December 31, 2013
This year, my new year messages will be from the hero and heroine of The First Time We Met, which really is coming very soon from Penguin.
From Lauren Cusack: may your 2014 be awesome and bring you happiness, health, creativity & a brooding Brit aristo with more issues than Time magazine!!
Impeccably polite message from Alexander Hunt: Do I really have to do this? Wtf is Twitter anyway? Don’t people have actual lives? Oh, OK, if I absolutely have to: Of course, I don’t do social networking, but Ms Cusack told me to wish you a Happy New Year or she’ll cut off the family jewels and may never sh*g me again. I wouldn’t like that very much…
(Lauren: That’s more than 140 characters, Alexander…)
From me: I’ve had an incredible 2013, more than I could ever have dreamed of andf I wish you all a fabulous 2014. I’ll be back shortly with a some suprising news about the cover of the book… 🙂
Posted by Phillipa @ 5:30 am |
December 23, 2013
So, this will probably be my final post of 2013. It’s been an incredibly exciting year, both personally and writing wise, not to mention the busiest I’ve ever had. 2014 is set to be even more manic and I must admit, I’m trying not to look forward to it too much, because I don’t want to wish away the time I have at home with Mr B and Ms B!
We even managed to squeeze in a pre-Christmas trip to the romantic Baddesley Clinton, a moated manor house dating back to the C15. It was decked out for the season with carol singers and made a peaceful country interlude from the mayhem of the shops.
I’ve just finished what will be my last bit of writing until the end of the week. Now, it’s time to finish wrapping the presents and try and clear the floors of paper and shopping bags! On Christmas Eve, we always head into Lichfield for a walk around and coffee. On the Big Day, our parents arrive and we all muck in together to make the lunch, before collapsing in a heap. My Dad, then trots out his latest (or oldest) jokes. This year he’s started writing comic verse so I feel that we may be in for a recitation or two…or three. I’ve bought him a Favourite Poems book as inspiration.
As for the writing: The First Time We Met is almost ready for publication in the New Year, and I’ll have lots of news about the book and some of the events I’ll be doing in 2014, after Christmas.
Until, then I wish all a very Happy Christmas and New Year!
Posted by Phillipa @ 7:42 am |
December 10, 2013
Ta dah! I am way beyond excited to share the cover of my debut Pippa Croft novel, the First Time We Met – the e book is available for pre-order on Amazon now with the paperback to follow.
Posted by Phillipa @ 11:29 am |
December 2, 2013
Reindeer at Keswick Christmas Fair.
So much news – so little time…
I’m writing this post while checking no one from the publisher is looking over my shoulder because I have so much on at the moment, I don’t know what to do first!
Ok. I do know what to do first – and that’s carry on writing the second book in my new Pippa Croft romance series. The first book – titled The First Time We Met (see that.. ‘First’… we don’t just make these things up you know…) is done and dusted and I’m expecting copy edits back any moment.
Last Thursday I went to Penguin Towers in London where my ed and the publishing director made my whole week by unveiling the cover. I know it’s my cover and my ‘baby’ but I almost blubbed in the middle of the meeting because it is truly beautiful!
I’m hoping to share soon, with revised dates for the ebook launch which is coming out several months before print is scheduled. It will be very early Spring so watch this space.
Meanwhile, please do follow me @PippaCroftBooks on Twitter.
And: Christmas is approaching at a scary pace. This weekend we spent in the Lake District, visiting the Christmas Fairs in Hawkshead and Keswick. Hawkshead (where Wordsworth went to school) had a lantern parade around its tiny cobbled streets while Keswick had a visit from real reindeer. I finally feel festive, and came back with lots of goodies and gifts.
Hope to be back before Christmas with a cover and links.
Pippa/Phillipa
Posted by Phillipa @ 9:59 am |
November 11, 2013
So, the Festival of Romance is over for another year. First, I want to thank Kate Allan, the organiser, and her wonderful team for the hard work they put into making the UK’s only Romance Literary festival a huge success. This was the third year it has been held, and it’s grown into the major reader romantic fiction event of the year.
Proceeedings kicked off on Friday with an Art and Romance Evening at the Higgins Gallery but I didn’t arrive until Saturday morning when I read from ‘It Happened One Nigh’t at the Coffee and Cake morning. Over a dozen authors took part and the Lane Coffee Bar was packed with readers and writers.
Giving a reading – photo from Fiona Harper.
Then it was straight onto the Romance Fair where about 30 stalls were set up in the Corn Exchange – this was the chance to get books signed by the author. Here’s my stash:
At lunchtime, I joined a panel of authors who had won awards at the 2012 Festival and we did a Q & A session on our books and writing process for around 60 readers and writers. It was chaired by Lou Graham, who kept us all in order! One of the most illuminating parts of the panel session for me, was hearing about other authors’ writing processes – and that we all share many of the same doubts and fears about writing and finishing a book. It was strangely reassuring and if I could pick one message from the session it was to Keep Writing and ignore the self doubts.
The author panel – thanks to Carol Wright (dizzy C) for the picture
After lunch, I headed for a lie down at the hotel before meeting my husband, author Hazel Osmond and my agent, Broo Doherty for the Awards Ball. Everyone pulled out all the stops for full on glamour, with the guys in black tie and lounge suits. I didn’t take my camera – which was a bad decision – but we did have proefssional photos taken so I hope they’ll be on the Festival site soon.
My book was nominated for Best E book category which was won by Carmel Harrington. I’m hoping that a list of all the award winners will go up soon on the Festival of Romance site any moment.
Hazel had also been nominated for the Best Romantic read and my agent was up for Literary Agent of the Year – and – hurrah – she won! I’m afraid we went on celebrating into the small hours, eventually demanding tea at the hotel bar…
We know how to party.
And now, it really is back to reality. I have a new book to start!
Posted by Phillipa @ 6:24 am |
