My 1st New Year Visualisation comes true - a 2 book deal with Harper Impulse!

The first of my 5 New Year Visualisations has come true! No, not the seven figure bit, just the publishing deal. No, not just the publishing deal. That sounds like I'm not jumping up and down letting off party poppers. I'm not, but that's only because I can't multi-task. Have you ever tried letting off party poppers and typing at the same time? 

If you read my February post, Lessons from the Writing Journey, then you'll know that after three months and 75,000 words written, my agent had told me she didn't like the book I'd been working on. Demoralising is an understatement. I felt like I was back to square one. My romantic comedy Spray Painted Bananas hadn't been bought and now I didn't even have a new book to work on. 

I needed a new idea which wouldn't come while I was stressing about needing a new idea. So I spent a week reading books and clearing up. Writers complain about housework getting in the way of writing, but my best work can happen while I'm scrubbing. The physical activity relaxes my mind and solutions to plot problems rise up and surprise me. 

I was washing dishes when a new idea came. It was for a new romantic comedy called #PleaseRetweet. I wrote the synopsis in two hours and without thinking too much, sent it straight off to the agent. Well I didn't see the point in mulling over it. Either I was on the right track or I wasn't. 

"Yes!" my agent replied. "We really like this! This is what you should be writing!" 

I decided to spend the rest of February making notes about the characters and plot. I needed a bit of a break before I wrote Chapter One again. 

It was while I was making notes, a few days after I'd sent the synopsis off, that I got a call from my agent.

"Hello," she said. "I've got some good news." 

"No..." I said. I'd given up hope of my beloved Spray Painted Bananas being picked up. There'd been so many positive comments but nothing worth celebrating. "Really?" 

"I've had an offer..." It turned out that Harper Collin's digital first imprint Harper Impulse not only wanted Spray Painted Bananas, they'd also read the synopsis for my new idea and wanted that too! 

I'd be lying if I said I cracked open a bottle of fizz there and then. It really didn't sink in for a couple of days after. My husband didn't know what was wrong with me. Nor did I. I rang my Mum to find out. 

"Mum, why am I not happier?" 

And then the tears came bubbling up. It had been a rollercoaster ride. A week before I'd felt like giving up writing and now it looked like my dream was coming true. I was shocked, and so relieved.  After the tears, came the happiness. 

THANK YOU readers, for all your support over the years. You don't know how often I've daydreamed about writing the acknowledgment page... although if I put the name down of everyone who has ever encouraged me over the years that page would be longer than the novel!

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Blog Hop: The Next Big Thing

Felicity Hayes-McCoy, author of The House on an Irish Hillside, invited me on a Blog Hop for 'The Next Big Thing' in which writers answer ten questions on their work in progress and tag other writers to do the same. She is a brilliant writer as well as being a wonderful mentor and friend to me, so I only said 'No' once before she managed to twist my arm. Well, you know me, I'm such a shy, retiring writer, I hate to talk about my work...   

What is the title of your next book?

Spray Painted Bananas.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

Like my main character, Amber, I have been to conceptual art galleries where I've been baffled by what I'm looking at and have thought, 'but I could do this!' Now cross this thought with a banana and see what you get... 

 

What genre does your book fall under?
Romantic Comedy.

What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

Pic from Allure Mag

Pic from Listal.com

I don't have actors in mind when I'm writing my characters.

 

That said, if James McAvoy is free  and can do an Irish accent, he is welcome to play Farrell. 

And perhaps Zooey Deschanel, if she can do a convincing British accent, she can be Amber... can someone forward them my email? Thanks.   

 
What is a one sentence synopsis of your book?

Not long after acquiring some official police bananas, Amber decides to become a conceptual artist.  

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I've just joined MBA Literary agency and will be represented by Laura Longrigg.

 

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

One month planning. Four month writing.  I posted two chapters a week on Wattpad. It was very intense! You can read it there. It's got 925,000 hits so far! I'll open a bottle when it hits a million.

 

What other books would you compare yours to?

That's hard. I'm going to pretend I didn't see this question...

 

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

After spending a couple of years working on a more serious novel, I wanted to have some fun! I've since discovered my best writing happens when I'm having fun. I also read a bit of Sophie Kinsella and Lisa Jewell to get me in the mood, as their books are fast paced and upbeat.

 

What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?

There is a cute kitten in it called Rupert inspired by this video:

                        

                          

Next week on THE NEXT BIG THING are two lovely writers and bloggers, Lily Dunn, who is working on a second novel and who I met through the North London Writers Group,  and Bill Fathers, who has a hilarious blog and claims not to be a writer at all. But I'm going to argue that he is, because it's MY blog. Thank you for accepting to do the blog hop!

 

Lily Dunn is putting the final touches to her second novel, hoping to
have it finished by the Summer. Her first novel, SHADOWING THE SUN,
was published by Portobello Books in 2008. She is represented by
Judith Murray at Greene and Heaton. When she's not writing fiction she
blogs about anything that captures her imagination, around writing, social media and her kids.
 

Bill Fathers didn’t set out to have five children, nor, once they were born, did he intend to be a permanent source of embarrassment to them, but, as it turns out, he did and he is. No one, least of all him, really understands why he feels the need to record many of the more humiliating moments of his pitiful efforts to be a father, yet he continues to do so in his blog ShoutyDad.com, which, presumably as a result of a clerical error at the media monitoring organisation Cision, is officially the UK’s number one fatherhood blog. He lives in a village in Sussex and is a journalist.

 

 

Do check out their blogs, where they will be answering questions on their work in progress very soon.

Mission Accomplished: 1 Serialised Novel

Today I finished my serialised novel after four months, 83,000 words, two notebooks and approximately four packs of post-its. It has been the best experience I've ever had writing.

Seriously, you can't write  Spray Painted Bananas and feel miserable while you're doing it. That said, the last chapter nearly killed me. It was fun, NOT easy!

One part of my brain feels burnt out and the other is buzzing. I'm thrilled by all the positive comment pouring in and excited by the counter which has reached 340,000 hits. But while this is all wonderful, I have also noticed that people keep asking the same question: What are you writing next?

Next?! I cry. You mean I have to write ANOTHER novel?

Now?

And yet it's not such a crazy idea really, is it? That's what writers do.

My husband is particularly pleased that I've completed this novel so quickly.

'That means you can write three novels a year!' he said.

Ha. Ha. Ha. Not happening. Speed isn't everything, my friend. I don't want to write War and Peace, but I don't want to write comics either.

I'm pleased though. When I began this challenge I trusted that it would come together. But I didn't expect to create something I would become so fond of.

 

I think it's the most complete novel I have written to date. And best of all it has a REAL spray painted banana on the front cover, which would look very fetching on the shelves of Waterstones or even better, on the screen of my local ODEON.

 

Alright I think I'll stop there. I'll need some imagination for the next book.

 

 Start Reading Spray Painted Bananas.

 

                               

Above, the book trailer I illustrated when I was still plotting. I originally was going to call the novel 'Spray Painting Bananas' until someone said it sounded like a 'How to..'!

How to Write a Serialized Novel

Materials Required: Cork board, post-its, map pins, pens,
mug of hot liquid, laptop

Prepare – Write a big chunk of the book before you post the first chapter. Otherwise you risk being unable to produce Chapter 2 which could lead to an inferiority complex and the belief that you're a useless writer with no ideas. The latter may be true but there’s no need to let the world know.

Get out of bed – Obvious and yet often quite tricky. You must resist the urge to melt into the warm embrace of your partner, cat, dog, chimp, water bottle, pillow... Do not be fooled by the voice, inner or otherwise, that calls out for ‘Five more minutes’. Before you know it 5 minutes have turned into an hour of strange dreams and your writing slot has come and gone. Remind yourself that the reward of completing a serialized novel will be much greater than a few more minutes cuddling someone or something that you may well be cuddling for the rest of your life anyway.  

Fuel – Put the kettle on while your computer is warming up. A hot tea will replace the cuddles you have sacrificed by getting up early. Tea, in this case, refers to any hot liquid in a mug, including coffee, perfumed herbal stuff (although I can’t recommend it) and water with something in it, like a floating lemon, slice of orange or spoon of honey. Don’t be too imaginative, you need to save your imagination  for your upcoming chapters.

Write  - The first hour is crucial. Do not check your mail, do not tweet, do no comment on banal facebook statuses, do not comment on interesting facebook statuses, do not ‘like’ anything. Write. Write. Write. Don’t edit, don’t reread. Don't play about with the font. Don't text people to tell them that you finally did it, you finally got up early to write. Just write damn it! 

Edit –  Edit a chapter a couple of days before you post it. For the purpose of continuity you might need to read the whole book from time to time. It might be that you've forgotten your character is supposed to have a limp, in which case you’ll need to reinstate it (he’ll forgive you in time).

Trust – Your pre-written chunk of novel provides a buffer when you get stuck. When this unhappy time comes and you’re staring at a blank screen with tears in your eyes and demons in your mind, keep calm. ‘Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen,’ said the essayist, Ralph Waldo Emerson (along with a bunch of other people on twitter). You have committed to this project and you will finish it. Sit on the floor with your cork board of post-its and trust that an idea will come.

My serialized novel SPRAY PAINTED BANANAS is live on Wattpad.com 

I post chapters every Monday and Thursday.

Launch of Serialised Novel: Spray Painted Bananas

My serialised novel Spray Painted Bananas launches today on Wattpad.com

It's a romantic comedy about Amber, a broke temp working in a catering firm in London, who after years of scrounging free wine from wacky art gallery openings with her best friend Farrell, decides there’s no reason she can’t become a conceptual artist herself. 

I'll be posting 2 chapters to begin with and then one chapter per week. 

Please come and find me on Wattpad and VOTE if you'd like me to continue the story!

Excerpt:

Chapter 1

There comes a point in your life when you can’t go on being scared. For me that point comes regularly, most often after my third glass of free wine. I say ‘free’ because I do most of my drinking at posh gallery openings. I stand in the middle of them, look around me at all the glamorous individuals muttering appreciatively and I pretend I’m in my natural environment. I pretend I’m an art collector and select pieces for my many rooms in my many mansions, and then I get the bus home.

If Londoners complain that booze is too expensive it’s because they’re not making the effort to track down the free stuff. There must be a show opening every evening of the week in this city and as long as you can stomach a bit of pretentious chatter then you can succeed in having an entertaining and cheap night out.

My partner in crime tonight is my best friend Farrell. He works part-time in a book shop and is as broke as I am. Pretending to acknowledge the striking composition of a randomly placed chair or the depth of meaning of some paint-splattered socks suspended from the ceiling is a small sacrifice to pay for a few complimentary beverages. We’d volunteer our comments if it meant getting free nibbles, but unfortunately the art industry seems to survive on a liquid diet only. And also no one particularly wants our comments.

Tonight the artist’s chosen materials are thick paint and reclaimed plywood. Plywood which has been reclaimed from skips, though judging by the state of them I’d be more inclined to say reclaimed from war zones. It’s the most traditional exhibition we’ve seen in ages. There’s still a concept thrown in though; there’s always got to be a concept typed up and displayed on a wall to be mulled over for months to come. Farrell and I prefer to make them up as we walk around.

A lot of strange things make it into galleries. Frankly I don’t know what went wrong with creating something you might actually want to put in your living room. I like landscapes but a landscape in the world of conceptual art could be anything from a peanut on a stick to a video of a talking meringue.  

The show is called Life & Death of a Ghost and is made up of five paintings on rough sheets of plywood and a stuffed chicken. The artist, who goes by the name of ‘Ghost’ has only used two colours, grey and green. Contrary to what you’d expect, the greener the subject the more dead they are supposed to be. The chicken is a grey lump. This means the chicken is alive. And yet it is stuffed. 

Continue reading on Wattpad...

How (Not) To Make a Book Trailer

                   

Once I’d decided to take on the challenge to write a serialised novel I knew I needed a book trailer. Words aren’t enough anymore. Writers need to know how to use images, audio and special effects to promote their work.

The problem is I had no idea how to make a video.

I spent a whole Sunday fiddling about with Windows Movie Maker and had nothing to show for it at the end.

‘You’re not supposed to know how to make one,’ my husband said, trying to make me feel better about what I felt was a complete and utter waste of a day.

But I wanted to know! 

'I'm not aiming for an Oscar!' I said. 'Just a basic video with pictures moving to a bit of music...'

Do you often hear yourself saying, ‘I’m not technically-minded’? Do you say it when you secretly want to be technically- minded? Well, don’t say it anymore because the more you say it the harder it will be to change. Open up to the possibility and you might just surprise yourself!

Thanks to Paul Carroll’s article in Writing Magazine, I learnt about Kevin Macleod and FMA (Free Music Archive) where I could browse through thousands of tunes to use for my video.  

Great! I had music but no pictures.

I realised after that frustrating Sunday that I was never going to find free pictures to illustrate the idea I had in my head.  

Not willing to be defeated, I began to draw.

I only draw once a year usually and that’s in August just before my Dad’s birthday. He’s been collecting my homemade cards since I was little and they make him so happy that I can’t possibly stop now. 

Step 1 I drew

Step 2 I scanned the drawing into my computer

Step 3 I edited them in Paint (colouring in with a mouse can be very tedious so background music is essential, a glass of wine helps too).
Step 4 I added pictures to the easy-to-use timeline.

Paint is old-school I know, but I wasn’t going to wait around until I’d learned Photoshop. You've got to start somewhere.

I loved making it and although it’s not very polished or professional, I think it captures the mood I’ve been in since starting Spray Painting Bananas: 

Upbeat and happy!

My first chapter should be out on Monday 15^th October on wattpad.com – so sign up and come find me!

  
Meanwhile I hope you enjoy my lovingly-made book trailer:

                    

If you like it, share it! 

New Challenge: A Serialised Novel

I’ve accepted a challenge to write a serialised novel.

If I manage to come up with 35,000 words by the beginning of November my book will be featured on Wattpad, which is a huge online platform for writers.

Normally that amount of words would take me about 6 months so I’m excited but also quaking in my socks.  

The book is about Amber, a feisty young woman on a mission to blag her way into the bizarre world of Conceptual Art; her plan, of course, being to grab some fame and fortune.

The novel will be a light, upbeat romantic comedy, unless the pressure gets to me, in which case I’ll start killing off characters. 

To be honest, my plotting has barely begun but I have a cork board and post-it notes so there’s hope.

I don’t know why I think I can pull a novel out of my pocket in a few weeks but I believe in saying ‘Yes’ when an opportunity arises.  

If my blog starts to look neglected, now you'll know why.

But I won’t be away for long.  

The first chapter of  Spray Painting Bananas has already been written. Now I need a book cover.

To read my serialised novel, you'll need to sign up and find me on Wattpad which is quick and completely free. Once registered, you'll be able to browse through a huge variety of stories and novels.

I'll let you know when my first chapter is up.

Wish me luck, I'm going to need it!