Susan Murphy's Blog

So excited to announce that my new release, Aloha Love is coming (ebook and print) on June 20!Now, this is where authors start asking for favours! I will be forever in your debt if you help get Aloha Love out about in the big wide world. If I know you personally, there's coffee in it, and if we're online friends, then there are virtual thanks aplenty. Below is all the book info if you care to have a read.Title: Aloha LoveAuthor: Susan MurphyRelease Date: June 20, 2018Genres: Women’s FictionPublisher: Kindred Ink PressWhere to Find ALOHA LOVEGoodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3... Buy Link: https://books2read.com/KIPALAmazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Aloha-Love-Sus... & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/aloh... https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/aloh... https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/aloh... ALOHA LOVEFrom the author of the Confetti Confidential series, Susan Murphy, comes a new women’s fiction novel about finding yourself through the toughest of experiences and learning how to not only love again, but how to love yourself.They say ‘true love comes but once,’ but what if you missed it?Jennifer Bell knows she missed her chance more than twenty years ago. Heartbroken and alone, she fell into the arms of a charming guy and into his violent hold. Barely escaping with her life with scars that would likely never heal, she vowed never to let herself fall in love again.Throwing herself into her work as a marriage celebrant, she spends her time helping others achieve their fairy tale ending. But what if the chance for love found its way back to her?While on a working holiday to Hawaii, with her best friend Anna (who is having a major life crisis of her own), an encounter with the man she lost all those years ago could change everything.Will Jen have the courage to fight for what she wants?About Susan MurphySusan Murphy is a Civil Marriage Celebrant based in South Australia. With over 8 years experience, she’s had the pleasure and blessing of conducting ceremonies all over the country including weddings, baby namings, commitment ceremonies, funerals and anything else that has been requested by a client. The stranger the better!With a passion for words and a determination to one day (even if it was from the nursing home) become a writer, she made a fateful decision to attend a Masterclass with the amazing Fiona McIntosh, and from there ‘Confetti Confidential’ was born.“Writing about weddings came naturally to me. I’d been a part of that world for so long and seen everything there was to see – good and bad. But there had to be humour. Coming from a large Irish family there was no way I could write without the laughs. I drove my family nuts giggling away to myself while writing this book.”Website: https://www.susanmurphyauthor.com/Goo... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... https://www.facebook.com/susanmurphya... https://twitter.com/SMurphyAuthorPint... https://www.pinterest.com/SmurphyAuth... https://www.instagram.com/susanmurphy... Author: https://www.amazon.com/Susan-Murphy/e... Kindred Ink PressKindred Ink Press is an independent publisher of (almost) all things romance. From romantic comedy to cozy mystery, historical to contemporary real-life romance, we’ve got a bit of romance for just about everyone. Our books range from quick reads to those of epic length and can be found in digital and print formats with audiobooks coming soon.Sign up for the Kindred Insider email newsletter to receive new releases, sales, and exclusive content in your inbox! http://kindredinkpress.com/insiderWeb... http://kindredinkpress.comSubmissions: http://kindredinkpress.com/submission... http://kindredinkpress.com/amazonGood... https://www.goodreads.com/kindredinkp... https://facebook.com/kindredinkpressT... https://twitter.com/kindredinkpressPi... https://pinterest.com/kindredinkpress... https://instagram.com/kindredinkpress... Signup: http://kindredinkpress.com/insiderStreet Team: https://www.facebook.com/groups/kindr...

I am so pleased to be on your delightful blog today to talk about a Christmas memory of mine – a memory that's all about those wonderful things that can happen during that special time of year and … Christmas cookies!In my house, making kolucis was an EVENT.They were the favorite Christmas cookie recipe of my Gram Mogilewsky and my mom. You pronounce the Polish (maybe Lithuanian?) cookies as “kuh LOTCH eez.” The cookies are like tiny nut rolls, only sweeter, crispier, and flakier. And don't worry, you do not have to decipher my Mom's writing underneath years of baking stains - the full recipe is written out at the end of this post.When I was growing up, making the kolucis was a BIG DEAL. After all, it took two days. Two days! And it meant that-gulp-Christmas was officially coming! It simply couldn't not come if we went through all the pomp and circumstance of making the kolucis! And to get the job done right, it took all 4 of us rambunctious, constantly arguing kids working at our various stations at the kitchen table and my mother manning the oven and threatening to whack us with the wooden spoon if we acted up. (Note: My family was never really into that whole “Peace on Earth” kind of Christmas.)On the first day, my mom would make the dough while we bugged her, and then she put it in the fridge to set for a day. I don't know why the dough had to be done this way. It just did. It just does.Then, on the second day, the hours of cookie-making would commence!1. One of us kids would go to the fridge and get a hunk of dough (the dough HAD to stay in the fridge until use or it would get sooooo sticky!) That same kid would then break off pieces of the dough and roll them into small balls. 2. Kid #2 (usually my older sister who was trusted with an implement such as the rolling pin) would then dust a circle of powdered sugar on the table, sprinkle the rolling pin with powdered sugar, and roll the small balls into small flat ovals of dough. 3. Kids #3 and #4 (because this step took more time and precision so it needed two kids so the assembly line didn't jam) would place the small ovals of dough onto the powdered sugar-covered table and, with the back of a spoon, spread the nutty, sweet, gooey filling onto the cookie dough.Now where, you may ask, did the filling come from? After all, I have not chronicled its making in this narrative. The answer is, I dunno. I think my mom must have made it late at night after us kids had gone to bed, cuz we were never involved in the filling-making part. But the old-fashioned nut grinder was mysteriously set out to dry on a dishtowel the morning of the koluci assembly and the filling was always there at cookie-making time.Then kids #3 and #4 would roll up the filling-smeared ovals.  4. Kids #1 and #2 would pinch the edges closed, and set the mini sweet nut roll-like cookies on the cookie sheet. And my mom took it from there, putting the sheets in the oven, taking the hot sheets of cookies out of the oven, putting the cookies out on the cooling rack, and slapping away any hands that tried to swipe a cookie.We would work from early afternoon until darkness fell at 4:30. And the BEST part? We would bop along to Christmas music while we toiled away like elves. Sometimes we would listen to Christmas LPs from the stereo in the living room. We'd blast the volume enough so that we could hear Disco Noelle and Elvis's Christmas all the way across the house in the kitchen. And one year, we'd had the foresight to record the television songs on a cassette in the tape recorder as we watched Christmas specials. So, not only could we play songs like “Put One Foot in Front of the Other” from Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, but we could hear ourselves loudly singing the wrong words in the recording of “I'm Mister Heat Miser” from The Year Without a Santa Claus.And here's the kicker: when I was a kid, I didn't even like kolucis. No way, man. The nutty, gooey filling totally grossed me out. I was, after all, a kid who could not abide peanut butter, even in candy, and thought the best way to ruin anything was to put nuts in it. But boy, did I look forward to koluci day every Christmas season. It was a moment in my life when my loud, fractious family was united in common holiday purpose and cheer – and that was a rare and precious thing.As I got older, I came to love the taste of kolucis (and peanut butter and nuts in general.) And I often made a batch or two during the holidays when I was in my twenties. So, do I still make kolucis? Um, no. While many people enjoy baking, alas, the pursuit brings me no joy and stresses me out more than it relaxes me. (My oven is filled with books, actually, except for the times I need it for something that is too big to fit in the convection oven.) But I don't need the actual cookies to go back and feel the cozy warmth of the wonderful memory.But if you'd like to make delicious kulocis, I am more than happy for you to use this recipe! I am all about sharing the joy – after all, it's why I write romantic comedy. Sprinkling drops of pleasure into people's lives is just so wonderful, whether the joy is delivered through a cookie or a story.Along with my Christmas short story “It Doesn't Show Signs of Stopping” in the anthology It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Chick Lit, I have a holiday novel out now as well, A Drakenfall Christmas. Feel free to indulge and feel good for the holidays!I don't have many family pics from when we were all younger – my mom has most of those back home in Pennsylvania and I live in California. But here is one picture of me and my siblings from when we were little – a few years before we were all old enough to pull off the koluci assembly line. I was then, as I am now, the blonde with her big mouth wide open.And here is Gram Mogilewsky, the koluci queen, and our dog Anabel.This holiday season, whether you indulge in kolucis or not, whether you celebrate Christmas or not, I wish you all a relaxing, safe, and happy holiday season! Thank you, Susan, for letting me indulge in these warm memories as I share some holiday delight with you and your wonderful fans. Thanks, again!Koluci RecipeDough:4 cups flour1 tablespoon salt3 tablespoons sugar1 packet dry yeast1 pound shortening3 eggs1 cup milkpowdered sugarFilling:1 pound bag of walnuts – ground2 eggs1 stick margarine (soft)½ cup brown sugar½ cup sugar2 tablespoons cinnamon1 teaspoon vanillaFor the filling, grind the walnuts. Add other ingredients and mash all together. It shouldn't be too thin and runny – it should be spreadable. You can do this the day before or on baking day itself.For the dough,A DAY BEFORE BAKING, in a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in milk. Add salt, sugar, and eggs. Add shortening and beat with an electric beater or by hand very fast. Start adding flour a cup at a time until it is all used. It will be very hard to mix and very sticky towards the end – you may have to use your hands. Refrigerate overnight before baking.BAKING DAY: Leave dough in refrigerator – take out a lump at a time. Make the lump into balls and roll balls out on powdered sugar. (Dust rolling pin with powdered sugar, too, or dough will STICK EVERYWHERE.) Spread filling on dough with the back of a spoon, roll up, pinch ends closed and put on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes. Watch the first batch and bake until lightly browned. Enjoy!Bio:When she was a kid in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Geralyn Vivian Ruane Corcillo's favorite Christmas present was a box set of four Agatha Christie paperbacks her mom put in her stocking one year. When she grew up, and streaming songs were a new thing, her husband Ron knocked her Christmas socks off when he downloaded her all-time favorite Christmas song, “Snoopy's Christmas,” by The Royal Guardsmen. These days, Corcillo and her husband like to spend Christmas having dinner with friends and talking about 80's movies.Most of all, Geralyn Corcillo loves connecting with readers! Reach her at:Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/geralyncorcillothewriter/Twitter:https://twitter.com/geralyncorcilloWebsite:www.geralyncorcillo.comBuy her books at her Universal Amazon Page:http://author.to/GeralynCorcilloGet your FREE Chick Lit Holiday Anthology:getBook.at/HolidayChickLit

About the author – Monique McDonellI am an Australian author who writes contemporary women's fiction, including chick lit and romance. When I began to write again, I noticed a trend - writing dark unhappy stories made me unhappy. So I made a decision to write a novel with a happy ending and I have been writing happy stories ever since.I am the author of five standalone novels, including Mr. Right and Other Mongrels and Hearts Afire and the Upper Crust Series. Many of my novels focus on Australian characters meeting and visiting UScharacters.I have been a member of the writing group The Writer’s Dozen for ten years. Our anthology Better Than Chocolate raised over $10,000 for the charity Room to Read and helped build a library in South East Asia. I am also a member of the Romance Writers of Australia. In 2015, I had a piece on writing chick lit featured in the successful Australian non-fiction book Copyfight.To learn more about my books, my writing, my caffeine obsession and my upcoming books please visit:www.moniquemcdonell.com.auOr one of my social pagesFacebookTwitterBlogGoodreadsBaked Guinness HamMy Christmas recipe is, Baked Guinness Ham. I hope you like it!Ingredients1 leg ham, about 5-6kg750ml Guinness Extra StoutWhole cloves (optional)Glaze1 cup (220g) sugar2 teaspoons dry mustard2 teaspoons ground cardamom2 teaspoons ground gingerInstructions:Preheat oven to 160°C (140°C fan). Cut skin around thick end of knuckle without cutting into fat and flesh. Ease skin from fat by slipping thumb of one hand under the skin and firmly sliding it back and forth. Turn ham over and ease away remaining skin, which should come off in one piece.Place ham, fat-side up, in a roasting pan with stout, reserving 2-3 tablespoons for glaze. Cover with foil, making it as airtight as possible, and bake for 1½hrs. Baste ham with juices several times during cooking.Meanwhile, make glaze. In a bowl, combine sugar, mustard, spices and enough reserved stout to make a thick paste. Stir well.Remove from oven and pour liquid into a saucepan. Using a sharp knife, score fat with diagonal cuts at 4cm intervals, first one way, then opposite way, to form a diamond pattern.Spread half glaze mixture over ham and stud a clove in the corner of each diamond. Increase oven temperature to 200°C (180°C fan) and bake a further 30-40mins, basting every 10mins with remaining glaze. If serving hot, leave ham to rest in turned-off oven for 30mins. If serving cold, allow to cool and store in fridge overnight. Serve on a stand or large platter garnished with watercress or parsley.Merry Christmas and don't forget to grab a copy of my newest story in the recent release of a brand new Christmas Anthology called, It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Chick Lit.Get your free copy here:https://www.amazon.com/Its-Beginning-Look-Like-Chick-ebook/dp/B01MD197DJ

In celebration of the release of‘It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Chick Lit’a fabulous collection of 11 stories by a range of Chick Lit authors (released on November 4th), I'm running a series of blog posts on some of the authors (including their favourite Christmas recipe and the story behind it). This post is talking with the wonderful Vivan Brooks.1: Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you write.My name is Nikki LeClair, and Vivian Brooks is my pen name. I live in Canada, and have a slight obsession with tea, and notebooks at the moment. I started writing when I was in high school. An English teacher recommended it because she said I had an over-active imagination and it was what got me in trouble.2. Give us an overview (with all the best bits) of your story in the anthology.This was my first time in an anthology, suffice to say I was nervous! My story was inspired by the work madness that occurs at my best friends work place. There is a social media princess involved, delicious, magical cookies, and of course a charming, adorable love interest for my main character, the shy, kind Kinsley.3. It’s a Christmas collection, so what does your usual family Christmas look like?I come from a big family so I can tell you its really LOUD. It’s also really busy. I don’t mind it, as quiet dinners and evenings drive me crazy, but if you don’t shout at my dinners you won’t be heard.4. Lastly, give us your best Christmas recipe and where it came from.Sadly, I’m not the best cook. But I can bake pretty damn well, and I can make speciality drinks like nobody’s business. This recipe for Rummy Eggnog was actually from my great-grandmother. Here it is:Rummy EggnogIngredients:Depending on how big your punch bowl is, adjust the portions as you see fit. Pour a carton (or two) of your favoitre eggnog in punch bowl. Add ½ cup to 1 cup of Cognac, and ½ cup to 1 cup of Rum. Of course the bigger the punch bowl, the more eggnog, cognac and rum you add. Add chocolate shavings or cinnamon on top of each individual glass. Cheers!Who is Vivian Brooks?Vivian Brooks lives in Canada with her loving husband and their two rambunctious children. When she isn’t ordering her children to behave or begging her Border Terrier to listen to her, she sits behind her lap-top plotting out the next adventure of her new characters.She’s a fan of a good glass of Pinot Noir, and can’t live without her favorite Tea blends. She also writes under the name Nikki LeClair.She enjoys hearing from readers and fans of her work. You can find her on twitter at @NikkiL_Books, and on her Facebook Fanpage Nikki LeClairFacebook page:Twitter:https://twitter.com/NikkiL_Books

If you follow my Facebook page you’ll definitely know that a fantastic Christmas anthology written by a collective of 9 Chick Lit authors (including myself, no bias of course) is set for launch in 2 days on November 4th. The Anthology,‘It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Chick Lit’is a collection of funny and sometimes romantic (or tragic) Christmas stories, each with an individual voice and flavour, but all based around the holiday theme.In celebration of this release I’ll be running a series of blog posts on some of the authors (including their favourite Christmas recipe and the story behind it), beginning with the fabulousAmy Gettinger.1: Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you write.I am a mother of two employed (!!) UC grads in engineering, one of whom is married and buying a condo at age 25! I’m also a dog person/whisperer and a lover of all pools and pool noise. “Marco!” “Polo!” Yep. All summer long, right outside my window while I write. What fun.2. Give us an overview (with all the best bits) of your story in the anthology.My story, “Deck the Malls with Purple Peacocks,” has a determined Mexican woman living in California, working two jobs, then three, with her eye on starting her own business. But when things start to fall apart and she has to struggle to keep her goal intact, she finds she has more support than she ever knew she had--including the support of Three Wise Women and a very cute Cuban guy. The question is, will she have to go back to Mexico?3. It’s a Christmas collection, so what does your usual family Christmas look like?We get a real, fat 6-foot noble fir and decorate it with our huge collection of ornaments. Most of these are hand painted, blown glass beauties with glitter and all kinds of sentimentality attached. Blown glass ornaments I have: a red hot chili pepper, a luscious mermaid, a blue feathered parrot, a Mickey Mouse, about a dozen Santas (including the $$$ Christopher Radko one, which is super cute), a Santa hanging from a balloon, a pickle, a beach Santa, many snowmen, a squirrel, a banana, 2 bunches of grapes, several churches, red stockings, harps, violins, a large, GORGEOUS red angel, a lemon, and a multitude of colorfully painted balls of many sizes. I probably forgot some.What was the question again? Oh, Christmas? Yeah. Who cares what we do after we get the tree up anyway? We basically eat lots of chocolate and open a few gifts on Christmas Day. Maybe throw a roast beef in the oven. Maybe not. LOL4. Lastly, give us your best Christmas recipe and where it came from.Persimmon PuddingMade by my mother and grandmother in Indiana from wild Indiana persimmons for years, until our family moved to California in the late 1960s and my mother used the larger hachiya or fuyu persimmons.Ingredients:1 quart (4 c.) persimmon pulp (which means you have to skin and take the seeds out of a bunch of persimmons and then mash up the pulp pretty good)2 eggs1 ¾ c. sugar4 c. flour4 c. milk1 tsp. baking soda2 tsp. baking powder3 Tbsp. butter2 tsp. cinnamon1 tsp. allspice or mace¼ tsp. cloves¼ tsp. nutmeg¼ tsp. gingerDirections1.    Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).2.    Melt butter in a 9x13 pan to grease it (may need another small casserole for extra)3.    Sift spices and dry ingredients together4.  In a large bowl, stir together the persimmon pulp, eggs, and sugar. Add flour mixture and milk, alternately stirring some of each into the persimmon until smooth. Pour into a large greased crock or casserole dish. Drop dabs of butter on top.5.  Bake for 1 hour (or more-until it sets) in the preheated oven. Pudding will be brown when finished. Serve hot or cold, with whipped cream.Who is Amy Gettinger?Once a community college ESL instructor, now coaches reader’s theater for seniors. She lives in her dream house in Orange County, California underneath a eucalyptus windrow full of parrots and crows. For fun, she walks the local beach cliff path with her husband and the dogs--and thinks up perfectly ridiculous characters and crimes to write about. Check out her books listed here and grab them from Amazon nowAmazon:https://www.amazon.com/Amy-Gettinger/... https://www.facebook.com/Amy-Gettinge...Read Amy's story in'It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Chick Lit'from Amazon now.https://www.amazon.com/Its-Beginning-Look-Like-Chick-ebook/

Creating authentic and believable characters can sometimes be a challenge when writing and for that reason many authors often use elements of themselves and their own personalities, or of people they know and love.Sometimes you get a great idea and launch into structuring the bones of this amazing new story, but creating characters who will ultimately do all of the talking and really bring it to life can take much more time and work. How they walk, talk and act, or how they dress and what they like and don't like all become vital in making them feel real and like someone the reader can identify with or recognise.As a first time author, one of the biggest things I struggled with was facing the fact that readers, family and friends might be thinking that the main character was based on me and my life. Sure, there are elements of me in Genevieve, like her job and some of her quirky characteristics, but I can assure you that many of the antics she gets up to inThey Do, I Don’tandAnnabel's Wedding, I definitely have not!I realise it's a little trivial, but I remember when I was writing the first draft and thinking, what if people think I actually did this stuff? My main character is thrust into the world of being single after more than 20 years of marriage and with her crazy sisters along for the ride, she ends up in many a hilarious and/or embarrassing situation. At first the thought (and fear) of this really kept my writing bland. I was so afraid that people would think I was frequenting adult shops or speed-dating and hiding in a dark office with a hot man, that I steered clear of anything that was too outrageous. What if my Mum read this? Or my Dad? Or someone I work with? Genevieve doesn’t do anything mean or terrible,but she certainly gets into some sticky situations and makes some questionable choices. The thought that readers would be imagining my face on this crazy woman was horrifying. I’d never been one to go over the top or doanything too outrageous (most of the time!), but writing is a chance to throw everything in and drag your characters on one hell of a ride, so at some point in the process I decided that I just had to suck it up and go for it.Unfortunately that was easier said than done. My own sisters each decided which character in the book was most like them and went about asking me why they had to be the one to do this or that. I actually enjoyed the fact that I could now threaten them with “Don’t be mean to me or your character will end up getting something hideously embarrassing happen,” to which I’d get a ‘you better not” and “don’t you dare.”The problem though was that once I decided to just go for it and try to tell the best and funniest story that I could, I didn’t realise the long term ramifications. As soon as the book came out, my introductory line every time anyone asked me about it was to say, “now, just so you know, this character is not me and I did not do any of the things that she got up to in the book.” Most of the time they hadn’t even asked anything about that, but it became the focus of every conversation I had about my writing!I guess the conclusion I have come to is that people will make of it what they will no matter what I say or how many times I announce, “I did not do any of these things!” I’ve been told to let it be and just enjoy the fact that I might appear a little nuts and fun, but the side of me that would never do such a thing just picks away with reminders like, “you cannot let people think you would behave like that.”At the end of the day, perhaps my character is just an extreme version of me, as well as a few other wonderfully fun ladies I know. She's someone that I could have been had I gone in one direction or another or made other choices (or just not given too much of a stuff).Short of wearing a sign around my neck or a tattoo on my forehead announcing that everything in the book is fictitious or at least an extreme version of something that happened, there’s not much I can do about whether or not people imagine that I really did any of these things. I've spoken to a few authors who have agreed that they feel a little bit the same when they write something a little risky or confronting, but when writing scenes that are funny, self deprecation and embarrassment are just too good to pass up using for fear of people imagining or wondering if it's really you. So, if you read one of my books and decide that the character is a bit zany, unreasonable or anything else, it’s really not me, or at least only a little bit me!Happy writing.

In the last few years I’ve had the opportunity to not only write 4 books, but have also been lucky enough to bring 2 of them (so far) to publication. In that time I have also read. A lot. Not just for fun, although that is the best kind of reading, but also many text books as part of the Bachelor of Writing I have been studying forever! (That’s a slight exaggeration, but it feels like forever!)From women’s fiction, chicklit, and historical romance, to instructional guides, text books about editing and how-to’s, there have been only 2 books that have had a real impact on me and now have pride of place on my desk, within arms reach so that they can devoured again and again.My writing career began at the April 2014Fiona McIntoshMasterclass in Adelaide. I’ve mentioned this in countless blog posts and interviews, but that is for very good reason. I remember that moment of walking into the room filled with other excited and anxiety filled aspiring authors and thinking, I’m not sure I have what it takes to do this. I spent 5 days with that group discovering what I was good at and also what I wasn’t so good at and honing my skills to produce the best work that I was capable of. I was determined to get every last drop of wisdom out of those 5 days and make every change necessary to get my writing and my discipline up to scratch.When I went home I banged away relentlessly at my keyboard for 3 months until I finally typed ‘the end’ – and the rest is history. When that book, ‘Confetti Confidential: They Do, I Don’t’ hit the big wide world, I started straight onto the second and that too was released 6 months later.I continued writing, but soon the complex world of marketing and sales began to take up all of my waking hours. A lot of the wonderful things I had learned in the masterclass and the discipline I had stuck to religiously after, began to fall away and I found myself back to somewhat of a choppymess of writing bits and pieces here and there. Then something wonderful happened. You cannot imagine my excitement when I found out that Fiona would be releasing a condensed form of that Masterclass - that inspired and got my butt into gear -  in print form.I waited eagerly and'How To Write Your Blockbuster’was released in 2015. I grabbed my copy straight away and, inspired by the reminders I so desperately needed, got myself back into the routine and structure that had brought me somuch success after the Masterclass. I go back to it often for guidance and to spur me on when I’m feeling a lull. Covering everything from 'Getting Started' to 'Digging Deep' and 'The Business End', if you want to be an author and you don’t have this book – GET IT!The other book that has pride of place besideHow to Write Your Blockbuster, is'The Little Red Writing Book' byMark Tredinnick. I remember when I was given the list of text books to purchase for my next uni semester and I glanced at it thinking, what on earth is this rubbish. Boy was I wrong.That book single-handedly changed me, and my writing. The Little Red Writing Book is not just a 'how to' or your typical, do this do that. It is a beautiful example of how to write well, how to capture moments naturally and in their entirety. When I read the first chapter, 'Stepping Out - A short walk in a southern wood', I was utterly mesmerised and I couldn't wait to devour the rest (which I did and have numerous times since then).My favourite passage from this chapter, the one that had me completely hooked and overcome with a desire to write, and walk, is this:'It got down to freezing last night, and I was cold in here. But the morning is warm and still and clear. There are black peppermints standing up in it, and black currawongs crying their their guttural cry in it; and filling it out, there's a light as clean and a sky as blue as you're ever going to know. I've come here to write a book. So I walk out into the morning to find it.And it's on the gravel track to Fergy's Paddock at the edge of the lake that my book comes to me.'Tredinnick's advice on sentence structure and ways of saying the same thing well are done in such a way that it becomes almost poetic and beautiful. I know, it sounds strange to describe a text on writing in such a way, but honestly, he is a master at finding the most exquisite way to make the most mundane, completely captivating.Tredinnick's ideas on making the complex simple and sorting out 'unhappy sentences' gave me an understanding about the craft of writing that no other explanation ever had. As you can tell, I love this book!If you're like me and have made the decision to pursue a career in writing (no matter what the mental or physical cost!) then do yourself a favour and make sure that you check out both of these books.Good luck writingx

As an author, one of the hardest things (after actually writing a book) is marketing it. I shudder even uttering the word because as any new author would know, it is a hard slog and at times, it can feel like a ball and chain around your ankle that you just can’t ignore.We’re authors, what on earth do we know about marketing? Yet, we are expected – whether we are traditionally or self-published, to get right on that hamster wheel and get our work out there. I was published by one of the big guys, Harper Collins Australia, but that certainly didn’t mean that I could sit back and wait for the dollars to roll in. (Trust me, I’m still waiting!) I had to do the work, and it was much more than I ever imagined.I've been very lucky, in that I have worked in this area for a long time, managing the social media platforms of a large department as well as teaching social media and web content to marriage celebrants all over Australia, but even then I found it a daunting task and for most it's simply overwhelming.All published authors are finding more and more that they have to be proactive and work hard to get their work in front of potential readers/buyers. So, where do we start when trying to launch ourselves as some sort of brand and get our name out there? With a website and social media of course.People seem to think that because you are published (self or traditionally) that you must have plenty of money – trust me that is not the case. The reality is that most authors are struggling and most are holding down other jobs to support themselves. Forking out for websites and paid advertising is actually beyond most of us.The biggest question is, how can we get ourselves out there? How can we market ourselves and create an online presence, without it breaking the bank?The best place to start is with a simple, free website and Facebook page. For this post, we'll start with creating a website. (Stay tuned for A separate Facebook post)Sometimes people can get confused with Websites and BlogsFirst of all, the most important thing to say is that a blog IS a website. There is often much confusion around this, but essentially it is just a dynamic form of website. What dynamic means is that it is a website where the content is continually changing and being updated with new posts instead of staying the same all the time.A traditional website, on the other hand, is generally static, that is it stays the same and each time a person visits your site they see the same information. A blog will have different information or posts each time (within reason) a person visits your site.If you’re not sure which one you would prefer to use, it’s best to set up a website with a blog page attached, that way you get the best of both worlds and there’s less pressure for regular blog posts.So, what’s the first thing to do?1. Find a platform that is free, looks amazing, is easy to use (even for the novice), and can be updated regularly without any fuss.My pick of the bunch would be Wix. I have a couple of free sites with Wix and setting them up was easier than I ever imagined. Using simple drag and drop fields and text boxes that can be typed into or copied from Word, it means that even someone with very limited experience can get started.Here’s a link to the site to sign up: http://www.wix.com/The great thing about Wix is that it offers templates to choose from, built-in free stock images and as soon as you’re done, just hit publish.Below is an example of the homepage of my Wix Website.2. Once you’ve created an account, hop over to Youtube and watch a couple of videos on setting up a Wix site. Maybe type in ‘How to set up a Wix website’ and then watch a couple to get the idea.3. Jump back onto Wix and start having a play around with your pages. Add in some pictures and some text and move it around until you like what you see. You can add extra pages and content and change colours easily using the left side panel. You can also add in your social media plugins (there are other great Youtube videos for that)4. It’s a good idea to check out the websites of some other authors and see what pages they have. This will give you a good idea of what you need for your site and what kind of look and feel you want.5. Take some time setting everything up before you hit publish. Finish all your pages and make sure you’ve got a contact page so people know how to find you. Once you’re all set, hit the Publish button!Handy hints:It will take some time for your page to start appearing in searches. Many new sites are published every day and it can take months before you’re appearing on Google's radar. There are lots of ways to help that happen and you can get your site ranked better by doing some research into SEO (Search Engine Optimisation).Good luck and I look forward to seeing your new author sites!Susan

St Catherine's Convent - Edinburgh, ScotlandHaving recently made the jump from ChickLit to Historical Fiction, I’m quickly learning just how hard it is to write authentically about a time in which I didn’t live or have the opportunity to experience for myself. Did I mention that living in Australia while the book is set in England and Scotland is also proving quite the challenge?I’ll tell you a little bit about the project before I explain:My grandfather lived a long life. He was 97 when he passed away last year and in spite of his dementia, he was still sprightly and outgoing. He loved to talk about all the things he had done and the places he had been, but I struggled to imagine just how much he had seen or how far his feet had carried him in all those years, and that had always intrigued me.  A few months before he passed he had to go into a nursing home and when he did, my Mum found a box of old letters. When we began to read through them, a different life, a different time and an entire family I never had the opportunity to know unfolded.The letters, mostly from the early 1940s, were from a range of people, but mostly my Grandfather’s mother, Fanny.  In them she spoke of the War and what it was like around Bournemouth in England during World War 2. Mostly she spoke of missing her son and how it was affecting all of them, including the pets.In other letters she spoke of my Grandfather’s girlfriend at the time and in one letter in particular, about how her Father was furious with him and would be on the lookout for him when he returned. This, of course, got us wondering. Why did they break up? And why was her Father so furious that he wanted to catch up with him?  As you can imagine, the story was already unfolding in my head, at least the bones of it.Then there was my Grandmother’s story. Hers was somewhat heartbreaking. She lost her Mother when she was only 7, spent time in Foster Care and then eventually went to live in St Catherine’s convent in Edinburgh, Scotland.When I imagined her early life, it felt torn and broken and filled with despair, but when I read some of the letters that were in this box along with my Grandfather’s things, they told a different story – one of hope and strength. The picture above is one that I have found during my research and it shows the street that the convent is on. When I look at it, I imagine her walking along there as a young woman, chatting to her friends and thinking about the future.With all of this in hand – the unique voices, their own words and wonderful visuals in the form of photo albums my Grandfather also kept, I felt inspired to start writing their story. Heartache, adversity, great love; what more could an author ask for? But once I sat down to actually write it I soon realised that in spite of the wealth of detail that had been laid out for me, I still couldn’t capture the scenes in the beautiful way that I wanted to. I intended to use their lives as the base story, drawing on their thoughts, feelings and experiences, but weave it in a new direction, one that makes it a work of fiction rather than a telling of their real lives.Being able to unravel a scene so well that the reader can picture it in their own mind, taste it on their own lips and get a real sense of it, is essential for an author, but trying to do this from a photograph doesn’t give you all of the other sensory components that made it exactly what it was.  The reader needs to be propelled into the moment - How did the air smell? What was the ground like beneath her feet? What could she hear in that moment, from where she stood?Although I have mapped out the story and penned the scenes that play out in the here and now, the historical scenes are still driving me crazy. I’ve spent hours researching on the internet and sending my poor Father (who was on his first holiday to the UK after coming to Australia as a child) to the Scotland Historical Society to dig up old photos of the of the convent, inside and out (none of which are available online) and also making him walk the streets around there to tell me exactly what it’s like.After all of this, and grateful for everything I have managed to bring together so far for this story, I have come to the conclusion that it’s not enough. I need to go there. I need to walk the streets that they walked and look with my own eyes at the buildings that they looked at and lived in. I want to know how the air feels in winter in Edinburgh and what it’s like to stand at the door of the house where my Grandfather and his Mother lived, that Google Streetview tells me is still there.I feel excited, but also daunted by the task of writing this story and doing it justice. I don’t just want it to be good. I want it to be beautiful and come with a sense of authenticity for the reader. At this point I’m not sure I can do that, but I’m hopeful and that counts for something I hope.Wish me luck!

J is for JerkChick Lit is full of them, right? Those guys we love to hate. The type who start out driving us nuts with their self-absorbed attitudes, love of sport and women, and who give little or nothing to the females they 'conquer', other than a bit of shenanigan’s when the mood takes them.But why do we love to hate them so much? And more importantly why do we love to see them evolve and change into the kind of men that we love to love?In Bridget Jones’s Diary, it is of course, Hugh Grant (AKA Daniel Cleaver) who drives us crazy, but steals a little piece of our heart - and Bridget's. Daniel is the handsome playboy type who likes to have a bit of fun and is up for anything.He wants to be better, and we see that potential in him, but somehow he always just falls back to what he knows and that is putting himself and his own needs first. He's not a bad guy though, and maybe that's what makes him so attractive and lovable. If only he could get it together!In Love Actually, one of my all-time favourites, we have several JERKS to choose from (but secretly still love). We've got Colin, who heads off to America in search of girls that might be a little more inclined to favour his English good looks, and of course, Harry (played by the late Alan Rickman) who finds himself so pathetically easily seduced by a younger woman from work. Not to mention Mark, the best man who is secretly in love with his best friends new wife and plays out an elaborate (but gorgeous) scene to tell her.All of these characters were total JERKS in their own ways, but my favourite out of all the relationships portrayed in this movie was definitely between Billy Mac and Joe. Billy Mac was the poster boy of JERKS. He was insensitive, self-absorbed and a terrible friend/client to Joe (and that rotten song he played over and over was stuck in my head every night for months). BUT, the moment when Joe is sitting at home and Billy blows off Elton John's party to be with him instead, left me in a blubbering mess, lost in a tissue mountain.In Crazy, Stupid, Love we see Ryan Gosling who is the absolute epitome of the bad boy that we love to hate. He is handsome, rugged, confident, a man who not only goes after what he wants, but he takes what he wants. Women flock to him, want to be with him and at times, throw themselves at him (myself included given the chance!). But as the story plays out, he starts to fall for the girl and this brings about change and a willingness to give up the bad boy behaviour.I have to admit, he was totally hot and sexy as the bad boy, but when he decided to become a better man for the woman he loved, my heart fell in love with him just a little bit more (if that was at all possible).So, do we like them more when they’re the classic bad boy, treating them mean and keeping them keen? Or does our interest and desire for them grow as they evolve and change and begin to become the kind of men we want to be with, stay with and father our children?I guess every answer depends on the individual and what floats their particular style of boat, but without the bad boy, ChickLit would be limited to sweet stories without too much tension or grit. I definitely had a few bad boys thrown into the mix in my'Confetti Confidential'series. The truth is that we need the bad boys and their terrible ways to make us really appreciate the good and to be able to feel satisfaction in the beautiful sacrifices they make for their love.At the end of the day, we all need a little bit of bad boy.GRAND PRIZE -Want to win a Kindle Paperwhite+ a$100 Amazon gift card?Visit each of the 26 stops on the #ChickLitMay A to Z Scavenger Hunt and collect the alphabet word at each stop (A, B, C, D, etc.), then submit the A-Z list of words via e-mail (to) with the subject line "A to Z Scavenger Hunt Entry." Entries will be accepted until Sunday, May 22nd at midnight E.D.T. A winner will be chosen on Monday, May 23rd. Good luck!The next stop on the Scavenger Hunt (the letter K) is here.http://www.jennygardiner.net/jenny-gardiner-blog/If you'd like to start back at the beginning of the Scavenger Hunt (the letter A), go here.http://katieoliver.com/ko/2016/05/chick-lit-a-to-z-scavenger-hunt/