Lillian Grant's Blog, page 15
October 10, 2010
I'm Back
After a week in Melbourne I am back in sunny South Australia. It was a walk down memory lane. We visited houses we used to live in, caught up with long lost relatives and went to the places we used to visit with the kids.
It was great to go away and sad to come home but I was happy to discover that in my absence I received an email from Carina Press asking me to do a rewrite and resubmit for my novel Speak to me of Abduction. They love my characters which is cool, because I love them too. I need to make some plot changes. No guarantees that even after the rewrite I will get an acceptance but fingers crossed.
October 2, 2010
Excerpt Monday and a week off
After a very hectic week at work and with the launch of Nancy I am off for a week to Melbourne. It's a big birthday for my lovely husband on Wednesday so we decided to travel back to the place we first emigrated to in Australia.
Whilst I'm gone their will be lots of exciting posts on our group website
Some Write it Hot. so why not go visit it.
My good friend and crit buddy Debbie Vaughan also has a great free to read story on her website. It's a great fantasy story and I can't recommend it enough. You can find it here.
and the last bit of news is that my book is being featured on Monday 4th on the excerpt Monday website. Go and check it out for a chance to win a free copy of my book.
See you all in a couple of weeks.
September 29, 2010
Where did it all come from
When I start writing a book I get ideas from lots of places. However, no matter what my other half might say, the characters are not real people. He is not Christopher or Jake. Characters are influenced by people you've met through out your lifetime. The only character in the book based on an actual living thing is Hendrix. For the sake of protecting her real identity I have had to change her name and her breed, but Hendrix is based on one of my two dogs. She is morose and depressed 24/7, even when you play fetch with her. It seems life bores her. She is so laid back she is almost catatonic. In an effort to cheer her up we even bought a puppy as a little sister for her, bad idea. Now she is miserable and hounded by a dog half her size. Maybe we should try her on some antidepressants?
September 27, 2010
Release day
I never thought this day would arrive but at last my book, Happy Birthday, Nancy Tobin is about to be released. I have posted the blurb and excerpt on my books page. There is also an adults only excerpt on my blogger site.
I just hope people enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
September 26, 2010
Home sweet home
When I wrote Happy Birthday, Nancy Tobin I knew where she lived and worked. The book is set in my home town of Adelaide. It is fiction but the places I used are all very real. The university sits across the road from the River Torrens and climbs uphill all the way to North Terrace. Adelaide is surrounded by hills and there is a restaurant that over looks the city. As the author I could see it all when I wrote it. Now, I realise, lots of people have never heard of Adelaide never mind have any idea what it looks like. So, I thought it would be great to share some pictures of the place Nancy Tobin calls home.
This is one of the beautiful old buildings on the university campus.
The River Torrens that runs behind the university and separates Adelaide from North Adelaide.
Another building on the university campus.
The city skyline.
Want to know more about where the story is set? How about checking out this link and finding out the place that helped inspire the story.
September 24, 2010
Heaven In A Can
When you move from one country to another you discover you miss some things more than others. You might think the thing I miss most is family but you'd be wrong. With the advent of the internet I talk to them as much if not more than I used to when I lived in the UK. You might think the weather…until you realised I moved from the UK to Australia and how can you miss grey skies and rain when you live with sunshine and heat.
So, what do I miss most? Food! Somethings you can buy in the UK are impossible to find here, or if you do find them they don't taste the same. When we go to the UK on holidays our first stop is Tesco to stock up on Jaffa Cakes and other confectionery.
However, we have taken to shopping at Foodland and they stock the most amazing things. If they don't have something you want you only to have ask and they'll get some in. They have sausages that taste of home and now heaven in a can. MUSHY PEAS in three flavours, normal, chip shop and minty. I'm guessing I'm not the only expat Pom that shops there. Bet you can't guess what I am having with my fish and chips for dinner tonight!
September 23, 2010
New Ideas
Ever wonder how writers deal with an influx of new ideas when they are in the midst of writing a story? Check out Ellie's posts on Some Write it Hot. She has documented her process. It must be lovely to be overrun with new ideas.
September 21, 2010
Welcome to the revolution
On our group blog Some Write it Hot there is an interesting article about the future of e-publishing. As someone who is about to become e-published I find the whole discussion about where publishing is headed to be very interesting. Why not drop by and take a read.
September 19, 2010
Smokin' hot
Woohoo I got the final copy of the cover for my book. Want to see what Nancy is getting for her 40th Birthday? Check it out on my book page.
The final countdown
With just over a week to go it is finally starting to feel like my book will be published. I received the cover over the weekend and it's smokin'. Final edits have been done and it's off to be formatted for release.
Born out of frustration that my husband had forgotten my birthdy again, he's a serial offender, what started as a way to blow off steam quickly grew into a whole novel. Now you might think it would be an angry book but rather than ranting Nancy takes a sometimes sad and sometimes irreverantly funny look at life as a women on the cusp of forty.
Whilst she starts out a lonely and angry woman she ends up one hot mama. The reason for the change? Twenty something Jake Turner who bumps into her in the library whilst searching for a copy of the Karma Sutra.
Nancy and I have been together for so long it feels like sending your first child off to school. Will people like her? Will she fit in? I had a blast with this story and I just hope people get as much fun out of reading about Nancy and Jake as I did writing it.
