Monday 26 August 2013

Will I be calling myself an 'award winning author'?? Naaah!


.......  only because I would feel a bit of a prat unless it was for something big and national, which is about as unlikely as Tyrion Lannister becoming King of Westeros (sadly, in both cases) - whaddya think??


Anyway, I've just switched on the laptop to the delightful news that I have won a category in the eFestival of Words 2013 - my book You Wish has won the 'Best Chick Lit/Women's Lit'!!  



I've never thought of You Wish as chick lit - and there are certainly no mentions of cupcakes or madcap girls doing goofy things or dreamboat office bosses in it, though you might find a designer handbag or two - it's actually a tale of obsession, addiction and guilt, with the theme be careful what you wish for... but I would very much like to thank whoever nominated this book, and whoever decided that it should be a finalist, after which people could vote for it - it's a wonderful feeling, to think that people I don't even know chose my book for this.

Here's the article from the email I was just sent - nice to see some familiar names amongst the winners, too!


http://www.efestivalofwords.com/congratulations-to-the-2013-winners-t473.html

Ahem....

I would like to thank all the people who voted for it, and have bought and read it over the past 22 months, and who have reviewed it, on Amazon, Goodreads or book blogs, or anywhere else, because I've got so many really wonderful reviews for it. Thank you SO much - to think that even when I finished writing it I hadn't heard of self-publishing on Amazon KDP ... thank you my sister who sent me an article about John Locke!!  I'll stop now before I decide to get a mocked-up photo of myself on a podium....

Here's the item in question, then... 



Amazon UK
http://www.amazon.co.uk/You-Wish-ebook/dp/B006423HGW/ref=pd_sim_kinc_4

Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/You-Wish-ebook/dp/B006423HGW/ref=pd_sim_kstore_3/176-9312177-0989357

And may I also raise a glass to Tyrion Lannister - you never know!!!



Wednesday 14 August 2013

If the LITERARY GREATS and BEST SELLING AUTHORS were little known, self-published....


......and had to promote themselves on Twitter.....  Part Three!

Part One is HERE, and Part Two is HERE



Roald Dahl @Unexpected


Sees the short story as an art form
Also writes #kidlit @GiantPeach
Father to aspiring model @SophieDahl

Welsh/Norwegian.  Pretty unexpected, huh?

@Unexpected Just written story about bees & #royaljelly.  Having fantasy about Susan George starring in BBC adaptation, lol.



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Jerome K Jerome @ManInABoat


Writer of comedy and satire
Author of Amazon bestseller Three Men in a Boat, & more
Keen cyclist and boater
No DMs, please


Oxfordshire


@ManInABoat Can someone tell me what #steampunk is, and if I ought to be writing it, or indeed if I already am?  Lol!  :^D



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Louisa May Alcott @LittleWoman


Novelist.  Seamstress.  Governess
Transcendentalist
 **Belieber**

Concord, Mass.

@LittleWoman Yo Fellow 43 Million Beliebers! LITTLE WOMEN is #FREE on Amazon NOW! #4 in >Classics! http://www.amazon.co.uk/Little-Women-Series-Book-ebook/dp/B0082Z1CVQ #BYNR #MustRead



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Alan Bennett @TalkingHead


Northern working class oik done good
Self-confessed geek
Taurus.  Likes a good monologue.

Camden Town (with a bloke, okay?)

@TalkingHead New #blog post: Homosexuality and literature: it's not all about Kafka's Dick - or is it? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kafka's_Dick #MondayBlogs #LGBT



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Lewis Carroll @SlithyTove


Writer of #fantasy and #kidlit
How do you know the Jabberwocky isn't real?
Aquarius

Guildford

@SlithyTove Internet trolls getting snarky about my relationship with my niece.


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Lauren Weisberger @ManhattanGirl


Author of women's contemporary fiction
Debut novel out soon!
Based on my experience in the magazine industry
Watch this space!

Big Apple

@ManhattanGirl Urgh!  Stuck on title for debut novel!  What do my tweeps think about 'The Devil Wears Jimmy Choos'?  Please help! 



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A.A.Milne @Poohsticks


Poet and children's author
Proud father
The wonderful thing about childhood ~
is that childhood's a wonderful thing

Cotchford Farm, Sussex

@Poohsticks Subscribe to @PigletTweet!!! Too lazy to tweet and retweet?  @Piglet will do it for you, the little dear - go on, indulge him!


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Hunter S Thompson @Gonzo


Journo.  Author.  Biker.  Anarchist 
I drink, I get drunk, what's the problem?
(Please note: I am not Johnny Depp)


@Gonzo Contributed tweets for @Gonzo are delivered by @SomeCrapApp because I am too drunk to tweet. #amunconscious



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Clive Staples Lewis @Tumnus


Essayist.  Theologian.  
Author of fantasy series 
The Chronicles of Narnia
for children and adults of all ages

In the wardrobe...

@Tumnus Think my failure to get published is due to parents naming me after office sundries. #Hmmph



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Barbara Cartland @DianasGranny


Prolific author of romance novels
Any similarity to works by Georgette Heyer 
completely coincidental
Loves her pooch :)

Hatfield, Herts

@DianasGranny On the #blog this week: NaNoWriMo?  Pffft!  Amateurs!  I write a novel every afternoon! royalconnections@wordpress.com  #MondayBlogs


I hope you have enjoyed these..... 




Why Can't I Eat Cake For Breakfast?


Yesterday I was idly and mildly discussing dieting (or lack of it) with a friend of mine. She agreed with me that I was hardly likely to lose weight if I ate cake for breakfast, as I did yesterday.  But then I thought about it.  Why not?


The body doesn't know it's getting two Fabulous Bakin' Boys Strawberries and Cream Mini Cupcakes, does it?  It just knows it's getting carbohydrates and sugar.  If I'd given it two slices of toast and jam ('acceptable' breakfast, though admittedly not if you want to lose weight), it would be no more happy.



It's a bit like kedgeree.  That's normal for breakfast.  But if you said you were having egg curry and rice as your first meal of the day, people would think you were weird.  

I used to know a chap who, because of a brain injury, had no sense of taste.  However, he could detect sweetness, so sweet stuff was what he liked.  Several times, in restaurants, he would order a pudding for all three courses.  Occasionally the waiting staff were rude enough to remark on it.  He had crap teeth, by the way.


Right, must be off and get some lunch.  Ham salad roll and a Weightwatcher's desert.  Or a custard slice.  What the hell, eh?

(ps, the icing on the FBB cupcakes tastes just like those Pink Panther bars you could get when I were a lass.  Champion!)