tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37628605546345487122024-03-16T03:08:38.296-04:00The Heroine AddictsSusanna Kearsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12675951272027527098noreply@blogger.comBlogger285125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3762860554634548712.post-53370290505849166782015-07-22T03:18:00.000-04:002015-07-22T03:18:20.739-04:00Romantic Novelists' Conference 2015 and Showing not Telling<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It seems hard for me to believe that the RNA Conference was just over a week ago. As always. it was superb even though I feel I attended only half of the conference due to a 'bug' that would not leave (still have it). So many things at the conference recharge my writing batteries...being with other writers always tops the list along with whatever session fellow Heroine Addict, Julie Cohen teaches. These did not let me down.<br />
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But there were a few surprises...the biggest one was the Show Not Tell taught by Sue Moorcroft and Heroine Addict, Christina Courtenay. This is something that is always at the forefront of my mind as I tackle my first round of edits but not normally until then. Like Julie I tend to write a sh*tty first draft for me that is full of short cuts just to get the story down. This will include much of she felt like this - knowing I will head back in and 'show' in the next draft. Because to be honest when that burst of writing is upon me stopping to think how I can show she is frightened, nervous etc means I can loose the flow.<br />
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This wonderful workshop was a brilliant reminder of how much fun it is to show and not tell...how I hear you ask? We played dressing up. Christina brought part of her beautiful collection of Japanese clothing... It's been a long time since I played in a dressing up box or wore a costume for Halloween. When I put on the kimono I transformed in so many ways...and then PING. Something I hadn't thought about in the book I'm writing at the moment...when my character puts on her Wrens' uniform for the first time....what did she feel? How did it alter how she carried herself, thought about herself? Did 'the world' look at her differently or did she just feel this way?<br />
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Many times as writers we immerse ourselves in our characters and don't stop and think about it. It's part of the job. It was brilliant to step out of my world and put on someone else's clothes and to 'feel' the difference. Hopefully this will refresh my writing and certainly my sense of fun!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02744937536946299450noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3762860554634548712.post-29042487466513907082015-07-02T11:40:00.000-04:002015-07-02T11:40:17.312-04:00In a Blue Mood...<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BlvXE_gqLv8/VZVTosGhZ8I/AAAAAAAABGo/NR4fnelxKEQ/s1600/IMG_0133.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BlvXE_gqLv8/VZVTosGhZ8I/AAAAAAAABGo/NR4fnelxKEQ/s400/IMG_0133.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B4RxHvvEz0M/VZVUBRsXTMI/AAAAAAAABG4/BmkV4SkhAOA/s1600/IMG_1363.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B4RxHvvEz0M/VZVUBRsXTMI/AAAAAAAABG4/BmkV4SkhAOA/s200/IMG_1363.JPG" width="150" /></a><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">For those
of you who don’t already know, I broke my ankle back in February. Short version
of a long story is, I fractured a bone at the back of my ankle and messed up a
tendon and damaged my midfoot in what’s called a Lisfranc injury, and having
spent the past several months wearing Darth Vader’s leg armour and hopping on
crutches without getting better, I’m scheduled for surgery now in a couple of
weeks.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Which is
fine—I like getting things fixed. But my surgery date is July 23, meaning I had
to cancel my plans for the Romance Writers of America’s big national conference
in New York City, which was a huge disappointment.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Not only
because I was looking forward to sharing New York City with my Elder Kid (who’ll
now be touring all the sights without me), or because I was looking forward to co-presenting
my first RWA workshop with my friends Julie James, Lauren Willig, and Sherry
Thomas (on the merits of being a slow writer—luckily Meredith Duran was able to
step in to take my spot), or because I was just looking forward
to Nationals themselves—the crazy awesomeness of the Literacy Signing, the
wealth of workshops, the joy of connecting with old friends and new ones…but because
I was REALLY looking forward to the Bluestockings Dinner.</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3bM09ynAaFI/VZVVbtrNylI/AAAAAAAABHE/mnOoKG2VkiI/s1600/Rachel-Hollis-Party-Girl-Book-792x1024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3bM09ynAaFI/VZVVbtrNylI/AAAAAAAABHE/mnOoKG2VkiI/s200/Rachel-Hollis-Party-Girl-Book-792x1024.jpg" width="154" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The
Bluestockings Dinner is a new tradition at the Nationals, created by my good
friend Rachel Hollis, who in addition to running her own successful lifestyle
site, <a href="http://thechicsite.com/" target="_blank">The Chic</a>, writes incredibly funny, romantic, and bestselling books. A
former celebrity party planner, Rachel knows how to make any event special, and
with the Bluestockings Dinner she’s sort of created a modern Salon—a gathering
of women writers, intimate and small, where conversation is the key, and over
drinks and dinner writers with a range of different sub-genres and styles share
their ideas and experiences.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This was
what our dinner looked like last year, in San Antonio, where the guests, apart
from myself, Rachel, and her right-hand-woman Eryn, were Jennifer L.
Armentrout, Laura Kaye, Molly O’Keefe, Jennifer Probst, Nalini Singh, and Sherry
Thomas.</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0qf1wKrhIb4/VZVTz-OTP9I/AAAAAAAABGw/B1cxCnDU2FI/s1600/IMG_0135.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0qf1wKrhIb4/VZVTz-OTP9I/AAAAAAAABGw/B1cxCnDU2FI/s400/IMG_0135.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So you’ll
understand why having to turn down my invitation this year made me literally weep.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I know
whoever takes my seat will have a dinner to remember. And that’s got me
thinking, now, and wondering…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">We’re often
asked which long-dead authors or great characters from history we’d invite to
dinner, if we could.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">But if you
had to choose a group of LIVING authors for an evening of fine wine, great
food, and sparkling conversation, who would YOU invite?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">If I chose
from women writers whom I’ve never met or barely know, my invitations might go
out to Catherine Gaskin, Evelyn Anthony, Rosamunde Pilcher, Susan Isaacs, Mary
Jo Putney, Kate Forsyth, and Donna Thorland (which, with me included, makes an
even eight).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">What about
you?</span></div>
Susanna Kearsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12675951272027527098noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3762860554634548712.post-9101846462318980392015-06-08T04:10:00.001-04:002015-06-08T04:10:38.038-04:00Research - love it or loath it<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_NWDye4Hh-g/VXVNpwTNmLI/AAAAAAAASF8/arpAk-rnPHc/s1600/9781409148272.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_NWDye4Hh-g/VXVNpwTNmLI/AAAAAAAASF8/arpAk-rnPHc/s200/9781409148272.jpg" width="127" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Love it or loath it research is key part of
writing a book even if you know your subject. You need to check facts – that is
important but only a small part of the joy of research for me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I could do nothing but research – I love
it. Now with the Internet, it is easier than ever to become lost moving from
one click to the next - eventually finding yourself reading new and interesting
facts that have moved a long way from where you started. So I have learned to
restrict myself to minimum research before writing because, to be honest, the
book may never be completed if I did it all before. I need just enough
knowledge to write the first draft. This will be filled with lots of XXXX,
which means more research is required. If I stopped to do it then and there I’d
never finish the book.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">But I love coming back to those points when
I begin to rewrite - because I have found that doing the research at that point
is when I find the layers that can make a story more interesting or thinking
cakes – tasty.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-my-Y55r0wEA/VXVNOup6mNI/AAAAAAAASFs/4BZEWtmI2Jo/s1600/IMG_2890.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-my-Y55r0wEA/VXVNOup6mNI/AAAAAAAASFs/4BZEWtmI2Jo/s200/IMG_2890.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">In Under A Cornish Sky, I knew from the
start that the garden would be important, but it was in choosing the name for
the house, Boscawen that new layers were added. Boscawen means dwelling by an
elder tree. I began to research elder trees and a whole host of wonderful
folklore appeared, which then added plot twists and turns. The same happened
with bluebells…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I didn’t plan these things - they arose
from research, from looking into the small details and that is what I enjoy
most, the unexpected. I find that research can lead to new books as it did with
A Cornish Stranger. I found the old Cornish saying – save a stranger from the
sea, he’ll turn your enemy – while doing research for A Cornish Affair.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">At the moment, I’m writing and researching
my next book, The Returning Tide, which has a dual timeline – current day and
WW2. So much more research is required than in my previous books. But I’m
trying to hold off doing too much before I finish the first draft so that the
magic of research can help me twist and shape the novel like a cake with a
surprising element in all the layers that somehow works together to satisfy and
intrigue.</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sDG3IpwEyD0/VXVNeYgje_I/AAAAAAAASF0/fldiRb9hQAU/s1600/IMG_8904.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sDG3IpwEyD0/VXVNeYgje_I/AAAAAAAASF0/fldiRb9hQAU/s200/IMG_8904.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">How do you feel about research if you are
writer and if you are a reader how important is it to you? Do you notice it?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02744937536946299450noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3762860554634548712.post-76081720100273033182015-05-18T23:07:00.000-04:002015-05-18T23:07:37.019-04:00A Different Point of View<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7uOHPyX9eyE/VVqjC4HzRcI/AAAAAAAABGU/lWP1KZ12Y0Q/s1600/Man%2Bexhausted%2B0001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7uOHPyX9eyE/VVqjC4HzRcI/AAAAAAAABGU/lWP1KZ12Y0Q/s400/Man%2Bexhausted%2B0001.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Each time I sit down to begin a
new novel, I find myself facing at least one new challenge that scares me; that
forces me out of my comfort zone.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I don’t always know what it’s
going to be till I get to that place in the manuscript where I think: “[Insert
your favourite swear word here], I have to write a whole battle scene/write as
a woman with Asperger’s/have someone speaking the Doric.”</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In this latest book I’ve started
writing, BELLEWETHER, I’ve already hit three such places – but the latest one,
because it happened just last week, is freshest in my mind, and seems the kind
of thing to get a good discussion going.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I’ve
discovered that I’ll have to write at least half of the past scenes from the
hero’s point of view.</span></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">My first thought was: “[insert
your favourite swear word here], I can NOT write the hero’s point of view. I
don’t know how to do it!”</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Which, once I had calmed myself
with coffee, proved to be not wholly true. In fact, my first book, UNDERTOW
(long out of print, and rightly so), had alternating points of view between the
two main characters, and in my thriller EVERY SECRET THING some of the people
who narrate what they remember to my heroine (a journalist) are men.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">But I was 25 years old when I
wrote UNDERTOW. I really didn’t know what I was doing, and the book was short.
And in my thriller those male voices were still filtered somewhat through my
heroine’s first-person voice.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So, yeah. This definitely puts me
past the boundary of my comfort zone.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So reassure me. Tell me why you think the hero's voice deserves a place in a romantic novel. What do you enjoy (or not) about reading his point of view?</span></div>
Susanna Kearsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12675951272027527098noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3762860554634548712.post-32848366037300018852015-04-27T04:30:00.003-04:002015-04-27T07:14:58.244-04:00Funny Twists of Fate<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XgOMijrom4I/VT3yG1yXWjI/AAAAAAAASDU/2AllaMzZwQw/s1600/photo-25.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XgOMijrom4I/VT3yG1yXWjI/AAAAAAAASDU/2AllaMzZwQw/s1600/photo-25.JPG" height="320" width="239" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Today I’m signing copies of <b>A Cornish
Affair</b> for some high school students. Back in March I gave a seminar on point
of view. I had a great time and I hope they did too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">One of the students asked me to write down
my favourite quote in the book when I signed it. I had to think long and hard
about it and then for a completely different reason I went into an old journal.
There on the front page - was the opening lines of a poem by Alexander Pope…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Times; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><b><i>True Ease in Writing comes from Art,
not Chance,<o:p></o:p></i></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Times; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><b><i>As those move easiest who have
learn'd to dance,</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">And the words hit me again…but this time I
really understood the meaning. Last week <b>A Cornish Stranger</b> came out in paperback and on the 7th of <b>May Under A Cornish Sky</b> comes out in trade paperback and I'm struggling with the research and writing of the next book, <b>The Returning Tide</b>. Back then I dreamt of being a novelist. I had no idea what it really entailed. I was just then learning to dance. Now with four books under my belt I'm still learning - always trying to become better at the old steps while learning new ones. I think I was meant to see this quote today. I needed to be reminded that good fiction, good art, well – good anything
takes a lot of practice. I just didn’t know when I<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>began the journal back on the 11<sup>th</sup>
of July 1984 in Oxford that it would take me quite so long to learn….<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">We won’t comment on the disturbing purple
squiggles and what that says about me or my mind at the time…but I did spent
that summer working on my writing and learning a little bit about life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02744937536946299450noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3762860554634548712.post-44501105072401792132015-04-20T16:58:00.000-04:002015-04-20T16:58:10.484-04:00The Crossdale ChurchPure fiction, but inspired by my Mum, and the Crossthwaite Church.<br />
<br />
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b>The Crossdale Church</b><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uJ1i1PG3yyY/VTVmacfLYtI/AAAAAAAAAPE/2CKir-sMXxg/s1600/keswick-60129a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uJ1i1PG3yyY/VTVmacfLYtI/AAAAAAAAAPE/2CKir-sMXxg/s1600/keswick-60129a.jpg" height="226" width="320" /></a></div>
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6JDSAgAYVlU/VTVmyJoMZNI/AAAAAAAAAPM/YsBwC-EeSAg/s1600/peter4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>The black iron hinges in the great old door didn't creak, to Catherine's surprise. The church door swung open noiselessly, swapping the spring-tasting freshness of the churchyard for cold, musty air. She stepped inside and closed the door again, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the dimness. <br />She was conscious that she didn't want to look, didn't want to be disappointed. She kept her eyes averted from the nave and the chancel, taking in the backs of old, oak pews, and scattered red rugs on the smooth-worn stone floors, while her stomach curled in nerves and uncertainty.<br />"Well," she said, "I'm here."<br />"That's a fact."<br />The soft voice made her jump. She saw a smaller door in the opposite wall, through which soft light and a sturdy figure were emerging. It was an older woman, short and mostly shapeless, with hair cut short and no make up.<br />"I'm sorry," Catherine said. "I didn't know someone was here. I don't mean to interrupt–"<br />But the other woman did. "Here to look around? Just help yourself, chick, don't mind me." As she gestured, Catherine saw she held a bunch of carnations in one hand, and a pair of secateurs in the other.<br />Catherine nodded. "Thank you," she said, and turned to the aisle.<br />Except now that she was here, for Mum, she didn't really want to do the things Mum would have done. Didn't want to read through the history leaflet and guide to the church, study the stained-glass, examine the font. Unsure, she went and sat in one of the pews, looking without seeing. She breathed deep of the cold air, and this time she realised the mustiness had faded, and she could smell furniture polish and more exotic blooms than the bulbs outside.<br />It was chilly, but it was calm.<br />Nothing in the last few weeks had been calm. Mum's funeral had been a matter of endless letters and phone calls and arrangements, of synthetic carpet and strip lighting and plastic chairs. And, in spite of it all, the strong, binding thread of a whole community of people who had thought the world of Catherine's Mum, and shared her grief.<br />But it hadn't been calm.<br />Her gaze focussed on the big glowing window behind the altar. A solemn figure in russet and white stood there, staring down. His eyes seemed to know everything, but communicate nothing.<br />"Are you alright?"<br />It was the flower woman, easing down into the pew next to her with a little grunt of effort. In the quietness of the Crossdale Church, Catherine found she wanted to explain. "My... my Mum died recently."<br />"Ah." The syllable was warm with no-nonsense sympathy, the sort that would hand over a cup of tea and tissues, and refrain from mouthing pointless words.<br />"There was this... this sort of running joke in the family," Catherine went on, "that each time we came here on holiday – most of our childhood holidays were here, you see – that Mum never got a chance to visit the Crossdale Church." Catherine gestured at the serene beauty around them, still-life in stone, then clutched her hands in her lap again. "It was just the sort of thing she loved to do, poking around in old churches. Even when Dad died, she would still come here, but she never visited the church. She said once that she liked to leave something undone for next time, so that she'd never done it all, so that there was always something to look forward to."<br />The woman had turned slightly on the pew, watching her. Catherine closed her eyes for the moment, swallowing against the tightness in her throat. "Only.... she never had the chance to... " She gave up. <br />The woman slid her hand over and gripped Catherine's. It was a broad, short-nailed hand, and Catherine could feel the calluses on the palm and fingers. The distant chattering of swallows filtered through the windows.<br />"So I thought I'd come and do it for her," she continued eventually. "I thought... it would be a... a chance to think, to do something in her memory. But now I'm not sure. Was that the right thing to do? Did Mum mean for it to be a... an eternally uncompleted thing?"<br />"It's big questions you have, there," the woman said, mildly. "Bigger, I think, than a church. And a mother."<br />Catherine sagged. "Yes."<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6JDSAgAYVlU/VTVmyJoMZNI/AAAAAAAAAPM/YsBwC-EeSAg/s1600/peter4.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6JDSAgAYVlU/VTVmyJoMZNI/AAAAAAAAAPM/YsBwC-EeSAg/s1600/peter4.jpg" height="320" width="231" /></a>The woman took back her hand and settled a little more, folding her arms, tipping her head up as if examining the vaults of the soaring ceiling. "So what are the real questions, I'm wondering?"<br />It was St Peter in the window, Catherine realised. She could see the key in his hand. "Should we always complete everything? Are there some things that are better left as... as a potential than a real thing? Are there things that are best just as they are without being pursued? Should we leave things undone, or try and get... resolution to everything?"<br />"Unfinished business."<br />"Yes."<br />The woman shrugged. "Everyone has some. Don't you?"<br />Catherine nodded. "Oh yes. And I'm almost sure I know what to do about that, but... What about you? Do you have unfinished business anywhere?"<br />She gave Catherine a wry look. "With sixty and more years in my dish, it would be a wonderful thing if I hadn't. But yes."<br />The pause stretched out too long, and Catherine gathered herself, meaning to go. "Well, thank you for listening to me, I–"<br />"His name was Michael Maguire."<br />Catherine said nothing.<br />"I didn't marry him. I married the other one, but I knew Michael would have liked fine to be the one. He was a teacher, in the other valley. And my husband a farmer in this. And then my husband died, and the bairn with him."<br />It was Catherine's turn to reach for the other woman's hand, clutching it tightly. The woman smiled and patted the back of Catherine's hand with her free one. "It was a long time ago, chick. They went swimming. It was a lovely day. But then there I was, a widow and a farm to run, all broken inside, and even knowing that Michael was fond of me, even not seeing him, felt like some kind of evil insult. I sent him packing. Then, a couple of years later, I lifted my head and felt like I saw the horizon for the first time. But then he'd upped and married. She was a good girl, and good for him."<br />"But you wonder... what if?" Catherine prompted.<br />"Ah, no. I don't wonder or what-if my life, chick. But Michael's wife's been dead these five years and I... never re-married. So his phone number's been burning a hole in my head a while now."<br />"What are you going to do?"<br />The woman grimaced. "Well, how about you tell me what you think. About unfinished business, your Mum, and the Crossdale Church?"<br />"I think..." Catherine breathed in the polish and the flowers, the stone and the peaceful centuries. "I think Mum was crazy. It's beautiful here, and she missed that. And if she had crossed the Crossdale Church off her list, there would always be something else beautiful and real and possible around the corner."<br />"So unfinished business?" prompted the woman.<br />Catherine spoke with certainty. "Should be finished or crossed off. But not left unfinished as some sort of protection against finishing a life. Life isn't finished when you've done everything or loved everyone or been down every road, because life isn't a competition or an itinerary. It's a dance." She turned to face the woman, looking into the pale eyes, seeing an outdoor life stamped on her unashamed skin. "And sometimes in the dance you separate. And sometimes you join hands again."<br />The other woman's lips pursed. It wasn't quite a smile. She set her callused hands on her knees. "Well, I have these flowers to finish."<br />"May I help?"<br />"Surely."<br />Catherine set out arrangements and vases, and they talked. Not philosophy, not this time. This time they talked about lily pollen and gladioli, about ultrasound scanning of ewes and over-grazing. It was a perfect blessing not to be talking about casket wreaths and whether anyone had asked Uncle John to contribute to the eulogy.<br />"There," the woman said, wiping her hands. "I'll finish up here. Get you gone, chick."<br />Catherine smiled at her. "I–"<br />"Shoo," she said, flapping her hands.<br />"Alright, alright," Catherine said, laughing. "Thank you."<br />The woman slipped into the vestry. There had been merry hell when the vicar insisted on having a phone line put in, but now she picked it up and dialled without hesitation. "Michael," she said, when he picked up. "Yes. It's me." She looked up at the notice board, unusually lost for words. A snippet of a quote caught her eye, scrawled in the vicar's left-handed writing on a scrap of pale blue paper, skewered with a scarlet-tipped pin. It was something of Christina Rossetti's. <i>Can anything be sadder than work left unfinished? Yes, work never begun.</i><br />"Michael?" she said. "We have unfinished business."<br />It was warm in the sunshine. Catherine filled her lungs with the narcissi-scented air and thumbed her phone on, waiting for it to connect to the real world. She opened her contacts and scrolled through, searching for.... there. Scott Benton. Her finger hovered over the entry for a moment, then she smiled. And pressed delete.<br />On the stone wall a thrush flicked its tail at her, then leaped into flight, singing its joy at the bright sky.<br />Anna Louise Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13069551559749215187noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3762860554634548712.post-18885845909104350702015-03-31T06:44:00.001-04:002015-03-31T06:44:17.078-04:00One for All, All for One<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PAmpFJYwyuo/VRp2jxKQPOI/AAAAAAAAAiQ/id-USjAT3Bw/s1600/Musketeers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PAmpFJYwyuo/VRp2jxKQPOI/AAAAAAAAAiQ/id-USjAT3Bw/s1600/Musketeers.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><b>(Photo courtesy of iMDb.com)</b></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Can you tell I’m still just slightly
obsessed with musketeers at the moment? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2733252/" target="_blank"><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Musketeers</i></b></a> to be exact, which for
those of you who don’t live in the UK is a BBC TV series loosely based on
Alexandre Dumas’s original story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
absolutely brilliant and I love the way they’ve taken the basic story and just
run away with it!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having the four
musketeers clad in leather (albeit still looking more or less true to the
fashions of that era) is also genius, as is the way they’re allowing the women
in the series to be very much part of the action and not just decorative.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Okay, I’ll admit I just like everything about
it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’ve loved the concept of “one for
all, all for one” ever since I first read <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Three Musketeers</i> – the fact that if you do things together, always standing
by your friends, life can be so much easier. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have found that to be true in every way –
here with my fellow Heroine Addicts; when working with the other authors
published by the same publisher as myself; in various organisations and
recently with a group of friends who all wanted to do the same thing: to self-publish
a Young Adult novel.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’m supremely un-techie so although
everyone kept saying self-publishing was 'a doddle' and ‘anyone can do it’, I
didn’t quite believe them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could have
paid for someone to help me with it, of course, but that would have felt like
giving in, being feeble, and I didn’t want to be so easily defeated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still, it was very daunting and I kept
putting it off until I found out that some of my friends had been thinking
along the same lines.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BBmjY7j-h_k/VRp4lCt42xI/AAAAAAAAAic/X1ZKBnYrirM/s1600/L2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BBmjY7j-h_k/VRp4lCt42xI/AAAAAAAAAic/X1ZKBnYrirM/s1600/L2.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Claire Watts, Gill-Marie Stewart and me</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Four of us – myself, <a href="http://katyhaye.com/" target="_blank">Katy Haye</a>,
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gill-Marie-Stewart/1565665140343048" target="_blank">Gill-Marie Stewart</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/search/results.php?q=Claire+Watts&init=public" target="_blank">Claire Watts</a> – decided to get together and do it as a
group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not just holding each others’
hands while going through the publishing process and doing the techie bits, but
promoting the books together, doing events/talks as a group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Suddenly, it all seemed doable and it was the
kick up the backside I’d needed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Funny
how things are so much easier when you’re not alone!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We’ve each self-published a book now
and are working on number two.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s been
a steep learning curve, but also great fun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Thinking up a collective name – <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/paisleypiranha/?pli=1" target="_blank"><b>Paisley Piranha</b></a> (yes, I know it’s weird,
but we liked it :-D) – setting up a website, blog and Twitter account etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And just knowing there’s someone you can
bounce ideas off is brilliant.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’ve just come back from Scotland
where we held a launch party for our first novels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of them was based on movie themes, so we
rented a bijou cinema – the <a href="http://www.rbcft.co.uk/" target="_blank">Robert Burns Centre</a> in Dumfries – and had a special
showing of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093779/" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Princess Bride</i></a>, surely
one of the best movies of all time!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
there were snacks and books of course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>All in all, a lovely afternoon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So if anyone else is thinking of self-publishing (or doing anything else
for that matter) but you don’t quite dare, I’d definitely recommend the “all
for one” approach!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If it worked for the
musketeers …</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></div>
Christina Courtenayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03647397808446248913noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3762860554634548712.post-42408644079891492522015-03-23T15:20:00.000-04:002015-03-23T15:20:41.452-04:00Writers Running!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: center;">
Greetings from a sore and sunburned Brigid.</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jDDYWbw_WKA/VRBkRY3x_4I/AAAAAAAABSU/SvhyR-OCtn4/s1600/IMG_2800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jDDYWbw_WKA/VRBkRY3x_4I/AAAAAAAABSU/SvhyR-OCtn4/s1600/IMG_2800.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Someone forgot the sunscreen and is a little miserable</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Yesterday saw Julie and I running the Reading Half-Marathon. This was Julie's first half-marathon and she was running for the Berkshire literacy
charity ABC to Read, of which she is a patron. She was running to raise money for the wonderful
work they do in schools, teaching the joy of reading to children. In
2014 ABC to Read was awarded the prestigious Queen's Award for
Voluntary Service and they are an amazing group of volunteers and
charity workers who are passionate about the importance of reading and
books. <br />
<br />
I decided that I'd keep her company and also help my sister run her first half-marathon (or because I was drunk when she asked) so I signed up to.<br />
<br />
It was a brilliant weekend full of running, sunshine, carbs and alcohol at the end. Please give generously to Julie's fundraising page. She ran it in the fabulous time of 2:04 (I took it slow and clocked in at 2:40).<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JKBYy-aCZI0/VRBkphmPflI/AAAAAAAABSc/ZHZ9VOoqqfc/s1600/IMG_2797.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JKBYy-aCZI0/VRBkphmPflI/AAAAAAAABSc/ZHZ9VOoqqfc/s1600/IMG_2797.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Obligatory Pre-Race Selfie</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-z2GbLu0D1k0/VRBmDVnSJCI/AAAAAAAABSo/PZARmZcRCiM/s1600/IMG_2802.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-z2GbLu0D1k0/VRBmDVnSJCI/AAAAAAAABSo/PZARmZcRCiM/s1600/IMG_2802.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Obligatory Post-Race Selfie</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sonyNW17Bv8/VRBmRXWwV7I/AAAAAAAABSw/a3CdrXsMT5o/s1600/IMG_2803.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sonyNW17Bv8/VRBmRXWwV7I/AAAAAAAABSw/a3CdrXsMT5o/s1600/IMG_2803.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Post Race Re-hydration</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w4SfYhft64w/VRBmu7s1BeI/AAAAAAAABTA/TQJbgeoWdgM/s1600/IMG_2799.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w4SfYhft64w/VRBmu7s1BeI/AAAAAAAABTA/TQJbgeoWdgM/s1600/IMG_2799.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Always Re-hydrate</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
If you want to donate to ABC to Read then go <a href="https://www.justgiving.com/Julie-Cohen" target="_blank">here</a>:<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09749337741234916835noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3762860554634548712.post-57253204442563459492015-03-16T18:26:00.004-04:002015-03-16T18:26:59.607-04:00Romantic Novelists' Association Awards...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Just back *hic* from the Romantic Novelists' Association RoNas where we celebrated Julie's nomination and toasted the winners. It was fabulous to be with the fellow Heroine Addicts and as the amazing Barbara Taylor Bradford put it...'be with our tribe'. As always it was a great time but as it's late I'll let the pictures do the talking...<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XhO0EtNG-DQ/VQdXBSDCotI/AAAAAAAAR_g/oXMZfTyuGwY/s1600/RNA1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XhO0EtNG-DQ/VQdXBSDCotI/AAAAAAAAR_g/oXMZfTyuGwY/s1600/RNA1.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Liz, Brigid, Julie and Pia</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SmOmAEFMKuU/VQdXMqB-CaI/AAAAAAAAR_o/LyKouZW57WE/s1600/RNA2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SmOmAEFMKuU/VQdXMqB-CaI/AAAAAAAAR_o/LyKouZW57WE/s1600/RNA2.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brigid and Julie</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hpQ_JfV4QCI/VQdXZs6fSVI/AAAAAAAAR_w/x3ZTryi_2oI/s1600/RNA3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hpQ_JfV4QCI/VQdXZs6fSVI/AAAAAAAAR_w/x3ZTryi_2oI/s1600/RNA3.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Liz, Brigid, Julie and Pia</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3JPEJkzQGEQ/VQdXm1rYvKI/AAAAAAAAR_4/eimG5NTqHJE/s1600/RNA4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3JPEJkzQGEQ/VQdXm1rYvKI/AAAAAAAAR_4/eimG5NTqHJE/s1600/RNA4.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The fabulous library</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ebJcuUBzQ1k/VQdX8GNHhDI/AAAAAAAASAA/H326j_fVJe4/s1600/RNA5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ebJcuUBzQ1k/VQdX8GNHhDI/AAAAAAAASAA/H326j_fVJe4/s1600/RNA5.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Les, Sue, John and Alison</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-e0Fu42rnqK8/VQdYAW_IxXI/AAAAAAAASAI/44hhyZpUr-c/s1600/RNA6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-e0Fu42rnqK8/VQdYAW_IxXI/AAAAAAAASAI/44hhyZpUr-c/s1600/RNA6.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brigid with barber Erskine and Carole Blake</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02744937536946299450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3762860554634548712.post-2375956472556982732015-03-09T23:07:00.001-04:002015-03-09T23:41:17.246-04:00Starting On The Ground Floor<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">A while back I did a post here on my love of <a href="http://theheroineaddicts.blogspot.ca/2011/01/maps-love-story.html" target="_blank">the-map-in-the-front-of-the-book</a>, and
my own mapping habits while writing. And much in the same way that
Winnie-the-Pooh books inspired me to map, I can credit Dame Agatha Christie for
one of my other odd habits: the drawing of floor plans.</span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">I think I own every book Agatha Christie wrote, and I loved when she put in
the floor plans of houses to show us what rooms were where, and how impossible
it was for anyone to have committed the murder in question.</span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">My own stories didn’t really call for such elaborate measures, but the more
I wrote the more I saw the advantage of using a floor plan as a writing tool.
As clearly as I saw some scenes and settings in my mind, I could get turned
around sometimes, so I got into the habit of sketching out rough plans of
houses my characters lived in. Just a few lines on a page, really, so I didn’t
have someone walking into a cupboard when they were supposed to be in the
kitchen.</span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">In the photo above you can see, on the right, the rough floor plan of
Greywethers I drew when I started work on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mariana</i>, back in
1990. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LYWz7R42ELo/VP5mLAwNlPI/AAAAAAAABF0/QBq9AGFHJtc/s1600/plan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LYWz7R42ELo/VP5mLAwNlPI/AAAAAAAABF0/QBq9AGFHJtc/s1600/plan.jpg" height="320" width="236" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">I’ve done this for all my books since. Like my maps, these are just for
myself, to refer to while writing (although I included a floor plan in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Season of Storms</i>,
because that house was like an insane warren—as you can see from the picture
here—and I knew readers would have a hard time keeping track of the rooms).</span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Nearly all the houses that I’ve set my books in have actually existed.
Sometimes, as in the case of “Crofton Hall” in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mariana</i>—Avebury
Manor in real life—the floor plans already exist, and a very nice person at the
National Trust will send them to you. And sometimes you have to create them. </span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Either way, I begin with photographs. If I can get inside, I sketch the
layout of the rooms, keeping in mind I may have to change things around a bit
for my own story. If I can't get inside, I do an internet hunt for similar
houses of the period and look for floor plans, then cobble those together to
make my own.</span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">I’ve done a bit of both for the other floor plan at the top of this post, on the left, which is for
the new book I’m now working on: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bellewether</i>. The
house I’m using for this book is based on <a href="http://raynhamhallmuseum.org/" target="_blank">Raynham
Hall</a>, a museum on Long Island, and after visiting the house and taking
photographs and notes, I went online to search for other saltbox houses of the
period to find out how to put the central chimney stack where it would be
(Raynham Hall lost its chimney to a Victorian makeover, which also rearranged
the entrance hall).</span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The result is a floor plan that perfectly fits what I need for my story.
Not only does it give me a visual reference for the movements of my characters,
but it shows me where the windows are and when the sun comes in, and what view
would be.</span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">If nothing else, my floor plans give me something I can work on when the
words are slow in coming, so I can fool myself into thinking I’m being
productive.</span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">What’s your opinion of floor plans in novels? Have you ever done one
yourself?</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZQ3NmlWs9bE/VP5mrKmJuMI/AAAAAAAABF8/WdGpoCEhT-w/s1600/floorplans.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZQ3NmlWs9bE/VP5mrKmJuMI/AAAAAAAABF8/WdGpoCEhT-w/s1600/floorplans.jpg" height="320" width="282" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
Susanna Kearsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12675951272027527098noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3762860554634548712.post-11727325380345586222015-03-02T04:56:00.001-05:002015-03-02T04:56:05.219-05:00Celebration Time!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Heroine Addicts have been a bit
quiet for while, but now we really have something to shout about so here goes –
our very own <a href="http://www.julie-cohen.com/" target="_blank"><b>JULIE COHEN</b></a> HAS BEEN SHORTLISTED FOR THIS YEAR’S <a href="http://www.romanticnovelistsassociation.org/news/entry/the_romantic_novelists_association_announces_shortlists_for_the_ronas_roman" target="_blank"><b>RoNAs</b></a> (the UK’s
prestigious Romantic Novel Awards) with her novel <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Where-Love-Lies-Julie-Cohen/dp/0552779016/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425290023&sr=8-1&keywords=where+love+lies" target="_blank"><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Where Love Lies</i></b></a>!!!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We are all so thrilled for her and
are breaking out the champagne.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Please
join us while we catch up with Julie with a few Q & A’s:-</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SitMPyhSkFQ/VPQzV94mNCI/AAAAAAAAAho/hcNI6BcGJG8/s1600/Where%2BLove%2BLies%2Bpb%2Bcover.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SitMPyhSkFQ/VPQzV94mNCI/AAAAAAAAAho/hcNI6BcGJG8/s1600/Where%2BLove%2BLies%2Bpb%2Bcover.jpeg" height="320" width="204" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How
do you feel about being shortlisted for the RoNAs 2015?</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Absolutely thrilled. I joined the
RNA in 2002, when I was an unpublished author, and they absolutely helped me to
become a professional author. In 2004 I was shortlisted for the Joan Hessayon
New Writers’ Award (didn’t win) and in 2006 I was shortlisted for the RoNA Rose
Award (didn’t win) and now I’ve been shortlisted for the main RoNA award. I
don’t really mind if I don’t break my losing streak … I feel like I’ve grown
up. <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Was
this book special to you in any way?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">WHERE LOVE LIES is very special to me.
Most of the time, writing a book is an exercise in making your original vision
smaller and smaller and more flawed. But WHERE LOVE LIES is the first book I
have ever written where I felt, after it was finished, that I had achieved
exactly what I had set out to do. That might sound weird but I think most
authors will understand it. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">You’ve
sort of switched genres from the type of books you were first published with
(steamy, delicious HM&B’s!) – was that something you always aimed for or
did your writing just evolve that way?</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It’s something I’ve always aimed
for. My agent and I have had a strategic plan for my career and we’ve always
moved towards it. I’ve gone from steamy M&Bs to quirky romcoms to chick lit
with emotion to emotional book club women’s fiction, and I’ve enjoyed writing
it all. The most important part for me is to keep feeling challenged.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Are
you still writing about blue robots in your spare time?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Do you even <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">have</i> spare time?!?)</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Alas, the blue robots have finished
for now as my alter-ego Electra Shepherd is having a hiatus, but I will admit
to writing filthy Hannibal TV show fan fiction online when I really should be
doing other things.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What’s
the craziest thing you’ve ever done in the name of research?</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Does it count to say that I came
down with pneumonia whilst writing WHERE LOVE LIES and got first-hand
experience for all the hospital scenes?<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And
a couple of quickfire questions:-</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Favourite
ice cream flavour? - </span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Grape Nut. (It’s a Maine thing.)<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Are
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now—though when I first tasted it, expecting chocolate, I got a shock!<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Do
you collect anything? - </span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I am obsessed
with knitting owls.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Which
of the four Musketeers would you want for yourself? - </span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Can I have Mads Mikkelsen as the baddy Rochefort? <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Huge
congratulations on your shortlisting – now let’s party!</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Where Love Lies</span></i></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> - Blurb:-</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Felicity believes she’s happily
married, until she starts to experience a strange phantom scent, closely
followed by the overwhelming feeling of being in love—with a man who’s not her
husband. The feeling is so strong and urgent that she begins doing things that
no one can understand. Where does love lie—in the heart, or in the head?</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Christina x</span></div>
Christina Courtenayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03647397808446248913noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3762860554634548712.post-47040028184949854242014-06-14T16:33:00.002-04:002014-06-14T16:33:59.776-04:00Launch of 'A Cornish Stranger'<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MLHgpaFgY9Q/U5yxDbECEzI/AAAAAAAAAfk/PRi0V_xVzgI/s1600/Corn+ish+Stranger.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MLHgpaFgY9Q/U5yxDbECEzI/AAAAAAAAAfk/PRi0V_xVzgI/s1600/Corn+ish+Stranger.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Organising a launch party for your
book is not easy and can be nerve-racking for the author, but attending someone
else’s is pure fun!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And there’s no one
better at hosting unusual and interesting launch parties than our very own Liz
Fenwick.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">On Thursday, Liz’s latest book, <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cornish-Stranger-Liz-Fenwick/dp/1409148238/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1402777829&sr=1-1" target="_blank"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A CornishStranger</i></b></a>, was released into the world, and it was given a party with
real style.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were served Pimm’s (a
very British summer drink), nibbles and Cornish clotted cream ice cream in
various flavours, which was truly delicious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then we were treated to some live opera singing, courtesy of a very
talented young lady, and a reading from the book which drew you in, making you
want to start on it immediately!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Now all I need is some free time in which
to tackle my TBR pile …</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e6Ez2jxu8Yc/U5yxMYMCvnI/AAAAAAAAAfs/HZcOFJg6kCo/s1600/Liz1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e6Ez2jxu8Yc/U5yxMYMCvnI/AAAAAAAAAfs/HZcOFJg6kCo/s1600/Liz1.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Liz with fellow Heroine Addict Julie Cohen</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Many thanks to Liz for a very
enjoyable evening and I wish her and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A
Cornish Stranger</i> huge success!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A
Cornish Stranger:-</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">There’s
an old Cornish saying: “Save a stranger from the sea, he’ll turn your enemy …”</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">When
her reclusive grandmother becomes too frail to live alone, Gabriella Blythe
moves into the remote waterside cabin on Frenchman’s Creek which has been her
grandmother’s home for decades.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once a
celebrated artist, Jaunty’s days are coming to a close, but she is still
haunted by events in her past, particularly the sinking of the </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Lancasteria<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> during the
war.</i></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RbGe1yfnYok/U5yxaNYOycI/AAAAAAAAAf0/1E1UpS2aVLE/s1600/Liz2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RbGe1yfnYok/U5yxaNYOycI/AAAAAAAAAf0/1E1UpS2aVLE/s1600/Liz2.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Everything
is fine until a handsome stranger arrives in a storm, seeking help.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fin has been left a family legacy: a delicate
watercolour of a cabin above the creek which leads him to this beautiful
stretch of Cornish water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Fin begins
to pick at the clues of the painting, he is drawn into the lives of Gabe and
Jaunty, unravelling a remarkable story of identity and betrayal …</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
Christina Courtenayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03647397808446248913noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3762860554634548712.post-19806191248291948412014-05-26T10:11:00.003-04:002014-05-26T10:11:45.493-04:00A Very Big Announcement...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eit4zGQaaFk/U4NKRftyVdI/AAAAAAAABAo/1Xm_OJZqux8/s1600/julie+richard+and+judy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eit4zGQaaFk/U4NKRftyVdI/AAAAAAAABAo/1Xm_OJZqux8/s1600/julie+richard+and+judy2.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
Because she's too modest to announce it herself, I shall do it for her:<br />
<br />
Julie Cohen, Heroine Addict Extraordinaire, has had her book DEAR THING chosen by Richard and Judy as one of their <a href="http://www.richardandjudy.co.uk/current-reads/Summer-2014/397" target="_blank">Summer Book Club Selections</a>!<br />
<br />
If you don't live in the UK, the best equivalent I can give you is that this is on the order of having Oprah pick your book for her book club, back in the day.<br />
<br />
In other words, it's HUGE.<br />
<br />
And very, very well deserved. I'm admittedly biased when it comes to Julie's books, and I tend to push them on everyone I meet, but Dear Thing is really quite special. If you haven't read it yet, you really should.<br />
<br />
You can read Julie's reaction to the news <a href="http://www.transworldbooks.co.uk/lp/in-the-mood-for-dear-thing?dcp=635361145576521097" target="_blank">here, on her publisher's website</a>. <br />
<br />
And follow along with the <a href="https://www.richardandjudy.co.uk/books/Dear-Thing/400" target="_blank">Summer Book Club discussion here</a>.<br />
<br />
And on <a href="http://www.julie-cohen.com/" target="_blank">Julie's own website</a>, you can find out more about all her books, and read <a href="http://www.julie-cohen.com/books/dear-thing/#excerpt" target="_blank">a lovely excerpt</a> from DEAR THING. Here's a taste:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PZZsdODuPiI/U4NJvVrMPmI/AAAAAAAABAg/C0ZtdUfYYeo/s1600/DT-final-pb-cover-copy-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PZZsdODuPiI/U4NJvVrMPmI/AAAAAAAABAg/C0ZtdUfYYeo/s1600/DT-final-pb-cover-copy-small.jpg" height="320" width="205" /></a></div>
<em>Dear Thing,</em><br />
<em>I want to tell you a story.</em><br />
<em>Once upon a time, when we still believed in wishes, there lived a
prince and a princess. The prince was handsome and clever, and the
princess was beautiful and good, and they were deeply in love.</em><br />
<em>That’s something you might ask about one day, when you’re older.
What is love? Some people think it’s magic. Some people think it’s
biology. In this case, the prince and his princess seemed meant for each
other. It’s difficult to explain why; he liked football and she liked
concerts. She liked old things, and he liked new. Their life together
was a series of compromises. Maybe that’s what a happily ever after
really is.</em><br />
<em>I wish you’d been there to see it. In a way, you were there; the
princess and the prince had certainly thought of you. They already
wanted you. A perfect child, who would make their love complete.</em><br />
<em>But the years went by, and went by…and you never appeared.</em><br />
<em>It’s not much of a fairy tale, is it?</em><br />
<br />
This is the story of Claire and Ben, who are perfectly in love – in
fact, who are seemingly perfect in almost every way. Except one. They
can’t have a baby.<br />
It’s also the story of Ben’s best friend Romily, who after years of
watching Ben and Claire suffer, offers to have a baby for them.<br />
But being pregnant stirs up all kinds of feelings in Romily –
feelings she’d rather keep buried, but can’t. Now there are two mothers –
and one baby who belongs to both of them, and which only one of them
can keep.<br />
<br />
(Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to have a glass of champagne in Julie's honour. Feel free to join me in the celebration!) Susanna Kearsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12675951272027527098noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3762860554634548712.post-1387391441773680062014-04-30T19:34:00.000-04:002014-04-30T19:34:24.835-04:00Fashion designers and writing<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jjM5vQQ2jM0/U2GGHD8vaVI/AAAAAAAAAd8/XiH4nYi4-vg/s1600/G9.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jjM5vQQ2jM0/U2GGHD8vaVI/AAAAAAAAAd8/XiH4nYi4-vg/s1600/G9.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I recently went to
see an exhibition of <a href="http://www.barbican.org.uk/artgallery/event-detail.asp?ID=14772" target="_blank">Jean-Paul Gaultier</a> clothing and designs at the Barbican here in London, so
today I thought I’d treat you to some photos of his fantastic creations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it really is a treat as everything on display
was truly amazing!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Outrageous sometimes,
but definitely amazing.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Apart from the purely
aesthetic pleasure of looking at his creations, they made me think about
writing, which is kind of weird.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I
realised that fashion designers are not that different from authors and other creative
types.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They take old ideas, turn them on
their heads, scramble them a bit, and come up with something new.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s what we do too, isn’t it?</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">We’re always being
told there are only so many story lines/plots in the world (I’ve heard seven, ten and twelve
– not sure who’s right?) and that everything we write is just a variation on an
old, familiar tale.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s the same with
fashion – there are only so many types of hemline, sleeve design etc you can
have.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s how you put them together
into a whole that makes the difference for all of us.</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-W5wBY6T9OFM/U2GGh-gbv5I/AAAAAAAAAeM/MZX86gvVUxA/s1600/G4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-W5wBY6T9OFM/U2GGh-gbv5I/AAAAAAAAAeM/MZX86gvVUxA/s1600/G4.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Monsieur Gaultier is
obviously a genius – a bit mad sometimes (in the best possible way), it
would seem, but still, a genius.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His
collections were not so much wearable clothes, as works of art, although I did
actually fancy owning some of the outfits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I would probably have to be an extra in a remake of Mad Max to be able
to carry it off though, but it would be worth it!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">And although I don’t
write steampunk, sci-fi or fantasy, after seeing this exhibition I had a sudden
yearning to do so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can obviously
have a lot of fun thinking up fantastic outfits for your characters and ‘fun’
was a word that sprang to mind constantly when seeing the Jean-Paul Gaultier stuff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sheer exuberance of some of the clothes
on display made you smile and you could tell this was a designer who really
enjoys his work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was inspiring on so
many levels.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Would I feel the same
way if I wrote something totally different to my normal genres?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I guess there’s only one way to find out
...<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now all I need are some extra hours
in the day!</span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-O-CAreKo_Vg/U2GHp_qrfRI/AAAAAAAAAe8/UHb9O56z8nQ/s1600/g8.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-O-CAreKo_Vg/U2GHp_qrfRI/AAAAAAAAAe8/UHb9O56z8nQ/s1600/g8.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fi2S8vVHdy4/U2GHc8Ak5uI/AAAAAAAAAes/K5fZkOc8M6k/s1600/G6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fi2S8vVHdy4/U2GHc8Ak5uI/AAAAAAAAAes/K5fZkOc8M6k/s1600/G6.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6uDh0eIYEAI/U2GHOQ9fxxI/AAAAAAAAAek/lXwxGyjP8ps/s1600/G5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6uDh0eIYEAI/U2GHOQ9fxxI/AAAAAAAAAek/lXwxGyjP8ps/s1600/G5.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Really, really wanted this coat!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DLRkb1axT10/U2GHInNwaWI/AAAAAAAAAec/ciO4n-50Suo/s1600/G3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DLRkb1axT10/U2GHInNwaWI/AAAAAAAAAec/ciO4n-50Suo/s1600/G3.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vvj9wXYn-vg/U2GGbpdBIuI/AAAAAAAAAeI/hzt3MEAHUzI/s1600/G1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vvj9wXYn-vg/U2GGbpdBIuI/AAAAAAAAAeI/hzt3MEAHUzI/s1600/G1.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a><br />
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Christina Courtenayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03647397808446248913noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3762860554634548712.post-70248653909647929322014-04-10T13:56:00.000-04:002014-04-10T13:56:32.747-04:00Ghosts and Dreams<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<!--StartFragment-->
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ovFqQ4ieYfc/U0baTum15eI/AAAAAAAABNc/ycSOvEo0OLk/s1600/IMG_1922.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ovFqQ4ieYfc/U0baTum15eI/AAAAAAAABNc/ycSOvEo0OLk/s1600/IMG_1922.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Musing at Beaver Run</td></tr>
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<br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Living
in a place that you have visited off and on over the years gets you to thinking
about how you change over time.</span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">I
first visited Breckenridge as an eleven year old, day trips up on occasion from
where we lived down in Denver. Then I though that I could do anything or be
anything I wanted. Mostly I dreamed of being a ski instructing acting vet who
wrote on the side.</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">The
next time I visited Breck was as a nineteen year old student. Fresh from my
first term at Imperial studying Physics, I think I had already worked out that
a life in academia wasn't for me. That Christmas break here in Breck was
probably the first time I realised that maybe you couldn't do everything. I
also remember it as being incredibly painful as I had an infected wisdom tooth.
By the next Christmas I would've moved to Leeds Uni to study Material Science
and Engineering and be lighter four wisdom teeth.</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">It
was another fifteen years before I returned to Breckenridge. Older, maybe not
wiser. I was thirty four and heart battered and beaten. I was in the verge of
starting my self employed period where I juggled radio presenting, voice overs, and writing with project management. And after that holiday I never thought I'd be
back.</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Yet
here I am. </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Forty
two and actually living here until July. I pass the condo I stayed in back
when I was nineteen and wonder if I can see the ghost of me standing at the
window. What would she think of me now? My life has taken such twists and turns
that I don't think she would ever have guessed I'd be here.</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">And
then I pass the restaurants I ate and drank in eight years ago. It isn't so
long but there are still big changes. I catch myself looking for that sad woman
out the corner of my eye, I want to hug her and tell her she gets the guy. And
she gets to write. </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Every
so often when I ride the chair lifts, I can see eleven year old me swinging her
skis. She is yearning to throw herself down the mountain as fast as possible
because nothing matters but the skis and the snow. </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body1">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">I
wonder if I squint a bit whether I'll start to see a future me wandering down
Main Street... what would she think?</span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: #0400; mso-bidi-language: X-NONE; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #0400;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment--></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09749337741234916835noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3762860554634548712.post-48726360887402037122014-03-23T10:25:00.000-04:002014-03-23T10:25:18.965-04:00Appealing to Both Sexes?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">There are stories that appeal to
both sexes, but last week, I was reminded again of how men and women want such
different things out of the stories they read or watch on TV/film and how
difficult it is to please both at the same time.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7BPPJ98BeqY/Uy7p8stk-7I/AAAAAAAAAdQ/Wn0WT-v7LXw/s1600/ThreeMusketeers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7BPPJ98BeqY/Uy7p8stk-7I/AAAAAAAAAdQ/Wn0WT-v7LXw/s1600/ThreeMusketeers.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My latest obsession is the new TV
adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Three
Musketeers</i>, just called <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00sxqkb" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3762860554634548712">The Musketeers</a></i> and revamped to give it a much more modern feel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s kind of similar to the recent <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Robin Hood</i> series which featured Richard
Armitage in black leather – the musketeers wear leather too and their outfits
are a wonderful blend of old and new.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The man behind this new adaptation,
Adrian Hodges, has done a great job IMO and has brought something new to it
rather than just reworking the same old story, the way most films have done in
the past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He takes a lot of liberties,
of course, but it doesn’t seem to matter and all fits in very nicely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s plenty of sword-fighting and violence
to please male viewers (Vinnie Jones was in last week’s episode, which says a
lot!), and there are sub-plots galore featuring women, not least the
brilliantly selfish Milady de Winter.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The one sub-plot that interested me
the most, however, was the budding romance between D’Artagnan and the married
Constance, his landlady.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over many weeks
they got to know each other, helped one another out and the viewer could see
respect, love and trust building between them until finally, they confessed
their love and started an affair.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-92FGAxHIoSs/Uy7uJQ0LlUI/AAAAAAAAAdc/U87kyRrSsKM/s1600/Musketeers+from+www+iMDB+dot+com.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-92FGAxHIoSs/Uy7uJQ0LlUI/AAAAAAAAAdc/U87kyRrSsKM/s1600/Musketeers+from+www+iMDB+dot+com.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo from www.IMDb.com </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Ok, so maybe it’s wrong to root for
a couple where one party is married (to a very obvious buffoon, but still …),
but the whole build-up to this romance was very well done and a joy to
watch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So an episode having concluded
with that passionate declaration one week, I sat down with great anticipation
to watch the next to see their love develop – and had my hopes dashed within
minutes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The writer obviously felt that this
was what the series needed, keeping D’Artagnan free from a love interest and
able to go on his way (albeit angry and disillusioned), but could he not have
been allowed to be happy at least for a while?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As a woman, this made me feel completely cheated and if you’re reading
this, Mr Hodges, I sincerely hope you’re planning on bringing them together
again at a later stage, if not already in tonight’s episode!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Any man watching this probably didn’t
even notice and thought it just another sub-plot, but with the enormous
build-up to this particular romance it seemed to me to have much more
significance.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This has turned into a bit of a
rant, but I guess what I’m trying to say is that we can’t cheat our
readers/viewers by leading them down one path, only to trample on their joy
once we finally conclude this plot strand satisfactorily.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a while, perhaps, but not so quickly or
so callously.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But maybe that’s just my
very female point of view …?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
Christina Courtenayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03647397808446248913noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3762860554634548712.post-66216087326258842302014-03-20T01:00:00.000-04:002014-03-20T01:00:04.539-04:00Competitive? Who? Me?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<!--StartFragment-->
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-88SMVY447tg/UyoitqTppBI/AAAAAAAABNI/M3JzKowxA5I/s1600/Brigid+Running+Salida+2014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-88SMVY447tg/UyoitqTppBI/AAAAAAAABNI/M3JzKowxA5I/s1600/Brigid+Running+Salida+2014.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">To the victor the spoils (or lots of water and extra oxygen)<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> </o:p>One thing that comes with age is self-knowledge, and
something that I have come to know about myself is that I am competitive. I
can’t help myself and being competitive is no bad thing, it drives you on. It
keeps you going when you might fail. But sometimes comparing yourself to others
and competing can do the opposite. It can cripple your confidence.</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I realised some of this at the weekend when I did my first
trail run at altitude. I like to run, I’m never going to be Ms Speedy (I’m
built more for comfort) but I do like to push myself and even if I tell myself
it is just for fun I’m timing myself and measuring myself against others.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But there comes a time when you need to realise that
everyone is different and you can’t be good at everything. You also need to
concentrate on what you can do and not what everyone else is doing.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was in a mountain town called Salida, about 7,000 feet
above sea level, surrounded by runners of all shapes and sizes ready to run
marathons, half-marathons on a dirt track that went uphill and down dale. I was
signed up for the two-mile fun run. As we set off I realised that much as I
wanted to compete I couldn’t. I’m still not acclimatised to the altitude. Some
of these people run Ultra Marathons (50K plus) and they like doing hills.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I stuck myself in and slowly stumbled up the large hill,
which was the first mile of the race, gasping for air. And the only thing I
could think of was putting one foot in front of the other. It didn’t matter
what everyone else was doing because that was their race and not mine. Luckily
gravity was my friend in the second mile and I crossed the line in a reasonable
time. Not as fast as I would be at sea level but I was done.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I then spent the rest of the day hanging out with new
friends and cheering everyone in.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It made me think about my writing, because I can get
competitive about that as well. Why other people are more successful than me?
Biting my nails over Amazon rankings or better reviews. Trying to work out the
angle that might get me a bit further ahead. And this doesn’t make me a
pleasant person or, in fact, a better writer.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Because halfway up that dirt trail; seeing spots because of
the thin mountain air, I realised I am only in control of what I put on a page.
The only thing I should be competitive with is myself in writing the best story
I can write. That is what will get me over the finish line. Any writers who
pass me on this race could be running a shorter distance and can sprint. Or
maybe I’ll pass them on a particularly tricky uphill section. Either way I need
to nod as we pass, cheer them on from behind or lend them a helping hand. But I
shouldn’t be racing them; I need to keep my eyes on my own goal.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So now I’m plodding onwards putting one word in front of
another because that is the only thing I have control over.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->
<div class="MsoNormal">
With thanks to the lovely people at <a href="http://verticalrunnerbreckenridge.com/teamvrb-2/" target="_blank">Vertical Runner, Breckenridge</a> for letting me join their club team and put up with me flopping around searching for extra air<o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment--></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09749337741234916835noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3762860554634548712.post-4319028013170225682014-03-14T06:09:00.001-04:002014-03-14T06:09:55.904-04:00The Author's Voice<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I have just spent the most wonderful week as part of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature. There is so much I could write about it, but the thought that is jumping up and down is the author's voice. This has many meanings. As aspiring writers we work hard to find 'our voice', that elusive thing. Justin Cronin said that voice was taking ownership of what you want to do as a writer…you need to know yourself for your voice to come through… Interesting….<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f69ENreOKS0/UyLUPR5jKHI/AAAAAAAARuU/wssW5iI67Sk/s1600/IMG-20140305-01069.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f69ENreOKS0/UyLUPR5jKHI/AAAAAAAARuU/wssW5iI67Sk/s1600/IMG-20140305-01069.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
We had a fabulous night of poetry under the stars in the desert where Andrew Motion, Lemn Sissay and others read their works…the night before I heard Pam Ayres read her work…there is nothing like hearing a poet read their poems. Just listening to them you feel the poem.<br />
<br />
But as an author I dread reading my books. I am dyslexic so it's hard to read aloud. However I realise now I am depriving my readers. During the festival Paul Blezard and Julia Wheeler asked several writers to read their work… JoJo Moyes, Judy Finnigan and Joanne Harris. The works came alive hearing the voice of the authors. I was able to video Joanne and it was pure magic. The video <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWi9IRa2Edc&feature=em-upload_owner#action=share" target="_blank">here</a>. She said on twitter 'Anyone else reading my work aloud feels like a form of translation…'<br />
<br />
So how do you feel about hearing the 'author's voice'? Does it enrich the experience for you? Or does it take away from it?<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02744937536946299450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3762860554634548712.post-25350632639048174372014-02-28T18:38:00.000-05:002014-02-28T18:38:20.339-05:00Winter/Summer Conundrum<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sdRps5sgqsg/UxEdNKx1fiI/AAAAAAAABMU/7yQ7Qz6uD5s/s1600/IMG_1866.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sdRps5sgqsg/UxEdNKx1fiI/AAAAAAAABMU/7yQ7Qz6uD5s/s1600/IMG_1866.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Real Life - Breckenridge, Winter</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vfkXWWdo4zc/UxEdWJk7IXI/AAAAAAAABMc/MwWwHn5mp0Y/s1600/P1000323.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vfkXWWdo4zc/UxEdWJk7IXI/AAAAAAAABMc/MwWwHn5mp0Y/s1600/P1000323.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Book Life - Frenchman's Creek, Summer</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Greetings! Apologies for the lateness of this blogpost. I
could blame it on the fact that I am now The Heroine Addict who is the furthest
west. I could blame it on my lack of internet, except it got sorted out this
morning. I could but I won’t.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Instead I am putting it down to my head being pulled in two
very different directions.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I’m currently working on a YA novel set during two summers
in Cornwall. Wonderful I hear you say, nothing is more lovely than a Cornish
summer and I agree with you. The only problem I have is that I am thousands of
miles away in a ski resort up to my neck in snow.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It is causing a split in my personality. I stare at my
laptop and the words conjuror up dark green trees, grey water, blue skies and
twisted folk tales. I look up and out the window. It is snow and icicles, blue
skies or blizzards, Native American tales and moose on the trails. What is a
writer to do?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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I’m thinking of stocking up on cider to see if that helps
get me in the mood… all for research purposes, you understand.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i>How do you deal with the conundrum? </i></b></div>
<!--EndFragment--></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09749337741234916835noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3762860554634548712.post-586675519155325782014-02-23T05:45:00.000-05:002014-02-23T05:45:20.068-05:00Distractions<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Lately I’ve been
getting ideas for the book after the book after the next book (!), which is
really distracting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I should just be getting
on with the one I’m working on right now, but when you get a good idea, you
can’t let it pass by – you just have to jot it down somewhere, anywhere!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Especially if, like me, you can’t remember
something from one minute to the next without putting it in writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it’s very annoying.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Don’t get me wrong,
I’m enjoying my WIP and haven’t yet hit that “oh-my-god-this-is-such-a-pile-of-cr*p”
stage, but those tantalising ideas of future WIP’s won’t leave me alone and
every now and then I have to break off what I’m doing, open a new document and
write what’s clamouring to come out.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">It sounds insane,
doesn’t it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I should be able to control
my thoughts, tell them to form an orderly queue and stop jumping it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am half English after all, and aren’t the
English supposed to be good at queuing?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But maybe my Swedish genes take over in this case, because those ideas
just aren’t listening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or I have no
willpower.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or something.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C3nxHkUADME/UwnQwbEa2PI/AAAAAAAAAco/iFJ0BMGsS1Y/s1600/MeLegionnaire.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C3nxHkUADME/UwnQwbEa2PI/AAAAAAAAAco/iFJ0BMGsS1Y/s1600/MeLegionnaire.JPG" height="320" width="239" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Actually, I shouldn’t
be complaining, because surely the worst thing for an author would be if you
had NO ideas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>None at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If your brain was drier than a desert with
nothing but tumbleweed blowing through.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That would be nothing short of a disaster.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that’s why I tend to humour my ideas when
they get impatient and won’t wait their turn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They’re my insurance against the dry season.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Maybe I should give
up visiting interesting places?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because
places very often inspire me, especially old ones with an atmosphere of times
gone by.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Take for instance Caerleon, in
south Wales.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, I’ve never wanted to
write a book featuring Romans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I like
learning about them and think they were awesome, but I let other people do the
writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But when I visited what used to
be the Roman town of Isca, the atmosphere got to me and those “what if”
questions began to crowd my mind ...</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I’m supposed to be
writing about Japan right now and into my mind pops a Roman centurion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Very distracting indeed!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think I’d better go and deal with him ...</span></div>
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<br /></div>
Christina Courtenayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03647397808446248913noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3762860554634548712.post-69677864965275130302014-02-09T13:38:00.000-05:002014-02-09T13:52:23.836-05:00The Curious Case of the Beautiful Heroine <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8df7ufkGNeQ/UvfH4kbj4uI/AAAAAAAAA-c/7nwRW0HZhBo/s1600/1721h0001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8df7ufkGNeQ/UvfH4kbj4uI/AAAAAAAAA-c/7nwRW0HZhBo/s1600/1721h0001.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I don’t know when I stopped describing heroines. Somewhere
along the way between my first book and the middle ones I realized readers
usually formed images themselves without my having to describe first-person
narrators in detail. I might say what the colour of their hair was, or their
age if it was relevant, but anything beyond that was more likely just a passing
comment touching on some feature in comparison to someone else.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Celia, the heroine of Season of Storms, looking at her famous
actress mother, admits: “She <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">was</i>
lovely. I had always thought so, always wished my own eyes could have been as
large, my features half as delicate. Instead I’d inherited only her small hands
and her allergy to cats.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And here’s the exchange between David Fortune, the hero of
The Shadowy Horses, and the heroine Verity Grey, when they first meet:</div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I must say,” he confessed, leaning back again, “you’re not
at all as I pictured you.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Everyone said that. Museum workers, I’d learned, were
supposed to be little old ladies in spectacles, not twenty-nine-year-olds in
short skirts. I nodded patiently. “I’m younger, you mean?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“No. It’s only that, with Adrian recommending you, I’d have
thought to find someone…well, someone…”</div>
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“Tall, blonde, and beautiful?”</div>
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“Something like that.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I couldn’t help smiling. I was, to my knowledge, the only
dark-haired woman who’d ever received so much as a dinner invitation from Adrian
Sutton-Clarke, and I’d held his interest only until the next blonde had come
along.</div>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
We later learn her hair is long, and that an eight-year-old
boy thinks she’s a “<a href="http://cannycoasters.com/shop/coasters-stoater/" target="_blank">stoater</a>”, but that’s it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In The Winter Sea, I don’t think I described Carrie at all.
And I know in The Firebird the only stray reference to Nicola’s looks was made
at the beginning, when she says she’d got her job partly because “I had the
proper look [to suit the image of the Galerie St-Croix], the proper pedigree,
the right credentials, and I always dressed to fit the part.” And later we
learn what her hair colour is when Rob warns her his father has “aye had a
liking for blondes.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But that’s it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So it fascinates me to no end to see readers remark that my
heroines are always beautiful. I won’t quote any particular readers’ reviews
because I don’t like doing that—readers are wholly entitled to have their
opinions, and authors, in my view, should not interfere with that. But the
comments come up with enough regularity to make me wonder why so many people,
when faced with a character who isn’t fully described, seem to want to default
to the “beautiful”.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Even more fascinating to me is that some readers seem to
assume the heroine is beautiful because she manages to attract the romantic
attention of one or more men in the small town she travels to, as if beauty
alone is the thing that attracts men—as if no man could ever be attracted by a
woman’s wit, intelligence, vivacity, or simply the sheer novelty of having her
arrive in town. (I grew up in a small town and I’ve travelled to a lot of them
and lived in a small village in the west of Wales—believe me when I say you do
NOT have to be a beauty to attract attention when you turn up as a stranger in
a local pub <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">:-</span></span>)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The women I see in my mind when I’m writing are never what I
would call “beautiful”. Pretty, perhaps, in an ordinary everyday way, but it’s
my belief everyone’s pretty to somebody, and the most plain-looking face can
become pretty when we have fallen in love with the person behind it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m curious, though: Why do <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">you</i> think some readers, when faced with a blank face, are
programmed to fill in the features as “beautiful”?</div>
Susanna Kearsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12675951272027527098noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3762860554634548712.post-45117407660077517412014-01-16T01:00:00.000-05:002014-01-16T01:00:01.662-05:00Forbidden Kisses... (and a giveaway)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EbYqco3lc5E/UtRJ3tsQD0I/AAAAAAAABK0/VsGTL_idmhs/s1600/beautiful-dragon-kiss-love-rain-wallpaper-couple-free-wallpaper-download.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EbYqco3lc5E/UtRJ3tsQD0I/AAAAAAAABK0/VsGTL_idmhs/s320/beautiful-dragon-kiss-love-rain-wallpaper-couple-free-wallpaper-download.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wet Kisses...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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As you will remember way back in November we had a party to
celebrate the first of my short stories, ‘The Last Kiss’. That was the first of
‘The Kiss Collection’. December saw the publication of ‘The First Kiss’ and
today is the turn of my third kiss-themed short story, ‘Lipstick on His Collar’.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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This one explores what happens when you kiss someone you shouldn’t… not
that any of ‘The Heroine Addicts’ have ever done that. Or, of course, any of
you… *coughs* <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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But it can happen. Hormones and attraction can over take
you and before you know it you are in a situation you could've sworn you would never be in.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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So as not to embarrass anyone here, I'm not asking you to share those forbidden kisses. Instead I am asking you to share
any memorable kisses you have had. Good or bad. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First, last, forever. The best entry will win
signed copies of the lovely Liz Fenwick’s books, ‘The Cornish House’ and A Cornish
Affair’ PLUS (hold on to your hats) copies of each of my Kiss stories.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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How can you resist?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Please share your stories in the comments, the Heroine
Addicts will contribute too. Liz and I will confer (over a glass or two of
wine) to decide the winner.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Come on. Don’t be shy, it isn’t like you’ve kissed someone
you shouldn’t?</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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You can download 'Lipstick on His Collar' <a href="http://www.harperimpulseromance.com/books/lipstick-on-his-collar" target="_blank">here</a> or any of the other Kisses <a href="http://www.harperimpulseromance.com/authors/brigid-coady" target="_blank">here</a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sSfbxNyEjuI/UtRLUESywsI/AAAAAAAABLA/55hda8qYNEI/s1600/Lipstick+on+his+Collar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sSfbxNyEjuI/UtRLUESywsI/AAAAAAAABLA/55hda8qYNEI/s200/Lipstick+on+his+Collar.jpg" width="130" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment--></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09749337741234916835noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3762860554634548712.post-90400087328736721202014-01-11T19:05:00.000-05:002014-01-11T19:05:50.342-05:00A Tiny Cameo Role<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It’s amazing how a very small
addition can sometimes transform a storyline, whether it’s in a book, film or
TV programme.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tiny cameo roles have the
power to make a story so much more memorable, even though the character
featured doesn’t really influence the plot in any way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It can be the one thing that sticks in your
mind and makes you want to go back time and time again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For me, this is epitomised by a
dog called Sykes.</span>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’m a fan of the TV series <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118401/" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Midsomer Murders</i></a> which, for those of you
who don’t live in the UK, is a murder mystery series set in a group of tiny
villages in the English countryside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Life there seems to be fairly idyllic (apart from the extremely high
murder rate!), and it portrays a sort of “olde-worlde” kind of England that reminds
you a bit of Agatha Christie or Enid Blyton novels, and times gone by.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It features winding country lanes, little
oak-beamed pubs and lovely woodlands covered in bluebells or daffodils.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are plenty of gorgeous mansions and
stately homes too, as well as chocolate-box thatched cottages, but underneath
the pretty exteriors lurk some very nasty things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a great combination and I would watch
the programme just for the nostalgia, if nothing else.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kG8d2R61dSA/UtHKXJo0gDI/AAAAAAAAAcI/cYWwzc_e8sU/s1600/Sykes_Dog_Actor.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kG8d2R61dSA/UtHKXJo0gDI/AAAAAAAAAcI/cYWwzc_e8sU/s1600/Sykes_Dog_Actor.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The series had run for many years
with an Inspector Barnaby in the lead role.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’m guessing he must have become very tired of it himself, and the
episodes were becoming rather stale and “samey” – a change was clearly needed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So the script-writers decided a new Inspector
Barnaby was called for and they very cleverly introduced him as the old one’s
cousin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not everyone has taken to this
new guy, but personally I think he’s doing really well – he has a great sense
of humour and started off with a very subtle approach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the absolutely best thing about the new
programmes is his dog – <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sykes-The-Dog/111883015591594" target="_blank">Sykes</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
anything was guaranteed to bring in new viewers, Sykes was it.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The moment Sykes walked onto the
screen, I fell in love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently, so
did a lot of other people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He only gets
about a minute of screen time for each episode, but he totally steals the show.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A scruffy looking terrier of some sort, </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">he’s an extremely
clever and talented little actor, who has appeared in countless films
(including some with Johnny Depp apparently!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He also stars in several adverts on TV, all brilliantly done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He never disappoints and somehow manages to
make his expression just right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Adding him
was a stroke of genius.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Are
there any other cameo roles that have delighted you in books, films or on
TV?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d love to know.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">(You can watch Sykes in action <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsBanRDJlS8" target="_blank">here</a>
on YouTube)</span></div>
Christina Courtenayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03647397808446248913noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3762860554634548712.post-78446787852421073862014-01-02T08:23:00.002-05:002014-01-02T08:24:50.436-05:00What's the point?Before Christmas, I did a writing workshop at a school, with some A-level Creative Writing students. They spent an hour coming up with characters, using fun exercises. When I asked them to read their work aloud, I was pleased by how uninhibited these teenagers were as opposed to adult writers. Their characters were bold and surprising, in the midst of dramatic, thrilling stories.<br />
<br />
Afterwards, we had a question and answer session and we got talking about how you decide what sort of thing to write. I talked a little bit about how publishers like authors to have a 'brand', so that readers know what to expect when they pick up one of your books. If you've got a publishing contract, I said, your publisher will want you to stay within the same genre and write the same type of books throughout the contract. They wouldn't be happy if you'd been contracted to write a mystery novel, and suddenly you came up with a high fantasy swords-and-sorcery novel without a mystery in it.<br />
<br />
'If you can't write whatever you want to write,' said one of the students, 'what's the point in getting published?'<br />
<br />
I was taken aback by his question. I'm so used to talking to writers who dream of getting published, who want to know the golden secret of getting published, who work and work and work and try and fail and try again, so that their work will be on a book shelf somewhere. And this student couldn't see<i> the point?</i><br />
<br />
Yet what he was asking was deeply profound. He was asking what was more important: a publishing career or creative freedom? He was asking, why would you create something that isn't exactly what you want to create? He was at the time in his writing journey where the story was what mattered—not who read it, or how much money he could get for it, or what the Amazon reviewers said about it.<br />
<br />
Just the story. The story was the point.<br />
<br />
I'm ashamed to say I didn't answer him the right way—I was surprised, and I said things about being able to publish different types of stories with different publishers under different names, and about authors taking pseudonyms or changing direction as their careers grew. But what I should have said was:<br />
<br />
<i>You're right.</i><br />
<br />
It is so easy to get caught up in the writing business. To worry about contracts and promotion, to jostle for attention and readers and good reviews. It's easy to look at other authors and get jealous because their publishers give them more support, or because they're winning all the awards, or getting better covers, or getting more press attention, or selling more books. It's easy to angst over publishing trends, and the decline of book selling, and the lack of book reviews in major publications.<br />
<br />
But the truth is: the story is the point. The writing is the point. The creation is the point.<br />
<br />
There's no reason to write anything otherwise.<br />
<br />
So I'm going to try to remember that student's words this year, this 2014. I hope that I can.<br />
<br />
(There's a thoughtful post on this subject <a href="http://www.jessicaspotswood.com/blog/2013/12/29/2013-a-learning-year-managing-expectations/" target="_blank">here</a>)<br />
<br />Julie Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15548233186449498920noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3762860554634548712.post-35016743327360623962013-12-22T12:50:00.000-05:002013-12-22T12:50:08.075-05:00Christmas is even closer!<div class="MsoNormal">
Like Liz, I'm rushing around trying to get everything ready in time for Christmas and it's all a bit manic!<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> I honestly don't know why this happens every year because I always swear I'm going to start earlier/be more prepared/more organised/write better lists etc, but somehow it doesn't work out that way. But maybe that's part of the fun? If we were too organised, it wouldn't be so exciting!</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KfvwcNcV7l0/Urcl8S_WniI/AAAAAAAAAb4/PkxZN6S5iO4/s1600/Hus.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KfvwcNcV7l0/Urcl8S_WniI/AAAAAAAAAb4/PkxZN6S5iO4/s320/Hus.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-GB">I love
Christmas, and especially all the preparations beforehand – buying and wrapping
presents, cooking, cleaning, decorating – and the 'will we be finished in time' factor adds a certain something to the proceedings. The special magic of Christmas is that it usually always ends up being all right on the day though, so I've stopped worrying too much about it. And if the decorations aren't perfect or something's missing from Christmas dinner, does it really matter? One year we ended up eating just potatoes, vegetables and gravy, because the turkey wasn't cooked (thanks to faulty instructions for a new AGA it was completely raw in the middle - yuck!), but it didn't make Christmas any less fun. In fact, it's one we remember with lots of laughter now!</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">So I'm just going to take a deep breath now, tell myself there are still two days to go and plenty of time and I have both my daughters here to help. They've just decorated this lovely gingerbread house, our tree is up, and we're about to make a special (calorie free, ahem<cough>) dessert, so hopefully all is in hand.</cough></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Hope your preparations are going well too and I wish you a VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS and hope 2014
is a brilliant year for all of us!</span></div>
Christina Courtenayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03647397808446248913noreply@blogger.com2