Sara Jayne Townsend's Blog, page 50

Passport To Adventure

I always think that the most valuable thing in my possession is my passport – not fiscally, but because of what it represents. My passport gives me the freedom to go anywhere in the world, at any time. Because of this, I get a bit nervous when it's out of my possession.

When we investigated getting visas for our trip to Vietnam, it was recommended that we get them before leaving the UK, as there was no guarantee they could be acquired at the airport upon arrival in Vietnam. The instructions on the Vietnamese Embassy's website stated that the visa application form had to be submitted to the Embassy along with one's passport, and a photo. Either bring along in person or send by registered post, it said. Well, I wasn't about to trust the Royal Mail with my passport, so it was going to have to be a personal visit.

The Embassy's opening hours are, very inconveniently, 9:30am to 12:30pm, which required a morning off work, plus another morning a week later to collect the passports.

So off I went, armed with visa application forms, passports (for both me and Hubby), photos and payment to Cromwell Road in Kensington, where the Vietnamese Embassy in London is (and a very posh part of London it is too, I have to say). I found the Embassy without too much difficulty and fortunately there wasn't too long a queue at the visa application window. I handed in my forms and passports, and was given a receipt to collect them in a week's time. I was then sent to another window to hand in the cash (and it had to be cash – no cheques or plastic allowed), to a man who collected the money but who spoke no English. As I left, the man in the queue behind me was trying to explain to the man who didn't speak English that his wife had sent four passports belonging to his family to the Embassy by post ten days ago, he hadn't heard anything and could he check they'd been received please? So I was rather glad that I chosen not to entrust my precious passport to the Royal Mail.

But for seven days my passport was in the care of the Vietnamese Embassy. I have to say I was a bit anxious that week. While my passport is not in my possession I can't leave the country. Even if I have no imminent plans to do so, this restriction makes me inexplicably nervous.

Fortunately, when I returned to the Embassy a week later, both passports were safely returned to me, undamaged and unmolested and with the Vietnamese visas in order and affixed securely inside.

Now I have returned from my travels, my passport is once again safely stowed in the drawer it lives in. It gives me reassurance every time I see it there, knowing that it's waiting for me when I'm ready for my next international adventure.

Two-Reader Household

(Cross-posted on the WriteClub blog)

Hubby and I are both die-hard bibliophiles, and our house has always been full of books. In fact, it's so full of books that was one of the reasons I decided to buy an e-reader – less storage space required.

I love my Sony e-reader and after Hubby saw me happy with it he decided he wanted an e-reader, too. Given the fact that many e-books are only available in one format, we decided, rather than get a second Sony, to get him a Kindle – figuring that we'd be increasing the chances of us being able to get hold of desired e-books in a format we could read.

So we are now a two e-reader household, and Hubby has enthusiastically embraced e-book technology. On our recent holiday we took along both e-readers, and we spent many hours relaxing by the pool, him with his nose in the Kindle and me with mine in the Sony.

Having compared the two, I think aesthetically I still prefer my pocket Sony, which is neater and more compact. But the Kindle has its advantages, too. There are now Sony e-readers that will allow one to edit documents, but my particular brand will not. The Kindle will, and it's also wifi compatible, which the Sony is not.

Buying e-books on the Sony is fairly straightforward. You have to download the reader library software onto your PC. When you buy an e-book in EPUB format, it will download into your reader library. You then plug the e-reader into the PC, and drag and drop the relevant EPUB files from the library onto your device. Unplug the device, and your new e-books appear on your e-reader.

The Kindle's even easier, though. When you buy a Kindle from Amazon, it automatically links itself to your Amazon account. Buying an e-book for your Kindle, after that, is literally a case of one click. Browse the available Kindle books on Amazon. When you find one you want to buy, you click the 'buy now' button. And that's it. The next time you switch on your Kindle, your new e-books will automatically download. You don't even have to worry about payment details, as they are already stored in your Amazon account (which makes buying Kindle e-books potentially very expensive, because it's far too easy to lose track of how much money you've spent).

Both Hubby and I still buy paper books, but I find myself buying ever more e-books. So many books, so little time.

There's still a fear out there in the publishing world that e-books will make paper books obsolete. I still believe that won't happen, but maybe I'm being optimistic. A few years ago Hubby didn't believe he'd ever stop reading newspapers – he used to read one every morning on the daily commute. But now he doesn't read newspapers at all. At some point over the last couple of years he changed to getting all of his news online, read with a cup of coffee at his desk before he starts work in the morning.

If e-books take over from paper completely it will be a shame. In the meantime my paper TBR pile continues to grow – but the Sony TBR pile grows even faster.

As an extra complication, I now have an addition 'TBR pile'on the Kindle. I just have to prise it away from Hubby first…

Home Sweet Home

I am back from our latest travel adventure – a 10-day tour around Vietnam, plus four days at a beach resort in Langkawi, Malaysia. Hence the radio silence. Normal service on this blog will resume forthwith.

This trip involved rather a lot of planes. In fact, hubby worked out that we have spent a total of 36 hours, over the last 17 days, in the air. And during those 17 days a total of three days has been spent either on planes or waiting around at airports (much of the latter was spent at the awful airport in Da Nang, but I'll tell that story later).

I will be documenting my travel journal of the trip on this blog, along with photos, soon. For now, though, it's good to be home. Usually when I return from a trip, I am desperate for three things when I arrive home:

a) a decent cup of tea

b) a shower

c) sleep.

The order in which I acquire these things largely depends on what kind of flight it was and how jet-lagged I am. For this trip, a 12-hour flight from Kuala Lumpur westwards to London, leaving at midnight local time, meant I was actually tired enough, and on the plane long enough, to get a few hours' sleep, something that normally doesn't happen with me on long-haul flights. So a cup of tea, shower and clean clothes at home was sufficient to make me feel human again. The issue is probably going to be staying awake until bedtime tonight, as I've been working on Vietnamese and Malaysian time, which are six and seven hours ahead of GMT respectively.

It's rather colder in London than we've been accustomed to in the last two weeks, but nonetheless it's nice to be home, back to everything that's familiar. And the cats, who've clearly missed us – they've been following us around ever since we got home.

Tomorrow is back to work and the usual routine. How many emails will be waiting in my inbox when I arrive at my desk, after over two weeks out of the office? I dread to think.

Crossing The Road In Vietnam

I will blog more fully about my trip to Vietnam soon, but for the next little while I aim to post my thoughts about notable moments.

I had been forewarned about the horrendous traffic in Vietnam before I got here, but nothing can really prepare you for the reality. There aren't all that many cars on the road – they are beyond the financial reach of most people. There are a lot of bicycles, but for the majority of people in Vietnam, the moped is the transportation mode of choice.

The rules of the road seem to be mostly guidelines rather than rules, including which side of the road one should drive on. Pedestrians are very definitely down at the bottom of the pecking order. There are pedestrian crossings, but I don't know what purpose they serve, as no one pays any attention to them. This situation is marginally better in Saigon, where there are at least traffic lights – though still not everyone on the road pays attention to them and you are still dodging mopeds even when you cross the road on the 'green man'. Hanoi has no traffic lights and the roads are narrower, so the stream of traffic is literally unending.

Crossing the road in the face of an unending stream of mopeds is daunting, to say the least. If you wait for a break in traffic you will be there on the pavement forever. The only way to accomplish this task is to look straight ahead of you whilst stepping into the road and keep walking at an even pace, and trust that all the mopeds will change their course to avoid hitting you. So far this has worked for us – but it's best if you cross the road without looking to either side of you otherwise you lose your nerve and won't make it to the other side.

Crossing the road in Vietnam is not for the faint-hearted. I will never again take this seemingly simple task for granted. At least when I step onto a pedestrian crossing in the UK, the traffic stops for me.

Goodbye Sarah Jane

Gutted to hear this week of the death of Elisabeth Sladen, aka Sarah Jane Smith from Dr Who.

I know there's a whole generation of folk out there for whom Dr Who starts with Christopher Eccleston. But for Brits over the age of 40, the legacy of Dr Who goes back a long, long way.

My earliest memory of Dr Who is watching Jon Pertwee regenerate into Tom Baker, while the Doctor's Assistant, Sarah Jane, looked on. Sarah Jane was always my favourite assistant. Part of the reason was she had the same name as me – maybe spelled differently, but as a kid, before I worked out we were a dime a dozen (and most of us were born in the UK in the late 1960s, but that's a different story), that was a big deal.

I also liked the fact Sarah Jane was a strong-minded kind of woman. True she was always getting into trouble, but she was a reporter, and as such she tended to poke about in places she shouldn't.

Thirty years after Elisabeth Sladen left the series, Sarah Jane returned to meet David Tennant's Doctor. How many actresses get to play the same character thirty years on?

Sarah Jane's return led to a spin-off children's programme, The Sarah Jane adventures.

Sarah Jane Smith was an integral part of my childhood, and it was a delight to see her return to the TV in recent years looking, it has to be said, not a lot different thirty years on.

As a tribute I attach two clips of Sarah Jane saying goodbye to the Doctor. The first, from 1976, marks Elisabeth Sladen's departure from the show at the end of "The Hand of Fear", which I still count as one of the scariest of the Doctor's adventures (I had nightmares for weeks).

The second clip is from the Sarah Jane adventures, with Sarah Jane saying goodbye to David Tennant's doctor.

Goodbye, Sarah Jane. I feel a part of my childhood has died with you.

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'Overnight Success'?

(Cross-posted on the WriteClub blog)

The misconceptions about writers that are perpetuated in the media can be annoying. One previously-mentioned example of this is the writer in a TV show who will bang out a first draft on their Apple Mac (usually in a matter of weeks) and pass it to the editor/agent without having to rewrite a single world. And then the novel appears in print within a couple of months. You'd think scriptwriters would know a bit more about the way publishing works, wouldn't you?

Another example is the concept of an 'overnight success'. I very much doubt there's any such thing as an 'overnight success', and this applies to artist and musicians as equally as it does to writers. The reality is you work for years on your writing, music or art. You rack up countless rejections, and nobody knows or cares who you are. Then you might have a degree of success. If you're a writer you get a couple of books published. You work hard at the promotion, while still working on the writing, but still nobody knows or cares who you are.

Then twenty years and half a dozen books down the line, you may get a book published that does reasonably well. People who like that book start looking for others and discover your back-catalogue. Word gradually spreads and other people start buying and liking your books. And then suddenly the media start describing you as an 'overnight success'. Not so. You're the same writer you were a year ago, or five years ago, or maybe even ten years ago. The only difference is more people know who you are now.

I have a couple of friends in the music industry. They're both doing reasonably well there currently, but only after a good many years of hard work, of not knowing where the next gig was coming from and struggling to pay the bills.

Occasionally a first novel is published that does so astoundingly well the author becomes extremely well known in a short period of time. But such cases are the exception rather than the rule. Unfortunately, like those writers that sell so well they make vast quantities of money (JK Rowling, perhaps – and even she wasn't an overnight success), they perpetuate the myth that all writers are rich and famous.

There were a few people who said to me, once they found out about my first publishing contract, "I guess you'll be quitting work now". I just didn't have the time or the energy to explain why that won't be happening any time soon.

So, now I've got that off my chest, I'll get back to juggling the writing, promoting and editing around the day job. Maybe in 20 years' time I'll have a dozen or so published novels under my belt. Who knows, maybe even I might one day be be described as an 'overnight success'.

Monday's Friend: Gina Gordon

Today I welcome Canadian erotic romance writer Gina Gordon to my blog.

Temptation in Lingerie

By Gina Gordon

It is a pleasure to be Sara Jayne's guest! Thanks so much for inviting me!

Today is the release day for TEMPTATION IN LINGERIE, the second novella in my Bare Naked Designs series.

The inspiration for this series stems from my love of lingerie. I love everything about it—the soft fabrics, the lace, the versatility—but most importantly, its ability to make a woman feel sexy and confident. Lingerie can transform a woman, she can be anyone, do anything.

Bare Naked Designs is a series of three novellas with intermingling characters. Carrie, my heroine in TEMPTATION IN LINGERIE, is a lingerie designer and it's her designs that inspire true love.

Each book begins with the hero accidentally catching the heroine wearing one of Carrie's designs. In TEMPTATION IN LINGERIE, Aleks walks in on Carrie as she's fitting herself into one of her sample pieces and he realizes that his stunning, curvaceous, and life-long friend is a temptation he just can't resist.



Temptation In Lingerie

Are you willing to risk it all and give in to temptation?

Carrie Taylor can't believe her luck. Along with her own lingerie line she's now the proud owner of Satin and Lace, a specialty lingerie store. She has everything she's ever wanted…except Aleks Turko. After a lifetime spent pining over the man she can never have, Carrie decides to take back her love life. Vowing to get him out of her system once and for all, she propositions Aleks for a one night stand.

Growing up without a mother and with an uncommunicative father, Aleks Turko sought comfort in the arms of the Taylor family. As an adult, he now has everything he needs – a second family, good friends, and a bottomless barrel of women. But over the last few months vivid, sexual thoughts about Carrie have become a regular occurrence. He's managed to keep his urges at bay, but when he walks in on her wearing one of her lacy designs, all bets are off.

When what was supposed to be a one-time affair snowballs into a battle of wills, Carrie and Aleks must decide if they should risk everything and give in to temptation.

Contains explicit language, sex and an unorthodox use of a fitting room.

Excerpt

"Was the evening not what you expected?"

"Aleks! You scared me." Here she was trying to think of a plan to get Aleks into her bed and there he stood, sexy as hell, not ten feet from it.

"Sorry. I just thought I would check on you." He twisted his body so his shoulder blocked some of her bedroom doorway.

"You don't have to do that. I'm not fifteen anymore." No matter how much she loved him–correction–lusted after him, she still didn't appreciate his over-protective nature.

"Old habits are hard to break."

Habits? Didn't he mean brotherly obligation.

"Early night?" Aleks was coaxing for information. Did her brother put him up to this?

"I have to prepare for the weekend."

"So he didn't get any?"

"That's none of your business." For as much as Carrie would love to give the play-by-play, as many times as she had heard Aleks recount his female affairs, she couldn't.

Brushing past him, she entered her room. He followed behind her and grabbed her elbow, twirling her around. A six foot two frame of all man bracketed her against the wall. He positioned one hand above her head and the other against his side, fist clenched.

"Aleks?"

"You shouldn't go out with a guy like that."

He was close. Carrie could feel his minty breath caressing her jaw line. "Oh yeah. Why not?"

"Because that guy isn't good for you."

"Really? And what type of guy is good for me?" Carrie looked into his dark green eyes. The same eyes she had been fantasizing about since she was ten years old while she waited for the moment when Aleks would finally say I'm the one you should be with. That's all Carrie ever wanted to hear. From him. From Aleks.

She could feel her nipples harden under her tiny t-shirt. So much for her plan. He had her tied up in knots.

"He tried to impress you, didn't he?"

"What?"

"Your date. He pulled out all the stops trying to impress you, thinking that would get you into his bed. Where did he take you?"

"To the harbor, a dinner boat cruise." His presence stole the very breath she needed to keep herself standing.

His laugh was mischievous. Sexy. Arrogant. Typical. "He doesn't even know you. I hope you didn't sleep with him." Aleks had never spoken to her that way. Giving her advice on who she should sleep with.

"What do you care?"

"Oh, Care Bear." He had called her that since they were kids. She loved the way it sounded rolling off his tongue. "A guy doesn't need fancy boats and dinners to impress you. A casUal night out with beer and sloppy food, maybe a sporting event, that's what makes you tick."

"Well, Obi-Wan…is that what you would do?"

"Hell, yes! If I had the opportunity to take you out I would definitely not blow it with a boat cruise. Cheesy." He elongated the word to get his point across.

"I guess I've been dating the wrong guys."

"I think you have. You should do something about that, Care Bear." He ran his finger along the round collar of her shirt. Her quick intake of breath caused him to lift his eyes. They grew dark. Something was different. They were almost lustful. But just as quick as the intensity appeared it disappeared. With a smirk, he backed away and whispered, "Good night."

Gina Gordon is an erotic romance writer living in Toronto, Canada. Her newest release, TEMPTATION IN LINGERIE, is available now from Lyrical Press. Find out more about Gina at www.ginagordon.net.

Writing Processes – Part 14: The Importance of Cons

In thinking about the subject of this post, I was trying to remember what the first writing-related convention I attended was. I think it was probably FantasyCon, but I'm having trouble remembering because I realise that my regular attendance at conventions has evolved as a very organic process.

Some time back in the early 1990s, possibly when I was involved in my first writing group, I found out about a monthly pub social involving other writers and started to attend. Most of the attendees at these gatherings were members of the British Fantasy Society. It seemed to be a good idea to join this organisation, which existed to promote horror, sci fi and fantasy fiction.

Anyway, from there I learned of the existence of FantasyCon. I think the first one I attended might have been a day conference, held at Champagne Charlie's on Villiers Street underneath Charing Cross station. As it was a conference that just required day attendance, it didn't seem too intimidating. When I started attending FantasyCon as a weekend event, again it wasn't too intimidating – my husband reads fantasy, sci fi and horror so he was happy to come along, and a lot of fellow T Party members are also long-standing FantasyCon attendees.

I joined Mystery Women in the mid-1990s, as at that point I was really getting into crime, and through that organisation I learned about the crime conventions. I had no one to go with me at that point – in those days there wasn't anyone else writing crime in the T Party. But although I lacked confidence in other areas of life, strangely the concept of going alone to a convention I did not find daunting. I figured it was the best way to network, and how else was I going to meet writers, agents and publishers in the industry unless I made a point of going to these conventions?

I can't remember which year I first attended the St Hilda's Crime & Mystery Conference in Oxford, but it has to be a good 10 years ago. This was another conference I found about through Mystery Women. The first year I went, I didn't actually know anyone – I'd attended a few Mystery Women events but hadn't spend a great deal of time talking to anyone. But, undaunted, I booked in the conference, and arrived on the Friday night in time for the drinks reception.

I got myself a drink and for a few minutes stood alone in the room, trying to work out a plan of action. Everyone seemed to be engaged in conversation. Would it be rude to just march up to a group and introduce myself? While I was mulling this over, a group of women approached and said, "we noticed you were on your own, so we thought we'd come and talk to you". And so I met Carol, Jane and Christine, and I was no longer alone for the rest of the weekend.

After many years of attending Cons, I am finding I am no longer left with no one to talk to. I run into the same people – people to whom I can say, "nice to see you again". And there are always new people to meet – someone who had something interesting to say on a panel, or someone whose last book I really enjoyed.

My advice on Cons to anyone who's starting out in their writing career is this: don't be afraid to attend. Don't worry you won't know anyone. You might not know anyone when you arrive, but you'll have some new friends by the time you leave.

Cons are valuable networking opportunities for writers. They are the best places to meet new people in the field: publishers, agents and writers alike. And to get the best out of them, you have to be a regular Con-goer. You only feel like the 'newbie' for the first one. And the most important thing is, Cons are great fun. Even the crawling out of bed with a hangover after four hours' sleep to attend the first panel of the day because you were drinking in the bar till 4am with a group of writers is a cherished part of the Con experience (because the night before was such a good night it was worth the suffering).

Now I look forward to planning my yearly calendar of Con attendance and each one is a highlight. I get to catch up with old friends and make new ones. This year's Con experiences will include St Hilda's Crime & Mystery Conference, BoucherCon and FantasyCon.

What a fabulous year it's going to be.

DEATH SCENE Has Cover!

I can now announce that the cover for my forthcoming novel DEATH SCENE has been officially unveiled!



DEATH SCENE is a murder mystery novel featuring an amateur sleuth who is a professional actress. I was hoping for something with a theatrical feel, whilst suggesting mystery and suspense.

I think the black cover and the comedy/tragedy masks effectively portray that. I rather like the spiky font, too.

Less than three months now before my amateur sleuth Shara Summers is unleashed on the world.

Squee!!

When Sara T Met Sara P

(Cross-posted on the WriteClub blog)

Many, many years, when I was still trying to find my place in the adult world of work, I was a book shop assistant in London. I enjoyed being surrounded by books all day. I wasn't quite so fond of dealing with the customers, but that's a different story.

One of the good things about this job, however, was that every once in a while a famous author would come to us to do a signing session and we'd be given the chance to meet them. One day Sara Paretsky came to see us, to promote her book BURN MARKS.

I hadn't read any of her books at that time. But I was just getting into crime, and then, as now, strong-minded independent female characters attracted me. So I bought a copy of the book and got her to sign it for me.

Ever since I read that book, Sara Paretsky has inspired me. I love her tough-talking private eye V I Warshawski, who is forever the voice of the oppressed and the forgotten minority of America. And who remains, to me, such a positive female role model in a world where there's a chronic shortage of strong female characters in the literary world.

So you can imagine how excited I was when I had the opportunity to meet Sara Paretsky again, more than twenty years later, when Mystery Women helped to organise events for her UK tour recently, to promote the latest VI Warshawski book BODY WORK.

Sara T, Kirstie, Sara P and Ayo enjoy a nice chat

Sara Paretsky was in conversation with Natasha Cooper at Waterstones Piccadilly, London, on 16 March. After the event, she and her publisher came to chat to us, and she signed my copy of BODY WORK. Sadly, I was reduced to a lot of fan girl wibbling. However, Ms Paretsky had flown in from Chicago only the day before and was still somewhat jet-lagged – so fortunately for me she may not have noticed the wibbling too much.

I hope to have the opportunity to meet the marvellous Sara Paretsky again at Bouchercon in St Louis this year, where she is receiving a lifetime achievement award. On that occasion, it will probably be me suffering from the jet-lag.

Until then, I have BODY WORK to read.