Friday 21 October 2011

Sometimes naughty and sometimes sweet...

I have a guest blogger and yes, I’m sure she really is a combination of naughty and sweet, but mostly she is a clever, witty and very talented reporter/presenter/writer, who has a fabulous new e-book out which is also available as an audio book! You can tell I’m a member on the Gilly Fraser fan club can’t you - and once you’ve read/listened to Forbidden Love and Other Stories - I bet you will be too!


Take it away Gilly...!

When I was a kid, we had an old tree in the back garden which was just perfect for sitting in. I used to scramble up to my favourite perch among its branches with a pad and pen and scribble away to my heart’s content, writing story after story after story. In those days they all featured ponies - the first great love of my life. Now despite the fact that I’m a Gemini - well-known as the flighty, fickle, flibbertigibbets of the zodiac, I have remained true to those two early passions - I still love all things equine - and I still love to write.

I was lucky enough to have nine books published by Mills and Boon under my pen-name of Rachel Elliot, and now I’m diving headfirst into the exciting and brave new world of epublishing, but this time without the lifejacket of a nom de plume. I love the freedom that epublishing affords - freedom to write on any subject under the sun, freedom to wander at will from your normal genre without an irate publisher hauling you back by the scruff of your neck, freedom to write without worrying that you might get ignominiously dumped for unsatisfactory sales.

I particularly enjoy writing romance - sometimes naughty and sometimes sweet - but I’m also keen to explore other avenues. A story has been bobbing about in my head for the past couple of years which has a darker side to it, and I’m really looking forward to getting stuck into it to see where it might lead. It’s not a romance, it’s not a thriller, it’s not crime - and that in itself would be a no-no for most agents and publishers because they do like something they can pigeonhole.

Nowadays when I write, I sit in a tatty old leather chair before a desk liberally strewn with letters, magazines, post-it notes and books in a room which lays claim to being an office but is really a glory-hole, providing a home for all the stuff in the house that didn’t quite fit in anywhere else. Which probably includes me, come to think of it!

A few years ago I visited Gracelands in Memphis and came home with a poster of a young Elvis on a lovely Palomino horse with the words… ‘Getting up in the morning is always easier when there’s a horse waiting for you.' Elvis said it - and I ain’t about to disagree with the King. To that I’ll just add - ‘the day gets even better when there’s a half-written story waiting for you as well…’

My first ebook Forbidden Love and Other Stories’ can be downloaded from Amazon or Smashwords, or you can buy an MP3 cd version through my blog gillyfraser.wordpress.com It will soon be available as a hold-it-in-your-hands and turn-the-pages book as well - just as soon as it comes back from the printers. Please let me know what you think of it!



Gilly Fraser is a former reporter/presenter with Carlisle-based Border TV, a Mills & Boon novelist under the name of Rachel Elliot, and the owner of pony-trekking centre in the Scottish Borders. She is currently the Co-Presenter of BBC Radio Cumbria Show, Gilly & Kim Let Loose with Kim Inglis, she is also a Freelance Journalist writing for magazines and newspapers, and the owner of small PR and dvd production company. Gilly is also kickstarting romantic novel-writing back into life after a long sleep and in the future she plans to be the winner of prizes for wonderful romantic novels, many of which will be turned into Oscar-winning movies. Obviously! She also loves horses, dogs, cats – and her husband Malcolm, who apparently sings great songs.


Gilly's Blog: Reclaim The Romance
Gilly on Twitter: @GillyFraser

'Forbidden Love and Other Stories' on Amazon UK and Amazon.Com and Smashwords

Janice says: This week, I'm still busy working away on edits for 'Reaching for the Stars' but next Friday I'll have an excerpt for you together with exciting news about a launch date. Do come back then!