Holiday, Writer’s Retreat, Purple4Polio and Cover Reveal… 13th March 2017
A lot can happen in six weeks and that is certainly true of the past six weeks for me. As you will know if you read my last blog, I have been very busy working on my latest novel, not only writing the words but also deciding on the cover design in conjunction with my designer, Angela Oltman, to be revealed later in this blog. I have a self-imposed deadline of April to publish this latest book and had fallen a little behind, with working at QVC and life in general, so I booked time off from February 11th until March 2nd. The plan originally was to go on a two week holiday but I had so much writing to do, we decided that I should have a writing ‘blitz’ for a week (I managed 15,000 words) and then go away for nine or ten days. The next decision was where to go? I thought it would be better to go somewhere we had been before so that I could write for a couple of hours each day and not feel that I was missing out on sightseeing and exploring. I needed sunshine, beach walks and balmy evenings and a manageable flight. We opted for Barbados after my other half found an affordable deal in the Virgin Holiday sale – I think we booked it on the final day!
We stayed at the Turtle Beach resort on the south coast, a new experience as we have only stayed on the west coast previously. We had a beautiful room with a sea view which was inspirational when it came to getting more words for ‘Alice’ – another 10,000 while we were away! I had also taken a copy of each book in the Liberty Sands trilogy to take some new promotional photos for twitter and facebook, and to leave at the hotel for guests to borrow and read. It was particularly relevant for the second book in the trilogy, If He Really Loved Me, which was partly set in Barbados. I had told a fellow guest that we had become friendly with, Susan, that I would be putting the books on the book shelf after lunch as she had expressed an interest in reading them. However, when she went to look for them they had gone so my other half, Chris, set out on a quest to find them the following day. He came back to where I was reclining on my sunbed on the beach with a big grin on his face. It transpired that one lady had already finished Life’s a Beach and Then… and had started on If He Really Loved Me… and the other one was half way through LABAT! The following day, after much persuasion from Chris, I went to say hello and thankfully they were both really enjoying the books – at least that is what they said! Our friend, Susan, was also reading them as she had downloaded them to her Kindle and it was funny to hear her talk about the characters as though they were real people – they are to me! We also met Katy, a twenty-one year old who had seen the tweet about the books being in the bookcase at Turtle Beach before she had even left the UK and had managed to get hold of LABAT after it had been returned, and I had a lovely email from a lady in Canada, Janie, who had read IHRLM and enjoyed it. I can’t begin to tell you how great it feels as an author to have people read your books and enjoy them – magical!
All in all we had a fabulous holiday, just what we both needed after a pretty tough preceding six months. It was topped off at the airport when we were queuing to go through passport control. The lady in line behind me recognised me from QVC (how I don’t know, with my beach hair and no make-up) and her son came to find me to ask if I would mind having my picture taken with his mum! Mind? I was honoured, although I hope the pic doesn’t make it on to social media.
I was only back at QVC for a day before I was off again, this time for a writer’s retreat which I booked months ago with my friend and fellow novelist from QVC, Debbie Flint. The retreat was being run by Julie Cohen and Rowan Coleman and was attended by a mix of authors some of whom have had several books published and others working on their debut, the latter of which I can hardly believe was me just two years ago. It was a joy to chat to novelists Emma Garcia and Miranda Dickenson and generally to mix with people who have the same passion for writing as me. Big thanks to Rowan for the tips she gave me on writing a synopsis. Weird isn’t it – I have no problem writing the books but the synopsis I find really tricky.
So back to QVC for a couple of shifts and then on Wednesday it was International Women’s Day. I had been asked to speak at a Rotary International Purple4Polio tea party hosted by former Blue Peter presenter and fellow Purple4Polio ambassador, Konnie Huq. She had to bring her young son with her as she had child care issues so it was handy that I had Chris with me and that he has a way with small children. While Konnie and I were being interviewed for a video (I’ll add the link to it on here later in the week when it’s edited) Chris was keeping her son occupied. The event was supported by Tiptree jam, who had made 52,000 jars of purple jam for the tea parties up and down the country, and Typhoo tea. The purpose is to try and raise another million pounds to continue with the vaccination programme that Rotary International began back in 1987 when up to a thousand cases of polio were reported every day! So far this year there have been just three, a magnificent achievement and edging ever closer to the total eradication of polio, which is their aim. There is no cure for polio and, as I know only too well, living with the affects of it is life-changing, but it is entirely preventable with a very safe vaccine that costs just 20p a dose! My message is for us not to be complacent in this country. Although there have been no recorded cases here for many years, with intercontinental flights and polio carriers exhibiting no symptoms, it only takes one person to start an epidemic.
My fellow speakers on the day were BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour presenter, Jane Garvey and Emily Buchanan, a former BBC World Affairs correspondent. We were also treated to a Purple4Polio cake, baked by Martha Collison, the youngest ever contestant in the Great British Bake Off, which of course was formerly co-hosted by Mary Berry, also a polio survivor, and an ‘a capella’ version of Adele’s ‘Make You Feel My Love’ by a lovely young vocalist, Bethany Hare. Thanks so much to Eve Conway, president of Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland, for inviting me to be part of such a special event, and also to Jannine and Paul Birtwistle, from whom you can purchase the Purple4Polio bear pictured above.
Soooo… a drum roll moment! I am very excited to share with you first, the cover of my new book – I hope you like it as much as I do. Alice in Theatreland is set in the 1970’s, in London’s West End theatreland. It is the story of a provincial dancer, Alice, and her hopes and dreams of one day seeing her name up in lights – unfortunately for her, Richard, a West End impresario, takes too much of an interest in her with disastrous consequences. If that has whet your appetite, the book should be up for pre-order in the next couple of weeks and I will be putting an excerpt from it on my next blog.
much love
Julia x
