Sep 17 2015

A day out

Last Saturday saw the inaugural Lesbian Authors Festival take place at the Hideaway café in Manchester. The venue is perfect for intimate readings and I was pleased to have been invited to take part. Seven authors participated and we had an audience of about twenty people. The organisers had given us each a ten-minute reading slot with time for questions for each author after their reading. I wasn’t as nervous as I had been for my first public reading at the GCLS Conference in July, so I managed to do it without losing my voice.

There was also time for a Q&A panel session with all the authors after the readings. And a bookstall had been set up so we could display our books and hopefully entice someone to buy one.

I enjoyed the interaction with the other authors and the audience. During the panel discussion there was an interesting exchange of views about how much sex readers either wanted or expected in this particular genre of lesfic.

All in all, a good day out. I sold a paperback of Starting Over and later, via Facebook, someone who had been at the reading mentioned they’d read this book and enjoyed it. I let her know that the sequel, Arc Over Time, is available. A few days later, I received a message from her saying she’d bought it and read it very quickly, wanting to find out what happened. She then posted this lovely comment on Amazon:

“So beautifully written this is a heartwarming tale of love and passion that had me reading until dawn to finish it.”

It is this kind of feedback that helps us writer-types to keep going.

And, speaking of Arc Over Time, Diana Prince interviewed two of the characters for the Affinity eBooks blog and the transcript of that interview is available here. As with anything involving Kathryn and Denise, it doesn’t go as smoothly as planned.

Finally, just because I like it, here’s a photo I took from the airplane window as we were approaching Copenhagen on our visit there two weeks ago.

Arc Over Time – available from Affinity eBook Press /Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk / Bella Books / Barnes & Noble / Smashwords / iTunes

Starting Over – available from Affinity eBook Press / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Bella Books / Smashwords / iTunes.

Sep 10 2015

September is here and winter is coming!

It’s only the first half of September but it feels like the end of summer. And what a summer it has been. The trip to New Orleans for the GCLS conference was the main feature. That was quite a week. The impressions and experiences will stay with me for some time – probably until next year’s event.

On Saturday I’ll be taking part in a much smaller, but no less significant event. The Hideaway Café in Urmston (Manchester UK) is holding an inaugural Lesbian Authors Festival. This is the line up:

Andrea Bramhall 2:15pm

I Beacham 2:25

Cari Hunter 2:35

Michelle Grubb 2:45

Break: 3:00-3:30

Jen Silver 3:30

Karen Cambell 3:40

Veronica Fearon 3:50

As I’m reading after the break, everyone will probably have filled up on cake and won’t be paying me much attention. This is only my second public reading – the first was at the aforementioned GCLS where I almost lost my voice halfway through. Maybe, fortified by cake, I will get through this one without choking.

Homemade salted caramel cake from the Hideaway Cafe

As well as preparing for this event, the editing process for my next novel, The Circle Dance, has started. It’s due out in February, published by Affinity eBook Press. This book features a different set of characters from the first two but is still set in the same part of the country where I live. (An excuse to show another photo of the canal near Hebden Bridge).

Boats moored on canal near Hebden Bridge

It’s also been a busy time for reviews. Last week the Wilde Times Tavern website posted a review of my debut novel, Starting Over. And this week, they put up an excerpt from the sequel, Arc Over Time.

Wilde Times Tavern review and excerpt

Although it’s called a ‘quick review’, the reviewer goes into some detail on what she liked and didn’t like about Starting Over. I was pleased that, although she didn’t like Robin to start with, after finishing the book she thought Robin was the character she would most likely want to take home.

Earlier this week I was also interviewed by the wonderfully talented Clare Lydon and you’ll need to tune into the next episode of the Lesbian Book Club on My Lesbian Radio to hear the result of that – which will be sometime towards the end of the month after Clare gets back from sunny Spain (at least she’s hoping it’s sunny). Check out Clare’s previous interviews here: http://mylesbianradio.podbean.com

So, that’s enough about me. Hope you’re all enjoying sorting out your winter wardrobe for the months ahead and snuggling down with a good book.

Arc Over Time – available from Affinity eBook Press /Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk / Bella Books / Barnes & Noble / Smashwords / iTunes

Starting Over – available from Affinity eBook Press / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Bella Books / Smashwords / iTunes.

Aug 10 2015

A time for literary festivals

The experience of attending the 2015 GCLS Conference has left me wanting more. It was such a wonderful few days of sharing – not just our love of books but also a sense of community and acceptance—a time of meetings on many different levels. (Selection of photos below)

So, I’m thrilled to have been invited to be part of the inaugural Lesbian Authors Festival at the Hideaway Café in Urmston (Manchester UK). This is the brainchild of the Sponge Sisters (as Cari Hunter has helpfully pointed out – this means they make cakes, not take baths). An afternoon of readings, discussions, book signings…with cake…is scheduled for 12 September starting at 2pm. The authors lined up along with myself are: Cari Hunter, Karen Campbell, I Beacham, Veronica Fearon, Michelle Grubb and the recent winner of a Goldie, Andrea Bramhall who received an award for Best Lesbian Romance for her book, Nightingale, at this year’s conference.

Please come along if you are in the area. The Café’s Festival also includes displays of work by local artists plus live music…oh, and cake. (Facebook page link – check here for updated info and location details)

It may be no coincidence that the Hideaway Café’s Festival precedes the Manchester Literature Festival which runs from 12 to 25 October – with a number of preview events being held in September. The MLF features a high profile lesbian presence with talks by Jeannette Winterson, Val McDermid, and our poet laureate, Carol Ann Duffy. And that’s just a small part of a programme that has 85 events to choose from including workshops, performances and tours.

Photos from GCLS (I didn’t take many – too busy doing something I didn’t’ think came naturally to me – talking to people, taking part in readings and panels…and enjoying it all!)