Mick’s Musings: Time To Let The Baby Fly The Nest
Nope, we’re not talking a variation on the Immaculate Conception, so don’t all line up wanting to become my manager. No ‘get rich quick’ scheme here. I’m referring to the fact that after getting my report back from the book I submitted to the RNA New Writer’s Scheme, I’ve now completed the changes/followed the advice that I was given and sent it off to the first publishing house yesterday. But it felt like letting my baby fledge and I admit to needing a little bit of a push to hit that ‘send’ button in my email. A little bit of procrastination reared its head. Asking a friend for advice, replying back, replying back, replying back…you get the picture, anything but admitting that I couldn’t quite get the back to finally send it off.
So, that’s the first one on the way. I was fortunate to get what could only be described as a very positive report. Ask my friends, I never ‘blow my own trumpet’, perhaps that’s down to a little lack in self-confidence, but what really made my mind up to crack along was meeting with the lovely ladies of the RNA Birmingham chapter the other week where they were all so enthusiastic after reading the report, and convinced me that it could barely have been any better. A time-line and two different meals were the only things I needed to change, apart from advice on the punctuation. I couldn’t believe my reader took the time to go through the whole manuscript to enter where they thought I needed better punctuation! Who was that ‘masked reader’? Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s wonder reader!!! Sorry, silly hat off.
To say I was choked up when I plucked up the nerve to read the report would be an understatement. I’d worked myself up so much, that I was convinced it would be a couple of lines saying – ‘Step away from the computer. Never darken Word’s doorstep again. You can’t write.’ Okay, you get the picture. See above comment re confidence. Then what it actually said, taken with the lovely ladies of Birmingham RNA reactions and I hunkered down to make said changes. Continue reading
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Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: Parents
Friday 12th September 2014:
Fiction Friday is our weekly prompt. The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can. Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.
Today’s prompt: ‘The last time I saw my mother was fifteen years ago.’ That is your first sentence. Who your character is and where you go is up to you.
by Book News: Cecelia Ahern
The Year I Met You by Cecelia Ahern.
It’s no secret that I love Cecelia’s novels. I am looking forward to the movie adaptation of Where Rainbows End. As if that wasn’t enough, she is also releasing her latest novel. The Year I Met You will be released on 9th October (so just under a month to go,) by HarperCollins and it’s available to pre-order. I think this has to be one of my favourite covers of 2014 too.
About The Year I Met You:
Jasmine loves two things: her sister and her work. And when her work is taken away she has no idea who she is.
Matt loves two things: his family and the booze. Without them, he hits rock bottom.
One New Year’s Eve, two people’s paths collide. Both have time on their hands; both are at a crossroads. But as the year unfolds, through moonlit nights and suburban days, an unlikely friendship slowly starts to blossom.
Sometimes you have to stop still in order to move on…
by Short Stories For Christmas.
Yes I know, it’s only September but I love Christmas and I am getting more excited as it draws nearer. The other great thing about this time of year is the Christmas stories we get treated to. Here are four short 
stories I am looking forward to reading. They are all due for release on 6th November – just in time for those dark, cold evenings.
Christmas Gifts at the Beach Café by Lucy Diamond.
Lucy’s latest short story is due to be released by Pan on 6th November.
This looks brilliant and I am loving this cover.
With her Cornish Beach Café closed for the winter, Evie Flynn should be looking forward to lazy days and a happy Christmas, with nothing more pressing to think about than when to have her next mince-pie.
But her sister Ruth is coming to stay, in a cloud of heartbreak and bitterness following her marriage breakdown, along with her three unhappy children, and Evie knows she’ll have her work cut out, trying to spread some festive cheer. Then her boyfriend Ed breaks the news that he’s going to spend Christmas in London, for family reasons, and her heart sinks even further.
Add in to the mix a lost dog plus the hotly contested village Christmas bake-off and before long, Evie is feeling the strain. But there are still a few surprises in store for her, that look set to make this Beach Café Christmas the most memorable one yet . .
by Review: Age of Iron by Angus Watson
Age of Iron by Angus Watson.
Released on 2nd September 2014 by Orbit Books.
Dug Sealskinner is a work-shy mercenary traveling south to join up with King Zadar’s army. But he keeps rescuing the wrong people.
Now Dug’s on the wrong side of the thousands-strong army he hoped to join – and worse, Zadar has bloodthirsty druid magic on his side. All Dug has is his war hammer, one small child, and one unpredictable, highly trained warrioress with a lust for revenge that might get them all killed . . .
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started this book. I have read quite a lot of historical fiction by writers such as Bernard Cornwell, but almost without exception these have been based on post-Roman times so this was my first excursion into the heart of pre-Roman, Iron Age Britain.
I have to admit that I was a little put off by the cover. For some reason the stern looking, unwashed man on the front lead me to think that the novel would not be as good as I discovered it to be.
My first thought upon reading the opening chapters was that the characters seem very modern; they speak and act just like we do today, just with the odd Pagan god thrown in for a curse word every now and then. I found this a little unsettling at first, Continue reading
by Book Club
