It’s Halloween! Crackling leaves, dark evenings, candles, pumpkins, toffee apples – my favourite time of year! To celebrate all thinks spooky and terrifying I am thrilled to have joined up with a fabulous group of authors for a Spooktacular Halloween Blog Hop Giveaway. As a group of writers we offer support and encouragement to each other (which is hugely important) and for the first time we are coming together to offer lots of fabulous Halloween treats to our lovely readers. In keeping with the theme of Halloween, we have all chosen to share a scene of fear, dread, suspense or horror from our current, or forthcoming novels. Many of these scenes are being shared exclusively on our blogs for the very first time! The full roll-call of author participants, and their giveaways, are listed below. Why not pop over, discover a new author and enter their giveaway too.
The scene I have selected to share is from my forthcoming novel A MEMORY OF VIOLETS – A Novel of London’s Flower Sellers, which will be published in February 2015 in the U.S. and March 2015 in the UK/Ireland. You can read more about the novel here and you can also follow the retailer links to pre-order your copy. If you’d also like the chance to win a signed Advance Reader’s Edition of A Memory Of Violets, plus a signed book jacket of my NYT bestselling novel, THE GIRL WHO CAME HOME, leave a comment below and my zombie assistants will select a winner at random. The competition closes at midnight on October 31st. Also, if you are ‘hopping’ from another site and don’t know me or my first novel THE GIRL WHO CAME HOME, feel free to have a creep around my site (in the dark, of course) and see what you can find out!
I hope you enjoy the following excerpt and good luck to all who enter the giveaway. Oh, and Happy Halloween!
Excerpt:
Rosie Flynn had known many bad things in her short life – cold, hunger, exhaustion, sadness, death and cruelty – but she had never known terror like that which she felt as she ran to get away from the man who had grabbed her.
She ran and ran, darting wildly through the crowds, bumping into people, stumbling forward then backward, a blur of grainy shadows and strange shapes all that she could make out. She had no idea what she was running toward. All she knew was that she had to get away from him. From the bad man.
She couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe, almost choked by the panicked breaths that caught in her throat as she struggled to get away; struggled to understand what had happened.
She wanted to scream, to cry out, “Florrie! Florrie! Where are ye?” But she didn’t, knowing that by shouting she’d only draw unwelcome attention to herself. She stayed silent and kept running through the terrifying, shadowy world she inhabited.
Without her sister’s hands and eyes to guide her she quickly became lost and bewildered. A strange sound came from deep within her – a whine, like that of a frightened animal. She’d felt Florrie fall, felt her hand wrenched from her sister’s. She’d heard the clatter of Florrie’s crutch hitting the road, the mutterings of people inconvenienced by having to step over a child on the ground. She’d stood perfectly still, as Florrie had always told her to if they ever became separated. “Stay right where ye are, and I’ll find ye. It’s best not to go wandering off.”
But within seconds of Florrie falling, strong hands had grabbed Rosie around her waist, whisking her away, her legs dangling in the air, a hand covering her mouth so that she couldn’t scream.
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List of authors participating in the blog hop, and their giveaways. Click their name to hop to their site.
Heather Webb – Signed copy of BECOMING JOSEPHINE or an ARC of RODIN’S LOVER – and chocolates!
Lisa Alber – Signed copy of KILMOON and an Irish gift
Anna Lee Huber – Audiobooks of LADY DARBY, Books 1-3
Alexandra Hughes – An audiobook or early copy of VACANT
Jennifer Delamere – Signed ARC of A BRIDE FOR THE SEASON
Kerry Schafer – Signed copy of WAKEWORLD
Stacey Lee – Signed ARC of UNDER A PAINTED SKY
Janet Butler Taylor – $15 Amazon gift card and chocolates
I just want you to know how much I loved your book. I have recommended it to several friends. One who is Irish, loved it and recommended to her book club that they read in March to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. I also bought it for my mother-in-law who immigrated here from Italy at the age of seven. She thought it was wonderful. Looking forward to your next book.
Thank you, Jackie! Lovely to hear you enjoyed The Girl Who Came Home. Good luck in the giveaway!
I would LOVE a copy of your forthcoming novel to review on my site! Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres to review. Thanks for the great giveaway!
Thank you, Magistra! Great to hear from a fellow fan of historical fiction. Good luck in the giveaway!
Would so love a copy of your latest book to share with my book club!
Wow, what a powerful passage! I already wanted to read this book but now I can’t wait…what will happen to Rosie? What happened to Florie? I can’t wait to find out :). Thanks for sharing the post and for the giveaway!
Thank you, Colleen! Lovely to hear you enjoyed the excerpt. Good luck in the giveaway!
I am so excited to read A Memory of Violets. The Girl Who Came Home has just been chosen as our November read for our book club. A memory of violeys will already bd eagerly awaited for the book club on release.
Thank you! I’m thrilled to hear The Girl Who Came Home is your November book club choice. Good luck in the giveaway!
Very excited for this title! Can’t wait to read A Memory of Violets. The Girl Who Came Home was great!
Thank you! Lovely to hear you enjoyed The Girl Who Came Home. Good luck in the giveaway!
I can’t wait to read this book! Happy Halloween!
Thank you, Angie! Good luck in the giveaway and Happy Halloween!
Really enjoyed The Girl Who Came Home (cried and had tissues on hand at all times) and I eagerly await your newest. I’d love to have an ARC and will review it and share with my book club.
Thank you, Barbara! Lovely to hear you enjoyed The Girl Who Came Home. Good luck in the giveaway and Happy Halloween!
Oh. my. Goodness. So many questions swirling through my head after reading this excerpt. I can’t wait till the novel is released and i can read it!
Thank you, Allison! Lovely to hear you enjoyed the excerpt. Good luck in the giveaway and Happy Halloween!
I enjoyed The Girl Who Came Home, and already have A Memory Of Violets on my tbr list. I am excited to read it. Thanks for the giveaway!
Thank you, Whitney! Lovely to hear you enjoyed The Girl Who Came Home. Good luck in the giveaway and Happy Halloween!
I don’t know if this is the beginning of your novel or not, but it is very powerful. Sets up all kiinds of suspense.
Thank you, Susan! Lovely to hear you enjoyed the excerpt. Good luck in the giveaway and Happy Halloween!
The books sound good. I see there are over 1,000 five star reviews on Amazon! I don’t think that I’ve heard of you before. I do enjoy some historical fiction (especially mysteries).
Happy Halloween! I had a pumpkin doughnut today.
Thank you, Michelle! Pumpkin doughnuts sound delicious! Good luck in the giveaway and Happy Halloween!
Wow, that really captured the blind (pardon the pun) panic felt in the circumstances, I’m almost out of breath myself!
Thank you, Michaela! Lovely to hear you enjoyed the excerpt. Good luck in the giveaway and Happy Halloween!
I love the covers of both of the books, so beautiful. That excerpt shows a whole different side of terror. Excited for this release!!
Thank you, Heather! Lovely to hear you enjoyed the excerpt. Good luck in the giveaway and Happy Halloween!
I have become a lover of historical fiction, education and enjoyment in one package. Thanks for the treat.
Thank you, Sandy! Lovely to hear you enjoyed the excerpt. Good luck in the giveaway and Happy Halloween!
Intriguing and suspenseful…I could feel my heart pounding…now, I need this novel for I immensely want to read it…
Thank you, Juanita! Lovely to hear you enjoyed the excerpt. Good luck in the giveaway and Happy Halloween!
Nice excerpt
bn100candg at hotmail dot com
Thank you! Good luck in the giveaway and Happy Halloween!
I loved The Girl who Came Home and am so looking to reading this one. Thank you for a lovely giveaway.
Thank you, Karen! Lovely to hear you enjoyed The Girl Who Came Home. Good luck in the giveaway and Happy Halloween!
Ooh…How Gripping!
Thank you, Amy! Good luck in the giveaway and Happy Halloween!
Sounds like a fantastic and gripping read.
Thank you, Lynn! Good luck in the giveaway and Happy Halloween!
I would live to win this book, it’s sounds fantastic! Thank you for the Giveaway
Thank you, Milena! Good luck in the giveaway and Happy Halloween!
Wow, this sounds really good! Happy Halloween.
Thank you, Kimberly! Lovely to hear you enjoyed the excerpt. Good luck in the giveaway and Happy Halloween!
The book sounds wonderful and looks beautiful..
Thank you very much, Nena! Good luck in the giveaway and Happy Halloween!
Just today, I was thinking that I need a signed copy of one of your books, dear Hazel, so I’ll keep my fingers crossed. This excerpt is fantastic! Can’t wait to learn more about Rosie and Florrie. Happy Halloween to you and your little goblins:)
So lovely to hear from you, Elizabeth and thank you for your kind comment. Good luck with the giveaway and Happy Halloween to you and all your little munchkins. x
That passage wants me to ffind out more. What has happened to Florrie. Will Rosie be alright. What period is this set in. It is intriguing. Love you books by the way
Thank you, Martina! Lovely to hear you enjoyed the excerpt. This scene is set in Victorian London and the novel spans 1876 to 1912. Good luck in the giveaway and Happy Halloween!
Just in time to enter! Looks like a great book and a fab prize to read it way before its release! Best of luck with the book 🙂
Thank you, Jennie! Good luck in the giveaway and Happy Halloween!
I saw someone on booktube talking about this book so I was very excited when I saw that there was a giveaway going on! I really want to read this book 🙂
Thank you, Irene. That’s lovely to hear! Good luck with the giveaway and Happy Halloween!