Still writing, walking and gardening

So, it's July, the start of summer, and lockdown is slowly being eased (for now.)

It's been an unusual few months, to say the least, a period of adjustment. Thanks to some wonderful weather and a garden to escape into, and fields and woods to walk through, I feel as if I've adjusted fairly well... that's not to say I'm not panicking slightly at the thought that my husband and daughter  may never return to full-time working. I hadn't quite realised until this week how much I value my own space! But, overall, I consider myself lucky to have not been badly affected, and it's good to spend more time than I usually would with some members of my family. And I haven't had to home-school, which is a bonus 😬

I've managed a few socially distanced walks with a friend, and am planning to meet up with another very soon, and although my mum won't be coming down from Scarborough for her usual summer break, we stay in close contact via the magic of WhatsApp - probably more so than usual.

As ever, writing has proved a wonderful escape. Mandy and I have almost finished the first draft of our joint pscyhological thriller, provisionally titled The Bad Friend, and have thoroughly enjoyed the process once again. Knowing that Mandy's waiting for my chapter and vice versa is incredibly motivating, as neither wants to let the other down, and the ideas have kept on flowing. And our first book The Secret Sister is going into The Works this month, which is exciting.

I've recently finished working on the structural edits for my solo book and thankfully, my editor loves the story and is excited as I am to see it published, hopefully in October, though schedules are a little uncertain due to the current situation.

I've made a start on my next novel and am enjoying doing some research. It's set mostly in a remote part of Wales and I'm drawing on my vist there last year, up near the mountains. It might be a while before we can go anywhere again, so thank goodness for the internet to fill in the blanks.

Hard to believe we're more than halfway through 2020. I've gone past the baking and jigsaw phase, but am still reading a lot, and am keen on getting to grips with the garden. I've even dug out a border and planted some flowers, which I wouldn't have imagined doing before lockdown. It wasn't easy as there were a few old shrubs with stubborn roots to remove and the soil is full of stones, but there was a nice sense of acheivement when I'd finished. Okay, I was smug as hell.

I often take my camera with me when I go for a walk these days and enjoy snapping flowers and local wildlife, though there's plenty in our - and my mother-in-law's - garden. The birds and animals have got used to seeing me pop up and seem to strike a pose - probably wishing I'd clear off.

I hope your year so far has been safe and healthy and maybe even productive - and if you've been home-schooling you have my undying admiration. I hope it hasn't been too fraught ♥

Lockdown

A couple of months ago, I was looking forward to meeting my friend and writing partner Amanda Brittany in London, to celebrate the paperback and audiobook release of our psychological thriller The Secret Sister.

How quickly and dramatically life has changed tince then with the country (world) on lockdown due to the highly contagious coronavirus. It sounds like the plot of a dystopian novel, but is sadly all too real.

It's the second week of lockdown and after days of being on an emotional rollercoaster, when I was certain this couldn't be happening and that surely it was fine to go to shopping - where empty supermarket shelves and queues outside the chemist's brought home the reality  - there's been a period of adjustment and acceptance.

A week of sunny, mild weather made it possible to get out in the garden, and to go for walks and fresh air, and limiting exposure to the news and social media, apart from a check of the headlines each morning, has made it possible to focus on writing, at least in short bursts - mostly in the garden.

I've developed a routine of writing longhand every morning, so I have something to type up later on, and now have plenty of notes for my second psychological suspense novel. I'm aiming to get the first draft in early, which will be a first! I'm also expecting the edits for book 1 back any day, so that should keep me busy, and Mandy and I have have made a start on our second joint book.

One thing I've learnt is, I don't need a cafe or coffee shop to write, I can do it just as well from the dining table, or sitting out in the garden, so I'm saving a fortune on cups of tea and slices of cake. (Still eating cake, but only homemade until all the flour runs out.)

Reading continues to be a solace and an escape, as I'm sure it is for many people. If you're in the mood for a thriller THE SECRET SISTER is available now in paperback and audiobook. Mandy and I will look forward to celebrating when lockdown is over - which may not be for some time.

Wherever you are, stay safe and healthy xx

The Secret Sister

After a lovely Christmas, the new decade got off to a great start with the digital release of THE SECRET SISTER which has had some great feedback from readers already. (The paperback will follow in April for those of you who prefer print books!)

It's nice to celebrate these things, so co-writer Mandy and I headed into London for lunch and inbetween stuffing ourselves with pizza, talked non-stop about writing, in particular our next book, due out next year, which has the working title The Bad Friend.

After signing a 2-book contract with new publisher HQ/HarperCollins, I'm excited to be working with them on my first, solo psychological suspense novel, and I'm a few thousand words into that and enjoying writing it.

My romcoms are still selling well, thanks to the wonderful team at Bookouture sourcing special promotional opportunities, and my first THE BEACHSIDE SWEET SHOP will be in a Kindle Deal in Austraila later this month.

Aside from writing, it's been a wet, grey start to the year, but I've done plenty of walking through muddy woods and fields, which has been good for getting my brain away from mince pies and Christmas cake and back into writing mode (and good for working off all that festive food!)

Whatever you're doing this January, I hope your year has got off to a good start.

Cover reveal

Yesterday, Mandy and I revealed the cover for our psychological thriller THE SECRET SISTER which was an exciting moment. It really stands out, and hopefully, the blurb will draw readers in. Those clever people at HQ/Harper Collins have even made ME want to read it 😄 It's out in January and only 99p - less than the price of a cuppa!

We're currently getting our second book underway, and after a lovely meeting last week, I've been working on outlines for a couple of solo psychological suspense novels and keeping my fingers crossed I'll be given the go-ahead to write them, as I'm excited about the stories.

In rom-com news I'LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS is selling well, and it feels okay to talk about it now that the shops have burst into full festive-mode - though I still prefer not to do any bursting until December's well under way!

Anyway, we've only just had bonfire night with fireworks all around for at least a week. Having owned a dog, I'm not as big a fan as I once was, as our Molly used to be so terrified we were genuinely afraid she'd have a heart attack. If only they were confined to displays, and only on November 5th.

Ah well, off the soap box and back to plot-wrangling - and trying to ignore that it's nearly time to start untangling the Christmas tree lights...

Book news

Along with the release of I'll be Home for Christmas I'm excited to announce a joint writing project that's finally come to fruition.

Back in 2015, I blogged about writing a psychological suspense novel with my lovely writing friend Amanda Brittany, which we put aside to focus on solo projects. After finally submitting it to Mandy's editor at HQ Digital/Harper Collins earlier this year, our book is going to being published. We now have a 2-book contract and a fabulous agent Kate Nash.

The first book will be released in January 2020, the second a year later, and we're currently excited to see a cover and title (to be revealed) which we'll be sharing via our joint Twitter account @clarkebrittany2. It's all very exciting (for us, anyway!)

After writing nine (hopefully) uplifting romantic comedy novels in three years and selling over 160,000 of them (beyond my wildest imaginings) I'm putting them on hold for the moment while I attempt to write a standalone suspense novel, alongside the one with Mandy. I may regret it, but might also regret not trying, as it's something I've wanted to do for a while. I'm sure I'll come back to romcoms - I love writing them too much not to - but for now, I'm going to take a walk on the dark side and see what happens (hopefully, nothing too grim and murdery.)

Aside from that, it's hard to believe how fast the year has flown, as they increasingly seem to these days, but I'm lucky to have had some nice trips; to Barcelona, Cornwall, Devon and Snowdonia in Wales. The weather there wasn't great, but that somehow added to the atmosphere, especially travelling up Mount Snowdon, and I couldn't help thinking it would make a great setting for a novel. Then again, I think that everywhere I go...

I hope whatever you've been doing your summer's been a good one, and if you fancy a festive read to get you in the mood for you-know-what, I can recommend a funny, feelgood book by...me ☺️ (other festive-themed books are available.)

Shelfie

SUMMER AT THE LITTLE FRENCH CAFE has now been released into the world and it's getting some lovely reviews, which is always music to a writer's ears.

Meanwhile, my first book (with Bookouture) The Beachside Sweet Shop has appeared in paperback in The Works. It's long been a dream to see a book on a shelf in a shop, so I was down at our local branch waiting for it to make an appearance so I could capture it for posterity!

A proud moment after 10 years of this writing lark and hopefully not the last!

Now I've finished the final book in my Cafe series, I'm having a think about what to do next - lots of options and ideas whizzing about, but nothing settled just yet.

I've just had a break in St Ives in Cornwall with my daughter, and it's so beautiful, even when it's raining (which it did on our second day) that I can see now why so many authors choose to set their novels there - maybe it will crop up in a future book!

In the meantime, I hope you're all having a wonderful summer whatever you're doing.

Summer's arrived early

The cover for Summer at the Little French Cafe has landed and really evokes that seaside, sunshine feel - lovely when the weather is currently wet and stormy!

I loved writing this story, and revisiting some of the characters from the first in the series, and am currently engrossed in book 3, which is set around Christmas. I have a new editor and am looking forward to working with her. I love the editing process - making the book better, like a carpenter whittling at a table until the legs are even, ensuring the coffee cups won't slide off. Terrible analogy, but you get the drift (wood)!

With summer fast approaching, I'm looking forward to a trip to St Ives in Cornwall with my daughter. I've heard a lot about the light there, inspiring artists - and hopefully, writers. I'll be taking a notpad and pen and looking for inspiration for a new book, but in the meantime, it's back to the mince pies and Christmas Carols.

Ding-dong, merrily on high...

New Book Alert

I have a new book out! ESCAPE TO THE LITTLE FRENCH CAFE is the first in a series of three that can be read as standalones, but with recurring characters popping up in each one.

It's the first time I've set a story abroad. I thoroughly enjoyed researching and writing it, and hope it has a different feel to my English-based novels. The best compliment I could have is that readers would love to visit the area once they've finished reading.

I'm currently editing book two in the series and preparing to start book 3, which will be wintery - more of a challenge as the  Ile de Re, on the west coast of France, rarely has rain, never mind snow, so I'll be creating an unusual weather pattern; which isn't such a stretch at the moment!

In April I'm off to a marketing workshop in London to learn how to be better at social media, but first, Lovely Husband and I are taking a short trip to Barcelona, which I'm looking foward to as I've never been - and it should be warmer there than it is here at the moment.

Maybe if I write another series, it'll have a Spanish theme 😊

February New Year's Resolution (better late than never)

Well, Christmas flew by in a flash - and lovely it was too - and January got off to a busy start as I had a deadline for the second book in my French Cafe series, as well as copyediting and proofreading book one, which will be out in March.

After leaving the bulk of the writing (again) for the final month - writing 10,000 words in 16 hours at the end, to leave myself a day to read through the draft and make sure it made sense before submitting to my editor - I'm determined to manage my time more effectively with book three. Even though deadlines are tight, writing three books a year, I know I can do it better, but need to start by banning myself from the internet. Never does social media appeal more seductive than when my deadline starts approaching like a speeding train. I used to  turn into a domestic goddess, doing loads of housework and baking, crubbing floors and dusting skirting boards, which was at least productive. I'm not sure 'liking' other peoples' dinner - however tasty it looks - or retweeting memes about procrastination is half as useful, however much I like to call it 'networking'.

So, a resolution of sorts for 2019 - to faff less, write more - and stay away from the internet (unless it's for research - and to look at puppies, and find out what everyone else in the world is doing). 

I may have said this last year, but this time I mean it.

(I may have said that too...)

It's beginning to look a lot like...

...Christmas!!

It was bright sunshine and 32 degrees about five minutes ago, but now the fairy lights are untangled and on the tree, the gifts are bought and (not quite) wrapped and we've been stockpiling mince pies for weeks.

It's also the time of year I start writing a summer-themed book, which means thinking about sun, sand and ice-creams, which isn't easy when Christmas carols are playing on a loop on the TV and radio, it's frosty outside, and I'm dipping into a tin of Quality Street to keep my strength up.

I'm not complaining though. Three years ago, I couldn't have imagined that I would be writing my eighth novel for Bookouture and making a living, doing something I love so much.

I'd like to thank you for continuing to read my blog, and hopefully my books, and to wish you a very Happy Christmas and a wonderful New Year.

See you on the other side!

French Fancies

Well, summer flew by in the blink of an eye, and now the leaves are falling.......................

(It sounded like the start of a poem, but I ran out of steam.)

After completing the the last book in my Seashell Cove series, I was lucky enough to be offered a new contract with Bookouture to write 3 more novels, this time set in France - ooh la la! Do the French ever say that? (I've just looked it up and they do, but it has 'very strong sexual connotations' so I won't be using it again.)

I've not been to France since my honeymoon in Paris, seventeen years ago, so some research was obviously needed. I wanted an area with sun, sea, sand...and preferably somewhere it would snow, for the Christmas book. Not so easy to get all the elements and I spent many hours online, to the point where I felt like a native - though sadly, I didn't learn to speak French by osmosis.

In the end, I turned to the good folk of Facebook for inspiration and received some wonderful suggestions (and holiday ideas), but in the end settled for the Ile de Re (image above) an island off the west coast of France, not far from La Rochelle, as it was the closest to the setting I'd had in mind.

The great thing about Google Maps is, you don't have to leave the house to wander down streets and take in the views, and there's a wealth of information at your fingertips, but there's no substitute for the real thing, and it looks so lovely, I'm planning to visit in the not too distant future.

Meanwhile the first draft of Escape to The Little French Cafe is now written and with my editor, and I'm planning the next book, which will be set during summer - perfect now the weather's turned colder and the mornings are white and frosty.

In the meantime, if you've got a good second line for my almost poem at the top, I'd love to hear it!

Summer Loving...

It's shaping up to be the hottest summer in a long time... the washing's drying fast, the grass has gone yellow, and there's a threatened water shortage, but I'm not complaining (much) because it's rare to see blue skies and sunshine for days on end, and it'll be Christmas before we know it, and then I'll be moaning about the cold again.

Talking of which, I'm currently editing my Christmas book, the third and final novel in my Seashell Cove series. It's not easy to picture tinsel, Santa, fairy lights and carol-singers when the mercury's hit 31 degrees, I'm mainlining Magnum ice-creams and fake-tanning my shins after every shower. I was in a similar situation last year, and once again have resorted to listening to Christmas songs, which messes with your head a bit when the sun is beating down.

Once this book is done, I'll be out of contract, so am looking forward to a chat with my editor to see what's next - if anything. So far, my books have sold over 80,000 copies, which is a figure I could only have dreamed about a couple of years ago, so I'm hopeful. But, if a new contract isn't forthcoming, I've plenty more ideas up my sleeve - if I were wearing sleeves at the moment - and it certainly won't be the end of my writing career.

In the meantime, I'd better go and bring in the washing I hung out ten minutes ago.

Q&A with Amanda Brittany

I'm thrilled to welcome Amanda Brittany to my blog today, to talk about her debut thriller Her Last Lie. 

It's been described as 'gripping with a shocking twist' and I can confirm that it is!

(It also has an amazing cover)

Which character in Her Last Lie would you like to meet?

Hi Karen, thank you for inviting me to your blog.

I suppose feisty Roxanne is the character I’d most like to meet. She’s so determined to get to the bottom of things, and appears to be a good friend to Isla.

There are definitely a couple of characters in the book I would hope never to meet.

I know the book has several settings, which did you enjoy writing the most?

I loved writing the second part of the book set in Abisko in Sweden. I visited Abisko a couple of years back, and it was great fun bringing the cold, bleak landscape to life, and describing the way The Northern Lights swoop across the night skies.

Are any of your characters based on people you know?

No, not at all, they all sprang from my imagination.

A couple of reviewers have mentioned there are humorous bits in the novel...

Yes, there are a couple of lighter bits, which I felt fitted with certain characters. My thoughts were that there are amusing people everywhere, so why not in a psychological thriller? And I liked the thought of the contrast of humour with the awful things that are happening to Isla has in the book.

How long did it take to write ‘Her Last Lie’?

I worked flat out on the first draft for six weeks, writing 2,000 words a day, but it took a lot, lot longer than that in total with the re-drafts and edits.

Have you got any ideas for your next book?

I have got an idea for my next psychological thriller, which I’m about to send over to my editor, and I’ve got everything crossed she’ll like it.

All of Amanda’s ebook royalties are going to Cancer Research UK, in memory of her sister. Her Last Lie can be downloaded here http://amzn.to/2AIvFw7

I can't wait to read the next one...