Interview with Janice Horton, author of Bagpipes and Bullshot

Well, folks, here it is as promised - a Q&A interview with my novelist chum, Janice Horton (drum roll, please!)

Janice, your ebook Bagpipes & Bullshot is out on Kindle but until today you’ve been asking people NOT to buy it – is that right?
Yes, you may think it’s a strange tactic, but I wanted to ask those who might consider buying Bagpipes & Bullshot to do so on Friday 1st April (it is priced at £1.38 or $2.24) or to tell other people about it on that particular day through their social networks. It’s very difficult to get a new e-book noticed by potential readers on Amazon unless it features on one or more of Top 100 charts, but because of the way Amazon calculates its sales, just a few consolidated sales on one day can make all the difference in pushing it up through the charts!
I’ll be blogging and tweeting all day on Friday 1st April, so for direction to all of the places I’ll be appearing on my Blog Tour throughout the day please visit my blog.
I’ll also be running a Prize Draw on my blog to win some fantastic Kindle Beach Protectors (an essential and stylish accessory for every Kindle owner - but alternatively you could always use it to protect your camera or phone!) All you have to do to be in with a chance to win one is go to my blog and simply leave a comment or RT one of my tweets on Twitter using the hashtag #bagpipes. (Friday 1st April only).

Tell us a bit more about Bagpipes & Bullshot.
It’s a humorous contemporary novel which twists an everyday love story with a whole cast of village eccentrics into an entertaining play on Scottish rural life. When handsome Scottish Laird Innes Buchanan meets beautiful Texan cowgirl Orley McKenna and brings her over to his impoverished estate in Scotland, it’s for more than her expertise with cattle. But before their romance can properly begin, Orley has to contend with a run-down country mansion, a frosty Lady of the manor, and a vengeful ex-girlfriend who puts Lady Macbeth to the shade. I’ll leave it for the reader to tell me if it’s a love story with elements of humour or a humorous novel with elements of love story!


Where did the idea to write about a Texan cowgirl and a Scottish laird come from?
Well, you may be thinking that in a contemporary novel, a cowgirl and a laird are far removed examples of what it is to be American or Scottish today, and you would be right. However, the premise of the story is about opposites attracting and exploring the emotional, cultural, and geographical differences between two people who come from opposite sides of an ocean. It is intentionally larger than life and that’s what makes it entertaining and fun. I’m told there are many laugh out loud moments in Bagpipes & Bullshot!


Where is your favourite place to write?
Living in Scotland that very much depends on how warm it is: for the past six months, I seem to have been glued to the sofa next to the wood burning stove or sat at the kitchen table in front of the Aga with my laptop. This winter has been a particularly long cold one with weeks of temperatures less than -16 degrees C. Roll on the days where I can once again sit under the shade of the trees and write with the sun shining on the garden and the hills around the cottage. I do, incidentally, have a perfectly good study with a desk, but as I share it with my self-employed husband, somehow sitting there seems more conducive to practical work than creative writing.
I guess I’m happy to write anywhere, as long as I’ve actually got some time to immerse myself in what I’m writing.

Can you tell us something of your work in progress?
Yes, I’m hoping to finish writing my next novel by this summer. It has been a long haul job writing this one - not through lack of enthusiasm on my part but simply through real life distractions. Other commitments have quite rightly taken priority over my writing, but that’s not to say writing will have to take a backseat in future. Reaching for the Stars is the story of a disillusioned celebrity chef, who gives up his hard won accolades - three Golden Stars - and goes into self imposed exile in a castle on a Scottish country estate. The heroine of the tale is a rising star in the culinary world, an ambitious chef determined to be the first woman in the UK to get three Golden Stars. As this novel is set against a backdrop of fine food and steamy kitchens - you can imagine all the fun I had researching this book!

What made you decide to go indie and publish Bagpipes & Bullshot on Kindle?
Two reasons: the first was that having been previously published in paperback by both traditional and self publishing methods, I couldn’t resist the challenge of having a go at e-publishing, especially on Kindle, because distribution and marketing on Amazon are all well established. The second reason was that I unexpectedly fell in love with the Kindle my husband bought me for Christmas and wanted to have my books available for it.

But what about people who don’t have a Kindle? Can they download Bagpipes & Bullshot for their PC, Mac, IPhone, IPad etc?
Yes, absolutely. Go to Amazon and download there. I’ll be forever grateful.



About The Author: Janice Horton lives in Scotland and writes entertaining and humorous contemporary women's fiction novels which are, for the most part, inspired by the romantic beauty of the heather-filled glens around her country cottage. When she’s not writing novels she writes lifestyle articles and has had work published in national magazines and regional newspapers. She’s also been involved in BBC Scotland's ‘Write Here Write Now’ project. Her next novel Reaching For The Stars will be available soon on Kindle.
Her blog can be found here and you can follow her on Twitter
Her website is www.janicehorton.co.uk