Novelicious.com | The Women's Fiction Blog for Readers and Writers

LBD News - Girl Racers by Janet Gover

I LOVE the sound of this one! It's due out on the 8th July and the synopsis reads...

Winning the race is one thing, but can Alex be a winner in love?

Tomboy lawyer Alex Reilly loves nothing better than coming first – except her sexy red Lotus sports car. Preparing for the gruelling Snowy Mountains Car Rally, Alex isn’t expecting competition in the form of glamorous model Lyn Stanton. Lyn is everything Alex is not: blonde, gorgeous and girlie – and she’s also navigating the race for Keir Thomas, the man who left town and broke Alex’s heart eleven years ago. When the three are unexpectedly thrown together, Alex realises she must find a way to trust Keir again to have any chance of crossing the finish line first. Will they be able to confront their troubled past and rediscover not only their shared passion for cars, but each other?

What do you reckon? Loving the cover, too.

LBD Review - Moonlighting by Kate Lace

REVIEWED BY DEBS CARR

 

Jess Dryden works as a Special Constable at the weekends and when she’s very lucky she gets to walk the beat with gorgeous policeman Matt Green. Having inherited her grandmother’s house jointly with her sister Abby, they let it out to tenants through Abby’s husband with the intention of renovating the property as soon as they’ve saved enough of the rent to cover the work. Jess is stony broke and asks her sister if she can live as housekeeper at the house, rent-free. Her brother-in-law, Gavin insists it would upset the tenants if she were to move in and secretly gives Jess the number of someone he knows, who runs Shoq, an exotic dance club.

 

Jess is a trained dancer, but it’s never occurred to her to earn a living as a topless pole dancer before, but as it’s a way for her to earn good money, she soon learns the ropes and is able to move into a nicer flat. Things progress nicely between her and Matt, and he soon moves in with her. Two members of the Drug Squad, investigating Shoq’s sleezy owner, Miles, discover that Jess works there during the week and she’s given very little choice but to start working undercover on their behalf.

 

Matt knows where she works and although he doesn’t like how Jess earns her money, he understands her reasons for doing it. That is until he overhears a conversation at work one day and not being aware of her undercover work, jumps to the wrong conclusion. It’s then that things go from bad to worse for Jess.

 

I loved this book and read most of it in one sitting. The action soon speeds along with Jess becoming more involved in matters she doesn’t understand and her life taking turns she could never have foreseen coming.

 

A thoroughly enjoyable 9/10

 

Sarah Duncan's Awesome Blog!

I've been meaning to tell you about this. I recently discovered the blog of author Sarah Duncan and had to bring it to your attention. It's an absolute treasure trove of excellent writing advice for those aspiring authors among us.

Not only does Sarah write marvellous Rom Com books, she also teaches creative writing at the Universities of Oxford and Bristol. She knows her stuff!

So take a peek, but be careful not to get locked on (like I did), else you'll be so caught up in reading about writing that you won't actually, you know, do any writing.

Visit Sarah's Blog

My Writing Room - Milly Johnson

Taking inspiration from The Guardian's 'Writers' Rooms', Sky Arts' 'The Write Place' and Book Chick City's excellent 'Where Stories Are Made'; My Writing Room is a fabulous fortnightly event, in which some of our favourite authors show us where the writerly magic happens, and tell us a little about their routine.

This week it's the lovely Milly Johnson - Enjoy!

 

My Writing Room by Milly Johnson

 

 

I ‘stole’ a bedroom in my house to make an office from and decorated it in wallpaper with bees and hives on it simply because I liked it when I saw it in the shop.  In fact I loved it so much that it inspired me to write book 2 ‘The Birds and the Bees’ with its heavy-honey imagery. My writing room is at the front of the house, south facing, so all my four cats lay in the window soaking up the sun – and my dog snoozes at the side of the door on the landing.  I bought a huge old battered L-shaped Partners desk from eBay which I love to work on.  That side of the room is designated my fiction area, the desk fitted to the wall at the other side is used for doing accounts (yeurch) and plotting and craftwork.  My boys love it in here too and use the computer in here most evenings (even though they have their own in their bedrooms!)  My chair is a huge, comfortable swivel, wheeled affair – and totally cat ravaged!

It’s important to have a separate room for work and this one has plenty of storage and places to spread out, but still remains cosy whatever the time of year.  I don’t have a kettle in the room because then I can stretch my legs and burn off a few calories when I go downstairs for my many cups of coffee of the day.

It’s beautifully light in here and I’ve fitted a daytime bulb in my ancient anglepoise lamp (which was with me during my O levels!)  I have hundreds of pens and books and the drawers are stuffed with stationery.  

I have a tiny TV on my desk which I watch Jeremy Kyle on whilst I’m ‘warming up’ in a morning, answering emails and updating my website.  I switch it off though when I start working properly, because I prefer to write in silence.  My screen saver is a picture of me snuggling up to WWE wrestlers – I think they’re gorgeous and so they’re an inspiration when I’m writing about hunky men! I don’t tend to have pictures on the walls – although I’m looking for a huge pinboard so that will change. 

This is the perfect writing room for me and it’s a friendly space that all the family use.  I know where to find everything and it’s got a lovely feel to it whether I’m working in it or trying to find more bargains on eBay!

Buy A Summer Fling

Visit Milly's Website

 

Confessions of a Wannabe Chick Lit Author - Life Imitating Art?

Another week of Writer's Tuesday and our column by Emily Tootsweet, who also has a facebook page if you want to friend her!

When I’m writing my novels I find that my mood often affects my writing. I’m not sure if any other writers do this but for me I feel I put a lot more into the scenes I’m writing when I’m emotionally on the same level as my characters. Even if this means writing scenes out of sequence. If I feel sad, I write the sad scenes - I feel linked to the characters, I feel whatever pain they are going through and I remember when I wrote the now defunct first novel, I often found myself crying along when the characters were crying too.
 
Of course I prefer when I’m in a happier mood because that’s when I can write the happier scenes and the funny ones too. I often write them after a particularly good night out with the girls or something happened at work that made me giggle (not that that happens all that often!lol)
 
I know that this means I often write my novels out of sequence and it’s a case of joining all the scenes together like a jigsaw afterwards but it works for me. I feel it makes my scenes stronger because I’ve put so much personal emotion in to it. I’ve noticed I’ve done that for Novel 2 so far as well. And it’s not a case of my novels being autobiographical. I made a conscience decision to make Novel 2 as far from reality as possible, unlike the defunct first novel.
 
When I write I put on some instrumental music and get on with it. If it’s a sad song, it helps make me feel melancholy and I write the sad scenes. And the opposite for any upbeat music.
 
When I was writing the defunct first novel, I found the ideal music to listen to. The Da Vinci Code soundtrack. I liked the film and the book and the soundtrack seemed to fit my novel just as much as it fitted the film. Even hearing that CD now makes me think back to my first novel. It’s strange how you can link certain songs and pieces of music to things that you’ve done or things that have happened in the past.
 
At the moment I’m feeling really sad (due to reasons I can’t go into) so I would normally write some of my sad scenes but writing is the last thing I want to do just now. That’s the danger when you focus your emotions onto your writing - when you feel sad, you have to push yourself to write because if something’s bringing you down, writing is the often the last thing you want to do. Again, it’s all about getting the balance right.
 
Yours,
Emily Tootsweet

Novelicious Chats to...Keris Stainton (Blog Tour!)

To celebrate the publication of the fab Della Says: OMG - Keris Stainton invited us to be part of her blog tour. We happily accepted and decided to ask her a few cheeky questions about her years as a teenager. I love this interview (and the accompanying pics!) and hope you do too!

At what age did you start writing a diary?

I'm not sure. I remember getting one of those lockable diaries for Christmas and thinking it was the best thing ever. Maybe I was about 8? I did the typical thing of starting a new diary every new year and it gradually fizzling out by mid-January... 

 

 

 

Can you give us an example of a typical page in your diary?

Ha! Well I remember one page where I'd drawn a picture of an apple with two overlapping circles. A boy I liked had taken a bite of my apple and then I'd taken a bite next to his bite. I wrote that I'd "practically kissed him". I also remember a dramatic bit about "cutting my hand open" on a yoghurt lid and how such terrible things always happened to me.  

When you were fifteen, did you suspect that you may be a writer in the future?

I don't think so, no. I don't really remember, oddly enough. I know that I wrote and I loved reading, but I don't think I'd ever considered the idea of actually being a writer. In fact, I remember exactly when I thought of it and I was about 25! But as soon as I did think of it, I knew it was exactly right.  

What was your first ever snog like?!

Ha! Utterly dreadful. It was on a family holiday and I'd been kind of flirting with this Spanish guy. He went off to the loo and so I saw my chance and went off to the loo too. NOT the same loo, obviously, but I thought we might both come out at the same time and bump into each other. And that's what happened. He kissed me and kind of grappled with me, like I was trying to get away and he was desperate to stop me? But I wasn't, I was just standing there. Eventually I pushed him away and I think I said something hideously embarrassing like, "That's enough of THAT!" All very disappointing. 

 

Della works part time in her parents deli. Did you have a job as a youngster?

My first job was a Saturday job in a bookshop/stationers. I was really excited to work with books, but the manageress was horrible and wouldn't let me near the books, only the stationery. The hours were something like 8.30 to 6 with half an hour for lunch and I got paid £10. I got the sack after going to Birmingham to see Bros on a Friday night. I got the overnight coach back and it got held up so I had to miss work. It worked out quite well since I moved on to John Menzies and they paid £17, but I had to wear a nylon overall-dress that used to spark when I took it off. 

 

LBD News - My Sister's Voice by Mary Carter

Another Little Black Dress romance due out on 24th June of this year! The blurb reads...

Two sisters must confront the secrets and lies that have separated them all their lives in this heart-warming, poignant romance

Identical twins Lacey and Monica couldn’t be more different, and also couldn’t be more alike. In a devastating twist, they’ve been raised apart, but then, through destiny or sheer accident, they meet; and everything they believed to be true about their lives is set to change for ever. Secrets are revealed, friendships are tested, and biological parents are confronted as these new sisters strive to uncover the whole truth about why they were separated.

You can pre-order this book here!

LBD Review - Saris & The City by Rekha Waheed

REVIEWED BY DEBS CARR 

 

 

Yasmin Yusuf has her life planned out and knows what she wants. Racing off to meet her boyfriend for a meal on the evening she’s sure he’s going to propose, she rushes her work and makes a damning mistake on the report her handsome boss, Zachary Khan has asked her to prepare for an important meeting. Zach fires her the following day. Yasmin goes into melt down and tearfully tells him that her expected engagement never happened. As she can’t bear to lose her job as well as her boyfriend, she pleads with him to give her another chance. Unable to do so, he tells her to take a week off and arranges for her to be transferred to another branch of the firm.

 

Still living at home with her widowed father, Yasmin determines not to cause him any unnecessary concern and does her best to pretend everything is fine. Despite being devastated by the change in her circumstances, she also doesn’t need the extra worry of her protective older brothers finding out what her ex-boyfriend, Sam has done to her as she’s sure they’ll want to find him and take revenge. She starts her new job, but ends up at the mercy of Hannah Gibbs-Smythson, a no nonsense woman who does not intend making Yasmin welcome in any way.

 

Yasmin is seen as easy prey by several of her new colleagues and is soon duped into carrying out research that was intended to humiliate her. She is given the job of restoring the fortunes of a lingerie company and gets to know the young woman in charge and has every intention of doing all she can to help find a way to make the lacklustre business thrive once again.  When Yasmin falls out with her closest friends over a misunderstanding, she jumps at the chance of joining several members of her team on a two week working trip to Dubai. It’s while she’s there that things come to a head and Yasmin discovers that everything is not all it seems both at work and with the cool, but dashing, Zachary Khan.

 

This was a lovely story. I enjoyed reading about Yasmin’s difficulties trying to conform within the expectations of her Bengali family, whilst at the same time working in a cut-throat industry. The relationship between Yasmin and her father was beautifully depicted, as were her determination for success despite the odds and her attraction for a man she knows she can’t possibly have. 

 

I’ll definitely be looking out for Rekha Waheed’s previous book too.  8/10

Review - After The Party by Lisa Jewell

Reviewed by Laura Stanning

I was very excited to be given a copy of Lisa Jewell’s new book – I’d read Ralph’s Party and absolutely adored it so the prospect of a sequel was pretty exciting.  By the time I’d read the first chapter, my enthusiasm had definitely begun to wobble a bit.  Because one of the great things about chick lit is that it’s a fantasy world – a parallel universe where you can believe that happy ever after does exist, that a girl can meet the man of her dreams.  So when you’ve watched two characters get together in a previous book  and mentally consigned them to Happy Ever After, it’s somehow a bit disconcerting to find yourself face to face with them again, and discover that they’re not actually living in a fantasy world.  They’re, well, human. 

And so it is with Ralph and Jem, heroes of Ralph’s Party.  When we leave them at the end of the first book they’re in love, the world brightly ahead of them.  When we meet them at the start of the second eleven years have passed and they’re harassed, sleep-deprived parents.  And instead of happily ever after, they’re struggling to live with each other.  They both know that something has to change, but neither knows how to find the way back to what they had.  Searching for a temporary escape, Ralph goes to San Francisco to visit his former flatmate, Smith.  But the choices both he and Jem make while he’s away, and the people they meet, will alter both their lives and their relationship forever.  But can a storybook Happy Ever After really exist in the grey real world?

The interesting thing about After The Party is that actually, Happy Ever After doesn’t seem so important.  Because once you’ve got over the slight shock of the gap (temporal and emotional) from the prequel, this is an incredibly sensitively-written novel about how hard family life can be.  It’s a welcome reminder that the perfect happy ending isn’t as easily achieved as most novels lead us to believe; relationships wobble and they need work.  Lisa Jewell understands that completely and draws the reader into a world of love, sadness, loss and hope.   And, to my surprise, I found that a little of the real world does the characters no harm at all.  In fact, I liked them all the better for it because their struggles were so believable – something the average reader can relate to. 

There were definitely parts of the plot that I thought were over-done (but in the interests of not spoiling a good book I won’t say which bits – I’ll leave that to you to decide) but overall After The Party is a well-written novel that reminds us that life is tough, that it takes strength to get through even the mundane problems of day to day life, and that we shouldn’t feel as if we’ve failed because we sometimes falter.

7/10

Novel News - A Funny Thing About Love by Rebecca Farnworth

I love the sound (and cover) of Rebecca Farnworth's next novel, which is set to be released on the 5th August this year.

The synopsis reads...

The funny thing about love is that just when you think you've got it sorted, it turns round and bites you on the behind. Which is exactly what's happened to Carmen Miller. Her ex husband's girlfriend is pregnant, her career as a comedy agent is going down the pan, she's made a fool of herself with fellow agent Will Hunter, a man she's fancied for ages, and to cap it all she has to move out of her flat. Surely things can't get any worse. Moving down to Brighton to write the TV comedy series that she's always dreamed about, Carmen meets the divine Daniel. A man so gorgeous, she doesn't even mind that he's got long hair. It seems that Carmen's life is on the up again. Until, that is...love bites again. It looks like Carmen's back where she started. But could it be that love isn't the problem? Maybe she's just been choosing the wrong men.

Visit Rebecca's Website

Novelicious Chats to... Gemma Burgess

The Dating Detox by Gemma Burgess is one of the funniest, freshest books I have read in a long while. I'm so pleased that she's done an interview for us. It's a great one too!

 

1. Can you tell us a little about your average writing day?

 

It all depends on what kind of writing I’m doing that day. I don’t really write in a linear way… it’s back then forward then back then forward… like backstitching. (Yes, I was the kind of little girl who learned to backstitch. I blame too much Little Women and Anne Of Green Gables.)

So, with that cleared up:

Plotting and planning requires daydreaming. I play ‘let’s pretend’ in my brain and make notes.

Writing is very definitely best done in the morning for me with a bucket of coffee, or when I’ve given myself a deadline, ie, I have to finish this chapter by 4pm so I can go to the gym. I have to block everything else out, step into the little world I’ve created, and taptaptappitytap.

Editing is best with fresh eyes, ie, after reading/watching/doing something else entirely. It is exhausting as I need to question every word/sentence/paragraph and make sure it’s working as hard as possible .

I write very fast, and when my brain is tired, I have to force myself do something  else, or I start writing utter bollocks. Baking helps, or shopping, or exercise, or walking and people-watching. Nothing involving words.

 

2. The Dating Detox was very, very, VERY funny. What makes you laugh in real life?

 

Stop it! No, go on! I – oh, now I’m blushing… Thanks, I’m so happy you found it funny. Erm, everything makes me laugh, really. My sister and I had a fight years ago – I can’t remember what it was about, washing up or something. I started laughing and she said, furiously: ‘you just think EVERYTHING is so FUNNY!’. Which made me laugh more.

I love reading David Sedaris, he’s hilarious. TV shows like Arrested Development, Glee and 30 Rock make me laugh hysterically. I like things that are clever and sharp and silly and surprising and funny, all at the same time.

 

3. Are Sass, Kate and Bloomie based on people that you know?

 

They’re inspired by bits of me, my sister and my friends. No one is exactly anyone…  The weird thing is that I end up feeling like I know the characters to the point where I know what food they order and what music they like. All my friends are always asking who is who, which is a teeny tiny bit insulting – it’s fiction! I made it up, it’s all from my imagination. I promise.

 

4. What is your favourite Women’s Fiction book of all time and why?

 

Tough question… Maybe Polo by Jilly Cooper. Or Bridget Jones Diary – God, that’s hilarious, it’s the perfect comic novel. I loved Eat Love Pray by Elizabeth Gilbert, it was so warm and smart – brilliantly written. I love The Group, by Mary McCarthy. And I love Mariana, by Monica Dickens. And I love Dorothy Whipple. And Stella Gibbons! Oh, I can’t choose. There are too many. All of them warm, smart, inspiring, comforting books.

 

5. What is your writing process? Do you plan first or dive in? How many drafts do you do?

 

A little from column A, a little from column B... I only had a very vague plan in my head for The Dating Detox; it was sort of intuitive improvisation, AKA.‘winging it’.

For my second book – title TBA, out December 2010 - and some other things in the pipeline, I’ve been planning a lot more. I write character descriptions spanning a thousand words – who they are, where they come from, what they like. It’s like having dinner with someone: I really get to know them and have ideas about things they might do or think.

Writing a novel feels a bit like walking into an empty room and deciding what pieces of furniture would go where. It’s mostly instinctive, you know? You can sort of feel what fits and what you’ll need.

My favourite part of writing is dialogue. You know when you’re in bed and you think of the perfect comeback to something someone said, like, six hours ago? When you’re writing you can use all those comebacks! It’s so satisfying. And figuring out how each character speaks and thinks – ah, it’s so fun.

As far as drafts go – well, I write at least two for me (but I’m constantly editing and re-reading and tweaking as I go, of course), then feedback from my agent results in another draft, then feedback from editor requires another draft. I just finished that draft of my second book. Tis exciting.

 

6. What was your journey to being a published author?

 

It was bloody lucky, for the most part.

I had never really thought about becoming an author. I loved to write, and lucky for me I wrote all day every day as an advertising copywriter.

I actually only started writing The Dating Detox because my sister and I had been talking about how we wanted to read more funny, sharp books about strong-but-normal girls that we’d actually want to hang out with, and when I was laid up in bed with a bad back for a few weeks I thought, to hell with it, and started writing.

I wrote a few chapters, sent it off to 10 agents picked by their postcode (seriously, isn’t that ridiculous?), finished writing the book and signed with the wonderful Laura Longrigg at MBA Literary Agents. Then we got a book deal with Avon HarperCollins. It felt like forever, but from writing the first word to getting the book deal was about 13 months. I go into it in more detail in my blog, if you want the nitty-gritty.

Top 5 Writing Tips from...Hester Browne

Thanks to lovely Hester Browne has given us her top 5 writing tips.

 

1. Don’t base characters on real people, or attempt to exact revenge for any heartbreaks, personal slights, or family feuds. At best, the writing will be too painful for anyone else to read; at worst, it will be published, and you’ll have to deal with it.

2. Read as much as you can, in as many genres as you can. Even bad books can teach you something (why was the pace wrong? Why didn’t the love story feel true? Why did you get bored?)

3. Pace yourself for the long haul. Lots of people start writing novels, then lose interest and energy. You should be aiming for 90,000 words minimum for a mainstream novel; slightly less for a Mills & Boon or Little Black Dress romance. Try to set yourself a deadline and work backwards from that – what’s an achievable weekly word count?

Confessions of a Wannabe Chick Lit Author by Emily Tootsweet - I'm Hooked

Another wonderful column from Emily Tootsweet! Enjoy, and be sure to pop by Emily's blog!

I'm Hooked

Last week was a bit hit and miss for my writing. I was off work and planned to do nothing but write my novel. I didn’t write as much as I would have liked but at least I *did* write something so I’m not too angry with myself. I managed to write 4209 words. It’s not bad but a little part of me thinks I could have done a wee bit better. But considering I haven’t written much over the past few months I shouldn’t beat myself up about it, plus I was ON HOLIDAY, I did have to have some time to myself to relax and enjoy being away from the day job.
 
Now it’s back to work today and I’m not looking forward to it. One. Little. Bit.
 
But enough of that depressing talk!
 
It was nice writing again. I hadn’t realised how much I’d missed it. I’d missed my characters! It was like finding old friends again who I’d not spoken to for ages. Plus I fell for the hero all over again ;o) I think the break did me and the story good though. I thought I knew where I wanted my story to go when I first started it but I’ve changed it slightly and now I think I’ve made it stronger. And there’s even a little twist now which I think makes it much better reading.
 
I had to change the story a bit because my novel was becoming a bit too predictable - anyone reading it would have been bored by the time they got to the third chapter. The third chapter can be the crucial chapter. When you submit your novel to agents, it’s usually a synopsis and the first three chapters. You usually find by the third chapter the premise of the story has been set or something dramatic happens to keep the reader reading. Have a look at some of your favourite novels? It’s nearly always that way. It’s so the author can hook in agent or publisher! Or at least that’s how I like to look at it! :o)
 
So I try to make Chapter Three the second hook. You need a first hook at the very beginning to capture the reader and keep them reading. Again, look at your favourite novels, read the first line and you’re usually hooked straight away. It grabs your attention. And come the third chapter, you get another little tempting nibble to keep you reading until the very end.
 
Writing a novel is sneaky in a way. You have to put little titbits in to keep the readers interested. The story should do that too, obviously, but the hooks are very important. It’s the make or break deal as to whether you get an agent or your readers finish your book.
 
Yours,
Emily Tootsweet :o)

Guest Post by Linda Green - Things I Wish I'd Known at 15

Linda Green's new book 'Things I Wish I'd Known' is released tomorrow. And to help celebrate the publication, Linda has kindly written us an exclusive guest post, telling us what she wished she had known when she was 15. Enjoy!

THINGS I WISH I'D KNOWN AT 15 by Linda Green 

The dashing romantic hero types will break your heart.

 

Your heavily hair-sprayed flick hairstyle will be a constant source of amusement in years to come.

 

Your mother will end up fancying Martin Kemp from Spandau Ballet herself when he is in EastEnders.

 

These aren’t really the best years of your life so don’t worry if you’re as miserable as Morrisey.

 

Keep hold of your pedal pushers – they will be in fashion again.

 

The world will not really end because you have to wear a brace – or because of nuclear war (so don’t lose sleep after watching Threads).

 

A sun-tanned six-pack is not the most important requirement to look for in an ideal partner.

 

Make the most of your time in a rah-rah skirt – cellulite will prevent you wearing one at 35.

 

Don’t make a list of what you think you will be doing in 20 years time – it will make depressing reading later on.

 

It’s perfectly harmless, dreaming of the person on your bedroom wall. Unless of course you happen to meet that person in real life. And he happens to end up in your bedroom . .

 

Thanks Linda!

 

Tell us, what do you wish you'd known when you were fifteen years old?