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Nikki Mahood

Book Feature: A Kind of Mad Courage

May 10, 2014 1 Comment

AKindOfMadCourageA KIND OF MAD COURAGE

Nineteen authors from around the world were given six weeks or less to produce “a story involving a mother somehow.” The result is a gorgeously eclectic collection of tales that will make you laugh, cry, and truly appreciate the “mad courage” of motherhood.

Laura Chapman, Francine LaSala, Nikki Mahood, Heather McCoubrey, and Karen E. Martin each present unique takes on impending motherhood, while Sheryn MacMunn, kc wilder, and Julie Valerie portray the end of the journey. Samantha Stroh Bailey, Louise Wise, and Maria Schulz show the pride and peril of dealing with teenage daughters, while Elke Feuer, Diana Shafter Gliedman, and Donna Valenti demonstrate that a mother’s work is never done, even under the craziest of circumstances. Regina-Cash Clark, Wendy Janes, and Monique McDonellexplore the impact on lives in which mothers go “missing,” while Carey Heywoodand Jen Tucker warm your heart and tear it out, respectively.

THE STORIES

Hide and Seek – Samantha Stroh Bailey

Claire’s teenage daughter, Emily, goes missing on a birthday cruise, and Claire can only fear the worst from the lately rebellious teen…

Autumn’s Eyes – Regina Cash-Clark

June’s abandonment of three of four of her children, told in alternating points of view between June, and her oldest daughter, Edwina.

Oh Baby – Laura Chapman

Rocker Tuck and new wife Autumn return from Chapman’s “Ten Drummers Drumming” (Merry & Bright), now with a baby on the way.

The Sacrifice – Elke Feuer

Melissa learns there isn’t anything she won’t do to protect her children from the abuse and neglect of her alcoholic husband Roger…

Love in the Time of Cannibals – Diana Shafter Gliedman

Could a zombie apocalypse finally give rudderless Jessica the direction she needs–and the connection she craves? It will if her mother has anything to say about it.

A Poem for Mommy – Carey Heywood

In helping his young daughter craft a poem for Mother’s Day, a father beautifully recounts the story of the romance with her mother that led to them becoming a family.

Verity – Wendy Janes

After an accident means she’ll no longer be able to live on her own, septuagenarian Susan may need to divulge a secret she’s been keeping from Verity all her life.

Monkey Bread – Francine LaSala

Amy and Deck (Rita Hayworth’s Shoes) learn more about having babies than they ever wanted to know at a madcap family dinner celebrating President’s Day.

Last Words – Sheryn MacMunn

The bond shared between Ruth (Finding Out) and her mother, Eliza, is revealed, from the time of Ruth’s childhood before the War to the death of Eliza.

This Year’s Love – Nikki Mahood

Fallon and Abner are married, mortgaged, and expecting a baby any minute in this fun, heartfelt mini-sequel to Fallen.

Two Thousand Steps – Karen E. Martin

With the unsolicited help of a fairy friend from their childhood, two grown sisters – one with kids, one without – each get to walk a mile in the other’s shoes…

Emily’s Promise – Heather McCoubrey

Even though pregnant Emily’s life is shattered by Jason’s infidelity the night before her wedding, she’s determined to give her baby the best life possible.

A Tale of Two Mothers – Monique McDonell

How do you deal with the mother who abandoned you when she shows up out of the blue – and what does it mean for the woman who raised you? Chloe’s about to find out.

Like a Boomerang – Maria Schulz

Tess has been stressing out her mother, Charlotte, since the day she was born. But when disaster strikes during a campus Halloween party, it could prove the worst stress yet…

Heartstrings – Jen Tucker

Young widow Vicki’s no stranger to loss–and guilt, as another mother’s loss helped her daughter live. Will meeting up help them the two mothers heal? Or make matters worse?

In the Nick of Time – Donna Valenti

Iris may be dead but her insistence on looking after her children is far from buried. Will her husband Nick get it together? Or will Iris have to move Heaven and Earth to make him?

LLL – Julie Valerie

In this hilarious yet heartwarming story, words of wisdom from the game of Scrabble unite a daughter with her aging mother, a former Scrabble champion whose mental faculties are quickly fading.

Lady in Red – k.c. wilder

Her dying “Gran” is the only mother she’s ever known. But only when Gran is gone does a woman discover the woman her grandmother really was, and the secrets she hid.

Becky’s Mum – Louise Wise

Straight-A student Becky’s being pulled off the straight-and-narrow by her derelict boyfriend Darren. Will her mother’s wisdom sink in before it’s too late?

**Click HERE to buy “A Kind of Mad Courage” on Amazon!

*All proceeds benefit The Guthy Jackson Charitable Foundation.*

Filed Under: Guests Authors Tagged With: A Kind of Mad Courage, Carey Heywood, Diana Shafter Gliedman, Donna Valenti, Elke Feuer, Francine LaSala, Heather McCoubrey, Jen Tucker, Julie Valerie, k.c. wilder, Karen E. Martin, Laura Chapman, Louise Wise, Maria Schulz, Monique McDonell, Mother's Day, Nikki Mahood, Regina Cash-Clark, Samantha Stroh Bailey, Sheryn MacMunn, Wendy Janes

Nikki Mahood

May 21, 2013 6 Comments

NikkiMahoodPic

About author, Nikki Mahood:  Nikki Mahood was born in Dublin, moving to the UK in the late eighties as a child, she has resided in North Yorkshire ever since.  Distance didn’t just make her heart grow fonder, it made her mind grow too, her grandmother provided the stationary, usually adorned with Ponies of some sort and they wrote to each other regularly.  So began her writing career, starting with silly poems to send her family and nurtured by a love of reading, her overactive imagination and an obsession with Josephine March of Little Women.

Without setting out to write a book, a taster course for The Open University brought Fallon Magee into Nikki’s imagination, followed shortly by one Abner Hagarth-Smythe and suddenly what started as a character exercise became a novel.

After two years of unsuccessful submissions, the idea of self publishing was raised and so began the evolution of Fallen from a manuscript, to a novel, to a Kindle, hopefully yours too.

Nikki works full time and writes whenever possible, watches far too many movies and dedicates a good hour a day to scrolling through Pinterest…

INTERVIEW

Why do you write?  I write because I don’t know what to do with myself if I don’t. I work full time and write whenever I can.  I think Josephine March (from Little Women) really inspired me, my Mum gave me the book as a child and I’ve read it at least once a year ever since.  I see a lot of myself in Jo, not least the writing side of her.

Who is your favorite author?  Hmm, this is difficult, I’ve met so many awesome authors lately, via social media, I read everything that Carey Heywood writes and am a huge fan! Historically I devoured every Patricia Cornwell and Freya North book going and I still read Freyas.  I guess I can’t nail one down universally, it’s absolutely subjective to my mood on any given day.

What was the writing/editing/publishing process like for you?   I went into the whole self publishing thing after a frustrating couple of years of submissions. I was so proud of myself for completing Fallen that I thought the pro-forma letters sent by Agents very tough.  With Fallen I was very arrogant, stuck it on Lulu, made family buy it and didn’t really do much else, expecting people to find it, buy it and make it into a movie.  Being accepted into Chicklit Goddesses has helped me realise that I’m responsible for a lot, editing and proofing, something I’ve done alone so far and my reviews proved it to a detriment to my writing.  I’m going to do it properly this year with Forgotten!

Hard/paperback or eBooks?  Any books!! Any media, reading is what’s important. Whatever you read, reading can only expand your mind and give you a drive to do things you might not have tried otherwise. I know that if I have children I will do exactly the same as my Mum did and get them reading Classics from a young age.

Where is your ideal writing location?   A coffee shop, my laptop on the table and a steaming mug of coffee in front of me! Sunday mornings used to be great for that, but my lactose intolerance put pay to my latte habit!

How many drafts of your books do you typically write before they’re published?  I’m kind of strange, I write blocks in documents and try sew it all together at the last minute, I’m learning that isn’t maybe the best way of doing it! I do change each chunk on a daily basis, a lot of evolution happens to my characters from the initial writing to the completion of the story.

What’s on your desk?  Notepads, a 8/9 inch pile of them! A folio I bought on a whim too! Oh and graffiti, my desk is an old school desk, with the lid and storage bit and all!

If you’re not writing, then you’re probably…:  Watching a movie, reading or at work, not in that order!!

A writer must have…:  Incredibly supportive friends and family, who do stupid things that you can rip off for your books. Most of the silly stories in my books are real things that I’ve altered to suit. That and a lot of equipment, I use my phone, tablet, laptop and notebooks all the time, that’s why it takes me so long to write a book. Because I’ve got stuff everywhere!

What is your favorite word?  I don’t know if I can swear here, if I can, its Bollocks, I love that word and if I can’t, its Epic, which I overuse and sound stupid and undereducated doing so!

Can you tell us about any of your upcoming projects?  I’m starting to knit together the third book in my series, Forgotten, I’m hoping to release it in the summertime, its sticking with Fallon and Abner, but skips forward about five years from where we left them in Forever. A lot has changed for them, and its happening again, possibly worse too! Its become a labour of love as I’m not sure I’ve made the right choices for my characters, because I forget that they aren’t real people. I’ve connected with a lot of people who have suffered major brain traumas via the charity Headway. They’re inspiring and I hope to be able to do them justice, there are a lot of people out there living every day with the devastating effects of traumatic brain injurys.

Nikki’s books!

FallenCoverPic

ForeverCoverPic

**Contact Nikki!:  Website   Facebook   Twitter   Amazon

**Additional comments by Nikki!:  I want to thank Isabella for having me here and for founding the Chicklit Goddesses group on Facebook. I can’t say enough the value of having a network of such supportive and inspirational writers to bounce ideas off and even just to moan at.  There’s no underestimating the power of that when you’re the minority in your friends and family, even community.

Filed Under: Nikki Mahood Tagged With: Books, Chick-Lit, Fallen, Forever, Guest Interview, Nikki Mahood, Writing

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