tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61477891858227339622024-03-12T22:43:52.137-07:00Ann O'LoughlinWRITER/The Ballroom CafeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394796290993837508noreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147789185822733962.post-24239541957241573992016-07-15T00:08:00.002-07:002016-07-15T00:08:47.106-07:00<h2>
<span style="color: purple; font-size: x-large;">Thanks </span><a class="profileLink" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/page.php?id=203980390188" href="https://www.facebook.com/rteguide/"><span style="color: purple; font-size: x-large;">RTÉ Guide</span></a><span style="color: purple; font-size: x-large;"> for the full page on The Judge's Wife and for making a little girl's dream come true.</span></h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgipPhkffg2A5S-oWiS4NZzJIMwCRTi-06laFM7zcj8cDTtg1L_uzgaGiZwx_BPx0aHGSp3AOjkQDi-htCVGqtLlqzB0AnffXSDTjuYO1uS-hQTy8IVIwxNWs8uAIiJ3lErAgCvX6pf3Zc/s1600/RTE+GUIDE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="403" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgipPhkffg2A5S-oWiS4NZzJIMwCRTi-06laFM7zcj8cDTtg1L_uzgaGiZwx_BPx0aHGSp3AOjkQDi-htCVGqtLlqzB0AnffXSDTjuYO1uS-hQTy8IVIwxNWs8uAIiJ3lErAgCvX6pf3Zc/s640/RTE+GUIDE.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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<span style="color: purple;">Since the beginning, the RTE Guide was very big in our </span><span class="text_exposed_show"><span style="color: purple;">house. I remember as a child when it was a journal with a young Gay Byrne on the front. My mother always bought the Guide in the local town on a Saturday morning. I couldn't wait to look up my favourite programmes - Star Trek and Mannix if I remember correctly - ringing them with a pencil in the listings.</span></span><span class="text_exposed_show"><span style="color: purple;">My dream as a young girl living in the West of Ireland was one day to be in the RTE Guide.<br /> As we grew up, so too did the RTE Guide. Even when it turned in to the glossy magazine it is now and we entered the land of 24 hour TV and multi channels, our loyalty to the Guide remained. If it was in the Guide , it was gospel. My mother right up until her last days loved the RTE Guide, the crossword keeping her going well in to her 80s.<br /> So then, I am absolutely delighted the RTE Guide is this week running a feature on The Judge's Wife along with a special interview. There is even a competition run by </span><a class="profileLink" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/page.php?id=35624882298" href="https://www.facebook.com/blackandwhitepublishing/"><span style="color: purple;">Black & White Publishing</span></a><br /><span style="color: purple;"> So thanks RTÉ Guide for making my week and making a little girl's dream come true after all these years.<br /> Thanks too to photographer </span><a class="profileLink" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/user.php?id=728086163" href="https://www.facebook.com/omearain"><span style="color: purple;">Conor Ó Mearáin</span></a><span style="color: purple;"> for the lovely photograph printed here with the interview.</span></span></h3>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394796290993837508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147789185822733962.post-82171708669114302822016-07-10T23:27:00.002-07:002016-07-10T23:27:44.606-07:00<br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-size: x-large;">THE BEST MOMENT AS A WRITER....</span></h2>
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<span style="color: purple;">The best fun as a writer is when you connect with readers. Some know the first book and want to chat about The Ballroom Café. Others want to ask questions about my latest novel, The Judge's Wife. And for some people, it is just the joy of linking up with the writer of a book they love or the face behind the author name on a book cover.</span><br />
<span style="color: purple;">For me, connecting with readers are the sweetest moments. Such as this weekend. There I was signing The Judge's Wife at Easons, St Stephen's Green,Dublin when these lovely people from the Canary Islands came along.</span><br />
<span style="color: purple;"> Mums, Carmen and Milagros were in Dublin to visit their children Laura and Gabriel who are here for a few weeks studying English.</span><br />
<span style="color: purple;">Their enthusiasm and joy when I was the author of the book the were about to buy was infectious and for few moments it appeared as if everybody in the shop was caught up in their enthusiasm. Store assistant manager Kelly took this lovely photograph.</span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;">I will be visiting Eason stores across Dublin on Tuesday, so if you see me, be sure to say hello.</span></div>
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<span style="color: purple;">Ann x</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394796290993837508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147789185822733962.post-82430448327005856422016-07-07T23:50:00.001-07:002016-07-07T23:50:28.302-07:00<h2>
<em><span style="color: purple; font-size: x-large;">Here I am on video, chatting about The Judge's Wife I do hope you enjoy it and it gives you a nice flavour of the story.</span></em></h2>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394796290993837508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147789185822733962.post-10612860366426069212016-07-04T00:41:00.000-07:002016-07-04T00:41:01.669-07:00<h2>
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THE JUDGE'S WIFE BLOG TOUR ROCKS ON!</h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdj4IdmknRCVnRguMzszw2CtK7-bk6b3segbN-0K7srt7RwMA_tiAMjJcrrNvzCA1oMH1Wcrxf513nhdjI04iMu9yxM8wcwQkbGpGVvFEgfJKBcfbp8qccpxe2SW2_XM3t3C8rpjmIT48/s1600/PicCollage+%25281%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdj4IdmknRCVnRguMzszw2CtK7-bk6b3segbN-0K7srt7RwMA_tiAMjJcrrNvzCA1oMH1Wcrxf513nhdjI04iMu9yxM8wcwQkbGpGVvFEgfJKBcfbp8qccpxe2SW2_XM3t3C8rpjmIT48/s320/PicCollage+%25281%2529.png" width="213" /></a></div>
<a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Judges-Wife-Ann-OLoughlin/dp/1785300512/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr="><b><span style="color: #992211;">The Judge's Wife</span></b></a> is a powerful and moving story, very well written with characters that are fascinating and a central theme that is quite tragic.<br />
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You can read the review below or one this link.<a href="http://randomthingsthroughmyletterbox.blogspot.ie/2016/07/the-judges-wife-by-ann-oloughlin.html">http://randomthingsthroughmyletterbox.blogspot.ie/2016/07/the-judges-wife-by-ann-oloughlin.html</a><br />
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The Judge's Wife by Ann O'Loughlin #BlogTour </h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8b6AKHKzXx0N_hjRu56Fh-vgfStDwcQsfi92FuidKRXSOWE6ddm_aI0lfrsbkrVc1BJs3Ko0Tza-KzFzi30f2uFSZz4sktCUoAR9xyveli2H33ny5-I4-VrwuMuAUahRtnQFBjjVgDKU/s1600/judge+wife+gr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8b6AKHKzXx0N_hjRu56Fh-vgfStDwcQsfi92FuidKRXSOWE6ddm_aI0lfrsbkrVc1BJs3Ko0Tza-KzFzi30f2uFSZz4sktCUoAR9xyveli2H33ny5-I4-VrwuMuAUahRtnQFBjjVgDKU/s400/judge+wife+gr.jpg" width="260" /></a><b><i>Can love last forever?</i></b></div>
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<b><i>With her whole life ahead of her, beautiful young Grace's world changes forever when she's married off to a much older judge. Soon, feeling lonely and neglected, Grace meets and falls in love with an Indian doctor, Vikram. He's charming, thoughtful and kind, everything her husband is not. But this is the 1950s and when she becomes pregnant, the potential scandal must be harshly dealt with to avoid ruin.</i></b></blockquote>
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<b><i>A story spanning three decades, this is the moving tale of three women and how one great love changed their lives forever.</i></b> </blockquote>
<br /><br /><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Judges-Wife-Ann-OLoughlin/dp/1785300512/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr="><b><span style="color: #992211;">The Judge's Wife by Ann O'Loughlin</span></b></a> was published in paperback on 1 July 2016 by <a href="http://blackandwhitepublishing.com/"><span style="color: #992211;"><b>Black & White Publishing</b> </span></a>and is the author's second novel. Her debut, <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ballroom-Caf-Ann-OLoughlin/dp/1845029526/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr="><b><span style="color: #992211;">The Ballroom Cafe</span></b></a> was published in 2015.<br /><br /><b><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Judges-Wife-Ann-OLoughlin/dp/1785300512/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr="><span style="color: #992211;">The Judge's Wife</span></a> </b>is a story that really does pack a punch, it offers an insight into the terrible injustices carried out against innocent women in Ireland between the 1930s and 1950s. Although this is a fictional story, it is horrifying because we know that it could be true. These things really did happen, and not that long ago.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb7WZHW-3Pd9rR1bLtNAL3chPzWby4bX8IOoEj-y_lnyy07sWQ-DPaEqsRRdA_jMeDbB_1y5F38AuFXr-96qCVn3G2RbUehy8r9oDV1_ZTACseIta_YniujoX-x9eEimwl-2P72G0Ly1Q/s1600/The+Judge%2527s+Wife+Blog+Tour+Banner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb7WZHW-3Pd9rR1bLtNAL3chPzWby4bX8IOoEj-y_lnyy07sWQ-DPaEqsRRdA_jMeDbB_1y5F38AuFXr-96qCVn3G2RbUehy8r9oDV1_ZTACseIta_YniujoX-x9eEimwl-2P72G0Ly1Q/s640/The+Judge%2527s+Wife+Blog+Tour+Banner.jpg" width="640" /></a>For me, <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Judges-Wife-Ann-OLoughlin/dp/1785300512/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr="><b><span style="color: #992211;">The Judge's Wife</span></b></a> is a story of two halves. The author has chosen to tell this story using three female lead characters; Grace, the judge's wife of the title; Emma the grown-up daughter of the judge and Rosa, the daughter of Vikram - the Indian doctor who stole Grace's heart all those years ago. Grace's story begins in 1954 as she is taken to Our Lady's Asylum in County Wicklow. Emma and Rosa's stories are told thirty years later in 1984.<br /><br /> I found, during the first 100 pages or so of the story, that it was quite difficult to keep up with the change from the 50s to the 80s and from Ireland to India. I would have preferred longer chapters, so that I could engage a little more with each character. However, the strength of the story and of the emotional impact soon overrides any small criticism I had of the structure and I found myself caught up in the total injustice suffered by Grace and wondering just how any of these characters would ever find peace.<br /><br /> Grace is a wonderfully drawn character. An innocent, thrust into a world that is like nothing she has ever known, with no choices. Despite the wealth of her surroundings and the intellect of those who she associates with, Grace has a strength of character that will remain with her through some incredibly tragic and difficult times. She's like a breath of fresh air in a stuffy dusty room, and the author's descriptions of her fabulous 1950's wardrobe designed by the real-life Irish designer Sybil Connelly is delightful.<br /><br /> Life at Our Lady's Asylum was horrific for Grace and her fellow patients. Care is not a word that can be attributed to the people who held the keys, or the people who managed the Asylum. Ann O'Loughlin has captured the fears and the dreams of the women incarcerated within the walls of the building so well, these characters burst to life, and the reader will love them, and root for them.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Judges-Wife-Ann-OLoughlin/dp/1785300512/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr="><b><span style="color: #992211;">The Judge's Wife</span></b></a> is a powerful and moving story, very well written with characters that are fascinating and a central theme that is quite tragic.<br /><br /> My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><i>Psychiatric care in Ireland - the issue at the heart of The Judge's Wife</i></b></blockquote>
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<i>Grace Moran, the central character in The Judge's Wife was one of the unclaimed left to languish in an Irish asylum; left there even though she did not have mental difficulties - her only sin to fall in love .....</i></blockquote>
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<i>Author Ann O'Loughlin says it is now time to shine a light on past psychiatric care in Ireland.</i></blockquote>
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<i>'The Irish Government should at the very least commission a full independent report on the mental hospital system. There has in Ireland been an acknowledgement in relation to abuse in industrial schools and the horror of the Magdalene Laundries but for those who were incarcerated and left unclaimed in mental hospitals, there has been nothing.' she said.</i></blockquote>
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<i>By 1966, Ireland was incarcerating a higher proportion of its people in mental hospitals than anywhere else in the world. It follows that very many of these people (21,000 at the height of the system) were not mentally ill but were locked up for what Ann believes were social, political and familial reasons.</i></blockquote>
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<i>It is believed that 11,000 people died every decade in Irish mental hospitals - that's 33,000 people between the 1930s and the 1950s. Many of them died because of neglect and insanitary conditions.</i></blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB94bOqlLglDayhp-UKUIp5R05Uq6kQ5lS5_jmJVWBqbt3vGpPvWMm80EY0YbQHq25zvnweDRzrX7RHCS30UKGU22r3HltvARfzrT_Y7Pc92p5zeKprUU7AISJ5_f0eAQ6DbuBCi_jFvU/s1600/green+dots+divider.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="28" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB94bOqlLglDayhp-UKUIp5R05Uq6kQ5lS5_jmJVWBqbt3vGpPvWMm80EY0YbQHq25zvnweDRzrX7RHCS30UKGU22r3HltvARfzrT_Y7Pc92p5zeKprUU7AISJ5_f0eAQ6DbuBCi_jFvU/s640/green+dots+divider.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiagTqlC1qF0ExdQuMMdDUSH3n9tQdPZLZOCDseQTDBAfP-H8Osbym8wPs-c6WGv7wxFJNIE8LP9vCfpqmSSkHSIDJdt1byJeP9148XKFN0ux_VWwrBFSrM_dSebYOiu-wkdizeXjoQFmc/s1600/ann+o.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiagTqlC1qF0ExdQuMMdDUSH3n9tQdPZLZOCDseQTDBAfP-H8Osbym8wPs-c6WGv7wxFJNIE8LP9vCfpqmSSkHSIDJdt1byJeP9148XKFN0ux_VWwrBFSrM_dSebYOiu-wkdizeXjoQFmc/s200/ann+o.jpeg" width="200" /></a><b><i>A leading journalist in Ireland for nearly thirty years, Ann O'Loughlin has covered all major news events of the last three decades. Ann spent most of her career with Independent Newspapers, where she was security correspondent at the height of the Troubles, and was a senior journalist on the Irish Independent and Evening Herald.</i></b><br /><b><i>She is currently a senior journalist with the Irish Examiner newspaper; covering legal issues. Ann has also lived and worked in India.</i></b><br /><b><i>Originally from the west of Ireland, she now lives on the east coast of Ireland with her husband and two children.</i></b><br /><br /><b><i>Find out more about Ann and her writing at <a href="http://annoloughlin.blogspot.co.uk/"><span style="color: #992211;">annoloughlin.blogspot.co.uk</span></a></i></b><a href="http://annoloughlin.blogspot.co.uk/"><span style="color: #992211;"> </span></a><br /><b><i>Follow her on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/annolwriter"><span style="color: #992211;">@annolwriter</span></a></i></b><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394796290993837508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147789185822733962.post-17657233708444861232016-07-03T02:19:00.002-07:002016-07-03T02:19:55.155-07:00<h2>
<span style="color: purple;">The Judge's Wife Launch</span></h2>
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<span style="color: magenta;">We quaffed wine and ate mini cupcakes; I read from the book and answered questions. But mainly we had great conversation. It was really a night to remember and thanks to everybody who came along, old friends and new. Thanks to Black&White Publishing; literary agent Jenny Brown and Dubray Books. It was a wonderful send off for The Judge's Wife in to the world.</span></h3>
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</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394796290993837508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147789185822733962.post-30083839686890807872016-06-30T01:01:00.002-07:002016-06-30T01:01:26.894-07:00<h2>
<span style="color: blue;">LAUNCH DAY ..........A STOP IN IRELAND ON DAY 4 OF THE JUDGE'S WIFE BLOG TOUR</span></h2>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">AND A GIVEAWAY!</span></h2>
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<span style="color: blue;">Head over to </span><a href="http://www.bleachhouselibrary.ie/2016/06/blog-tour-and-giveaway-judges-wife-by.html">http://www.bleachhouselibrary.ie/2016/06/blog-tour-and-giveaway-judges-wife-by.html</a></h2>
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<span style="color: blue;">to take part or read below.</span></h2>
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<h2>
Blog Tour and Giveaway - "The Judge's Wife" by Ann O'Loughlin. </h2>
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I am delighted to bring you an exclusive piece, from Ann O' Loughlin, on my stop of the Blog Tour for her latest novel The Judge's Wife. I also have a a copy of the book, as well as a copy of her debut novel, The Ballroom Cafe, to giveaway to one lucky reader. To be in with a chance of winning this great prize, just enter via rafflecopter link below. Good Luck!</div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><i>The Judge's Wife</i> by Ann O'Loughlin</span></h3>
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<i><u>The Blurb</u></i></h4>
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<i><span style="color: blue;">Can a love last forever?</span></i></h3>
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<span style="color: blue;">When Emma returns to Dublin to put her estranged father’s affairs in order, she begins to piece together the story of his life and that of Grace, the mother she never knew. She knows her father as the judge – as stern and distant at home as he was in the courtroom. But as she goes through his personal effects, Emma begins to find clues about her mother that shock her profoundly.</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">A tale of enduring love and scandal that begins in 1950s Dublin and unravels across decades and continents, digging up long-buried family secrets along the way, <i>The Judge’s Wife</i> asks whether love really can last forever.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><u>Exclusive author feature</u></span></h2>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: purple;">SYBIL CONNOLLY<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: purple;">Grace Moran in The Judge’s Wife loved to wear Sybil Connolly day dresses, suits and elegant ballgowns.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: purple;">Dublin designer Sybil Connolly designed the most beautiful clothes. She reworked traditional Irish fabrics and styles – including peasant blouses, flannel petticoats and shawls – to give them contemporary appeal and glamour. Perhaps her most distinctive contribution to fashion was pleated handkerchief linen – as worn by Jackie Kennedy in the official White House portrait – it took up to nine yards of Irish linen handkerchiefs to create one yard of the uncrushable pleated fabric that pioneered. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;"><span style="color: blue;">This is an extract where Grace’s daughter, Emma in her father’s house in Parnell Square, Dublin comes across boxes and boxes of clothes belonging to the mother she never knew. In one special shop box is a beautiful Sybil Connolly dress wrapped in tissue paper.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">EXTRACT:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">“My God are you moving in or out?” Angie peered around a stack of boxes in the hall. “What’s going on?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">Boxes and boxes were piled high, with the name Grace scrawled in thick black marker. Stumbling, confusion clouding her face, Emma hit against a high stack of boxes, making it shake.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">“Where did these come from?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">The foreman stepped from behind a tower in the front room.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "ms 明朝"; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">“I told you.”</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "ms 明朝"; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">“Don’t touch them.”</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "ms 明朝"; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">“You said—”</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "ms 明朝"; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">“Don’t touch them.”</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "ms 明朝"; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">Tremors hurled up her body, buckling her knees and gripping her stomach. When Angie ran to her, she let her pull her gently into the library.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">“You need to sit down, dear. Something has spooked you for sure.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">“These are my mother’s things. I never knew any of it was in the house.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">Somebody called out that everything was down from the attic and Emma jumped to her feet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">“Now, now, these boxes are going nowhere. You catch your breath,” Angie said gently, pressing Emma back onto the chaise longue.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">A man carrying a wide box stepped into the library and placed the box beside her. “A pretty fancy box. I would open it first, if I were you. We are moving to clear out the old kitchen in the basement. Will you want to inspect anything there?”</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "ms 明朝"; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">Emma shook her head. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">The box took up the width of her arms. Once white, it was now covered in a layer of fine dust, the string faded a green-grey. Behind the dust, the name <i>Sybil Connolly, Dublin</i> was set in plain black print.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">“I had better scoot along.” Angie Hannon stood and watched Emma for a few seconds. “Will you be all right?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">Emma nodded, walking to the hall with Angie. “It is just a shock, I hardly know where to start.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">“The box in your hands is as good a place as any.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">Angie looked at her watch. “I had better get going or I’ll miss the first collection.” She whipped out the door, stopping only briefly to berate the workmen. “Will you quieten down a bit? They can hear you cursing in the city centre.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">Glancing into the front sitting room, Emma looked around. Stacks of boxes like a child’s playing bricks everywhere, four abreast on the upholstered couch, spanning the width of the window.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">Placing the outsize rectangular box on the floor, she eased the top off gently, her hair tumbling down, blocking out her face, her hands trembling. A cloud of dust blustered up around her as she pushed back the cover and pulled on layers and layers of white tissue paper, which piled up and crumpled around her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">A dress, ivory, ruffled with lace and inlaid with satin ribbons, was folded neatly. Emma lifted out the dress, standing up so it unfurled to the ground in a hurried whishing whisper. Layers of pleated frills were topped with lace and interwoven with pale-blue ribbon. The skirt spread out in tiny pinched pleats, a series of Chinese fans fluttering their messages. It was heavy to hold, the taffeta underskirt setting the pleated ruffles in place. Emma held it to her, swaying from side to side. The whoosh of the linen as it swept across the carpet made her swing faster and faster, the room twirling until she felt dizzy. Falling between two boxes on the couch, the linen spread around her as if it owned her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">She felt at home here, probably for the first time. All the times she had dreamed of her mother, wanting to feel her comforting presence, her soft touch, all the times she imagined it. Passing her hand over the linen, she disturbed the fabric and a faint hint of perfume waved around her. Pulling the nearest box on the couch, she nudged the cardboard flaps open. A bundle of silk scarves lounged like sleeping snakes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">Placing her hand into the well of colours, she heard the <i>klssss</i> of the silk as it moved, disturbed after years locked away. Not checking what she was picking, she pulled, latching on to one long scarf. It slithered out in a haze of royal blue, green, purple, the colours bouncing in the light, throwing bars of colour at the mirror over the mantelpiece. Crumpling it to tame it around her neck, she pushed the linen dress aside and jumped up to look in the mirror. Settling her hair on top of her head, the scarf complemented her long, graceful neck. Then, abruptly, she let her hair fall down.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">There was no going back to Australia, but what life could she make here among the forgotten treasures of a long-dead woman? Opening two more boxes, she tumbled out the contents, sifting through the clothes and losing track of time, only stopping when she heard the chat from the people standing at the bus stop outside the window. Peeping out the window, she saw a man finish his bottle of Coke before leaning over the railing and letting the empty bottle smash to the basement.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">Cross, Emma ran to the door, but the man was already boarding a double-decker. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "ms 明朝"; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">“You will have to put up some sort of netting. They don’t care about anyone.”</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "ms 明朝"; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">Angie Hannon, on her way home from Mass, was carrying a small white box. “I stopped off at the Kylemore and got you some cream slices: they go lovely with a cup of tea.” She hopped up the steps and placed the small box in Emma’s hands. “Don’t worry, I won’t be imposing myself. I am off out with the women’s club today.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">Emma smiled and made to go back inside. Angie called out softly, “Your skirt: it is a Sybil Connolly isn’t it?” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "ms 明朝"; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">Emma spun around. “How did you know?”</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "ms 明朝"; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">“Anyone with an eye for fashion could not miss a Sybil Connolly. Sure, didn’t she bring linen from the bog to the city?”</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "ms 明朝"; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">“I found it in the house.”</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "ms 明朝"; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">“Look after it. A vintage treasure, it is.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">“I didn’t realise.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">“I always heard your mother was a right looker and stunning in Sybil Connolly.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">“I wouldn’t know.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">Emma’s throat tightened and pain flared through her that so many knew her mother and she did not even have a faint memory: a favourite name or nursery rhyme, a touch, a look. Anger swelled inside her at her father and she wanted him to be alive so she could cross-examine him, demand answers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">Angie Hannon called out to Tom Harty’s wife and Emma, taking advantage of her distraction, slipped back inside her front door.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">What good was it opening these boxes and rummaging through the life of the mother she had never known? She should lock up this place, run away, but where would she go? There was no home back in Australia, just a lot of other possessions she did not care about and a husband busy playing house with another. She kicked a box, so light it skidded across the tiles in the hall. It hit a stack piled too high and the top box toppled over, the contents spilling across the floor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "ms 明朝"; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">Not bothering to pick up the items, Emma climbed the stairs, stopping on the fourth step to look back down the hall. The black and white tiles glinted in the light spilling in from over the door. It was the judge’s house. It still had his smell, and she expected him to call out from his library, to hear him clear his throat as he read his files.<o:p></o:p></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<i>The Judge's Wife</i> is published by Black and White Publishing and is available in PB and ebook format.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394796290993837508noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147789185822733962.post-69204026967528620112016-06-29T16:48:00.000-07:002016-06-29T16:48:25.763-07:00<h2>
<span style="background-color: white; color: blue;"> LAUNCH DAY FOR THE JUDGE'S WIFE</span></h2>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAUK-ZZ3kfZk5ay7RiGYRvvc2R7SFfZbJRsCi0j7CUFMEspJJhiEtwchjFZutgUPnLW_oLKB37s1XgBNhD2Qw_oEmC-oM7gQb2C5qsp49Qn_bnyxGuoZOiy8jqwfKQYdVYGpZI1YYAZg4/s1600/dubrays.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAUK-ZZ3kfZk5ay7RiGYRvvc2R7SFfZbJRsCi0j7CUFMEspJJhiEtwchjFZutgUPnLW_oLKB37s1XgBNhD2Qw_oEmC-oM7gQb2C5qsp49Qn_bnyxGuoZOiy8jqwfKQYdVYGpZI1YYAZg4/s400/dubrays.jpg" width="282" /></a><br />
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<span style="color: #741b47;">The Judge's Wife goes out to meet the world today and it is time for me to say thank you to everybody for their wonderful support.</span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47;">Agent Jenny Brown of Jenny Brown Associates will be with me today at Dubray Books to launch the book. Without Jenny I don't think The Ballroom Café or The Judge's Wife would have made it out there. She has an unwavering belief in my writing and an ability to push me to make it better every time. Thanks Jenny!</span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47;">Thank you too to all the bloggers who have backed both The Ballroom Café and now The Judge's Wife getting the message out there about the book. </span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47;">I also have to give a special mention to all those who have supported me on social media and especially Helena Gilhooly of Busybeaders who make the lovely angel bookmark in the exact colours of The Judge's Wife.</span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47;">I first met Helena when she gave me a lucky angel bookmark for The Ballroom Café last year and it sure brought me luck. She has now made one specially for The Judge' Wife. Nothing like a sprinkle of magic to help The Judge's Wife on its way.</span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47;">Next up is Evelyn Ring Irish Examiner reporter who has retweeted constantly in support of a colleague.</span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47;">Special mention also to Kelly Spillane who managed to spot the first copy of The Judge's Wife last weekend and to Naomi of Treats to You who made the delicious mini cupcakes for the launch party. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #741b47;">Thank you all for you support.</span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47;"> It is very much appreciated. Join me at Dubray Books, Grafton Street, Dublin to launch The Judge's Wife tonight June 30 at 6pm. Ann x.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394796290993837508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147789185822733962.post-130300797471174282016-06-29T00:12:00.001-07:002016-06-29T00:18:02.821-07:00<h2>
<span style="color: #4c1130;">COUNTDOWN TO LAUNCH.....ONE DAY TO GO</span></h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Xhf25FulG98GO6TllZh-1fNUeH9Lag-bwDyKoJ7MDjFoRISCbPSuskauuv-ypxEpbtadpdK6HH_1mFbp1VrkPT0ltSGr3wkVCoW9OeCmn8O_pFnaa-aATGUm0ApH2cKeriTuJolFixg/s1600/The+Judge%2527s+Wife+Blog+Tour+Banner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Xhf25FulG98GO6TllZh-1fNUeH9Lag-bwDyKoJ7MDjFoRISCbPSuskauuv-ypxEpbtadpdK6HH_1mFbp1VrkPT0ltSGr3wkVCoW9OeCmn8O_pFnaa-aATGUm0ApH2cKeriTuJolFixg/s400/The+Judge%2527s+Wife+Blog+Tour+Banner.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I was interviewed on Jera'sJamboree as part of The Judge's Wife blog tour . You can click on the link here or read below. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null">/</a><br />
<span style="color: #0066cc;"><a href="http://www.jerasjamboree.co.uk/2016/06/a-moving-story-three-woman-one-man.html">http://www.jerasjamboree.co.uk/2016/06/a-moving-story-three-woman-one-man.html</a><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b> </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #0066cc;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b> Welcome to Jera's Jamboree.</b></span><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><br /></b></span> <br />
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<span style="color: #0066cc;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>Please summarise The Judge’s Wife in 20 words or less.</b></span></span></div>
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<br /> A saga sweeping across continents, this is a story of one great love and those who wanted to destroy it. <br /><br /><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>What was the idea/inspiration for your novel?</b></span><br />
<br /> Many years ago, I visited the Taj Mahal in North India. It was a very hot day and I sat down to the side of the great monument in the shade of a tree. Some workmen were up on bamboo scaffolding tapping away with their hammers, replacing damaged pieces of marble. Suddenly one of the men broke off and came down. I thought he was going to say I was disrupting the work, but instead he opened up his fist and there on the palm of his hand were three small pieces of white marble.<br /><br /> He picked out a piece and handed to me.<br />
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"Take it. May it bring you luck," he said. He was gone back up the bamboo scaffolding, before I had a chance to say anything other than a quick thank you.<br />
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The kindness of that man; the simple generosity behind the gesture all those years ago started me thinking of the love story that became The Judge’s Wife.<br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>Please tell us about the characters in The Judge's Wife.</b></span></div>
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Grace Moran was a beautiful young woman married off to an older judge in 1950s Dublin. She falls in love with Vikram Fernandes, an Indian doctor. Theirs is a beautiful young love. She loves to wear designer Sybil Connolly clothes; he wants to bring her back to India and especially the coffee estate in the hills, but she ends up in an asylum and Vikram returns to India heartbroken. It is Grace's daughter when the judge dies, who is left to piece together the mystery of the life of the mother she never knew and the great love that once was between Vikram and Grace.<br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>What scene did you enjoy writing the most Ann?</b></span></div>
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I enjoyed the scene when Vikram wrote the letter to Grace telling her they would find a way to be together.When I say I enjoyed it, I actually cried writing that letter. It was as if Vikram was dictating it to me. I cried because it was beautiful to think that he loved Grace so much and his wish was a simple but beautiful one; sit in the shadow of the Taj Mahal, to hold her hand “and just be.”<br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>Did you do any research? What resources did you use? </b></span></div>
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There was a lot of research on asylums in the 50s and that involved reading accounts of those who had been incarcerated for any other reason beside psychiatric issues. But the research which was the most fun was on the designer Sybil Connolly. It was fascinating to learn about the pleated linen which was her trademark. I had lived in India, so the Indian chapters came easy enough to me.<br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>Did you travel to any places? Undergo any new experiences? </b></span></div>
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I lived in India for a year and while there, spent time in a coffee state in Chickmagalur. It was the most beautiful peaceful place, especially when the mists came in over the hills; it was really a world apart. It was this special place that I drew on for many of Vikram’s reminisces. Also I lived in the city of Bangalore, where Vikram spent most of his days, so I was able to write from experience of that great city.<br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><b> Do you have a theme for your book covers? Who designs them? </b></span><br />
The cover for The Judge's Wife was designed by photographer and designer Henry Steadman. I just love this cover and I think it is a wonderful successor to the bestselling The Ballroom Café. The Ballroom cover was universally loved.</div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>I know you have a book trailer Ann. What do you think book trailers achieve? </b></span></div>
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I regard the book trailer as an invitation to the reader to sit down for a while and listen to a bit of chat about the book. In my trailer I read that letter Vikram wrote to Grace because it is one of my favourite parts of whole book. The trailer gives a taste of what is to come in the book and I find my readers like to see me in my sitting room chatting about the book. </div>
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<span style="color: #0066cc;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>Finally Ann, what has been the best part of your writing journey so far?</b></span><br /> The best part of my writing journey has got to be the fantastic feedback from readers. Writing is a lonely business. I sit in my kitchen early in the morning with the dog at my feet. It is so wonderful then to get the reaction of readers and the appreciation of the story told and the work put in. The reaction of the readers and the reviews are the greatest gift to the author.<br /><br />
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<span style="color: #0066cc;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>Thank you for sharing with us today.</b></span></span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394796290993837508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147789185822733962.post-12308646831185012032016-06-27T23:25:00.001-07:002016-06-27T23:25:23.599-07:00<h2>
<span style="color: blue;">COUNTDOWN TO LAUNCH .......TWO DAYS AGO</span></h2>
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<span style="color: #351c75;">"It was devastating, it was perfect and it was beautiful. I couldn’t stop thinking about the characters and their lives long after I’d read the last page. A magnificent read!"</span></h4>
<span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="color: #741b47;">So happy with this first review of The Judge's Wife on the second step of The Judge's Wife Blog Tour.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #741b47;"></span> Blog tour and review: The Judge’s Wife by Ann O’Loughlin</h4>
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Posted <time class="date time published updated sc" datetime="2016-06-28T05:25:53+00:00">June 28, 2016</time> · </div>
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<a class="cboxElement" href="http://i2.wp.com/www.kimthebookworm.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/9781785300516.jpg" rel="lightbox[1708]" title="Blog tour and review: The Judge's Wife by Ann O'Loughlin"><img alt="9781785300516" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-1709" height="300" scale="2" sizes="(max-width: 196px) 100vw, 196px" src-orig="http://i2.wp.com/www.kimthebookworm.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/9781785300516.jpg?resize=196%2C300" src="https://i2.wp.com/www.kimthebookworm.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/9781785300516.jpg?zoom=2&resize=196,300" srcset="http://i2.wp.com/www.kimthebookworm.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/9781785300516.jpg?zoom=2&resize=196%2C300" width="196" /></a>I was truly honoured when I was asked to read and review and take part in the blog tour for <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Judges-Wife-captivating-emotional-unspeakable-ebook/dp/B01CV0Y5SE/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1467055649&sr=1-1&keywords=the+judges+wife"><em><strong>The Judge’s Wife</strong></em></a> by Ann O’Loughlin. I loved her previous book and was really looking forward to this one too. And I love all the books that I’ve been sent by Black and White Publishing.<br />
<strong>About the book:</strong><br />
<em>Can a love last forever?</em><br />
With her whole life ahead of her, beautiful young Grace’s world changes forever when she’s married off to a much older man, the Judge. Soon, feeling lonely and neglected, Grace meets and falls in love with an Indian doctor, Vikram. He’s charming, thoughtful and kind, everything her husband is not. But this is the 1950s, and when the scandal threatens to come to light, the situation must be harshly dealt with to avoid ruin, leading to years of heartbreak, misunderstandings and secrets. <em>The Judge’s Wife </em>spans three decades, and is a moving story of three women and how one great love changed their lives forever…<br />
<strong>What did I think?</strong><br />
I absolutely, completely and utterly adored this book from the first page, all the way through every single page, through to the very last. It was a book that when I was away from, even if it was just to make a cuppa, I was desperate to get back to. I just couldn’t bear to be away from them.<br />
The characters of Vikram and Grace were both such beautiful, innocent characters that I could have read about so much more. They are characters that I’d love to read more about.<br />
Ann has a lovely writing style, which I discovered in her previous book The Ballroom Café that immediately lifts you up, whisks you away and plonks you down into another life. A life that you feel you are truly living in. I absolutely loved the descriptions of Grace’s clothes and felt like I was unpacking them myself.<br />
I felt devastated by the circumstances that were written about and wanted to help. I was totally and fully compelled to turn the pages. And oh my, what a twist at the end! I certainly didn’t see that coming!<br />
The Judge’s Wife is a stunning book that broke my heart, on more than one occasion. It was devastating, it was perfect and it was beautiful. I couldn’t stop thinking about the characters and their lives long after I’d read the last page. A magnificent read!</div>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">The Judge's Wife available on Amazon kindle now</span></h4>
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<span style="color: #741b47;"><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Judges-Wife-captivating-emotional-unspeakable-ebook/dp/B01CV0Y5SE?ie=UTF8&ref_=asap_bc">https://www.amazon.co.uk/Judges-Wife-captivating-emotional-unspeakable-ebook/dp/B01CV0Y5SE?ie=UTF8&ref_=asap_bc</a></span></h4>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394796290993837508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147789185822733962.post-64712801426109351972016-06-27T01:08:00.003-07:002016-06-27T01:40:57.672-07:00<h2>
<span style="color: purple;">COUNTDOWN TO LAUNCH...........THREE DAYS TO GO</span></h2>
<h2>
<span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">
</span></span></h2>
<span style="color: purple;"></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzdraZzXtdbEZclKNpxcz_Xkd8B-nLMDF9o6w0ddrdFNDodsv2pv9fAeOY81HT64K0ml_pWKjqdqEbHF3q2AAmuCRXH-BX61elh6bO3aQPPf-ofTgVOv7rsT448VRNn3BCmEFzXzdVD2U/s1600/The+Judge%2527s+Wife+X.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzdraZzXtdbEZclKNpxcz_Xkd8B-nLMDF9o6w0ddrdFNDodsv2pv9fAeOY81HT64K0ml_pWKjqdqEbHF3q2AAmuCRXH-BX61elh6bO3aQPPf-ofTgVOv7rsT448VRNn3BCmEFzXzdVD2U/s400/The+Judge%2527s+Wife+X.jpg" width="300" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75;"></span> </h3>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="color: #351c75;">No writer is a solo artist. There is a whole team behind
each book that makes it to publication. Sometimes the teams are big and
sometimes they are small, but the most important thing is that they love the
book and the story told. </span></h3>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="color: #351c75;">On the journey to launching a book, you meet a lot of
different people who have a crucial role before the paperback can be put on the shelf.
But it is not just about getting the book in to the bookshops, it is a whole
series of things that must come together to represent properly the story that
has been told. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="color: #351c75;">
</span><span style="color: #351c75;">The team at Black and White Publishing have worked around the
clock to get The Judge’s Wife ready for publication, considering they only first
read the script last January.<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="color: #351c75;">
</span><span style="color: #351c75;">First came the editing by Karyn Millar and Chris Kydd. They
are eagle eyed word wranglers and their suggestions were spot on. Then came the
cover design by photographer and designer Henry Steadman with Alison McBride and Campbell
Brown of Black and White working overtime to get it just right, so that the
cover would accurately portray the story of Vikram and Grace.</span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="color: #351c75;">Once the editing process and cover were finished, the
publicity team of Laura Nicoll and Daiden O’Regan took over, arranging a host of
events and interviews to coincide with publication and a blog tour to boot.
They also took charge of the beautifully presented packages sent out to
bloggers and press across the UK and Ireland.<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="color: #351c75;">
</span><span style="color: #351c75;">And in the middle of all these busy times, Rights Manager Janne
Moller announced the Norwegian rights to The Judge’s Wife had been sold. Now, Digital manager Thomas Ross starts overseeing the online content
as the books shipped out to shops are stacked on to the shelves.<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="color: #351c75;">
</span><span style="color: #351c75;">Maybe I have had the easiest job of all ……….writing the book!<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="color: #351c75;">
</span></h3>
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</h3>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394796290993837508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147789185822733962.post-81185546051649444642016-06-26T02:06:00.000-07:002016-06-26T02:11:27.104-07:00<h2>
<span style="color: #351c75;">COUNTDOWN TO LAUNCH ...........FOUR DAYS TO GO</span></h2>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu2HUSSRaOjNbpgX1UOnBzTypzFGGuxUttJjVned6O0rnSV1BPyrzpmCiLZwaUkT9rkfvGCwkSkwtMKZ55iqALqrigfSSdlVtPaspC7Yc8rBqqGVSeBzSWD5Ly-ECc-yZs5aG_9YMul7I/s1600/Screenshot+%2528487%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu2HUSSRaOjNbpgX1UOnBzTypzFGGuxUttJjVned6O0rnSV1BPyrzpmCiLZwaUkT9rkfvGCwkSkwtMKZ55iqALqrigfSSdlVtPaspC7Yc8rBqqGVSeBzSWD5Ly-ECc-yZs5aG_9YMul7I/s1600/Screenshot+%2528487%2529.png" /></a></div>
<h3>
<span style="color: blue;"><em>Grace Moran loved to wear Sybil Connolly designer dresses.</em></span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="color: #555555; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><em> </em><span style="color: #073763;"><em><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: large;">Dublin </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">designer Sybil Connoly designed the most beautiful clothes. She was<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>adept at reworking traditional Irish fabrics and styles – including peasant blouses, flannel petticoats and shawls – to give them contemporary appeal and glamour. Perhaps her most distinctive contribution to fashion was pleated handkerchief linen – as worn by Jackie Kennedy in the official White House portrait – it took up to nine yards of Irish linen handkerchiefs to create one yard of the uncrushable pleated fabric that </span></span></span></span></em><em>pioneered</em></span></span><em><span style="color: #073763;">.</span></em></span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><em> <o:p></o:p></em></span></span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"></span></span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"></span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="color: blue;"><em>
</em></span><span style="color: #555555; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: blue;"><em>Here is an extract from The Judge's Wife when Emma finds a Sybil Connolly
dress among all the boxes taken down from the attic of her late father's house in Parnell Square, Dublin. The designer dress hinting at the glamour of the woman she never knew.</em><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;">
</span><div class="Maintext" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span></span> </div>
<div class="Maintext" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span></span> </div>
<div class="Maintext" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span></span> </div>
<div class="Maintext" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Placing the outsize rectangular box on the floor,
she eased the top off gently, her hair tumbling down, blocking out her face, her
hands trembling. A cloud of dust blustered up around her as she pushed back the
cover and pulled on layers and layers of white tissue paper, which piled up and
crumpled around her.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;">
</span><div class="Maintext" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">A dress, ivory, ruffled with lace and inlaid
with satin ribbons, was folded neatly. Emma lifted out the dress, standing up so
it unfurled to the ground in a hurried whishing whisper. Layers of pleated frills
were topped with lace and interwoven with pale-blue ribbon. The skirt spread out
in tiny pinched pleats, a series of Chinese fans fluttering their messages. It was
heavy to hold, the taffeta underskirt setting the pleated ruffles in place. Emma
held it to her, swaying from side to side. The whoosh of the linen as it swept across
the carpet made her swing faster and faster, the room twirling until she felt dizzy.
Falling between two boxes on the couch, the linen spread around her as if it owned
her.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;">
</span><div class="Maintext" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">She felt at home here, probably for the first
time. All the times she had dreamed of her mother, wanting to feel her comforting
presence, her soft touch, all the times she imagined it. Passing her hand over the
linen, she disturbed the fabric and a faint hint of perfume waved around her. Pulling
the nearest box on the couch, she nudged the cardboard flaps open. A bundle of silk
scarves lounged like sleeping snakes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;">
</span><div class="Maintext" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Placing her hand into the well of colours,
she heard the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">klssss</i> of the silk as it
moved, disturbed after years locked away. Not checking what she was picking, she
pulled, latching on to one long scarf. It slithered out in a haze of royal blue,
green, purple, the colours bouncing in the light, throwing bars of colour at the
mirror over the mantelpiece. Crumpling it to tame it around her neck, she pushed
the linen dress aside and jumped up to look in the mirror. Settling her hair on
top of her head, the scarf complemented her long, graceful neck. Then, abruptly,
she let her hair fall down.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;">
</span><div class="Maintext" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">There was no going back to Australia, but what
life could she make here among the forgotten treasures of a long-dead woman?
Opening two more boxes, she tumbled out the contents, sifting through the
clothes and losing track of time, only stopping when she heard the chat from
the people standing at the bus stop outside the window. Peeping out the window,
she saw a man finish his bottle of Coke before leaning over the railing and
letting the empty bottle smash to the basement.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;">
</span><div class="Maintext" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Cross, Emma ran to the door, but the man was
already boarding a double-decker. </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "ms mincho"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho";"> </span><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;">
</span><div class="Maintext" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">“You will have to put up some sort of netting.
They don’t care about anyone.”</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "ms mincho"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho";"> </span><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Angie Hannon, on her
way home from Mass, was carrying a small white box. “I stopped off at the Kylemore
and got you some cream slices: they go lovely with a cup of tea.” She hopped up
the steps and placed the small box in Emma’s hands. “Don’t worry, I won’t be imposing
myself. I am off out with the women’s club today.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;">
</span><div class="Maintext" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Emma smiled and made to go back inside. Angie
called out softly, “Your skirt: it is a Sybil Connolly isn’t it?” <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;">
</span><div class="Maintext" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "ms mincho"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho";"> </span><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Emma spun around. “How did you know?”</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "ms mincho"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho";"> </span><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;">
</span><div class="Maintext" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">“Anyone with an eye for fashion could not miss
a Sybil Connolly. Sure, didn’t she bring linen from the bog to the city?”</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "ms mincho"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho";"> </span><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;">
</span><div class="Maintext" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">“I found it in the house.”</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "ms mincho"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho";"> </span><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;">
</span><div class="Maintext" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="color: #0b5394;">“Look after it. A vintage treasure, it is.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;">
</span><div class="Maintext" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="color: #0b5394;">“I didn’t realise.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;">
</span><div class="Maintext" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="color: #0b5394;">“I always heard your mother was a right looker
and stunning in Sybil Connolly.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;">
</span><div class="Maintext" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="color: #0b5394;">“I wouldn’t know.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;">
</span><div class="Maintext" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Emma’s throat tightened and pain flared through
her that so many knew her mother and she did not even have a faint memory: a favourite
name or nursery rhyme, a touch, a look. Anger swelled inside her at her father and
she wanted him to be alive so she could cross-examine him, demand answers.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;">
</span><div class="Maintext" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Angie Hannon called out to Tom Harty’s wife and
Emma, taking advantage of her distraction, slipped back inside her front door.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
</span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;">
</span></span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="color: #555555; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><em><span style="color: #0b5394;"></span></em></span> </h3>
<h3>
<span style="color: #555555; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"></span></span> </h3>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="color: #555555; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">
</span></span></h3>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394796290993837508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147789185822733962.post-49122556685522264792016-06-25T00:40:00.001-07:002016-06-25T01:04:08.295-07:00<h2>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQFvp-oFTEdG2Rf6f7Ih6_NCzCBSADSuw4IOgLgcjcL-vKMXK3IhydUFwtf0gDdiFYZ9WGcgKKcG9DLUm_al9Gi1DodW2zrOVKXAH9ZNwwK86gHiwX44JSXgHnYhAtXqODaBPZpOPvcOg/s1600/IMG_3255.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQFvp-oFTEdG2Rf6f7Ih6_NCzCBSADSuw4IOgLgcjcL-vKMXK3IhydUFwtf0gDdiFYZ9WGcgKKcG9DLUm_al9Gi1DodW2zrOVKXAH9ZNwwK86gHiwX44JSXgHnYhAtXqODaBPZpOPvcOg/s400/IMG_3255.JPG" width="298" /></a><span style="color: #674ea7;">COUNTDOWN TO LAUNCH ....... FIVE DAYS TO GO</span></h2>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2GxG6l2HZ5TXL7_KlesOfCvsAVt_Dt11fHGS6wrNqDe6hdTMi8AyazcFLWpL4h3DK0uiT0Z7u91WXLojPNA58UkjiPytxltqXzvqIr0BguZhhlLDGPNU85KyhsF0zhC2XPKKiCI39T1U/s1600/ACLAREFM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2GxG6l2HZ5TXL7_KlesOfCvsAVt_Dt11fHGS6wrNqDe6hdTMi8AyazcFLWpL4h3DK0uiT0Z7u91WXLojPNA58UkjiPytxltqXzvqIr0BguZhhlLDGPNU85KyhsF0zhC2XPKKiCI39T1U/s1600/ACLAREFM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2GxG6l2HZ5TXL7_KlesOfCvsAVt_Dt11fHGS6wrNqDe6hdTMi8AyazcFLWpL4h3DK0uiT0Z7u91WXLojPNA58UkjiPytxltqXzvqIr0BguZhhlLDGPNU85KyhsF0zhC2XPKKiCI39T1U/s200/ACLAREFM.png" width="200" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2GxG6l2HZ5TXL7_KlesOfCvsAVt_Dt11fHGS6wrNqDe6hdTMi8AyazcFLWpL4h3DK0uiT0Z7u91WXLojPNA58UkjiPytxltqXzvqIr0BguZhhlLDGPNU85KyhsF0zhC2XPKKiCI39T1U/s1600/ACLAREFM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </a><br />
I was chatting to Gavin on ClareFM this week about The Judge's Wife. Have a listen. (tap on the red section below)It starts about fifty seconds in. <br />
<span style="color: #741b47;">Also very nice to be a KEY READ FOR JULY IN IMAGE MAGAZINE.</span><br />
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<iframe width="100%" height="166" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="<a href="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/270488067&amp;color=ff5500"></iframe">https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/270488067&amp;color=ff5500"></iframe</a>><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394796290993837508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147789185822733962.post-87795407881505966502016-06-24T00:59:00.000-07:002016-06-24T01:00:48.587-07:00<h2>
<span style="color: #674ea7;">COUNTDOWN TO LAUNCH.........SIX DAYS TO GO.</span></h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_8duVB_a6H6AW-H6ej3YgJnF6oh7Yy9wz0bNbwacvEKGYepU4FvJBEbcA4XnxIax1iVgzMiKHkcOBCVmXc4zwuYVfGb7-uLgsogbS4U1RU6EzQLF_43_Xm2ZqLX6EHQr3SiTHaJWs0II/s1600/IMG_0077.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_8duVB_a6H6AW-H6ej3YgJnF6oh7Yy9wz0bNbwacvEKGYepU4FvJBEbcA4XnxIax1iVgzMiKHkcOBCVmXc4zwuYVfGb7-uLgsogbS4U1RU6EzQLF_43_Xm2ZqLX6EHQr3SiTHaJWs0II/s320/IMG_0077.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;">Six days to go and these beautiful books have arrived from
Black and White Publishing. </span></h4>
<h4 class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="color: #0b5394;">The Judge’s Wife, a novel by Ann O’Loughlin; I turn the book
over in my hands for the first time. There is no sweeter moment.</span></h4>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;">Every morning I get up early and write when the house is
still and even the dog stays asleep. Some mornings the characters in my head
are talking so fast, it is hard to keep up with them. Other mornings, we trudge
through the sentences; the characters in my head fighting to change the plot.<o:p></o:p></span></h4>
<h4>
<span style="color: #0b5394;">
</span><span style="color: #0b5394;">That is how a book is written word after word, paragraph
after paragraph, page after page and chapter after chapter. There are the best
days when they fingers soar across the keyboard and the days when every
sentence is a hard won battle.<o:p></o:p></span></h4>
<h4>
<span style="color: #0b5394;">
</span><span style="color: #0b5394;">There are days when you think you will never write ‘The
End’; maybe you don’t even know it yet. And there are the rewriting days, when
it feels you are in a different novel altogether. And then there are days like
this, when you open a box and you hold the copy of the novel for the first
time.<o:p></o:p></span></h4>
<h4>
<span style="color: #0b5394;">
</span><span style="color: #0b5394;">The Judge’s Wife by Ann O’Loughlin. I pick it up and flick
through the pages. They are all there; Vikram and Grace and their beautiful
love for each other. They fought hard in my head and won their place on the
page.<o:p></o:p></span></h4>
<h4>
<span style="color: #0b5394;">
</span><span style="color: #0b5394;">The Judge’s Wife<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>goes out on to book stands across the country in the next few days. My
only hope is that you, the reader enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing
the story of Grace Moran and Vikram Fernandes.<o:p></o:p></span></h4>
<h4>
<span style="color: #0b5394;">
</span><span style="color: #0b5394;">When you reach the end I hope you may be able to answer that
question posed on the cover,</span><span style="color: #0b5394;">‘Can a Love Last Forever?’<o:p></o:p></span></h4>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394796290993837508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147789185822733962.post-80684417274689095342016-06-23T00:26:00.000-07:002016-06-23T00:26:03.846-07:00<h2>
<span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #351c75;">COUNTDOWN TO LAUNCH ........... SEVEN DAYS TO GO</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0i9F3nQGxwRe65vTC5ggygaoGzifQFRnbks1-4dgcN1B1JzQsMsepxEaQufAiiiXRcrU5xHFSEaKZIyhGf9pERZMHJ4sPY3jc1FrWCLgsu1SM1pKi1j29Gh_aVAfyLc_rtJYArB4UfiQ/s1600/800px-Coffee_Flowers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0i9F3nQGxwRe65vTC5ggygaoGzifQFRnbks1-4dgcN1B1JzQsMsepxEaQufAiiiXRcrU5xHFSEaKZIyhGf9pERZMHJ4sPY3jc1FrWCLgsu1SM1pKi1j29Gh_aVAfyLc_rtJYArB4UfiQ/s320/800px-Coffee_Flowers.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<em>The inspiration of the coffee estates of South India.</em> </div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-size: small;"><em><span style="color: #741b47;">My time in the coffee estates in the hills
of South India were a beautiful inspiration as I wrote The Judge’s Wife. Here
peace comes dropping slow. I hope you enjoy this extract from the novel where Vikram
Fernandes, on the balcony of his apartment in busy Bangalore city longs to be
back among the Robusta coffee plants and his plantation. My time in the coffee estate in Chickmagalur will be forever in my heart. Ann</span></em></span></span><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><o:p><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #351c75;">The rising clamour of the city encircled
Vikram, sapping his energy. How he longed to be back in Chikmagalur, where the
air was heavy with stillness and workers concentrating stooped low; where the
mountains high and strong, held up blue umbrellas of mist to the sky. The
orange flash of a rat snake flitting across a path, the sound of chopping and
pans on the fire in the kitchen as the cook prepared the food for the day, the
low, far-off hum of conversation from the line of stone dwellings where the
workers lived.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #351c75;">The family estate house was old and
battered-looking, with stone walls and floors over which rugs were strewn to
take away the sharpness of the cold in winter. Built to service the hectares of
the coffee estate, it had changed little over the decades. The only obvious
luxury was the early-morning coffee ceremony, after Vikram had gathered his
workers and sent them off for the day, his instructions ringing in their ears.
Thick black coffee and steaming-hot milk were poured into small china cups from
tall silver coffee pots. Vikram’s father had insisted on this ritual and his
son saw no reason to change it. The china cups, first brought to the house by
his mother, had seen better days and were chipped in places, but Vikram never
had the heart to throw them out. Instead, he ordered his servants to handle
with care, and they did, because nobody wanted to upset the boss.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #351c75;">How he wanted to be in his big old chair on
the covered porch at Chikmagalur, where he could look out over the drying
grounds and terraces, past the tall trees giving pools of shade, to watch the
hills and clouds fight for the sky. This was where peace dropped slow. Whether
the sun baked the ground or the monsoon rain spattered or tore down on top of
them, Chikmagalur was his place apart.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #351c75;">His favourite spot in the bungalow was the
sitting room, where he could sit quietly, the green hills on guard. The
furniture was dowdy, the circular brass table in the middle gone green in
places from old coffee stains, where he had spilled his cup too many times as
he reached across for his newspaper. In one corner was a stack of weeks-old
newspapers about a foot high, on the walls were photographs, worn, creased in
places and sepia-brown.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #351c75;">He wanted to be there when the white flowers
in the Robusta coffee plants unfurled, putting on a show, breaking into the
mist, which clung in gossamer swirls to the trees. There was nothing as lovely
as when the first blossom revealed itself: a reminder of the frail beauty of
life, before the monsoon rains battered the hills, flooded the roads and cut
off the mountains from each other.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #351c75;">“Uncle, your coffee.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Rosa stood in the doorway holding a tray
with a steel beaker, steam curling away from it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #351c75;">“You were deep in thought?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #351c75;">“I was thinking of the flowers in bloom at
Chikmagalur. I long to breathe them in, fill my nostrils with their heavy
scent. You never liked it there, my Rosa.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #351c75;">“Uncle, there was nothing to do.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Vikram settled himself deeper in his chair.
“Boredom, the affliction of the young, loneliness, the affliction of the old.”
Blowing on his coffee, he paused for a few seconds before noisily slurping it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394796290993837508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147789185822733962.post-42925180773936515012016-06-22T01:51:00.000-07:002016-06-22T08:45:28.319-07:00<br />
<h2>
<span style="color: #4c1130;">COUNTDOWN TO LAUNCH .................... DAY 8.</span> </h2>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 104%;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><i>THE STORY BEHIND THE COVER ………THE
JUDGE’S WIFE.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></h2>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 104%;"><span style="color: #351c75;"> Don't judge a book by its cover. That is the old saying, but doesn't everybody initially judge a book by its cover? In three seconds flat the cover will make
that decision whether a reader wants to take it in to their hands and turn
it over and flick through the pages.<o:p></o:p></span></span></h4>
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<span style="color: #351c75;">
</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 104%;"><span style="color: #351c75;">The cover for The Judge’s Wife had to
get across that this was a story spanning decades about a beautiful young woman
who lived in Dublin, Ireland in the 50s and a terrible injustice done to her
which reverberated through the decades.<o:p></o:p></span></span></h4>
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<span style="color: #351c75;">
</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 104%;"><span style="color: #351c75;">The cover of my first novel The Ballroom
Cafe was universally loved so it was a big challenge for Black and White
Publishing to come up with a match.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 104%;"><span style="color: #351c75;">But I am lucky to have in Black and
White Publishing a publisher who will stop at nothing to get it right. I was
also lucky enough that London designer Henry Steadman<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>could take on the job of designing The
Judge’s Wife cover.<o:p></o:p></span></span></h4>
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</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 104%;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Without realising it, you are probably
very familiar with Henry Steadman book covers. Think Dan Brown and De Vinci
Code, think Lee Child and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a host of
other top authors.<o:p></o:p></span></span></h4>
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<span style="color: #351c75;">
</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 104%;"><span style="color: #351c75;">A photographer and designer, he was the
man for the job.<o:p></o:p></span></span></h4>
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<span style="color: #351c75;">
</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 104%;"><span style="color: #351c75;">And what a cover he produced. It had the
style of the 1950s and the promise of more. Grace who loved designer Sybil
Connolly would certainly have approved and the colours and mountains behind
hinted at places far away. <br />
The minute I saw it I knew it was just right and encapsulates everything
the novel is about.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 104%;"><span style="color: #351c75;"> That mint green dress; that face,
the background; it<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>all<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>evokes an era the era when Grace and Vikram
fell in love 1950s Dublin. What happened afterwards would affect the lives of
many.<o:p></o:p></span></span></h4>
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<span style="color: #351c75;">
</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 104%;"><span style="color: #351c75;"> I am very proud of The Judge’s Wife and
of the cover. I am also honoured to be in the company of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>very fine authors who have had a cover
designed by Henry Steadman. <o:p></o:p></span></span></h4>
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<span style="color: #351c75;">
</span><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 104%;"><span style="color: #351c75;">And I am thrilled to say Henry Steadman
has included<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the cover of The Judge's
Wife in his website portfolio</span>. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 104%;">Have a look and you will see why I am
so excited<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to be included among such
great names in storytelling and writing. Find Henry Steadman at http://www.henrysteadman.com/ </span></span><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 104%;"></span></span></h4>
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<span style="color: #351c75;"><i> </i></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394796290993837508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147789185822733962.post-3637718935540536852016-06-21T01:56:00.001-07:002016-06-21T02:03:32.044-07:00<h2>
<span style="background-color: white; color: purple;">NINE DAYS TO GO.......</span></h2>
<span style="color: blue;"></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfAFaZK8PtNhB-qn8r3l9VSnvGNuQueyn3NbtuVct5jvHuUTVfJHNem6JJo0G-_1VfSNVVaAgnLl7f2k9kZkwW86WgIB4NFLSx5RRy1Z2r227ANTv5P3BQCXWyDWKOtKeqNH3nRgEWT98/s1600/PicCollage+%25281%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfAFaZK8PtNhB-qn8r3l9VSnvGNuQueyn3NbtuVct5jvHuUTVfJHNem6JJo0G-_1VfSNVVaAgnLl7f2k9kZkwW86WgIB4NFLSx5RRy1Z2r227ANTv5P3BQCXWyDWKOtKeqNH3nRgEWT98/s320/PicCollage+%25281%2529.png" width="214" /></a><span style="color: blue;">Nine days to go before The Judge's Wife is published. I will be on here every day with a little bit of a story or news about this second novel. Today, I am so delighted to announce that The Judge's Wife is in Ireland going to be one of Easons Books of the Month for July. Meanwhile preparations are underway for the launch on June 30 with all sorts of newspaper and radio interviews lined up. Busy... busy.. busy...</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;">Order The Judge's Wife on Amazon <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Judges-Wife-Ann-OLoughlin-ebook/dp/B01CV0Y5SE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1466498941&sr=8-1">https://www.amazon.co.uk/Judges-Wife-Ann-OLoughlin-ebook/dp/B01CV0Y5SE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1466498941&sr=8-1</a></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394796290993837508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147789185822733962.post-21414400099045897602016-04-19T13:49:00.002-07:002016-04-19T13:53:39.432-07:00<h2>
<span style="color: red;">I am delighted to reveal the cover of my second novel The Judge's Wife. Finally, this story I can share.</span> </h2>
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<h2>
<span style="background-color: black; color: #cc0000;"><span style="background-color: white;"> </span></span></h2>
<span style="color: #990000;">Available to pre order on Amazon kindle now at a special introductory price of £1.89</span> <br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">Spanning three decades, this is the moving story of three women and how one great love changed their lives forever.</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">With her whole life ahead of her, beautiful young Grace's world changes forever when she's married off to a much older judge. Soon, feeling lonely and neglected, Grace meets and falls in love with an Indian doctor, Vikram. He's charming, thoughtful and kind, everything her husband is not. But this is the 1950s and when she becomes pregnant, the potential scandal must be harshly dealt with to avoid ruin.</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">As soon as she has given birth, Grace is sent to an asylum by the judge and a conniving aunt. Vikram is told that Grace died in childbirth and returns, heartbroken, to India. But it's not the end of the story. Thirty years later, with the judge dead, his estranged daughter Emma returns home, full of anger and resentment. There she finds Grace's diaries and begins to uncover a mystery about her mother that she had never suspected. Meanwhile, in India, Vikram is planning a long-awaited trip to Ireland with his much-loved niece, Rosa, who has heard all about Grace and her uncle's long lost love, so that he can stand, at last, at the grave of the woman he loved.</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">As secrets are finally uncovered, will they be able to cope with the biggest secret of all?</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394796290993837508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147789185822733962.post-36656432169358023962015-10-14T05:24:00.001-07:002015-10-14T05:24:55.729-07:00<br />
<h2>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;">THE BALLROOM CAFE ROCKS ON!</span></h2>
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<br />
<div style="color: #cc0000;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">It has been a whirlwind of fun and activity with The Ballroom Cafe these past months and weeks.</span></div>
<div style="color: #cc0000;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"> Today marks six months in the Amazon UK kindle top 100 with over 1,000 reviews.</span></div>
<div style="color: #cc0000;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">And The Ballroom Cafe was also lucky enough to be named in the top 20 bestselling ebooks on Amazon UK for the first six months of this year. That caused quite a frenzy in Ireland as the novel was the only Irish book in the top 20. </span></div>
<div style="color: #cc0000;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">A huge thank you to all the lovely readers who made it possible.</span></div>
<div style="color: #cc0000;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #cc0000;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Here is an article I wrote for Writing.ie on the fun since publication day. Do hope you enjoy it. </span></div>
<div style="color: #cc0000;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #990000;">
What a wonderful feeling writing The End. After months, maybe years
of germinating the idea; writing and rewriting; finally I had turned the
corner; <em>The Ballroom Café</em> was finished.</div>
<span style="color: #990000;">
</span><div style="color: #990000;">
Yes, we had found a publisher; yes all the editing was done and the
cover by Black and White Publishing, Scotland was amazing. So it was
time for me to sit back and let the book sell itself. Time then to
concentrate on the second book, while <em>The Ballroom Café</em> stepped out in to the jungle of books on its own.</div>
<span style="color: #990000;">
</span><div style="color: #990000;">
Time to recharge before the reviews came in; time to sit and sip tea from a china cup rather than just writing about it.</div>
<span style="color: #990000;">
</span><div style="color: #990000;">
The path to publication is often a lonely one and there are a lot of
twists and turns, but after the novel was sent off to the printers, I
turned another corner. What lay ahead was not, as expected a week of
R&R before months of writing and research on my second novel, but a
whirlwind of ideas and new ways to help promote the book; another huge
mountain in unknown territory to climb.</div>
<span style="color: #990000;">
</span><div style="color: #990000;">
<em>The Ballroom Café</em> has pulled me along on what has been a
roller coaster of excitement, since it first came out on kindle in May
and hit the book shelves in June. In fact it all started way before
that.</div>
<div style="color: #990000;">
Months before anybody else had heard of <em>The Ballroom Café</em>, my publishers, Black and White Publishing, Scotland were planning those key times around publication day</div>
<div style="color: #990000;">
Once they launched the cover on Twitter and Facebook in December 2014
with a drum roll and all things fitting on Twitter, the social media
whirl began and frankly, has not stopped since. To take part in this
frenzy, I had to do what I had avoided for so long, set up Twitter and
Facebook accounts, decide on a profile; set background pictures and set
up a blog, <a href="http://annoloughlin.blogspot.ie/" target="_blank">http://annoloughlin.blogspot.ie/</a></div>
<span style="color: #990000;">
</span><div style="color: #990000;">
Then came the Blog Tour. When the publishers told me I would do a ten
day Blog Tour around the time of paperback publication, I nodded sagely
and agreed heartily. When nobody was looking I googled Blog Tour and
found out instead of tramping around bookshops in the UK hoping to link
with readers, I was to guest on key influential blogs in the UK and give
<em>The Ballroom Café</em> a platform. Sometimes I had to write a
piece; sometimes I was interviewed and often I had to wait to see what
sort of review was put up. Honest and full reviews were posted; it was
thrilling to find that all the hard work on <em>The Ballroom Café</em> had paid off and people were really enjoying it.</div>
<span style="color: #990000;">
</span><div style="color: #990000;">
Sitting at 5am writing in the kitchen with only the dog at my feet, I
could only dream that there may be people who would want to read and
enjoy the story I had to tell. Reading the first reviews is a heart
stopping moment, but the bloggers loved what <em>The Ballroom Café</em>
had to offer and not only did they say it on their own blogs, but they
helped spread the word on Twitter so that the cake, the tea in china
cups, the gossip and the vintage brooches as well as the more serious
theme of forced illegal adoption were all aired on Twitter. I joined in
this conversation linking with new readers, answering questions and
getting valuable feedback.</div>
<div style="color: #990000;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6TkU3Kqjo8yWEU__ej1Oyx4qiiXi83RqTib_I_lTJ8QXQx1z2m4Wikf4Uh3I8LbXMIkVr9M2tQNUaOpja1d0hnEVB5wPYOmonP3AyB8OiU9npl3xovzWbNlfBriOJMBqCOkHh1Jsg1aE/s1600/Ballroom+Cafe++Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6TkU3Kqjo8yWEU__ej1Oyx4qiiXi83RqTib_I_lTJ8QXQx1z2m4Wikf4Uh3I8LbXMIkVr9M2tQNUaOpja1d0hnEVB5wPYOmonP3AyB8OiU9npl3xovzWbNlfBriOJMBqCOkHh1Jsg1aE/s320/Ballroom+Cafe++Cover.jpg" width="208" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="color: #990000;">
The blog tour started a conversation about <em>The Ballroom Café,</em>
which has continued past the publication of the paperback and on my own
blog and with the lovely input of readers, who have contacted me on all
social platforms to tell me how much they enjoyed and got involved with
the book.</div>
<span style="color: #990000;">
</span><div style="color: #990000;">
When Black and White Rights manager Janne Moller told me in January
2015 “this is where the fun begins,” I thought she was mad. But now,
nine months in I have to say, it has been a crazy whirlwind, which at
times has left me exhausted; a life dominated by notifications on social
media, but yes it has been hugely exciting and enjoyable and above all
heartening. I would never have connected with so many readers or book
clubs and never got The Ballroom Cafe before so many people, if it were
not for the bloggers, who took the novel to their hearts and helped
spread the word.</div>
<span style="color: #990000;">
</span><div style="color: #990000;">
Black and White are always looking at new ways to promote their
writers work. And so The Ballroom Café video was born. Talented
filmmaker Clara O’Keeffe used all her skills to make me feel completely
at ease in a fireside chair, a china cup of tea at hand and chatting
about The Ballroom Café. The video has been seen by thousands all over
the world and again brought me close to readers who responded by making
contact through my blog.</div>
<span style="color: #990000;">
</span><div style="color: #990000;">
<em>The Ballroom Café</em> went on pre-order in April. Based on the cover and summary people began to order the novel so that by April 16,<em> The Ballroom Café</em>
had entered the TOP 100 on Amazon UK. By the time it was released on
kindle in May, the book ranking was #13 and by the time the paperback
hit the shelves in June <em>The Ballroom Café</em> had been in the Top
20 for two months and was ranking #3 on the day of publication June 18.
Since then the book has hovered in the top 20 and has garnered over 1000
reviews.</div>
<span style="color: #990000;">
</span><div style="color: #990000;">
Recently, ten weeks after the paperback came out, I was caught up in an even bigger publicity and media storm, when <em>The Ballroom Café</em>
was named as one of the Top 20 bestselling eBooks on Amazon UK in 2015.
National newspapers wanted to interview me; I had to explain to the
listeners of Morning Ireland what a blog tour meant. Even Hot Press and
the Nigerian Herald ran a piece on the novel, as well as publications in
the US. One of the sweetest moments; when I appeared on Morning Ireland
on RTE Radio One for a chat on <em>The Ballroom Café</em>, the presenter called me a novelist. For the first time, it actually felt like that.</div>
<span style="color: #990000;">
</span><div style="color: #990000;">
There was even a TV appearance on RTE Ten. The excitement lasted
almost five days, but my favourite moment was seeing a story about <em>The Ballroom Café</em> in Hot Press. Once could say <em>The Ballroom Café</em> was rocking!</div>
<span style="color: #990000;">
</span><div style="color: #990000;">
What have I learned from all this? Easy; enjoy every minute, because
you never know how long it will last and don’t forget when you are on
radio and TV to keep mentioning the name of the book. Embrace all that
the book offers, all the opportunities to connect with readers, because
it is this, rather than the media attention that brings the most
satisfaction for a writer. Isn’t that why we are writing in the first
place, to get our story out to readers?</div>
<span style="color: #990000;">
</span><div style="color: #990000;">
What greater moment than when a reader tells you why they love your
book. Social media and blog tours has brought me in contact with
readers, like I never imagined and that has been uplifting and
encouraging. Now, I am moving on to do live events and connecting with
readers in person and so another exciting chapter begins.</div>
<span style="color: #990000;">
</span><div style="color: #990000;">
(c) Ann O’Loughlin</div>
<span style="color: #990000;">
</span><div style="color: #990000;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #990000;">
<strong>About <em>The Ballroom Café</em></strong></div>
<div style="color: #990000;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #990000;">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: #990000;">
</span><div style="color: #990000;">
Sisters Ella and Roberta O’Callaghan live in separate wings of their
crumbling Irish mansion. They haven’t spoken for decades, torn apart by a
dark family secret from their past, and only communicate through the
terse and bitter notes they leave for each other in the hallway.</div>
<span style="color: #990000;">
</span><div style="color: #990000;">
Debbie, an American woman, is searching for her birth mother. She has
little time left but as she sets out to discover who she really is and
what happened to her mother, she is met by silence and lies at the local
convent.</div>
<span style="color: #990000;">
</span><div style="color: #990000;">
With the bank threatening, Ella tries to save the family home by
opening a café in the ballroom much to Roberta’s disgust. And when
Debbie offers to help out in the café, the war between the sisters
intensifies. But as Debbie finally begins to unravel the truth, she
uncovers an adoption scandal that will rock both the community and the
warring sisters.</div>
<span style="color: #990000;">
</span><div style="color: #990000;">
Powerful and poignant, <em>The Ballroom Café</em> is a moving story of love lost and found.</div>
<span style="color: #990000;">
</span><div style="color: #990000;">
<em><br /></em><a href="http://amzn.to/1KUAXHd" target="_blank"></a></div>
<span style="color: #990000;">
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<span style="color: #990000;">
</span><hr style="color: #990000;" />
<span style="color: #990000;"> </span><br style="color: #990000;" /><a href="http://annoloughlin.blogspot.com/" style="color: #990000;" target="_blank"></a><div style="color: #990000;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></div>
<div style="color: #990000;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394796290993837508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147789185822733962.post-69795004613091961102015-10-13T01:26:00.000-07:002015-10-13T01:36:40.191-07:00<span class="a-size-base review-text"></span><br />
<h2>
<span class="a-size-base review-text"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;">There are over 1000 Amazon reviews of The Ballroom Café but this five star review is one of my favourites.</span></span></h2>
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<h4>
<span style="color: #660000;">The Ballroom Cafe is an exceptionally well-written novel that made me do things I have not done in a long while.<br /> I found myself waking up earlier than normal in the morning to take up the story of the goings-on at a delapidated Irish country mansion named Roscarbury Hall where a good deal of this absorbing tale unfolds.<br /> I shed tears more than once reading it. As a grown man, I was surprised to feel them roll down my cheeks. But they were not tears of outright sorrow but tears of compassion and even relief.<br />The novel is populated by many memorable characters but the fundamental relationship is that of two sisters whose lives are bound together by tragedy, bitterness and betrayal. But, deep below the permafrost of their relationship, and despite decades of giving each other the silent treatment, it is hoped by the reader there must surely be something remaining of a once warm sisterly love.<br />They live in the rambling mansion amid overgrown gardens and misty parklands. They only communicate through notes left on the hall table. The story reverts back to happier, earlier times when the sisters, Ella and Roberta, were young, inseparable, with hearts too vulnerable to the crafty charms of a certain young man.<br />But, in the cold reality of the present day, Ella takes unilateral action to earn some desperately needed money by opening a cafe at the mansion despite a succession of strongly worded insulting notes from Roberta, who has been hitting the sherry for years.<br />An American woman Debbie arrives at the cafe one day looking for answers about her own past. She has experienced loss and endured horror in her own life. A number of connections are uncovered in her search amid this book's richly woven tapestry of intrigue, heartache<br />and, indeed, downright hilarity at times.<br />There were so many things I enjoyed as the tale unfolded. Some of the characters made me laugh out loud.<br />It also brings to life historical anger-inducing events in which babies were exported from Ireland to wealthly couples overseas while their single mothers were treated dispicably by religious orders that were aided and abetted by the women's own families.<br />There are villians in the story but each one has some redeeming traits.<br />The author displays a fine ear for dialogue, verbal jousting, and well chosen barbs. But also there are many beautiful evocations of love, loss, and longing. And her depictions of some of the most delicate moments of the story are a delight.<br />There are many mouth-watering references to the baking of cakes and buns. Dieting readers would best not read the book within jogging distance of a bakery.<br />She also includes some fascinating descriptions of brooches which have been inherited by Ella. Somewhere in each section of the book, another brooch is unwrapped and described in exquisite detail, evoking the pleasures of exploring an old relative's jewellery box.<br />Ultimately, it proved to be a story that left me deeply satisfied. I strongly recommend this novel and I hope author Ann O'Loughlin has another book on the way soon.<!-- Expand comments if the current review's id matches the expandedComment parameter --> </span></h4>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394796290993837508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147789185822733962.post-77098672911243813402015-08-18T15:54:00.000-07:002015-08-18T15:54:10.941-07:00<br />
<br />
<h2>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;">A gentle read with a warm touch....review of The Ballroom Café at BleachHouseLibrary blog as part of Irish Fiction Fortnight.</span></h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYc2pWxW7GBYSkp1cAbQjHzlB3oNErmoJ6M7yB3NJAAY-Mv8AcM4JTseU3UT26drW_1f5GgPKwyhKdgfBGykApcAh7jsBfTsakZKweWiv1Vuy5Ptl0SUKE1Bp6zkjKXXjslQuWwYAcrlE/s1600/Ballroom+Cafe+%25281%2529.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYc2pWxW7GBYSkp1cAbQjHzlB3oNErmoJ6M7yB3NJAAY-Mv8AcM4JTseU3UT26drW_1f5GgPKwyhKdgfBGykApcAh7jsBfTsakZKweWiv1Vuy5Ptl0SUKE1Bp6zkjKXXjslQuWwYAcrlE/s320/Ballroom+Cafe+%25281%2529.jpeg" width="208" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
READ BELOW AND HERE <br />
http://bleachhouselibrary.blogspot.ie/2015/08/irishfictionfortnight-day-10-ballroom.html<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Two estranged, elderly sisters, a well-worn period home that is in need of major renovation and a lifetime of secrets. A recipe for historical fiction. But, along with these storylines, there is the added tale of forced and hidden adoption in Ireland going back decades. It may sound like fiction, but unfortunately, it's based on true life. <br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Author Ann O'Loughlin has written about a formerly-taboo subject; that of the Catholic church supporting the adoption of babies to wealthy American families, without the full consent, or even knowledge in some cases, of the birth mothers. The novel addresses the issue via the story of Debbie, an American who has come to Ireland in the hope of tracing her birth mother. While there, she encounters Ella O'Callaghan and agrees to help her with preparations to open The Ballroom Cafe, in the older woman's home. Ella's sister, Roberta, rattles around the old house with a bottle of sherry in her pocket and a years-old-feud with her sibling. They have not spoken in decades and only communicate via notes left on their hall table. Roberta does not welcome the American visitor, nor support Ella's idea to run a cafe from their old ballroom. The rivalry simmers at boiling point and the locals, who frequent the cafe, are more than delighted to watch the tensions within the household. </div>
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Debbie goes on national radio to aide her search for her birth mother, and the whole village listen with anticipation of scandal. Ella is a tower of strength to Debbie, who needs all the support she can get, yet has her own secret hidden inside. Can the women of The Ballroom Cafe really know how much pain each one is in?</div>
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This debut novel is extremely sweet, in more ways than one. The characters are drawn with love and compassion, the Ballroom Cafe, and its surroundings, sound idyllic and dream-worthy (the descriptions of baking almost waft off the pages) and the story is one of courage, strength and changing worlds. The writing is gentle and smooth and Ella is such a wonderfully drawn protagonist. There is a little too much emphasis on her collection of brooches, and I'm not sure that younger readers will identify with them, but the way she deals with her difficult sister and nosy neighbours is great. She is a woman that would be a pleasure to know in real life. The spiraling debt of a large country house is very apt in today's financial climate and makes the reader want to rally around to protect these structures from decay.<br /><br /> The treatment of young women in Ireland's past is well documented these days and never pleasant reading, yet should not be ignored. I congratulate Ann on addressing the issue in her fiction debut and hope that it is an issue that will be delved into and dealt with accordingly, giving some peace to the the relatives and descendants of all involved. </div>
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A gentle read, with a warm touch, considering the topic. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394796290993837508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147789185822733962.post-31466225800695939762015-08-05T08:24:00.000-07:002015-08-05T08:24:08.131-07:00
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR BOOK CLUBS<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFwJTAUR2R0YzA_7cfAzXpPi68bg1o-QqZW_dzPpf2Dg-3CBE4Yl-Z5oISsQURD6FI7p8ueIbUMpdsuGCR2Kul-yY6-jSAiFrTSwfht_yv45LrMcmbApC6nJN4BFJlNGiLAL-zNGGZwxI/s1600/cupcakes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="367" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFwJTAUR2R0YzA_7cfAzXpPi68bg1o-QqZW_dzPpf2Dg-3CBE4Yl-Z5oISsQURD6FI7p8ueIbUMpdsuGCR2Kul-yY6-jSAiFrTSwfht_yv45LrMcmbApC6nJN4BFJlNGiLAL-zNGGZwxI/s400/cupcakes.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <span style="color: #cc0000;"> 1</span></span></o:p><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What did you think of the ending of The Ballroom
Café? The Irish Times said this:</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <span lang="EN">‘Secrets emerge, there’s a whopper of a
twist and this unabashed tear-jerker ends with a well-earthed, well-calculated
emotional finale.’</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span lang="EN"> </span>Many have asked for a
sequel. Was the ending appropriate in your opinion?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #cc0000;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> 2.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Did it
work having the café as the main focus point for the novel?<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: 18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">3.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Ballroom Café is often called a romantic
novel, why do you think that is the case?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #cc0000;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: 18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">4.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The weather plays an important role in the
novel, do you think it adds to the overall atmosphere.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #cc0000;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: 18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">5.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Do you think the issue of forced illegal
adoption is examined fairly and from all sides?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #cc0000;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: 18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">6.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ella finds solace in vintage Weiss brooches. How
well do you think this works in the novel?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #cc0000;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: 18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">7.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ella bakes scrumptious cakes for the patrons of
The Ballroom Café, could you smell the baking wafting through the house?</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #cc0000;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: 18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">8.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Which character changes the most during the
novel?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: 18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">9'.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Did the flashbacks to Debbie’s childhood in Ohio
work?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #cc0000;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: 18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">10.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What was the most surprising aspect of The
Ballroom Café? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #cc0000;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: 18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">11.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">How do you think Irish society was portrayed?
The Sunday Times said there was a skilful expose of a broken society?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #cc0000;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: 18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">12.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Did the notes show accurately the tension
between the sisters Roberta and Ella?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #cc0000;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: 18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">13.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Do you think the mixture of gossip, cake, tea
hand in hand with tragedy and a deep emotional issue worked?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #cc0000;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>14.What was
your favourite scene in the novel? Mine has to be when Ella O’Callaghan is facing down the snotty
bank manager, who has threatened to repossess her treasured home Roscarbury
Hall.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #cc0000;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 105%; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">“In
all my prayerful life, I have <span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 105%; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">never felt so crucified. I will die before I move out
of Roscarbury Hall.”</span></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394796290993837508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147789185822733962.post-11686117974035125792015-08-01T02:39:00.002-07:002015-08-01T02:45:21.849-07:00<h2>
<span style="color: #990000;">Thrilled with this wonderful review of The Ballroom Café in the Irish Times</span></h2>
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg59V8YnwgMhfDyozskW8V9EmU7V6mpFT8OKGeGyLpxbb71zIgPEZ_mFPtA1pLV5eV1Le45NCdnSMzVVKSvcyEC6GIWD3dAc3oOghD70smhk_zfMMk1R4NUprtYgJsokpvD6i876n10vwA/s1600/Ballroom+Cafe+%25281%2529.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg59V8YnwgMhfDyozskW8V9EmU7V6mpFT8OKGeGyLpxbb71zIgPEZ_mFPtA1pLV5eV1Le45NCdnSMzVVKSvcyEC6GIWD3dAc3oOghD70smhk_zfMMk1R4NUprtYgJsokpvD6i876n10vwA/s320/Ballroom+Cafe+%25281%2529.jpeg" width="208" /></a></div>
<h3>
<span style="color: #e06666;">"lots of human warmth and very intimate characterisation ....."</span></h3>
<br />
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #e06666;"> "Secrets emerge, there's a whopper of a twist and this unabashed tear jerker ends with a well-earthed well-calculated emotional finale"......</span> </h3>
<span style="color: #990000;">Take a minute out to read the review here</span>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/the-ballroom-caf%C3%A9-by-ann-o-loughlin-1.2303528">http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/the-ballroom-caf%C3%A9-by-ann-o-loughlin-1.2303528</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394796290993837508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147789185822733962.post-8863960911566162032015-07-26T06:51:00.002-07:002015-07-26T06:55:52.093-07:00<h2>
<span style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;">Delighted The Ballroom Café is reviewed in The Sunday Times.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000;">A skilful expose of a broken society.....</span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000;"></span> </h3>
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000;">Deftly written, moving and courageous novel....</span></h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir3oMfRwX3jlcRKkf8GSsia0yG_BOgWCGZMaDEs3ui2k0vjoRe9Vume6E7rKwoClp6nx8Mcz2sWmlDsq6WEuMIMVIlVdvQK945saIajrZNZZvL-4UHHsfepzNGjDYiejlOxbzqyvlDFMM/s1600/11204416_1456933777943472_7762973661214164733_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir3oMfRwX3jlcRKkf8GSsia0yG_BOgWCGZMaDEs3ui2k0vjoRe9Vume6E7rKwoClp6nx8Mcz2sWmlDsq6WEuMIMVIlVdvQK945saIajrZNZZvL-4UHHsfepzNGjDYiejlOxbzqyvlDFMM/s400/11204416_1456933777943472_7762973661214164733_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394796290993837508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147789185822733962.post-26137753038072978832015-07-17T04:49:00.000-07:002015-07-17T04:53:52.555-07:00<br />
<h2 style="color: #cc0000;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">A DEBUT TO DIVE INTO, so says the leading Sunday newspaper the Sunday Independent. </span></h2>
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<span style="color: #e06666;"> Well-rounded characters infused with warmth and intelligence.</span></h3>
<h3 style="color: #e06666;">
</h3>
<h3 style="color: #e06666;">
O'Loughlin's feel for nature and weather add to this book's all-embracing atmosphere.</h3>
<h3 style="color: #e06666;">
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<h3 style="color: #e06666;">
You can read the article here</h3>
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<div class="hx bxb-a">
<span class="cx-a"><a href="http://www.independent.ie/life/">Life</a></span>
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Friday 17 July 2015</div>
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<h1>
Three debuts you will want to dive into</h1>
<h2>
* The Ballroom Cafe, Ann O'Loughlin, Black & White Publishing, €10.99 Approx<br /> * Eggshells, Caitriona Lally, Liberties Press, €12.99<br /> * In a Dark Dark Wood, Ruth Ware, Simon & Schuster, €17.99</h2>
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<a href="http://www.independent.ie/opinion/independent-journalists/anna-coogan/">
</a><br />
<figure><a href="http://www.independent.ie/opinion/independent-journalists/anna-coogan/">
<img alt="" src="http://www.independent.ie/opinion/independent-journalists/article30415374.ece/876d0/ALTERNATES/w50square/Anna-Coogan-bio.jpg" height="50" width="50" />
</a></figure>
<br />
<h3 class="hx">
<a href="http://www.independent.ie/opinion/independent-journalists/anna-coogan/">Anna Coogan</a>
<a class="icon twitter" href="https://twitter.com/@heraldwomen">Twitter</a></h3>
<div class="links">
<a class="cx-a" href="mailto:acoogan@independent.ie">Email</a>
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<div class="date">
<b>Published</b> 13/07/2015 | 02:30</div>
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It is summertime, and the reading from three
debut authors is highly engaging, and yet exceedingly different.</div>
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<ul data-loggerurl="http://www.independent.ie/eae/Logger?rt=1&ctxId=3463&pubId=1&cat=&objId=31367853&type=article&title=Three+debuts+you+will+want+to+dive+into&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww.independent.ie%2flife%2fthree-debuts-you-will-want-to-dive-into-31367853.html" data-title="Three+debuts+you+will+want+to+dive+into" data-url="http://www.independent.ie/life/three-debuts-you-will-want-to-dive-into-31367853.html">
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<div class="p402_premium">
Ann O'Loughlin is a High Court
reporter with the Irish Examiner, and has drawn on her experience of
reporting on the illegal adoption of children from Irish orphanages by
families in America for her first novel, The Ballroom Cafe.</div>
<div class="p402_premium">
Ann
has also written about her delight in being able to take her time in
choosing her words- compared to the fast-paced atmosphere of a newsroom
-and this is evident in her creation of well-rounded characters infused
with warmth and intelligence.</div>
<div class="p402_premium">
This
is the first work of fiction to be based on the illegal giving away of
Irish babies, and at heart this story is less of an accusation and more
of an understanding.</div>
<div class="p402_premium">
Sisters Ella
and Roberta O'Callaghan are estranged, and they communicate by passing
notes in the crumbling mansion they live in. When the bank threatens to
take possession of the house, Ella opens a cafe in the ballroom to raise
money.</div>
<div class="p402_premium">
When an American called
Debbie Kading arrives in town searching for her birth mother, she gets a
job at the cafe. Secrets begin to spill, and lives to unravel.</div>
<div class="p402_premium">
Originally from the west of Ireland, O'Loughlin's feel for nature and weather add to this book's all-embracing atmosphere.</div>
<div class="p402_premium">
Caitriona
Lally studied English literature at Trinity and was one of the
finalists in the Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair 2014. At a time she was
unemployed, she traipsed the streets of Dublin to pass the time, and
now her main character does exactly the same in Lally's highly original
debut novel, Eggshells.</div>
<div class="p402_premium">
Vivian
Lawlor was told she was a changeling as a child, and goes for walks to
try and find her way back to the land of fairies, where she thinks she
belongs. Vivian sees things differently, for example, she does not like
action verbs, as words involving action tend to expect too much of a
person. She experiences things from a different angle, and wishes a
shopkeeper "Happy Christmas" in April, as she does not know if she'll
get back into the shop before December.</div>
<div class="p402_premium">
Vivian
doesn't have any friends, and places an advertisement on a tree seeking
a friend called Penelope. Vivian's sister wishes she showered more. She
wishes Vivian wouldn't mutter such nonsense. Meanwhile, Vivian lives in
a house she inherited and in close proximity to Dublin city centre.</div>
<div class="p402_premium">
Yes, you've probably seen Vivian out and about. I know I certainly have.</div>
<div class="p402_premium">
Lally
has a unique voice as a writer, and had me on line six of her novel
when she described a character as "someone who kept chairs the way some
people keep cats."</div>
<div class="p402_premium">
She is impressively self-assured, skilled and special in how she brings Vivian in from the fringes and into our company.</div>
<div class="p402_premium">
Ruth
Ware was born in Sussex and has taught English in Paris and worked in
publishing. In A Dark Dark Wood is her debut thriller.</div>
<div class="p402_premium">
Nora
hasn't seen her former best friend Clare for 10 years, and since
leaving school. Should she be surprised when she is invited to Clare's
hen weekend?</div>
<div class="p402_premium">
Should she be startled when she realises that there is an ulterior motive for inviting her to a house deep in a forest?</div>
<div class="p402_premium">
Suspence
doesn't usually rock my boat. But Ware's writing is immediate and
conversational, and she throws a net out and captures her reader. For
starters, what's more scary than a bunch of bitchy women?</div>
<div class="p402_premium">
A murder mystery worthy of the beach.</div>
<div class="p402_premium">
<div class="originalSource">
Sunday Indo Living</div>
</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394796290993837508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147789185822733962.post-73226929706580965402015-07-07T17:24:00.003-07:002015-07-08T03:34:44.005-07:00<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="uiGrid _51mz"><tbody>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;">Drop in to chat about The Ballroom Cafe and another debut novel Fields of Blue Flax.</span></h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGvlxp7s2SEzchQzpJ_y3sgWCGLoiiQFq8OKfKNF_8hmKXJPUEai1jX_yw1oT5zvzXNhRLbDXmjOZVJrVU1MpFE_PVJDjevIcDpHjWZxNjPYBytlGCSPCNsgIcAHmKgWuiR0oaOM6DsNc/s1600/sue+and+ann.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGvlxp7s2SEzchQzpJ_y3sgWCGLoiiQFq8OKfKNF_8hmKXJPUEai1jX_yw1oT5zvzXNhRLbDXmjOZVJrVU1MpFE_PVJDjevIcDpHjWZxNjPYBytlGCSPCNsgIcAHmKgWuiR0oaOM6DsNc/s400/sue+and+ann.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<h2 class="_6a _6b">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"> If you happen to be in Edinburgh on July 14, do drop by the National Library of Scotland to meet Ann and hear her talk about writing The Ballroom Café. </span></h2>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"> Ann will be sharing the stage with bestselling food writer Sue Lawrence who has also written her first work of fiction, Fields of Blue Flax</span>.</h2>
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<span style="color: #990000;">Leading literary agent Jenny Brown will chair this free event. at the National Library of Scotland.</span> </h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWREqaNu_sVIJ_4kzrUiCu6M2ESFM5s669n9HvAHwIyCU8IpWVLo-XDo35R4JnKeMjH2vRPtS4ANeodWufccFzqtiI1QVZLrU_8G2neeQM6m4aS0xmKpdekPzriocgCWGVo1NXPiqNsgU/s1600/debut-novels.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWREqaNu_sVIJ_4kzrUiCu6M2ESFM5s669n9HvAHwIyCU8IpWVLo-XDo35R4JnKeMjH2vRPtS4ANeodWufccFzqtiI1QVZLrU_8G2neeQM6m4aS0xmKpdekPzriocgCWGVo1NXPiqNsgU/s400/debut-novels.jpg" width="243" /></a></div>
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<a aria-haspopup="true" aria-owns="js_4" class="_5xhk" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/page.php?id=14754995380" href="https://www.facebook.com/NationalLibraryOfScotland" id="u_0_18">National Library of Scotland</a><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;">George IV Bridge, EH1 1EW Edinburgh, United Kingdom</span></div>
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<span class="fsl"><span style="color: #990000;">Bestselling food writer Sue Lawrence and leading Irish journalist Ann O'Loughlin — in conversation with literary agent Jenny Brown. Both writers explore secrets, betrayal and family sagas, and discuss how they approached writing their first works of fiction. An event not to be missed!</span> <span style="color: #cc0000;">The event is open to all and free to attend, but please book your space to avoid disappointment. You can do this by calling the NLS on <span class="skype_c2c_print_container skype_c2c notranslate">0131 623 3734</span><span class="skype_c2c_container skype_c2c notranslate" data-isfreecall="false" data-ismobile="false" data-isrtl="false" data-numbertocall="+3531316233734" data-numbertype="paid" dir="ltr" id="skype_c2c_container" tabindex="-1"><span class="skype_c2c_highlighting_inactive_common" dir="ltr" skypeaction="skype_dropdown"><span class="skype_c2c_textarea_span" id="non_free_num_ui"><img class="skype_c2c_logo_img" height="0" src="skypec2c://r/204" width="0" /><span class="skype_c2c_text_span">0131 623 3734</span><span class="skype_c2c_free_text_span"></span></span></span></span>, or by booking online </span><a href="https://auth.nls.uk/events/" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cc0000;">https://auth.nls.uk/<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span>events</span></a></span></div>
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