Summer Reading from Christina Courtenay

Unusually for me, I haven’t had much time for reading this summer, mostly because I didn’t go on the customary beach holiday.  When I do, I always take one book for each day (well, there’s nothing else to do, is there?) and hopefully get through ten to fourteen novels that way.  This year I’ve had to make do with reading at home, which meant I had to prioritise.

The choice in my TBR pile is daunting, to say the least, but some books call to you more than others.  That was the case with All That Mullarkey by Sue Moorcroft, a superb contemporary with a most delicious hero, and ditto Turning the Tide by Christine Stovell.  (And no, I didn’t read those because the author’s are my fellow Choc Lit-mates - truthfully, I would have loved them anyway.)

Then there was The Perfect Proposal by our lovely chairman, Katie Fforde.  A gentle love story that really was perfect in every way, with another wonderful hero to fall in love with and some fabulous settings.

For something a bit different, I read The Paris Vendetta by Steve Berry (I need some stories other than romance occasionally), but I was soon back with my favourite genre, delving into Wicked Regency Nights by among others, our own Nicola Cornick and Louise Allen.  Almost Human by Cat Marsters provided more variety and in between, I devoured two dark and paranormal YA novels, Radiant Shadows by Melissa Marr (a very different world of faeries) and Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick, which features a fallen angel quite literally to die for.

I don’t know about everyone else, but the sheer quality of fiction and the fantastic stories that continue to be published, especially by RNA members, astonishes me and makes me realise how much I have to look forward to.  Whenever I want, there is always another wonderful world to immerse myself in.  The only question is which one to choose next?

(Writing as Christina Courtenay, Pia's novel Trade Winds (published by Choc Lit) is out now, and her Regency novella Never Too Late published by DC Thomson (no.1737) is in shops this week.)

Imogen Howson - A Holiday TBR Pile

I don’t normally have a TBR pile—everything lives on my Amazon wish list until I buy it, and then it doesn’t wait to be read long enough to live in a pile. But for once I really, genuinely do have one. We’re going away on holiday for a week in a few days, so when this order from Amazon came I put it aside to read only once we’re on holiday.

I have an eleven-year-old and a thirteen-year-old, so this pile is a mix of books for all of us. I love young adult books—and write them myself—so my thirteen-year-old and I do a lot of sharing. And, in her case, very useful beta-reading of my stuff!

Wings is a young adult fantasy, the debut release from Aprilynne Pike, about a girl who (I think) discovers she’s a fairy. The publisher had the good sense to put a whole lump of the book up to read online on their website. I read, I got hooked, I put the book straight on my wish list.

The Prophet from Ephesus is for my thirteen-year-old. She’s been reading this series, The Roman Mysteries by Caroline Lawrence, for several years now, and swears she’s learned more about Ancient Rome from them than she could ever learn from school.

The Tin Princess by Philip Pullman is also for her. It’s the fourth in his Victorian mystery books. I’ve read and enjoyed these as well.

The Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder is for my younger daughter. I loved these books as a child, and enjoy reading them to her now. Like the Roman Mysteries, you learn an astonishing amount of history from them—in this case about Frontier America.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is a young adult futuristic, set in a scary-sounding dystopia. I read a great review of this at http://dearauthor.com and have been waiting for it to come out in the UK so I could buy it. I’d have got it as an ebook (instant gratification!) but for some reason the publisher didn’t release it as one so I had to wait.

False Colors is a historical gay romance by Alex Beecroft. I read another book by her, Captain’s Surrender, and loved it. There’s a lot of m/m romance in the epublishing world in particular, but a lot of it is more erotic than I really like, whereas Alex Beecroft’s writing is much more about the emotions and developing relationship—and she only includes the sex scenes that, after lots of sexual tension, you really want to see!

Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr is another young adult fantasy, the third in a series that began with Wicked Lovely and continued with Ink Exchange (the titles are as beautiful as the covers!). These have dark, scary, sexy fairies, emotion deep enough to drown in, and stunningly beautiful writing.

I can’t wait to get on holiday and start reading. The only trouble will be which to choose first!

Imogen writes romantic fantasy and science fiction for young adults and adults. Her next book is Heart of the Volcano, releasing as an ebook on September 15^th from Samhain Publishing. To find out more about her work visit her website – www.imogenhowson.com.

Anna Jacobs - TBR Pile Confession

Anna Jacobs, who these days divides her time between Australia and England, has always loved history - not the political stuff that she had to study at school and university, but social and economic history - how people lived, played, earned their daily bread. In Australia she has a wall of research books aimed at understanding the people of the past. She says "Otherwise, how could I write about them?" She writes historical romances, historical sagas and modern family relationships novels. Anna's 46th novel, a historical saga, FREEDOM'S LAND, was published at the beginning of this month. Below Anna gives us a glimpse into her TBR in England.

Other people buy jewellery or antiques, or go for lavish holidays – I spend my money on books. I have fancy glass-fronted bookcases in Australia for books I’ve written, and two bookcases full of TBRs, plus about 9 bookcases worth of shelving for ‘keepers’. But here in the UK, in our smaller holiday home, my own books have to fight for space in my one and only bookcase. In the photo, the top shelf contains some of the books I’ve written, the other two shelves are full of TBRs. There are three more shelves above them with similar contents – and I’ve got my eye on the space on top of the bookcase for later.

Heaven forbid that I should run out of reading material because I even read while I watch TV. I get through three books a week, so I have to keep topping up my supplies. (Thank goodness for on-line bookshops!) Yes, I confess, I’m totally addicted to reading. Fortunately for me, my husband is also a reader, though he only gets through about two books a week. I let him share some of mine, but our tastes don’t totally coincide so he too has a TBR shelf.

Anna will be speaking at the Honiton Library on the 29th of July at 7pm.

For more information about Anna and her books visit her website .

Lynne Connolly - A Different Type of TBR Pile

Yesterday we reported the results of our poll on how many books are needed for a two week holiday. Nine of the respondents answered 15 books! If you are packing so many is there any room for swimsuits and sunblock? Do you have to pay overweight baggage charges? Or do you go digital? One RNA member, Lynne Connolly, has been a huge propoment of e-readers for a long time so we asked her to share with us her TBR Pile. She writes historical romance for Samhain Publishing, and paranormal romance for Ellora’s Cave and Loose-Id.

My TBR pile.

A photograph wouldn’t be particularly helpful, since it’s of a computer screen!
My TBR is mainly electronic. Since I discovered ebooks, I haven’t looked back. My shelves thank me, my husband thanks me, since he’s no longer breaking his neck tripping over the piles of books all over the floor, and my shoulders thank me, because I’m no longer hauling around stacks of books wherever I go.

Now I carry an ereader which holds hundreds of books. So I won’t list them all here, just the ones next on the list. I review for The Good, The Bad and The Unread, but I won’t review books by friends, or from publishers I’m with, so some of these are review books.

I just finished Olivia Gates’ The Illegitimate King (Silhouette Desire) and I have to admit it wasn’t one of my absolute favorites, because the hero is a bit too alpha for me. But she has a great way with words and reading her books is usually an exercise in lush enjoyment.
I’m currently reading Elizabeth Hoyt’s To Beguile A Beast, a Georgian-set romance that so far I’m really enjoying. A wounded, angsty hero, a practical, beautiful woman determined to drag him out of his self-pity – what’s not to like?

I read mainly HMB’s (Harlequin/Mills and Boon) and American authored romances, because I write for that market and it helps me to keep in touch. And because I love a good paranormal romance, something that hasn’t caught on in the UK as yet. Buying them in ebook format means I don’t have to wait for them, and I don’t have to pay £7.99 for a $7.99 paperback, something that annoys me.

I have Jory Strong’s “Zoe’s Gift,” an erotic fantasy romance (set on another world). I love her books, and this is definitely just for fun. (From Ellora’s Cave)
Jennie Lucas – The Innocents’ Dark Seduction (HMB)
Liz Carlyle – Tempted All Night
Elizabeth Lowell – Blue Smoke And Murder (love her books, a great writer).
Susan Elizabeth Phillips – What I did for Love (romantic comedy. I love SEP’s books)
Sherrilyn Kenyon – Dream Warrior (paranormal romance)
JR Ward – Lover Avenged (paranormal romance) (have started this one a few times but I can’t get into it – can’t seem to get over the h syndrome).
Evangeline Anderson – Str8te Boys – I don’t read much m/m, but I like Anderson’s voice
Larissa Ione – Pleasure Unbound (paranormal romance) Looking forward to starting this series.
And I’m waiting for the new Suzanne Brockmann, due out soon. I am a big fan – nobody takes you right into a character like Brockmann does.

As for non fiction – we’ve just had our dining room/library redone, and all my non fiction books are in boxes, so I can’t recall what I have. Two biographies of Bonnie Prince Charlie (who wasn’t Bonnie and wasn’t really a prince, either) for sure.

Lynne's latest book, VENICE, is the third in the award winning Richard and Rose series.
Richard and Rose marry...but their troubles are far from over. You can find her and more about her books on her website .

So our new poll is about e-readers....join the debate.

A Glimpse At Bernardine Kennedy's To Be Read Pile

This weekend's TBR Pile comes from Bernardine Kennedy, author/freelance writer and journo, living in Essex, UK. She has published seven novels and the eighth is under construction.

This TBR pile of books is actually only a cross section pulled off the shelf. I have so many to read but not enough time; or rather my time management skills are poor right now! The shelves are heaving with unread books but I'm still a compulsive book buyer of several a week.

I love going on holiday with half a dozen books and nothing to do but read. And eat of course. I'm into cruising at the moment and there's nothing better than a book, a balcony and the whooshing of the sea beneath. My current WIP has some ship travel in it both from the sixties and now, seems a shame to waste any experiences that come under the heading of research. I think writers automatically see everything through the eyes of 'research'.

I prefer to read books of a different genre to my own, firstly because I live in dread of subconscious plagiarism and secondly because its nice to read something different and give the brain cells a rest from 'work'. I do have a very eclectic taste in books although it changes from time to time. At the moment I'm into the crime novels of Kathy Reichs / James Patterson / Karin Slaughter and co and the romcoms that always lighten my mood by authors like Kate Harrison / Pauline McGlynn (Mrs Doyle!) / Jill Mansell. I'm also currently dipping into some of the celebrity autobiographies. Dawn French, Russell Brand, Eric Clapton are top at the moment...

I love to have 'dip-into' books on the go as well as the 'race to the end' novels that I can't put down.
'The Wit and Wisdom of Keith Richards' is one I keep going back to. Brilliant.

And now I've piled some of them together for the photograph I feel so impatient to get at them that I'm going to set aside some time to read them all. I hope!

Bernardine's latest, SHATTERED LIVES, is published in large print by Thorpe this month July. It was originally published by Headline December 2008.

For more information about her books visit her website and for a glimpse into her writing and what's going on in her life stop by her blog.

Going Wild - One Writer's Approach to Awakening the Senses and Stimulating the Writing Flow

Going Wild

Wild swimming. No chlorine, no tannoy, no lanes, and frequently no other company... To many people, plunging in to cold lakes, rivers or seas sounds like madness. To me, it sounds like bliss.

I've always been a bit of a water baby, but when I came to live on the edge of the Lake District in 1996, in seemed like a license to bathe. Whether it was from the gravel shores of Crummock Water or the stony banks of the River Derwent, sleepily wending through some of the most ancient woodlands in the country, as soon as the sun shone, I loved to get out and swim.

In 2008, time and heat wave never once coincided. This year, I was in the river by the beginning of May.

It's refreshing, renewing, great exercise and simply as if you've immersed yourself in one of the most beautiful landscapes in the world.

So what does swimming in lakes and rivers have to do with writing?

The fact is, whenever I'm struggling with a story, a quick dip never fails to get things moving again. Sometimes I think that's because wild swimming is such an overwhelmingly sensual experience. It's a whole body touch, sometimes bracingly, oh-my-God-I'm-going-to-die cold, sometimes almost decadently warm. The water, your whole world, smells and tastes sweet. Hear the slap and trickle of water on the move, then duck your head beneath the surface to hear in the wet-noise the squeak-speak of stones disturbed, or the eternally optimistic quacking of a foraging duck.



Opening your eyes to see a dragonfly, in yellow and green motley, hawking overhead, and beyond him the wisps of white cloud evaporating in the sunshine.


The senses come alive. I start to think about how my characters feel in different settings, how their senses are engaged. What sound conjures a childhood holiday? Which scent makes them think of past loves?


Then, of course, there is The Fear.


Most outdoor swimmers have encountered the breath-stealing moment of deep water fear. That horrible, there's-something-down-there terror that can be sparked by a shadow, a twig... almost anything. I get it nearly every time I go out of my depth, especially when I can't see the bottom (rare in Lakeland's crystal clear waters). You have to push through it, breathe deep, conquer the moment. Swim on.

You think, "can I do this?" and you have to tell yourself that you can.

Just like when you're not sure you can carry off that difficult plot point or when you wonder if this new genre is a good choice for you. When you know that as long as you don't submit a manuscript, you can't be rejected by a publisher.

When those moments come, whether you're deep in writer's doubt, or shivering on the edge of Blackmoss Pot in Langstrath Beck, you simply have to swim on.


It's worth it.

For more information on Anna and her books visit her website.

Anna's latest book, DANGEROUS LIES from Medallion Press.

Marianne Forster was only spending time with a gorgeous man in the hot sun of Morocco. It wasn’t anything more than that - until she was kidnapped on the way home.

An appology and a correction for yesterday's post...The conference experience was that of multi-published saga writer Elizabeth Gill and not as first attributed.

The weekend's post will be a look at another To Be Read Pile, Bernardine Kennedy's.