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Air Transport Auxiliary pilot Doris Winter is accused of stealing a valuable item from a famous Hollywood movie star, now a captain in the US Army Air Corps, after a dance at the air base in England where he’s stationed. Gathering her close friends together, she’s determined to clear her name.
Ruth’s POW son suffers a life-changing injury just as her own cottage takes damage in an air raid and Penny’s estranged little sister unexpectedly turns up, having run away from school. Together with the ongoing thefts of items of clothing and surprise personal revelations, these all threaten to hamper their investigation.
In spite of the worsening war situation, they must band together to rise above their troubles and prove love and friendship is worth fighting for.
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Q&A
Did or do you like to read comic books/graphic novels? Which ones?
When I was a child, I was a big comic fan though my tastes could be misconstrued as rather dubious these days. There was a comic called ‘Action’ in the mid-seventies which was actually banned for being too violent. This was mainly to do with one of the strips being about a killer shark called, ‘Hook Jaw’. Yes, it did come out just after ‘Jaws’. Since then though, I’ve only read a few graphic novels, mainly dealing with ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Star Trek’. I particularly loved the ‘Dark Empire’ series of ‘Star Wars’ novels, if you’re interested.
Whom did you inherit your love for books/reading from?
Difficult one to answer. I’m not one who’s close to my family, so cannot say it was from any of them plus, I’m painfully shy to this day and always found it difficult to make friends, so I suppose it was my first visit to my local library and a friendly – sorry, I can’t recall her name – member of staff.
When you need a murder victim or someone you can diagnose with a serious disease or someone who is involved in a fatal accident do you sometimes picture someone nasty you have met in real life and think ‘got you’ LOL?
Now that’s a great idea! I’ll definitely use that in the future.
How do you come up with the names for your characters?
Like pretty much all authors, I’ve got various reference books – Baby Names, Surnames – that kind of thing. However, for the most part when I’m in need of a name, they’re never handy and so I don’t get up to go and fetch them. So, it’s usually a case of looking around whichever room I’m writing in and seeing if any of the names on the spines of books therein catch my eye. You can say it, lazy!
Do write other things beside books (and shoppinglists 😉 )?
I do write shopping lists, only my Lady Wife would say that I ‘scrawl like a five-year old’. I’m also known to write love letters to her and leave them in her lunch boxes or handbag. Not that I’m agreeing with her, but it’s fair to say the standard of my writing has declined somewhat over the years.
If a movie or series would be made from your books, would you be happy with the ‘based on’ version or would you rather like they showed it exactly the way you created it?
Excellent question. Can I use the proviso, ‘in an ideal world’? Well, I’m going to. In an ideal world, exactly ‘as is’. I suppose I’ve seen a few too many movies/series where they are ‘based on’. When those words come up, I find it quite rare that what I’m watching bares anything but a passing resemblance to what I’ve read. To give you an example, there’s a tv series just started in the UK called, ‘The Watch’. This is ‘based on’ the police force (ish) from Terry Pratchett’s ‘Discworld’ series. I totally love these books but I forced myself to watch the first episode and I can’t bear to watch anymore. Only the names are the same and to be honest, if someone did that to one of my books, I’d be spitting chips.
Who would you like/have liked to interview?
Terry Pratchett! Without a shadow of a doubt. I had the pleasure of meeting him at book signings three times and he always took the time to speak to everyone in the queue. He was renowned for not leaving until everyone there had got their books signed, and people often bought bag loads; I did.
Do you have certain people you contact while doing research to pick their brains? What are they specialized in?
I’ve been lucky enough to make friends with a Detective Inspector in the Police in the south of England through my research. He was kind enough to answer an email I’d sent to a police helpdesk and made the mistake of offering to answer any other questions I may have in the future. Very dangerous thing to offer an author, eh? Since then, he’s looked at everything police procedure related in the three books in the ‘Broken Wings’ series so far written. Very handy for my Detective Inspector character.
One of the other people I contact is the chairman of the Air Transport Auxiliary Association, useful for obvious reasons. There’s an awful lot out there on the net, but when it comes down to it, speaking/mailing a real person can’t be beat.
Is there someone you sometimes discuss a dilemma with?
Often myself, to start with. I think there’s at least three of four different personalities in there, so that’s useful. My Lady Wife and her sister are also good listeners and voracious readers and though not of the genre I write in, both are very good in giving their opinions. I also have quite a few other authors who I run things by, and for whom I return the favour.
What is more important to you : a rating in stars with no comments or a reviewer who explains what the comments they give are based on (without spoilers of course)
Shall I give you the politically correct answer? No, so long as the comments are honest and true, I don’t mind what the rating they give the book. It’s when someone puts down comments which are wrong – yes, I am writing from experience here – that I find it annoying. Especially since there is no way – we are talking about Amazon? – to complain to the vendor to get things put right.
Thank you, M W Arnold and Rachel’s Random Resources
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About the author
Mick is a hopeless romantic who was born in England and spent fifteen years roaming around the world in the pay of HM Queen Elizabeth II in the Royal Air Force before putting down roots and realizing how much he missed the travel. He’s replaced it somewhat with his writing, including reviewing books and supporting fellow saga and romance authors in promoting their novels.
He’s the proud keeper of two cats bent on world domination, is mad on the music of the Beach Boys, and enjoys the theatre and humoring his Manchester United-supporting wife. Finally, and most importantly, Mick is a full member of the Romantic Novelists Association. Wild Blue Yonder is the second novel in his Broken Wings series and he is very proud to be a part of the Vintage Rose Garden at The Wild Rose Press.
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Author links
https://www.facebook.com/MWArnoldAuthor
Twitter – Mick859
Instagram – Mick859
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Book Links
iBooks – tinyurl.com/2dvavjm4
Nook – tinyurl.com/nntrssny
B for Bookreview 