Thursday, 27 February 2014
Brook Cottage Books is thrilled to welcome the lovely Gilli Allan to the blog with a fab guest post. Thanks so much Gilli.
Hello
JB- thanks for having me. I am here
to talk about my book FLY OR FALL, but before I do, there are two more exciting
bits of news I’d like to mention.
I
was lucky enough to have my story, Holiday Romance, accepted for inclusion in
the RNA anthology, Truly, Madly, Deeply, launched on 21 February.
My story is also available in the slimmed
down (and cheaper) e-edition, which I share with Catherine King, Anna Louise
Lucia and Rosie Dean - Truly Madly
Deeply - Part 9. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Truly-Madly-Deeply-Part-Catherine-ebook/dp/B00I5R06MW/
You may have heard something about
the forthcoming Vikings-Life and Legend
exhibition at the British Museum, which opens on March 6. My son, Tom Williams,
is project curator.
Early last year Tom decided he
would like to write a children’s adventure story to coincide with the opening
of the exhibition and he asked me if I would illustrate it. (At this point I
should mention that before I started writing seriously, my career was as an
illustrator in advertising.) Tom’s book idea
was then put to British Museum Press. It
took them a while to think about it, but at the beginning of September we had
their agreement in principle. We produced a sample illustrated chapter... and
the rest is history. Now on sale from the British Museum and all the usual online
outlets -
The
Tale of King Harald - The
Last Viking Adventure
“An
illustrated adventure telling the story of King Harald “Hardrada” Sigurdsson,
the last king of the Vikings. Based on a
true story, Harald’s adventure takes him from a frightened teenager to wealthy
and powerful warrior and finally, to a ruthless and tyrannical king, whose ambition
leads him to a futile, yet glorious death at the battle of Stamford Bridge in
1066. In this exciting and action-packed story, Harald journeys across the
world from Scandinavia to Russia, Byzantium, Sicily, Turkey, Palestine and
finally England. Travelling overland and by sea he gathers wealth, recognition
and power, and along the way meets a range of famous and flamboyant historical
figures including Cnut the Great, Prince Jaroslav of Kiev, the Empress Zoe and
King Harold of England.”
And
finally - FLY OR FALL. I spent
several months in the summer last year preparing this book for publication onto
Kindle. No sooner had I clicked publish,
than King Harald “Hardrada” Sigurdsson, and all his adventures, evicted
everything else from my mind. As a result
Fly of Fall had a very quiet entry
into the world. Now, however, I have just completed the print publication of
this book. I don’t believe it is available quite yet, so I can only provide the
link to the e-book, but it will only be a matter of days before the paperback
is also available on Amazon. So I am making a bit more noise about it now.
FLY OR FALL
Nell
admits that she doesn’t like change. Married young and kept at home by twin
babies and an invalid mother, and dependent on her husband Trevor’s wages, her
life has been limited. But when
circumstances change for the better and her husband wants to move away from
London, the ground seems to shift beneath her feet. She is gripped by an
inexplicable foreboding.
Now
in her early thirties, Nell feels cast adrift, far from her friends and all
that is familiar. Trevor is no longer the man she married, and their teenage
twins, Jonathan and Juliet, are grumpy and difficult. The new house is
unwelcoming and needs modernisation and she’s thrust into a continuing chaos of
rubble and renovation. The women she
gets to know - Katherine and Felicity - seem frivolous and hedonistic. They
wrongly assume that she’s ‘one of them’, someone who will delight in the
knowledge that Patrick, one of the builders working on her house, is a
notorious womaniser. At first grateful that he doesn’t make a pass at her, Nell
begins to feel resentful that Pat finds her unattractive.
Nell
takes a bar job at the local sports club, but she distances herself from the
overheated atmosphere of flirtation and gossip.
She’s not that kind of woman, but....
She can’t help being influenced by her new friends’ attitude of casual
infidelity. Secretly Nell begins to fantasise about romantic adventures. When
she’s pursued by a beautiful and enigmatic young man, whose name she thinks is
Angel, she is tempted. Before she can boast about her conquest to another
friend, the quirky, new-age Elizabeth, her world falls apart. The presentiment
of disaster, felt as a tremor at the start of the story, rumbles into a full
blown earthquake, delivering shock after shock.
When the dust settles nothing is as it seemed, not even the life she
left behind in London. The unlikely love
which has blossomed from the wreckage is doomed and she is forced to confront the
hair’s breadth between wishful thinking, self-deception and lies, when shocking
truths about friends (old and new), her husband, both her teenage twins and
even herself, are exposed.
Fly
or Fall follows the dismantling of all of Nell’s certainties, her preconceptions
and her moral code. By its conclusion,
everything has altered for the ‘woman who dislikes change’, but has Nell been
broken or has she transformed herself?
From March 12-15 the Kindle version of Fly or Fall is on a 99p
Countdown.
Really enjoyed your post Gilli. And, you must be very proud of your son. The best of luck to him in his ventures. x I love Nell's character and am looking forward to reading about her in the printed version of Fly or Fall. xxx
Fascinating blog. Thank you JB and Brook Cottage Books. I will be back as there's so much I haven't had time to read. x
Thank you for having me Jonty, and for allowing me to waffle on! When we first arranged this guest appearance I didn't realise I'd have so much to talk about.
BTW, I can tell your readers that FLY OR FALL is now available in paperback. It went live after I'd sent the post. The link is: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fly-FALL-Gilli-Allan/dp/1495365433/
or
http://www.amazon.com/Fly-FALL-Gilli-Allan/dp/1495365433/
Oh, Gilli! Are those your illustrations? You super-talented lady, you, they look wonderful. Huge CONGRATS on the inclusion in Truly, Madly, Deeply. You have been busy! Well done on all you achievements, including the release in e-book and PRINT of fabulous Fly or Fall! :) xx
Wonderful post from two multi-talented people! Congrats! I've tweet it.
Thank you Sheryl and Lindsay. The last few months have been quite bizarre. I thought I'd given up illustration! Although the job was being talked about through the summer last year, I never truly believed it would happen. Even though I'd said "yes" I feared I'd not be able to produce the goods. My story's inclusion in TMD was a big surprise. The fact everything has happened together is a bit mind boggling! gx
You're certainly a talented illustrator Gilli ad you and Tom should be proud of your joint achievement.
And I think I'm busy! Fly or Fall is waiting on my Kindle and I am going now to download your short story in TMD. You're on a roll.
Congratulations