BOOK PROMO
Julie Blackie and Nicky Doherty
Their backgrounds working on Newcastle’s riot-torn estates inspired them to move on to the next chapter of their lives.
North East novelists Julie Blackie and Nicky Doherty took their experiences from 20 years ago while working on regeneration schemes in the West End to give them the background for their first novel together.
And they hope to win Geordie hearts with their gritty crime novel, The Prodigal.
The pair, who saw first-hand the hard lives of the salt of the earth northerners in some of the most deprived neighbourhoods, became friends after discovering they had a love of writing in common. And after getting their heads together they created The Prodigal under the pen-name Nicky Black.
After working on regenerations schemes in Elswick and Scotswood in Newcastle they both went into careers in writing which took them on different paths. Nicky, who was born in Alnwick but settled in Heaton, Newcastle, wrote for theatre, while Julie, who was brought up in Benwell, Newcastle, and worked as a community worker in Byker, wrote for television – including Hollyoaks and Casualty. They both gave up writing for different careers, but the writing collaboration came together again, with a shared determination to ensure The Prodigal made it into print. Nicky, 47, who now lives in London and whose day job is a director of a company helping people back into employment, said: “We met in 1995 when working at City Challenge, a regeneration programme set up after the riots. “The characters are made from a combination of people we met. The estates had burglaries which people didn’t report, we saw organised crime, drugs and domestic violence. “The women were the strong ones who stood up to communities and the police. They made sure they were heard to help others.” The tale was born from a throw away comment from a police friend about the different motivations of police informers in Newcastle. Mum-of-four Julie, 60, of Ponteland, who is director of Pink Boutique, said: “In 1999 I met a senior police officer in Byker who offered to check over another script I’d written for accuracy on police procedure. As an aside I asked him about informers, who they are and what motivates them to do it. “I was fascinated to hear him categorise informers into three types – small time criminals who do it for money, people who do it for self-interest - usually to deflect police attention from their crimes or to get sentences reduced - and then the most dangerous kind of informing, women do who do it for moral reasons.” The Prodigal was initially destined to be a two-part TV serial commissioned by Granada, but Nicky, a long time fan of the story, asked if she could adapt the script into a novel and, after working on it at weekends and evenings, took four years to get it ready. The pair, who have self-published through Amazon, are already focusing on their next book. The Prodigal is set in 1999 and fans, desperate to know what happens next, are asking for a sequel. Nicky’s plans are to step back in time and adapt another of Julie’s scripts set in rave era of 1989.
BLURB
The Prodigal - what is it about?
Julie Blackie and Nicky Doherty have written their first novel 'The Prodigal'
Detective Sgt Lee Jamieson, exiled from his beloved Newcastle sixteen years ago, is returning home in search of the teenage daughter he’s never met.
With a good promotion under his belt and his parents gone, he’s ready to return to his roots and the warm Geordie spirit he has missed so much.
Much to his surprise, his first assignment is in Valley Park, a forgotten sink estate and home to some of the worst social deprivation in the country – the estate where he grew up, and where Nicola Kelly, the wife of a renowned local villain, calls home.
As Lee and Nicola’s lives become entwined through a series of dramatic events, they fall in love and embark on a dangerous affair that will change both of their lives forever.
Nicola’s husband, Micky, has few scruples, and, as he feels her slipping away, tightens his grip on her affections.
In order for Lee and Nicola to be together, Micky Kelly has to go.
Buy link
http://www.amazon.com/Prodigal-Nicky-Black-ebook/dp/B010W0IE5A/ref=sr_1_8?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1440445178&sr=1-8&keywords=the+prodigal
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