Amber Jakeman's Blog, page 9

A paperback, with thanks

While the quest to write might grip like a vice, it’s the support of readers, old and new, which really brings a book into being.

A warm welcome to my new VIPs, with thanks again to all. My gratitude is expressed in the dedication of House of Diamonds.

To those who liked this modern love tale about duelling jewellers James and Stella, thank you for sharing your positive comments with me and in your online reviews. Your enjoyment is my glittering prize.

Thanks also for alerting me to the recent Mosman Daily article mentioning the House of Diamonds e-book and the Writing NSW Newsbite note about the book!

Big thanks to the Mosman Daily for the mention, and to photographer John Appleyard for his clever photo which mirrors the book cover!

Many of you have mentioned you prefer “real” books, so please note that the paperback edition of House of Diamonds may now be purchased from Amazon, here (for US readers) or here (for Aussies).

Meanwhile, House of Hearts, Volume 2 in the House of Jewels series, is taking shape.

It’s the story of James’s younger brother Will, an international playboy who falls for his gambling addiction therapist Dr Lisa Bakker.

Lucky in love? He’s a gambling addict. She’s his therapist. She never breaks rules. He breaks them all. The one rule neither can ignore is the APA’s two-year ban on client/therapist dating. How can this handsome bad boy jewelry heir win her heart?

I look forward to letting you know when it’s available.

Happy reading!

Amber

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Email Amber@AmberJakeman.com

Picnic e-launch for House of Diamonds!

How fortunate to be on Sydney Harbour, one of the most romantic backdrops in the world, for the e-launch of House of Diamonds.

Couples of all ages are drawn to these foreshores in the mild fresh air, to enjoy everything from first dates and Valentine’s Day picnics to proposals and even weddings.

With their spectacular views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Sydney Opera House and city skyline, the much loved harbour parks and beaches offer an ever changing view of sunsets and flotillas of ferries, yachts, kayaks, tugs, tankers and party boats, and bring joy all year round.

How I wish you could be here with me!

But I can still offer you a reading…

First, to meet Stella and James—the duelling jewelers of Bondi Junction—you can actually read the first three chapters of House of Diamonds for free via Amazon!

Skipping ahead, Stella and James agree to have a harbourside picnic together, and the evening begins well enough …

James swung them down Ocean Street under a glorious green canopy of plane trees. When they stopped at lights, Stella was acutely aware of his hand resting on the gearstick, so close to her knee. She calmed herself by turning the other way and admiring the classy home wares and fashion on display in the windows of the small shops.

As they accelerated again, her hair escaped the bun in the mild evening air, she clutched it to hold it out of her eyes, and he glanced across at her with a grin.

James’s 10 out of 10 smile was catchy. The corners of her lips floated up in an answering grin, and she threw back her head and laughed. It was lovely being driven around by James in this extraordinary car.

He looked across and laughed along, as they scooted along the edge of Rose Bay past mansions on one side and the yachts and pleasure cruisers on the other.

The car engine sang like Shirley Bassey as James changed gears and they vroomed up the “s” bends of New South Head Road.

…

Suddenly he pulled off the main road and dived down a side street, past more manicured gardens and fancy fences, then down to a park on the edge of the water.

“Lots of places I could take you, but that ankle’s still sore. You won’t want to walk too far. This place is good. Great view. Quiet. We’ll have it to ourselves.”

When he shut off the engine the silence roared. She was doing better without crutches now, and he drew her arm around him and put his own supporting arm around her shoulders. Slowly they walked together down a path towards the edge of the water. Crickets stilled and resumed their chirrups again as they passed. At last, with a welcoming whisper, came the hush of gentle waves against the shore.

The cut grass smelled sweet, so far from the traffic. All lit up, a huge cruise ship slid out of Sydney Harbour, lights reflecting in the glossy water in front of them, as it headed back to sea. The breeze brought wafts of jazz from the band on deck.

Stella flicked out the beach towel on a flat patch of soft grass, and James placed the picnic basket on one edge, suddenly grabbing her around the waist and clasping her close. He swayed her to the beat of the band, and when she laughed, he pulled her off her feet and spun her around with him. A good dancer as well! Bonus. Her flouncy scarf-skirt swung out as he set her down.

“Enough of that,” she said. “I promised to take you to dinner, and really, you’ve taken me. The least I can do is offer you some wine for starters.”

“Sure. Thank you. Need a hand?”

“Screw top. Easy. Margaret River Sauvignon Blanc, sir?”

“Why thank you. Pretty good restaurant.”

“Best table in the house, for you.”

“Best company for sure.”

“Flirt. Fairly limited menu, though. Stuffed olive?”

“Love a stuffed olive.”

“Antipasto? Fancy crackers? Cheese?”

“Love a fancy cracker.”

They touched their glasses together before they sipped.

But all was not as it seemed…

Curious?

You can order a copy for yourself or a friend here on Amazon or from Books2Read, or explore my website. 

Do you like the cover?

House of Diamonds is the debut book in the international House of Jewels series, featuring the romantic fortunes of the Huntley family, Australian jewelry business heirs with a problem or four.

As I say in the dedication, it takes a community to raise a writer, and I warmly thank my family and friends, old and new, who have supported my efforts by critiquing earlier versions and simply believing in the potential, beauty, joy and power of the words we share.

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Fresh e-book sparkles ahead of Valentine’s Day

Writers are quiet creatures who lurk in the shadows to observe human behaviour and recreate it in fresh ways in fiction. We don’t want to shout “buy my book”!

Yet, to bring our works to readers, we must market what we create.

In the mood for romance ahead of Valentine’s Day? 

House of Diamonds is a sparkling modern love tale about duelling jewellers.

Handsome James Huntley the Third faces a challenge or two at his Bondi Junction business. 

Sparkles fly when newbie jeweller Stella Rhees sets up her home-made jewellery stall outside his shop.

She steals the limelight at his expensive PR stunt, and then she steals his heart.

Instant enemies, and fighting their attraction to each other, Stella and James become entangled in a social media war. 

Will this dazzling couple ever work out what to do with an engagement ring?

This fun love story celebrates romance, trust and commitment.

House of Diamonds is the first book in the House of Jewels series—with an international flavour—featuring the romantic fortunes of the Huntley family.

ORDER House of Diamonds HERE or from Amazon.

Email me at AmberJakemanSydney@gmail.com for a free review copy.

You might like to share share this link via email or social media with friends and family who enjoy an escapist read with an uplifting ending.  

Book 1 of the House of Jewels series

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Fabulous cover ices cake

You can’t judge a book by its cover, yet we do it all the time.

We favour some colours, images, fonts and authors above others because we’re so time poor, we need to peruse and pounce.

Cover clues may be subtle or obvious, and they’re all about genre. Amber Jakeman writes feel-good fiction, emotionally satisfying reads with uplifting endings. Her historical and contemporary romances, on the sweeter side, often feature international elements.

In the world of indie publishing, there’s a new publisher on the block. Lorikeet Press has taken flight, publishing Amber Jakeman’s works and other feel-good fiction.

From the House of Jewels series, Book One, House of Diamonds has just been released for critical review, with a launch date coming up in February, in time for Valentine’s Day.

A fun holiday read, this heartwarming, emotionally satisfying contemporary Australian read has an international flavour. 

A fresh start. An instant enemy. But Stella is determined.

Sparkles fly when former office manager Stella Rhees, 30, flees a failed affair with her old boss, Damian. Determined to run her own show, she pursues her dream of creating and selling her own jewellery.

The problem? She’s opened her jaunty stall directly outside the famous Huntleys House of Jewels at the very moment handsome James Huntley the Third, 33, asks her to move so he can stage a publicity stunt. Feisty Stella won’t budge.

Despite a mutual physical attraction, Stella and James become instant enemies, their rivalry fanned by a social media war. 

In this delightful first book of the House of Jewels series, will this dazzling couple ever work out how to put a Huntley engagement ring to its proper purpose? 

Find out more and order House of Diamonds here.

Or email AmberJakemanSydney@gmail.com for a free reviewers’ copy.

Here’s a shout-out for Kylie Sek of Cover Culture who designed the cover. It’s the icing on the cake.

And to all the VIPs who’ve shown an interest in Amber’s work—thank you!

Words as will-o’-the-wisps

It’s a tempting thought, that words distil the world.

Is it true?

The diary of Athol Yeomans

Through a friend’s diary, scratched with pen and ink in Sydney in 1943 at his boarding school, I taste with him the disappointment of a blackberry pie plan that went awry.

Saturday 19: Chas and I picked blackberries along the line, to be made into a pie on the arvo, but as the blackberries were good we thought we might go out tomorrow and get some. We will certainly enjoy that pie tomorrow.

Sunday 20: Woe! They aren’t going to make us a pie, but are going to chuck the lot into an unholy mess and stew them. Bugger it. We went and got some more blackberries before church parade, and decided to give them to Ma Hindmarsh. (They ate them with icecream). We had our unholy mess in the arvo …

On and on through his adventures I read – about their home-made golf course, the never-ending quest for cigarettes, the canoe they found on the river and christened Esmerelda before she sank.

Image courtesy Andrew Buchanan

With Athol and his friends Duckie and Johnno, I rode the trains and trams and buses and ferries on weekends to the Blue Mountains, to Point Claire, to the CBD, and Manly as if I too were there, almost 80 years ago.

His words chart memories – of people and places and events long gone, yet so vivid I am there beside him. Through his writing, his memories become my own.

Athol became a writer. Was he thinking of the reader back then when he penned his diary? Or was he writing to his future self? Or simply writing his truth?

Publisher Pan Macmillan shares these famous diaries. Do you keep a diary?

Image thanks to Dimitri Houttema

Writers are advised to imagine their ideal reader and entice them, bewitch them with their words, to read more than a sentence, to turn the page, scroll down and go on the whole joy ride.

In a school library, the spell woven by words drops down on a whole class as the librarian reads out loud. Words quell restlessness. They quench the thirst for diversion.

Image thanks to Priscilla du Preez

They can make your mouth water for that blackberry pie.

Silently, words can calm, coax, stretch and inform. Depending on the genre, they may woo or horrify, educate or mollify, delight, scarify or inspire action.

It’s true words connect us across continents and centuries.

Image thanks to Marek Piwnicki

But where do they go, when you close the book or turn off the screen? Are words merely will-o’-the-wisps?

Email me at AmberJakemanSydney@gmail.com to share your views.

Visit www.amberjakeman.com

Follow me on Instagram @jakemanamber and Twitter @AmberJakeman and Facebook @AmberJakeman!

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Celebrating books as touchstones

What is it about the music of the Beatles, Beethoven and Bach that stops me in my tracks and anchors me to the moment, wherever I may be at the time?

Image courtesy Bennett Dungan

Why is the night sky in the country so mesmerising? The more we stare, the more stars reveal themselves, the constellations and planets ever more insistent.

The predawn chorus of birds, the aromas of coffee and baking bread …

Laughter and cups of tea with friends and family, favourite books, familiar places …

These may be the touchstones in our lives – the constants by which all else is measured.

As touchstones, they connect, energise, refresh and centre us in an ever changing world.

An artwork or good book is more than a set of ideas, an invitation to adventure, and an escape from the present. It can dazzle, challenge and change us, educate, inform and amuse. The best characters and their predicaments are unforgettable.

Photo by Annie Spratt

No wonder best books are treasured, and readers pounce on fresh works by favourite authors.

How rich we are, that so much meaning, so many ideas and stories are there for the taking, in libraries, online and in neighbourhood book shops and street libraries!

All we need do is reach out and touch them; to connect and reconnect, and smile.

Email me at AmberJakemanSydney@gmail.com to share your views.

Visit www.amberjakeman.com

Follow me on Instagram @jakemanamber and Twitter @AmberJakeman and Facebook @AmberJakeman!

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Magic by increments

Drop by drop, gentle water carves stone.

To conquer a mountain, all it takes is a first step, and then another.

Image courtesy Charlotte Karlsen

Word by word, a work in progress (WIP) grows into a novel, a series, or body of works.

Follower by follower, author platforms reach more and more people in the writing community, all over the world, helping us find the agent, publisher and readers we seek.

Sometimes, a drop becomes a flood; steps, a stampede; and a handful of virtual acquaintances, a roaring crowd.

Image thanks to Jade Masri

First, let’s consider the pitch process.

Having decided there’s nothing more to do (for now) on your WIP, you decide to cast it to the winds and see what fortune it may find. 

In the olden days, a writer posted handwritten or typed pages to a publisher or travelled in person and knocked on their doors.

Image courtesy Milkovi

Which door?

Image thanks to Tyler Finck

I’ve been researching agents and publishers for years. 

While pitching these days involves simply hitting “send”, a reply can still take up to six months or never arrive at all.

Now, consider #pitmad, a Twitter event like speed dating on steroids.

#Pitmad takes place at warp speed.

I created a synopsis of 280 characters, including codes denoting #pitmad, #A for adult fiction, and #R for romance.

We could tweet our pitch three times in the 12 hours, which in Australia converted to a 10pm to 10am timeslot.

As a #5amwritersclub member, I love early starts, but, to make the most of the opportunity, a 2am start was needed.

While #pitmad veterans might use Hootsuite or TweetDeck, I was in the thick of it.

What a thrill to discover so many in our #writingcommunity were retweeting pitches! Suddenly, pitches were ricocheting all over Twitter, reaching not just my followers, but also those of my followers’ followers, and vice versa.

Image courtesy Ryan Stone

Thanks to these generous souls, my synopsis was retweeted 25 times, exposing my pitch to  many more agents and publishers than I’d previously identified.

With #pitmad, if an agent or publisher takes an interest in your pitch, they give it a heart. How exciting is that for a romance writer!

I pitched to three new contacts directly after #pitmad. Exhilarating!

Blips in the silence.

Light in the darkness.

Magic.

Image thanks to Artem Kovalev

Email me at AmberJakemanSydney@gmail.com to share your views.

Visit www.amberjakeman.com

Follow me on Instagram @jakemanamber and Twitter @AmberJakeman and Facebook @AmberJakeman!

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In praise of critics

Good, better, best.
Never let it rest,
‘Til your good is better
And your better is best.

St Jerome

That’s editing for you.

But how do we know whether we’re there yet?

That’s where our critics come in.

They tell us what we don’t want to hear. We want to be told we’re brilliant – that the novel flowed from our mind to the page, word perfect, that our work is done.

Yet we know from Design Thinking that creating prototypes and testing them will make our products better; that ideas and creations that face tough scrutiny and go through several iterations are more likely to be welcomed in the world.

Image thanks to Victoria Naumenko

We don’t want to hand over all of our intellectual independence to committees, but if we are truly writing for the readers and not just for ourselves, some validation is required.

Criticism hurts, and it’s not compulsory. In fact, as Stephen Wright argues in Overland, “Don’t Kill Your Darlings” may be a better approach.

“For writers to endorse the process of rewriting prose as an act of ruthless violence is extremely odd,” Stephen says. “It’s as though when one writer gives another their work to read, the knife comes out, which is a very strange response to a gift.”

But here’s what critics have done for me:

One beta-reading friend suggested I add vinegar to the meringue – my characters were all just too sweet.

My critique groups have forced me to create more plausible plots, to discover back stories that have added authenticity to my characters and added rich layers of depth to their reactions. As with chocolate cake, this can only be good.

Image courtesy Fran Hogan

I’ve been forced to reshuffle scenes to raise the stakes and add tension, making way for more satisfying resolutions.

For all its resemblance to boot camp, and for all the heavy lifting required, criticism has made my work better. Call it tough love.

While I might not react to every piece of feedback, when critics agree, I sit up and listen. This is a valuable warning that intended meaning may have gone astray.

So, if we’re doing this thing called writing, novel by novel, why not make each one the best it can be, at least until we’re ready to move on and nurture the next effort?

The musician tunes the instrument and plays it again. The decorator repaints a wall and adds a cushion. What is the power behind the scientific method? It’s all about criticism.

Image thanks to Tetiana Shyshkina

Constructive critics engage with our work at the deepest levels. We’re honoured to receive their feedback.

If there’s joy in writing it, there’s joy in refining it. All 90,000 words. We can do this!

Rethink. Re-work. Rejoice!

Email me at AmberJakemanSydney@gmail.com to share your views.

Visit www.amberjakeman.com

Follow me on Instagram @jakemanamber and Twitter @AmberJakeman and Facebook @AmberJakeman!

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Create, refine, pitch and repeat

As writers, we slave away on our works in progress, dreaming and refining for months, even years, until our manuscript is ready to pitch.

Photo thanks to Yishi Kangrang

To aim for that big goal – traditional publication – we must “submit” to an agent or publisher. The pecking order is clear, and there are plenty of pecks. 

For a new writer, the odds the pitch will be caught and cultivated are ridiculously low. Why would the industry take a risk with someone new when popular writers are still coming up with the goods? 

Image thanks to Carla Rivera

So thank you to those agents and publishers who reject carefully. Your feedback is helpful.

Image courtesy Hudson Hintze

No one likes rejection, least of all a sensitive writer. Yet we know a horse rider must get back on after a fall. Olympians ride with broken bones! What dinghy sailor has never capsized?

We know we’ll never get “the call” if we don’t keep pitching. Never get that goal. Never know if the industry is ready for our contribution.

Back in the bunker, we create and refine some more.

Thank you, #writingcommunity. In our virtual #writerscafe, we nod and encourage each other as we create, refine, pitch and repeat.

Email me at AmberJakemanSydney@gmail.com to share your views.

Visit www.amberjakeman.com

Follow me on Instagram @jakemanamber and Twitter @AmberJakeman and Facebook @AmberJakeman!

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