Sharon Kendrick's Blog, page 7
July 18, 2013
MAKING WAVES
Today, in an attempt to actually leave the conference hotel and to see a little of Atlanta which didn't involve adding yet more carbohydrate to my plate, I took a little trip to the local aquarium.
It is actually the largest aquarium in the world, with 6.3 million gallons of water and a lot of freaked-out looking fish.
Here's a piranha, which wasn't a bit how I've always imagined this particular fish to be (writhing around in swirling red water, crazed with blood lust as those razor-sharp teeth tear off flesh). But no, at least - not here in Georgia. The piranha are docile; they looked stoned.
And here are some unidentified fish in a photo you can just tell is destined one day to be used as a screen-saver over on Facebook.
Last of all, here's me - by a flowering tree, close to the Coca-Cola factory. It was a very American day.
In other news, I attended a breakfast meeting with two high-powered academics and some other writers of Sheikh romance. We were discussing the appeal of the desert warrior hero.
I know why I like Sheikhs.
Do you?
It is actually the largest aquarium in the world, with 6.3 million gallons of water and a lot of freaked-out looking fish.
Here's a piranha, which wasn't a bit how I've always imagined this particular fish to be (writhing around in swirling red water, crazed with blood lust as those razor-sharp teeth tear off flesh). But no, at least - not here in Georgia. The piranha are docile; they looked stoned.
And here are some unidentified fish in a photo you can just tell is destined one day to be used as a screen-saver over on Facebook.
Last of all, here's me - by a flowering tree, close to the Coca-Cola factory. It was a very American day.
In other news, I attended a breakfast meeting with two high-powered academics and some other writers of Sheikh romance. We were discussing the appeal of the desert warrior hero.
I know why I like Sheikhs.
Do you?
July 17, 2013
CALLING ROMANCE LOVERS IN ATLANTA!
Kicking off my book signing shortly at the Marquis Marriott hotel at 5.30 today (Atlanta time!), when I'll have copies of A SCANDAL, A SECRET, A BABY in my hot little hands.
Come on by and say hello (and eat a Cadbury's chocolate while you're there!)
Come on by and say hello (and eat a Cadbury's chocolate while you're there!)
May 27, 2013
NARNIAN-LIKE WOOD
Here I am, larking/goofing/mucking around amid the bluebells of Buckinghamshire in a wood where I kept expecting to see a fawn and a lamp-post. Past their best here, the flowers are pale and ghostly and very beautiful I think.
Have had a gorgeous bank holiday weekend, with lots of sunshine and good food (chocolate, strawberry cheesecake ice-cream & vegetarian lasagne; though not all at the same time - obv). The only dark cloud on the horizon has been my latest book which has been playing up, big time. Gabe Steel is proving a delicious but very stubborn hero.So....
If you could inspire me in any way, it just might earn you a dedication....
Have had a gorgeous bank holiday weekend, with lots of sunshine and good food (chocolate, strawberry cheesecake ice-cream & vegetarian lasagne; though not all at the same time - obv). The only dark cloud on the horizon has been my latest book which has been playing up, big time. Gabe Steel is proving a delicious but very stubborn hero.So....
If you could inspire me in any way, it just might earn you a dedication....
May 20, 2013
DIMENSIONS & BLUEBELLS
It's that time of year. When woodlands are filled with hazy purple-blue and the air is soft and scented.
The bluebells are out.
So for those of you who don't have these wild and fragrant flowers growing... here are a couple of photos I took on a recent walk.
This first includes the creamy-white addition of wild garlic (great for adding to home-made pesto)
And in the second is a very HOBBIT-LIKE TREE! (Which looks exactly like an elephant's trunk)
In other news - apart from battling with my latest hero, Gabe Steel - I'm haunted by the memory of part of a tantalising poem called Dimensions, by Laura Riding. She was American and apparently, had a very complicated relationship with Robert Graves. This excerpt was put on her gravestone but if anyone has the complete, amazing poem (Megan Crane, are you out there?) - then I'd love to read it.
Measure me by myselfAnd not by time or love or spaceOr beauty. Give me this last grace:That I may be on my low stoneA gage unto myself alone.I would not have these old faiths fallTo prove that I was nothing at all.
The bluebells are out.
So for those of you who don't have these wild and fragrant flowers growing... here are a couple of photos I took on a recent walk.
This first includes the creamy-white addition of wild garlic (great for adding to home-made pesto)
And in the second is a very HOBBIT-LIKE TREE! (Which looks exactly like an elephant's trunk)
In other news - apart from battling with my latest hero, Gabe Steel - I'm haunted by the memory of part of a tantalising poem called Dimensions, by Laura Riding. She was American and apparently, had a very complicated relationship with Robert Graves. This excerpt was put on her gravestone but if anyone has the complete, amazing poem (Megan Crane, are you out there?) - then I'd love to read it.
Measure me by myselfAnd not by time or love or spaceOr beauty. Give me this last grace:That I may be on my low stoneA gage unto myself alone.I would not have these old faiths fallTo prove that I was nothing at all.
May 13, 2013
DONKEYS AND MOUNTAINS AND CENTRAL CASTING
JUST BACK from a week teaching romantic fiction in Italy where I was staying in a glorious place called Posara, which is tucked away in the mountains of northern Tuscany.
There are donkeys....
And villages which have obviously been plucked straight from the files at Central Casting....
And delicious things to eat....
And even the odd (very odd) writer who is so busy googling something, that she's completely oblivious to the brooding and beautiful hills behind.
I'm running another course from 22-29th June this year and there are two places left. So do contact the Watermill if you'd like one.
There are donkeys....
And villages which have obviously been plucked straight from the files at Central Casting....
And delicious things to eat....
And even the odd (very odd) writer who is so busy googling something, that she's completely oblivious to the brooding and beautiful hills behind.
I'm running another course from 22-29th June this year and there are two places left. So do contact the Watermill if you'd like one.
April 16, 2013
IF YOU EVER GO ACROSS THE SEA
to Ireland....
I've been doing that a lot recently.
And even though my lovely culchie heroine Bridie Browne never made it past 20,000 words (she's still marooned in a grotty hotel near Luton airport - the kind of place where you find public hairs stuck in the plug-hole) I haven't ruled out her having her own story, one day.
Here's a photo of me, bundled up against the cold in a gem of place called Powerscourt House. The gardens are magnificent. The distant hills dreamy.
This is a land of poetry and song.
A place to fall in love with.
And now I'm just off to sing The Wild Colonial Boy!
I've been doing that a lot recently.
And even though my lovely culchie heroine Bridie Browne never made it past 20,000 words (she's still marooned in a grotty hotel near Luton airport - the kind of place where you find public hairs stuck in the plug-hole) I haven't ruled out her having her own story, one day.
Here's a photo of me, bundled up against the cold in a gem of place called Powerscourt House. The gardens are magnificent. The distant hills dreamy.
This is a land of poetry and song.
A place to fall in love with.
And now I'm just off to sing The Wild Colonial Boy!
April 9, 2013
THE UNLIKELY MISTRESS
Always a pleasure when Mr Postman (and no, I'm not being sexist because I've never seen a female postie here in Winchester) knocks on the door with a parcel full of books. Question: Why isn't parcelful a *real* word, when saucerful is?
Today's goodie included this rather dreamy cover. It's a bit 1960's - all bleached and faded summer meadow, with a couple who look like they are sharing a secret (a saucerful of secrets?). The heroine is holding what looks like a dahlia - a rather old-fashioned flower which my father used to grow. I was about to comment that you hardly ever see them now, but the Royal Horiculture Society reliably informs me that they are invaluable in the summer border. So there!
The great thing about this book (other than it's always great to be included in a book with superstar, Lynne Graham) is that my story is called THE UNLIKELY MISTRESS, which has always been one of my favourites. Opening in the opulent and romantic city of Venice, it features the gauche Sabrina who makes the mistake of falling for a man who is way, way out of her league in just about every way there is.....
So do you like the cover?
Or maybe you have something to say about dahlias?
Today's goodie included this rather dreamy cover. It's a bit 1960's - all bleached and faded summer meadow, with a couple who look like they are sharing a secret (a saucerful of secrets?). The heroine is holding what looks like a dahlia - a rather old-fashioned flower which my father used to grow. I was about to comment that you hardly ever see them now, but the Royal Horiculture Society reliably informs me that they are invaluable in the summer border. So there!
The great thing about this book (other than it's always great to be included in a book with superstar, Lynne Graham) is that my story is called THE UNLIKELY MISTRESS, which has always been one of my favourites. Opening in the opulent and romantic city of Venice, it features the gauche Sabrina who makes the mistake of falling for a man who is way, way out of her league in just about every way there is.....
So do you like the cover?
Or maybe you have something to say about dahlias?
April 5, 2013
SHARP, STEELY HOOKS
It's always interesting when you get the first copy of a book you've written. It's real! You can hold it in your sticky little hands and flick through the pristine pages. You can sniff the gorgeous new-booky smell and read the first line all over again. And that first line should leap out and grab you. Hard. It should capture your imagination and make you hungry to devour those pages....
Of course, I haven't yet got a copy of A WHISPER OF DISGRACE. I've simply seen the front cover of the UK edition - and seeing a picture of the characters you've created is weird. These people have existed in your imagination for so long that you have a very definite idea of what they look like. Sometimes that idea is matched by the art department and sometimes not. Long, dark hair means different things to different people. And a single image of a pair of eyes gives us only a hint of what's going on behind them.
This is Rosa and she's running away. Running from the truth and a life which has become a lie. Running straight into the arms of a man who is pure, emotional danger.
I haven't got a copy of this manuscript to hand, but I remember the first line. You should always be able to remember your first line. That sharp, steely hook which grabs you....
The bottle was cold, but not nearly as cold as the ice around her heart.
Of course, I haven't yet got a copy of A WHISPER OF DISGRACE. I've simply seen the front cover of the UK edition - and seeing a picture of the characters you've created is weird. These people have existed in your imagination for so long that you have a very definite idea of what they look like. Sometimes that idea is matched by the art department and sometimes not. Long, dark hair means different things to different people. And a single image of a pair of eyes gives us only a hint of what's going on behind them.
This is Rosa and she's running away. Running from the truth and a life which has become a lie. Running straight into the arms of a man who is pure, emotional danger.
I haven't got a copy of this manuscript to hand, but I remember the first line. You should always be able to remember your first line. That sharp, steely hook which grabs you....
The bottle was cold, but not nearly as cold as the ice around her heart.
April 2, 2013
IF I HAD A HEART
ANDY BURROWS is a brilliant musician. Not just because his dad used to be my GP, or because he he has been known to play at Winchester's finest pub - or even because he was the drumming genius in the band Razorlight.
He is just an exquisite song-writer.
You (or your children) might have heard his music in this year's eagerly awaited follow up to The Snowmen. It was was broadcast on Christmas Eve when you were probably simultaneously hanging up your stockings, having a nervous breakdown - and shoving another mince pie in your mouth.
I love the Snowmen graphics so much that I can't resist reproducing another one. (And the icy elements seem kind of appropriate for this crazy English spring we're having!).
But if cartoons aren't your bag and you're partial to dreamy tunes with luscious strings and a compelling voice which dips and soars - then try this bittersweet love-song: IF I HAD A HEART. Like it?
He is just an exquisite song-writer.
You (or your children) might have heard his music in this year's eagerly awaited follow up to The Snowmen. It was was broadcast on Christmas Eve when you were probably simultaneously hanging up your stockings, having a nervous breakdown - and shoving another mince pie in your mouth.
I love the Snowmen graphics so much that I can't resist reproducing another one. (And the icy elements seem kind of appropriate for this crazy English spring we're having!).
But if cartoons aren't your bag and you're partial to dreamy tunes with luscious strings and a compelling voice which dips and soars - then try this bittersweet love-song: IF I HAD A HEART. Like it?
March 20, 2013
A BEARD OF STARS
I used to be completely crazy about the band Tyrannosaurus Rex (later T-Rex) featuring the tangled-haired Marc Bolan who was as famous for his mischievous grin and glitter daubed clothes as he was for his poetry-set-to-music.
One of the best experiences of my life was managing to get in at the back of Croydon's Fairfield Hall, where they were performing. I chucked my (glittery) scarf over the fence, persuaded a security guard to open up the gate and then my friend and I legged it to the stage door, where we convinced the band's manager we were mates of Marc's! I'm sure he didn't believe a word of it but he let us sit on the side of the stage for the entire performance.
The evening passed like a blissful dream. Sigh. I've always thought Marc Bolan's musical ability and guitar playing was hugely under appreciated, and this is my very favourite track of all time.Listen to the twang of the guitar; I defy your heart not to melt....
One of the best experiences of my life was managing to get in at the back of Croydon's Fairfield Hall, where they were performing. I chucked my (glittery) scarf over the fence, persuaded a security guard to open up the gate and then my friend and I legged it to the stage door, where we convinced the band's manager we were mates of Marc's! I'm sure he didn't believe a word of it but he let us sit on the side of the stage for the entire performance.
The evening passed like a blissful dream. Sigh. I've always thought Marc Bolan's musical ability and guitar playing was hugely under appreciated, and this is my very favourite track of all time.Listen to the twang of the guitar; I defy your heart not to melt....
