Blog
Just because I love talking and writing about books
Chris Penhall’s Author Top Tips – writing what you see through the eyes of your characters
I'm a great one for learning new things - I have recently taken up watercolour painting, for example, thoroughly enjoy my tap dancing classes and even after many, many years of salsa dancing, still have lessons. Every day is a school day, even if I think I know what...
Summer in Your Eyes playlist
I love music and have it on in the background when I'm writing - that's if I'm not out in a coffee shop enjoying the 'coffee shop ambient noise' which also helps me to put words on paper. In my novels, I often use music to punctuate some of the scenes, just was it...
Author Claire Buss chats on The Talking To My Friends About Books Podcast
In the latest episode of The Talking to my Friends About Books Podcast I chat to author Claire Buss about her books and her poetry. https://d3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net/production/exports/ba7b6b04/78231986/0903be4e6b333af59a8af2097b272cfa.m4a About Claire:...
The Talking to My Friends About Books Podcast – Sci-Fi author, Anka Troitsky
I love chatting to people about books, hence the clever title of my occasional podcast, The Talking to My Friends About Books Podcast. And for this one it is sci-fi author, Anka B Troitsky, who I first met many years ago when we began dancing salsa at the same time....
The Talking to my Friends about Books Podcast: the What the Pho Travel podcast
As the main character of my new novel, Summer in Your Eyes is lapsed travel writer and blogger Holly Merriweather, I thought i'd ask some actual travel podcasters onto my occasional podcast cleverly entitled The Talking to My friends about Books podcast...Amy and Nick...
Notes from an Urban Rambler (Ambler)
Notes from an Urban Rambler (Ambler): Incorporating Food Stops into Ambling Posted on June 27, 2016 by chrispenhall As a committed ambler I have learned over the years to pace myself properly in order to fully enjoy my surroundings. You can’t amble along a...
To Have and To Hold by Carol Nightingale
My friend, Carol Nightingale has just achieved a long-held ambition to write and publish a book, which is the first of many, I'm sure. It's a psychological thriller called To Have and To Hold. We used to talk about books all the time when we got together, so I thought...
Summer in Your Eyes – a Q&A with me in the Choc-Lit/Joffe Books Digest
Q&A WITH AUTHOR CHRIS PENHALL In last week's digest we announced SUMMER IN YOUR EYES by award-winning author Chris Penhall is now available to pre-order. Ahead of it's release, we caught up with Chris. Read below to find out about Chris' writing...
Just Friends for Now by Lucy Keeling
Lucy Keeling and I met in 2019 when we were both finalists in the Choc-Lit Search for A Star Competition and since then I've loved reading all of her fabulous books - and I look forward to reading many more. Just Friends For Now is the fourth book in her Friends...
Little Museum of Hope – Sally Jenkins
I love exploring museums of all kinds because whatever is on display gives us an insight into someone's life. Sally Jenkins has written a book about just that. It's called Little Museum of Hope, and I invited her onto the blog to answer a few questions about it....
Kirsty Ferry on her new release: Bea’s Magical Summer Garden
Kirsty Ferry has written another rather magical tale, this time featuring Bea, Schubert the cat and bees, of course. So I invited her onto my blog to tell us a bit more about it. This is the sixth book in the Schubert the cat series – it started off a few years ago...
The Talking to My Friends About Books Podcast: Sadie Nine, BBC Essex radio presenter on writing her memoires and her one-woman show
Sadie Nine presents the afternoon programme at BBC Essex from Monday to Thursday between 2pm and 6pm. She's also a singer, actor and columnist and is currently writing her memoires, as well as getting ready for her return to the stage with her new one-woman show at...
The Talking to My Friends About Books Podcast – Julie Haworth, winner of the Katie Fforde Debut Romantic Novel award 2023
I spoke to author,Julie Haworth, last year about her debut novel, Always By Your Side, published by Simon & Schuster in 2022. She has now won the Katie Fforde Debut Romantic Novel Award for the book, in the Romantic Novelists' Association's (RNA) annual Romantic...
The Talking to My Friends About Books Podcast with Ray Clark – Stay Tuned – I Could Say Something Brilliant at any Moment!
I love talking to my friends about books, and in this episode of my imaginatively titled - The Talking to My Friends About Books Podcast, I chat to Sony Award winning radio presenter and writer, Ray Clark about his new book which will be published in June - Stay Tuned...
The Talking to my friends about books podcast – author Deborah Klee
In my occasional series - The Talking to my friends about books podcast, I chat to Deborah Klee, who's latest novel, The Forever Cruise, has just been published. We chat about the book, writing, and how much we love fiction! https://anchor.fm/dashboard/episode/e1sgv3a...
Hope, Mistletoe and a Christmas Promise by Juliet Archer
With Christmas getting ever closer, and the weather turning frosty, it's just the right time to curl up with a good festive book. And Hope, Mistletoe and a Christmas Promise fits the bill completely, and it takes us all to Hong Kong too! I invited author Juliet Archer...
Talking to My Friends About Books – Julie Howarth on her debut novel, Always By Your Side
I love talking to my friends about books, so I've got an occasional podcast called Talking to My Friends About Books because I'm really good at titles....ha ha! Julie Howarth had her first novel, Always By Your Side, published in August and the audiobook has now come...
Lizzie Chantree talks to BBC Essex presenter, Tony Fisher, about our October buddy-writing session
Fellow author Lizzie Chantree and myself decided we wanted to encourage people to get together and write in a supportive and relaxing environment, whether they are published, not yet published, or don't want to be published and simply want to write. We are most...
Mistletoe and Mayhem at the Little Shopping Mall by Hannah Pearl
As the nights are drawing in, many of us are thinking ahead to Christmas, so if you're looking for a book to cosy up with on cold winter evenings, A Countdown to Christmas Thanks very much for welcoming me to your blog to celebrate the launch of Mistletoe and Mayhem...
A Vacancy For a Village Vet – Joanne Boden
I do love a romance where the protagonists have to grapple with the past before they can move on. And this book is just the ticket for that. So, I invited Joanne Boden to answer a few questions about the book, and how she writes - amongst other things of course!...
Chris and Lizzie’s Buddy Writing Meet Up – why not come!
I have just come back from the Hay Book Festival and I am once again full of ideas and energy - the kind of energy you get from being around people who feel the same way about certain things that you do. In this case, it is books. I don't speak to the majority of...
A Burning Lie – Claire Sheldon
Fellow Ruby Fiction author, Claire Sheldon has written the third in her series in The Lisa Carter Files, A Burning Lie. Set in her home town of Nottingham, it follows Jen Garner and her return to street level policing. Q - tell us about the book A Burning Lie...
Meet Me on the Buddy Bench – Hannah Pearl
Tell us about the book Meet me on the Buddy Bench is the story of Sam and Ava. They’ve both had a really tough time and it’s all about how they have to rebuild their lives. It’s not how they expected life to look for either of them, but it’s all about how they can...
Carrie Elks on being a hybrid author
Essex-based author, Carrie Elks was scouted by a literary agent after she wrote Twilight fan fiction, which led to her very first book being published in Brazil She is now a very successful hybrid author, meaning some of her books are traditionally published and some...
Seven little tips to help you put pen to paper (or hand to keyboard)
It took me quite a few years to actually get my first book published. The House That Alice Built won the Choc-Lit Search for a Star competition in 2019, and since then there's been New Beginnings at the Little House in the Sun and Finding Summer Happiness. In June, my...
It’s Only Rock and Roll – Berni Stevens
We all love a bit of rock and roll, so the latest book from the very talented Berni Stevens really hits the mark! I invited her onto the blog to ask a few questions, not only about the book, but also how writing makes her feel. Plus, she shares a few tips for budding...
Queen of the Desert by Marie Laval
Another fabulous Choc Lit and Ruby Fiction author has a new book out. This time it's Marie Laval, who's family connection to North Africa inspired her to write the book. So, I've invited her onto my blog to ask her a few pertinent questions about Queen of the Desert...
Chris and Lizzie’s Marketing Adventures – or how just chatting can be inspiring
When my friend, author Lizzie Chantree and I get together, we always have a rough plan of what we are going to do (i.e. where we are going to meet, drink coffee, and eat), but everything else comes as a result of the way our minds work. We basically go off on rather...
It Started with a Wedding – Kirsty Ferry
Tell us about the new book It’s the fifth book in the Schubert the Cat series. Schubert’s a mystical, magical cat with his very own quirks, and his owner Nessa McCreadie, is getting married. Nessa has asked her twin brother Alfie to organise the wedding – with...
Escape to Little Bluewater Bay by Joanne Boden
I love chatting to other authors, and when it's for their debut with Choc Lit, that's very special. So, welcome Joanne Boden, who's first published novel with Choc Lit is Escape to Little Bluewater Bay! Hello. I would like to thank Chris for inviting me on her...
The Talking to My Friends About Books Podcast: Gina Hollands on The Fall and Rise of Ronni Fairweather
I love chatting to people about books. And talking to an author about their latest project is always fun. Fellow Ruby Fiction author, Gina Hollands has a new book out. So, we caught up on Zoom and she told me what it's about. Click here to listen ...
Write Like There’s No-One Watching (or write because it makes you feel good)
I've just finished writing my fourth novel, and now I have three already published books under my belt - two written in the last two years, and the first written over a much longer period of time - I have taken a step back and asked myself - why do I write? Or why on...
Strictly Christmas Spirit – Helen Buckley
My Spotlight Series is all about fame and love, with characters who are singers, actresses, dancers, sports stars and reality TV performers. The stories can all be read as stand-alones, and you can be sure they’ll have dramatic twists and turns! The Series contains...
Chris and Lizzie’s Book Marketing Adventure – What’s Under Your Nose
When I meet up with my friend and fellow author, Lizzie Chantree we often have an idea of what we want to talk about. What actually happens is that we veer off in all sorts of different directions both verbally and when we are actually physically moving around!...
Christmas of New Beginnings – Kirsty Ferry
Christmas is not far away, and there's a little bit of festive sparkle in the air, plus it's the time of year when some fabulous Christmas reads are published. Kirsty Ferry's new book is called Christmas of New Beginnings and it's a perfect story to get you into the...
Helen Bridgett – Wrong Sort of Girl – Book 2 in the Maxie Reddick Series
I love hearing about the way authors discover their characters and bring them to life. Helen Bridgett's new book, Wrong Sort of Girl, features the crime-solving Professor Maxie Reddick, who's been inspired by elements of a well-known actress and one of Helen's...
Writing the raunchy times – Lucy Keeling
I have been asked how I write romantic and sexy scenes in my books. In all honesty, I'm still stuck in the From Here to Eternity waves lapping on the shore kind of thing, so I thought I'd ask my friend, Lucy Keeling, who has written three funny, contemporary novels...
The road to publication: Anni Rose on Recipe for Mr Perfect
I love hearing how authors started writing and went on to get their books on the shelves. We are all different and the number of ways we got to achieve our ambitions to become published writers are as varied as the number of published writers themselves. That means...
Finding Summer Happiness – spot of gazing at the stars
I do love staring at the sky at night. I have no knowledge of astronomy at all really (although rectifying this is something on the top of my list of things to do, which I haven’t actually done yet…) However, what I can say with complete certainty is that a black sky...
A Villa in Portofino by Evonne Wareham
I'm completely in love with Italy and have definitely put Evonne Wareham's new novel, A Villa in Portifino on my to be read list. So, I thought I'd invite her onto my blog to give a bit of background to the novel. As she says...it's complicated! Many thanks to Chris...
Chris and Lizzie’s Book Marketing Adventures: Trains, Planes and Automobiles – or ‘going with the flow’
I always look forward to meeting up with Lizzie Chantree. We have a lot of fun, talk about books, our ideas, how we write, and all sorts of random stuff! We always start with a plan...a cup of coffee, and if our meeting is in Southend, a full English breakfast in one...
Her Nanny’s Secret by Jan Baynham
My fellow Ruby Fiction author, Jan Baynham has a new novel published this week. Her Nanny's Secret is set in Wales and France, and Jan explains how and why she choses her locations Thank you, Chris, for having me on your blog to talk about my third novel, Her Nanny’s...
Chris and Lizzie’s Book Marketing Adventure: Films – where we take our books on location. Can someone make some films of our books please…?
Lizzie Chantree and I during one of our long, industrious meetings (which is what we call a - breakfast, b - coffee, c breakfast and coffee, d - coffee and cake) discovered that we both love films and we are both rather keen to have our novels adapted for the big...
The Talking to my Friends About Books Podcast: Sue McDonagh and The Art Cafe Series
My new novel, Finding Summer Happiness is set on the Pembrokeshire coastline and reflects my love of the south Wales coast. i was born in Neath in South Wales and have always been entranced by the beaches, coves, cliffs and landscape of that part of the world....
The Talking to My Friends About Books Podcast: Gina Hollands
In this episode of The Talking to My Friends About Books Podcast, fellow Choc-Lit and Ruby Fiction author, Gina Hollands chat about her latest novel, Yours Trudy and our shared love of salsa dancing. She explained how she started salsa Listen here:...
Chris and Lizzie’s Book marketing adventure! Or Lizzie and Chris and the Blustery Day…
From Chris: Writing can be very solitary really. Even if you’re sitting in a café working on your latest masterpiece, you’re still alone with your own imagination, because, basically, you have to be to create the world you’re putting on the page. So, its...
The Talking to my friends about Books Podcast: Rob Jelly
I'm really enjoying arranging chats with my friends about the books they are reading. And I'm also enjoying listening back to them. I now have a long list of new novels to discover which is growing and growing. In this episode of The Talking to my Friends about Books...
Shh… It’s Our Secret, by Lizzie Chantree
I'm delighted to welcome international best selling author, Lizzie Chantree onto my blog today to celebrate the publication of her new book on May 6th 2021 Over to you Lizzie! Shh… It’s Our Secret, by Lizzie Chantree Thank you for inviting me onto your blog today and...
The Talking to my friends about Books Podcast: Lizzie Chantree
I love chatting to my friends about what we've been reading and getting recommendations for new books to try In this edition of the Talking to my friends about Books Podcast, myself and author Lizzie Chantree discuss our love for romantic fiction, Marian Keyes and how...
The Talking to my friends about Books Podcast: Claire Sheldon – The Source
Here's another recorded chat with a fellow book lover for Talking to my friends about Books. This time its Ruby Fiction writer, Claire Sheldon, author of Perfect Lie and Silent Child. Unsurprisingly crime and thrillers are at the top of her favourites list, including...