Do
you have a specific writing style?
One book in it’s a
little early to say. I like unconventional story patterns (“Ghost Love” has two
intertwined stories set twenty years apart) and I like strong, memorable
characters. I also write for pace; I hate books that dawdle.
Do
you write in different genres?
Not yet but I’m working
on it! “Ghost Love” is a modern day romantic thriller (with a dash of the
supernatural) so I’m thinking of branching out into historical romantic thrillers, specifically one set in Regency
England. I had one of those kerching
moments when a story idea suddenly materialized in my head fully formed, one
which I hope will pop the reader’s socks off (and bust their stays, of course).
A word of warning to any would be
Jane Austens out there: the research needed to get it right is simply
mind-blowing …
How
did you come up with the title for your latest book?
“Ghost Love” was in my
head for a long time sort of gestating, so I had the title before I started
writing it all down. It just felt right – or should that be write – and
encapsulated the two themes running through the story … love flavored with a
dash of the supernatural.
Is
the book, characters, or any scenes based on a true life experience, someone
you know, or events in your own life?
The part set in Moscow
circa 1989 … most of the events and actions are based on my life. It was a
really freaky time when all the old certainties of Communism disappeared to be
replaced by chaos. It was simultaneously exciting and scary. Like travelling in
a fast car which ain’t got any brakes.
The part set in present
day England … less so, but there’s still quite a bit of fact flavoring the
fiction.
If
you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
That’s easy. It’s Rod,
my husband, who writes SF (the “Demi-Monde” series). He’s been with me every
step of the way encouraging, suggesting, editing and acting as beta-reader.
Okay, he isn’t a natural romantic and his use of commas is suspect but he made
a excellent sounding board. And he’s a great nagger when I get keyboard-shy.
What
is your current “work in progress” or upcoming projects?
Apart for the Regency
thriller, the next book I’m working on is called “Hotel Rus”. Again it’ll be
two intertwined stories, the first set in Russia of the early 1990s and the
second in present day England, exploring the seedier side of ‘Londongrad’, the
Russian enclave that’s grown up in London.
Can
you share a little of your current work with us?
This is the opening of
“Hotel Rus” (hot off the press):
UltraGraphics Business Center, Pobeda Hotel, Moscow: 7th
August, 1995
Plop!
Lost as she was in transcribing a
particularly badly written English sentence into intelligible Russian, it took
a moment for Katia to realize what had just happened, that a ball of tightly
crumpled paper had landed in her cup and splashed coffee all over her
translation. She was just about to look around to find who the hooligan was
doing the throwing when a second ball bounced off her head. She was being
bombed!
A very annoyed Katia swiveled on her
chair just in time to witness a third ball arching its way over the partition wall
that separated the UltraGraphics Business Center from the Pobeda Hotel’s
reception area. Incensed, Katia sprang from her chair, pulled open the door and
marched into reception determined to confront the bombardier.
‘Hi,’ said the tall and elegantly dressed
man leaning negligently against the Business Center’s counter. That he was in
the process of scrunging up one of the fliers extolling the virtues of using
UltraGraphics for ‘all your business needs’ ‒ this presumably a precursor to
lobbing it over the wall ‒ was all the proof of his guilt that Katia needed.
The ‘Hi’ greeting indicated that the
man was American so Katia switched to English putting as much frost in her
voice as she could. ‘Just what do you think you’re doing?’
The man shrugged. ‘Trying to attract
attention. Nobody seemed to be on duty. I tried shouting but …’ Another
careless shrug, this accompanied by a mocking smile.
Ignoring the smile and silently
cursing Vika for bunking off – the girl was so damned idle – Katia took a deep
breath and tried to contain her anger. Pauline, the American who was head of
UltraGraphics (Russia) was always lecturing them that ‘the maintenance of good
customer relations is the cornerstone of UltraGraphics’s business ethos’ and as
this man was undoubtedly a potential customer Katia did her best not to let her
irritation show.
Linguist that she was, Katia
automatically analyzed the man’s accent. Not American and not German either.
The way he was dressed was odd too: not as formal and buttoned-down as the
Americans or as unimaginative as the Germans. That had to mean he was English.
Katia had never met an Englishman before but she had heard from the other girls
in the center that Englishmen were inclined to be rascals. And if ever a man
was a rascal it was this man … a rascal possessed of a truly wonderful accent. It
sent a shiver running down her spine.
Do
you have any advice for other writers?
Stop writing … I don’t
need the competition.
Seriously though, the
best trick I’ve learned for improving my writing is reading aloud! New writers
need to get vocal.
When I proof-read my
own stuff – and I guess by the time I’d finished “Ghost Love” I’d read it maybe
a hundred times – a couple of pages in my mind starts to wander which can be
lethal. So what to do? The answer is to read what I’ve written aloud. I pretend
that I’m reading for the radio and give voice to my words. Reading aloud
necessitates reading each and every word and listening to the dialogue of all
of your characters. Doing this it soon becomes apparent when you’re using the
same word or phrase too often – those devilishly persistent ‘echoes’ – or if
your characters’ speech patterns aren’t consistent. And when you’ve come to
that ‘final polish’ stage before sending it off to a publisher, reading to a beta
reader is invaluable. Rod, my husband, functions in this (and other!)
capacities, each of us taking it in turns to read a chapter aloud with the
other simply listening and critiquing.
Do
you have a song or playlist (book soundtrack) that you think represents this
book?
Jazz is featured quite
heavily in “Ghost Love” and in writing these scenes I drew on my career as a
jazz singer.
When I first came to
the UK I fronted a band that played the jazz-themed hotel Rod and I ran. This
sorta grew and my career as a jazz vamp climaxed with me recording a critically
acclaimed album of nuJazz tunes called “Jazz Noir”. You can check out my
rendition of the great Marlene Dietrich number “Falling in Love Again” on
youtube.
Ghost Love
Nelli Rees
Genre: Romance (with a hint of the paranormal)
Publisher: Phaze
Date of Publication: 20th January 2015
ISBN: ISBN-13 978-1-60659-849-8
ASIN: B00SNYRXH8
Number of pages: 332
Word Count: 90,000
Cover Artist: Niki Browning
Book Description:
In the madcap, chaotic days when Communism crumbled in the USSR, Tonia meets and falls in love with Englishman, Peter Monroe. Despite the protests of her family and the more strenuous
objections of the KGB Tonia agrees to marry Peter only for him to mysteriously disappear.
Twenty years later a life-toughened Toni must revisit these bitter-sweet memories when she finds herself and her daughters endangered by the consequences of that love affair.
In her despair Toni comes to realise that true love really does conquer all … even death.
Excerpt: Prologue
Present Day:
Dorset, England
Excitement being
a kindred spirit to fear, Toni was undecided as to whether it was a trickle of
fear she felt shivering down her spine or a trickle of excitement.
As she sat
staring at the screen of her laptop, the darkness shrouding the room seemed to
draw in on her: her head swam, her palms became clammy. Tears welled up in her
eyes. She blinked them away, hoping that by doing so the message on her screen
would disappear. It didn’t.
Peter Monroe
wants to be friends on Facebook
Hesitantly she
maneuvered the cursor over the ‘connect’ button and pressed ‘enter.’ The screen
mutated to show the Facebook page for ‘Peter Monroe.’ It was Peter! She
recognized the profile photograph instantly. She’d taken it. She remembered
posing him in front of the bandstand in Gorki Park on that spring day back in
1990, remembered laughing at the stupid faces he pulled, remembered the way his
long chestnut hair flopped over his forehead, remembered…
How could she
forget? He had been her one true love.
Love. A word
made empty by misuse…by overuse. She wondered how many had ever endured the
touch of real love, that soul-eviscerating sensation that comes when you know
you have found your soul-mate. Very few, she decided. Perhaps this was all for
the good: true love brought anguish in equal measure to joy. As the last twenty
years had taught her, finding true love was a bitter-sweet blessing. Her
fingers trembled as she typed.
Is it really
you, Peter?
The reply was
instantaneous.
Yes…I’ve missed
you, Tonia.
She couldn’t
stop herself: the tears flowed down her cheeks.
But…
She paused, terrified
that what she would type next might cause this marvelous mirage to vanish.
But I thought
you were dead.
The seconds
ticked by, then:
I am.
About the Author:
Nelli Rees, born in Moscow, trained as a linguist and a musician. With her future husband Englishman Rod she worked and travelled around Russia, finally coming to live in England in 1998. Nelli has had several successful careers: recording a critically acclaimed nu-jazz album “Jazz Noir”, becoming an award-winning jewellery maker, writing a book “Glass Bead Jewelry Projects”, and doing all this whilst being a mother and a wife. “Ghost Love” is Nelli’s first novel and draws heavily on her own experiences as a young woman in Soviet Russia and the obstacles she and her husband-to-be faced during those difficult times.
Video of Nelli performing "Falling In Love Again":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2J5Phukc8Y
