We are joined today by Ali Chrisp, Winner of the Write Time Novel Competition
First of all, I
want to say how excited I am to be visiting the RNA blog and talking about how
my debut novel, a romantic comedy called Home
Comforts, reached the point of publication. Starting this blog, I think I may
have the equivalent of stage fright, but at least no-one can see the shaky
hands!
Like many authors
my passion for writing started at primary school and I still have copies of
‘The Rat’ and ‘The Stray Kitten’ which I wrote at that time. After spending twenty-three
years in the Civil Service, mainly as an HR manager, I decided that I needed a career
change, and for the last five years I have been working part-time as a personal
assistant to a lovely lady who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. As well as
being extremely rewarding, it has given me the chance to write my novel and also
to have some letters and articles published in women’s magazines.
After
submitting Home Comforts
to various agents, I was starting to feel a bit despondent (and fed up with well-meaning
people constantly asking me what was happening with my book!). Some rejection
letters were more encouraging than others but no-one offered to represent me.
In June 2014 I spotted the Write Time novel competition run by Corazon Books in
association with Mature Times. It was launched for previously unpublished
writers over fifty and I was very keen to send off my first three chapters and
synopsis. After receiving an email telling me that I’d been shortlisted, I polished
the rest of the manuscript and submitted it for the September deadline.
In early November
I was thrilled to receive a phone call from Ian Skillicorn of Corazon Books
telling me I was the winner, and I couldn’t wait to start working with him. We
have liaised closely throughout the editing stage and he has given me great
advice about which sections needed to be re-written, and where there were
continuity issues. Ian is also
supporting me through the sales and marketing process.
I must admit to
feeling alarmed when he started talking about ‘Twitter’ and ‘guest blogs’; I’ve
always been a fairly private person and social media was unfamiliar territory. Even
worse, my teenage son and husband, who normally bail me out of any technological
nightmares, didn’t know very much about social networking either. I’ve
persevered, however, and with Ian’s help I now have my own website and Twitter
following. I’m very grateful for his patient and good humoured support – he
must be a saint!
Of course, getting
my book published means that I have been able to join the RNA which has opened
up a whole new world of support. There isn’t an RNA chapter in Gloucestershire
but I have joined ROMNA and have been soaking up the advice and discussions on
there.
Home Comforts was published on Amazon Kindle on 25 May
2015 and I celebrated with champagne and a meal at my favourite restaurant. For
all those aspiring authors out there, don’t forget to look out for novel
writing competitions. It certainly
worked for me!
About Ali Chrisp
Ali Chrisp’s
career has included teaching aerobics, working in an estate agent, then
spending twenty-three years using her writing skills in the civil service. For
the last five years she has been a personal assistant to a lady with
Alzheimer’s. Ali lives in the Cotswolds with her husband and teenage son. She loves
animals and owns Lola the bonkers Labradoodle and Winnie the tabby cat.
Ali was the winner of the Write
Time novel award run by Corazon Books in association with the Mature Times
newspaper, for a previously unpublished author over fifty. Home Comforts
is her first novel.
Links:
Congratulations, Ali. It’s been
lovely reading about your success
The RNA blog is brought to you by:
Elaine Everest & Natalie Kleinman
If you would like to write something for the blog please contact us on
elaineeverest@aol.com
