My Life as a writer - When I'm not scribbling

I write books, I love writing books and the flip side to that is I love reading books.  So I thought I'd do a little post on the books I've read so far this year and what I thought of them; 1. The Stylist - Rosie Nixon  Follow Amber Green as she is catapulted from her designer retail store job in to the world of celebrity stylists.  Hired to assist Mona Armstrong the top celebrity stylist through a jam packed awards season.  The ultimate dream job becomes more of a roller coaster drama with designer wardrobe.   This book is at its heart a finding yourself story.  Not unhappy with her life but not truly satisfied Amber's luck is in when she makes a slight mistake which brings her to the attention of Hollywood's go to stylist, whose life on the outside is nothing short of amazing.  It's the ultimate look at a the greener grass and finding out all is not what it seems.   Amber grows as a person and becomes more confident in her ability an...

Robert Thorogood's novel follows Detective Richard Poole  and his team on the island of caribbean island of Saint Marie as they investigate the murder of Retreat owner/spiritual guide and all round good guy Aslan Kennedy.  Richard isn't your typical Caribbean police office, he's more of a stuff English conservative who wears wool suits in the hottest of weather even if that means he faints every once in a while.  He's also someone who doesn't like to have a problem he can't solve.   Along with his long suffering partner Camille he works on solving the locked room murder.   Five people enter a Japanese tea house to undertake the retreats sunrise healing ceremony locked in by Aslan himself only for their meditations to be interrupted when they wake to found Aslan dead. So who did it? I picked up this novel as I've watched the popular series on BBC which was inspired by this novel.  It's a very Christie like scenario, alt...

Last Christmas I wanted a festive book to read to add to and enhance my Christmas Holiday.  So while shopping on Amazon.co.uk I picked up 'The Little Shop of Hopes and Dreams' by Fiona Harper, I'd never read of of her books before but this sounded like it could fit the bill. It did and I loved it, so when it came to this festive season I decided to start reading Christmas themed books earlier.  I picked a selection however, the first three I red in the run up to the start of my Christmas break didn't cut the mustard, they just weren't what I was looking for.  So on Christmas Eve I picked up 'Kiss Me Under The Mistletoe'; Kiss Me Under the Mistletoe Fiona Harper  This book surprised me, it was a lot deeper than I expected.  The lead character Louise is described as a WAG, she's a model who married a Hollywood star and lives what from the outside looks like a dream life but of course it's far from it. She decides to leave her husband and the ...

Okay I admit it I am a little late to the Hunger Games Party.  I haven't read the books although they are currently working their way to the top of my TBR (To Be Read) pile and I've kind of seen all the films but not in the right order. There are reasons for my tardiness but that's another story.    Anyway, the other weekend I was having a movie night with a girlfriend and the movie we plumed for was Mockingly part 2.  As we took our seats with our favourite Starbucks tea and a selection of goodies from their desert range we admitted to each other that neither one of us had seen Mockingjay part 1.  Oh dear!  The last Hunger Games I'd seen was Catching Fire, which was actually the first I'd seen of the series!  However my friend has read the novels so she gave me a quick update on what I'd missed.   So the movie started and I have to say I was impressed.  I did feel a little lost on the Peeta/Katniss relationship as last I'd seen he was ...

The nights have drawn in, the weather has got cold and rainy, even a touch of snow and soon every house will be adorned with Christmas lights, so it’s time to start getting in the festive spirit by reading a few festive tales. I’ve bought several Christmas themed books this year to read over the festive period, the first of which was The ChristmasParty by Carole Matthews .   The story follows Louise, a single mum, starting a new career as a PA working for a rather unscrupulous and handsy boss.   It’s almost time for the Christmas party and for once Louise is determined to have a good time and enjoy the party. Set in a beautiful country house he office party takes off introducing a variety of employees each with their own drama going down behind the tinsel.   The party takes place the day before Christmas Eve and we then follow the lives of Louise and several of her co-workers through to Christmas Day. I wanted to enjoy this book, I wanted to feel festive ...

It’s almost Halloween, it’s the time of year the nights draw in, the cosy jumpers work their way back in to your closet and it’s time for those films that make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end.   The films that make you look over your shoulder and wonder if someone is lurking in the shadows.    So with all the feelings of what the coming darkness brings I ventured out to see the well hyped Crimson Peak. How could it go wrong? A perfect movie for Halloween if you believe the trailer, ghosts, creaking old mansions, red blood like clay, a harrowed heroine and elegant but sinister leading man.   Unfortunately, that was were the tension and expectation peaked. Initially I thought Del-Toro was on to a winter, a haunted house piece with a great cast and from the initial images and trailers an impressive set.    However, within the first ten minutes the film went downhill rapidly until it crashed and burned to an obvious end. The sto...

Having read Little Shop of Hopes and Dreams last Christmas I was interested in reading this offering from Fiona Harper.  Gladly I wasn't disappointed,  I do admit it's taken me a while to read this book, not because of the book or writing simply due to life getting in the way of reading time! Doris Day Vintage Film Club By Fiona Harper The story follows Travel Agent Claire Bixby, (I admit I felt an affinity due to the name) who plans romantic trips for her clients and works close to the Little Shop of Hopes and Dreams from the previous novel. She is also friends with Peggy from the previous novel who crosses over in to this novel,  filling the same role in this novel as the first.  She's the type of friend everyone would love to have and I enjoyed getting to know her better as she was a nice aside to the main story in both Hopes and Dreams and Doris Day.  I wonder if she will get a break out novel of her own one day. Claire has had a previous bad relatio...