Updated my blog page

I've recently updated my blog page.  Not before time though.  Some of the information was about 2 years out of date.  I've also changed my strap line from "Romance Writer in Waiting" to what you see now.  Can't really call myself "in waiting" anymore since my dreams of being published have finally come true.  Santa came early for me this year!  Hope everyone has a great Christmas and holiday season.  Caroline xxx

Woohoo - I've landed a 2 book publishing contract....

....after years of trying and procrastination trying again I've finally managed to sell one of my books.  It's one of my Roman Historical's called "Mistress To The Roman", 

2012 and early 2013 was a year of virtually doing nothing writing wise unfortunately, (bereavement is a killer of the Muse IMHO).  I finally shook myself down and sent out one of my MS's to Agents and Editors alike in August/September.  Cue lots of waiting and rejections.  But then in early October I got an email from the lovely Charlotte Ledger editor at Harper Impulse (the romance arm at HarperCollins) who said that she liked my book and wanted to ring me to chat about it.

Three days of sleepless nights later I managed to hold a semi-coherent telephone conversation with Charlotte in which she offered me a 2 book deal!  Charlotte remembered reading my sample chapter when I entered it in the Mills and Boon New Voices competition a few years ago and really liked it.  (Charlotte was an editor there at the time).  When she was telling me this I was gobsmacked that she even remembered it, and so flattered as well.  Once the telephone conversation ended I put the phone down to lots of whooping and happy dances around the living room. 

Anyway, my book is going to be released in February 2014 to coincide with the release of a film that is due out then - Pompeii.

I did it....NaNoWriMo that is...

....50,185 words to be precise.  Quite how many of those words are any good is another matter entirely!  But that's the beauty of NaNo - it's about getting words down and not what they look like.  Editing comes later - much later.

Hope everyone is ok in blogland.  Is it me, or is it very quiet out there at the moment?  I think Facebook and Twitter have taken over. 

Promise to post soon.  And when I do, I hoping to reveal some good news.  Words like "contract", "2 book" and "publishing" in the same sentence for example!  Caroline x

Hello...is there anybody out there?

Wow!  It's been such a LONG time since I last posted.  Huge apologies.  No excuse...well apart from trying to edit my latest "Roman".  It's been like wading through treacle with a fat suit on and tied to one of those giant elastic bands that ping you back when you get too far ahead of yourself.

One day I'll realise that it was all worth it...but not right at this present moment in time...it's hell...

As well as being in my editing cave I've also had a PC die on me and had to save up for a new one.  The new one is way too tecci for my liking - so I had to pay for an hour's tutorial to more or less learn how to switch the bloomin' thing on.  What's embarrassing, is that if I had asked my 13 year old niece for help, she would have rolled her eyes and said, "It's easy aunty Caroline."  Give me back my old PC any-day," it did what it said on the tin" if you forgive the pun.

Anyhoo...back to the editing.  Promise I'll post soon...promise...Caroline x

The book has left the building....

After months of procrastination editing, I've finally finished editing my "Roman" historical romance and sent it back to an editor at Entangled who requested it ages ago.

It's been a labour of hate love I must say.  I'm not an author who likes editing that's a definate.

Apologies, too, for the length of time it's been since I last blogged, but something has to give! (Not CandyCush Saga though, Caroline.  Why is that I wonder?)

To say it's a weight off my shoulders is an understatement, and when I pressed "SEND" to the poor editor who has (the joy of) reading it, I felt totally drained but also anxious too.  What if she hates it and it wings it way back post haste?  What if she thinks its ok but then asks for a shed load of revisions?  What if she loves it and offers me a 2 book deal?  All sorts of scenarios kept buzzing through my poor addled mind - que more procrastination!

Anyhoo, back to reality.  I thought I would blog briefly about what have I learned about this writing lark?

1.  It's a lot harder to edit a 63k book than a 3k short story!  Many a day has been spent re-reading what was typed in Chaper 1 as I've forgotten  a plot point or twist as I've got further into the story.  (Note to self - use the post-it-note method a bit more to keep tabs on it).  

2.  If you edit too much it starts to lose some of the originality and you also start to lose that elusive "voice".  Many a time I was tempted to edit, and edit some more, but had to restrain myself.  Sometimes less is more I think.

3. When writing a romance you really need to keep track of the CHARACTERS and not the PLOT.  A romance has to be character driven and not plot driven.  Easier said than done to be honest. 

4. With a romance you really need to get inside your characters heads before you start writing a book.  A mistake I made first time round and hence the length of time it's taken me to get this MS out there.

5.  A romance (and any other work if fiction IMHO) needs the make sure of the following:

• You need to create sympathetic characters a reader will root for.
• To have enough reasons/conflict/drama to ensure that a reader will support that character through to the end.
• You need to create obstacles to make it look like a character can't obtain what they want.
• You need to introduce the main conflict early on - ideally in the first 5 pages.  Avoid information dumping (easily done in historicals), too much backstory and long flowing descriptions of scenery etc. 
• And finally - a killer first line if you can.

Well there you go.  My take on novel writing.  Have I followed my own advice?  Umm I hope so!
Take care until next time.  Caroline p.s I promise to blog more often.  CandyCrush Saga will have to wait. (Yeah, right, Caroline!)

I'm on a roll! Another short story published.....

.....this time in June's edition of PRIMA magazine.  Didn't even know it was in, until the fabulous Teresa Ashby told me!  I win a Kobo e-reader which is nice! 

This is the 2nd success of 2013.  I've still got a few short stories out there, but have had a few "R's" too.

On the book front - the "Roman Romance" - I've still not finished editing the bloomin' thing.  It's like wading through mud/treacle/cement all at the same time.  But...I've given myself until the end of May 2014 2013 to finish the bloody thing!  I am definitely not one of those authors who "likes" editing and finds it "cleansing and cathartic "!  Hey ho.

Caroline x  

My short story is in Writers' Forum....

....yay!  Pleased as punch to be honest.  It's only the second short story that I've ever sold!  So I'm feeling quite chuffed really. 

Hope everyone is ok in blog land - I'm very much a random blogger of late.  It depends on whether Blogger is behaving itself and lets me post something these days!

News wise - I've recently come back from Madeira where I celebrated my 50th birthday.  Had a fab time - DH spoiled me rotten to be honest!  But I'm not complaining.  I now need to get back to the writing and finish off one of my "Romans" and send it "out there"!

Hope everything is OK with all of you.  Caroline x

Halleluja! At last....

....I seem to be able to post a BLOG!  I've done something to my settings, and touch wood, it seems to be working at long last!  I just wish I was more technologically proficient to know what I'm doing!  Hope everyone is OK in Blogland.  I've been quite good recently on the writing front.  Here's a resume.

1. My short story (2nd prize) should be in the next edition of Writers' Formum (April), so I'm looking forward to seeing my name in print.

2. I had some good feedback from an editor at Entangled Publishing about my Roman Historical.  She said she liked my main characters, in that they "were well rounded and sympathetic" but that it (the story) needed to be longer.  I had sent her a 40k story whittled down from an 85k original (!)  So I'm in the final stages of bringing it back up to around 60k to fit their guidelines, which I will then resubmit to her.  Note to self - see you CAN edit when you want too!

3.  I've nearly finished another "Roman"l and I've also started a "Viking" as well!  I've got all these ideas in my head for stories that they fight amongst themselves all the time for which one will get written first! 

4.  I've also sent off a few short stories to the Womags - but I've heard nothing yet.  I think the poor editors are overwhelmed by short stories at the moment, as the market has shrunk as there a fewer and fewer magazines printing short stories these days. Which is, of course, a real shame.

Caroline x

Some writing success at last....

.....I've won second prize in Writers' Forum Short Story competition.  Happy days!  It's for a short story I wrote AGES ages ago - Alegra's Fairy Tale Wedding.  I subbed it to all the Womags (except Peoples Friend - it certainly isn't a PF story!) and got no-where.  You read about "moving on" in the writing world - i.e. forget the rejections and write something else.  But....sometimes you just love a story and believe in it.


This is what I felt/feel about AFTW, so I didn't give up and subbed it just before Christmas to Writers' Forum.  Then in January a lovely email from Sue Moorcroft saying it had been shortlisted; and then last week another email from Sue saying it has come second (£150.00 prize as well!)


The story will be in March's (26th) publication so I'm looking forward to seeing my name in print (at last).  Caroline x

Some writing sucess at last....

......I've won second prize in Writers' Forum Short Story competition.  Happy days!  It's for a short story I wrote AGES ages ago - Alegra's Fairy Tale Wedding.  I subbed it to all the Womags (except Peoples Friend - it certainly isn't a PF story!) and got no-where.  You read about "moving on" in the writing world - i.e. forget the rejections and write something else.  But....sometimes you just love a story and believe in it.


This is what I felt/feel about AFTW, so I didn't give up and subbed it just before Christmas to Writers' Forum.  Then in January a lovely email from Sue Moorcroft saying it had been shortlisted; and then last week another email from Sue saying it has come second (£150.00 prize as well!) 


The story will be in March's (26th) publication so I'm looking forward to seeing my name in print (at last).  Caroline x

Hello! Or maybe not....

...why?  Well for some reason as I type this email it JUST might get published.  Since my last blog-post in July I've been unable to post ANYTHING!  But now, without not quite knowing how (!) I've managed to type something into a "new post".  Fingers crossed, when I press "save" it will and you will be able to see what I have written.

Sooo...what's been happening with you Caroline, I hear you ask?  Wellll.....I'm still waiting to hear whether I've been successful with my Editor Pitch (despite a couple of prompt emails).  The editor still has it and will get back to me hopefully in a few weeks.

Best go - I just lost what I've just typed and managed to find it again!  Fingers xrossed I get to post this!