Research On the Go - a fairy tale by Valerie-Anne Baglietto

Once upon a time...

...a woman of indeterminate age set off on a journey. This woman – with dark hair that was not entirely natural anymore, and dark eyes framed by black geeky glasses – was, and always had been, a Writer. The journey wasn’t as perilous as others she had embarked on, as it didn’t involve the M6; but the A49 proved eventful enough.

The cottage the Writer was staying in for a week had a wonderful, quirky name, yet she wouldn’t reveal it to anyone until her dying breath – or at least until it popped up in one of her novels.

The detachment of being away from home lent a fresh perspective to her research. She found herself taking lots… and lots… of photographs with her phone. (Thank goodness for WiFi and that one terabyte of cloud drive, she realised, as she made sure to back them up daily.)

Now, oddly enough, the Writer lived in a picturesque village herself. But somehow, it was easy to be blind to sights she saw regularly. The saying “familiarity breeds contempt” didn’t seem so cliched when she considered how a never-before-seen vista can spark inspiration, or a new outlook lift a story up out of the grey and into a rainbow of light.

Trying to capture the essence of a place in a photograph wasn’t easy, the Writer discovered, especially with a phone case that made the edges of certain photographs blurry and pink. But it was worthwhile and fun. Viewing the typical settings of her stories with a fresh lens meant creativity was stirred and new scenes imagined.

An old gate here (ooh, the possibilities of where it might lead!) or a pretty cottage. A crumbling, ancient gravestone remembering a tragic young life, or a war memorial marking the loss of so many others.

The Writer’s brain was never still, never silent. 

Without the infinite number of errands and chores she faced back home, it was uplifting. Only a finite number to tackle here. Such as feeding the dog. And the children. The writer might not be sitting at her desk slaving over her keyboard, but she was working, even while enjoying a break from the chains of deadlines or fitting in laundry (washing and hanging) between chapters. She was “on holiday”, and yet… she wasn’t. There was no need to feel guilty. She was free. Her mind was free. More importantly, inspiration was free – to run wild.

How fortunate Writers are these days, she thought, to be able to record their travels in pictures, storing them in albums on hard-drives or printing them out and pinning to study walls. Perhaps she would add her photographs to a Pinterest board. Or use a particular favourite as a screensaver. She would decide once she was home. There was no rush. No pressure. It was satisfying simply to be able to enjoy them and play games with the possibilities...

A whitewashed cottage for the heroine,
with flowers around the door.

A posh house - for a posh person? 
The hero's imperious mother, maybe?

'The Old Vicarage'. 
Does that mean an old vicar should live here?

An uber-modern interior for the posh house?
Interesting...

Who would want to walk along here on a dark night?
*shudders*

Every village needs a quaint church,
but just look at that impeccable lawn!
(Gardener with a strain of OCD perhaps?)

And of course, the village local.
Indispensable.

Once upon a time...

...a Writer went on a journey and finally returned home, if not with a tan (it was only the Forest of Dean, after all), then at least with a whole new village in her head.

The End

By day, Valerie-Anne Baglietto writes contemporary, grown-up fiction. By night, she clears up after her husband and three children. Occasionally she sleeps. During her career so far she has written rom-coms for Hodder & Stoughton, won the Romantic Novelists’ Association New Writer’s Award and been shortlisted in the 2015 Love Stories Awards. Valerie-Anne tweets @VABaglietto

Valerie-Anne's latest modern fairy tale for grown-ups is available from Amazon worldwide click here for more details.

A Little Learning by Anne Bennett

I can't remember a time when I didn't write. I was a voracious reader and they seemed to go together. However, I never expected to earn my living by writing books!  That sort of thing didn't happen to working class kids in the 1960s when I was growing up.  I also wanted to teach, though I achieved this by  a roundabout route, entering Teachers' Training College as a mature student after I had got married and had two children of my own.  By 1976 I had my teaching certificate and was doing a job I loved.  Alas, in the spring of 1990 a spinal injury caused lack of feeling and movement down my legs. I had to use a wheelchair and I was invalided out of teaching.

We moved from the West Midlands to a beautiful town in North Wales, but my life stretched out like a void and so to fill the days ahead I began to write. I began to research the origin and meaning of nursery rhymes, a topic that had always fascinated me. I then went on to write for children, interspersing this with writing short stories for the writing magazine I took every month.

I only ever submitted one of the stories.  It was for a competition for Valentine's Day and my story came second. The prize was a year's subscription to the Romantic Novelists' Association  (RNA). This organisation run a critique service, the New Writer's Scheme, where unpublished writers submit manuscripts to be read and critiqued by established authors.

My first submission  the reader said was good but not good enough to be published but, more importantly, it explained why it wasn't. So I made sure I didn't make the same mistakes with the second submission! That was called A Little Learning and it was accepted by Headline. I was ecstatic. It was the most semi-autobiographical book I have ever written.  I was advised to 'write what you know', and so the house on the original cover was the house I moved into at the age of seven. The book opens when Jane Travers was 11 in 1947. I wasn't born until 1949, but like her I was a scholarship girl, the only one on the sprawling estate I lived on to pass the 11 plus. Like Jane's mother, mine had a  cheque she had to pay in weekly, because the cost of the uniform and other required items came to nearly £100 -one hell of a lot of money for working class people in 1960!

By then the government had built new grammar schools, although mine was only two years old, but before then private schools had to offer a quarter of their places to scholarship pupils.  My school was set in a middle-class area and most of the pupils were middle-class too. Scholarship kids from council estates were a race apart.  If I suffered discrimination, I could easily imagine what my Janet Travers was going through, and I had a very special feeling for her - my first heroine and the journey through the book she had to make.

It is over twenty years since I wrote this book and life is very different for me. I joined Harper Collins in 2001 and regained the ability to walk in 2006. A few years ago Harper Collins bought the rights for the books I originally wrote for Headline and are re-issuing my very first book this summer. Although the title stays the same, there is a new jacket cover. This shows my Jane all grown now and a teacher on playground duty.

A Little Learning will be released on the 24th August 2017 and hope you enjoy it! 

www.annebennett.co.uk  

Downtime by Sophie Claire

We’re into exam season and my children are studying hard. 

I’m glad. I have a strong work ethic and I firmly believe that hard work pays off in the end. But recently I’ve found myself saying Take a break, have some downtime, and I’m trying to follow this advice in my own writing too.

Because the more books I write, the more I realise that writing isn’t only about getting words on the page (although that is crucial, obviously), meeting targets, or sitting at the computer for long hours. It’s also about getting to know your characters and spending time with them, and you don’t have to be at your desk to do this.



When I begin a new book I find the writing is stilted. My characters are still new to me, I’m not sure how the plot will unfold.

But as the weeks and months pass by and I become increasingly submerged in the story I’m creating, the characters come alive and begin to follow me around. They creep into my life and float around at the edges of my conscious thoughts. When I’m watching television I find myself wondering what would X do in that situation? How would he/she react? In the supermarket I spot a product and think; That’s it! That’s what reminds my heroine of her childhood!

I love it when this happens. When my characters become real to me and the tiny quirky details of their lives and personalities reveal themselves.

But I believe that you need two things for this to happen:

1) To have spent time with those characters already (ie. writing)

2) To relax and take time away from the computer, giving the mind room to wander.

Time off can be really productive. 

It’s when the subconscious gets to work, absorbing and mulling over all the information it’s collected, both real and fictional. It’s when – for me, at least – the best ideas bubble up to the surface and land in my head, as if out of nowhere. It may not feel like work, but I've found that reading and researching are as crucial as writing itself. 

And so is time off. Spending time with friends and family, or indulging in your favourite hobbies feeds the imagination. An emotional conversation with a friend or even a passing comment from a stranger can trigger a new idea, and with any luck, that might develop into a character or a plot for a new book.

So I’ve learned that prioritising time off is as important as working hard. Switching off is actually like switching on.

How about you? When do you have your best ideas?

Sophie.x

How Book Club Helped My Writing by Sophie Claire

Have you ever met a writer who doesn’t get excited talking about books? Anyone who knows me will know that it’s a subject I’m passionate about, and there’s nothing I like more than dissecting a story with friends, listening to their recommendations, and sharing my own. So it was a no-brainer to find a book club near me. I’ve been a member for 5 years, and each month we read and review a book which the library selects for us and supplies.

I love the thrill of receiving a book which I haven’t chosen, I look forward to our meetings and debates, and I’ve really enjoyed making new friends who share my passion for reading. But what I never expected was how much going to book club would benefit me as a writer.

Here’s what I've learned:

1. It encourages me to read more broadly:

Ok, that’s obvious, but no one has been more surprised than me at how much enjoyment this can bring! Granted, there have been books which I’ve gritted my teeth to get through, but by pushing myself out of my comfort zone I’ve discovered really talented authors whose books I never would have picked up if they hadn’t been on the reading group list.

It’s also clarified in my mind why I dislike certain genres, and why I adore women’s fiction and romance.

As a writer, broadening your literary horizons can only be a good thing.

I believe it keeps your writing fresh, and it’s pushed me to read more books each month as I try to fit in the book club book on top of my usual reading.

2. People rarely have the same reaction to a book:

There are usually around a dozen of us at each meeting, and I’m fascinated by how varied our reactions are to the same book. There’s usually one person who hated it, two or more who tried it and gave up within the first chapter, and at least three who loved it with a passion. It’s fascinating to hear all the different views and interpretations. And when we unanimously enjoy a book it’s a rare thing.

What does this teach me as a writer?

It’s impossible to please everyone all of the time, so write to please yourself. Write the story you want to read with characters you care about.

Which leads me onto the next point…

3. Characters are everything:

When we discuss a book we talk about the characters as if they’re real people. We judge them, we admire or pity or loathe them – we often respond to them in an emotional way. But if that emotional connection isn’t there, it follows that we don’t enjoy the book – or even stop reading. “I just didn’t connect with him/her…” is something I often hear at book club meetings.

As writers, we can get caught up in our fictional worlds and settings, and it’s easy to become tangled up in plot twists and complexities, but it’s worth remembering that what readers love is a character they can identify with or who intrigues them and they feel compelled to try and understand (Note: characters don’t have to be likeable, morally flawless or heroic to do this).

If you focus on your characters, they will drive the story and carry readers along with them, and exceptionally well-drawn characters will stay in readers’ minds long after they’ve forgotten the story.

4. It allows me to read the classics I missed:

There are so many books I feel I ought to have read or am curious to read, and of course I don't need to belong to a book club to do this. But discussing the classics at book club is more interesting than a solitary read because other people’s interpretations add to my own.

It’s also interesting to reread the classics I read as a teenager with an adult’s perspective. My reactions can be extremely different – but then, I’m a different person now.

Classics are the foundations of today’s writing, and it’s interesting to analyse them and understand why they've stood the test of time. 

5. I’ve learned to be patient and persevere with a slow start:

Despite all the pressure on writers to hook readers with the first line, there are a lot of books out there which haven’t immediately grabbed me (I know – this is so subjective). But what I’ve learned is that sometimes a story or its characters can grow on me. They may not start with a bang, but by midway through the story I’m totally invested in them. As a result, I’m more aware of the type of openings which hook me and those which don’t. In fact, the less effective the opening, the more obvious it is what doesn’t work for me.

Readers are the people we write for, and if you want to understand them, there’s no better place to learn than a book club.

Have you ever belonged to a book club? I’d love to hear about your experiences…

Sophie.x

PS: My local library supplies book groups with free books each month. If you’re thinking of setting up a book group, it might be worth looking into this kind of service. The benefits for you are obvious (free books!) and you’ll also be supporting your local library. I've previously blogged about libraries here.

Thobe? Or not to Thobe? by Trisha Ashley

We asked Trisha Ashley to tell us about the inspiration behind her latest book, A Leap of Faith.

I’m delighted that The Urge to Jump is being republished and ebooked under the fresh new title A Leap of Faith – and with a lovely, sparkly new cover. It was the second of my romantic comedies and very hard to get hold of, so at last I have an answer to those endless requests to know where readers can get a copy!

My heroine, Sappho Jones, is tall, bossy and opinionated – so very different to me (though friends might beg to differ on at least two counts…). Luckily, Sappho has a big heart to match and when she moves to an old cottage on the Gower, in South Wales, she sets out to help her two best friends achieve their dreams…even if they don’t realise exactly what it is they want, before she takes a hand!

There are a couple of points of similarity between myself and Sappho that I don’t mind admitting to: I love to walk about barefoot, too, connected to the earth - and also, we both own a strange, kaftan-like robe called a Thobe. (And no, I have no idea how you pronounce that. Toe-bee, or not Thow-be, that is the question…)

I had no idea of my robe’s origins when I bought it in a charity shop well over thirty years ago, I just knew that it was beautiful and I wanted it. And I wore it: to parties, when I had people over for dinner, when I just wanted to feel mysterious. I have a photograph of me somewhere wearing it, sitting in front of one of my larger paintings and holding my son, who is a few months old. It was a very forgiving garment.

This was all in the dark ages before computer research made finding information literally child’s play, so I put in some time at the library and finally discovered similar robes (which the author called Thobs) in a book on Palestinian costume. Mine seemed to be Bedouin, made by women for women - and the original owner must have been very tall, because it’s a little long on me. Back when I bought it, I used to wear it with shiny black and gold Indian leather mules with small wedge heels. And my method of hairdressing then, and for a couple of decades, was to brush my hair back, give my head a good shake so that it fell from a central parting, then let it hang loose and long. I have fine hair, though, while Sappho has thick, glorious hair with a Rapunzel complex. 

Anyway, back to the Thob or Thobe: going by the book, mine was most similar to robes made in the 1920’s, but I expect the designs were handed down and repeated. The material is a thick, heavy black satin fabric, with most of the embroidery sewn before the sections were put together. It is entirely handmade and the embroidery sewn in minute cross-stitch in shaded silks, with flowers, birds and baskets of fruit. The neckline is hemstitched. It’s a work of art, and I love it. And it must love me, because – see! - in the picture I can still get into it, despite all the years and the extra pounds.

Now I’m folding it up into its acid-free tissue paper, along with the memories it invoked, and placing it back in the big, camphorwood-lined carved chest on the landing. My Pandora’s box, though not of troubles, but delights.

A Leap of Faith

by Trisha Ashley

Sappho Jones stopped counting birthdays when she reached thirty but, even with her hazy grip on mathematics, she realises that she's on the slippery slope to the big four-oh! With the thought suddenly lodged in her mind that she's a mere cat's whisker away from becoming a single eccentric female living in a country cottage in Wales, she has the urge to do something dramatic before it's too late.

The trouble is, as an adventurous woman of a certain age, Sappho's pretty much been there, done that, got the T-shirt. In fact, the only thing she hasn't tried is motherhood. And with sexy potter Nye on hand as a potential daddy - or at least donor - is it time for her to consider the biggest leap of all? It's either that or buy a cat . . .

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Escape from Normality – Filling Up Your Creative Well by Sophie Claire

We all know the benefits of travel – how it can fire the imagination, help you escape from normal life, give you precious time to slow down, unwind, and refresh the body and soul. But what if you can’t get away? What if you could use an injection of ideas in your writing life, but travelling just isn’t an option right now?

Summer is the perfect time for filling up the creative well with new experiences and sensations, but you don’t always need to go far to find inspiration. Here are some ideas for breathing new life into your writing, no passport required!

Take a notebook, treat this as a game or an adventure, indulge your senses, and – most importantly – get out of your comfort zone.  

1. Be transported!

Go to the bus or train station and travel to a place you’ve never visited before. It doesn’t have to be far – a small village, a big city, perhaps a part of town you’ve never been to. Public transport is always a great source of inspiration (all those people to watch, conversations to eavesdrop on). The story of Harry Potter was conceived on a train, after all!

Once you get to your destination, explore, and spend some time observing what’s around you. Note down your thoughts and descriptions. If you’re working on a book, ask yourself how would your protagonist react to this place? What kind of characters would live here? How might they feel about returning here in later life? Perhaps buy a small memento to remind you of the trip: a postcard, or some stationery (a writer can never have too much stationery). If you like visual prompts, take photographs.

2. Challenge yourself

Try a new activity. Have you ever been camping? Horse-riding? Ice-skating? Bird-watching? Enrol on a day’s photography course, or learn to make cupcakes! If the kids are off school, take them with you. Children are always keen to try new experiences, but we, as adults, tend to be more cautious and maybe don’t have as many opportunities. What’s on your bucket list? Pick one thing and do it!

Alternatively, you could take an existing hobby one step further. If you like knitting or painting or swimming, then how about setting yourself a challenge? You could train for a race, or join a class, or make and donate one of your crafty donations to a charity.

My husband and I love hill-walking, and one summer we decided we’d climb Mount Snowdon. It was much harder than I expected, but the sense of satisfaction was immense, and the views were amazing. Plus, we passed some inspiring characters along the way, including an elderly gentleman wearing nothing but swimming trunks and hiking boots!

3. Listen up!

Go to a music concert or festival. (If these are really not possible, buy a new CD or join Spotify, which is free). You know what I’m going to say: the more unfamiliar, the better. If you like pop, go to a classical performance; if you like rap, try listening to some jazz. 

Music can be a great vehicle for transporting the senses, and some writers devise soundtracks for each book they write. Fellow Novelista, Louise Marley, has blogged about how music inspires her writing here. Open your mind to a new type of music and, who knows, you may find yourself with a new story idea or a character with their own unique taste in music.

4. Escape!

Read a book or watch a film set in an exotic location. Let it transport you and submerge you in an unfamiliar setting. 

I remember one Christmas when my children were small and the weather was so bad we’d been trapped indoors for 2 weeks, I left them with my husband and went to the cinema to watch a Bollywood film. It was a temporary escape from normal life when foreign travel simply wasn’t an option!

5. Time Travel 

Historical novelists do this all the time, but we can all use history as inspiration. After all, history is peopled with characters, and characters are the basis of every story. Head for a local place of historical interest – it could be a stately home, a castle or a park. When you get there, take the guided tour. They’re great for bringing a place to life, and your aim is to feed your imagination. The more interesting the story, the more it will inspire you and hopefully set your own imagination going.
Take advantage of any unusual activities on offer: try archery, wear a suit of armour, fly a falcon. Leave time to soak up the general atmosphere of the place, the smells, the views. Then zoom in and focus on one small detail that you feel is typical of this place. It could be a gravestone, a piece of fabric, an acorn. Note down a description of it. When you get home, use this to spark a new piece of writing.

Even if you only manage to visit a new café to do an hour’s writing, that’s still a break from your usual routine. I hope you’ll be inspired and come home buzzing with fresh ideas.

Have you got any exciting plans this summer? I’d love to hear about them…

Sophie.x