Della’s over the moon when she kisses her long-standing crush at a party – but then she discovers her diary has disappeared... When scans of embarrassing pages are sent to her mobile and appear on Facebook, Della’s distraught – how can she enjoy her first proper romance when someone, somewhere, knows all her deepest, darkest secrets?

Here's an interview with Keris to mark publication of her first young adult novel, which I can't wait to read.

Choose three words to describe yourself

Determined. Excitable. Short.

My biggest writing dream would be to have one of my books turned into a movie directed by Nora Ephron. So, no, I haven't reached it. Yet.

Where did the idea for your book come from and how did you turn it into a reality?

When I was a teenager, my sister had a party while the rest of the family was away and she was supposed to be staying at a friend's house. When I got home, I couldn't find my diary. It wasn't missing for long and I found it under my mattress (with a very unpleasant message scrawled across one of the pages), but while it was lost I was a nervous wreck, wondering who might be reading it. If, back then, someone had taken my diary the worst they could probably have done was read it out at school or, at a push, photocopy the odd bit. But now with all the social networking? Potential for huge embarrassment.

Ha! It changes. Sometimes it's a 10 and I sit giggling to myself and can't believe it's really going to happen. At other times, it's maybe a 5, because I REALLY can't believe it's going to happen and feel like I've made the whole thing up. I don't think I'll really believe it until I see the book in a bookshop.

Determination would be the big one. It's taken me a long time to get to this point, but I never thought about giving up because I have to write. I don't feel like myself if I'm not writing.

What advice do you have for aspiring writers who would one day love to be where you are now?

Join a writing group. I hated the idea of a "real world" writing group where I might have to read my writing out to other people, so I founded an online group and it was one of the best things I ever did. In fact, after hiring Suzy Greaves, it was the best thing. Not just for feedback on your writing, which is of course incredibly useful, but also just for chatting and encouraging and sympathising and asking stupid questions.

How have you managed to fit your writing in with family and work life?

I'm incredibly lucky in that I have the easiest kids in the world. Joe sleeps for three to four hours every morning and Harry did the same (he's now at school). I also have a very hands-on husband, who is not only happy for me to disappear to the computer when he gets home from work, but who also cooks. Work-life was a bit harder because for a while it was the journalism that was paying while the fiction was just a dream. But now I tend to focus on the fiction in the hope that the harder I work at it, the sooner the rewards will come.

Writers' block - real-life problem or imagined hurdle?

Well I'm a strong believer in the power of the imagination, so I'd say it's an imagined hurdle that becomes a real-life problem when you focus on it.

Where does your skill in writing come from and what has helped nurture it? Have you ever been on a creative writing course, for example?

I don't know how to answer that question because I don't believe I have a skill in writing. I'm not trying to be modest, I'm genuinely shocked when people say that kind of thing. All I try to do is write as naturally as I can. But, no, I've never been on a creative writing course; I would be far too self-conscious. I did do an online writing for teenagers course a few years ago (run by YA author Lauren Barnholdt) and that was brilliant for my confidence and for finding two fabulous crit partners (Sara Bennett Wealer and Darcy Vance), both of whom have since got book deals too.

What question do you wish I'd asked? Please answer it.

Q. If you could live in a book, which would you choose? A. Any of the Tales of the City series by Armistead Maupin. I would love to meet the characters that seem so incredibly real to me. It amazes me that Michael Tolliver doesn't exist in the real world.

You can buy Della says: OMG! by clicking on the image below.

Interview skills, Writing magazine feature.

How to start out in freelance writing

How to write a non-fiction book synopsis

Advice on negotiating rates

Bloggers give their top tips

How to pitch an editor

By Shelley White

I THOUGHT I’d written a red-hot love story until I read Sue Moorcroft’s book.

Then I discovered that my effort at romantic fireworks was merely a damp squib. My Heathcliff and Kathy had more in common with Kermit and Miss Piggy, my scrummy Mr Darcy was akin to a sex-starved Mr Bean and my teasing Lolita was more teacher’s pet.

I had lots to learn.

She spills the beans on everything – and I mean everything – that the writer needs to know about how to make money writing romantic or erotic fiction.

She guides you all the way through the writing process from the beginning where you simply have a germ of an idea for a story, to the end where the story is complete, you have an agent and or a publisher and your book is heading for the top of the best-seller lists. Well, we can dream, can’t we?

There are question and answer sessions with published romantic novelists, helpful exercises and examples, all in straightforward language with which you can hone your romantic writing skills.

The book is organised into a neat structure of clearly-headed chapters. Each chapter, for example: Heroes and Heroines, Viewpoint and Voice, What’s the Plot, Genre etc is divided into useful sections.

The calculated way each chapter is split into its component parts is helpful because it means you can dip into the book for just one aspect you need to concentrate on.

For example, you may need to polish your ‘ins and outs’ (sorry, couldn’t resist!) of erotica. Don’t be afraid. Sue reveals all in the chapter ‘From Sensuality to Sizzle to Erotica’.

Basically, write from the heart. Some essential points are made in the book. The highlight for me is the explanation of that thorny nugget, ‘Show don’t tell!’ Thanks to Sue, I now truly understand what that means. We should imagine a play in the theatre – the narrator does the ‘telling’ and the actors do the ‘showing’.

Yes, it all clicked nicely into place after I read the chapter ‘Act, React and Interact.’ I’ve also learned the importance of plot and making use of a spider plan or mind map.

Stories should have the basic beginning, middle and end structure and of course, conflict, turning point and resolution.

I make a mental note to try to apply this advice to all my fiction, not just romantic. Sue doesn’t say this is easy – but these are good habits to adopt and perseverance usually pays off.

This book does what it says on the tin – in bucketfuls.

Any writer of romance and erotica would find it useful.

Priced at £9.99 for 250 pages, it’s excellent value for money.

Now, where did I put that romantic masterpiece of mine?

Love Writing (How to Make Money Writing Romantic or Erotic Fiction)

Author: Sue Moorcroft Price £9.99 Publishers: Accent Press Ltd – 2010 ISBN 9781906373993

Five stars out of five 

* Buy Love Writing in the Judith's Room bookshop for just £5.48. 

Way to go, Tim!

He's still working out finer details, but please do get in touch with Tim via his blog if you would like to know more.

There were times over the weekend where I felt overwhelmed. But this was in a good way.

I was at the York Festival of Writing where I was invited by Kate Allan to give a talk on um, making money from writing. Not many people there seemed to think this was possible. But then I was talking about a different kind of writing - non-fiction, journalism, copywriting - you name it - not fiction.

I don't see why the two have to be mutually exclusive and I came away from the event the most determined I have ever been to make a go of a novel.

Listening to bestselling novelist Katie Fforde explaining how she was rejected for seven years by Mills & Boon, that 'writing shouldn't read like writing' and that by working at your craft and persevering were the keys to success was quite something.

Picking up straight-talking tips from Lorella Belli about how best to persuade an agent to succumb to your charms through a professional attitude and a compelling voice was fantastic.

I could go on. These were the highlights for me of the workshops laid on. I hope you don't mind me mentioning that my own workshop was also well-received as attendees burst into applause and paid me some very kind compliments! 

There were other elements that weren't quite up my alley but proved perfectly popular for other people and there was disappointment reported by some aspiring authors about their much anticipated "one to one" sessions.

But overall it was one hell of a weekend. I never dreamed I would find myself in the same room as a bloke who signed JK Rowling or who had worked with Roald Dahl but Barry Cunningham had done both - telling "Jo" she'd never make any money from children's fiction and inspiring the creation of Mr Twit thanks to a long-since pruned beard which once looked like it could camouflage a small country.

I also met some brilliant aspiring and new authors whose willingness to not only confess they called themselves writers but whose vivid imaginations and passion for what they were doing bowled me over.

I'd been worried about feeling like an outsider and to some extent I did as I watched various earnest or energetic performance artists attempt to wow us with their prose but some of the people I met made me feel at home.

Emma Martin had self-published a "bonkbuster" called Racy, set against a backdrop of North Yorkshire horse racing, so far selling a respectable 2,500 copies. Mary Lewis Stevenson  from Glasgow had penned a 'girl power' tale of revenge called the Stocking Exchange which made me gasp in admiration and snippets from magistrate Sarah' Wastaff's Leap of Faith made me chuckle. Both ladies were cracking good company.

Adrian Hull had set a children's adventure in the shadow of Hadrian's Wall and Annette said she hoped to be a cross between Roddy Doyle and Marian Keyes in her Manchester based family comedy.  

So it was fantastic to meet them and I hope we can keep in touch to spur each other on. The plan is that in a couple of years we can jet back in via helicopter with an ex Chippendale at the joystick.

Is joystick the right word?

Oh who cares. See you there.

So you want to write for your favourite magazine and you are brimming with ideas – you’re a little disappointed that most of them – or something similar at least – has been covered already – but it’s still worth a shot, right?

Wrong. If you spot a piece in a target publication that bears any resemblance to the germ of an idea you have been slaving over – but too nervous to send – for days or even weeks then you need to change direction immediately.

First pause a moment to congratulate yourself that you are on the right wavelength – then move on, pronto! Either come up with a new angle to suit a different sort of market, or start again. You have to find something that is different, new and fresh, but at the same time, relevant and newsworthy.

How do you do that? Give your ideas the ‘so what?’ test Think about what is so different about your idea, why is it current now? And why are you the one to write it?

A general piece on ‘home education’ may not be deemed worth looking at, and could easily be researched and written in-house. But a piece on home education with a cracking interview with a mum who refuses to send her son to school may be nearer the mark – especially if there has been a topical development.

If there hasn’t, file your idea away until a piece of relevant research or celebrity or politician hits the headlines for such a course of action – then bam! Hit the commissioning editor where it matters.

You have to time it right. And I don’t mean pegging your piece on a forthcoming awareness day, week or month. How many times have I read that awareness weeks make great hooks for stories? Yawn. Too many. Beware. You can bet that if you know next month is bowel cancer awareness month, so will many other wannabe contributors.

Again, what’s so very new and different about your angle? Lead-in times for publications vary. Pitch a monthly with a Christmas type story in November, and you are marking yourself out as a fool.

Pick up the phone and find out when the deadlines for copy are. How then do you market your ideas? It all comes down to your chosen market. Study your chosen publications or online markets carefully and make sure you send them what they ask for – to the right person at the right time.

Should you send your pitches by phone or email? It depends. Editors are so busy now that they won’t take kindly to you ringing right on deadline to pitch an idea, however good it is. Nor will they welcome a zillionth email chasing them over an idea you first sent just three days ago.

So what can you do? Finding out when they are most likely to be less busy, for a start. Yes it’s their job to look at freelance pitches (possibly) but please don’t moan if they don’t reply. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – they didn’t ask you to contact them, so why should they race to reply?

This article was featured on www.freelanceuk.com

HOW scared are you of editors?

Does the thought of picking up a phone to suggest an idea for a magazine feature fill you with dread? Do you break out in a cold sweat as you open an email with the all-important “yes” or “no” to your pitch?

If you're are nodding in agreement to either of these questions, then to put it unkindly, you need to get a grip! Or, to put it much less bluntly – don’t worry, editors are human too.

But to see the correspondence I receive seeking advice from aspiring or in some cases established freelance writers, you’d think these more senior journalists were ogres – who’d chew up and spit out humble wannabe hacks without a moment’s thought.

So long as you are professional in your dealings with your chosen editors you have nothing to worry about. Sure, they may say ‘no’ to more of your ideas than ‘yes’ – but that’s nothing to lose sleep over is it? Don’t take rejection personally.

Ask for feedback and work on it, whether it's grammatical sloppiness or a lack of research. Everyone can improve and the sense of achievement it'll give you when your next piece is accepted will be immense.”

* This piece was previously published in Writing Magazine

THIS is a book written by Linda Jones ex journalist, freelance writer, blogger at You've got your hands full, Judith's Room member and all round fabulous lady who has helped me out a lot with starting freelance writing.

By Josie

ONE of the reasons I love Twitter is the way you can connect to the most unlikely people - including authors. I've been tweeting with Jackie Collins - I'm not writing erotic novels but I do find it funny that she's on Twitter as her books certainly played quite a part in my formative years *cough*.

So last night I tweeted her (she's @jackiejcollins) the following questions: how many pages do you write a day when you're working on a book, and do you always draw on real life experience?

Here's what she had to say:

'10-15 handwritten pages'
'yes unless you're writing a fantasy novel' (I'm presuming by fantasy she meant Lord of the Rings type fantasy, not - er- erotic fantasy).

So there you have it. 10 to 15 handwritten pages a day... not sure how much that translates to in typed pages but it sounds perfectly doable... doesn't it?

Do you have any tips from published novelists? If so, share them below!

Linda Jones shares some harsh realities of a book deal with a small publisher.

1. A book launch may be more hassle than it’s worth This time last year, I was feeling pretty pleased with myself. My first book, the modestly titled Greatest Freelance Writing Tips in the World had just been published. Holding some initial copies in my quivering hands, I’d felt a rush of pride. Now here I was, preparing for my very own book launch. Then one by one, more than half the confirmed guests dropped out. My heart sank. Even though local paper reports and reviews followed and those lovely guests who did come along were overwhelmingly positive, I was disappointed. In hindsight I can see my expectations were unrealistic. But I hated feeling like Billy no-mates.

2. Authors don’t always want to discuss sales Go on; guess how many my book has sold. Bet you can’t. I’d rather not say, if you don’t mind. Of course if you know anything about publishing it won’t surprise you that my figures may not put David Blunkett’s to shame. This wasn’t the outcome I was hoping for. I was so naïve. Wary of upsetting a PR team, sacred of jinxing future sales or plain embarrassed, other writers I know also prefer not to join this potentially humiliating ‘show and tell.’ Yet this ‘smoke screen’ allows wannabe authors to cling on to unrealistic dreams – creating a vicious circle of silence followed by dashed hope. Seriously, how many do you expect your book to sell?

3. They don’t always want to talk about rates either My advance and royalties are modest by any standards. I was paid £1,500 in advance and have royalties of 10 per cent on further UK sales. Finding out how indicative this is of current rates, initially proved as effective as Russell Brand at a True Love Waits meeting.

4. However many positive reviews you get, you should be prepared for the possibility that you’ll care most about the bad ones. I was bowled over when one reviewer said my effort was ‘the only book a writer will ever need.” Then someone slated it. That’s the conclusion that lingers in my mind. I’m not sure why one negative comment is felt so much more keenly. Can anyone explain this phenomenon other than saying it’s basic human nature?

5. On the subject of reviews – they don’t sell books The resoundingly positive reviews may have given me a warm glow inside but aren’t doing a thing for my bank balance. I’m advised they may help me if I ever go in search of an agent. But that’s a terrifying prospect. (See point number seven) I’ve learned that reviews are only a small part of the post-publication story. Without a prime time chat show or reality TV career, even the most wonderfully received non-fiction books from small publishers may be destined for an underwhelming future.

6. Checking out where you are on Amazon is pointless. It’s depressing to ride the roller coaster ride of Amazon rankings. I can sometimes make it to the top of a list of bestselling books by (ta da!) authors with the same name and some days I manage to hover around the 2,000 mark. I don't think I'll crack open the Aldi champagne just yet. But it’s pure vanity, desperation or complete madness anyway. It’s just one bookshop. I'm just glad I'm not alone.

7. Agents are intimidating Who’d have thought I could have so much in common with John Prescott, apart from the waistline? Yet I feel bound to flounder as a working class outsider when it comes to understanding agents. I’ve read they prefer young Oxbridge graduates with a media profile. That’s enough to put me off. The one time I got over my nerves and was told a more recent proposal was “excellent”, I was later dismissed with “Sorry Dahling, I read it too quickly". I rest my case.

8. Publicity and blogging is a long hard slog I threw myself into promoting my book. Pieces have popped up in radio shows, newspapers, magazines, websites and blogs. I laughed my head off when a magazine called me a 'celebrity'. I keep people up to date in a Facebook group. Funnily enough, each time I send an update, coupled with details of new opportunities for writers, someone drops out.

9. That thing in the movies where first time authors go misty-eyed over their book in a shop window, doesn’t happen to everyone Yes I really did think about that. When a reader emailed me to say she had bought my book from Waterstones in central London, I was cock-a-hoop. When my publisher emailed to explain that really, major retailers weren’t that interested, I was crestfallen. I should’ve listened to Craig who said I should give the book away to create more of a ‘buzz’.

10. I should have known this stuff before my book was published If you're an aspiring author, please learn from my mistakes. Look past that joyous moment when you’re told your book has been commissioned and get real – it could be a rocky road ahead. Find out what you can about how book marketing, distribution and sales really work now to help you through the inevitable potholes later.

This article appeared at www.journalism.co.uk

FRAN Sandham walked across Africa solo from the Skeleton Coast to the Indian Ocean at Zanzibar.

His groundbreaking journey is told with great humour in Traversa, which has been met with critical acclaim.

Interviews with The Liverpool Echo and The Argus in Brighton have already been published, as well as reviews in the likes of New Statesman, Metro and Travel Africa, among others.

Further regional and specialist media column inches are in the pipeline.

He's also been interviewed by Radio Four's Excess Baggage and has now turned his attention to gaining national newspaper coverage by pitching freelance articles.

Former bookseller and Rough Guides editor Fran found his publisher, Duckworth, by "applying to loads" through what he calls the "normal channels" - that's the The Writer's Handbook , targeting likely publishers, then sending in a synopsis or proposal with sample chapters.

He adds: "It was basically, trial and error, though based to some extent on some years' experience of publishing."

As you can see above, publicity-wise, Fran has made some excellent connections and done some cracking interviews.

So what are his top tips for promoting a book?

He says you should:

* Set aside a great deal of time and be prepared to make a great deal of effort.

* Network shamelessly.

* If it's a case of choosing between throwing mud against a wall or prevaricating and doing nothing until you find a sticky piece of mud, then throw mud against the wall.

* Be persistent, and if the people you contact either don't reply or reply negatively, as an author you haven't actually lost anything by contacting them in the first place.