Writing: the ultimate act of optimism!

I love this quote which I recently came across...

Edward Albee is the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of famous plays such as Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, A Delicate Balance and Seascape, and he also adapted Truman Capote's Breakfast At Tiffany's for the stage. You can read more about him here.

People often ask me why I write. Sometimes, I ask myself! I think every writer battles more or less constantly with the concern that their words won't matter. We worry that readers will dislike our characters, misunderstand our concepts and - worst of all - hate our created word-worlds. Confidence (both the lack of it and the battle to maintain it) is a major issue.

Over the past few years since becoming a published author, I have had to work hard to recapture the glimpses of audacious self-belief that got me writing in the first place. When it didn't matter - when the only person interested in what happened next was me - there was something strong enough within that convinced me to believe in the story and pursue it. My aim now is to grab those moments whenever I find them and hang on for dear life!

That hope, that rock-steady conviction that my ideas are worth pursuing, that seemingly ridiculous optimism in what I can create, will be the molten steel from which my stories will be moulded. Once poured into shape, that confident hope will set firm to underpin my self-belief for the next stage of my writing, the next story, or the grand unveiling of my ideas to the world.

If you're struggling to believe in your story, print out the quote above and put it somewhere you can see it. Your writing matters - so be optimistic!

A bit of silliness for a dreary Monday...

It's August, but nobody seems to have told the weather that.
R-r-r-r-rubbish.
So, in the name of all things Eternally Optimistic, here's a little bit of silliness (with a classical theme) to brighten your day. Enjoy!

Short Story Special

Every now and again on Coffee and Roses, I want to bring you bits of writing I've done in the past that you might not have seen - just for fun!

In 2008, before I was published, I decided to start a short story blog. The main reason for this was just to have an outlet for my writing (in the vain hope that it might be read by someone other than me!). The result was September's - a series of short stories set in a small Shropshire cafe. Unfortunately, because the blog is - well - a blog, it means that the first story is hidden beneath all the others. It kind of sets the scene for the rest as it introduces Nessa, who manages the cafe.

I think you might like it... Read Open for Business - Meet Nessa and let me know what you think!

Forget the Budget and the World Cup...

What with Mr Osborne's doom-laden budget and England's - um - mixed fortunes at the World Cup, it would be easy to feel depressed this week...

But all is not lost. Ever the optimist, I would like to present a truly positive story to bring a much-needed smile back to your face.

Click here to watch Smudge - the biker dog!

(I dare you to watch it and not smile!)

Feeling better? All part of the service, ladies and gents!

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!

I've just had a Flumps Moment...

It's just possible I have my very own raincloud...

You know, like Perkin did in The Flumps?


Photo courtesy of www.80scartoons.co.uk

I was driving home from work and it started raining BUT only on my front windscreen - the back windscreen was dry. Then I noticed that none of the cars approaching had their windscreen wipers going!

My conclusion? I must have my own personal raincloud following me home!

Maybe it was my odd imagination (made even odder by the amount of time I'm spending in my own head with all the writing I'm doing!); maybe it was the random melancholy of a Wednesday evening; whatever the reason it made me smile all the way home (which was the boost I needed), so it was worth the surreal moment just for that.

And, strangely enough, when I started smiling, the rain stopped... Hmmmmm...

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!)

Gorgeous song...

If you appreciate great musicianship, you must check this out!

Hilary from Simply Yours Designs (who designed the layout for Coffee & Roses) has it posted on her blog... and it absolutely blew me away! Wow...

Remember, remember the Twelfth of November...

... for this hallowed date is when my very first novel will be hitting the shops!!

More details when I get them, but I found this out yesterday so I wanted to let you know. One major thing is a big change to the title... I'm announcing it on my blog posts for Authonomy, so keep your eyes peeled for that any day now. Once it's out on there I'll be making a massive noise about it on here, too. It's been a thoroughly mahoosive decision, but I'm pretty convinced it's the right one, so hopefully it will make my book stand out when it hits the shelves on November 12th...

Did you get that, by the way? November 12th 2009... Why not put the date in your diary now, just so you don't forget??

(If you think this is cheeky, wait until Autumn when I'll be getting really nervous!!)

Having a publication date has made the whole thing feel a bit more real - with each stage I go through it is slowly dawning on me that this is actually happening... Wow - odd or what?!

The Prince's Rainforest Project

I'm not usually one for sign-up campaigns, but this is a good 'un...

...not least because it's cool to see Prince Charles doing a myspace video message! Seriously, this a fab campaign and well worth a look.

(Watch out for Kermit in the video, too!)

Check out my new blog look!

WOW... how cool is this?!

Many, many thanks to Hilary from Simply Yours Designs for this fantastically girlie-groovy-gorgeous design!!

What do you think of the new look for Coffee & Roses? Let me know!

COMING SOON: A new look!

Coffee and Roses is getting all swankyfied!!

In the next few days, my lovely blog is undergoing a bit of a spring-clean and will emerge all sparkly and gorgeous very soon...

Keep your eyes peeled and let me know what you think...

Editing and the importance of perspective...

I now have a Schedule, darling...

...which is soooo scary! It's only one sheet of A4, but on it are the dates that will determine the next few months as I start to go through the editing process for Kowalski's. It's all good and I'm still completely blown away by it all, but every now and again the enormity of the task ahead dawns on me. Not only do I have to produce the best novel that I can, I then have to hope and pray that people will actually like my book - something I have no control over whatsoever...

When you're writing just for yourself, whilst you long for others to recognise your ability and like your writing, it doesn't really matter if nobody does - because you write for yourself, first and foremost. I always want to be like that, no matter whether I sell one book or a million. (I'll sell at least one because my Mum & Dad will buy one, so I'm at least assured of that sale!) So even though I'm currently editing and writing new sections for Kowalski's, I'm still writing it for myself - the only difference to before is that I now have an awful lot of other people counting on me to write something worthwhile. It's brilliant, really, when I stop to think about it - so the work is the best fun (just as long as I don't try to think too far ahead to the whole 'will people like it' scenario!)

I watched a programme tonight about celebrity chefs and so many of them referred to their cookbooks as their 'product'. I hate that: no matter how famous you get, you should never, ever lose the thrill of producing something that you've created yourself. Call me naive, but I'm convinced there must be a way of retaining that spark of joy, even if others around you are focussed on the sales figures.

I read an article about the actor Bob Hoskins once, and the writer said that even though he is one of the hardest working actors in the business, he still wanders around set on each new film he embarks on like a kid in a sweet shop. Crew members always comment that he appears to be blown away by the whole thing - not least because he's a part of it - and to the casual observer it would appear that this was the very first movie he'd ever worked on. I want to be like that - no matter whether my books sell or not.

And so, you have my personal permission to slap me if you ever see me being diva-like about writing. I don't intend to ever lose the thrill of reading the words wot I wrote - no matter what the future holds!

Oim on the telloi, loike...

I'm on the telly!

A reporter from BBC Midlands Today phoned me on Tuesday after I'd been a guest on Phil Upton's Breakfast Show on Radio WM, to ask if they could come to my house.

My house? Are you sure?

Having just come back from holiday in South Devon (so lovely that I didn't want to come home), my tiny flat was disappearing under the usual post-holiday detritus that I hadn't had time (or inclination) to tackle yet... Thus followed two evenings after work of manic cleaning, sorting, binning, dusting and vacuuming - leading to me sleeping on the sofa the night before the TV crew were due because I had so much stuff piled up and generally shoved into my bedroom that I couldn't actually get to the bed! Still, I now have televisual evidence that my flat can be tidy...

You can watch it here...

Needless to say, I am now convinced I look like Jabba the Hut's slightly overweight sister and am resorting to the Ryvitas!

Massively Humungous News!!!

OK, here it is...drumroll, please...

My novel is going to be published!!!

Coffee At Kowalski's was spotted on Authonomy.com by the lovely people at HarperCollins Avon and they've offered me a three book deal!!

It's completely crazy and utterly surreal - I haven't stopped smiling yet and it still feels like I might do a Dallas thing and wake up to find Bobby Ewing in the shower...(showing my age, there!)I found out just before Christmas and it's only just been announced, which is why I was bursting to talk about it all over the festive period!

It took me a while to realise that Avon wanted to actually publish my book - I was such a complete Dilbert that I assumed they'd just phoned me to offer helpful advice (d'oh!) - it was only when they said, "We do want to publish your book by the way," that the light finally dawned!

Coffee At Kowalski's is due to be published in time for Christmas and then two more books will follow, which still seems so surreal even now. The main thing for me is that I will be able to go into my favourite Waterstone's shop in New Street, Birmingham, and actually see my book on the shelves... For the past two years, every time I've walked into that store (it's the one in the old bank by the entrance to the Pallasades and it's really cool) I've turned to Bob and said, "One day, my book will be here." Now it's actually happening, I can't believe it...

I'd better leave it there as I'm in danger of doing a Kate Winslet/Golden Globes-style acceptance speech... Suffice to say this is a dream come true and I'm so excited about what this year is going to bring! :o)

The Art of Finishing Things 2...

Oh. My. Giddy. Life...

I've just had an email that could, quite possibly, be a breakthrough... It's a notice of initial interest in my book, Coffee At Kowalski's, from a real publisher!

The only slight problem is, they've asked to see the complete manuscript - aaarrgghh!! So, for the past three days (and nights) I've been frantically writing and editing to pull it into some shape. I know it might not lead to anything, but it's an open door nonetheless - I've been in panic mode since I got the email.

So if you see a small, wizened old lady, rocking gently whilst hammering away like a half-crazed loon at her laptop, it's probably me!

Two of my favourite things at once...

This is brilliant...

I've loved The Weepies for ages - they're a brilliant band and you should really check them out if you haven't heard them before. It's quite the most beautiful, chilled-out music you're likely to hear and both their albums, Say I Am You and Hideaway are well worth investing in.

Those of you who know me will know that I am a mahoosive Muppet fan and I was thrilled to find that The Weepies have teamed up with two Muppeteers for their latest video - brilliant music and Muppets: what's not to love?!

Enjoy!