Showing posts with label awards. Show all posts
Showing posts with label awards. Show all posts

Sunday 13 December 2020

Countdown to Christmas...Bad Sex in Fiction and the Oddest Book Title of the Year...

For anyone wondering what has happened to the annual Bad Sex in Fiction award, sadly this did not run. You can read why on the Bookseller website here. Personally, it might have provided a much-needed giggle in these tough times...

The Literary Review's comment does raise a smile... Organisers warned the cancellation “should not be taken as a licence to write bad sex”.

As for the Diagram Prize for The Oddest Book Title of the Year, that crept by with little notice. The winner was a Canadian author, and a publisher from the country too. 

Again, the Bookseller website has the result, and at the bottom of the article, the shortlist of contenders and their percentage vote.

(I'm not quoting the winning title here, but follow the above link to find out more.)

Hopefully, next year there will be an abundance of entries to choose from...

Here's to next
year's
contenders...

image courtesy of pixabay.com

Saturday 7 December 2019

Bad Sex and the Oddest Book Title...

A quick post to update on the results of the recent Diagram Prize for the Oddest Book Title of 2019, and the Bad Sex in Fiction award.

To the
Winners...
Now the Diagram Prize for the Oddest Book Title has been getting less press coverage than in past years, which is a pity as there's been many chuckle-inducing titles over the years.

My favourite for the title was the bible stories, Noah Gets Naked..., with the Ending the War on Artisan Cheese as a strong contender. Sadly the Cheese related book came in second place with 24% of the vote; While the Bible Stories title came third, garnering 18%.

The winner for 2019 was The Dirt Hole and its Variations by Charles L Dobbins that won 40% of the public vote. Sadly he died twenty-two years ago, so a posthumous winner.

Read more about it at the Bookseller.

The Bad Sex in Fiction Award (like the Booker Prize this year) has announced two winners; Didier Decoin for The Office of Gardens and Ponds- my choice for this year. And John Harvey's Pax.

You can read about the judge's dilemma in choosing a winner also over on the Bookseller.

That's those two awards for another year...

Friday 1 November 2019

The Diagram Prize for the Oddest Book Title 2019...

I was beginning to think that this may not be happening this year as the shortlist announcement is later than in 2018.

The mystery is solved and you can read the wry introduction to the 41st year of the prize over on the Bookseller website and the mention of last year's winner- kettles and water were involved...

This year's shortlist:

  • How to Drink Without Drinking by Fiona Beckett.
 (As it's not due out until January 2020 I'm ruling it out of my possibles.)
  • The Dirt Hole and its Variations by Charles L Dobbins.
 (Hunting related.)
  • Viking Encounters: Proceedings of the 18th Viking Congress by Anne Pedersen and Søren M Sindbæk.
  • Ending the War on Artisan Cheese by Catherine W Donnelly.
(Sadly not released until 28th November.)
  • Noah Gets Naked: Bible Stories They Didn't Teach You at Sunday School by Xanna Eve Chown.
  • Hitler's Monsters: A Supernatural History of the Third Reich by Eric Kurlander.
 (Published May 2018.)
You can vote via the link at the bottom of the page on the Bookseller website (link above) and there's time to consider the options before the 22nd November deadline.

This is going to be a tough choice. But I think many of them aren't so odd when you read the other text on the cover- you can find most of them on Amazon.

I suspect the Noah one will get lots of votes, it's definitely odd... so odd I voted for it.

It's a fun annual prize and the winner gets a bottle of Claret...

It's red wine from
Bordeaux...




Image by gerttaeymans from https://pixabay.com






















Thursday 20 December 2018

Review of 2018 - July to December...

Welcome to part two of my 2018 review. In part one it was January to June, and now the busy exciting aspects start with July...

July to December 2018...
July 

This was the busiest month of the year and consequently wrote the most blog posts!

The month began with a guest visit from Leicester RNA Chapter member, Madalyn Morgan with her latest book release Chasing Ghosts.

Quickly followed by another mini-workshop for NWC, along with the deadline for my article for Writing Magazine the day after. Then the weekend of the RNA Conference starting the day after my article went in...

My Writing Magazine article...
Then on the 30th the article was published, a double-page spread in Writing Magazine; Womag Rightscame out and gave the new 'all rights' contract at Woman's Weekly wider attention on social media.

(I even get a mention on Wikipedia.)

August

My office was (unexpectedly) decorated.

September

A much needed weekend away in Scarborough. Attended a dialogue workshop at NWC. And whenever possible took photos of the #Hoodwinked statues around Nottingham before they went off to be auctioned for charity. One of the pictures was used on the back cover of NWC's Autumn issue of the club magazine 'Scribe'.

October

Trying out using file cards for keeping consistency with the characters in my WIP.

November

Taking care of my eye health and moving to a new monitor screen with low blue light- it has really made a difference to my eyes.

December

Fantastic way to end the year, Christmas parties and the NWC Awards Night all in one week.

I won the Mary Street Memorial Shield for a romance novel. One of those ideas that get in the way of what you're working on so you write it down to get it out of the way- for later. Well the 1920's story idea (the vintage fair earlier in the year) became the first three chapters and synopsis for this year's entry.

As I've won this trophy three times now I'm meant to judge the next time it runs in 2020...

My recent trophy win...
Had a fantastic time with the Belmont Belles RNA Chapter at the Christmas party. The guest was Sunday Times bestselling author Carole Matthews.

All of the Belmont Belles are a fantastic fount of knowledge, advice and support; I value their friendship and look forward to our regular meetings knowing I will go home inspired and encouraged to keep working.


So my final word count last year was 36, 444.
My 2018 total still has time to increase and I'll update it for an end of the year total in a few weeks, but I have exceeded last year's total...

Plans for 2019

Keep on with draft two.
Take up opportunities that may come along.
Apply for the RNA's New Writer Scheme in January (there's a limited number of places).

I always think I haven't done much, but when I look back I find I've achieved far more than I realised.

I'm still aiming to get a book out in 2019 under my Serena Lake pseudonym.

As long as I keep moving forward, I'm happy...

Monday 10 December 2018

Awards and Parties...

Only fifteen days until Christmas and I've still got cards and letters to write and presents to buy.

Last week I was partying; minimal alcohol and lots of happy times with writer friends.

Wednesday was Awards Night followed by the Christmas Party with Nottingham Writers' Club.

It's lovely seeing members receive their certificates for placings in the quarterly prose and poetry competitions; and then it's the trophy presentations for the annuals.

This year, among the trophies, was the bi-annual presentation of the Mary Street Memorial Shield for a Romance Novel - though it's not the complete novel, just the synopsis and first three chapters.

The Mary Street Memorial
Trophy winner 2018...
(image courtesy of
Dennis Apple)
This year's competition was close; there were only two entries and knowing the ability of the other entrant I didn't think my entry would win.

What a shock. It did!

I have to say my entry was not as good as it will be sometime in the future- when I've worked out how to tie up the various strands in the latter half...

The comments I received from the judge (a published romance writer and member of the RNA) were very encouraging:

"The judgement call for this competition was very close, as there were excellent qualities overall, but the winning entry was the one I felt had more shape, confidence of writing style, and clarity of direction, with an intriguing opening.  It is a historical mystery romance set in the late 1920s and the writer has created the appropriate period style and ambience well, and worked on making it convincing."

The story was one of those ideas that interfere in what you're working on and has to be written down to get it out of the way (to carry on with the work in progress). I only needed to tidy up the first three chapters and write a synopsis for it.

It's a reassuring way to end a year that has had a lot of disruptions and unexpected demands on my time (that have now set back my intentions for next year).

For now the 1920's story can carry on brewing in the depths of my sub-conscious, while I get back to Serena's 1802 setting and the rewriting; I still have a target to get it out next year, but it won't be June...
















Tuesday 27 November 2018

The 2018 Diagram Prize Winner is Boiling H2O...

As I assumed a few weeks ago the Joy of Water Boiling did well, so well in fact that it won this year's Diagram Prize for the Oddest Book Title of the Year.
The Winning Title...




It garnered 56% of the votes.

If you have title suggestions for next year's Diagram prize you will find the details of how to do so at the end of this Bookseller article.

Don't forget you can nominate your own odd book title- if you think it has that much oddity... :D


Saturday 27 October 2018

The 2018 Diagram Prize for the Oddest Book Title of the Year...

This prize has been running 40 years with a number of extremely odd titles winning...

As I blog about this every year and choose the title/s that I feel are strong contenders for the win, I usually have a favourite and another possible.

This year I'm not impressed with the six titles. But I may just be getting tired!

  • Are Gay Men More Accurate in Detecting Deceits? Hoe-Chi Angel Au (Open Dissertation Press)
  • Why Sell Tacos in Africa? By Paul Oberschneider (Blue Ocean Marketing)
  • Call of Nature: The Secret Life of Dung by Richard Jones (Pelagic Publishing)
  • Joy of Water Boiling based on the idea of ​​the Berlin writer Thomas Götz von Aust (Achse Verlag)
  • Equine Dry Needling by Cornelia Klarholz, Andrea Schachinger (tredition)
  • Jesus on Gardening by David Muskett (Onwards and Upwards)

A contender...
I ended up voting for Equine Dry Needling...

If you want to find out more then pop over to the Bookseller website where you can read more, including discovering which of the six nearly didn't make it.

The link to vote is at the bottom of the Bookseller article.

Voting closes on the 16th November and the winner announced on the 23rd November.

Suspect Water Boiling might do well...





Friday 1 December 2017

Update - the Bad Sex in Fiction Winner was...

Christopher Bollen for The Destroyers.

You can read the judge's comments in this Bookseller article.

Until next year...

Sunday 26 November 2017

It's Time for the Bad Sex in Fiction Awards...

Not sure whether you could call this a highlight of the book awards year, but it's certainly 'different'...

"According to the prize’s organisers, the Literary Review, the purpose of the prize is to draw attention to “poorly written, perfunctory or redundant passages of sexual description in modern fiction”. The prize is not intended to cover pornographic or expressly erotic literature." (The Bookseller)

It seems there were a few nominations that despite being well supported didn't quite fit the spirit of the award so were ruled out.

So here are the titles and authors of the 2017 contenders:


  • The Seventh Function of Language by Laurent Binet.
  • Here Comes Trouble by Simon Wroe.
  • The Destroyers by Christopher Bollen.
  • War Cry by Wilbur Smith (with David Churchill).
  • Mother of Darkness by Venetia Welby.
  • The Future Won’t Be Long by Jarett Kobek.
  • As a God Might Be by Neil Griffiths.

You can read the extracts in the Guardian's article here.

This year's selection is much better than it's been in previous years; perhaps the trend for sex scenes in books that really don't need them has passed, so the poorly written stuff hasn't reached print.

So my contenders from this year's crop: The Future Won’t Be Long by Jarett Kobek, and for what on earth is he going on about- it's sex not Meccano- The Seventh Function of Language by Laurent Binet.

The results will be announced this coming Thursday (30th), and no doubt the winner will get a few extra sales as a result...

decision time...




Monday 31 July 2017

Oddest Book Title Time Again...

Like me, you may have thought the annual Diagram Prize for the Oddest Book Title of the Year wasn't taking place this year.

Usually it's in the spring, and the chosen titles get coverage in the national press as well as on The Bookseller website.

As it's been run later this year it could have easily been missed.

So here's the contenders- and the result below that.


  • The Commuter Pig Keeper: A Comprehensive Guide to Keeping Pigs when Time is your Most Precious Commodity by Michaela Giles.

  •  Renniks Australian Pre-Decimal & Decimal Coin Errors.

  • Nipples on my Knee by Graham and Debra Robertson.

  • An Ape’s View of Human Evolution by Peter Andrews.

  • Love Your Lady Landscape: Trust Your Gut, Care for “Down There” and Reclaim Your Fierce and Feminine SHE by Lisa Lister.

Now none of those titles really grabs me, but as I missed the shortlist announcement I haven't really considered how odd they are!

The Pig one, and the Lady Landscape seem the most bizarre...

Anyway with many of the previous winners having something to do with animals - "The Joy of Chickens (1980), The Big Book of Lesbian Horse Stories (2003) and Goblinproofing One’s Chicken Coop (2012)"; it really does suggest any vaguely odd title with an animal in will score highly.

So this year's winner was of course The Commuter Pig Keeper... with 40% of the votes. 

Runners-up were Renniks Australian Coins title with 32.7%, and Nipples on... with 13.9%.

Disappointingly the Lady Landscape title only received 2.8% of the vote. It was certainly odd, but perhaps the title could have done with a bit more work to improve its lucidity.

You may or may not want to read more, but if you do then follow this link over to the Bookseller website, or even better read the amusing views of diarist and administrator of the Diagram Prize, Horace Bent.

Odd titles just aren't as odd as they once were...

the winner...




image from Pixabay.




Sunday 21 May 2017

The Pirate Ghost Meets Readers...

Do you recall me mentioning I'd won one of the annual competitions at the writers' club late last year? Yes the ghost story one with my entry 'The Wishful Spirit'.

Well today it joins the short stories available on Alfie Dog Fiction and it's now live...

(Honestly, my profile was harder to write than the story! :D )



Photographer Jack Sawyer doesn't believe in ghosts, but when he escapes to the little seaside village of a pirate ancestor, he meets archaeologist Lizzie Gibson, and discovers he's arrived at the perfect moment to help save their museum- with a little help from a mischievous ghost.


You can download it for a an inexpensive 39p, and in a choice of formats to suit your chosen reading device, just follow this link... You pay using PayPal, and there's information on the website if you're not sure which version you need...



I have a soft spot for this feel-good ghost story, which was why I persisted with revising it-despite earlier rejections elsewhere. The fact it was accepted this time proves I finally got it right.

Although the little coastal town in the story is fictional, I had images of places and buildings from holidays, more recent and long ago, in my mind, along with memories of my many visits to the Kent coast as a child.

If you have ever visited Lyme Regis in Dorset, you'll be familiar with the Marine Parade that runs along the beach. Just before that there was a small car park. The bus stop where the park and ride bus stopped (overlooked this car park) just as the road begins to climb uphill to the shops.
In the rigging...

I've no idea if that small car park is still there, as the last time I visited Lyme Regis was 2010. But a little car park just like that was where I imagined Jack listening to the tour guide and being accosted by the ghost of 'Bold Jack'...

Looking in my submissions book I realised that the story was a little older than I thought. The first version- a 1,000 word short story- was written in 2008.

I'm glad I persevered in finding a home for it...

I hope you enjoy reading it.


(Alfie Dog Fiction is celebrating its 5th birthday and they have lots of celebratory offers, so do pop over to the site and find out more.)










Thursday 15 December 2016

Guess What I Won?

Well it's the day after the night before and I can now reveal what I've been keeping quiet about since late October...

I won one of the annual competitions at Nottingham Writers' Club, the Rosemary Robb trophy for a ghost story titled, 'The Wishful Spirit'.

Winning the Rosemary
Robb Ghost Story
Trophy
Writers are told to persevere and never throw anything away. Well the story that won this competition proves that statement...

In 2008 it was the first year the ghost story trophy competition ran; it was for a 1,000 word story (that year). I'd never written a ghost story before, but I tried anyway, and received some useful comments from the judge- the writer whom the trophy was named after, and who died a few years later.

The story was filed away and over the years I'd revised it and then put it away again. You see my ghost wasn't the scary type and most markets wanted the creepy sort...

In 2013 I rewrote it and entered it into a national competition, but didn't get anywhere again. Honestly I think it was really just the wrong competition for it.

So back in the box it went until late 2015 when I began to rewrite it yet again making some major changes and eventually submitting it to Woman's Weekly, as they mentioned in their guidelines at that time, 'quirky', and my ghost certainly fitted that description.

Sadly it was rejected.

Meanwhile, as Prose Secretary for the writers' club, I'd asked writer Wendy Clark to judge this year's Rosemary Robb Competition this autumn ( after reading her blog post about writing ghost stories) and she agreed. 

Having received the story back from the magazine I decided I'd enter it into our club competition to get some feedback, and hopefully find out what wasn't working.

I'd already decided a couple of things needed a slight adjustment, and one bit removed. As the maximum word count was 2,000 words I needed to lose about 500 words while still making the changes I needed. After a number of intense revisions I reached the maximum word count and entered it into the club competition.

As writers can have lots of contacts both online and off, the club has always asked members to use a pseudonym on their entry's cover sheet. 
We know our judges would never be influenced by already knowing an entrant, and as Prose Secretary I'm careful not to inadvertently write or say something that one of our judges might see- if I know them, and I intend entering.

So I was absolutely amazed when the results were returned. I'd won! I actually read the email twice to ensure I hadn't misread it.

One of the comments in the judge's feedback that made me smile was, "I found myself chuckling at the phantom, Bold Jack's, asides and imagined him dressed in full 'Captain Jack Sparrow' pirate regalia!" 

That wasn't too far off my mental image of 'Bold Jack' too, although older than the movie pirate... :D

So there we are full circle; the story first written for this trophy competition in 2008, finally won it in 2016. Even though it had rejections and all those revisions, the core of the story never changed.

Have you ever had any stories which took a long time to succeed?

 




Thursday 17 November 2016

November Means the Bad Sex in Fiction Shortlist...

Around this time in November the shortlist for the Bad Sex in Fiction Award is announced.

The Award  was established by Auberon Waugh, the then editor of the Literary Review, and literary critic Rhoda Koenig.

It has been awarded every year since 1993.

"the Bad Sex in Fiction Award has honoured an author who has produced an outstandingly bad scene of sexual description in an otherwise good novel. The purpose of the prize is to draw attention to poorly written, perfunctory or redundant passages of sexual description in modern fiction."
Literary Review

When you consider how many books are produced, it's going to be the mainstream published type that will get the most notice, and readers who think these books deserved nominating...

You can read about a few of the nominated authors who escaped the shortlist in this Guardian article about this year's list.

(The new US President Elect was nominated apparently, but was excluded because it wasn't fiction...)

So this year's contenders:

A Doubter's Almanac by Ethan Canin

The Tobacconist by Robert Seethaler

Men Like Air by Tom Connolly

The Butcher's Hook by Janet Ellis

Leave Me by Gayle Forman

The Day Before Happiness by Erri De Luca


Having read the entries for this year, I can't see why Gayle Forman was included...

Whoever wins will likely see a rise in sales following the announcement on the 30th November.

Of the candidates this year, it has to be Erri De Luca's The Day Before Happiness. But Janet Ellis does deserve a commendation for The Butcher's Hook...


Which will win?




























image courtesy of       & freedigitalphotos.net







Sunday 28 February 2016

It's the Diagram Prize for the Oddest Book Title - The Shortlist...

Yes, it's time for the Diagram Prize again- the 38th.

A few weeks ago I mentioned that there was still time to nominate odd book titles from 2015, well the deliberations are over and the shortlist of titles has been announced.

The Bookseller administers the Diagram Prize - you can see the interesting range of book covers for the shortlisted titles here, as well as find out what each book is about (briefly).

Now it's up to the public to vote for their preferred oddest title. You can follow the Bookseller's link to the voting page, select your title and press submit, you don't even have to leave an email address...

I don't feel that this year's selection is as varied as in past years, but at least there are titles to choose from.

There have only been two years when the prize was not awarded, 1987 and 1991. Fortunately there's been a winner every year since 1992, and with the interest and publicity the prize brings each year I don't think a lack of strange book titles will be a problem.

So here's the 2015 shortlist:


  • Reading the Liver: The Papyrological Text on Ancient Greek Extispicy.

  • Too Naked for Nazis. (The author submitted it himself...)

  • Soviet Bus Stops.

  • Paper Folding with Children.

  • Behind the Binoculars.

  • Reading from Behind: A Cultural History of the Anus.

  • Transvestite Vampire Biker Nuns from Outer Space: A Consideration of Cult Film.

I have to admit that those last two appealed to me, but having given the titles a couple of days I can see the appeal of 'Paper Folding with Children'. :D

Do look out for any odd book titles that are published in 2016- including self-published- so you can nominate them early next year.

The voting closes 15th March at 23.59, and the winner will be announced later in the month.

Any opinions on this year's selection? 





Monday 30 November 2015

Full Speed to Christmas...

Only 25 days to go...

Despite saying last year I'd start my Christmas shopping and card writing early, I haven't.

Honestly, the last months creeps up on you, and you wake up one Monday morning (today) and realise the countdown to Christmas has begun!!!

Though every time I cross something off my to do list, another task gets added.

My shredder has stopped working- so I've got to chase up the manufacturer- as it's not a year old yet. But of course, it happens when there's old, old paperwork to be cleared out.

I have a final few things to do for Awards Night on Wednesday. There's competition entries to be returned to members, along with the comments from the judges. So I have to sort them out.

It's always pleasing to look around the meeting room and notice a writer motionless, their head bent over their manuscript reading the comments, while around them there's noise and movement that they're oblivious to. Then when they look up there's a smile of pleasant surprise, that even though they didn't win they can work on improving the piece.

Until the New Year I'll be posting weekly- as I need to fit in all those regular Christmas tasks over the next 3 weeks.

If you've been doing NaNoWriMo, congratulations. Even if you didn't reach the target amount by today, 30th November, you'll still have learnt a lot from it, and have a story with potential waiting to be discovered.

Right, I'm off to get on with that list... :D




Thursday 19 November 2015

This Year's Bad Sex in Fiction Shortlist- 2015...

Yes it's that time of year when the shortlist of the Literary Review's Bad Sex in Fiction shortlist is revealed.

Now I have to admit that I thought Morrissey's 'List of the Lost' was guaranteed to win, as it was so excruciating- and he did make the final cut, so he's in the running.

But now, having read the other shortlisted entries, I don't think he has much to be concerned about...

I do wonder (just for a few mad moments) if editors of literary fiction ever have a conversation with their writers about making a mediocre sex scene awful instead, just in the hope of getting a bad sex nomination.

Many will have heard the saying: There is no such thing as bad publicity.

We all know how difficult it can be to get a book noticed among the myriad of other books. So how better to boost sales than by getting onto this shortlist- and even winning.

(No, of course not,  I was just letting my imagination get the better of my common sense.) :D

So this year's contenders are:


  • Morrissey - List of the Lost

  • Aleksandar Hemon - The Making of Zombie Wars.

  • Richard Bausch - Before, During, After.

  • Joshua Cohen - Book of Numbers. 

  • Erica Jong - Fear of Dying. 

  • Lauren Groff - Fates and Furies.

  • George Pelecanos - The Martini Shot. 

  • Tomas Espedal - Against Nature.

If you have a strong enough constitution you can read the extracts in this Daily Telegraph (books section) article.

If I had to choose it would be either, Fates and Furies, or Book of Numbers.

The winner is announced early December.


















Sunday 25 October 2015

First Draft- Last Chapter...

I'm late posting today because I was grabbing some uninterrupted time to get on with finishing the last couple of chapters of my contemporary romance.

Pleased to report I'm now on the last chapter, so I'll hopefully finish it this week or next.

Still working...
It is only the skeleton of the story with a few muscles and veins added here and there, but it will give me plenty to work on. There's still a few research areas to follow up on too.

I'm already feeling the tug of disappointment that I'll be temporarily saying goodbye to my hero and heroine from this story.

But the good news is I'll be getting back to one of my Serena Lake historicals. Serena has been a little neglected while I've been so busy this past couple of months.

I'll be able to return to my Nottinghamshire based story with renewed enthusiasm, despite my first chapter not making the shortlist of the New Talent Award.

Yes, it's disappointing, but that chapter does need more work. Plus I won't have the constraints of a set word count to conform to.

I'll be leaving chapter one as it is, for the moment, while I start with chapter two for the second draft.

Draft two is going to be a lot of work as I'll be making changes, adding and removing scenes, and developing a few of the minor characters- now I know what they're doing.

The last two years have been a big learning process, but I now know what works for me. I'm no longer allowing myself to get held up because something isn't working. I make a note about it and carry on with the scene beyond it.

I've learnt to listen to my characters, but interfere when they're getting out of hand.

Now I just need to keep putting in as much time as I can on the rewrite.






Image courtesy of Salvatore Vuono at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Friday 27 February 2015

Time for Voting for the Oddest Book Title of the Year again...

I'm slowly recovering from the nasty bug, and my brain is no longer stuffed like a thick duvet!

My characters have been quiet - plotting their next moves I suspect.

It's also given me time to catch up on some reading, and looking into various things I need to get on with this month.

Yes, I know I was meant to be resting, but I could sit still at my desk and catch up - it's only moving around or standing up for more than a few minutes that gets me!

So to this year's oddest titles (Diagram Prize)- there's some obvious contenders to win this year.

1. Advanced Pavement Research:... (and more about concrete, design and construction. I'm a bit concerned why pavements need rehabilitation.) It's a Souvenir guide to a two-day pavement symposium.

2. Divorcing a Real Witch: For Pagans and the People That Used to Love Them.

3. The Madwoman in the Volvo: My Year of Raging Hormones.

4. Nature's Nether Regions.

5. Strangers Have the Best Candy.

6. The Ugly Wife is a Treasure at Home.

7. Where Do Camels Belong.

The titles in the last few years haven't had as much variety as those in earlier years of the prize, so it's good to have more choice this time.

I'm trying to decide between voting for no. 2 or no. 3.

You can read more over on the Bookseller website, and see the covers - they look quite good together.

But if you want to vote- and remember your vote can decide the winner- you need to pop over to the We Love This Book website to do so. Just click on the vote box to go to the form.

Voting ends one minute into 21st March 2015, and the winner is announced on 27th March.

The winning title doesn't receive a prize, but the publicity that inclusion in the competition brings the book, probably increases sales that otherwise might not have happened.

I couldn't resist opting for 'The Madwoman in the Volvo'. That title just appealed to me, with the image it suggested. :D


Thursday 8 January 2015

Trophy Presentation...

If you read my post about Awards Night early last month, you may recall that it was the announcement that I'd won the Nottingham Writers' Club, Mary Street Shield- the official title is 'The Romantic Novelist of the Year'...

I'm grateful that I was only required to submit a synopsis and first three chapters and not the whole thing- as I'm still writing it!

This is the second time my name has gone onto this trophy, so it looks like writing romance is my strong point... :D

As it's a bi-annual competition I now have time to come up with a few ideas for 2016!

Anyway here's the picture from last night's meeting.

Carol Bevitt- winner of the 2014 Mary Street Memorial
Shield for a Romance Novel




Thursday 11 December 2014

The Review of 2014...

I find it helpful to look back at what I have, and haven't, achieved with my writing life during the year.

I start out with a general plan for the coming year; but I have learnt over the years that it's better to set myself realistic targets and accept that some will be achieved, while others won't be.

Sometimes other unexpected opportunities come along and if they can be done, then I'll do them, but there's no point taking on more things if it will only derail my main objective.

So starting with my objectives for 2014:
A new timetable for my writing routine; exhibitions I wanted to visit and revising the novella.

I've certainly found a writing routine that suits me, and my sometimes disrupted life. The novella got temporarily put to one side, though the revision process was started, but needed more time away from it. My baddie needed some thinking about. Plus there's been all the admin work that being on the committee of the writers' club generates...

Here's 2014:

January- I received (the belated) Writer of the Year trophy at Nottingham Writers' Club. Was one of the initial readers for the club's National Short Story Competition.

February- I completed the first draft of the novella.(Where has time gone!)

March- Tidying up some short stories.

April- Trip to Bath booked, and I bought my new camera- any photo on my blog now, unless credited to someone else, has been taken with this camera.(It's given me some good pictures to remind me of places needed for research.)

May- This was a busy month. I still hadn't started my entry for the Mary Street trophy at the writers' club; took photos of the May speaker (Gail Simmons) for the club magazine-one of them was later requested by the writer for her to use with name credit. Went off for my weekend in Bath- took lots of photos, and that weekend resulted in 3 blog posts with pictures.This trip was partially a research trip as well as a break.

June- Lowdham Book Festival month. I've been attending the last day of the festival for nearly 10 years now.
I created a name banner for the stall for the writers' club, set up and spent the day on the stall. (It's also a good way to learn how to present yourself and watch how writers promote and sell their books.) After abandoning my romance novel entry I started another one.

July- I was among a large group of readers and writers in Nottingham who took part in a Reading Flashmob in the city centre one sunny Saturday lunchtime. My synopsis and 3 chapters for the romance novel competition entry was finally handed in.

August- Received the news that my very short story 'A Tight Squeeze', which was published on the Café Lit site in August 2013, had been chosen to be included in the Best of Café Lit 3.

September- Writing as and when I could, around getting one of my sons off to University.

October- Been blogging for 4 years this month.

November- Continuing the first draft of my contemporary romance.

December- Results of the Mary Street Memorial Shield for a Romance Novel announced at Awards Night, and my entry was the winner. Mislaid trophy to be presented in January 2015.

In some ways it doesn't seem that I've done much writing, but when I look at how much I have written in between those events, 26,043 words to date, that's actually 3,000 more words than 2013. It's at least a positive, but I need to be writing more.

March and April are the two months I need to work on in 2015.

Targets for 2015:
Complete the contemporary romance, revise and eventually submit it. Then hopefully by this time next year I'll be back to the historical romance novella and into the 2nd draft. If anything else pops up that fits in, I'll consider it.


As it's now only 14 days until Christmas Day, I'll be moving to a once a week post until the end of the year. I still have cards to write and send, and presents to buy. I'm determined to not be rushing around doing everything in the last few days as I have the past three years.

Normal blogging routine will return in January...