HUGE Congratulations Bookouture !

It’s coming up to three years since I signed my first contract with my publisher, Bookouture for a three-book crime/police procedural series, featuring Detective Rachel Hart. The first in the series, Little Girl Missing, was published in June 2019 and has sold 24,000 copies. Compared with the 50 Million copies of their books that Bookouture have sold since the company started, it’s a drop in the ocean, but I like to think that each drop helps!

I was particularly chuffed to spot Why She Died, the third in the Rachel Hart series, in a prominent position on the zero! That is my sister’s favourite book of all the nine novels I have penned, and yet it has had the fewest readers. If you’ve read Little Girl Missing and What He Did (my favourite of the series) do give Why She Died a go as it concludes the sub plot surrounding Rachel and her sister Ruth, although each is a totally independent main plot.

I should also mention that Little Girl Missing is on a reduced price ebook deal, if you happen to be reading this blog in the US or Canada, until the 6^th October – a perfect opportunity to dip your toe into the series if you like pacey crime thrillers. Incidentally, I write my crime novels as JG Roberts in case you were wondering.

Another author who has contributed to Bookouture achieving in excess of 50 million sales is Lizzie Page and she is my featured author on Between the Lines today. Lizzie’s book, The Orphanage was published about a week after The Woman on the Beach, and we danced around together in the Amazon top 100 chart for a couple of weeks. You’ll be able to find out more about Lizzie and her book later in this blog AND have the chance of winning a signed copy of her book.

It’s been a busy time for The Woman on the Beach since my last blog a fortnight ago. She has jumped from 300 ratings/reviews to over 550 as I write this and is definitely my fastest selling novel. It’s been brilliant receiving yet more photos on my social media from different holiday destinations. Above,  was courtesy of Jenny on her recent trip to Greece and below is Mary-Alice soaking up the sun in Portugal.

Just look at the colour of that sky…. a little bit different from the selfie I took on a day trip to Goring by Sea when we were puppy-sitting Quin, our son and his girlfriend’s dog. He had a great time dragging my husband, Chris up and down the shoreline and seemed to really enjoy digging in the sand – Quin that is, rather than Chris!

I stepped out of my comfort zone earlier this week to host a charity event to raise money for South-East Cancer Help who are based in Purley. I say, ‘stepped out of my comfort zone’ because although I’m very comfortable broadcasting to hundreds of thousands of people on live television, that is from the safety of a TV studio. I’m basically a very shy person, who finds it difficult to mingle at social gatherings, but I was asked to donate my time to host this event by former Crystal Palace manager, Alan Smith’s wife, Linda.

I was happy to say yes as I know first-hand how devastating the news that you have cancer can be, and would imagine it must be far worse if you don’t have a support network of family and friends. I’m pleased to say the event raised thousands of pounds for the charity which is run almost entirely by volunteers.

I’m very fortunate to have a supportive family. They’ve always been there for me and never more so than on my first day at QVC (the shopping channel) 28 years ago when I was one of the two faces to launch the channel alongside Jon Briggs (the UK voice of siri).

I wanted to share with you the original card my husband and children sent me which I’ve kept safe all these years – I have hundreds of cards from special moments down the years!!!!

The card must have been chosen by my children who were 5 and 6 at the time and is ‘interesting’ to say the least – they must have been going through a dinosaur phase at the time! But it’s the words they have written inside that really resonate, especially the row of kisses! And how prophetic was the printed message… no-one could have imagined in 1993 how huge QVC would become, least of all me!

And there’s the thing, none of us authors can predict how popular the books we have spent months writing and editing will be – we just have to cross our fingers and hope that the title or the cover will hook the reader in and that the story will not disappoint. I’m pretty sure my ninety-five year-old mum will enjoy The Orphanage, set in 1948 as it will transport her back to her twenties. I feel a purchase coming on as I can’t enter the competition below, but you can.    

Lizzie’s book is about an orphanage and brought to mind a well known musical show/film, featuring the song ‘Tomorrow’, about a little orphan girl.

What was the name of the show?

1. Alice
2. Annie
3. Abi

Leave your answer in a comment below by midnight on the 14th October and I will announce the randomly selected winner on my blog on the 15th – UK entries only.

Good luck and now, here’s Lizzie.

 

Q & A session with Lizzie Page

Posted on Oct 1st 2021

1. What was your first job after leaving full-time education?

I had all the jobs while I was in education from working in a bingo hall, making donuts in a kiosk, picking fruit, chemist assistant, waitress, turkey farm, DIY shop, usherette in a cinema – I think my first full time job was working as an Au Pair (nanny) in France. It was for a very famous Parisian family and I had to look after/speak English with the children. It was an education!  

2. Who was your first crush – real life or famous?

This will date me.  I liked Illya Kuryakin, the man from UNCLE -David Mccalum. I still have a sweet spot for him. I also liked Bruce Lee very much and had that famous poster of him on my wall. I liked Bodie and Doyle, The Professionals, but I could never decide which I preferred.  

 
3. What was your first piece of creative writing outside of school/college/uni?

I got a letter published in Twinkle magazine when I was at infant school! I was OVER THE MOON. From then on, there was no stopping me. (well, there was quite a lot stopping me but…) I can’t remember what it was about though.  

4. Do you have a favourite tipple, alcoholic or otherwise?

I’m not a massive drinker, unfortunately, (Im the migrainey-type!) but I do like all the drinks. In the day, I love tea and if I don’t have a cappuccino I get (more) ratty.  

5. Are you a cat or dog person?

Once, I would have said cats without doubt, but since I was persuaded to get Lenny the Cockapoo by the kids (who don’t look after him!) I love dogs too. So this is like asking me who do I prefer Bodie or Doyle – I’m afraid I can’t answer it.  

I guess I admire the qualities of cats, but dogs are adorable.  

 
6. What is your favourite TV show or series from the past twelve months?

Soooo many! Watching TV has got me through lockdown. Ok, I love and rave about The Queens Gambit, Line of Duty, The White Lotus, Baptise, Call the Agent but if I had to choose one: I’m going to say BBC comedy Ghosts. Feel-good telly, that never failed to make me LOL.   

I also to my shame can’t get enough of rescue-dog videos on you-tube.  

 
7. Do you have a favourite holiday destination or special memorable holiday?

Ooh, that’s a difficult one. I do love Italy in particular, but also Spain and France. I love English holidays too: and have many happy memories of the beaches of Cornwall and Northumberland. I’m hoping to visit Japan next year – fingers crossed!  

 
8. Do you like to read in the same genre as you write?

I love historical fiction, yes – it was a book by Paula Mcclain ‘The Paris Wife’ that I blame for getting into the genre. I like books set between 1930s and 1960s in particular, I guess. But I also love contemporary fiction about relationships and women’s lives. I tend to avoid anything too dark, too suspenseful – my nerves!  

9. How do you deal with negative reviews?

It very much depends on what they say and my mood. Sometimes, I will tell the kids about them and we will talk about it or laugh together – I think its an important lesson in resilience and to show that ‘you can’t please all the people all the time.’ And that’s ok. If the reviews fairly express what I feel is a pertinent point then I will try and take that onboard and work hard so that the next book doesn’t do that thing (whatever it was!)   

10. Cast your mind back to when you were thirteen and complete the following sentence:

When I grow up I want to be… A writer. I did. Twinkle’s fault.  

The other thing that I briefly considered was ‘spy’ because I was very nosey. (I would have been a useless and very nervous, migrainey-type of spy.)   

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Shilling Grange Orphanage, England, 1948. She was their only hope. Now they are hers. A gritty, heartbreaking and unforgettable story of love and hope in the darkest of times.

Clara Newton is the new Housemother of Shilling Grange Orphanage. Many of the children have been bombed out of their homes and left without families, their lives torn apart by the war, just like Clara’s. Devastated by the loss of her fiancé, a brave American pilot, she is just looking for a place to start again.

But the orphans are in desperate need of her help. Funds are short, children cry out in the night,and tearful Rita tells Clara terrible stories about the nuns who previously ran Shilling Grange. Clara cannot bear to see them suffer, but what does she know about how to look after eight little ones?

Clara can’t get anything right, and then she accidentally ruins Rita’s only memento of her mother. Overwhelmed, she wonders if they’d be better off without her. But she’s not completely alone. Living next door is Ivor: ex-Shilling Grange resident, war hero, and handyman with deep brown eyes. He doesn’t trust Clara and she is fiercely independent, but he has a way with the children. And with his support and the help of other locals, Clara begins to find her way.

As she heals from her grief and adjusts to her new life, Clara wonders if she has finally found her home and family among the orphans. Can she find the strength to fight for them when nobody else will? And dare she open her heart to love again?