Chatting with Elaine Everest

Never mind A Gift from Woolworths! More like a gift to her readers as Elaine Everest delights us all with yet another book in this wonderful series. Once again I am privileged to be a participant in her blog tour so let me welcome Elaine and see what she has to tell us this time.

Starting to read A Gift from Woolworths was like cosying up with an old friend. Several old friends, in fact. Your characters are always so well-developed that we might have made the mistake of thinking we knew all about them. Not so. There is much more to learn in this book. But they are numerous. How then do you manage to ensure your readers know it’s Maisie, Sarah, Freda or Betty? Or indeed any of the others who feature. Not once did I have to flick back to the page before to check.

Thank you so much for the warm welcome to your blog, Natalie. It is always a pleasure to visit.

I’m so relieved you didn’t have to flick back to check anything – breathing a big sigh of relief here! I like to think I’m aware of my lovely readers as I write my books so stepping into a new scene I need to say not only where we are but who is in the scene. In fact I have a shopping list for each scene of what happens and who appears. I recall in my early writing days of receiving first edits for a book and my editor, at that time, writing in the margin ‘where are we Elaine?’ Things like this stick in my head so the next time I start a new scene I make sure it is clear. I treat each scene in a chapter as a standalone story starting with ‘Freda walked into the kitchen,’ or ‘Maisie bellowed at her husband’ until it becomes second nature to explain to my readers what is I want to say. I’m sure I get it wrong sometimes but I have a fab team supporting me at Pan Macmillan and they will soon point out my mistake.

There are several threads running through the book. I know you are a planner but can you tell us how you manage to interweave all the stories so that in the end we are left with one of Maisie’s beautifully finished garments rather than a tangled mess?

Good question! Before I start to write a book I like to know what will happen to each of my main characters so I write down each girl’s own story on individual pages. Some of their problems start later in the book – sometimes extra ideas come to me as I write! I then look at the war timeline as well as local and Woolworths events. This means some of the girls’ stories start later than others as they weave around a situation. Occasionally there will be an on-going storyline from a previous book (Ruby’s on off marriage comes to mind) so I need to check old notes and even read the previous book before I start to write. However, I do my best to tie up every thread by that last chapter. A tick sheet is handy in these circumstances.

I can almost touch the human spirit and camaraderie that emanate from your Erith community. It’s obviously an area you know and love well. What can you tell us about your personal connection to the place that is as much a character in your book as any of the living and breathing ones?

If anyone asks me where I come from I always say Erith and nearby Slade Green even though I’ve lived in Swanley for over twenty-five years. Visiting the area now I know that my Erith no longer exists but it is in my heart. I think of it as rather like Brigadoon and hope that perhaps one day the town I know and write about with it’s Victorian buildings and many shops will return. These days the area is just an extension of Greater London but dig around and there are glimpses of the old town we love so much. Pop onto Facebook and visit the groups set up by past school friends and locals and in an instant we are talking about the past – the ‘good old days’ that we think of with so much fondness. Currently we are chatting about St Augustine’s church where so many of us have been christened, married and said sad farewell to love ones. The London Borough of Bexley, where Erith now dwells, has a wonderful archive centre and along with local libraries there is a wealth of old photographs and information for us to view and discuss. At times it is as if the town I know is there just out of reach…

You aren’t afraid to confront reality. There are some harsh features and not everyone has a happy ending. Are these aspects easier or harder to deal with when you are writing them?

I write sagas so life isn’t always pleasant, although these days saga authors no longer write the predictable ‘gritty clogs and shawls’ kind of books from Catherine Cookson’s era. Anything could happen to my girls and has. Freda was attacked by a boyfriend in one of the earlier Woolworths books which is distressing for any young girl – I apologise now for putting poor Freda through so many failed romances. Maisie’s terrible family secret – I do love a secret! My girls and their families are normal people and sadly most people do encounter sadness and harshness at times. At least I can also give them happiness – one of the perks of being a writer.

Do you ever make yourself cry?

I was going to say no as I hate it when writers put something on social media to say they sobbed over their own words. However… In one of my earlier books my three girls all faced the death of a parent. A friend asked at the time if this was because I lost my own mum when she was only forty. I put more than a little of my own grief into my girls’ stories in that book – yes I shed a few tears.
Also, as I wrote the last chapter of A Gift from Woolworths and we reached the end of 1945 I felt as though my girls had grown up so much since we met them in 1938 and I was saying goodbye to them. At that time I wondered if there would be another Woolies book so I took an age to write that one chapter fearing the worse. Tears were in evidence then.

It’s no secret that the war comes to an end in this book, but our connection with your characters does not. Can we expect another Woolworths saga from you?

I’ve been promised by my publisher that we will return to Woolworths. I have such plans for the girls for the late 1940s onwards. My publisher is holding two outlines for more books and I’m looking forward to seeing what can happen, not only to the girls but also their children – after all Woolies didn’t close until 2008. However, before then there will be new girls and a new series, which I hope my readers will take to their hearts as they have with Sarah, Maisie and Freda. 

I have a short story in the My Weekly magazine at the end of November following a Saturday girl as Woolworths closes and if you listen carefully you can hear my girls…

Finally, A Gift from Woolworths will make a wonderful present, not just at this festive season but at any time of the year. Are you in a position to tell us what your next gift to your readers will be? And when?
My next gift will be a trip to the seaside in May 2019 with The Teashop Girls. We are visiting Margate and Ramsgate on the Kent coast in 1940 and taking tea in the famous Lyons Teashops. We meet Rose, Katie and Lily and their friends from the Sea View guesthouse. I can’t wait to introduce you!

Elaine xx

And I can’t wait to meet them! Thank you so much for sharing with us today, Elaine.

About A Gift From Woolworths:

Will the war be over by Christmas?

As the war moves into 1945 the lives of the women of Woolworths continue. When store manager, Betty Billington, announces she is expecting Douglas’s baby her future life is about to change more than she expects.

Freda has fallen in love with the handsome Scottish engineer but will it end happily?

Maisie loves being a mother and also caring for her two nieces although she still has her own dreams. When her brother appears on the scene he brings unexpected danger to the family.

Meanwhile Sarah dreams of her husband’s return and a cottage with roses around the door but Woolworths beckons.

Will our girls sail into times of peace, or will they experience more heartache and sorrow? With a wedding on the horizon, surely only happiness lies ahead – or does it?

Links:

Amazon Author Page

Author Facebook page

Twitter: @elaineeverest

Author Information:

Elaine Everest, author of Bestselling novels The Woolworths Girls, The Butlins Girls, Christmas at Woolworths, and Wartime at Woolworths was born and brought up in North West Kent, where many of her books are set. She has been a freelance writer for twenty years and has written widely for women's magazines and national newspapers, with both short stories and features. Her non-fiction books for dog owners have been very popular and led to broadcasting on radio about our four legged friends. Elaine has been heard discussing many topics on radio from canine subjects to living with a husband under her feet when redundancy looms.

When she isn't writing, Elaine runs The Write Place creative writing school at The Howard Venue in Hextable, Kent and has a long list of published students.

Elaine lives with her husband, Michael, and their Polish Lowland Sheepdog, Henry, in Swanley, Kent and is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, The Crime Writers Association, The Society of Women Writers & Journalists and The Society of Authors.

If you'd like to make some more stops on the blog tour you can find them on the banner below

Chatting with Rosemary Goodacre

Today I am delighted to welcome Rosemary Goodacre on this, the first day of the blog tour for her debut novel, A Fortnight is not Enough which is published by American publisher Books to Go Now. Rosemary has written a feel good story which I read at one sitting. Her young heroine is everything a heroine should be, I liked the writer’s style and I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

Thank you for agreeing to answer my questions, Rosemary.
Before I begin I'd like to say thank you for hosting me on your blog.

You’ve picked a wonderfully romantic setting for your novel. It feels as if it’s somewhere you know well. Is this the case and why did you choose this particular location?

We visited Provence in 2016 and it’s a beautiful region, with plenty of sunshine. I’ve had a fantasy about deliberately not returning from a wonderful holiday destination, and when I wanted to make it into a story this location seemed to work well.

Avignon
The setting for
A Fortnight is not Enough

Your heroine is an artist and it’s evident you know a lot about your subject. Are you a painter in your non-writing life?

I’m afraid I’ve only dabbled, though it’s a lovely career or hobby. I’ve got some artistic friends and relatives. One room at home is full of paintings by my school friend and her family.

I watched Imogen mature into a young woman with a growing faith in her own talents and abilities. Was this planned and do you think it a fundamental part of the story?

Yes, she has to use her skills and qualities to fulfil her aims. She also has to break free from someone who is a controlling influence. It could be described as a Young Adult novel.

A Fortnight is not Enough is your first published novel. Do you have any other projects in the pipeline?

I have recently completed a full length novel entitled The Day of the Dolly Bird, which is a romance set in London in the Swinging Sixties. It has received an encouraging report from a professional novelist. I am currently working on a romance set in World War I.

Can you elaborate on your writing career to date and your route to publication?

I have always loved writing and lately I’ve become more serious about seeking publication.  I attend The Write Place Creative Writing School, run by author and journalist Elaine Everest, where there is constant stimulation and encouragement. I belong to the New Writers Scheme of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, and enjoy meeting other writers there and attending workshops. Their Annual Conference provides the opportunity for valuable one-to-one meetings with agents and publishers, helpful for gaining a better understanding of the industry.

I have had short stories published and placed in competitions, and I have been published in the Guardian. My novel Pleasure Train Polka, set in Austria in 1914, was short listed in the 2014 Write Time competition run by Corazon Books.

We’d like to know a little more about you. What can you tell us? (Hobbies? Interests? Pet hate?)

In an attempt to keep fit I do Zumba, on the principle that an hour a week shouldn’t kill me, but seriously, we exercise to music (Latin American etc.) so it’s great fun. I’m very interested in travel (mainly to continental Europe) and languages. I love classical music, including opera.

Thank you for joining me today, Rosemary. I wish you every success with your new book

Links:

Amazon

Facebook

Twitter

The Benefits of a One Day Writing Retreat

I consider myself to be a dedicated writer and while my day isn’t always as well-planned and organised as it could be it is almost invariably filled with writerly things. Most of the time I can be found pounding away at my keyboard or reading my notes. Recently I completed the first draft of Long Ago and Far Away, the novel I began in November for the NaNoWriMo challenge of writing fifty thousand words in a month. Time now to work on editing before sending it out into the big wide world. Sometimes, though, it’s easy to become distracted – by Facebook conversations, by Twitter and, well we all know about displacement activities. However…

For a little over six years now I have attended The Write Place Creative Writing School in Kent, with weekly lessons that have kept me on my toes and from which I have learned a huge amount. But aside from the benefits of excellent tuition there is the added bonus of the one day writing retreats that are held regularly (usually once a month). 

There was one such retreat last Saturday. I went with less enthusiasm than usual due to a fuggy head. It's that time of the year isn't it! Fortunately I had planned what I was going to work on. Fugginess receded and by the end of the morning I had written the outline for my next book and begun work on the synopsis for Long Ago and Far Away. Then we broke for lunch, an assortment of delights brought by the participants to share between us all, and we always bring too much!

This is a particularly social time when we can relax for a while after hours of intense concentration, though writing usually comes into the conversation somewhere.

Back at our ‘stations’ work continued and tapping of fingers on keys was the only sound to be heard.  I used this time to finish the synopsis I'd been working on during the morning and to put on my editing hat. There was also an opportunity for each of us to take advantage of a one2one discussion with our tutor, Elaine Everest, and this is invaluable as it gives us a chance to talk purely about ourselves and our own aspirations, and of course to receive specifically tailored advice. 

By the time I got home I was exhausted but I had done at least twice as much work as I would have done at home. No breaks and no distractions. It was wine o'clock and I was ready. The next day I set to with a will and yes, I did a huge amount of work, but I may have taken the odd break here and there to watch TV or make a phone call. It happens.

The point I’m trying to make is that a day dedicated to writing is not unusual – it’s what I do – but a day dedicated to writing in a different environment where there are absolutely no outside distractions is priceless. My work is pretty much planned for the next month but I know that the next retreat will be as beneficial as this one has been. If it isn’t, it would be for the first time ever.

Did you know I now have a Facebook Author Page? Here is the link. Please come over and follow me for future news.

The Accidental Writer

I was delighted to be invited to give a talk to a local group last week. It wasn’t a writers’ group and for me that made it all the more enjoyable. As far as I am aware only one of the twenty-two had attempted creative writing but they were really interested and asked me lots of questions. What made it so nice for me was the chance to share my journey from where I began as ‘The Accidental Writer’  to publication. It’s so easy to lose sight of the overall picture when focused on what’s happening in the now. So what did I tell these lovely ladies?

Can't wait to add
Escape to the Cotswolds

In the beginning…It was a time when I was looking for a new challenge. The ten week creative writing course I enrolled in might have been chosen from the list with a pin. In fact, though I don’t remember, that could easily be what happened. It turned my life around. It’s a worse addiction than wine or chocolate. It seemed I couldn’t leave it alone, and I still can't.  For a while I belonged to a writing group which was incredibly enjoyable but I had ambition to improve so I joined a creative writing school, the Write Place in Dartford, which I still attend. In time I had a short story accepted by a magazine in Norway. You can imagine how excited I was. In the same year another of my stories was accepted by The People’s Friend. And for a while this was my writing life. But later, after more than thirty published short stories, I wanted to move on. It was time to attempt a novel. 

Success came with the publication of two books within seven weeks of each other and the high was such that I can’t even begin to describe how I felt. Now I am awaiting the forthcoming publication of my third  on 21st June. Escape to the Cotswolds is a contemporary romance in a beautiful setting. As yet I don’t have a cover photo or a link to Amazon. Not long to go now though. As soon as my lovely editor, Charlotte Mursell, at HQ Digital lets me know, I will be sharing with you. You can be sure of that! What I can give you now is a little taster:

Taking her courage in both hands, Holly leaves London and her cheating husband to start anew in the peaceful Cotswold village of Cuffingham. A talented artist, she opens a small gallery and life seems good except for the intrusion on her peace of the local vet, Adam Whitney. Gorgeous or what! And then she adopts an adorable Bordie Collie puppy. Will Tubs bring them together or will their inauspicious start only serve to drive them further apart?

Not a Border Collie
but a much loved/much missed companion

Well, I love dogs and I love The Cotswolds and as I wrote him I fell in love with Adam as well, but don't tell Holly or my husband. Will Holly and Adam ever get together? I leave it to you to guess. In the meantime, as I wait for further news, I hope you’ll be at my side as events unfold. Watch this space!

Author Interview: Elaine Everest

My guest today is Elaine Everest. With publication of her new saga, The Butlins Girls, around the corner, I just had to ask her a few questions.

Thank you so much for welcoming me to your blog, Natalie. I can’t wait for Thursday and publication day.

You join me just days before publication of The Butlins Girls. Readers of your Sunday Times bestseller, The Woolworths Girls, will be eagerly awaiting another dose of nostalgia. For some it may be a trip down memory lane, but you aren’t old enough to have lived in the period you write about, yet your research and attention to detail are impeccable. How do you do it?

I was fortunate to have been born in the fifties when times hadn’t changed that much. I lived in a town which not only had a lot of history but also still has many people who love to talk about ‘the good old days’. My family loved to chat about what happened (and when) so I grew up listening to stories of the war years. The next step was to read about those times in books – who doesn’t love reading a book?

Did you pick the era or did it choose you? In spite of the hardship of those post-war years, it seems a much kinder and gentler age than the one we live in now.

Like many writers I’ve dabbled with other genres. I have a modern romcom collecting dust but although never picked up by a publisher it did help me become shortlisted in The Harry Bowling Prize. I’d been a fan of Harry’s for years as he wrote about the area where my Aunt Doll and Uncle Geoff had their pub and his writing resonated with me. Somewhere inside me there has always been that interest in times gone by. So, to answer your question I’d say that history and sagas picked me.

Can your readers look forward to more of the same? What else do you have in the pipeline?

I’m thrilled to say that readers loved The Woolworths Girls so much I’ll be returning to Woolies later this year. Old friends and new faces - it was a joy to write. Then in 2018…

You allude to your family’s history in the world of the travelling fairground. What stories you must have to tell. Perhaps a future novel?

My love of the fairground is a link to my maternal family and my mum who died when I was seventeen. She told us of the hard life she had as a child and the bullying because she was so different to fellow school children – that’s when she got to attend school due to travelling with the fair. She made us value education and aimed to having good jobs once we had our exams. The fair closed down after WW2 so I never experienced the fun of the fair. My granddad did still own the ground and some of the old-fashioned caravans, which I remember fondly. Brightly polished lamps, china, a fierce parrot that hated kids! It’s all there locked in my memory ready to use in stories. Oh, and the family link to Billy Butlin…

In addition to writing novels, short stories and articles, you also run a creative writing school The Write Place in Dartford, as well as being in charge of social media for the Romantic Novelists’ Association. How do you fit it all in?

It’s a case of making sure I do fit it all in and all part of being a full time writer. I often tell new writers that if they wish to earn a living and be thought of seriously as a writer they need to do more than write a novel. We have to learn our craft and that can take years. Short stories help us create a piece of fiction with a beginning a middle and an end – just like a novel but not quite as long. I love the time I spent writing more short fiction. I could think of an idea and write it in one day. My record from having an idea to making a sale is 36 hours. Feature writing pays well and authors have to pay the mortgage and eat! Both fiction and features helped me build relationships with editors whilst learning the craft of writing novels. Teaching classes for Kent Adult Education Services in Dartford and Gravesend came about after I won the BBC Radio Kent short Story Writer of the Year competition in 2003 and was invited to run a few classes. I later moved on to run my own classes and workshops as I preferred to make my own decisions. Being part of the RNA committee is an honour as I get to meet so many authors and also watch as new writers progress with their career – they have great parties too!

Many of your readers will know of your love of and association with the dog world. In the past you’ve written non-fiction books on the subject. Is there any genre, fiction or non-fiction, you would like to turn your hand to in the future?
I could talk for hours about dogs and the show world! I’m honoured to have been part of a world where people breed sound healthy dogs and do their best to promote new owners. I’ve sat on a few breed committees and done my bit to keep the positive side of our breeds alive. Even though I’m not quite as active in the show world as I used to be I’m still called upon to broadcast about dogs – usually when something nasty happens. It is down to us to wave the flag for responsible breeding which means closing down puppy farms and not promoting designer dogs.

As a personal friend, I know how wholeheartedly you throw yourself into everything you do. Outside of the writing world, is there an unfulfilled ambition?

Are you giving me three wishes? To be honest I’m living the dream. I have a fabulous literary agent in Caroline Sheldon and I’m with a wonderful publisher, Pan Macmillan. So, outside of the writing world… Hmm I love Cornwall and would really like to move there but it would have to be a very large house so I can run workshops and writing retreats. I can be found most days on Rightmove dreaming over houses in the two million pound bracket. I suppose I’d better write faster!

Links:

The Butlins Girls

Facebook author page

Twitter: @elaineeverest

Thank you for such interesting questions. Xx

I’m delighted, as I’m sure your readers will be, to hear that Woolies will be returning later in the year. In the meantime, very best wishes for The Butlins Girls. I may just have to book a holiday

The Wonder of Woolies - with Elaine Everest

Today I am delighted to welcome Elaine Everest. This was such an enjoyable interview to do – like taking a trip down memory lane.

Thank you for inviting me to your blog, Natalie.

Many of us will remember the iconic fascia that was Woolworths, sadly no longer a part of our high streets. What prompted you to choose them as one of your major characters?

I knew that my WW2 saga would be set in the town of Erith, Kent – Erith was situated in Kent at that time and true locals still think of it that way and not as part of Greater London. I knew that my main character, Sarah, would be starting work in the town and there she would make new friends and meet the love of her life. So where should I bring young men and women together in a place that would be recognised by readers? There were plenty of armament factories at that time but Erith was a thriving town with lots of busy shops. Coming from the area I recalled with fondness shopping trips to Woolworths in the sixties. We still had the original store with high counters and polished floors that had survived WW2 although it succumbed to a fire in the seventies. I’d been a Saturday girl at another Woolies store in nearby Dartford and the ideas started to form…

I appreciate that you wrote about an area in which you lived and were raised but you aren’t old enough to remember the events you describe, in fact you weren’t even born when they occurred. How did you undertake your research?

I grew up listening to stories of the area told by my family. In fact there is still a strong connection between ‘old locals’ of the town who meet on forums to chat and share memories of the good old days. To a writer this is a gift. Although we were never taught the history of WW2 whilst at school in the sixties, I’ve devoured history books to find out what happened. It fascinated me that the house I lived in when first married had survived both wars. Where better for the Caselton family to live than my old home? Local history archives held at The London Borough of Bexley were a great help, as was Erith Historical Society and the wonderful Woolworths Museum who came up with some gems about the Erith store that I was able to include in my story.

The Woolworths Girls tells the story of three friends, though one stands out as your main protagonist. Is this a theme you plan to carry through to your next book?

Yes. You will find this theme in many WW2 sagas. Three, four, even five friends who are thrown together in wartime sharing good times and bad.

Speaking of your next book, is it in the pipeline and what can your readers expect?

In The Butlins Girls, due for publication in Spring 2017, there are three girls thrown together at Butlins Skegness in 1946 just after WW2 ends as Billy Butlin reopens his well-known holiday camps. Molly Missons has fled Erith because of a family problem, aided by another friend who appeared in The Woolworths Girls. Each girl has her own reasons for being at Butlins which we find out as the story unfolds.

It’s been a long while since acceptance of your manuscript by your publisher, Pan Macmillan, to today’s publication. Can you tell us something about the process of assembling all the ingredients together to getting them onto the table?

These days authors seem to expect their novels to be published much quicker due to E-books and digital first. In truth it has always been the norm that traditional publishers contract books for the following year or even the year after that. Copy for The Woolworths Girls was filed at the beginning of last year and then the hard work began. Structural edits came first with the book being passed through each editing stage until Pan Macmillan and myself were happy with the book. Along the way I wrote the ‘end bits’ and I was included in the design of the cover – isn’t it lovely? My input was encouraged as models were chosen and the uniforms discussed. Then the PR team took over and that alone has been – and still is – another part of an exciting journey. As publication day draws near I’m already working on the edits for The Butlins Girls and planning my book for 2018.

You haven’t always written novels. What came before?

I’d always wanted to be a novelist but first, whilst honing my skills, I was earning a living with other forms of writing. I sold over sixty short stories to Women’s magazines and wrote prolifically for newspapers and magazines with features – my specialism was the canine world as it’s a big part of my life. I’ve been commissioned for, and written, three non-fiction books for dog owners and do continue to write for some of the publications. I’m called upon to broadcast about aspect of the dog world although I’ve given up my columns to focus more on my novels. Whilst promoting The Woolworths Girls it has been good to have the support of many publications and radio stations that I’ve worked for in the past. I also won, or was placed, in a few prominent writing competitions that not only helped me along the way to being a novelist but still look good on my writing CV. One was the BBC Radio Kent short story writer of the year and to this day the company have supported all my work, be it The Write Place creative writing school, charity anthologies such as Diamonds and Pearls which celebrated my thirty year remission from breast cancer or my books.

As a journalist and someone who runs a creative writing school, as well as being a novelist, how do you prioritise your time?

I have no idea! At times it can be hard to juggle everything. All I can do is make a list and try not to panic. However, my priority has to be my novels as that is my career. Everything else has to wait.

Finally, what do you do for relaxation – that is, if you have the time!
My relaxation is my dogs, or dog at the moment. Although I no longer sit on committees or write so much about the dog world I still like to get to dog shows and exhibit my Polish Lowland Sheepdog, Henry. I’ve been involved in dogs since the early seventies and like to promote the image of pedigree dogs as much as I can. These day we try to go away for the weekend and take in a championship show. It is so much more relaxed than the days we would drive to Wales, show a couple of dogs and then drive home all in one day – there again it's not always possible to do this on our motorways anymore. I’m hoping to have another puppy soon but not sure if it will be another Polish Lowland or my one true love – the Old English Sheepdog. I miss having them in the house.

Links:

Amazon

Twitter: @ElaineEverest

Facebook Author Page

Thank you, Elaine. Happy publication day and good luck with The Woolworths Girls.

The Write Place at The Right Place

Earlier this week I joined several other writers on our annual Christmas outing. We went out for a meal. Well, of course we did. It’s what people do at this time of year. Without hesitation we entered our chosen venue. After all, though we weren’t specifically categorised on the plaque in the entrance, neither were we excluded.

While our weekly sessions at The Write Place (Creative Writing School, Dartford) are not always formal they are definitely structured. There was no formality on Monday evening, just a unanimous will to have a good meal with a beverage or two. There was some slight apprehension when we felt our reputation had preceded us and it gave a new meaning to the expression ‘drinks behind the bar’.

This is a particularly enjoyable event as it gives us all the opportunity of learning more about each

other away from our writing lives. It’s easy to assume that, because it’s what we see, that’s all there is but of course the reality is that people do have another existence. What an interesting group of people I see every week, all dedicated to their writing and how lovely to hear about family, (other) work, aims and aspirations.

Our venue was The Horse & Groom in Wilmington and you can see from this image that we all looked suitably well fed. A great choice by Elaine Everest. She certainly picked the right place for The Write Place.

This will be my last post in December so I’d like to wish everyone a very Happy Christmas and a great New Year. See you in 2016.

Links: 

http://www.thewriteplace.org.uk/

http://www.thehorseandgroomwilmington.com/

Journeys Back in Time

If you follow me on Facebook and Twitter you will know that I visited the Imperial War Museum earlier this week in the company of Elaine Everest, Viv Brown and Sarah Craven. While the historical period I am hoping to write about wasn’t represented, I had a wonderful time at the ‘Fashion on the Ration’ exhibition. Here is Elaine to tell us more about it.

Elaine's book and some she purchased at the IWM

When my students mentioned ‘school trips’ during the summer break from The Write Place I suggested  the Imperial War Museum as I had an ulterior motive – the ‘Fashion on the Ration’ exhibition. My sagas are set in the 1930s and 1940s so to be able to see garments up close from the era was a chance I couldn’t miss. I wasn’t disappointed. I felt as though I’d stepped back in time and could see many of my ‘girls’ wearing the frocks and underwear on display. Peggy from Gracie’s War was the perfect example of the women who were advised to ‘make do and mend.’ As rationing was introduced women had to be inventive in order to look smart and keep up their morale.

In my forthcoming book, The Woolworths’ Girls (Pan Macmillan, March 2016) Maisie, one of my Woolies girls, is a keen dressmaker and could be relied upon to turn any second hand item of clothing into something chic for herself and her friends. ‘Keep up the morale of the Home Front by preserving a neat appearance.’ (The Board of Trade 1940) could have been written for Maisie!

My one worry as I walked through the exhibition was that I’d made a mistake. Was I right to have my young bride, Sarah, wear a nightdress made from a whisper of satin on her husband’s return from fighting the enemy? As I turned a corner and faced a display of undergarments and nightwear I knew my research was spot on. In front of me was a mannequin wearing the very garment that Maisie made for her best friend.

Even if you don’t write historical fiction I recommend a visit to the IWM for a dose of nostalgia before the exhibition ends at the end of August.

Thank you, Elaine. And now for a trip even further back in time. 

On my journey to the Imperial War Museum I immersed myself in quite another period of history. What amazing facilities are available to those of us who wish to write about an age other than the one in which we live. Here is what I did.

The postman doesn’t deliver very early these days but he came up trumps on Tuesday morning and my excitement mounted as I opened the envelope because I knew what it contained. I had ordered a copy of Louise Allen’s Walks Through Regency London. There’s a big hint in the title! I (along with many others) am a huge fan of Georgette Heyer and my ambition is to write a romantic novel set in the capital in Regency times.

While I acknowledge that the Kindle and its equivalents are a great boon to the reader on the move I decided to order not the ebook but the slim volume I now have in my possession. I wanted to be able to flick the pages; to look at the images; to jump from one place to another with ease. There are ten walks, each of approximately two miles. Such is the detail that I only had time to study the first walk. So engrossed was I that I nearly missed changing trains at Waterloo. A nice touch that, Waterloo, since it fits so well into the time frame. The detail is quite extraordinary. Because it is essentially a guide book I had expected it to be quite dry. Here is where I apologise to Louise Allen because it’s no such thing! It’s interesting, evocative of its time and it drew me straight into places I know so well from between the covers of my heroine’s books.

Even as I type this I am becoming more excited because the first walk is named St James’s and it starts at Green Park Station in Piccadilly. It just so happens, and this really is a coincidence, that I am meeting my sister this coming Friday afternoon in that very area. I will travel up to London in the morning with the book in my handbag and sample the first of what I know are going to be huge treats. I expect it won’t be long before my copy is covered with notes, highlighted in yellow and curling at the edges. I make no apology for this. It’s a book that's meant to be used. In the meantime, huge thanks to Louise for all the footwork (sorry!) she put in. I have already gained a great deal of pleasure and I haven’t even started yet!

Guess what my next blog’s going to be about.

And Now For My Next Trick

There comes a time when you have to push the send key. You’ve laughed with your characters. You’ve cried with your characters. Sometimes you may even have wanted to wring their necks. You know your book inside out. You’ve been pouring your heart into it for months – if you haven’t you shouldn’t be calling yourself a writer. But the day arrives when, like a child, you have to fire it off into the outside world. And then you wait. This piece is not about what happens to it next. It’s out of your hands, at least until the time (you hope) when someone says they are interested. By then of course you are totally immersed in what happened after you hit the send key and perhaps you struggle even to remember the names of those characters you knew so well. You are several chapters into your next book.

A week ago my finger was hovering. All my courage was not in both hands but in that suspended digit. Could I do more? Almost certainly I could but there comes a time…I pushed. I was comforted by the thought that I might be able to some extent to put it out of my mind rather than open my mailbox first thing in the morning and look at it last thing at night in a fever of anticipation. Who am I kidding? I always boot up at the start of the day and stay on line till I go to bed. Only a week later it’s far too early to become feverish – and in any case I have work to do.

In the weeks leading up to submission I was quite sure I knew what my next project was going to be. A book, all eighty-two thousand words of it, not hidden in the bottom drawer but laid aside because I knew it needed a lot of work and what I thought was destined to be my entry for the Romantic Novelists’ Association New Writers’ Scheme (NWS) couldn’t possibly be finished in time. I turned to another ‘laid aside’ manuscript and I’m delighted to say it afforded me publication and graduation from the NWS.  

Now, I thought last Tuesday, almost rubbing my hands together, I can get back to Daisy. Only something happened to rock that particular boat. In the novel class at The Write Place Creative Writing School, Elaine Everest set us some homework. Regardless of what we were working on at the time we were tasked with writing an outline of our next novel. Of its own volition a new idea jumped front and centre into my mind. Where did that come from? Do we write our own books or do they write themselves. I don’t know. What I do know is that poor Daisy has once again been laid aside as excitement mounts. Even in this short time my hero and heroine are familiar. Already I know their hopes and fears, their strengths and weaknesses. So chapter breakdown is next on my agenda. I’m less of a planner than a panster but I do need some sort of structure. Hopefully it won’t be long before I’m typing Chapter One at the head of the page.

Added to all this I have to admit to being as human as the next person. Of course I will be scanning my inbox. Of course I’ll be waiting and hoping to hear good news of the child I’ve sent into the outside world. At the same time though I will be nurturing my new baby. It may not yet be on solid foods but I will be working to ensure it follows its big sister into the outside world. Come on, Sweetheart, just another spoonful. 

It's a Wonderful Life

It’s the 8^th December and Christmas is rushing towards us at an alarming rate. I’ve already lost count of the number of feel good seasonal films I’ve watched on the television and what I once found sentimentally cloying I now unashamedly weep at. Mind you, even in the past I cried every time I saw ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ – a feel good production that has stood the test of time, as has ‘Miracle on 34^th Street’. There are many others, both recent and not so. ‘The Holiday’ in 2006 and ‘Love Actually’ unbelievably released as long ago as 2003. Do you have a favourite?

This sort of reminded me a bit of Kate Winslet's house in 'The Holiday'

The past two weeks have been about as hectic as the previous two – just in a different way. I was concerned about my first ever guest post here on the blog but I couldn’t really go wrong with Elaine Everest could I. A really good evening at The Write Place Creative Writing School in Dartford on Wednesday, Elaine again, was followed on Saturday by the Romantic Novelists' Association (RNA) London and South East Chapter Christmas Party. I defy anyone not to enjoy themselves at one of these events and it was lovely to ‘catch up’ with people. The warmth inside more than made up for travelling around in the freezing cold weather. Jean Fullerton was given a wonderful send off by Juliet Archer and Linda Chamberlain - no, she's not leaving, just relinquishing the reins after six years. 

One of the things I’ve found quite difficult since publication of Safe Harbour has been to find a balance between over exposing myself (don’t be naughty) and promoting sufficiently to attract attention. If you are a writer reading this blog, what do YOU do in these circumstances? And yes, of course, now that I’ve mentioned it I have to put the link here. http://amzn.to/14pRXmy There’s still in time to get it before Christmas. Now is THAT being too pushy. I wish I knew.

Next Monday, on 15^th December, I hope you can join me again when my guest will be the lovely Wendy Clarke.

In the meantime, please do let me have your comments on any of the above.

If you would like to appear as a guest on my blog please email me on natalie@nataliekleinman.co.uk

Welcome

Hello, and welcome to my blog.

For those who don’t know me allow me to tell you a little about myself. I’m a bit of a late starter when it comes to writing. After intensive study I took up my metaphorical pen as a bit of light relief. An initial ten week course had me hooked, though in fact I was hooked by that first session. I spent the first few years learning and honing my craft – not that writers as a breed are ever satisfied with the finished product – before selling my first short story, followed by another (to date) twenty-five. In addition my attempt at sci-fi won me a place in the anthology Fusion while another gritty story appears in the students of The Write Place anthology Things that go Bump in the Night. Most of my work though comes under the genre of Contemporary Romance.

I have been part of a weekly writing group going by the name of Dingbats for some time but three years ago I joined The Write Place Creative Writing School (TWP) in Dartford and it was this that acted as a springboard and set me on my career path. Having become as comfortable as one can be, this one anyway, with short stories, I expanded my horizons and embarked on novels. I received a huge amount of help from the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s (RNA) New Writers’ Scheme and my first book was taken up and has just been published any under the title Safe Harbour.

I was extremely lucky to have an industry one2one at the RNA Conference this summer which resulted in me securing an agent when Lisa Eveleigh of the Richford Becklow Literary Agency subsequently agreed to represent me.

While not purporting to be as wise as my three friends at the top of this page, I’m doing okay!

This is not my first blogging experience as I have for the past year been part of a five hander, WriteMindsWritePlace Blog, as well as managing the RNA Blog with Elaine Everest. Now feels the right time to dive in and launch my own blog…wondering here if that’s a mixed metaphor. Please feel free to pop in and join me any time. It will be a pleasure to see you.