Piper Nuelle

Ok, ok, it’s here, the day is finally here for me to celebrate with you and my loved ones my book release!!! My book baby ‘Death’s Carousel’ is finally released!!! It’s been set free upon the world and I cannot wait for people to read it and hopefully enjoy it.

Of course I am going to be celebrating at home with a little drink or two to celebrate, it has been a year of hard work, from that first draft, the the second draft, to the final draft, the the editing, and more editing, and even more editing and then the proofing. It’s been crazy but amazing all at the same time!!!

Here is the link to my book – Death’s Carousel. I have currently released it in three formats, Kindle, Paperback and Hardback. The Kindle copy is priced at £2.99, the Paperback is at £9.99 and the Hardback is £15.99. But make sure to read to the end of my blog post today and over the next few days, because I will be doing a few competitions to win a few signed copies!!!

So lets talk about my book… I’ve decided today’s blog post can be a little interview with me and my book… My lovely friend and publisher Mercedes Prunty is going to help me, just so I’m not sitting here like a crazy lady interviewing myself lol…

Mercedes – Hi Piper and congratulations on the book.

Piper – Thank you so much. I couldn’t have done it without your help.

Mercedes – Oh, you definitely could and would have, but I am so pleased to have been a part of this process and to see your book grow and become what it is today. But, today is all about you and your book, so lets chat. What is your book ‘Death’s Carousel’ about?

Piper – Death’s Carousel is a thriller / horror based in an old, decaying fairground that has been left to rot. A group of friends all get together and have a party and get blind drunk, or so they think, but when they all wake up they find that they have been drugged, kidnapped and strapped to a Carousel. Someone that they bullied in high school is out to get revenge and in the most brutal and dramatic way possible. Each friend that has been kidnapped has to try and figure out why they have been kidnapped, but they have to do it before a deathly lullaby that is all about them and what they did to their victim finishes. Each song is more horrific than the next and each person that doesn’t work it out gets murdered in that song filled horrific way.

Mercedes – Wow, that sounds, gory and insanely relatable lol. I think everyone at some point has been bullied and would love to murder their bully.

Piper – Exactly. The main character who strangely enough you don’t meet straight away has had enough, their trauma has been pushed to the limits and they snap. Only thing is they have snapped in the most beautifully, creative, yet sick and twisted way. To me it is very much a story about one’s bullies getting their comeuppance.

Mercedes – What inspired you to write this story in particular?

Piper – I had been bullied growing up, maybe not to the extent that my character did, but bad enough. And I guess you always dream of getting some form of revenge. But this story had been in the back of my mind for years, I had scribbled it down many moons ago on a scrap piece of paper but never had the time or the opportunity to explore it. Then I encountered some work place bullying at my previous job. I had worked my ass off to try and get a promotion at work, but for some reason my boss and a few set colleagues that all pulled the strings didn’t like me. Two of my managers had been training me up to become a manager because I had worked for the company for over five years and saw I wanted to climb the corporate ladder and said I had potential, but they didn’t have the final say. And then, someone that had taken that chance away from me before at a previous store (I had transferred) was offered the job instead. When I questioned management my boss told me that he didn’t like me, no one did, no one had a good word to say about me and that no matter what I knew or how much I learnt, he would never promote me. He belittled me so much, I cried! And then… I quit. I told them that I wouldn’t continue to work for a company that bullied and belittled women. (He had a problem with certain women, I later found out from an old colleague that he later promoted her because he was asked why he never promoted women, but he gave her such crap, she was looking to go elsewhere). And it even turned out that the person he promoted that had managed to scoop the job from me at a previous store and then this one, lasted only a month before transferring back to their old store because they couldn’t work with him or his cronies that sat in his office. So it was kind of a karmic payback for him!!! Because then he had no one that was willing to do the job. But his bullying and the other staff made me quit, made me quit just before NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and so, whilst I sat job hunting, I sat and wrote this book in that month. I also listened to music by an artist called ‘Melanie Martinez’, thanks to my youngest daughter who adored her and made us go to her ‘Trilogy Tour’ Concert at the London 02. Her music gave me the inspiration to make all the revenge happen at the fun fair due to her song ‘Carousel’.

Mercedes – Song the song Carousel by Melanie Martinez inspired the theme of the fairground?

Piper – Yes she did. I listened to that song so damn much. All I could see in my head was the people that had bullied me, or that became my main characters bullies, sitting on this Carousel, well chained to it and then being sung to death one by one whilst it spun round and the horses went up and down.

Mercedes – So, how long did it actually take you to write, say from first draft to finished manuscript?

Piper – Well, technically probably over ten years from when I first had the idea of revenge on bullies. But again, technically Eleven months! I wrote a draft by hand in a notebook last October just after leaving my old job. Then November came along with NaNoWriMo, and I wrote the whole second draft on my PC in that month. Then I edited my book myself before asking you to edit it for me. Then I had my lovely Beta readers read it and then I did my final edits and proofing.

Mercedes – Who do you think inspired your writing for thrillers and horrors?

Piper – Oh that’s easy. I’ve always loved Stephen King’s Carrie!!! The number one book for high school bullies getting their comeuppance. Actually one of my Beta readers likened it to Carrie, just without Telekinesis and Singing instead. I also love the author S.D.Perry who wrote the novel adaptions for the Resident Evil franchise. Her descriptions of blood, guts and gore fascinated me to no end. I still have the whole collection of her books now, and quite often re-visit them when I need some inspiration.

Mercedes – And how did you choose your cover design for your book?

Piper – Oh, you know this… I had your help.

Mercedes – Yes you did. I did indeed help create your cover but there were a few ideas floating around at the meeting table. What made you go with the one I created.

Piper – I originally drew an image of what I kind of wanted, but it kind of looked a little too childish. I didn’t want some younger person picking up my book by accident and finding murders inside. So, when I came to you I did have another idea. I wanted something similar to the British road sign design for Theme park. They are usually brown on a light background but with a symbol that is easily recognisable. I wanted something like that but with a little more colour, moody depth and blood splatters. That’s when you created the picture. And then we edited it to bring out the Carousel horse but also make the blood splatters really take your focus.

Mercedes – I do admit, it was fun to bring out my artistic side again and create a cover. So, do you think there will be a sequel?

Piper – I am currently writing it now!!! No spoilers though I’m afraid.

Mercedes – How did you choose your books title ‘Death’s Carousel’?

Piper – I guess because the opening scene is the high school bullies all being tied to the decaying fairground Carousel and then later on in the book it re-appears for one of the final songs and murders. Originally I was just going to name it Carousel, but there have been films with that name and I didn’t want it to get lost in the void or be mistaken for something else. Plus, the lyrics to the first song is ‘Death’s Carousel’.

Mercedes – With the lyrics to each of the deathly lullabies, did you write them or did you have any help?

Piper – I will admit that Melanie Martinez’s songs influenced me, but I wrote them all myself. I loved her edginess, her don’t care attitude, that kind of theme filtering throughout each song and each song being dedicated to an individual part of the fairground. The song’s are of course based on a way the main character was bullied and then how they potentially murder the bullies for revenge and also a part of the fairground, such as;

• House of Shards = Mirror fun house
• Death’s Carousel = A Carousel
• Punch and Judy = A puppet show that used to be common at funfairs or beaches in the UK.
• Bumper car tag, Dodgem hide and seek = A mixture of hide and seek and the game tag
• Whack a mole boy = The Whack a mole game with the hammer
• Porta Loo playdate = The toilets that are used for building works or for festivals etc
• Bouncy Razor Castle = A bouncy castle
• And a small kind of Sonnet style song called, Sorry, not Sorry = Because why would a bully truly ever apologise

Mercedes – And finally, what is one surprising thing this book and writing journey has taught you?

Piper – To not care what people think and to just write it. Who cares if people read it and find it weird, who cares if getting murderous revenge on a bully (Fictionally of course) is a bit much. Who cares if my bullies read it and realise that I may have murdered one of them in my book. This book is mine, and it needed to be written and I wrote it for me, to feel better. And I just hope that it makes people feel better about themselves, that yes you may be bullied but you are the better person, ten fold, just for not murdering their ass for what they did to you. (Also, quick disclaimer, this book is entirely a work of fiction, and I do not condone violence or real murder. If someone bullies you or upsets you, just write it all down and be creative, but never act on impulse, because then you may get put in jail and might not get to read the second instalment when it comes out).

Mercedes – Lol, great advise lol.

I hope you enjoyed my little author interview with me lol. It is so weird that I’m the one being interviewed and this blog post is all about my book.

As promised if you read the top of my post I will be doing giveaways for signed copies of my book all this week. I will do a few chances for people to get their hands on one, but remember you can always buy a copy from Amazon, it just won’t be signed by mwah.

Todays chance to get your hands on one is to comment on this blog post your name or a nick name if you don’t want to post your real name and then email, Pipernuelle@gmail.com with your name or nick name so I know it is you. If you win I will of course email you back to let you know BUT… if anyone emails you from another email address other than mine above please do not accept it or give any personal details. I also won’t ask for any payment or postage etc, I will cover those costs, so please, please, please do not give any bank details or pay for anything. All that I will require from you is an address to send it to if you win. I will also close this giveaway in two weeks time on 2nd September 2025. And don’t worry if you come across this way after the closing date, I will do future giveaways on my blog here or on my Instagram @PiperNuelle too, so why not give me a follow on there xo

See you tomorrow with more fun and revenge at the fair.

xo Piper xo