‘Banning the Bullshit’ Sunday: ‘Food of love’ by Anne. R. Allen

No, it isn’t Valentine’s day and no, you haven’t forgotten that all-important anniversary (at least, I don’t think you have. And if you have, no amount of BS will get you out of it! )…

It’s Sunday. ‘Banning the Bullshit’ Sunday to be precise.

So, what literary lusciousness do I have for you today then? Ah, well, you may have heard of this lady before. Quite a few times actually. THAT is because she writes lots of books and we, publish them! She is even collaborating with the uber-awesome, Catherine Ryan Hyde (of ‘Paying it forward’ fame) on a ‘How to…’ book, but more of that in a mo….

There’s just no stopping Anne R. Allen – and we love it! In fact, talking of love: Get a load of this – ‘Food of love‘ is the latest addition to the MWiDP fold and to Anne’s ever-growing collection of brilliant books (see the end of the blog for links to other bullshit-free posts). BUT, ‘Food of love‘ is actually Anne’s first-ever published novel (OK, we came to the game a little late on this one) and is still her best-selling. There’s a reason for that.

It’s brilliant.

Yup. No messing. Comedy thriller. Porn, screwball romantic comedy. It has the lot. Here’s the blurb (oh and guess who provides the intro?):

Food of Love was Anne R. Allen’s first published novel, and continues to be her most popular of her five (and counting) books.

First published in the UK in 2003 by the now-defunct Babash-Ryan, it’s a romp through the world of the booming late 1990’s. Part thriller and part screwball romantic comedy, Food of Love appeals to readers on both sides of the pond. Beneath its roller-coaster plot and comic exterior, the story addresses some complex issues about body image, religion and a woman’s right to choose.

Food of Love tells the story of Regina, a former supermodel, now princess of a tiny European principality (yes, these places do still exist, although the one in this novel is of course fictional), who has lost her skeletal figure and finds herself threatened by an unknown assassin. Fearing her royal husband wants to kill her now that she’s not model-thin, she seeks protection from her estranged African-American foster sister, conservative Christian television pundit, Rev. Cady Stanton.

Reverend Cady has some serious weight and romantic issues of her own, compounded when an “accident” intended for Regina leaves her temporarily blind. But when Regina is declared dead and Cady’s seventy-year old secretary is wrongly arrested for smuggling a small nuclear bomb to the funeral, Cady takes control.

With the help of a porn mogul, a Russian spy, a rap diva and her fierce hairdresser-girlfriend, Cady is able to save Regina, restore the bomb to its proper owners, and unearth the long-buried family secrets that hold the key to her own happiness.

Food of Love has all the classic elements of comedy thriller and believable farce that have become the hallmark of an Anne R. Allen novel.

Introduced by UK best-selling author Saffina Desforges.

Oh and here’s the link stuff:

Amazon UK

Amazon.com

Amazon.fr

Amazon.de

Sooooo, you know what I’m gonna say, right? WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

So, where was I? Oh yeah, when all those around you lose their heads… here’s how to keep yours and survive in the E-age.

Anne and Catherine have been around the block where sanity and writing is concerned. Believe me. So, when two experienced and successful writers decide to come together and produce a ‘How to’ book, you have no choice as a writer (and even less as a publisher, I mean, HELLO, I watched ‘Pay it forward’ three times) but to read it. And read it you can. Soon.

‘How to be a writer in the E-Age and keep your E-Sanity‘ will be released mid-June, so look out of it. In the meantime, cast your peepers over the amazing cover, designed by our very own design God extraordinaire, Athanasios.

Oof! Cool, huh?

*sigh* I just don’t know how I do it.

Until next time fellow BsF’ers…

Saffi

Related articles

• ‘Banning the Bullshit’ Sunday: Bloomin’ brilliant box sets! (sapphicscribe.wordpress.com)
• ‘Banning The Bullshit Sunday’: ‘Academic Body’ by Shirley S. Allen (sapphicscribe.wordpress.com)

‘Banning the Bullshit’ Sunday: Bloomin’ brilliant box sets!

OK. The sun is shining, we’ve lost an hour of our lives that we’ll never get back and I have retrieved my boarders and flip-flops from the cupboard, so that can only mean one thing: Spring officially  starts today!

So, in order to celebrate, BtB is a little different today. One thing remains though. Yup, you’ve guessed it – no crap.

So, to the point (see? No digressing)… the purpose of this post today is three-fold.

I’d like to introduce you to three equally awesome peeps who you have probably heard of before. All three are big-hitters in the MWiDP camp and supremely talented.

Feast your eyes on my first offering – a wonderful collection of four (yes, I did say four) historical fiction novels from the brilliant Sarah Woodbury. WHERE ELSE CAN YOU GET FOUR AWESOME BOOKS FOR UNDER £6???? And not just any old books, but enhanced books!

It’s spring madness!

Here’s the blurb:

From the acclaimed historic fiction writer Sarah Woodbury, four of her Welsh history series in one box-set volume.

The Good Knight – Part one of the Gareth & Gwen Medieval Mysteries. If you liked Cadfael you’ll love this.

Cold My Heart – a Novel of King Arthur.

The Last Pendragon – Arthurian tales set in Wales. Part on of the Pendragon Saga.

The Pendragon’s Quest – Part two of the Pendragon Saga.

*

This is an enhanced ebook with extras including maps, pronunciation guide, historic background notes and images, and an introduction by UK best-selling author Saffina Desforges.

Here’s the link things:

Amazon UK

Amazon.com

Amazon.de

Amazon.fr

Cool huh? ‘Course it is, it’s what we do, right?

And so to awesome peep numero duo. Yes, it’s the one and only Anne R. Allen and her Camilla Randall Mysteries box set:

Here’s what the blurb says about this 3-in-1 set:

If this is your first time with author Anne R. Allen then there can be no better way to hit the ground running than with this delightful Camilla box-set.

The Best Revenge is actually a prequel to the highly acclaimed Ghostwriters In The Sky, and takes us back to Camilla Randall’s early years, when she first met Plantagenet Smith.

Ghostwriters In The Sky fasts forward to a more mature Camilla Randall, hoping to have an easy ride at a writers’ conference in California. Needless to say fate has other ideas.

In Sherwood Ltd. Anne R. Allen conveys Camilla to the merry England of Robin Hood legend, where of course Camilla once again ends up in the most improbable, but always believable, circumstances.

Together, these three novels make up the Camilla Randall Mysteries. So far. But Anne will be bringing us more Camilla in the future, fear not.

Linkies:

Amazon UK

Amazon.com

Amazon.de

Amazon.fr

Double-cool no?

So, who’s the third peep then? I hear you ask.

Well, you didn’t think those mega-fabulous covers just materialised on my Mac did ya?

Nope, they are courtesy of our resident cover artist and uber-cool dude, Athanasios.

So, check him and his work out at Covers for hire.

You can also check out his books on Amazon, this is Mad Gods.

So, there you have it. Another Sunday without any bullshit. Just telling you how it is. Have a great day and hey, stay free of the brown stuff!

Saffi

Related articles

• Banning the Bullshit Sunday: Anathema (Book 1 of The Cloud Prophet trilogy) by Megg Jensen (sapphicscribe.wordpress.com)
• ‘Banning the bullshit Sunday’ ‘Bone Dressing’ by Michelle I. Brooks (sapphicscribe.wordpress.com)
• ‘Banning the bullshit Sunday’ : ‘Death Wish’ Book 1: The Vamp Saga by Danielle Blanchard (sapphicscribe.wordpress.com)
• ‘Banning the Bullshit’ Sunday: ‘Gisborne’ by Prue Batten (sapphicscribe.wordpress.com)
• ‘Banning the bullshit Sunday’ : ‘Clockwise’ by Elle Strauss (sapphicscribe.wordpress.com)

Banning the Bullshit Sunday: ‘Sherwood, Ltd’ by Anne R. Allen

Oh well, here we are again! After a week of mostly, well, bullshit, it’s time for a refreshing change.

No tsunami of shite, just a blog post about a damn good book, who wrote it and where you can buy it. That’s it. Nothing else. *shrugs*

So let me tell you about Anne R. Allen and more importantly, ‘Sherwood’.

Ten years ago, Anne was on her third literary agent and just about ready to give up on the dream of being an author. Her  novels were being rejected everywhere. In her own words, “In those days, the mash-up of romantic comedy with noir mystery was too unusual to fit New York’s needs. ”

 Anne had three novels completed. A fourth had run as a serial in a California entertainment weekly. One of her stories had been short-listed for an international prize, and a play had been produced to good reviews. Anne was ‘bringing in a few bucks’ —mostly with short pieces for local magazines and freelance editing.

But meantime, her savings had evaporated. Anne’s boyfriend had ridden his Harley into the Big Sur sunset, and she was contemplating a career change to the fast food industry. (phew, we are sooooo glad you didn’t do it, Anne!)

Even acceptances turned into rejections: a UK zine that had accepted one of Anne’s stories folded. But when the editor sent the bad news, he mentioned he’d taken a job with a small UK book publisher—and did she have any novels?

Anne sent him one her agent had rejected as “too over the top.” Within weeks, she was offered a contract by her new editor—a former BBC comedy writer—for FOOD OF LOVE. Included was an invitation for her to come over the pond to do some promotion.

So she rented out her California beach house, packed her bags and bought a ticket to Gainsborough, Lincolnshire (now we’re talking Anne, this is my neck of the woods) , where her new publishers had recently moved into a huge 19th century mill on the banks of the river Trent —the river George Eliot fictionalized as “the Floss.”

George Eliot. Anne was going to be working and living only a few hundred yards from the ruins of the house where she wrote her classic novel about the 19th century folk who lived and died by the power of Lincolnshire ’s great tidal river. An English major’s dream.
At the age of… well, she wouldn’t tell me exactly… Anne was about to have the adventure of her life.

She knew the company published mostly erotica, but was branching into mainstream and literary fiction. They had already published the first novel of a distinguished poet, and a famous Chicago newspaper columnist was in residence, awaiting the launch of his new book.

But when Anne arrived, she found the great Chicagoan had left in a mysterious fit of pique, the “erotica” was seriously hard core kink, and the former ladies’ underwear factory on the Trent was more of the William Blake Dark Satanic variety than George Elliot’s bucolic “Mill on the Floss.”

She told me that some of her fears subsided when she was greeted by a friendly group of unwashed, fiercely intellectual young men who presented her  with generous quantities of warm beer, cold meat pies and galleys to proof. After a beer or two,  Anne even found herself almost comprehending their/our northern accents!

She held it together until she saw her new digs: a grimy futon and an old metal desk, hidden behind stacks of book pallets in the corner of an unheated warehouse, about a half a block from the nearest loo. The only modern convenience was an ancient radio abandoned by a long-ago factory girl. (did I used to work here?).

Now for those of you that don’t have the pleasure of knowing Anne, let me tell you, she ain’t the kinda gal that would squat on your floor for the sake of art if you know what I mean! This must have been a real wrench for her.

For our friends from sunnier (and colder!) climes who don’t know where Anne is talking about (or which part of the world I hail from) Gainsborough is here:

Anne admits to some tears of despair. Until, she says…:

“…Until, from the radio, Big Ben chimed six o’clock .

That’s six pm , GMT.

Greenwich Mean Time. The words hit me with all the sonorous power of Big Ben itself. I had arrived at the mean, the middle, the center that still holds—no matter what rough beasts might slouch through the cultural deserts of the former empire. This was where my language, my instrument, was born.

I clutched my galley-proof to my heart. I might still be a rejected nobody in the land of my birth—but I’d landed on the home planet: England . And there, I was a published novelist. Just like George Eliot.”

Three years later, Anne returned to California , older, fatter (the English may not have the best food, but their BEER is another story Anne!) and a lot wiser. That Chicagoan’s fit of pique turned out to be more than justified. The company was swamped in debt. They never managed to get her US distribution. Shortly before her second book THE BEST REVENGE was to launch, the managing partner withdrew his capital, sailed away and mysteriously disappeared off his yacht—his body never found. The company sputtered and died.

And Anne was back in the slush pile again.

But (thankfully) she had a great plot for her next novel.

Here’s what Anne says about SHERWOOD, LTD.

That novel is SHERWOOD, LTD. It’s 100% fiction—I put the heroine of THE BEST REVENGE into those improbable digs and made up an intricate whodunit plot—but the setting in the old ladies’ underwear factory I call the “Maidenette” building is very real, as are the wonderful people of Lincolnshire I fell in love with during my almost three-year stay. I will always feel part of me still lives in Gainsborough—George Eliot’s St. Oggs—the town I call “Swynsby-on-Trent” in my novel. SHERWOOD, LTD. is a kind of love letter to the English Midlands, and to one of their greatest contributions to world culture: the story of  Robin Hood and his Merry Men.

Thankfully, some forward-thinking, innovative and all-round uber-ambitious digital publisher (ahem) railroaded talked Anne into coming on board and letting them publish this fabulous book.

Links:

Amazon UK

Amazon.com

Amazon Germany

Amazon France

Ahh, brilliant! How thankful we are to Lincolnshire, that band of unwashed intellects and our local ale. For without it, the world wouldn’t have Sherwood!

Get it now. Really.

Saffi

Related articles

• ‘Banning the bullshit’ Sunday: ‘Beyond Nostalgia’ by Tom Winton (sapphicscribe.wordpress.com)

Welcome along!

Another two fabulous authors joining the ever-growing MWiDP fold are featured here on SMoD&L today.

Both very different books and writers but prefect for this blog!

First, here’s Prue Batten with ‘A thousand glass flowers‘

Two people… one an extraordinary young woman, the other an embittered immortal man. Both seeking concealed spells that could annihilate Life.
In a quest through a world where Others lace their way in and out of the lives of mortals, this is a story of legend, love, and clashing ideals. A story of murder, regret and revenge… a story that journeys across a world too hauntingly like our own.

‘A sweeping, gorgeously written tale of magic, adventure, intrigue–and the very human power of enduring love. It held me spellbound.’ – Anna Elliott, author of The Avalon Trilogy

‘A magnificent evocation of a parallel world whose joys and sorrows are our own. Beautifully done.’ — Ann Swinfen, author of In Defence of Fantasy.

And with his story of friendship, love and loyalty, here’s G.S. Johnston with Consumption: A Novel

Who can a girl with a broken heart rely on if not her gay best friend?

Sara Sexton and Martin Blake are besties so it was natural for her to flee to him after breaking up with a Greek lover. But Martin has changed, preoccupied with his new business. In Hong Kong, he’s a high-profile, high-dollar interior designer.

When Sara meets Andy Harris, a romantic with a bubble-butt, Martin’s still on the market and not happy. Seems Martin’s only happy when Sara’s alone and miserable. Got any ‘friends’ like that? Now Sara has to juggle a consuming old friendship and a blossoming romance… And how does a girl do that? And what happens when she’s forced to choose between the past and the future?

For more, visit www.gsjohnston.com

CONSUMPTION: A NOVEL is 85000 words

Both are available from Amazon, now.

I am so excited by the wonderful tribe of writers joining us at MWiDP  next week, I will be featuring books from Sarah Woodbury, Anne R. Allen and Karin Cox.

Look out for the fab new series (among others) The Beautiful People by Danielle Blanchard Benson too!

Have a great Sunday!

Saffi

Related articles

• MWiDP proudly presents…Cheryl Shireman (sapphicscribe.wordpress.com)