Just in case my fellow aspiring writers haven't seen what Amazon with Penguin and HP are up to here's the link https://abna.createspace.com/. The Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award -interesting. Are you up for it or with the Daily Mail, Miss Write ect. comps have you had enough?
I am in two minds as I think sending another work delays the process of submitting to agents etc but it seems less threatening in a away. It's out there and chances are no will really read it and yet you have sent it into the big bad world....... don't know but better make up my mind soon as they are only taking 5000 entries.......
Showing posts with label Daily Mail Novel of the Year. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Daily Mail Novel of the Year. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
A Little Bit Of Venice
Things are a bit chaotic here. I shouldn't be blogging at all. My lists of things to do grows hourly and I still want to enter the Daily Mail competition. However I just had to say what a wonderful time we had in Venice. We arrived stressed beyond words and left blissfully happy. I should probably be ashamed to say that we did not visit a single museum but the Dh said I dragged him into more churches than he's been to in all his life!So we wandered the city with cameras in hand trying to become lost. Lost to the reality of the move and all the other stresses of life. It worked and we ended up in quiet locations sitting by canals drinking cold white wine and feasting on fresh fish.
The atmosphere of Venice's quiet locations should be bottled. The magic of water lapping gently and crumbling building tinged in colour eased away all our cares.........
So I leave you with two photos. One is one of my classic leanings towards flowers or more precisely window boxes. This lead to a new obsession which I will share with you latter in the summer when I have time to post at a more leisurely pace.
Finally, I told my DH that I took this picture for Kate Walker. Well, I did and for me too. All things in Venice were quite exquisite :-)
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Spinning
Life is on full spin at the moment. On Friday night we heard to we are to be moved to Houston, but of course nothing is in writing. So once woken at 2:30 am I couldn't find sleep again for by four I was on the computer researching schools and houses. Trying to find schools that have vacancies that you want your child to go to at this stage is beyond difficult. One likes to make a decision able education with care and thought not just shove her into any old school that will have her. However I have found myself in this position more times than I would like to count. This is one of the reasons why the boys board. However my little chick is far too young to flee the nest and by 10 am on Saturday morning I was standing in the kitchen in floods of tears. I felt I just couldn't do it. We were do at ds2's sports day and I felt I couldn't leave him. Melt down had hit. DD didn't know what to do with mum sobbing in the kitchen over the picnic lunch. DH had enough sense to stay clear and pack the car. Finally I stemmed the flow and we set off for sports day which was lovely.
However in the middle of this ds1 announces he is on the early train back from school and will hit London as we are returning. Lovely? No, as dd has rehearsal for her First Communion on Sunday and DH has appointment. Advise him to take black taxi as he is still unsure of taking the tube on his own..........
Finally my parents arrive and we must return Dad's hire car. Arrive to at 2:30 Hertz to discover they closed at 1:00.
Sunday brings sunshine and the big day but DH and Dad need to return rental car to Victoria before the day can truly get underway. It was a lovely service and DD was thrilled. We had a fabulous lunch back at the house with friends. Exhausted.
Monday return boys to school. Send parents back to Cornwall. Want to collapse but the search for school begins. So far three strike outs..........
Absolutely no writing. In fact I thinks I may have to give up my plan to submit August Rock for the Daily Mail Novel of the Year :-(
However in the middle of this ds1 announces he is on the early train back from school and will hit London as we are returning. Lovely? No, as dd has rehearsal for her First Communion on Sunday and DH has appointment. Advise him to take black taxi as he is still unsure of taking the tube on his own..........
Finally my parents arrive and we must return Dad's hire car. Arrive to at 2:30 Hertz to discover they closed at 1:00.
Sunday brings sunshine and the big day but DH and Dad need to return rental car to Victoria before the day can truly get underway. It was a lovely service and DD was thrilled. We had a fabulous lunch back at the house with friends. Exhausted.
Monday return boys to school. Send parents back to Cornwall. Want to collapse but the search for school begins. So far three strike outs..........
Absolutely no writing. In fact I thinks I may have to give up my plan to submit August Rock for the Daily Mail Novel of the Year :-(
Monday, May 21, 2007
Novel Racer - Chris
Here's the profile of the newest addition to the Novel Racers - Chris, http://homethoughtsweekly.blogspot.com/:
'I knew that I wanted to be writer when I won a tin of chocolates in a competition at school so what did I do about it? Well, I went to UEA but didn’t do the prestigious creative writing course, I went into a so-called proper job because I needed the money and along the way I sold a couple of articles. All this time I was writing books in my head and, except for a couple of failed Mills & Boons, that’s pretty much where they stayed even when I joined the Romantic Novelists’ Association.
After a family bereavement I finally woke up to the fact that unless I took a professional approach to my writing I’d end up living half a life, always wondering what might have been. Last June I picked up the twenty thousand words of a typescript that I’d been mucking about with for years and sat down to finish it. In February I sent it to Hilary Johnson, who I’d met through the Romantic Novelists Association, for an appraisal by her Authors’ Advisory Service.
Hilary passed the book to an agent and I’m nervously waiting for that outcome. Slight understatement – I’m nearly climbing the walls – so the novel racers are just what I need to make me get on with Novel 2.
In the meantime I’ve had non-fiction work published by Honno in an anthology, ‘Strange Days Indeed’ and now know the thrill of holding a proper book, to which I’ve contributed, in my hand! '
I'm still smiling from the launch of Wanna Be A Writer on Saturday. I haven't finished the book but I have already decided it would be required reading for anyone contemplating this crazy life!!! Jane Wenham-Jones lays it all on the table with such humour you are given a true picture. God, help I am still continuing!!!! By the way I skipped to the back and she's running a great contest there - go check it out ;-)
On the writing front, my fingers have hit the keys again. I have thought August Rock through and have started the re-write. As I mentioned my goal is to have this rewrite complete in time for the Daily Mail Novel of the Year contest. With all that is currently going on in my life this may be unrealistic. Their deadline is 2nd July. I am moving house on the 10th July and before that I have half term, my best friend's wedding in the states and a dirty weekend with my dh in Venice plus the RNA Conference in Leicester! However I'm going for it as I have lose to lose but my sanity.
Over the course of this week along with the few profiles I have left (hint hint). I will be sharing the feedback on August Rock that I have had - the good, the bad and the ugly. In some cases I will show you have I have learned from this feedback and finally what I am doing now to kick this baby into shape. Hopefully by doing this it will cement it all in my mind. So rewrite number 5 is in full swing!!
'I knew that I wanted to be writer when I won a tin of chocolates in a competition at school so what did I do about it? Well, I went to UEA but didn’t do the prestigious creative writing course, I went into a so-called proper job because I needed the money and along the way I sold a couple of articles. All this time I was writing books in my head and, except for a couple of failed Mills & Boons, that’s pretty much where they stayed even when I joined the Romantic Novelists’ Association.
After a family bereavement I finally woke up to the fact that unless I took a professional approach to my writing I’d end up living half a life, always wondering what might have been. Last June I picked up the twenty thousand words of a typescript that I’d been mucking about with for years and sat down to finish it. In February I sent it to Hilary Johnson, who I’d met through the Romantic Novelists Association, for an appraisal by her Authors’ Advisory Service.
Hilary passed the book to an agent and I’m nervously waiting for that outcome. Slight understatement – I’m nearly climbing the walls – so the novel racers are just what I need to make me get on with Novel 2.
In the meantime I’ve had non-fiction work published by Honno in an anthology, ‘Strange Days Indeed’ and now know the thrill of holding a proper book, to which I’ve contributed, in my hand! '
I'm still smiling from the launch of Wanna Be A Writer on Saturday. I haven't finished the book but I have already decided it would be required reading for anyone contemplating this crazy life!!! Jane Wenham-Jones lays it all on the table with such humour you are given a true picture. God, help I am still continuing!!!! By the way I skipped to the back and she's running a great contest there - go check it out ;-)
On the writing front, my fingers have hit the keys again. I have thought August Rock through and have started the re-write. As I mentioned my goal is to have this rewrite complete in time for the Daily Mail Novel of the Year contest. With all that is currently going on in my life this may be unrealistic. Their deadline is 2nd July. I am moving house on the 10th July and before that I have half term, my best friend's wedding in the states and a dirty weekend with my dh in Venice plus the RNA Conference in Leicester! However I'm going for it as I have lose to lose but my sanity.
Over the course of this week along with the few profiles I have left (hint hint). I will be sharing the feedback on August Rock that I have had - the good, the bad and the ugly. In some cases I will show you have I have learned from this feedback and finally what I am doing now to kick this baby into shape. Hopefully by doing this it will cement it all in my mind. So rewrite number 5 is in full swing!!
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Novel Racer - JJ
Where to start with today's Novel Racer, JJ, http://tea-stains.blogspot.com/?
Maybe with the porn star name incident. How she knew this twist on life I won't venture to guess - but you take your first pet's name and then your mother's maiden name and voila you have your porn star name! I won't repeat mine here..........too embarrassing for words. So with that little introduction here's JJ in her own words:
"I’ve wondered all my life about what I should do for a career. I’ve never stopped looking in the recruitment pages of the newspaper. It’s interesting to think it might have been obvious all the time, but I resisted writing because my mum encouraged it, and I didn’t know if I wanted it for her or me.
My few years in conventional employment were spent in an archaeological charity and a university, while beginning and aborting writing novels. While I was at home with small children I was offered the chance to broadcast some talks for Radio 2’s Pause for Thought. I wrote and recorded around 6 or 7 talks in total, got paid and had a day and half away from babies.
When my second child was two I realised I was going stir crazy so I started a part-time foundation course in Art and Design, which led to a full time degree in Fine Art, specialising in Sculpture. I discovered while making art that I didn’t need to write, and since not making art, I learned that I positively need to write. It seems I need one or the other.
I’d been lurking in the shadows of Kate Harrison’s blog for a long while, and I took the plunge and emailed her about joining the novel racers. It has been an enormous support in preventing me from declaring my crapness and quitting again."
Budapest is still lovely although the temperature has dropped thanks to a wild storm that blew through early evening. I have been taking it very slowly and just enjoying wandering through the city. I spent several hours in the National Museum yesterday. I find it fascinating to see what partings they choose and what their subjects are. Why? Well, it reveals what parts of history are most important to them them for one and two looking at the subject matter shows the focus of the Nation. So what was feeling coming out of the museum? Well, there seems to be a huge emphasis on the individual as the portraits were stunning. The landscapes were beautifully rural. What I walked away loving was the beautiful wooden carved altar pieces. Stunning.
So you may have noted there is a new progress meter on the side bar. Why you ask? Well, I am still undecided about how to proceed with A Cornish House but I know what I need to do with August Rock. Then there is the matter of the Daily Mail Novel of the Year prize, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/books/authors.html?in_article_id=443515&in_page_id=1826. Now I know I haven't a hope in hell of winning but it does give me a target. The deadline is July 2nd. Now I know that A Cornish House is a better novel than August Rock but there is no way I can whip that baby into shape by 2nd July however it might just be possible with August Rock. So I hope to be sharing with you the struggle to rewrite August Rock for the fifth time. If any of you have any insights into rewriting then please share. Any one else taking a stab at the Daily Mail competition?
One final note, fellow Novel Racers, I need your profiles.......please send them. Thanks :-)
Maybe with the porn star name incident. How she knew this twist on life I won't venture to guess - but you take your first pet's name and then your mother's maiden name and voila you have your porn star name! I won't repeat mine here..........too embarrassing for words. So with that little introduction here's JJ in her own words:
"I’ve wondered all my life about what I should do for a career. I’ve never stopped looking in the recruitment pages of the newspaper. It’s interesting to think it might have been obvious all the time, but I resisted writing because my mum encouraged it, and I didn’t know if I wanted it for her or me.
My few years in conventional employment were spent in an archaeological charity and a university, while beginning and aborting writing novels. While I was at home with small children I was offered the chance to broadcast some talks for Radio 2’s Pause for Thought. I wrote and recorded around 6 or 7 talks in total, got paid and had a day and half away from babies.
When my second child was two I realised I was going stir crazy so I started a part-time foundation course in Art and Design, which led to a full time degree in Fine Art, specialising in Sculpture. I discovered while making art that I didn’t need to write, and since not making art, I learned that I positively need to write. It seems I need one or the other.
I’d been lurking in the shadows of Kate Harrison’s blog for a long while, and I took the plunge and emailed her about joining the novel racers. It has been an enormous support in preventing me from declaring my crapness and quitting again."
Budapest is still lovely although the temperature has dropped thanks to a wild storm that blew through early evening. I have been taking it very slowly and just enjoying wandering through the city. I spent several hours in the National Museum yesterday. I find it fascinating to see what partings they choose and what their subjects are. Why? Well, it reveals what parts of history are most important to them them for one and two looking at the subject matter shows the focus of the Nation. So what was feeling coming out of the museum? Well, there seems to be a huge emphasis on the individual as the portraits were stunning. The landscapes were beautifully rural. What I walked away loving was the beautiful wooden carved altar pieces. Stunning.
So you may have noted there is a new progress meter on the side bar. Why you ask? Well, I am still undecided about how to proceed with A Cornish House but I know what I need to do with August Rock. Then there is the matter of the Daily Mail Novel of the Year prize, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/books/authors.html?in_article_id=443515&in_page_id=1826. Now I know I haven't a hope in hell of winning but it does give me a target. The deadline is July 2nd. Now I know that A Cornish House is a better novel than August Rock but there is no way I can whip that baby into shape by 2nd July however it might just be possible with August Rock. So I hope to be sharing with you the struggle to rewrite August Rock for the fifth time. If any of you have any insights into rewriting then please share. Any one else taking a stab at the Daily Mail competition?
One final note, fellow Novel Racers, I need your profiles.......please send them. Thanks :-)
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