Thursday 24 July 2014

Blog Tour: Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered - Having Fun With Witchcraft!

I grew up loving Sabrina the Teenage Witch and being named Samantha always did wonder if I could just twitch my nose so today I am very happy to be hosting Kerry Barrett author of Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered who is going to share with how she has fun with witchcraft.

Having Fun With Witchcraft!

I have always wanted to be like Samantha in Bewitched. The amount of times I’ve stood at Charing Cross station, staring at the departure board showing delay after delay, and wished I could twitch my nose and be home in an instant. Or shut the front door behind me, only to remember Ive left my keys on the kitchen table and longed to waggle my fingers and have them appear in my bag.
Not being a witch, Ive obviously never had much luck with this approach. In fact, my old flatmate and I were obsessed with the film Practical Magic back in the 90s. We watched it over and over and decided whatever Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman could do, we could do better. So we bought some candles and decided to cast a spell.
What we actually did, was almost burn the flat down and set all the smoke alarms off – so our little brush with witchcraft didnt last long!
After that I decided the best way to have fun with magic was with words. One day, I sat down and wrote: I can't remember when I first realised my mother was a witch.
In actual fact, I soon got rid of the (dreadful!) first line Id written, but the characters Esme and Harry remained. Esme is the heroine of my first book Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered – and her cousin Harmony – known as Harry – is the star of my second novel I Put A Spell On You.
Esme and Harry are witches. Esme is reluctant to embrace the powers she’s been blessed with, while Harry eat, sleeps and breathes witchcraft.
Both of them though can waggle their fingers and make things happen. Esme can catch the barman’s eye, clean the kitchen in a flash, and conjure up a curry. Harry can call up the perfect outfit, listen in on conversations, and sort out plumbing problems.
But you know what? Being able to do – well, everything – gets boring too. And that’s when I started having fun. Putting my heroines in situations where their magic just can’t help them. For Esme, in Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered, it’s a sick relative and a family crisis. For Harry, in I Put A Spell On You, it’s someone who’s out to get her. And in the third book in the series, which I’m writing right now, it’s the weather.
Its a lot of fun putting the women into situations where their magic can help or hinder them and to be honest – given my track record – its probably a lot safer too!

The Author 

Kerry Barrett was a bookworm from a very early age, devouring Enid Blyton and Noel Streatfield, before moving on to Sweet Valley High and 1980s bonkbusters. 

She did a degree in English Literature, then trained as a journalist, writing about everything from pub grub to EastEnders. Her first novel, Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered, took six years to finish and was mostly written in longhand on her commute to work, giving her a very good reason to buy beautiful notebooks. 

Kerry lives in London with her husband and two sons, and Noel Streatfield's Ballet Shoes is still her favourite novel.

The Book


A Kind of Magic 

Part-time witch, full-time glamorous high-flyer Esme Mcleod rubs shoulders with celebrities for a living, has a sort-of-boyfriend …and just enough magic in her fingertips to solve life’s little irritations; why shouldn’t she cast a little spell to catch the busy barman’s attention, or to summon a latte to aid her all-nighters? 

Called back to her small Scottish home town and meddling family, stiletto-clad Esme is way out of her comfort zone… But Esme must embrace her abilities as a witch, or watch her family lose their beloved cafĂ©. 

Except Esme has never claimed to be a whizz at witchcraft, and her charms are starting to go awry - she certainly never meant to cast a love spell on her ex-boyfriend Jamie! It’s time for urgent lessons in magic as well as love – it seems there’s only so much that muttering a few words over cupcake batter will fix…

**AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON NOW FOR 99P**

Buy from Amazon UK

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