Any writer will tell you that good writing involves using a varied vocabulary, but of course in a novel certain themes are paramount and we bring these to the fore by touching on them often. A friend recommended that I try a word frequency checker as a fun exercise and
I call myself a romance novelist; I write romance books. The genre in which I write is entitled ‘romance’. But I wonder, sometimes, whether that’s quite accurate. Because while I do write about romance, I would say that the core of my writing is love. I write about love. Romance
I was intrigued to read in the Independent recently that McDonald’s has teamed up with publisher HarperCollins and for the next couple of weeks will be giving away a children’s book, rather than a toy, with each Happy Meal. McDonald’s has bought a staggering 9 million copies of Michael Morpurgo’s
Writing a novel is the fun bit – you let your imagination roam, you live in a half-daydream state rich with colour and imagery. Your days are spent doing what you love best in the world – playing with words, expressing your inner self, conjuring up a world that makes
Do you remember those ‘choose-your-own-adventure’ books for children that were in vogue in the 1970s and ’80s? The idea was that the reader, rather than the author, had some measure of say over the direction of the plot. Such fun for a child; though tricky to write, I imagine!
It’s the start of January, and for many of us that means an end to the indulgences of the Christmas season and renewed resolutions to eat healthily – good, fresh foods, sensible portion sizes and the five-a-day of fruit and veg. What better recipe, then, than one for an African-style
What does a woman look for in a romantic hero – in the object of the protagonist’s affection in a romance novel? Of course, we like him to be handsome and mature and intelligent and brave and masculine. We’re likely attracted to sensitivity and a sense of humour and a
If writing your first novel is hard, writing your second is harder still! The Huffington Post recently ran an interesting article on ‘One-hit-wonder authors’ – famous authors who only ever wrote one book. The authors included in the article are: Anna Sewell – Black Beauty Boris Pasternak – Dr Zhivago Cyrill
What makes a perfect man? Does such a man exist? Perfection is surely subjective – so what’s your idea of a perfect man? These are the fundamental questions explored in a recent survey commissioned by Remington (the UK supplier of hair care and personal care appliances). Remington asked 2,000 women
Regular readers of this blog will recall that one of my favourite poets, and one whose verses inspired me while writing my novel Burning Embers, is the 19th-century poète Leconte De Lisle. As a reader, I enjoy rich imagery, words that create vivid pictures in my mind; and as a
Is there any more well-known but misunderstood refrain through the English-speaking word than that of ‘Auld Lang Syne’? It is, of course, the song that, traditionally, we sing at midnight on New Year’s Eve (Hogmanay if you’re Scottish) to say farewell to the old year and celebrate the new –
I love words and I love art and creativity, so I think word clouds are a fabulously fun innovation. You copy a section of text into a program, and it generates word art based on a random selection of words (well, they say random, but I suspect the algorithm finds
My novel Burning Embers is set in Kenya, and while the action does not span Christmas, I thought it would be interesting to consider what Christmas means to a Kenyan native. In the UK, Christmas is pretty much universal – even atheists may have trees and exchange gifts. In Kenya
An afternoon spent wandering aimlessly in an art gallery or exhibition, letting the images feed my imagination, is sheer bliss. As with music and dance and literature, I find many forms of art inspirational in my writing. A painter whose works I much admire is David Roberts, an artist who
I mentioned in an earlier blog entry that music is instrumental (forgive the pun) in my writing. It stirs emotion, it inspires, it creates ambiance, it lets the imagination take flight. I have varied tastes when it comes to music, and I listen to an eclectic mix when writing in
What is it about ballet that speaks so to the romantic soul of the watcher? For me, I think it is many things – the catharticism of the music, the grace and fluidity of the physical form, the perfection of the movement, the strict structure within which beauty emerges, the
In many love stories – on screen, in literature, in music – there are examples of characters coming together having been in a perilous situation, faced with death. A writer knows that introducing the risk of loss sharpens depends characters’ feelings towards each other, helps them realise those feelings; and,
Many frogs live here. I’ve seen them during the day and I hear them at night
‘Ice cream? In December?’ I hear you cry. Surely that’s a summer-time treat? Well, not if you follow my easy and quick recipes and combine your favourite festive desserts with creamy ice cream. This is a great way to use up puddings that are going stale, or to serve up
Every writer has good days and bad days: times when the words just flow onto the page, as if by magic; and times when you seem to spend much of the day gazing out of the window, tidying your desk, looking up words in the dictionary – anything but write.
Eagle-eyed readers will have spotted the quote that runs along the bottom of this blog: ‘We chase dreams and embrace shadows.’ Anatole France’s quote echoes through my novel Burning Embers. ‘But who was Anatole France?’ you may well be wondering – he’s not a writer perhaps familiar to readers outside
I defy any romantic to watch this film and not love it! In my list of favourite films, it’s right near the top. I love the colours (of course, released in 1939, it was one of the first films shot in colour), the music, the characters, the vivid settings –
You’d have to be a hermit in a cave to have missed the excitement and passion generated among girls and women across the UK by the latest Twilight movie. Stephenie Meyer’s books have tapped into the deep river of romanticism that lies within the modern woman – though we’re strong
In my novel, Burning Embers, the male protagonist, Rafe, uses a number of terms of endearment when speaking to his lover Coral – my darling, my sweet, my love. But the most prevalent, and the most fitting in terms of her character, is ‘rosebud’. To the non-British reader, this may
In Burning Embers, Rafe and Coral take to the skies in a hot air balloon from which they see have a commanding view over Kenya, laid out beneath them in all her glory. They see blue waters and verdant vegetation, and amid them the most wonderful array of animals: elephants,
As Lysander wisely points out in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, ‘The course of true love never did run smooth.’ And what would a romance novel be without some obstacles along the path to test the lovers? Of course, one of the most common threats introduced by the author is
The publishing world has been abuzz this week with the news of the discovery of a second novel by Harper Lee more than 50 years since the publication of her first. To Kill a Mockingbird was one of the most powerful, memorable books I read in my childhood, and I’m
Stieg Larsson, sadly, never lived to see his novels, the Millennium series, become the worldwide sensation of the past decade. Indeed, he had not even attempted to publish them; he wrote them for his own pleasure in the evenings after work. After this death, the manuscripts were discovered, and subsequently
In my novel The Echoes of Love, the protagonist, Venetia, is somewhat lost – torn between heart and head: her interest in the man she has recently met, Paolo, and her long-term independence and avoidance of romantic entanglements. She is walking home from work one evening along the CalledelParadiso, amost
From the blurb: When beautiful Kate Mayhew is hired as chaperone to Burke Traherne’s headstrong daughter Isabel, the Marquis finds himself in an impossible predicament. Torn between the knowledge that she is exactly what Isabel needs but also, for him, the worst possible temptation, he finds himself in constant proximity
In my novel The Echoes of Love Paolo and Venetia take some time out to get to know each other on the island of Sardinia. There, they attend a very special ceremony in Castelsardo, in the northwest of the island, which is a key part of the town’s cultural identity.
Thriller author James Patterson has long been a vocal advocate of aggressive, creative, attention-grabbing marketing in the publishing industry. He’s famously said: ‘Publishers are sitting around saying: “Woe is me.”… Get in attack mode.’ (Source: The Guardian). Although Patterson has a publisher, he’s always seen marketing as a personal responsibility
Earlier this week, I posted an article about author James Patterson’s latest publicity stunt: an exploding book. No doubt that book will have his name prominently displayed on it. As for the vast majority of creative – artists, writers, musicians – the name is as big a part of the
It’s a most rewarding activity which I think most published authors would admit to indulging in: looking for your book on the shelves of bookstores wherever you go. This week, with the help of some friends who commute around London, I’ve book-spotted The Echoes of Love in three locations, Heathrow,
When I think of Venice, setting for my novel The Echoes of Love, I always think of two things: art and water. Venice has long been an important focus in the art world, especially during the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Baroque; it even boasted its own unique style known as the Venetian School, whose major
I make it my business to know about the publishing industry, and to keep abreast of news and opinion pieces in the book sections of newspapers and in magazines dedicated to the theme. Of course, much has changed and is changing in this sector, and so people have much to
There’s a new word being bandied about online and in writing magazines: Abibliophobia. The definition is ‘a fear of running out of reading material’. The word is being treated as something of a joke – a humorous witticism. But I think there is a lot of truth in it! For the
In my novel The Echoes of Love – set in Venice, Tuscany and Sardinia – the lovers, Venetia and Paolo, share several meals out together, from fine dining in a celebrated restaurant to authentic cuisine in a rustic local eatery, and on the menu are all kinds of delicious Italian
Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, is a game changer. So when he does something new, people sit up and take notice. How interesting, then, for we who are immersed in publishing, that his new initiative is in our camp: he just launched The Year of Books Community on Facebook to fulfil
Have you noticed that my debut novel, Burning Embers, has a new cover? The design is to match The Echoes of Love, and I’m delighted with it because it pulls together so many elements of the book. First, the model. She’s just as I picture Coral, the heroine of the
You curl up with a good book, and sip a steaming mochaccino. You watch a romance movie with a friend, and share a bowl of popcorn. You have a romantic meal with a lover, and end with a melt-in-the-middle chocolate pudding. You unwrap your partner’s gifts from under the tree,
Did you know that Leo Tolstoy’s novel War and Peace was originally entitled All’s Well That Ends Well? That William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury was called Twilight? That Jane Austen’s original title for Pride and Prejudice was First Impressions? That John Steinbeck envisioned Of Mice and Men published as Something That Happened?
Cooking and dining are great passions of mine, and when I am writing a new novel, I take great pleasure in exploring the cuisine of the country in which the story is set. For Aphrodite’s Tears, that meant indulging my love of Greek cuisine. Because my novel is set on
If I could create a ‘booktrack’ for my new novel Aphrodite’s Tears (a musical soundtrack to which you listen while reading), it would feature prominently one instrument: the lyre. Here is one of my favourite musical scenes in the book, which occurs during the Epiklisi festival, when the islanders of
In July, author Michael Ondaatje was awarded the ‘Golden’ Man Booker Prize, when his novel The English Patient was voted the most popular Man Booker Prize-winner of all time. In his acceptance speech (which you can read at http://lithub.com/michael-ondaatjes-golden-man-booker-speech-is-really-great/), Michael said this: I’ve not read The English Patient since it came out in
My interest in ancient civilisations began with the stories I was told by my parents and governess in childhood – but it was cemented by glimpses of the physical remains of those civilisations: the Pyramids at Giza, the Colosseum in Rome, the many ruins on the Greek island of Delos, birthplace
I was thrilled to read of a new movie being released in September based upon the life of Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette. Here is the trailer for Colette: Setting aside the fact that the actors have English accents while depicting French characters, I’m looking forward to watching this film because it takes me
‘We travel, some of us forever, to seek other places, other lives, other souls.’ So wrote novelist Anais Nin. What a perfect explanation for the inner need to travel, don’t you think? Without my own travels – driven by my curiosity to learn about new places and peoples, past and
Imagine you are a sea nymph, one of the fifty daughters born to Nereus and Doris (the daughter of Oceanus). You are perfectly happy in your life in the ocean – but then you catch the eye of a god. The most powerful god in your domain: Poseidon. He wants you
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