Catch up time

Hi Folks.

Well, it's been some time since I've posted. WHY? Because life has a horrible way of getting in the way of creativity. My dear husband had a major heart attack in April and all my writing endeavors were placed on hold. He is recovering now. Slowly, but surely. A bit like my writing.

I've had a bit of luck. The Two Faces Of Alice, a short story I wrote way back in 2002, was published in May 05 by The Writers Post Journal. To see the site (not the book) go to www.lbfbooks.com The book cover is fabulous. You'll see that on display. Also, it has many interesting tidbits inside, as well as a lot of wonderful short story's.

Another short story of mine, The Gift of Light, was accepted for publication by New Age Dimensions Inc, for their true life paranormal experience e-book coming out shortly. I am sure it will be a very enlightening read. There are so many people out there who have experienced some sort of supernatural experience. Now you have the chance to read about it. To get more information go to www.newagedimensionspublishing.com .

I am currently doing the revisions on my epic novel Abigail Cottage. When I say EPIC, I mean just that. It's like nothing I've ever, or probably shall, write again. My editor, the lovely Mimi Riser (who incidently has her own novel Every Jack Needs their Jill on Fctionwise best seller list) tells me it will launch me into mainstream publishing. It's a novel which touches on the dark side and is full of demons and of course the goodness of the spirit realm. It tells the story of two people's fight to be together no matter what. I wrote this book many years ago, when my life wasn't as good as it could have been. Maybe the demons in it are the ones I fought to escape from in my life. I hope to have it out by the end of the year. So watch this space.

I am currently in the process of editing another novel I've just finished. It's about an unlikly romance between a Navajo warrior and a British woman. A worth while read, if it gets to see the light of day LOL.

I've been approached to take part in an event inside Ottakars book store. It sounds great and it will give me the chance to meet the people who enjoy my books. So if you're about in Redhill, Kent, (in the UK) pop in. I'll post the time, day and more in formation as I get it.

Well, thats all for now.
Thanks for reading. Take care
Magsx

Publication

Hello, welcome to my blog. Dreams do come true? How many times have we heard that tired cliche'? But in my experience they sometimes do. For twenty years I've wanted to write a novel. What got in the way? Life. Two children, a mortgage and then a divorce. It really did hamper things. While I was working for Eon Productions, (The James Bond Movie makers) I observed how the scriptwrites threw themselves in to actually becoming the characters they were creating. I watched them grow from erratic scribbles on a notebook, to fully fleged characters, each with their own individual voices. It was truly amazing to watch. It was there I wrote my first full length novel 'Endless love' a paranormal romance. Typed at work, between everything else that went on, it never really saw the light of day. It now sits on my computor and one day I'll get around to pulling it from the dust and revamping it Ten years ago I actually sat down and began writing seriously. Because I owned a Nail and Beauty salon, I was asked to become an online Beauty consultant. Being on the net allowed me to surf sites to do with writing. I became addicted to writing competitions. I fired off many short stories, but never actually got anywhere. I was so dissapointed. What was I doing wrong? Then I discovered, quite by chance, there was a certain way to write. What way, you ask? It's called having a voice. Your characters are created from imagination. These need to be given life. To do this you need to give them a voice. Not the, he said, she said, scenario, but actual conciousness. When they hurt, so does the reader. When your characters are happy, so is the reader.You have to find away to draw the reader in to this make believe world, let them bond with your characters so much that they are worried if one gets hurt, upset if you kill another off (depending on your genre) thus creating a page turner. I have also learn't to leave each chapter with an element of doubt. So the reader has to turn the page to see what happens next. It took me a long time to learn these small facts, but my efforts were rewarded tenfold.

My Publication

I cannot stress enough the importance of a good critique partner. This person will be your other set of eyes. One that can see all the bad points that you've missed in your ms. I had a great lady as mine for a number of years. We have both moved on to other things now, but we still keep in touch. Two years ago I joined a critique circle. A wonderful place where you can put your unpublished work up for other people to critique. Much of the information from these like minded people made the publication of my first novel, Two Journeys One Path, possible. I now have two people who critique my work, but I also value their friendship. I met one of my partners at my first book sign. I'll tell you about that later.

I first submitted Two Journeys One Path to Harlequin. But it was rejected on the grounds of a triangle in the storyline they didn't like. I did like it and rather than change it, I submitted it to New Age Dimensions Inc.

A few weeks later I was in the kitchen cooking dinner when the telephone rang. My daughter said "Mum there is an Indian lady on the phone for you." As I mashed the potatoes with one hand I propped the phone to my ear with my shoulder and said hello. The hi Margaret, which came back was not Indian, but American. Here is how the strange conversation went.
Me. Hello can I help you.
Publisher. Yes, I think you can. I'm from New Age Dimensions Publishing.
Me. Oh right. (I had no idea who they were)
Publisher. I've received your Novel Two Journeys One Path and would like to offer you a publishing contract.

As those words penetrated the cotton wool padding of my brain, the phone slipped, sinking into the fluffy depths of the potatoes. My breath came out in a startled gasp as I dived into the mash to rescue it. Pulling it out, I placed it on my ear and with the potatoe burning my lobes, I thanked her very much and the rest of the conversation became a blur. All I could think was, I've done it. After all these years of trying, I was being published. Of course, no one got their diner that night. I was too busy on the phone calling everyone I knew.