author – Page 8 – Sandy Barker

Catching up with Author Sasha Greene

February 22, 2020April 4, 2020sandybarker

Today, I am thrilled to welcome author, Sasha Greene.

She is a writer and computer programmer who lives in Glasgow, and struggles to stop the books in her house from multiplying mysteriously and overflowing on the bookshelves. (I think many of us can relate to that). Sasha is also an adaptive snowboard instructor, in which she passes on her love of mountains and racing down a hill to people with physical and mental challenges.

I asked Sasha about her debut novel, Something like Happy, and being an author.

Please note that some of the content in this post talks about mental health and suicide.

Tell us what inspired you to write Something Like Happy?

I’ve always wanted to set a book in Glasgow, because it’s such an amazing city and it tends to get passed over in favour of more glamorous locations. I also really wanted to write a book which touched on the theme of mental health in a positive way, because there is still so much stigma regarding the topic, especially around suicide. There are so many people who seem to be fine at first glance but are actually really struggling with their mental health on a daily basis. All these people inspired me to create my characters, Jade and Nick, who are just doing their best to navigate their way through the issues they’re facing.

When did you start writing seriously?

When I was a child, I was very serious about my writing. I wrote fairy tales about witches and talking houses and illustrated them too. I still have copies of them somewhere. I think I was about 15 when I tried to write a historical crime romance story. It wasn’t very good (I know, because I still have a copy of it!) and I think I got a bit disheartened and gave up on writing. I didn’t start writing seriously again until about eight years ago, when I found a course run by Kate Walker on writing romance. She encouraged me to apply to the Romantic Novelists’ Association New Writers’ Scheme, and the rest is history.

What do you love most about being an author?

There are so many things it’s hard to pick! Seeing my book and being able to physically turn the pages was so exciting. Getting my first five-star review was exhilarating. But I think the most amazing experience was when someone told me that they had given the book to a friend who never reads books and they loved it and now they want to read more. Knowing that I’ve helped someone to find a joy in reading is something I really treasure.

What are you working on now?

I’m writing a follow-up to Something Like Happy, where one of the supporting characters gets his own story. It’s about two people who have both been through traumatic experiences and need to figure out if they can trust each other. PTSD is quite a challenging topic to write about, so it’s taking a lot of work and research but I’m really excited by how it’s all finally starting to come together. It’s going to be another great story.

What do you hope readers will take away from Something Like Happy?

I really like the title of the book because it’s a good reminder that life will not always be happy, but as long as it’s something like happy, then that’s enough. Most of all, it’s just a good story that I hope people will love reading, but if it also gets people talking about mental health then that would be great. I went through a period where I had some serious issues with my mental health, and reading positive stories was what kept me going. Everyone deserves a happy ending.

You can follow Sasha on her website and on Twitter.

More about the book:

Something Like Happy is an emotional and thought-provoking novel about friendship, love and day-to-day struggles with mental health. Jade is just trying to get by. She doesn’t want to talk about it. She doesn’t want a fuss. But one day she meets Nick and everything changes.

Out of the most difficult of situations, Nick and Jade’s friendship grows into something neither never knew they needed. Jade used to be sure that she was better off alone. But could it be that together, with Nick by her side, she can start to feel something like happy again?

Where can you get it?

#CoverReveal Summer in the City by Emma Jackson

February 14, 2020February 5, 2020sandybarker

I am thrilled to participate in the cover reveal for Emma Jackson’s Summer in the City, the heartwarming new holiday read from the bestselling author of A Mistletoe Miracle.

About the book…

Sometimes the one thing you’re looking for is right in front of you…Stephen is on a very personal mission to find his father as per the wishes in their mother’s will. But he has no idea where to start, not that he’s going to tell anyone that… When Noelle, native New Yorker, daughter of a detective and desperate for a distraction from the novel she’s been struggling to write, offers to help, it feels like the perfect solution.

Except the last time she spoke to Stephen he thought they’d be seeing the New Year in together and instead she stood him up and sold him out! Stephen’s big enough and been around the block enough times to understand that all is fair in love and war, isn’t he? But when Stephen accepts her offer and they begin their search across the city, it soon becomes clear that the weather isn’t the only thing that’s heating up.

A heartwarming summer romance perfect for fans of Heidi Swain, Sarah Morgan and Holly Martin.

About Emma Jackson…

Author of the Best Selling A Mistletoe Miracle, published in 2019 by Orion Dash, Emma has been a devoted bookworm and secret-story-scribbler since she was 6 years old. When she’s not running around after her two daughters and trying to complete her current work-in-progress, Emma loves to read, bake, catch up on binge-watching TV programmes with her partner and plan lots of craft projects that will inevitably end up unfinished. Her next romantic comedy, Summer in the City, is due for release in June 2020.

Emma also writes historical and speculative romantic fiction as Emma S Jackson. The Devil’s Bride will be published by DarkStroke in February 2020.

You can find out news about Emma via her website www.esjackson.co.uk or on:
Twitter @ESJackson1
Facebook @EmmaJacksonAuthor
Instagram @emma_s_jackson

Catching my breath

February 12, 2020February 12, 2020sandybarker

I am making time this afternoon to write a post, which I have (as you can see above) entitled ‘Catching my breath’. It’s a ‘fake it ’til you make it’ type strategy as I am professionally breathless.

I am still working fulltime and getting up every day to put in an hour or two of writing/editing/author biz before work. But soon I will be paring back to .9 (woo hoo), giving me every other Friday off to write like a little writing fiend.

When asked about my WIP (work in progress) I currently respond with, ‘which one?’ ’cause there is a little bit going on in my author world.

Status update:

My travel romcom series recently got a name: The Holiday Romance series
My third book got a name – not officially shouted out on social media yet, but it will be A Sunset in Sydney
The same cover artist who created the covers for Books 1 and 2 is – as you read this – creating a gorgeous depiction of Sydney (squee)
In January, I finished the first draft of my Christmas novel (coming in October), called The Christmas Swap
I am completing structural edits for A Sunset in Sydney right now (well, not right right now, as I am writing this post)
When structural edits are handed over, I go back to a re-write of The Christmas Swap which is due at the end of March
Once that’s handed over, I will get copy edits back for A Sunset in Sydney
In the midst of all this, I am working on the launch of Book 2, That Night in Paris (April 15 – pre-order now!)
In June, I go to the UK to attend the HarperCollins author party, the RNA Conference, and to meet my editor and agent in the personage
While in the UK, I will go up to Edinburgh for research, as it is the setting for the second half of my 5th book, the 4th book in The Holiday Romance series, which is about a supporting character from Book 2 (did you get all that?)
Also while in the UK, A Sunset in Sydney will be published, so lots to do in the lead up to that!
And once back from that trip, in early August, I will be finishing Book 5 and will receive structural edits for The Christmas Swap

Actual picture of me when I’m killing it:

And sometimes me:

But also me:

I really, really, really, love being an author and I am still pinching myself.

NoNo NaNo, WhyNo FOMO?

October 25, 2019October 15, 2020sandybarker

Next month is National Novel Writing Month, or as it’s called in the (writing) biz, NaNoWriMo, or NaNo for short. Yes, I know it sounds like something Mork would chant right after he called Orson, but NaNo is serious.

The goal is to write (at least) 50,000 words of your WIP (work-in-progress) in the month of November, an average of 1666.66 words a day, give or take a decimal point.

I did my first (and only) NaNo in 2018 while we lived in Porto during our sabbatical. I had written 30,000 words of my (then) WIP, and I set myself the goal of finishing the manuscript during NaNo. As we were on sabbatical and I didn’t have any contract work in November, I could dedicate myself to full-time writing. I smashed it. 75,000 words in three weeks.

I had an online support group — NaNo encourages community — and a group of young Portuguese writers who I got together with once.

Only once, because the in-person group weren’t really working towards getting published. One of the gals I met was doing her 12th NaNo. She looked so young , I jokingly asked her if she’d done her first one when she was ten years old. No, she’d been eleven. She’d written eleven manuscripts eleven years and none had seen the light of day since. The others in the group were the same — for them, NaNo was about the community, putting pen to paper, or fingers to keys, and letting the stream of consciousness flow.

For me, NaNo was about writing a novel I could get published. (The novel I finished last November, That Night in Paris, is being published in March by One More Chapter, an imprint of HarperCollins. Watch this space — literally.) I gave these young writers online support for the rest of the month, but as we had very different goals, they weren’t really my writing tribe.

Flash forward to July this year. July is ‘Camp NaNo’ with the more achievable goal of 30,000 words in 31 days. I had an idea for a Christmas book and got 35 000 words in. The biggest difference between NaNo 2018 and Camp NaNo 2019 was that this year, I have a full-time job. I was happy with my Camp NaNo word count, and the manuscript — another ‘watch this space’ for Christmas 2020.

The intensive NaNo approach seems to work for me, so surely I am doing NaNo 2019?

No. NoNo NaNo for me this year.

And, as soon as I made that decision, I felt like I could breathe again.

Because, I’ve got enough to get on with in the next few months. Finalising edits for That Night in Paris, then handing over structural edits for the third book in my travel romcom series, then finishing my Christmas book.

I am already at capacity, and I already have the motivation I need to get the work done.

So this year, I will be championing my writer friends from the sidelines. You got this. You’re amazing. Practice self-care. And write, write, write.

The author’s juggling act

October 18, 2019October 18, 2019sandybarker

The past 6 months of ‘authorhood’ has seen me juggling quite a few projects and responsibilities. I am not complaining—it has been an incredible ride—but I tend to re-prioritise (nearly) daily.

In March, after job-hunting for a couple of months, I was notified that I’d landed a fulltime job at the company I’d worked for prior to my sabbatical. I was concurrently signing with HarperCollins. Timing wise, I would have about a month before I started fulltime work and received my structural edits for my debut novel.

I got to work, starting Book 4 in my travel romcom series, about a character called Jaelee (who you will meet in Book 2) taking herself off to Bali on sabbatical. In a month, I got 50000 words in.

Then I started my new job and received my structural edits, so Book 4 was left in the drawer. Once my edits went back to the publisher, I started on the marketing for my debut. With my agent and publisher, we teed up early readers and a book blog tour, and I shouted out about pre-orders. I built my online presence even more.

My debut launched at the end of June.

In July, I participated in Camp NaNoWriMo, tasking myself with writing as much as possible of a stand-alone Christmas novella, an idea that had arrived overnight in late June. I wrote 35000 words of the novella in July—while working fulltime and marketing my debut.

In August, I sent my half-finished novella to my agent, who loved it and had feedback. I tweaked it, and the manuscript, along with a lengthy synopsis of ‘what happens next’, went off to my Editor. I can’t say too much about this at the moment, but watch this space (hint, hint, it’s good news).

September came and I learned the publication date for Book 2 was being bumped up three months. EDITING TIME!!! The book was written, but I hadn’t touched it since January, so I gave it a comprehensive structural edit—particularly important as when I wrote it, it was 3rd in the series and now it will be 2nd, so some chronology to fix.

I sent the edits off in September and went back to Book 3 (which I wrote 2nd), conducting a similar structural edit to tighten up the writing and fix the chronology. I am about 70% through that edit, but I’ve just received edits for Book 2 back from my Editor, so I am switching gears again.

When Book 2 edits have been handed back, I can wrap up my edits of Book 3, which I will aim to have done by the end of the month.

But, back to the Christmas book or Book 4 in the series, both unfinished? I really want to do NaNoWriMo next month, with the lofty goal of 50000 in 30 days. BUT, the last time I did it (75000 words in 3 weeks!) I wasn’t working fulltime. Writing was my only job. And marketing for book 2 will start soon…

Mostly, the juggling feels like this:

But sometimes, it’s like this:

And occasionally, like this:

But on the whole, I love this ‘being an author’ gig.

Cover Reveal Aria’s Travelling Book Shop by Rebecca Raisin

October 15, 2019October 14, 2019sandybarker

It’s a pleasure to be part of the cover reveal for Aria’s Travelling Book Shop By Rebecca Raisin, which is releasing on April 8th 2020 with HQ Digital

Blurb:

With her merry band of Van Lifers, Aria heads to France in her travelling bookshop, best friend Rosie by her side for a summer they’ll never forget!

Hopeless romantic Aria vowed never to love again after losing her husband, TJ, but fate has other ideas and keeps throwing the bespectacled, booklover Jonathan in her path. When a memento from TJ turns up it brings Aria’s past back to the fore.

Nomadic by nature, Aria can’t see how love could work anyway when home is always at the end of a new patch of road…

A long, hot summer travelling off the beaten track, surrounded by newly loved up couples reminds Aria of what she’s missing.

Will she bookmark her love life at the point her husband left, or she will begin a new chapter under the sizzling sun of the Cote d’Azur…?

Book Links:

About Rebecca:

Rebecca Raisin is a true bibliophile. This love of books morphed into the desire to write them. She’s been widely published in short story anthologies, and in fiction magazines. And now she is focusing on writing romance.

Rebecca aims to write characters you can see yourself being friends with. People with big hearts who care about relationships and believe in true love.

Follow Rebecca: RebeccaRaisin.com | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

My #WIP

September 7, 2019January 15, 2020sandybarker

Now that my debut novel is out in the world, I am fielding lots of questions about what’s next, so I thought I’d blog about it and let you know!

Aside: I have been overwhelmed by the support from the writing community since my debut was published, especially romancelandia, and by the responses to One Summer in Santorini from readers. I’ve had messages, Tweets, Facebook comments and so many wonderful reviews and ratings. Around 95% of readers love my book and it is still sitting well in the charts. I am humbled, grateful and excited by this. Thank you!

But what now?

As you may know, I work fulltime for an educational company as a professional development specialist. My work is 90% reading, writing, and editing educational materials, so sometimes finding the impetus to write and edit fiction is tricky.

But, I have found a solution!

On weekdays, I get up 2-3 hours before I go to work, and I do author biz (respond to emails and messages, post to social media, and so forth), then I write or edit. The early starts have worked well for me.

In July, I participated in Camp NaNoWriMo and wrote 35000 words of a Christmas novela – all in the wee hours. I’ve set that story aside for now, as I am currently (re)editing book #2.

Book #2 is actually the third book I wrote – after the sequel to One Summer in Santorini – and because it is in the same world (it’s about Sarah’s sister, Cat), I am editing to ‘fix’ the chronology. It now takes place right after One Summer in Santorini, and I’ve edited out all the spoilers for the sequel to Sarah’s story.

I had edited this book – I call it Cat’s book at the moment – last year, after I finished writing it, but I am a better writer now, so I have also tightened it up in this editorial pass. I will soon hand this over to my editor for their edit. When it comes back to me in a month or so, I will incorporate their edits and it goes back across to them. In the interim, it will get a name and a cover(!)

When I hand over Book #2 (sometime in the next 2 weeks), I have a few options. I can work on the Christmas story, which will now be a full-length novel, go back to Book #4, which is based on a character Cat meets in Book #2 (I’m about 50000 words in), or begin a structural edit of the sequel to Sarah’s book.

So many choices!!! However, the two unfinished stories do call me.

Essentially, what I have learned about being an author, is that there is always something to do. I move between writing and editing, and while I work on these 4 books – each in its own stage of development – there are other book ideas busting to get out. I temper those ideas by making notes, but not letting them take up any real estate in my mind – it’s already crowded in there.

Book #2, That Night in Paris, is about these two, Cat and Jean-Luc… Oolala!

Why authors shouldn’t read reviews – and why we do

July 27, 2019November 3, 2019sandybarker

On Goodreads, all reviews 3 stars and over are considered positive. Goodreads will even tell you what percentage of readers liked your book. At the moment, 93% of people ‘like’ One Summer in Santorini.

Or, to look at it another way, 7% of people disliked or even hated my book.

One review was so scathing, I followed the breadcrumbs to the reader’s blog and she’d posted ‘Ten Reasons I Hated This Book’. Of course, I read them – all of them. Some reasons had me wondering why she’d picked up the book in the first place – she hates love triangles, for instance and the blurb mentions the love triangle. Other reasons indicated that she hadn’t actually read the book – which was confirmed at the end when she wrote ‘I skim read most of it.’

The thing was, the book didn’t engage her enough for her to actually read it – and that’s okay. Sarah, a protagonist who is very like I was at her age, is not for everyone – just like I wasn’t, just like I am not everyone’s cup of tea now. And that’s okay.

Some 3-star reviews rave about the book, which indicates that for those readers, 3 stars is high praise. Thank you, readers.

I’ve read reviews where the reader is cross about the ending (no spoilers). I’d love to reply that it is slice of life – just that moment in time – and that I’ve written two follow-ups (one a direct sequel), which will be published in 2020.

Replying to reviews is, however, a no-no.

So, why do I read reviews at all?

Simply, because the good ones feel amazing – validation that the hundreds, if not thousands, of hours I spent in isolation getting the story down and honing it, were worth it.

I’ve read reviews where the reader says how much the theme of the book – falling back in love with life – resonated with them, and that they want a bigger life, just like Sarah. That means so much to me. I also love hearing that the book is a ‘fun beach read’, because that’s one of the genres I love reading, too.

So, no, authors probably shouldn’t read reviews – or at least, we shouldn’t obsess over the ‘bad reviews’. But as long as we go into it knowing that our book will not be for everyone – that some people will find it boring, or the protagonist annoying, or the ending frustrating – then we can take the bad ones with a grain of salt. Because for some readers, our book will brighten their day.

Inspiration for a Plantser

July 26, 2019February 28, 2020sandybarker

Many authors identify as either plotter, someone who plans the whole plot and all the details before they start writing, or a pantser, someone who flies by the seat of their pants.

I am a proud plantser, so somewhere in between. This means I have a general idea of where the story goes, writing out general plot ideas before I start, but I’m often surprised by my characters.

I tend to scribble notes as I write, reminding myself that the love interest has green eyes and what his middle name is. The scribbles become my ‘bible’ so that I can edit for continuity. K.M. Allan blogged about creating a series bible, but I recommend creating one even for stand-alones, especially if you’re a plantser like me.

Another thing I’ll do before I start is to choose the setting. Setting is extremely important to my writing, almost becoming a supporting character, and I only write about places I’ve been to and know. Yes, I still have to research. I’ll look back over my photos and read my travel diaries and blog posts, and I become a Google savant. For the book I’m currently writing, I’ve been on Google street view, travelling down the roads in the tiny Oxfordshire village my aunt lives in – just to get the details right.

The last thing I always do before I start writing is ‘cast’ my book – always the main character and the love interest, and sometimes supporting characters. This makes it so much easier to write, because I just imagine them in those places and sometimes whole scenes will play out in my head before I write them down. Actions become easier to write when I have the setting and the characters visually locked down.

So, I thought I would share some of my casts – just for fun.

One Summer in Santorini (and the sequel, One Summer in Love): Sarah, James and Josh

My next book, That Night in Paris: Cat (Sarah’s sister) and Jean-Luc

My work-in-progress is a Christmas book about three childhood friends from Australia, Colorado and the UK: Lucy and Will; Lauren and Matt; and Lisa and Archer

And the next next book is set in Bali and Scotland

Jaelee and Alistair

So, there’s a little of my plantser inspiration for you…

La La Land Made Me Do it

June 1, 2019June 2, 2019sandybarker

2016. Ben and I had just returned from another sailing trip in Greece.

My manuscript called to me from the desk drawer. ‘Hey, remember me? I’m about falling in love on a sailing trip in Greece. You could, um, you know, give me a new lick of paint or something?’

I ignored it.

I’d had an agent the year before. He’d loved the book, but he couldn’t get any takers. I was done with it. I was done with the whole ‘being an author’ lark. I was giving up on my dream.

Then we saw La La Land.

La La Land, which will forever be known as ‘the film that changed my life’.

Yes, really.

You see, towards the end of the film [spoiler alert, but really, you should have seen it by now—it’s incredible], Emma Stone’s character, Mia, is at the point where she wants to give up on acting. And Ryan Gosling’s character, Sebastian, convinces her to go to this one particular audition.

She does, and it is a beautiful audition. La La Land is a musical, so she sings it—a song called ‘The Fools Who Dream’. In a perfect Oscar-winning moment, she lays it all out there, her heart bare and raw.

[MAJOR SPOILER] She gets the part and she becomes a huge star.

The rest of the film devolves into a flash forward and then completely the wrong ending, but that scene!!!!

After the film, we caught the tram home and I couldn’t speak and I couldn’t stop the tears streaming down my face. When we got home, I told Ben I wanted to be alone, and sitting at my desk, I had a serious talk with myself.

No one was going to knock on my door and ask if I had a completed manuscript lying about. No one was going to ever read it if I didn’t do something—if I didn’t at least try.

This was my dream. I was a fool who dreamed, and if I didn’t give this everything I had, it would never happen and I would always be heartbroken that my dream hadn’t come true.

So, I had to try—again.

And I did. I re-wrote the book and self-published and queried it and wrote more books and queried those. I kept going. I gave it everything I had—all because of that one scene in that one film. Yes, eventually I may have had a nudge from somewhere else, but I will always remember La La Land as the film that changed my life.

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