So Many Novels, So Little Time!

It dawned on me earlier this week that I have the complete opposite of the famed “blank page” syndrome. You know the old scenario: writer wants to create a wonderful novel, writer sits before computer and stares blankly at the screen, unable to form the words that will convey the amazing story they hold in their mind. Eventually, writer succumbs to the belief in writers’ block, slumps back in their chair, and wallows in self-pity for a while.

I have about five novels currently in various stages of progression. The main one is book 5 in my Redcliffe novels series, Heart of the Vampire. This continues the adventures experienced when Cornish bookshop owner Jessica Stone explores her witch heritage and becomes embroiled with the local werewolf pack, receiving mixed responses from her vampire boyfriend. The series will end after book 6, as yet untitled, because I feel that it has run its course. My muse may decide otherwise, however!

Moving away from the Redcliffe novels, I have first drafts of a couple of novels set in and around Cheshire and Manchester that feature female vampire hunters and their adventures in a tough job. One is a retired vampire hunter who lives a new life with a husband and young children. She concealed her past from him, but it all unravels when her former target, a vampire that managed to seduce her and almost kill her, returns to the area and must be exterminated. It is a quirky novel, I think, and I really want to have it published soon.

Another novel features a female vampire hunter that lives on a narrowboat, and her story takes place in and around my home town in Cheshire. This story was requested (or should I say, demanded) by my local fans, and they have been waiting for around three years now. I really should dig out the manuscript, tidy it up and get it published. That story caused a bit of turmoil for me when it took a strange turn and introduced past lives, angels and demons. Yes, my Muse is a confusing creature, indeed. I will tackle my YA zombie romance at a later date!

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Defining Your Local Accent

One of the key factors in my writing process is the definition of accents. Having grown up reading books by Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl, Judy Blume and L.J. Smith, I have been largely exposed to characters that speak in old fashioned Queen’s English accents, or a sort of generalised white America accent that I can’t quite define because I don’t know enough about the country and its various regions.

Now, I am very definitely not from a Queen’s English background, so I didn’t really connect with the characters in the books I read. They were distant, posh people who I could never emulate. I did feel a connection with Roald Dahl’s Matilda, but I am still not sure what kind of regional accent she might have spoken in. I get the feeling it was somewhere in the South of England, but I can’t be sure.

My characters are mostly Northern, like me. I grew up in the Staffordshire Moorlands, close to Stoke-on-Trent, and so I have a sort of hybrid “Stokie” accent when I speak. It grows more broad when I return home to visit, which I find quite amusing. My husband grew up in both Wigan (Northern England) and Staffordshire, because his family moved to my home town when he was ten. His accent grew into a hybrid Lancashire-Stoke, but then returned to its Northern roots when he went to university in Manchester and took up full time work in the region.

I want my characters to have accents. I don’t want them to be traditionally English, or cockney or anything that to my mind is all too common and far removed from my experiences. My heroine in the Redcliffe novels series, Jessica Stone, is from Manchester, but she now lives in Cornwall where the adventures take place. Her best friend, Liz, is also Mancunian, living in Cornwall, and she marries a local university lecturer who has a Cornish accent. Jessica’s love interests, the identical twins Jack and Danny Mason, have their roots in Dublin, but since they are over one hundred years old and have lived in many places, their accents seem to come and go, largely depending upon their emotional state.

How important is it for you to read stories where the characters have a definitive accent? Does it help you to relate more to the characters and the story, or do you prefer to learn about other cultures and other lives? I find the whole subject fascinating!

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Does Your Gender Affect Your Writing Success?

Here is a loaded question, and I would be very interested to receive some responses in the comments below. I am currently reading On Writing by Stephen King, and I have reached the section of the book where he tells us that if we are serious about writing, we actually have to do it. We cannot keep putting it off and blaming our life circumstances, our lack of free time, and all the other millions of excuses we come up with.

Now, I totally agree with that. But one sentence in King’s book struck a chord. He wrote that he was fortunate to have a “self-sufficient wife” and she allowed him to hide away and write whenever he needed to. They have children, and he wrote his novels and short stories since before they were born and throughout their lives. Did his wife shoulder the parental responsibility, and do all the boring, everyday essential tasks of caring for the children before he found fame and fortune?

I would say that I have a self-sufficient husband. In fact, he is so self-sufficient that I am often left at home with the children, and I do 99% of the household chores, nurturing, caring, doctors’ appointments, etc. My husband simply works, in a demanding job that takes him away from the family home for anything up to sixteen hours every day, five days a week. He then spends the weekends ‘catching up’ on his personal affairs, and sleeping because he so exhausted from working all week. But he provides the income, and I must accept that.

In order to follow Stephen King’s advice, I need to change that model of behaviour. My husband refuses to make his work hours more flexible, or even to book time off that he is legally allowed (that is a whole other saga!). He did recently have a pay rise, however. Our cashflow is not brilliant, but if I am to look at the bigger picture, I need some help with childcare. To that end, I plan to investigate the costs of childcare, and see what I can fit around preschool and school. Then perhaps I can find time to finish the manuscripts I have languishing on my hard drive, and finally get my career established professionally.

How do you fit writing in around family and work?

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Reading My Christmas Gifts

You won’t be surprised to hear that I received some fabulous book related Christmas gifts recently. I am still reading one of the books I received, On Writing by Stephen King. It was a surprise present from my husband, and he earned some major ‘good husband’ points for this one! I am just over half way through the book, and it is brilliant. I feel inspired, invigorated, and enthused to get back into my novel writing as soon as the children return to school.

I also received a couple of quirky, fun Christmas presents from friends. They bought me a coffee mug with a funny quote printed on it, “Please do not annoy the writer, she might put you in a book and kill you!” They also got me a cute little bookmark that has a waving hand at the end of it. When my youngest daughter saw it she burst into fits of giggles, which was adorable. Did you receive any quirky, fun gifts?

Did you enjoy this article? Join my tribe today, and I will send you a fabulous FREE book to get you started… (be warned, my vampires do not sparkle, and my wolves will bite!) 

Happy New Year and Book Signing Event Plans

I might be a little ahead of myself since we are still technically in December, but let’s face it, 2016 has been a bit of a challenging year. It seems that every day we lose yet another famous face in the celebrity world. My personal life has been one of upheaval and drama throughout the year, and before that to be honest. So I for one am very much looking forward to 2017. I believe it is the start of a new cycle, a new beginning, and lots of new and exciting experiences.

One of those experiences is something I am especially excited about. On Saturday 4^th February, I will attend the West Midlands Valentines Book Signing and 1940s Ball. Hooray!  Unfortunately, I cannot attend the evening ball due to a prior commitment, but I will be at the event all day long to showcase my Redcliffe novels series and my contemporary English Gothic stories. Come and say hello, and why not try a few books while you are there?

Happy New Year, my friends. Thank you for joining me on this journey!

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New Books for Boxing Day

Alright, who got a shiny new Kindle for Christmas? Or a stack of books? Do share news of your hauls, I love to indulge. Perhaps I can interest you in some discounted books to download on your new device…

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Merry Christmas and Solstice Blessings!

The Winter Solstice is passing, and now we are preparing for the celebration of Christmas weekend. I have crammed in a week of blog writing, wrapped the last of my Christmas gifts, written my final Christmas cards, and prepared to visit family and friends on Christmas Eve. Enjoy the festival, my friends. Merry Christmas!

Did you enjoy this article? Join my tribe today, and I will send you a fabulous FREE book to get you started… (be warned, my vampires do not sparkle, and my wolves will bite!)