Today I’m pleased to welcome Alison Brodie to the blog. Alison it the author of Wild Life, The Double and Break Failure. Her latest novel, Zenka was self published on 6 November 2017.

Alison kindly answered a few of my questions.

1. Tell us a little about Zenka.

ZENKA is the story of mob boss, Jack Murray, who discovers he has a son, Nicholas. Jack’s joy is short-lived when he discovers Nicholas is a community nurse whose patients call him an “angel”.

Jack can’t have the embarrassment of having an “angel” as a son! Zenka takes charge. Using her feminine wiles and gangland contacts she will bring out the gorilla in Nicholas. Her tactics are unusual, and illegal, and things soon start to spiral out of control.

2. What inspired the book?

I don’t know. The story just came to me. Jack came first – I think he reminded me of my father-in-law in Hackney who knew someone who knew the Kray twins and he would tell me these stories (true or not…?)

3. Are you a plan, plan, plan writer or do you sit down and see where the words take you?

Both. When a story and/or characters come to me I just scribble bits on paper. After all, the story might not pan out. I keep making notes until I feel I have the bare bones then I sit down and just write, write, write without looking back, without revising. I just get it down on paper. Sometimes you don’t know the story until you have written it. And for me, I get the best inspiration AFTER I have published it! (Thankfully, as an indie author, I can happily edit my books to my heart’s content after publication)

4. Having been through the publishing process a few times is there anything about the process of creating a novel that still surprises you?

What surprises me is how well I get to know my characters. Although with Zenka I didn’t feel that I got to know her fully, and the revelation that came at the end knocked the wind out of me.

5. What do you do when you aren’t writing? What do you do to relax and get away from it all?

I walk my dog, go swimming, and read.

6. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life which book would it be?

This is too difficult to answer. It would be either After the Fire a Still Small Voice by Evie Wyld or The End of the Affair by Grahame Green. (If you had asked me this question two years ago my answer would have been a definite: About a Boy, but I have read it too many times now. (The law of diminishing returns and all that)

7. I like to end my Q&As with the same question so here we go. During all the Q&As and interviews you’ve done what question have you not been asked that you wish had been asked – and what’s the answer?

Question: Who has been the greatest supporter to your work?

Answer: Book bloggers.

About the book

Ruthless.  Stubborn.  Loyal.

Zenka is a Hungarian pole-dancer with a mysterious past.

When cranky London mob boss, Jack Murray, saves her life she vows to become his guardian angel – whether he likes it or not.  Happily, she now has easy access to pistols, brass knuckles and shotguns.

Jack learns he has a son, Nicholas, a male nurse with a heart of gold.  Problem is, Nicholas is a wimp.

Zenka takes charge.  Using her feminine wiles and gangland contacts, she aims to turn Nicholas into a son any self-respecting crime boss would be proud of.  And she succeeds!

Nicholas transforms from pussycat to mad dog, falls in love with Zenka, and finds out where the bodies are buried – because he buries them.  He’s learning fast that sometimes you have to KILL, or be killed.

As his life becomes more terrifying, questions have to be asked: How do you tell a crime boss you don’t want to be his son?And is Zenka really who she says she is?

About the author

Alison Brodie is a Scot, with French Huguenot ancestors on her mother’s side of the family.  Alison was a photographic model, modelling for a wide range of products, including Ducatti motorbikes and 7Up.  She was also the vampire in the Schweppes commercial.

Alison writes contemporary romance.  She aims for a strong plot line, set against the background of a world-changing event, coupled with touches of humour, sexual tension and character transformation.

She loves to hear from her readers.