So today is the day! Ten Ruby Trick is out and available! Go catch a look for fun, pirates, magic, fun, mayhem and fun.

That’s quite enough of that.

Writers of fiction are, by definition, tellers of lies that seem like truth. Fantasy writers are even worse, because we write about things that can never be real. Or as a fellow fantasy writer puts it ‘This is where we just make stuff up’. Well, that’s not exactly how she puts it, but this is a family friendly blog

So where does all this fantasy-stuff-that-can-never-be-real-but-must-feel-real come from? Yes, I love hyphens.

All over the place! For me there are generally two types. The I-put-it-there-on-purpose type. These are the things that I start off with, basic premises etc. In my latest release, it’s mages whose magic accretes on their skin as crystals which dissolve when they spend magic, or in water. Makes bathing, not to mention moving much, a bit of a pig, so they need servants who will always obey them because they are fairly helpless apart from the their magic and so….and there is one of my cultures. I thought about all the implications till my brain hurt.

But my favourite ones are the Uh-oh-I-need-something-here-NOW types. The ones that just pop into my head and then become such an integral part of the story I wonder how I thought I’d manage without it. So, when my pirate is trying to fence a diamond that is big enough he can only just get his fist round it and is also highly suspicious, the fence probably won’t have enough money on him. So he’ll trade something valuable but less suspicious like…uh…like…um…wedding knives! What the heck are wedding knives? Glass. Glass daggers? Are you sure woman? Only now I can see them, and the whole story of why and how people use them and why they’re glass turns up in my head. And then those daggers took on an importance, a significance of their own, one I could never have foreseen, but something essential to my pirate and those around him. Without them, the ending of the book would have been less somehow. And hopefully, you wouldn’t be able to tell they were part of an ‘Oh heck, now what?’ moment on my part. Unless you’ve read this blog obviously…

So, for our commenters, what are your favourite fantasy details, the things that could never be but pop up like shiny gold pennies in the books you read?

So, that time of year, that kind of post. Without further ado, my five most favouritest books I have read this year. And I haven’t included books by either Samhain or Carina as that seems…incestuous lol. Or at least a bit of nepotism. But you should really check out their books, because there are some great ones there!

Hmm maybe this should be ‘Top five books I’ve read this year I found in Waterstone’s’. Note this does not mean they came out this year.

Anyway.

Number 5

Zoo City, Lauren Beukes

I thoroughly enjoyed this – a different setting (South Africa) a new take on fantasy (Getting lumbered with an animal if you are a bad boy/girl) and an MC I could really get behind. Nice and pacy, just enough description and a really great relationship between the MC and her man. I loved the way they talked to each other, sliding round what they really wanted to say and being snarky to avoid the issue. Kind of broke my heart a bit…I love books that do that. If you’re after something a bit different from your usual Urban Fantasy, this is a very good bet.

4 – The Whale Road, Robert Low

Not a fantasy, but an historical, this was recommended to me when I started writing a book about Vikings, as it is superbly researched yet the research never gets in the way of a damn good story. It had me right from the opening paragraph, with its lyrical use of language evoking a time and place and a way of thinking that’s so far from our own…and I was totally sold on the young hero who, having discovered the joys of women had to be ‘saved from humping myself to death’. Orm is by turns full of bravado and close to peeing himself with fear, yet a deep thinker, trying to feel his way through the pitfalls of his society. I loved this book so much I went straight out and bought the sequel, the Wolf Sea, which was just as good.

3 – The Shadow of the Wind, Carlos Ruiz Zafon

I don’t know what genre this is, and I don’t care. It’s gothic, it’s a mystery, an historical, hints of the fantastical – but all round bloody brilliant. Again, it invokes a time and place, almost effortlessly it seems, plunging me deep into Spain decades ago. The story unfolds a piece at a time, leading to a final deep sigh of contentment from me. Beautiful.

Now, for places 1 and 2, we have a tie. Two very different books, both superb examples of their type, both fantasy.

The Curse of Chalion, Lois McMaster Bujold. Yes, I know it’s a couple of years old, but do you know how hard it is to get her stuff in Waterstone’s? I can’t even order in the sequel! Honestly, the guy behind he counter had never even heard of her. To be fair, he didn’t know what a Hugo award was either. Anyway, this book is the sort where I read it and it’s just so bloody good it briefly makes me want to give up writing. Threads are woven together with subtle expertise, the world-building is fantastic, the description flowing and not overblown, the MC is intelligent, not your typical hero, but so believable and likeable…

I love this book. Very hard indeed.

So what other book made a tie with it?

Triumff: Her Majesty’s Hero, Dan Abnett

Now, I’ve been a fan of Abnett for a while. He’s written a fair bit for Warhammer 40k (I’m a geek, sue me) and while it wasn’t 100% my genre, I’ve admired the way he tells a story, and in particular, the skill he shows in writing a fight scene, something that is a bit of a rarity. But I didn’t buy his book for me, I bought it for the Old man, who is a MASSIVE Abnett fan. Only Old Man kept giggling as he read it. So I snuck it off him and began to read it myself. And giggled too. This is Abnett channelling Pratchett, down to the little footnotes and sly references to the world we live in. Triumff himself is part rogue, part drunken idiot, slicing off a man’s ear with a cabbage spoon when he can’t get his Swiss Army Rapier to work properly. And above all, he’s so very fun to read, chock full of action, cheesy jokes and sheer story.

So, description. Like it or loathe it?

Because it seems that among both readers and writers there is a distinct divide, with a little group huddled in the middle. Some readers loathe it, don’t want characters described at all, so they can picture who they want and skip description of places etc. Some writers refuse to describe any character at all (except as necessary to plot). I personally prefer something to for my imagination work with. Or all male leads get ‘Johnny Depped’ as a default.

Yet, especially in fantasy (and some other genres, notably historical and romance) there is often huge chunks of it and people complain if there isn’t enough description. (Note: which drives me bonkers to be honest, because I personally do not feel I need a half page description of a minor implement, including its forging history, the life story of the forger etc if its not actually important and never crops up again. My husband finds me shouting at books occasionally. Normally it’s ‘Will you just get on with the story!’ I have been known to throw the worst culprits.)

Yes, I’m right there, huddled in the middle.

So what to do, as a writer?

First, realise you will never, ever, and I mean it, ever please everyone. EVER. So don’t try.

Then consider two things. One, the genre you’re writing in, and two your own personal preference.

So, genre. Thrillers can be much lighter on the description side and probably no one will mind. In fact, as your reader is expecting a fast-paced adrenalin ride, any chunks of description might be best left on the wayside in favour of subtlety. Fantasy on the other hand, seems to demand it. Mainly because, well, you aren’t in Kansas any more Dorothy, so everything is new and the reader needs to be able to ground themselves. And just what is a Wibblesplat and what does it look like? In romance, readers like to know what the guy looks like, so they can see if he’s hot Many historical readers read for the detail of What Life Was Like Then.

So while you can’t please everyone, what you can do is try to give the readers of the genre you’re writing in enough to satisfy.

This does not mean you have to describe everything, or have big chunks of ‘And so he had blue eyes and black hair and…’ or slow down the pace to a crawl.

And this is where we come to personal preference. As noted above, I personally abhor large chunks of description, but I need some description, something for my little brain to work with. My husband doesn’t care. Neither of us is wrong.

So I’m not going to be whacking in a huge chunk of description, even if it guaranteed me a number one bestseller. Neither am I going to leave it out completely. I prefer a more subtle ‘slide in a line or two here and there and leave at least some of it to the reader’s imagination’. Because that’s what I like to read.

If you, however, find that lots of description is your cup of tea, then obviously you’re going to add it in. If you loathe all description you’re going to leave it out.

Neither of these is bad in and of themselves. It really is personal preference.

So, what can you do?

1- read widely in your genre, AND out of it. Find the books you love, and study how the author used description (or not). Not just for plot, but for atmosphere and tone and characterisation.

2 – Practice doing it the other way. If you loathe description, practise it anyway for those times you need it, see how it changes things up. If you love lots of description, see how little you can get away with and still get the effect you want. Experiment and stretch yourself. See what works for you, and also how else it could be used.

3 – Be creative. Laundry lists of description are boring for everyone. Pick out the most telling details – his limp, the way her nose twitches when she’s thinking about something she doesn’t like, the funny little green knob on the top of the cupola – and work round them. Work with your POV too – does your first person narrator/third limited character not notice clothes? Don’t describe them then, but describe what he does notice. It will be all part of his voice, because each of us notices different things depending what is important to us. Seeing what he does and doesn’t notice gives us subtle information about him.

4 – Have fun, practice lots and don’t believe there is any one right way of doing it. There isn’t, same as there is no ‘One right level of description’. There is only ‘The level that works for me’.

So, November is being a good month.

First, Love is My Sin made the finals in the EPIC awards!

Second Love is My Sin released in Print!

Third – I have cover art for my next release (from Carina Press. Check them out )

And the art is the business. I am totally in love with it, from the yummy pirate Van Gast (more on him in a bit) to the colours and the attention to detail, right down to the ten rubies in the font.

And here’s the blurb:

Privateer Van Gast thrills in capturing treasure; delights in pulling off elaborate scams; and has an outrageous reputation with the ladies. But there is only one woman for him: fellow privateer Josie—seductive, brave and unpredictable. He’s hoping to make their relationship permanent, until he raids the wrong ship. Now slavers are stalking him, his crew is verging on mutiny and Josie has disappeared.

When she reappears with a new mark wanting Van Gast’s help running the ten ruby trick con, he senses trouble. It seems like Josie has joined up with mage-bound slavers to turn him over to their Master. Van Gast is about to take the biggest risk of all—and find out the true meaning of trust and betrayal.

I love trying something new, whether it’s food, a new author or a new type of writing. Or not so much new, as different. My novella, the Wicked Lady came about because I thought, if I was going to be one of these writery people, I really ought to be able to write a sex scene at least passably well. An erotic romance was born. Ten Ruby Trick (coming soon folks, in January! Fantasy + pirates = win!) came about because I wanted to do something different in fantasy, for me at least. Something non-epic, fast paced and fun, even in the darker parts. And hoo boy, was it fun! I’m so looking forward to writing a follow up. I’ve got a first draft of something different again – a first -and snarky-person in an alternate world urban fantasy thing. Again faster paced and fun, with a few dark parts. No idea if it’ll work.

But for now, I’m working on something different. It’s my editor’s fault (Hi Deb!). She said something along the lines of ‘you’ve got a good voice for historical, have you thought of trying one?’ about a fortnight before I went to Norway for a week. Add in I love Vikings and…my Viking hero popped into my head as I walked around Geiranger. Nothing really new there, is there? Well, kinda. Because this is an historical, and it’s not what I’ve written much of before (bar the Wicked Lady, which was focused almost purely on the erotic romance. Especially the erotic bit *cough*). And the feel is different, and so is the pace. I have to research and add in details that are right for the time. Even if they are a bit yucky. It’s unfolding a lot slower this time, though hopefully no less full of tension. The hero is, well the hero is almost the exact opposite of my last one. All of which makes me worry a bit.

But then as my husband reminds me, I worry every damn time. I get to a point where I hate the book every damn time too.

So I’m telling myself the worry is a good thing, oh yes. It means it’s probably going all right.

I hope.

Possibly.

But if I don’t try something new, how will I get better as a writer? I won’t, that’s for sure. Trying something new is the mainstay of developing your craft, once you’ve reached a certain point. Even if it fails, I will have learned something, such as what doesn’t work. So I’m going to feel the worry and do it anyway. That doesn’t have quite the same ring to it, does it?

So, that day has finally come and my pirate lady is ready and waiting.

Nice girls love a sailor. Naughty girls are quite partial, too.

When a man she thought she loved offered Lady Catherine Harcourt a life wrapped in a velvet bow, she took it. That life wrapped her in velvet chains. Now her status as a respectable widow allows her virginal alter ego, Cecily, to relieve milksop-for-blood dandies of their riches and go back where she belongs. The sea—aboard her pirate ship.

The one knot in her sail is Paul Ambury. Daring, irresistible, and a lieutenant in the Royal Navy. Yet the temptation to indulge in his gorgeous body—all in the name of the plan, of course—is too much to resist.

Paul has known his share of empty-headed society women, and fiercely intelligent Catherine doesn’t fit. When he wakes up adrift in a longboat after a blazing night together, he knows why. She took him for a fool—and took his ship.

Plus, the evil little genius has him neatly trapped. If he reveals why he lost his ship, he faces court martial. If he does his duty, he must find her and hang her—the one woman with whom he’s fallen in love. Damn it…

Warning: This book includes graphic sex and language, sexy sailors and saucy pirates trying to get one over on each other in the bed…on the floor…on that handy table…

Leave a comment and one lucky person gets a free copy! Or you can buy it here. Hint hint

There are lots of horror stories around about publishers and agents. Scam artists, people who mean well but haven’t got the know-how or the contacts or the business savvy to do the author justice. So when you get that ‘Actually I love this. Contract?’ email or phone call, it’s worth the time out from running round the room with your t-shirt over your head in a victory lap to step back and see just what you’re signing your baby book to.

Here are a few things to think about, with some links to help at the end.

1 – The most important thing is this. Are they asking for money? For whatever reason, admin/reading fees/editing fees etc. The list is long and varied. But if they’re asking for money be very, VERY careful. At the esteemed James D MacDonald so rightly says ‘Money flows to the writer’. So if they’re asking for upfront money, or any kind of payment from you (that isn’t commission on sales) run away. Or at least check them out very thoroughly indeed.

2 – Check out their website. For publishers: Do you like their covers and blurbs, does it look professional. Are there any books there that make you want to buy them? Look as a prospective customer, and see what you think. Also think format. Many independents are e-book only, some offer print. If the print is important to you, don’t sign for an e-only publisher!

For agents: Check current clients and recent sales (these might not be listed on their site, but you should be able to check on places like publishers weekly, which lists main clients and best known projects etc) Are they making the kind of deal you want?

3 – If you can, contact some of their current authors. Most will be only too happy to help (because they’re writers, just like you!) Questions to ask? Do their editors know their stuff, are they easy to work with, do they pay on time, what are their sales like? What sort of promo do they do, and what do they expect you to do? For agents, you’ll want to know how aggressively their MS’s were shopped, whether they are in communication often or if they go AWOL occasionally? Basically you want/need to know is this: How professional are they? Are they people you think you could work with? Do they know the business?

4 – Check Preditors and Editors and AW’s Bewares and Background Checks. These two places have saved many a writer from scammers and/or just unprofessional publishers and agents who will do nothing or less for your book.

This might seem discouraging but think of it like this. You’ve spent months/years writing, crafting, working to get this book put there. A few hours spent doing a few checks could save you from a lot of heartache and wasted money/broken dreams. And remember – there are very many good and great agents out there, and publishers who will do your book justice. Both my publishers are fantastic to work with and hugely enthusiastic and professional. You just need to make sure the one that has offered the contract is the same.

Yes, indeed, the cover for my novella – The Wicked Lady, red hot romance, with added pirates! – is now official, along with the blurb

There she is, my wicked pirate lady, in disguise

And here’s the blurb (for which I have to thank the lovely blurb person at Samhain, who took my sow’s ear and made a silk purse)

Nice girls love a sailor. Naughty girls are quite partial, too.

When a man she thought she loved offered Lady Catherine Harcourt a life wrapped in a velvet bow, she took it. That life wrapped her in velvet chains. Now her status as a respectable widow allows her virginal alter ego, Cecily, to relieve milksop-for-blood dandies of their riches and go back where she belongs. The sea—aboard her pirate ship.

The one knot in her sail is Paul Ambury. Daring, irresistible, and a lieutenant in the Navy. Yet the temptation to indulge in his gorgeous body—all in the name of the plan, of course—is too much to resist.

Paul has known his share of empty-headed society women, and fiercely intelligent Catherine doesn’t fit. When he wakes up adrift in a longboat after a blazing night together, he knows why. She took him for a fool—and took his ship.

Plus, the evil little genius has him neatly trapped. If he reveals why he lost his ship, he faces court martial. If he does his duty, he must find her and hang her—the one woman with whom he’s fallen in love. Damn it…

Warning: This book includes graphic sex and language, sexy sailors and saucy pirates trying to get one over on each other in the bed…on the floor…on that handy table…

In other words, this one ain’t for the kiddies!

Also, stay tuned for more pirate news.

I’ve been busy!

First there was Da Drama with the NHS, or more precisely the psytrickarist who was adamant that not only was Cognitive Behavioural Therapy no good for Bipolar( really? Not what the NHS guidelines say) neither was any sort of therapy, counselling or indeed information. Oh, and it wasn’t available anyway. Except that the Bipolar therapy unit was in the room underneath his….All he ever said was ‘Are you sure you wouldn’t like some drugs?’ No, I would not. I’d like something for the fricking ulcer you are giving me though.

So, after a year of frustration in trying to get the treatment I was supposed to be getting, I write a really spankingly sarcastic letter of complaint to the NHS. It included the words ‘I am beginning to wonder what I have to do to get some treatment round here. Run naked through A&E perhaps? A bribe? Mug someone and blame it on the lack of care in the community?’

Still no progress. Therapy is not available on the NHS dear, even if it is listed in their ‘NHS treatment for Bipolar’ information. I do manage to get a promise I will never have to see this psytrickarist again. In desperation I sent a copy of the letter of complaint to my MP. Well, for once I can say politicians are useful for something. Three days after my MP wrote to the Chief Executive of the NHS trust I got a phone call.

‘Just calling to arrange your counselling.’
‘Ah, would that be the counselling everyone tells me doesn’t exist?’
Looong pause. Small voice. ‘Yes.’

So finally, despite the best efforts of my psychiatrist, I am finally getting treatment. My lack of it up till now has been blamed on ‘Internal restructuring’ and ‘Misunderstanding’. I’m more of the belief I just got the crap psychiatrist on the team – all the others I have seen since have been splendid.

And during all this I managed to write a novel. First draft down in six weeks. Completed in 3 months. A record for me. It just kind of wrote itself….It has magic and sexy pirates and adventure on the high seas, lashings of derring do and some nautical lovin’ and a Casablanca ending.

Oh and I’ve been critting and sorting out my son’s schooling – can you believe the council have assigned my son to a school that won’t take him? We made it quite clear on the application. Nice lady at the admissions board eventually admitted they don’t read the applications…Appeal to follow. Should be interesting. My MP may get another letter.

Let’s see, what else? Oh yes, attended my first writers’ conference – Eastercon. Note to self, Scrumpy cider is much stronger than what you usually drink and you will get squiffy substantially quicker. However did my first ever pitch (two actually), where I concentrated – on the first at least – on not spilling my tea on the nice lady. Both asked to take a look, so yay! One’s already passed – certain elements not quite his cup of tea – but said rather nice things about it. I’ve got a few partials and a full out so fingers crossed.

And I will try and blog more often. Promise.

..an EPIC award for best Fantasy Romance!

Look at this – ain’t it pretty?

*runs round room with t-shirt over head*

Ahem, so I’ll calm down now. Ilfayne’s Bane has won the EPIC award for best Fantasy Romance. Wohoo! I’m bloody stunned tbh – I was happy to get into the finalists, but I thought I’d come a comfortable third out of three. But there it is, the first damn thing I ever wrote. And it won. Gobsmacked and delighted doesn’t quite cover it. Now all I have to do is make sure everything else I ever write is up to the same standard. No pressure….