Recently I blogged about unsung indie heroes, amazing indie authors I have the pleasure of knowing. This was partly to highlight them and their wonderful books but also to thank them for supporting me with the release of my last book, The Day The earth Turned Book 1: Summer.
This Part 2 post aims to shine a light on a few more talented indies who I personally feel don’t get the recognition they deserve. Enjoy and do please check out their books!
Kate Rigby – If you’ve followed me for a while you’ll probably have heard me mention Kate before. Kate was an author I discovered online through her wonderfully crafted novels. I was an instant fan, devouring Fall of The Flamingo Circus and Down The Tubes, among many others. I contacted her via Facebook when I realised she had once lived where I do. In fact, some of the locations in Down The Tubes were places I knew. She was gracious enough to return my message and we’ve been friends ever since, even meeting up in person twice, which was an utter joy! Kate is a lovely person; someone I would instantly turn to if I had a problem and someone I know would offer the best advice regarding writing and publishing. She’s been there and done it all and I consider her a bit of a guru! Sadly, Kate does not get the recognition she deserves in todays over-saturated book market. I feel like if you’ve ever enjoyed one of my books, you would like hers too, as we tend to cover gritty subjects and our books are usually quite character driven. I always know when opening one of her books that I am in for a treat; that I am in very safe hands and won’t be tempted to skim read or put the book down! To find out more about Kate, here are the links to her Amazon page and her website:
Miriam Hastings – Miriam is a friend of Kate’s, which is how I was introduced to her books. I read her award-winning novel The Minotaur Hunt and was hugely impressed with her writing style and talent. Just recently I read her latest book, The Dowager’s Dream and absolutely fell in love with it. It’s one of the best books I’ve ever read and I’m pretty sure it will be my book of the year. Last week I posted an interview with one of the main characters, Kirsty, and if possible today, I’d like to encourage you to look up Miriam’s books. In my mind, both Miriam and Kate are natural writers. I think it comes to them as naturally as breathing. Or at least that’s how it feels reading their books! Here are the links to Miriam’s Amazon page and website!
Steven Smith – an author I only recently discovered, Steven’s steampunk adventure Chasing Shadows is a wonderful action-packed adventure sure to please fans of the genre and otherwise! Steven recently interviewed me for his podcast series and we had a great time chatting about writing and publishing in general. Here are the links to Steven’s Amazon page, website and podcast!
Mick Williams – I’m not sure where or how Mick and I connected online, but I am sure it was somewhere around the start of my journey! Mick has been a great supporter of my books over the years and likewise, I have enjoyed many of his. He’s a very versatile author, catering for just about every taste and covering nearly every genre out there! I think my personal favourite is Final Clearance, a delicious satire-laced exploration of an abused retail worker who finally snaps! Brilliant. Check out his books below, he has so many!
Like before, there are many more wonderful indie authors I could highlight here but these are four who have impressed me consistently or recently. I hope you’ll take the time to check out their books as I am sure you will find something you’ll enjoy!
Welcome to another character interview on The Glorious Outsiders, where we are quite possibly a bit addicted to writing, obsessed with memorable characters and like to celebrate being a little bit different! If that sounds like your kind of thing, you are in the right place and it’s a pleasure to have you here!
At the start of each month I post an interview with a character from a book I have enjoyed. I have read other books by author Miriam Hastings so knew I was in for a treat when I recently devoured her new release, The Dowager’s Dream. I’m not usually a fan of historical fiction, however, this book absolutely blew me away and I am still thinking about it weeks after finishing it. The plot is wonderful (rich people trampling all over poor people, just to get a bit richer sums it up crudely) the location is just breathtaking, in fact, a character in its own right, and the people, the characters who make up this novel are completely real to me. And that is what I am always looking for when reading… So often I find myself enjoying a clever plot or a unique location, perhaps even poised on the edge of my seat in anticipation for the next twist in the tale, but if I don’t care about the characters I feel cheated. These characters, particularly Kirsty and Mary, were so incredibly real to me. I wanted them to be real. I wanted to know them, talk to them, confide in them and help them. Since finishing the book, I keep wondering what they are up to… what has happened next. That’s a good book, to me, anyway. That’s a book I will never forget. So, without further ado please welcome Kirsty, my favourite character from the book, to The Glorious Outsiders for her interview. You will find a link to the book at the end and I beg you to check it out!
1. How old are you?
I was 14 the year Miss Mary and I saw the sea-monster trapped in the ice, but now I be near 20.
2. Where do you come from?
I was born on my da’s farmstead which sits in the river valley of Strath Kerrow with its good rich soil, five miles upstream from the sea.
3. Where do you live? Describe it to us
When I was 10 years old I went to work at the manse in the village below the Bighouse, and there I remain to this day with the Minister, Mr MacKenzie, and his daughter,Miss Mary. The manse is a grand stone house with two storeys, it is but a few minutes walk across the dunes to the shore and the fierce waves of the great ocean that stretches all the way to Canada.
4. Do you have a family, if so tell us about them.
Most of my family still live on their croft in Strath Kerrow. There be my granny who is very old and wise and has the sight, my da and mam, my favourite brother Iain, and my wee brother Davy. My eldest brother Peter is married now to my cousin Ruth. I love all my family dearly, look you, but my brother Peter is a wild one and so is Ruth. They are always in trouble with the factor and the Minister – and dragging others into trouble with them.
5. Who is your best friend and why?
I might say that Miss Mary is my best friend and I know she would wish me to think so, but I am her servant so I must always try to please her. This I find a burden for I’m a strong-willed girl, no bobbing head, “yes ma’am, no ma’am, whatever you say ma’am” sortof limmer. I do love her indeed but I need my job – and that will always be in the way of any friendship between one such as me and one such as her.
So I will name my cousin Ruth as my best friend, we both grew up on our family’s farmsteads, me in Strath Kerrow and she in Strath Harrowdale, where we worked as hard as any lad. I think we’ve always been special friends because we the both have no sister, nought but brothers, so we are close tho’ she was always a wild lass, forever leading me into mischief. Truth to tell, she is quieter and less troublesome now she’s a mam with a wee bairn.
6. Who is your worst enemy?
My worst enemy is easy to name; it is the Laird who would steal our land and drive us away, to replace us with an army of great white sheep.
7. What talents do you have?
I cannae say for sure that I have any. Miss Mary says I make good pastry and barley bread and oatcake, and the Dowager says I’m a fine shot with a pistol – her ladyship even gave me a grand pistol with a pearl handle to have as my own.
8. What flaws do you have?
I am loathe to say I have flaws any more than I have talents. I be an honest servant and a hard worker, a loving daughter and a loyal friend. It is true that I was once unkind to the Laird’s land agent, William Patterson, and aided Peter and Ruth in a cruel deception of the man – but there can be no doubt he deserved it!
9. What do you think people think of you?
Miss Mary would say I am too outspoken and it’s true I believe in saying what I think is right, even to those who think themselves above me; but then there are times she relies upon me as if I were her mam, tho’ I be younger than her and her servant. William Patterson thought me primitive, just an ignorant peasant, as he does us all, and the Laird dislikes me thoroughly for I stand up to him and will no be cowed. I’d say his lady mother, the Dowager, has grown fond of me as I have of her.
I believe – at least I hope – the Welsh shepherd Tom Hughes has a great love for me in his heart and I hope to marry him one day. But not too soon!
10. What do you wish people knew about you?
I wish the gentry knew I was as clever and canny as they are; and I wish my own folk understood why I care so much about Miss Mary – and about her father and the Dowager, too. They may be gentle-born but they are good people and have shown me much kindness.
11. What is your greatest fear?
My greatest fear is that my family will lose their farmstead just as my uncle and auntie already have, and that they will starve as a result and my gentle brother Iain will go for a soldier so he can send home his wages, and then he’ll be likely to die fighting for the Sassenach king against that French devil Napoleon.
12. What is your biggest hope?
My biggest hope is that the Laird will die before his mother, the Dowager, so that he never gets his hands upon our land.
13. What is your biggest secret?
My biggest secret?
Mebbe my biggest secret is that I smuggled Tom Hughes into the Bighouse one evening. I wanted to awe him with its size and grand furnishings. We were that close to being caught, canoodling in the Laird’s own bed!
14. What is the worst thing you have done to another person?
I have already told how I once helped Peter, Iain and Ruth deceive the factor and agent, William Patterson. With the help of the Minister’s opium and spirit from my da’s still, we fooled him into believing he’d been magicked away by the fey folk.
It was Ruth and her family paid for it and I am truly sorry.
15. What kind of friend are you?
Sometimes I can be unfair to people, I cannae deny it. I have turned against Miss Mary at least once when she did no deserve it, punishing her for the hardships suffered by my relatives when it was no her fault.
16. Is there anything about your life you would change?
I wish folk like my da and mam had rights to their own crofts and could no be made to flit when the Laird takes it into his head to drive them from their homes.
17. Where would you like to be in 5 years time?
In 5 years time I think mebbe I would like to wed Tom. We could go away to Canada where they say land is plentiful, or we could move to Tom’s homeland of Wales and see if we can settle on a farm there. It is hard to know what land there will be for poor working folksuch as us.
18. Do you have any regrets?
What is the point of regrets? Only the wealthy with time on their hands can indulge in them!
19. How would you like to be remembered?
I would like all those who love me well to remember me as one who never gave up easily and always fought for her family and her people – an honest woman strong and brave.
20. What are your hobbies/how do you relax?
When do I have time for hobbies? I work hard from dawn til dark. When I have time to sit still, look you, such as when I’m sitting in the kirk on a Sabbath, I doze off I am that tired!
There are times when I can get away to see my family and we will ceilidh with our friends, those times I enjoy. And, to tell truth, I like to walk with Miss Mary down to the shore on a fine sunny day (rare enough up here) to collect shellfish, or just to smell the clean salty air and listen to her maunder on about her seamaid.
Thank you so much to author Miriam Hastings for lending us the wonderfully charismatic Kirsty to chat to today!
Here is my review of The Dowager’s Dream:
I was curious to read this book as I have enjoyed the author’s other works very much. However, I am not usually drawn to historical fiction so I was unsure. I am so glad I gave it a go as this is one of the best books I have read in a long time and it will stay with me for a long time to come. I had to write my review on the day I finished reading it, so that everything was fresh in my head and I could do it justice! The story is told from two points of view – minister’s daughter Mary and her maid, Kirsty and the setting is the north of Scotland in the early years of the 19th century. Here, the ordinary folk work the land owned by the Laird of the estate, which he has left in the hands of his mother, the Dowager. People are happy for the most part. Life is tough but so are the people, who gather together to love and obey God under the stern and watchful eye of the minister, Mr Mackenzie. When Mary sees a mermaid, Kirsty believes it to be a bad omen, while the Dowager is as curious and enthralled as Mary. It seems Kirsty is right, however, when the ghastly spoilt Laird returns to announce grand changes. He has plans to evict the tenant farmers and fill his land with profitable sheep and he employs cruel and violent methods to dispose of the peasants, who are less then human primitives in his eyes. This is a story that is hard to sum up. It is brooding and atmospheric, the rugged Scottish highlands almost a character in their own right and it keeps a steady gentle pace that draws you in, comforts you and fills your mind and your heart. I became utterly immersed and lost in the world the author had created. I loved every character, especially the girls telling the story and felt as if I truly knew and understood them. I felt sorrow, anger and fear for the way the tenants were treated and I cheered them all on with every small, brave victory. The mermaid and also selkies are perfect mythical folklore stories woven into the fabric of this mesmerising story and they provided great joy to me as a reader. I was curious, I was involved, I was happy and sad and everything in between. This is a tale of rich people trampling all over poor people just to get even richer and that is something still very relevant today. I implore people to read this book. If you enjoy historical fiction you will love it, but if you enjoy character driven tales and folklore you will also appreciate it greatly. I will be thinking about this and I’m now enduring a true book hangover and missing it immensely! Read less
Just recently I released a new book and I’d say it was one of the most successful launches I’ve had so far and there’s two reasons for that. One, I was better organised and more determined to put to use the advice I’ve picked up since I started publishing in 2013. And two, because I enlisted a little help from my friends.
In this post you will hopefully discover some new authors because I’m going to shine a light on them and point you in their direction. If you are after a new book to read, then look no further as there will be something here for everyone. And in case you didn’t know, indie authors need all the help they can get. It’s very difficult to get your book noticed by readers without spending a lot of money on advertising and marketing – and not all of us have those funds available. The cost of living crisis is making that even harder so where we can help each other out and boost each other, we should.
This post is for them. The unsung indie heroes, of which there are many. These fellow authors helped me out in so many ways with the launch of the book and are there for me in many other ways too, as friends and as fellow professional writers. Not only did they read and review the book, but they posted about it on their blogs, hosted me for Q&A’s, posted in other groups for me, shared my links, graphics and reviews on social media and generally just gave me the boost I needed. I was humbled and very grateful and I’d like to say thank you to them.
For each author you’ll find their website and Amazon page below. I have read work from all of these authors and enjoyed every one very much!
Sim Sansford – my business partner and co-author in the Fortune’s Well trilogy, is also an author in his own right. Sim was one of the authors who read, reviewed and blogged about my latest release! If you like YA paranormal/mystery/supernatural, you’ll enjoy his debut novel Welcome To Denver Falls. He is also working on a fantastic slasher style YA horror series which I’ve had the honour of beta reading!
Paula Harmon – a successful indie author of quirky historical fiction, I first met Paula at a local author event in a library and she later introduced me to Sim at the Blandford Literary Festival they were part of organising. Paula also read, reviewed and blogged about my new book and I’m so thankful!
Richard Dee- a member of our fledgling indie collective, Chasing Driftwood Books, is a very prolific sci-if writer with the most unique stories I’ve ever come across! I’ve read and enjoyed several of his books! Richard also kindly offered to read, review and shout about my latest book!
Karen J Mossman – Karen and I met when both part of an indie collective called Pict Publishing, a supportive network for female authors. Karen is now part of Norns Triad Publications and is another talented and prolific writer who read, reviewed and blogged to support my recent release. Karen does a lot to support authors with review and Q&A slots on her blog.
K.M Allan – A fantastic blogger who pens extremely useful and inspirational posts about the craft of writing, K.M Allan is also a YA author. Her paranormal series Blackbirch is fantastic and I highly recommend it. A huge thank you to Kate for also helping to support my new book!
MJ. Mallon – Marjorie Mallon is a YA author, poet and blogger with a wide variety of books under her name. I’ve enjoyed many of these – they have all brought a smile to my face and I’d like to thank her for also reading, reviewing and blogging about my newest book! Marjorie is also very supportive towards fellow authors.
Helen Pryke – Helen is hugely supportive to other authors, particularly with the running of her amazing Facebook group, Meet The Authors. This group connects readers and writers and gives invaluable marketing opportunities such as posting covers and hosting author takeover days. Helen is also an author of several historical fiction books and crime thrillers. Helen was an early reader of The Day The Earth Turned Book 1: Summer and was kind enough to do an added proofread for me too!
Adeola Sheehy – I’ve known Adeola since her children began attending my writing clubs for home-educated children a few years ago and during that time I’ve been overjoyed to see her own writing career take off. Not only has she written and published a beautiful collection of poetry, she has taken Medium by storm with her own writing, plus the editing/running of several successful publications. I only joined Medium fairly recently and Adeola was kind enough to welcome me in and show me the ropes! She recently read, reviewed and shouted about my new book for which I am extremely grateful!
Shannon Rohrer – Shannon has been a great support, beta reading, plus reading, reviewing and blogging to help launch my newest release. I recently read her novel Whispers of Nowhere and was blown away by it. I intend to read book two in the series very soon! If you like fantasy with a heavy dose of mythology and folklore, you need to check this series out now!
Now, these are not the only authors I want to highlight so look out for a follow up blog coming soon where I will review some recent gems I’ve read by more unsung indie heroes!
In January 2022 I wrote a blog about how I handle having such a long to-write list. Part of coping with so many book ideas is allocating a notebook for each one, so that I can jot down title, blurb ideas, plots, character bios and so on. At that point I was putting the final touches to The Day The Earth Turned series, and the Fortune’s Well trilogy co-written with Sim Sansford. The trilogy is now out and the first book in The Day The Earth Turned series is also out! The other books in the series are also finished and waiting for their release dates.
In the meantime, I’ve been doing my usual crazy thing of writing/editing/jotting ideas and thinking about multiple writing projects at the same time! No change there then, but I don’t worry about it anymore. It’s just the way my mind works.
However, I did suddenly realise the other day that my entire to-write list is now in action. Every book is in some state of progress and even better than that – I have not had any new ideas!!!!
Awesome!
I feel like I can now relax and enjoy getting these books finished and released. They will certainly keep me busy over the next few years!
To keep you updated, here is a list of my to-write list and the stage each one is currently at (I’ve listed them in the order I expect to release them in):
At Night We Played In The Road – the spin-off book from The Boy With The Thorn In His Side series. Works as a standalone but does give spoilers for part 5 of The Boy series… It’s written, it’s had six drafts, its been to beta readers and I’ve responded to feedback. It’s currently with my editor and I’ve already worked on a few structural edits she suggested. I plan to release around May 2024.
The Mess Of Us – long awaited sequel to my debut novel The Mess Of Me. It’s had five drafts and I’m just about to start draft six before sending it to beta readers! Hope to release summer 2024.
The Dark Finds You – the unexpected crossover book that ends the stories in The Boy With The Thorn In His Side universe – brings characters from The Mess Of Me/Us, the Holds End trilogy and Elliot Pie’s Guide To Human Nature together in one storyline with Danny from The Boy series… It’s had five drafts and I absolutely love it. Probably the easiest most addictive book I’ve ever written. I hope to release end of autumn 2024.
Black Hare Valley – written in long-hand in five notebooks, wrote ‘The End’ about a year ago and haven’t touched it since, but I will be diving into the second draft of this once the books above are completely finished and ready for release.
Diary of the Undead – started in a notebook a few years ago then put aside, I recently picked it up again and decided to type up what I had. This led to a few more chapters but I then put it aside to concentrate on everything else!
We hate The Cool Kids – still awaiting a second draft and it’s been about five years now, but I’ll get to it when I can.
The 7th Child – in progress because I have the whole plot nailed down, plus the characters are evolving on a daily basis and I’m adding bits of plot etc too. I’ve also written the first chapter.
The Few – a series to cowrite with Sim Sansford – we recently kicked this off with the first few chapters done!
And that’s it. All the books waiting in notebooks and all the books in my head all in some state of action. I’m really pleased about this but do you know what I’m most pleased about??
The Glorious Outsiders 