Julie has written six novels for Harlequin Mills & Boon, another five single-title romantic novels for Headline’s Little Black Dress. Her latest novel ‘Getting Away With It,’ published through Headline Review, was released in paperback this month.

What was your route to publication?

I started writing with the goal of publication in 2000, and as soon as I’d finished my first manuscript (which was aimed at Harlequin Mills & Boon), I joined the Romantic Novelists’ Association (RNA) in the UK and Romance Writers of America (RWA).  I submitted my first ms to Harlequin and it was quickly rejected.  I then submitted it to the RNA’s New Writers’ Scheme, which gives unpublished members a critique of their full manuscript by a published author.  The critique told me I was pretty much doing everything wrong—but that I did have an engaging writing voice, and, occasionally, a way with words.

I was encouraged enough by that to keep on writing and submitting (and being rejected).  In March 2004 I was thrilled when my fourth manuscript, Featured Attraction, finalled in the RWA Golden Heart contest, which is the biggest contest for unpublished romance writers in the world.  Three months later, I got a phone call from an agent telling me she was interested in representing my fifth manuscript, a stand-alone romance novel called Spirit Willing, Flesh Weak.  And a month after that, in July 2004, I got a call from the senior editor at Harlequin saying they wanted to publish Featured Attraction.

So after years of hard work, the getting-accepted bit happened very quickly.  Publication of my first book was delayed, but I kept on writing and selling, with the result that in 2006 I had five books released by two different publishers.  Since then I’ve moved on to writing commercial women’s fiction for Headline Review, which is a dream come true.

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Mike is the author of ten novels which include, Mr Commitment, My Legendary Girlfriend and the To-Do List. The latest, The Importance of Being a Bachelor has just been released in paperback…

What was your route to publication? 

I started my career as a journalist working for the teen magazine Just Seventeen. After going freelance I decided to have a go at finishing the novel that I’d begun when I first moved to London and a year and several million rewrites later it was done.

Had you always wanted to be a writer? 

Absolutely. I started out wanting to be a music journalist because I was a huge music fan and then moved into the teen stuff because growing up I’d been a huge fan of mags like Smash Hits. I think the truth of the matter was that I wanted to write stuff that made people laugh but also told the truth in some small way. 

Where do you find inspiration for your novels? 

The basis of all my novels are relationships between men and women mainly because I find them so fascinating. No one relationship is the same and so it feels like there are as many stories to tell about relationships as there are relationships. Also, they’re funny. Few things in life beat the joy of watching a couple arguing in IKEA.

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Ali McNamara is the author of ‘From Notting Hill with Love…Actually, released in 2010. We were excited to be having a chat with Ali. We asked her who she’d have over for dinner and about her route to publication.

What was your route to publication & did you always wanted to be a writer?

I first began writing  when myself and a fellow fan began writing a story on singer, Ronan Keating’s message board, the story became so popular the website would sometimes crash because there were so many people trying to log on to read it. Such was its popularity we eventually sold the story for charity, and I went on to write a further two more stories to raise money for Ronan’s cancer awareness charity -The Marie Keating Foundation. It was after that I thought I should have a go at writing a ‘proper’ novel!

From Notting Hill with Love…Actually was the third full length novel I wrote after the stories on Ronan’s website. So I’ve had my fair share of rejections like most other authors, but for some reason I just kept going with this book even though like the other two the pile of rejection letters was starting to get higher and higher, but I just had faith in my story and knew that one day someone would love it just as much as me and want to publish it, and luckily I was right!

Where do you find inspiration for your novels?

‘From Notting Hill with Love…Actually’ came to me when I was watching one of those countdowns on the music channels – ‘100 greatest Movie theme tunes.’

As each of the songs came on to the screen I realised the movies were so well known I knew exactly what was happening even without dialogue, and I thought wouldn’t it be wonderful if I could get all those great movies into one story, and that’s how the idea began to take shape. And I got the idea for my next novel ‘Breakfast at Darcy’s’ from a conversation I had with my husband when we were on holiday in Ireland about the difficulties in living on a remote island if you were to buy one, or in my main character Darcy’s case, inherit one!

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Adele’s first novel ‘Playing Away,’ was published in 2000. The Evening Standard placed her as one of London’s ‘Twenty faces to watch’ the same year. Since then, she’s constantly been on the Times Top Ten bestseller lists. Her latest, ‘Men I’ve Loved Before,’ was released in July 2010. We were very excited to catch up with Adele to ask her how she came to be published and who she’d have to dinner….

Describe your route to publication? 

I’ve always dreamed of being a writer but I bided my time. I wrote one novel and didn’t even submit it, it wasn’t up to it. I waited until I was at a stage of my life where I knew I had something compelling and different to write. I worked on my novel three times a week for three hours and for five hours at a weekend, while holding down an extremely busy day job. I was very disciplined and determined. I then did lots of research on which agent might be interested in my kind of work and yet more research on how to present my work to best advantage. It paid off because the agent I approached did like my pitch and encouraged me. It took just 3 months from my initial approach to my agent until he secured me a deal for my first novel, Playing Away.

How do you approach a typical writing day?

I tend to write in term times to coincide with my son’s school schedule. So I’m normally at my desk at 8.30am ish and I work through until 3.30pm, stopping for a quick lunch. I do my best work in the mornings, so after lunch I often re-read, self edit or research. Obviously kids hols are longer than the normal hols or a working parent so sometimes I am writing when my son is not at school, it requires a lot of discipline (from both of us!) especially on sunny days. I think ‘waiting for the muse’ is an indulgence. I sometimes don’t feel like writing, but I just force myself to get on with it and I’ve found that it’s often when it’s hardest that the work is best.

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Riva Shaw is the author of the ‘Circle of Fire’ trilogy, the first in the series is available now. Novel Kicks was excited to have a chat with Riva. We asked her who she’d have round to dinner and what tips she had for new writers.

Describe your route to publication?

My novel is published through YouWriteOn.com which is effectively self-publishing. I decided to go it alone because Circle of Fire is not easy to categorise and agents and publishers are not happy to take on something that falls between two genres. I know that I risk being told that I am not a proper writer, but hopefully readers will just judge the books on their own merits.

How do you approach a typical writing day?

I don’t really have a typical writing day. I write wherever and whenever I can, either straight on to the computer or in notebooks to be typed up later. Sometimes I will write more if I snatch a few moments here and there than if I have a whole day to play with.

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Lucy Dillon is a successful author. Her latest book ‘Walking Back to Happiness’ has just been released. Lucy kindly had a chat with us here at Novel Kicks. We asked her where she finds her inspiration and which character from fiction she’d like to meet.

Where do you find inspiration?

All over the place. I read a lot of newspapers – you find the most fascinating ideas and stories in the corners, and in the announcements sections. Small ads. Births and deaths. Court reports. It’s all a real story that’s happened to someone, and affected their lives in extraordinary ways. I browse the internet constantly (far too much, actually), especially American eBay, and wonder about how things got there and why. I also gossip, and eavesdrop. A LOT.

Briefly describe what your latest novel ‘Walking back to Happiness’ is about.

When Ben Falconer dies unexpectedly at the age of 32, Juliet loses her childhood sweetheart, and their terrier Minton loses the master he worships. Juliet’s mother Diane feels terrible about interfering with Juliet’s self-imposed isolation in her unfinished ‘forever house’, but she needs someone to petsit the family Labrador while she, in turn, babysits her other daughter, Louise’s, toddler during the week. Since dogs are the only company Juliet can face, she agrees, and soon she’s walking all over Longhampton with her growing team of silent but friendly companions. But the dogs are easier to manage than their owners, and when Juliet starts to petsit a beautiful spaniel, all sorts of secrets are unleashed…

(I’m not very good at synopses – they tend to go on for pages, which is why I hand all cover copy duties to my excellent editor, Isobel!)

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Rosy Thornton is the author of four novels. Her latest, The Tapestry of Love was released in October. When Rosy isn’t writing, she teaches at Cambridge University. Novel Kicks was very excited to be chatting to Rosy. We asked her where she finds her inspiration and which character from fiction she’d like to meet.

What was your route to publication like?

My first attempt at writing fiction was internet fanfic: a pastiche sequel to Elizabeth Gaskell’s ‘North and South’. I had a go at getting it published, without success – mainly because it was embarrassing tosh! But straight after that novel I began another – contemporary, humorous – and that was what became my first published novel, ‘More Than Love Letters’.

Publication wasn’t a smooth ride. I must have tried every literary agent in the known universe – and in the end found my own lovely agent by pure fluke. He was listed at the time as handling non-fiction only, and I approached him by mistake, but he just happened to be looking to get into fiction, liked the book and took me on.

Where do you find inspiration?

‘Inspiration’ always seems the wrong word to me – like something external and sudden and mysterious. The reality is far more mundane: I just write what I see about me. I tend to choose settings I know, and I draw upon observation of the people and relationships that surround me.

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Joanna Lambert (the pen name of Audrey Hawkins) is the writer of the ‘Behind Blue Eyes’ trilogy; When Tomorrow Comes, Love, Lies and Promises and most recently, The Ghost of You and Me. She’s about to embark on her fourth novel.
We were very pleased to be able to chat with Joanna about her writing life…

What was your route to publication like?

I completed In Sunshine and in Shadow, as the manuscript was originally called, began submitting, failed to interest any agents and then decided to shelve for a while and get on with some short story writing.  Then a conversation at work about hobbies  resulted in the manuscript being circulated for a few book lovers to read.  Up until that time my work had been for my eyes only so I had no idea how it would be received.  I asked for honest, constructive feedback and what came back was so positive that I knew I had to finish the journey and get it published.

Describe your typical writing day?

As I work full time I have to squeeze my writing into evenings and weekends; it’s whenever I can tuck time in.  I do, however, make sure I have protected periods to actually put my thoughts onto the PC.  I usually manage a couple of hours each evening and, social life permitting, at least five hours at the weekend.  Also a notebook and pen in my bag are a must so I can scribble ideas down as soon as they come into my head.

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‘The Help’ by Kathryn Stockett was our book club title for September. Here’s the complete Q&As that Kathryn and her publisher (Penguin) contributed to our book club discussion.

Are you Skeeter?

No, I am definitely not Skeeter.  I was never that brave.  Growing up, I don’t recall giving a second thought about the situation between blacks and whites. Honestly, it wasn’t until twenty years later, after Demetrie’s death, that I started to think about how complex, and imbalanced, our relationship was. Not to mention, I am five foot two.  My hair tends to frizz year round, but I have yet to find a Shinalator that works.

Is there going to be a movie?

The option for film rights have been sold to Tate Taylor and Brunson Green, both filmmakers living in Los Angeles, originally from Jackson. I am so proud and so excited that the film is in the hands of Mississippians.  They saw and lived it right along with me.

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Sophie Kinsella is the author of eight number one bestselling novels including the fabulously popular Shopaholic series as well as the number one bestsellers Can You Keep A Secret?, The Undomestic Goddess, Remember Me?, and Twenties Girl.

Where do you find your inspiration?

I find inspiration from all around me. I love to sit in coffee shops and just take in the chatter.

Describe a typical writing day?

When I’m planning a book, I head to a coffee shop with a notebook, where I sketch out the plot, bits of dialogue and scenes. When I’m actually writing, I start first thing and aim to write a thousand words. I then take a break, but might return to edit what I’ve done in the evening.

Mini Shopaholic has finally arrived in shops. Was it nice to return to Becky Bloomwood?

It was an absolute joy! I love Becky so much, not to mention all her family and friends, so to return to her is like catching up with a world which has been continuing on all this while.

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Rowan’s first novel ‘Growing Up Twice’ was published in 2002. Since then, she’s written another eight novels, her latest ‘The Happy Home for Broken Hearts’ (published by UK Arrow) was released in August 2010. Novel Kicks was excited to have a chat with Rowan about how she approached the writing process…

Describe your typical writing day? 

My typical writing is day starts after I’ve dropped my little girl off at school, on the days when I have someone to look after my baby. If things are going well I work in my office, looking out over a stream. But if I’m stuck I go to a cafe and work there – I don’t know why noise and people seem to help me think.

Where do you find inspiration? 

I find my inspiration everywhere. From my own life certainly, my own experiences and how I would feel in some of the situations I put my characters in. Also conversations I over hear, people I meet, or see in the street. Sometimes even from virtual friends I have never met in real life!

What was your route to publication like? 

My route to publication was actually quite smooth. I won Company Magazine Young Writer of the Year in 2001 and that opened a lot of doors for me, got me an agent and my first book deal. But even once you are published life as a writer is a rocky one, full of ups and downs. I don’t think the struggle to keep going ever stops!

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Ilana Fox is the author of two books, ‘The Making of Mia’ (2008) and ‘Spotlight,’ (2010), both published by Orion Books. She’s currently working on her third novel ‘No Prince Charming.’ Novel Kicks was very excited to be having a chat with Ilana. We asked her where her inspiration comes from, which author she admire’s and who she’d have to a fantasy dinner.

Describe your typical writing day.

I get up quite early considering I don’t need to commute, and then I give my kittens breakfast and wait for them to come and cuddle me in bed. Then I eventually get up and do a few bits and pieces and settle into writing. I’ll either start writing as soon as I hit my laptop, or I’ll spend an hour or so responding to emails and messages. When I start writing I tend not to stop, so I can be on my computer for up to ten hours without a break. If I’m in the zone I don’t want to be out of it.

Do you plan before starting a book?

I plan an awful lot, only to disregard most of it when I’m writing the manuscript! I know what’s meant to happen in each chapter, and in each scene in a chapter, but often my characters end up saying things or doing things differently to how I imagined, so I have to go back and change the plan. I revise the plan about four times while I’m writing a novel.

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Lindsey Kelk is the author of the popular I Heart Series, the most recent, I Heart Paris, has just been released in the UK. Novel Kicks had a chat with Lindsey to ask her what her route to publication was, her top five tips for writers and who her ideal dinner guests would be….

What was your route to publication?

I wrote I Heart New York about three years ago, sent it out to every agent under the sun and then sat twiddling my thumbs while the rejections came in. Eventually, a super awesome amazing agent agreed to meet with me and discuss how we might work together. But when we met, it transpired that she hates I Heart New York and wanted me to work on something else. Since I was a) stubborn and b) a little bit in love with the book, I walked away from the agent (shatting myself that I would never find another) and asked a friend at HarperCollins if she knew any agents I could talk to. Amazingly, she passed the manuscript on to the publisher of the commercial women’s fiction team who read it, loved it and offered me a three book deal. It goes without saying that I was incredibly, incredibly lucky and am super grateful every day for that agent telling me I Heart New York was shit. And that I would have to use a pseudonym because my name sounded like a cat being sick. She was a delight.

Describe your typical writing day:

Sadly, there’s no such thing! I’m currently still working full time as an editor in children’s books so all of my writing happens at night. That suits me anyway because, for some reason, I just can’t seem to be personally creative in the day. It’s weird. I can work wonders on the books I’m editing but as for writing my own stuff, it just won’t come out. I’m a night owl, so it suits.

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Alison Baverstock is an experienced Writer, Publisher and Trainer. She’s the author of ‘Is There A Book In You’ and ‘Marketing Your Book – An Author’s Guide.’ Novel Kicks had a chat with Alison to ask her how she approached a typical writing day and which authors she admired the most….

Describe your typical writing day?

I love writing early in the morning, and even more so going to bed thinking that I shall get up early tomorrow to write.  There is both a peace and energy about the house first thing in the day – I am aware that my family are asleep beneath me (my writing room is at the top of the house) and that they may wake up soon (although this got less likely as they all became teenagers) so there is a limit on how much time I have.  It’s a bit like driving sleeping children in the car at night – you feel responsible, alive and excited.
Once I have written for a couple of hours I stop and then find myself sneaking up to edit or add bits throughout the day – but the main sweep is always done in the morning.

You’re a publisher as well as a writer; what advice do you have for writers submitting work?

Don’t submit until you are ready to be judged by your work.  It doesn’t matter how good the marketing package is, or how enticing your cleverly drafted introductory email, if the work is not as good as it could be, it will show.  Given that my particular expertise has been marketing it may be ironic for me to say this, but there’s a growing strand to some writing about writing that puts forward the thesis that all that matters is the marketing.  It doesn’t, the writing has to be the most important thing.

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Jonathan Lee is an English author. Who is Mr Satoshi? is his debut novel. We had a chat with Jonathan to find out a little about him and his novel, as well as his writing habits…..

Have you always wanted to write?

I spent quite a long time wanting to be a writer. The only thing I wasn’t so keen on was the actual writing. It’s a bit like that Mark Twain quote about a ‘classic’ book being something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read. I wanted to skip the pencil buying, back ache and paper cuts and have the finished novel in my hands. When I got to university I started penning terrible autobiographical bits and pieces, but I was too preoccupied with other things to have a serious stab at developing any kind of craft. I did a lot of reading, though. With hindsight, that helped me learn some of the tricks a novelist needs.

What was your route to publication?

I’m 29 now. When I was around 25 I had a kind of quarter-life crisis. It wasn’t anything particularly dramatic. I didn’t buy a Porche or run off with anyone inappropriate. But I was sitting in an office in the City all day, wolfing down soggy sandwiches at my desk, and I realised that I hadn’t made any inroads into this niggling ambition of mine, this desire to be a writer. So I started to write more seriously. And then a twenty-something friend of mine published a novel and it did well. The sense of envy probably gave me the final push I needed. I ended up taking six months off work to write full-time. At the end of that period I sent the first three chapters off to a few literary agents, and I was fortunate that Clare Alexander liked what I had sent. We worked together on getting the full manuscript into shape and, a few months later, Jason Arthur called and offered me a two book deal with Random House. I’m skipping over the rejections and the days when things seemed genuinely bleak, but the truth is it all happened very quickly and I was lucky in all sorts of ways.

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Lynn Shepherd is the author of Murder at Mansfield Park. Novel Kicks had a chat with Lynn to ask her, amongst other things, what her route to publication was and what advice she has for new writers.

What was your route to publication?

I already had an agent (Ben Mason, now at FoxMason), so I did get a lot of support through the writing process, but we were really unlucky to end up pitching the book to publishers in January 2009, at just about the worst point in the recession, when no-one wanted to take a chance on any author without a cast-iron track record. But my agent was incredibly persistent and determined, and we eventually got an offer from a lovely indie publisher in London, Beautiful Books.  And that seemed to open the floodgates. First we got the US and Canada with St Martin’s Press, and then Allen & Unwin in Australia and New Zealand, and there’s a Spanish version in the works now too.

Have you always wanted to write?

Absolutely – having Murder at Mansfield Park published is a 24-carat lifetime dream-come-true. Writing is something I always wanted to do, but I only sat down and started to work on it properly 10 years ago. That first attempt was a modern mystery story based round the discovery of a long-lost manuscript of Mansfield Park, and included my first attempts at Austen pastiche (in fact I re-hashed quite a lot of it for the latest one). That one didn’t quite make it, but it was an invaluable apprenticeship in the craft of putting a novel together. Like a lot of would-be writers, I studied English at university, but it’s a long way from there to writing something decent of your own!

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Katie Fforde is the author of sixteenth published novels. Her latest ‘A Perfect Proposal’ is due for release on 10th June 2010. We had a chat with Katie and asked her questions including what her route to publication was and her top five tips for writers….

What was your route to publication?

My route to publication was through the Romantic Novelists Association.  They have a New Writer’s scheme whereby unpublished writers can submit their novel to the association where it will be read by a published novelist and a report written on it.  The organiser of the scheme that year was a scout for a new literary agent.  The organiser was Dr. Hilary Johnson, who is now a book doctor, and the agent was Sarah Molloy of A. M. Heath.  Sarah found me a publisher before the book I wrote after meeting her was finished.

Have you always wanted to write?

I wasn’t aware I always wanted to write until I was in my twenties but I realise I lived so much of my life in my imagination and so was a bit slow on the uptake.

Do you have a planning process before sitting down to write a book?

I do plan my books a bit, but I often start before I’ve finished planning properly because I just can’t wait to get on with the story.

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Jenny Colgan is the author of 10 novels such as ‘Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend,’ ‘Operation Sunshine,’ and ‘West End Girls.’ Her latest release ‘The Good The Bad and the Dumped’ is due for release on 13th May 2010.

Describe your typical writing day?

Woken by 2 year old hurling himself on bed, feed, bath and dress baby, 2 year old and 4 year old, take 4 year old to school, prevent 2 year old from sneaking into school again, hand over two littlies to my fantastic housekeeper Geri, go for a jog or a walk down the beach depending on how energetic I’m feeling; have a bath, spend one hour on one project; take laptop down to local bakery, have a coffee and a pain au chocolat, write 2000 words, rescue littlies at 1.30, play with them all afternoon, pick up 4 year old from school, usually with a couple of his wee friends in tow, cook supper, throw them all into bed, collapse on sofa with knitting and chocolate, fall into bed. That’s whilst my husband’s away working; when he’s home he picks up a lot of the slack!

What was your route to publication? Had you always wanted to write?

I did want to write but I viewed it in the same way as I viewed becoming a popstar or an olympic gymnast; nice idea in theory, unlikely in practice.  I was working in a hospital and tried out a little bit of stand up-  I was absolutely terrible, but I found I could write things that were funny, even though I wasn’t very funny as a performer. It was the biggest confidence boost of my life. After that I tried everything- cartooning, sketch writing, performance poetry; children’s stories, and the one that worked for me was a novel I wrote in my lunch hour. Nobody was more surprised that me when it finally happened; it was like ‘no, no, no, no, no, YES.’. You can have a million ‘nos’; all you need is one yes.

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Pauline Barclay is the author of ‘Magnolia House’ and her latest book ‘Satchfield Hall’ has just been released.

Where do you find your inspiration?

Anywhere and everywhere! I find inspiration and ideas from sometimes just a word or a phrase, listening to music, reading, watching people, talking to people, out walking the dog. Just being aware of others. Life is so interesting and fascinating.

Have you always wanted to be a writer?

I have always enjoyed writing, when I was at junior school, I wrote a song and it was sung at one of the school’s parent days. Just before we all started to sing, the teacher announced who had written the song and to my horror she gave the credit to the wrong Pauline! I eventually got over it and since then I’ve left song writing to others. My real passion is writing and during the last fifteen years I have written over sixteen short stories, as well as my two published novels, Magnolia House and Satchfield Hall, I have also written two other full length stories. These still sit in the archives of my computer! Away from my passion of fiction writing, I spent many years as a communications manager. This work entailed writing in-house magazines, press releases for the specialist international press, pages for web sites etc. So much of my life, one way or another, has been very much involved in writing.

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Karen Joy Fowler is the author of The Jane Austen Book Club which spent thirteen weeks on the New York Times bestsellers list and was a New York Times Notable Book. Fowler’s previous novel, Sister Noon, was a finalist for the 2001 PEN/Faulkner Award for fiction. Novel Kicks caught up with Karen Joy Fowler……

Describe your typical writing day?

Author Photo: Beth Gwinn

On my typical writing day I don’t write.  Sad, but true.  I answer my email, I check out various blogs I like, I answer more of my email.  Then it’s lunchtime.  I believe I’m going to start to write at any moment, but after lunch I have more email and all the blogs have updated.  The dog needs to be walked and it’s time to start dinner.  Besides, by late afternoon I’m too tired for the sustained concentration of writing a book.  I’m disappointed, but strangely optimistic about tomorrow.  Which may or may not be a rinse and repeat sort of day.

Where do you find your inspiration?

Anywhere and everywhere.  I eavesdrop when strangers talk – very easy in this day of the cell phone.  I misunderstand the lyrics to rock songs in a fruitful way.  I get ideas from reading other people’s fabulous stories and poems.  And history books, of course.  Especially inaccurate history books – history books with attitude and agenda.  Scientific studies, especially if I only know about them because of eavesdropping (see above.)  I find that a little bit of information about something is much more inspiring than a lot of information about it.  Though if the story I want to write needs a lot of information, I’m happy to go and get it.

What’s your editing process like?

I love rewriting – much more pleasurable than the first draft – so I do a ton of it and I do it everyday.  I’m always polishing the language, moving the scenes about, changing the location, changing the time period.  Tinker, tinker, tinker.  It’s the best part.

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