Lissa Morgan's Blog, page 4
April 17, 2022
Author Copies!
For years I've dreamed of the moment when these would arrive - well, every aspiring author does, don't they?
But when it actually happened, it was beyond my dreams, opening the box so so carefully, seeing all those lovely glossy covers inside, my gorgeous characters looking up at me, taking the first one out, gazing down at it with loving eyes ....
Needless to say, there are copies on my bookshelf - on the shelf that's been prepared and waiting for more years than I care to remember - a copy in my study - another in my bedroom, you get the picture!
I'm sure that, if I ever get to the milestones of five books published, ten, twenty, whatever, I'll be slightly less starry eyed - but hopefully not too much!
Because it really is one among many first and special moments for a new author, so I thought I'd share it with you here, along with the copies themselves. I know I'm partial - but isn't that cover beautiful?
Easter definitely came early this year for me :) Hope you are enjoying a lovely and peaceful holiday too, wherever you are.
Lissa xx
March 16, 2022
The RoNAs 2022
Last week I had a trip to London, to the RNA's Romantic Novel Awards. It was an exciting in many ways - the first RoNAs I'd been to and the furthest from home I'd travelled since before the pandemic!
London was lovely - sunny and crisp and quietly buzzing. The awards were held at the Leonardo Royal Hotel, right near the Tower of London. Having arrived fairly early, despite train disruptions, I took a walk along the Thames path before checking in. Across the water was Mills & Boon HQ, right next to the Shard Building.
The ceremony was fabulous with a great atmosphere and much excitement as the nominees and winners were announced. It was great to see no less than five nominees from HMB in the Shorter Romantic Novel category.
It was also fab to see fellow historical author Lucy Morris nominated for the Katie Fforde Best Debut Novel and Virginia Heath for the Best Historical Romantic Novel categories. 
A moving tribute was paid to Jane Wenham-Jones and so fitting that the Romantic Comedy Award is now renamed in her honour.
I met a couple of people I knew and also some Facebook friends and fellow authors that I hadn't met yet apart from online. Best of all, I was able at last to meet up in person with my brilliant editor, Linda Fildew, who is sadly retiring at the end of this month. Though after 47 years in the job, I think she's allowed! She will be sorely missed, not just by myself but by all the authors, old and new, who have been lucky enough to be part of her stable at HMB.
For a full report on the evening and details of the winners and sponsor of all the categories visit the Romantic Novelists Association Website https://romanticnovelistsassociation.org.
February 27, 2022
A Stunning Cover for my Debut Novel!
Just in time for St David's Day on Tuesday 1st March, what better way to mark the celebration of the patron saint of Wales, Dewi Sant, than by sharing the fabulous cover of my debut novel for Harlequin Historical / Mills and Boon Historical!
The Welsh Lord's Convenient Bride, set in my native Wales at the end of the 13th century, is a dramatic love story between a passionate and patriotic Welsh nobleman, Rhun ab Owain, and Eleanor de Vraille, the disfigured and spirited daughter of his Marcher Lord enemy.
Both Rhun and Eleanor have to overcome their scars if their marriage is to mend the tragic rift between their families. But their journey toward healing, trust and love is hampered by a rebellion that threatens to shatter not just the fragile bond that links their two houses but also the peace between Wales and England itself.
I loved writing this book - my first historical - and these gorgeous covers really capture my characters in this scene at the wedding feast that begins their reluctant marriage of alliance.
The book is out in May 2022
October 27, 2021
Soon to be published!
I have wanted to write the above words for more years than I can remember! Well, I can remember, actually - it's fifteen exactly, almost to the month, since I began writing romantic fiction.
Ten rejections later but with a lot of encouragement and invaluable feedback along the way, umpteen writing retreats and conferences, and the unfailing support of my fabulous writer friends, I'm so thrilled to announce that my first historical novel - set in 13th century Wales - will be published by Harlequin Mills and Boon in 2022!
This is a book I began back in 2013 but never finished then as I was focusing on contemporary romance. However, when Linda Fildew, senior editor at HMB, asked me during an RNA 1-1 a couple of years ago if I'd ever thought of writing an historical romance, I got the manuscript back out, started revising it and everything suddenly clicked into place. The rest, as they say, is . . . history!
My novel The Welsh Lord's Convenient Bride will be coming out in May, in ebook in the UK and ebook and paperback in the US, and I can't wait to share the cover with you in due course - so watch this space or visit my website www.lissamorgan.com
At Thornbury Castle, near Bristol, at the beginning of my writing journey!
July 4, 2021
The importance of a synopsis
Like most writers, I hate writing synopses. I find them hard and it's even harder to keep them down to a page of A4 while getting everything that is necessary in. However, having recently reached the end of my WIP, I discovered the importance of a synopsis for keeping a writer on track. This is a book I've been writing a while - a lot longer than I would normally take over a book, in fact, due in no small part to the disruption and uncertainty of the Covid-19 lockdowns. But, finally, it was finished and I was breathing that wonderful and long-awaited sigh of relief at the prospect of sending it off to the editors when I realised the ending was all wrong! Totally wrong!!
As I'd worked through the book,the story changed a little, as often happens. I'd moved away from the original synopsis slightly, and I was aware of the fact. But it wasn't until I'd finished the book that I realised the original ending, as per the synopsis, was actually the right one. So last week, I stepped away from the computer, took a long walk up along the coastal path above the Dyfi Valley and sorted it all out in my head. A weekend of re-writing later and the final chapter is redone and I'm happy with it now. And I will never grumble at writing a synopsis ever again!
March 9, 2021
Nearing the end . . .
It's been a while since I blogged here but that doesn't mean I haven't been busy writing! I have, in fact, though it's been rather a longer and slower process than normal, probably due to the lockdown, which has affected us all to greater or lesser degrees over the last year. Can you believe it is over a year since Covid-19 first hit the world?
Like most people, I've been working from home over the last twelve months, which should be, of course, most conducive to writing. Like many, I suspect, there have been days, and even weeks, when it's been the opposite, with lethargy hovering on the horizon more often than not. Even so, I've been doing something for my writing every day (an invaluable piece of advice I read on some writer's blog many moons ago and wish I could remember whose!) and I am almost at the end of the first draft of my work in progress.
I say 'first draft' though really it's a case of writing a few chapters then going back and editing before moving on. But I aim to complete this draft by the end of March, edit through April, then send off to the publishers. And then cross my fingers . . .
It hasn't been all lethargy and writing spurts, however. I've been doing a lot of reading too during lock-down and have discovered several new authors whose books I've enjoyed very much. One of these is Julia Ibbotson, whose unusual and original time-slip novels are absolutely impossible to put down. I've just finished the first in what is to be a trilogy, A Shape in the Air, which moves between the present and the 5th century, a time period I know little about but now would like to know a lot more, thanks to Julia's evocative, enthralling and thoroughly-researched novel.
How have you been surviving in lock-down?
December 19, 2020
Christmas Reading
Christmas this year is going to be very strange after the events of 2020 and Covid-19. Last December seems a lot longer than just a year ago and the way of life under the pandemic has almost become normal now. I never really do very much over Christmas, anyway, apart from take some time off work, have a rest from routine, and catch up on things I don't have time to do at other times of the year. But one of my favourite indulgences over the festive period is reading and this year is no exception.
One of the books on my reading list is The Turning Tides by Jane Fenwick, the second in her trilogy of seafaring sagas set on the north east coast of England. I got to know Jane and her work when I created a website for her a couple of years ago and since then her books have become a must on my shelves, both for their engrossing story lines that really draw you in and also for her vivid and evocative sense of time and place.
I'm also revisiting some old and well-worn novels. As I'm writing historical fiction at the moment, I've been delving into the books of my go-to historical authors. So I'm planning to re-read Katherine and Green Darkness by Anya Seton and Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor over the next couple of weeks, not just as background to the period but for the enjoyment of being swept far away, for an hour or two at least, from the wind and rain outside the window to the colour and pageantry of the distant past.
October 30, 2020
The Dreaded Chapter Five
I blogged about this a couple of years ago and I don't know whether to feel disheartened or vindicated to be blogging about it again! Because there is a certain point in every book where a brick wall appears; for me this happens at chapter five, every time. Why? I think many writers - at least those aiming to send off those first three chapters to publishers or editors - tend to work so hard on the opening section that they experience a bit of a slump in the following chapters, or lose their way temporarily. Having carved out the characters and set up the conflict that will keep them apart until the end, the task is now to keep them apart yet bring them together at the same time. The 'getting to know you' stage has to be delicately balanced in order to sustain the underlying conflict between the characters, and add in even more challenges for them to overcome on the road to that Happy Ever After. So it is completely understandable that a writer might run out of steam faced with this task. The way through it and out the other end is, of course, to keep writing and keep believing, and have the wisdom to see what's not working, and to cut out that hard-wrought yet unusable writing. And, as a bit of light relief, maybe indulge in some brilliantly-written historical novels, like those of the wonderful Edith Pargeter, who makes it all look so easy!
