Category: book reviews

Catching up with Author Nina Kaye

Catching up with Author Nina Kaye

sandybarker

Thrilled to have one of my dearest author friends back on Off the Beaten Track, marking the publication of her passion project Lucky Number. And what a gorgeous cover!

Welcome back, Nina. Tell us what inspired you to write Lucky Number?

I honestly can’t remember where the idea to have a broken-hearted lottery winner came from. It’s so long ago now! I think it’s perhaps as simple as it just came to me and I loved the idea of addressing the age-old question of ‘can money buy happiness?’ It’s not inspired by personal experience sadly. However, from a practical/writing perspective, Lucky Number is probably the most important book I’ve written (to me anyway). It was the first one I ever wrote and I call it ‘my rehab book’ because I started writing it as a way of rebuilding my cognitive capabilities after a significant health event in my life. The inspiration to put fingertips to keyboard and actually write it rather than just having the idea floating around my head came about very unexpectedly. This excerpt from my Acknowledgements sums it up nicely:  

‘I wanted my life back and it felt like an impossible challenge. That was, until a conversation with an ex-boss of mine, Mel MacIntyre, during which she asked if I was using my time off sick from work to write the book I’d always wanted to write. At first, I was thrown by her question. I was far too unwell for that. But her words stayed with me and the seed that she planted grew into something special, helping me to identify what was missing from my recovery plan: ‘physio’ for my brain.  So, I started writing – just ten to fifteen minutes at a time. It was gruelingly difficult and painful to even sit at a desk, but the thing about me is that I can be a determined little bugger. I kept at it, and as I wrote, it got easier and I could write for longer – until eventually I had written my first ever novel: this book, ‘My rehab book’ or if I’m allowed to be a little dramatic, perhaps even the book that saved me. Because it didn’t just help me recover some of my cognitive capabilities, it gave me a renewed sense of self-belief when I badly needed one.’

So, while the book itself doesn’t have headline-grabbing inspiration behind it, Lucky Number has great personal meaning to me and I always wanted it out in the world. And it is now part of a two-book series (the sequel is called Another Lucky Number).

I note that you’ve gone down the independent publishing route with Lucky Number. Can you say a bit more about that?

Yes, of course. Lucky Number was originally called As Luck Would Have it – in fact, I self-published it back in 2016 (or thereabouts) and then took it down from Amazon six weeks later because I was offered representation by a literary agent (I was also querying at the time). However, despite it being the book that got me an agent, it was never bought by a publisher because it didn’t sit cleanly within any genre. I did get great feedback on it though, and that spurred me on to write more books and eventually become successful in getting traditionally published.

As the series still doesn’t have a clear genre (though there is a delicious romance thread that runs right through it), I decided to put it out there myself and have a proper stab at the indie publishing route this time. Though I love being traditionally published author and all the opportunities and learning that comes with that, I’m someone who enjoys being creative without boundaries and this independent approach allows me more of that. I’m also a doer and being in control of my own destiny quite suits me. I’ve enjoyed taking these stories in the direction I wanted them to go, managing the design of my covers and creating my promotional posts such as the one for my cover reveal. In fact, I’m currently doing the same with a children’s book I’ve written, the main characters of which are based on a couple of clay models I also made during my ‘rehab’ period. I will self-publish that too, hopefully this spring.   

It might seem like an odd move to some but it’s actually been a very deliberate one and one that has been great for my mental wellbeing and sense of fulfilment. I am by no means walking away from the traditionally published route and I guess if I were to have to put a label on my situation, I’ve gone ‘hybrid’.

What’s your most recent read that you’d like to recommend?

This is always a difficult question for me to answer. And if I’m totally honest, one that makes me feel a bit ashamed (though I know I shouldn’t). My cognitive issues, which are part of my health condition make reading difficult for me. I know, that sounds bizarre coming from an author (hence the shame), but I think it’s important to talk about these things. Writing is far easier for me and editing is also not too bad because it’s an active rather than a passive activity. I guess it must use different parts of the brain. But reading is a real challenge – I’m slow, I often struggle to take in the words and I find it difficult to concentrate if I’m not editing at the same time. I even find it challenging reading back my own work, which I’m already familiar with, so tinkering with my work as I go is really the only way to keep myself focused.

Previously, I put a lot of pressure on myself to read the books of other authors to support them and try to keep up (and I really do want to support my fellow authors) but it was creating stress for me and I was becoming over tired, and after my last covid infection I had to admit defeat. I haven’t stopped reading altogether, but I have accepted that it’s something I can’t do a lot of, especially when I’m already working with my own texts. That said, I adore stories and storytelling so I watch TV programmes and films – it’s my way of relaxing. I also recently made a great discovery. As long as I’m doing something to keep my brain active (washing dishes, cleaning, etc), I am able to listen to (and actually take in) audiobooks for short periods – and I really enjoy that.

Sorry, that really was a long way around a short cut! To finally answer your question, an audiobook that I recently listened to and really enjoyed was Mhairi McFarlane’s Between Us. Mhairi’s rise to fame coincided with the worst period of my health issues, so despite hearing great things about her books, I had never read one. And now I’m a fan, like so many others.    

What has been your author highlight over the past year?

I honestly think it’s been my shift towards taking the reins myself on some of my writing projects. It has given me such a boost.

What are you working on now?

Currently, I have a few things on the go. I’m getting Another Lucky Number ready for publication. I have the children’s book I mentioned that I am working on – the aim being to publish that this spring under a different pen name. I’m also about to start querying agents to seek representation for a non-fiction book I’ve written, and I’m working on the second book in a romance series I’m writing as well. It’s a juggling act and obviously not everything is in play at once. 

What do you hope readers will take away from Lucky Number?

I hope it will leave them wanting more because there’s a second instalment. 😊 Sorry, I had to add in a wee plug there. It’s generally a light-hearted easy read, but as with all my books, there is some poignancy and there are some more serious themes hiding in there. I think there’s an opportunity to reflect on the question of money and how important it really is to our happiness, as well as the important role of elderly people in our world and the benefits of having real experiences, not just doing everything virtually.

More about Lucky Number

Her numbers have come up, but can money really buy her happiness?

Emma is stuck in a rut. Her boss is a bully, she’s missed out on a promotion at work and her partner is a sanctimonious git – not that she knows it until he heartlessly dumps her, leaving her homeless. In an unexpected twist of fate, Emma finds herself with a winning lottery ticket. She thinks a bulging bank balance will make all her problems disappear, and the first thing she’s going to do is have some fun by living like a millionaire for a week.

With romance off the agenda for the foreseeable future, a newly carefree Emma embarks on the experience of a lifetime. But between a series of run ins with a handsome yet irritating stranger and finding herself involved in one disaster after another, her life is soon unravelling again.

Will Emma realise that money doesn’t solve everything? And can she untangle herself enough from the mess she’s in to take a chance at real love?

Order Lucky Number here
My thoughts on Lucky Number

Lucky Number is Nina Kaye’s answer to the question ‘Can money really buy me happiness?’ and she does a stellar job in exploring what we think will help us achieve happiness and those aspects that actually form the foundation of happiness – relationships with loved ones.

There are lots of twists and turns as Emma discovers what really matters, wonderful supporting characters, including a very scrummy travel agent, and plenty of Nina Kaye’s trademark humour and poignancy.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

About Nina Kaye

Nina Kaye writes warm, witty and uplifting reads with a deeper edge. She has previously published Stand Up Guy, Just Like That, One Night in Edinburgh, Take A Moment and The Gin Lover’s Guide to Dating. Nina lives in Edinburgh with her husband and much adored side-kick, James. In addition to writing, she enjoys swimming, gin and karaoke (preferably all together in a sunny, seaside destination).

Follow Nina

Instagram | Facebook | Website | Amazon | Bookbub

Thank you again, Nina, and huge congrats on Lucky Number.

Cover Reveal for Aimee Brown: Stuck With You

Cover Reveal for Aimee Brown: Stuck With You

sandybarker

Aimee Brown’s 3rd installment in her series for Boldwood Books is out August 9th and here is the GORGEOUS cover!

As with Books 1 and 2 in the series, (He Loves me He Loves Me Not and Love Notes – both highly recommended), this is a romcom with a heart of gold set in Portland, Oregon (a gorgeous city and one we visited often when we lived in Seattle).

Blurb

Jade Monroe has finally found the man of her dreams. 

Or has she? Despite them being newly engaged, her fiancé Conner has suddenly gone radio silent. And even though her family are all giving her the same advice, (he’s just not that into you) she’s not convinced.

River Matthews has always been his authentic self, without apologies. Honest to a fault, light-hearted and a little lonely. Currently he’s the last single standing in his group of friends and he’s starting to feel his clock ticking. He’s got close to happily-ever-after before, but now it’s once-bitten-twice-shy, and the only way he’s going to find love is if he takes a chance.

The wisdom goes that if you just stop looking, your perfect partner will appear, but who will be there when Jade and River stop searching for ‘the one’?

Sexy, sassy and downright irresistible, the brand-new friends-to-lovers romance perfect for fans of Sariah Wilson, Lindsey Kelk and Abby Jiminez.

Preorder here

Follow Aimee

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Congratulations, Aimee – can’t wait to read this one!

In their own words

In their own words

sandybarker

I’m a reader.

I love reading and I read widely across genres—though, lately I tend to read mostly in my own genres, romance and women’s contemporary fiction. That said, I also love a good thriller or a crime, historical or horror novel.

Lately, I’ve been on an autobiography kick, reading about people of note in their own (or close to) words. The last time I read back-to-back autobiographies was about 30 years ago when I was obsessed with the Golden Age of Hollywood and read everything I could. Lauren Bacall stands out. I sobbed like mad when Bogie died, even thought I knew it was coming.

Perhaps that’s part of the fascination when reading an autobiography of a notable person. We already know the broad strokes, the highlights and lowlights of their (just as) notable lives. This type of storytelling—and it is storytelling, for aren’t we all storytellers when we regale our loved ones and new friends with anecdotes from our lives?—fleshes out those ‘Kodak moments’, the ones everyone knows about. Autobiographies give us insight into the author’s thoughts and feelings during those public moments, and often we get to read the result of reflective practice—the ‘What was I doing?’ and ‘What was I thinking?’ questions that we ask ourselves. We can learn about how those decisions impacted the person they became. We can, quite often, learn from their mistakes.

But I mostly love reading autobiographies for the moments in between the world-renowned events, the moments that reveal the person, the one who eats microwave meals almost every night, the one who suffers from crippling self-doubt, the one who judges their friends’ performances and choices. Those nuggets are GOLD.

So, here are my latest reads in order since the start of 2023.

This is literally Alan Rickman’s diaries, which he wrote in most days—sometimes just a line about where he went for dinner or what show he saw, sometimes paragraphs, especially if he was riled up about a friend’s performance (on stage or on film) and had a lot to say about how it could have been improved. There is insight into how he felt about working on the Harry Potter film (essentially, he and the other crème de la crème of British acting were simply ‘extra’s while the kids showed up not knowing their lines and emoting all over the set). There is little in this about his relationship with his wife, one that spanned decades, but his relationships with close friends get a lot of ‘page time’.

It took a little bit of time to get into the cadence—he didn’t write his diaries for us, he wrote them for himself—but I found I could read a year in one sitting, some of it interesting, funny, heartwarming, some of it dull. I cried at the end—again, even though I knew how it ‘ended’—because he was a favourite actor. I fell in love with him in Truly, Madly, Deeply then again in Die Hard, Prince of Thieves, and Sense and Sensibility. As Emma Thompson says in the foreword, he was complex and talented and (oh so) sexy.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

I was SO excited to read this book.

I’m not a royalist, per se, but I watched Harry and his brother grow up under the scrutiny of the public eye. I adored his mother, evening staying up VERY late (as I was living in the US at the time) and watching the royal wedding on television, aged 11. I will never forget Diana transposing Charles’ names—Charles Arthur Philip George, instead of Charles Philip Arthur George. It rocked me to my core when she died (I don’t claim to be the only one). I was on tour as Tour Manager for Contiki, came down for breakfast in Austria and the radio was on. I had just enough German to understand that something bad had happened to Princess Diana. We switched the radio to BBC and got the news. I was on tour, I had to tell the (mostly) Brits, Aussies, Canadians and Kiwis what had happened. So many of the 53 people on the tour were devastated and for the next week or so we bought and exchanged every English language newspaper we could get our hands on . We arrived back in London on the day of the cortege, a few hours after she was laid to rest. And London was a ghost town. I said goodbye to the tour group, holed up in my hotel room, and watched the entire thing on TV weeping. And all I could think was ‘those poor boys having to walk behind their mother’s coffin’. And the image of that card on the wreath of white flowers with ‘MUMMY’ scrawled across it … that image will never leave me.

Years later, I was thrilled when Harry found Meghan, who seemed to be a true love match. And then I watched from afar as the monarchy and the press tore her apart. Why was this a much-anticipated read for me? Because after years of the other side of the story, I wanted Harry’s. Yes, it’s ghost written but it’s written so beautifully, so immersively, I felt like I got a strong sense of how it was to grow up and head out into the world for Prince Harry, how it felt to meet a likeminded woman who cares as much about people and the world as he does, how it felt when his place in his family was reinforced again and again (the spare), and how it felt to be that little boy who was left motherless in the most public way.

I devoured it.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This book, in contrast, was not ghost written. It started as hundreds of lines of poetry, and with the deft encouragement and support of an excellent editor became mostly prose, with lines of poetry (SO CLEVERLY) retained at key points to really drive home the pervading emotions of a particular incident or time in her life. Many people will feel like they know exactly who Pamela Anderson is. I suspected there was (MUCH) more to her than her dual personas of bombshell and activist and guess, what? There is!

What I came to discover was a bright, interesting, interested woman who is well-read, well-travelled and has had a lifetime of trauma but is still standing. She speaks of people in her life, including ex-husband Tommy Lee, with such compassion and love, this could read as a lesson in forgiveness and inner peace. She’s funny, sexy, smart and savvy, and she seems to be at peace with her place in the world, something I will take with me. It is also BEAUTIFULLY written, with a flow and energy that drew me in and kept me immersed.

By the end, I metaphorically pumping my fist in the air, shouting, ‘Go, Pammy!’ I absolutely adore and admire her. What a human being.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I wanted to love this. I (along with 1/2 the planet) was a massive Friends fan. It’s still my ‘go-to’ when I’m on a plane and the selection of movies is rubbish. Could it be any funnier? Of course, I knew at the time that Matthew Perry suffered from addiction—he was rake thin one season, bloated the next. As he says in the book (and I’m paraphrasing), ‘If I was skinny, it was the pills, if I was fat, it was the booze.’ I’ve followed his career since and have especially loved his guest appearances in shows like The West Wing, even though his appearance has always belied the demons at play. I really have a lot of respect for his talent and he seems like a decent human being.

That said, this is a rough read—and not because of the subject matter. It’s just clunky and repetitive (at times, stream of consciousness) and there were many passages and chapters that were just self-indulgent and dull . I am not sure if these were stylistic choices—let’s make the writing and format reflect the chaos of your inner life—but they didn’t work for me. I especially found it odd that the only girlfriend he ever mentions by name is the most famous, Julia Roberts. The rest are by their first name or are nameless, which is an feeble strategy to protect identities when a three-second Google search reveals who he is talking about. And what is his beef with Keanu Reeves? He actually says it’s a shame Keanu is still walking around in the world. (Back off, Matty—Keanu is a righteous dude.)

Could have used a strong editorial arm and been 1/3 shorter. A few interesting insights but not my fave.

⭐⭐⭐💫

Next up…

I can’t wait for this and expect it will similar in tone and style to this book, which I read years ago and LOVED:

If you’re a Rob Lowe fan, he’s a brilliant writer—funny, self-deprecating, insightful. Great stories told by a wonderful storyteller. I will let you know what I think of Sam Neil’s book.

Till next time …