Today I will be co-hosting a live webchat on Coffee Time Romance with fellow independent author Borislava Borissova. We will chat about our new books, our experiences as authors, our love of romance (no pun intended!) and whatever else our audience requests.
Join us at 4:00pm BST / 11:00am EST
This is a great place for fellow authors, readers and reviewers of romance to interact. It covers all aspects of the genre, not just the 'soft stuff.' We enjoy discussions about paranormal romance, historical, fantasy, even some of the erotic persuasion.
Vampire writer of fantasy books for adults, werewolf fiction and LGBT fantasy books. Polyamory rules in my world!
Saturday 15 October 2011
Wednesday 12 October 2011
Thinking in #Hashtags (and the horror of no Blackberry services)
I have been driven insane by the current technical problems experienced by RIM for Blackberry. Tuesday night is my TV night. I watch a whole schedule of programmes, and tweet my reactions as we go along. This week I watched Gok’s Clothes Roadshow on Channel 4, followed by a new series of Vampire Diaries on ITV 2, followed by Mary, Queen of Frocks (on Channel 4 +1), and finally, the latest series of True Blood on Channel 4 real time.
Usually during the adverts (or commercial breaks) I grab my Blackberry and get tweet happy. I usually update my Facebook status while I’m at it. Sometimes I tweet and post every half hour or so. But this week my phone was not playing. I would pick it up in the vain hope that the magic Blackberry fairies had fixed it, only to be disappointed. I wanted to surf eBay and I couldn’t. Facebook and Twitter were stuck 12 hours behind. I was fed up of reading the same posts. My emails were coming through on a 5 or 6-hour delay. Shock! Horror!
It comes to something when I spend my days thinking in hash-tags. I do something, visit somewhere, see something, and feel a desperate need to broadcast it to the world. “Just had #breakfast nice and early for once.” “My #baby clapped her hands!” “Now arriving at the #shops.” These are some hypothetical nonsensical tweets I may have posted, had my Blackberry actually been working during the last 3 days. Of course, I do have a tendency to forget my inspirational tweets, or get distracted by chores, baby or dog. It’s probably just as well.
Two years ago I barely knew what Twitter was. Now it is the first thing I see in the morning, and the last thing I check at night. I check, and tweet at regular intervals: while feeding my baby, walking the dog, even whilst walking from room to room and up and down the stairs at home. My hand feels naked without the Blackberry glued to it. I am starting to worry about my sanity.
And today, once again, I have no Twitter. No Facebook. No apps at all. My Blackberry has remained silent for most of the day, tucked into my pocket so I could check it frequently, just in case the problem had been fixed. While I was out with a friend it randomly came to life, bleeping a serious of quick alerts to inform me that my emails were arriving. They were only about 10 hours behind schedule. I think we can safely say I missed the web chats that I was interested in joining to network my recent novel and experiences as a writer.
How shocking, a mobile phone that only actions telephone calls and text messages. What has the world come to? No Twitter, no Facebook, no eBay, no emails. Since I was away from home I couldn’t even fire up our home computer or jump on the laptop. However did we manage in the good old days before social networks went mobile?
Tuesday 11 October 2011
The Modern Paranormal Romance
When people hear the words ‘paranormal romance’ today they will most probably associate it with the popular Twilight franchise, and maybe even the HBO television series True Blood. It is strange to think that the original horror novel Dracula was actually a romance of sorts, although it was grotesque and evil to reflect Victorian values.
It is no longer acceptable to have a truly evil vampire who preys on innocent humans. We have evolved in our society to a point where we realise our arrogance in the face of such stereotypical views. In contemporary paranormal romance novels, vampires, shape shifters, and other non-human creatures are often treated as another race, a group of people that should not be discriminated against, but that are reviled for their supernatural abilities and nature.
I have recently finished reading Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris. It is the latest of the Sookie Stackhouse novels, and I really enjoyed it. There was a clever mix of supernatural activity, and everyday ‘normal’ human life. The heroine, Sookie, spends her evenings fighting manipulative and unpleasant vampires and shape shifters, and her day time hours are filled with household chores and paid employment. She struggles to fit in her human friends, and their baby showers and weddings, and all of the standard rites of passage that humans live by, and that are safe, happy events.
My novel Love Hurts follows this pattern, or at least that is what I intended. My heroine is a human (or so she believes), who runs a small business with her close friend. She is dating a vampire, and once she discovers his hidden secret (because in my Britain, supernatural creatures still remain hidden from society), she then struggles to merge her human life with her supernatural one.
This is where I am drawn in with the genre. I love the idea that mundane life can be livened up with a different cultural perspective, especially an apparently violent and volatile one. It makes life interesting. We need an escape from our daily household routine, and our regular pattern of work and play. That is what paranormal romance offers, and I love discovering new and exciting authors who weave their own perspective and experiences into their tales.
I hope that other people will read Love Hurts and will feel the same excitement and enjoyment that I did when I wrote it. And that those same people will follow my heroine Jessica Stone, as she stumbles through a relationship with a vampire and his identical twin werewolf brother, while supporting her human best friend with a new baby. Oh, and she has a gay best friend who is a werewolf too, just because I can!
It is no longer acceptable to have a truly evil vampire who preys on innocent humans. We have evolved in our society to a point where we realise our arrogance in the face of such stereotypical views. In contemporary paranormal romance novels, vampires, shape shifters, and other non-human creatures are often treated as another race, a group of people that should not be discriminated against, but that are reviled for their supernatural abilities and nature.
I have recently finished reading Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris. It is the latest of the Sookie Stackhouse novels, and I really enjoyed it. There was a clever mix of supernatural activity, and everyday ‘normal’ human life. The heroine, Sookie, spends her evenings fighting manipulative and unpleasant vampires and shape shifters, and her day time hours are filled with household chores and paid employment. She struggles to fit in her human friends, and their baby showers and weddings, and all of the standard rites of passage that humans live by, and that are safe, happy events.
My novel Love Hurts follows this pattern, or at least that is what I intended. My heroine is a human (or so she believes), who runs a small business with her close friend. She is dating a vampire, and once she discovers his hidden secret (because in my Britain, supernatural creatures still remain hidden from society), she then struggles to merge her human life with her supernatural one.
This is where I am drawn in with the genre. I love the idea that mundane life can be livened up with a different cultural perspective, especially an apparently violent and volatile one. It makes life interesting. We need an escape from our daily household routine, and our regular pattern of work and play. That is what paranormal romance offers, and I love discovering new and exciting authors who weave their own perspective and experiences into their tales.
Monday 3 October 2011
The Indie Author Book Signing Event
Last weekend I attended my second book signing event to promote my paranormal romance novel Love Hurts. The event took place at Waterstones Bookseller in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, UK. This was my home town so I was very excited. I have spent many years wandering around this book shop, dreaming about the day when I might see my own work on the shelves. And now that day has come!
The lovely staff welcomed me to their store, gave me a mug of coffee, and showed me to my special table in the centre of the ground floor retail space. I was facing the main entrance, in a nice open place, with the tills adjacent. The perfect location to see all the customers and for them to see me.
I had actually been sat for a few minutes before I even saw the large display stand full of my books next to the table! My heart gave a little leap of excitement, and I peered round to have a better look. Yes, there they were. A whole collection of books, above which hung a large banner announcing that local author Catherine Green was in store to sign copies of her new book.
The staff had printed some leaflets and had distributed them amongst customers for a few weeks before my event. I found this very touching, and a lovely gesture, since I hadn’t actually been able to get some leaflets produced myself. I am still learning the ropes, so to speak. I had gotten some mentions in local newspapers and magazines, so I was hoping this would help. And of course, I had plastered my event all over the social networks for weeks in advance, and told people as I went along.
As it was, the shop was almost empty all day long. On this day, the 1st October 2011, the sun shone on the UK. We had some of the hottest temperatures on record, and people were not in the mood to shop. I was most annoyed. Where is the rain when you need it? We should be wearing jeans and jumpers now, not shorts and t-shirts!
There was nothing else for it. I had to pluck up some courage, approach people, and coerce them into buying my book. The Paranormal Romance and Dark Fantasy sections were located near the main entrance, so I practically wore a path in the carpet every time somebody walked in and paused there. I would hurry over to them, trying not to look like a bird of prey swooping in for the kill. Fortunately most people were very polite, and agreed to take a look at my book.
By the end of my four-hour attendance, I had sold seven books. Not an impressive number, but very satisfactory under the circumstances. Aside from this I had spoken to a book reviewer for the local influential newspaper, and he said he will feature my book shortly. This just goes to show that you never know what contacts you might make if you creep out of your dark writer’s space, and mingle in the wider world, even for a short time.
Now, who shall I visit next? I shall consult the list given to me by the manager of the Hanley store. Watch this space for more events…
The lovely staff welcomed me to their store, gave me a mug of coffee, and showed me to my special table in the centre of the ground floor retail space. I was facing the main entrance, in a nice open place, with the tills adjacent. The perfect location to see all the customers and for them to see me.
I had actually been sat for a few minutes before I even saw the large display stand full of my books next to the table! My heart gave a little leap of excitement, and I peered round to have a better look. Yes, there they were. A whole collection of books, above which hung a large banner announcing that local author Catherine Green was in store to sign copies of her new book.
The staff had printed some leaflets and had distributed them amongst customers for a few weeks before my event. I found this very touching, and a lovely gesture, since I hadn’t actually been able to get some leaflets produced myself. I am still learning the ropes, so to speak. I had gotten some mentions in local newspapers and magazines, so I was hoping this would help. And of course, I had plastered my event all over the social networks for weeks in advance, and told people as I went along.
As it was, the shop was almost empty all day long. On this day, the 1st October 2011, the sun shone on the UK. We had some of the hottest temperatures on record, and people were not in the mood to shop. I was most annoyed. Where is the rain when you need it? We should be wearing jeans and jumpers now, not shorts and t-shirts!
There was nothing else for it. I had to pluck up some courage, approach people, and coerce them into buying my book. The Paranormal Romance and Dark Fantasy sections were located near the main entrance, so I practically wore a path in the carpet every time somebody walked in and paused there. I would hurry over to them, trying not to look like a bird of prey swooping in for the kill. Fortunately most people were very polite, and agreed to take a look at my book.
By the end of my four-hour attendance, I had sold seven books. Not an impressive number, but very satisfactory under the circumstances. Aside from this I had spoken to a book reviewer for the local influential newspaper, and he said he will feature my book shortly. This just goes to show that you never know what contacts you might make if you creep out of your dark writer’s space, and mingle in the wider world, even for a short time.
Now, who shall I visit next? I shall consult the list given to me by the manager of the Hanley store. Watch this space for more events…
Friday 30 September 2011
Book Signing Event at Waterstones, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent
I am preparing to attend my second book signing event. Tomorrow (Saturday 1st October) I will be at Waterstones Bookseller's in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. I will be there from 11:00am until around 3:00pm depending on how busy we get. I do have to be home fairly early however, because my husband has a gig, he needs the car, and I'm having the baby for the night. So, if you are interested in attending and are not sure of the location, here are the details: Waterstones, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent.
I am promoting my debut paranormal romance novel Love Hurts. The story is about a woman who falls in love with a police detective, only to discover that he is a vampire and his identical twin brother is a werewolf. They inadvertently draw her into their complicated and dangerous lives, with tragic consequences. This story is the first in a series set in the fictional Cornish seaside resort of Redcliffe.
The book is receiving very good feedback so far. Just this morning I received a message from a former university housemate, telling me she had read the book in a very short space of time, and she loves it. I am receiving positive responses from people who I actually wouldn't have thought would be interested in this kind of thing. For example, I tend to assess the kind of genres people might read based on how I perceive them, from their personalities and social interests. Now I am learning not to do this, and that I must tell anybody and everybody about my book, because actually, most people really want to read it!
I am promoting my debut paranormal romance novel Love Hurts. The story is about a woman who falls in love with a police detective, only to discover that he is a vampire and his identical twin brother is a werewolf. They inadvertently draw her into their complicated and dangerous lives, with tragic consequences. This story is the first in a series set in the fictional Cornish seaside resort of Redcliffe.
The book is receiving very good feedback so far. Just this morning I received a message from a former university housemate, telling me she had read the book in a very short space of time, and she loves it. I am receiving positive responses from people who I actually wouldn't have thought would be interested in this kind of thing. For example, I tend to assess the kind of genres people might read based on how I perceive them, from their personalities and social interests. Now I am learning not to do this, and that I must tell anybody and everybody about my book, because actually, most people really want to read it!
Tuesday 27 September 2011
Stories in my Head
I am struggling at the moment, to find time to sit down and write all of the stories in my head. I have a young baby, a family, and all the associated housework to deal with before I can focus on my writing. Unfortunately the writing has to be a sideline to my role as Mother. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Anyway, just because I can’t physically write up the stories, does not mean they don’t exist. For example, I am currently attempting to write the sequel to my recently published paranormal romance novel Love Hurts. I have actually written a rough draft of about the first five chapters of Love Kills. In my head, I am probably on about chapter twelve, or possibly even further along. It gets a little confusing.
My stories are a good source of escapism while I am stood before the kitchen sink, or cleaning out the turtle tank, or ironing, or hoovering, or any number of other boring household tasks. I even formulate the stories while in the shower, or in bed, out walking, or even when I am out in the car. My characters take on their own lives, and draw me in as a spectator. It is my job to remember what they tell me, and commit it to paper (or computer) as soon as possible.
Sometimes it can be embarrassing, like the time I headbutted a neighbour’s hanging basket because I was engrossed in my personal fictional dialogue. Other times people can be talking to me and I simply don’t hear them. I sort of snap out of a daydream, and have to wake up to the reality around me. I am sure this is not an isolated situation. I must be one of a million writers in a similar position.
Maybe I should invest in a Dictaphone, and dictate my stories while I work. Perhaps then I can at least have something to write up at a later date. I find sometimes that when I actually get to the physical writing stage, my stories fly off on a tangent, totally different from what I had originally imagined. Sometimes this works, sometimes not. I must be away to bed soon as the night is moving on. Who knows which story I will dip into, and where I will travel before sleep takes over…
Monday 19 September 2011
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