THE DROWNING BLOG TOUR: Making It Up As I Go Along

Recently I was sent The Drowning to review from Chicken House, and I was astounded at how brilliant it was. So today it is my pleasure to host The Drowning blog tour! I hope you enjoy Rachel Ward's guest post - don't forget to tell us your thoughts in the comments, below!

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I wrote ‘Numbers’ in blissful ignorance. I knew nothing about anything – I simply told myself a story. When I started I had my main characters, a beginning and an end, but no idea how to get from one to the other. I didn't write any of it down in a plan. I held it all in my head, started writing and made it up as I went along. Nothing fancy, no flashbacks or dual narratives. Just the story of a girl with a mind-blowing gift - the ability to see death dates.

‘The Chaos’ was more complicated. I wrote the whole story from Adam’s point of view and then my editor, Imogen Cooper of Chicken House, asked me to try writing it all from another character, Sarah’s point of view. ‘But,’ I choked, ‘that would mean writing the whole thing again! And it would be a completely different story!’
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Try it. Have a cookie.’

With ‘Infinity’, I decided to make things more difficult by continuing my dual narrative, but also swapping various gifts and curses between characters. I also panicked, and started writing too early, before I’d got things straight in my head. The first draft was pants, and so was the second and third. I ended up re-writing the whole thing five or six times. It was such a mess I needed two editors to sort it out. As the print deadline hurtled towards me, I was still having heated discussions with Imogen and Rachel Leyshon about the ending. Aaargh. I delivered it on time (just) and I’m really proud of the book, but my confidence as a writer was at an all time low.

Never again, I thought.

I’m never going to write another book.

Which mellowed in time to I’m never going to write another book that way again.

And so … ‘The Drowning’. This time things have been very different. For a start I asked for a sabbatical from my day job, so I had a whole year to concentrate on writing. Bliss. More time, less pressure. I also discussed the book at a very early stage with Imogen. We had a session looking at the main themes and how they might play out over three sections (I love the simplicity of thinking about a beginning, a middle and an end.) I wrote the first section and we reviewed it together with some BIG sheets of paper and coloured pens. I wrote the middle section and got a bit stuck and Imogen introduced the idea of a book map to me, which is basically a table, plotting themes against chapters. I can’t tell you how tedious it is to do a book map, but, irritatingly, it does help you to see the wood for the trees. It took me a long time to get to grips with Rob – the nature of him, how he would appear to Carl, why he was there and how his role would develop. Some of the key themes and ideas didn't emerge until the second draft; domestic violence, the real role of water within the book. Sometimes I felt properly stupid – why does it take me so long to see things, to understand? But writing The Drowning wasn't traumatic, or painful. It was challenging and interesting, as is Imogen Cooper, the amazing editor who has taught me so much.

And that is the end of the blog tour! If you haven't already, please do check out the other stops that have been on the tour. You can buy a copy of The Drowning using the link to The Book Depository (above).

Feature and Follow Friday #9

The Feature and Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee and Alison of Alison Can Read.

Q: School is out! What is your favourite Summer Reading book?

School isn't out for us in the UK until the end of July, sadly. My favourite summer reading books are always the newest instalments to the Chocolate Box Girls series by Cathy Cassidy, because the new books in the series come out every June. They're light-hearted and fun, so perfect to read during Summer.

Rules of Summer by Joanna Philbin

There are two sides to every summer... 

Rory McShane's signed on to be a summer errand girl for a wealthy family with an enormous beachfront mansion. She hopes she'll be able to sneak in some sunbathing too. 

Enter Isabel Rule, who's not only up for sunbathing but set on having a breathless summer romance that her family would never approve of. Isabel has decided that this is the summer for taking chances, and she's dragging Rory along for the ride. 

But when long-hidden secrets start to surface, their friendship will be put to the test.

Rory's life in New Jersey isn't fantastic. She is relied upon at just seventeen, to pay for all of the bills and to basically run the house. Her mum is frequently getting new boyfriends and Rory is always the shoulder for her mum to cry on at the end of the relationship. So Rory jumps at the chance when her Aunt Fee invites her to work with her, unpaid,  at a mansion in summer resort town, The Hamptons. It's like a different universe from poor New Jersey!

Rory and Isabel are two very different girls. Rory is responsible, level-headed and doesn't have a penny to her name. Isabel is moody, extremely wealthy and slightly off-the-rails. The moment they first meet each other is a disaster and leaves both of them vowing to avoid the other for the entire summer. However, that doesn't quite go to plan, and they soon become good friends.

It was lovely to see Rory and Isabel's friendship grow, and Isabel became a much nicer person. I didn't like her at all in the beginning but she ended up being one of my favourite characters. Rory was kind and down-to-earth, and I related to her a lot. I also liked Connor Rule, Isabel's brother, but it annoyed me that *spoiler alert* he asked Rory out so close to the end of the book. I would've liked to see more of their relationship. *end of spoiler* So hopefully there will be a sequel!

I would just like to add, that when I first saw the cover, I was sure the girl on the cover was me as it looks really similar to a photo that was taken of me on holiday! Obviously, it isn't me though!

There were some really interesting twists towards the end of the book, and it was clever how they tied into the story because I hadn't predicted them at all. This is the perfect book to read on the beach, although it is quite long...but maybe that would give you an excuse to go to the beach more than once...?

'Rules of Summer' is a fun, light-hearted book, with a few serious issues tied into the story. This is the first book I've read by Joanna Philbin but hopefully I'll get to read more by her.

Official Publication Date: 4th June 2013

Note: You can pre-order this book HERE.

Feature and Follow Friday #8

The Feature and Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee and Alison of Alison Can Read.

Q: Happy Mother's Day! Who is your favourite mom from fiction?

It's not Mother's Day here in the UK, that was in March. But I'll answer the question anyway! I'm going to have to be like everyone else and say Mrs Weasley from the Harry Potter books by J.K Rowling...sorry! She's just so lovely!

The Originals by Cat Patrick

I glance at the three baby portraits in thick wooden frames. I feel a familiar prickling on the back of my neck. Because I know there's another picture somewhere - and the baby in that photo looks identical to the babies on the wall. 

Somewhere, there's a photo of the Original. 

Ella, Betsey and I look like sisters: triplets, you might think. But that's not what we are at all. We are clones in hiding. We split our lives and exist as one person in the outside world. And we've always been happy. 

But now I've fallen head-over-heels in love...and that changes everything. Because, to let love in, I need to be allowed to be Me. 

Three girls. One life.

I was so happy and surprised when I received this in the post from the publisher! I think I screamed a bit. And a happy dance may have been involved. Ever since reading Revived, Cat Patrick has quickly become one of my favourite authors. She writes about original (excuse the pun) topics, and there are always amazing plot twists. Her books are definitely not predictable, which is great!

Usually, I don't comment on the cover of a book in a review, but this review will be an exception. The cover is interesting and intriguing and I think the cracks not only show that they are different people, but also the fractures that start to appear in the girls' relationships with each other.

Cat Patrick's style of writing is thrilling, and is always guaranteed to leave you on the edge of your seat. This is the book that got me out of my reading slump, so it must be good! This story is intense, but also really fun and exciting to read at the same time.

In a review, I usually write who my favourite character was, but I'm finding that hard to do as the three female protagonists are clones! Other than Ella, Betsey and Lizzie, my favourite character was Sean, the boy Lizzie likes. When he found out about them being clones, he took it in his stride and it didn't affect his relationship with Lizzie too much. If anything, it made it stronger.

I wish there was a sequel to this book, because I'd love to know what happens to the characters in the future. Sadly, I don't think that will happen. Overall, I give this book a rating of 5/5. A thrilling roller coaster ride of a story that you will never forget!

Official Publication Date: 7th May 2013
Note: You can pre-order this HERE! And I highly recommend that you do!

Feature and Follow Friday #7

The Feature and Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee and Alison of Alison Can Read.

Q: Give us a sneak! What are you reading? Tell us about a fun or fail scene in your current read.

I'm reading The Drowning by Rachel Ward at the moment, and I'm enjoying it. I haven't read much of it so far. Here is a quote from the page I'm on. 'She reaches into her bag and hands the phone to me. Caller Unknown. I press the green button and answer. It's the policewoman I saw earlier. My guts turn to jelly.'

You Don't Know Me by Sophia Bennett

It was all so good. 

Sasha and Rose. 

Best friends in a band, singing together. 

Right up to the finals of Killer Act when the judges tell them one of them must go. 

Suddenly their friendship is put to the ultimate test on TV in front of millions. 

Two girls. 

One huge mistake. 

Can they ever forgive each other?

Sasha, Rose, Nell and Jodie are best friends. They are usually dancing around in their bedrooms, filming funny videos and singing. That is, until someone steals Sasha's iPhone - which just so happens to have videos of the girls singing on it. A couple of days later, the video has gone viral, and the girls' friendship starts to unravel.

Before I tell you what I thought of the book, I would just like to say this: Have you ever tried to review a book that has no faults with it? It's so hard! I'm finding it difficult to put how awesome this book is into words. So if my review doesn't quite do it justice, just know this - IT'S REALLY REALLY GOOD AND YOU SHOULD BUY IT. Ehem. Okay, on to the review...

The cover is gorgeous and it definitely stands out in a shop. In real life, it's shiny and it looks like it's glowing which is really cool. Also, the edges of the pages are sprayed blue, which looks good!

The characters were really fun to read about and there were a few really surprising twists. I really liked Dan (one of the love interests) and scenes that included him were great! Sasha was relatable although I think I would have acted a lot differently if I had been in her situation.

'You Don't Know Me' is set in a fictional town called Castle Bigelow and it was described so well that I felt like I was there. Mrs Venning's vintage shop sounded really lovely and I wish it was real so I could go inside! It reminded me a bit of Cornwall, and that's one of my favourite places so that's a plus.

I've been a fan of Sophia Bennett's books for a few years now so I was so excited when I received this to review. Her other books have always been fantastic and this one was no different. This is a must read, especially for summer. It's perfect for reading on the beach and if you don't read it, you're missing out, big time! Fabulous, poignant and relatable! 5/5.

Official Publication Date: 7th May 2013

Note: Thank you to Chicken House for sending this to me in exchange for an honest review. You can buy this book HERE.

Embracing My Inner Geek

Embracing My Inner Geek is a feature hosted by Queen of Contemporary and enables bloggers to geek out once a week and ramble on about geeky and nerdish things. 

This is my first Embracing My Inner Geek blog post, which I am doing for the Queen of Contemporary blogoversary! 

Today, I'm going to talk about a pretty nerdish hobby of mine, and that is...drawing. It might not seem geeky to you, but I know a lot of people who think it is and who tell me that frequently! I love drawing, especially realistic portraits. They never come out how I want them to, though! Here are some of my best drawings.

From L-R: Landscape in an Eye, Jessie J, Ariel, Devil Mermaid and danisnotonfire

To see more of my drawings, you can head to my Facebook page. I would have picked reading as my nerdish hobby, but I think most of you have already established that I enjoy reading...and if you hadn't guessed that already, well, I don't know what to say! 

This blog post is in celebration of Lucy at Queen of Contemporary's blogoversary. Check out her blog and join in the celebrations!

Feature and Follow Friday #6

The Feature and Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee and Alison of Alison Can Read.

Q: Is there a song that reminds you of a book? Or vice versa? What is the song and the book?

'A Thousand Years' by Christina Perri always reminds me of Twilight. I haven't read the books, but I've seen the films and I'm pretty sure 'A Thousand Years' is played in one of the films. It's a good song!

Diary of a Crush: French Kiss by Sarra Manning

New town, new college, new people, Edie's feeling overwhelmed. What if nobody wants to be her friend? But then something happens that turns her life upside down: Edie spots Dylan. Messy-haired, pouty, frustratingly elusive Dylan...

Fast forward to the college trip to Paris and things are really heating up. In between shopping, the clubbing, the kissing and the making up, something happens between Edie and Dylan that could change both their lives for ever.

But do boys like Dylan ever play for keeps?

She just knows that this is the start of a roller-coaster, big-time love story. And she puts it all down in her diary.

Edie and Dylan meet in Photography class at college. From the first scene that Dylan is in, we can see that he is a player and doesn't particularly care for anyone's feelings. However, Edie becomes a little obsessed with him and starts going out with Josh to try and get rid of her feelings for Dylan. I felt really sorry for Josh as he seemed nice and he genuinely cared for Edie, unlike Dylan. The scene where Edie ungratefully accepts a gift from Josh for their one month anniversary was cringe-worthy and I felt empathy for Josh. The whole book was basically a massive love triangle - Josh loved Edie, Edie loved Dylan, Dylan loved Edie and Mia, Mia loved Paul, Shona loved Paul, Paul loved Mia and Shona...it goes on.

I really liked the diary format of the book as it was easy to tell the timeline of events. However, it was a bit hard to understand the intentions of some characters through the diary. For example, at the beginning of the book, Dylan and Shona are all over each other. But then it becomes apparent that they are just good friends and Shona becomes best friends with Edie. At first, I was a bit sceptical of Shona as it seemed like she might be trying to get gossip about Dylan from Edie to use against her, but then I realised their friendship was real and they actually made a nice addition to the book.

The cover is really nicely designed and I love the mixture of a real photo with an illustration. It stands out well and is different from other book covers.

A slight disappointment that I had with this book was that there didn't seem to be any real plot, and there were no twists in the story to keep me reading. I only continued reading because I'm one of those people who have to finish a book, whether it's good or not. The story was basically just Edie and Dylan slowly realising their love for each other. It was a nice, quick read but it didn't seem to have any real substance. There was some great potential and I liked Edie and Shona as characters, but I just don't feel this book was as good as it could have been. Sarra Manning is actually one of my favourite authors, but sadly this book just wasn't for me! 3/5.

Official Publication Date: 30th May 2013

Note: Thank you to Atom for sending this to me. You can buy this HERE.