A very happy Christmas and New Year to all...!
Thank you for your blog visits and for all your lovely comments over the past year.
See you in 2014 and haste ye back!
Thursday, 19 December 2013
Happy Christmas!
Thank you for your blog visits and for all your lovely comments over the past year.
See you in 2014 and haste ye back!
Saturday, 30 November 2013
Happy St Andrew’s Day…!
Join the party over at Loveahappyending Lifestyle
Magazine website today!
Over fifty million
people around the globe claim Scottish decent and so on the 30th
November - St Andrew’s Day and Scotland’s national day - it’s a day to celebrate everything
Scottish!
Discover your inner Scot
with my fun lifestyle feature over at Loveahappyending Lifestyle Magazine where
you can Test your knowledge of Scotland’s
Heritage by taking the Ultimate
Scottish Quiz. In the Scots Language
Test you can find out if you really know your Sleekit from your Sonsie!
Then you can Kilt up and claim your
tartan! Plus there
are tips on appreciating your perfect dram
and some exciting St Andrew’s Day recipes!
Finally,
look the part with a Satire ‘selfie’..!
Tuesday, 12 November 2013
The Festival of Romance - fun and celebration!
I could have floated back to Scotland on
a cloud of bliss after this weekend at The Festival of Romance instead of taking
an Easyjet flight. This event, held annually in Bedford England, was three days
of excitement and celebration amongst romance authors, readers, and industry professionals.
It was fantastic to meet up again with
those peeps I already know and to finally meet those I feel I already
know so well online but hadn’t yet met face to face. It might appear weird
to throw yourself into the arms of people you’ve never met in real life and
practically hug the life out of them – yet it felt complete appropriate to do
so when these are people I already loved!
I was in contact with lovely JB of Brook Cottage Books before and during my journey to Bedford, as I was flying in from Glasgow to London Luton and she was flying in from Belfast. She sent me a photo so I’d recognise her when we finally met – and this is us just mere seconds after we did!
Ditto lovely Carol ‘Dizzy C’ (pic below) of Dizzy C's Little Book Blog, the
wonderful Kim the Bookworm and fabulous Heidi of ‘Cosmochicklitian’
On the Friday night, Linn B Halton, Mandy Baggot and Sheryl Browne and I went to a fabulous Bedford Italian Restaurant for
fun, wine and pizza!
Then at the Saturday night Gala Dinner,
just when I thought the festival was only about being amongst fabulous friends,
it also became a celebration of our success - when Linn B Halton, Editor in Chief of the
emagazine with which I'm an associate editor - was awarded the 2013
Festival of Romance 'Innovation in Romantic Fiction' Industry award for “evolving the
loveahappyending.com author/reader initiative into an interactive lifestyle
magazine”.
After receiving her award, Linn said: “Being nominated was a huge honour, but to actually win the award was overwhelming. As organiser of LLm I was thrilled to accept this on behalf of everyone involved. There are thirty-two contributors in total involved with LLm and it is the wide range of articles (including book reviews) that saw our hit counter tip over the 3 million mark a couple of days ago, and we are now at a staggering 3,045,639.”
Huge congratulations to all the winners
of all awards at this year's Festival of Romance and thanks to event organiser Kate Allan for all her hard work -
what a fabulous weekend!
Innovation in Romantic Fiction Author winner – Linn B Halton with some of the Loveahappyending Lifestyle Magazine team
Left to right: Carol, Heidi, JB, Linn, Mandy, Sheryl, & myself
Thursday, 31 October 2013
Happy Halloween FREE Book Offer!
Happy Halloween
Everyone!
This time last year I was launching How Do You
Voodoo? - the first book in my voodoo romance series of novellas – for which I
had done some intense research in the spookiest graveyard in Scotland – the Necropolis
or The City of the Dead – which features in a central scene. Would you like to spend Halloween in a dark and
spooky place like this…?!
Glasgow central looks grey and spooky in October!
This Halloween is launch day for Voodoo Child - the
third book in my series of voodoo romance novellas.
Again, it’s
available exclusively from Amazon for Kindle.
Story
synopsis: In
‘Voodoo Child’, ex-celebrity UK fashion model Nola and her handsome Haitian
husband Louis are expecting their first baby. But as one precious life begins
another is about to end. Louis’s beloved old Uncle Sid is dying and has
declared his last wish is to see Louis and Nola’s new baby baptised on St
John’s Eve – the most important event in the voodoo calendar. The voodoo isn't
over yet for Nola or for Louis!
Special
Halloween Offer!
You can download the first humorous
romance in this series absolutely FREE TODAY – 31st October!
Janice xx
Sunday, 27 October 2013
How Do You Voodoo? - FREE 27th to 31st October!
The third book in my series of voodoo romance novellas
'Voodoo Child' is out this week!
It’s available exclusively from Amazon for Kindle
 |
| OUT NOW! $1.55 0r £0.99p |
Story synopsis: In ‘Voodoo Child’,
ex-celebrity UK fashion model Nola and her handsome Haitian husband Louis are
expecting their first baby. But as one precious life begins another is about to
end. Louis’s beloved old Uncle Sid is dying and has declared his last wish is
to see Louis and Nola’s new baby baptised on St John’s Eve – the most important
event in the voodoo calendar. The voodoo isn't over yet for Nola or for Louis!
Amazon UK and
Amazon.com
How Do You Voodoo?
Or second
book in this series
Voodoo Wedding?
Well, from TODAY and for the next FIVE days
(27th – 31st October)
Voodoo Wedding?
Well, from TODAY and for the next FIVE days
(27th – 31st October)
I’m offering the first book in this series absolutely
FREE
 |
| 27th - 31st October incl - FREE! |
These are the free download links:
Other Amazon sites worldwide are included
Feel free to share, tweet, and tell all your friends!
Did you know that How Do You Voodoo? has 25 Amazon UK
reviews with an average reader score of 4.6 stars and Love Reading Love Books said How
Do You Voodoo? was ‘A Five Star Read’
Voodoo Wedding - Book Two - is also available from
Amazon for Kindle alongside Voodoo Child
at the fabulous price of just $1.52 or £0.99p so why not treat yourself to a
little voodoo romance?
Something old, something new, something borrowed.... something voodoo!
ONLY $1.55 0r £0.99p
Have a great Halloween
everyone and don’t forget
that I love to chat and I'll be on
Facebook and Twitter over the next few days promoting Voodoo Child. Please RT me!
#voodoochild
Wednesday, 23 October 2013
Festival of Romance - and Loveahappyending Lifestyle!
HUGE
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE LOVEAHAPPYENDING TEAM!
LLm Editor in Chief, our own Linn B Halton has been
shortlisted for the Innovation in Romantic Fiction (Author) award for evolving
the loveahappyending.com
author/reader initiative into an interactive lifestyle magazine.
 |
| Linn B Halton |
And Carol Wright from Dizzy
C's Little Book Blog, JB Johnston from Brook
Cottage Books and Tanya
Farrell from After the
Final Chapters, all in the Loveahappyending
Review Team have been nominated for Best Romance Blogger!
CONGRATULATIONS AND WELL DONE
LADIES!
8th to 10th
November in Bedford
The Festival
of Romance celebrates romantic fiction in all its forms and gives readers a
chance to meet favourite and new authors as well as taking part in lots of fun
events and parties.
It is the
UK's ONLY convention dedicated to romantic fiction.
You can book
tickets online for all the Festival events.
Check out what's
on and see which of your favourite authors are attending.
See you at the Festival of Romance!
Saturday, 19 October 2013
My Writing Workshop...
Arts and Crafts Weekend
19th and 20th October
There is an Arts and Crafts Fayre
taking place this weekend -19th and 20th October - at Tynron Parish Hall (near
Thornhill, Dumfries & Galloway).
Local crafts people will
present their art and crafts and refreshments will be available. Proceeds to
Tynron Parish Hall Funds.
Aspiring writers: I’m
holding a writing workshop during this event on Sunday 20th October between
2pm-3pm. If you’d like to come along (and I'd love to see you there!) please
check out the webpage and scroll down for contact details and more info.
Haste
ye over to Tynron!
Sunday, 13 October 2013
Paperback Books and The Festival of Romance
Bagpipes and Bullshot and Reaching for the Stars will
be available to order from Amazon sites very soon if you’ve been waiting to
read my full length novels in paperback!
These are the paperback
covers!
There are some fabulous events planned – check out the website
and grab your tickets now.
I’m really looking forward to meeting up with writer friends
I already know really well, those I have been friends with online for ages but
haven’t had the pleasure of meeting yet in person, and catching up with what’s
going on in the romantic fiction industry - as there will be publishers and
agents and editors to chat to about such matters.
I’m speaking at the Coffee and Cake morning on Saturday 9th
November at The Lane, Bedford. I’m also looking forward to attending the Festival
of Romance Ball on the Saturday night!
Are you going…?
Do let me know so we can say hello!
Friday, 4 October 2013
Romantic meetings and writerly events…
Happy
Friday everyone – I’ve had a an even busier week than usual as I’ve been out
and about on writerly business. On Monday I was invited to the famous and very romantic location of
Gretna Green for a meeting.
It
was wonderful to catch up with writers I already know well through the Writers
Scotland Group, to be reintroduced to one or two I’d met before through the
Romantic Novelist’s Association, and to meet some new lovely writer peeps. The meeting was interesting, involving romance writers, commercial
enterprise, media and PR, but as it was a preliminary talk, I don’t think I’m
at liberty to tell you exactly what it was all about just yet - so I’ll tell
you more when I can!
After lunch and the meeting itself, a few of us had a tour of the famous blacksmith’s shop and the wedding room and had our photo taken in front of the wedding anvil!
In this photo: myself,
Lynda Denton, Eileen Ramsay and her husband Ian,
Michelle Styles and Gwen Kirkwood
Michelle Styles and Gwen Kirkwood
The Marriage Anvil at
Gretna Green
On Tuesday, I was invited to speak about my
writing and my life as a writer at the first meeting of the season for the Dumfries
and Galloway Tangent Club in a private room at a restaurant in Thornhill. It
was an honour to be asked to talk to these lovely ladies and I was right to
suspect that when I got there, it being a local group of professional and
business women, that I would already know many of them. We had a glass of wine,
friendly conversation and lots of laughs, and we also had a lovely dinner. I
felt my talk went well, as the atmosphere in the room was so relaxed and warm. I
rounded off my talk with a short reading from ‘Reaching for the Stars’ and we
had a quiz/competition - the winner being the first correct answer drawn by the
restaurant owner!
On Wednesday, I was asked if I was interested in doing a talk and a writer’s
workshop on the afternoon of Sunday 20th October at an Arts and
Crafts Weekend being held at a local village Hall. I thought it sounded like
another good opportunity to get out and about and to meet people interested in
reading and books. So I accepted.
All
of this is of course great practice for the Festival of Romance event in Bedford on the weekend of the 8th/9th & 10th of
November, which I am attending as an author. I’m speaking at this event on the
Saturday morning at the ‘Coffee and Cake’ event. Tickets are on sale now at the
Festival website.
The
rest of this week I’ve been writing and reading, attending online book launches,
and following some exciting blogs. It’s a very busy and exciting time to be a
writer!!
Haste
ye back here next Friday!
Friday, 27 September 2013
Running along...
As
a writer, I’m often sat at my desk for most of the day and I find
that long periods of time spent at my computer causes me lots of problems. I get
sore eyes (I have to wear reading glasses at the computer) and I get a stiff
neck (I find myself hunching over the keyboard sometimes) and I have had a few painful
bouts of repetitive strain syndrome in my shoulders and wrists. And all that’s
before we go anywhere near the expanding waistline and bottom syndrome!
I've always enjoyed taking a brisk mid-morning walk on most days, but now I’ve stepped things
up a bit and I go for a run. Running loosens up my muscles, fills me with oxygen,
and helps me to either think or to empty my mind – whichever is needed the most. I run
for three miles in a circuit around the cottage and, now that I’ve being doing this
for a few months, I sometimes manage five miles!
This
morning’s run was particularly enjoyable. Autumn has arrived here in my part of
Scotland. It was dry and mild and the leaves on the trees are just starting to
turn golden. Mushrooms and toadstools lined the verges of the lanes along my route
and the brambles are ripe and asking to be be picked and made into jam.
I
had my phone camera to hand today and took these photos. I thought you might
enjoy them too.
 |
| My running route away from the cottage |
 |
| Woodland Toadstools |
 |
| Love these colourful ones - so pretty - but probably highly poisonous! |
 |
| The high stretch of land between the Nith Valley and the Lowther Hills |
 |
| A rewarding view from the top of the tough uphill stretch! |
 |
| Looking over Durisdeer and the Lowther Hills |
 |
| Brambles in the hedgerow - but no time to stop and pick them! |
 |
| The home straight! |
I
have a busy week ahead filled with writer’s meetings and speaking events. Why not
check out my Author Facebook Page which I update several times a week with
all my writer news, authorly views and book reviews!
Haste
ye back here next Friday!
Friday, 20 September 2013
Voodoo Magic!
Today
I’m revealing the new look covers for my voodoo romance series of Kindle novellas!
The
voodoo isn’t over for Nola! Voodoo Child is out next month and
is the third part in Nola and Louis’s story. The first two parts ‘How Do You Voodoo?’ and ‘Voodoo Wedding’ have both received some
fabulous reviews.
Reviews include those from Love Reading Love Books
who said How Do You Voodoo? was ‘A Five Star Read’ and Book Reviewer Jenny in
Neverland has this week listed her favourite books on Feed My Read and How Do You Voodoo? is one of them!
PRIZE
DRAW: I’m offering a reader a pre-release peek – a V.I.P. Advance Review Copy – in a
prize draw for all those peeps who ‘Like’ my Facebook author page between now
and Voodoo Child ARC release day. I love to blog on a weekly basis but my FB author page is where I share all my latest
news and views and writerly gossip several times a week - so if you would like
to be one of the first to read Voodoo
Child and also find out what I’m working on next...
Friday, 13 September 2013
New season - a contemporary new look!
I'm rolling out a totally NEW contemporary look to all my Kindle book covers and social media pages for the new season - with paperbacks available soon!
Let me know what you think?
Janice xx
Friday, 30 August 2013
#FF Friday - Festival and Fringe!
 |
| The amazing Edinburgh Royal Military Tattoo |
Last weekend, my lovely
friend Dina and I did what we have been talking about doing for years – we
spent a long weekend in Edinburgh together doing The Festival, The Tattoo, and
The Fringe. We had THE most amazing time. We did everything – including lunch at
The Witchery, The Tattoo at the Castle, the ultimate Book-Fest (bumping into
Neil Gaimen), Stand Up Comedy, Shows, chatting with Radio DJ Johnny Walker and
pop diva Kiki Dee (who asked if I was from Liverpool – lol!) to finish off with
a tour of Edinburgh’s old underground vaults with torture museum and spooky
stuff all thrown in and then to clubbing at the famous Old Town Cowgate at
Cabaret Voltaire. A weekend never to be forgotten!
 |
| Lunch at The Witchery by The Castle |
 |
| Left: Neil Gaimen signing at The Edinburgh Book Festival |
 |
| The spooky Ghost Tours and Edinburgh Underground Vaults |
Haste ye back
Janice
xx
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)