We're jumping right into daily giveaways on Colorimetry! A day or two early!! :-D As a special treat, I've invited Triskele Books to come and share their entire collection with us. Every day will see a new book, a new author, a new interview and a new giveaway... culminating with a Release Day Party on June 1st! Please welcome...Triskele Books is a writers’ collective: story, time and place.
The spirals of our triskele logo represent the concept of our collective – author independence balanced by mutual support. Going it alone, together.
Triskele Books was formed in 2011, by Gillian Hamer, JJ Marsh and Liza Perrat - highly-acclaimed writers who share a passion for good stories.
Gillian writes paranormal mysteries - chilling tales of sinister crimes along the Anglesey coast. JJ is creating the Beatrice Stubbs series - international crimes set against striking backdrops ranging from Athens to Zurich.
Liza evokes the horror and joy of revolutionary France through the eyes of Victoire and rural Lucie-sur-Vionne.
In 2012, three more authors joined the team, each with their own distinctive slant on time and place: Jasper Dorgan, Jane Dixon-Smith and Catriona Troth.
Jasper writes a compelling story of love, duty and courage set in the war-ravaged deserts of British occupied Aden in 1965.
Jane recreates ancient worlds, from 6th century Briton to the 3rd century Roman east.
Catriona is a British/Canadian writer, fascinated by stories that explore identity and dislocation.
So what’s the connection?
Setting and atmosphere, culture and legend, history and landscape all combine to create the rich and satisfying experience of Triskele Books.
We want to take you on a journey.
We want to transport you to another place.
We want to tell you a story.
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Today, Liza Perrat begins by interviewing Gillian Hamer, author of Complicit, who is offering an e-copy giveaway of her third Triskele Books novel, Complicit:
Complicit
by Gillian E Hamer
Paperback
Expected Publication: June 1, 2013
On the beach stood the adverse array (of Britons), a serried mass of arms and men, with women flitting between the ranks. In the style of Furies, in robes of deathly black and with dishevelled hair, they brandished their torches; while a circle of Druids, lifting their hands to heaven and showering imprecations …’
When Roman historian, Cornelius Tacitus, recorded the invasion of the small island of Mona Insulis off the North Wales coast in 60AD – the beginnings of a propaganda war against the Druidic religion began.
Two thousand years later, that war is still being fought.
For two millennia, descendants of a small sect of Anglesey Druids have protected their blood lineage and mysterious secrets from the world. Until members of this secret society are murdered one by one.
Detective Sergeants Gareth Parry and Chris Coleman, along with new girl, DC Megan Jones, must stop this killer at all costs. What they discover will shock the whole police team and leave consequences which have an impact like no crime in the history of the force.
Set along the dramatic Menai Straits, Complicit is a story of greed, loss and obsession.
Gillian Hamer is a company director and a crime fiction writer who lives in the UK, and divides her time between the Midlands and North Wales. She is also a regular columnist for Words with Jam, a magazine for writers.
Website * Blog * @GillyHamer * Facebook
I have read and enjoyed your first two Triskele Books novels, The Charter and Closure, both modern-day mysteries interwoven with historical fact, and a touch of the paranormal. How do you think this crossing of genres has affected your publication possibilities? I think it pretty much made up my mind for me that indie publishing was the way forward for me. I do have an agent, who represents me for my straight crime detective novels, but she made it very clear early on that no publisher would take crime/ghost stories or thriller/historical mysteries. Publishers need to be able to pigeon-hole books and obviously that wasn't going to happen with my books. As cross-genre was what I really wanted to write (although that was never a deliberate choice) and I wanted to see my books in print - I had a problem. I've never been one to give up at the first obstacle so it was a matter of finding a way around it. Luckily, I wasn't alone and knew some wonderful writers who, for one reason and another, found themselves in similar positions. And so Triskele Books was born.
Is there any particular reason you choose to set your novels around North Wales and the island of Anglesey?
You can probably blame my parents! My dad in particular has always loved North Wales, we think it's in the genes as his family are supposed to be from there originally. Then we made good friends who lived in Holyhead so ventured onto Anglesey when I was about ten. The first holiday there I recall I got mumps and it rained every day. Not the best start. But with good weather, there is nowhere in this country that can beat the island. I adore the sea. It has echoes of Cornwall, the most stunning scenery, and an immense amount of history and legend which appeals to the writer in me obviously. I find it so much easier to relax and write up there. Besides ... It's a better option than writing about Birmingham!Do you think that your job as a company director has helped you as an author?
Not really. Not from a writing perspective. If anything it's a hindrance as I have so little time to dedicate to writing. In fact, I think I'm quite an oddity being so business orientated and yet having this free spirit side too. I think since starting Triskele maybe my managerial and business skills have come in useful though.
What advice would you give to beginning novelists?
Ooh, goodness. I'm not sure I'm qualified to give advice to anyone. Learn your craft I guess. Write for yourself and write what you love and read every spare moment you can. And don't rush. If you get to the level where you want to submit to agents or publishers, take advice, even if you don't like what you hear, and make sure your ms is perfect. And if you get chance to join a writing community - real life or online - grab the opportunity with both hands. You'll learn so much more from mixing with other writers, and you'll soon connect with those who understand you and your writing - and vice versa. Actually ... That does all sound quite knowledgable!
Can you tell us about your work with Words with Jam? Yes, I love having the opportunity to keep my hand in with non-fiction writing. I think I've been involved with WWJ since the Ed, Jane Dixon Smith, came up with the idea. My regular feature looks at novels that have been developed into other formats, like film or television. I've been lucky enough to interview some fabulous authors. Michael Murpurgo. Ann Cleeves. David Hewson who wrote the novel of The Killing from the Danish television series. I love the interaction and find I've learned such a lot along the way too. It's really interesting and rewarding.
What are you writing about now?
I'm actually about to take a break from writing. The first I can remember in an age. I seem to have been on a hamster's wheel of writing, rewriting, editing for years! Complicit is out in June, that's all finished. So, unless I get another rush job, I plan to take a break over the summer and maybe research a few new ideas that are simmering away. I've got two half-completed novels that probably deserve to be finished, so if I get bored I can always dig them out and start again!
Which book from your shelf do you feel demonstrates a strong sense of time/place?
There really are so many. I am torn. But I'm going to go with Sarah Waters - The Little Stranger. She is maybe not an obvious choice and it's not a particularly strong locale. I do like books that make you ache to visit a location, equally I like writing that burrows into a time and place and examines it so minutely that it brings it to life in your head. And in The Little Stranger not only is there an intense atmosphere throughout but the period and the landscape and in particular that house are so vivid and real. It stays with me. Brilliant writing.
Read Gillian’s interview with Sir Richard Taylor or catch up with her on Goodreads
Complicit available now.
For each day of the week, starting 26th May, a different Triskele Books author will be interviewed, and will offer a free e-copy of their book. And on Launch Day - June 1st - it's the Big Giveaway. All seven of the Triskele Books will be on offer for a signed paperback giveaway of whichever book(s) readers choose.
Today... WIN an eCopy of Complicit by Gillian E Hamer!
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