Two families. 100 years apart. A sinister haunting…
It was supposed to be the dream house for Adam, Catherine, and their daughter, Bella. But dream houses can hold secrets. Settling in to their new home, the family realise they are not the only inhabitants of Abberton House.
A dark past continues to haunt the idyllic Yorkshire home, and those who remain want Adam and Catherine to know the truth. Frightened, Adam and Catherine begin to piece together what really happened at this once perfect abode.
A missing family, an elderly man searching for the truth, and secrets waiting to be revealed, moving in to Abberton House could be the worst decision the family made.
What a week this has been, it’s been so exciting to introduce you to the new authors over at Panther Publishing while also finding out more about the authors whose books I’ve been reading since March last year. It’s been an absolute pleasure to ‘Meet the Authors’ and I hope that you have to, as well as finding some new authors and books that you’re going to love.
Today’s Q&A is with Debbie Ioanna the newest Panther author on the block, although she isn’t a debut author, this Abberton House is her first paranormal novel that is to be published in e-book on the 1st of September this year. A ghost story just in time for Halloween! You can pre-order your copy here!
Let’s get going with Q&A number five this week, we are going to start with a bit of fun, because who doesn’t love some silly questions?!
Tea or Coffee?
Definitely coffee!
Morning bird or Night owl?
For general adult productivity… morning bird. For writing… night owl!
Bookmark or corner folder?
Both
Another corner folder, I don’t feel so alone now!
Tidily organised or Organised mayhem?
More like a tidily unorganised mayhem, ha!
What is your favourite childhood book?
I loved the Judy Blume books in the early teens but before that I collected the Animal Ark books.
What did you want to be when you grew up? Was it always an author?
Being an author felt as achievable as marrying a royal prince! (which apparently isn’t that difficult these days…). Only writers based in the big towns like London got published, not folk from up north, so as much as I wanted to be an author, I never thought it would happen. No matter what career I pondered, I always went back to writing.
And you got there, which I bet makes it even more sweet because you never gave up!
If you could choose only one season to last forever, what one would it be?
When I was younger I loved winter… but only because there were no wasps around in winter, ha! But now I love spring. Filling up my flower beds with new plants, walking around the local park under the cherry blossom trees in full bloom… ugh, this is such a grown up answer lol!
That is the best answer, mainly because wasps are buggers but since lockdown begun I’ve started to appreciate the emerging of spring so much more! At least you didn’t say summer, which most people love apparently.
What is your current read?
I am re-reading the Harry Potter series (being old enough to have read it when it was first published…) and now onto book 4. There is a lot in my tbr pile and I often have 2 books on the go.
Ah The Goblet of Fire, one of the best books in the series in my opinion. Who doesn’t have a lot on their TBR?!
What do you enjoy doing outside of writing? Hobbies etc.
I now love tending to the flowers in my garden, and reading. Also can’t beat a Netflix binge.
How many books have you written? Do you have a personal favourite? What is it and why?
I’ve written 4 books. I can’t choose a favourite…. ‘Abberton House’ is a paranormal horror and I love it because even writing it spooked me! But I also love my rom-com series too. Ahhh I can’t choose lol
Okay, I won’t make you choose, I suppose it is like choosing between your children! I’ll let you off.
When writing a series, how do you keep it fresh? Is the second in the series always more difficult than the first?
When I wrote book 2 of my rom-com series I had a major panic attack. So many people loved the first book and I felt so much pressure… could I make book 2 just as funny? Would my readers feel let down by the book? Would they have hoped it went in a different direction?? I very nearly cancelled the launch out of worry of letting people down.
When researching for a novel, do you always have all the research before beginning or do you research as you go? What is the process?
I research as I go. I’m not a major planner like some authors, it’s all in my head.
Describe your typical writing day
Log on computer, check Facebook, check Twitter, check emails, open up W.I.P and see where I left it, go back to Facebook, check online banking, write a few words, remember I wanted to check something on Amazon, get distracted on Amazon for twenty minutes, go back to W.I.P but decide its time for a coffee, do some writing, forget about coffee which has now gone cold, get a sudden inspiration and write a fair amount of words, make fresh coffee and then write late into the night.
That darn social media, sounds like my kind of day. The coffee forgetting made me giggle, do you end up with multiple cups?
Do you have any writing quirks / needs? What are they?
Every writing project means buying a brand new notebook from either The Works, Paperchase or WHSmiths. You can never have enough notebooks.
I know a few people who would agree with never having enough notebooks, myself being one of them.
What do you find the most enjoyable / difficult thing about writing?
I love that there is no correct way to write. All the authors I have spoken to have a different way of writing a book. I do plan but in my head. The book I’m working on now doesn’t have a plan written down, I can actually visualise it in my head like a blue print. I may jot things down on post-it notes, but I could never write a plan or storyboard like some do. It just doesn’t work for me, and that’s fine.
So there you have it you darling book people, our last Meet the Author, but I may have a small extra Q&A surprise coming to you soon! Bet you can’t guess who it is?
Thank-you again to Debbie and the rest of Panther Publishing’s author dream team, you’ve been absolutely fabulous, the speediness you sent the replies back was great! Thank-you!
There’s some cracking blog tours coming up in the next few months, if you’re a book blogger please don’t hesitate to contact Panther Publishing to request to be put on their bloggers list and give them a follow at @PantherPubs along with the authors to keep up to date with all the bookish news!
Until next time,
Happy reading!
The Reading Closet 