Jean Gill: free

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Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Celebration Time! Free Christmas book

Global Awards winner, historical novel ‘Song at Dawn’

ebook giveaway until 24th December

get the coupon number and use it at the smashwords checkout

My short story 'Jailbait' won November's 'Paragraphs of Power' Competition - read 'Jailbait and all the other entries here. But be warned - my story has teenage content - much worse than adult!

As someone who was teacher for many years, I've come across relationships between teachers and pupils that crossed the professional line. My own view is that a teacher is a position of trust, and it is a betrayal of that trust to initiate or to get drawn into a sexual relationship with a student. The recent example of a teacher fleeing the UK to France with his 15 year old pupil/lover raised all kinds of issues, including the differences between countries as to the age at which it's legal to have sex. My view is that the age difference between the partners is important. A 35 year old - man or woman - who has a sexual relationship with a 15 year old is, again, betraying trust. A 16 year old who has a sexual relationship with a 15 year old is hardly any different from the 'victim' - except in the eyes of the law.

Literature is full of stories where the line was crossed between adult and child, including that between teacher and pupil. All those I can think of are from the point of view of a male teacher, like in the lyrics 'Don't Stand So Close to Me' so I wanted to tell the story from the viewpoint of a fifteen year-old girl...

Paragraphs of Power

Why not enter your own story for Suzy's great competition? The next one is in January. In my winning month, November, there was an amazon book token as prize.You also get to present a book of your choice during the month you win.

Book news

It does look like I'll be able to publish 'Bladesong' early in 2013 - yay!

The verdicts on my new novel, in manuscript form, are coming in from my 'critical friends' and my editor; mostly positive (thank God!) but lots of minor corrections/tweaks. As I work through, I'll let you know the sorts of things that need to be changed. I can tell you the sorts of thing I don't want to change - the idea of any major re-organisation or plot change fills me with dread. But if it will be a better book that way, I will think seriously about every suggestion made.

comment on the Troubadours' facebook page and enter the free draw for a signed copy of 'Song at Dawn'

Dead but not silenced - one woman's true story

My other writing news is about a translation project; I'll tell you more about that when I can. If I say that it's a French autobiography that I'm translating into English,which starts with a fairytale romance, results in rape and a child custody case, and finishes with a young woman's death in suspicious circumstances, you won't believe me. But that's the truth.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Summer giveaway - win nine authors' signed books

Nine writers from Ireland, Britain, France and Spain have banded together to offer some lucky person a chance to win nine novels; signed copies of print versions of their latest books.

ENTER TO WIN MAY 7 - JUNE 11

Simply leave a message at www.kristingleeson.com

Winner picked at random June 11

A BUMPER SACK OF SUMMER READS !

But hurry!

This fabulous offer only runs between 7 May and 11 June.

‘What better treat for book lovers than a FREE sack of books?’ says Kristin Gleeson, the offer’s coordinator. ‘It reminds me of going to the library when I was young, coming back with a pile of books and taking ages to decide which one to read first. It was like a feast for me.’ Her own book, Selkie Dreams, a historical novel set in 19th Century Belfast and Alaska, is one of the books included.

The sack contains a wide variety of books and there should be something for everyone to enjoy. For a wet weekend or a day on the beach, the thriller, Mrs. Jones by B.A. Morton (second prize winner at the Yeovil Literary Festival) offers a gripping pacey read about a New York cop and an English woman who witnesses a murder. For historical thriller lovers, there’s Gallow’s Curse, by Karen Maitland, set in Medieval England. Or if political intrigue and romance ticks boxes for you, Jean Gill’s Song at Dawn, set in 12th Century Narbonne, is just the ticket.

Garden fans, especially tulip lovers, might enjoy The Chosen Man by J.G. Harlond, set against the backdrop of the great ‘tulip fever,’ in the 17th Century, when the price of tulip bulbs might fetch more than a rare gem. Dave Evardson offers a book for fantasy lovers with The Fenwold Riddle.

Runner- up for the McKitterick Prize and BBC Radio 4 programme ‘A Good Read’ selection, Frances Kay’s gripping novel, Micka is about two boys who take a game to dangerous ends. Those who like a bit of supernatural spice to their reading would love Moonyeen Blakey’s The Assassin’s Wife, a tale of a young woman seer whose vision of two princes in the tower leads her into danger. And last but not least, check out Karen Charlton’s historical novel Catching the Eagle which based on the true story of her regency ancestor who was at the centre of Northumberland’s most notorious miscarriage of justice.

Special PRE-RELEASE giveaway

Selkie Dreams by Kristin Gleeson www.kristingleeson.com

Belfast, 1889. A young woman haunted by her mother’s death embarks on an Alaskan adventure among the Tlingit Indians.

Read more about 'Selkie Dreams'

Micka by Frances Kay www.franceskaywriter.wordpress.com

Ten year old Micka wants a puppy and his brothers to stop bullying him. Eleven year old Laurie wants his life to be more ordinary. Together the two dream up something different. Something secret and unpleasant