August 1st. Literary Event in Cheltenham

Literary Event in Cheltenham on August 1st.

One of the great things about successful writers is their kindness and generosity to those of us who are still making our way.
In the years since Jane and I have been running The Place to Write, there have been many times when we wanted to approach a writer to tutor our retreats but hesitated.
Doubts assailed us.
They won't have time.
They won't want to be bothered.
And each and every time our lovely, best selling and famous authors proved us wrong.

So it was with our Literary Event.

It started with a conversation at our writing retreat in Port Isaac Cornwall this March, with one of the nicest and most helpful writers we have met; Chris Manby.
She suggested we organise an event when novice writers can meet up with 3 best selling authors. A place where they can chat about books, their path to success and pick up advice in informal and lovely surroundings.
And so Jane and I have organised an event at the Well Walk Tea Rooms in Cheltenham. A place so quaint and pretty it should be in pictures. And indeed it is.
The owner supplies film set dressing to the movie industry and amongst others has provided his expertise in Harry Potter films and Downton Abbey.
Add to that delicious food...

 and an unbelievably pretty interior...

We decided to do this event in support of Cancer Research UK and there will be a donation for every ticket sold. This is a small and intimate event and only a few places remain available.

Thank you in advance to Chris Manby, Lucy Dillon, and Fiona Walker who will be there on August 1st. We are so looking forward to it! If you are interested get in touch now.


www.theplacetowrite.co.uk

In a Dark Dark Wood.

In a Dark Dark Wood by Ruth Ware (@RuthWareWriter).

In a dark, dark wood there was a dark, dark house;

And in the dark, dark house there was a dark, dark room;

And in the dark, dark room there was a dark, dark cupboard;

And in the dark, dark cupboard there was ... a skeleton.

I was sent this great book by Alison Hennessey (@crime_queen) of Harville Secker and many thanks for that!

It has a disturbing and horribly believable plot.
Out of the blue Leonora (also known as Lee or Nora) receives an email, an invitation to a hen weekend, organised by Flo.

Nora has not seen her one time best friend for ten years and now Clare is getting married. Should Nora go? Should she just ignore the invitation?
(Hit the delete button! Hit the delete button!)

The hen weekend is to be held in a house in the middle of a forest in Northumberland (Flo's aunt's holiday home) with a collection of other friends. The house is ultra modern and my basic nightmare; huge expanses of uncurtained windows overlooking trees and of course an awful lot of darkness outside.

The moment by moment crawl through the hen weekend is interspersed with a parallel story. Nora is in hospital. Something terrible has happened. But what? Someone has died. There has been a car crash and an awful lot of blood. Nora struggles to remember. Old secrets are ready to be told.

No spoilers here at all but this book kept me gripped from start to finish. It superseded any other activity, and even saw me out of bed on Sunday morning at 05.30 because I needed to know what happened!

The publishing world has seen toxic marriages, unreliable narrators and this is the start of the latest trend of toxic friendships. Never surely was there a more toxic friendship than one portrayed here?

I highly recommend this to anyone who likes women's psychological fiction, tightly paced plotting and a clever and thrilling read.
The only other tiny comment I would make is I think this book deserves a different, punchier cover. While I liked it at first sight, having read the book, it deserves something better.

Thank you for the opportunity of reading this and I look forward to Ruth Ware's next book.