Favourite Authors - And Finding New Ones

I've a few favourite authors - the standards, like Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte but also more contemporary ones like Janet Evanovich, Jasper Fforde (although apologies to Mr Fforde, I am a little behind on his books at present), and, although he's slipped in my rankings a bit now, I had always bought Harlan Coben's books until the last one. I just didn't find 'Caught' as gripping as the previous ones and with the transition from Myron Bolitar to Mickey, it's just not really in my immediate realm of interest. Although I don't think that, with 50 million books in print, Mr Coben is really going to be too disappointed that a dot in England has 'gone off' his books a bit.

Another one that I read if I see it but no longer search for - at the moment - is Jennifer Crusie. I don't even remember how I came across this author but the first one I read of hers was 'Welcome to Temptation' which I totally loved - and have in fact read a few times. She has several others, but more recent offerings have been collaborations and whilst I'm not as critical as some of her literary 'hooking up' with other authors, such as Bob Meyer, I confess I enjoyed the earlier stuff more.

That's why I'm always excited to find a new 'favourite' author - and I seem to be now able to add another to the list in Carole Matthews. To coin a phrase, I realise I am a little late to the party with this one but I'm excited anyway. I actually went to the library to get out a Jilly Cooper - I confess I have never read one and thought I ought to, just to see what all the fuss was about. She always seems a fun and nice lady when I've seen her interviewed, and she's a big animal lover which goes a long way in my book. But when I pulled out the only one they had of hers, it was like a breeze block! And then in the front there were several pages of 'who's who'. I don't have the best concentration in the world as it is - if there's a plethora of pages about who's in it, I may well be floundering! I admit it. I panicked and put it back. Sorry, Jilly. I will try again another time, I promise.

So, what was I to do then? I have a tonne of books at home on the TBR shelf, but I was at the library then, and felt the need to get my little card beeped and walk away with a new book in my paws. I mooched up and down until my eyes landed on 'The Difference A Day Makes' by Carole Matthews. Being a Writing Magazine subscriber (and if you aren't and want to write, you should be!), I'd heard of Ms Matthews as her writing career was boosted into being by winning a short story writing competition hosted by said magazine. In short, she gives us lesser mortals hope. The book blurb mentioned a London family moving to Yorkshire and acquiring chickens, sheep and so on...I was sold.

I tootled home with the book and have just finished it. It was every bit as good as I hoped it would be. It's great fun but also deals with emotions, not enough to make you depressed, but enough to bring tears to your eyes (and cheeks, and chin if you're as much of a wimp as me!).

In short, I have a new author to add to my list of faves - and that makes me smile!

Any favourites that you have I should know about? I'd love to hear!

50 Shades of Go Away?

Is it just me, or is anyone else a little teed off with not being able to turn around without bumping into this book, or something related to it?

As always, there are fads of things, and I'm pretty sure this is just another one as the reviews I have seen aren't actually all that good. Possibly the subject matter is more the draw for some than the quality of writing. I can't comment on it personally as I haven't read it, and frankly, don't have an inclination to. Several years back when Dan Brown was the rage with his Catholic Church conspiracies, I decided to try The Da Vinci Code, just so that I wasn't slating it without basis. I wasn't. It was dreadful. In my opinion, anyway. When dialogue needs to be held up with scaffolding, then personally I don't think that's such a great book. But the huge hype was much the same and people bought it by the droves because it was the trend.

The other issue with this latest trend is that publishers are frantically looking elsewhere to see what they can sex up and sell as Erotica. And, apparently, they have no boundaries, because they are going for the Classics! Yes, on your local bookshop's shelves shortly will be erotic versions of truly wonderful books like Pride and Prejudice, Northanger Abbey and Jane Eyre - all great favourites of mine, and perfect just as they are! The relationships in them are of their time, although the feelings are just as relevant today. The moral and expected standards of the time heightened any emotions between the characters, exactly because they weren't able to just act on it! That's what makes us think - Oh! But he's nuts about you and he can't tell you! It drives us to keep turning the pages to see if he ever does get to tell her that - or her him.

Taking these wonderful classics and throwing them into the Erotica field is wrong in my opinion. I have absolutely nothing against the genre - but I think this is publishers taking an easy way out. There are plenty of great authors out there writing new erotica novels. Give them a chance instead!

I'm not slating 50 Shades of Grey, because I haven't read it. If you have, and enjoyed it, great! I'm just not a great fan of bookshops and publishers putting all their eggs onto one bandwagon - and trying to ruin wonderful books as they do it.

Getting Inspiration from TV...And What Not To Copy

I usually prefer to write without distraction but having said that, I do possess the ability to tune out if I need to. This knack comes from having once worked in an AV Company's service department. They were great lads, and I loved it, but believe me, there are times when you want to tune out from nine engineers (no offence, chaps!).

But back to my point, when I'm not writing but am doing something vaguely related (I like to think...), I am happy for some background diversion. One of these is the 'alibi' channel. It tends to show crime dramas, light and dark. Having had it on at times during the past couple of days, one forensic based show has caught my eye. The storylines are fine..as much as I've followed them, but the one thing that has caught my ear, if not my eye, is the amount of cliches in the script.

This is a glossy, American show and I'm hearing lines that would make many a writer go 'Eew!'. Me included. It has just amazed me that something that's clearly had plenty of money thrown at it, is brought down by some hackneyed dialogue. It just jars. And if it jars with me, how come it didn't sound trite, and naff to the team of writers?

In real life, people do use cliches, and we don't tend to think too much about it, but when a character on screen or on the page starts talking in them, unless it's a defining trait of theirs, it throws us out of the story, and whoops! there goes our suspension of disbelief.

There are certain programmes and films I would love to have written because the writing is great, but this particular one...hmm, I don't think so.

The Delights of a Postcard

When was the last time you sent a postcard? Odd are, it probably wasn't that long ago. Even in the current age of social networking, email, instant messaging and text, there's something about writing, and sending off a pretty picture of the place you're visiting that still appeals to us.



I definitely think there's a pleasure in poring over the options, eventually choosing one and then finding a way of putting the most information in a very small space, without the need for the recipient to be holding a magnifying glass in order to read your holiday prose!

And of course, there's the joy of receiving postcards! Whose face doesn't light up when they see a brightly coloured card tucked in amongst all the white and beige envelopes that collect on the doormat each day. It's a break from the routine, and brings pleasure to us, knowing that whoever sent it took the time to sit down and write to us personally. It is for us alone, and not for the plethora of people who 'read' a Facebook wall. These words were thought up for us, written for us, and sent to us.

Let's hope that the postcard continues to live on, and continue to bring joy to both senders and receivers. And next time you're out, even in your own town, pick up a postcard and send it to someone, thereby brightening both your day, and theirs.

Are you a postcard fan? Please leave me a comment and let me know!

Crime Writing Competition with Stylist magazine

Some of you may remember that I entered a couple of writing competitions earlier in the year. Sadly I didn't place anywhere, but I did get a buzz from the process of completing the entry and sending it off. That, in my opinion, is an accomplishment in itself.

In the wake of these entries, I decided to try and do some more, one of which is the crime writing competition, currently being run by Stylist magazine, in conjunction with Faber & Faber - you can find the details here. However, I've had a long think about it, and have made the decision not to enter.

One of their requirements is that the main protagonist is female. And whilst I have a main female protagonist, I think it could be argued that my other protagonist is very central - and he's male. I could easily see that some may argue he is, in fact, the main character, although that's not how I wrote it, or how I see it, but I'm not convinced others will agree.

There definitely seems a plethora of female led crime dramas around at the moment, both in books, and on the television. I have absolutely no objection to this. I just am beginning to wonder as to whether my choice of a male detective for my book might be a bit out of step with current choices and trends. Not that I am going to change it, because it's central to another thread of the story. And I like him.

So, that's my current thoughts on things - do you agree?

How do you write?

How do you write? I mean, physically? Do you bash out all the words straight onto your laptop, or desktop computer? Do you scribble notes in shorthand to transcribe later or do you write things out in longhand in a posh notebook, again to be typed up later (after some deciphering has taken place, if you're anything like me)?

My tendency to do a couple of these things, depending on where I am, and how accessible the laptop is (and whether it's behaving today). At times I write directly onto the computer. I like the fact that my fingers, generally, can keep up with my brain using this method. (I knew that Grade A in GCSE Typing would come in handy!). I'm also a fan of this way of working for the ease in which I can, with just a couple of clicks, find out just how many words have tumbled out onto the page in each writing session.

However, I do also work in the old fashioned way at times. I enjoy the tactile nature of the paper, flicking over the pages of a day's work has a satisfying feel, quite literally. I also like the fact that, so long as you have paper and pencil (or pen!), you can work almost anywhere. If you want to write by the pool, or on the beach whilst on holiday, you can! Your trusty notebook won't trouble you with glare (especially not once you start filling up those blank pages), it won't go flat just as you come up with a fantastic twist in your novel,    sand doesn't bother it and if you drop it, you can just pick it up again...unlike its electronic counterpart.

My hand written preference is for yellow legal pads and a soft lead pencil. The former means I can mentally distinguish and separate my 'proper writing' from any other scribbles, lists and notes I've made as I only use these for writing. They also stand out nicely from other paperwork when I'm wondering where I've put it this time! As for the pencil, I like the soft gliding motion of this type of pencil. Pens don't do it for me, and harder lead types are just too scratchy.

So, that's the way I work. How about you? I really enjoy hearing about other writers' methods and habits so please leave me a comment below. I've told you mine, now tell me yours!

Who first - Agent or Publisher?

I'm steeling myself for yet another round of that wonderful literary game 'Hunt The Publishing Contract'. As many of us know, this can be a dastardly tricky task, unless you've been on television for five minutes in which case it appears to suddenly get a lot easier...

It's actually a while since I've done this, and many things have changed in the industry over the past few years. With that in mind, I'm wondering as to what the general opinion is on who to approach first? It always used to be the standard that you generally needed an agent first, and to dare to approach a publisher direct was thought very bold. But is that still the case?

I've read so many differing reports of this in writing magazines, blogs and in the news that I'm really a bit confused. I can imagine that should a publisher actually pick up something I sent them, then finding an agent retrospectively would probably be a lot easier - but of course, it's getting someone to make that move in the first place at the publishing house.

I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences in this respect, so please feel free to leave me a comment below. I'd really appreciate it!