Monday, March 2, 2015

Lisa Jewell is a real "gem"...plus a chance to have your name in a book

We're pleased to have Lisa Jewell here to kick off our "Books and Reading" theme for March. Becky has reviewed some of her books for us and they all sound great! 

You can find her at her website, Facebook, and Twitter.

This week, Lisa is offering fans the opportunity to have their name appear in a forthcoming novel. She is one of 69 bestselling authors including involved in the "Get in Character" eBay auction, an annual fundraiser organised by CLIC Sargent, the UK’s leading cancer charity for children and young people, and their families. The highest bidders for each author buy the opportunity to have a character named after them in their next book, and immortality in print. The auction runs until 8pm GMT Sunday, March 8th.

For more information about "Get in Character," visit www.clicsargent.org.uk/getincharacter or to make a bid visit http://stores.ebay.co.uk/clic-sargent-get-in-character.

Her upcoming novel (in the US, already out in the UK) is The Third WifeIt will be available in June.

Synopsis: In the early hours of a summer morning, a young woman steps into the path of an oncoming bus. A tragic accident? Or suicide?

At the center of this puzzle is Adrian Wolfe, a successful architect and grief-stricken widower, who, a year after his third wife’s death, begins to investigate the cause. As Adrian looks back on their brief but seemingly happy marriage, disturbing secrets begin to surface. The divorces from his two previous wives had been amicable, or so it seemed; his children, all five of them, were resilient as ever, or so he thought. But something, or someone, must have pushed Maya over the edge…

With psychological nuance that gets into the heart of its characters, The Third Wife is a gripping story about a man seeking the truth behind his seemingly perfect marriage and the broken pieces left behind. (Courtesy of Amazon.)

Have you ever had a song inspire any of your scenes/characters/stories, and if so, what song and why?
My second novel, thirtynothing, was almost entirely inspired by "Disco 2000" by Pulp. It was in my head a lot before I started the book and I loved the premise of the lyrics; a reunion of school sweethearts. I also loved the feel of the song too, the nostalgic bittersweetness of it, which I definitely incorporated into the tone of my novel.

Which book character (yours or someone else's) is your ideal best friend?
This is an issue I think about quite often; how some people read books to find friends and kinship and then feel disappointed when it's not there. I tend to read books for the stories and the believable characters and don't care whether I like the people or not! But if I had to spend a night in the pub with a fictional character it would most probably be one of Liane Moriarty's women, they're all so earthy and likeable.

Which book would make a great TV series?
All of mine! All of mine! You did mean mine, didn't you?

Which book (of any you've read over time) do you think didn't get as much attention as it should have?
Oh, countless. But in terms of an author who has written a number of amazing books that have all been criminally overlooked, I would have to say Tamar Cohen. I would urge anyone who enjoys edgy, compelling women's fiction with slightly nutty narrators on the edge of nervous breakdowns behaving abominably to purchase her entire oeuvre immediately. She is fantastic.

If you could only have one book with you on an island, which would it be?
It would be a huge cookbook with lots of pictures and lots of words, maybe one of Nigella's.

What is your favourite book that you had to read for school?
I know I adored Cider With Rosie, but can't actually remember anything about it thirty years later. Maybe I should read it again!

Thanks to Lisa for visiting today and for being one of the authors offering the chance for someone to have their name in her book.

1 comment:

Janine said...

I think it's a cool idea to give people the chance to have their name in a book. Personally, I wouldn't want mine in a book because so many people can't say it right. It might trip people up when they come across it. When I see a name in a book that is hard to read or say, I give the character a nickname.