Changing direction

Well, my Draft in 30 Days blogged about earlier has hit a snag. But, at least it's a nice snag. That's because whilst I was at the beginning of starting with Karen Weisner's method an e-mail dropped into my in box. It was from the editors at Mills and Boon. I had submitted the first three chapters and a synopsis for a sheikh novel way back in August last year. True it took them some time but they have said that they like the basic idea, think it's fresh and intriguing but they had a few problems with it. If I wanted to work on the problems and re-submit they'd be happy to have a look. Would I? Ohmigod yes I would!

Looking at it critically and taking their comments on board I have only kept the first chapter and had to ditch the other two altogether. Before now I have found that incredibly hard to do, but this time, with the benefit of their comments I found it easy. After all, they know their stuff and if that's what they want I must try and meet it. The rewrite is going slowly but surely. Slowly because I am now being more critical of myself. This morning for example, I looked with a real eagle eye at what I had produced yesterday. I'd gone and done exactly what they had asked me not to do in the feedback - basically, I had moved the relationship on too quickly. As an individual who likes to complete a task as soon as, I realised that I sometimes do this for my characters. But, Mills and Boon readers like the suspense of not knowing how the relationship is going to go. They want it to twist and turn and meander and for their heroes and heroines to really work at it. So, again, I ditched large amounts of what I'd done and wrote the scene again. I think it works much better this time and realise that culling sometimes has to be done. I look on it now not so much as a waste of time but as a means of writing myself into a scene, testing out my characters. Let's hope it does the trick. Oh, and that photograph, it's of my teeny, weeny summerhouse which I hope, when I get a minute to kit out with a table and chair so that I can write in there in the warm summer months..... if they ever arrive that is!

To Marry a Prince - Book Launch

Okay, I know I should be updating this blog on how my First Draft in 30 Days attempt is going but it's the weekend and all work and no play makes an author a dull girl. So, yesterday I upped and went off to the King's Road branch of Waterstones in Chelsea for a swanky book launch, all fizz and chatter. 'To Marry a Prince' is Sophie Page's sparkling new take on royal weddings. With the opening page bearing the promise 'Britain as it might have been......' the first chapter introduces us to Bella. Feisty, independent she's spent the last year toiling on an island on the other side of the world dressed in shorts, muddy t-shirt and her hair hasn't seen conditioner in months. Scrubbed up though and having enjoyed the tender loving care of a good hairdresser she accompanies her friend Lottie to a society party and that's when the fun begins.... With the world soon to enjoy the wedding of commoner Kate Middleton to Prince William, Sophie's lovely book with its royal blue and gold cover is totally topical and I can't wait to read the rest of it.

One of the nicest things about book launches is the chance to chat to fellow authors and here's a photo of me with Carol Townend. A super knowledgeable historian, Carol writes medieval novels and is at present writing a series for Mills and Boon based in medieval Constantinople. She regaled us with tales of her trip to Istanbul to do research, just one of the fun things about being an author. But it also highlighted all the hard work that goes in to any novel and the extra element that goes into historical novels. Carol is keenly aware of the need to get her facts right as well as getting the romance element between the hero and heroine perfect.

So, a great evening was had by all, the champagne flowed, we were surrounded by books and my dear husband and I toppped it all off with dinner at a Lebanese restaurant in the King's Road, a stone's throw from Buckingham Palace where THE royal wedding will very shortly take place. Huge thanks goes to Sophie and all the lovely staff at Waterstones and the greatest luck to her for mega success with her book.

Day 4 of A First Draft in 30 Days

One interesting thing I have found with this method is that it really gives you foundations that you build upon. Normally I rush in full pelt, feeling that getting words on paper is the most important thing. Building them up, 1000 done, 2000 done, first chapter done is hugely rewarding. But, if what you build starts to shake and tumble at chapter 3 or chapter 13 then making it firm and solid again is so difficult. With this method, I find that every now and then there's a sort of lightbulb moment so that something I've already started can be built upon. I'll give you an example. Themes - I never really consciously think of a theme for my book. But with this one, it's started to emerge for me that as my hero is an architect, and architecture is all about planning the perfect building, that theme can run through the book. Each time I think of a new step forward in their relationship, I can think of it like a brick being cemented in a wall, or light coming in through a window, or a door being opened to their personalities. Okay, so that's a bit whacky, maybe a little cheesy, a bit odd and off the wall (well, it certainly is for me as I'm a very straightforward individual, not at all poetic or given to fancies). However, just being in that frame of mind, has given me some sort of theme which I hope to run with throughout the book. Perhaps it will make the finished article more real? Who knows, but it may give me some nice metaphors which are things I always struggle with. It's certainly made me look at my hero in a different light. Who wouldn't fall in love with a man who could build them the most perfect house to live in, a house just with them in mind? I never usually think my characters through this fully so am feeling positive about Day 4, and am realising that this mulling over the story from all angles is part of what Karen S Wiesner's method is all about. Also, that when I tried this method the first time, I fell at the first post because I thought that you had to complete every stage completely before you moved to the next. Silly me. Because if I had read her book properly in the first place I would have acknowledged that she clearly said that some of your worksheets can be half empty, you don't make them perfect the first time you write them down. But you do build on them. So now, off to the dreaded plot sketches, not looking forward to this bit because I think it's going to be difficult, hence my looking for every delaying tactic possible. Oh, and have I had my breakfast yet? Nope. I'll just get that sorted then before I move on to those dreaded plot sketches........

Day 3 of A First Draft in 30 Days, setting sketches

Feeling reasonably pleased with myself as I've finished my character sketches for my hero and heroine and done a general setting sketch (with, yes folks, a little pen drawing even though I'm no artist!) of my manor house by the sea. It is based on somewhere I've stayed and love, not a million miles off the coast of England. I've managed to incorporate into the fictional property many of the things I need to carry the plot and the relationship forward. I've also done the research list which isn't extensive, but I need to find out something about architects and awards which I know precious little about. I'm also watching Country House rescue on the TV which is not only invaluable for clues about how grisly inheriting a stately home can be in terms of cost but is also interesting in terms of character studies. So many people hang on to huge unwieldy buildings even though they cannot pay their upkeep because they have a strong sentimental attachment to the houses and their own family's history within the house. Anyhow, that's my excuse for watching tv when I should be writing....... and I'm sticking to it!

The next part of the draft is much scarier because it's plot sketches. As I only ever have the vaguest of ideas in my head usually when I sit down to write, the idea of planning out my plot beforehand fills me with horror. Still, I'm not going to give up now. Watch this space.......

Day 2 of First Draft in 30 Days

I am blogging about my attempt to write a first draft in 30 days using Karen S. Wiesner's book because I want to impose some discipline on myself. By posting regularly, and making my attempt public it will force me to keep with it. Psychology's a funny thing isn't it. If you declare something openly it's that much more difficult to go back on it.... I hope! Anyhow, I'm sort of on track. Yesterday, I did a character study for my heroine, and a pretty full one at that. So full that I didn't make a start on my hero but then I couldn't really picture him. Today though, there was an article in one of the Sunday supplements with a photo of Orlando Bloom. He looked so lovely I thought, 'that's him, that's my hero.' So, off I go. If I can do a character study of him, however brief, PLUS a couple of setting sketches and a little bit about what research I have to do, I will be on track. Wish me luck!

A First Draft in 30 Days

Okay, it's true, I am trying to bring a bit more structure to my writing. I have just sent another novella winging off to my editor and again, I simply wrote by the seat of my pants. I hope they like it but for my next project I am determined to approach things with a bit more discipline. Some while ago, after an RNA conference, I travelled back on the train with a new Mills and Boon author. She had used a book called 'First Draft in 30 Days' by Karen S Wiesner. I skim read the book and thought it made a lot of sense. But being sometimes a lazy writer who likes to rush straight in when she has an idea, full of enthusiasm but little in the way of a plan, I put the book on a shelf and forgot about it.

Since then, I have had two or three ideas brewing and cannot focus on which one I want to run with. So, I got the 'how to' book out again and am determined to take more time over planning this next book. The reason is I want it to be multi-layered, I want to make my characters have more dimensions, many, many dimensions in fact so that the reader has the pleasure of peeling each layer away. That's something I like in my reading and would like to do more in my writing. Particularly after attending Kate Walker's workshop, I have seen that because romances are all about people and their internal conflicts the construction phase has to be pretty rigorous. Karen Wiesner's book has worksheets on constructing full lives for characters, on creating multiple settings in fact on building up an entire portfolio about your book before you even put fingers to keyboard. I have always wanted to be more focussed in my writing so perhaps the time has come. I'll keep you posted but until then, I am out to buy myself a lever arch file to put all those worksheets in and am feeling very optimistic about being more disciplined and hopefully more productive as a result!

Guilty Pleasures

No, this stunning guy is not my Guilty Pleasure - I'm a happily married woman! But, Stephen Muzzonigro does feature in a great little documentary which screens on TV on 12 April 2011. He is one of the models who appears on Mills and Boon covers and helps to sell one somewhere in the world every four seconds. The film is an exploration of those who read Mills and Boon, those who write them and others like Stephen who are all part of selling the dream. The documentary blends the cinderella world of M&B with real life stories of some of the readers. There is Shumita Didi Singh whose fantasy hero became her husband then left her for a younger model. And there is Hiroko Honmo in Japan, happily and boringly married to her staid husband. Hiroko takes ballroom dancing lessons so she can fantasise about a more glamorous world with her ballroom dancing teacher. Their stories are touching, funny, sad and joyful in equal amounts. Real life is so much grittier and we see the lovely Roger Sanderson, the UK's only male Mills and Boon writer giving his slant on why the books are so popular and how difficult they are to write. We also see the delectable Stephen bursting the fantasy bubble when he reveals that keeping those fantastic muscles rippling keeps him locked away in the gym most days and that he has to push away his plate of chips and pick at salad to keep young and beautiful. It's a beautiful film and I went to see it at the ICA gallery in London which was screening the Birds eye View Film Festival featuring films made by women. Julie Moggan the Director has made a sensitive, funny and sad tale which is structured just like the best M&B books and thankfully in the end, for most of those featured has a happy ending aaaahhhhh.........