Today I’m thrilled to have Lucy V Hay feature on #TopFiveThursday Lucy wears many hats, including script editor, author, blogger and reviewer! Lucy’s blog can be found at http://www.lucyvhayauthor.com where you will find book reviews, author interviews as well as Best Of Three books recommend by readers. It’s a fab blog and well worth checking out. Lucy also blogs about the writing process, screenwriting, genre, careers and movitivation and much more at her blog Bang2Write.
Top 5 books you read in 2016?
Cripes, I’ve read so many great ones in the last twelve months, it’s SO difficult to choose! But if I ABSOLUTELY HAD TO, these are probably the five I recommend most to my fellow readers:
Defender by GX Todd
The Bird Tribunal by Agnes Ravatn
The Liar’s Chair by Rebecca Whitney
In Her Wake by Amanda Jennings
Untouchable by Ava Marsh
What all these books have in common is an enigmatic female lead. I’m so bored of ‘typical’ characters, but equally I don’t want a character completely out of the left field either. The five above have female protagonists whose behaviour can be surprising, conflicting, even morally ambiguous – I’m certainly never bored by them!
Top 5 authors you think everyone should read?
Gillian Flynn
Chinua Achebe
Joe Hill
Maya Angelou
Peter James
These writers consistently knock it out the park not only with their storytelling, but the actual WAY they write. I’m a lover of literary prose that takes us to the next level of description … And these guys can take us into other places (literal and metaphorical), bringing forth the five senses AND the storyworld to life. Brilliant!
Top 5 books you want to read before the end of 2017?
The Divergent Trilogy by Veronica Roth. I love the first novel, but haven’t got round to the rest, so must catch up. After all, I LOVE my dystopia!
I See You by Clare Mackintosh. I missed out on an ARC for this one, noooooo! I loved I Let You Go though, so hoping to catch up on this one.
Orphan X by Greg Hurwitz. I’m a sucker for an assassin with a dark past, so I *just gotta* read this one and luckily for me, I found a hardback copy in a charity shop recently for £1!
I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes. Terry Hayes wrote one of the instalments of my favourite franchise, Mad Max, back in the 80s. My other job is as a script editor for movies, so I can’t resist this one, but it is a mahoosive tome at 700+ pages. I could read at least two books in the time it takes me to read this one and time is always at a premium for me.
The Marsh King’s Daughter by Karen Dionne. I DID manage to get my mitts on an ARC for this one, it looks so good. I love reading books that aren’t even out yet, so this will probably be next on my TBR.
Top 5 blogging tips that you would give to new bloggers?
Goodness, I have so many! My top 5 would be:
Have a strategy
ALWAYS write great headlines
Pay attention to traffic (but don’t become obsessed with it)
Use social media WELL
Evaluate your strategy at various intervals
For those who want more detail on the above, I was interviewed in 13 Tips from Popular Bloggers to Beat Procrastination and Write Productively. http://bit.ly/1WS7elJ
Top 5 book blogs you follow?
Again, so many that I love, but here’s my favourites I visit most days/weeks:
https://ifonlyicouldreadfaster.com/
http://www.crimefictionlover.com/
Lucy V Hay is a writer, author and script editor. Her crime novel, The Other Twin will be published by Orenda Books in 2017 and her latest work, Skyjack, a dystopian, action-adventure novella is available for download NOW. For news, giveaways and offers first, JOIN HER MAILING LIST. You can also follow her as @LucyVHayAuthor on Twitter.
Bang2Write Book Blog News letter sign up Twitter: @LucyVHayAuthor
My thanks to Lucy for taking time out her busy schedule to answer #TopFiveThursday
If you are a book blogger and would like to feature on #TopFiveThursday please leave a comment in this post or contact me via my blog home page.
Loving Lucy’s list of must read author’s! Great post 😊
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All five 2017 books going straight on the TBR
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Great answers! I only read the Divergent trilogy last year and was very impressed.
Would be happy to do this sometime 😉
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Hi Claire I would love to have you on board DM your email address on Twitter and I will send the blurb to you thank you x
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Another fabulous spotlight! Some wonderful blogging tips and interesting choices for top 5 of 2016. I plan to read The Bird Tribuna very soon thanks to Amy haha. 🙂
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I’ve only just seen this, great read and lots of fab book suggestions. And I’m totally blown away to be one of Lucy’s top five blogs!
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