29 October 2021

 The Haunting of Lindy Pennyworth - S.M. Pope




Just in time for Halloween, I am closing off the Lindy Pennyworth blog tour and I have a wonderful author interview for you!


Book Summary

I am writing this in an old notebook that I found in the common room. Every word is true. I can speak to the dead. And they can speak to me...

Nobody believes Lindy when she says she doesn’t pull her hair out on purpose. Nobody believes Lindy when she says she hears voices in the night. Nobody believes Lindy when she says that her dead ancestors are haunting her dreams. Nobody believes Lindy.

After the death of her father, Lindy falls headlong into a state of grief and no longer understands her place in the world. Through paranormal rituals, Ouija boards and spiritualist churches, Lindy attempts to speak to her father beyond the grave – but to no avail. That is until she receives a ‘visit’ from Esme, her Victorian ancestor, who reveals that her family is under a curse that separates them in the afterlife.

Determined to break it, Lindy sacrifices her grip on reality. But not everyone wants her to succeed. There are still secrets that fight to remain buried...



This book has such a fantastic start - "I am sane. I can speak to the dead. And they can speak to me." It really sets it up well and gets you hooked on what's to come. Lindy's story is so fantastical that almost no one believes her, least of all her mum. But can she trust the one person who actually does seem to believe? And can she trust the ghosts? Even as the reader, you find yourself wondering what is true. This was a perfect book for this time of year with all the creepy ghosts and the ending actually left me gasping! Now read on for the interview, as I'm sure that's what you're really waiting for.


Interview

What attracted you to ghost stories, have you always been interested in ghosts and psychic abilities?

I can't remember the first time I became fascinated in ghosts and the supernatural, but I was always desperate to look around any and every graveyard I encountered when I visited my grandparents on holiday here in the UK, when I was still living in Canada. We didn't have such old cemeteries and I found it incredible that you could stand in front of something so old and read about the person buried beneath. In my teens, I visited a medium with my mother - we went as a kind of a dare, a bit of fun, but we both came away absolutely shocked by how much she said about both of us without knowing anything about us. She told me things I'd never said to anyone before about myself - stuff that surpassed the usual 'you will pass your GCSEs' ,'you will fall in love' etc. A couple of not very nice predictions also came true which was scary for me and unsettling. She said I was an 'old soul' and had psychic abilities if I ever wished to develop them. (I haven't, though I am curious!)

I am not saying I believe in all mediums and clairvoyants, though. I had a five-minute, three-card Tarot reading with a bored-looking woman in Covent Garden, who apparently had read Richard Gere's future, and everything she said was absolute garbage! 


Are any of the characters drawn from people you know?

No, not entirely. All authors say that their characters are composites of people they know and I agree that this can happen. I think that Lindy has characteristics of myself, but so does her mother - because I am a daughter and a mother! Writing Lindy was the hardest thing I have ever had to do, to be honest. I think that in early drafts I saw her as an extension of myself and therefore I could not settle on how to portray her. Would she be downtrodden or feisty? Acquiescent or stubborn? Early readers of my first drafts (including the author Melvin Burgess, who gave me a masterclass as part of my MA!) picked up on this hesitancy. It took a couple of years and many revisions to settle on this version of her.


Did you have to do a lot of research into the 1800s and the cholera epidemic? Is that a period of history that always interested you?

I don't know why but I have always been drawn to the Victorian era. I love the literature from that time, especially the Romantic poets, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen (she just about squeezes into it!), Henry James, Mary Shelley, the Gothic, etc. For me, what is so appealing is the stark juxtaposition of those who were trying to rationalise everything into scientific explanations, and those who were clamouring to protect the natural world and insist that mankind could not dominate it. This is seen most clearly in Shelley's Frankenstein - the Dr is so determined to go against the laws of nature and produce something incredible - but it eventually turns against him because you can't mess with nature. So, you've got a lot of fascinating developments in science going on alongside writers, like MR James, who are trying to scare people silly with stories that defy all reason. 

The idea for my story came about after reading about the Victorian art of making mourning jewellery out of a deceased person's hair. It disgusted me somewhat but it was fascinating, too. I then started wondering about what would happen if this memento mori would act as a conduit for the dead to communicate with the living, and I decided to explore that through a link between a girl in the present day and one in the past. I did lots of research on Victorian Oxford - the cholera plagues, how and where they started and what happened, newspaper articles from that time. I also visited the two graveyards mentioned in the book - they were created to help deal with the increasing number of dead people due to cholera outbreaks. The hardest thing is ensuring that the parts in which the Victorians speak sound genuine and not too stilted and of course not too modern! 


I'm trying to stay spoiler free here, but that ending!!! Did you always plan to have that epilogue? And will there be a sequel?

At first I had a different ending - it's hard to explain without giving it all away! And then the current one came to me and I thought it would be a better fit. As for a sequel, I'd quite like to develop the story but it depends on how well this sells!


Finally, what is your all-time favourite cocktail?

It should be a Bloody Mary but I absolutely love a well-made Margarita.


Well, fingers crossed we get a sequel and here is a recipe for what I think is a very well-made Margarita! Since it's Halloween I've decided to try out a Blood Orange Margarita. Take a shaker and fill with ice. Add a shot of tequila, 1/2 shots of Cointreau, blood orange juice and lime juice, dash of Campari and dash of sugar syrup. Shake well and pour into a glass with a salt rim.







17 October 2021

 Mix & Match 11


I am currently enjoying a really delicious Champagne Cocktail. I know I've made this before but I just had a craving today and it's such a simple one so here you go! Soak a sugar cube with drops of angostura bitters and drop into a glass of champagne. This time I've used a lovely, elegant flute. Once you've sorted your drink, pick one of the amazing books below to fall into.



Vulture - Bex Hogan

After the devastating cliffhanger at the end of book 2, I could not wait to get my hands on the final book of the Isles of Storm and Sorrow trilogy. It has taken me quite a while to be able to get my thoughts straight after! Bex Hogan is such an amazing writer, this book hooked me right from the start and had me craving more whenever I had to (very reluctantly) stop reading. I am very happy to finally have the conclusion but at the same time kind of sad that it's all over! 



City of Spells - Alexandra Christo

I love that there was a recap of Into the Crooked Place at the start of the book, it was so useful! All books should do the same.

Loads of adventure and excitement, and some twists I really didn't see coming. The descriptions of the places and all the different types of magic were fascinating and I loved being back in this world again. The love/hate relationships between all the main characters was so much fun to read. This was a fantastic end to the duology.


The House with Chicken Legs - Sophie Anderson

I loved this book so much! The writing was so comforting and I didn't want to stop reading at all.

Though Marinka could be a little selfish and annoying at times, her heart was in the right place and she was really just so desperate to be free. How will she be able to reconcile her desire for freedom and friendship with her expected destiny of being the next Yaga? 

The Yaga houses are the best, caring, sweet and so playful, but also capable of getting in a sulk!



A Crown of Talons - Katharine Corr & Elizabeth Corr

Shocking events and betrayals, some expected and most not so much! This was really gripping and so hard to let go of. Aderyn's character is so well formed. Brave and strong, still self-doubting, but despite everything still wanting to be able to trust people. The descriptions of all the places and of the the freedom of flying were really vivid.



A Shiver of Snow and Sky - Lisa Lueddecke

This is set in such a harsh, scary and unforgiving setting, I found it hard to understand why anyone would want to live there. On top of that, there is the double threat of the plague warning and the sudden attacks from the Or, who want a war with Skane. As well as the Or there are so many other monsters that Osa discovers too.

A really gripping story, despite the sheer foreignness and strangeness of the world, I could relate to Osa and her wish to save her village. Her family, on the other hand, were so awful I would have happily thrown them to the giants! 



Shadowghast - Thomas Taylor

A very creepy start sets this book up very nicely. Here Herbie and Violet face the scariest creature yet, the Shadowghast which steals people's shadows and leaves them confused and lost. People are going missing and a new arrival has her sights set on Herbie. Somehow Herbie and his past seem to be caught up in all that is happening, but what could the Shadowghast really have to do with him? Of course they wouldn't get anywhere without Erwin, the mysterious talking cat that is never actually seen to talk. 

The adventure races along and you can't help getting caught up in it and gripped till the very end!