Monday 2 May 2011

Citizen and Echo Weekend feature

I've searched for a link to the article about me featured in the Gloucestershire Citizen and Echo's Weekend supplement but there doesn't seem to be one, so here is the text, along with something nice that happened as a result of this article being published.

It was an interesting way of promoting Bitter Roots, and did help to boost my sales.  By asking me about my reading habits it seemed like an opportunity to promote my book without being pushy about me, me, me.

Here is the interview:

What books do you remember reading as a young child?
I loved reading about magic and witches. I remember one called Late for
Halloween about a witch who had to live in a girl's garden for a whole year
as she'd missed the big Halloween party. I imagined I was that little girl
and shared her adventures as I read the book. I also loved ghost stories as
my mother was always telling me what the ghosts in our loft were getting
up to.

What books shaped your childhood/teenage years?
I read anything I could lay my hands on by Joan Aiken.  She died a few
years back, but I still think she is one of the best children's authors I've
ever read.  She shifts events in our past creating an alternative history, and
invents a world that is so incredibly vivid.  I wanted to be my favourite
character from the Wolves of Willoughby Chase series, Dido Twite.  If you
love Philip Pullman's books, you would love Joan Aiken. She's the one
author from my childhood I still go back to and re-read.

What are the most memorable book(s) you've ever read and why?
Without a doubt, that would be The Colour Purple by Alice Walker.  I read
it in my early twenties and it has lingered in my mind ever since. I love the
story of strong women battling to break free of their dreadful lives, and
without giving the end away, I cried buckets of happy tears.

How many books do you have?
Walls covered with them in every room, which is why I bought a Kindle.

Do you have a favourite author(s)?
Anita Shreve and Alice Hoffman, who are both are both amazing
storytellers.  They're both American, but I am always on the look out for
UK authors I can love as much.  I did love Mad Joy by Jane Bailey who I
think is from somewhere in Gloucestershire.

What are you reading at the moment?
I'm re-reading Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, which I downloaded for free
onto my Kindle.  As you may be able to tell, I have a bit of a thing for
Gothic.

Where do you like to read?
I like to read in bed, just before I go to sleep.  That way my dreams are
often coloured by whichever story I'm currently wallowing in. Tonight I'll be
going back to Thornfield Hall to find Mr Rochester.

Do you think the way we read is changing for the better with e-books?
E-books are certainly better for the environment as there's no paper used,
but they will also open up publishing to new authors as publishers will not
have to risk the cost of a huge print run.  I am a committed book lover, and
I was resistant at first, but I've had my Kindle for a couple of months now
and I am a complete convert.

Why do you think reading is so important?
It expands our minds opening us up to new ideas and ways of looking at
the world.  We get to meet people we might otherwise never meet, and to
travel places we may never be able to go to.  In a word - escapism.

And the nice thing that happened?
A few days after the article was published I was contacted by Jane Baliey who I mentioned in the feature.  She was very happy for the plug and generously offered me advice that will help to get Bitter Roots out there to more readers. 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bitter-Roots/dp/B004RPWJEE

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