Good Morning Peepsickles!
Today I'm delighted to host my good friend and writer, Seb Kirby with his new release, Regret No More. This is the follow up to Take No More, a novel I read a year or so back and thoroughly enjoyed.
I've read the first few eight chapters of the new novel --and I'm loving it! If Regret No More is as good as the first novel then Seb's got a winner on his hands!
But, before we get on with the book, let's hear a little from the interview I had with Seb last week...
Morning Seb and Welcome! What attracted you to writing?
I was raised with books but not in the usual sense – my grandfather ran a mobile library in Birmingham and my parents inherited a random selection of the books. They weren't much interested in them; they were piled up in a box room, gathering dust. I would disappear in there and resurrect much read classics. I’ve been hooked ever since. It’s always seemed a natural thing to want to do – to write.
What genre are you most comfortable writing?
I write thrillers and I write sci fi. That’s probably because those are the genres that I get the most enjoyment reading. I’ve written quite a lot of non fiction, as yet unpublished. I have a hankering to write comedy one day but that’s a hard call since you don’t know if what you write will be funny until you try it out on an audience.
How has your upbringing influenced your writing?
I had a tough upbringing in Birmingham. I think that gave me a lifelong understanding of what really matters in everyday life. But I received a good education that gave me a grasp of cultural tradition and the importance of maintaining it. I try to address both these aspects in my writing.
Where do you get your inspiration and ideas from?
Ray Bradbury put it best: ‘My stories run up and bite me in the leg - I respond by writing down everything that goes on during the bite. When I finish, the idea lets go and runs away.’ I feel the same. The best ideas come when a story is in full flow and the characters take on a life of their own.
Do you have any writing rituals or listen to “mood music” when you write? Where is your favourite place to write?
I carry a notebook. I write whenever it feels right – on trains, on a flight, in a hotel room, at home. I listen to jazz a lot but I’ve never been able to do that while I’m writing. I prefer silence and I’m lucky to live in a place that has real silence.
What’s your favourite place in the entire world?
That’s a tough one. I’m lucky that I’ve been able to travel and find places that resonate and that I want to return to as often as I can. With the exception of Ambleside (The English Lake District) all are cities: Florence, London, Venice, San Diego, Paris, San Francisco (in no particular order).
What was your favourite part of REGRET NO MORE to write? Which part was the hardest?
I enjoyed recapturing the ascent to Sandia Crest that I made some years ago aboard the Sandia Peak tramway outside of Albuquerque. I find those cable cars very scary. The view over the Rio Grande plain was memorable but the descent over TWA valley was something of a challenge.
What I found hardest was synchronising events in Austin, Texas with events in London. There’s a six hour time difference in Summer and it was challenging to make sure that the characters were doing what they were supposed to be doing at the right time of day – sleeping, having breakfast or dinner. I hope I got it right!
Give your fans three fun facts that they may not already know about you.
Not sure how many of these are fun but here goes: I try to walk 15 miles each week; I think Miles Davis was a musical genius; I’m a lifelong vegetarian.
Chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry?
It’s just got to be chocolate. I’m a chocoholic, so ‘more than 70% cocoa solids’ is the kind of off the wall talk that appeals to me!
So what’s next for you as an author?
I’m ready to develop my sci fi novel DOUBLE BIND with a sequel but the next thing on the list is to complete the James Blake trilogy. The full extent of the corruption merging from the Landos in Italy is a story yet to be told. The working title is FEAR NO MORE. I’m hoping to complete this before the end of the year, or sooner if the creative process goes well.
Thanks Seb! Okay, so let's have some details about the book, and most importantly - where you can get your copy! Book Synopsis below:
Simply click on the book cover below for either Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk:
Today I'm delighted to host my good friend and writer, Seb Kirby with his new release, Regret No More. This is the follow up to Take No More, a novel I read a year or so back and thoroughly enjoyed.
I've read the first few eight chapters of the new novel --and I'm loving it! If Regret No More is as good as the first novel then Seb's got a winner on his hands!
But, before we get on with the book, let's hear a little from the interview I had with Seb last week...
Morning Seb and Welcome! What attracted you to writing?
I was raised with books but not in the usual sense – my grandfather ran a mobile library in Birmingham and my parents inherited a random selection of the books. They weren't much interested in them; they were piled up in a box room, gathering dust. I would disappear in there and resurrect much read classics. I’ve been hooked ever since. It’s always seemed a natural thing to want to do – to write.
What genre are you most comfortable writing?
I write thrillers and I write sci fi. That’s probably because those are the genres that I get the most enjoyment reading. I’ve written quite a lot of non fiction, as yet unpublished. I have a hankering to write comedy one day but that’s a hard call since you don’t know if what you write will be funny until you try it out on an audience.
How has your upbringing influenced your writing?
I had a tough upbringing in Birmingham. I think that gave me a lifelong understanding of what really matters in everyday life. But I received a good education that gave me a grasp of cultural tradition and the importance of maintaining it. I try to address both these aspects in my writing.
Where do you get your inspiration and ideas from?
Ray Bradbury put it best: ‘My stories run up and bite me in the leg - I respond by writing down everything that goes on during the bite. When I finish, the idea lets go and runs away.’ I feel the same. The best ideas come when a story is in full flow and the characters take on a life of their own.
Do you have any writing rituals or listen to “mood music” when you write? Where is your favourite place to write?
I carry a notebook. I write whenever it feels right – on trains, on a flight, in a hotel room, at home. I listen to jazz a lot but I’ve never been able to do that while I’m writing. I prefer silence and I’m lucky to live in a place that has real silence.
What’s your favourite place in the entire world?
That’s a tough one. I’m lucky that I’ve been able to travel and find places that resonate and that I want to return to as often as I can. With the exception of Ambleside (The English Lake District) all are cities: Florence, London, Venice, San Diego, Paris, San Francisco (in no particular order).
What was your favourite part of REGRET NO MORE to write? Which part was the hardest?
I enjoyed recapturing the ascent to Sandia Crest that I made some years ago aboard the Sandia Peak tramway outside of Albuquerque. I find those cable cars very scary. The view over the Rio Grande plain was memorable but the descent over TWA valley was something of a challenge.
What I found hardest was synchronising events in Austin, Texas with events in London. There’s a six hour time difference in Summer and it was challenging to make sure that the characters were doing what they were supposed to be doing at the right time of day – sleeping, having breakfast or dinner. I hope I got it right!
Give your fans three fun facts that they may not already know about you.
Not sure how many of these are fun but here goes: I try to walk 15 miles each week; I think Miles Davis was a musical genius; I’m a lifelong vegetarian.
Chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry?
It’s just got to be chocolate. I’m a chocoholic, so ‘more than 70% cocoa solids’ is the kind of off the wall talk that appeals to me!
So what’s next for you as an author?
I’m ready to develop my sci fi novel DOUBLE BIND with a sequel but the next thing on the list is to complete the James Blake trilogy. The full extent of the corruption merging from the Landos in Italy is a story yet to be told. The working title is FEAR NO MORE. I’m hoping to complete this before the end of the year, or sooner if the creative process goes well.
Thanks Seb! Okay, so let's have some details about the book, and most importantly - where you can get your copy! Book Synopsis below:
Simply click on the book cover below for either Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk:
REGRET NO MORE ~ Book Synopsis
Nothing is safe from the past
The mystery deepens as the tragic events in Florence return as a matter of life or death for James Blake and his family. A stolen Picasso used in an art swindle lies at the root of an international conspiracy that reaches into the life of a prominent US politician with devastating consequences not just for him but for so many of those caught up in the crime.
Wolfgang Heller, a ruthless assassin, is seeking to eliminate those who have any knowledge of the swindle. James has to leave the secure life he has established and become involved in this new threat to the future.
REGRET NO MORE combines thrilling action with a thought-provoking story line centred on international art crime.
Background
REGRET NO MORE is the second book in the bestselling James Blake series of thrillers. The first, TAKE NO MORE has been widely praised for its innovative and knowledgeable depiction of art crime. The final book in the series, FEAR NO MORE, is to be published later this year.
Praise for TAKE NO MORE
‘I loved the inclusion of a more modern evil …. along with the search for lost classic art and the romantic tale of James Blake, who loved his wife very much…’
‘Kirby's spare yet rich prose, his perfect word choices, made this a work that appeared to be effortlessly constructed. That seamlessness is the hallmark of a gifted writer.’
'It was a few pages before I realized what I was reading: a sort of modern noir. I walked in the hero's shoes, was privy to his thoughts and intruded on his emotions
‘Memorable characters with murder, organised crime, Italy and art….’
‘Mystery and the arts – a great combo. The art world depiction was fascinating….
Amazon links:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.fr
Amazon.de
Amazon.it
Amazon.es
amazon.ca
Author Links:
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Seb-Kirby/e/B004J95W0G
Website: http://noveltakenomore.blogspot.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/seb.kirby
Facebook Author Page: http://www.facebook.com/Take.No.More
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Seb_Kirby
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4565594.Seb_Kirby
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