Archive for April, 2010

April 27, 2010

I met the ‘coffee crew’ for lunch on Monday – Nell Dixon and Elizabeth Hanbury – who gave the me the final push to complete the revised draft of my latest wip. Now, *all* I need to do is proof read it and do the final tweaks and send it to my agent. With my typing, that’s going to take a good few days.

Having been very quiet for my copywriting work (I hate not being busy), interesting projects have begun to flow in very nicely.

And Three Will Be Going to the RNA Party. Nell, Liz and I have decided to get the express to London on May 13th and have a glam night out.

The train journey will also give us plenty of chance to discuss the Writers and Readers Workshop we’re jointly hosting at Wombourne Library on May 15th from 2-4pm. Here are a few more details – courtesy of Nell who’s also giving a workshop at the RNA conference.

Wombourne Writers are holding a fun, interactive writers workshop entitled ‘Setting the Scene’, on Saturday 15th May 2pm till 4pm at Wombourne Library, Church Road, Wombourne, WV5 9EZ
Leading the workshop will be three well known local published authors -
Phillipa Ashley, Nell Dixon and regency author Elizabeth Hanbury.

The three authors will be talking about their writing and how they use settings to make their stories compelling and believable.
Admission is £1 on the door and includes refreshments.

For more details please contact Wombourne Library on 01902 892032

We’d love to see you there, whether you’re a writer or just love a good romantic read.

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April 22, 2010

What more could a girl want when she’s hurtling towards the end of a new book than a fabulous 9/10 review of It Should Have Been Me on Novelicious?

“I love Phillipa Ashley’s books and this was as enjoyable as I’d expected it to be with plenty of humour and much sexual tension between the gorgeous doctor and emotionally battered Carrie. A great story.”

Check out the full review here.

I also want to thank all of you who have been ordering my books from Amazon right now – hopefully for your holiday reads. Wish You Were Here is showing as out of stock temporarily but Play.com, Waterstones and Book Depository have it now.

I must get back. I’m in the groove, as they say, and when that happens, I need to run with it. I want the final draft finished and edited and in my agent’s hands before (volano permitting) I’ll be jetting off to the Cote D’Azur – where, coincidentally, the new book is set.

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April 17, 2010

Just want to send huge hugs and good wishes to everyone out there whose travel plans are in tatters. What more can you say?

Safe journeys to all.

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April 16, 2010

Well, I was hoping to tell you how much I’m looking forward to Monday and I’m still looking forward to Monday …but that’s now with fingers and every other appendage firmly crossed.

The London Book Fair begins this weekend and the lovely people at my US publisher, Sourcebooks, have invited me to a celebratory dinner at The Reform Club in London. The club is famous for many reasons and you may of heard of it as the place where Phileas Fogg sets off and ends his journey in Jules Verne’s novel, Around the World in Eighty Days.

And you might also have seen the club in Die Another Day. James Bond and Toby Stephens have a vicious sword fight there, egged on by Madonna who’s playing a fencing mistress in a corset. So I have to see it.

I’m now hoping the Sourcebooks team can reach the UK despite the volcanic ash cloud from Iceland which is causing a total lockdown of flights in/out of the UK.

I’m so excited about meeting my publisher. I’ve got my train tickets, I’ve got my overnight stay organised – good grief, I’ve even bought a new Tula handbag specially for the occasion.

I know this is all trivial compared to the huge disruption it’s caused to thousands of people’s travel plans but it doesn’t stop me hoping.

Hopefully, I’ll be back next week to tell you how it went, and with photos, if we’re allowed to take them.

UPDATE: It’s all off and if I said I was being stoical about it, I’d be lying.

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April 8, 2010

Hope you all had a good Easter. It was so lovely to have my daughter and husband home. We spent our anniversary at Haddon Hall, where the new Jane Eyre movie is being filmed (yes, another one!) but missed out on seeing Judi Dench and Michael Fassbender.

The office – after the clean up

We also spent two days clearing up my office. This is where I do my fiction writing and run my copywriting business. After hoovering out the dust, cobwebs and biscuit crumbs, we cleared all the books off the floor and brought in a huge new bookcase.

Instead of being buried under piles of other books, my own novels are now displayed in a bookcase in our downstairs ‘snug’. I had a little lump in my throat when I saw them all displayed together, with a gap left for the future! My other books – including many signed copies from author friends – are in the office.

The Feng Shui has inspired me to crack on with the editing of my current wip and I’m putting together a proposal for something completely different. Fingers crossed.

This morning I heard from my US editor. Not only is my first US release Dating Mr December (aka Decent Exposure/12 men of Christmas) underway for November 2010 but they are already designing the cover of my spring 2011 release, Wish You Were Here. They asked me to give a detailed synopsis and character/scene/setting information and if I had any thoughts on the cover. This is a first for me but I like it!

Finally I want to thank Debbie who wrote to say:

After watching the 12 Men of Christmas as often as twice a week since it first aired on Lifetime, I got your book Decent Exposure and read it twice in one week. Emma and Will are hot!!!!!!!! both in the book and the movie. Glad I found your website.

I’m glad too, Debbie. Welcome to the blog!

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