I am very excited to bring you a Q&A with the wonderful William Ryan today. I recently reviewed The Constant Soldier by William (you can read it HERE) and was lucky enough to see him on the Behind Bars: Freedom, Oppression and Control panel at Hull Noir. The Constant Soldier is one of those books that made a huge impression on me and I was delighted when William agreed to answer a few questions. 

What was the initial inspiration behind The Constant Soldier?
In 2007 a photograph album put together by a man called Karl-Friedrich Hoecker was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. From June 1944 until January 1945 Hoecker was the Adjutant to the Commandant of Auschwitz and the photographs were taken during his time there – mainly at a nearby rest hut for the SS officers and other ranks who ran Auschwitz. You can see some of the photographs in the album here: https://www.theguardian.com/books/gallery/2016/nov/22/nazis-retreat-ss-holiday-hut-auschwitz-pictures-mengele-photographs and the striking thing about them, for me at least, is how ordinary the people who feature in them look, even though they include mass murderers and sadists like Rudolf Hoess and Josef Mengele. I’ve always been amazed that the Holocaust was ever even possible – how ordinary people came to be involved in the extermination of millions on millions of other ordinary people. I think the photographs gave me an insight into how the perpetrators – some of whom had started out life on very different courses – had changed from being apprentice confectioners, bank clerks and bookkeepers to being responsible for the horrors of the Holocaust. And how they dealt with that. So that’s how the novel started out – although it perhaps evolved into a wider consideration of personal responsibility and the perils of totalitarianism.

The Constant Soldier is a powerful tale about one of the most horrific moments in history. At its heart is the human condition and the impact that events such as the Holocaust have on those who are involved be it willingly or forced. Was this aspect your original intention or did it evolve as you wrote?
I think it was always something I knew I’d have to address and it’s probably why I ended up telling the story through the eyes of three main characters – Neumann, an SS officer; Brandt, a wounded soldier who has returned from the front and Agneta a prisoner. All three of them have very different perceptions of the reality in which they live – and very different expectations of what will happen to them now that the War is nearly over. Brandt is the main character and his need to atone for his responsibility, peripheral as it is, for the Holocaust and, indeed, Agneta’s imprisonment is what drives him – and the novel. His efforts to rescue Agneta and the other women prisoners who work in the hut out of it, is what the story is all about. But it’s also Agneta’s story – how she copes with the terror of her situation and how she manages to survive. And Neumann’s as well – who now has to face up to the consequences of his actions and the reality of his guilt.

Although a work of fiction, The Constant Soldier is based on actual events. How long did the research take you to ensure it came across as authentic?
I did a lot of research but I was very careful to fictionalise everything at the same time. The camp they work at, but which the novel never visits, is not identified and nor are the local town and village. Likewise all of the characters were my inventions. That meant I could create a fictional world that was authentic but, at the same time, allowed me to look at some of the ideas I wanted to explore. So while a lot of the scenes in the novel are based on particular photographs – I’ve no idea what actually went on in those photographs or much about the people in them and the novel’s scenes are completely imagined. The novel creates a parallel world that could have existed, perhaps – and so the research went into make it believable and accurate to the time. Most importantly, with the holocaust being sacred history, I had to be respectful to that history – but at the same time hopefully add something to a modern reader’s view of it.

Why write historical fiction? What other genre would you like to have a go at?
Normally I write historical crime and I have a contemporary crime novel I’m working on at the moment. I also have a ghost story, which is kind of fun – and some science fiction. So I’m pretty flexible. What I like about historical fiction though, is that it allows you to explore contemporary issues in a slightly disguised way. And if, from that, you might wonder if I think there are parallels between the 1930s and today, I’d probably have to agree that there might be one or two …

You are took part in this year’s Hull Noir. Is talking about your work at events something you enjoy or do you get nervous?
I do a lot of events and talk so I really don’t get nervous any more – and I also enjoy it. Writing is often a lonely old game – so any opportunity to get out and meet readers is a welcome one.

A huge thank you William for taking the time to indulge me and answer my questions. I know you have been busy, so it is much appreciated. Great responses, I’m sure readers will agree. 

If you haven’t yet read The Constant Soldier I suggest you get it on your TBR pile as soon as possible and check out William’s other books too.

Today I have a Q&A with author Charlie Laidlaw whose book The Things We Learn When We’re Dead is out now and published by Accent Press. 

Welcome Charlie, can you tell us a little about your books?
First of all, I’m the author of two novels, The Herbal Detective (Ringwood Publishing, 2015) and The Things We Learn When We’re Dead (Accent Press, 2017). The first is a satire on superstition, the second a satire on religion. A third novel, Darker Matters, is due to be published by Accent Press in January 2018. It’s a satire, among other things, on celebrity. Quite why my books are satirical, I have no idea, except that the modern world does seem to be becoming a parody of human progress.

Tell us a little bit about yourself
I was born and brought up in the west of Scotland, graduated from the University of Edinburgh, and then worked briefly as a street actor, baby photographer, puppeteer and restaurant dogsbody, before landing proper jobs as a national newspaper journalist, intelligence officer and, lastly, PR consultant. Actually, being a PR consultant isn’t a proper job, but it pays the rent. I like it when you can summarise your life in one short paragraph.
Of more importance, I am married with two grown-up children, and am embarked on training crows in our garden. The idea is that I give them food and they bring me presents. So far, my training isn’t working.

Tell us a little bit about The Things We Learn When We’re Dead
The book is, I like to think, a modern fairytale of love and loss. It has humour, but it’s not a comedy. It’s about the small decisions that we make and how they can have unintended consequences. It’s about looking back and finding new beginnings. The idea for the book came to me on a train from Edinburgh to London (which is apt because, civilised place that Edinburgh is, it’s the only city in the world to have named its main railway station after a book). When I got home, I wrote the first chapter and the last chapter, so I knew from the start how the book would end. The first chapter has changed out of all recognition from that first draft, but the last chapter is almost as I first wrote it.

So what was the inspiration?
I’m not sure where the idea for the book came from, and that’s what made it such a powerful one. However, in setting out to write a book about a young woman coming to terms with her life and finding a new beginning, I realised immediately that it’s a well-worn refrain – and best captured in the Wizard of Oz. It’s something that we all, to some extent, experience in our lives – finding sense in the absurd or the tragic and developing coping mechanisms to move on – and so familiar, through numerous books, TV programmes and films, that we forget what a universal and recurring theme it is.

I decided to embrace the Wizard of Oz analogy because, I also reasoned, everything conceivable in human existence has been written about many times, mostly by Shakespeare – and even he relied on older sources like Chaucer and back to Roman philosophers and writers. So, if everything in the world has already been written, I concluded, why not make the book a modern retelling of the Wizard of Oz (if only for those readers who want to make the connection).

It does therefore have all the Oz ingredients from a cowardly lion to ruby slippers, from a yellow brick road to the Emerald City. But it doesn’t have flying monkeys, because that would be too ridiculous!

How did the title come about?
The title came from the film version of the Wizard of Oz. In the book, the Emerald City is a real place – and don’t forget that L Frank Baum wrote several Oz books – but in the film it’s an imaginary place that only existed inside Dorothy’s head. In a sense, we all have an Emerald City inside us: an imaginary version of ourselves and our lives; a place where everything is a little bit more perfect. In the original book, Dorothy gets banged on the head, looks back at her life and then realises that there’s no place like home. In my book, the central character thinks that she’s dead (she isn’t) – so the title really flowed from that.

How did you start writing?
I don’t think there was ever any starting point. Maybe, from an early age, I realised I was fairly hopeless at most things, but could write. I have also always been a voracious reader and, as far as I’m concerned, you can’t write if you don’t read.
I wrote my first “novel” at about the age of fifteen, which I then burned at the age of sixteen. It was probably for the best, as a Nazi plot to resurrect a Fourth Reich from a base in the Norfolk Broads seemed idiotic, even to me. My second “novel” (still hand-written) was completed about a year later. I still have the manuscript, but nobody is ever going to read it! (An accidental revolutionary falling in love with an angel is even more idiotic). In the years since, I started on numerous projects, but never finished anything. I suppose, life got in the way. It wasn’t until a small handful of years ago that I got a grip and made myself write with greater purpose.
I’m sure there are many people out there, who can genuinely write and who have a compelling story in their head, who would love to write a book…but haven’t, because there are always other things to do. My advice: you can only procrastinate for so long!

Was it easy to find a publisher?
Like many authors, I could paper my house with rejections and, at times, it was dispiriting. But I knew that what I had written was good and persevered. Many others don’t, and I honestly believe that the best books ever written are mouldering at the bottom of landfill sites or circulating as bits of incinerated carbon – all because the authors gave up and threw their manuscripts away. My advice would be: honestly appraise your work and, if necessary, get someone professional to appraise it. If you/they have confidence in it, keep trying.

Next book?
It’s called Darker Matters and is a dark comedy about love, death, family and particle physics. It’s also a satire on the unintended consequences of celebrity. It’s a tragic-comic story, aimed at both male and female readers, but I hope it has heart, humour and warmth. Its central message is that, even at the worst of times, a second chance can often be just around the corner. It’s due to be published by Accent Press in January next year.

The Things We Learn When We’re Dead Blurb

Intriguing and compelling… a tale that grips until the very last page – Jodi Taylor, bestselling author of The Chronicles of St Mary’s.

On the way home from a dinner party she didn’t want to attend, Lorna Love steps into the path of an oncoming car. When she wakes up she is in what appears to be a hospital – but a hospital in which her nurse looks like a young Sean Connery, she is served wine for supper, and everyone avoids her questions.

It soon transpires that she is in Heaven, or on HVN. Because HVN is a lost, dysfunctional spaceship, and God the aging hippy captain. She seems to be there by accident. Or does God have a higher purpose after all?

At first Lorna can remember nothing. As her memories return – some good, some bad – she realises that she has decisions to make and that she needs to find a way home…

A huge thank you Charlie for taking part in this Q&A! Find out more about Charlie and his books by checking out his website www.charlielaidlawauthor.com

I’m bloomin’ excited today to have an interview with the brilliant and lovely Christie Barlow.  Her latest novel Lizzie’s Christmas Escape is out today and I wish her a very happy publication day.  Without further ado I will crack on with the interview –

Did you always know you wanted to be a writer? How did your writing journey begin?
My journey has been incredible. It is like a dream! Once hitting my mid-life crisis after wholly dedicating my life to the care of my children, they asked me what I wanted to do. “I always wanted to write a book,” I found myself answering. And so the idea was born.
Who encouraged you to finally take the plunge and write your first novel?
My gorgeous children encouraged me, Emily, Jack, Ruby and Tilly.
How do you go about writing your books? Do you have a set time of day in which you write and aim to produce so many words?
My writing routine is very similar each day. I start the day by ambling across the fields with my best pal Woody. He is a mad cocker spaniel. Once we return home, I usually switch the kettle on, fire up the computer and then eat my body weight in anything sugary while writing. I aim to write between 2,000 and 2,500 words a day.
Do you carefully plan your novels or do you have an idea and then write and see where it takes you?
On average it takes me five months to write a book and I think I gain about five pounds in weight with every book I write! I plan each book, chapters and characters and have a huge wall plastered with post it notes. I know my characters inside and out and the general gist of how I want the story to progress, but then I love it when all of a sudden the story goes flying off in a totally different direction than I’d originally intended. That’s the magic of writing!
Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? If so how do you overcome it?
I haven’t yet and fingers crossed it stays that way!
What was the inspiration behind Lizzie’s Christmas Escape?
Lizzie’s Christmas Escape wouldn’t have been written if it wasn’t for Gary Barlow! He was the one who provided that little spark of inspiration for this story. I’d just like to make it clear I don’t have Gary locked away in my pantry like Lizzie in the book, but when I’m up at the crack of dawn, feeding my many animals and collecting the fresh eggs from the coop, I have been known to have an early-morning chat with my Gary Barlow calendar!
How did you create the characters in Lizzie’s Christmas Escape?
I was travelling to London on the train when a couple of women sat down opposite me. For the whole journey they chatted about how it would be fantastic to escape from their mundane routine and if it wasn’t for their friendship they would definitely go insane! So the idea was born!
It was really touching that you used the name Ann Sandeman and I loved this. How did you come up with the other names for your characters? (I had to ask this given you have an Abbie and a Freya and I have a Freya hahaha)
The characters Abbie and Freya are named after my chickens!
I love the way you have portrayed the relationship between Lizzie and Ann in Lizzie’s Christmas Escape, is this friendship drawn on your real experiences?
The characters of Lizzie Stevens and Ann Sandeman have been a huge part of my life for the last four months. The tale of their genuine friendship is one I can absolutely relate to. Over the past few years, people have come into my life for a reason or a season however, true friendship is hard to find. For the past twenty-five years I’ve had a genuine friendship with my bestie Anita Redfern; she knows I’m crazy and still puts up with me. True friendship isn’t about being inseparable, it’s about being separated and knowing nothing will change. Everyone should have an Anita in their life!
Your books have such a warm feel to them, how do you go about creating this?
Aww thank you! I just write from the heart!
Who has been the biggest support in your writing career?
My husband, my children and my best friend Anita. Sometimes when I’m writing they don’t see me for long periods of time when I shut myself away. However, they are always on hand with cuddles, laughs and numerous cups of tea if I pop out of my writing cave.
What advice would you give to other inspiring authors?
Read and read widely. Writers always find time to read.
Set time aside to write every day that way there will always be continuity.
Find some people you can trust to read and give you feedback. I have a couple of good friends who read my chapters as I write them. They are always honest and constructive.
Accept criticism if you respect the source.
Write the ending first! I know some writers may think this is bonkers but I work backwards! If I know what the ending is, it always gives me a clue how the middle of book will shape up!

There is no right or wrong way to write a book but just make sure you enjoy it!

Thank you Christie for taking part and allowing me to badger you with questions.  I’m thrilled there are a couple of chickens running around called Abbie and Freya, hahaha.  It was great having you here on Bloomin’ Brilliant Books.

Christie’s latest novel Lizzie’s Christmas Escape is out today! Published by Bookouture it is a feel-good, laugh-out-loud novel with the signature marks of a Christie Barlow book that I love.  You can check out my review HERE and purchase a copy HERE.

I’m delighted to be joined by the lovely Caroline James, author of the Coffee, Tea… series today.  She has agreed to take some time out of her busy schedule to answer a few questions I have for her,,,

When did you start writing and what/who encouraged you to start?

I started writing seriously five years ago. I always wanted to write but never thought I was good enough, having hated school I didn’t realise the importance of education till later. I’d had a story in my head for years and came to the decision that if I didn’t write it, I’d go to my grave wondering what might have been. So, with this in mind, I glued my bum to the seat of a chair and began my first novel.

What is your writing process? Do you have a plot outlined that you follow or do you write and see where it takes you?

I have a good idea of the story and start with a synopsis of what is in my head then begin. Once I get going and the characters start to form and find their way I let the process flow. I don’t know where they might want to take me but the important thing is to get it down and edit later.

Do you ever suffer from writer’s block and, if so, how do you overcome it?

All the time, I hate it. I have to frog-march myself to the lap top, stop making excuses and write. It doesn’t matter what I write, once it starts I find I am back in the groove. Writing long hand in a note book can help too. Just sit with an empty page and write whatever is in your head and keep writing till you fill the page – suddenly the writing will start to flow again and you’ll soon be back on track.

Can you give us a brief outline of a day in the life of Caroline James?

Oh Lord… I’d like it to sound all glamorous and exciting and in a previous life it very often was. I represented many celebrity chefs and would often be jumping on a plane with them, off to fabulous events from TV to festivals and international shows. At the moment I do consultancy work which is hospitality related so my working day might be:

I get up very early, make cup of tea and spend some time writing at my ‘writing desk’. Change of position and am now in front of my ‘working desk’ where I’ll open email, make calls, arrange appointments and do whatever is needed with whatever consultancy I am working on. At some point in the day I’ll grab a bite to eat and lots of coffee. Some days I am away and may overnight, depending on where the consultancy work is. I always like to get home and in the evening and will cook for whoever is around then go for a walk or bike ride and clear my head. If there is time I’ll go back to my writing for a while. I’m quite late going to bed and may watch something recorded on TV like First Dates or Poldark, or catch up with a good book to change subject in my head before I sleep. Brandy in a hot chocolate and I’m away with the fairies.

How did you go about getting your books published and how long did it take?

I’m both traditional and indie published and both processes are similar. The actual writing is never as long as the editing and marketing can be terribly time-consuming too.

What first inspired you to write the Coffee, Tea series?

It was an event in Cumbria, the Appleby Horse Fair, which is an annual event and has been taking place for over 300 years. The locals hate it and would like it stopped and having experienced it first hand when I had a pub in Appleby and later a country house hotel, I could see both sides of the argument. I felt I had to write about it and out of this two characters developed, Jo and Hattie. Once they were in the books readers kept asking what happened next to them and so the series continues…

Jo and Hattie are two quite different characters and yet they gel together so well. How did you come up with their personalities and develop their characters?

The characters were initially an amalgamation of people I had known when I lived in Cumbria but as I began to write them they formed lives of their own and seemed to fictionally take off. You are absolutely right – they are very different people but their common denominator is that they care, about people and about life and circumstances throw them together to deal with it.

In Coffee, Tea, The Caribbean & Me, your descriptions of Barbados really bring the place to life for the reader. Why did you choose the Barbados as part of the setting and have you been?

I’ve spent a lot of time in the Caribbean over the years and the islands fascinate me, especially Barbados. There is a history that is little known that goes back to the first settlers, it is very controversial but still alive and kicking today. Perhaps I’ll write about that one day. Barbados is a beautiful island of contrasts and I wanted to share this with readers. There is the calm and breathtakingly beautiful west coast with white sand, turquoise sea and gentle breezes contrasted sharply by the east coast which has Atlantic tides crashing to the shores and a rugged and wild coastline. I find the east coast very spiritual, a good place to be. There is an expression that Bajan’s say, “My Belly-Button Buried in Barbados,” and once you have experienced it you will understand why it pulls you back.

Jo and Hattie go through some difficult life events in Coffee, Tea the Caribbean & Me and you write about these with real sensitivity. Have any of these issues been drawn on from personal experience?

I think you’d have to have led a very sheltered life not to have reached my age without some ups and downs and I have had my fair share. So it is natural to pull on my own experiences and those of people I observe. It is what makes a life interesting and the good times make sense of the bad.

And finally, when can we expect to see what is happening next with Jo and Hattie?

Well, they have set up a new business in Cumbria called Boomerville. Jo’s hotel is now a retreat for those over fifty who aren’t ready to settle for slippers and senility in the closing years of their lives. Boomerville has a great deal to offer its residents from pottery and baking to clairvoyance and spiritual experiences with a shaman and to be honest I wish it was real because I’d be booking myself a very long stay there! Boomerville will be published in Spring 2017.

Thanks for your fabulous questions Abbie and for hosting me on your lovely blog.

Happy reading! Caroline xx

You can buy copies of Caroline’s books by clicking on the titles –

Coffee, Tea, The Caribbean And Me

A huge thank you to Caroline for taking part in the Q&A, really looking forward to the next instalment in Hattie and Jo’s lives!

You can read my review of Coffee, Tea, The Caribbean And Me here!

Author Q&A with Tom Bale

It’s exactly a month until All Fall Down is published and the brilliant Tom Bale has been kind enough to do a Q&A session here at Bloomin’ Brilliant Books.  I absolutely loved his last thriller See How They Run, and have been able to ask him some questions about it.  To see the description for See How They Run and my review click here!

I am also thrilled to be featuring the description and cover for his upcoming book All Fall Down, which is published on 1 September 2016 and available on pre-order now.  I can’t tell you how excited I am about this upcoming book, I have literally been counting down the days.  So, onto his Q&A – 

How long from the first idea to the final draft did it take you to write See How They Run?

It was written in a couple of stages, with work on another book in between, but altogether it took about six months to do the first draft, and then another three or four months of rewriting to get a finished draft.

What inspired the storyline for See How They Run?

The inspiration came from a night when I heard a suspicious noise shortly after going to bed. When I opened my bedroom window, a man hurried away from the patio doors and escaped through the garden. Afterwards it struck me that, if I’d been asleep, I probably wouldn’t have heard him break in – which was particularly worrying, as my son slept in a room downstairs at that time. From this incident came an opening scene where two men appear at the bedside of a young couple, Harry and Alice French, demanding to know the whereabouts of a man called Renshaw…

 Do you use real-life experiences when writing a book?

I very rarely use specific incidents, but in a general sense there are many different life experiences which get jumbled up, merged, reconfigured and then put down on the page in a completely unrecognisable form.

The one striking exception to that – though it isn’t actually a real-life experience – was an incredibly vivid dream I once had, of a young woman who stumbles upon a shooting spree in a small Sussex village. I woke up with every detail of it clear in my head, and that formed the opening of my novel, Skin and Bones.

Do you work to a plot outline or do you prefer to see where your writing takes you from the initial idea?

A bit of both. Usually I tend to plan out a few chapters at a time, and then start thinking ahead as I reach the end of that section. I tend to know roughly where the story is going, but occasionally I’ll get stuck and have to puzzle it over for a while.

If a film was made of See How They Run who would you have playing the parts of Harry and Alice?

That’s a difficult one. I must admit, I’m always reluctant to offer names, because as readers we all picture the characters differently in our minds – but let’s aim high and say Tom Hiddleston and Emily Blunt!

Are your characters ever based on people you know?

Sadly, no. It’s a deliciously tempting idea, but aside from the risks of litigation, I just don’t think it would work to place a real person in a fictional world.

While writing you must go on such a journey with your main characters. Do you get attached to them? And how do you feel when you have finished writing about them?

Oh, I definitely get attached to them – and I have to guard against a tendency to become too sympathetic towards my bad guys. At the end of a book the overwhelming feeling is usually one of relief, but tinged with regret that the story has come to an end. Most books have at least one character that I hope to write about again – in See How They Run it would be Ruth Monroe, whose (unwritten) backstory intertwines with another character of mine, Joe Clayton, from Terror’s Reach and Blood Falls.

There are some pretty gruesome parts in See How They Run. How do you come up with the different ways characters are killed?

That’s a great question – and one I’ve never been asked. Obviously most fictional murders involve guns and knives, but I like the idea of occasionally bringing in something more mundane and domestic. Since my bad guys tend to be ordinary people pushed to extremes, rather than slick super-villains, it seems more fitting that they’ll use whatever comes to hand.

How did you decide on the title for See How They Run?

That was down to my publisher, Bookouture. In recent years I seem to have lost the knack of coming up with decent titles, so I’m more than grateful if someone else can think of one.

How much say do you have in the covers of your books?

Again, that’s an area where I’m very happy to defer to the expertise of others – and it’s hard to think of a publisher with more effective cover designs than Bookouture.

It must be pretty nerve-wracking waiting for public opinions. How do you feel when the first reviews come out?

It is extremely nerve-wracking waiting for any kind of reaction, not just from readers but from anyone – my agent, editor, partner or other family members. The response to See How They Run has been extraordinarily positive, and on a scale that I couldn’t possibly have anticipated. I am thrilled that so many people are enjoying this book.

When did you first start writing?

It was virtually from the moment I learnt to read. I remember drawing and writing little Tarzan comic book strips when I was probably five or six years old. What I think of as my first proper attempt at fiction came when I was thirteen. Until that point I’d always been embarking on huge science fiction epics that ran out of steam on page two, whereas this time I’d started and finished a self-contained story, and that opened up a new world to me.

Are you now able to write full time?

Yes, I was very lucky in that I got deals in the UK and Germany back in 2007 that enabled me to write full-time. As with most writers, it hasn’t all been plain sailing since then – and a couple of times I thought I’d have to put the writing aside and go back to a proper job – but I managed to keep going, and I hope to be able to continue for a while longer if I can!

When writing do you aim for a set number of words or pages per day?

Yes, during a first draft I try to do at least 1000-1500 words, and sometimes I manage around 2000. Similarly, during the rewriting phase I often try to cut a thousand words a day.

Do you ever get writer’s block? If so how do you overcome it?

It’s more a case of days where every sentence is a struggle. I’ve found that the best antidote is to think through what I’m going to write before I sit down. Usually I’ll walk or cycle to a café, so that time is very useful for preparation – and if I have the first sentence or two ready in my head, that seems to help it flow once I sit at the laptop.

Do you like reading? If so what are your all time favourite books?

I read a huge amount, though still nowhere near as much as I’d like. Listing favourite books or authors is so difficult, but anything by Graham Greene – he is the absolute master in my eyes.

What are you currently reading?

I tend to read several books at once, and I have a lot to catch up on from my fellow Bookouture authors, so the Kindle app on my phone is loaded with books by Angie Marsons, Rob Bryndza, Caroline Mitchell and Kathryn Croft, among others.

It’s been great to see the amount of support you have had for See How They Run. Who does your support come from when you are in the midst of writing a book?

My wife has the unenviable task of coping with my moods while I’m working. If there’s an upside, it’s that apparently I am even more grumpy and difficult to live with when I’m not writing.

 When can we expect the next Tom Bale novel (no pressure!!)?

Ha ha, there’s pressure, all right – especially after the amazing response to See How They Run! The new book is called All Fall Down, and it’s due out 1st September 2016.

Upcoming Book – All Fall Down by Tom Bale

You tried to save a life.  Now you’re fighting to save your own.

It should have been an idyllic day for the Turner family – until a dying, beaten beyond all recognition, arrives at their home, uttering the words, HELP ME.  

Rob and Wendy Turner and their children try to explain away the horrific scene as being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but in the days that follow their lives are threatened in ways they could never imagine.  

The family is unaware that they are being watched by someone with their own terrifying agenda, who will stop at nothing to fulfil their own twisted desires.  

But when hidden secrets come rushing to the surface, it’s clear not everything is as it seems in this happy family.  Are the Turners a victim of circumstance – or does the key to their fate lie closer to home?  

Forced to fight for everything they hold dear, can they save themselves before time runs out – or will their act of compassion see them paying the ultimate price…?

To Pre-order a copy of All Fall Down click here! 

A massive thank you to Tom Bale for agreeing to feature on Bloomin’ Brilliant Books.