Category Archives: writing

Final book for Mills & Boon : Rescued by the Rakish Lord

Linda has news, both happy and sad…

Rescued by the Rakish Lord by Sarah Mallory her final book for Mills and Boon

This month sees the publication of my latest historical romance, and it’s a cracker!

Sadly, it is also my final book for Harlequin/Mills & Boon

As you may have heard, Harlequin / Mills & Boon are closing their Historicals line next year. I cannot deny it is a very sad moment for those of us who enjoy reading (and writing) these feel-good romances set in the past.

But enough melancholy, more about the final book!

Rescued by the Rakish Lord…

foggy exmoor, riders in mist

foggy exmoor, riders in mist picture SM

…is a sparkling Georgian romance set on the edge of Exmoor in winter. The wild uplands can seem very bleak in the darkest months of the year, as you can see from the pictures in my blog about my West Country Tour. It is a setting that lends itself to a romantic adventure involving a spirited lady, a handsome hero and a dastardly villain!

Selina Wynter is happy living in a small market town on the edge of the moors, where she looks after her ailing father and manages his household and estates. Lord Deveril is a London buck with a fearsome (and unwarranted) reputation as a rake. Sparks fly when he encounters a fiery tavern maid, and he is intrigued when he discovers her real identity – “All the breeding and accomplishments of a lady, but the temper and spirit of a tavern wench!”

If you want a taster –

Continue reading →

Author Seeks Title

Sophie has lost confidence in the title of her work-in-progress AND the ms that is coming hard on its heels. Maybe inspiration will strike but in the meantime she’s been looking at other people’s titles and trying to learn.

Author Seeks Title is one of the halts along the journey, like Doubting Castle in Pilgrim’s  Progress, that every writer has to struggle his/her way through. In my experience there comes a moment when the Subconscious decides to step in with a Jeevesian cough and say, “SO what’s its name, then?”

I will try to ignore it.
But the Big S is persistent.

I try to see it off with a careless, “It hasn’t told me yet.” Continue reading →

Notebooks – How Many Do You Have?

Liz knows that Writers Love Notebooks

A Paperblank Notebook with the image The First Kiss by Laurel Burch - lovers kissing.It’s a fact. We can’t resist them. (We love pens, too, but that’s another story.) Get a group of writers together and they’ll soon be talking about the pile of notebooks in their office. Our inability to resist a pretty one, or a funny one, or sometimes a beautiful (ie expensive) one.

We pick them up in stores, (in lovely stationery shops, in WHS, in The Works). We buy them on research trips to stately homes and museums.

I do my best to stay well clear of the notebook stand when I go into my local bookshop but I sometimes succumb. This Paperblank Notebook was a recent buy. They are simply irresistible to the dedicated scribbler and I have more than one!

Letting Go

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Assumptions Versus Story Telling

Sophie ponders various assumptions that she has had to negotiate in her writing life, including her own

Image by Pexels from Pixabay

This week I’ve been weighing up the problems caused by assumptions verses story telling.

I stumbled over this dichotomy in my very first unpublished story, long before I thought of myself as a storyteller. Then, when it came to showing my first attempt at a publishable ms, l had exactly the same experience. Both times shocked me. Made me re-evaluate my approach, too.

It’s happened a couple of times times since, and now it’s happening again, and I’ve taken a step back to think about it. Continue reading →

Newsletters: how often, how long, how much info?

Joanna wants to send out proper newsletters and has lots of questions…

table of grey question marks with one in red possibly about newsletters

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Libertà has not exactly been assiduous in sending out newsletters. They haven’t been regular. There haven’t been many of them. And they haven’t been all that newsy, either. Mostly, they’ve just been about special offers on books from members of the Libertà hive. Boring, no?

Italica, main road from amphitheatre

Roman road in Italica, Spain. Not many bumps in their road, even now

That’s about to change.
In fact, it already has. I sent out my first “new” newsletter on 28th March. I called it “Joanna’s newsletter on books, blogs and bumps in the road”. And a gratifying number of subscribers opened it. Some may even have read it 😉

In that newsletter, I promised I’d be in contact more regularly, probably once a month. I promised news, and stuff about books and blogs, and even recipes.

Recipes means food, of course. And eating together is a great social event. Some of my best story ideas have been devised round a dinner table. Usually with wine!

I’ve been told by others that recipes are popular in newsletters.
Is that true? Do you like them?

two women share confidences

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On the assumption that it might be true, I’ll be including one of my favourite recipes in the next newsletter which should go out to readers on Saturday 18th April.
If you’d like to sign up to get it, you can do so here.

I hope lots of you do sign up. (And we never share your private data if you do. No spam, either.) Continue reading →

Trapped in Obsessive Research

Shakepeare's head and shoulder portrait showing him wearing a small, plain circle earring on his left ear

Image by WikiImages from Pixabay

This week I was very nearly trapped in obsessive research. If this sounds like an a Addicts Anonymous Affirmation, that’s because it jolly well is.

Those of us who live by giving to airy nothing a local habitation and a name need an anchor. There has to be something to stop us floating away from the shore, ever onward into The Next Thing.

Shakespeare had his fellow actors to keep his feet on the ground and the quill pen in his hand. Not to mention the need to keep up the supply of stories in a form to fit the two hours traffic of his stage. Three at the most.

Basically he had a highly critical audience demanding stuff they would pay for in the face of serious competition, like his main rival, Christopher Marlowe, in combination with actor Edward Alleyn and backer Philip Henslowe.

Reasons for Research

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Direct Sales: the future for ebooks and more?

Joanna is trying to sort the facts from the hype on direct sales

A Kindle reader is propped up in front of a pile of 5 assorted books.

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A couple of weeks ago, I took part in a webinar about direct sales for books, led by the co-founder of a direct sales organisation in the USA. So I knew from the start that the webinar was bound to include a sales pitch.
Fine. But how much else of what he said do I believe?

First, a quick definition. What do I mean by direct sales?

Let me use an example. Not about books. There’s an organic dairy farm just up the road from where I live. They could sell their milk to supermarkets. In fact, they do. But, in addition, I can go to the farm and buy organic milk direct from them, from a chilled milk dispenser which is available to customers 24/7. If I do that, I’m buying direct. The farm gets all the cash from my purchase with no supermarket or other middleman taking a cut. I probably get a fresher product at a keener price. Win-win. Except for the supermarket, of course.

Direct sales of books : who benefits?

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Inspiration, from the present and the past

Sarah remembers inspiration

woman sitting in open window

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Commenting on her recent post about good news for romance, Sophie said that in dark times, the smallest patch of sunshine is something to be grateful for.

It reminded me of a little TV gem  I found recently that brought me face to face with something that provided inspiration for one of my books, over twenty years ago!

Every writer needs inspiration

key held towards lock, light coming through

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I find inspiration all over the place. In travel and the landscape, reading real-life stories, and even just from seeing a painting or photograph. Recently I stumbled upon a tv series which I find not only vastly entertaining but also inspiring. In all sorts of ways.

Sometimes one finds a TV series that exceeds all expectations and for me, Saving Country Houses is proving to be just the tonic I need at the moment. Continue reading →

Self-published? Add sizzle to your page with Amazon A+

Liz offers a helping hand for self-published authors

An introduction to Amazon A+

Helpful tips


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Authors need all the help available when we promote and market our books. This is especially so when self-publishing. And it’s an expensive business.

I’m sure that, while  browsing Amazon for your favourite authors, you will have noticed that some books – mostly published by mainstream publishers – have extra goodies on their page, enticing you to buy.

This is one  that Joffe Books put on the page for Murder Among the Roses.

Book promotion graphic featuring a rose against a black background.

The good news..

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Pedantique-Ryter rants: lie lay lain laid: which is correct?

The Pedant Dame is on the warpath again…

Nowadays, many native English speakers seem to be confused between the verbs to lie and to lay. (Speakers of English as a foreign language probably learn their verbs properly so are less likely to make these mistakes.)

oops! on key on keyboard

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Take for example this highlighted text from the Online Oxford English Dictionary (to which I am indebted for several screenshots in this blog):

OED screenshot "lay of the land"What is wrong with that quote? Apart from…well…everything? Continue reading →