Current Events

For those of you who ocasionally visit my blog page I apologise for the fact that I've not posted much for a while. This isn't because I can't be bothered, but because I've been really busy. A literary agent has expressed an interest in 'In The Company Of Wolves',  my third novel 'in-progress, and I have a deadline to produce it by the of the end of July.

Current news also includes a feature on 'my literary life', and how I  came to write A Seriously Useful Guide to Marketing and Publicising Books, in the Oxford Times In Business supplement (Friday 19th June).

July 9th.


For those of you who write, want to write or are avid readers, The Oxford Writers Group warmly invite you to 'An Evening With The Oxford Writers Group' at Mostly Books, Stert Street, Abindon, Oxon,on Thursday 9th July at 7.30. The OWG, as you may know, is a long-established and highly successful writers group, with an established membership of novelists, poets, journalists and non-fiction writers. The publishing world has always been a tough place to penetrate, but even more so these days. This informal event is intended to be a lively and informative evening, that showcases the ups, downs, struggles and successes of the group . We will especially be talking about the two anthologies we have self-published, and our own individual publications. If you want to know more about the publishing world, and the benefits of group unity in writing, then do come along. Can you please forward this email to anyone you who you might be interested.


Tickets: 01235 525880, or email books@mostly-books.co.uk

STAR GAZING news

Film rights to STAR GAZING and EMOTIONAL GEOLOGY have been sold to Capricorn Film Productions in Glasgow. Capricorn took the projects to Cannes last month and things are apparently looking hopeful. The next stage will be to sign up a screenwriter.



The Large Print edition of SG is also available now from Magna Ulverscroft.



The Portuguese edition of STAR GAZING has now been published with a gorgeous cover featuring the famous (and terminally picturesque) Eilean Donan Castle in Scotland.

(The Portuguese title translates as "Dreaming the Stars".)



STAR GAZING continues to acquire excellent reviews, one of the latest appearing in The Good Book Guide which featured the six novels shortlisted for the Romantic Novel of the Year Award.

The GBG said: "Full of humour, poignancy and interest, written with a remarkable understanding of her character's unsighted state... Linda Gillard's haunting love story is original and delightful."

New book by Susie Vereker

TROPICAL CONNECTIONS

Love, art and intrigue in the Far East

Art historian Claire suddenly decides to leave England to take a job in Maising, a tropical island state in the South-China Sea, where she finds her new exotic surroundings both fascinating and challenging. Her personal life is equally confusing – ex-pat banker Howard loves her, but she falls for elusive Drew, an Australian aid adviser.
Two friends she meets have different problems. Young American mother Deborah, unhappily married to a lecherous husband, has a poignant affair with a teenage boy. Lucy, an unsophisticated bride, is trying to adjust to her intimidating role at the British Embassy. The girls’ lives become intertwined and Claire, employed to catalogue a collection of Buddhist art, accidentally finds herself in danger when she becomes involved with the darker side of the paradise islands.
This is a novel about love and adjustment, independence and interdependence; about ordinary women who have – or achieve – a certain courage in a different world.

'Entertaining and a page-turner.' Romantic Novelists Association

To order click here



Transita authors are branching out all over! Let's hope the original books become collectors items.

Transita author continues with her life of crime

My Victorian mystery, Murder Most Welcome, comes out in Large Print in September this year and the Audio Adition sometime later. Even more exciting (well, it is exciting for me, anyway!) is that the follow-up, Death is the Cure, is due out at the end of this year, published again by Robert Hale. It continues the adventures of my Victorian sleuth, Charlotte Richmond, but can be read as a stand-alone novel.

US Journal Review - Paris Imperfect

An encouraging review from the US Journal Booklist:

"Twice-married Englishwoman Clio Forrester is living what she thinks is the perfect life in Paris, working as a private tour guide. She and her son Alex, when home from boarding school, live with her boyfriend Philippe in his pristine flat. Philippe is everything a woman wants in a man—cultured, handsome, well-off. So what if he constantly wants her to lose weight or if his mother does not bother to hide her disdain? Everything starts to change, however, after she conducts one of many tours of the French battlefields. She is escorting an American couple, who gives her grief, and a handsome Canadian, who gives her goose bumps. ......Vereker delivers a triumphant tale of a modern Englishwoman living abroad that will appeal to American readers looking for a sophisticated romance."

Clio craves stability for her son, you see, that's why she thinks she should marry Philippe.

STAR GAZING shortlisted

My third novel STAR GAZING has been shortlisted for the Romantic Novel of the Year award, presented by the Romantic Novelists' Association.

The other shortlisted books are:

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES Cecelia Ahern
THE LAST CONCUBINE Lesley Downer
EAST OF THE SUN Julia Gregson
SOPHIA'S SECRET Susanna Kearsley
BEFORE THE STORM Judith Lennox

The winner will be announced on February 10th.

It's a wonderfully varied and globetrotting shortlist, encompassing chick lit, historical novels and contemporary fiction. It shows the wide range of fiction included under the umbrella of romantic writing.


The happy shortlisted authors are pictured at the press conference held in London at the New Cavendish Club where we were all given the star treatment with red roses and champagne. (It's a tough job, but someone's got to do it...)

Paris Imperfect and Audio Download of An Old-Fashioned Arrangement

Elaine of Random Jottings of a Book and Opera Lover says she enjoyed Paris Imperfect. She certainly took it to heart. I had to apologise for calling one of the less charming characters Elaine! For more info about Paris Imperfect see my blog.

I was also glad to hear that the unabridged audiobook of An Old-Fashioned Arrangement, read by Selina Griffiths, is now available as a download - see audible.co.uk - quite a lot cheaper than the CDs or cassettes. See also audible.com for the US version.