I was nominated for the Work in Progress Blog Hop by the lovely Georgia Rose who blogs at Georgia Rose Books. Georgia is a prolific blogger who reviews books on behalf of Rosie’s Book Review Team. She is a very supportive member of the indie author community and also writes revealing and entertaining author interviews via her blog. Georgia is currently completing her third book in the excellent Grayson Trilogy and I know that I am amongst the many readers who are looking forward to reading it and finding out what happens next.

Thanks for the nomination Georgia. My second novel is currently at the first draft stage so before I revisit the first three chapters to see whether they pass muster, I want to introduce four other bloggers in line with the blog hop rules which are:

• Link back to the person who nominated you.
• Write a little about and give the first few lines of your first three chapters from your WIP.
• Nominate some other writers to do the same.

So, here are my nominations:

Guy Portman’s Blog – Guy shares lots of insightful information about famous authors and notable novels via his blog. He also includes details about his travels and other interesting observations.

Marilyn Chapman blogs at Guernsey Girlie. I love the retro feel of Marilyn’s blog and she covers history topics (amongst others) in an entertaining way – I think my school history teachers could have learnt a thing or two from her about approach.

Sue Coletta blogs at Crime Writer Blog, which has a wealth of information for anyone who writes in the crime genre. As well as her murder blog Sue generously shares crime writer’s resources, writing tips and a whole lot more via her website.

Yasmin Selena Butt blogs at Hello You. Yasmin’s blog is full of personality and she’s a girl who isn’t afraid to tell it like it is. I’ve also included Yasmin because I can’t wait to find out more about her second book.

Here’s a little about my work in progress:

I’m currently writing the sequel to SLUR and am at the first draft stage so I might edit some of these excerpts at a later date. We’ve now moved on five years to 1991. During the 1990s Manchester was infamously nicknamed ‘Gunchester’ by the local and national press due to the upsurge in violent gun crime by drugs gangs in certain areas of the city.

In SLUR I hinted at the fact that Rita (one of my main characters) had a father who was a petty crook and a sister who hung around with some dodgy characters. I’ve therefore decided to explore her story further and make her the main character in the sequel.

Rita returns from Greece for reasons that I don’t fully disclose until later in the book. When she arrives at her parents’ home she finds out that her sister is going out with the local gangster. She senses danger straightaway but her parents refuse to take her seriously for their own dubious reasons. Despite the lack of support from her parents Rita sets out to lure her sister away from her boyfriend. This proves more difficult than she anticipates and many lives are put at risk due to the boyfriend’s shady dealings.

Here is the first paragraph of each of the first three chapters:

Chapter 1

Rita couldn’t wait to get to her parents’ house, unaware of what to expect when she arrived. It had been so long since she’d been home from Greece and she had missed everyone, despite their shortcomings. She rushed to the front door while Yansis struggled behind with their overstuffed suitcases.

Chapter 2

The scene at her best friend Julie’s house was in complete contrast to the one Rita and Yansis had left behind half an hour earlier. Before they even got inside Julie’s home, the differences were apparent. Rita’s parents lived in Longsight, a deprived area of the city that Rita had been glad to leave behind when she had gone to live in Greece five years ago. The estate where her parents’ home was situated was particularly run-down. During the years that Rita had lived there she had grown accustomed to the abundance of litter, overgrown gardens, graffiti ridden walls and areas of worn grass used as dumping grounds for old furniture. The latter doubled up as play areas for small children who used the bug infested mattresses and sofas as trampolines.

Chapter 3

Leroy was at the wheel of his black BMW driving along the busy Cheetham Hill Road on his way to a meeting with his suppliers. He cruised through this vibrant multi-cultural area where new architecture mixed with old, and industrial units, furniture stores and car showrooms stood alongside churches, mosques and synagogues. He’d left early with the intention of collecting some other goods before his meeting.

I’m looking forward to seeing everybody else’s blog posts and finding out more about their WIPs.

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