Leigh Russell — crime writer

Leigh Russell's eye-catching covers

Leigh Russell — crime writer

Cut Short and Road Closed are Ms Russell’s first books and I expect more to come — annually?
I came across Leigh on the Internet. It was the cover of her first book that was to be released some time in the future that fascinated me. A single eye with a bloody tear. I was considering a cover for one of my own books at the time and wished I had the imagination for eye-catching covers.
I have to admit that after a while I became too busy to follow many blogs and the careers of other writers, but fortunately I came back to find Leigh Russell had two books on Amazon — Short Cut and Road Closed. I bought them both.
There are a number of psychological thrillers, crime and mystery books on the market and we have read quite a few of them. I say ‘we’ because my husband reads to me each day (my eyesight not good enough for sustained reading). So any book has to suit both of us. This is a good test for any book.
I can’t say that the novels are particularly ‘different’ from the run of detective stories on the market. DI Geraldine Steel is a memorable believable character that we are happy to follow through her career of arresting the baddies. Both books are well worth reading, neither is taxing and each one holds your attention and grips the imagination until the final page.
As a detective writer I would put Leigh Russell on a par with Dick Francis for easy-read books but we have yet to see if they are as predictive as the latter’s books (with Dick Francis you always know that the hero is going to get a beating to within an inch of his life before he finally triumphs). Yes indeed, we look forward to more novels from Leigh Russell’s imagination.
Both books are available on Amazon.

Visit my other sites:
Magpies Nest Publishing
Writing For Joy
Diary of a Country Lady
Lakeland Writer
Lake District Saga — Checkmate
All my books
My Space for photographs, stories and poems, plus Ann Dunning singing Any Dream Will Do

Checkmate — pre-published review

A pre-published review of Checkmate by Gladys Hobson
Reviewed by Geoff Nelder: award-winning author and co-editor of Escape Velocity magazine.

Gladys Hobson’s Checkmate is much more than a romance novel. It is a tour de force of the strengths and weaknesses between members of two powerful families. It is the English Lake District’s own Dallas only with more three-dimensional characters. The plot rotates around the conflict generated by Robert, whose sexual magnetism lures women and steers his business to the detriment of his arch-enemy. This reader felt an overwhelming desire to travel to Cumbria, find Robert and smash his face in. However, Gladys is too subtle to allow simple revenge. Instead the rogue is given a long leash… but suffer he does.
Although I mainly read and review science fiction and fantasy novels, the characters in Checkmate are so engaging you get to experience what each character thinks of each other: scheming men and women, the devoted and the deluded. Compelling reading.
As a romance novel, you’ll need asbestos gloves to read these fiery pages. It is far more than eroticism: it is a perceptive and insightful exploration of a family’s relationships, lusts and passions. In amongst the wily machinations there is humour. For example you’ll not keep a straight face reading a hilarious sex-in-a-car attempt.
Gladys Hobson is an experienced novelist and it shows in her masterful writing. Any reader of romance will be enriched by reading Checkmate, a must-read addition to their bookshelves.

Checkmate is the third book in the Designed For Love series.
The first book, Awakening Love, is published by Magpies Nest Publishing
This book is also published by AGPress (USA) as DESIRE

The second book of the series, Seduction By Design, is also published by AGPress

Checkmate is in preparation.

Visit my author blog — Hobson’s Books

Praise Indeed! Review of Awakening Love

Here is a novel, Awakening Love, that I thoroughly enjoyed from an author, Gladys Hobson, who quickly pulled me into the lives of her characters, set in the restlessly reenergising world of post Second World War Britain.

It was easy to empathise, if not fall in love with, June Armstrong, a stunning and very young woman from humble beginnings who was determined to carve a career for herself, as well as establish an outlet for her astonishing creativity, in fashion design, and whose naivety regarding her great beauty and high-potency sex appeal quickly saw her the object of desire and more of several rich, charismatic, powerful – and some ruthless – men. That she wrestled with her own searing awakening sexual desires – the equal of her suitors – pitted against her moral sense, with chequered success, was not a surprise, but made excellent reading.

It quickly became obvious that this writer, surely, was weaving a tale of truth tantalisingly close to actual reality from those days, she tells it so well; only someone who has worked in the industry, fashioned the cloth, walked the corridors, and experienced much adoration of her own beauty and charisma is likely to be so convincing; alternatively, it would have to be someone who can marshal the visceral visions in her imagination to breathe and live on the written page.

Gladys Hobson had me admiring June’s fiancé Arthur, while wanting to take to her boss, and later business associate, Rob, with a cricket bat to teach the bastard how not to treat women; I give Ms Hobson full marks for how her wordcraft got me so engrossed.

Explicit sexual encounters there are aplenty, yet painted with such taste and consummate restraint, that I would happily have let my early teenaged daughter read this book had I owned it then, to help her understand and anticipate the world of sexual promise and pitfalls out there in the big bad world.

I have an enhanced and valuable insight now to what the class conscious Britain of those times was like, as well as a quickening of my understanding of primal human nature, thanks to reading Awakening Love. Also, it is a pleasure to read a book written by an author who has garnered much wisdom: their books are the better ones, the wisdom glistens from page after page, and only time and enlightened self-examination can bring such a harvest.

As a writer myself, there were gems aplenty that caught my eye and informed me among Ms Hobson’s paragraphs.

I commend the author for her remarkable achievement, and I will be reading the sequels.

;Payton L. Inkletter (writer, thinker, humorist)
+paytontedwithlove

VISIT Inkletter’s review pages

1949 Dress Designs and Awakening Love

A previous post ‘1949 fashion sketches for Awakening Love trailer video — maybe‘ (my highest scoring post) has been updated with more 1949-1950 designs. The video is now done but the designs are not used.

Here is the Apex video, (click on Apex video) and below are the review and interview for my book — Awakening Love .

http://www.apexreviews.net
info@apexreviews.net
Awakening Love
Gladys Hobson
ISBN: 9781602760363
Stonehedge Publishing
Reviewed By Tracy Moore
Official Apex Reviews Rating: *****
Young, attractive, and with a limitless future ahead of her, June has the world at her fingertips – and the chief subjects of her domain are the doting Arthur and his handsome younger brother, Charles. Both men desire to keep June for their own, and each has resolved within himself to woo her to the fullest extent possible in order to win her lasting affections. With such strapping, devoted men at her beckon call, how could life get any better for June?
Enter Robert, June’s crafty boss and mentor. Ruthless and relentless when he sets his mind on something, his sights are set squarely on his delectable protégée, and he’ll allow nothing – and no one – to come in-between him and the desires of his heart. As a result, Robert launches an all-out stealth attack in an effort to thwart Arthur and Charles’ advances, and he has just the moxie and resourcefulness to pull it off.
In the complicated love quadrangle that ensues, June is forced to make some of the toughest decisions of her life – including whether or not to follow the equally compelling leanings of her heart or her mind.
Awakening Love is a tantalizing tale of love, desire, and self-discovery.
Through a vivid cast of characters who find themselves in all-too-real situations, Gladys Hobson treats the reader to a vicarious journey deep into the wistful logistics of the heart. With so much being thrown at her at once, June acts (and reacts) much like anyone else who may find him or herself in the same position.
You may be initially inclined to blame her or find fault in her ostensibly fickle tendencies; but you ultimately come to acknowledge and appreciate the fact that the playing out of June’s indecisiveness – however painful it may be – fosters her much-needed individual growth and development, which is ultimately to her benefit.
An engaging coming-of-age story of the thrilling highs – and crushing lows – of love, Awakening Love is a rewarding literary treat, and a welcome addition to the world of romance. Highly recommended for its inherent enlightening value and its boundless, timeless themes.

Official Apex Reviews Interview: Gladys Hobson (Awakening Love)

Thanks for joining us for this interview, Gladys. We’re looking forward to learning more about your book.

What inspired you to set the book in the late 1940’s?
ANS: Some years ago, I began to write my autobiography for the benefit of my children and grandchildren. I recalled an incident when my friend’s much older brother took me by surprise by kissing me with a man’s passion — hard against my lips, actually bruising them. I was fifteen, he in his thirties and not long demobbed from the army. I was utterly shocked. He was a man and I had no idea that he thought of me in that way. So began a secret ‘kissing only’ affair. When I was a little older and it looked like he wanted more I froze and it came to an end. Thinking about it, I thought what if…? So began Awakening Love and brought to life as we lived it in that special era of change.

What is it about June that makes her so irresistible to her determined potential suitors?
ANS: June is beautiful and creative. But also men are drawn to her youthful innocence and vitality. A girl determined to get somewhere in life and on her OWN merits — spunk!

How is June unable to see the manipulative motives behind Robert’s efforts?
ANS: Like most of us, she sees what she wants to see. As the lynch pin to his new fashion venture, she knows he is the key to realising her own ambitions. He also has a sexual charm that draws her like a magnet. Robert senses this and exploits it to the full.

As our reviewer mentioned, June’s character, for a variety of reasons, is one to which many readers will be able to relate. How were you able to depict her in such a vivid and realistic fashion?
ANS: There is a lot of me in June. This is the era of my youth. I was naïve and innocent — totally inexperienced in matters of sex and of the heart. We all start out that way even if innocence may be lost sooner now. I wanted to be a designer and trained in that actual factory where June worked. You learn a lot in factories. The setting is completely authentic. But no sexy entrepreneur to help me up a ladder to fame. Even so, I was designing at her age. An office girl, like June, had a boyfriend much older than herself. Workers smirked and talked about the romance, thinking she was being taken advantage of. I could see June in the same position with Arthur.

The other characters in the story are no less unique and lifelike. Are they based on people that you know?
ANS: This is quite possible, but not consciously. They just came into my mind in complete form, to the extent that I have to remind myself to ‘show’ them as I hear and see them. No doubt some are like people I have known over the years. But, when I was writing, I fell in love with both Arthur and Charlie and even I did not know who would end up with June. But the shadow side of me is drawn to Robert — a man with rugged good looks, who knows what he wants and is determined to get it. You know — a hate-love thing. I found myself driven by the characters. At times, I would be caught weeping at my computer. When I read the end of the story, I still do.

What advice would you give to anyone who finds him or herself in June’s position?
ANS: Always keep your integrity. If the question refers to a certain incident pivotal in Awakening Love that could have destroyed June’s happiness, I would advise to see yourself as others see you, and don’t get trapped by sending out confusing messages. Follow the desires of your heart, but be true to the one who loves you and try to avoid hurting others in the process.

You initially published Awakening Love as a print book. What inspired you to release it in eBook format?
ANS: The print copy is available, (as are all MNP books) if ordered from Waterstones or any other good bookshop in the UK, or directly from Magpies Nest Publishing. But the eBook makes it available world-wide directly, and at a much cheaper cost. And I don’t have any handling to do. When Stonehedge Publishing offered a contract I was over the moon. It was a validation of my writing. As you may know, they have a reputation for good sellers. Stonehedge will also be publishing the sequel: Seduction By Design. That book reflects a change to the more permissive society of the late 60’s-70’s and the change in fashion — miniskirts are in.

The book has received rave reviews thus far. Do you plan to tour in order to garner more widespread attention for it?
ANS: Now that would be a wonderful thing, but I am no good at organising such events and I do not live in an area of easy travel.

Please share more with our readers about your other writings.
ANS: A print version of Awakening Love under a different title — Desire — is likely to be published by AGPress in the USA shortly, and will be available at Amazon.com and other top sellers. I am presently working on a stunning cover with the artist Charles Davis. Sequels already in Manuscript form to follow. Mythica Publishing has released When Angels Lie in eBook form and will be doing the same with Blazing Embers. An Illustrated book of childhood memories 1939-53, called ‘When Phones Were Immobile and Lived in Red Boxes,’ published by Magpies Nest Publishing, I wrote to raise money for a children’s charity. The book sold well and may be getting a second edition. Magpies Nest published two of my novels under pen names. (These two, When Angels Lie and Blazing Embers are now published by AGPress under my own name.) Awakening Love followed next, plus an anthology by nine authors, called Northern Lights which I co-edited and illustrated. I illustrated a book of poetry by Bob Taylor and published it through MNP. My latest anthology is Still Waters Run Deep, Stories Of Hidden depths. I have short stories in The Jimston Journal and Esdras Scroll Magazine.

Also, please share more with us about your publishers, Magpies Nest Publishing and Stonehedge Publishing.
ANS: My son set up Magpies Nest Publishing to publish the memoirs book and it seemed natural to go on to my novels. Publishing is a big hassle if you do it properly and we only publish my books and those of my friends. Magpies Nest may publish the sequels to Awakening Love as my readers are keen to read more.
Stonehedge Publishing has a number of award-winning authors with great books in all genres.
Mythica Publishing is a new eBook publisher with interesting titles.

What are your future writing/publishing plans?
ANS: To get the sequels published. Maybe start a new novel but only if truly inspired to do so — something quite different. Develop my blogs, especially a new one called Ask Gran Hobson. I already have a young man asking me some very deep questions. I’ll be posting them shortly.

Do you have a website where our readers can learn more about you and your ongoing efforts?
ANS:
http://www.myspace.com/gladyswrites
http://www.magpiesnestpublishing.co.uk
http://writingforjoy.blogspot.com
http://hobsonsbooks.blogspot.com
http://askgranhobson.blogspot.com
The latter two are still being developed as is the publishing site. I am on facebook and a number of ning web sites.

Also, how can they contact you directly?
All the sites have means of direct contact.

Any final thoughts you’d like to share?
Writing is jolly hard, but enjoyable work. Getting published is another matter altogether and requires dedication and stamina. A thick skin comes in handy and always be ready to learn. If anyone thinks they are god’s gift to readers, take a more humble approach. And if you are looking for good returns in money, you’d do better on the lottery. But when you hold that first book in your hand, the feeling is indescribable. This is your baby and YOU have brought it into the world!

Thanks again, Gladys, and best of continued success to you in all your endeavors!

PLEASE NOTE: Awakening Love is no longer available as an Ebook by Stonehedge Publishing. The whole trilogy will soon be available through a different E-publisher. Awakening Love is still available in paperback in the UK £8.99 from Amazon, or post free direct from Magpies Nest Publishing. It is also available in the USA under the title of DESIRE – publisher AG Press
Or go to Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble.

Ruth Rendall’s Adam and Eve and Pinch Me

Ruth Rendall’s Adam and Eve and Pinch Me

A large cast of strong characters, each portrayed in Technicolor brilliance, and a story line that twists and turns in its build-up to the murder.

We know who did it but the deranged person is never suspected. So the stories within the main story have a life of their own which all draw in nicely at the denouement.

The central male character is plausible — a handsome, if tardy, seducer of women in order to live off their money. Moving on as his mood takes him, he leaves behind lovers who have no regrets — save one. His death by stabbing is mysterious as suspects are gradually eliminated. A number of characters find a new life in spite of trauma suffered. It just goes to prove that every cloud has the possibility of a silver lining.

I found the number of characters confusing at first. My husband thought the novel long-winded in places. But I enjoyed the working out of the individual stories within the story. What might well have been disasters turned out to be blessings in disguise for some — not that being a murder suspect is a necessary element in solving one’s problems. But in this case, the foul deed becomes the catalyst for new beginnings.

Waterstone’s

I am now set up to supply Waterstone’s via the wholesaler Gardners Books, and am free to write to their stores to see if they would like to stock my titles. A store directory has been sent to me.

My first reaction?

Good!

My second reaction?

Phew! More work!

The truth is, I am weary of the whole business. All I want to do is write, not market books. But without a publisher for printed versions, I have no choice but to go it alone.

I can only hope that e-book versions will sell.

But how to package books to give them ‘reader appeal’? I seem to have made a bad job of that so far. Yes, I have good reviews and those who read my books thoroughly enjoy them (no doubt about that), but competition is fierce and attracting new readers difficult. The Richard and Judy book list (and others with publicity clout) that takes a huge chunk of the market makes it hard for the rest to survive.

But then came this lovely reader review by Andrew O’Hara (Powell’s books Awakening Love reader review) to cheer me up :

“Few are able to write romantic fiction with the skill, ardor and sensitivity of Gladys Hobson. Gladys lays out her characters in such vivid color and her plots with such perfect timing that one can’t help but be swept up and carried along in her delightful tales. This is the third book I have read by this author, and she never disappoints.”

James Patterson thrill-her (and it did!)

1^st To Die by James Pattenson is a first class pageturner. A book hard to put down (not much work done this week!) My hubby was as keen to carry on reading to me, as I was to sit listening. Mind you, I was feeling weary at the time and, after my household chores, not eager to get on with editing my book. 

 

The many twists and turns of the plot involving murder of couples on their wedding day, along with a subplot concerning the dire medical condition of the officer in charge of the investigation, plus her emotional involvement with the cop assigned to her, and her groupie friendship with a bright young female journalist, a female medical examiner, and her female superior at work, all call for stamina and concentration, made easier by the story divided into 127 chapters as they dash from scene to scene.

 

The only reservation for me was the very end, which I thought OTT after what had gone before and somewhat stretched credulity.  But…

Another of Michael Allen’s detective stories

Spence At Marlby Manor by Michael Allen

 Another of Allen’s excellent stories with Detective Chief Superintendent Ben Spence in the leading role. Anyone preferring a contemporary yarn with a detective’s tangled personal life as a main feature must look elsewhere, this is a true classical whodunit with enough suspense and memorable characters to engage the reader without distracting additions.

 

 An ageing Lady of the Manor, her companion and staff, her doctor, plus relatives eager to grasp her money, all play their part in a classical theme of accidents, suspicion, and finally — murder. Clues that lead even the detectives astray, well described colourful characters that turn the reader’s attention one way and then another, keep up the tension right to the last page.