Friday Night at a Book Launch...

After weeks of hard non-writing work, it was lovely to go out to a local literary event, a book launch.

In Nottingham the Waterstones branch is in a tall building, and only a short walk from two tram stops and lots of bus routes, and with easy access to the railway station (for those travelling from further afield).

The Alan Sillitoe room is on the top floor of the building, and it's a popular venue for literary events, book signings/book launches, author events, workshops and more.

On Friday night it was the Nottingham launch party for the paperback of Cathy Bramley's The Lemon Tree Cafe.

out in
   paperback...

The launch was a mixture of invited guests, and other readers who had a ticket to attend. I was there with a few of the Belmont Belles.

A small glass of wine always goes well when you arrive...

Cathy was delightful, and her great sense of humour came over in her introduction.

She read an extract from the book, a scene between Rosie and her Nonna- her Italian grandmother who owns The Lemon Tree Cafe in "the rolling hills of Derbyshire". There were certainly moments of laughter and big smiles all
round during the reading.

Afterwards there was a long queue for the book signing, it nearly reached the back of the room.

Lemon cupcakes...

It's good to be able to celebrate with friends and fellow authors, especially when it's a local venue.

And the cupcake was delicious too...

Sorting the Office Out...

You may have noticed I've been absent for a while. Well we're having a massive sort out at home.

Lots of things are going into boxes and into storage so we can create as much space as possible for the Electrician/Plumber to do the work needed.

This week it's the Living Room and Office.

It has given the opportunity to shift furniture around to improve the space we have.

Of course it's meant no writing is getting done- not what I'd planned for the summer- but it has given me the opportunity to catch up on my to be read list that was building up.

I'm currently reading Bill Bryson's 'The Road to Little Dribbling'. I picked up the paperback in Waterstones a few months ago, and friends have said how much they enjoyed his books, so I thought I'd try one.

I'm enjoying it so far, and I do like his writing style/voice.

Yesterday, keeping out of the way while the new storage unit was being put together in the kitchen, I read Stephanie Laurens 'An Irresistible Alliance' on Kindle. This was much better than the first of the three Devil's Brood Trilogy, and I'm looking forward to having time to read book 3, 'The Greatest Challenge of Them All'.

And a few days before that I read the first two books of Debbie Young's Sophie Sayers Village Mysteries ( Best Murder in Show, and Trick or Murder?). This is cosy crime with murder but no graphic detail. It as much about Sophie, bookshop owner Hector and the assorted villagers as the murder involved. Fun to read books most definitely.

That's my time up, back to sorting and packing...

sorting & boxing...

Guest Post: Sally Quilford and The Curse of Lakeham Abbey...

Today I'm delighted to welcome author, and friend, Sally Quilford to Carol's Corner, to talk about her new book The Curse of Lakeham Abbey and how to manage writing a sequel.

The new book...

Sally is the author of well over 20 novels, and has written in several different genres, including romantic intrigue, science fiction and crime. A number of her romantic intrigue novels were also published in Large Print.

Then Lakeham Abbey came along.

So over to you Sally...

Characters that go Bump in the Night

When I wrote the first novel in the Percy Sullivan series, The Secret of Lakeham Abbey, I had an idea that I would follow Percy through adolescence and into young adulthood, as he solved crimes, fell in love and generally learned to be a nicer human being (because let’s face it, he can be a bit cranky). That was the idea.

So, it was a bit disconcerting when, the next time he visited me – in the middle of the night as most characters are wont to do – he said ‘Actually, I’m old and cranky now and living back at Lakeham Abbey in 2017 and I have a very interesting story to tell you…’  I immediately saw him as Sir Ian McKellan, in a wheelchair, wearing a Panama hat and a light coloured suit, listening intently, with a mischievous look in his eyes, as relationships ruptured around him, murders took place and secrets were unearthed in the house where his career as a sleuth began. Other authors will recognise this tendency for characters to turn up at awkward times to tell you their life story.

Sally Quilford

I was immediately faced with a dilemma. Should I write The Curse of Lakeham Abbey and put it aside until after my death, as Agatha Christie did with Hercule Poirot’s Curtain? Or do I publish it and be damned? On the basis that I’m a) too impatient and b) it’s unlikely that anyone will be clamouring for my unpublished novels, I decided to write it and send it to Crooked Cat, hoping that they liked the idea as much as I did. I’m glad to say they did!

Writing a sequel is not easy, as any writer with a long-running series will tell you. You have to make each novel standalone, whilst still giving a nod towards earlier events for those who are following the series. It’s even harder when your sleuth decides to age 70 years! I wanted to suggest Percy’s long career as an amateur sleuth, without actually giving any details away, because quite frankly, I don’t know what he plans to tell me next.

The last time we met, he had been a truculent teenager. I needed to keep some of that truculence, whilst still letting him mature. In a sense, it was exactly the same as catching up with an old friend and finding that whilst they had changed, they still had the traits that attracted you to them in the first place. I hope that I’ve somehow managed to convey that in the story.

Equally difficult was writing a follow up novel that, whilst still crime, was a change of sub-genre. The Secret of Lakeham Abbey was set in the golden age of detective fiction, with upper class people enjoying country house living, whilst murders took place around them. The Curse of Lakeham Abbey, by dint of being set in our era, could not be the same. So I took my inspiration from the current rake of domestic noir novels, where miserable couples hide behind a veneer of civility.

I don’t know where Percy will take me next; I just hope he lets me get a good night’s sleep next time!

*

Thank you Sally. It sounds like Percy will be keeping you busy with further tales in future, and look forward to those too. :-)

I'm sure the Curse of Lakeham Abbey will be another success so if you want to get your copy asap here's a couple of direct links for you.

Enjoy...

The Curse of Lakeham Abbey is released on 15th August 2017 and is available to buy from Amazon.co.uk in paperback, and on Kindle.

On Amazon.com: paperback, and on Kindle.

Sally is holding a launch party over on Facebook on Tuesday 15th from 10.00 am (British Summer Time) so pop along to celebrate with her.

Boxes Boxes Everywhere...

Just a quick hello to say I'm still here.

I've been internet restricted this week while we reorganise the house.

There's work to be done soon so we've been sorting, throwing, recycling and boxing things up to go into storage- temporarily.

I haven't been able to get on with draft 2 or anything that requires no interruptions, so no blog posts until today.

To make up for it, I hope you'll join me tomorrow (Monday 14th) to welcome author Sally Quilford and her guest post on writing The Curse of Lakeham Abbey (her sequel to The Secret of Lakeham Abbey) and discover how this story is slightly different from the previous Lakeham Abbey book...

Okay, I'm off sorting again...

More boxes!!!

image via Pixabay.

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.

A Graduation Day...

A few days after my workshop debut I was over in Staffordshire at Trentham Garden for the graduation ceremony of one of my triplets- I've been forbidden to show anyone a picture of them in their gown and cap, so I've had to do some creative cropping of the photos my husband took on the day...

You can see more of the gardens on the website here. The estate is 725 acres...

Perseus and
Medusa Head...

(Outside of the Gardens there's lots of car parking spaces as there's a shopping village too.)

We had the graduation entrance tickets so we didn't have to pay the usual Garden entrance fee. But for what there was the entry fee seemed reasonable.

There's a lake and a statue of Perseus and Medusa that makes you feel very small when you stand beside it!

A bit of
Trentham Lake...

The statue is a 19th century copy in Bronze that was commissioned by the 2nd Duke of Sutherland. The 1550's original by Benvenuto Cellini is in the open-air Loggia dei Lanzi in Florence...

I did regret not taking my camera with me as there were so many things I would have taken pictures of. But hopefully I will get to visit again...

I loved the Italian Garden and although it's not totally 19th century with the planting, it has used the 'historic framework', so you do get the impression of how it looked originally.

There was more water too, with fountains regularly spaced.

Fountain in the raised
garden area...

Then it was time for the graduation ceremony.

Monday and Tuesday there was one ceremony per day, but Wednesday to Friday there were two each day, and we were attending the final ceremony on the Friday afternoon.

The honorary Doctor of Arts was being awarded to author and adventurer (among many roles) Major Levison Wood, in recognition of his work as an explorer, writer and photographer. He was born in Staffordshire but did his degree in Nottingham.

(How appropriate was that!?)

It was a long two hours watching all the students, but eventually it was over and the traditional throwing the caps into the air signified the end.

They've graduated...

It was a wonderful but tiring afternoon for all of us...

Leading My First Workshop...

I have survived.

Previously I've done short writing sessions for the writers' club- when needed- but never actually done a workshop for the evening meeting (it came out to about 90 minutes or so).

Of course all the fears and thoughts of inadequacy passed through my mind before the start, even though I'd been preparing the materials across the previous twelve days.

Flip-pads are
useful...

It was a simple mind-mapping exercise using a chosen image as the starting point to inspire the story idea and hopefully discover suitable characters.

All the images were mine from a variety of places over the last ten to twelve years. A few of them have even appeared on this blog.

When I was choosing which pictures to include in the workshop, I had two criteria; was it a good enough image, and how many ideas could I think of for each one. I ended up with forty pictures!

It seemed a lot, but there had to be enough variety. Some had only one central object, others had lots of scope for choice. There were animals, summer and winter scenes, plants, buildings and landscapes, street scenes, and random items.

A few pictures not chosen...

There were at least 16 people and they all found a picture they liked. Animals and landscapes seemed popular...

The members and visitors were engaged, and by the end of the evening when we went round the attendees, there were a variety of partial stories read out, many ideas, and a poem.

I've received some positive responses today from a couple of members, so I'm pleased.

Yes, there are a few adjustments I'd make if I ever did it again, but you only discover that when you've tried it.

A few more...

Now the Book Festival is Over...

The display of members'
published works...

I spent Saturday (24th) at the last day of the Lowdham Book Festival, with other members of Nottingham Writers' Club.

Sadly my cork board display was too large for the three-legged stand (height-wise), and if I'd had time to try it out the night before I would have realised- not that I could have done anything about it!

In the end the board rested against the stand by the table...

At least this year we were able to display flyers for books by a number of members- and not just mine.

There were a lot of small publishers in the hall this year, and out in the marquee there were plenty of second-hand books, but only a few were really old, so I didn't come home with any useful books this time.

But I did add to my postcard collection with a few old postcards. Two stable scenes; both postcards were images of painting by John Morland (1763-1804) and immediately appealed to the historical romance writer in me.

You can see the images used on the postcards here and here. Though the image had been coloured for printing, so the contents of the wheelbarrow becomes green and yellow, and the stable lad's face becomes very distinct, as does the jar on the window ledge.

The strange thing was that these two postcards had been sent to the same person by two connected individuals (sisters?) and sent from Plaistow in 1905 both on the 4.15 post on the 17 JU (June or July?).

The one from Beatie is affectionate but short with the lines well spaced- she's thanking the sender for the book she's sent, whereas the second, while neatly written, each line is close together. It mentions that 'Beatie is putting a new braid on the bottom of her dress'.

Postcard messages can be as inspiring as the image on the front. Over a century later their moment in time messages remain, leaving the reader to wonder, and the writer to create...

Visual Inspirations...

Ideas come from everywhere.

Have you ever been somewhere and something you've seen sticks in your memory even if you forget everything else, but that 'something' is the inspiration for a story, or somewhere in the story?

Trails...

I was looking through my photos- from past holidays and research trips- and there are a few that instantly take me back to where I was at the moment I took it. I've no idea why that nagging voice in my subconscious thinks that capturing that image was important.

There have been times in the past, before I had a digital camera, I have a fleeting image of a specific place (a terrace of an old Georgian building in parkland somewhere for example, the garden gone and just grassed over) and I stood on the terrace and imagined a conversation between two unknown characters. I've updated it a bit and used it in my 1920's story...

So here's a few images of mine that might be a starting point or could appear in a story...

Phone box and Bins...

Have fun...

I Spy...

Up and Away...

Back to the Rewrites - and a Submission Call for a Charity Anthology...

Half way through the year already!

What have I achieved so far?

To date I have already exceeded my 2013 word count total; that was 23,032, and I'm almost up to 26, 469 which will pass my 2014 total... But there's still a lot to do yet.

My ghost story went live two weeks ago- I know, I've mentioned this before. :D

My 1920's story is progressing slowly. At the moment I'm developing the plot as I write, which is unusual for me as I'm more a semi-planner.

I've had a reading spell- a couple of my favourite authors have new books out, so I bought them for my Kindle. Read one in a day, and then the next one the following day.

The Lowdham Book Festival starts this month- 16th-24th June. So I'll be promoting my published work along with other Nottingham Writers' Club members on the 24th. Fingers crossed for sunshine all day this year.

Now back to draft 2 of my 1802 novel this week- again.

SUBMISSION CALL:

As everyone around the world knows the UK has experienced a few terror attacks this year, but it doesn't stop us carrying on with our lives and work, so here's a call for submissions for a charity anthology- from Lucy Felthouse.

All proceeds from this anthology will go to the British Red Cross' newly launched  UK Solidarity Fund. This fund will help victims of terror attacks in the UK, both now, and if needed, in future incidents.

2017 Calendar dates...

There's a short deadline for this anthology-14th July. So you can find the full details by following this link for all the information you need...

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.)

Windows 10 Reinstallation is Not Scary...

I spent the weekend doing a clean reinstall of Windows 10.

For my friends who have already heard this- I apologise- but decided as I blogged about my initial trials and tribulations of setting up my (new) Windows 10 computer last year, I thought I might as well reveal this latest issue and solution.

At some point in the last 6-8 months something interfered with the Windows update system-despite the security and malware systems. I had the rare update fail to install, but usually they reinstalled the next time.

One of the advantages of Windows 10 is that the security updates are checked for and installed in the background, so unless you actually go into your settings and look at the update history you don't know whether anything important has failed to install.

It was pure chance I happened to look and saw a couple of big updates from the March Security update had failed, and failed... The system kept trying to install these updates and they kept failing. When I did the manual update they kept failing too...

Sadly the system doesn't alert you to this, which is a weakness. So I'd definitely suggest checking your update history now and then.

So off I went to the online tech support for Windows, and over the next 24 hours, five different (but very understanding) techs from across the globe tried to resolve my issue via remote access. Sadly each time this wretched update failed at the last moment- after the tech had signed off.

An important. task..

If you ever have an update that keeps failing you'll find an option to fix problems in Windows updates. You'll need to check your computer/laptops settings as they can be different.

Go to your computer's Control Panel, choose the Systems and Security option.

On my machine it's then Troubleshoot Common Computer Problems, and on clicking that you should be able to find Fix problems in Windows updates. Sometimes it will also say during the process something about administrator permissions, so just click that and then the next button. It will do it's magic and show you what has been fixed.

Every time my system was fixed, but it didn't stay fixed...

Eventually tech no.5 in Israel told me I had 2 options: a refresh, or reinstallation. Apparently the refresh would be a waste of time, and I'd be better off reinstalling. They sent me an email with the link to the info I needed.

March and April are the busiest months for me, so I put it off. Other security updates were installing okay.

Then this horrible ransomware issue emerged on Friday in the UK.

This was when my uninstalled big update of various patches became serious. My computer was not patched. And although I was not a company or big organisation, my computer was still vulnerable because of the missing patch.

So I did a final back up of anything not yet backed up. (You might like to read Simon Whaley's latest post over on his The Business of Writing site about backing-up your work.)

Then I read up on clean installation process, it was actually relatively easy. I was also able to reinstall from the Anniversary edition (that was released last Summer) rather than from the memory stick with the original version.

Go to your computer settings, then Update and Security. Select Recovery from the list on the left-hand side, it's just a matter of following the instructions and selecting the option you need.

The longest part was the downloading- though it does say you can continue to use the computer meanwhile. Once the installation begins you do need to be there as you're required to set the country and language, but it doesn't take too long; you just need to sign into the computer again each time as it needs to restart through the process.

Of course once it's all back in place you then need to go through all the settings just as if you'd just got the computer.

Most of the programmes (apps) I need I've reinstalled, and that important security update installed first time.

It's also solved some minor display problems I had: the missing sign-in at the top right of my blog screen reappeared, and on Facebook, where the stats show for individual posts, in the insights on my Carol Bevitt-writer and Serena Lake pages, they came back too. I hadn't associated them with my computer issues.

So far all is going okay.

I'll be blogging with some news and links on Sunday, so I'm glad the computer is fixed...



image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/