Friday 26 April 2013

Review of Bunny on a bike by Bev Spicer


Bunny on a Bike is simply hilarious!

It is also a warm hearted, easy going and chatty memoir.

What’s not to like about the real life story of two young girls with little responsibility applying for jobs in the (not so) glamorous Playboy Empire of the early 1980’s....and surprisingly get taken on!

Not yet in the serious stage of their lives they just want to have fun....and they do that in spades. The bed-sits are dingy, their landlords stingy, their diets unhealthy.  Then there’s the catty colleagues, the wannabe’s, the celebrities (when they recognise them) and of course the punters.  We also meet their long suffering and extremely patient boyfriends.

Reading this is a bit like sitting in a pub with a pint in your hand and eavesdropping on the table behind. Lots of things are going on, but try as you might you just can’t drag your attention away, not even to go up to the bar to get another drink; you’re stuck there, glued to the seat, listening and laughing along as the girl behind tells her story....you just can’t leave, because you know you’ll miss something interesting!

A bunny girl...on a bike; do I really need to say anything else?

Tuesday 2 April 2013

I've been tagged, and I'm IT


You may know this game, but not played in quite this manner before. So, you're the author who is now "IT". To play this game you have to share your Work in Progress (WIP) or it's a smacked bottom and straight to bed with no supper! Scarlett Flame tagged me, and these are the rules


·                     Give credit (including URL/link) to the person or Blog that caught you and who made you "IT" I was caught fair and square whilst running away.

·                     Play by the rules - no pinching, kicking, spitting, Chinese burns, crying and definitely no tantrums! Which also means you must post the rules

·                     You must answer 10 questions about your current WIP, no matter the genre, because possibly we may like to get to know each other a little better (to be honest it's only 9 because  as the 10th question is really only the next step)

·                     List 5 other authors or Bloggers with their hiding places (URL/Links) so that they can be chased down and made "IT" so we can all go home now we've finished playing. Go in, eat supper, and check out THEIR books.


Q 1) What is the title (or working title) of your book

At the moment it’s Gornstock, The Return. The title will happen as I write.....hopefully!
 

Q 2) What genre(s) does your book fall under (or land near really!)
It’s really humorous fantasy, but my first book, and this WIP, can fall into crime/mystery as well.  



Q 3) What actors would you choose to play the characters in the film version of your book (should you ever, ever get that honour really)
Now that’s a difficult one. Cornwallis could be a Hugh Jackman type character, Frankie a young Ray Winston and MacGillicudy a young Robbie Coltrane. Rose though is everyman’s dream girl, so you can take your pick!   

 
Q 4) What is the main outline for your book? (Call it a pitch as a synopsis includes spoilers)
If you’ve read my first book, Banker’s Draft, you’ll be familiar with Gornstock, but the City now needs to change. Not everyone agrees that change is needed and one individual in particular takes exception to what is proposed. The City, and in particular, the Police Force, are under attack.
 Cornwallis, Frankie and Rose join forces with MacGillicudy once again. They have to hunt down the criminal before Gornstock is laid to ruin....but who is it? and why?
Only good detective work will find the answers.  
As we follow our heroes you will meet some new characters as well as some of the old ones, all quirky, and, to coin a phrase, all done in the best possible taste! 
  


Q 5) Will your book be Indie published, self published or represented by an agency and sold to a traditional publisher? 
It will be self published. But I’m open to offers! 


Q 6) How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
As I’m still writing my WIP I can’t answer that one. However, my first book took about three years from start to finish, as I had to fit it in around work and family life. This second book should take about a year to write and I hope to have it ready before the end of 2013. I’m not a quick writer, but I have a little more time on my hands now.


Q 7) What other books in this genre would you compare yours to? 
The obvious answer to this is Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series, though I like to think there is enough of a difference so as not to tread on his toes. The humour and writing has been compared with Douglas Adams and Eoin Colfer, (that’s the feeback I’ve had from readers, not me comparing, you understand!).


Q 8) Who or what inspired you to write this book?
The inspiration for my first book, Banker’s Draft, came about from the Governments expenses scandal some while ago. I just thought that there was a book in there somewhere, so I wrote it. This second is just an extension of that, the characters are telling me not to leave them be and that they want to come out to play again. So I’ve let them out! 


Q 9) What else about the book might pique the readers’ attention? 
It’s aimed at anyone with a sense of humour.



Q 10) Thank goodness!! Phew I've ran as fast as I can and these are the author's I've caught (and any who don't have a Blog of their own are welcome to have a sleepover at mine and post their answers here)




    
Now for my five victims... erm  five other authors who will tell you about their WIP

Clive Eaton