3/4/2024 0 Comments ResearchI’m at the editing stage of my current project which means only one thing – my brain wishes to seek interest and excitement elsewhere. This happens to me every time I’m finishing a book so I’ve made a conscious effort to accommodate this ‘need’. Each day, I’ve set aside time to explore potential ideas for future books. Watching, reading and listening to others explain the skills of their craft whilst I make copious notes purely to pacify my brain and remain on-track with my current project until my deadline.
So far, it’s proved a worthy exercise and hopefully will be useful in the coming months if a potential plot develops from either topic. If not, I’ll have learnt something new in life - which is never wasted!
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3/4/2024 0 Comments People watchingThere’s a downside to every job role. Some are obvious from the outset - others are subtle and somewhat hidden until you’re fully submerged within the role. A trait of an author has always been ‘people watching’. Our instinctive habit of watching others in public places, consciously noting their mannerisms, behaviours and subtle interactions which we squirrel away for later recall. People watching used to be fun, making me smile on many occasions as I spotted small gestures, moments of tenderness, a connection or a secret smile exchanged in public. This habit once filled me with delight but lately, people watching has become a downside to my job - as things have changed. I’m noticing moments that I’m sure weren’t meant for my viewing, for anyone’s viewing in fact. Tiny interactions which occur in a fleeting second but which convey a negative message, a feeling or a prejudice towards another. Whether it be intentional or pure accident, the after effect is visible. And spotted by close observers, such as me. I’m not sure if it’s the ‘times’ we’re living in or simply ignorance and lack of basic manners but I’m witnessing behaviours that I would never include in a book. Tiny micro-expressions of aggression and arrogance which seem to flare so readily aimed towards others, total strangers in many respects. It saddens me. Makes me question what’s happening to society that we should openly display such irritation towards another who happens to wander across our daily path. The negative reactions are so swift, usually non-verbal - blink and you’d missed it but they are there. Reactions which I find difficult to describe seem to be occurring more readily and with an ease that seems almost tragic to our own existence. I used to write in public places, cafes and libraries but recent observations have distracted me from my writing, filling me with sadness and an instant desire to withdraw to my desk. As a species we seem to be losing the ability to truly connect, to empathise or show kindness towards others. I’m hoping this current trend is simply a phase that will pass as readily as it seems to have appeared, enabling ‘people watching’ to return to the guilty pleasure it once was. 26/3/2024 0 Comments Copy editsYesterday morning, I received my copy edits for this summer’s book ‘Retreat To The Lakeside Cottage’. I knew they were on the way but it still comes as a shock when you open a manuscript, which you haven’t seen for a number of weeks, and realise - wow, I wrote that! I've spent all of yesterday and today rereading the manuscript, alongside the editor’s notes. A third of the book remains but fingers crossed, I’m hoping job’s a good ‘un by tomorrow. If you haven’t pieced together certain blog posts, I’ll tell you … the story is about a writers’ retreat set in Hawkshead, Cumbria. My leading ladies are Brontë, Eve and Josie staying at the cottage for a one-week experience. Josie is the housekeeper, mentioned previously in my Lakeside Cottage series, Eve is a best-selling author and Brontë a complete newbie, who ‘scribbles’ as a secret hobby – mmmm, who does she remind me of? Me! Anyway, the story is full of laughter, funny quips and actual writing tips interspersed throughout. I have included a disclaimer beneath the ‘acknowledgements’ as it is not based on any other author I know or who I’ve met during a writing retreat. Update: Done and dusted! I finished the task on day three so sent the manuscript back to the editor. I'm taken aback by how I feel about this book. It's a story that has been brewing in my head for many years so to actually read it feels surreal. That's one of the joys of writing - I'm still surprised at seeing the fruits of your labour. I always said I'd never write a 'how to write a book' book but amongst the plot there's a wealth of information and tips for aspiring authors which would have helped the unpublished me. 16/3/2024 0 Comments Wish me luck!Many, many moons ago, I set myself the challenge of learning to play the piano. I had enquired about attending regular weekly lessons with several music teachers but nothing ever came of it, so I set about teaching myself. I could read the basic notes on a treble stave as I’d been taught at middle school - thank you, Mrs Brown, our music teacher. My first lesson was to ask the internet ‘where is middle ‘c’ on the piano?’ Google answered without much fuss so I set about matching my knowledge of notes with the corresponding piano keys. A slow job to even play three blind mice but progress is progress, regardless of how slowly it occurs. What mattered was that in just twenty minutes sessions - I was learning to play the piano! I chose a single piece on which to work. It wasn’t a beginner’s piece but I stuck with it plink-plonking my way through each session. Notably, right hand only because my brain could not and would not accommodate the idea of introducing the left hand. At the time, I was amazed how anyone is able to play two-handed, read the music and keep time! But I’m not one to give up, so I continued to practise, session by session. When I had a question – I asked Mr Google. When I needed a demonstration, I asked Mrs YouTube and so it went on week after week, month after month. I’ll even admit … year after year because it has taken me a while. A friend advised me to buy a children's piano book which would assist my understanding and I was delighted when I completed each study book to find a certificate on the final page! 'Again' and 'repeat' are uttered and muttered during each practise session to the point of making myself laugh out loud at how strict I am with myself! My daily sessions with Gertrude (my piano now has a name) have continued culminating in this our most important week, for I will attempt to play my three chosen pieces, numerous scales, arpeggios, sight reading and aural tests to sit my ABRSM grade one piano exam! I did have an hour-long piano lesson early in January 2024, mainly to ask the piano teacher if I was wasting my time. Thankfully, he said I wasn’t, so I booked and paid for my exam slot. I’m not aiming to achieve the world’s best grade, in fact if the truth be known simply attending, playing to the best of my ability and leaving the venue a happy bunny will be enough for me. Any grade is going to be a bonus for me, Gertrude, Mr Google and Mrs YouTube! I have no idea how long I need to wait for the actual result but I’ll be honest and share when it comes through. Wish me luck! UPDATE: my exam was this morning. I played a blinder on two pieces but stumbled to a halt in the middle of one - ironically, the piece I've been playing the longest! How does that happen? Anyway, I restarted from the middle and finished it. What's done is done and there's no changing it so now, I'll wait for the result. Fair play to all those little ones who bound in eager and yet fearless! UPDATE: 26th March - I secured a pass grade, or so my website log-in states. I'll take that! 13/3/2024 0 Comments Author Anniversary - 14th MarchTuesday, 14th March 2017 – I was offered my first publishing contract with Aria, a subsidiary of Head of Zeus. A three-book contract which I had waited years to be offered, arrived via an email requesting I sign the electronic document. If you know my story you’ll know, I froze. The dream I’d been waiting for was before me yet 'fear' kicked in. I remember sitting for hours staring at the screen, reading and rereading the fine details over and over again without being any the wiser. I eventually sought advice from others, received a phone call the next morning and signed later that day on Wednesday, 15th March. I can’t believe that was seven years ago! It seems impossible. How times flies! 12/3/2024 0 Comments Records - going back in timeIf you’re a regular follower, you’ll know how much I love the history and masonry detail of grave yards. If you’ve attended one of my ‘author talks’, I freely admit to wandering around them in search of names and inspiration. I spent my last birthday doing just that after I’d attended the coffin works museum in Birmingham.
During lockdown 2020, a section of a headstone was dug up in the back garden. Granted, that sounds weird but the house is built on an old chapel graveyard, hence the find. It didn’t freak me out, as you might expect but instead ignited my curiosity. The disused chapel was converted into flats decades ago, so previous research had informed me that 19 gravestones were ‘removed’ from the land prior to its sale for redevelopment. Whilst living here, I’ve often thought about the families and funeral gatherings which must have taken place on the land where I park my car, tend to flowers and drink my cuppa. Anyway, the section of headstone has sat in the downstairs clock room since that day. There are two main cemeteries where I live. One local, the other further afield - which is the older of the two, dating back to the 16th century. From library records, I understand that coffins were carried through the streets to the furthest cemetery for many years before our local cemetery was created in 1870. The chapel graveyard, which is my focus, was purely for the ‘dissenters’ of the area. Last week, I visited Warwick to deliver an ‘author talk’ at the library, so I booked a session at the County Records Office. I filled out the necessary forms to view an archive treasure and was duly delivered the baptism book for the chapel. A small but hefty book, with yellowed pages, beautiful copperplate handwriting and a distinct binding, which they laid upon a protective pillow. The first entry was for a Joseph Denham born in December 1795. I nearly fell off my chair. How am I being allowed to touch the pages of this book without gloves? Though to be fair having scoured it for over an hour, I left my finger prints on every page! The final entry was Rose Ellen Page dated 1st April 1900 – which made me smile. One surprising detail for each entry was the ‘superiority’ column stating first child, second child … tenth child of the family – I’d never seen that before. My next request was the burial records. Remember I’ve always been told 19 headstones, so imagine my surprise when the register is delivered and its as hefty as the chapel’s baptism book. I’m expecting to see a few pages of details, nothing more. I’m also expecting to be able to narrow down my search for who’s grave stone piece sits in the downstairs clock room, as it shows part of a date year. Not a chance! There were approximately eighty pages of details, each with six or seven burials recorded. The first few pages began by stating burial location as ‘buried on the east side of chapel yard’ and ‘buried on the north side of chapel yard’ which I assumed were details relating to the older cemetery. Suddenly the location column began stating ‘buried at (older named) cemetery’. Then it became a mixture of both ‘chapel yard’ and ‘the (older named) cemetery’ for the rest of the register. I realised my error. I flipped back to the opening pages to reread page after page of names, dates and professions ‘buried in the chapel yard’. There may have been 19 headstones but there were far more graves recorded in the chapel’s register. I was shocked and saddened to realise so many must have been unmarked. I’ve spent the last week mindful of my discovery - as they say, a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. But it can also be a beautiful thing, a brief connection with history and a reason to replant the flower beds. 9/3/2024 0 Comments Author talksIn recent weeks, I have conducted 'author talks' at three libraries: Rugby, Nuneaton and Warwick. I always start with the essentials relating to my publication journey but allow the audience to dictate where the conversation flows. The advantage is that no two author talks are the same, even I laugh at the varied scope of where the book chatter leads us.
Topics mentioned: Secret writer Post-it notes Writing groups Isolation Graveyards Libraries Childhood Katie Fforde Romantic Novelists’ Association Publishers' cover designs Glitter Pupils and Sainsbury’s shelves Fountain pens & purple ink Narnia Cake London Writers’ Salon Classic books Doorsteps Critical/constructive feedback Topic of adoption/foundling Family names 1986 trends Piano Easter Eggs Agents Publishers Genetics Writing retreats Planning/plotting Lilac trees Seeds Post-it notes Isolation Agatha Christie Peacocks Cute cottages Shetland ponies Writing routine Writing process Stable beginnings/changing the ends Shakespeare/poetry Heroes Women Writers’ block Trains/London parties Emily Bronte Village ‘talk’ Village life Blended families Signed books National Novel Writing Month The generation of ideas Leap Year Competitions Debut nerves Memories Shifting time Retirement Future ideas Book titles After each ‘author talk’ the library asks for feedback, so I’m delighted to say I’ve received some gorgeous comments. Here are my favourite four: ‘Funny and very inspiring’ ‘She doesn’t do the ‘buy my book, buy my book’ routine – which is refreshing.’ ‘She involved the audience - she didn’t talk at us.’ ‘I feel like I know her. That’s the best talk I’ve been to!’ If you’re interested in hosting an 'author talk’ be it for a book group, a writers’ group, book festival, a community event, conference or a library session – please email me for further details at ErinGreenAuthor@mail.com 1/3/2024 0 Comments Signed book 'Giveaway'I'm giving away a signed copy of TAKING A CHANCE ON LOVE to one of my newsletter subscribers. The draw will take place on Thursday, 7th March at 6pm. All you have to do to be included in the draw is visit my newsletter page (see the tabs above) and enter your email address. Simple. Good luck! UPDATE: Congratulations Lauren Cope - I shall email you a.s.a.p. This giveaway is now closed. You can still subscribe to my newsletter and be included in future signed giveaways. Today, I signed 37 paperbacks with 37 different messages at Waterstones Nuneaton. That's a first for me! I always aim to write a unique comment when signing paperbacks at author talks but I've never thought of so many in one sitting. The store's team were fantastic company throughout the session and even supplied me with tea!
The four titles being stocked are: New Beginnings At Rose Cottage Taking A Chance On Love From Shetland, With Love Summer Dreams At The Lakeside Cottage. You remember the scene, I’m certain – it’s engraved upon all our memories given how long we waited for ‘the moment’. A darkened room, lit by a multitude of flickering candles, a romantic ambience worthy of any marriage proposal and a nervous female awaiting his arrival. ‘You wanted it to be a surprise,’ she says, her voice choked with emotion. The audience whoop and gasp as she lowers herself on to bended knee and looks up into his expectant face. ‘Chandler, in all my life, I never thought I’d be so lucky as to fall in love with my best …’ she stammers, amidst her emotional outpouring, before pausing and tearfully adding, ‘There’s a reason why girls don’t do this!’ Monica’s very honest statement is Chandler’s signal to take over the proceedings and propose in the traditional manner. My question is: ‘Is there a reason why girls don’t do this?’ Is it because we’re simply too emotional to propose without crying? Is it because ‘the moment’ is deemed so precious within social values that females feel too vulnerable to ask for fear of rejection? Or is it the ultimate dividing line between gender equality? Putting it simply, in 2024 does it firmly remain the man’s role in a heterosexual relationship to determine when, where and how long into a relationship he proposes marriage? My book, ‘Taking a Chance on Love’, highlights this particular theme. My story features three independent, successful and sassy women – each with differing views on relationships and marriage. Each woman knows her own mind and lives her life as she deems fit. Carmen can’t wait to be married, Polly is not interested and Dana has no one to ask. With the 29th February fast approaching, will any of them propose and change their fate with a single question? A tradition which began centuries ago, with the additional leap day null and voiding all social rules. According to an old Irish legend, St Brigid made a deal with St Patrick allowing women to propose to men – every four years. So, 29th February is observed as Bachelor’s Day in Ireland, enabling women to initiate courtship and propose marriage, if they wish. Should her proposal be rejected, the male was expected to buy the lady an expensive silk gown by way of an apology. But would you propose? I’ll be honest – I wouldn’t. I’ve conducted plenty of research over the past year and have asked a fair number of women – the majority repeating my answer of ‘no’. Just three women said they would, if it were necessary. Obviously, my next question was how? What struck me was that none of my three ladies would actually go down on bended knee and ask her man outright! Each one would choose an ‘indirect’ method of asking him. I wondered if this was deemed acceptable and would the males accept such an indirect proposal? Several men said they would have been shocked if their partners had proposed – they’d always felt it was their role in the relationship. One man was honest enough to say he would have accepted his partner’s proposal if she’d asked, but would wish for his young daughter to receive a traditional proposal from any future son-in-law. Some men felt that their masculinity was at stake, whilst others suggested it would be the most flattering compliment ever received. The males seemed divided on a range of aspects, unlike the majority of females. So, was Monica right all along? I suspect she could be. Maybe every proposal, be it Leap Year or otherwise, comes down to a mutual understanding of love and respect in a manner befitting each specific couple, regardless of gender or sexual orientation. All that’s left for me to say is good luck and best wishes to anyone, male or female, planning to propose this Leap Year. Practice your lines, make your memories and I wish you the very best for a loving future. |
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