Author Spotlight - Vanessa Fox

Vanessa Fox wears a number of different hats - and is well known to Irish writers as Vanessa O'Loughlin, the powerhouse behind Inkwell writers workshops and writing.ie. Under the name Vanessa Fox, she is the author of True Colours, her highly rated romance debut. A little bird told me she's working on another romance, so keep an eye out for it!
Without further ado, Vanessa's answering the minxy questions:
What is your writing process?
When I’m focusing on writing I get down to the computer and try and do 1000 words before I even think about opening my email – it’s the only way to get anything done! I’m a morning writer although I fill in the gaps and go over words already written in the evenings (actually in every spare minute).
Constructing each scene, I focus on what the reader needs to learn at that particular point and try and ensure that it is delivered without too much deviation. I tend to write the dialogue first, the bones of a chapter, then flesh it out with ‘stage directions’ and description.
Everyone who writes knows it's not easy - what methods do you use to keep at it on days when it would be so much easier to go shoe shopping?
I wish I had time for shoe shopping! I usually have several big projects on the go at the same time, all writing related although not necessarily related to my writing! When I do sit down to write creatively, it’s tough to focus so I have to be very disciplined. Even if I only have 20 minutes I make sure I produce real words in that time – but I’ve discovered because the writing is very intense it tends to be more focused (I’ve been told since school that I have a tendency to waffle) which is actually good for me. Sometimes though, finding the words is like pulling teeth – at times like those I just try to write through it or skip on to a bit that I know I want to write, then go back and join the pieces together. I find if I know where I’m going, it’s a lot easier to get there!
Keeping fit: Do you have an exercise regime to counterbalance all those hours sitting at a computer? No! What’s an exercise regime?! I do run up and down the stairs and when the weather’s good sporadically have evening walks up the mountain behind my house with my children…does that count?
Do you believe in writer's block?
I think you often get stuck as a writer, but it’s normally because you’ve taken a wrong turn somewhere, or a character has said something out of context. The trick is to go back to where it was working and retrace your steps.
Have you ever used an incident from real life in a book? If so, did it get you into trouble?
I think we all draw on true life experiences but it’s important to distance real life from fiction or you risk getting sued!
In what way is being a published writer different to how you thought it would be?
The scary bit is waiting for reviews to come in – it’s one thing spending hours writing but when people are paying for your work and have the freedom to comment on Amazon, you want to curl up and hide! Every writer has a contract with their reader to deliver the best possible work you can, but what if they hate it?!
Promotion is no longer a dirty word. In what ways do you strive to reach more readers?
I’m a complete Twitter advocate, but I think any online forum is a fabulous opportunity for promotion. The trick is not to bore your readers/community and take creative angles on promoting your book. Every connection you make online is a possible new friend, and a friend who might be interested in buying your book. You can’t have too many friends…
What is your top promo tip for other authors?
Get out there, get a professional blog or website, connect and interact with readers through forums, organisations and sites like Goodreads.
What did you learn while writing this book?
That baddies are great fun to write! And I can’t spell, but I knew that already!
What was the most fun part of writing this book?
I love the creating the sexual tension between the male and female characters, presenting them with obstacles that frustrate their relationship. The other fun part was discovering things about my characters that I didn’t know when I started, having major events in the plot developing as I wrote, changing the balance and twisting the plot.
And just for fun: what would your hero’s honeymoon destination of choice be?
A golden beach on a private island in the Caribbean!

ABOUT TRUE COLOURS:
Can you ever forget your first love?
Successful interior designer Alex Ryan knows going back to Dublin will be difficult, but she has no idea of the hidden dangers that await her.
With her father in hospital after a mysterious accident and a new design client demanding her attention, when Alex finds herself in the offices of Venture Capital Ireland the last person she expects to meet is Sebastian Wingfield, heir to the Wingfield fortune - the one man in Ireland she is desperate to avoid.
And the last thing on Sebastian's mind is interior decoration.
But Sebastian is to marry his best friend’s sister, Caroline Audiguet-O'Reilly, in eight weeks time. And as the wedding plans unfold, unknown to any of them, someone is set on ruining him - whatever it takes.
There is no escaping the past, and the night Alex meets Sebastian at Kilfenora House, more than just their TRUE COLOURS are finally revealed.

You can pick up True Colours on Amazon.co.uk here.

Or on Amazon.com here.

Thanks for going minxy for the day, Vanessa!

It's time for a Hotties poll

It's been way too long since we had a fresh batch of hotties up here on the Minxes blog. So thank you very much to Adam Scott and Rickie Fowler, the joint winners of our Golfers hottie poll, but it's time to move over and make way for some fresh ... um ... faces.

Unbelievably, we don't seem to have had an Aussie hotties poll here yet, so this month's selection comes from Down Under. I'll stop with the words now and let the pictures do the talking.

The obvious first choice - Hugh Jackman

Sam Worthington

For Suzanne Minx (who seems to have a thing for men who can sing): Jason Donovan.

For Sally Minx: Keith Urban. (Great choice, Sally!)

Guy Pearce, the man with the piercing blue eyes:

Eric Bana.

Bad boy Russell Crowe.

And finally, my personal favourite, Simon Baker.

So who are you going to vote for?

Writing is a Sport

Thirty-four Nora Roberts titles are sold every minute. The world doesn’t suck in Noraland. So what is Nora’s secret?

She writes.

It takes her approximately 45 days to write a novel and then she’ll start the next one. Just try and stop her. If writing was a sport, Nora would be competing at the Olympics.

Of course, we all have to find our own pace or we’d burn out faster than a match, but what if you could be like Nora?

You can. All you need is a change of perspective. Here comes my sport analogy, so get excited. Like an out of shape athlete we need to build up our productivity until we can run, bike and swim our way through that triathlon.

To become Nora-esque you need a pace you can continue for the long term and to do that you need dedication and training. Start small with X number of pages a day and build it up page by page until everyone in the writing world hates you and your productivity. All you need is your goals and the will and time to achieve them, no matter what obstacles come along the way. And there will be obstacles, just ask Katy Perry. 

Nora’s said many times that her discipline comes from being schooled by nuns. So, if you want to hire a nun to smack you upside the head when you don’t meet your goals, go right ahead with that too. You can read about Nora's "fire or blood" rule and other tips on how she meets her writing goals here.

Category romance is where Nora started her writing journey. With that being said (segue with me here), the Harlequin So You Think You Can Write competition has been announced for September 2012.

There are also some awesome Entangled Publishing pitching opportunities coming up in July 2012. Don't miss these:

-          New Adult Pitch with YAtopia

-          Entangle An Editor with Brenda Drake

So are you pitching or entering SYTYCW 2012? Where's your writing at?

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/20/nora-roberts-interview-romance-fiction

Author Spotlight - Gina Rossi

Welcome to Gina Rossi, author of The Wild Heart. Gina is a fellow South African now living in glamorous Monaco.

I first read the opening chapter of this story on the New Voices contest site back in 2010. It instantly intrigued me as it is the first historical romance I'd ever read set in the Cape of Good Hope! Gina got a request out of that contest, but it was The Wild Rose Press who brought this story to the world.

I highly recommend this book, and hope it starts a wonderful new trend for South African settings in historical novels.

* * *

What is your writing process?

I like to get chores out of the way first thing in the day, or they hang around providing excuses for me not to write. I’m usually at my most productive from 1pm onward, writing straight on to the computer. I feel guilty if I don’t do it every day. But, I can spend a whole morning thinking up eg. a name for the hero’s dog or wondering what model and colour car he drives, so I frequently have to use words like ‘blah-di-blah’ and ‘yakkety-yak’ to keep myself going.

The idea for a new book goes around in my head for ages and is always a huge temptation for distraction  from any work in progress. I jot down brief notes and ideas, trying to focus on a title and some decent opening lines. By the time I sit down to write, I've got enough for some kind of outline - at least for the first chapters. After that, I wing it, making sure I get down a good daily quota of words. Each day, when I start writing, I read through and briefly edit what I wrote the day before - it makes editing that first draft just a little bit easier.

Everyone who writes knows it's not easy - what methods do you use to keep at it on days when it would be so much easier to go shoe shopping?

Very few writers make a fortune, nevertheless when I start looking for excuses not to work, I think of millionaires like Jackie Collins, Lee Child, Jeffrey Archer, J K Rowling etc. They didn’t get to be successful by shoe shopping, did they? I have a brief red carpet fantasy moment and get back to work! I live in hope.

Keeping fit: Do you have an exercise regime to counterbalance all those hours sitting at a computer?

Certain chocolate-based foodstuffs are banned from my house! Apart from that, I walk absolutely everywhere, and that’s about it. I hate gym. The minute I enrol, I don’t want to go anymore and will fake death to avoid it.

Do you believe in writer's block?

In my case it’s a question of extreme laziness or procrastination, but I’m not saying it doesn’t exist for other writers. I understand it can be a very painful process to work through. Thinking about it, if I truly ever felt blocked, it would probably be a case of the story running out, or just not ‘being there’. I would start something entirely new and fresh. Many great writers suffered from block and wrote about it so there is plenty of help out there for the blocked writer.

Have you ever used an incident from real life in a book? If so, did it get you into trouble?

No, but I have used gestures, habits and sayings of friends and family. So far, I haven’t got into trouble but - fingers crossed - I guess there’s always a first time.

In what way is being a published writer different to how you thought it would be?

There is no feeling in the world like the one when you get ‘the call’. I hadn’t realized the sense of empowerment it brings, the feeling of ‘Hang on, you can do this.’ The confidence boost is incredible. When I enrolled at a new dentist recently and wrote ‘Writer’ in the space next to ‘Occupation’ I nearly burst with joy. Silly, I know, but it felt amazing!

Promotion is no longer a dirty word. In what ways do you strive to reach more readers?

A medium-level profile on Facebook and Twitter is about as far as I go, because the best form of promotion is to write more, and better, books. It’s probably not a good idea to keep throwing promotion for your book at your followers. I know I find it off-putting and tend to unfollow people who do that. Apart from anything, it’s boring – so mix a little promotion with thanks, retweets, ‘likes’, everyday statuses, interesting links, photos, and sprinkle on a little humour. Give more than you get.

What is your top promo tip for other authors?

I am a recent Pinterest convert, okay addict. I love the visual angle and it’s a great way to get appealing info and images across to your readers, plus an excellent way to store ideas. Here, in case you want to take a look, is my Pinterest link

What did you learn while writing this book?

That there are a hell of a lot of words in a book! On and on and on it goes. It’s a huge amount of work and you have to be dedicated, committed, and totally ‘on it’. I understand why people give up, why so many books never get written.

What was the most fun part of writing this book?

‘The Wild Heart’ is set in the Cape of Good Hope in about 1800 – in Cape Town and also the spectacular mountain landscapes of the ‘back-country’ around Franschoek. I loved weaving the setting into the story. It became like a character in its own right.

And just for fun: what would your hero’s honeymoon destination of choice be?

Anton, the hero of ‘The Wild Heart’ is a wanderer, so he would choose the wild, unexplored, savage beauty of the northern Mozambique coast. However, given his refined wife, the danger of wild animals, hostile tribesmen and fever, and the fact that he says, at one stage of the story, that he could think of nothing more pleasant than returning home ‘to Leeuwfontein to while away the warm evening by an outside fire, listening to the rustle of the river and the squeak of bats’, he would probably settle for something closer to home.

BLURB

Georgina Blake flees a refined life in eighteenth century England to avoid a scandal. Determined to begin a new life, she voyages to the Cape of Good Hope, only to find death and destruction await, endangering those she holds dear.

Though she is intrigued by stranger, Anton Villion, trader, adventurer and maverick, his arrival threatens her precarious security. Anton, himself privy to a painful secret, shadowed by heartbreak and seeking peace, is drawn to Georgina despite his hurt and mistrust, and his reservations about her history.

In time, their growing love is thwarted by the past – and Louisa Somerville, hell bent on diverting Anton’s attentions. Fate has thrown them together but can Anton and Georgina salvage their bond before destiny tears them apart? Together, can they find the strength and courage to embark on a journey to redemption and everlasting love?

The Wild Heart is available from Amazon, All Romance eBooks, Barnes & Noble and direct from the publisher, The Wild Rose Press. It is available in both eBook and paperback formats.

Does anyone remember...?

I've been a Mills&Boon addict since I was a young teen. Along the intervening decades, I've read some books that linger, half-remembered in the back of my brain. These are the keepers that I've lost along the way (don't worry, am not going to turn this into another rant about my ex and the skip - we all know what happened).

With most, I don't recall the titles, nor the writers, but only half snatches of the story. It's infuriating.

Here are three I'd love to read again:

The first is a story about a heroine named Anne. Anne worked as a nurse and there was tragedy in her past - a stillborn baby and a failed marriage. Then, one day, Anne sees an advert for a nanny for someone she is convinced is her own child - the one who had supposedly died. She takes on an assumed name, borrows references from a friend and applies for and gets the job. As far as her husband was concerned, Anne had walked out on him and their newborn daughter on the day of the birth and he can't understand why she's back. Until his evil, but now repentant, mother confesses she had told Anne that her baby had died and the husband wanted nothing to do with her.

The second, involves a student named Gemma, who is convinced to take part in an experiment on dating for a fellow student's thesis. This involves dark haired and dark eyed Gemma wearing a blonde wig and blue contact lenses so that she fits the bill as the ideal physical type for the target man. They go off to Switzerland, where Gemma is thrown into the path of this man with the expected consequences.

The third has a heroine who takes a job with a farming family as a general domestic worker. She's been well educated by her wealthy family, but does all she can to fit in with her employers. It turns out the mother of the family is also her own biological mother and she was given up for adoption as a baby. The romantic interest is provided by the family's step-son who assumes that she is a rich man's plaything when he sees her with her adoptive father.

If these stories ring bells with anyone, please let me know. I'd love to be able to track down copies and replace them in my collection.

And what romance novels have lingered in your mind long after you've closed the covers?