Wedding Gown Girl to be Released Shortly

I can’t believe I’m actually doing this – announcing to everyone that my first published book is coming out on the 20th September. I’ve dreamed about this moment for years and finally it’s coming true. There have been times when I've wondered if it would ever happen. So, those of you who are waiting for that contract, don’t give up and keep writing. Every word is a step closer. I think I’ve finally found the spot where my writing flies – sweet contemporary. My sweet, contemporary novella, Wedding Gown Girl, is about a young lady, Kienna, who works at a bridal boutique. When a handsome man comes in to help his future bride choose her dress, Kienna is momentarily distracted from her determined singleness. The bride confides in her that she’s not marrying for love. Kienna has to tell the groom that he’s making a terrible mistake. At first Blake thinks she’s flirting with him, until he’s jilted at the altar. Their lives meet again soon after, and Blake becomes more aware of the spark between them. But will Kienna trust love enough to respond to Blake’s advances?

I have to boast about Astraea Press who are publishing my e-book for me. It’s been great working with them, and even though we’re across the world from each other, they’ve been professional and communicative in their e-mails. I loved their editing process – I felt so safe knowing that my book was edited by more than one person and re-checked several times. I must confess that I self-published my first novel with a Vanity Press (unknown to me at the time), and the difference is like night and day. So here is the cover for my book. Hope it gives you a feel for my characters because I absolutely adore Kienna – she’s so likeable. Tsk, tsk.

50 Shades of Green

Envious much?

I have a confession to make. I’m green with envy over the success that woman – can’t bring myself to say her name - who wrote 50 Shades of Grey. I’m irritated and baffled by this envy. Baffled because I can’t see what she’s done that’s new in the romance/erotica genre. Irritated because I’m thinking ‘Damn, why didn’t I think of it first?’

And I know I’m not alone in wrestling with that acid-green monster. I had coffee with a writer friend last weekend. ‘I always get a bit envious when I see other writers succeed,’ he said. ‘Of course you can tell yourself that their success is an example of what other writers can achieve; or that there’s room for all of us as writers, but it still gets me in my gut.’

With a guilty grin, I told him I felt the same way sometimes. OK, a lot of the time. Don’t get me wrong, I’m genuinely thrilled when someone close to me succeeds in writing. There may be a couple of shades of envy, but it’s usually erased by the genuine pride and excitement I feel that a friend or fellow writer has made it. I get over it pretty quickly, but when a stranger in sweat pants writes the next publishing phenomenon, I don’t feel I have to restrain myself.  Emotions are seldom rational – they may not be pretty, but we have to acknowledge them, don’t we? Otherwise we wouldn’t be able to call ourselves writers!

Of course, it helps to remind myself that the difference between envy and pure jealousy is one between possession and loss. Envy, after all,  is an emotion related to wanting what someone else has. Jealousy is fearing that something you have will be snatched away. We all have our own unique talents, our inimitable voices and styles, our own personal ambitions. And no one can really take that away from us, can they?