Lisa's Links, Lists and Inspiration

This is one of those blog posts in which I take to the internet to tell you about other people's great posts on other parts of the internet or to put it another way; here are some articles that I really enjoyed and I wish I'd written them. Anyway I'm currently attempting to edit an article I've written, editing the outline for my novel, working on the second draft of my novel, reading an imaginative time travel fantasy about magic and science. The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. and organising my daughter's birthday sleepover. So what better time to write a blog post?

Earlier this week I shared M. L. Rio's Books that Made Me so below is a link to a guest post that she wrote for the Waterstones blog (which I also occasionally write for by the way) in which the author writes about some of her favourite Shakespeare inspired novels.

https://www.waterstones.com/blog/if-we-were-villains-m-l-rios-five-best-novels-inspired-by-shakespeare

If you haven't already done so you should check out today's Google doodle which features Victor Hugo. On this day in 1862 he published the final chapter of Les Misérables  learn more about the man and his work here

https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/6/30/15894886/victor-hugo-les-miserables-google-doodle

If like me you love reading books about books and books about readers then you will love this list from Off the Shelf which will give you another thirteen books to add to your wishlists and TBR piles.

http://offtheshelf.com/2017/06/13-tales-of-reading-for-bookworms-everywhere/?cp_type=OfftheShelf&rmid=OFF_THE_SHELF_2017&rrid=38228562

If you are contemplating doing Camp Nanowrimo you can sign up on the site below but even if you aren't taking part you can read words of wisdom and encouragement from a whole host of great writers by checking out the author pep talks at the link below.

http://nanowrimo.org/pep-talks

With a new version  of  My Cousin Rachel  just hitting our cinema screens there has never been a better time to re-read Daphne du Maurier's classic gothic masterpiece. Julie Myerson reviews both

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jun/17/rereading-my-cousin-rachel-daphne-du-maurier?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Bookmarks+-+Collections+2017&utm_term=231155&subid=8157735&CMP=EMCBKSEML3964

I can never resist anything about the Brontës so the following two articles immediately drew my attention one is about the wonderfully successful Bradford Literature Festival and the other is about the influence of Branwell on his sisters' creative lives. 

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/jun/26/bradford-literary-festival-diversity-women-brontes-buddhist-poetry

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jun/26/its-time-to-bring-branwell-the-dark-bronte-into-the-light

Finally some writing inspiration for the weekend I subscribe to the newsletter of the wonderful Nephele Tempest, who is an agent at The Knight Agency and every Friday she shares some writing inspiration so here are two of the articles she shared that I felt really spoke to the struggling writer in me.


https://catapult.co/stories/publishing-shop-talk-why-being-a-literary-agent-doesnt-make-it-easier-to-write-a-book#

https://parnassusmusing.net/2017/06/25/jennifer-close-writing-tips/



Happy Reading and Happy Writing until next time.

Friday Feature Author Emma Fraser

After a variety of jobs (waitress, sign painter for archeological sites, barmaid) Emma Fraser trained as a nurse in Edinburgh before going on to study English Literature at university. After graduating she and her husband travelled for a few years, living and working in Australia, rural Africa and the far north of Canada. When they returned to Britain, Emma worked in the Health Sector for a number of years before leaving to write full time. She wrote several medical romances for Harlequin under the name Anne Fraser before her first historical novel, When the Dawn Breaks was published by Sphere in 2013. Her second historical, We Shall Remember, is out in ebook and hardback now and paperback in October. Her stories are about ordinary, but strong and determined women who find themselves in extra-ordinary situations and are based on real people and events.

Emma's Five Favourite Books


I have so many, but these are five of my favourites

Into Thin Air Jon Krakauer
Rebecca Daphne du Maurier
Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen
The Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad
Bleak House Charles Dickens

Emma's 5 Top Writing tips


Persevere
Sometimes it feels as if writing a whole book is impossible – think of it in chunks and you'll get there. Which brings me to my next tip...


Write first - edit later

I'm a great believer that we use one side of our brain to write and the other to edit. If you try and apply the editing side while you are writing, you will constantly go over scenes and never get to the end.


Learn to love your delete key

After you've written your first draft, go back. If the scene doesn't push your story on, either by revealing character or advancing the plot, the scene has to go. Learn that this is a good thing. (Sometimes if it's too painful to delete something I have spent hours writing, I put it in a deleted scene file and pretend to myself I will use it in another book. I haven't done so far, but it easier for me to use that key.)


Try and write most days

I don't write at the weekends (unless I am close to a deadline then I write all the time) but I do try to write most days. If I take long periods off I find it more difficult to get back into my writing. It feels to me a little like when I haven't been to the gym for a while. As Stephen King says in his book On Writing, you can't wait for the muse to come to you. Sit down at your desk every day (or most days) and the muse will come and find you there.



Find someone you trust to be your ideal reader.

I'm lucky, I have my sisters and my daughter who I can show stuff to. They can be brutal, far too honest sometimes, but trust me that's better than having a first reader who doesn't want to hurt your feelings.


Emma's books are published by Sphere . When the Dawn Breaks is available in paperback and e-book and We Shall Remember is available in e-book and hardback with a paperback release planned for later this year.

Friday Feature Barbara Kyle

Yes I know it's not Friday but I have two feature authors this week one today and one on Friday, so first up is Barbara Kyle the bestselling Canadian author who writes about family, love and loyalty in Tudor times.

Barbara Kyle is the author of the acclaimed Thornleigh Saga historical novels The Queen's Exiles, Blood Between Queens, The Queen’s Gamble, The Queen’s Captive, The King’s Daughter and The Queen’s Lady which follow an English middle-class family's rise through three tumultuous Tudor reigns. She is also the author of the contemporary thrillers Entrapped and The Experiment. Over 450,000 copies of her books have been sold in seven countries.
Barbara has taught writers at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies and is known for her dynamic workshops for writers groups, organizations, and conferences. Her Master Classes have launched many of her students' novels to publishing success. She also mentors writers through her manuscript evaluation service.
Before becoming an author Barbara enjoyed a twenty-year acting career in television, film, and stage productions in Canada and the U.S.

 www.barbarakyle.com

Barbara's Five Favourite Books

THE WINDS OF WAR by Herman Wouk
SHOGUN by James Clavell
LONESOME DOVE by Larry McMurtry
POSSESSION by A.S. Byatt
AN OFFICER AND A SPY by Robert Harris





Barbara's Five Top Writing Tips

1. Write an outline. It will save you a lot of grief.

2. Get to the story's inciting incident as soon as possible. Definition of inciting incident: the event that throws the protagonist's world out of balance. The story that follows will be about them striving to restore balance to their life.
3. Build big scenes around a major reversal or revelation.

4. Beware using coincidence as a plot device. It's okay to use coincidence to get characters into trouble, but not to get them out of trouble.

5. Build the story's climax around the hardest choice the protagonist will ever make.

Barbara's Recent Release: THE QUEEN'S EXILES (June 2014)

1572. Europe is in turmoil. A vengeful faction of exiled English Catholics is scattered about the Continent, plotting to overthrow Queen Elizabeth and install her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots, on the throne. And in the Netherlands the streets are red with the blood of those who dare to oppose the brutal Spanish occupation. But amid the unrest, one resourceful young woman has made a lucrative enterprise…
Scottish-born Fenella Doorn salvages crippled vessels. It is on one of these ships that she meets wealthy Baron Adam Thornleigh. Secretly drawn to him, Fenella can’t refuse when Adam enlists her to join him in war-torn Brussels to help find his traitorous wife, Frances—and the children she’s taken from him.
But Adam and Fenella will put their lives in peril as they attempt to rescue his young ones, defend the Crown, and restore the peace that few can remember.




“Riveting Tudor drama in the bestselling vein of Philippa Gregory” – USA Today

“An epic tale of patriotism and treason, political upheaval and oppression, familial love and the ties that bind” – Let Them Read Books blog

“A heart-stopping thriller… Kyle is a master at her craft.” – RT Book Reviews


Thank you Barbara for taking part follow Barbara on twitter @BKyleAuthor

Friday Feature Rebecca Mascull

This is a brand new regular series featuring authors of historical fiction which I hope will introduce new authors to blog followers and provide essential writing tips to all aspiring authors. First up is the lovely Rebecca Mascull author of The Visitors.

Photos coutesy of Rebecca's website and The Grimsby Telegraph

About Rebecca
I've been writing seriously for about 13 years. I left full-time teaching to take a Masters in Writing in 2001 and have been working towards trying to get published ever since. I wrote three novels before "The Visitors" that weren't published. I secured my agent Jane Conway-Gordon on the strength of the third novel and when we couldn't get a deal on that one, she told me to get on with the next one. I did and that was "The Visitors". Within a week or so of it being sent to Hodder in 2012, we had a publishing deal. It took 11 years to get there, but it was worth it in the end! "The Visitors" has been nominated for the Edinburgh International Book Festival First Book Award readers can vote for it here: https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival/first-book-award/vote?book=4911

I attended the festival too and had a wonderful time here's my report on my website http://rebeccamascull.tumblr.com/post/95728118968/edinburgh-bookfest-report As you can see my partner Simon and daughter Poppy are very involved in all my writerly doings and we had such fun.

My Questions

Question 1. What are you working on at the moment?
Right now, I've just received the copy edit from my publisher for my second novel "Song of the Sea Maid" which is due for publication next June. This involves looking at the many coments from the copy editor that analyse the language and facts of the latest draft. It's a time consuming process, Mostly I just feel honoured that professional people have spent so much time looking at my work, and together we can strive to make the book the best it can be. Once that's done, I'll be starting work on my third novel for Hodder & Stoughton, which will be set in the early decades of the twentieth century.

Question 2. Your top five writing tips?

1. Persevere. It tool me over a decade to get to the point where my work was worthy of being published. Along the way I sent my work out to around 50 agents each time I submitted, and for each of those I only got interest from 1 agent. So you must suffer the slings nad arrows of outrageous fortune, as dear Hamlet once said, and keep trying!

2. Read. I feel very strongly about this one. I do believe writers must read the greats if they wish to write great books. Read the canon, from the 18th Century to the present day, different genres, both genders, read, read, read. Find out what works and why.

3. Be organised. Keep notebooks, files and boxes of notes. Writing a book is a big project and should be treated as such.

4. Check your facts. If you're writing anything based on real events, such as historical fiction, try to ensure you get your information from at least two sources for every fact. Be thorough and don't be satisfied with shoddy research.

5. Love your subject. If you're bored by some aspects of what you're writing, then your readers will be too. Follow your heart and write about what grabs you and what you love.

Question 3. Your five favourite books?

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles


Thanks so much Rebecca,  and don't forget to vote for The Visitors at the link above. The Visitors is available from Hodder in paperback and e-book now.