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...)