Life Cycle of a Writer Round Up

Our last round-up of what we have all been up to was before Christmas, so as another cycle of this feature comes around, it’s time for us to summarise the last few months.

Sue: My major event has got to be becoming agented, when I signed with Kate Nash of the Kate Nash Literary Agency. I’ve also completed and submitted book 4 to my editor, completed structural edits and am currently awaiting the next round of edits. I have a publication date of 21 April but as yet, we haven’t agreed on a title. Hopefully, I’ll be able to share that soon. 

Laura: I attended my first festival as a published author, leading a panel on ‘The Small Publisher as an Option.’ This was at the Purbeck Literary Festival on Valentine’s Day. On Thursday 25th February, along with Sue and Catherine, I visited Chichester Library chairing our Romaniac Life Cycle of a Writer talk, which was great fun. I love getting out there and connecting with readers and writers in person. I’ve been working on my presentation for the next festival, the Weymouth Leviathan Maritime Literary Festival, where I’ll be giving a talk on The Coastguard Versus Pulpit Rock. This will take place on Sunday March 13th. And my third novel, What Doesn’t Kill You was released at the end of November 2015, and is the first title to be released under Choc Lit’s new imprint, Dark Choc Lit.

Celia: My latest book, Moondancing, came out digitally in January with Tirgearr and I was thrilled to be included in a paperback anthology of short-listed stories for the Exeter Story Prize with ‘Naked in the Rain’. I’m currently battling with the synopsis and doing a final revision of my new, darker romance and thinking about having another attempt at rewriting a children’s novel.

Jan: I’m proud to have featured on several fellow writers’ blogs since Christmas, which has been lovely and has given me the chance to chat about all sorts of subjects; my background, blogging with The Romaniacs, how my Libran personality traits affect my writing and, of course, about my debut novel As Weekends Go. I’ve also been getting involved with lots of research for Book 2, some of which has been a real eye-opener!  My mojo as far as actually cracking on with the writing of Book 2 still seems to be playing hide and seek with me a little bit, but I’m sure as we go into March, I’ll rediscover it. 

Vanessa: My main writing acheivement so far in 2016 is to have completed a major re-write of my work-in-progress! It’s now gone over to my lovely agent and I’m back to obsessively checking my email in-box as I wait for feedback! I have this week bought a new notebook so I’m now officially ready to start thinking about a new book and I’ve been enjoying writing some flash fiction and short stories.

Catherine: I absolutely CAN’T believe my debut novel is out next Thursday. I’ve been busy finishing the first draft of my second book and prepping for the launch of Waiting for You. It’s been a somewhat crazy period of time, but then that’s pretty standard these days.

 

Motivation Monday

Hello and welcome to our new feature, Motivation Monday. We posted about our new blog line up the other day, together with news of our street team, Romaniac Sparklers. Click HERE if you missed it.

In the meantime, a few of us have already made our ‘to do’ list for the week. We would love it if you could join in too, it doesn’t have to be anything huge, just something you want to get done that week. All you have to do is leave a comment below.

Motivation Monday

Sue : 

1. To write three chapters.
2. To successfully negotiate the first week back at school by remembering all the after-school clubs that are starting back up and packing the appropriate equipment/kit for not only the right club but the right child.

Laura:

1. Get up extra early on Monday to wish DS a happy birthday, before we all go our separate ways for the day.
2. Be at my desk ready to write from 09:00 Mon-Thurs.
3. Write 5000 words by Friday evening.
4. Plan talk for the Weymouth Leviathan and Maritime Festival.
5. Have earlier nights to allow for reading time.

We’ll meet again on Friday to find out how we all did.

Have a great week.

 

 

Happy Publication of LIVING THE DREAM

It’s been such an exciting week for The Romaniacs, we’ve had the RNA conference and our Sparkle Spotlights, plus Catherine’s amazing book deal news but that’s not enough, we also have Celia’s new novel LIVING THE DREAM has been published by Tirgearr Publishing.

It sounds a great read and has already arrived on a Kindle or two – we can’t wait to read it.  Here’s the cover and the blurb …

Longing to get away from her troubled marriage, the opportunity to cross America by train seems like a dream come true for Vita Craythorne. But charismatic travel agent Moriarty Miles has other ideas; by replacing their mutual friend Jack on the trip, Vita has unwittingly set herself up as a guinea pig for Moriarty’s mind-blowing and potentially dangerous virtual-travelling project. His plan is to give clients the holiday of a lifetime without ever having to leave the comfort of their own homes. It’s exciting. It’s time-saving. It’s innovative. Maybe this trip is just what Vita needs? That is, if she can avoid becoming trapped inside her own, miraculous dream world.

Amazon UK

Life Cycle Of A Writer: Learning How To Promote

This weekend at the 2015 Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Conference, we set up a corner for our Romaniac Sparkle Spotlight. It was a chance to put some of the talented writers we know in front of the camera to tell us about their high point, the toughest thing in their career and what they are currently working on. We had a tremendous amount of fun doing it, not just because there were bubbles involved, but because it was like the coffee break chats we might normally have at these events only we get to share them with the world. There was a theme of tremendous achievements despite the difficulties that get in the way and it was really a privilege listening to the answers people provided. It was also rather fortuitous that we were based outside the one-to-one rooms. It meant we managed to persuade an agent and editor to take part, so it gives a real flavour of the RNA conference.

Currently, the videos are being edited at a pace and we should be able to release them soon and it is with great thanks to those who took part. It was on a voluntary basis and all those who stood in front of the camera were complete naturals, even if they were nervous about doing it. We’re already planning to do the same again at the next conference so please do sign up next year if you want to take part.

We ourselves are all on a learning curve of how to best promote ourselves and we’ve loved doing this, this year. And behind the camera, doing most of the questions was our lovely, Celia J Anderson, who it turns out, is a brilliant interviewer  and she is currently on tour. Celia’s next book, Living The Dream is on a blog tour and if you pre-order either today or tomorrow it is only 99p! Then it comes out with Tirgearr Publishing later this week.

Celia and Lucie ready for ACTION!

Have any writers out there been brave enough to stand in front of a camera yet? And do you prefer to read blogs or watch vlogs to find out about your next read?

Catherine x

 

 

Life Cycle Of A Writer: OUT OF THE OFFICE

Romaniac HQ is an ever fluctuating space, accommodating however many Romaniacs and family members they come with. But sometimes (you won’t have noticed because of the noise) one of us isn’t about as much. The reasons for this happening are many and our lovely Celia is currently very busy in her deputy head role. It’s an OUT OF OFFICE day, although in theory it’s an IN THE OFFICE day taking her away from the writing life. Despite that, she has started writing early in the mornings when no other Romaniacs are awake.

So how do you manage to get any writing done when life gets in the way? On that note, make sure you read Julie Cohen‘s amazing tips over on Novelicious.

PS Thank you so much for doing this for me, Catherine. That’s one of the many great things about being a Romaniac – nobody gets cross if life gets in the way of the big writing picture and someone always steps in with a helping hand and a virtual hug/cake/glass of wine.

Update on office life – it’s SATs week and we heard yesterday we have Ofsted too, today and tomorrow. Double whammy! So, heads down at school and hopefully normal service will return soon…

Life Cycle Of A Writer: Sparkle Round-Up

Here at Romaniac HQ, we believe in positivity. The reason we started the Life Cycle Of A Writer posts was so that we can share the lows and highs of our journeys. It is a mighty tough business for which you need a thick skin, but we go by the philosophy if you work hard and believe in yourself great things will happen. Give yourself the chance to sparkle, and if you don’t mind indulging us for a few minutes, we wanted to share our moments of triumph with you and together raise a glass to all the highs.

December

It all started in the middle of December at the Romaniac Sparkle Weekend. En route to our get together we found we had good reason to celebrate when Vanessa Savage learned she’d won the Flash500 Novel Opening Competition for Missing Grace. The report from the judge, Steph Patterson, provides some very encouraging words for Vanessa:

“The introduction to Missing Grace just pulls you in. Straight away, it raises a number of questions and you quickly read on. A mere sprinkling of back story, told in a way that links the past to the present, introduces us to another important character, and then we’re heading straight into the plot. The tension grows as the mystery unravels. My congratulations to the two finalists! I’m sure both will go far.”

If that wasn’t enough reason to raise a glass, during our sparkle weekend Catherine Miller learned she’d won the Just Write Monthly Masterpiece competition for Miles Between Us. With the judges saying they were gripped from the very start. The first three chapters are now available to read on their website.

January

2015 got off to a great start when Vanessa received news she’d won a Writers Forum competition for her short story No Such Thing As Monsters. The magazine should be out in March!

To add to our early 2015 cheer, Catherine was highly commended runner-up in the Accent Press and Woman magazine writing competition for her work-in-progress Baby Number Two.

February

Laura E. James carried out her first Waterstones book signing at the Dorchester branch, selling and signing copies of Follow Me Follow You. 

Laura and Sharon Goodwin (Jera’s Jamboree) at Dorchester’s Waterstones.

Vanessa received double good news in February – Her current work-in-progress The Murder House made the final four in the Caledonia Novel Award and she came third in the Flash500 flash fiction competition with her story Pretty Maids All In A Row. 

March

March has been mega for good news, and we’re only part way through the month.

Catherine went up to London to receive the Katie Fforde bursary award. This is for someone on the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s New Writers’ Scheme who has great potential. Katie presented Catherine with a trophy at the RNA March meeting.

Laura carried out her first talk with a fellow Dorset writer, Kathy Sharp. The Preston Friendship Club were fantastic audience, and Laura hopes to do similar events in the future.

In a celebration of Mother’s Day, Celia J Anderson’s letter to her mother was included in The Guardian. It’s the first letter and has a lovely picture of Celia in a bonnet.

As if all these bits of excitement weren’t enough, Romaniac HQ celebrations went into overdrive when we learned our wonderful Jan Brigden won the Choc Lit and Whole Audiobooks Search for a Star competition. Her novel As Weekends Go will be published later this year.

We’re absolutely delighted for Jan and so glad to have our first life cycle transition from aspiring to published writer.

We’ve also finished putting a considerable number of words together with The Murder House by Vanessa Savage, Baby Number Two by Catherine Miller, Fractured Love by Lucie Wheeler, What Doesn’t Kill You by Laura E.James and Living The Dream by Celia J. Anderson reaching completion in one stage or another and the very hard-working Sue Fortin has been getting The Half-Truth into its final version ready for publication in two days time!

 

Time to upgrade Romaniac HQ’s mini-bar. There’s no way we can stock enough champagne in there if the good news keeps coming in at this rate. Now if you’ve all got a filled glass, please raise it to the wonder of sparkle and positivity!

CHEERS!

 

Life Cycle of a Writer: Following the Dream

 

 

It’s my turn to add a progress report, and this is a really good time to do it, because I’ve just finished writing my third contemporary romance. Phew. Well, to be honest it’s actually my fourth, but the first one was so bad that to be out there in the world, it would need major internal surgery and a facelift.

The first one to actually make it onto the Kindle shelves was Sweet Proposal, and the story of its big chance is recounted on the Piatkus Entice blog today. A competition win with Piatkus, some serious editing and a cover with chocolate on it were all elements that helped Sweet Proposal (formerly The Chocolate Project) to come out of the woodwork in the summer of 2013, and now that its successor is out there too, SP is selling again, which is great news.

Next came Little Boxes, published by Tirgearr. I enjoyed writing this one even more, because I’d finally started to feel as if I might know what I was aiming for, instead of just trusting to luck and eating a lot of cake. Little Boxes is a quest, and the idea for it had been in my mind since I read Elizabeth Enright’s Spiderweb For Two – a wonderful children’s book from way back when. I love a treasure hunt, and writing it was such fun that a children’s book of my own on the same lines could be on the cards one day soon.

RMS Queen Mary, Long Beach, California

The new one has the working title of Living the Dream, and it’s more off the wall than usual for me – mind games, constant travel and frustrated passions mixed with a hefty dollop of surrealism. It’s based on a trip across America by train, from New York to San Francisco; something I did with my family in 2013. The girls made me a storyboard to remind me of the highlights and it’s on the wall next to my desk as a constant memory jogger.

 

So now it’s limbo time for me. No, not the wriggling-painfully-under-a-bar-kind. This is the other sort where you’re not quite sure where to go next. Here are the options:

• A children’s book (see above, quest theme)
• Another contemporary romance, maybe a sequel to LB
• Major old-book surgery/facelift (also see above)
• Join a circus
• Do some school work
• Have a large gin and tonic

So watch this space – who knows what’s going to happen next? Let me know if you find out before I do, okay?

Open The Box. Open The Box!

 

We are very excited at Romaniac HQ, as there is a new book to add to our sidebar, and we are helping our wonderful Celia J Anderson celebrate the release of her second novel, Little Boxes.

If you’ve read Sweet Proposal, Ce’s debut novel, you know you’re in for a treat.

Today, the 4th of November 2014, sees the release of Little Boxes, a story I saw come together when Celia and I spent a week on Sue Moorcroft’s Arte Umbria writing course last year. I cannot wait to read it. I love all sorts of boxes, but little ones intrigue me the most.

What would you put in a little box?

Here’s mine: I have shiny, red and gold, almost holographic boxes in my ‘special drawer’ in my bedroom. My mum was a lover of fondant flower sweets, which were incredibly hard to come by. I found a supplier, bought a bag, and then wrapped up four small parcels of two sweets each in tissue paper and placed them into one of the four boxes. I popped a tiny bow on top of each box, and they formed part of my mum’s Christmas present. The last little box I received contained hair dye …

Jan: Like Laura, I’m thrilled for Celia and, having  had a sneak preview of Little Boxes, I’m itching to see  it in print. You’ll love it, that’s for sure. As to what I’d put in a little box, it would be all my tiny keys to things like my jewellery box, home file, etc. I also have a sweet little miniature handbag box that houses various pins and buttons.  

Sue: I can’t wait to read Little Boxes, I love the cover. As for what I’d put in a little box, it would be all my  lovely memories, such as, the smell of my nan’s Sunday dinners, Lincoln biscuits, the feel of soft baby skin and gentle breath, childhood holidays with cold waves of Cornish sea licking at my legs, the smell of saddle soap and leather from my horse riding days, the excitement of Christmas Eve, the taste of Black Jacks and Fruit Salad sweets, standing on the beach with the wind blowing my hair in a swirling frenzy and the feeling of contentment at watching your children sleeping peacefully.

Debbie: It’s so good  to hear ‘Little Boxes’ has reached publication day as I’ve followed the journey and how it has developed since Celia’s trip to Sue Moorcroft’s Arte Umbria writing course last year.

My little box would bulge with photographs of my two boys; all their first and significant events as they grow up so quickly, the green heart-shaped crystal my eldest bought me on a trip to Ironbridge and the necklace my youngest spent all his money on his first school trip to France. If I could, I’d also squeeze a small corner of the box for a selection of items that evoke memories and a ‘presence’ of my Nan like a packet of her Extra Strong mints, a bottle of her favourite perfume,  Helena Rubenstein’s, ‘Apple Blossom’ and a little glass ‘worry’ angel that I found in her glass cabinet when I cleared it out after she passed away. Finally, I’d put in the little figurine my mum gave me when we re-discovered each other after nearly forty years apart along with the ballet medals from when I was a little girl …

Lucie – I absolutely love the cover of ‘Little Boxes’ and I cannot wait to read it – how exciting. My ‘Little Box’ would contain special photographs of my family and my close friends, a pen and notepad, an ipod with all my favourite music and my special teddy from when I was a little girl. Ok, so my box isn’t that little, but those are all my favourite things that make me happy.

Catherine – I can’t wait to read Little Boxes. I remember first chatting with Celia about it in 2012 and so great to see it launched. Aside from the lovely memory type boxes the others have mentioned, my favourite little box holds within it small pieces of folded paper each with the name of a book I want to read. I’m rather enjoying this way of deciding what to read next! 

Vanessa: We’re hoping to be moving house next month, so I’ll soon be packing a lot of very big boxes! But as I sort through, trying to be ruthless, getting rid of junk and rubbish, I’ve found myself opening a lot of boxes I haven’t seen for a while and getting lost in memories – lovely surprises as I find old photos I’d forgotten about, baby teeth left behind by the tooth fairy, the tiniest wellies I’ve ever seen ( I can’t believe my girls were ever small enough to wear them!). Time goes so fast so I’m going to re-pack those little boxes, add extra memories – cards and photos and notes – and plant them all over the new house: miniature time capsules to stumble over in future years.

I can’t wait to read Little Boxes – Celia is such a great writer and it’s been lovely sharing the excitement of her writing journey.

And what is in Celia’s Little Boxes? Whatever it is, I know we are in for an absolute treat.

Much love and many congratulations, Ce, on the release of Little Boxes. It is a book of gorgeous gems for every reader to treasure.

xxx

 

 

 

Oops! Typo Alert …

At HQ, we often cringe or have a giggle at various typos we’ve either seen or made. In some cases they’ve even been for the best. After all, our very own blog name derived from one and it’s hard to imagine us being called anything else.

Here are a few of our finest …

Jan : 

“Sweat ‘n’ Sour Chicken.” (Eeeew! Thanks but no thanks!)

“Brianstorming Session.” (Poor Brian!)

“Thanks for the fiend request.” (Ooh, you little devil, you!)

Celia :

“Blinty” is my all-time favourite Romaniac-page blooper. I meant to say “blimey” at the time but much prefer blinty these days. Also like the times when one of us gets a word wrong in a thread and then everyone continues to use the typo for weeks afterwards. As they say, you don’t have to be insane to be a Romaniac, but it certainly helps …

Laura:

Pooked. I have no idea what I was meant to be typing, but it ended up as pooked. I pook, he pooks, we pook, they pooked. Answers on a postcard please … One of my main typos is if, when I want it to read of. ‘Oh, what’s become if …?’.  When I was a wee, young thing, I’d often muddle things up. We read the paper news and put the vase on the sill window. Finally, slightly deviating, we had to correct our son, who mistakenly believed the attack on Pearl Harbor happened in Poole Harbour. STOP PRESS. Yesterday, as we passed the beach and noticed the traditional seaside puppet show, my son asked, ‘Who is Punching Judy?’

Clearly, it’s in the genes.

Vanessa:

My most recent typos have been in emails rather than the work-in-progress – I sent an email to Dear Lousie instead of Louise. Funnily enough, I never got a reply…  I also wrote headlice instead of headline in another mail (luckily I caught that one before it went out). Hmmm… my typos seemed strangely related *scratches head*

Debbie:

I reckon I can trump Jan’s use of ‘sweat.’ My mum once wrote to me, ‘sweat dreams.’

And on this topic, there’s a quote that makes me smile:-

“There are two typos of people in this world: those who can edit and those who can’t.” ― Jarod Kintz

 Sue:

Whilst I can’t think of anything specific, and there has no doubt been many, I do have one I regularly make. Since a child I have always had a tendency to get the letters ‘m’ and ‘p’ muddled, or should that be puddled up? Usually, I spot it straight away, but there has been the odd occasion when it’s got through. This doesn’t make for great reading when I’m trying to say something like, ‘She was missed.’ or ‘I miss you.’ or ‘He had been missing for a week.’  

I have to say, out of all the typos, ‘Romaniacs’ and ‘Blinty’ are my favourites.

 

 

What are the funniest, most toe-curling typos you’ve ever seen or made?

Go on … you know you want to tell us!

 

 

 

 

RNA, NWS : Joan Hessayon Award

As you may know, The Romaniacs all met through the RNA‘s New Writers’ Scheme back in 2011. Since then we’ve all made great strides in our writer careers and, amazingly, last year three of us achieved our ambition of becoming published authors. This has meant ‘graduation’ to full membership with the RNA and sees us eligible for the Joan Hessayon Award; the winner of which is to be announced at the RNA summer party in London on 22 May 2104.

Celia J Anderson – Sweet Proposal

Laura E. James – Truth or Dare?

Sue Fortin – United States of Love

We are in fabulous company and wanted to wish everyone the very best of luck. We are looking forward to the evening very much and to meeting up with all the other attendees, especially the other new writers.  Here is the full list of nominations.

Alison May

Eileen Hogg

Elaine Everest

Helen Phifer

Jane O’Reilly

Jennifer Young

Jessica Thompson

Jill Steeples

Jo Thomas

Kathryn Freeman

Lin Treadgold

Pauline Bennion

Susan E Willis

Teresa Morgan

Congratulations everyone on becoming published

and

very best of luck!