Giveaway prize winners

The giveaway finished on Friday afternoon, but due to work and other stuff (I edited and submitted a short story last night), I didn't get around to picking the winners until just a moment ago.

Drum roll please...

(BTW this draw had pictorial evidence, but Blogger wouldn't let me upload them!)

Cat and The Dreamer... Miriam Drori
Miriam was the only person to choose Cat, so there's only one winner.

That Sadie Thing... Hilary Melton-Butcher and Gwen Tolios

Our Beautiful Child... Michelle Wallace and Murees Dupe.

I will be contacting all the winners (within the next half an hour, so I don't miss Doctor Who).

Thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway.

Ooh, look at that... this is post 501!

500 posts!

On Monday 26th July 2010, I wrote my first ever blog post - a post which, sadly, received no comments.

I'd been reading some blogs by my favourite authors, and decided I'd like to have a go. If nothing else, I thought, at least I'd have a record of my journey towards my Man Booker-winning novel in 2030...

And today, I am writing my 500th post.

I've been pretty active, writing-wise, in those five years and three months - I've had three books published, with another on the way next year. I've written a novel which I'm currently submitting, and I'm writing some short stories for a new collection.

But most of all, I've met lots of wonderful writers, many of whom I call friends.

I've been writing for a very long time (my first two short stories were published 21 years ago, which makes me sound very old, even though I'm not!) and in those days prior to the internet, writing was a lonely business. Indeed, authors were remote and awe-inducing because you couldn't just phone them up for a chat, or read about their daily lives - connections on Facebook and Twitter mean you now can. How brilliant is that!

As a thank you for reading my blog - new and old alike - I'm giving away two copies of each of my books. Cat and The Dreamer is an ebook, but the others are available in paperback too. Just comment with the book and format you'd like - I'll choose winners at random next Friday, 23rd October.

Check them out on Goodreads first, if you're unfamiliar with them

  

I hate change

My town inspired the setting in my most recent book Our Beautiful Child. I cheated a bit and moved some of the buildings around, and borrowed a couple of landmarks from nearby towns, but everyone does that, right?

One of the buildings that was completely accurate (and only moved a 100 metres or so to the left!) was The Boatman, which became The Boathouse in the book. It's an old pub, built in 1595, and I spent a good part of my late teens there.

I am feeling sad, because the new owners have modernised it. I peered in through the windows a couple of nights ago, and the beams, stonework and olde worlde atmosphere has been stripped - replaced by plastered walls painted pale colours and brighter lighting,

It's no longer the place where a weary ghost would sit on a stormy summer evening waiting for Rona to notice him, or where candles would lure Sally towards the sexy stranger in town. It's no longer special.

Have there been changes in your town you've hated?

Do you like old buildings, or is modernisation a good thing?

This writer is writing

Blogging has been lower down my priority list for a while now, which you'll know if you've stopped here recently. With every post, I seem to be making excuses giving reasons for my lack of interaction. And when I do post/enter a blogfest, I have a really hard time getting round to all the commenters.

Please just know, I love you and your blogs, it's nothing personal, it's me trying to write while the dog rests his head on my keyboard - looking pitiful - and hits me in the face with whichever toy he wants to play with next. Often, I've resorted to typing left-handed while playing tuggy with the other.

I've finished polishing the flash fiction I started a couple of months ago, and with help (thanks Kyra Lennon) weeded out the weak links. This means the collection is a little short for purpose - I'm planning to enter it into the Vine Leaves Literary Journal competition - so I'll be writing some more over the coming days and polishing those too.

I should be thinking about my next longer work, but at the moment I have nothing. I've got a 'novel' that I could play around with, but I don't really have an overall story to link together the short periods of genius (lol). 

Tomorrow, after work, I'm off to listen to Hubby playing an afternoon gig in a pub, and I'll be taking my notebook to write. Music and cider... what a great way to write!

On a different note, Our Beautiful Child has been available for almost four months. Have you read it? Did you like/dislike it? Would you consider leaving a review on Amazon or Goodreads? Thank you!

What's your best marketing tip for me?

What's your favourite way to write?

Catching up

Hello! It's been a while, how've you been? You look great... is that a new hair style?

So, what have I been up to? Actually, I'm not that sure. Time has drifted away from me over the past couple of weeks. I wanted to write a new short story, so I made some small attempts that petered out. I knew what I wanted to write about, and the feelings I wanted to create, but something was missing.

And then, last Thursday evening, Hubby took me to a gig with him.

This is Lusty Glaze Beach - it's a small, isolated cove, reached by climbing down a lot of steps. The bar/restaurant is beautiful, and this was the view.

Half-way through the evening, the storms started - amazing flashes of lightning and low, deep rumbles of thunder. And I could have sworn I saw two people sitting on the beach...

Peter Crawford and the beach

And that, for inspiration, was all I needed.

I have the first draft written, and in a moment, I'm going to read through it and cover the print-out with red and green pen.









In other news, it's been hot, hasn't it?

There's a new review of Our Beautiful Child up on A Thousand Words A Million Books, along with a short interview and a giveaway to win either a paperback or an ecopy.

My Facebook page book page also recently reached 200 'likers', so I'm also giving away books to three people - just comment on the pinned post at the top of my page, telling me which book you'd like and in which format!

Where did your last inspiration come from?

What's the weather like? And does anyone have 

any advice on coping with the heat?!

Guest posts and a new story

To celebrate the release of Our Beautiful Child in paperback, I've been hanging out at a couple of other blogs this week...

• I'm over on Between the Lines sharing Five Books I've Read More Than Once
• and explaining why I think Novellas are Awesome at Beck Valley Books.

Thanks to both Cathy and Sharon for inviting me to their blogs.

Just a little bit starstruck

I'm not really here today, I'm over on the most awesome blogger ever's blog, the Ninja Captain himself, Mr Alex J Cavanaugh talking about what I would be if I wasn't a writer. It's a huge honour to have been invited over - I hope I don't make a fool of myself.

In other news, I sent off a submission this weekend, and felt nothing - no terror, no fear, no excitement. The submission was an open request to a massive publisher, so I assume they will be completely inundated. There's really no point getting your hopes on for such a small window of possibility. If anything comes of it, then I can be excited! 

I've also been watching as many World Cup games as I can. It was great watching Spain lose, less so watching England lose. Although, the consensus is, they played well, so hopefully the other two games in our group will be easier.

I have a problem though... I wore England pants, and England lost. Do I risk wearing them next time they play, or are they now unlucky pants which I should avoid wearing? Your advice will be most welcome!

Still visiting other blogs

I was very excited on Wednesday when Our Beautiful Child reached the dizzy heights of #18 on the Amazin 'Gothic' rankings on Amazon. I had never considered my writing (or some of my writing) that way, but I like it!

The lovely Misha Gericke has invited me over for an interview - please visit her blog and say hi. Misha has recently opened up her blog for guest posts, so if you have an idea, let her know!


I'm sure there's more I should be sharing with you, but at the moment I'm trying to decide which Chinese takeaway dish to order and watching the build up to the next World Cup match.

Are you watching football?

Who are you supporting?

Or... what are you doing instead?

Whooooo! Our Beautiful Child is out now!

Our Beautiful Child is available right now!  

I am so excited. It's been a really long day, waiting for it to go live... and then it happened while I was at work! I've waited so long to see this book become a reality - one of the stories of this collection actually pre-dates Cat and The Dreamer.

I'm not embarking on an official blog tour, but over the course of the next week or so, you'll find me popping up in various places with some guest posts. A few bloggers have helped me today with a release announcement, which include a random question taken from Jackie Magazine (circa 1984) - it seemed like a good idea at the time - so please pop in wherever you see the book cover, because you might learn something new about me, and them!

• On Kyra Lennon's blog, we answer a question about soap operas
• Murees Dupe and I share our nicknames
• Mark Koopmans and I tell you what we dreamt about last night... oo-er...
• Rachel Schieffelbein and I name things after ourselves
• Melissa Maygrove and I share fashion tips

Buy now on Kindle (Nook to follow)
and don't forget you can win a copy by visiting my website and leaving a comment.

• Our Beautiful Child is also being given away on Tammy's blog alongside awesome new books from Elizabeth Seckman and Nancy S. Thompson.
• Linda King has reviewed it here
• I'm being interviewed by Stephanie Faris here
• I pop over to see Jay Mims too
• Yesterday, I was at My Pet Blog talking about my home town
• Tomorrow I'll be with Vanessa Morgan talking ghosts

“The Boathouse collects misfits. Strange solitary creatures that yearn for contact with the outside world, but not too much. They sit, glass in hand, either staring at the table in front of them, or at some distant point on the horizon.” 

… so says the narrator of Our Beautiful Child. And he’s been around long enough to know.

People end up in this town almost by accident. Ella is running away from her nightmares, Sally is running away from the memories of previous boyfriends and Rona is running away from university. Each of them seek sanctuary in the 18th century pub, The Boathouse; but in fact, that’s where their troubles begin.

Ella finds love, a moment too late; Rona discovers a beautiful ability which needs refining before she gets hurt; and Sally meets the captivating Murray, who threatens to ruin everything.

Three women. Three stories. One pub.

Giveaway!

Just a quickie.

I'm giving away two copies of Our Beautiful Child on my website.

Please follow this link and comment on the latest blog post to be in with a chance of winning an ebook version. I will pick the winners on Wednesday 11th, at 12pm BST.

Insecure... Oh yes!

It's the first Wednesday of the month... it's time for the Insecure Writers Support Group. Follow this link and check out the other posts.

So, am I insecure this month? Yep, I really am.

My next book is due out next week. And, as every author knows, this is the point when you go through every single emotion in one day, and then do it all again the next day, and the next. For a whole week!

Will people like it? Is it what they're expecting? Will anyone buy it? Am I fooling myself that I can write? Should I get a proper job? Will people like it? Is it what...?

There's nothing I can do to stop these thoughts, and nothing anyone else can say either. Tomorrow I might think I'm the best writer in the whole world, the day after I'll be back to a nail-biting tangle of nerves. I need to take a deep breath, have a cup of tea, and maybe put on a good film - anything to distract me, really. After all, there's nothing I can do about it now.

How do you cope with pre-publication fears?

Or, if you haven't published yet, the fear of querying? 

A giant thank you and shout out

This week 19 bloggers cam to my aid, at very short notice. So today I'm sharing their blogs! If you haven't met these amazing people yet, please visit them and discover what you've been missing out on..

Medeia Sharif has just released her new YA book Snip, Snip, Revenge. I love that title!

Rachel Schieffelbein, author of several YA books with gorgeous covers. She's just released Don't Fall, but you knew that, didn't you?

Suzanne Furness is hard at work on a YA fantasy. She recently finished the first draft of book 2.

Kyra Lennon, an amazing friend, who drags me to see heavy metal bands who I subsequently fall in love with. Her Game On series is brilliant - have you read it?

Nick Wilford, a blogger who's willing to help everyone out! And he edits too, if you need one.

Joanne Faries is the author of one of my favourite flash fiction collections, Wordsplash Flash. Her blog is also full of book and film reviews.

Mac Wheeler has just released his 24th book! I am in awe and stunned by that.

Steve Symes, a paranormal blog from a paranormal writer!

Elizabeth Seckman, writer of the Coulter Men series, has a new book out soon. (I've had a sneak peek - it's fabulous!) 

Michelle Wallace has short stories in several compilations, and is super supportive of all bloggers. 

Murees Dupe is working hard on her first novel, and navigating all the pitfalls of the publishing world.  

D Biswas writes short stories, and created an ebook from her A-Z challenge posts a couple of years ago.

Brinda Berry, YA and NA writer, who opens up her blog to some fantastic authors.

Syndey Aailyah's book Another New Life is available right now!

Cathrina Constantine is the author of books with the most amazing covers.

Linda King, another blog friend who I've known almost since I started blogging - the author of many short stories, and is working on a novel.

Melissa Maygrove has just released her debut novel Come Back. 


L. Diane Wolfe is a constant source of help on all aspects of the publishing industry.

Charity Bradford is a science fiction and fastasy writer. Her first book, The Magic Wakes, was published last year.

To all these bloggers, THANK YOU!

My beautiful book, Our Beautiful Child

Release date: 10^th June 2014
Publisher: Battered Suitcase Press

Add Our Beautiful Child to your Goodreads shelf

"The Boathouse collects misfits. Strange solitary creatures that yearn for contact with the outside world, but not too much. They sit, glass in hand, either staring at the table in front of them, or at some distant point on the horizon.”

… so says the narrator of Our Beautiful Child. And he’s been around long enough to know.

People end up in this town almost by accident. Ella is running away from her nightmares, Sally is running away from the memories of previous boyfriends and Rona is running away from university. Each of them seek sanctuary in the 18th century pub, The Boathouse; but in fact, that’s where their troubles begin.

Ella finds love, a moment too late; Rona discovers a beautiful ability which needs refining before she gets hurt; and Sally meets the captivating Murray, who threatens to ruin everything.

Three women. Three stories. One pub.

And now, a huge thank you...

... to everyone who is helping out with my reveal today and tomorrow.

I found out on Monday that my book was scheduled for publication on 10th June, two weeks and one day later.

Now, I'd learned a lot of lessons since I published Cat and The Dreamer with my publisher back in 2012 - I knew I needed big cover reveal, reviewers ready and waiting, a grand release party. But two weeks didn't give me time to implement my grand plans, and so I turned to Facebook and bloggers, and asked for some very short notice help.

Some wonderful people offered me space on their blogs (and others apologised that it was just too short) and I can't thank them enough.

So if you're wandering around blogland today, and you see my cover, please take time to comment and tell that blogger that they are awesome for coming to the aid of a writer in distress. Thank you.

Cover reveal request

I'm having a very speedy cover reveal for my new book Our Beautiful Child. Speedy, because my publisher has just told me the release day is 10th June, which is only two weeks and one day away!

The book is a trilogy of novellas, all set in the same town. It's dark contemporary, with shades of paranormal.

If you can help, on the 28th or 29th May (ie. Wednesday or Thursday of this week) - I'll email you asap. Please just comment below.

I'd also be grateful if anyone could help me on the 10th, for the release. I haven't even thought of blog tour ideas, but I'm happy to provide

• guest posts
• be interviewed
• provide PDF copies for review
• anything else you think would work on your blog.

Thank you x