Where am I?

By the time you read this, I will be in New York.

Yes - New York. USA.

Why?

Attending Thrillerfest. That's a gathering of some of the biggest names in crime and thriller writing from both sides of the Atlantic. It's going to be hectic and I hope it is going to be fun too.

And the big big news - I'm going to be on a panel VERY early on Friday morning (11th July) with authors Matt Cook, Dani Pettrey,Ursula Ringham, Suzanne Rorhus and panel master Kelli Stanley discussing how to build a strong story line, one brick at a time. Apart from having to be on stage by 8 am, I'm really looking forward to it. Although, with the effect of jet lag, my body clock will be thinking it's lunch time, so maybe that won't be so bad. And after that I'll be signing books.

If you're attending Thrillerfest, I hope you'll chose to come along.

If you're not, I'll tell you all about it when I get back.

Island Life

One of the best things about living on (almost) an island, is being surrounded by the sea - the other is the number of bays and beaches. Although we are connected to the mainland now by a road and rail link, this didn't happen until just over a hundred years ago. And we still have the bays and beaches.

They get into my writing. Especially at the moment, when the sun is shining and I'm brewing a new novella set on an imaginary stretch of coast that - surprisingly - bears a strong resemblance to where I live, but re-organised to suit me.

It's not all sunshine though, the beaches are just as good in the winter, provided you can stand upright in the wind. Sometimes they are better, as you get them to yourself, if no one else is mad enough to venture out.

I was trying to think of a way to describe what we are, now we have the mainland links - and came up with lots of lovely words. Hey, I'm a writer, I love words. I was wondering about isthmus (try saying that after a few beers)

but apparently that is a strip of land with sea on either side, linking two bigger pieces of land, so that is probably what the causeway to the mainland is. Then there's peninsula, which is a long narrow piece of land, projecting into a sea or lake. (You can tell I took the Oxford dictionary to bed with me last night) We might be a peninsula, but we're not long and narrow. Then there's promontory, which is probably my favourite, because of it's Shakespearean connections. The quote I have floating about in my brain soup has something to do with a mermaid. I would have said it was The Tempest, but apparently it's Midsummer Night's Dream. Both plays are favourites - Tempest, because it's set on an

island, of course, and Dream because it's set at my favourite time, Midsummer - although the weather described in the play is not actually very pleasant. I suspect they were having a lot of rain when it was written. Dream also has Oberon - an  archetypal alpha male and one of my first on-stage crushes. And of course they both have magic in them, which just about makes them irresistible.

But this is a long way from a promontory, which is apparently a high cliff jutting out into a sea or lake.  Now I always imagined it as a long finger of land - more like a peninsula, actually. It just shows you what you can learn from the dictionary.  (and I have to say, from the Internet, where you get pictures.)

We probably have all three of those things on the Island.  I've attached pictures, so you can have a look.

That's another thing about being on an island - there's always something to photograph ...

Thanks to the Barry and District News - June is Booking Out All Over

Lovely write up in the Barry and District News in advance of the event tomorrow in Barry Library. Thrilled that I got a mention and a picture.

Here

June is Booking Out All Over

Or it is in Barry Library ...

Come along on Saturday 28th June and meet a few authors - or rather a lot of authors. Including me. Something for everyone, from sagas to romantic suspense - that's me again.


More details from the Library Website below - scroll down until you hit the date.

Details of June is Booking Out All Over at Barry library 

Begins at 10 30 am - see you there.

Not to be sniffed at?

One of the standard pieces of advice offered to would-be, and not so would-be writers is 'Use your five senses.' This is often closely followed by the reminder not to forget the often neglected sense of smell.
So we all do it. Describe how he/she/it smelled. Historical writers seem to take particular delight in the nastier end of the smell spectrum, describing exactly how that Medieval/Georgian/Victorian street reeks - and with what. As I read a lot while eating, it's actually something I could do without. Or maybe I'm reading the wrong books? I do find recipe books particularly appropriate over lunch - and strangely, the people who might be expected to extol one of the most noticeable and enticing aspects of their creations rarely do. They clearly haven't been reading those how to write tips. Or maybe they are wiser than the rest of us in understanding that smell is in the nose of the beholder? After all, how do you describe a smell? You can describe what makes the smell ...

At the moment all the jasmine bushes in my garden are in flower. I have a lot, as it grows like weeds. The scent is wonderful. But wonderful how? If pushed I would probably say it was a soapy sort of smell. But then, what kind of soap - certainly not carbolic.
Smell, it seems to me, is a personal thing. That's my profound thought for the day. Perhaps all a writer can do is describe what creates the smell and leave it up to the reader to imagine.

Of course, that's the deepest secret of reading a book - everything can look, sound, taste, feel and smell exactly how the reader wants it to. How the reader imagines it ...

Actually - I'm not sure that smell is the most overlooked sense. How often do you read or write about how something tastes? Should there be more of it?

I shall go away and ponder that in the garden, within sniffing distance of the jasmine.

Something New?

I'm hoping I might have a novella published sometime during the summer - fingers crossed that it makes it through the Choc lit selection panel. If it happens it will be an e-book, something I've not experienced before - the same editing g process, the thrill of seeing the cover for the first time, the excitement of release day - but not an actual printed copy to hold in your hand. I'll miss that. You can't beat that feeling.

Will I have an e-book like Linda?

The novella itself is a little different from my mainstream writing - it's lighter, leaning towards rom/com rather than the dark stuff. Crime, but no dead bodies. It's set in the Italian Rivera and brings teenage sweethearts back together after twelve years apart, chasing a mysterious stranger who may or may not be up to no good, and a con man who is definitely a bad lot. I had a lot of fun writing it and revising it, which was quite a job. But that is completely another story.    

Here's hoping it makes it. It's over fifty thousand words, so it would be a great holiday read. I think so anyway, but I might be a bit biased. 

And Liz?

And the title? It's had several, but I'm keeping the one I finally fixed on to myself for the moment. If it all happens, I promise you will be the first to know. 

Getting out and about.

It's summer - a time when authors are allowed to escape from the study and meet people!

I'm seizing my chances - so here is a quick update on places that I am going to be in the next few weeks.

I'm doing an interview for Marlow radio this Friday, 6th June - starting around 10am. Looking forward to chatting about books to Vanessa and talking about how I write.

Marlow FM

I hope to look in on the online Romance Festival that is taking place at the weekend too - 7/8th June - so I might see you there.

Online Romance Festival 

I will be part of an Authors' Day that is being held at the Vale of Glamorgan main library in Barry on Saturday 28th June. Lots of friends will be there, so it will be good to see them and to meet readers.  There will be writers from many different genres, so there should be something for everyone.
Barry Library

And in July I will be jetting across the Atlantic to New York, to visit Thrillerfest - a big American convention dedicated - as you might guess - to thrillers. I've been invited to take part in a panel discussion and signing, but I shall also be having a lot of fan girl moments, as many of my favourite authors are attending.

It's going to be a fun couple of months. If you will be at any of these events, do please come and say hello.