A Cornish Affair Won!

A few days later and I am still in a state of delighted shock… A Cornish Affair won the Festival of Romance's Readers' Award for Best Romantic Read! The short list was superb and I still become teary when I think about it. This book took a long time in coming to publication. Those who follow the blog know that it began life as August Rock back in 2005.

Since then if has been rewritten more time than I want to count. But I am so thrilled that Jude's story won.

As with last year the Festival was held in Bedford and this year it was bigger and better. This is the only event in the UK for readers of romance to meet their favourite authors and connect with new writers. I think there were 60 romance authors this year.

Me holding the lovely Miranda Dickinson's latest book Take A Look At Me Know

On Saturday morning it was the coffee and cake event with 14 authors. I read an short extract from the award winning (need to keep saying so I can believe it!) A Cornish Affair. And the big highlight was meeting the wonderful John Jackson!

Me reading…picture courtesy of John Jackson

The book fair was held in the Corn Exchange and it was great with share a table with Kat Black and William Coles.

Then I had a book signing at Waterstones with the lovely Hazel Osmond (one of my fellow short listed authors)…

Then complete collapse in my room. I was beat. I looked at my dress which glittered and sparkled at me and thought I can't wear it. But bullied on by friends on Twitter I donned the frock and set forth the ball. As with any time when you get a bunch of romantic novelist together the volume is high and the conversation can slip low…this was no exception….

I was happily tweeting the award winners live and was all set to type in the winner of the Readers' Award for Best Romantic Read when…my name was called. I am grateful there are no pictures of my face! I fully expected any other the other wonderful authors on the list but not my name.

Sue Morrcroft, Liz Fenwick, Jane Lovering, Rowan Coleman and Hazel Osmond

Somehow I made it up to receive my award from the wonderful Christina Courtney (fellow Heroine Addict) and then sat down stunned. In fact I was shell shocked all evening and didn't know what to do with myself…still feeling this way but now I can at least work on the next book!

Sorry about the pink lightening…Tracy Bloom (Tracey won the Best Author Published Book) and Liz Fenwick

Kate Allen has done a wonderful job with the festival and I'm already looking forward to next year.

Broo Doherty won the agent award

I wish I could thank the readers personally. I am so thrilled they loved Jude's and Tristan's journey…

So off to Dubai in about a half hour…yes, back to normal life on a plane.

PS…finishing this post at 35,000 feel somewhere over Europe!

When Sue Moorcroft Ran Away

Here's Sue's story....

I was five and deeply fed up with my mother's rules, so threatened to run away. She took me upstairs, helped me pack, saw me across the road and waved me goodbye. I burst into tears and ran back into her arms! Not the most successful running away venture in history ...



















Sue's latest book is  Dream A Little Dream and you can find it here.

Liza Reece has a dream. Working as a reflexologist for a troubled holistic centre isn’t enough. When the opportunity arises to take over the Centre she jumps at it. Problem is, she needs funds, and fast, as she’s not the only one interested.

Dominic Christy has dreams of his own. Diagnosed as suffering from a rare sleep disorder, disillusioned with his live-in girlfriend and discharged from the job he adored as an Air Traffic Controller, he’s single-minded in his aims. He has money, and plans for the Centre that don’t include Liza and her team. 

But dreams have a way of shifting and changing and Dominic’s growing fascination with Liza threatens to reshape his. And then it’s time to wake up to the truth ...



You can find out more about Sue on suemoorcroft.wordpress.com.

The RNA Winter Party, The Dutch Edition of The Cornish House and A Catch Up

My shoes!

Well, it has been a crazy time...from the Festival of Romance ( I blogged about it here), DS2's 18th birthday, and finishing my edits on A Cornish Affair (YAY!).

Today I am sitting in PJs wondering if I really have to venture forth from the flat or can I just be lazy all day...

Aside from what's been mentioned above, I was on Sue Moorcroft's blog yesterday sharing a romantic dream of mine here to celebrate the release of her latest book Dream A Little Dream...there's a free copy of the The Cornish House on offer for the most romantic story...

The fabulous Tracey Edges reviewed The Cornish House on her Saturday morning Radio programme Edges Review. You can listen to the programme here and the review of The Cornish House comes about a half hour from the end of the programme...

I will be signing copies of The Cornish House in Truro at Waterstones on Saturday 24th of November from 11...please come by and say hello...

I'll also be in Fowey at the Mini Du Maurier Festival called the  Cornish Compendium with the wonderful Veronica Henry talking about Inspirational Cornwall (and there's a cream tea!) on Thursday the 29th at 4PM The Old Quay House Hotel. Please come if you are around. Tickets can be purchased here.

Sterren boven Cornwall (stars over Cornwall), the Dutch edition of the Cornish House is out now...so exciting

Yesterday I sent off the edited version of A Cornish Affair to my agent and my editor...nail biting time but also relief...now a few days to catch up with life and begin writing the next book! I'll be entering NaNoWri a bit late!!!!

Sue Moorcroft - One Thing I've Learnt..

One thing I’ve learnt is to value my friends.

It’s all too easy to think that keeping my head down over my work is the best way to productivity. Not so! Creativity doesn’t always thrive in solitude. Maybe I need other emotional perspectives; maybe it’s natural in a storyteller to always being on the look out for anecdotes. Or maybe it’s that friendship recharges my heart’s batteries. But half-an-hour over a cuppa with friends who amuse and interest me will send me back to my desk in a burst of energy, full of ideas and enthusiasm.

NB Chocolates and champagne work even better than a cuppa …

http://www.suemoorcroft.com

My London Book Fair Adventure

All I can say is that I have even more respect for my agent after spending a few hours at London Book Fair...I was shattered. How she survives after three full days plus the parties....

I went to see what all the fuss was about....

Earl's Court

On the surface it's just like other trade shows I've been to...loads of people, massive displays but the difference is that LBF is about books...and every one attending is passionate about them - well maybe not the coat check lady but then I didn't ask her because she was scary.

A fuzzy view

I went because I was curious. Nothing more than that I'm afraid. I had no secret agenda - well I knew a few friends would be there (Mel Sherrat, Maria Duffy) but found so many more...

Vanessa O'Loughlin

I wanted to get a picture of Carole Blake with my book on her desk and I did...in fact when I waved from the distance and she called me over she was actually pitching my book. How cool? How scary...

A US publisher sitting with my agent Carole Blake with The Cornish  House on display

I met a few people from Orion. I had great catch up with my Choc Lit buddies.

Sue Moorcroft

Me and Pia Christina Courtenay

Was it worth the cost of admission? Yes, because in today's market authors need to know how it all works. The more you know the more you understand. I attended part of the session on self-publishing. This was fantastic. Yes, I have a wonderful publisher but in the publishing world today the author needs to be savvy about selling books. The authors on the panel were successfully selling their books and had a lot of knowledge to share. I loved Linda Gillard's comment that she looks at readers as potential friends and that makes marketing much easier. It was a key point that I will take away with me...

Sam Missingham at the Bookseller stand

So no great revelations but a decision that if possible I will visit again next year and get a feel of the mood in the industry which this year according to my sources was positive....

The RNA's RoNA brochure on the Choc Lit stand

The year of the Rabbit

Found the description below in an email today and as two in house are rabbits...


1915, 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999

People born in the Year of the Rabbit are articulate, talented, and ambitious. They are virtuous, reserved, and have excellent taste. Rabbit people are admired, trusted, and are often financially lucky. They are fond of gossip but are tactful and generally kind. Rabbit people seldom lose their temper. They are clever at business and being conscientious, never back out of a contract. They would make good gamblers for they have the uncanny gift of choosing the right thing. However, they seldom gamble, as they are conservative and wise. They are most compatible with those born in the years of the Sheep, Pig, and Dog.


This rabbit has her head down editing...and it may well be down for a while. However must leave you with a few links... 


The first from Sarah Duncan here. This has helped me on so many levels but the biggest is being overwhelmed by finding things in a 440 page pile (you know when you need to go a check your facts and debate moving a scene...you either have to scroll endlessly or flip through pages and pages...Sarah suggests printing out the script single spaced and voilà half the size and less intimidating) There is much more in the post and the comments are helpful too. 


The next is also a useful editing tool if you've done it in the first place, which unfortunately I haven't but I will in the future...time lines. Sue Moorcroft's post is excellent on the use of them and it has pictures :-) here

Pure Passion and Sue Moorcroft (well Sue's book) In Dubai

Today I was in the Kinokuniya book shop in Dubai Mall and much to my delight I saw Sue Moorcroft's latest book - STARTING OVER on the table just as you walk through the front door and near by I saw all Rachel Hore's books including her novel THE GLASS PAINTER'S DAUGHTER which was short listed for the Romantic Novel of the Year and it had its PURE PASSION sticker on it!

I was so pleased I had sneak these photos!

Today I printed off the first40 pages of PENDEROWN, looked through my notes, mind mapped my thoughts on where I thought the book should be going. I also allowed my self to rewrite in long hand the first page - magic again. Tomorrow I will write the synopsis as I see it at the moment and read what I have printed off without editing (this will be difficult) then as a reward I can rewrite page two.

It looks like ds2 can fly out tomorrow - now I am filled with worry. What happens if he's diverted? He's only 15 although he towers over the rest of the family at six foot two. Will he be able to manage the chaos that will be on the other end?

The York Festival of Writing

I’m not sure where to begin. The weekend was fabulous on so many levels.

I went to York at a bit of a cross roads. I’ll own up to the fact that I am a perfectionist and that this is quite frankly a pain in the back side. I have been told by many that I stress too much or think too much about the writing. I have been told by some that I am ready. I have smiled and said no, but they thought I was fussing. This weekend reconfirmed what I knew in my gut. I write well and to a publishable level, but that isn’t good enough anymore and it’s not what I want. Yes, I want to be published and I really want people to read my stories – the later really drives me. But I want to do it right and well and I don’t want to do it too soon. As the wonderful Katie Fforde confirmed you only get one shot at your debut.

My gut has been saying that I have a few more notches to climb and this weekend did two things or maybe even three. The one-to-one chats with the agents confirmed my feeling that my writing is good but they can see these is more there. One was most delightful and helpful – really thinking hard about the work and how to lift it – I am grateful. It is a joy to have someone study your work – to think about it hard and give you their thoughts even if they are not what you want to hear. Everything I heard I knew already which some may say was a waste of an opportunity, but it wasn’t for me as I hadn’t trusted me instinct. I needed to hear it from the pros who were kind enough to give me their time. So with the validation I needed I can now dig deep to lift (if that makes any sense) my writing the next two or three levels. Maybe the dig deep means mining my heart for the emotion and the dark underused recesses of my brain for the craft that has been lost since university. Don’t know but I do know I have a clearer picture than I have ever had of what type of writer I am and what I want to produce.

Now off of the quite so internal thinking to hard core tangible learning. The workshops i attended were superb – and touched and ignited so many things. I’ll give a brief summary of some of them:-

First up was Jeremy Sheldon’s – A Sense of Place. I will confess to some apprehension that I had chosen the wrong thing. If anything all of my book are dripping location. Cornwall is tangible on the page. Boy I am so glad that I went to this. Jeremy is a brilliant teacher and what he did was beautifully demonstrate what description can do for you.

He began with a quote from the Great Gatsby – a description of the Manhattan skyline. He asked us what the character was feeling – it was clear yet not a single internal emotional thought had been uttered. He then quoted Henry Miller (don’t remember the book) and it was a description of the same bit of skyline yet the emotion conveyed was completely different.

His task for us was to describe a journey in third person without using any words to tell the character’s emotional state.

So I wrote a scene from Pilgrimage where Pru is leaving Dubai –

Her sunglasses fogged with her first step outside. The taxi was there but between the film of moisture on her glasses and the textured wind of the shamal it was just a sand coloured shape in front of her.

Pru handed the driver her bag. Only one bag and that was a first. She forced the door open against the wind. The air con in the taxi did nothing to disguise the unwashed odour of the driver or maybe now that her glasses had cleared her sense of smell had returned with her vision.

She ferreted inside her Birkin checking for her passport and boarding pass. Finding them she pushed the bag onto the seat beside her. She looked out the window and let her hand cover her nose. The palm trees that lined the road had soft edges today unlike yesterday when they had been crisp against the cloudless blue sky.

Yesterday on the train back I looked the opening paragraph of A Cornish House

The car coughed, lurched and died. Maddie’s fingers clenched the wheel. The trailer’s momentum nudged it further along the dark lane. The moonlit sky silhouetted the twisted trees. Their tortured shapes rose from the hedges, forming a tunnel, which seemed to enclose the car.

It doesn't need the sentence in italics because the description says it much better. You know her state of mind. I need to trust my descriptive passages and enjoy them.

The next session was also with him and this was Show Not Tell. Again brilliant. For an exercise we had to take a noun like passion and say – passion tastes like or sounds like or smells like. The woman who read out her responses said passion smells like sulphur and my nose instantly reacted. Jeremy said this is what you want – you want to evoke a reaction and better yet a physical one in your reader.

Moving quickly along to the afternoon – Julie Cohen gave a character workshop. Now I couldn’t stay for the whole session because of a one-to-one, but recently I have been doubting that I am a writer - well I am. If you can create a character out of two letters and a number with the flip of a coin then you are a writer at heart. I love Julie but at the moment she is not my favourite person as I now have a fully fledged character with yellow eyes who is a conductor waiting for her story to be told......she is the type who I know will not now leave me alone.

Sunday provided me with tools to deal with many characters and how to look for the right hero. My head was bursting with ideas.

There was a good contingent from the RNA there – Katie Fforde who opened the festival with a stirring calls to write and keep writing. She gave us the ten tips to guaranteed publication and I believe she is right. I mentioned Julie but there was also Adele Geras, Sue Moorcroft, Veronica Henry and one of the organizers Kate Allen. There were six if not a few more aspiring members too. As always we were the first to the bar. Also knowing less people at the conference I could spend more time with those I did know - bliss.

The festival was brilliant for all the industry people who were brave enough to be there. I queue jumped at the bar for agent Peter Buckman, discussed Andrew Lownie’s newsletter with him, lusted after Jane Johnson's beautiful coat (and found a parallel live of sorts – she lives half time in Morocco and Cornwall), led wonderful Jane Judd astray plying her with white wine, had breakfast with a lovely editor who rejected me beautifully a while ago and then planned a handbag trip to Dubai with her, and had dinner with the gorgeous Barry Cunningham and thanked him for publishing JK Rowling for the hours of pleasure he had helped bring to me and my kids....I could go on....

They were all so generous with time and their thoughts. I watched them tactfully handle the full manuscripts shoved under their noses at breakfast or past rejections letters revisited. They kept the smile on their faces. As RJ Ellory summed it up at the close – they are passionate about books and it is why they do it. Writers are passionate about writing and that’s why we do it. Passion is the only reason to be in the business even if to some it smells like supher.

RNA Conference - Opening Session

I finally reached home at ten last night - exhausted but energized at the same time. The conference was simply wonderful. There is nothing quite like being with people who don't think you come from an alien planet because you live with strangers in your head.

Below is the first of my conference notes - I must add again these are just my take on what was said - what I could scribble down quickly - not exact quotes but my summary - so therefore I could be way off the mark from what the speaker actually said or intended. I offer my apologies for this in advance.

I do have to say this session alone did show that there is no one right way....and boy did I learn a lot!

How much........is too much?

The Opening session of the RNA Conference in Penrith was chaired by Catherine Jones aka Kate Lace. She introduced the authors on the panel –Melanie Hilton aka Louise Allen(hot historicals for Mills & Boon), Liz Gill (Sagas), Helen Scott Taylor (Paranormal), Sue Moorecroft (short stories), and Veronica Henry (romantic comedy).

We, the audience, were asked to phrase our questions as “How much (blank) is too much?” Catherine opened the questions with ‘How much sex is too much?’

HST – in paranormal many are very hot especially in the US – the market in general there spans extremely hot to inspirational
MH – it’s too much if you don’t feel comfortable- otherwise its shows – you need to think of your readers’ comfort zone – more important the unexpected frizzon
VH – in her 1st book she wrote very steamy scene and now that is expected in all her books. However you do need to earn them – they need an emotional pull or reward; they are good fun
SM – in short stories it depends on the market
LG – one reader commented to her once ‘Don’t know how you sleep at night with all those sex scenes.’ She hadn’t thought there were many in the book but went back to count and there were 11. She added that it’s got to be in conflict otherwise it’s gratuitous. Conflict with sex – the whole novel should be in conflict...what’s holding them back (what’s going on the outside vs the inside –we need to care) Sex has to be more that sex.

Research
LG – lots..libraries, people best. She researches while watching telly, it is only too much if it all turns up in your novel – read and digest & forget. There is never enough research but it shouldn’t be the book
VH – too much when you become obsessed by it. It should be a natural absorb then concentrate on the story; follow your interest so you don’t bore your reader or yourself, keep it flowing
MH – too much research is when it stops you writing the book. She many times researches backwards to check facts as she did on a 5th cen Roman book. Research can be wonderful displacement activity.
HST – can make it up but her starting point is usually in folklore and then she goes off to create with familiar elements in it.
SM – she said think of an art gallery with one picture on the wall laid bare – in a short story everything shows. Interviewing people is wonderful research

Revision and Polishing
MH – when it becomes too slick, loses its edge, loses its voice, and you become bored
VH – its a good way of not getting on!(as you are too bust tweeking adverds and adjectives and not writing the story); she writes in 20k chunks then locks then away until the end which is about 120k. She does have a good memory to keep track of all that is going on in the book. When the book is written then she polishes
SM – she is finished polishing “when I can read without changing anything” only then is she done – she likes polishing better than the first draft
LG – James N Frey wrote in his book – when you want to throw up all over it...when you are bored and tired of it. She writes a book every 6 months
HST – she blasts through the first draft and works on the fly – just makes notes to come back to as she goes along – once she starts fiddling she loses momentum then 2 revision on the computer, another one printed out and then one more time on the computer – she is always cutting for the US market as they require it to be very tightly written.

Pressure (from a looming deadline)
HST – gave herself enough time but not too much; she works well to a deadline – it is a good thing
MH –writes three books a year – tight deadlines but prefers that – no drifting allowed. She works out how long she has and pulls out the non-writing days then divides the writing days by the total number of words required and set a target for each day which she aims to exceed – then she recalculates each day until she is finished ahead of time with time to revise.
VH – writing and promoting simultaneously which can make her panic; she had an inbuilt sense of where she should be and if she falls behind she goes away by herself for a few days to catchup but always does it in the time she has been told.
LG -2books a year so she works everyday but builds it around her very busy social life – for example if she is out for lunch she will arrive at pub a half hour early to write before lunch

Back Story
LG – she uses prologues as flashback can upset reader if used too much. Just write the story.
SM – you place characters in a situation so it comes out in the scene/dialogue then use introspection
VH – you need to know and inform your characters – don’t slow the story with it – a good editor will say you are slowing up – cut to the chase; don’t make it show
MH – avoid back story dump – writes out back story first so that she can absorb it into motivation, behaviour and dialogue
HST – enough at each stage of the book so that the reader knows what is going on but only knows something as it is needed. Get to know story of character before writing – then it feeds out gradually

Scene Setting
VH – if you need to make sure you show – don’t tell and make it exciting so it doesn’t slow the action up. Take them on the journey. She uses multi protagonist – so some has to be given but as little as possible; what are they doing, saying, wearing
SM – nothng that you don’t need – so very little, characters must have the conviction – they persuade the reader
LG – does it for geography alone
MH – You don’t need the character announcing ‘Goodness it’s 1749 and doesn’t Brussels look...’it should seep out in the writing
HST – need scene setting as it is completely different than normal – it depends on how different the author makes the world just don’t slow the pace of the story

Subplot
LG – doesn’t do subplot if story is short about 3 for 120k; just tell the story that you want to tell and that only you can tell
VH – several – one is the engine and time line; all the others reflect one another; it all follows and is a bit like a jigsaw; it pulls the reader through seamlessly keeping the reader interested but be clear; keep in control – neither too much nor too little
MH – in 75/80k is not enough space for too much subplot – except in a series. They must be relevant to the main story – keeping them moving forward too
HST – hadn’t thought about subplots until she had a review which mentioned her use of them. They should have that relates and intertwines – it can’t exist separately but occurs naturally as it unfolds

Points of View
SM – she is the viewpoint police – one per episode unless there is a good reason to change that; it should be whose story it is, whose conflict, - otherwise you lose the immediacy – be in their heart and soul
LG – the whole point is that the reader doesn’t notice and as long as it reads well – generally she has 4
VH – has lots of characters and flips gaily between – this is from script writing – she writes filmatically like she’s at a cocktail party but sticks with one person for some satisfaction. It is important not to switch out of one head to avoid getting into the deep stuff – it has to be done – you can’t avoid it
MH – writes roughly 60% form the heroine point of view and 40% from the hero. Only in one book did she write only from the heroine’s pov but this was done because she had the most at risk in every scene. She does analyse every scene to see who is most at risk
HST – was taught to stick to one person’s pov in each scene and usually uses 3 pov per book. It is key to know whose head we are in and it is a bit genre dependent

Advance
HST – haven’t had too much - no idea but it seems bigger advance to names and the lower down get squeezed
MH – said too keep an eye on the tax situation – is it better to have it in advance or leave it to come in gradually especially if you have other income streams to deal with
VH – said there is a huge amount of expectation but to remember it affects all other budgets like how much money they have to spend on the promotion of the book – finding a middle line is best and being sensible
LG – it can be too much so pay attention

Word Play

On the way home from dd's Irish dance class night we played a new game. I gave her five or six words and she had to create a story from this. DD is a great story teller - far better than her mother so I wasn't actually trying to work on her story telling ability but on her vocabulary. So in those five or six words I would through in a few that she would have heard before but not necessarily known their meaning - tricky aren't. So before the story could begin we would dicuss these words. For example:

Subscribe, top-hat, gremlin, advertise, and idiot ( I was driving in Dubai and that last word is never far from my lips)

So I had to define subscribe totally and advertise partially before she created and interesting tale of the of the top hatted gremlin who subscribed to the Gulf News because he likes the ads or something like that. Heck it killed a boring journey quite effectively.

I found this word game a bit like the creative process for me - although it's not words but random ideas that are pulled together and bounce around in my chaotic mind until 'ping' the connections start happening. Some times the process is quick (as this summer at the RNA Conference during Sue Moorcroft's character workshop) and other times it's month or longer before these very separate threads knit together.

Over on Steve Malley's blog he has a good post on this but he calls it groping for fishhooks (warning on of his illustrations - picture variety) gave me the willies but he describes the process very well.

Progress report - I made slow progress on revision - just five new pages. Why so slow you ask? Because I spent a long time in my room reading aloud the work and boy did that throw up a bunch more revisions on the first few chapters. I hate reading my own work aloud - very self concious am I - but I found it easier in my own space. Funny that.......

RNA Conference Parts 10 & 11

I have grouped the next to sessions together not because they have anything to do with each other but because my notes are quite short on each. The first session was Elizabeth Chadwick and Alison King 'Beyond the Looking Glass - an Akashic Record Session.' I found this session fascinating. Elizabeth Chadwick who writes novel based on the lives of historic people uses Alison's gift of tapping into the energy of the past to 'see' the past and confirm facts and fill in the blanks of Elizabeth's research. The held a session where they tapped into the early life of Henry II. Elizabeth asked question while Alison felt her way through the time. Alison works with people who are tracing their family history as well. It's an amazing gift.

The next session was with Sue Moorcroft (picutred here with Judith Lennox). It was 'More Than You thought You Knew - Character Workshop'. Now I have few notes on this one as it was a workshop but it was fantastic. Sue handed us all a small sheet of paper with a few details on it like - age 18, sex female, failed her a levels. From this we had to filled in the blanks so to speak. Once we had done this she asked a few of us to stand up and become our character and take questions. That was brilliant part as you really had to think of your feet and know your character. It was amazing how the development these characters came on! In fact it is to this session I owe the rough outline of the book that is brewing in my head this summer! Thank you Sue.