Choc_Lit Archives - Page 5 of 6

Party Season

The party season is in full bloom, with the Festival of Romance, and the Romantic Novelists’ Association Winter Party paving the way. Both are great events, with opportunities to meet readers, writers, book bloggers, editors, agents – all sorts of industry professionals.

I met my publishers, Choc Lit, at the inaugural Festival of Romance, in 2011, not to mention the ladies who went on to become The Romaniacs.

The RNA parties provide the opportunity to meet with writing friends, and catch up with the latest news. It’s a great party.

I love these events, and if you are able to attend, I recommend doing so.

On the most recent trip to London for the RNA party, I had a few hours spare, so I took a trip to Harrods, something I haven’t done in years. The Christmas decorations are still on the third floor …

It was a fab couple of days away, but as always, I was pleased to be home with my lovely family, share with them my exploits, and show them the photos I’ve taken.

It took me a week to recover.

My next ‘big thing’ is a wrist operation, a week before Christmas, so I’m trying to get everything wrapped up before then. Excuse the pun.

Have a great weekend, and take care.

Laura x

Catching Up With Me – The Festival of Romance

Catching up with news? Sleep? Eating?

Yes to all three. What a weekend at Bedford’s Festival of Romance!

This was my third attendance, but my first as a published author, and it was a thrill to be behind the Choc Lit table, chatting with readers and writers who share the same passion for romance.

I took my Truth or Dare? scratch cards and I’m now waiting for more of those truths or dares to hit the wall of my Facebook page, before choosing a winner to receive a Kindle version of the book. If you have anything you wish to share, or evidence of a dare, why not drop by and reveal all, here?

Lucie Wheeler, collecting her New Talent Award

Saturday night saw the presentation of the awards, the results of which can be seen here. Many congratulations to all the winners and nominees. I was particularly excited when my lovely Romaniac friend, Lucie Wheeler picked up the New Talent Award. Congratulations, Lucie – it was a hotly-contested prize.

On Sunday morning, I, along with another Romaniac friend, Celia J Anderson, Linn B Halton and Kristy Price were on a panel discussing the factors that helped us on our way to publication. For at least three of us, belonging to a writing group has made a huge difference, providing support, guidance, and friendship.

It was a great weekend.

Sunday morning breakfast, with The Romaniacs

And yes. I am still catching up.

Take care.

Laura x

The Festival of Romance: The Truth or Dare? Scratch Cards

There’s nothing wrong with a Noddy table cloth.

The Festival of Romance has started! I shall be attending Saturday and Sunday, with my Truth or Dare? scratch cards.

This blog is a gallery of the fun my family and I had this week, making the cards, following a suggestion from fellow ChocLiteer, Rhoda Baxter. She sent me this link: http://www.cupcakesforclara.com/cupcakes_for_clara/2012/03/the-make-your-own-scratch-cards-tutorial.html which is fabulous, and I must acknowledge Cupcakes for Clara – thank you.

Gajitman is holding the fort back here, so it’s a weekend with the girls … I look forward to seeing you in Bedford this weekend.

Come and play Truth or Dare? for a chance to win a Kindle version of my book. There will be one winner only, so I want to see your best dares, and hear your most honest truths. 😀 Applies to my scratch card game only.

Dare you play?

Have a great weekend.

Laura x

Adrenalin Rush

Adrenalin rush? I’m not sure that covers the excitement of the past week.

On Sunday 20th October, Truth or Dare?, my debut novel, published by Choc Lit Lite, was nominated for the Best Romantic Ebook award, organised by the Festival of Romance, and then the book went live on Amazon on October 23rd 2013.

I woke the next morning to more excitement as I checked the Amazon rankings. The book hit #1609 in ‘Paid Kindle’, and #37 in Fiction > Romance > Thrillers and Suspense, and #36 in Fiction > Romance > Romantic Suspense.

Being new to this, I have no idea how the rankings work, but it was as thrilling as Disneyworld’s Harry Potter Dragon Challenge ride to see it hit the top 40, albeit for a brief time. Another adrenalin rush.

Then yesterday morning, a friend alerted me to the fact my local radio station, Wessex FM, was running the news of the award on their bulletins and website.

As it stands, Truth or Dare? has received 2 reviews, both 5*, and I’d like to thank everyone who takes the time to leave their thoughts on Amazon, and thank you to everyone who has already bought a copy, tweeted and Facebooked news of its arrival, and eased it into the big, wide world. I am overwhelmed and touched by your amazing support. Thank you.

I hope you enjoy the read.

Here’s a clip from one of our favourite TV shows in the James household: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJ9Uct0LHR0 – the Big Bang Theory girls, playing Truth or Dare?, just as many of our lovely friends did at Romaniac HQ on Thursday 🙂

My intention today is to start the planning process for book 3, and using techniques taught to me this summer, I’m aiming to write this book in nine months – that is half the time it took to write Follow Me, which in turn, took approximately four years less than ToD. Don’t ask.

So, without further procrastination, I shall unroll my large tube of lining paper and dive into my imaginery world.

I hope you are all safe from the storm and rain.

Take care.

Laura x

Weymouth and Writing on Publication Day

The Smugglers Inn, Osmington Mills, Weymouth, where Gaitman and I had our wedding reception. Declan and Kate spend the night here. — The Smugglers Inn, where Gajitman and I had our wedding reception.
Declan and Kate spend the night here.

Weymouth and writing go together like fish and chips, the sea and sand, and Portland Bill and the red and white lighthouse. I love using scenery from my home town, and Chesil Beach features in both Truth or Dare? and Follow Me, but leading up to the release this week of my debut, Truth or Dare?, I would like to share with you an insight into my life, in fact and fiction.

Truth or Dare? begins in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, where I bought my first house. In the late eighties and early nineties, it was a small market town, a fifteen minute drive from the big shops in Central Milton Keynes. I moved there from Watford, primarily because property was cheaper, but also for my job. I was an insurance claims assessor, and Bedfordshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire were part of my area.

Weymouth Harbour. I love sitting here on a sunny day, with my family, eating fish and chips, watching the world sail by.

My parents lived in Weymouth, and I visited whenever work, social life, and Rotaract permitted, rising early so during my drive I would see the sun drift over Salisbury Cathedral, and arrive in Weymouth in time to watch the dedicated dog-walkers set their hounds free on the beach. I would reach my parents’ house ready to sit at the family table for breakfast. Sometimes I told my mum I was coming, other times, I’d just pitch up.

I’ve lived in Weymouth for twenty years, on three separate occasions, this latest spell being the longest. I cannot imagine leaving. It holds many precious memories – marriage, births, deaths, friendships.

Chesil Beach. Rosie and Josh have a ‘moment’ here.

I love the scenery, the drama, the cry of the gulls. The sea.

It is no wonder Weymouth and Portland feature in my novels. I hope I can do it justice.

And I hope you enjoy reading Truth or Dare? It’s published today, and is available on Kindle.

Laura x

Truth or Dare? http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00G3I4PHM

Love’s a dangerous game …

Kate Blair’s sick of unrequited love. She’s quietly waited for Mickey for the past six years and finding a compass-carved heart, with their initials scratched through the middle, only strengthens her resolve: no more Mickey and no more playing it safe.

It’s time to take a chance on real love and Declan O’Brien’s the perfect risk. He’s handsome, kind, and crazy about her so it’s not long before all thoughts of Mickey come few and far between.

But old habits die-hard. Kate may have started to forget … but has Mickey?

Choc Lit Lite.

Festival of Romance Awards

Festival of Romance Awards 2013. Here are the nominations:

Press Release

London, 21 October 2013

The shortlists for the 2013 Festival of Romance Awards have been announced. Comprising the Romance Reader, Romance Industry and New Talent Awards, the winners will be announced on Saturday 9^th November at the Festival of Romance along with two competitions run by romance publishers to find new authors in the genre; both Piatkus Entice and Carina UK have publishing contracts on offer to writers. Now in their third year the Romance Reader Awards are judged solely by a panel of readers and include novels by bestselling authors on the shortlists as well as books by newer names. Independent publisher Choc Lit and new digital romance imprint HarperImpulse from Harper Collins have been nominated for Publisher of the Year and for the first time there is to be an award for Romance Blogger of the Year, recognising the invaluable contribution by bloggers reviewing books and creating social media buzz around romance reading. Nominated for the Hall of Fame Award for outstanding achievement in romantic fiction is the Romantic Novelists Association which has been representing authors and been a defining, driving and positive force for the genre since 1960.

2013 Awards Shortlists

Romance Reader Awards

Best Romantic Read

Just for Christmas by Scarlett Bailey (Ebury)

Take a Look At Me Now by Miranda Dickinson (Avon)

A Cornish Affair by Liz Fenwick (Orion)

Hubble Bubble by Jane Lovering (Choc Lit)

Is This Love? By Sue Moorcroft (Choc Lit)

Playing Grace by Hazel Osmond (Quercus)

Best Historical Read

The Lost Duchess by Jenny Barden (Ebury)

The Spice Merchant’s Wife by Charlotte Betts (Piatkus)

The Gilded Fan by Christina Courtenay (Choc Lit)

A Bargain Struck by Liz Harris (Choc Lit)

Maid of Oaklands Manor by Terri Nixon (Piatkus Entice)

The Affair by Gill Paul (Avon)

Best Romantic Ebook

It Happened One Night by Phillipa Ashley (Piatkus Entice)

Beyond Grace’s Rainbow by Carmel Harrington (HarperImpulse)

Truth or Dare? by Laura James (Choc Lit Lite)

How to Win a Guy in 10 Dates by Jane Linfoot (HarperImpulse)

Confessions of a Chalet Girl by Lorraine Wilson (HarperImpulse)

Best Short Romance

Come Full Circle by Natalie-Nicole Bates (Books to Go Now)

The Art of Deception by Liz Harris (Choc Lit)

The Rebound Guy by Fiona Harper (Mills and Boon Cherish)

Stranded with the Tycoon by Sophie Pembroke (Mills and Boon Modern)

Best Author Published Read

No One Ever Has Sex on a Tuesday by Tracy Bloom

The Good Sister by Amielise Gable

The Bow Wow Club by Nicola May

The Pollyanna Plan by Talli Roland

The Hollow Heart by Adrienne Vaughan

Cooking Up a Storm by Sue Welfare

New Talent Award

Fate Plays Dangerous Games – Kaye Chaloner

Lucky Kate – Glenda Cooper

The Wildflower of Ravenscar – Wendy Grace

Rock, Paper, Scissors – Jayne Hall

Fifty Not Out – Vivien Hampshire

Boot Camp Bride – Elizabeth Lamb

The Survivor – Shada Lapite

Glitter Red Shoes and Sky Blue Gingham – Anna Mansell

The Bow Wow Club – Nicola May

Baby Number Two – Catherine Miller

Acting on Impulse – Bella Osborne

The Honey Projects – Fay Rusling

Missing Grace – Vanessa Savage

Crazy Little Thing – Kate Scholefield

Broken Jigsaw – Lynda Stacey

Edge of Life – Karen Taylor

Head over Heart – Lucie Wheeler

Romance Industry Awards

Innovation in Romantic Fiction (Publisher)

Choc Lit – for their commitment and support to developing new writers

Harper Collins – for use of different formats; ebook compilations, hardbacks and paperbacks

HarperImpulse – for listening to what romance readers want and connecting with readers through social media

Innovation in Romantic Fiction (Author)

Julie Cohen – for outstanding and captivating teaching methods leading to many of her students receiving publishing contracts

Linn B Halton – for evolving the loveahappyending.com author/reader initiative into an interactive lifestyle magazine

Lindsey Kelk – for excellent social media campaigns and use of short stories to promote her novels

Lorraine Wilson – for being such an inspiration to other writers

Publisher of the Year

Choc Lit – for promotion of romantic fiction and the hero and heroine benefiting the entire genre

Harper Collins – for evolving in the ever changing marketplace and the use of imprints to reach many different readers

HarperImpulse – for going from zero to huge in such a short space of time

Literary Agent of the Year

Carole Blake – for a long, successful career contributing 50 years to publishing

Broo Doherty – for always being the professional and a first class mentor and advocate for her authors

Hannah Ferguson – for her faith in new writers and ability to spot future bestsellers

Lizzie Kremer – for her commitment to the romantic fiction genre

Romance Blogger of the Year

Tanya Farrell (After The Final Chapters) – for writing honest, funny and no holds barred reviews and using social media to connect with readers throughout the world

Sharon Goodwin (Jera’s Jamboree) – for honest reviews and her active support of new authors as well as more established names

JB Johnston (Brook Cottage Books) – for being unstinting in her support of authors and reviewing tirelessly

Kirsty Maclennan (The Love of a Good Book) – for being a tireless supporter of romantic fiction and continuing to make her blog better than ever

Carol Wright (Dizzy C’s Book Blog) – for being innovative with interviews and seasonal extras and having daily posts that are interesting and varied

Hall of Fame

The Romantic Novelists’ Association – for being a defining, driving and positive force for the genre since 1960

Many congratulations to everyone on the shortlists and good luck.

I am thrilled, delighted, and honoured that my debut novel, Truth or Dare? is on the Best Romantic Ebook. I have spent the last two days stunned, breathless, and excited.

I’d like to wish my Romaniac chums, Catherine Miller, Vanessa Savage, and Lucie Wheeler all the luck in the world for the New Talent Award. They are three talented writers.

I would also like to wish my friends at Choc Lit the best of luck, too.

Two awesome teams. How lucky am I?

It promises to be one heck of a party.

And watch out for Truth or Dare? – It will be on your digital shelf this week.

Laura x

Truth or Dare? Cover Reveal

It’s here! My first-ever novel cover. And it is gorgeous.

Truth or Dare? is due for an October release, under the Choc Lit Lite imprint.

Choc Lit have an excellent reputation, not only for quality reads, but for their incredible covers.

The very talented Berni Stevens has done it again, capturing the essence of Truth or Dare?.

So, without further ado, I give you Truth or Dare? – the cover.

Scroll slowly …

It is beautiful.

Thank you so much, Berni, and Choc Lit.

Laura x

Truly, Madly, Deeply

Truly, madly, deeply excited to announce my short story, Bitter Sweet, which achieved runner-up position in Choc Lit’s first short story competition, 2012, has been selected for the Romantic Novelists’ Association Anthology, due for publication, by Harlequin, February 2014. The anthology is entitled Truly, Madly, Deeply. You can find out more here.

The week I first heard it had been accepted was the same week as I signed Truth or Dare? to Choc Lit. I lived on adrenalin. And I smiled lots.

I’m still having a few ‘shaking head’ moments. On both counts. How lucky am I?

The RNA’s anthology, Loves Me, Loves Me Not, was a great success and I am thrilled to be contributing to Truly, Madly, Deeply, and I am completely overwhelmed with the line-up of authors.

Thank you to the RNA, its members, and its New Writers’ Scheme for the time and effort put into guiding and advising new writers, and for helping me fulfil a dream.

And thank you to Choc Lit, without whom, Bitter Sweet would not exist.

Take care.

Laura x

What a Week!

What a week! I was conversing with my lovely Romaniac friends about how busy I’ve been this week. It wasn’t until that point I realised why I’m so worn out.

It started with the arrival of my first ever set of edits for my debut novel, Truth or Dare?, during the week leading to my return to the stage.

See? That sentence alone is enough.

A few years ago I became involved with a great organisation called UK Unsigned, and entered their singing competition. On my second time of entering. I took second place, nationally, in my category.

This year, the genius behind the outfit, John Downie organised an event in celebration of UK Unsigned turning 15, and I was on the performers’ list. I haven’t sung for two years, but I started my singing exercises, and practised a few songs. I chose a Caro Emerald song, Liquid Lunch, and had a great time.

Singing is a lot like writing in that the muscle must be exercised regularly. I still have some way to go to get my voice into peak condition, but walking onto stage last week has reminded me what fun singing is. It was lovely to have the opportunity to support John with this event and give a little back to an organisation that had me singing at the O2, Shepherds Bush in 2010.

Please check out the UK Unsigned website.

John Downie, UK Unsigned and Laura E. James

For the next few days, I had my head down, going through my edits for Truth or Dare?, a process I was surprised to find I loved. It has certainly got the old brain ticking over and I have been able to rectify those niggling issues that have bothered me since I submitted the manuscript to Choc Lit. I learned what exposition is. It is quite possibly something of which I am guilty not only on paper, but in real life.

I booked time out to meet with my family and friends who were camping locally; we went to the beach, we took a trip to the cinema, and we went into town to watch the carnival.

Yes, it’s been a busy week, but a good one, and I managed to finish my edits, spend time with my family, and prevent my pale and interesting look from returning.

Time to put my feet up? Oh no. Time to finish Follow Me, before the next round of edits arrive…

What a week, indeed.

Take care.

Laura x

It’s Official!

It’s official! I have most definitely signed with award-winning publisher, Choc Lit.

I say that as if it wasn’t official before, but to see it written in black and white in Book Trade Announcements is thrilling. And I am so pleased for my friends, Alison May and Rhoda Baxter – we’re all in it together, ladies.

I’ve had my head down writing book 2, Follow Me, and I’m aware the first round of edits are imminent for Truth or Dare?, hence the relative radio silence. I’ve also been training my voice back into shape for a couple of singing outings coming up. Loving Caro Emerald at the moment. It’s fair to say I’m going to be rather occupied for the next few weeks.

Thank you for all your support, good wishes and for continuing to read my posts. I truly appreciate it. My previous post, Dear Mum: A Letter to the Skies reached a phenomenal number of readers last month. It will be a great honour to dedicate Truth or Dare? to my mum.

I’m off now to complete a pivotal scene before lunch, followed by hanging the duvet out to dry. I lead a glamorous life 🙂

Have a great day, and take care.

Laura x

Laura E. James

Truth in Fiction

Tag: Choc_Lit

Party Season

Catching Up With Me – The Festival of Romance

The Festival of Romance: The Truth or Dare? Scratch Cards

Adrenalin Rush

Weymouth and Writing on Publication Day

Laura x

Festival of Romance Awards

Festival of Romance Awards 2013. Here are the nominations:

London, 21 October 2013

Laura x

Truth or Dare? Cover Reveal

Truly, Madly, Deeply

What a Week!

It’s Official!