Author Spotlight - Sue Moorcroft

The Minxes are delighted to welcome Sue Moorcroft into our Spotlight today. Sue is published by UK-based publisher Choc Lit and is very supportive of aspiring writers both through her blog and her book Love Writing.

1. Tell our readers a little bit about yourself.

I write romantic novels of dauntless heroines and irresistible heroes, which are the kind of books I love to read, too. I also write short stories, serials, columns, articles, courses and writing ‘how to’. I’m a competition judge and a creative writing tutor. My book, Love & Freedom won the Best Romantic Read Award 2011 and I’m a Katie Fforde Bursary Award winner.

I’m English, born in Germany and have lived in Cyprus and Malta. I’m a Formula 1 bore, learn the piano slowly and love Zumba and yoga. And reading, obviously. Obviously.

2. What number book is Dream a Little Dream? First? 100th? 200th?(Nora only!)

This is amazingly difficult to answer. There are some things I’ve written that became books but began as serials, some that have been novels for all of their lives, one that has had different titles for the hardback and the paperback and one that’s non-fiction. Six novels and several other things, anyway.

3. 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 need to earn a living, so that’s quite motivating. I also have deadlines and there has to be a very good reason for me to miss one of those. I do like writing, which helps. If something’s going badly, I turn to something else. There’s always a column or something needs starting.

4. What is your top promo tip for other authors?

Be involved with social networking. Readers like writers, and Twitter and Facebook make contact easy. You can tell them when you have good reviews or if you have a new book out or whatever news comes your way. They can tell you if they like your books and I feel privileged when they do, which is happening every week. It’s a joy.

Readers recommend your books to their friends and followers, too. If you’re published in ebook form some ereaders have a facility to ‘share’ when your book’s been bought or read or reviewed.

Don’t hold back from following me on Twitter (@suemoorcroft) or befriending me on Facebook (sue.moorcroft.3)

5. How does writing fit into your day? Or does your day fit in around your writing?

As well as writing, my career includes things to do with writing – judging, tutoring or critiquing. Loosely, I do the latter three in the mornings and write in the afternoons. This allows me to keep on top of assignments/entries but also ‘keep my head in my book’, which is the most effective way of writing, for me. Promo and the business side of things are squashed in as and when. When I have a new book out (like now!) I do more promo than at other times. I work long hours.

6. Any craft books you recommend?

Cough – may I recommend my own? It’s Love Writing – How to Make Money Writing Romantic or Erotic Fiction. It brings together my skills as a writer and a tutor and contains tips and input from many other writers. (Maybe in the question about a promo tip for authors, above, I ought to have said be shameless in your self promotion …)

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

Yeah! I am a Zumba addict (yeah, yeah, wiggle wiggle clap clap). I’ve always loved to dance and my yoga instructor is also a Zumba instructor. I wanted a Zumba instructor in Love & Freedom so I went along to one of her classes – and nearly died, I was so unfit. Months later, when I was trying to lose weight, I gave it another go and I absolutely adored it. I do three classes a week, now, plus two of yoga, and I’ve lost about 10% of my body weight. And I’m waaaay fitter. As a crucial side benefit, I’ve made a circle of gym bunny friends to share a quick cuppa with after class and they’re good for my wellbeing.

Dancing is good for my emotional and mental health, as well as bodily health, to be honest. No matter how upset/worried I am when I go in, following a routine and dancing makes me feel better.

8. What was the most fun part of writing this book?

Oh, the research. I became such a research junkie. I’ve told everyone else about it so I might as well tell you. My hero, Dominic Christy, has a rare sleep disorder, narcolepsy. I got really into the subject but felt that my sources weren’t personal enough. So I posted on the message board of Narcolepsy UK that my character was called Dominic, was in his thirties and had narcolepsy. And I got a reply from a real Dominic in his thirties who has narcolepsy. He offered to help me, so long as I told it as it is – people with narcolepsy get tired of their disability being treated as a joke because it really isn’t funny at all – which was my intention, big time, anyway. And he’s been really great, telling me all the stuff about Dominic Christy that I didn’t yet know.

Also, I had to (yes, absolutely had to) have some reflexology treatments, a fish pedicure, learn to drive a 28-foot river cruiser and spend time in the air traffic control tower of Stansted airport. This book has been a blast.

9. Which of your characters would you like to be?

Liza. Dominic Christy makes love to her.

10. Do you write to music, or with the tv on in the background, or do you need complete silence?

Often, to music. It depends what I’m writing whether the music is rocking, lyrical or instrumental. I can’t listen to really good lyricists like Damien Rice, Newton Faulkner, Frank Turner or Regina Spektor when I’m writing, sometimes, because their words are so good that they distract me from mine. If I can ‘zone out’ from the music then I’m working well, which means I sometimes play the same album ten times. This sends other people in the house nuts.

What would you give to make your dreams come true?

Liza Reece has a dream. Working as a reflexologist for a troubled holistic centre isn't enough. When the opportunity arises to take over the Centre she jumps at it. Problem is, she needs funds, and fast, as she's not the only one interested.

Dominic Christy has dreams of his own. Diagnosed as suffering from a rare sleep disorder, dumped by his live-in girlfriend and discharged from the job he adored as an Air Traffic Controller, he's single-minded in his aims. He has money, and plans for the Centre that don't include Liza and her team.

But dreams have a way of shifting and changing and Dominic's growing fascination with Liza threatens to reshape his. And then it's time to wake up to the truth ...


Dream a Little Dream is available from Amazon and Amazon UK.

Love & Freedom is availble from Amazon and Amazon UK.

Love Writing is available from Amazon and Amazon UK.

You can follow Sue on Twitter, on Facebook or on her blog.

Author Spotlight - Christina Courtenay

I am exceptionally pleased to introduce you all to Christina Courtenay, especially since I got the chance to meet her in person at the London chapter meeting of the RNA in early July (and since she celebrated the release of this book by sharing champagne and chocolates with us!).Her latest book, The Silent Touch of Shadows, is a recent release from publisher Choc-Lit.

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What is your writing process? 

Usually I start with a key scene, which for some reason or other has come into my mind and won’t go away until I’ve written it down. This gives me my main characters and their problem/conflict and can be anywhere in the story, so not necessarily an opening scene. That means I’ll have to work backwards/forwards from that point on to build the rest of the story, but I don’t mind. It’s a bit of a chaotic way of doing it, but it works for me!

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 reread what I’ve written the day before and normally that will pull me into the story sufficiently to keep going. If I’m starting something new, I’ll read the research notes with (hopefully) the same result. And if I’m between stories, I’ll either reread some story ideas (which I keep in a special folder – always have to write them down while I remember!) or watch a movie, which often sparks ideas for me.

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

Er, no. I’m one of the world’s couch potatoes I’m afraid, totally allergic to the word exercise! I do walk my dogs every day, but as they (a) have very short legs and (b) two out of the three don’t like going for walks much, this doesn’t really give me much exercise. I keep promising myself I’ll do power walking or take up zumba/yoga/pilates but somehow it never happens ... (Just like I never seem to stop buying chocolate either  )

Do you believe in writer's block? 

Yes, but whenever I experience it myself, I just go and work on a different story for a while and hope that will “unblock” the other one. I usually have more than one story on the go at any one time. It’s best not to think about it and just get on with something else, then the subconscious will usually fix whatever the problem was with the first story. If it doesn’t, I skip to a part of the story I know I can write and go back to the difficult bit later.

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

My latest story The Silent Touch of Shadows features a ghost who is based on a real one and some of the incidents when the heroine sees him happened to the owners of the house the real ghost haunted. I didn’t get into trouble for using these though as I asked permission first.

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

It’s much more about marketing yourself than I thought and I seem to spend a lot of time doing everything EXCEPT actually writing the next book! Before you’re published, you have no real demands made on you and can just write or not as you like. You basically write for yourself. Whereas after you’re published, you have to think about things like your USP and genre (it’s my experience as a reader myself that if I read a book I like, I’ll want more of the same from that author) so you ask yourself “is my next book going to be similar enough to the first one to keep readers happy?” And “is book number two going to be good enough as follow-up?”

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

I’m on Twitter and Facebook, I have a website (and a blog which I’m afraid I’m not very good at keeping on top of) and I’m on four group blogs – the Choc Lit Authors’ Corner, The Heroine Addicts, Historical and Regency Romance UK and Historical Fiction Excerpts. I find it much easier to blog as part of a group and hopefully it’s more interesting for the readers too. Apart from blogging, I occasionally do talks and book signings – I’ll be speaking at the Historical Novel Society Conference 2012 in September for instance.

What is your top promo tip for other authors? 

Just grab any chance that comes your way (like being a guest on lovely blogs like this one!)

What did you learn while writing this book? 

Perseverance! This was one of those stories that just wouldn’t leave me alone and I never lost faith in it, even though it took me a long time to get it just right.

What was the most fun part of writing this book? 

Writing two stories at the same time and trying to weave them together. I love reading time slips and writing one was just as great!

And just for fun: what would your hero’s honeymoon destination of choice be?
Well, as I have two heroes (one in the past, one in the present) I’ll have to give you two answers – Jake’s destination of choice would probably be a deserted island where he could be alone with Melissa (they have children/pets/great-aunt etc around them all the time, so he’d want to get away from that), whereas I think Roger would just have whisked his bride off to his own home, away from all her horrid relations! Neither man would care much about the surroundings, as long as they could be completely alone with the woman they love.

Many thanks for having me as your Spotlight guest!

Blurb:

What will it take to put the past to rest?

Professional genealogist Melissa Grantham receives an invitation to visit her family’s ancestral home, Ashleigh Manor. From the moment she arrives, life-like dreams and visions haunt her. The spiritual connection to a medieval young woman and her forbidden lover have her questioning her sanity, but Melissa is determined to solve the mystery.

Jake Precy, owner of a nearby cottage, has disturbing dreams too, but it’s not until he meets Melissa that they begin to make sense. He hires her to research his family’s history, unaware their lives are already entwined. Is the mutual attraction real or the result of ghostly interference?

A haunting love story set partly in the present and partly in fifteenth century Kent.

You can find Christina on her website and on Twitter.

A Silent Touch of Shadows is available in paperback from Amazon and Amazon UK, and on Kindle for both the US and UK.