*Possessing Rayne Winners!*

I am happy to announce my two winners for Possessing Rayne by the fabulous Kate Cann!

1. Yessenia C from Houston Texas

2. Alessandra P from Italy

Congratulations girls! I will be posting these off next week to you. I hope you enjoy them.

Thanks to both Kate for doing the interview for me and the boys and girls over at Scholastic for supplying me with the competition copies.

Kate Cann Interview & Competition

Kate Cann is the author of a range of popular teen and young adult books. She confesses to still being thrilled about winning three awards - the Angus, the Southern Schools, and the Renfrewshire Teenage Book Award for Leaving Poppy. These are the first prizes she's ever won. Here's hoping that there are a whole lot more in store!




You have written a lot of YA / Teen novels over the past few years. What inspired you to start out in the genre?

Sex! I was working as a copyeditor, and doing lots of teenage stuff. I hated the way sex was dealt with. It was either abusive and miserable, or fantasy candy-floss. I decided to try and write a book that was open, honest and realistic about the amazing, growing power of a first sexual relationship, and the way it can affect all parts of your life. I loved Colette, the early 20th C French writer, in my teens. I named the heroine in the Diving In series Coll, as homage to her.

I really enjoyed Sea Change and found Chloe to be a fun main character and loved watching her grow as an individual. Where do you find your inspiration for your characters – you do seem to have the knack to make them come across as very “real”.

Thank you! I’m quite sociable, I meet and know lots of people, and they all interest me. Psychodynamics intrigue me. Characters evolve from the real and my imagination working together. I think there’s a fair bit of me in Chloe – although I was never that brave. As a teen I too was very unsure, too ready to be impressed by the glamorous …

Tell us a bit more about your newest book, Possessing Rayne.

Well, I loved writing it and found it a challenge, as it’s a mystery of sorts, so there was lots of plotting involved, lots of weaving in of suspicious threads and clues and tensions …

Rayne leaves the claustrophobia of the inner city estate she lives on, and her demanding mum and boyfriend, to work at Morton’s Keep, an old manor house. She meets a new set of friends who are very seductive, and falls for the leader, the elegant St John. But is it her or the house they’re interested in? She senses evil growing, but she’s not sure where it’s coming from. She hears dark rumours about the mysterious fire group, and the woods … ..who can she trust?

Now – please! – read on …

The manor house, Morton’s Keep sounds eerily creepy. Did you use any historic buildings / locales, as a blueprint for the places you wrote about in Possessing Rayne?

Yes. I spent the night in a haunted bedroom at an old manor house in Herefordshire, and I was given freedom to roam the house and grounds, too. It was utterly terrifying and incredibly useful!

You bring across a strain of the paranormal in Possessing Rayne. Did you have
to do a bit of research to do this or did it come as naturally to you as it seems?

It came very naturally. I’ve always been interested in the veiled area beyond immediate reality.

You worked in some hints of myths and legends into Possessing Rayne and left us wanting for more at the end of the book. What does Rayne get up to in her next outing?

I’m glad you want more! I went straight into the sequel, Fire and Rayne, I had so much more to say. I wanted to develop Rayne’s link to the green lady, and look at her fraught relationship with Ethan. And I wanted a new, far more dangerous, threat to come from the house ….and Rayne having to find the strength to fight it.

Do you think moving to the countryside has influenced your writing?

I was writing Possessing Rayne while I was still in London, and I think all my yearning to be out here was reflected in my writing! Yes – the pitch black nights, the space, the hares and horses, the wildness …it’s all brilliant for me and what I’m writing now.

Have you ever attended a fire-festival or watched Morris dancing - and have you ever tried it?

The Lewes and Newick bonfire festivals had a great impact on me. They’re so wild and anarchic – all those torches marching along, rooted in half-forgotten history. I loved the idea that the old reasons for the festivals have great power, and might need to be rediscovered to keep a town safe. I drew on all this for Rayne.

I adore Morris dancing. It can be really vigorous and earthy, even threatening. I love the way it’s not slick – all ages and shapes can do it. I haven’t tried it – yet!

What is your writerly day like?

I get up, go for long walk in the wilds with the dog, get back, shower, have a big bowl of porridge, and write on or in the spare bed with dog at my feet. I do about four hours then I get stale and dull and have to stop.

Do you have any favourite authors?

Doris Lessing. D H Lawrence. A S Byatt. Edgar Allen Poe. Oh, loads and loads. I love reading.

Do you ever get the chance to visit schools and give talks?

Yes, quite often I get asked, which is lovely if a bit daunting. Fourteen year olds can be the scariest audience. But a lot of it is just bolshy body language … if the session goes well it’s the best feeling!

What are the perks - for you - being an author?

'Perks’ seems too trivial a word! I feel hugely privileged to have the space and freedom I have, to make money by making up stories, which I love to do. The lit festivals and glee trips are a treat too.

Do you ever allow yourself time away from writing and if so, what do you do to
relax and what are your hobbies?

Of course! I love walking (but that feeds into my writing) and socialising (but then that does too) ….and reading does, and films, even drinking wine …maybe I never get away from writing after all!

When you sit down to write a book, do you concentrate on a character or do you pick a concept or image and work from there?

A bit of both. Things will fertilize other things in my brain. I’ll be thinking about a theme – and then I’ll meet someone at a party – and it will all evolve. Escape, for example, grew from an image I had of an old lady reeling back in horror from a cat carrier on a Greyhound Bus – because there was an iguana in there instead of a cat …

Music. Writing for teens you must be strongly influenced by music as it is such a large part of our culture. Do you ever find yourself listening to playlists whilst writing your books?

Never. I write in the nearest to total silence I can get. I’m not actually that into modern music. It’s a flaw. I must Try Harder.

Finally – do you have any advice for young / old authors out there?

Write what stirs and fascinates you, then it will stir and fascinate other people. Keep it real – even if it’s fantasy. Try editing the next day – overnight, your brain keeps chugging over what you’ve written! Be ruthless about deleting. That descriptive scene might have taken you days but if it slows the story and adds nothing it has to go. Eavesdrop on public transport for the way people talk, their rhythms and inflexions. Have fun!



All of Kate's books can be found over at Scholastic's website or online at either Amazon or Waterstones.com.



Scholastic has also been absolutely amazing and sent along two copies of Possessing Rayne for me to give away in a mini-competition.


Competition details:

So, pop over to Kate's site and send me an email with the names of TWO of her other books - NOT mentioned in this interview - to the email address on the right hand side of the page. I'll have the competition run until the end of next week, 1st of August. Please put "Kate Cann Competition" in the header of the email, so I can know. Competition is open internationally.

The Joshua Files - The Invisble City, M.G. Harris

I first spotted this very attractive book in my local Waterstones and was incredibly chuffed when Scholastic decided to post a copy onto me to review.

The Joshua Files by MG Harris really does live up to the hype. It masquerades as a YA novel but trust me when I say this: it carries a tremendous punch and it is up there with other quest novels (Steve Berry, Scott Mariani and others of their ilk) aimed at adults.

Brief synopsis from the official Joshua Files site:

Joshua’s life was pretty cool – until his father was reported dead in an air crash in Mexico.

Was it simply a tragic accident?Why was the plane miles off course?Were there really UFOs in the sky at the time of the crash?

In the depths of the Mexican jungle, with a deadly international hit man in his trail, Josh must find the truth about an incredible, dangerous secret – and try to stay alive.

What makes this book such a clincher is that it is firmly rooted in the present, with its roots stretching back into the past. Like my history teacher used to say: how can you know where you're going if you don't know where you've come from?

We follow Joshua on a discovery of himself and his family in a bid to survive against the odds and against people who are keen to get their hands on the research his father had done and what he had found himself.

Joshua teams up with two friends and travels to South America to sort through his suspicions once and for all. He comes up against a stark reality and has to run for his life and survive in a place where he has no friends. And it has to be said, he recovers well in the face of adversity and proves that he is tougher than what his adversaries expected.

This book is ideal for both male and female readers, teen or adult. It has everything thrown into the mix - a lost manuscript, exciting foreign locales, a pretty girl, a steady friend, the need to save yourself and the world, UFO's, history, conspiracy theories - in other words: riveting stuff!

It is a quest novel at the heart - a high octane mix of adventure and thrills and a rollercoaster ride through history chaperoned by a young hero who is having much fun as the reader.

I do however, naturally, have one gripe: why (?!) were none of the boys this cool when I was growing up?

Possessing Rayne, Kate Cann

This my second book of Kate Cann's which I read this weekend. Allow me to just say: they are not small books either, they are just that obsessively unputdownable!

In Possessing Rayne we are introduced to Rayne who lives in an estate, somewhere in London. She shares a small flat with her mother and her baby brother Jelly. She has a boyfriend called Damian who is handsome and tough and who clearly likes having her his side. You get the impression that Rayne is a pretty girl and aware of it, but it is not all she is, which is very refreshing. Rayne isn't happy in her situation and she decides to make a change. She applies for a job in a tea room which is part of a Morton's Keep, some distance away, effectively cutting herself off from her too needy mother and a boyfriend who is on the cusp of becoming a big problem with his obsessiveness.

Kate relies heavily on your fear of the unknown at the start of the book, working deep into your psyche the fact that all is not what you see, there are more things here, just under the surface. She spins the story along at a good pace and Rayne meets St John (pronounced Sinjun) who does sound quite a dish, along with his little coterie of friends whilst walking around the actual town of Marcle Lees. But you can't shake the feeling that something is not right. They are too friendly, too keen...but Rayne plays along because honestly, what could they gain by playing her false, right?

The most important and pleasurable thing about Possessing Rayne for me was the fact that the author clearly enjoyed bringing in a strong strain of paganism and magic into the book and it is so beautifully written whilst being clear and to the point. When I got to the end of the book and I noticed that she's decided to bring Rayne back for a sequel, I was inordinately pleased. I can't wait to go back and attend another fire festival with the fire dancers.

The book is very gothic, very noir and will no doubt garner Kate Cann even more readers than she already has on both sides of the "age" divide. I know at least of three friends who will be getting copies of this!

Sea Change, Kate Cann

I spent Saturday and Sunday reading two of Kate Cann's books and I am pretty smitten. Kate knows how to write, that's for sure. And what is even more clear is that she enjoys creating vibrant interesting and contradictive characters that are so real they leap off the page.

In Sea Change we meet Chloe who is on the surface and average girl who goes to a relatively expensive school but she feels strongly that she does not fit in, at all. Her parents' relationship has blown up, her father is desperately trying to keep himself from breaking down completely and she feels, needless to say, very angry towards her mother whom she perceives as walking out on both of them. School is school - it's boring and vile and yet, suddenly an extra dimension unexpectedly surfaces in the form of Davinia, the new girl who is impossibly beautiful, glamourous and wealthy.

Chloe falls under Davinia's spell and I felt my heart sink as I watched this lovely girl being sucked into a destructive relationship with her new best friend. They set off on a summer holiday together, with Davinia's wealthy parents in tow. Initially, things are idyllic but then Davinia turns into one of the scariest and most uncontrolled characters I've come across in a book. In a word, this girl is vile. And Chloe realises it. Almost too late. And she's trapped in a hellish situation...but she is resourceful and escapes. And out from under Davinia and her controlling parents, Chloe finds herself, finds love and discovers her true worth as someone who is strong, capable and as someone who does not need anyone else to stand on her own two feet or to fight her own fights.

An utterly amazing and beautifully written book! I would recommend it highly to both teens and adults to read. I laughed when I read this review on Amazon just as I was about to publish this on blogger and decided to add it on here because, honestly, I couldn't say it any better:

Thank you to Kate Cann (my heroine of chick lit) for making fiction good again, giving all us single girls the hope that somewhere a nice guy does actually walk this planet.