October 31, 2011
I got my first ever review in RT Reviews – formerly Romantic Times. The reviewer said:
REVIEW: Quirky and fun, Carrie Goes Off the Map is a pleasant mix of beach read and Brit chick lit. Carrie is a true-to-life, volatile woman taken firmly out of her comfort zone by the whims of fate, bad boyfriends and circumstance. Matt, Carrie’s love interest, is an appealing and realistic male lead, whose eyes will smolder even for the reader.
You can read the full review in the December issue. 🙂
Posted by Phillipa @ 2:46 pm |
October 26, 2011
I have an update on Carrie Goes off the Map. This release comes out in a few weeks in the US – not long now – and here’s where to get the Kindle and paperback editions, wherever you are in the world.
Sorry to go on, but I have to flag up that this book is the US edition of It Should Have Been Me. Just so as you don’t buy two copies, unless you want two copies – and as ISHBM is probably very hard to track down now, you might want Carrie. And the cover is lush! Anyway…
If you are from North America
You can now pre order Carrie on Amazon US on Kindle HERE and in paperback HERE. It’s also available through all the usual online and bricks and mortar bookstores, Barnes & Noble, Indiebound etc
If you are from UK or anywhere else in the world
Head to the Book Depository HERE which has US editions for pre-order at a fantastic price with free delivery anywhere in the world. I don’t know how they do that, but they do. I have even ordered extra copies of my books from this site.
In the UK, the Kindle edition is available NOW as It Should Have Been Me HERE.
Hope you got that. I’ll be handing out test papers shortly!
Posted by Phillipa @ 10:53 am |
October 24, 2011
First let me apologise to the people who had to witness me face down on the plush carpet of the Marquee at Hunton Park, demonstrating how *not* to surf. I’d just finished my research talk, was stuffed full of hand made chocolates and a bit high that people had asked me to sign books for them.
In short, I got carried away. As usual!
You should be able to find lots of reports and photos from the Festival on other blogs and I’ll try and get the links later. This is is just a whistlestop tour of the Friday sessions.
The main thing about the Festival was that it was tremendous fun.
The venue is gorgeous. Hunton Park is a De Vere hotel and the conference facilities are tip top. I so wish I had stayed over and gone to the Festival Ball.
I arrived half way through the Talk of the Ton, a discussion about Regency romance, a genre I’m just discovering. Then I joined in a fun workshop on writing romance led by Sue Moorcroft. I discovered I start most of my books with a hero and that I love writing the Damaged Hero type.
A delicious hot and cold buffet lunch was followed by a quiz on romantic films and books. To our amazement, our team of Nell and Alison, a Scottish historical author we’d only just met, won! We were one woman short in the team, but thanks to the brilliance of Alison, we managed to get at least some of the answers.
Gillian Green from Ebury press then gave a presentation on a new sexy romance line called Rouge, which caused a real buzz. A new line being launched by a big publisher is such a refreshing change in these hard times.
Then it was time for the Research panel. Seven writers told the audience about their niche areas of research, from horses to Regency Theatre and WWII. I fessed up that I write my books to enable me to do the research rather than vice versa, and regaled the audience with some of my attempts to abseil, surf and live in a campervan. But I have to say, Cara Cooper stole the show by sweeping Roger (Gill) Sanderson off his feet for an impromptu Argentine Tango!
The day ended with chocolate. What else? We listened to some extracts from two Choc Lit books while sampling the gorgeous themed chocs made by the Choc Chick.
Finally, after I’d done my carpet surfing, it was off to the bar for a delicious (but very expensive) glass of wine with Nell Dixon, Jean Fullerton and Stevie Carroll before dashing off to the station.
I met so many people I’d only known online, new authors, fellow writers, publishers, readers…if you were there, please come and say hello here or follow me on Twitter and/or Facebook.
I’ll definitely be going to next year’s Festival.
UPDATE: You can find in-depth reports on both days of the Festival at Stevie Carroll’s Live Journal HERE.
Posted by Phillipa @ 4:17 am |
October 20, 2011
I just saw a quote attributed to the new MAN Booker prizewinning novelist, Julian Barnes.
‘When you are writing fiction your task is to reflect the fullest complications of the world’ – Julian Barnes
Alas, my own tasks are not looking quite so important:
Task today: check final proofs for print edition of Brief Encounters, prepare 5 min talk on research for Festival of Romance, go to dentist (yuk), decide what to wear tomorrow that’s smart, comfortable and suitable for train, hotel and marquee, pack books for bookstall, face getting up at 6am to get train with no trolley service. Shall I take a flask? Can I survive on the London Midland for 1hr 47 mins without caffeine at that hour?
Posted by Phillipa @ 5:43 am |
October 18, 2011
You know I said I was just going to the Festival of Romance to relax and listen to other authors and meet readers? Well, the organisers asked me to join in the Research Session, and some voice within me started saying ‘yes – can I talk about the Mountain Rescue and surfers er… surfing?
So I’ll be at the session on Friday afternoon:
3.20-4.10pm Research Club
Expert authors share their knowledge on subjects from their books in a whistlestop of bite-sized low downs! Medical- Roger/Gill Sanderson; Horses- Hywela Lyn; Theatre- Jan Jones; Buildings- Nell Dixon; Outdoor/action sports- Phillipa Ashley; WW2- Pamela Strange
Am now slightly worried that I’ll be asked to show the audience how to abseil, carve a gybe or winch down from a helicopter to rescue a stranded romantic novelist. Actually, I’m only talking for five minutes about some of the hands on research I’ve done and how I used it in some scenes, rather than offering expert advice as such.
Sadly, the best bit of ‘hands on’ research I ever did was for It Should Have Been Me aka Carrie Goes off the Map but sadly, that never made it into the finished book. It involved a Sea King helicopter but more on that story later…
I’m about to gather together some books to take to the bookstall so if you’re going along and would like to buy a signed copy of some of my UK or US editions, this is your chance. We’ve been asked to hover around the bookstall so look out for me. I’ll be the one struggling with an ice axe and a surf board…
Posted by Phillipa @ 5:17 am |
