The Yonahlossee Riding Camp For Girls by Anton DiSclafani

Anton DiSclanfi's debut novel The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls is published by Tinder Press on 6th June 2013 in hardback and ebook.

"North Carolina 1930: Thea Atwell is 'exiled' from her family home in Florida after a scandal that she has been held responsible for.  She is to start afresh at the Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls - an elite boarding school in the Blue Ridge Mountains where money, beauty and equestrian prowess count for everything.

Whilst Thea grapples with the events of the past that took her from her family home, she learns to negotiate the complex codes and social mores of a world that provides her with an education but also expects her to be married at twenty-one, in a world so rarified that it is almost immune to the devastating Depression sweeping the country.  Yet as she becomes closer to the Headmaster and his family, Thea's past returns to haunt her, is this her chance to learn from her mistakes or are some of us just programmed to put our desires above rational choices?  And if this is how life shaped us, how do we make the best of it?"

 There is something almost mystical and dreamlike about this book.  Told in the first person, Thea is something of an unreliable narrator.  Thea has spent her life cosseted by her family and its wealth, surrounded only by close family members, she has never had any contact with strangers before.
Thea believes that she will only spend the summer at the Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls, and although she finds it very strange, suddenly thrust amongst a group of girls she has nothing in common with, she welcomes the chance to go riding every day.

This is a coming-of-age story with a difference.  Not only does Thea discover things about herself, she learns that beauty, wealth and the ability to ride better than others can affect how people judge her.  Thea longs for home and her family, especially her twin brother Sam, she finds it difficult to understand the dress codes, the behaviour of these pretty, almost alien Southern girls.  Thea is not always the most pleasant of characters, she often appears selfish and self-centred, but she is also determined and quite daring at times.

Anton DiSclafani writes descriptive prose with ease.  From the Southern countryside, to the Florida heat, all beautifully drawn and very alluring.   Her handling of adolescent girls' relationships is impressive, detailing the jealously, the closeness, the adulation with ease.

Anton DiSclafani

This is a slow-paced, character rich novel that should be savoured for it's sense of place and fine detail.

The author has drawn upon her own childhood when writing this novel, she grew up in Florida and visited
her family's cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains near the real Yonahlossee.

For more information about the author, please visit her webpage here.  Join the conversation on Twitter: #yonahlosee

My thanks go to Helena Towers at the Headline Press Officer who supplied my copy for review.

Amity & Sorrow by Peggy Riley - Blog Tour & Giveaway

Amity & Sorrow by Peggy Riley was published by Tinder Press at the end of last month.  I read and reviewed it back in August last year and enjoyed it very much.   If you'd like to know more about what I thought of the story, you can read my review here

I have a hardback copy of Amity & Sorrow to give away to one follower, there's also a funky #godsexfarming badge up for grabs.   Entry to the competition is open to everyone, just fill out the rafflecopter form at the bottom of this post - Good luck!

Peggy Riley is a writer and playwright. She recently won a Highly Commended prize in the 2011 Bridport Prize and was published in their latest anthology. Her short fiction has been broadcast on BBC Radio and published in "New Short Stories 4", Mslexia Magazine (Third prize - Women's Short Fiction Competition 2010), and as an app on Ether Books. Her plays have been commissioned and produced off-West End, regionally, and on tour. She has been a festival producer, a bookseller, and writer-in-residence at a young offender prison. Originally from Los Angeles, Peggy now lives on the North Kent coast in Britain.

I'm delighted to be taking part in the Blog Tour for Amity & Sorrow and welcome Peggy to 'Random Things' - she has been kind enough to answer a few questions:

What are you reading at the moment?  I am just finished 'Instructions for a Heatwave' by fellow Tinder Press writer, Maggie O'Farrell.  I love her characters and her big, big heart.

Do you read reviews of your novels?  Do you take them seriously?   I do read them, because it's still a novelty, but also because I am very grateful for the time and thought that bloggers and reviewers give to reading books and writing about them.  Even when I might not like their response to mine, for it is not a book that will suit every reader, I get some insight into what I've written through the experience the reviewer has had while reading.  Amity & Sorrow is too dark for some readers, while for others the rhythm of the writing is too 'slow'.  Everybody brings her own expectations and tastes to a book.  It's not always the right time to read it.  I take all reviews seriously, wherever they come from, but I try very hard not to take them personally.

How long does it take to write a novel?   The short answer is - as long as it takes.  Every writer is different.  We write at different speeds under different circumstances.  I write and rewrite a lot of drafts before I begin to edit or think about it being read.  Every novel is different as well, so each is written differently - even by the same writer.  My second novel required a great deal of historical and science research, so the planning has taken as long as the writing.  It took a long time to write Amity & Sorrow, because I was learning how to write fiction.  I was learning to move away from writing plays, which I was used to.  The second novel has been quicker to write, but as the story is more complicated, the editing is much slower.  You have to just set targets and deadlines and hope to meet them.

Do you have any writing rituals?   I write in a little log cabin at the bottom of my garden, the Blue House. I roll up the curtains, boil the kettle, and fire up the Calor gas heater before I can do anything.  Then I do morning pages on line, 750 words of automatic writing to clear my head.  Then I turn on the playlist that feels like the writing I need to do, and I begin.  Having written all that, I can see how very many rituals I have.

What was your favourite childhood book?  Oh, so many!  "The Dark is Rising", second in the fantastic five book sequence by Susan Cooper, was very important to me.  I was also rather obsessed with "A Wrinkle in Time".

Name one book that made you laugh?   I tend to laugh more at a book's cleverness or at a great twist, even if it isn't funny.  I laughed a lot while reading Michel Faber's "The Crimson Petal and the White".  It's not a particularly funny book, but it is dead clever and pure delight.

Name one book that made you cry?   I can't think of one.  I'm not sure I can ever escape that deeply into a book, into text.  I'm much more likely to have a quiet blub to music, whether in concert or as underscoring in film or theatre.  I'm not sure what that says about me.

Which fictional character would you like to meet?   I'm tempted by Little Red Riding Hood's Wolf and Hansel and Gretel's Witch, but I suppose I should choose a character who won't want to eat me.  I'll choose the Mad Hatter, then, if I get to be Alice.  Wonderland would be rather splendid, if I can only avoid the Queen of Hearts.

Are you inspired by any particular author or book?   Amity & Sorrow owes a great deal to John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath", which casts a long shadow over any writing of the Oklahoma Panhandle or the Dust Bowl.  In rereading it, I was struck again by his dazzling skill with language, both in the Joad Family chapters and in the alternating propaganda chapters.  It was groundbreaking in 1939 and it feels incredibly modern still.  It's made me want to reread everything of his now.

What is your guilty pleasure read?    I love a good thriller.  Who doesn't?  I love a book where the pages seem to turn themselves and the hours drift away.  I still remember the visceral thrill of reading "Silence of the Lambs" and Michael Connelly's "The Poet".

Who are your favourite authors?   Louise Erdrich, Barbara Kingsolver, Margaret Atwood, Sarah Waters, William Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor.  I should stop there.

What book have you reread?  Other than "The Grapes of Wrath", the last book I remember rereading is "Jane Eyre".  I can't get enough of that book.  It taps into something really primal and secretive,  I can't quite put my finger on it.

What book have you given up on?   I give up on books all the time and I think there's no shame in it.  It's usually because the book isn't the right book at the right time.  I had to start "Wolf Hall" several times before I had the headspace to read it.  On holiday, it was the exact right book at the right time and then I devoured it like a greedy thing.

My thanks to Peggy for giving such insightful and interesting answers to my questions.

Thanks to Tinder Press, I have a hardback copy of Amity & Sorrow to give away, along with a really funky #godsexfarming badge.   The giveaway is open internationally and will end at midnight on Friday 25 April 2013

Enter below, and good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Amity & Sorrow by Peggy Riley - Blog Tour

Amity & Sorrow by Peggy Riley was published at the end of March by Tinder Press.

I was lucky enough to read a preview copy way back in August last year.   You can read my review here.

Next week sees the start of the Blog Tour for Amity & Sorrow with 18 bloggers all talking about the book.

I will be hosting the Blog Tour on Friday 19th April.

The author, Peggy Riley will be answering some questions about her writing and her reading.

I'll also have a hardback copy of Amity & Sorrow and a #godsexfarming badge to giveaway - the competition will be open to everyone.

'Amity & Sorrow, grace and hope, honor and innocence, bliss and deliverance - all of this from one beautifully nuanced story about the nature of family and the power of faith. I savored every word' (Lori Lansens, author of The Girls )

'A startlingly original, intelligent and beautiful first novel that I found riveting from page one. I can only wait with great anticipation for what comes next from Peggy Riley' (Michael Connelly )

Please come and join us as we talk about Amity & Sorrow.  You can join in the discussions on Twitter too, look out for #godsexfarming