Lisa Fox's Blog, page 192
January 12, 2012
Have I Mentioned That I Need A Houseboy?
January 11, 2012
Special Guest Elizabeth Kyne
THE ROAD TO PUBLISHED
IS PAVED WITH MANY UNPUBLISHED BOOKS
Author Elizabeth Kyne reveals the secrets that dwell in her bottom drawer
I was looking for my driving licence the other day and dug out the old tin where I keep my important papers. Underneath my birth certificate, passport and my scuba diving certification card, was an old computer disc. It was one of those 3.5" things known as a floppy disk, even though it is quite stiff and unbendable. On it were written the words, Rebel's Heart. It was a novel I had written ten years ago.
When I posted about this online to my friends, I had half a dozen offers from people who still had those old 3.5" disc drives who could extract the files and email them to me. The question was, did I want to read this old novel of mine? I have fond memories of writing it, but I also remember the disappointment of realising it was unpublishable. The characters were well drawn, I quite liked the plot (about a rebellion/civil war solved by negotiation rather than killing people), but I'd written about the army without knowing much about the military or having done much research. I'd worked hard on writing the novel, but once finished, I showed it to a friend and we both concluded it was not worth showing to anyone else. I abandoned the book, and stopped writing altogether for a few years.
Not that I regret writing Rebel's Heart, not for one moment. Partly because I enjoyed writing a work of fiction, but mostly because I learnt a lot from it. I've learnt something from all the novels I've written and abandoned through the years – and there are a lot of them.
I wrote my first novel around about the age of 12. I taught myself to type (after a fashion) and bashed out an adventure story set in space about a son rebelling against his father. It was brilliant fun! I had no plan or structure, I just wrote the story as it came to me. After many months of writing after school and at weekends, it was finished – giving me an immense sense of achievement. I told my Dad and he asked if I was going to try to get it published. The idea had never occurred to me before but, full of the enthusiasm of youth, I sent it off to a few publishers. Thinking back, the editors who replied to my badly spelled, badly laid out manuscript, were really kind and generous with their replies. I'm grateful for their encouragement because, even though my story never made it into bookshops, I went on to write a second novel.
I sent that second novel to a friend to read. The manuscript came back with comments scribbled all over it, which was the beginning of me learning a bit more about the craft of fiction. In those days, I had a tendency to repeat information about characters and situations just in case the reader had forgotten them. I distinctly remember seeing "we know!" written copiously in the margins of the 200-odd page manuscript. Lesson learnt.
In my gap year between school and university, I took a part time job so I would have time to write. I felt I had learnt much about my first experience and delved into a story about a genetically engineered adolescent and the scientist who created him. I took up three exercise books writing scenes of these two characters sparing with each other until I realised the story was going nowhere. I'd written myself into a corner and the only way out was to re-write the whole thing. Instead, I abandoned it and went to university to study literature. Nevertheless, I had learnt a valuable lesson: I have to plan my books and not just dive in with a half-formed idea.
I continued to write stories after university, although I can't remember what most of them were about. I went to some writing courses and learnt a bit more about my craft. I distinctly remember going to an Arvon residential course on writing for children and showing the first chapters of a novel to the tutors, even though I no longer remember what that novel was called or what it was about. I also dabbled with TV, movie and radio scripts for a while. This was, again, useful as plot is central to television and Hollywood drama and I was able to apply some of those techniques to my prose fiction.
Rebel's Heart was written in dribs and drabs during this time and finished off during an extended period of travelling.
After a gap of some years, I returned to writing and wrote yet another novel which will never see the light of day. One thing the writing of that novel taught me was that I had forgotten a lot about the art of writing fiction over the intervening years. It was unfortunate because I really thought, at the time, that this novel was going to be the one to break through. I was wrong. It was painful to abandon it, but it turned out to be vital practice for what would become my first published novel.
Writing is a skill that has to be learnt. An author will bring a certain amount of talent and natural ability to the table, but the rest comes with practice; like a musician who has to learn to play their instrument before they can play in the orchestra. Even Mozart didn't wake up one morning and write a concerto, despite his young age; he did so after a lot of practice.
It was often hard for me to realise, after each of my early novels, that they were not good enough to go into bookshops. But each time I could see where I went wrong and I knew that, next time, I could do better. That's what's kept me going in the end. I understood that, one day, all the skills and knowledge I'd learnt over the years would come together into a book I could be proud of. And – do you know what? – that's what happened.
Rachel re-invents herself when she moves back to her home town of Aylesbury; with a new job, a new house and a new haircut. But people's eyes glaze over when she tells them about her life as a forty-something singleton who works in accounts. So why not spice things up a bit? Why not tell her new hairdresser and her new friends about her fantastic husband? Everyone wants to hear about Darren, the man who cooks her amazing meals, cleans the house and takes her to bed for orgasmic sex three times a night! What a shame he doesn't exist…
…Until she comes home one night and finds Darren sitting in her lounge. And everything she said becomes true: from his sensuous food to his skill in bed. So real, that she believes it.
Not as if living with a perfect is man is… well, perfect…
She can't find anything because every time she puts something down, he tidies it away. Then there's the shock of the credit card bill from buying all that gourmet food. Not to mention the sex! Three times a night is great at first, but sometimes all she wants at the end of the day is a sandwich and some sleep.
Then Rachel decides that Darren has to go – and that's when her troubles really begin.
Elizabeth Kyne takes the absurdities of the modern woman's quest for love and turns them into an enjoyable romp. She finds the comic in everyday situations, from buying a dress to experimenting with hair dye at home. While, underneath, she comments on the pressure to find the perfect husband and how that quest is doomed for us all.
PAPERBACK
EBOOK
*****
Elizabeth Kyne trained to be a radio journalist and spent her early working years reading news bulletins and writing for magazines. Later, after learning the meaning of "mortgage" and "gas bill", she decided to do the sensible thing and drop the freelance lifestyle to get a proper job. The job, however, all went horribly wrong and she returned to her first love of writing, and worked on several novels before finding success with "If Wishes Were Husbands".
http://www.elizabethkyne.co.uk
http://www.facebook.com/elizabeth.kyne1
Filed under: Guest Blogger Tagged: Elizabeth Kyne, Guest Blogger, If Wishes Were Husbands, Publishing, Romance
January 10, 2012
January 9, 2012
January 8, 2012
Six Sentence Sunday
I was going to actually share something from my current WIP this week, but then I learned that SEDUCING THE MYTH was nominated for 'Best Anthology Published in 2011' in the Preditors and Editors poll!
So, to celebrate, here are the first six sentences from Logan's Treasure!
The bar erupted in cheers as Logan entered and held up his hands in acknowledgement and greeting. Cries of "Captain!" followed him as he wove through the crowd, people congratulating him as he passed. Everyone seemed to be holding the evening edition of The Herald, the front page splashed with a huge picture of Logan grinning like a lunatic, coins and jewels spilling out of his hands, a golden tiara perched crookedly on his head. The fifty-point headline declared him The Prince of Emerald Key!
He made his way to the bar, ordered a beer and lifted it high. "To Reef Dancer," he announced, saluting his ship and his crew.
Be sure to stop by the OFFICIAL SITE for all of this week's snippets!
Filed under: Six Sentence Sunday Tagged: Erotic Romance, Logan's Treasure, Mythology Anthology, Paranormal Romance, Preditors and Editors, Seducing the Myth, Six Sentence Sunday
January 7, 2012
Saturday Video – Reptilia
I love The Strokes and this is one of my favorite songs.
Filed under: Saturday Video Tagged: Julian Casablancas, Love, Reptilia, Saturday Video, The Strokes
January 6, 2012
Dance!
"You gotta dance. As long as the music plays. You gotta dance. Don't even think why. Start to think, your feet stop… So don't pay any mind, no matter how dumb… You gotta dance. As long as the music plays." ― Haruki Murakami, Dance, Dance, Dance
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Filed under: Hot Men Tagged: Dance, Haruki Murakami, Quotes, Sexy Men
January 5, 2012
A New Addition to the Harem
A very special thanks to my sister for pointing out that my harem was lacking Ryan Kwanten
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Filed under: Hot Men Tagged: Husband of the Week, Nice Ass, Ryan Kwanten, Sexy Men, True Blood
January 4, 2012
January 3, 2012
New Year's Resolutions
I have to say, my resolutions haven't really changed all that much from last year. When you're perfect like me, it's hard to really improve on such a good thing.
Okay, you can stop laughing now.
Anyway, since it's the season and all, I thought I might choose one goal for 2012 – especially since it's the end of the world and everything. So, if I had to pick just one thing to do this year, it would be to live a lush and decadent lifestyle every single day.
Time is short after all.
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What are your New Year's resolutions/goals?
Filed under: Ramblings Tagged: Ab Fab, Decadent, Goals, Lisa Fox, New Year, New Year's Resolutions, Patsy
