imogen howson

Last week, this week

2009-11-03T12:27:00.003Z

After a fairly dreadful week (cat with incurable disease, currently not life-threatening but which makes him unable/unwilling to go outside hence necessitating much laundry, bleaching floors and finding of old litter tray; breakdown of both fridge and washing-machine (despite necessity of much laundry); remnants of continuing jetlag; edge of recurring depression), this week is looking better.

After a few weeks planning Telepathic Twins in Space using the Snowflake Method, I've started NaNoWriMo. So far, with a whole two days under my belt, it's going well. I'm hoping to end up with 50,000 real, useable words (unlike last time - ha), then to spend December finishing up, editing and polishing ready to start submitting in January.

Wish me luck! For any or all of the above. NaNo is important, obviously, but I have to say I'd like a working washing-machine soon. You don't need to worry about the fridge, though, cos we bought a new one. It's astonishingly clean - I'd forgotten that's how they could look.

Drollerie Blog Tour: Catherine Schaff-Stump on Sweetest Day

2009-10-21T14:00:00.003Z

It's the Drollerie Blog Tour for October, on the theme of Sweetest Day!

My guest for today is Catherine Schaff-Stump. While Catherine takes over my blog, I'll be over at Fraser Sherman's. When you've read Catherine's post, carry on to Heather Ingemar's blog for the next stop on the Drollerie Blog Tour.

Sweetest Day

At first, when I heard of Sweetest Day, my thoughts were (cue movie announcer voice here) Valentine’s Day 2! I was prepared to write about why my husband is so special in my life. He certainly is special, but a little research has taught me more about Sweetest Day. This is a case where fact is more interesting than fiction.

Sweetest Day originated in that most romantic of cities, Cleveland, Ohio. Candy mogul Herbert Birch Kingston gave away candy and small gifts to the underprivileged in a philanthropic gesture. Maybe it would have been nicer to give apples or healthy food to the poor, but a candy manufacturer’s got to go with his instincts.

This is striking. What once started as a gesture to give to people who were in need has turned into a holiday to celebrate affection in our lives. In the United States, it really is all about me, sometimes. It’s important to celebrate love and affection, but I’d love to see the holiday carry on with its original focus—doing something nice for others.

Do you remember May Day? No, socialist buddies, not THAT May Day, but the one where anonymous well wishers left you baskets of flowers and sweets on your front doorstep to wish you a happy spring? What about those Christmas occasions when the giving isn’t just about your family? Or those times we dig deep to donate to charity?

There’s a certain something to a holiday organized around charity. If the confectioners of yesteryear were more commercial than altruistic, they certainly are living up to capitalist expectation. Yet, I can imagine for some very poor individuals back then, Sweetest Day candy was a rare and welcome treat.

Now that I know the rest of the story, what will I do for Sweetest Day this year? It’s too late for me to do anything this Friday afternoon, but maybe my students would appreciate a little something during their hard endeavors next week.

Like Mr. Kingston, I probably won’t give them celery.

Home again

2009-10-21T09:02:00.002Z

New experiences in the last week:

Paddling in the Atlantic Ocean.
Finding an overnight hotel in Washington after my flight was delayed and I missed my next connection.
Getting lost at midnight in Savannah, Georgia.
Saving stranded starfish.
Eating a Chicago hotdog in Chicago airport.
Sitting outside Savannah airport in a wooden rocking chair. A wooden rocking chair, outside an airport. That doesn't happen at Heathrow!
Eating: s'mores
American frosted cupcakes
Krispy Kreme donuts
Sasha Knight's seven-layer bean dip
Sasha Knight's enchiladas
Green Fried Tomatoes!

I had a good time, thank you America and thank you Samhain!

Immi's American Adventure

2009-10-09T22:46:00.003Z

I'm writing this from my little box of a Travelodge room. Travelodge rooms, I have to tell you, are probably ideal for writers needing to get serious word count done, because distractions are almost zero, and there's a desk, a bed and a kettle, which is really all you need.

Not that I'm getting serious word count done now. I'm drinking a cup of tea, eating salt and vinegar crisps, and catching up on the emails I last checked seven hours ago. Hey, a lot can happen in seven hours!

I'm wearing the cosiest possible travelling clothes: tracksuit trousers, black hoody, purple Sunnydale High t-shirt. About the closest you can get to pyjamas without having people look at you oddly when you go out in them.

But it's nearly midnight now, and tomorrow I'm going to be travelling until, oh dear, nearly midnight, so I think it's time to change into my real pyjamas and watch a Friends DVD in bed. Or, you know, write something.

Packing

2009-10-09T10:46:00.002Z

This week has mostly been composed of filling these four containers in the most streamlined, easy-to-carry, security-requirements-compliant, and useful way possible. Not as easy as it sounds.

Acknowledgements and thanks are due to Sparkler, who owns the colourful suitcase and is letting me borrow it, Gloworm and Sparkler, who helped me find the decoration for my tiny purse (it used to have Girls Night Out embroidered on it, with a lopsided wine glass, which I found tacky, so I ripped off the embroidery and customised it), Angie James, who sent me the Samhain documents wallet and luggage tags last Christmas, and Abstract, who gave me the bag years and years ago, while I still needed to carry nappies, wipes and anyway-up cups around with me. The zip broke this summer, and has been fixed at an astronomical but still highly worth it price.

Oh, and Samhain Publishing, I guess, for providing a destination for me to fly to so I can use all these useful containers!

I'm travelling down to London tonight, then tomorrow I'm flying out to Washington, then Savannah. So expect some slightly hysterical-sounding (or, alternatively, extremely tired) tweets en route. And maybe blog updates from, like, a whole other continent.

And yet more chances to win: Raven Scavenger Hunt and a little catching up

2009-10-01T10:24:00.008Z

I know, I know, it's all about the promo with me.

I am doing other things, honest. But as one of the other things is trying to manage out the symptoms of the beginning of RSI, anything involving typing (unless, you know, I get paid for it) is falling by the wayside.

Fun stuff includes getting travel money for my trip to the States in (eek!) just over a week, making ratatouille for the first time according to my own variation, and enjoying eating it, also for the first time, and plotting out Telepathic Twins using the Snowflake Method. It's going really really well, although of course I won't know if it's worked until I actually start writing the book. I also experienced the mind-scrambling terror that comes from having the Smart Bitches review your book. They gave Heart of the Volcano a C+ (which puts me in some good company), and a review I'm really happy with. And Smart Bitch Sarah mentioned she'd like to see a sequel, which, as that's what current WIP Blood of the Volcano is, is lucky for me.

Okay, burning feeling in hands signals the end of this post, so I'd better get to the promo part. I'm participating in the Raven Scavenger Hunt, running all of October, with chances to win books, including a copy of the book about which Smart Bitch Sarah said:

"... “Oh, now that’s different.”

“Ok, cool.”

“Huh. That’s some smart use of rock and fire imagery.”

“Ok, now that’s COOL.”

“This is really, really different.”

I love cool and different..."

Go and enter. And think good thoughts for my hands.

Blogging at the Midnight Moon Cafe

2009-09-25T08:54:00.001Z

Today I'm over at the Midnight Moon Cafe, blogging about autumn in England, giving my favourite cold-weather-drink recipe for spiced cider, and offering another (yes!) free copy of Heart of the Volcano.

Come visit me!

Spot the Handwavium Contest

2009-09-15T11:42:00.002Z

Heart of the Volcano is out today, and I'm running a little contest over on the Samhain Blog. You could win a free copy, plus coffee and chocolate shipped anywhere in the world! What are you waiting for?

Caught between love and duty, can she make an impossible choice?

Five years ago, Aera was called away from everything she had ever known: her home, family, and Coram, the boy she was growing to love. She was given no choice. As the only living lava-shifter—able to transform her body into molten rock—she is destined to serve the volcano god as his fire priestess. Now, before she takes her ordained role, she must face her final test. Execute a criminal sentenced to death for the most unforgivable of all sins. Blasphemy.

She’s shocked to discover it’s no anonymous law-breaker waiting chained at the center of the labyrinth. It’s Coram. For the crime of being a gargoyle, a winged stone-shifter. A gift akin to hers…except his gift is unsanctioned by the temple, his powers proclaimed unholy.

If she refuses the test she will betray her god and condemn her family to dishonor. To pass it she must kill the boy she used to love…the man she still does.

Warning: Contains violence, tears, self-sacrifice, a little bit of I-can’t-bear-to-leave-you-but-I-have-to sex, and a heroine whose touch melts the hero—um, literally.

The Roaring Twenties: A Romance Treasure Hunt

2009-09-14T10:49:00.005Z

THE ROARING TWENTIES
A Romance Treasure Hunt!
20 authors, over 20 prizes, 20 chances to win. Read below to learn how to enter.
September 16-30

World War I is over, jazz music is blossoming, the flapper changes the definition of modern women, Art Deco is peaking, and the Great Depression looms! Go back to school (just for a few minutes) and learn about this fascinating era through photos. You'll have a chance to win one, or perhaps several, prizes donated by some of your favorite romance writers!

Here's how it works: Find one image (it won't be hard) on each of the following websites. They could be Mickey Mouse as Steamboat Willie, a well known image from the Dust Bowl, or perhaps a flapper! You'll know it when you see it. The more images you find (each author has only posted one image), the more chances you have to win. Find one image, you are entered once! Find twenty, and your name is entered twenty times!
One you have danced your way through the sites, email your answers to ciarcullen@gmail.com

NB: If you want to opt out of being put on any newsletter lists, please just tell us so in your answer email. We will NOT be offended! We promise that if you opt out, it will NOT affect your chances of winning.

Here's how to answer: "I found a flapper on Betty's new release page." No links, please!

Easy? You bet. Want to get started? Here are your links! Contest opens 9/16 and closes 9/30 EST. Good luck. Now, 23 skidoo, scram. And have fun!

Pam Champagne
Prize: Two winner's choice ebooks!

Michelle Pillow
Prize: Ebook Divinity Warriors: Lilith Enraptured

Imogen Howson
Prize: Ebook Heart of the Volcano

Shelley Munro
Prize: Winner's choice of download from her Ellora's Cave, Cerridwen or Samhain backlist

Catherine Wade
Prize: Her latest release, Another Time Around

Debra Parmley
Prize: Ebook A Desperate Journey

Sharon Cullen
Prize: Ebook Obsession

Juniper Bell
Prize: Ebook The Extremist

Debbie Mumford
Prize: Ebook The Silver Casket

Leslie Dicken
Prize: Ebook Beauty Tempts the Beast

Carolan Ivey
Prize: Choice ebook or print A Ghost of a Chance: Legends, Book 2

Vivian Arend
Prize: eBook winner's choice of backlist

Ciar Cullen
Prize: Ebook winner’s choice

Renee Wildes
Prize: Paperback Duality

Mychael Black
Prize: Ebook Blood & Fire

Eliza Gayle
Prize: EBooks Rope Dreams and Watch Me Hide

Skylar Kade
Prize: Ebook Maison Domine

Janna Lee Hayes
Prize: Ebook Drive Me Crazy

Sydney Somers
Prize: Winner's choice download from backlist

Ella Drake
Prize: Ebook Scent of Cin

Pamela Fryer
Prize: Punch Studio Tiny Book

Meg Benjamin
Prize: Ebook Wedding Bell Blues

The inside story and why you don't know it. And why the digital sky is not falling.

2009-09-12T16:42:00.012Z

People always like to think they know the inside story. Whether it's what's really going on in Brad and Angelina's relationship or what that agent really meant when she said "I didn't love your book enough to offer representation".

Generally, though, not being mindreaders, unless we're personally involved with the gossip du jour, we don't know the inside story. We like to think we do, but we just don't. And yes, that does include you. Unless, of course, you're Brad, Angelina, or that particular agent (in which case, Hi! Call me!).

The epublishing world this week has been alive with the news of Quartet Press's demise. And there are rumours and theories and speculations all over the place, some a hell of a lot more far-fetched than others, and many dragging in such tangentially related topics as Dear Author and Samhain Publishing. And most of them coming from people who, as far as I know, have absolutely no inside knowledge of Quartet, Dear Author, or Samhain, who are not personal friends with any of the main people involved, and who are as well qualified to talk about any of these issues as I am qualified to talk about Brad and Angelina.

I find it a little weird. But for the people who do know the inside story, it must be not only weird but deeply irritating.

A few months ago, I came across an aspiring author's blog. She was talking about how frustrating it is to read books that you don't believe deserve to be published. So far, so non-controversial. But then, as examples, she chose two books about which I just couldn't agree. Mostly because, well, they'd been contracted and edited by me.

Aspiring Author, to do her justice, didn't mention these books by name, but she talked enough about them that it was easy for me to spot which ones she meant.

She didn't like them, for various perfectly well articulated reasons. Which is absolutely fair enough. There are plenty of very successful authors and books that I don't like. Where I got irritated, however, was when she moved into speculating about how these books had ever got published, because that was when she started speculating about me.

One book, in particular, had received some very good reviews. I'm going to change the details here, so please note this is an entirely made-up comparision. In one five-starred review the reviewer had described the book as "Gone With the Wind meets Star Wars". "Wow," said Aspiring Author, "that sounds great." So she bought the book.

And hated it. Despised the heroine, hated the hero, just didn't like the whole thing. So she was speculating about why an editor had ever contracted it.

And what she decided was that the editor was obviously won over by the high-concept pitch ("Gone With the Wind meets Star Wars"), so much so that the editor ignored the book's flaws and published it anyway.

She was entirely, comprehensively wrong. The description the reviewer used was his/her own description; the book was never pitched to me as Gone With the Wind meets Star Wars, and I would never have described it that way myself. I contracted it because the writing was very good, because I'd worked with the author before and knew she was extremely professional, hard working and career-minded, and because I knew that Samhain had a big market for this kind of book. I knew that the hero wouldn't be to everyone's taste, but he was the sort of hero that many readers adore.

Basically, although it might have made Aspiring Author feel better to think that an "unworthy" book had got published just because the author had had the luck to hit on a high-concept pitch that hooked an editor, this wasn't the case. The author had done the much less gimmicky work of paying attention to her craft, doing her background and market research, editing and re-editing her manuscript, working hard during the edits for her first book with me, being pleasant and non-argumentative during the editing process. In short, she'd done what all authors should be doing. That was the inside story.

Of course, the real inside story was less dramatic and with less potential for gossip ("publisher contracts trash!") than the imagined inside story. Knowing that authors who work hard get contracts is, after all, not terribly worth commenting on.

Not having the inside story on Quartet Press, I obviously don't know whether that's the case with them as well. I do think, however, that Quartet Press's closure is less drama-worthy than some of the commentary would indicate.

A lot of start-up businesses fold early on. A lot of epublishers fold - or, possibly worse, simply sink without trace - before they've been open a year. We're currently in a global recession, a notoriously bad time for any new business to start up. In the UK, Woolworths, a huge chain of stores that's been going for about a century, recently closed, leaving their shop buildings empty in nearly every town centre (and Gloworm sad cos she liked their cheap toys). Black Lace, the sixteen-year-old erotica line, is closing. It's a recession. These things happen.

One company closing means no more and no less than it's always done. Woolworths' closure doesn't mean the sky is falling for shops everywhere. Black Lace's doesn't mean a catastrophic end to erotic fiction. Quartet's doesn't mean the future of digital publishing is under a dark cloud of doom.

Samhain is four years old in November. I see the submissions inbox, and we're continuing to attract successful, award-winning authors. We also have bunches of successful NY-published authors who continue to sell books to Samhain. We have a fantastic art department, we have an amazing blurb writer, we have a team of highly motivated, hard-working content editors and a bunch of OCD (in a good way) final line editors. We also have a fresh new shiny PR director, executive editor (yay, I get to be someone's assistant again!) and managing editor. The sky of digital publishing is not falling.

I don't want to be glib. I was looking forward to Quartet opening. I was looking forward to the books they were going to offer, and I was going to consider them for future manuscripts of my own. I was shocked when they announced they were closing, and I was shocked and sad for Angie James, who deserved to move up the corporate ladder, not find herself suddenly unemployed. But, just as this is certainly not the end of Angie's career (I know I'm not the only one watching with huge interest to see what she does next!), it's not the beginning of the end for digital publishing.

Gone With the Wind meets Star Wars sounds pretty good, by the way. Would anyone like to write it...?

More travel plans (and win an ARC of Heart of the Volcano)

2009-09-06T14:46:00.005Z

So, back from Greenbelt, semi-unpacked, and what am I doing?

Getting an application number from the US visa waiver program, finding my passport, working out if my bag is 45 linear inches and if I have a clear plastic resealable toiletries bag, eight by eight inches. Making sure I have no bombs hidden in my shoes, researching how to stop earache when flying, finding out if Americans understand the British need for non-iced, non-herbal tea and asking Sparkler and Gloworm what presents they'd like from America.

Yes, I'm going to the States! To Savannah, Georgia, to be exact. Samhain is transporting the editors and editorial support staff to a hired house on Hilton Head Island for a week in October, for a staff conference/retreat. It's very exciting, of course, but it's also really useful, because it'll give us a chance to meet Laurie M. Rauch, the new executive editor, and Lindsey Faber, the new managing editor, in person, and have in-real-life real-time meetings about Samhain's future direction.

I have never gone to the US before, I have never flown on a long-haul flight before, and I have only flown as far as Scotland by myself. I am extremely excited, a little bit nervous, and very busy collecting travel advice from members of ROMNA, the RNA's online chapter, as well as The Model Auntie, who's flown all over the place a million times in order to model.

If anyone has more travel tips to give me, please leave them in the comments!

Oh, and if you'd like to win an advance copy of Heart of the Volcano (out September 15th), hop over to The Romance Studio and enter their book of the day giveaway. I'll be drawing the name of the winner tomorrow, and will send you your copy immediately.

Greenbelt report

2009-09-06T14:19:00.003Z

So, we arrived at Greenbelt and I realised that I'd packed raincoats for everyone except me. In fact, I had ridiculously removed my raincoat from the car boot as we were loading luggage into it. I'd also forgotten suncream, and neglected to bring matches, a mirror, or a chopping board.

Fortunately, there's a rather well-equipped general store where I could buy matches and a plastic poncho (hooray). I wore the poncho most of the rest of the time, rain or shine, simply because it cut out the rather cold wind. I couldn't quite bear to wear it to bed, but I did wear a t-shirt, a long-sleeved top, my red fleece, Abstract's black fleece and my own long black cardigan. Plus two pairs of socks. Was I warm enough? No, not really.

As ever when camping, that was my big problem. I was cold nearly all the time from six o'clock onwards. And, honestly, there's a limit to how many jumpers you can wear. From about day two I started wistfully mentioning caravans and campervans to my family, but I'm not sure they paid enough attention.

Despite that, it was lovely to be at Greenbelt. I concentrated my talk-going activities on the issue of Israel and Palestine, and heard the Palestinian non-violent activist Sami Awad speak, as well as the Israeli non-violent activist Jeff Halper. I also went to a talk by Michael Ward on the "Lewis Code" (his theory that C.S. Lewis used medieval beliefs about the planets on which to base his seven Narnai books). Abstract and the older girls went to a bunch of concerts - Royksopp, Schlomo and the beatbox orchestra, and Athlete - and Gloworm bought two sock monkeys and a bunch of carved wooden cats. The girls also had a lovely evening at Caris magazine's "girls' night in", hearing singer Shell Perris.

I also drank a lot of coffee and we all ate pies from Pieminister. Which, in case you'd like to know, does home delivery! For a price (you have to buy a box of at least twelve pies), but oh my goodness, I swear it would be worth it. The food stalls were super-helpful when it came to Sparkler's friend's nut allergy, too. I didn't need to stab her with her epi-pen and dial 999 even once.

Travel plans

2009-08-26T22:04:00.004Z

Tomorrow we're off to Greenbelt, the Christian arts/music/everything festival we go to every year. For the first time Sparkler's taking a friend with her, which is fun, but comes with Added Responsibility. Specially as said friend is vegetarian and has a nut allergy. But I think it'll be really good for Sparkler. Thirteen is too old to be stuck with your family all the time! Next year we've said Gloworm can bring a friend too.

Anyway, so we're off to camp on a race course for four nights, and eat falafel and fresh doughnuts and crepes and - ooh, pies, I just remembered the pies! And drink excellent fair-trade coffee. And go to interesting talks and events.

I'm also very pleased, because for the RNA conference 2010 I'm going to be going partly as a representative of Samhain, and giving a seminar on epublishing in general and Samhain in particular. Samhain should have lots of interesting new developments by then (none of which I can talk about yet!). And hopefully another Samhain staff member will be coming too, so no one has to listen to Immi Immi Immi for a whole hour.

It's been so sad to lose Angie James, but a positive effect is that new opportunities are opening up for other staff members - and the editors are all leaping into the Angie-shaped gap in an impressive and wonderful way. It's never exactly been dull at Samhain, anyway, but now does feel like a particularly exciting time to be part of the team. I remain insanely proud to be working there.

This is relevant to the blog post title, by the way, but my third bit of travel-related news is so exciting I'm going to have to save it for another post. And until I've squee-ed at MG and Dayna.

The best holidays are made of:

2009-08-18T08:04:00.002Z

Sunshine. Yes, it did shine, and it was hot enough that we all picked up a bit of a tan. It rained, too, but mostly only in spells, and not enough to spoil the holiday.
Water. Three heated pools (indoor, outdoor, adventure) and a clean sandy beach within easy walking distance. Gloworm wanted to spend nearly every minute in the pools. The rest of us, not so much, but we did go most days, and slid down slides and went under waterfalls and fell off obstacle courses and played chasing games. And there were glorious hot showers to have afterwards - highly necessary for me to be happy with taking my clothes off and getting wet.
Good food. We were self-catering, so we stocked up our caravan with nice things: pains au chocolat, eggs and bacon for breakfast muffiins, Appletiser, white wine, six different cheeses to make lunchtime cheese boards (big success), Hovis digestive cheese biscuits. The on-site cafes and restaurants were pretty good too. Gloworm found her favourite tuna melts at the Aquabar, and we had super-fresh fish and chips the first day we arrived. Oh, and the one time we went off site, to the nearest village, we found a lovely family-run restaurant with fabulous food: again, very fresh fish, plus a duck salad for Sparkler.
Good coffee. There was an on-site Starbucks. Not just a coffee shop, but a Starbucks. Halfway between our caravan and the beach. I hate to be predictable, but this was one of the things that made me happiest - being able to walk down the road in the sunshine and get a skinny vanilla latte, or treat ourselves to Starbucks brunch. I make good coffee at home, but I never have skinny vanilla lattes on tap. On the way to the beach. And Abstract and I spent the happiest couple of hours sitting in the blazing sunshine outside the swimming pool, reading and drinking cider (at about 3.30 in the afternoon, how decadent is that?), while the girls took themselves swimming.
Good books. My holiday TBR pile post is up at the RNA blog right now, and The Hunger Games, in particular, kept me and Sparkler and Abstract very happy. Also, Haven has sponsorship from some literacy scheme or other, so we were given a big cotton bag full of books when we got there. The bag was, well, mixed (Jeremy Clarkson, Chris Ryan, Winnie the Twit, Letterland...) but both the girls enjoyed Chris Ryan's Survival, a teenage adventure story, and spent some happy time finding Wally in Hollywood.
Luxury accomodation. Our caravan was heaven in a box. It had two bathrooms (well, one bath and one shower), one of which was Abstract's and mine en suite. It had real sofas and armchairs, mirrors and cute little drawers and cupboards and shelves everywhere, a full-size kitchen with a microwave and washing-machine, and a dining area on a little dais, so it felt like a separate room. And central heating. And a fire with white pebbles rather than coals. The one really rainy day we didn't even mind - we just all sat around and read, and the girls did some craft, and fed the ducks that suddenly appeared, hopefully quacking, outside the caravan.
Fun, fun, fun. Aside from the pools and the beach and the playground, and the ducks, there was a host of extra activities you could book (for a small extra cost). We did rock climbing, and 'water walkerz', which are big beach balls you climb inside and walk around on the surface of the swimming pool (extremely weird, but interesting), and Abstract and the girls did a high-ropes obstacle course while I quaked on the ground (my babies, in the air!) and took photos of the incredible bravery, and Abstract and Sparkler did fencing (despite the maks and protective clothing, Sparkler managed to stab her dad in the throat, which was exciting). We also spent quite a bit of money in the funfair - mostly on the dodgems. Oh, and we hired cycle-go-kart-things and pedalled around the whole of the holiday village. Oh, and a pedal boat, and pedalled around the lake.
General happy ambience. The whole holiday village was set out beautifully. It felt like a very friendly, very safe, real village, with caravans rather than houses. There were flowers and butterfly bushes planted everywhere, and flocks of butterflies and swarms of happy bees all over them. We saw rabbits a few times, and our friendly flock of ducks, and walked down to the beach through a tall-grassed meadow and a river running through a little wood.

We were away for a week, then Abstract was off work for another week, so we went down to visit the Model Auntie and Dr. T-shirt in their new house, and My Model Cousin came over for dinner. Then we came back via Oxfordshire and one night at Abstract's mother's house (who wasn't there, cos she was in Thailand, but we had a key and went out for dinner at the Barley Mow).

And now we're home. And Abstract is back at work. And Angie James, my immediate boss, has left Samhain for a job with Quartet Press. And the end of the school holidays seems suddenly to be looming rather close. Which is all rather sad.

However, I have a new book video, made very cleverly by Nikki Duncan, and the book release of Heart of the Volcano coming up, and Gloworm's birthday, and My Model Cousin is coming to stay and go to a U2 concert with Abstract. And Blood of the Volcano, while not racing towards a finish, is doing pretty well. Oh, and I suddenly had a lightbulb moment about how to fix the conflict in my stalled-for-nearly-a-year Elizabeth Goudge Award book, Cloak of Feathers.

And we have a milkman! A milkman for the twenty-first century, because I put my orders in online and he delivers them. So far we've had semi-skimmed milk, orange juice (which also comes in a milk bottle, which I find charming), and free-range eggs, and on Saturday I'll have my first ever organic vegetable box. Now all I have to do is persuade him to form a partnership with Starbucks, and it could be milk and juice and eggs and skinny vanilla lattes appearing on the doorstep. Now that really would be milk delivery in the twenty-first century.

Home again, and a book video for Heart of the Volcano!

2009-08-14T18:43:00.003Z

Well, look at this. I've never had a book video before!

Away on holiday, but in the meantime...

2009-08-02T19:54:00.003Z

I'm away on holiday - at last, hooray! - for a week. Erica the red laptop is coming, and she's bringing her new pet, Bingle the mobile broadband dongle, but I don't know what the reception will be like so blogging may not happen. Twittering probably will, however, so keep an eye on the updates at the top of the blog!

And I don't leave you bored and alone. If you click on the above banner you can join in the scavenger hunt Long and Short Reviews is running to celebrate its second anniversary, and (if you're in the US or Canada - I know, sorry) get the chance to win one of three Sony e-readers.

See you when I get back! I'm taking a whole pile of books and I hope to do a lot of reading and writing in the sun (hot sun, please, please?) by the pool.

Heart of the Volcano, coming soon...

2009-07-30T22:33:00.003Z

Oh look at that. It's my book on Samhain's coming soon pages!

Which means the cover art and blurb are now approved for sharing. And share them I shall, anywhere I can find.

Caught between love and duty, can she make an impossible choice?

Five years ago, Aera was called away from everything she had ever known: her home, family, and Coram, the boy she was growing to love. She was given no choice. As the only living lava-shifter—able to transform her body into molten rock—she is destined to serve the volcano god as his fire priestess. Now, before she takes her ordained role, she must face her final test. Execute a criminal sentenced to death for the most unforgivable of all sins. Blasphemy.

She’s shocked to discover it’s no anonymous law-breaker waiting chained at the center of the labyrinth. It’s Coram. For the crime of being a gargoyle, a winged stone-shifter. A gift akin to hers…except his gift is unsanctioned by the temple, his powers proclaimed unholy.

If she refuses the test she will betray her god and condemn her family to dishonor. To pass it she must kill the boy she used to love…the man she still does.

Releasing September 15th! Check back here nearer the time for fun contests to celebrate!

I'm blogging at the RNA blog today

2009-07-30T08:50:00.002Z

Come and visit me. I'm talking about how much I love reading ebooks on my little Jornada 545 PDA.

There's a "digital debate" going on at the RNA blog all this week. Donna Poff contributed an article about the Kindle, and Ben Johncock talks to Liz Fenwick about how "digital books are trying to solve a problem no one has".

There's also a poll where you can vote on whether you read ebooks or not, and what you read them on.

Chocolate Cake in a Mug

2009-07-26T12:51:00.002Z

Friday started out sunny - I tried to make the children go out in the garden but they were set on staying in the house with the toys and the books and the computer and television - but then the sky went grey, the wind picked up and it started to rain.

In the summer holidays. What's that about?

So after lunch I decided what we needed was chocolate cake in a mug. The recipe is all over the net - you only have to Google it to find out - but this is my personal and improved version:

One microwaveable, largish mug.

Add 4 tablespoons of self-raising/cake flour,
4 tablespoons of sugar,
2 tablespoons of cocoa powder.

Mix well.

Add 3 tablespoons of milk,
3 tablespoons of melted butter,
1 egg,
a tiny splish of vanilla extract.

(Note: this is my variation. The recipe I found uses 3 tablespoons of oil, but if you do that you're getting fat with no flavour. I put three tablespoons of softened butter in another mug, then microwaved it to melt. It increases your washing-up, but I think it's worth it.)

Mix well, until it's smooth and lumpfree. At this point you could add a few chocolate chips or bits of chocolate broken up.

Place in microwave. Microwave on full power for three minutes until cake is rising out of the top of the mug.

Turn out onto plate, add cream/ creme fraiche/ chocolate sauce/ whatever else you can find, and eat.

This amount serves one person very generously. All three of us left about half our chocolate cakes for later. Sparkler made some chocolate butter cream to put on hers, and it was very good. When the cake first comes out of the microwave it's like a steamed chocolate pudding, but once it's cool it's more like standard chocolate sponge cake, with a denser, moister texture. It's too messy to be served the way you'd serve cupcakes or similar, but if all you want is lumps of chocolate cake it's a winner!

I'd add pictures at this point, but I didn't think to take them, and the cakes are all eaten now. If we make it later today (the weather is grey again so I think it's justified) I'll add pictures then.

Drollerie Blog Tour: Summer - links galore!

2009-07-23T09:28:00.003Z

Drollerie authors (including, for the first time, me!) are roaming around this month, talking about summer. You saw Isabelle Santiago's post on Tuesday, but for a full list of links go here:

Drollerie Blog Tour: July

Drollerie Press Blog Tour: Isabelle Santiago on Summer

2009-07-21T08:39:00.002Z

For starters, I'm so glad to be a part of the Drollerie Press blog tour! Thank you Imogen for hosting my post today!

I've never been a real fan of summer. I prefer cuddling up with a warm blanket, drinking hot cocoa and sitting by a roaring fire. I love the way the sky smells after a fresh snow and the delicate beauty of flakes as they fall slowly to the ground. Knowing this about me, you might think it strange that I've got not one, but TWO stories where my heroes are men of summer.

My current WIP is a YA fantasy starring the prince of Summer as my hero. He's dashing, sultry, dark skinned and throws some really amazing parties. His culture involves everything I imagine represents summer- bold colors, tropical fruits, parties until dawn, and passionate lovers. Granted, it's YA PG-13 rated passion, but still, you get my drift. ;) Ha ha.

Of course, in order to truly appreciate the heat, you have to have experienced the cold. And I'll admit, after a long, harsh winter, I do appreciate the first warm days of spring. And the first trip to the beach in summer. But if you've never tasted the heat- if you've lived your whole life in the cold- can you imagine the impact that first blast of heat can have?

For my heroine, the first brush with the Summer Court is life changing- as any good first meeting between hero and heroine should be. ;)

Through her eyes, its hard not to find summer newly fascinating - even on days when I miss the snow.

Isabelle Santiago
Because not every girl dreams of prince charming...
website: http://twistedfairytale.net
blog: http://twistedfairytale.net/blog/
myspace: http://www.myspace.com/isabellesantiago

Immi's RNA conference moments and mentions (with pictures!)

2009-07-17T09:00:00.002Z

So, I'm not sure I can do a proper run-down of the conference, but I can pick out a few of my best bits.

(above: Katie Fforde about to present the Elizabeth Goudge trophy. Jan Jones is to the left)

Most exciting moment: Lesley Heames won the Elizabeth Goudge trophy this year, and there were two runners up. I don't remember the name of one (sorry - do come and tell me if it's you!), but the other was my local writing friend Stephanie Cage, who was, as it happened, sitting on our table so we could bask in the glory. Her story opening sounds fab, by the way - about a time-travelling email - and our table decided she needed to finish writing it very soon. Not that I can talk. Cloak of Feathers is languishing at 37,000 words, most of which I think may need to be scrapped.

Anyway, congratulations to Lesley (pictured below with me, photo taken from http://blog.verulamwriterscircle.org.uk), to the other runner up, and to Stephanie! (Stephanie also pictured below.)

Most embarrassing moment: Liz Bailey, the RNA's PR extraordinaire, ran a 'charisma workshop' on the Sunday afternoon, where she made us dress up in black bin bags and spray our worst physical features on huge boards so we could blow them to pieces with machine guns. Okay, so the graffiti, boards and machine guns were not real, but the bin bags were.

She also made half of us stand on the stage and compete to get the attention of the other half. Which was when a spirit of insane competitiveness came over me and I jumped up and down as violently as I could, waving and screaming "Me! Me! Me!! ME ME ME ME ME!!!" at the top of my voice (I still had a sore throat Monday morning). I won, but I'm not sure I looked at my most attractive.

(Us in our bin bags. Kate Johnson is the one at the back with the ponytail, I'm on her right, and Jodi Thomas is on my right. Picture taken from The Pink Heart Society Blog)

Nicest moments: Meeting up with friends from previous conferences/chapter meetings/ online. Catching up with Stephanie and Vasiliki, my real-life local writing friends. Drinking surprise wine with the others in my accomodation block (surprise because they suddenly produced it Friday evening and shared it liberally with the rest of us).

Reeling out from finding our charisma with Kate Johnson and sharing a bottle of Echo Falls in the sunlit garden of the bar, leaving it behind the bar while we went for dinner and finishing it off during the hilarious and noisy quiz later that evening. Meeting Jilly from Spain and Ann Marie from Norway and Susan from Australia who lives in Scotland, and Jodi Thomas from Texas. Passing the (very shiny and polished) trophy on to the next recipient of the Elizabeth Goudge award. Taking Erica the red laptop so I could email Abstract and the girls when I missed them at night.

Oh, and passing on Darth to Nell Dixon for the next leg of his world tour/ world-conquering mission:

Most useful seminar: Jodi Thomas from Texas gave a wonderful talk on plotting: plotting your book and plotting your career. I came away with handfuls of fabulous new insights on both. Jodi is the nicest person, too, with a lovely accent, and I need to go find some of her many, many books to read.

Most charismatic speaker: Hugo Summerson, who gave a really effective talk - and practical demonstration - on public speaking.

Most exciting news about next year's conference: This is going to be held in London, so hopefully should have an excellent turnout, including agents/editors/publishers, who apparently don't like to venture far from their natural urban habitat. This means Friday's sessions, rather than being just for an afternoon, are going to be extended for a whole day - an industry day. Which, in turn, means I'll have to go down Thursday night, not Friday, and maybe I'll manage to take an extra day and visit The Model Auntie and Dr T-shirt (shh, I haven't asked them yet).

Also, I'm thinking, the fact that it's in London, and thus easily reachable from airports, could mean certain overseas industry professionals who like to travel might come, too. Yes? Yes!

I am back, really

2009-07-16T20:18:00.002Z

I'm back from conference. It was fab - I enjoyed it bunches more than last year's, which considering I came home with a shiny silver trophy last year is saying quite a lot!

I have a few pics, and hopefully will be able to steal some actually of me from other people. I also have some notes from seminars and names of nice people who I should mention.

Right now, though, I'm drowning in a) work, b) writing (sequel to Heart of the Volcano: currently titled Blood of the Volcano; a YA science fiction about telepathic twins; restarting work on A Stolen Cloak of Feathers), c) first-round edits for Heart of the Volcano, d) mini-edits on Within the Darkness to cut it down to meet a publisher's maximum word count, e) critiques for three people, and f) reading short stories for an RNA-sponsored contest. Oh, and housework. As ever. Everyone needs to be bald, and pathologically tidy, and to eat off disposable tableware. No, really. This time I mean it.

So I'm sorry, but anything about the conference is going to have to wait a little longer. There are updates coming in from the RNA's own blog, plus there's a post with a list of other blogs mentioning the conference. Go and look there. Have fun!

Off to conference

2009-07-09T18:26:00.002Z

This time last year I managed to go to the RNA conference with one big black shoulder bag and one (smartish) carrier bag. This year, not so much. It's surprising how much difference a Bobblehead Darth, a flouncier dress and an extra pair of shoes make.

I'll be twittering from conference, either from my phone or from Erica the red laptop. I hear that we definitely do have wifi there, and it works fine, but I may not want to carry Erica round all the time. If you go to the linked Twitter search page you'll see some early arrivals (mostly Liz Fenwick, who seems to be in search of a drink) have already started twittering.

But if you're just my fan you can keep up with just my tweets in the widget at the top of the blog.

Common sense - some people are born with it, some people acquire it, some people have to get it from their daughter

2009-07-04T22:04:00.002Z

For about eight years we've had this graphics tablet and pen attached to the computer. We got it way back when I was playing with designing websites and making fun little animated gifs. And I still use it occasionally - like to write on the picture of my clippykit bag in one of my recent blog posts.

So, day before yesterday I was complaining to Sparkler about the pain I've been getting in my mouse hand, and the fact that I was going to have to buy £80 worth of ergonomic mouse, and she said, "Why don't you use the pen instead?"

Lightbulb moment.

Seriously, I've been struggling with pain in my right hand and thumb joint for weeks. I've tried swapping the mouse to my left hand (hideo-impossible to use) and using keyboard shortcuts as much as possible, and sort of turning my hand on its side while I use the mouse to spare my thumb joint as much as possible. And finally, in desperation (and a few tears) deciding to buy £80 worth of ergonomic vertical mouse. And all the freaking time this tablet and pen were right there next to the computer, plugged in, ready to go.

I used the pen rather than the mouse all of yesterday, when I was filling in spreadsheets and cut-and-pasting data. And you know what? My hand isn't hurting any more. And you know what else? I feel extremely silly.