Tag Archives: Carol Thomas

#WritingWednesday with Morton S. Gray: Five top tips.

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Following the release of her latest novel, Christmas at the Little Beach Café  Morton S. Gray shares her five top writing tips.

Congratulations on the fab new release Morton, I can’t wait to read it. And thank you for stopping by in your busy week. All that remains for me to say is, over to you…

Having recently finished my fifth novel, here are my five writing recommendations:

Allow time for musing – I find that if I allow my mind to wander, especially if I’ve just been thinking about the book I am writing, or want to write, then other things occur to me seemingly by magic. I even find that if I’m listening to music relevant lyrics seem to jump out of the songs and I can use these as writing prompts.

Always try to have something in your book that amuses you even if it isn’t a humorous book, so that when you have edited the manuscript so many times you are absolutely sick of it, you can still find something to smile about.

Carry a means of writing down ideas with you at all times, be that a notebook and pen, dictaphone or a phone app. You never know when inspiration might strike and it is all too easy to think you will remember the thought and then kick yourself later for not writing it down.

Feed your mind – sorry, I don’t mean chocolate – I mean learn new things whenever you can. You never know when you can use something in a book. My forays in early 2020 were into weaving and soap making!

Save pictures that inspire you. For example, many of my characters have been based on photographs from clothing catalogues and magazines. My mother commented the other day when I ripped a page out of a flyer we were recycling – ‘Do you want to buy that jumper as a Christmas present?’ The answer was – ‘No, this guy would make a great hero.’

About Morton S. Gray:

Award winning author of five romance novels, Morton S. Gray lives with her husband, two sons and Lily, the tiny white dog, in Worcestershire, U.K. She has been reading and writing fiction for as long as she can remember, penning her first attempt at a novel aged fourteen. She is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and The Society of Authors.

Books by Morton S. Gray (click the titles to discover more, or to purchase):

Newly released, Christmas at the Little Beach Café is already gaining great reviews. Here’s the blurb:

Run away to the little beach café this Christmas …

Five years ago at Christmas, solicitor Justin Sadler made the decision to leave his comfortable existence behind and move to the coast. Since then, he’s tried his best to ignore the festive season and, as he sits in the little beach café and reflects on that fateful night when his life was turned upside down, he expects his fifth Christmas alone to be no different to any of the others since he made his escape.

But when he encounters a mystery woman on the beach, he soon realises he may have found a fellow runaway and kindred spirit. Could Justin finally be ready to move on and let Christmas into his life again?

Morton’s debut novel The Girl on the Beach was published after she won the Choc Lit Publishing Search for a Star competition. This story follows a woman with a troubled past as she tries to unravel the mystery surrounding her son’s new headteacher, Harry Dixon. The book is available as a paperback and e-book.

Her second book for Choc Lit The Truth Lies Buried is another romantic suspense novel, The book tells the story of Jenny Simpson and Carver Rodgers as they uncover secrets from their past. This book is available as an e-book, paperback and audiobook.

Christmas at Borteen Bay was Morton’s first Christmas novella. It is set in her fictional seaside town of Borteen and follows the story of Pippa Freeman, who runs the Rose Court Guesthouse with her mother, and local policeman Ethan Gibson, as they unravel a family secret as Christmas approaches.

Bestselling Sunny Days on the Beach, is her fourth novel for Choc Lit. Again set in Borteen, this book is the story of what happens when craft shop owner, Mandy Vanes takes in an abandoned teenager, Nick Crossten and the repercussions when Graham Frankley, a gin distiller, arrives in town to say he has received a letter telling him he is Nick’s father.

You can find out more about Morton and her work here: website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Apricot Plots

#WritingWednesday with Jane Cable: Self-Editing.

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A PERSONAL APPROACH TO SELF-EDITING.

I am the ultimate dirty first drafter. I have learnt to bash out the bones of a novel in around three months, starting with just a few pages of the outline agreed with my publisher, but with the strong proviso that details may change.

What I end up with is invariably a bit of a mess, so rather than feel slightly sick at the prospect of fixing it all at once, I go through the manuscript again and again, focussing on one aspect of the editing at a time.

Consistency
Very often the story – or at least the character arcs – have changed a great deal as I’ve been writing so this edit is to update the beginning and middle for what I’ve learnt by the end. It’s mainly dealing with my characters’ motivations and conflicts so vital to the logical progression of the story.

Structure
I don’t worry too much about structure as I write. That said, I like to make sure that the key points, the dips and crescendos, are in roughly the right place. There are many frameworks to choose from, but my preference is for Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat. It was originally devised for screenplay but keeps a novel tight as well.

Necessity
I go through every scene, then every paragraph in every scene, to make sure it’s absolutely essential to the story; either moving the plot forwards or giving the reader vital information about a character. If it does neither, however much I may like it, it goes.

Emotion
Each major character has their own edit for this, when I go through the whole story from their point of view, thinking deeply about how they feel as events unfold. It’s perhaps the most intense phase for me, and not something I can do all day, but it pays huge dividends when you get it right.

Balance
If you think about it, most books are made up of action, description and dialogue, so with this edit I highlight each one in a different colour. That pretty soon tells me if the balance of the book is wrong and where I need to put it right.

Timeline
This involves going through the whole manuscript and putting a date and time on each scene, using just the clues in the text. It’s surprising how many errors it can throw up and is a useful reference point going forwards.

Jane Cable writes romance with a twist and a look over the shoulder at the past. She published her first novel, the multi-award winning The Cheesemaker’s House, independently and is now signed by Sapere Books.

Discover more about Jane and her work, here: Facebook | Twitter | website | Apricot Plots | Sister Scribes .

Review of Emma Jackson’s One Kiss Before Christmas.

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The blurb:

Could it be the start of her happy ever after?

Ashleigh could use a little Christmas magic. She’s still living in Brighton with her Nan – who could give the Grinch lessons in how to be miserable – her acting career has been reduced to playing one of Santa’s elves, and not even the prospect of a friend’s winter wedding can cheer her up…

That is until Olivier, the gorgeous French chef, reappears in her life. Or more accurately, next door.

When they were teenagers, Olivier would spend every Christmas with his mother, who just happens to be Ash’s neighbour and owner of the best chocolate shop in England.

If anyone can bring a little sparkle back to Ash’s life, it’s Olivier. All she needs is one kiss before Christmas…

Purchase links: AmazonUK | Amazon.com |

My review:

This was a sweet, second chance romance story set in Brighton (not that far from where I live), and so I greatly enjoyed recognising places mentioned and visited. The lead characters, Ashleigh and Olivier, were both likeable, as were the supporting cast. I especially liked Romesh and his matchmaking. There is a lovely sprinkling of Christmas throughout as Ash and Olivier both learn to be the people they want to be. While the middle slowed a little in terms of the will they won’t they, I really liked the ending; it provided the kind of warmth you expect from a cosy Christmas film.

About the author:

Author of the Best Selling A MISTLETOE MIRACLE and contender for the Joan Hessayon Award 2020, Emma has been a devoted bookworm and secret-story-scribbler since she was 6 years old. When she’s not running around after her two daughters and trying to complete her current work-in-progress, Emma loves to read, bake, catch up on binge-watching TV programmes with her partner and plan lots of craft projects that will inevitably end up unfinished. Her latest romantic comedy, SUMMER IN THE CITY, was released in June, with a festive romance, ONE KISS BEFORE CHRISTMAS, was released on 2nd November 2020.

Emma also writes historical and fantasy fiction as Emma S Jackson. THE DEVIL’S BRIDE was published by DarkStroke in February 2020.

Discover more about Emma Jackson via: newsletter | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Huge thanks to Emma Jackson and Orion Dash for the advance read copy and special thanks to Rachel Gilbey of Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me along to be a part of the blog tour. xx

#WritingWednesday with Angela Barton: Plot Holes.

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What is a Plot Hole?

When we’re editing our manuscripts, it’s so easy to focus on the little details that we want to improve, that we miss our story’s biggest weaknesses. The main oversight in editing is the dreaded plot hole.

A plot hole is an inconsistency or gap in the narrative of our story. It contradicts the flow of logic established in our story. Some examples:

  1. The personality of a character suddenly changes.
  2. A secondary character has an obstacle in their life, but it’s never concluded in your story.
  3. Your readers rarely forgive illogical events. For eg. A character travels to Spain from America and is drinking in a coffee bar later the same morning.
  4. One of your characters has forgotten an important fact that they knew earlier in the storyline.

How To Find and Correct a Plot Hole in Your Manuscript.

Readers’ suspension of disbelief may ensure that some of your story’s smaller plot holes are missed or ignored. But there’s a limit to how much they will accept. Here are some tips for finding your plot hole:

  1. Be objective when editing. The easiest way to do this is to step away from your manuscript and leave it for a few days, or longer. Review it later with fresh eyes.
  2. Refuse to be influenced by your own opinions and emotions. Edit from the perspective of your characters.
  3. Writing a continuity list can be helpful. I’ve made my own form which lists the chapter numbers along with a sentence or two about the storyline in that chapter and which characters are present. I also make a note of the month/year the scene takes place which also helps with continuity. (see photograph)
  4. Take time to question the logic of your plot. Does the previous storyline lead to that moment or has a journey or question gone unanswered? Have your characters made choices or said things that don’treflect their personality?
  5. Keep a checklist of your subplots and make sure all of them are complete. Close all open ends.
  6. Keep notes on your revised edits. They may open up a future plot hole that needs managing.
  7. I recommend a professional edit as a safety net to plot holes. If this is too pricey, ask a writer friend to have a read through.

About Angela Barton:

Angela was born in London and grew up in Nottingham. She is married with three grown up children and adorable six-year-old twin granddaughters. She is passionate about writing both contemporary and historical fiction and loves time spent researching for her novels. In 2018 Angela signed publishing contracts for three of her completed novels.

In addition to writing, Angela also relaxes by making landscapes using free motion sewing on a machine. She is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and a reader for their New Writers’ Scheme. Angela is also a member of Nottingham Writers’ Studio, the Society of Authors and Ellipses and Ampersands’ fiction critique group.

Discover more about Angela Barton and her novels here: Twitter | Facebook | Blog | Amazon | Angela is also a member of Apricot Plots.

 

#WritingWednesday with Caroline James: Keep Writing.

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Great advice from Caroline James on writing regularly and getting that first draft down:

Take a notebook, sit down and write in longhand for half an hour. Write anything that comes into your head. Let your stream of consciousness flow. Do this every morning for a week and see what happens. I promise; something will connect and your creativity will spark. In her book, The Artist’s Way, author Julia Cameron calls this, The Morning Pages, and many writers including myself, practice every day. Don’t forget that you have to write badly in order to get better and the more you write the more your writing will improve.

Stephen King, the famous author, who has sold millions of books, states that in order to write well you should read prolifically. He wrote a book for writers called, On Writing, and I highly recommend using some of his methods.

Begin a writing project and allow yourself time to write. Take time out of your day to sit down in a space that you can call your own, for however long you have. At the moment, we can’t take ourselves off to cafés or parks, so it is important to make it clear to your household members that this is your bit of ‘me time.’ If you write in challenging circumstances, you can write anywhere. Every day that you don’t write because you don’t know what to write or where to begin, is another day of not being a writer.

Don’t worry about grammar and spelling.

Just get it written. Get to the end of your first draft. The most important thing is to get your story on the page. You can check everything later. Don’t stop the flow by worrying over poor spelling or grammar. Once the first draft is in the bag then editing, re-editing and re-writing can be done.

Best-selling author Caroline James writes women’s fiction. 

Discover more about her novels or contact Caroline here: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Blog | Amazon