than committing suicide. All of the children behave differently following their release from the media dubbed: House of Horrors and the reasons why, together with their descent from social restrictions to imprisonment are gradually revealed. One question has continued to niggle the authorities, but the children are convinced they were all treated similarly. When the truth is revealed, Lexie must realise other truths she’s suppressed and make decisions about how she handles the future for them all.
The pacing and backstory reveals are masterfully handled. Girl A is brilliantly written and gripping from the first intrigue and action-packed page.