Category Archives: Creative Writing

Tortured Love By Michael Khatkar Book Review

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TorturedLovefrontcover

TORTURED LOVE
A novel of life, death and hope

By Michael Khatkar
Published by Mereo: www.mereobooks.com

Billed as ‘a sexually explicit thriller of the most twisted kind’ (definitely one to remove from the bedside table when granny stays over), Tortured Love is a debut novel with a curiously lyrical quality.

The unconventional story centres on Michael and his extraordinary effect on the lives of others, including Rebecca who he meets in hospital. Recovering from the latest brutal attack meted out by her sadistic husband, Rebecca’s spirit remains intact. Just. Meanwhile Rosemary, a child psychologist, is tortured by her own imagination. And then there’s Kai, whose life is a twisted quagmire of black-magic, sorcery and deceit.

With their lives interwoven and their fortunes changed dramatically by association, psychopaths and poets meld in a journey that constantly surprises and shocks. But while the violence (including sexual violence) is graphic, Khatkar pulls off the neat trick of maintaining a gripping narrative while exploring some bizarre threads, each of which highlights how personal influence can incite everything from suicide and murder to love and romance.

Sure to appeal to adult readers of horror, mystery intrigue and erotica this is a unique story that, even at its most unpalatable, and in spite of being profoundly disturbing, also manages to convey a message of hope. Highly recommended.

Vicky Edwards

Interview With Author Sophie Duffy

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sophie duffyHow did it feel to win the Yeovil Literary Prize, and then a host of others?

I was very surprised when I had an email to say I’d won the Yeovil Prize back in 2006. I see that moment as a breakthrough though it was another 5 years before The Generation Game was published by Legend Press, after it won the Luke Bitmead Bursary in 2010.

Do you have a favourite book that you have written?

I feel closest to the characters in The Generation Game as I lived with them for so long. I still think about them and wonder what they are up to. Particularly Philippa Smith.

What is your writing routine?

I wish I had one! I am not the most organized and have a house full of teenagers which can be a distraction. Supplying food. Washing countless socks. Nagging. Driving around Devon lanes. However, I do now have a room of my own, an office at the bottom of a garden. A glorified shed. It is full of all the tat I’m not allowed to display in the house. I love tat. So I try to get out there in the mornings. But inevitably my plans are scuppered.

How do you come up with your ideas?

They come from small thoughts. A memory. A conversation. A person who passes in and out of your life. Those small thoughts then grow into something more substantial. Something that nags away in the back of my mind, eventually pushing through and saying ‘write me’. I write about families and so I get inspiration from every family I meet, all with their different quirks, make-ups, rules, traditions and skeletons in the cupboard.

Do you ever get writers block?

Not really. I can faff around a lot and resist the act of sitting down and actually writing. But when I do sit down with the intention of writing, the words usually come. If I am struggling, then I read and read and read. It’s all part of the creative act.

How long does it take you to write a book?

Hmm. A while. Eighteen months to two years to get down a decentish first draft. Then maybe another year to rewrite. It’s a long, slow process for me.

What’s next?
I’m rewriting my current novel. I have the plot and the characters but I was telling it wrong. So I have changed the voice and it seems to be working much better. I hope.

Tell us about CreativeWritingMatters.

I used to be an early years teacher and moved on to youth work. I love teaching and was delighted to join Cathie Hartigan along with Margaret James running workshops and courses for www.creativewritingmatters.co.uk in the Exeter area. We also appraise manuscripts and mentor novelists online. Last year we launched the Exeter Novel Prize and had over 250 entries. We now have a shortlist which is being considered by my agent Broo Doherty of DHH Literary Agency. The winner will be announced at an awards ceremony in Exeter on 22nd March. Very excited.

Advice for wannabe writers?

Persist. Don’t give up. Be determined. Read. Do a writing class. Join a writing group. Enter competitions. And write whenever and wherever you can.

Best piece of advice you have ever been given?

Be bold.

http://www.sophieduffy.com/
The Generation Game
This Holey Life

 

Nikki Gemmell Interview | Books

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Nikki Gemmell is a talented Australian author, best known for writing the best-selling erotic trilogy The Bride Stripped Bare, With My Body and I Take You. She has recently released her first children’s book, The Kensington Reptilarium. Scarily talented and productive, it was an honour to interview her.

 nikki glemmel interview

You have written eight novels and four works of non-fiction. How do you manage to be so prolific?

 

In that exhausting lifestyle triumverate of the modern harried woman – work/family/social life – something has to give.  I just don’t believe you can have all three.  In my case it’s the social life that’s been sacrificed.  I just get too knackered.  Having kids has also made me much more disciplined.  I don’t spend their school hours unpacking the dishwasher and tidying the house – I write, solidly.  Am constantly gleaning little pockets of time to get it all done (in fact am typing this now, in the car, on the side of the road, having just dropped off my son to a basketball match.)

 

You write a lot about female sexuality. What draws you to write about it?

Honesty connects.  Nowhere more powerfully than in the sexual sphere.  There is so much vulnerability, bewilderment and misconception about sexuality, and it feels exhilarating (and necessary) to write about it utterly truthfully.

 

Lire included you in a list of the fifty most important writers in the world. How did that feel?

It’s a little tuning fork in my head – to try and live up to it!

 

You have written your first children’s book, The Kensington Reptilarium: what made you choose that genre?

Several of my own children who were too addicted to their wretched screens.  I wanted to write a kid’s book that would ignite the flame of reading passion in them, because I just couldn’t get it to catch alight (to my despair and mortification.)  Lo and behold, the Grand Scheme of Maximum Distraction actually worked.

 

Do you have a favourite book that you have written?

Shiver, my first novel – a story extremely close to my heart.  The Bride Stripped Bare – because it transformed my life.  And The Kensington Reptilarium – because it was such enormous, liberating fun.

 

What is your writing routine?

Get the kids, work solidly, then pick them up and give my life over to them.  My trick is to get household chores done around them – never in cherished writing time.

 

How do you come up with your ideas?

I’m constantly on the prowl with a notebook in my handbag – it records ideas, titles, quotes, conversation scraps, magazine articles.

 

Do you ever get writers block?

I used to but not anymore – writing is a business to me now, as well as a passion.  It pays bills, so I just have to plough on or my kids won’t be fed.  I literally can’t afford to be blocked anymore.

 

How long does it take you to write a book?

Usually a couple of years, but I’ve actually written one of them in three weeks (not saying which!)

 

What’s next?

The publishers want a sequel to Kensington Reptilarium, as it did well for them.  Then I’m thinking of an historical novel after that. Something different for me.  I’m addicted to change, trying new things. Not afraid of failure in the slightest. It’s how you progress in life.

 

Advice for wannabe writers?

Tenacity is all. And discipline. Focus. The capacity for hard, gruelling work. Talent only gets you so far.

 

Best piece of advice you have ever been given?

Write as if you’re dying – it’s a great motivator.  It stops you making that seventh cup of tea.

 

http://www.nikkigemmell.com/ 
Nikki Gemmell’s Threesome: The Bride Stripped Bare, With the Body, I Take You
Honestly: Notes on Life