Writer Spotlight: Lisa Dickenson

On Coffee and Roses I like to bring you news of exciting authors who are either waiting to be published or published and worth checking out.

This week, I'm excited to welcome the very lovely LISA DICKENSON into the Coffee and Roses Writer Spotlight.

When did you first decide that you wanted to write?

I was about eleven, and at a talk by Anne Fine in Plymouth. She was saying that when she was young she wrote loads of story beginnings, first chapters and opening paragraphs before moving on to the next idea. I do that, I thought. We’re the same! This means I will be a writer too! Then growing up I fell into that miserably British trait of assuming my dreams wouldn’t be reached because there was too much competition, but even so, if anyone actually ever says I can’t do something a little spark inside me always ignites and mumbles “I’ll bloody show you…”

What interests you as a writer?

Don’t tell anyone, but I’m quite interested in eavesdropping on and writing about interactions between people who think no-one’s listening, or when they can’t find the right words to say in a situation. That natural dialogue where you don’t produce the perfect, scripted comeback and it ends up sounding completely awkward and the reader – or listener – thinks, I know exactly how that feels!

Do you have a typical writing day? If not, when is the best time to write for you?

My dream is to be a full-time writer, living near the beach and writing all day with the sand on my toes. But for now my typical writing day consists of sitting on a crowded bus full of teenagers for an hour in the morning and evening on route to the day job, hoping they don’t laugh at what I’m typing and call me a name I don’t understand. Actually, they have no interest in me whatsoever, so I can’t complain. If it’s a weekend my aim will be to write thousands of words on Saturday morning but then I procrastinate and “think” until Sunday night and then suddenly it all pours out.

What inspires you as a writer?

Holidays! Be it a caravan in Cornwall or a holiday home in the Hollywood Hills. In my own abode it’s amazing how easy it is for my brain to procrastinate like hell – the house could do with a clean, the fridge needs a bit more stocking, those Real Housewives episodes need to be watched. Getting away, seeing new vistas, living a new life for whatever length of time, observing all new people with different, interesting lifestyles… those things inspire me, and I come back from each holiday with armfuls of ideas for locations, characters, scenes or even whole new stories.

What are the best things about being a writer?

Playing God – ha! Babbling on, unfolding a fictional life, doing to them what you will and putting words in their mouths. Each time I handed in the next two chapters of The Twelve Dates of Christmas to my lovely editor at Little, Brown, Manpreet Grewal, I was always amazed that it didn’t come back with everything edited out; I’d never before had a job with such freedom. Of course, there were edits, but the bulk was still there. My characters were allowed to be there, my scenes. It’s ever such a nice feeling. Oh, also that it’s practically in the job description that you have to laugh at your own jokes.

And the worst?

When you have a deadline and you’re tired and you don’t know how to write something and everything you’re putting on the page sounds like the crappest thing anyone’s ever written, ever, in the history of forever. Forcing creativity is the worst. I only had one meltdown, I think, at my editor, where I started furiously writing shouty capital emails saying – and I quote – “BUT WHAT IF I CAN'T THINK OF ANYTHING AND THE CLOCK TICKS AROUND TO 5PM AND ALL I CAN THINK ABOUT ARE DIAMANTES AND RED DRESSES AND WILLIES AND I AM DISOWNED IN THE WORLD OF PUBLISHING?????” She was like, “Okay, calm the heck down, it’ll come to you,” – and then the solution came to me that evening.

Tell me about The Twelve Dates of Christmas

This is Claudia’s story of how she tries to pull her life out a big stale rut through the magic of Christmas in London. She struggles with the things we all do – grumpiness, heartache, indecision – but also faces a lot of fun, romance and discovery through her December of dating. From part one, Dates 1&2, through to part six, Dates 11&12, you’ll find lashings of snow, mulled wine, a host of sparkling dates, people showing off their lovely and not-so-lovely Christmas spirit and hopefully come out the end feeling like you should be knocking back a glass of Baileys and soaking in the season.



Why did you decide to release your book as a series rather than a stand-alone novel?

This was Manpreet at Little, Brown’s idea – she’d been thinking about the possibility of releasing a serialised novel and in the early days of Twelve Dates we talked about it and decided we’d give it a go. It splits rather neatly into six parts, and I like that it harks back to how Dickens would release his novels, because I firmly believe he wrote the best Christmas story of all time with The Christmas Carol (closely followed by The Jolly Christmas Postman).

What would be your top three tips for aspiring writers?

1. Enter writing competitions. Submit to agents. Find a friend who’s into writing and ask them to read it (you’ll be surprised once you admit you’re a writer how many friends say “I’ve been thinking of writing a book, too.”) It’s very easy to think ‘I like writing, my stuff sounds okay to me, but I don’t really know if I’m good enough,’ and subsequently do bugger all about it. If you submit your work at least someone is reading it, giving you feedback, taking you seriously. And you might just start the next ‘chapter’ of your life. Ha! Do you get it? Like, chapter of a book… They don’t call me an author for nothing.

2. Listen to podcasts from established authors. I have a whole host of Jackie Collins ones I keep on my iPod that I used to listen to when I felt like just sacking it all in and not bothering. Then I’d listen, and Jackie would chatter on about her successes, her struggles, her inspirations, her writing methods, and I’d always come away feeling a lot more revved up. This is what I want my life to be, I would think, and I would do something about it.

3. Carry a notepad everywhere! Don’t spend time trying to find a pretty ‘writer’ notepad with the perfect cover and an elastic doodah to hold it shut – you’ll never use it, because you won’t want it to be filled with scribbles and scrawls and half a chapter that started to get a bit too erotic and now you’re a little embarrassed it’s in there. Just have a crappy old notebook you may or may not have nicked from the office stationary cupboard, and jot down everything that springs to mind, from words of dialogue inspired by the song you’re listening to, to possible solutions to the end of a scene, to whole new story ideas. Shove it all in. Just remember to then go through it and collate your ideas from time to time!

Do you have a dream project you'd love to write?

Yes, two! I’d love to write a really chilling, eerie ghost story. Not one filled with shock, blood and gore, but the type that makes you unnerved. Like Rebecca or The Woman in Black. Something Hitchcock said which sticks in my mind is that if a bomb suddenly goes off it gives you ten seconds of fright, but if you know the bomb is there the whole dynamic is changed and you get foreboding and suspense. He was talking about films not novels, but I think it still applies, and that’s the type of novel I’d like to explore. The other project harks back to younger me and her dream to write an epic, Sweet Valley/Babysitters Club-style series with lovable characters that you keep coming back to, that people would want to collect the set and to follow their life stories (and still secretly love aged 30…).

Anything else you’d like to say?

I’m sure you’ve had enough of me harping on, but I think the only other thing I’d like to say is a whopping thank you, to Miranda, and to all the other authors and bloggers who’ve been incredibly supportive. It’s pretty scary putting yourself out there and saying “I WRITE THINGS, PLEASE LIKE THEM AND LIKE ME”, so a thanks to all of those who’ve helped me feel like I belong here and that they’re going through the same things, and everything’s going to be peachy.

Oh and one more thing: I WRITE THINGS, PLEASE LIKE THEM AND LIKE ME.

Thanks so much to Lisa for braving the Writer Spotlight! You can find out about Lisa at her website and follow her on Twitter @LisaWritesStuff.

Guest Author: Matt Dunn - A Day At The Office

I am thrilled to welcome awesome author (and all-round lovely bloke) MATT DUNN to Coffee and Roses to tell us about his latest book A Day At The Office, which is out now. Over to you, Matt!



Every writer knows what their books are about – the story, I mean – when they're writing them. But sometimes (for me at least) it takes a while to realise what they're actually about - in terms of the theme. For example, in my previous six novels, the themes were friendship (Best Man), being dumped (The Ex-Boyfriend's Handbook), fatherhood (From Here To Paternity), relationships (Ex-Girlfriends United), marriage (The Good Bride Guide), and fidelity (The Accidental Proposal).

And when I thought about it, I realised these were pretty much the six themes I'd wanted to cover when I first began writing, and started trying to give my 'unique' male perspective on life, love, and relationships.

The trouble was, once I'd delivered my sixth book, that meant it was pretty much a case of 'job done', which left me with a bit of a dilemma, as I was probably too old to go and retrain as an accountant. And besides, as a comedy novelist, I still had some jokes left in me.
But what on earth could I make those jokes about? As a strong believer in 'write what you know', I'd pretty much written everything I knew (though not for one moment do I want you to think all of my books are autobiographical – no one person could be that unlucky in love!). And then it hit me. The one theme that was perhaps common to each of my previous books – and probably the one theme that features strongly in every book ever written about love.

Loneliness.

The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to write about how we'll do anything to avoid the feeling of being alone; embarrass ourselves in front of the opposite sex, put up with, shall we say, less-than-perfect relationships, put ourselves through hell in the gym, expose ourselves (not in that way!) on the internet, obsess about people who perhaps don't even know we exist, lay ourselves on the line, only to have our heartfelt declarations of undying love thrown right back in our faces... And how sometimes, the loneliest of times are, ironically, when you're surrounded by millions of people.

And that's how my seventh novel, A Day At The Office, was born. It's the story of five people who work for the same company in central London – Sophie (the office singleton), Calum (tiptoeing gingerly through the minefield of internet dating), Nathan (broken-hearted), Julie (let's just say 'it's complicated'), and Mark (unrequited love) – all looking for love on the most romantic day of the year. And even though they might not realise it themselves, it's the need to not feel lonely that's driving them all.

Of course, I'm a comedy novelist, so it was important to make it funny (even though loneliness is perhaps the least funny feeling anyone can experience), but fortunately, I found I didn't have to try too hard – the things we all do to avoid being alone are quite frankly, in some cases, ridiculous. As to whether I've succeeded, well, the reader will have to be the judge of that!

Thanks so much, Matt! I’m reading A Day At The Office now and I can thoroughly recommend it to everyone. I’m a massive fan of Matt's books and it’s a real treat! Matt previously ventured into the Coffee and Roses Author Spotlight back in 2011 – you can read his interview here. Watch out for more Guest Authors coming soon!

It Started With a Kiss - The Walking Tours!

I've been talking about doing this for over a year, but now it is actually happening... Ladies and gentlemen, may I present: THE IT STARTED WITH A KISS WALKING TOURS!

I am running three dates - click on the date to find out more and book tickets:

IT STARTED WITH A KISS TOUR 1 - Sunday 25th November 2012, 2pm to 4pm
IT STARTED WITH A KISS TOUR 2 - Sunday 9th December 2012, 2pm to 4pm
IT STARTED WITH A KISS TOUR 3 - Saturday 15th December 2012, 2pm to 4pm

Here's the information:

How far would you go to find the man of your dreams?
Join Sunday Times Bestselling Author Miranda Dickinson on a unique walking tour of Birmingham locations used in her bestselling novel It Started With a Kiss.

We will meet outside Starbucks cafe on New Street, Birmingham (114-115 New Street, Birmingham B2 4JH), at 2pm.

I will show you the cafe where Romily tells Charlie she loves him, the famous Frankfurt Christmas Market where she meets P.K. (her handsome stranger), BrindleyPlace where several scenes from the book take place (including the Pizza Box scene, which is my favourite scene in the novel), Wren's apartment in the Wharf and more!

I'll answer your questions about the book (and anything else you want to know) and will happily sign your books for you, so bring them along! You might even catch a glimpse of the famous lovely Bob (I'm trying to get him to come along on all the tours!)

TICKETS ARE £10 EACH, AND EACH TOUR IS LIMITED TO ONLY 15 PLACES - SO HURRY!

Romance, Christmas and a totally feel-good story - this is the perfect Christmas treat! It's going to be fabulous and I really hope you can join me for an afternoon of sparkly festive fun!

A ray of sunshine on a soggy day...

It's Friday, the weather is soggy, dull and nothing like summer, so here is a dose of sparkly optimism to cheer you up...

I defy you not to tap your foot to this one...



Fantastic, classic film brilliance...



Wonderful Audrey Hepburn magic...



'You're my exception' - love it!

...and to finish, a beautiful song from Mr Nat King Cole. Enjoy!



Happy Friday, everyone! xxx

Writer Spotlight: Jessica Ruston

On Coffee and Roses I like to bring you news of exciting authors who are either waiting to be published or published and worth checking out.

This week, I'm thrilled to welcome the wonderful JESSICA RUSTON into the Coffee and Roses Writer Spotlight.

Her new novel, The Darker Side of Love is released on 16th February and should definitely be on your wish-list! I managed to grab five minutes with Jessica to ask about her life as a writer.

When did you first decide that you wanted to write?

I grew up in a family of writers - my mother's a novelist and my father's a Shakespeare scholar, so I was always surrounded by words. I started off writing screenplays in my early twenties, then moved on to non-fiction and journalism, and finally realised I couldn't put off the inevitable any longer and published my first novel when I was 31.

What interests you as a writer?

So much. Creating new characters, creating worlds. Parallel narratives, unreliable narrators, characters that hide things from the reader as well as from other characters/themselves. Multiple viewpoints, shifting backwards and forwards in time... It's endless, really. There's always a new challenge, something new to try and make work.

Do you have a typical writing day? If not, when is the best time to write for you?

Ish. When I'm working on a new book I tend to write first thing in the morning – I set an alarm (a really gentle one called Sleep Cycle on my iphone – I highly recommend if you have to get up early as it wakes you when you're in a period of light sleep so you don't feel awful) really early, sometimes as early as 5.30, and do a few hours then when it's quiet and dark and before everyone's woken up. I find that when I'm writing that first draft, getting the words down first thing, before the day intrudes and emails and phone calls get into my head, is the best way. Depending on what state of deadline panic I'm in I'll try and get between 2-3,000 words then each day. Sometimes more - when I'm nearing the end of a book I tend to go quicker, like running down a big hill. Then I'll get up, answer emails, play with my website, mess about on twitter, do general jobs. Then I might go to the gym or whatever else I have to do that day, and then use the afternoon to do other work - journalism, or research, or working on new ideas, or marking assignments for the courses I teach, for instance. Sometimes I'll come back to the book in the evening. There's a quote about writing working best at the edges of the day, and I think it's true for me.

What inspires you as a writer?

Oh, it changes constantly. I pick up inspiration from anywhere and everywhere, like a magpie. Other writers, people I meet, songs. Relationships, family dynamics. I'm constantly trying to unpick relationships in my writing, and burrow under the surface of people. Fragments of memories, photographs, images. I'm quite visual. As pretentious as it sounds, the book I'm working on at the moment was inspired by a line from a Louis MacNiece poem, Autumn Journal.

What are the best things about being a writer?

Getting paid to do what I really love. Being able to read novels and watch TV and call it important research and therefore work. Being able to work from my bed.

And the worst?

There's nothing properly awful about it. I mean, I'm not a big fan of working through my copy edits and having my embarrassing errors pointed out to me, but it's not much of a hardship really.

Tell me about what you're working on now.

My fourth novel. I won't say the title yet as I'm not sure whether it'll get changed (though I hope not!) but it's about a woman trying to discover the truth about her family, in particular her mother, as a result of a key that she receives in the post... Lots of secrets and family dynamics and the past coming back to haunt... As I said earlier, it's also the first time that I've written a significant chunk of words in the first person, so I hope I pull that off!

What would be your top three tips for aspiring writers?

1. Read, of course, but 'just' reading isn't enough - you need to read widely and thoughtfully.
2. Be curious.
3. Keep going.

Do you have a dream project you'd love to write?

There's a play that I've wanted to write a film adaptation of for years. I still haven't found quite the right angle on it, but I'm getting closer... I'll get there!

Anything else you’d like to say?

Thanks very much for having me! I really hope you enjoy The Darker Side of Love if you get to read it. Here's some more info about it:

Lies: we all tell them.

To protect those we love, to disguise failure, to hide disappointment. To mask betrayal, or deceit. But what happens when those lies start to catch up with us? When our lives begin to be shaped by the lies of others?

The late 'noughties'. A global recession looms. A group of old friends, all leading outwardly successful, interesting lives. All in apparently loving, secure relationships. Yet all, in some way, lying to those closest to them, concealing secret worries, jealousies, desires. This group of friends is about to discover that the truth won't stay buried for ever...

Welcome to the darker side of love.

Thanks so much to Jessica for stepping into the Coffee and Roses Writer Spotlight!

I can't wait to read The Darker Side of Love - I loved both of her other novels.

You can find out more about Jessica on her website, read about her writing courses, book to join a course here and follow her on twitter @JessRuston

Writer Spotlight: Sue Watson

On Coffee and Roses I like to bring you news of exciting authors who are either waiting to be published or published and worth checking out.

This week, I'm really excited to welcome the very lovely SUE WATSON into the Coffee and Roses Writer Spotlight...

When did you first decide that you wanted to write? (Was it a Damascus-esque flash or a slow burn?)
It was a very slow burn. When I was nine I had a wonderful English Teacher (Mr Winstanley) who would read out my stories to the class which I found mortifying, but at the same time encouraging. When he made me promise to send him a copy of my first book, the seed was planted. Writing that book has always been on my life’s ‘to do,’ list but I had to go through a career in journalism and TV first... life got in the way.

What interests you as a writer?
The fascinating thing about writing is that you get to know yourself a little more and having written several short stories, I’m currently writing my second novel, planning my third – and themes are merging. I wanted to write a lyrical, beautiful, soulful book that would make readers cry – but I soon realised couldn’t write a completely serious novel if I tried. Fat Girls and Fairy Cakes is essentially a book of humour and heartbreak - I have a strong sense of humour which has always pulled me through difficult times and Stella my heroine is pretty much the same. I also think food and wine (particularly cake consumption - obviously!) can say a lot about a character and create a mood or an event within a narrative.... well, that’s my excuse for eating my own body weight in cake and chocolate while writing.

Do you have a typical writing day? If not, when is the best time to write for you?
Yes I sit at my desk at 9 every morning until 5 every evening and write without stopping. Ha... I wish! I have a tendency to be rather low on self-discipline and it only takes one text or call from a friend, a fascinating item on This Morning or an invite for coffee and I am lost. I abandon my desk to head off for TV, retail/lunch/coffee and other, equally urgent matters. Most mornings I make packed lunches, see everyone off the premises, start my diet, watch Jeremy Kyle, think about writing, drink more coffee ... eat toast...text, tweet, go off my diet .... eat cake....then read someone’s fascinating online blog or tweet for too long while watching daytime TV. By about noon I drag myself from tweeting/online retail/ Heat Magazine and tell myself it was all good research. After a substantial lunch of chunky Kit-Kats I’m ready for work - I am very strict in the afternoons though and always manage to squeeze some writing in between Loose Women and light snacks.

Which authors inspire you and why?
I enjoy all kinds of books but one of my favourites is crime writing. Ian Rankin, Joy Fielding and Sophie Hannah are favourites. I love the way Rankin’s Rebus is such a ‘real’ character and I love the way the minutiae of his life is present in the narrative. His drink of choice, his record collection his likes and dislikes all create a very real and believable person. I am also a great fan of American writer Jen Lancaster too (she’s so hilarious I can even forgive her for being a Republican!) she’s smart, at times darkly funny and writes honestly about - among other things - weight struggles and TV addiction (more themes emerging here?) Jen Lancaster also procrastinates and avoids writing by watching TV... I’m convinced we were separated at birth.

Another inspiring novelist set me on my latest path is Miranda Dickinson. The Terrible Truth About Tanya Travis the novel I’m currently writing, is set partly in Nepal - I love the idea of this magical, mysterious place and was compelled to write about it. Initially I doubted that I could achieve the sights and atmosphere of somewhere I’d never visited. I then recalled a favourite book, Fairytale of New York, which was wonderful – and apparently the author had never been there. This inspired me to go ahead and write the book I wanted to and set it in the place it had to be. One day I will visit Nepal, until then I’ll live there with my characters and enjoy the views of the Himalayas from my kitchen table.

What are the best things about being a writer?
Being able to escape into another life, meeting new and fascinating people, inhabiting another world and having dangerous affairs, all from my kitchen table. Oh and watching Jeremy Kyle every day!

And the worst?
Watching Jeremy Kyle every day and the fact that you can never leave work. Anyone who writes will know you are actually working 24/7 because you can’t abandon your characters and are always looking for stories, settings, perspectives and answers.

Tell me about your new book.
Fat Girls and Fairy Cakes is all about Stella, a forty-something woman on the wrong side of twelve stone, struggling with age, weight, marriage, motherhood, a media career and a nasty boss. These combined ingredients just simmer away until something cataclysmic happens in Stella’s life and she has to consider a different future than the one she’d always envisaged. The book is also about cake – with some of Stella’s favourite recipes included in the book.

Do you have a dream project you would love to write?
I wish I could say I’d like to write a groundbreaking, life-changing feminist tract - but I couldn’t! If I’m honest I would love to write an outrageous Hollywood Hills bestselling bonkbusting blockbuster! I want to dip blingy toes into azure pools of the rich and famous and write about what it feels like to be internationally loved, glamorous and beautiful with men falling at one’s feet. This would of course take place in a white stucco mansion with sweeping staircases, priceless art its own gift wrapping room (darling you’re no-one without a gift-wrapping room in LA!). If readers of Fat Girls and Fairy Cakes want more of Stella – I also have plans for a sequel and something rather fabulous for our heroine – but I don’t want to give anything away so I’m not telling yet.

What would be your top three tips for aspiring writers?
1. Never give up. I abandoned my career with the BBC to write and went through many rejections before discovering Rickshaw, a new publisher who at the time was looking for new writers. We are the perfect fit.
2. Write everything down. Even when life and writing hurts and you can’t take any more - write about it - channel your feelings into words on the page. One day you may use them – or not – but either way you will feel better – I promise.
3. Be ‘out there’. All it takes is one person to spot potential. Send your writing everywhere in any form, publish short stories online, tweet, facebook and blog about yourself and your life – just make sure your work is seen.

Anything else you'd like to say?
Well, firstly thank you for having me. Fat Girls and Fairy Cakes is published on September 8th and it’s like a dream come true but it’s a strange feeling that I can only liken to pregnancy. I’ve waited so long and I’m excited about the new baby, but at the same time I’m very scared!

Fat Girls and Fairy Cakes is out on 8th September and available from online retailers, bookshops and Amazon. You can find out more about Sue at her blog. Many thanks to Sue for braving the Writer Spotlight!

If you would like to be considered for a future Writer Spotlight interview, email me at: coffeeandroses@gmail.com.

Writer Spotlight: Keris Stainton

On Coffee and Roses I like to bring you news of exciting authors who are either waiting to be published or published and worth checking out.

This week, I'm delighted to welcome the awesome (and thoroughly fabulous) KERIS STAINTON into the Coffee and Roses Writer Spotlight...



When did you first decide that you wanted to write? (Was it a Damascus-esque flash or a slow-burn?)
It was the slowest of slow burns! Even though I'd written for as long as I can remember, it didn't occur to me to try and write a novel until I was in my late twenties. And then as soon as I thought of it, I thought, "Yes! That's EXACTLY what I should be doing!" It still took me about eight years to actually finish a novel though (and thirteen before I had one published!)


What interests you as a writer?
Pretty much everything, which is one of the greatest things about being a writer - "everything is copy", as Nora Ephron's parents told her. I find myself writing about identity quite a lot - I think the teen years are the time when you fix on a personality or a way of being and it may or may not actually be right for you and it can be so hard to break out of it. That really interests me (I feel like I've only started breaking out of my own in the last five years!)

Do you have a typical writing day? If not, when is the best time to write for you?
I have childcare on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so they're my writing days. The rest of the time I try to write while 2-and-a-half-year-old Joe has a sleep. He sleeps for a good 2-3 hours generally, so that's plenty. And when I say "write", obviously I mean faff about on Twitter and get myself in a flap reading online newspaper comments. I generally only get down to actually writing fiction when I have a deadline.

What made you decide to write Jessie ♥ NYC?
I wrote it during NaNoWriMo which is how I try to do all my first drafts. It's a challenge to write 50,000 words in a month, and I figured that if I set it in New York, the setting alone would be good for 10,000. Plus I really love New York, so that helped.

I'd originally planned to write a series of linked stories following an iPod - Jessie took her iPod to New York and lost it, Finn found it and then gave it away, etc., but once I'd written a bit of Jessie and Finn I got attached to them and just stuck with them. And then cut the iPod out altogether!

What are the best things about being a writer?
Living in a world of my own, mainly. I always did it - always daydreamed and made up stories - and now I get to do it for a living. Amazing.

And the worst?
Oh the waiting. Waiting for agents or editors to get back to you. Waiting for a book to come out. Waiting for sales figures. Waiting for - ahem - money. Everything takes so long! And I'm not a patient person.

Tell me about what you're working on now.
Well I'm not working on anything right now because I'm... waiting. I know I should be writing something else in the meantime but I'm lazy, so I'm having a sort of reading and thinking break.

You've written two awesome novels so far. What would be your top three tips for aspiring writers?
Thank you very much! Oh my tips are always so boring: read a lot, write a lot and don't worry about the market - just write what makes you happy.

Do you have a dream project you'd love to write?
The one I'm waiting to hear back on is pretty dreamy actually, but the screenplay for Jessie (to be directed by Nora Ephron) would be pretty cool too.

Anything else you'd like to say?
Thank you very much for having me!

Many thanks to Keris for stepping into my Writer Spotlight!

Keris is a fantastic writer and I absolutely loved Jessie ♥ NYC - it's a wonderful story with characters you can believe in, sprinked with a generous dose of New York magic. And the cover is gorgeous, too!

You can find out more about Keris at her website, follow her excellent blog and say hello to her on Twitter @keris, where she is - quite frankly - a bit of a legend!

If you would like to be considered for a future Writer Spotlight, drop me an email at: coffeeandroses@gmail.com x

Book Special: Happy P-Day Jill Mansell!

Every now and again on Coffee and Roses I like to highlight books I think you'll love. Today's Book Special features the brand new book by the thoroughly fab JILL MANSELL.


Jill's brilliant books are an inspiration to me and countless other rom-com writers - so I know you'll adore her new novel, To The Moon and Back as much as I will. It's published today and here's the blurb:

When Ellie Kendall loses her husband Jamie in an accident she feels her world has come to an end. But life has to go on and eventually she’s ready for a new start – at work, that is. She definitely doesn’t need a new man, not while she has a certain secret visitor to keep her company...



Entrepreneur Zack McLaren seems to have it all, but the girl he can’t stop thinking about won’t give him a second glance. Why can’t she pay him the kind of attention she lavishes on Elmo, his time-share dog?



Having moved to an exclusive flat in North London, Ellie becomes friendly with neighbour Roo who’s harbouring a secret of her own. Between them, can both girls sort out their lives? Guilt is a powerful emotion. 



But a lot can happen in a year in Primrose Hill...


I can't wait to read it! I'm still in the post-delivery glow of finishing the first draft of It Started With a Kiss, so I'm catching up on my reading (after being somewhat of a frantic scribbling hermit during the past couple of months), so To The Moon and Back is at the top of my reading indulgence list...

Jill will be appearing on Coffee and Roses in a Writer Spotlight in the near future, so keep watching for that!

Plus, the latest sparkly installment of my VLOG will be arriving here shortly, so the goodies just keep on coming...

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.