All I Want For Christmas....

Two things have brought this to mind...my best friend asked me a little while what was my best Christmas present ever??? After little thought I knew exactly what it was...in 2006 my family gave me a lap top - of my own. I wept. I still tear-up thinking about it. Money was tight, but they believed in me enough to give me the tool to reach my dreams. They also wanted me off the family computer too but we won't go into the motivation.

Now the second thing making think about this is Cally Taylor's new book HOME FOR CHRISTMAS is out and it looks like a delicious read...

'Beth Prince has always loved fairytales and now, aged twenty-four, she feels like she's finally on the verge of her own happily ever after. She lives by the seaside, works in the Picturebox - a charming but rundown independent cinema - and has a boyfriend who's so debonair and charming she can't believe her luck! There's just one problem - none of her boyfriends have ever told her they love her and it doesn't look like Aiden's going to say it any time soon. Desperate to hear 'I love you' for the first time Beth takes matters into her own hands - and instantly wishes she hadn't.

Just when it seems like her luck can't get any worse, bad news arrives in the devilishly handsome shape of Matt Jones. Matt is the regional director of a multiplex cinema and he's determined to get his hands on the Picturebox by Christmas. Can Beth keep her job, her man and her home or is her romantic-comedy life about to turn into a disaster movie?

I definitely want to find this in my stocking....Santa you can order it here

RNA Conference 2011 - Day Two and the Gala

I wasn't supposed to be at the conference during the day on Saturday but fate intervened...It was an amazing day. It was also exactly what I needed as I tackle these edits. The day began with Linda Gillard's 'Set the scene, create the characters...painting with words'. There was so much from this session but here's a few highlights...

Linda Gillard

-readers co-create with the author
-just enough description to make the reader feel they are there otherwise it slows down the action
-when drafting don't do the action first then add the description. EMBED the description in the action from the start
-write concrete, specific detail. It works harder
-watch for your own boredom threshold
-character description can be where writing sags a bit
-be specific but not comprehensive
-framing...be aware of who is doing the describing...it can be a 2 way street

Jane Wenham Jones

Next up was the a funny, perfectly pitched session by Jane Wenham-Jones on 'Where's the hook? What's my angle?' The most important things she said for me was...'it's never too soon to think about how to sell or market you and the book.'

Tamsyn Murray

Then I sat in Tamsyn Murray's session 'Reader, he dumped me!'...the rise of the bad boy in YA lit more because of DD who is and will be reader these books. It was a fabulous session looking at bad boys in literature old and new. What is their attraction? How they have changed? And what are we teaching with the new bad boy/toxic boy? A heated debate ensued and I will be looking more closely at what DD picks up...

Post lunch it was a wonderful session with Alison King...'What Stops You? strategies to keep you writing.' As I mentioned perfect to help keep the focus on editing...

Miranda Dickinson and Ruth Saberton

Tamsyn Murray and Brigid Coady

Jill  Mansell and guess who

I then took a break. So many things were connecting in my head I needed to be somewhat still. Didn't succeed though as I spent time chatting with friends.

Emma Darwin

My final session for the day was Emma Darwin's 'The literary-commercial divide'. This was always going to be controversial and it didn't disappoint. She took us through what each offers readers and where they can fail readers before jumping into the area of books that fall between the two. She felt that in literary readers have to read into the spaces left by the writer and that readers have to work harder so they 'own' it more....She said if you fall in between the two you have to do everything better - deliver the page turning quality of commercial with the complexity of literary. It was a lively discussion and great fun.

Anna Louise Lucia, Fiona Harper, Julie Cohen, Brigid Coady

The flat mates all glam

Then off to prepare for the Gala Evening. In our flat we gathered in the kitchen to drink a bit of champagne before setting out to the bar...which turned out to be closed! We about faced and found a naughty kitchen to drink more champagne....

Judy Astley, Julie Cohen and Roger Sanderson

Me and my agent - Carole Blake

Anne Ashursy and Jane Wenham-Jones

Then the dinner and the announcement of the winner of the Elizabeth Goudge Award. As I mentioned on Monday I was the runner up with THE HOUSE OF GHOSTS (here) and Cally Taylor won with here entry THE SOMNAMBULIST'S DAUGHTER which is here. It is fabulous. But our flat and table had the wonderful Anna Louise Lucia who was also in the final six! I hope she will post her entry soon.

Anna Louise Lucia and Moi

The Heroine Addicts sans Susanna Kearsley...Anna Louise Lucia, Julie Cohen, Moi, Pia Courtenay, Brigid Coady

Moi and the fab Cally Taylor

Of course post dinner their had to be a naughty kitchen and it turned out to be ours!

In the fug of the naughty kitchen...Anna Louise Lucia, Carole Blake and Biddy Coady

A wonderful day....

Privileged

Yesterday I was out shopping with DS1. He needed a book to read and I don't need any encouragement to go to a book shop. So we had lunch at the Dubai Mall and then went up stairs to Kinokuniya, which is massive to say the least. However they didn't have the two books that are hot on my must buy now list - Cally Taylor's HEAVEN CAN WAIT and Allie Spencer's TUG OF LOVE. However I wandered the store with DS1 and kept saying - she's a friend as I saw a row of Katie Fforde's books and then came across another row of Jill Mansell and so it went...Eventually he said, "Do you know everyone?" and I replied, "No." However the next shelve we stumbled upon made me sound a bit of a liar and very privileged indeed.

As I looked across the middle shelf... I had to say that Nell Dixon, Veronica Henry, Julie Cohen and Phillipa Ashley were all friends. In fact in JUST SAY YES by Phillipa there is actually a thank you in the acknowledgements to moi....

So we ended up buying him a ton of Bernard Cornwell books - six to be precise.

I also decided to be brave and probably foolish when we came across another one of Katie's books on a bestseller shelf and I pointed to a spot on the shelf and said to DS1, "One day my book or books will be right there." Bless the child, he rolled his eyes and said, "I know that Mum but could you just hurry up and do it." Don't you just love kids...

Links

The fabulous Cally has posted a full page of wonderful writing links here. I am going to put a permanent link on my side bar so I can tap into it when I need it. She divides them by category - plot, structure and so on. Absolutely brilliant.

On the writing front - well I began reworking August Rock and moved through the first four chapters and thus far it all hangs together. However I also looked at the calendar! I am 30,ooo words into the new book. I have to submit to the RNA's New Writers' Scheme by the end of August. So with summer holidays just around the corner I had better resume writing. My goal is too have the rough draft finished by the time I head to Cornwall for the summer - that translates to the end of June. I feel reasonably confident about achieving this because even though I haven't been working on it, I know my brain has. I also accept that it will be a dirty first draft so there is no pressure to make it perfect. So beginning today even though the house/villa if full of teenage boys I will begin again (have pity on poor dd who never gets a look in with the ps3 now).

Now the other problem I have is the title. With the other two books I have begun with a title already. For this one I know what I want but it doesn't work because it geographically is in the wrong place. You see I have always loved the the name of the village - Come-to-Good. However the book is set on the north shore of the Helford River. I may end up calling after the house which as in the other two books is central to the story but I need to finalize the name. I spent hours with mil's old book on the workings of Cornish names to get the right prefix with the correct suffix to capture the essence of the location of the house. However as with all these things it is open to interpretation....

Do you need a title to write? Do you start with a title? Create one as you go? Do you care? Do you leave it to your publisher?

Middle name Meme, Dubai 7's and Links

Rebecca tagged me for the middle name meme which requires that I list the rules first:

1. You have to post these rules before you give the facts.
2. Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don't have a middle name, just make one up...or use the one you would have liked to have had.
3. When you are tagged you need to write your own blog-post containing your own middle name game facts.
4. At the end of your blog-post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them they're tagged, and to read your blog.

M - Mother. I see being a mother the most important role in life. It shapes much of how I act and think although I wasn't sure I relay wanted to be one until I was one.

A - Angels. I believe in angels especially guardian angels who I particularly relying when I am flying because I am terrified of flying and with my life flying is not an optional activity.

R - Rejection. I am no longer afraid of rejection. I think when I hit 40 this passed and I don't really care what most other people think of me, my life and my work. I finally know and love myself so what others like really doesn't matter.

I - Imagination. Imagination is a special gift and I hadn't realized how many people lack it until recently. It seems to get lost somewhere between childhood and adolescence.

E - Education. Education is so important and it comes in so many many forms. We have an obligation to ourselves and other to keep educating our minds and sharing it with others.

Right now I tag JJ, Cally, Fiona, Nell ,Ray-Anne

Now the Dubai 7's start today, Thursday - despite what the blog says - and believe it or not it is cloudy which I am sure has the players worried as last year they nearly got rained out I here! So here's hoping it won't rain as we will be there tomorrow and Saturday. I am hoping that the 7's won't let me down as I have such wonderful memories of them from when we lived here last!

Now onto a few links for you. I tagged Fiona above but it worth dropping by her blog because she is doing one of her wonderful writing craft sessions. Her insight into writing is brilliant. I now forget who lead me onto this blog but it worth scrolling through his posts during NaNoMo. Here's a quote from his last post which hit home:

"That's because writing is about setting, and reaching, goals.

Stories don't write themselves. They take a considerable time commitment. Often that commitment is hard to justify. But writers, real writers, make writing a priority. They make the time and the effort. "