In July I was fortunate to attend the Romantic Novelists’ annual conference in Caerleon, South Wales. This is the first genre specific conference I’ve attended, and while I’m no expert on the conference scene, I was keen to mingle with my fellow romantic suspense authors, listen to industry professionals and agents. My conference pack offered […]
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For a limited period only you can purchase the ebook version of my novel, The House on the Shore, for 99c! When Anna MacDonald leaves Edinburgh to find peace in the Scottish Highlands, she gets a twofold surprise: a lost sailor teaches her to love again…while a mysterious stranger has plans to kill her. Passed […]
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While on a vacation in Florida in December, I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to promote my latest novel, Ring of Lies and give a presentation to the members of the Suncoast Writers’ Guild, chaired by Edwin Ellis, the director of the Guild. After my presentation was over I signed copies of my […]
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You’re halfway through writing your novel and–bang! You’re stuck. Your inspiration has deserted you. You find yourself staring at a blank page for minutes, hours, days, possibly even weeks and months. So what causes it? Many different theories have been put forward, everything from lack of focus, fear of failure, poor plotting technique, stress—and if […]
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I am delighted to annouce that my novel, Three Weeks Last Spring, has been nominated for the 2009 Pushcart Prize. Here’s a copy of the annoucement made by my Publisher: Vanilla Heart Publishing Announces 2009 Pushcart Prize Nominees Vanilla Heart Publishing is pleased to announce our nominations for the 2009. The Pushcart Prize – Best […]
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Today, I’d delighted to welcome my good friend and fellow author, Brenda Hill to my Blog. A novelist, short story writer, Brenda is the author of two novels, Ten Times Guilty, and Beyond the Quiet, and a non-fiction book, Plot your way to Publication, which I can highly recommend. Brenda also writes features and restaurant […]
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Each year the Romantic Novelists’ Association presents the Joan Hessayon Award to those members who have come through the Association’s New Writers’ Scheme and have succeeded in having their manuscript published. This year there were seven contenders, myself included. The winner was announced at the Association’s summer party held in London on Wednesday, 13th May. […]
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I thought I would take some time out from working on my current novel to share some reviews for The House on the Shore. The first comes from Front Street Reviews. www.frontstreetreviews.com The House on the Shore Victoria Howard Reviewed by Ashley Merrill Victoria Howard has painted her readers a beautiful picture of Scotland with […]
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On my recent appearance on the Rony Robinson Show on BBC Radio Sheffield, we talked about backstory or the infodump, and why telling the reader too much, too soon, should be avoided. What exactly do writers mean when they talk about backstory? Basically, it is filling the reader in on the background of your story, […]
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What exactly is a small press? The term is used to describe publishers who have annual sales below a certain limit, or who publish a limited number of titles each year. Small presses make up half the market share of the book publishing industry, and present an opportunity for new writers to break into publishing. […]
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