Summer is ...

Writing conference and Book festival Season!

I enjoy visiting book festivals and taking part in writing conferences, but I must confess, my enjoyment diminishes somewhat when it is this hot!  I am not a hot house flower, but someone who prefers the cooler weather of autumn and I have no objection to crisp frosty mornings either!

I am delighted to be one of thirty attending authors at the 3rd UK Indie Lit Festival, once again being held in the Kala Sangam Arts Centre in Bradford.

The event takes place on the 28th July from 10.00 to 5pm. No matter what your reading preference, there is something for everyone including an International hub with USA best selling author Kendare Blake and DL Gallie from Australia, appearing via video link.

There are workshops, readings and a Prize Draw. Best of all, it's a free event, although you do need a ticket available from Eventbrite or the UK Indie Lit Festival website.

On the 12th August you'll find me on the Sheffield Authors stand at the South Yorkshire Festival being held at Wortley Hall, nr Sheffield.  This promises to be a fun day out for all the family with craft, garden and book stalls.  There's even free donkey rides and face painting to keep the child entertained.  Once again, this is a Free event, but there is a small charge for parking, which is limited, so be sure to get there early!

If you live near Bradford, Sheffield or Barnsley, do come along and say hello.  You may just find that elusive Christmas present for someone with the most discerning taste!

Welcome.... Angela Wren

I am delighted to welcome Angela Wren to my blog today.  Not only is Angela an actor and director, she is also the author of short stories and comic-flash fiction.  She very kindly agreed to take time out of her busy schedule to tell me a little about the background to her first novel, Messandrierre, which has just been released.  

First of all, thank you Victoria for allowing me the opportunity to write on your blog.  I hope your readers will find my little nuggets of wisdom - assuming there are some - interesting and useful.

I'll introduce myself as something of a scribbler and I've been doing that since I was about 8 or 9.  I even liked my creative writing homework.  And it's OK; you don't need to tell me how peculiar it is for a child to actually like homework, any homework!

I was first introduced to France as a teenager and, frankly, I've been hooked ever since.  My scribblings then centred on what I'd seen, where I'd been, the people I'd met.  Not that any of it came together as a story at that time.  How could it with the standard teenager's attention span!

Then grown-up life and work got in the way and I spent less time in France and more time in front of a computer writing planning and strategy documents as my life spiralled through a career in business change and project management.

My light bulb moment was my decision to escape the rat race.  I started visiting areas of France I'd never had the time to go to before; I stayed in places I'd just driven through in the past and I wrote more seriously.  But when you have scenery like this -

to look at for as long as you want, it is hard not to be inspired.

I visited the Cévennes and took my Stevenson with me and, over three weeks, I followed his route from Le Monastier to Allais along with my version of Modestine - a Landrover!  That journey took me across some stunning countryside, tiny villages where everything stopped for lunch and the family, through vast groves of walnut trees and along winding mountain passes. 

To this day I am certain that I stood on one hillside, looking down on a small farm and a few other houses, in exactly the same spot that Stevenson must have been to create a sketch I have in another book of his.

In a village in Burgundy, I happened across a two roomed museum dedicated to Renoir.  His studio was in an outbuilding and for a couple of euros I went to have a look.  Expecting only to be allowed to look through the windows, I was stunned to find that I could actually go inside.  So I have had the inestimable pleasure of treading in Renoir's footsteps!  And, it seems to me that there are lots of little places like this the length and breadth of the country - you just need to search them out.

Need I mention the cuisine?  Probably not, but I wonder who else has driven across the Puy de Dome and found a large farmhouse with French cars parked outside and a hand-written menu drawing-pinned to the door frame.  I walked in to discover a large room filled with trestle tables and benches and Madame made the people at the nearest table squeeze up to fit me in.  The food was simple, the taste phenomenal and the ambiance buzzing.

So, setting my first novel, Messandrierre, in France, seemed to me at least, to be a logical progression from those early scribblings.  My book is the first in a series of murder mysteries and features my investigator Jacques Forêt.  Messandrierre is the name of my fictional village in the Cévennes and the story begins in September 2007 because when I was there at the time, it snowed! 

Author Bio:

Having followed a career in Project and Business Change Management, I now work as an Actor and Director at a local theatre. I’ve been writing, in a serious way, for about 5 years. My work in project management has always involved drafting, so writing, in its various forms, has been a significant feature throughout my adult life.

I particularly enjoy the challenge of plotting and planning different genres of work. My short stories vary between contemporary romance, memoir, mystery and historical. I also write comic flash-fiction and have drafted two one-act plays that have been recorded for local radio. The majority of my stories are set in France where I like to spend as much time as possible each year.

You can learn more about Angela by visiting her website and blog;

Website : www.angelawren.co.uk
Blog : www.jamesetmoi.blogspot.com

 Sacrificing his job in investigation following an incident in Paris, Jacques Forêt has only a matter of weeks to solve a series of mysterious disappearances as a Gendarme in the rural French village of Messandrierre. 

But, as the number of missing persons rises, his difficult and hectoring boss puts obstacles in his way. Steely and determined, Jacques won't give up and, when a new Investigating Magistrate is appointed, he becomes the go-to local policeman for all the work on the case.

Will he find the perpetrators before his lover, Beth, becomes a victim?
Messandrierre – the first in a new crime series featuring investigator, Jacques Forêt.

Available from:

Amazon link : http://mybook.to/Messandrierre

Smashwords link : https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/598765

Finding time to write.

The question I get asked most often is 'how do you find time to write'?

In this day and age it's easy to feel overwhelmed by everyday life without the added pressure of writing a book or short story. So just how do you apply the BOSFOK (bum on seat, fingers on keyboard) principle?

The answer is by scheduling the time you have.

Don't try and fit your writing into your 'spare time.' There's no such thing, especially if you work full time in order to support your family. Study your schedule and designate time when you can concentrate on your writing, but don't be too ambitious. For example: If you are a morning person try getting up half an hour earlier and using that time to write. Some writers prefer to work of any evening while the rest of the family watch TV, others dedicate weekend afternoons as their time to write. Choose whatever works best for you, and stick to it.

Use a timer when doing research--it's very easy to become distracted, especially when searching the Internet. A timer will help make your time at the computer more productive.

Limit the amount of time you spend answering and sending emails (unless they are to your editor), and reading on line newspapers and blogs.

Think about what you're going to write BEFORE you sit down in front of the computer, perhaps while ironing, or mowing the lawn. When you do sit down at your desk, you'll have the next few pages worked out, plus you will have freed up time in which to write it.

Make use of downtime--those tedious journeys on the bus to work or sitting around waiting for appointments. Carry a notebook and write while you travel or wait. If you spend a lot of time in the car driving from place to place, invest in a voice activated voice recorder.

While you're watching your children play in the park, work out the next scene or think through a problem. When you sit down to write, the words will generally flow.

If your children have an essay to write use the time they are sat quietly to work on your novel.

Don't try and write while the TV or radio is playing in the background, it will only distract you.

Instead of taking an hour to eat lunch, use part of the time to write.

Invest in a netbook computer--most are no bigger than a sheet of A4 paper, are lightweight and relatively inexpensive.

Use an answering machine to screen calls during your 'writing time.'

But most of all, set yourself a writing goal. It could be something as simple as entering one writing contest in the course of a year. And remember; if you write 250 words a day--the equivalent of one page of A4, in a year you will have written 365 pages or approximately 90,000 words--enough for a full length novel. Whatever your goal, stick to it, as it will take the pressure off.

Time management is all about common sense. It's a matter of understanding your commitments and knowing how you work best, and using that information to achieve your goals.