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The Best Thing I Never Had Blog Tour – Team Leigha or Team Harriet?
Erin Lawless talks about her main characters.
The Best Thing I Never Had is the new novel from author, Erin Lawless. It’s published by Harper Impulse and was released in March. We are delighted to welcome Erin to Novel Kicks today as part of her blog tour for her new book and we ask the question, who’s side are you on?
I’m asked quite a lot: #TeamHarriet or #TeamLeigha?
Most people find it quite straight forward. “Team Harriet!” they cry. “Who would ever be on Team Leigha??” My editor at Harper is, I answer with a smile. “But Leigha is such a BITCH!” they answer, appalled. Indeed she is, but then again, Harriet is a selfish idiot whose actions cause a hell of a lot of drama, so why should she be championed over her brittle best friend? #TeamDemi, I usually say, avoiding the question entirely – he’s the only halfway decent character in the whole book!
One of my all-time favourite reviews of Best Thing states that “when a writer can make you feel sorry for the novel’s antagonist, she has great talent”. The novel’s antagonist is undoubtedly Leigha, but that’s not the same as saying she’s “the bad guy”. Leigha hurts, and is hurt in return. A brittle, nervy over-achiever from a broken home, an erstwhile ugly ducking who has been suffering under the weight of unrequited love for as long as she can remember – the now gorgeous, popular Leigha seems from the outside to have everything she wants. Unfortunately, the only thing she ever wanted was something she could never have. And she’s just coming to terms with it all when the same scenario hits her again – bam! She’s left reeling and lashing out. Leigha’s no monster; she’s someone who deserves your pity.
by 
The Best Thing I Never Had Blog Tour – Review
Harper Impulse, March 2014
The Best Thing I Never Had by Erin Lawless.
Five years ago they’d been seven friends at university that laughed hard and loved harder. Nicky and Miles, the couple that were always meant to be… Leigha and Adam, maybe not. So when Harriet and Adam grew close, during those endless days in the library and too many seminars they (well, Adam) hadn’t prepared for, they did the one thing that changed everything. They kept a secret. And when it came out, it all fell apart. When the day comes for bridesmaids to be chosen and best men to fulfil drunken promises, Nicky and Miles’ wedding isn’t just a wedding, it’s a reunion – loaded with past hurts, past regrets, past loves. (Warning, the review contains a small amount of spoilers.)
This begins with a prologue set in 2012. Nicky is about to get married and wonders whether she’s made the right decision to ask her three ex Uni housemates to be her bridesmaids.
The majority of the book then flashes back to 2006. Seven friends who are all in their final year at university, the story does flick between them all at the beginning as each of the characters are established but once that settles, I found myself getting completely involved in the story, deciding who I liked and didn’t. Although it is told from the point of view of seven people, Erin’s writing makes it easy to follow as everything flows well. It’s not long before everything becomes a little complicated Continue reading
by Ghostwritten Blog Tour – NK Chats to Isabel Wolff
Blog Tour: Ghostwritten by Isabel Wolff.
Isabel Wolff is the author of A Question of Love, Forget Me Not and A Vintage Affair. We were very pleased to be invited onto the blog tour for her new novel, Ghostwritten which was released by HarperCollins on 27th March. We had a chat with Isabel about her new book, her ideal dinner guests and her best writing moment so far…
Can you tell us about Ghostwritten?
The novel is set in present day Cornwall and on wartime Java, and is about a ghost writer, Jenni. Jenni loves her job because it satisfies her curiosity about other peoples’ lives – she specialises in memoirs; it also means that she can immerse herself in their lives and not think about her own life too much. One day Jenni is commissioned to write the memoirs of a Dutch woman, Klara, who grew up on a rubber plantation on Java. After the Japanese invasion Klara was interned in a prison camp, with her mother and younger brother: approaching 80 she has finally decided to tell her extraordinary story of survival. Jenni is excited by this new commission, until she learns that Klara lives in Cornwall, in the very village that still holds terrors for Jenni after a traumatic incident there when she was a child. Reluctantly, Jenni accepts, and goes to Polvarth. As she listens to Klara’s story, she finds striking coincidences with her own life, and with the tragedy that has haunted her for so long. With Klara’s help she starts to lay to rest the ghosts of her past.
by Ghostwritten Blog Tour – Review
Ghostwritten by Isabel Wolff.
A childhood mistake. A lifetime of regrets.
Jenni is a ‘ghost’: she writes the lives of other people. It’s a job that suits her well: still haunted by a childhood tragedy, she finds it easier to take refuge in the memories of others rather than dwell on her own. Jenni has an exciting new commission, and is delighted to start working on the memoirs of a Dutchwoman, Klara. As a child in the Second World War, Klara was interned in a camp on Java during the Japanese occupation – she has an extraordinary story of survival to tell. But as Jenni and Klara begin to get to know each other, Jenni begins to do much more than shed light on a neglected part of history. She is being forced to examine her own devastating memories, too. But with Klara’s help, perhaps this is finally the moment where she will be able to lay the ghosts of her own past to rest?
I have read books based around the time of World War II but this is the first one I have read that tells it from the point of view of the Japanese occupation. From reading the blurb, I was intrigued but didn’t know what to expect.
by Lorna Peel
Lorna is the author of Only You.
Her second novel, Into the Unknown is due for publication next year. Hi Lorna, thank you for joining us.
Can you tell us about your book, Only You?
Thirty-one year old divorcee Jane Hollinger teaches adult education classes. Her self-confidence and self-worth is very low, as she hadn’t known her ex-husband was cheating on her. Jane’s sister and best friend subscribe her to a dating website but little do any of them know that Jane’s fantasy man is a student in her family history evening class! Through Jane, I wanted to explore what it would really be like to be in a relationship with a famous person but you wish they weren’t famous because you are a very private person who prefers to live a quiet life? Could you love that famous person enough to be able to put up with all the intrusions the relationship would bring with it?
Can you briefly describe your writing style?
With Only You, it was a very informal and light conversational style. Into The Unknown, my forthcoming WWII historical romance, was a little more formal.
by Blog Tour: Win a Copy of A Single Breath
A Single Breath by Lucy Clarke – we have three copies to give away.
Thanks to Lucy and the lovely people at Harper, we have three copies of A Single Breath to give away.
Harper, March 2014.
About the book:
When Eva’s husband Jackson tragically drowns, she longs to meet his estranged family. The journey takes her to Jackson’s brother’s doorstep on a remote Tasmanian island. As strange details about her husband’s past begin to emerge, memories of the man she married start slipping through her fingers like sand, as everything she ever knew and loved about him is thrown into question. Now she’s no longer sure whether it was Jackson she fell in love with – or someone else entirely…
To enter: Continue reading
by A Single Breath Blog Tour – The Places That Inspired The Novel
A Single Breath by Lucy Clarke.
We are happy to welcome Lucy Clarke to Novel Kicks. As part of her blog tour for her second novel, A Single Breath, she tells us about the places that inspired the novel.
I first visited Tasmania in 2011, and fell in love with its wild beauty and its remote shacks. I knew I wanted to set my next novel there, so once I had the loose plot line in place, I returned the following winter on a research trip. I spent an incredible month doing a recce of the island, working out where specific events in the novel would take place, as well interviewing many locals, including two fascinating marine biologists. While I was there, I also learnt to scuba dive, which gave me a beautiful insight into the underwater world, and helped me write the freediving scenes within the novel.
Here are a selection of photos from my research trip, which inspired the story of A Single Breath.
A real Tassie shack! A bit more rustic than Eva’s
My husband and friends preparing fish on a gutting bench like Saul’s
A graceful sea dragon similar to the one Eva and Saul see while freediving
The Cape Bruny lighthouse inspried the scene where Callie takes Eva to visit a lighthouse on Eva’s wedding anniversary
Exploring the wild beaches of Bruny island
Hiking with my husband near the cape where the bushfire happens
Learning to scubadive – my first glimpse of the underwater world in Tasmania
Over-excited by all the wild Tasmanian beauty!
My perfect choice of creative fuel – a berry muffin and clotted cream. Heaven!
Writing on the beach
by A Single Breath Blog Tour – Review
A Single Breath by Lucy Clarke
Eva and Jackson are married, happy and in love but when, on a trip to Dorset, Jackson falls into the sea and drowns, Eva’s life is shattered. She knows that she can’t live without him. She decides to go to Tasmania, where Jackson grew up to meet his family, friends – the people who knew him as well as she does but when she arrives, she starts to find out more about Jackson’s past and that things are never as they seem.
From the first chapter, I knew this book was going to make me cry and I was right. Eva looses everything that she loves in one moment and the tone of the book really helps convey the grief she is feeling in an honest way. As a character, she’s fairly lost and doesn’t know what to do in order to get to the end of each day and I really did empathise with her. I wanted to give her a hug. We can all relate to loss in some way.
There were moments of this book that were truly heart-breaking (hence the making me cry part,) and I really wanted to know what happened at the end. I finished the book both Continue reading
by Skeletons Blog Tour – Review
Skeletons by Jane Fallon
Michael Joseph, 2014
Jen has discovered a secret. It’s not hers to share, but is it hers to keep? If she tells her husband Jason, he might get over the shock but will he forgive her for telling the truth? She might drive a wedge through their marriage. If she tells someone else in Jason’s family – the family she’s come to love more than her own – she’d not only tear them apart but could also find herself on the outside: she’s never really been one of them, after all. But if she keeps this dirty little secret to herself, how long can she pretend nothing is wrong? How long can she live a lie?
Jen knows the truth – but is she ready for the consequences?
Jen leads a happy life. She is happily married to Jason, she has two daughters and she is very close to her husband’s family – her sister-in-law being her best friend.
Jen then learns a secret. It’s a secret that has the potential to ruin her perfect life and the perfect family around her. It’s not her secret but she’s in a horrible position. Either way, people are going to get hurt.
by Skeletons Blog Tour: NK Chats to Jane Fallon
Blog Tour: Skeletons by Jane Fallon.
Photo credit: Lee Carter
Skeletons is the latest book from Jane Fallon (who also wrote Getting Rid of Matthew, The Ugly Sister and Foursome.) As part of her blog tour for her new book, we had a chat with Jane about the book, her fantasy dinner guests and her favourite word.
What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve been given?
Keep moving forward. Don’t be tempted to go back and edit as you go along or you’ll just keep rewriting the same passage over and over again.
What’s Skeletons about and how did the idea originate?
Jen was the only child of only children whose father left when she was young. When she met Jason she fell in love with his big artsy bohemian family as much as with him. They’ve become her family too. His father Charles is much more of a father to her than her own. When the book starts Jen and Jason have been happily married for 20 years. And then she sees Charles in the street with a much younger woman and it’s clear they are more than colleagues. Jen knows if she tells Jason it will blow the family apart. But can she keep it secret?
by Two nations, divided by a common book cover
By Michele Gorman.
I’ll never forget the day I first saw the cover for my debut novel back in early 2010. My editor emailed it to me while I was waiting to meet with my agent. I was sitting in a beautiful café on Piccadilly on a sunny February day (a rare thing in London). Excitement, tinged with nerves, fizzed when I opened that image. For months I’d wondered how Penguin would package the book that I’d spent years writing and rewriting until it was as perfect as could be. Would they take the same care over the cover? Would it reflect the story, about a young American woman named Hannah who moves to London only to find that she’s completely ill-equipped to live there?
It did, and I loved it. The cover fit perfectly with the story and perfectly with the romantic comedy genre in the UK – a pretty illustrated pastel cover. It reflected Hannah’s uncertainty, swept along and buffeted by London.
Then, about a month later, my agent took me out for dinner. “You’re not going to like what I have to tell you,” she said, pushing the cake we were sharing in my direction. “Penguin wants to change the title. To Single in the City. They feel that it has broader appeal.”
That explained why she’d been plying me with wine for two hours.
by Peach Blossom Blog Tour: NK chats to Mingmei Yip
Novel Kicks chats to Mingmei Yip.
Mingmei
is the author of Skeleton Women and Song of the Silk Road. Originally released in 2008, Peach Blossom Pavilion is due for release on 27th March and we’re happy to be part of Mingmei’s blog tour where we got the opportunity to have a quick chat.
Who are your favourite authors?
I read all of Anchee Min, Lisa See and most of Amy Tan’s books; all these women wrote about Chinese themes but attracted a broad readership. They have been inspirational for me. I like to think that I also have found readers of all sorts of background – my novels have been translated into nine languages so far.
My favourite authors who wrote in Chinese are Eileen Cheung, Continue reading
by Peach Blossom Pavilion Blog Tour: Review
Peach Blossom Pavilion by Mingmei Yip.
When Precious Orchid’s father is falsely accused of a crime and found guilty, he is executed, leaving his family a legacy of dishonour. Her mother’s only option is to enter a Buddhist nunnery, so she gives her daughter over to the care of her sister in Shanghai. At first, life at Peach Blossom Pavilion feels like a dream. She is schooled in music, literature, painting, calligraphy, and the art of pleasuring men. The beautiful Pavilion has a darker purpose as an elite house of prostitution. And even as she gets attention of China’s most powerful men, Precious Orchid never gives up on her dream to escape the Pavilion, be reunited with her mother, avenge her father’s death, and find true love.
This isn’t a book I would pick up just from browsing book shelves in a shop but I am glad we were given the opportunity to take part in the blog tour. Continue reading
by Half Bad Blog Tour: Win a copy of Half Bad by Sally Green
We have two copies of Half Bad to give away.
To celebrate the blog tour for Half Bad by Sally Green, we have two copies to give away.
A bit about the book:
Half Bad is about one boy’s struggle for survival in a hidden society of witches. You can’t read, can’t write, but you heal fast, even for a witch. You get sick if you stay indoors after dark. You hate White Witches but love Annalise, who is one. You’ve been kept in a cage since you were fourteen. All you’ve got to do is escape and find Mercury, the Black Witch who eats boys. And do that before your seventeenth birthday.
How to enter:
To be in with a chance to win a copy of Half Bad, all you have to do Continue reading
by Half Bad Blog Tour: NK chats to Sally Green
As part of her blog tour for Half Bad, we chat with Sally Green.
Sally lives in north-west England with her husband and son. We loved her debut novel, Half Bad and were thrilled to be part of her blog tour. We chat to Sally about her book, her advice for new writers and which magical ability she’d like to have…
Thank you for joining us today, Sally. Can you tell us a little about Half Bad and how the idea originated?
Half Bad is my first novel and the first book of a trilogy. It’s set in the present day and most of the action takes part in the UK. It’s the story of Nathan a teenage witch. At the beginning of the story Nathan is a prisoner of the White Witches. He is being kept in a cage, not because of anything he has done, but because of what he is – a Half Code (half White Witch and half Black Witch) – and because his father is the most feared of the Black Witches. The story traces Nathan’s life from birth to his seventeenth birthday by which time he must escape White Witches and go through a Giving ceremony (receiving three gifts) to become a true, adult witch. Nathan’s life is full of physical hardship, even torture, but his mental struggles are as difficult as his physical ones. He is alone, abused and afraid of both the White Witches and the Black, and added to that he is not sure how he himself is going to turn out – whether his Black half or White half will dominate.
I think my first inspiration came from a storytelling festival I went to in 2009 (Festival at the Edge in Shropshire). I was steeped in folklore for three days and loved it, but it was noticeable that in virtually all the old stories three was a significant number (three suitors, three branches on a bramble, three wishes etc.). Continue reading
by Half Bad Blog Tour: Review
A wonderful debut from author, Sally Green.
Nathan is between good and evil. He is a half code: he’s half white witch and half black and therefore is on the edge of conflicting worlds – not really belonging anywhere. This is a fact that the council, his half-sister and the purest white witches don’t want to let him forget.
He is a prisoner of the council, being put through assessment after assessment, wondering whether each time is going to be the moment he’s given freedom as a white witch or whether he will be condemned and will face a darker future, if one at all.
His father is the most notorious black witch and the more he learns about his dark ancestry, the more he has to try and live down a reputation in the real world as he approaches his seventieth birthday and the traditional giving ceremony. He also wonders about his father. He wants to search for him and meet him.
This book is the first part in the series focusing on Nathan as a child and his struggles as a teenager. Continue reading
by The Book That Has Impacted Me Most: David Horn
Self published author, David Horn talks about the book that’s impacted him the most.
In just under 1000 days between 1347 and 1351 the black death swept across Europe. When it finally left, 25 million people lay dead. In “The Great Mortality – An Intimate History of the Black Death,” published by Harper Perennial in 2005, John Kelly takes us into the fascinating and often frightening world of 14th century Europe and into the lives of the people who lived there. We spend time in community after community, city after city, and country after country, where simple people going about their lives are stalked by a menace that cannot be seen, cannot be understood, and cannot be stopped. Continue reading
by My Advice: Anna Stothard
Anna Stothard offers her five writing tips.
I often imagine I’m dying. It stops me from Googling pointless things.
When you’ve finished a first draft, put it away for a month before showing any one.
Read your book out loud, or at least some of it. How things sound, the rhythms, make a difference.
You can’t please everyone and shouldn’t aim to. Write for yourself, but ideally with humility (don’t be boring!).
Keep a notebook and record overheard Continue reading
by Blog Tour: Take Mum Out by Fiona Gibson
Take Mum Out is a wonderful summer read.
Review by Laura.
Take Mum Out is about a woman called Alice who is fast approaching her fortieth birthday. She is the mother of two teenage boys, Logan and Fergus and she has her own business.
Her three friends decide that it’s time that she got back into the dating game and each decide to set her up with someone they think would be perfect for her. Cue three first blind dates where she meets Giles, Stephen and Charlie.
I am not a mum so I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to relate to this book. Truth was, I couldn’t put it down. It was charming, funny, warm and very nice to read. Alice was a great character and I warmed to her straight away. She was funny and is cooler than she thinks she is. She is a strong woman. I liked this. I liked the fact that Alice didn’t feel as though she desperately wanted to get back into dating but saw it as an adventure.
by Take Mum Out Blog Tour: We chat to Fiona Gibson.
We’re delighted to be part of Fiona’s blog tour for her new book, Take Mum Out which is published by Avon today.
Fiona Gibson is also the author of other titles including The Great Escape and Mum on the Run. We will be reviewing Take Mum Out later today but first, we chat to Fiona about her new book, her favourite night out and her advice for writers.
Can you tell us about your book, Take Mum Out?
Alice is a single mum to two teenage boys. Although she’s not desperate to meet a man, her three best friends have other ideas. They hatch a plan where they’ll each present her with an eligible, hand-picked man – all Alice has to do is choose her favourite. This book was huge fun to write, as there are first date horrors galore – plus, Alice has to deal with her sons’ scathing remarks, who can’t understand why she wants a boyfriend at all. ‘Presumably,’ she says, ‘I should interact only with tradespeople and the staff at Tesco Metro.’
What would be your idea of a perfect night out?
A few G&Ts in the Sheraton Hotel in Edinburgh – they have a mind-boggling selection of gins! Then dinner at somewhere like The Dogs, which is lively, fun and delicious. And my best friends from London would have come up for the occasion.
by Sue Moorcroft
Sue Moorcroft is the author of Want to Know a Secret, Starting Over and Is This Love?
Sue Moorcroft
Sue also contributed to Truly Madly Deeply which is a collection of stories with other authors including, Carole Matthews, Adele Parks and Katie Fforde. We chat to Sue about her advice for writers, whether she’s a planner and her favourite word.
What makes you laugh?
Verbal wit, usually. I don’t watch a lot of TV but I do love QI and Have I Got News for You? I’m also a huge fan of The Big Bang Theory, which is one of the best and most consistent comedies I’ve seen. I love sharing chat and laughter over a meal with my friends. And teenagers are just inherently funny. It’s their world view, I think.
Is there a fictional character you’d like to meet? Is there one you’d like to swap with for a day?
This is incredibly self-important of me, but I’d love to meet one of my own characters, Ratty, from Starting Over. I think he was the first hero I got right, and he’s been one of my most popular; the only one of my heroes to have received his own fan mail. If I’m allowed to choose Ratty then I would like to be Tess, my heroine from the same book. Preferably on one of the days when Ratty’s not irritated with her.
by Deeper by Robin York.
Piatkus, Jan 2014.
Deeper is the first book in the Caroline & West Series.
Book Review by Laura.
Caroline has a promising future as a lawyer. That’s until her ex boyfriend posts some sex pictures of her on the Internet in an act called ‘revenge porn.’ Now her future isn’t looking so bright and she doesn’t know what to do to make things right. Then, when a boy she barely knows punches her ex, Caroline finds herself getting closer to a boy that she knows isn’t good for her.
West is not someone she should be with. She knows this and even though they both tell each other that they are just friends, their feelings intensify until they can no longer pretend.
In this time, Caroline doesn’t know what she wants to do but has to find courage to fight back.
I didn’t know whether I was going to like this book because I have to admit, I assumed it was going to be a little ‘shades of grey’ genre but I was very pleasantly surprised and once I began to read, I couldn’t put it down and I feel so bad for having mentally put it in that category. Caroline and West were interesting characters to get to know. Apparent complete opposites but both of them are searching for something. It was good to see their relationship develop and it got to the point where I was willing them to kiss.
by Robin York/Deeper Blog Tour: NK Chats to Robin York.
Robin York, also known as Ruthie Knox, is a USA Today Bestselling author of contemporary romance.
Robin York
We are very delighted to be part of Robin’s blog tour for her new novel, Deeper, which was released on 6th March. Robin tells us about her new book, her best moment as a writer so far and her advice for aspiring writers.
What is Deeper about?
Deeper is a love story and a coming-into-adulthood story. It focuses primarily on Caroline, a college sophomore who is struggling after her ex-boyfriend publishes sexually explicit pictures of her on the Internet, along with her full name, her location, and her Facebook page. Caroline is smart and ambitious — she wants to go to law school and become a judge, like her father — so when these pictures go viral it threatens not just her sense of self-worth, but also her future. What we see over the course of the novel is how Caroline adjusts and comes to terms with what happened to her, partly on her own, partly in a relationship with West Leavitt, a guy she’s always considered dangerous but who she can’t seem to stay away from. Eventually, we get to see her grow into a kind of fierce righteousness that is very satisfying.
Is there a book you’ve read that has made an impact on you?
I’ve never read another book about revenge porn, but certainly I’ve been influenced by all sorts of novels. One of my favorite New Adult novels is Charlotte Stein’s Sheltered, which is a beautiful story of a young woman from a very strict fundamentalist religious family who is falling in love — and experiencing a sexual awakening — with a dangerous-seeming stranger.
by Barbara Taylor Bradford.
Novel Kicks talks to Barbara Taylor Bradford.
Barbara Taylor Bradford started writing fiction when she was seven years old and sold her first short story when she was ten. Her first novel, A Woman of Substance was published in 1979. She’s had 29 novels published including her latest book, Cavendon Hall released in January.
What do you think appeals to people when it comes to the saga?
Someone once suggested that I write novels about large families because I am an only child. And my husband is an only child. But I don’t think this is really the reason. I love writing about large families because of the relationships, and the most terrible things happen in families. So I have plenty of drama, emotions, and intrigue to carry me through.
by Portia MacIntosh
My Constantly Changing Writing Space.
I started writing novels as a way to tell the world about my experiences touring with bands – something I have been doing since I was fifteen-years-old, and I’m in my mid twenties now. I wanted to tell my stories anonymously, so using them to inspire works of fiction seemed like the best way to do it.
The thing is, when I started working on Between a Rockstar and a Hard Place and How Not to be Starstruck, I had no idea that one day a publisher like Carina would pick them up, so I had to keep up the day job, and I had to keep myself in material. This meant touring with more bands (I’m not complaining, I love it) and trying to fit writing in around that, which was tricky at first.
When Novel Kicks asked me about my writing space, I realised that I didn’t have one. I hadn’t give it much thought, but soon realised that most people have their desk or place where they write and that’s where the magic happens – one thing I can say for certain, I haven’t ever written at a desk.
by Jon Rance
Jon Rance is the author of Happy Endings and This Thirtysomething Life.
Today, Jon talks about the book that has had the most impact on him..
There have been quite a few books that have influenced me over the years from the brilliant Catcher in the Rye as a teenager, to Mike Gayle’s Turning Thirty, but today I’m going to talk about One Day by David Nicholls.
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For those who haven’t read it (which is probably no-one), it’s a heartbreaking, funny, poignant, and romantic book following two people (Dex and Em) over twenty years on the same day each year.
The reason this book had such a huge impact on me is because it wasn’t just wonderfully written, the characters weren’t just incredibly well thought out and the plot wasn’t just gripping, but above all that it had this perfect and novel idea at the heart of it. Two people. Twenty years. One day.
You see the thing is, Continue reading
by Graeme Simsion
Graeme Simsion (photo: Michael Clayton-Jones)
Graeme Simsion’s brilliant debut, The Rosie Project has been our book corner title this month.
It began life as a screenplay before he wrote the novel. Graeme joins us to talk about his new book, his favourite word and editing.
Can you tell us about your book, The Rosie Project?
The Rosie Project is the story of Don Tillman, a socially-challenged genetics professor, and his search for a life partner. Don constructs a 16-page questionnaire to find the perfect woman. Instead he finds Rosie, a woman who ticks none of the boxes, but who requires his help to find her biological father through surreptitious DNA testing of the candidates – every male student in her mothers’ medical graduation class. It’s a comedy – but I like to think it explores some serious ideas and may provoke a few tears as well as laughter..
What’s your writing day like?
There’s no such thing as a typical writing day for me. I don’t write every day because I have other commitments (meeting readers and booksellers, answering questions from bloggers…) and because I spend time thinking about what I’ll write, or how I’ll improve what I’ve written. When I was working on the sequel Continue reading
by Bella Osborne
Bella Osborne
Bella picks the book that’s impacted her the most.
This is a very difficult question to answer. A few obvious answers immediately flew to mind, like the Boden catalogue as this is a book that impacts my bank balance on an all too frequent occurrence. A little more thought brought my favourite childhood book to the fore which was ‘The One Hundred and One Dalmatians’ by Doddie Smith although the only real impact I think that book has had is my compulsion for things that are spotty (see earlier reference to Boden addiction).
There was a chicklit book that I once read that when I had persevered to the end it gave me the encouragement that if they had been published then I at least stood I fighting chance – book and author will of course remain nameless.
When you sit down and really think about it, it’s amazing how many books you have read and loved and remember fondly. I love a bit of poetry so Wendy Cope would always make it into my top five books but to choose just one is a hard task.
So after a few cups of tea Continue reading
by Rosie Blake
How To Get A (Love) Life is the brilliant debut novel from Rosie Blake.
It was published by Novelicious Books in January and we are very delighted to take part in Rosie’s blog tour. Rosie joins us for a chat – favourite words, ideal dinner guests, Albus Dumbledore and Charmed.
Hi Rosie, can you tell us a little about How to Get a (Love) Life?
The story focusses on Nicola Brown, an uptight and introverted young woman who has never had a date on Valentine’s Day. Following a bet with a work colleague, Nicola has to put aside her hang ups to go on as many dates as she possibly can in order to find the perfect man in time for February 14th. Of course, lots of hijinks ensue including a disastrous date or two.
Can you give us a few fun facts about Nicola?
Fun facts about Nicola! Of course! She likes to eat her chocolate mini roll at a certain time of the day, keep the cellophane on all her furniture and make long lists about … wait … did you say fun? Oh. Erm. Yeah.
by We Review How To Get A (Love) Life by Rosie Blake
The Dare: To Get a Love Life by Valentine’s Day.
Nicola has success in her professional life (she enjoys her job working for a talent agency,) she loves her family (even though her mother can be hard work,) and she has lovely friends. However, she doesn’t have a boyfriend and when her colleague, Caroline, discovers that Nicola has never had a boyfriend for Valentine’s Day, she sets Nicola a challenge to get a love life and that she needs to find herself a man by Valentine’s Day. For a girl set in her ways (and frankly has a case of OCD,) this isn’t an easy task.
Nicola’s important quest begins with some awful dates with horrible sounding men and at times, it was cringe worthy to read – I felt sorry for Nicola. The book was great and had me laughing out loud in some places.
by Victoria Fox
Victoria Fox offers her five writing tips.
1. Don’t stop until you reach ‘The End’ – you must have something entire to work on and edit, and it doesn’t matter if your first draft is raw.
2. Never give up. It’s trite, but true. You will face rejection at some point, no author gets away with this, and you must have faith and a thick skin.
3. Love what you’re writing. Is this the kind of book you would be excited to read? Have fun with it – this will inject so much life and energy into your voice.
by Lynne North
Lynne North
Lynne North’s Best Writing Moment.
That has to be having my first book accepted by Ghostly Publishing, and having it launched at Earl’s Court Book Fair in London. You don’t get much bigger than that for a launch, do you?
Lynne North is the author of two children’s books, Caution: Witch in Progress’ and ‘Zac’s Destiny. For more information on Lynne and her books, visit her website.
by Trisha Ashley
Simon & Schuster, 2012
Trisha Ashley talks about a book she’s read that’s made an impact on her.
One of the most memorable books I’ve read recently is Leah Fleming’s novel, The Captain’s Daughter. The story begins with the sinking of the Titanic and something that happens amid the ensuing carnage and confusion, which will have repercussions that echo down decades.
There’s more than one love story in this huge and sweeping epic and more than one kind of love, as the stories and lives of several families are entwined over the years. To say a novel took you on a journey is a cliché, but this one certainly did – and a mystery tour at that, since I found it impossible to guess where we were going until we got there. I don’t want to give anything away if you haven’t read it, but the resolution literally hangs by a lacy thread…
by Diary of an UnSmug Married Blog Tour: Novel Kicks chats to Polly James.
Polly James
We are very happy to be part of the blog tour for Polly James and her debut novel, Diary of an UnSmug Married.
We had a chat with Polly to ask about her book, her ideal dinner guests and who she would like to swap places with for a day…
What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve been given?
I can’t recall who it was who told me to read everything I write out loud, but it’s definitely the most useful advice they could ever have given me. It’s so much easier to tell if your dialogue sounds natural or whether something makes sense if you say it aloud, and it helps with comic timing, too.
I write a lot of dialogue, as I think it’s one of the best ways to help the reader get to know the characters you’ve created, and Diary of an Unsmug Married is written in the first person, so it was particularly important that Molly (who’s the main character) should have a distinctive and believable voice – because she’s the one telling everyone else’s story, as well as her own.
I found it much easier to decide if something I’d written sounded like something she would actually say when I read it out loud, and I think doing that is what helped me to bring her alive – or that’s what I hope readers of Molly’s story will think, anyway!
by Writing Tips – Graeme Simsion
Graeme Simsion (photo: Michael Clayton-Jones)
Graeme offers his five writing tips.
1. Enrol in a writing class – or at least join a writers’ group. A class will give you theory, discipline, feedback, industry savvy and encouragement.
2. Plan. Yes, some writers write by the ‘seat of their pants’ without a plan, and if that works for you, good luck and I’ll shut up. I bet it won’t. I bet you’ll get stuck about 25,000 words in, or later you’ll find you’ve written an unstructured mess. If that happens, go back and write a synopsis, then a chapter-by-chapter summary. Then start writing again with confidence you know where you’re going.
3. Write for Continue reading
by Cathie Hartigan
Cathie Hartigan-
Cathie Hartigan was a pianist and a music teacher until she swapped keyboards and became a writer and teacher of creative writing. She talks to us today about the novel that has impacted her the most…
The sheer size of Vikram Seth’s A Suitable Boy creates an impact. Its fat spine takes up four books-worth of space on the shelf. I took this monster thirteen hundred page novel with me on holiday twenty years ago and although I was in Italy, for much of the time I was transported to India.
But it wasn’t the foreign travel that provided the book’s greatest hook for me. At the heart of the novel is a simple question. Continue reading
by Pippa Croft
The First Time We Met by Pippa Croft is due to be published by Penguin on 13th February 2014.
The first in the Oxford Blue Series, it promises aspirational glamour alongside a steamy and captivating love story. On the eve of publication, we catch up with Pippa, to ask her about her new book, what’s currently on her desk and what we may not know about her…
The first time I fell in love, I was :
At Oxford! This may seem really lame (as Lauren might say) but I had a massive crush on a boy from my VI form but it wasn’t until I went away to university that we got together. He turned up one night very late at my room, having driven down from Manchester as a ‘surprise’. Well, I could hardly let him sleep out in the Quad, could I? And … er… Reader, I eventually married him.
You might not know this about me, but I:
Am terrified of heights. You know, the whole sweaty palms/heart racing/compelled to jump off type of terror. I decided to go abseiling as research for my first novel and while I survived, I would never ever do it again. It didn’t help that the radio was playing ‘Don’t Fear The Reaper’ as we drove up to the rock face, but I did use the terror in the book…
When I’m feeling down, I find that I’m always cheered up by:
A phone call from my daughter, finding my husband has booked a surprise day off work or checking the surf conditions on MagicSeaweed.com (I can’t really surf but I do try very hard.)
by Charlotte’s Working Space.
Charlotte once again joins us from Harper Impulse for A Moment with The Editor. This week, we ask – What’s your working space like?
I think the photo says it all… books, books and more books.
Also,
“I do not have OCD OCD OCD.”
Charlotte Ledger began working in publishing in 2011 and has always been a book lover but, since watching her first episode of Dawson’s Creek when she was 13, she’s found it impossible to resist a good love story! Pacey Witter stole her heart and her life it seems as her addiction for all things romance eventually led to her working at Mills & Boon. Thrilled to be at Harper Impulse, she Continue reading
by It Felt Like a Kiss by Sarra Manning – Blog Tour: Sarra’s Writing Space
Where the magic happens * wink, finger gun *
By Sarra Manning.
This is as tidy as I ever get, which is practically minimalist compared to how my desk used to look when I was on magazines. The piles of paper, mags, CDs, books, were so high that I literally could not see over the top of them. One of my proudest yet shaming moments was when an ergonomic expert took a picture of my workspace and showed it to the entire company as a good example of a fire hazard. So, progress!
Desk – Fifties, formica kitchen table, I got for free when I bought a 1930’s lounge suite, which fell apart within six months. The table is still going strong.
Chair – 1960’s chair that started life in a French hairdressers.
Macbook Pro – I have NEVER been PC, never will. Don’t even get me started. Although I write on a laptop, I have to work at my desk, no sprawling, legs akimbo on the floor in madcap Carrie Bradshaw-esque abandon for me.
Papers – that’s the marked up manuscript of the first draft of the novel I’m working on right now. Unfortunately, most of the bits I did mark-up I’ve now decided to cut and the bits I didn’t mark up, I wish I had. It’s a process. That notebook also has about version five on my outline.
Books – Continue reading
by Competitions: Win a Copy of It Felt Like a Kiss
Published by Corgi, Jan 2014
It Felt Like a Kiss by Sarra Manning.
THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED.
To celebrate the release and blog tour of It Felt Like a Kiss by Sarra Manning, we’ve got five copies of the book to give away.
About the book:
Ellie Cohen is living her dream. A great job at an exclusive Mayfair art gallery, loyal mates, loving family, and really, really good hair. Well, there’s the famous rock-star father who refuses to acknowledge her and a succession of ‘challenging’ boyfriends, but nobody’s perfect. But when a vengeful ex sells Ellie out to the press, she suddenly finds herself fighting to keep her job, her reputation and her sanity. Then David Gold – handsome, charming but ruthlessly ambitious – is sent in to manage the media crisis . Continue reading
by It Felt Like a Kiss by Sarra Manning – Blog Tour: Laura reviews It Felt Like a Kiss
Published by Corgi, Jan 2014
It Felt Like A Kiss by Sarra Manning.
Ellie is living her dream and thinks she has everything pretty much together. She has a job that she loves, great mates, a loving family and a great boyfriend, Richey. The only bad point is the rockstar Dad who refuses to acknowledge her existence.
However, when her friends stage a relationship intervention, saying they saw Richey doing something he shouldn’t, Ellie goes into denial until she sees it for herself.
She breaks up with him not realizing he will carry out revenge in a horrible way. He steals a box containing Ellie’s biggest secret and before long, the British press is camped on her doorstep, painting her as a fame hunter, obsessed with getting herself in the paper and using the fact that Billy Kay is her father to do it.
David Gold, Kay’s lawyer is assigned to look after the problem… and Ellie.
David doesn’t trust Ellie and to begin with, Ellie doesn’t care much for him either so falling in love is the last thing on their minds – especially as Ellie’s life is falling apart around her.
I loved Ellie. She’s essentially a good person who wants to do right by all around her, although that does sometimes mean she is swept along with other people’s ideas. She loves her job and has great mates (Lola and Tess were hysterical in places,) and I did feel so sorry for her when everything began to go wrong and the more that goes wrong, the more she looses control. David Gold does sound like a scrummy hero and definitely someone I would want on my side if I needed a lawyer (he was endearing even though I did want to slap him across the face for some of his behavior towards Ellie.)
The book is quite long and when I started, I did worry I was going to find some of it hard going to read because of the length (which I have found with some books of late,) but the plot had me turning the page, desperate to find out what was going to happen next and whether Ellie would finally get to come face to face with the man who abandoned her when she was a child. This book, at one point, had me shouting ‘you go girl,’ out loud. I cheered, felt badly for Ellie when she was finding it difficult and I wanted her to have a happy ending.
I was actually a little disappointed when I finished this book because it ended and did miss Ellie and David for a while after. This book was great and I recommend it – especially if you want to curl up with tea and a book or are escaping to where the sun is and want a holiday read.
It Felt Like A Kiss by Sarra Manning is out now published by Corgi, £6.99
by Julia Williams
Julia Williams
Julia’s books include A Merry Little Christmas, The Bridesmaid Pact and Midsummer Magic. We chat with Julia about her writing day, her ideal dinner guests and the character from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe that she’d most like to meet…
Can you tell us about your latest book, Midsummer Magic?
Midsummer Magic focuses on Josie and Harry who have just got engaged and are spending the weekend in Cornwall planning their wedding with their respective best friends Diana and Ant, who turn out to have history, very bad history. While they are away they meet Freddie Puck, a TV illusionist who persuades them to be hypnotised for a TV programme, which involves them spending the night at some local Standing Stones, where legend has it those who plight their troth at midnight on Midsummer’s eve are bound together forever. Cue mayhem, Continue reading
by A Moment With… Sophie King
Sophie King, shares the best piece of writing advice she’s even been given?
An editor at Orion who gave me some advice on viewpoint. It was before I was published. Although she didn’t take me on, she called me into her office and kindly told me I had ‘potential’. She then explained that it wasn’t a good idea, in her view, to jump around people’s heads on one page. You had to think yourself into someone’s mind and stay with it until a line break or a new chapter. It was as if someone had turned a light on. After that, I realized I wanted to write multi-viewpoint novels where I follow the lives of two or three people who are joined together by the plot.
Sophie’s latest release is an ebook edition of her novel, Second Time Lucky. She’s also the author of School Run and numerous non-fiction titles.
by Which Plot Has Been Done To Death?
Charlotte Ledger
Charlotte joins us again from Harper Impulse. This week, we ask her, what kind of plot do you think has been done to death?
Ooo tricky… I guess it really depends on the writing and the author’s voice… if it’s a fantastic story that makes you laugh, cry, fall in love, and keeps you up all night turning the pages then a familiar plot isn’t so much of an issue… Having said that though, Continue reading
by What kind of books are you currently looking for?
Charlotte Ledger
We welcome back Charlotte from HarperImpulse. Today, we ask about what kind of books she is currently looking for?
Our mission is to make HarperImpulse the home for good story telling, however you want to write it, however you want to read it – so really I’m looking for anything! Saying that, I’m a big fan of WWI Literature – Pat Barker’s Regeneration trilogy, Birdsong, Susan Hill’s Strange Meeting – and with 2014 marking 100 years since the Great War, it would be wonderful to publish some fantastic stories Continue reading
by Claudia Carroll’s Five Writing Tips
Claudia Carrol
Claudia Carroll, the author of Me & You offers her five writing tips.
First tip, Persevere, persevere, persevere! And write every single day, as every day that you do is a day that your work is improving, trust me.
Second tip? Be brave too; remember it’s highly unlikely that a publisher is going to knock on your front door and ask if you’ve any manuscripts lying around they could publish. Nothing will happen unless you take the first step and get your work out there.
Third tip, an agent is your best friend though, and I’d advice anyone starting out to secure and agent first and the rest will follow.
by Laurence O’ Bryan
Laurence O’ Bryan
Laurence O’ Bryan’s latest novel, The Manhattan Puzzle (Avon, 2013) is available now. Laurence tells us about his best writing moment so far…
Getting offered a global three book publishing contract by Harper Collins. I have never felt such exhilaration. I had waited ten years for the moment. I felt light, dreamy, and was filled with an anticipation that ached.
Read our review of The Manhattan Puzzle.
by Garrett Addison
Garrett Addison
Garrett Addison is the author of The Traveller.
He grew up in Perth, Western Australia and now lives in Melbourne. We chat to Garrett about his book, what makes him laugh and what he would want with him on an Island…
Welcome Garrett. Can you tell us about your latest book, The Traveller?
It’s the story of a family man failing on all fronts; travelling too much to be a good parent and husband and yet still failing at work at the whims of a merciless manager nicknamed variously ‘the bitch’ and ‘the antichrist’. But when he is strangely metamorphosised into a higher functioning corporate genius on an otherwise usual trip, he enjoys a walk on the dark side and inevitably embraces the lure of revenge on his boss … but nothing lasts forever.
It’s a good fun roller-coaster Continue reading
by Rebecca Braunton
On The Air
Rebecca is the author of On The Air. Today, she talks about the book that has made an impact on her.
I moved house recently, and when faced with my monolith-like bookshelf I decided it was time for a little cull. A few books that I had read once and enjoyed were tossed (sorry: placed, lovingly) into a hessian bag and ferried across the road to the local Age Concern shop, but there was one book I knew I wouldn’t have parted with in a million years.
I first met Captain Corelli and his mandolin at college (steady on, I’ll make the jokes). I’d been given a beautiful virgin copy of the book ready for my annotations, and as a class we began to read through certain chapters in class, ending each ‘lecture’ as we called it with a series of questions on each chapter. This method had been practiced before with many texts from Shakespeare to McEwan. Normally the books you study at college or uni are groundbreaking and vastly important, but oftentimes boring and irrelevant; especially for a lovelorn sixteen-year-old who thought her life made up the centre of the whole universe.
by What does an Editor Do?
Charlotte Ledger
We’re very happy to welcome Charlotte, an editor at Harper Impulse.
We ask, what does an editor do?
Wow what a start to our new feature… And such a good question – I know lots of people think editors just sit and read all day! 🙂
Obviously, reading is a big part of our job, whether that’s reading new submissions with the view to buying new books or reading existing authors manuscripts in order to give them feedback on how the story is shaping up. Continue reading
by Sue Moorcroft
Sue Moorcroft
Sue Moorcroft is the author of Want to Know a Secret, Starting Over and Is This Love?
Today, Sue tells us about the book that’s had the most impact on her…
Dream a Little Dream. When I chose to give Dominic Christy the neurological condition of narcolepsy, which causes uncontrolled sleep, I hadn’t realised what a fantastical and hard-to-understand condition it is. I became a research junkie and in September 2013, Narcolepsy UK asked me to speak at their conference about why I wrote that book and how I did my research. Quite a few people with narcolepsy have now read Dream and they seem to feel that I’ve done OK with my portrayal. Satisfying.
by Lynne North
Lynne North
Lynne North is the author of two children’s books, Caution: Witch in Progress’ and ‘Zac’s Destiny.’ Lynne joins us today to chat about her latest book, her ideal dinner guests and her tips for new writers.
Can you tell us about your latest book, ‘Caution: Witch in Progress.’
Caution: Witch in Progress is a children’s humorous fantasy novel aimed at the eight years of age to young teen market. Gertie Grimthorpe comes from a long line of witches. Unfortunately, she hasn’t really got the hang of it. Being blonde-haired, blue-eyed and free of warts isn’t much of an advantage. Try as she might, Gertie’s spells fall flat. She manages to give her bat-headed umbrella the ability to talk, but then wishes she hadn’t when all he does is complain and insult people. Even finding an owl to be her Familiar doesn’t help. Then again, he is extremely shortsighted… Gertie is sent to The Academy to improve her spell casting skills and soon has a best friend in the form of Bertha Bobbit, a big girl, with a matching appetite. Add to that a Moat Monster with a flatulence problem, the weirdest array of witch’s Familiars possible, and a warlock determined to ruin Gertie’s chances of success, and the story unfolds. Not to mention the demon…
by A Moment with Matt Dunn
Penguin (re-issue edition,) January 2014
Matt Dunn is the author of seven novels which includes A Day at The Office and Best Man
Today, Matt talks about the book that has made the most impact on him.
I owe my entire writing career to High Fidelity. While I’d known I wanted to be a writer since my teens, it wasn’t until I read this brilliant book that I knew that was what I wanted to write. Of course, actually writing that would have been pointless (mainly because Nick Hornby had already written it), but I reasoned that surely something like it wouldn’t be a bad thing to aim for, so I sat down at my desk and gave it a go. Eight novels later, I’m still trying to match his breathtakingly spare prose, skilfully-crafted set-pieces, wonderfully-drawn characters, and – most importantly – laugh-out-loud humour. It’s not a long book – perhaps the author was mindful of the old showbiz maxim of ‘always leave them wanting more’ – but as far as I’m concerned, it’s as close to perfection in a novel as you can get.
by A Moment with Jane Green
Author, Jane Green
Jane Green is the international best-selling author of Straight Talking, The Accidental Husband and The Patchwork Marriage. She joins us for a moment to talk about her memorable experiences and what she does when she’s not writing.
What has been your most memorable experience as an author so far?
It is mostly the little things that blow me away. Someone recognising my name from my credit card in a shop and saying, ‘wow, you have the same name as my favourite author!’, or being shown to a table in a restaurant and have someone whisper that Jemima J was her most favourite book ever. But I have to confess, Continue reading
by Blog Tour: Holly Kingston
We’re excited to be a part of the blog tour for Holly Kingston’s fantastic debut novel, A Cinderella Christmas which was released by Novelicious Books in November. We’ve had a chat with Holly to find out about her new book, what she’d take to a desert island and which Sherlock she’d have over for dinner…
Can you tell us about your book, a Cinderella Christmas.
It’s a festive, fun read about a girl called Lucy, who gets the worst job in the Christmas panto. Assigned to being the back end of the comedy cow, she also has to contend with the fact that Ryan Aspall, her superstar heartthrob of a crush, is also starring in the show. Lucy tends to lose the ability to speak when Ryan’s around, which is a little irritating when she’d quite like the confidence to flirt. Then there’s diva Charmaine to contend with, the reality TV star playing Cinderella. Lucy is massively star struck by Charmaine, but Charmaine has a few secrets to hide and things aren’t quite as they seem. Lucy needs to up her confidence to improve her love life and career, but things keep going horribly wrong for the poor girl. There’s a lovely ending though, promise!
Is there a character from fiction you’d like to meet?
Great question! I’d like to meet Continue reading
by Blog Tour – Luca Veste
Luca Veste’s debut novel, Dead Gone, was released on E-book by Avon earlier this month with the paperback being released in January. As part of his blog tour, Luca had a chat with Novel Kicks about his new book and who’d he’d like over for dinner….
Can you tell us about your new book, Dead Gone.
Dead Gone is the first in the DI Murphy and DS Rossi series. A body is found in Sefton Park, Liverpool and when the victim is identified as a local university student, Murphy and Rossi begin looking at those close to her, expecting to find her killer amongst them…ignoring the letter attached which linked the murder to a historical and unethical psychological experiment. Then, another body with its own letter is found…and then another. Murphy and Rossi realise they’re tracking a serial killer who is playing the ultimate game of life and death with them.
Can you tell us about your writing process – are you a planner, do you edit as you go, are you a writer who religiously writes a certain amount of words per day?
I’m a planner of sorts, in that I know roughly what the beginning and ending of a novel is when I start. It’s the bit in the middle that takes the time! I usually write long drafts, which helps find the linear plot of the story and then write up from there. I don’t edit as I go along within a draft, but I do write around 1500-2000 words a day most of the time.
Who would you invite over to dinner?
by Luca Veste: Dead Gone Blog Tour
Novel Kicks was very pleased to be a part of Luca Veste’s blog tour for his great debut novel, Dead Gone. Later on, Luca will be chatting to us about his book. Be sure to also check out the other stops on the tour.
Coming up, a review of Dead Gone which is available now in e-book format. Below, a sneak preview (warning, there is a small amount of bad language.)
Experiment Two
She hadn’t been afraid of the dark.
Not before.
Not before it entered her life without her knowing, enveloping her like a second skin, becoming a part of her.
She hadn’t been claustrophobic, petrified the walls were closing in around her. Crushed to death without knowing they’d even moved. Not scared of things that crawled around her toes. Wasn’t afraid to sit alone in a darkened room and wonder if something was touching her face, or if it was just her imagination.
Nope. She wasn’t scared before.
She was now.
by Jon Rance: My Route to Publication
Jon Rance, the author of This ThirtySomething Life and Happy Endings, talks about his route to publication…
Whenever I talk or write about my route to being published, I always end up using the same words. Unusual. Different. Unconventional. When you think about getting a publishing deal you generally think about someone having an agent first and then the book being shipped around various publishing houses until the inevitable bidding war results in a large three book deal. This generally isn’t true either, but I didn’t even have an agent and I wasn’t really looking to get a publishing deal at all. I guess I should start at the beginning.
I started writing properly ten years ago. I wrote four full-length novels and followed the traditional path of trying to get an agent and failing each time. It always felt a bit strange though. I would spend a year and a half pouring my heart and soul into a book and then I’d send off thirty letters to different agents, wait for the rejections to come back before starting all over again. It’s a strange thing to do. So after I finished writing my fifth book, THIS THIRTYSOMETHING LIFE, I decided not to approach agents and instead self-publish it.
by NaNoWriMo Author Advice: Day Thirty
Giovanna Fletcher
It’s day thirty and the last day of National Novel Writing Month. Giovanna Fletcher, the author of Billy and Me offers advice about first drafts and sitting down to write…
Realise that you will occasionally look at what you’ve written and think it’s crap. Don’t panic at that. Just sit down and write. You will get distracted, it’s inevitable, just make sure you give yourself a good telling off and get back to work. Give yourself a target word count everyday. Something realistic and achievable. My target is 1,500 a day – that might seem a small amount to some people, but it works for me.
by NaNoWriMo Author Advice: Day Twenty-Nine
On day twenty-nine of National Novel Writing Month, Jon Rance, the author of Happy Endings, joins us to talk about the internal editor…
There’s a reason why publishers have editors and why every writer needs one. Because it’s a different job than being a writer. The same applies when we’re writing a novel. Writing is writing, it’s creative and visceral. It’s the difference between designing a house and building one. When you’re writing, be a writer. When you’re editing, be an editor, but never confuse the two.
by Book Club
