Some very exciting news...

I'm so excited to be able to share some amazing news...

My first novel, Hiding From Hollywood, will be published by Crimson Romance next year! After years of scribbling away I'm so excited that my story will be out there in the world for people to enjoy.

And I'd like to say a huge thank you to everyone who's read drafts, provided feedback, brainstormed with me, made cups of tea (and glasses of wine!) and talked about my characters' problems as if they're real people. I really couldn't have written a word (never mind a book!) without such lovely, generous people encouraging me.

I can't wait to start the next step of the process, even though I'm a bit nervous of being on the other side of the editor's red pen, and will keep you all posted with everything that happens between now and publication.

At this time of year, I couldn't post without mentioning NaNoWriMo. I've written before (here and here) about how much I love this November writing frenzy, and have taken part every year since 2009 (Hiding From Hollywood started life as 2011's effort). But with my rewrites and edits for Hollywood due imminently, and other stories on the go, 50000 words is just not realistic this year (or at least not without dropping one of the other balls I'm juggling). But as I can't resist a November challenge, I've decided that I'm going to try and get myself halfway into a new story -- 25k -- by the end of the month. Check back here to see how I get on!

Is anyone planning to take on NaNo for the first time this year? Or if the full 50k just won't fit into your life right now, why not set yourself another November challenge? Write a short story, try a particular poem structure, write a detailed synopsis for your next story, set yourself a daily word target. To me, NaNo isn't just about getting the words on the page, it's about making space in my life for my writing, a month when leaving the ironing in favour of an extra 500 words isn't just allowed, it's positively encouraged. So whatever, and however much, you're writing this November, Good luck, and may your laundry mountain grow ever higher.

Ellie x

Modern Tempted review #2

As promised, here are my review of the other two Modern Tempted titles, the first two books of the Wedding Season quartet.

Unexpected Wedding Guest

Aimee Carson

 ‘Surprised to see me?’

Getting caught in her wedding dress by her drop-dead-gorgeous ex-husband is Reese Michael’s worst nightmare. Especially when her perfect-on-paper fiancé then cancels their wedding! Reese has spent years trying to forget how her marriage to Mason Hicks crashed and burned – yes, their chemistry was incredible, but a girl can’t live on lust alone! And what’s a jilted bride supposed to do when the one man she could never forget is back in her life, as irresistible as ever? Mason might be her own personal brand of Kryptonite, but surely life is meant to be lived a little dangerously…?

From the outset the mood of this story felt darker and more dangerous and Mason oozes trouble from the off. He has serious challenges to face – physical and emotional – following service in Afghanistan, and hopes to resolve some of his issues by coming face to face with his ex-wife.

It took a while to warm to Reese – she’s all confrontation in her first couple of scenes – and to be honest I felt rather sorry for her (soon to be ex-) fiancé. But I read on, and I’m glad that I did.

I love a reunion story and characters who know all too well the challenges of trying to maintain a relationship past the honeymoon phase. So by the time they'd found their HEA, I'd forgiven them both their past transgressions (and, thankfully, they'd forgiven one another) and had overcome my initial trepidation. If you like dark and brooding, there’s a lot to love here.

This is the first of four linked stories, the second is ...

Girl Least Likely to Marry

Amy Adams

Talk nerdy to me

Samuel Tucker is absolutely the last person scientist Cassie Barclay would ever date. Yes, he’s gorgeous, but he’s also far too cocky for his own good and thinks that pi is a tasty afternoon treat. So when he asks her to dance at her friend Reese’s nonwedding she’s wondering why on earth she says yes! Tuck is used to people assuming he’s all brawn and no brain, and amuses himself by winding Cassie up. But when he finally takes her to bed, suddenly it’s Tuck who can show Cassie a thing or two! Can he convince her that love and sex have nothing to do with logic and everything to do with chemistry?

This story was my absolute favourite of the four, and I can pinpoint the reason in two words: Cassiopeia Barclay.

After being swamped with hormones and sensual tension from the last few stories, it felt like a refreshing change of pace to see the world through Cassie’s eyes for a few pages. She’s a scientist, rational, and not swept away by a sculpted bicep or a pretty smile. Not interested in men at all – until she comes within sniffing-distance of Samuel Tucker’s pheromones, that is.

She’s totally unconventional, and it was fascinating to spend a few hours in a brain so different from my own, and certainly very different from your stereotypical heroine. I really enjoyed the reverse-Cinderella – she meets the hero when she’s looking her makeover-best, but he doesn't fall in love with her until she’s back in her leggings and baggy tee. And her ideas of romance mostly remain unchanged too, even after she's fallen in love – the final scene when she tries to explain her feelings to Tuck is adorably hopeless.

This is the second of the Wedding Season quartet, and I can’t wait to read the other two stories (I suspect Gina’s, in particular, is going to be a hoot).

That was my take on Modern Tempted, but what do you think of this new line? And did you take the plunge and pitch to the editors?

Ellie

x

Mills & Boon Modern Tempted - Review

Disclosure: I was sent free review copies of these titles by Mills & Boon

Mills & Boon have launched a new series of books on their website this month (or rather they have relaunched the RIVA series) and I was very excited to be asked to review the first four titles in the line. 

Modern Tempted (known as KISS in the States) is right up my my street: sassy, sharp writing with heaps of flirtation and sexual chemistry, so read on to find out what I thought of the first two titles. 

If You Can’t Stand the Heat …

Joss Wood        

Resisting temptation has never been so impossible…

Living on the edge used to make wild-card war reporter Jack Chapman feel alive. These days he needs some time out before he burns out. So what better distraction than delectable pastry chef Ellie Evans? She’s oh-so-tempting…and sleeping right next door! Perfect for a short-term fling! Ellie knows it would be beyond stupid to fall for a guy with ice in his veins who’s always on the move. But daredevil Jack is even more irresistible than her death-by-chocolate cake – and saying no has never been Ellie’s strong point!

This was a great introduction to the series, packed full of flirtation, sass and steamy sexual tension. I was hooked by the end of the first chapter, not least because of the appearance of that under-represented species: the red-headed hero (full disclosure, I am myself a ginger).

Jack, the‘reluctantly, cynically charming’ hero, is utterly endearing, even though at times he doesn't really deserve it. But he does redeem himself in the end – especially because, much as I loved him being all masterful and taking control when Ellie needs his help, he’s more adorable still when he stands back and make her fix things herself.

Ellie was a bit of a challenge for me at first. She desperately needs to stand up for herself, and at times I wanted to physically shake some self-confidence into her. But standing back, as Jack does, and seeing her learn it for herself is infinitely more rewarding.

The glimpses into Ellie’s bakery add more colour and sparkle to the story, and the descriptions of the South African coast made me as keen as Jack to up sticks and see it for myself. The chemistry between the hero and heroine sizzled from their first meeting and the ‘heat’ from the title is evident in everything these characters say and do.

All in all, a great introduction to the series, and had me reaching straight for the next in the pile…

 The Right Mr Wrong

Natalie Anderson

‘Will you marry me?’

Isn’t that the question every girl dreams of hearing? Victoria certainly used to think so. And safe, steady Oliver seemed perfect husband material. But that was until she met Liam, his rebellious, scorchingly hot best friend. Suddenly Victoria’s feeling things – crazy lust-fuelled things! – she’s never felt before. But for the wrong guy…Then Oliver goes down on one knee and it’s decision time – head or hormones? But, whether she says yes or no, Victoria’s about to discover the truth about guys like Liam – once you go bad you never go back!

‘Hot sex? Yes, Please’ – It would be very difficult to pick a favourite line from this story – it’s packed with brilliant dialogue, hot descriptions, and insightful emotion, but if I was forced to, it would be this one.

The author packs in so much meaning to every word, that by the time the hero has spoken just one  – ‘Victoria?’ – we know that they’re meant to be together. So much emotion crammed into that one word, and that’s only in the prologue, for heaven’s sake – before the book proper even gets started!

I loved watching Victoria pushing Liam as much as he pushes her – there’s something so very powerful about him trying to cling to his control, and Victoria driving him closer and closer to what he really wants. The scene with the wet shirt – you’ll know it when you get there! – was a masterclass.

The Sliding Doors-style“what-if” reset half way through the book took me completely by surprise, and I was a few pages in before I really understood what was going on, that Vivi really was Victoria (was I being unusually slow?). I did find the jump from the warm glow of a HEA back to early-days sniping a little jarring, and although exploring how just one question can change our lives was definitely very intriguing, I think I could have been just have happy with one story or the other. That said, a second helping of HEA-glow is hard to turn down. 

Up next for review are the first two linked titles of the Wedding Quartet, so watch this space.

Mills & Boon are also actively looking for new authors for the line! They're currently running a pitch contest (details here: https://www.facebook.com/millsandboon/app_413669555418802) so maybe #FoodGloriousFood will be winging its way to them soon?!

Ellie

x

Lovelife of Pi

Until last week, I hadn't written a poem since school. It's not that I've felt a mortal terror of poetry, more of a complete inability to know where to start. I enjoy reading poetry, I'm always overwhelmingly impressed when a member of my writing group brings a poem to share, but the thought of putting pen to paper and coming up with something that looks and sounds like a poem .... It just seemed completely impossible. 

But then, last month, one of the members of aforementioned writing group set us a challenge (a challenge that she herself had been set by a colleague at the school where she teaches).

Write a poem of forty words.

Easy! I hear you cry. Well, hold your horses. That's not even the half of it ... The number of letters in each word must correspond to the first forty digits of pi. Remember pi? The circumference of a circle = 2πr and all that? Pi starts 3.141... So your poem starts with a three-letter word, and then a one-letter word, and then a four-letter word. And so on and so forth until the fortieth digit.

Rather than striking fear into my heart, as this might with any sane person, I actually quite liked the sound of it. This was my somewhere to start. A structure that I could work with to try and expell my poetic demons.

So many hours, a glass of wine, and lots of letter-counting later, here's what I came up with:

Him.
I look, a glance, desperate.
He stands still, face drawn
Immobile, heartsick, broken.

Ridiculed are we.
The taunting fates denied us -
Denied love.

But now marriage.
And my husband loitering close by: deceived, trusting.
A dreadful mistake.

I'm the first to admit it's not a work of artistic genius, and that it doesn't make as much sense as I'd like. But I love it. I'm finally off the starting blocks, and next time I'm wondering where to start with poetry, perhaps I'll look back at this and remember it wasn't as scary as I'd thought.

Fancy having a go yourself? The first forty digits of pi are: 3.141592653589793238462643383279502884197
Please share your efforts below!

Ellie
x

Foodie update, and lots of other things

Hello friends!

I have spent the past few weeks and months with my head well and truly buried in my WIP. But now it's away with my wonderful critique partner, I finally have a little time to blog, remind my family what I look like, tidy the house, catch up on the laundry ... Oh the glamour.

So Food Glorious Food - it still doesn't have a proper title - is finished, sort of. It's already been through a couple of drafts, and, thanks to the brilliant feedback of my local writers' group, is hopefully in pretty okay shape. Though I'm sure that my CP is finding lots of stuff for me to work on as I speak!

In other news, remember my Old Friends? Well, just like when the whole story got started, they're hanging around in my head again a lot, refusing to leave me alone. A second draft of their story is definitely on the cards, and soon, but some of their friends seem to be hassling me as well, wanting a book of their own. I'm not sure I'm ready to embark on another historical adventure just yet - especially when I'm still researching and making plans for the first - but like with lots of my writing, I'm not entirely sure I'm the one calling the shots here.

So that's where my writing life is at the moment - a bit all over the place. One manuscript out for review, another awaiting a second draft and more research and a couple of ideas that seem determined to drag my attention away. Oh, and then there's the small matter of writing a POEM (but perhaps I should save that for another time).

I'd really love to hear how everyone else balances different projects at different stages. How do you decide what to work on next? Should I chase down that new idea or stick with research and revisions for the one I've already written?

Ellie
x

Hearing voices

I have Good News - my characters are talking to me again! I stuck out the awkward party, I made small talk, I listened and eventually  they started letting me into their conversation.

The excellent advice I had - to get my characters to explain themselves to a new character - was a turning point. I wrote pages and pages cringe-worthy info-dump dialogue, which will NEVER be seen by another human EVER, but which helped me to really understand them again. I began to feel their conflicts, rather than  just know them.

That's not to say that there aren't some ongoing issues. My characters are still making me work really hard for their cooperation. They will only speak to me if I'm writing longhand, away from my desk, for example. And they like to talk when they feel like it, not when I do. I remind myself I mustn't indulge them in this last point - it isn't the best way to get a novel finished, after all, and the more I talk to them, it seems, they more they'll talk to me.

So for anyone out there being given the silent treatment by their characters - please don't give up. They are still in there somewhere: keep writing, and they'll come back to you.

Ellie x

Late to the party

Have you ever arrived late to a party and known straight away it's going to be a very long night. Everyone's a few glasses ahead of you, there's a new in joke, (whenever anyone tries to explain it they end up saying 'you just had to be there') and the food's looking a bit manky. You're convinced you stick out like a sore thumb, and you think you'd be better off leaving.

Well, this is what my characters have done to me. Last time I was here I was all excited to get back to work on Food Glorious Food. I'd been looking forward to it for ages, and I was prepared to dive right in. Unfortunately, my characters were less happy to be woken from a six-month nap. Turns out they were pretty happy being ignored, and they don't want to let me back in.

This doesn't feel fair. I created these people. I'd spent an age doing prep work: building the characters in my mind, creating character profiles, writing the first few chapters, writing more character profile. I thought that I'd be able to sit, read through my notes, remember everything about who they are, and start writing.

But when I sit down and write, the words don't want to come. When my critique group helpfully point out the plot hole in chapter one, I can't come up with a way to fix it. I just don't understand these people any more.

So, I've done what I would have to do at that party. I started talking, well writing. It doesn't matter that my conversation is stilted, or that the person I'm talking to doesn't make much sense. I figure I'll write my way through this conversation, and the next and the next, and as long as I am putting pen to paper, and doing my best to figure my characters out (and perhaps with the help of a small glass of red) I'll find my way back into the party spirit.

Has this happened to anyone else - any advice gratefully received!

Ellie x