Novel Kicks is an online community designed especially for writers whether published or taking those first few steps. I am delighted that Laura Parish, the site's founder has agreed to answer some questions for me.

Laura, please tell us a little about yourself.

I’ve recently turned thirty and still wondering where my twenties went. I’ve wanted to write a book for years but fear has always got in the way. However, I’ve recently become a member of the Romantic Novelist’s Association New Writers Scheme so I’m hoping the lack of book will soon change. I also love music and would love to be working in the radio industry but for now I’ll stick with my I-pod which has songs ranging from The Beatles to Westlife to Lady Gaga (much to my husband’s Chris’ annoyance.) If I’m not writing, reading or dancing around to pop music, I watch TV for a living. :)

How did you come up with the idea for Novel Kicks?

Being a new writer myself, one of the things that I find the scariest (other than committing to the actual writing of the book) is letting people read my work. Therefore I thought it would be great to have somewhere people could post work and gain feedback (including me) and be around people in the same boat. As I work shifts, I couldn’t commit to a weekly writing group so putting something online seemed like the next best thing. Also, around the same time, my friend Roland was recruiting people on a Facebook Group to commit to writing a book in a year. I put the two ideas together in my head and suggested Novel Kicks to him.

What are your aims and ambitions for Novel Kicks?

My main ambition for Novel Kicks is to have a community within the forums. Somewhere people feel they can go to discuss with fellow writers and where people would feel comfortable in posting work. I also want the author interview section to continue to be as successful as it has been.

What have you enjoyed most about the experience?

Meeting new people via the virtual world of the site and being able to be in contact with some of the authors I admire has been the thing I’ve loved the most. I’ve managed to be in contact with so many lovely people (authors as well as users of the site) and it’s great. I’ve also been sent books for review; books I wouldn’t have normally picked up but have loved. If not for the site then I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to read so many wonderful stories.

How can people get in touch with you?

You can become a member on Novel Kicks (http://www.novelkicks.co.uk) – it’s free and we have a monthly book club and writing group where anyone is welcome to contribute too. You can also contact me via e-mail (novel@novelkicks.co.uk) and we’re also on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/novelkicks) and Twitter (@novelkicks)

If you’re a new writer and don’t really know where to begin then please come join Novel Kicks. We’re all a friendly bunch and the more people who use the forum, the better it will become.

Sea Witch by Helen Hollick

As I promised, my first Indie book review. I am so glad I started with this one. It proves what I have been saying, that there is some really good Indie writing out there.

Firstly, and most importantly for me, it is a good story and I was hooked from the very first page. Sea Witch, the first in a series, is the story of a pirate, Jesemiah Acorne, charming, handsome - of course - ruthless, but basically good and just a little vulnerable, all you would wish for from an enduring hero. The heroine, Tiola Oldstagh is a white witch with extraordinary powers but not the wand waving, spell weaving type and she has strength of character that comes not just from her powers. All the characters are believable even the baddies and the author shows us why they do what they do.

The story is basically boy meets girl, boy loses girl etc. but actually it is much more than that. Helen Hollick sets the period perfectly, it is well researched and detailed without long paragraphs of description or lecture notes. I love history and if a book has a good story and also educates me then  all the better. Within the first few pages I had learned the difference between a pirate and a privateer for example. No, I'm not going to tell you. Read it for yourself.

I am pleased to say that having been hooked initially Sea Witch kept me turning the pages right to the end and I am very happy to recommend it.

Why I am going to start reviewing Indie books.

There has been more and more interest recently in Indie and Self-published authors, especially with the growing market for e-books. Anyone can publish a book on Kindle. This has to be a  good thing in general as there is some great stuff out there and mainstream publishers are reluctant to take a chance on new authors unless they are guaranteed substantial sales.

The problem of course, is that there is also a lot of dross, bad writing, and good writing badly edited.

I decided recently that as I have gone down the Indie route myself, I should make an effort to discover and support other Indie authors.  But how to sort the good from the bad? I've chosen a couple of well reviewed books to start with and I'll post the reviews on this blog and goodreads, Amazon, etc. Although I will still read mainstream books - obviously - I'll only use this blog to review the Indies.