Guest post by Karen King

I’ve very pleased to welcome prolific writer, and writing tutor, Karen King. Karen has published over a hundred titles for children but today she is talking about her romance novels.

Thank you for inviting me on your blog to talk about my romance novels, Kate

I’ve been writing children’s books for years then turned to writing romance novels about ten years ago. The first romance novel I had published was Never Say Forever. It was aimed at Mills and Boon but didn’t quite make the grade. However, it’s now been published by four different publishers – as a People’s Friend Pocket Novel, in large print by Thorpe Publishing, then by Astraea Press a small, independent US publisher and has now been republished by Accent Press.

Although I love writing for children, I enjoy writing romances too, because I love exploring adult relationships and dealing with contemporary issues. Never Say Forever and my next two novels (my next one will be published next spring) feature heroines who don’t want to settle down in a serious relationship then along comes a guy they just can’t resist so they have this big emotional battle. I think this happens to a lot of people, and that some people give up their dream for love and wish they hadn’t a few years down the line, whereas others follow their dream then long for their lost love. The luckiest are those who manage to find a compromise.

My second romance novel The Millionaire Plan and my latest chick lit I do…or do I? feature heroines who are marrying for the wrong reasons then meet someone who makes them rethink so they have a tough decision to make.  Again, I think this is a plot many people will identify with. Amber in The Millionaire Plan is trying to marry a millionaire to save her parents from losing the family home, a Tudor house that’s been in the family for generations. Then she falls for Jed, a hired hand, and must make the choice whether to marry for love or money. Whereas Cassie in I do?...or do I? has drifted into marriage with her boyfriend, Timothy, because she didn’t like to turn him down when he proposed, and he’s safe, reliable – not like her ex Jared who dumped her to travel the world as a photographer. Then Jared comes back into her life, Timothy turns out to be not so reliable and Cassie is wondering whether to call off the wedding.

Although the ending of a romance novel is fairly predictable, readers are there for the ride, they want to know how the couples overcome their obstacles and to relate to the characters and storylines. Often the readers are going through, or have gone through, the same things themselves and will be rooting for the heroine and urging her to make the right decision. Some people say romance is escapism, and yes, it is in a way, but there’s a relationship truth at the core of it and readers relate to that.

Author Bio

A member of the Romantic Novelists' Association, the Society of Authors and the Society of Women Writers and Journalists, Karen King writes sassy, contemporary romance just right for reading on the beach.  I do - or do I? her first chick lit for Accent Press, was published in May 2016. She has been contracted for two more. And she is delighted that Accent Press has republished her earlier romance novels, The Millionaire Plan and Never Say Forever. The Millionaire Plan was nominated for the RONA Award (Romantic Novel Awards) in 2014 and I do?-or do I? has just been nominated for the RONA.

Karen has had several short stories for women’s magazine and 120 children's books published.

When she isn’t writing, Karen likes travelling, watching the ‘soaps’ and reading. Give her a good book and a box of chocolates and she thinks she’s in Heaven.

Author links

Website: http://www.karenking.net/

Twitter: @karen_king

Karen King Romance Author Facebook Page

Karen King Children’s Books Facebook Page

Pinterest: https://uk.pinterest.com/karenkingauthor/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karenkingauthor/?hl=en

Karen’s Romance Books

I do ... or do I?

Blurb

Local journalist Cassie is getting married to hotshot, reliable Timothy, and his mother, Sylvia, who Cassie has nicknamed ‘Monster-in-Law’, wants to plan the entire wedding. When Sylvia books the exclusive ID Images to take photographs of the extravagant do, Cassie has no idea what she’s walking into.

The elusive JM, ID Images’ newest photographer, just so happens to be Jared, Cassie’s first love and ex-fiancé, who broke off their engagement to travel and take photos of far-reaching wonders. He’s back to pay for his next wild adventure.

Cassie decides it’s best to pretend not to know him, but when she’s asked to write an article for her newspaper, she’s tasked with a column surrounding all things wedding related. When Cassie jokingly writes a column meant for herself depicting her situation, a co-worker submits it in place of the real article and it’s soon making headlines, with readers asking the age old question – Who Will She Choose?

Buy Links

Amazon

The Millionaire Plan

Blurb

Love or money, what would you marry for?

Amber Wynters is on a mission to find a millionaire to marry – and fast. Her parents are nearly bankrupt and being forced to sell their family home, a beautiful Tudor house that has been in the family for generations, thanks to Amber's ex-fiancé persuading them to invest in his dodgy shares. Armed with a self-help book and a ten-point plan, she sets off to hook herself a rich husband. On a millionaire's yacht, she meets the drop-dead gorgeous Jed Curtess. The attraction between them is sizzling. It's a shame that he is only a hired hand. Can Amber ignore her heart and follow her plan?

Buy Links

Available from Amazon

Never Say Forever

Blurb

Do you follow your dream or follow your heart?

That's the decision Kendall McKenzie has to make when she meets hunky businessman Jake Newman. He's as attracted to her as she is to him – but Kendall has vowed never to get married, and it seems that Jake has too. When they are together, sparks fly. It's obvious to everyone except themselves that they're meant to be together. Can Kendall trust Jake enough to give him her heart? And if she does, will she have to give up her dream?

Buy Links

Amazon

Thank you for hosting me, Kate!

My pleasure, Karen. Best of luck in the RONA.

Interview with Sophie Claire

I am pleased to have Sophie Claire on my blog to answer questions about her debut novel Her Forget-me-Not Ex which was published in May 2015 by Accent Press:

Natasha has consigned her wealthy French ex-husband Luc to the past, so she’s horrified when he turns up at her village florist’s shop out of the blue, pleading for help. He never dared to tell his family about the divorce, and when he asks her to come to France and pretend they’re still married for a couple of weeks to please his dying father, she’s not sure she can say no. She certainly isn’t prepared for the warmth of his family’s welcome, or the attraction that’s still simmering between her and Luc. But it’s just two weeks in a vineyard, no strings attached, right?

Sophie – congratulations on the publication of your novel.

Tell us how the novel came about – and are you a plotter or a pantser?

I’m kind of in between, or a wannabe plotter! Before I start a book I need to have a plan (for my peace of mind!) of all the main plot points, but most of the time that plan gets abandoned as I write. I think of better plot developments, or I write a section and it doesn’t feel right so I change it. I don’t mind rewriting huge chunks of a book if I think it will improve it – unfortunately, this isn’t the most efficient way of writing, and I do wish I could think up a perfect plot in advance and then stick to it. 

Her Forget-Me-Not Ex came about because I’d had the two main characters, Luc and Natasha, floating around in my head for a while. I knew they’d been married and divorced, but I wanted to bring them back together in the present day and I wasn’t sure how to do that until I went to a writing workshop. During one of the exercises the book’s opening scene came to me – it just wrote itself. It was very exciting and I wish that would happen more often!

Some writers say that characters arrive in their heads fully formed. Did that happen to you with Natasha and Luc?

I get to know my characters as I write, and I need to put them in different situations to see how they will react. As I get through the first and second drafts they become more rounded individuals and develop their own quirks – for example, Natasha’s nail art. Don’t know where that came from! The wonders of the subconscious…

I think it’s true to say that, traditionally, romantic novels did not include a male point of view but it is a requirement of some publishers now. Did you know from the beginning that you were going to include Luc’s pov?

I did include Luc’s pov from the start, but I was advised to add more and I’m so pleased I followed this advice because it really added to the story. It gave me a greater understanding of him as well as his strained relationship with his father. And it also revealed how Luc and Natasha hadn’t known each other very well in the past and had more in common than they realised.

Natasha is a florist. I loved her arrangements with sunflowers! Is this something you’ve done yourself?

No, never! I’m far too clumsy to be able to do anything like that. I knew that Natasha liked modern flower arrangements and I think I may have got my inspiration for the sunflowers from Pinterest. I made a board as I wrote this book (which you can see here: www.pinterest.com/sclairewriter), and found the visual inspiration really helped me as I wrote.

You pitched your novel to Accent Press at the Romantic Novelists’ Association Conference. Could you say a little about that experience?

Pitching your work to industry professionals is nerve-wracking, but it’s such a golden opportunity to get feedback on what you’ve written and also to find out what people are looking for (for example, the publishers I spoke to liked the French setting). I was thrilled because Accent asked to see the full manuscript and then made me an offer for it ten days later! I’ve never known a publisher respond so fast and that was part of their appeal for me.

Do you have a writing routine?

My routine varies depending on which stage of the novel I’m up to (first draft or revising/editing) and whether the children are at school or on holiday, but generally I write first thing in the morning, then do Twitter, Facebook or writing blog posts later. For the writing I set myself targets – a word count when I’m writing the first draft, or a number of hours for editing. When I get to the editing stage, I’m happy to write all day and into the evening because I find it so much easier than the first draft.

I believe that you spent many family holidays in Provence when you were growing up; clearly the landscape left a lasting impression on you. Will your next book have ‘French connections’?

The book I’m finishing at the moment is set in Manchester so it’s a long way from Provence! However, I’m not sure about the next book yet…

Thank you for answering my questions. All the best with your writing.

It’s been a pleasure, Kate, and thank you.

Find out more about Sophie Claire (a pseudonym for her own name Johanna Grassick):

http://romanticnovelistsassociationblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/sophie-claire-what-i-learned-from-new.html

Website:  www.johannagrassick.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sophieclairewriter
Twitter: @SClaireWriter
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/sclairewriter/

Six in April

I read six books in April.

The Physic Garden by Catherine Czerkawska, published by Saraband. Set in Glasgow in the 19th century. Young gardener William Lang forms an unlikely friendship with botanist Dr Thomas Brown while working in the university physic garden. Around them, City life is never short of drama: poverty and pollution preys on all but the lucky few and resurrection men prowl the streets to procure corpses for anatomists to experiment on. Atmospheric, full of fascinating historical detail, but above all a great story.

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks. I first heard of Geraldine Brooks (Australian-born and now living in the States) when she won the Pulitzer Prize in 2006 with March, the story of Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy’s father while he is away as a chaplain on the front line in the American Civil War, which also tells us something of his early life and how he met and married Marmee. March is faithful to the spirit of Little Women while being very much its own self and is one of my very favourite books.

So I was keen to read something else by this author and her first novel (2001) Year of Wonders did not disappoint. It is set in a different century and country from March and is based on a true story, as it is set in 1666, in Derbyshire, when the Great Plague reached Eyam and the decision was taken by the villagers to isolate themselves to prevent its further spread. Events are seen through the eyes of an eighteen-year-old widow, Anna. No less a person than Hilary Mantel said of it ‘It has a vivid imaginative truth, and is beautifully written.’ With which I can only agree and urge you to seek out Geraldine Brooks right now.

Take My Breath Away by Sally Quilford. My Weekly Pocket Novel: a murder mystery on the set of a remake of the film Cleopatra.

Treasures: What do we treasure most? published by Scottish Book Trust to celebrate Scottish Book Week 2013. Contributions from some famous folk eg Richard Holloway, Mairi Hedderwick, Denise Mina and John Barrowman, plus a host of others, ‘these items tell the stories of the people of Scotland’.

Truly, Madly, Deeply, an anthology of stories by members of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, some huge best sellers such as Katie Fforde and Adele Parks, others at various stages of their writing career. Many different settings and eras – I particularly liked the Indian setting of the stories by Jenny Harper (The Eighth Promise) and Louise Allen (Head over Heart). Other favourites were a contemporary story that harked back to ‘Summer '43’ by India Grey, and a contemporary story set in London, The Fundamental Things by Heidi Rice – lots of good reading here. I got the e-version which has eleven more stories than the paperback.

The Hundred-Year-Old-Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window And Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson – a good yarn and, along the way, a look at the history of the 20th century as our unlikely hero inadvertently meets President Roosvelt, Mao Tse-tung, Stalin and de Gaulle amongst others. A note on the front of the book says it is soon to be a ‘major motion picture’ – whether this refers to the one made in Sweden which came out at the end of last year I don’t know; it sounds as if a Hollywood one is in the offing too maybe. Very cinematically written so I feel as if I have seen the film already.

My Writing Process blog tour

Thank you to Jane Riddell for inviting me to My Writing Process blog tour. Jane took part in the tour on 16 December and her answers can be found on:  http://wwwbloggercom-janelilly.blogspot.co.uk/

My Writing Process

What am I working on?

I always have several projects on the go which could explain why I have not (yet) got past 37,000 words on anything; that was the length of my first People’s Friend serial The Family at Farrshore. I am currently writing another serial for them and have just submitted the second instalment for comment. I have several magazine stories at various stages of completion, a romantic novella almost finished, and about 20,000 words of what will be a full-length novel if I live long enough. Plus, from various writing classes, workshops and other prompts I have dozens of ideas – stories-in-waiting.

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I don’t know if anyone reading my work blind (as it were) would know straight away that it was mine; that’s not for me to say. But I write in different genres and styles. If I’m writing a story that I plan to submit to Woman’s Weekly I would write it slightly differently from a People’s Friend story. A story aimed at New Writing Scotland or a national competition would be very different from both of those.

It’s odd what your sub-conscious throws up. A writing friend, who reads some of my work-in-progress, asked me the other week why twins figure frequently, and even a set of triplets. I have no idea! I do recognise, though, that some of my preoccupations appeared in my first PF serial so I’ve made a list of what not to include in the second one: archaeology, dogs, kittens, red-heads, Canadians, ceilidhs, kilts; and I will cut down on mentions of home-baking. As for multiple births … well, who knows?  What my characters get up to when I’m not looking is their business.

Why do I write what I do?

I mostly write women’s magazine short stories because I’ve been fortunate enough to have had around thirty published and hope to have more. I like the discipline of a word count because it focuses your mind on what is important in the story. I like knowing who my audience is before I start.

But I also like writing into the wind and going where it takes me; writing slightly obliquely – leaving gaps for readers to fill; writing poetically. I also love writing descriptions of scenery and there’s not much place for that when you’ve got a word limit.

How does your writing process work?

I wish I could but I don’t think I’ve ever started with a character in mind; it’s either a situation or a setting that I then have to put people in and get to know them. I’m usually a good way in before I realise what the story is about and who is important in it. So it can be a slow process.

I’m not a plotter; that’s why, I think, I work on more than one thing at a time. A solution for one plot development can occur to me when I’m thinking about another.

I start writing on the computer; if I get stuck I work on something else, as I’ve said, or else I write in longhand for a while, in pencil on unlined paper. That frees me up to proceed without the inner editor interfering and I think it allows the brain to make connections it wouldn’t otherwise. I would never send off a submission without first printing it out, reading it aloud and editing on paper.

Read about Regency novelist Anne Stenhouse’s Writing Process on http://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com/

On 6 January 2014 My Writing Process blog tour visits three terrific writers:

ANNE STORMONT

Anne is a writer and teacher and grandma. She lives in the Hebrides. She can be a subversive old bat but maintains a kind heart. She likes gardening, hiking and riding pillion on her husband’s motor-bike.

She believes – indeed she knows – that there is life after forty, and she writes thoughtful, grown-up, romantic fiction where the main characters are older but no wiser. She has published one novel Change of Life as an indie author and her second book Displacement will be out early in 2014. She blogs at http://annestormont.wordpress.com/ – where you can find out lots more about her.  

JENNIFER YOUNG

I’m a writer of many parts – I write travel as well as fiction – and even within the fictional world I’m always experimenting, trying my hand at a whole range of genres. Based in the beautiful city of Edinburgh, I find it impossible not to be influenced by the places I visit and the people I see around me.

To date my published work consists of short stories in The People’s Friend, Woman’s Weekly and The Lady. My first full-length novel, Thank You For The Music will be published as an ebook in February 2014 by Tirgearr Publishing http://tirgearrpublishing.com/authors/Young_Jennifer/index.htm

My blog: http://jenniferyoungauthor.blogspot.co.uk/

and website:

http://217.199.187.57/jenniferyoungauthor.co.uk/index.html?1378816644234

JENNY HARPER

I was born in Calcutta – hence my fascination with this buzzing city – but I now live in Edinburgh, Scotland. I’ve seen all sides of the publishing business, as a commissioning editor, journalist and novelist. My published books include a children’s novel and a romantic novel, as well as a number of books on Scotland and Scottish themes. My history of childbirth, With Child, Birth Through the Ages ­(written as Jenny Carter), is used as a reference by many historical novelists. It’s still available on Amazon!

Awards

Runner up in BBC Woman's Hour/Woman's Weekly 'Romantic Novelist of the Year' competition and winner of the Romantic Novelists Association's Elizabeth Goudge Award. Numerous awards for feature writing and magazine design.

 

RNA

Designed the RNA magazine Romance Matters 2006-2012, and Fabulous at Fifty, the RNA memoir

Oversaw the RNA rebranding

Novels

Face the wind and fly

Loving Susie

http://www.jennyharperauthor.co.uk/

Twitter @harper_jenny or find me on Facebook

http://novelpointsofview.blogspot.co.uk/