So, how does the scheme work?  Well, [...]]]> It’s the beginning of September, so that means the Romantic Novelists’ Association has all the submissions for this year’s New Writers’ Scheme safely gathered in.  As a former organiser and current reader for the Scheme, I can recommend it to anyone who wants  to become a published romantic novelist.

So, how does the scheme work?  Well, first of all you have to become a member of the RNA - go to www.rna-uk.org to find out how, and be ready to join  in early January 2011, because places on the scheme are limited and are taken up very quickly.

Then, write your romantic novel and get it to the organiser by the end of August 2011. You’ll need to have a love story at the heart of your book, so don’t send the RNA a novel in which the big question is who killed the banker or who stole the painting. Your own big question needs to be who falls in love and/or ends up with whom.

What will you get for your membership fee? A report on your novel from a published writer of your kind of romantic fiction, opportunities to meet published and yet-to-be-published novelists, positive encouragement, practical help, good advice, chances to network, and insights into the mysterious world of publishing.

It might take you a while to make it into print, but the RNA will help and support you all the  way. As a member of the NWS, you’ll be welcome at the RNA’s fabulous awards lunches and parties, too!

Am on The Reading Room from SirenFM 10.00-12.00 BST on Sunday 5 September 2010, first of three programmes. Just click to listen free to a couple of hours of output about books.

SirenFM is a community radio station - brilliant that they can devote this kind of time to a [...]]]>

Paul, who patiently interviewed me for hours

Am on The Reading Room from SirenFM 10.00-12.00 BST on Sunday 5 September 2010, first of three programmes. Just click to listen free to a couple of hours of output about books.

SirenFM is a community radio station - brilliant that they can devote this kind of time to a programme about what I’m passionate about: reading and writing. They have a great set up in studios at the University of Lincoln and both Paul and producer Johnny made me welcome.

The interview I did took about 2.5 hours but Paul has edited it down to three programmes (thereby cutting out a lot of ‘Sorry Johnny, forgot what I was going to say …’) or being caught eating grapes instead of being ready to answer questions.

I really like doing radio stuff.

I had five children in seven years. Well, to be accurate I’ve still [...]]]> Right. Gather round because I’m going to tell you a story. Oh, it’s all right, it’s not like one of the ones I tell on my blog where I just go on and on and on and…oh. Right. Get to the point. Yes.

I had five children in seven years. Well, to be accurate I’ve still got them, but you know what I mean. Five. Good grief. Anyway. When my first child was born I tried to do absolutely everything right, he only watched TV for an hour a day (not as a newborn, obviously, but later), ate only home-cooked food, drank only water - no squash or processed foods for him! I devoted many hours a day to reading with him, playing with him, stimulating his development…

And, over time, with each new arrival, my dedication to being A Perfect Mother declined. By the time my youngest child was born I would quite cheerfully sit her in front of the washing machine for ages in lieu of entertainment (I’ll have you know that my washing machine is extremely stimulating to watch). She ate whatever I could find that came in a tin, drank anything that the others were drinking. She was probably weaned on Jammy Dodgers, now I come to think of it.

And my point? She is exactly as intelligent, clever, funny, attractive and creative as her eldest brother. In fact, all the kids are (well, obviously, they’re MY children after all). So. Stop worrying about being perfect. If you’re writing, stop leaving your manuscript for four months while you seek the perfect synonym for ‘damp’. Just get on with things, do your best, and everything will turn out all right in the end.

That’s my motto. ‘Do Your Best and don’t beat yourself up’. That and ‘I’m Next for Johnny Depp’. Actually, now I come to think of it, I’ve got lots of mottos. Remind me to tell you about them some time….

I love it when somebody says to me, ‘I see your name everywhere.’ Because that’s the plan.

This is how I always write, of course - on the patio in the sunshine in my best dress! (It was for a magazine.)

In these days of social networking and instant communication, all it takes is [...]]]>

I love it when somebody says to me, ‘I see your name everywhere.’ Because that’s the plan.

This is how I always write, of course - on the patio in the sunshine in my best dress! (It was for a magazine.)

In these days of social networking and instant communication, all it takes is a computer connected to the Internet - and time. And I make time.

I promote myself as a writer and also promote any individual book. Book reviews are fabulous, such as this lovely one, as is guest blogging, maintaining my own blog and building up followings on Twitter and Facebook. I also send out a newsletter whenever I have a reasonable amount of good news to impart (you can read my newsletter by going to http://www.suemoorcroft.com/contact.html and clicking ‘download here’  if you want to see what kind of thing I talk about, or you can fill in the form to subscribe). And I think my own website is a must. I’ve also created my Amazon Author’s Page (for free) and an email sign off that appears every time I send somebody a message.

Although some don’t see the appeal, both Twitter and Facebook have brought me not just new readers but journalist and radio presenter contacts. It takes a while to build up a following but not that much time every day to post updates. And if anybody reading this would like to follow me on Twitter or befriend me on Facebook, please do!

I get my name in the major writing magazines as often and as obviously as possible. I write my own columns but am also quoted in the columns of friends and professional contacts, and I never turn down an opportunity to give such a quote. Whatever and wherever I write, I try and get my books and/or website mentioned - although sometimes I have to work on editors for this free perk!

Yes, it’s all time consuming - all promo is, whether on-line or more traditional, such as a book signings, attending conferences etc.

And you’ll all have noticed how I’ve used this post as an opportunity to get people clicking on my various online presences, because I’m a working writer and like nothing more than to make something out of nothing, I’ve posted this mail on my blog, too …

By the way, Starting Over has been nominated at ‘An Unmissable Read‘ at The Truth About Books. So now they want to know which is the readers’ choice. You can vote for it here. Please do!

Thanks!

I have to admit I never used to read many books written by men either.  If given the choice, obviously I’d pick a romantic novel any time.  And let’s face it – men don’t often write romance or even include it much in their novels.  But why not?

During the last couple of years, I’ve started reading adventure thrillers in the genre sparked off by Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code.  All that stuff about Templars, historical mysteries and lost treasure really resonated with me and I was hooked.  Some of my favourite authors of this type of novel are Steve Berry, David Gibbins, James Twining and Raymond Khoury, to name but a few.  I love the combination of suspense and history they create, providing fictional answers to mysteries that have baffled mankind for centuries, sometimes millennia.  But there is one thing sadly lacking in most of these stories – real romance.

There is some, or at least what passes for romance to male authors (I think?), but for the most part I would have liked more.  The female characters are often an afterthought and in some cases they are killed off with little ceremony to make way for a new love interest in the next instalment.  Why?  A proper, all-consuming love, albeit as a side product of the main story about the hunt for treasure, would raise these books to a whole other level for me.  But then I admit I’m an incurable romantic and I guess the books were written mainly for a male audience.

I asked my other half whether he’d noticed the lack of romance in the thrillers he reads and whether he thought it a shame the women were so often killed off to make way for the next pneumatic secret agent or whatever.  “No, who cares?” was the reply.  So I guess it’s just me then …

I’d love to know what other men think – would they like more romance or don’t they even think about it?  Would they read romantic suspense written by women, which is just as thrilling, but has a much higher romance content?  Please ask your other halves for me and let me know! 

Please come back on Friday, when Sue will be posting

I must admit that I don’t read many novels written by men.  Or at least, I don’t read the testosterone-fuelled stuff about blokes stomping off into the jungle and discovering ancient civilisations, or gunning down their enemies with every weapon known to mortal man.

But one novel that’s been riding high in the charts ever since [...]]]>

I must admit that I don’t read many novels written by men.  Or at least, I don’t read the testosterone-fuelled stuff about blokes stomping off into the jungle and discovering ancient civilisations, or gunning down their enemies with every weapon known to mortal man.

But one novel that’s been riding high in the charts ever since it was published, and has a huge following of both male and female readers, is David Nicholls’s wonderful One Day, and it richly deserves its success. It’s the story of working class, clever Emma and middle class, not quite so clever Dexter, who meet on the day of their graduation, and whose lives are entwined from then on.

The story is told from both Emma’s and Dexter’s points of view, and both of them come across as more real than real. As I read, I felt I knew these two people. I understood (and empathised with) Dexter’s neediness, and the self-destructive tendencies that caused him to make a total idiot of himself. I understood Emma’s insecurities that led her to embark on an unsuitable affair, and to marry the wrong man.  I won’t spoil the ending for anyone who hasn’t yet read this novel, but I must warn you - have your Kleenex ready!

I’ve mentioned in a previous post how songs weave their way into the fabric of my novels, but I never know quite what’s going to surface, so this is a first post in an occasional series about how music and writing.

Today’s track is Groove Armada’s ‘Shameless’ featuring Bryan Ferry from their [...]]]>

I’ve mentioned in a previous post how songs weave their way into the fabric of my novels, but I never know quite what’s going to surface, so this is a first post in an occasional series about how music and writing.

Today’s track is Groove Armada’s ‘Shameless’ featuring Bryan Ferry from their album, ‘Black Light’. I’m currently training for the Cardiff Half Marathon in October and I’d loaded this album on to my MP3 player in a conscious effort to slow the pace on my long runs (I tend to go like a bat out of hell to hardcore most of the time – tragic but true). Anyway, everything was ticking along nicely when Bryan Ferry started singing and threw me right off course. I’ve always had a bit of soft spot for Bryan, there’s a reference to one of his album covers in Turning the Tide, but I also like the way his voice has matured. This is his him at his most seductive and I’ve a feeling it’s going to help certain scenes in my work in progress no end!

Put the cigarette down, Bryan!

It’s something that affects both published and yet-to-be-published novelists - and we don’t mean lack of money, we mean lack of motivation.  We’re sure almost all writers know the feeling - sometimes, even polishing coal or mucking out a teenager’s bedroom seem infinitely more appealing and worthwhile than getting on with your novel.

We feel it’s [...]]]>

It’s something that affects both published and yet-to-be-published novelists - and we don’t mean lack of money, we mean lack of motivation.  We’re sure almost all writers know the feeling - sometimes, even polishing coal or mucking out a teenager’s bedroom seem infinitely more appealing and worthwhile than getting on with your novel.

We feel it’s important to know yourself and what kind of novel you ought to be writing.  We Choc Lit authors are a bunch of unashamed romantics, we all know that romantic fiction is right for us, and that’s what we’re happy to write.  But  we’re well aware that other writers would be much happier to sit there working out who killed whom, rather than who gave whom a deliciously romantic kiss!

Christina finds that having writing buddies keeps her on the straight and narrow, encouraging her when she feels down, and cheering when she gets it right. ‘When I was still working towards publication, the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s New Writers’ Scheme gave me feedback that assured me I was improving all the time,’ says Christina, who also won the Katie Fforde Bursary back in 2006 - which was a huge vote of confidence from a bestselling romantic novelist who has always encouraged and supported her fellow authors.

Christina and Margaret discuss  motivation in the September edition of Writing Magazine, which is on sale today. We’re not insisting we’re always right, but what we do definitely works for us!