Blog, Top Tips

Five Cheap Ways to Feel Good

The short, dark days of January are enough to make anyone feel rough. It always seems such a long month, too. The bills for Christmas fun always arrive before January’s payday can bail out the bank account!

Here are five cheap ways to take your mind off the misery…

Exercise

Pic by Skeeze, via Pixabay

Anything that gets you out of your chair is a good thing—even housework, with all that bending and stretching. If you’ve got a dog, you’ve always got a good excuse to go out for a walk and when the weather’s bright and clear, there’s nothing like it. When my joints are working properly I run several kilometres before breakfast on alternate days, but to be honest that does require some investment. To prevent injury good running shoes are vital, and if you’ve got a bust, a properly-fitted sports bra. Neither comes cheap but both will last a long time if you look after them.

Meditation

I meditate for twenty minutes each morning, as recommended by Jack Canfield in his Success Principles. I learned how to meditate by using Headspace, which has a great selection of short courses, tutorials and animations. That started me off, but now I’ve established a routine it’s just a case of settling down somewhere I won’t be disturbed and taking a few deep breaths…

Feed the Birds

Pic by Arnica Bäckström, via Pixabay

Watching birds is as restful as an aquarium, and a lot cheaper. The special foods from firms such as Haiths or CJWildlife provide the ideal things to feed, but if you’re careful you can do it for free by putting out household scraps. No meat (which might contain diseases which, while not affecting humans, could infect the wildlife you’re trying to attract) or white bread, as it’s about as good for birds as it is for us! A sprinkling of wholemeal breadcrumbs, cooked brown rice, chopped apple or grated cheese is okay. When my children were small they used to “help” make fat cakes by mixing dried fruit and cooked potato into melted lard (obviously, I was in charge of the hot stuff!). Once set, the mixture can be turned out onto the bird-table, like a cake. Make sure you put out clean water, too, for the birds to drink and bathe in. They need to do that even in winter, to keep their feathers in peak condition.

Look Out for Signs of Spring

Winger Honeysuckle, Lonicera Fragrantissima

This is one of the best tonics of all. When the sun came out today after a long run of miserable, dark, wet days I discovered polyanthus, a sheet of snowdrops, some hellebores and catkins all on display. Just getting outside felt good, and finding flowers (okay, maybe catkins aren’t strictly flowers!) made the spring seem a little bit closer. I wish you could smell this winter honeysuckle, which grows not far from my kitchen window. No wonder its Latin name is Lonicera Fragrantissima! Pollinators love it, too. On sunny days you can hear the hum of bees from metres away.

Seeing Stars

Orion: Pic by MMVazc via Pixabay

When I was a child, my father taught me the names of the stars and constellations he had learned in the days when he lived right out in the sticks, with no electric light. Light pollution makes the number of things in the sky visible to the naked eye far fewer than it was in Dad’s day, but it’s still a wonderfully relaxing thing to go outside on a clear, cold night, look up and wonder what was happening here on earth all those thousands of years ago when light left those distant objects. Much closer to home, the flashing green and red lights of aircraft passing overhead makes me wonder where they’re heading, and whether anybody up there us looking down on me, looking up at them!

What’s your favourite way of beating the January blues?

Seven Steps To Success, Top Tips, Writing your Book

Writing Your Book, Part One: Three Top Tips To Get You Going…

Here in England, we’re moving from summer (wet and cold) into autumn (wetter and colder). It’s time to put away the barbecue and suntan lotion. Instead of retreating into a world of comfort food and early nights, why not use the long, dark evenings to make your dream of writing a book come true? Writing can be fitted into any spare moment. It’s light, indoor work with no heavy lifting—and I’m writing a book is a better excuse for staying home than I’m washing my hair. 

You can make a start while you’re curled up with a mug of hot chocolate in front of a roaring log fire*. What could be better than that?


PERFECT PLANNING
Like making New Year’s Resolutions, deciding to write a book is easy to do, but tempting to abandon. Fail to plan, and you plan to fail. Make it easy to succeed and hard to give up by formulating a mission statement.  State exactly what you want to do, and give yourself a time limit. Something like;

I will write a romantic novel 70,000 words long by 31st December 2017.

Write it out and pin it up where you’ll see it every day. Put a pop-up on your phone. Talk about your ambition, and tell people what you’re aiming for. It’ll be easier to succeed if you’re too embarrassed to back out. When your friends badger you for details, you’ll have to be ready with news of your progress…or some creative reasons for stalling.

GET ORGANISED

Make time for writing. Commit  to getting up an hour earlier, or go to bed an hour later. Make a big thing of choosing the tools of your craft. All you need are the basics, but browsing round stationery shelves is encouraging and costs nothing. 

When you get to the stage of submitting your manuscripts to a publisher or agent you’ll need a word processor, but don’t let the lack of one put you off starting to write.You can make notes on phones and ipads, but nothing beats the anticipation of opening up a brand new notebook and writing those first lines by hand. Make sure you’ve got something by the side of your bed, ready to jot down the brilliant ideas that pop into your head overnight. Try and keep a dedicated space ready for writing, no matter how tiny. You’ll need somewhere to keep your research notes, paperwork and books on the craft of writing. 

DIRTY DRAFTING
It’s all too easy to get distracted, trying to decide whether you’re a planner working out every detail of your book beforehand, or a pantster who makes it up as they go along. If you’re all fired up and ready to go, just write. If your writing time is limited, don’t use your creative energy on anything other than getting words down. Set a kitchen timer for thirty minutes, and write as fast as you can until the alarm goes off. I find writing out dialogue is a great way to make real progress, fast. There’s nothing like quick results to give you a boost. Your characters come alive and once they are real to you, plot developments suggest themselves. This first, “dirty” draft gets you used to creating text. You then go back later and refine it, adding things like period detail, and descriptions of place. 

I’ll be posting more hints and tips over the next few weeks. To make sure you don’t miss any of them, sign up at the top of this page!


*If you’re all-electric (or gas), just exercise your imagination. The comforting hot drink is pretty much compulsory, though.
author guidelines, manuscript presentation, Top Tips, William Shakespeare

Four Top Tips To Get Your Writing Noticed…

There’s huge pool of writing talent roaming the internet, and every one of them wants to be the next J.K Rowling or E.L James.  Here are three tips to help your work get noticed.

1. Read lots of best-selling books, especially of the type you want to write. Authors become popular because they know what readers like, and expect.  Background research helps you understand your audience.  Write first and foremost to please yourself, but if you want to entertain others as well, make sure you tailor your work to their likes and dislikes. Check out author guidelines, such as the ones produced by romance publishers Mills and Boon. http://www.millsandboon.co.uk/

2. When showcasing your work, first impressions count. They shape a reader’s experience. William Shakespeare would still be a genius if he’d scratched words with a stick on wax tablets, but his texts would have been thrown away without a second glance. He knew how to present his work, and to whom. Times have changed, but some basic facts remain the same. An editor with piles of manuscripts to check will start with the ones that are easiest to read.  It’s human nature to assume that a writer who can’t be bothered to make an effort with presentation hasn’t put their whole heart and soul into a project.  

3. If you’re sending off a paper version of your manuscript, make sure the lines are double spaced. Use white paper, print only on one side in black ink, in Times New Roman 12 point or other easily read font. Include a front sheet with the title, your writing name if you’re using one, the word count and your contact details. Type “The End” at the end of your sample (of course!), so nobody’s left in any doubt, and add your details again. That’s it. You don’t need fancy bindings, Gothic script or coloured ink. Just make it clean and clear. If you’re sending a submission by email, find out how your contact wants your work sent—as attachments, or samples in the body of the email message. If you use a Mac, supply your text as a Word document too, just in case. And always keep copies of everything.

4. Dreams of becoming a full-time, professional writer face stiff competition.  If your first move is to look for an agent or a publisher, choose carefully. Research firms, and individuals, via the Internet, or an up-to-date copy of the Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook. Don’t send your steamy sex-saga to a publisher who only deals in children’s books, for a start. Make sure you send off exactly what is asked for, too—no more, and no less. Ideally, don’t start approaching agents or publishers until your book is finished. If it isn’t complete, tell them so, and when they can expect to see the whole thing.


Good luck!
Creative Writing, The Hot-headed Virgin, The Italian Billionaire's Virgin, Top Tips

Your Escape Route To Romance (and a whole lot more)…

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Hot-Headed-Virgin-Virgins-Billionaires-ebook/dp/B003JE1GY8
The Collection’s Australian Cover

Ten years ago today I was sitting in a college lecture theatre, staring out at a rain-soaked car park and daydreaming about soaking up the sun somewhere hot and exotic. Today, dreams are my job, not just my hobby, and it all began with a creative writing assignment.

These days I don’t have much time to gaze out of the window (and English rain is as wet and cold as it’s ever been) but my life has changed out of all recognition.

I’ve met amazing people—Kate Walker, and the late, great Penny Jordan to name only two—written a lot of books, and sold nearly three million copies worldwide, in all sorts of languages.

When I began writing I started small, with magazine articles illustrated with photos I took myself. Then I wrote half a dozen historical novels, before signing up for a creative writing course which gave my career the breakthrough it needed.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Hot-Headed-Virgin-Virgins-Billionaires-ebook/dp/B003JE1GY8
My Original 2007 Cover

I’d always wanted to write contemporary, feel-good fiction, so this was my chance. I wrote the first two thousand words of what became The Italian Billionaire’s Virgin, which is still available as part of The Hot-Headed Virgin collection. The other students loved my homework project and told me to send it to Harlequin.

The rest, as they say, is history. I submitted The Italian Billionaire’s Virgin, and it was published as a paperback in 2007. The original artwork featured a hero who looked exactly like my OH—how lucky is that?

It’s been a great ten years for me. I think everyone deserves an affordable escape from everyday life. Writing does it for me, every time. It gives me even more pleasure when I hear from readers who enjoy my books. Why don’t you make 2016 the year you start that book you’ve been meaning to write?

To keep you on track, my blogs this year will include the top tips I’ve picked up along the way during my career as a best-selling author. Here are the first ones. To make sure you don’t miss any, follow my blog using the form on the side bar on the right. To keep up with news of offers, competitions and my work in progress, sign up to my mailing list.

Creative Writing, Top Tips, Writing process

Why Not Try Writing Your Book Backwards?

Pic by A. Litterio

…not literally, of course! Instead of beginning with  blank sheet and typing Chapter One, give your imagination a workout.  Imagine a scene months, or possibly years, in the future. A reader reaches the last page of your book, and closes it with a sigh of satisfaction. Your story was exactly what they wanted.

That’s the reaction you’re aiming for, whether you write for pleasure or profit.

Buying a book, when there are thousands on offer both in the High Street and online, is a big decision. Reading is an affordable pleasure, but there are piles of treats everywhere. You need some way to ensure it’s your book the reader chooses. Cover art and teasing cover copy work their magic, but by homing in on your target audience you can increase your chances of that reader searching out your book in the first place.  Identify your reader, and how and where you can find them is the first step to selling them your story.

What Do You Like To Read?
There are plenty of writers who scour the bestseller lists then churn out formula work that ticks all the boxes but may not result in selling books. Stand out from the crowd by writing from your heart, and you’ll appeal to the hearts of your readers. I love the work of writers such a H.E.Bates, T.H. White and Henry Williamson, who all wrote about the natural world. My work is usually set in the countryside, because it’s where I live and work. I can (and have) written stories based in cities as I was an office worker for several years, but the work always flows faster when I’m on ‘home ground’.

Who Else Reads Your Kind Of Book?
Identifying your market, and developing unique selling point (USP) is vital. Write what you love, but have a picture of your readers in your mind while you work. I’ve written short stories for The People’s Friend magazine, which knows its readership very well. They have specific guidelines, which you can find here. Basically, their readers like satisfying yet unthreatening stories, with happy endings. Contrast that with my current project (working title Love Lies Bleeding) a thriller which opens with the discovery of a murdered Member of Parliament, in which nobody is who they seem, and while the hero and heroine get together in the end, wedding bells aren’t going to be ringing for them any time soon.

Who Will Review It?
Reviews, along with word of mouth recommendations, are the perfect way to get your name and book noticed. When there are hundreds of books published every day, that’s the name of the game.  Obviously, five star reviews are best, but any grade is good. It means somebody has not only read your book, but they’ve taken the time to comment on it. From the minute you start writing your book, cast around for reviewers who write about books like yours. Making a list at this early stage means you’ll be well ahead of the game when you get a publication date.