Time to push on

A few weeks ago I was quite euphoric as I formally turned in Eternally & Evermore for submission to Phaze. At the time I knew I really needed to kick on and get stuck into the next piece but, I suppose somewhat inevitably, I didn’t. I justified not cracking on by telling myself I deserved a bit of a break after finishing what is, I think, my best work to date.

So it’s been a while since I’ve written anything new. I’ve even gotten out of the habit of writing blog entries – which is a very bad habit given that blogging is supposed to be my ‘head cleaning’ activity that allows me to write my fiction.

Writing is a habit. Once you get into the habit, it becomes second nature to sit and type. You almost do it without thinking – the words flowing out of your head and onto the screen through your fingers without ever really engaging your brain. But get out of the habit and writing becomes difficult.

Writing is also a skill that, like many others, needs to be practiced to keep it sharp and fresh. The more you write, the better what you write tends to be.

So it really is time I got my head down and started getting back into the habit of writing. I’ve done a lot of reading over the past few months – and that can never be a bad thing, after all a good writer is first an excellent reader – but it’s time I spent less time reading and more time writing.

I will admit that being nominated for the three REC awards has boosted my ego somewhat. Did I mention my nominations already? Three of them – Best Erotic Novel, Best Cover for an erotic novel and Steamiest Sex Scene. You can vote for Kissed by a Rose at this link. So if just being nominated has given me a boost – imagine what I’ll be like if I actually win one! I can but hope.

Anyway – I’m off to do some writing. Tatty-byes.

Exciting News

Another week goes by and it’s another week where I haven’t been able to find the time to blog as I’d have liked. But I’m not going to dwell on it – Life gets in the way sometimes, all of us have to accept that and I’m no exception.

Shame though, cause it’s been another week where there have been a number of news stories that have really, really annoyed me. I’m starting to think I’m not living in the country I thought I was. Roll on the election, that’s what I say.

But anyways…

Over the weekend I received some exciting news. Kissed by a Rose has been nominated in three categories at the Romance Erotica Connection Awards. It’s up for “Steamiest Sex Scene” (although I don’t know which one – there are 13 of them after all), “Erotic Book Cover of the Year”, which I’m really pleased about cause I think it’s an excellent cover – simple but sexy. And it’s also been nominated as Erotic Novel of the Year. Wow! I mean… Wow.

It’s worth pointing out that these are the Romance Erotica Connection awards so these categories are actually Erotic Romance and not just Erotica (as opposed to Sweet Romance – ie, with no dirty bits)

To say I’m chuffed to bits would be an understatement. I’m having trouble keeping the smile off my face right now and people at work keep asking if my wife is pregnant again cause the last time I was this smiley was when we found out that Mrs Nobbs was excepting Jr.

She’s not, by the way – just to be clear.

The awards are open to the public vote at this link. You can only vote once in each category (the polling software registers your IP address apparently), but then, you’d only want to vote once anyway, wouldn’t you?

I’m not sure when the voting closes and the winners are announced, but I think it’s the end of the month. I might be wrong about that – one of the polls seems to have closed already for some reason. But I’ll be sure to tell you how I got on.

Busy Week

It was a busy week last week, as you can probably tell from my lack of any blog posts. It’s a shame because there was a lot I wanted to talk about last week, most obviously the appearance of BNP leader Nick Griffin on the BBC’s Question Time panel programme.

In hindsight, it’s probably a good thing I didn’t get to talk about that last week as most of what I’ve read in the lead up to Thursday and the reaction on Friday was not particularly… considered. There was a lot of over-reaction to his appearance and I’m glad I didn’t add to it. If I still feel that way inclined I might try and jot a few thoughts about it in the cold light of day this week.

This week should be a bit quieter for me. I hope. I’m planning to get some writing done, but since I’ve been pontificating over what my next piece will be, I’m not sure how much success I’ll have. With a bit of luck I’ll be able to make some headway on a project and it’ll grab me the way that E&E did.

Submission is in. Now, the waiting game

This morning I have ‘officially’ submitted Eternally & Evermore to Phaze for consideration of publication. Now, as they say, the ball is in the publishers court and all I can do is cross my fingers and wait.

Before I submitted I re-wrote the book’s blurb and the verses i told you about last week that come at the start of each section of the story. The new versions are below. I also managed to find dialogue quotes from all fifty-two chapters to use as headings. I’m not going to put them here though cause they might well change for be deleted in any case. I like to think of them as a starting point.

What I really need to do now is make a start on my next piece. Obviously, I’ll keep you updated on how that’s going, but in the meantime, here is the new blurb and new verses.

Blurb

Love doesn’t make the flowers smell sweeter, Love wakes you up to the world around you. Love won’t make you flawless, but Love will take away the fear that holds you back. Love isn’t the destination, Love is journey you take with the one person who cares more clearly than anyone else.

Twenty years after saying they’d love each other “Eternally & Evermore”, teenage sweethearts Amy and Will are reunited to discover their love burns as strongly as it ever did. But while Will is a successful lawyer, Amy has walk a tougher path. What secrets does she harbour? What ghosts litter her past? And what horrors will they still have to endure before they can finally be together “Eternally & Evermore.”

Verses

PART ONE

Love doesn’t make the flowers smell sweeter.

Love doesn’t make the morning birdsong or the sunrise and sunset any more beautiful.

Love wakes you up to experience the world for the first time.

PART TWO

Love doesn’t make you flawless.

Love doesn’t make you rich or smart or funny.

Love takes away the fear that holds you back from being the best can.

PART THREE

Love isn't the destination.

Love is the journey you take with everyone in your life that cares about all that you are.

And you reach the end with the person who cares about you more than anyone else on earth.

X-Factor twins

Just a quickie. Simon Cowell’s X-Factor is back and the live shows are underway. This year we have the worst act to go through to the live shows in the history of live television, ever.

But damn, they are funny.

The X-factor twins. Or is it the X-files twins. John & Edward (or Jedward). Man they are terrible.

Still, here is a link to their performance of Britney’s “Opps I did it again” this week, complete with red PVC outfits and the “But I thought the old woman dropped it into the ocean” at the minute mark. I defy you to watch this without laughing your head off.

And while we’re on. What was Whitney Houston on? Watch her performance and tell me she isn’t high as a kite. They’ve actually missed the worst bit off this clip. Really, she gets worse.