Seven Things...

This has taken me a lot longer to post than intended, but I had a trip to Ashdown House to report on. 

Diane at Tales From Baggins Bottom has tagged me for "Seven Things About Me." As you can see by her blog post, she's a very busy freelance writer.

Actually reading what she has on the go makes me feel like I'm not doing anywhere near enough. Chasing two kids, a part time job and keeping a house tidy sometimes gets in the way of what I really want to do - write. But Rachel Brimble did reassure me (whilst at Ashdown House) that as my kids get older, my writing time will increase - phew!

I did send The Wedding Favour to another publisher, and they asked for the full, but it ended with a no thank you. Therefore, I will continue editing it (I've done eight chapters so far) to resubmit to the publisher who gave me a revise/resubmit rejection.

Anyway, here are my seven things...some facts you may already know.I couldn't really thinking of anything that interesting, actually. Sorry.

1. I have a bottle of champagne (only a cheap one) in the fridge, waiting for when I get my first writing contract. It's been in there a while now.
2. I find it easier to type an "!" than a "." and it's a habit I need to break.
3. When I was 15 I wanted to be a TV make-up artist.
4. This time last year, I was a stone heavier. I think this is due mainly to my running, and hoping not too much due to the stress going on in my life at the moment.
5. My favourite James Bond is Daniel Craig, but then I do have a thing for blonds and blue eyes.
6. I used to work at Thorpe Park. I was a litter picker. Every person on this planet should do this job - they would never drop litter again!
7. It took me three times to pass my driving test. My dad couldn't understand it. He'd been teaching me to drive since my feet could reach the pedals. (It was down to nerves actually).

Now I have to nominate seven blogs/friends. I know that some of these people are very busy, and therefore don't expect them to carry on the tag. But I've nominated them because they have helped and encouraged me, (I could have listed more!) and I want to say thank you in some way.

In no particular order... 

1. Rachel Lyndhurst
2. Rachel Brimble
3. Annalisa Crawford
4. Becky Black
5. Morton Gray
6. Carol Hedges
7. Kerry Harrison

(I've updated with a seventh thing! lol! How did I miss it?)

My RNA Chapter 'Field Trip'

Shot from the back.

I promise I will get to my seven things post which is stuck in drafts, but after a wonderful afternoon at Ashdown House on Saturday, I felt it only fair that I share the experience here.

I meet my RNA Chapter group every four to six weeks. This time the group met at Ashdown House in Berkshire for a little field trip, and was given a tour by Nicola Cornick, one of our chapter members who also volunteers at the house.

Approaching the house.

Afterwards, we had tea (or coffee) and cake - kindly baked by Nicola's husband, Andrew - in her garden because the weather was brilliant. We were entertained - and chewed - by their trainee Labrador guide dog puppy, Rochester. We were so lucky with the weather - what a change Sunday morning!

If I was taking it all in, the house was built by William Craven for a queen he loved, Queen Elizabeth of Bohemia in 1662.

Unfortunately, you can not view the rooms, due to the tenancy agreement, so we only got to see the magnificent staircase which is a quarter of the house's floor space, and the roof. It was designed as a hunting lodge, but a house fit for a queen.

If you're a historical writer and need some inspiration, this is the house to visit. But check out the website. The house can only accommodate so many people, so it's not overly advertised.

All of the photos were taken by my phone, and they didn't come out half bad actually.

Because of the marvellous weather, up on the roof, the views were spectacular and we even were able to have a group photo... although I think a few members from our party are missing.

From left to right: Nicola Cornick, Sandra Jackson (Jane Lark), Jean Burnett, Alison Knight, Eileen Hathaway, Rachel Brimble, Jean Brushfield and Liz Fielding.

I had a wonderful day, and I get such great encouragement from this group. I'm so happy to be a part of it.

Book Review and 50,000 Stuff

Thought I would just do this quickly before I headed off to bed, and saw that I've hit over 50,000 page views. OMG!

Anyway, here is the book review below. Not really an interesting one, but as I like to share them on my blog, this one might as well be posted too.

The Nanny and the CEO by Rebecca Winters

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Maybe I should have given up on this book. It wasn't really my kind of story. I think I am getting bored of these sorts of novels. Some Mills and Boon grab me, and I can't put them down, others feel very samey. This was one of them.

I also felt that this story was 'told' too much, and the romance was not 'shown'.



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I'm so behind on my reading. Right off to bed. And p.s. this is not the half written blog post that I haven't finished, as per my Tweet. I will do that tomorrow - hopefully.

Single Lined Spacing...

And The Wedding Favour was still 182 pages!

Yes, I've printed it off, and I'm about to attack with the red pen to see where I can lose 20,000 words. Eeek!

All four publishers in the end rejected me, but one has giving me a revise and resubmit, hence the cutting of words. And I'll do that, plus send out to some other publishers. I'm torn between trying to get it published with a big ebook publisher in the US, but it will never go into 'print' as a category romance - that's if the resubmit is accepted admittedly! Or still sticking it out for someone who will print and ebook it in its original form.

Although I do think, I would get the rights back eventually, and I could consider getting it published (even if I self-published it) in it's original form. I will always have the 'whole' book.

Therefore, I did send it out to another publisher recommended by a writery friend, just the synopsis initially, and they came back a couple of days later and requested the first three chapters. So I must be doing something right. I don't get the 'no thanks' immediately. At least presentation must be good lol!

But to keep options open, I'll do both. Then I can start on a new book. Or editing Perfect Isn't An Option. I'll get my feedback from the RNA NWS eventually. Eek!

Have a wonderful weekend all. I can't believe September is upon us and the Quality Street tins have been in the shop weeks already. Double eek!

Book Review: Uphill All The Way by Sue Moorcroft

Uphill All The Way by Sue Moorcroft

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I have read all of Sue Moorcroft's books so far, and have enjoyed all of them.

I was given this book, as a gift, from Sue at the RNA Conference (2011), as it is out of print. And have finally got around to reading it.

I've thoroughly enjoyed it, too!

Sue writes such delicious heroes, and heroines you can empathise with.

Judith has a rough journey ahead of her, after losing her lover, Giorgio, in Malta. She returns home to Northamptonshire, and has other battles and problems to face, no one considering she needs to grieve.

Adam becomes her friend, and lover, and gives her the patience and support she needs. But is her heart still in Malta? Ha! You'll have to read!

Definitely needs to come back into print. Lovely story. Thank you, Sue for sharing with me.

(I would have read this book so much quicker, but I'm also reading to my son the Harry Potter series.)



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Don't Panic, I Am Alive!

Taken Friday night - to prove I'm not some bot!

Gosh, it's been a whole week since I blogged, so going to use this post as a bit of a catch up for you!

I've spent the last week with my family, staying at my Mum's with the boys.  I wasn't totally cut off from the internet world, thanks to the good old Smart Phone, but it's not somewhere I choose to blog from.

Actually, what I do use is Instagram and if you do too, I'm Witteringwoman :D I think I've got used to it, as it's a phone App. As you can see, you can see one picture, but to see all the pictures I've taken, you need to go into the App from your phone. I try to share via Facebook*, Tumblr and Twitter, depending on what the pictures are. *please note I don't always friend on Facebook as it's my personal page.

The other day I did hear back from another publisher about The Wedding Favour. Bearing in mind I nearly didn't send it to this publisher, I've had incredible feedback from them really. It was a rejection, but in my eyes a positive one, and so I didn't feel too upset about it.  Of course it would have been nice to be accepted - I dream of being an author for this publisher - but I was realistic that it possibly wouldn't happen with my first novel.

With the info I'm about to give you, you might deduce who the publisher is... Anyway, they said it did very well with their tasting panel, so much so it then went to their editorial team. However, for 2013 they have really filled all their contemporary romance slots, and an existing author has a similar story already planned for that year too, so it wasn't what they were looking for.

The fact that they requested the full from the synopsis and then I got this positive rejection does actually make me feel more confident about my writing ability. I will get there... hopefully. I'm too stubborn to give up.

So next steps... well, I can still edit The Wedding Favour down to the category romance and resubmit to the other interested publisher. Plus, I may look at some other British publishers and send it off to them... (any recommendations please say!). Then, I get to start writing book three, or working on re-editing Perfect Isn't An Option when I get the feedback from the RNA NWS.

But I'm not going to start anything until the kids are back at school, and I'm running four miles three times a week again...