Having successfully beaten cancer Shiv is now planning to cycle 100 miles (yes, 100 miles!) to fundraise for 3 very special charities, and is accepting dressing up requests in return for sponsorship.

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What inspired the Lady of Many Faces?

I didn’t set out with a plan to do the lady of many faces. The first time I messed about dressing up was just after I’d had my hair cut short before chemo treatment last June. I didn’t recognise myself but instead of feeling down about it I thought I’d have some fun. Then it sort of carried on through treatment, what with wearing crazy hats and headgear to my appointments. It certainly got me remembered. The resurrection of the idea was through a Facebook chat when someone reposted one of my dressing up photos from last year to help promote my cycle challenge. I said I would do this again for money and the rest is hashtag history!

Do you have a personal favourite?

Personal favourite, well I do have to say I like the hulks – Hogan and Incredible. But I also really enjoyed Morrissey last year. Perhaps a Smiths tribute band needs me? (Worryingly I seem to look better as a man than a woman.)

Are you accepting requests from strangers who want to support the good cause?

I would happily accept more requests for donations from anyone and if I can do it I will. I’d be particularly made up if one of the people I’d dressed up as would sponsor me!

Why 100 mile challenge?

The cycling is as I got back into it after a 20 year break last year. The fact I could just about manage 6 miles when in treatment whereas now I can even consider 100 miles feels great. Fitness has been so important to me both in getting through and getting on. I love whizzing along the coast on my bike. I’m even growing to love Spin classes, though sometimes when it’s freezing outside and you’re starting at 7am, the enthusiasm is a little less!

Tell us a bit about your chosen charities.

The three charities are all really important to me. Firstly, I’m supporting Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research. I had hodkgin’s lymphoma and the stark truth is had my Mum had the same cancer when she was my age, there was no cure. It really pulls you up short to think like that. Every year, 30,000 people in the UK are diagnosed with a blood cancer and more research is vital, to help more people to survive.

Macmillan were great in supporting me practically and emotionally, particularly after treatment ended and I started to readjust. They are trying to help build a new cancer centre in Sussex and anything I can do to help is great.

And finally St Catherine’s Hospice. I have worked as the Communications Manager for them, but more than that, hospice care has touched my life so often and it’s incredible. For all those people who never get to hear the good news I did, I wanted to support the people that support them.

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I’ve come to the conclusion that noone’s life remains completely untouched by cancer.  Everyone knows someone who is dealing or has dealt with cancer.  This, folks, is a truly good cause, and it takes mere moments to donate.  You can simply text MEAK99 £2 to 70070.

To see more of The Lady of Many Faces, you can visit Shiv’s blog or follow @ShivMeaker on twitter.  To support these amazing charities, use the links below:

Team Meaker: Macmillan

Team Meaker: Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research

Team Meaker: St Catherine’s Hospice

Harriet Manners is a 15 year old geek.  She knows that because she looked it up in the Oxford Dictionary kept on her bedside table, with a ruler & pencil next to it for underlining interesting entries.  She’s bullied at school & is stalked by the only person in the world who is geekier than she is.  Suddenly she’s spotted by a scout at the clothes show, which she only attends under extreme duress to support her only friend, and given the opportunity to invent herself.  Can this ugly duckling turn into a swan?

I fell instantly in love with Harriet’s character.  All the characters in this book are brought to life in such glorious colour that I felt like I was standing alongside them throughout the story.  Harriet’s Dad has all the clumsy overenthusiasm of an exuberant dog, her stepmother emerges as a matter-of-fact semi-geek who became one of my favourite character during a scene in her office, whilst her agent Wilbur (that’s bur, not iam) is a riot of colour and personality.

Holly Smale’s style is a joy to read.  The chapters are short, punchy & written with humour, yet underneath all this is a serious moral & lesson that I think so many of us don’t truly learn until our adulthood.  Geek Girl is billed as a young adult book, but it’s perfect reading for anyone, especially if you have even the thinnest of geek streaks!  Trust me, read this book – it’s a triumph for geeks everywhere!

]]> http://jaysinsight.wordpress.com/2013/02/28/review-geek-girl-by-holly-smale/feed/ 0 jaysawdy Geek Girl http://jaysinsight.wordpress.com/2013/02/14/interview-with-heather-huffman-roses-in-ecuador/ http://jaysinsight.wordpress.com/2013/02/14/interview-with-heather-huffman-roses-in-ecuador/#comments Thu, 14 Feb 2013 10:00:24 +0000 Jay http://jaysinsight.wordpress.com/?p=1484 Continue reading →]]> I’m quite excited to have Heather Huffman visiting Jay’s Insight today as part of her blog tour to promote her latest novel Roses in Ecuador (sponsored link) from which I posted a teaser excerpt and reviewed.

What was the inspiration for Roses in Ecuador?

Most of my books start with a dream. Usually it’s like watching a scene from a movie, but I wake up knowing more than I should about the characters for having just watched one scene. I’ll be obsessed with the characters for days, and I know it’s a new book. I jot the scene down along with anything else I can remember about my gut impressions. Then the book sits on my hard drive, waiting its turn to be written.

Sometimes, like Devon McAlister’s first appearance in Suddenly a Spy, I intentionally work a character into an earlier novel to introduce them. Sometimes a character surprises me by showing up in another book. Either way, by the time I’m ready to write that book, I feel like I know the characters and their world.

For Roses in Ecuador, it was a combination of Devon popping up in other novels and a lot of research that breathed life into the story for me.

You haven’t always been an author – what gave you the impetus to make writing your career?

I’ve always loved being a writer, but it never occurred to me to make it a career. Even once I decided to get serious about looking for a publisher, I didn’t dare dream I’d be able to do it for a living.

It was actually a life tragedy that forced me out of the nest. When my middle son was injured in an accident, I left my corporate job to care for him. I ran out of FMLA before his rehabilitation was over, but for my family, there was never a question I had to stay with him, no matter what the cost.

It was when writing was the furthest from my mind that I found my publisher. My son is now healed and my days in the corporate world are behind me. The way it all came together, I can’t help but believe this current path was meant to be.

Are you a planner (plan your story and stick to the plan) or a pantser (sit and write and see where the story takes you)? Do your characters ever do anything that surprises you?

Pantser, all the way! I usually have an idea where I want the story to go, but no matter how much I think I know it never fails to surprise me. It’s actually kind of funny; I’m currently working on a project with another author who’s a planner. Watching us try to accommodate both styles in the same book has got to be interesting!

How do you bring your characters to life and keep them relatable?

From a writing process perspective, my characters are part someone I know (or an actor) and part imagination. I also spend a lot of time thinking about why they’re doing what they’re doing and behaving the way they are.

But when it comes to keeping them relatable, I think the trick for me is a willingness to lay myself bare. When I put my own fears, failures and frailties on the page, it creates a character who’s much more human.

What do you hope readers will take away from your books?

It’s never too late to make a change in your life, and we all have the ability to make a difference in this world.

For those now hooked on your books (like me!), do you recommend we read them in a particular order?

Thank you for saying that! That question has come up several times. The short answer is not really. The longer answer is there are several books that tend to go together more closely and some that mean more if you’ve read another beforehand, so here’s my personal recommendation: Throwaway, Tumbleweed, Suddenly a Spy, Jailbird, Ties That Bind, Ring of Fire, Devil in Disguise, Roses in Ecuador

Yes, Tumbleweed comes chronologically before Throwaway, but for some reason, I always send people to Throwaway First.

The point of the books was to have them intertwine but in a way that any reader could pick up any book and it stand alone. (So if Roses in Ecuador is the first book of mine you’ve ever read, that’s okay!) Still, I like revisiting characters from previous novels. It’s like reminiscing with old friends.

Which one of your books is closest to your heart (or is that like asking a mother to choose between her children)?

It is kind of like asking a mother to pick a favorite child, and the analogy is true because, like my children, they’re each my favorite in their own way. Usually if I have to pick one, I say Jailbird because that’s the book that put me on the path I’m on – it’s the book that I loved too much to walk away from, even though I’d been urged to by people respected in the business.

Right now, I’m working with my editor on Fool’s Game, a book I first wrote when I was in my late teens. Editing it now, at thirty-five, is a definite walk down memory lane. I think that’s the book that’ll take over the spot of near and dear to my heart because it represents the girl I was and the woman I’ve become.

What makes you fall in love with a book?

Beauty, truth, an enchanting love story, and characters I care about.

Name a book that has inspired you.

I first read the Scarlet Letter when I was twelve, and it left an indelible mark on me. It’s theme of being true and the danger of secret sin is one that guides the way I live even to this day. Sometimes I think I make people a little uncomfortable with my transparency, but I don’t know how to live any other way!

What advice would you give to budding authors?

Write, whether you have time or not, whether you feel like it or not. Nobody else will take your writing seriously if you don’t. And don’t forget to enjoy it. Whether you find a publisher or write for nobody but you to read, there’s joy to be found in the act of writing itself. Don’t lose sight of that.

Finally, to give us something to look forward to once we’ve finished Roses in Ecuador, do you have any ideas in the pipeline for your next novel?

I have so many plans for the next several books. I only wish I could write faster! Look for Fool’s Game to be released this spring – that’s the book I mentioned earlier. Cody Kingsley is the main character, and we’ll also see some of the unanswered questions from Roses in Ecuador play out in this novel. I’m also working on Karise McAlister’s as yet unnamed story, which I hope to squeeze in by the end of 2013.

In addition to the next two novels from my regular line, I’m hoping to start work on a YA line of books featuring some of the young adults from my current novels.

The final project I’m hoping to see progress on in 2013 is the novella I’m co-authoring with Sylvain Reynard, Twitter War. While that project is a lot of fun, it’s also at the mercy of two hectic schedules, so I have no idea when it will be completed!

Wow, that sounds like a hectic 2013!  Thank you for visiting today Heather.  The best of luck with Roses in Ecuador, and I can’t wait to read Fool’s Game.

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Roses in Ecuador – Heather Huffman

(Chapter Eight-Nine – pages 48-53)

Tree limbs smacked her in the face. Thorns and underbrush clawed at her skin and clothes. Her legs screamed from the exertion.  Still she pressed on, keeping Devon well in sight. When she burst out of the trees into a clearing, he reached out and grabbed hold of her, pulling Jane to him just before she ran straight off the edge of a cliff.

“Oh, dear Lord,” she gasped, clinging to his shoulders and burying her face against his chest. His heart was hammering as hard as hers. The thunder of a waterfall filled her ears. She couldn’t hear anything else; she had no way of knowing if their pursuers were still behind them.

“I think we should jump.”

“I think you’re crazy.”

“Probably, but I still think we should jump,” he persisted.

Jane peeked over the edge. The water seemed pretty darn far below to her. “Holy crap. I still think you’re crazy.”

He spun her back around and cupped her chin in his hands. “Trust me, Janey. Please.”

She paused for a beat, searching his eyes. “Okay. On three?”

Their pursuers were closer now; Jane could hear them above the roar of water.

“Three.” Devon grabbed her hand and pulled her with him over the edge of the cliff.

The freefall to the water lasted just long enough for Devon to wonder if he’d killed them both – and to think he liked the way her hand felt in his, even as they plummeted through the air. The crash into the water knocked the wind out of him, but he was happy to be alive—and happier still when he felt Jane struggling to resurface.

They popped out of the water, sputtering for air. Without a word, Devon tucked Jane to his side and kicked his strong legs, propelling them to shore. He’d lived in the basin long enough to know they hadn’t survived the jump yet, not until they were out of reach of the myriad of predators who called this river home.

Their pursuers fired at them in vain. Devon wasn’t sure whether it was divine providence or the fact that the distance was too great for the bullets to find their target, but he wasn’t willing to stick around to see if their luck would hold. The pair crawled out of the water, still gasping for air, and stumbled into the protection of the jungle.

Devon cast a worried glance at Jane when she stopped to lean against a nearby tree with her eyes closed. “Do you have a little bit more in you?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” She shoved away from the tree. “Just point me where you want me to go, boss.”

“Are you sure?”

She replied with a look that adequately conveyed her irritation.

“Okay then.” He took her by the shoulders and turned her to face north. “That way.”

Devon knew he needed to take the lead since he was the one who knew where they were going, but he was loath to let Jane out of his field of vision. She looked pale and shaky. And tired.

As they trudged through the dense vegetation, Devon wondered what kind of trouble his pretty little neighbor had landed herself in the middle of. Neither spoke much; they were both too tired and unsettled.

When Devon finally broke the silence, it was to let her know they didn’t have much farther to go before reaching a cabin where they could take a break and get a drink of water. “Can you make it a little longer?”

“Would you stop asking me that? It’s patronizing.”

“How is concern for your welfare patronizing?” He stopped and turned to her. “You look like you could collapse at any moment.”

“I told you before, I don’t collapse.”

Those were the last words to leave her mouth before she crumpled like an old marionette at his feet. He felt a little bad for not catching her, but it had taken him by such surprise he hadn’t reacted quickly enough. Jane had been so adamant about not collapsing, he’d believed her.

“Well, this sucks,” he told no one in particular before kneeling to scoop her unconscious form into his arms. She wasn’t a large woman and he considered himself to generally be a strong man, but the added weight made his already tired muscles protest. Suddenly the cabin felt much farther away than it had five minutes ago – not that he’d ever tell Jane that. Of course, it was probably best if he didn’t tell her he hadn’t caught her, either.

Devon resolutely set out toward the cabin. By the time the building came into view, he was happier to see it than he ever had been before. Once there, he laid her on the bed and gently tugged her wet boots and socks off. Then he hesitated. If it were anyone else in the world, he’d strip them down to their skivvies and put a warm blanket around them.

But this was Jane, and that posed a whole new set of problems. For one, he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted the first time he saw her in her underwear to be while she was unconscious. That just seemed too creepy. For another, there was a very distinct possibility she would be really pissed at him if she woke up in her underwear.

Still, she looked miserable in her soaked clothes. He reminded himself he was a grown man and the head of several corporations. Surely he could be adult about helping a friend in need and weather any fallout from that decision.

“Okay then,” he told himself aloud, feeling a little silly as he reached down to tug her T-shirt up. It was an awkward process, disrobing a woman who was completely passed out. This certainly wasn’t how he’d been envisioning undressing her for the past several days. He was fairly proud of himself by the time he finally had Jane’s clothes in a sopping heap on the floor and a warm blanket tucked around her.

He looked down at her on the bed; she looked so fragile. He couldn’t resist reaching down to brush aside the blond ringlets that clung to her cheek. Then he surprised himself by leaning over and kissing her tenderly on the forehead. She murmured in response. He froze, wondering if he’d been caught in his impetuous gesture of affection. She sighed and settled deeper into her pillow.

He straightened and took a step back. He didn’t understand what it was about her that brought about such a tumult of unfamiliar emotions. It irritated him not being able to sort it all out. Absolutely, she was beautiful, but he was accustomed to beautiful women. What magic power did she have that held him so captive? Was it her apathy – was he truly that shallow?

Thunder rumbled in the distance, telling him they would be waiting out a storm in the little cabin.  He scowled. That’s just what he needed, to be confined in a small space with a stunning, nearly naked woman he couldn’t touch.

Stop by on 7th February when I’ll be posting a teaser excerpt from Roses in Ecuador(sponsored link), and 14th February when Heather will be visiting as part of her blog tour.

Roses in Ecuador opens with a young boy performing his job of spying on a Jaguar preservation.  It’s clear that Eduardo has scruples about his occupation, and that alone had me hooked from page 1.  I was intrigued by Eduardo’s character, and itching to know who hired him, and why they would want to spy on a Jaguar preservation.

When we first meet Jane Russell she is feistily refuting the attentions of the local playboy Devon McAllister, but when the preservation is attacked by angry locals she’s forced to accept his assistance.  The plot thickens when the same “angry locals” turn out in force to help search for the missing Jaguars.  If they’re not behind the attack, then who is, and why are they willing to kill Jane in the process?

With the whodunit suspense, and the constant “will they, won’t they” tension between Jane and Devon, I finished the novel in two sittings (*ahem* so much for exam revision).  I rooted for the feisty & strong, yet vulnerable Jane as a realistic character, although if truth be told I did want to elbow her aside – hell if she’s dithering about Devon, I’ll have him!

I hunted for a criticism of this book, and it turned out to be a compliment in that I wanted to know more about Eduardo’s character.  One scene (I’ll call it the espionage scene to avoid spoilers) seemed a trifle rushed to me as I wanted a bit more of a blow-by-blow account, but overall the novel didn’t suffer for it.

Apparently Heather was once told that there was no market for novels which touch on the dark side of life, but are humorous love stories.  I’m relieved she didn’t let that stop her as the mixture of suspense, romance, gritty content and moments of lighter relief are exactly what I want from of a book.

Disclaimer: I was sent an electronic advanced reader copy of Roses in Ecuador to review, but the opinions given are, as always, entirely my own.