Archive for February, 2007

February 28, 2007 | 1 Comment

Writing ‘chick-lit’ that is.

You may know that Waterstones are running a competition in conjunction with Cosmopolitan - details here. The prize is a contract with a publisher and consultation with an agent and Louise Candlish,

I think this is a wonderful idea - a fantastic opportunity. I hope it will also raise the profile ofwomen’s commercial fiction, chick-lit and romance as I feel that is some quarters, this genre is regarded as some kind of easy option. Everyone knows it’s a doddle to churn out a chick-lit novel. Chuck in some sex and shopping, slap on a pink cover and Bob’s your uncle,100,000 words and a couple of weeks later, you’ve got a best-seller. Yeah….;)
There is also an article about this competition with interviews with Sophie Kinsella, Wendy Holden and Jill Mansell in Waterstones magazine. Paper bags to put over your head as you carry it out of the bookshop are free, I understand.

PS I have just noticed there is an LBD on the Cosmo list of fave chick-lit books.

February 27, 2007 | 4 Comments

I’ve been warned about obsessive Amazon ranking watching so I’ve stopped doing it. Now I’m obsessive Waterstones watching.

Mini woo-hoo: 15 of the top 30 best-selling romance titles are Little Black Dress books. Fellow writer and new mum, Julie Cohen’s Spirit Willing, Flesh Weak is there on page one and Decent Exposure is on page two. Also Lorelei Mathias’s LBD, Step On It Cupid.
It probably means our mums have bought four this week or that my Waterstones manager friend has hacked into the system but hey ..it’s still cool. The price of them is making my eyes water - take a look, they are Buy One Get One Free.

The ones in the two Stafford branches are also signed …and the staff in Sutton Coldfield are cute too!
In the meantime, Headline Review author, Rosy Thornton, alerted me to a brilliant blog entry by Maureen Johnson on the perils of such behaviour aka How To Be a Writer In Ten Easy Steps.

So NO MORE Amazon watching or posing in front of bookshelves… and keep away from writer friends.

PS I am actually writing a book at the moment. Very slowly but I am doing something.

February 26, 2007 | 3 Comments

This week could be exciting. But it might not be. Sorry, for that nugget of earth-shattering insight but hey, life has to continue normally some time. The past couple of weeks have brought me one good piece of news after another, after a winter in the doldrums (largely of my own making).

I haven’t been writing for a few days. In fact I have days on end where I don’t write and have to get on with Real Life, but then I have mad, obsessive bursts of activity. That’s on the fiction front.
In Real Life, I’m hoping to contribute non-fiction features to a big regional very soon and also well… I’ll let you know closer to but I’m excited.

We had a great night out with our daughter at uni on Friday night and on Saturday we went running. I’ve run three times this week and my Achilles seems to be okay. I am only running off the road ie cross country and we got soaked and muddy. Ended up jog-walking about 3 miles which is hardly earth-shattering but I loved it. I don’t care about times or distance any more, I’m just grateful to be almost injury-free. And yes, I’m addicted. I have a pair of spikes in the garage that I’ve used once but would love to use again. MY OH’s spikes have been eaten by mice!

Thanks to Charlotte for suggesting this pic of a badly behaved Achilles!

February 21, 2007 | 3 Comments

I’ve just got back from a few days in the Lake District where we celebrated my OH’s xx birthday with a Double Feature trip to see Miss Potter and have dinner at Zeff’s. I was under orders from several sources NOT to take a laptop so I didn’t and had a wonderful, relaxing time. With the revisions to Wish You Were Here behind me and a new idea bubbling up, I decided to focus on doing ..nothing!

Miss Potter is the new movie about the life of author/artist/conservationist, Beatrix Potter, who lived and worked in the Lake District in later life.

I know there are a few inaccuracies in the film but I loved it. It was funny, tender and very moving. I was in awe at Beatrix Potter’s creativity in writing her books and getting them published and even more, so at her determination to protect the Lake District’s heritage and landscape.

I will definitely be getting Miss Potter on DVD and also …um Ewan McGregor and Lloyd Owen were in the film as well as Renee Zellweger. I’ve always had a soft spot for Lloyd Owen!

 

 

February 13, 2007 | 6 Comments

I’ve had some exciting news this morning. Decent Exposure has entered The Australian best-sellers chart at number 14 in the Romantic Fiction list.

Two more LBD novels, I’m In No Mood for Love by Rachel Gibson and He Loves Lucy by Susan Donovan are also the top 15, along with two other Headline titles by best-selling Australian author, Patricia Shaw.

I may even have to forgive you all for thrashing us as cricket and having fantastic weather!
Forgive me from doing a happy dance but this is my first book and my first shot at so many new experiences, both highs and lows (there are some, believe me but not today!)
Thank you to everyone in Oz and elsewhere for buying and reading my book. It’s a real buzz to know that you may be sitting on a train somewhere with Will and Emma, or curled up in front of a fire or on a beach! I still can’t believe it is happening to me.

By way of celebration, may I offer this:

Pip x