It Started With a Kiss week 5: Pressure, expectations and dates from hell...

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, including dealing with the pressure of a six-book deal, my worst ever date story, how much editing goes into a first draft and whether I'm a planner or a spontaneous writer. Oh, and a rather fantastic hat voted for by my twitter followers!

Thanks so much for your fantastic questions - keep them coming!

Also, I now have an official publish date for It Started With a Kiss (which is now, worryingly, already up for preorder at Amazon.co.uk -how mad is that?!) It's going to be published on THURSDAY 3rd NOVEMBER!! Scary stuff!

So sit back, relax and enjoy!

p.s. The YouTube designated freeze-frame pose this week is entitled, 'Fagin in a Panama'...

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...

It Started With a Kiss week 4: finishing the first draft and more...

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'll tell you what it feels like to write the last 6,000 words of the first draft - and complete it (woo-hoo!), show you the German edition of Fairytale of New York, discuss first/third person viewpoints and reveal what books I love reading - not to mention the ubiquitous HAT OF THE WEEK!

So, it's Week 4 of the vlog and finally I've finished the first draft of It Started With a Kiss!!!

I wanted to share with you the emotional, almost subconscious stage of completing the final 6,000 words to the end - it's something I've heard Stephen King and J.K Rowling discuss in the past and it's quite a uniquely strange and beautiful thing for a writer to experience...

Thanks so much for your questions! Keep 'em coming - literally anything you'd like to know about being a writer, publishing, hats, what I like for tea... it's up to you! This week I answer questions from Dot and Leah - and fabulous questions they are, too.

So enough of the waffling (can you tell I'm demob happy after two months of frantic scribbling?) - here's the vlog in all its glory!

E-e-e-e-e-enjoy!

p.s. This week the YouTube chosen still shot makes me look like I should be a guest on Newsnight. Serious, me? ;o)

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!

It Started With a Kiss week 2: First Drafts

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, it's all about the FIRST DRAFT of the novel...

I'll show you my synopsis, notes (in a multitude of notebooks), plans and character profiles and talk about the process of writing a first draft. There's also another funky hat and a close-up shot of my engagement ring (as requested by Vanessa and Julia from my facebook page!)

Thanks so much for your questions and comments from last week - this week I've answered a question about planning from fab Leah of ChickLitReviews.com and a question from lovely Kath at The Nut Press about whether I let anyone else see the draft while I'm writing it.

If you have a question you'd like me to answer next week, write it in the comments box below, or email me at: mirandawurdy@gmail.com.

Oh and no, I've no idea why YouTube has chosen a freeze frame that looks like I'm crying. I'm not, honestly...

E-e-njoy!

A year in the life...

Happy New Year!!

Hope 2011 is going good for you so far? Sorry my New Year felicitations are a bit late, but I'm currently in the midst of writing frenzy, trying to get the first draft of my third novel, It Started With a Kiss, complete for the end of January. But lots of exciting things have happened - my lovely Bob proposed (and I accepted) - more on that next time. Welcome to My World is doing really well, selling over 46,000 copies to date, despite the coldest winter on record and huge problems with snow, so I'm chuffed to bits with that. Most importantly, I've received some amazingly fab letters from people who have loved the book - this is the biggest thrill for me and it really helps when I'm writing to know that people are looking forward to the new book!

So, here's my latest project for 2011: my very own video diary!

I've set myself the challenge this year to post a video blog every week for 52 weeks, to show a year in the life of a book. The video diary will follow the progress of It Started With a Kiss, from first draft, through editing stages, proofing, cover design, publicity, launch and beyond... I'm holding nothing back, so the good and not-so-good bits of taking a story from an initial idea to published novel will all be there for you to see.

I'll post the videos here at Coffee and Roses each week - and I want to know what you'd like to see in them. So if you have any questions you'd like me to answer in the video blogs, just leave me a comment or email me at: mirandawurdy@gmail.com.

Without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, it is my honour to present, my very first video blog... Enjoy!

(oh, and apologies for the incredibly scary freeze-frame that YouTube have chosen...)

Writing, Book 3 and Ian Fleming?!

Thought you might like to see this...

I was interviewed by the very lovely Brad Baker at Waterstones Wolverhampton a couple of weeks ago - and here is the result! This was during a signing for Welcome to My World. It was great fun to do and even earned me a comparison with Ian Fleming!

I'd love to know what you think - leave me a comment below. Enjoy!