A Slice of Cake With... Clancy Weeks

Today I am delighted to have a slice of cake with author Clancy Weeks. 

Clancy is a composer by training, with over two-dozen published works for wind ensemble and orchestra, but always was an author at heart. Having read SF/F for over fifty years, his life took a sharp u-turn when he published his first novel, Sleepers, a Sci-Fi thriller. Two other novels and a handful of short stories quickly followed.  He has lived his entire life in Texas, and currently resides in the Houston area with his amazing wife, Molly, and son, Leo.

What kind of books do you write?

Hmmm… I try to write character-driven stories, exploring how events affect them on a personal level.  I think most writers try to do this; some with more success than others.  The genre really doesn’t matter—a good story is a good story, and great characters are great.  And a great character is one that changes.

Can you describe your writing why?

My stock answer has always been “because I want to know what happens next”.  I guess that’s because I’m a hardcore pantser, and I rarely know where the characters are taking me until they get there.  I write the stories I want to read.

Share with us your favourite passage from the book you enjoyed writing the most

Interestingly, though I usually like best the one I wrote last, I’ll share this from an earlier horror I wrote titled The Ward:

WHEN YOU LIVE DEEP IN THE BIBLE BELT, you’re surrounded by a whole host of people my daddy classified as “about a half-bubble off plumb”.  The worst of the lot were religious nuts because there was no debating them, and no way to convince others these people were off the beam.  I’d had my fill of them before I turned eight.

When I was nine, Maryanne Herman, she of the First Baptist Bakers League, got the gin-induced idea the stain on her screen door was staring at her.  The old sot told her next-door neighbor before she’d sobered, and by the time the story had spread past more than a handful of families, the stain had become the image of Jesus.  True believers came from all over and stood in Mrs. Herman’s back yard, packed like the little fishes on their car bumpers, each claiming they’d seen the vision.  News cameramen rolled up in their vans, but by then her yard was little more than a mud pit, and the new claim was Jesus had turned and smiled.

It never mattered to anyone the origin of the stain was a drunken fight with her husband, culminating in a mug of cold coffee hurled like a fastball directly at Joe Herman’s head.  He’d disappeared the next week, and everyone figured he’d simply had enough.  They thought that right up until Maryanne’s mud pit of a back yard gave up old Joe’s skull.  It was three girls from out of town who found it, at first thinking it was a muddy ball; they didn’t get too far cleaning it off before the screaming reached a pitch only dogs can hear.

After the cops took Maryanne away in handcuffs, the story of Screen Door Jesus became Joe’s Revenge, and ghost stories weren’t quite as engaging among those who believed in an actual Holy Ghost.  Plus, the evangelicals no longer had a home-grown conduit for sucking cash from peoples’ pockets.  The crowds petered out, Maryanne Herman’s back yard dried up, then overgrew with weeds. Screen Door Jesus remained to watch over the property.

Tell us about your latest project

My most recent is a YA High Fantasy titled Bitter Knight.

From my pitch: Once a century, an elf births a human child.  Evan appears human, but the witch knows he is far more. From across the Dragon's Teeth, a dark dragonrider leads an army to the land of Àrthalum. Evan, fourteen and ignorant of his abilities, stumbles headlong into a conflict between his people and one man’s lust for power.

This is the first true fantasy I’ve attempted, and it’s got dragons, witches, wizards, knights, talking wolves, elves, demons, and fairies.  Not to mention dwarves—which aren’t short, by the way.  They just look short from a distance because they’re so wide.  Yeah… my mind takes me in weird directions.

What is your favourite cake?

Dutch chocolate, of course!

You can connect with Clancy on Twitter: @clancy_Weeks and on Facebook: @clancylweeks. All his books are available on Amazon.

Join me next week when I will be having a slice of cake with William Mitchell. 

If you would like to take part in A Slice of Cake With... please fill in the form found here. I'd be delighted to have you.

You can also support my writing endeavours and buy me tea & cake - it's what makes the world go round!

Claire Buss is a multi-genre author and poet, completely addicted to cake. Find out more about her books on her website clairebuss.co.uk. Join the discussion in her Facebook group Buss's Book Stop. Never miss out on future posts by following me. 

A Slice of Cake With... Carol Warham

Today I am delighted to have a slice of cake with author Carol Warham.

Writing has been Carol’s love since childhood. She started by making small comics for her dolls, progressed to training as a journalist for a short while. Once the family had grown up, she settled down to writing short stories, poems and holiday articles. Some of which are published. In recent years, she has become a judge in the short story section for the HysteriaUK competition and also for the RNA’s romance novel of the year. She also represented her book group on BBC Radio Leeds, talking about books and the work on her novel.

Carol lives in Yorkshire, surrounded by some beautiful countryside, which is ideal for her other passion for walking, often with a dog called Sam.

What kind of books do you write?

I currently live in the sixteenth century, when writing my current novel. A huge bonus to this is the amount of research I can do. I can do research all day. It’s quite easy for me to get literally lost in time as I seek the information I need. I love weaving the protagonists’ relationship to events of the time, and seeing how it affects their lives and relationship. This is the genre of novels in which I intend to concentrate on my future writing.

My published novel Resolution is set in the modern day and within the location in which I live. It tells the story of a young woman who returns to her hometown on New Year, after fleeing a year earlier. She has to come face to face with those she ran from while meeting the new local doctor, who also has a secret.

Can you describe your writing why?

I have to be the world’s worst procrastinator and slowest writer. It takes me years to write a novel. 

I’m not sure what actually motivates me. Guilt? Probably, especially when I realise I have left my characters alone for some considerable time? Sometimes it’s just the spark of an idea, which I can carry forward. When that happens, I can write a few thousand words at one sitting.

Recently, I had that spark for a short story. I wrote and edited it in one day and it was accepted by Yours magazine. So the sparks do work! I just wish I had more of them!

Share with us your favourite passage from the book you enjoyed writing the most

Here is a short extract from the start of Resolutions. I hope you enjoy it.

Carly Mitchell pulled her car over to the grass verge at the side of the road. Indecision gripped her as her heart hammered against her ribs. Did she drive on into the town, back to the place where she believed she was hated, or should she drive straight through and not stop?

Darkness shrouded the long road across the bleak moors. A thick swirling mist was broken only by the beam of her car’s headlamps. The windscreen wipers were the only thing which moved, as if bored, by the effort of clearing the rain. She stared at the sign until the glare of oncoming headlights made her blink and bite her lip. This is it, her decision, her choice. Could she do this? She nodded to herself. She knew she could now. Twelve months ago she’d have been in pieces at the thought of what she intended to do, but not now. She had changed, grown-up, learned to stand on her own two feet. The old Carly Mitchell wouldn’t have dared make any decision, like this, for fear of upsetting someone. But her life had changed and for the better, and so had she.

Tell us about your latest project

My yet untitled novel is set around the time of the Spanish Armada, (1588). It is well documented at the time that a ship was wrecked off the coast of the remote island of Fair Isle. The locals did their best to rescue the soldiers and sailors and few, if any, were lost to the sea. I wondered what would happen if a Spanish sailor met a local girl and they fell in love, and the consequences of an apparent miss-match of cultures, language and lives. There is also the enfolding story of those sailors, finding themselves in such an alien place, and the island residents, scratching their living in a harsh climate, who are suddenly faced with an extra three hundred mouths to feed as winter approached. The history and the potential story fascinated me.

What is your favourite cake?

What a question. This is like being asked which is my favourite child!

I love chocolate cake, of course, but my absolute favourite is any cake made with caramel, preferably not salted, or toffee.

You can connect with Carol on Facebook: facebook.com/carolwarhamauthor and via her publisher's page: tirgearrpublishing.com/authors/Warham_Carol/index.htm

Join me next week when I will be having a slice of cake with Clancy Weeks. 

If you would like to take part in A Slice of Cake With... please fill in the form found here. I'd be delighted to have you.

You can also support my writing endeavours and buy me tea & cake via Kofi - it's what makes the world go round!

Claire Buss is a multi-genre author and poet, completely addicted to cake. Find out more about her books on her website clairebuss.co.uk. Join the discussion in her Facebook group Buss's Book Stop. Never miss out on future posts by following me. 

A Slice of Cake With... Peter D'Hollander

This week I am delighted to have a slice of cake with author Peter D'Hollander.

Born on the third rock of the Sol solar system, called Earth, Peter is a Tech Writer by day, a blogger (in a foreign language) by night, and a Young Adult Fantasy writer all moments in between. He creates worlds he loves to live in, though they are probably as flawed as ours and marred with their little imperfections and twists. He inhabits them with characters you hopefully fall in love with and sends them on the adventures he loves to read himself. It took him ages before he accepted his own weirdness and today he lives and writes in a little town on the other side of the pond, together with his wife, his three kids, and a cat with a troublesome character. Born a few years before the Landing on the Moon, his biggest flaw is that you find more secrets hidden in his stories than you truly want to know about (including the name of the city he lives in). He’s born in the year of the dragon, which tells you something about his flamatory character and his personality. He can be funny at times and, like every other dragon before him, he’s known for his patience. However, if you know a thing or two about dragons, he’s stubborn and hotheaded as well; of the incinerating kind. But everything in the kindest way possible. He is a bit… askew. His first book, Children of Little Might, is published by Rhetoric Askew Publishing.

What kind of books do you write?

I started with the easiest way into the publishing world: I wrote books that explained how to use software on your computer. In total, I wrote 45 of them between 1998 and 2007 (in my mother tongue, so not in English). The one I am the proudest of was a book on Adobe Premiere Pro. I had never worked with the software before, and really had no idea how it worked. The publisher needed a book for beginners and after I accepted, the fun part came. It was a rush job. They gave me 2 weeks, and I did it in 10 days. 259 pages. I was empty after those ten days, I can assure you. My publisher never believed I could, but Adobe Premiere Pro In 10 Minutes became a hit.

In 2014, I started with Children of Little Might, about a 16-year-old boy with autism. I signed a contract in 2018 with my present publisher, but due to COVID-19, it got only published on the 2nd of September 2021. While it starts in our own world, it quickly moves to a world that’s literally called Imagination. Monty has a penchant for languages and you, therefore, find several words throughout the book that come from other languages. But don’t worry: you always know what they mean.

Can you describe your writing why?

To paraphrase Descartes: I write, therefore I am. In the case of Children of Little Might, I wrote the story because I have 2 children with autism. My daughter once told me and my wife she could never be happy because of her autism. That stung and as a parent I went looking for books that showed her that autism wasn’t ‘just’ about limitations, but also about embracing those and, maybe, even changing them into possibilities.

It probably doesn’t come as a surprise when I told you I didn’t find that many–if any. I, therefore, decided to create one of my own: Children of Little Might. Or, as a reviewer later stated, a book that helps you embrace your own limitations (whatever they are).

The title came from a Billy Joel song (We Didn’t Start the Fire) in which a lot of people misunderstand part of the lyrics. When he sings children of thalidomide, I (and many others, too) heard children of the little might. I dropped the ‘the’ and there you have the title. 

But there is more to it. It also references the real strength that we carry within us. There exist two kinds of strengths: the one we want everyone to think we have. That I call the Big Might. And then there is the one hidden within us that only comes out when the going gets tough. That force I call Little Might. In Monty’s case, that’s his loyalty and his sense of responsibility. Both turn his autism into a powerful ally that allows him to move worlds. That, and the fact he makes wishes, makes the difference.

Share with us your favourite passage from the book you enjoyed writing the most

This is in chapter 9. Monty met the girl he wishes for, Princess Aislinn, and brought her home. That same evening, he learns her true identity, but by then it’s too late and his mother disappears. Thinking he’s all alone and scared of what the future might bring, he returns to his bedroom...

*****

Dizzy, I somehow reach my room and drop onto my bed where I almost black out. All-consuming pain runs far deeper than any physical pain. In an attempt to escape, I bury my face in my pillow and imagine it’s Dad. He wraps his strong arms around me as a warm blanket and the calming heartbeat soothes me. Maybe I need not worry. At least my wish worked. Aislinn returned to her realm, so nothing stops me from returning to the ranch house to make the wishes that matter. Why not tonight? 

No one is here to stop me and tomorrow... Tomorrow I solve everything with a simple wish. 

I blink because of a peachy aroma and discover a bizarre green colored moon. No, two green moons with a white fog behind them that pops away with the blink of an eye, to return a moment later. 

Hi, Monty.” 

A-A-A-Aislinn? She’s so close the tips of our noses all but touch. It feels as if spark plugs ignite inside my stomach and trigger muscles that catapult me out of bed. Somewhere during this I scream. 

“Did I startle you?” 

Her voice, soft and soothing, accompanies Aislinn’s shadow. I dove out of bed and somehow dragged my blankets and sheets with me. 

“I wanted to be sure you were okay. You did leave in a hurry.”

*****

This is the chapter where the reader discovers that Aislinn will, in fact, use every trick in the book to get Monty to do what she wants. At the same time, she also shows empathy and compassion for a lonely and scared boy. She knows she scares him, but she likes to tease him, too. You know the saying: teasing is asking for love. At the same time, she also soothes him. The two of them soon become inseparable.

Tell us about your latest project

Children of Little Might is about a 16-year-old boy (Monty) with autism who found a manuscript that, once translated, promises to grant his every wish. Fearing that’s impossible, he makes an impossible wish. If the princess of the book he translates comes, wishes get granted; if she becomes his friend, magic exists; and if she falls in love with him, miracles can happen.

When nothing happens, Monty returns home; heartbroken. Unable to make his real wishes, he returns to school, where things go from bad to worse until Aislinn appears. From that moment on, people no longer attack him with words because Aislinn is always there to come to his aid. He soon realizes she may well be the girl from his wish. It’s the start of a wild adventure in which he may find his chance at first love if he realizes his autism just might be his ‘superpower’ to save the day.

What is your favourite cake?

Sponge-cake with a layer of marzipan. It can be sprinkled with or without fruit, as long as there is a thick layer of marzipan included. I die for that. ;)

You can connect with Peter here:

Twitter: twitter.com/AuthorTheDragon
Instagram: instagram.com/peter_dhollander
Facebook: facebook.com/AuthorPeterDHollander
Goodreads: goodreads.com/user/show/86983553-peter-d-hollander
Bookbub: bookbub.com/profile/3749473195
Website: peterandthedragon.home.blog

Join me next week when I will be having a slice of cake with Carol Warham. 

If you would like to take part in A Slice of Cake With... please fill in the form found here. I'd be delighted to have you.

You can also support my writing endeavours and buy me tea & cake on Kofi - it's what makes the world go round!

Claire Buss is a multi-genre author and poet, completely addicted to cake. Find out more about her books on her website clairebuss.co.uk. Join the discussion in her Facebook group Buss's Book Stop. Never miss out on future posts by following me. 

A Slice of Cake With... Clare Flynn

Today I am delighted to have a slice of cake with Clare Flynn.

Clare lives in England on the Sussex coast, where she can see the sea from her windows. She lived there during her teenage years and returned to be close to the sea and the South Downs after twenty years living in London. Born in Liverpool, the eldest of five children, Clare read English Language and Literature at Manchester where she spent most of her time studying sex, drugs and rock and roll at the expense of Beowulf and Chomsky.

Clare’s business career was in consumer marketing, with big global companies, promoting products from Fairy Liquid and Flash to chocolate biscuits and tinned tuna. This included stints in Paris, Brussels, Sydney and Milan. She then became her own boss and travelled the world helping companies with their strategies and their corporate culture.

A Greater World was begun in 1998 after Clare’s second visit to Australia. Having written eighty thousand words of the first draft, her home was burgled, and the thieves ran off with the laptop she’d written it on as well as the backup. Needless to say that was a bit of a blow. Reading that T E Lawrence left the manuscript of Seven Pillars of Wisdom on a train and went on to recreate all 700 pages of it, gave Clare the impetus to sit down and start all over again. It was finished in July 2011 and finally published in 2014.

When she’s not busy writing, Clare loves to travel – often as part of the research for her books. Kurinji Flowers started out with a sleepless night in a hotel room in India while on holiday. She returned to Kerala and spent two weeks living on a tea plantation while she finished the book off. 

She always travels with sketchbook and paints and loves nothing more than spending a week in a beautiful location painting. She also loves to quilt. The cover of Letters from a Patchwork Quilt features her very first hand-made quilt

Clare has taken inspiration from her surroundings in Eastbourne to write her fifth novel, The Chalky Sea. It is set in World War II – the town’s history during the war is a little-known secret.

What kind of books do you write?

I write books set mostly during the 20th century – frequently in exotic faraway places and often during periods of unrest and war. There’s always a romantic relationship – although not necessarily a happy ending every time. I like to write about conflict, about people adapting to difficult and unexpected circumstances. Strong women often feature – women who don’t see themselves as mere adjuncts to a man – women who are prepared to push the boundaries – although always recognising the constraints imposed by the times they lived in.

People who read my books tell me that I bring places to life so that it feels as though the reader is there. In fact, to some extent, the location is like another character.

But most of all I believe in telling stories that engage people and have them staying up reading all night! 

Can you describe your writing why?

I love words. I love stories. But as time has gone on it’s my readers that motivate me the most. They tell me how much my books have made a difference to them. They constantly push me to write the next book. I can’t imagine what I’d do if I didn’t write. I’d probably die!

Share with us your favourite passage from the book you enjoyed writing the most

This is an extract from my latest book, Jasmine in Paris. I always say the last book is the one I enjoyed writing the most – I can’t believe I actually earn a living from something that I love so much!

France, July 1949

When the ship docked in Marseille three weeks later, Jasmine felt a surge of excitement mixed with fear. It was finally happening. As she went down the gangway and set foot for the first time on French soil, her skin tingled with anticipation. 

It was odd hearing voices everywhere speaking French. She breathed deeply, savouring the sensations – salt-soaked air, strong coffee, the sharp powerful smell of fish, the sweet pungency of garlic – all undercut with the stink of rotting vegetables and rubbish. She looked about her at the people. Men wearing cloth caps or berets, many scruffily dressed, stevedores pushing carts weighed down with sacks unloaded from ships, sailors in uniform, street vendors. Above the city the Cathedral of Notre Dame de la Garde rose on a craggy outcrop, with a tall statue-topped tower and a dome presiding over the buildings below.

Jasmine took a taxi from the port to the Gare Saint Charles to join the train to Paris. Drinking in the sights, she saw Marseille was nothing like London. Yes, there were smoke-blackened buildings and the buzz of commerce, but the atmosphere was very different. She remembered London as gloomy, battered, and smog-filled. Marseille offered an interesting dichotomy: near the port were narrow alleys with barefoot children in evident poverty but in the city centre, wide boulevards with elegantly-dressed people. The narrow side-streets were dark, monochromatic with washing hanging between the buildings and litter strewn on the ground. Yet she sensed an energy, a joie de vivre in the atmosphere. On the affluent boulevards, there were colourful signs above the shops, tabacs and bars advertising the acclaimed savon de Marseille. She asked the driver to stop so she could buy a few bars of lavender-scented soap as a gift for her hosts in Paris. Stepping onto the street, she felt the sunshine warm her skin. That differed from London too. She was going to enjoy being in France.

Tell us about your latest project

Jasmine in Paris (subtitle Far from Penang) is a standalone novel although it follows on from my three Penang books. It is mostly set in Paris but opens in Kenya and jumps to Penang every now and then. It’s set in 1949-50. Here’s the blurb:

Desperate to make her mark as an artist and prove herself as an independent woman, Jasmine Barrington heads for Paris and a place at the prestigious Beaux Arts school. Following in the footsteps of former students like Renoir and Degas, she immerses herself in her studies by day and discovers the cafés and bars of the left bank by night.

But life in the City of Light is far from easy. Will the challenges and discipline of the classical training regime crush Jasmine’s creative spirit, and will her charismatic teacher, Lachlan, break her heart?

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Howard, the man to whom she owes her life, faces the daily dangers of the Malayan Emergency without so much as a postcard to fuel his fading hope that Jasmine might one day return to Penang.

I loved writing this book – it allowed me to remember my two years living in Paris in the late 80s – when like Jasmine I lived in the Quartier Latin.

What is your favourite cake?

I love them all! But I’ll go for the absolutely yummy very dark and moist ginger cake my mother used to make.

You can connect with Clare here:

Website: clareflynn.co.uk 

Facebook: facebook.com/authorclareflynn 

Twitter: twitter.com/clarefly 

Instagram: instagram.com/clarefly 

YouTube: youtube.com/ClareFlynnwriter 

Join me next week when I will be having a slice of cake with Peter D'Hollander. 

If you would like to take part in A Slice of Cake With... please fill in the form found here. I'd be delighted to have you.

You can also support my writing endeavours and buy me tea & cake on KoFi - it's what makes the world go round!

Claire Buss is a multi-genre author and poet, completely addicted to cake. Find out more about her books on her website clairebuss.co.uk. Join the discussion in her Facebook group Buss's Book Stop. Never miss out on future posts by following me. 

A Slice of Cake With... Pinar Tarhan

Today I am delighted to have a slice of cake with Pinar Tarhan.

Pinar is a novelist, screenwriter, freelance writer, and blogger. She has been creating worlds and stories for as long as she can remember. She loves rock music, movies, the beach, dancing, traveling and hanging out with friends. These all somehow make their way into her stories. 

What kind of books do you write?

I write funny and emotional novels featuring ensemble casts where intelligent and passionate people fall in love. 

Can you describe your writing why?

My imagination runs wild. I’ve always dreamed up stories in my head, but I actively started crafting them in school. 

I went through a phase where I felt like I didn’t belong. And sometimes I was just bored. But I think mostly, I loved all the possibilities stories brought. I don’t have the guts to jump from a plane? I got my character to skydive. Bad singer? Character is a rockstar with the most beautiful voice. I got to live a million lives and got addicted in the process.

Then there is the fun-loving romantic in me. Life doesn’t always give you what you want when you want. So, I create entertaining escapes. 

There is also writing the type of novels I want to read. I avoid things that piss me off in real life and other stories. I create characters that are flawed but ultimately likable and redeemable. 

And I avoid tragedy for tragedy’s sake with all my might. :) I believe in happy endings, happily-ever-afters, and fascinating new beginnings. 

My characters have issues and they suffer to a certain extent, but never to the point that you will want to throw the book to my head. 

Writing is my therapy, escapism, entertainment and creative outlet.

Share with us your favourite passage from the book you enjoyed writing the most

That’s a hard one, picking one of my babies over the other. I’ll share from my latest, A Change Would Do You Good. I love these characters so much, there is a sequel in the works.

Janie sat on the sofa in her living room with her head buried in a throw pillow while Linda sat on the club chair across her and laughed at the state of her friend.

“I can’t believe you slept with Kevin.”

“Neither can I,” Janie said, lifting the pillow and hugging it instead. “We were hanging out, having fun, and I guess we got carried away.”

“Did you talk to him after?

“Are you kidding? I bolted out of there like the house was on fire. He was still asleep.”

“Are you OK?” Linda sensed Janie’s panic was less about Kevin and more about Lenny.

“I don’t know,” Janie put the pillow away. “I mean, I do feel guilty, obviously.”

“Sweetie, it has been over a year. I’m sure he’d want you to move on.”

“I guess I’d feel guilty no matter what. If I started something serious, I’d feel guilty about that. And if I hooked up with a stranger, I’d feel guilty for cheapening his memory.”

“See, you have nothing to feel guilty about,” Linda declared. Janie looked at her

quizzically. “You didn’t hook up with a stranger. He’s your neighbor. And you didn’t start

a new relationship.” She caught Janie’s eye, and they both laughed. “What will you do

now?” Linda asked.

“Oh, I’ll totally take the easy way out and leave it all to him. If he acts like nothing happened, nothing happened. Problem solved.”

There was a knock on the door. Janie got up and walked out to answer. She opened the door. Kevin stood in front of her, dressed in jeans, sneakers and a T-shirt.

“Hey,” Kevin said.

“Hi.”

“Want to hang out?” Kevin asked. Janie was about to say something when she saw Linda was hiding behind the door, invisible to Kevin. She was gesturing Janie to go with him.

“Sure,” Janie said. Linda gave her a thumbs up. “Let me take my purse and jacket.”

At this point, Linda was already handing her the needed items. Janie took them from Linda, doing her best to pretend someone wasn’t there. She stepped out the door, closing the door behind her.

“What do you want to do?” Janie asked as they walked down the stairs.

“Thought we could just drive and do whatever we feel like.”

“Sounds good.”

They kept walking down the stairs. They were about to head outside when Kevin stopped and turned to Janie. “I knew I forgot something.”

Before she could say anything, he gently pressed her against the wall and kissed her. Janie kissed him back.

“All good now.” He smiled, and they headed outside. Janie didn’t want to think

about how glad she was they weren’t pretending last night didn’t happen.

Tell us about your latest project

A Change Would Do You Good is a romantic comedy-drama centering around Janie. She’s a 35-year-old fashion designer Janie who feels stuck and alone after her boyfriend died and best friends moved abroad. So, she gives her life a complete makeover, changing practically everything. 

Her fresh start comes with eclectic neighbors and friends, including a model living with his stuck-in-a-rut girlfriend, a single agoraphobic mom who lives with her teenage son, a drug-fueled metalhead, two goofy cops and handsome therapist Greg. 

They would have been chaotic and distracting enough, but there’s also Kevin: A pro surfer with the looks of a Norse god, he lives for two things: the waves and having fun. Their chemistry is off the charts, but she isn’t over her loss. And Kevin doesn’t seem to know words like commitment and relationship even exist. 

A Change Would Do You Good is about moving on and falling in love, but it’s also about friendships, finding your calling, following your dreams, making bad choices that ultimately take you to right ones, grief, relationships, and enjoying life to the max. 

What is your favourite cake?

Best question ever! Chocolate, always chocolate! :) I’ll gladly eat a cake with other stuff as long as chocolate is the ingredient of honor. :) 

You can catch up with Pinar on her blog Addicted to Writing  

Twitter: @zoeyclark

Instagram: @skydiveroffreefalls  

Amazon Author Page: amazon.com/Pinar-Tarhan/e/B07DBT981D/ 

Join me next week when I will be having a slice of cake with Clare Flynn. 

If you would like to take part in A Slice of Cake With... please fill in the form found here. I'd be delighted to have you.

You can also support my writing endeavours and buy me tea & cake on Kofi - it's what makes the world go round!

Claire Buss is a multi-genre author and poet, completely addicted to cake. Find out more about her books on her website clairebuss.co.uk. Join the discussion in her Facebook group Buss's Book Stop. Never miss out on future posts by following me.