Happy Yorkshire Day! By 'eck, tha' knows...

Today is officially Yorkshire Day, so being the proud daughter of Yorkshire parents (Ilkley Moor Ba' t'hat, tha' knows) I thought I'd celebrate with a sneaky giveaway...

Both my parents were born and raised in lovely Ilkley, West Yorkshire, before moving down to the Black Country for Dad's job when they got married. Consequently my sister and I grew up knowing that we could 'play cricket for Yorkshire one day' (allegedly), that Yorkshire was God's Own Country and that it was, officially, the 'right side of the Pennines'. We watched Emmerdale (both Farm and not) because it was filmed not far from Ilkley (where my grandparents and uncle still lived) and drank Yorkshire Tea, largely because the artwork on the box featured the Cow and Calf - the twin rock formations on the top of Ilkley Moor. We visited most holidays and certainly in our early years spent most of our free time in the lovely Dales.

This has fostered a lifelong love of the county in me and is why, when I wrote what became Fairytale of New York, I made sure that Rosie's parcel from home that her brother brings contained Yorkshire Tea, both as a nod to my heritage and also because it's still my favourite. A year after Fairytale of New York was published, the lovely people at Yorkshire Tea found out I'd name-checked them and sent me a box of goodies, including a box of 'Miranda's Tea' (see picture above) which now has pride of place on my desk!

So, if you'll forgive the tenuous link, I'm offering two signed copies of Fairytale of New York as a special Yorkshire Day giveaway... Want to win one? Just leave a comment in the box below!

Farewell, dear friend...

Today, the world lost one of its brightest stars. Nora Ephron was an inspiration to writers everywhere - and the reason I started writing.

It was because of Nora that I fell in love with romantic comedy. She showed me that I could be strong, witty and intelligent in my writing; that 'rom-com' didn't equal 'brainless'. Her films were warm and funny but also fiercely intelligent and sassy. She saw the absurdities of modern life and wasn't afraid to call them out. The social conventions that prevent us saying what we really feel; the identities we hide behind on social media; the expectations we have about the opposite sex; the hang-ups we have about ourselves: Nora saw all of these and held up a mirror to make us laugh at our crazy selves.

But given all of this, she wasn't cynical about the power of love. At a time when it was very fashionable to dismiss the notion of true love in films, Nora blazed a trail. Hers was a realistic view of love, but still maintained a sense of magic and otherworldliness: that moment when common sense is abandoned and we just give in to the wonder of being in love. So Annie meets Sam at the top of the Empire State Building at sunset, Harry crashes a New Years Ball to declare his love to Sally, and Kathleen discovers that NY152 is actually Joe Fox - the man she has fallen in love with twice.

Through Nora's eyes I discovered and fell in love with New York's Upper West Side. Kowalski's florist store in Fairytale of New York is situated one block up from the shop they used as The Shop Around the Corner in the film of You've Got Mail. Celia - Rosie's best friend and wry New York Times columnist - is based on Nora herself. I saw an interview with her when You've Got Mail was released and thought how great it would be to have a friend like her in New York. For me, a twenty-something woman in a difficult marriage, not able to afford a trip to The Big Apple, Nora was both friend and tour guide, opening up a world to me that otherwise I would never have had the opportunity to see. Her writing showed me that the kind of story I wanted to write was perfectly reasonable, that it was possible to move from humour to heartbreak to happiness within the framework of a romantic storyline. She demonstrated to me that it was OK to write about love happening to real people with real lives and real jobs, not fabulous careers in advertising and celebrity boyfriends, untouched by the pressures and concerns of everyday life. And she showed me that the lightest touch of hands could be as erotic and emotionally-charged as a full-on love scene.

So thank you, Nora. Thank you for being an inspiration, for never taking life too seriously and for never surrendering your belief in the power of love. Thank you for being a pioneer for women writers and film directors, for being uncompromising in your opinions and for making films and writing books that will live on as a legacy of your brilliance.

The end of an era...

Quite a momentous occasion happened this week - after seven years in my tiny one-bedroomed flat, I finally moved out...

This is where I have written and edited all three of my novels - Fairytale of New York, Welcome to My World and It Started With a Kiss - most of which on the ubiquitous white (or not-so-white) sofa, which came with the flat and has featured in many of my vlogs this year. Is it possible to put a blue plaque on a soon-to-be-retired piece of furniture?


So, for the last three years, this has been my perennial view when I've been writing:

The photo of me and Bob was taken when we first started dating five years ago and it's one of my favourites, and the baby pics are of my beautiful niece Freya (who will be three in January). The sparkly bag is what I take to gigs and it contains a selection of earrings, bracelets and necklaces for blingin' it up when I perform with The Peppermints (the inspiration for The Pinstripes in It Started With a Kiss.)

I did have a desk in the corner of my living room, in what I called my 'Van Gogh Corner':

The cafe picture (The Café Terrace on the Place du Forum, Arles, at Night) is my favourite Van Gogh painting and the portrait of him came free with a newspaper years ago. It's nice to be able to chat to Vince, although he isn't the most encouraging person to look at when I'm in the middle of edits! The desk was from the first office my Dad worked in when he was 16, so is a bit of a family heirloom, but after I had a health scare in the middle of the Fairytale edits I couldn't sit there for long periods of time, so the sofa became my venue of choice for working.


The box of tea you can see on the desk is one of my prized possessions - the fab people at Yorkshire Tea found out that I'd mentioned their excellent tea in Fairytale of New York and made me my very own personalised box of Yorkshire Tea! It will take pride of place on my new desk and will never be opened!


At Christmas, my desk invariably became the place to display my tiny Christmas tree - very festive!


One of the things I will miss the most is the view from my living room window towards the glass foundry on the opposite side of the canal. This time last year, a beautiful haw frost covered everything in white and it was the most amazing sight to gaze out on while I was writing.

While my flat has been an important part of my life - it was my first real home after my divorce and a total God-send to have my own front door and space, scene of quite a few dating memories (and disasters) and the place where I first began work as a published author when my writing dream came true after years of scribbling in secret - it is time to move on. I'm planning my wedding to my lovely Bob next September, have another novel currently being considered by publishers and am making big plans for next year, all of which require more space.


So on Saturday, I said goodbye to Richardson Drive, Wollaston, and moved five miles up the road to a lovely Victorian terraced house which I'm renting from my lovely chum Andi and his wife-to-be Caroline (Andi is one of the inspirations for Jack in It Started With a Kiss). It has two bedrooms so, for the first time in my life, I will have a dedicated writing room! At the moment (after this pic was taken) it is filled with boxes, books and bin bags, but I hope to set it up completely over Christmas. It's going to be a writing room and eventually a small studio where I can work on new songs - I'm so excited to finally have space after tripping over piles of books for the past seven years... (oh, and those curtains? Totally going once I move in!)


It was really odd to see my little flat all empty and ready for the next chapter of its history. And the infamous white sofa, while quite possibly the most uncomfortable piece of furniture ever, was one of the things I found hardest to leave. Needless to say, I sobbed all the way to my new home - but then, isn't that a good thing when a place has been so important in your life? You may have guessed by now that Romily's canalside home in It Started With a Kiss was inspired by my flat - it was my way of paying homage to a place that I have loved for the last seven years of my life.

Onwards and upwards, Dickinson!

And to finish, here's my last glimpse of the unassuming star of my vlogs, site of over three hundred thousand words and the seat where many worlds were created: ladies and gentlemen, I give you - the wonderful Richardson Drive Sofa...

It Started With a Kiss week 3: Questions and an exclusive extract

All this year, I'm keeping a video diary of everything that goes into writing my third novel, It Started With a Kiss, due to be published in November. This week, I'm answering your questions and reading a world exclusive extract...

HUGE apologies for the delay in posting this - I've been writing like a crazy nutter for the past week (and I'm still going!)

This week, I answer your questions on conquering writer's block, disagreeing with my editor (including what I would have changed about my first novel, Fairytale of New York), how I was discovered on Authonomy.com, how many scenes I use to make a chapter and how the finished story differs from the initial synopsis.

I also have a WORLD EXCLUSIVE especially for you - the very first reading of an extract from It Started With a Kiss! Hope you like it!

Oh yes, and a brand new(-ish) funky hat to boot!

Now do I know how to pack in the goodies or what?!

E-e-e-enjoy!

p.s. Please note YouTube's choice of opening frame - I like to call it my Tommy Cooper homage!

Big cuts and scary times...

Editing. It's a scary thing.

I'm working on my second novel, Welcome to My World, which will be hitting the shops in November this year. It's all written (the fun bit), has undergone its first edit (a structural one - the not as much fun bit) and now, while I'm getting ready to do the line edit (the tedious but necessary, couldn't-be-less-fun-if-it-tried bit), I'm doing a major rework on one of the main characters of the book. Which is downright terrifying...

It needs to happen. This character just wasn't working and it's taken me a couple of months to work out why. Now the penny has dropped, it's time for some serious remodelling!

This bit always terrifies me - not least because I've technically 'finished' the book twice so far with the character complete in his current state. Deleting large sections of text and following all the corresponding threads takes time and nerves of steel, but it will be worth it in the end (repeat after me, Dickinson, 'It will be worth it in the end'...)

I have to admit that I thought writing my second novel would be a lot easier than my first. For most of last year I was like the proverbial rabbit-in-headlights as I went through the various editing, proofing and promoting stages for Fairytale of New York, on quite possibly the steepest learning curve of my life. So I assumed that book 2 would be simpler, less scary and altogether a more relaxed affair.

And then Fairytale went stratospheric...

While I'm confident in the story and characters for Welcome to My World, I'm terrified about my second novel not being good enough for the wonderful people who so kindly bought my first book. I don't want to write the 'disappointing second novel' and, most of all, I don't want to let people down. I was scared witless about my first book, but at least last year there were no expectations as everything was unknown. This year, people are counting on me. And that is both ultimately thrilling and downright scary!

I also know that I'm a perfectionist when it comes to my writing (although, sadly, not when it comes to housework...) so this pressure I'm feeling is completely self-imposed. It's actually a good thing for me to be a little scared - I trained in drama at university and what they say about stage-fright is absolutely true: the time to worry is when you don't feel nervous before you step into the spotlight.

So Mr Previously Unworkable is swiftly being transformed into Mr Believable Three-Dimensional. And I'll try not to think about the impending P-Day in November!

Not sexy enough for you, Daily Mail?

Well, according to Danuta Kean, Fairytale of New York 'offers little escape from the drudgery of real life'...

That's funny. I thought it offered hope.

Apparently, Rosie my protagonist shouldn't still be nursing a broken heart six years after the event: 'Now, don’t get me wrong, there is not a woman alive who hasn’t mourned the passing of a relationship. But please, six years after being dumped? After two, I’d be calling in specialist help.' Well, clearly Ms. Kean has been fortunate enough never to have had the kind of relationship that crushes your self-confidence. But plenty of women have - and I have received countless letters from readers who say reading how Rosie faces the man from her past has given them hope for the future.

And that's the point: Rosie faces her biggest fear head-on and emerges strong, dignified and triumphant.

Rosie is a successful businesswoman, who loves her adopted city of New York and her close friends. Her life is great, she has worked hard to achieve success despite the fact that the secret from her past six years before threatened everything she knew. But instead of dashing home with her tail between her legs, she chose to stay in America and got on with her life. I don't see that as 'drudgery' - I see that as a brave young woman making a success of her life.

Has she even read my book? Or just read the blurb on the back?

She also singles out Lucy Dillon's brilliant Lost Dogs and Lonely Hearts for her 'helpful' advice - completely crazy as the book is packed full of hope, humour, wit and originality. If you haven't got a copy of the book that deservedly scooped the RNA Romantic Novel of the Year award this year, then you need to treat yourself!

Now, I'm not saying that everyone is going to love the kind of romantic comedies that Lucy Dillon and I write. It's absolutely the reader's right to like and dislike whatever they choose. Diversity in publishing is what makes this industry so unique and special and I would defend a reader's right to choose to the end of all. But simply attacking a style of writing that is popular - and loved by millions of readers - is, quite frankly, a cheap shot.

Ms. Kean says she wants strong female characters who don't need men, but then goes on to praise the masculine 'manly Rhett Butler' males who lord it over their women, expect them to swoon over them and never reveal their true feelings. So we have to have women who don't need men who swoon over men that 'treat them mean to keep them keen'? I don't see how the two are mutually compatible. I don't want one-dimensional male characters. They bore me. I want real men who aren't perfect but who are interesting, witty and sexy. They don't have to reveal their feelings constantly, but they need to be honest about themselves - that's not a weak quality, it actually shows real strength. The male characters in my book are largely based on my male friends, all of whom occasionally talk about what they're feeling but all of whom are undeniably masculine and very heterosexual. The notion that men who open up aren't sexy is plain silly. My gorgeous boyfriend is open, honest, very masculine and sexy as hell!

I think the problem lies in whether you want a sledgehammer approach to fiction or prefer something a bit more subtle - gentler, lighter even, but still as interesting and absorbing as any good book should be. Most of all, subtle, warm, engaging stories of love are romantic. For me it's about the suggestion, the 'will-they-won't-they' journey through a book, that makes it truly romantic. Look at Sleepless in Seattle - the two leads only meet at the end, but after the build up of the story, one touch of their hands is, to quote the film, 'magic'. That's what makes a story romantic for me - real people, making real mistakes, having real lives and still finding a happy ending.

So I'm sorry if that doesn't do it for you, Daily Mail. But for me and the lovely people who read - and love - my stories, we'll take subtle every time.

Pics and a LIVE EVENT!

Here are some pics of the Pure Passion Awards launch I was at last week (in all their garish hugeness - the diet's going well, by the way!)



Posing with book - it still feels surreal that people want to know what I look like!



All books and grins - even though it was freezing! The shortlisted authors for the 2010 RNA Romantic Novel of the Year Award (whoop!): (left to right Santa Montefiore, me, Lucy Dillon, Louise Bagshawe, Jean Fullerton and Rachel Hore.

I'm also speaking at an event this Sunday 21st Feb at Calvary Church, Stallings Lane, Kingswinford, West Midlands DY6 7HS! I'll be talking about Fairytale of New York and will be singing a track from my forthcoming album About Time. For more details, click here It's FREE and you'll even get a nice cuppa and biscuit at the end. I'm happy to sign books, too - or just have a chinwag! Come along if you're in the area - it would be lovely to see you!

Woo-hoo!! I made the Shortlist!!!

Yes, I can now finally reveal the most amazing news so far... I made the shortlist of the RNA's Romantic Novel of The Year Award 2010!!!

I travelled down to London this week for the official unveiling of the shortlist authors - a completely surreal experience but great fun! I could hardly believe that I had been chosen to rub shoulders with the brilliant calibre of writers on the shortlist... All were lovely and it was a great morning. Looking forward to the Pure Passion Awards lunch on 16th March, now!

(Oh and apologies for the photo - not quite sure why I'm the only person pulling an odd face and looking like a half-floral mammoth... ah well, I have a great face for books!!! Another - slightly less scary - pic here...)

Being shortlisted for this award means the world to me because the Romantic Novelists' Association is such a wonderful organisation and true champion of romantic fiction. To be recognised by them is phenomenal - something I couldn't even have dreamed could be possible. I've followed the Romantic Novel of the Year award for the past few years because it stands for the very best in romantic fiction writing - so to see Fairytale of New York amongst the nominees is beyond fantastic.

(I make no apologies for gushing, by the way. I'm ridiculously excited!!)

So... in other news, Welcome to My World is now written! (woo-hoo!) I've just started structural edits and I have to say, I'm incredibly pleased with how it's going already. More on this, soon!

Fairytale of New York has, to date, sold 99,211 copies - how crazy is that?! Thank you so much to everyone who has so kindly bought my book. To think that in only three months (since publication) my novel has gone from my little romantic story to Sunday Times Top 10 Bestseller and now RNA Romantic Novel of the Year shortlisted book is totally nuts!!! It just goes to prove that the dream is possible - so if you're dreaming of one day seeing your novel being sold in bookshops, keep believing!
*takes deep breath, attempts to calm down. FAILS!*

So I have the posh frock sorted for the awards lunch... All I need now are the shoes and a rather large piece of string to tether me to something immovable, seeing as I appear to be floating permanently in the clouds at the moment! :o)

Snow, Birthdays and Book 2...

After all the excitement of the past few weeks, it's time to get back to work...

Stourbridge was quite badly hit with the snow, so I ended up working from home for most of last week, only making it into the office on Friday. Having said that, it was actually a lot of fun - not least because of the 'bulldog spirit' that the freezing weather seemed to inspire in my neighbours. I found it fascinating to chat with people I don't normally see that much of during the week - and, in true British style, talking about the weather was the ice-breaker (sorry for the pun) that everyone needed to start talking.

Now, it seems to be melting and -1oC yesterday felt positively tropical by comparison to the scary temperatures we've had recently! Mind you, while I know I should be happy that the snow is going, I can't help but feel a small pang of childish disappointment because I love watching snow falling so much... :o(

So, back to writing the first draft of Welcome to My World - my second novel. It's all going well and I'm planning to post some juicy details here and on my website in the coming weeks and months - so keep watching for those! Just like it happened when I was writing Fairytale of New York, all kinds of weird and wonderful characters are turning up - like Harri's ginger and white tabby cat, Ron Howard, who is kind of like a feline equivalent of a Greek Chorus at pertinent moments! More to follow soon...

I'm always amazed at all the stuff in the media about January being the most depressing month of the year. It's never been like that for me because my birthday's in January! Like every year, I'm ridiculously excited about the day and slightly bemused about the age I'll be (what do you mean I'm not 25?!?!) So, next Monday (18th) I will mostly be jumping around like a kid on Haribo overload and completely forgetting how old I actually am :o)

If the old adage is true and you're really only as old as you feel, then I'm a giggling 5-year-old!

Amazing sales, nominations, awards and a sparkly new cover...

Well, it's been a bit of a crazy couple of weeks...

Fairytale of New York has completely surpassed any of my expectations (bearing in mind I thought selling 500 would be brilliant...) - to date, it's sold over 60,000 copies and stayed in the Sunday Times Top 10 Bestsellers for a whole month!

I've also been nominated for an award! I heard a couple of weeks ago that I had made the longlist for the Romantic Novelists' Association's Romantic Novel of the Year Award 2010! You can read more about it here... I'm thrilled to bits to be longlisted - it's more than I ever thought was possible - and means so much to have been recognised by the RNA. I have to wait until Febraury to find out if Fairytale of New York has been shortlisted, but I'm just so chuffed to have made it this far! Keeping everything crossed, though :o)

I was amazed to hear that Fairytale has also just won its first award! The lovely ladies at www.chicklitreviews.com voted the delectable Ed Steinmann from Fairytale of New York as BEST MALE CHARACTER! It's wonderful because Ed was always my favourite character and I wanted other people to love him as much as I did. See all the winners here And here's the award!



Woo-hoo!

And last, but by no means least, here is the thoroughly gorgeous, sparkly new cover for my second book, Welcome to my World, which will be published at the end of 2010...



How lovely is that?!!

Blimey O'Reilly, I'm in the TOP 10!!!

Just when I thought this publishing thing couldn't get any better, it just has!

Fairytale of New York has now been in the Sunday Times Bestseller List for two weeks!! I can't believe it - I'm completely in shock!

Bob and I were trying to work out how many copies I could realistically hope to sell and we reckoned that we probably knew about 500 people between us - but even then it would mean everyone we knew buying a copy of my book and I just didn't think I could expect to be that fortunate. After all, people have been so kind buying my book and I didn't feel I could expect that level of support.

So you can imagine my utter shock when I found out that Fairytale sold just under 6,000 copies in its first week (three days, from Thursday to Saturday), just over 11,000 copies in its second week and, this week, another 12,000 copies... I'm up there with writers I adore, like Cecelia Ahern, and it's completely surreal!!

Everyone at AVON and HarperCollins was over the moon, too, which is great for me because I know how much effort they've all put into promoting my book. I received two enormous bouquets of flowers, making my tiny home look like Kowalski's - I've run out of vases (and flat surfaces) to display them, so some of the flowers have now ended up with my Mum and Dad. People have been so amazingly kind, too. I've had messages, emails and tweets from all over the world - and the nicest thing is the number of people who've said they loved my book. When all's said and done, all I ever wanted for my book is for other people to love the story as much as I did. Several people have read it in a day, saying they couldn't put it down, whilst lots of people love the first chapter of Welcome To My World, which is simply brilliant news.

There's no other way to describe it: it's a dream come true!

So tomorrow, I have an interview with The Independent on Sunday, which should be fun, then it's back to writing for the rest of the week. And quaking in my boots waiting for the next amazing thing to happen. Bring it on!

I'm all PUBLISHED now!

Well, my lovely little book is finally unleashed on an unsuspecting world...

Fairytale of New York officially launched on Thursday and is now available in a good bookshop (and, quite probably, some dodgy ones too) near you!

I was asked by BBC Radio WM if they could capture the moment I first saw my book on the shelves, for the Mornings With Joanne Malin show - of course I said yes, but then it transpired that they couldn't get me on the programme until Friday - one whole day after P-Day... Consequently, while everyone else was sending me picture messages of my book in Tesco, Sainsbury's and WHSmiths, I wasn't allowed to go into a bookshop!

Having said that, when I finally went into my favourite bookshop in Birmingham (the Waterstones in the old bank on New Street), accompanied by the lovely reporter Cayte Walker, it was quite a magical moment! You can hear the interview here (my bit starts at 2:07:48) Both Cayte and Joanne were lovely and I'd like to say a huge thanks to them and the manageress at Waterstones for making the experience truly fab.

After the interview, I was asked to sign some copies of my book - cue my first (impromptu) book signing! What was so strange was that I kept feeling like I was doing something naughty - after all, I go into this bookshop most Saturdays and I've never been allowed to scribble in new books before... About halfway through signing the books, the realisation hit me that this mad, crazy publishing thing is actually happening - then I noticed my signature was wobbling a little!

Last night I had a small launch celebration with my closest chums in Stourbridge at our local Pizza Express. It was a fantastic night - I even had celebratory fireworks with accompanying orchestra in a Hollywood-style moment (well, Stourbridge Football Club was having its annual fireworks display as we were driving into Stourbridge and 'Friday Night is Music Night' was playing on Radio 2 - all the romance, with none of the expense - perfect!)

So now it's back to writing book 2 - Welcome to My World is coming along nicely, so it's full steam ahead from now until December!

Here it is! Woooooooo-hoooooo!

So here it is: my very first novel – all wintry-looking and sparkly and truly amazing!

Fairytale of New York is now, after so many years of just being a big Word document on my computer, a real tangible thing.

Like any writer, I dreamed about the day I would receive the first, printed copy of my novel. Being the completely hopeless romantic that I am, the image I always had was something like the scene in Little Women where Jo receives a gorgeous, gold-embossed leather edition of her work… Of course, it didn’t happen like that: in my case it was an innocuous-looking envelope handed to me by a rather gruff FedEx guy, who, when I told him excitedly that it was the very first copy of my debut novel, responded with a non-plussed, ‘Oh, right,’ before beating a hasty retreat… It’s going to sound odd, but I honestly couldn’t open the package for about five minutes… I just sat on my sofa, staring at it. I think I’d always pictured myself ripping open the envelope and screaming, crying, running round the room and generally looking like a completely deranged individual. But when it actually happened, it was a really quiet, beautiful moment. I took this photo as I was opening the package: the whole thing felt so surreal that I wanted to preserve the ‘first-look’ for a time when I was less overawed by it all. For a long time, I just stared at my book – my book – turning it over and over in my hands. The thing that struck me the most straight away was the wonderful ‘new book’ smell – something so familiar to a bookaholic like me, yet so completely strange to be accompanying my words…

That’s another thing: not only does it have my name on it, but it also has my words inside it! Again, a totally obvious thing to say, but it’s a very odd feeling to hold a book in your hands where you know exactly what’s written on every single page. Even when I’ve bought new editions of books I’ve read before, I haven’t been able to say that I know every line of it.

It’s taken me a few days to get my head around it – I finally did the whole jiggly victory dance thing yesterday, actually! I know that when I walk into my favourite bookshop in less than two weeks’ time and see Fairytale on the shelves, that’s when I’m likely to do the whole screaming, jumping up and down, girly crying thing (perhaps someone should warn Waterstones in New Street, Birmingham that a crazy writer is due to descend on them on November 12th!) Bob’s going to come with me (he’s taken the day off work, bless him!), so at least he can smile ruefully at the startled staff and customers and say, ‘It’s OK – she’s just a writer,’ to allay their fears…

A couple of days ago, I started getting emails from friends who had preordered their copies on Amazon, to say that their books had arrived, which was a bit of a shock as I’d assumed all books would be sent out on P-Day, but incredibly exciting nevertheless. The whole prospect of people reading my book fills me with a heady mixture of intense curiosity about what they’ll think of it and complete dread at the thought of my friends and family finally getting to read something that was ‘my little chick-lit story’ for so many years.

Like so often throughout my big scary adventure in publishing, this stage is completely different to the way I’d always envisaged it – but it’s a good different, not a disappointing different! Fairytale has been such a massive part of my life for so long - especially during this year – so reaching the run-up to P-Day feels like a relief in many ways, but also the start of a whole new chapter (pardon the pun) for me. Once my book hits the shelves, the whole process starts again with Welcome to My World – which means that, finally, I will be able to see myself as a ‘proper author’, instead of a completely wide-eyed newbie (although I think I will always feel like that!)

So now the final push starts to P-Day… I’ve written a travel article for The Sunday Telegraph (strange, but true), which will be out on November 22nd, and have done a couple of interviews for book sites www.chicklitreviews.com and www.chicklitclub.com which should be appearing soon. On Monday, I went down to London to take part in a presentation the fabulous Authonomy team were doing at HarperCollins Towers, which went really well, and I also did a live radio interview from the BBC, weirdly for Radio Shropshire!

People all over the place have started receiving their pre-ordered copies of Fairytale of New York and it's been spotted lurking on the shelves of WHSmith already... eeeek!

One thing's for sure: this crazy publishing trip is only going to get more exciting!

Look at the swanky cover!

This is it!

The final incarnation of my debut novel Fairytale of New York in all its pinky-sparkly-New Yorky splendour!

And, finally, the 'happy-every-afters' typo is no more!! (Well, here, at least, although the older image is still up on all the online booksites (sorry about that...)



I've also posted a new blog entry for Authonomy here: with all the latest developments... There's more to come, so keep watching for lots of exciting stuff!

Phew - too exciting... Off for a lie-down and a nice cup of Yorkshire Tea decaf - my latest find and it's fab!

And so it begins...

OK. It's less than 50 days to 'P-DAY'...

So here's the official countdown clock... It will also live in its new home at the top right of my blog, but for some unknown reason it doesn't quite fit the border (any tips gratefully received!) - so here it is in all its flash graphic-y splendour!


MySpace Countdowns

All finished!

Whoa yes. It's done.

Fairytale of New York is finally complete and on its way to the printers at last!

I'm not sure what the correct term for completing a book is... In the can? On the shelf? On the van on the way to the printers before it gets to the shelf? Whatever, it's done, finished, fin. I completed the final edits yesterday (a week early, quite chuffed with that) and sent it happily zipping off to its next big adventure in the land of print.

To be honest, I was dreading this edit because it had come back to me after a copyeditor had gone through it... Being a copywriter myself, there was a certain amount of professional pride at stake, so I was praying I hadn't made any glaringly awful grammatical errors that she would swoop on with cries of glee (an occupational hazard for anyone who works with words). But, to my surprise, I actually enjoyed this edit more than either the structural or dastardly line edits - because I actually got to read my novel! I've added so many new things over the course of the various edits that I hadn't really read the book in its entirety - so it was fabulous to see how it's grown and developed since the first draft that I uploaded onto Authonomy last September. Huge thanks to Yvonne Holland for finding all my daft mistakes!

I'm really proud of the finished result and can't wait to see what other people think of it. All the hard work has definitely paid off and I now have a finished story that I'm completely proud of. Roll on November 12th!

Just remind me of this euphoria when I'm stuck in line editing hell next year, won't you??

Is this the weirdest place to sign an autograph?

I've just signed my first autograph... but the location was an odd one!

When you're a writer, you dream of the scenario where someone asks for your autograph... You smile, blush slightly, and pretend with all your might that you haven't been practising your signature for such a time as this, honest...

I wasn't expecting to be asked to sign anything yet - especially as my book isn't published till 12th November. But at least, I thought, when it did happen, it would be in some swanky location with accompanying slow-mo camera, wind machine and string quartet.

As it turned out, this was not to be the case. I was, in fact, in Cubicle 17 of the A&E department at Russell's Hall Hospital, wearing a very fetching backless gown emblazoned with the legend, 'For Hospital Use Only' (I mean, as if you're likely to want to steal it... Take a deep breath, darling, I've a backless gown from A&E and I'm not afraid to use it!), awaiting the visit of a doctor to find out why the whole of the right-hand side of my body had swollen up and my pulse rate had rocketed.

Before the doctor turned up, a very nice student doctor arrived to take some blood (as you do) - in the process of it all she asked me what had happened to me and I explained that I'd been working stupidly for the past two weeks trying to get the edits done on my first novel. Turns out she's a massive fan of women's contemporary fiction and was really excited to hear about my book! So, when she was about to leave, she asked for my autograph and took the details of my novel!

In an ideal world, I would have preferred to be (a) fully clothed; (b) not swollen up and panicking because the nurses outside my cubicle were talking loudly about, "the suspected stroke in Cubicle 17"; and (c) in an altogether more agreeable location - but there you go.

Ah, the glittering world of showbiz, eh?!

Here's the cover!

Well, here it is - the cover design for my debut novel!



How fab is that?! Bob and I were in shock when we saw it for the first time... Somehow, it makes the whole thing more real, which is a bit of a daft thing to say, but ever since I first found out that Avon were going to publish my novel I've felt as if I've been in a dream and I've found myself wondering if I'm going to wake up any minute!

The title on the cover is going to be purple foil and the white stars will be silver, too, so it will look wonderful on the shelves - and very Christmassy, too, so perfect for when my novel hits the shops (I am never going to get used to that phrase!) on 12th November.

What do you think? Let me know!

Now you can PRE-ORDER my novel?!!??

Eeek! Now things are getting really crazy...

Last week I started to get messages from my friends to say that they'd seen Fairytale of New York on Tesco.com, as a pre-order title. Which was weird enough. But then it started popping up everywhere - Waterstone's, Tesco, Amazon and WH Smith... And now, lovely people are telling me that they've pre-ordered my book! How completely amazing is that?!

What's so odd about this whole thing is the speed with which everything happened, after years of thinking nobody was ever going to take my writing seriously and feeling like I was hitting brick wall after brick wall whenever I dared to put my writing out there. It occurred to me today that this time last year I was stuck in a job that was slowly dying, suffering from stress and struggling to make ends meet. Fast-forward a year and I'm able to spend two days writing my own stuff, working in a job I love for the rest of the week, somehow paying my bills (even though on paper I should be worse off) and people I haven't even met yet are pre-ordering my debut novel... while I'm writing my second book and trying not to get too many ideas for my third!

Wow. It just goes to show (Optimist Alert!) that anything is possible. Getting published is a dream come true - and I don't mean that flippantly. This time last year I would never have dreamed that my book would ever be read by anyone other than me, my friend Linsey (who is responsible for the book ever going past chapter 15, seeing as she started bugging me for more chapters when she'd read it!) and perhaps my Mum. I know I've said it before, but it's true: if it can happen for me, it can happen for anyone...

Now all I have to do is to stop looking at the Waterstone's site, which is kindly informing me how many days are left to publication! Aaaarrgghhhhh!

A Kowalski's Fairytale...

Well, the announcement's been made...

...so here it is again: the new title for Coffee At Kowalski's is... Fairytale of New York!

You can read my full blog post for Authonomy here...

It was a huge decision and one I wrestled with for a long, long time. In the end, I have to trust that the team at Avon know their stuff and, having seen the design for my very first book cover (OH. MY. GIDDY. LIFE!), I have to say that the title fits with the design really well. Of course, I was sad to let the Kowalski's title go, but it's only the title; Rosie's florist shop, Kowalski's is absolutely central to the book. What I hope people find is the many stories woven together inside the cover... It's more than just a love story; it's a story of love in all its forms - friendship, true love, fear of love, loss of love, the dream of love, family love and neighbourhood love - through the stories of the customers and staff of the small neighbourhood florist store on the corner of West 68th and Columbus on New York's Upper West Side.

Sex & the City it ain't...

I just hope that people like it... The new title's had a very mixed response on Authonomy, but then I've kept the original manuscript that's posted on the site as Coffee At Kowalski's because that's what it's called in the original draft. The great thing, however, is that even though most people don't like Fairytale as a title, everyone has been tremendously supportive and so kind about it all. What's great for me is that so many people in the Authonomy community consider my novel to be theirs by association - which is great because I don't feel alone in all this. It's nice to share the good stuff with like-minded people and good to feel like part of a community. I've made some cracking friends on the site and it means so much that people support me and my book.

Still waiting for those pesky line edits - but Book 2 is coming along great! Just trying not to think about November, now (too many butterflies for one tummy to deal with!)