Archive for October, 2007

October 10, 2007

Rosy Thornton pointed me towards a fascinating article in The Times today – go take a look here. It’s about why writers write. It’s a long article but this comment from Robert Harris struck me in particular:

“The longer I go on the more aware I am that most writing is done in the subconscious, and the trick is to learn how to harness that.”

A long-standing member of the RNA whose books I admire recently said almost exactly the same thing to me. This idea of tapping into your subconscious really resonates with me. Sometimes, I wonder if it’s worth setting aside all the technique, the ‘beats to the scene’ (whatever they are), the character charts etc and just drawing deep on your imagination.

The trouble is my sub-conscious often comes to the fore when I least expect it – driving is one of the most inconvenient places. Or standing at the till in Tesco….

PS probably dangerous to say any of this when I’m about to hand in a book!

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October 8, 2007

I had a small but very enthusiastic audience at Shugborough yesterday. I was a bit nervous as I was trying out a new talk with a (OMG) Powerpoint presentation that featured slides of me abseiling – from underneath! But everyone laughed in the right places so I guess it went well.

The talk boosted my feeble store of public speaking confidence and the event was also a great opportunity to meet other authors including the best selling writers, Annie Murray and Judy Astley and a very nice man from Ulverscroft who is going to publish a large print edition of Wish You Were Here. It’s a long story but I only crossed paths with Judy – I’m sorry I missed her.

Staffordshire Library service treated me like a ‘real author’ (I still don’t think of myself as one) and I got to see inside their lush new library van. It rocks (but not literally…)

This is NOT the van – this is the train I got to ride on!

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October 5, 2007

I’ve been thinking (dangerous, I know). Is my writing too ‘British?’ Today I got a lovely incoming link from Alyssa Goodnight (who may well be a former Bond girl). She’s an American novelist who would like to be able to buy LBDs in the US and flags up my blog:

Little Black Dress Books Author Phillipa Ashley. A very jaunty British blog. Honestly? I just like reading all those curious-sounding expressions.

A review on an international website at www.singletitles.com describes WYWH as having ‘wonderfully eccentric but immensely lovable characters’.

Eccentric but lovable? Tee hee! And jaunty? I’m hopping about in glee. Thank you, I love being thought of like that. The irony is that I’m quite a misery-guts. I worry, I’m paranoid and I obsess over trivia but I don’t like putting all that on my blog in case my editor or agent reads it.

The point is, I read UK, Australian, US – and international – romance authors precisely because they sound so different. I love the unusual expressions and intriguing cultural references – brand names, books, music, food, all the specifics. I like being transported to a different world, far removed from my little village.

I don’t know how many more books I’ll be asked to write – probably none at all, after this post! But I do know I can’t be anyone but me.

If you want a real slice of chocolate box Britishness, here’s where I’m giving a talk on Sunday: Just to update you I’m in the Education Room situated in the Servants Quarters – at 12.15pm and 2pm)

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October 3, 2007

It’s a busy week -which is good because this ole house seems very quiet without my dd. However, I was allowed out to Birmingham today because the final movie contracts I received had to be signed ‘in the presence of an attorney’. The only ‘attorney’ I know is my OH’s friend from uni who’s a solicitor/corporate lawyer so I met him for lunch to do the deed. It was all very glamorous. We signed them on his dining table in Brindleyplace, then had a pie in EAT. Then I went to Asda for a curry before posting off the contracts special delivery from the village PO as we have a 4-day postal strike looming in the UK.

I’ve re-vamped the last chapter of Just Say Yes to give it more emotional impact and now I’m preparing my talk for the Words & Wonders Day at Shugborough Hall on Sunday October 7. Details here - do come along if you can.

Finally, incase you were wondering, I DID get to see ‘Doc Martin’s’ house in the gorgeous Cornish fishing village of Port Isaac, Cornwall. We also had a drink in his ‘local’ pub. Here are Mr B and myself, standing opposite the ‘surgery’ (which is a private home btw – only the exterior is used in the programme.) You can see the village ‘school’ behind us across the harbour. This is now a restaurant but was a former school.

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October 1, 2007

The blurb for my next book, Just Say Yes, is on Amazon.

The new gorgeous, romantic read from the author of DECENT EXPOSURE, winner of the 2007 RNA New Writers’ Award.Lucy Gibson needs to get away. When her good-looking, popular boyfriend Nick Laurentis, winner of reality TV show Hot Shot, proposes to her on air she’s stunned — into silence. Every girl loves a romantic gesture, but she’s just not ready for that kind of commitment. With the press hounding her as the one who callously broke Nick’s heart, Lucy escapes her London flat to seek refuge in an isolated Cornwall cottage. But little does she realise that life down there will be far from uncomplicated!

Now. This picture has nothing whatsover to do with the blurb but is from a Richard Armitage fansite – it’s a scan from this week’s Radio Times apparently. The new series of Robin Hood begins on Saturday. If you want to see the Sheriff and Guy getting worringly up close and personal, click here.

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