Everyone enjoys
a giveaway and Julia Hughes is offering some great ones!
The new version is available today from these virtual bookstores:
Nook Books: click here.
Amazon: click here.
WH Smith (in the U.K.): click here.
Smashwords: click here.
Readers can expect to have a smoother reading experience on their Ebook devices.
For those who enjoy paperback reads, the new version will be released in paperback on December 10.
It is so easy
to enter Julia’s giveaway contest. Head over to her website - here - then click onto the
Rafflecopter link and follow the easy instructions. The prizes are:
FIRST PRIZE:
Autographed Paperback: ‘A Ripple in Time’
with a unique SPECIAL edition.
The winner’s name will be featured in the book as a passenger on board the
Titanic.
SECOND
PRIZE: An Amazon $10 gift card.
A RUNNER’S
UP prize will be given to twenty (20)
people – a free ebook format copy of A
Ripple in Time.
A special congratulations to Julia! Her protagonist, Wren – the more mystical of the two Celtic Cousins, has just received an award. In the recent eFestival of Words Awards Hall for 2013, Wren was nominated for “Best Hero” and voted by readers into joint second place.
A Ripple in Time SYNOPSIS: Wren awakes
in a present day in which World War I never ended and the alternative-Wren died
as a child. Somehow, his nightmares entered the dreams of Carina, a girl on
board the Titanic. Using Wren’s knowledge, she has been able to avert tragedy,
so creating a ripple in time. With the help of Carina’s descendant, Carrie,
Wren must find a way to go back and restore the time line. If he does, the
lives of those aboard the vessel will be lost and the love of his life will
never be born. Will he be able to save the present or is history as we know it
doomed?
Julia’s note: “An iconic image of
the last century, the Titanic represents hope, ambition and tragedy. It marks
the beginning of the end of an era. However, A Ripple in Time isn’t all about the Titanic. It’s about making
unbearable decisions, taking chances and allowing faith and love to grow.”
To read my review of A Ripple in Time, click on the page shown at the top of the blog.
Julia agreed to take some time and answer a few questions about her
writing in general and a few questions I have specific to A Ripple in Time.
Q: Writing a novel is not
as easy a task as some might think! What is it that compels you to pour a ton
of glue on your chair, put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard), lock the door
and shut off the phone?
A: (Had to stop and think about this one!) I think everyone
indulges in daydreams from time to time – what would our world be like if, say
for example, Lee Harvey Oswald had never been born? I take these fantasies one
step further and, honestly Dody, it’s annoying to other people because I can easily
lose myself in an entire movie running inside my scatterbrain mind. There are
more questions than answers; so many ‘what ifs’ and ‘whys’. I guess you could
say I’ve invented my own solutions to mysteries that niggle. Writing down these
stories seemed a natural progression.
Q: Since I am an
avid fan, having read each of the aforementioned novels, I’ve come to
appreciate your great ability to weave into your stories not only the
day-to-day minutiae of living but also historical facts, geographical landmarks
and mystical possibilities. Are you a student of history; an ardent observer of
people and life?
A: I wish! Who wouldn’t
love to live their lives in study? I’m so envious of youngsters nowadays who
have so many opportunities to access learning. The internet has widened things
up to us oldies as well but, in another life, I would be a historian. For me,
history speaks. It’s all around us, sometimes mysterious, sometimes quite
plainly saying, “This is how your great grandmother lived, worked and played.” Our
ancestors’ ‘magic’ is our science and, in the years to come, for certain many
mysteries will be explained by science to our children.
Q: In other
interviews, you have shared that you have a fascination for historical events.
What intrigued you so about the sinking of the RMS Titanic – so much so that
you wove such an intense, intricate tale surrounding this event?
A: The lifeboat scenes you see in the film "A Night to
Remember" were filmed at our local lido. That and the fact that the
Titanic hit an iceberg and sank in 1912 were the only two facts I knew about
this tragic event before writing ARIT. Any pivotal moment in time would have
served the story line. I originally selected the assassination of The Archduke
Franz Ferdinand, which provided the catalyst for World War One. Anyone who's read
the war poets or Vera Brittain's "Testament of Youth" will understand
why I had to abandon that storyline as being too raw. The Titanic's tragedy led
to an appalling and needless loss of life, but it was a tragedy dwarfed by the
war that followed.
Q: ARIT is one of
the most incredible stories that I have ever read – in my view, you wrote a
brilliant story. How did you gather and discern the possibilities that could
ensue regarding the alternative world that we would have had if the Titanic had
made it into New York City?
A: Thanks for the up – you can come over for dinner any day!
As I read through the inquests' transcripts, it became apparent that
floorboards were shifting, the conventional class structures were challenged.
The American courts and newspapers in particular were vocal in their
condemnation of the "establishment" and upper classes. "Why
should the value of a life be based on social status?" was a question
asked repeatedly. The owner of the White Star Line, Mr. Bruce Ismay was called
to the stand, and appeared bewildered that anyone should even think, let alone
ask this question.
The "Zimmermann telegram" inviting Mexico to
invade America with Germany's backing actually exists. It's pretty easy to
imagine what might have happened to European history and development, without
America's intervention in the World Wars.
Q: As in all of the
Celtic Cousins Adventure tales, the descriptions of your characters and their
dialogues are so vivid that they practically leap off the pages, bringing readers
like me into the story itself. Especially when scripting the complex scenes and
dialogues in ARIT, did you go into some sort of writer’s altered state – were
there ‘ripple in time’ experiences in your mind that leapt out at you?
A: Again – I'm flattered – you're really too kind. But of
course, readers read a different story from the one the author thought they
wrote. Isn't that the beauty of reading? You bring your own imagination to the
table, and the story comes to life.
I imagine for most writers, their fictional characters
live. It's a fabulous feeling to know that for one reader, the Celtic Cousins
and Detective Crombie exist.
********
Julia Hughes is London-born and the author of five notable novels that are personal favorites: the remarkable Celtic Cousins Adventure series - A Raucous Time, A Ripple in Time and An Explosive Time. The Bridle Path is a delightful romance set in the Cornish countryside and The Griffin Cryer is a fantastical not-just-for-young-adult adventure for griffin rider wannabes like me.
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