A Winner at Last

My apologies for being missing for going missing for a while - life can do that to you sometimes.

Writers' Holiday at Fishguard, preparing for some more courses coming up - details to follow -  revisions - all take up time when I was already too bust dealing with stuff to breathe . ..

So I'm late coming to announce the winner of the copy of Julie Cohen's lovely  book Dear Thing.

But to remedy that now -  Charlie the Maine Coon has forgiven me for  going away - twice!  - and has now condescended to pick a winner and his choice is:

Nova!

So Nova, please  would  you contact me and let me know your mailing address and I'll get the book into the mail to you.

Thank you to everyone else who commented  - and a special thank you to Julie herself for answering all my questions so fully and interestingly.

Talking to Julie Cohen Part 2

Welcome back to Part Two of my special interview with Julie Cohen

What types of characters do you like creating best?

I like outsiders the best. I often have a main character who just doesn't fit in, even though they might want to. Romily in Dear Thing is like that, and so is Felicity, the heroine of my next book Where Love Lies. They're not particularly similar to each other—one is a single mother with a PhD in entomology, and one is a children's book artist who doesn't want children and who has a very unconventional background—but neither one of them is quite normal.

What themes intrigue you most – and make you want to write them?

I am a big proponent of identifying the theme of the novel you are writing, because I think it helps to clarify everything about the book—the characters, the plot, the setting, the imagery, the title. I have themes I tend to turn to again and again, and I work them out in a variety of ways through my stories. One is 'identity'. Lately, I've been drawn to the question 'What is love?' I suppose they're the same question down deep, actually.

What is your writing process? 

The more I write, the more I realise that I don't have a writing process that's set in stone. Every book is different. That said, I tend to have a progression, that goes something like this:

• I spend some time thinking about my characters and my story. I do some pre-writing and possibly a little bit of research. I don't really plan out the story, but I have a general idea of where it might end and a few things that might happen on the way.
• I write a dirty first draft, whenever possible not stopping to edit. I'll probably do some more research as I go, once I've worked out what I need.
• About halfway through, I'll hit the suckage point, where I am certain this book is the worst thing ever written and that I really suck.
• I take a lot of showers, drink a lot of tea, and go for a lot of walks or jogs.
• Near the end, I speed up a lot, and by the time I've typed the last page, I finally know how to fix all those things that I got wrong at the beginning.
• I revise the book, often with the help of Post-Its, doing my final bits of research, changing everything so it makes sense, and polishing up the prose.

How much research do you do for your books.  I know you had to research Regency dancing for  The Summer of Living Dangerously – have there been other interesting things you’ve discovered as a result of working on a book.

It depends on the book, but I do like to get things as accurate as possible, and I also do like to do weird research. I loved learning Regency dancing for The Summer of Living Dangerously—I also had to try on a Regency corset for that book. For Dear Thing I had to research surrogacy laws in the UK, and the experience of surrogacy, and the processes of IVF, but I also visited entomological collections and spent some days on Dorset beaches, which was fun. For various books, I've had to learn about bat handling, comic book production, aromatherapy, speaking Klingon, roller coaster design, being a stunt woman, and being a fake psychic. Being a novelist is a marvellous excuse for being really nosy. One fun story is that I consulted with Purbeck Ice Cream for Getting Away With It, where the heroine's family runs an ice cream factory. I had to make up a new ice cream flavour for the book, and I chose the weirdest thing I could—beetroot and horseradish. And Purbeck Ice Cream actually made the flavour specially because of my book, and sold it!

Your new title  Where Love Lies is out soon – can you tell us a bit about this book and how you came to write it?

It's out in hardback on the 31st July and I am incredibly excited about it. Dear Thing has done really well for me, but Where Love Lies is one of those books that feels really very close to my heart. I can't actually tell you very much about it, other than that it's about a woman who believes that she's happily married, until out of the blue, she starts experiencing overwhelming memories of her first love, ten years ago—memories that are accompanied by the scent of frangipani. And this scent and these memories leads to a whole sequence of events that change the lives of everyone involved.

I felt so deeply when I was writing this book, and I hope it really affects readers as much as it has affected me. The early reviews have been amazing and I'm over the moon about that, so I hope people like it.

What are you working on now?

I'm working on my next book, which should be out next year. It's a challenge for me, because it's got three heroines, each with a distinct story and point of view. I hope I can make it work

Don't forget that to be in with a chance to win a copy of Julie's book Dear Thing - you need to have left a post in the comments so that Julie can get to know you better  and then your name will be entered into the draw to win this great book.

Talking to Julie Cohen Part 1

Regular readers of this blog will already know about my dear friend and today's special guest -  Julie Cohen

It's just over 12 years (how the heck did it get to be that long ago?!)   since  I first met Julie  - in person that is - I'd already met her on line on various forums. Then we met up at the RNA Conference  which was in Durham that year - and since then I've been lucky enough to have her in my personal and my professional life.   When I first met her she didn't have a single book published -  now she's a real shooting star with a wonderfully sparkly success that I'm thrilled to see.  This summer the fantastic news was that her latest  novel Dear Thing had been chosen as one of the  Summer Reads in the Richard and Judy Bookclub..  It's her special focus week this week - so look out for the book in WH Smith if you're in the UK.

And if you're not . . . well, I'm offering you a chance to win a paperback copy  (see part 2 of this special interview for  more details about this book). I was lucky enough to be given a personal copy by Julie herself but as I want to share this book with you I've bought an extra copy that will be in a prize draw after  the weekend.- All  you have to do to have your name in the draw is to come along and chat with Julie - leave a comment and  you'll be in with a chance of winning this great read.

So now it's time to hand you over to Julie -

Welcome Julie!

Please tell us  a little bit about   yourself.

I'm American, I have crooked little fingers, and I'm obsessed with Sherlock Holmes and, at the moment, Hugh Dancy. Back when I was a fledgling writer, I was taken under the wing of a lovely and talented writer named Kate Walker, who gave me faith that I could achieve my dreams.

Your current book (Dear Thing) has been chosen to be a Richard and Judy Summer Read. This must have been hugely exciting as well as incredibly frustrating when you couldn’t tell anyone.  How did this all happen – and how did you hear the exciting news.

I heard the news that my book had been chosen for the Richard and Judy summer book club, in February. I was alone in the house when my agent rang, and I screamed and did a little dance. It's incredible exposure for your book to be chosen. But my agent told me that I must tell no one at all until the list was announced in May. She eventually capitulated: I could tell my husband, and my mother.

My husband was on his way to Japan but I caught him before he got on his flight. My mother, I told a couple of weeks later when I went home to the US to visit. Otherwise I had to keep my mouth shut. It was very, very hard at times—but at other times it was like waiting for Christmas, knowing that there's this marvellous thing coming up, and just knowing makes you happy.

I met with Richard and Judy in April, and because I couldn't tell anyone about it, I had to invent a cover story for why I was buying a new dress, getting my hair done, and wearing full make-up to drop off my kid at school. Fortunately I was filming at Penguin in the morning so I just told everyone that.

And the day that the news broke, I spent the entire day on Twitter and Facebook answering lovely, lovely messages from gorgeous friends. It was like a birthday, but even better. I don't think I've had quite such an

exciting day since I had my first book accepted for publication.

How did you come to write Dear Thing ?

Several of my dear friends have suffered from infertility; I myself had three miscarriages when my husband and I were trying for a baby. I know how devastating it can be. I also know how tough and rewarding motherhood can be. And that's why I wanted to write Dear Thing, which is about an infertile couple and the single mother who offers to be their surrogate—I wanted to explore these emotions, and look at the same situation from two very different women's points of view.

You’ve written books for several different publishers, starting with Mills and  Boon and then going on to Little Black Dress etc. Do you you think your writing has changed  strongly from publisher to publisher?

In the ten years since I sold my first book, the sort of story I've written has changed a lot. I've gone from writing series romance, to line-specific rom-com, to mainstream light women's fiction, to more book-club serious women's fiction. I think my books have become more complex, both in structure and in content and topic. I've been extremely lucky to have editors, right from the beginning, who have believed in me and who have challenged me to up my game with every book I write. 

40 for 40 Julie Cohen

For me, one of the highlights of the Romantic Novelists' Association Conference this year was the talk on Theme   in your novel given by Julie Cohen.  I found it fascinating and enlightening. It's not the way I work, but it  is a great approach and helps to add so much depth to a story. Julie and I work in very different ways, but I love the books she creates almost as much as I love her as a very special friend.

It was the RNA  Conference  in 2002 that brought us together in person - as Julie tells you  - after getting to know each other through the message boards and forums on eHarlequin. That was when Julie  was known for her use of the phrase Feckless ne'er do well.   Then she was one of my four original 'virgins' and now she's  my surrogate  daughter -  I love having her and her books in my life. Not to mention the surrogate grandson the Fecklet (see below.)  So this celebration wouldn't be complete without her - even if she does describe us as 'my favourite mad couple'!

Here's Julie:

I first met Kate and the Steve in person at the Romantic Novelists' Association conference in Durham in 2002. They were a power couple indeed. Here was this wonderful, generous, passionate, outgoing woman who knew everything there was to know about writing romance; and with her was a thoughtful, warm, cheerful, charming gentleman who knew, it seemed, everything about a vast number of subjects—including ghosts, aeroplanes, and writing poetry with prisoners. And the two of them, together, were extraordinary. They were partners, friends, colleagues, co-conspirators…they both knew a huge amount about writing and reading and everything else I cared about, and they

could both drink vast amounts of wine. I took them  to my heart immediately.

My family all live far away in the USA, so I've adopted Kate and Steve as surrogate family. They have had no choice about this. They also have had no choice about becoming surrogate grandparents

to my son, who fell in love with their cats and who has found a particular soul mate with Steve. The two of them can play elaborate games of pretend for hours, and have Kate and me in fits of laughter .

 

Kate and Steve, you have a true gift for giving love, to each other and to the lucky people who know you. A very happy anniversary to you, and I look forward to toasting your 50th.

Julie's latest book is DEAR THING,  a bittersweet novel about two mothers, and one baby who belongs to both of them, and which only one of them can keep.
  Her website is http://www.julie-cohen.com
 and she's on Twitter as @julie_cohen.
You can buy DEAR THING here. 

For a chance to win a signed trade paperback copy of DEAR THING, leave a comment telling me someone whom you feel lucky to know.

Books and Friends

One of the really great things about being a writer is that I get to meet some really great peple who are also writers.  In fact I get to meet so great people who are also great writers.

And those great people prove how great they are by giving me copies of their books.

So this is what arrived in the mail this week.

I've known Julie Cohen since  - well, I can't quite recall exactly when but I know we met at the RNA Conference before she was ever published. I  was thrilled to share the celebrations of her first ever Mills & Boon Modern Extra, Featured Attraction and the other books she had published with them and then Little Black Dress. I've watched her career grow as she moved on the bigger books -  Getting Away with It and The Summer of Living Dangerously.  I've even taught  a weekend course with  her in Leicester - and had a great time doing so.

And I've been waiting to read this new book ever since Julie told me all about it. Well, not all  - she didn't tell me how it all works out and I didn't want her to. That's part of the pleasure of reading it for myself. 

Claire and Ben are the perfect couple. But behind the glossy façade, they’ve been desperately trying – and failing – to have a baby for years. Now, the stress and feelings of loss are taking their toll on their marriage. Claire’s ready to give up hope and get on with her life, but Ben is not. And then Ben’s best friend, Romily, offers to conceive via artificial insemination and carry the baby for them.
Romily acts in good faith, believing it will be easy to be a surrogate. She’s already a single mother, and has no desire for any more children. Except that being pregnant with Ben’s child stirs up all sorts of emotions in her, including one she’s kept hidden for a very long time: Ben’s the only man she’s ever loved.
Two mothers—and one baby who belongs to both of them, and which only one of them can keep.

So the other books on my TBR pile are going to have to be put aside for a while - sorry Robert Goddard, Diane Chamberlain . . . The Edna O'Brian and Billy Joel biographies are going to have to wait - even the book on Perkin Warbeck that I'm half way through. All I can say is that I'm glad I'd finished Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn) and The Good Father (Noah Hawley) before this arrived. Otherwise I'd have had a real problem.

So if I'm missing for a few days - you'll know the reason why.

Thanks Julie!