10 year anniversary book launch!

This week sees my 10 year anniversary since I got 'The Call' from Kimberly Young at Harlequin Mills and Boon that launched my publishing career.

To celebrate, I'm launching DO IT WRITE, a little reference book packed with gems I've picked up over the years, as well as some easy 'how-to' stuff with sample synopses, etc...

It's at a special introductory price of $0.99!

Currently available on AMAZON but with all retailers by the end of the week.

Happy writing!

Writers: be inspired

I'm a huge fan of Larry Brooks' STORYFIX blog.

He has some absolute fantastic posts on writing, from craft to guests.

Today's post on The Commodity of Courage by guest Art Holcomb is a must read for writers.

Inspirational stuff.

WEEKEND BOOK CLUB: Liz Fielding's Little Book of Romance Writing

Welcome Liz Fielding to give us a brief insight into her brand new writing reference book, LIZ FIELDING'S LITTLE BOOK OF WRITING ROMANCE.

Begin your story at a moment of crisis, a point in time when your character’s life is about to change for ever.



— Mollie Blake’s Writing Workshop Notes from Secret Wedding by Liz Fielding

Mollie Blake is a woman who knows what’s she’s talking about. Well, obviously, I created her back in 2000 for my novella, The Secret Wedding.

How I wish I’d had someone like her around when I was starting out on my writing career. Someone to take me by the hand and ease me through the process of getting the story in my head onto paper. Explain about conflict, the importance of emotion, creating characters that the reader will care about. Alas, twenty years ago there were few “how-to” books to turn to in the UK, the internet had not been invented and I’d never heard the words “critique partner”. I didn’t actually know anyone else who was writing. I was on my own.

I learned by doing, by writing, being rejected, reading the writers I wanted to emulate. It was a long, slow and very steep learning curve but the one thing you need if you want to be a writer is single-minded determination. My fourth submission, An Image of You, was published in 1992 and, since then, I’ve had a wonderful career with more than sixty books in print.

My Little Book of Writing Romance is a straightforward writing romance primer. It’s the book I wish I’d had when I was fumbling through my first attempts at writing fiction and I launched into the world this week as a hand in the dark to new writers struggling with the stuff it took me years to learn. And when you make it into print, email me to share the joy.


Liz Fielding’s Little Book of Writing Romance is available from


PS – Molly Blake’s story, The Secret Wedding, is available as a free online read or you can download it for .99c from Amazon.

This is the kind of book I wish had been around when I first started writing ten years ago and was totally clueless!

As I turned the pages I found myself nodding often, as Liz provides excellent tips and examples for:
-dialogue
-deep emotion
-POV
-conflict
-grabbing the reader on the first page
-creating a four-dimensional world
-a satisfying ending.

This is a great writing resource, highly recommend.

Buy at Amazon US & Amazon UK

I have Liz's latest FLIRTING WITH ITALIAN lined up to read next on my TBR pile.
What are you reading this week?

Theory on Thursday

Today I'm a guest at Rachael Johns' blog, where she invited me to discuss my favourite writing craft book/course/etc...

Rachael's first book, One Perfect Night (Carina Press) is releasing same day as my Busted in Bollywood, December 6th, and we're excited!

Come visit and discuss your favourite writing theory on Thursday.

What's your writing mantra?

While I recover from the intensity of completing revisions on WHO WANTS TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE? here's a gem from Larry Brooks at StoryFix.

What happens in the story is driven by what the characters are feeling, where more often it is the other way around.

I love finding snippets like this, snippets that make us think and look at our writing in a new and positive way.

Do you have a favourite writing snippet or mantra?

Savvy Authors

If you're a writer, there is an abundance of resources available these days.

Some stand out more than others and I was lucky enough to stumble across SAVVY AUTHORS a few weeks ago and instantly joined up.

Basic membership is free, premium is US$30/year (AU$28 with current exchange rate, bargain!)

Go check out the website, you won't be disappointed.

The information available is amazing, as are their frequent online courses.

I'm currently doing a course on witchcraft which has been immensely helpful for my upcoming YA revisions.

But the website is worth a visit for the articles alone.

THE WRITE WHISPER: Free writing craft books!

Thanks to the fab folk at WRITER'S DIGEST, I stumbled across 5 free books for writers.

Yes, that's right, free!

1. 70 Solutions to Common Writing Mistakes by Bob Mayer.

A fabulous resource from an experienced novelist.

2. 279 Days to Overnight Success by Chris Guillebeau.

If you dream of being a full-time writer, this is the e-book for you! About 11,000 words of fabulous advice.

3. How to Write a Great Query Letter by literary agent Noah Lukeman.

Lukeman is the author of several fabulous how-to books, including The First Five Pages. This free one on queries will not disappoint.

4. What Publishers Want: An Author's Guide by Greenleaf Book Group.

The good people at Greenleaf have made this brief guide available to beginning writers who are just getting into the writing and publishing game.

5. Smashwords Book Marketing Guide: How to Market Any Book for Free.

This gem just came out this past month. An excellent starting resource.

(Note: I couldn't download the last one because I don't have a Kindle. It's via Amazon.)

Download the books via Writer's Digest here.

You can thank me later :)

Encouraging words

If you're a writer, you have to check out the post over at StoryFix today.

These two gems are worth it alone:

'The Help", the novel that spent a year at #1 on NYT bestsellers list and is being released as a movie this August was rejected by 45 agents.

Yep, you read that right. 45!
(Moral of the story: hang in there & don't give up!)

Gem no. 2:
"Write something worth writing."

It'll make sense if you go read the full post here.

How to avoid over-writing

Here's a brilliant list of 15 steps to avoid overwriting by author/agent Lois Winston over at The Five Scribes.

Well worth reading.

'How I Write' series

In the lead up to his book release, Nathan Bransford is running a 'How I Write' series on his blog all week.

If you're a writer, you absolutely must check it out.

Gold, I tell you, gold!

How to Craft Compelling Characters

There's a fabulous article on HOW TO CRAFT COMPELLING CHARACTERS by David Corbett over at Writer's Digest today. He elaborates on: CHARACTERISTICS OF COMPELLING CHARACTERS: A driving need, desire, goal, ambition, A secret, A contradiction, Vulnerability METHODS FOR DEEPENING CHARACTERISATION Real-life characters, Emotional triggers

Handy characterisation checklist

Agent Rachelle Gardner has a great post on what fiction editors look for, which can be used as a handy checklist to ensure your characters are leaping off the page. Check it out here.

Art of the page turner

Check out this great article by Hallie Ephron over at Writer's Digest, where she discusses tools to keep your readers hooked.

THE WRITE WHISPER: Limbo land

Limbo land is that strange place writers visit between books.

When we've just finished writing a story and are eager to jump into the next.

When we're waiting to hear from an editor/agent on a query or submission.

When we know what we want to write next but we're too scared to start.

Limbo land is a tempting place to be.

We get to catch up on reading and experience the joy of plucking the next must-read off our TBR pile.

We get to swim and go to the park and spend hours in the museum, hours we wouldn't have while on deadline.

We get to watch mindless TV just because we can.

Limbo land is an essential part of being a writer. Refilling the well is a must. Clearing the mind of our old characters to allow the new to jump in there and demand their story.

I love the possibilities of limbo land, love the excited tingle of new stories begging to be written.

But limbo land can also be a scary place.

Limbo land can sap your confidence as you wait to hear from your editor/agent.

It can tempt you with the aforementioned TV/books/etc...so you'd rather be doing that than thinking about your next story.

It can allow the self-doubt you usually ignore by writing 2000 words a day to rise up and make you question if you have it in you to write another book...and another...and another after that.

Yes, I'm in limbo land at the moment.

It has been a fun place to be over the weekend when I've refilled the well with loads of family fun and swimming and reading.

But come today, when I'm back to work on Monday, those self-doubts are niggling.

The solution?

Write.

Something.

Anything.

Because writing soothes and sweeps away those doubts.

Because writing makes everything simpler and feel right.

Goodbye limbo land, hello sparkly new idea!

Goals for writers

Guest blogger Mary Demuth had a great post on agent Rachelle Gardner's blog last week, about 3 Goals for Writers.

1. Writers should create 2 teams

2. As writers we should consider ourselves assets

3. We should resolve catastrophic thinking

Read the post here.
Much of it resonated with me.

Killer story ideas

Love, love, love this post by Larry Brooks at StoryFix, ATTACK OF THE KILLER STORY IDEAS.

Every writer will relate.
And it'll make you smile.

Finding time to write

I've extolled the virtues of speed writing and ways to do it in another post so today, I'm focussing on something different.

How do you find the time to write?

For me, it's making the opportunity the write.

If preschooler is playing at my feet, I write.

If he's blowing bubbles out the back, I write.

If he's watching Playschool, I write.

Do I feel guilty at times? Sure do. Surely I should be interacting with him all the time?

Yet I spend every day with my kids for the bulk of the day, I'm very hands-on so I guess these few snatched half hours here and there aren't too bad.

And I need them.

I have deadlines, some that fluctuate, like my current one.

I need to write 35K in a week.

In school holidays.

So far, I've managed 20 pages the first day, 26 yesterday and the bulk of those were written while the kids played around me.

We do what we have to do to find the time to write.

Here's a great post on ways to find that time.

The company we keep

I received a New Year's email from a few friends, with loads of cute pics & captions, and one caught my eye.

May you find the perfect balance in the company you keep.

In the first week of a new year, this really hit home.

People come and go in our lives.
We can make friends in the most unlikely places and find friends we've known for years drift out of our lives for unknown reasons.

I've given up trying to analyse people's motivations (unless it's my characters!)

Instead, I prefer to surround myself with friends who want to be there: friends who make me dream and laugh and natter like there's no tomorrow.
Friends who rejoice in my success and are happy for me.
Friends who will be there for me no matter what.

And this applies doubly to my writing.

If you're a writer, surround yourself with positive people.

You'll have enough of the other sort, the ones who snicker behind your back, the ones who rubbish what you write while smiling to your face, the ones who are condescending and superior and jealous. Nix these.

Creativity needs to be nurtured and negativity is an emotional time-suck.

As one wise sporting company once promoted: "life's short, play hard."

Gems for writers

Regulars here know how much I like Larry Brook's StoryFix blog.

Well, he's made a list of the Top 10 Blogs for Writers.

Go check out the rest.

Writing a home run story

Yes, I'm directing you over to StoryFix yet again, this time for the first part in a 2 part series on How to Write a Home Run Story in 2011.

The first point in this article that leapt out at me was:

Perhaps, in 2011, you should do something different.

I love playing around with ideas, writing new things outside my usual genre.
Which gets me thinking...how will I shake things up in 2011?
How will you?