#Interview – Q&A By Lou with Anne Cater and her #RandomThingsTours as part of Celebrating Blog Tour Organisers @RandomTTours #ReadingCommunity #WritingCommunity #Publishers

Interview/Q&A with Blog Tour Organiser and Blogger –

Anne Cater of Random Things Tours
By Lou at Bookmarks and Stages

As part of the lead up to my blog becoming 5 years old, I am celebrating various people from authors to actors to blog tour organisers. Today I am celebrating Anne Cater, a blog tour organiser of her highly successful and prominent company – Random Things Tours in the form of a Q&A session that gives you all an insight into what a blog tour is, what inspired her to go in this direction and how she goes about doing things, including what an average day looks like for her and the ups and downs. The answers are illuminating and highly interesting. Her route is unusual, and I rather like this, since so is mine. You will also see where you can find Anne Cater and what she offers below.

Anne Cater is the second blog tour organiser who took me onto her list of bloggers, way back when I first started blogging, which I am always grateful for with the review opportunities with great books from various publishers that still come my way. I will say, from a blogger’s point of view for what is required from being on her list, everything runs professionally. smoothly, fairly and she is approachable and it remains a pleasure doing business with her.

Without further ado, let us commence with the Q&A.

What or whom inspired you to become, not only a book blogger, but also a blog tour organiser?I always think of myself as a reviewer/blogger first. That’s how I started and I will never stop reviewing books and blogging about them.My route to becoming a blog tour organiser was a little unusual.Around seven or eight years ago I was at a book event in Nottingham organised by No Exit Press. I’d been reviewing their books for years. The publicity manager approached me and asked me if I’d consider organising a blog tour for them. It wasn’t something that I’d ever considered, but I have a background in Admin and knew that it was something that I’d like to try. That tour was a success and I’ve been organising tours for No Exit ever since.

I’ve worked with Karen Sullivan, the owner of Orenda Books since before Orenda was born, when she worked for another publisher. Karen asked me if I’d like to take over the organisation of the Orenda Blog Tours and I jumped at the chance. I’ve been doing those ever since too.

I didn’t intend to branch out but was asked by Judith O’Reilly to organise a blog tour for her independently published book. I had no idea what to charge and just plucked a figure out of my head. The tour was a success and Judith is now traditionally published.

That’s how it started, and I now organise around 30 – 40 blog tours each month for publishers and also directly for authors.

For those who don’t know, what is a blog tour organiser?

A Blog Tour organiser is exactly what it says on the tin! We organise a tour that focusses on one book (or a series of books). The book will appear on a number of blogs for a set amount of time.

Our job is to ensure that we get the right bloggers for the book. We make sure that the bloggers receive a copy of the book, create a schedule and then send out a media pack. We also share all of the blog tour posts on every tour.

What does a typical day look like for you?

When I first started this job, I already had another job, so blog tour organising was usually done later in the day/evening and at weekends.
In October 2020 I went full time as a blog tour organiser.
My average day begins at around 8am.

Every day I will share the blog tour posts for the day, and any that were posted later the previous evening.
I will go through to find any missing posts and contact the individual blogger with a reminder that they agreed to post on that day.

The remainder of my day is dealing with hundreds of emails. Creating new tours and sending out invitations. Sending out quotations to publishers and authors etc.

I try to finish by 6pm each day.

What are the benefits of going to a blog tour organiser for both author and publisher and for a blogger signing up to be part of a tour?

I think that the big publishers find it really convenient to be able to use blog tour organisers. Publicists have a massive job to do, and a blog tour is just a tiny part of the publicity machine, but for a blog tour organiser, it is their main focus, so they will get a truly dedicated service.

Blog tour organisers know most of their bloggers really well. They know what time of day they will post their slot on the tour, they know their genre preferences and they know if they will read digitally.

An author or publisher can hand over the whole thing to the organiser, without having to worry about getting the bloggers to take part, the organiser will do all of the work.

I think bloggers all have different reasons for signing up for tours. Everyone is different. I know some bloggers feel incentivised to read a book that they may already own by having a particular date to post, that’s certainly one of my main reasons for taking part in a tour as a blogger.

I also know that some bloggers really dislike blog tours, and that’s absolutely fine too. There’s room for everyone

Why should people choose you in-particular?

I do find this question quite difficult! I work really closely with some other organisers, especially Rachel Gilbey, Zoe O Farrell, Tracy Fenton and the Bookouture team. They are all fabulous at what they do.

I’d suggest that authors and publishers should look at tours that I’ve already done, to see if I cover the genre that they want to tour.

Every single tour is treated in the same way by me. It doesn’t matter if it’s a debut self-published author, or an author who has had multiple best-selling novels, they all get the same service.

What are the upsides and downsides of being a blog tour organiser?

The upsides far outweigh the downsides!
What I love best is that I am my own boss. I choose when I work, and who I work with.
Working with books, and being a tiny part of a book’s journey is an honour and a pleasure. It’s something that I always dreamt about, but never ever imagined actually doing.

The positive feedback from authors and publishers is wonderful too. Helping to launch a book is a fabulous thing to be involved with.

I’ve made a lot of friends whilst doing this job, that’s such a bonus too.

Downsides few, but very frustrating!

Occasionally, I am not able to pull together a blog tour, for various reasons and I hate having to let an author know this.

I am fortunate to work on some hugely popular books and having to tell bloggers that the tour is full is one of the things that I hate the most. Some books are so popular that I have to turn away 40 or so bloggers and every time I send that ‘sorry’ email, I am sad.

Chasing bloggers who don’t post on their date is another time consuming job that I really hate. I’m really approachable, I think most of my bloggers know this and a little advance warning of a non-post, or late post is welcome
Over the years there have been bloggers who’ve arrived, committed to a tour, taken a book and then disappeared, never to be seen again.
I HATE this. It looks so bad, for me and for bloggers in general and I really wish it didn’t happen.

Oh, spoilers! Spoilers in reviews are a huge no-no!

Where can people find you?

Twitter @annecater

Email : anne.lcdp@hotmail.co.uk
https://randomthingsthroughmyletterbox.blogspot.com/p/services-to-publishers-authors-blog.html

Thank you Anne for your time in giving an interview to me – Lou at Bookmarks and Stages.

#Review By Lou of Conviction by Jack Jordan @JackJordanBooks #CrimeFiction #Thriller #LegalThriller #RandomTTours #BlogTour

Conviction
By Jack Jordan

Jack Jordan’s debut – Do No Harm was amazing and for that “difficult second book”, he has actually cracked it again, in Conviction. The books are entirely standalone.

Blurb

To steal a man’s freedom all it takes is…

CONVICTION

Wade Darling stands accused of killing his wife and teenage children as they slept and burning their house to the ground.

When the case lands on barrister Neve Harper’s desk, she knows it could make her career.

A matter of days before the case, as Neve is travelling home for the night, she is approached by a man. He tells her she must throw the case or the secret about her husband’s disappearance will be revealed. Failing that, he will kill everyone she cares about, until she does as she is told.

Neve must make a choice – go against every principle she has ever had, or the people she loves will die.

Review

Not everyone is into legal dramas, me included, when it comes to books. John Grisham, I tried and tried and they were honestly not for me and I decided, except some rather excellent tv legal dramas, that legal drama in books wasn’t my thing, except one by Nicci French, but Conviction has changed all that. This is 1 other legal thriller I have truly enjoyed! It isn’t dry or sluggish. It is pacy with incidents and characters that latch on, with fantastic writing quality and some unexpected twists and turns in the mix. If you like Grisham, you’ll like Jordan and perhaps, even if you’re not into Grisham, you may well also like Jordan. This is an author well worth taking a chance on. I said similar about his first and it still stands for this second stand-alone book.

Conviction has a compelling nature in the writing from the start, with quite a shocking moment!

Readers are taken into the legal world, where Neve Harper is a defence barrister on a challenging case. There are 5 days until the trial of Wade Darling, who is facing 3 life sentences. This is the biggest trial of Neve’s career and there’s a lot riding on it for what it could mean, professionally. Readers are treated to the inner sanctum of working in law and also see what tolls it can take. This is also seen from the very beginning, in a jaw-dropping moment…

The writing style is gripping and absolutely enthralling as you watch the case being built and you find out more about Wade Darling and his life, prior to being arrested for a heinous crime. As certain things unfold, there are dangers that lie ahead and some very well-written tense moments that may well have you on the edge of your seat. There are sinister moments with an air of creepiness, when someone, just known as”The Messenger” enters the fray.

Readers are then taken up to Trial Day and then part 2 – Prosecution over 3 days and then the Defence for a couple before hearing the verdict. It’s all very well constructed. It remains being gripping and fascinating within the courtroom.

This is a highly gripping book, from start to finish and terribly difficult to put down.

About the Author

Jack Jordan is the global bestselling author of Do No Harm, Anything for Her, My Girl, A Woman Scorned, Before Her Eyes, and Night by Night an Amazon No.1 bestseller in the UK, Canada, and Australia. Jack’s novel Do No Harmwas a Saturday Times Bestseller and was longlisted for a Dead Good Reader Award in 2022.

#Review of Orphanage Girls Come Home By Mary Wood @Authormary @panmacmillan @RandomTTours #TheOrphanageGirlsComeHome

The Orphanage Girls Come Home
By Mary Wood

Orphanage Girls Come Home has friendship amongst dark themes. Find out more in the blurb and what I thought in my review below.

London, 1910
When Amy is chosen to be a part of a programme to resettling displaced children in Canada, her life changes overnight. Her great sadness is having to say goodbye to Ruth and Ellen, the friends who became family to her during the dark days at the orphanage. As she steps on board the ship to Montreal, the promise of a new life lies ahead. But during the long crossing, Amy discovers a terrifying secret.

Canada, 1919
As the decades pass, Amy’s Canadian experience is far from the life she imagined. She always kept Ruth’s address to hand – longing to return to London and reunite with her dear friends. With the world at war, it seems an impossible dream . . .

Review

Life has its challenges for Ruth, she has it tougher than most, even though she then tries to make a new life for herself.
The setting is Bethnal Green in the Edwardian era. The streets are dangerous! She comes across many people when she breaks away from the orphanage, meets some good people, but the police are on the hunt to return her from whence she came, meaning she needs to hide. She knows she needs to try and hold out until she is of a certain age when she can be left alone and all threat of a return to the orphanage has gone. Meanwhile, her friends are on a resettlement programme to start new lives in Montreal and the opportunity isn’t all that’s cracked up to be. You really feel for her, so far away from what she once knew and the friends she had made in Ruth and Ellen.

The Orphanage Girls Come Home isn’t all as sweet and nice as the title sounds. This streets and the orphanage itself has many dark corners within them. The book has some grit in its themes. There’s abuse and more that goes on throughout the book. Throughout the emotional grimness, however there are glimmers of hope as not all people are bad. There are some who care.

Time passes and it is 1919. The First World War is occurring and things change again. This brings a change in thoughts and some focus on Amy, one of Ruth’s friends from decades ago, and her experiences. It brings trepidation and hope that these, one time friends will be reunited. The question is how and when will that be possible and after such a long time, what that would be like, to see someone after such a long time and in a changing world…

Wood paints the scenes vividly and pulls you into the streets and characters lives to enthrall and show strength through different, sometimes harrowing, life circumstances as well as adding warmth, without it being saccharin.

#Review By Lou of Only Love Can Hurt Like This By Paige Toon @PaigeToonAuthor @PenguinRandom #ContemporaryFiction #RomFic @RandomTTours #BlogTour

Only Love Can Hurt Like This

By Paige Toon

Only Love Can Hurt Like This is beautifully emotive. I have a blurb and my review below as part of the Random T. Tours blog tour and also thanks to Penguin for a copy of the book to review from, in exchange of an honest opinion, which you can find below.

THE SUNDAY TIMES SMASH HIT BESTSELLER.

Neither of them expected to fall in love. But sometimes life has other plans.

When Wren realises her fiancé is in love with someone else, she thinks her heart will never recover.

On the other side of the world, Anders lost his wife four years ago and is still struggling to move on.

Wren hopes that spending the summer with her dad and step-family on their farm in Indiana will help her to heal. There, amid the cornfields and fireflies, she and Anders cross paths and their worlds are turned upside-down again.

But Wren doesn’t know that Anders is harbouring a secret, and if he acts on any feelings he has for Wren it will have serious fall-out for everyone.

Walking away would hurt Wren more than she can imagine. But, knowing the truth, how can she possibly stay?

Review

Emotions run long and deep when your love runs off with someone else, this is what Wren learns. As the book develops, it is an emotional read and you really feel for the protagonist. It truly feels like that’s it for her, until she moves to be with her dad and step-family and later meets brothers, Jonas and Anders. Prior to this, however, it is interesting to see what is a complex relationship develop, within her family. It seems things have been far from an easy ride there too.

When Anders comes onto the scene, there is a hope that all will be well, but love doesn’t always work like that. It isn’t always one big fairytale as this book shows the nuances, the complexities and, well, how well can you know a person. Anders keeps a really big secret.

It is a highly emotive, captivating read where you cannot help but be enraptured in the characters lives.

I’ll admit, to finish off this review, from the minute I saw the title and bits in between to the end, I couldn’t help but think of that song – Only Love Can Hurt Like This by Paloma Faith. Think how strongly emotive that is and this book matches it. It is a beautifully written book that enthralls and clings onto you until the end. It is one I highly recommend.

#Review By Lou of The Monk By Tim Sullivan @TimJRSullivan @AriesFiction @HoZ_Books @RandomTTours #TheMonk #Thriller #Crimefiction

The Monk

By Tim Sullivan

Having read, reviewed and enjoyed Tim Sullivan’s previous books – The Patient and The Politician, I jumped at the chance to read and review The Monk. See the blurb and my review below.

Blurb

To find a murderer, you need a motive . . .

THE DETECTIVE
DS George Cross has always wondered why his mother left him when he was a child. Now she is back in his life, he suddenly has answers. But this unexpected reunion is not anything he’s used to dealing with. When a disturbing case lands on his desk, he is almost thankful for the return to normality.

THE QUESTION
The body of a monk is found savagely beaten to death in a woodland near Bristol. Nothing is known about Brother Dominic’s past, which makes investigating difficult. How can Cross unpick a crime when they don’t know anything about the victim? And why would someone want to harm a monk?

THE PAST
Discovering who Brother Dominic once was only makes the picture more puzzling. He was a much-loved and respected friend, brother, son – he had no enemies. Or, at least, none that are obvious. But looking into his past reveals that he was a very wealthy man, that sacrificed it all for his faith. For a man who has nothing, it seems strange that greed could be the motive for his murder. But greed is a sin after all…

Perfect for fans of M.W. Craven, Peter James and Joy Ellis, The Monk is part of the DS George Cross thriller series, which can be read in any order.

Review

The Monk is another hit by Tim Sullivan in this latest thriller which can be read as a stand alone as well as part of the series, very easily.

D.S. Cross is a neurodiverse detective. His private life is as interesting to read about as the cases he works on to solve, both have their complexities and this keeps the compelling intrigue going, and furthermore, so does the fact his mother is back on the scene after so long.

It is an unusual case that hits the desk at the Avon and Somerset Police in that it is a Monk who is savagely killed in mysterious circumstances. It gets even more mysterious as there isn’t much that is tangible to go on, nor is there much known about the deceased. It is also interesting how D.S. Cross gets to like the quietness of the monastery. It is nuances and attention to detail like this that show how well this is researched or how certain traits are known and added into the book to continue to build up his personality.

Getting to know the Monk, who was brutally killed, as the police dig up his past to piece together every aspect of his life to discover exactly who he was is fascinating and rather thought provoking.

Throughout deep darkness, brought about by the nature of the case, including its woodland location, there is levity to be had with between colleagues having banter.

This is yet another gripping, page-turner by Tim Sullivan and I look forward to seeing what he writes next.

#BookReview By Lou of The Forgotten Garden By Sharon Gosling @sharongosling @simonschusterUK @RandomTTours #TheForgottenGarden #BlogTour #RomanticFiction #ContemporaryFiction

The Forgotten Garden
By Sharon Gosling

Since enjoying the well-written book – The Lighthouse Bookshop, I am excited to have the opportunity to review The Forgotten Garden, thanks to Random T. Tours and today I join the blog tour with a blurb and review.

Blurb

A novel of second chances and blossoming communities from the author of The Lighthouse Bookshop.

Budding landscape architect Luisa MacGregor is stuck in a rut – she hates her boss, she lives with her sister, and she is still mourning the loss of her husband many years ago. So when she is given the opportunity to take on a parcel of land in a deprived area, she sees the chance to build a garden that can make the area bloom.

Arriving in the rundown seaside town of Collaton on the north-west coast of Cumbria, she realises that her work is going to be cut out for her. But, along with Cas, a local PE teacher, and Harper, a teen whose life has taken a wrong turn, she is determined to get the garden up and running.

So when the community comes together and the garden starts to grow, she feels her luck might have changed. Can she grow good things on this rocky ground? And might love blossom along the way…?

Review

The idea of a forgotten garden brings mysteriousness and intrigue as well as many questions, such as how can a garden be forgotten? Even the title has grab-ability.

Luisa MacGregor is going through a hard time. Life isn’t going her way. She has a boss who she absolutely hates and she is mourning for her beloved husband. You really feel how sad it is, but also how clever it is written to essentially have 2 life forces, one human and the other, nature, in this case a community garden, all sad and forlorn, each needing a bit of TLC. An opportunity arises for just that. Luisa is a budding landscape architect, she just needs to leave her current job. The garden needs someone with her energy and expertise to bring it back to life. As their paths meet, life fortunes are about to change. Luisa has a plan and a lot of love to give as well as a lot of determination along with skill to do what she loves, away from her boss to give the garden the attention it deserves to regenerate growth and beauty.

It isn’t only the garden that poses challenges, it is getting a band of volunteers together to help. She is plucky and, since she has found an unexpected new project in life, that may just help her move onwards and upwards, she takes on troubled teens, finding it challenging to keep their school places, let alone anything else and a P.E. teacher, whom she is determined to ignore just how good looking he is.
There is a realism to this (I write from a lot of experience), as life throws all sorts at people and when you volunteer, you might be the one with the skills, but also sometimes there are those underneath you, if you lead something, who want to learn something new and build skills and some can be troubled in various ways, whether they’re adults or teens. This book addresses this, as well as the central character wanting that second chance at life.

It is a book to get wrapped up with and lose yourself in.