Writers Wednesday - Tara Ford

 

Tara Ford

 

 

Tara lives in Hampshire, UK with her husband, children and a naughty husky called Meika. In between writing she enjoys taking care of her numerous Koi fish but occasionally she also has to live with a frustrated heron that frequents the garden fence and peers longingly into the well protected pond.

Tara’s writing career began at the tender age of 15 when she wrote a beautiful love story as part of her English literature homework...

Her writing career came to an abrupt end at the tender age of 15 when the teacher tore up her story, exclaiming that the content of the essay was highly unsuitable material for school. Although it had not been in the realms of 50 Shades of Grey, Tara’s first attempt at a short story had been shunned.

Over 3 decades of child-rearing, fish-fostering and dog walking later, Tara has realised her dream of writing. Her first book, Calling All Services, a women's fiction/humour story, was released in July 2013. She has always wanted to write in this genre but until a couple of years ago, she could never quite think of a good storyline. Then a sudden and frightening illness and some time spent in hospital gave her the beginnings of a novel which would eventually turn out to be the first book of four in the Calling All... series.

Tara has completed the second book in the series, Calling All Dentists, which she hopes to publish, early 2014. Her third novel, Calling All Customers is currently an early stage, work in progress and her plans are to release this in 2015. Tara has ideas for a further series, again in the women’s fiction/humour genre, to be written in the future. Her ultimate dream would be to write a new book each and every year.

Tara’s debut novel, Calling All Services is a peep into the lives of one family, over the course of one unusually, eventful week. A rollercoaster of emotions will have you laughing, crying and cringing as the week unfolds to reveal one disaster after another. Will the members of the Frey family ever be the same again?

 

 

 

Calling All Services

Alex Frey, successful businesswoman, wife and mother to a busy and demanding family, doesn’t find it easy to take a break. So when she’s hospitalised with a mysterious illness, paralysed and afraid of what the future might bring, frustration meets fear and she can’t wait to escape the hospital, get back in control of things and return her family to the normality of salmon paste sandwiches.

At home, her husband Grant is determined to manage the kids, Alex’s parents, his sister and anything else life can throw at him while his wife is away recuperating. But what else can possibly go wrong while Alex is in hospital? The Frey family is about to find out. . .

 

 

Questions for Tara Ford

 

 

1 - When do you find you get your best ideas?

 

I usually come up with ideas at the most inconvenient moments, in the most unexpected places. Hoovering is a good one. It takes me 3 times longer to hoover now as I have to keep stopping and grabbing a pen and notepad to jot things down. The worst place it can happen is when I’m at school. I have to make sure that everything I wear has pockets, just so that I can scribble little notes quickly or key words to remind me later.

Sadly, most of my little bursts of wisdom, scribed onto scraps of paper, are quite often found in the form of papier-mâché once retrieved from the washing machine. Thankfully, this is enough to remind me of what I had written in the first place.

 

 2 - What has been the hardest challenge for you so far in your writing journey?

 

The writing! I suppose that’s not a good enough answer is it Michael?
Seriously, I think one of the hardest things has been the not knowing. Not knowing whether my writing was good enough. Would readers like it? Were the ‘funny bits’ funny? Were the characters believable?

It was quite a scary process to have a book published as I felt like I had bared a part of my soul and my deepest personal thoughts, for the entire world to see. I believe that you give a small part of yourself away with each new book released.

The other challenge is the marketing of the book both before and after publication. This in itself can feel like a full-time job. Once the book is written – it’s done, finished. However the marketing side of things and a constant internet presence through the social media sites, in order to gain fans, followers, readers and recognition, is a never ending and sometimes arduous task.

 

 3 - The realism in your stories has been very well received, do you tend to invent most of the content or does it tend to be drawn from real life?

 

A bit of both really. I’ve been around for a while now (Ahem, coughs and sucks cheeks in to lift jowls) and have many life experiences, some mundane, others more notable. My imaginative and sometimes warped mind tends to turn these experiences into something quite different.

I always see the funny or brighter side to life (even when there isn’t particularly a funny or bright side) and will twist and change my own experiences, throwing in a wry sense of humour, to fit in to my writing. The rest I make up.

 

 4 - What can readers expect from you in the future?

 

My second book, ‘Calling All Dentists’ is out in a couple of weeks. It’s the second in a series of 4 books about the members of one family (the family members are portrayed either directly or indirectly within each story) and their lives.

I have firm foundations for the 5^th and 6^th books which have nothing to do with the ‘Calling All...’ series but would fit in to the same genre as the first four. Guess I’d better get on and do some writing then!

 

 5 - What advice would you give writers wanting to fulfil their dream of becoming a writer?

 

Write! The more you write, the easier it gets. 2 years ago I would never have imagined that I would be here now, answering your questions Michael. I have found along the way that it’s actually my characters that end up writing the stories – I’m sure that I’m just their personal typist. I’ve heard this before, from other authors who swear that the characters in their books take over and write the story for them. When I first read about it, I thought it was completely ridiculous. Now I know it to be true.

Last words to budding writers – don’t give up, even if things get tough, it will all be worth it in the end. My initial aim was to please myself, to feel like I had accomplished my dream. I did that for myself and now I enjoy the thought of sharing my work with anyone that might be interested in reading it. Tip: Unless you are the 1 in a million, don’t write believing that you will be the next JK Rowling. Write because you want to, because you can and because it’s fun. That’s all it takes.

Thank you Michael, for giving me this wonderful opportunity to be featured on your cool blog.

Tara Ford signing out.

 

 

Links for Tara Ford

 

Website - http://taraford.weebly.com/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/rata2e
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/#!/Tara.Ford.Author
Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7125535.Tara_Ford
Pinterest - https://pinterest.com/rata2e2/
LinkedIn - http://www.linkedin.com/profile/edit?trk=tab_pro

Book Links

Calling All Services UK - http://amzn.to/11zjwVi  19 – 4 & 5* Reviews
Calling All Services US - http://amzn.to/196dCAp

 

 



Music Monday - Neon Dawn

 

Neon Dawn

 

Neon Dawn
From Left to right - Tom Calvert, Zoot Marley Hill Valler, Djamel Meddah, Ricky Barton.

After years of searching for the right formula of members, unable to find the sound they had been desperately looking for, Rick and Jim decided to give their young relative, Tom a chance in the band. And boy did he not disappoint!! He brought a level of quality they never dreamed he could have. But, something was still not quite right, and, after a clash of personalities with a former drummer, they were forced to find a new drummer, Introducing, the final piece to the puzzle.... Mr. Zoot Marley Hill Valler (yes that's his real name folks) who was just a perfect fit for the band in every way.

 In the last 6 months alone, the band have gone from strength to strength and have produced a debut EP that any band would be proud of and plan to take 2014 by the scruff of the neck and shake it for all its worth!!

Look out for them in your town this year!!!

 

Last week I headed to Absolute Music rehearsal studios to meet up with the band and had the pleasure of sitting down and interviewing Ricky Barton, Djamel Meddah, Tom Calvert and Zoot Marley Hill Valler. If this is the first time you’ve heard of them, I’m sure it won’t be the last!

Introducing, Neon Dawn.

Ten questions with Neon Dawn

 

1 – There’s so much energy in your band from your individual personalities, how do you contain it? Or did you just let it flow?

R.B: I think it has to flow to be honest, I think it’s uncontrollable. It’s just something that happens when we’re together.

D.M: Between us all, we’ve worked with other people and it just doesn’t happen like that. It definitely works with this setup. I don’t know there’s just something there, something magical I think.

R.B: It is a certain magic, definitely.

Z.H: There’s always a certain energy that you can only release onstage, like if you had that much energy all the time, you’d just go f*****g mental.

D.M: That’s the same at practice too, we can’t just turn it on and off.

 

 2 – You started out doing covers and have now moved into your own material, was this a scary thought given how well your gigs of covers were received?

R.B: It was for me because I was writing the music (laughs). In a way, yes, because you’re bearing your soul, not just hiding behind somebody else’s craft and putting yourself forward for ridicule, that’s the scary part of it and they might not like it. So in a way, that’s the scary part for me, yes.

Z.H: It was quite a simple thing to get into as well wasn’t it, it was like really easy.

D.M: It started out with a couple of songs and then all of a sudden we’re an originals band. Although we wanted to do it, I don’t think it was setup like that when Ricky showed us the first song. It wasn’t like we said ‘right, let’s go for it and become an originals band, let’s stop the whole covers thing.’ But that is what seems to have happened, we’ve totally stopped being a covers band, just from jamming and….

R.B: By accident (all laugh)

Z.H: Like ‘oh c**p, we’ve got enough songs’

T.C: We’re more creative as well, like we’ve learned new tricks and bits on our guitars.

R.B: I will say, I believe personally that we did a lot of covers by one band in particular and I do believe that it helped culture our particular style and I believe it made it a lot easier for us to write songs together, all playing the same style of covers.

D.M: It completely taught us how to work song structures within the style of music we play as a band, and from doing a year of covers to doing our own original stuff, it was priceless really, practising together and working on song structures.

Z.H: Just keeping it regular, just keeping the flow going every week.

3 – Is there any particular song of yours where everything just seemed to click and you thought, this is it?

 R.B: We’re probably all going to be different on this one I’d imagine. I’d say ‘Home grown’ for me, that’s the moment I thought hang on, we might have something here, this is something we should look into. That was it for me and that’s a song that just kind of fell out really. It was something I’d written a long time ago, we got together and tried it a few times and it just never seemed to work. Then there was this one evening when Zoot said “What happened to that song?” you know and I said “let’s have a go” and it just worked.

D.M: Ricky emailed me that song about two and a half years ago, before this current line up, and I was a bit drunk at a party one night so I put it on the stereo, then a few people said “what’s this?” and for me it was like, there’s definitely something in his song writing and we need to work at this. It was still quite a long time before we got around to actually playing it as we do now.

R.B: Well, that’s what I mean, in answer to the question, that’s the moment where I thought, there’s something special there.

T.C: I think what did it for me was ‘World on fire’ because we literally just setup our equipment and jammed, creating that.

R.B: We wrote that in what, twenty minutes? (All agree)

T.C: And it was a completely different sound.

D.M: And that was literally all of us writing it from start to finish.

Z.H: There are two for me, which are ‘Alamo’ and ‘World on fire’. ‘World on fire’ for that base groove and the drum riff that just kicks in.

D.M: I just go along with your drums mate, you made the groove. (Laughs)

Z.H: Vice versa mate. The other one is ‘Alamo’. I think we jammed that track twice before we just proper opened up and went for it.

R.B: I did say that we’d all answer differently to that one. (Laughs)

 

4 – The lyrics are very visual and cinematic, was this done on purpose to create a mood, or just how the natural way in which the songs developed during the creative process?

 

 D.M: I’m gonna answer this one first. Never get into an argument with Ricky, he paints a great picture (laughs), the man is a genius. You’re not winning that argument.

R.B: It’s just my style I think. I’ve developed a recipe if you like and it’s just how they form I guess. I start with music normally and then the music will give me a certain vibe, certain emotion, and then that will help me form a vocal melody. Then the vocal melody really determines the lyrics, the amount of syllables etc.. It’s just my natural process

 

5 – Watching you guys play live, there seems to be a great understanding between all of you, was this there from the start or something you needed to work at achieving?

 

Z.H: I think that once you remember people are actually watching, you tend to play better. Once you kind of get over the nerves at the start. Especially with some of the Mr.Kyps gigs, where you don’t expect many people to show up and then you walk out and there are like 250 people sat there waiting to hear you, and it’s like ‘oh, hi there.’ (Laughs)

R.B: Drinking at the bar saying ‘do something good then’ (all laugh)

T.C: I don’t think we’ve played a bad gig have we?

R.B: Yeah, we have (all laugh)

D.M: I’m going. (Laughs), in fairness though that was down to nerves and not alcohol.

T.C: I mean, we’ve played in very limiting conditions, like small pubs with really tiny spaces where we couldn’t move much, but still performed.

R.B: Lots of experiences have helped I think, but in my opinion it’s because we rehearse every week.

T.C: We’re a hardworking band.

R.B: We do it almost regimentally. We put a lot of hours into this, I mean there’s not many weeks we don’t rehearse. Someone has to be either dying (all laugh), or like a serious distraction to stop us from rehearsing, and I personally think that’s a large factor.

T.C: A lot of commitment.

R.B: Yeah, it’s a lot of hours isn’t it?

D.M: I think nearly once a week for the last four years, Ricky and I have been here, apart from about 15 times, but since we’ve been together like this, it’s the only time it’s worked. This is the setup, it really works and you feel like you’re starting to get somewhere.

 

6 – How did you find the process of recording your EP, was it all new to you, or something you’ve had experience of before?

 

R.B: We’ve had experience before but not to that level. In short, we’ve had a small amount of experience but this was the first time it was a fully professional process, and it was all a bit rushed (laughs), it was all a bit of a panic and it was all a bit stressful, a lot of it to be honest.

Z.H: There was a lot of talk back button humour (laughs) and tears………of joy.

R.B: Yeah, it was definitely harder than I expected it to be.

 

7 – You seem to be growing a strong fan base now, do you find social media helps you to keep in touch with lots of people and is this something you will always consider important?

 

R.B: Absolutely

D.M: Tom’s the sex appeal in the band, he’s the one that sorts that (laughs)

R.B: I think it’s massive. It’s the main part of the interaction these days. That’s the only way to communicate with fans directly, to engage with them, and I think it’s hugely important. Particularly with the music industry being incredibly difficult to break into, the only way is to engage people that like your music and the only way you can do that is with social media. (All agree)

R.B: I’m far too sensible for this band (laughs)

8 – If you could perform with any other act, living or dead, who would it be and why?

R.B: Kings of Leon

D.M: Nirvana

Z.H: Tom, you might as well go first mate, I’m gonna be ages.

T.C: AC/DC

R.B: What, it wouldn’t be Green Day?

T.C: Yeah, and Green Day

R.B: You can’t have two, he said one (laughs)

T.C: Ahh ok, Green Day

Z.H: Them Crooked Vultures, just because I would happily pick Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters or Led Zeppelin, but they’re all in the same band, Them Crooked Vultures!

R.B: Good shout, good thought process

Z.H: Those three bands were popping into my head and I was like ‘they made a band, this is perfect’ (laughs)

9 – What would be a necessity for you on your dream tour bus?

 

R.B: My family

D.M: Roadies

Z.H: You do know roadies are the people that look after your gear? Not groupies?

D.M: I meant groupies (all laugh)

Z.H: Man if I see you backstage with some roadie.

D.M: I just can’t be arsed to setup my gear (laughs)

Z.H: For me, just an acoustic I guess.

T.C: Chocolate, ice cream, pork pies.

R.B: It’s one thing man!

T.C: McDonalds?

R.B: He didn’t say give him a shopping list! (All laugh)

10 – So you’ve released your debut EP now, what are your next plans for the band?

 

T.C: To take over the world.

R.B: We’ve got a 5 week national radio campaign starting in a few weeks time and we are looking to gig more in London and try to develop a following in the capitol, and obviously it’s then much easier to get spotted up there.

D.M: We kick off on the 28^th of this month supporting Alt-J at Scala in London, we’ve got a Primal Scream support gig coming up and in May we’ve just been confirmed to support Bloc Party for a one off gig in London.

R.B: We’ve got the Bournemouth Sevens as well. Our plans are to get noticed and to get on the radio, you know? Get famous (laughs)

D.M: The 5 week campaign is with Matrix Promotions, one of the top radio pluggers in the country, and also 2 of our songs have just been accepted for the BBC intro, we’re just waiting on the dates of when they’re going to play them.

R.B: So yeah, that’s a start and we’ll just keep working at it.

 

Having seen Neon Dawn start out with a series of powerful cover versions, it was interesting to see where they would head next and I can say that their own songs blow the covers out of the water and leave you wanting to hear more! The combination of their talents produce a raw power which for me is reminiscent of bands like The Vines or Idlewild at their best, with a touch of Kings of Leon. It was great catching up with them and I cannot wait to watch the rise of these guys towards being the Kings of indie rock!



 

 

Links for Neon Dawn

 

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Neondawnband

Twitter - https://twitter.com/NeonDawn2

Soundcloud - https://soundcloud.com/neondawn

 

 

 

 

 

Crafters Sunday - Jo's Arm Candy

Jo's arm candy

 

After I started making my own bracelets, friends and family were interested in them and I started to sell a few, I was soon asked to make more. I then realised I could turn my hobby into a small business, and Jo's arm candy was born! This year I will be attending lots of different craft fairs which is very exciting but also a bit scary!
 
Jo's arm candy is my little dream come true xx

 

 

Questions for Jo's arm candy

 

1 - What made you start making your own bracelets?

To be honest it just sort of happened! I was looking on Pinterest and there was a tutorial on making bracelets out of leather cord, so I had a go at making a few and showed my family and friends who offered to buy them! Which encouraged me to think and research different ideas and it just grew from there.

2 - Do you have a favourite item that you have created so far?

I love the butterfly charm bracelets made with real sea shell beads. The heart leather cord bracelets too as it all started with them.

 

3 - This year you said you'll be attending lots of craft fairs, what excites you about this and what makes you nervous?

It's very exciting as I love having my stall and arranging the display of my jewellery. It's something I have done all myself and am very proud of that. But I think it's scary because when your passionate about something you want others to see that and love it the same way, and this is not always going to happen! So putting myself out there is the scary part. Hopefully I will overcome this in time.

4 - Your creations are all very delicate looking and seem to tell their own stories, where do you get your ideas from?

My ideas come to me from how I am feeling or certain colours I see around in day. I also love anything to do with the sea and hopefully will create some sea inspired bracelets! I also love butterfly’s and I have a few pieces that feature them :)

 

5 - What advice would you give to anyone starting out in crafting and wanting to make a go of it?

I am not sure I can give advice just yet, as it's still all new to me.
But I would say try and find your own style and stick with it.
Also network, network, network!!

 

 

Links for Jo's army candy

 

www.facebook.com/armcandycandy

www.etsy.com/shop/josarmcandy

 

Thank you Jo for taking the time to chat to us about your creations, I wish you lots of luck with your craft fairs and your business in general! Thanks for a lovely feature!

 



Friday Feature - Nicholas Nickleby Johnson (Artist)

 

Nicholas Nickleby Johnson

 

 

 

Nicholas Nickleby Johnson is a musician and visual artist from Chicago, who is currently residing in Northwest Indiana.

He first began to gain recognition for his Humanoids Doing Fervid Things series; seven oil paintings depicting skeletal alien like creatures against desolate backdrops and landscapes (which he would eventually start referring to as GloomWorld ).

After the Humanoids series he began refining the look of the inhabitants of GloomWorld with his Anhydrous Sculptures - creepy, often cute 8” statues crafted from bio-hazardous materials.

Nicholas has since moved on to a variety of subjects with his painting, including pop culture icons, decrepit cityscapes, science fiction imagery and his own imagined creatures and realities.

 

 

 

 

 

Questions for Nicholas Nickleby Johnson

 

1 – When did you first start painting and what made you start?

I've always been a hyper-creative person. Be it playing music, doodling, writing; I can't remember a time when I wasn't trying to create something from my imagination. I started to get serious about oil painting about 4 years ago and it began as just another way to extend the creative process for me. As soon as I started to get a bit of attention for it, I was hooked.

2 – Your Gloomworld creations are beautiful but desolate, what inspired you to pain these characters and in this style?

Thank you. I don't know that I consciously set out to create any sort of specific vibe at first. Once the format had been set for the doom and gloom type of imagery, I made the decision to stay on that path for the most part. But really in the beginning I just let what wanted to come out happen. Like a stream-of-consciousness type of writing. I had no fear then of trying to impress or inspire or progress. I only painted what felt right.

 3 – You then brought these characters to life in sculptures, where you pleased with how they turned out and did they bring anything extra to the original vision you had for the characters?

The sculptures certainly informed the doodles that have become quite popular, as far as character design. But the process in creating them was a bit different from the paintings at the time. I basically wanted to create an image that you could empathize with immediately. Something with emotional nuances you could connect to and understand without a second thought. The true artistic device there, for me, was crafting them out of bio-hazardous materials. Here's this thing that you can connect with on a visual and emotional level, but that you could never obtain or touch or come into any sort of physical contact with. I suppose in a way they help to magnify the vibe of the oil paintings- you feel for this character but you know, after some thought, that we have to let it be and reach it's prophecy on its own. I'd say I'm pretty happy with the juxtaposition that the sculptures emphasize within my work.

 4 – What artist living or dead is your biggest inspiration?

There's so many! I'd say the first time that I felt something while looking at a piece of visual art and thought "I want to be able to do this to people" was the first time I saw a collection of paintings from Menton Mathews III, or Menton3. The reaction I had inside of me was a very intense thing. Paralyzing. But again, so many writers and musicians and visual artist really inspire me on a daily basis. Especially since I started making this kind of art myself. I seek that stuff out now.

 5 – What advice would you give to other artists who want to paint but are struggling to get started or know what to paint?

Just go for it. To this day a lot of my work is 5 or 6 other ideas and paintings before it becomes what it is. If you have the will to let your mind just take over and see what comes of it, you'll be unstoppable. And that's with any sort of art. It's an amazing thing to just let your imagination take over for a bit and then look at it later and realize that you brought out some part of yourself you didn't even know existed.

 

After hearing the way Nicholas thinks and feels about his art it makes the wonderful creations even more vivid and beautiful, he is definitely a talent worth keeping an eye on and I look forward to seeing more from him in the future!

 

Links for Nicholas Nickleby Johnson

 

Website - http://www.gloomworld.com/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/gloomworldart