Jenny Kane & Jennifer Ash

My First Time: Maggie Cammis

On March 16, 2016

In Blog, Contemporary fiction, Contemporary Romantic Fiction, Fiction

It’s time for another instalment of my blog series, ‘My First Time’. Today I’m delighted to welcome Mggie Cammis to my site. Over to you Maggie…

First Time

Can you remember writing the first story you actually wanted to write, rather than those you were forced to write at school? What was it about?

I have vague recollections of a torrid story concerning a stolen horse and a damsel in distress but to be honest, I can’t remember writing many stories except for homework. I was far too busy reading. When the writing bug finally bit, I jumped straight in with a novel, which had an incestuous relationship at its heart. (I have no idea where that idea sprang from, but the characters just took up the story and ran with it.) Perhaps a little ambitious for a first attempt. It languished at the bottom of a drawer for years, too embarrassed to show its face.

What was your first official publication?

About ten years ago I entered a Writer’s News competition for a personal memoir. Mine was about my experiences working as a teenager in a liquorice factory in the late 1960s. I was thrilled when it won! The article was later published in a local magazine and it’s now available to read on my blog: The liquorice fields of Pontefract

My first published fiction was my novel ‘No News is Good News’, published by Accent Press. It’s set in the exciting world of 24-hour rolling news, and concerns a young editor whose career is compromised by an intriguing storyline.

No News Is Good News(1)

Eleanor was gearing up for marriage when her boyfriend Daniel rejected her without explanation and disappeared. Four years later, she has thrown herself into her hectic career as a TV news editor. She is happy and successful and has definitely moved on.

That is, until Daniel returns with a brand-new fiancée on his arm and Eleanor’s golden chance turns to be not as shiny as she had first anticipated.

What affect did that have on your life?

The competition win confirmed my suspicions – maybe I could write after all. The publication of the novel endorsed them.

Does your first published story reflect your current writing style?

No. That first novel attempt was littered with purple prose! I’ve learned a lot in the intervening years and it’s taken a lot of practice to find my own style.

What are you working on at the moment?

As well as the final edit of novel number 2 – working title ‘Background Feature’ – I’m well into the third, which is a complete departure, covering very different subject matter. It deals with some of the issues surrounding women of a certain age. My age. With added humour, of course.

***

Buy links to your first published story (if still available) and links to your latest book. http://maggiecammiss.com/non-fiction/the-licquorice-fields-of-pontefract/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/No-News-Good-Maggie-Cammiss/dp/1783757035/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1452605212&sr=1-1&keywords=no+news+is+good+news

https://www.accentpress.co.uk/maggie-cammiss

Author Bio and links

Always an avid reader, the first years of my working life were spent in public libraries. Later, I moved into film archives, and in 1989 joined Sky News when the channel first launched. At the end of 2005, after more than ten years as Head of the News Library, I left London with my partner – now my husband – to see what life outside the M25 had to offer. We settled in Norfolk, I joined the Cutting Edge Writers group and started to write seriously.

I came away from the hectic environment of a 24-hour rolling news channel with a gift: masses of background material for a novel. No News is Good News was published by Accent Press in December 2014. In 2012 I entered the NaNoWriMo challenge to write a novel in a month and succeeded with the first 50,000 words of a second novel, with a similar setting, which is now in its final edit. A third novel, with a different theme, is in progress. I also write short stories, some of which I read on local radio, and our writing group has just published an anthology of our work.

https://www.facebook.com/maggiecammisswriter/

http://maggiecammiss.com/

https://twitter.com/maggiecammiss

***

Great interview! Thanks Maggie.

Happy reading,

Jenny x

Guest Blog from Nell Peters: The Ides of March-ish

By Jenny Kane

On March 15, 2016

In Blog, Contemporary fiction, crime, Fiction

I love having guests on my blog. Some visitors I particularly look forward to, and today I’m thrilled to have one of my favourite guests sharing a little writers wisdom. Please welcome back Nell Peters.

Over to you Nell…

Hello, Jenny – thanks for having me again!

Last time I was a guest blogger here Christmas was approaching fast, with sleigh bells ring-ding-a-ding-a-ling loudly in our ears. Now we are a matter of days away from Easter. Scary! Of course, chocolate eggs and the like have been in the shops since 26^th December, possibly before – I wonder what days of the year that posh choc company designate to convert their gold foil-covered bunnies rather unconvincingly into reindeer, or vice versa?

Most of the Christmas break disappeared for me under various edits required for a 4/1 deadline and it will hereinafter be referred to the Swear Box Christmas. This in no way overshadows that of two years ago, which became the Bug Christmas. And I don’t mean those cute little ladybird creatures with innumerable legs and spotted backs.

A PW

On Christmas Eve 2013, the youngest boy was twenty-one and everyone and their dog was coming to stay for several days. In our infinite wisdom, the OH and I felt we should get the main bathroom tarted up a bit for the invasion. Big mistake. Work inevitably fell behind schedule and the self-imposed deadline (22/12) was getting perilously close, when OH managed to put his foot through the floor…which forms part of the dining room ceiling. Not a good look. When everyone arrived on 23^rd (actually our anniversary, but mostly forgotten after #4 son gate-crashed the party a week before his due date on New Years Eve) we had rather too few – shall we say – functioning facilities to accommodate the gathered masses. Pioneering spirit to the fore (we are British after all, don’t you know), we could have coped with that, had someone not turned up brewing a tummy bug. I’ll let you join your own dots from there – it was a challenging few days, to put it mildly, with enough left-over food to keep us going until midsummer. Oh, in case you were worrying about it, we did get the ceiling patched up in time – though that was really the least of our worries.

That’s all a distant memory now, and one we may (or may not) find amusing at some time in the future – if we live that long.

I’m pleased to report that Pavlova the chicken survived her second Christmas with us without ending up in the roasting tin – as threatened by various horrid sons throughout the year, amid pointed ‘fattening her up for Christmas’ remarks. Poor Pav didn’t know what she was getting herself into, when she turned up on our land a couple of years ago and decided to stay…

chicken

Back to the here and now…or almost. All the necessary edits were done and dusted on time for Hostile Witness – just as well, as it was on pre-order for a 4^th Feb launch, so there was little leeway. But most importantly, another little cutie entered our lives; GD #3 and our fifth Grand, arrived only a little late on 7^th Jan, and of course she is just as beautiful as her big sister, Isla. The baby is called Indie, so the ‘I’s have it in that household! Sorry …

Today, 15^th March, is the seventy-fifth day of the year (this being a Leap Year – I bet there’s some bright spark out there who knows exactly how many days there are until Christmas 2016. If you find them, please gag them) and was known to the Romans as the Ides – the middle of the month. It was the day in 44BC that Julius Caesar probably wished he hadn’t bothered to get out of bed, or had at least had the presence of mind to wear his dagger-proof Kevlar toga.

dagger

Anything Roman still reminds me of our Head of Latin at school, Miss Mackinder. She was a terrifying woman with protruding teeth and a passion for cats, if not her pupils. She had a glare that could kill at a thousand yards and like most of the staff at that very staid, traditional Grammar she was a spinster who seemed very old – as anyone over twenty does to a young teen. Miss Mack used to spend her holidays in Rome, rescuing stray cats (and quite possibly scaring the natives). The author Judy Astley and I somehow survived years of regulation indoor shoes, regulation outdoor shoes, summer boaters and winter felt hats (hat detention if seen outside school grounds not wearing the damned things), and flame-coloured summer dresses that suited no one and could be seen from outer space. All this amid wood-panelled walls, and an oppressive atmosphere where pupils (all gels, natch) should neither be seen nor heard, or be caught doing anything unladylike. There was a list of school rules as long as the M1 and woe betide anyone who stepped out of line – they still had the cane! Where was ChildLine when we needed it?

Anyway, I digress – fast forward to 15^th March 1493, when Christopher Columbus docked in Palos, Spain after his first trip to the Americas. It was a disappointing voyage of discovery because neither Colonel Sanders nor Ronald MacDonald had opened for business and so CC was stuck with paella for another few hundred years. Or maybe I imagined that bit?

Continuing the boat/water theme, in 1927 (when my mum was about six weeks old) the first Oxford v Cambridge Women’s Boat Race was held on the Isis in Oxford. It took place at 1.15 pm, when heads of colleges hoped young men students would be too distracted by their lunch to go along to gawp. To call it a race is a bit of a stretch though, because the boats rowed separately downstream and judging concentrated mainly on style and deportment – perhaps keeping their knees together, balancing books on their heads and not showing their bloomers? When that resulted in a tie, the teams rowed against each other upstream and Oxford won by two points. Ah…those were the days – remember this was a whole year before all women over the age of twenty-one in Great Britain and Northern Ireland were finally given the right to vote. Enlightened times indeed.

Before I send everyone to sleep, perhaps I should plug the latest masterpiece and go, so that you can get on with whatever floats your boat.

newrel

Immaculately edited psychological crime novel Hostile Witness can be found at mybook.to/hostilewitness

Because it was previously self-published, the book comes complete with two 5* reviews – always handy:

‘Many twists and turns – and a cliff-hanger ending. Quite an enjoyable read, with a delightfully twisty plot. Ms. Peters kept me guessing till the end.’

And

‘Thoroughly enjoyed this book and will look forward to the next one from this author. Keeps you guessing till the end.’

Common theme there, as in being kept guessing until the end – I know the end, but I’m not telling. Both reviews come from Amazon.com and were posted on consecutive days three years ago – slightly bizarre, but I’m not complaining!

I’m off now, but remember – beware the Ides of March. Et tu, Jenny! J

***

How I remember my own Latin lessons. I was lucky enough to be blessed with a wonderful Latin master- the amazing Mr White. Amazing because he was so patient with me- I was not the best language student!!

Thanks Nell,

Happy reading,

Jenny x

Nothings Forgotten: The Robin of Sherwood Effect

By Jenny Kane

On March 13, 2016

In Blog, Contemporary fiction, Contemporary Romantic Fiction, crime, Fiction, Historical fiction

It never ceases to amaze me how the small things in life ultimately have the ability to have such a massive impact on us later. Often we don’t even notice it happening until we suddenly look back and see that if “this hadn’t happened, then that wouldn’t have happened….” and on the chain goes, link after link, until you find yourself where you are right now.

For me the chain began with a single link thirty-ish years ago.

I was a very shy teenager- self-conscious- awkward- the stereotypical wall flower. (Part of me still is!!) When I was thirteen I became ill- nothing life threatening, but exhausting. As a consequence I was unable to go to school for several months. My parents- to whom I will always be grateful- went to the nearest Radio Rentals and hired one of those new fangled video recorders so I could watch television whenever I liked during the day.

User comments

The very day they signed that rental agreement, an episode of Robin of Sherwood aired on ITV (an HTV and Goldcrest production). That episode was called Adam Bell, and was the ninth episode of the third series- I watched it over and over again.

For the first time in my life I had fallen in love.

RH books 2

Not with any of the cast as such- I fell for the legend. It truly wasn’t the tight tights that had captured my heart – it was the story. The whole story. All of it. I wanted to know everything- EVERYTHING- that could possibly be known about Robin Hood. No film, book (nonfiction or fiction), was safe from me.

Errol Flynn- The Adventures of Robin Hood

My walls disappeared under posters of RH- any posters- from Errol Flynn, to Richard Greene, to the statue up in Nottingham, to the gorgeous Ray Winstone who played Will Scarlet (Okay- you have me there- I had – still do- have a soft spot for Ray Winstone- there is such a twinkle in those eyes!!!)

The interest became an obsession (In RH not Ray Winstone). When I was better my parents took me to Sherwood- I learnt archery, I read medieval political poems and ballads- I wanted to know the truth- did he exist or didn’t he?

I did a project on RH for my A’ level History. Then I went to university and did a specialist course in Medieval Castle and Ecclesiastical Architecture…I was a medieval junky!! It seemed only natural to do a PhD on the subject- and that is exactly what I did! And all because I’d watched an episode of Robin of Sherwood.

Robin Hood Statue- Nottingham

By this time (in my early twenties), I was pretty certain how and why the RH legend had begun- but I wanted to know who had influenced it into the form we know today, and how the real recorded crimes and daily life of the thirteenth and fourteenth century had effected those stories… (forget thinking RH was around with Richard I or King John- it ain’t happening!!)

It was my PhD that taught me to write- (a tome of epic proportions that is still knocking around my old Uni library gathering dust, while e-versions of it are scattered around many American Universities).

Rather than finish off my love of RH- my PhD polished it to perfection!! (Although nothing could make me like the Russell Crowe film- it made me want to scream it was so bad.)

Ray Winstone

I guess it was only a matter of time before I decided to write a novel about a Robin Hood obsessed historian.

Blurb-

Dr Grace Harper has loved the stories of Robin Hood ever since she first saw them on TV as a girl. Now, with her fortieth birthday just around the corner, she’s a successful academic in Medieval History, with a tenured position at a top university.

But Grace is in a bit of a rut. She’s supposed to be writing a textbook on a real-life medieval gang of high-class criminals – the Folvilles – but she keeps being drawn into the world of the novel she’s secretly writing – a novel which entwines the Folvilles with her long-time love of Robin Hood – and a feisty young girl named Mathilda, who is the key to a medieval mystery…

Meanwhile, Grace’s best friend Daisy – who’s as keen on animals as Grace is on the Merry Men – is unexpectedly getting married, and a reluctant Grace is press-ganged into being her bridesmaid. As Grace sees Daisy’s new-found happiness, she starts to re-evaluate her own life. Is her devotion to a man who may or may not have lived hundreds of years ago really a substitute for a real-life hero of her own? It doesn’t get any easier when she meets Dr Robert Franks – a rival academic who Grace is determined to dislike but finds herself being increasingly drawn to…

You can buy this crime/romance/modern/medieval novel from all good retailers, including-

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Romancing-Robin-Hood-Jenny-Kane-ebook/dp/B00M4838S2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407428558&sr=8-1&keywords=romancing+robin+hood

http://www.amazon.com/Romancing-Robin-Hood-love-story-ebook/dp/B00M4838S2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409936409&sr=8-1&keywords=romancing+robin+hood

Kobo link – http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/romancing-robin-hood

Nook link- http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/romancing-robin-hood-jenny-kane/1121088562?ean=9781783754267

***

So here I am, 30 years from watching that initial episode- the parent of two children who also love Robin of Sherwood– and the story continues to have an effect.

Two weeks ago I had the good fortune- thanks to a fellow writer (bless you Fay!!!)- to come across a lovely chap called Barnaby Eaton Jones, who has managed the impossible. He has produced a brand new episode of Robin of Sherwood!! With the original cast (Jason Connery as Robin) he has put together (with the help of a brilliant cast and crew), an audio version of what happened next after the heart breaking end of series three.

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I’ll be blogging more about this new episode- The Knights of the Apocalypse (#KOTA)- in the near future. But if you want to check out what’s happening- and see some incredible cast pics- take a look here-

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/robin-of-sherwood-the-knights-of-the-apocalypse/x/13571561#/

– the Sheriff of Nottingham has a message for you!

One thing has always bothered me- I believe in the importance of saying thank you. I have always wanted to thank the cast, crew, and writers of Robin of Sherwood. They set me on a course that has taken me from a shy child to an adult who has learnt how to handle that shyness, and given me a career I love. It’s difficult to do this without coming across like a crazed fan or some sort of hyper fan-girl (I’m neither- just a regular fan!)- but now I have that chance.

Thank you all.

Perhaps if I hadn’t watched RoS, I’d be doing something totally different with my days!?

“Nothing’s Forgotten. Nothing is ever forgotten.”

Happy reading

Jenny

xxx

Novel Progress 9: Not quite finished….but…

By Jenny Kane

On March 9, 2016

In Contemporary fiction, Contemporary Romantic Fiction, Fiction

You may remember that early last year, I wrote a series of blogs about the progress of the novel I was writing at the time- Another Glass of Champagne.

I finished the series with the warning that- although the novel was written- it wasn’t actually complete. http://wp.me/p75ZD9-o7

Since I wrote that last ‘Novel Progress’ blog, I have edited and published Abi’s House, and written and published Christmas at the Castle…the book trade stops for no man!!

But now- all these months later- it’s time to turn my attention back to the final novel in the ‘Another Cup of ‘ series- and I’m currently neck deep in the publishing edits for Another Glass of Champagne- which I am delighted to say, will be released this coming June!

20160308_090158

When any writer gets an editor’s edits back on their manuscript it is a rather nerve wracking experience. The first fear is that your editor will have hated your story! Then, you have to brace yourself for the list of suggestions for changes your editor will have made- then you have to take the bravest step of all, and open up the document to see how many red marks there are across your lovingly crafted lines.

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I have to admit, I am very lucky. I have one of those rare editors that actually does their job properly, and double and triple checks everything. Bless him- this time he had to grapple with my novel’s timeline in a very detailed way. As I have added 3 Christmas novellas into the time gap between the release of Another Cup of Coffee, and Another Glass of Champagne, far more years have passed than I had originally planned. So all the characters are rather older now than I had written them to be!

Fear not- adjustments have been made- and the coffee is once again flowing at Pickwicks Coffee House in Richmond…and perhaps the odd glass of champagne…

If you’ll excuse me I’d better crack on. This is only round one of the editors edits…the polishing process of this novel continues…

Happy reading,

Jenny x

Short Story Competition…Tiverton Literary Festival 2016

By Jenny Kane

On March 5, 2016

In Blog, Books For Children, Contemporary fiction, Contemporary Romantic Fiction, crime, Fiction, Historical fiction, News, Romance

This morning, in the Devon town of Tiverton bestselling children’s novelist, Angie Sage, launched the Tiverton Literary Festival’s short story competition.

Angie Sage signing books

For those of you who were unable to attend- I can now announce that the theme for the competition is…

‘Kings and Queens’

The theme can be interpreted in anyway you like, and all genres (apart from erotic) are accepted. The competition is free to enter and open to anyone from the age of 4 upwards, with categories for all school year ages groups, as well as for those over 16. You don’t have to be local to enter, or even a UK resident to enter.

Each story has to be 400 words or under. It should be typed as a word.doc and sent to info@tivlitfest.co.uk by 30th April 2016. This will give us time to judge the winners and get all the best stories published in an anthology in time for this years festival, which will run from 8th-12th June. If you have no internet access, please hand them into your local school or Tiverton Library.

Last year I had the privilege of judging the competition, and was blown away by the high standard of entries from children and adults alike. This year I am joined in the judging process by Angie Sage herself.

The winning stories will be published in a book, which will be available to purchase at the festival in June. There will be prize giving ceremony for the winners in Tiverton on 11th June – more details to follow.

We very much look forward to reading your entries.

Happy writing,

Jenny x

Tiv Lit comp 2016

My First Time: Grace Lowrie

By Jenny Kane

On March 2, 2016

In Contemporary fiction, Contemporary Romantic Fiction, Fiction, Interview

Today I have the lovely Grace Lowrie visiting to tell us all about her very first story writing and publishing experience.

First Time

My First Time

Can you remember writing the first story you actually wanted to write, rather than those you were forced to write at school? What was it about?

The Dream Cats is a story about two children, James and Jane, who are whisked away in the middle of the night on the back of a black cat. When they wake in the morning they find themselves lying on a knitted blanket beside a pond (as illustrated). The talking cat offers to carry them to a village full of cats, where they are greeted so enthusiastically that James almost falls off his mount. The children are given a cottage to live in, while they make the difficult decision of which cat to adopt and take home…

TheDreamCats

I’m not sure how old I was when I wrote this story, and sadly I never finished it, but I do recall writing it in the back garden, during the summer holidays (almost certainly whilst sitting on a knitted blanket). Reading it back my childhood obsession with cats is obvious, but what most appeals to me now, is that it is James who falls and Jane who catches him. Girl power.

TheDreamCats2

What was your first official publication?

My first official publication was Kindred Hearts, in March 2015. In all honestly I’d never been brave enough to try to get published prior to that, despite having penned hundreds of poems and short stories over the years. I wrote because I enjoyed it, but never suspected I was any good. Now I wish I’d been braver sooner.

KindredHearts

What affect did that have on your life?

My life has changed significantly since getting published. Timing wise it coincided with moving to a new area and changing career, but being published gave me the confidence to return to what I love; make time for my writing and be proud of it. I can honestly say I’ve never felt more content.

Does your first published story reflect your current writing style?

Kindred Hearts is a sexy, contemporary romance novel, exploring the complex relationship between three individuals who have known each other since childhood. It is set in glamorous parts of London but deals with love, loss and loneliness as much as lust. I am currently working on a series of three novels in the same genre. However, I am a bibliophile – I suspect that I am influenced by every book I read and that my writing style is changing and evolving with each new book I write. I hope so anyway.

What are you working on at the moment?

A three-book series of standalone, contemporary, romance novels. Whilst each book focuses on a different relationship, the stories are linked by the fictional setting of Wildham and a cast of reoccurring characters. Themes of isolation, longing and the healing potential of love, weave throughout the series, complemented by a healthy dose of sensuality 🙂

Buy links

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kindred-Hearts-Grace-Lowrie-ebook/dp/B00SMRLCA0

http://www.amazon.com/Kindred-Hearts-Grace-Lowrie-ebook/dp/B00SMRLCA0

Author Bio and links

Grace Lowrie was born and raised on the outskirts of London and spent her student years in the eclectic seaside town of Brighton. Since then she has utilised her creativity as a collage-artist, sculptor, prop-maker and garden designer. In March 2015 her debut novel, Kindred Hearts, was released by Cardiff-based publisher, Accent Press. Spurred on by this success, a lifelong passion for reading and a supportive family, she continues to write novels from her Hertfordshire home.

http://www.facebook.com/GraceLowrieWriter

http://www.twitter.com/gracelowrie1

http://www.pinterest.com/grace_lowrie

https://www.goodreads.com/Grace_Lowrie

***

Many thanks Grace,

Great interview. The Dream Cats looks amazing!

Happy reading,

Jenny x

Short Story Competition…Tiverton Literary Festival Event

By Jenny Kane

On February 23, 2016

In Blog, Fiction

On the 5th March, in the Devonshire town of Tiverton, myself and my fellow festival organisers will be welcoming in this year’s Literary Festival with the help of the brilliant, Angie Sage.

Although the main festival doesn’t start until 8th June (running until 12th June), we are kicking off proceedings on 5th March with our annual short story competition!

Tiv Lit comp 2016

Why not come along to St George’s Church on 5th at 11am to meet Angie, hear how to enter, and discover what this year’s competition theme is!

Last year the standard of entries was very high. I judged them alone- and it was a tough assignment! This year Angie is helping me with the selection process- I can’t wait to see what you can all come up with!

You don’t need to attend the launch to take part, nor do you need to live locally. This competition is open to everyone.

If you are unable to attend Angie’s launch, I will let you know what the story theme is- and all the rules- on the 6th March.

In the meantime, I can tell you that there are age related categories for everyone from 4 years old to adult, the word limit is 400 words, and the closing date is 30th April.

More information soon…

Happy reading,

Jenny x

Interview with Rebecca Hall: Girl Gone Greek

By Jenny Kane

On February 22, 2016

In Contemporary fiction, Contemporary Romantic Fiction, Fiction

I have a brand new visitor to my blog today, the lovely Rebecca Hall. Not only is Rebecca a travel writer, she has also written a novel about her adventures in Greece.

Why not grab a cuppa, pull up a chair, and put your feet for five minutes, and join in our chatter…

coffee and cake

What inspired you to write your book?

I lived in Greece for a while, teaching English. Now I divide my time between this beautiful country and the UK. At the time (about 2010), Greece was going through a lot of negative press (and still is, to a certain degree). It made me angry because what was being represented was not the Greece I knew, and not a true representation of the people I knew. It insulted me to hear my adopted countrymen being accused of being lazy, insolent and the root of all the problems in the E.U. And so I set about writing, in novel format, my experiences of the Greece and her people. I wanted to make it humorous and bring the characters to life, for people to see another side to Greece…one very much absent from the press.

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Do you model any of your characters after people you know? If so, do these people see themselves in your characters?

Absolutely! Girl Gone Greek is ‘faction’ really (fact in fiction format) and is based on my first year living in a remote Greek village as an EFL teacher. The head of the school, the other teachers and the protagonist’s best friend all have character traits of people I’ve met, interacted with and developed friendships and relationships with.

Kaliopi, the best friend, was certainly modeled on my best Greek friend. And the real Kaliopi doesn’t mind at all. She actually thanked me for highlighting elements of her character and psyche she never realized existed! (I hurriedly told her it was fiction so an element of poetic license was involved, but she seemed pleased nonetheless).

What type of research did you have to do for your book?

Much of Girl Gone Greek was taken from my own personal experiences. I also included historical references to Greece’s past, especially about the (only quite recent) dictatorship in the 1970’s, a couple of references to specific events in Athens during World War II and recent events during the current troubled economic times.

For recent events, I was in Greece myself so I could ask my Greek friends to help me understand. The specific Dictatorship and World War II references are common knowledge to all Greeks, young and old so first hand accounts were quite easy to come by, luckily. I was lucky to be able to get primary research.

Do you prefer to plot your story or just go with the flow?

Definitely the latter – just go with the flow. I am not a ‘rigid’ person generally and find following strict guidelines and rules in general in life very restricting (hence why I love the semi-chaos of Greece). Although maybe I should actually try to set myself a timeline and plot in advance because it took me a long time to write, learn about and then self-publish Girl Gone Greek. And it’s also taking me a long time to get into the groove of writing my follow up novel. Maybe if I had a deadline, this’d help me to discipline myself.

What excites you the most about your book?

The fact that it seems to excite others to want to come and experience another side to this wonderful country, with its aesthetic beauty and kind hearted people. Lovers of Greece had left me reviews and / or emailed me personally to thank me for what I’ve written and for showing the humane side. Greeks have thanked me for showing their country in a different light and for understanding their quirks. It excites me to feel I can offer this to my adopted countrymen: make a difference to the way people view Greece, at least to the small percentage of people who read and like my book enough to want to explore more.

Anything else you’d like to share with us?

Girl Gone Greek is a humorous fictional, yet honest account of one woman’s experience in a small Greek village. The Greek people encountered every day in this country are enough to write a novel in itself! Drama is originally a Greek word – and there is enough drama in Greece to write many novels, even non-fiction! But the Greeks know how to survive, and with it, offer philotimo (not a word, but a concept, meaning offering friendship to strangers).

I hope you’re encouraged to visit Greece and create your own Greek story.

***

Links

Website: www.lifebeyondbordersblog.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/AuthorRebeccaAHall

Facebook: www.facebook.com/LifeBeyondBordersBlog

Twitter: www.twitter.com/BeyondBex

Instagram: www.instagram.com/BeyondBex

Google +: https://plus.google.com/+BexHall

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/BeyondBex

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Bio

Girl Gone Greek is Rebecca Hall’s debut Contemporary Women’s Fiction Novel – available on Amazon.

After extensive global travels, Rebecca left the UK to return to the country she fell in love with—Greece, where she teaches English, writes and wryly observes that the chaotic nature of her adopted country actually suits her personality very well. All travel experiences, & particularly living in versatile cultures, have helped to shape who she is today. She is a Rough Guide co-author (Greece & The Greek Islands and Portugal) and has contributed to numerous publications including Apollo Business Class Magazine for Cyprus Airways and Let’s Go for RyanAir, the Daily Telegraph Travel Section and her container ship voyage from Athens to Hong Kong caught the eye of NPR National Radio in the United States, where she was interviewed twice.

When not writing, you’ll usually find her drinking coffee with friends, or sourcing a new place to eat baklava.

***

Many thanks Rebecca. Excellent interview.

If you are in the South West, and want to meet Rebecca in person, she will be talking at this year’s Tiverton Literary Festival (8th-12th June)- details coming soon.

Happy reading everyone,

Jenny x

Tackling the Marketing Resentment Loop

By Jenny Kane

On February 19, 2016

In Blog, Fiction, writing tips

Tackling the Marketing Resentment Loop

One of the major hurdles in modern day publishing- particularly in relation to the rise of self published books- is marketing.

Often it isn’t the marketing itself that’s the problem, but finding the time or inclination to do it in the first place.

Most writers, whether they tackle short stories, novels, scripts or poems, are not natural marketers. Let’s face it, marketing means sticking your head above the parapet and shouting ‘Hey, look at me! Look what I’ve done!’ And while not all authors are shy and retiring, many have confidence issues and live far more comfortably in the world of make believe than in the ‘real’ world of commerce.

Okay, so I’m generalising, but the point is, most writers want to write. They (we!) resent the time required to market their existing books when they’d far rather creating a new one.

12_hrs

In a world where the majority of authors squeeze writing time in between working, looking after families, and doing all the other things that everyone has to do, it is hard not to resent the time spent writing blogs, or on social media, thinking up new ways to advertise our wares.

Once you start marketing it is so easy to get to go to extremes. Paranoia is only a footstep away- as you reach the point where you are afraid to stop marketing!

We all know that books are invisible if you don’t market them- but how much PR is the right amount? If you go an hour without tweeting about your latest epic will all your hard work become suddenly pointless?

arrowed circle

This is how the marketing resentment loop begins-

You write a book-

You discover it doesn’t sell by magic-

You want to write another book but the first needs marketing….but you only have 2 hours a day to wrote- so you market and don’t write-

You start to resent the marketing-

You start to lose the joy of writing-

You throw your hands in the air, and give up-

Six weeks later you are desperate to write-

You write a book-

You discover it doesn’t sell by magic…AND ROUND YOU GO AGAIN.

break-the-cycle

So how do you break the loop?

Set aside a small fraction of your writing time each day to market. Don’t go over that time period.
Cheat. Use systems like HootSuite on Twitter to automatically put out tweets for you through the day without you having to do very much work at all.
Take you mobile phone to the bathroom! Yes- I know- but you’re just sat there- tweet/post on Facebook while you’re unable to do anything else anyway! Basically use any dead time in your day to your advantage, from being sat on the loo, to waiting for the kettle to boil.
Immediately after you have finished your novel/script bite the bullet and use your precious writing time to create a series of guest blogs. Once you have them done you can simply adapt and rewrite them as required, saving you time in the long run. Blog tours are an excellent marketing tool, and if you don’t know enough bloggers to ask to host you, then a large number of services exist to provide this service, such as http://www.writermarketing.co.uk/
If you find marketing is killing the joy of creation for you, then don’t do it. Remember, writing is supposed to be fun. If you’re only in it for the money, then I strongly advise you to try your hand at something new instead!

marketing

If you’d like more advice about all elements of writing work- including marketing ideas- why not check out www.DevonWriters.com

Happy marketing,

Jenny x

My First Time: Tom Williams

By Jenny Kane

On February 17, 2016

In Blog, Fiction, Historical fiction, Interview

My new fortnightly blog series, talking about authors first publishing experiences, continues today with a geat interview from historical novelist, Tom Williams.

First Time

My First Time

I can’t remember the first story I ever wrote. For this blog we’re not supposed to include stories we were made to write at school, but I loved writing stories at school. I wrote stories, poems, essays … I wrote anything and everything. I’ve always enjoyed writing.

When I was a teenager I decided I’d like to write short stories for publication. I bought loads of women’s magazines and read them and then tried to write something that would fit their market, but I never cracked it. This was in the days before word processing so I got individually typewritten rejection letters. I remember they were often on very small sheets of paper. Presumably they sent so many of them out that using small sheets meant a real saving.

That was when I started my world-class collection of rejections. I’ve still got a lot of them, hidden in a box in the loft.

Eventually I grew up (more or less), got a job, got married, and got a life (not necessarily in that order). I’ve always been incredibly jealous of people who can organise their writing round work/marriage/hobbies. I’ve never been able to. I think it’s even harder when, like me, you do a lot of writing in the course of your work. I more or less gave up writing fiction for years but then decided that I would take time out and try and produce the novel I had always dreamt of. It took me almost a year and it attracted the interest of quite a well-known agent who sent me to an editor. I was still very young and had absolutely no idea of how lucky I was to get that far. Instead of persevering, I got increasingly frustrated until the editor suggested that I should rest the book, do something else, and come back to it. I rested it for over twenty years before I decided to have a crack at another novel. When I thought about what I wanted to do, I realised that I could take the story that I had tried to tell all those years ago and twist it round to tell it from another direction. This is the book that eventually became The White Rajah. Yet again, it did find an agent, but, though he sent it to several major publishers all of them politely declined it. It was, they said, a “difficult” first novel. Why not write something more commercial and then tried to sell The White Rajah once I was established?

The White Rajah2

I obediently went off to write something “more commercial” (it eventually became Burke in the Land of Silver) but I was beginning to think that I would be cold in my grave before The White Rajah ever saw publication. Then I saw that a tiny US indie publisher, who specialised in novels for the gay community, was looking for historical works. I had a suspicion that one of the things that made The White Rajah “difficult” was that it featured a love story but also a pronounced absence of any female characters. I decided that a niche indie publisher was probably the way to go so The White Rajah finally saw publication.

[Scrabbles desperately around and finds Jenny’s interview questions. Tries to pull himself back on track.]

What effect did that have on your life?

In practical terms, not a lot. I think everybody imagines that their first published book will change their lives, but it’s very rare that it does. It got some nice reviews and enough people bought it for JMS to ask me to produce a sequel so I did. That was Cawnpore. For what it’s worth, I think it’s the better book, but I’m happy to have written both of them.

Cawnpore_edited-1

Does your first published story reflect your current writing style?

Yes and no. I finally took the advice I had been offered years earlier and tried to write something more commercial. So I’ve written three books about a (very) heterosexual spy in the time of Napoleon and am working on a fourth. Apart from the fact that these are historical novels, they have practically nothing in common with the first two books. At the same time I produced another book in the original series, Back Home, which will be published by Accent in April. That’s totally in the style of the first two. It was never originally conceived as a trilogy, but it has worked out very naturally. The three books have different subjects but they are all seen through the eyes of John Williamson. We meet him first as a young man setting out from England for adventures in the Far East and then, in Cawnpore, as an established figure in British colonial administration who sees everything he has worked for being destroyed in the Indian Mutiny. The final book sees him back in England, closing the circle of his life. It’s fair to say that they’re not cheerful, but I honestly think they’re worth a read.

What are you working on at the moment?

Another book about my spy, James Burke. This time he will be fighting in the Peninsular War.

Tom Williams

Bio

Tom Williams used to write about boring things for money. If you wanted an analysis of complaints volumes in legal services or attitudes to diversity at the BBC, then he was your man. Now he writes much more interesting books about historical characters and earns in a year about what he could make in a day back then. (This, unfortunately, is absolutely true.) He also writes a blog (http://thewhiterajah.blogspot.co.uk/) which is widely read all over the world and generates no income at all. Besides making no money from writing, Tom makes no money out of occasionally teaching people to tango and then spends all the money he hasn’t made on going to dance in Argentina.

Please save Tom from himself and buy the bloody books.

Here are links to the published stories about John Williamson.

The White Rajah: myBook.to/WhiteRajah

Cawnpore: myBook.to/Cawnpore

Back Home will be published in April.

TW1 Burke at Waterloo

And here are the stories about James Burke.

Burke in the Land of Silver: myBook.to/LandofSilver

Burke and the Bedouin: http://mybook.to/Bedouin

Burke at Waterloo: myBook.to/BurkeWaterloo

Burke in the land of silver

Many thanks Tom. Great interview!

Happy reading everyone,

Jenny xx

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‘Kings and Queens’

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