Ever get the feeling you're in the wrong place..?

Having been in various bands for years, I've occasionally found myself playing gigs with people I don't quite feel as connected to as I should...

...such as the gig I did with a frustrated 80s-style lead guitarist, for example, where he turned every song into an eight-minute, plank-spanking epic. Or the gig where the drummer ran the band and didn't stick to the setlist (so the start of every song was like a live version of 'Name That Tune'...). Or the time I did backing vocals for a Nigerian gospel singer and had to do them all in a faux Nigerian accent so they didn't sound out of place...

So when my drummer mate, Nic, told me about this video and I just had to share it with you. 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!

Writer Spotlight: Jamie Guiney

As a new feature on Coffee and Roses I am going to bring you news of exciting authors who are either waiting to be published or published and worth checking out.

One of the first successes I had in writing was when Steve, a friend from writer's forum MyWritersCircle.com published one of my short stories on his blog. As a startlingly unsuccessful aspiring writer until that point, it gave me a massive confidence boost - so I would like to do the same for other writers. After all, you never know who might be reading!

So this week, the Coffee and Roses Spotlight falls upon the immensely talented JAMIE GUINEY.

photo ©Jamie Guiney 2010

I met Jamie when I first joined Authonomy.com in 2008 - and his novel A Man in Grey Shoes was one of the first books I read on the site. I loved it immediately and it's remained on my Authonomy bookshelf ever since.

This week, Jamie announced the brilliant news that two of his short stories, Christmas and Changes, have just been published worldwide for iPad and iPhone by Ether Books. You can read them with a free app which you download from the iTunes store here. You won't be disappointed, trust me. Both of the stories are fantastically written - Jamie brings a real sense of place and time to his writing, with vivid characters moving through evocative landscapes. You can feel the bitter winter wind in Christmas and the brooding summer dust bowl of Changes... A real treat for the eyes and imagination!

Check out Jamie's website here.

If you would like to feature in a future Coffee and Roses Spotlight, drop me a line at coffeeandroses@gmail.com and I'll see what I can do!

A bit of a treat for you...

I thought you might like to have a sneak preview of one of the tracks from my forthcoming album About Time...

Let The Sun Shine is a song that I worked on with the extremely talented Reuben Halsey, chill-out producer, composer and all-round superstar (that's his picture on the video). I was chuffed to bits when he said I could include it on my album because it's just such a fab, summery song.

If you like it, you can already buy this on Amazon as part of Reuben's amazing EP, Somewhere Along The Way, or search for 'Reuben Halsey' on iTunes. On his EP is the first song I wrote with him, which will be appearing on the album too - Running Home. Let me know what you think! x

Enjoy!

BIG NEWS! I've signed my SECOND three-book deal!

I'm delighted to be able to confirm that I have just signed a second three-book deal with AVON (HarperCollins) - a year earlier than I was expecting!

Following the amazing success of Fairytale of New York (to date, nearly 104,000 copies sold and the Turkish language version New York Masali entering the top 20 bestsellers chart in Turkey), my publishers offered me another three-book deal - meaning that I will be publishing one book a year to 2014!

I'm absolutely delighted to be staying with AVON and, in particular, to keep working with my fantastic editor Sammia Rafique, who first found my book Coffee At Kowalski's on Authonomy.com

I have lots of stories I want to tell and I hope I can continue to write books that people want to read. It's an immense honour for me to hear from people who have loved my book and I just don't want to let them down! My books are always going to have something different about them - I'm planning lots of surprises!

My second novel, Welcome to My World, will be published on 11th November 2010 and I'm currently writing my third book, Started With A Kiss, which will hit the shelves at the end of 2011. It still feels incredibly unreal to be a published author and it's every inch the dream come true. I'm looking forward to many more happy years with AVON, doing what I love!

Must stop grinning like a Cheshire Cat now! :o)

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!

Fairytale auf Deutsch!

Just thought you might like to see this...





It's the cover for the German edition of Fairytale of New York! Der Wunderbare Welt der Rosie Duncan will be released by Heyne (part of Random House) in December this year and I'm so excited about it! I was interviewed by the lovely people at Heyne for their site - you can read it here.

I love the design and I'm hoping that the German readers love it too. Let me know what you think!

Lots of exciting stuff coming soon - including my very exclusive sparkly newsletter! Keep visiting Coffee and Roses for updates...