Kathryn Freeman's Blog, page 15

What I learnt this week: a book release and the dentist

Tuesday saw the digital release of Before You. Come on, you know the book I mean, the one staring the sexy racing driver, inspired by Jenson Button? Of course you know, I’ve been banging on about it for long enough (umm, yes, sorry about that).

 

Before you is my fourth book with Choc Lit, my fifth overall. I used to imagine authors spent publication day drinking champagne, staggering from one launch party to another looking something like Joanna Lumley’s Patsy from Absolutely Fabulous.

Perhaps some authors do manage this, but for this author there was a trip to the dentist to have a cracked tooth taken out.

Oh the glamour.

But before you bring out the violins (you were going to, weren’t you?) I did have a lot of virtual excitement, with friends on social media kind enough to send congratulations and virtual bottles of champagne.

As for the real champagne, sadly I couldn’t even have a glass of wine because I wasn’t allowed alcohol for 24 hours. The steak meal I’d planned had to be abandoned too, because my tender mouth was not in a fit state to chew anything – and I wasn’t prepared to watch the rest of my family scoff a nice steak while I sat with a bowl of soup. Call me selfish.

The thing is, despite my trip to the dentist chair, I did actually enjoy my publication day. Before You received so much support, both in terms of sales and reviews, that it reminded me of the excitement of my first launch.

Who needs champagne, parties or even a full set of teeth, when you have people like I do supporting you?

So, dear reader, from the bottom of my heart, thank you from me…and thank you from him.

Happy 7th birthday to my publisher

 

Iced by me (if you can call it that) but not made by me…so perfectly edible, according to my sons.

Today Choc Lit turns seven, and as seven is such a favourite number (seven colours of the rainbow, the Magnificent Seven, seven wonders of the ancient world, 007…) I thought I’d share seven reasons why I love being published by Choc Lit:

Three years ago Choc Lit took a chance on this unpublished author and made what had previously been a dream, a reality.
Choc Lit publish a range of fiction – historical, contemporary, paranormal, suspense, time-slip – but romance is always at the heart.
Choc Lit champion the heroes point of view, which is the one I most enjoy writing.
All of the books they publish have to first pass a tasting panel. This makes sure the books you read have already been enjoyed by a selection of readers. Often their feedback forms part of the editorial process too, making the final book better than it was before – something as a writer I fully appreciate.
Choc Lit employ a brilliant team. There’s the head office gang who juggle the publishing and promotion of our books, keep us on track, yet always have time for us. Cover artist (Berni Stevens) who doesn’t just create amazing, eye catching covers, but writes about vampires, too. Editor Jane Eastgate whom I’ve been fortunate to work with on three of my books – insightful yet diplomatic, knowing exactly how to improve the book without bruising the sensitive ego of this writer.
Choc Lit authors work as a team, helping to support each other, to promote each other. Writing can be a lonely business, but with these guys it isn’t. Whether it’s a clap on the back, a rejoicing whoop, or a hug that’s needed, the Choc Lit team are there to provide it. And they are amazing writers, too, making me so proud to be part of the selection box (pun on chocolates? Okay, okay, if I have to explain it, I shouldn’t have written it, but I hate to turn down a cheesy line…).

What I learnt this week: 2nd June 2016

Last week brought two very different highlights.

On Sunday we had a family outing to Twickenham to watch England play Wales. And when I say family, I mean my own family, my brother’s family and mum, too. There was a mixture of girls and boys, ages ranging from 11 to 82, and it says something about the sport that all enjoyed the day, even though only half were die-hard rugby fans.

It began with the pre-match build up, with the flags being paraded up the pitch and the stirring sound of the anthems being sung at full voice by 82,000 people.

Then there was the thrill of live sport; the thump of bodies flying into each other, the subtleties and skill of the play (most of which went over my head), the surge of players as they storm up the field towards the try line. Added to this we had the almost comical, and definitely cringeworthy, inability of poor George Ford to kick a conversion or a penalty – he managed just one out of six. And sorry no, I didn’t manage to take a photo of him hitting the post. I’m a writer, not a photographer, so here is some…other action.

It wasn’t just the play on the field that was entertaining. The crowds were great value, too. In front of us we had English fans accidentally spilling three of their four pints over the Welsh fans in front of them. The flimsy beer carrier split – that was their excuse and it seemed a good one. There was no swearing, no cross words from the beer soaked men though. Even when the English fans tried to apologise by buying their counterparts some drinks – and managed to spill some of that over them, too – it was met with further laughter.

I would be lying if I didn’t admit that following that, we weren’t furtively glancing behind us, on the look out for people with dodgy beer carriers.

Early in the week I had a brief moment of local fame, when the WindsorSlough Express was kind enough to print an article on my new book, Before You. The photographer had me standing in the back garden next to my cardboard Jenson Button. The neighbours must have either assumed I’d gone totally crazy, or that Jenson has lost a lot of weight.

I realised I’m not destined for true fame when the article mentioned my age as being two years older than I am. A true celebrity would have made sure it was the other way round. Still, as my family were kind enough to point out, at least the age matched the photograph…

What I learnt this week: RNA summer party

Twice a year the Romantic Novelists’ Association hold a party in London. The first time I went I was terrified – hundreds of people I didn’t know, all staring at me as if I didn’t belong when I walked into the room. Okay, of course they didn’t stare. In fact they didn’t notice me at all, far too busy talking and laughing amongst themselves, oh and drinking wine and nibbling on canapés! But that’s what I felt would happen.

In reality, you couldn’t meet a friendlier, more welcoming group. I know so many names from social media, and from reading their books, but these were real faces, not book covers – and it was so hard to spot anyone I recognised.

Last night was my sixth party, and though most faces still weren’t familiar, there are some that feel like old friends – and I use the term old as in people I’ve known a few years now, not as in age, because we’re all young in our romantic hearts.

The Choc Lit authors are always the ones I head towards, because they’re the people I know best. We support each other on line and it’s so lovely to meet those people in person. Writing can be a lonely business, but with these guys I feel like I’m part of a team.

From left to right: Henri Gyland, Me (!) AnneMarie Brear, Debbie Flint, Janet Gover

From left to right: Berni Stevens (author and cover designer), Sarah Waights, AnneMarie Brear, Alison May, Kate Johnson, Laura James

As the evening progressed some might have thought they’d had rather too much alcohol when they looked around and saw me standing next to Lynne Shelby. Snap! We both agreed we had excellent taste..

 

The next party is in November – the Winter party – and Lynne and I will be talking beforehand to agree what to wear. I hope she’ll go for pink again

What I learnt this week: it’s lovely to have a new cover to drool over

Writing, like any job, has its ups and downs.

The downs are thankfully few and far between. They include writing frustrations like a plot that’s not quite working, a sex scene that feels as steamy as the inside of your freezer. Days when everything you write is a pile of pants and everyone you know seems to want to interrupt you, because you don’t really work at writing, do you. Then there is the inevitable review that makes you wonder if you can actually write at all, or the day you have to write nothing but blog posts to promote your new book, when actually you’ve known for ages you had to write them so you should have spread them out but you didn’t because you were trying to write that flipping sex scene – and kept getting interrupted.

But let’s not focus on all that, when today I can share with you one of the ups, and it’s a pretty steep up (if that works, or should it be a high up?). I’m talking about the book cover reveal. Seeing your name on the cover of a book for the first time is incredibly special, and truly I think, after signing the contract, this has been the most exciting part of my writing career so far (see, I added those last two words because I’m hoping there will be much more excitement to come).

Seeing your name on the cover of the second, third, or in my case fourth book (okay fifth, but Life After was a novella with a different publisher) is almost as thrilling though. It’s another cover to play with, and to coo over. Do I get a say in how it looks? Yes! I was given some options and my favourite elements of a few were combined, with this as the result.

It’s a book about a racing driver, so I’m thrilled it includes the famous Monaco hairpin bend, a touch of the Monte Carlo glamour. Being a girl I also love the pretty top she’s wearing, and the fact that my title is in pink.

Just in case you’re taken with the pretty cover, here’s the pre-order link. Before You is available on Kindle from 21st June.

And just to show off, here’s all four of them together

 

Before You – the blurb

When life in the fast lane threatens to implode …

Melanie Hunt’s job working for the Delta racing team means she is constantly rubbing shoulders with Formula One superstars in glamorous locations like Monte Carlo. But she has already learned that keeping a professional distance is crucial if she doesn’t want to get hurt.

New Delta team driver Aiden Foster lives his life like he drives his cars – fast and hard. But, no matter how successful he is, it seems he always falls short of his championship-winning father’s legacy. If he could just stay focused, he could finally make that win.

Resolve begins to slip as Melanie and Aiden find themselves drawn to each other –with nowhere to hide as racing season begins. But when a troubled young boy goes missing, everything is thrown into turmoil, including Aiden’s championship dream.

What I learnt this week – my next book is nearly ready

My next book is coming soon….! The cover for Before You is almost there, the blurb almost written. Hoping to be able to reveal both next week. Meanwhile, a quick reminder of the story.

Before You features Aiden Foster, a racing car driver who lives his life like he drives his cars; fast and hard. That’s until he’s faced with the unexpected burden of having to look after his ten year old half-brother. He turns to Megan Taylor, Sabre press officer, for help. She’s funny, easy-going and thankfully not his type. Besides, he’s got more than enough on his plate with the attentions of a blonde bombshell journalist and Tom’s very hot looking tutor. Oh and the need to win the world championship – just once – to ease the burden of his championship-winning father’s legacy.

And a photo of a handsome racing driver to whet your appetite…(you know I can’t resist showing this!)

What I learnt this week: Thursday 28th April

Playing golf is like writing

Last weekend I played a round of golf with my family. Okay, what we actually did was play nine-holes of a public par 3 course on Hayling Island. It’s probably not fair to say we played golf either, as none of us are golfers. It was more a pleasant walk next to the sea, with the occasional hack at a ball, and many explorations into the bushes.

So why do I think golf is like writing?

Some have a natural flair for it. Others don’t.

Of course you can be taught to play golf, like you can be taught to write, but natural ability plays a huge part in both. As a family we had three lessons together, years ago. When my sons swing the club it looks fluid and natural. When I swing the thing, it looks like I’ve got a straight jacket on. Has my natural flair been reserved for writing instead? Umm.

Both are frustrating as heck

Even I can have one good hole at golf. The tee-shot goes straight, the shot to the green actually ends on the right green, and the ball disappears magically into the hole. At the next hole I’ll chop the ball so it lands two feet from the tee and take a further twelve shots before the blasted thing disappears down the hole.

Writing is similar. I can have a good morning where the words flow like melted chocolate and I don’t have to think about what to write next. In the afternoon I’ll stare at my screen, refer back to my outline in the hope that I’ve made copious notes for this section (I won’t have), stare at my cardboard cut-out of Jenson for inspiration…then sigh and start diddling around on Twitter.

People think they’re both easy

Golf is just hitting a small ball with a stick. Writing is just making stuff up. Those who think either are easy, haven’t tried them.

Both lead to short memories

For every one hundred awful tee-shots I’ve hit, I remember the one I struck cleanly that sailed over the fairway and landed on the green (I’m sure there was one). For every day when the words stick in my brain, every heart sinking poor review, I remember the reader who bothered to post a message on facebook, telling me how much she enjoyed my books.

I guess that’s why golfers, like writers, sometimes fall out of love with the sport for a while, but they never give up.

 

 

Book titles: how do they come about?

What first draws your attention to a book? Is it the author’s name? Perhaps, if the author is well known or one of your particular favourites. Far more often though, I suspect it’s the cover that catches your eye – or the title.

I find getting the title right can be one of the hardest aspects of writing a book – and very occasionally, the easiest.

So how does the title come about? Well if my experience is anything to go by, there is no set pattern.

For my first published book, Too Charming, the title came to me midway through writing the book. The more my characters came alive, the more I found myself realising that the essence of the book was that my heroine, Megan Taylor, found my hero Scott, Too Charming.

With my next book I still had no title after writing The End, so I looked at the synopsis for inspiration and came up with Poor Beginnings. I felt pretty proud of it, because it described not only my hero Mitch’s start in life, but also how his relationship with my heroine, Brianna, began. Very poorly! Choc Lit felt the title sounded too negative though, and they came up with Do Opposites Attract? Looking back on it now, they were absolutely right.

With Life After, the title came before the book. I was jogging one morning – I spend most of the day on my backside so I like to begin doing something active – and my mind was running faster than my legs (as usual). Instead of working through the plot of the book I was writing, it started to drift and I recall these words suddenly bouncing through my brain: He saw his life in two parts. Life Before and Life After. I had no idea who he was, but the words wouldn’t go away and by the time I made it to the computer my mind was buzzing with possibilities for the plot. Whoever he was, he had to have experienced a life-changing event, so I started from there.

Search for the Truth was a title I worked out after I finished the book – but this time my publisher liked it and kept with it

Which brings me to my next book, featuring my hero racing driver, Aiden Foster. Again I worked out a title after the book was finished (for ages it was simply called Racing Driver). The best the combined efforts of my family could come up with was Over the Line, but I wasn’t happy with it.

Thankfully I have a publisher with far more experience than I in creating simple, eye-catching titles. I’m pleased to say this next book has been given a new, far punchier title, which also fits neatly with the story.

Before Aiden met Mel, racing was his life. He was obsessed with the need to prove he was as good as his father.

Before Mel met Aiden, she was was burying the feminine side of her. She didn’t want to open up to being hurt again.

My next book will be called, Before You.

 

What I learnt this week: Thursday 31st March

Actually, it’s what I learnt two years ago…!

As you may know, my next book is due out on Kindle in the next few weeks. The hero is Aiden Foster, an outwardly cocky, fabulously sexy racing driver. The trouble with picking professions for a hero or heroine is you have to know a bit about what they do, so that in between the action you’ve planned (and the falling in love…) they have something to do.

So to whet your appetite for Aiden, I thought I’d share with you some of the most interesting facts I found about motor racing – in particular about Formula one.

With over twenty races in a season, the drivers and those closely involved in the racing spend nearly a third of their weekends working. And actually, considering the need to travel, set up and practice, the weekends start on a Wednesday.
On average around 100 people travel from the team’s headquarters to the grand prix. Making sure both they and the cars, spare engines, chassis etc arrive in the right place at the right time is quite a logistical feat. I have trouble getting my sons to school on time.
Formula one drivers are some of the most highly conditioned athletes around. The physical endurance they experience during a race is likened to that of running a marathon.
When they corner, drivers experience forces of up to four times their own weight. Fighter pilots may experience more g-force (around 8, compared to 4) but only in one direction, aligned with the spine. Racing drivers experience forces at right angles to the spine. So drivers need to  have particularly strong necks (supporting their head and helmet) and arms (controlling the car).
In terms of the effect on their necks, they are said to experience three or four car crashes every lap!
Drivers have to be physically fit to cope with the extreme heat in the cock-pit – it can reach up to 50 degrees centigrade. They can sweat off anything up to 3kg of their body weight during the course of a race.
During a race a driver’s heart rate can get up to around 200 beats per minute. On average it settles at 150 – for the whole race.



 



Of course not only do these drivers have the G-forces, the heat, the fatigue to cope with while they zip round the tract at two hundred miles an hour. One momentary lapse in concentration could send them spinning dangerously off the track.

So, definitely not just a gorgeous face

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-ra...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/m...

http://www.carvaluation.com/blog/f1-t...

Formula one for dummies.

What I learnt this week: 17th March 2016

I had a surprise package in the post today. Here it is:

In case you don’t recognise it, I’ll give you a clue. It is also known as this:

Yes, Do Opposites Attract has been translated into Turkish. It’s so funny to look through the book and realise the only words I recognise are my characters names, Mitch, Brianna – and my own. How thrilling too, though, to see this book take on a whole new glamorous look, for a whole new market.

When I started writing my dream was simple – to have my name on the cover of a book. Now I see the world of publishing is far from simple but how wonderful to have it not just on a book, but on an audio book, a large print book, a translated book.

Fear not, there is no chance of me going for world domination. I’m happy staying in my tiny corner of the UK. Though to be honest, I’d be even happier moving into a slightly larger space!

Next time I hope to bring you news of when Aiden Foster, my racing car hero, is due to burst onto Amazon. I’ve finished it from my end. Now it’s all down to my publisher to proof read, produce the cover – and set it ready for Kindle.

Exciting times. At least for me