Victoria Fox's Blog, page 281

RIVALS!

I just wanted to share with you the cover for my short story RIVALS, which is available to download from March 9. Isn't it gorgeous? RIVALS is the first of three shorts building up to my second novel TEMPTATION ISLAND. PRIDE and AMBITION to follow . . .

 

Emily Windermere, darling of British film and pretty as a doll, has a starring role in the summer's hottest regency romance - but it's her scandalous affair off-screen that's set to raise temperatures. Julia Chambers has been cast as the dowdy maid yet again: she's lived her whole life in Emily's shadow, and when her rival moves to take the one thing Julia holds dear, she decides it's payback time. LA actress Nina is fresh from a stint in rehab, divulging tales of a mystery island to which only the elite are admitted. For Julia, it's a closed door she'd never dare push; but for Emily, it's a temptation too hard to resist . . .

 

bonkbuster breakfast

Things are hotting up ahead of the June release of TEMPTATION ISLAND. This week I got my mitts on a hot-pink beach-ready proof, which looks so summery and gorgeous and makes me dream of sunloungers and cocktails. Here's a picture of the cover in case you haven't seen it yet:

 

 

 

Also this week I was taken for a sumptuous breakfast at The Wolseley in London to meet a bunch of lovely lady journalists from Grazia, Tatler, Cosmo, Easy Living and very.co.uk. It was such fun. Our private room was raised above the main restaurant so we could happily peer over the balcony and celebrity spot, and we had our very own waiter who probably needed to go lie down in a dark room afterwards to recover from all the squealing. We exchanged gossip over an array of pastries and pancakes and all things delicious, and needless to say talk soon turned to sex: how could it not at a bonkbuster brunch? Here I am pouring tea for my editor Kim and publicist Tory - check out the silverware!

Victoria x

 

 

The stars come out - plus a first sneaky peek at TEMPTATION ISLAND

LOOK magazine hit the shelves today - check it out! (They got mine and Jane's names mixed up. Not that I mind being billed as a 'top author' . . .!)

Also scroll down for a peek at the cover of my second novel TEMPTATION ISLAND, published in June. What do you think?

 

Victoria x

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LOOK out for Shooting Stars!

For someone who struggles to apply eye shadow without looking like they've been in a fight, it's a very nice treat to go to a photo shoot and have a talented lady do it for me. That's what happened last week when bestselling author Jane Costello (and my new favourite person) nominated me as LOOK magazine's Rising Star of 2012! We got to go to a gorgeous location in central London, choose from a wardrobe of glam clothes and have our photo taken - it was so much fun. Keep an eye out for the pictures, in next week's issue of LOOK. Here's Jane and me in hair and make-up, taken by my lovely publicist Tory:

 

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2012 is set to be an exciting year indeed. My second novel TEMPTATION ISLAND will be published in June (I've just seen the cover and it's beautiful, will share as soon as I can) - it's a classic girls' bonkbuster, brimming with scandal, fashion, thrills, celeb egos, secrets, revenge and betrayal. Oh, and sex. Lots of it. In the run-up I'm doing a series of ebook shorts that'll be available from Amazon for free, so you can have a read and decide if it's for you - after my Christmas short TINSELTOWN hit the number one spot I'm hoping we can achieve similar success, so get downloading! Also this year my publishers are planning a nationwide tour incorporating panel events and signings up and down the country, starting with an appearance at the Ideal Home Show in March, where I'll be reading from the new book (provided I can find an acceptable passage for 11.30 in the morning) and chatting with readers. I'm going to be attending more red carpet events so I can bring you all the gossip from the front line of Celebville, and am working up an idea for a bonkbuster musical as well, which I'll be able to tell you about in more detail very soon.

Somewhere amid all that I'd better get cracking with Book 3!

Happy reading. Love,

Victoria x

 

Have a Bonkbuster Christmas!

It's been a few weeks since my last entry for which I must apologise - I don't know what's happened to the end of this year. One minute it was October, the next it was December 15th and yet again I hadn't started my Christmas shopping and every time I put the telly on it was that disturbing Asda Christmas ad with the mum alien who fancies Justin Bieber (what's that about?).

Anyway, it's all been good fun, especially as my seasonal short story hit the NUMBER ONE spot on the Free Amazon Kindle Chart! Thanks to everyone who downloaded TINSELTOWN and I hope it brought you some festive cheer. It was a challenge trying to make Santa sexy (when you think of bonkbusters, you don't automatically think of Saint Nick . . . or maybe you do, in which case don't be afraid to talk to someone) and weave him into the glitz and glamour of Hollywood and the slebs, but I loved it. If you haven't read it, give it a try: it's very Christmassy, it's sexy but it's heartwarming, and it's short enough to dip into in between bouts of present-wrapping. Oh, and did I mention that it's free? It's FREE! That's 100%, no-catch, not-a-penny-to-pay free. As always, get in touch to let me know what you think. (Disclaimer: this blog has been beset by lots of cartoon faces saying things like, 'Wow I love your words, this is really inspiring' and 'Your web page makes me see things anew' which is lovely and all that but entirely robot-generated (sob). Email me at vfoxwrites@gmail.com and I promise to get back to you.)

As well as eating a lot of mince pies and drinking volumes of sherry inappropriate for a 28-year-old, this Christmas I will mostly be working on some exciting shorts for the New Year. (That's writing, I'm not knitting a pair of shorts or anything. Knitted shorts?) My second novel TEMPTATION ISLAND is published on June 1st but we've got a few more treats on the way before then, the first of which is released in February in time for Valentine's Day, so you can feel all romantic/annoyed/sickened at Wuv-You toys clutching felt hearts, delete as appropriate. I'll also be plotting lots of naughtiness for my third book - any ideas for characters or storylines you'd like to see, let me know . . .

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Victoria x

the second one's coming!

The second book is scarier than the first. After months writing and weeks editing, the third (and hopefully final) draft was delivered to my publishers yesterday. But while I wait to hear back from them about it, I know it'll be nothing compared with waiting to hear from you lot when it's published next summer! It's funny when you spend so long with a book and a cast of characters: letting them go is how I imagine it is watching your kids go for their first day at school. Will they be all right? Will they make friends? Will anyone be mean to them? And, I guess, extending the analogy, for a second book the question is: will they hide in the shadow of their older sibling, or might they outshine?

As an author you want to prove to yourself as much as anyone else that you've got lots of stories in you, not just one. It's like any debut follow-up - second album, second series . . . can you make it better than the first? Take films, for instance. Terminator 2: Judgement Day - YES. Aliens - YES. Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey - YES. Teen Wolf Too - NO. Speed 2: Cruise Control - NO. Weekend at Bernies 2 - NO (actually, I rewatched the first one recently and over the years it's lost its sheen, driving a corpse around in a golf buggy and flirting as it does with necrophilia). Anyway, I can guarantee that the follow-up to HOLLYWOOD SINNERS is bigger and more ambitious than its predecessor, and for me that's what it's about. Every part deux worth its salt should be a fresh challenge, one that draws on the lessons of the previous and stretches beyond, and one you embark on feeling slightly, just slightly, unsure you can pull off. 

But, anxieties aside, the months ahead of publication have to be the most exciting. Now's the time when titles are settled on, shoutlines come up with, covers finalised . . . and suddenly the world you've carried around for ages becomes a thing you can see and touch and hold. It seems like last week that HOLLYWOOD SINNERS was published. I can't wait to do it all again. I'll definitely keep you posted on all this as it happens - I cannot wait to know what you think!

In the meantime, for a glitzy festive fix, look out for my FREE Kindle Christmas short story. It'll be available through Amazon towards the end of the year. You'll never see Santa in the same way again.

Lots of love, Victoria x

Generation X

Last week saw the return of The X Factor. I thought, No, it's not happening for me this year, I'm sick of it. Last autumn, the programme ate itself: the whole Cher, Katie Waissel, Simon/Cheryl stuff was too contrived, too manipulative and, while I admit I did tune in each week to witness the circus unfold, I kind of hated myself for it. So, this time, I'm opting out. I know it's wrong. I know it's hideous exploitative nonsense. I know it breeds everything you might say is wrong with celebrity culture: instant gratification, too much too young, the glare of the spotlight taking its toll on people ill-equipped to deal with the repercussions, etc. etc. And yet, I confess . . . I watched the first episode of X Factor 2011.

I felt sick with adrenalin. The first three minutes were like some sort of panic attack, complete with flashing lights and helicopters and snapshots of hopefuls by turns weeping and elated, all to a soundtrack of judges' verdicts, dreams built and shattered, and what sounded like doors slamming - or portcullises, or dungeon trapdoors. And *that* voiceover, which is just . . . dangerous. No one should have to deliver that level of frenzy, no matter how much Simon Cowell asks for it.

The first contestant was a guy from Brighton whose side parting began at his ear. He had the names of all the women he'd sh*gged tattooed on his arse, which for some inexplicable reason went down a treat with Kelly Rowland. Did someone say something about independent women? Must have misheard. And that set the tone, really - this show was going to p!ss me off right up until Christmas (and that's, what, sixteen weeks?), but, even so, still I kept watching . . . because that's what it achieves. It gets a reaction. It makes us want more. And we can slag it off as much as we want but the fact remains we're still slagging it off. We're still tuning in.

Aside from the fact that if a girl had come on with all the names of her conquests scrawled across her arse the reaction on the judges' panel might have been different, I do like the new line-up. Maybe I'll use curiosity as my excuse: I wanted to see what they were like and then, like a helpless fish with a hook in its cheek, I got reeled right in. Kelly comes across as a genuinely nice woman, Tulisa is awesome as far as I am concerned (don't care what people say about N-Dubz), Gary's sexy and gets to the point, and Louis is like the stabilisers on a new bike. Somehow, it works. I like their chemistry. I think some of the people they've put through so far are great. And I loved it when Tulisa had that slanging match with the guy who called her a dog.

Episode 2 was on Saturday night. I missed it and thought, Oh well, I missed it! Never mind - I have a life, which is always good . . . But then I watched it on catch-up on Sunday afternoon. I couldn't help it. I don't know what it is. Perhaps it's not wanting to be out of the loop. Perhaps it's genuine fascination with these people and wanting to see how they do. Perhaps it's just because I want to hold my arms in the air in a massive X shape and sing 'da-da-da-da-da-daaaah!' from my sofa. It's very confusing. 

But, it's back. And, for this season at least, so am I. Next year, it will be different.

27

I remember the day River Phoenix died: my older sister was devastated. No one in my year at school knew who he was so I mourned alone through Latin and dreaded P.E., counting the seconds till home-time so we could watch My Own Private Idaho and weep into our tea. (In hindsight I don't think we should've been watching that film at all, but this was our sneakily-videoing-Twin-Peaks-every-Thursday phase, so minds were being quietly blown.)

River was only 23 - so, so young. At the time it seemed grown-up but it's nothing, really. And yet his legacy lives on and always will: this aspect of celebrity is strange and dangerous, seductive, in a way; the idea that someone can be immortalised, frozen at a beautiful age and undiminished by time. When Amy Winehouse died at 27 last week she joined legends like Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison, cementing her legacy in this gruesome, but weirdly glamorous, hall of fame.

What is it about being 27? 'Club 27' are traditionally seen to lead hedonistic, rock and roll lifestyles, and while that's often a big part of being a music icon, success and notoriety at a tender, unformed age is arguably the engine behind it. Troubled genius or victim of celebrity? Are some talents too much to bear; a gift becomes more of a cross? Or is it the flipside of money and fame, the pressure and the persecution? Friends say they're happier in their 30s than they were in their 20s, a decade characterised by uncertainty and loss of direction, and to live that in the glare of the spotlight must be hard. Some talents aren't meant to last for ever: they're meant to burn out, not fade away; live fast, not die slow; be a bang, not a whimper. 

Nowadays the media is a machine all its own. Celebrities are chased and hunted, nothing ever enough, and recent scandals in the news drive this home with uncomfortable clarity. For a young woman finding her way, it must be a difficult place to be. Kind of amazing, then, that Amy Winehouse managed to retain any mystique at all - and she did, despite the hounding press and the wrecked photos and the shambolic performances. She still seemed . . . untouchable. That's what makes her legendary.

Secrets and Shoutlines

Well it's the first of July . . . how did that happen? Perhaps more miraculously, the sun is out. What better excuse to laze in the garden with a glass of wine and read my exclusive FREE short story, LA SECRETS? Today is your last chance to sign up, so visit the home page and get clicking! As ever, I'd love to know what you think.

This month I went to my first ever literary festival at Bromley (it was their first ever festival, too) to appear on a Romance Writers' panel alongside Dorothy Koomson, Julia Williams and Juliet Archer. We answered all sorts of questions about romantic heroes, how and where we write, our inspirations . . . I had fun talking about sex scenes and how it all comes out (cue inevitable innuendo) and afterwards we had a signing, where I got to meet a couple of lovely readers and use my brand new Sharpie. I love Sharpies. Then there was an 'impromance' which unfortunately I wasn't able to make, which basically involved actors playing out romantic scenes from novels. I'm not sure HOLLYWOOD SINNERS would have been an appropriate choice. Well, it was only 4 p.m.

Ooh I just glanced up at the tennis: Goran Ivanisevic is looking pretty fit these days, isn't he? Not sure about the hair though. 

Anyway, in other news I've just delivered Book 2 to my publishers!! This is very exciting. Now we get to talk titles and shoutlines and covers and and and - basically, it's the most exciting bit ahead of publication. It'll be out early next year so not too long to wait (though it feels like an eternity to me).

Right, Rafa's on in a minute so I'm going to dash. HOT. He's so hot. My friend Emily doesn't get it - she says he looks like the missing link but I disagree. Or maybe this is why I like him. Anyway, he's hot and I'm watching.

Bye till next time!

Victoria x

 

Stranger Than Fiction?

Sometimes when I'm bonkbusting, I think, Come on, this is getting absurd. But that's the fantastic thing about this type of book: the more outrageous the plot, the weirder and more wonderful the characters, the better a read it can be. Often a bonkbuster plot thread will seem totally preposterous - do people really behave like that? Would that really happen? Isn't that pushing it TOO far? - but all it takes is one or two news stories to remind me that, often, truth is indeed stranger than fiction.

Take Arnie's recent well-publicised misdemeanour as an example. Here's a guy who began his career as Mr Universe, went on to become a heavyweight Hollywood film icon and, latterly, the 'Governator' of California. Then, a couple of weeks back, a truly shocking - and sad - scandal was uncovered when it was revealed he had a 14-year-old love child by his housekeeper. For FOURTEEN YEARS he had kept this from Maria (or had he? Maybe she knew), embraced the man the child knew as its father and continued to be 'the boss' to the woman he'd slept with behind his wife's back. And, come on, the kid looks so much like him it's ridiculous. I remember hearing a rumour ages ago about Arnie being interrupted in his trailer with an actress on the set of one of his films. He'd glanced up from the task at hand and delivered the immortal line: 'Eating is not cheating.' Unfortunately for him, it seems like having a fourteen-year-old love child with your housekeeper and lying to your devoted wife about it for over a decade is, well, cheating.

Book 2 is out early next year and it's sexier and more scandalous than HOLLYWOOD SINNERS. My story shares some similarities with Arnie's bad behaviour and it got me thinking: however far-fetched the plots may sometimes seem, I'd be hard pushed to imagine anything that's gone on behind the glitterati's closed doors that hasn't already happened. What interests me most is the concealment of these realities - and the lengths people will go to protect them . . .

Get in touch to let me know what you think about Arnie terminating (sorry) his marriage. Talk about a sinful Hollywood . . .

Victoria x