The Navy Wife is now out on Kindle

The Navy Wife, the long-awated sequel to the Nordic tale of long-distance love, The Englishman, is now out in Kindle form. I know it's been a long time coming, so I am absolutely delighted that I can finally say the novel is published.

To buy, click this link.

Marriage to The Englishman, Peter, was a mere dream for Kaisa when she was a student in Helsinki. It’s now 1984 and Kaisa wants a career as well as Peter. But no one wants to give a job to a young, foreign Navy Wife. Kaisa’s frustration creates bitter rows between the newlyweds, which she regrets each time her submariner husband goes away.

Enter rich, charming and clever Duncan, who seems to have all the answers to Kaisa’s problems. With Peter away on a long patrol, can the lonely and bored Kaisa resist Duncan’s advances?

The Navy Wife is available on Kindle here (US) and here (UK). It is also available on other international sites, please see your local Amazon store. Download it now! 

New Website

My new website is also now up and running, so please go and visit www.helenahalme.com. I will be blogging there as usual, but please remember, if you are following me on Blogger, you will no longer get notifications that way, so please sign up for my newsletter here or on the new site above.

As always, don’t be shy – share the news of my latest book release on Twitter, Facebook or by email (or shout it from the rooftops!).

Thank you!

Advice for New Writers Part 4: How to Increase the Speed of Writing

In Part 2 of this series of posts, I talked about editing your work, and how the first draft is always just that, a draft – an incomplete piece of writing. Having said that, without getting those words out, without that first draft, you cannot move forward and produce a finished product - your novel.

Of course, the faster you can write the first manuscript, the better.

Now that I have taken the bold step of giving up my day job to be a full-time author entrepreneur, I am hoping to write at least two novels per year, as well as some non-fiction books, so I've been looking into how I could speed up the process of writing.

Having time to write is crucial, but it's also important that you make the time to write

As you know if you follow this blog, I took part in the National Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, to motivate me to write about 2,000 words every day. It worked, and I now have a first draft of a novel. I am also now so used to the daily writing routine that I feel strange if I haven't put down at least a few words, even if I cannot manage the 2,000 every day.

During this process, I found that one way to speed up your writing, is to have to have an idea of the plot, characters and setting for the novel. I'll go into more detail on the various main elements of the first draft of a manuscript below.

Plot

Since you are already thinking about becoming a writer, and want to write a full-length novel, you must have an idea of what you want to write about, even if it isn't a fully fledged plot. Two of my published novels took shape after I got obsessed with a story from my past, or a piece of news I saw. My virtual desk is full of half-finished novels, which came about in a similar way; and I intend to revisit each one. Nowadays, however, I try to plot ahead a lot more, simply because it makes the writing process so much easier, but this is something that is different for ever author I know. We all have our unique ways of working. An ideas board is a great way to start – just jot down what happens in the book and develop them into a plot. You'd be amazed how easy this is. Or think of the story in a summary: "Jane is in love with a guy who won't even look at her. One day, she sees him sitting in a cafe alone, and Jane bucks up the courage to talk to him. It turns out they have something crucial in common..."

Characters

The characters often come first, before the plot, but there are no hard and fast rules. With most of my published novels, the characters emerged as I wrote, which meant a lot of editing afterwards to make sure the descriptions matched throughout the novel. Sometimes, however, the characters are so clear from the beginning, that all you need is to keep a record of the gender, age, look, inner conflicts, role in the story and particular mannerisms and so on. Of course it depends on whether you are describing the main protagonist, or one of the main characters in the novel to which degree of detail you go into. Having said that, I tend to know up to the level of what shoe size any of my characters wear, or what their favourite lunch-time spot is. In the third book in The Englishman series, I got to know a very minor character, one of Kaisa's bosses in the England so well, that I described his hairy calves in one scene. And no, he's not a love interest. (Or is he? You'll have to wait to read the book to find out!)

Setting

Most of my novels are set partly in Finland, my country of birth, and a place I seem to be obsessed with. It's good to write about a place that you have experienced yourself, or you have a vivid idea of. Of course the setting doesn't have to be real, and you can change things around in a place to suit the story, as long as you make sure the changes are consequential. With Google Earth and Street View it's easy to find out what places look like, but remember this means it's also easy for your readers to see if you've made a mistake. Most readers want a book to take them somewhere new, or different. If I had a penny for every time I hear that my readers loved learning about Finland through my books...

No plot, no characters, no setting?

Don't worry if you are writing your first novel, and haven't sorted out a definite plot, all of the characters or settings. Once you start writing a story, these tend to sort themselves out anyway. The most important thing you can do is to write every day - even if you don't get to more than a few hundred words per day.  Just get into the habit of writing  - whatever happens and wherever you are. At home with a cold, on the train to work, in a cafe, on holiday - I even took my laptop with me when my husband was in hospital (it was a routine op, but still). And don't give up. I wish someone had told me not to give up when I first started writing seriously. I would now have a lot more novels under my belt, and a few less half-finished manuscripts in my drawer...

A few tricks

If I'm struggling with a manuscript, I have learned a few tricks to get me going with the writing again.

1. Walk away. Sometimes it's good to take a break. Have a coffee, go for a walk, or if nothing else works, take the writing elsewhere – another room, a coffee house or the library.
2. Go onto a new scene. Leave the bit you're stuck on and start writing another scene. Remember this is the first draft, so it doesn't matter if scenes are incomplete. You can come back and write more on the section you gave up on, but often if a scene is difficult to write, it may not belong in the novel. In any case, you can fix all that in the 2nd draft.
3. Google it. I've talked about research before, and I use it a lot to get over a mini writer's block. The more you learn about the subject, the more inspired you'll feel to carry on. Sometimes, if you can, it's good to physically go to the setting to be inspired. I dragged the Englishman up to Scotland on holiday last year, so I could see the place where my characters lived. While I wrote The Navy Wife, I often went back to look at the photos I took during our trip.
4. Start re-planning the plot on whiteboard, or on your computer. Just jot down ideas – anything – and you'll soon find a scene you can write. Or go back to your original ideas. Don't worry if it's the ending and you're written only 10,000 words so far. Those other words will come, I promise.
5. Re-read what you've written already. This is a bit of a last resort for me, because it means I will start re-editing and at this stage I don't want to fall into that (time-consuming) pit. But needs must, and if there is part of the manuscript I particularly like, I return to that and hope that my inspiration returns.

Finally, a word on writing software...

The software you use for writing can speed up the process as much as the planning ahead can. I have recently started using Scrivener, as opposed to Word, and I have to say it has been a revelation. This software allows me to write a lot quicker. I can review my work more efficiently, and there are areas for research, characters and settings, which you can fill in when you think of them and then refer to easily. Previously, I had all of this on pieces of paper, or saved somewhere in a folder on my laptop, or just bookmarked on my browser. I could never find anything!

But remember, whatever software you use, the words you produce for your first draft aren't going to be those that will be in the final print (or ebook) copy. Let you inner critic have a holiday and just write, write and write. That critic can have his or her field day as soon as the editing process begins.

I hope you've enjoyed this series of Advice for New Writers so far. The next instalment, '5 Ways to Learn Your Craft' will be out in the New Year.

Until then, happy writing and please subscribe to my newsletter here for all book offers, news and more!

I'm a NaNoWriMo Winner!

When I started the National Novel Writing Month challenge, I wasn't at all sure I'd be able to make it. Writing the best part of a novel (50,000 words) in 30 days seemed an insurmountable task.

All my previous NaNoWriMo attempts had produced less than 20,000 words, and those novels that I'd started then had taken about a year to write and another to edit and perfect. But then I was working full-time, and didn't have any kind of routine with my writing at all.

Now I had more time, but was editing another novel already, and worried I'd not be able to concentrate on two manuscripts at the same time. During the first week in November my back went, which made sitting down and writing quite painful at times.

But I was determined, and together with the support of my family (as always) and of the wonderful Driven Women group, I started a routine, waking up at six am and making myself sit at my desk by 6.30am. Every day. On most days by 9am I had written about 2,000 words, and could get on with research, marketing, layout and design issues with the other books during the rest of the day. Sometimes, the morning stretched onto 10am, but my one limiting factor was my terrier, who had to be taken out - there's only so long you can ignore a dog sitting in front of you asking for a walk.

During the past 28 days, I've missed my 6.30am appointment with my desk on one day only, due to a unscheduled wine tasting evening with a friend (you know who you are!). I also had to take three days out to do some major edits on the current novel, The Navy Wife, but during those non-NaNoWriMo days I was still writing, even though I was getting behind with my word count.

Next week, I'l post some of my tips for how to speed up your writing, in the series of Advice to New Writers, and in it, I'll include lessons I've learned from this NaNoWriMo experience.

But today, later, I will have a glass of something bubbly, and enjoy my winning ways!

Me this morning - no make-up, in a dressing gown, but happy!

NaNoWriMo Update - Only 5 days to go!

While my American readers are celebrating Thanksgiving, I am celebrating a smaller, but an equally important day (OK possibly not!). Today I caught up with NaNoWriMo. Yay!

You may remember that the last time I reported back, I was well ahead of the game, but then something happened with the forthcoming novel, The Navy Wife, which meant that I had to concentrate on fixing some sections of the story I wasn't happy with, and sadly, the National Novel Writing Month had to give way to this, more urgent, project.

Now, I know this goes against everything I preach about writing every day, whatever. My only excuse  is that I was by no means not writing, in fact I was writing more words than my daily 2,000 on the NaNoWriMo challenge. Even so, I fell behind, and have only today been able to catch up again. 

Phew!

It's strange that these little bars on the NaNoWriMo site can have such an effect on me. Especially where they are on the wrong side of the line.

In any case, all is now well in the Halme Author Towers. I can now say that I will finish on time - bar major disasters. (Fingers crossed) 

So, happy Thanksgiving to my American friends, and please congratulate me for once again being on course to finish this all-consuming November challenge!

Limited Special Offer - signed paperback books for Christmas!

I have an exciting limited offer on The Englishman and Coffee and Vodka!

Normally  the paperback copies of each book are £7.99, but now I can offer them to you for a very special price.

Both titles for £10, or each for £6!

Plus, you can have the books signed and posted to you for FREE ! *

Please email me on HHalme@icloud.com with details of what book you'd like and if you'd like them signed, and I will send you a bill via Paypal and ask my elves to post the book to you. Or you can simply leave a message below.

But hurry, this is a strictly limited offer until stocks last!

And, as always, don’t keep this offer under you hat, sharing is caring. Let your friends and cats and dogs know about my offers!

* FREE postage to UK only.  If you are in the US, Europe or elsewhere in the world, please contact me on HHalme@icloud.com Thank you.

Approaching the pinnacle - a NaNoWriMo update

For me, this, the third week of the National Writing Month, has been the most difficult to date.

On Friday after I'd reached 25,000 words and got myself another badge (hurrah), I decided it was time to have a bit of a celebration. After a very late night with friends, Saturday's word count was the lowest to date, just below the 1,000 mark. No more celebrations and late nights I decided, and on Sunday I managed my usual 2,000 words.

On Monday I just couldn't get up at my customary NaNoWriMo time of 6am, and when I sat at my desk at 7am, words just were not presenting themselves to me.

Whenever this kind of freeze (or writer's block for want of another term) happens, I do what my MA in Creative Writing tutor told me, 'Research, research and research.' In those days, more than ten years ago, research meant getting out of the house and into a library or newsagents, or out onto the streets. Though I sort of miss those days, being able to go places without leaving your desk is so much quicker and easier.

After an hour or so on Google Streetview and reading hairy newspaper reports on Royal Navy courts martial, I managed to write 2,000 words as usual. But it wasn't easy and took me the whole of the morning. The poor terrier had to wait until 11 am for his walk, whereas almost every day during the first two weeks of NaNoWriMo, I've been done by 9 o'clock.

Again today, Tuesday, day 17 of NaNoWriMo, the words just didn't flow. After an hour I'd produced only 600 words, so I decided to turn things around. Instead of waiting until the words were done for the day, I had breakfast and took the pooch out for his walk, and decided to return to my writing later. When I sat down at my desk again, with a second coffee of the day, I managed to get up to just over 2,000 words.

Walking the dog, it occurred to me that I'm approaching what I know will be the centre of the novel. The action needs to reach a pinnacle - a sort of eruption where the main characters come together in a either disastrous or a happy plot twist. I know what this twist in A Navy Wife is in broad terms, but I really, really want to make it good, and this must be what's blocking me.

Of course when I think about it, none of this is new. I must have at least five novels in my virtual desk drawer that I've lost interest in around the 30,000 word mark. There is something scary about getting past that word count. It's as if this is where the novel becomes a reality, and you have to know what you are going to do with the plot and the characters. You also know if the novel is going to be good or not at this stage - or you think you do. It's that old friend, Internal Critic, who starts to play a part, and before you know it, you've convinced yourself that the work you've done thus far is rubbish.

But the strange thing is that unlike my previous novels, I know almost exactly what is going to happen in A Marriage Adrift. I even know what's going to happen in the next novel in The Englishman -series. Having read back a few chapters I also think (in my humblest of opinions) that A Marriage Adrift is going to be alright - possibly my best writing yet. So what is my problem? I wish I knew....

Writing can be so frustrating sometimes - or all the time!

Anyone else have similar experiences?

A NaNoWriMo update - Day Five

I thought I'd give you just a quick update on how my National Novel Writing Month is going. It's Day Five, and I'm still very excited about the characters and the storyline of this novel, called A Marriage Adrift. It's early days, I know.

But...(drumroll please) today I hit the first 10,000 words. Yay!

When I set myself this challenge of writing 50,000 words in one month, I decided that the only way I could carry on preparing The Navy Wife (this is the sequel to The Englishman, which will be out at the end of November) for publication, and write 1,600 words a day on a new novel, was to get  up a little earlier in the mornings and write the required words before I took my terrier for his morning walk.

Since the 1st of November was a Sunday, I took the day off The Navy Wife and managed to write the first 2,000 words for NaNoWriMo in the morning without getting up at the crack of dawn. But come Monday, I was at my desk at 6.30 and wrote a whopping 2,334 words before 9am.

Unfortunately my back has been playing up too, so I've been hampered by having to lie flat on the floor to stretch it at regular intervals. Still, I'm managing to do 12-hour days now, starting at 6.30am and finishing at 6.30pm. And I'm still standing...(just).


Waking up early has been hard, but I hope by next Monday I will have got used to it. Hopefully next week my back will allow me to get to the gym too, giving me more energy to carry on.


I will be back next week with another update. In the meantime, if you too are doing NaNoWriMo, let me know how you are getting on. And wish me luck!

The terrier camouflaged by the autumn leaves.

Are you doing NaNoWriMo?

What is NaNoWriMo you ask? Well, it's the National Novel Writing Month, which takes place each year in November, when thousands of authors, or aspiring novelists, challenge themselves to write 50,000 words (I know, not quite a full-length novel, but nearly) in 30 days. That means exactly 1,667 words per day. Easy, peasy, lemon squeezy...?

I've tried to do NaNoWriMo for years, and have never got further than about 10,000 words, so this year, having given up my day job to write full-time (eek!), I'll try to complete this challenge.

The NaNoWriMo site is a font of knowledge how to achieve the required word count, as well as what you can do in advance of the 1st of November to prepare for the writing month. Go to the site for more, but here is a quick summary of what it's all about:

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to creative writing. 

On November 1, participants begin working towards the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel by 11:59 PM on November 30.

Valuing enthusiasm, determination, and a deadline, NaNoWriMo is for anyone who has ever thought about writing a novel.

The sequel to The Englishman, the Navy Wife, is now going through its final edits, and should be out in late November, so I'm going to attempt to write the bulk of the 3rd book in the series during the month of November. This novel is now fully plotted (or as fully as I ever plot in advance, which is about 75%), and even has a working title, 'A Marriage Adrift'.

So, wish me luck, and let me know if you are a fellow NaNoWriMo madwoman/man. I'd love to add you as my writing buddy on the NaNoWriMo site here!

Sequel to The Englishman Name Reveal!

Photo: Dailymail.co.uk

Most of you know by now that I am busily writing the long-awaited sequel to The Englishman. (At last you may say!). The first draft of the manuscript is now done, and I am working on my first edit. It's going well, although this stage of writing a novel is my least favourite one, because it's where you have to be strict with yourself. It's mostly fact-checking and making sure all dates, time-lines and characterisations make sense. And of course the plot itself has to be exciting, but also believable.

Yesterday I had a bit of low moment, realising I had to cut a whole section of the book, but today here in London the sun is shining and I can see that the novel will be a much better one without those few chapters. Luckily the word count of the first draft is generous, so I don't have add too much to the story. It's all about, 'Killing your darlings,' as William Faulkner famously said.

But, for those of you who are not fellow authors, all the above must be boring, boring, so let's get down to the reason for this blog post, and the title of my next novel. (Drumroll please...)

The sequel to The Englishman will be called:

The Navy Wife

I hope you like this title - it's simple, but I think it certainly says what it is on the tin...

I'm also delighted to announce that I'll be working with a wonderful, talented, Finnish designer for the cover of The Navy Wife. I cannot wait to see how she interprets the story.

In the next two weeks I'm running a competition related to the cover. Sign up to get my updates on the right, so that you don't miss it!  

If you'd like to see the pictures I've been using as a mood board for the novel, you can pop over to my Pinterest page here. And of course if you haven't read The Englishman, a Nordic tale of long-distance love, now is the perfect time to get it here!

My new life starts here...

The lovely flowers and card with beautiful messages,
which I was given by my colleagues yesterday.

Today is the first day of the rest of my life. 

That's such a cliche, I know, but this expression describes so accurately how I'm feeling today. After a night out with my (now former!) colleagues from Finn-Guild and ScanAdventures, I did have a bit of a sore head this morning (Finns!). Even so, I'm bursting with energy.

We are off to Finland for a holiday next week, but after we're back, revamping this blog will be one of my first tasks. As I mentioned in my post a couple of weeks ago, I will be running a series, called 'Advice for New Writers'. First one of these will be up on this blog Friday 4th September.

There will be regular monthly book/film/theatre reviews - first of which will be up on 18th September. The novel I'll be reviewing is 'The Versions of Us' by Laura Barnett.

Other regular features will be Guest Bloggers, Book Offers, News and posts on Expat Life.

So I hope you'll be popping by often to read about my new life as full-time author entrepreneur!

Running on coffee...

It was strong coffee for me this morning...

I hope you're all having a great Monday.

Last week I was struck down by a nasty bug, and was at home feeling sorry for myself, but now I'm a lot better and back at work, still feeling a bit tired, so running mainly on strong coffee (which my fellow Finns at the Finn-Guild office have on tap).

I do need to be on top form, because this is going to be a busy week, not least because on Saturday at Finn-Guild we'll be hosting some brave souls who are going to attend our Intensive Finnish Course in Camden. On Sunday (16th November) I'll be the Indie Authors Fair at the Chorleywood Litfest. More details about the Festival here.

Today I'm also over at the Alliance of Independent Authors Self-published Advice blog talking about writing and second careers. You can read my post here. Do leave a comment, whether you agree with me or not. I love a good discussion.

Have a great week, and wish me luck with the Litfest!

Authors, be careful what you read...

Does what you read affect how you write?

I've just finished reading The Woman in the Picture by Katharine McMahon. This novel, following the life of a female lawyer, Evelyn Gifford, in the 1920s London, is written from the point of view of the heroine and very much in a formal style of the time.

I loved the book (gave it 5 stars on Goodreads, no less) and was so engrossed with Evelyn's trials and tribulations (excuse the pun), that when I went back to writing my current book, Oh England!, I found that I was using the language of the 1920's rather than the 1980's which is the time period of my novel.

It's not the first time that I've noticed this phenomena.  When in the middle of a new book I have to be very careful with the kinds of books, or genre I'm reading. Even the period of my reading matter can sometimes be detrimental to my writing. Same goes for reading books in another language; since I begun writing in earnest, I've had to give up on Finnish and Swedish books in their original language altogether. Sad, I know!

At times when - like now - I am in the crucial second part of the novel, I've had to suspend all reading of fiction all together.

Who would have thought that writing fiction sometimes forces you to stop reading it?

Do you find that you need to keep to your genre and time period when in the middle of a writing project, or as me, have to go cold turkey on reading all together?

A Writer's Retreat

What would you do if someone offered you a month away to write on a remote Scottish Island? Jump for joy? But wait, there are conditions attached...

Read my guest blog post to see how I'd cope for a month without the internet or TV at Sally Gander's virtual Writer's Retreat here.

This is me without an internet connection in my flat in a North London....

The Year That Was 2013

2013 has been quite a year for me. I'm not sure I can recall a time when so much happened in a mere twelve months.

First of all, I finally took the plunge and published all of my novels on Kindle. After the success of The Englishman (over 2,000 downloads as we speak and counting), I was encouraged to push out into the world both my family drama, Coffee and Vodka and the spy thriller, The Red King of Helsinki.

In November this year I also published a paperback copy of The Englishman, which has been terribly well received. (Even if I say so myself).

Joey at West End Lane Books with the first signed copies.

So, from a writer with three novels languishing in her drawer, in twelve and a bit months I've become a published author with a loyal readership. Bring on more years like 2013!

The 2013 London Book Fair was another game changer in my career as an independent author. I've written about the changes in the publishing industry many times here, but to see the shifting landscape with my own eyes was something to behold.

I also gained a tremendous amount of encouragement and new ideas from the LBF this year, not least thanks to the Alliance of Independent Authors, an organisation which has worked tirelessly to promote and support indy writers and who were very much a presence at the Book Fair. Thanks must got to Orna Ross, Joanna Penn et al for all their hard work this year.

Me with Joanna Penn who gave a wonderfully
informative lecture at LBF 13
on indy publishing.

The Fair was also a wonderful opportunity to make new writer friends: I got to meet the Triskele Books girls through Catriona Troth, other notable indy writers such as Roz Morris, Rohan Quine, Dan Holloway and Grisha Ryzhakov to name but a few. I cannot wait for LBF 2014, wild horses wouldn't keep me away!

The year 2013 has also been eventful in the life of my family: in May, Son asked his long-time girlfriend to marry him  and she said yes! The young couple will marry in 2014, an event that has been a red letter day in my calendar for many months already. I just cannot wait!

Aren't they cute?
Son with his fiancé in Provence this summer.

Not in the least less important, Daughter finished her History of Art degree at University of Birmingham this year and graduated in June. It was such a proud moment for me, and I spent almost the whole of the day holding back tears, only losing the battle when Daughter stepped onto the stage at the Great Hall to receive her degree certificate. Oh well, I'm sure I wasn't the only parent to dab a tissue at the corner of her eye at that point.

Daughter looks pretty happy?

As if all of the above wasn't enough, something equally thrilling happened in my working life in 2013. In late 2012 I took on a part time role at a Finnish charity called Finn-Guild. I've been a member of this ex-pat organisation since the early 1980's, but going to work there to look after the finances of the charity and its commercial arm, Guild Travel, has been a huge trip down memory lane. I'd not worked with Finns since I left Finland some thirty years ago, and just being able to speak your mother tongue in an office in London's Camden has been quite life-changing. I hadn't realised how much of myself I'd hidden away while adapting to life in the UK. Spending time with fellow countrymen has made me feel as if I'd come back home. It's made me a more complete person.

To top it all, in the New Year, I'm going to move to a much more important and challenging role with the Finns. From February 1st, I will be taking over as Development Manager/General Secretary of Finn-Guild. So watch this space, there will be many more posts about Finnish and Nordic culture on this blog in 2014.

So there it is, my short - very personal -  review of 2013. All that remains is to wish you all:

Hauskaa Uutta Vuotta - Happy New Year

2 0 1 4 !

 

Don’t use a smiley face on me!

I know what you’re going to say – you use smiley faces ALL the time! Yes, and I hate myself for it. I am a writer and should be able to express my feelings in words – that’s my business.

But these little icons for emotions are addictive. Once you start to use them, you cannot stop. Yet, they are oh, so naff! And they don’t really mean anything at all, do they?

Besides, how often are smiley or sad emotions used to soften the blow of a negative email? Like when you are cancelling on someone, you often see ‘Sorry  L ‘ when ‘I’m sorry’, would've been enough.

Or if you are telling someone off, ‘That wasn't such a nice thing to say! J ‘

Then there are the variations; the winking smiley face ;-). This is my particular weakness; I am a sort of a winking person as a whole. 

Or the glasses smiley face 8-) (which I should really use). 

Or the big nose one :^-) 

I actually prefer these slightly more adventurous icons, because at least there the author of the message has exercised a modicum of creativity.

I shall endeavor not to use any smiley faces or other emotions in my messages in the future. And I grant you permission to tell me off as soon as you see a smiley face from me!

Rant over….

Mad About The Boy by Helen Fielding

Sunday 27^th October.

Books finished: 1, Weight: not telling! Alcohol units: too many, Calories: not counted, Family lunches at new Italian restaurant in up-and-coming Finsbury Park: 1, Puddings: 1.5 (one own, half of the Englishman’s shared), Words written on novel:0.

Yes, it’s addictive, this diary writing thing, as Helen Fielding has found out, since she has now written no less than three books featuring the overweight (in her mind!), alcoholic (yes, that in her mind too), boyfriendless Bridget Jones.

The third book in the saga of Bridge Jones' life doesn't disappoint, yet it doesn't shine in its unique brilliance either. Like all the books, it basically charts a year in an affluent woman's life. Because, at the root of it, Bridget is just a well-to-do Londoner with very middle-class woes.

Yet, the life of Bridget Jones, at the age of 50+, is (again) irresistibly imperfect.  Ms Jones, now tragically widowed (this plot twist was all over the media pre-publication, but if you haven't heard: Mr Darcy has been killed off) is sex-starved, ‘born-again virgin’ and a particularly disorganised single mother, who’s been constantly thrown in a bad light against the more confident and ambitious mothers (crucially with husbands in tow) at her children’s school. The lack of Bridget’s motherly ambition and skills, as well as a dangerous aptitude for everyday catastrophes like setting fire to the kitchen while attempting to cook, takes up large part of the book, as does the escapades of the other mothers (one is called Nicolette who Bridget naturally dubs Nicorette). The other half of the book is devoted to sex – or the lack of it, and to sometimes quite explicit descriptions of the said act.

While reading Mad About The Boy, I kept seeing it in my mind’s eye as the film this book is surely going to be turned into. And I was enjoying what I saw. It’ll be lovely London based Rom Com with good dialogue and lots of laughs. The film, like the novel, will not win any prizes for artistic merit, but I bet you anything they will both be successes at the bookshop tills and the box offices around the world.

Mad About The Boy is very modern bit of escapism with some quite funny bits and some very sweet bits and a corny life lesson at the end. But I enjoyed it, although I’m not sure this will do my Nordic writer’s street-cred much good. Oh well, who cares?

Win a FREE copy of Coffee and Vodka!

I am delighted to tell you that I am in the Author Spotlight over at a lovely book review blog called, Jaffa Reads Too. I talk about the writing of Coffee and Vodka, and about what inspires me (apart from coffee!) and I even proffer some advice for aspiring writers.

 What's more, there's even a giveaway of a FREE copy of Coffee and Vodka!

So hop over to Jaffa Reads Too and enter the competition! There's only 6 days left...

 

Book Beginnings on Fridays: House of Silence by Linda Gillard

I found Book Beginnings through a site called Jaffa Reads Too. It's is a kind of a linked Round Robin, sharing the first chapters of the book that you are currently reading. This clever idea is hosted by Rose City Reader.

This is how Book Beginnings on Fridays works in the words of Rose:

Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name.

There is a a Mr Linky on Rose's site where you can add your Friday Book Beginnings post onto the thread. You can also share this post (or/and your own) on Twitter with the hashtag  #BookBeginnings.

Book Beginnings on Friday really appeals to me because I'm a great believer in the first chapter of any book being a taste of what's to to come. It's a contract that the author makes with the reader.

'This is how the story is going to be; this is the style, setting and flavour of the novel'  

I'm averaging a book a week at the moment, so it makes great sense to share the beginning of the novel I'm reading each Friday.

My first book is House of Silence by Linda Gillard. This is how the novel starts:

A Beginning

Chapter One

Gwen

I used to wonder if Alfie chose me because I was an orphan and an only child. Was that part of the attraction? I came unencumbered, with no family.

We were kindred spirits in a way. Detached, self-centred , yet both obsessed with the past. Our past. The difference was, I had no family and Alfie did. He had a family - a large one - but mostly he behaved as if he didn't, as if he wanted no part of them, however much they might want a piece of him.

I love this kind of retrospective beginning to a novel. The protagonist is writing about something which she has already experienced, but which still affects her deeply. From reading the blurb, I know this book is about Gwen's boyfriend's unusual family and their ramshackle Georgian home, which hides secrets that everyone, but most of all Alfie, want to forget. Even without knowing what the central story is, the reader will know from these first two paragraphs that this is a book about a troubled relationship, about a troubled past and about a troubled family. There's a darkness to the words, such as 'orphan', 'obsessed' 'past' and 'kindred spirits'. I cannot wait to read on!

House of Silence 

by Linda Gillard

Amazon Kindle edition £1.98

Paperback copy £6.19

On the buses

Due to a recent mishap with my little toe, I've had to reduce walking to a minimum during my London commute, whereas normally I try to maximise the potential of exercise on my way to work; stomping through woods, running up and down escalators.

Last week, when I could hardly walk at all, I had to take minicabs, but then realised that I could virtually get from door to door on the bus. True, in order to travel from North London down to Camden, I needed to first make my way further North, and change buses, but at least this method meant I didn't have to get onto a crowded tube, and stand all the way down into town. Plus two buses is a fraction of the cost of a minicab, with almost exactly the same journey time.

Although I am a self-confessed London bus lover, I'd forgotten what a fantastic view you get while sitting up on the top deck. (this week I managed the steps up). You get a whole new vista of London, especially now when the trees are turning and the autumn colours are at their best.

Yesterday, for instance, after a VAT seminar (I know, my other career is soooo interesting), I took a bus from Covent Garden all the way to North London, and when the bus drove past Kings Cross, I saw for the first time the new facade. (The King's Cross development has finally been finished). The sun was setting, painting the beautiful cornices of the St Pancras Hotel and the new windows of the station building with a golden glow. I felt truly lucky to live in such a beautiful city.



Mayor of London Boris Johnson opening the new King's Cross Station Square last week.
Video: The Telegraph Online


But, for an author, the best bit of travelling on the bus is the overheard conversations you are privy to.

On the tube, people are much quieter; they don't have mobile reception of course, but there also seems to be something about a bus journey which encourages conversation. There are the usual, 'I'm just on my way home' kind of telephone calls, or acquaintances meeting up by accident and getting into a deep conversation about somebody else's marriage. I've heard people do telephone interviews on the bus, or tell little porkies about why they're late for work. 'Traffic is terrible,' they say when the bus hurtles down a hill.

But the best conversations are from teenagers, who seem to think anyone over the age of twenty doesn't hear (or more likely understand) what they are saying. Boys tent to talk mainly about sports, but the girls! The girls discuss TV programmes as if they were populated by real people, they discuss their friends, their objects of desire, their enemies. All at the top of their voices. If I ever have another young character in my novel, I'm going to spend weeks on buses during school kicking out time. There could not be a better way to get a true teenage voice into your book!

Next week, sadly, I'll be back on the tube. All this lounging about and earwigging on the top of the double decker buses will not keep me fit, or keep my back in shape. Though I might just sneak a few bus rides in when the weather is too wet or cold for a hike through the woods!

What are your characters wearing?

A few years ago, during a critique session on my MA in Creative Writing course, a fellow student pointed out that I often described what my characters were wearing in some considerable detail. This wasn't a criticism as such, she said, but just something she'd noticed. (We’d had a lot of lessons together as this point) Her own short stories were a completely different style to mine - much more abstract - and she said reading my work made her go back and check that her characters were in fact wearing clothes. That she wasn't inadvertently writing stories with naked people in them.

I was thinking back to this conversation while (trying to) write the sequel to The Englishman, but being constantly distracted by email offers from various online fashion stores. Because, as you may have noticed by now, I am a bit of a fashion addict. Not that I pretend to know anything about fashion, but I love looking at designer clothes.

But I digress. What I wanted to know is, is it important to describe what the characters in a book are wearing?

Obviously, I think so.

What she or he wears says so much about a person, doesn’t it? I don’t wish to put my characters into in neat little boxes according to their clothes (a caricature is a dirty word in writing circles), but I think it’s fun to describe the nuances of a character by their outfits.

In The Englishman, for instance, I needed Kaisa to immediately fall head over heels in love with Peter, so I gave him a sexy uniform to wear when they first meet. (OK, this part of the book was based on actual events, so I didn’t make it up, but you see what I mean?).

In Coffee and Vodka, I described the different characters of the two sisters, Anja and Eeva, in the way they carried their clothes.  Anja is a much more flamboyant and confident girl, while Eeva is a bit of a dreamer and less sure of herself. When the two girls were dressed by their mother in identical stripy Marimekko t-shirts and white trousers, for their ferry journey across to Sweden, Anja’s outfit made her look like a young Brigitte Bardot, while Eeva felt her clothes were too big for her, and shapeless.

In The Red King of Helsinki, Iain, the English naval officer turned spy, struggles to wear clothes warm enough for the harsh Finnish winter, while my seventeen-year-old sleuth, Pia, is highly fashion conscious. Pia’s clothing oozes confidence while Peter’s lack of weather awareness shows a worrying level of incompetence.

Of course clothes and the fashions of the time serve well in reminding the reader of the period the book is set in.  Because the story in Coffee and Vodka straddles two eras, it was important for me to dress Eeva appropriately when we meet her as a grown-up (professional, compassionate teacher of Swedish). Later I also use her clothes to show how her attitude to herself and to the people around her change. I won’t reveal any more of the plot, because I don’t want to spoil the ending, but if you’ve read the book, I’m sure you’ll see what I mean.

So, while I’m just nipping over to Net-a-Porter to check out today’s new arrivals, instead of writing, I’ll be secure in the knowledge that this is just research, and not at all a pleasure...

What do you think? Is it important to know what the characters in a  book are wearing?

What kind of character
would wear this Miu Miu spotted coat?
Image: www.netaporter.com