Jane signs books...

My fellow romantic novelist Jane Lovering had a great time on Saturday, signing books in a Yorkshire branch of Waterstones - you can read all about it at www.janelovering.co.uk. I hope she managed to keep a few green triangles for herself.

Yesterday, I was very happy to see that my own local Waterstones in Roman Gate was promoting my novel The Silver Locket for Valentine's Day. Anyone who bought TSL on Saturday got a pretty Emma Bridgewater bag to put it in! Or, to put it another way, if they bought an Emma Bridgewater bag, they got a free copy of TSL.

Too good to miss, eh?

So, right now, Jane and I heart Waterstones.

Library event yesterday

I had a great time at Paignton Library yesterday, doing a talk on relationship and romantic fiction with Sophie King and Linda Mitchelmore. We had a capacity crowd and we sold lots of books. The photographs are courtesy of lovely Matthew and Sarah, of the Torbay Bookshop, Paignton. I take my glasses off when I have to address a crowd that size...

Library Event

Sophie King, Linda Mitchelmore and I will be doing a library event in Paignton on Tuesday 8th February at 3 pm. Paignton Library is next to Paignton Railway Station, so it's easy to get there by train, and I believe there is plenty of parking, too.

We'll be talking about romantic and relationship fiction and answering questions about all aspects of writing for publication. Between us, we write - deep breath:

Novels, short stories, how-to books, serials, articles for magazines and articles for newspapers. So if we don't know the answer to a question, we will probably have a friend who does!

Charity Anthology

There's a lovely new anthology of short stories published this month in aid of breast cancer charities. The stories are contributed by the authors who receive no payment, so lots of money goes to the charities.

If you enjoy warm-hearted, feel-good fiction which will make you laugh and might also make you cry (but in a good way) this anthology is for you!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Diamonds-Pearls-Sparkling-Collection-Short/dp/1907726586/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1296750828&sr=1-4

Book of the Month - February 2011

I've said it before and I'll say it again - ebooks are the future for us all. I don't know about the time scale, but I'm sure the paper book will one day go the way of the spinning wheel and the hand-knitted pullover, still in existence but a rare commodity.

My February Book of the Month is a deliciously terrifying thriller by Steve Emmett, published on 4th February 2011 by Etopia Press

Steve says:

"The chance to build a dream home on a private island in Italy’s most beautiful lake offers architect Tom Lupton the fresh start he’s been yearning for. But when he arrives with his family on Diavolino, he finds the terrified locals dead set against his arrival. The island, whose very existence has been shrouded in secrecy for half a millennium, has a dark history that no one cares to remember, and as their opposition to Tom grows, so grows a brooding evil that will lead them to the very doors of hell…"

This is definitely one for all the lights on and someone else being in the house as you read!

Quiet heroism wins the day...

I’m probably the last person on the planet to see The King’s Speech, but I finally got round to it this week, and - like everyone else - I loved it.

This is a story in which nobody gets shot and nobody has to make any life or death decisions, but the ending was edge-of-the-seat stuff all the same. The live BBC broadcast to the nation on the outbreak of WW2 - would it be a triumph, or would it be a disaster?

The new king, George VI, otherwise known as Bertie, never wanted the throne. A quiet, shy, devoted family man with a terrible stammer, he was happy to stay out of the limelight and would have probably spent his whole life in obscurity, had not his brother decided to abdicate, leaving Bertie to take over the family firm.

Bertie had a terrible stammer, which was a huge handicap for a king emperor whose country was being inexorably dragged into another world war, and needed an inspirational leader. So he had to tackle his stammer, face down his fears and get on with doing those live BBC broadcasts, making speeches to the nation, seeing his people and being seen. He was determined to do it, and did so with the help of an equally determined and motivated speech therapist, who gave the king the confidence he so badly needed.

Let’s have Oscars for both Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush, who showed us all how to feel the fear, but to get out there and do it anyway.

Vampires, time travel, paranormal...

I've been looking at all the new catalogues this week, trying to decide what the future holds for novelists, and I see that vampires are still biting everything and everyone in sight. Paranormal and time travel seem popular, too - or publishers hope they will be!

What else? Jane Austen tribute fiction is much in evidence, as is cheerful chick lit and - going to the other extreme - fiction about painful lives.

What will be next? I wish I knew, then I'd write it...