Tuesday Chit-Chat with Jean Fullerton

Hi Jean, it’s great to see you here at Romaniac HQ. How about a welcome cuppa? Tea or Coffee? Oh, and a slice of one of Celia’s legendary cakes (naturally…)

Tea, please, and just a sliver of cake. 

We know it’s a hectic week for you (excitingly so) as your new novel Call Nurse Millie is being published on Thursday. Can you tell us a bit about Millie and her story?

We meet Millie on VE day in 1945. As the bombs stop and the troops begin to return home, the inhabitants of London attempt to put their lives back together. For 25-year-old Millie, a qualified nurse and midwife, the jubilation at the end of the war is short-lived as she tends to the needs of the East End community around her. But while Millie witnesses tragedy and brutality in her job, she also finds strength and kindness. And when misfortune befalls her own family, it is the enduring spirit of the community that shows Millie that even the toughest of circumstances can be overcome.

Through Millie’s eyes, we see the harsh realities and unexpected joys in the lives of the patients she treats, as well as the camaraderie that is forged with the fellow nurses that she lives with. Filled with unforgettable characters and moving personal stories, this vividly brings to life the colourful world of a post-war East London.

Although I’m a district nurse, I had a great deal of pleasure researching the equipment and techniques she used to nurse her patients, which are so very different from the ones I used during my time on the District.

How has the run-up to publication been for you? Can you give us a teaser about what’s involved?

In a word: hectic. All writers, be they with a large publisher like myself or self-published, need to do a great deal of promotion. My publisher handles the national press and trade publicity but since I handed in the second part of Millie’s story to my editor in February, I have written at least a dozen blogs and articles.  Over the past five years I’ve built up many contacts in local newspapers and radio and I’ve been getting in touch with them for feature articles and afternoon slots on chat shows.

Your knowledge and fondness for the East End of London shines through in all of your novels, Jean. What would you say are the main contributing factors behind their authenticity?

That’s very kind of you to say so. I think the main reason for my books authentic feel is that I know the area and the East End culture through and through. And not because I’ve read books and researched, which I have, but because it is the place where I was born and raised. It’s in my bones, and as I write long-forgotten snippets from my childhood. Stories told to me of what the East End used to be like drift back into my consciousness. In Call Nurse Millie, I draw on much of my immediate family’s history to bring the post-war Docklands alive. Also, and probably more importantly, I just love the place.

You clearly love English history but what in particular inspires you about the 18^th and 19^th centuries in which your books are set?

To my mind, the Victorians invented the world we live in today. Things we take for granted like railways, mass produced consumer goods, civil engineering, modern medicine and even bank and company regulation, started in the Victorian age, not to mention many revolutionary ideas such as social responsibility of the rich to the poor. It’s also history you can touch as most of us have old sepia photos of our own Victorian ancestors and thanks to the Victorians love of detail, we have the priceless records of the 19^th century censuses to draw on for research.

Which genres do you enjoy reading?

Although Historicals always catch my eye, a book for me is always about the story but I try to read something I wouldn’t write, such as a juicy crime by Lee Childs or well-written women’s fiction by people like Carole Matthews or Julie Cohen. I find it difficult to read my own genre as I find myself turning from a reader into a writer and I start thinking ‘I would have done this or that’ and so it pulls me out of the story.

Describe a typical writing day for you, how it ties in with your day job.

I no longer work as a district nurse but lecture in nursing studies at a London University so my day-job hours are more writing friendly. Most days I’m home by 4.30pm so I reply to any emails that I couldn’t deal with in my lunch break then me and the Hero-at-Home prepare the evening meal together. We usually eat at 6.30 as he is often out to 7pm meetings.  I go up to my office at 7ish and write until 9.30 when I take a TV break for an hour or so, then most nights back up again from 11-12 midnight to read through and fiddle with what I’ve just written. We both have busy lives, so try to have Friday night as our time together, usually in a local hostelry. I also work Saturday and Sunday afternoons if the family- of three grown up daughters, son-in-laws and their offspring- aren’t around.

You’ve given many valuable author talks and conducted various successful writing workshops – what are the most enjoyable and rewarding aspects of these?

The thing I love most about both my talks and workshops is meeting people, particularly if someone tells me how much they loved my book. That’s why I write, after all, to bring others into my stories. I also enjoy helping and guiding others as they learn the necessary skills to write their own page-turning novel.

Who or what (or both) would you credit with being the biggest influence on you as a writer?

That’s difficult to say but I suppose the writer who got me into this was Anya Seton with her fabulous book Katherine but the biggest influence has to be the wonderful Romantic Novelists’ Association who helped me learn my craft and encouraged me to stick with it.

Any other creative passions, Jean?

My dad was an amateur artist and I used to be quite good at drawing and painting but I don’t do it now, however, I am very visual so enjoy art galleries and exhibitions. I often use old photos of East London to help me when I’m writing.

How will you be celebrating Call Nurse Millie’s launch on Thursday?

Packing my suitcase for my well-earned Mediterranean cruise the day after.

And finally, as is customary here at HQ, a few quick-fire questions for you:

Favourite London Landmark? Tower of London

Charles Dickens or Jane Austen? Jane Austen

Celebrity you’d most like to be stuck in a lift with? Hugh Jackman- for the obvious reason!

Guilty Pleasure? Haribo Tantastics

Theatre or Museum? Museum

Dream Holiday Destination? Anywhere on a cruise ship.

Sunday Roast with all the trimmings or Fish & Chips? Sunday Roast.

Novel you never tire of reading? Katherine by Anya Seton.

Jean, it’s been an absolute pleasure chatting to you. Best of luck with Call Nurse Millie.

You can connect to me on my website at www.jeanfullerton.com to find out about me, my previous books, and my East London heritage along with pictures of the actual locations I use in my books.

You can also find me on Facebook as Jean Fullerton and follow me on Twitter as @JeanFullerton__
To buy. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Call-Nurse-Millie-ebook/dp/B00BMUVRT0/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_kin?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1363208639&sr=1-1

Tuesday Chit-Chat with Pauline Barclay

Hi Pauline, thanks so much for visiting us here at Romaniac HQ. First things first: Tea or coffee? And we have some freshly baked yummy chocolate brownies, if you can force yourself…

Hello Jan, thank you for having me here at your fabulous offices, so trendy! As for tea or coffee, any chance I could have green tea please? And I’ve skipped breakfast so I could overindulge in your scrummy chocolate brownies… mmm… they look too good to eat, but I’ll risk it!

Green tea, it is! And maybe a “small” glass of fizz later (just to celebrate your latest novel, of course…)

So exciting that you’ve recently published Storm Clouds Gathering. Can you give us a little teaser about the storyline?  

Now I am going to warn you, there is nothing worse than asking me about my new book, but please tell me to shut up if I go on too much …  Like most of the books I’ve written, it is filled with emotion that gets right to the heart. In my latest book, the storm clouds are gathering, silently and slowly, too far away to worry about. Or so it seems. But ignoring what is brewing will have dire consequences for the people caught up in the maelstrom. Shirley Burton is too busy cheating on her husband, having a laugh and looking for fun to alleviate the boredom of her childless marriage. Kathleen Mitchell is too wrapped up in running around after her beautiful family to worry about her health. Anne Simpson has two things on her mind: her forthcoming marriage to Paul Betham, who seems to want to control her, and her career, which she does not want to give up. The question is, can Shirley really expect to deceive her husband and get away with it? Can Kathleen hold it all together, and is Anne able to have the best of everything? As I said, I love to write with deep emotion and Storm Clouds Gathering is a story of human emotion, passion and heart-rending grief. Set against the backdrop of the mid-sixties, these three families will be tested to the limit, as betrayal, loss and love threaten to change their lives forever.

How long did it take you to write this book?  Was there lots of research involved? 

It took the usual time for me, around 10 months. What caused me a problem to publish a book in 2012 was that, I began to write another book and after 25,000 words, found I couldn’t go any further at that time, so I began Storm Clouds Gathering and then the words just flowed. Regarding research, I spoke to family members and I also drew on my own experience from that period of time. On top of this, I found a truly wonderful man via the internet who had helped me with answers about working in the woollen mills in the 1960s.

The cover is beautifully eye-catching.  Do you choose your own designs, Pauline?

I work very closely with Cathy Helms from Avalon Graphics and I give Cathy ideas of what I am looking for. I also trawl through the photo directories online looking for pictures that will give me what I have in my head. Cathy then turns my thoughts into beautiful covers.

You live in super, sunny Lanzarote and we’ve loved hearing about your weekly book signings and readings. How did that all come about and how do you find the marketing side of writing, in general? Any little tips you can share with us?

Oh my, I’m no expert at giving tips for marketing, I just do what I hope is good for me to sell my books. Living here on our fabby little pebble in the ocean, I’ve got to know one or two holiday complex owners. This led to me going to chat with the tourists staying in these super places about my books. I take along with me professionally printed leaflets, bookmarks to hand out and, of course, my books to sign and sell. I love meeting the people and getting their feedback on my books. And to my utter surprise, they enjoy meeting an author!

What first sparked ‘the writer’ in you?

I’ve always been a writer. As a little girl I wrote poems and, once, a song. It was sung at one of our school assemblies when I was in junior school. Sadly the teacher named the song writer as Pauline… but it was the other Pauline in my class. At eleven years old, I was mortified they’d got the name wrong. I was also a writer for many years at work. I was a communications manager in the international oil industry, which I loved every minute of.  These days, I enjoy writing fiction, though one could argue, I’ve always written fiction!

Tell us about your involvement in, and the subsequent success of, Indie Author site Famous Five Plus?

Oh you mean my little baby! I started FFP back at the end of October 2011. The idea was to offer Indie authors a platform to showcase and share their experiences and at the same time, support others in the knowledge they would be supported in return. That concept has not changed.  FFP continues to grow and whilst it takes up far too much of my time, I believe it is worth it. There are some wonderful authors in FFP who just need to have enough exposure to really make it big.

What do you like to read when you’re relaxing, poolside?

I love reading, but relaxing, what is that? Laugh! I love murder mystery and thrillers, but in between being frightened to death with a likely stalker of someone intent on murder, I read a lot of indie author books too. I have a Kindle these days, as living on my pebble it is so much easier to download a great read instantly and there are some fab books out there.

If you could pass on just one piece of writerly advice, what would it be?

Just do it. Write and enjoy every minute. Get those words and ideas down, but when it is finished and you want to publish, please always talk to an editor – a publishing editor. Not only will he or she make your book shine like a diamond, but you will learn so much more too.

And in true Romaniac fashion, some quick-fire, fun questions for you:

Dream Dance Partner?

Pasha Kovalev from Strictly.

Rolls Royce or Ferrari?

Ferrari.

Champagne or Cocktails?

What a question, champagne… love it!

Murder Mystery Weekend or Paintballing?

Murder mystery – no contest!

Favourite place in the UK?

Now that is tough as I’ve lived in several different places and I’ve loved them all, so sorry can’t choose an answer to this one.

Sarong or Shorts?

As I spend every day in shorts, it has to be shorts, but not the baggy sort.

Paella or Tapas?

Mmm… another toughy.  I love both. Sorry, can’t choose on this one.

Three words that best describe Pauline Barclay?

Energetic, optimistic and smiley.

It’s been fabulous chatting with you, Pauline. Best of Romaniac luck with Storm Clouds Gathering.

Whoa! Thanks for having me and letting me eat most of the scrummy chocolate brownies. Along with the champagne, they were simply delicious. A huge thanks also for allowing me to ramble and for making me feel so welcome. It’s been wonderful. Have a fab day and please leave the plate and glasses. I’ll wash up, it’s the least I can do!

http://www.paulinebarclay.co.uk/

http://paulinembarclay.blogspot.com/

http://www.facebook.com/paulinembarclay

Follow Pauline on Twitter: @paulinembarclay

http://www.famousfiveplus.com/

See the trailer for Storm Clouds Gathering… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCwnvAK4DxA

 

 

Tuesday Chit-Chat with Christine Stovell

Today, we welcome women’s fiction author, Christine Stovell…

Hi Chris, so lovely to see you here at Romaniac HQ. First things first – Tea or Coffee? Ooh, and we’ve re-stocked the cupboards with lots of yummy cakes and biscuits (should the need grab us…)

Helloooo Jan!  Thank you so much for having me here.  What a lovely smell of baking!  I’ll have coffee please and, oh, is that coffee and walnut cake?  There’s nothing like kick-starting the day with plenty of caffeine… and sugar… and, er, fat, is there?

A little birdie tells us you’re busy working on novel number three for Choc Lit. Can you give us a teaser?

Well, since it’s you… I try not to talk too much about the early stages of the WIP, as that’s when all those ideas swirling around in the dark looking so mysterious and enticing can look a bit naff if I shine too much light on them!  Hopefully I’m past that stage, so … Clearing the Decks will feature a return to my fictitious seaside town, Little Spitmarsh, the location for my first novel, Turning the Tide.  It’s not a sequel, although we’ll catch up with one or two of the characters who live there as well as meeting new ones.  I’m really enjoying writing this one, because I’m very fond of Little Spitmarsh.  Also, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with my current heroine and hero; she’s funny and self-deprecating and he’s just a lovely guy.  Pity I give them such a tough time then!  

It’s no secret how much you love living and writing in Wales; indeed, Coralie Casey, heroine in your second novel , Move Over Darling, escapes there, so how would you pitch the Welsh charm to a (shamefully) yet-to-visit city girl like me?

Where do I start?  Beautiful, undiscovered beaches (and I happen to live a short walk from one of them).  Breathtaking scenery.  Warm-hearted, witty people.  Rugby.  The Millennium Stadium.  The Millennium Centre.  Swansea Market.  Richard Burton reading Under Milk Wood.  The poet, Owen Sheers… I could keep going, I love living here, just don’t mention the weather!

Sigh…

When you begin a novel, do you draft out each chapter beforehand or do your characters have free rein to take you wherever their stories lead them?

I start with a title which reflects my feeling of what the novel’s about, then I set up a spreadsheet with a chapter list, some preliminary ideas about each character’s story arc and some rough notes for essential scenes… then I start writing and it all goes out the window! As you suggest, it’s when characters really come to life that the magic happens.  Suddenly they’re telling their stories, which is the most brilliant, rewarding feeling.

You also write short stories. Do you find it easy/hard to switch between the two and how exciting was it to write ‘Touch Wood’ which was included in Choc Lit’s anthology – Love Match Selection?

Ah, do you know, I loved writing ‘Touch Wood’.  I keep notebooks and cuttings of anything that catches my eye. Amongst them was an article about a craftswoman working with green oak and a fabulously moody photo of a trip hop musician – when I put those two together the story just happened.

A writing journey of 90,000 words, for me, is like running a half marathon so a short, satisfying 3k run every now and then just rings the changes and keeps me on course.  I enjoy both.

What first gave you the writing bug?

Winning a prize of chocolate in a writing competition at primary school is the short answer.  But growing up in a house full of books and having an inspirational English teacher helped too.

Do you have a set routine or any literary rituals?

Literary rituals?  How about tickets for the complete Lions Tour 2013?  I’m sure that would give me plenty to write about, Mr Gatland, if you’re reading this. Failing that, ‘Bum on Seat’ is the only ritual I know that works!

Any other creative (or otherwise) passions or hobbies, Chris?

I love running, especially living here on this beautiful coastline, and it really helps me work out those pesky knots in my plot, I’m a passionate rugby fan and I adore very depressing music.  I love a good old blast of Nick Cave and one of my happiest moments was being just inches away from Radiohead at a recording of the Jonathan Ross show after they played their set twice.

Which three words would you say best describe you, and why?

Nasty, brutish and short.  Especially when I’m trying to write.

And finally… No visit to Romaniac HQ would be complete without a few quick-fire questions, (plus another cuppa and wedge of cake, of course…) so here goes:

Favourite Welsh Celeb?

*Through mouth crammed with cake*, the entire Welsh Rugby Team!

Guilty Pleasure?

Damn… it’s er, coffee and cake at *whispering* Dunelm Mill, Swansea.  It’s just it’s a convenient place to stop before shopping in Swansea and it always sets my happiness levels soaring nicely!

Sunlounger or Ski Slopes?

Sunlounger and a good book. Bliss.

Three novels you’d magic out of thin air to re-read if you were marooned on a desert island for a week?

Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, Sally Beauman’s Landscape of Love, Jane Smiley’s Horse Heaven – three novels I never tire of re-reading.

Singer you’d most like to serenade you?

Kelly Jones; small but perfectly formed. Plus lots of Stereophonic tracks were playing in my head when I wrote ‘Move Over Darling’.

Ant or Dec?

Wrong on so many levels.

Paris or Rome?

I would love a Roman holiday!

Fave Chocolate bar?

A Crunchie – nice but not too naughty.

Chris, it’s been an absolute pleasure chatting to you. Best of luck with  your next novel: ‘Clearing the Decks’. 

Aw, Jan, it’s great to chat to you again, thanks to you and to all the fab Romaniacs for having me here – sorry about the crumbs. Let me give you a hand with the washing up.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Christine-Stovell/e/B003NJ0DUM/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

http://www.christinestovell.com/

Follow Christine on Twitter: @chrisstovell

Birthday Celebrations – The Romaniacs are one year old!

Happy birthday to us, Happy birthday to us, Happy birthday Dear Romaniacs, Happy birthday to us!

Ok, Ok, so I’m two days early. But who says we can’t start the celebrations a little early. Here at Romaniac HQ, we’ve been celebrating all weekend and we plan for it to continue all week, too. So why not come and join us for a celebratory glass of champers and a slice of cake and let’s get this party started!

A year ago, on February 13th 2012, we launched our blog to the writing world. When we decided to do this, we had no idea how we would be perceived. Would people like us? Would people bother to read what we have to say?

Would people think we’re nuts?

But the response has been truly amazing. People did like us. People were logging in and reading and sharing our posts. And most importantly people do realise that yes, we are a bit nuts! But that’s OK, because we never claimed to be anything but.

The sheer amount of support and encouragement we have received, both as a group and individuals, over the last year has surpassed anything we ever could have imagined. We always knew that the writing industry was a supportive, positive community, but I don’t think anything could have prepared us for what lay ahead.

So in the spirit of birthday celebrations, we got talking about some of our favourite – and worst – celebrations growing up. They weren’t all necessarily birthday celebrations and some needed censoring so much, we felt best to keep those in the archive folders!

However, I’ll start the ball rolling. My worst birthday party memory wasn’t actually for mine, but for my older sisters. There is five years between us and I was but a nipper at the time and she had all her friends over for a party. In our garden we had a huge shed – we lived in a flat and it was the communal shed so you can imagine how big it was – and she and her friends were playing chase. I wanted to play. I ventured into the garden and saw them all running rings around said shed. Stupidly, to catch up, I ran around the shed but in the OPPOSITE direction to around 15 children. You can see how this story ends, can’t you? Yep, I spent the rest of the party upstairs, on the sofa with a bruised and battered face. It wasn’t a good party for me.

On the flip side, my best party – so far I hasten to add, I’m planning on having many more! – was for my 21st. It wasn’t a big ‘do’ but I had only just had my daughter and I had been dieting and training for months and months in preparation for my 21st and I lost 2 stone and got into the size 8 dress I had bought. I felt great. Some of mine and my husband’s friends came back to our house after the club shut (mine and my husband’s birthdays are 3 days apart so we always have joint celebrations) and we carried on partying until the morning. It was a brilliant night.

We would love to hear your best and worst party experiences. I’ll leave you with some messages from the girls about theirs. Here’s to another fantastic year. Cheers!

Lucie x

Celia: Crikey, Lucie; you’ve said it all! Huge thanks to everyone who has visited our blog over the last year and given us your witty, supportive comments. Now, parties…

My worst one has got to be a Halloween do when I was about nine. I was a Brownie at the time, and we were all invited to our Sixer’s birthday. I only had a hazy idea about Halloween up to that point – I knew witches came into it somewhere, but as the world’s wimpiest child, I had never got up to speed on how people celebrated it. The mum in charge of the party had some great ideas. She had blacked out an entire room and hung it with fake cobwebs, rattling bones etc, there was an atmospheric ghostly soundtrack and we were blindfolded and led through one at a time, touching and listening to various things which got scarier and scarier. The finale was having our hand plunged into a bowl of sheep’s eyeballs. I’ve never felt the same about a peeled grape since that day.

The best wasn’t a birthday, it was my second wedding in 2008 (I’ve only had the two, in case that makes me sound like a female Bluebeard.). We decided to just have the best bits of a wedding, i.e.massive amounts of home-made cake, no speeches, no official photo session where the guests are starving and everyone loses the will to live, a small, warm venue so it would be cosy (it was a frosty night on December 29th) the most delicious food we could order and a late afternoon wedding so we could go straight into the serious eating and champagne quaffing. It was magical. I think I might have been quite, quite drunk.

Vanessa: Well, my best is easy – on my 29^h birthday, Tim, my boyfriend at the time, took me to Cornwall for the weekend. We tried to stay in a beautiful old pub in Mousehole, right on the quay, with beams and a roaring fire … but it was full, so we ended up in an odd B&B that smelled of kippers. We tried to have dinner at one of the quay front pubs or restaurants but they were all full, so we ended up eating fish in a strange bright blue sauce at a cold restaurant where we were the only customers. Then, as we walked along the seafront, Tim proposed and it became the best birthday ever – kippers, blue sauce and all.

The worst is more difficult… because I love birthdays, always have. I always take the day off work and have a totally indulgent day. I think my worst birthday was my saddest – the last I got to celebrate with my best friend Suzanne. She’d been ill for a long time, but I’d been in denial, waiting for a miracle cure. That night was the night I finally accepted the truth and the last time we got to go out before she died.

Sue : I’ve never in my life had a birthday party … cue violins and sad music Never had a party as a child and never as an adult but that’s okay, as to be honest, I wouldn’t find being the centre of attention any fun at all. I much prefer going to other people’s parties, so much more relaxing and enjoyable. I’ve had quite a few family birthdays this year and they all have been great fun.

On the flip side, I have been to a few which haven’t been quite so successful. My friend’s 21st springs immediately to mind. All had been going well until late into the evening, after much drinking and merriment, my brother (Nick) and I hit the dance floor – that was our first mistake. The second came quite quickly after the first, Nick and I decided we could jive and were doing reasonably well, holding hands we were swinging each other backwards and forwards across in a kind of jive/barn dance sort of way. Mistake number 3 was the speed at which we attempted this with rather sweaty hands. I guess I must have been stronger than I thought. Sensing Nick was waning, I gave a particularly sudden and fast yank on his hand which, together with increased momentum, sent him whizzing past me in a blur of legs and arms, Frank Spencer style. I could only watch in horror as he went crashing into the disco lights; the scene reminiscent of a Jean Michel Jarre light and laser display.  It was certainly a party to remember, probably for all the wrong reasons.

Jan: I’ve been to many great parties over the years but one that evokes such fond memories for me is the surprise party my sisters and I organised (along with several much appreciated volunteers) as part of Mum and Dad’s 30th wedding anniversary celebrations. My younger sister and I were still living at home which, of course, made things a lot easier to manage. On the big night, my older sister and her husband, acting as decoys, took them out for a meal. As soon as their car rounded the corner of our road, me, sis and various friends & neighbours swung into action, fetching and carrying all the booze which had been stashed in a neighbour’s garage, blowing up balloons, wheeling in the cake and making sandwiches. Our aunty Heather was on bread buttering duty whilst the rest of us washed, sliced and diced all the fillers. We had to make sure the steady stream of guests arriving had parked out of sight so Mum’s eagle eye didn’t spot any familiar cars on their return. It really was like the proverbial military operation and a great success. It still makes us laugh remembering Mum’s utter disbelief at not cottoning on to our scheming.

As for the worst party, well a front-runner would have to be one I attended with a friend in my late teens. The phrase ‘One man and his Dog’ sprung to mind as we walked into the venue, there were so few guests. Add to that, strip lighting, warm wine, a Tarzan -o-gram for the host and the DJ’s decks blowing up halfway through the evening, and you get the picture. Cue stampede (or should I say, trickle) to the pub round the corner!

Laura: My tale is simple and short. My most and least favourite celebration was my last birthday, March 2012. Everything at home was perfect. I received surprise gifts, which were truly wonderful, cards and messages from many friends, and short-list notification of the first Choc Lit short story competition. Ahead was the prospect of a great summer, out and about with my family, including my mother who, the day before, had endured a difficult, but at that point, successful operation.
Why the mixed feelings? It was the last birthday I shared with my lovely mum.

Catherine: Worst? Well, you did ask. It was the winter of 2002. I was 21 and about to enjoy my first Physiotherapy Department Christmas Party. The day before I’d completed a junior rotation in care of the elderly and I was ready to let my hair down. Dinner started with a lovely Minestrone Soup. Only it didn’t seem so lovely. In fact, I was feeling decidedly queasy. It didn’t take me long to realise why I was feeling so ill. No, it wasn’t the soup. It was the dreaded norovirus. A nice leaving gift from my rotation. I was chucking up before the main course arrived and managed to get safely home before performing the party trick that involves a toilet and a bowl. So not the evening I’d had in mind.

The best? I’m going to be greedy and pick 3! My Nan and Grandad’s Ruby, Golden and Diamond anniversary parties. I was 8 at the first party. It was in a church hall with lots of family and friends and I got roped in waitressing duties with my cousins. I remember talking about the next party when I’d be 18 and being very excited about it. And before you know it, you’re 18 and at the next party!

Those Were The Days My Friend

‘I thought they’d never end’, (Mary Hopkin)

Once the new year celebrations were finished and we had all regrouped at Romaniac HQ, we found ourselves reflecting over the past 12 months, taking stock of how far we had come and how far we still had to go with our writing careers. Naturally, the conversation turned to how it all began. Not surprisingly, our love affair with writing began at an early age for us all and we took a trip down Memory Lane, thinking of the influences and experiences that have shaped us. We thought we would share our nostalgia with you.

We would, of course, love to know where your writing aspirations began and what your memories of that time are.

Laura: The late seventies and early eighties are the years I remember well. I loved music, and I became aware of the world around me. 1979 was the year of the UK’s first female Prime Minister, in Margaret Thatcher - that was a big deal, especially for women. We lived under the threat of nuclear war, there were bombings in Nothern Ireland, Sid Vicious was found dead from a heroin overdose, and China introduced their One Child Policy. As a twelve-year-old, I worried about how the world would survive. I yearned for the power to put everything right. I was going to be a doctor, or a child psychologist. Maybe a speech therapist – something that helped. Failing that, I’d entertain – become a singer. I realised songs were miniature stories and became fascinated with rhymes, patterns and words. I loved reading, but looking back, my love for writing began through songs.

The world changed during my formative years. Whether or not one agreed with Thatcher’s policies, women had a positive role model. I loved Blake’s 7, a Sci-Fi programme with a strong female character in Cally, Gloria Gaynor was belting out I Will Survive, and my mother, bless her, by this point in my life, was a single parent, who had successfully secured a mortgage in her name alone. Not easy. Is it possible these childhood factors led me to writing issue-driven romances, with strong female characters? By producing stories, my desire to entertain is fulfilled, my love for words is put to work, and I create my own worlds where ultimately, everything will be all right.

I’m beginning to think it was inevitable I would become a writer.

1983

Sue: Being roughly the same age as Laura, I can identify with all the things she mentions above. The early 80′s saw me knocking on the door of my teenage years when I was living in a rural village and had a very free rein on what I did with my time. All the local kids used to hang around together, but to be fair, that didn’t actually amount to many – put it this way, in my year at school there were only three girls and six boys. I look back on those days with fondness as age didn’t really come into it and we all mucked in together. Sometimes we’d have a big game of football or cricket, other times we would swim/paddle in the river or generally hang out, usually at the bridge. I’m not sure what the attraction of the bridge was, but we spent an awful lot of time just congregating there. Having said that, living in a small rural community did mean it often had its dull moments and my answer to the boredom was to take myself off somewhere far more exciting via a good book, courtesy of the mobile library which visited us once a fortnight.

Me with my eldest brother circa 1973.

With regards to the larger world outside of this Cambridgeshire village, I have very clear memories of things like Shopper bikes for girls, Chopper bikes for the boys, Bermuda shorts, Haircut 100, Dexy’s Midnight Runners, Ultravox, Grange Hill, Crackerjack (‘It’s five to five and it’s Crackerjack!’), Why Don’t You, using a cassette player to try to record the Top 40 on a Sunday evening, deciding I’d give up on my dream of marrying Nick Skelton and set my sights on Adam Ant instead. It was around about this time I received a Silver Reed typewriter for Christmas and began typing up my stories; making them into books; illustrating them and designing the cover. Today, I am still trying to do pretty much the same thing (although the Adam Ant dream has gone the same way as the Nick Skelton one).

Jan: The late seventies evoke such fond memories for me too. We had lots of children living down our road and a great crew of us would play in the street (not nearly so many cars to worry about then!) racing each other up the road when we heard the tinkle of the ice cream van. We had a huge street party for the Queen’s silver jubilee celebrations with long trestle tables groaning under the weight of food and fizz. One of the neighbours set up some speakers in their hallway and played DJ for the duration, blaring out the likes of Abba and Stevie Wonder. I can remember our milkman and postman turning up, flares swishing, and hardly recognising the pair of them out of uniform. They were doing the rounds; such was the camaraderie amongst everyone in the area.

This is me in the early seventies, clearly deciding I wanted to try on my cousin’s Cub cap & tie!

I always took an interest in anything creative at school, from writing stories and poetry, to singing in school choirs and auditioning for Christmas and end of term plays. I can see my Dad now, three rows back, big cheesy grin on his face, trying to make my best friend (a notorious giggler) and I laugh, Mum nudging his elbow and giving him “the look”. Ever since those days, I’ve loved writing in all its forms, so to now be working on my debut novel really is one of my dreams come true.

Celia: Well, I’m a little bit…ok, quite a lot…older than the other Romaniacs, so my teenage and pre teen memories go back to the earlier seventies. By the time the redoubtable Mrs T was in her element and nuclear war was threatening, I was a young mum, panic stricken at the world I’d brought my daughters into but not really quite ready to be sensible. On a more cheerful note, I remember oodles of Motown (still can’t help dancing to ‘Needle in a Haystack’, in fact I brought the New Year in to it), lusting after Roger Daltrey, The Osmonds – all of them, I wasn’t a fussy teenager – and David Bowie. I was sure David, Marc Bolan, Freddie Mercury and Elton John were straight, and I’m still not convinced otherwise, so don’t try to mess with my dreams, ok? My favourite songs, as with Laura, inspired my writing, in fact my first book had song words at the start of every chapter. They took me ages to choose. Shame the book itself was so awful, really.

The past year has been a roller coaster ride for me. The downs were a very long way down but the highs were incredible, and I am so grateful to the Romaniacs for being there with me. Group hug? Left over mince pie anyone?

Debbie; Ahhh, the seventies. What lovely memories my fellow Romaniacs have evoked. It was a happy, carefree time for me as it was for many children back then, (other than bread strikes and having to queue at the stand pipes for water.)

I remember long hot summers, days that never ended, going off on my Raleigh Shopper bike (I had one Sue) with my ‘cozzie’ rolled up in a towel alongside some limp sandwiches in the front basket to the local park where there was a paddling pool. The rest of the time I’d be in the back garden, playing in my Wendy house, making ‘perfume’ from rose petals and lavender crushed in a couple of coconut shells with water added until it became a putrid mush. I also remember spending hours alone in my bedroom with my dolls and teddies playing teachers, being a Librarian, or pretending to do book signings. It’s strange now, looking back how I even comprehended that writers wrote and signed books at that age, but I remember it clearly. All my solitary activities revolved around books. As well as the pretend ‘classroom,’ the library and book signing, I spent hours in the bedroom simply reading and sometimes writing my own little stories.

It was, as they say, written in the stars, that I might pursue a career in writing…

Tuesday Chit Chat with Lizzie Lamb

Hi Lizzie, welcome to Romaniac HQ. The kettle’s on, the biscuit tin’s restocked, so let’s get started, shall we?

Hi Jan, can I just check that the coffee is strong enough and that the biscuits are coated in milk chocolate? If you can’t get biscuits, I quite like giant chocolate buttons.

Lizzie, you’ll be pleased to know it’s a yes to both and we’ve even got chocolate buttons too

Great! I’m sitting comfortably, so let’s begin.

Having successfully self-published your debut novel, Tall, Dark & Kilted (cracking title, by the way!) tell us a bit about what inspired the story.

I thought up the title (it was initially called BIG BAD WOLF) and the two main characters Ruairi and Fliss, and thereafter the novel wrote itself.  I originally wrote the novel for Little Black Dress (Headline) after attending my first RNA conference in Leicester. I’d attended a seminar given by then editor, Cat Cobain, who told me that LBD were looking for new writers. She gave an inspiring talk and said she wanted a book that was small enough to fit in someone’s handbag so they could read it on the tube/bus, etc, on their way to work. I had a 1:1 session with her and told her I’d written a book about a therapist who tries to set up a therapy centre in the highlands of Scotland. She said to finish it and send it to her. It took me a year to finish the novel which I sent to the RNA New Writers’ scheme where it almost received a second read. I then made some changes to it and sent it off to LBD.

In the meantime, I got on with writing another novel. I also entered a competition to write the jingle for the LBD website, winning a year’s supply of books. I then learned that the publication was no longer taking on new authors and was closing down. My novel came back to me and I sent it to The Hilary Johnson Authors’ Advisory Service where it was reviewed by a former senior editor of a publishing company. I didn’t agree with her critique, so I put the novel in the drawer and had a go at writing a Mills and Boon.  

I also won another competition to have the first three chapters read and critiqued by Carole Matthews, who sent me a mug which changed colour and advertised her latest novel when I poured tea or coffee into it. We’ve been friends ever since; she’s been very encouraging, as has Trisha Ashley and Kate Hardy, telling me to keep going as I’ll get there in the end.

Describe that moment (words and actions) when you first saw your novel available to download on Amazon, and later, in paperback.

I would still be writing and rewriting the novel ready to send to agents if it hadn’t been for Amanda Grange (author of Mr Darcy’s Diary, etc). Mandy had lunch at my house where she encouraged me and three other NWS members: June Kearns, Adrienne Vaughan and Mags Cullingford to put our books on Amazon. It was then that we decided to form THE NEW ROMANTICS 4 and have a paperback version of our book as well as a kindle download, so that we could hold roadshows and sell the novel to friends/general public.  We had to get our American tax code (that’s another story!), design the front cover, etc, and finally send it up to Create Space. By the end of the process we were all shattered. We were having lunch with Mandy in a nearby café when my lovely husband, Dave (aka Bongo Man) turned up with my proof copy, which had just arrived. By then I was so exhausted, I just looked at it, feeling numb. It took me a couple of days to realise what I had achieved. Only then did I really begin to feel excited.

Did you draft each chapter out beforehand or did your characters have free rein to take you wherever their stories led them?

I must admit I’m a plotter rather than a pantser. I knew where the story was going but wasn’t totally sure how to get there – I also lengthened the novel to 120k words. June Kearns is my writing buddy/beta reader and she suggested another plot thread whereby all my ideas fell into place. I had a 1:1 with an editor at another RNA conference and she said that the title of my novel wouldn’t work and suggested a change. Tongue in cheek, I suggested Tall, Dark and Kilted and she said she LOVED it but wasn’t taking on any new authors. So, I followed Mandy’s advice and self-published because life’s too short to wait for agents to get back to me.

Do you have a set writing routine or any literary rituals? 

Luckily my time is entirely my own, and after 34 years of getting up at 6am to get ready for school, I’m definitely a morning person. I try to be at the PC for about 8am and answer emails, put a post on Facebook and write something on Twitter. THEN I begin writing until about 11am or thereabouts – normally my parrot Jasper calls me to let him out and he plays in his cupboard all day. I tend to write for some of the evening, too, as there are very few programs on the TV that I enjoy. I also try to plan to see friends a couple of times a week, otherwise I’d stay in my study writing and never venture out.

In addition to being part of The New Romantics 4, you run the Leicester chapter of the RNA, as well as belonging to several online writers’ groups. How beneficial has that writerly support and camaraderie been for you and how big a part would you say social media has played?

New Romantics 4

I would say that the best thing I ever did was to join Facebook a few years back, before my novel was finished and ready for publication. Most of the people I’ve made friends with are writers, aspiring writers or avid readers – in this country and in the USA. I’ve been encouraged by Facebook friends (many of whom are in the RNA NWS) to finish the book and lots of them have bought the download/ novel and posted a review on Amazon. They helped make my tweet-a-thon (where I held a virtual picnic in the highlands of Scotland) a great success. Twitter actually blocked me because I sent too many tweets. I tweet about my novel three times a day in order to catch the UK, East coast of USA and then the West coast of the USA before I go to bed. My lovely twitter friends retweet for me and I return the favour.

Can you give us a teaser about what you’re working on at the moment?

I’m writing a new romantic comedy about a rookie reporter (a rebel without a cause) who goes undercover in a boot camp for brides. Her partner is an infuriating photographer who has a hidden agenda and is on the trail of a drug smuggling gang. That’s all I’m saying . . . for now! I want to have it finished for the end of summer and will then decide whether to submit it to the NWS or not.  

We love reading about Bongo Man and, indeed, about the famous Bongo itself, which we know you’ve taken many a literary trip in, so if you could take three famous travelling companions along for the ride one day, who would they be and why?  

Dave (aka Bongo Man) has been fantastic and given his life over to my book launches with the other New Romantics 4 because he knows this is my dream come true. He even bought full highland dress, sack wheelers, stepladders and an old Imperial typewriter off eBay for our launches. Who would I take along with me for the ride? Well, Jan, you would definitely be one of my companions because we’d have such a laugh together, wouldn’t we? You know, I can’t think of anyone famous I’d like to come along with me – isn’t that strange? Perhaps that’s because I spend so much of my life dreaming up plots, etc.

Dave (aka Bongo Man)

Any other creative passions, Lizzie? 

I love taking photographs, as you might have noticed on Facebook. My ambition is to buy a new PC (hopefully a Mac) and an iPhone when my present contract runs out, and synch them together with my iPad. Then it’ll be whole lot easier taking photos, sharing them with friends and setting up a blog after Christmas.  I also want to make a video of me reading Tall, Dark and Kilted and put it on YouTube after Christmas, too. Not to mention joining an online newspaper for Indie writers.

And finally, whilst I make us another coffee and grab the mince pies, a few quick-fire questions for you:

Actor you’d most like to see in a kilt?

Owen McDonnell – he played the Garda in Single Handed on TV

Haggis or Clootie Dumpling?

Clootie Dumpling! I shudder at the thought of haggis, although I do like neeps (swede) and tatties that accompany it. It’s a funny thing, we lived in Scotland until I was eleven-years-old but we never ate haggis until we moved to Leicester. LOL.

Pierce Brosnan or Daniel Craig?

Daniel Craig. Pierce is gorgeous but a bit too smooth for me.

Dream holiday destination?

IF we ever find anyone willing to babysit the parrot (he’d never cope with being sent to the parrot equivalent of kennels/cattery) I’d love to go back to Greece or Italy and tour in the Bongo. We did it years ago. Failing that, I’d like to stay in a bungalow on a beach and have my every need catered for while I write.  

Singer you’d most like to serenade you?

I’d love the former lead singer in RUNRIG to sing An Ubhal as Aire (the highest apple) to me in Gaelic. I played it over and over when I was writing Tall, Dark and Kilted.

Cocktails or champagne?

Oh, champagne every time, dah-ling.

Novel you could read over and over again?

Can I be greedy and choose all the Jilly Cooper novels she wrote in the 70s: Imogen, Prudence, Emily, etc, and Georgette Heyer’s Friday’s Child?  

Fave Christmas Carol?

In the Bleak Midwinter – it always makes me cry.

Thanks so much for being our guest today, Lizzie. It’s been an absolute pleasure chatting with you. Merry Christmas! X

Merry Crimbo to you and all the other Romaniacs. And can I say: if you have a dream, go for it…

www.facebook.com/LizzieLambwriter

Follow Lizzie on Twitter: @lizzie_lamb /or @newromantics4

email: lizzielambwriter@gmail.com

Tall, Dark and Kilted – Amazon Paperback UK- http://tinyurl.com/cn8fylt

Tall, Dark and Kilted- download Kindle UK- http://tinyurl.com/cdjyec6

 

Tuesday Chit Chat with Mel Sherratt

Today, we give a warm Romaniac welcome to bestselling author of murder & mayhem, Mel Sherratt…

Hi Mel,

Tell us a bit about your novels:Taunting the Dead and the two books in the Mitchell Estate series, Somewhere to Hide, and Behind a Closed Door, the thinking behind them, and their subsequent success; how it feels to watch your creation rise up the UK Amazon kindle chart?

Taunting the Dead was my debut novel. It’s a police procedural and I wrote it because Somewhere to Hide had been turned down by four editors. It seemed to be too cross-genre – a mixture of women’s fiction and crime thriller. So I added a whodunit to my next book. Alas, that seemed to be too similar to authors already out there. Yet even though Taunting the Dead did extremely well, some readers didn’t like the fact that it felt too character-based rather than all police procedural. I’ve always wanted to write about the effects that crime has on people, their feelings, their emotions etc so I decided to bring out three books I had already written as part of a series, the first being Somewhere to Hide. The second, Behind a Closed Door came out yesterday and Fighting for Survival will be out by the end of this year.

   

Can you give us a few teasers about what you’re working on at the moment?

Now that Behind a Closed Door is finished, I’m working on book three, Fighting for Survival. I’m hoping to get it finished for the end of the year, which is why I have the release date set as January 2013, just in case. Fighting for Survival is about the residents of Stanley Avenue and how their lives entwine. It covers issues such as self-harm, girl gangs, fighting, bullying, infidelity, knife crime – I know, misery lit!

In between, I’m drafting out a psychological thriller… busy, busy, busy.

Apart from thrillers and crime, which other genres interest and inspire you?

I really enjoy women’s fiction – something that I can get lost in with great characters. So authors such as Adele Parks, Dorothy Koomson and Pippa Wright. I also like young adult books – Rook Hastings is a favourite of mine. So too is Tanya Byrne and Tamsin Murray.

Talk us through a typical writing day in the life of Mel Sherratt.

I always get up around 6am during the week so after a cup of coffee or two, when I’m drafting a book I use the first two hours a day to either catch up on emails or go over the plots I’ve thought of overnight, with my laptop on the settee. Once the battery needs recharging, I head to my office. I’ve only recently made a room into an office but I can’t tell you the different it has made. I don’t have Twitter on my PC so from ten until one I write. A quick break for lunch and writing again until four. Then it’s back to the emails, writing blog posts etc for another hour or so. Then that’s me done for the day writing wise – unless I’m nearing the end of the draft. When my brain takes over, I have to work until it’s done so I’ll often write for a few hours extra during the evenings over the last couple of weeks. It’s the same when I’m editing, although I only do this during the day as I need time to switch off.

If you’d had the chance to appear in any TV crime drama, past or present, however big or small the role, which one would you have chosen and why?

Luther – without a doubt. Meeting the creator of the series, Neil Cross, along with some of the cast at Theakston Old Peculiar Crime Writing Festival in summer was amazing. They were all so friendly, approachable and downright entertaining. I had a chat with Neil Cross about his book and about writing in general and he was so warm, really took time out for me. I loved that!

And that’s without mentioning the show – and Idris Elba, of course. And Warren Brown – who was just as nice as Neil Cross. Anyway, I digress… Luther for me is so unrealistically realistic – that’s what I like about it. It’s dark and so flipping scary. So I’d like to be an extra in that. Any part would do.

Do you have any phobias and if so have you ever worked any of them into any of your novels?

No, none that I know of. I’m not too fond of spiders or things that creep over my skin and I’m a bit scared to go underwater, but luckily nothing debilitating.

Most memorable/unusual piece of research you’ve had to do to date?

Oh, you asked for it. Can DNA be found in vomit? And yes, it can! I often wonder if I get flagged up anywhere for the searches that I do on Google.

How big a part does social media play in your success and what do you consider to be the biggest benefits of it, and downsides, if any?

I was quite well known on Twitter because of a blog I used to run called High Heels and Book Deals. Because of this I had a place to talk about my writing and my struggles to get a traditional deal. So when I made the decision to self-publish, I had a lot of support. I’d given so much of my time for over two years to promote other authors that I think they in turn helped me. I did a few guest blog posts and then the book took off on its own steam. It was great.

I tend to only use Twitter so the benefit for me is that I can get to know other authors and writers plus I can chat about my books with my readers. More importantly I can have a laugh and a giggle and use it as a virtual office. It does get lonely working from home. The downside for me is when authors and writers use social media as a sales point and nothing else – does the word social not explain things to you? It’s meant to be a two-way street.  We all need to self-promote on occasions – and why shouldn’t we – but I like to do it within reason.

Which three main qualities do you think a writer needs to succeed?

Perseverance – look at me. Twelve years of trying for a traditional deal, I self-published and now I have readers. It’s been amazing and if it hadn’t worked out well for me, I would still continue to write book after book until it had. I have written six books now, am writing my seventh and have full plans ready for four more. It’s what I’ll always do, I hope.

Getting it right. Without sounding conceited, online a well-written story can be found at the same time as a poorly written book littered with typos and errors. I know which one I would rather read. It’s the little things that count. And if you’re after an agent, make your work as crisp, clean and concise as you can.  Make it stand out. You’re representing yourself at the end of the day.

Listen and learn. I can’t tell you how much I have learned over the past twelve months. Editing wise, although I employ one, I learn about words and grammar as much as I can. I always take on board constructive criticism. If something isn’t working for several readers, I change to suit. It’s great to go with gut instinct but sometimes it isn’t always right. You can be too close to see what’s wrong.

Your love of shoes is no secret, Mel, so tell us, if you could design your own range, what styles, shapes and colours would you veer towards? (And come on, you can whisper it… ) how many pairs do you own?

I think they would have to be either black or really mixed bright and bold colours; definitely with a platform soul and a high heel. I’ve even seen some wacky ones with guns and handcuffs on them! Now they would be fun. But I think for me, sophistication is the key word. And high – who cares if they cripple you.

At the last count, I owned 52 pairs of shoes and boots. I daren’t count again. Will that do!

Quick-Fire:

First Celebrity Crush?

Gosh, I’m not sure. I can remember my first author crush on meeting someone – Peter James. He was such a gentleman.  Oh, yes, I can – Chachi out of Happy Days!

Fave Holiday Destination?

I love going to a small place called Kefalos, Kos. I’ve been quite a few times. It’s a place to chill, sunbathe, eat and drink at our leisure – fires up the batteries again.

Guilty Pleasure?

Cheese and chip sandwiches.

Starsky or Hutch?

Starsky.

Pimms or Budweiser?

Bud, definitely.

Art Gallery or Casino?

Ooh, tricky as I don’t often go to either. Casino.

Strictly or X Factor?

I don’t watch Strictly. Shoot me now but I don’t like it!

And finally, you knew there would be something footwear related, Mel : Doc Martens or Wellies?

You really expect me to choose between two pairs of flat shoes? No, can’t do it. It would be a crime

Thanks so much for calling in, Mel. It’s been fab talking to you

Mel’s latest novel Behind A Closed Door is now available to download : http://www.amazon.co.uk/Behind-Closed-Door-Estate-ebook/dp/B009QOLBPE/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_3

http://writerofmurderandmayhem.wordpress.com/

Find Mel on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mel-Sherratt/218120504951096

Follow Mel on Twitter @writermels

Naming Characters – Tricky or Not?

During one of the many writerly debates I’ve recently had (Oh, alright then, chats over coffee and a humungous slice of cake!) the subject of naming our characters arose. Not so much the names themselves – i.e. we all agreed that having Tommy, Timmy and Tammy all appearing in one scene, would cause major confusion – more, if anything, what influences those choices.

I rather sheepishly confessed to experiencing niggles of guilt if I christen either a po-faced, cantankerous or toffee-nosed character with the same name as someone I personally know, or one of their nearest and dearest.  I mean, that person might never even read my book. And it’s not like it’s deliberate. If a particular name fits a certain character, it fits, right? Besides, it could work the other way. My neighbour might read my book and think I’ve named that beautiful, kind-hearted, law-abiding heroine after her, when to me; the name simply suits my character’s personality. So why do I worry about it so much?

“Oh, Jan! What are you like?” said writerly friend number one. “I could have an ex-boss called Jack who might be a twonk of the highest order, but if I want my hero to be called Jack, then Jack, he’ll be. End of! Same goes for any name, really…”

Writerly friend number two did, however, admit to feeling so frustrated at times about the naming issue, that she resorts to opening her “10 million trillion names” book or whatever it’s titled, twirling her finger in the air three times and selecting whichever name on the page it lands on. Although she did also confess to applying the ‘best of three’ rule occasionally.

The fourth member of our party simply shook his head, ordered us more cake and told us the only names he avoids using are family ones, and how he’s more concerned about his grandparents reading his saucy sex scenes. Ooh, er! An entirely new debate…

So… where do you stand on the topic? Do you shy away from giving characters certain names, or do you steam straight in?

After all, it is fiction, isn’t it?

Jan x

Tuesday Chit-Chat with Yasmin Selena Butt

Today, we’re thrilled to welcome debut novelist, Yasmin Selena Butt, who’s popped into Romaniac HQ for a chat and a cuppa…

Author Pic : Keith Pitcher

Hi Yasmin, just how excited are you about ePublishing your debut novel Gunshot Glitter? Give us a taste of what it’s about and what inspired such a great title?

Hi Jan, I’m excited in the same way you’d feel on a white knuckle ride at the funfair, part of me wants to hold onto a hand for dear life, but is still really glad to be on there!  Gunshot Glitter is the story of an incinerated boy who never quite goes away. More broadly, it’s the tale of how the murder of one person has a massive, life-changing domino effect on the lives of everyone connected to him, but especially on the woman who kills him – in the most unexpected and surprising way of all. It’s a story that shows us that NOTHING is as black and white as it first seems. You’ll be questioning your morals by the end of it.  I borrowed the title from a great Jeff Buckley song that featured on Sketches For My Sweetheart The Drunk. It was a bonus track only released in Europe. I just loved the magic it evoked.

Cover : Celene Petrulak

Did you plot each chapter or did you give your characters free rein to do their own thing, or was it a bit of both?

I’m a huge believer in not tightly plotting chapters, for me it’s the ultimate kiss of death in disallowing original sparks and unexpected magic to occur in your story.  If I was a movie director I’d be the one allowing the cast to improvise the best lines on screen, like Ridley Scott with Rutger Hauer’s ‘tears in rain’ speech in Bladerunner. As long as I know the destination of where I am heading, I am fine. I trust my characters. There was an utterly lovely, tiny romantic sub-plot I didn’t see coming in Gunshot Glitter, it moved me, it allowed readers to see that out of darkness, something beautiful and unexpected can emerge.

Tell us the key things you’ve learned about ePublishing and could pass on to any writer wishing to tread the same path?

Okay, first thing if you’re publishing on Amazon – you want to sort out your tax with the USA, fast, else you’ll get taxed twice, but you don’t need an ITIN code for the paperwork, which is a time-consuming potentially expensive thing to procure, you want an EIN code and you can make a call over SKYPE to get it in ten minutes, there is a lot of old information floating around out there.  Make Google your friend.

Secondly, you need to think of it from the outset as an eBook and not a print book, forget all your formatting and page numbering, it doesn’t apply.  Worry about formatting at the very end. Copy and paste your WHOLE novel into Notepad and wipe all your formatting so you don’t end up with strange code that makes you want to weep, then paste it back in and then start formatting.

Third tip, find out the rules and requirements of your ePublishers upfront, for example if you are UK-based, you cannot at present, publish direct with Barnes and Noble, but you can through Smashwords. Kobo need ISBN numbers with all their eBooks but Amazon don’t. All these things will help with forward planning.

What’s the whackiest piece of research you’ve done for Gunshot Glitter?

Blimey, let me think, oh ringing up Virgin mobile customer service and asking what the outgoing message would be if I’d incinerated my SIM card and someone rang my phone? Then telling the man about how I was using it as a plot device. He laughed, but told me he was making a note of my conversation topic!

What sparked your desire to become a writer?

I have a very active imagination and if it didn’t have an outlet I’d probably implode. I have to write. I’d written a thousand poems by my late 20s.  And I’ve a huge love affair with words and the English language.  I wrote epic tales from primary school onwards and my teachers always told my parents I’d grow up to become a writer. I just love telling stories.

Any other creative passions?

I love painting, I am an enthusiastic amateur.  I couldn’t help but give a character called Celine Silver a love of painting eyes, because I do too. If you want bespoke beautiful eyes, then I’m your girl. I also know how to knock out a wicked heart and decorate a jar to make it look like a little surreal masterpiece. I won a wee competition with Liberty department store earlier this year and was utterly stoked, it meant a huge deal to me to have this side of me receive a little recognition.

Your love of perfume is well known – if you could choose just three of your favourite scents to greet you when you walked into a room, which would they be and why?

God, I love perfume. I once walked around House of Fraser clutching an issue of Psychologies, sampling all the featured scents : )  I love this question.

1. Fahrenheit  – the original version .  I’ve been known to follow a man down the street just to imbibe this stunning, but classic confection if he’s wearing it. It smells of how all men should smell if they’ve just completed a fresh, fiery workout. If I was queen, I’d make it law all men should smell like this.

2. Love by Gorilla Perfume – it’s gorgeous! It makes me think of evening summer sunshine sweetness and citrus, it makes me feel pretty when I wear it, so to walk into a room like that would put a smile on my face and make me feel all is good in the world

3. Eau d’iparie by L’Occitaine – it’s spicy, edgy and slightly dangerous and I am a variety freak so contrast is good, it’s a seductive, dark, head-turning scent and brings out the femininity and intensity of my personality so I can imagine if I walked into a room and I was greeted by that, I’d immediately feel like I’d stumbled into a Film Noir piece.

And we couldn’t resist some quickfire questions…

Three novels you’d magic out of thin air to re-read if you were marooned on a desert island for a week?

Thirtynothing by Lisa Jewell.  Geek Love by Katherine Dunn.  And Me Before You by Jojo Moyes – which I rewarded myself a copy of on Gunshot Glitter publication day as I felt I’d earned it.

Singer you’d most like to duet with?

Bono!  Then I’d ask him to introduce me to Larry Mullen Jnr afterwards and leave us to it.  Love U2! Or Cher, I’m convinced Cher is a figment of my imagination, she has the best, real name in pop: Cherilyn Sarkasian La Pier.

Favourite London landmark?

Saint Paul’s Cathedral, like a ghost in the dark that building is at night. Stunning. If you read Gunshot Glitter, you’ll see this beauty make a vivid appearance.

Pacino or De Niro?

Ooh, that’s tough, I love both, but I’ll go with Robert De Niro as he’s a bit less shouty than Al Pacino, even if he has made more questionable film choices lately, but I could forgive him anything after ‘Heat’ aka best movie of all time.

Celebrity you’d most like to share a 100 mile taxi ride with?

Russell Brand. I love that boy’s mind. We could do a lot of damage and have a lot of fun in 100 miles.

Dream holiday destination?

I always want to say the Maldives, I love that place. But would love to go to Zanzibar too.  Zan-zi-bar sounds exciting just saying it.

Cream Tea or Fish & Chips

You are evil!!! Lol.  Both appeal to my epicurean soul.  I’m breaking your rules and running off with both. Oh God.  I’ll go with Cream Teas, no animals were harmed in the making of a Cream Tea, but God help my waistline.

Thank you for calling in, Yasmin. It’s been great chatting to you…

Thank you for having me Jan & The Romaniacs. That sounds like the name of a band by the way. Wonderful questions… Yasmin Selena Butt  xx

Gunshot Glitter is available worldwide on Amazon Kindlestore. Buy it or download a sample at Amazon UK : http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gunshot-Glitter-ebook/dp/B00916B4OU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346112447&sr=8-1

Read Chapter 1 of Gunshot Glitter here: http://yasminselenabutt.wordpress.com/2012/08/24/gunshot-glitter-chapter-1-the-birthday-present/

Follow Yasmin Selena Butt on Twitter @yasminselena

Find out more about Yasmin at: http://yasminselenabutt.wordpress.com/

The Benefits of Venturing Beyond my Boundaries…

Stepping out of my comfort zone – a phrase I’d usually associated with some dare-devilish feat such as hurling myself backwards out of a plane or scaling Mount Everest. I’d certainly never linked it to my writing. Well, not during the plotting, researching and first drafting stages, anyway. All that bubbling enthusiasm, coffee on tap, whilst I sat, hunched over my PC, squeezing out another chapter…

But then, oddly, instead of completing the draft, I started editing as I went along, revisiting scenes over and over again, tweaking and re-tweaking, picking and pulling apart every sentence until my poor old novel almost waved the white flag at me.   

It was like I was trying to delay the process, as if all of a sudden it had become too real.

People began asking me: “When can we read it, Jan?” or “When will it be finished?” quoting words like synopsis and self-promotion.

WHAAAAAT??

I mean, give me a drum to clatter on someone else’s behalf, and I’m there, but bang my own? Were they serious?

I could feel the pressure mounting as fast as my zest and bounce dwindled. My self-belief had been well and truly walloped by The Fear Factor.                                                                                                        

                                                                                                             

But then a little voice in my head piped up: “What about all the hard work you’ve put in? The passion, the research trips back and forth to York, and the unwavering support you’ve received from Mr B, your family & friends?”

And so began my voyage across the border.

I can do this, I thought, tentatively joining Facebook and Twitter. After all, I was a friendly enough soul, wasn’t I?

And sure enough, I was soon interacting with both published and unpublished writers, relishing their advice, kindness, support and complete understanding of how I’d felt, quickly realizing that it was actually all quite normal. Friendships I’d begun to establish were strengthening week by week and I could feel myself starting to believe again.

A huge personal breakthrough for me was hearing about the RNA (Romantic Novelists’ Association) and their New Writers’ Scheme. I’d attended an inspiring talk given by four incredibly friendly and approachable authors (Juliet Archer, Victoria Connelly, Jean Fullerton and Janet Gover) who suggested I go along to one of their local RNA chapter meetings, as they’re referred to, in London.

I remember, upon arrival, how daunted I felt. Rainlashed and windswept, hoping that someone would recognize me and praying that I wouldn’t fall flat on my face, Calamity Jan style, as I walked through the door.

Instead, it was like being welcomed into a giant group hug. Lots of laughter, writerly chat and encouragement.

Thrilled to be accepted for The New Writers’ Scheme the following year, it finally dawned on me how beneficial being able to submit my manuscript (or in my case, partial manuscript) and obtain feedback from my elected RNA reader would be.

I’d confronted my fears and although terrified at the prospect of somebody reading and critiquing my work, I knew inside that it represented my best hope of progressing.

I’m not ashamed to admit that I cried like a baby when I opened my NWS report. Yes, there were negatives, but constructively composed and professionally advised negatives, suggesting how and where to strengthen and far outweighed by the positives which, in turn, far exceeded my expectations.                                                                                                            

The huge sense of relief and freedom it gave me renewed my confidence, hence my subsequent participation in The Romaniacs group blog which has been an absolute honour and joy to be part of (thank you, Laura, Sue, Celia, Liz, Vanessa, Lucie, Catherine & Debbie). I can’t believe now that I almost chickened out!

Whilst it’s still nice to occasionally wrap myself up in my old familiarity blanket and plant myself firmly back in the zone, the rewards of travelling beyond it, I’ve discovered, are priceless.

I’d love to know your thoughts and stories on the subject. Can you identify with me?

Jan x