Author Special....Lorraine Wilson

The Novel Cafe is pleased to welcome Lorraine Wilson author from Harper Impluse for a very Christmassy author special. 

Merry Christmas to Lorraine and all The Novel Cafe readers :-)

All she wants for Christmas...

Right now I'm in Switzerland working on my next Chalet Girl novella and the icing on the Christmas log is that for the first time ever I'm spending Christmas and New Year here too! I'll also be visiting the Christmas markets on the lakeshore at Montreux. Chateau Chillon even holds its own medieval Christmas market and you can take the cog railway up the mountain past snow-laden fir trees to see Père Noël 

http://www.montreuxnoel.com/en-site-1-christmas-market.html  

Otherwise I'll be walking in the snow with my dogs and husband, writing and researching, relaxing in the Thermal Baths and drinking lots of chocolat chaud. In other words I'm extremely blessed in that I already have everything I want.

The heroine in my Christmas novella 'Revenge of a Chalet Girl' (OUT TODAY!) is a different case however. All she wants for Christmas is revenge... At least she thinks she does.

Revenge of a Chalet Girl by Lorraine Wilson
Publication date: 19/12/2013
All she wants for Christmas is…revenge.
When chalet girl Amy Wright finds her ex’s name on Chalet Repos’ guest list she sees her chance to get back at him – Josh Carter, the guy who broke her heart. Getting revenge without losing her job will be tricky but luckily the other chalet girls are on hand to offer their support. Pretty soon she’s in too deep and realises she doesn’t want to hurt him anymore. She wants him back.
There’s just one teeny complication…




Buy from Amazon - http://smarturl.it/chaletrevenge


Buy from other retailers - http://www.harperimpulseromance.com/books/revenge-of-a-chalet-girl


Keep up to date with new releases in the Chalet Girl Series -www.facebook.com/LorraineWilsonWriter

Author Special......Sophie Hart

As we are fast approaching a new year author of her debut novel The Naughty Girls Book Club Sophie Hart joins me at the Novel Cafe to look back over her year 2013 and what an exciting year it was too! Thank you to Sophie for taking the time to write this piece, I hope 2014 is just as special for you! 

2013 has been an exciting year for me as it was the year that my novel – The Naughty Girls Book Club – was published! Naughty Girls tells the story of a group of very different people who join a Bristol book club, where the main genre of reading is... erotica! They explore a variety of novels – from the Marquis de Sade to Jilly Cooper – and along the way form friendships, gain the confidence to change their lives, and even get a little inspiration for spicing things up in the bedroom!

Looking back over the last year, I thought I'd share some of the highlights of seeing my book go from an idea on a piece of paper to an actual novel on my bookshelf!

·         Meeting your editor – This is a bit like a first date, as you're meeting the person who’s going to help shape your book with you, and it’s important that you get along. Sammia Rafique from Avon took me out for a lovely lunch, and we had a girly chat about life, books and everything!

·         Seeing your book listed on Amazon for the first time – This is incredibly exciting and a little bit scary. Your book probably doesn’doesn't have a cover at this point, but it’s up there with your name and the title and people can actually BUY it if they want to!

·         The cover – I'd been given a rough brief of what the cover would look like, but the details are largely left to the publisher as they know what they're doing. The day the email pops into your inbox with the final cover for your book is amazing – and fortunately, I absolutely loved it.

                                                                                     

·         A real book – You're sent a proof copy of your novel, and suddenly you're holding a REAL copy of your book in your hands, just like you’ve always dreamt about. Probably the best moment of all!

·         The first review – Copies of the book are sent out in advance to reviewers and it’s terrifying. Will anyone like it? What if they hate it? I was very lucky to get a great first review, and it was such a relief!

·         Publication day – This is obviously a very exciting day, but for me it was quite low key. I didn’didn't have a launch party, and just went for a meal in the local pub with my boyfriend, where we drank a couple of glasses of prosecco to celebrate my book being out there in the big wide world!

·         Seeing your book in the shops – Before I'd had chance to see it for myself, lots of lovely people on Twitter sent me pictures of Naughty Girls in their local book shops and supermarkets, which was wonderful. When I finally did see it, in WHSmiths Windsor, I spent far too much time stroking the cover, moving it around the shop to a better position, then watching to see if anyone bought it!

·         Chart position – A few weeks after publication, The Naughty Girls Book Club went to number one in the Bookseller Heatseekers chart, which was incredible. I was so happy, and it was a great indicator that sales were strong.

·         Foreign sales – My UK publishers were able to sell the rights to Naughty Girls to publishers in Italy, Spain and Germany. Feltrinelli, in Italy, were the first to publish. It was fascinating to see the changes they made to the cover, and it’s so strange to see what you’you've written translated into Italian!

·         Social media – The support I've’ve received on Twitter and Facebook has been amazing. I've made some great friends on Twitter (you can follow me @Cafe_Crumb) and I also run an online ‘naughty’ book club on Facebook. Anyone’s welcome to join in, and you can find me here: https://www.facebook.com/ngbclub

As you can see, I’ve had some incredible experiences in 2013, and I hope to have many more in 2014!

Buy Sophie's Novel now on Amazon!

Meet....Sheila O'Flanagan

I am thrilled to introduce huge women's fiction author Sheila O'Flanagan to the Novel Cafe today. Author of over 20 fantastic books a huge Thanks to Sheila for finding the time to answer a few questions! 

Sheila, let’s start by getting to know you a little better!

1. What is your favourite?

TV Show?
My most recent favourite has been The Americans, a series about 2 Soviet spies in the US in the 1970s.

Music to Listen to?
Anything by Rodrigo & Gabriela who play modern Spanish guitar.

Film of all time?
Apollo 13. But I also have a soft spot for Pretty Woman.

Holiday destination?
The Caribbean.

Hobby?
Playing badminton.

Women’s fiction author?
I truly don't have a favourite. If I want a good laugh, I like Sophie Kinsella. For historical fiction, Philippa Gregory.

Book of all time?
Too many to mention. Honestly!

2. You are a true Dubliner through and through, my Husband proposed to me in Dublin so it is also a very special place for me. Can you ever see yourself leaving?

I will always be a Dubliner but I have a holiday house in Spain where I edit most of my books. So I spend quite a bit of time there too. I love both places but Dublin is my home.

3. You have written some superb books, do you have a favourite?

I particularly liked writing Isobel's Wedding because she was such a different character to me and I felt for her and the situation she was in. I'm very proud of my last book, Things We Never Say, because it was a complicated one to structure and I wanted to do justice to Abbey and Ellen's story. I was very pleased at how it turned out!

4. Are your books based on your real life experiences?

If they were, I'd be a complete wreck by now.

5. Have you ever started a book and not been able to finish it?

Not recently. When I was younger I used to start lots of books that I abandoned after the first few chapters. But I'm better at deciding what stories I want to tell now.

6. How do you deal with writer’s block?

Often by doing something completely different. Also by writing something completely different.

7. Your most recent book was ‘Things we never say’ can you tell us a little about it?

It's the story of a patriarchal man who uses the fact that he's wealthy to keep control of his family. But he's kept a secret about a child he had years before and now wants to meet. Her daughter, his granddaughter, comes to Ireland to meet him, but things don't work out exactly as everyone expected. There's a huge fallout from the actions he's taken and the entire family is thrown into turmoil. His grand-daughter has to make some very difficult decisions which will affect her, her mother and the rest of the family.

8. What would your three key pieces of advice be for aspiring authors?

Tell the story you want to tell.
Finish what you start.
Read lots of different types of novels.

9. What’s next for Sheila?

I've just finished editing my next book and I'm desperately trying to get the right title (sometimes the hardest part). I've also been working on another writing project although it'll probably be a while before it sees the light of day (if ever). The badminton season is starting again and so I'm hoping to get fitter and win all my matches this year.

Author Special.......Lynn Marie Hulsman

 

Today a huge welcome and big Thank You goes to Lynn Marie Hulsman author of Christmas at Thornton Hall for joining me at the Novel Cafe. Lynn tells us how her dream has come true by becoming a published author with HarperImpulse.

Finding My Tribe

A few short weeks ago, I realized a lifelong dream when I attended the Bedford Festival of Romance and was announced as a HarperImpulse author in a roomful of my fellow readers, friends, and some of my heroes. As a lover of Chick Lit, and a dyed-in-the-wool Anglophile, I found it hard to believe that such a moment that I'd hardly dared to visualize had come to full fruition.

As I’m lucky enough to be published by HarperImpulse, I enjoyed extra-special treatment because they are so good to their authors. Despite how busy they are, having acquired more than 50 authors since they launched earlier this year, the busy team made creating the gorgeous cover of my book, Christmas at Thornton Hall, a hot priority. My editor, Charlotte Ledger, and the brilliant techno/marketing genius Katie Sadler surprised me by revealing it on a huge screen during a well-attended panel talk.

I was filled with emotion, and so grateful for the support of my publishers and for the kind wishes of the many authors who remembered what it felt like to launch their first books.

That moment was the proud moment to cap off many proud moments I’ve experienced on the road to publishing this, my first book. I was proud when I had 30,000 words on a page. I felt like I was doing it. I was proud when I hit “The End.” I’d written a whole book! I was proud when I took my first (and then second, then third…) round of edits wearing my “big-girl blouse.” I was acting like a real writer. I was proud when my editor acquired me. I was an author with HarperCollins.

As they say, it’s a marathon and not a sprint. Right now, I’m proud of all of the connections I've’ve made with other amazing authors who’who've had unique and interesting journeys of their own, and with bloggers, readers, and fans who share my passion for romance writing. I have found my tribe, and they’ve adopted me as one of their own.

DONT MISS CHRISTMAS AT THORNTON HALL!

Author Special.....Teresa F Morgan

Today I have the pleasure of introducing Teresa to the Novel Cafe. A huge welcome and thank you to Teresa for taking the time to tell us about her journey to becoming a writer and publishing her debut novel 'Plus One is a Lucky Number.'

I sometimes feel like I’ve cheated with writing. Don’t all writers from the age of about five know that they want to write? No, not me – I wanted to be a dancer, or TV make-up artist...

This is the journey of my debut book, Plus One is a Lucky Number. I truly believe that if I can get a book published, anyone can. But you need to work hard at it and persevere. You need to write, read, and own a thick skin. 

As a child, I used to write letters regularly to my cousins and pen friends, or would get the urge to want to write something down but would end up writing my name repeatedly, practising my signature (or doodling), so maybe it has always been in me, but I didn’t start writing until 2006.

My son was coming up for a year old in the winter of 2005 when I discovered a forum for a fandom of a favourite TV show. This led me to start reading fan fiction, and from there I started to write some of my own, too. A ‘virtual’ friend (who I met through the forum) convinced me to join a private group where you could post your stories and gain constructive critiques. This helped me improve my skill – my punctuation was horrific back then! And that was it, I was addicted. Yep, it was all my friend’s fault. She even had me competing in NaNoWriMo in 2006 as a mere beginner.

Most of the time my stories contained romance and received positive feedback, providing me with such a great warm fuzzy feeling, and then sometimes the critiques were harsh and I would cry – literally! This gave me great strength (after a good sulk and some sobbing privately), helped to improve my story telling and prepared me for the real world of writing – and rejection.

In 2009, I wanted to find something that could work around my two young children and I enrolled on the Writers’ Bureau Comprehensive Writing Course. This opened my eyes to the different avenues of writing, how to contact editors (the course covered non-fiction as well as fiction), helping me with presenting my work, researching and I made a few more writing buddies along the way.

Spurred on, I entered the Mills and Boon New Voice competition in 2010, submitting the first chapter (and the only one written at that point) of The Wedding Favour. Although I was unsuccessful in the competition, I continued writing the story and posted the second chapter onto my blog (which I had started that year too – The Wittering Woman). That urged me to finish the novel, and at the RNA Conference in 2011, I had a ten minute editor slot where I gained invaluable advice.

I met loads of published and wannabe writers at the conference and learned about the New Writers’ Scheme. On the 1^st January 2012 I sat ready at my PC to send off my application at one minute past midnight - and I got in!

The Wedding Favour was finished and edited, ready for submitting to publishers, so I concentrated on writing a second novel to send to the New Writers’ Scheme that summer.

Dedicated to doing everything and anything writing related, I joined my local RNA (Bath & Wiltshire) chapter group. We meet roughly every six weeks in Lacock, a beautiful historical village in Wiltshire. Living in Weston-super-Mare, I can safely say I travel the furthest – but it’s worth the long drive.

During the submitting in 2012, The Wedding Favour received positive feedback from publishers but it wasn’t enough to get accepted. This year, still a member of the New Writers’ Scheme, and with a few life changing dramas going on and a lack of actual writing, I sent The Wedding Favour off to the scheme. I hoped a full critique would help me edit the novel for re-submitting to publishers.

In June, a fellow RNA Chapter member shared her news about receiving a call from Harper Impulse – Harper Collins’ new Imprint. Even though I hadn’t received my feedback from the NWS (I did wonder whether to wait), I decided to grab the bull by the horns and sent my manuscript to Harper Impulse.

A few weeks later, Charlotte Ledger emailed me, wanting to give me a call. Luckily, I was sat down at my PC or I might have fallen. At the time I had four boys in the house (two of them weren’t mine) and I knew the minute the phone rang all hell would break loose, and my attempts of sounding professional would be flushed down the toilet as fast as my 6 year old could shout, “I need a poo!”

I received a two book contract (not one! Still in shock over that, too) and The Wedding Favour had a name change to suit its genre, becoming Plus One is a Lucky Number. It was published 29^th August 2013, fulfilling my dream of becoming an author. *insert big smiley face here*

My eldest son, who once upon a time declared literacy boring, (imagine 9 year old going on 15 type voice) has lately enjoyed writing his own stories. So maybe he carries my genes to write. We will see. And maybe I always did have it in me from a child...

Book Review: Security by Mandy Baggott

Autumn Raine is a pop vocalist at the very top of her game. She’s a style icon, the paparazzi’s darling and everyone wants to be her friend. But when her safety is threatened, her whole life starts to unravel.

Enter Nathan Regan, an ex-elite soldier who is assigned to protect her. He’s a good man doing bad things but what drives him? Passion? Madness? Or grief? Demons from his past are threatening to consume him. Can he win the fight alone or will he have to admit he needs help?

As the threat deepens, Autumn starts to find out who she really needs in her life. Is there still room for personal assistant Janey or rapper boyfriend Rockweiler? When everyone around her is feeding her lies, how does she work out the truth? Does her record producer know more than he’s letting on? What is her mother, the British Foreign Secretary’s involvement in the situation? And can Autumn put her faith in a forty-something Jamaican woman who handles an automatic weapon as expertly as she cooks?

Eluding kidnap and trying to stay alive, can Autumn find the strength to be the person she longs to be? And can two people, poles apart, forge something strong enough to survive anything?

My Best friend blog’s - Reviewer Laura.

Book received from the Author - Thank you.

Security is the story of Autumn and her bodyguard Nathan Regan. I have to say that my first impression of the book was of disappointment as it reminded me so much of The Bodyguard storyline and I was worried it would feel like a copy, however as I got further in I started to quite enjoy it. It’s written as a RomCom crossed with Whodunit. I think as a romance novel it is quite good but the whodunit aspects of the book really let it down. 

Personally I think there are far too many twists and turns from the crime fiction side of the story. The storyline is so unrealistic that it is hard to get into it and believe the characters. I thought the introduction of Autumn’s long-deceased father is a step too far, It over-complicates the story without adding anything to it. I am still left a little unsure as to why this ‘twist’ was even added into the book other than to validate the kidnapping storyline, which I’m not sure it even does. I also felt the use of a top terrorist organisation to manipulate a kidnap of a celebrity is just a little far-fetched and extremely unbelievable. Overall the explanations of the plot were weak making it unclear and difficult to get into.

In terms of the romance side of the story, this is much clearer and believable. You can really feel the relationship between Autumn and Nathan developing. Even though it was clear from the very beginning that their relationship would develop from hatred to love, I felt I was still kept in suspense throughout. I liked the way Baggott flicks between characters throughout the book,  this really helps to understand the relationship from both sides. 

Overall a good romance story however it is hampered by the over-complicated kidnap plot. It is unfortunate but I would still be keen to read another of Baggott’s books in spite of this one not being for me.

I would give this book 4/10 - Fruit cake - Not one I would pick but if I had to eat it then I could force it down, I managed to finish it but pretty poor, would not recommend. Remember though, all books and readers are different and this is only my opinion.