Triumphs and a TRAGEDY
TRIUMPHS AND A TRAGEDY
Anyone who has been following me for a while will know that while my life revolves around writing and books, horses and everything equestrian are my absolute obsession. The last few weeks have been both incredible where books are concerned and heartbreaking in the horse department.
Last month my first fiction title, TRAINERS was re-released. When I wrote the book, way back in the late 90’s, I was very much influenced by my heroine, Jilly Cooper. RIDERS the hugely popular first book in the Rutshire Chronicles was first published in 1985 and was very much of its era, which saw the rise of the bonkbuster along with LACE by Shirley Conran and Jackie Collins’s HOLLYWOOD WIVES.
I was absolutely delighted to learn the Disney is bringing Rutshire to life, in a new tv series, with an all-star cast including, Aidan Turner and David Tennant.
Over more recent years my writing has moved away from the gentle, easy to read romances to tougher subjects. However lately, I’ve found myself drawn to those lighter romances again in my writing and find I’m longing to find out what happens to Derry Blake and the cast of characters in TRAINERS and WINNERS which makes me doubly delighted that Jilly Cooper is having a revival.
I WANT TO HELP YOU WRITE A BOOK
I often get asked ‘how do you write a book?’ The whole process of planning, writing and then selling a book can be overwhelming, even for experienced writers. With that in mind, I wrote PLOT. WRITE. SELL to help me break everything down into small, easy steps. The book has become my go-to resource. I published this book recently with the hope it would help others to take that important step to writing their first book. One of the things I enjoy the most about being an author is working on multiple projects. At any one time I’m planning and researching one book, while writing another and editing yet another, as well as marketing and working with my production team. It definitely doesn’t give me any time to get bored!
I’m planning a book titled NEVER YOU, which I should start writing in the next month. The book I’m currently working on is titled I’D WRITE A BOOK IF I HAD THE TIME, which both frustrates and inspires me. Sometimes it is almost impossible to find the time and energy to write, but I know the book will help others who like me, juggle ‘proper jobs,’ a busy home and social life alongside the compulsion to write.
AND A TRAGEDY
The tragedy of my newsletter title was losing my lovely girl, Sydney, who suffered a freak accident in her field and unfortunately had to be put to sleep. Syd was the great, great granddaughter of a horse I had in my twenties, so there was a very long and deep connection. In almost 50 years of having horses in my life, this was the first time such a tragic accident happened. Fly high gorgeous girl.