Category: Contemporary Romantic Fiction Page 53 of 59

I’m thrilled to be welcoming my fellow Accent author, friend, and RNA Chapter member, Alison Rose to my blog today!

Over to Alison…

Hi Jenny,

Thanks for inviting me to your blog. I’ve followed a very long path to get here!

It all began years ago when my husband bought me an Amstrad Word-Processor – yes, it was THAT long ago!

“You read so many books,” he said. “Why don’t you write your own?”

“I’ll be published by the time I’m thirty,” I declared.

Well, I think God must have had wax in his ears that day, because he misheard me. Either that, or he thought I needed to learn the art of patience. It took thirty years.

I haven’t wasted the time. I’ve learned my craft, through courses, workshops, and writers’ groups. I’ve tried lots of different genres and styles of writing, and eventually found a voice – or rather voices, as I now write contemporary women’s fiction as Alison Rose, and YA adventures as Alison Knight.

My first book, Off the Record, was published by Accent Press in December 2014:

“Journalist Kate Armstrong has always known that music icon Johnson Brand’s platinum-selling first album was written about his break-up with her mother, Alexandra. When Kate’s boss sends her out to interview the star himself, her life is turned upside down when her resemblance to Alexandra prompts Johnson to seek out her mother and renew their relationship.

Kate suddenly has a lot on her plate – coming to terms with Alexandra and Johnson’s rekindling relationship, as well as keeping the two of them out of the public eye, all the while trying to resist the advances of Johnson’s playboy son, Paul. She thinks she has everything under control, until a threatening figure from the band’s past rears its ugly head. Will love tear them all apart … again?”

Available at: http://www.accentpress.co.uk/Book/13662/Off-the-Record and http://www.amazon.co.uk/Off-Record-Alison-Rose/dp/1783752491/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1425213920&sr=1-1&keywords=off+the+record+alison+rose

Another romance, as yet untitled, is due out from Accent Press in June, followed by the first in a series of YA time-slip adventures in early 2016.

I’m currently working on a novel based in 1960s London, and have lots of ideas for further books – thirty years’ worth!

I can’t describe how thrilling it is to be a published author. But that’s only a part of the story. I’ve been so lucky to find many special friends in writing groups, classes and organisations like the Romantic Novelists’ Association. They encourage and inspire me, and never let me give up on my dream.

So, if there’s a message in this post today, it’s: if you want to achieve something, keep going and never give up. Work hard, and learn from every experience, and one day you’ll get there. It might take longer than you expect, but it will be worth it in the end. Oh, and when you do get there, give a hand to others on their way and tell them not to give up!

Alison

www.alisonroseknight.com

https://www.facebook.com/AlisonRoseAuthor?ref=hl

Biography

Alison was born in London, and now lives in rural Wiltshire with her husband and their crazy Jack Russell terrier. She has two grown-up children and one and a half grandchildren (number two is due in May 2015!).

She has been a lawyer, a registered child-minder, and a professional fund-raiser, and currently works for an international development charity as a legacy officer. She lived in the US for a year as a teenager, and has travelled to China, Israel, Egypt, Thailand, and Honduras – where she picked up a very nasty bug which laid her low for a couple of months after she got home.

At the age of forty-five, Alison became a part-time student while continuing to work full-time, and now has a first class degree in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University and a masters in the same subject from Oxford Brookes University. Now she’s trying to learn Spanish in advance of her next holiday, and researching London in the 1880s for her next YA time-slip adventure.

She’s a member of the Society of Authors, The Romantic Novelists’ Association, and the Oxford Narrative Group.

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Brilliant post Alison. Many thanks for blogging with me today.

Happy reading,

Jenny x

Guest Post from Alice Raine: The Encouragement of Mum

By Jenny Kane

On March 15, 2015

In Blog, Contemporary Romantic Fiction, News

Please welcome the lovely Alice Raine to my site today, with a special Mother’s Day post.

Over to you Alice…

To celebrate both Mother’s Day this year, and the fact that the complete Untwisted series is now available on Kindle, I was asked if I’d like to write an article that described a significant memory of when my mother’s input changed my identity as a writer, or some words of encouragement she gave me which may have inspired me, or a story she read me that inspired my own interest in writing. It’s ended up as a bit of a rambling tale, but here goes …

There were always books around our house when I was a child, and Mum and Dad would read to me daily; everything from princesses, to explorers to fire breathing sea monsters, which certainly helped spawn my overactive imagination from a very young age. I wasn’t what you would describe as an engaged writer at school, my interests lay in sport, art, geography riding my bike, and falling off my skateboard (frequently), but at some point I must have developed the urge, because to this day my mum still recalls the day she found a book that I had written in my bedside draw.

By this point I was probably early teens, and yes, I’ll admit it … I had a crush on Kevin Costner. Quite an embarrassingly big crush actually, to the point where I had his pictures blue-tacked to my cupboard door and copies of his films lining my shelves. The film “The Bodyguard” had been released a year or so before, and if you’ve seen it, you’ll know the ending is quite open to misinterpretation – are the two main characters still together? Or have they split up and gone their separate ways? This was the question which must have burned in my curious teenage mind, and already being a bit of a sucker for a good romance story I decided that quite simply, the uncertainty just wasn’t good enough. So I sat down and started to write a sequel.

I got sixty pages in – double sided and hand written in neat lines on that old fashioned computer paper with the holes down the side – before preparation for my GCSE’s got in the way. I’d completely forgotten about it until last year when I was on a phone call with my mum excitedly explaining about signing with Accent Press for my Untwisted series, and mum mentioned that she’d always thought I might end up as a writer after she’d found the book in my bedside draw all those years ago. I have no idea if it was any good, or if my mum read any/all of it, but I suppose that can go down as my first official attempt at a manuscript.

Since then I have written far more prolifically, most of it just for my own amusement and stored away on my computer. I must be slightly obsessive/compulsive when it comes to writing, because once I get an idea I simply have to write it down. I now have stacks of projects on my laptop which have never seen the light of day, some of which run to hundreds of thousands of words, but I can be very self-critical, so I tend to keep them hidden away, happy with the knowledge that the idea is out of my brain and at least in print somewhere, even if it is just on my memory stick!

People often ask me if my mum has read my Untwisted books, and the answer, in short, is no (at least I hope she hasn’t!). Once the series got taken on by Accent I politely requested that she didn’t read it because of its, er … steamy contents … Mum was happy enough to oblige, but asked if I could send her something else that I had written so she could read that instead. As a writer I have an overriding predilection for romance, but not always the darker form of romance that is included in my Untwisted series, and many of the bits and pieces on my laptop are actually Chick-Lit. So I looked through my memory stick and selected one of my favourite gentle romances for her. It’s a light-hearted, comical take on real life, containing no steamy stuff what so ever, apart from a bit of innuendo thrown in here and there. After reading it, my mum said, and I quote: ‘I enjoyed it, but it’s a bit rude in places isn’t it?’ Hmm. I hadn’t thought it was rude at all, so I dug deeper and discovered that she was referring to one of the scenes involving a bit of flirting and innuendo. If mum thinks that’s rude, then I’m certainly glad she has taken my advice and stayed away from the Untwisted books!

As for words of encouragement, my mum is great at them. Even though she hasn’t read the published series, still frequently tells me how proud she is of me for pursuing my dream, which means so much to me, and she even bought me a little number ‘1’ pendant when my first book got published which has pride of place on my bracelet.

All in all my mum is pretty amazing, as is my Dad. Love you both, and happy Mother’s Day to all the mums out there.

Alice xxx

The complete Untwisted series is available on Kindle now, and coming to bookstores near you in paperback too. http://tinyurl.com/o87oczp

You can also expect the first instalment in Alice’s new series by Summer 2015!

If you’d like to get in touch with Alice, please feel free using the links below:

Twitter: @aliceraine1

Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Alice-Raine/1433662383579684

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Many thanks for visiting today Alice!

Happy reading everyone,

Jenny xxx

Guest Post from Grace Lowrie: Why am I sitting here at the top of a roller coaster?

By Jenny Kane

On March 14, 2015

In Blog, Contemporary Romantic Fiction, News

I’m delighted to welcome Grace Lowrie to my site today. Fellow Accent author Grace is posied and ready to launch herself into a life of writing…from a roller coaster…

Over to you Grace..

Why am I sitting here at the top of a roller coaster?

This is the question I’ve found myself pondering ever since Jenny Kane’s generous invitation to guest blog on her site.

Like many people I enjoyed writing creatively as a child, but my recent shift into ‘being a writer’ has been unexpectedly sudden. I’m only a published author as of yesterday and while I am tingling with excitement and walking around with a silly smile on my face, I am also unnerved by the whole thing. You see I am attempting to evolve into an author, having been a full-time garden designer for the past decade.

My occupation was perfectly enjoyable, as was my life as a fine art sculptor before that. I was lucky enough to have lovely clients and I gained immense satisfaction from conjuring up creative solutions and seeing them through to fruition. So why am I giving it all up? Because I just LOVE writing stories, almost beyond reason – more than designing gardens and even more than eating cake (which is a lot by the way).

Am I alone in this?

I wrote my debut novel Kindred Hearts because I found I had fictional characters, specifically the twins, Sebastian and Celeste, living in my head and it was a choice between going mad or putting pen to paper. I honestly felt compelled to write their story and I revelled in the process so much that the dark winter months positively flew by.

And then there’s the mysterious magic of timing, which can be hard to ignore. Last summer I relocated from London to be closer to my sister and her family in Hertfordshire, coincidentally receiving the keys to my new home on my company’s ten-year anniversary. Amid a frenzy of decorating and DIY my fabulous best friend Alice Raine encouraged me to submit my book to Áccent Press and before I had time to really think about it I was offered a book contract. Words cannot convey how grateful I am to Alexandra Davies for taking a chance on me and I want to fully embrace this incredible opportunity, give it my all and if possible, turn it into success.

Of course to do that I need to sell books and that means promoting myself … and the thing is I am a hermit at heart – perfectly friendly but generally quiet, unassuming and somewhat shy – so to suddenly launch myself into the alien world of writing and publishing through Facebook, Twitter and blogging, has been a bewildering and exhilarating jump into the unknown. Thankfully everyone I’ve met online so far has been amazingly kind and welcoming, and I’m able to do part-time admin work to pay the bills. So far so good – I’m happily tucked up indoors indulging my romantic imagination, instead of outside in the wind and rain wrestling shrubs into muddy holes.

But the book market and the romance genre in particular, is highly competitive. I find myself wondering if I am crazy to invest so much energy in something that I may or may not be any good at, and anxiously note that I have set myself up for a fall. After all at this moment in time my role as an author is entirely untested – virtually no one has had a chance to read my book yet!

So why am I sitting at the top of this roller coaster, my eyes wide and knuckles white as I wait to find out if anyone will like my baby?

Because life is short.

I owe it to myself to go for what I want, even if I land on my face (I fell down a flight of stairs at Christmas so I already have some idea of what to expect in a literal sense). So all I can do now is try to be brave, enjoy the ride and hopefully make some new friends along the way.

Kindred Hearts by Grace Lowrie

When the enigmatic twins from Natasha Graham’s childhood sweep back into her life and draw her into their glamorous world, she is seduced by a potent cocktail of love and sexual desire. But Sebastian and Celeste Walker are two sides of the same coin, darkness and light and everything is not as perfect as it seems. Can Tasha make the right choice when it comes to her heart? Or will the past destroy everything worth saving?

An excerpt from Kindred Hearts:

I spent most of the autumn term trying not to obsess about Sebastian, but it didn’t work. I could tell whenever he was somewhere close by a prickling sensation on the back of my neck and I couldn’t resist subtly looking out for him in the playground. Despite his cold indifference I still got butterflies in my stomach every time our eyes met, so I tried to avoid him as much as possible. But in November the twins had a joint fourteenth birthday party.

I felt shy at first – it was strange seeing everyone outside of school and the crisp, clear night felt eerily magical. But Celeste was keyed up about the fireworks and her infectious excitement soon reassured me. The display was breath-taking and we all oohed and aahed as flashes of fiery light illuminated the sky with transient colour, leaving trails of smoky echoes in their wake. Some of the boys snuck up on the girls in the dark to make them shriek and soon we were all giggling and larking about.

Sebastian hung back in the shadow of the house, watching the rest of us from afar with his usual laid-back manner. Most of his dark straggly hair was hidden under a black beanie, pulled low down on his forehead so that he looked even more brooding than usual, but he laughed along as we made idiots of ourselves. Eventually Celeste went over to him, took his arm, and dragged him down the garden to where we were toasting marshmallows over a bonfire in a big circle. Sebastian was forced to stand between Celeste and myself and as I passed him a skewer, I silently prayed that he couldn’t see me blushing.

Maybe I was just distracted or impatient, but I just couldn’t get the hang of toasting my marshmallows. They caught fire and tasted burnt or simply melted off into the flames, disappearing out of sight. I was just about to give up completely when Sebastian unexpectedly offered me his skewer. Perched on the end of it, was a perfectly toasted marshmallow. He didn’t say anything, just watched me with an unreadable expression as I carefully took it from him, my gloved fingers brushing his. I thanked him, my words coming out in a whisper, but he nodded once in acknowledgment before turning away to comment on something someone else was saying. I glanced around the group but was relieved to find no one looking in my direction. I gently blew on the marshmallow before tentatively putting it into my mouth whole. It tasted delicious and I couldn’t keep the smile off my face as it warmed me from head to toe.

Grace Lowrie

Writing was my first love back when I composed poetry and short stories as a child. Since then I have worked a variety of jobs, run my own garden design business and travelled the world. Now I am rekindling my original passion by writing contemporary romance novels in Hertfordshire, where I also help out with the family business, explore the countryside and bake (and eat) cakes.

Kindred Hearts: www.myBook.to/KindredHearts

Website: www.gracelowrie.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/gracelowrie1

Twitter: www.twitter.com/gracelowrie1

***

Many thanks for coming by Grace! Great blog. I have been strapped to the writing roller coaster for some time now- hope you enjoy the ride as much as I have hun!!

Happy reading everyone,

Jenny xx

Guest Post from Anne Polhill Walton: Real life interventions, crime, and a female Jack the Ripper!

By Jenny Kane

On March 11, 2015

In Blog, Contemporary Romantic Fiction, News

I’m welcoming a first time blogger to my site today! The lovely Anne Polhill Walton- otherwise known as Nell Peters- is sharing her route to publication.

Over to you Anne…

Hi everyone – and huge thanks to Jenny for taking the risk of letting a complete novice loose on her blog. I’ll try not to lower the tone, or indeed bore anyone to distraction.

Like many, my road to publication was a long and rocky one and dogged by pesky real-life interventions. Along the way, I produced a clutch of strapping sons, moved country and back again and remarried – latterly I went back to Uni to read psychology and sociology, in the hope of giving my plots and characterisation an edge. Some of my fellow students were a study in themselves – definitely a few psychos in their midst, who made me feel quite normal … and as for the lecturers …

Probably my most memorable assignment was a presentation on women serial killers – that was my typically bloodthirsty choice, the brief being based around gender. During my twenty minutes or so in the spotlight (which I absolutely hate!), I managed to persuade a worrying number of students that Jack the Ripper was in fact a fifty-something woman called Evangeline. She had a full, fictitious biography, including nursing in the Crimea with Florence Nightingale, which is where she learned her surgical skills – obviously I should get out more.

The handout has reclined on https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/109930 for ages – and some kind soul recently gave it a 5* review, reminding me it was there! However, Evangeline – a name I plucked from the air, figuring it was rare enough not to cause any problems – had to become Ernestine, when the youngest boy brought his girlfriend (now fiancée) home and introduced her as Evie, short for Evangeline.

Armed with a scraped 2:1 Hons, plus an implied award for being the oldest student on campus, I ditched the textbooks, ceremoniously burned my dissertation on Jean-Jacques Rousseau (who definitely displayed schizophrenic tendencies!), and dug out some of the crime novels I’d written previously. Ignoring the aged pile of rejection slips big enough to fill the local recycling facility, I read through and edited the books to within an inch of their lives and posted some on Amazon KDP.

But there was one book I couldn’t edit, because (when he was going through his mercifully short Bill Gates stage) number three son deleted it in error and it could not be retrieved. No backup. Gulp. So, I set about a rewrite of By Any Other Name, and I have to admit that some of the psychology stuff came in useful – for a start, the protagonist, Emily Kelly, is a mature (though nowhere near as mature as I was!) psychology student. She always was, long before I went back to uni – spooky. To earn a crust Emily takes a vacation job as companion to retired industrialist Sir Gerald Ffinche, and falls in love with his son, Richard – and he with her. So, on the face of it, a romantic novel where everyone lives happily ever after? Nope. I don’t do happy! It seems someone wants to spoil the couple’s idyll and bodies start to mount, while subtle clues are left to incriminate Emily. But who? The reader is spoiled for choice…

When I submitted to Accent Press, I was thrilled to hear from their lovely editor Greg, who asked to read the rest of the novel. Naturally I sent it off before he changed his mind, but realistically I was expecting another rejection to add to my impressive collection.

But on the eve of our youngest granddaughter’s first birthday, Greg came back to me and said he liked the book and had been flabbergasted twice by plot twists. (Even though I wrote the thing, I couldn’t imagine what the second one was …) A brief happy dance and it was back to reality, as I’d foolishly promised to help make a fairy princess castle birthday cake – and I am a complete non-starter in the domesticity stakes. Greg very helpfully sent a link to M&S princess castle cakes, only for my relief to be punctured by the minimum seven day advance order requirement – I was working on not much more than seven hours!

Son and I somehow managed to construct a cake, which looked quite reasonable from afar (which the kitchen most certainly did not) – and the publishing process began.

At the end of November 2014, genre-hopping By Any Other Name, written under my pen name Nell Peters, hit Amazon as an eBook and POD.

Blurb:

Emily Kelly cannot believe her luck when she is employed as companion to Sir Gerald Ffinche. (Luck had nothing to do with it – but all’s fair in love and job-seeking, right?)

She soon settles in chez Ffinche and builds an excellent rapport with Sir Gerald – but it’s his son Richard who really interests her, and they quickly become inseparable. However, it seems their happiness has enraged someone closely associated with the family, and a series of tragic events is set in motion. Subtle clues are left to incriminate Emily and when she determines to expose the real culprit, she is spoiled for choice. As the body count mounts, Emily and Richard – as well as the police – are perplexed. They’re clearly looking for someone who projects a mask of sanity to the world, whilst being dangerously disturbed: but who? A whole shoal of red herrings support a plot that veers from almost-cosy to a taut psychological thriller to make By Any Other Name an enthralling, chilling whodunit.

You can find it here:

UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_4_4?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=nell%20peters&sprefix=nell%2Cdigital-text%2C310

US http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_8?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=nell+peters&sprefix=nell+pet%2Cdigital-text%2C412

Potted bio:

Despite being born in Wimbledon and raised in Twickenham, Anne Polhill Walton is not in the least sporty – and so she thought it prudent to move to Norfolk. Because her name is a bit of a mouthful, she uses the pen name Nell Peters, taken from her parents’ Christian names, and she has actually been asked which is which … Another name she answers to is Grannie Annie, after three out of four sons produced children. Two are girls, and so she is finally able to indulge in buying stereotypical pink. Even though she doesn’t like pink.

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Many thanks Anne! I am honoured to be the host of your very first guest blog! I loved it!

Happy reading everyone,

Jenny x

Pondering my female influences: International Women’s Day

By Jenny Kane

On March 8, 2015

In Blog, Contemporary Romantic Fiction, News

Recently I was asked this question- one I honestly hadn’t considered in much depth before…

How have the women in your life affected your identity or style as a writer, and in what ways?

As it is International Women’s Day, I thought now as a good time to think about an answer!

Officially, I have been a writer for the past ten years. Deep down however, I suspect I have always been a writer; I have certainly always been a creative person. How could I not be, when I was influenced from childhood by both of my grandmothers who were both physically incapable of doing nothing, and had imaginations that would have made Roald Dahl proud?

From a very early age I remember watching my maternal Nan performing plays, poems, and comedy sketches on stage for the WI, all of which she’d written herself.

I vividly recall sitting in the audience of one charity production where my Nan’s poem, ‘Hats’ was performed to shrieks of laughter and delight. I was only ten years old, and as I sat and laughed alongside the rest thinking how wonderful it would be to be able to make people happy like that- if only I wasn’t so shy…

My paternal Nan on the other hand, was a knitter extraordinaire. There was literally nothing she couldn’t produce out of wool with just the aid of a pair of needles and a decent drama to watch on the TV at the same time. I never saw her glance at what she was knitting, and I certainly never saw a pattern. The jumpers, gloves, toys, or whatever she was making, seemed to magically appear at a speed that would be the envy of any conjurer.

Both my grandmothers loved to read, but neither of them had any time for books that contained waffle. If a story didn’t grab them instantly it was jammed back onto the library shelf before the second page got so much as dabbed with a damp finger.

Standing in Princes Risborough, getting restless while book after book was dismissed with the words “If you ever write a book, make sure you get to the point faster than this lot!” ringing in my ears became a regular feature of my grandparental visits. This advice stayed with me, and I have always made an effort to grab my reader’s attention before the end of the first chapter. I have to confess, that as a reader, I’m now just as picky as my Nan’s were. I am notoriously hard to please!

A love of words, crosswords, and word puzzles in general- usually completed at a coffee shop table with my Nan- was something that was very much part of my childhood. This love of words and puzzles was inherited by my Mum, and has been passed on to me as well. It is perhaps not surprising then, that as I spent a great deal of my childhood (and indeed my adulthood) playing with words in cafes, I ended up writing a series of stories set in the fictional Pickwicks Coffee Shop. (Another Cup of Coffee, Another Cup of Christmas, Christmas in the Cotswolds, and Another Glass of Champagne)

My latest novel, Abi’s House (pub. Accent Press, June 2015), was written in dedication to my grandparents. Set in the Sennen Cove area of Cornwall, Abi (recently arrived from London), creates a new life for herself not far from Penzance, where my paternal grandparents lived.

On Abi’s arrival in Cornwall, she meets Beth, a young woman who has recently inherited her grandfather’s cobblers shop. My maternal grandmother’s family owns Wainwright’s Shoe Shops in Buckinghamshire, where I spent many hours with both my Nan and my Grandad, who was the company’s chief cobbler!

Both of my grandmothers influenced my writing, and the way I approach the production of my stories, more than they ever knew. Their creativity and encouragement (my maternal Nan was forever telling me I’m make my mark on the world with words, long before I even contemplated trying my hand as a writer), has carried on into the next generation, with my Mum, an excellent artist and needlewoman, cheering me on.

And now, proving that the creative gene is strong on the female side of my family, my daughters have picked up the baton, and both had poetry of their own published before either of them reached their teens.

Happy reading,

Jenny xx

Novel Progress 4: Halfway House!

By Jenny Kane

On March 6, 2015

In Blog, Contemporary Romantic Fiction, News

The workers and customers of the Pickwicks Coffee Shop in Richmond, are once again grabbing life by the throat, and banding together- or not- to tackle what fate had thrown in their way.

I’m 50k into my latest novel, Another Glass of Champagne, and everyone involved is literally in mid-saga. Of course, I am not about to give you even the slightest spoiler- but I think I won’t be ruining anything by telling you that at this point in the proceedings, Amy, Kit Jack, Peggy and Scott are all running true to form- especially Jack!

When I finished writing Another Cup of Coffee I was surprised that it was Jack, more than any of the other characters, that my readers wanted me to write more about. I’ve had numerous requests in the past, concerning other novels, for sequel stories about various female characters- wanting me to give them their own happy ever afters- but I had never had any requests for that for a male character- until Jack.

In Another Glass of Champagne, I’ve given Jack a little more time in the limelight… but I’m not telling you why or how… and at this moment in time, I have no idea if he’ll get his happy ending or not! I only ever plan the first half of a novel- after that, I like the characters to lead the way. I like to be as surprised by what happens as any of my potential readership.

With only the last half of the draft to go, I find the words are coming faster, the sentences are flowing, and the clock is ticking…I need to have the draft complete by the beginning of April if I’m to remain on target.

So, if you’ll excuse me, it’s time to put the coffee machine on and hit the next chapter…

Happy reading,

Jenny xx

Guest Post from Gilli Allan: Art and Writing

By Jenny Kane

On March 3, 2015

In Blog, Contemporary Romantic Fiction, News

Today I have another wonderful guest blog for you. Please welcome the brilliant Gilli Allan…

Art and Writing

At primary school, when asked “What do you want to be when you grow up,” I know I amused my teacher by responding “A commercial artist”. I was only 6 and she was probably expecting “ballet dancer” or “princess”. My father was a commercial artist, and from my earliest childhood I was encouraged to draw, and told I was good at art. So, to me, my answer to Miss Lawrence’s question was entirely unremarkable.

In those days, in the advertising industry, it was common to design your own Christmas card. As art director of an Ad Agency, and with his honour to maintain, my father felt he needed to step up to the plate in this regard. But his was a very high pressure and stressful job, and the extra work the production of the family Christmas card entailed was an annual nightmare. Aged 16, and just enrolled at art school, I offered to unburden him. I have done it ever since.

It wasn’t just the extra work, it was dreaming up the idea every year, which gave my dad the headache. “Six jolly Christmas carols to greet you” is the message on the front. Inside – in this cropped version of the complete card – I am Alice (aged around 7 or 8).

Early in the New Year my sister asked me if I’d based the Father Christmas in my 2014 card on our late father who, in his mature years, sported a white beard. I know what she means. There is a resemblance. But, no, I hadn’t based my Father Christmas on anyone. I don’t have a fully formed image in my mind when I start drawing. I may have a general idea – the joke I am planning to illustrate – but the execution of the design is organic. I put pencil to paper and just start. The result sometimes surprises me as much as it surprises other people.

My 2014 card, with a Father Christmas who, entirely accidentally, looks like my old dad

As I was rambling on to my sister, it occurred to me that this is exactly how I approach writing a novel. I can’t force it. I’m incapable, before I launch myself into it, of plotting the story. I know people who will have worked out a detailed synopsis, with character studies, chapter diagrams and turning points, plus flow charts of the dramatic highs and lows of emotion. I am in awe of this business-like approach. It makes sense. I just can’t do it. For me, writing a novel is like a stuttering journey, with halts and starts, spurts and lulls, and revelations popping up when and if they fancy.

I will already have thought a lot about my characters and will have developed the headlines of their back-stories in advance. And I will also know the scenario which brings them together. But that is just about all. And nothing is written down at this stage. It is only after I start – putting metaphorical pen to metaphorical paper – that the magic happens. The story begins to come to life of its own volition, and scenes float up out of the fog of my imagination – like photographic negatives – and begin to clarify before my inner eye. Nothing, not even the looks or personalities (and sometimes names) of my characters, comes into sharp focus until I’ve started writing, and even then, not necessarily immediately. I may be many chapters in, but I am still continuously zipping back and forth through the chapters already written, editing, refining and expanding on the details I have only just understood.

So writing a story is more like a process of discovery – uncovering something that already exists – a slow and painstaking unearthing of detail that does not immediately make sense. And, once found, the story has its own trajectory which, ultimately, cannot be moulded and pushed in a prescribed direction. Even the final destination is not necessarily what or where I expect. I have said this before, but it’s worth saying again. I didn’t know how TORN was going to resolve until I was within 2 chapters of the end. I hope it keeps the story fresh and the reader guessing.

So far, it has always felt like a kind of magic. What will I do if the magic doesn’t happen next time?

***

Biography

Gilli Allan started to write in childhood, a hobby only abandoned when real life supplanted the fiction. Gilli didn’t go to Oxford or Cambridge but, after just enough exam passes to squeak in, she attended Croydon Art College.

She didn’t work on any of the broadsheets, in publishing or television. Instead she was a shop assistant, a beauty consultant and a barmaid before landing her dream job as an illustrator in advertising. It was only when she was at home with her young son that Gilli began writing seriously. Her first two novels were quickly published but when her publisher ceased to trade, Gilli went independent.

Over the years, Gilli has been a school governor, a contributor to local newspapers, and a driving force behind the community shop in her Gloucestershire village. Still a keen artist, she designs Christmas cards and has begun book illustration. Gilli is particularly delighted to have recently gained a new mainstream publisher – Accent Press. TORN is the first book to be published in the three book deal.

Links

myBook.to/gilliallansTORN (universal link)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Torn-Gilli-Allan-ebook/dp/B00R1FQ1QE/)

Paperback link

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Torn-Gilli-Allan/dp/1783756918/

Connect to Gilli

http://twitter.com/gilliallan (@gilliallan)

https://www.facebook.com/GilliAllan.AUTHOR

http://gilliallan.blogspot.co.uk/

Life Class- Coming Soon from Gilli Allen

Thank you ever so much Gilli- what a fabulous blog. I am always in awe of anyone who can draw and paint. Bless you for sharing your Christmas cards with us!

I too am always worrying about the magic running out- scary stuff!

Happy reading everyone,

Jenny x

CLIC SARGENT AUCTION OPEN: BE A NAMED CHARACTER IN MY NEXT NOVEL

By Jenny Kane

On February 26, 2015

In Blog, Contemporary Romantic Fiction, News

The CLIC Sargent auction is now OPEN!!

BE A NAMED CHARACTER IN MY NEXT NOVEL

As part of CLIC Sargent’s yearly eBay Get in Character auction, I’ll be offering the highest bidder the chance to appear as a named character in a forthcoming novel along with 60 other best-selling authors. We’re all taking part to help raise vital funds for children and young people with cancer so please get bidding from 8pm 26th Feb! http://ow.ly/IoQdC

Critique:

26 Feb 8PM #getincharacter: budding writers, bid to have your work critiqued by me to raise £ for @CLIC_Sargent http://ow.ly/IoQjS

BUDDING WRITERS: HAVE YOUR WORK CRITIQUED

As part of CLIC Sargent’s yearly eBay Get in Character auction, some top authors will be offering the highest bidder the chance to have three chapters and a synopsis (or 3,000 words) critiqued. There are over 60 best-selling authors taking part in the auction either offering critiques or the chance for you to appear as a named character in a forthcoming book. We’re all taking part to help raise vital funds for children and young people with cancer so please get bidding from 8pm 26th Feb! http://ow.ly/IoQdC

Get bidding folks!!

Jenny x

Guest Post from Jenny Harper: A writer’s path is littered with obstacles

By Jenny Kane

On February 25, 2015

In Blog, Contemporary Romantic Fiction, News

I’m pleased to welcome fellow author, Jenny Harper, to my site today, with an excellent blog about the perils of being a writer.

Over to you Jenny…

A writer’s path is littered with obstacles

Have you ever gone on a writing course? Read a book about plots, characterisation or dialogue? Done a degree in Creative Writing?

I have. I’ve done all of those things, except the last one – but my first degree was in English Literature, and it put me off creative writing for decades. I knew I could never be Tolstoy or Dickens, or even Monica Dickens, come to that. And all that close analysis of texts made me so self conscious about structure, words, imagery, metaphor and the rest that I was like a rabbit staring into headlights – frozen.

So I wandered through a career in publishing (I was a non fiction editor for Collins and Cassells), magazine editing, journalism and finally corporate publishing (I produced magazines and newspapers for corporate giants such as BP, Total, Clydesdale Bank, Bank of Scotland and a number of insurance companies, as well as local authorities and government departments). Only when retirement was looming did I finally pluck up the courage to look at creative writing again.

After floundering around a bit with scraps of ideas and miserable efforts to ‘write a novel’ (everyone can write, right?), I spotted a course that sounded just great. It was in a castle in the Scottish Highlands. The tutor was best-selling novelist Anita Burgh, and I could use a week away from work.

So I went on the course and became a novelist, didn’t I?

Wrong.

I certainly learnt a lot, met new friends (including author Jo Thomas whose career has just gone stellar), and had a great time – but all I learned was how much I didn’t know.

I went on more courses, including a wonderful week in Corfu with Katie Fforde and a week in the fabulous Chez Castillon in France with Veronica Henry.

I read books on writing.

I became increasingly confused.

After all, celebrities seem to be able to knock out a best seller the first time they set pen to paper, so why couldn’t I?

I became bogged down in scene lists, three-act structures, beats, conflict, points of view, themes – all the technical bits and pieces that underpin a novel.

Finally, I learned that it takes most novelists an average of nine novels before they find a publisher. I threw the lot away. I listened to my inner voice and simply wrote. All the advice and lessons I had had over the years must have sunk in, because the things I had found so hard began to flow naturally. I gained confidence. I drew on the support of fellow writers. I joined a lot of social networks. I networked in the real world. I became a writer!

Here are my top tips for anyone on a similar journey:

1) Tell the story you want to tell (and make sure you know which character’s story it is).

2) Focus, by asking yourself what your story is really about (not a synopsis of the plot). Try to capture it one word, then in two sentences.

3) Dig deeper. Get right inside your characters.

4) Persevere.

5) Don’t be afraid to get help – from writing buddies, mentors, beta readers or editorial agencies.

And finally – please tell me I’m not the only one who has been on this journey!

Bio:

I live in Edinburgh, Scotland, but I was born in India and grew up in England. I’ve been a non-fiction editor, a journalist and a businesswoman and I’ve written a children’s novel and several books about Scotland. Nowadays I write contemporary women’s fiction with bite – complex characters facing serious issues.

Face the Wind and Fly is about a woman wind farm engineer with a marriage in trouble and a controversial project to handle.

Loving Susie is about a female politician with a complicated family history and at odds with the world.

Maximum Exposure, is about a newspaper photographer with job to save and some growing up to do.

My latest novel People We Love is about an artist who is struggling to support her family after her brother’s death. She needs friends, and reasons to be happy, and her journey is a strange one.

Links:

People We Love UK: http://amzn.to/1CUmBTV

US: http://amzn.to/1CUnhc4

Maximum Exposure UK: http://amzn.to/1vRUqRD

US: http://amzn.to/1vRUAZs

Loving Susie UK: http://amzn.to/1qfSorq

US: http://amzn.to/1lBX1f5

Face the Wind and Fly UK: http://amzn.to/1xf3IJf

US: http://amzn.to/1o0DJeZ

website: http://jennyharperauthor.co.uk/

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorjennyharper

twitter: https://twitter.com/harper_jenny

***

Thanks ever so much for such a great blog Jenny. My writing journey has also been littered with potholes, fits, and starts! I’ve never done a creative writing course either- I’ve always been wary of them- they always seem to add pressure rather than make you feel more capable- or maybe that is just me!!

Happy reading everyone,

Jenny xx

CLIC Charity Sargent Get in Character Auction- Bid to name one of my characters!

By Jenny Kane

On February 22, 2015

In Blog, Contemporary Romantic Fiction, News

I am delighted to announce that I have been asked to donate one of the characters from my forthcoming novel- Abi’s House– to the CLIC Sargent charity auction.

And what company I’m in!! Katie Fforde, Lisa Jewell, Milly Johnson, Rovbrt Thorogood, Lee Child and many more!!

So for your chance to pick a name for the characters in some amazing books- just check out the information below…

BE A NAMED CHARACTER IN MY NEXT NOVEL

We’re all taking part to help raise vital funds for children and young people with cancer so please get bidding from 8pm 26^th Feb! http://ow.ly/IoQdC

***

Good luck- happy bidding!!

Jenny xx

Jenny Kane: Coffee, cupcakes, chocolate and contemporary fiction / Jennifer Ash: Medieval crime with hints of Ellis Peters and Robin Hood

Category: Contemporary Romantic Fiction Page 53 of 59

Guest Blog from Alison Rose: The Long Path to Publication

Guest Post from Alice Raine: The Encouragement of Mum

Guest Post from Grace Lowrie: Why am I sitting here at the top of a roller coaster?

Guest Post from Anne Polhill Walton: Real life interventions, crime, and a female Jack the Ripper!

Pondering my female influences: International Women’s Day

Novel Progress 4: Halfway House!

Guest Post from Gilli Allan: Art and Writing

CLIC SARGENT AUCTION OPEN: BE A NAMED CHARACTER IN MY NEXT NOVEL

Guest Post from Jenny Harper: A writer’s path is littered with obstacles

CLIC Charity Sargent Get in Character Auction- Bid to name one of my characters!