Review - Out Of The Ashes by Michael Morpurgo

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This review contains spoilers.

I love Michael Morpurgo's writing, I think his stories are beautiful and so well crafted. After enjoying his classic War Horse so much, and remembering the Butterfly Lion from when I was a child (and seeing both in the theatre) I vowed to read more of his novels. I started with Out of the Ashes, a story about foot and mouth disease and the impact it has on a Devon community. I remember the outbreak so vividly, I can't believe it was thirteen years ago. Something which had such an enormous impact on farmers and the communities surrounding them has been sympathetically and accurately documented in this book.

Amazon Description - This story is not a story at all. It all happened. On New Year's Day Becky Morley begins to write her diary. By March, her world has changed for ever. Foot-and-mouth disease breaks out on a pig farm hundreds of miles from the Morleys' Devon home, but soon the nightmare is a few fields away. Local sheep are infected and every animal is destroyed. Will the Morleys' flock be next? Will their pedigree dairy herd, the sows with their piglets, and Little Josh, Becky's hand-reared lamb, survive? Or will they be slaughtered too? The waiting and hoping is the most agonizing experience of Becky's life . . .

This is obviously a children's book so I read it in less than an hour but it was really harrowing and thought provoking. The description of the fear and panic that people felt at the beginning of the outbreak was so accurate and Morpurgo really captured the dread which gripped the countryside at this time. When the animals were being put down, there was such a sense of dispair. Farmer's whole livelyhoods were destroyed, herds which they may have been breeding for many years and sometimes generations were just killed. My blood went cold when reading it, it was so clinical and incredibly sad.

Becky's father develops depression after all his animals are killed. I like that Morpurgo tackled this issue because it wasn't all done and dusted once the corpses had been burned. Farmers feel an incredible responsibility towards their animals and to see them all being slaughtered just because of the disease (a very dangerous disease, I understand that) must have been terrible. I also feel like children's books, for older children anyway, should lightly address issues like mental health. These things affect many children and their parents or family but they don't know who to talk to about it or what to do. It also shows the children that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, there is a life after devastation. There were illustrations in the book, some which were pretty sad, but they did break up the intensity of the story which would be good for younger readers.

Not one of Morpurgo's more romantic novels but a thought-provoking, realistic on none the less.

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Interview and Review - Christmas at Rosie Hopkins' Sweet Shop by Jenny Colgan

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Christmas at Rosie Hopkins' Sweet Shop

by Jenny Colgan

Publication Date - 7th November 2013

Publisher - Sphere

As I have mentioned before there is nothing which gets me into the Christmas spirit quite like curling up with a great festive read, preferrably with a mug of hot chocolate or an open fire but these romantiscised ideas come from reading so many of said festive books. Christmas at the Cupcake Cafe by Jenny Colgan has become on of my fail-safe Christmassy books so when I saw that Jenny was releasing another Yuletide novel, Christmas at Rosie Hopkins' Sweet Shop, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it.

Here's the blurb :-
Curl up with Rosie, her friends and her family as they prepare for a very special Christmas . . .

Rosie Hopkins is looking forward to Christmas in the little Derbyshire village of Lipton, buried under a thick blanket of snow. Her sweetshop is festooned with striped candy canes, large tempting piles of Turkish Delight, crinkling selection boxes and happy, sticky children. She's going to be spending it with her boyfriend, Stephen, and her family, flying in from Australia. She can't wait.

But when a tragedy strikes at the heart of their little community, all of Rosie's plans for the future seem to be blown apart. Can she build a life in Lipton? And is what's best for the sweetshop also what's best for Rosie?

Treat yourself and your sweet-toothed friends to Jenny Colgan's heart-warming new novel. The irresistibly delicious recipes are guaranteed to get you into the festive spirit and will warm up your Christmas celebrations.

I really enjoyed this book. It is a sweet, cosy read which is just perfect for the run-up to the Christmas celebrations. Set in a picturesque village featuring small schools, rolling hills and corner shops. The location screams ideal Winter destination, even with the snowy disruptions. I think that the Rosie Hopkins series are my favourite Jenny Colgan books because it reminds me of my Pembrokeshire home, the positives (the community, the countryside) and the negatives (the gossip, the public transport...or lack of it!).

After reading Welcome to Rosie Hopkins' Sweet Shop of Dreams, the first installation of Rosie's adventures, I felt that everything had been rounded up nicely at the end of the story. I was a little bit worried that this book had been written purely as a Christmas follow on and that it wouldn't have much of a story line. I imagine that it would have been easy for it to become an 'everything's-great-and-wonderful-merry-Christmas-to-all' sort of book. Thankfully, I was wrong.

I won't give too much away but when the blurb says 'a tragedy' they don't just mean that Rosie runs out of candy canes on Christmas Eve! I had to read that chapter twice because I'd read it so quickly the first time round, too worried about what was going on and what was going to happen. Like Jenny's other cake, chocolate and sweet themed novels there are some wonderful recipies which I'm very much looking forward to trying out over the holidays. Recipes include fudge, candied peanuts and more which are perfect for Christmas time. As always, there was a strong humour throughout the book. There were lots of laugh out loud moments which earned me a few funny looks in the coffee shop but I really enjoy Jenny's humour and it has the ability to really lift some despairing parts of the story.

Yes, there were sweet, heart warming, tear-in-your-eye moments. Surely that's why we read Christmas stories? That's true for me anyway. But there were heart wrenching, worrying moments too. This is a brilliant book in it's own right, with a great storyline. Not a saccharine, sickly Christmas cringe-fest at all. This is another book which I'll be plucking from the shelf on December 1st for many years to come.

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Jenny Colgan is the author of numerous bestselling novels, including Christmas at the Cupcake Cafe and The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris, which are also published by Sphere. Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe won the 2012 Melissa Nathan Award for Comedy Romance and was a Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller, as was Welcome to Rosie Hopkins' Sweet Shop of Dreams, which won the RNA Romantic Novel of the Year Award 2013. Jenny is married with three children and lives in London and France. She was kind enough to answer a few of my questions :-

How do you balance your writing with your home life and children? 

I cannot and will not lie- I have help!  A lovely woman comes in three mornings a week to help with cleaning and laundry, and the rest of the time they're at school. Before I had children I thought I'd be able to work whilst they were napping or playing- hahahah! NO! Of course not. So I pay for help. The best thing is the flexibility. 

Did you have any favourite authors or books as a child? Do you think they have inspired you when you write?
Yes, loads. Jo in Little Woman, of COURSE, I idolised her. And I loved Enid Blyton, who wrote in so many genres. James Heriot was a massive influence on me, you can see it in the Rosie books. Lipton isn't Darrowby, but they have their similarities!

Recipes feature a lot in your recent books, do you try them all out personally? And do you have a signature recipe?
Of course! I would never suggest someone cook something I hadn't tried. I change specialities all the time, but I make really really good fishcakes, and fabulous pissaladiere, which is a french pastry with slow cooked onions, olives and anchovies. I could eat it all day. Fortunately my husband hates anchovies so I don't make it that often. And I do like a nice light victoria sponge.

How difficult was it to get your first book published?
Well, I am not good at answering this question because I got my first novel published very easily, but you have to know that before that I had tried cartooning, stand up comedy, poetry and children's stories and failed dismally at all of them. 

Do you have a designated 'writing space'? If so, what is it like?
No I don't, I like to go to cafes and different places. My absolutely favourite place to write is on the train. I live in France, and there they come round the quiet carriage to make sure you've got your phone off! I have a specific seat I like on the TGV (high speed train) from Cannes to Paris, and I always get loads down there. 

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
It is so easy to publish now I would say, please don't rush to it. You don't want everyone seeing your very first, unpolished efforts on the internet for evermore. Practice and practice until you know you're ready (you'll know). And never stop reading. 

For more information about Jenny and her brilliant books, you can visit her website or follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

Christmas at Rosie Hopkins' Sweet Shop by Jenny Colgan is published by Sphere, it's available now in hardback, £12.99.

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*I received this book in return for an honest review.

Getting Rooted in New Zealand Review and Author Interview

Craving change and lacking logic, at 26, Jamie, a cute and quirky Californian, impulsively moves to New Zealand to avoid dating after reading that the country's population has 100,000 fewer men. In her journal, she captures a hysterically honest look at herself, her past and her new wonderfully weird world filled with curious characters and slapstick situations in unbelievably bizarre jobs. It takes a zany jaunt to the end of the Earth and a serendipitous meeting with a fellow traveler before Jamie learns what it really means to get rooted.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a funny, down to earth account of moving to and living in a new country. There was no sugar coating, it seemed that Jamie had a really difficult time living in New Zealand and it made me think hard about what it means to move abroad. I have already moved from England to Wales for my job and that was extremely difficult at times so would it be even worse in a different country? Especially with all the cultural and environmental differences. I love books which are set out in diary form. It usually makes them concise and to the point, I find there is much less rambling. Some of Jamie's 'diary entries' were just a sentence long but they were often observant and hilarious. It surprised me as to how much of the vocabulary in New Zealand and the UK is the same, crisps not chips, biscuits not cookies, and these little language details which Jamie included were so interesting. Overall, four stars for this book.

Jamie Baywood grew up in Petaluma, California. In 2010, she made the most impulsive decision of her life by moving to New Zealand. Getting Rooted in New Zealand is her first book about her experiences living there. Jamie is now married and living happily ever after in the United Kingdom. She is working on her second book. Jamie was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

What was the most difficult thing about moving abroad? And what was the best?
Following my dream to live abroad by moving to New Zealand was absolutely liberating. New Zealand turned me into a writer. I have absolute gratitude for every experience and everyone I met. It taught me to trust myself and believe in myself. New Zealand is such a beautiful country. Beaches, mountains, glaciers, lakes, forests, islands, New Zealand’s got it all. It has such freshness about it, like the islands just emerged from the sea. It feels like anything is possible in New Zealand. I also loved the quality of light in New Zealand. It was like looking through a polarized lenses, but more intense. Everything is so colourful and vibrant.

Dealing with visa restrictions has been the most difficult things about moving abroad. In New Zealand, it greatly limited my options for employment. Overall, I found the New Zealand immigration office significantly easier to deal with than the UK Border Agency. From my personal experience the New Zealand immigration office were efficient. All of my visas in New Zealand were processed in a couple of weeks. Although I was married in January 2012 in the UK, my marriage visa was not approved by the UK Border Agency until September 2012.



What attracted you to eventually living in the UK?
I’m from California. In my mid-twenties, I had bad dating experiences in California and a dream to live abroad. I read in a tour book that New Zealand’s population had 100,000 fewer men than women. In the attempt to have some ‘me time’ I moved to New Zealand. I eventually met a Scottish man that was also on a work visa living in New Zealand. We’ve been trying to figure out where in the world to live together and how. We have been living in the UK since winter 2011. I am currently on a visa in the UK called an Extension to Stay as the Spouse of a UK Citizen. This visa will expire in 2014. We are deciding now if we should go through another round of visas for me to stay in the UK or if we want to try living somewhere else in the world. We are seriously considering moving back to New Zealand next year.


How do you balance your writing with your home life and children?
My funny writing style was one of the things that initially attracted my husband to me when we began dating. He wants me to succeed as an author. He is currently working on a MA in Landscape Architecture. As a couple we give each other time and space to work on our own independent creative projects and encourage each other to follow our dreams. A lot of the time he will be in the same room with me as I write working and he works on his own projects.


Do you have a designated writing space? If so, what is it like?
Although I have no trouble committing to my husband, I’m having trouble committing to furniture. Once you get your life in a suitcase, it’s hard to go back to having things again. The idea of having a full set of furniture like a desk makes me feel claustrophobic. I’ve been sitting on pillows on the ground and typing on a coffee table.


Do you have a special time to write or how is your day structured?
I constantly make myself notes. This summer in Wales, I was scribbling stories on the backs of maps and Google directions as a passenger in the car. I also send myself text messages or emails riding in
trains or buses. It might not look like I’m writing a book if one was to observe me, but I am constantly watching, listening and thinking about writing.


Did you self publish? How did you do it?
I’ve just completed an MA in Design. Designing, publishing and marketing my book was my dissertation project. I had to do everything within a couple of months. Self-publishing was the fastest way to publish within the very limited time scale I had. Self-publishing is one person taking on all of the responsibilities typically held by teams of people in traditional publishing companies. It has been a steep learning curve. Publishing my book was my way of transforming poison into medicine. I hope that it can help people that have had bad dating experiences or bad work experiences – make them laugh and not give up hope.


How long did it take you to get your book published?
Most of the book was written as the events happened; it just took me a few years to work up the nerve to publish. To write my book Getting Rooted In New Zealand, I relied upon my personal journals, e-mails, and memories. In February 2013, I organized my stories into a cohesive narrative. It went through several rounds of editing and then I published in April 2013.

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?

Be yourself and find a good editor.


What is your next book about?

I’ve been living abroad for over three years. I plan to divide my books by the countries I’ve lived in. The next book will be about adventures in Scotland. The third book will be about living in England.


I'm very much looking forward to Jamie's next book, especially if this one is anything to go by!

Getting Rooted in New Zealand is available for kindle and in paperback from Amazon.
Follow Jamie on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Amazon and Goodreads.

We Are Twins! by Sylvia Pagán Westphal

Sam and Ben are twin brothers. In this book, aimed at children between the ages of 1 and 4, we discover the differences and similarities of twins and how they are most certainly not 'two peas in a pod'.

I am a nanny and my charges are twins. They are a boy and a girl so they aren't saddled with many of the stereotypes typically associated with twins but we get our fair share. If I had a pound for every time someone says to me 'double trouble' then I would be a very rich woman. Some people seem to leave their brains behind when talking about twins. I have been asked whether they poo at the same time, whether they learned to walk at the same time. Some people find it very hard to get it into their heads that even though twins may have shared the womb together, were born on the same day, may often have a bond that non-twins can't even imagine, they are two different people.

I enjoyed this book because it addressed this common misconception. It looked at how twins can look differently, behave differently, have different skills and they are all viewed positively, ''I love blocks and can build towers so high they reach Papa's knees!' (Sam) 'But I would rather kick a football with Papa and say "Goaaal"!!!'' Some children are mathematical, some are more creative, some are loud and expressive, some are shy and quiet this book addresses that and says 'It's okay.' It also discusses how twins each have their own thoughts and think about things in different way.

The similarities between twins are also compared. Like any siblings there will be some things, whether nature or nurture, that they will have in common. The illustrations show the two boys playing closely together and I like how their bond is shown to be encouraged.

The book also contains a humour which I think will appeal to toddlers and young children. The illustrations were simple but bright and they accompanied the story well. Sadly, the Kindle version was badly done so the pages were a little mixed up and some of the illustrations were spread over five pages so that was a shame. There were also a lot of exclamation marks which I think were a bit impotent and quite annoying.

Overall I gave this book 3 stars, its very simple and doesn't have much of a story but it does its job of showing that twins are very different from each other.

We Are Twins! was kindly supplied by Netgalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review.

Interview with Cathy Glass

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Cathy Glass is a foster carer and an author who has fostered many children. She has written numerous fostering memoirs, which tell the stories of some of the children she has fostered. These include Damaged, her first published novel and number one in the Sunday Times best sellers chart in paperback and hard back. 'Cathy Glass' is actually a nom de plume, because of the sensitive nature of her work she writes her books under a pseudonym.

I'm not going to copy Wikipedia and spout off a million facts about her, if you would like to know a bit more of Cathy Glass's background then you can look here. She also has her own webpage.

I am so pleased that I have had a chance to ask Cathy Glass a few questions, she is a massive inspiration to me, being a writer and also a foster carer. Foster caring has always interested me, it is something which I have felt very strongly about doing at some point in my life and reading her books, which show the ups and the downs of foster caring, have really given me an insight into the fostering world. I really do recommend her books, they have moments which will make you laugh out loud and moments which will make you sob your heart out (in my case, this has sometimes been on the tube. How awkward). The work which she, and other foster carers around the country do is invaluable. You can tell just by reading her books that the relationships the foster carers build with these children, the boundaries, love, shelter, food and nurture they give really do make a difference to so many vulnerable children and their families.

So, with her latest book Will You Love Me due to be released on September 12th, she has very kindly answered some of my questions about her fostering experiences and writing routines.

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What do you find to be the most challenging and rewarding aspects of being a foster carer?

Probably the most challenging aspect of fostering is listening to a child disclose abuse. It is heartbreaking. Also, having to say goodbye at the end of a placement is difficult. The foster family bonds with the child and goodbyes are never easy. The most rewarding aspect of fostering is seeing a child improve – to learn to trust and smile again. That’s wonderful.


How do you fit your writing around your home life and children?

My children always come first so when I am writing a book I rise very early to write. I answer emails whenever I have the chance during the day.


Do you have any advice for people who are interested in becoming foster carers?

There is always a shortage of foster carers so if you are interested in fostering I suggest you contact your local fostering service and ask for more information. Different countries vary in their procedure for recruiting foster carers, but there will be an introductory evening where you will learn more about fostering and you will be able to ask questions and share your concerns. The application and assessment process to become a foster carer is long and in depth so you will have plenty of time to think about your commitment. Fostering doesn't suit all families but if you go ahead and foster you will find the rewards - of seeing a child improve and be happy - are never ending.



Do you have a designated 'writing space'? If so, what is it like?

I have two places – one is comfortable armchair where I write the first draft of my books in longhand, and the other is my desk in the front room where my computer and printer are. I describe these in more detail together with my writing routine in my book About Writing and How to Publish, which is out in December.


Do you have any favourite genres, authors or books which you enjoy reading?

To be honest I read many different genres and authors. I have recently finished The Universe Versus Alex Woods by Gavin Extence, and The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker.


Was it difficult to get your first book published?

Yes. Although I’d had articles and short stories published in newspapers and magazines it took me twenty years to have a book published.

Will You Love Me is out on September 12th and About Writing and How to Publish is out on December 6th.