Books

27 September 2019

Françoise DuMaurier shares the inspiration for his new book The Grateful Boys

Author and educator Françoise DuMaurier talks to Female First about how the #ownvoices movement inspired their new young adult fiction novel, The Grateful Boys. The vampire genre is as old ...

26 September 2019

10 Things I'd like my readers to know about me by Kerry Watts

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25 September 2019

10 Things writing a book has taught me by Valerie Nettles

As I wrote this book with self-reflection I learned things about myself. I never expected to write a book and have it published. I feel a little humbled by this ...

24 September 2019

Ten things I’ve learned through being a lookalike

By Barbara Angela Kealy, author of Double Deception, £11.99, paperback and ebook, Filament Publishing, out 24th September 2019 https://twitter.com/kealybarbara My introduction to the unique lookalike world began in the 1980s. ...

23 September 2019

Seven things I'd like my readers to know about me by Zoe Folbigg

My first book – The Note – was based on a true story. I loved a handsome stranger on a train from afar on my daily commute. It was excruciating, as ...

23 September 2019

Where to relax in Tokyo by Anna Chittenden

With over 10 million people living in Japan’s capital Tokyo, it’s easy to sometimes feel overwhelmed in this frenetic, bustling and crowded city. After hitting the busy traveller hotspots of ...

23 September 2019

10 Things I'd like my readers to know about me by Paul Hughes

I was born in Fauldhouse, then a mining village in central Scotland. At the age of only 17 in the early 1960’s two friends; Jimmy Young and John Carty and ...

20 September 2019

Jane Wenham-Jones discusses the inspiration for her new novel The Big Five-O

What do Jennifer Lopez, Renee Zellweger, Jennifer Aniston and Cate Blanchett have in common? Clue: it’s not that they’re all gorgeous, A-list celebrity actresses with bodies to die for. Give up? I’ll ...

20 September 2019

Elizabeth Woodcraft discusses her new book The Girls from Greenway

In the early Sixties I was a teenager, listening to Pick of the Pops on the Light Programme on Sundays. When I was given a transistor radio for my birthday, ...

20 September 2019

Robert Lyons shares the inspiration for his new novel The Shell Collector

Author Robert Lyons reveals how his own dealings with a “wolf pack of professional bullies” served to inspire his brilliant novel about City scandals in London in the 1970s. Writing ...

19 September 2019

Isabel Ashdown discusses her love of Norway

The idea for my latest thriller, Lake Child, had been bubbling away for several years before I finally managed to write it. The novel tells the story of Eva, a ...

18 September 2019

10 Tips for writing a book with your spouse

Having written several published poetry books and lately three novels in collaboration with my husband Donough, covering crime, sci-fi and war, I’ve often been asked how we work together – ...

17 September 2019

How soap operas influence my saga novels by Glenda Young

I’ve been a fan of Coronation Street since before I can remember. It was the show I used to watch with my mum and grandma, all three of us huddled on the ...

16 September 2019

The benefits to be gained from learning to play the piano by Liana Ainge

After studying music and psychology in Russia I emigrated to the UK in 1999. My main work is teaching the piano in particular to lawyers and other professionals who all work ...

16 September 2019

Barbara H. Roberts shares the inspiration for her new book The Doctor Broad

One of the greatest regrets of my father’s life was that he didn’t go to college. Orphaned by the time he was fifteen years of age, he had to work ...

16 September 2019

Miller Caldwell reveals the inspiration behind his new book A Reluctant Spy

Author Miller Caldwell reveals the true story of his remarkable relative, a woman forced to spy for Nazi Germany during the war, but whose double agent status helped to secure ...

16 September 2019

Seven of my favourite vegan places in London by Sara Kiyo Popowa

It's never been more fun, or stylish, to to be vegan, especially in the world capital of V – London. Whether fully committed or just wanting less animal products on ...

16 September 2019

Top tips to get your tech working for you by Alice Jennings

With the kids back at school and less than a hundred days till Christmas, the heady, relaxing days of summer seem well and truly behind us. The days are getting ...

15 September 2019

Seven ways to support a partner who is grieving for a loved one

By Dr Esther Ramsay-Jones, author of Holding Time: Human Need and Relationships in Dementia care (Free Association Books, September 30th 2019) Esther Ramsay-Jones lectures on ‘Death, Dying and Bereavement’ at ...

10 September 2019

How to find inner peace after suicide of a loved one by Simin Sarikhani

Today marks World Suicide Prevention Day. The World Health Organisation estimates that over 800,000 people take their own life each year - that’s one person every 40 seconds. This year, ...

9 September 2019

In the mood for writing by Helen Fields

I wish I was the sort of compulsive planner many of my writing colleagues seem to be. I long for neat boards filled with multi-coloured post it notes. Instead, I’m ...

9 September 2019

Seven things I'd like my readers to know about me by Anna Ellory

THE RABBIT GIRLS is my first novel. There is a chapter in the back of the book that was my first attempt at writing a story – it remains in ...

9 September 2019

10 Things I'd like my readers to know about me by Nicola Mostyn

Nicola Mostyn writes a piece for Female First upon the release of her novel, The Love Delusion, out with Piatkus now. My first job was as a bookseller at Blackwell’s ...

9 September 2019

Seven things I'd like my readers to know about me by Johanna Nield

I was introduced to creative writing in primary school and won two national writing competitions in my final year there. Since then, I’ve written short stories, poetry, fanfiction (Buffy the ...