The long, but fun filled road to publication.

A year ago this week, I had a wonderful dream-come-true moment. The Call. Finally after seven years of writing and many ups and downs, I had achieved my ambition of publication. I'd known I wanted to be a writer since I was about nine years old, but only seriously began pursuing that dream eight years ago.

So what set me off on that path of determined persistence?

Thirteen years ago, I saw an advert in my village for a new writing group and as my children were young then the meeting time of Monday afternoons was perfect. So along I went to that very first meeting, and met Brenda Old, the founder member of what is now known as Cwrtnewydd Scribblers.

I soon began to write short stories, which I loved doing, but I kept wishing I could write a book, to get from the very first page to the last. It seemed perfectly natural to want to write romance as my favourite reading since my teenage years, was Mills and Boon.

 Occasionally, we had guest writers at our Monday afternoon meetings, but the day Liz Fielding joined us, set in motion a chain of events which not only focused me on my dream of writing a book, but helped me achieve it. Liz brought with her a book and that was, Kate Walker’s 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance.

I went home and set myself the target of completing my first book by that time the following year. But before I began I sat down and devoured The 12 Point Guide. Imagine my excitement when I read about courses Kate Walker ran for Writers’ Holiday in Fishguard, which was only a short drive away. One phone call later, I was booked up – and with the course being just a matter of weeks away, I began my very first attempt at writing for Mills and Boon.

The Watermill at Posara

The next few years passed in a whirl of manuscripts submitted both to Mills and Boon and RNA’s New Writers’ Scheme. I also attended Kate Walkers course each year and discovered the amazing Watermill in Tuscany where Sharon Kendrick teaches romance writing each May. Through these courses and conferences, I’ve made wonderful friends, travelled and learnt so much, but above all, had an amazing time!

I am also very fortunate to have met up with a wonderful group of writers online, known as The Write Romantics. Together we have formed a very supportive group and my success is only a small part of the success of the group as a whole. Not only have The Write Romantics got lots of debuts to look forward to this year, but they produced a brilliant charity anthology, Winter Tales – which is still available, by the way!

Things began to change in September 2013, when I entered my story into So You Think You Can Write and that entry took me to the Top Ten and finally to being offered a two-book contract, the second of which, Claimed by The Sheikh, is out now.

One year on from that fantastic moment, I now have three fabulous book covers. My fourth book has just been accepted and will be available later this year. Currently, I am working on my fifth book – and enjoying every minute. I hope you will enjoy reading my books!

This was made for me by Amanda Shivratten - thanks Amanda!

Writing Under the Tuscan Sun

At the beginning of May, with two writing friends, I spent a week in the ancient walled city of Lucca. We rented a lovely apartment in the heart of the city, which was above a patisserie and the smells as the delicious cakes were prepared were wonderful. As were the cakes!

We all worked hard on our writing and enjoyed several afternoons outside, making the most of the sunshine. We wrote in lots of different places, from the Botanical Gardens, to picnic benches on the Renaissance walls of the city. But the favourite place for me was Palazzo Pfanner and the wonderful gardens full of lemon trees.

It’s also where we spent the afternoon with Sharon Kendrick, who was in Italy teaching at the wonderful Watermill and visited Lucca when the group had their day out.

It was a fun to immerse ourselves in the daily life of the city, everything from shopping for food to enjoying a coffee and watching the world go by. Several times during the week, I walked around the city on the walls, a walk of 4km, but well worth it to see the city. It's also what all the locals do. Each morning they walk, run or even cycle around the walls. 

As well as writing, I visited museums, churches and the cathedral. I spent many hours enjoying window shopping on the Via Fillungo and soon found my way around by remembering all the shops where I liked a dress or a pair of shoes. When the bustle of shopping became too much, I enjoyed coffee in the famous oval Piazza Anfiteatro.

From the apartment I could watch the daily life of Lucca going on and soak up the atmosphere. I loved listening to the sounds of the cafes, the flow of Italian and the gorgeous smells from the patisserie below.

Soon, our week came to an end and I was sad to say goodbye to our lovely apartment and it's charming courtyard view, but I returned with lots of words written, fabulous food eaten and lovely places seen.

Shattering the Silence

Have you ever had to keep a secret you were just bursting to shout about? It's hard, let me tell you.

At the beginning of last week I got a telephone call to say that my entry into So You Think You Can Write competition had been selected as a Top 10 finalist. I was just about stunned into silence at that point, but to be told to keep it a secret for a week, until the announcement was made on the website, was torture.

 

I tried so hard to get on with normal life and working on my latest story but I just couldn't settle to anything, not with a secret like that bubbling away inside!

Then finally it was the day, which meant keeping the secret a bit longer until the beginning of the day in New York when the website was updated. Once that was done it was time to tell everyone and anyone.

I have been assigned an author mentor, Maisey Yates, who will be reading my book and helping me to promote it. Also Laura McCallen, a Presents editor is championing my book too and you can find her on the 50 Editors page of the website.

I have worked hard towards the dream of becoming a Harlequin Mills and Boon Presents author, attending courses with Kate Walker here in the Wales, organised by Writers' Holiday and with Sharon Kendrick in Italy, organised by The Watermill.


I have met some fantastic people and made wonderful friendships through my writing and would love to push that dream to the limit and become published through this competition. If you'd like to be part of that dream you can vote each day for my entry Behind the Scandalous Façade until 25th November and my complete book is there for all to enjoy.

If you want to read and vote you can do so HERE!

Happy reading and voting!

A Toast to Success

Those of you who have been following So You Think You Can Write will know that the winner was announced last week. Seeing someone achieve their dream is great, but to know that person and to have been with them on at least part of their journey just makes it all the more wonderful.


Jennifer and I met two years ago in The Watermill whislt on a Romance Writing course run by Sharon Kendrick. It was one of the best weeks ever, the group was fantastic - and of course we were in Tuscany!

Here's Jen's call.




So all that's left for me to say is..

 Good Luck Jen!

Busy, busy, busy!

As a writer, I find it difficult when life gets in the way, leaving me very little time to write. All sorts of things crop up that stop me putting words down. Life on the farm has been really busy lately, with far too much paperwork to do, but when animals need attention that has to come first. Thankfully now, the really busy period is passing and I can finally get back to doing something other than scribbling late at night.

Today it's a beautiful day. I do wonder though if summer has come early. I just hope it doesn't disappear and never come back. I took this photo this morning, but it will be such a different view once the trees have their leaves out. Can't wait!

At the beginning of the month I did manage to get away for a weekend with writers I'd met at The Watermill. We all spent the weekend in an old farm house that dated back in parts to the 1600's. It was a brilliant weekend where we discussed our work in progress. It was great fun having brainstorming sessions on new ideas.

The old farm house, part of the Landmark Trust, was fascinating, with a narrow twisting staircase leading up to the bedrooms, open fires and an old barn that still had stalls for the animals that once lived there.

The views were amazing and the sun shone although it was quite a bit colder then. We even woke to a dusting of snow on Sunday.

Passionate Flamenco, Culture and Writing

Last week I travelled to Madrid to visit a friend I'd met whilst attending Sharon Kendrick's writing course at The Watermill two years ago. After leaving behind a snowy landscape I was a little surprised to see most people bundled up in scarves and gloves as we headed into the centre of Madrid for Tappas, but believe it or not, it was only marginally warmer there than back at home.
We treated ourselves to a night out at a Flamenco Tablao, where we had a fantastic meal and watched in awe as the dancers performed with passion and unbelievable energy.

We also visited the famous Prada Museum. Here we concentrated on paintings by several of Spain's artists, Bosch, Velazquez and Goya. Also we went to Museum Reina Sofia to see Picasso's Guernica. All of this opening up a whole new world to me.

I enjoyed strolling through Madrid's Retiro park, despite the cold and wished I'd been fast enough to get a photograph of the red squirrels as they scampered up and down the trees. The boating lake behind us looks very cold now, but must be fun in the summer.

In the middle of the week we took a train to Seville, where it was quite a bit warmer. There we saw the city from an open top bus and then visited the majestic Seville Cathedral. My favourite place was the orangery, where workers were trimming the trees, filling the warm sunny air with the beautiful scent of oranges.

It wasn't all play. As both of us are writers working hard towards publication, we settled down each day to some serious work and I was pleased to arrive back in a frosty Britain having written lots.

Writing in Tuscany

This time last week I was enjoying the warm sun of Tuscany at The Watermill, Posara whilst on a romance writing course with Sharon Kendrick. The place is amazingly quiet and secluded and each morning I woke to this view from my room.

I met some wonderful women and we laughed our way through the whole week, sharing gorgeous food, days out and of course talking and learning about writing romance.

On Tuesday morning we all walked to the local market town of Fivizzano, enjoyed a coffee and time at the market before heading back for more writing. This photo shows the view from Fivizzano and the small village of Posara behind me.

The highlight of the week is the fantastic train journey to Lucca. The single track train goes through some stunning scenery before arriving at the walled city of Lucca. Here we all are enjoying lunch.

From the left, Helene, Pippa, Jen, myself, Jo, Sharon and Lesa who took some amazing photographs of our week. We enjoyed a wonderful lunch and some serious shopping!

All too soon it was the last day and Lesa took this photo of the group - Amanda, Helene, Jen, Louise, Alison, Jo, myself, Bill who owns the Watermill, Kerstin who looks after your every need whilst there, Pippa, Sue and of course Sharon.

As I flew out of Pisa, I caught one last glimpse of the tower, glad to be on the way home after a big airport delay, but sad to have said goodbye to so many new friends. Thanks girls, it was a wonderful week.



Pisa from the air, the tower just visible at the top centre of the photo.

In Pisa

I'm in Pisa. I spent yesterday afternoon sat in the sun by the tower. It's a very busy place, full of tourists from all over the world, but I love being there.

This morning I'm off to The Watermill in Posara for a course on writing romance with Sharon Kendrick. Those of you who know me, know I've been before. Attending courses is a brilliant way to relax and focus on my writing.
I'll tell you all about it when I get back.

Fantastic Competition

Could you write about being a foreigner in Italy? That's the theme for a great new competition run by The Watermill at Posara and all the details are on their website. This is a wonderful place to have a creative writing or painting break. It really is as good as it looks, that's why I'm booked to go again next year for Sharon Kendrick's course.

It is so peaceful and quiet, what could be better for writing and the scenery is stunning for those who paint.

What could be more perfect than views like this?