BLOG TOUR: PAYBACK

A PAYBACK SOUNDTRACK

by M. A. Griffin

As a young man I was inspired and energised by the razor-sharp protest-politics of Public Enemy. (“I got a letter from the government the other day…” begins Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos; “They wanted me for the army or whatever / Picture me giving a damn. I said never.”) I still listen to a lot of rap music in the course of my day-to-day, and much of PAYBACK’s revolutionary zeal comes in spirit from the kind of purposeful anger that can be heard there. I was delighted to get the chance to name-check a list of superstar rappers in the acknowledgments to the book. 

Here’s a weird thing though – despite always writing to music, once I’m sitting down at the keyboard I can’t listen to anything with lyrics. So PAYBACK, a story about an anti-capitalist group of teenage Robin Hoods stealing from the corrupt and wealthy, then redistributing ill-gotten profits to those in need, was written to movie soundtracks.

Perhaps understandably the scores that work best for me are ones for films I’ve never seen. Which means I often find myself watching a film for the first time having listened to its music on twenty or thirty previous occasions. This happened most recently with Frank Darabont’s wonderful adaptation of The Green Mile. I knew Thomas Newman’s score backwards. To see it with images was a strangely moving experience.

So here are four instrumental/orchestral soundtracks to put in your ears next time you’re plugging away at that novel…

1.       I can’t vouch for the quality of Nicholas Jericki’s thriller Arbitrage, but I can tell you Cliff Martinez’s moody, electronic score is great for conjuring nocturnal cityscapes and nefarious plots. Which is rocket-fuel when you’re writing a series of break-neck heists executed by a gang of teen thieves.

2.       Niki Caro does a wonderful job directing The Zookeeper’s Wife. Apparently. I’ve never seen it. But Harry Gregson Williams’ orchestral score soars. Put it on if you want to write a scene in which two teen gang members find themselves alone for the first time, and one feels a growing attraction to the other he can’t bring himself to express…

3.       My dad’s a big fan of Scott Frank’s neo-noir A Walk Among the Tombstones. Never seen it personally so I couldn’t possibly comment. But props to Carlos Rafael Rivera for a soundtrack rich in eerie strings which suggest suspicion, guilt, fear. Great if your protagonist has a growing sense of impending doom as the cops close in and relationships strain under pressure.

4.       I never caught Tom Ford’s Nocturnal Animals. It might be about badgers or bats? Probably not. Anyway, Abel Koreniowski’s highly-strung music is fragile and taut, borderline melodramatic. Great if you’re busy cornering your heroes in new and nasty ways. We readers know it’s a trap but they’re too blind to see it… 

PAYBACK by M. A. Griffin out now in paperback (£7.99, Chicken House)

#Payback

Follow M.A. Griffin on twitter @fletchermoss and find out more at www.chickenhousebooks.com

REVIEW: Things I'm Seeing Without You

THINGS I'M SEEING WITHOUT YOU

by Peter Bognanni

Pages: 336

Publisher: Chicken House

Publication Date: 1st Febuary 2018

Received From: Chicken House

Seventeen-year-old Tess talks to Jonah every day; through texts, tweets and emails.

So when she discovers Jonah has committed suicide, her world implodes. Feeling heartbroken and traumatized Tess unexpectedly finds herself at her estranged father’s house, wondering how well she really knew Jonah. Now, having dropped out of high school, struggling with questions about life and loss, Tess and her father come together to try and find the answers.

First things first, can I just say that Chicken House are smashing it out of the park with their YA's this year!! I mean seriously, I've not read a book that I've not wanted to immediately re-read and Things I'm Seeing Without You is no exception. I'll be honest I thought this book was going to be a little bit depressing when I first started reading it but as the story unfolded you notice the humour in it, the notes that make you smile and the moments that catch your breath. It delves into a situation no one wants to find themselves in and resolves itself in the most peculiar of manners, and I wouldn't change a single second of it. 

Things I'm Seeing Without You is the story of Tess, a girl who's life gets flipped on its head when the boy she's fallen in love with commits suicide. He said he loved her, but now he's gone, and Tess has to find a way to come to terms with what she's lost. Tess’s life feels like it's stopped with the boy’s, she lost as she drops out of school and moves in with her estranged father (who by the way just happens to be running a funeral business - of sorts). But life hasn't stopped and from this point on everything is going to be different, things Tess thought she knew will come unravelled as she discovers the truth about the boy she's been talking to everyday for months. 

Finding a balance between writing a good story and being respectful to the difficult issues you're writing about is not an easy task. In Things I'm Seeing Without You Bognanni tackles some hard subjects, but he manages to find a way to mix the difficult with the storytelling to produce a book that hits right in the feels. 

It is no secret that the way to a good review from me is to write a load of messed up characters and show me that they can find redemption and this book does exactly that! Okay, well... maybe not messed up as such but the characters in this book are falling apart. Unsure how to get through the day after the worst thing they could ever imagine happening happens. But as the story continues you find yourself wishing the characters forward, and somehow... in a way I did not see coming... they find their way to the end of the book. 

At first this seems like a book about death but in reality, it’s about living, celebrating life and finding a way to go on in the most unexpected of ways. Things I'm Seeing Without You is a story that will have you grabbing for the tissues at times but at it is also filled with small smiles, great storytelling and characters you can't help but care about. If you haven't had the chance to read this book yet, then I cannot recommend it enough! 

**I received this book as an ARC from Chicken House Books to read & review. This is a 100% honest review.**

REVIEW: The Apprentice Witch

THE APPRENTICE WITCH

by James Nicol

Pages: 324

Publisher: Chicken House

Publication Date: July 7th 2016

Arianwyn has fluffed her witch’s evaluation test.

Awarded the dull bronze disc and continuing as an apprentice – to the glee of her arch-rival, mean girl Gimma – she’s sent to protect the remote, dreary town of Lull. 

But her new life is far from boring. Turns out Gimma is the pompous mayor’s favourite niece – and worse, she opens a magical rift in the nearby Great Wood. As Arianwyn struggles with her spells, a mysterious darkness begins to haunt her – and it’s soon clear there’s much more than her pride at stake …

The Apprentice Witch is all kinds of amazing and no, my mum didn't just tell me to say that. I mean she did, but I wholeheartedly agree! I'm not normally a massive fan of middle grade books as I find it harder to connect with the main character, however, with The Apprentice Witch it only took a couple of chapters for me find common ground with our girl Arianwyn Gribble. The story is fast paced, full the brim of magical twists and dark turns that will leave you begging for more from the little town of Lull. 

The Apprentice Witch is the story of a young witch who's life never quite goes to plan and this is never more true than on the day of her evaluation when the mysterious glyph that she has seen all her life makes an unwelcome appearance. Due to the events of that day Arianwyn (Wyn) is sent to the town of Lull to finish off her Apprenticeship and become the town witch. Although Lull has been without a witch for some time and within a few days Wyn is up to her ears in witchly tasks and intriguing townspeople. It's not all work for Wyn though as she meets new friends, finds a place she can call hers and acquires a rather charming Moon Hare called Bob. But with dark spirits making more frequent appearances, a mysterious glyph following Wyn like a bad smell and the town of Lull sitting on the edge of the Great Wood it is only a matter of time before this Apprentice finds herself in more trouble that she could have ever imagined. 

I loved this book so much! I mean how could I not? James creates a world that is the literary equivalent to glitter and I couldn't put this book down. Every scene and setting was so well executed to the point that I felt like I was in the town of Lull right along side Wyn and the story itself didn't lull for one second - yes pun COMPLETELY intended. 

This book bought me back to my younger years and the days of The Worst Witch and our dear Mildred Hubble. The story is completely different but a young witch that can't quite get it right no matter her intentions? Arianwyn Gribble is this generations Mildred and I LOVE IT!!!

Overall this book is one of those I can't stop talking about. Yes its middle grade but there is something about it that I think appeals to a wider audience - after all Harry Potter is a MG book, just saying. The Apprentice Witch is fast paced, laugh out loud funny and full of little pockets of magic that will have you smiling from ear to ear.  If you haven't read this book yet I hope you do and for all of you who have... A Witch Alone is out this week! And guys... it's so good! 

BLOG TOUR: Below Zero

I love being an author. Apart from being Han Solo, it’s pretty much the only thing I’ve ever wanted to be. And one of the really cool things about writing books for younger readers is that I spend a lot of time visiting schools, doing my best to inspire young readers. Reading is amazing; it opens up new worlds and new ways of thinking. Reading for pleasure makes people better people, (it’s true, I’ve seen science that says so) so I feel privileged to be able to play a small part in guiding young readers to stories.

Usually when I visit a school I talk to a large group. I’ll show them some embarrassing pictures of me growing up, tell them about why I write, why stories are important to me, that kind of thing. And I talk about reading for pleasure.

When I was at school, we would read a book in class. Every student had a copy of the book and we would take turns to read aloud. Paragraph by paragraph. Some students would read quickly, some would read slowly. Some had boring, monotonous voices. Some could barely read. I remember reading ‘Lord of the Flies’ that way, and what a bore it was.

When I tell students about this now, I see them nodding their heads. Yep, that’s still how they do it in some schools. In fact, some schools can’t even afford the books, so they only read photocopied extracts.

That’s not reading for pleasure. That’s reading because you have to. That’s reading for school. It’s work. It’s ‘Literacy’.

Reading for pleasure, I tell them, is when you read the first chapter of a book and decide it’s not the right book for you. Reading for pleasure is putting that book down and doing the same thing again until you find a book you DO want to read. Reading for pleasure is when you can’t wait to read the next page, you fall in love with the characters, hate the characters, cheer for the characters. Reading for pleasure is when a story stays with you forever, giving meaning to the things that happen to you. It’s that feeling you get when you think about the story. It’s when the smell of the pages lifts you to another place. Reading for pleasure is . . . pleasurable.

I sometimes worry that I may be speaking out of turn when I say these things at schools, but I often see the teachers nodding. They know it too. Where is the pleasure in stopping every few lines to discuss why this character said such-and-such, or that character did this-and-that?

I understand we need to read for school, for education, for all the boring reasons. But we also need to read for pleasure. That’s how we grow.

I LOVE it when a teacher tells me they’re reading a book in class just for the sake of reading it. No stopping, no analysis, just pure, unadulterated reading for pleasure. Hooray for those teachers! Hooray for school libraries! Hooray for school librarians!

Oh, and there’s one other thing; I have re-read Lord of the Flies, many times, and I now see it in a different light. It speaks to me in a way it didn’t speak to me when we read it and analysed it. What an amazing book.

BELOW ZERO

by Dan Smith

Twelve-year-old Zak, who has an inoperable brain tumour, is with his sister and parents when their private plane is disastrously diverted. Wrecked on a remote research outpost in the Antarctic, they find themselves in an abandoned base. Then Zak's parents disappear, and the base's equipment starts 3D-printing nightmarish spiderlike creatures. Zak's bizarre visions appear to suggest a link to something else - beneath the ice - which only he can understand...

BELOW ZERO by Dan Smith out now in paperback (£6.99, Chicken House). Find out more at chickenhousebooks.com and connect with Dan Smith @DanSmithAuthor

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Growing up, Dan Smith lived three lives: the day-to-day humdrum of boarding school, finding adventure in the padi fields of Asia and the jungles of Brazil, and in a world of his own, making up stories. 
Dan is the author of My Friend the Enemy, My Brother’s Secret,Big Game and Boy X. BELOW ZERO his fifth children’s book with Chicken House. He lives in Newcastle. 

Connect with him via twitter @dansmithauthor

In case you haven't yet had your fill of Dan and all things Below Zero check out some of the other posts he has done for the tour at the blogs below. 

REVIEW: Below Zero

BELOW ZERO

by Dan Smith

Pages: 304

Publisher: Chicken House

Publication Date: January 4th 2018

Received From: Chicken House

Twelve-year-old Zak, who has an inoperable brain tumour, is with his sister and parents when their private plane is disastrously diverted. Wrecked on a remote research outpost in the Antarctic, they find themselves in an abandoned base. Then Zak's parents disappear, and the base's equipment starts 3D-printing nightmarish spiderlike creatures. Zak's bizarre visions appear to suggest a link to something else - beneath the ice - which only he can understand...

Below Zero is one of those books that took me by surprise. It's common knowledge that I have issues with young protagonists so when I read that our young hero was only 12 I had my reservations. However, Dan Smith did something no other author I've read has done before... well other than the likes of J.K and co. For Dan made me forget about age. There was nothing childish about the story, it felt grown up, serious and constantly left me sitting on the edge of my seat.

But I'm getting ahead of myself here... lets go back to the beginning.

Below Zero is a story told in two parts, one of the present and one of the very recent past. This book follows 12 year old Zak as he and his family crash land on Outpost Zero - a small research base at the Antarctic, training for life on Mars. However, when Zak arrives at the base nothing is as it should be. The scientists that inhabit Outpost Zero are nowhere to be seen, the power is out and the spider like robots Zak's parents helped create are acting more than a little bit strange. As the story unfolds the reader slowly discovers what happened to the now abandoned base and most importantly what lays beneath the ice that has everyone so scared.

The tag line fore this book is, "Your blood will run cold" and I can't lie there were moments when I literally found myself shivering. From the very first page I found myself being pulled into this story. The world in which Dan creates is eery and dangerous and 100% unpredictable. For me though it was the way in which Zak's illness played into the plot, it made a book that I was already a little in love with someone that I can honestly say I've never read before. It was a unique story arch than had me questing until the very last page.

Overall, Below Zero is faced paged, exciting and un-put-downable. There are moments in the story that are pure genius and I can't wait to see what Dan writes next. I'll admit I wasn't sure what I was expecting with this book but it surpassed my expectations and I hope you all give it a go because I will guarantee you won't regret it.

**I received this book as an ARC from Chicken House to read & review. This is a 100% honest review.**

BLOG TOUR: The Fandom

Q&A with Anna Day
author of The Fandom

What was the inspiration behind The Fandom?

You may already know this, but The Fandom combined two ideas. An idea by Angela McCann, in which a group of fans are transported into the world of their favorite story, and my own pre-existing novel entitled The Gallows Dance. So I feel like I need to break this question into two parts: the inspiration for my first novel, The Gallows Dance, and my inspiration for the final novel, The Fandom.

The Gallows Dance is a world in which mankind is divided into two camps, genetically enhanced, and non-genetically enhanced. This was inspired by my daughter’s birth. I just couldn’t bear the thought of her ever feeling not good enough, or feeling she had to change in order to be ‘perfect.’ I do feel our society is obsessed with perfection. We’re given a very narrow definition of beauty, and then pressured to adhere to it by altering our natural appearance. Often this is at a financial and more importantly, emotional, cost. There’s also huge pressure on young people to achieve at exams, and to be healthy, glowing citizens. This is obviously hugely damaging for people with Learning Disabilities and/or health issues. I wanted to highlight this obsession in my book. I guess I wanted to make the world a more accepting place for young people. I know a single book can’t change society, but you know, if it helps just one person feel more comfortable in their own skin, then I’m a happy lady!

The Gallows Dance was also inspired by my Psychology background. I’ve always been fascinated by group dynamics: the way one group lifts themselves up by shoving another group down. We’ve seen it throughout history, and it feels like we’re seeing it more now, and this breaks my heart. The way the genetically enhanced people subjugate and humiliate the non-genetically enhanced people was written to highlight this issue. Again, in the hope that raising awareness of an issue may help readers think and talk about it.

Which makes my book sound a bit soap boxy, but I really hope it isn’t!

The ‘fandom’ part of the book was obviously inspired by Angela McCann, as it was her idea. But during the actual plotting and writing of the book, I was just filled with my love of all things nerdy and fandom-ish. The world of the online fandom kind of passed me by due to my age, and the fact I was so focused on my career and family in my twenties and thirties. But I’ve always been obsessed with stories and bands and TV programmes. I have a list of embarrassing fandom stories. Just a taste: at ten, I painted a giant mural of Buddy Holly on my wall, it was terrifying, and in my early twenties, I held a Moulin Rouge mystery party, to which only four people came. So embracing all things fandom came so easily, and it was an absolute joy to indulge the part of myself who loves The Hunger Games andTwilight and Harry Potter.

Sorry, that was a long answer!

Who was your favourite character to write and why?

I loved all my characters, even Alice. But ultimately, it has to be Violet, the protagonist. I just connected with her so easily. Probably cos she reflects aspects of myself: she’s awkward, geeky and can’t climb trees, and she overthinks everything.

Do you belong to any fandoms and if so which ones?

The obvious ones, like Harry Potter and The Hunger Games, though I tend to dip in and out depending on how busy I am and how much I need them. I actually have my own little fandom with my dad. We are a fandom of two. We love all the same bands and music and sci-fi. And we both obsess over stuff.

 If you ended up the main protagonist in YOUR favourite book how do you think you would react/adapt?

Well now I’m a Mum I think I’d be the super-organized annoying character who problem solved, carried a clipboard and provided healthy snacks. So basically, imagine Hermione Granger and make her a little more nurturing and snack-obsessed, and that would be me. I flatter myself, I’m sure. But in my head, I would be a middle-aged Hermione dishing out carrot sticks! Bring on the Dementors, cos I’ve got stable blood sugars.

What are the most rewarding and most challenging parts of writing a book?

One of the most challenging parts for me is fitting it all in. I’m a single mum with two young children, and I work part time as a psychologist. It means sometimes I can feel like I rush things and haven’t given it my best, and that can be frustrating. Another challenging part is just that screaming anxiety that everyone is going to hate my writing. I manage it with distraction and denial and by listening to my mum when she tells me I’m the best!

The most rewarding part for me is the actual writing itself, I love pouring myself on to a page, and sitting back and feeling like I’ve really built something with words. Okay, that is an actual lie, the best thing is having lovely people telling me they like my book.

When reading The Fandom I felt that there was an emphasis on strong female leads. What do you think are the main qualities that makes a strong female protagonist?

This is such a good question. I think just making them human. So don’t make them too brave or selfless or clever. They should be filled with self-doubt and difficulties and broken bits like the rest of us. It makes them more believable, but more importantly, easier to relate to. And then, when they do something really brave or selfless or clever, there’s more of a character arc, and we, as readers, can think,maybe I could do that. The reason I loved writing Violet so much was she was a bit feeble, physically and emotionally, just like me!

Pages: 416

Publisher: Chicken House

Publication Date: January 2018

THE FANDOM

by Anna Day

Cosplay ready, Violet and her friends are at Comic-Con.

They can’t wait to meet the fandom of mega movie, The Gallows Dance. What they’re not expecting is to be catapulted by freak accident into their favourite world – for real. Fuelled by love, guilt and fear, can the friends put the plot back on track and get out? The fate of the story is in their hands ...

AMAZON UK | WATERSTONES | BOOK DEPOSITORY

 

Make sure you keep an eye out for all things Fandom this month as there are plenty of posts coming your way! Check out the rest of the tour on the pages bellow and I hope you enjoyed the Q&A with the awesome Anna Day!! Last but not least, if you haven't already, go pick up your copy of The Fandom now. 

#jointhefandom

If you haven't already check out my review of The Fandom HERE