Today the blog tour takes us to Literary Flits, where Stephanie says,
I read the whole book in a couple of days and actually felt quite bereft at the end when I closed the cover on these friends.
Tag: a spoke in the wheel
Blog tour, stage 10 and 11: a night in with Linda, and review from A Cornish Geek
There are two stages on the blog tour today. First of all, take a look at Linda’s Book Bag and stay in with us – we’ve got cake!
Staying in with Kathleen Jowitt
And then head on down to Cornwall, where Emma has reviewed A Spoke in the Wheel at A Cornish Geek. She says,
When I received the PR for this book I was intrigued and drawn to the idea of second chances and redemption. Once I got stuck into the book, however, it was a different theme which kept me hooked: that of having your whole life mapped out and having it all taken away.
Blog tour, stage 9: Hooked on Books with Joanna Victoria
The blog tour continues! Today I’m talking to Joanna Victoria about the books I read, how I read them, and what happens to them afterwards. Read the Hooked on Books feature here.
Blog tour, stage 8: review at Reflections of a Reader
Stage 8 of the blog tour for A Spoke in the Wheel, this time at Reflections of a Reader, where Leah says,
I don’t particularly have much interest in cycling but something about the blurb for this one drew me in and I am so glad that it did. I read this book in a couple of sittings, it was addictive and written excellently.
You can read the whole review here.
Blog tour, stage 7: review at Me And My Books
Another review on the blog tour today, as we visit Me And My Books. Here’s the verdict:
If you want a wonderfully addictive and absorbing character driven story then this is one I would highly recommend.
You can read the whole review here.
Blog tour, stage 6: review and guest post at Short Book and Scribes
Today the blog tour takes us to Short Book and Scribes, where you can find both a review of A Spoke in the Wheel and a guest post by me, talking about the difficulty of fitting particular books (particularly mine) into particular genres.
Nicola says,
… there isn’t that much actual cycling going on in this book, but it’s an excellent read about redemption and friendship.
I say,
I’ve never been able to pick a genre and stick with it. Sometimes I think the whole concept of genre is more trouble than it’s worth.
And you can read all of it here.
Blog tour, stage 2-4
It’s a rest day on the Giro d’Italia. Not here! Today there are three stages on the blog tour. This might be a tad implausible for a cycle stage race – very occasionally, one finds a time trial and a standard stage on the same day, but I’ve never heard of any organisers brave enough to cram in three – or even for a physical book tour, but thanks to the wonders of the internet I can get around three very enjoyable blogs with no trouble at all.
Today you’ll be able to find me…
Stage 2
… over at Jera’s Jamboree talking with Shaz about the writing process for A Spoke in the Wheel, the research that I did, and how very grateful I am to my fabulous friends. You can read my Author Q and A here.
Stage 3
… at Trisarahtops blog, where Sarah has reviewed A Spoke in the Wheel.
Stage 4
… talking to Debbie at My Random Musings about my favourite books and when, where, and why I write. Here’s the Author Interview.
If you’re in the UK, I’d like to wish you a very pleasant bank holiday Monday, and to hope that the weather is as good where you are as it is here. I was going to go out on the Reach Ride, but my bike has a puncture and I’m neither organised enough to have a spare in the house, nor hardcore enough to ride 29 miles on a Brompton – which would have been the only alternative. Anyway, wherever you are in the world, I hope you have a lovely day!
Grand Départ (we’re off!)
I’m back! I have been through eleven different countries, ridden on trains, trams, buses, and a ferry. I have been further north and further east than ever before in my life, and also higher up. I have had a fantastic time and I will write it up over the next couple of months.
While I’ve been away, the wheels have been turning (see what I did there?), and I’m now very happy to announce that A Spoke in the Wheel is now live.
Available from some reputable booksellers, and some less reputable ones too. I’ll leave you to decide which are which, while I contemplate my laundry and catch up on the Giro d’Italia.
And I’ve got a tour of my own – over the next couple of weeks A Spoke in the Wheel and I will be visiting several friendly book bloggers for reviews, guest posts, and extracts. Here’s what’s coming up…
A Grand Tour
If we’re talking cycling (and we probably are, aren’t we?) a Grand Tour is one of the three big ones: the Giro d’Italia, the Vuelta a España, or, of course, the Tour de France. Ben, the – hero? anti-hero? narrator, anyway – of A Spoke in the Wheel, never got quite good enough to ride one of those.
If, however, we’re talking travel, a Grand Tour is a circuit of Europe undertaken by the privileged youth of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries before they had to settle down and be grown up, sometimes taking several years.
I couldn’t swing more than three weeks off work, but I am spending my Betty Trask prize money going InterRailing. When you read this, I’ll be somewhere between Brussels and Hamburg, assuming no undue disruption from the SNCF strike, of course. I’ll tell you all about it when I get home. (I am aware that I said this about the Camino Inglés. I’m still going to tell you all about that.)
And three weeks from now I’ll have a book to share with you, too. We’ll have a blog tour. A grand one.
The proof is a pudding
‘Pudding’ is a lot more polite than what I actually said when I took my first look at the proof copy of A Spoke in the Wheel.
The front cover has come out beautifully; it looks rather better in real life than it does in that photo. The inside… not so much. The text on about half the pages had been misaligned, and came out an odd shade of purple.
The photo below shows (bottom right) one of the offending pages, (bottom left) one of the pages that was just about all right, and (top) a spread from Speak Its Name for comparison.
Since then, I’ve been engaged in correspondence with Lulu, who have been very apologetic and promise that this is very rare. I do hope so. There was an article in the latest edition of The Author by a man who prints his own books, but I feel that this is taking things a bit far even for a control freak like me.
Having said all that, I’m feeling a lot better about the whole thing than I was this time last week. The cover looks good, the ebook looks good, the interior of the paperback will look good when it’s printed properly, and we are on track.
Kathleen Jowitt 