04 Saturday Dec 2021
Posted in Books
This month, my latest novel The Girl from Bletchley Park, is on promotion in both UK and US Amazons, selling at 99p/99c. Grab a copy while it’s cheap!
I wrote a blog post for the HQ blog, telling why I chose to write about Bletchley Park. You can read that here.
02 Thursday Jul 2020
Posted in Books, Uncategorized
Yesterday as part of the One More Chapter book club I was ‘live’ on Facebook along with editor Mel and author Adrienne Chinn. We were talking about our latest books. Adrienne’s is also dual timeline, like mine.
We had a lot of fun, and the video is available to watch on FB here.
Also – for the month of July – my latest novel The Secret of the Château is on promotion at just 99p for the ebook on Amazon UK! The paperback and audio versions of the book will be released later this month.
I handed a revised version of my 10th novel to my editor last week – hope to soon bring you news of its title, cover, blurb etc – I love announcing new books!
And today I’m going back to my 11th novel. I have written a very rough first draft, and now I need to turn it into something readable!
07 Sunday Jun 2020
Posted in Books, Uncategorized
A few weeks ago I was interviewed by the lovely Jenny Wheeler for a podcast – that is a first time for me. She’s now posted it up on her website, The Joys of Binge Reading, and you can listen to it here.
In it, I chatter on about lockdown, The Secret of the Château, how I got started writing, writing while living in Gertie, The Forgotten Secret and more. There’s also a transcript for those who prefer to read rather than listen. And there’s a giveaway of copies of the ebook of The Secret of the Château!
Jenny’s is a fabulous website and she’s interviewed loads of writers. Do go and take a look around and perhaps listen to some of them!
(PS I hate the sound of my recorded voice, but I suppose that’s true for many of us!)
Also – for all readers in the US – please note The Secret of the Château is currently on sale at just 99c from Amazon for the month of June. Bargain!
30 Tuesday Jul 2019
Posted in Books, Uncategorized
I had such a great blog tour for The Forgotten Secret organised by Rachel’s Random Resources that I immediately booked another one for The Stationmaster’s Daughter. The tour starts on 20th August, and here’s the complete list of bloggers involved. I’ll post links to each blog review as they appear, on the book’s page on this blog.
So looking forward to publication of this book – just a week away now!
18 Tuesday Jun 2019
Posted in Books
Delighted to announce that my new book, The Stationmaster’s Daughter, is now available for preorder! The cover and the blurb are below. Preorder here from Amazon UK.
This one was inspired by my brother who works as a volunteer restoring the Lynton and Barnstaple railway in north Devon.
In other news – my last book, The Forgotten Secret, is currently on sale for just 99p till the end of the month!
Dorset 1935
Stationmaster Ted has never cared much for romance. Occupied with ensuring England’s most beautiful railway runs on time, love has always felt like a comparatively trivial matter. Yet when he meets Annie Galbraith on the 8.42 train to Lynford, he can’t help but instantly fall for her.
But soon the railway is forced to close and a terrible accident occurs within the station grounds, Ted finds his job and any hope of a relationship with Annie hanging in the balance…
Present day
Recovering from heartbreak after a disastrous marriage, Tilly decides to escape from the bustling capital and move to Dorset to stay with her dad, Ken.
When Ken convinces Tilly to help with the restoration of the old railway, she discovers a diary hidden in the old ticket office. Tilly is soon swept up in Ted’s story, and the fateful accident that changed his life forever.
But an encounter with an enigmatic stranger takes Tilly by surprise, and she can’t help but feel a connection with Ted’s story in the past.
21 Friday Sep 2018
Posted in Books, Uncategorized
I’m delighted to announce that The Drowned Village has finally been published, and is available to buy as ebook, paperback or audiobook. It’s available from all the usual online retailers, and is also in Waterstones and Foyles. I’m off to my local Waterstones tomorrow to see if I can catch a glimpse of it, out there in the wild!
Next week there’s to be a blog tour to promote the book. I’ll add links to the Drowned Village page on this blog, but meanwhile here’s the itinerary. I’ve completed an interview for one blog, and the others are reviews. Follow along to find out which actors I’d like to see playing the main characters, and what I’d choose as a theme tune. (Great questions, but had me scratching my head trying to answer them!)
There’ll be other exciting book news coming along soon. Keep checking back to keep in touch!
08 Sunday Jul 2018
I’ve just returned from a lovely relaxing two week holiday in the Loire valley in France, in our motorhome. The days were spent cycling beautiful lanes between fields of wheat and vines, swimming in lakes or rivers, sitting drinking wine in the campsites.
Oh, and I also managed to get a lot of writing done! Somehow, possibly due to the laptop not being connected to the internet, I managed to get an average 1000 words a day written, which is more than I do at home.
And a complete idea for a new novel, set in France and featuring a chateau, arrived. Hurray!
I’m back at the day job tomorrow. And back to the Irish independence novel from today – it needs editing and returning to my editor in about a month so I need to crack on.
In other news, The Girl from Ballymor is on an Amazon Kindle promotion in the UK, and selling at just 99p. Hurry while stocks last, as they say! I’ve just received a lovely message from a reader about this book. It does seem to strike a chord with many people of Irish descent throughout the world. Hope the independence novel does as well!
17 Saturday Mar 2018
Posted in Books, Uncategorized
To all those of Irish descent, and everyone else, have a wonderful St Patrick’s Day! If Ireland beat England in the Six Nations rugby this afternoon, thereby winning the Grand Slam, it’ll certainly be a joyous occasion in this house. My husband is a committed fan of Irish rugby. (If you read my books carefully you might spot references to Munster Rugby club in them – it’s the only way I can persuade him to read them.)
My Irish book, The Girl from Ballymor, is currently just 99p for the ebook – what better way to celebrate St Patrick’s Day, especially given the awful weather forecast for the weekend, than curling up with a good read?
And if you’ve already read it, thank you! I’d appreciate a brief Amazon review, as those really do help sell books.
Whatever you’re doing today, have a good one, and Slainté!
27 Wednesday Dec 2017
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! We had a lovely day with both sons home and my brother visiting. Lots to eat and drink and plenty of silly games.
I’ll let you into a tiny secret – I cooked Christmas dinner for the first time ever. 25 years ago I made the very wise decision to marry a good cook (not just for his cooking skills you understand!) and therefore have never had to do much in the kitchen other than clear up the not-inconsiderable mess he makes.
But this year we decided to do things differently, and so on Christmas morning our younger son and I cooked, while the other three went for a walk and to the pub. And dinner was amazing, though I say it myself.
Best present received? My dear husband bought me a Lego campervan, to remind me of our travels this year! I spent many happy hours on Boxing Day constructing it, with the help of two very jealous sons who have not quite grown out of Lego and probably never will.
A nice surprise this morning was to see that the ebook version of The Girl from Ballymor is on an Amazon UK promotion, selling at just 99p, and rising nicely up the charts as a result. Here’s the link if you want to grab yourself a post-Christmas bargain!
16 Thursday Nov 2017
Posted in Uncategorized
Way back in September, while I was away travelling in our motorhome, I recorded a radio interview with Talk Radio Europe, to promote The Girl from Ballymor. They’ve only just broadcast it, and for the next few days you can listen to it on the link below. Choose 15th November, time slot 19:00-20:00. My bit starts at 38 minutes, 40 seconds in.
http://www.talkradioeurope.com/on-demand/
It was an odd experience – I was in the motorhome somewhere in Portugal, with all the doors and windows closed despite the heat to keep background noise to a minimum, speaking on my mobile phone. A tractor kept driving back and forth through the campsite, but thankfully the interviewer, Hannah, confirmed she couldn’t hear it. I’d locked my husband outside – didn’t even want to LOOK at him while the interview was ongoing!
If I sound nervous it’s because I was, although Hannah put me at my ease and let me waffle on. I’d had some great advice from writer friends on Facebook about smiling as I spoke (comes through in your voice), trying to speak slower than normal, and standing up rather than sitting down. Actually I paced back and forth in the small space in the middle of the van!
Kathleen McGurl 