Thursday 30 June 2011

Anne Whitfield: The House of Women

Tell us a bit about your book.
It’s set in Yorkshire, an English county I love, and where my family originates from.

Blurb

Leeds. 1870. Lonely and brokenhearted, Grace Woodruff fights for her sisters’ rights to happiness while sacrificing any chance for her own.
 The eldest of seven daughters, Grace is the core of strength around which the unhappy members of the Woodruff family revolve. As her disenchanted mother withdraws to her rooms, Grace must act as a buffer between her violent, ambitious father and the sisters who depend upon her. Rejected by her first love and facing a spinster’s future, she struggles to hold the broken family together through her father’s infidelity, one sister’s alcoholism, and another’s out-of-wedlock pregnancy by an unsuitable match.

Caring for an illegitimate half-brother affords Grace an escape, though short-lived. Forced home by illness and burdened with dwindling finances, Grace faces fresh anguish –and murder– when her first love returns to wreck havoc in her life. All is not lost, however. In the midst of tragedy, the fires of her heart are rekindled by another. Will the possibility of true love lead Grace to relinquish her responsibilities in the house of women and embrace her own right to happiness?

Why did you choose to write historical romance?
I love history and I love romance. It’s logical to put the two together. I enjoy setting up a time in history and letting the characters fall in love. It’s a perfect combination.

What did it feel like to get your first acceptance?
My first acceptance was in 2005 and it was very exciting, very surreal. I was surprised someone liked my story, that they felt it worthwhile spending time on it and publishing it. Each acceptance since then still is exciting and I’m very happy people like my stories.

What is the best (and worst) part of the writing process?
The best part is finishing a story. It’s nice to get it out of my head. The worst part would be editing over and over until I’m sick of it.

How long does it typically take you to finish a story?
My historical novels take about 8 months for the first draft to be completed. But it also depends if I have edits and promoting of other stories to do, too, which eats up time.

Do you have any favorites out of the characters you've written?
That’s a hard question. I think Kitty McKenzie will always been a firm favourite, I spent a long time writing her two books and loved every minute of it. But every heroine and hero have a special place in my heart. I love them all.

Which writers inspired/influenced your work?
Catherine Cookson was the author I adored from age of 14. Then in my twenties I started reading another UK author, Audrey Howard and he stories made me laugh and cry and I can’t put them down once I start reading them.

Was there ever a point in your career where you said, "Yeah, I can do this!"?
I think the first time was when I got good reviews back for my first couple of books and when people emailed me or spoke to me and said they really enjoyed my stories. That’s an amazing feeling I will never grow tired of.

Was there ever a point in your career where you almost gave up writing?
Yes! Lots of times. Especially in 2008 when my agent died and I’ve been struggling to get another one since. I’m grateful to be published by small publishers who are happy to take a chance on an author, unlike the larger publishers.

How do you come up with your stories?
Thankfully, stories just appear in my head without any hard work on my part. Sometimes I’ll get an idea from a research book, or a movie, or a painting, but mostly the characters are suddenly in my head without me realizing it.

What do you do to overcome writer's block?
I rarely suffer from writer’s block. If I’ve written myself into a corner, I’ll go back and re-read previous chapters to see where I went wrong, and then I’ll start editing and deleting until I’m back on track again.

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
Write from the heart. Learn the craft of writing fiction, but don’t spend too much time at the start wondering if you’re writing a masterpiece. It’s the story what counts. Once you’ve finished the book, put it aside for a while and let it rest for a few weeks or a couple of months. Then, you can edit it again with fresh eyes or put it through a critique group.


Anne Whitfield
http://www.annewhitfield.com/

Echoes of Splendour



http://booksfromlindasole.blogspot.com/2011/06/echoes-of-splendour.html

This is an url for a new posting at my Linda Sole blog. See offers of free book and read excerpt from book on special offer at kindle.

Wednesday 29 June 2011

Release Day! GIFTS GONE ASTRAY, Regency comedy


Today is the release day for my latest Regency comedy novella, Gifts Gone Astray.

BLURB:
A gift is a wonderful surprise. Or maybe not.

At the Earl of Langley's family gathering, everyone receives a gift, including the servants. Tutor Stephen Fairfax expects a small token, but the present from family member Mrs. Anne Copely, the widow who's caught his eye, is a dream come true.

Until he opens it. What a gift! How did that demure lady acquire such a book? And she wants to "study" it with him? If he accepts her offer, tempting as it is, he could lose his job.

Anne has no idea why Mr. Fairfax is in such a flutter. Her present is a simple book of illustrations. The subject interests them both, and she would like nothing better than to examine the book--and Mr. Fairfax--more closely.

EXCERPT:
She glanced at the mantel clock. "Oh, look at the time! I must return to the drawing room. So much to do before the family party tonight. But, before I leave..." She swallowed. "We had some trouble with the gifts today. Yours went missing. I apologize—"

"But I received a gift. Someone left it outside my door."

"Thank the stars." She pressed her hand to her bosom.

Stephen's gaze followed her hand down and his throat dried.

"I worried your present was lost."

She worried about me. Capital! He tore his eager gaze from her breasts and lifted his head. "I have not yet unwrapped it. A book, I take it?"

"Yes. The volume belonged to my husband. He was a scholar, and that book was one of his favorites. Mine, too. We spent many happy hours enjoying it." Another dazzling smile curved her lips. "I selected it with you in mind."

His pulse thumped. I have a chance. "You flatter me with your consideration."

"My pleasure." She flashed another of her heart-stopping smiles. "As much as I long to, I will not ruin the surprise by telling you what the book is." She smoothed her face into a blank stare, but her glorious chocolate eyes twinkled.

So, she wanted to play games. He gave an inward smirk. He would love to play games of a different sort. But he would settle for a guessing game. For now.

Available at:

The Wild Rose Press

Note, depending where you are, the links might not yet be active.

Thank you all,
Linda
Linda Banche
Welcome to My World of Historical Hilarity!
http://www.lindabanche.com

Saturday 18 June 2011

Writer's Block

Writer's Block
I don't know if any of you have ever suffered from the so-called "writer's block". A lot of writers will tell you there is no such thing, that you just have to keep going and meet your deadlines regardless of how you feel.
When I moved from the house my children had grown up in, an ancient cottage surrounded by acres of spoilt English woodland, seven months ago I assumed I had no desire to write because I was so stressed by the move. Downsizing is the most difficult – it might mean you now have access to the capital that was tied up in your house but it also means you've left your memories behind and are trying to squash your life into a building half the size. By haven't felt settled here and even looked at another house somewhere else in the village.
I have been busy - don't get me wrong – I still spent several hours a day my computer working on something related to writing but what I haven't been doing is writing anything new. No, that's not quite true. I did complete the Regency I'd started before the move. I have also rewritten five books and completed the edits and proofs for three of them. I twitter, blog, facebook, e-mail and visit chat rooms every day. All part of what's needed when you write for an e-publisher.
However, writing was no longer easy. If I achieve 1000 words a day I am doing well. It felt as if I had to push the words through a sieve, when before they poured out freely. I started a YA fantasy before I moved and had written the first three chapters. Thinking I had a gap between edits for Aurora/Aspen Mountain Press I decided to try and write some more of this.
Then yesterday, miraculously, it was as if a barrier had been removed from my brain. For the first time in seven months the characters came alive on the page, the story became real to me. I wrote 3000 words without stopping. This morning I got up eager to get to my computer, knowing writing would no longer be a chore but a pleasure.
I wasn't aware that I had "writer's block." But now it's gone I can vouch for the fact that it does exist. Yes, you can force a way through it, keep writing and even produce work that is as good as before. But something that was a part of you, an obsession rather than a job, will be missing.
Today I no longer want to move, am happy in my new house. I had really begun to believe it was the house that was stopping me working. My joie de vivre has returned and I am back to what I want to be – a writer who lives for her work.
Fenella Miller

Thursday 16 June 2011

The House of Women- historical romance

I'm so excited that my historical novel, The House of Women, is now released.

Blurb
Leeds. 1870. Lonely and brokenhearted, Grace Woodruff fights for her sisters’ rights to happiness while sacrificing any chance for her own.
    The eldest of seven daughters, Grace is the core of strength around which the unhappy members of the Woodruff family revolve. As her disenchanted mother withdraws to her rooms, Grace must act as a buffer between her violent, ambitious father and the sisters who depend upon her. Rejected by her first love and facing a spinster’s future, she struggles to hold the broken family together through her father’s infidelity, one sister’s alcoholism, and another’s out-of-wedlock pregnancy by an unsuitable match.
   Caring for an illegitimate half-brother affords Grace an escape, though short-lived. Forced home by illness and burdened with dwindling finances, Grace faces fresh anguish –and murder– when her first love returns to wreck havoc in her life. All is not lost, however. In the midst of tragedy, the fires of her heart are rekindled by another. Will the possibility of true love lead Grace to relinquish her responsibilities in the house of women and embrace her own right to happiness?

Excerpt
   Grace blinked to clear her frozen mind as her mother and Verity climbed the staircase. If Verity was here then was William here too? Movement at the door caused Grace to close her eyes. She couldn’t bring herself to open them and see the one man she’d longed for since she was sixteen.
   ‘Miss Woodruff?’ Doyle inquired at her shoulder.
   Startled, she spun to face him, but she was blind to him, blind to everything but the sensation of having William here. Crazily, she wondered if she would swoon like a maiden aunt.
   Doyle’s hand reached out, but he quickly tucked it behind his back. ‘What is it, Miss Woodruff?’
   Grace swallowed, feeling the fine hairs on her arms and nape prickle. He is here.
   'Good evening, Grace.’
   At the sound of William’s deep velvety voice, her heart stopped beating, only to start again at a rapid pace. Her stomach clenched and her legs felt unable to support her anymore. Slowly, she swivelled to gaze into William’s blue-green eyes and knew she was lost again. William smiled his captivating smile. He had aged, no, matured since their last meeting. He looked leaner, but broader in the shoulders. There was an aura about him, something that females of any age wanted. He made all other men around him seem insignificant. A magnetism, a mystical air surrounded him, catching Grace in its clutches once more.

Order The House of Women from Amazon.com, Kindle, Nook and Apple ibookstore
or The Book Depository, which has free postage.
http://www.bookdepository.com/House-Women-Anne-Whitfield/9780956790187

For more information about me or my books, please visit my website.
http://www.annewhitfield.com

Friday 3 June 2011

Sue Moorcroft: Being someone I'm not

When I decided to write Love & Freedom, a book about an American woman coming to England to find her English mother, I spotted an obvious pitfall.

I’m not American.

I was born in Germany and carted around in the wake of the British army.

But ‘being’ an American can’t be all that hard, right? I see them and their country on my television every day, my brother lives in America, Americans speak English.

I knew that American moms bake cookies and British mums bake biscuits but, quite quickly, I discovered that entire dictionaries have been written on the differences between American English and British English. So I bought one, enticingly entitled Bum Bags and Fanny Packs. And believe me I consulted it.

I realised that I needed an American.

Happily, I met Amanda Lightstone on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire’s In the Chat Room, a programme on which we’re both regulars. It was one of those heaven sent opportunities because Amanda had been born and brought up in America but had come to England and married a British man. I asked her if she’d help with my research – and she agreed. Turning point! She knew the American education system, the culture, the procedure according to passports (happily, like Amanda, Honor holds both US and UK, which makes the work situation feasible), even the differences in traffic systems. She remembered only too clearly how it felt not to know the common names for vital things like painkillers. She gave me insight on how British men seem to outsiders – I was quite impressed – and I used to email her every week with a selection of odd questions. Anything she needed back up on, she emailed to her family back in America.

And then she read the entire manuscript for me and pointed out all kinds of errors I didn’t even know were errors.

I got so far into the heart and head of Honor, using this method, that I’m actually not quite out of it, although the book is written, edited, produced and goes on sale on 1 June. I keep automatically ‘translating’ or thinking about how eccentric English people seem or what a cool place Brighton is. I’ve even been known to exclaim, ‘Holy freakin’ Joe!’ I feel quite proud.

Love & Freedom will be published by Choc Lit on 1 June 2011. You can preorder it now or read the first two chapters. And you can listen to a recording of the FREE prequel chapter here.

Sue Moorcroft writes romantic novels of dauntless heroines and irresistible heroes for Choc Lit. Combining that success with her experience as a creative writing tutor, she’s written a ‘how to’ book, Love Writing – How to Make Money From Writing Romantic and Erotic Fiction (Accent Press). Sue also writes short stories, serials, articles and courses and is the head judge for Writers’ Forum. She's a Katie Fforde Bursary Award winner.

Check out her website http://www.suemoorcroft.com/ and her blog at http://suemoorcroft.wordpress.com/ for news and writing tips. You’re welcome to befriend Sue on Facebook or Follow her on Twitter.

All of Sue’s Choc Lit novels and Love Writing are available as ebooks.

Wednesday 1 June 2011

The Bobbin Girls

The Bobbin Girls is one of my favourite historical sagas, now available as an ebook on Amazon Kindle. It was a joy to revisit it for editing purposes, as I’d largely forgotten it. It’s the story of a powerful young love blighted by a dark secret from the past which might, or then again, might not, be true. I do remember that I loved doing the research as I found such marvellous people to interview. The late Bill Hogarth, who spent hours taking me through Grizedale Forest teaching me the tricks of his trade on coppicing, making hurdles and swill baskets. Stan Crabtree and Bill Grant also enlightened and entertained me on the skills of forestry. Even the charcoal maker patiently explained his craft to me.

If you haven't yet visited Stott Park Bobbin Mill in the Lake District, now a working museum, I strongly recommend you go.

Most of all I loved the evening I spent with the ‘Bobbin Girls’ themselves: Eileen Thompson, Joyce Wilson and Pat Hogarth regaled me with their yarns and the wonderful tricks they played on each other in the bobbin mill. How they would put a mouse in a friend’s bait box (lunch box) which meant there would be little left of the poor girl’s sandwiches. Mice were a common pest among the wood shavings. They also painstakingly described all that was involved in the making of bobbins, a skill I would not wish to try considering the hidden difficulties and dangers. Bobbin makers are well known for being a digit short. Fortunately, Eileen, Joyce and Pat still have all of theirs. But I take my hat off to them.

And is there a romance in this book? Of course, a very moving one of thwarted young love.

Here´s the blurb:
Alena Townsen, a fiery tomboy from a large, happy family, wants nothing more than to spend the rest of her life with her childhood friend, Rob, the only son of James Hollinthwaite, a wealthy landowner. Hollinthwaite, however, has other ideas and when he forces the two to part Rob is sent away to school while Alena must start work in the local bobbin mill. Life is hard and her love for Rob severely tested. Torn between two men, her indecision is heightened by the knowledge of a tragic secret.


But trust me, you’ll like the ending. You can download it from here:
Amazon