I'm thrilled to welcome Laurie Ellingham to my blog today and to be a part of her ongoing tour - wishing you much sales and success with OURS IS THE WINTER! Let's start with my questions...
Hi Rachel, thanks for having
me on your blog today!
1.)
What
was your first job? Did you like or dislike it? Why?
My first job (at fifteen) was working in an old ladies
clothing outlet on a Saturday afternoon. Think very big knickers and very long
skirts and you’re on the right track. It was pretty boring but I stuck it out
for a year so I can’t have hated it. I used to get my pay in a brown envelope
at the end of each shift. A whopping £15 woo woo! It wasn’t much but there
weren’t many places that would employ a fifteen year old so I was happy.
2.)
Do
you have a pet peeve? If so what is it?
Whistling. I can’t stand the sound of it.
For books, I don’t like reading a back cover blurb and
feeling like I know exactly what’s going to happen. If it’s a book with a good
tag line then I’ll dive right in without reading the blurb.
3.)
Would
you describe your style as shabby chic, timeless elegance, eclectic, country or
____?
I don’t think I’m stylish enough to have a style.
Probably might style is warmth. Stick me in a woolly jumper and slippers and
I’m happy.
4.)
Tell
me about your book Ours is the Winter and where you got your inspiration for
it?
Ours is the Winter follows Erica,
Molly and Noah’s journey across the frozen wilderness of the arctic for a
week’s husky sled challenge. They are all hiding things about their lives and
see the trip as way to escape, but in gruelling subzero temperatures, it isn’t
long before the cracks in their lives start to show.
The inspiration for Ours is the Winter came from the
characters themselves. Erica, Molly and Noah are three people who on the
outside seem pretty much OK, but each of them is struggling with life. I wanted
to throw them together in a place where they couldn’t just walk away or bury their
heads in the sand (or snow) and the husky sled challenge seemed like a great
way to do this.
There are so many elements to journeying across the
arctic and the challenge itself that I really enjoyed writing about. Erica, for
instance, hates the cold and is petrified of dogs and yet she has to manage a
pack of huskies.
The biggest challenge for me was finding so many ways
to describe snow :-)
5.)
Who
is your role model? Why?
I don’t have one particular role model. When I read a
great book, and when I see my writing friends working hard, I feel inspired and
motivated to work harder and smarter, and to push myself out of my comfort
zone.
6.)
How
much of your book is realistic?
The characters are my own creation but I’ve tried to
capture the realism of the sledding experience across the arctic, as well as
the little things, like how your hair freezes because it’s so cold. I loved doing
the research in this novel and enjoyed meeting some very fluffy (and smelly)
huskies. A friend of mine did this trip for charity a few years ago and was a
superstar when it came to helping with the research (Thanks Donna).
7.)
What
are your ambitions for your writing career?
To keep writing books that challenge me as a writer
and that I wake up every day excited to write. As for everything else, I seem
to have a habit of moving the goal posts. I feel incredibly fortunate to have
signed with an agent earlier this year, which is a big step for me. I still
feel at the start of my journey, which is funny really because the women’s
fiction writing workshop we met on was way back in 2007 (I still owe you a
glass of wine, Rachel :-)).
8.)
Share
one fact about yourself that would surprise people.
I would choose being at home on a Saturday night in my
pjs over a night out, which surprises people as I’m outgoing in most aspects of
my life, but I prefer being home with my family than anywhere else.
Blurb:
Journeying
across the Arctic, their pasts are about to catch up with them.
Erica, Molly
and Noah are embarking on the challenge of a lifetime, driving Siberian huskies
across the frozen wilderness of the Arctic. Cut off from the world and their
loved ones and thrown together under gruelling conditions, it isn’t long before
the cracks start to show.
Erica has
it all. A loving husband, a successful career and the most adorable baby
daughter. But Erica has been living a double life, and as she nears her
fortieth birthday her lies threaten to come crashing down.
Molly was
on her way to stardom. But when her brother died, so did her dreams of becoming
an Olympic champion. Consumed by rage and grief, she has shut out everyone
around her, but now she’s about to learn that comfort can come from the most
unexpected places.
Noah has
a darkness inside him and is hounded by nightmares from his past. Tortured,
trapped and struggling to save his fractured relationship, he knows this
journey is not going to help, but try telling his girlfriend that.
As their lives
and lies become ever more entwined, it becomes clear that in the frozen wilds
there is nowhere to hide.
Ours is the Winter - Extract
A startled scream left Erica’s mouth. It was her last sound before
the fear gripped her body and stole her voice. Not that it would have mattered
if she could’ve shouted for help. No one would’ve heard her, not even Molly standing
two metres away, already on her sled and ready to go.
The huskies, with the exception of the one eyeballing Erica
with an I’m-going-to-rip-out-your-throat glare, were all attached to the sled
lines, their heads pointed to the sky and a stream of incessant barking filled
the air. Every few seconds one of the pack would break from the barking to add
a screeching yelp to the noise.
So much for having nothing to do with dogs. So much for ‘they’ll do their thing and I’ll do mine.’
Erica almost laughed at her own naivety. Stupidity more like. But laughing
required movement and she was currently frozen to the spot about to be mauled
by the biggest dog Erica had ever seen.
The creature was head to toe black and shiny, like the monitors
at the studio right before being switched on in the morning. Its dark eyes
fixed on Erica’s face as it crouched down, losing its front paws in the snow
before barking at Erica. It wasn’t the excited chattering type of barks of the
rest of the huskies, but something ferocious – a vicious warning.
A second later the dog launched into the air and flew at Erica.
The force of his weight – a furry bus – slammed into her body sending her
falling to the ground with the dog on top of her. Erica scrunched her eyes shut
as the putrid stench of the dog’s breath hit her senses. Her body tensed as she
waited for the pain of its teeth to sink into her skin.
‘Wow, Erica,’ Lee said from somewhere above her. ‘Looks like
you’ve made a friend.’
Erica felt the weight of the dog lift from her body and she
scrambled to her feet. ‘He … he just turned on me,’ she said with a sudden urge
to burst into tears, from the fall, or the fear, or the frustration that she
was the only one incapable of handling the dogs. A mix of them all, she
guessed.
‘This is Kriger,’ Lee said, holding the dog by the back of his
collar with one hand, and stroking its back with his other. ‘Kriger is the
Norwegian word for warrior.’
‘He was going to bite me.’ Her voice was high and as screechy
as the yelps from the rest of the huskies.
Lee laughed, a bellowing chuckle-like noise. ‘He gives the
other dogs the odd nip now and again when they misbehave but he’s never bitten
a human yet.’
Yet? Gee, how reassuring.
Links
Author bio: When I'm not running around after my two
children, my husband, our Cockerpoo Rodney, or just plain running, I love
nothing more than disappearing into the fictional world of my characters
preferably with a large coffee and a Twix (or two) to hand.
When I am in the thick of a character crisis, I can often be
seen walking around the village with my jumper on inside out and back to front,
chatting (and occasionally laughing) away to myself.
I have a first class honours degree in psychology and a
background in Public Relations, both of which help in everything I do.
Links:
Website: https://www.laurie-ellingham.com/
Giveaway
Prize: 1 signed paperback of Laurie's previous book,
“One Endless Summer”.
International
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