Tartan-tastic!

I’m not quite ready yet with the big blog revamp but I do have a tartan-tastic new cover for my disgruntled celebrity chef novel ‘Reaching for the Stars’. Check it out!

 

FREE to download on Saturday 25th, Sunday 26th & Bank Holiday Monday!

To celebrate the new look cover and also the August Bank Holiday you can download Reaching for the Stars to your Kindle or Kindle App on your PC, Mac, iPad etc for FREE from Amazon on Saturday 25th, Sunday 26th and Bank Holiday Monday 27th August. Click the link and please feel free to spread the news far and wide!

This is what some reviewers have said about Reaching for the Stars:

“I love the way that Janice writes. You are whisked away to a part of Scotland and get so involved with the story that you feel that you are playing a star role in the book.” Kim The Bookworm

“A wonderful plot and some extremely engaging characters all bundled together in a steamy Scottish kitchen!”  Lou Graham - Book Blogger

“Even though I knew this was a complete work of fiction, I found it fun to imagine one of the top celebrity chefs losing their marbles and giving it all up. What an amazing story that would be to follow in the tabloids.” Lindsay Gentles - Turning the Pages Book Blog

“Horton's writing actually transports the reader straight to the scene - I felt like I actually knew some of the characters.” Sarah Taylor - Today I’m Reading Book Blog.

“Well done Janice Horton you have got the 5 star from me...” Rea Book Reviews

Also: 'Reaching for the Stars' was voted The Most Popular Book of the Month for January 2012 with Readers - on Jera's Jamboree Book Blog!

Get your Kindle copy FREE this weekend!

 

My other news is that The 'Gilly & Kim Let Loose' show is back on BBC Radio Cumbria on Bank Holiday Monday (Aug 27) from 12-2pm. This time it's all about romance and will feature the interview I recorded with Gilly at the Romantic Novelist's Conference last month. Gilly and Kim have been described as the French & Saunders of Radio Cumbria!  So if you get a chance - do listen in on Monday - but if you do miss it you can always 'Listen Again' for up to seven days from the web! BBC Radio Cumbria is on 95.6FM 96.1FM and 104.1FM.

 

Kim & Gilly - the French & Saunders of BBC Radio Cumbria!

 

That’s it for this week – have a great Bank Holiday everyone.

This week I’ve been a bit hyper….

Because there is SO much going on! First and foremost of course is the writing. I’m working on a full length novel for publication in 2013 but I’m also working on a novella which I will publish in October as an ebook to Kindle. The writing is going really well and I’m having a lot of fun with it – so much so that it’s keeping me awake at night - plot ideas keep popping into my head. The novella is a Halloween Special and I can’t wait to tell you more about it in the coming weeks!

I have my fabulous cover designer JT Lindroos working away on the cover art at the moment and that alone is getting me hyped up with excitement, especially as we are tweaking the covers of Bagpipes & Bullshot and Reaching for the Stars at the same time.

In sync with the new covers, I’ll be revamping this blog too – in the next couple of weeks – and I’ll be adding some exciting, fabulous, stylish, and very Scottish features. So, you’ll know where to come for your weekly fix of Scotland, the land and it’s people, (or should I say it's characters?)

Can I ask, if you are interested in knowing more about my current and future writerly projects, for you to subscribe to my Quarterly Newsletter? (see top sidebar)  I promise not to bombard you with ‘stuff’ but to politely send you only exciting news, the odd special offer, and subscriber exclusive newsletter competitions - with prizes.

If the Newsletter is not for you but you’d still like to know what mischief I’m getting into then please do consider ‘liking’ my Author Facebook Page. It's all there!

Following on from my recent blog post on Author Tags - this is the one I decided to go with:

Scottish Fiction with Humour and Heart

This week has been a big week in Edinburgh and I was invited to take part in the Edinburgh Ebook Festival. If you missed it – this is the link to my ‘Auld Lums & New Reeks’ feature in which my books, Bagpipes & Bullshot and Reaching for the Stars, were showcased and peer reviewed as part of the virtual festival. The Twitter hashtag for the still ongoing event is #edebookfest

The wonderful reader/writer magazine style website Loveahappyending.com - of which I am a featured author - picked up the story of my involvement with the Edinburgh Ebook Festival and you can read the feature by clicking the red link.

Also this week: I was featured on Celebrating Authors, where I talked about my favourite authors and ‘five random things’ - one of which became the headline!

Other news: TWO new 5* reviews for Bagpipes & Bullshot which with 22 reviews continues to sell well, particularly in the US, which is totally thrilling.

Finally, I was delighted to find out today that I’m being gossiped about in the September issue of the glossy and award winning Dumfries & Galloway Life magazine - by shortlisted Columnist of The Year Gilly Fraser - in her riviting report on this year's Romantic Novelist's Conference in Cumbria. You can read Gilly’s column here.

So now you can appreciate why I’m a bit hyper….

See you next Friday - I’m off to lie down!

Housework...

There is nothing I want to do less than housework right now even though I am normally a house proud sort of person - as it’s the last thing on my to-do list when I’m working on a new book - but we are putting our cottage on the market very soon. The sales particulars of which will be available online as well as displayed in a glossy brochure and so, over the past week, there has been a steady procession of people scrutinizing the old place.

First there was the Home Report Surveyor perusing (a requirement of selling a property in Scotland) and then the Estate Agent getting the grand tour and taking notes and finally the photographer exploring each room and pointing her lens into every nook and cranny while looking for the right lighting – when there simply wasn’t any to be had.

I’m exhausted. My hands are dry and my nails are ruined from all the cleaning and polishing to bring our humble abode up to the standards of sparkle you might expect to see in the pages of Home & Gardens magazine. Because believe me, if everyone is going to be looking in my boudoir, it’s going to damn well shine like it’s never shone before - even without the right light!

So I apologise for the disruption to my usual wise and witty writerly bloggings and I hope to be back to normal posting next Friday. In the meantime, do remember that if you can’t get to Edinburgh this year for the International Book Festival, you can always attend the Edinburgh Ebook Festival instead – virtually.  It runs from the 11^th -  27th August and I’ll be appearing on Tuesday 14^th August in the Auld Lums review feature.  I also have my own Festival Author Page if you’d like to check it out.  The whole event promises to be innovative and unique and I’m so thrilled to be in the company of so many of my favourite Scottish writers.

So I hope to see you at the festival - virtually

#edebookfest

 

Edinburgh Ebook Festival 2012

It’s coming up to festival time – now you might be thinking music festivals, beer festivals, flower festivals but I’m thinking book festivals and one in particular - the one taking place in Edinburgh this month!

In August, something very special happens in Scotland’s Capital and that would be The Edinburgh Fringe, The Edinburgh Festival, The Edinburgh Tattoo and The Edinburgh Book Festival.

Edinburgh is my favourite city in the whole world and it’s where my eldest son lives and my middle son goes to university. It’s where I browse on George Street, go shopping on Princes Street and get my hair done on Fredrick Street. Its museums and art galleries are amazing and its restaurants are fantastic. – It’s where I set my book ‘Reaching for the Stars’ - and it’s a city close to my heart. Now there are those who can get to Edinburgh and those who can’t. Maybe you live too far away. Maybe you just can’t afford it. Don’t despair.

Indie Ebook Review is bringing Edinburgh to you via the Edinburgh Ebook Festival!

Edinburgh Castle
(Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

Please note this is an independent, virtual festival, with no ties or association to the commercial entity that is the Edinburgh Book Festival.

The inaugural Edinburgh Ebook Festival, in which I have been invited to take part this year, runs online and concurrently with the ‘real’ thing from August 11th to 27th 2012.

The Edinburgh Ebook Festival showcases some of the best of indie e-book writers around. The festival seeks to introduce you to writers, publishers, and to explore the whole world of epublishing from a new and distinctly Scottish perspective.

There will be around 40 featured and contributing writers and a total of around 100 specific ‘events’ including reviews, short stories, poems, features on all aspects of epublishing, writers comments and an insight into who is who and what is what!

The official ‘rolling’ launch of this website will happen at 10am on Friday 3rd August.

From then till the opening event on 11th August, there will be content added to the site by the organisers, who will be getting it shipshape and ready for you to enjoy, highlighting features of what’s to come and how to get the most from this unique festival.

It’s the Edinburgh Festival that you can attend without ever leaving home!

We will all look forward to seeing you ‘virtually’ in the weeks to come. Bookmark the website and Facebook Page and tell your friends. Everyone is welcome and everything is FREE. All it will take is some of your time and we hope to offer you enough interest to have you coming back every day right up until the close on 27th August.

Click here to go to The Edinburgh Ebook Festival Website

Click here to go to the Edinburgh Ebook Festival Facebook Page

See you at the Festival - virtually!

#edebookfest

Tags: No, not the ones on your luggage….

But the ones we attach to ourselves as Authors. The identity tag we associate with our brand so that our reader knows exactly what to expect from us and what is likely to be the common thread in each and every one of our books.

An Author tagline conveys to our reader in just a few words what genre we write in and how our books will make them feel. If we get it right, we can use it on all our emails and promotional material, making it easier for readers to find our books, our backlist, and to buy our next book.

We want our reader to make an informed choice when they buy and read our books. It used to be enough to choose a genre, think up a suitable title and pick out an appropriate cover – but not anymore. In order for your reader to have a positive and fulfilling reading experience they need more information. They need to know in advance what to expect between the covers. They need it spelled out – and in as few words as possible.

Phew, easier said than done!

The Author Tagline should contain the key words that you want to associate with yourself, your brand, and your writing. It should be descriptive, evocative, appealing, informative, exciting, concise and immediate.

So this week I have been tossing and turning and mulling over my own Author Tag.

I have my key words: Scottish, Scotland, contemporary, fiction, romance, romantic, humour, fun, light romance, dark humour….

So far I have toyed with: Janice Horton -

Contemporary romance in a Scottish setting – with humour

Contemporary Scottish romance – with humour

Light Scottish Romance – Dark Contemporary Humour

Light Contemporary Scottish Romance with Dark Humour

Light romance. Dark humour. Scottish heroes

Dark Humour. Light Contemporary Romance

Dark Humour. Light Romance. Today’s McHeroes

Dark Humour. Light Romance. Hold out for a McHero

 Okay, I think I like the last one best – but what do you think?

And do you have a tagline or any clever tips for coming up with one?

If you do have one - will you share - please….?

Before I go completely tagging crazy…!!

Men In Kilts…

It’s been a busy week. I’ve been writing away in my wee cottage on a Scottish hillside thinking about the characters in my next book. In particular, I’ve been thinking about our hero and how he might look in a Kilt?

Now, in my previous novel ‘Bagpipes & Bullshot’ we have the gorgeous Innes Buchanan and his equally handsome brother Fergus – looking tartantastic in their Clan Buchanan Kilts.

In ‘Reaching for the Stars’, well, I’m sure Finn would look absolutely yummy out of his chef’s whites and sporting the ‘McDuff Hunting’ tartan!

So, to help me out with my research, I’d like you to feast your eyes on this selection of Men in Kilts and let me know who gets the vote from you. For copyright reasons I'm having to post links to images and not actual photos here but please leave a comment - or  your suggestions - in the comment box, as to who you favour in the tartan. Alternatively tweet your response using the hashtag #meninkilts

Gerard Butler

  

Ewan McGregor

  

Rod Stewart

  

Sean Connery

 Matthew Maconaughey

 Prince Charles

It’s all a bit of frivolous fun of course – until you watch my favourite kilted uTube video – when research into Men in Kilts becomes an altogether much more serious matter….

Click HERE - if you dare...!

All blog-friendly comments on what you think of Men in Kilts are welcome!

My thoughts on #rnaconf12…

I'm still awash with conference-lag, happy friend thoughts, writerly inspiration and of course, wine - after spending three whole wonderful days at the Romantic Novelist’s Association conference - held this year in lovely Penrith Cumbria.

The conference was well attended by Romance Authors, Editors and Literary Agents. The workshops were interesting, thought provoking and varied. First up on Friday afternoon, straight after the welcome get together, there was an Industry Panel that tackled the subject of International Sales, which in our global economy was incredibly valuable. On the panel were Top Agent Carole Blake, Bestselling UK/US Author Nicola Cornick, Irish Author Ruth Long, and Author and Translator Henriette Gyland.

On Saturday morning, I did a recorded interview for BBC Radio Cumbria and spoke about the business of being an Author and the importance of Romance. I’ll let you know as soon as I have an audio link to the show when it gets aired!

My first workshop of the day was with Talli Roland, my lovely online friend whom I got to actually meet for the first time at Penrith. Talli’s workshop was entitled ‘Online Marketing for Writers’ and proved to be a fabulous masterclass.

Then it was straight into ‘A Woman’s World – the future of Women’s Fiction’ by Kate Harrison. This was an in-depth look into the research Kate had done on reader trends in the current women’s fiction market. The talk was attended by top industry professionals but it was also very useful session indeed for an independent writer like me.

Other highlights of Saturday were the Author Panel on being ‘In For The Long Haul’ with Judy Astley, Freda Lightfoot and Anne Ashhurst (who writes as Sara Craven), who between them have published hundreds of books over their long and prolific careers to date, and a session with the knowledgeable and incredibly humorous Moira Briggs, from the top book review blog, Vulpes Libres.

Then, just before wine o’clock we were treated to An Audience with the fabulous Carole Matthews, who spoke to us about her amazing career, her books, her ups and downs and who afterwards generously answered lots of questions from the audience and then shared valuable writer tips.

The Gala Dinner was a chance to dress up, catch up with writer friends and generally have a fantastic time while consuming lots of wine. I’m pleased to report that the bar did not run out! (The staff at Penrith know us all too well by now!)

Me and Talli Roland on Saturday's Gala Evening

On Sunday morning, in the hangover slot, we were soon splitting our sides with laughter in the fabulous Jane Wenham-Jones’s session ‘What a Way to Earn a Living…’

If I had to pick out just one session as a real highlight then it would have to be the last session I attended on Sunday, which was Julie Cohen’s workshop on ‘Learning Story Structure from Pixar Films’. It not only had me in tears (there were lots of Pixar film clips to demonstrate building emotional content!) but it was certainly the most valuable lesson on creating a story arc that I’ve ever had. Julie really knows her stuff and she is SO much fun!

The fabulous Julie Cohen

So what did I ultimately get from attending this conference…?

Well, aside from the absolute thrill of catching up with my wonderful writer friends and meeting new ones, it was getting to chat in the coffee break queues with people like top literary Agents Carole Blake and Dorothy Lumley, and Gillian Green - an Editorial Director at Random House, Heather Osborn from Samhain Publishers, and Editors Linda Filgrew, Sheila Hodgson and Megan Haslam from Mills & Boon. I came away not only inspired to get on with my writing but feeling entirely optimistic about my writing career.

I felt that I’d put my finger on the pulse of the industry – and found it to be alive and kicking!

Jane Wenham-Jones and me at the Gala Evening

Scottish friends Rae Cowie (me) and Jenny Harper

Celebrating my lovely friend Liz Harris's debut book deal with Choc Lit Publishers

More Scottish friends - Joan Fleming, Gwen Kirkwood & Rosemary Gemmell

Me and my loveahappyending.com buddy Sue Fortin

Enjoying the Penrith sunshine

Enjoying wine and the company of new friends

The Romaniacs - who from their singing efforts really should be a girl band!

Writer friends from Annie Burgh Group - Katy, Bex & Pippa 

The conference dining room where the food was always so yummy!

STOP PRESS NEWS

I just heard the exciting news that magazine style blog FRONTROWLIT is featuring my novel 'Reaching for the Stars' this week. If you get a moment, please do pop over to read an excerpt from Chapter One. Any Comments, Shares and Tweets will be most appreciated!

Click here to go to Front Row Lit

The Star Child - Cover Reveal

Today I’m delighted to be part of my friend and fellow Loveahappyending author’s book cover reveal. The Star Child is Stephanie Keyes YA debut novel!

“The world is about to be cloaked in darkness.  Only one can stop the night.”

Kellen St. James has spent his entire life being overlooked as an unwanted, ordinary, slightly geeky kid. That is until a beautiful girl, one who has haunted his dreams for the past eleven years of his life, shows up spinning tales of a prophecy. Not just any old prophecy either, but one in which Kellen plays a key role. Suddenly, Kellen finds himself on the run through a Celtic underworld of faeries and demons, angels and gods, not to mention a really ticked off pack of hellhounds, all in order to save the world from darkness. But will they make it in time?

The Star Child publishers, Ink Spell Publishing, are offering a fabulous UK & US giveaway to celebrate this special cover reveal. It’s a Celtic Knot designed antiqued bookmark, which will go very well with this book! To go to Inkspell's website and enter the giveaway – click HERE

About The Author:

Stephanie Keyes was born in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania and has worked for the past twelve years as a corporate educator and curriculum designer in the Telecommunications industry. She holds a Master's degree in Education with a specialization in Instructional Technology from Duquesne University and a B.S. in Management Information Systems from Robert Morris University. She is a classically trained clarinetist, but also plays the saxophone and sings. When she's not writing, she is a wife to a wonderfully supportive husband and mother to two little boys whom she cites as her inspiration for all things writing. The Star Child is Mrs. Keyes' debut novel.

Stephanie's Links:

Website: http://www.stephaniekeyes.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/stephaniekeyes

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stephanie-Keyes/150860604966160

The Star Child is available in ebook and paperback format and launches on 21st July.

Pop back TOMORROW (I simply can't wait until Friday!) when I'll have  lots of news and photos from the Romantic Novelist's Association conference I attended in Penrith Cumbria this weekend...!

#rnaconf12

I’m off to the Romantic Novelist’s Association Conference in Penrith Cumbria this weekend and I’m very excited about it. There is nothing quite like spending a whole weekend – from Friday to Sunday - in the company of other writers talking non-stop about books, novels, writing and publishing.

If you think that perhaps a get together of Romantic Novelist’s will be sedate affair with lots of pink feather bowers on stiff shoulders and cups of tea balanced on 50 denier covered knees - then think again. These girls (and some men) certainly know how to party. I do remember at one RNA conference I attended that the bar ran out of booze within the first hour. From the shock on the bar staff’s faces I’m confident that’s never going to happen again!

There’s a full programme of events, talks and workshops to attend. There will be lots of Literary Agents and Editors to talk to as well as friends I haven’t seen for ages and those who up to now I’ve only chatted with online. The highlight of the whole conference though will be the Gala Dinner on Saturday night. I really must remember to take lots of photographs - oh - and to be on my best behaviour of course!

If you’d like to follow the event on Twitter – the hashtag is #rnaconf12

I’ll be back here on Monday, as I’m hosting my lovely friend and fellow Loveahappyending.com author Stephanie Keyes in a special blog spot to celebrate the cover reveal of her debut novel The Star Child. PLUS there will be a fabulous giveaway hosted by her publishers Ink Spell Publishing.

Where’s my ereader….?

When I saw this fabulous photo of Nigella Lawson in her home library I was green with envy. I mean, look at it! If there is a Heaven, then surely it has a room exactly like this and with no lifetime restrictions on reading everything ever written - well, perhaps not everything, perhaps not 'All Those Shades of Grey'.

You may be surprised at my greenness – thinking surely, that as a writer who exclusively writes e-books, I might instead covert the latest ereading technology instead…?

Well, the truth is… I love all books.

I love all the lovely new ones with bright colours and sparkles. I love dusty old tomes with aged dedications, I love, love, love them all. And there lies a problem, dear reader…

You see, in my home office I have shelves of books. On the top shelves I have lots of paperback novels (in most genres) and below those I have all the heavyweight hardbacks. On one particular ‘special’ section I have all my precious first editions and coveted collectable books (you mean, I hadn't  actually mention this fetish to you…?) alongside my signed and personally dedicated to me books (sighs and strokes books…)

My love of ebooks came about quite by accident… actually.

A couple of years ago, Mr JH and I were taking a faraway trip and I had refused to compromise on my luggage allowance - but contrary to warnings from Mr JH about airline rules and regulations, the good people at Glasgow Airport had the decency to smile and accept my, ehem - rather large suitcase, with no fuss whatsoever. Although, this was not the case (pardon the pun) when we changed flights, my husband was proved right and I was proved wrong and we were hit with a rather excessive excess weight charge.

I recall holding my breath, crossing my arms and refusing to offload anything. ‘I need absolutely everything in that case, I told my distressed husband, so he had no choice but to hand over several hundred US Dollars to the airline concerned.

When we reached our final destination, a beach resort where one really only needs a thong – and lots and lots and lots of books – and I opened up my suitcase to find that  even though we were both suffering from severe travel fatigue and crippling jet lag, we suddenly had lots to debate about the merits of paperbooks vs ebooks. I’m delighted to tell you, dear reader, that upon our return to Bonnie Scotland, I received a Kindle as a gift from my darling husband - and I’ve never looked back.

So where do you stand with the paper vs ebook thing – or do you have room in your heart for both…?