Category Archives: news

New Book News

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The news is out. I will have a new book with Bookouture next year, The Water Witch.

Here I am researching… honest…

We are also delighted to have re-signed contracts with fantasy author Jessica Thorne. Associate Publisher Ellen Gleeson has acquired World English Language rights, plus audio, from Sallyanne Sweeney at MMB Creative for The Water Witch. 

Publishing in summer 2022, The Water Witch is set on the wild shores of Brittany and tells the story of how Ariadne, a young woman still grieving for her lost fiancé, becomes involved in an archaeological dig searching for the lost city of Ys — and awakes an ancient and dangerous power.

Jessica said,

‘I’m so delighted to be working with Bookouture on this wild and magical tale of Brittany, a place so very close to my heart. It’s always such a thrill to start a new adventure and to explore the mysteries of family dynamics, folklore handed down through generations and the human heart.’

Ellen said,

‘Jessica’s books are always guaranteed to sweep me away to whatever beautiful, beguiling and entrancing world is waiting! Her gorgeous descriptions and worldbuilding, intricate plotting, ability to create totally dramatic heart-in-mouth moments, and of course passionate romance arcs, all combine to create exactly the kind of contemporary fantasy fiction her fans adore. It’s a pleasure and a privilege to work with Jessica and I can’t wait to dive straight in to The Water Witch.’ 

Full details here

RNA Conference 2017 (Harper Adams) #RNAConf17

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I spent last weekend at the wonderful RNA Conference in the beautiful setting of Harper Adams University.

The conference is always a whirlwind and when I decided to go for a long weekend rather than just the basic conference I made an excellent, if exhausting choice.

I arrived quite late on Thursday evening and after some fun and games finding the halls of residence with the help of the nicest taxi driver, met up with my usual flatmates, aka Kate Johnson, Immi Howson, Rhoda Baxter, Janet Gover and Alison May. Aka The naughty kitchen. More on that later.

Friday morning allowed us some time to explore the campus and Janet kicked things off with a talk on image manipulation, the first of many highlights.
We all gathered in the main lecture theatre, where I ended up spending rather a lot of time. The panel on the current state of the industry was fascinating and entertaining. It also felt like the most positive of these I’ve attended in a number of years. Things are looking up in the world of Romantic Fiction.

On Friday night there were drinkies. But not too many as I gave a talk on School Visits first thing on Saturday morning. It went very well until the computer decided to apply Windows updates in the middle of the talk, rebooting everything, including my slideshow. But apparently it wasn’t just me. The university has a Saturday morning routine, it seems. I may have gone for a bit of a lie down afterwards!

Other talk highlights over the weekend included Alison May and Bella Osbourne’s Plotter vs. Pantser talk (hilarious, with added aliens), Immi as the sparkly gazelle in the RNA Have Your Say discussion, Fiona Harper’s wonderful workshop on character development, a panel on how to be a helpful author featuring Julia Silk (agent), JB Johnson (bookblogger) & Julia Williams (editor and author) and Kate Johnson’s Guide to Worldbuilding.
Saturday evening was the Gala dinner, when we all put on our finery, have a wonderful meal and great conversation. It’s also the night that the Elizabeth Goudge prize is awarded. This annual competition is always held at the conference, and is hotly contested.

This year the theme was “Runaways” and the entry had to be 2000 words from the beginning of novel. I was absolutely delighted to be announced as the runner up with the opening to the as yet unwritten (apart from those 2000 words) sequel to the Space Opera.

Even better news was that Immi was the winner so we got to celebrate together. Here we are with Jill Mansell and RNA President Katie Fforde.

The naughty kitchen may have imbibed a few drinks that night. But I was not the last to bed. 😀

If you have never been to a writing conference I cannot recommend the RNA one enough. You’ll never encounter a more helpful, supportive and creative group of people.

Why brain, why?

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So first off – news! I will be signing at Dublin Comic Con as a guest of Dublin 2019. I don’t know all the details yet but I will share as soon as I can. There will be free books. Yes, free! But not that many so come early.

I’ve been on a bit of a break. And well… this always happens. I’m not complaining but it’s rather interesting that it always happens and it’s always around the same time into any sort of break.

I have just finished the final proofs for A Darkness at the End (out 12th September, preorder now, YAY!). I have handed over the first draft of the latest WIP to my first reader (aka my charming husband – yes I might be buttering him up but it’s true). I have a stack of books to read that is probably taller than I am. It’s been building up for ages. I’m almost finished one. A whole almost one.

So why WHY is this always the moment when my brain goes “Ooooh, do you know what would be cool?” and “Remember that old WIP we abandoned ages ago? I wonder where that notebook went?” and of course, the ever famous and helpful “PLOTBUNNIES!!!”

Yes, that. Three days into any self declared break.

No way brain. I am at least finishing the book I am already reading.

Anyone else’s brain work like this?

In which I talk… with my hands…

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At Pcon I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Cheryl Morgan for Salon Futura, and that interview went live today.

It’s very funny to listen to myself, let alone watch myself talk. I use my hands. Let me rephrase that… I use my hands A LOT.

We covered a wide range of subjects in my 20 minutes – my library day job, old books, paranormal romance, erotica (err… yes… *blush* I think you can actually see the blushing in the video), Soul Fire, The Scroll Thief, my Holtlands stories, Young Adult fiction and May Queen. Wiiiiiiiiiiiide range of subjects.

So a huge thank you to Cheryl. May we meet again very soon.

Here’s the video.

*BLUSH*

Want news?

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I’m starting a monthly newletter (or author mailing list). If you’d like to subscibe, you can sign up here on my website (Bottom of the page). One email, once a month (or at least that’s all I plan for the moment) with a roundup of news, events and things I find down the back of the sofa interesting.

In other news, I am editing. that’s why I’ve been so very very quiet. I am not up to anything else. Promise.

A fairytale trip, NaNo and a little bit of news

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I’ve been a bad bad writer, not keeping you all up to date.  But I have also been very busy.

So I give you a brief report of our Halloween trip, something about NaNo and some news. The news is at the end. Yes, I’m making you wait. I’m mean like that! Continue reading A fairytale trip, NaNo and a little bit of news →

Octocon this weekend

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I’m going to be at Octocon this weekend, Ireland’s Science Fiction Convention, where we’ll be up to all kinds of shenanigans. And I’ll be on a couple of panels

Saturday 12pm Urban Fantasy vs. Paranormal Romance

Sunday 1pm Where’s My Money Honey?! ( New Funding Models) – Err… Yes, me and money. Anyway…

And I’ll be helping out (and hopefully eating some of the sweets) at Claire Hennessy’s Writing YA workshop on Sunday afternoon along with Sarah Rees Brennan. (If they haven’t polished them all off before I get in there.)

Oh and I almost forgot E_W_H himself will be on a panel on Sunday at 2pm – Managing The Writers in Your Life. Yeessss…

All this and George R. R. Martin as guest of honour, C.E. Murphy, Maura McHugh, Derek Gunn, Fabulous Lorraine, Michael Carroll, Peadar Ó Guilín and many more.(So many in fact I can’t link to them all! I have to make biscuits for a cake sale. No really. :S )

If you’re around Dublin this weekend, come and play! We don’t bite. Much.

Better late than never – RNA Conference 2010 post

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Better late than never in so many ways. First of all it has taken me all week to get around to posting this. Secondly WHY have I not been going to this coference for years???

I am, as with most writers, not the most extroverted of individuals. Never really had been, although I can do a good impression when I need to. I was determined to make it to my first RNA conference this year and I am so glad that I did. Had a bit of a stressy trip out to the airport between a late bus and heavy traffic, and a bit of a stressy time at the drop-off-your-bags points when I found a large group of Japanese tourists had arrived just before me and proceeded to re-pack their luggage in the queue! But Air France/City Jet were wonderful and the flight itself was a dream. When the air hostess asked if I wanted a drink I had a budget airline flashback and just asked for water, only to realise too late they were giving out wine as well. And sandwiches. And boiled sweets for take off (a trip back to childhood). And chocolates just before landing.

I should warn you, food will probably be a theme of this post.

The DLR was also wonderful and in no time at all I arrived at our accomodation in Greenwich. Yes, it was like being a student again. There was a party going on as I arrived and my lovely flatmates were drinking wine out of plastic cups. That didn’t stop the hugs and warm greetings.

Another theme of this post will be the friendliness and fun-filled nature of everyone I met at the conference. I couldn’t have asked for a better gang to hang around with than the ladies of flat 20, but everywhere we went people chatted, exchanged ideas, joked and generally had a wonderful time.

Continue reading Better late than never – RNA Conference 2010 post →