Beneath An Irish Sky by Isabella Connor is the latest release from
Choc Lit, and will be published in paperback here in the UK tomorrow - 7 August 2013
Choc Lit are a publishing house that consistently deliver the goods. Their books are well-written and intelligent stories, often with a touch of humour and magic, and always beautifully presented.
Beneath An Irish Sky is the debut novel from Isabella Connor who is not one, but two new authors. Liv Thomas and Val Olteanu co-wrote this story, taking over five years to complete it. I dearly hope that this is the first of many novels from them.
I became caught up in the story within the first two paragraphs. The writing is engaging and draws the reader in straight away as we are introduced to Jack Stewart, in Ireland to identify the body of his estranged wife. Annie left Jack twenty years ago, he thought that they were deeply in love, he thought that they were happy, but she left suddenly, with no notice and Jack has not seen her since. Hearing that Annie has been killed in a car accident aged just 40 is a shock, discovering that he has a son that he knew nothing about is an even bigger one!
Annie came from an Irish Traveller family, Jack comes from a wealthy, successful and very snobbish family. His parents never approved of Annie, and made it clear that they thought Jack was better off without her. Jack tried to forget, but really Annie was his true love.
Annie brought up Luke as a single mother. As far as he is concerned Jack Stewart didn't want him and banished his mother from the family. Luke's life has been tough, although adored by his mother, he's suffered at the hands of his violent uncles. Luke hates Jack.
Slowly and carefully the story unfolds. Why did Annie tell Luke that his father did not want him? Why did Annie never tell Jack that he was a father? Two men, both suspicious, both grieving - how will they ever repair the damage that has been done?
This really is an excellent story. Combining the world and tradition of the Travelling people with the upper-class snobbery of the English Stewart family and adding in a mix of supporting characters. The plot gathers pace, starting slowly, introducing the characters and building to an ending that I really didn't predict.
I was intrigued to learn that Isabella Connor is in fact two new authors and am delighted to welcome Liv and Val here today to my blog. They've agreed to answer a few questions about their writing and reading habits:
Hi Anne, thank you for inviting us to be on your blog. As we say in the interview, 'Beneath An Irish Sky' has been part of our lives for over five years, but it's very surreal to now see it in print, dissected and analysed by people everywhere! Liv and Val
Liv Thomas lives in England, Val Olteanu in Canada. They met on a Tolkein fan forum and decided to write a novel together. Despite living some 4700 miles apart (and with an 8 hour time difference), they succeeded in producing their debut novel.
'Beneath An Irish Sky' which is now available as eBook and paperback. They write under the pen-name of Isabella Connor and are already deep into co-authoring their second novel.
What are
you reading at the moment?
Val: “The Sharper
Your Knife, The Less You Cry” by Kathleen Flinn. It’s a memoir. When she lost
her job, Kathleen used her savings to go to Paris to study at the Cordon Bleu
cooking school. I love people who take such huge risks like that. I also adore
Paris, and the city permeates the book. Hopefully I’ll pick up some culinary
tips since cooking is not my forte. I’ve just reached this part, which
resonates with me:
I put
together several little vols-au-vent. They look as if a kindergartener put them
together with Play-Doh.
Liv: I’m working my way through Choc Lit’s vast
library, and am currently reading “The Elephant Girl” by Henriette Gyland. I’m
also re-reading “Strangers,” one of my favourite Dean Koontz books. I want to
see if the ending affects me the same way it did when I first read it. It was
quite surreal, because it gave me an uplifting sensation, quite unlike anything
I’d ever experienced before. It’s so long since I’ve read it, I can’t actually
remember what the ending was – just the feeling it invoked.
Do you read
reviews of your novels?
Val: “Beneath an
Irish Sky” has been recently released as eBook and paperback, so the reviews
are just starting to appear, and we are reading them. Liv and I are very
curious about the response to our story. How could we not be after spending
five years writing it? We write to be read – to tell a story that we hope
people will enjoy. Our readers are important to us.
Liv: I’d love to be able to be blasé about reviews,
and just take a look now and then. Maybe in time that will happen, but right
now it’s so new, and I’m so anxious, looking for reviews is almost an
obsession. I appreciate what people have to say as long as it’s constructive –
we can learn so much from a good reviewer. I do get rattled if someone makes
what I consider an invalid criticism, but have to be strong enough not to
respond. Everyone is entitled to an opinion but it would be good sometimes to
ask a question – like “did you miss that bit?” ;)
Do you take
them seriously?
Val: If someone has taken
the time to write a serious, thoughtful review, then I will certainly take it
seriously. As writers, we are always open to developing our craft.
Liv: Definitely. Especially if a particular point has
been raised more than once. Good reviewers are helpful for our learning curve.
How long
does it take to write a novel?
Val: Liv and I took five
years to write “Beneath an Irish Sky” but that included a substantial rewrite
and cutting the book from its original 240,000 words to 110,000! We’ve almost
finished writing our second novel, and that took less than two years. If I
didn’t have to work full-time, I could probably write a novel of twenty
chapters in six months (with the equivalent time beforehand for planning and
research).
Liv: It would be interesting to answer this question
in five years’ time, when we’ll hopefully have at least three more novels in
the bag. It’s hard to know how long it would take if writing was my full time
occupation, but I work four days a week, so can’t write nearly as long as I’d
like. I don’t think it would ever take us five years again, though – we’ve
learned so much in that time.
Do you have
any writing rituals?
Val: I prefer to
write longhand, so I always have a ready supply of notebooks (nothing special,
just ordinary lined A4) and 2H pencils with eraser tips. I usually type up what
I’ve written the next day – it’s a great form of editing. I also prefer to
write outdoors although the rainy months in Vancouver make that a challenge!
Liv: I always
used to write longhand, and could not go straight to Word. Now I find it really
difficult to physically write. Laziness might have something to do with it, but
I find using my PC so much quicker. I like to be alone, but that doesn’t happen
often.
What was
your favourite childhood book?
Val: ‘Alice in
Wonderland.’ And I regularly re-read it as an adult. I just love those
alarmingly vivid characters like the Queen of Hearts and the Mad Hatter. I also
think Alice was my first role model – always asking questions and speaking her
mind.
Liv: I was always reading as a child. I loved Enid
Blyton, and of course, would write my own adventure stories, just like her. I
was probably a child plagiarist, come to think of it. I had favourite books
which I’d read over and over, some of which are quite obscure but I still
remember so well – ‘Death Mask,’ by Ellis Peters, ‘Don’t Knock the Corners Off’
by Caroline Glyn, ‘Exile for Annis’ by Josephine Elder. And the classic
children’s stories – ‘Peter Pan,’ ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ ‘The Water Babies,’
etc.
Name one
book that made you laugh?
Val: I remember laughing out
loud on a London Tube train at something in Helen Fielding’s “Bridget Jones’s
Diary” and a woman scowled at me like I’d cursed in a church. Other people
craned their heads to see the title of my book. I do that a lot, too – I’m
always nosy about what other people are reading.
Liv: I also laughed aloud on a train at one of Terry
Pratchett’s ‘Discworld’ books. I don’t know if anyone noticed. I just kept
reading. And laughing.
Name one
book that made you cry?
Val: ‘The Road’ by
Cormac McCarthy. It’s about a father and son in a post-Apocalyptic world. The
subject-matter was heavy-going yet I couldn’t put the book down because the
main characters were very real and I cared desperately about what happened to
them. The ending broke my heart so much that I couldn’t bear to watch the
movie, even though I love Viggo Mortensen, who played the role of the father.
Liv: I tend to avoid books which I know are about sad
things, but I can still get caught – the last book I actually cried at was Sue
Moorcroft’s ‘Starting Over,’ the last few pages of which were such a
roller-coaster of emotion I had tears running down my face.
Which
fictional character would you like to meet?
Val: I’ve just finished reading Jane Lovering’s ‘Star
Struck’ and I fell in love with her cool and intense hero, Jack Whitaker. A talented
and mysterious writer of a famous fictional sci-fi show, Jack smokes, wears
rumpled clothes, and often walks around in his bare feet. If I met him, we’d
have margaritas by the hotel pool, then I’d persuade him to come away with me
in a Mustang convertible on a crazy road trip across America.
Liv: Probably Gandalf, because I’d try to talk him into
weaving a few spells for me. One of my favourite heroes is Jim Ironheart from
Dean Koontz’s ‘Cold Fire.’ Dean Koontz is actually very good at writing the
kind of hero who is attractive to women. Some male writers create heroes who
are very Boys Own, action-men type, who might appeal more to a male reader. Oh,
and Barrons from Karen Moning’s ‘Fever’ series. Christian Grey, eat your heart
out…
Which book
would you give to your best friend as a present?
Val: Any book with a Scottish theme because her
homeland is her passion.
Liv: ‘Pillars of the Earth’ by Ken Follett. (Questions
which ask you to choose one of something are really hard!)
Are you
inspired by any particular author or book?
Val: Daphne Du
Maurier’s “Rebecca,” which I first read in my early teens. I loved her
descriptions of Manderley, the mystery at the heart of the story, and the fact
that her narrator (the Girl) was gauche and uncertain. I don’t like romance
characters to be too perfect.
Liv: Enid Blyton inspired me as a child. Maeve Binchy
has also inspired me – such a natural story-teller. I’d have to include Tolkien
– after reading ‘Lord of the Rings,’ it was two years until I read another
book. I was bereft! The mark of a good book is surely one you can’t put down
but don’t want to end.
What is
your guilty pleasure read?
Val: Twitter is my
guilty pleasure read. Guilty because it means time spent away from my own
writing, but there’s so much creativity and wit to be found on Twitter. I love Joanne
Harris, Louise Brealey, Ian Rankin, Jennifer Saunders, A L Kennedy, Sam Neill,
Alan Cumming …
Liv: Fan
fiction maybe? I actually wrote some ‘Lord of the Rings’ fanfic. I just regret
that I never had Faramir as a dominant, into S&M. I could be a millionaire
now…
Who are
your favourite authors?
Val: There are so many! Impossible to choose. A friend
and I used to assign a favourite author for each letter of the alphabet so here
goes: Austen, the Brontes, Peter Carey, Daphne Du Maurier, George Eliot,
Fitzgerald, Gaskell, Joanne Harris, Ishiguro, James Joyce, James Kelman, Penelope
Lively, Hilary Mantel, Naipaul, Terry Pratchett, Rushdie, Zadie Smith, Tolkien,
Barry Unsworth, Virginia Woolf. But that’s only a fraction of the many writers
I love.
Liv: I’m ashamed to say, I’ve never read many classic
authors, so my taste is pretty mainstream, but I think there’s some great stuff
out there. Through Choc Lit I’ve discovered writers whose work I really like.
Also Patricia Scanlan, Lesley Pearse, Dean Koontz, Tolkien – and a wonderful
Irish writer called Walter Macken, whose trilogy ‘Seek the Fair Land’ is one of
my favourite reads of all time. Maybe I’d give that to my best friend
instead.
My thanks to
Choc Lit who sent my copy of
Beneath An Irish Sky for review and to Liv and Val for their interesting and honest answers. I loved the book and wish you lots of success x
