A Degree of Uncertainty by Nicola K. Smith - Book Tour + Giveaway
A Degree of Uncertainty
A Cornish town is slowly fracturing under the weight of its growing university…
Prominent businessman, Harry Manchester will not stand by and see his beloved hometown turned into a student ghetto — and many residents and students are relying on him.
But Harry’s stance sets him on a collision course with Dawn Goldberg, formidable Vice Chancellor of Poltowan University, who is set on doubling its size and cementing her career legacy.
As Harry’s marriage falls apart, his business comes under threat, and fellow traders accuse him of halting progress, Dawn is battling her own demons, not least the need to live up to her late father’s expectations and erase the memory of his tragic death.
There can only be one victor in this battle for the soul of a close-knit community…
Purchase Links
US - https://www.amazon.com/Degree-Uncertainty-Nicola-Smith-ebook/dp/B0825Y8PTS
Author Q&A
Author Q&A
1. What is the first book that made you cry?
The Railway Children. And the film is no better! When the long lost father emerges through the steam on the railway platform it gets me every time!
2. How long, on average, does it take you to write a book?
My debut novel, A Degree of Uncertainty, took me about 18 months to write.I started it on Curtis Brown’s ‘Starting to write your novel’ course, on which I was chosen as most promising student. That gave me the belief and momentum to keep writing to the end!
3. How do you select the names of your characters?
That is a tricky one. The names of my protagonists, Harry Manchester and Dawn Goldberg seemed to suggest themselves, and the other characters’ names also came fairly easily. I considered using them as working names when I wrote the first draft, with a view to reconsidering them when I finished, but once you have lived and breathed those characters for months they become people — friends even — and changing their names is unthinkable.
4. What creature do you consider your "spirit animal" to be?
Probably a bird. I am a free spirit and I can identify most with them.
5. What are your top 5 favorite movies?
Billy Elliot
The Railway Children (again, I know!)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
The Bridges of Madison County
Summer in February
7. What fictional character would you want to be friends with in real life?
Mrs de Winter, the poor successor to Rebecca in Daphne du Maurier’s eponymous novel. She needed a friend!
8. Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
Only the advice that has been given to me by those in the know — read as much as you can, write as much as you can, and never give up!
9. What book do you wish you had written?
There are a number, but Fortune’s Rocks by Anita Shreve has stayed with me since I read it some 20 years ago, and I remember thinking exactly that thought when I finished it for the first time. A very moving book.
10. Tell us 10 fun facts about yourself!
I’m a journalist by day and a fiction writer by night…
I am working on another novel which is a complete departure from A Degree of Uncertainty…more of a psychological thriller, but also set in Cornwall.
I was born a stone’s throw from Ascot Racecourse
I went to school with Steve Backshall
I once spent two hours chatting to Shakin Stevens on a walk through Cardiff
When not writing I am often cycling, running or paddleboarding
I used to play hockey for the South of England
I am an avid listener of The Archers
My guilty pleasure is a large G&T (my protagonist, Harry Manchester, shares the same vice)
One of my favourite books is The End of the Affair by Graham Greene
Author Bio – Nicola K Smith is a freelance journalist contributing to a number of titles including the The Times, Guardian.co.uk, BBC.co.uk, BBC Countryfile and Sainsbury’s Magazine. She lives in Falmouth, Cornwall, a town which inspired A Degree of Uncertainty, although it is set in the fictional Cornish town of Poltowan.
Social Media Links –
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