Alicia M. Kaye's Blog

So...an update on where I'm at with Classic Mistake....

So it's the long weekend here in London and in between looking after the baby, I'm writing away.

A fun fact for you all, apparently 9 months after a long weekend it’s very busy in the maternity ward...

And on that note.... Evie and I were out in the backyard and well ... where am I going with this ... when it’s hot and the windows are open... we heard the neighbors having sex...

Let's just say, he wasn’t a one minute man and she’s definitely a screamer.

I put very loud music on.

So awkward. So very awkward.

So if the mood takes any of you over this long weekend ... windows are made for privacy... just saying in case ... you know ... you didn’t realise....

I’ve never personally thought about it but something to consider ...

Other than that ...the writing is going really well!

I'm hoping to get my new cover this week...and release chapter 1 of Classic Mistake to you soon.

If you haven't found the story...add it to your library so you don't miss out on updates when they start happening.

Here's the link: https://www.wattpad.com/story/1896736...

Enjoy the long weekend!
x
Leish

So Wattpad has done me a great honour and asked me to join one of their writer's programs. My new book Classic Mistake is part of this.

A little about the book:

Hotshot music journalist Miranda Wilde loves a scoop. She uncovers a career-maker: Britain's golden boy of pop is cheating on his pregnant wife. The story goes viral within minutes, and - of course - she waits for her promotion. Except she's made a rookie mistake. Trisha Collins, the half-naked beauty splashed over every tabloid, is a major advertisers' daughter. Now Trisha is out for blood.

Miranda's not exactly fired, but her fast-paced career falls off a cliff edge. She's shoved far from the limelight to work for a stuffy magazine, Classic, where she's been given an impossible task. Beau, Classic's handsome yet brooding editor, is angry at the world because circulation is declining. Aren't people interested in real music anymore?

Beau insists that Miranda is unqualified to even be a music journalist. She doesn't know the basic construction of a pop song, let alone an orchestral ensemble. Miranda sees things differently. She believes Beau's a music snob. And worst of all, an uninspiring writer.

Will Beau and Miranda be able to put their differences aside to save the magazine?

I hope you'll enjoy it! Here's the link if you're interested.

https://www.wattpad.com/story/189673690

Hello Readers -
I suppose you've probably forgotten who I am by now.

For that I truly apologise.

My lack of posting I suppose I can blame on a 'life event'.

Not that I like to make excuses but ... don't they come in handy :-)

Anyway, legitimately I had a monumental life event which has completely rocked my world.

For the last 16 months a sleep grenade was dropped into my life in the form of the most gorgeous little girl. Evelyn. Or we call her: Evie (pronounced like the letters E and V - not Evvie like Collin the fruiteers wife - if you're an Australian you might get this reference - otherwise it may remain a mystery to you).

So now that I'm slowly adjusting to a new life as a 'Mummy', I'm back to writing.

My plan had been quite solid. Oh yes. I was gearing up to complete the sequel to Phoebe's Performance. Coffee in hand. Apple Mac ready to go. But another life changing event happened.

And no. I didn't give birth for a second time. Nor did someone die.

However, Wattpad reached out and wanted something 'new' and gave me an exciting opportunity. I'm absolutely over the moon!

The sequel to Phoebe's Performance is still locked up in my head and I do sometimes sit in bed and dream about what Phoebe is doing in Vienna... I will do this for you eventually I promise as Phoebe's Performance as a novel and a book has such a special place in my heart that I'm dying to get the sequel out to you guys. It will just take time.

I digress...

I am writing a new book called (drumroll please): Classic Mistake.

I will be releasing quite a few chapters over the next few weeks on Wattpad and then one chapter a week until the end of the novel (as I need to finish the novel).

Please stay tuned for the cover reveal. I have absolutely no idea what it will look like and am thrilled and excited by the prospect.

For the first time ever, someone else has taken that responsibility and apparently Wattpad HQ is working away on something incredibly groovy!

Look out for it.
xx Leisha

Fantastic titles up for grabs such as Skinny Dipping, Creek Crisis, I Temporarily Do, My Christmas Boyfriend and Bread for the Table - all in ebook competition that ends today. Got to be in it to win it.

https://authorsxp.com/win-ebooks

Morning,

As you probably know already I have a raw unadulterated draft of Phoebe's Performance available on Wattpad https://www.wattpad.com/311846542-pho...

I've updated this draft at home, trying to make the writing and style much more compelling. I have a new and improved version on my laptop but alas it's not yet on Wattpad. This is partially because I'm still waiting for professional feedback from the Romance Authors Association - before I further update. There are no major changes to the plot -
just tweaks to make the story better!

For those of you who have read Phoebe's Performance as it is - in its raw form where I still find grammatical mistakes and spelling errors - thank you for persisting with my novel with all its flaws. Your comments and participation have helped me so much - so thanks.

If anyone has any expectations for the sequel - I'm currently drafting the sequel - feel free to shout them out and I'll see what I can do.

Also generally, I wondered what readers felt about Dirk because his role steps up in book 2...do you love him? Or do you hate him? Or do you simply wish he were Otto?

Please don't hesitate to ever get in touch either directly here or fb. Or you can email me directly: alicia@aliciamkaye.com

Love to hear more from you!

Have a great weekend where ever you are in the world.
xxx

I hope you are all well! I was just about to write about my book news when I realised that I have loads of thoughts rushing through my head. Quite frankly the news you hear coming from London at the moment isn’t positive. The city feels like it has been under siege, by terrorists, politically and environmentally. My head is in a complete mess but as a writer I must persist, I must go on….

The thoughtless and shocking terrorist attacks in the country over the last three months have definitely impacted the easy-going attitude of the typical Londoner. A few months ago there was an attack in West Minster, then following this one in Manchester and the latest one was in London Bridge.

Each of these attacks has been brutal and heart wrenching. I don’t know why but the London Bridge attack felt far too close to home for me. I took a friend to the Shangri-La afternoon tea at Ting restaurant for her 40th birthday. As we looked at the city view from the 35th floor she commented that she’s been photographing the bridge with her husband. It could have been her that was involved in the attack. The thought was chilling.

The attacks upset me on various levels. Firstly, they’re senseless; cowards are targeting innocent locals or tourists. Secondly, London is a hard enough city to live in. Loads of migrants (like me) come here to work because the opportunities here are better than home. We work hard and we pay our taxes.

It’s a crazy city with so many different industries all in one place, political (Westminster), banking (Canary Wharf), television and entertainment (West End) and the list of industries goes on. So many different industries are all contained in one city. The dynamic is unusual. But that’s one of the reasons why there’s such a cross section of people living in the same place. And it’s part of London’s charm. We supposedly all get along with people from different races, backgrounds and religions. Many of us living in the city have family far away and our support networks here are thin. But you struggle on – we all do. Expats and Brits together. All of us here know that living in a big city – maybe – just maybe – big things will happen. Also, the chance of doing what you love is at the very least possible. Adding fear into the mix, just seems cruel, and so against the accepting ethos of the city.

Last week you might have heard about the political circus happening in Britain. As an Australian I’m a resident and a member of the commonwealth so I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to vote. Whichever government wins will have the power to shape my future directly and the country for decades to come. Even though the election was over one week ago, the results were so unexpected leaving the current Prime Minister in a worse position than she was in – so they’re still trying to work out what to do from there. Over the last ten years that I’ve lived here, I haven’t heard as much chatter about politics from my friends. But ever since the catastrophic Brexit referendum where the country voted to leave the European Union – politics has very much been on the agenda at many dinner parties I’ve been too. Brexit and the opportunities with Europe have been ripped away from us because the public was so poorly informed. Anyway, we will have to watch and see what happens in this space.

Environmentally – well the heat is on due to climate change. However in this usually dreary city I can’t be more thankful for the unusual heat we’ve been having here. Finally I’ve something positive to write about! Tomorrow is supposed to be a scorcher of a day. It’s supposed to be epically sunny at 28 degrees! Whoop whoop. Those of you who live in sunny cities may not fully appreciate my new found love affair with the weather. It’s very British but I completely understand it now. London is the most amazing city in the sun. Everything looks sparkly (if you can say that about a city which existed back in Roman times) and people are friendlier. Unfortunately for me, tomorrow I’m going to be stuck in doors at a writer’s workshop which I might be able to tell you about later. But I should get home to enjoy the late evening and have a barbecue in our garden. I will not get into my new found fascination with outdoor lighting (think solar lights, battery operated umbrella string lights and lanterns)...I have a few pics on my blog so check it out:
http://www.aliciamkaye.com/uncategori...


Anyway, despite all of this I’m on target with the final draft of Phoebe’s Performance which is scheduled to be completed by the end of June and it will go off to beta readers. Please feel free to contact me if you would like to be part of this team. Also, I’ve even sketched out the plot for the sequel which is exciting!

For those of you who are interested in my work with The View Magazine please sign up to my website for the story using the following link: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/xnfdxa38co

Anyway, until later….

Hi Guys,
I've been quiet on the blog for the last few weeks.

I'm just letting you know that Skinny Cappuccino is FREE on Amazon at the moment until this Friday.

Amazon UK Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B012U7B9XW

Amazon US Link: Link: https://amzn.com/B012U7B9XW

For more free stories, please check out my website www.aliciamkaye.com as I will be posting things there too.

Happy reading and I hope you enjoy the book!

I didn’t know whether I was supposed to start sucking the venom out of my arm. I’m thirty five and never had a bee sting. All I knew that if I screamed and cried like a little girl that I’d break some sort of strong independent woman code. And if I was going to into anaphylactic shock, well I only had minutes to spare, and unless I found a taxi or called an uber right then and now, I’d probably have too swallow a face to say what was wrong with me or ask someone to take me to the hospital.

Luckily I’m only allergic enough that my forearm swelled double the size of the other one (I did not take unpleasant pictures to prove it – no one needs to see that). I had to remove my wrist watch and I felt like ants were crawling beneath my skin and I could barely sleep at night. I itched my forearm, massaged the swelling and ultimately after that yellow and black sucker bit me - I survived. How woman am I?

Have you ever been bee stung? Or is that none of my beeswax? (I just had to start with the puns – please share yours with me because I can’t stop thinking of them and if I write too many you’ll stop reading).

Top tip: do not wear cardigans that in anyway emulate honeycomb. Or something that a bee might be attracted to. They will find you. Get stuck in your clothing and pain will follow for the next seven days.

Thanks guys for reading. Have a great weekend. And please, stay away from any creatures. If you do fancy popping past one of my books and giving it a review, then that would be awesome!

Cheers,
Alicia

p.s. last week it was a spider and this week a bee. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON? Next week the creature better be much simpler like a cat. Unless it attacks me.

I’m Australian but I’ve lived in London since 2005. Even though the summer ended only 23 days ago In the evenings I have my trusty blue Laura Ashley blanket pulled up to my shoulders as I watch television. It’s not like I’m swanning round the flat in my bra and knickers. Writing this, I’ve found the need to cocoon myself because the flat is arctic cold. I'm freezing.

Other than living rugged up as if I’m living in Alaska, another concern has arisen, my husband hates this blanket. Who could hate Laura Ashley? The blanket’s ‘home’ has simply become a debated topic. For me, the blanket lives on the sofa. Apparently I’ve become attached, grown a Laura Ashley type tail.

Yesterday my husband jumped on a train to booze it up in York at a book convention. He told me to 'enjoy my night on the couch.' Indeed I would. Home alone with an episode of The Collection, a guilt free Magnum and warmth from my blanket. I planned to indulge myself. Pure bliss.

As I bit almond flakes off my ice cream a black shape crawled over my knees. The house filled with a high-pitched scream, my scream and I catapulted off the couch, casting blanket, ice cream and everything to the floor. A black spider scurried across the floor. How dare a spider watch tv and live in my blanket?

Had this been what my husband was referring to when he told me to 'enjoy my evening'? Eventually I evicted the scurrying spider out the front of the flat. All the while I could help wondering whether my husband secretly left me the spider as a surprise. Surely not. Regardless, he got his way, I’m throwing in the blanket. That’s right. I’m turning on the heating. Who says I ever have to acclimatize?

In between this drama with the blanket and the spider, I’ve managed to continue on with Phoebe's Performance....

Thanks for reading, if you have a chance, please do pop past my books on Goodreads / Amazon and write me a review.

Have a great weekend.

Since I can’t draw a perfect circle or a straight line or sketch a naked man (maybe I could sketch a naked man if I was really pushed…at least I’d know the stick figure was supposed to be male) I decided to hand my book cover design baton over to someone more competent and artistic than me.

Super Star Nelly from PixBeeDesign.Com has used her artistic and technological genius to create multiple covers for my new book Phoebe’s Performance. I imagine Nelly sitting at her computer, unravelling the complexity of Photoshop. She dabbles with colours, images and fonts. She’s literally been slaving away. I absolutely don’t know what I would do without her.

Anyway, if you’d like to see Nelly’s amazing draft covers please check out my fb page:
https://www.facebook.com/AliciaMKayeW... - feel free to comment if you love one too.

Thank you so much for reading my blog. If you have time please don't forget to pop past my books and give them a review.

Thanks
Adios Amigos
Enjoy you weekend
X Alicia