Tag Archives: Sue Moorcroft

Sue Moorcroft joins my Christmas Countdown!

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Today, on my Christmas countdown, I am joined by Sunday Times Best Seller Sue Moorcroft, whose latest Christmas book, Let it Snow, has been described as a fab festive read!

Welcome to my blog Sue, Let it Snow is definitely on my Christmas reading list, to get me in the mood, I would love to know how your characters will be spending Christmas…

Isaac knew he’d probably be running The Three Fishes while Tubb’s away in Switzerland, and he is, but he’s somehow ended up with his ex, Hayley, living there too. He also has Doggo the dalmatian to keep him company but neither of those are the one he wants to be with. It’s not until Christmas morning that he realises that Lily, instead of coming in to make gingerbread men for the Christmas Day pub lunch, has disappeared. Lily is with family. Very newly discovered family. And they give her an opportunity she thought she’d never have.

Oh you’ve got me hooked and I see the blurb is equally as intriguing:

This Christmas, the villagers of Middledip are off on a very Swiss adventure…

Family means everything to Lily Cortez and her sister Zinnia, and growing up in their non-conventional family unit, they and their two mums couldn’t have been closer.

So it’s a bolt out of the blue when Lily finds her father wasn’t the anonymous one-night stand she’d always believed – and is in fact the result of her mum’s reckless affair with a married man.

Confused, but determined to discover her true roots, Lily sets out to find the family she’s never known; an adventure that takes her from the frosted, thatched cottages of Middledip to the snow-capped mountains of Switzerland, via a memorable romantic encounter along the way…

Buying links: Kindle UK | Kobo UK | Apple Books | paperback or at your favourite book shop or supermarket | audio

With plenty going on for your characters in the lead up to Christmas, I’d love to know how you will be spending this festive season…

In the first half of December I’ll be visiting Sweden with my lovely author buddy Christina Courtenay ( who also writes as Pia Fenton). My Winter 2020 book will be at least partly set in Sweden and Christina has kindly invited me to go with her to visit her mum, who lives in south Sweden. We’ll be having a few days in Stockholm too and I’m looking forward to Christmas markets, the old town, ice hockey and a moose safari. (Note to self: try and do some Christmas shopping while there. Swiss chocolate went down a storm last year and I don’t think anyone will mind repeating the exercise with Swedish chocolate.)

When it comes to Christmas itself I’ll be having a quiet time at home with family except for one day between Christmas and New Year, when a whole lot of Moorcrofts will descend to eat, drink, be merry and talk a lot. We refer to this as the Gathering of the Clan, although none of us has any Scottish blood. I think it’s a testament to the strength of my family ties that I can’t remember anyone missing the Moorcroft Gathering, whether it’s held at my house or my brother’s.

Wow, your trip to Sweden sounds wonderful, and perfect to combine research and Christmas shopping (I’m guessing you’ll have to sample the chocolate too). So a busy time ahead but I can’t let you go without asking you five questions from my Christmas selection:

Who did you play in the school nativity? Angel Gabriel.

What a great picture! In case you couldn’t spot her, Sue is the very happy looking Angel Gabriel facing the camera in the back row.

Real or artificial Christmas tree? Glass! I’ve just bought a tiny, handmade glass tree with little baubles. I suppose the answer is ‘artificial’ but that doesn’t give the right impression.

Must read Christmas book? Notting Hill in the Snow by Jules Wake

Cracker hat or no cracker hat? No cracker hat.

First Quality Street flavour to disappear from your tub? Green triangle.

Thank you so much for joining my Christmas countdown and I wish you and your family a fabulous Moorcroft Gathering! xx

About the author:

Sue Moorcroft is a Sunday Times and international bestselling author and has reached the coveted #1 spot on Amazon Kindle UK. She’s won the Readers’ Best Romantic Novel award and the Katie Fforde Bursary, and has been nominated for several others.

 Her novels, short stories, serials, columns, writing ‘how to’ and courses have appeared around the world.

Discover more about Sue and her work via: Website | Blog | Facebook profile | Facebook author page | Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn

Don’t miss Choc Lit author Kirsty Ferry, joining in by sharing a Christmas read and some festive fun, on my blog on Thursday 16th December. xx

Reflections on 2018

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As 2018 draws to a close I’d like to say thank you so much to all of those who have made my year by buying, borrowing, reading and reviewing my books. Your kindness and support are hugely appreciated!

Thank you also to all those who take the time to read my blog. It has been a year since I started it and what a great year it has been.

As well as having my first book published with Ruby fiction, and gaining my first Amazon Best Seller badge,  I have met new people, travelled and tried new things.

A big thank you to the Choc Lit and Ruby Fiction team for making this  dream come true!

In June I had the privilege of going to the Arte Umbria writing retreat with Sue Moorcroft. It turned out I was the only other writer booked, and so I had Sue all to myself for a week. It was a lot of fun, with a great many words written. Sue and I shared chats on the terrace (as well as the odd glass of wine and slice of cake!). I learnt a lot, but I think one of the most valuable lessons was how much you can achieve by putting your bottom in a seat, focusing and cracking on with your work in progress. Without that trip, my new book wouldn’t have been finished by the end of the year.

Umbria with Sue Moorcroft

In July I went to the Romantic Novelist’s Association Conference in Leeds. Despite knowing a few people who were also going, I was very nervous. When I arrived, I had missed the start of my first seminar due to traffic and so decided to get a cup of tea, and gather my bearings.

As I stood making my tea Katie Fforde, Jill Mansell and Milly Johnson walked in! They set about making their drinks, while I felt awestruck and more out of my depth than when I arrived late. But I didn’t need to worry. They took time to say hello and Katie Fforde came and chatted to me as she made her tea, about – well, to be honest, I can’t remember what because I was busy thinking – “Oh my goodness, I am talking to Katie Fforde!” What a fantastic start to a wonderful weekend. The conference was informative. The main highlight, for me, was the opportunity to speak to so many writers and to spend time with fellow Choc Lit and Ruby Fiction authors.

Meeting the lovely Katie Fforde, Milly Johnson and Jill Mansell at the RNA conference.

From the conference came the spark of an idea and later in the year eight of us joined forces to create Apricot Plots, a group in which we work together to promote our writing and the romance genre. It is a lot of fun having fellow romance authors to work and promote with, and we have already formed some lovely friendships within the group. We’ve also been overwhelmed by the support we’ve received so far.

With fellow Apricot Plotters Angela Barton, Caroline James, Morton S Gray and Jane Cable. (Looking forward to meeting Tora Williams and Mariam Kobras in the future.)

Towards the end of the year, I stepped down as a director of the Chindi Authors, to make way for new authors and ideas. I am still an active member of the group and am ever grateful to my Chindi friends for their wonderful support, whether it be with fundraising or fathoming Amazon, they are always there.

Chindi Authors raising money for Cancer Research UK

Finally, on the cusp of December, I sent the sequel to The Purrfect Pet Sitter off to my publisher. It is currently with their reading panel, and so I am awaiting their response. Eeeek! I’ll let you know how that goes. All being well it means I’ll have a new book out in the first half of 2019. What a way to start the year.

I won’t be going to Umbria this year as my cheeky nephew has booked his wedding for the same time, but I will be off to the RNA conference again. Exciting times ahead and a new book promised to my publisher for July. Wish me luck. xx

Umbria, hypnosis and me!

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When I started my blog in January, I said this was going to be my year of trying new things. Now we are halfway through the year, I thought it was time for an update.

Umbria

At the end of June, I went to Sue Moorcroft’s writing retreat in Umbria. This was a big deal for me and not just because I got to meet Sue – a number 1, best selling romance writer – and got to have some fabulously peaceful, quality writing time. But also because before flying to Umbria the furthest I had travelled without my hubby (we’ve been together 27 years) was Somerset. I had also never left my children for so long.

And I did it! I managed to drop my luggage in the right place, to get my flight on time and to go on an aeroplane all by myself – there was a pilot and other passengers of course, but you get the idea. I am not a huge fan of flying, but the take-off and landing actually made me smile – even if we did land with a bump in Perugia. I enjoyed the whole experience, and something about doing it for myself made it more enjoyable. I felt younger and freer as soon as my feet hit the airport floor – isn’t that funny!

Of course, I missed my children, but I didn’t worry about them. I knew their daddy was looking after them well. He even ironed their school uniforms! If left to him he probably wouldn’t have to be honest, but he knew they’d tell on him if he didn’t.

When I reached Arte Umbria, I learnt I was the only one booked for the writing retreat for that week. I’ll be honest, that threw me for a moment. I am a bit shy, and the thought that there would be nobody else to hide behind made me wonder if I would enjoy it, or if the week would seem really long, making me miss home.

I needn’t have worried. Sue Moorcroft was lovely, very easy to get on with and inspirational. I wrote almost 14000 words on the sequel to The Purrfect Pet Sitter while away. In the same time, Sue reached double that! She may also have encouraged me to drink slightly more wine than I usually would, but hey, I encouraged her to drink too much tea, so we are equal.

David, the owner, was extremely welcoming and did a brilliant job of cooking for us and looking after us all week. I thoroughly enjoyed it and the time whizzed by too quickly. In case you missed it, here’s a video I made sharing my experience:

Hypnosis and me!

During the Chichester Festival, I also pushed myself out of my comfort zone by doing public speaking with the Chindi Authors. It might seem strange for somebody who used to be a teacher not to feel comfortable speaking in public but with adults, not children, looking at me, no whiteboard, lesson plan, desk or stall as my props I get super nervous.

For this, I turned to my Chindi friend, Dan Jones. Dan is a hypnotherapist who has previously helped me with a phobia I had. I was a complete sceptic at the start, but my reaction to something that used to cause me to go into a state of physical panic has changed dramatically. So in preparation for the public speaking events, I listened to Dan’s hypnosis track on comfortable public speaking. You can check out his very popular YouTube channel here.

I am not saying it worked on me the way the phobia track did, but I did it with more confidence than before, I didn’t dread going to the events, and I got on and spoke out! Sometimes my voice was wobbly, sometimes I couldn’t quite make my point, but I was actually doing it, and hopefully, those people who attended the events went away satisfied. If nothing else, managing it has boosted my confidence.

Next up on my list of challenges is attending the RNA conference in Leeds on the weekend of the 13th-15th of July, wish me luck!

In Littlehampton on Wednesday 18th July? Pop along to the Chindi Authors’ self-publishing panel, the Baptist Church, Fitzalan Road, 7pm, where I’ll be sharing my experience of self-publishing and gaining my Ruby Fiction contract for The Purrfect Pet Sitter, a book set in and around Littlehampton.

Hope to see you there! x

Umbria here I come!

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It’s incredible to think that when I started my blog in January, I was talking about trying new things and my trip to Umbria for Sue Moorcroft’s writing retreat. Well, now that retreat is just days away, eeek!

On our recent family holiday to France, I tested out my summer clothes; I wore shorts on two occasions and a skirt on another. Like my body, my general wardrobe is best suited to autumn and winter. With the exception of the Chindi bookstall at the Arundel Festival, which sees me standing outside for ten days in August to raise funds for Cancer Research, I avoid the sun and usually hide in the shade. So Umbria at the end of June will be interesting!

Testing out my summer wardrobe in Samoëns, France. The legs are hidden but I have shorts on, honestly!

Last week, I attended the Romantic Novelists’ Association lunch for the southern chapter. It was lovely to get together with other authors and to chat about books. I drove and gave Sue Fortin a lift. Sue is a USA Today and Amazon best selling author who writes mystery, suspense and romance; she has also been on the Umbria writing retreat before. With this in mind, I seized the opportunity to ask her a few all-important questions, such as: Will I have all day access to tea making facilities? How hot was it? And will I need any posh clothes?

Her answers – yes to tea, it’s very hot but there is shade, and no to the posh clothes – were helpful. However, she also mentioned that she had a scorpion in her room one night! Despite the fact I worked in primary schools for many years, where mini-beasts always seem to loom large on the curriculum, bugs are not my friend. Wish me luck, and I’ll let you know upon my return how I fared.

The lovely ladies of the RNA Southern Chapter: Back row – Rosie Travers, Sue Fortin, Me, Lyn Liles, Rosemary Ann Smith, Charlie Place (book blogger). Front row – Charile Cochrane and Liv Thomas.

In other news, in case you haven’t seen me shouting about it, I have an office. It is located in Arundel and from my window I can see a lovely expanse of higgledy-piggledy rooftops as well as the castle above the tree line. It is peaceful and a great working base. The only issue is that Arundel has many cafés and I start every morning opening my window to the smell of bacon sandwiches. I like bacon sandwiches, so I don’t mind, but it does make my tummy rumble.

My office view, on a day I was sure I was being watched!

My current work in progress is at 12242 words. This is a sequel to The Purrfect Pet Sitter, which my publisher suggests should be a novella (30000-70000 words). I hope to get a good chunk of it written while on the retreat. It will be a challenge, as I haven’t written one before – sequel or novella – but I am quite excited by it.

I have another work in progress, at around 11000 words, which I am ignoring while I work on the sequel. This will be a contemporary romance with new characters, that will be a full-length novel (around 85000 words).

With three festivals coming up with the Chindi Authors I must focus my time to get all of this done. To find out more about the events we are hosting during the Littlehampton Arts Festival and the Festival of Chichester take a look at the events page of our website, where you will also see that for the third year running, we will be supporting Cancer Research UK throughout the Arundel Festival.

Finally, I am off to the cinema tonight to see Book Club it looks a good laugh. But I am also interested because I read a very good book, years ago by Sophie Hart, called The Naughty Girls Book Club, her characters were great and the story well constructed. This book, on a similar theme, will be hard to beat, but it will be interesting to see how this new film compares.

Anyway, next time I write a post I will have been to Umbria, my children and puppy will have hopefully forgiven me for deserting them for a week, my husband may have recovered, and my work in progress should have dramatically increased. I’ll let you know how all of that goes.

In the meantime, I have a couple of book reviews to share over the coming week and an interview with Choc Lit author Christine Stovell, who talks about her new novella, Moonbeams in a Jar. xx

 

Happy New Year and we’re off!

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Happy New Year everyone and thank you for checking out my blog; it has been a long time coming, but, with an exciting year ahead, I have finally decided to get organised and get posting.

I intend to focus on writing and reading, but as I have a bit of a cinema-going habit that will be added in from time to time too. As no doubt, will things about life in general; for those who don’t know, I have a husband, four children, two grandchildren, a guinea pig and a crazy Labrador puppy, so life is fun, with a bit of hectic thrown in. At a later date (when I know what I’m doing) I also hope to have guest posts and interviews with some of the lovely authors and bloggers I have met through my writing.

Writing:

January is off to a good start. I have completed the edits to my manuscript. While my previous book, Crazy Over You – self-published through Matador – had several edits, a copy edit and a proofread, editing for a publisher (who has their audience to consider) is new to me.

When I first received Jane Eastgate’s editorial report, along with the Choc Lit tasting panel feedback, being told I had to change aspects of certain characters was overwhelming. I’d spent two and a half years in the company of these characters; they had become my family and friends. It took at least a day to get my head around what was being asked and then, with Christmas approaching and my children breaking up from school, a little longer to stop panicking about when I would fit it in. Once I shut myself away in a hotel room (perks of the job) and got started, it all felt more manageable, and I found the process exciting.

Each step taken now is a step towards publication and my debut with Ruby Fiction, the new imprint of Choc Lit. I can’t wait for my book to be out, and it will be interesting to see how the title, currently Regret Me Not, is changed and what the cover will look like. As I had already commissioned a cover from Drew Bristow (who did the cover for Crazy Over You), before my new book was signed to Choc Lit, it will be interesting for me to compare our interpretation with that of the in-house cover designer. It is all a wonderful learning curve!

I have also booked onto Sue Moorcroft’s writing retreat in June. It is a week in Umbria in the company of other writers; though mostly we’ll be ignoring each other with our heads down writing. I am very much looking forward to it. At the moment, I can’t actually think about leaving my children for that long, or taking the flight by myself, without looking like the image from the scream painting. But, nevertheless, with my forty-fifth birthday approaching – next week arghhh – I am determined to embrace the adventure.

Reading:

My current read is Jane Lovering’s The Boys of Christmas, which happens to be Choc Lit title. Reviews help authors and their work get noticed, even if you only have time to leave a sentence or two, and so I always review the books I read. I’m really enjoying it at the moment, and look forward to sharing more about it next time.

Thank you for getting this far and I hope you’ll stop by again. x