Happy New ‘Me.’

It’s half way through January. Christmas and New Year have been and gone. In our house, all that remains are a couple of yellow, deconstructed sprouts in the bottom tray of the fridge, six (gifted) packs of ‘After Eight Mints’ and various boxes and cartons of chocolates with only the dodgy coffee cream and coconut varieties left that none of us like.

So, how many of you are still hanging in there with your New Year’s resolutions? You’ll be impressed to know I haven’t broken any yet (although mainly because I didn’t make any!) I figured after the year I’d had, health and writing wise in 2016, 2017 could only be better. 2016 could be defined by two words. NO WRITING. Or, perhaps I should say; ‘pain and sleep.’

Both RNA parties and various writing events and meet ups fell victim. For the first time since joining the RNA’s New Writer’s Scheme, I missed the Conference, usually one of the highlights of my year. My 50^th Birthday celebrations were lovely but muted and I was unable to host the sacrosanct Romaniac Sparkle Weekend. The bilateral jaw joint replacements I’d had in 2010 were not working and numerous tests and an exploratory manipulation of my jaws early in the year showed my mouth opening was less than half a centimetre. One side was encased by new bone growth.

All I could eat was soup, shepherds pie, lasagne and soft foods from a small spoon. Eating in public became a no no. As my jaws deteriorated, I became hyper conscious of the pitiful ventriloquist’s dummy act my poor mouth attempted when forced to talk. Those who know me well will understand why I chose to hermit. Morphine patches and top ups of extra morphine and analgesia helped, (or maybe caused) the excessive drowsiness. Whatever; morphine and sleep became my best friends in 2016.

We take for granted the simplest actions of eating, sneezing, yawning and brushing teeth. When these basics became almost unbearable, my Maxillo Facial surgeon asked if he could consult with my original surgeon who had since retired and see whether there was anything they could do. Several weeks later I was advised that my original surgeon had agreed to come out of retirement and together they would try a major and risky operation. There were no guarantees. If the pain improved, that was a bonus, but the main proviso of going ahead was simply to help give me back a quality of life.

13^th October was D Day, and, by coincidence, six years to the day since I’d had the bilateral total jaw replacements.

 

It’s been a long and painful recovery. As a result of the surgery I’ve developed hyperacusis and vertigo which has hindered progress but in terms of the work the wonderful surgeons did to free up my jaw prosthetics, it’s still early days, but it seems to have been a huge success. 2016 wasn’t a complete wipe out after all and the highlight of my year was being able to stuff a whole mince pie in my mouth at once! Beat that!

Not being a lover of New Year, I’d planned to go to Northumberland for Twixmas but cancelled at a low point post surgery to give a good friend chance to re hire their cottage out. However, as I improved and both my lads made plans, I got the itch to take off on an adventure, have some space, maybe do some writing. I had no intention of sitting home alone on New Years Eve to enjoy a solitary evening with the BBC and Robbie Williams, toasting Bruno, my Labrador! So guess where I ended up? Charlestown, in St Austell. Yes, I know it’s even further than Northumberland and I must be mad but I paced myself by stopping over in Glastonbury, my spiritual home, to split the journey.

For six days I relaxed, breathed in huge lungfuls of sea air to heal and blow away the past months. In between I secreted myself in the quiet corners of restaurants and pubs, and wrote. Yes, I wrote! I can’t tell you how good it felt to scribble again, to watch the words and scenes flow effortlessly across the various notebooks I’d received for Christmas. By the end of my break I’d added about eight chapters, plotted the main twists and turns and written the ending of Country Strife, my second novel.

So, to 2017 …

When I got the email from Immi inviting me to re-join the NWS this year I replied instantly to take up my place. I missed seeing my RNA friends and the Romaniac girls last year; the support, comparing progress, the banter, the fun. All the Romaniac girls are now published, agented and have book deals. Except me. In 2016 I felt less and less able to contribute to our daily messages and to add anything other than congratulations to peers on social media. There is never any sense of competitiveness within the RNA or with the Romaniacs but seeing so many RNA friends enjoy publication days, book deals and to see their new relationships with publishers and agents etc, I realised I was being left behind.

Health is the most important thing in life, next to family and friendships and I have to accept, for me it will always be a challenge. I’ve realised I may never fulfil my full potential. But I have to keep trying. Having made the inroads with Country Strife, I’m going to type up what I scribbled in Cornwall and fill in the gaps. With the jaw surgery behind me and less pain and renewed energy, writing shouldn’t feel such an uphill struggle so I’ll push ahead while the going is good. And as if by magic, this years RNA Conference returns to Harper Adams, just up the road in Telford, so there’s no excuse for not attending.

I welcome 2017 warmly. I wish those of you who choose to get up super early to go jogging or head straight to spin class after work, and my sons who have replaced the selection boxes with boxes of protein shakes and dumb bells all the best. However, as long as I can limit my wine intake and reduce portion sizes, instead of resolutions for 2017, I’ll make three promises to myself:-

1/ I WILL finish Country Strife to send off to NWS – aiming for Easter. You heard it here first.

2/ I WILL go to the RNA conference in July.

3/ I WILL live well and enjoy every day of my 50^th year as best I can.

I wish you all a happy, healthy and productive 2017 too. Let me know any promises you’ve made to yourself…

Until next time

Debbie xx

 

Life Cycle of a Writer: Debbie

It’s been a while since I last blogged. (Ooer, that sounds a bit like a confession.) Unlike most of my fellow Romaniacs, I’ve had little to shout about. In fact, NOTHING to shout about.

A bad case of the January blues ran into February, then March and before I knew it Easter had been and gone and I was no further on with progressing, ‘Living in the Past,’ the novel I (finally) finished last summer. Why?

Well, once again I have any number of reasons, although a critical NWS review comes high up the list. After I’d digested the five page report which, in a nutshell suggested I might be better off to put what I’d learned so far down to experience and move on to the next novel, I lost all motivation to respond to the 5.30am alarm clock set on dark, damp mornings to get up and write. The pain of my arthritis and news that I need to have two lots of major surgery to replace my existing prosthetic jaw joints consumed me. Morphine patches meant I spent up to four hours asleep in the daytime. Deranged blood results, yet more building work, the garden, domestic chores, not enough hours in the day; these things individually may not seem much but all together they threatened to overwhelm me. 

For months, I returned to deriding myself. ‘You’ll never be a writer … You’ll never get that book published … What if the reader is right and the agent who was waiting to see it (three years ago!) also thinks it’s a pile of poo? And what if, after reading it, they won’t entertain the idea of ever receiving anything from me again?’

‘Man up, mom!’ said my eldest son. ‘So the reader didn’t like it? It’s one person’s opinion. Not everyone will like it. But the question is; do you like it? You’ve been working on it long enough. Or if not, do as they say and stop talking about it!’

He was right. It has taken four years to write this novel so far and all I’ve ever really done is talk about it, except when the opening chapter got runner up in the inaugural Festival of Romance in 2011. However every time I’ve almost condemned it to the waste paper bin ‘something’ has stopped me. I still believe. I still believe it has legs.

So, I HAVE A PLAN and writing it down here will make me do it. I’ve made a start, re-read the whole thing and also re-read (several times) the NWS critique. Interestingly, because I’ve let the MS rest a while, I’ve returned to it with fresh eyes and concede the reader raised several points that are fair comment. I don’t feel anywhere near so gloomy about it. Using two different coloured highlighter pens I’ve gone through and highlighted, a) the areas I need to change and, b) all other points I’m still unsure about which I must ponder on. With any luck if I work through systematically, I’ll find the holes, make my heroine more appealing, nail the research, expand the characters, dig deeper for more conflict etc because one thing’s for sure; I’ll never be a writer or get a book published if I give in.

You know, this writing malarkey really is a battle of wills. Is it a pile of poo? It may be. It may not. The only way for me to find out is to try. I haven’t spent four years on this to give up now. Don’t get me wrong; if the agent agrees I may need to re-think the plan but until then I have to give it my best shot.

You heard it here first; by the time I next post, it will be done. Polished. Finished. No more twiddling. And by then I’ll have contacted the agent to see if they are still interested!

Wish me luck. I’ll be in the summerhouse.

Until another day

Debbie xx

Life Cycle of a Writer – Debbie Fuller-White

As writers, there’s one thing we do almost as much as writing.

No, it isn’t eat cake.

We wait.

Think about it. First, we wait for ideas to strike. Next we wait for time to write. Then there are endless hours we spend waiting for the browser to load web history for research. We wait (sometimes a long, long time) for our brains to get into gear. Once we’ve gone through all this waiting and have a completed WIP then, provided your arthritic fingers and hunched back have held out, there is a perfect proof, fit to send to an agent, publisher or to enter into some competition. And thereafter comes the hardest waiting of all.

It can take weeks or months. Sometimes we never hear back after submission. Long, interminable periods of waiting. I’ll confess; patience isn’t one of my virtues. My novel went off to the NWS for critiquing at the end of July and it’s proving a long wait, although I’ve heard the poor organiser has an injury and so the manuscripts are delayed sending to readers. So, all I can do is wait … And wait … And wait.

If I have any fingernails left I need to muster some powers of concentration and keep busy to distract myself and help make the time go quicker. So here’s the plan:-

– Keep on going, keeping on going. It’s important to keep up momentum so I’m getting on with the next project. With the working title, ‘I Believe In Angels,’ I’ve entered the Love Story New Talent Award with my first chapter and I’ve just returned from a weekend trip to Glastonbury where the novel will be set. I spent much of the time secreted in cafes or on the High Street, eating, drinking, people watching and surreptitiously scribbling in my notebook, in the spirit of research. I’m also going to do a couple of short stories and enter them into competitions.

– Block out the crows. Sing in their faces. ‘Tralalalala!’ Try to ignore them and not let self-doubt creep in.

– Ignore the desire to email and check to see if the WIP has slipped off the organiser’s desk and into the waste paper basket, or to send it again.

– Stop reading and re-reading the submission guidelines, asking myself if I got it right, and counting how many weeks since I submitted.

– After months of being a hermit it will be good to catch up with friends and the people I love and who make me happy.

– Catch up on reading. In the words of Stephen King, ‘If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write.’

– Try and stay positive. Make a list of potential agents and editors to submit to.

– Keep it in perspective. Remember the NWS organisers (and Editors and Agents) have a mountain of manuscripts to work through. I’ve spent months and sent my work out there so it’s understandable to feel a little anxious and exposed but that’s all the more reason to keep busy and help pass the time.

So, what strategies do you have for getting through the big wait on any part of your writing?

Hopefully by the next update I’ll have news from my reader. Until then, you, like me, will just have to wait…

Bye for now,

Debbie xx

Life Cycle of a Writer – There’s no such word as ‘Can’t.’

It’s taken four long and tumultuous years and four re-writes but I’ve done it! Yesterday I printed and packaged up my first novel and sent it off to the Romantic Novelist Association New Writer’s Scheme. COMPLETE. A whole 86200 words! And I can’t tell you how good I feel today.

It’s been a tough slog. Along the four years my Nan, who brought me up, passed away, I’ve had major surgery, my husband of twenty-three years left my sons and I. Then there was the subsequent divorce, house move and upheaval, yet more surgery and treatments while at the same time having builders in for months to renovate our new home throughout.

Looking back I can see how my writing slipped well down the list of priorities. There were times when I despaired at my lack of inspiration and motivation to progress my WIP, ‘Living in the Past,’ or ‘Mothers Love’ as it started out when I came second in the Festival of Romantic Fiction’s new Talent Award in 2011. My head was too full of everything. I’d lost my mojo and all confidence. I couldn’t do it. Who would want to read my books? The number of times I’d mutter to myself, ‘Stop kidding yourself! It’s just a dream.’

But a dream is just a wish without a plan isn’t it? Somehow I mustered some inner strength and with the cajoling of my closest friends, I was persuaded not to give in. Knowing I had to do something or I’d forever kick myself for failing, I booked to go on an Arvon Course with Kate Long and Simon Thirsk. There for a week, I motored on with the WIP and when I read out one of the chapters to the group my writing was described as, ‘Catherine Cookson meets Stan Barstow.’ It was a huge turning point. That course made me believe.

However once I returned home from course, inspired as I was, domestic chaos kicked in again. I drifted for another year or so. I say drifted. What I actually mean is I spent about nine months of it stepping over bags of concrete, RSJ’s, lengths of wood, stacked in piles and tins of this and that, listening to builders and their incessant banter, drilling, hammering, sawing, being without electricity or water for days on end. It was hardly conducive to quiet writing time!

I wrote when I could (which wasn’t very often) and sent in a partial of the novel last year to the NWS. It was a very favourable report which once again, restored my belief. Realising if I kept on as I was doing, I’d keep on getting the same results, I went on Tamsyn Murray’s, ‘Live, Breathe, LOVE WRITING!’ earlier this year. I talked about it in my last Life Cycle post. It gave me that final push and with the help of two of the other delegates, Helen Walters and Bernadette O’Dwyer, we challenged ourselves to finish.

It was a first to actually be able to type the words, ‘THE END’ at the end of July. Then final edits and one last read-through with the help of a good friend and it was done.

I don’t mind admitting there were several dark occasions when domestic chaos, my health and the demands of life overwhelmed me and I almost bailed from writing and the RNA altogether and gave up forever my dream to be published. Had it not been for my Romaniac girls and the wonderful supportive RNA, writer friends and closest friends who kept my spirits up and kept me believing I may not be able to say, ‘I DID IT!’

I DID IT. Now the hard work begins to find an agent or publisher who is interested but for now, I’ll settle for having finished it. My Nan’s words ring in my head, ‘You see; didn’t I always tell you, there’s no such word as ,’CAN’T.’

Until another day,

Debbie xx

Life Cycle of A Writer: Progress

Some of you will know writing doesn’t come easy to me. Or it hasn’t with the health issues and domestic chaos I’ve encountered these last three or four years. But as I mentioned in my last Life Cycle post, “If I keep doing the same thing, I’m going to keep getting the same results.” So, what have I done about it? Well, you will be pleased and maybe a little surprised to hear; quite a bit actually…

When I’m in the writing doldrums I find a night or two with the Romaniac girls or our RNA friends can provide a much needed tonic and inspiration and so, when I spotted Tamsyn Murray was running a, ‘Live, Breathe, LOVE Writing,’ workshop in Cheshunt with Julie Cohen and Miranda Dickinson as guest speakers, and it coincided with a weekend my youngest was with his dad, I decided to go for it.

It was a lovely surprise to find Helen Walters and Bernadette O’Dwyer at the workshop. I’ve been cyber acquainted with both for several years but never met in person and it was refreshing to meet a whole new bunch of creative writers whom I didn’t know previously. It didn’t take long for our wonderful tutors, Tamsyn, Julie and Miranda to uncover that several of us were in the same situation. I’m not the only one who procrastinates and doubts myself!

Re-reading the notes I made on the day, here are the points I took away to put into action:-

– Create a discipline. Write every day or designate slots for writing time. Take your writing seriously and you can call yourself a writer.

– Finish it! Keep writing until you type, ‘THE END.’

– Leave the fannying, tweaking and twiddling to the edits!

– Stop being frightened. Stop making excuses. Don’t give the crows time to start pecking. Keep going. Once it’s finished it will give you such a boost, they’ll soon fly off!

– Set an achievable goal and STICK WITH IT! Helen and I took up Bernadette’s challenge for us all to finish our WIP’s by the end of June.

– Buddy up. Use social media to best effect and keep each other going. Bernadette, Helen and I message each other regularly for progress updates and to spur each other on.

There’s nothing remarkable there I hear you say? No, there isn’t. It isn’t rocket science. Writer’s write. And if you want it enough and you can find your inner strength to stick to these points, you WILL succeed.

How do I know? Because, for once, I’ve stuck with it and it’s working. As many days as I can, I sit down to write by 10am and write until the muse leaves. Sometimes it can be half an hour. Sometimes several hours. This is huge progress. I’m up to 91,250 words, Chapter 25. Progress. I think of myself as a writer. Progress. I can see the end in sight. Progress. I WILL achieve our self-imposed deadline of the end of June to complete the WIP’s. I WILL do it. And I’ve written it here to prove it so you can all nag and chivvy me along too. Crikey, that is progress.

Until next time, wish me luck and Happy Writing!

Debbie x

Life Cycle Of a Writer: Getting in the Write Mood. Debbie Fuller-White.

It’s timely that it should be my turn to post the Lifecycle of a Writer. A month into the New Year and many of my writer friends have been talking about their writing goals for 2015, planning forthcoming publications or plotting ideas for the next story.

However, my only goal this year (so far) is to make it to the end of each day! I’ll be honest; every day is Groundhog Day and I’ve only written 523 words since October.

Sir Winston Churchill suffered with the black dog. My problem is black crows. 

They sit on my right shoulder, pecking and prodding, firmly refusing to leave as I spend endless hours on the laptop, sometimes only managing to produce a meagre sentence or paragraph, which I’ll invariably chew over for hours before consigning to the recycle bin. By the time I’ve finished over-thinking, berating myself and have lost all focus it’s become a self-fulfilling prophecy, proving I have the attention span (as well as creativity) of a gnat,. The crows must be right. No-one’s going to read what I write. I’ll never make it. I’ll never become a published author. Best get back to fannying around on social media or stick some washing in.

So what’s my problem I hear you ask?

There have been times over the last three years or so when I’ve felt like a human battering ram. My Nan (who brought me up from the age of two) died. I underwent major jaw surgery. My husband of twenty-three years left me and our two boys. We had to leave our beloved barn and move house. There was the emotional fallout for the boys alongside my own grief and the utter helplessness of our situation. Add to that money worries, the divorce, my ongoing health problem, my youngest son developing similar health issues … and oh, yes; as if that’s not enough, we now have the builders in, trying to make the house more practical so I can manage better and stay here.

As I type this I can see it’s hardly surprising I’m overwhelmed. I have brain overload. Some people may be able to write their way through their troubles but I can’t when there’s so much going on in my head.

The one thing (as well as the Romaniacs) that keeps me going is the thought of my Nan sitting on my other shoulder, squaring up to take on those crows. Like Jiminy Cricket, she is my conscience, constantly jibbing, jabbing and gesturing, spurring me on. I can hear her now.

‘Ok, you’re having a tough time of it. So do a lot of people. There’s always someone worse off than you. We all have our crosses to bear. You’re having a crisis of confidence? You’re a writer. It goes with the territory. There’s nothing wrong with failing. It’s better than not trying. Didn’t I always tell you, you can do anything you want, if you set your mind to it?  Writer’s block is a state of mind. If you want this that much you need to stop procrastinating. Nobody else can make it happen. Now get yourself a notepad and make a list of all your goals, work out a plan and FOCUS. Finish one project before you start another! Set aside some time every day, even if it’s only half an hour, and write every day. Writers write. It doesn’t matter what you write. Just write.’

Because part of me, deep within, still dares to ‘Believe,’ as she drummed in me so many times, I’m hanging in there. Nan was always right. There’s no such word as, ‘Can’t’ and one thing’s for sure; if I keep doing the same thing, I’m going to keep getting the same results. And a dream is just a wish without a plan.

So, what do you do, when you’re not in the mood to write?

Until next time, warm wishes to you all and happy writing!

Debbie x

Dear Auntie Romaniac: How to avoid losing work?

Dear Auntie Romaniac,

John Steinbeck’s dog ate an early draft of, ‘Of Mice and Men.’ Ernest Hemingway famously lost an entire suitcase that contained his originals and all copies of his early writings. And apparently Dylan Thomas managed to lose the script for Under Milk Wood three times.

Not that I profess to have any works quite as valuable as these ‘greats’ but everything is relative. My old Acer Netbook is on its last legs. It limps into life every day but I know it’s not long for here. I might religiously back up documents and Works in Progress on a memory stick but the question is; should I back up my back up? What do you do, Auntie Romaniac, to protect your most valuable asset; the words and the time you put into your work?

Laura: I have a USB stick and an external hard drive to which I back up everything I type, and I save every few minutes. My worry is that the internal hard drive could fail without so much as a gasp, and just in case my secondary back-up explodes, I keep a third. I think I’m naturally risk-adverse. I was once an insurance claims assessor …

Catherine: These days I write on a notepad and type up when I get a chance. For that, I have no back up, but I try to type it up before the words build up too much. So I do have the added reassurance of a physical copy if all technology was to fail. Once on my computer it’s set to automatically save to Dropbox. The only thing to bear in mind with this set up, is if you don’t have an internet connection, it won’t duplicate.

Sue: Up until very recently I used to email everything to myself but a few months ago I invested in an external hard drive. It has enough storage to keep all my documents and photos. Since getting my new laptop with Windows 8, I also use One-Drive – a cloud storage facility. It’s very easy to use and backs up automatically without me having to remember. Oh, and I still have my memory sticks – just in case.

Vanessa: A couple of years ago, I felt quite confident with my back-ups – I had my wip saved on two different computers plus backed up to an external hard drive. Then one computer died, the other refused to start one day and I couldn’t access the external hard drive. Major panic! I managed to get the second computer up and running but it did make me paranoid about backing up and I now go a bit over the top! I have my ms on three different computers, an external drive, saved to dropbox and I regularly email a copy to myself, my husband and my agent. All I have to worry about now is overwriting the wrong document 🙂

Lucie: I feel I should listen to my fellow Romaniac’s as I am guilty of being naïve to the fact that my computer may throw a wobbler and lose my work! I did used to save onto a stick, then I signed up to Dropbox but I don’t know If I am still saving work to it … time to sort it out myself, I think!

Jan: It’s a good old USB stick for me, too, I confess. Like Vanessa, I also email myself copies of valuable documents and, dare I utter, *also have paper copies taking up half of one of my cupboards!* I do keep meaning to investigate Dropbox, so maybe this is the year to start …

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 Anna Jacobs

Good morning to all!
It is my privilege to be joined by the prolific international and award winning writer, Anna Jacobs today.

Welcome, Anna. I hope it’s not too early for you (or is that late over there in Australia?) Anyway, pull up a chair and make yourself at home. I’ve been looking forward to this. I’ll get the chocolate croissants out and put the kettle on. What’s it to be – tea, coffee, herbal – how do you usually start your day?

I’m happy to be here, Debbie. We’re eight hours ahead of the UK here in Australia, which makes it ‘interesting’ to do business sometimes. I don’t mind very early mornings, as I wake at 5am bright and alert, but by 7pm I’m getting tired. Oh, how I’d love a chocolate croissant. Sadly, I’ve become cereal intolerant (not just wheat) so can’t have croissants any longer. And I’m a low calorie cordial girl. I’ve never in my life drunk tea/coffee or even herbal, because they taste so bitter.

I start my day by tiptoeing out of the bedroom and leaving my husband in peace, then stroll across the house to my office where I’m queen of the quiet morning world inside and out. I love that time of day. I then answer my emails, which come from all over the world.

The Romaniacs and I would like to congratulate you on your latest publication, The Trader’s Dream. How has the launch been?

Thank you for your kind words. The Trader’s Dream has gone bravely out into the world and is selling well, which means people are wanting to read it, which is what matters most to me. Strangely, I’ve never had an actual book launch, even though my 60th novel comes out next year. I know regular readers have been waiting eagerly for the next Trader book. This is No 3 and No 4 (The Trader’s Gift) is written and in preparation at my publisher’s, but I haven’t even begun to write the last book in the series yet.

With all the books you’ve written over the years you must have seen many changes in the marketing side of things since you first set out on the path to publication. How do you feel about self-promotion and the different hats a writer must wear in today’s market? Do you find self-promotion daunting?

I don’t find it daunting to do promotion, but I wish I didn’t have to spend so much time on it, because I’d far rather write more stories. However, people are so nice when I give talks, etc, that I end up enjoying myself. It’s nice to get out of the house sometimes.

I didn’t do any promotion when I was first published. My publisher did a few things without me. Now, I do guest blogs, run a readers’ email newsletter (approximately monthly) and have a huge website.

What started you off down the road as a writer and how long did it take you from concept of your first novel to publication?

LOL, I got the idea for my first novel on my way to book my wedding, way back when. My mother and I were sitting on the top of a double-decker bus, and saw a narrow little back street in Oldham called Salem Street. I wondered what the people were like who first lived there. My story is about imaginary people in a similar street, of course. I didn’t write it for twenty years, but I never forgot the idea. That turned out to be Salem Street the novel, which was published in 1994 and is still going into reprints, I’m delighted to say. It wasn’t my first novel published, but it was my first ‘real’ idea for a story.

I started telling myself stories when I was two. I guess it was born in me. When I wrote my first novel seriously, not just dabbling, it took me two years to finish it and it didn’t get published for another ten years, after a major rewrite. Writers’ early skills aren’t always up to scratch, and they need to write a lot to practise, just as an athlete can’t do the Olympics without a great deal of training.

 You’re very supportive of new writers and an active member of the RNA. If you could give one piece of advice for a wannabe writer, what would it be?

Don’t rush out and self-publish your first novel as an ebook. Keep it for later and write another. Most first novels are learning pieces and you’ll probably cringe when you read yours in a few years. But you’ll have better skills to polish it later, so it won’t be wasted. Think of writing as a long-term career, identifying and developing the skills needed, preparing yourself in every way possible. Editors don’t do this for writers nowadays; you’ll have to do it yourself.

Having read MANY (it must be over twenty) of your historical/saga books, I think I could pick up any without a cover and know it’s you who’d written it. Looking back to your first novels; Persons of Rank (1992) and the first of your sagas, Salem Street (1994) how would you say your writing style has developed?

I’m glad you’re enjoying my books. Do you know, my husband and daughters say exactly the same thing, that they could recognise my ‘voice’ as a writer anywhere. I think my writing style has become more polished, though, and I write shorter books.

My first book published was ‘Persons of Rank’, a regency romance in the style of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer. I wrote it for fun, but I didn’t continue in that genre.

I write shorter stories these days that dive straight into the action. No more 140,000 word tales, but 80-100,000. I think I craft the story better and get my point across more skilfully. But there’s always something to learn or improve where novel writing is concerned, which keeps me interested.

I also write modern novels these days. A story recently published is one of my own favourites: ‘Winds of Change’. The paperback should be out soon for that.  

To what extent has the RNA helped you?

I was already published when I joined, but the companionship has been invaluable – and please don’t undervalue that. I live in a small country town in Western Australia, one of the most isolated ‘advanced’ countries on earth. It’s even a long way from the rest of Australia! It’s a lonely life anyway, writing, but more so when you’re a long way away from meetings, etc.

The other good thing from the RNA is that I can keep in better touch with the UK publishing industry via the people on the chat list and via other things the organisation offers. That is so helpful.

You seem very much a family person. That must have meant a fair bit of juggling; writing, managing home and family, and I read that you have several health problems, including M.E and Arthritis. Over the years how have you managed to do it all, and to produce three books a year, especially living with chronic illness?

Family are the most important of all. I love mine very much.
You can live with chronic illness and ignore/manage it, or you can sink into a self-pitying heap. I’m not letting anything stop me from writing, so I push problems into the background. Anyway, the ME is well under control these days, thanks to an innovative group of doctors here who treat patients by rebalancing the body chemistry. Mine was haywire. The ME only shows up when I’m stressed, and I get fuzzy brained, so I avoid stress as much as possible. Arthritis happens to most of us as we grow older, so really, it proves that I’m doing well! I’m still on the right side of the grass! And I’m still writing. I don’t need to be fit enough to run races – well, I never was sportingly active. Pitiful is the best way of describing me trying to catch or hit a ball.

I understand you live some of the time in Australia, and the northern hemisphere summers in Wiltshire. What took you to Australia? And do you tend to write differently or have different projects on the go, depending on what part of the world you’re in, or write for different markets?

We emigrated to Australia for a better life – the usual tale – and also for me to avoid snow, which I hate with a passion. But it’s lovely to enjoy both countries – as long as it doesn’t snow in summer in the UK.

We’d wanted a holiday home in the UK for a long time, but couldn’t find something it was safe to leave for half the year. Then one day I found a leisure village in Wiltshire, sent my sister along from Bristol to look at it, and she said it looked good. We bought a block and ordered a house the next day. It sounds impulsive, but we’d been looking for years and knew exactly what we wanted.

When I’m in the UK, it’s harder to find as much writing time, as I have a sister there, and my husband has a brother and sister. So we socialise more frequently. But being there also helps with my research and with getting in the UK mood for my modern novels, which are set in both Australia and the UK. The experience of living in two countries enhances our lives greatly and we both love it. Mind you, I try to write my historical novels in Australia, as I have my big reference library there, and my modern stories in the UK. But it isn’t always possible.

I hear you’re as big a reader as a writer. What’s on the bedside cabinet and do you read alongside when you’re plotting and writing?

I read three novels a week. What I don’t read much is sagas, since I spend two-thirds of the year writing them. Enough is enough. I read a lot of modern novels, especially by American authors like Robyn Carr and Sherryl Woods, who write such warm complex tales of families and friends.

I like reading cosy mysteries – Miss Marple type, not gruesome or super-violent ones. I think Jacqueline Winspear is my favourite writer of these, but I like Lillian Stewart Carl’s gentle Scottish mysteries too.

The Trader’s Dream, your latest book is almost your sixtieth novel!  And you write three novels a year. How do you work it – do you have more than one book at a time on the go, and how do you keep coming up with all these ideas?

I can’t write more than one book at a time, so I just work till I’ve finished one. I prefer to write every day, to keep ‘inside’ the story. I could push myself and write four novels a year, but I have a life outside writing, so I don’t. I have a gorgeous husband, two daughters, son-in-law and grandson, and some very lovely friends.

I find it refreshing to write different types of book. For instance, though I write historical novels for two of my three publishers, one requires novels set in Australia and the other isn’t allowed that, so I set them mainly in Wiltshire. My modern novels can be set in either country.
As for ideas, they well up all the time. I wish I could write faster to keep up with them.

I used to write fantasy novels as Shannah Jay and I miss that, but there are only so many hours in the day. My Shannah Jay novels are on sale from my website, by the way.

Oh, and I’ll never be remembered for my dusting or ironing, as I don’t do such silly activities. I was born without any domestic genes and pay other wonderful people to do those chores. I’d rather write.

  The third in your Traders series, what’s The Trader’s Dream about?

Bram Deagan dreams of bringing his family from Ireland to join him in Australia, where he now runs a successful trading business. But when a typhus epidemic strikes Ireland, it leaves the Deagan family decimated. And, with other members of the family scattered round the world, there is only Maura Deagain left to look after her orphaned nieces and nephew.

Forced to abandon her own ambitions, and unsure whether she is ready to become a mother figure to three young children, Maura recognises that their only hope is to join Bram in far-away Australia. So they set sail on the SS Delta, which will carry them there, via the newly opened Suez Canal.

It is only when a storm throws her and fellow passenger Hugh Beaufort together that Maura realises this journey may also give her a chance to realise a dream she set aside years ago – to have a family of her own. That is, until someone from Hugh’s past threatens to jeopardise everything.

 
I’ve waited ten years to write a story with the background of the opening of the Suez Canal. It was such a fascinating event. You can find out more about the story and the research behind it, and read the first chapter, on my website at www.annajacobs.com

There are no doubt other projects already in the pipeline. So what’s next?…

I have already written Book 4 in the Traders – The Trader’s Gift. There will be five in all.
I have a modern novel coming out at the end of January. A Place of Hope is set on the moors just outside Littleborough, Lancashire, and is on one of my favourite themes – people making new lives for themselves. People of all ages do this all the time in real life and I’ve found it leads to some fascinating tales in fiction.

And I’m just starting a new series of Wiltshire sagas. I’m having fun setting up a tale that will cover three books.

I tell myself, one day, if I ever get that book deal, I’m going to employ a cleaner and gardener! Finally, as such a successful and prolific writer, you’re in the enviable position that you must earn a reasonable living for it to be your main ‘day’ job. What little perks or ‘luxuries’ has writing afforded you?

Writing has paid for our second home in England, because we’ve always been moderately careful with money. Writing allows me to buy any book that takes my fancy – to me, that’s riches.

I’m not much interested in jewellery or fashion, especially not the ‘daft’ fashions like walking on stilts that some women are doing these days. They call them shoes, I call them stilts, and don’t they give the wearers an awkward, ungainly gait, like limping camels!

We’re not rich but it’s nice that we’re comfortable enough to be able to pay school fees for our grandson. I do most truly believe in education, because your brain is what guides you through life, so it needs good training and exercise because it’s going to have a lot to cope with over they years. I love that my own writing means research and creativity, which means keeping my brain alive.

Well, I guess we’re coming to the end of our time together … unless you’d like to stay for lunch? …

I’d love to stay for lunch. LOL. But you’d have to get a list of my food allergies first. Drives me mad. I love that there are lots of Indian restaurants in England, and pub lunches with jacket potatoes, because I can’t do bread/pasta stuff.

Oh, I can imagine that must be tricky for you. I can’t imagine a life without pasta!  

Anna, my mum, best friend and her mum are also huge fans. I’ve already bought my copy of The Trader’s Dream and suspect if we meet any time soon, I shall have to buy a few copies of your latest novel and ask you to do a mass signing.

I’m happy to sign books any time. If you’re ever in Wiltshire . . .

Thank you. I might just take you up on that. I do hope we get to meet you one of these days. Thank you so much for taking the time out of your hectic schedule to be our guest today. We wish you every success with your current novel and, of course, all those still to come…

Anna Jacobs is published mainly as Anna Jacobs, writing historical sagas and modern novels alternately. Some books are set in the UK, others in Australia, or both countries. She used to write fantasy novels as Shannah Jay and these are available again as ebooks.

You can find Anna at:

Web address: http://www.annajacobs.com/

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/pages/Anna-Jacobs/190765660967982?fref=ts

Buy the latest book here on Amazon Or The Book Depository also send books anywhere in the world, postage free: http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Traders-Dream-Anna-Jacobs/9781444711318

And January’s book, A Place of Hope is now listed here on Amazon, available for pre-order.

If you’re interested in being kept up to date with information about Anna’s books, you can sign up for her email newsletter. You’ll receive news approximately every 4-6 weeks and be the first to hear the news of coming books and what she’s currently writing.

To join click on:  Join email newsletter  and send a blank email.

Sound the Trumpets!

We’re many things here at Romaniac HQ: Zany, Dotty, Forthright, to name a few. We’ll let you add your own description below, but we have another to add to the list. And this one deserves capitalisation. ‘Cause here at Romaniac HQ, it turns out we’re TALENTED! Last Friday we found out that not one, not two, but SIX of us have been shortlisted for the Festival of Romance New Talent Award. We’ve been slightly blindsided by the whole thing. We’ve started talking faster than usual, carrying out spontaneous bursts of dance and repeating using Victor Meldrew’s line: ‘I don’t believe it!’ Here are our shortlisted first chapters. We’re adding them here in the hope it’ll sink in:

Little Boxes by Celia Anderson

Once Upon A… Secret by Sue Fortin

Follow Me by Laura James

Baby Number Two by Catherine Miller

The Perfect Life List by Vanessa Savage

Smiling Through The Pain by Debbie White

Celia, Laura, Sue, Debbie, Catherine & Vanessa

We’re all delighted to have been shortlisted and looking forward to cheering on the authors from the other grown-up categories as well as cheering on the New Talent winners.

If you’re interested in setting up an online group like this one, The Romaniacs will be giving a talk about it on the Sunday at The Festival of Romance. Our group sprung up from the FOR last year and I think we can safely say the support and encouragement we give each other seems to be working.

We’d also like to make a disclaimer. If perchance one of us does get selected for a mention at the gala dinner, we cannot be held responsible for our actions. We’d also appreciate it if you could withhold from video recording the fainting/crying/whooping/fainting again and placing it on You Tube.

Fingers crossed until then,

Catherine x

PS: We’re scraping modest from our list of qualities. Well, it’s not often this kind of thing happens!