Writing about writing...and other random waffle.

Want to get published and raise money for charity?

2012-01-06T11:27:00.001Z

The very talented Caroline Smailes is giving writers, published and unpublished, the chance to submit a 100 word piece of flash fiction (based on a YouTube video of their choice) to be featured in an ebook for the charity One in Four.

For more details go here:
http://www.carolinesmailes.co.uk/a-challenge-and-the-chance-to-see-your-story-in-print

I've already entered. What are you waiting for?!

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The trouble with Kindles...

2012-01-01T12:11:00.001Z

...is that it's so bloody easy to download books that I'm swiftly building an electronic 'to be read' pile that is starting to rival its paperback counterpart (though it takes up a hell of a lot less space!).

Last year I read (by which I mean FINISHED) a woefully low number of books (and several were graphic novels) and considering I need to write a new chicklit book this year AND look after the Spudling I can only see that figure becoming even smaller. That saddens me because I've always loved reading, there are so many amazing books and writers out there and it's important for authors to continue to read widely BUT I've come up with a solution! Audiobooks! I take the Spudling for a walk in the pram for an hour or two each day and now I'm the happy owner of a 160GB iPod (thanks Mr Metal!) I've got an mp3 player with lots of free space and a couple of hours a day in which to listen to it.

Perfect! Apart from one thing - while I was out walking yesterday, listening to 'Before I Sleep' by SJ Watson, I started thinking about my next chicklit novel (I wrote the synopsis before Christmas and am trying to write the first 3 chapters so Maddy, my agent, can approach Orion about getting me another book deal) and it turns out that it's impossible to think about one novel whilst listening to another! In the end I had to turn the iPod off so I didn't miss any of the story. But then my head was all full of dialogue for novel 3 & with no way of writing it down I had to dictate it into my mobile (which wasn't hugely successful as it turned out. When I played it back later it was hard to make out what I was saying above the noise of traffic) and then type it into google docs via my iPad when I got home. Could I possibly use any more technology?!

Anyway, that's my plan for 2012. Write a new novel, 'read' more books and bring up my baby, all without my head exploding (and on very little sleep). How about you?

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Merry Christmas!

2011-12-22T14:03:00.001Z

Sorry I haven't blogged recently - it's been all go recently with baby wrangling, book promoting and Christmas present buying (for 15 people and a dog this year!) and I still have to write a synopsis & 3 chapters of a new chicklit book by the New Year! That said I'm officially on holiday now - from writing not child wrangling! - and I'm going to enjoy it. Bring on the mulled wine and mince pies!

Happy Christmas to you all!

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The curious case of the lesser spotted novel

2011-12-01T20:33:00.010Z

Actually 'Home for Christmas' has been spotted loads! In ASDA, Sainsbury and WHSmiths everywhere from Brighton to Rochdale, Exmouth to Manchester, Cambridge to Northumberland, Poole to Bristol - pretty much everywhere it seems! I went in search of it with Spudling the other day and was delighted to find it at #18 in the local (Bristol) Sainsbury's branch and out of the 10 copies that should have been on the shelf only 3 were left. Result! (Am assuming the other 7 weren't shoplifted!).

I even heard it was sold out in the Brighton Marina branch of ASDA and that a campaign was set up to email the branch to demand more copies! Well, it IS set in Brighton...

I absolutely LOVE it when people send me photos of their spottings, particularly when there are other people in them! Here's a selection. If you spot it anywhere do snap a pic, I'd love to see it (email to calistrowriter@googlemail.com).

And the winners are...

2011-11-14T17:15:00.001Z

The Kindle comp winner is....

Catherine Miller

The runner up is....

MamaJ Hearts

The Swarovski crystal necklace winner is...

@MakeShiftMummy

The runner up is..

@Nathalie_Green

Congratulations to you all!

Could you please email me your postal addresses & I will arrange for your prizes to be sent to you (if you would like the dedication in your copy of Home For Christmas to be dedicated to someone other than yourself do let me know).

Thanks to everyone who entered.

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Second novel syndrome and sensible shoes...

2011-11-14T15:52:00.001Z

Want to find out more? Check out my interview with Mel over on High Heels and Book Deals...

http://highheelsandbookdeals.blogspot.com/2011/11/chat-with-cally-taylor.html

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Is bringing out a book like bringing up baby?

2011-11-13T16:03:00.001Z

People often refer to their novels as their 'babies' and compare writing a book with pregnancy and publication day with giving birth. Having done both recently I thought I'd write a post for Strictly Writing, comparing the two...

http://strictlywriting.blogspot.com/2011/11/birthing-book-guest-post-by-cally.html

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The transition from short stories to novels...

2011-11-11T12:28:00.001Z

Featured on the fabulous womagwriter's blog today - an updated version of an article Helen M Hunt wrote for Writers Forum when 'Heaven Can Wait' came out. It's about my experience of writing short stories then turning my hand to novels, and what I learned.

http://womagwriter.blogspot.com/2011/11/guest-post-by-cally-taylor.html

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Win a Kindle for Christmas! (or a Swarovski necklace!)

2011-11-10T13:00:00.003Z

To celebrate the launch of 'Home for Christmas' I am giving away not one but two fab prizes - a Kindle and a Swarovski star necklace!

Competition 1 - Kindle competition

PRIZE: A 3G Kindle, an ebook version of 'Home for Christmas', a signed paperback of 'Home for Christmas' and a limited edition tote bag of the Duke of York cinema (by Brighton designer Nat Gowing). The runner up will receive a signed paperback of 'Home for Christmas' and a tote bag,

This is a competition for people who are fans of my official Facebook page. All you have to do is change your profile picture to the 'Home for Christmas' book cover & then write 'Pick me!' under the wall posting that links to this blog entry (it'll say 'Win a Kindle for Christmas...'). Anyone whose profile pic still shows the book cover at midnight on Sunday 13th November will be entered into the prize draw.

The earlier you write 'pick me' with the Home for Christmas cover as your profile pic the more entries you get into the draw i.e....

Enter today (Thursday 10th November) you get 4 entries into the draw
Enter on Friday 11th - 3 entries into the draw
Enter on Saturday 12th - 2 entries into the draw
Enter on Sunday 13th November - 1 entry into the draw

NB:Your profile pic must remain as the Home for Christmas book cover for each day for you to qualify for multiple entries

Competition 2 - Swarovski star necklace

PRIZE: A Swarovski star necklace, a signed paperback of 'Home for Christmas' and a limited edition tote bag of the Duke of York cinema (by Brighton designer Nat Gowing). The runner up will receive a signed paperback of 'Home for Christmas' and a tote bag.

To win this gorgeous Swarovski star necklace (RRP £50) all you need to do is tweet about competition 1! You can word your tweet as you like but you must link to this page & you must use the hash tags #homeforchristmas and #callytaylor in your tweet. The more tweets you send out the more entries you get into the draw to win the necklace. Only tweets sent after this blog post has been published and before 23.59 on Sunday 13th November are eligible for entry.

More (boring) Rules!

1. The competitions are open to UK residents only (sorry)
2. The competitions are not open to members of my family, employees of Orion publishers or members of their families
3. In order to ensure a fair draw each entry will be given a number. The total number of entries will be fed into an online random number generator and the number generated will be matched against the entry and judged the winner. This process will be carried out twice - one for the Kindle competition and once for the Swarovski necklace competition.
4. Failure to correctly follow the rules of the competition will result in disqualification and the competition organiser's verdict is final.
5. The competition organiser is Cally Taylor, in conjunction with Orion publishers.
6. The winners names will be posted on this blog on Monday 14th November 2011

Good luck!

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3 fab publication day posts...

2011-11-10T10:30:00.000Z

Because I'm so badly organised at the moment (let's blame it on sleep deprivation!) I've accidentally scheduled THREE guest blog posts/interviews to appear today, publication day for 'Home for Christmas'. Doh!

Huge thanks to Caroline, the Romantic Novelists Association and Kelly for allowing me on their blogs. I'd love it if you paid them a visit too - oooh, and you've got two chances to win a signed copy!

An Interview with Caroline Smailes (author of 'Black Boxes', 'In Search of Adam' and 'Like Bees to Honey')

An Interview with Kelly (A Place of my Own), mum and craftswoman extraordinaire

My top 15 writing tips over on the RNA blog (I originally wrote this for Woman's Own when 'Heaven Can Wait' was published but the feature was bumped in favour of an X Factor story!)

All I want for Christmas...

2011-11-10T07:45:00.000Z

...is to decorate the tree and see the Spudling's face when we turn on the lights for the first time!

On the left is my Christmas tree from last year. Wow. Last year I was part of a couple and now I have a family. It really does blow my mind the more I think about it.

One of the things Mr Metal and I talked a lot about when I was pregnant was how Christmas takes on new meaning when you have a child because you get to experience the magic all over again, through their eyes. The Spudling will only be 3 months old this Christmas and will spend most of his time just looking I imagine but, by next year, we'll probably have to keep an eye out to stop him toddling up to the tree and pulling it down!

I popped into House of Fraser in Bristol a couple of weeks ago and couldn't resist a new tree decoration in the shape of a teddy bear. I nearly bought a whole basketful of new decorations but decided, instead, to buy a new decoration each year to signify another Christmas spent with the Spudling. To say I'm hugely excited about Christmas this year would be an understatement.

So...here we are - launch day of my second novel 'Home for Christmas'. Welcome to my online party! I obviously can't sign any books but if you fancy a free signed bookplate to stick in your book just drop me a line at calistrowriter@googlemail.com with your name (I'll dedicate it to you and/or a relative/friend) and address and I'll stick one (or more) in the post in time for Christmas!

A great big lovely box of books arrived the other day. I was super excited to receive them but the baby was asleep in my arms so I had to satisfy myself with staring at the box until the Spudling roused himself and I could pop him in the pram long enough to rip open the box. And ooooh pretty, pretty books - they really are much lovelier and sparklier than they look in the photo.

I also took the chance to flick through the copies of RED and GLAMOUR magazine I'd bought the day before (will I ever have the time to read a magazine from cover to cover again?!) and check out their mentions of Home for Christmas. RED called it a 'Cinderella tale' and GLAMOUR called it a 'sparkling story' - how lovely.

I heard the other day that ASDA will be stocking the book for the next two weeks, then Sainsbury will have it for two weeks and finally WHSmith Travel will stock it from 24th November until the end(ish) of December. Apparently Waitrose are going to stock it too but I'm not sure when. If you spot it anywhere please do let me know. When 'Heaven Can Wait' came out lots of people took photos of the book in various shops and I loved seeing them. I know I'll be stalking the local supermarkets for the next couple of months...

The online reviews are starting to roll in now and I can't begin to express how nervewracking it is, waiting for them to be posted. When 'Heaven Can Wait' came out two years ago the first review I read online absolutely slated the book. I promptly burst into tears because I thought it meant everyone was going to hate my book (thankfully that wasn't the case!). These days I've got a much thicker skin and as long as most of the people who buy 'Home for Christmas' enjoy it then I've done my job. If you read it and want to give me some feedback I'd really appreciate a review on Amazon or Goodreads.

What else?

I'm going to be running what I think is a very exciting competition to celebrate the launch of 'Home for Christmas'. I'll post the details in another blog post later today.

Soooo....now you know what I want for Christmas what about everyone else who's so kindly turned up to help me celebrate? Do check out their blog posts - they're all lovely! (NB: Some might not be posted until later in the day)

Tom Conoboy
Jen
Mama J
B
Karen
Liz Fenwick
Flatbag
Beth Kemp
Womag Writer
Shaz
Dizzy C
Ananda (Books to Remember)
Rea Book Review
Amanda (One More Page)
Sarah Broadhurst Reviews
Jenny (tea stains)
Shaz's book boudoir
Little Me's Pint Sized Rants
Ellen Brickley's Pink Tea and Paper
The Writing Pad
Captain Black
Suzy Doodling
Suz Korb
Sarah G

Thank you all for taking part, I really appreciate it!

Right, on with my day - which will mostly involve changing nappies, walking round cemetries and playing 'shake the rattle from left to right'! It may be publication day but I'm still a mum! :)

Where do I write my novels?

2011-11-08T16:11:00.001Z

Hint - it's not a glamorous location!

I love Novelicious's 'My Writing Room' feature and I'm chuffed that they wanted to know about mine.

http://www.novelicious.com/2011/11/my-writing-room-cally-taylor.html

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The 'All I Want for Christmas' blog launch of 'Home for Christmas'

2011-11-03T19:33:00.003Z

Back in this post I mentioned that I'm not having a launch party for my second novel because of the small squally person that appeared in my life 4 weeks and 5 days ago and I barely have time to get dressed these days never mind pull off a swanky do! Instead I've asked if bloggers would like to join me in posting an 'All I want for Christmas' blog post on publication day (10th November). So far the following very lovely people have said they'll join in:

Tom Conoboy
Jen
Mama J
B
Karen
Liz Fenwick
Flatbag
Beth Kemp
Womag Writer

And, with massive thanks to Shaz (Shazjera) who featured me on the 'Secret Squirrel' feature on her blog the following have said they'll join in too:

Dizzy C
Ananda (Books to Remember)
Rea Book Review
Amanda (One More Page)
Sarah Broadhurst Reviews

Update (5th November). The following lovely people have offered to join in too. Thank you all!

Jenny (tea stains)
Shaz's book boudoir
Little Me's Pint Sized Rants
Ellen Brickley's Pink Tea and Paper
The Writing Pad
Captain Black
Suzy Doodling
Suz Korb
Sarah G

If you'd like to get involved just leave me a comment here or an email and, on 10th November, I'll link to all the blogs involved. To join in just blog on 10th November with the title 'All I want for Christmas' and blog about what you want this year or you could blog about the best (or worst!) present you've ever received or any other Christmas tale you want to share. I can't wait to read them all! If you could insert the cover, blurb and Amazon link for 'Home for Christmas' at the end that would be wonderful.

Here's the blurb, cover etc:

Beth Prince has always loved fairytales and now, aged twenty-four, she feels like she's finally on the verge of her own happily ever after. She lives by the seaside, works in the Picturebox - a charming but rundown independent cinema - and has a boyfriend who's so debonair and charming she can't believe her luck! There's just one problem - none of her boyfriends have ever told her they love her and it doesn't look like Aiden's going to say it any time soon. Desperate to hear 'I love you' for the first time Beth takes matters into her own hands - and instantly wishes she hadn't. Just when it seems like her luck can't get any worse, bad news arrives in the devilishly handsome shape of Matt Jones. Matt is the regional director of a multiplex cinema and he's determined to get his hands on the Picturebox by Christmas. Can Beth keep her job, her man and her home or is her romantic-comedy life about to turn into a disaster movie?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Home-Christmas-Cally-Taylor/dp/1409121585/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320347388&sr=1-1

In other news, @Keris and @HelenRedders told me on Twitter that 'Home for Christmas' is featured in RED magazine's pick of festive reads. They call it a 'Cinderella tale' which I love!

Here's the scan Helen took:

Http://yfrog.com/o0mrgvzj

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Sleep is for the weak*...

2011-11-01T20:31:00.001Z

Not long now until 'Home for Christmas' is published (10th November) and I'm counting the days - partly because I'm excited (of course) and partly because I'd really like to have a go at the whole 'sleep when the baby sleeps' thing. Instead I'm going for the 'answer interviews, arrange online promotion and send out review copies while the baby sleeps' alternative which is a damned sight more exhausting (god I'm tired!). If I can cross one thing off my 'to do' list each day I see it as a real accomplishment and if I manage two I'm over the moon!

I'm particularly pleased with myself today as I got all Mel's questions answered (for an interview that'll appear on the High Heels and Book Deals blog later this month) AND I confirmed the details of a competition being run in collaboration with the Duke of Yorks cinema in Brighton (the inspiration behind the 'PictureBox' cinema in 'Home for Christmas'). Oh, and I made dinner too! ;)

Thank you to everyone who's stuck their hand in the air & said they'll blog 'All I want for Christmas' (see one of my previous posts) on 10th November to help promote HfC - I really appreciate it!

Now excuse me while I pass out (baby allowing...)

* I am weak, I admit it! I miss sleep...

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Do you remember the first time?

2011-10-28T12:30:00.001+01:00

Thanks for all the great comments on the 'Home for Christmas' book trailer. I co-wrote it with a friend (and Orion filmed it) and I was curious how it would be received. I know book trailers aren't for everyone but, after seeing a talk about online marketing and trailers at the RNA conference this summer, I thought I'd give it a go. It made me laugh anyway!

I'm curious, what do you guys think of book trailers? Do you think they are effective marketing? Spoil a book? A waste of time? Would you want one for your book?

Back to the tried and tested promotional route today - I'm guest blogging over on Talli Roland's fabulous blog about the first time I (rather than Beth) heard those '3 little words' for the first time. I had to wait longer than you might think...

http://talliroland.blogspot.com/2011/10/everyone-says-i-love-you-except-to-me.HTML

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My boyfriend won't say 'I love you'...

2011-10-26T12:20:00.002+01:00

Hello.

Sorry to barge in on Cally's blog but I'm having a bit of a crisis and I need to share it with you. Maybe you can help?

I should probably introduce myself. My name's Beth Prince. I'm twenty-four, I live in Brighton, date Aiden - journalist extraordinaire - and I work in the Picturebox, the only independent cinema in town.

I haven't got the most exciting life in the world but it makes me happy. There's just one thing that's worrying me - my boyfriend hasn't said I love you yet. It wouldn't bother me (well, maybe a little bit - it has been over ten months since we got together) but it's not like this is the first time someone I've gone out with has stumbled over saying those three little words.

In fact... no, how about I tell you myself instead of waffling about it here....

Tears and Laughter and Happy Ever After

2011-10-25T22:34:00.001+01:00

Do you like short stories? Thinking of writing for the women's magazine market? Want to read a fabulous collection of funny, moving, thought provoking stories by 13 successful women's fiction writers? (including me!)

You don't have to wait much longer...

‘Tears and Laughter and Happy Ever After’ is a vibrant and varied collection of stories from writers who between them have had hundreds of short stories published in women’s magazines in the UK and around the world! Contributors have also won or been placed in dozens of competitions, published novels and written non-fiction for many UK magazines.

The twenty-six stories encompass the dizzying heights of happiness, the heartbreaking depths of sadness and every emotion in between. Within the pages of this book you’ll meet a housewife with a surprising secret, a beekeeper with a problem and an undertaker with something unusual on his mind. You’ll also encounter angels, ghosts, aliens and many other intriguing characters. And, in the end, you may just find the path to happy ever after.

The idea for this book came from the successful ‘A Story A Fortnight’ writing group which brought the writers involved together in a project that has inspired and supported them in their short story writing.

Who’s been up to ‘Monkey Business'?

What's happening in 'The House At Summer's End’?

Who is 'The Girl In The Yellow Dress'?

If you want to know, you'll have to read ‘Tears and Laughter and Happy Ever After’.

You can follow us on Twitter @tears_laughter
You can join our Facebook page

We are aiming to release the book in Kindle format next month and in paperback by the end of the year. We'll be launching a website soon, but meanwhile keep an eye on Twitter and Facebook for news.

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Win a signed Advanced Review copy of 'Home for Christmas'

2011-10-17T14:37:00.001+01:00

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Home for Christmas

by Cally Taylor

Giveaway ends October 20, 2011.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

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Me, Mr Metal, the Spudling & our little bubble

2011-10-13T22:59:00.001+01:00

First off I'd like to thank everyone for their congrats, emails, messages, cards, flowers & presents. Mr Metal* and I have been overwhelmed by the excited, delighted response to our news and we can't thank you enough for adding to the magic of the Spudling's** birth.

Becoming a little family really is the most wonderful thing in the world and, nearly two weeks after he was born, we're still marvelling over every sound and facial expression our tiny son makes. And don't get me started on his farts, they make us howl with laughter every time. How can something so tiny make such a loud noise?!

For the last two weeks Mr Metal, the Spudling and I have lived in the most amazing bubble and we'd be tempted to stay here forever if it weren't for real life knocking at the door. Mr Metal has to go back to work in 2 weeks time (yes, we're uber lucky that he gets to spend a whole month with us) and my second novel, Home for Christmas, is out on 10th November.

When Heaven Can Wait came out in 2009 I pulled out all the stops to promote it but this time around my injured thumb (which is nearly fully recovered thank goodness) and my new status as 'mum' (aka the milk machine!) means that my ability to get involved in lots of PR and marketing has been limited. I have been involved in a few marketing ideas - including something chicklitreviews will be exclusively debuting at the end of this month, a writers space feature for Novelicious, some competitions I'll be running from my Facebook page and a tiny blog tour - but that's it. I haven't had time to write articles or stories for the press and there won't be a launch party or any signings. The thing is I really need this book to be a success if I'm to stand a chance of getting a second two book deal, especially in this worrying 'are chicklit sales on the downturn?' time and I'm running out if time and feasible ideas.

So....

I was wondering if you could help?

The tagline of the book is 'all she wants for Christmas is three little words' and I thought it would be wonderful if, on 10th November, as many bloggers as possible could blog 'All I want for Christmas is...' and then something you want this year, or when you were a child, or a great (or terrible!) Christmas memory. And if you could end your post with an image of Home for Christmas, the blurb and a link to Amazon that would be amazing!

If you'd like to get involved please comment on this post or email/tweet me and I'll post the image/blurb/link nearer the time.

But for now there's a beautiful little boy who's wailing for a feed so time for me to take off my author hat and put my mummy one back one. I like the way it looks! :)

* my boyfriend used to be the lead singer in a signed heavy metal band but now has a much more sensible job!
** My nickname for baby on this blog because I thought my pregnant bump looked more like a potato than a beach ball!

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My TopSecretProject finally revealed...

2011-10-04T13:35:00.001+01:00

Born on 1st October by emergency C Section (he was breech) at 7.57am, my first child - a son - weighing 9lb 1.5oz.

He is perfect in every single way and his dad & I couldn't be more in love with him.

Six Sentence Sunday

2011-09-25T16:49:00.001+01:00

I saw this on Liz Fielding's blog this morning and thought it might be fun to join in. I left it too late to officially sign up with Six Sentence Sunday for this week but thought I'd post six sentences from 'Home for Christmas' anyway. Feel free to play along in the comments - post 6 sentences from whatever you're working on at the moment.

What happened in the cinema that day we first met became a bit of a running joke between me and Aiden. Whenever one of us was down or grumpy, the other just had to say, ‘It could be worse, you could be stuck in a toilet!’ and then we’d both laugh. Well, I always laughed. Aiden didn’t seem to find it quite so amusing after the hundredth time I said it.

In a way, it was weird that we’d ended up together. Our taste in films was about as diverse as it could be.

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A bit of this and that...

2011-09-22T19:28:00.003+01:00

Not much to report but I thought I should do a quick catch-up blog post as today was the day I was planning on typing 'THE END' on Project B after a 10,000 words a week x 7 weeks mad first draft dash (a challenge I set myself back in August).

The truth is that slicing my thumb open, getting PR/marketing in place for 'Home for Christmas' and tending to TopSecretProject have prevented me from achieving my goal. No 'The End' for this author but I am about 29% of the way through the first draft (roughly 21,000 / 70,000 words) and I'm not going to beat myself up about it.

Having said that I do feel a bit of (internal) pressure to get it finished asap but think that's more to do with the fear/worry that someone else will write, and publish, a similar novel before I can get this one 'out there'. I had a similar fear with 'Heaven Can Wait' and several heart stopping moments as I was writing the first draft when someone would mention that a TV show or novel was 'similar'. The worry was unfounded. The fact is that no one is going to write EXACTLY the same novel as you and, even if their novel DOES propel the author straight into the bestseller charts, it doesn't mean that your novel won't get picked up too (publishers do like a bandwagon!).

A couple of blog posts have attracted my attention this week. There's this one by Cassandra, a literary agent intern, about word counts and how they differ between different genres etc:

http://www.camarshall.com/2011/09/word-count-guidelines.html

And this one by Adele Ward about how an advance can ruin an author:

http://adeleward.blogspot.com/2011/09/why-advance-can-ruin-author.html?spref=fb

Thought provoking stuff I thought.

If I could be anyone I'd be...

2011-09-14T07:00:00.001+01:00

...Michael Palin!

Not only has he travelled to places I could only imagine visiting AND had adventures that money can't buy but he's been in films and is part of Monty Python, one of the greatest comedy partnerships ever.

I've ~~spied on~~ seen him at the Orion parties (he's an author too don'tchaknow!) and he seems like a genuinely lovely guy.

Who would you be?

In case you're wondering... this post is brought to you by a blog splash for the launch of Talli Roland's new book 'Watching Willow Watts' ...

About Watching Willow Watts

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

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

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

Buy the book:

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/nIygH

Amazon.com: http://amzn.to/riMpmH

Bookmarks, business cards and blogs...

2011-09-12T12:25:00.001+01:00

Sorry about the lack of updates recently, I'm not sure where time has gone but it seems to have developed a magical 'speeding up' quality which means there just don't seem to be enough hours in the day at the moment.

The stitches in my thumb came out a couple of weeks ago - and I now have an impressive zig zag scar that I have to massage several times a day - but I still have the thumb splint on. It'll remain on for a few more weeks until my physio starts but I'm kind of getting used to it. I've even taught myself how to crossstitch with my right hand (it's slow going though!)

Talking of the 'thumb incident' it's definitely impeded my progress with Project B. Instead of being about 60-70% of the way through as planned, I've only written 25% of the first draft (17,661 words / 70,000). That said, considering I'm typing up the 12,000 or so words I wrote by hand before my accident as well as writing new words AND I have to keep taking breaks when my thumb swells up, I'm not doing too badly.

I've also been ploughing on with my Home for Christmas promo work, including making some bookmarks and business cards online and organising a very small blog tour to celebrate publication day (10th November). The business cards are from Moo.com and I love them, despite the fact I didn't quite get the left and right margins to match! The bookmarks are from Stressfreeprint.co.uk and they're great but not really weighty enough to be long lasting bookmarks, they're more like slim flyers! If anyone knows a good, cheap online place for decent bookmarks do please let me know!

What else? Well...Top Secret Project is due to launch very, very soon and all work on ProjectB and Home for Christmas will temporarily stop when that kicks off. Sorry to be so cloak and dagger about it but I'm the superstitious sort and it's all very exciting and nerve wracking at the same time. Watch this space - I'll reveal all in the next few weeks...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Want to write a pocket novel?

2011-09-05T11:04:00.001+01:00

Aka a 50,000 word romantic novella for My Weekly or People's Friend?

Then sign up for multi-published pocket novelist Sally Quilford's workshop in Chesterfield on 22 October. Only £35!

More details here: Sally's blog

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Thumbelina: The tale of the one-handed writer...

2011-08-24T16:53:00.004+01:00

Just a quick update to say that the cast/clubhand came off on Monday and I'm now the proud owner of a thumb splint! I feel so much lighter and unencumbered it's unbelievable - and generally much chirpier in myself!

I can even type - though I'm not supposed to b/c I'm supposed to keep my left hand elevated - so am keeping two-handed typing to a minimum.

The Dragon App turned out to be a bit of a disappointment when I used it this morning. It kept failing to transcribe the chapter I was reading (though it DID transcribe my test - 'Hello my name is Cally, I live in this house' - each and every time I said it which was weird!) so I might hang onto the expensive PC version after all as the thumb splint is likely to be around for another 6 weeks or so.

As well as working on Project B - I wrote over 1,000 one-handed words yesterday taking me to 13,470 / 70,000 (19.0%) - I've been working on some of the marketing/PR ideas for 'Home for Christmas' that Louisa and Sophie and I talked through over lunch the other week.

One idea in particular sent me into spasms of delight (and guffaws of laughter) when a friend very kindly took a look at what I'd produced, tweaked it and made it 100% better. I'm crossing everything that it comes to fruition. If it does hopefully I'll get to debut it around October time so watch this space.

There are still several things on my 'Home for Christmas' PR 'to do' list and I'm working through them slowly but surely.

I'm still enjoying Project B but have found writing it comes in fits and starts. Last night, for example, the words seemed to spill out but, at other times, it's like pulling teeth. Even though I've done more plotting than normal with this novel I'm definitely writing my way into it and only discovered the true voices of two of the characters yesterday (5 chapters in). That's why I keep banging on about the importance of fast & dirty (shit) first drafts. There's absolutely no point editing and polishing your chapters as you go along because you'll only end up rewriting them once you reach the end anyway! Well, I will...

It's weird though - I do find myself re-reading bits and thinking, "that's not very good. Call yourself a writer? How clumsily did you word that?!" and then I have to remind myself to take my own advice - just get the story down and make it publishable later.

Right - I've now suitably motivated myself to log off the internet and write a bit more. Ta taaaa!

Thumb Chop Writer HEARTS her iPad

2011-08-21T19:21:00.001+01:00

First off thanks LOADS for all the well wishes and concerned tweets and messages about my recent thumb amputation (KIDDING!) laceration. The local anaesthetic wore off about six hours after my op but, touch wood, I've had very little pain and have coped with any discomfort since by taking a couple of paracetamol.

After taking Friday and Saturday off to sulk (I mean recuperate) I got back on the Project B 'write 70k in 70 days' bandwagon today and it was all down to my trusty new iPad (I'm not being paid to pimp iPads, honest!).

First off I did a bit more plotting using a mind map app called 'Idea Sketch'. It's a great app, cheap too, but I discovered today that it's a bit memory intensive so I might have to split the novel into a couple of different projects rather than one big mind map.

Next I downloaded a writing app called 'My Writing Spot' which, at £2.99, is pretty reasonable for what is basically a notepad app that syncs what you write with an online website (good for backing up your work!) and, finally, I downloaded the Dragon voice recognition app which was FREE!

I haven't done a great deal of work with it yet but the test I did do worked brilliantly (it even recognised some fairly unusual first names) and I was able to edit the transcription and then cut and paste it into the 'My Writing' app. You can also use Dragon to post to Twitter and Facebook but I haven't tried that yet. To be honest I'm seriously thinking about cancelling my order for the £75 PC version of the Dragon software and sticking with the free iPad app!

All in all I only wrote 325 new words today but I'm happy with that as a) they were typed with one finger of my right hand and b) most of today was spend working out which apps would actually help me and speed up the 'writing' process rather than distract me (plants verses zombies I'm talking to you!).

Now to turn my attention to some proofreading comments that have come in for Home for Christmas.

Is there an app for that? ;)

12,417 / 70,000 words

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Best excuse ever for not writing...

2011-08-19T16:24:00.001+01:00

I sliced open a tendon in my left thumb whilst trying to remove a food processor blade from the dishwasher!

Yesterday I was on an operating table, wide awake, as the tendon was sewn back together (huge kudos to the Plastics team at Frenchay hospital, Bristol who saw me so quickly and made the whole experience stress free).

Considering how small the initial cut was (about 1cm) it's amazing I managed to do so much damage. The gignormous cast on my arm is to stop me from moving my thumb in the wrong direction and breaking the tendon sutures (eek!) and it's held in place above my heart by a collar and cuff sling! hopefully it'll come off in the next couple of weeks and I'll get a splint instead. In 5 weeks time I'm allowed to hold something the weight of a cup of tea and in 7 weeks something the weight of a filled kettle.

So yeah, this little mishap (my first visit to hospital in 22 years - the last time was to have teeth out!) has pretty much put paid to my 70k in 7 weeks plan for Project B. I was doing so well too, 12,000/70,000 words written longhand in less than a week and a half! Hmmm...pride comes before a fall and all that.

My new plan (as I am left handed and can't write with my right hand) is to explore voice recognition software and transcribe what I've written so far and then add to it if I can. I've ordered 'Dragon' software from Amazon which should hopefully arrive soon. This blog entry, btw, is being typed with one finger of my right hand. I'm a touch typist normally so this is pretty slow going for me! Not much I can do about the cross stitch I was working on before the accident and I guess knitting is out too!

While I spend the next 5 weeks recuperating if anyone can suggest how on EARTH you can do up a bra one handed (or butter toast, or slice an egg or any of the other myriad of things you don't realise you need 2 hands for until you only have one!) do please let me know!

One bit of news to cheer me up this morning - my agent emailed to tell me that Heaven Can Wait is a bestseller in China. Yay!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Well that was knackering...

2011-08-13T17:56:00.001+01:00

...but I did it!

10,189 words this week (2,000+ words a day for 5 days).

I had to work hard to get 2,000 words down after I met Sophie and Louisa from Orion for lunch on Thursday (SO fancied slumping on the sofa with a film) but I did it. We talked about promotion for Home for Christmas (there's going to be a great Facebook competition to celebrate publication week in November so make sure you 'like' me there if you want to be kept in the loop - www.facebook.com/CallyTaylorAuthor) and they were really enthusiastic about the marketing ideas I'd come up with. So really it's my own fault that I've got a bunch of other stuff to write/organise as well as 60,000 words of Project B to draft in the next six weeks!

Anyway Project B is definitely a dirty first draft at the moment and it'll need a hell of a lot of editing before I'll be happy showing it to anyone, but it's great watching the story unfold under my hand and I've already been surprised by one cliffhanger I didn't see coming.

Now to relax until Monday when I start the next 10,000 words!

10,189 / 70,000 (14%)

How's your writing week been?

Why writing is like exercise...

2011-08-11T21:35:00.001+01:00

So, until Tuesday, the only thing I'd written in approximately 18 months was my entry to the RNA Elizabeth Goudge competition and that was a couple of months ago. My lack of words wasn't because I was competing in the world procrastination championships but because I was hard at work editing and rewriting Home for Christmas whilst holding down a full time job and cramming in a busy social life.

I've got a bit of time on my hands at the moment but it's limited and in approximately six weeks time Project Top Secret (what is it with me and all these stupid projects I won't reveal? Annoying i know but I'm incredibly superstitious) begins and I won't have time to dedicate to Project B for quite a while.

So...I need to make the most of the time I do have available to me - hence the 10,000 word a week targets.

'I can do 2000 words a day, no problem' I told myself as I was typing up my last blog post. Sure, it took me 7 months to write the first draft of 'Home for Christmas' but I wrote 'Heaven Can Wait' in 3 months and 3 weeks - that's 2000 words a day isn't it (actually its more like 1,600)'

But you know something? Writing really is like exercise and if you don't do it regularly not only will you dread (and make excuses for) doing it again but your first attempt will be tough, you'll feel like it's taking forever and afterwards you'll be exhausted! And the next day you won't want to write again because you mentally ache, but you have to if you want to achieve whatever goal it is that you set yourself.

Meg Rosoff recently posted a blog post about how coming up with an idea for a novel is the fun bit and writing it is hard work. I totally agree. There's nothing I love more than lounging around, daydreaming about a novel idea and occasionally scribbling a few ideas into a notebook but that's just the writer warming up (the exercise equivalent to driving to the gym whilst telling your passenger how you're going to go on the treadmill for half an hour followed by an hour of weights and a 20 min bike cool down). You're wearing the right gear and you're talking like someone who exercises but you're not actually sweating!

Writing, like exercise, IS hard work and, over the last 3 days I've had to use all my mental reserves to keep writing until I hit 2000 words and not give into the gremlins in my brain that tell me I'm tired and deserve a rest and who really cares if I hit my self-imposed deadline or not. It's the same sort of thing when I'm on the treadmill 'one more mile and then you can stop' then, when I hit that mile, 'just to the end of this song and then you can stop'. I trick myself into continuing.

And you know what? When I complete that 3 mile run or hit 2000 words it's a similar kind of buzz. Because I've achieved something I worked hard for.

Today I wrote 2234 words, yesterday it was 2054 and the day before that 2058. That's TWENTY-SIX and a half pages of my moleskin notebook (I thought I'd give writing longhand a go for this project) and every one of those pages would be blank if I hadn't been my own writing personal trainer mentally shouting 'you can't stop yet!'. (That's not to say a big part of me isn't secretly dreading another punishing writing regime tomorrow and would much rather lie on the sofa and watch DVDs!)

My aim was to write 10,000 words this week. I just need to write another 3,654 in the next two days and then I can give myself Sunday off! Now there's another way to motivate myself...

How do you motivate yourself?

If a new front cover makes a writer's heart sing...

2011-08-10T11:31:00.004+01:00

...mine is burbling along to Stevie Wonder's 'Isn't she lovely'!

I know I'm biased but what a lovely cover for my second novel!

'Home for Christmas' is set in Brighton and Hove and this could SO be one of the lovely squares in Hove. AND my name in sparkles in the sky looks a lot like the Flash animation I created for my website (www.callytaylor.co.uk). Clever Orion designers :)

Roll on 10th November (publication day), I can't wait to see it in the shops!

What do you think?

P.s. Thanks for all the comments on my plotting becoming procrastination post yesterday. I hit my target for the day & wrote 2,058 words. Haven't written a single word today - better get on with it!

When Plotting Becomes Procrastinating: just get on with your novel!

2011-08-09T09:49:00.002+01:00

I've been planning 'Project B' for a while now - and thinking about it even longer. It's been important to me not to rush headlong into into this new novel, partly because it's a departure from my published (or soon to be published) rom-com novels, but also because the experience of having to rewrite Home for Christmas a couple of times has made me realise how important it is that you get the 'thinking' about a novel right before you sit down and start writing.

I know some writers (my favourite chick lit writer Lisa Jewell included) sit down with the sketchiest of ideas and just start typing but that doesn't work for me. I need to know WHY I'm writing the novel I'm writing - what is it that is going to force me to give up large chunks of my social life for months on end? What is it that's going to get me out of bed in the middle of the night to write down an idea for a new scene? Who are these characters that chatter in my head as I walk to the shops and what do they want? Am I excited enough about this idea to see it through from beginning to end (including that awful sticky bit at 30,000 words in where you just want to chuck it in the bin)?

So yes, I've been thinking about Project B for a while and started plotting it (not entirely, I like the characters to surprise me) while I was on the writing retreat a few months back. Plotting was somewhat successful and spelled out the first couple of chapters but there were still things I needed clarifying - who were the characters, what did they look like, what did they want, what were their emotional arcs? - so I did a bit of paper-based brainstorming/mind mapping, did some fact-based research on the Internet/twitter, went on Flickr and printed out 'photos' of my characters, drew a map of the main location in the book and downloaded mind map, index card and storyboarding apps for my new IPad and bought an 'ugly toy' to represent my internal editor so I could throw it across the room if it dared tell me that my idea/writing/story was rubbish.

Hang on! 'Bought an ugly toy'?

Because that's, you know, vital preparation for novel writing isn't it?!

You can see what happened can't you? Instead of getting on with writing my novel I was making excuses why I wasn't ready yet. I still had to research x, plot y or buy z. If I didn't actually start WRITING project B I wouldn't have to face my very real fear that the final book wouldn't live up to its potential in my imagination. And if that happened I'd have failed. And no one wants to be a failure, even if just in their own head.

So you know what I did? I gave myself a start writing date - non negotiable.

TODAY.*

And, like I did with Heaven Can Wait, I've given myself a tight deadline. 10,000 words a week, for 7 weeks, to produce a first draft of 70,000 words.

And it's allowed (supposed) to be shit.

This novel isn't under contract, it hasn't been promised to any publishers and the only people who know any of the plot details are my agent and my boyfriend. This is a novel I'm writing for me. It's a story I have to write. And yes, it might be the worst thing I've ever written but it might also be the best and I won't know unless I face my fears and write it. Starting today.

How about you? What are your fears stopping you from doing?

*(500 / 70,000 words written before breakfast. 1,500 left to write today.)

iPad test

2011-08-05T16:50:00.001+01:00

Just a quick test to see if I can successfully blog and upload photos from my new toy (yes, another one!). Nothing to see here, move along please... ;)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

The secret to falling in love with your novel again...

2011-07-22T18:46:00.006+01:00

...is holding the bound proof/Advanced Review Copy in your hands for the first time.

It arrived today and I actually gasped when I opened the package.

I've seen a pencil sketch of the actual cover - it's completely different to this one - and I know this cover is just temporary (a bound proof is for marketing/PR purposes and isn't for sale) and the 'real' book isn't out until 10th November but it's just so damned pretty!

And pink!

And the tag line - 'All she wants for Christmas are three little words' - is just perfect!

Not only that but, all of a sudden, the 90,000 or so words I've rewritten and edited fifteen million times over the last two years (okay so I'm exaggerating slightly but I did put a hell of a lot of work into this novel) are suddenly real.

They're not just part of my laptop they an actual, proper, you-can-turn-the-pages-and-everything BOOK!

There have been times over the last few years where I would quite happily have thrown this novel (if it existed outside of my laptop) against the nearest wall but now I just want to stroke it and stare at it (I'll draw the line at coo-ing!) and carry it around with me.

I know people compare books to babies and even the mother of the ugliest baby in the world thinks it's beautiful, so excuse the gushing. I'm ever-so-slightly in love.

Cally joins the 21st century reading revolution!

2011-07-15T12:53:00.005+01:00

I finally did it. I finally caved and bought myself a Kindle.

I ordered one:

- partly b/c I was ashamed that I was in the minority with my hand not in the air when Simon Petherick asked, in his RNA talk on the future of publishing, who had a Kindle

- partly because I'm getting sick of weighing down my handbag (and shoulder) with a heavy book during my once-weekly Bristol to London commute*

- and partly because I think it might be a good way to proofread the novels I write without causing the destruction of several small forests.

But mostly because I'm a bit of a geek and this looks like one gadget that is going to be around for a bit.

It is, I have to say, quite lovely. Much lighter than I thought and the text on screen really is easy on the eye with no glare whatsoever. But now I'm faced with a dilemma...which book to buy first?

If you're a Kindle owner what did you buy? Any hints/tips you'd like to pass on to a newbie?

*Please note, I haven't gone over to the dark side and will continue to buy lovely, strokeable 'proper' books as well as the 'e' kind. I'll just stick to reading them at home!

On being a virgin (RNA conference virgin, that is)

2011-07-13T19:27:00.017+01:00

I can't remember why I didn't go to the Romantic Novelist's Association conference last year - possibly because I was knee deep in Home for Christmas edits - but there was no way I was going to miss this years', particularly as Newport is only half an hour from Bristol by train!

My weekend got off to a great start when I ran into Kate Harrison at the train station at about 2.30pm on Friday afternoon. We shared a taxi to the Caerleon Campus where the conference was being held and navigated the stairs and corridors to find our way to the main RNA registration room (we were actually looking for reception and the keys to our rooms but it didn't matter in the greater scheme of things). We were greeted by a very cheerful Jan Jones and given our name badges (it's surprising how quickly you can get used to other people immediately peering at your chest the moment they meet you!) and a goody bag containing 4 free books (woo hoo!), various promotional postcard, bookmarks & pens and a 100g bar of Green & Blacks chocolate (yum).

We left our suitcases there and went off in search of the first session - the 3pm session by literary agent Lizzy Kremer.

Here's a quick summary of what she said:

- in order for her to take on a novel she has to know that she can sell it. She also has to love it. Mostly she needs to love it.
- the characters in the novel need to feel real and she has to like spending time with them.
- pacing and plot need to work, she has to be eager to find out what happens next.
- and the voice needs to ring out
- she takes women's fiction by, and about, women.
- she likes books about love - romantic love, mothers, female friendship, grief and journeys of self-discovery (self love)

The rest of her talk was about what makes for a good contract and I learnt loads.

After Lizzie's talk I sped round to reception with my case and picked up the keys to my room. It was a fairly Spartan student room with a single bed and a noisy warm fridge but it came with complimentary toiletries and an en-suite. Result! (I'm easily pleased!). I made it back to the main building in time for Anne Ashurst's (RNA Chairman) welcome, swiftly followed by the RNA Award Winners Panel. It featured Louise Allen (love story of the year), Elizabeth Chadwick (historical novel of the year), Jill Mansell (romantic comedy of the year) and was chaired by the effervescent Jane Wenham-Jones.

I didn't write notes on this session but it made for fascinating listening, finding out how long other authors took to write their books, whether they plotted or not and how many drafts they completed. The biggest surprise of the discussion, for me, was finding out that Jill Mansell writes all her novels long hand. She splits the page in half down the middle, writes the first draft on the right hand side and edits on the left. When she's finished someone (I think she said her daughter) types it up for her. It's not that she's a technophobe, she said, she just can't type very fast!

Friday ended with drinks in the bar and self-service dinner in the refectory. There were so many people I recognised, and so many friendly faces that were up for a chat, I was never without someone to talk to.

Saturday started at 9am with a terrifically useful workshop on descriptive writing, lead by Linda Gillard. I took extensive notes and - with Linda's generous permission - I'll be writing a full blog post on what I learnt later this week or next.

After the morning break it was time for Jane Wenham-Jones's session on finding the hook/angle for your book.

(Jane Wenham-Jones: Where's the hook? What's my angle?)

It was a really fun, interactive session where the audience got to shout out their 6 second elevator pitches to gauge Jane's reaction.

What's an elevator pitch? Well, imagine you are in a lift with the agent/publisher of your dreams and you've got 6 seconds to tell them what your book is about before the doors open. You can't waffle, you need to be specific and paint a picture with your description.

I really struggled with mine for 'Home for Christmas' (and didn't shout it out) but think it's something along the lines of 'One Day meets When Harry Met Sally, set in a Brighton cinema' (see, told you it was rubbish!)

The next session I attended was run by Flo Nicholl & Anna Boatman (assistant editors at Mills and Boon) about 'the unpredictable journey to happy-ever-after'.

(Flo Nicholl & Anna Boatman: the unpredictable journey to happy-ever-after)

I was hoping the session would be generic to all novels with happy-ever-after novels but it was quite specific to Mills and Boon. If you'd like to know what they said please leave a comment and I'll type up my notes if there's a lot of interest.

After a lovely lunch of jacket potato with ham and salad, followed by cheesecake (oops!) it was time for Liz Fielding's session on blending humour with emotion.

(Liz Fielding: Blending Humour with Emotion)

It was another fantastically useful session and highlights included:

- Liz pointing out that the big draw in romantic comedies is when the humour stops being funny and becomes poignant
- humour during low moments (eg. In Pretty Woman when Richard Gere asks Julia Roberts several times how she is and she relies 'fine'. Frustrated he asks her for another word to which she answers 'Asshole!)
- stick with wry smile moments rather than pratfalls. The smile of recognition from the reader heightens the emotional impact
- think about using all 5 senses in the humorous bits of your novel

At 3.15pm it was time for 'Creating characters we believe in' with Rachel Summerson (who writes as Elizabeth Hawksley).

(Rachel Summerson: Creating characters we believe in)

This was another session where I took extensive notes and Rachel was kind enough to grant me permission to feature them on this blog. More about that session later this/next week but basically we looked at what makes for a believable hero, heroine and supporting cast.

Next up was Lorelei Mathias's talk on 'Book marketing for small pockets' during which she showed us examples of marketing campaigns/websites/book trailers, including ones for her own books, that had either been successful/well received or gone viral. More on that in another blog post I think!

(Lorelei Mathias: Book marketing for small pockets)

And that was that for Saturday...apart from the wonderful Gala dinner and my wonderful
surprise (see previous post).

Sunday began with a full English breakfast (well why not, in for a penny in for a pound!) followed at 9am by Fiona Harper's hugely useful talk on 'getting emotion on the page and keeping it there'.

(Fiona Harper: Getting Emotion on the Page and Keeping it There)

It was such a gem of a session I don't think I stopped writing once in the hour I was there. Highlights included:

- the importance of universal emotion. Your setting can be unfamiliar to the reader but they must be able to identify with the emotion
- BUT, to increase emotion in your book you need to be specific about how your character reacts to a situation rather than them reacting how everyone would
- build your characters from the inside out, starting with their core truths. What are their beliefs? Their values? Their goals? Their past wounds? Their fears?
- grow your characters, it's all about the character arc of their emotional journey - particularly their inner conflict

Next up was Simon Petherick's talk on 'the future of fiction publishing'.

Simon started his talk by telling us that publishing power has moved from the publishers to the retailers but now the retailers are struggling because of rent costs etc and the key change for the future is technological. Amazon.com are now selling more e-books than physical books. Simon thinks that, because it's relatively easy for an individual to publish their own ebooks, in the future writers will become stronger and weaknesses will be with the publishers. This is because writers will always be needed to create stories but the role of publishers will change. They will need to convince writers to have their ebooks published by them on the strength of the marketing might they can offer. Simon stressed that the most important element when it comes to selling an ebook is to get the jacket right (see the recent Catherine Cookson books on Kindle for an example of getting it wrong!)

The day ended for me with a round table discussion on marketing with fellow authors before Anne Ashurst summed up her first conference as Chairman.

I had lunch then spent half an hour lapping up the early afternoon sunshine with Tamsyn Murray before our taxi to the station arrived. I left, utterly exhausted, but with a notebook bulging with notes, a head throbbing with ideas (I actually woke up the other night with a marketing idea for Home for Christmas and couldn't get back to sleep until I'd written it down!) and a renewed enthusiasm for writing romantic comedies. And let's not forget all the friends I caught up with, the new ones I made and all the laughs, moans and chats that made the weekend.

Will I be going to next year's conference? You try and stop me!

(all photos by me!)

Rough drafts and thick skins

2011-07-12T08:00:00.003+01:00

This time it's my turn to do a guest post on someone else's blog!

Back in April writer and Writers' Forum competition compiler Sally Quilford challenged the writing world to try and write 80,000 words in 80 days, starting on 1st May 2011. Over 100 writers signed up and she's been encouraging and writing alongside them ever since on the blog she set up especially for the challenge - 80kwords80days.blogspot.com.

When she asked if any writers wanted to contribute a guest blog I stuck my hand in the air. While I haven't written 80k in 80 days, or even a NaNoWriMo 50k in 30 days, I did write the first draft of Heaven Can Wait as fast as I could (roughly 99k in 105 days) and know how hard it is to keep your motivation up.

So here's my post on 'Rough Drafts and Thick Skins'. It's about the importance of writing a fast, dirty first draft and saving the polishing for your edits. In other words, as I wrote in the guest post, "if you read your first draft back and think ‘this is shit’, that’s absolutely the RIGHT thing to think."

http://80kwords80days.blogspot.com/2011/07/guest-blog-8-cally-taylor-rough-drafts.html

A wonderful surprise at the RNA Conference 2011

2011-07-11T15:15:00.002+01:00

So...wow. Where do I start?

I had planned to blog about attending the Romantic Novelist's conference for the first time - my initial impressions, the talks, who I met, the food etc - and I took lots of photos, wrote lots of notes and then Saturday threw me a total curve ball.

A wonderful, totally unexpected curve ball.

So I think I'll start there and work backwards...

After a day full of brilliant talks (I'll be blogging the descriptive writing and creating credible characters ones in more detail later this week) it was finally time for the Gala dinner. The main hall had been completed transformed by the wonderful staff at Caerleon Campus, Newport...

...and I took a seat at a table with Tamsyn Murray, Ruth Saberton, Miranda Dickinson, Joanna Cannon, Kate Harrison and Julie Cohen (I know - talk about esteemed company!).

(from l to r: Joanna Cannon, Miranda Dickinson, Ruth Saberton, Tamsyn Murray)

We swapped news, made each other laugh and had a good old gossip over dinner (avocado and tomato starter, chicken tarragon main and some kind of pannacotta dessert) and then it was time for the winner of the Elizabeth Goudge Trophy to be announced.

I nearly didn't enter the Elizabeth Goudge competition (to write a 1,000 word novel opening on the theme of 'keeping a secret') because the info arrived bang in the middle of my move from Brighton to Bristol and the closing date was about 2 weeks later. I was also a bit nervous. I'd been editing my second novel, 'Home for Christmas', for what felt like forever and I was worried I'd lost 'it', the ability to write something fresh. But, never one to walk away from a challenge, I decided that I'd bloody well write an entry - no matter how rusty or rubbish - and I'd finish it and get it the post. It would give me a sense of satisfaction that I'd written something new and different, if nothing else.

Annie Ashcroft, the new Chair of the RNA, took to the microphone and announced that, like the Oscars, she'd be talking about each of the six shortlisted entries in turn before revealing the top 3. The names of the authors of each story were in sealed envelopes so the judges, and the listening audience (of approximately 160 writers!) had no idea who'd written each story - they just knew the title.

Annie announced the title of the first shortlisted story and Kate Harrison turned to look at me to ask if it was mine (I'd, somewhat stupidly, announced to the table that I'd sent an entry in).

I shook my head. No, not mine.

We repeated this routine for the next three shortlisted stories and my heart began to sink - what an idiot for getting my hopes up that I stood a chance of making into onto the shortlist when I was in the company of so many talented writers. But THEN...

"Story number 5 'The Somnambulist's Daughter'"

I sat up with a a jolt. That was mine!

Oh my god. I'd made the top six. How wonderful! Not only that but I was on the shortlist with fellow blogger and Orion writer Liz Fenwick who was sitting at the next table with Anna Louise Lucia (who'd kindly sent all conference newbies a series of emails to calm our frayed nerves before it began) who was also shortlisted.

I listened, bursting with pleasure, as Annie described my novel opening and the audience gasped in response (it's one of the darkest things I've written in a while!).

Then it was time for the top three, in reverse order. I listened, my heart in my chest, as Annie announced third place, then second place - Liz Fenwick! Cue loads of whoops and excited clapping from the next table.

I held my breath...surely...no...

"And in first place, the girl in the coma story..."

My heart sunk. My story was called 'The Somnambulist's Daughter' not the 'The Girl in the...' Hang on! Why was Tamsyn Murray bouncing up and down next to me? Why was my table beaming at me and clapping wildly?

"And the writer," Annie said as she opened the sealed envelope, "is Cally Taylor."

Oh my god...my novel opening was about a girl in a coma...my story had won! I stood up, as the other finalists had been asked to, and clasped my hands to my mouth. I was so shocked it was all I could do not to burst into tears.

Annie and Jan Jones beckoned me over the the microphone and I accepted my award in a complete daze. One second Jan was explaining to me about how I should get my name engraved on it and the next every woman in the room was raising her glass to me.

*okay, the memory of that moment just overwhelmed me. Slight pause while I have a bit of a cry*

Right..*coughs*...sorry about that... where was I? Yep, somehow I got back to my table and composed myself enough for some photos. Call me cheesy but I couldn't resist doing 'a Wimbledon' pose with my cup (I've never been any good at sport!). So many people came over to congratulate me and say wonderful things about my novel opening I couldn't even begin to name them all and the rest of the evening passed in a glorious, delirious blur.

It was quite honestly one of the best nights of my life and HUGE THANKS to everyone on my table for making it so special, the judges, Annie Ashurst, Jan Jones, Catherine Jones/Kate Lace and everyone else involved. I should also thank my fabulous boyfriend for spotting an error in the first paragraph when I asked him to give it a quick read before I sent it off (it was swiftly corrected before it went in the post!).

Big, big congrats to Liz Fenwick (who has also blogged about the award) and Anna Louise Lucia.

So here we go - possibly the happiest woman at the RNA Conference 2011:

And here's my winning novel opening (for those who asked if they could read it):

The Somnambulist’s Daughter

Cally Taylor

***

Coma. There’s something innocuous about the word, soothing almost in the way it conjures up the image of a dreamless sleep. Only Charlotte doesn’t look as though she’s sleeping to me. There’s no soft heaviness to her closed eyelids. No curled fist pressed up against her temple. No warm breath escaping from her slightly parted lips. There is nothing peaceful at all about the way her body lies, prostrate, on the duvet-less bed, a clear plastic tube snaking its way out of her mouth, her chest polka-dotted with multicoloured electrodes.

The heart monitor in the corner of the room bleep-bleep-bleeps, marking the passage of time like a medical metronome and I close my eyes. If I concentrate hard enough I can transform the unnatural chirping into the reassuring tick-tick-tick of the grandfather clock in our living room. Fifteen years fall away in an instant and I am thirty-seven again, cradling baby Charlotte to my shoulder, her slumbering face pressed into the nook of my neck, her tiny heart out-beating mine, even in sleep. Back then it was so much easier to keep her safe.

“Sue?” There is a hand on my shoulder, heavy, dragging me back into the stark hospital room and my arms are empty again, save the sticker-covered diary I clutch to my chest. “Would you like a cup of tea?”

I shake my head then instantly change my mind. “Actually, yes.” I open my eyes. “Do you know what else would be nice?”

Brian shakes his head.

“One of those lovely teacakes from M&S.”

My husband looks confused. “I don’t think they sell them in the canteen.”

“Oh.” I look away, feigning disappointment and instantly hate myself. It isn’t in my nature to be manipulative. At least I don’t think it is. There’s a lot I don’t know any more.

“It’s okay.” There’s that hand again. This time it adds a reassuring squeeze to its repertoire. “I can pop into town.” He smiles at Charlotte. “You don’t mind if I leave you alone with your mum for a bit?”

If our daughter heard the question she doesn’t let on. I reply for her by forcing a smile. It is a traitor’s grimace. No...a police sergeant’s. My husband is a potential suspect and I don’t even know if he’s guilty.

“She’ll be fine,” I say.

Brian looks from me to Charlotte and back again. There’s no mistaking the look on his face -it’s the same wretched expression I’ve worn for the last six weeks whenever I’ve left Charlotte’s side – terror she might die the second we leave the room.

“She’ll be fine,” I repeat, more gently this time. “I’ll be here.”

Brian’s rigid posture relaxes, ever so slightly, and he nods. “Back soon.”

I watch as he crosses the room, gently shutting the door with a click as he leaves, then release the diary from my chest and rest it on my lap. I keep my eyes fixed on the door for what seems like an eternity. Brian has never been able to leave the house without rushing back in seconds later to retrieve his keys, his phone or his sunglasses or to ask a ‘quick question’ . When I am sure he has gone I turn back to Charlotte. I half expect to see her eyelids flutter or her fingers twitch, some sign that she realises what I am about to say but nothing has changed. She is still ‘asleep’.

“Darling,” I fumble the diary open and turn to the page I’ve already memorised. “Please don’t be angry with me but...” I glance at my daughter to monitor her expression. “...I found your diary when I was tidying your room yesterday.”

Nothing. Not a sound, not a flicker, not a tic or a twinge. And the heart monitor continues its relentless bleep-bleep-bleeping. It is a lie of course, the confession about finding her diary. I found it years ago when I was changing her sheets. She’d hidden it under her mattress, exactly where I’d hidden my own teenaged journal so many years before. I didn’t read it though, back then, I had no reason to. Yesterday I did.

“In the last entry,” I say, pausing to lick my lips, my mouth suddenly dry, “you mention a secret.”

Charlotte says nothing.

“You said keeping it was killing you.”

Bleep-bleep-bleep.

“Is that why...”

Bleep-bleep-bleep.

“...you stepped in front of the bus?”

Still nothing.

Brian calls what happened an accident and has invented several theories to support this belief:

- Charlotte was texting

- She saw a friend on the other side of the street and rushed across the road without looking

- She saw an injured animal that needed rescuing

- She stumbled and tripped

- She was in her own little world

Plausible, all of them. Apart from the fact the bus driver told the police she caught his eye then deliberately stepped into the road, straight into his path. Brian thinks he’s lying, covering his own back because he’ll lose his job if he gets convicted of dangerous driving. I don’t.

Yesterday, when Brian was at work and I was on bed watch, I asked the doctor if she had carried out a pregnancy test on Charlotte. She looked at me suspiciously and asked why, did I have any reason to think she might be? I replied that I didn’t know but I thought it might explain a thing or two. I waited as she checked the notes. No, she wasn’t.

“Charlotte,” I shuffle my chair forward so it’s pressed up against the bed and wrap my fingers around my daughter’s. “Nothing you say or do could ever stop me from loving you. You can tell me anything. Anything at all.”

Charlotte says nothing.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s about you, one of your friends, me or your dad.” I pause. “Is the secret something to do with your dad? Squeeze my fingers if it is.”

I hold my breath, praying she doesn’t.

***

END.

Want to write short stories for the women's magazine market?

2011-06-27T10:09:00.005+01:00

And live in the Northampton area?

Then I strongly recommend you get yourself over to my good friend Helen Hunt's blog to find out more about the workshops she's organising this year.

Not only is Helen a brilliant journalist (the article she wrote about my route to publication was featured on the front cover of Writers Forum magazine!) but she's had fiction published by all the major women's magazines and really knows her stuff.

Get yourself over to her blog right now before all the places on the workshop are snapped up!

Keeping the Balls in the Air: guest blog by Lucy Felthouse

2011-06-15T08:00:00.000+01:00

I'm delighted to welcome another guest blogger to 'Writing about Writing'. Please welcome Lucy Felthouse, erotic author extraordinaire!

Keeping the Balls in the Air

Firstly, thanks to Cally for letting me loose on her blog! Today, I'm going to be talking about juggling. Of course I don't mean the thing they do in circuses, I'm talking writing and making sure you're keeping on top of everything you need to do.

I'm sure most people can identify with this, whether they're writers or not. But as Cally's blog is entitled 'Writing about Writing' – I'm taking that theme and sticking with it. *g*

My 'day job' in itself is always a juggle. I do PR, Marketing and Web Design for writers. Therefore I'm always juggling clients and their requirements. I'll work my way through my inbox, making sure everyone is getting what they want and need... then another email will pop up. Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly not complaining as it's work and it pays the bills, but organisation, time management and lots of lists are required to keep all the balls in the air.

As well as all that going on, I have my own writing to do. Primarily I'm a short story writer, though I'm hoping to move into longer pieces this year. As a short story writer, I often have deadlines for when calls for submissions end. I have to slot these deadlines in around my 'day job' work and make sure I'm writing as many stories as I can and sending them off, as well as keeping my clients happy.

Then when good things happen – I get an acceptance – promotion is another item which jumps onto the to do list. So I'm writing blog posts, updating my website, Facebooking, Twittering and generally making sure people know I have something new available. I know lots of writers hate the promo side of things (which is why I started my business!), but I'm lucky in that I enjoy it and have fun doing it.

As a result of all this, I always have rather a lot of juggling to do. However, it keeps me busy and happy, and the days whizz past in a blur of crossing things off lists, sending emails and updating admin documents. I sometimes sail a little close to the wind with deadlines, but I'm a people-pleaser, so as long as I'm keeping everyone happy – all is good!

I'm sure lots of people can identify with all of this, so at least I've just shown you, you're not alone! Just keep juggling – the payoff will be immense!

Tips for Juggling

Make lists with the most important/urgent things at the top. Crossing things off the list will give you a sense of achievement and keep you focussed.
Learn to love spreadsheets. They're easy to update and you can use them to sort tasks by date, and add little notes for yourself. I colour code mine; red for to-do and green for complete.
Keep your emails organised – I have folders for various projects and clients and I only move emails to folders or delete them when they've been dealt with. That way I know the ones in my inbox are 'to do.'
Learn to say no. If you're already dealing with tons of things and someone asks you to do something, be honest. It's OK to say no, or 'not yet.' Most people would prefer you to say you'll do something, but not yet, rather than you say yes and they expect it quickly. We're only human and can only do so much. It's much better to deal with things one at a time and get it right, rather than taking on too much and making mistakes.
Write things down. This may sound obvious, but write everything down. I always have a notebook by my side as I may have an idea for something which I can't deal with right at that second, but would like to tackle later. But if you don't write it down, you run the risk of forgetting all about it. The same thing goes with conversations with people, you may agree to do something for someone, but if you don't write it down and it wasn't on an email, it could slip away.

Lucy Felthouse is a writer, editor, marketer, PR and web wizard. You can find out more about her writing at http://www.lucyfelthouse.co.uk and her business, Writer Marketing, at http://www.writermarketing.co.uk.

Her latest release, erotic short story A BIT OF ROUGH is available from Noble Romance now: https://nobleromance.com/Books/282

Well Nice was 'nice'!

2011-06-08T19:05:00.005+01:00

I'm back! And I'm in Bristol! The move went really smoothly and, for the first time EVER, I've got my own office/study. I'm inordinately pleased, even if I do have to share it with the washing machine and the ironing board (they're reasonably behaved roommates, although the washing machine does enjoy a good grumble in the corner of the room occasionally!)

My photos are up, my 'how to write' books are in place and I've put up my pin/white board and wiped it clean, ready to fill up with lots of Project B plottings. Quite frankly I couldn't be happier!

I had a fabulous time at the writers' retreat in Nice too. I had a lovely room with a great view of the tree-filled valley, wrote lots of notes on Project B (including filling out a character questionnaire Julie, our tutor, gave us) and swam in the pool daily.

The weather was glorious and I only wish we'd had more than 4 days there. Although it was a screenwriting retreat all the exercises we did (an hour a day) were relevant to novel writing too and I got a lot out of it (including a tan!). Julie sends out a monthly newsletter full of fantastic free tips and exercises that can help nudge the old grey matter so do sign up if you're interested. Her website is: http://www.ink-inc.co.uk/

Project B still needs a LOT more thought and plotting and planning before I can get started but that's fine, I LOVE this stage of novel writing. Thank goodness for the notes facility on my mobile because ideas are jumping into my head all the time.

What else? Oh, there was lovely news waiting for me when I got back - 'Heaven Can Wait' is going to be published in Serbia!

Next on my agenda is the RNA conference in Newport in July. I've been to a few RNA parties but never to the conference and I'm really excited. I've picked the sessions I'm attending and my inbox is full of introductory 'hello I'm a conference newbie too' emails (Anna Scanams kindly arranged the introductions). I'm particularly looking forward to Linda Gillard's workshop on improving descriptive writing (I love dialogue, loath descriptive writing!), Liz Fielding's session on blending humour with emotion and Rachel Summerson's talk on creating characters we can believe in.

Anyone else going?

Win a signed novel & help a charity

2011-05-31T19:05:00.002+01:00

If you're on Facebook and you haven't heard of 'Make for Macmillan' you're missing a treat. Created by Claire, who wanted a project to help take her mind of her own battle with cancer, it's a fantastic online community where crafters donate some of the wonderful things they've made so they can be auctioned off to the highest bidder.

You can get your hands on some really unusual and unique items AND help charity at the same time. I've won some fantastic items including a hand-carved name plate for my niece, a cross-stitch kit and crocheted 'angry birds'!

Claire's latest auction is brilliant - dozens of authors have donated signed books (you can request a dedication or particular wording) and there's a huge selection to choose from including:

Allie Danielle aka Allie Spencer
Cally Taylor (that'd be me!)
David Nicholls
Julie Cohen
Kate Hardy
Rowan Coleman
Rosy Thornton
Michelle Gorman
Freya North
Milly Johnson
Adele parks
Jenny Colgan
Emma Donoghue
Sarra Manning
Jo Carnegie
Kate Regan
Matt Harvey
Katie Fford
Louise Bagshaw

To join in you just need to leave a comment with your bid amount by Sunday 5th June, 8pm.

What are you waiting for?

To 'like' the page go here: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/makeformacmillan?sk=wall

And to look at the books (and bid!) go here: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/media/set/?set=a.175705379147025.55498.163410227043207

And there's a Young Adult/Childrens' signed book auction kicking off very soon...

And we're off! (in more ways than one)

2011-05-23T15:00:00.004+01:00

If you haven't clicked 'like' on my Facebook page (if not, why not?! ;)) you won't know that my copy-edits were approved and 'Home for Christmas' has officially gone into production.* Woo hoo!

If that wasn't good enough I've also (with a bit of help) pretty much finished all the packing for my impending move to Bristol (five bags of stuff to charity, 6 bags in the skip and a MOUNTAIN of stuff to a car boot sale) and I'm off to Nice for my writing retreat on Wednesday!

I was worried that I'd blub during my official leaving do yesterday but, to my surprise I didn't shed a single tear. That may have had something to do with the fact that I'm seeing most of my friends/family again, individually, before I leave or that I'm in denial about the fact I'm actually going to leave Brighton after all this time but, mainly, I think it's because I'm so excited about the future. There's been a certain predictability to my life for the last 13 years and that's all about to change. Bring it on, ready or not!

I've spent today crossing boring moving-related things off my 'to-do' list, answering an interview for my Brazilian publishers and completing an online course I'm doing to help me complete 'Project B'. More on that when I've finished the first draft.

More of the same tomorrow - maybe squeeze in a trip to the Brighton Pavilion (I know, 13 years and I've never been!) - and then I'm off to Nice to get cracking with Project B. I still need to do a ton of planning before I can REALLY start writing Project B but I'd like to bash out the first couple of chapters if I can. They can always be re-written later.

Back on Sunday. Have a good week!

* page setting and proofreading

Copy edits. Moving on. And news of a competition...

2011-05-13T20:00:00.008+01:00

After a bit of a nudge from the trade paperback editor to hurry up (in the nicest possible way!) I finally finished reading aloud novel 2 and sent in completed my copy edits. Now I just have to wait and see if they're given the ok.

I'm itching to see what the revised cover looks like. I saw a draft last year which was lovely and very similar in style to 'Heaven Can Wait' but that was before we decided to set the novel at Christmas time. Now I'm imagining snowflakes and sparkles!

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before but, unlike 'Heaven Can Wait' which was set in North London, 'Home for Christmas' is set in Brighton. I've lived in Brighton for the last 13 years (the longest I've lived anywhere) and I love the place, know it inside out and many of the pubs, restaurants and cinemas mentioned in the book will ring a bell with people who live here. Unfortunately however, I'm not going to be around in October to drum up local interest in the book because...

...in just under 3 weeks time I'm moving to Bristol!

Although I'll miss Brighton, especially in the summer (not much beats a BBQ on the beach), I'm really excited about this move. It'll be the start of an exciting new era in my life and I'm sure there are many amazing adventures to be had in and around the city. Any of my blog readers live there, or nearby?

It's a good job I've handed in my copy edits because I'm off to a writing retreat in Nice the week before I move house (I know, I've never been very good at being sensible!) and I'm finally going to start Project B. I'm hugely looking forward to hanging out with my old screenwriting tutor (who's going to get us to do 'right brained exercises' each morning) and meeting some new writers. Then there's the fact the villa's got a swimming pool. Mmmm.....

I promised news of a competition in the title so here we go... the Alan Titchmarsh show, in conjunction with HarperCollins is running a competition to find 'The People's Novelist'. A similar competition was run in 2009 with Orion to find 'The People's Author' (fellow blogger Kate Lord Brown was a finalist and appeared on TV!) . Unlike 2009, however, it looks like they're looking for commercial fiction this time rather than a memoir. For more details see The Bookseller article here. Best of luck if you enter!

Any tips for staying sane when moving from one city to another? It's been a long time since I last did it...

She must love the sound of her own voice!

2011-04-28T18:51:00.004+01:00

That's probably what my neighbours thought when they walked past the door to my flat this morning.

Why?

Because I spent from 10.30am until 2.30pm reading novel 2 aloud.

I completed the copy edits a couple of days ago (yay!) and left the novel to rest so my head could empty a bit before I gave it a final read through to check for errors.

My attention span is absolutely shot at the moment and, as it's particularly hard to read off screen, the only way I could focus and not re-read the same paragraph over and over again was to read my novel aloud. The downside was that it took a lot longer than reading in my head (and I only got halfway through before I ran out of steam) but the upside was I spotted lots of errors and clunky sentences I might otherwise have missed. It's also a great way to spot where your pace flags - you'll know because you'll bored of reading! (luckily I only found one scene like that).

Yesterday I asked Twitter how I could find the motivation to read through my entire novel. I got some great suggestions but, as it turns out, I had the answer all along - pretend you're on Jackanory! I have no idea how old you lot are or whether you remember Jim'll Fix It but, when I was little, I loved Jackanory so much I wrote to Jimmy Saville asking if I could read a story.

He never replied.

I'm pretty sure that novel 2 isn't suitable material for a young audience (it contains sex and bad language for a start!) but putting on voices and generally being a bit over the top really helped get me through 4 hours of reading aloud - it's more tiring than you'd think.

I'm having the weekend off (starting now!) and I'll read the rest on Monday before I send the whole lot back to my editor.

Next week I might write a blog post about how I went about fixing the timeline issues...

Have a great weekend!

Live in Yorkshire? Aged 18-30?

2011-04-19T10:34:00.003+01:00

A year or so ago one of my stories, 'Imagination Avenue', was published in a short story anthology called 'The Route Book at Bedtime'. It's a gorgeous book and Route are fantastic, highly respected, publishers. They're currently working with the Arts Council to offer a book deal to 'Yorkshire's next great literary talent'.

As they say on their website:

"Route proposes to offer a publishing contract to the best of the new crop of writers and are looking for a novel or novella of between 30,000-80,000 words. Authors aged 18-30 who are living in Yorkshire should:

Submit a synopsis, a sample text up to 10,000 words plus a brief biography and covering letter
Send it by post to: Route Young Author, PO Box 167, Pontefract, WF8 4WW.
The deadline for submissions is 31 May 2011.

Submissions will be assessed by a panel of readers and shortlisted submissions will be requested to send in the full manuscript after the closing date.

The winning entry will be offered a publishing deal and will be supported editorially to turn their manuscript into a published book."

For more details go here: http://www.route-online.com/submissions

The copy edits are back!

2011-04-18T14:15:00.003+01:00

Just as I suspected - the second I started my 2 week Easter holiday (during which I'd planned on starting 'Project B') the copy edits for my second novel plopped into my inbox! There are only 2.5 pages and most of the queries are easily answered, but the timeline questions are already making my head melt! Still, the sooner I get on with them the sooner I can start Project B and I so can't wait to start writing something new.

Talking of Project B, the other day I put a call out on Facebook and Twitter for any physics experts to get in touch as I needed some research questions answering and was astounded by how many people offered to help. Honestly, you can knock social networking all you like but there are some really kind, helpful people out there - not least Dorothy Koomson who offered to ask her scientist husband my questions and then rang me up to tell me what he'd said! Superstars, both of them.

In other news I found out yesterday that foreign rights to 'Heaven Can Wait' have been sold to a publishing company in Vietnam. That's eleven foreign versions now - I'm incredibly lucky.

What else...what else? Are you missing my music-related blogging? (what do you mean no?!) Well here's a fun music meme I just saw on Nik's blog. Feel free to play along in the comments.

So, here’s how it works:
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that’s playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don’t lie and try to pretend you’re cool…because you’re not!
7. Stick the soundtrack on your mp3 player and listen away during the day.

Opening Credits – Happy & Bleeding, PJ Harvey
Waking Up – Richard Cory, Simon & Garfunkel
First Day at School – Ballard of the Beaconsfield Miners, Foo Fighters
Falling in Love – Hypnotize, Audioslave
Fight Song – Rolling in the Deep, Adele
Breaking Up – Feiticeira, Deftones
Prom/Dance/Ball – Mrs Robinson, Simon & Garfunkel
Life's OK – Yellow, Coldplay
Mental Breakdown – Accident, Rachael Yamagata
Flashback – Brazen, Skunk Anansie
Getting Back Together – Dark Shines, Muse
Birth of Child –Headlights, Snow Patrol
Wedding – Falling in Love With You, Imelda May
Final Battle – The Lady is a Tramp, Ella Fitzgerald
Funeral Song – Standing on my Own Again, Graham Coxon
End Credits –Falling, Nitin Sawhney

Guest Post: 'Carry on Writing' - Kate Lord Brown

2011-04-05T08:30:00.002+01:00

I don't think I've ever featured a guest post on my blog before so when fellow blogger Kate Lord Brown asked me if I'd be interested in helping her promote her debut novel 'The Beauty Chorus' I jumped at the chance.

I was even more excited when she said she'd like to write about perseverance in writing - a subject very close to my heart!

Over to Kate...

Carry On Writing

The best advice anyone ever gave me about writing was ‘zip up your rhino suit’. To write well, I’m convinced you have to have a ‘permeable’ skin – not necessarily thin, but sensitive to the world around you. This kind of nature doesn't sit well with the rejection that is an inevitable part of writing. How is someone capable of interpreting the world around them in an engaging, emotional way supposed to cope with a crushing ‘no’ – or worse a deafening silence?

Vadim Jean was right – to succeed as a writer, you need a suit of armour. You have to find a way to cope with rejection, to mentally put on a second, tougher skin than yours. There’s a well known American writer who starts her stage talks by emptying a couple of suitcases of rejection letters onto the floor. Who hasn't heard how many times people said ‘no thank you’ to Harry Potter or the Beatles? If you write, sooner or later there’s going to be a sniffy review or rejection. It’s about the only certainty with writing.

I had beginner’s luck – the first story I ever wrote was published. I was seventeen, and blew the winnings on an antique Turkish lamp for my purple tented, incense filled bedroom. After that, I learnt the business and craft of writing the hard way. In 1999, I started writing a novel, balancing my keyboard on my boyfriend’s sock drawer in the corridor of our tiny flat in London, writing before and after work. The rollercoaster with that book lasted nearly ten years. Meanwhile, we moved homes and countries so many times I lost count, I had two children, and amassed so many rejection letters for stories and articles, I started using them for kindling when we were hard up in Spain.

Maybe there is something to Malcolm Gladwell’s theory that it takes ten years to learn how to do something well. It’s a long time. A lot of work. A lot of rejections. At the end of 2008 I was pretty much ready never to write anything more than a shopping list – but then I read Zadie Smith quoting Beckett: ‘Ever tried, ever failed? No matter. Try again, fail again. Fail better.’ That was my lightbulb moment.

I put the book I loved so much aside for now, and pinned that quote over my desk, along with a clipping from a flying magazine about a woman who flew Spitfires during the war. I started an MA in creative writing, and began a new book. This became ‘The Beauty Chorus’, which is being published next month.

There’s another quote I love, and keep at the front of my diary – the newsprint is yellowed now, but John Mortimer’s words never fail to hit me: ‘All this points to one of the most precious pieces of advice I can offer: namely the importance in a long life of changing the script now and again, especially if you feel stuck in a rut.’

So, perhaps rejection is not a bad thing, if you use it to your advantage. Take constructive criticism on board. Use it to test your mettle. Clip out the good bits from a rejection letter, (‘shows promise …’ ‘we loved it …’), and use the rest as compost or kindling. Don’t fear failure, or rejection – perseverance is the single best quality for a writer. I learnt a new word today – ‘sitzfleisch’. It literally means ‘sit flesh’ ie, apply bottom to chair and do not get up until you have written ten, twenty, a thousand words – whatever your goal is for the day. That’s the key. Maybe, like me, you need to change the script (literally), but if as you learn to be a better writer, you can manage to ‘fall down seven times and stand up eight’, you will succeed, and you will get better. Keep going – carry on writing.

‘The Beauty Chorus’ by Kate Lord Brown is published on April 1^st by Atlantic.

http://thebeautychorus.blogspot.com

Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beauty-Chorus-Kate-Lord-Brown/dp/1848878702/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1300619358&sr=8-1

Kindle: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Beauty-Chorus/dp/B004S7BBO0/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_2

And there’s a preview, here: Waterstone’s http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/kate+lord+brown/the+beauty+chorus/8239200/

Kate worked as an art consultant, curating collections for palaces and embassies in Europe and the Middle East. She was a finalist in ITV’s the People’s Author competition in 2009, and has written for magazines including Condé Nast Traveller and Blueprint. Her debut novel ‘The Beauty Chorus’ is being published by Corvus, Atlantic in 2011. She lives in the Middle East with her family.

www.katelordbrown.com

http://katelordbrown.blogspot.com

Thanks so much Kate and all the best with the book. It looks like a fabulous read!

(Poster image courtesy of

http://www.folksy.com/shops/aardvarkonsea)

http://www.folksy.com/shops/aardvarkonsea

Good news and bad

2011-04-04T19:00:00.001+01:00

I can't remember where I read it but apparently there are five main areas to your life:

work
friends/family
romantic relationships
health
finance

and the chances are that you'll NEVER have all five in alignment (i.e. no matter what you do at least one part of your life will always be out of wack with the rest). You might have a great relationship, health etc but be absolutely skint or have great friends, health and finance but no partner - you get the idea.

Anyway, the reason I mention this is because, for me, work is made up of two sub-categories (the stress of managing the two is why I sometimes refer to myself as 'Exploding Author' online) which are:

my full time job
my novels

and they're seriously out of wack at the moment. My full time job is...well...this is a public blog so I'll just say it's hugely stressful at the moment. The novel, however, is a different story...

My editor has accepted all my edits and sent it on to the copyeditor!

*does happy dance*

I can't even begin to express how happy this makes me. I was starting to feel like I'd edit book 2 for the rest of my life but the ol' publication treadmill has started up again and we're one step closer to publication in October this year.

I've got about two weeks off (although I'll actually be researching Project B rather than relaxing) and then it's nose to the grindstone - or should that be treadmill - when the copy edits come in and it's my job to fix them.

So there you go - four and a half areas of my life *touch wood* are going well. How out of wack are you? ;)

Day 30 - 30 Day Music Challenge

2011-03-30T19:00:00.000+01:00

Wow! I've managed to blog EVERY DAY for 30 days. I don't think I've ever done that in the 4+ years I've been blogging.
Today's the last day of the music challenge (cue collective sigh of relief) and it's:

Your favourite song this time last year...

Hmmm. Not the most exciting challenge of the lot but I'll give it a go. This time last year was 30th March 2010 and according to this blog I...well...I didn't blog on 30th March last year but I think I'd just got back from my first ever skiing trip.

What was I listening to back then? Loads of stuff knowing me. But I was definitely still giving 'Black Gives Way to Blue' by Alice in Chains lots of listens and this was my favourite song. The memories it invokes still makes me smile.

Any idea what you were listening to this time last year?

Day 29 - 30 Day Music Challenge

2011-03-29T19:00:00.000+01:00

A song from your childhood...

When I think about songs from my childhood the first thing I think about is my parents' record collection. They weren't huge fans of music - still aren't - but they did have Blondie's Parallel Lines, an early Beatles album and a few 60s/70s compilations so, when I was old enough to be allowed near the record player, that's what I'd listen to.

Songs from my childhood also makes me think about TV theme tunes. I must have watched a hell of a lot of Saturday morning TV (it was the highlight of my week!) because I'm having a tough time choosing just one song. I had loads of favourite programmes as a kid but my top five would have to be Blue Peter, The Adventure Game, Number 73, Why Don't You and this programme...

Love it!

How about you?

Day 28 - 30 Day Music Challenge

2011-03-28T19:00:00.000+01:00

A song that makes you feel guilty...

I've ummed and ahhed over this challenge for DAYS now and I still can't think of a song that makes me feel guilty. Who has a song like that?! Murderers who listen to their ipod whilst on a killing spree?

I can't answer this challenge. Sorry! Music FAIL!

And, to make matters worse, this song is now stuck in my head. Aarrrgh!

Am I alone in not having a song that makes me feel guilty. Have you got one?

Day 27 - 30 Day Music Challenge

2011-03-27T19:00:00.000+01:00

A song that you wish you could play.

I'm going to change this to 'a song I wish I could sing' instead. In fact I'd just like to be able to sing full stop but if I could be in a band for just one day - and be an amazing lead singer - I'd love to get up and sing this...

'Hallelujah' - KD Lang singing Leonard Cohen (was tempted to play the Jeff Buckley version but everyone know that version and KD Lang does have a magnificent voice and this version gives me goosebumps!)

How about you? What would you love to sing if you could?

Day 26 - 30 Day Music Challenge

2011-03-26T19:00:00.001Z

A song you can play on an instrument...

Considering I haven't really played an instrument for 20 years I'm really going to be pushing it on this one. That said I did get a Yamaha keyboard for Christmas and I've played....no played is probably not the right word..banged the keys?... a couple of times since then.

I've got a fairly easy book called 'Pop go the Classics' (not that 'easy' makes me any more likely to be able to play it!) which features music that has been used in films and adverts. My current favourite way to torture the neighbours is to attempt this...

Air on the G String by JS Bach (otherwise known as 'Hamlet Cigars')

What song can/could you play?

Day 25 - 30 Day Music Challenge

2011-03-25T19:00:00.001Z

A song that makes you laugh...

This is an oldie but a goodie. A contestant on Bulgaria's equivalent of the X-Factor singing Mariah Carey's well known song 'Ken Lee'...

What song makes you laugh?

The Brazilian version of Heaven Can Wait

2011-03-25T18:30:00.003Z

Woo hoo! A new cover!

Huge thanks to @giuufernandes on Twitter for sending me a link to this photo of the Brazilian (Portuguese) version of Heaven Can Wait! It's called 'O Céu vai ter que esperar'.

I love how they've included the elevator from Limbo and, if you look closely, the fateful ladder to the attic!

Here's a bigger version that I found on Bertrand Brasil's Facebook page:

That's 7/10 foreign covers that I've seen now (you can see the other six here or larger resolution on my Facebook page). Just Taiwan, Hungary and Russia yet to publish!

Day 24 - 30 Day Music Challenge

2011-03-24T19:00:00.000Z

Ha! The challenge actually says 'a song that you want to play at your funeral'. Considering I won't be capable of playing anything at my funeral I'd quite like someone else to stick this one on...

'What a Wonderful World' - Louis Armstrong

How about you?

Day 23 - 30 Day Music Challenge

2011-03-23T19:00:00.000Z

A song that you want to play at your wedding...

Hmmmm.

Um.

Er.

Despite spending HOURS making a play list for a friend's wedding last year I've never really spent much - any - time thinking about what I'd want played at my wedding. I mean, I'd probably have a mix of cheesy floor fillers, disco, rock and songs I absolutely love but I haven't thought about specific songs, particularly not the first dance song!

(Interestingly, I was able to answer tomorrow's challenge 'song you want played at your funeral' straight away! Does that make me morbid? Don't answer that!)

Anyway, back to today's challenge. The last wedding I went to was on a Friday and The Cure's 'Friday I'm in Love' played as they walked back down the aisle after exchanging vows. I thought that song choice was just perfect!

I'd probably want a bit of old style crooning at some point - maybe some Nat King Cole, Louise Armstrong, Dinah Washington or Ella Fitzgerald. But who better to croon than...

Frank Sinatra singing 'My One and Only Love'

What song would you want played at your wedding or, if you're already married/divorced, you had played?

Day 22 - 30 Day Music Challenge

2011-03-22T19:00:00.000Z

A song that you listen to when you’re sad...

Hmm, what was it I was saying yesterday about this challenge repeating itself?!

Funnily enough, a couple of days ago I remembered a song that I think might just be one of the saddest songs EVER! While yesterday's song ('Once in my life' - Stevie Wonder) was all about having love in your life this song is about the pain of unrequited love. I think it's brilliantly painful (if that makes sense) and if a film was ever made of Novel 2 this song would SO feature on the soundtrack...

'I Can't Make You Love Me' - Bonnie Raitt.

Is there a sad bit in your novel? What song would you choose for the soundtrack?

Day 21 - 30 Day Music Challenge

2011-03-21T19:00:00.000Z

A song you listen to when you're happy...

Okay rubbish music challenge I think you're starting to repeat yourself here! But I'll answer anyway.

Yesterday was absolutely GLORIOUS so, after completing my edits (well, nearly. My editor sent me 16 minor edits and I've done 13/16 of them. The other 3 have gone back to her asking for clarification) I decided to go for a stroll. A fairly hefty FIVE MILE stroll as it turned out - to Brighton Marina and back!

I set my mp3 player to 'random' and when this song came on I couldn't help but grin. Sunshine and Stevie Wonder. What more could a girl want?!*

*chocolate and wine obviously but it's hard to swig from a bottle while you're walking!

Your turn - what was the last song you heard that put a spring in your step?

Day 20 - 30 Day Music Challenge

2011-03-20T19:00:00.002Z

A song you listen to when you're angry...

Out of all the challenges this is probably the easiest one for me to answer! I've loved this song since I was at Uni in the early 90s. The second I heard the first couple of chords I'd charge, full of cider and black, onto the dance floor of Newcastle's finest grotty indie/grunge clubs. Then I'd stomp from side to side in my para boots, my hands clasped behind my back and headbang until my neck could take it no more.

(I mentioned that I can't dance didn't didn't I?!)

I still absolutely love this album, find it brilliant to run to and if I'm angry it definitely gets played.

Here's 'Killing in the Name' by Rage Against the Machine

What song do you listen to when you're angry?

Day 19 - 30 Day Music Challenge

2011-03-19T13:45:00.000Z

A song from your favourite album...

I haven't got one favourite album I've got several so, to make it easy on myself and because I've listened to it most recently, I'm going to choose 'OK Computer' by Radiohead.

I've been trying to track it down on vinyl for a few weeks now (vinyl is the new black!) and finally got my grubby hands on a copy last weekend. It's an absolute masterpiece of an album and this is my favourite track...

'Paranoid Android' by Radiohead (playing live on Jools Holland)

(Annoyingly I can't embed the video, which is brilliant. Go here if you want to see it).

In other news... reviews of my second novel - Himmelsküsse, the German edition - are starting to appear on the web. I've found 3 so far and they've all been 5/5 star reviews!

As you've probably figured, if you're a regular reader of this blog, writing the second novel (both versions!) has been somewhat of a trial and I couldn't be more delighted (and relieved) with the response it's getting. I just hope the UK version is as well received when it comes out later this year.

There's a link to a 5/5 star review on a German chicklit review website on my Facebook page if you want a peek!

Your turn! A song from your favourite album please...

Day 18 - 30 Day Music Challenge

2011-03-18T19:00:00.000Z

A song you wish you heard on the radio...

In many ways being an author is like being a singer or being in a band. Unless you get exposure in the form of promotion - either in a 3 for 2 deal, nationwide advertising or being stocked in a well known supermarket - the chances of your novel becoming a bestseller or touching the national consciousness is very slim indeed.

I've been to quite a few gigs of singer-songwriter Tom McRae and, at one of them, he said that the holy grail for him was to...

Hang on, what do you mean you've never heard of Tom McRae?

No, that's not what he said. But it proves my point. Despite being a Mercury Prize nominated artist (for his self-titled debut album) Tom McRae isn't well known in the UK. And you know why? Because of radio play. He hasn't had any. Or he's had very, very little. At the gig I went to he said how there was a huge discussion between him and his record company about his new album and whether any of the songs was a 'Radio 2 single'. He told the audience that while he didn't actively write songs thinking 'Ooh, this one is radio friendly' there was a pressure to deliver the song that would crack the market for him.

Writing is very similar. If you're a published author you have to walk a fine line between being true to yourself and being commercial. Book outlets have a lot of power these days and it isn't unusual for a book cover to be redesigned, or a title to be changed, because a supermarket doesn't approve.

So... back to the challenge. Who would I like to hear on the radio? I'm choosing Scott Matthews, and not just because I feel guilty about something I once said to him at one of his gigs.

He was signing a CD for me bemoaning the that fact his record label had dropped him. "I wouldn't worry," I joked. "You just need to die like Nick Drake or Elliot Smith and you'll be HUGE'!"

*coughs*

Anyway...

Here's Passing Strangers by Scott Matthews.

How about you? Who would you like to hear on the radio?

Day 17 - 30 Day Music Challenge

2011-03-17T19:00:00.000Z

A song you often hear on the radio...

Hooray! I get the chance to mention a song I've already pimped on my Facebook page.

It's 'Someone Like You' by the glorious Adele. I heard it on Jools Holland months ago and I've been waiting for the album to come out ever since. I wasn't disappointed. '21' is a brilliant album - not a duff song on it.

What's the song you keep catching on the radio?

Day 16 - 30 Day Music Challenge

2011-03-16T19:00:00.001Z

A song you used to love but now hate...

Back when I lived in London in my early twenties I shared a flat with my mate, Matt*, from uni. I had the downstairs bedroom, on the same level as the living room and kitchen and Matt had the bedroom in the attic.

I was sitting in my room one day, door open, when Matt stumbled across the landing and dragged himself up the stairs towards his room.

"You okay?" I called.

"No," he said, pausing only briefly before continuing his slow trudge upstairs. "Time to ruin another album. Bye bye Nine Inch Nails."

He didn't need to say another word - I knew exactly why he was upset, he'd just got dumped!

I'm not sure if it the was third, or possibly fourth, album that Matt had 'ruined' in as many years but he always followed the same pattern:

got dumped
retired to room with pack of fags (and optional six pack of beer)
listen to maudlin album on repeat until utterly sick of it
bin album
go out with the boys and get (more) drunk

Because of Matt's post break-up modus operandi I've always been very careful about what music I'll listen to when a relationship ends. There's NO WAY I want to ruin any of my all time favourites with horrible memories. Instead I seem to seek out brand new sources of miserable melody, use them to get me through the 'god, I'll miss you' or, in the case of my last break-up 'thank god, I'm free of that terrible cheating, lying *******!' stage and THEN I bin them.

So... Polly Scattergood. I'm sorry. It's nothing personal. But I can't STAND your squeaky, moany, high-pitched, tormented wails any more. **

Please share! What song did you used to love and now hate? And what's the story about the change of heart?

* Name changed to protect his innocence!
** Apologies to Nik P who's a huge fan!

Day 15 - 30 Day Music Challenge

2011-03-15T19:00:00.000Z

We're halfway through! (Phew, I hear you say!)

Stumbling on...

Today's challenge is to name a song that describes you

Oh I was spoilt for choice today. Should I go for 'Foxy Lady' by Jimi Hendrix, 'You're Beautiful' by James Blunt or 'Angels' by Robbie Williams.

I'm KIDDING!

Ick. Particularly to the mention of James Blunt on my blog. I'm so sorry about that.

I decided to go for this instead. A fantastic cover version by Muse.

What song best describes you?

IMPORTANT: Authors for Japan

2011-03-15T12:05:00.000Z

I interrupt our regular '30 Day Music Challenge' blog posts with some very important news...

Dozens of fabulous authors, artists and publishers have been brought together by Keris Stainton to form 'Authors for Japan' - a fabulous fundraising auction for the British Red Cross Japan Tsunami Appeal.

There are some absolutely amazing auction items waiting for your bids:

signed books
critiques of chapters/stories/synopses/covering letters
one-to-one mentoring
book dedication
website design
characters named after you in future books
artwork
cover design

to name just a few.

I missed out on offering some of my books/characters but I'm helping out by bidding instead. Please hurry along here:

http://authorsforjapan.wordpress.com/

and join in the fun!

You've only got until Sunday 20th March to bid.

Day 14 - 30 Day Music Challenge

2011-03-14T17:05:00.004Z

A song no one would expect you to love...

Hmmmm...what kind of genre would people be suprised at? It's fairly obvious that I like rock and indie. And grunge and some metal. I've mentioned chilled stuff like Craig Armstrong and Max Richter, I've admitted to liking a bit of cheesy Beyonce R&B and I've mentioned a Dinah Washington song so that's jazz included.

Soooo...how about a bit of blues/rockabilly fusion with a modern twist? Ladies and gentleman I present the Irish superstar songstress - Imelda May! I saw her at the Cambridge folk festival in 2009 and she was fabulous!

Here she is singing my favourite song - Big Bad Handsome Man - from her debut album:

What song (or genre of music) would people not expect you to like?

Day 13 - 30 Day Music Challenge

2011-03-13T19:00:00.001Z

A song that's a guilty pleasure.

I actually feel quite embarrassed admitting this but I really like this song. It's the lyrics. They're all *cough* empowering and stuff, kind of like 'I Will Survive' but for the naughties.

Oh God. I just admitted to liking a Beyonce song. There goes my rock/indie chick credibility!

*hangs head*

Here it is - 'Listen':

Put me out of my misery and share your guilty pleasure too!

Please!

Day 12 - 30 Day Challenge

2011-03-12T19:00:00.002Z

A song by a band you hate.

Apologies to anyone who's a fan but any band that writes songs about lady lumps and humps can't be taken seriously. And they've absolutely desecrated the Dirty Dancing original in this song....

*shakes head sadly*

What band can't you bear? And which of their songs is the most odorous?

Day 11 - 30 Day Music Challenge

2011-03-11T19:00:00.001Z

A song from your favourite band...

Another difficult one. My favourite band changes from year to to year and sometimes month to month (yes, I'm that fickle! ;)).

Last year I fell in love with The Dead Weather, The Black Keys and The Decemberists. The year before it was The Swell Season, The Gossip and Fleet Foxes. Then there are my perennial favourites - The Smiths and The Cure but I have to be in a certain mood to listen to their albums.

Oh! I know. I bought this band's album in 2009 and, despite repeated plays, I still absolutely love it. Here's one of my favourite song from 'Lungs':

'Falling' - Florence and the Machine

How about you? Share a song from your favourite band with me!

Day 10 - 30 Days Music Challenge

2011-03-10T19:00:00.000Z

A song that makes you fall asleep...

Now this one is really tricky. I don't have an album I put on to help me fall asleep. I don't really listen to music in my bedroom either - unless you count a bit of Janice Long on the radio on the rare occasion I read in bed!

Right, I'm going to choose a song that strikes me as a bit of an adult lullaby instead.

'Into my Arms' by Nick Cave. Just beautiful!

What song makes you fall asleep?

A Delivery! and 30 Day Music Challenge - Day 9

2011-03-09T19:00:00.001Z

Today I took delivery of something I've been waiting for for a while - the Czech version of 'Heaven Can Wait'.

It's been out since last year but copies have only just winged their way to me (huge thanks to Clare, the Foreign Rights Manager, for chasing them up for me).

It means that, as soon as I get copies of Macedonia's version, I'll be up-to-date and have copies of all the versions that have been published so far!

The Czech version is a hardback and comes with a little inbuilt cloth bookmark - love that!

While I'm sharing images here's one of the books I've managed to collect so far. Sorry it's a bit tricky to make out but it's impossibly dark in my hallway!

From l to r: HCW Croatia, Himmelskusse Germany (novel 2), HCW Germany, HCW UK Proof, HCW UK, HCW Czech Republic, HCW China , HCW Spain.

Now back to the Music Challenge! Big thanks to Bernadette, Womag, Nik, Elaine, Karen, Colene, Captain Black and Samantha for joining in in the comments. I'm loving reading about your songs!

So, today's challenge is...

To name a song you can dance to.

That I can dance to?

*cue hysterical laughter*

Er...I can't dance to anything. I mean, I can wave my arms/hips/legs around in a vaguely rhythmical manner but that not exactly a dance routine is it! I used to know the Birdy Song moves when I was a kid - does that count?

No?

Okay then. In that case I'm going to go for the last song that had me charging - drunkenly - towards the dance floor (you won't catch me anywhere near the dance floor unless alcohol, and lots of it, is involved).

The event was a mate's wedding last September and the song in question was 'Poison' by Alice Cooper! Last summer I went to a metal festival - Sonisphere - with a mate. On the way up there we listened to albums by some of the bands that were going to be playing - Iron Maiden, Placebo, Skunk Anansie, Alice in Chains etc and when my friend threw on an Alice Cooper CD I started laughing. The guy was a joke - wasn't he? Funny how I knew a lot of his songs though...

When he played live he was just BRILLIANT and the whole crowd shouted along to Poison. In fact the only other song that came close to uniting the entire field that weekend was when Europe sang 'The Final Countdown' - a moment that makes me grin inanely whenever I remember it!

Anyway, when Poison was played at my friend's wedding last year I was on the dance floor like a shot, despite the fact that I was the only person dancing other than one friend and the bride!*

Your turn! Which song can always charm you out of your seat and onto your feet?

*You couldn't get me off after that!

Propp's 31 Functions & 30 Day Music Challenge - Day 8

2011-03-08T19:00:00.001Z

A quick writing aside before I get to the music challenge...

Am I the only writer who'd never heard of Propp's 31 Functions?

I was talking to the boyfriend about the Hero's journey the other day and mentioned how Star Wars is a classic example of a film that uses the same structure.

"Oh yeah," he said, "Star Wars pretty much includes all 31 of Propp's functions too."

*cue confused face from me and a spot of googling*

It turns out that, some time ago, a Russian scholar called Vladimir Propp decided to analyse the structure of fairytales and came up with a list of 31 functions of the 'typical' fairytale or a 'typology of narrative structure'.

As someone who used the Hero's Journey as a rough basis for my first novel ('Heaven Can Wait') I was fascinated by this new discovery and I'm mulling over whether it's something I might be able to use or modify in the future.

Take a look if you're curious!

Now back to the 30 Day Music Challenge.

Day 8 is all about:

A song you know all the words to...

Like a lot of women who were teenagers in the 80s I was a HUGE Madonna fan (and when I saw her in Desperately Seeking Susan I desperately wanted to be her).

Pocket money was tight and I didn't have a huge selection of albums to play in my Sony Walkman. As a result I used to listen to the albums that I did own over and over and over and over again. Sod listing a song I know all the words to, there are probably several ALBUMS I could quote verbatim.

But the challenge says 'a song' so here's one. From the album of the same name it's 'Like a Virgin' by Madonna!

Your go! What song(s) do you know know all the words to?

Day 7 - 30 Day Music Challenge

2011-03-07T18:40:00.000Z

A song that reminds you of a certain event...

Back in August 1997 I was living in Tooting in South London, scratching out a living as an admin assistant at a medical publishers and seeing a guy called Tony.

Tony and I were still in that 'Oh my god you're so fascinating' stage of our relationship (i.e. very early on!) and we'd stay up for hours, lying on the single bed in his studio flat in North London, listening to music and putting the world to rights.

This particular night we were listening to The Smiths - album after album after album - as Tony and I were both huge fans. I'm not sure why we decided to turn the CD player off and listen to the radio instead, but we did, and somewhere around 2am we heard that Princess Diana and her boyfriend Dodi Fayed had been in a car accident in Paris. Diana had a wound to her thigh, the report said, while Dodi had died.

"Oh God that's awful," I said to Tony. "And just as she'd found love again too. Poor woman."

We continued to listen to the radio as the news unfolded that Princess Diana wasn't just injured, she'd died too. We listened, utterly transfixed, to report after commentary after report until finally the sun came up and birds started to sing. When I travelled back to my own flat on the Tube I was in a daze. It all felt so surreal.

So yes, this song reminds me of that night.

'How Soon is Now?' by The Smiths

What song reminds you of a certain event?

Day 6 - 30 Day Music Challenge

2011-03-06T19:00:00.001Z

A song that reminds you of somewhere.

Um.

When I left school at 17, with my requisite 3 A-Levels and handful of GCSEs, I was desperate to have a gap year rather than go straight onto University. Unfortunately my Mum wasn't so keen and said I could only have a gap year if I did something 'useful'.

She talked me into doing a secretarial/admin diploma at the local college, telling me I'd be able to earn money as a student by using the skills I'd gained (I waited tables and worked behind a bar like the other students instead!) so I signed up.

I also moved into my first flatshare - an eccentric, wonderful house in Worcester with 2 blokes, 1 girl, a 'housecat' (a flatmate who unofficially lived there too - on the sofa) and a tramp who occasionally kipped in our cellar (one of the flatmates lined it, floor to ceiling, with silver bubble wrap that he'd nicked from the factory where he worked).

Although the course was boring and I had to take a bar job at a local hotel to be able to afford my rent it was probably one of the best years of my life. I learnt to feed myself (wouldn't really call it cooking), had adventures, met wonderful people of all different ages and backgrounds and had my heart broken for the very first time. Basically I grew up and you can't get much better preparation for Uni than that!

This song reminds me of the tiny, little, single-bed room I had in that house:

What song remind you of somewhere special?

Day 5 - 30 Day Music Challenge

2011-03-05T19:00:00.001Z

A song that reminds me of someone...

Hmmm...

So many people, so many songs!

In the end I decided to go with this because it's off an album I've been listening to a lot recently.

This song is the very short title track on the album 'The Blue Notebooks' by Max Richter. It reminds me of my boyfriend who introduced me to it. If you're thinking 'I know that voice! about the voiceover on the track that's because it's Tilda Swinton!

It's a beautiful album - perfect for writing/ editing to as well.

What song reminds you of your other half? Or, if you don't have an other half at the moment, your ex?

Day 4 - 30 Day Music Challenge

2011-03-04T19:00:00.000Z

Today's music question is: Which song makes you sad?

Now this one really IS tricky. I own loads of sad songs (does it say something about me that I own loads of sad songs and not many happy ones? Hmmm...maybe you shouldn't answer that).

Anyway, I have LOTS of songs to choose from. There are songs that remind me of sad moments in the past, songs that have sad lyrics, songs that have sad melodies - songs that have all three!

The following were all on my shortlist: 'Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want' by The Smiths (beautifully covered by Clayhill), 'Let Go Now' by Nina Kinert, or 'I Wanna Be Around' by Dinah Washington but I think THIS has to be the saddest song I own:

How about you? What's the saddest song in your opinion?

Day 3 - 30 Day Song Challenge

2011-03-03T19:00:00.002Z

The question today is: Which song makes you happy?

Tricky!

Most of my music collection is fairly miserable to be honest. No. Not miserable...

Chilled?

Down beat?

Anyway, I don't have much happy happy joy joy stuff (although I did put together 6 hours worth of songs for a mate's wedding reception last year so there's definitely some joyful stuff about) so working out which tune is my favourite 'happy song' is tricky. I listen to the radio a fair bit in the morning and can often be found bouncing about the kitchen, or in my chair, when certain songs come on. The trouble is I've never gone to the trouble of writing them down.

I thought about listing '9-5' by Dolly Parton as my favourite happy song. Or 'Brown Eyed Girl' by Van Morrisson. Or something by Bob Marley.

Instead I decided to go with this which makes me feel happy in a chilled, all is right with the world, kind of way rather than a dancing, bouncing kind of way.

It's called 'This Love' and it's by Craig Armstrong. Enjoy!

Over to you - which song makes you feel happy?

Day 2 - 30 Day Music Challenge

2011-03-02T18:16:00.004Z

Day 2 - Name your least favourite song.

Hmmm. So many rubbish songs in the world, which one to choose?

'Itsy-bitsy-teeny-weeny-yellow-polka-dot' bikini nearly made the cut as did 'Agadoo', 'Is this the way to Amarillo' (can't STAND that song) and the 'Macarena'.

Instead I'm going for '(Everything I do) I do it for You' by Bryan Adams.

I worked behind the record counter in Woolworths when it was released and as soon as it hit number 1 it was played on repeat in the store, at least once an hour. That was fine for the first week. Bearable for the second. And nerve-grating for the third.

By the fourth week of it at number one I was positively GROWLING at customers who dared to bring it to the counter but my torture continued...

It stayed at number one for SIXTEEN WEEKS!

Here's a link because I'm not allowed to embed this one (thank god!). Enjoy! *she said through gritted teeth*

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGoWtY_h4xo

So go on - which song is like fingernails on a blackboard to you?

30 Day Music Challenge - Day 1

2011-03-01T22:04:00.003Z

Over on Facebook, fellow writer Keris Stainton, linked to the 30 Day Music Challenge. I'm a HUGE music fan so jumped at the chance to join in.

To any blog readers who don't want to read about my music taste/be subjected to day after day of YouTube videos you might want to come back in a month! I will try and include other bits and bobs - maybe even writing-related occasionally - but posting every day is going to be a bit of a stretch for me, Mrs Sporadic Blogger.

Feel free to play along in the comments and tell me which song you'd have chosen.

So, for Day 1 the question is: What is your favourite song?

This is mine. Guaranteed to get me jumping around the living room (despite the slightly dodgy lyrics)

'Pretty in Pink' by the Psychedelic Furs

In other news...I'm nearing the end with the novel 2 edits. Yes! I've finished the timescale/setting tweak that I've been working on for the last few weeks and have until the end of the month to get the 16 (yes I counted!) fairly minor edits/tweaks done that my editor has requested.

As novel 2 is now coming out at Christmas we've decided to change the title to something a bit more festive. There's been lots of discussion over email with my agent and editor and some of my Facebook friends even got involved when I started up a discussion over there. We got THISCLOSE to having the ideal title and then found out that another (more well know) author is using that title for her Christmas book. Damn!

But... I think we have an alternative title. My agent likes it, my editor likes it, the sales team likes it (I never realised how important the opinion of a publishing house sales team is until I got published!) and I like it too. There will always be a little bit of my heart that hankers over 'Happiness Ever After' but hey-ho, maybe I can use that for another novel.

No-one steal it or I'll send Molly Ringwald after you! ;)

So tell me - what's your favourite song?

Book 2 has been published!

2011-02-21T21:52:00.010Z

I know...and I haven't even finished the last few edits yet...

Huh?

What the hell am I on about?

The GERMAN version of book 2 has been published, that's what. And here's a sneak peek:

So...(you're possibly thinking)...how is that possible? How are you still tweaking your second novel when it's already out in Germany?

Well.....long story short...

The reason why I've been working on book 2 FOREVER is because there are two versions! Both books feature characters called Matt and Beth and both books are set in Brighton but the German version has a supernatural twist that the UK version doesn't have!

Why?

That's an even longer story but basically it's to do with markets. While supernatural chicklit sells by the bucket load in Germany and is hugely popular the same market doesn't really exist in the UK.

'Heaven Can Wait' did well when it was published at the end of 2009 but, since then, the supernatural chicklit market hasn't really taken off (even Sophie Kinsella had mixed reviews for her ghostly rom-com, 'Twenties Girl') while 'straight' chicklit is as popular as ever.

Yep, it's an unusual set up - two different versions of the same book - but if both publishers are happy then so am I.

That said...

I'd quite like to go back to just one version for book 3. It's much less stressful! ;)

And the winner of 'Tiger Hills' is....

2011-02-21T21:43:00.003Z

Colin Firth!

Well, sort of. I had no idea he was so popular! Julesy, Womag and Karen all chose him as the one person they'd most like to have their photo taken with. Hmmm...why am I picturing him in a wet shirt beside a lake?

Anyhoo...

Colin Firth isn't the real winner of the book (I don't know his address for one thing). The real winner of the book was chosen by www.random.org (rather than me cutting up bits of paper and putting them in a mug). Unfortunately Joanna and Karen entered after the closing date so there were 8 entries in all and I numbered them in the order they were posted in the comments.

So the winner was....

Comment Number 1 - Scott from Devon!

Congratulations Scott! Please get in touch to let me know your address and I'll pop the book in the post.

Orion author party and a book giveaway!

2011-02-16T15:25:00.009Z

Last night was the annual Orion author party. What a fantastic evening! I met up with fellow Orion authors - Lesley Lokko, Veronica Henry, Kate Harrison, Ilana Fox, Meg Sanders, Katie Agnew, Ruth Saberton and Jean Fullerton - at Tuttens in Covent Garden beforehand for a catch up and pre-party drinks and then we all headed over to the Royal Opera House at 6.30pm for two hours of champagne, canopes and networking. (It's a hard life!)

As per the last two Orion parties I totally chickened out of speaking to/having my photo taken with Michael Palin and the Hairy Bikers (though Ruth and Illana didn't!) but I had a fabulous time chatting to fellow authors, Orion staff, agents and scouts. I bumped into my agent - Maddie - too (I had no idea she was going) and we had a really good catch up. I told her all about Project B and my idea for my third chicklit book and she was really encouraging. Hooray!

Normally at the end of an Orion party you get a lovely goody bag full of books and audio CDs but by 9.30pm last night they'd all disappeared. I spotted a couple of books lying around and, with a little bit of blagging, managed to grab one for myself and one to giveaway to you, dear blog readers!

This is the book:

Tiger Hills by Sarita Mandanna - a fabulous book that has been selected to be part of the TV Book Club 2011.

Here's the blurb:

"When a flock of herons wheeled overhead at the moment of Devi's birth, it seemed that her life would be touched by fate... As a child, Devi befriends a young boy whose mother has died in tragic circumstances. Over the years, Devi and Devanna become inseparable as they go to school together and learn more about the extended family that surrounds them.

However things change when Devi meets Muthi, a young man who has killed a tiger and is feted as a hero. Although she is still a child and Muthi is a man, Devi vows that one day she will marry him. It is this love that will gradually drive a wedge between her and her friend Devanna, who has been taken under the wing of a local missionary. For Devi is blind to the fact that Devanna himself has fallen for her. Devanna leaves the village to study medicine, in the hope that when he returns Devi will see his worth and return his love, but then a tragedy changes the fate of all three, with far-reaching consequences for the generations to come. "

For your chance to win it (UK entrants only sorry, it's pretty heavy to post) just leave a comment letting me know who you'd most like to have your photo taken with! (alive or dead)

Closing date for entries is midnight Sunday 20th. I'll put all your names in a cup and draw one out at random.

The Macedonian version has been published!

2011-02-08T21:09:00.005Z

For me the excitement of a new foreign deal isn't about the money (which is just as well!) it's all about knowing that people in different countries will get to read my novel.

And the cover.

When 'Heaven Can Wait' was snapped up by Orion I was all of a tizzy when I was sent the cover artwork and I've re-lived that excitement with every cover since.

I love seeing how each publisher interprets the story. Spain went for a wedding dress and stars. Germany went for an angelic looking girl on a cloud and China chose a beautiful futuristic looking cover.

Today I was sent the artwork for the Macedonian cover and it's pretty much a blend of the Spanish and German covers - very pretty and girly. What do you think?

'Heaven Can Wait' goes digital!

2011-02-02T21:22:00.007Z

Thanks for all your lovely words of encouragement and congratulations in response to my last blog post. I've made 5 chapters worth of progress and am planning on doing a whole lot more this weekend.

In other news...

I just typed my name into Amazon.co.uk (as you do) and TA DAAAA! 'Heaven Can Wait' is now available as an ebook! It's available on Amazon.com too.

How exciting. Now everyone who was given a Kindle for Christmas, or can't get hold of the paperback version, can read my novel! You don't even need an ereader to read the digital version - apparently you can just download the Amazon app and read it on your computer. Oooh the power of technology 'eh!

The downside to going digital is, of course, is that the people who google 'Heaven Can Wait by Cally Taylor free download' (thanks Google alerts!) will start ripping it off but... *sigh* that's a blog post for another time. Right now I'm just excited that I've got an ebook out so I can join in the....er...ebook party that all the authors have been at for ages!