Today I am so pleased to welcome Josephine Myles to Joyfully Jay. Jo has come to talk to us about her latest release, Stuff, the second book in her Bristol Collection. She has also brought along a great giveaway. Please join me in giving her a big welcome!
Five reasons why Bristol is fabulous!
Not only is Bristol, England, the setting for several of my books (Junk and Stuff in The Bristol Collection, as well as the short story Pole Star), but it’s the city that’s just hosted this year’s UK Meet! It’s been my closest big city for the best part of two decades, now, and so here, in no particular order, are five things that I think make Bristol a fabulous place:
The Architecture
Okay, so it’s not all pretty, but Bristol has some beautiful areas. Clifton can rival the beauty of Bath with its elegant Georgian limestone terraces, and down by the waterfront there are some gorgeous old industrial buildings, lovingly restored to their former glory. There are even older treasures, too, such as medieval pubs and the beautiful Christmas Steps.
Photo by duncan via photopin cc
But best of all is the stunning Clifton Suspension Bridge. Designed by local hero Isambard Kingdom Brunel and built in the nineteenth century, it soars high up across the dramatic Avon Gorge. I honestly think it’s the most beautiful piece of engineering I’ve ever seen, and is especially striking when lit up at night. It was also the site of the world’s first bungee jump!
The Street Art
The home of now world-famous street artist Banksy, Bristol still proudly displays some of his early works, like the Mild, Mild West and the iconic picture of the naked man hanging out of a window. But it’s not all Banksy. The local street art scene thrives, and it’s completely transformed the once run-down area of Stokes Croft in a vibrant and colourful neighbourhood. Is it any wonder I chose to set Stuff in this part of town?!
The Language
Known affectionately as Brizzle, the local accent is definitely West Country, but with its own special flavour. The vowels are very long, and I’ve fallen in love with the Brizzle way of speaking. Who couldn’t love it when people call wellies, “well-errs”?! There are some wonderful expressions and vocab too. “Gert lush” (great or sexy) is my absolute favourite, but there are plenty of others. You’ll also hear something good referred to as “proper job”. When Bristolians want to know where something is they’ll ask “where’s that to?” and when they get off a bus they say “Cheers, Drive!”. And what about the almost universal greeting: “All right, my luvver?” Who could fail to be charmed?!
And Bristolians are proud of their local dialect too. There’s a local dictionary, and even a line of clothing featuring favourite local expressions. Yes, you really can have “gert lush” socks!
If you want to hear some Brizzle for yourself, check out Terry the Odd Job Man’s helpful guides: http://youtu.be/XhgUeY1BExk.
The Floating Harbour
This is hands down my favourite area of the city, where the tidal Avon is dammed to create a permanent city centre harbour. It’s surrounded by museums, arts centres, cafes and restaurants, and the water itself is teeming with boats, including narrowboats, yachts, and the world’s oldest surviving steam tug. Most impressive of all, however, is the ss Great Britain—the world’s first luxury ocean liner, and also designed by local hero, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. It’s now open as a museum and you can poke around on board and go into all the tiny little cabins.
But that’s not the only boat you can go on. There are many boats dotted around that have been converted into restaurants, or if you fancy getting on the move you can take a boat tour of the harbour in a replica fifteenth century sailboat!
The People
Okay, so Bristolians might have an unfortunate tendency to riot at the drop of a hat, but I like to see that as a sign of their independent spirit. Bristolians are proud of their city and while this can occasionally come across as them being hostile/patronising to outsiders—especially those from nearby Bath (I once had a man tell me he was “so sorry” when I told him I used to live in Bath), once you take the time to get to know them you couldn’t meet more friendly people. I should know. I’ve fallen for one of them 😉
Where’s your favourite city, and why?
Clifton Suspension Bridge photo credit: duncan via photopin cc
All other photos copyright Josephine Myles.
Blurb
When Mr. Glad Rags meets Mr. Riches, the result is flaming fun.
Tobias “Mas” Maslin doesn’t need much. A place of his own, weekends of clubbing, a rich boyfriend for love and support. Too bad his latest sugar daddy candidate turns out to be married with kids. Mas wants to be special, not someone’s dirty little secret.
When he loses his job and his flat on the same day, his worlds starts unraveling…until he stumbles across a vintage clothing shop. Now to convince the reclusive, eccentric owner he’s in dire need of a salesman.
Perry Cavendish-Fiennes set up Cabbages and Kinks solely to annoy his controlling father. Truth be told, he’d rather spend every spare moment on his true passion, art. When Mas comes flaming into his life talking nineteen to the dozen, he finds himself offering him a job and a place to live.
He should have listened to his instincts. The shop is already financially on the brink, and Mas’s flirting makes him feel things he’s never felt for a man. Yet Mas seems convinced they can make a go of it—in the shop, and together.
Warning: Contains an eccentric, bumbling Englishman, a gobby drama queen, fantastic retro clothing, scary fairies, exes springing out of the woodwork, and a well-aimed glass of bubbly. Written in brilliantly British English.
Stuff is out now from Samhain Publishing, and is book two in The Bristol Collection (which started with Junk)
- Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I5LA4UW
- Samhain: http://store.samhainpublishing.com/stuff-p-73414.html
- Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/stuff-josephine-myles/1118426964
Bio
English through and through, Josephine Myles is addicted to tea and busy cultivating a reputation for eccentricity. She writes gay erotica and romance, but finds the erotica keeps cuddling up to the romance, and the romance keeps corrupting the erotica. She blames her rebellious muse but he never listens to her anyway, no matter how much she threatens him with a big stick. She’s beginning to suspect he enjoys it.
Jo publishes regularly with Samhain, and has also been known to edit anthologies and self-publish, although she prefers to leave the “boring bits” of the book creation process to someone else.
- Website and blog: http://josephinemyles.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/josephine.myles.author
- Twitter: @JosephineMyles
- Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3499509.Josephine_Myles
- Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/hrQ4s
Giveaway
Jo has brought a choice of backlist book to give away to one lucky reader. Just leave a comment at the end of the post to enter. The contest ends on Thursday, June 12th at 11:59 pm EST.
- By entering the giveaway, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
- Winners will be selected by random number. No purchase necessary to win. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning.
- If you win, you must respond to my email within 48 hours or another winner may be chosen. Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from Joyfully Jay.
- Winners may be announced on the blog following the contest. By entering the contest you are agreeing to allow your name to be posted and promoted as the contest winner by Joyfully Jay.
- Prizes will be distributed following the giveaway either by Joyfully Jay or the person/organization donating the prize.
- By entering you are agreeing to hold Joyfully Jay harmless if the prize or giveaway in some way negatively impacts the winner.
- Readers may only enter once for each contest. Duplicate entries for the same giveaway will be ignored. In the event of technical problems with the blog during the contest, every effort will be made to extend the contest deadline to allow for additional entries.
- Void where prohibited by law.
The book is on my wishlist but I’d love a copy.
Thanks for sharing your 5 reasons for why Bristol is fabulous. I’ve never been and you make it sound fabulous. In answer to your question -Where’s your favorite city, and why? My pick would be Paris!! My fab 5 are for the fabulous food, wine, historical sites, fashion houses, and romance in the air. Thanks for the giveaway.
Ooh, Paris is a wonderful city too. I don’t blame you for picking that one. The art galleries alone are well worth a visit.
After reading your reasons for loving Bristol, I really want to go there. It is very difficult to choose only one favourite city, I’ve been in many places and they all have something that makes them fabulous, one way or another. But if I had to choose only one, I think it would be Dublin. Not only is the city beautiful, the landscapes surrounding it are spectacular as well, and the people are so nice… But above all there is the music. Musicians playing in the Streets in every corner (at least last time I was there it was like that). I loved the feeling of walking along Grafton St and hearing classical music played while a little further there were people playing rock… So good!
I’ve never been to Dublin, Susana, but your description makes me want to book a holiday there straight away!
I’d love to visit Bristol someday. My favorite city so far is Paris followed by San Francisco. I love all the architecture, history, and museums in Paris. The food is great too. San Francisco is different but has great food and is very laid back.
Hi Jen! San Francisco is very high up my wishlist of cities to visit. I do love a good city break 🙂
Thanks for the great post about Bristol and the giveaway. My favorite city is San Francisco. I love the diversity, there are a lot of different things to do, various cuisines available; it is a fairly big city yet it still has a smaller feel to it (as compared to LA, say). I have loved visiting SF ever since I was a young kid.
Have you read Edward Manning’s King Perry? That reads like a love story to the city 🙂
Thanks for sharing Bristol with us. I’m really looking forward to reading this series. Thanks for a chance at winning a copy.
I have not been to Bristol but would love to visit.
Please count me in. Thanks!
Thanks for the giveaway. My favorite city is Boston. There’s so much to do and it has Fenway!
Ooh, another US city I’ve never visited 🙂
Pleas count me in. Thanks.
I jsut love the sounds of this book. I want to read it so bad. I think I would love Bristol.
I remember visiting The Christmas Steps on a school trip from London. I now live in the US but I’m going to name Victoria, B.C., Canada as my favourite city.
It’s the perfect blend for a transplanter like myself, a bit US a bit traditional English, yummy tea shops (not just coffee shops that *might* offer a cuppa), and I honeymooned there!
Please count me in for the drawing. Ta.
I like the sound of Victoria *adds to travel wishlist* 😀
Bristol sounds like such an interesting place to visit or be. I don’t have a favorite city. I haven’t traveled to many places and I’ve always been more about sight seeing than reading about a place.
Thank you for the giveaway! Sounds like a fun book!
New fan of Terry the Odd Job Man – sounds like a great book. TY!
Yay! I’m a new Terry fan myself. Only discovered him when researching this post 🙂
I *loved* Bath, but haven’t made it to Bristol–I hope to someday! I loved London when I went, and hope to return someday. San Francisco is a lot of fun…great museums, restaurants, and record stores, plus every neighborhood is really distinctive. I also find San Jose, CA very underrated (my theory is because all the cool stuff there is spread out, and you have to be willing to trek around the city to find it all)…great little art galleries, the best library I’ve ever seen (seven floors!), and lots of good ethnic food.
Ooh, San Jose? I love the sound of it. I’m definitely hoping to make a trip to California at some point in the next five years 🙂
I didn’t know anything about Bristol and really enjoyed your posting. I don’t have a favorite city, but I really enjoyed visiting Seattle and Vancouver with their beautiful trees, water, mountain and blue skies (when not raining and warmer weather).
Mmm, both those cities are on my wishlist. I have a real thing for beautiful mountain landscapes.
Hmm. Paris is amazing for food, shopping, art, and architecture. Vancouver for spectacular natural beauty. London for history. New York City because it’s the center of so much. Really, really hard to pick just one. Wish I had a lot more money and time for travel. Maybe when my girlies are older.
The funny thing about the Bristolians’ attitude to Bath is that I suspect people in Bath are equally sorry for them! I agree with your view of Bristol; I’ve had close ties to it for more than 20 years and really like it too.
Ha Ha – HJ has the right of it, lol 😀 ! Which just goes to show both are worth a visit 🙂 .
Looking forward to Stuff – Junk was fabulous. Thanks for the giveaway.
I’ve read and loved many of your books and so I am looking forward to reading this one.
My favorite city would have to be London. I’ve only been there once but it is so full of history and beautiful architecture that I’m just overwhelmed. It makes my stomach flutter and I breathe harder….either it’s love or I’m having an attack.
So excited about Stuff. I adored Junk! I’ll also admit to being much more a country girl at heart…
Too late? 🙁
Loved ‘Junk’