The Disorganised Author

Are WIP's Like Shoes?

noreply@blogger.com (Anita Davison) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:23:00 +0000

Do all writers have difficulty focusing on one manuscript at a time, or is it a sign I'm not serious enough about crafting 'The Novel' that my brain keeps playing around with different scenarios? This may not be so bad if I could tunnel the plotlines into the story I am working on, but they tend to cross the centuries. I come across a one line definition in a book that catches my eye and before I know it, I'm bogged down in research where I unearth loads of fascinating information, all of which is completely useless for my 17th Century story.

Never mind, files are made and stored on my hard drive for future reference and that next story - but at the same time I'm aware I have too many ideas flying around in my head and not nearly enough time to write a well rounded story out of each one.

Then there is that elusive thing called a muse, which decides to abandon me at the precise moment I reach an intricate part of the plot that needs total concentration. The more I focus, the harder it becomes to formulate a coherent sentence, let alone explain the reasons behind a character's actions in a succinct, fascinating way. My only way round that one is to put the manuscript away and come back to it later - maybe weeks later - and in the meantime, I cannot resist dipping into another half-written story and am immediately captivated by the chance of improving the narrative.

Logic tells me that although it may take considerably longer, the end result should be four or five completed novels ready to go. Not so - these manuscripts all fall into the, 'almost finished if I could work out the ending' category, to the 'I'm seventy five percent through, but not sure where the story is going'.

I also have one 'outlned' with a fully laid out story, character profiles, the political background of the era, every scene summarised with an aim, conflict and action. When I began, the passion for the story was incredibly strong - so why have I only written one chapter so far? Is it because my subconscious, neat and tidy mind says I must finish my two incomplete ones first - or will my great new idea be 'the one', so I cannot ignore it.

So how many WIPs is too many? And is having too many ideas on the go better than not being able to come up with one at all? Is it better to have a plotted outline, or is being a pantser better as the story can evolve as it goes along?

Or are WIP's like shoes, and there is always a better pair in the next shop?

The Enigma of Cozy Mysteries

noreply@blogger.com (Anita Davison) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 20:24:00 +0000

Who hasn't heard of Miss Marple and Jessica Fletcher, but it seems there is s specific genre for these amateur sleuths known as 'Cozy Mysteries', and like all genres, there are rules about how to write one. I love such stories, and decided to try my hand at one - which has, of course, proved harder than I imagined but there are lots of blogs around telling me how.

A 'Cozy' is usually a murder where the character doing the clue gathering is often an amateur who becomes inadvertently involved because they knew the victim, or the crime happened in their backyard.

Clues should be evident and fair, but not too contrived, and red herrings, are allowed, but misdirections must be explained at some stage. i.e. an averted glance at an important moment cannot be left hanging. If the 'looker' isn't guilty, their actions need to be attributed to something else.

There is little or no violence, sex, or coarse language and the culmination of the story is that the villain is exposed, taken into custody and punished, and
thus order is restored to the community.

Cozy Sleuths are of good character, likeable, quirky individuals with forgiveable faults, thus might be easily distracted in a conversation as they are busy working out scenarios in their head, but mustn't tipple constantly from a hip flask of brandy - or kick puppies!.

The victim in a 'Cozy' usually falls at the first fence, so the reader doesn't invest any emotion in their character, only to have them thrown off a cliff. Thus they tend to be the rich spinster aunt nobody knew, or even liked. But murder is wrong and the kiiller must be caught no matter how unpleasant their victim.The villain is motivated by greed, jealously, love or revenge, and not because they are psychotic, or like using sharp knives! Cozies are not place for serial killers.

Agatha Christie's Jane Marple was a student of human nature and her philosophy was that every human failing that existed in the wider world could be found in an average country village; that a person's character will betray them at some stage and people do not act against their inner self - or not often anyway! Another feature of Christie's novels is that they rarely, if ever, give the reader sufficient clues to solve the crime. The end conclusion also reveals details of the suspect's life the reader knew nothing about - details which prevent them coming up with the correct solution earlier.

One popular 'cozy' device is to trap her characters in a snowbound hotel, or in a village cut off by a collapsed bridge, or a train, thus confining the list of suspects to a small circle. Then the solution of the crime depends on talking to characters who all know each other. A 'Cozy' is not a roller-coaster of action and emotion, rather an examination of human frailty, where every suspect has a secret, a link to the crime, and a motive. This adds layers to the story and helps turn it into a puzzle to solve. Clues need to point to at least one person or more and false clues are essential to lead the reader down certain paths and then be re-directed to the correct one.

What I find the hardest, is how to drop clues into the plot at the right places that are not too contrived, or reveal too much too soon, or don't reveal enough to keep the reader interested. These threads also have to be tied into a not-too-shocking ending which is not only satisfying, but also contains a twist. And don't forget, the main male and female characters need to end up in each other's arms.

My amateur sleuth is more Lady Emily Ashton than Miss Marple, and I can only hope she becomes half as fascinating as either of them.

Why Are First Chapters The Hardest To Write?

noreply@blogger.com (Anita Davison) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 14:19:00 +0000

I know my characters inside out, have researched the eras in which they live until I can smell the charcoal burning in the woods and feel the oft-washed linen shifts on my skin. I'm a plotter, so every chapter and scene is planned out in detail, whose PoV it is in and what the aims, conflicts and goals are.

So why, when I sit down to write the opening chapter - it is either too detailed, too slow, too full of irrelevant information, too complicated, too political, not enough introspection, too much introspection, too much background, not enough atmosphere - etc etc?

There isn't a formula on how to hook a reader within the first three pages - every novel I have ever read is different - you are either thrown into the action from the first paragraph until you are breathless by page four, or the writer pulls you in slowly and surely by the mystery of why they are walking along an iced-up road at midnight with only a banknote and a page from a telephone directory in their pocket.

The Aim, as every author knows, is to introduce your main character, your setting, and the conflict, and simultaneously make the reader care what happens to them. Dumping backstory is a crime, and you must give just enough detail to keep them reading. Don't bore the reader, or overload them with information, because if the first chapter is rubbish - they won't even read the rest - so game over.

Some authors get to the end of their draft and then go back and re-write the first chapter - but I'm a plotter - I think I said that - and unless I have each scene laid out, I risk going off at a tangent and 'filling' with inconsequential conversations and cameos of characters the reader doesn't want. Jane Austen never had this problem.Without all these 'rules' to follow, her pen simply flowed as her thoughts spilled onto the page. Would a laptop have revolutionised the way she wrote? Possibly, probably - but all those charming tea parties with genteel conversation would have shortened Emma considerably!

Whenever I go shopping for a book - I read the blurb, then the opening. If I can get into a story right there in the bookshop - I buy it. If my mind wanders halfway down the first page I put it back on the shelf - so that's whom I should be writing for - those with no patience and a short attention span!

I am putting version three of 'Chapter One' through my critique group - and keeping my fingers crossed. If they don't like this one - where do I go from here?

Time for coffee and a mince pie!
Happy Christmas.

Christmas Isn't Christmassy

noreply@blogger.com (Anita Davison) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 15:48:00 +0000

Is it me, or doesn't Christmas feel like Christmas any more?

In my childhood, which was long ago than I care to detail here, this time of year was always magical. It began with the School Nativity Play, when pre-teens down to toddlers of four took part in various productions of the Bethlehem Story with tea-towels wrapped round our heads and our best doll playing the infant Jesus. Mums and Dads would crowd into the school hall and perch on those tiny chairs, snapping away at their babies, and Dad would stand at the back and take a movie of the entire production.

That was long ago, before the word 'paedophile' was bandied about like a new flu virus that anyone could catch and we all need protecting from. Now proud Mums and Dads aren't even allowed to take their mobile phones into the play in case they take illicit photographs of their own children, and Dads are frisked at the door by the movie camera mafia to make sure he hasn't smuggled one in. One school headmistress has blacked out the eyes of the girls' pictures in the school yearbook in case their faces are 'superimposed on obscene images on the internet'.

Oxford Street

Don't despair though, the school has the solution to how you can keep a record of little Charlie/Charlotte's debut performance? They will take the video themselves and sell a copy to parents at an inflated price!

I always looked forward to being taken to London to see Oxford Street strung with a profusion of lights, with trees, angels and reindeer layered thick enough to be visible from an orbiting spaceship. The specially dressed windows in Selfridges and Harrods were always crowded with kids in mittens and wooly hats, their noses pressed to the widows to see the electric trains, nodding bears, fairies and elves in a clockwork show of their own.

South Molton Street

But we aren't supposed to call them Festive, Christmas, or Seasonal Lights, now we have 'Holiday Lights', often sponsored by film companies plugging their next cartoon - this year it's Arthur Christmas. Christmas trees are now called 'Holiday trees', and whatever you do don't mention that it's a religious festival - it might upset people of other faiths.

Then there was the eagerly anticipated trip to see Santa in his grotto, kindly, red-cheeked, ho-ho-hoing Santa. We sat on his knee, not caring at all that his ill-fitting beard kept slipping and his breath whiffed a bit of the lager he'd quaffed at the employee lunch - our mission was to issue a detailed list of what we wanted for Christmas - from a written document if necessary. It didn't matter that we came away with a plastic toy that broke after half an hour - Santa wouldn't dare pull that one on Christmas Eve at my house - we expected proper presents! Now the kids have to keep a distance - no knee sitting - touching, even smiling is not encouraged - just in case.

I want the old Christmas's back, I miss them - or is it my age and inherent cynicism which makes me see it this way?

What Was I Thinking?

noreply@blogger.com (Anita Davison) — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 09:32:00 +0000

As I pointed out to an author friend recently when she asked how my writing was going: 'How can I concentrate on the 17th century when the 21st is riding my butt so hard?'

I couldn't abandon the 17th Century that easily, however, so instead of tackling a new wip, I have recently re-visited a manuscript that's been sitting on my hard drive for at least three years. I did what all the good author sites tell you - Read It As If You Didn't Write It - Suffice it to say, I gave myself an unpleasant shock!

From a reader's viewpoint, the story is still engaging, [Hopefully] as are the characters, [even more hopefully] but my style strikes me as simplistic and naive. By that, I mean everyone's speech reflects their actions, the story moves from A to B with no sidetracking to F or G, and the villain is a villain from the outset.

It's not grammatically incorrect, or even clumsily written, but all those extra details I imagined weren't needed are missing - like describing all my heroine's inner thoughts to the very last choked gasp when she is facing a situation which terrifies her? I assumed a reader would work that out for themselves.

I was wrong about that. For a reader to empathise with a character requires introspection on that character's part. It occurred to me that some people react differently in certain situations, and in an attempt to make my heroine stand out more, and live longer in my readers' minds, unpredictability can be an asset.

To make the novel into a better, deeper read where the characters themselves have more dimension than previously, I inserted reactions in some places which are contrary to the norm. For instance, fear reacted to by anger, violent defence and a sharp tongue instead of heart-thumping withdrawal.

However, the thought keeps intruding that maybe I'm kidding myself and I should leave well alone? That by these changes I am destroying a perfectly good story. Then I go over a re-written chapter and am convinced it really does sound much better. There is also the undeniable fact I have learned more in the last three years, specifically about cause and effect [thank you Ginger] showing not telling, making dialogue serve a purpose as opposed to being lighthearted chat which goes nowhere, and removing as many dialogue tags as possible.

My pace and story arc could use some work though - so this re-visiting an old file is proving to be fascinating, as most of the hard slog and 'what do the characters do now' work has been done already. I know how it ends, but I can make that ending more deserved, more emotional and maybe my readers will close the back cover with a sigh of satisfaction rather than reaching for the next book in the to-read pile.

An author can only hope.

Fair Border Bride by Jen Black

noreply@blogger.com (Anita Davison) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 09:13:00 +0000

In the interests of promoting the small press authors whose work I enjoy, Jen Black's story of 16th Century rivalry on the English/Scottish borders is not to be missed. Jen is definitely a name to look out for, and I happen to know she is working on more great adventures with these characters.

In a Northumberland market place in the year 1543, Harry Wharton, a spy to King Henry VIII travels to Scotland and encounters a beautiful girl named Alina Carnaby. Harry would like to linger but his secret mission takes precedence. However moments later, Alina is about to be gored by a runaway bull.

Harry steps up to the mark and rescues the lady, but learns she is already betrothed, and her father happens to despise anyone by the name of Scott, the name Harry gives to hide his true identity.

Before leaving for Edinburgh and the dangers of border country, Harry takes a detour to see what Alina’s home, Ayrdon, is like, arriving just as the estate is being visited by cattle raiders, and in the ensuing pursuit, he is thrown from his horse and knocked unconscious.

Alina's father, Cuthbert Carnaby has ridden off on what is known locally as a Hot Trod, to catch the raiders. While he is away, Alina finds Harry, and knowing how her father feels about the Scotts, decides to hide him to recover from his injury in a barn out of sight.

However what she doesn’t bargain for is the fact Harry’s blow on the head has given him temporary amnesia and not only can he not remember seeing Alina before, but his mission to Edinburgh appears to have been wiped clean too. His memory returns, but only for him to be discovered and hauled up in front of Cuthbert Carnaby, who demands he be subjected to ‘The Leap’, which turns out to be less of a feat of endurance, but execution by being thrown into a ravine.

Alina’s pleas for clemency are ignored and she is told to prepare herself for her forthcoming marriage to John Errington, a young man who has matured into a not unattractive proposition. However he isn’t Harry and heartbroken, Alina rushes to her grandfather, who is less than sympathetic.

In fact the entire family appear to have had any sentimentality rubbed off by the cruel Northumberland winds, and the only person willing to help Harry is Matho, a family servant, with whose help, Harry survives the jump and meets up again with Alina.

Will Alina have the courage to stand by the man she loves, or will her father succeed in his quest to kill Harry off for good and drag her his daughter to the altar to marry the man of his choice?

Jen Black’s novels are consistently enjoyable to read and, I recommend this romantic story set in a time when women were possessions, obedience was taken for granted and their lives subject to the will of a patriarch. Jen's style is succinct, colourful and she conveys descriptions and emotions beautifully. Alina, Matho and Harry are engaging, well rounded characters and I’m happy to say Fair Border Bride isn’t the end of their story and there is more to come.

Who Is Mary Sue?

noreply@blogger.com (Anita Davison) — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 07:48:00 +0000

A recent illuminating post from The Writers Vineyard mentioned a term I had not heard before. The “Mary Sue” heroine" is a female protagonist who is overly-perfect and lacking any flaws. The 'too stupid to live' girl.

My heroines don't quite fit that profile, but my novels are set in a more formal time and I cannot portray them as foul-mouthed, stroppy madams who defy every convention, consorts with whom they wish, and insults everyone as the mood takes them. Women who behaved so in the 1880's, unless they were very rich widows, would have been social pariahs, gossiped about, ostracised and possibly locked away from the world by their fathers or husbands.

In my last novel, I gave my Victorian Miss a conventional, if sheltered upbringing, a pliable nature and the belief everyone's life is like a fairy tale. More Jane Bennett than Scarlet O'Hara. As the story progresses, she begins to make sense of the world around her and how it works, learns that life is not a straight road, nor an easy one for some and no one is perfect. She grows a backbone and consciously decides to stand up for herself, rejects her cad of a future husband, tells the man she loves he is wrong to marry anyone but her - and thus alters the course of her life.

However, according to my reviewer, her character growth is apparently irrelevant, and the tirade on 'spineless heroines' stands as a major flaw of the novel.

How do we get it right?

Promotional Blogfest Today

noreply@blogger.com (Anita Davison) — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 04:43:00 +0000

For someone who always finds promoting their own work difficult, there's a bit of help being organised today.

The blog of M A Leslie is holding a Blogfest for authors, where anyone with a novel to promote can sign up with a link for where to buy your books - the key being to get the word out so I am doing my bit here.

All you have to do is to click here: Blogfest and add your link to the list, then circulate the blog page to everyone you can think of. Also, write a post with some blurb about your book and with any luck, readers as well as writers will drop by to take a look at the list. The more books there are to talk about, the better.

Realistic Ambition or False Expectation?

noreply@blogger.com (Anita Davison) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 10:40:00 +0000

During one of my 'can't write' days, which are cropping up with monotonous regularity lately, I came across a blog offering writing advice - OK I Googled under 'I am a failed novelist' but that's how I feel today, and I found I am not alone. The following are 'reasons' I discovered in various articles and blogs.

This writing thing is starting to get to you
Yup, and all those comments like, 'What are you writing now?', when my last novel came out THREE Days ago!

Yesterday, you thought you were the next big thing.
Um no, not really, but I was hoping to appeal to a niche set of readers who like the past as much as I do, sell a few copies of my novel and have a reader sent me an e-mail saying how much they enjoyed the story. Is that too much to ask?

Today, you wonder if you have any talent at all
Precisely - I read and re-read my manuscript, tweak, alter, delete, modify, look at it from a different perspective and it still reads like a telephone directory!

Good writing takes practice, just like anything else. Don’t expect too much of yourself, too quickly.
But I was more enthusiastic, committed, confident and willing to learn when I was writing my first and second novels - now the more I know of the technical aspects of writing - I just think I'm rubbish!

You’re forcing yourself to write something specific
Well yeah! Without a story arc, rounded characters and a plot that progresses the story with every scene, the book won't float - specific is what it is about!

You might be writing in the wrong style or genre?
Um no - historical fiction is the only genre I feel passionate enough to write about - but you could have a point with the style thing. How does a writer alter their style?

You’ve let criticism cut to the heart. Each fresh rejection convinces you — at least for a while — that you shouldn’t be wasting your time.
Yeah Ok, I'll gloss over that one even though it's the actual heart of the matter- and I am still bleeding!

Whenever the going gets tough, you give up. If you never feel the sting of rejection, you will never feel the drive to improve your writing.
I have to disagree with that one, it's praise, mentoring and encouragement that keeps me going. Ripping holes in my self esteem just pushes me deeper into the 'I can't do this!' pit I have been digging for myself.

You’ve allowed other things to get in the way of your writing time.
Actually yes. I spend hours on my laptop, having flung myself into several blogs, critique groups, review sites etc and all my time seems to be spent doing those instead of the actual hard slog of writing and making my embryo novel the best it can be. I need to re-focus.

Have you overloaded yourself on social commitments?
- I shan't answer that or I shall degenerate into gibbering hysteria - an outing for me is a trip to the supermarket!

You might find, like many people, that early morning can be the most productive period of your day.
Uh no, I am at my most creative at night, but how can I type until 3.00am with a sleeping husband beside me. If I turn over he wakes up and demands to know where I am going!! As for staying up after he retires - forget it!

You haven’t finished what you’ve started.
Not true, I have four published novels and another three finished ones on my hard drive - It's No 8 I cannot summon the enthusiasm to even plan out, let alone actually write. Because what's the point?

You haven’t spent enough time reading.
I refute that one too, the review blog keeps me reading all the newest releases. There are some lovely ones I wish I possessed the skills to write, but there are also plenty that are crass, boring and two dimensional - surely mine aren't as bad - are they?

Writing is an art, but it also involves skills. Study those who have mastered these, read books on writing, research, find a mentor, join a writing group. Give yourself time.
- I do all the above - but feel more and more that the maxim 'You can be what you want to be' strikes me as a completely false expectation. Maybe, no matter how hard we try, not everyone can push through the curtain of mediocrity. That way lies only disappointment - and I must learn to accept my limitations.

Trencarrow Secret Released as Audio Book

noreply@blogger.com (Anita Davison) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 14:09:00 +0000

Trencarrow Secret has been released this week by Iambik Audio Books, another innovative Canadian company. The manuscript is read by Ruth Golding, whom I think conveys the era and characters beautifully with her lovely rich voice.

Ruth says:

The characters are well-drawn and I had no difficulty in visualising them as I recorded the book. I particularly enjoyed recording the indomitable Aunt Margot, Isabel’s widowed aunt, and Isabel’s brother-in-law Walter who does, oh does so enjoy his food. All in all, a book that I think you will enjoy.
No violence, sex or swearing – makes a pleasant change!

Links:
Iambik are also running a 1st Birthday Contest, and win a chance of winning a title of your choice.
Trencarrow Secret Chapter One
Ruth Golding's Blog:

Can't Write - Need More Coffee?

noreply@blogger.com (Anita Davison) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 07:54:00 +0000

Beginning a new book comes with an all consuming obsession to get into the heads of my characters as I guide them through the scenery and lead them along a path where facts and historical details emerge to paint the scene.

Once the outline is completed, I 'live' inside the story, constantly writing dialogue as I drive or walk to the shops, creating characters' reactions to events, simultaneously unwinding the film in my head that is their life until it becomes so real, they begin writing their own story.

More than once I had a character who had died before my novel began, but in my efforts to make that person real to my readers, he kept insisting he needed his own voice. He won, of course - his voice was stronger than mine.

Then I reach the second and third draft, and suddenly the enthusiasm dims. Persistence and the slog of editing turn an adventure into a chore, where honing each plot device into succinct chapters that progress the story gets progressively harder. The computer screen isn't blank any more, but the text no longer has any impact and my changes begin to be just that - change for the sake of change. I can always write rubbish - and often do. It's the pithy, characterful, clever insights and crisp prose I aim for which is so often elusive.

Sometime my characters will fight me, and although their actions are what I want of them, they remain bland and uninteresting while carrying them out; like a teenage musician who doesn't want to perform, but cajoled by the adults grudgingly consents, only to go sullenly through the motions.

What can I do on days like that? I have decided - nothing - I have to accept it and move on, and hope tomorrow I will be able to produce prose-filled pages that sparkle and flow with colour and life.

Need more coffee........

Culloden Spirit Released Today

noreply@blogger.com (Anita Davison) — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 04:46:00 +0000

Book Blurb

Carrie Gordon's season in her native York was an unqualified success, until the young man who paid her so much attention married someone else.

When her family takes a summer trip to her father’s ancestral home in the Scottish Highlands, her handsome Scottish cousin, Duncan McRae, takes an immediate dislike to Carrie, mainly due to her father’s plans to refurbish Cair Innes castle which is in need of extensive repair beyond the means of its present owner and resident, Iain McRae.

Carrie feels the vacation will be a disaster until she discovers a strange young man while exploring the derelict castle, However, she soon learns Ruairi McRae is not what he seems, and the battle he intends to fight was lost by his clan a hundred and fifty years before.

Will Carrie be able to accept that she cannot be part of Ruairi’s world? And when the Roma arrive to camp on Bucks Meadow as they do every summer, who is the beautiful gypsy girl Duncan won't talk about?

Excerpt:

Carrie wandered back into the entrance hall to peer behind another door in the corner. Smaller than the others, it opened to a flight of narrow stone steps with a frayed rope handrail that curled downward into the bowels of the building.

Assuming what remained of the kitchens lay at the bottom, Carrie was about to descend into the darkness when a sound above made her pause, listening.

Is someone here?

More intrigued than nervous, she climbed the curved staircase, the treads of which dipped in the middle from thousands of footsteps, to the tiny balcony overlooking the entrance hall like a miniature stage. A narrow window looked onto the courtyard, and off to the right lay a short hallway with light patches on plaster walls where paintings had once hung.

At the end, a wooden door stood ajar. Carrie’s pulse thrummed in her temples as she extended a hand to widen the gap, but before she made contact, it swung open.

“Coom in,” a male voice said.

I Dedicate This Book - To Me!

noreply@blogger.com (Anita Davison) — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 10:10:00 +0000

Someone asked me recently why I didn't add a dedication to my latest novel. When I begin reading a new book, I often skip the dedications page myself as most of them tend to be lists of the writer's family members, or the generic, 'to my darling husband', leaving me to wonder if their husbands and children actually contributed to the writing process, or if the author adds them automatically.

I did add dedications to my first two books, the first in a Kate Winslet gushing way thanking everyone from my Mum to the milkman, but in the interests of not being repetitive and predictable, I haven't done so for my two subsequent novels.

I admit, this was partly through pique - as neither my husband nor offspring have even read the first two, so didn't see the original dedications anyway and I doubt if they will read the next two either. Besides, I'm not a real novelist am I as my books are only available online.

And what about all those times when they have come upon me typing away and have rolled their eyes saying:

You're obsessed with that effing laptop
Are you still working on the same book?
Editing? You've finished it, so why mess with it?
Have Harper Collins phoned yet? No? then why bother?
Did you know you've rubbed off all the letters on that keyboard?

So basically - stuff 'em! That flyleaf stays blank until at least one of them reads a book I have written!

Birthday

noreply@blogger.com (Anita Davison) — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 10:21:00 +0000

It's my birthday - although I think I'm over the formal opening of presents at the breakfast table ritual. I remember when birthdays used to be anticipated for weeks and family whispered together in corners and pointedly changed the subject when I appeared - well I think it was my birthday they were discussing [!] The day itself always felt different and every trivial wish was granted because it was a special day.

As the years have passed, my centre-of-the-universe-for-a-day status has been gracelessly downgraded - until when I woke up this morning I almost forgot it was my birthday. I have played them down for the last few years as the numbers mounted up, besides, I don't feel any different - until I look in a mirror and see my mother staring back at me.

This year the celebrations, have been postponed as everyone seems to be busy. My phone is full of texts saying, 'the dinner has to be next week', 'the cards are on their way', and 'the pressie is tucked away at home but we are away this weekend, drop it off when we next see you'.

Ten years ago this would have upset me, but not this year, I am thrilled my kids have busy lives and my birthday has been relegated to an alarm set on their mobile phones where it belongs. I hate surprises anyway, I need to know what to prepare for, and nowadays I am asked what I want in advance, which I regard as a bonus.

And there were croissants for breakfast - so today's not so bad!

So Happy Birthday to all fellow Librans, especially my birthday twin, author Diane Scott Lewis.

Watching Willow Watts Released Today

noreply@blogger.com (Anita Davison) — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 07:34:00 +0000

And here's a promotional plug for a my role model, Talli Roland. While I am yawning over my coffee in the mornings, this lady blogs, writes, travels, writes some more and always has a finger on the pulse of vibrant London life she loves and knows so much about - not bad for a Canadian!

Her second humorous contemporary romance, Watching Willow Watts, is out today, here's the blurb - well worth a look.

Talli Roland has three loves in her life: chick lit, coffee and wine. Born and raised in Canada, Talli now lives in London, where she savours the great cultural life (coffee and wine). Despite training as a journalist, Talli soon found she preferred making up her own stories – complete with happy endings. Her first novel, The Hating Game, was an Amazon UK best-seller, remaining in the top 100 for over two months. Watching Willow Watts is available on Kindle now. Talli blogs here and tweets here.

For Willow Watts, life has settled into a predictably dull routine: days behind the counter at her father's antique shop and nights watching TV, as the pension-aged residents of Britain's Ugliest Village bed down for yet another early night. But everything changes when a YouTube video of Willow's epically embarrassing Marilyn Monroe impersonation gets millions of hits after a viewer spots Marilyn's ghostly image in a frame.

Instantly, Willow's town is overrun with fans flocking to see the 'new Marilyn'. Egged on by the villagers -- whose shops and businesses are cashing in -- Willow embraces her new identity, dying her hair platinum and ramming herself full of cakes to achieve Marilyn's legendary curves.

But when a former flame returns seeking the old Willow, Willow must decide: can she risk her stardom and her village's new found fortune on love, or is being Marilyn her ticket to happiness?

Reading Manuscripts Aloud

noreply@blogger.com (Anita Davison) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 12:04:00 +0000

The lovely lady who is recording my novel Trencarrow Secret for the audio book version e-mailed me with some minor discrepancies she found in the manuscript.

After receiving one mediocre review of this book, I was further depressed to think I had missed these points, but fortunately I have a wonderful publisher who has agreed to pull off the Kindle edition and make the relevant changes for me.
'I hope you don't mind if the novel becomes unavailable for a day or two?' she said.
Mind? I'm ecstatic, there will now be fewer chances of readers spotting my blunders!

I thanked my audio book lady for her excellent editing, but couldn't help commenting that my confidence had been dented; this was her response:

I think the brain often sees what it expects to see, not what is actually there. One probably only really notices some of these things when one reads them aloud. If you don't think you can write, you should have seen me weep in the scene with Marie and David. I got really rather attached to the characters, and needed copious supplies of tissues during the last few chapters. My proof-listener has fallen in love with Henry.

What greater compliment could an author receive than they made their reader cry, and I think she is right, I must read my manuscripts aloud in future to help bring those glaring faults to light.

Friggin Passwords!

noreply@blogger.com (Anita Davison) — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 07:56:00 +0000

My e-mail account has been hacked - again. This time it didn't simply clog up my contact list with spurious e-mails, the hackers have changed my password so I cannot log on. I can also no longer get into my Yahoo groups. When I go to the 'Help' section and click the relevant box, I get a message that says, 'To change your password enter your old password'.
But it doesn't work!
So I click the, 'I no longer have access to this', and it says 'Wait 24 hours and come back to this page where we will ask you your securty question.'
What security question? Oh, the one I set up six years ago and have never had to use since? That security question?
If I cannot recall what answer I gave then, does it say 'Wrong answer! Every trace of you has been obliterated from our system and you no longer exist.'
Ain't technology wonderful?

When Is A Galley Just Another Edit?

noreply@blogger.com (Anita Davison) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 17:17:00 +0000

I have been offline for a while, [and still am really-this is being thrashed out at a tiny Internet cafe at the beach] which has given me time to complete the Galley Proof Worksheet for my latest novel, Culloden Spirit, coming out this month.

There is a problem with learning the craft of writing, because the more you write, the more you learn, and if you edit something you have written, say two years before, you are going to virtually re-write it.

When I began editing this manuscript, I made the mistake of only focusing on the specific areas my content and line editors pointed out to me. When the galley arrived I decided to do a final read through on my e-reader in search of those pesky commas and repeated words which crept in during the formatting.

I was horrified to find something I didn't like on almost every page, not necessarily grammatically wrong, but something that jarred with me, didn't sound like something my heroine would say, or well, was just plain wrong! The Galley Proof Worksheet turned out long enough to qualify as another edit.

My publisher, the lovely Lea Schizas, hasn't exploded - yet - and if I know her she'll put this down to an exercise in making the story as good as it could be. Lucky for me.

The trouble is, I don't see this as a one off - when will I get it right? On the fourth, fifth or even sixth read-through? Or am I doing what I am supposed to, evolving as a writer with the more words I get down on paper?

Dawn French's Debut Novel

noreply@blogger.com (Anita Davison) — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 20:08:00 +0000

A Tiny Bit Marvellous by Dawn French

As a big fan of Dawn French, I wanted to see if her writing was as good as her performances, and in many ways I wasn't disappointed. The story follows certain events in the lives of Mo, who is about to turn 50 and hovering on the edges of an extra-marital affair with a younger man, her husband whose inner we see little of as, well he's just 'Dad, then there is Dora, a foul mouthed, self obsessed seventeen-going-on-thirty-year-old and her divinely camp-over-the-top brother with a kind heart and an obviously damaged psyche who rechristens himself Oscar.[After Mr Wilde]

Dora is a nightmare daughter who truly believes she knows everything, hates and abuses everyone and leaves obscene messages on her mother's phone. Mo laughingly ignores these, passing Dora's atrocious behaviour off as a passing teenage phase, because after all, Mo is a psychologist and no one can tell HER how the young mind works!! Mo is heading towards a mid-life crisis, althogh from what I can see she actually does have a life. She's also self-obsessed and instead of attending Dora's eighteenth birthday party, she takes off to a hotel to meet her would-be lover - who fortuitously doesn't turn up.

The shortcut, text-speak, repetitive swearing language style gets a bit wearing after a while and more than once I found myself wanting to clip Dora round the ear and tell her to stop being such a cow, shake Mo for being totally unaware of what her family was going through and instead, fixating on a hopeless romance. As for allowing 'Oscar' to wear a smoking jacket at 16, which may be PC in this day and age but won't somebody talk to the boy for goodness sake??

View all my reviews

Romance Is In Short Supply

noreply@blogger.com (Anita Davison) — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 19:36:00 +0000

My crit group were debating a recent newspaper article that said women who read romance novels expected too much in their relationships with men and were doomed to fail. I posted this on the group and it drew a few LOL's so thought I would share it with all my creative friends.

Romance tends to take a back seat in my life these days, but having lunch in a wine bar this week with my husband of thirty-one years, he began running his foot along the inside of my thigh underneath the table.

Touched at the gesture, I leaned forward and smiled across at him. He then lifted his foot to examine it and said, 'Denim was always great at adding a shine to leather. These shoes look good now don't they?'

Ah well, at least I can honestly say he never bores me.

noreply@blogger.com (Anita Davison) — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 10:47:00 +0000

I'm making a flying appearance today on a hectic Monday morning to wish all my Canadian friends a Happy Canada Day for the 1st, and to my American friends, have a Happy Fourth of July. May you all enjoy a wonderful holiday with whomever makes you happiest, good food, good company and a break from the rat race for you all - however briefly!

New Cover

noreply@blogger.com (Anita Davison) — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 18:02:00 +0000

I have my new cover for Culloden Spirit, being released by MuseItUp Publishing in September. Here's a little of the blurb to pique your interest, although I shall certainly post the rest closer to release day in case I risk prospective readers either forgetting it, or be overloaded! I would love to know what everyone thinks.

Carrie Gordon's season in her native York was an unqualified success, until the young man who paid her so much attention married someone else. When her parents arrange a trip to their ancestral home in the Highlands of Scotland, Carrie is not in the best of spirits, especially when she embarrasses herself in front of an attractive man who turns out to be her cousin, Duncan McRae.

Cair Innes Castle outside Inverness is spectacular, and when Carrie encounters Ruairi McRae in the tower room, she is captivated. However, Ruairi is not what he seems and the battle he intends to fight was actually lost by his clan a hundred and fifty years before. Will Carrie be able to accept the fact she cannot be part of Ruairi’s world?

Trencarrow Secret Released Today

noreply@blogger.com (Anita Davison) — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 06:00:00 +0000

I'm pleased to announce my novel Trencarrow Secret is released today, and no doubt you will all see the lovely cover Delilah Stephans designed for me popping up all over place. This is because I have nagged, cajoled and pulled in favours from all my author friends to feature it on their blog this month.

So apologies if you are all sick of it by this time next week, but hey - I'm aiming for some sales! I have some lovely offers to do reviews as well, but if anyone would like to do one for me please e-mail me here

I have put together a book blog too to give prospective readers a flavour of the story and Isabel's era here. [Or Click the link on the right hand bar]

Book Blurb: Isabel Hart is afraid of two things, the maze at Trencarrow where she got lost as a young child, and the lake where her brother David saved her from drowning in a boating accident.

With her twenty-first birthday and the announcement of her engagement imminent, Isabel decides it is time for her to face her demons and ventures into the maze. There she sees something which will alter her perceptions of herself and her family forever.

Isabel’s widowed aunt joins the house party, where her cousin confides she is in love with an enigmatic young man who surely cannot be what he pretends, for he is surely too dashing for homely Laura?

When Henry, Viscount Strachan and his mother arrives, ostensibly to use her ball as an arena for finding a wife, Isabel is determined not to like him.

As more secrets are revealed, Isabel doubts she has chosen the right man, although her future fiancé has more vested in this marriage than Isabel realizes and has no intention of letting her go easily.

Will Isabel be able to put her preconceptions of marriage behind her and take charge of her own life, or is her life destined to be controlled by others?

Shadows by Jen Black

noreply@blogger.com (Anita Davison) — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 06:25:00 +0000

And talking about promotion, here is the beautiful cover and some information on a great Contemporary story that has some paranormal elements from Jen Black. I haven't read this book - yet. However reading the blurb and knowing what a great writer Jen is, this one is definitely going on my 'To Read' list.

Shadows Blurb

Melissa thinks she’s taking a huge risk in going on holiday with Rory Hepburn. He may be gorgeous, but she only met him three days ago. But when she sees the old watermill in rural France, she is delighted. Within ten minutes of her arrival, she sees the man in black, but thinks nothing of it.
Concentrating more on keeping her secrets and sleeping alone, she is shocked when ghosts disturb her first night at the mill. Not just one ghost, but two. When Christophe arrives at the mill, the chic Frenchman regards Melissa as his soul mate, and Melissa knows she’s in real trouble.

A chilling tale, written with humour and drenched in the sights and perfumes of the rural Dordogne, this is a must-read tale for those who like a romance with a ghostly twist.

This is Jen’s fifth published book, and her first contemporary tale. In many ways writing about character in this century is easier than writing about people in the sixteenth or eleventh centuries. Things like brand names, distances, food and fashion are more important for today’s readers because a contemporary hairstyle speaks volumes about a character’s personality now, but much less so in the previous centuries.

It was released as an e-book In April and is available here:

Promotion Strategy

noreply@blogger.com (Anita Davison) — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 10:52:00 +0000

I have this English reticence about asking for things and when it was time to promote my first two books, I was, quite honestly crap at it. I sent out obsequious little notes asking to please please take a teensy look at my work, and if you don’t have time I quite understand and I'll just scuttle back into my corner and not bother you again. Well why should they? If I wasn’t yelling from the rooftops how good the novels are, how can I expect a stampede to read or review them?

Since then, I have had almost three years in which to participate in the promotion of my author friends’ books, and come to the realisation that on release day, which happens to be this Friday for Trencarrow Secret, book blogs everywhere feature new releases repeatedly. That it doesn’t matter if the articles are unique for each one, it’s the appearance of the cover art that makes the impression. Readers will remember a beautiful image far better than that the author's Mama put a crayon in their grubby little fist at the age of six and they had been writing ever since. [I was four by the way]

This time, I have nagged, cajoled, persuaded and called in favours from my author friends to feature my new book on their blogs, and I have sent it to all the review sites I could find to garner some opinions. Not all responded of course, but one surprising thing is that people are now canvassing me, asking if they can do a blog post on Trencarrow Secret or an interview with me.

I’m no longer the author who hides behind the door – No I can shout too - Go on, buy it, read it – it’s good! Did I mention the title? It's Trencarrow Secret!