Elaina James

A Day In The Life of A Book 09:00 I know I’m early. My author has to take her kid to school, pop to Asda, put the kettle on, blah blah blah. But I’m eager for us to get going on this. I’ve been sitting in the book folder on her laptop, waiting ever so patiently, but I have my limits, you know. 09:15 She’s home! I can hear her pottering about in the kitchen, putting the bread and milk away. There goes the kettle. Cup. Spoon. Teabag. Sugar (she wrote a book about losing weight, you know. And she still has sugar in her tea. Ha! Talk about a work of fiction.) Come on, woman! 09:20 At last! She’s sitting with her laptop. Hold on, hold on. Pinterest? No, lady, you need to be opening up your book file (aka yours truly). YOU NEED TO BE WORKING. 09:30 Ok, she’s had enough of looking at craft stuff she’ll never be able to make herself. She’s going to close the window and get on with some actual work now. Come on! I am so ready for this! WE CAN DO THIS. Whoa, what are you doing there...

It's been an exciting week. On Wednesday the first part of my six part guest blogger series was published on Mslexia about my first foray into songwriting at the age of 11. And also the resulting failure. Fortunately, my mother was a strong believer in never giving up. A trait which I seem to have inherited. Even now her instistance that 'if at first you don't succeed, try, try and try again', still repeats in my head whenever something doesn't quite work out the way I think it should. Plus today my article 'My Writing Day' is out in Kishboo's emagazine. I share my secrets for being an ealy riser and the reasons (or at least some of them) why my colleagues question my sanity.

Every Monday morning when my colleagues ask me what I did at the weekend I make myself a promise... Next weekend will be different. Come next Monday I will report back on my exciting weekend, leaving them not only stunned by the dramatic change, but also completely and utterly jealous. So far, it hasn't happened. Every Monday my colleagues are admittedly impressed with the sheer volume of tasks that I can achieve in two days, however it's safe to say that they aren't at all envious. They spend their days away from the office visiting National Trust properties, attending weddings, and meeting friends at restaurants that I haven't even heard of.  In contrast, I spend mine working.  And not always the good kind. Whilst sometimes I get to spend a few hours in front of my laptop watching the word count of my novel grow, this seems to be a rare luxury. Not that my colleagues find it all that luxurious of course.  However recently my weekends are taken up by less app...

The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word Bridezilla as follows: A woman whose behavior in planning the details of her wedding is regarded as obsessive or intolerably demanding. Now, it wouldn’t be fair of me to take another step before I get a little something off my chest. A teeny confession, if you will. Don’t judge me, OK? You see, I used to have mild bridezilla tendencies. It might explain how I found ‘Bride Without a Groom’ so easy to write. Phew, I feel so much better now that I’ve admitted it! The truth is that ninety nine percent of the female population, at one point or another, has fantasized about what their perfect wedding might look like. And yes, I just completely made up that statistic. Sue me. You see, for most of us growing up, we dreamed about being a glorious bride one day. It might be because of the brain washing Disney movies we watched over and over, featuring various princesses being rescued by princes whilst singing catchy songs. Or it could have been th...

Rating: Book Summary: Betrayed and heartbroken, Ellie is looking for somewhere to hide away. Losing the man she loves is bad enough, but his accusation that it’s all her own fault undermines her confidence and leaves her floundering to figure out who she is and where she belongs. Rowan Hill seems like the ideal sanctuary. Review: Emma has created a cast of well-rounded characters whose lives intersect in ways that we can’t fully understand at first.  Whilst the story primarily focuses on Ellie and is told from her view point, we get introduced to the people around her and see how Ellie’s presence in their lives changes them as well as her. The characters have so many wonderful layers to their personalities I was fascinated to delve deeper and didn’t want to put the book down.  The mysterious Will bares his own scars and his struggle to overcome them puts a strain on his relationship with Ellie and his brother Finn.  When Will’s past is...

Welcome back to Sharon Boothroyd! Last time Sharon was on the site to tell us the story behind www.Kishboo.co.uk, a e-magazine for short stories, articles and poems. This time Sharon's sharing her wisdom on how to succeed with competitions... INTRODUCTION If you are a writer, I'm sure you have thought about entering a competition at some point – whether the competition is for a short story, a piece of flash fiction, a poem, a blog post, a play or a novel. Competitions provide a variety of scope and can offer writers a fantastic freedom of style, tone and genre. Here's ten top tips to the secret of competition success.  1 Follow the rules  It sounds basic, but you'd be amazed at how many people don't. Some competitions are very strict about line spacing, size of font and even the font itself. Then there's the business of actually sending it. Do they want entries via snail mail or e-mail? If it's e-mail, do you paste it in the body of the...

2015 has been a mix of writing highs and personal lows. At a time of great stress and worry I found that writing was my salvation.  It was a distraction from things that I had no control over, but plenty of worry about.  It gave me a reason to get up and do something when I could easily have sat in a dark corner and wept. But most of all it led me to discover a world full of like-minded enthusiastic people who have been a source of inspiration and hope. Back in January I joined the RNA New Writers Scheme . Although I wasn’t able to attend any of the events this year due to an illness in the family, being a member of this incredible association has been absolutely fantastic.  The NWS review of my romantic crime novel was invaluable and I now have a clear plan in mind for what I need to work on.  Through the RNA I have met so many wonderfully helpful, supportive and friendly people and I love the comradery between the members. The weekly #TuesNews on twitter i...