Miranda Writes 8 - Edits, winners and inspirations

All this year I will be documenting the writing, editing and publishing of my fifth novel, giving you a unique, behind-the-scenes look at my life as a writer. This week, I announce the final two winners of my #getinvolved challenge, talk about edits and answer your questions!

After a completely crazy couple of weeks, the first edit on Book 5 (still awaiting a title) is done and I've recovered enough to be almost coherent!

So, without further ado, here is this week's vlog - hope you like it!

Enjoy! xx

p.s. This week's YouTube-nominated freeze-frame is entitled, 'Oy! Oo nicked me teef?')

Friday writer inspiration... Dream Job!

Do you write? Have you written a novel? Or are you working on one/two/eighteen? Whatever you do and wherever you're at with your writing, here's a little bit of Friday writerly inspiration to spur you on over the weekend...

The Telegraph yesterday published the results of a survey conducted by search engine Bing to discover the UK's top ten dream jobs. There are the usual suspects: actor, musician, fighter pilot... but take a look at what made number three in the list...

WRITER!!!!

This got me thinking. For some of us, we're lucky to be able to write for a living (I still work three days a week, so I'm only halfway there so far...), but many of us are writing while we are holding down a job... and regardless of whether your words pay your bills or not we're all looking after our families, keeping up with bills and doing a million-and-one other things that make up our busy lives. But how many of us see our writing as a dream job?

Before I was published, I used to think that I didn't have the right to call myself a successful writer until something happened with my writing. After I was published (for a long time, actually), I didn't really believe that I was doing well and was waiting for someone to tell me it was all some massive mistake and take it all away from me. But one thing I have learned (and I wish I'd learned sooner) is to appreciate the immense honour it is to be able to create worlds with my words - and for people to read it. I've since developed a theory that I would advise any writer, published or yet-to-be published:

If you create worlds with your words (even if it's only for you to wander in at the moment), you are doing what the UK considers one of its Top 10 Dream Jobs! Many people dream of writing a novel: few achieve it. If you wake up with stories and characters and scenarios and happenings playing about in your mind, and if you take the time to lasso them down onto paper, you are doing your dream job. Believe in what you are writing and write like you've made it already!

You can find more writerly inspiration in my range of WurdyCards© and WurdyStickers©, available at my online shop WURDYSTORE.COM!

It Started With a Kiss 22 - emotional highs and exciting things!

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 on 10th November. This week, I show you what it's like to see the first printed copy of It Started With a Kiss, give you a bit of a sneak peek at the bonus content I've written for the novel, answer your questions about book launches, royalties and much more!

As promised, I captured on video what the moment was like when I opened the package containing the finished copy of It Started With a Kiss - and got a bit emotional in the process!

Also this week, I received a copy of the special Tesco limited edition of ISWAK, which has pink-edged pages! How cool is that?! They will be available in major Tesco stores right across the UK. It's unbelievably cool to have my very own limited edition and this is the first time anything like this has happened for my novels, so I'm very chuffed with that!

Make sure you visit my website for cool bonus content to extend your ISWAK experience! It includes deleted scenes, character profiles and an extended interview with me where I reveal my childhood fairy ambitions... plus much more!

So here's the latest episode of my vlog, complete with fab questions from Suzy Turner, Joanna Cannon and Leah from Chicklit Reviews (you can read her fab review of It Started With a Kiss here) and the latest news on my Wombat novel!

Enjoy! xx

p.s. This week's YouTube-nominated freeze frame is entitled: 'Ooh, Matron!'

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

Help! Let's Kick Cancer...

Cancer is an evil disease. It robs you of loved ones and it needs to be stopped...

In my next novel, Welcome to My World, my main character Harri has lost both her parents to cancer - both dying within a year of each other. I've written it from personal experience - I lost my lovely, much adored Grandpa to the disease a couple of years ago and I still miss him immeasurably (there's a character called Geoff in the story in honour of him) and have also now lost three friends to cancer.



So this year, I've entered the Dudley Race for Life at Himley Hall on Sunday 11th July this year to raise money for Cancer Research UK. I'm going to attempt to run the whole 5k (which, if you look at the gargantuan pics of me in the posts below, you'll know this is no mean feat!), which means getting in some serious training between now and then (and July's not that far away - eek!)

Being really cheeky, would you like to help me raise money by sponsoring me? My initial target is £300, but I'm hoping to exceed that... You can sponsor me here Every penny counts and will make a difference to the millions of people who face this disease every day - plus, if you tick the Gift Aid box, the lovely taxman will give Cancer Research UK an extra 25%, plus a 3% supplement (all at no cost to you!)

I'll be posting updates of my training for the event here at Coffee and Roses, so keep checking back to see how I'm doing (there will probably be highly unflattering photos, too, but I promise to keep these to a minimum to avoid scaring young children and those of a nervous disposition!) There will also be regular updates on Twitter, so make sure you're following to read all the gory details!

Thanks so much - let me know if you're doing a Race for Life event this year and I'll post the details on this blog :o)

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)

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!

It's at the printers!

Things are getting really close now...

I spoke to my lovely editor Sammia this week and she told me that my book is at the printers right now! That's my actual book being put together at the actual printers... It still doesn't seem real!

Apparently, I'm going to get an exciting box of books when they're done, which is brilliant and you can be sure that I'll be scaring random passers-by on the canal with my jiggly happy dance when it arrives. This won't be the first jiggly happy dance I've done this year, of course: when my page proofs arrived I was dancing around my living-room - which is on the first floor and visible to passers-by on the canal towpath - when I looked out of the window and saw a very surprised bloke on a passing barge staring up at me... Ah well, dignity's never been one of my highest priorities!

I always had a romantic dream about receiving the first copy of my book through the post - but it was more like in Little Women when Jo receives a beautiful, leather-bound volume with her name on it... Crazy, I know, but that's the kind of thing that you think is possible when you're little! That said, I LOVE my cover and it's so irresistibly sparkly and inviting that I just know it will stand out on the bookshelves in four weeks' time. FOUR WEEKS? Eeeeek!

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!

Quite the most awesome video...

Bit of a treat for you...

I've just been to the cinema to watch The Proposal with Sandra Bullock (fab as ever) and Ryan Reynolds (gorgeous, talented and semi-naked - what's not to love?!) and this video for Strawberry Swing, Coldplay's new single, played before the film...

It was stunning on the big screen but just as impressive on the little screen when I got home!

Whether you like Coldplay or not, I defy you not to be thrilled beyond belief by this awesome piece of film-making magic. Seriously. Forget it's Chris Martin and just watch the amazing animation...

Enjoy!

Libraries ROCK!

On his twitter, the really rather excellent Neil Gaiman just highlighted this brilliant article about nigh-on legendary Ray Bradbury's fight to save his local library - and it got me thinking about how crucial libraries are for forming and sustaining kids' imaginations...

When I was little, a trip to Kingswinford Library wasn't just a mundane thing: it was an event. I was fortunate enough to be be brought up by book-loving parents who encouraged both my sister and I to read whenever and wherever possible. Right from the start, they instilled a sense of awe and wonder about books into us - and it's something I've never lost. Kingswinford Library is not the largest or most impressive collection of books, but for the thrill of endless discovery it afforded this child it was a palace of possibilities, a magical portal to countless destinations...

Here, within the small children's section, I discovered other lands, mythical creatures, fantastic tales and happy-ever-afters, all contained within unassuming wooden boxes surrounded by red plastic chairs. It fired my imagination, making me want to create stories like the ones I read there... In fact, my ambition when I was little was to one day pen a story worthy of Kingswinford Library's shelves.

Now, with the release date of my debut novel less than five months away, I'm wondering if my childhood ambition might just be realised...

We need libraries to thrill, excite, inform and set light to the imaginations of future generations of kids. The very worst thing that can happen is to cut this vital public service in the name of cost-cutting. I believe that such a move could have untold consequences for future readers. Visiting my local library as a child made me grow into a lifelong reader and I am convinced that it played a crucial part in me becoming a writer today.

I was thinking about this today as I struggled to find space in my little flat for the scarily large amount of books I've managed to ecrue over the past couple of years (I can't help it, I'm a hopeless book addict. Three words in Waterstones that spell imminent disaster for my wallet are: 'THREE FOR TWO'...)We're all looking for ways to save money right now and books take up space (I can't throw books away. It feels like an abomination!) - so why not visit the library instead?

So this week, I am going to go and re-register at my local library (now Stourbridge - a bit bigger with reading tables, too!). Let's start a great library revival right here!

What do you think? Comment here or visit me on Twitter: @wurdsmyth

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...

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?!

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!

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!

I've got a column!

I'm getting my own column!

Move aside Carrie Bradshaw - there's a new girl in town...

I've been asked to write a column for Black Country Bunker - a new 'What's On'-style site for the glorious Black Country where I live. Apparently, I get my own page and colour scheme... I'm calling it A Bouquet of Newly-Sharpened Pencils (and if anyone can identify the film where that phrase comes from I'll give them a prize!) and I'm going to be writing an article each week, once the site launches later this month.

Although it's no money (quelle surprise) it's another chance to showcase my writing. They're linking with local radio stations as well, so that could prove interesting!

In the meantime, I'm frantically editing the final chapter of The Mystical Wombat's Guide To Life before daring to send it to an agent. I'm determined to finish it - even if my laptop did decide to convert half the text to Wingdings last night... Aarrggh...

Rain, holidays and random publicity!

British holidays - don't you just love 'em?

Well, I do - but, of course, in doing so I run the risk of encountering the Great British Weather... So, I've just come back from a week in the gorgeous Lake District and guess whst? Yup, it rained.

Having said that, it's been an incredibly wet year and with people currently facing having their homes flooded, I'm not going to complain about a few soggy days in Cumbria. Despite the frustration of being rained in (albeit in an impossibly lovely Lakeland cottage) I still found enough to do. Catching up on reading, for example - I managed to read a whole book in a week, which is a major achievement for me. In my day job as a Copywriter I've become a 'professional reader' - meaning that I scan text for errors and flow rather than actually reading it. It makes it incredibly difficult to read a book for fun - but I've been making myself do this because I truly believe that my writing suffers if I don't read regularly.

It was also good because I got to do some serious work on my novel, The Mystical Wombat's Guide to Life©. I've completely reworked the ending after finding, during editing, that it lacked pace and resolved too quickly. I'm really pleased with the new ending - even though one of my major characters has suffered as a result. The decision to injure or even kill a major character is always a scary one, but I think it's the right one... Ah well, we'll see soon!

I just need to devote time to complete all the work on the novel - the response from my Wombat Proofing Posse has been incredibly positive so far, so it's all looking promising...

One lovely - if a bit random - thing that happened last week is that the interview I gave to the Stourbridge News was published. It was decidedly odd to be interviewed but a very pleasant experience and the article is fab (even though they got my home town wrong - it's Wollaston, not Wordsley). You can read it online here...

All in all, quite a positive (if soggy) week!

Rejections and the Art of Positive Thinking...

I just received three rejections for my work.

Three. Count 'em...

Being a writer - I refuse to use the term 'struggling', although poor is probably apt - I am getting used to rejections and I'm determined not to take it personally. Even though each rejection feels a bit like the literary equivalent of someone calling your kid ugly... But even a self-confessed Eternal Optimist like me has to admit that three in one day is a bit much...

Nevertheless, the way I've decided to look at it is like this: each rejection is one less to endure before someone says 'Yes'. Just purely by the Law of Averages, someone, somewhere has to say yes eventually.

I've had some success - visit www.myvillage.com to see my latest review of Made of Honour - so I know I'm not a completely useless scribbler. Still no money, but it's the writing that counts.

One day, I will write something that becomes part of someone else's world. It's not an if, it's a when. Until that day, I'm utilising the Positive Gene™ whenever and wherever possible!!