I've Sold 100 Books!

Ok, so in the scheme of things one hundred books isn't a lot, but for me it's huge. The average self-publisher is said to sell less than a hundred copies, so to pass that landmark is a huge achievement for me. At 99 cents per copy, I'm not exactly rolling in the spondoolicks but considering I only launched Storms in Teacups on Christmas Eve I'm thrilled.

And on with the next book! :)

P.S. Sorry about the brevity of this post, am having a really bad day with my fibromyalgia. But it's bad enough going through it without making you all read about it.

Feeling Festive

Wrapping presents may have chipped my 'indestructible' purple Shellac manicure, but I'm still in the festive mood. So much so that I'm over with the wonderful Kimberly Montgomery talking about why I love Christmas.

I have a family party this afternoon, so I must run and get myself, husband and Polly suitably dressed and out the door. Once again, my book is now available on sale at Amazon in e-book format. Paperback will be available in February.

I promise, once I get past the 'official launch day' on my birthday on Friday, I'll ease up on the shameless promotion. Promises.

 

Happy St. Stephen's Day!

I know in some parts of the world Christmas is just one day, but in Ireland St. Stephen's Day on December 26th is as much a part of Christmas as the day before. It's like the big day itself, but mellower. Really, Christmas here stretches into New Year, right up to old Christmas Day on January 6th.After the 6th, kids go back to school and the trees finally come down. Nowadays lots of people go back to work before Old Christmas Day, but festivities in Ireland stretch into the entire fortnight.

Did everyone have a good Christmas? I had a lovely one. Mostly because it's my favourite time of year, but also because my husband bought me a Kindle! I've waxed lyrical before on this blog about how paperbacks hurt my wrists (because of illness, I'm not the whiniest twenty-something year old in the world) and it was a really thoughtful present. I love it so much I'm posting a picture - as if you didn't know what one looks like.

My novel Storms in Teacups is out now, and is available in all Amazon Kindle stores.Today I'm over at my ABNA buddy Dwight Okita's blog, talking about being afraid of failure.

To those who've liked my Facebook page thank you so much. The link is here if anyone wants to spread some festive goodwill. Karma people, karma.

Off to cook the St. Stephen's Day ham! :)

T'was The Night Before Christmas...

Yes, it's that time of year again. By some dint of a miracle I have all my presents in, and can finally relax with the holiday box of chocolates and a gin and tonic. Good times.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all my blog followers for reading  and commenting on my posts since I first joined Blogger in March. I've met lots of great people and writers through the blogosphere, and I'm so happy that I jumped on board when I did.

I've been absent for a lot of December - putting the finishing touches on Storms, minding a baby, setting up a new (albeit unfinished) website and buying Christmas presents has made for an insane month. Hopefully January will be a more laid back one.


But it's been worth it! Storms in Teacups is now available to buy from Amazon! I'm equal parts scared and nervous.

Finally, if anyone is in a particularly giving mood and fancies giving me a (free) present, I'd really appreciate it if you'd like my new author page here. My reluctance to tell anyone that in my real life that I've written a book  means I have only a handful of likes, and I need 25 to get a stable URL.


Hope that wherever you are you have a fabulous Christmas/holiday season!

Storms In Teacups Book Blurb and Cover!

I'm in the Christmas mood, but there's so much that I still have to do before the festive season is upon us! In some fit of insanity, I decided to release my book at Christmas, so life is even more hectic. Here's the blurb (back jacket copy) for Storms, and my cover which I think is really simple but effective.

ALEX is a journalist who has always dreamed of working for a glossy women’s magazine. Instead, she finds herself working for Dublin’s most notorious tabloid newspaper, rewriting press releases and covering for her colleague Jodie, a well-connected neurotic who still hasn’t figured out how to use an apostrophe

ROSE thinks that she has life sorted. She loves her job as a teacher in a disadvantaged school, and has just moved in with her gorgeous actor boyfriend, Daniel. The only clouds on her horizon are a headmaster with a passion for new-age team-building and a stack of envelopes that she refuses to open but can’t quite bring herself to throw out.

SHANNON feels like she’s stagnating. When she graduated at the top of her class from drama college everyone thought it would be just a matter of time until she got her big break. Instead, she pays the bills with parts in small plays and some low rent television shows. Now she’s in her thirties, is it time she gives up on her dreams and get a proper job?

When a scandal shakes up the lives of all three women, will they manage to stay true to their dreams? Or will the betrayal of one man change their plans for good?

***

Hope all your holiday preparations are going well! :) 

Guilt-Free Cookies

Inspired by Jen the Cupcake Queen I have decided to celebrate sending my manuscript out with home-made confectionery. Nothing too demanding, mind you, as I'm exhausted. Chocolate chip cookies, for the win. The guilt-free aspect has nothing to do with low-fat ingredients, as anyone who has seen the recipe will attest, but more to do with the fact that I've earned them. Hours of my life went into that manuscript, and let's face it cookies may be all I get to show for my troubles. That and the evening off.

Was sending off my sample chapters a proud experience? In a word: no. This had nothing to do with the significance of the moment, as much as the cantankerous postal worker who processed the envelopes. In fact, this woman seemed to hate her job so much that I have no reason to believe that my submissions are anywhere else but in a rubbish bin out the back. On the bright side, that means I'll get no rejection letters. It's an ill wind...etc.

Enjoy your evening all!

Goals for June

Well, today marked the deadline for sending out my agent submissions. Unfortunately, while I'm almost done, I came up with a few changes for the novel in question while writing the synopsis. I know it means breaking a deadline, but making the changes will make my book much better. I have spent so much time on the manuscript, I don't want to scupper my chances for the sake of a few days.

So my new goals for June are:

1)  Finish Storms in Teacups edits and send off submissions by June 8th
2)  Complete Bunowrimo by adding 50,000 words to If Life Gives You Lemons
3)  Edit Ravensborough so I can start submitting it in July

I'm going on holiday on July 2 with my family. Four adults and six children in a converted castle with a hidden medieval staircase on the Irish coast. And, bizarrely yet importantly, a built in Nespresso machine. Hopefully the holiday will act like a carrot so I can do the ginormous amount of work that I've landed myself with.

Anyone else got any crazy plans for June?

When It Starts To Feel Like Work

At the moment I'm editing my novel, Storms in Teacups, for submission. When you first start to write a book and you only have a few thousand words under your belt, submitting feels like a finish line. You write your first draft, edit, edit, and edit again. You rewrite parts that aren't working, cut sub-plots that seem to go nowhere and then shove it in an envelope and send it off. Alas, it's not quite so simple.

First you have to research your agents. I've drawn up a list of around fifteen agents, and each wants to be approached in a different way. Most want to be approached in a standard way in the British Isles, which is a packet sent by post that contains a cover letter, synopsis and the first three chapters of my novel. Each agent has different ideas on how long this synopsis should be, so I have to write different synopses for each one. All cover letters have to be personalised, generic letters are apparently a big no-no. Then I have to write a query letter for agents who like to be approached by that method. All this takes an unbelievably long time.

Now, the one thing that query letters and synopses have in common is that they both involve distilling the essence of your novel down to a page or two, and convince the person reading it that they need to read this book. This is hard. Added to this is the fact that hundreds of hours of work have gone into your novel, yet it's fate hinges on just one piece of paper. This is nerve-wracking like writing a CV (or resume) for a job that you really want. Which, when you think about it, is exactly what it is.

With all this serious writing, I'm looking forward to getting back to some proper fiction writing in June.  How do all of you find the submission process?

It's The Final Countdown!

(Aside: Don't you just love camp-tastic 80's stadium rock?)

Well, it is the final countdown for me. Next Wednesday, June 1, my first three chapters along with a synopsis and cover letter will be winging their way to agents in the British Isles. Why does it have to be June 1 you ask? Because that was the arbitrary date I picked way back when it was reasonably far away. Now?

Now it's next week and I'm getting nervous. Seriously nervous. My hand even shook as I handed over the money for the ten padded envelopes I'll need.

So...yeah. I am editing like the world is going to end. Which is ridiculous because if I found out the world was going to end the last thing I would do is edit. Although my husband interviewed Harold Camping a couple of months back, and when he asked Camping what was going to happen to him and his wife he was told that not only were we going to die come May 21, we were also going to hell. Nice guy.

If this post is a little all over the place it's because I have stepped up the caffeine intake in order to make sure my stuff is ready on time. I have edited this book many times before, but this is the final polish. I have discovered illy coffee. It packs more of a punch than my usual brand, so I'm a little hyped. I could ease the pressure on myself by pushing back my deadline, but my default setting is so laid back I'm horizontal. I was the same in college, I needed the pressure of the deadline looming at me in big letters to get anything really done. When I was in college I often started an essay the day before it was due. Now I work steadily and start working intensively ten days before a deadline. I reckon that this is maturity. Or as mature as I'm going to get, anyway.

June will be busy too. I'll be editing Ravensborough for submission, I think I've given it enough post-ABNA time to cool. I'll also be taking part in Bunowrimo over at Burrowers, Books & Balderdash. It's an attempt to write 50,000 in June. It can be a new or existing project, and anyone who needs an incentive or a bit of camaraderie to break up this lonely business of writing should check it out. (I got the Bunowrimo image off Hart Johnson's  awesome blog. Hopefully she won't mind...) 

My Writerly Routine/Once More With Feeling

My Writerly Routine

My working days tend to take a fairly regular pattern. I get up early, walk the dog, and aim to be sitting at my desk for eight am. Then I do my journalistic work which, on a good day with no procrastination, I can do in under two hours. Then I do some household chores and set myself up for an afternoon of writing. My husband works is out of the house for around twelve hours, and often times the only people I meet are dog walkers, the postman and the biweekly Tesco delivery man. In some ways it's a hermetic existence, well as hermetic as you can get when you live in a suburb of a capital city. My routine (and even the fact that I call it a 'routine') makes me sound all hard-working and diligent, but just because I'm at my desk in person does not mean that I'm working. I would not like to see a tot up of the hours that I waste fawning over fora.

I write in the kitchen, with my French doors open onto our lovely garden. We have an office in the front of the house, but it doesn't get the sun and can be dark and gloomy. In the kitchen I can see the sun filled garden and listen to birdsong which is all very inspirational. In short, I love my routine and didn't realise how much until I found out that my husband and I have an appointment tomorrow morning in our house. This will mess up my system. If I don't get a certain amount of work done in the morning, my day is practically a write-off. I find it hard to get into the groove again. I've been this way as far back as I can remember. This may make some of you worry that I have some form OCD, but trust me, fifteen seconds in my less than immaculate home would set you straight.

Once More, With Feeling


So, this is it for Storms in Teacups. I've set my submission date for Wednesday June 1, the day when I sent out my sample chapters, synopsis and cover letter out to agents across the British Isles. I have a month of hard editing to do, and then I'm done. Now, I love my book. I think it's good, and there's parts of it that still make me smile even though I've read it around a dozen times. The problem is, this edit is making me crazy. Maybe because it's the last one, maybe because I've edited it countless times before, but I'm starting to lose the will to live. Not to mention the fact that I have The Fear. On previous edits I haven't worried to much over whether or not my corrections are the best they can be, because if they don't work then I can always pick it up in subsequent edits can't I? Ah, no. Not any more.

My husband must know I'm under strain, as he bought me this Fry's Chocolate Cream (well, not this exact one) completely unprompted. Yummy and scrummy and completely dairy free. He's a man in a million.

Magic Month of May

Ok, I wimped out of finishing the A-Z challenge, I didn't do Y and Z before the end of April. I was going to finish it on the last day of April, but I forgot until yesterday that there was only thirty days in that month. I can only ever remember by using the rhyme. Still, the challenge did what I wanted it to do, it got me writing in my blog regularly so I'm pretty thrilled with that.

May is promising to be a busy month with a lot of introspection. Do you remember my angst about whether or not to go further with my education? Well, my potential PhD supervisor got back to me and said she'd support my application. She agreed to do it last year, but I couldn't proceed because I was too ill. I always wanted to do a history doctorate, and doing it would be an achievement that I didn't let my fibromyalgia stop me from achieving my dreams. But I have another dream - to be a published writer - and I only have so many spoons. If I do a PhD then I will have less time to write, but if I don't do a PhD and I don't become a published writer then I've lost two dreams. It's hard to decide. You're probably thinking 'But Christine, you can't even remember how many days are in April, are you sure that going back to University is the right thing for you to do?' This is a valid point, but I'm actually quite a good student. It's real life that leaves me baffled.

I'm also editing Storms in Teacups for an early June submission to a number of agents. How scary is that? Oh, and hopefully by the end of this month I will be halfway through the first draft of If Life Gives You Lemons. So a busy month ahoy.

And in totally awesome news, the fabulous Caitlin Vincent gave me an award! How cool is that? I'm fairly new (yet addicted) to the blogosphere, and it made me tear up a little to think that someone would give me an award like this. It literally made my day, thank you so much Caitlin!

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend :)

X is for...(e)Xit

So I'm out of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. And don't get me wrong, I would have loved to go further in the competition, but I'm still very proud. For Ravensborough  to have gotten into the top 5% in its category has been a huge achievement for me. Now I just have to wait for my Publishers Weekly review and get my synopsis done for submitting it to potential publishers. I think I'll incorporate my pitch into my cover letter, it got through round one so I know it's fairly decent.

But the next week is aimed towards submitting Storms in Teacups. Which means writing another synopsis and doing another edit job.

Congratulations to everyone who progressed in the competition, it's a big achievement and you should be very proud of yourselves. :)

N is for...Novel Status

Thanks for all the good wishes. The keys have been located, and all is well. At least until we lose something else.

I write in two genres. Young adult urban fantasy and women's contemporary fiction.I usually have two projects on the go at any one time. I just find it easier that way.

Young Adult:


Ravensborough: Fantasy novel set on an island plagued with divisions and the supernatural. Currently on hold until April 26 when I find out whether it has made it through to the semifinals of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. If it hasn't, I'll start submitting it to prospective publishers in May.

Guildhall: A work in progress. I'm working on the first draft, but have a long way to go before it's complete. I have about 11,000/70,000 words written.

Women's Contemporary Fiction:


Storms in Teacups: This is pretty much finished. I'm doing a last polish to bring it up to standard. I hope to start submitting it to agents in May.

If Life Gives You Lemons: Also a work in progress. Currently at 23,000/120,000.

I recently found out that I have to write a query letter in order to submit to a couple of agents. In Ireland and the UK the process is usually cover letter + sample chapters + synopsis. Does anyone know what the differences are between a submission cover letter and a query?

L is for...Life Getting in The Way

So today I finally got back to work with a vengeance. I spent the weekend editing large chunks of Storms in Teacups, but not writing any new material. I was stuck on a scene in one of my WIP's and I just couldn't resolve it. So I sat down today with my twin buddies, chocolate and caffeine, determinedto resolve it. And it worked! Now I've managed to resolve that scene it should all be plain sailing. Well...for a couple of days at least.

First drafts can be tricky for me. At this point  I'm still getting to know my characters and discovering what's happening as I go. I know some people find that outlines help, but I find the whole process too sterile. I have a rough idea when I start a novel where I'm going to go with it, but for the most part I play it by ear.

Before I finished Ravensborough and Storms in Teacups I found it a lot harder to get motivated to write. I had a pile of college work, a pile of housework and I was struggling to come to terms with illness. I enjoyed writing, but it was hard for me to prioritise it. I mean, who knew if I'd even finish my books after all? It seemed like a big waste of time.

I find it easier now that I know I can actually finish it. But if you're struggling with first drafts then there are some free applications that can help. First I used Write or Die. This ominously titled website lets you set a time limit and a word count goal. If you stop typing for a certain amount of time then it makes an annoying noise, which doesn't stop until you start typing again. I found this great, though I've recently graduated to Focus Booster, which puts a little bar at the top of your page. You set a timer, I set it for twenty five minutes, and it starts off green, then moves to orange, and finally red. It makes you much more aware that time is passing, and therefore focuses you on your writing. I like the fact that you can write in Word with this app, whereas with Write or Die you have to type in the box on the site, unless you pay for their desktop version. Both of these are handy if you have a busy life and can only commit to twenty minutes or so of writing a day. They help focus you so you get the most from your time.

For edits, I like EditMinion. It's still in beta, but is handy for identifying things like repetition of words, passive voice, that kind of thing.

What about all of you? Do you have any tricks to keep you motivated through the writing process?

Oh, and I'm going to take part in this query critique blog hop. Anyone thinking about submitting soon should think about taking part. On April 19 everyone involved posts their query and critiques at least five other queries. Like Query Shark but with less sarcasm :)

Revisions, Revisions, Revisions

After coming down from my Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award high, I got back to work. At the moment I'm giving urban fantasy a break, and am concentrating on writing the first draft of my new novel If Life Gives You Lemons and revising Storms in Teacups for submission.

Why is revising so hard? When I was a kid and dreamed of being a writer, I thought you wrote the story from beginning to end, and that was it. Done. How I wish it were so.

The hard part for me about revision is that it means rereading my own work. And sometimes that's okay. I find blocks of text that are much better than I thought, dialogue I laugh out loud at, (it's sad to admit you find your own books amusing, isn't it?) and that part is quite good for oul' ego. However, there are still bits that require yet more work, and that I think are awful. And that is, quite frankly, disheartening.

What's especially difficult about this revision, is that it's for the Final Draft (cue scary music). In my previous edits, if something wasn't flowing I didn't stress about it too much. I reckoned that I could sort it out in another edit. But as this is my final one, I have to iron out every little snag so I can send it out into the world.

To this end I took out a roll of Christmas paper, unrolled it on the living room floor, and started to write out the main plot points and characters in a selection of brightly coloured Sharpie felt tip pens. Not very dignified, but the best I can do until I can afford to buy a white board. I feel a lot better now, I've clarified some of the most important elements of the story in my head which was good.

How do all you other writers out there cope with the editing process?