Scotland – Z. Elizabeth

So this is a story… #RARE14

Posted on July 10, 2014 by Z. Elizabeth

All about my time in Edinburgh.

I haven’t had the time to write about my trip to The Land of The Hot Guys in Kilts until now but I have been gushing about Edinburgh for the past week to my work colleagues. Pretty sure they want to slap me to shut me up.

If you follow me on Twitter, you would see that two days before I was jetsetting on an hour and a half flight from Cardiff to the sexy land of accents, my flight was cancelled…yes, i wasnt told until i got to the online check-in and right now I am still fighting to get a refund back off the 3rd party I booked with. So i was freaking out, my work colleague was angry for me and i was going to cry. So i purchased another ticket, which cost me sooooo much more than I originally paid for. Thank God for pay day hey.

So with my new flight tickets, my suitcase filled to the brim, Thursday came around and it was time to get my arse to the airport and wait impatiently for my flight. As someone who HATES flying, i had the two seats to myself as the plane was relativity empty. This didnt bode well for me when turbulence happened but i focused on reading Scoring Wilder to get me through it. When we neared Edinburgh, i actually worked up the courage to look outside and – my god – i was in lust. The greenery, the mountains, the water….it was beautiful and i was in love and i hadnt even put my feet on the ground. My eyes didnt leave that scenery until we were skidding down the runway to a stop.

After collecting my luggage and directing myself to a taxi, I was on my way the hotel, where Emma (Hart) was awaiting my arrival in our room. I stared out the window the whole ride, a small smile graced my face and when I paid the driver, got my room key, it was just my luck the stupid door wouldnt open, so with a knock, Emma opened it and it was madness. I have been speaking to Emma since last year, been with her since the Never Forget series and now I was standing in front of her, sharing a room with her. I SHARED A ROOM WITH A NY TIMES AUTHOR.

As you do on your first meeting, I made her get her swag out and sat on the floor, riffling through her bags, just for you 😉 We wandered around the shops across the road and then Sofie Hartley and her family arrived! Her little boy is amazing, I wanted to take him back home with me. He’s so cute and funny and I think me and Emma became besotted with him. We were late to the meal at the Hard Rock Cafe, but we still enjoyed the drinks and the view 😉

Friday came around and Emma, Sofie and I popped into Edinburgh before the both of them buggered off to the Author meal to visit The Elephant House (Harry Potter). As soon as we got out of the car, we spotted postcards…with MEN IN KILTS on them. Of course we snatched some up. MEN IN KILTS GUYS. We then became all touristy and snapped pics of TEH and wandered into the graveyard to find Harry Potter graves. We aren’t creepy at all.

So when Emma and Sofie left me, I had to run back to the hotel as I forgot my ticket to collect my tickets for the signing. We had a train/tram line right outside out hotel, so I decided to get the tram back into Edinburgh to meet up with a friend (whom i used to work with in Cardiff who now lives in Edinburgh). I felt like such a tourist, snapping photos from my tram seat, but i did it! I navigated to Princes Street and up to the Hard Rock Cafe to wait for her. Pretty sure the bartender thought I had been stood up but i had guys to the left of me, so i snuck looks at them when i could.

After a lovely, long awaited catch up with my friend, i meet up with Emma and Sofie to grab my ticket, and it was back to the hotel to get ready for the welcome party at Ghillie Dhu. Karaoke, winning prizes and me fangirling when i saw Samantha Towle and Katie Ashley RIGHT NEXT TO ME resulted in me going mute. Journey – Dont Stop Believin’ was the last song to play, as always and while waiting for a taxi, a couple came over and asked what we were doing in Sexy Guy Land. I pimped out my girls and told her to download their books. She bloody better have!

Saturday morning and SIGNING DAY. Emma left pretty early and then i got a call from her saying she had forgot her stand. So Sofie’s husband took me to the event and when Emma got her stand, i joined the queue. I was messaging Nicola – a girl I had met at the London Event last year. She asked where I was standing and we then realised she was standing behind me the whole time! Too funny. When the doors opened, 20 people at a time were going in, to break us up and when it got to us, i was buzzing.

I met everyone i wanted to meet, i gushed over who i wanted to gush over and i blushed over their comments. Cora Carmack said my hair was awesome and she asked about my necklace. Told her to go to Primark, so i hope she did in the end. Christina Lauren told me I was adorable as did most of the authors, which was pretty damn awesome. I took selfies with Rebecca Donovan and A. Meredith Walters. I had a giggle with Jay Crownover. R.K Lilley had to bend for me to have a pic with her as I’m such a short ass. Katie Ashley remembered me/my tweet that i sent the night before about being too afraid to go up to her at the welcome party. She is amazing! Olivia Cunning is freaking awesome. I love that woman. And all the authors LOVED my photobook….it helped that he was a hot, topless guy in a kilt! I thanked Kristen Proby for writing about PCOS and she told me that meant a lot. Abbi Glines is a sweetheart, E.K Blair and Nastasha Boyd are way too cute too! I adored them ❤

Despite walking around by myself, the day went past in a blizzard and before I knew it, I had seen everyone I wanted to meet and more. I had also not eaten all day (to be honest, I hadnt really had food all weekend, apart from a meal with my friend) so i left Sofie and Emma to wrap up the signing and binged in the hotel room on ice cream, crisps and a kitkat. I know how to rock it. When the girls came back, we didnt have time to eat, so we got ready for the night, found a Subway and then went to Cabaret Voltaire for the after party. It was a nice place but absolutely boiling so we ended up going upstairs and next door where we could sit down and drink. When we were leaving, we spent a lot of time outside chatting to fellow bloggers and people we hadn’t seen all weekend. It was really nice to meet the people i had been talking to online and to meet new people too.

Emma and I stayed up quite late and it wasnt until house keeping knocked at 10am and woke us up that we had to get up. We packed and headed to the airport. Emma could check-in but i couldnt so we went to get some food and waited until i could. Emma had to leave me as I could check-in until 1.30pm, so when i did, i raced through security to spend a few mins with her until she had to go. My flight wasnt until half 3 so i had another hour. To me utter disbelief, and with only 15 mins until my gate opened, my flight got cancelled. I walked the length of departures to see if i was seeing things. i wanst.

I was freaking out. My first time alone in an airport and my flight is cancelled. What do i do? Who do i go to? I searched for an information desk….there isnt one. I walked BACK into security and asked them. They told me to go to the BA desk. Went there and got told to go back to the check-in desk. I was close to tears by this point, on the phone to my mum. Not a lot she could do. So at the check-in desk, they had no idea it was cancelled – brilliant right? then they werent giving us any information and the lady took us to a ticket sales desk. We must have been there about an hour until they told us it was cancelled, and they were trying to get us on another flight. I was near the front and managed to get on the later flight – where there were only 8 tickets! i think i had number 6. But the others had to get a BUS to GLASGOW and get a flight back to Cardiff. Thank god that wasnt me. They gave us all a £5 food voucher so i bought a brownie and a fruit juice in Costa and then the dreaded 4 hour wait occurred for the 7.45pm flight home.

I cant tell you how exhausted and stressed and lonely I felt spending near enough 8 hours locked inside of Edinburgh airport. Thank god i put my phone charger in my hand luggage. I sat reading Scoring Wilder, music in, willing the time to speed up so i could get home. I slept most the flight home and I was drained when i saw my dad and just wanted my bed.

Despite me and flying alone not having a great relationship, i adored Edinburgh. I fell in love with Scotland and I really, really want to go back NOW. I am actually mulling over the idea of moving there, thats how badly i loved that place.

If you ever get the chance, go there. It’s beyond amazing and beautiful and mesmerising and i just hope that in the next year or so i will be up there, with the hunks of Scotland and their accents, basking in the utmost beauty of it all.

ALSO keep an eye out, I will be arranging a GIVEWAY with signed books by Emma Hart and Kerry Heavens and a whole lot of swag! I’ll hopefully have it up and running by this weekend!

Notes

I’m coming for you Edinburgh

Posted on July 3, 2014June 25, 2014 by Z. Elizabeth

You may have seen slightly excited posts about the Edinburgh Author Event this past week…scrap that, this past month. And TODAY is THE DAY that I land in the Land of the Scots. I’m probably already there, basking in the culture *COUGH*THEHOTGUYS*COUGH* while waiting to check in my hotel with Emma Hart.

Don’t worry, I’ll raid her box of goodies for you all for a giveaway when I come back.

Anyway, there won’t really be any posts because I was too excited and lazy to schedule anything last night…BUT, and here is a massive BUT. You WILL want to be around tomorrow because its the last day of the Abbi Glines cover reveal tour and I will be REVEALING the NEW UK COVER of MISBEHAVING. It’s beautiful so look out for it 😉

But I will update you all through FB/Twitter on how Edinburgh is, how my hunt for my husband is getting on and how amazing the authors/bloggers/readers/parties are.

Don’t be too jealous now 😉 Until next week.

Notes

I CANNOT CONTROL MYSELF

Posted on July 2, 2014June 27, 2014 by Z. Elizabeth

I LOVE Ewan ❤

Edinburgh is tomorrow guys. TOMORROW!!

I’ll be leaving Cardiff airport at 9am (leaving mine at 6am *groan*) and landing in Edinburgh at half 10am. 3 and a half days in the Land of the Hot guys in Kilts. YES PLEASE. I am besotted with Scottish accents (my BFF is Scottish) so I am *hoping* to just fall into the arms of a hot guy…or accidentally on purpose trip into his arms….we’ll see which one happens on the nights out. OR i can play helpless tourist….

I’ll then be meeting two ladies at the airport, who will be arriving the same time as me so we are going to go for coffee while we wait for our roomies – mine is the fabulous Emma Hart. So yes, I will grab everything she has in her suitcase just for you!

There is so much to pack into this trip and I REALLY want to find all the street names to the On Dublin Street series. Pretty sure the taxi man will have a field day with the amount he’s gonna get off me. Lets hope there are tram stops close to each sign. Time to do my research.

It will be awesome to meet everyone I have been talking to in the Facebook group too. As I am technically going alone to the signing as Emma is signing as an author, I have met some girls who are going alone too, so it will be lovely to have some people to talk and walk around with.

I’m pretty sure I’m going to fall in love with everything Edinburgh. Fingers crossed, I have been wanting to visit this city forever.

Author Interviews, Samantha Young

The Book Lovers presents…Samantha Young.

Posted on May 4, 2013April 30, 2013 by Z. Elizabeth

So I got an email about a week ago from the lovely Katie Sheldrake at Penguin UK inviting me to ask Samantha Young some questions. Seeing as I love Samantha and her books and because I have never interviewed an author yet, and to be invited to interview one, well I jumped at the chance.

I’ m not going to take credit for all the questions, my friend and fellow author Karli Perrin chipped in with some questions of her own, so in the run-up to the release of Down London Road, here are the Q&A’s with the lovely Samantha Young.

Look out for my review of Down London Road coming tomorrow on my blog too!

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Questions for Samantha Young

1. I know you probably get asked this question a lot, but what made you start writing? Did you always want to be a writer?

When I was little I read the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and it sparked my imagination so much. From then on I always had a pen and paper in hand, whether I was writing worlds or drawing them.

2. You write both Young Adult and Adult/Contemporary Romance, which do you prefer?

I love writing young adult because I get to create these young heroines that teens can relate to and throughout the book or series I develop them into young woman who readers hopefully can look up to and admire. Writing adult fiction is wonderful too because there are less limitations, and with contemporary romance it really is all about characterisation which is my favourite part of writing. Hmm… I don’t think I can choose a genre. I love both!

3. How do you come up with the plot of your books? Do the storylines just come to you?

My inspiration is usually sparked from something—whether real events, a setting, or even song lyrics. Once I get that first little ember of an idea I sit down with pen and paper in hand, music on in the background, and the plot for a new book usually builds quite quickly from there.

4. How do you pick the names of your characters? And do you spend time thinking of the ‘right’ names for your characters?

I do spend time thinking about the right names for my characters. Their name has to fit their personality and often, not always, have some kind of significance, whether major or minor. Sometimes I scroll through baby name websites to help me out, but most of the time the name comes to me quite organically as I write character profiles.

5. Do the names come to you before or after you plot out the storylines? And what about the names of the novels? I know they are the streets in which the characters live on, but what made you pick those streets?

The names come to me after I work out character histories and plot. Usually. The titles for this series are street names because it’s the place setting that has an important role in the turning point in the main character’s lives. A series also needs continuity in the titles so the street names are all Edinburgh street names of cities or countries in other parts of the world.

6. With On Dublin Street and Down London Road, did you have a process of how you wrote them? For example, did you start at chapter 1 and work through or did you write random scenes then bring them all together?

I wish I could write out of chronology but I need to write from beginning to end. Piecing scenes in here and there like a puzzle would probably confuse me. I need to let the development of the characters and the plot unfold naturally in order to catch any mistakes or tweak scenes that aren’t working toward the overall development.

7. As someone who cannot pick a favourite character, from both the guys and girls, can you? Who is your favourite guy and girl? And who was your favourite character to write about?

I don’t know if I can pick a favourite guy and girl because as couples I love both their dynamics, but I think Jo was definitely my favourite character to write. She was the most challenging heroine I’ve ever written and by the end of the story I absolutely adored her. I think she’s an incredibly relatable and likeable heroine.

8. Out of the three books – On Dublin Street, Until Fountain Bridge and Down London Road, what were your favourite scenes to write from all of them?

On Dublin Street – my favourite scene to write was a scene at the end when Joss and Braden are clearing up their misunderstandings. After having gone through so much it was such a passionate and heartfelt encounter. I loved writing it. For Until Fountain Bridge I loved the scene when Ellie’s going on her first date and Adam and Braden are overbearing but really funny. And for Down London Road my favourite scene to write was the “kitchen spider” scene. It’s a pivotal moment between Cam and Jo and I loved building their chemistry to sizzling.

9. When I read On Dublin street, I was impartial to Johanna, but when I read Down London Road I became to admire her strength and determination. What made you write a book about Johanna? I know many fans were hoping for a sequel for Joss and Braden.

I love that readers wanted more from Joss and Braden but a sequel from them would have been about throwing angst and drama at them for the sake of plot and I try to make my novels more natural than that. The important element of their story had been told and I really felt I needed to move onto someone else’s story. However, that didn’t mean I wouldn’t keep Joss and Braden around so readers could still catch up with them. Choosing Johanna seemed like the natural next step. When she was introduced in On Dublin Street readers were introduced to her in a way that most people in her life are — completely misunderstanding her. This is partly Jo’s fault of course, but that made her interesting. I loved the idea of taking a character that appeared to be one thing on the outside but was in fact so much more on the inside. The challenge was getting who she really is across to the reader and I hope I definitely did that.

10. Have you thought about who you would like to play each character if your books were made into movies?

I have thought about most of the characters. For Joss – Jennifer Lawrence. For Braden – Chris Hemsworth. For Ellie – Rosamund Pike. For Jo – Alexis Knapp. For Cam- Jamie Dornan. I’m still stuck on Adam. I like James McAvoy for Adam but many of my readers prefer Henry Cavill.

11. Are the streets in your book close together? This is for *street stalkers* such as myself who is planning a trip to Scotland to visit these streets.

The title streets Dublin Street and London Road are about a ten minute walk from one another. However, London Road is a very long road and Johanna lives at the lower end so it’s probably a twenty minute walk.

12. And lastly, is there a deep, dark secret that you would like to share with the rest of us 😉

I may be working on a new project…

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So there you have it! Many thanks to Samantha Young for answering my questions and I hope you all love Down London Road as much as I did. And hands up who is excited for this new project *Hands up*..Hmm i wonder what it is?!

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Author Bio

Samantha Young is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author from Stirlingshire, Scotland. She’s been nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Author and Best Romance for her international bestseller ON DUBLIN STREET.

For more info on Samantha’s adult fiction visit http://www.ondublinstreet.com
For info on her young adult fiction visit www.samanthayoungbooks.com

New Adult

On Dublin Street – Samantha Young

Posted on December 28, 2012February 27, 2013 by Z. Elizabeth

Synopsis

Jocelyn Butler has been hiding from her past for years. But all her secrets are about to be laid bare…

Four years ago, Jocelyn left her tragic past behind in the States and started over in Scotland, burying her grief, ignoring her demons, and forging ahead without attachments. Her solitary life is working well—until she moves into a new apartment on Dublin Street where she meets a man who shakes her carefully guarded world to its core.

Braden Carmichael is used to getting what he wants, and he’s determined to get Jocelyn into his bed. Knowing how skittish she is about entering a relationship, Braden proposes an arrangement that will satisfy their intense attraction without any strings attached.

But after an intrigued Jocelyn accepts, she realizes that Braden won’t be satisfied with just mind-blowing passion. The stubborn Scotsman is intent on truly knowing her… down to the very soul.

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My Review

“Gentlemen are gentlemen in bed. They make sure you’re having a good time.”
“I’ll make sure you’re having a good time, and that you’re okay with everything we’re doing. I just won’t be well-mannered about it.”

I had seen everyone raving about this book for a couple of weeks, but due to the up-rise of books like 50 Shades, I was sceptical of reading this, thinking it was the same. But jeeze was I ever wrong in that!! I downloaded this book yesterday afternoon and I had finished it by the evening. I did have a 5 hour break where I had to go to work; otherwise I would have finished it even sooner. It drew me in from the first page and I just knew that I would fall in love with this book. I wasn’t mistaken at all. It’s nothing like 50 Shades, if you’re looking for something different to that whole BDSM stories that are now around.

Jocelyn Butler has gone through so much in her 22 years. She lost her parents and baby sister when she was 14 and then a year later she lost her best friend. To say she’s emotionally scarred by this is an understatement. She has serious trust issues and doesn’t let anyone close enough in fear that she will lose them too sooner or later. So after coming to university in Edinburgh and studying for four years, she is now looking for a flat as her best friend’s Rhian and James have moved to London. Whilst on the way to view a flat and meet its owner, she shares a taxi with a mysterious man (Who is absolutely oozing sex appeal) and they banter the whole way to her destination.

She then meets Ellie, the flat’s owner and after talking, Ellie decides she wants Jocelyn to move in. What Joss doesn’t know is that The Suit (The guy from the taxi) is Ellie’s brother and living there means she will see more of him. Because of this, she’s in a rut. Ellie is an outgoing, happy and funny girl and then there is Braden – The Suit – who is absolutely gorgeous and he can’t keep his eyes off her every time they are together. The attraction to one another is off the scale and although she tries to fight it at every corner, it’s impossible seeing as Braden wants her and he always gets what he wants.

Jocelyn, or Joss as she demands to be called, is a very complicated young woman. As I’ve mentioned, she’s been through a lot in her short years becoming a wild party animal to forget everything but four years ago she stopped everything and moved to Scotland to go to university. She’s a closed book – not letting anyone in fear of becoming hurt if they leave and not telling anyone about her past because she wants to keep it buried. But when she moves in with Ellie, her walls are slowly starting to crumble down. Her and Ellie become friends fast and Braden keeps pursuing and flirting with her. She doesn’t know what to do and it’s confusing her over how much she’s starting to care for these people when she doesn’t want to feel anything. She does start going to a psychiatrist and she begins to heal…slowly.

Braden stole my heart from the first moment he appeared. He oozes sex appeal and from the first moment he and Joss meet, there is an obvious connection between them. Braden isn’t the type of guy to stay with a girl longer than a few weeks after being burnt by a previous relationship, but there is something about Joss that he can’t get enough of. He seems to understand every little thing and feeling coming from Joss, which in turn frightens her. He’s possessive, bossy but cares for Joss immensely. They both know there is something between them, but because Joss doesn’t do relationships, he decides to take what he can get and proposes a ‘friends with benefits’ deal for three months to her and yes, you guessed it, she accepts. With much persuasive I must add. But this is just the beginning for the both of them and Joss’s feelings are starting to slowly change and its scaring her to let Braden in and he’s getting so close to her so when she keeps trying to break up with him because of her issues and freak-outs, he doesn’t let them issues affect their time together. They are just completely perfect for one another.

I really loved how much Brandan cared for Joss. When her walls did crumble, and they went through a rough patch, he gave her space, but he always wanted her back. He was with her throughout everything and when she told him her past, my heart fluttered. It was great to see him care so much and want to help her through her past and her pain. Going with her back to America to get closure was one of the best things he could have done. And it made me love him even more.

The only and only thing I did despise about Braden was what he said to her on one of the pages. I absolutely screamed at my Kindle and then the next page he said he was lying, just to get a reaction from her. I wanted to kill him for being so utterly horrid but then I suppose he was trying to see if she really did care about him like he did with her. He redeemed himself after that and he stole my heart again and all was forgiven.

Ellie, Braden’s sister is such a gem. She’s outgoing, fun, chatty and such a happy character. It was hard not to fall in love with her right away. She is the perfect flatmate and friend you could have. She does have a big storyline in this book and I was devastated when I found out what was going on, but she’s a tough girl and I knew she would get through it.

I love, love, love this book! It had everything. It’s a book about love, trust and passion. It takes you on a journey; Dealing with your inner demons, building friendships, letting people in and falling in love no matter how hard you try not to. It has something for everyone so what are you waiting for? Go grab your copy now and fall in love with all the characters, especially Braden and Ellie!

Here’s to looking forward to book two!!