Sue Moorcroft’s ideas factory

Take Five Authors

One of the most common questions I’m asked at events or on social media is where my ideas come from. I don’t have an Ideas Shop just down the road from where I live – but I do have an Ideas Factory. It’s this:

I listen to people talking and I think about what they say.

You might be disappointed by my ‘revelation’ but here’s how it works. If a person finds a situation remarkable enough to tell me about, then that’s an indication that there’s something worth exploring. ‘Remarkable’ is good.

Sometimes it can be a central idea. Over dinner, a friend told me about her holiday from hell. I laughed until I cried as she made it sound very funny but in amongst the extraordinary happenings was a story of a family in crisis, a woman who was acting bizarrely because she’d fallen violently in love with a…

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Review: Mistakes We Make by Jenny Harper

Happy Monday!  Today I have a wonderful book that intertwines the stories of three fantastic characters.  Jenny Harper masterfully navigates the three stories and takes the reader on a trip that le…

Source: Review: Mistakes We Make by Jenny Harper

The Christmas Promise by Sue Moorcroft

I love Sue Moorcroft’s books and I also love Christmas so I was absolutely thrilled to get my hands on an advanced copy of her latest creation. Just check out that beautiful cover. Pretty irresisti…

Source: The Christmas Promise by Sue Moorcroft

Can You Read Without Prejudice by Anonymous

Interesting challenge from Hodder & Stoughton. Intriguing – but what if everyone did it?

Portobello Book Blog

We know we shouldn’t but I think we are all guilty of judging a book by its cover at times, or perhaps by its author. There are some authors you might not read as you think you don’t like their genre, which is maybe why some authors write with two or more names. Or you can be put off or attracted to a book by the artwork on its cover. This book is a bit different. As you can see from above, there is no title, no author, minimal artwork and very little else to tell you about it. Here is what the publishers Hodder & Stoughton say about it: “There are two points in life when we are all equal: at the moment of birth and at the moment of death. It is how we live in between that defines us. Delicately balanced. Perfectly crafted. Beautifully written.  We want you to immerse…

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Summer Solstice Splash ‘n Cash Giveaway!

Take Five Authors

I’ve teamed up with four other authors this week for a Rafflecopter giving readers the chance to win a $100 Grand Prize, which can be taken in the form of either cash or an Amazon gift card – who doesn’t need more books!

It’s free to enter – just click on the link at the bottom of this post to be taken to the Rafflecopter. Good luck.

Summer Solstice

 Splash ‘n Cash Giveaway!

$100 Grand Prize

(Amazon Gift Card or PayPal Cash)

Sponsored by:

Jackie Weger, Annie Daylon, Effrosyni Moschoudi, Mary Smith, & Amy Vansant

Enter here

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Taking the technical terror out of talks

Have to give a talk? Terrified about the technology? Here are some really useful tips!

Take Five Authors

Jenny, Sue and I had a great time last week at the Romantic Novelists Association conference (see the previous post)… for me there was also a bit of work involved.

I have the honour (is that the right word – I’m not so sure) to be the RNA’s geek girl. My day job involves television and complex computer systems, and I am therefore member who looks after all things technology for the RNA.

I spent a lot of the weekend running around (well – actually hobbling around due to injured foot) making sure all the speakers were happily attached to projectors, computers and microphones. And I also gave a workshop on the technology of giving talks.

Here I am – with a very very big screen, giving a talk at a previous RNA conference.

Almost every author I know gives talks – to conferences, writing groups, educational institutions, the WI…

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Adventures in Audible

I’m a huge audible fan, so I was really interested in this post!

Take Five Authors

I love audiobooks. With all that’s going on in our busy lives, sometimes it’s hard to take the time out to sit down to read. So, mucking out horse corrals, cleaning the kitchen, driving the car, I’m usually found, with earphones attached, listening to novels.

Often Amazon’s Audible reviewers or an exceptional narrator send me on an unexpected journey, far beyond the obvious bestsellers such as Girl On A Train, Girl With A Dragon Tattoo, Gone Girl. I’ve found myself gallivanting about the high seas with the YA bestselling series, Bloody Jack, about a young orphan lass who joins the British Royal Navy disguised as a cabin boy. I’ve schemed and battled my way through Game of Thrones, sweated through the tumultuous backstreets of Bombay with Shantaram, corralled wild brumbies and fallen in love in the Australian Outback with our own Janet Gover’s The Wild…

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A whole lot of romance

The RNA conference is over for another year (sad face) but here’s the take of three of us on a fab weekend!

Take Five Authors

Take around 200 romantic novelists and what do you get? A conference, apparently! The Romantic Novelists’ Association conference at Lancaster University certainly didn’t disappoint, with an amazing buzz for the best part of three days.

The RNA is a diverse and incredibly supportive organisation. Writers of all ages, published, unpublished and self-published belong, and new writers are mentored through those painful early days towards publication. At the conference, there are talks and workshops on just about every aspect of writing a novel you can think of – but the best part of it is meeting new writers, making new friends and catching up with old friends.

Three Take Five Authors members were there enjoying the fun this year. Janet Gover and Jenny Harper and Sue Moorcroft.

A common pastime for Janet during the weekend. It’s much better now.

Janet says: I had a wonderful time and came back totally…

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Annual Bloggers’ Bash

Blogger Mary Smith went to the Bloggers Bash in London – read all about it!

Take Five Authors

Early arrivals at the Bloggers’ Bash, greeted by Sacha before registering. Picture courtesy of Hugh Roberts.

I’m starting this post by giving the bloggers among you a very important date – Saturday June 10, 2017. Put in your diary now. This is when the annual Bloggers Bash takes place – and you really don’t want to miss it.

I went to London for this year’s Bash; somewhat nervously it has to be said. Apart from worrying about whether, not having met any of these people before, I would find myself sitting alone in a corner I was concerned about getting lost and never finding the venue. I have no sense of direction, have serious problems in distinguishing left from right and absolutely no idea which way is south – or west or north. And I don’t have a smart phone.

“Then I turned left…no, right, well, whatever, I got here.”…

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Whose story is this anyway?

Janet Gover – a brilliant blog on Points of View.

Take Five Authors

I think I put so many POV character in my first novel because I didn’t know it was a bad idea.

The people in my books are pretty pushy. Each one likes to make sure they get their story told the way they want it. That’s why I write books with multiple points of view.

If you’re not familiar with the term, point of view (POV) refers to the person through whose eyes the reader is looking into the story. The reader is in that person’s head, seeing what they see; feeling what they feel; and doing what they do.

One review of my first novel, The Farmer Needs A Wife said something like.. “there are about 6 POV characters, but it’s well handled and I didn’t find it confusing”. That was nice to know – but there were actually eight POV characters in that book.

Umm –no. There were nine…

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