Now in Print and with a lovely new cover - Buried Treasure by @gilliallan

It's no secret that I love Gilli Allan's latest story Buried Treasure - so much that when I finished reading it, I immediately began reading it again.  When Gilli told me she was preparing to release a print copy and working on a new cover for it, I thought I would burst with curiosity; covers are such tricky things and every author knows the crucial value of finding exactly the right one.  I think Gilli has succeeded, and furthermore, has made my week by allowing me to reveal it here.  She also agreed to share a few words about the pain and pleasures of writing.  Over to Gilli. 

Writing - the pain and the joy, by Gilli Allan

It had been too long since I wrote something new.  There were always other things to do, and I’m not one of those lucky authors who brim with new plot ideas and can’t wait to get them down. What I need to confess here is I that actually hate writing.  Up until that precious moment when I cease trying to tell my story where to go, and it begins to tell me, beginning a new book is like carving a lump of granite with a teaspoon.  The urge to create, however, is quite another thing.  This becomes increasingly demanding even when I don’t know what I want to create.  

And so it was with BURIED TREASURE, except I just called it “New Book”, nor did it have a plot, characters or location, but I trusted in the fact that once I actually began, the scenario would spring into focus, the characters come to life and the plot would gradually unknot and spool out in front of me. 

There are always personal elements in my stories– something I’ve experienced, or events I’ve heard about or seen. So, in order to come up with my background theme I began by reflecting on subjects I already had an interest in or an understanding of.  This gave me my initial building blocks. 

I’ve always had a fascination with archaeology, probably stemming from the fact that my great uncle Sydney Ford uncovered a hoard of silver Roman table-ware on his Suffolk farm. Known as the Mildenhall Treasure it is now one of the most famous UK discoveries housed in the British Museum. http://gilliallan.blogspot.com/2020/06/my-connection-to-mildenhall-treasure.html 

And before the current crisis, I have been involved for more than a decade in the organisation of biannual conferences held at Queens’ College, Cambridge.

If I made my hero an academic archaeologist, and my heroine an events & conference planner, and the back drop for a proportion of the story a university college in Cambridge, I could use my own experience to flesh out the detail and then trust, once set loose in this world I’d created, my imagination would do the rest.  After all, I already had another ingredient – a historian and archaeologist I could call on to advise on the plausibility of my plot, and to assure me I’d made no howling errors - my son, Thomas Williams, author of ‘Viking Britain’ and ‘Viking London’.    What could go wrong?  This book was going to be easy-peasy.

In reality, BURIED TREASURE was probably the most difficult book I have ever attempted.  I won’t go into the whys and wherefores; it would take too long and bore you to death.  But it became a total joy when I realised how to navigate the maze, iron out the wrinkles, and unravel the knots.  (Apologies for the mixed metaphors!)

I am sure you will agree that when something has been a struggle, you love it even more. For those of us who have given birth…..!  Need I say more?  And it is a proud and thrilling moment, but also sad, to release your book into the world and wave it goodbye. All you can do is wish it well.

*****

So true, Gilli.  It's exactly a year since I read Buried Treasure, but I remember it vividly and think about it often.  In case you need any further incentive to read this haunting story, this was my 5 star review: 

I was delighted to receive an early copy of Gilli Allan’s latest story, since I have read her other books and have the highest regard for this talented author.  The title intrigued me from the outset; who hasn’t at some time in their life dreamed of finding buried treasure?  I know I have, and found this treasure of a story deeply satisfying.

The story concerns two very different people, and two diverse ‘treasure’ hunts.  For university lecturer Theo, his quest relates to evidence he needs to find of an ancient civilisation on the site of a proposed new supermarket near his university campus, in order to prevent its construction on a possibly sacred site.  Events and conference planner Jane’s treasure is much closer to home.  Her great uncle Alf uncovered the haul while ploughing one of his fields with his son during World War II.  Sadly, the find was confiscated by the government and placed in the British Museum without recompense, but, according to family rumour, one special artefact was missed, and subsequently secreted away.  In the fullness of time, Jane will inherit this, and her curiosity about it is as immense as the moral dilemma it will create if and when it comes into her possession. 

You might expect this common ground between the two would lay the groundwork for a promising relationship, but nothing could be further from the truth.  Jane sees Theo as an ‘upper class fogey’, a ‘brain on legs’, while a typical ‘Essex girl’ is at the forefront of Theo’s mind whenever he considers Jane.  But there is a far more powerful area of common ground between them, if only each could break down the barriers to discover it.  Both characters have been damaged by their pasts, far more so than each realises. 

This richly-drawn pair drive the action of the story and I would defy any reader not to empathise with them and become engrossed in their personal histories.  There are several other colourful supporting characters, all adding depth and interest as well as helping to reveal more about these two, but it is Jane and Theo who will stay in your mind long after you’ve finished reading.

I don’t want to give away too much of the story because you owe yourself the pleasure of reading this and discovering it for yourself.  And I promise you will not be disappointed.  It is a very satisfying romance, to be sure, but as always with Gilli Allan’s stories, Buried Treasure is about so much more than the relationship between two people.  Parental relationships, sibling, marital, workplace and that all-important relationship with oneself all come under compelling scrutiny.  The writing is intelligent and honest, and made all the more interesting by the author’s knowledge and evident love of archaeology, which gives the story that extra credibility.  I wholeheartedly recommend Buried Treasure as a must-read this summer.

Buried Treasure - Blurb

Jane thinks he sees her as shallow and ill-educated. Theo thinks she sees him as a snob, stuffy and out of touch.

Within the ancient precincts of the university the first encounter between the conference planner and the academic is accidental and unpromising. Just as well there’s no reason for them ever to meet again. But behind the armour they’ve each constructed from old scars, they’ve more in common than divides them. Both have an archaeological puzzle they are driven to solve. As their stories intertwine, their quest to uncover the past unearths more than expected.

About Gilli Allan

Gilli began to write in childhood - a hobby pursued throughout her teenage. Writing was only abandoned when she left home, and real life supplanted the imaginary kind. 

After a few false starts she worked longest and most happily as an illustrator in advertising and only began writing again when she became a mother. 

Living in Gloucestershire with her husband Geoff, Gilli is still a keen artist. She draws and paints and has now moved into book illustration.

All of her recent books TORN, LIFE CLASS, FLY or FALL and BURIED TREASURE have gained ‘Chill with a Book’ awards.

Following in the family tradition, her son, historian Thomas Williams, is now also a writer.

BURIED TREASURE LINKS:

mybook.to/BURIEDTREASURE

Find Gilli’s other books TORN, LIFE CLASS and FLY or FALL at

author.to/GILLIALLAN

Contact Gilli at

http://gilliallan.blogspot.com/

https://www.facebook.com/gilli.allan.1

https://twitter.com/gilliallan

Buried Treasure by @GilliAllan - #Review - So good I read it twice!

Gilli Allan is one of the most accomplished British storytellers I've come across in recent years, so it's always a great pleasure to read a new story from her.  Here is my review of her  fab new book, BURIED TREASURE, as published on Amazon and Goodreads.

I was delighted to receive an early copy of Gilli Allan’s latest story, since I have read her other books and have the highest regard for this talented author.  The title intrigued me from the outset; who hasn’t at some time in their life dreamed of finding buried treasure?  I know I have, and found this treasure of a story deeply satisfying.

The story concerns two very different people, and two diverse ‘treasure’ hunts.  For university lecturer Theo, his quest relates to evidence he needs to find of an ancient pilgrim route on the site of a proposed new supermarket near his university campus, in order to prevent its construction on a possibly sacred site.  Events and conference planner Jane’s treasure is much closer to home.  Her great uncle Alf uncovered the haul while ploughing one of his fields with his son during World War II.  Sadly, the find was confiscated by the government and placed in the British Museum without recompense, but, according to family rumour, one special artefact was missed, and subsequently secreted away.  In the fullness of time, Jane will inherit this, and her curiosity about it is as immense as the moral dilemma it will create if and when it comes into her possession. 

You might expect this common ground between the two would lay the groundwork for a promising relationship, but nothing could be further from the truth.  Jane sees Theo as an ‘upper class fogey’, a ‘brain on legs’, while a typical ‘Essex girl’ is at the forefront of Theo’s mind whenever he considers Jane.  But there is a far more powerful area of common ground between them, if only each could break down the barriers to discover it.  Both characters have been damaged by their pasts, far more so than each realises. 

This richly-drawn pair drive the action of the story and I would defy any reader not to empathise with them and become engrossed in their personal histories.  There are several other colourful supporting characters, all adding depth and interest as well as helping to reveal more about these two, but it is Jane and Theo who will stay in your mind long after you’ve finished reading.

I don’t want to give away too much of the story because you owe yourself the pleasure of reading this and discovering it for yourself.  And I promise you will not be disappointed.  It is a very satisfying romance, to be sure, but as always with Gilli Allan’s stories, BURIED TREASURE is about so much more than the relationship between two people.  Parental relationships, sibling, marital, workplace and that all-important relationship with oneself all come under compelling scrutiny.  The writing is intelligent and honest, and made all the more interesting by the author’s knowledge and evident love of archaeology, which gives the story that extra credibility.  I wholeheartedly recommend BURIED TREASURE as a must-read this summer.

Time to roll out my cute cats, and there is no doubt in my mind about how many this story deserves:

Well done, Gilli Allan.

About the author:

Gilli Allan began to write in childhood - a hobby pursued throughout her teenage. Writing was only

abandoned when she left home, and real life supplanted the fiction.

After a few false starts she worked longest and most happily as a commercial artist, and only began writing again when she became a mother. 

Living in Gloucestershire with her husband Geoff, Gilli is still a keen artist. She draws and paints and has now moved into book illustration.

She is published by Accent Press and each of her books, TORN, LIFE CLASS and FLY or FALL has won a ‘Chill with a Book’ award.

Following in the family tradition, her son, historian Thomas Williams, is also a writer. His most recent work, published by William Collins, is ‘Viking Britain’.

An exciting new release from @GilliAllan, plus cover reveal

Great news for all fans of author Gilli Allan - her long-awaited, and truly excellent new story BURIED TREASURE is due for release on June 14.  Before revealing the cover, here are a few words about it from the author herself:

BURIED TREASURE

In introducing the cover of my new book, I am prompted to ask the question: What is Treasure? 

There’s that magic crock of gold. All you need is rainbow, and some fail-safe method to find the spot where it touches the ground. There’s the cave in the desert, lit by the jewellery, gems and tumble of golden coins and artefacts which fill it.  All you need is a magic lamp. Or there’s always a desert island somewhere, with a chest of pirate gold buried in the sand. To find this you’ll need a parchment map, with a dotted line leading to X marks the spot.

To design my cover, I looked endlessly at images of treasure and of archaeological digs.  Nothing I saw, though interesting and attractive in themselves, really conveyed what BURIED TREASURE is about.

My book is less about material treasure and more about the damage that burying the past can inflict on the present.  It is easier to suppress hurt and humiliation, and erect barriers against the world. It is only by trusting again, and exposing your mistakes to the light, that you can rediscover the best of yourself.

AND HERE IS THE COVER

NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER AT: 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07SN5NWJ2

mybook.to/BURIEDTREASURE  (universal)

Back cover blurb:

Their backgrounds could hardly be further apart, their expectations in life more different. And there is nothing in the first meeting between the conference planner and the university lecturer which suggests they should expect or even want to connect again. But they have more in common than they could ever have imagined. Both have unresolved issues from the past which have marked them; both have an archaeological puzzle they want to solve. Their stories intertwine and they discover together that treasure isn’t always what it seems. 

About the author:

Gilli Allan began to write in childhood - a hobby pursued throughout her teenage. Writing was only abandoned when she left home, and real life supplanted the fiction.

After a few false starts she worked longest and most happily as a commercial artist, and only began writing again when she became a mother. 

Living in Gloucestershire with her husband Geoff, Gilli is still a keen artist. She draws and paints and has now moved into book illustration.

She is published by Accent Press and each of her books, TORN, LIFE CLASS and FLY or FALL has won a ‘Chill with a Book’ award.

Following in the family tradition, her son, historian Thomas Williams, is also a writer. His most recent work, published by William Collins, is ‘Viking Britain’. 

LIFE CLASS:  http://myBook.to/LifeClass

FLY OR FALL: myBook.to/GilliAllan

TORN:  MyBook.to/gilliallansTORN   Trailer: http://youtu.be/u2eIP16ERcI

https://accentpressbooks.com/collections/gilli-allan

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gilli-Allan/e/B004W7GG7I

http://twitter.com/gilliallan   (@gilliallan)

https://www.facebook.com/GilliAllan.AUTHOR

http://gilliallan.blogspot.com

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1027644.Gilli_Allan

https://romanticnovelistsassociation.org/rna_author/gilli-allan/

Fly or Fall by @Gilliallan - My review

I can see from my stats that over 900 of you looked in during the past week, which was given over to celebrating the Accent Press release of Gilli Allan's excellent novel Fly or Fall.  This is one of the best stories I've read in recent months, so here's what I thought of it:

I was delighted to receive a review copy of Fly or Fall, since I have thoroughly enjoyed previous titles from this author, whose writing style is a little reminiscent of the excellent Deborah Moggach.  What an engrossing story this is - Gilli Allan just gets better and better in my opinion.

The story concerns the quiet and self-effacing Eleanor, as she journeys through a traumatic period of her life.  Having become a teenage wife and mother, all she has known is devotion to her own invalid mother, her children and her husband.  Her 13 year old twins sometimes seem to be more worldly-wise than her.  She's suppressed her own needs and desires so completely that she seems almost without personality.  As such, she is quite difficult to relate to intimately and the reader has to get to know her in the same way as the other characters.  Nevertheless, it's impossible to dislike her.  Like all Allan's characters, Eleanor is complex and real.

 

Eleanor's husband, Trevor is a rather devious, self-serving man; I suspected and disliked him from the outset and at no time did he redeem himself.  Yet he was no less real - in fact I felt I knew him all too well!  Having sold Eleanor's family home in Battersea for a substantial price, Trevor moves his

family to the country to enjoy 'clean air, green fields, a house with a proper garden and a driveway'. Trevor selfishly pursues his new career and indulgences, while Eleanor tries to fit in with her sophisticated neighbours and sort out the marathon renovations of the new house.  Enter Patrick, the builder, a likeable rogue, whose constant harmless lies make him enigmatic and fascinating and who extends a warm hand of friendship to Eleanor, helping her through her most difficult times.

The village of Downland is peopled with interesting characters, Katherine, Felicity, Elizabeth and their husbands as well as Patrick and the even more mysterious David, to whom Eleanor is secretly drawn.  But no one in Downland is quite what they seem, as Eleanor has to discover in often painful ways.  This includes her own family and most of all, herself.

 

Ms Allan writes about seemingly ordinary people in ordinary settings, but, of course, neither is ordinary.  The characters are richly drawn in all their complexities, yet grittily realistic and engaging.  The settings are carefully painted with the reverence of an artist who has a deep affinity with the countryside. 

The story is compellingly told with a well-sustained narrative flow.  I found it deeply engrossing and sat up late into the night more than once, unable to put it down.  It gathers momentum, like a snowball rolling downhill, hurtling towards its dramatic conclusion.  I look forward to reading more from this talented writer.  Undoubtedly she deserves all five cute cats!

About Gilli Allan

Gilli Allan started to write in childhood, a hobby only abandoned when real life supplanted the fiction. Gilli didn’t go to Oxford or Cambridge but, after just enough exam passes to squeak in, she attended Croydon Art College.

She didn’t work on any of the broadsheets, in publishing or television. Instead she was a shop assistant, a beauty consultant and a barmaid before landing her dream job as an illustrator in advertising. It was only when she was at home with her young son that Gilli began writing seriously. Her first two novels were quickly published, but when her publisher ceased to trade, Gilli went independent.

Over the years, Gilli has been a school governor, a contributor to local newspapers, and a driving force behind the community shop in her Gloucestershire village.  Still a keen artist, she designs Christmas cards and has begun book illustration. Gilli is particularly delighted to have recently gained a new mainstream publisher - Accent Press. FLY OR FALL is the second book to be published in the three book deal.

Fly or Fall - The Blurb:

Wife and mother, Nell, fears change, but it is forced upon her by her manipulative husband, Trevor. Finding herself in a new world of flirtation and casual infidelity, her principles are undermined and she’s tempted. Should she emulate the behaviour of her new friends or stick with the safe and familiar?

But everything Nell has accepted at face value has a dark side.  Everyone - even her nearest and dearest - has been lying. She’s even deceived herself. The presentiment of disaster, first felt as a tremor at the start of the story, rumbles into a full blown earthquake. When the dust settles, nothing is as it previously seemed. And when an unlikely love blossoms from the wreckage of her life, she believes it is doomed.

The future, for the woman who feared change, is irrevocably altered. But has she been broken, or has she transformed herself?

You can purchase Fly or Fall by clicking here

Or connect with Gilli here: 

Twitter

Facebook

Gilli's blog 

Gilli Allan and the Road to Publication (@Gilliallan)

Another British writer for whom I have great respect is Gilli Allan, who has just signed a book deal with Accent Press.  To coincide with Accent's release of her excellent novel Fly or Fall, I managed to track Gilli down to ask a few probing questions so we might get to know her and her absorbing stories better.

I see your work as dramatic and controversial - about real women and real life.  Does this reflect what you like to read yourself?  Do you find fictional heroines in general to be realistic or over-glamorised?

I've read my share of romance over the years, particularly in my teens and early twenties, about impossibly beautiful and desirable heroines in glamorous jobs, their only flaw - a tendency to be a bit snippy.  Perhaps I've a jealous and spiteful nature (I am a Scorpio, after all) but these perfect creatures, pining after the aloof hero - almost from the start of the book - increasingly annoyed me.  

The only reason for engaging with this kind of story is if you care. I found it hard to care about the drop dead gorgeous, but misunderstood, heroine, and grew less and less willing to invest the time to discover exactly how the obstacle to ultimate happiness - union with the equally gorgeous, misunderstood but rich, alpha male - would be overcome.

I know I'm caricaturising, and of course there are authors who have always written about real women in real life situations - Joanna Trollope, Elizabeth Buchan and Debborah Moggach, to name just a few - but their work could not be called romance, or even, necessarily, overtly romantic.  

The primary reason I began writing, when I was a child, was to create the story I wanted to read. And this is still the driving force behind my writing.  I prefer to read about, and therefore to create, a woman with flaws, weaknesses and failings. A woman who isn't a beauty.  A woman who has to deal with the realities of life.  A woman who has objectives other than the search for love.  A woman who makes mistakes.  A woman like me. (I am still 28 in my head.)

I can do no better than paraphrase the original blurb from TORN. I prefer to face up to the complexities, messiness and absurdities in modern relationships.  Life is not a fairy tale; it can be confusing and difficult. Sex is not always awesome; it can be awkward and embarrassing, and it has consequences. Love is not always convenient or neat; it doesn't manifest when or where or with whom you expect it to.
  

In recent years, with the loosening of the big publishers’ strangle-hold, it seems there are more authors like me being published, authors who want to set a love story in a more demanding context.

What inspired you to write your first novel and did you always know it would cross different genres, or did it just evolve that way?

In my youth I started writing many stories, but never finished anything, so I’ll talk about my first completed  novel  - Just Before Dawn. I have to confess that the original inspiration for writing this book was mercenary.  I was at home with my young son. As a family we were feeling the pinch.  One evening I was ironing in the kitchen and listening to Radio 4 - a programme was about Mills & Boon, which talked about the money their most successful authors could earn.

 ‘I used to write that sort of thing,’ I thought to myself. ‘I bet I could write and (more importantly) finish one now.’ I now know many aspiring authors have had the very same thought, and few can do it.  I also know that the rewards talked about in this programme were rather overstated, and since those days they've probably decreased in real terms. 

As I stood there ironing, I recalled the advice from English teachers to ‘write about what you know’. I thought back to my own life and an idea sprang out at me.   After I’d folded the clothes and put them in the airing cupboard, I found a notepad and a pen, and began immediately. 

Just Before Dawn, published in 1986, was about a rather innocent country girl who arrives to live and work in London.  Her first real boyfriend is a bit of a lad, and he leaves her pregnant.  She suffers a miscarriage and the story, rather bizarrely, is about a developing relationship between her and the Obs/Gynae consultant. When I first had the idea it actually made me chuckle. I wasn't laughing at miscarriage - I am very well aware it is no laughing matter.  It was the scenario I’d dreamt up which amused me, and my chutzpah at choosing it still astounds me.  ‘If I can pull this off I can write anything,’ I thought at the time. 


Even though I’d included many of the tropes I thought necessary, it wasn't accepted by Mills & Boon, unsurprisingly. But, in writing that book, and, probably more importantly, having it published by a newly established publisher, the die was cast.  A love story, within a real and challenging scenario, was ‘my thing’.  I should mention that the mercenary motive which prompted me to embark on the project was soon subsumed by the sheer magic of creating that book.  And I never actually made much money.  My publisher ceased trading a few years after publishing my second novel, Desires & Dreams. 

Has any part of yourself crept into the heroines of any of your stories? 

As I describe in the previous answer, the initial idea for Just Before Dawn was based on my own experience of miscarriage. Married, and working as a freelance artist in advertising, I was 18 weeks pregnant when I first miscarried a pregnancy.  No explanation was offered.  After an interval of a few months I became pregnant again. This time I lost the baby at 21 weeks.  At the time it was a very emotionally turbulent experience, which I felt I needed to get out of my system somehow.  I seriously considered writing about it - maybe an article or something?   But I was an artist, not a journalist. Where would I send this article? Who would be remotely interested in publishing it?
  

It was only after I’d successfully been through pregnancy, this time with a minor surgical intervention and a period of hospitalisation,  that I felt I needed a money-making project which would enable me to continue at home with my son (I wanted to avoid going back into the rat race of advertising). It was then that I had the idea of writing my experience into a novel, as described in the previous answer.  The naiveté and innocence of my heroine reflects something that was true of me in my early romantic escapades.  And what she goes through is something I went through, although in different circumstances.
  
Incorporating some real experience is something I have done ever since in my books.  But using my own life as trigger for a story does not mean I write autobiographically.  I think of something that maybe I've seen or heard or has happened to me, but then ask myself the question, ‘but what if...?’ And though none of my heroines are *me* there are aspects of me in every one of them.  But then there are aspects of me in most of my characters!  

What is the most unusual characteristic you've bestowed on the hero of any of your books?

I'm a bit stumped by this question. I don’t think I've given any of my heroes a characteristic which is unusual in itself. But do you mean unusual in the romantic lead? I've definitely done that.   I enjoy subverting the romance stereotypes, so several of my heroes are impoverished.  A couple are blondish rather than dark, and one is a bit short.  There are two male leads in TORN.   One is the conventional hero ‘type’, but the other is a dyslexic farm worker, living in a caravan.

And most recently, Patrick, from FLY OR FALL is a compulsive liar. But then everyone in FLY OR FALL has been lying and although his fabrications are the most blatant and obvious, they are, arguably, the least serious.

Fly or Fall blurb:

Wife and mother, Nell, fears change, but it is forced upon her by her manipulative husband, Trevor. Finding herself in a new world of flirtation and casual infidelity, her principles are undermined and she’s tempted. Should she emulate the behaviour of her new friends or stick with the safe and familiar? 

But everything Nell has accepted at face value has a dark side.  Everyone - even her nearest and dearest - has been lying. She’s even deceived herself. The presentiment of disaster, first felt as a tremor at the start of the story, rumbles into a full blown earthquake. When the dust settles, nothing is as it previously seemed. And when an unlikely love blossoms from the wreckage of her life, she believes it is doomed.

The future, for the woman who feared change, is irrevocably altered. But has she been broken, or has she transformed herself?

Do you think you'll always write women's fiction or do you have desires to experiment and if so, in what way?

Who knows?  I keep thinking my life would be easier if I gave up the dream of writing altogether and did something else with my time.  I could go back to art, although I was never the real driven kind artist - beret on head, palette of oil paints on the arm and an easel in front of me. Maybe I should find some other, less self-absorbed and insular hobby.

What I most enjoy reading is crime and thrillers. But I don’t particularly want to write in this genre.  For one thing I'm not clever enough.  The intricate plotting of someone like Sophie Hannah would totally defeat me.  And the idea of all that research - the forensics and the police procedures....! An author like Mark Billingham has obviously built up a network of friends and associates in this world. I’d be launching myself into it from a standing start.  Also, and more seriously, if I wrote in this genre, it would seriously dilute my pleasure in reading it.
  
I already have a problem losing myself in women’s fiction. When reading it I am either consumed by envy and feelings of inadequacy, or I am highly critical and can’t subdue my internal editor.  (I told you I'm a nasty Scorpio, didn't I?) There seems to be no middle ground where I can simply enjoy a story in this genre. So I kind of feel I'm stuck with what I am writing, although I'm sure my protagonists will eventually grow older. Or I will give up completely, and then I can stop worrying about reviews on Amazon, or online promotion. I know my husband would like it if I spent fewer hours and days with my nose pressed to PC, and more time being sociable. 

You can purchase Fly or Fall by clicking here

Or connect with Gilli here: 

Twitter

Facebook

Gilli's blog 

Hot Off the Press and Highly Recommended - Torn by Gilli Allan (@gilliallan)

It's always thrilling to hear a success story in this business, especially when you know the author to be highly talented and deserving.  I've enjoyed Gilli Allan's books enormously, so was delighted to hear that after some years of being a self-published author, her work was spotted by Accent Press, snapped up and is now being republished.  

The first of these stories is Torn, published this week - and I highly recommend it.  If you like contemporary fiction, with an unconventional and edgy love story at its heart - you'll enjoy it too. 

Here is the blurb:

Jess has made a series of bad life choices and all have let her down.

Escaping London, she sets out to recreate herself in the idyllic countryside, and this time she wants to get it right! 

She wants to lead a responsible, tranquil life with her young son Rory, but soon discovers stresses which pull her in opposing directions – conflict over a new bypass, between friends, and worst of all, between lovers. 

Educated, experienced, and pragmatic, James is a widowed farmer whose opinions differ from, and enrage, Jess. His young shepherd, Danny, is an uneducated and inexperienced idealist. Jess is attracted to them both, and realizes if she wants her idyllic countryside life to survive, she must choose her Mr Right. 

Torn is now available from Amazon by clicking on this link.

Gilli Allan - Then and Now:

Gilli Allan started to write in childhood, a hobby only abandoned when real life supplanted the fiction. Gilli didn’t go to Oxbridge, but after just enough exam passes to squeak in, she attended Croydon Art College. 

She didn’t work on any of the broadsheets, in publishing or television. Instead she was a shop assistant, a beauty consultant and a barmaid before landing her dream job as an illustrator in advertising. It was only when she was at home with her young son that Gilli began writing seriously. She has had three books mainstream published - two further books will be published in 2015. 

Gilli has been a school governor, a contributor to local newspapers, and a driving force behind the community shop in her Gloucestershire village.  Still a keen artist, Gilli designs Christmas cards and produced the illustrations for the children’s book The Tale of King Harald -The Last Viking Adventure, which was published in 2014. 

FLY OR FALL by Gilli Allan - A Review

I was delighted to receive a review copy of FLY OR FALL, since I have thoroughly enjoyed previous titles from this author, whose writing style is a little reminiscent of that excellent writer of women's fiction, Deborah Moggach.  What an engrossing story this is - Gilli Allan just gets better and better in my opinion.

The story concerns the quiet and self-effacing Eleanor, as she journeys through a traumatic period of her life.  Having become a teenage wife and mother, all she has known is devotion to her own invalid mother, her children and her husband.  Her 13 year old twins sometimes seem to be more worldly-wise than her.  She's suppressed her own needs and desires so completely that she seems almost without personality.  As such, she is quite difficult to relate to intimately and the reader has to get to know her in the same way as the other characters.  Nevertheless, it's impossible to dislike her.  Like all Allan's characters, Eleanor is complex and real.  

Eleanor's husband, Trevor is a rather devious, self-serving man; I suspected and disliked him from the outset and at no time did he redeem himself.  Yet he was no less real - in fact I felt I knew him all too well!  Having sold Eleanor's family home in Battersea for a substantial price, Trevor moves his family to the country to enjoy 'clean air, green fields, a house with a proper garden and a driveway'. Trevor selfishly pursues his new career and indulgences, while Eleanor tries to fit in with her sophisticated neighbours and sort out the marathon renovations of the new house.  Enter Patrick, the builder, a likeable rogue, whose constant harmless lies make him enigmatic and fascinating and who extends a warm hand of friendship to Eleanor, helping her through her most difficult times.

The village of Downland is peopled with interesting characters, Katherine, Felicity, Elizabeth and their husbands as well as Patrick and the even more mysterious David, to whom Eleanor is secretly drawn.  But no one in Downland is quite what they seem, as Eleanor has to discover in often painful ways.  This includes her own family and most of all, herself.  

Ms Allan writes about seemingly ordinary people in ordinary settings, but, of course, neither is ordinary.  The characters are richly drawn in all their complexities, yet grittily realistic and engaging.  The settings are carefully painted with the reverence of an artist who has a deep affinity with the countryside.  

The story is compellingly told with a well-sustained narrative flow.  I found it deeply engrossing and sat up late into the night more than once, unable to put it down.  It gathers momentum, like a snowball rolling downhill, hurtling towards its dramatic conclusion.  I look forward to reading more from this talented writer and am pleased to bring out all FIVE cute cats to award this book.

And here's a real bonus: FLY OR FALL is on sale at 99p only for a limited time.

Gilli Allan started to write in childhood - a hobby pursued throughout her teenage. Writing was only abandoned when she left home and real life supplanted the fiction. Gilli did not go to Oxford or Cambridge but after just enough exam passes to squeak in, she attended Croydon College of Art. 

She did not work on any of the broadsheets or in television, but has done a variety of slightly less prestigious jobs. She was a shop assistant in several West End department stores, selling wigs, shoes, children’s clothes and accessories. She has also been a beauty consultant, a bar-maid and did a job with no title which involved spotting American tourists in London and persuading them to go on a free guided-tour that culminated in lunch at the Hilton. There they had to endure a high pressure pitch selling real-estate in Florida! Gilli worked longest, and most happily, in her dream job as an illustrator in advertising. 

She only started writing again when at home with her young son, Tom, and her first two completed novels, Just Before Dawn and Desires & Dreams, were immediately accepted by a mainstream publisher. But the publisher ceased to trade and after a period in the wilderness, Gilli went independent. TORN, LIFE CLASS and FLY or FALL are all currently available both as Kindle books and in paperback. She also has a short story - Holiday Romance - in the e-edition of the recently published RNA anthology, TRULY, MADLY, DEEPLY.

Gilli has been a school governor, a contributor to local newspapers, and a driving force behind the establishment of a community shop in her village.  Still a keen artist, Gilli designs the annual family Christmas card and in 2013, she and her son, Tom Williams, collaborated on a children’s book. He wrote and she illustrated THE TALE of KING HARALD - The Last Viking Adventure, published by British Museum Press to coincide with the ‘Vikings - Life and Legend’ exhibition, which has just opened at the British Museum.  

(All links go to the UK Amazon store, so for US readers, simply change .co.uk to .com in the subject line).

You can also connect with Gilli on any of the following links: 

Gilli's Blog 

Twitter

FB author page

Goodreads